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justlookatthosesausages · 5 years ago

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‘Emergence’ - an interactive fanfic

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CHAPTER 5

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It was a sunny day in Arendelle, and Anna was delighted to enjoy it after her morning duties. She especially liked those casual walks outside along Mattias. However, he made her shake her head with another moment of modesty, which was becoming common. She often had to remind him of his importance. Now he was doubting about his status of General.

“But... Such a title...”

Anna bent the head to her counsellor.

“You know, I didn’t make you General just because you saved my life when I destroyed the dam.”

Mattias lifted an eyebrow, both amused and curious.

“Even if...” Added Anna, waving her hand, “That was great, and all... No, that’s also because you deserve the highest rank.”

The man bowed his head at the compliment.

“I prefer to call myself your counsellor for the rest of my days and to never have to use my military title, Your Majesty. Because the term ‘General’ could imply a possible context of conflict.”

Anna smiled, the light of the bright sun accentuating her freckles as they both stepped on the cobblestones.

“Nice to see we’re on the same page about pacifism.” Beamed the Queen.

As they continued to walk, her smile vanished when she noticed how many guards were tagging along. She had two soldiers walking in front of her, and two behind. It felt a bit oppressive, even for her who didn’t mind it when people stood this close.

Especially for what she had planned to do in the following minutes.

She cleared her throat, trying to assemble as much regal attitude as she could. Elsa used to be better at this than her, and she blamed her natural aura. Nevertheless, on her side, Anna had this sturdy character that often allowed her to get what she wanted from the staff, the politicians, and... The Arendelle guards.

“I would like to continue on my own, please.”

The soldiers stopped right in their tracks. The four of them looked at her with concern. One of the two guards standing in front of Anna was a woman, and when she turned around, she frowned.

“Is everything alright, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, yes, of course. I just...” Anna took a strong breath in. “I’d like to enter the jail alone.”

The guards now understood why she had been walking to Arendelle’s prison. She meant to enter. Mattias had a little theory about why, but preferred not to intervene. The soldiers, however, exchanged some glances.

“Are you certain?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay.” Assured Anna.

They seemed convinced, and bowed to their monarch, before leaving the two. The redhead noticed that Mattias followed her, and lifted a soft hand. “Can you wait for me here? It won’t be long.”

Her counsellor looked at her maliciously. “What are you planning to do? Do you have a visit to make? The man from the other day, perhaps?”

“I won’t punch him, I promise.” Smiled Anna.

He stared at her, then took a calm breath. “Alright. Then go.”

Anna entered the building, and explained to each pair of guards she met on the way that she had to be alone. She only asked to be given directions on where the prisoner was, and said she would give a sign to the nearest guard in case she needed them. It left a lot of confusion to everyone, but nobody was dumb enough to contradict Queen Anna of Arendelle.

Calmly, she walked to the designated cell, and looked through the bars. The keeper opened the cell for her, then left. When there only was silence floating in the air, along the smell of humidity and the background sound of water drops, the man looked at her.

“We need to talk.” Announced Anna.

He was about to say something.

“I'm not here to scold you.” Promised the redhead. “I just don’t like it when I leave people in bad terms, and I felt like I needed to talk to you.”

“You look miserable.” Blurted the man, defensively. He figured out that the best way to cope with the surprise to see her visit him and the fact to face her this close again would be with an insult. Anna indeed had dark circles under her eyes.

“Because I stood awake all night thinking about it. I couldn’t sleep.” Smiled Anna.

Despite his attack, Anna was not offended in any way. She knew he acted meanly to feel better. And she was wise enough to know that it was never the solution.

“I hope I’m not intruding.” She said politely as she took the stool of the cell to sit on, while the man stayed on the hanging bed.

He was so surprised by her presence that he didn’t reply, but she didn’t mind. There was a silence.

“You came alone.” Noted the man.

His voice was calm, stunned. He couldn’t believe that she was taking that risk. He probably could end her life right there and then, but she seemed unafraid of it.

“Yes, indeed.” Smiled Anna.

Now he stared at her with a dropped jaw turned into a wince. She was genuinely smiling? It wasn’t just polite, she seemed happy to be there. And it was obvious she had prepared her speech. Anna took a breathe in as she started.

“I know why you're scared. Because you don’t put trust in me. To be fair, I don’t always put trust in me either.”

Her tone surprised the man.

“It’s going to sound odd, but... I was technically chosen by the Spirits. They all agreed that Arendelle deserves to stand with me. It’s as honorary as scary for a decision, and you have the right to still be processing it. It took me a while as well.”

The man wondered if she was serious. Judging by her expressions, she was. Was the Queen confessing to him? Privately? In a jail cell??

“Why did you come to see me? Why are you talking to me?” He asked, and voluntarily added a grunting tone mid-sentence when he thought he could intimidate her more that way.

Once again, it had no effect on Anna, and she even smiled more at his reaction.

“I want you to know that, despite the fact I now took Elsa’s role, she didn’t leave. Her heart is here. She’s always here. Even when she’s not visiting.”

She almost sounded maternal by the way she reassured him, and his eyes suddenly stung.

Why did his eye sting?? Was it the truth of her words? The relief he felt in his guts? Why did those simple statements make his soul lift a bit?

Anna looked at him and kept going.

“You know, if Elsa hadn’t come in time to stop the tidal wave that day, all our homes would have been crushed away. Yours, just like mine. We all owe her something. And look at the ice coating and decorations on the castle. Wouldn’t she have melted them if she didn’t care about Arendelle anymore?”

The man looked by the window of his cell, as if he could see the roofs from there, but it was more of a thinking gesture than anything else. Anna saw how his eyes had turned a bit sparkly with the light passing by the opening.

“Trust me when I say. She cares. She always does. I’m the one who has to tell her to not worry about the kingdom sometimes.”

He was speechless, his breathing slower and attentive now. The redhead bent forward.

“And if she knew you, she would ask how you’re doing from time to time.”

He stared at her. There was a long silence, and Anna respected it, understanding that she had to put her chatty personality aside. The man struggled a bit at first, but finally opened his mouth.

“I’m...”

He retracted, regretting it. She encouraged him with a smile.

“I’m sorry.” He exhaled, and he bit his lip after he let that truth out.

Anna fidgeted with her dress on the stool. “It’s okay.”

“I’ve been a brute, I know it. And... Please pardon my behavior. I was drunk, and I can get very aggressive verbally...”

“Were you drunk when we saw each other on the harbor?” Asked Anna.

He couldn’t tell if she was concerned or reproaching.

“I, uh...”

The prisoner looked embarrassed, so she dismissed the question with a gentle move of the hand.

“It doesn’t matter.”

He sat up more straight on the bed. “This is all my fault, however. And I want to apologize.”

“I accept it”, smiled Anna. Her genuine smile was back, and he felt like he was facing an actual sun.

“I thought I was right about what I said about Lady Elsa. And you. But I was wrong. I’ll try to be objective from now on.” Promised the man.

“As long as you’re not being judgmental, I guess it’s fine.” Winked Anna.

There was a silence, and she figured that they had told each other everything. She was about to leave the cell, so he stood up by respect, then he cleared his throat softly.

“Though I have to say, objectively, there is one difference that is both good and bad between you two.”

Anna turned around with a smile, frowning her eyebrows with amusement. “Which one?”

“You’re better at delegating than her.”

The redhead stared at him as he smiled, and there was a silence as she thought about all that it meant, then she giggled.

“Yes, it’s true. She really outdid everything and insisted on doing all by herself, uh?”

It was a fact known by everyone in Arendelle, not just the staff of the castle. He nodded, and she turned to exit. She closed the iron door, and gave a sign to the guard at the end of the corridor to come lock it.

“You know... Everyday, I’m trying my best.” Declared Anna as a last sentence, still smiling to the man. “We all do. That’s how life is. All one has to do, is to do the next right thing.”

The Arendelle soldier came next to her, bowed to his Queen and locked the prisoner in again. She gave the two a nod, and walked along the corridor.

“...Do the next right thing...” Murmured the man. “...Interesting.” He added, smiling.

=======

Elsa was focused in her drawings as she traced the new lines of the map along Honeymaren.

“Hey, can you, uh...”

The Sami gave her the pencil sharpener before she even asked. Elsa lifted her head when she saw that she had put the right object in her outstretched hand.

“...Thank you?”

“You’re welcome.” Smiled Honeymaren.

She had something in her smile that Elsa couldn’t quite put the finger on, and she decided to stop staring at it before getting too distracted. They had started to draw the map three hours ago, and she still got the feeling that they hadn’t traced much of it.

Elsa checked her notes and Honeymaren’s that they had wrote in their travel journals during their exploration, and helped herself with her own doodles that she had made when they stared at the horizon.

The Fifth Spirit applied the map indications from her notes to the giant paper displayed on the table in the center of the tent, scribbling on the map with the same rhythm and focused silence than Honeymaren standing in front of her on the other side of the table. When Elsa turned the next page of her journal, she was surprised to see a sketch that looked nothing like a border trace or a landscape, and squinted to it as she tried to remember what it was. She took the journal and lifted it at the rays of light passing by the roof to see it clearer, and suddenly widened her eyes when she recognized it.

“What is it?” Frowned Honeymaren.

“Nothing.” Urged to say the blonde, blushing, and she flipped the pages to hide it.

“Come on, what is it?” Asked the Northuldra, amused. “Did you write too fast and you can’t read your own handwriting?”

Elsa was glad she had just made up a perfect excuse. “Yes. Exactly.”

“It happens to me all the time.” Giggled Honeymaren.

She then lifted her head, interrupting herself in her drawing of the map, and interrupting Elsa too, for the latter was unable to focus every time the brunette talked. “It’s strange. You have such a clean handwriting, and you’re used to write in pretty much every position, how come you can’t understand what you wrote?”

“I don’t know”, fainted to shrug Elsa. “Here I just can’t understand what I wrote. That’s all.”

Her field of view got obstructed by Honeymaren’s palm, and she missed a heartbeat.

“Let me see. Maybe I can decipher it.”

Elsa blushed. “No, it’s not important. Truly. Nevermind.”

Honeymaren frowned. “Don’t tell me that we went hiking for days for nothing. Your notes are important. You often have an interesting point of view. You have a sharp eye, and sometimes see things I do not see.”

‘See things you do not see...’ Thought Elsa, gulping, as she stared at Honeymaren.

“Elsa?”

“Uh?”

“Why are you gripping your journal like that?”

The Fifth Spirit only noticed then what she was doing. She had clenched her hand on the pages, to make sure that the brunette wouldn’t take it. And it was a good thing that she was in full control of her magic now, because otherwise, with such a grasp, the whole diary would be covered with ice.

“I’m not going to snatch it out of your hands, don’t worry. If you don’t want me to read it, it’s okay.”

Elsa stared at her in silence, her throat tight. “Let’s... Let’s just draw the map.”

Honeymaren smiled softly. “Got it.”

They resumed to their work, and a few minutes later, Elsa took the opportunity of a moment when the Northuldra was focusing on coloring the shadow of a mountain, to look again at her journal. She flipped the pages back to the sketch, and clenched her other fist as she saw the drawing again.

A few days before, when Honeymaren was taking a nap as they were exploring the West plains, she had absentmindedly doodled the patterns of her coat in her journal. What she didn’t remember, however, is that she had actually drawn her entirely.

Elsa nervously passed a hand in her hair, and added a layer of ice on her locks without noticing it.

She went back to the map, but wasn’t really able to focus on it after that. When, one hour later, Honeymaren called it a day and said they could continue another time, she actually felt relieved. And when the woman leaved the tent, Elsa following behind, the blonde couldn’t help but think that she actually got the back patterns of her outfit accurately.

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“Oh! Oh! And could you bring one of those snow me’s?”

“Snowgies”, corrected Elsa with a chuckle. “And maybe. One day, I could show them to you.”

“Yaaay!” Jolted the Sami kids in one voice, jumping around. One of them even jumped really high, and Elsa got worried for a second, until she understood that Gale actually was playing with them.

Like any children, they switched their attention easily, and were all focused on Gale now, asking them to make them fly next. They were all so small and light that they could make them float all at the same time, and they all took off the ground with a concert of giggles. It was no big effort from Gale to do so, and Elsa remembered that the spirit was able to create tornadoes in an instant, so this was not more complex that her creating an ice sculpture. Or to sneeze snowgies.

She joined the kids in the general giggle, then suddenly Gale stopped. The Sami children retrieved the ground, and Elsa frowned as she saw the Spirit briskly leaving the forest to the South.

“What happened?” Worried a child.

“I don’t know. But it’s not your fault”, she said with a soft voice, seeing how disappointed they all were.

She had felt the emotion of the Spirit before they left; it was curiosity, like they had just heard something in the distance and wanted to investigate. Elsa was naturally curious as well - must be a Spirit thing - and she followed the path that Gale had taken.

Suddenly, she saw them come back at high speed, and she barely had the time to widen her eyes, before they swooped her up in the air.

“WOAW!” Exclaimed the blonde, blinking at the sudden force.

She analysed the way the Wind Spirit was making her twirl in the air, and she knew that familiar embrace. They were excited for Elsa. And that meant only one thing...

“Anna is here?”

Gale put her back on the ground and chimed with a happy twirl, confirming it. Elsa smiled and beamed in glee. She ran in the forest to the elemental stones, and giggled with a joyful tone as she and Gale hurried along her. They moved fast in the woods, trees whistling in Elsa’s ears when she passed in front of them. She arrived to the stones, and run past them.

In the distance, she could see a reindeer with three passengers arriving at full speed, and Elsa was glad as always that Gale could bring her news from so far. Every time, she knew when Anna would come before she even arrived to the stones.

With a gasping laugh, Elsa ran to them, and she could see Anna jumping down and running along.

“That’s just useless”, told her Kristoff as she did. “We’re faster with Sven!”

“I doubt that she cares”, chuckled Olaf.

Indeed, the redhead didn’t care. That was Elsa’s and hers tradition: to tackle each other into a hug. Even if Sven arrived first. Screw logic.

Seconds later, they arrived to each other’s level, and Elsa slowed down a bit before Anna jumped into her arms. They twirled around with bursts of laughter, delighted to hug each other again.

“Surpriiiise!” Giggled Anna.

Elsa held her close, her hand passing on Anna’s long hair. “You said you were busy in your last letter. You little stinker.”

“That’s the whole point of a surprise.” Laughed Anna.

“I know. This is a great idea.” Smiled Elsa, parting from the hug to look at her little sister.

She brought her hands to Anna’s cheeks, her gaze dancing from one eye to another.

“No new black eye. I suppose that things are doing better?”

Anna nudged her on the arm as the blonde cackled with laughter. “You dork.”

After Elsa hugged Kristoff and Olaf, they walked together to the camp, despite Kristoff’s suggestions to go on Sven because he was riding right next to them and it was ridiculous. Finally, they arrived to the Northuldra, who greeted their surprise visit with hurrahs.

“I’m so happy that you’re here.” Said Elsa with the same touched smile as always.

“And I didn’t come empty-handed!” Smiled Anna, beaming.

She rushed to get her backpack attached to Sven’s back, and took a paper bag out. Elsa instantly recognized the crest on it, and her soul filled with joy, both at the memory and what was coming.

“Chocolates! From-”

“Your favorite shop in Arendelle, yep.”

Elsa hurried to take the bag. She couldn’t believe her eyes. And her taste buds. She was almost drooling in advance.

“This is not just any chocolates, though. I bought some that we can melt in a pot so we can have some hot chocolate tonight around the camp fire.” Winked Anna.

The blonde gasped in glee. “You’re the best sister.”

“I’m your only sister.” Giggled Anna.

“That still makes you the best.”

Anna hugged Elsa briefly, both laughing.

Ryder stepped to Kristoff. “And I have good news for you. We made carrot cake!”

Kristoff’s eyes lit up like a child who was offered a giant gift. “Really?”

“I knew you were going to like it.” Winked the Northuldra. “Come on, you should hurry before Sven eats it all.”

After Anna took the paper bag, the reindeer had rushed to the other animals, and could smell the tasty smell of carrot cake any second.

The sun started to set as time passed. While the sisters caught up on their separated life news, Olaf had joined the kids, delighted to see how fast some of them had grown up. Getting more and more mature himself, he naturally found topics of discussion with them. Elsa however lifted a worried eyebrow when he started to talk about death, but Anna indicated her that it was no big deal. The blonde blinked when Anna continued her story.

“Wait, you went to jail?? What happened?!”

Anna snorted. “No, I didn’t. I mean, I did, but...”

Her sister stared at her. “You’re not making any sense right now, and I’m concerned.”

“Elsa, I didn’t get arrested. Do you hear yourself?” Laughed Anna.

The blonde sighed. “Sorry. I’m just very tired this week, and I become easily tensed.”

Anna paused in her gestures as she was gathering wood for the camp fire, and looked down. “I am as well. I have troubles finding sleep at night.”

“You? Have troubles sleeping?” Smiled Elsa, humor stepping above worry.

“Kristoff says that it doesn’t prevent me from snoring loudly when I finally drift off.”

They giggled, and Elsa helped her out with the wood. “What is getting on your mind? Queen duties?”

“Yes and no. That’s why I wanted to visit that guy in the jail. I felt like I had to, you know?”

The Fifth Spirit nodded. “How did it go?”

Anna smiled, and told her the whole thing. She carefully put every detail, and Elsa listened to her carefully. When she was done, the elder stared at her with amazement.

“You really have the power to change people, you know that?”

“Is this my type of magic?” Joked Anna.

“No, I’m serious. You really see what’s best in people, and always manage to switch their point of view for the better.”

The redhead looked at Elsa, taking in the compliment.

“I’m the first example.” Noted the blonde. “And also Kristoff. And so many other persons.”

A smile appeared at the corner of Anna’s lips, and she looked down at the stack of wood.

“Truly.” Added Elsa, seeing how she doubted a bit. “Arendelle is lucky to have you as a leader. You enhance life in so many ways.”

The Queen’s teal blue eyes glistened with touched tears. “Thank you.”

As she turned to Elsa, something behind her caught her attention, and she barely had the time to squeak of surprise before Bruni appeared out of nowhere and jumped on her. Thanks to her reflexes, she received him right in time in her open palms.

“Hey you! It’s been a while.”

The salamander chirped, curling in her hands.

“He missed you too.” Said Elsa, smiling.

Anna started to pet him, passing her fingers on his back, and he licked his eyes. He looked at both sisters, with an interrogative gaze.

“We’re about to make some hot chocolate. But I doubt that you’ll like it.” Informed Elsa. “No, you prefer some ice snacks, don’t you, little guy?”

At the word ‘ice snacks’, it acted like a trigger, and the salamander turned to Elsa with excited steps and an open mouth. Anna chuckled as Elsa shook her head and lifted her left hand to pepper some snowflakes on him, and he ate each one of them.

“Can we ask for a service in return?” Said Anna. “Could you light a fire?”

The salamander finished crunching on the snowflakes and jumped out of her hands with his paws out, then bounced on the ground. He spat a joyful amount of fire in the wood logs, and the camp fire was made.

He then heard Olaf burst of laughter in the distance, and chirped before running to him, excited to see he had come too.

=======

The sisters had sat on the ground, enjoying the mat of grass in the evening. Anna assembled the utensils she took from the camp, and put the pot on the fire, taking care of the chocolate bits and putting them in. In a soft and comfy silence, Anna turned the spoon in the pot, and Elsa watched her do so, lulled by her moves.

They were isolated from the rest of the camp, and she enjoyed that little bubble of calm with her younger. The delicious smell of the chocolate getting heated was making them both hum around the fire. With the dancing purple-pink light of the flames, Anna’s red hair looked like soft lava in the night. Elsa turned to her, and looked at her for a moment, before taking a deep emotional breath.

“Anna... I realized that you didn’t tell me anything about Honeymaren.”

The redhead turned to her, detaching her eyes from the melting chocolate to frown in confusion.

“What? We talked for hours about it after coffee when you came.”

“No, what I mean is that you didn’t say anything about... Me... Feeling... Attracted to a woman.”

“Oh. Oh. Oh, Elsa...”

Each one of those ‘oh’s had a different sound. The first one was reactive, the second one understanding, and the last one sweet in affection.

Anna put the lid back on the pot to take her elder’s hand in hers.

“Elsa, you’re my sister and you mean the world to me. Of course I won’t judge you. It just came naturally to me.”

“That I liked girls?”

Anna had to restrain herself not to giggle.

“No, that you needed support. And a confidant. And some advice. You can tell me anything. And I’ll always listen.”

There was a silence, as Elsa smiled deeply.

“It’s true, you’re always such a good listener and you’re so nice...”

“It’s not just kindness.” Insisted Anna. “I genuinely support you. You don’t have to feel any excluded because of who you love, Elsa. Your choices make you you. And I wouldn’t want you any different. It’s my role to accept y--”

Elsa suddenly had jumped from her spot and tackled Anna in a warm embrace. The redhead was surprised by the gesture, almost fell back, and stopped talking. Usually, when Elsa wanted to hug, she only came forward with open arms. It always was Anna who would then launch herself in the hugs, even if Elsa often initiated them. The Queen closed her eyes and passed a hand along Elsa’s back.

“We made a promise. To never shut each other’s out.” Murmured Anna on her shoulder.

Elsa sighed with a teary smile. “Yes, we did. I’ll try all I can to respect that promise.”

“It’s alright if there are days where you can’t.” Assured Anna.

Elsa parted from the hug to look at her little sister with sad eyes. “I’m trying my best, I swear. It’s just... Bad habits are hard to break.”

Anna understood that she was referring to the 13 years of isolation. Elsa still had issues about including her sister in for some situations. “Of course.”

She remembered how Elsa had hidden the fact she heard a voice calling her, or sent her away with Olaf when she had decided to go cross the Dark Sea alone.

The Fifth Spirit started to fidget with the paper wrapping that was around the chocolate. The redhead gave her a side look. She knew what that meant.

“Over-thinking again, uh?”

“I can’t help it.” Muttered Elsa, looking down.

“I know.” Said Anna, putting a hand on her shoulder. “But you really need to chill about Honeymaren. Hey, look, I made a pun! Anyway...”

Elsa snorted at her joke, and let out a giggle.

“Your mood change really fast.” Laughed Anna.

“Not as fast as Gale’s”, noted the blonde, and in her sentence, one could perceive how many times she had to cope with the Spirit’s swings. Each spirit was stubborn as hell, but Gale changed their feeling as fast and often as a weather vane turned in a day. Ironically.

The Queen laughed. “I think that a cup a hot chocolate will do great for both of us nervous minds.”

She then remembered that she had left the lid on. “Oh my goodness!!”

Anna rushed to take it off and resume to her stirring. She hissed and shook her hand as she burned herself a bit in the process.

Elsa rolled her eyes. “You should have waited for me to soothe the fire.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a burn.” Assured Anna, still looking at the pot, waving her hand at her to dismiss her worry.

The elder caught her hand while she moved it in front of her face, and delicately infused some cold on her skin.

“Ahhh, that’s actually neat... Thanks.”

While Elsa checked her burned fingers, some steps approached, and Kristoff joined them around the camp fire.

“Mind me joining in?” Smiled the man.

“Of course not.” Chimed Elsa. “Let’s make it a family time.”

“I’m not sure we’ll have enough hot chocolate if we split it in three”, remarked Anna as she was still focused on stirring the spoon in the pot.

“I’ll just drink in your mug then.” Joked Kristoff as he sat next to Elsa.

The redhead gave him a look. “Dare to do that and I cancel our marriage.”

Kristoff and Elsa laughed loudly.

“I’m serious. Nothing gets in my way when there’s chocolate at stake.”

“We know.”

She eventually was able to split it in three big servings, more than enough - Elsa crafted herself an ice mug because Anna only had picked two at the Northuldra village, and the younger was impressed to see once again how resistant her ice was - and they all sat down together.

Under the stars, they talked and laughed for a long time, filling the woods with their vibrant voices.

=======

Sweet and soft but also serious and reflexive... A balanced chapter! :D Thank you so much for your positive feedback on the previous chaps, I’m so happy!

What happens next? This is an interactive fanfic! You get to choose. What do you want to see next? What could be the plot of the next chapter? I listen to you! Give suggestions in your reblogs, fellas!

(NB: If you like my style, you can check out Untangling the Frozen Knots, my 140K words fanfic novel!)

#this chapter actually made me quite emotional #i really wanted to show anna's qualities as a queen and a careful listener #and elsa confessing and thanking her for basically being her #it's important #also elsa getting flustered? sign me IN #frozen 2 #frozen 2 spoilers #post frozen 2 #frozen 2 fanfics #interactive fanfic #emergence #frozen fanfics #frozen #snow sisters #frohana #post frozen 2 fanfics

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years ago

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IOTA Reviews: Gabriel Agreste

So, according to Astruc, I guess rich fourteen year blonds can change their ways for the better, as long as they look like Adrien.

Let's get into the twentieth (chronologically the ninth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Gabriel Agreste

We start off with—oh for the love of—WHY DOES EVERY EPISODE FOCUSING ON GABRIEL NEED TO HAVE HIM TALK TO HIS WIFE'S BODY?!

We get it, Emilie may or may not be dead, but is the only way we can see Gabriel in his civilian life? It's just a cheap way to get exposition out of the way.

So like Gabriel just said, Adrien's aunt Amelie and his cousin Felix, as in that evil son of a bitch who had the balls to be angry at him for daring to not come to his dad's funeral when he needed emotional support from his family, are coming over for some event Gabriel is hosting. Felix is watching a video on Alya's superhero blog, the Ladyblog, all about what a Miraculous is (obviously neglecting to share the information she knows from being Ladybug's confidant because she's not an idiot), all while providing this picture of Hawkmoth and Mayura.

They look like they're about to drop the sickest supervillain rap album in history.

I also love the picture the animators use of all the heroes, where half of Vesperia is cut out.

It's like even they realized how nonexistent Zoe is as a character.

Cut to Adrien giving a bedridden Nathalie some lunch while talking about how Gabriel won't let him invite any of his friends to the event because I guess it's just for the 1%.

Sure wish we could see how important they are to him given he hasn't made a single attempt to hang out with any of his friends all season. I can get what the writers are going for, but this Angstdrien Depreste moment just doesn't work.

In one of the most haphazard ways of forcing her into the plot, we simply cut to Marinette being surrounded by her friends where Alya got writing duo Marc and Nathaniel to help her confess her feelings to Adrien. Because yeah, obviously two people who are skilled at writing know all about how to help Marinette get together with Adrien in an unscripted way, right? And they draw up a little visual for how they can help Marinette.

Okay, this is a problem I have with shows and movies that do these kinds of things in general. Why does switching the genders in a damsel in distress situation automatically make it okay? The entire situation where a princess is saved by a handsome prince has become such a cliche in storytelling, you can't just change one minor detail like the roles and expect praise to come from it. It's like getting a new paintjob for your cheap car and expecting it to work better. Yeah, it looks cool, but the car won't automatically stop breaking down at random.

Compare this to Tangled and Frozen, two movies that focus on the standard damsel in distress but still change certain things about it to make them seem different and subvert several fairy tale and Disney cliches. Tangled focused more on how mentally stunted Rapunzel can be with how unadjusted she is to the outside world thanks to the mental conditioning from her emotionally manipulative “Mother” who only wanted to use her for her magic hair, while the main conflict in Frozen revolved around Anna, the supposed damsel needing to be saved by an act of true love, but even though they built up Kristoff as the love interest to Anna, it was ultimately an act of sisterly love from Elsa that saved her life. While the basic formula could be seen in both of those movies, there was enough changed there to make them seem unique in their own ways. Here, all the writers really do is stick Marinette in a suit of armor and Adrien in a dress and expect to be praised for breaking boundaries.

And why did Marc and Nathaniel even draw those pictures in the first place? Yeah, I get that it's a visual for Marinette “saving” Adrien, and yes, they are very detailed, but why exactly did Marc and Natheniel need to draw them in the first place where all they had to do was tell Marinette they were willing to help? Wouldn't it make more sense if this was an actual plan they were drawing visuals out for, which would better justify what happens later on? And why are they meeting in the art room at school? If You'd think seeing Gabriel is hosting an important event where several of the rich kids will be there that it'd be on the weekend, so why are they at school? Wouldn't it make more sense to discuss top secret plans about Adrien with Marinette in private? And wouldn't you know it, Chloe is here to spy on them. Why? Other than to advance the plot, I have no idea.

So yeah, Chloe got a video of the pointless fantasy drawings that Marc and Nathaniel drew, so obviously, she can just upload it to the internet and wait for it to rack up views so Gabriel can notice it and take Adrien out of school after seeing how weird Marinette is even though she didn't even actually do anything, much less commission the drawings.

Or she could do that, because otherwise, the other characters can't stop her and we wouldn't have a B-plot in this episode. But hey, it’s nice of the writers to let Plaggandadrienbondingisthebest write a scene for them, because this isn’t out of place in the salt fics she’s written about Marinette.

Now I could talk about how the writers are once again ramping up all of Chloe's negative traits to the point where she and several characters remind the audience that she's always been evil, heart blacker than Don Cheedle in this episode by constantly insulting her to her face and behind her back, but instead, I'm going to focus on something else for her appearance this episode, because this is easily the biggest problem I have with her this season. Even as a villain with no excuses to give her any sympathetic moments, the writers have no idea what they want to do with Chloe.

Say what you will about how Chloe was portrayed in Seasons 2 and 3, or whether you thought she deserved to be a hero or not, but at least she was somewhat consistent. She still acted like the same bully while occasionally helping others and going on about how awesome she is as Queen Bee, and generally felt like the same character. This season, the writers keep changing her personality and evil plans in every episode she has a major appearance in. In “Sole Crusher”, she goes on about her family ideology about using their expensive shoes to step on the weak while selfishly throwing innocent civilians into harm's way to save herself, in “Queen Banana”, she's back to using her influence to get what she wants before cutting off all ties with Adrien, and in this episode, she and Sabrina are using technology and cheap gadgets like bungee jumping gear to spy on Marinette and her friends, and gloats about how devious she is while getting dirty laundry on Marinette because she wants to ruin her chances with Adrien. Yeah, she's the same mean girl throughout, but the writers can't seem to make up her mind on how she tries to get what she wants. Even in Season 1, she mainly used her influence to get ahead in the world while occasionally lying to soak up attention, and she was still more consistent there. It honestly feels like the writers had no idea where to take Chloe's character after “Miracle Queen”, so they decided to have her go back to her Season 1 self because they thought that's when people liked her best just like how they recycled the umbrella scene to reignite interest in the Love Square.

