A/N: Okay, yes, it's been a while. I have no other excuse other than I completely forgot about this story for a while to work on "Coffee and an Audio Book", school events, my girlfriend, the beginning of summer, and all that crap so here's the stupidly delayed new chapter. Sorry! Thanks for all being faithful! The reviews, likes, and favorites are appreciated! You're all awesome!
"Okay so there a a total of six more opponents left since those two thugs came after you in the ring and you kicked their asses." Elsa evaluated as she, followed by firefly, walked into their tent after that day of battle. Anna, that day, had gone straight into the castle without wishing Elsa a good night and the ice wielder had felt a bit disappointed. She felt that all the flashy actions she had performed that day-such as flipping and making patterns of ice over the ground, and spinning gracefully around so Anna could have a good show-had been in vain.
Elsa threw her ice dagger hilts to the ground where they clattered to the grass with a dull clack and firefly, carefully, almost lovingly removed her bow off of her back and set it down on the ground beside her cot. She sighed in relief as she pulled her black hair up into a pony tail, rubbing her neck, sighing in pleasure as Elsa blew a gust of cooling wind her way.
"I'm so tired, Elsa." Firefly said, sitting down on her cot, "But I was kind of wondering…what would happen if you and I are the only ones left in this contest?"
Elsa looked down at her boots and thought for a few moments in which she replied, "I...kind of thought we agreed that you would take the dive for me. Wow that sounds really selfish..."
Firefly paused and went to say something else but she faltered and pressed her lips together, her normal optimistic gaze dropping to a darker expression that worried Elsa almost the moment she saw it. Firefly looked up at her friend and said, "Why do I have to be the one who takes the fall?"
Elsa tilted her head slightly and said, "Firefly, I...!"
Firefly, shook her head sharply for a moment, then stood from her seat and looked like she was about to say something else that would definitely hurt Elsa in the long run. Both warriors stood, staring at one other. Firefly went to say what she was going to say again, but suddenly, from Elsa's perspective, Firefly looked like she had just exited a dark tunnel and into the sun. Firefly cleared her throat and shook her head, her eyes somehow lightening as if something had grabbed a hold of her and was talking through her.
"Wh…what were we talking about?" she asked Elsa, genuinely confused.
"…How you were going to take the fall for me if you and I are the only ones left in the competition…" Elsa said nervously, getting ready to talk some sense into her best friend if she needed to. But when firefly sat back on her cot again, smiling broadly and saying as if it were the most obvious thing in the whole world, "Of course I'd take the dive for you, frosty! Why wouldn't I?" Elsa knew there was something wrong with what had just happened. It just wasn't like the other girl to forget what they were talking about mid conversation. They had both agreed that it was Elsa who would win the contest. It was her dream to win a castle and a kiss from the future queen after all, and Firefly would take the dive for her if the time came, it went without question since the beginning. Elsa just didn't know what was with the sudden rebellion.
"Are you feeling alright?" Elsa asked her friend who was now preoccupying herself with scarfing down a few biscuits she had stolen from the dinner table a few hours ago.
"Yup!" Firefly said, her mouth full, holding out a biscuit for Elsa, "Want one?"
Elsa, taking the biscuit, sat down on the cot and began to nibble on it thoughtfully. Having learned to never let anything suspicious simply go without attendance, Elsa shook her head slowly and though of ways that could have made Firefly react so strangely. Firefly, All at once, jumped, and startled Elsa. The lightning wielder cleared her throat, blushed, then said in almost a mutter, "I need to go check on Merida, be right back." and as firefly raced from the went without another word, Elsa watched her go curiously, rubbing her chin.
"Oof!" Elsa heard from outside, "Sorry, princess Anna, my bad."
"It's alright, Firefly, good job today out there."
"Thanks a ton! It was pretty much a cake walk but, you know, everything combat related is a cake walk for me. See you later, chick!"
Elsa face palmed as she listened to her companion talking to Anna as if she were no more than common rabble. As princess Anna walked into the tent, gently moving the tent flap aside and walking inside to stand in the presence of her favorite warrior, Elsa nearly choked on her biscuit, looked at it, then hid it behind her back.
