Fear not everyone, here's the next chapter. I've just been busy today and didn't get a lot of time to work on my fanfic writing until tonight.

I was originally going to have this chapter focus on SoKai, but then I realized that I hadn't really shown two of the characters whose friendship I set up in The Xehanort War: Lea and Elsa. I wanted to have some more moments with those two and a little bit of ship tease. There's going to be a time skip once the story of the Acolytes of Chaos saga really gets going, so I wanted to leave some hints about who the different pairings would be before the time skip.

Only 3 Chapters left., and yes, the title for this one is a shout out to Game of Thrones and the book series that it's based on. Before anyone thinks to ask, no, there will not be a world based on that because it isn't part of the Disney umbrella.

Episode 29: Songs of Ice and Fire:

Arendelle – Throne Room:

August 29, 2015

Elsa sighed as she walked out into the corridor off the throne room to stretch her legs. While Arendelle's induction into the Daybreak Coalition had gone smoothly, she had a long line of petitioners here to see her today. After sitting on the uncomfortable throne for two hours, she needed a breath of fresh air before she could go any further. She took a few calming breaths to melt the layer of frost that trailed behind her.

With help from Anna and the occasional visit from Lea, her control over her powers had improved considerably in the last month and a half. Where she once hid her hands behind her gloves in fear of accidentally freezing someone, now she could keep her magic in check with ease. She closed her eyes as she leaned out the open window and breathed in the calming sea air. But when she opened her eyes, she found she'd accidentally coated the windowsill with a layer of ice.

"You've really come a long way," a familiar voice called out. Elsa jumped back in surprise and turned to find Lea leaning against the wall further down the hallway.

"Thanks," the queen of Arendelle replied, blushing lightly as she did so. She may have only known the man for a little over a month, but since he'd started visiting more often, she'd come to develop a crush on him. Not that she was ready to admit that to anyone other than herself, of course. "How are things going in Twilight Town?"

"I finally managed to get myself a job," the Flurry of Dancing Flames answered proudly. While there was enough dough left over from what they'd recovered from the Organization's Munny vault, the house he, Roxas, Xion, and Namine lived in had to be paid off somehow. That Munny couldn't last forever, so he'd set out to find himself a job so that they wouldn't run out of money.

"Congratulations!" Elsa said. "So what's your new job then?" Lea blushed before finally answering.

"I'm a model at Twilight Town's big clothing outlet," he tried to say as quickly and quietly as he could, hoping she wouldn't hear him. Unfortunately (for him at least), she did.

"Seriously?" she gasped out between bursts of laughter. "No offense, but I figured you'd wind up working at a pizza restaurant or something with your fire powers." She kept laughing to hide her blushing at having pictured Lea shirtless when he'd said he was a model.

"Eh," Lea replied noncommittally. "It was the only place that had a position open on world, and I wasn't ready to do inter-planetary commuting unless I was really desperate. Besides, it pays the bills and puts food on the table." As the queen's laughter died down, Lea asked Elsa how things were going for her.

Having learned from both Lea and experience that bottling her emotions up only made things worse, Elsa took the opportunity to vent her frustrations with how her day was going. Lea politely nodded and listened as she went on about how much pressure she was under with the day to day minutia of ruling a kingdom.

"You should ask your sister to help to take some of the pressure off," Lea suggested as they walked through the corridors of the palace. "That way you're not as stressed."

"But I'm queen," Elsa protested. "I can't just dump my responsibilities on someone else just because I need some time to myself."

"That doesn't mean you need to handle everything alone," Lea countered. "It's not selfish to need a break to unwind from the pressure every once in a while. That's what delegating's for. You're still in charge, but you can still lighten the load so you're not overworking yourself." Elsa sighed as she realized that her friend was right once again.

"Aren't I always?" he asked jokingly, to which he received a playful punch in the shoulder for his attempt as sarcastic humor. When the two of them finished laughing, he informed Elsa that he'd brought her a deep dish pizza from Twilight Town, and he practically had to chase after her as she bolted towards the dining room. Since Lea had first introduced her to the food when he'd dropped by to visit after Xehanort's fall, she'd taken a taste and almost immediately declared it to be her favorite food, and so Lea made sure to bring a fresh pie with him whenever he came to visit.

As they sat in the castle dining room chowing down on hot, fresh pizza, Lea couldn't keep his eyes off the queen of Arendelle. They'd been friends for a month and a half, but already he was beginning to realize that he just might like her as more than a friend. He wasn't ready to admit it to himself yet, on account of the fact that she was busy running a kingdom and right now barely had time for herself, let alone dipping her toes into the dating pool. Right now though, he just enjoyed spending time with a friend. He, Roxas, and Xion would always be his best friends (even if he was still the closest thing to a parental figure in their lives), but it was nice to spend time with people his own age for a change.

Lea and Elsa aren't going to get together soon, I just want to establish that while right now they're just friends, the attraction is still there.

Up next: Twilight Town's struggle championships have two new competitors.