A torrential downpour lashed the five imposing ships as they ploughed through the waves. Impetuous gusts of wind swelled the sails, and every impact of the waves shook the decks. The captains shouted their orders above the storm that roared overhead, barking to lower the storm sails and secure the props.
Away from all the commotion, inside the largest of the ships, gathered around a small, dimly lit table, Elsa and Kristoff awaited Anna's arrival.
Elsa kept her eyes fixed on a map stretched out under the oil lamp, thinking rapidly. Her thoughts were far from their goal at the moment. In fact, she hesitated to broach a subject with Kristoff, but couldn't find the courage to bring it up. As for the young man, he glanced at her from time to time. Far from being stupid, he had guessed that something was bothering Elsa, but he didn't know how to talk about it either. So they both stood there in silence, praying in their hearts that Anna would hurry up and break the somewhat unpleasant atmosphere.
Their prayers were answered when the Queen flung open the door. Her fiancé couldn't contain an impressed whistle at her appearance.
Anna wore a long, imperial-green tunic that fell to her knees. The borders were a lighter green, with Nordic motifs typical of Arendelle. Tied around her waist, a long, bottle-green fabric belt fell gracefully in two sections down her back to her calves. Over her tunic, a light iron breastplate covered her bust, adorned with countless golden embellishments. Far from concealing her, they highlighted the golden crocus flower - the symbol of Arendelle - engraved in the steel and glittering brightly. Tassettes, also adorned with gold, hung from the breastplate and covered the young woman's hips.
Anna had slightly reworked her queenly hairstyle; she had kept her side braid, which now framed a sophisticated bun. Slightly curly locks fell over her face, behind which shone her determined blue eyes.

"Ta-daaaa!" exclaimed the young woman as she spun around. Sorry I'm late, but I had a hell of a time getting that breastplate on!

Elsa couldn't help smiling at her sister's appearance. She'd made the right choice in handing over her place as queen; Anna embodied the strength and determination of their kingdom. She looked down to see a rapier with a gem-encrusted handle hanging from her belt.

"A sword?" Elsa asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Ever since our fight with Roderick, I've wanted to learn how to handle a sword better. While you... (she hesitated for a moment) were locked in your room, I asked Mattias to teach me the basics of rapier combat.
"Don't forget to thank him when we come back," Kristoff asserted optimistically. "Especially as you've put him in charge of the kingdom while we're away."

Elsa kept her eyes fixed on the rapier, trying to put into words what she was feeling. Anna approached and placed both hands on the table, around the sea chart.

"Anna, I'm impressed that you've learned to protect yourself," she began softly, placing a hand on her sister's. "But I'd rather know you're safe than fighting alongside the royal guard."

The redhead locked eyes with Elsa.

"Elsa, I won't stand back while you face Roderick," Anna retorted sharply. "I'm queen of Arendelle now, and if it means fighting for my kingdom - our parents' kingdom - then I'll fight."

She turned away to look at the map again, cutting short any protest the blond might have made. The three of them turned their attention back to the sea map, where a red dotted line ran from Arendelle to the middle of the southern sea.

"Here's a map of the route Father and Mother officially took," Anna explained. "Their route stops in the middle of the sea, miles from the South Islands."

She sniffed disdainfully as the name Hans, who originated from those islands, floated through the air.

"This is our only lead to the island of Yohamitään. If we're wrong, we'll just have to turn back and come up with a new plan.
"The sea's rough, so we'll probably have to turn back sooner than we thought," Kristoff declared sadly.
"No!"

Elsa pursed her lips. She had spoken louder than she had intended.

"I'm sure we'll find Yohamitään," she continued more gently.
"Elsa's right," agreed Anna. "Let's assume we'll find the island. Once we've landed, Roderick will surely be waiting for us with his shadows. Our main objective is to find the Narwhal's horn..."
"And Aodhan," breathed Elsa.

The other two turned to her.

"Elsa, I understand that you want to hear his explanations, but the priority is to find the horn. With its powers, we'll dispel the darkness and Yohamitään. Once we've stopped Roderick, you'll have all the time you need to question Aodhan. Is that all right?"

The young blonde sighed. She had to admit that Anna's plan was the most logical. She had to pull herself together; she had a bad habit of letting her emotions get the better of her. In the end, she nodded gently, her fingers tightening on the table, as much to prevent her from protesting as to avoid falling on the increasingly furious swell.

