"Queen Elsa, is everything alright?"

Elsa looked up at King Faraj, his face showing obvious concern.

"You seem somewhat distracted." The king pointed out.

Elsa set down the spoon she'd been using to listfully push around the breakfast on her plate. Next to her Olaf was enjoying his own meal, twig arms rapidly shoveling food into his mouth.

"I'm just not that hungry." Elsa muttered mindlessly.

The king didn't seem convinced, but before he could say anything else, Urooj entered the dining room, shooting a glare at Elsa and Olaf before adressing king Faraj.

"Your Highness, my men and I will be starting our rounds in the village." Urooj said.

The King clapped his hands excitedly. "Excellent! Why don't you take Queen Elsa with you?"

Before Elsa could even think of a way to get out of that, Urooj almost immediately yelled. "NO!" Then in a more even tone, said. "No. the demon may get suspicious if we bring the queen along. It would be better for her to remain here in the palace. If we have need of her, we'll come and get her."

The young king gripped his chin in thought. "I suppose you do have a point." He looked to the queen. "What do you think?"

Elsa was torn. On one hand, she wanted to go out and try to meet with that fire woman again, but on the other, the idea of willingly going and taking orders from Urooj made her skin crawl.

"I think I'll stay here." Elsa answered.

"Very well." Urooj bowed to Faraj. "You're majesty." He gave a slightly stiffer bow to Elsa, then exited the dining room.

Faraj gave them an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about Urooj. I know he must seem a bit, um, ..."

"Crass, rude, arrogant?" Elsa suggested.

"A jerk?" Olaf provided, wiping the dregs of his meal off his face

"Displeased." Faraj said pointedly. "But you have to understand, our country doesn't receive many visitors. Most outsiders who aren't turned away on the spot are regarded with extreme scrutiny and suspicion. Urooj is just cautious about any kind of threat to the kingdom."

Elsa sighed. She couldn't fault the man for doing his job. Most countries might be suspicious if a snow witch was staying in the palace with the king. "I suppose you have a point."

The king gave a small chuckle. "Urooj may be bit harsh, but believe me, he only wants what's best for Arbia. He has watched over the kingdom since I was a boy. One of the last things my father ever said to me was to trust in him."

"He must have had a great deal of faith in him."

"They butted heads at times." Faraj admitted. "My father had the dream of opening Arbia's borders and allowing people from all over the world to see how great our country was. But Urooj feared that allowing in so many outside forces would cause more crime and weaken us. They argued about it a lot. In fact, they argued about the issue until the day he died. I think it's part of why he's so protective. He feels he needs to shield me so he does not lose me as he did my father. I'm sure you can understand."

Trying to shield someone from danger so that they didn't lose them? As much as she hated to admit it, Elsa understood that very well.

"I do." Elsa begrudgingly admitted. "I'll try to get along with him as well as I can." Elsa placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn.

Faraj raised a brow in concern. "Are you sure your OK?"

"Yes. I just had a bit of trouble sleeping. I haven't traveled much since my coronation, so I'm still a bit unused to sleeping in a new place." Elsa lied.

The king gave an understanding smile. "Why don't you go back to your room and get some rest? Once you've woken up we can discuss some of the new trade that will take place between Arbia and Arendelle."

"That would be great." Elsa said.

She and Olaf walked back to their room, but instead of laying down for a nap, Elsa sat on the edge of her bed, absentmindedly staring at the ground.

Olaf watched her stare at the floor for a few seconds before hopping onto the bed next to her. "Elsa?"

Hearing him pulled her from her daze. "Hm?"

"Are you okay?" Olaf asked.

"I'm fine Olaf." She assured him, though she still sounded partially distracted. "Just thinking about...things."

Olaf gave her a knowing grin. "You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

He didn't need to specify who her was.

Elsa's unfocused expression soon morphed into a sincere smile.

"How could I not be?"

Elsa got up off the bed and began pacing back and forth with excitement.

