A/N: The only reason I split off this section from the final chapter is so that the story would finish on a nice, even 30. Also because I love reading y'alls thought process and ideas as to what comes next in the reviews. This is just to build up suspense I suppose. The final chapter willbe posted tomorrow around the same time this was posted. The epilogue will be posted the day after that.

Enjoy!

"Elsa, are you alright?"

With the sleeve of her hoodie, Elsa began to dab at the corners of her widened eyes. "What brings you to my little kingdom of isolation?" She asked, trying to make light of the situation despite the hoarseness in her voice.

"Kingdom?" Pocahontas repeated, taking a step closer to the blonde and taking a seat next to her. "Elsa, this is a stairwell."

Elsa shifted uncomfortably, scooting over just a bit to leave a little room between them. When her shoulder hit the handrail, she stopped and dabbed at her eyes again. "A kingdom can be a stairwell if it wants to be." She tried to joke again, giving a weak smile when she noticed Pocahontas eyeing her.

"And where exactly would your subjects live?" Pocahontas asked in response, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the blonde. Before she could answer, she was cut off as Pocahontas gestured toward the landing below them. "I take it you're planning to use that area for farming?"

Elsa muttered a fake chuckle before turning to face Pocahontas, leaning the back of her head against the handrails. "So, what's up?"

"Elsa-" Pocahontas began, her expression falling slightly as she made eye contact and refused to let it go. "You were singing Patience by Guns n' Roses, and you expect me to just walk on by like that is something you would do by yourself in a stairwell?"

"You recognized the song?" Elsa replied, the small smile returning. "I'd never guess you were one for some classic eighties rock."

Pocahontas mirrored both the smile and Elsa's position, resting the back of her head against the wall as she shrugged. "I'm also a sucker for Tchaikovsky and Pachelbel."

"I've always been a Wagner and Beethoven kind of girl myself, although I do love Pachelbel's Canon."

"And I can't forget about Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries." The two women shared a brief chuckle before Pocahontas regained the eye contact. "I take it you miss Anna." She finally said, slowly and quietly as if Elsa were a stray cat that would run away at any sudden movement.

"How do you manage to read people so well?"

"Elsa, you were sing-"

"Yes, I know, but I'm talking about in general and not about me right this moment." Elsa corrected, bringing her hands into her hoodie pocket and sinking into herself. It was a common occurrence that she had noticed with Pocahontas. She had heard stories from her friends, including Anna, say how Pocahontas would just seemingly appear out of thin air to give them encouragement about things they were nervous or anxious about.

Pocahontas chuckled with a warm smile, and Elsa slowly brought her hands back out of her pockets as she returned it. "You learn a lot about people when you choose to listen rather than talk. Watch rather than act. It could be something big like you singing a song about missing someone, or small like you rubbing your hands together when you're nervous, or how Anna brushes her hair back when she's nervous." She straightened up and leaned forward slightly. "For instance, even if you don't think so, you yearn to be accepted by those around you." Before Elsa could open her mouth to rebut, Pocahontas politely waved her off. "You take on small little aspects of those around you. Like when I copied your position and leaned against the wall, you put your hands in your pockets. When I opened up for a moment with a smile, you brought them back out."

Elsa furrowed her brows. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all, most people end up doing it even if they don't realize it." She responded with a small shrug, propping her elbow on the stair above her and leaning on it. "But I take it the stairwell had better acoustics than your dorm?"

Elsa chuckled and turned from Pocahontas and down to the landing below. "It's a little cooler out in the halls; it started to get a little stuffy in the room." She lied, hoping Pocahontas wouldn't prod on the subject anymore. Elsa let out a silent breath of relief when Pocahontas just gave a small shrug and a nod.

"You know I used to be close with a man from London." She started, causing Elsa's head to snap back toward her. "His name was John."

"Really?" Elsa asked, leaning forward slightly. "What happened?"

"It was a lot like a rainstorm. Exciting and yet ominous when it approaches, but beautiful when it happens. But I cannot follow a rainstorm wherever it may go." She started slowly, in somewhat of a morose tone.

"Is this a sensitive topic for you?" Elsa asked, sensing the bit of disturbance in the woman across from her. "I'm sorry I brought it up if I did."