And once again, despite it serving as the crux of a lot of this season's conflicts and is one of the reasons Marinette is Guardian in the first place, the writers are ignoring what Chloe did in “Miracle Queen”. If you want to confirm Chloe is evil and a traitor, why not focus more on that instead of petty squabbles like what's happening in this episode?! You would think for all Astruc talks about how irredeemable she is, his team would make a big deal about her betraying Ladybug, and by extension, all of Paris. This is one of the biggest problems I had with “Miracle Queen” and Chloe's “damnation arc” that was supposedly planned from the beginning as a whole: Even though it could have been a big moment, it's treated more like a joke than an actual betrayal, and doesn't even have any lasting consequences for Chloe to deal with this season. In fact, does anyone even know Chloe sided with Hawkmoth?

If Astruc wanted Chloe to be a villain who sided with the big bad, they should obviously do something about it. I don't think I'd be nearly as angry at the writing if anything meaningful came from this turn of events other than replacing Chloe with her sister who everyone loves. Just this episode had Gabriel mention how tough it is doing stuff on his own, in his civilian life and as Shadowmoth, so why not groom Chloe to be his new assistant to parallel Marinette trusting Alya with the knowledge of her identity? She already hates Ladybug, so why can't the writers take advantage of that and have Gabriel capitalize on this opportunity? They already dumped Lila in favor of making Chloe the bigger threat (until the season finale where the writers remind the audience Lila exists), so why can't they actually commit to making Chloe a full-blown villain?

And one more gripe I have is that it makes no sense for Chloe to be back to tormenting Marinette when “Sole Crusher” and “Queen Banana” obviously built up her as an antagonist to Zoe instead. With how many scenes Chloe got expressing her hatred for her sister for getting more attention than her in those episodes to the point “Queen Banana” ended with Chloe saying she'll get her revenge on Zoe, you would think her next major appearance would capitalize on that setup. Not only is this just a wasted opportunity, it still makes no sense why Chloe would even do this when Zoe is in the room with Marinette and doesn't say a damn thing.

Chloe managed to convince Audrey to not let Zoe go to the party for some reason, so she can't stop Chloe, but Marc and Nathaniel come up with a plan to dress Marinette up like a butler to sneak in. Okay, why does Marinette have to be the one to go incognito, when once again, she didn't even do anything? Again, It was Alya's idea to recruit Marc and Nathaniel to the cause of the Love Square, so why aren't any of them taking responsibility? Better yet, seeing how Zoe has proven herself to be a great actress in the last scene by convincing a butler to not go to the party so Marinette can take her place, wouldn't it make more sense for Zoe to dress up like a butler and try to get Chloe's phone to delete the video, and actually give Zoe something important to do? Between Marinette not even doing anything to cause this, Chloe not just putting the video on social media, and Marc and Nathaniel's stupid plan, this entire B-plot is the very definition of the writers doing whatever they can just so Marinette is at the party to transform into Ladybug.

So at the party, the robotic staff gets to work while Gabriel welcomes his guests, who proceed to put on white and gold masks.

Damnit, Astruc's going to go on about how Squid Game somehow ripped off his show on Twitter, isn't he?

Chloe tries to show Gabriel the video as she enters, so Marinette responds by throwing back the box she was carrying at her, which could have hurt her unless Adrien caught it. Well, Marinette's already trespassing on private property, so I guess wouldn't be too far of a stretch to add attempted murder to her rap sheet. Gabriel ignores Chloe, and because the episode can't work if Chloe remembers texting/email is a thing, she's thwarted for the time being. But before she takes her phone's SD card out with the video's data on it, she talks with Felix.

Look, writers, you can make all the jokes you want about the subject at Chloe's expense (even if all the time spent insulting Chloe this episode is overkill even by Astruc's standards), it doesn't change the fact that you're obviously reusing Adrien's character model and voice actor for Felix.

Speaking of, while Gabriel sends Adrien to his room to spend time with Chloe and Kagami, he asks to talk with Felix. He asks why Felix stole his ring in the first place like he forgot how important it was to his mom, but Felix seemingly gives it back while making a copy for himself... only for Gabriel to immediately figure out it's a fake.

“I've stared at her corpse more than enough times to recognize her ring from a cheap copy!”

Nathalie makes the obvious suggestion to just akumatize Felix to force him to confess, but Gabriel, having one of his rare moments of competence, points out Felix would realize he's Shadowmoth if he did that. Instead, Gabriel transforms into Shadowmoth and creates a Sentimonster copy of his civilian self to confront Felix.

We cut to Adrien's room where Chloe demands to get a phone to put her SD card into, and once again forgets how far technology has come by not even considering the option to upload the video onto Adrien's computer because the only thing keeping this plot from falling apart is scotch tape and a lot of prayer. Instead, Chloe uses a box to pretend to be one of the robotic help in an attempt to get her phone back, with Marinette in hot pursuit.

Just... what is even the point of this? We have an episode focusing on the main villain of the series, and we're wasting time on what looks like a scrapped Season 1 B-plot. Why not use this episode as an opportunity to dive into the origins of how Emile fell into her coma and why Gabriel became Hawkmoth in the first place, like what so many people thought would happen as soon as the episode title was revealed? We're four seasons in, we know next to nothing about Gabriel as a character other than who he knows, and they're sitting on a chance to help the audience get to know him more.

One thing of note does come from this scene. Adrien offers Kagami a drink... and Kagami scowls at Adrien.

Oh my God, it's almost like Kagami should be pissed at Adrien because he was a terrible boyfriend to her. It's brief, but after almost an entire season where she just bowed down to the Love Square for no reason, it's nice to see Kagami actually having a little resentment for Adrien after how poorly he treated her in “Lies”.

We cut over to the actually interesting stuff where Felix is close to figuring out the entrance to Shadowmoth's lair, but is caught by Sentigabriel. Felix initially plays dumb, but Sentigabriel says he knows the ring is a fake, demanding Felix give him the real one, which is in a safe place. Felix also tells Sentigabriel he knows he's Shadowmoth after seeing the Peacock Miraculous under his tie earlier in the episode, and must have some real balls to stand up to him, until...

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Yep, it's not enough that Adrien is all but said to be a Sentimonster, but now Felix may be one too. Was he created by the ring, and that's why Gabriel wants it back, so he can control Felix again? The dialogue implies that even Amelie doesn't know, and that just raises even more questions. I just don't get why the show is acting like this is a huge mystery when we all know Gabriel has snapped his fingers to get rid of Sentimonsters in other episodes like “Optigami” and “Sentibubbler”. I don't think the audience is going to assume if Gabriel snaps his fingers, he'll get his bodyguard to run in and beat the crap out of Felix.

So while Felix is distracted by Sentigabriel, Shadowmoth tries to akumatize Felix, yet for some reason, he is able to resist the Akuma easily. It's funny how Shadowmoth is supposed to be the new and improved form for Gabriel, yet it's been three times this season that his victims have broken free of his control. Hell, at least Alya and Chloe looked like they were struggling, but all Felix says is that he doesn't need Shadowmoth's power, and just resists the Akuma and runs away. In response, Shadowmoth akumatizes Sentigabriel into the Collector.

I talked about him briefly in my Top 10 Favorite Episodes list, but I really love the Collector's design. The jet-black suit with the shoulderpads and touches of red and white looks so awesome, and the eccentric personality Gabriel comes up with to make it look like he doesn't have a lot of control just makes him all the more memorable. His powers are to capture people and objects into his book, but here, it's updated for his tablet and also forces people to tell their deepest secrets, obviously meant for Felix. Overall, a solid set of powers that makes him honestly far more formidable than Shadowmoth in combat in my opinion,

So while Kagami gets Adrien to a safe place so she can fight off the Collector with the help of the butler and Adrien's bodyguard, Adrien and Marinette transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively. The two think about how to stop the upgraded Collector while getting Felix to a safe place. Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a trampoline, which she and Cat Noir use to bounce several plates from the catering van off of so Cat Noir can throw his staff to knock the tablet off the Collector's hands, which Ladybug immediately breaks with her yo-yo. What, no Cataclysm needed to break something as delicate as that?

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the stuff the Collector collected with his tablet, Sentigabriel pretends to apologize and gives Felix the real ring, and Ladybug gives him a Magical Charm. Also, Bob Both deletes Chloe's video from his phone because she was too stupid to back it up onto her computer because the writers know nothing about what we can do with modern technology. Aren't you glad that B-plot was resolved in such a satisfying way?

While Gabriel plans to study the Magical Charm (leading to the Megakuma in “Dearest Family”), We find out that Felix realized Gabriel was lying because he cut Sentigabriel's pants earlier, and didn't see the cut in the real deal's pants, hinting that he'll return again. And so the episode ends with the revelation that Marc and Nathaniel deciding to make a comic all about what Marinette had to go through because of them without even apologizing.

Woooooow, you two really suck, don't you? This whole B-plot happened because of your stupid drawings, and you two have the balls to make a manga about what she had to do to clean up her mess? If Marinette was the one to ask for their help, I'd understand, but Alya recruited them off-screen and just told Marinette they were going to help, so once again, she had no reason to risk doing any of this. If Gabriel actually saw the video, all she could have said was that she had nothing to do with their stupid plan and point out she didn't even agree to let them write the next Love Square D&D campaign or whatever. Suddenly, I don't feel as bad that Marc is probably going to be written off in Season 5 because of real life stuff.

In case you can't tell, this episode really got dragged down because of the B-plot. As usual, none of Marinette's friends apologized for forcing her into this situation, and even compared to the other B-plots this season, was just pointless.

This really could have been more of an origins episode for Gabriel that gave him some much needed focus and backstory. But instead, we got a pointless B-plot where Marinette dressed up and snuck around without actually doing for the plot. Seriously, you could cut out all of Marinette and Chloe's scenes in this episode, and nothing would really change. Honestly, it would make the pacing a lot better and less tonally jarring. Hell, an easy way to improve the episode is to keep the stuff with Gabriel and Felix the same, but instead of the scenes with Marinette and Chloe, pull an Arrow by having flashbacks to when Emilie was still around and focus on how her condition got worse to give Gabriel talking about her ring more weight.

I'm also not entirely sure how I'm supposed to feel about Felix in this episode. I joked about him being more sympathetic at the beginning, but he didn't really change. Yeah, he still had a reasonable motivation to find out more about Gabriel being Shadowmoth, but the narrative never made it clear if he was going to use this information as leverage against Gabriel, steal his Miraculous from him, or just alert the authorities that his uncle is a crazy magical terrorist. The only reason he was more heroic was because he was actively opposing Gabriel instead of working with him as Shadowmoth, and was scared of Gabriel potentially killing him. If they're trying to make him more of an anti-hero, I can understand that, but it feels jarring to go from making him out to be a real asshole, to giving him more sympathy in his second appearance.

According to Astruc, this episode was supposed to be about making the audience like Felix.

And I'm just here reading this, thinking to myself... WHAT?! How and why is Astruc suddenly okay with Felix now when he spent SIX YEARS insulting fans for liking him, and by extension, the PV? What caused this sudden change of heart? Was it an executive mandate? Did some of the other writers on his team come up with this? Was he seriously playing a long con this whole time? And again, what makes him more sympathetic than Chloe when in his last appearance, he also worked with Hawkmoth? How is he any different from her by Astruc's logic?

Other than those parts, the episode was just okay. The fight with the Collector was rushed (only lasting a little over a minute), but the battle of wits between Gabriel and Felix was pretty interesting to watch, and I think if there was more focus on the latter, I'd like this episode a lot more. But I guess compared to “Glaciator 2” and “Ephemeral”, I'd still take this episode over those two.

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professorspork · 5 years ago

Note

Um okay so I just read all your frozen fics and I basically died of happiness so imma submit one Library, depression, lovely

(thanks for being patient, @hybreadloaf!)

She really thought Annawould be the mess, is the thing.

Elsa’s taken her time withher farewells. Lingered in each and every room of the castle she’s called homefor 24 years, drinking them in, making more permanent etchings in her mind’seye. The bedroom that had been her haven and then a prison of her own making;the chapel where she’d accepted the mantle of leadership with shaking hands. (Anna’smantle, now, as soon as all the arrangements are made.) The library she’d holedup in, in the late hours of the night—trying to empty herself of herloneliness, her helplessness, the listless, resigned inadequacy of herdepression by pouring as many words as she could into her head, like the knowingcould drown out everything else. She cracks open the spine of an oldfavorite and inhales, relishing the scent of leather and ink, the recollectionsit evokes. She’s not that person, anymore.

And not all of the roomsfeel quite so haunted. There’s the parlor where she learned to let herself bemade fun of, just a little, as they all discovered how truly terrible she is atparty games. The dining room table, covered in nicks and scratches, stains andburns, the remnants of countless meals with her loved ones. The courtyard whereshe’d first felt queenly; the stables and their promise of contained adventure.The ballroom, the portrait gallery, the lighthouse. All lovely. All loved.

Which is all to say thatshe’s been deliberate with her leave-taking; allowed herself room to mourn thelife she’s had as she readies herself for the one that is to begin. She’s beenthorough and responsible—just as she’s always been.

And yet she still findsherself devastated, when the day comes. It’s Anna who’s smiling at herwith a sort of warm serenity while Elsa takes deep, slow gulps of air to keepfrom weeping into her shoulder as they hug goodbye at the edge of the woods.

“You’re my favoriteperson,” Elsa confesses to Anna’s neck, less because it sounds like the sort ofimportant goodbye they should share before she leaves and more because it’sliterally the only sentence running through her head.

Anna squeezes her, fingerssplayed across her shoulder blades. Steady. Sure. “You’re not half badyourself,” she says back, and though the words are light her voice is don’t panic and do the magic and I love you allat once. Elsa breathes her in, trying to commit everything about this embraceto memory, because it’s going to have to last her a while.

She pulls back. “Anna, I—”

“You have to go.” It’s astatement, not a question, and it suddenly occurs to Elsa that somehow, rightunder her nose, her sister’s grown up. Queen Anna of Arendelle. (And howmuch more growing up will Anna do while she’s gone? The idea of missing that isdevastating. But the idea of staying, knowing just how much she doesn’t know…intolerable. There’s an itch between her shoulder blades and under her feet. Arestlessness in her limbs. She needs to know how far they can carry her. Needsto learn to trust herself, her body, her abilities, outside of a world that wasbuilt for her.)

(She wants to do thebuilding.)

She doesn’t know how tosay these things. “I know, I just—”

“Anna, stop hogging her,you’re being rude,” Kristoff says from behind them, breaking the tension, andElsa’s shoulders sag in relief. He adds, on Sven’s behalf, “Yeah, I want aturn!”

“Well, we can’t have Svenfeeling neglected,” Elsa jokes, and if her chuckle is a bit watery as she letsgo of her sister, no one feels the need to bring it up. She runs her fingersthrough the soft fur of the reindeer’s face, then up to scratch behind hisears; her forehead rests on his snout. “Take care of them for me, won’t you,buddy?”

Sven stands up a littlestraighter and snorts his affirmation. It seems pretty self-explanatory, butshe still turns to Kristoff for a translation.

“You’ve got it,” he vows. And then he’s lifting her high in the air tohug her—the way he does—and her heart lifts, too, at the sensation, as she’sspun in a circle. He puts her down and squeezes her tight, this mountain of aman who’s become her family.

“I’ll miss you,” he sayssimply, and something in her chest snags, because she’d kind of assumed he’dsay we’ll. Him-and-Anna. But no, Kristoff will miss her all on his own,it seems. Just as she’ll miss him.

“I’ll be back so often youwon’t even have time to,” she says. Trying to maintain his positivity, despitethe nagging at the back of her head.

“…you promise?” asks avery tiny voice from somewhere below them. And just like that, Elsa’s carefully-constructed composureshatters, the tears she’d managed to hold back with Anna spilling free.

“Oh, Olaf,” shesobs, falling to her knees and pulling the snowman into her arms. Her first andgreatest miracle. She’s all-out bawling, now, chest heaving with hiccups as hislittle twig hands come around to pat her soothingly on the back. “Of course Ido. I promise,” she eventually manages to sniffle, trying to get a hold ofherself. “I’m so sorry, I’m crying all over you, you’ll melt—”

“No, I won’t,” hereassures her. “Permafrost, remember?”

She remembers. Solidground beneath her feet. Some things never change.

And she’s stronger thanshe thinks she is, now.

“You’re right.” She lets Olaf go and getsto her feet, scrubbing at her face and putting on a smile. “Okay. Okay. I’mready.”

“Oh, one more for theroad,” Anna says, and there it is—the catch in her voice Elsa’s been waitingfor—and suddenly her arms are full as Anna sort of gently body-slams into herfor one last hug.

“Well, if you insist,”Elsa agrees, holding on tight.

“D-don’t just send meletters all the time, okay?” Anna warbles. “Talk to people. Makefriends.”

“I will.”

“And it’s okay if you can’talways make it home when you thought you would,” she continues. “It’s okay togo. It’s okay to like it.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

They hug a moment longer,then two. Elsa lets Anna be the one who lets go.

“Have fun,” Annasays, when she pulls away. “Enjoy it.”

“You, too,” Elsa murmurs. “Oh!Which reminds me.” She reaches for the trunk at her feet, the collection ofbelongings she’d thought were worth carrying forward into this next phase ofher life. What she’s looking for is right at the top. “Here. I think you mayneed this more than I do.”

“Mother’s shawl?” Annabreathes, as Elsa wraps it around her shoulders.

“So you can keep me withyou, even when I’m far away. You can keep all of us.”

Anna’s hands reach upautomatically to clutch at the fabric, pulling it tighter around her. Herengagement ring winks in the dappled light. “Elsa,” she whimpers, andElsa hears what she can’t bring herself to say. Go already. Go so you cancome back.

“Alright, I’m going,” shesays, and she means it.

She takes a step.

#frozen #frozen 2 #fic what i wrote #anna and elsa #the family arendelle #queen elsa #hybreadloaf

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mtvswatches · 5 years ago

Text

Wynonna Earp 2x12 I Hope You Dance

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) Waverly confronts Bobo and the widows, certain that Bobo won’t hurt her. He admits he might not, but he won’t help her either. In an uncharacteristically honest moment, he admits that caring about her has only brought him pain. Waverly quips that no one said parenthood was easy. And I’M FREAKING OUT? IS THIS HER WAY OF CONFIRMING BOBO IS HER FATHER?!

2) Thankfully, Wynonna arrives on time, but Peacemaker is completely useless now that the seal is broken and this MOFO is waking up…

Shit is about to go down and I’M NOT READY. I’m really curious to see what Clootie looks like, though, I feel he’ll look something like the Master.

3) The sisters take a breather before all hell breaks loose, and I appreciate it…

You know what else I appreciate? Wynonna’s top priority – making sure Doc is not dead.

4) Well, Dolls is not dead, which is good, but not the answer I was expecting.

5) I truly appreciate the brief moment of levity…

6) So, this is what she had figured out before she went poof…

7) Wynonna is terrified that Doc might be dead now that the ring is broken. I’m Jeremy, btw.

8) I’m sorry, but is there anything more badass than trying to save the world while you’re about to give FUCKING BIRTH?!

9) WTF! Clootie is going to have Wynonna’s baby for dessert???!!

10) Oooh, I kind of saw this coming but I didn’t want to get my hopes up!

MERCEDES: Actually, I want a separation.

MERCEDES: Chopped my way into the 21st century. The world has changed. Hell, look at Wynonna Earp. She is 10 times the gunslinger Wyatt ever was and he put Bulshar in the ground! I want that ring!

I’m really into this new form of empowerment? Evil ladies also need to break free from the misogynistic ties to their evil lords. You go, Glenn Coco! Or Elsa, I guess…

She just took off and buried Bobo, Clootie and her sister. Does this mean that the season’s Big Bad was Mercedes all along? And not Clootie! Damn, I really love that plot twist!

11) The Iron Witch says the plate only works as a shield, and these two badass motherfuckers are not having it…

Can they look any more badass?! And I really wish they had allowed Wynonna to say fucking!

12) Dolls finds Doc at his home…

He’s having an existential crisis over being mortal and he’s basically contemplating suicide. And I almost believed he couldn’t take not being ageless anymore, but it was the possibility of living a mortal life in a Wynonna-less world that was pushing him over the edge because the second he heard she was still alive…

It’s like his soul returned to his body… and now he’s willing to die but for an entirely different reason, and I swear to God, I choked up during this whole scene. Does that make sense? Am I an idiot?

13) I guess there’s no better time for confessions than when facing the possibility of absolute and total obliteration. In a few seconds, Waverly breaks the news to Wynonna that Nicole is married and that she’s not Wynonna’s sister. Wynonna’s reply is quick and certain…

A lot of emphasis is placed on the bloodline in this show, considering the whole hereditary curse. But nothing as volatile as blood would ever get in the way of Waverly and Wynonna. They are sisters if ever sisters there were.

I truly love how there was no hesitation. At the same time, I wonder if the lack of hesitation means Wynonna had considered this possibility before?

14) Okay, Wynonna literally has one shot to kill Clootie, get rid of the Widows, and break the curse. Cool. Cool cool cool cool.

15) Jeremy and Nicole are having this super sweet moment…

JEREMY: And, uh, I stay because I don't fit in here. But none of you ask me to. I'm allowed to be me. NICOLE: You're part of the family. And being part of the family means...

AND THEN THIS FUCKING ELSA FROM HELL BURST INTO THE ROOM AND NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK…

And please don’t tell me that we’re using the “put Nicole in peril” schtick again! And we’re adding Jeremy into the mix! Just great!

16) THE BABY IS FUCKING COMING AMIDST ALL THIS DEBACLE!

17) I’M FUCKING DEAD.

She’s my queen, I love her, I’d sell my soul for Wynonna Earp, I’ve said it.

18) Oh, the other McBitch just arrived and is threatening Waverly while Elsa says Wynonna is the weapon she’s been looking for, and what the fuck is going on?

19) Wynonna’s sigh of relief and barely noticeable smile when she sees Doc is alive, though…

I leave for these moments.

20) NOT THESE FUCKING MOMENTS, THOUGH! WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING?!

21) UGH THESE TWO MOTHERFUCKERS ALMOST GOT ME!

Two birds, one stone. These two! They could convey their plan using a code they could only understand! Why aren’t they together?!

But there’s still Clootie and Bobo, right…

And the baby is coming…

22) Ugh the fire-assholes have shown up, they offed Wynonna’s doctor and they’re coming after the baby!

23) WHAT’S THE FUCKING PLAN? WHAT WILL THEY DO WITH THE BABY? IS NICOLE GOING TO TAKE THE BABY AWAY? They’re talking about crossing the triangle…

24) WTF ROSITA!!!!!!!

THIS FUCKING EPISODE DOESN’T LET UP!

25) Bobo has gone Spike…

So Clootie or Bulshar or whoever sucked something out of Bobo and Bobo offered up Waverly as the Big Bad’s new bride WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!

26) Great. JUST FUCKING GREAT.

27) Oh, thank god, something worked out!

Wynonna basically willed Peacemaker into accepting Waverly as an Earp!

28) Brendan Fehr is saying that Wynonna is going to corrupt the baby and screw it up and I’m like… Brendan Fehr, I was rooting for you!

29) Damn, Dolls!

At least they died in their element. Get it?

30) When you try to come up with a good comeback and you just…

31) I guess I’ll just have to get used to Bobo never being back for more than two episodes…

32) I’m not crying, you are…

I'm the Earp heir. They're always coming for me and everything I love. I don't want to. I didn't realise how much I wouldn't want to. You're the coolest thing I ever did. You're going to have it much better than me. I promise.

And Waverly is taking the baby away and Wynonna is asking her to make sure that Doc gets a moment with him and I’m here, dying.

33) Waverly and the baby just crossed over the border and neither of them burnt, which means that the baby is Doc’s and the revenants don’t have any claim over it. But what does this mean for Waverly? Whose daughter is she, then?

34) Wynonna just offed the whole gang of revenants, but it doesn’t really feel satisfying at all when her baby is being sent away minutes after being born…

35) Did Jeremy just used Waverly and Nicole’s ship name?! HE FUCKING DID!

36) Perry is taking the baby as a way to thank Wynonna for saving his life. Cool dude.

37) And now Doc is meeting the baby and I WON’T SURVIVE THIS SHIT!

I CAN’T BREATHE. EVERYTHING HURTS.

38) Bobo just got a holiday for one in the well, and he admits that he never said Waverly was his daughter, just kin. I repeat, what does this mean for Waverly? Who is her father? Doc confesses that when Dolls shot him, he was sent to hell. It remains to be seen how long he was there - if it was a few hours or a few centuries, and what impact this will have on him…

39) Wynonna named the baby after both of their mothers and I’m a mess…

This is not the happy ending I wanted for these two.

40) There’s so much I don’t understand…

The woman narrating is Wynonna’s mother? And she’s ALIVE? Has she been alive this whole time? What about the secretive look between Dolls and Nicole? Is she having second thoughts about her divorce? And what about the folder she was holding with info about Bulshar? Is she working with Dolls behind Waverly’s back? And how can Jeremy and Waverly be acting so carefree when everything is a mess?

If Wynonna’s mom is alive, there’d better be an explanation as to why this was never brought up before. It doesn’t make any sense!

I need Alice in Wynonna and Doc’s life, okay? This can’t be the end of that storyline, I just won’t accept it.

41) Amazing season finale, full of plot twists and emotional moments. I’ll admit I shed more than one tear. I truly can’t believe how the show continues to be so fast-paced and engaging. There never is one minute, one line, one scene wasted – everything has meaning and is relevant to the plot, and it never lets up and I’m so excited to see what they have to offer in season 3, and hopefully, I’ll catch up before season 4 premieres!

This show is quickly climbing up the ladder of my very short and exclusive list of favorite shows, I swear. I’m already looking forward to rewatching it and discovering things I’d missed the first time around.

42) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi.Thanks!

#Wynonna Earp #Waverly Earp #Nicole Haught #Doc Holliday #Xavier Dolls #WE 2x12 #WE recap #recap #mine

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ebaeschnbliah · 6 years ago

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KILLING THE BEST FRIEND

________________________________________________________________

After the events shown in Sherlock BBCs ‘The Final Problem’ it really looks like the connections between ‘the skull’, the ‘best friend’ and ‘sacrifying/killing the best friend’ are one of the most important components of the whole story. If not the most important at all. And on a metaphorical level it makes all the sense in the world too.

If you like, enjoy this idea under the cut …

Four cases, four characters, four different stories and each one circles round ‘the death of a best friend’.

a scientist (Frankland)

a detective (Sherlock)

a friend (anonym)

a sister (Eurus)

The Hounds of Baskerville

Little Henry witnesses how his father is murdered by Bob Frankland, his best friend. The scientist and Henry’s father are compared to Sherlock and John.

HENRY: Well, mates are mates, aren’t they? I mean, look at you and John.

For a subtext-reading I recommend @sagestreet ‘s ‘Follow the dog’ meta.

The Reichenbach Fall

JIM: Your friends will die if you don’t. SHERLOCK: John.

The showdown on Bart’s roof leaves two ‘dead’ men behind. Each of them forced the other one to commit suicide. And by doing this, Sherlock kills John’s best friend …. himself.

The Abominable Bride

EMELIA: Swiftly now. No Tears.

A ‘faithful sister’ asks an anonymous friend to kill her. This starts a war which divides ‘the world’ and lets loose invisible armies, raging furies, a monstrous regiment, a mysterieous cult ... subdued for a long time and not allowed to raise their voices.

The Final Problem

There are no dog bones in the well as expected. What emerges out of the water of the well is the skull of little Victor, who once had been Sherlock’s best friend.

In TFP the human skull in the hands of Sherlock’s best friend John, closes the circle backwards

to the skull on the mantlepiece in the living room of 221b Baker Street

to Sherlock, who introduces that skull as ‘friend of mine.’ and

to John’s question ‘So I’m basically filling in for your skull?’

The ‘skull’ and the ‘friend’ are merging into one another …. thereby connecting Victor, John and RedBeard. (More on that topic X)

And then, there is Eurus, the ‘other one’, the sister who supposedly put the skull/the friend in the well. Eurus, who wears a knitted cardigan very similar to John’s jumper. Another connection.

The ghost and the skull

a sister can be called a nun

a headless nun is a sister without a head, without a face, without a skull

Sherlock once had a case … code word ‘headless nun’

a headless nun can be a very effective ingredient of a ghost story

Sherlock accuses Mycroft … ‘You turned my sister into a ghost story:’

Sherrinford is the abode of ‘ghost sister’ Eurus

and in the well at Musgrave Hall lies a skull …

A headless ghost sister and a skull without a body. This still untold story seems to be all about some dramatic division in the past and because of that it almost screams for an end with a ‘reunion’ of skull and body. Of head and transport? Of intellect and emotions? Because ‘just a head’ - even the most cleverest one - isn’t able to exist on its own forever? And eventually the neglected ghost of a body, treated like transport, necessary but annoying, for far too long ….. awakens, begins to stir and demands to be heard.

In other words: .... a snowcaped mountain starts rumbling, becaus it actually is a volcano ….

“Sherlock Holmes, again, must have sexual impulses because human beings tend to -- most human beings, not absolutely all, but that's the majority. The fact is, he decides to put all that in an iron box to make his brain work better. Of course, the fact that that iron box bounces around and shakes and bangs from the inside is what makes the story interesting. He wants to rise above us like a snowcapped mountain, but he's actually a volcano, and that's where the story is. That's where the story is. You know, you shove Irene Adler in front of him, and he just falls apart like most men would.”

Steven Moffat on Sherlock (IGN interview, February 2014)

On a metaphorical level, what does Irene represent in this story? Sexuality. Irene is Mrs. Sex. I wrote about it in ‘Explosive ... it’s more me’. Jim Moriarty - Mr. Sex - represents Sherlock’s very own sex drive. Irene and Jim, both are gay and it looks very much like both are returning by the end of TFP.

Experimenting with metaphors

The metaphor creates the world - the time and place; the who, what, when, where and why. Metaphor literally means to "carry over," to substitute one thing for another. To describe one thing by means of another. To describe something that is unknown by the use of things that are known. (Metaphors in story writing and moviemaking)

Exploring the story told in Sherlock BBC has always fascinated me. And this fascination multiplied since the day I started to suspect that there’s maybe more to discover in it than the already highly interesting, coded subtext …. that even the surface level of that story might consist of carefully crafted metaphors used by the creators to paint a picture. The picture of Sherlock painting a picture inside of his own mind. A picture of himself.