"I mean, did you see her? She could set her fist on fire without burning it, and could jump super high using flames, and she had a fire cat-reindeer-bird thing! Uh, it's just so amazing Olaf! She. Has. POWERS! I'm not the only one! I'm..." Her voice cracked with joy, and some slight tears built up in her eyes. "I'm not the only one."

All her life, Elsa had always felt so different from everyone else. As if her powers separated her from other people in a way. Even with the love of her sister and her newfound family, Elsa still couldn't help but have moments where she felt somewhat alone due to being the only person with powers.

But now? Now she knew wasn't alone in having powers. Even though she had no evidence, she could somehow feel that the woman's abilities sprung from the same source as hers. Knowing there was someone who shared her abilities made her heart feel like it would burst with joy.

"That's great Elsa. I'm really happy for you. Except for the whole "her being a wanted fire demon thing ." Olaf said.

That made Elsa pause. In her excitement about her discovery, she'd completely forgotten about the woman being considered a criminal and a monster.

But now more than ever she was sure that wasn't right. From what she'd seen this person wasn't the monster everyone had described her as. Yes, she'd seen the assault on those guards but that didn't match up with her giving money and food to others or the look of undeniable excitement she'd shown when she saw Elsa's powers. Even when she told Elsa to leave she seemed to be just as upset about the idea as Elsa. When she roared at her to go, her angered expression and tone bore an unmistakable tinge of sadness.

"I SAID GO AWAY!"

"You shouldn't be here."

Hadn't that been her not even that long ago? Pushing people away, presenting herself as something she wasn't? She knew there had to be more to this women then first appeared.

"I have to see her again." Elsa declared. "If she is like me, than maybe I can figure out why she's attacking people. Get her to stop."

"Well I say go for it. After all, you do have experience with this kind of thing. I mean, it's from the other side, but Anna managed to help you."

"I didn't go with Anna, when she found me remember? Besides..." Elsa shuddered, still able to perfectly recall the feeling of holding her sisters frozen body. "That didn't really go so well."

Olaf grimaced, no doubt also remembering the incident. "Okay, yeah that didn't really go so well. But hey, at least you know what not to do. So first, make sure you don't get your heart set on fire."

Elsa gave a small amused grin. "I'll watch out for that."

Olaf had a point. She needed to be careful. Even if this fire woman wasn't what people proclaimed her to be, she'd seen that she could still be dangerous if made an enemy. She needed to think this through.

A part of her wished she'd brought Anna along. She had experience getting withdrawn magic people to come out of their shells. She'd probably know what to do.

But then again maybe not. Anna hadn't managed to convince her to leave the Northern Mountains. And she had been Elsa's sister. Someone she'd had a history and strong connection with. How could she get close to this fire woman when she was just some random stranger?

Olaf let out a groan and rubbed his stomach. "Well I don't know about you but I'm going to take a nap. I'm stuffed from breakfast."

Elsa suddenly looked at Olaf. "What did you just say?"

"Eh, I, just ate too much food. It really made me tired."

"Ate too much..." Elsa whispered. Like a bolt of lightning it hit her. "That's it!"

Once night fell, Elsa and Olaf once again snuck out of the palace and donned their disguises. They went to the same route that they'd taken before to the stone arch and this time, Elsa noticed Ifrit up on the stone cliff side. Ifrit pounded down to meet them and viciously sniffed both of them, being extra sure to examine the bundle in Elsa's arms covered by an orange cloth.

Elsa stayed completely still during Ifrit's smell-search and after she finished and curiously eyed the both of them, calmly said. "We didn't come here to hurt her. We just want to talk."

She wasn't entirely sure if Ifrit could understand her words, but she gave a slight nod and shrunk to her smaller form. Elsa and Olaf followed her until they arrived at the burnt out house. Elsa immediately saw the woman sitting crouched in front of the fire. Ifrit rushed ahead of them and laid beside her. She began stroking down Ifrit's back.

Elsa took in a breath and cautiously stepped forward. "Um, Hello?"

