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"All at once, everything is different, now that I see you."
―Eugene Fitzherbert
It started with a nightmare that he couldn't get out of his head. She was standing on the coast of the Dark Sea, alone and stiller than a stone with hair that was windblown. The soft eyes that made her Elsa were hard with purpose as they challenged the monstrous waves before her. He tried to call her name from his gondola, but she was already disrobing and taking down her braid. What was left of her wardrobe was a frost-sewn skin suit with beadwork that resembled a mermaid's scales.
Elsa broke out into a run with her bare feet pressing hard against the pebbled ground. Over and over she tackled the ocean, being swallowed whole each time. Her persistence was breathtaking, but she was losing her war with the Dark Sea. When her glaciers collapsed on top of her dot-sized body, Eugene dove into the ocean and searched for her furiously. Under the water emerged a beast whose body took the shape of rage.
Its iridescent eyes narrowed at Elsa, scanning her like a predator's. Suddenly, it vanished, and she surfaced from the sea foam with fear on her face. Eugene swam toward her with his head barely above the water, having surfaced when she did to meet her halfway. Elsa seemed to look right through him.
He shouted, "Elsa, you have to get―"
Out of nowhere, the beast from the sea body slammed her. She was sent flying across the sky like a boomerang, and he died inside. Screaming at the top of his lungs to distract the creature did her no good. He had to watch her try to use her magic to distance herself from the equine terror, but it knifed through the water and rammed into her until she was breathless. In all of ten minutes, she was being drowned by the angry water horse, and he could do nothing about it.
"EUGENE!" Rapunzel's voice hollered from some faraway place as lightning ripped the sky in two.
Eugene woke up from the nightmare in a sweat for the third time, panting as tears stung his ears. Elsa was sleeping soundly beside him like an infant in a cot. He removed his arm from her back to press his hands against his eyes and end his hyperventilation before it began. Gone were the whinnies of a water horse tackling Elsa until she was breathless, but what remained was his agony and the memory of Rapunzel's voice piercing his soul. He shakily pulled back his bedsheets to wiggle his toes into his slippers and head for the lavatory.
Eugene splashed his face with cold water from his sink, letting it run down his hot skin and cool his head. Elsa's legs could be heard shifting under his covers as she exhaled. He gazed at her shimmering reflection in his mirror, panting. Never had she looked more peaceful than she looked right now. Never could he imagine himself losing her to life's monsters when all was well within Corona and Arendelle.
Rapunzel's voice still haunted and crushed him on nights like these in December, but he hadn't been shutting Elsa out of his pain by withdrawing from her arms. Elsa, however, was a puzzle without pieces despite the haleness of their union. Something had been different about her when she let her hair down last night. He had watched her unbraid her pearl-blonde strands in his bedchamber, talking himself out of running his fingers through their thickness as she shook them free. His blood had rushed to his cheeks when she walked out onto his balcony with all that glossy hair blowing in the wind as if it belonged to a gale instead of a crown.
Her body had leaned into the moon with such wonder in its posture that he couldn't stop himself from sighing. She had looked wild and stunning under Corona's moonlight, a true adventurer after his own heart, but she had also felt distant from him as she hummed a lullaby he didn't know. To join her and step into her world would have been intrusive, so he hadn't. He had merely watched her sing and glow, desperate to love her with everything in his being. In the blink of an eye, he had a vision of her standing in front of the mouth of an ice cave with only the back of her hair facing him.
Eugene's hallucination had sickened him with a sense of impending doom.
This dread had stiffened his lips as she cupped his face and smooched him before saying with a smile as soft as the candlelight, "Goodnight, Eugene."
He had smiled at her with all the love he possessed, but his paranoia had grown into a beast he couldn't cage. Into the bed she had crawled, cradling her head with her hands as he blew out his candles for her. The smoke curling from the unlit wicks in the dark had given the bedroom a sinister air. After midnight, he had pulled his sheets over their bodies and kissed her forehead before trying to fall asleep beside her. His subconscious mind had sunken into a pretty dream of her riding a horse on water only to end up swimming from one nightmare to another.
