#f3 plot idea

Of course it had taken a while until the people of Arendelle understood everything, until they accepted the new friends in the far north and the abdication of their queen. It has taken a while before Anna herself was ready to take on the mantle. 

In her new role as Fifth Spirit, accompanied by Gale and Nokk, Elsa was quickly accepted by the Arendellians. Most were grateful after witnessing the rescue of the castle. Some of them, however, were afraid of so much power in their midst. 

Elsa noticed this very quickly and decided to limit her future visits to what was necessary and to enter the castle without being seen.

The official coronation took place in the castle chapel, where all the kings and queens had been crowned. When the choir finished singing, the bishop carefully put the new crown on Anna and she received Arendelle’s insignia from the velvet cushion. Then she turned to her people with pride and dignity. 

Elsa was in exactly the same place where Anna had been during her own coronation. Anna was calm and composed during the whole ceremony. Fear had almost overwhelmed Elsa. She saw in her memory the ice that slowly formed on the scepter and orb as clearly as if it had been yesterday.

As the applause broke out she smiled at Anna. She was so proud of her little sister. Anna looked over at her for a moment and smiled back in relief. Then she carefully put the insignia back on the pillow. She had made it through. She was now Queen of Arendelle.

As they left the chapel in a royal recessional past an overjoyed looking Kristoff, the enthusiastically clapping people of Arendelle, the invited guests and dignitaries, Elsa involuntarily drew a comparison. There seemed to be far more people present than at her own coronation. Some representatives of the Northuldra were even present including Yelana and Honeymaren in their traditional colourful festive dress, now bowing to both of them. The people loved Anna. And Elsa was happy to have made the right decision for both of them and for the kingdom.  

The Coronation Ball in the evening was cheerful and exuberant. Every dignitary paid respects to the new queen. She was glad that the Duke of Weselton was not invited this time and that she did not have to dance with him. This time she could choose her own dance partner and she chose Kristoff. As a precaution she had arranged for Kristoff to get some dance lessons a few weeks before. She still remembered too well how Weselton stepped on her feet back then and Kristoff was a good deal bigger and heavier.

***

Anna, with Elsa’s help, had commissioned the royal sculptor to create a large bronze statue. She wanted to show her parents at a young age, as a monument and eternal symbol of the peace between Arendelle and the Northuldra. Elsa would not be able to be present in person, but she gave her promise to visit regularly. 

Anna’s second official act was to appoint Lt. Destin Mattias as General. He had been loyal to Arendelle all his life and was instrumental in helping her break the curse of the mist. Ultimately, it was Mattias who reached for her hand at the very last moment to save her from falling into the depths of the breaking dam, saving her life.  

Together with Kristoff, of course, and that brought Anna to her next thought. She had been overjoyed to accept Kristoff’s marriage proposal and that would be the next big event in Arendelle. Her own wedding. But first she wanted to unveil the monument. The sculptor had promised her that it would be finished very soon.

***

Peace had returned to the Enchanted Forest.  The Northuldra lived their lives as before, in harmony with the Spirits of Nature. The giants helped the inhabitants over abysses, Nokk helped a bit with fishing, Gale, playful as she was, helped to convert creative ideas into stone sculptures, and Bruni was content to help start cookfires and clear areas with fire as needed for growing food or reindeer herding. 

Elsa had her own kota in the village, but she spent most of her time in Ahtohallan to learn and find out more about the past and about herself and her magic. She even finds out more about Kristoff's past. The only thing she knew about him was that he has been raised by trolls and learned to be an ice harvester. But now she knows everything. About his parents and what happened to them, and also the circumstances around why Kristoff ended up among the trolls.

One balmy early summer evening she sat with Honeymaren and a few others around the campfire in the village and told them a little bit about Ahtohallan. Everyone was quite curious about it because not one of the Northuldra living today had ever seen it. 

At first she decided to reveal only a little of the deeper secrets there and limited herself to the description of the place itself. She wasn’t sure if this would anger the spirits but assumed that she would quickly notice when trouble was approaching. The Northuldra hung on her every word while she talked and now and then someone asked her for more details. But Elsa left out the pictures in the memory hall and the deeper levels of Ahtohallan with the living ice sculptures of her own past. That was a bit too private and perhaps risky. 

Now that she had accepted her ability and her new task as Fifth Spirit, she hardly thought back to her old life in Arendelle. In the beginning she was there every Friday and sometimes stayed over the weekend to be with Anna and help her with her new duties as Queen, but she had changed. Something had changed her. And it became rarer and rarer for Elsa to visit the castle.

Eventually it even became rare to find her in the forest.

The Spirits were appeased and there were no threats and no strangers in the forest. Everything was calm and in harmony. It was almost as if it had never been otherwise. Many peaceful weeks passed.

Until that one day in the early hours of the morning, when one of the Northuldra men was about to go fishing and he found a human lying at the beach motionless half in the water. The man ran back to the village to get help. 

A short time later he returned with Yelana, Honeymaren, and a healer.  They took in the sight before them and drew back in shock. In front of them lay Elsa, motionless and without any clothes. 

The healer was the first to kneel down next to her and check if she was still alive. She confirmed it to Yelena with a relieved nod and together they carried her back to the forest.

When they arrived in the village there was excitement and a small group discussed gesticulating and pointing towards the lichen meadows and other directions. The only thing they understood in the tangle of stories was, that the spirits had apparently all disappeared and were no longer helping anyone as they always did. 

Yelana immediately linked the two incidents and came up with the only possible explanation. Elsa was on her way back to them when all the Spirits suddenly disappeared, and so did Nokk. So Elsa must have swum almost all the way from Ahtohallan through the Dark Sea. A wonder she could survive that at all. If the magic disappeared, this could only mean one thing.

***

Meanwhile, Anna was seriously worried in Arendelle. It had been more than a month since Elsa’s last letter and since then Gale hadn’t shown up either. 

Even Olaf had been acting very strange lately, insisting they remove the ice embellishments from the castle and find more “Anna” decorations.  He was also uncharacteristically calm. He didn’t visit Sven as often anymore and his curiosity and jokes had become rare.  

Anna made a decision. If Elsa did not come to her, she would have to travel to the Enchanted Forest herself. She asked Kristoff to gather all the necessary material and asked General Mattias to accompany her. He agreed as long as he could bring Halima.

Anna agreed and the next day they all left very early in the morning for the north. Sven pulled the wagon, Kristoff sat in the front and Olaf sat in the back next to Anna. Mattias and Halima rode side by side on two of their own horses behind them. Since there was peace between the Northuldra and the Arendellians, they declined a retinue of guards. It was supposed to be a comfortable trip with a reunion of old friends in the Enchanted Forest.

Late in the evening they reached the four big monoliths at the edge of the forest and the sun was already setting. They got out of the wagon and Mattias helped Halima dismount. Everyone was in a good mood and grabbed the contents from the wagon. There were presents for the Northuldra and specialties from Arendelle for a small feast in the village. They had barely finished when a few Northuldra with serious expressions ran towards them and asked them to hurry. Something bad had happened. Anna held on to Kristoff in shock and said only one word. “Elsa!”

When they entered the village there was an oppressive silence and many lowered their eyes as they passed by. Honeymaren ran towards Anna, bowed briefly to the queen and took her hand.

