Winter's Echo

by Volchise

Elsa and Anna have gone their separate ways, carving new paths for their lives. Elsa was so sure she was ready. In many ways, she was; but one can only prepare for what one expects. Honeymaren...was not one of those things. Follow the Fifth Spirit's journey as she discovers herself anew and learns how to love her most impossible foe...herself. Elsa/Maren (rating change!)

54. Into the Unknown

Winter's Echo

Chapter Fifty-Four – Into the Unknown

"NOKK, NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! COME BACK!" Elsa screamed, scrambling to stand on the ice and racing toward the wellspring, stumbling over her own feet in her fear and haste. "Elsa, wait!" The Mother Spirit called, reaching a hand toward her avatar too late as the queen dove cleanly into the wellspring after her noaide, swimming down with all of her might. *NOKK, PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!* Elsa cried out to the mighty water stallion as she attempted to follow them down, nearly seizing in panic as she watched Honeymaren's limp frame become harder and harder to see as the darkness of the deep almost enveloped the pair already. Her movements involuntarily slowed as precious oxygen left her, her lungs and arms burning in protesting agony. *Nokk...* she begged in a mental whisper when the water spirit turned his head to look at her. *Please...*

*I'm sorry, mistress...* was Nokk's strained reply before he turned away once more, driving his hooves into Honeymaren's chest and propelling her deeper until both spirits disappeared entirely, Elsa's agonized scream following them into the darkness of the deep.

A bare moment later saw Elsa's head break the surface of the wellspring in the cavern, her burning lungs greedily trying to suck in the air they so desperately needed between spluttered coughing and choked sobs of anguish. The blonde looked around desperately for something, anything that could help her, panicked eyes alighting on the still and somber figure of the Mother Spirit herself. "Please!" Elsa cried as she scrambled to the edge of the wellspring, coughing up icy seawater all the while. "Please, Mother, call him back! He's going to kill her!" She begged as she pulled herself out of the water, racing toward the deity. "He's going to..." Elsa trailed off, her exhausted panting echoing in the piercing silence of the cavern that seemed so much colder than it ever had as her eyes met the despondent oceanic pools of the Mother Spirit, welled with tears of untellable sorrow. "Please...help..." Elsa whimpered, a final, desperate plea she knew in her heart would go unanswered when the Great Mother slowly turned away from her avatar as the ocean spilled over from her eyes, hands as pale as the moonlight balled into shaking fists hanging powerless at her sides.

"...no..." Elsa whispered as her breathing quickened, shaking her head in defiance. "Never again," she hissed as she turned back to the wellspring, Ahtohallan's mournful gaze following her child of winter. There was no attempt to stop her this time as Elsa dove into the freezing water once more – a realization the queen's heart could not afford to dwell on. She had no time for hopelessness right now – she had to get to Maren, would get to her. Through the fire maven's life or her own death, she would be with her noaide. *I'm coming, my love,* she whispered, gathering every ounce of energy she had left to give and swimming down, hard. There was no going back for the queen of ice and snow, now – she would get to Honeymaren or she would die trying. Elsa allowed her determined conviction to consume her, letting it blur away frivolous things like pain, air, and survival.

If the queen had learned anything from this insane, impossible, amazing life she led, it was that there was no such thing as an end – not really. There were different paths, surprise twists, and unexpected stumbles, certainly. Some battles, Elsa won – others, she learned. But when it came to Honeymaren?

She dared the Gods themselves to tell her what was impossible.

Elsa squinted her eyes and slowed only slightly as she thought she caught a flash of movement in the darkness below, only for her to double her efforts upon realizing it was Nokk and Honeymaren. She was almost there! It took her oxygen-deprived brain only a moment more to realize that it wasn't her determined swimming that was closing the gap, but Nokk himself speeding toward her, driving the limp noaide toward the surface with all his might. Elsa tried her best to brace herself as the mighty stallion headed straight for her – the impact would have knocked the air from her lungs had there been any to spare.

In mere seconds, the spirits of winter, fire, and water burst forth from the wellspring and hit the floor of the icy cavern hard, all three spirits sprawled across the slippery surface. Before she could even properly register her whereabouts, Elsa scrambled to search for her noaide, gasping and spluttering as she tried to wipe the salt water from her face before finally spotting her wife, face down and motionless on the ice. She tried to call her name but managed only a fit of coughing as she clambered over to her as fast as she could, quickly rolling the unconscious Northuldran on her back and patting her cheek anxiously in an attempt to rouse her. "Maren?! Maren! Baby, wake up! Please, wake up!" Elsa whimpered.

Nokk appeared next to the pair, leaning over his mistress to peer anxiously at the noaide only to scramble backward in surprise just in time to avoid a vicious, icy blast from his charge. "Get the fuck away from her!" Elsa screamed with all the air left in her lungs between gasping sobs and saltwater coughs before immediately turning back to Honeymaren, lacing her fingers together and pressing hard on her chest repeatedly. "Come on baby, come on," she chanted, pausing every ten seconds or so to take a deep breath only to lock her lips with her wife's and force the air from her own burning lungs into the Northuldran's.

*Mistress, please, I can help,* Nokk begged, tentatively approaching again. The winter spirit glared hatefully at the water stallion but remained silent, her only indication of consent being her tolerance of his approach. Nokk immediately bent his head to brush his muzzle across Honeymaren's face for a brief moment, immediately retreating when the unconscious noaide's eyes flew open.

Sweet, milk chocolate does with sprinkled flecks of twilight.

Elsa immediately halted her compressions, her hands flying to her wife's cheeks as she leaned over her, calling out to her. "Maren?! Maren! That's it, baby, come back! Come back to me!" The queen immediately recognized the panic in the fire maven's eyes, quickly helping her wife to turn to her side as she began to heave the seawater from her lungs before finally breaking down, continuing to attend her noaide as she was wracked with sobs of relief. When it finally seemed as though Honeymaren had managed to catch her breath, Elsa immediately scooped the Northuldran into her arms and cradled her close in a comforting embrace, tightening her hold protectively when her love's strained voice tried to croak out her name. "I'm right here, my love," she reassured her, trying desperately to force the fear-fed sobs from her voice and regain a sense of calm for her wife's sake, even as she saw the adrenaline fade from Honeymaren's face, overtaken by what was surely devastating exhaustion.

"Elsa...I'm s-sorry..." Honeymaren rasped brokenly as weak, feeble coughs wracked her body, unable to summon the strength for much else. "Shhhh, don't talk," she shushed her wife gently as she began peppering the noaide's face with reassuring, featherlight brushes of her lips, kissing away her own endlessly flowing tears that had dripped onto sun-kissed skin. "Just relax. You're going to be okay, baby. You're safe, now. It's over. It's all over. I'm taking you home," she vowed, pressing her forehead to Honeymaren's and willing her breathing to deepen and slow, silently bidding and begging the noaide's to do the same. "Home..." the fire maven parroted, a small, comforted smile tugging at her lips as she quieted in the queen's embrace, allowing her eyes to close and taking her first slow, deep breath in what felt like a lifetime.

"Maren...?" Elsa called nervously as Honeymaren fell silent in her arms, barely resisting the anxious urge to shake her. "Maren!"

*She will be alright, mistress,* came Nokk's voice, the watery steed lowering his head to timidly nuzzle the winter spirit's cheek comfortingly before affectionately doing the same to the noaide's wet locks. *Tōll is gone. I don't know how she has done it, but I felt him fade away just before...* The spirit of water trailed off uncomfortably, visibly shaking himself off as though to rid himself of the disturbing thought before speaking again. *She has everything she needs right now resting in your arms.* Elsa released a shaky breath, attempting to bring her own racing heart under control before tearing her gaze away from her unconscious love, piercing ice pinning the mighty stallion in place. With Honeymaren safely in her embrace once more, the image of her trusted guardian violently driving the noaide into the glacial waters of the Dark Sea returned to the forefront of her mind's eye with a vengeance.

