Chapter Sixteen

Elsa rolled her shoulders back, trying to get rid of some of the tension nestled at the nape of her neck. When that didn't work, she stood and stretched. The light spilling in through the window caught her eye. The negotiations didn't take as long as she expected and guilt still twisted her gut at the thought of Astrid just milling about.

A grin pulled at Elsa's lips. Perhaps she could show Astrid around a little. Spend some quality time with her without the guards, without the prison walls, without prying eyes. Heat crept up her cheeks. Calm down, she told herself, but she walked out to the hallway all the same. She quickened her pace further once she saw the doors to outside. Shoving the doors open, Elsa stepped into the light and breathed in the crisp summer air.

Even though she wanted to see Astrid, the dragon area seemed to call to her. It had been a while since she'd been close to them. Stormfly nudged the darker dragon, who thrashed its tail at her. The memory of Stormfly dragging Anna forward surfaced in Elsa's mind. Of how Stormfly stopped once Elsa commanded her to. No, once Elsa asked. Elsa walked toward the dragons, fully aware that there wasn't a cage this time. That nothing could stop these creatures from killing her if they wanted to.

But something propelled her forward. Curiosity. Maybe. Probably, if she was honest. The dragons seemed…magical. And the image of Astrid riding Stormfly's back burned in Elsa's mind. Of how powerful she looked.

Of how incredibly sexy. Elsa shook her head, trying to clear it.

Stormfly noticed her first. The blue dragon turned, keeping her eye on Elsa as she stepped closer still. Stormfly didn't blink. And neither did she. Maybe it was a sign of respect? Or a challenge. Elsa glanced at Stormfly's tail, remembering how it dug grooves at their first meeting, but the tail didn't move. Didn't even twitch. Then, slowly, Stormfly lowered her head, dropping her gaze for an instant before flicking it back up to Elsa. Elsa's grin widened.

Stormfly huffed and tried to step closer but the other dragon moved forward, butting it's head against Stormfly and staring at Elsa. Stormfly backed up a pace. Elsa focused her gaze on the purple dragon. Was this dragon their leader? It seemed so. Like Hiccup was their chief. Elsa stopped. Stormfly she could relate to. They had communicated, after all. However briefly. But this dragon? Its movements were hesitant. Cautious, almost.

Still, Elsa stepped forward.

Astrid meandered into the main gardens. She wanted to get away from the bustle of the town. Anna and Kristoff had showed her around quiet thoroughly and Astrid had a three-hour limit on how interesting she found things. They had reached her limit awhile ago. Still, the afternoon sun blazed down, the day still had many hours to go.

She knelt down by the flowers, a bright bunch of bluebells capturing her gaze. Fingering its soft petals, her mind strayed to Elsa, as so often it did. But movement caught her eye. She glanced up from the flowers and gasped.

Elsa walked toward Toothless and Stormfly. What in all the gods was she doing? Stormfly she was fine with, but Toothless hadn't been formally introduced to Elsa yet. Tootheless didn't know her at all. He was a great dragon, but if Elsa did something strange he could consider her a threat.

She rushed toward the trio, calling out, "Elsa!"

"Astrid?" Elsa turned, the grin on her face sending Astrid's belly into flips.

And even though she worried, Astrid smiled in return. She couldn't help it. "Let me introduce you to them."

"Introduce us?" Elsa titled her head, a lock of her hair fell out of her bun.

She reached Elsa's side and put her hand on Elsa's shoulder. Did Elsa lean into the touch? It felt like she had, but Astrid ignored it. She also ignored the tingling running down her arm and the warmth spreading up her neck. Ignored the way her spirit lifted by being around her. Ignored how wonderfully cool Elsa's skin felt under her palm. Ignored how close they stood together. Ignored the way a few free strands of hair drifted over her sparkling ice-blue eyes. Ignored how she desperately wanted to pull Elsa into a kiss.

Or tried to anyway.

Tried and failed.

Astrid lowered her hand and covered her sudden silence with a cough. "I just didn't want you to startle them, that's all." She gestured to the dragons. "They startle easily."

Stormfly let out a huff and butted Astrid's back.

Elsa laughed. "Apparently your dragon didn't like that comment."

"Yeah, she doesn't like a lot of things I say." Astrid pushed Stormfly gently away, sending a glare over her shoulder. Astrid motioned to Toothless to come over. Toothless did, but he kept his eyes locked on Elsa. Astrid rubbed the dragon's nose, trying to calm his worries. "This is Toothless."