"Hello." Anna greeted her with a light blush.
"Hi." Elsa smiled, her attention diverted from Firefly to Anna who was crossing the space between her and the warrior, "So how are yo-?"
"How would you like to come tour the castle with me?" Anna asked suddenly and Elsa almost choked on her mouthful of biscuit again.
"A-are you sure, princess?"
"Yes!" The redhead confirmed, leaning down, "I kind of want to show you around…" Anna played with one of her braids and shyly bit her lip. Elsa stood and moved toward the princess, smiling warmly. Anna held out a delicate hand. Elsa reached out, past her hand and rested it on Anna's freckled cheek.
"Y-you did an absolutely wonderful job today." Anna said shyly, loving the way Elsa stroked her cheek, "I mean it was very cool."
"I'm glad you enjoyed the show, princess." Elsa said, moving closer to the redhead. Fluidly, both women got into a position where Anna's hands rested on both of Elsa's broad shoulders and Elsa's hand remained on Anna's cheek, her other hand places on her side. Anna looked up into the pair of icy blue eyes that were sparkling with affection.
"…Might I say you're most likely one of the…most attractive women I've ever met." Anna giggled shyly. Elsa scoffed and surprised he princess, by leaning down and pressing her forehead to the princess's.
"I want to remember this for a long while." Elsa said, cupping the younger woman's cheeks with both hands, "You make me want to open up to you."
"Then go ahead." Anna said, smiling.
"All my life I've wanted to know who I am…" Elsa began.
Anna watched the woman with fascination as she continued, "I don't remember much Else after waking up in an assassin's guild house at a young age and being trained to be a thief…"
Elsa blinked in surprise, but didn't movie.
"You have no need to fear, though, because I have no desire to steal." Truth be told, Anna wasn't bothered by the fact that Elsa was a thief at all and urged Elsa on with an encouraging smile, "All I ever had was a story book that was full of tales that had things like this competition in it…you know, the princess holds a contest for valiant knights to win her hand…"
"And you came in hopes of being that hero." Anna said, swept away by the woman, "…Wow."
Elsa opened her eyes and met two turquoise eyes that looked deeply into hers.
"H…how about we go tour the castle now?" Anna asked shyly, playing with Elsa's shirt.
"I'd like that." Elsa replied in a low voice that made Anna smile. The princess took the older woman's hand and lead her to the castle's front doors.
As the two headed inside, Firefly approached the medic's tent and stood outside playing with her shirt nervously, thinking desperately of what to say when she walked in on Merida.
"Heyyy, nice job out there!" Firefly practiced with an imaginary Merida, "Um…epic job out there I wasn't expecting that turnout." Firefly rubbed her chin, thinking, "Hey, baby, about that kiss…" she paused and took a moment to smile goofily into space for a moment before taking a large breath, puffing out her chest confidently and walking through the tent flap. As soon as she saw Merida laying peacefully on a cot, carving her bow, illuminated by a single candle that had been placed on the nightstand next to her, her blue eyes shimmering, Firefly let out that confident breath she had been holding, letting it out in a large puff. Needless to say it gathered Merida's attention quite well. Seeing the raven haired warrior walking into the tent, Merida tried to sit up but only succeeded in hurting herself further. She gasped and moaned aloud, leaning back into her pillow and holding her side where she had been smashed with a club. Firefly rushed forward, taking the woman's shoulders, helping her down against the cot with surprising gentleness. Despite her jerky, staccato movements, Merida found her touch extremely soft and pleasing. The lightning wielder crouched down so she could be at eye level and reached forward, brushing some hair out of Merida's face, awkwardly fighting eye contact.
"So…" Firefly began, immediately forgetting everything she had just said aloud in her practice with the tent flap moments ago, "How ya doin'?"
"I have to say I'm not the best I've ever been." Merida replied, tucking some unruly hair behind her ear and smiling warmly, "But, I'm not dead so I'm thankful for that."