SHERLOCK: Oh, hello again, Archie. What’s your theory? Get this right and there’s a headless nun in it for you. ARCHIE: The invisible man could do it. SHERLOCK: The who, the what, the why, the when, the where? (TSOT)

That this story isn’t only told from Sherlock’s POV but - for the first time in history - Sherlock Holmes himself has become the storyteller. And all the stories he creates and tells himself inside his head - on a mind stage - are presented through Sherlock’s own metaphors, acted out by different characters, clothed in varying costumes, hidden behind masks, some distorted, some made visble by mirrors.

The truth of the matter is that the underlying universal structures of great stories hide some amazing bits of wisdom concerning who we really are and who we were really meant to be, and what we can do to become fully realized human beings - but to keep these amazing hidden bits of truth potent and relevant, the metaphors that express them have to be constantly renewed and kept fresh - i.e. the underlying story and message stays the same but the costumes and other outer trappings have to keep changing with the times. (Metaphors in story writing and moviemaking)

Metaphors in storytelling have been used since humans are telling their stories. And inventing, creating or rewriting stories can also have a great healing effect that should not be underestimated.

In oral and written language, using the medium of picture imagery, metaphor speaks directly to our imaginative faculties, bypassing our rational brain. Such metaphoric byways and pathways enable us to explore the ideas, forces, and powers that lie behind or beyond our rational thought. Metaphors reach deep into our soul imagination and, simply stated, “touch our heart.” ... In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book The Little Prince we learn a simple secret from the fox: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.” (Therapeutic Storytelling)

Basically, this is the advice that Ella Thopson, the changeable therapist, gives at the beginning of the story, in PILOT/ASIP: “.... and it will help so much to write about everything that’s happening to you.”

Metaphors of ‘change’

There exist some key metaphors to express change and inner transformations, that are present in the literature of all world cultures (X).

Transitioning from caterpillar to butterfly

Awakening from the dream of reality

Uncovering the veils of illusion

Moving from captivity to liberation

Purification by inner fire

Going from darkness to light

Moving from fragmentation into wholeness

Moving through life events as a journey or path

Returning to the source

Dying and being reborn

Unfolding the tree of our life

It seems that more than one of those examples can be discovered in Sherlock BBC.

The metaphorical killing of the ‘best friend’

As the saying goes: ‘Old skin has to be shed before the new one can come’. Before any significant change can happen, traditional opinions and views must be challenged, altered and overcome. In The Big Question I tried to work out the core problem Sherlock seems to be dealing with:

There is friendship and there is love, between Holmes and Watson. Ever has been … unchanged … for more than hundred years. I guess no one would deny that. But a loving friendship is not the same as a romantic and sexual relationship.

If the traditional relationship between Dr. John Watson, the ‘fixed point in a changing age’, the eternal ‘best friend’ of Sherlock Holmes should change into a romantic and sexuell relationship, it makes sense that on a metaphorical level:

first the facade needs to go

then the ‘best friend’ can be killed

to finally make way for the ‘lover’

And if this change comes to pass through Sherlock’s own investigations, deductions and conclusions, it makes also sense that it is Sherlock who sacrifices himself in his role as Mary/facade and then shoots John/best friend in his incarntion as Elsa/Eurus …. just as it happens at the end of TST and TLD.

Sherlock’s ‘I love you’ confession in front of a mirror, directed at a mirror, followed a little later by the statement of his former facade ‘I know you two; and if I’m gone, I know what you could become’ ... happens in the very next episode.

A fitting and promising developement of a story that deals with the reunion of intellect and emotion and the metamorphosis from ‘best friend’ to ‘lover’.

Nonetheless, S5 would be highly appreciated at this point. :)))

I leave you to your own deductions. Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.

January, 2019

@gosherlocked @raggedyblue @sarahthecoat @possiblyimbiassed @spenglernot @loveismyrevolution @sherlockshadow @sagestreet

#the skull #the friend #killing a friend #metaphorical reading #filling in for the skull #killing the best friend

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forkanna · 6 years ago

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[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

NOTE: Thanks for all your reviews! We're winding up with the final few chapters of Part 1 now, and we hope you enjoy them!

The next day dawned bright and ridiculously early. They had managed to get most people to start leaving by about 2am, and fortunately for Anna, she had no curfew to speak of. One of the few freeing things about this whole insane journey.

Elsa had managed to convince her parents that she was staying at Doc's for the night to make sure they had enough time to get ready for the dance (Anna was sure that her grandfather had tuned out long before that point, but he'd definitely let out a grumble when Elsa had said that). Somehow, Anna had enlisted Doc in the ruse, even to the point of ringing the Baines' to reassure them. Anna wasn't sure what they thought might happen over there, but his words seemed to help.

The aftermath of the party wasn't even that bad, either. Al's crew took the leftover grog home – much to Anna's relief – and most of the kids had been polite enough to actually use the bins, most of the time. Elsa had stolen her family's Dustbuster to clean up the crumbs. Compared to the nightmarish idea of college parties perpetuated by the movies, this was wonderful.

Glancing over at her friend, she caught Elsa already looking her way, a small smile on her face. It vanished, a blush replacing it when she realised Anna was looking back. Neither spoke about the confessions the previous night. It was as though the daylight had chased away their nerves, sapping whatever courage they had. They did speak, but it only seemed to get more and more awkward the more they tried, so eventually they gave it up as a bad job and worked in relative silence.

Anna was dreading that night. Even though she knew she wasn't the kind of person to take advantage of someone, there was the undeniable end result of Plan B – which was now their only plan. If they went through with it, Elsa would have to feel attacked, even if only for an instant. It wasn't spectacularly comforting, and felt like undoing all her hard work to make her accepting of her own sexuality, but what choice did they have? If she didn't do it… she would disappear.

And possibly destroy the world via paradox. No pressure, though.

"So… I'll pick you up around eight?" Elsa asked once they had finished cleaning the model home. If Anna were honest with herself, it probably looked even cleaner than before the party. But then it clicked that Elsa had asked her a question, so she paused in her cleaning to do a few mental calculations. She needed enough time to put her plan into action, and then for Kristoff to 'just so happen' to see struggling in the Gremlin.

"Hmm…" One of the bags was chucked into the back of Al's 4x4, the only half-decent means of getting everything to the dump. "Make it 8:15. I'm gonna try a thing with my hair."

"But it's agony to wait," Elsa teased very softly, and Anna couldn't help grinning. Even if she was trying her best not to find her mother "cute" during moments like that, sometimes it just wasn't possible.

"Well, you'll have to wait if you want perfection. If you're going to the dance with me, I want to look my best, right? Not all… 'grody'."

Elsa giggled; maybe she had used that slang term wrong, or maybe it was just that she found the thought of Anna looking anything less than beautiful to be a ridiculous thought. She had no way of knowing, because after that, Ariel brought out the final bag of trash and she didn't have the chance to finish.

Then they drove back to her house. They had mostly just talked about party details and excitement for the dance on the way over, but now that they were there, Elsa seemed to have switched gears.

"So… the… last night."

Anna froze in mid-movement, hand so close to the door handle. So close… "Right. The kissing?"

Elsa nodded, not looking her way. "Yeah, that. And… everything else… I'm sorry it got so out of hand; I kept meaning to stop, but you were so…"

"Elsa, I think we both know why you found it so easy to release your inhibitions. And it wasn't just that I was 'so' anything, was it?"

The blonde's porcelain cheeks darkened, and this time she could tell Elsa was a little ashamed of herself. "Maybe you're right. I would have really wanted to do it, anyway! But, um, you're probably tired of hearing me act so gay about this."

Anna winced. That was the first time in a long while that she had heard that word used as an insult, and it was Elsa insulting herself. So she reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You're okay, you know. I mean… maybe we both need to learn some self-control; clearly it's a real problem. And I'm not super thrilled you were drunk, but nobody died, and… and we'll both get over it." Maybe. Anna wasn't sure she'd ever be over this, but her mother didn't need to hear that right now. "So stop beating yourself up, okay? It was a little bump-and-grind, not a train crash."

That seemed to do the trick, however. Elsa lifted her head and shot a grateful smile. "Thanks, Tori," she breathed. "I'll um, I'll see you tonight! It's gonna be the raddest and baddest!"

Opening the door, Anna finally escaped into the cool morning air. Though that wasn't really fair. It wasn't Elsa she was trying to escape from – it was her own feelings. Which was really messed up.

Sighing to herself, she trudged up towards the door. As she got closer, she could hear strange sounds coming from inside. A few muttered expletives (that were about as vulgar as "Dante's Inferno!") joined in the cacophony, and Anna was almost scared to open the door.

Then there was a scream of "Fire!", giving her no choice but to burst in.

A smoke-filled garage greeted her, including a very flustered Doc stamping out the last remains of a pile of laundry. Not that Anna had any idea why it had been burning in the first place. Her heart did beat a little faster but she didn't truly panic since he seemed to have it under control.

"Hey, Doc! What the hell is all this?!"

"An experiment!" What other answer had she expected? As she helped him put away the fire extinguisher, he went on, "I've been trying to work out the calculations in my head, but sometimes a practical test is in order!"

It was then that Anna noticed the model of Dell Valley. Every detail was represented, even if crudely. For a second, she merely walked around the table, coughing into her fist and marvelling at the handiwork.

Doc moved to stand next to her. "Apologies. I was pressed for time so it's not as accurate as it could have been."

Anna goggled him for a moment. "It's uh… it does the job," she said, voice disbelieving. Geez. She wondered when he could do if he actually did have time.

"That it does," he agreed. "Now, from my tests I've been able to determine where you need to start driving from, taking into account the time, acceleration speed, and the weight of the car."

"Cool. Basic physics. How are we going to channel the lightning into the car?"

Doc picked up the little model he was using as the DeLorean. There was a wire jutting up from the rear; it looked like a bumper car. "This." Putting the car on the model road, he began 'driving' it towards the clock tower. There was a wire hanging across the road, connected to the tower, that Anna had missed earlier. "If my calculations are correct – and they are – the moment the lightning strikes the tower, it will channel through this cable suspended between these lampposts. The car will make contact and, presto, you get sent back to 2015."

"Nice!" Anna couldn't stop a little grin from forming on her lips or the little thrill of excitement. Not many people boast about being struck by lightning. But then pretty much no one could really boast about being in Anna's position right now, either, since she was actually the first human to ever time travel.

Nodding his agreement, Doc returned back to stand at her side. The gleam in his eyes was unmistakable, and she thought he looked like a kid who finally figured out how to tie their shoes. "This is our best and only shot. Otherwise, I'll probably have to find some terrorist group willing to part with plutonium, and trust me… that is not going to go quite so easily in 1985 as it will in 2015."

His chuckle at the end was distinctly derisive. But his mention of a terrorist group brought something back to Anna's mind that she couldn't ignore any longer.

"Right. Yeah, um… about that." Clearing her throat, she glanced down at the fake street on the scale model, then back up at Doc's face. "There's something I need to tell you. That night-"

"Nope," he forestalled her, holding up his hand and closing his eyes. "Not a word, not a word. The consequences for the future could be disastrous. I won't hear another syllable."

At that, Anna frowned. "Come on, this isn't just me telling you what the hot phone apps are gonna be! It's really-"

"You can't tell me!" This time, he set the model DeLorean down and grasped her shoulders. "Listen… whatever it is, I'll find out through the natural course of history. Look at the damage we've already done through ignorance. What if I began doing things deliberately to work toward a certain end? I could sabotage myself irreparably! Make things even worse for us, create another paradox!"

"Paradox? You mean that universe-destroying thing like me never being born?" Sighing, she wilted. "Fine. You're the doc, Doc."

"Good. Now, what do you say we try another experiment? Only hours left to go!"

Anna assisted him, though her heart felt heavy thinking about what had become of the Doc she knew. There was no way she could let that happen. But clearly, she was going to have to think of another way to warn him. Telling him straight out was going to be met with opposition no matter how she approached it.

And as Doc reset the model city to do another test run, Anna thought she knew exactly how.

~ o ~

After seeing to her plan, the rest of her day was spent working on her hair and nails. Normally, Anna didn't care much about that, but she knew as much as any girl and muddled through on her own. The only thing left to do was to put on her dress – though she didn't want to until the last second, however, given her own experience with nice clothes and toothpaste.

When she was done, even she was rather proud of the result. Her twin braids had been lost – instead, she'd wrangled her hair into a somewhat elaborate bun. Nails that would match the colour of her dress, once she put it on. A work in progress but everything was shaping up pretty well.

And good thing, too. She and Doc had a reasonably tight schedule, but Anna was also reasonably confident that everything would go okay. She refused to get too cocky, however; that was how she normally handled things, and she had to be better than she was normally.

The lightning was going to strike the clock tower at exactly four minutes past ten. To get there from the school, Anna had make sure Kristoff came out to save Elsa at nine at the absolute latest. There would be enough time for Anna to give a heartfelt apology and for Elsa to decide she was better with Kris. Then a last goodbye and she was off, sailing into the future that wouldn't have ceased to exist.

She hoped. But she had to try. Giving up would accomplish nothing.

When the front doorbell rang, Anna ran down the stairs in a bit of a daze. Elsa was early! Anna wasn't in her dress, but not her clothes from the party, either – instead, she had on one of Doc's old polos. Terribly underdressed but hoping Elsa would understand, since she was early, she opened the door–

And felt her pulse flatline.

Elsa Baines was decked out in a stunning blue dress, made of satin or lamé or something. A white cardigan covered her shoulders and chest, and the exposed part of her neck showed off an elegant pearl necklace – one with a small sapphire pendant that was not nearly gaudy enough for the era. Probably her grandmother's, though Anna couldn't remember having seen her wear it before, nor the matching bracelet on her left wrist. The dress hung down just past the knees, a little longer on one side, and the look was finished off with a silvery strap heel. Now she noticed that Elsa's toes were blue to match, like her fingernails were as they nervously hung onto the sequinned handbag. Even her hair was tamer than usual, the wild locks sweeping backwards from her temples. It wasn't a perm, and Anna realised that Elsa looked… completely different to how she expected.

And that she would look completely terrible in comparison. How was this gorgeous queen supposed to show up standing next to an actual trash bag?

"Tori? What is- are you wearing that to the dance?"

"Like it matters," she sighed in utter defeat. "Next to you, I'm gonna look like a square anyway. But I do have a dress. I just… couldn't quite get it on by myself."

"Ahh, and I suppose your uncle isn't much help?" Anna shook her head, eyes still stuck on Elsa. It didn't seem to make the other girl uncomfortable. "Did you want- I mean, I could… help?"

"Yeah, please," she laughed. "I mean, without you I'll be struggling into it and asking Doc- I m-mean, my uncle, to zip me up, but… you doing it is better."

That certainly got her young mother smiling as she nervously shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Rad. I mean, um, I'm glad to help. Want to show me to your room?"

That was exactly what Anna did. She couldn't help but think how silly this would be if she was living in Doc's tiny shack in the future; showing Elsa to a living room couch. Still, the cozy little corner of the house was nice, even if there were no real personal touches other than her clothes for the prom and a pair of sneakers near the foot of the bed.

"Cute room," Elsa breathed nervously, tossing her handbag next to the door so she wouldn't forget it. "So um…"

"Yeah, let me just… get started." However, she didn't move a muscle. "Yep, here I go." Nothing. She knew the reason she was so nervous, and the reason was standing a couple of feet away from her, but knowing it didn't seem to help her overcome the anxiety.

At least Elsa also seemed to understand. Ears burning red, she turned around without a word. And maybe that made it worse. Ripping her shirt off, although still trying not to mess up her hair, Anna tossed it to the side. She heard Elsa inhale sharply behind her. Pushing past that, Anna quickly stepped into the dress. The longer it took, the tenser the space between them became. Finally she had the cup sleeves up over her shoulders, the ruffles of the hem bobbing about mid-thigh. It wasn't a terrible shade of green, but the shoulder pads made it impossible to forget the era. Who put shoulder pads with cup sleeves?!

Either way, by the time Anna was able to manage a soft, "R-ready," she found that she didn't feel ready at all. Not for any of it. She wasn't ready for the dance. She wasn't ready for Elsa to step close.

She wasn't ready to go home.

Then she felt soft hands sliding up the exposed middle of her back. "It's a nice dress," Elsa whispered softly, the air caressing over her skin.

"Y-yeah? You like it?" When Elsa only continued to tease her, she managed a weak chuckle. "Or… do you like what's in it a little more, maybe?"

"Sorry." Except she didn't seem sorry; not if the little kiss she left on the back of Anna's neck was any indication. "You're just so… irresistible."

Then she did it again, ending the little kiss with a sigh against Anna's skin. With the zipper done up, her arms came to circle around Anna, holding her there. Perhaps Elsa had remembered their time together was fast coming to an end. Just as she was blinking back tears, she felt Elsa step away.

"Els-?"

"I um, I got a camera for my birthday. I haven't used it much because I haven't really had anything that I wanted to take a picture of. And I guess… now I do."

Alarm bells immediately began ringing in Anna's head. She head Doc's voice, warning her about how it might change the future. Confronted with Elsa, looking so vulnerable, and her own small understanding that she's already fucked herself over regarding time travel… it made it so easy to break and give a shaky nod.

"Great!" Elsa breathed, her entire face lighting up with glee. "Hang on, let me get it - this is gonna be so awesome!" She turned and crouched down, beginning to rummage through her sequined handbag for the camera…

And poor Anna had to suppress a flicker of heat as she watched an appealing rump shift back and forth with the effort of locating the device. Did she have to find every part of this teenage version of her mom attractive?! She was still gazing stupidly in that direction when Elsa straightened up and turned back around.

"Okay, so it does have a timer, so I think if I set it on… the… what?"

"Huh?"

Elsa blinked a few more times before the mischievous smirk began to pull at her lips, passing the ancient camera idly between her hands. "I think somebody was just checking out the goods while I was bent over."

"I think… someone's a little… full of themselves," Anna managed to retort. Incredibly unbelievably. She felt puffed, even though she'd done nothing to cause it. Elsa's smile only widened.

"I think someone was checking out the goods," she repeated, "and I think someone liked it." She bit her lip and took a few steps closer. The way she was looking at Anna could only be described as "sultry", and Anna felt her whole mouth go dry. When Elsa finally came to a stop, just in front of her, Anna felt her pulse thrumming fast enough to bring on a heart attack. She could hear the blood in her ears, and actually missed it when Elsa asked her a question.

"Wh-what?"

The smirk was back – it actually seemed wider than before, too! "I asked if you're ready for this picture?" Elsa repeated. Anna's face burned.

"Sure. Sure, yeah, um… yeah let's do it let's go let's picture."

"You don't sound ready," she teased as she moved to set the camera on the dresser. And this time, Anna could very much tell that Elsa was moving her ass around on purpose as she attempted to aim the camera lens properly.

"That donk," she couldn't help breathing.

"What's a donk?"

"N-nothing."

Giggling, Elsa turned back to smile at her. "I'm gonna give you a pass for being a total dweeb, because… I think you're really hot, too." Then she bit her lip for a second before adding, "Oh, can you put your heels on? So we're closer to the same height and all that?"

Anna was so nervous that it took her more than a few tries to get the first bright pink plastic high heel on. By then, Elsa was kneeling in front of her with the other one, slipping it on as if she were Prince Charming. Her heart certainly didn't feel like it would slow down anytime soon. Then Elsa was looking up at her, smiling all soft. Her thumb, whether she was aware of it or not, was stroking the skin on the top of Anna's foot. It was such a delicate gesture, and Anna felt her bottom lip tremble again. She tried for a smile, and Elsa released her foot so she could stand up.

She was really in trouble.

"P-picture time?" she asked. Elsa took her hands, and for the first time since arriving in the past, Anna felt herself looking at a glimpse of the woman who would one day be Elsa McFly. That sweet spot between Anna's birth and the alcoholism that was in full swing by the time her youngest daughter was twelve. The eyes of someone who cared with all her heart. It only lasted a moment – less than a second, really – but it was enough to sober her up.

"Ready?" Elsa asked, and all Anna could manage was a nod. There was a quick movement while Elsa set the timer before she had returned. This time she stood next to Anna, who tucked her head into Elsa's shoulder. Whether it was instinct or insight, Anna couldn't say.

Flash.

"Got it!" she cried out as she dashed over to the camera, snatching the Polaroid and waving it back and forth gently to help it develop faster. All smiles. This was a woman who was truly full of joy to be where she was then and there.

Anna came up and stood behind her, stomach tying itself into knots. How bad was it? How recognisable would she be? Her deepest hope was that she could get back to her own present day and her mom wouldn't remember having the hots for her, which was going to be a lot more difficult if there was photographic evidence laying around…

"Awww, why did you do that?" Elsa half-laughed as they gazed at the two of them on the celluloid. You could see the top half of Anna's face very clearly - and could tell by the bunching of her cheeks that she was grinning - but the lower half was shrouded behind her mother's shoulder.

"Sorry! I'm just… I was blushing, b-because you, with the shoe thing, and…"

"It's okay," she giggled. "It's really cute. Thanks, Tori; you let me be a lame geek, and I appreciate it."

Anna smiled at her. She was still smiling even as Elsa began packing up the camera, and it only broke when Elsa, stood in front of her, tried to give her the picture.

"W-what? No, Els. You- you should have it…"

"Huh? Oh… well, I mean, we could both have one. Here, let's do this again."

"Alright. Wait…" A smirk stole over her face. "Let me have the camera. Just for a second."

Curious now, Elsa indulged her. Anna took the camera, turned it around, and held it at arm's length as far as it would go, slightly above them. "Okay, purse your lips like you're gonna kiss somebody."

"Hm? Oh, sure." Elsa obeyed, leaning in and pursing her lips, though still looking at the camera. A thrill shot through Anna's stomach as she repeated the same gesture, and she felt her mother shiver at the closeness. They might as well really have kissed again.

"Okay, now hold it… hold it…" Then she pursed her own lips just before hitting the shutter. "OW!"

"Ow, ow," Elsa echoed as she rubbed at her eyes from the flash. But once the bright spots stopped dancing in front of their eyes, she nabbed the Polaroid from the front of the camera. "What the hell were we doing? I've never taken a picture like that before."

Anna had to forcibly stop herself from answering "A selfie"; she knew that word wouldn't exist for another couple of decades, and Doc would kick her butt if she did even more to disrupt the timeline. "It'll be cute. Just you wait."

The result was a sepia-toned image, only very slightly out of focus. The whole scene was softer because of it. And yes, they were dressed in 80s attire, but the angle and duckfaces were strictly Millennial. A unique artefact if ever there were one.

"Oh my God, Tori, we look ridiculous!" Elsa cackled. There was a massive smile on her face regardless, complete with a pretty red tinge in her cheeks that wasn't just the make-up. She passed over the picture anyway. "You're so unusual, but like… really cool."

"Thanks. And thanks for this; it'll remind me how much fun I had with you this week."

That was a sobering thought, and Elsa's smile slipped from her face. "Y-yeah," she said, very quietly.

"Awww, c'mon, turn that frown upside down," she chirruped with a big grin as she blew on the Polaroid and slipped it into her bag that stood on her dresser - the one Doc would be throwing into the DeLorean soon enough. "I'm just happy we got to hang out so much! And we still have tonight! Let's rock the Casbah!"

"Well…" Huffing for a moment, Elsa finally seemed resigned and nodded, patting down her hair as she finally smiled again. "I guess you're right. Come on, let's get to the dance. I can't wait to see all those nerds go crazy when they see two girls walking in together!"

The little chuckle was weak, but it was the best Anna could manage. "Yep. Can't wait."

"Okay," Elsa breathed as they moved downstairs, obviously as nervous as Anna was. One of her hands came up to delicately push aside a wisp of her wild hair, tucking it back into one of the wings sweeping backward from her temples. "Do… I still look good?"

"Fuck me." However, she had to shake herself when she realised that it wasn't used as frequently as an exclamation of disbelief in the 80s, and that Elsa would probably take her literally. "I m-mean, yes! Yeah, you're gorgeous!"

Elsa had blushed a deep red at hearing Anna's expletive, and it only got worse at the follow up comment. "Thanks. Um… so you're channeling your Cyndi? Though your hair's not wild enough."

Immediately, Anna was flooded with ideas that could most certainly result in messy hair. Coughing awkwardly, she held out her arms. "Yep! I bop! Anyway, let's uh, let's get to going."

But Elsa didn't move. At least, not to the car. She actually took a step forward. Her hands ceased their fidgeting, coming up to hover in the space between them. Anna said nothing, and within moments, Elsa made a decision.

Her hands fell forwards, down to rest briefly – appropriately! – on Anna's hips. There were mere centimetres between them; so few that Anna could smell the mint on Elsa's breath; could count the pale freckles dotting her nose. Anna held her breath. She knew what Elsa wanted to do, knew that she should stop her. But, she found that she couldn't; not after making out, grinding, getting themselves off in mixed company. She was completely helpless by now.

Not that her resignation was needed. Elsa surprised her, yet again, by curling her arms around Anna's waist and pulling her into a hug.

"Wha-"

"I'm so glad I didn't screw things up," she breathed against Anna's shoulder. "This night is going to be incredible. I… I can't believe I get to go with you!"

A little droplet of guilt fell into the pit of Anna's stomach, but she ignored it soundly. Maybe she shouldn't have been so disappointed that this wasn't going to be a real date. That Elsa didn't kiss her. That was stupid… wasn't it?

"Tori?"

Wasn't it?!

"I'm glad, too," she finally forced herself to breathe, pressing her hands into Elsa's back through her cardigan. "Now… let's go make everybody jealous that they don't look as rad as us."

Finally, Elsa drew back to grin at her. "For sure! Joan Jett, eat your black heart out!"

To Be Continued…

#Fractal The Future #fruipit #forkanna writes #elsanna fanfiction #elsanna

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snowycrocus · 6 years ago

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Frozen Fanfic - “A State of Mind” Part 3/3

AU in which Agdar and Idunn safely return from their journey at sea. Elsa remains locked away - and what does such captivity do to a person after more than two decades?

Please start with part 1 and part 2.

Trigger warnings: abuse, blood, death/dying, suicide

^ - Yeah, not a happy ending for those of you that were hoping for one, sorry!

BUT a bunch of you asked for Hans to be punched so you might be happy... :)

Thank you to all of you who have commented- you’ve made me so happy and I really enjoy hearing what you think of everything.

Can’t say whether or not I’m happy with this, to be honest. Let me know what you’re thinking at the end.

An anon sent me this video after I started writing this and it gave me such feels for this story. It’s basically a trailer for Frozen set to the song “I dreamed a dream” from Les Mis and it’s literally perfect and devastatingly heartbreaking. If you really want to get into the mood to read this I ask you to watch this first!

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Hans didn’t try to include me in the affairs of the kingdom anymore. He didn’t explain what he was doing, or why.

He didn’t look at me with love in his eyes anymore, with that crinkle he got between his brows. He didn’t smile at me like he was happy to see me. He didn’t wait for me at meals, didn’t hold my hand as we walked, didn’t rest his hand on my lower back like he used to.

Hans had always been my world, once we met and married. He had been my savior, my love, my hope- my best friend.

I had always felt so alone. My parents, much as they tried, were too busy with their responsibilities for the kingdom and with whatever had been going on with Elsa (which I now knew). And Elsa, of course, had barely acknowledged me after she had been locked away at 8 years old.

But when Hans came into my life it was like I had found the light once again. I had found hope; a reason to keep going, to keep living.

And now that light was snuffed out.

Now, I was stuck with two parents buried deep in a grave, a husband who looked at me like I was nothing but a naïve child, and a sister who was so disturbed that she thought I was dead. I was, essentially, alone.

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After I had broken the news of our parents’ deaths to Elsa, my sister’s mental condition deteriorated even further.

Whatever meager hold she had had on her powers – enough to hide them from me for twenty-two years – had seemed to crumble with my confession regarding our parents. There was a persistent chill suffusing the residential wing that no amount of fires in the hearths seemed to improve. Harsh gusts of wind were constantly whining in her bedroom and ice began to seep out from the gap of her doorway like a spreading disease.

The first few days after I told Elsa, she alternated sobbing with snowing for hours on end, her voice raw but matching in pitch with the gusts of wind swirling inside.

“I can’t take this anymore,” Hans cried angrily one evening, standing up from the desk that had been passed down from king to king throughout all generations of Arendelle monarchy. “She’s gotten too unstable, and that curse of hers is getting dangerous and out of hand.”

“No, Hans!” I cried, getting up from my book to chase after him. I grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

“No, please!” He shook me off, glaring. “Leave her be. Please. She’s just hurting.”

“She’s not hurting, Anna,” he growled. “She’s insane.”

“She doesn’t know how to deal with the loss,” I fought back, tears in my eyes. “Let me go to her, I’ll keep her quiet, I swear.”

“Fine,” Hans relented, looking cross and annoyed. “See to it that you do. Or else I’ll have her taken care of myself.”

“What do you mean, taken care of?” His tone scared me.

“I have my ways,” he said.

I went to Elsa frequently those days to attempt to calm her down.

It was getting difficult, though. I couldn’t stay with her long; the raging storm inside her bedroom had me shivering in minutes and fearing frostbite not much longer after that.

“Elsa!” I would call to her, reaching out to stroke her trembling form. “Stop this, Elsa! You’re okay, you didn’t hurt anyone!”

But she always shied away from me. That is, if she even seemed to notice me there at all. She’d often be crouched on the floor, or on her knees, her gloved hands covering her ears as she shook her head to rid herself of the voices calling her from within.

Once, I had found her with her gloves off. I could hardly believe it- I didn’t think they had been off in years. But after getting over my shock at seeing the bare skin of her hands, I noticed the red streaks of blood along both arms where her fingernails had left scratch marks so deep in her skin that she bled.

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I knew my meager pleas to my husband could only last for so long, however.

“That’s it,” Hans clenched his jaw, throwing back the covers and storming out of bed after being woken up by Elsa for the third time that week. Once it had been from her yelling, but this time it was because it had begun to snow all the way in our bedroom, piled up in clumps on the bedspread. “I’ve had enough.”