Anna’s lips trembled as they looked into each other’s eyes for a brief moment. Finally Honeymaren pulled Anna gently behind her towards Elsa’s kota and said softly to her that Anna had to be strong now. They entered the low and gloomy dwelling. Then Anna saw her sister lying on a bed lined with furs, her eyes open. Anna rushed towards her, kneeled beside the bed and grabbed Elsa’s hand. She was unusually warm, but did not return her gentle grip. Elsa just looked up and did not react in the slightest. Anna laid both hands on Elsa’s cheeks and gently turned her head towards her. Their eyes met.

“Elsa! What has happened? What is the matter with you?”

Agonizing seconds went by.

Elsa blinked a few times and then tightened her eyebrows.

Her voice was weak and sounded fragile when she finally replied, “Who are you?”

*** 

—

Ok, there were or are some difficulties for me to bring some facts together and explain them conclusively. One of them is the loss of Elsa’s powers and what would happen to her creations. Olaf, the Snowgies and Marshmallow in particular. It was simple and easy to do with Elsa’s ice decorations at the castle (if it should be Elsa’s suggestion or Anna’s decision as new Queen i’m not sure about). Arendelle and especially Anna must not notice in the story too early that Elsa is now a “normal” person. But the other thing? That Ahtohallan is the reason should be clear, after all that was the source of Elsa’s power. But what happens when all the magic vanishes? Would Ahtohallan have a remaining residual magic to ensure the continued existence of Elsa’s living creations? Or would Elsa possess some kind of residual magic that she can no longer use willingly, but is still a deep part of herself? The other thing is how would it be possible to bring back the magic or to "heal" Ahtohallan? Would this be permanent? Would it be wanted? Questions over questions and this time Ahtohallan doesn't know (pun intended...LOL).

It has existed for so long. So long that, over the eons, it saw even the stars move and how the world was formed. Time passed, and it was content. It was at one with this world. Then life arose and at some point this began to develop its own consciousness. For a long time everything was good and remained in balance. But this did not stay that way for long and humans began to multiply and slowly but surely change this balance. It sensed this in advance and withdrew to a place high up in the north of the world. This place was not chosen by chance, but it did not look for this place either. That happened just like that. With the help of the elements it was in contact with every place in the world. It observed and learned, collected everything worth knowing and stored the memories of everything that existed. It was a river of knowledge and at some point it decided to intervene.

Humans felt that there was something at this site. Something special. Some of them, however, were more receptive than others and they went to this place because the river attracted them irresistibly. It chose these humans and made them serve itself, influenced them and sent them dreams. It gave them knowledge and wisdom and made sure that everything remained in balance.

As the centuries passed and the river froze, it finally became a glacier as the world changed. The place slowly fell into oblivion and eventually became a legend. But it was still there, and at some point decided to give a living form to four elements and to choose only one of these receptive humans in his short life time to control them all. It gave him a little of its own power for this task and thus ensured that the balance was maintained.

Generations passed, humans someday gave the glacier a name and four large monoliths were made, showing the symbols of the four elements. They had seen them glowing in the sky above the glacier more than once. The family of the One, called the Fifth who was admired and respected by all, made a scarf to pass on the legend to their descendants in a vivid way. It showed just these four symbols, grouped around a central fifth spirit, the symbol of a bridge between nature and mankind.

For some time all stayed that way and man and nature lived in harmony, but humans were the ones who finally changed things. There was a war between two peoples and it had to intervene once again. But in this turmoil something happened and remained undiscovered. Destiny took its course decades later when it, which they called Ahtohallan, finally realized his mistake.

Envy arose and desire for this power they called magic and a human took advantage of Ahtohallan's innocence. One human, in whom Ahtohallan had put too much faith in.

A mistake that in time would cost Ahtohallan dearly. But by then it was already too late.

***

They had given the horses the spurs and rode as fast as they could. They changed the pace from time to time from gallop to fast trot and back again to spare the animals. But at some point the sun was already very high and the heat affected humans and animals alike.

Mattias let his horse recede into the walk and Halima did the same. He patted the horse’s neck and looked over to Halima. “We have already done a good bit more than half of the distance and I think we are well in time. We should be there shortly after sunset. Would you like something to eat?” He reached into one of the saddlebags and pulled out an apple, which he held out to her.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile and accepted it. Then she took a hearty bite. “That feels good now,” she muttered with a full mouth shortly afterwards.

He grinned at her and pulled the leather water bag from the pommel, took a deep swallow and then hung it back. “When we are in Arendelle and I have sorted everything out, we could take the time to have dinner together. Shall we go again to that nice tavern up near the mill? Like last time?”

She nodded, “That would be genuinely nice, the food there is really good and afterwards we could go for a walk and look down from the hill onto the fjord. The weather is perfect, and we have almost a full moon.”

“Good idea. Let us do that.” He thought it did not really make sense for Halima to ride back with him in the morning. It would be better if she stayed at home, and they would see each other again the next day, when they had taken Elsa to the castle and the doctors were looking after her. There would be nothing more he could do, and they would have plenty of time for themselves. “Darling, I think I’d better ride back alone with the men and the wagon in the morning, and you stay in Arendelle until I return the day after tomorrow. All this riding is too tiring for you, you’d better rest.”

“Yes, maybe you’re right, I’ll wait for you and then have some time to do some errands,” she said and smiled over to him.

They rode comfortably in silence for some time, enjoying the beautiful landscape that slowly passed by until Mattias’ face slowly darkened and he finally expressed the thoughts that had been running through his mind since they left this morning. “I can’t get the whole thing into my head, you know? I just do not understand it. Not that I understand magic, but I’ve been with the Spirits there in the forest for decades. They didn’t hurt us and they left us in peace. They always assisted the Northuldra. And now this.”

“Apart from the fact that they held you captive,” Halima objected. “You have been away from me for so long, my love, and I have missed you terribly.”

He looked at her and his face brightened again. “I missed you, too, and it somehow kept me alive all this time. I never gave up hope of seeing you again one day and living with you in Arendelle. But year after year went by and…I mean-” he raised his arms helplessly and finally admitted “You’re right. When Queen Anna…well I mean before she was queen…when one day she suddenly appeared with Elsa in the woods in the middle of us and we…I talked to her that evening and I asked her if you were still over at Hudson’s Hearth and-” he faltered and his eyes became damp. “She said yes, you are, and then I asked her if you were… married.”

It took a moment for Halima to process what he had said and replied quietly “There has never been anyone else, Mattias. Only you.” She paused for a moment and then added, “We could have had children, Mattias.”

He looked at her sadly. Then finally he nodded and sighed, “I’m so sorry. I honestly imagined it so often. You and me in a cozy little cottage in Arendelle with a rattle band of feisty little kids.”

Halima said nothing about it. They both knew it was too late for her to have children at that age. They rode on in silence, both lost in thought. Then suddenly, in a low voice, she said, “We could adopt a child.” There was a short pause and Mattias didn’t know how to react to this suggestion. He raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips. “What do you think? There are some very nice children at the orphanage in Arendelle who are eager to be welcomed into a good family.”

“You’ve been there?”

“I have nothing else to do and I help out there from time to time. Every Friday afternoon I also tell stories to the little ones there. They love it. Don’t you ever have wondered why I’m never home that day?”