"M-me too." Firefly said awkwardly, rubbing her arm, "You really took a hard hit today."
"I know." Merida said her eyes narrowing slightly and she looked away from Firefly to stare straight ahead of her, "I let myself get hurt."
"You couldn't help anything." Firefly said reached forward and placing a hand on Merida's shoulder, "I wished I could run in there and save you but…I knew you would be okay in the end."
The Scottish warrior turned her head to look at Firefly with a strange look in her eyes that Firefly had never seen before. It was similar to the way Elsa looked at her, but it was much deeper and more intimate. She felt her breath catch in her throat as Merida reached up and tugged on the collar of Firefly's shirt, pulling her close.
"I don't know how this all got started," said the young archer, watching Firefly's throat as she swallowed nervously, "But I want to get to know you more."
Firefly was breaking out in a nervous sweat and she wanted more than anything to back away. She nodded slightly and pressed her lips together when Merida giggled. Fireflies' heart jumped. Merida let go of firefly's collar, much to the taller woman's displeasure, and rolled her eyes.
"I'd like it if you were a bit more romantic." said she.
"S-sorry." Firefly apologized for something she didn't quite understand, "But, I've never actually been in love before so...unfortunately this is new."
"In love?" Merida laughed, "Who said we were in love?"
"I thought we were!" Firefly replied quickly, her heart pounding quickly, "Aren't we?"
"I am." Merida said with a soft smile, "I don't know if you love me too. There's no indication that you do. I kissed YOU first. Remember?"
Firefly's head when blank completely. What was love? The young warrior didn't know. Romantic love, she knew nothing about. She never had to express her love to someone. When it came to Elsa, the platinum blonde woman already knew that Firefly loved her enough so Firefly really didn't need to express it. She wanted to at times, as all loved ones do, but a hug was enough for the both of them. Firefly didn't know how to address this new feeling that was aching in her heart.
"How…how do I show you that I...I love you?" Firefly asked in such a small voice Merida strained to hear.
"You can start by giving me a kiss for the one I gave you earlier today." Merida said, shutting her eyes and waiting.
Firefly broke out into a nervous sweat once more. The nervous, blushing girl bent down to place a hand on Merida's cheek. The redhead who was secretly freaking out inside shivered upon the unexpected contact. When Firefly leaned down and placed a feather light kiss on Merida's lips, the redhead, loosing control like she was so known to do, opened both her eyes and grabbed the back of Firefly's head, thrusting her mouth onto the lightning wielder's.
Above them there was a crash of lightning and inside the castle, Elsa and Anna, who had been walking around throughout the hallways, talking and laughing together, jumped (Anna stumbled) when the sudden flash of light and fantastic boom erupted through the sky. Anna jumped so hard Elsa steadied her and Anna took Elsa's hand, laughing softly.
"What was that?" Anna asked in surprise, squeezing Elsa's hand.
"Most likely Firefly." Elsa replied nonchalantly, pulling Anna onward down the hallways, "That was a happy boom."
"A happy boom?" Anna asked, curiously, "How do you know it's happy?"
"Firefly's got a lot of different booms." Elsa smiled as the two rounded a corner and started down another hallway, "She's got a series of different booms to signal something that she can't express through words or emotions. The scattered quick series of booms and cracks means she's unbelievably excited, a single crack of thunder means she's really happy, but the rumble at the end of the boom we just heard was something I've never heard before."
"That's one of the weirdest thing's I've ever heard!" Anna giggled, "That's so cool how you can just automatically tell what she's feeling by magic."
Just then, as there was another boom, this one louder and smaller booms scattered after the first, Elsa and Anna smiled at each other and Elsa said, "Firefly must be getting something special from Merida."
"That little redheaded girl?" Anna asked, "…She's slightly annoying."
