Much to Anna's dismay, the royal physician gave Elsa the go ahead to resume light duties and by the following morning, Elsa hobbled into her study using Anna as a human prop.

"Is this really necessary? I could have all the reports brought to you while you stay in bed." Anna sighed in exasperation as she helped Elsa into the high backed chair behind the desk.

"I doubt I would get any work done." Elsa responded, rifling through the many scrolls on her desk. "But more importantly, it is essential to put on a show. We can't have the other kingdoms thinking that Arendelle's Queen is indisposed."

"I hate that your argument is valid." Anna perched on the edge of the desk, crossing her arms over her chest.

Elsa smiled ruefully. "Care to get me up to speed with the kingdom's affairs, Your Highness?"

"It'd be my honour, Your Majesty." Anna replied sarcastically. "Where shall we start?"

"From the moment we returned from the forest, I supposed. Seeing that I feel like I've been run over by a stampeding horde, I'm guessing I was dragged through the bush." The corner of Elsa's lips tugged upwards in a half smirk.

"Technically, we strapped you to Sven's back. But I guess that description still applies." Anna shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't get how Kristoff can ride Sven without a saddle." Elsa mused.

"Yeah, I don't either. Wouldn't it h – on second thought, I don't want to know." Anna shook her head as if the motion would shake away the mental image in her mind.

Elsa's narrowed her eyes shrewdly. "Great. Now that's all I'm going to be wondering about when I speak to him."

"That makes two of us. Anyway, the most recent scout reports stated no activity on the Southern Isles side of the border. But I've gone ahead with commissioning the construction of a wall along our side as a precautionary measure against future invasion. I hope that's alright?" Anna looked to Elsa with bated breath, seeking approval.

"Of course it is. Arendelle belongs to you. I am just – how did you so aptly put it? Ah, keeping the throne warm." Elsa patted Anna's thigh in assurance.

"It's ours." Anna corrected, fiddling with Elsa's fingers.

"If you say so, Princess."

"Let's get back to business. I want to get this over and done with so I can spend much needed quality time with my wife." Anna proposed; hiking an eyebrow in challenge, daring Elsa to disagree.

At Elsa's amused expression, Anna continued. "Good. You'd be pleased to know that the citizens have returned from the hideout in the mountains and most have resumed their daily lives. As for our men, we lost twenty three of our finest. Their bodies have been retrieved from the fjord and burials arranged to honour their service. I've taken the liberty to send our condolences to their families on your behalf. Forty seven men were injured, all non-fatal and are currently receiving treatment in the infirmary. I thought it would be nice to throw a feast for everyone in the barracks in honour of their valour in battle. If you are agreeable, I'll inform the kitchens and let Kristoff know of a date." Anna paused, studying Elsa's expression intently. It was clear that the blonde was very attached to the men with whom she had served alongside for years and Anna hoped she had handled the matter appropriately.

"Anna, you don't need to ask for my permission all the time. I have absolute faith in your abilities to govern the kingdom and I trust your judgement. Although I'd very much like to attend this feast you are planning. It's the least I can do." Elsa smiled sadly, internally berating herself for not being able to better protect her comrades.

"Of course." Anna acquiesced. "Just one last thing you need to know then. Hans's body and his men made it back to the Southern Isles without a hitch. I'm sure you are aware of that seeing that it's your magic… and it's as you've planned. According to Oaken's latest report, the fleet sailed into Southern Isles waters a day before your dragon deposited Hans's body on their castle's highest tower. I guess having the deadliest naval fleet floating off your shores and your youngest son's dead body delivered by a magical creature was enough to convince our southern neighbour to leave us alone."

Elsa smiled bitterly. It had been a bit of a gamble to have majority of the naval fleet set sail for Southern Isles, thereby decreasing their presence in Arendelle waters. It was meant to be a ploy; a strategy to fool the Southern Isles into thinking they had more than enough troops to spare and was able to mount an offense even while the kingdom was under siege. And against all odds, it had worked. Everything had gone according to her plans so much so that it was almost disconcerting. But a victory was still a victory and Elsa had done all she could to limit the number of lives lost on her side.

"It's really over, isn't it?" Elsa leaned back in her seat, relaxing into the cushions; unable to believe that they had somehow survived.