Now that he was awake, Eugene dried his red face with his purple towel and climbed back into the bed with the same dread thudding against his chest. Elsa turned over to sleep on her back instead of her side. He stewed over his nightmare as he stared at her sleeping face, trying to make out the shape of her dreams. Heaviness came to his eyes the longer he studied her freckles. The anchor that was her peaceful smile became blurrier and blurrier as his eyelids fell.
The dream his mind melted into this time danced on the coast of his consciousness. In it, Elsa was fighting for her life as the beast of the Dark Sea dragged her through the combers. Eugene was beached by the storm, coughing up sea water and sobbing her name as he twitched in pain like a spider on its back. The nightmare persisted until a miracle was born in the shape of her blue lasso wrapping around the water horse's snout. Elsa allowed the monster's flailing head to pull her into the air and give her enough leverage to mount it.
Eugene's eyelids flickered as he watched. The sea horse tried to buck her off, but she stayed on. Her endurance was unbelievable. He had never broken a horse himself, yet she was taming a freak of nature in the middle of a sea storm. The struggle ended when the creature stopped kicking and neighing.
Elsa's hard eyes returned to the soft beauties that made her Elsa. The water horse's ears perked up as she touched its neck with a smile on her face. It galloped toward a land of ice, taking Elsa further away from the shoreline.
"Elsa," Eugene wept, seeing her upside-down form abandon him. His fading vision clung to the sight of her freezing to death in the middle of the Dark Sea. Then everything went black.
"Open your eyes, Eugene," Rapunzel's gentle voice told him from some faraway place.
The Magic Golden Flower blossomed in the darkness. With a deep suction from his lungs, Eugene opened his flying eyes.
Elsa was leaning over him with his chandelier haloing her head. "You're awake," she said with surprise, her voice stretched thin by stress. Her beautiful eyes were full of concern. "I kept calling your name, but you wouldn't open your eyes."
Eugene gulped when he felt her thumb stroke his cheek. His first thought was to take her hand and crush it against his mouth, but his body was still lost in the combers of his nightmare. His trembling lips tried to form words that wouldn't come out of his mouth. Elsa took his face in both hands and kissed the wrinkle between his eyebrows. He gripped her hand as he panted, perspiring from head to toe.
Elsa rested her forehead against his, giving him a moment to catch his breath. "It's alright," she murmured with closed eyes. "It's alright now, Eugene." Her voice shook lightly when she had said his name.
Eugene's shoulders relaxed after one last exhale. Elsa's eyelashes were only a few inches away from his when he opened his eyes again.
Elsa opened hers as well to wipe the sweat above his top lip. "What were you seeing in your nightmare?" she asked, speaking as if she had heard him calling her name in his sleep. Her loving hands cradled his face like it was made of glass.
"You were dying," Eugene blubbered all at once. "You were dying, and I couldn't stop it from happening. Then you...y-you left, and...I couldn't...I couldn't reach you. You died in the middle of the ocean, and I couldn't..." He was losing his grip on reality as he saw her surrounded by the fangs of an ice cave instead of the furniture in his bedchamber.
"Eugene?" Elsa held his chin with a serious edge to her tone. "Look at me."
Eugene didn't look away from her penetrating gaze.
"I'm―right―here," she said slowly.
Eugene's heart palpitated. He caressed her face and kissed her tenderly, muffling his shaky sigh with her lips. Her mouth was his life raft. Elsa touched his knuckles as his lips graduated to her eyebrow. The kiss he melted her with lasted for ten seconds.
Upon pulling back, Eugene gazed into Elsa's eyes with a plea for closeness. Elsa looked at him with love stored in hers. Kisses rained down his face until they reached his mouth, where her lips puckered softly. The heat from the Magic Golden Flower enveloped their kiss. Elsa made a soft noise that he had missed during their autumn separation. It was the sound of contentment and gratitude.
Elsa pulled away to smile with her eyes still shut like one coming out of a sweet dream. After she opened them slightly, she pecked his nose.