Elsa, turned her head to smile smugly at the floor. Since the very beginning she had felt threatened by the Scott's presence and her magic repelling bow. Not only had Elsa thought of her as a threat on the battle field, ever since the girl waltzed in unannounced at the very beginning of the contest, kissing Anna's hand and being generally charming, Elsa had felt threatened. But now that Elsa knew how Anna felt about the woman, all her nervousness and competition for Anna's hand was put to rest. The princess shivered suddenly and Elsa glanced down at herself, then at Anna. She noticed goose bumps raised on her arms and didn't even ask Anna if she was cold. She just took off her cloak and draped it around Anna's shoulders. The younger girl pulled it about herself with a gentle smile.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem." Elsa replied, looking ahead of her, "I'm used to the cold."
"Speaking of that…" Anna reached out her hand to place a hand on Elsa's chest, stopping the warrior in her steps, "Could you show me your powers again?"
"Of course, princess." Elsa said, "Anytime. For you." The fact that Anna enjoyed her powers made Elsa extremely happy and slightly curious for some reason. She wondered why Anna was so transfixed by the simple magic snowflakes that would twirl through the air whenever she would flick her wrist. It was so simple, and yet the young woman was so fascinated. Elsa wasn't complaining in the least bit. The childish wonder behind the princess's blue-green eyes was something Elsa found beautiful.
Elsa lifted her hand and snapped her fingers, creating a large snowflake that spun slowly for Anna to see. The princess clasped her hands together and leaned down, her eyes drinking in the sharp blue glow that surrounded the snowflake. Elsa let out a breath and the snowflake burst into many different flakes and then swirled around Anna in a merry dance. The princess lifted her hands to catch the snowflakes and Elsa chuckled as she gave a little pout when the snowflakes would melt once they touched her skin. Elsa lifted both of her arms in a grand gesture and the hallway was soon covered in snow and icicles emerging from within the cracks in the walls of stone.
Anna laughed with joy and leaned down to pick up a handful of snow and throw it in the air. Elsa reached out and commanded the snow that Anna had thrown to fall and come to a rest on Anna's head in the form of a crown. Elsa swept her hands over the floor and up rose a mirror of ice. Anna covered her mouth with both hands as she saw herself with the crown of snow and ice atop her head.
"Oh Elsa…" Anna sighed, walking up to the glass and pressing her hand to the cold surface, "You're amazing."
"Thank you, my snow queen." Elsa said jokingly, stepping out from behind the mirror and bowing elegantly to Anna who giggled and held out her hand for Elsa to kiss. The warrior took Anna's gentle hand and kissed it softly, then trailed kisses up her arm as the princess giggled shyly. Once Elsa reached Anna's cheek she paused and nuzzled her there.
Anna, who had felt a warm feeling in her chest ever since she had brought the tall warrior into her home, leaned close to Elsa and placed her hand on the warrior's cheek stroking it with a gentleness Elsa had seldom felt before. The ice wielder remained still and let the princess study her face. Elsa was so close to Anna she could see every freckle, every mark, every detail on her face. The deep turquoise of her eyes and the detail of her lips as she remained there. Anna studied the very, very faint traces of freckles on Elsa's cheeks and noticed something familiar about her nose…like she had seen that nose somewhere before. She brushed it off, and moved to Elsa's eyes...She was immediately drawn into the vast, dark blue. There were little slight flecks of lighter blue within the deep ocean blue of the woman's irises and Anna was sucked in, unable to look away, mesmerized by the beauty behind the taller woman's gaze.
Elsa leaned forward without warning and stole a kiss from the princess. Anna took a half of a step back, covering her mouth in surprise. She blinked once or twice and then her shoulders relaxed and she smiled at Elsa shyly. She leaned up and experimentally gave Elsa a peck. The older woman smiled flirtingly and kissed Anna back slightly deeper. Once she let go, Anna's eyes were distant and clouded.
"Anna," Elsa said sincerely, snapping Anna out of her reverie, "If I win your contest, may you be my queen?"
"We will see, my warrior." Anna said, putting her finger to Elsa's lips, and tracing along the bottom, "But for now, we need to keep this affair secret. If anyone should find out, it would be your head."
Elsa lifted her hand and rubbed the back of her neck at the thought.