"He's quite handsome. His coloring reminds me of twilight." Elsa nodded but kept her distance as well. Out of respect, probably, Astrid noted. Good.

"He's what we call a Night Fury. Super sweet, but he takes some time to get to know new people." She recalled their first meeting. How he kept wanting to attack her. How Hiccup wouldn't let him. Well, she wouldn't let Toothless attack Elsa, either.

"A Night Fury?" Elsa bit her lip, an adorable gesture. "What kind of dragon is Stormfly?"

Astrid winced. She always hated how harsh her dragon's name was. "A Deadly Nadder."

"Deadly?" Elsa's voice lifted.

Stormfly came up on her other side and Astrid rubbed Stormfly's neck. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. She's my friend. She won't hurt you."

"Oh, I know." Elsa smiled at the dragon. "We talked earlier. Would she be okay with me touching her?"

"You talked?" Astrid couldn't believe it. When had they talked? How had they talked? Stormfly slapped her with her wing, breaking into her thoughts. "She wouldn't mind."

Elsa reached her hand out to Stormfly then paused. Waiting.

Bold. The thought struck Astrid. Elsa was bold. Wanting to touch her dragon. Wanting to risk it. Not many people would be so willing after their first encounter. After putting the dragon into a cell. After letting a dragon go.

But, they were going to be trading partners. She looked at this ice queen. Maybe more than trading partners.

Stormfly closed the distance, nudging Elsa's hand with her nose.

Elsa wanted to jerk away, but she didn't. It would be rude. The dragon felt warm. Way too warm. But, then again, she only knew the touch of Icicle and Icicle was made of snow. Maybe dragons were supposed to be this hot.

The dragon cooed, and the noise sounded so much like Icicle that Elsa slipped her hand up and over the dragon's head and up its spiked neck. Stormfly moved closer, enveloping Elsa in warmth. The light hit Stormfly's neck, and her scales flashed iridescent. Beautiful.

Elsa leaned down and rubbed Stormfly between the eyes. "You're beautiful, Stormfly. And I knew we would get along the moment you didn't attack Anna."

Stormfly made a rumbling noise and curled around her, her wings pushing into Elsa's side and her tail landing with a thump by Elsa's feet. She nudged Elsa. It felt like a friendly gesture so, emboldened by it, Elsa ran her hand over Stormfly's nearest wing and scratched her belly.

When Elsa finally tore her gaze away from this magnificent creature, she noticed the expression on Astrid's face. The parted lips, the wide eyes. Was that a blush tinting her neck? She couldn't be sure, but her stomach tightened all the same.

"What?" Elsa kept her hand on one of Stormfly's spikes but dropped the other hand away, afraid she had gone too far.

"I just—" Astrid coughed again and rubbed the back of her neck. "I just never expected you two to get along so well. So fast."

"Well," Elsa replied, eyeing Stormfly. "It seems we have an…understanding about things."

Stormfly blinked slowly. A yes, if there ever was one.

Astrid shook her head. "Maybe, if you ever get tired of this queen business, you could become a dragon trainer. We need all the hands we can get."

Elsa laughed. "I don't think this queen thing will ever end, but thanks for the offer." She looked at Toothless still a few paces away. "Do you think Toothless would let me touch him, too?"

Astrid glanced at the other dragon and then back at them. "Maybe."

Elsa's smile faltered. "It's okay if he doesn't let me. If he doesn't want to, I mean." It would be quite a sign if Astrid's dragon liked her and Hiccup's dragon didn't. But maybe Hiccup himself needed to be there before Toothless would let her in?

Shuffling her feet a bit, Astrid lowered her gaze to the ground, as if thinking. Finally she nodded. "Toothless won't mind."

Stormfly unwound herself from Elsa's side and went to Astrid's. Elsa reached out once more to the new dragon and waited. Wanting the dragon to make the move. Like Stormfly. It seemed only fair. Only right. To allow the dragon to decide what he wanted.

Astrid's muscles tightened. Elsa probably shouldn't touch Toothless. Not now. Not yet. Not without Hiccup around. But she had looked so sweet, so hopeful, so willing, Astrid couldn't say no.