“Hans, no!” I leapt out to follow him, brushing the sleep out of my eyes, but he shoved me back hard enough to bruise and pushed the door behind him, slamming it in my face.

That was the problem with having a husband when you were queen, you see- despite my power as a ruler of Arendelle, I wasn’t the ruler- my husband, the King, would always outrank me. It was always his word against mine.

And that was why I was left struggling against the guards that Hans had ordered to restrain me outside of our bedroom. That was why I fought so hard my wrists chafed from their strong grip. That was why I screamed so long and hard my throat was raw.

That was why I had no option but to watch as my sister was led away from her bedroom by a retinue of armed guards, looking forlorn and guilty but cooperative, as if she thought she deserved such punishment. That was why I saw that she had been chained - heavy-looking cuffs that encompassed her hands and wrists entirely. That was why I watched as she was pulled along, stumbling, to the corridor that led to one place only:

The dungeons.

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For the first two weeks I tried desperately to get Hans to change his mind.

“Give me more time with her,” I pleaded. “I’ll make her understand. Just please, please, don’t lock her up in there.” I felt like I had betrayed my sister. Elsa was the only family I had left, no matter how damaged she was- and I had failed her.

But Hans’ word as King was law- and he wouldn’t budge. “There’s no hope for her, Anna,” he brushed me off angrily, tiredly. “This is to keep us all safe.”

“But there is hope!” I insisted. “She just needs some love. Someone to care for her after so many years. Human, social interaction – that’s what she needs!”

Hans sneered at me, a look I was becoming more familiar with by the day. “Hope is what drove your sister mad, Anna. Hope is all she ever had to live for. And when she finally realized there was no hope anymore, she became the monster she is today.”

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It became a sort of unspoken agreement between me and my husband- Hans would overlook my visits to Elsa if I didn’t speak of her to him, as if she weren’t even in the castle anymore.

I’d go as often as I could, but it was hard- the guards were under orders that no one but the King was to visit her, and I had to learn the hard way which guards would permit me to visit despite their orders, and I would have to be out by the time their shift ended.

I’d carefully pick my way down the steep stone steps leading down to the dungeons, my arms loaded with stacks of books. It was the only thing I could give Elsa to help keep her occupied- and with her hands covered wrist-deep in those wretched cuffs, she had no choice but to turn the pages with her feet when I wasn’t there to read to her. But she was always so happy, so grateful- I’m not sure if it was seeing me or seeing me with my arms laden with books that did it, but it was the only time my sister’s eyes lit up anymore- the only time I saw her look somewhat like her former self.

Despite the cuffs that she wore, after she had been moved to the dungeons, the ice had seemed to constantly leak out of Elsa- her powers, though weakened from the constraints, were not withheld entirely by the metal.

I wasn’t quite sure how Elsa had managed to hide the ice and snow from me and nearly everyone for so long, for now it was her eternal companion. There was a constant scrim of ice on the floor and vines of it snaking up the walls. About two weeks into her confinement, Elsa had had a magical outburst that decimated one of the stone walls of her cell, even cracking the glass window and leaving shards of glass that cut her bare feet and bled.

Hans had ordered a new cell built for her after that- but this time, with stronger, reinforced walls and only a porthole to see outside with glass so thick it was blurry and distorted.

Seeing the damage her powers had wrought to her first stronghold, I had to admit that Hans perhaps had been right- the bedroom in the residency wing wouldn’t be safe for Elsa or for any of us- her powers were too dangerous.

I had very nearly wanted to strike myself for even harboring such an awful thought- how dare I think my sister, with such a magical burden, ought to be contained like an animal? How could I actually agree with my parents and Hans on such a thing? But those times when I left Elsa’s cell, shivering violently and rubbing feeling back into my fingertips, I had to admit they had a point.

If only there had been some other way.

But despite the danger, I remained by Elsa’s side. Because of the handcuffs, the guards had to feed Elsa- Hans had long ago decreed that the cuffs were never to come off my sister’s hands without his express permission. They had her sip water from a cup, fed her bread and cheese, and occasionally some fish or fruit if she had a guard on duty who remembered her as a carefree, happy child. Whenever I could manage to sneak some, I’d bring her chocolate- rich, luscious truffles or small bites of cake or pastries I snuck into my napkin at dinner. Chocolate still remained her favorite- that was a part of Elsa her condition could never take away. Our love for chocolate was still something that brought us together. Sitting on the hard bench with her in her cell, our eyes closed in rapture over the decadent silken taste coating our tongues, it was like we had retuned back to childhood, sneaking sweets into the pantry and savoring them while no one was looking.

The familiarity of it seemed to calm her- enough so that she would sit peacefully, leaning against me, so that I could wash her hair- still as long and beautiful as ever, perhaps looking even lighter in color now- without her freezing the water. She would hum as I moved my fingers through the strands, untangling them. I cherished those moments so much; the world fell away around us, the cold, hard brick walls of her cell disappearing until it was simply a moment of two sisters relaxing and caring for each other.

Besides looking out for Elsa’s rare bits of enjoyment, I tried my best to keep tabs on who cared for her- and those who didn’t, despite their responsibilities. I discovered one heartless guard that had been sliding my sister’s tray of food into her cell, just out of reach to tempt and tease her.

Some days, I couldn’t stay with Elsa for long- the room grew too cold, the ice spiked dangerously, or Elsa herself wasn’t in a state of mind to see me. Some days she’d rain down apologies for her supposed ‘murderous transgressions,’ others she ignored me, slumped against the wall, while at other times she yelled, cried or lashed out as if she didn’t even recognize me, her chains clinking as she lunged. Those days hurt the most, and it took me days to work up the courage again to return to her.

But “she’s always calmer after you visit,” the nicer guards would tell me. “That’s what we see a glimpse of the young woman she used to be.”

Gerda, god bless her, was my only pillar of support those days. Elsa and I were like daughters to her, especially after our parents had died- and now one of her daughters she was forbidden to see.

“How is she?!” Gerda would ask me hungrily, desperate for word on Elsa and her wellbeing. “Is she alright? They’re treating her well, despite her captivity, are they not?”

Her eyes were anxious- for knowledge, possibly, but most likely for reassurance that her precious girl, driven mad behind walls, was faring well despite the odds.

Unable to fully care for my sister in the capacity I wished, the least I could do was soothe Gerda’s fears.

“She’s doing well,” I life, a practiced smile playing upon my lips. “She’s”-chained to the wall- “comfortable,” and” –they’re not feeding her enough- “and she loves the chocolates you gave me for her; she says thank you.” Gerda’s brow relaxed, her shoulders easing and breath escaping in a relieved sigh. It scared me how easily the lies came.

Over time Elsa seemed to settle in to her life down below, peppered with my visits. She grew quiet and withdrawn, though she still suffered episodes of visions, and ice storms raged in her cell and soul.

Me, I never came to terms with what life had wrought upon us. To think that this was the life my sister and I lived now, so different from the happy, carefree life we had known and expected as innocent children. What would my parents, god rest their souls, think? Did they watch us from above? Did they see their eldest, chained and contained, ranting and cold, desperate for companionship? Did they see me, their youngest, now turn hardened and bitter, stuck in a loveless marriage and desperate for love?

For I was desperate. My sister may have been alone in the dungeons and her mind, but I was alone as well in the world with no one to turn to. So desperate, in fact, that I still sought bodily release with Hans. His hands along my bare back, fingers grasping my hips, teeth raking across my lips hungrily, a forceful fuck in the dark of night- I craved touch, the be wanted, needed – to escape this life that I was stuck in.

I was thirty when I learned I was carrying Hans’ and my child.

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My pregnancy was both a blessing and a curse

While since Elsa’s imprisonment Hans had grown to scorn my very presence, suddenly I was a delicate flower and my husband became a doting gentleman, catering to my every whim and leaving me wanting for nothing. He tenderly massaged my sore back and caressed my tired and swollen feet, called for tea when I fell ill in the mornings, and wouldn’t let me lift a finger. He became once more the man I had first fallen in love with and married.

I should have pushed him away, knowing the wolf in sheep’s clothing that lie inside. But I was lonely, and hurting, and scared of this thing growing inside of me- scared of the world this life growing in me would be brought into – so I accepted his care and ministrations, savoring the feeling of being loved for the time I knew would come when it disappeared once more.

The curse, however, was that I could no longer visit my sister.

“These secret visits can’t go on anymore, Anna,” Hans lectured me immediately after finding out I was with child. “I allowed it before, but you can’t be selfish anymore. You will not put my child’s life in danger.”

Our child, I bit back in my head, not my, but I fell silent, and nodded, because he was right. I couldn’t risk one of Elsa’s magical outbursts, couldn’t chance slipping on her ice or getting stuck by a sharp stalagmite. I longed to see my sister, but Hans promised me he would see to it that she was well cared for in my absence. He had lied before, I know – but my hands were tied as much as Elsa’s.

My pregnancy brought pleasure back into the household, something that hadn’t been felt in the castle for ages. A baby would mean hope, would mean joy – and we all eagerly awaited the birth of my child.

That winter, on a dreadfully cold and weary day, rain pounding down on the roof and windows, our son was born. With a shock of blonde hair nearly white and startlingly blue eyes, he had the staff whispering over his appearance. I loved him all the more for his familiar looks, and he captured everyone’s heart – the future king of Arendelle.

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He was a lovely child, our son. Not too fussy, he slept easily, fed well, and, after only a few short months, was full of smiles and laughter. He once more brought light into my life and even Hans was better – he wasn’t as quick to scold me and he seemed to take his role as father very seriously.

Likewise, I was eager to return to my role as a sister. I hadn’t seen Elsa in over nine months, and I hoped that she was alright in my absence. I had written her letters, so she would know why I had suddenly left her. I was afraid she would react as she did when our parents passed away, thinking I had gone down that same path. I had been afraid of what may have happened to her down there, and my heart had ached every day in fear of the unknown. I had worried if she was being fed, if someone brought her new books. I worried if she was seeing things again, and if the ice grew thicker along the walls of her cell.

Nearly running down the dungeon steps in my haste to see my sister, I stumbled and fell when I saw her, my heart falling to my knees as I shook with rage.

Hans had lied. Again.

Elsa lay on the small cot in her cell, her arms with the ever-present manacles clasped around her thin frame. I had to watch for the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed; otherwise I would’ve thought her dead.

She was so thin it broke my heart. How often had someone actually fed her?

I rushed into her cell, not even giving thought to the potential danger as I gathered her slight form into my arms.

“Elsa?” She didn’t stir, so I gave her a small shake, desperate. “Elsa!”

She stirred, blinking her eyes open slowly, taking some time for her gaze to find and meet mine.

“An-Anna?” The relief and love in her eyes melted my heart. She started to cry softly, tears slowly leaking as she shuddered with her silent cry. “You came back.”

“Oh, Elsa,” I sighed, stroking her hair as I held her to me. “I’m so sorry, Elsa. I’m so sorry.” Her hair was tangled in knots from the lack of care and it seemed even lighter than I remembered. I cupped her cheek with a palm, my breath catching as my fingers grazed over an old, faded bruise on her cheek. “I’ll never let you be treated this way again.”

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As soon as we were alone together in our bedroom that night, I punched Hans.

He never saw it coming. It was a good one too – the buildup of all my rage and agony over these past few years, my disdain for him slowly growing like a tumor. Over how he treated me, over how self-absorbed he had become, and over how he treated Elsa.

Unfortunately, my husband wasn’t one to simply take a hit.

“What the fuck, Anna!” He cried, stumbling back, one hand pressed over his bleeding and probably broken nose.

I never saw his strike coming, either. CRACK! I staggered backwards, whimpering and feeling like my cheek bones had just shattered. “What’s wrong with you, Anna?!” Hans shouted. “Is this the kind of marriage you want our son to see?”

I didn’t take his bait. “You lied, Hans,” I seethed. “You haven’t looked out for Elsa at all.” My rage returned, white-hot and blinding so that I couldn’t even register my smarting cheek anymore. “She’s practically dead, Hans. Have they even fed her at all? Helped her to wash? And why the fuck does she have bruises?! Is your idea of ‘looking out for her’ letting your men hit her?!” I caught my breath. “You know, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. What’s so wrong with beating your prisoner when you’re already hitting your wife?!”

“Don’t you dare, Anna!” Hans raged at me. How dare you accuse me – you don’t understand anything. And if you’ll remember, it was you who struck me first!” He stalked towards me. “What you fail to realize, Anna, is how dangerous Elsa is.”

Hans’ green eyes gleamed emerald. “Elsa was getting out of control.” He dropped his eyes, as if remembering something painful. “Her ice storms were becoming more frequent. A flying icicle nearly took a guard’s eye out.” He stood straighter, fixing me with an accusatory glare. “It was getting too dangerous for the men to enter her cell, Anna. We had no choice – we figured out that if she’s weak, it weakens her powers. If her body’s weak enough she doesn’t seem to have the energy to make ice. It’s better for her this way.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Better for her? More like better for you.” I blinked back the tears forming my eyes over what Hans had done to my sister. “She’s dying, Hans. Weakening her? You’re starving her. You said you would take care of her for me.”

Hans grinned at me, baring his teeth. “And I did.”

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Over the next few weeks, I visited Elsa every day, nursing her back to health. I fed her all the sweets I could find in the kitchens, I washed and combed her hair and rubbed salve on the wounds I didn’t want to think about. But no matter what I did, Elsa stayed quiet. She didn’t show signs of seeing visions anymore, didn’t have fits of ice, didn’t apologize for killing anyone. She worried me, but she seemed calm and in a better condition, so I was relieved. She would sit with me as I read to her, resting her head on my shoulder – her version of a hug while her hands were chained.

My son steadily grew, becoming a happy, babbling baby and eventually toddler that continued to bring life and joy to our bleak household. I longed for the day when he would grow into an intelligent, gracious, caring young prince – I vowed to myself I wouldn’t allow him to become a power-hungry devil like his father. I loved my son more than anything in this world. His features, a striking reflection of his aunt that he would never know, reminded me of the cheerful little girl that could’ve been, now locked away in the dungeons below.

It was perhaps a month after Elsa’s full recovery when a guard ran out to me while I played with my son in the snow. That was when I was happiest – throwing snowballs, making snow angels – like I used to do with my sister many memories ago.

“Your majesty!” He cried. “Come quickly!” I left my son in his nurse’s care and followed the guard down into the dungeons, my heart beating faster and my limbs growing colder with each step, though I couldn’t be sure if it were from the actual temperature or my trepidation. I rushed into Elsa’s cell, expecting to see it entirely covered in ice and snow. But it wasn’t. Not a single snowflake. I ran to my sister’s side, confused. She lay curled in a ball in the corner.

“Elsa?” I asked. I turned to the guard, confused. “What’s going o-” But then I saw it. I hadn’t caught it at first in the dim light. But now I couldn’t unsee it.

A line of blood, trailing across the middle of the cell, ending in a pool by Elsa. Under Elsa.

“Elsa!?” I grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face me. She blinked her eyes slowly, her gaze finally finding mine.

“Anna?” She asked sleepily. I whirled to the guard.

“What happened!?” Which one of you hurt her!?”

“None of us, Your Majesty,” he answered frantically. “Clearly she did this to herself.”

“That’s not possible!” I yelled, rounding on him. “She’s chained up, she can’t even use her hands, how could you accuse-” but then I stopped. Because a glimmer had caught my eye. And that glimmer was sparkling, like a crystal, like a diamond, like – like ice.

A thin, fine point, tapered like a needle on the end, growing wider along the base which I could see. Protruding from my sister’s chest, blood dripping down her front.

“Elsa!” I screamed, dropping to my knees. I gathered her back into my arms. “Elsa, no, no! Please!” I felt frozen, my heart aching like the icicle was embedded in my chest and not hers. “Elsa, no!” I brought her head to my chest, my tears dripping into her hair. She was so cold.

“I’m sorry Anna,” Elsa said. Her eyes dripped tears as well, for once not freezing on her cheeks. She looked directly into my eyes, her gaze sorrowful but more lucid than I had seen her in forever. “I love you Anna. And-” she coughed wetly, blood filling her lungs and spotting up onto the floor. “-And I always wanted to build a snowman with you.”

Her eyes closed, her breath rattling as she took her last breath gathered in my arms. The icicle melted, dripping down her chest, the cell growing warmer as her powers died with her. I stayed there, sobbing, cradling my sister – my sister, who was so loved yet also feared by those who loved her most – my parents. My sister, who was kept locked away and eventually kept herself locked away only for the protection of others. My sister, who had grown isolated and lonely, and eventually unstable and confused due to her confinement. My poor sister, who had endured her whole life, eventually here in this cold and dark dungeon cell of a hell hole for so long.

I had to be dragged away hours later, they told me. I don’t remember. I do know that my husband never even came to see me that night.

All I know of that night is that I was awoken to a light tapping at my door. I blinked wearily, unsure if I was even in the land of the living or still asleep. The knob turned, and my son came padding in, eyes wide and hopeful.

“Mama?” He asked. He turned his gaze to the window, and I did the same. Snow had begun to fall again – big, fat clumps of snowflakes twirling lazily in the moonlight. It was beautiful.

My son reached for my hand, his little fingers wrapped in mine, soft and warm.

“Do you want to build a snowman?”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - – - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I would really love love love to hear from anyone that reads this - criticism accepted too! To be perfectly honest, as I said above I myself am not even super happy with this one. I think this is one of the least elegant pieces I’ve written and I struggled so hard with this one. Maybe also because it’s from Anna’s POV? Maybe I was too harsh in some spots as well. This could’ve gone SO many ways so I kinda just had to pick a path and stick with it in the end. Basically, there was no hope for Elsa. She’s too good to try to kill someone and even if she wanted to probably wouldn’t have had the means with her powers weakened. This was the only way out for her.

As for Anna’s son...what do you think will happen? ;) Tagging those that have asked for it, commented, or reblogged so you can see the end, hope you don’t mind: @lelibotachay, @insectoid5, @faithambr, @frozenprocedural, @wintermoonqueen, @thegeekogecko, @wandering-bard-from-the-id, @above-d-clouds, @carrieasagiri, @parappa-lammy, @turwens-attic

#frozen #fanfiction #frozen fanfiction #elsa #anna #hans #disney #my writing

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heliads · 2 years ago

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Okay so about that Anderperry fic I mentioned (sorry for keeping you waiting for so long!):

Basically it takes place in an Avatar: Thr Last Airbender/element-bending AU where airbenders are kind of looked down upon for historically being pacifists and having what a lot of people think is the most “useless” form of bending.

And Todd, of course, is an airbender.

His parents, being the dicks they are, are of course super ashamed of it and basically keep him locked up in the house for his entire childhood, calling in tutors just to make sure he doesn’t turn out stupid and forcing him to push down his bending and pretty much pretend it doesn’t exist (kind of an Elsa situation, except her parents actually loved her and Anna).

Todd, however, knows that he at least needs to know how to control his bending and practices in secret using books he sneaks from his parents’ library.

Finally, Jeff (who I will never stop believing is not actually a dick like his parents and just doesn’t really know how to connect with his brother) convinces his parents to let Todd leave the house and go to Welton, under the conditions that he keep a lid on his powers and never let anyone else know that he’s an airbender.

I futzed with canon a little more than the bending AU with this fic; in this story, Todd starts at Welton after the school year has already started and the Dead Poets Society has already been formed, but he’s still Neil’s roommate and Neil, sensing that this kid really needs some friends, introduces him to the rest of the Poets and drags him along to meetings.

And the other Poets genuinely like him, of course, and are happy to have him around, but at first Todd is just like, “???” because he’s not used to dealing with anything that isn’t his parents’ contempt or Jeff’s awkward attempts to connect.

He also gets more and more nervous about being able to hide his bending as time goes on, especially as he starts to become even closer with Neil and feelings surface.

Most of the other Poets are benders, save for Pitts (Neil’s a firebender, Cameron and Knox are waterbenders, and Charlie and Meeks are earthbenders) and they’ve never expressed any negative feelings about airbenders (in fact, they’ve told off other boys who’ve bullied other airbending Welton students) but he’s worried it’ll be different if he reveals that he’s one.

This comes to a head one night at a Dead Poets meeting, when Meeks starts choking on some food and can’t breathe.

The others start freaking out, not knowing what to do and knowing their meetings will be found out and shut down if they run back to the school for help, and Todd, deciding that being shunned by his new friends is worth saving one’s life, uses his airbending to get some air into Meeks’ lungs and help force out the bit of food he was choking on.

Afterwards, everyone’s just staring at him in shock, and Todd, fearing their rejection, just takes off back towards the school.

The next day (because Todd pretended to already be asleep when Neil got back to their room) Todd avoids the rest of the Poets during classes and lunch, but eventually they all corner him after classes in his and Neil’s room.

Todd is terrified and tells them to just go ahead and tell him they don’t want to be friends with him anymore, but instead (because of course they do), they all thank him for probably saving Meeks’ life and tell him that just because the rest of the world may look down on him because of his bending, that doesn’t mean they do.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Todd is casually showing off his bending in his dorm room with Neil.

He reflects on how amazing it is that he gets to do this so casually, when he was taught for so long to be ashamed of who he was, and this leads to him accidentally confessing to Neil.

He’s scared and stuttering afterwards, sure that Neil is going to reject him and he’ll never be able to look the other boy in this eyes again, but instead, Neil kisses him and assures him that of course he feels the same way (“After all, fire’s attracted to oxygen, isn’t it?”).

And they walk into the next Dead Poets meeting holding hands, and it’s a very cute ending.

Anyway, that’s what I have planned for this fic!! Hope you like this little outline, and that you’re doing well, bestie!! 🖤🖤🖤

oh my godddd this is amazing???? literally just reading the outline had my heart in my throat the whole time. i cannot cannot wait until this comes out. this is such a good idea!!!!!!!

#not writing #i will be thinking about this for the next few months count on that

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aros001 · 3 years ago

Text

First time read through light novel vol. 15. Random thoughts.

No waiting! Door's open! Car's ready! Let's go!

Oh, and just as an added note, I have not yet watched any of the second half of season 2. I wanted to wait until after I'd read this volume, which I believe is the first time I've ever avoided watching episodes of a TV series so that I wouldn't be spoiled on what happens in the book it's based on.

The greatest asset they had—Garfiel—was almost certainly already engaging the main threat—Elsa. Both possessed superhuman strength, so they could be considered evenly matched—or at least, Subaru hoped so. He couldn’t be certain.

It does occur to me that Subaru probably wouldn't be the best for judging people's relative power levels. He's met plenty of powerful people in this world; Elsa, Reinhard, Puck, Julius, Petelgeuse, Roswaal, Garfiel, etc. But the thing is they all completely dwarf him in power, to the point that on an even playing field he wouldn't even be able to put up a fight. Yes, Garfiel could be an even match for Elsa...but I could also see Subaru thinking the same about Frederica and she was way outmatched by Elsa. All Subaru was going off of was that Frederica was stronger than him in a way he could never naturally obtain himself and so is Elsa, so he immediately conflates the two in his mind as equal strength, simply because he's so low all the bars above him look like they're overlapping.

“Truly...it would have been better if Betty were simply a book.”

Unable to indulge in even fleeting fantasy, Beatrice confessed her sad, painful wish.

If only she could be a doll without a heart, a storybook unshaken by the passage of time, then she wouldn’t have to suffer.

Ironically, though books themselves can't suffer, they can certainly cause suffering, both in the meta sense with what Re:Zero puts its characters through and the audience along with it, and the literal sense with how the books of knowledge and their prophecies are ruining Beatrice and Roswaal's lives but they can't bring themselves to give them up.

“Even if it’s only within Roswaal’s book of knowledge, the fact that Betty has been recorded... Does that mean Mother has not forgotten about her daughter, I wonder?”

Though there's something to be said about those who wrote the books too causing the suffering. Again, both meta and literal.

“O-of course I thought about it! Betty tried checking if there was anything on these blank pages again and again...but nothing ever changed!”

“That’s why you’re an idiot! What about trying to heat them to see if anything was written in invisible ink?! These days, no one falls for that trick anymore, even when it’s a novelty New Year’s card! Consider some more possibilities, would you?!”

...

“Like what if your mother messed up and gave you the wrong book by mistake?!”

“Huh...?”

The latest theory Subaru proposed was so haphazard that Beatrice didn’t even know how to respond. That surprise quickly gave way to anger as Beatrice’s ire only grew.

“Do you intend to insult Mother, I wonder?! Mother would never make such a stupid mista—”

“Can you say for sure it absolutely couldn’t happen? You don’t have even the slightest doubt? Are you so certain the only possible explanation is that your mother deliberately handed her own daughter a book with nothing but blank pages?”

Subaru used fallacies and questionable logic to massage and obfuscate the truth.

Subaru's become kind of an expert on dragging people down to his level, hasn't he? Rem, Roswaal, Emilia, Garfiel. Now Beatrice. Also, he just keeps digging himself deeper against Echidna. First he rejects her in favor of Satella, then vandalizes her tomb by carving love letters into its walls, then he makes out with Emilia inside her tomb, and now his basically insulting her intelligence to her daughter. If they ever meet again I suspect Echidna might just try and drown Subaru in her tea instead of offering him any.

“M-Mother surely would never make such a mistake. I-is that not obvious, I wonder? This is Mother we’re talking about! Would you doubt your own mother’s words?!”

“Of course I would! The times I can trust her don’t come along all that often! My mom’s the same person who heard a report about a satellite falling into ‘the atmosphere’ and somehow thought it was ‘Aichi Prefecture.’ I stopped believing any news that came from her mouth after that! It’d be mega-embarrassing if I spread around something that stupid again!”

It was impossible to forget how he’d been mocked by his classmates and neighbors for taking that story seriously and sharing it with everyone. To top it all off, the original culprit herself forgot she had started the whole thing and even asked him, Why on earth did you tell people that?

I kind of love this, especially after Subaru's trial showed just how loving, kind, and supportive Subaru's parents are. This series makes a point of saying that good doesn't mean perfect, and that's okay. People are naturally going to have flaws and shortcomings and that there's nothing wrong with that, so long as those flaws aren't toxic or harmful to others or themselves. Nothing about Subaru's mom being an idiot who too quickly buys into click-bait sensationalist news keeps her from being the woman who saw him off to school and was supportive even after his long absences.

Emilia's Unknowable Present trial, getting to live a life with Fortuna and Geuse like Pandora and Regulus never came to their village, reminds me a lot of what the Black Mercy plant showed Superman when it got attached him, namely getting to live a life in a world where Krypton never exploded and thus he was raised by his birth parents and even started a family himself on Krypton. The plant feeds you a hallucination of your heart's deepest desire as it in turn feeds on you, and the only way to escape it is to basically give up everything you've ever wanted. For Clark, that was his son, who was as real to him as his actual child could be.

Interestingly, though the story is similar with both Emilia and Superman rejecting the fake world in favor of the real one, the state they're left in afterwards is very different. For Emilia, her resolve is strengthened and her feelings for everyone still frozen have only grown deeper, while for Superman he flies into a rage at the villain who put him under the Black Mercy, and once that fades he's just left with sorrow over what he lost. I suppose a cause for big difference is that Emilia can, in theory, get back at least some of what she's lost. Not Fortuna and Geuse because, well, they're kind of dead, but the other villagers she can save from the ice. Emilia's escape from the fake world wasn't just accepting what she'd lost but also a push for her to stop hiding behind the protections of everyone in her life, including her own, and actually face the world. She has a goal she can work towards to find strength in. For Superman it was meant to be just a straight tragedy.

“—Why do you desire a future that will hurt you so much?”

“I don’t want to be hurt. I’m searching for a future where I don’t have to be hurt, where I don’t have to run, hide, or push things away, where I can hold hands with others.”

“And the wounds you suffer? The pain? What you have lost will never return. Will you search for such a thing even so?”

“ ___”

Even Emilia had thought of what it would be like to have no one think of her as detestable. Many times over, she’d wanted to cast all the pain and suffering by the wayside.

The earnestness in Archi’s words gently and deeply touched upon scars that covered Emilia’s weak heart.

“...I want people to think I look cool.”

...

“I want to be like Mom, who I look up to so much. I want to be gentle and strong, like Geuse. I want to be like Granny Tanse and the others, who were never mean to me even once. I want to be like Archi, who smiled to the very, very end so that I wouldn’t get scared.”

“___ ”

“I want to be like Puck, who kept protecting me so I wouldn’t be alone. I want to be like Ram, who wants to work harder than anyone else for the person she holds dearest. I want to be like Otto, doing his utmost for the sake of his friend. I want to be like Garfiel, who refuses to speak one timid word or complaint.”

“Emilia...”

“And I want to be like Subaru, who suffers and gets all beat up, who’s always reckless—who told me he loves me.”

I say it almost every volume but I'm loving the parallels between Emilia and Subaru. They don't want to be in pain, they don't want to suffer. They just want to be loved. They want to feel important and valued by those they love. They want to live up to the coolness and strength of everyone around them. Heck, Emilia seems to model herself after Fortuna about as much as Subaru seems to model himself after his dad. Both really are their parents' child (even if Fortuna is Emilia's aunt).

Even just her thanking Echidna like Subaru did for showing her the trial's world and giving her some closure she never could have had otherwise. Though Echidna's reaction is quite a bit more hostile than it was to Subaru.

The way to end the Trial was for Emilia to find herself and seek out a way to acknowledge, accept, and understand that self.

I'm curious if that is the general theme for the 2nd trial or if it's just specific to Emilia, because what we saw of Subaru's unknowable present, though he lost the right to face any more of the challenges, could certainly fit that description depending on how you view it. Emilia acknowledges, accepts, and understands herself by finally seeing herself as she is in the present and no longer turning away from her own reflection, while Subaru acknowledges, accepts, and understands himself by finally seeing the value in his own life beyond being a chip he can cash-in for RBD.

I am curious if there's any meaning to the differences in how Subaru and Emilia go through their trials though. Emilia's 2nd trial is like Subaru's 1st, where she's actually living and interacting with the world the trial created, with her memories of the real world needing to come back to her, while her 1st trial is like his 2nd, looking in on the world the trial creates only as an observer and unable to interact with anything.

Of course, it did not even think of defying the orders of its master. But it would obey those orders and nothing else. It simply owed a debt to the master, who had liberated it from the Curse of the Horn. Accordingly, it had listened to her request.