"Good," concludes Anna. "Let's go up on deck and see what the situation is."

The other two began to head for the exit, and Elsa made up her mind in an instant. She wouldn't have another chance before they reached Yohamitään.

"Kristoff, just a moment!" she called out. "Can I have a few words with you?"

He stopped and turned to her, eyebrows raised. Anna looked at them with a puzzled expression, then left, deciding to leave them alone.
Silence - if you could call it that despite the storm outside - settled between them again for a few seconds.

"Kristoff, I'd like to talk to you about... About..."
"Aodhan?" he finished for her with a slight smile.
"Yes," admitted Elsa.

They sat down facing each other on the chairs surrounding the small meeting table. Elsa wrung her hands, visibly embarrassed to bring up the subject.

"I wanted to ask you," she began in a small voice. How did you know you were in love with Anna?

She had asked her question in one breath and immediately blushed, realizing the childishness of her question. She continued, driven by the need to explain herself:

"I've never fallen in love before, and there are... certain things I still can't understand."
"Why ask me?" questioned Kristoff in a gentle voice. "You could have asked Anna."
"She's already got a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, I don't want to add to it with my questions. And you've gotten on well with Aodhan from the start, so maybe you've noticed something I haven't."

Kristoff leaned back against the back of the chair, arms crossed, looking thoughtful.

"It wasn't really love at first sight," he explained. "At first, I thought she was just a naive, spontaneous young woman."

He gave a little laugh.

"And then I realized that she was just full of life, passionate about everything she did. I realized that she was willing to do anything to extricate you from your ice palace and save you, even if it meant sacrificing her heart. I realized the power of her love for you, which made her more radiant than anyone else. It was when I went back to look for her in the snowstorm that I realized that, I too, was ready to do anything for her, to protect her, to support her... And to stand by her, no matter what. And even if we're still struggling, because we're still discovering what true love is, I know I want to discover it with her."

Elsa listened attentively to Kristoff's words, her eyes fixed on him, moved. An indefinable emotion washed over her, a mixture of tenderness, admiration and nostalgia, as she recalled all that Anna had done for her. Her sister had always been ready to do anything for her, her love for her had been the driving force behind everything she had done.
A gentle smile stretched her lips, warmly illuminating her face. She felt a pang of gratitude to Kristoff for sharing this with her, for offering her a glimpse of what true love could be, the kind he shared with Anna. She could feel the sincerity in his voice, and it struck a sensitive chord within her.
Her thoughts raced through her mind as she recalled every moment spent with Aodhan, every glance exchanged, every moment shared. And in these memories, she found a striking similarity with what Kristoff was describing. The storm within her, even stronger than the one that had rocked their ship, was beginning to subside, giving way to a strange sense of liberation. She had found the answer to a question that had tormented her but which she had never dared ask herself.

"I love him, Kristoff," she murmured. "I love Aodhan."

A tender smile stretched the golden-haired man's lips. He leaned forward and placed a reassuring hand on Elsa's.

"I know. And I know he feels the same way about you, Elsa. The way he talks to you, the way he looks at you, even the way he walks when you're in the same room... Nobody can fake that well. I don't know what made him join Roderick, and I don't know much about love, but believe me... Aodhan loves you, Elsa."

The misty-eyed young woman responded to his smile. She opened her mouth to thank him when a voice echoed outside.

"Land in sight!" shouted the lookout in the crow's nest. "Land in -"

He was interrupted by a wave that smashed against the ship's hull, causing it to capsize dangerously. Elsa and Kristoff exchanged glances and rushed to the deck.

The storm had become much worse than they had imagined. Raging waves several meters high approached the horizon, their menacing figures standing out against the black, lightning-streaked sky. The gusts of wind threatened to blow away the sails, the masts creaked and the wood groaned under every impact of the unleashed waves. Sailors clung desperately to ropes and railings, praying not to fall overboard.
Even worse, in the gaps between the waves, they could see the tips of sharp reefs piercing the restless water. The rocks, large and numerous, were for the moment sufficiently scattered for them to avoid. But the closer they got to Yohamitään, the more numerous they became.
Elsa and Kristoff joined Anna, who was standing as best she could by the mast beside the ship's captain.

"We have to turn back!" he cried. "Our fleet will be ripped apart by the reefs!"
"If we turn back now, the whole of Arendelle will be doomed!" Anna shouted to be heard over the storm.