With every breath that passed her lips Astrid tensed further. Maybe Toothless really didn't want Elsa to touch him. Maybe Toothless could sense Astrid's unease?

Toothless' gaze shifted to Astrid and he unmistakably winked. A dragon wink. Which meant he closed both eyes but chuffed in the same moment.

Or maybe he was just being an ass. Like usual.

Toothless, just like Stormfly, closed to the distance between him and Elsa. Elsa grinned, her smile lighting up her face, the garden, hell, the whole universe as far as Astrid was concerned. Toothless allowed Elsa to scratch his nose and his neck, titling his head to allow her more access. He stayed still as she circled him, exclaiming every once in a while about his coloring. He even opened his wings when Elsa asked about it and she gasped at that, too.

Astrid shook her head. Elsa astounded her in more ways than one. It took dragon trainers years to learn how to be comfortable around these creatures. Years of training to calm the beasts down, too. And then weeks, if not months, with the dragons before they could touch them, command them, even.

Elsa was a natural. Even more natural than Hiccup. She had a gift.

Yes, this partnership would work quite well.

A crazy idea captured Astrid. What if Stormfly would let Elsa ride her? What if they could leave together? Go someplace quiet. Someplace to themselves.

The idea burst from her mouth before she could really wrap her mind around it. "Do you wanna ride her?"

Elsa stopped rubbing Toothless' back. A definite blush seeped into her cheeks now. "Excuse me?"

"Ride Stormfly. It's a great feeling. And with your…understanding…I'm sure she'd let you…us…ride her. If you want to. Ride her, I mean." Oh great. Now she was stumbling over her words. Like an idiot. But still, that blush threw her off. What exactly was the ice queen thinking about?

"Oh!" Elsa put her hand to her cheek. The redness vanished. "I would love to."

"Great," Astrid replied. But where would they go?

As if hearing her thoughts, Elsa patted Toothless one last time and said, "I have the perfect place to show you."

Astrid grinned, probably stupidly but she didn't care. She drew Stormfly around and gestured to the saddle on her back. "Do you know how to ride a horse? It's kind of the same thing."

Okay, she didn't really know if it was similar, having never ridden a horse before, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"Of course." Elsa heaved herself up onto Stormfly's back and settled into the saddle. She slipped her feet in front of the stirrups, as if knowing Astrid needed them. Then she glanced behind her. The blush on her cheeks had returned. She raised her hand once more to her cheek and the blush faded again. "Come on up then."

Not believing her luck, Astrid swung up behind Elsa. Here she was, on Stormfly, wrapping her arms around the woman she had been crushing on for quite some time now, tucking herself closer so she could slip her feet into the stirrups, and desperately trying to ignore how wonderful Elsa felt pressed against her. Of how a deep throbbing had started in her core and between her legs. She couldn't ignore it this time, either, but she desperately tried.

She had one flash back to her first time on Toothless, of how she had sat behind Hiccup not in front, and pushed that thought away. She would ask the ice queen later why she chose this particular position. Gathering the reins in her hands, she chirped to Stormfly.

Stormfly leapt once, twice, a third time, then opened her wings and spiraled upward. Elsa yelped and grabbed hold of the saddle's pommel. Astrid chuckled. They rose higher and higher still, faster than ever before. Astrid looked down, noticed Anna and Kristoff still mingling with others. Saw how Anna glanced up. Saw her eyes widen at them. At Elsa probably. Then Astrid looked away.

"Point me in the right direction," she said, leaning closer to Elsa.

Astrid's voice in her ear made Elsa gasp. As if on instinct, she settled deeper into the saddle, pushing her butt backwards into Astrid and forcing Astrid's legs wider to accommodate her. She curled to better fit into Astrid's arms and she heard Astrid gasp at the sudden motion. Elsa settled her hands on Astrid's thighs. They trembled slightly under her touch. Though, to be fair, Elsa could be the one trembling. Both from being up so high—on a dragon, no less—and being so near to Astrid.

Elsa loved how warm Astrid felt on her back, how her muscular arms wrapped around her waist, how her breath tickled her neck. She had wanted to be closer, to feel Astrid press into her, to revel in the warmth of this warrior's soul.

And, now far away from her town and from Anna, Elsa could admit that she wanted to make Astrid gasp again. Over and over again until she could take no more.

Still, now wasn't the time. Not yet. They had to get to know each other a little more. A little better. And they certainly couldn't do anything on a dragon. Elsa pointed. "Head to that mountain."