"What happened?" Elsa ground out through clenched teeth, trying her best to muster and maintain what little calm her soul had left to spare after the lurching roller coaster of events they had just endured. "She almost had control, was in control before you-" The blonde bit back the accusation on her tongue and took a deep breath, trying desperately to regain control of her emotions as her mind tried to process the insanity of what seemed like an eternity but was likely less than fifteen or so minutes of chaos. "How could you do that to her? You could have killed her, Nokk!" she hissed, unable and unwilling to entirely hide the accusation behind her words. *Please, mistress, it was the only way,* Nokk tried, a foreign tone of pleading remorse laced throughout his ethereal voice. *Tōll had to be stopped. Your noaide was able to gain control, but through sheer force of will and heart alone – it would not have been enough to keep him at bay forever. She gave us a chance to end it once and for all.*

"How? By killing her?!" Elsa questioned insistently, subconsciously tightening her protective hold on the Northuldran. Even the queen's formidable mind struggled to piece together the series of events that had culminated in the whirlwind tempest they had just survived. "How did this even happen in the first place? How was he able to take control? Why did he take control? For what purpose? To what end?" Twin chips of ice settled on the uncharacteristically subdued Mother Spirit, her voice conspicuously absent from the cacophony of chaos that had erupted when Nokk had reemerged from the wellspring with both her and Honeymaren's nearly drowned forms. "Ahtohallan?" Elsa called gently to the goddess when it appeared no answer was forthcoming, her gaze hardening slightly when she was met with more silence. While the Mother Spirit had brought Elsa's noaide back to her, she was also directly responsible for the whole convoluted mess that had nearly killed her once again.

Stoic silence was not an option.

"Habllek."

The Goddess in question flinched slightly, turning her head to meet her avatar's hard, expectant gaze. She sighed softly before approaching the young queen, surprising Elsa by kneeling across from her. Elsa watched with careful curiosity as the ancient spirit reached out to tenderly brush a wet lock of raven hair from the fire maven's face before gently cupping her cheek, her thumb ever so gently stroking the sun-kissed flesh. Habllek simply gazed at the unconscious woman for a long moment before finally speaking.

"I'm so sorry..."

Elsa blinked at the strained whisper from the deity, taken aback by the deep despondency that permeated the powerful being's countenance. Though she couldn't agree more that it was well-deserved, an apology was the last thing she expected to fall from the Mother Spirit's lips at that moment. Though, as she took in the distant look in eyes so like her own, Elsa realized she wasn't actually sure what the apology was meant for.

Or for who.

For the first time since she revealed herself to them in the icy cavern, the queen took a moment to genuinely look at Habllek, whom she now knew to be the true form of Ahtohallan – to really look at her...only to feel her own heart crack as it resonated with the shattered one before her, echoing its answer to the mournful song of unfathomable loss. Elsa felt her breath freeze in her lungs as though by her own magic as she took in the very human heartbreak of the immortal before her.

Indomitable shoulders that had carried the burdens and legacies of countless centuries wilted in defeat, finally caving to the persistent affliction of reality that forever chained all things.

Hands that had helped shape the world into existence and commanded nearly infinite power traced the curve of Honeymaren's cheek as delicately as a whisper on a breeze, utterly powerless in their longing to caress something far beyond even their substantial reach.

Ancient blue eyes, far too like her own, that had watched the world go by since the first dawn of time now struggled to hold the ocean at bay for want of one moment more as they mourned the squandered seconds. It was there in the depths of Habllek's eyes that Elsa saw her past suffering reflected back at her so powerfully that the queen couldn't help but avert her own gaze, haunted by the ghosts of her darkest fears. Instead, she let it linger on the woman in her arms and the steady caress of the pale fingers that had started it all.

"What happened...?" Elsa finally managed after several long moments, barely restraining a wince as her strained whisper seemed to echo in the silence. Long locks of moonlight spilled over the deity's shoulder and ghosted over Honeymaren as Habllek shook her head slightly, whether in self-admonishment or bewilderment, the queen wasn't sure. "I'm not entirely certain," the Mother Spirit answered honestly as she leaned back, letting her fingertips fall away from the noaide. "I knew from the moment Revontuli was awakened that Tōll's essence had taken to Honeymaren's soul quite easily, but to have a connection strong enough for him to have resurfaced..." Habllek shook her head again, meeting the queen's eyes with an open vulnerability in her own. "I fear I may have greatly...grossly underestimated the most powerful factor in all of this," she admitted, her gaze falling to the unconscious Northuldran once more.

"Which is?" Elsa prodded, subconsciously tightening her hold on her noaide as she prepared herself for the answers she was desperate to know. "The reason why they bonded so seamlessly," the Goddess answered with a soft sigh, shaking her head once more. "They were so similar in so many ways...ways even I couldn't have prepared for." Elsa couldn't help but bristle at the Mother Spirit's implication, a righteous flame of indignance flaring in defense of her wife. "Honeymaren is nothing like Tōll," Elsa nearly growled, her earlier animosity toward the deity creeping to the forefront once more. "Tōll nearly ended the world in a fit of rage – Honeymaren would never-"

"You forget how small you are, child," Habllek interrupted sternly, the sudden unquestionable authority in her voice startling her young avatar into silence. "This world was our creation, as malleable and pliant as clay, and shaped into existence on our whims alone. You are all but grains of sand on a beach we created." Elsa lowered her gaze deferentially, biting back the retort on her tongue. Though she recognized and understood the truth of the stark reminder of her mortality, she couldn't bring herself to offer an apology for the truth of her words, perceived disrespect or not. After a tense moment, a soft, weary sigh had the queen chancing a glance at the deity, surprised to find a much softer gaze meeting hers.

"Daughter, Tōll is no more or less a part of your noaide than I am of you," Habllek tried again, willing her avatar to understand. "Both of you are borne of your elements. Winter is calm, serene, aloof – while capable of untold devastation, it often envelops the world in its gentle embrace, bidding the world to rest and bestowing the silence needed for creation and growth. But fire..." The deity trailed off, her gaze drifting to the unconscious Northuldran for a long moment before meeting Elsa's eyes once more. "Fire is primal, even animalistic in nature, only to be tamed by a hand that truly understands and accepts it for its natural rawness. It is no surprise that such an element can both warm a home or raze it to the ground. This is why Honeymaren's soul bonded so well to Tōll's essence – not because she shared his ideals or his desires, but because they shared an unbridled, indomitable passion. Passion has many faces, my child, good and bad. Possessiveness, wrath, resentfulness, lust...but also righteousness, protectiveness, devotion..." she trailed off leadingly.

"Love," Elsa finished in a whisper, understanding dawning in twin chips of ice. Habllek gave her avatar a small, sad smile and nodded. "Love," she repeated quietly as Elsa's gaze fell to her wife's sleeping face once more, her mind sifting through the events of the last couple of months under the lens of this enlightenment. "Tōll said the noaide had opened the door when she sought guidance from the flames, but a spiritual connection, even one as strong as a noaide's, shouldn't have been enough," Habllek continued thoughtfully, drawing Elsa's gaze back to her. "I believe it was this shared capacity for indescribable passion – a passion to protect you - that bridged the gap and allowed Tōll to actually step through it." Elsa shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. "That doesn't make sense," she countered, careful to keep her emotions in check this time. "Honeymaren would fight the world itself to protect me because she loves me. Why would Tōll want to protect me? Why would he even care about me?"

"Because...there are over 800 words...to describe winter..." replied a hoarse, gravelly voice in a strained whisper.

"Maren!" Elsa gasped, not bothering to stem the relieved tears that flowed freely as she hugged her wife close, leaning over to press her forehead against her love's. "Thank the Gods, you're awake, I was so worried," she whispered, closing her eyes and sending silent prayers of thanks to heavens near and far. Just as she opened her mouth to ask how she was feeling, Habllek's voice pierced the quiet reunion. "What did you say...?" she questioned intently, oceanic eyes locked on unfocused doe browns, peppered with flecks of twilight. Honeymaren managed a sad, weak smile as she turned her head toward the Mother Spirit, mustering what little strength was left in her to reach out to her. Moving on instinct, Habllek grasped the Northuldran's searching hand with both of her own, gazing imploringly at the exhausted fire maven.

"Our ancestors...had over 800 words...to describe the beauty...of winter...and snow..." Honeymaren repeated slowly before she was wracked by a coughing fit, aching and abused lungs struggling with the monumental effort to speak. Elsa bit back her instant urge to shush her love and bid her to rest, knowing in her heart that whatever her wife was trying to say would not be a waste of precious breath. "Tōll...Tōll gave them every single one," she continued weakly, squeezing Habllek's hand. The Mother Spirit lifted a hesitant, shaky hand toward Honeymaren's forehead, retreating slightly as she looked between the two avatars for a moment, asking silent permission. At the fire maven's slight nod, her pale, cool hand came to rest on Honeymaren's damp brow. Oceanic eyes fell closed with a quiet gasp as echoes of the noaide's memories flooded the cavern, the images and voices of the fire maven, Tōll, and even the Great Mother herself reverberating against the walls.

