Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen or Spice and Wolf.

Chapter 13

She clutched onto him, sobbing as she finally let go of the pain and the anguish her capture and subsequent imprisonment had caused to be rooted in her soul. The pain of nearly killing her beloved sister. She knew Anna had forgiven her, and had tried to help her, as had Kristoff and Kai. Even Olaf had made an attempt last month when she'd come up here. But ultimately, she'd needed to come here and face the savagery that had been unleashed here, both upon her and by her. She needed to forgive herself. She looked up at Naeil, who just gazed lovingly at her. He reached up and wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks, smiling gently.

"You don't have to conceal your feelings with me, Elsa, not ever."

She remembered her father telling her to conceal her powers, to control her emotions. She understood he meant well, and her parents had been dealing with an unusual situation as best as they knew how. Upon her return to Arendelle, her advisers were constantly telling her that as a Queen, it was of utmost importance to present the proper "image", at least in public. She understood all of that, but she was resentful of the fact that at the palace, there really was no "private" place for her. She knew that Anna and Kai tried to keep the worst of the gossip away from her, but she had heard the hushed whispers, the startled silences, or the placating assurances. Yet here, in this place...there was only the two of them, and he'd melted her heart simply by being himself, and wanting her to be herself.

Smiling softly, Elsa reached up and pulled his face down to hers. As their lips met, neither was aware of the glow that filled the room around them. The ice sheets and broken shards flowed and vanished, and from the ceiling a new chandelier began to form, the fractal pattern design replicating over and over again until it once again refracted the light to bath the room in a soft glow. The room that had been frozen in the fear and anger of it's sculptor now repaired itself in love and understanding.

Elsa and Naeil broke for breath, smiling at each other.

Naeil looked up and smiled, looking at the newly restored room, "Elsa...look."

She opened her eyes and sighed contentedly. If anything the room now looked even more beautiful than it had been before. Her signature snowflake blossomed once more throughout the room, but hidden within it it, the face of a wolf at it's heart. Smiling she pulled him towards the newly repaired balcony and they stood there in each others' arms, gazing at the white snow bathed in the moonlight.

"Now this must be a dream," Elsa breathed.

Naeil nodded, "If it is...I don't want to wake up."

She leaned into his chest, and Naeil held her tightly. Finally he pushed her away gently.

"Elsa, let me see my token chain."

She looked at him perplexed, but undid the clasp and handed him the vial.

"Now, my dearest lady, would you be so kind as to produce a snow ball, powdery if you can do so."

She held up her hand, producing the snowball, "What are you doing?" she asked confused.

He place his hand on the snow and closed his eyes. "You've shown me your magic, it's only fair that I show you some of mine."

Her eyes widened as his hand glowed, which spread to the snow in her hand. After a few seconds he opened his eyes, and smiled, before opening the vial and emptying it of snow.

"Wait! What are you doing!?" she cried in fear, knowing what that snow was to Naeil.

"He just smiled, "It's okay, Elsa...it's just snow now."

Elsa looked shocked, "What did you do?"

Taking the vial, he cupped her hand, and poured that snow into the vial. "I have the ability to choose the snow I'm tied to." He looked at her and smiled, "I am now bound to your snow, Elsa."

She looked at him, "Bound to my snow?"

He kissed her as he replaced the chain around her neck. "As long as your snow remains, so shall I."

She kissed him back, throwing her arms around his neck. "Hmm, you'd better." she said.

As the two remained embraced, Elsa finally said, "Naeil...may I see...you? The other you, I mean?"

Naeil looked at her, he eyes darkening. "Are you absolutely sure?" he asked. "It could be quite, terrifying."

She held him tightly, "I know you'll never hurt me. Please."

Naeil nodded and then looked down off the balcony. "Wait here, I'll call you when I'm ready for you."

She looked at him puzzled, and he blushed, "I need to prepare, by taking off my clothes." He then grinned, "Because I don't have your snow and ice seamstress talents."

She blushed before giggling.

She did her best not to look out over the balcony, but couldn't help herself when she saw his form moving below. Quickly looking away turning bright red, she mentally chided herself. "Shame on me, just because I really wanted to see that perfectly toned, handsome...he does have a nice tail after all..."

Below the balcony he sighed, and reached down a picked up a handful of snow, and placed it in his mouth.

"Well, here it goes...she'll either accept me or run screaming away in terror...or freeze me right here...at least that way I could protect her Ice Palace...as a lawn gnome wolf-cicle."

As the change undertook him, he groaned. Maybe he should have asked her if she would still want him to do this knowing how much it upset his stomach.