Hm. Now that's a curious bit of thought from the Giltirau. It's been established that demon beasts will obey whoever cuts off its horn. I'd always just assumed there was no choice in the matter. So is this just what the beast thinks is the case and it's deluding itself or under some kind of mind control, or is this genuinely how the beasts think and it obeys the cutter in order to pay them back for freeing them from the horn? If it's the latter, why is the horn a curse then?

“Eat the power of science, baby—Dust Explosion!”

Science, bitch!

The candle remained on the floor, showing no further sign of change. The one who had thrown it was frozen in place and sounded like there’d been a miscalculation.

Opp. Never mind. Subaru should have taken a lesson from Goblin Slayer. That man knows how to cause a dust explosion.

You know, one spoiler I got for this volume was that the mansion would catch on fire. I thought it'd be some way Subaru would be trying to free Beatrice from the library and the book of knowledge. I didn't think it'd be because of Otto accidentally burning the place down by using too much oil to kill a lion. Poor guy is going to be back to square one after this, if not horribly under debt. He only came along in the first place to try and sell his wares to Roswaal. If he burns down the clown's home he'll be lucky if Roswaal just declares them as even.

The Trials first showed a past linked to one’s greatest regret; then they showed a present that did not and could not exist; last, the challenger was shown a future she would inevitably have to confront head-on. These were the entirety of the Trials the tomb had prepared for her.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I couldn't make heads or tails of anything Emilia saw in "Face the calamity to come". I get the message and why she's able to pass but the descriptions were way too vague for me to get even hints of what was to come in this potential futures. Even looking it up didn't help much. All I've got for certain is Emilia telling someone she was once close to how much she hates them.

Of course, I am now wondering what Subaru's third trial would have been, had he not lost his qualification.

So the woman in the coffin looks like Echidna but isn't Echidna, at least from Emilia's POV. I've got three theories as to what that could mean:

This could be a case like how Satella and the Witch of Envy are technically two different people due to a split personality and thus Echidna and the Witch of Greed are two different people.

It is not Echidna's complete soul that was bound to the tomb. We know the soul transfer was an experiment that failed due to it not working out the way she wanted, so perhaps some parts of Echidna were lost in the transfer. Or we're going with Horcrux rules here and the Echidna in the trials is only a piece of her soul.

It was never Echidna who was giving the trials and having the tea parties but rather someone/something else assuming her form.

Then, as Emilia raced out of the tomb—

“—Eh?”

—the skin-stabbing cold and the ferociously blowing snow covering the Sanctuary made Emilia let out a white breath.

Aw, f**k.

“You ain’t immortal. It’s that ya won’t die till someone kills ya, right? Ain’t that right, vampire?”

“...You knew.”

“I had a hunch. Me, I loved readin’ books since waaaay back. I knew there were special sorts like that. Didn’t think I’d meet one right after leavin’ home, though.”

Oh! That explains a lot about Elsa, actually.

Elsa's story about growing up an orphan in the cold, being nearly (and thankfully only nearly) raped by a man she tried to rob, killing him and then finally feeling warmth from his blood and insides reminds me of a pitch I'd heard for a movie about Dracula's origins. After becoming the first vampire Dracula would take revenge on all those who had wrong him in his tortured life and the audience would feel sympathy for him...but only for a moment. Because whatever justice or righteous vengeance that might have been had is quickly overshadowed by the realization of the monster that has been unleashed upon the world.

“—I’m gonna kill ya, Elsa Gramhilde.”

“—It is because you will kill me that you are my first love, Garfiel Tinzel.”

Yeesh. They not on complete opposite ends of the spectrum but it's still hard to imagine a contrast more different than Elsa and Ram. Heck of a love triangle for Garfiel.

And of all the ways for Elsa to finally be slain, I can't say being crushed underneath a giant hippo thrown by a teenage man-tiger was one I expected.

“I’m impressed by how meticulous you are. How and when did you cast that spell on Lia...?”

“Spell...? Great Spirit, to what do you refer...?”

“Well, just listen. It got really hard to come out of my icon ever since we returned from the royal capital. If that was all, I would’ve pegged it as some kind of scheme by the Witch Cult group that attacked the village and the mansion, but I was stuck in there even after reaching the Sanctuary. So the spell had to come not from an enemy but from one of our own.”

...

“Fortunately, Lady Emilia was in low spirits from her argument with young Subaru. A little sabotage of your pact with Lady Emilia before departing for the Sanctuary was a trifling affair.”

“On the other hand, a pact between spirit and spirit mage is sacred... It’s not something that can be toyed with from the outside.”

“Even so, I have lived with Beatrice for quite a long time, you seeee. For better or worse, creating loopholes in predetermined things is a specialty of mine—though that girl is too obstinate for such things.”

Okay then. So while Puck definitely isn't a good father overall, it actually wasn't that he was refusing to come out when Emilia needed him. Roswaal used a spell to make sure that he couldn't, which makes sense given his big scheme, shown in a past loop, was to isolate Emilia from everyone and break her mentally.

“Love me? What are you saying?! You hate me. I am the man you hate. To you, I am a man linked to the cause of your homeland’s destruction. Surely, the truth is that you hate me enough to kill me!”

“In the beginning, it was so, but now it is not. Now Ram loves you.”

“That is absurd...! Who—who, I ask, would believe in such cheap emotions?!”

I'm not quite sure how to feel about this, and it's not because of any shipping reasons because I don't really have anyone I ship with Ram. Obviously I knew she had an attraction, I'm just wondering what it was that caused the change in Ram's feelings and what caused her to fall in love. With Subaru for Emilia and Rem for him we see how those feelings were sparked and even Garfiel for Ram has reasons that are simple attraction but easy enough to understand. So what was it for Ram?

“To Ram, this is...the root of all evil.”

Roswaal’s face went pale as he raced over to Ram. Smiling faintly at his action, Ram did not hesitate—she hurled the book of knowledge into the green flame still clinging to a fallen tree.

Sometimes the conditions for victory have little to do with actually winning the physical fight.

“No matter how far you go, you’re still human—you’ll never be like that devil.”

As the spirit flew off, his voice became distant, and his presence vanished, leaving behind only a soft glow.

What remained was the scattering snow and a girl carried by a devil—Nay, there was only a clown.

He was a wretched fool who had tried to become a devil and failed.

That is a really good line. I'm assuming the devil in question is Hector, given he's called the Devil of Melancholy. It is an interesting concept, trying to act like/resemble something you fear and horribly humbled you in the past.

“I won’t let anyone say it’s fine. As long as we’re alive, there’ll be none of this it’s fine stuff—that’s why I don’t want to give up on anyone, not anymore!”

She stood up. That instant, Emilia whirled around, thrusting her arm toward the forest behind her.

She froze to the bone the demon beast leaping toward her, enveloping it in blustering snow and glacial cold.

The creature she had caught was white, small enough to fit in her palm.

However, this was a ferocious being with gleaming red eyes.

—It had arrived. The demon beast known as the Great Rabbit had finally come.

Well....that definitely qualifies as a badass moment for Emilia. I remember when I first started reading the LNs I was worried I might have an unintentional bias against Emilia since, while I liked her fine in the anime, I liked Rem and her pairing with Subaru a lot more. Thankfully the books have really done a great job with Emilia, especially in her character development. I said back during the royal selection that LN Emilia definitely feels like she has more fire to her than her anime counterpart, at least in season 1. I don't think I ever would have expected her to yell at Roswaal the way she does here, and with it still being in character as she's doing it because she's worried about him and Ram.

Puck was a Great Spirit with origins identical to Beatrice’s. However, unlike how she lived according to the will of Echidna the Witch since days long past, he had started a new life long before the birth of the Sanctuary, and she had not seen him since.

Does that mean Puck has a witch as his "mother" too?

But what she found surprising was that he knew of Beatrice’s talents yet did not desire them in any way. Indeed, when he came to ask about curses, it was Beatrice, and not the archive of forbidden books, he came to consult.

The boy harbored no interest in the knowledge left in her care or Beatrice’s power whatsoever.

It's kind of funny how Subaru's ignorance and cluelessness have been both his greatest strength and biggest shortcoming since coming to this world. It wasn't even a thought in his head to consult the books for answers to his problems...probably in part to the fact that Subaru can't read this world's language. His logic was more than likely "Books might have the answer to my problem Beatrice has read a bunch of books. I should ask Beatrice for help!"

—She felt like she had reduced herself to a frivolous and very cheap clown.

Roswaal: "Achoo!"

For as Subaru ran through the inferno, swearing he would bring the girl with him, he was enveloped by an incredibly dense black miasma, almost like a cloak of shadow that shielded him.

Is this because of the Unseen Hands witch factor he got from killing Petelgeuse? Because the black miasma instantly make me think what happens when he tries to tell people about RBD and thus makes me think it's some protection the Witch of Envy is giving him.

A figure dressed in black emerged from the flames: a black-haired woman holding a black blade in her hand.

“Elsa...?”

OH COME ON!

“You’re not Elsa anymore, are you?”

When Subaru posed the question, Elsa—nay, the thing that had been Elsa—turned its empty black eyes toward him. There was no glint of life within them, only bottomless darkness. Subaru was peering into an abyss.

An empty body, a departed soul, and obsession incarnate. Driven by inexhaustible bloodlust, it dragged its smashed lower body along as it crawled toward Subaru through the raging fires.

This was far beyond an unnatural vitality that kept death at bay. The power had become nothing but a curse.

Just like Subaru’s Return by Death, it was nothing save a curse, a yoke placed upon her very life.

I've said it before, I like that dark magic in Re:Zero's world isn't just "spooky evil bad stuff" magic but rather DARK magic. Unnaturally and feels like it should not exist in the world. Elsa's a vampire but usually being a vampire in most stories tends to just equate to drinking blood, strong, and being hard to kill. Here, being a vampire makes Elsa truly seem like some unholy monster. Something truly undead. She's not a vampire because she was bitten by Dracula but rather she's a vampire in that she's a curse upon the world.

I really like how Subaru finally wins Beatrice over, and it's consistent with how he typically tends to make progress, by just being honest with people. He knows Beatrice doesn't need him and that he doesn't have anything to really offer her. So he simply tells her that he needs her and that he wants her around. He could lie or assume and just say he's the person she's waited 400 years for, but instead his words put the choice more in her hands. He's not going to set her free, she has to choose that freedom for herself.

Also, if Subaru's lifespan is just a blip in comparison to hers, what does Beatrice have to lose? If it's a waste of time, well then it's basically just a minute of her time being wasted, all things considered.

“—You wanted someone to take you outside! Isn’t that why you always sat in front of the door?!”

With a decisive sound, that world finally met its end.

The girl’s lonely cage, that solitary world known as the archive of forbidden books, was engulfed by flames and vanished.

But just before that happened, there was a sound.

—The sound of a single tome falling to the archive’s floor.

I HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS MOMENT!!!

—So began the pair’s first battle, one of the many, many times Beatrice the spirit and her contractor, Subaru Natsuki, would fight hand in hand.

I'm just imagining Subaru shoving Beatrice into Julius' face to brag about her.

Subaru: "You can keep your six little spirits, Julius! I got the best one of all right here!"

Beatrice: "Kindly keep Betty out of this dong measuring contest."

Once they gather the Great Rabbit's copies all in one place I thought they were going to either burn or freeze them all, but sending the Great Rabbit into another dimension was probably the better idea. If Beatrice's theory is right and the rabbit can only create a finite number of itself, even if it can spawn up to that number and infinite amount of times, then even if they failed to get all the copies, say one or two, then the remaining ones would be far less dangerous, since it can't spawn new copies as they all would still technically exist.

“I think you should say something to the one who worked the hardest.”

Subaru couldn’t help but give a short sigh when he saw her childish, cheek-puffing gesture. Then—

“Waaah!”

—sweeping an arm under her, he hoisted up her light body.

Ignoring her cutesy, plaintive cry, Subaru continued to embrace the girl as he twirled around on the spot.

“You did awesome! That’s my Beako! I love you!”

“W-wait a—! That’s not... W-would you let go, I wonder?! Betty is not...!”

“Good girl, good girl! You’re so, so cute! You’re wonderful, Beako! You’re the best, Beako! Beako forever!”

Aww. Subaru's such a good dad.

Given that Roswaal is indeed the original Roswaal, student of Echidna, having lived on into the present day by transferring his soul into the bodies of those in his direct family line, what age is the child when he transfers his soul into them? Is that like a Tanya situation, where Roswaal remembers everything from his old life but has to restart each time as a baby? Or is this like a rite of passage for the men in Roswaal's line and they take on the burden of the original's soul once they come of a certain age? It's difficult to say which is worse.

“It’s just—I think we need to have a proper talk about the baby in my belly!”

“...Excuse me?”

“I don’t know if it will be a boy or a girl, but we need to give it all the love and attention it needs! Still, I don’t know anything about these things... That’s why I have to discuss it with the child’s father...”

...

“Emilia-tan, you know babies aren’t delivered by birds or harvested from cabbage patches, right?”

“But babies are made when a man and a woman kiss, aren’t they?”

...

Given Emilia’s mindset at the moment, Subaru’s words were tantamount to saying he wanted to have lots and lots of children with her. Certainly, there was a part of him that did wish for that, but his top priority was setting Emilia straight.

“C-curse you, Puck...!!”

Subaru directed an angry murmur toward the absent kitty spirit, who continued to sleep deep inside the magic crystal.

—In the back of his mind, he felt like he could see the kitty spirit putting a paw on his head and sticking his tongue out with a thbpttt.

That is just bad parenting right there. Even if Emilia's mentally 14 her body is still physically 18 and would be dealing with at least the aftermath of puberty, if not puberty itself. Regardless of whether she should or shouldn't have sex it's still something she should know about, especially in a world like Re:Zero's where life expectancy probably isn't that high and thus it'd be more common for people to get married and have children at younger ages than in ours.

Also, I'm just kind of amused that in Rising of the Shield Hero, Raphtalia thinking pregnancy was caused by kissing was an anime-only thing, as in the LNs she was well aware of what sex was. Now I'm just going to be expecting Re:Zero to do the opposite and have anime Emilia know what sex is.

“Even if you’re not at full health, you just stood back and watched while people settled things with Roswaal. I was sure you’d flip out seeing him get smacked around that much.”

“What a foolish thing to say... Even Ram does not think Master Roswaal is someone who is never mistaken. If being punched is the natural course of events, he must accept what he deserves. But Ram is free to treat him with great gentleness after the fact. To not comprehend such a thing is the height of foolishness.”

Well, at least Ram's not blind to Roswaal's faults or unreasonably loyal.

“...This is your mother, right?”

“More importantly, this is Echidna, Subaru. Not the ‘Witch of Greed’ you are familiar with.”

Subaru echoed a question first hailed by Emilia, wondering about the two different Echidnas. At present, neither she nor Subaru had found a suitable answer to what that actually meant.

More fuel to the first two theories I had.

So the condition of Subaru's pact with Beatrice is that he can't form contracts with other spirits, and she used up all the mana she had stored up over 400 years to kill the Great Rabbit, meaning she can't do anything like their big battle again. Subaru's gate is completely collapsed, meaning he can't use magic at all, and just keeping Beatrice out during the day consumes all the mana he has. ...Fair enough. It does fit with how Subaru wins each arc, by drawing every sword he has to use and just barely winning despite what he loses in the process. Heck, he still is somewhat in the green here with what he's gained, given he has Garfiel on his side now. And I still feel like Subaru is going to brag about Beatrice to Julius. It also goes along with Beatrice's thoughts of how she and Subaru interacted in arc 2 anyway. He wasn't there for the knowledge or power in her possession. He came there simply for Beatrice. Everything from their pact to her knowledge and powers was simply an afterthought, if even a thought in his head to begin with.

“Emilia—I am your knight and yours alone.”

“—Yes.”

When Emilia responded to the words he spoke, an irresistible wave of emotions brought tears to her eyes.

Yet, even then, Emilia somehow managed to maintain her composure as she gently brought down the sword she had raised. She returned to Subaru, who continued to kneel, the symbol of a knight’s pride.

Reverently accepting it with both hands, he returned the sword to its scabbard.

Completing the ritual, Subaru looked up. With Emilia nodding in assent, he stood on the spot.

And then—

“Emilia-tan, it’s a bit late to mention this, but you look cute and superhot in that outfit.”

“Idiot.”

—with the solemn atmosphere of the ceremony shattered, Emilia stuck out her tongue at him with a reddened face.

My feelings for the Subarem ship haven't lessened but this arc has definitely raised the Subamilia ship up for me, and I didn't even dislike it before. I really did just need them to communicate and have more honest back and forths and this arc really managed to develop that nicely for them. I can buy that these are two people who will eventually have a romantic relationship.

“Mentally speaking, Anne and Emilia are not as far apart as some might think. If anything, Anne puts on greater airs than Lady Emilia. She might very well be the more mature of the two.”

“I’m still holding a grudge against her for planting the idea in Emilia-tan’s head that babies are made by kissing.”

Yeah, I'm still gonna blame Puck for not setting her straight on that.

“And now that you have rejected the path of the Sage and chosen the path of the Fool, I will never allow you to compromise. Is this not natural? It is you who wished for this.”

With Subaru unable to speak a word, Roswaal took a step forward, closing the distance between them. Then, reaching out with a hand, he grasped Subaru’s shoulder, gently pulled his face close, and whispered into Subaru’s ear.

“—Hereafter, if you lose someone around you who you should have protected, I will swiftly burn the remaining others away without hesitation and, with the cursed seal, become ash myself.”

“—?!”

“You have decided to shoulder all. You must not abandon anything. I will not allow a lost world to continue into the future. I reject your compromise—now that I have lost the book of knowledge, I have only you to guide me to Teacher, young Subaru. You and the path you walk.”

Jeez, Roswaal is such a good villain. Yes, he'll work with the hero and he'll do it willingly and genuinely...but that doesn't make him any less dangerous than before. If Subaru falters or fails, Roswaal will push him into using RBD to do things over. And there's little doubt he will, since we've seen him in a few loops already in this arc perfectly content with dying or throwing everything and everyone away when a plan didn't work out, either because he knew Subaru would loop and another life would be better...or simply because continuing on in a world where his plan failed wouldn't be worth anything. It's a good little wrench to throw into the story now that Subaru is going to try to rely on RBD less, and it's a good way of showing Roswaal has not magically changed 100% from who he's been throughout the story and that even bound by a curse he can still do a lot of damage.

The girl walked forward, her long pink hair swaying as she murmured to herself.

The Witch had been released unto the world once more.

...That's probably not good. If I'm reading this right, Echidna, or at least the not-Echidna of the tomb trials, has come back from the dead by way of soul-transfer into the body of one of the Ryuzus.

I cannot state enough how happy I am for this volume to come out and for this arc, that I did really enjoy, to come to an end. Not only was I not letting myself watch the anime until I got this but I wasn't going to let myself start on the web novels either until I finished reading this arc in the LNs. Since vol. 16 doesn't come out until the near end of June and there's no f**king way I'm waiting that long again, I think at some point I'll just start on arc 5 in the WNs and go all the way until wherever it is in the present because I NEED TO KNOW!!! Might even do random thoughts on both the WNs and LNs, which would be kind of interesting. The only comparisons I've been able to do before is the LNs to the anime. I've heard the LNs are pretty faithful to the WNs but I have heard of some differences, like Puck not being in the battle between Ram and Roswaal (and just Puck being a bit more of a prick in general in the WNs).

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/m64crq/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_15/

#re:zero #random thoughts #reddit repost

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sasuhinasno1fan · 7 years ago

Text

The crystal of my love

@sinfullyguilty123, I’m your secret Santa for the @shancesecretsanta. Your prompts were really good, I was really unsure on which to do, but cuddles are amazing. I’ll do my best and hope you enjoy. Merry Christmas.

“Allura, I thought you said these uniforms kept us warm.” Lance said, shivering in Blue.

“They do, you just freeze easily.” Allura said, her voice coming in from Lance’s com

“Can you blame me?” Lance said, taking one hand off one of the controls to rub at his arm. “And Blue, can you not sound so happy?” he asked, the utter elation Blue had being in the snow vibrating in the mind of her paladin.

“This kinda reminds me of that episode of Star Wars Clone Wars, where Luke and Obi-Wan go with this new Senator, the one with the really judgy bodyguard or boss, to try and form a bond with the yeti people. Lance, remember that?” Hunk asked.

“Ugg, yeah but they were dressed in proper attire. We’re still in our basic uniforms. We don’t even get colour coded coats or anything.” Lance complained.

“I guess living in sunny places all your life don’t help, but didn’t Garrison do like temperature training with you? I mean, you were in the fighter class.” Shiro asked. He sounded concerned he’d lose his boyfriend to frostbite.

Yeah, boyfriend. Lance still couldn’t wrap his head around it but months of pinning paid off with a bit of help from Keith, in the form of him coming up to Lance and begging Lance to tell him if he liked Shiro, because he wasn’t sure how much more pinned ranting he could take from Shiro. Which lead Lance to yelling, “Shiro likes me? Like, me?” and Keith just dragging the two of them in a room, revelling said pinning and leaving them to deal with it. While Lance didn’t appreciate getting thrown into his confession like that, it got him to find out that yes, Shiro did like him. It was awkward at first, but slowly and surely they became more confident in their relationship and god, Lance couldn’t be happier.

“Well since I took a certain someone’s place halfway through, I missed that actually.”

“Oh yeah, weren’t you supposed to redo that with Iverson?” Pidge asked.

“Yeah, but I was getting tutored to catch up so it kept getting pushed back. Iverson gave me the run down, but let’s be honest. He wasn’t planning on giving me a redo.”

“Well Iverson is an idiot, so we’ll just ignore that.” Pidge snipped

“Alright you two, we can continue our roasting of Iverson later. We’re here.” Shiro said, ignoring Lance’s whining.

“Think of it this way Lance, when we’re done, you and Shiro and go get warm together.” Pidge said, enjoying the sounds of sputtering and yells directed at her. “I meant with blankets, get you heads out the gutter.”

They landed on the planet of Prina, an ice planet with a fully functioning society. The people of the planet heard the stories of Voltron and wanted to join the Coalition. Their planet’s cold temperature made it hard for the Galra to find them so they were left alone but they didn’t want to wait, sitting until they could and left with no help.

“Remember, the Prina people want to be completely sure they can sure they can trust us. We have to show them we can. If we’re lucky, perhaps they can show us their faie crystals.” Allura instructed. “I’m not down there because I’m trusting you to be good paladins and get them to trust you by interaction, so please for the love of all things, do not scare them, threaten them or do anything that makes us seem like monsters.”

“Don’t worry Princess, we’ll make you proud.” Shiro promised, leading the group to land their lions near the large glittering castle. It reminded Lance of the castles in all the princess movies his little sister would watch all the time.

Getting out of Blue was not something Lance had been looking forward to, but a firm demand by Shiro got him moving. Thankfully it wasn’t windy, but it was still cold. Lance could feel his bottom half of his face that wasn’t covered by his helmet getting dry. Small shivers already started raking through his body and he was sure they’d increase the longer they were there.

“Why couldn’t we take the lion speeders over to the castle?” Lance complained

“Lance, we’ll be inside soon.” Shiro said, trying to pacify his very whiny and cold boyfriend.

As they got closer to the doors of the castle, two snow mounds near it moved. Rising from the snow were two guards. Their skin was blue and they looked human, if it weren’t for the other pair of hands the paladins could see hidden beneath the poncho the guards were wearing. They held spears and looked distrusting at the paladins, but they didn’t attack, they stood ready.

“State your name and purpose.”

Shiro stepped forward, his calm and confidence oozing. Lance loved watching him like this, their leader.

“My name is Shiro and I’m the Paladin of the Black Lion. We’re the Paladins of Voltron. Your leader contacted Princess Allura asking to join the coalition. We’ve come to show them we’re real and ready to accept help, in turning promising to help you whenever you need it.”

They saw the guards turn their attention to the Lions, who sat on their hunches, eyes dim as they waited for their Paladins to return.

“Beasts as big as a Skellior and just as powerful. We thought they didn’t exist.”

“We’re truly blessed. Your beasts will be safe here, come. Our queen has awaited your arrival.”

They were lead into the castle. The only ice castle Lance could think of was Elsa’s in Frozen but this didn’t have the different coloured bits like hers did. It looked like a castle in the times of King Arthur on the inside but it didn’t take away its beauty. The throne room was filled with the people of Prina, their queen on her pedestal sitting on her throne. It seemed that the women of the planet had purple skin, though they still had the same four arms and white hair as their male counterparts. The queen stood as the Paladins came towards her pedestal.

“Welcome. I am to believe you are the Paladins of Voltron?”

“Yes, your majesty. Princess Allura sends her well wishes.” Shiro answered, bowing

“And I wholeheartedly accept them. I am Queen Yukimia and I welcome you all to Prina. Thank you for accepting to meet us. I hope when you leave, we are all happy with what we leave with. Oh, you poor thing, your shivering.”

Everyone looked over to Lance who had gone from small shivers to full teeth chattering cold.

“S-sorry, don’t do well in cold.” Lance said, rubbing furiously at his arms.

“I didn’t think you did, which is why we had these made.” With a gesture, servants descended with coloured ponchos, similar to the ones the guards wore, but they were longer and looked heavier. They were also in the same colour as the Paladin’s armour. “Our young cannot regulate their temperature so they wear clothing similar to this.” she explained as the Paladins let the servants wrap the ponchos on them, Lance shoving his exposed face into the neckline.

“Thank you so much your majesty. Your generosity shines like your beauty.” Lance said, already feeling much warmer. Shiro groaned under his breath but the queen just laughed.

“I’m glad to see the warmth is doing you better. Now, who will I be talking to about joining to coalition? My people would love to meet those who aren’t busy.”

“If I may your majesty?” Shiro said, stepping forward, giving his team a look of ‘behave yourselves’.

Shiro was lead off to the side while the people swarmed the other paladins, questions escaping from their lips faster than they could answer. Shiro answered his own questions he was given, looking over every now and then to make sure things were ok. His attention kept straying to Lance, trying a gauge if he felt better. He felt bad that Lance had gotten that cold, he never realised Lance was that bad with cold weather.

“I hope I’m not boring you Black Paladin.” The queen asked, seeing his attention was drawn elsewhere.

“Oh, no. I’m sorry, just making sure my team is alright.”

“Especially the Blue Paladin? Seeing how you’re obviously very close.” Shiro looked surprised. He wasn’t being obvious was he? He was usually really good at keeping his relationship hidden to look professional. “When you noticed how badly he was shivering, you stepped closer and your arms rose a little, like you wanted to sweep him in them. When he was getting his poncho put on, you kept your eye on him and while you groaned at his flirtatious remark, you had a slight smile on your face, like you were happy he was back. Also every time you look over to check on them, he’s the first and last person you place your eyes on. Plus no one can deny the love you hold in your eyes every time you look at him.”

Shiro was impressed. While on Earth, same sex relationships within the military were more accepted than anything, they were still hidden in a way, so it didn’t look like they were favouring any one person no matter the type of relation it was. Shiro was just used to making sure no one knew about his relationship when he was working so he wouldn’t have anyone try and question his leadership, it just surprised him that the queen was able to pick up on it so easily.

“When your planet is covered in the same thing, you learn to pick up the little things very easy. I hope I didn’t upset you.”

“No, it’s just surprising.”

“It’s nice to see that love can still bloom even during war. I have yet to find someone like you found your one, so I wish you both the most amount of happiness.”

Shiro couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you your majesty. Some people might think that relationships during war are a bad thing but I can’t help but be extremely happy with Lance.”

“Then be happy you should be. I can tell you will both be happy for a very long time.”

“Shiro, I’m taking a shower first!” Lance announced once they were dismissed from debriefing.

“Pidge, save the comment,” Shiro demanded, stopping the smaller Paladin from saying anything.

“No fun.” She muttered, as she walked out. Eventually it was just him, Allura and Coran.

“So I’m glad the queen liked you all.” Allura said

“She was very welcoming. She would like to meet you before we leave.”

“I can do that. We can think of it as a rest day. You’ve all worked enough. Coran and I can handle any final details.”

“Thank you princess. Oh, I also remembered, we got to see faie crystals.”

Allura gasped. “Did you really? Are they as beautiful as they say?”

“They say faie crystals are the most beautiful crystals in the galaxy, not even Balmera Crystals live up to its beauty. To get a crystal and present it to your love is supposed to be the biggest show of your love, as the crystal glows with the amount of love you have for the person.” Coran explained. This made Allura glance over to Shiro with a questioning look in her eyes. He understood and nodded, sending Allura into a screaming mess.

“Oh Shiro, I’m so happy for you! This is a perfect excuse for a day off. Are you going to do it tomorrow?”

“Maybe? I don’t know.”

“I’m confused. What’s going on?” Coran asked.

“Shiro is planning on telling Lance he loves him.” Allura said, practically giddy.

Yes, he and Lance hadn’t said they loved each other. Well actually, Shiro hadn’t. Relationships had always been hard for him and while he was so sure Lance meant every word he said, Shiro wasn’t ready to say it back. Lance completely understood thankfully, not showering Shiro with the 3 words so he felt pressured to say the same but Shiro felt ready. He was in love with Lance, completely and wholly. He just wanted to make telling Lance special, because Lance deserved that.

“With a faie crystal? Well, my boy, the best of luck to you. I’m sure everything will go well.” Coran said, making Shiro feel embarrassed. It was no secret Lance was Coran’s favourite so hearing him sound happy for him made him feel like he got Coran’s blessing.

“I will do my best not to disturb you two. Everything will be perfect, I know it.” Allura said.

“Thanks. I better get going.”

“Yes, yes, go. Good luck.” Allura said, already pushing Shiro out the door. She listened to Shiro talk about how he wanted to say the words to Lance but didn’t feel ready and she offered as much advice as she could. It was no surprise she was happy that Shiro was going to finally do this.

Shiro got back to his room, Lance’s stuff thrown in a heap in the corner. Shiro had his gift poncho folded over his arm, where the crystal stayed hidden underneath. He hid it in the drawer under his bed and started pulling off his armour. Unlike his boyfriend, he put everything in his closet, putting Lance’s things away as well, before approaching the attached bathroom.

“Lance, are you decent?”

“I can become indecent if you want me to. But yes, I’m doing my face routine.”

Shiro opened the door and there Lance was, in his pyjamas, messaging cream onto his face. He noticed Lance’s attention go to his bare chest.

“I see you staring.”

“Can you blame me? I am in the presence of a Greek god.” Lance said, making Shiro laugh as he started the shower up, the heat from Lance’s still clinging to the walls.