Mattias looked embarrassed and shrugged his shoulders. “I must admit I’ve never thought about it. During the week I have my duties at the castle, as you know now that Queen Anna has made me a general.”

Halima shook her head rebuking and sighed, “You are taking your new duties far too seriously. We are at peace, so what’s there much to talk about?”

Mattias couldn’t think of anything to say. She was right… as always. He nodded and then said “Let’s go there next week together. In my time, the orphanage hadn’t been around very long.”

“Yes, much had changed for the better since King Agnarr and Queen Iduna.” Halima put on a dreamy look.

“You knew them personally?”

“Well, I had no direct contact with the Majesties themselves. But I often saw them in Arendelle, even at the time when they were not yet married to each other. But I got to know Anna well about three years ago, she always is eager to meet and talk with people, she knows almost everyone by name.” She looked at him and asked, “Did you know Iduna was once at this orphanage?”

Mattias shook his head. “Why have we never talked about any of this before? It’s been so many months now since I came back alive from this forest. There is so much to tell. We must change that soon.”

“Nice of you to finally notice.” she rebuked and they looked at each other. Then they both had to laugh about it and he rode a little closer to her horse. He took her hand and looked deep into her eyes, “I love you, Halima. Now at last I can ask you what I wanted to ask you even then and only never dared to. Will you be my wife?”

Halima tore open her mouth and eyes and stared at him. Her heart pounded wildly as she nodded slowly but surely and answered with a broad smile, “Yes, Mattias, my love. I do.”

Mattias couldn’t believe it and a tear ran down his cheek as he bent over and kissed her.

They rode close together like this for quite a while, hand in hand, with a happy smile on their faces.

***

“Yelana, Yelana… something’s happened!”

One of the Northuldra men ran excitedly towards the leader. When he reached her, he stopped in front of her, completely out of breath and rested his hands on his knees, exhausted. Yelana looked at him in a slightly bewildered way and raised an eyebrow. “Calm down, Joná. What’s so important that you run around the village like a madman, shouting loudly and scaring everyone here?”

The man took a deep breath and started talking with his eyes wide open “I was out fishing and I thought to myself, they’ve got a good bite today. Then I looked over the calm waters of the Dark Sea and thought d…”.

Yelana raised her hand and rolled her eyes, “Get to the point, please. You don’t have to tell me about the weather, I can see for myself that today it is almost windless and very warm.”

“Yes… of course, once I start talking then-” Yelana looked at him with a penetrating look. “Excuse me…um…I was rowing towards Ahtohallan and I was already close when I saw something very disturbing. It…”

Yelana interrupted him again. “What were you doing so far out there? It’s forbidden, you know that.”

“Well, I figured since the spirits are gone and all, I’d take a look and…and try to find out something.”

Yelana shook her head, “So, you thought you could find out something about it. You.”

Joná looked at her sheepishly. “I…”

“Well, go on. I’m curious what you think you saw that was so disturbing,” she said somewhat sarcastically and tilted her head a little to one side.

“Ahtohallan is hidden behind a thick wall of fog, just like the one that has kept us locked up here all these years.”

Yelana looked at him at first in disbelief, then lowered her eyes broodingly. After a few moments, she took him by the shoulder and turned him away from the others, who were now looking curiously over at them. Then she whispered to him, “You won’t tell anyone here a word about this, do you hear me? That will remain between us for the time being. This is a serious matter and I first, must think carefully about it. You will also not tell anyone that you were out this far today. If anyone asks you, you tell them something about your catch, something about a big chunk of fish that almost pulled you over the edge of the boat, or something like that. You know what I mean?”

Joná nodded slowly as he stared at her, but couldn’t get another word out.

“Good. Now go back to work and don’t worry. I’m sure it’s half as bad as it looks.” Yelana directed him gently towards the beach and watched him thoughtfully as he walked away.

“This can’t be”, she whispered, lost in thought. Finally, she turned around and slowly walked towards her kota.

***

To be continued...

Remark: I have wondered who or what Ahtohallan is since I first saw Frozen II. Except that it is the source of magic from where Elsa got her powers, is master of the four spirits and cares about the balance of nature, we know nothing about "this being", if it is one. I thought it was about time to describe Ahtohallan from my point of view and I hope you enjoyed my thought process. Since I don't know whether it has a male or female (more likely) nature I have called the being "it". Background of the idea also was to connect Ahtohallan with Gaya, the Mother Earth, as she was called in Final Fantasy. Omnipotent and vulnerable at the same time. It is always the people who harm nature and who are hungry for power, who wage wars and spread without regard for losses. I don't know what WDAS was thinking when they designed Ahtohallan and its purpose, but maybe it was also an approach of Disney to show a connection, between the Spirits and Ahtohallan and a fifth spirit that forms a bridge between these two "worlds", man and nature. The introduction of the Northuldra with the background of a real people, the Sami, certainly had a deeper meaning in this context, especially if you know something about the history and way of life of this indigenous people. The dam is also directly related here.

Honeymaren left the Kota quietly to leave the two alone. This was a deeply private moment, she felt that instinctively. When she stepped outside she looked around and saw only sad faces and bowed heads in front of her. Yelana stood very close and took her in her arms, because she knew that Elsa was also very close to Honeymaren's heart.

The sun had set a few minutes ago and the first campfires were lit in the village. For more than thirty-four years no stars could be seen in the sky above the Enchanted Forest. But now the first of them appeared in the rapidly darkening firmament, and many of the Northuldra stared up in awe. Even though it had been a while since the magical fog had disappeared from the forest, it was a miracle for most of them to experience it.

It had become very quiet now and except for Kristoff and the others from Arendelle, nobody was standing in front of the Kota anymore. No one spoke a word, not even Olaf. Then one could hear sobbing from inside and the flap of the low building opened. Anna stepped outside with her head down, tears in her eyes. Kristoff rushed towards her and gently put his arm around her shoulders. He felt her body tremble and wondered what was really wrong with Elsa. No one had told him anything, no one knew more.

Anna raised her head and looked into his eyes. Then she began to speak in a fragile voice and the others curiously came closer. "Elsa is... she...", she broke off and began to sob again. "Kristoff, my sister has... she didn't recognize me! She doesn't know who I am anymore! She...I talked to her, told her about me and Arendelle, about our parents, about Olaf, about all of us and about our experiences here in the forest. The Spirits and Bruni, who she liked so much. Even about Ahtohallan and who she was afterwards, who we both were. The bridge. Of the fact that together we both freed the forest and the Northuldra, that she made me Queen of Arendelle." She paused and took a deep breath. "Kristoff, she doesn't know anything anymore. Nothing at all anymore! She...she's forgotten everything, all of us...including me."

Then Anna just couldn't take it anymore and collapsed. Anna slipped out of his grip to fall to the floor in front of him and screamed. "Elsaaa!" She began to cry unrestrainedly and her body shook with helpless sorrow. Kristoff knelt beside her and tried to comfort her in some way. Mattias watched helplessly as his queen let it all out. Halima took his hand and sobbed. Many Northuldra had rushed by the noise and watched in dismay. Olaf looked sadly over from Anna to the Kota. He could not understand what was going on. Then he made a decision, walked towards the entrance of the Kota and entered the inside.