"Evil is a weed, Tōll. It grows in cracked stones and crumbling homes and forgotten corners, rooted in indifference and watered by suffering. You are not evil, Tōll. You were just...deeply, deeply hurt," came the soft echo of the soothing alto of Honeymaren's voice, causing both Elsa and Habllek to lift their heads and glance about the vast space, as though chasing her words with their eyes.

"You have wronged me for the last time, Habllek," echoed Tōll's voice as images of flames began to dance about the cavern.

"The person you loved most in the world was disregarding your opinions, your feelings, your wants and needs. Even if she didn't mean to do that, it would make me feel like she was choosing them over me. That's a hard thing to swallow when you love someone with everything you are." Elsa chanced a glance at Habllek, a pang of sympathy piercing her heart as she watched the deity's face fall ever so slightly before she steeled herself once more, preparing herself for the hard truths she was likely about to face.

"HOW COULD YOU CHOOSE THEM OVER ME?! I loved you, Habllek...I loved you with everything I was...and you still chose them..." The flames grew darker and more menacing, their foreboding crackle dancing across the ice. Elsa closed her eyes against the desperate pain in the fire demon's voice that hit far too close to home, pressing closer to her own love for comfort while Habllek could only let the reality of her role in the ancient hurt crash against her like a vengeful tide against the rocks.

"You will fall today, Tōll. But I promise, my brother, I will not let you fall alone. You have suffered alone in darkness for too long, but no longer. Be brave." Habllek's oceanic eyes widened at the noaide's monumental, yet silent sacrifice, feelings the deity had not felt in thousands of years nearly paralyzing her where she stood: gratitude, relief...impressed surprise.

"FIGHT BACK YOU FOOL! HE WILL KILL US! KILL YOU!"

"I know. But the war you chose to wage has to be stopped. You can relinquish your hold and allow me to return to Elsa, or you can stay...and we will both die. This time, it is your choice how the story ends. But, if we are to fall, let us do it bravely." The blonde queen bit back a quiet whimper as the last dark moments of a battle her love never asked to fight played out for the goddesses of ice and snow. While the queen knew the fear she felt was borne from moments that had long passed, the indescribable pride in her steadfast, heroic noaide was never more prevalent.

"I can't let go...It hurts too much. I can't let go of my grief...I-I don't how how..." Habllek closed her eyes as she choked back a sob hearing the fear and helplessness in a voice she had loved, still loved, so deeply. "Oh Tōll," she whispered mournfully, shaking her head slowly.

"You don't have to. If you think about it, grief is really just...love. It's all the love you want and try to give but can't. All that unspent love that gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, in that hollow ache in your chest." Both Elsa and Habllek looked at one another in that moment, the words of the noaide so much wiser than even the ancient spirits could have imagined ringing in their souls. "Grief is just...love with no place to go. It's the price we pay to love so deeply."

"Mortals don't remember the Old Tongue. Did you know your people have over 800 words to describe the beauty of snow and winter? It was my one contribution to your people. Will you tell her that for me, noaide? Tell her I tried to love her well. Then...love her better. Love her better than I did, noaide of the Northuldra."

Finally, Habllek could not bear it any longer, pulling her hand back as though burned and gazing at the Northuldran in wonder and disbelief. "He...he sacrificed himself willingly..." she whispered in a shaky voice, bringing her hand almost protectively over her own heart before turning away from the young lovers. The image was too painful for even the Great Mother to bear in her moment of loss – a loss deeper than thousands of lifetimes could have prepared her for.

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise and she looked at Honeymaren questioningly. "He did...? Why ...why would he do that?" the blonde queried, unable to help her own doubt and curiosity. "Because...he loved her," the fire maven answered slowly, turning her gaze to meet her wife's with a small, comforting smile. "And...by extension...you. Is there anything...you wouldn't do...for love, Snowflake?" Elsa lowered her gaze slightly before shaking her head slowly. "No," she responded in a quiet but resolute voice filled not with blame, but begrudging understanding before lifting her eyes to meet Honeymaren's meaningfully. "There is nothing in this universe I wouldn't do for love. Just as I would create worlds for you, Maren...so, too, would I destroy them."

Honeymaren opened her mouth to respond, but the words died in her throat as her body was seized by a renewed and vengeful fit of coughing. Elsa bit her lip and helped her wife sit up more, letting her lean back against her chest and trying to offer what comfort she could. "We need to get you home, love," she murmured worriedly. *I am ready, mistress,* Nokk's ethereal voice sounded in their minds. Though Elsa bit back the instant refusal on her tongue, the powerful water spirit's uncharacteristically timid approach showed he was well aware he needed to tread carefully with his mistress. A gentle squeeze to her hand brought the queen's attention back to the fire maven in her arms, twilight-flecked eyes giving her a pointed look.

'It's not his fault.'

The blonde held out for only a moment before sighing softly in acquiescence, nuzzling her nose against Honeymaren's temple. She had learned her lessons about holding grudges involving extreme circumstances with Mattias and Kristoff. While that didn't mean she was ready to forgive and forget, it did not change that she had to look forward. The queen took a slow, calming breath before nodding her head toward Honeymaren's right, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly as the stallion rushed to lay at her noaide's side, eager to earn his way back into both of their good graces.

Elsa carefully helped the now barely conscious Northuldran to roll onto Nokk's back, holding her steady as he rose slowly so as not to dislodge her. "Elsa..." the noaide managed to murmur before the queen shushed her gently, lightly dragging her fingertips down her exhausted features and bidding her eyes to close. "Rest, my love...I'll take care of you," she promised sweetly, carding her fingers through damp locks until unconsciousness mercifully embraced her. Satisfied that her wife was secure on Nokk's back, the queen grasped her watery mount's mane, preparing to hoist herself up before pausing as her eyes alighted on the stoically silent frame of Ahtohallan.

'No. Habllek,' she reminded herself. She shook her head, tightening her hold on Nokk's mane to mount him before pausing once more, this time sighing in frustration as her heart and her soul wrestled for supremacy in an unseen battle. *Mistress?* Nokk prodded uncertainly, turning his head to regard her curiously before following her gaze to the despondent Mother Spirit who stood facing away from them, unmoving. When Elsa turned back to address her watery companion, she found there the same steady and understanding gaze of the friend she had counted on in so many moments of unease and uncertainty. *Go, mistress,* he urged with a gentle nudge before nuzzling her cheek affectionately, whickering quietly when she turned and pressed her forehead against his in a comforting embrace. *We will be just outside,* he promised before turning away and walking with ginger steps toward the mouth of the cavern, careful not to dislodge his precious cargo.

Elsa watched them disappear around the corner before turning back to the silent deity, approaching her quietly. As she drew nearer, her brow furrowed in interest as she saw the snowy figure of a man she didn't recognize standing before Habllek. She glanced at the goddess questioningly, frowning slightly at the achingly human-looking tears swimming in omniscient eyes as they studied the frozen visage before her. To the outside world, Habllek looked for all the world the picture of a calm, aloof, carefully indifferent sovereign deep in thought – elegantly squared shoulders, neutral facial expression, and a proudly lifted chin. The queen, however, saw the truth. She saw it in arms folded defensively around herself, as though trying to physically hold herself together. She saw it in the distant gaze of eyes that had seen far too much, replaying, rewriting, and scrutinizing memories only she could see. Most of all, she saw it in the slight clenching of an all too familiar jawline, teeth clenched to deny carefully hidden pain a voice. The queen tilted her head as she stopped beside the Mother Spirit, studying the sculpture before her.

'Not a sculpture,' she realized sadly, her eyes drifting to the figure once more. "A memory..." she spoke aloud, stepping closer to the icy statue to get a better look. The man was attractive, striking even. Expressive, borderline mischievous brows and laughing eyes were tempered by proud, high cheekbones and a strong, accented jawline – not so hard as to be intimidating yet angled enough to be attractively defined. Full lips were pulled into a gentle, adorably crooked smile, as though he were lovingly amused by whatever those expressive eyes were studying. Elsa's heartbeat quickened the more she studied the icy figure's smile, feeling oddly shy under the fixed gaze that wasn't meant for her. The queen barely repressed a shiver at the similarities between the frosty countenance and a certain Northuldran, distantly wondering if the visage before her had been the blueprint of the nomadic people.