“I’m sorry I didn’t realise how cold you were.”

“It’s fine. Just please don’t ask me to go down there again. I loved the ponchos the queen gave us but unless I have to, I’d rather not go back into the cold. It ruins my skin for one.”

“Well think of it this way. After we come back from the planet, it can be just you and me warming up.”

“Oh scandalise.” Lance said.

“You know what I mean mister.”

After a shower to warm up and changing into his own pyjamas, Shiro pulled Lance into bed to show him what he meant. He let Lance arranged himself close as he could to Shiro before Shiro pulled the blanket on them both and held Lance tightly. He tried not to laugh when Lance started nuzzling his neck, trying to make sure Lance did not find out about his tickle spot there.

“This is nice. I like this. We should have done this when we were let go from debriefing.” Lance said, pushing his face into Shiro’s neck more and moving from his side onto Shiro’s front, almost lying on top of him. Shiro wasn’t complaining, he liked rubbing at Lance’s back and sides, it seemed to help him relax more.

“I have a feeling if we did that, I’d be getting cold feet shoved at me.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Lance said, rubbing his feet against Shiro’s leg, making him flinch away

“Yeah right.” Shiro replied, Lance laughing at him. “I will shove snow down your shirt if you even get any ideas.”

“Ugg, no, please. My brothers loved shoving ice down our shirts when it was really hot. Snow is horrible.”

“I like it when it snows. I usually go back to Japan for New Year’s so it’s pretty cold and when we go back near the country where my grandparents live, it’s usually blanketed in snow. I guess it’s the calm quiet of it that makes it nice.”

“You should take me when this war is over.” Lance suggested.

“Yeah. I’d like that.” Shiro said, one hand reaching up to Lance’s hair and running his hand through it, feeling Lance completely relax. It wasn’t long before Lance fell asleep, Shiro following him soon after.

Lance felt his body wake up before he opened his eyes. He was no longer on top of Shiro, but lying on his side next to him. Lance liked watching Shiro sleep. His face was completely relaxed and he looked so peaceful. It was times like this that made Lance wonder how he ended up with him. To be able to see Shiro looking so vulnerable, to be able to kiss him, to be held so close to him every night.

“I love you,” he whispered, wanting nothing but to shower him in those words, but Shiro wasn’t ready to say it back. Lance understood, his past relationships were never good and he said I love you to quick. Even if he didn’t hear it, Lance could tell Shiro felt the same from the love that would be in his eyes. “I really love you.”

“Love you too.” Lance heart stopped as the sleepy words registered. Did Shiro say?

“Shiro, Shiro wake up!” he really needed to know if Shiro meant that.

“Hmm?”

“Shiro, did you just say you love me?”

Shiro blinked sleepily at Lance while his words sunk into his head. Lance watched as he became more awake and everything processed. Then his face turned completely red.

“Ugg, no! It wasn’t supposed be like this.” Shiro said, hiding his face and turning away from Lance.

“Huh? Shiro, what are you talking about? Did you actually mean that?” Shiro was silent but nodded. “Then what did you mean it wasn’t supposed to be like that?”

“I wanted, I wanted to make it special. It was the first time I was going to tell you I love you and I wanted make the first time I told you really special, not blurt it out because the first thing I think of when I wake up is you look really cute.” Shiro said, sitting up, keeping his eyes down at his lap

“Aww, you think I’m cute. Wait, how long have you known?”

“That I love you? I guess it was that time we saved that aquatic planet. You were talking to the little kids making feel better while we tried to reunite all the families and I just, I thought ‘Wow, I’m so in love with him’.”

Lance remembered that day. He remembered seeing Shiro stare at him but he could have never known Shiro was thinking.

“I was keeping it from you for longer because I wanted to make the event really special and I had an idea of what it was going to happen but I woke up and you were looking at me and looking so cute that it just, came out.”

“I mean, I kinda like how it came out. But you are ready to say it right?”

Shiro nodded looking right at Lance. “I am. And I want to give you this.” He opened the drawer under his bed and took the faie crystal out. Just like Coran had said, the crystal started to glow blue, getting brighter as he handed it to Lance. “It’s a faie crystal. The queen said that I should give it to you to show how much I love you because it glows with the amount of love I have for you.”

“It’s so bright.” Lance said almost breathless as he looked at the blue light from the crystal.

“Because I really truly love you Lance.” Shiro said, cupping Lance’s cheek with his hand. Lance hummed pleasantly, holding on to the hand on his cheek and leaned into the touch.

Shiro leaned in to kiss Lance when Lance sprang back.

“Oh my gosh, wait here!” Lance scrambled out of the bed, over Shiro’s legs and rushed out of the door, leaving Shiro hanging. He waited there hoping he didn’t do anything wrong when Lance came back in, looking nervous. Shiro could see the glow of Lance’s crystal in his hand and noticed something in Lance’s other. “Here.”

Shiro held out his hand and let Lance drop whatever he had in his hand. Shiro could feel his eyes widen when the crystal in his hand started to glow purple, just as brightly as Lance’s crystal was glowing.

“Where did you-?”

“The queen said I might like to give it to someone who’s really important to me. I wanted to give it to you, but I was gonna wait because apparently Christmas is in a month, but after you gave me this, I just had to.” Lance explained, looking happily at the glowing crystal.

They were both filling the room with such light. A light that showed their love for each other. Shiro grabbed Lance’s hand, pulling him down so he could finally kiss him.

“Lance, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“The princess gave us the day off, any ideas?” Shiro asked, pulling Lance back in bed, after they rested the crystals on the floor next to the bed, the blue and purple mixing together.

“I can think of several, but for now, I just wanna kiss you and cuddle you and tell you I love you because I’ve got a lot I’ve wanted to say.” Lance said, resting his head against Shiro’s chest, just able to hear his heartbeat.

“Well, I’m all ears, because I want to hear every word.”

#shance secret santa 2017 #shance #saying i love you

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nico-nightingale · 4 years ago

Photo

Summary: Following an accident that involved her beloved younger sister, the crown princess of Arendelle grew to believe she was born cursed. At the summer after her eleventh birthday, however, she receives the visit of a man in strange robes, who invites her to study at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This story follows Elsa's life in Hogwarts as she discovers that magic is no curse and starts learning how to love herself.

Rating: T (ages 13 and up)

Also found on: FF.net, AO3, Wattpad

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Frozen belongs to Disney. The cover photo belongs to Nico Benedickt and the font belongs to Naharstd.

Chapter VII: Shot in the Dark

first chapter • previous chapter // next chapter

On the night following the feast of Hallowe'en, Elsa was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep at the moment her body hit her bed's mattress. It was a good thing. That way, she hadn't had time to mull over what had happened on Charms or the fact that the Hufflepuff first-years would have another class with Professor Flitwick on the next day, which would have caused a sleepless night.

On the contrary. The princess had a dreamless full-night sleep and woke up feeling reinvigorated for the first time in an entire week. Sleeping wearing her hair on a tight bun had also proved to make her morning routine easier since it stopped it from entangling too much throughout the night. The experience made Elsa consider, for a moment, doing it every night even though it wasn't healthy for her hair. No, taking care of herself — especially of what concerned her physical appearance — was one of the obligations of a princess.

On every other day, the princess would have left the Common Room with the supplies for her morning classes and her books, but Hufflepuff first-years had no classes on Thursday mornings since they usually had Astronomy on Wednesday nights. Famished after a dinner composed only of chocolate frogs, Elsa headed to the kitchens as soon as she had finished showering and dressing for the day, without waiting for her much slower friends.

Her belly was full and her body well-rested when the princess' mind finally started working on the pressing matter of what had happened on the previous day during Charms' class. Cursing herself for not having thought about taking her writing supplies, the girl waited for a time when her friends would most likely be in the Great Hall having breakfast to return to the Common Room in order to gather them, giving herself enough space to start worrying. In truth, she didn't want to make excuses for her visit to Flitwick first thing in the morning.

No matter the angle she looked at it, however, Elsa couldn't understand the reason why her magic had behaved the way it had. Unless she had misunderstood the concept of “intent”, it had had nothing to do with what had occurred then. Not only it hadn't worked when she focused on its right purpose; it had worked once the girl was putting an effort on not releasing her magic. If anything, the way she had cast the spell served as a proof against Miranda Goshawk's thesis.

Realizing, from the way the light was entering the kitchen through the window, that it was time for her to go, Elsa thanked the elves for the excellent meal and headed towards her dorm in order to pick her writing supplies, her textbook for Flitwick's class, and the book about “intent”. Then, the girl followed to the Charms' classroom in an attempt to find the teacher before the students arrived for his first period.

Much to Elsa's relief, the tiny professor was sitting behind his desk, reading a book. He raised his head as soon as she crossed the door sill, “I was wondering if you would come to see me before class, Miss Kyrre.” Although somewhat embarrassed by the predictability of her acts, the princess couldn't help but relax under the man's bright and calm smile.

“Good morning, professor,” she answered, offering him a shy smile in return for his own.

“Likewise!” He offered with enthusiasm before nodding his head towards the books on the princess' hands, “I see you brought Miranda Goshawk's books with you. Why don't you sit down so we can discuss it?”

The smile died on Elsa's lips as she nodded back and took a seat by the desk right in front of Professor Flitwick's. She proceeded by sending an inquiring look toward the man, trying to figure out a way to voice the questions in her mind. Finally, the princess realized she wouldn't be able to summarize everything in one single question, “I— can not understand what happened in class yesterday.”

“I figured as much,” the professor acknowledged with kindness. “First things first, perhaps you might be interested in knowing that the official name used to address what you did yesterday is ‘non-verbal magic’. This style of spell-casting is formally covered from the sixth year, although more advanced students sometimes try it on their own before taking their O.W.L.s.”

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Elsa realized that, although it didn't guarantee the Charms' teacher would be able to help her, she was relieved that he knew of magic being performed wordlessly. “Do people often cast spells like that by accident?”

“Indeed they do,” Flitwick declared right away. “I dare to say, a child's first accidental spells are always non-verbal.”

“I— yes— of course,” surprise washed the princess as she realized how stupid she had been for having forgotten such basic information. The accidental magic on all the stories she had heard from her classmates was non-verbal. “So, do you think it was an accidental spell?”

“Well, that's for you to say, I'm afraid. Did it feel accidental to you?” The professor replied with an encouraging nod.

“I— I do not know. Mrs Goshawk's book— what she said about ‘intent’—” the girl shook her head, rethinking her words in an attempt to formulate a clearer answer to Flitwick's question. “During my first attempts, I tried to— to think on how much I wanted to make the spell work, but it helped not— sorry, I mean, it did not help. When you asked me— when the spell actually worked— I had— already— given up that approach.”

“And what have you tried then?” The man asked, curiosity clear in his voice. The princess could see in his eyes that he was coming up with some theories already.

Elsa struggled to respond to his question, however. Although the professor didn't even acknowledge the issues in her speech, the girl was ashamed about the sudden trouble she had had to formulate her previous answer. In the previous weeks, her English had improved greatly, but more pressing conversations still had the power to make the language slip through her mind.

“Miss Kyrre, there is no reason to be ashamed of. This is a conversation with your professor on a subject you are not expected to have mastered yet, not a diplomatic discussion with a politician or a reporter. It is fine to stumble on your words a little,” the teacher reprimanded her with kindness. “Now, if you may answer my question—?”

Despite the embarrassment caused by his reproach, Elsa took his encouragement to the heart and was much calmer when she replied with a nod, “well, as I recall, I just wished it to work so I would not have to repeat the exercise.” The girl's cheeks reddened further at the confession of her lazy, sloppy performance.

There was no sign of reproach on his voice when the man responded to Elsa, however, “the purpose of finishing an unpleasant activity as fast as possible.” Encouraged by Professor Flitwick's serenity, the princess locked up, noticing that he was smiling in amusement. “I dare to say that few intentions are as strong as this one.”

Elsa's eyes widened at the revelation that she didn't have to concentrate on the effect of the spell. If the intention of making the spell work was enough, it would make things much easier. “Is it— enough? To— to make it work?” The princess felt the need to ask since Professor Flitwick's answer had felt like something that was too good to be true.

“Sometimes, with more basic spells, yes,” although he still seemed to be somewhat amused, the teacher was taking his time considering what she was telling her. Albeit anxious, Elsa appreciated his interest on the matter. “As I am sure you know, magic is often unpredictable. Yours seems to be more—” the professor paused, his smile slowly dying as he entered in a state of deep thought, weighing his next words, “instinctive than the others'.”

“Why is that, though?” Elsa asked before she could refrain herself. Suddenly, the girl realized they were discussing a topic she had been determined not to approach with her teachers.

Flitwick didn't take notice of the girl's struggles, however. Instead, still in deep thought, he started pacing back and forth, “I cannot say for sure. Professor Dumbledore believes that your magic's explosive nature is caused by your attempts to suppress it. While not a common occurrence, such magical outbursts are not unheard of.”

If not trained to read slight changes in the expressions of experienced politicians, the princess knew she would have missed the worry and fear hidden behind Professor Flitwick's calm composure. The girl tried her best to soothe the wave of anxiety caused by his emotions by telling herself that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have let her study at Hogwarts if she was dangerous to the other students. The attempt, however, failed.

“Miss Kyrre— Elsa, look at me.” The princess was surprised when she noticed she had averted her fuzzy gaze from the professor. Realizing the way her eyes were flooding with tears of pure dread, however, Elsa didn't do as the man had requested her, keeping her head down. “What is it that is troubling you?”

The girl swallowed her tears before opening her mouth to answer, but she wasn't surprised when her voice came out low and rough, “am I— am I dangerous?”

Professor Flitwick took a few seconds to answer her, but she felt no desire to look up and try reading his expression. What if she saw even more concern in his eyes? Would she be able to stand it? “Regardless of the reason your magic is so unpredictable, you represent no danger to your classmates, Elsa.”

The princess didn't need to look up to realize the man was hiding something from her. His answer had been straight-forward enough, but also too specific for a simple yes-or-no question. Her tutors at home would have advised her to drop the subject since she wasn't well-versed at leading people into revealing something they weren't willing to. Elsa had to know.

“Do I represent a danger to— someone else?” The girl was still trembling and incapable of raising her head to look straight into the professor's eyes. What would she do if he said she was actually dangerous? What could she do?

“There are certain concerning cases in which suppressing magic can lead to— unpleasant consequences to one own. I dare not to say more than that, though, Elsa,” he added quickly as the princess was opening her mouth to ask more questions, “we are monitoring your magic and there is no reason to be concerned for now.”

There is no reason to be concerned. Elsa had heard those words several times before from her parents, her nanny, some of her father's most trustworthy advisors. Nothing to worry about— the words had been traitorous in each of the moments they had used them to reassure her about her magic. Should she be concerned about her own safety, then?

“Professor Dumbledore's theory worries you, though. Doesn't it— Sir?” At the realization that the first part of her speech had come out as rather obstinate, the princess chose to add the last word to show that she held respect for her teacher.

Once again, Professor Flitwick surprised her by not reacting to neither her anger nor her attempt to remedy it. Instead, the man focused on her question, “no, Elsa. We are all alert to all the possibilities since we are to keep an eye on the way your magic is adapting to spell-practising and the overall life at Hogwarts. What worries me the most, if you must know, is the unconformity between your magic prowess, the knowledge you show in your theoretical works and what you show us in your practical lessons.”

The princess raised her head to look at Professor Flitwick. She had expected him to either deny being troubled altogether or admit he was worried about her powers. The confession about his concerns about her academic situation caught her off-guard. Even more so when the man kept on, “all the teachers agree you are one of the most brilliant students in this school— yet, you are failing Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. You've gone through pieces of theory that first years usually ignore, done— if the reports from Professor Dumbledore are correct— done magic beyond your years, and— still, only once you have cast a spell correctly in class.”

Elsa was surprised when, as he paused to look at her again and their eyes met, she realized that they were showing no sign of anger, only curiosity and concern. Although Flitwick was the Head of Ravenclaw, the princess had trouble understanding his level of disregard for manners and respect when he was pursuing knowledge. While the other teachers would have called her off for her previous reply, the man dismissed it.

After a moment of silence, Elsa realized that Professor Flitwick was waiting for her to say something. It took the princess a few more seconds, however, to understand what it was. “I can not see why the spells do not work, Professor. I had considered the possibility of my magic being simply— different from everybody else's. But— yesterday— I cast the wand-lighting spell. So, it must be at least somewhat alike—?”

As she vocalized her doubts, Elsa noticed that they were back to the subject of her spell-casting. Having practised her eloquence and conversational cunning from the moment she had started talking, the princess knew it wasn't quite easy to trick her into a topic. Yet, Professor Flitwick had done it effortlessly, showing a level of focus and oratory she hadn't thought she would see in a teacher.

“It is definitely something else.” The man paused and, rubbing his chin, looked up to the ceiling as if asking for answers from a divine force. A few seconds later, he turned toward her with a smile, “do you mind showing me your wand? I confess I have rarely seen one such as yours— and never before at Hogwarts.”

A flush spread through the princess' face. “I— do not have it with me. I am sorry,” she added quickly. Elsa's complete disregard for the object had shocked her classmates since most of the witches and wizards considered their wands their most precious possession.

Flitwick wasn't surprised by her confession, however. “That is fine. Why don't you arrive about half an hour before class this afternoon so I can take a look, huh? It might provide us with clues for the reason behind your magic's instability,” he requested with amusement clear in his voice and eyes.

Elsa only nodded in response, trying to control her own embarrassment as she heard steps indicating that the students coming for his first class had arrived. Giggling, the professor kept going, “if you have nowhere else to be, would you like to stay for my next class? Coincidently, I will be teaching the freezing spell to my third year Gryffindor students, which I am sure interests you greatly.”

Elsa was indeed curious about the subject. It wasn't the first time she would see another person casting a freezing spell since Professor Dumbledore had demonstrated it to the girl and her parents back at the Arendelle castle, but she hadn't seen the spell being taught before. It could end up being elucidating, indeed.

As the princess nodded in response, Flitwick waved his wand to materialize a desk on a corner at the back of the classroom so she could be out of the way but still watch it. “Do sit, then,” the professor pointed the head at the place he had just conjured.

It took no time before the classroom was filled, most of the students preferring arriving at the last minute before the beginning of the lecture. Elsa kept her head down, although she could feel the eyes of the Gryffindor third-years on her. Their curiosity was satisfied as soon as the class started, when the professor introduced the princess as a first-year Hufflepuff and explained her interest in the magic of the elements and her desire to see it being cast.

Albeit it wasn't as elucidating as she had first expected it to be, the lecture was rather pleasant as the students were encouraged by Elsa's presence to show maturity and magic skill. Neither of them was able to cast the spell right away, but the first one to manage it was a red-haired boy called William Weasley, whose younger brother Charles was a Gryffindor first-year who shared some classes with the princess.

After his first success, the boy headed to the back of the classroom and offered to demonstrate the spell to Elsa. He even lent her his textbook, a quill, and piece of parchment so she could take notes based on her observations. It was the first time since the princess had arrived at Hogwarts that an older boy had taken notice of her, the very first time an older teenager had been nice to her with ulterior motives. The realization made Elsa to feel even more self-conscious than usual.

Yet, Bill—that was how the boy had asked her to call him—was polite and patient to her. He managed to perform the magic several times in a roll, which he humbly admitted to being a consequence of his homework practice. By the end of the class, the boy was rewarded with ten points for his attention towards a younger student and ten more for his spell-casting.

Elsa, on the other hand, had gotten a new friend and mentor throughout the lecture. Professor Flitwick offered the princess an encouraging smile when Bill pulled her to the front of the classroom in order to introduce her to his friends Tyler Springs and John MacGowan. The three teenagers exited the classroom flooding the girl with questions about her interests and pointing out what they knew about each subject.

Once they realized Elsa liked working with numbers, however, their conversation was directed to an elective class they had started that year, Arithmancy. According to the boys, the discipline referred to the study of the magic of the numbers, which made a lot of sense to the princess considering the latest mathematical discoveries on Astronomy.

What followed was some further explanation on Arithmancy as well as a promise to let the princess into their study group. Although overwhelmed, there was a big part of her that was glad about the encounter and eager to start learning everything about what was promising to be the best subject offered by Hogwarts.

Once they reached the dungeons, where the Gryffindor third-years would have their Potions lesson with Slytherin, Bill promised to send their meeting time and place through his brother once they had it all settled.

Feeling warmth inside herself, Elsa followed to the library to get started with her readings on Arithmancy.

#frozen fic #harry potter fic #elsa of arendelle #filius flitwick #bill weasley #harry potter au #frozen au #crossover #my fanfics #the others

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a-year-of-musicals · 7 years ago

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Day 55/365 - The Sound Of Music

By Rodgers and Hammerstein

In a pre WW2 Austria, the nuns at Nonnberg Abbey sing mass. Sister Mari Rainer however, is in a nearby hillside and regretting leaving the beautiful world for the church (The Sound Of Music). She is late to mass and the Mother Abbess and other nuns contemplate what to do with her (Maria). When she arrives, Maria apologised for being late and for singing in the garden without permission, but that she was caught up in the wonder of the mountain she grew up on. The Mother Abbess joins her in appreciating the beauty of the earth (My Favourite Things) and tells Maria that she should spend some time outside the abbey to decide whether life as a nun is the right choice for her. She is sent away to a house of a navy captain, to play governess to his 7 motherless children, the Von-Trapps.

She arrives at the house and Captain von Trapp explains her new duties and summons his children by whistle call. They march in to see her, dressed in uniform, and the Captain teaches her their individual whistle calls. However, she openly expresses disapproval at his military parenting, and when she is alone with the children, she tries to break the discipline by teaching them the basics of music (Do Re Mi).

A young messenger boy named Rolf, delivers a telegram to the Captain and then sneaks off to visit the eldest Von Trapp child, Liesl, before leaving. He teases that he knows what is right for her, being a year older, and they end his visit with a kiss (Sixteen Going On Seventeen). In the meantime, housekeeper Frau Schmidt gives Maria materials to make some new clothes, as she had given all her possessions to the poor when she joined the abbey. Maria sees Liesl climb back in via her bedroom window, drenched through from the thunderstorm outside, but she agrees to keep quiet about the incident. Frightened by the storm outside; Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl flock to Maria’s room for comfort. To distract them, she tells them a funny story about a girl and a goat (The Lonely Goatherd).

Returning from the navy in leave a month later, Captain von Trapp brings Baroness Elsa Schräder and Max Detweiler with him. The Baroness and the Captain are courting with a view to marriage, but he has not proposed to her yet. The Baroness confides in their friend, Max, that she feels there is something holding the Captain back from marrying her. He simply says in response, that only poor people have the time for great romance (How Can Love Survive). Just then, Rolf arrives looking for Liesl, and greets the adults with “heil”. The Captain then turns him away, insisting that he is Austrian, NOT German. Maria and the children enter via a game if leapfrog, dressed in play clothes Maria has made for them from her old bedroom drapes. The Captain gets furiously embarrassed and sends the children away to change clothes at once. Maria speaks out saying; “if you would just love them...” and he sends her back to the abbey.

She apologises to the Captain for her outburst and as she leaves, they both hear the children are singing “The Sound Of Music” to welcome the Baroness to the house. He joins in and shows them love, and later thanks Maria for bringing music back into their family, asking her to stay. The Baroness starts to get suspicious of Maria, but relaxes when Maria explains she is to return to the abbey in September.

To introduce Elsa to his friends, the Captain throws a party and the guests begin to argue about Anschluss. Kurt asks Maria if she will teach him to dance the Ländler, and when he starts to trip up, the Captain takes over. They continue to dance together until they come face-to-face and Maria breaks away in embarrassment. Brigitta and Maria later discuss the expected marriage between the Captain and the Baroness, and Brigitta admits that she thinks Maria and the Captain are actually in love with each other. As the night comes to a close for the children, the Baroness asks the Captain if he will allow the children to sing a song of goodbye to their party guests, and he permits it (So Long, Farewell). Max is amazed by the children’s talent and expresses interest in having them for the Kaltzberg festival. As the guests leave for the dining room, Maria slips away with her suitcase.

Back at the abbey, Maria tells the Mother Abbess that she is ready to take her vows, but it is quickly revealed that she is only running from her feelings. The Mother Abbess tells Maria to go back to the Captain and find out how he feels about her so that she can search for the life she was meant to be living (Climb Ev’ry Mountain).

Meanwhile, Max is teaching the children how to sing on stage, and when the Captain tries to lead them in song, he is met with complaints that he isn’t as good as Maria was. He then tells them that he has asked Elsa to marry him and they try to feign happiness by singing “My Favourite Things”, but struggle until they hear Maria’s voice join them. When she hears about the wedding, she decides that she will stay until the Captain can arrange for another governess.

Max and Elsa argue with the Captain about the imminent Anschluss, trying to stress that it will not come to a halt (No Way To Stop It). When he refuses to accept this, Elsa breaks off their engagement. Now that he is alone, he and Maria confess their love, and dream about life as an ordinary couple. They eventually marry and the nuns sing “Maria” as she walks the aisle.

On their honeymoon, Max readies the children for the Kaltzberg festival when Herr Zeller arrives to ask why they are not flying the flag of the Third Reich now that the Anschluss has occurred. The Captain and Maria make an early return from their honeymoon, and before the festival, the Captain refuses to allow the children to sing. Although Max points out that they would be singing for Austria, the Captain makes the point that Austria no longer exists in the eyes of the Germans.

Maria and Liesl discuss romantic love and Maria tells Liesl that she is bound to be married in a few years time (Sixteen Going In Seventeen Reprise). Rolf then arrives with a telegram offering the Captain a commission in the German Navy, upsetting Liesl as he is now a committed Nazi. When the Captain consults Maria, they decide that they must flee Austria in secret. General Admiral von Schreiber arrives to find out why the Captain has not replied to the telegram, and tells the Captain to report to Bremerhaven to begin his employment with immediate effect. Maria reasons that he cannot leave immediately as they are scheduled to sing at the festival, and so the General agrees.

After the Von Trapp children sing “Do Re Mi”, Max brings out the Captain’s guitar and he sings “Edelweiss”, whilst wearing Austrian’s national flower to declare his loyalty to his homeland. Max asks for an encore, stressing that it is the family’s last chance to sing together as the Captain is due to leave to assume his new position. As the judges make their decision, the Von Trapps sing “So Long, Farewell”, leaving the stage in small groups. Max decides to stall and announce the runners up before declaring the Von Trapps the winners. When they do not appear to collect their prize, the Nazis begin to search for them. The family hides in the abbey and Sister Margaretta brings news that the borders have been closed. Rolf finds them whilst on patrol and calls for his lieutenant, but changes his mind when he sees Liesl, and says that he was mistaken. The Nazis leave and the Von Trapps flee via the Alps (Climb Ev’ry Mountain Reprise).

This is one of my favourite musicals. I used to sing the songs from it all the time growing up, and feel like they’re an essential part of my music education. It’s also a great story that looks at history and culture as well, which I feel is really important.

Favourite Songs: Sixteen Going On Seventeen, Do Re Mi, My Favourite Things, The Lonely Goatherd, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, Edelweiss and So Long, Farewell

Favourite Character: Maria

She’s full of life, love, hope and optimism - all things we should try and live by.

#the sound of music #ayearofmusicals #a year of musicals #julie andrews #rodgers and hammerstein #musical #musical theatre #music criticism

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seriouslyhooked · 8 years ago

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Some Call It Magic (A CS AU) Part 7/?

When Killian Jones moves to Storybrooke he instantly senses something strange about this little town in Maine but he’s willing to overlook all the bizarre signs for one reason: the single Mum living next door to him. There’s only one problem. Killian is nearly positive she’s a witch, a brewing potions and casting spells witch. But when true love is involved, does a little thing like magical powers really matter? Story rated M.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6. Also On FF Here.

A/N: Hey all! I’m back with another chapter of this lovely little fic, and it comes bearing sweetness in its purest form with a little humor thrown in for good measure. So basically it’s my typical CS fare. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy and thanks so much for reading!

Mixing the last of her necessary ingredients for the rest of the afternoon’s menu at Stay A Spell a little over a week later, Emma couldn’t help but feel totally invigorated. After a full morning of work, and a busier day at the café than she was often used to, Emma should have been tired or fatigued, but she couldn’t seem to muster those feelings. Instead she was riding a lovely kind of high, one that had been ever present since that perfect first date with Killian that had changed everything.

For the first time in her life, Emma Swan truly understood that giddy, happy, ‘the world is new’ feeling that so many people claimed came with dating the right person. In her past and with her track record, Emma had never known the kind of thrilling anticipation of what would happen next, or the true enjoyment of a man’s company. She’d always been hesitant, always been guarded, and had never been satisfied with any of the so-called suitors that life threw her way.

Now, however, things were noticeably different, and Emma was learning a lot about what it meant to be open and what it meant to give things a chance. She had jumped in so to speak, giving more of herself to this blossoming relationship with Killian than she’d given anyone in such a long time and she was happy with the results so far. To this point things were going as close to perfect as she imagined a start of relationship could be, and though the fear that she would screw this up lingered and she still worried about some pitfalls that may come (namely one particularly pesky magical conversation), Emma was in this in a way she’d never allowed herself to be before.

“We appear to have a slight problem on our hands, love,” Killian had said this morning after the bus took Henry away to school and he’d crossed their yards from where he was getting the paper to visit her in her garden.

“Oh really?” Emma asked, trying her best to sound at once flirtatious and yet just a tiny bit above his seduction (which she most definitely was not unaffected by). “And what’s that?”

“You see, Emma, the more time I spend with you, the more I want to. It’s a never ending cycle that I just can’t seem to get out of,” he’d confessed, his body only inches from her, bringing Killian well within arm’s reach and just a touch out of kissing distance. Emma’s eyes had dropped to his lips in response thinking about how badly she’d like to change that.

“So maybe we should stop fighting it and just give in,” she’d countered, not bothering to see if there were any nosey neighbors on the street as she stepped into his arms and ran her hand along his chest.

“Ah, so there is a we in this then?” Killian asked with a huge grin. “That’s extremely comforting, love. A man hates to be caught up in something this grand all alone.”

“You’re not alone,” Emma whispered, and then it had been a mutual movement between them leading up to a much needed kiss that Emma swore she could still taste even now…

“You almost done with that, Ems?” a teasing voice asked, pulling Emma from the rapidly escalating daydream and when she looked up it was unsurprisingly Ruby with a smirk at her lips and humor in her eyes.