"I'm just kidding." Anna giggled, "I would never let them do something like that."
"Don't even joke." Elsa mumbled, and Anna laughed lightly, taking the taller woman's hand. Anna lead Elsa throughout the castle, down the hallway and down another one, showing her each one of the suits of armor and telling her about certain paintings that hung on the walls. To be honest, Elsa wasn't very interested in the castle's decoration or history...all she cared about was Anna. Anna's voice, Anna's smile, Anna's enthusiasm, Anna's occasional nose wrinkle when she spoke, Anna's wild gestures when she got particularly excited about a story she was telling.
Elsa wasn't even looking where the princess pointed, she simply smiled adoringly down at the enthusiastic woman with a small smile and loving eyes. It was like Anna was someone Elsa knew once upon a time… The things that Anna did made Elsa remember things she didn't expect to remember. Some kind of foggy memory of playing with a child flashed into her subconscious and she blinked, but then Anna would snap her out of it, and show her something else. The tone in Anna's voice, the sparkle in Anna's eyes as she spoke...it all seemed so familiar.
Soon, the two reached a large set of mahogany doors. Anna, noticing it and shivering with excitement, dragged the older woman toward it, saying hurriedly, "Come on come on! I can't wait for you to see this!" The warrior made sure she opened the door for Anna and let her run inside. As she passed into the room, Elsa looked up and around to see many different paintings hanging on the walls. Many of them depicted balls and parties with women in fancy gowns, and men in suits. Others depicted a family having a picnic outside with the clear sky above them and a field of grass around them. There were paintings of feasts, a woman horse riding, the same woman playing the piano, a little girl with golden curls being pushed on a swing by a slightly older girl with darker hair, and countless other pictures of more balls and parties.
Elsa took a few steps into the large, echoing room and watched as Anna skipped over to one painting in particular that rested above a small green couch.
"Come over here, Elsa!" Anna said happily, beckoning Elsa with her hand. Elsa crossed the room to stand beside Anna who was adoringly looking up at a familiar painting.
"This…" said Anna, gesturing up to her painting, "Is Joan of Arc."
"She's very nice." Elsa smiled.
"She's always been there to listen." Anna continued, "Growing up I had no one to play with, but…with her it was like I could always come and talk and play and sing. I never felt alone with her."
"It's…quite a painting." Elsa said with a slight laugh.
"Isn't she though?!" Anna said clasping her hands together, "She's wonderful…" then she trailed off and Elsa tilted her head curiously. Anna's eyes fell and her shoulders slumped.
"What is it, princess?" asked the warrior.
"I…" Anna began, "I just remembered again what happened when I was younger...what made me so lonely as a child."
"If it will make you feel any better, you can confide in me, your majesty."
"First of all." Anna said in a slightly more upbeat tone, "If you're going to be anything more than a good friend of mine, you're gonna need to stop calling me majesty, princess, or anything like that. Just Anna. Or a nickname if you would like."
"Hmm." Elsa hummed in thought tapping her chin, "How about freckles?"
"I LOVE IT!" Anna shrieked.
Elsa burst out into laughter.
The princess took Elsa's hands and guided her back onto the couch where the two of them sat down together and got comfortable. Elsa's laughter died down into warm chuckles and Anna's heart beat a bit faster at the happy sound.
"Now." Said the princess, "I'm going to tell you all about me so if you get bored then you go ahead and give the word, okay?"
"Sure thing!" Elsa said, saluting the redhead and leaning back on the couch, getting comfortable, like she was preparing herself for a bedtime story.
"I was alone all my younger years," Anna began, "and I still am alone to this day, all due to an awful accident one night. The king and queen, my mom and dad, had taken me and my older sister out for a nightly walk through the forest. Everything was going lovely until a pack of wolves attacked us and killed my sister and father." There was a waver in Anna's voice and Elsa sat up, taking her hand, wordlessly telling her that it was alright to stop if she needed to. The princess continued on, "I don't remember much about it because I was so young, but since that day on my mother changed. Losing her husband and firstborn was too much for her and she sunk into depression. Soon she wouldn't sing to me anymore. She couldn't eat anymore. As time went on, my beautiful strong mother, became old and weak and fragile, refusing to eat anything but a few choice things scattered throughout the day."