"Yes, it is." Anna shifted, moving to perch on the arm rest of Elsa's chair.

"Are there any meetings you've got planned for today?" Elsa asked suddenly, abruptly changing the subject.

"No, not that I know of. I had Kai cancel all meetings until further notice." Anna played with the end of Elsa's thick braid, eyeing the blond curiously. "Are you that excited about work?" She made a face of disgust.

"On the contrary. I've had had enough of work for today."

Elsa rose shakily to her feet; her muscles were still sore but she was not about to let that stop her. Leaning over Anna, she pulled her wife into an embrace; resting their foreheads together.

"We are alive and that's all that matters." Elsa pressed her lips against Anna's in a chaste kiss.

xxx

Elsa leaned back against the pile of pillows, dressed only in a silk shirt. She watched silently as Anna kicked off her pants, adding on to the trail of their discarded clothing leading from the door to the bed. Left in a matching shirt, Anna crawled onto the mattress and into Elsa's lap, settling back on her haunches as she draped her arms around Elsa's shoulders.

They had drawn the thick curtains, shutting out majority of the morning light saved for a thin strip that peeked through the fabric, illuminating the room with its intense glare. The windows were partially opened, letting in the crisp chill of early winter as the seasons changed. Muffled sounds from the bustling city could be faintly heard but Anna and Elsa were completely fixated on each other to notice.

Anna scooted closer, pressing her torso against Elsa's and ducking her head to nuzzle at Elsa's neck, leaving a trail of kisses against Elsa's throat. She heard Elsa humming in delight and a burst of warm flooded her chest. Elsa's hands had slipped beneath her shirt, fingertips tracing up her sides to her shoulder blades before curving over her shoulders. Anna raised her head and met Elsa's lips in a searing kiss. Their lips melded together, moving slowly, savouring the sensation and dragging tantalisingly over each other. Anna lifted her arms and pulled away slightly, allowing Elsa to tug off her shirt. The article of clothing landed on the ground, joined swiftly by Elsa's in a discarded pile.

Elsa slipped her arms around Anna's waist, pulling her wife closer as she buried her face into Anna's neck, inhaling deeply. Anna's skin was warm and smooth against hers and she relished in their closeness. She felt Anna's arms encircling her shoulders again, one hand massaging the nape of her neck while the other drew lazy circles over her shoulder. They stayed in that position for a long while, enjoying the intimacy; both silently grateful that they could be in each other's arms again, alive and well with no impending threat.

Elsa regretfully pulled away from the embrace when her back began protesting, an apologetic smile on her face as she leaned back into the mound of pillows stacked behind her. Her eyes raked upwards over Anna's form, a dull throb forming in her loins as her gaze fell on the smatter of curly, fine reddish hair over Anna's groin then over taut abdomen and onto twinned mounds of freckled skin peaked by fully erected nipples. No matter how many times she had seen Anna naked, she never failed to marvel at such absolute perfection.

"You are staring." Anna's voice interrupted her thoughts and Elsa smiled sheepishly.

"I can't help it. You are so beautiful. Absolutely ravishing, stunning, enchanting…"

Anna pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her immediately.

"Showing off your extensive vocabulary?" The redhead quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

"No words can adequately describe your sheer beauty." Elsa replied smoothly.

"You are just biased." Anna chuckled, a faint blush colouring her cheeks.

"Can you blame me?" Elsa sat up to brush her lips against Anna's.

"You clearly haven't looked into a mirror enough." Anna retorted before claiming Elsa's lips in a passionate kiss.

Anna dragged her nails against Elsa's abdomen, eliciting a full body shudder from the blonde. The back of her fingers grazed beneath Elsa's breasts before cupping them and massaging gently. She could feel herself growing damper from the arousal, leaving streaks of warm moisture against Elsa's thighs. She yearned for Elsa's touch but a part of her was worried that her wife might still be too weak.

As if reading her thoughts, Elsa pulled away from the kiss, panting lightly.

"Does this count as light duties?" Elsa asked, her eyes hooded with desire.