Astrid nodded, keeping her gaze firmly straight ahead. A blush crept up to her ears. Or was it bite of the wind? Elsa couldn't tell for sure, but she had a suspicion it wasn't from the cold air blowing against them. She allowed herself a heartbeat to stare into those hazel eyes before shifting her gaze to stare ahead, too.

They reached the mountain in record time and Elsa pointed to her creation, her ice castle, her sanctuary. It usually took the better part of a day to get to it from Arendelle but on Stormfly it took minutes, at most.

Elsa patted Stormfly's neck, taking the last few moments as they landed, to enjoy the dragon beneath her, the way Stormfly's wings gathered the wind, the muscles coiling then releasing. How the dragon seemed to hug the curves as they spiraled down, wings tilting every so often to correct their decent. How they landed gracefully on the balcony. How Stormfly pulled up suddenly only to drift down to the ice, her claws clicking on the frozen floor. Elsa felt honored to know a creature as lovely as this. And to know a people who befriended these dragons. Stormfly was magnificent.

But Stormfly couldn't compare to the beauty now slipping off the dragon and extending her hand. Astrid, in her thick leather tunic and brown pants, her hair swept over one shoulder and her hazel eyes full of mischief, truly took Elsa's breath away.

She accepted the hand, all too well aware that they were now alone and quite capable of doing things. Of how she had pressed hard against Astrid. Had enjoyed the ride a bit too much. Astrid helped her down, putting a hand only once and only for a moment on the small of Elsa's back to help steady herself. Then Astrid stepped back, breaking their contact. Elsa wished Astrid never would.

But they had to get to know one another. They had to. And Elsa would start the conversation. "This is my sanctuary."

Astrid went to the double doors and swung them open, running her hand along the surface of the ice. "It's beautiful. Who made it?"

"I did." When Astrid spun to face her, Elsa shrugged. "I told you about my powers when we talked in your cell."

Astrid barked a laugh. "Sure, how you created winter. How you somehow created Icicle. And a snowman named Olaf. But never how you created this. It's…It's…" She paused, as if struggling to find the words. "It's stunning, Elsa."

And, because she could think of nothing else to say, Elsa replied with a simple "Thank you." Still, she wanted to get to know Astrid a bit more and so gave a bit more of herself in hopes Astrid would respond in kind. "I needed someplace to get away from it all."

"But you seem so in control in Arendelle." Astrid kept glancing up at the ice chandelier over their heads. Elsa conjured up a double-seated chair for them and sat down, motioning for Astrid to do the same. Even over a year since the incident, that damn chandelier still made her knees shake. Astrid sat down beside her and continued, "Everyone there seems to respect your decision."

"They respect it because of my title. I'm still trying to earn it, though, after what happened with the eternal winter I caused. With almost killing Anna." Elsa's throat tightened at that last part, the wound still heavy in her heart.

Astrid went to put her hand over Elsa's then stopped. "But you didn't. You saved Arendelle. Your powers helped, in the end."

Elsa shifted, spitting out her fears for Astrid to hear. "But it's not enough. They still judge me. I know they do."

She hadn't told anyone about how she felt about her people. About how she felt they judged her. About how they had to judge her because of everything that happened. Her chest tightened. About how they had a right to do so.

Astrid lowered her hand, the weight felt good to Elsa. Comforting. Astrid leaned closer. "That judgment will pass. In fact, I bet it already has. I walked around your village with Anna and Kristoff this afternoon, and your people seemed happy. Anna gushed about the dragons and how ours are just like Icicle and how we're no threat to them. How it was just a misunderstanding. People seem hopeful. And I bet when you secure this deal with Hiccup, you'll see their hope, too."

"Thank you," Elsa replied. Some of Elsa's anxiety lifted. Maybe her people would trust her again. Maybe this negotiation would change it all for her. For her people. For Anna.

She put her other hand over Astrid's and squeezed. Astrid's voice was like a blanket covering her, warming her. But her mind tugged at one word. Hiccup. Their argument from before still weighed on Elsa, how Astrid wasn't allowed in the negotiations. How she seemed so disappointed and so angry about it.

She breached the subject as tactfully as she could. "You and Hiccup seemed…confrontational before the negotiations. I hope I didn't start anything awkward between you two."