Eugene ran his fingers through the moonlight that was her hair. "Do you remember the last time you saved my life?" he whispered, swallowing hard.
Sadness clouded the stars in Elsa's eyes. "I remember when the petals of your soul scattered across the sky like comets," she corrected.
He moved loose strands out of her precious face. "You're the one who brought me back. Ragnar thought he had the upper hand, but you found me."
"It was your soul within the Magic Golden Flower that led me to the rest of you."
Eugene scooted over to give her enough room to lay beside him. He stroked her long mane as she curled up against his side. "I thought about that time while I was having that nightmare because I couldn't save your life like you had saved mine. I even thought about the day you had lost your powers because of Ragnar dabbling with magic."
Elsa looked up at him with glossy eyes.
Eugene held her closer to kiss her forehead. After a long pause filled with crickets, he mumbled against her skin, "I kept hearing Rapunzel's voice in my nightmares."
At that, Elsa sat up. "What did she tell you?" she somberly asked.
Eugene turned his head to look at her from his pillow. "She was calling my name over and over again. The first time I heard her, I couldn't find her. Every other time ended with the same result. The last time she spoke, she said, 'Open your eyes, Eugene.'"
"To see what, exactly?"
"You, evidently."
Elsa looked away; he couldn't tell if being the focus of a conversation about Rapunzel made her uncomfortable, but after remaining silent for so long, she gave him her most hopeful expression. "Rapunzel usually shows herself when we need something. She doesn't normally hide behind her voice."
Eugene nodded, still sweating. He believed that Elsa had been the one telling him to open his eyes. If Rapunzel had an omen to give him, her voice wouldn't have sounded so gentle. The frequency of his mind recreating her voice in his dreams was no anomaly during December, either. He mentioned the former to Elsa.
Elsa patted his damp forehead with a handkerchief that had been sitting on his nightstand. "We've had a tough week this month. Maybe the past was creeping into your future in your mind, and that's why you had a nightmare about loss, of all things."
"Your guess is better than mine." Eugene rested his eyes as she dried his temple, content with her psychoanalysis.
Her words made more sense to him than the possibility of her dying a frosty death. He felt that he needed a head doctor to examine the effects of his depression. For now, Elsa had provided medicine. Ease returned to him as his heart settled down. Relief washed over her as a result.
His savioress pressed her back against his mattress. She took a moment to turn her head and stare at him, inviting him to stare back. Eugene turned on his side when she turned on hers. They smiled at each other with their hands under their heads. Elsa thumbed away the sweat under his eye.
She was a masterpiece in lavender and white. The moon blued her unbraided hair and glittery skin, making her glow like a divine being who was one with Heaven and Earth. Even the wise and serene smile she wore made her look as if she had lived for a hundred years or more.
"I'd follow you anywhere," he confessed to her in a lovesick voice.
"I don't plan on going anywhere," Elsa playfully reminded. She dabbed the sweat on his cheek with the back of her curled finger.
Eugene sat up on his elbow to peck the bridges of her fingers one by one before kissing her palm. He turned his face out of her hand to purr, "We should ride out to the woods sometime. Do a little exploring. A little sightseeing. Have a little adventure."
"We should, shouldn't we?"
"Absolutely."
Elsa's blinks became slow and soft. Smiling faintly, Eugene leaned down to kiss her again. Elsa met him halfway by craning her neck. Their lips met gently as both sovereigns took the time to enjoy what little moments they had left before the sun warmed their faces. He surfaced from her kiss to smooch both of her palms, thanking them for having saved his life so many times; he loved her so much that he could hardly breathe when she smiled sleepily at him.
Elsa's eyes closed gradually. Eugene planted a long kiss between them. She dozed off from the feeling of his warm breath blowing against her forehead through his nose. Eugene pressed his last kiss against Elsa's belly before allowing himself to drift off as well. Her stomach was warmer than normal, soothing him until he fell asleep with his cheek pressed against it. The dream he had next gave him an image of Elsa standing on his balcony with only the back of her hair facing him.