It lasted only a few moments then one could hear a scream from the Kota. "Ahhh...get out! Help me! Get this thing out of here! Don't touch me! Get away! Get out of here!" All heads moved around in horror and even Anna stared at the hut in disbelief. Then the entrance opened and Olaf came out backwards. Suddenly there was a silence in the village. Olaf turned around with his head lowered, walked a few steps and suddenly sat down on the floor. Then he started to move his body slowly back and forth. Over and over and over again. Snowmen can't cry but with Olaf everyone had the impression he did now.

***

Anna grabbed Kristoff's hand and pulled herself up. Then she went over to Olaf and took him in her arms. He needed comfort now, more than ever, and she hoped a warm hug from his best friend would help him. At first he did not react. His pain was just too great. Then he nestled his head on Anna's shoulder and began to speak softly. "I don't understand this. How can Mom forget me? She's never yelled at me before." Again the tears flowed over Anna's face and she squeezed her eyes, pressing Olaf a little tighter. Olaf had never called Elsa that before! But he was right. Elsa had never yelled at anyone before. Something had changed her. It wasn't just her memory loss or the fact that her skin was so unusually warm. It was almost as if she had become a different person.

Mattias gently squeezed Kristoff's shoulder and pulled him aside. "Let's leave the two of them alone and calm down a bit first. We need to talk." Kristoff nodded and they sat down together with Halima at the next campfire.

"How could all this have happened. What can we do?" Kristoff looked at Mattias and Halima hoping for help. Mattias hadn't known Elsa and the others for very long, so he was the only one in the group who could see the events emotionally at a distance and remained calm and composed. Not least because of his age and his background.

"I experienced something similar once before, with a soldier with a severe head injury. He couldn't remember anything afterwards, not even his own name. It took a very long time and was a difficult healing process, but little by little his memories came back."

Kristoff started to answer when Yelana came out of the darkness to her crackling fire and sat down between him and Mattias. Everyone looked at her eagerly.

"You want answers and you are looking for a solution. Unfortunately I cannot give you one. Even our healer has never experienced such a thing and is at the end of her abilities. But I can tell you what happened before you arrived." And so she told them everything she knew and left out no detail, including the disappearance of the spirits and that Elsa's magic was apparently gone as well.

"We must take Elsa back to Arendelle. The more things she sees there from her past, the sooner her memories will hopefully return," Mattias noted at the end of Yelana's report. "However, we should be careful that as few people as possible become aware of this. This whole thing could leave us vulnerable if details get out beyond Arendelle's borders."

"Vulnerable?" asked Kristoff.

Mattias looked at him with a serious look, "Elsa's magic and her status as Fifth Spirit. If it became known that she no longer possessed either ...", he left the sentence open. Kristoff couldn't imagine exactly what Mattias was thinking about, but nodded. It was probably best to keep everything as secret as possible for now. "I will ride back to Arendelle with Halima in the early morning hours and bring back a few reliable men and an inconspicuous means of transport. I will think of a reason for this and also bring a suitable disguise for Elsa. There's nothing we can do at the moment, so perhaps we should get some sleep." He looked at Yelana.

"I have already made sure that everything is prepared. The two kotas over there will be at your disposal for the next few days." she replied and pointed in that direction.

Finally they all rose together and Kristoff looked over to Anna who was still cradling Olaf in her arms. "Oh Anna!" he whispered and slowly walked over to her.

***

Kristoff managed with a lot of feeling and gentle words to get Anna and Olaf to go to one of the provided kotas for the night. He opened the flap and held it open for them. Inside the kota there were two very comfortable looking beds, which were covered with plenty of furs. Anna had to pull up her nose involuntarily when she entered and an intense reindeer smell hit her. She was used to Kristoff's odor, but this was different and almost took her breath away at first. Kristoff didn't seem to mind when she turned to him, and he just closed the flap behind him with a motionless expression. "Can you..." she asked and nodded towards the entrance. He raised his eyebrows, but then understood.

"Uh...yes of course. Sorry, I hadn't thought of that." He fastened the flap to the outer sling and then came back in. A gentle night breeze blew through the inside and let Anna breathe a sigh of relief.

He let her choose one of the beds. Olaf pulled down one of the furs and lay wordlessly at the foot end. Anna sat down on the edge of the bed and looked over at Kristoff, who stood there undecidedly. Finally he sat down opposite her. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence. Then Anna said softly, "Remember when we talked about my past as a child?" He confirmed with a nod. She sighed.

"Well, i thought of that because of the similar situation with Elsa now and that i still can't remember by myself what happened to me that night when Grand Pabbie simply took away my childhood memories with Elsa's magic. Elsa told me everything a few years ago and helped me to visualize it. For that, I am infinitely grateful to her."

Kristoff nodded and replied "Yes, i understand very well what you mean. I remember that it was pure coincidence that i followed this ice track that one of your parents' horses pulled behind it and that i was hidden behind a rock when I watched everything. I mean, I grew up with the trolls, but I had never before seen this ability with Grand Pabbie or known about it. To witness what he did with you and to see his visions about Elsa scared me a lot. But let's stop thinking about it. We better should go to bed now."

Anna agreed, "Yes, you're right. Let's go to sleep."

Kristoff lay awake for a long time, pondering her words and today's events. Pale moonlight flooded in from above and enveloped the Kota in a diffuse light. Anna had a restless sleep as he could tell by the creaking of the bed. He looked over to her. Anna rolled back and forth, her breath went in jerks, her body twitched in her dream. Then she screamed out loud. Kristoff jumped out of bed and hurried to her. "Anna!" He wiped away a tear with his thumb and stroked her cheek. She woke up, still breathing heavily, and looked at him.

"Please stay with me tonight," she whispered and moved aside a little. He hesitated a moment, but then lay down next to her gently. Anna snuggled up against him.

"Thank you," she breathed.

"Sorry to wake you, but you had a bad dream and you even screamed." Anna hesitated a bit before answering him.

"I dreamed about the cave. Where Olaf had dissolved in my arms. At that moment I knew... I believed that Elsa hadn't made it, that she had gone too far. Everyone I loved had left me. I felt so lost, Kristoff. I don't know where I found the strength to get back up again. Honestly, nothing was the same anymore. I was so alone. It felt like I was the last person in this now-desolate world." She paused, and Kristoff heard more than he saw in the dark, that she was crying again. "The way Elsa is now, it feels worse for me, as if she had died!" Kristoff swallowed hard. He was afraid of the next two days and how they would change his Anna.

"My bright star has gone. I have lost her," she mumbled before she fell asleep again.

***

The next morning brought light rain and it had become quite cool. The sky showed grey clouds and the usually so friendly looking forest lay in dark shadows. The village was quiet and not many of the Northuldra were on the way. Mattias was just about to saddle the horses when Kristoff, Anna and Olaf stepped out of the Kota. Halima stood next to her husband and they talked quietly together.

Anna cast an uncertain glance over to Elsa's Kota while Kristoff approached them and wished them good morning. They returned the greeting. Halima asked how Anna was doing and Kristoff told her about her restless sleep, but left everything else unmentioned. They both looked over at Anna and Mattias noticed the direction in which she was looking.

"Take good care of our queen, Kristoff. All this has taken quite a toll on her and she now needs rest and someone to comfort her with attention. You are the best man for that."