The figure immediately shot up to her full intimidating height and glared down at them. She tore off he cloth on her head. Despite her eyes not being filled with flames, due to their luminescence they still seemed to resemble raging flames. Her gaze seemed to scan over the both of them, taking in every detail she could. Elsa thought she somewhat resembled a cornered animal, her posture tense and slightly fearful. Almost seconds away from pouncing.

"What are you doing here?" The woman asked. "I told you to leave."

"You did. But I have questions and your the only person who might be able to answer them."

The woman raised an eyebrow at her. "And what makes you think I will?"

"This." Elsa whipped the cloth off the bundle revealing a large plate covered in heavily seasoned rice and large chunks of chicken meat. The king had called the dish Kabsa and had been more than happy to allow Elsa to take it and several others up to her room after she claimed to be more comfortable eating in her room.

Immediately the woman's expression swapped from a predator about to pounce to a starved puppy seeing a bone. The flame like effect of her eyes somewhat dimmed making them seem more like soft candle light than a raging wildfire. Her entire body seemed to unclench and the hungry look on her face was so intense that Elsa almost thought she'd start drooling.

She reached a hand out towards the platter but Elsa pulled away from her.

"Ah, ah, ah. I'll give you this, if you answer my questions. Unless you'd rather go back to eating garbage?"

The woman's eyes swung repeatedly from Elsa to the platter in her hands, her expression switching from fearful caution to intense hunger.

Finally hunger won out. She reluctantly said. "Fine, I'll tell you whatever you want."

Elsa walked forward and held out the Kabsa to her. The woman snatched it away and returned to her spot in front of the fire and sat down, her knees bent in front of her and her large feet poking out from the bottom of her outfit. Elsa came over and sat next to her. Olaf also came over and sat on Ifrits other side, lovingly stroking the kitty.

The woman grabbed a mound of rice and meat with her bare hands off the platter and shoved it into her mouth. She moaned with joy and began chewing voraciously. As she did, she looked over to Elsa and managed to say. "Go ahead and ask your questions." Before gulping down her mountainous mouthful and scooping up more Kabsa.

Elsa's mind raced. There were so many things she wanted to ask, yet she had trouble deciding which question to pick first. But she knew she had to hurry. At the rate the woman was digging into the platter of food, she doubted she had much time.

Finally she managed to settle on a simple question. And one she honestly should've asked from the start. "What's your name?"

Through a gargantuan amount of chicken and rice crammed into her mouth, the woman replied. "Núria."

"Núria." Elsa repeated, hoping she had pronounced it right. Now that she was able to hear her speak, she realized that she had a bit of an accent. It was different from the ones she'd heard from Faraj or any of the other people in town.

Okay that wasn't a bad start. She decided to ask the question she'd been dying to know the answer to. "How did you get your powers?"

Núria suddenly stopped eating, a fistful of Kabsa inches from her mouth. Her face got a bitter expression and she shrugged.

"I don't know." She admitted painfully. "I was just born with them."

"Oh." Despite knowing that that was a strong possibility, Elsa's heart still sank. She'd somewhat hoped that maybe if she met another person with powers, they'd be able to she'd some light on the origin of her abilities. Núria being just as in the dark on where their powers came from was depressing to say the least, but she powered on. "So you've had them since you were little?"

"Since the day I was born. I'm guessing it was the same for you?"

"Yep." Elsa looked away from her, struggling to think of what to ask next. She knew that she should ask about the attacks on the town but she knew that might be a touchy subject and the last thing she needed to do was make her unwilling to talk.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Ifrit letting out a loud whine. Núria rolled her eyes and said. "I know girl. "

She released her handful of food and wiped her hand on her clothes before standing back up, walking over to the trunk, delicately picking up the photos on top, pulling the top open, and removing a book the size of her palm. She then opened the book, tore out about several pages, and returned it to the trunk. After that, She went over to Ifrit and Olaf, balled up the pages and then dropped the wad of paper in front of Ifrit,

Ifrit sniffed the paper ball before licking her lips and biting into it, tearing off a chunk, and enthusiastically chewed it, before swallowing and ripping off another piece.

Elsa and Olaf both watched her eat curiously while Núria came back to her spot in front of the fire.