"I highly doubt it." Anna replied, inhaling deeply and trying to still her racing heart. "Am I hurting you?" She asked in concern. She had helped removed the bandages from Elsa's back earlier this morning. The image of pearly white skin marred with a myriad of criss-crossing pinkish scar tissue was seared into her mind and Anna couldn't help but feel as if she was the one who had held the whip.

"No. It's impossible to think about anything else with you sitting on my lap and looking like that." Elsa gave Anna the once over.

Anna flushed a deep crimson, immediately scooting back in self-consciousness.

"Wait…"

Elsa caught Anna's wrists as the redhead moved into the stream of sunlight creeping across the bed. Her brows furrowed, eyes focused intently on Anna's chest.

"This… this is new…" With a shaky hand, Elsa traced her fingertips across the pattern of a snowflake, so faint against pale skin directly above Anna's heart.

"Oh. That." Anna glanced down at the pattern on her chest. "You've one too."

"I do?" Elsa peered down at her own chest, squinting to make out the identical snowflake pattern that was almost invisible on her milky skin. "Since… when?" She murmured, pinching her skin between a thumb and forefinger, ascertaining that it was indeed etched into her skin, like she had been branded with a hot iron.

"I reckon it's a mark of that blood bond thing we forge." Anna suggested with a casual shrug.

"Interesting." Elsa hummed in thought. "Speaking of bond… I may have a theory." Elsa began carefully, waiting till she had Anna's undivided attention before continuing. "I think the blood bond connects us in some manner. Clearly we are both able to sense each other's emotions, so that suggests a linked consciousness. But I seem to also have access to far more magic than usual and I think I'm drawing that from you. When we first invoked it, do you feel drained? Exhausted?" Elsa tilted her head, studying Anna in curiosity.

"Are we really having this discussion right now?" Anna exhaled heavily in exasperation. "We are in bed, naked for the first time in a week since we almost died at the hands of a deranged maniac and you would rather discuss hypothetical theories?" Anna hiked an eyebrow sceptically.

"Well, when you put it that way, I'd much rather test the extent of the emotional aspect of our so called bond." Elsa replied brazenly before cupping Anna's butt cheeks and pulling her wife back against her.

"That, I am very much agreeable to." Anna pressed her breasts against Elsa's, her hips rocking gently against Elsa's abdomen.

The wave of arousal that flooded through Elsa was far more intense than any she had ever experienced and she attributed the significant increase in stimulation to stem from Anna's emotions through their strange connection. Needing no further encouragement, Elsa slipped her left hand between Anna's thighs, dipping into moist velvety folds and seeking out the already engorged clitoris. A quick flick at the sensitive bundle of nerves sent Anna inhaling sharply and Elsa could literally feel Anna's growing desire. Her fingers slicked with Anna's arousal, Elsa slipped her index and middle finger deeply into Anna. The wave of sensations that came through their shared bond caused Elsa moaned in pleasure; it felt as if their positions had been reversed and Elsa was the one on the receiving end instead.

Anna gasped as Elsa's fingers filled her and she reflectively braced her weight on her knees to give her wife easier access. She could hear Elsa's muffled moan against her neck, Elsa's excitement arousing her further.

"I take it the results of your field tests are satisfactory." Anna managed to murmur as Elsa began pumping her fingers.

"You have no idea." Elsa bit back a whimper, squeezing her thighs together; the dull throb between her legs pulsating in rhythm to her thrusts into Anna.

"What better way than to find out for myself?" Anna purred into Elsa's ear, nibbling lightly against the earlobe.

Bracing an arm against the headboard, Anna's fingers combed through soft, blonde hairs before parting Elsa's swollen labia, humming in delight at the heated dampness that greeted her. She drew slow circles against Elsa's clitoris, almost losing focus as she felt the stimulating sensations reflected back at her through their mental bond, causing her own clitoris to throb.

"Wow. My Elsa senses are tingling." Anna giggled in a haze of euphoria.

"You are ruining the mood." Elsa whispered seductively, curling her fingers deep within Anna and pressing against the spot where she knew would make her lover squirm.

Anna gasped in pleasure, barely registering that Elsa too was momentarily incapacitated by the pleasure. They shuddered against each other, chests heaving from ragged breathing as their nerves tingled.