"This, of course, is General Mattias, thank you. Take good care of yourself on the way back." Kristoff nodded at Halima. "I'll see you in about two days."

Mattias gave Kristoff a friendly slap on the shoulder. "We will. We'll hurry." Then he helped his wife into the saddle and led both horses over to Anna and Olaf. He bowed respectfully to Anna and wished her and Olaf good morning too. Halima did the same from the top of the horse. Anna looked at him and the horses in astonishment. "Your Majesty, excuse our behaviour, but we don't want to lose any time and want to be back here as soon as possible. Last night we all agreed that we want to bring Elsa back to Arendelle. Unfortunately there is not much we can do for her here, but the doctors at our home will surely find a solution. Kristoff knows all the details of our plan. Rest now, and don't grieve. Kristoff, Yelana and Honeymaren will take care of everything you need. Please do not worry. We'll be back in two days." Anna nodded and he got on his horse in relief and turned it towards the big clearing. Then they both rode off, waving goodbye one last time.

Kristoff stepped beside Anna, put an arm around her and they watched the horses disappear between the trees. "It's gonna be all right, Anna."

***

---

Okay, i think i will stop here and let the professionals continue my story if they want. I apologize for any mistakes i made above. In the moment i have no new ideas except that Mattias and Halima surely would talk about all the events of that evening during their trip back to Arendelle. I leave it up to you to decide what happens next.

Remark: I had to rewrite one part of the story because I didn't know that Jenn Lee had once confirmed that Kristoff knew about Anna's past and later connected that evening with the trolls with her. Originally, Anna talked about herself in detail and was surprised when Kristoff admitted that he had observed everything that night. But anyway, the purpose was to describe Anna's inner thoughts about memory loss, now that she is involved with Kristoff and can tell him everything.

Joná headed to his little boat and pondered what had just occurred. He just wanted to help and hoped that Yelana would do something or at least know anything about what he had seen during his venture on the dark sea. Instead, she instructed him to keep everything secret. He shrugged his shoulders and bent over the edge of the boat to get his catch out. Still thinking she already knew what to do, he turned with his full basket and froze. Behind him some men from the village had gathered and looked at him piercingly.

“Um… why are you standing there staring at me like that? Is something unusual?” he asked and put the basket down.

“We were just about to ask you that,” said the one who was in the front and who had obviously led the men here. “We noticed everything earlier and wondered if you would tell us what you had so urgently to tell Yelana.” He crossed his arms and looked at Joná waiting.

Joná swallowed. He remembered what she had told him and didn’t know how to begin. “Um…well…I was just so excited because…because the fish I had on the line today are so big. One of them almost pulled me over the edge of the boat.”

The man in front of him cast a telling glance at his basket and then looked at him again with raised eyebrows. “Oh, yeah?”

“Not these one, no. But the one fish I wanted to pull into the boat was it,” said Joná, who noticed this look. “Really, I did. They were just too heavy for me and were tearing the string.”

A few moments passed, and the man finally nodded, “Well, we know your fish stories good enough. But don’t you think you might have exaggerated it a little today?”

Joná sighed and let his shoulders sink. “Yes, maybe you are right. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

“Let’s go, men.” They all turned around and walked slowly back to camp, some of them looking disappointed. But the leader of the group said quietly, “There’s something he’s not telling us. I don’t buy that story. Not that I ever did, but…”

“Did you notice his nervous look and how insecure he was this time?” one of the men asked quietly and looked at him from the side.

He nodded, “Indeed.”

***

Elsa had been lying quietly on her bed for a long time, listening to the noises coming in from outside. It sounded very busy and once she heard a loud shouting and a name. Yelana. She didn’t know this person, but she seemed to hold an important position. After that it was quiet again and she only heard a few birds chirping. A ray of sunlight came in from above and blinded her. She turned her head to the side and her eyes fell on the bundle of clothes next to her. Somehow she had had enough of just lying around here idly. She wanted to get out and look around.

Elsa bent her knees to see how far she was able to stand up. It still hurt a little, but it worked surprisingly well. She pushed the fur to the side and did stretching exercises with her legs, slowly and alternately. After some time she carefully sat up and bent over to massage her thighs and calves. A long blonde strand of hair fell into her face. “Oh…,” she said in surprise and reached behind her head to pull more of her hair forward. She felt and looked at it. “I’d love to know what I look like,” she murmured and then continued to put her plan into action.

Finally she turned and let her legs dangle over the edge of the bed. She stood up, or at least tried to, because her strength was not enough and she sank back onto the bed. But Elsa didn’t want to give up so quickly and pulled the wooden stool in front of her to support herself. After two attempts, she finally stood there a little shaky and made a satisfied sound. Then she picked up her clothes and slipped the leather tunic over her head. She touched the material. It was a bit rough, but very soft and felt a bit cool on her skin. She looked at the pants and sat down again to slip them over her legs, slowly stood up again and pulled them up. Everything fit her perfectly. Finally she put on the belt and slipped into the boots. Now she was ready for her first excursion and started to move slowly.

***

Honeymaren now had no more duties to do and therefore wandered around the camp a bit bored and lost in thought with her head lowered. Unconsciously she took the way towards Elsa’s Kota. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed how the flap of one of the Kotas was pressed open. She looked over and couldn’t believe her eyes. Elsa stepped straight out and kept herself wobbly on her feet. She looked around curiously and their eyes met. Elsa smiled at her and took a hesitant step forward, but almost fell over and held on to the edge of the entrance just in time. Honeymaren did not hesitate for a second and rushed to help.

“Careful, you’re still too weak and you might hurt yourself in the fall. Let me help you.” She took Elsa’s hand and put one arm around her shoulder to support her.

“Thank you. I just couldn’t stand it in there anymore and i had to try to get out and take some fresh air.”

“I can understand that. I guess that’s what I’d do. Although… nothing like that has ever happened to me, so I don’t know what…” She bit her lip.

Elsa looked at her and said, “All right, it hasn’t happened to me either… I think.” She put on a crooked smile.

Honeymaren nodded, looked down at her and then smiled and said, “The Northuldra attire look pretty good on you.”

“Thanks. It feels very comfortable too. What’s your name anyway?”

“I’m Honeymaren.”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. “We know each other, right? I’m sorry, I can’t remember anything about it.”

Honeymaren felt her heartbeat accelerate. Before all this happened to her, Elsa had always been so distant, almost unapproachable, and with her task as Fifth Spirit, she had rarely been seen in camp lately. Now after her incident, would be the perfect opportunity to change their relationship. But was she allowed to do that? It would amount to a lie. She hesitated.

“Yes, we know each other… quite well.”

Elsa briefly squeezed Honeymaren’s hand and sighed, “I hope I’ll be able to remember this soon. Will you help me to look around a bit and explore everything? I am very curious.”

“I’d love to… I even know the first place we could go.”

They walked with slow steps and she helped Elsa to keep her balance. She had never been so close to Elsa before; Honeymaren thought to herself. It was kind of exciting. Before Elsa promised to free the Northuldra from the impenetrable mist wall on that memorable evening, Honeymaren didn’t know very much, trapped in this small world. She was born into this world as one of the few children and there were only a few in her age with whom she could do something. The few of them were playful boys who were either too simple-minded or interested in other things. So she grew up, mostly alone with herself and her thoughts, only with her somewhat jumpy brother Ryder, to whom the reindeer meant more than anything else. Otherwise, it was her leader Yelana who had been her life anchor and she learned a lot from her, especially about the past of her tribe and its values.