“Uh, yeah. I’m good.” Too late Emma realized what she’d just walked into with that one, and she swore her eyes were already rolling before Ruby even caught her breath to reply.

“Oh I bet you’re better than good. From what I hear you had quite the kiss this morning.”

At this point Emma could have feigned surprise, but she didn’t feel like bothering, not when Storybrooke was notorious for finding out secrets and when Ruby especially had a means of sniffing out the truth better than almost anyone Emma knew. Besides, Emma had made that decision to ignore their surroundings this morning of her own free will, and in doing so she’d readily run the risk of word getting out.

“Remind me to have a chat with Graham later,” Emma said as she drizzled the final bit of the melted chocolate she’d been mixing over the specialty cake she’d crafted for this afternoon.

“Why?” Ruby asked in surprise and though Emma was sorely tempted to smirk, she bit it back, delivering her own well-placed jab with a perfectly straight face.

“Well he’s clearly slacking in those husbandly duties you’ve bragged about for so long if you’ve got time to collect all this intel on my morning activities.”

The words sparked a fire in Ruby’s eyes that Emma was very familiar with and the next thing she knew Ruby was throwing her towel at Emma and Emma was sending it flying in the other direction with a flick of her wrist. This was a norm for them to be honest, with one of them launching a pseudo-attack and the other matching it beat for beat through magic or otherwise, but it was all fun and games and it ended with the towel falling to the ground and the two of them laughing.

“So I’m being a little more vigilant than usual as my best friend actually lets someone in? Sue me,” Ruby eventually said. “And as for my husband, you know damn well there’s been no slacking of any kind.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Emma said shaking her head and grabbing the cake as she nodded for Ruby to bring the last of the items they needed out front. “Trust me, if it wasn’t clear from you’re being actually personable every morning before the first pot of coffee’s brewed, your play-by-plays thereafter leave little to the imagination.”

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have to regale you with stories of my love life if you were a little more talkative about yours,” Ruby teased and Emma shook her head even as she chuckled too, knowing that with Ruby there would always be a way to talk about Graham.

Leaving the subject for the moment, Emma and Ruby finally made their way back inside the storefront of the café and to the table that was always ‘reserved’ on Fridays for Emma and her friends. It was in a perfect location too, enjoying the spoils of the afternoon sunlight through the window without being too central to the rest of the shop. That last part especially was critical for two reasons – one because it meant Emma and Ruby weren’t so accessible to other customers and the other staff could usually attend to people without their being disturbed, and also because oftentimes the discussions these dessert dates brought varied in general populous appropriateness. Their talks ranged from the mundane to the magical, and for Emma’s peace of mind it was good to at least pretend to shield some of this stuff from the wandering eyes and ears of their neighbors.

“Oh thank God there’s cake this week!” Anna said excitedly as she came inside the café and immediately put her scarf and sweater behind her favorite spot. “I swear I told Kristoff last night that if I didn’t get some to die for chocolate cake in the next twenty four hours I just might perish.”

“And he let you go that long without some?” Ruby asked, actually shocked and mirroring Emma’s emotions to the tee.

Typically Anna’s husband, bumbling and sometimes awkward as he was, was amazing at one thing – finding things that made Anna happy and getting them for her no matter what it took. Seriously it was a gift, and Emma had to agree that it was shocking that Anna could drop a hint like that and it would go unanswered. But then Emma and Ruby noticed the blush on Anna’s cheeks and her growing, sunny smile and they knew they were in for some charming little tale of cuteness and romance.

“He tried, you guys. He really did. You should have seen him with that box last night, staring at the directions like it was actual rocket science.”

“Well it might as well be to you guys,” Emma joked and Anna acquiesced the point, since both her and Kristoff pretty much lived off of sandwiches and take out.

“Anyway, long story short the cake… wasn’t that great.”

“But let me guess,” Ruby said, “You ate the whole thing.”

“Nope,” Elsa said as she appeared at the table, already jumping into the conversation having only heard the tale end of what was said. “Anna got through one slice and then called me in a panic. I had to do a summoning spell to get half of it to my house before Kristoff got out of the bathroom, and let me tell you, that is not easy when you can’t actually see the cake in question. Facetime does not an accurate focus point make.”

“Jeez, you two would have been better off just throwing it out the window or something. I mean a summoning spell? Are you nuts?” Ruby asked, shaking her head like the prospect of doing one of those blind all for something as trivial as cake was beyond her.

“We were pressed for time,” Anna claimed though she still looked a little embarrassed. “Plus I played the bushes card when Kristoff tried to make cookies for me on Valentines Day and then the next morning every squirrel in a three mile radius was running around with them. It was so totally obvious.”

“Do you think he knows what actually happened?” Emma asked, not because she was worried about Kristoff knowing about magic (for he, like the other husbands in this group, knew everything and was more than accepting), but because she was actually concerned for his ego. After all, Kristoff was a nice guy, and such a sweetheart to one of her dearest friends. Emma didn’t like the idea of him being hurt over something that didn’t really matter in the long term.

“Let’s just say I did a very good job of distracting him right away before he could ask too many questions,” Anna said cheerily as Ruby gave her an ‘atta girl’ and the bell over the doorway jingled, signaling that Mary Margaret and Belle had both arrived, completing their set of friends for this little tradition they shared.

“I swear Friday could not come soon enough this week!” Mary Margaret exclaimed as she grabbed her mug for cocoa from Ruby and slid into her usual seat.

“Rough time at school?” Emma asked, worried both for her friend but also for Henry.

“No, school’s great. The kids are all adjusting and my goodness they’re so bright this year, especially Henry. I just can’t seem to shake this bug. David had it last weekend and now I guess it’s my turn to be exhausted for no reason.”

“I’m sure it will pass soon,” Belle said kindly before imparting the names of a few other neighbors who had apparently had something similar in the past few weeks.

Mary Margaret nodded, choosing to be positive about it before helping herself to some of the cake, but in the back of Emma’s mind there was a tiny trickling of questioning. After all, it wasn’t really a secret that Mary Margaret and David were anxious to start a family. Maybe this was an early sign that they were on the right path? Emma definitely hoped so because she wanted her friends to get to that future they so badly wanted, but before Emma could put that out there to her friend, the bell above the café door jingled again and all of her friends turned in the direction of the newcomer and grinned, causing Emma to know in her gut before she’d so much as turned that Killian was here. Her heart leapt into her throat and that familiar sense of thrill and expectation came rushing in as she twisted in her chair to see him looking more than a little surprised at the congregation gathered round this afternoon.

“Well if it isn’t Storybrooke’s favorite new resident,” Ruby said happily as she leaned back in her seat. “We were wondering when you’d show up for your daily Emma– I mean coffee -fix.”

Emma rolled her eyes and got up to move to Killian as her friends tittered amongst themselves in a well-meaning but highly embarrassing way, but as she came closer to Killian and she saw the humor in his eyes, Emma felt much better. That relief was only compounded when he offered her his hand and she took it boldly in front of everyone.

“Apologies, Swan. I didn’t realize you had plans this afternoon,” Killian said as he looked back to the table and offered a nod and a smile that appeased her snooping besties for the moment before looking back at her. “I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”

“So what did you mean to do?” Emma asked with a little flirtatiousness to try and cut through his worry and Killian’s eyes lit with her challenge as he moved just a tiny bit closer and dropped his words to that low, gravely tone she’d grown almost addicted to over the past few days.

“Well Ruby isn’t so far off in her estimations…” Killian said before licking his lips and causing Emma to swallow harshly. God he was like a walking temptation and Emma, who had always prided herself on being so above all that, was falling further into it than any sane person should. “I am in dire need of coffee.”

Emma blinked up at him in a bit of a seduction-fueled daze before catching his joke and laughing heartily at his words. It was too funny not to, especially since she knew that he had meant Ruby was right about wanting to see her, but when she looked back at him Killian had gone quiet, looking at her with this new found intensity that hadn’t been there a second before. Emma felt caught in that look too, and as she came back from the momentary high of the unbridled laugh her energy shifted back to a desire that only grew when Killian’s other hand came up to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Remember what I said about not making a scene?” Killian asked, his voice even huskier with emotion than it had been and Emma nodded. “You make it very difficult to stick to that path, love.”

It was on the tip of Emma’s tongue to say that maybe he should wander a little bit, but then one of the counter clerks approached with Killian’s usual order and that bubble surrounding the two of them was broken. Emma at first thought the interruption was thanks to Ruby, but then she heard a groan of frustration from her best friend across the café and Emma could just picture her friends getting all bent out of shape that their spying had been cut short. When Emma snuck a glance in that direction she saw she was totally correct in that assumption and confirmed that all of her friends were watching with rapt attention.

“Well I guess that’s my sign to get going,” Killian said, drawing Emma’s attention once more. “Are we still on for dinner the three of us tonight?”

“Absolutely,” Emma said, eager for him to know that she was looking forward to spending time with both Killian and her son, and when he beamed at her in that totally endearing way she couldn’t resist the opportunity to sneak a quick kiss, audience be damned. “I’ll see you later.”

“That you will,” Killian agreed before waving his goodbyes to her friends and heading out the door as Emma watched him go, enjoying one last moment of warm fuzzies before turning back and facing the music across the café.

“I know we promised not to comment on the change in you, Emma,” Elsa said as Emma approached her friends once more. “But I can’t help it. You just look so happy, which in turn makes me so happy, and I’m getting all choked up just thinking about it.”

“And it’s not just you,” Ruby tossed in as she flicked her wrist to magically warm up her cup of tea, not giving a damn about if any one in the nearly empty café saw how the cup glowed red for a moment. “The whole town is riding the happy high these days.”

“It’s almost contagious,” Belle agreed and the friends all laughed as Belle immediately realized how strange that had sounded. “You guys know what I meant. I mean that the happier Emma and Killian seem to be, the more joy everyone else is feeling too, and we all know the power of happiness and hope especially in this town.”

Emma tried not to give away any indication of how much the words were affecting her, but under the table her hands fidgeted in her lap. Obviously she had expected all eyes to be on her and Killian, but it was still a lot to take in. At least when no one was making comments like this Emma could pretend that the eyes of the whole town weren’t upon her and her first real relationship in forever. But with her friends harping on how gleeful they and every nosey neighbor in a five-mile radius was Emma lost out on that fantasy. She had to face facts – she and Killian were people of interest, and until something or someone else came to town to take the heat off, it would likely stay that way.

“It’s a wonderful thing to witness,” Mary Margaret stated dreamily. “Two people taking those first steps into love when it’s so clearly deserved. It’s the realest kind of magic.”

“Oh here we go,” Emma muttered to herself. She’d kind of been on board with the whole emotional analysis thing for a while, but this was her final nudge. The mention of love was where she had to draw the line, especially since she and Killian had only been ‘dating’ for about a week, and even if it had been one of the best weeks Emma had ever known it didn’t matter. Love was too strong a prospect to be dabbling with right now after only a handful of dates. There had to be some limits, and Emma was adamant that this was one of them.

“Alright, alright we get it. We’ll stop… for now,” Ruby said with a mischievous grin before changing the subject. “In the meantime lets talk details. The full moon this month falls the night of the Harvest Festival. How are we handling this?”

It was a good question to ask, and it was one Emma hadn’t been very mindful of in recent days. She’d been so distracted with Killian that she hadn’t had time to really think of her magic, at least not in such a proactive way. Her thoughts in that vein had mostly fixated on how to hide her continuing flare-ups of supernatural ability until she was totally sure this thing with Killian was going to last, but this was something the friends all had to take part in and be devoted to in order for it to work.

Every year the friends greeted each new season with a ritual handed down for generations that was designed to keep the town and the people of Storybrooke safe. It was white magic at its finest, and a good amount of fun for the friends where they all got to feel in touch with their powers used for good, but they needed a full moon to cast the protections in the right way, and that was a far more complicated process when the whole town was as riled up as they would be on festival day. Usually the five of them (and Anna) could all head down to the beach or into one of the central fields in town without anyone noticing, but in Storybrooke Harvest Day was a big deal, with parties in different places and neighbors all around and popping up where you least expected them.

“I have an idea about that actually,” Belle said quickly, grabbing a heavy book from her bag, which in itself wasn’t so strange, but the clearly… uh how could Emma put this nicely… old and witchy manuscript did not belong at a normal friend’s lunch. Even if the town was understanding of magic and its existence and no one currently in here would bat an eye, it was dangerous in Emma’s opinion and so she flicked her wrist towards the book, masking it with a silent incantation to appear more normalized.

“Good catch,” Mary Margaret murmured and Emma let out an affirmative hum before letting Belle continue.

“As I was saying, there’s a way to work around it. We just have to find the spot we want a few days before and prep it. We’ll make a barrier and cast a spell that diverts people from intruding. It’s pretty basic, but you’d be amazed how many incantations I found that didn’t care about what happened to people who stumbled upon your sight. One of them actually said ‘warning – may cause permanent amnesia or amphibious transformation.’ Like who would use that?”

“Someone back in the dark ages when that book was written,” Anna said saucily and all the friends laughed as Belle rolled her eyes. “No offense Belle, it’s just sometimes I wonder where the heck you find these things.”

Emma listened as her smartest friend muttered about online forums and extensive research and in a show of support Emma grabbed Belle’s hand and patted it gently. After all they should be appreciative of Belle’s investigation. She was getting them out of a jam, and by sacrificing so much of her own time Belle had not only eased a burden of finding answers on all of them, but she’d made the town safer in the process.

“So if we’re good on that front, what else do we need?” Emma asked, ticking through the list of things they’d required past years and thinking of her own personal pantry. She knew she had dried blackberries, rose thorns, and dogwood bark. Then she had the requisite candles and some other tokens and so on, but there were still a few holes missing

“I grabbed some more sycamore wood while I was in Boston. I broke like ten laws smuggling it back up here, but that’s something at least,” Elsa offered, and one by one all of her friends named other things they had. By the end of it all, Emma was pleasantly surprised that they had almost everything in stock and only needed to locate two rarer items.

“So all we need then is stem of water lily and crushed pink scallop shell,” Belle said happily. “Mary Margaret, you’ve got water lilies in the pond in your backyard right?”

“Sure do,” their pixie-haired friend replied. “I’ll send David on a little excursion. You know he loves being helpful with all of this.”

“And you love avoiding diving for pond scum,” Elsa tossed back which had all of them laughing save for Emma, who was just a little more focused on that last element that they needed for the spell.

The mention of shells caused an understandable jump to the memory of Emma and Killian’s first date and that night on the beach when they’d found the blue scallop. At the time Emma had been so distracted by Killian she hadn’t thought much more of it than its being a beautiful addition to an already lovely moment, but then the next morning she’d been confronted with something that made her heart stop painfully in her chest – that same shell that Killian had taken home with him had appeared on her porch railing, only this time nearly almost all of the very noticeable cerulean blue was gone and replaced with an unnatural golden sheen that was clearly the product of her magic.

Immediately Emma’s mind had started racing and her hands shook as she’d looked from the railing back across the yard to Killian’s house. Thanks to the earliness of the hour he wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but then she picked up the note and his words were somehow both sweet and sensual and there was no indication in his letter or later actions that he was the least bit concerned with the color change. If anything actually Killian had been more open in his affections and his want to pursue a future with her, and Emma, scared as she still remained that somehow the whole magic thing coming to light before she was ready, found herself falling into that same state of mind where she wanted all the chances she could find to spend more time with the charming, kind, and problematically attractive man next door.

“Emma?” Belle’s voice said, cutting through Emma’s mini daydream that she’d just slipped into, and as she shook away her musings Emma noticed all of her friends had their eyes on her. Great, she was totally and completely busted, again.

“I’m sorry Belle, what did you say?”

“I asked if you’d mind getting the shells. You and Henry had plans to go to the beach this weekend, right? He mentioned it yesterday when he came into the shop.”

“Yeah that’s no problem,” Emma answered and thankfully her friends accepted her answer after a short pause, moving on to the rest of what they’d need to do to prepare for the next weekend’s activities. And though it was difficult, Emma worked diligently to keep focused too, knowing that it was best not to tempt fate and keep daydreaming about a certain hunky neighbor when she would get a chance to see him again in just a matter of hours.

…………..

“Do you think Granny’s will be busy tonight?” Henry asked as he, Emma, and Killian walked together down the main street of Storybrooke just as the sun was beginning to go down. “I hope not, I really want to show Killian our spot.”

Henry’s words were touching, and if Killian hadn’t already felt fully accepted by the lad before this he would now. It was just so clear in every way that Henry was happy about all of this, and though it was still a tricky situation, what with Killian never wishing to overstep his bounds with Emma’s child, he was truly pleased at Henry’s acceptance of him and its easy nature. Things would be very different if he and Henry did not get along, but as it was, Henry was easily one of the biggest champions of things working out between Emma and Killian. Yet even that required a delicate balance, because the last thing Killian wanted was Emma to feel pressured to pursue things with him just because it would make Henry happy. Emma would do anything to bring her son joy, but what Killian needed was for Emma herself to choose this and to choose him, not because people expected it but because it was what her heart desired.

“I think if we all played our part in ‘Operation Grilled Cheese’ we should be golden,” Emma replied, reminding Killian of how they’d all agreed not to broadcast their dinner plans this evening to prevent more people at the town’s small diner trying to spy on their interactions than would already be present.

“I didn’t tell anyone!” Henry offered eagerly. “Did you guys?”

“And ruin my chance to see the spot? Not a chance, mate,” Killian said, pulling a laugh from Henry as they made it finally to Granny’s and he peered inside. Instantly glee filled Henry’s face and he was in motion, racing up the walkway to the old establishment with barely any words of explanation.

“The booth’s free! I’ll go grab it before anyone else does,” he announced before slipping inside and out of view, leaving Emma and Killian alone for the first time all evening.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Emma asked with a shy smile as they stalled for a moment in front of Granny’s. “This isn’t just dinner with me and Henry you know…”

“Aye, love. It might as well be dinner with the whole bloody town,” he countered and Emma exhaled, glad that he understood as she nodded. “Truth is though I’m more than ready. I’ve no wish to hide this thing between us from anyone. Do you?”

“No,” Emma admitted, stepping forward to take his hand in hers and filling him with hope that this would all work out as she did. “No I don’t.”

A moment passed between them and Killian debated what to do next. His heart said to pull Emma in and kiss that soft smile of hers until they both forgot where or who they were, but his head said to play it cool and walk into Granny’s without giving the town any more fodder. It was a hard choice to make given how different the immediate payoff would be, but in the end Killian stuck with the well reasoned plan, knowing that if it would protect Emma and Henry from even a tiny bit more speculation in the long run it would be worth it to wait for another moment with Emma when they were actually alone.

“Then I think it’s about time we get inside, love. After all, Henry’s liable to burst from all the anticipation.”

Killian looked on then as Emma peered through the window and no doubt saw Henry watching them. Killian hadn’t been looking in that direction for some time, but he could just sense that as observant and constantly vigilant as Henry was he’d be keeping tabs on his mother and him, and Killian knew from Emma’s reaction that he had been right in that assumption. A soft blush came to her cheeks but she didn’t pull her hand back, instead she glanced back at him with another smile and some encouraging words before pulling him inside to this long awaited dinner.

“There you guys are!” Henry said eagerly, waving them over to the table with that ever present smile of his firmly in place. “And look, Granny even brought menus, though I don’t know why. It’s not like we need them.”

“Not all of us can be locals at this point, lad. I’m still growing accustomed to the offerings. Trying to find where I fit.”

“Fair enough,” Henry said, flipping his own menu open as if he’d bear the cross of using one just to give Killian some moral support. “Just don’t try and fit with the lasagna.”

“Not the best choice?” Killian asked jovially and Henry shook his head before shooting a look at Emma and laying the dirty truth out there for consideration.

“Mom once said she wouldn’t wish it on her worst enemy.” Well if that wasn’t a glowing reason to avoid the Italian here, Killian didn’t know what could be.

“I know your Mum’s obviously rather taken with the grilled cheese, but what about you lad? Any suggestions.”

“The burgers aren’t bad,” Henry mused. “But I usually get the turkey club. You just gotta make sure that Granny gives you fries when they’re piping hot. That can make or break a dinner.”

“The things I learn in your company, Henry. I’m truly in your debt.”

“I know,” Henry said with a wry grin as he sat up straighter and puffed out his chest a bit. “And I’m waiting to cash in when the time is right.”

“Smart, lad. Let me guess, that’s another lesson you’ve picked up from Ruby,” Killian offered and Henry shook his head.

“Nope, Elsa,” Henry said and Killian was surprised to hear that about the woman he’d only known as sweet and uncalculating. He was so taken aback in fact that he looked to Emma for a secondary opinion.

“Shocking I know, but Elsa’s a huge fan of the world poker tournament. Why, I have no idea, but everything with her can come back to a poker metaphor. It’s amazing.”

“And here I was thinking my brother was the only one who watched those things,” Killian admitted, thinking back to the memories he had of Liam on leave where his TV was taken over for days at a time to watch those horribly unentertaining competitions with semi-professional gamblers. Killian had always thought it a quirk unique solely to Liam, but hearing that Elsa was somehow intertwined with that world as well made him happy. Who knew? Perhaps there’d be a meeting of their poker-intrigued minds one day if Liam ever got around to visiting like he promised he would.

“You mean Liam?” Henry asked, all of a sudden very excited again.

Killian had noticed this was a theme with Henry. All it had taken was learning that Liam was a sailor and a military man and Henry was hooked, wanting to know everything Killian would tell him. It had been fun to regale the lad with stories about Liam too, for Killian was more than happy to brag about his elder brother’s many accomplishments. But Killian would confess to being surprised by some of the queries, like whether Liam had a wife or how he’d feel about moving to Maine. Honestly, what kind of ten year old had that kind of criteria on the brain? Apparently one with as many meddling ‘aunts’ as Henry.

“The one and only,” Killian said as Henry grinned.

“Cool! I can’t wait to meet him!” Henry said, and though Killian was filled with a rush of encouragement at Henry’s already planning to keep Killian in his life at least long enough to meet his brother, he noticed Emma stiffen slightly and he offered her a smile and a reassuring nod.

“He’s pretty excited to meet you too, lad. In fact he told me so last night,” Killian said and Henry looked pleased as punch as Emma tilted her head with a curious look dancing across her green eyes.

“I didn’t realize you’d gotten the chance to hear from him,” Emma said, no longer worried about the implications of the familial introduction, but now clearly fixated on what that meant for Killian. After all his brother was abroad and in the thick of harms way. Often weeks went by without Killian having contact with Liam, but now at least for a little while he knew his brother was safe and well. “You didn’t say anything.”

“Aye, I know love. Things seemed to keep getting in the way…” Killian said, his mind wandering back to their shared kisses this morning and their interlude at Stay a Spell this afternoon. From the light that came to Emma’s green eyes he had to assume her thoughts had wandered that way as well. “But Liam managed to tell me that his current mission is close to being completed, and then I got to tell him a little about my new home.”

“What did you tell him?” Henry asked truly desirous to know and so Killian was honest as Granny took their order and their food was all eventually brought out. He told Henry about how he’d given Liam a glowing review of the town over all, about how he found it to be a place that was both peaceful and invigorating, and about how the people here were good, but none of them compared to two of his new neighbors in particular.

“I think he’s talking about us, Mom,” Henry joked as he chowed down on those french fries he’d been so complimentary of and Emma chuckled along with Henry, creating a scene for Killian that he wanted to remember always. The two of them happy and unaffected even by the constant stares that had been pointed their way since walking in… well in Killian’s eyes it was a truly magical sight.

“Seems like it, kid,” Emma agreed as she made quick work of her own grilled cheese.

“So….” Henry continued a little thereafter with slow deliberation, giving some indication that he was about to try and pry some information from the two of them. “Are you two, like, going steady?”

The query to Killian was immediately humorous, but it was made all the more comical when Emma began choking on the sip of her water she’d just taken. Immediately she looked like a deer caught in headlights but Killian just took her other hand in his under the table and smiled, directing his attentions to Henry to try and buy her some time.

“Going steady?” Killian asked almost mockingly. “Now where on earth did you hear that one, lad? I know for a fact that’s not what the kids are calling it these days.”

He didn’t actually know that to be true, but Killian had to believe that given the state of the world, ten year olds weren’t asking people if they were together in this kind of way. There had to be some new slang or colloquialism, and this particular turn of phrase signaled that the question might be a plant from some nosey (but undeniably well-meaning) second party.

“Mary Margaret,” Henry admitted and Killian chuckled as Emma huffed under her breath about how if they were basing this on her friend’s standards there’d be letterman jackets and promise rings involved. Nevertheless Emma managed to find a way to answer the question in a way that was simultaneously vague and yet somehow informative.

“I thought we talked about this already, kid,” Emma said, shooting Killian an apologetic look. She had mentioned to him a few days ago that Henry was apprised of this blossoming thing between them, but that Emma hadn’t exactly put any labels on it other than that they were seeing each other.

“We did, but that was like three whole days ago.” Killian had to laugh again at that sentiment, but in his heart of hearts he wasn’t looking at this very differently. Three days might not be enough for some people, but Killian had needed less than that to know that what he’d found with Emma he wanted to last. This wasn’t some casual link they were building between them, at least not in Killian’s eyes.

“Three days isn’t exactly a lifetime, Henry,” Emma countered, some of her humor returning after the initial shock of his question.

“But you really like each other, right?” Henry asked, this time aiming the question at Killian directly, and in the face of that earnest need to know Killian couldn’t deny Henry.

“Aye, lad, we do,” Killian agreed before glancing at Emma who responded in kind.

“So what’s the hold up? Shouldn’t you just be boyfriend and girlfriend by now?” Henry asked, not in a malicious way but in one that made it seem like he really didn’t understand. Looking into his eyes, Killian saw that it was honest confusion that had Henry asking and not some agenda he was trying to keep guarded.

“What do all of your books on sailing say is the most important thing to keep in mind, lad?” Killian asked, seemingly changing the topic but knowing this would be his surest way to let Henry understand.

“That the winds have to be right and the sea should be easy,” Henry said as if he’d memorized the cardinal rule for ideal conditions.

“Exactly. So think of this in those terms. It might not be ideal to wait for what you want, Henry, but only when the timing’s right can things truly be as they’re meant to.”

Those words, true as they might be, felt a little heavier than Killian might have liked for dinner, and in the moment when he turned his attention from Henry to Emma he was a little worried about what her response would be, but he shouldn’t have been. For when their gazes met those eyes of hers said a thousand words she didn’t have the chance to say right now, ones of both gratitude and agreement and something deeper that Killian wanted so badly to understand but didn’t have the chance now to analyze.

“I get that,” Henry said after a moment’s pause, drawing Emma and Killian’s attention back to him again. “It’s just a little weird calling you my Mom’s ‘special friend.’”

“Oh that’s… well it’s bloody dreadful isn’t it?” Killian asked, begging excuse for his language as Henry and Emma both laughed again at his assessment.

“That’s what I said!” Henry agreed. “So what should I do, Mom?”

This was a moment of truth now, for Killian didn’t think he could bail Emma out of another inquiry, yet despite her earlier hesitations, Emma offered nothing but a warm smile and some actually sound advice.

“What you always do when the plan’s still in motion, kid…” Emma prompted and then both she and Henry filled in at once.

“Tell them ‘it’s classified.’”

With that the interrogation of sorts about what was going on between Emma and Killian finally died down, and the rest of the evening at Granny’s and at the ice cream shop thereafter went exactly how Killian envisioned, which was to say without a hitch. This was easy, strange as that was given Killian’s lack of experience with kids or dating with feelings that were this big, but it was and at night’s end when they’d arrived back at Emma and Henry’s it was hard yet again to say goodbye, just as it was every night when the time came for him to retreat back across the yard and to leave them here in their perfect little home.

“So we’re still going sailing tomorrow right?” Henry asked as they got to the door and Killian grinned at the reminder that in a few hours they’d all be reunited for a day spent together.

“Aye Captain, if the weather holds there’ll be no stopping us.”

“Cool! Mom and I have to stop at the beach to get some pink scallop shells though. Can you help?”

It seemed a slightly strange but not undesirable request in Killian’s eyes, but he noticed the way that Emma stiffened up at the mention of the shells. He wasn’t sure if it was because of their last interaction with them (which they still had not spoken of since he knew she wasn’t ready) or for some other reason, but Killian’s sole intention in this moment became to relieve some of that worry that had fallen over her features.

“I’d be honored to, lad. It’s an interesting treasure you’re after to be sure, but I’m in.”

“Awesome! Okay, I’m gonna go inside so you two can have your mushy moment. Goodnight Killian.”

“Night Henry,” Killian called back as he laughed at the fire in Emma’s son and watched Henry head inside, leaving Killian and Emma with a window he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t waiting for.

“All things considered I’d say this night was a success, Swan,” Killian said as he stepped closer to Emma and she did the same, cutting some of the distance between them considerably as she smiled up at him.

“Looks that way, yeah,” Emma quipped, but then something flashed across her gorgeous face and Killian didn’t want to ignore it. Whatever that thought had been he had to know because he felt in his gut it was important.

“What is it, Emma?” he asked, his voice dipping lower as his hand came to hold her hip and the other came to take the hand he’d been holding off and on all evening.

“Nothing. It’s just the way you are with Henry, in the diner and now here… you’re really good at this, Killian. At all of it.”

Emma’s words of praise hit him right in the chest, giving him a confidence Killian didn’t want to simply take for granted. All of this with Emma, the growing bond, the feeling of connection, it was something to be earned not expected, and so it meant all the more to him to have Emma say things like this. Her assessment was truly the only that mattered and if in her eyes he was succeeding and doing things right than that was all Killian could hope for.

“To be frank, love, I’m going on instinct. This – what we’re doing – I don’t have anything to compare it to. It’s in a league all it’s own, and I wasn’t expecting to find so much when I found this place. All I know is that since we have this chance, I want to do things right, and that includes doing my best for Henry too.”

The look on Emma’s face when he said those words was something Killian wanted to commit to memory forever. With her eyes casting light from the lamp above amongst the flecks of green and blue and her lips curved up into a smile that was at once beautiful and seductive and also impossibly sweet, she was heaven itself. In truth it was overwhelming. His words really hadn’t even given the feelings that Emma evoked in him or their newness in his world justice, but clearly they’d been enough because the next thing he knew Emma was pulling him down for a kiss that made all the patience of this evening more than worth it.