Elsa sighed sadly and lifted Anna's hand to kiss.
"I'm sorry." Elsa whispered.
"It's…It's okay." Anna said in a voice that had a thin borderline between tears and efforts of trying to be happy, "I never gave up on my mom though. And a castle servant met her and the two fell in love. He helped my mother through her depression, made her see the light again…but there was still a darkness to that light. Whenever my mother looks at me, she can't stay looking for very long because I remind her of both her husband and my sister…I've oftentimes wondered what my sister was like."
Elsa smiled sadly.
"I imagine her with brown hair like my mom." Anna then smiled with that beautiful glow of wonder, "You know, I actually drew her in pictures as my best, dearest friend and she would always be smiling, standing beside me, holding my hand or giving me warm hugs. I would imagine my sister singing me to sleep on cold nights when I was lonely...I imagined her stealing chocolate from the kitchen with me. I imagined her reading me to sleep and kissing my face goodnight before crawling into bed with me and spending the night so I could see her first thing in the morning."
The warrior reached forward and took the lonely princess's face and pulled her in for a gentle, loving kiss. Anna shut her eyes and kissed Elsa back warmly. When Elsa let go she lingered in front of the princess and nuzzled the bridge of Anna's nose. Anna, never having felt this way about anyone before, and never having been touched or caressed that way, was near to bursting with new feelings and emotions.
"You won't have to be lonely anymore." Elsa whispered gently, Anna locking her arms around Elsa's neck, "I'll be here for you if you want me to."
"I do." Anna said in a choked sounding voice, "I do want you to be with me. You can be my personal knight!"
"But I have to win the competition." Elsa said.
"What does that matter anymore?" Anna asked, smiling, "The winner will be you no doubt."
"Don't come to conclusions so quickly." Elsa smiled as Anna laid herself down atop Elsa, "It's always best not to assume things that you don't know entirely about."
"Be that as it may, you're the obvious choice in the end, my knight." Anna replied and Elsa laid her head back on one of the pillows contentedly smiling…then her eyes drifted to the back of the room where a painting hung on the wall. It was of a young woman, sitting with a redheaded toddler on her lap, and beside her stood a slightly older girl, maybe six or seven years old with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. Behind her, stood her father…
Anna grumbled with displeasure as Elsa moved out from under her, standing to her feet.
"Hey!" Anna asked quickly, "What's wrong?"
"Have you ever looked at this painting before, Anna?" Elsa asked, moving toward the picture in the back of the room. Anna tilted her head and stood to follow after Elsa. The two approached the painting and Elsa looked very hard at the toddler in the woman's lap.
"My mom always told me that the man and the other girl in this picture was my mother's brother and his daughter."
"That's a lie." Elsa said and Anna blinked, taken aback, "Just look!"
The taller woman pointed up at the man in the painting and said, "Look at his hair color, and look at yours. Look at the similarities between your face and his. You have the same color of eyes and you have his cheeks!" Elsa looked up at the man in the picture and her heartbeat suddenly quickened. The kind, dark eyes of the king stared back at her, and she lifted a hand to her heart in efforts to still it's rapid beating.
"And…the little girl must be."
Anna and Elsa simultaneously looked from the little blonde haired girl in the painting to Elsa, then back to the blonde haired girl then to Elsa. Elsa lifted her messy braid, observing the color of her hair, and then looked at the color of the girl's hair in the picture. Anna, in her growing shock pointed and said in a very quiet voice, "You're nose…"
"It looks exactly the same." Elsa said, reaching up to touch her nose, "And look at you in the painting... we have the same nose." The two women paused, then turned to look at each other, staring very hard.
Elsa leaned on the wall and Anna had to sit down on a side table, unable to tear their eyes away from each other... and all at once memories came flooding back.