At some point they finally reached the edge of the forest and stepped out onto a narrow strip of sand beach bathed in sunlight.

“This is one of the few beautiful places here by the sea, the rest is quite jagged and mostly full of big black pebbles,” Honeymaren said, and led Elsa to a smooth, almost white-washed piece of an old tree trunk that lay half buried in the sand. They sat down on it and Elsa looked out into the distance. The sun sparkled on the softly rippling waves, which the gentle wind washed up and carried a salty scent. She took a deep breath, laid her head relaxed in the neck and closed her eyes. Honeymaren, on the other hand, did not care about the sea, because she had a completely different view in front of her eyes. She sat so close to Elsa that she could literally feel her and the temptation was great to gently stroke her long light hair. She felt the heat rising inside her, but she was not allowed to rush into anything and instead was content to admire Elsa’s features, her light soft skin and the fine hairs on her gently curving neck. She sucked up every little detail and felt lost in time.

And so she didn’t even realise how Elsa finally opened her eyes again and noticed Honeymaren’s behaviour out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and looked directly at her. “What are you doing?”

Honeymaren took a frightened breath and stammered, “I…nothing, I…I was just looking at your long hair. Sorry, Elsa, I… didn’t mean to…” Her cheeks turned red and her eyes were wide open.

Elsa raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Tell me, Honeymaren, how well did we actually know each other?”

***

Yelana sat on the furs on the floor of her hut and thought for some time. A Northuldra woman came by at one time and wanted to know something, but Yelana had sent her away again on the grounds that she didn’t have time right now and would visit her later. She now needed the rest to think about everything. She saw Elsa lying on the beach in front of her eyes, shortly before all the spirits had disappeared and now this narrative, told by this very fisherman, who was known for his weird stories. But what he told was simply too extraordinary this time, and it all matched the latest events. However, Ahtohallan would never do such a thing, what could be the reason for that.

Except…Yelana took a long scarf from one of her leather bags and put one end of it over her knee. Lost in thought, she stroked over the five symbols woven into it and stayed on the one in the middle. She had received this scarf from her mother when she was a child and has taken it out every time she has thought and searched for answers ever since. Maybe she hoped for some comfort and strength after her parents had died long ago. It was not unlike the shawl Queen Anna was carrying at the time, but it had a different colour and, of course, a different pattern on the edge that stood for the family that woven it for their descendants.

The fifth Spirit before Elsa died during the events that ultimately trapped the forest for so long. She knew that for sure. But then who was it who had the powers of Ahtohallan and was responsible for all these recent events? There was no other fifth spirit before Elsa, that much was certain. Could it be that … no, that was impossible. Or could it? Could he have had a child? Then who was his mother? Someone in her tribe?

Slowly a certainty was forming in Yelana, one that she did not like at all.

***

He sat on the large rocky plateau near the river, far away from any Northuldra settlement. Nobody dared to come here, because the earth giants slept here and they did not like to be woken up. The place was perfectly chosen for his secret whereabouts.

He wore a dusky, almost black fur coat, next to him were reindeer antlers, worked into a large leather hood. His eyes were closed, he breathed deeply and calmly in and out, and let his senses wander into the forest. He felt and he saw.

He had the ability to read mans mind, at least most of them. It was different from the Spirits, where he never felt this limitation, but some people were strong-willed and it was as if he had to fight his way through a thick layer of snow. With very few of them he could only feel their emotions, nothing more, like with this woman from the house of that damned king, who was responsible for his father’s death. He saw in his mind again this terrible picture of his father after the fight was over, peppered with half a dozen crossbow arrows. At least this king was also dragged to his death by someone from his tribe. But there were many of them, too many and he hated them all.

He let his senses wander again and concentrated. Then he found a young Northuldra who had quite confusing feelings…for a woman. He drew the corner of his mouth in disgust, but penetrated deeper into her and finally he saw through her eyes, saw what she looked at…a beach and that other woman. She was also wearing Northuldra clothes, but something was strange. Her hair, it was long and…

He opened his eyes in horror. That couldn’t be. He had killed that half blood, or at least he thought that she was doomed to drown in the dark sea and never appear again. How had she achieved that? He was furious and he cursed. It had not been easy to make sure she would ever use her magic again. To let Nokk dissolve under her was a piece of cake. It was all so well planned. But lately the Spirits didn’t obey him anymore and he assumed that it was related to the fact that he had outsmarted and enclosed Ahtohallan. But not without first seizing some of the secrets of Ahtohallan’s power. On the other hand, he could be glad that the Spirits had no path to follow without guidance, otherwise he would quickly be on their menu. He would have to try again. This time she would not get away from him again. Too bad his father couldn’t teach him to change his shape. He was too young for that then.

It was time to forge a new plan. One that was really deadproof this time.

***

Elsa opened her eyes. Whether it was the light coming in from above or the voices near her dwelling that had woken her, she did not know. She lay still and tried hard to understand individual words. She could distinguish three people, but they were too far away to get any sense out of the conversation. A short time later she heard the sound of hoofbeats, which was rapidly departing. After that it was quiet, nothing moved anymore.

Elsa looked around the simple wooden hut, which tapered towards the top and ended in a small opening covered from the outside. Except for her bed, a small fire pit in the middle and some laid out fur, the room seemed to be completely empty. Some metal hooks were attached to the wall near the entrance and except for a small bag hanging from one of them they were unused. It smelled odd and seemed to come from all these furs here.

She looked to the side and discovered a small woodstool with a bundle of clothes on it. Were they hers? She reached over, but immediately regretted the attempt and groaned in pain. Her arm hurt so much that she could hardly move it. She tried to support herself with her other arm and to straighten up a little. A pulling pain shot through her arm and upper body immediately and without warning and she could not suppress a scream. She cursed softly. What had happened to her? Why was she lying here? Who had brought her here and why did everything seem so strange to her. A thousand questions flashed through her mind.

She didn’t know the answer to that and tried to remember the before, or just something. But there was nothing. Nothing at all. Her head was as if swept empty and it somehow felt as if she had woken up in a body of someone else. She did not even know her own name! She drew her breath in sharply with shock, accompanied by an intense pain in the chest area. She cursed again.

Then suddenly fragments of memories flooded through her head, words of this strange woman who called herself Anna or something similar and who was with her last night. Or was it longer ago? What had she called her? Elsa? Was that her name? She tried desperately to remember, but she had trouble remembering all of it. This woman had told her many strange stories she didn’t know what to do with. She had talked incessantly, held her hand and stroked her hair. And she cried even as she sang a song to her softly. Apparently she knew her very well but Elsa just couldn’t remember anything else but her name. She absolutely had to talk to her. Elsa flipped the fur open with great effort and was shocked as she realized that she was completely naked!

At that moment she noticed a noise and the flap at the entrance was opened. Immediately she covered herself again and watched two women ducking inside. The first of them was holding a steaming little bowl in her hand while the second was balancing bothhanded a big wooden bowl in front of her, carrying some cloths over her arm. Elsa and them looked at each other. Then they came closer and while the second woman set her apparently heavy bowl down in relief, with some liquid spilling over the rim, the other woman finally spoke to Elsa.