Elsa put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"I've got an idea! Do you trust me?
"Always, Elsa," replied her sister before the captain could say anything.
"Throw out the anchor and let the whole fleet do the same," Elsa ordered the captain.
"We'll gain in stability, but it'll still be difficult to maneuver...
"Do as she says!" shouted Anna at the top of her voice.

The captain looked at them as if they were insane and walked away. With a flag, he signaled the other four ships to stop. For a few moments, it seemed they couldn't see him through the curtain of rain falling on the sea. But finally, the anchor chains clicked and the ships came to rest in the middle of the ocean.

And now, Elsa?" asked Anna, pushing a strand of wet hair away from her face.

Elsa stepped towards the prow of the ship, as the crew looked on in amazement and curiosity. Despite the tossing of the waves, she managed to keep her balance.
She brought one hand to her mouth and uttered four notes. Four simple notes, the same ones she'd heard for so long, and which had turned out to be the song of her mother's memories, calling to her from Ahtohallan. She sang the same notes, then waited. The sailors around her looked at her, now absolutely certain that she had gone crazy. For long seconds, nothing happened.
Then a whinny sounded over the crashing waves. On all five ships, the crew looked all around them, discerning nothing through the torrent of rain and waves that still assailed them. Suddenly, a horse emerged from the ocean, tall and imposing. With disconcerting ease, it galloped across the waves and leapt onto the largest of the royal ships. When he reached Elsa's side, Nokk blinked gently.

"I need your help," she implored, stroking his muzzle.

Her voice was swept away by the wind and rain, yet the horse seemed to have heard her. He neighed, reared, and leaped over the prow, to the surprised exclamations of the crew.

Nokk skilfully dodged the waves heading his way, zigzagged between the reefs, and raced towards a gigantic groundswell, which was about to engulf all five ships in a matter of seconds. He leapt into the wave and disappeared.
A dull roar sounded and the wave split in two, just in time to dodge the Arendelle's royal fleet. Within moments, the ships were surrounded by a wall of water that circled around them. The storm continued to batter these invisible walls, while the sea around the fleet had become calm and peaceful. They seemed enclosed in an invisible bubble of calm against which the waves were crashing.
Then, in front of them, the wall opened up, offering them a direct path to the island of Yohamitään, which they could now see on the horizon.

Cries of victory rose from the decks of the fleet. The sailors were cheering for Elsa and Nokk, who had succeeded in securing them. Anna rushed forward and embraced her sister. Behind her, however, the captain of their ship approached, a smile on his face despite his doubtful expression.

"That was very impressive, Lady Elsa," he conceded. "I don't mean to be a killjoy, but our ships still can't navigate through the reefs."
"I've thought of that," Elsa retorted with a grin.

She turned towards the sea again, advancing to the extreme edge of the bow. She took a deep breath. Aodhan's voice rang painfully in her ears. "You could surely freeze a path straight to Ahtohallan that we could walk on".
Yes, she could. She'd already frozen Arendelle, though that had been an accident. She had frozen a gigantic wave that was about to break over the kingdom. Of course she could freeze an entire path across the sea to Yohamitään.

With her hair swept back by the wind and her eyes fixed on the distant horizon where the island of Yohamitään stood, Elsa took another deep breath. She raised her arms to the dark sky and unleashed her power with an intensity that made the air around her glow. Ice crystals sprang from her palms, swirling around her in a hypnotic dance.
Suddenly, she brought her hands down to the ocean. A full-blown jet of ice shot out from them, striking the water with full force. Under its impact, a thin layer formed, stretched, and grew again and again. Around the ships, the sea quivered as Elsa's magic imprisoned its ripples in the ice. Slowly but surely, the surface of the sea began to transform into a smooth white expanse, shimmering like crystal.
Still, the sea remained stronger, breaking through the thin layer. But Elsa didn't give up. The ice cracked and reformed under her control, until it formed a layer thick enough not to break under the ocean's force.
Soon, the sailors were gazing in wonder at the ice bridge stretching out before them. The ships were now stabilized, imprisoned, and the walls of water surrounding them created the impression of an unreal place, as if they had been transported to another world.

Elsa sighed, took a few seconds to regain her strength, then turned to the captain of the royal ship, a defiant smile on her lips.

"Tell all crews to disembark. We're going to walk to Yohamitään."