Anna remembered that Elsa had frozen her mind when they were a small children, but a troll had healed her memory. Wolves hadn't killed her father and sister, thieves had stolen Elsa and killed her father. She remembered why Elsa's laugh was so familiar. She had heard it so many times while she and Elsa ran about the very room they were standing in, playing with Elsa and her magic.
Elsa remembered with a painful jolt in the side of her head, the day she was thrown off her horse as the bandits attacked. She hit her head off the rock and then lost all her memory. She was able to remember further back...there was a little girl chasing after her in the hallways. She remembered sharing chocolate with the young Anna and she remembered ice skating, and building snowmen…
Both women looked at each other and hot tears of surprise rolled down Anna's cheeks. Elsa could only gape.
"Oh…Elsa…" Anna said, breathlessly, "You…"
"I remember." Elsa said, "And you remember too."
"The ice skating." said Anna.
"The chocolate eating." Elsa continued.
"You read me stores!"
"You built snowmen with me!"
"I would wake you up a lot so we could go play in the snow you would make!"
"We would dance together in the ballroom and laugh all through the night!"
"We could crawl under the table at dinners and prank the guests!"
"And…" Anna gasped.
"And…" Elsa gasped.
The two simply couldn't comprehend everything that came back to them in such a short time. The two entered a state of denial where the statement, "She can't be..." were on the tips of their tongues. But that was forgotten by a simple glace from one to another. Elsa found herself nearly hyperventilating. First, her thoughts were filled with panic due to the fact that she had a sister. A SISTER? And this sister she had forgotten about all her life, growing up without, just kissed her not a few moments ago?! WHAT?!
But then her mind switched to the fact that she was a long lost princess and the eldest child of the king and queen of Arendelle, therefore, the heir to the throne.
"El-elsa!" Anna gasped, nearly fainting, "You're my…my…"
"I know!" Elsa said, rushing forward and taking Anna's hands, "Anna you're my…"
"We're." they said together…
Then the two collapsed on one another and cried. The warrior pressed her face into Anna's red hair and Anna clung to the strong, stable shape of Elsa as hard as she could. There's no telling how long the two remained that way, but once they had finished their crying, Elsa stood back and looked at Anna in astonishment.
"We need to think of a way to go about this." Elsa said, immediately placing a hand on her head, her mind racing, "We're going to keep this a secret."
"Yes." Anna agreed, "And we're going to present you to my mother sometime later after the competition. You're Arendelle's rightful heir and are entitled to the throne, no matter how long you've been gone."
"Yeah. We're not going to tell anyone." said Elsa, "This is going to be our secret and ours alone...except for Firefly."
"Yes. I trust her."
"Now…about the kissing thing…"
Anna turned red and Elsa rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well this just got weird." Said Anna.
"Anna? What are you doing in here with…" there came a voice from the front of the room. Elsa looked up in surprise and Anna whirled around in complete shock to see Kai standing at the doorway with a surprised expression on his face, "What do you think you're doing in here with that...!"
"I invited her on a tour of the castle, Kai, nothing important."
"You told me you wouldn't get familiar with any of the contestants because favorites were and still are out of the question."
"I know, I know just…UGH!" Anna wrung her hands in frustration and turned her head to her long lost sister, "You…you should go."
Elsa nodded in understanding and she began to leave. Anna, thinking quickly, rushed forward, took her hand and kissed Elsa's cheek, and whispered in her ear, "We're going to think about this okay? We're sisters, but we didn't know that a few days ago, I'm in love with you to say the least, and hopefully you are too. But for now, we need until the end of the tournament to think about this okay?"
"Sounds like a plan." Elsa whispered back, then she let go of Anna's hand and started for the door again…but not before she turned her head and asked quickly, "C-could I have…one more kiss?"
"Yes." Anna replied with a smile, "You may."
The princess leaned up and kissed her long lost sister and future queen of Arendelle.
Firefly and Merida in the tent below the castle had stopped kissing each other and were now staring off into space.
"Well then!" Firefly said in a daze, surprising the younger woman, "I'm off to go stare at a wall and rethink EVERYTHING."