"There's nothing quite like it, is there, my daughter?" Habllek's quiet voice sounded with a soft, sad chuckle, snapping the queen out of a trance she hadn't realized she was in as turned away from the memory before her, a soft blush tainting pale cheeks. The Mother Spirit gave another quiet, half-hearted laugh, sniffling almost inaudibly as she surreptitiously wiped at a tear that had finally fallen, forcing a brave smile on her face. "It's indescribable how that smile could make me feel," she reminisced fondly before turning back to the icy figure, her smile becoming just a bit more genuine. "Is...is that...?" Elsa questioned gently, unsure how to approach the subject.

"Tōll," she confirmed with a nod. She paused for a moment, as though contemplating, before continuing. "I can't imagine how hard this has been for you, daughter," she began quietly, oceanic pools lowering in regret before turning and regarding the queen with open and unguarded honesty, allowing her avatar to see the true remorse in her eyes. "Not just you, but your beloved. I never intended for all of this to happen. I never realized..." Habllek trailed off, shaking her head and turning away once more. Elsa watched sadly as the Mother Spirit wrestled her emotions back into check. She couldn't help but wonder at that moment if she had not been the originator of her lifelong mantra of 'conceal, don't feel'.

"Tōll was quite the charmer, you know. Much like your firefox," Habllek began again out of nowhere, taking a bracing breath and forcing another small, sad smile as she nodded toward his icy likeness, drawing the queen's gaze back to it as well. "The others often didn't believe me, as structured and orderly as he preferred things to be, but there were so many moments that I felt as though I couldn't catch my breath when he was near." Elsa tried to reconcile what she was hearing and seeing with the Tōll she had experienced. Before hearing pieces of her wife's interactions with him, it would have been an impossible task, but now...

Elsa glanced at Habllek once more from the corner of her eye, watching the sadly familiar process of long-suppressed emotions finally coming to the surface. "He was such a trickster," she continued with a teary laugh, once more reaching to clandestinely brush away the evidence of her sorrow. "Poor Nokk was usually on the receiving end, good sport that he was...though there was one time they worked together to create such a heavy fog one of the earth giants wandered into the marsh and kept sinking in the mud and grass. Thus, the hot springs the Northuldra frequent were born," she finished, tears now flowing freely down her face as she recounted the memory, no longer for Elsa's benefit but for her own as she stared at Tōll's icy figure, taking in every little detail she pined for so dearly. "He could always make me laugh..." she trailed off once more, her face falling slowly as she crossed her arms more tightly.

Elsa sighed softly through her nose, watching the despondent goddess sadly for a long moment before taking a bracing breath. "Habllek," she began softly, moving a step closer. "Please...what happened? What went wrong with Tōll and Honeymaren?" she asked as gently as she could. She knew how much pain the Mother Spirit was in – but so, too, had her noaide suffered and she needed to make sure her wife was safe once and for all. "You said you underestimated Tōll's passion. What did you mean by that?" Habllek sighed, wiping the remaining tears from her face and finally turning away from Tōll's likeness to face her avatar properly. "Everything that has happened was because Tōll still loved me," she admitted quietly – whether she was unable or unwilling to disguise the bitterness in her tone, the queen was unsure. "I thought his love for me had faded long ago, but I was wrong," she continued, her voice dropping to a whisper filled with agonized regret. "So very wrong...and so very blind."

"The night I gave Honeymaren the rest of her memories, it seemed like everything went back to normal. Well...as normal as her suddenly being able to control fire could be," she amended under her breath, blushing slightly when Habllek cracked a small smile at her very un-queenlike mumbling. Elsa cleared her throat lightly before picking up where she left off. "So what changed? What did we do wrong?" Elsa blinked when a hand as pale as moonlight reached out to lovingly cup her cheek, unable to help but lean into the mothering gesture the slightest bit before looking back into familiar blue pools. "You and your brave noaide did absolutely nothing wrong, my chosen daughter," Habllek reassured with a small, fond smile. "It wasn't that night that pulled the first thread...but your wedding day."

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise, blinking several times as she processed what the goddess was saying. "I-I'm sorry, I'm confused," she said slowly, stepping back from the Mother Spirit's touch. "Don't misunderstand, child, it was not your mistake, but mine," Habllek reassured, folding her hands in front of her before sighing softly and meeting the queen's gaze once more. "Tell me, daughter, the day you wed the noaide, were you nervous? Excited? Elated?" she questioned gently, allowing the queen to gather her thoughts for a moment. "I felt all of those things," Elsa responded honestly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips at the memories before she offered a slight, helpless shrug. "Mostly, I just felt-" the blonde queen blinked, her eyes widening in realization as she looked back to meet an expectant oceanic gaze.

"In love," Habllek finished for her, nodding slowly as she watched her avatar begin to pace as the pieces began to fall into place. "You said that passion was the bridge that allowed Tōll to cross into our world," Elsa confirmed as she paced slightly, gesturing toward the Mother Spirit, who simply nodded in validation. Suddenly, the queen stopped her pacing and gave a small gasp of realization, turning to face Habllek once more. "Her eyes," she said softly, her own wide with recognition. "Her eyes started reverting back to the color they were when she was Revontuli, changing more and more throughout the evening," Elsa continued, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "At one point there was so little brown left I was worried that we had been unsuccessful in healing the struggle with Tōll 's essence...that she might revert back to Revontuli," she admitted quietly, wrapping her arms around her middle in an age-old self-defensive posture as she resumed her pacing, anxiety now permeating her being. "Gods, I'm so stupid, how could I not have realized something was wrong? She was acting so...so..." Elsa trailed off, struggling to find a way to describe the possessive, almost carnal attitude that had seemed to overcome her normally patient noaide more and more often.

"Zealous?" Habllek offered, nodding in understanding sympathy when the queen gave a meek nod, shame flooding the queen's pensive features. Though she had recognized the out-of-character behavior, the young blonde couldn't deny that she had often quite enjoyed, if not lavished in those moments of carnal possession. As though sensing her avatar's thoughts, Habllek reached out to gently lift the queen's chin, ashamed icy pools meeting knowing and reassuring mirrors. "It's alright, my child. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a passionate love. But it was this intense love that set your path. The more love and passion she felt, the wider the doorway became. Love, protectiveness, lust, possessiveness – all of these were steppingstones for Tōll's consciousness, if not calls bidding him forth," Habllek explained. "Prior to the noaide meditating before the flames, he would only have had any kind of power or influence during moments of unparalleled intensity guided by emotions such as these. Once the final bridge was crossed, however, he was able to bide his time and play as he wished with Honeymaren being none the wiser to his presence as a passive observer...until he wasn't."

Elsa covered her mouth with one hand, closing her eyes as that revelation sank in – she felt like she was going to be sick. She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair as she resumed her pacing. The queen's cunning mind was flipping through every moment of their time at her family's estate in rapid succession under the lens of this new knowledge. Which of them had she shared with her wife...and which had she shared with Tōll? Honeymaren had said that one night, the night their passion had been at its zenith, it felt as though she had woken up with memories of their lovemaking without having been the one to make them. Had that been because she truly didn't? Was...was the noaide the soul she had shared a bed with that night? "Oh gods..." Elsa whispered as tears sprang unbidden to her eyes, her entire body beginning to tremble with anxiousness and shame.

How was she going to tell Honeymaren?

"Fear not, my daughter," Habllek said comfortingly, placing a reassuring hand on Elsa's shoulder and guiding her attention back to her. "I know what it is you fear and from what we have learned, I promise you there was no point during which Tōll had been in full control before this." Elsa sniffled quietly, shaking her head in denial before turning to face the Mother Spirit. "How can you be certain?" she asked desperately, her mind rebelling against the idea of trusting anything she was told while her heart begged for the deity's words to be the liberating truth she so desperately needed. "Honeymaren had no idea what was happening the entire time, then woke up one morning with no memory of the night before. How do you explain that, if not Tōll taking over her consciousness?"

"For exactly the reason you fear - the noaide has no memory of it," Habllek answered simply, elaborating when the queen gave the deity her cautiously hopeful attention once more. "You experienced the same memories from your wife as I, daughter. When Tōll finally revealed himself today, your clever noaide resisted him every step of the way. She was able to do so because she is a remarkable human, with a fortitude and cunning Tōll was hopelessly unprepared for. If he had tried to take over her consciousness at any other time, Honeymaren would have resisted – she would have remembered," she reasoned, Elsa's own cunning mind running a mile a minute, searching for flaws in the logic and finding only one. "Yet that doesn't explain her feeling like she wasn't present the night before," the queen persisted, desperate for answers. "What could have caused that?"