Her gown was lavender and white, looking almost heavenly in dawn's first light. The wings of her glittering dress danced with a pair of leaves caught in a breeze. When she turned around, his eyes widened. The sun honeyed her billowing hair and wise face as it rose between the mountains, making her shine like a deity who had been sent from above. Her growing smile hit his heart like a golden arrow shooting an unimaginable amount of love into it.
"Elsa," Eugene uttered with his heart almost bursting from the pressure he felt in his chest.
Elsa rested her hand on the balustrade of his balcony before opening her other hand to him, beckoning him to come near. His wobbly legs pulled him toward her until he finally reached her. He wrapped his powerful arms around her thin body, holding the back of her head as she tucked her face into his cotton nightshirt. Her hair smelled like cinnamon sticks and pine cones.
Elsa separated from Eugene to wipe the tears from his face and explore his eyes with her own. "Ride with me this morning."
Eugene's heart was about to explode just from the sound of her sage-like voice alone. "Where?"
Her eyes twinkled with a light he had never seen in them before. "North."
"North? What's North?"
Elsa walked back to the balcony to place her hands on the balustrade. Her body leaned into the sun with such passion in its posture that he almost shivered from everything he felt for her just then. As she turned around to look at him, she said happily, "An adventure."
The dream faded away as Eugene blinked back tears. Frustration caused him to roll over and hug his pillow. He had wanted to end the dream with them riding into an unexplored forest, where they could swim in a river or exchange their dearest sentiments beneath the trees. Closing his eyes again, he tried to imagine them racing to the forest with banter rolling off their tongues. He pictured her horse weaving between trees and jumping over bushes, kicking up dirt in the face of his noble steed as it always did. Her passion would leave him breathless.
Eugene envisioned Elsa's horse cantering to a stop in the heart of a glade at the end of the race. He imagined himself bouncing on the back of his spirited stallion while he approached hers.
Elsa's mount would circle Eugene's as she smirked at him. "Thought you would win this time?" her silky voice would say.
"Today just isn't my day, is it?" he would concede, admiring her confidence.
Her eyes would flash mischievously. Eugene swallowed as he imagined them disappearing underneath low-hanging branches with Elsa playfully leading him away from their horses. She would turn around and tease him with a light kiss before walking backward, making him follow like a mouse drawn to a flute. Behind her would be a sparkling river whose beauty would only be rivaled by her own. He sighed when imagining their rendezvous wasn't enough for him.
Eugene glanced over his shoulder to see if Elsa was in bed; most December mornings saw her up before him. To his surprise, she was still by his side. Her expression, however, was not peaceful, and when she gradually opened her eyes to him, he realized that she had barely slept at all.
"Hey..." Eugene rolled over to her side of the bed to cup her cheek. "You okay?" He brushed the feathery bangs away from her troubled eyes. "What's on your mind?"
Elsa smiled tightly before shutting her eyes and savoring the warmth on her cheek. Her hand caressed the back of his as she whispered, "Promise me that you won't leave tonight?"
Eugene frowned. "I swear with all my heart."
Elsa began to open up for him by mumbling, "Something's been happening inside me since yesterday morning. I was sure that it was something else until today."
"Something like what, exactly?"
Elsa took his hand and pulled it down to her stomach. "Something new."
Chapter Notes:
Dedicated to WintermoonQueen and "Wayward Hearts." Her story made me jot this down.
It's up to you to decide whether Eugene is just dreaming of Frozen 2's elements or getting a hint that an AU of Frozen 2 will be upon him one day regardless of the new family he's creating. UotC overall is incompatible with Frozen 2's universe, so a Frozen 2 AU would be the outcome of the latter possibility. If "Indentured" had a continuation, it would not borrow from Carry Me Anew's version of Frozen 2's pieces. It would feature a rewrite of the sequel with a very different conclusion and real villains, but that's neither here nor there.
As an aside, all of you are welcome to write your own spins on CMA and UotC's universe. Reviews are loved by me, too. I hope you all enjoyed "Carry Me Anew." Goodbye, everyone.