"Come visit me tomorrow when you have the chance, okay?" Merida whispered, reaching up to hook her finger into Firefly's collar, pulling her down to give her another kiss. Firefly leaned fully into this one and kissed her back.
"I will." Firefly said and through the sky there came a little rumble of thunder and it began to rain. Merida smiled up at Firefly and the lightning wielder left the tent without another word. She, getting wet with the rain she had involuntarily summoned herself, smiled goofily at nothing in general, thinking of how good it felt to kiss Merida. She couldn't wait to tell Elsa about what had gone on that night. As she entered into the tent, shutting the flap behind her and squeezing her pony tail free of rain water, she found Elsa laying flat on her face on her cot.
"Hey, Elsa!" Firefly greeted her partner cheerfully, skipping over to the cot and sitting down on Elsa's back, "Guess what just happened to me! I bet you'll never guess."
"You were making out with Merida." Elsa mumbled.
"YES! How did you…"
Firefly then noticed something different about Elsa. Normally she stopped whatever she was doing to give Firefly attention. But the older woman hadn't moved a muscle since Firefly had walked into the ten. She just laid there perfectly still underneath her, unmoving, almost inert.
"Elsa?" Firefly got off of Elsa and dropped to her knees, moving closer to her partner, "Are you okay?"
"Not really." Elsa replied, sitting up slowly and rubbing her eyes tiredly, "I…I have something to tell you that you most likely won't believe."
"What?" Firefly asked worriedly, "What happened, frosty?"
And so Elsa began to tell Firefly all of what happened in the castle. As she told her of what happened in the painting room, Firefly's eyes grew wider and wider. Soon they were as wide as dinner plates and the storm she had created outside turned into a small hurricane.
"What?!" She cried, lightning flashed, "You're her sister?!"
"That's what I said!" Elsa called above the thunder and pounding rain, "Firefly! Stop the storm please!"
"If you're her sister then you're the…"
"Firefly the storm!"
"You're going to be a queen?!" Firefly began to rage and the storm above swirled and crackled with angry energy, "You're NOBODY'S SISTER! If anything, you're MINE." cried Firefly and Elsa sat back, eyes widening, "Do you honestly expect me to believe that this princess you just met three days ago is your long lost fucking sister and you're the queen of Arendelle?!"
"I've always wanted to know where I came from!" Elsa cried, "And apparently this is it! I thought you would be happy for me!"
"I AM!" Firefly cried, her voice cracking and the storm outside becoming unstable and breaking down, "I just...never though you would find out who you are so soon."
As Elsa watched Firefly calm, the storm outside dying down, she stood slowly and crossed the space between her and her best friend. Unafraid of Firefly lashing out again, the blonde put her arms around the shorter girl and held her closely. Firefly's tears blooming in her eyes, rested her head down on Elsa's shoulder slowly and held onto Elsa's shirt.
"I don't want you to leave." said Firefly.
"I'm not!" Elsa insisted in a whisper so intense Firefly shivered, "I'll never let you go no matter what. I may be the future queen, (and believe me I'm still somewhat in denial about the whole thing) but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you behind. I need you now more than ever. I don't know how to run a country, much less be any kind of leader at all, and I need you to help me."
"I'm no leader." the woman said.
"I'm not either." Elsa said, "But together, we can accomplish anything together."
Firefly lifted her head to look into the honest blue eyes of her best friend, "There's no way in hell I'm leaving you behind for anything. Even if my social status skyrockets to queen."
"You're the best." Firefly sighed, setting her head back down on Elsa's shoulder, "I...I love you."
Elsa stiffened for a long moment, never having heard those words come from Firefly before. The ice wielder lifted her hand to place on the back of Firefly's head and she began to stroke her long black hair saying, "I love you too, sparky."
The two held each other for a while longer, listening to the rain pitter pattering outside in a small shower...
"You know," said Elsa, "If people complain about things being knocked over or somehow messed up by the storm just now, I'm totally blaming you."