Elsa heard a whooshing sound, much like a wind blowing through the trees, and then silence. She waited, not wanting to turn in case he was still there in his human form.

"Elsa," came a deep growling voice. "You may approach me now."

Elsa stood up and raced away from the balcony, down the stairs. "No fear," she told herself. "It's going to still be him, it will still be the person you've fallen for...and isn't that why you wanted to see? You wanted to see all of him...to show him you love all of him."

Pausing at the main doors, she took a deep breath, and walked out and gasped in surprise.

He did not stand before her, he towered over her. There, in front of the castle was a white arctic wolf, at least four times the size of a fully grown war horse, it's tail swishing in the night air. On the face, Elsa caught the familiar light graying patterns that were present in Naeil's hair in his human form. She also noticed the ice blue eyes...now wolf like, but still containing that same look she'd come to crave from the Yoitsuan Prince.

"Well," came the voice, "You wanted to see me like this...come see me."

She strode forward, burying the instinctive fear anyone would have of something that could easily swallow them whole in single gulp. As he approached, he dropped his head low, and she paused at the sudden motion, before reaching out a hand to the wolf's face.

The fur was silky soft, not at all what she'd been expecting. As she stepped closer to the Wolf Prince, she felt her fear turn to pure awe. She could sense the waiting power in his body in this form, sense that he could easily turn from standing still to racing through the mountains in an instant. His human form was handsome, his beast form was beautiful. "Naeil," she whispered.

She stepped back as he crouched low, and was startled by the next words, "Okay, don't just stand there, climb on up."

She gasped, "You mean, you want me to..."

"Yes, now change back into your riding clothes and climb on up. I've been wanting to run for a while, and this seems like the perfect opportunity."

She rolled her hands along her body, resolving her dress back into a blue version of her riding garb. As she approached, she hesitated, "Um, Naeil, how exactly am I supposed to..."

"Go ahead and grab my fur Elsa...you're not going to pull on it that hard. Even if you do...who knows, maybe I'll like it."

She blushed at his statement as she grabbed his fur, "Don't think that just because you're a wolf now, I'll tolerate you being crude."

"Says the woman I caught getting an eye full earlier..." chuckled the Wolf.

Elsa laughed as she try to settle herself on the Prince's back. "Would it help if I admitted it was a "nice" eye full."

The wolf actually shifted it's head, as if to look back over his shoulder. "It might...are you comfortable?"

She grabbed the fur and locked her legs as best she could, "I guess, but please tell me you're going to take iT SLOOOW..."

She never finished her sentence because Naeil bolted from his crouch and started running through the mountains. As she became accustomed to the movements of his wolf body, Elsa was able to actually look around her and she was stunned. The mountains flew by as her prince gracefully carried her through passes and over crevasses. She was reminded of the feeling she'd had when he'd been teaching her to ride Snowflake without the reigns. Now as he raced through the night, she felt even more like she was flying. As he continued running she realized that she was aware of his heartbeat, pulsing up from beneath her, and even more surprised to find the rhythm echoing on and within her own chest. She felt him slowing down and heard his low growling voice, "There we go, I'd thought I'd seen a trail coming up here." She looked over and saw they'd come to the top of one of the peaks over looking the entire fjord. Just below them, the Ice Palace glittered like a gem in the moonlight, and in the distance, the light from the port and the castle. She sighed and mumbled, "I wonder if Anna accepted Kristoff's proposal?"

"Really? You have doubts about how in love your sister is with that Reindeer man?"

She laughed, "You're right...assuming he managed to actually get the words out, I'm sure she said yes."

"He seemed to be doing pretty well with Sven, earlier."

She laughed. "I really do want them to be happy. She deserves some happiness in her life."

The wolf shifted, "So do you, Elsa. I'm glad you brought me up here. It's been the joy of my life to actually see you let go of your burdens for a moment. I just wish you would recognize that you can do it more often. You aren't alone anymore."

She leaned down and clung to the wolf rubbing her fingers through the soft fur, "Thank you for making me feel safe enough to let them go..."

The wolf made a slight motion of his head, "Well, shall we return, as I recall, we need to get back to the castle before sunrise. Somebody has another speech they have to give."

Elsa groaned, "Kai can put the bloody speech on hold, we're watching the sunrise from the Ice Palace balcony...I missed it so much, and I want to share it with you."

He chucked, "Ok, but just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Don't let me wake up only to find out this has just been some wonderful dream."

She smiled and gently stroked the Wolf's fur, "Only if you promise me the same."