Astrid leaned away, breaking their handhold, and Elsa immediately missed the contact. Astrid shifted in her seat, glancing away. She twined her own fingers together on her lap.

Elsa took all those signals to be very bad indeed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to bring it up, I was just—"

Uncomfortable. Distinctly uncomfortable. That's how she was with where this conversation was going. And, even though Elsa was trying to fly out of it, muttering even now, Astrid knew she should tell her the truth. And what's more, Astrid wanted to.

She held up her hand. "Stop, Elsa. It's okay. We can talk about it."

Elsa quieted, shifting slightly away.

Astrid frowned. Great. Now they weren't even touching at all. Wonderful job. Really wonderful. "It's in the past, so please don't worry about it, okay."

Elsa nodded, motioning for her to continue.

So Astrid did. "We used to be together." A sudden horrible thought struck her. What if Elsa didn't understand how Astrid could be attracted to both genders? Still, she had to go on. "It was at the beginning of his chiefdom, right when he learned that we could actually ride the dragons instead of battling them all the time." Here she stopped, reliving the memories.

Elsa tugged gently on her tunic, drawing her back. "What happened?"

"Nothing terrible…well…nothing too terrible I mean. Matters of the heart are always complicated and with Hiccup it got more complicated. We used to spend all of our time together and then we didn't spend any time together. His duties as chief called for him everyday and my duties as lead dragon trainer called to me, too." She coughed, fighting a lump that started to rise in her throat. Still, after a year apart, it still felt too fresh in her mind. In her heart. "After a time, it just…didn't work anymore. We didn't make it work, you know? And once we realized we didn't want to make it work, it was a mutual separation."

"I'm sorry. That's always hard." Elsa reached out and put her hand on Astrid's leg, squeezing it.

Astrid stared down at the pale hand, the coolness of it settling her. Calming her. "Right after we separated Hiccup started negotiations with this group of people. He was excited about it, brought me along. This princess also seemed excited about the dragons, too excited. He promised her a dragon egg. An egg! I had to tell her otherwise. Hiccup wasn't terribly pleased and, in the end, we lost the negotiations." Astrid smiled sheepishly at Elsa. "It's why I'm not allowed in yours. I got angry about it because of the connection we have. Because I just wanted to spend more time with you and was angry when he denied that."

Elsa's smile nearly melted Astrid's heart. The blush that rose on her cheeks turned her skin a bright pink, but she didn't do anything to stop it this time. It had only occurred to Astrid that was why Elsa kept putting her hand on her cheek, to stop the heat from rising. But she didn't this time.

Instead, Elsa whispered, "Thank you for telling me that." She tightened her hold on Astrid's leg and leaned forward, pausing just a few breathes away. Her eyes caught the light, and Astrid could clearly see the desire there.

With a burst of courage even she didn't know she had, Astrid slipped her hand behind Elsa's neck and closed the distance between them.

They finally kissed.

SQ: Yay, some actual kissing, right? I've been itching to write this chapter for weeks now but my life took a sudden turn for the better and I had to focus on another set of writings before I could circle back to this one. I'm super excited to announce that Desert Palm Press picked up my lesbian science fiction novel - Finding Hekate - and will publish it in February 2016! (I'll be sure to put up more details about where to buy it when it comes out, if you're interested.) I had to work on novel edits so that's why I was so distant from this fanfiction piece. I'm so happy to be back in it again, though!

Also, thank you so much to your comments, the new followers, and favorites! It means so much to me that so many people like my work. I'm almost up to 100 comments and have over 200 followers, and I'm super psyched about it!

THANK YOU, READERS! I'M SENDING YOU ALL THE LOVE!

Here are two things you could help me with the upcoming chapters:
1) I'm planning on having a ball in the next chapter - Anna's celebratory engagement ball - but I want to connect Astrid to it a little more. Would it be too out of character to have Astrid want to help with the ball (or suggest the ball maybe)? She hasn't really had much time with Anna yet, so I didn't know if that would be too OOC for her.
2) I want there to be a sexy times between these two, but I'm a little afraid I've set up their relationship a bit too slow for the three-chapters-to-the-end plan I had. Thoughts?

Also - random update - I am going to write that Korrasami fanfic, I promise, but I decided to finish this story before starting on another. It's just easier for me to work on one writing thing at a time, you know?

Until next time!
Warm regards,
SerenityQuill