“You’re already awake, that’s good. I brought you some hot soup, because you need some strengthening after all you’ve been through. When you regained consciousness for the first time last night and Queen Anna visited you, we heard afterwards that you apparently do not remember anything. How are you today?”

Elsa cleared her throat, “Every muscle in my body hurts and I have so many questions. For example what happened, where I am and who you are. I don’t even know, who I am myself-” She hesitated for a moment, then narrowed her eyebrows and finally added, slightly angry, while looking down at herself, “Besides, I’m completely naked!”

“We can’t explain everything, Elsa, but I promise we’ll tell you all we know in the next few days. My name is Myrtha, I’m the healer in our village and it was me who brought you here. This is Ikka, my assistant.” Myrtha pointed with her thumb behind her, “She will wash you later.” Ikka smiled shyly. “You must know that you’ve been lying here for three days, after we found you unconscious and completely naked on the beach. You are in the village of the Northuldra, the people of the sun.”

Elsa was confused, but Myrtha had just casually confirmed her name. She now also had a first pale idea of the events and wondered in amazement why a queen was visiting her. Was she herself so significant? More questions and she feared that this would continue for a while longer. But her mind was still working and she drew first conclusions from what had just been said. “So I’m not a Northuldra myself and this-” she nodded her head towards the bundle of clothes, “isn’t either my normal clothing?”

Myrtha raised an eyebrow in surprise. “That’s right. You’re from Arendelle and our-” she hesitated. Should she tell Elsa the truth already, or would this only confuse her more? “Well, let’s say you’re a good friend of the Northuldra. We’ll talk about everything else later. The soup is getting cold and you need something to eat urgently. In case you’re wondering what’s in it… it’s a mix of vegetables and black grouse meat. It will give you new strength.”

The two women helped Elsa to sit up a bit and stuffed her neck with more furs, which they pulled out from under the bed. Myrtha carefully spooned the soup into her mouth. It smelled tempting and tasted the same. Elsa slowly felt the spirits of life returning within her.

When Myrtha finally left a little later and only Ikka was left behind, Elsa called after her before she could close the flap behind her. “What’s in that bag over there?” The healer turned once more and took the object off the hook.

“This, Elsa, is from your own property. This is all you brought back from Arendelle.” She put the bag on the bed next to Elsa and opened it. Elsa looked inside and was astonished. “As far as I know, they are letters from your sister, Anna, Queen of Arendelle.”

Elsa’s mouth remained open as she gazed into Myrtha’s eyes in disbelief. That explained a lot.

***

When Myrtha was outside she saw Honeymaren standing not far from Elsa’s Kota and she looked at her questioningly. “I know what you want to ask me, but it’s better she has some rest now. She’s got a lot to process right now.”

“You told her?”

“Not all of it, but enough to get her started. Besides, she’s not well and she’s in pain.”

Honeymaren lowered her head sadly. “I see.”

Myrtha wanted to go on, but changed her mind and put a hand on her shoulder as she stood beside her. She looked at her forcefully as Honeymaren raised her gaze. “I know how much you like Elsa and how much you would like to provide assistance. But please don’t take it wrong. It’s only in her interest if we pressure her as little as possible in the present situation. You saw what this could lead to yesterday. Be a little patient.”

Honeymaren pressed her lips together and nodded slowly. Myrtha squeezed her shoulder encouragingly and then went on to look for Anna. The queen had to be informed of Elsa’s current condition.

Honeymaren looked over to the Kota once more and then turned around as well to do her duties. Between the Kotas in the forest there was already a lot of activity and the Northuldra started their daily work.

***

Anna, Kristoff and Olaf strolled leisurely among the trees at the edge of the Northuldra village. It was early in the morning but the sun of a beautiful late summer day was already warming the clearings and a lukewarm wind was blowing through the forest.

It was beautiful up here in the north at this time of the year Anna thought and if the reason for her visit hadn’t changed so drastically she would probably now take the walk with her sister and ask her why she didn’t show up in Arendelle so often anymore. It had not always been easy for Anna in the last months, now that she was the queen. But all in all everything went well and she was very happy with herself and the progress in Arendelle.

The citizens were satisfied, the trade relations remained good and almost every day a brisk traffic could be observed at the port. Ships were coming and going and one had the impression that nothing had changed at all. Except for a few Northuldra, who now brought the products of their reindeer breeding to Arendelle and slightly changed the street scene. She wished Elsa could see this now and how the new peace between her two peoples had developed in the meantime.

“Queen Anna!”

Anna turned around and saw a middle-aged woman coming towards her. She smiled at her.

“Good morning. I am Myrtha, the healer.” She bowed slightly and nodded at Kristoff and Olaf.

Anna was immediately alarmed and her questions gushed out of her. “Is something wrong with Elsa? How is she? Has she said anything or does she remember anything?”

“Don’t worry, it’s all right. I just went to check on her and brought her some hot soup. She is weakened and has severe muscle pain, but otherwise she is fine. We talked and I told her what happened and where she is, but her memory has still not come back. I will observe her for the next few days and if her condition does not improve, I do not recommend transport to Arendelle for the time being. I’ve heard you’re planning on it.”

Anna shook her head in amazement and asked, “She has muscle aches? From what? How can that be?” Kristoff was equally astonished and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Olaf stared at the healer with his mouth open.

Myrtha looked around in astonishment. “Didn’t Yelana tell you about her suspicions?”

Everyone shook their heads in confusion, and Kristoff said, “Last night she only told us the events as they happened, but not what she thinks about all this.”

Myrtha sighed, “She assumes Elsa was on her way back from Ahtohallan when the Spirits and probably Nokk as well suddenly disappeared and she had to swim through the Dark Sea because of it. All the way here without her magic powers. If she hadn’t shown this almost inhuman will and held out until the end, Elsa would have drowned for sure.

"But then why didn’t she swim back to Ahtohallan?” Kristoff asked.

Before Myrtha could reply, Anna already knew the answer and said quietly and with her head bowed, “Because Elsa had no other choice. Without her magic, she would have frozen to death in Ahtohallan.”

***

To be continued...

It was an idyllic place. The rays of the midday sun glittered on the calm sea and fine water droplets enveloped them as they came closer to the rushing waterfall. Colorful flowers blossomed everywhere and a few butterflies rose up, circling around them curiously. Elsa watched their wild fluttering with fascination and tried to catch one of them, but without success.

"This place is beautiful, Anna. Thank you for showing it to me."

"You're welcome, Elsa."

Elsa stepped to the side of the waterfall and held her hand into the tumbling currents. Drops of water splashed in her face and she smiled.

Anna watched her sister and rejoiced with her. She seemed so different now in her new life here in the North than in her past days when she was a ruler in her home, especially now, in her Northuldra attire. She looked happier and more relaxed. Nothing seemed to bother her anymore. No bad memories from the past distracted her and she obviously enjoyed life. It seemed leastways.

"Is it just as beautiful in Arendelle?" Elsa asked aloud to drown out the sound of the waterfall. She looked at Anna with a dreamy smile and came closer again.