"Do you remember why your noaide suffered so before you were able to ease her burden, child?" Habllek asked, unable to help the small smile at the blush that instantly set the queen's pale cheeks aflame. "Yes," Elsa responded, eager to move the conversation along and pointedly not making eye contact with the overly parental-seeming deity. "You said that two consciousnesses couldn't exist in the same body." Habllek nodded in approval, moving closer to

Elsa once more. "Correct. Tell me, daughter – what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

Elsa blinked, staring at the Mother Spirit in confusion. Of course she had heard the age-old riddle – it had been the center of many a critical thinking exercise by her philosophy tutors growing up. But what did that have to do with Honeymaren? "It's a trick question," she finally answered, eyeing Habllek in exhausted bewilderment. "By virtue of each's existence, they cannot both be true. If something is unstoppable, there cannot also exist something that is immovable and vice versa. They essentially-" Elsa froze, eyes widening as she looked upon the small, satisfied smile on the Mother Spirit's familiar features. "Cancel each other out," Habllek finished for the queen with a soft sigh. "Your wife's consciousness was running on pure intuition and instinct. While her passionate desires may have been...exacerbated...you may rest easy knowing they were hers and hers alone, daughter. Just as Revontuli was your noaide as her truest self without the influence of her memories, so she was once more. Only once she connected with Tōll on a deeper level, essentially his most sentient state, through her divinations would he have been capable of truly subverting her – a moment he had to choose carefully for it would expose him entirely."

Elsa released a shaky breath she didn't realize she had been holding, nodding in understanding and relief as she took several more, calming breaths and tried to quiet the trembling that seemed unwilling to cease. Habllek turned back to Tōll's frosty likeness once more, allowing her young avatar the time and space she needed to collect herself and truly process the answers to all the anxious questions that had hounded her for so long. Though the queen had fallen silent, the deity knew the young blonde was struggling with the other proverbial elephant in the room as she watched pale hands ghost tentatively over a flat, toned stomach, fair features tense with anxiety.

"Ask me what you need, my child," she encouraged gently, turning toward the queen once more and waiting patiently for Elsa to choose her words. The avatar took a slow, fortifying breath, squaring her shoulders and fully facing the Mother Spirit. She placed her hands delicately over her womb once more before bravely meeting Habllek's ancient oceanic gaze, bracing herself to learn the truth of the final, most life-changing piece of the puzzle.

---

"Okay, that's definitely NOT what I thought you were going to say," Anna said with wide, stunned eyes, watching Elsa expectantly. When her sister simply continued to sit there, nervously fiddling with her hands at the edge of the bed where Honeymaren lay fast asleep, her voice fell to a disbelieving whisper. "You're not kidding..." she murmured, barely breathing. "You're really...?" Elsa nodded with a quiet, incredulous chuckle, even as she struggled to swallow the anxious lump in her throat.

When she had arrived back in Arendelle, the unconscious fire maven cradled carefully against her while Nokk spirited them to the castle was her first and foremost concern. Once her wife was safely tucked in the warmth of the queen's bed under the care of the skilled eyes and hands of their family doctor, however, her mind spun with the thousands of ways her life was about to change. Was she fit to be a parent? Would she be enough? Was she ready? She didn't really have a choice at this point, anyway. How did Honeymaren feel about it? Did she have the same questions Elsa did? The same fears? Did she know the child growing in her womb was truly, genuinely hers? Would she be excited? Afraid? Would it have her eyes? Honeymaren's smile?

And just like that, Elsa had been lost to the possibilities. The queen vaguely heard Dr. Hjorn recommending bedrest and warning the queen against pneumonia as she nodded along at all the right places, her heart seesawing between absolute terror and utter elation all the while. She imagined a tiny version of her love, a chubby, little tan hand grasped around her finger with the beginnings of Honeymaren's playful smirk as their baby girl cooed up at her. She imagined a little boy with blonde ringlets and large eyes the color of milk chocolate with twilight sprinkles laughing as he wrestled the noaide in a pile of leaves, Gale's breeze playfully adding to the chaos around them.

"It's true, Anna. I'm...I'm pregnant," she whispered in awe, still struggling to come to terms with the impossible reality. "But...how?" Anna pressed in incredulous confusion. "How is that even possible?" Elsa laughed quietly, running her hands through her hair in exasperation at the absurdity of it all. "I asked the same, Anna," she confessed, laughing again at the answer she had received. "'We shaped the world around you as you know it and you think this beyond our measures?'" she quoted with a wet chuckle, wiping away tears she couldn't quite place the origins of. The queen was terrified of what the future now held for her and the fire maven, there was no doubt of that, but never before had it been laced with such...excitement - dare she say elation. Elsa's hands drifted to her stomach for what felt like the thousandth time, twin chips of ice staring in absolute wonder as she imagined a taut roundness beneath her fingertips instead of the flat planes they currently rested on. "It will be - is - Honeymaren's child...hers in every way," she confirmed in wonderment. "Can you imagine it, Anna?" she whispered, excitement she was just beginning to understand beginning to bleed into her voice.

"And yours," Anna added in an equally hushed but more enthusiastic tone as her hands reached out to cover Elsa's, drawing the blonde's gaze to her own watery, teal pools. "Elsa...you're going to be a mother!" she exclaimed, trying her valiant best, failure as it was, to remain quiet for the sake of the noaide sleeping in the bed behind them. Elsa shushed her gently, quickly turning her head to observe her incapacitated wife and frowning when she found her stirring, not from the noise but from what appeared to be an unpleasant dream. The queen was at the noaide's side in an instant, a cool, pale hand lain atop a sun-kissed forehead as she whispered soothingly to her. "Shhhh, shh, shh, my love...I'm here..." she murmured, leaning down to place a soft, lingering kiss to her head as the fire maven quieted, comforted by her love's reassuring presence. When Elsa pulled away, she blinked in surprise at the loving, almost dreamy gaze of her younger sister that she was met with. "...what?" she asked uncertainly, sitting on the edge of the bed once more, this time idly carding her fingers soothingly through the sleeping noaide's long, silky locks. Anna's dreamy smile turned into a full-on grin as she watch the loving caress before meeting the winter queen's questioning eyes once more.

"This kid is so lucky," she finally declared, her enthusiastic grin complementing the honest emotion and sincerity in her tone. "Truly, Elsa. You are going to be a wonderful mother. Both of you," she amended, before leaning forward and gingerly laying her own hand against the plane of her sister's stomach once more, meeting Elsa's eyes as they shared a sweet, hopeful moment they never saw coming. "And I can't wait to meet them."

"Can't wait to meet who?" croaked a groggy voice from the bed, both women gasping softly and whipping around to face the rousing Northuldran struggling to push herself up onto her elbows, Elsa snapping out of her surprised stupor and rushing to help her. "Easy, darling," she chided gently, wincing as the noaide immediately succumbed to a coughing fit. "Please, love, go slowly," she nearly begged. Though it wasn't as bad as it had been moments after her near drowning, it wouldn't stop the queen from fretting endlessly over her wife's possibly compromised health. When Honeymaren caught her breath, she offered the blonde a warm, reassuring smile, murmuring that she was alright before situating herself to lean back against the headboard and taking in her surroundings, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Arendelle...how did I get here...?" she asked, one hand moving to rub gently at her temple before her last few memories came rushing back to her with a start. "Wait! Are you alright?" she questioned Elsa anxiously, sun-kissed hands immediately trailing over her wife's face and frame in search of injuries or blemishes of any kind. "Tōll! What happened with Tōll?"

Elsa blinked, a concerned frown tugging at her lips as she reached out to gently capture her wife's fretting hands with her own, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "I'm fine darling," she assured her calmly, her thumbs idly stroking the backs of the Northuldran's hands soothingly. "Maren," she began tentatively, watching twilight flecked eyes carefully as she spoke. "What is the last thing you remember?" Honeymaren stared down at their entwined hands as she thought, trying to bring the hazy moments in her mind into clearer focus and the correct order. "I was drowning," she began, closing her eyes as though to relive what must have been a terrifying moment. "Tōll was trying to convince me to fight back...I confronted him about his pain over what happened with Habllek," she recounted, pausing for a moment before opening her eyes again, wide with realization. "He let me go. Elsa, he let me go!" her eyes darted down in thought for a moment, frantic to recall more details of what was almost her final moment before the fire demon's surprising show of love and courage. "He told me something...something important," she murmured, frowning when she couldn't seem to lift the hazy veil from that last instant.