"Why didn't you just give her some of the kabsa?" Elsa asked.

"Ifrit doesn't eat people food. She only eats stuff like paper, oil, wicker. If it's flammable she'll gobble it up."

"Really? Wow that's so intere-Oww! Aww, she's nibbling on my fingers. Isn't that cu-ouch!" Olaf yelped.

Elsa looked at him and Ifrit with slight worry before turning back to Núria.

"Does she need to eat?" Elsa asked.

Núria brow furrowed in thought, clearly never having thought of this before. "I don't know if she needs to, but if she doesn't she gets all moody and starts nibbling on things. Plus, she can't grow any bigger."

"Oh." As Núria returned to devouring her food, she tried to consider what to ask next. "So, you made her?"

"Yeah. When I was really little."

Elsa was a bit shocked. She'd never known she could create life until making Olaf and then Marshmallow. Then again, it was clear Núria's experience with her powers was vastly different then her own.

"Why exactly does she look so...unusual?" Elsa asked, unsure whether Núria might be upset by that description.

However, instead of seeming offended, Núria gave a small grin at her question.

"Well, when I made her, I wanted her to have the best parts of my most favorite animals. A bird, a kitten, and a reindeer."

That piqued Elsa's interest. "A reindeer?"

"Yeah." Núria's smile grew wider. "I heard stories about them all the time. They were amazing creatures with incredible powers. They had razor sharp antlers that could chop down trees, iron hard hooves that could shatter rocks with a single strike, and they were strong and swift enough to carry over a hundred men!"

From her experience with Sven, Elsa was fairly certain Reindeer weren't capable of doing any of those things, but seeing the unbridled joy and happiness on Núria's face made her decide not to say anything.

"So that's why you picked a reindeer?" Elsa said.

"Yeah. And I picked the bird because I wanted her to be able to soar through the clouds the way they did.

"And why the kitten?"

"Kittens are adorable." Núria said, as if it was obvious.

"Ah."

They sat in silence for a few seconds until Núria said. "I know they aren't really real."

"What?"

"Reindeer. I know they aren't actually real." Núria said, with a completely serious face.

Elsa blinked. "W-what do you mean they aren't real?"

"Reindeer don't actually exist. They're just some myth that was made up by people who come from the north where it's cold. A magical creature like a fairy, or a giant."

Elsa stared at her with utter disbelief. She wondered for a moment if she was playing some sort of joke, but she could tell Núria believed what she said.

"Reindeer aren't real? Oh man, Kristoff and Sven are going to be so disappointed when they hear that." Olaf said.

Núria frowned and pointed at Olaf. "What exactly is he?"

"Who Olaf?" Elsa asked, still slightly stuck on Núria's disbelief in Reindeer.

"Yeah. What is he?"

"He's my snowman." Elsa explained.

"What is that?"

"Well, he's a man. But made of snow."

"And what is snow?"

Elsa gave a slight laugh of incredulity. "Wha- you don't know what snow is? How can you no-." It was then that Elsa realized she was speaking to someone who'd grown up in a desert where rain would most likely be seen as rare. Snow was probably non-existant there. Núria stared at her expectantly.

"Um, okay, uh, snow is created when water particles get caught in the upper atmosphere above the clouds and then the temperature goes below freezing, causing the particles to freeze, so when they fall to the earth as precipitation, instead of coming down as rain they come down as ice crystals called snowflakes that then accumulate on the ground and become snow."

Núria looked at her like she'd just grown a second head. "What?"

Elsa racked her mind trying to figure out how to explain it. "Snow is, it's, well it's, this." Elsa flicked her fingers upward, causing a flurry of snowflakes to appear in the air and flutter to the ground.

Núria looked in wonder at the descending cascade of ice crystals. She held out a hand to catch one and watched as a single snowflake descended into her hand. Her face fell as it melted into her hand.

"What happened?"

"It melts when it's too hot." Elsa explained.

That clearly wasn't the best thing for her to hear. Núria scowled at her hand and shoveled the rest of the Kabsa into her mouth until the platter was empty.