Elsa froze, vaguely aware that her nails were digging into Anna's hip as she felt a finger slipping into her folds closely followed by another. Stars were erupting in bursts of light behind her tightly shut eyelids and she gasped from the overwhelming sensation of having a part of Anna in her. She had never been much of a fan of penetration; the idea of having something buried within her most intimate region baffling at best. But this felt different; mostly because it provided a physical connection with Anna but also due in part to their unusual emotional connection with each other. For once, she could experience firsthand the sensations that coursed through Anna's body at her ministrations. It was both exhilarating and very arousing.

"Together." Anna whispered, her free hand pressing against Elsa's fingers in encouragement.

They struck up a slow rhythm, pumping into each other steadily, fighting to stay focus through the haze of euphoria. With a hand against the back of Anna's neck, Elsa pulled Anna down, pressing their lips together in a hungry kiss. Elsa ran her tongue against Anna's lower lip, delving in quickly when they parted for her and meeting Anna's tongue. A low whimper escaped from Anna's throat and Elsa pushed her advance, sliding beneath the underside of Anna's tongue and eliciting a full body shiver. Despite being thoroughly familiarised with each other's bodies, it felt like their very first time on their wedding night. Their eyes were closed, amplifying their other senses and using their linked consciousness as a gauge of each other's heightened emotions.

Elsa thrust harder, burying her fingers deeply into Anna's centre, a motion replicated with perfect synchrony by her wife. All form of coherent thought had long flown right out of the window and they were reduced to whimpering each other's names in between kisses as they were brought closer to the edge.

Anna rested her forehead against Elsa's, her eyes hooded as she panted through parted lips, grunting each time Elsa pushed into her. Her body was pressed snugly against Elsa's, her free arm wrapped around Elsa's shoulders, her elbow jammed against the pillows to brace her weight. They had shifted into a half reclining position, propped up by the mountain of pillows stacked behind Elsa's back. Anna squirmed against Elsa's hand, her hips rocking as she pushed herself down harder around Elsa's fingers. Nudging Elsa's nose with her own, she silently urged Elsa to meet her heated gaze to watch each other as they approached their climax.

Their bodies jerked against each other's, each twitch of their fingers bringing about wave after wave of mind numbing pleasure. Anna could feel Elsa's inner walls clamping down on her fingers, throbbing in rhythm to her thundering heart as heat flooded her hand, causing her to tense around Elsa's fingers. Their lips were parted, cries of pleasure dying in their throats as they stared into each other's eyes in a daze. Their backs were arched; their chests pressed against each other's, heated skin against heated skin as they rode out their simultaneous orgasms. It was several minutes before their locked muscles relaxed enough for Anna to collapse against Elsa, their breathing uneven.

"That… was…" Anna faltered, biting back a moan as Elsa withdrew her fingers, slicked with moisture.

"Amazing." Elsa completed, her eyes rolling back as Anna deliberately removed her fingers with a tantalising slowness.

"I'm starting to really like this linked consciousness thing." Anna murmured, nuzzling into Elsa's neck. "Do you think we might even be able to communicate telepathically too?"

Elsa chuckled. "You have a really wild imagination. Though to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't be surprise."

"I'm going to have to insist we don't abuse it though. I like hearing your voice." Anna mumbled, her eyelids drooping in exhaustion as she wrapped her arms around Elsa's waist, snuggling into her wife.

"The feeling is mutual." Elsa brushed back a few stray bangs from Anna's forehead.

"Maybe the trolls will know more…"

"We'll visit them tomorrow. Or the day after or not at all. There's no hurry. It's not as if they will tell us anything outright." Elsa pressed her lips against Anna's temple.

"Mmmm." Anna hummed in agreement. "Right now, all that matters is you and me." Anna tilted her head, kissing Elsa tenderly.

Fin.

A/N:

A huge thank you to everyone who have stuck with me through 26 chapters. This fic has been an absolute joy to write. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I have writing. This is to date, the longest fic I've written (at more than 100k words!), though I still have much to learn as a writer.

A shoutout to my best friend, Corn 2 for bringing me into this fandom and encouraging me to write a fic.

Once again, THANK YOU!

- smiggers

P.S:

If inspiration strikes me, I will definitely be writing another Elsanna fic.

Until then, I'll be lurking around on Tumblr (Url's smiggers if anyone wants to drop prompts.)