"He told you that your people had over 800 words to describe the beauty of winter," Elsa whispered sadly, a bittersweet smile tugging at her lips as she gently cupped Honeymaren's cheek, guiding the noaide's confused gaze to hers. "And he bid you to love me better than he did Habllek," she finished quietly, immediately holding the fire maven's face in her hands as the telltale signs of an emotional dam beginning to crack released a stream of increasingly steady tears from twilight flecked eyes, lovingly brushing each one away with her thumbs as it fell. Honeymaren closed her eyes against the sudden surge of mourning she didn't expect to feel, couldn't have possibly prepared for. "Is..." Honeymaren began before nearly choking on the sudden emotional lump lodged in her throat. "Is he really gone? Did...did I...kill him?" she asked in a pained whisper, though the new, unsettling silence she felt within herself gave her enough of an answer she wasn't sure she was ready to bear. Though she didn't realize it at the time, Tōll's presence had become as familiar as the sound of her own breathing – something one would never notice or think twice about until its absence. It was disturbing.

"No, my love, of course you didn't," Elsa whispered reassuringly, leaning forward to press her forehead against her wife's and shushing her gently as the noaide struggled to bite back her sobs before guiding her head to her shoulder and holding the broken woman close. "Oh, Maren," Anna whispered through her own tears, unable to help but lean in and wrap her arms around Honeymaren's waist. The warm embrace of the younger queen finally broke the noaide as she allowed her guilt-wracked sobs their freedom, one arm clutched tightly over Anna's and the other around Elsa's waist, holding to both women tightly for support. "Tōll made a lot of choices throughout his ageless life, all of them entirely his own – including his choice to save you and end the destruction he began," Elsa continued emphatically, lovingly carding her fingers through Honeymaren's hair as she wept. "You didn't choose his path, my love. You helped bring a tormented soul desperately needed comfort when he needed it most, enough that he could finally let go of his pain and be free from it...and I'm so impossibly proud of you, baby," she whispered into raven locks, closing her eyes against the tears welling behind her own eyes as Honeymaren's bold sacrifice and wise words echoed in her mind.

The fire maven sniffled, shaking her head slightly as she pulled back to look at her wife, Elsa's heart breaking at the lost and imploring gaze she was met with. "I feel so strange," she confessed, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand when the redhead released her hold as well, though she did manage a small laugh when Anna immediately reclaimed her hand the second it was available. "I have no reason to, but I feel so...lost and empty," she continued, trying to find the right words to describe to the monarchs how she felt. Not understanding emotions was an entirely new and incredibly disliked situation for the experienced noaide. "I should be glad he's gone, and yet..."

"You feel like you've lost a piece of yourself you didn't even know was there," Anna offered, fire and ice both turning to look at her in surprise. "Yes," Honeymaren breathed after a short moment, a small, disbelieving laugh bubbling forth – Anna's keen insight never failed her, neither in its surprising accuracy nor its ability to help. The redhead in question shrugged slightly at the surprised gazes of the spirits. "It's how I felt about Elsa," she explained, reaching out to give Elsa's hand a loving, reassuring squeeze as the queen's face fell at the admission. "Though my memories of her magic had been removed, Pabbie had 'left the fun', as he likes to say. But even though my mind couldn't remember the huge piece of me that was missing, my heart did," she went on, releasing Elsa's hand to fondly cup her sister's pale cheek, smiling at her lovingly. "Some things are too special, too important, too much a part of you for even magic to erase," she continued, turning back to Honeymaren. "For a long time, now, Tōll has been an integral part of your very being, Maren, whether you knew him as such or not. A piece of who you have been for the last several months has just been severed in the blink of an eye. I think you're allowed to feel however the hell you want to feel about a sensation like that," the redhead finished, the protective, challenging tone of the younger queen's declaration drawing another smile from the beleaguered fire maven.

Elsa simply shook her head in loving exasperation at the fiery redhead, smiling adoringly at her before bringing her attention back to her wife. "Anna makes a very good point, darling," she agreed, nodding her approval at the redhead's theory. "I can't imagine how confusing all of this must be for you. Take your time processing your emotions – I'll be here to help you in any way I can," she promised, gathering Honeymaren's free hand in both of her own and squeezing gently. "You're not the only one having a hard time handling the loss," she added sadly, twilight flecked does meeting hers in askance before realization dawned in them. "Habllek," she said more than asked, though Elsa nodded in confirmation anyway.

---

Elsa took a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair bracingly as she prepared to finally reunite with Nokk to spirit Honeymaren back to Arendelle and hopefully take a few days to recover from the day's events and untangle the complex tapestry their lives had become. The queen could scarcely believe what the Mother Spirit had told her.

She was actually pregnant.

It wasn't a cruel joke or a punishing fever dream – there were no tricks or conditions, no lies or deceit. It was real...it was happening. Elsa had been given the chance to start the family she had never dared to dream could be a possibility for a million reasons that had nothing to do with the fact that she fell in love with another woman. If you had told the introverted monarch that she would one day fly, she would have been less skeptical than if you had told her one day she would be a mother.

And it was genuinely Honeymaren's child she carried! The queen couldn't help her quiet laugh of disbelief, scrubbing at her face with her hands as though reassuring herself she wasn't dreaming. When she realized her being with child was how Habllek had intended for Elsa to share the burden of Tōll's essence, she instantly feared she had become nothing more than a vessel through which the fire spirit would be reborn. The queen had nearly vomited at the thought, so violated and invasive the prospect had felt, but no; it was not Tōll's spirit that she had siphoned from her love, but his essence, his power, in its truest form – an essence that was just as much a part of Honeymaren as it had been Tōll. Most importantly, Habllek emphasized that she herself had not actually borne the fire spirit's essence, but their unborn child - an essence that was fully and entirely one with her loving noaide, shaping the future how nature and genetics saw fit. The Mother Spirit had simply created the template.

She turned back to the Mother Spirit a final time, intending to thank her once more for the gift she and Honeymaren had been given before her joyful words died on her tongue. Habllek was once more studying Tōll's icy likeness, no longer paying any heed to her avatar's presence. Elsa's heart clenched in pain for the deity. Though she had always logically known the truth of Habllek's power, the twisting, winding paths their destinies had followed - paths that even Elsa's keen mind struggled to piece together - showed the young queen just how unfathomable the being before her was to something as small, as momentary as humanity. Plans written in the stars themselves so long ago that had come to fruition over the last several months humbled Elsa in ways that both comforted and frightened her. With beings such as Habllek in the world, how could someone as small, as insignificant as a human possibly make a difference? Was it for the best? Was every human's life personally and painstakingly scribed in the heavens as hers and Honeymaren's had apparently been? Or were others drawn in the sand, truly subject to the whims and flows of time and chance? Anyone, peasant or queen, would be leery of a being of such impossible power.

Yet, Elsa felt no fear for the goddess before her as she gazed upon the woman that had shaped her incredible life. For despite Habllek's unfathomable power, her timeless gaze, her limitless reach, it was clear that even a goddess could not predict all things...and the immeasurable heartbreak that rolled off her still figure in intangible waves as a result felt undeniably human. And for possibly the first time in her crazy, unpredictable, impossible life, she knew without a doubt what it was that the woman before her needed...and gave it without hesitation.

Habllek stiffened, gasping slightly in surprise when she felt lithe arms snake around her waist from behind and pull her close. Rather than retreat from the obvious surprise in the deity's countenance, Elsa simply held fast, laying her head against Habllek's shoulders and closing her eyes, willing the embrace to weave the deep magic she knew it held. Slowly, but surely, the Mother Spirit's arms came to rest on the ones about her waist, oceanic eyes returning to the icy likeness of their lost love.

---

"You hugged her..." Anna spoke in quiet awe as she surreptitiously brushed away a stray tear, a small smile on her lips filled with both pride and sorrow and mirrored by the Northuldran. Elsa simply nodded, sighing deeply and entwining her fingers with Honeymaren's, the noaide squeezing her hands gently in return. "I realized I knew exactly how she felt in more ways than one because I had felt it," she began to explain, her now distant icy gaze fixated on her wife's hands in hers, drawing comfort from the tangible reminder that her dark fears were far behind her.