For a blissful moment in time everything else faded away between them, leaving nothing but that same spark of light and intrigue and want between them, and yet, even if Killian would have liked to linger there for hours with Emma, it wasn’t to be, at least not tonight. For tonight Henry was here (as he should be) and all Killian and Emma could have was one fleeting ‘mushy’ moment to tide them over until their next opportunity came. That didn’t mean, however, that Killian wasn’t tempted to give into his desires when he pulled back from the kiss and saw Emma looking flushed and more than eager to repeat that transcendent performance.

“I guess this is the part where we call it an end to the evening and I tell you I can hardly wait until morning.”

Emma smiled at that, running her hand across his chest before pressing one final soft kiss against his lips and stepping back. That left Killian to take the hint and head for his own front door, but before he could get very far, Emma called out to him again, helping to ease the ache in his heart that had settled in with the official ending of the night.

“Killian?” He turned back not sure what to expect but feeling completely overwhelmed at what she laid before him. “I’m really glad you found us. Or well, you know, Storybrooke I mean.”

That last bit was an afterthought clearly, and Killian could tell that Emma had meant what she said at first. She’d given a lot away with that slip, but damn if it didn’t feel good to hear it because he felt the same way. Nothing had ever come close to this sensation of being right where he was meant to be, and Killian knew the credit for that had to go to Emma and her boy who both inspired new ideas of what life might bring if he was lucky enough to get it.

“So am I, Emma.”

And with that final vow, Emma headed back inside, wishing him a goodnight and leaving Killian with the sense that things were progressing exactly as they should be and that where they were headed was a place so much better than he could ever imagine.

Post-Note: So first and foremost I want to thank all you guys for the love and the support so far with this story. Seeing your feedback has been awesome and I am glad so many of you are enjoying this new little journey with me. As for the future of this fic I have quite a few more chapters planned out and over the course of the next few installments we are getting some critical things including that talk I hinted at before between Killian and David, the harvest festival/full moon ritual, the earning of the story’s M rating, and the eventual magical reveal so to speak. Anyway thank you all so much for reading and I hope you have a great rest of your day!

#captain swan #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #cs fic #cs modern au #cs fluff #cs ff #cs mc #cs au #emma swan #killian jones #the meddling friends #henry #ouat au #some call it magic #some call it magic au #some call it 7 #real world magic au

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wandering-bard-from-the-id · 8 years ago

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Daughters of Arendelle - Chapter 18

Daughters of Arendelle - Part I - Bonding

Link to chapters 1-17

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12222767/1/Daughters-of-Arendelle

Chapter 18

Aug. 29, 1840

Elsa’s mind wandered as she made her way toward the Guard’s training grounds. She had refused Kai’s offer to retrieve Anna from the archery range, welcoming the excuse to get out of the castle for a bit. She needed some time away from reports and trade agreements.

Daily reports rolled in on the search for Ulstein and his men. Each was the same, no sign of him, not even a random sighting by locals. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

She wasn’t convinced he had fled into Sweden, but if not, where was he? There was no way he could hide without help. The thought caused her to pull up short. But whose help? Who would risk helping him and why? Her mind worked through the possible scenarios as she moved on.

Laughter drew her from her thoughts. A group of guards were gathered behind the firing line. From the crowd, Elsa heard Anna’s laughter. The sound eased some of the tension in her shoulders. She edged closer, trying to stay out of the men’s line of sight.

“All right, Your Highness, you have to at least match his shot or he wins.” Elsa recognized Captain Morten’s voice. She looked to the target were multiple arrows were scattered about. One was buried dead center of the bullseye.

“No problem.”

The confidence in Anna’s voice brought a smile to Elsa’s lips. She stopped at the edge of the crowd to watch.

Anna stepped up to the wooden rail that marked the firing line.

Captain Morten spied Elsa and drew a breath to speak. She placed a finger to her lips, silencing him. He nodded with an amused smile.

Anna took an arrow from the quiver at her waist and notched it. She raised the bow and drew back the string in a smooth motion. Her full attention rested on the target.

There was a calmness and focus Elsa had seldom seen in her.

A heartbeat passed before she released the arrow. It struck the arrow in the bullseye, splitting it in half.

A cheer rose from the group.

Elsa’s hands flew to her mouth to hold back a squeal. A rush of excitement and pride washed over her.

It took a moment for Anna to realize her victory. Her eyes grew wide and she squealed. She began waving her arms about, chattering with excitement.

The men closest to her drew back several steps to avoid being struck by the bow in the celebrating Princess’ hand.

Grinning from ear to ear Anna turned to face the group. Blush crept up her cheeks as the men showered her with praise. Through the crowd, she spied a familiar face, and somehow her smile widened. “Elsa!”

The men stepped back bowing as they realized the Queen was among them. Anna charged through the men, heading for her sister at full speed.

Experience had taught Elsa the proper reaction to Anna’s excitement. She opened her arms and braced for the oncoming assault.

Anna caught her in a one-armed hug around the neck. “I split the arrow!”

Elsa wrapped her arms around the girl, taking a step back to allow Anna’s momentum to turn them in a half circle, before Anna’s feet settled to the ground. “I saw. It was amazing.”

“You saw?” Anna tucked her face against Elsa’s neck, her breath hitched.

“Hey,” She patted Anna’s back. “I thought we were celebrating.”

A nervous chuckle answered as Anna gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Me, too.” She pulled back brushing bangs away from Anna’s face. “I’m proud of you.”

The blush in Anna’s cheeks grew deeper as she ducked her head. “You are?”

A crooked finger raised her chin till she was looking Elsa in the eye. "Always."

The bright smile returned.

“Your Majesty.”

As the man bowed and stepped closer, Elsa recognized him as one of Anna’s guards. “Lieutenant.” She released Anna and faced the man. A hand caught her arm, keeping her from moving to far away.

His gaze turned to Anna and he bowed deeply. “Your Highness, it would seem you have bested me. I must concede, that in your hands the recurve bow is the superior weapon. But, I still prefer the crossbow. Congratulations on your victory.”

Anna waved him off with lighthearted laughter. “Thank you, Arian. I’ll concede that the crossbow has its advantages, but it takes too long to load the silly thing.”

Laughter spread through the crowd at the remark.

“Perhaps next time we could try rifles?” Arian suggested.

“Maybe.” Her shoulders rose in a little shrug. “They’re just as loud, and last time I fired one my shoulder was bruised for a week. For now I’ll stick with the bow.”

“As you wish, Your Highness. If you’ll please excuse me, ma’am, Your Majesty.” With a bow, he stepped away.

Anna slipped an arm around Elsa’s shoulders, ignoring her sister’s startled flinch. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Elsa leaned into the embrace, wrapping an arm around Anna’s waist. “Me too. I didn’t realize you were so skilled with a bow.”

Anna shrugged, looking at her feet. “It’s no big deal.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Hey, you want to try it?” Anna held the bow out to her.

Elsa made no attempt to take it. “Me? No, I don’t know how.”

“It’s okay, I can show you. It’s not hard. Come on, it’ll be fun. Besides, you should learn to defend yourself?”

“I can defend myself.” A small flurry of snow rained down from her fingertips. “Magic, remember?”

“You should have a backup plan in case your magic fails.”

“My magic won’t fail, and I know how to defend myself.” Elsa caught a flicker of something in her sister’s eyes. “Maybe some other time, okay?”

“Sure.” Some of the light faded from Anna’s smile.

Her sister’s disappointment tugged at Elsa’s heartstrings, but she couldn’t tell her the truth. How she had no desire to touch a bow when her nightmares were often filled with images of arrows passing through ice to impale her.

“I’m surprised Father didn’t make you study archery.” Anna said.

“He wanted me too, and I tried several times. But I kept freezing the bowstrings.” Elsa brushed off the remark with a little shrug.

“I’m sorry. I never thought of that.”

Elsa felt the arm around her tighten. “It’s okay, Anna.”

“Your Majesty,” Morten approached with the split arrow held before him. “Might the men steal the Princess for a moment?”

“If she has no objections.” Elsa eyed her sister, as Anna broke away from the embrace.

“Your Highness, with your permission, the men would like to add your arrow to the wall.”

“To the champions wall, really?” Anna brushed at her ear. “But that’s for members of the Guard.”

“Your Highness, you are a part of the Guard." Morton handed the arrow off to Halvor.

"Elsa, do you mind?"

“Go.” She waved her off.

“Thanks, I won’t be long.” She skipped away, swinging her arms about as she chatted with Halvor. The old soldier adjusted his position to avoid being struck as the bow whipped around in Anna’s hand.

Elsa watched her sister laugh and joke with the men. There was no hesitation, no fear. She was so open and happy with them. A hint of jealousy flared at such freedom. Elsa crushed it. She could never be as outgoing as her sister, but she would not fault her for such a gift.

“She’s a natural, Your Majesty.”

“A natural what, Captain?” Drawn from her thoughts, she wondered if she’d missed something.

“Fighter, ma’am.” His gaze turned to Anna. “What she lacks in size and strength she makes up for in skill, cunning and determination. No matter how many times she gets knocked down, she bounces back up ready to press on.”

“Knocked down?” Her brow arched as she turned to him. “I wasn’t aware archery involved physical contact.”

“It doesn’t, but sometimes things get a little intense during sword practice.”

“Not too intense, I hope?” Frost tickled Elsa’s palms.

“Every precaution is taken, ma'am. But the Princess would be upset if the men went soft on her.”

“Yes, I’m sure she would be.” Her attention returned to her sister.

“May I speak freely, ma’am?”

“You may.”

“I must confess, Your Majesty, after King Agdar passed, I was a little surprised you allowed the Princess to continue her training.”

“Why wouldn’t I, Captain? She enjoys it, and as you say, she’s a natural.”

“Yes, but with all due respect, ma’am, usually a woman of Her Highness’s age and status would not be allowed to continue such, exercises.”

“Tell me, Captain, if my sister were a prince instead of a princess, would she be allowed to continue such exercises?”

“Yes, Ma’am. A prince of her age would have already completed his basic training, and be assigned to a post in the Royal Navy.”

Elsa turned to him. “Our Father, insisted we have a well-rounded education, Captain. As heirs to the throne he saw to it we received the same thorough training a male heir would have received. In addition, to the training required of a princess.” Her lips rose, and a twinkle shone in her eyes. “I dare say, there are few male heirs who can claim both an understanding of battlefield tactics, and the proper number of petticoats for attending a high tea.”

The Captain chuckled. “Agreed, ma’am.”

“My Father and Mother saw no reason to let our gender limit our training.”

“The King was a wise man.”

Elsa’s smile faltered. “Yes, in many things he was. Is Sergeant Havlor still handling her training?"

"Yes, ma’am, he and I handle her basic training, but the men take turns drilling and fighting with her, so she doesn’t get use to one person’s fighting style.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Elsa’s attention returned to Anna.

She held the bow in both hands, drawn back over one shoulder. Without warning she swung the bow, as if it were a club, causing the men closest to her to jump back. Satisfied with whatever tail she had been sharing, she gave a little bow. The men cheered.

Elsa felt a warmth in her chest as she watched Anna raise the bow over her head in a victory salute. “When she was at the firing line I was surprised to see her so…”

“Focused?” Morten offered.

“I was going to say balanced. Normally, she’s all arms and legs bouncing off walls.”

“True, she can wreak havoc when she’s not paying attention. But, when she picks up a weapon she becomes focused. It calms her, gives her a purpose, ma’am.”

“Purpose?”

“Yes, ma’am, she becomes focused because she knows what’s expected of her.” One of the men motioned to the Captain. “Please, excuse me, Your Majesty.”

“Of course.” She gave a polite nod as he stepped away. Focus and purpose. The words rolled around in her mind as she watched her sister laughing with the men.

Lance Corporal Jorn Pollestad picked up a crossbow and quiver from the weapons rack and started toward the firing line. With the weapon in hand he moved to the lane closest to the Queen. Her back was to him.

At the firing line, he placed a foot in the metal brace and drew the string back with little effort. With the string locked in place, he took an arrow from the quiver and loaded it.

A quick glance assured him none of the other guardsmen were close by. He brought the weapon’s stock to his shoulder, sighting in on the target. With a twist, he swung the weapon toward Elsa, drawing a bead on the center of her back.

“Anna, says it’s not safe to point those at people.”

“What?” The man looked down to find a little snowman at his side.

“Hi! I’m Olaf, and I like warm hugs.” Two stick arms reached out to him.

“Get away from me, you damnable creation!” The man’s foot snapped out, kicking Olaf’s head into the air.

The snowman squealed with delight as his head flew across the yard.

“Olaf?” Elsa turned to see his lower half chasing after his head. From the corner of her eye she caught the motion of a weapon being raised. She lifted her arm and a wall of ice rose with it.

Sharp pain shot through the back of her raised hand. She cried out grasping it with her other hand. Embedded in the ice hung an arrow with a blood-stained tip. Her chest tightened at the sight.

“Queen Elsa!”

“Protect the Queen!”

From somewhere behind her she heard Anna scream her name. The area erupted as men rushed about, shouting orders to each other.

Jorn dropped the crossbow. He drew his sword and charged toward the wall.

With the wounded hand clutched to her chest, Elsa staggered back several steps. Blood oozed from beneath her hand to drip onto the ground and the front of her skirt. Through the icy wall, she could see the scowl on her attacker’s face. It was a look she’d seen before, when the Duke’s men tried to kill her. Fear and panic bubbled up at the memory. They were overridden by a deeper, stronger feeling. Anger. It rose within her, drawing her ice to the surface.

She stepped back to balance her stance. Her good hand rose into a defensive position. Ice tingled on her fingertips, eager to leap at her command.

Guards rushed at the man from all sides, but none were close enough to reach him before he closed the distance on Elsa.

Light flashed off the well-honed blade as it swung upward over the man’s head. With a battle cry he charged around the ice wall.

Elsa’s knees bent slightly as her weight shifted to the balls of her feet. Magic sparked off her hand.

The man’s battle cry ended in a howl of pain as an arrow lodged in his forearm. Numb fingers let the sword slip away. It landed upon the packed dirt with a dull thud. He doubled over clutching at his impaled arm.

Half a dozen men pounced upon him. A small group of guards, led by Lieutenant Nickolas and Captain Morten, encircled Elsa, shielding her from further attack.

Still in fight mode Elsa became aware of someone standing close to her, too close. Her magic receded as she recognized the figure at her side.

Anna held her bow steady, drawn and ready to defend against any further attacks.

Though she appeared steady and calm, Elsa could see the emotions swirling in the girl’s eyes. She placed a hand on the arm holding the bow, and gently pushed it down. “Anna, it’s over. He’s not a threat.” The arm began to tremble, as Anna eased tension on the string, lowering the weapon. “Hey, it’s alright.”

“Are you okay?” Her eyes widened at the dark stains on Elsa’s skirt. “You’re bleeding.” She grabbed Elsa’s arm as her eyes searched for the source of the blood.

“I’m fine.” Elsa fought the urge to step back. Her hand covered the wound, drawing it to her chest. “It’s just a scratch.”

“Let me see.” Anna reached for her hands.

Elsa drew back. “Anna, please, don’t.”

“Your Majesty.”

She looked over Anna’s shoulder to Captain Morten. “Yes?”

“We have the prisoner contained. What are your orders, ma’am?”

“I want to question him.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Anna, I need to speak with him. Why don’t you go home and wait for me?”

“No. I’m staying with you.” Her jaw set as she dared Elsa to refuse her.

“Okay.”

Anna slung the bow over her shoulder, and placed the arrow back in her quiver. Her hands wrapped around Elsa’s upper arm, in a death grip. It was a habit she had developed since the Great Thaw. Elsa had learned to accept it as part of their healing.

They followed the Captain to where the prisoner sat on his knees. His arms had been bound behind his back. A soldier stood on either side of him holding him by the shoulders.

Elsa squared her shoulders and put forth her best queen face. “Why did you attack me?”

He raised his head to glare at her through puffy eyes, one was already swelling shut. Blood ran into his mouth from a broken nose. His gaze settled on the hand hanging at her side, and he began to laugh. “You’re bleeding.”

Elsa could feel blood dripping from her fingertips, but she made no move to address it.

His lips curled back into a sneer. “Good, if you can bleed, then you can die, witch.”

“You son of …” Before anyone could stop her Anna leapt forward, landing a solid punch to the man’s battered face.

His head snapped to one side. He would have gone down had it not been for the men holding him in place.

“Anna!” Elsa latched onto her arm with both hands. With some effort, she drug her back before she could land another blow.

Anna continued to struggle, barking out insults about the man’s heritage and manhood. Once he was out of fist range, she tried to kick at him.

“Anna, calm down.” Were the situation not so dire she might have been amused at her sister’s choice of words. They would need to have a talk about where she had learned some of them. Elsa’s stomach churned at the bloody handprints she left on her sister’s sleeve. “Enough!”

The command reached through the young woman’s fury. She stopped struggling, but the muscles beneath Elsa’s hands remained rigid. Anna’s breath came in short huffs. Fists clenched at her sides, she glared at the man.

“Do you really believe all of Arendelle welcomes you, Snow Queen? One day someone will put a sword through your icy heart, witch. I’m just sorry it wasn’t me.” He spat blood at the ground before Elsa’s feet.

One of the soldiers slapped him in the back of the head, knocking him forward. “Watch your tongue, boy.”

It took everything Elsa had to hold Anna back as she tried to get at the man. Unable to reach him she hurled a barrage of insults at him. “Anna, stop it!” She wrapped her arms around Anna’s waist all but lifting her from the ground. “Captain, take him to the dungeon! Get someone to check his wounds. I’ll speak with him later.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He motioned to the men holding Jorn. They pulled him to his feet and led him away.

As the guards drug him away Anna stopped flailing. Her face was a deep scarlet. She drew short breaths through clenched teeth.

Holding her from behind Elsa whispered in Anna’s ear. “It’s okay. He can’t hurt us anymore. Please, Anna, calm down.”

With a shuttered breath, Anna relaxed against her. They remained there for a moment. Elsa whispered reassurances to Anna as she held her close. Anna twisted to face her, burying her face in Elsa’s shoulder.

Emotions broke in Elsa as the reality of the situation settled over her. She wrapped her arms tight around Anna and buried her face against Anna’s neck. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears threatening to break through. There would be time for tears later, for now she needed to remain strong.

She opened her eyes and spied Reino and Morten. They appeared to be in a heated debate, but were too far away for her to make out the words. The sight of the Major caused her ice to twitch.

“Anna?” She pulled back but the younger woman held to her. “Anna, please, you have to let go. I need to address an issue.”

The arms around her tightened.

“Anna, duty calls.”

With a heavy sigh, Anna released her and stepped back. Her head hung low.

“Hey,” Elsa reached for Anna’s chin but stopped short of touching her at the sight of her bloody hand. “You can come with me.”

Without a word, Anna latched onto her arm.

Elsa bit her lip to keep from yelping as Anna squeezed her arm in a death grip. She had no doubt there would be bruises. “Come on.”

They approached the arguing men. Several members of Elsa’s detail flanked them.

“Is there a problem, Captain?”

Both men came to attention as the queen addressed them.

Morten opened his mouth but Reino cut him off.

“No, Your Majesty, I was just telling the Captain I would see to the prisoner.”

“No, Major, you won’t.” Elsa’s eyes bore into the man, daring him to cross her. He wilted under her glare.

“Ma’am?”

“I want the Captain to handle the prisoner.” She held his gaze. Something flickered in the man’s eyes as his body grew rigid for a moment. He smiled and in an instant, she saw the anger vanish. It was as if a different man stood before her.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” He bowed and stepped back.

“Captain.”

“Ma’am?”

“The prisoner is to have no visitors, and no messages are to be sent or received by him.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” He set off to carry out her orders.

“Lieutenant Nickolas, find Colonel Tollak and advise him of what has happened. Tell him I wish to speak with him within the hour.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He turned and hurried away.

Elsa turned to address Reino, but he had disappeared back into the group of guardsmen gathered about. Something about the man set her teeth on edge, her magic rolled in agreement.

With a wave of her hand the ice wall vanished. The arrow dropped to the ground.

As she lowered her hand Anna caught it. “Let me see.”

“It’s not serious.” She tried to pull away, but Anna held firm.

“Let me see it.” There was a hint of anger behind the request. Elsa allowed her to pull the hand in for closer inspection. Anna took a handkerchief from her pocket and with great care wrapped it around the wound, tying it off. “That will do till we get back to the castle.”

Flexing her hand Elsa studied the bandage. She slipped an arm around Anna’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Thanks.”

Anna’s arms wrapped around Elsa. The embrace tightened as she tucked her face against Elsa’s neck.

“Let’s go home.�� Elsa pressed a kiss to her head.

“Elsa, are you okay?” Olaf was adjusting his head as he waddled toward her.

Anna broke from the embrace, wiping at her eyes.

“Thanks to you and Anna, I’m fine, little guy.” Elsa leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

The little snowman crossed his arms and tucked his head with an embarrassed chuckle.

“Elsa, come on.” Anna tugged on her arm. “Let’s go. Gerda, needs to bandage your hand.”

“All right.” She allowed her sister to guide them toward the castle. Anna was unusually quiet during the walk. Which made it harder for Elsa to ignore the words that kept playing over and over in her mind. Do you really believe all of Arendelle welcomes you, Snow Queen? It was a question she had been asking herself since the thaw. But to hear it aloud caused a shiver to pass down her spine.

0000

Elsa reclined on her bedroom chaise. She read aloud from a book held in one hand, the other stroked the head resting against her chest. Anna lay atop her, much as she had when they were children, and she wanted to see the pictures as Elsa read.

There were no pictures to see, only a need to be close to each other. Though they had retired to Elsa’s chambers hours before, neither had been willing to face sleep.

Anna caught the bandaged hand as it reached to turn a page. She held it close, careful not to squeeze it too hard. Her fingertips traced over the linen cloth.

"What are you doing?” Elsa asked.

“Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Would you tell me if it did?”

“Yes.”

“Liar.” Came the soft reply.

“I promise, it doesn’t hurt.” She pressed a kiss atop Anna’s head.

“Why would he attack you like that?" Anna continued to study the bandage.

Elsa closed the book and reached back to sit it atop the table at the end of the chaise. "You know why."

"He’s afraid of your magic."

"Yes." She rested her head against Anna's, wrapping her arms around her.

“That’s silly.”

"We mustn’t dismiss people’s fears so quickly, Anna. It could make matters worse. I knew there would be those who would not accept me. Even without magic no ruler is accepted by all. But, I hadn't expected it to come from within."

"Do you think there are more like him?" The words were soft, least they carry on the night air.

"I don't know." Her arms tightened around Anna. "But, we must assume there are. I’ve instructed Colonel Tollak to begin an investigation of the castle guards."

"So, what, we're supposed to be looking over our shoulders at the guards, wondering if they're going to stab us in the back?"

"Anna, you know given our station, our lives are always at risk."

She sat up and moved to the far end of the chaise, pulling her knees up. "I know. And I expect it from strangers, foreign enemies, maybe even disloyal Nobles. But not from the people sworn to protect us."

Elsa missed the warmth. She sat up tucking her legs beneath her as she rested an elbow on the back of the chaise.

Anna wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. Loose hair hung down, shielding her face. "Who do we trust?"

"The people we’ve always trusted. Kai, Gerda, Bishop Solberg, Admiral Halldor. They have always been loyal to us." She reached out and brushed back Anna’s hair, tucking it behind an ear.

Anna pulled away from the touch.

"What's wrong?"

"They've always been loyal to you." She looked at Elsa from beneath hooded eyes. “But they’ve spent years keeping secrets from me.”

Elsa’s mouth opened, then snapped shut. She looked away. “They never meant to hurt you.”

“But they did.” She lowered her head. “All of them lied to me.”

“You mustn’t let that cloud your trust in them now. They love you, and they would lay down their lives for you without hesitation.”

Anna sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t want anyone to die for me. I just…I want them to believe in me.”

“They do believe in you, and so do I.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” Elsa stroked a hand over the bowed head. “What of Kristoff?”

Anna slowly lifted her head. Her gaze remained fixed on the far wall. “What about him?”

“Has he ever lied to you?”

“No.” She thought for a moment. “At least, I don’t think so.”

“Do you trust him?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” The corners of her lips rose. “I mean, he’s sweet, and kind. He makes me laugh.” Her joy vanished with a sigh. She rested her chin on her knees. “It’s just, Hans seemed so honest and sincere, then he betrayed me. When he said, nobody loved me, I…I thought it was true. I felt so…alone.” She shivered as a chill passed through the room. “Elsa?”

“Sorry.” She pulled back a patch of frost with a wave of her hand. “He said that to you?”

“Yes, just before he locked me in the library. I was such a fool.” She wiped the back of a hand over her eyes.

“You’re not a fool.” Elsa wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. “And you are loved, more than you could ever imagine.”

Anna relaxed into the embrace, resting her head against Elsa’s shoulder. “I know that, now. But then…”

“You were loved then too. I’m sorry I ever made you think otherwise.” She pressed a kiss to Anna’s hair.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. But, I promise, I’ll never make you feel that way again.”

Anna snuggled into her. “Thanks.”

They sat in silence for several minutes till Anna broke it. “So what do we do now?”

“Damage control.”

“What?” Anna leaned back to look at her.

“According to Kai, the rumor mill is spinning full tilt. There are stories spreading throughout the town, and no doubt out into the countryside. Everything from I wasn’t injured, to we were both seriously hurt.”

“So how do we fix it?”

“Tomorrow I’ll send out a formal decree letting everyone know there was an attack, but the Royal family is safe and sound. The assassin has been captured, and there is no need for alarm. Then you and I will take a stroll through town. The people can see for themselves that we’re fine.”

“Great, nothing like parading around town to be gawked at.”

Elsa chuckled in agreement.

“Are you going to tell them it was a member of the Guard?”

“No. That would only cause panic.”

“Yeah, I know how they feel.”

She ran a hand over Anna’s hair. “How are you?”

Her eyes narrowed at the question. “Fine. Why?”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not the one who got shot with an arrow.” Anna deadpanned.

“Please, don’t go around telling people that. It was just a scratch. And that’s not what I meant…you shot a man. How do you feel about that?”

Anna shrugged. “I just shot him in the arm, it’s not like I killed him.”

“I know. But this wasn’t a training exercise. You raised a weapon against someone and drew blood.”

“I did what was necessary.” She tried to pull away, but Elsa held her in place.

“Anna…”

She faced Elsa, her gaze unwavering. “Elsa, he tried to kill you. I…I couldn’t let him take you from me.” Her voice cracked as she bowed her head.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Elsa pulled her forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. She rested her forehead against Anna’s. “You know, as the older sister it’s my job to protect you?”

“You’ve been protecting me for the last thirteen years. I owe you a few.”

“I haven’t really been the best sister.” Elsa tried to keep her voice calm, but there was a slight tremble to it.

“Phooey,” Anna shifted to laid her head against Elsa’s shoulder. “You’re a great sister.”

“So are you.” Elsa held her close. “Though we need to work on your language, especially in public.”

“I meant every word of it.”

“And just where did you learn those words?”

“Never you mind that.” Anna tucked her head.

“Yes, well, language aside, for now, you can’t lose control like that, Anna, especially in public.”

She sat up. “Nobody threatens my sister like that, nobody.”

“Anna, I appreciate the sentiment, but you are a Crown Princess. Heir to the throne and my second in command. You can’t have a public meltdown, especially in front of the men. As leaders, we must set an example. The people look to us for strength and comfort, we must not be seen as panic stricken. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Came the soft reply. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Elsa pulled her back into the embrace.

They sat for several moments, neither willing to break the contact.

“Anna, Colonel Tollak, would like to make some changes to our guard details. How do…”

“No.”

“You didn’t let me finish.”

Anna sat up. “I like my guards. I trust them.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anyone in the castle guard that makes you uncomfortable?” Elsa asked.

She thought for a moment. “Well, Major Reino’s kind of a jerk.”

“How so?”

“The men in my detail are great. They laugh and joke with me. If I ask them to show me something, they will, unless it’s really dangerous, then they tell me it’s not something I need to know. Course I usually wear them down till they show me any way.”

Elsa raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Anna gave a nervous chuckle as she brushed a hand across her ear, tucking a strand of hair. The gesture brought a hint of a smile to Elsa’s lips as she thought of their mother. “Not that they let me do it, at least not at first. Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad. Why is Reino different?”

Her nose crinkled as if she’d smelt something foul. “I don’t know. I guess he’s good at his job or he wouldn’t be in it, right?”

Elsa asked softly. “Tell me, what you don’t like about him.”

“You know how I am. I trip over my feet at least twice a day. Well, the other guards, they know me. When I do something crazy they just go with it and we have a good laugh.”

“But?”

Anna’s attention turned to the hands, wringing in her lap. “But, sometimes, I get the feeling Reino is laughing at me, instead of with me.”

“Really?”

“Look, I could be wrong. Promise me you won’t go all big sister on him.”

Elsa allowed her shoulders to relax a fraction. “Anna, this man is responsible for guarding your life. I don’t want him in that position, if he doesn’t respect you, especially after today.”

“Okay, so, what are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure yet. But I do think some changes are in order in the guard staff.”

“Can I keep my guards? Please. I feel safe with them.”

“Fine. For now, we’ll leave your detail as it is. But I want to know immediately if anyone does anything you don’t feel comfortable with. Agreed?”

“Okay.” Anna gave a slight nod.

“Come on, it’s getting late. We need to get some sleep.” She stood and held out a hand. Anna took it allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. She slipped an arm around Anna’s shoulders guiding them toward the bed.

As they settled into the bed, Anna scooted in close and Elsa wrapped an arm around her waist.

Anna’s hand brushed against the bandage as she patted Elsa’s hand. “Elsa?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.” The arm around her waist tightened.

“I love you too.”

Some of the tension left Anna at the reply. She closed her eyes closed and tried to force away images of arrows and ice walls. A familiar face came into focus. His blond hair was ruffled as if he’d just removed his hat, and a smile tugged at his lips. She thought of the feel of his rough hand in hers and a calm settled over her. She clung to the feeling as she drifted off.

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*Author’s Note – I know the split arrow shot has been disproven by folks like Mythbusters. But, let’s face it. It’s a frakking cool image.

#frozen #elsa #anna #daughters of arendelle #kristoff #snow sisters #ice bros

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