"There. I'm done and I answered your questions. Now go."

"I have more questions." But Elsa knew she most likely wouldn't get anything else out of Nuria tonight, so she said. "I'll come back tomorrow. And I'll bring more food."

Núria gave her a somewhat cautious stare, but she just sighed and said. "Fine."

The next night Elsa returned, this time bearing several kebabs covered in spiced lamb meat and vegetables. She hoped that bringing more food meant that she'd be able to talk longer. She'd also brought a bowl she filled with lamp oil for Ifrit.

Once they arrived at the arch, Ifrit appeared. But rather than than the aggressive sniff down from yesterday, Ifrit's pupils widened and she excitedly trotted to Elsa. She kept trying to get closer to the oil, but Elsa kept it away.

They once again went to the burnt out house where Núria sat in front of the fire. When she saw them, her eyes widened in surprise.

"You came back?"

"Of course I did, I said I would, didn't I?"

Núria went silent and took the kebabs. Elsa sat down the bowl of of oil for Ifrit and then sat next to Núria again. Strangely, while Ifrit lapped up her oil, Núria just stared at the kebabs.

"What's wrong? You don't like lamb?" Elsa asked.

Núria shot her a suspicious look. "Who are you?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, who are you and why are you here? I know your not one of the people in town. I've seen all of them. And you certainly look like a foreigner. Plus,you have powers that are like mine and you just happen to show up here ? Why? Who are you?"

Elsa began to panic. She knew that if she admitted that she'd been summoned by the king and his guards, Núria would be much less likely to trust her. She struggled to think of an answer before she grew more suspicious of her.

"I'm...an ice merchant." Elsa blurted out.

Núria narrowed her eyes at her. "An ice merchant?"

"Yep!, Just out, here, you know, selling ice, because it's really hot out here and this seemed like such a swell place to do business and when I heard about the whole "being with fire powers thing" I just thought, "that sounds so much like me. I should check that out" and here I am!" Elsa said rapidly, hoping Núria wouldn't notice how nervous she was.

Unfortunately, it only took one look at her face to tell she clearly didn't buy her story.

"You are a really terrible liar." Núria said bluntly. "Tell me why you're really out here!"

Elsa sighed. She knew she had to tell the truth, at least partially.

"I came out here...because of you." Elsa admitted.

Núria frowned. "Because of me?"

"Yes. I heard that there was some being with fire powers out here attacking people. I wanted to come down and see it for myself."

Núria huffed. "And do what exactly?"

Elsa shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose I just wanted a first person view. Everyone I'd talked to said that you were some kind of demon."

Hearing that, Núria glowered at the ground. "Maybe I am."

"I don't think you are."

Núria looked up in shock. "What makes you say something like that? You were there when I fought those guards. You saw what I did."

"I also saw you later. With those kids and the bartender. You gave them food, money. You could have kept it for yourself. But instead you gave it to someone who no doubt needed it."

Núria seemed lost for a response, then simply asked "What do you want from me?"

"Just a chance to get to know you." Elsa said. "I've never met another person like me before. I'll bring you more food or whatever you want. I just want to be able to talk. Get to know more about you."

"You might not like what you find out about me." Núria warned.

"I'll be the judge of that." Elsa slowly reached one of her hands over and held her palm above Núria's hand. "So, what do you say?"

Núria's looked nervously at where Elsa's hand hovered above her own before slowly opening it and and wrapping her hand around Elsa's. She looked her in the eyes with clear anxiety and yet the slightest glimmer of hope.

"Okay."

And here's chapter 5. So this is our first glance at Núria and seeing her and Elsa somewhat connect. Trust me when I say, things are really starting to "heat up".

I'm going to go in the corner for that last pun.

For a small extra detail, Kabsa is actually a real Arabian dish consisting of rice and chicken. I did a bit of research into Arabian food for this story but then realized I won't get the chance to use a ton of it. Still, Its a nice fun fact. Google the dish. Try and taste it if you can.

If you want to get an idea of what Núria looks like or have any questions about her or this story visit my tumblr at .com.