"Even though Tōll had been gone for thousands of years physically, his spirit had remained tied with his essence – an essence Habllek had guarded closely to her all that time. But now..." Elsa trailed off with a quiet sigh, shaking her head sadly before taking a bracing breath and lifting her gaze to meet both her wife's and her sister's. "When Honeymaren d-" Elsa stopped once more, swallowing the instant lump in her throat before trying again. "After Calabria," she revised pointedly, "I would have given anything, done anything to feel Honeymaren's arms around me just one more time. Knowing that it was completely beyond my reach was a helplessness unlike anything I had ever felt before, including when I didn't know how to control my powers," she explained, smiling briefly when she felt Honeymaren's other hand reach up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, warm fingers lightly brushing against her cheek as she did. Without a second thought, the queen reached up to hold Honeymaren's hand in place, nuzzling into its reassuring comfort.

"I never imagined a being like Habllek being capable of feeling anything other than control...but I do know she loved Tōll," Elsa continued confidently. "And, though I was slow to learn the lesson, one of the stipulations of being in love is to invite helplessness, if not court it...and trust that the indescribable joy you felt when you were with the person you loved was worth the pain you opened yourself up to. The most powerful love and the most immeasurable sorrow live and thrive in the deepest, most secret parts of you...and you cannot invite one in without opening the door for the other."

Honeymaren's lips curled into a soft smile and before she realized what she was doing, she had closed the distance between them and taken Elsa's lips in a slow, gentle kiss. The queen gave a quiet squeak of surprise at the unexpected affection, biting her cheek to prevent a distinctly un-queenlike whine from escaping when it ended far too fast for her liking, though the corners of her lips quirked into a shy, but pleased smile. "What was that for?" she asked, trying to will the heat from her cheeks to ebb as she felt her sister's grinning gaze on the pair. "You're...an amazing woman, Elsa of Arendelle," Honeymaren offered breathlessly in a simple answer with a helpless little shrug as the words to describe the pride in her heart fell utterly short. For Elsa, of all people, to speak of love and sorrow with such wisdom filled the noaide with something far more complex, more pure, more important than pride.

"I'm glad you were able to offer some comfort, Elsa," Anna chimed in before Honeymaren could elaborate, reaching out to lay a hand on her sister's knee and giving it a light squeeze of support. "How did she respond?" Elsa shrugged slightly as her hands came to rest in her lap, though they didn't relinquish their hold on the noaide's. "Honestly, much like I have done in the past," she said with a slight chuckle at the memory of some of her first experiences with physical affection – there were times she was sure she resembled something akin to a startled cat having been doused with water. "She was obviously quite surprised at first, but then..." Elsa's voice trailed off, the small smile that had formed falling from her lips at the memory of the goddess as she had begun to sob. She had started to curl in on herself, so like Elsa had done countless times, but Elsa was determined for Habllek's outcome to be different than hers. The queen had immediately maneuvered the Mother Spirit in her arms to embrace her fully, gently encouraging the deity's face into the crook of her neck as she wept for the love she had lost, both past and present. Elsa had guided them both slowly to the icy cavern floor, Habllek's mournful cries echoing across the space that seemed all at once much too vast yet far too small for a pain as immeasurable as that.

Elsa shook her head, as though trying to clear the memory from her mind's eye before sighing quietly. Her icy gaze softened when she met Anna's and Honeymaren's eyes once more. She didn't need to further explain what had happened – both of them knew what power a simple embrace could hold over a soul like her own. "We will have to make sure to visit her often," Anna suggested, her brow furrowing as she held her chin in thought. "Maybe we should take Olaf for a visit – he's a good way to distract your mind from anything, good or bad," she added with a little smirk. All three women chuckled as their imaginations immediately conjured up images of the joyfully oblivious snowman wandering around the sacred ground of the glacier and the unending possibilities of his stream-of-consciousness dialogues.

"So...is that it, then?" Anna asked after a quiet moment, concerned teal pools searching Elsa's icy gaze. "Everything is back to normal? Well," she amended with a small smirk as she rolled her eyes. "Our family's version of normal? We're done?" Elsa laughed lightly and nodded, reaching her hand to affectionately brush Anna's bangs from her face. "Yes, we're done...for now," she said with a soft giggle, remembering all that had happened after she had promised Olaf and Kristoff the same thing on the shores of the enchanted forest. Anna and Honeymaren released a joint sigh of relief, all three of them chuckling as the weight of all that had happened finally began the process of settling into their hearts to be absorbed and accepted with time and the presence of their loved ones.

"How did she explain the poison? What did she have to say for herself on that count?" Honeymaren asked curiously, unable to hide the slight bitterness in her tone as she looked at Elsa expectantly. The queen blinked in surprise, her brow furrowing in confusion. "P...poison?" she parroted in puzzlement. Honeymaren raised an eyebrow, frowning slightly. "The poison..." she said slowly, leaning forward slightly in expectation. "...the reason you were getting sick every day? Remember? The whole reason we went in the first place, Snowflake," she said with growing exasperation and concern as the queen continued to look at her with increasing peculiarity, icy pools growing wider by the second.

"The p-...but it...I-I thought you...wait...wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Elsa stuttered, alarming both Anna and Honeymaren as she waved her hands in front of her as though trying to clear the fog of confusion before locking eyes with baffled twilight-flecked does. She had confirmed everything with Anna when she had recounted all that had happened, but Honeymaren...

"Darling," she began carefully, "What do you remember from when you wrested control from Tōll?" Honeymaren blinked in confusion, trying to read the sudden uncertainty and worry in her wife's countenance. "What do you mean?" she asked carefully, unsure what the increasingly fidgety queen was looking for. "When you fought your way back to me, just before Nokk pushed you in the water," she elaborated, staring searchingly into the noaide's eyes. "Did...did you hear my voice? Did you hear me calling to you?" Honeymaren's brow furrowed in concern, shaking her head slowly as she ran through the memory several times in her mind. "No...I couldn't see or hear anything until I had fully taken control. It was like being in an empty, lightless room. There was no sound unless Tōll was there or I was seeing one of his memories," she explained, her concern growing when it became clear this was not the answer the winter spirit had been expecting or hoping for. "Ooooh boy," Anna commented quietly, feeling uncomfortably awkward as it dawned on her exactly what was happening. Honeymaren looked back and forth between the sisters now, sure now that she was missing something important. "Elsa?" she questioned worriedly when the queen took a deep, bracing breath, running her hands through her hair in clear preparation for something and surprising them both when she turned to Anna instead.

"Um, Anna?" she began nervously, taking her sister's hand in hers and standing from the bed, prompting the redhead to do the same. "Would, ah...would you mind giving Honeymaren and I a few minutes alone?" she asked quietly, leading her to her bedroom door as the increasingly concerned Northuldran scooted to the edge of the bed. "What? B-b-but-...I mean, yeah, of course, but-" Anna spluttered as she was gently ushered out the door, Elsa's apologetic face growing smaller and smaller as she muttered out nearly incoherent mumblings and gestures promising a quick re-entry before it was shut solidly in her face, leaving the bewildered redhead alone in the hallway. Alone, that is, minus the equally bewildered servant who had been refreshing the flowers on the table in the hall and had witnessed the entire episode. The two blinked owlishly at each other for a long moment until Anna offered a sheepish giggle and an awkward wave, prompting the servant to slowly finish their task before walking away. As soon as they had turned down the hall, Anna immediately pouted at the door before sighing and leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, hellbent and determined to be patient.

At least, whatever version of patience she was able to manage.

Elsa released a bracing breath before turning to face the noaide, immediately rushing to her in concern when she saw the woman throw her legs over the side of the bed and prepare to stand. "Hey, hey, absolutely not," she reprimanded tenderly, gingerly pushing the Northuldran back into a seated position on the bed and kneeling in front of her to prevent her from getting up. "Doctor Hjorn looked you over and gave strict orders for you to remain on bedrest for a couple of days, lest you develop pneumonia," she asserted, her tone leaving no room for the argument she could see forming on her wife's tongue.

"Elsa, what's going on?" she asked bluntly. For the first time, the noaide was genuinely confused about the tumultuous flurry of emotions she sensed in the queen and it was a feeling she greatly disliked. "What aren't you telling me?" Elsa bit her lip, averting her eyes as her face scrunched up in an odd mixture of guilt and nervousness – what really confused the Northuldran, however, was the almost Anna-like excitement laced throughout it all. It was tentative and new, but it was there all the same. "I mean, technically I did tell you, but apparently you weren't actually able to hear me. Really, I told you yesterday, we just didn't think that it was true-"

"Elsa."

