Disclaimer: I don't own any aspects to the story.

Chapter 39

Disembarking

"Elsa. Elsa." Elsa heard her name and somebody shaking her shoulders. Elsa opened her eyes to see that the Polar Express had started to slow down. Golden sand floated above most of the other passengers' heads. The sand formed pictures of different fun things or activities, like kids playing with a ball, animals running in a field, and Santa flying his sleigh. Elsa realized that those were dreams the children were having. So that was what nice dreams looked like.

Elsa turned to see the Conductor standing in the aisle next to her seat. "You're up. Good. Sorry to wake you, but wanted to let you know that we've arrived at your stop. If you'll wake Anna, I'll wake Jack, and we can get you all home."

The Conductor then went to the seat behind Elsa, shaking Jack's shoulder. Elsa looked over to see Anna drooling, her head leaning against the window. "Anna," Elsa said, shaking Anna's shoulder.

Anna leaned her head away from the window, a foggy silouette left behind. She opened her eyes, yawning widely. "Are we there yet?" she asked.

"We are. We're coming up on Arendelle. It's time for us to go."

Anna opened her eyes, a sad expression on her face. "Is it weird that I almost don't want to go?"

Elsa shook her head. "No. I kinda wish this could go on forever."

Olaf leaned over from behind them. "But if that happened, then where would all the regular activities be, like working a job, talking with others, and running a country? Without those, this train ride would get rather monotonous, don't you think?"

Anna furrowed her eyebrows, a pondering look on her face. "That's a good point, Olaf. Even so, I know I'll never forget this trip."

"Neither will I," Elsa added.

"Nor I," said Jack, getting up from his seat to follow the Conductor.

The train soon stopped on the top of a hill. Anna got out, looking around. "I thought you said we were in Arendelle."

Elsa nodded. "We should be."

"Then why do I see your ice palace and the North Mountain right in front of us?" Anna asked.

Elsa came outside the Express, looking ahead. Sure enough, the train had stopped right outside Elsa's ice palace. Huge towers of flawless ice rose from the side of the mountain, forming towers, a balcony, and elaborate doors. Crystal ice stairs formed a path up to an intricately decorated set of double doors, forming the main entrance.

Elsa turned to the Conductor. "I thought you said we were back in Arendelle?"

The Conductor looked slightly sheepish, passing out winter coats to everyone. "Ordinarily, we would be. However, we were instructed to drop you all off here here. Usually, destination changes like this one happen for a reason. I'm sure it'll all work out. In the meantime, here are some winter coats. They might be big now, but they're guaranteed to protect you from the cold."

Olaf nodded. "This destinations works. I'd wanted to show Jack your palace anyway, Elsa. Besides, we can always sled down tomorrow morning and be back in Arendelle by lunch."

Elsa sighed, taking the coat. "Ok, then." After all, there was nothing she could do. She also agreed with the Conductor's idea that something would happen to get them back down easily. At least the coats would be useful up here.

Anna turned to the Conductor. "Thank you very much for a great trip. I'm so glad we agreed to come aboard."

The Conductor smiled. "Happy to oblige you all. Thank you for being such wonderful and helpful passengers." He reached down to shake everyone's hands. Once that was done, he stood up.

"One other thing. Smokey and Steamer say goodbye as well. They can't in person, but wanted to give something in appreciation for all you've done," the Conductor said. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out four golden whistles. "They can be as loud or as quiet as the situation requires. They aren't sleigh bells, but they're rather nice in their own way."

Olaf took his whistle and put it around his neck. "Thank you very much, kind sir. I know I'll treasure this item."

"So will I," Anna added.

Once Elsa and Jack expressed the same acknowledgement, the Conductor nodded, boarding the train, and waving his lantern. The train started to pull out. The Conductor shouted something. "What?" Anna asked.

"Merry Christmas!" the Conductor repeated.

"To you as well," Elsa shouted back.

Everyone else said their goodbyes, waving and crying a little at the train leaving. Elsa took one final look at the train as it passed by. The toy car, the passenger car and the stable car passed by. As the observation car passed, Elsa saw the Hobo waving from the roof, then disappearing as a gust of wind passed.

Once the train had gone down the hill towards the mountains in the distance, Jack turned around. "So Elsa, when were you gonna tell me you built a whole palace of ice?"

"I thought I had. Don't know how I missed explaining that, but now you know." Elsa replied.

"How are we going to sleep?" Anna asked.

I built several bedrooms on the right side of the castle. Take the stairs to the right, and you should find them. They're made of ice, but the rooms are protected from the cold."

Olaf nodded. "Good to know, Elsa. Will Marshmallow and all my brothers be there? I wanted to greet to them."

Anna shook her head. "Kristoff said that the snowgies and Marshmallow had gone into the woods to get back in touch with snow or something. They'll be back the day after tomorrow. At least, that's what he thought Marshmallow said. Guy's not much of a talker."

Olaf nodded. "Ok. I'll say 'hi' when they come back."

With that, everyone went inside. Elsa remembered the frozen fountain, the stairs leading left to the balcony and right to the bedrooms. She didn't know why she had built more than one bedroom, but it had just felt right at the time. Almost as if her subconscious didn't want to be completely alone.

Jack whistled as they went up the stairs. "This is certainly better than anything I could ever do."

"Give it a try, sometime. You might surprise yourself." Elsa replied, smiling.

They soon reached an ice hallway with four doors. Each door had a Roman numeral, for the numbers I-IV.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow," Jack said.

"See you then. Good night, everyone," Anna replied.

Elsa then went into the door marked I. Inside was a window looking out onto the mountain, a frozen bedside table, and a bed. The spontaneous combination of ice and snow in the bed somehow made it feel softer and much more comfortable than it looked. Another subconscious decision that Elsa really appreciated. Soon her eyelids got heavy, closing to begin having dreams of their whole journey. Elsa smiled in her sleep, excited for Christmas Day.

I always figured when I watched Frozen that there were other rooms in Elsa's ice palace. After all, we only saw the characters go up one set of stairs, not the other in the film. It seemed that bedrooms were as good a thing as any to be there. As always, please rate and review.