"No, not at all. I actually have very good memories with him. But when it came time for him to leave and go back to London, he wanted me to come with him. But I couldn't leave my family behind; I still lived with them at the time." Pocahontas finished, straightening up and brushing her hair out of her eyes. "You never know exactly where the river would take you. It just seems that our rivers had split off apart from each other."

Sinking back into herself, Elsa began to mull over the words Pocahontas had just said. She felt her heart drop a couple inches inside her chest, her stomach threatening to tie itself into several knots. "Do you think something like that could happen to me and Anna?" She asked, unsure through widened eyes as she stared right past Pocahontas and at the wall beside her.

"That's the beautiful thing about rivers, Elsa." Pocahontas started, slow and calm. "You never really know where they'll take you. Sometimes you might hit some rough waters, and sometimes the river will split into two different paths. But others join up with different rivers and stay that way throughout their course." Leaning over, she gingerly grabbed Elsa's arms and pulled them out of her hoodie and placed her hands over her knee. "But the river never stops and worries about what's around the bend. You and Anna have a beautiful relationship. Instead of worrying about the river splitting off, just enjoy the ride."

Elsa's eyes slowly shifted away from the wall and back onto Pocahontas, giving her a warm smile as they did. The more she thought about it, the more she warmed up to the entire idea. Even thinking about Anna, despite them being oceans apart, still brought a warm feeling in her chest that she wanted to take a hold of and never let go. The best part was that she knew Anna felt the same way. She absentmindedly began to rub her thumbs over the fabric of her jeans as she let out a quick breath and shook her head. "You're completely right." Shaking her head again, she brushed back a loose strand of hair on her forehead. "I guess I'm just anxious in a way. I'm ready for Anna to come back home and kind of nervous about going to that party tomorrow with Aleks." She admitted, crossing her arms over her stomach with a small shrug.

"I've heard about that, your sister shares your feelings to an extent. We don't talk much, but I can tell she has a certain…" Pocahontas' face contorted and scrunched as her head briefly nodded back and forth. "Distaste, I would say, for Gaston."

"Jasmine tells me that he eats five dozen eggs a day."

"Well, doesn't that just sound eggs-ellent" Pocahontas blurted out with a large grin as the two girls shared a brief laugh that ended after Elsa snorted and covered her face to stifle the giggles. "Would you like me to shadow you tomorrow?"

"Honestly, by the sounds of it, it sounds like the type of thing nobody would care if you were officially invited or not." Elsa replied, bringing her hands down and crossing them over her stomach again.

With a shrug, Pocahontas stood up and gestured for Elsa to join her. "You're right, but it also sounds like the type of thing where I wouldn't necessarily want my presence known." She started down the hallway in a leisure pace, briefly turning her head to be sure Elsa was following. "I'm pretty good and blending in, if any situation comes up that looks like it could turn to something detrimental and cause you distress, I can let you know. Or, if I'm lucky, prevent it all together."

Quickening her pace for a moment to catch up with Pocahontas, Elsa was sure to speak in a lower tone as to not wake anyone up. "I'm sure everything will be okay, but I'll admit, it would be nice knowing that you're around." She admitted, her eyes glued to the floor underneath her as the pair slowly made their way down the hall.

"Rapunzel tells me that she promised Anna to watch after you during her absence. I'm sure she's quite capable, but an extra pair of eyes never hurt."

"She doesn't want me to be alone, despite her being in London. Some people might find that excessive, but I think that's really endearing in a way." Elsa muttered under her breath as a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Rapunzel had taken that promise quite seriously as well; she stopped by at the dorm every other day or so just to talk despite sharing a class every day. Elsa had a growing suspicion that Anna had a little bit to do with that, but it was nice to have a confirmation on it. But she would be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy Rapunzel popping in every now and then, in fact Elsa tended to look forward to it and the stories Rapunzel would tell her.

Pocahontas slowly came to a stop and gestured Elsa toward her door and leaned against the adjacent wall. "I'm sure she'd blush if she heard you say that." She mentioned with a small grin. "Until tomorrow, Elsa." Pocahontas finished as the two women said their goodbyes and Elsa entered her familiar dorm, her anxious and lonely heart feeling a bit better as the call of sleep began to ring throughout her mind and body.