The queen blinked and looked back up at her wife, a deep blush rising in her cheeks at the adoring smile that had broken through the fire maven's concerned countenance at her uncharacteristic nervous rambling. Honeymaren leaned down to grasp Elsa's hands, tugging on them gently and bidding the queen to sit next to her on the bed. "It's going to be alright, Snowflake," she assured Elsa gently, squeezing her hands lovingly as she ducked her head to catch the queen's nervous gaze, offering her a reassuring smile. "In case it hasn't been made clear yet, there isn't anything in this world that we can't overcome so long as we are together," she promised, bringing the winter spirit's pale hands to her lips and peppering them with soft kisses, smiling when she saw the blonde's stiff muscles begin to relax from her calming words and loving touch. "You can tell me anything, my love. So, tell me everything." Elsa nodded, taking a deep breath before gathering her courage and meeting Honeymaren's gaze.

"Do...do you remember what Ahtoha- what Habllek said to us the night we spent at my ice palace?" she asked, prompting Honeymaren to tilt her head questioningly before furrowing her brow in thought as she recalled the memory. "She said that we would both endure a pain neither of us had experienced or could prepare for," she answered slowly before glancing back up and meeting Elsa's nervous, but earnest gaze. "Yours was facing your fears about Ulrik...mine was letting you push through that pain without stopping it." Elsa nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat before continuing. "Yes...but there was more to it than that," she prompted gently, squeezing the hands in hers for comfort and courage. "She also said that we would each give a piece of ourselves away forever...and that if we agreed to do as bid, then we would know the pain of her deepest sorrows and the love of her greatest joys," she finished as crystalline eyes welled with unshed tears, her hands now shaking with nervous excitement.

Elsa laughed lightly at Honeymaren's concerned perplexment, the bewildered Northuldran's face caught in a rare moment of pure confusion as the queen's tears spilled over, despite the growing smile on the blonde's face. Honeymaren's hands twitched, aching to brush away the tears that fell ever faster but Elsa held them fast, already pale fingers white-knuckled from their death grip on their lifeline. "The Mother Spirit told us that, Honeymaren," she tried again, willing twilight-flecked does to light with understanding, to finally know how her wife felt about this impossible new journey they would embark on. "Gods, why is this so hard to say?" she asked with a trembling voice, the pure adrenaline coursing through her making it difficult to remain still and seated. The noaide's hands began to shake as well as her body and soul reacted to the beautiful spirit before her, every nerve of her existence on fire for reasons she had yet to understand. "Elsa...I-I don't-" she tried, desperately trying to understand what Elsa was trying to tell her. None of this made sense to her.

Until the moment Elsa grabbed her hand and held it against the plane of her stomach, holding it there with her own in an almost desperate attempt to convey what she couldn't bring herself to say aloud. Dark brows furrowed in deep confusion before shooting into her hairline as her eyes grew impossibly wide, all the pieces of the puzzle finally clicking into place as the impossible realization dawned on her. Crystalline eyes softened in relief as they finally saw the spark of recognition the queen had been both fearing and desperately hoping for.

"...wait..." Honeymaren said in a small, disbelieving voice full of wonder and, dare the queen believe, hope. "Yes," Elsa whispered and nodded quickly, sniffling as her tears now fell in a steady, unstoppable stream, her other hand following Honeymaren's as it, too, came to rest on her womb in reverence. "Wait, you're-" Honeymaren tried again, wide eyes flicking between her hands on the queen's stomach and Elsa's tearful gaze as her brain desperately scrambled to break through the barrier of what was possible to the reality of the moment they were in. "Yes," Elsa confirmed earnestly, her breath hitching unsteadily as she tried in vain to hold back the choked sobs that began to escape her when the noaide's joy finally began to outshine her clear confusion. "Elsa," Honeymaren breathed, her gaze now firmly locked with the winter queen's. "We're...we're gonna be-"

"Yes!" Elsa sobbed, burying her face in her wife's neck as the fire maven instantly pulled the winter spirit impossibly close in a crushing embrace. The fire maven's elated, disbelieving laughter was a soothing balm to her frazzled nerves, washing away her fears and insecurities and leaving only the glow of pure joy and elation like she had never known before. Never before in her life had Elsa so desperately wanted, needed approval as she had in that moment. The queen hadn't realized how truly terrified she had been of the possibility that Honeymaren would be anything other than euphoric at the prospect, the reality, of them becoming parents. As she continued to cry into her love, finally releasing the floodgates of the impossible constellation of emotions she had kept locked tight since before leaving Arendelle in search of answers, she knew there was never a reason to fear, nor would there ever be when it came to her noaide.

Finally, Honeymaren couldn't contain herself any longer, pulling back just enough to hold Elsa's face in both of her hands, the queen's coming to rest atop them as her noaide searched her eyes intently. "Elsa, how do you feel?" she asked quickly, staring imploringly into her watery gaze. "Are you okay? Are you in any pain? Are you..." Honeymaren swallowed then, her own nervousness suddenly rising to the surface. Elsa frowned slightly in concern as she watched her love wrestle her emotions under control, forcing herself into a state of calm neutrality. "Are you...okay with this?" Honeymaren tried again, trying her level best to still her own feelings for the sake of Elsa's.

The queen didn't think she could love Honeymaren any more than she did in that moment.

Rather than answer, she pressed closer to her maven of fire and kissed her fiercely, pouring every ounce of love and joy she felt in that moment into impossibly soft, full lips. 'I am terrified, but I need not fear so long as you are with me,' they said. 'I will chase this feeling, this moment, this new world I see when I close my eyes. This feeling that shines like the sun, lighting the darkest corners of my heart until every seed hidden within me blossoms to life. This feeling that has sown wildflowers in my bones so that I may be a garden of love in which our family can safely grow. I will chase this feeling, and you, and us with my very soul.'

As her lips whispered these vows her voice dared never attempt, she became dully aware of a certain exuberant redhead's elated cheering in the hallway...and both fire and ice smiled into their promise, etching it into the stars alongside their destiny. Elsa made another promise to herself, then, as Anna burst into the room and tackled both of them in a massive hug on the bed, laughing elatedly as they celebrated life anew. Her destiny, and those of the people she loved, may be charted within the measure of eternity, but she would not live her life with such constraints any longer. Elsa had lost too much, won too much, to continue to rely on something as mediocre as 'forever'. In searching for forever, it was too easy to lose, or even erase the beauty of what is or was. Because even if something might not be forever, that didn't mean it wasn't magic. And as she pulled the loves of her life closer, the queen of ice and snow vowed then and there that she would never forget to cherish the sweetness while she had it. She held her growing family close and savored every feeling of this perfect moment, content and safe in knowing it was far from their last...and that the best was yet to come.

AN:

WhooooWEE! STILL ALIVE!

Y'all keep thinking I just up and died, but NAY I SAY! I am like the cockroaches of old! (just a little more romantic...or at least, I hope?)

One of my dearest friends and Winter's Echo's most avid fan suggested that rather than post this on New Years Eve or Day as I normally do I should take some extra time and drop the chapter during a less busy/stressful/chaotic time in my reader's lives. Though many of you may disagree and wish to maim this person for delaying an update, I would like to thank her for encouraging me to take the extra time because I was able to really think through everything I wanted to say and do.

That all being said and done, Winter's Echo is nearing its close with only a chapter or two left to go. It has been a long, long, looking journey that was interrupted by a million crazy things that turned my home life upside down in the most unbelievable, unpredictable, and irreplaceable ways. As I promised, and will continue to promise, I will never, EVER abandon this piece. I know how hard it is to wait for a story you have fallen in love with and I can only hope that the updates are worth the wait.

I want you all to know that I actually save a week of vacation time from work to dedicate to bringing these updates. I reread this piece in its entirety every time I start a new installment in an effort to stay true to the story I wanted to tell from the beginning. For those of you that have been with me since the beginning, thank you for staying with me through this craziness. For those I may have lost and occasionally poke their heads in, curious to see an update notification in your email, I'm sorry for my absence and hope these updates, as slow as they are, reignite your imagination as they do mine.

And finally, to you poor souls that just stumbled upon this heap of insanity and are thoroughly and utterly freaking CONFUSED...welcome to the shit show, friend. You are welcome here. 3

-Volchise