"Well, it's different. There is more going on there, many more people live in Arendelle and there are many big houses. But we also have a waterfall, even if it doesn't look as stunning as this one. Our home is beautiful in other ways. You'll love it." Anna was about to say 'and if you remember everything, then...', but then didn't say it after all. She didn't want to destroy this moment.

"Well, I will see soon and I already look forward to it." Elsa hesitated briefly, stepped up to Anna and then asked, "Which of us is actually the older one?"

"That's you, Elsa, five years older than me. You're almost twenty-five years old now."

Elsa nodded and quietly repeated that number. "How far is Arendelle from here? How long does it take to get to there?"

"About a good day's journey by wagon, a little faster on the horse," Anna said and almost wanted to add that Elsa was much faster on the water while she was riding Nokk, but let it go. "Why do you ask?"

"From your letters it's clear that I had an important task here and because of that you missed me very much. I had the impression that we both got along very well with each other. But why did I stay here and not ride from Arendelle to do this from time to time? Apparently I hadn't been with you for many weeks, so what could have been so important about it?"

Anna felt the tears rise up inside her. If only Elsa had thought so at that time. "It was your own decision, and I had the feeling that you felt happy about it. I didn't want to be selfish, but you had found yourself and your destiny here. I didn't want to stand in the way of that, and besides, we both had this task together, just in different places."

"But you are the queen of Arendelle, and surely you have a lot of other duties, I can imagine. So what kind of task was that?"

Anna hesitated. Would Elsa understand if she explained what she was until recently? But at some point she had to find out anyway, and if her memories came back one day, it would become clear to her all by itself, just all of it. They had sworn years ago never to hide anything from each other again, and it was she who made Elsa that promise. It was now up to her not to break it and to tell Elsa the truth.

"Um...so at the risk of you doubting me, but believe me, I'm telling you the truth. The short version is this. We both are, or rather were the bridge between man and nature, between the spirits of nature and our two peoples. We are both half Northuldra. You were the fifth spirit who, together with the other four nature spirits up here in the north, kept the balance and was the interface to their magic. You should have seen yourself at the end, in your bright white new outfit, when we saw each other again just on this beach, after you had found out the truth about our past, me having destroyed the dam with the help of the earth giants, and the forest as well as the Northuldra finally being freed again. You died in the process, and later came back to life." Anna paused briefly and then quietly added, "You can't imagine how I felt when Olaf dissolved in my arms and I believed at that moment that I had lost you forever." She lowered her head and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Elsa looked at her with open mouth in disbelief and fell into silence for several long moments. One could clearly see that she was torn between doubt, amazement and anger that she could remember absolutely nothing of it.

"So not only can I magically build a living snowman, but you mean to say that I am a higher being beyond that?"

Anna took a deep breath and raised her eyebrows. "Um...well, actually...," she didn't know what to say.

"I don't want to be that. I want to be normal like you, like any human being. Everything's all right here, isn't it? The plants are growing and thriving and everything is so beautiful in this place," Elsa made a sweeping gesture with her arm, "The Northuldra are doing very well too. Everything is already in a balance that could not be much better."

Anna couldn't believe how her sister suddenly thought about all this and just looked at her speechlessly and smiled.

"What was I like back then, before everything you said about me, and what did I do in Arendelle...except build snowmen? Do we have any brothers or sisters? Do any of our parents still live?" Elsa asked and could hardly contain her curiosity.

The moment Elsa mentioned her parents, Anna's good mood vanished in an instant. Tears began to collect in her eyelids. "It's a long story, Elsa, which I'd better not tell you until we get to Arendelle. But we have no other brothers or sisters, and our parents, they are..." Anna's voice broke and she began to sob softly, "...unfortunately, they are no longer alive."

"So we have only the two of us and you are all alone in Arendelle," Elsa said sadly. She took a step towards her sister and pulled her into a deep and long hug. "I owe you an apology. I promise never to leave you alone again. Nothing holds me here anymore, Anna. I'll come back to you to Arendelle and stay there."

Anna could no longer hold back her tears and sobbed unrestrainedly again into Elsa's shoulder. But this time they were tears of joy and Elsa felt a deep understanding for her sister and regret that she had not been there for her for a long time.

***

Gyda was working on her kota repairing some of the biggest holes. It was very warm and the work was exhausting for her. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and was just getting up from her wooden stool when a familiar voice behind her asked, "Can I help you? It's a shame nobody's building you a new cabin."

She drove around. "Kolgrimr! Are you mad showing your face here during the day?"

"Hello mother, nice to see you too, and as for your question, it soon won't make any difference. Tonight I will put my plan into motion and avenge my father."

Gyda took a step towards him and stood before him. She had to look up to him, for he was at least a head taller than she, taller even than most Northuldra men.

"Do you want to jeopardize everything just by wandering around so carelessly? You could be seen... and next warn the others. Come on, get in my kota quickly." Gyda pulled him behind her, and he willingly let it happen.

Once inside, she turned to him and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

He passed along her with a grin while she did not let him out of her sight, sat down on one of the furs on the floor and put his long birch stick beside him. "Can you spare some food, Mother? I'm starving."

She blew out the air and asked sarcastically, "Anything else, son?" But, of course, she couldn't refuse her son anything and went to a low table with a little basket on top. She fished out two strips of smoked reindeer meat and gave it to him. He took a big bite of it and chewed it with relish. He still had that crazy grin on his face.

"As of this morning, everyone's looking for me anyway. I could read it in their heads. That Yelana is indeed a smart one. I just wonder how she knows about me." He looked at her knowingly and bit off another big piece of meat.

She wandered broodingly through the room while his amused look followed her. Then she stopped and turned to him. "From me. But she had already known it somehow. She is indeed very clever."

"Does she also know that I visit you regularly in the evening?"

"Don't play with me, Kolgrimr! You already know the answer."

"I'm sorry. You're right, of course. There are very few people I can't read. You're not one of them."

"We never got along very well, Yelana and I, and if it hadn't been for this thing of the angry spirits and that fog, I might be the leader of our tribe now. But she took advantage of the situation, and everyone accepted her immediately."

"Maybe you shouldn't have retreated there and gone for an open confrontation with her."

"Perhaps. However, I certainly wouldn't have been as understanding to the rest of the men from Arendelle as she was. Questionable if more of our brave men and women would then have perished in the wake of my decisions. What's worse is that you couldn't succeed your father, to be the fifth spirit. This would have changed everything for both of us. Instead, the Spirits and Ahtohallan itself chose a person outside of our people, on top of that a descendant of that damned king.

"Yes, and I still don't understand it. I could feel it and I even saw it in Ahtohallan itself, as you know. Back then, until a few years ago, it was even easier for me to enter Ahtohallan, even if only for a very short time. But the cold inside became more and more unbearable for me over time and I was sure that Ahtohallan didn't want me there anymore without having to kill me. I must have become unworthy and should stay away of my own free will." Kolgrimr laughed gloatingly and then clenched his hands into a fist. "But I managed to wrest some secrets from Ahtohallan and made sure that the inner entrance collapsed and was sealed. I barely made it out before the bridge behind me collapsed."

"But it was of no use and who could have guessed that the new fifth spirit would master ice magic and create a new access for herself. At least that's what I heard later. I guess she proudly told everyone in the camp and bragged about how great it is in Ahtohallan and how easily and naturally she can go in and out there." Gyda pointed her index finger at him and looked at him vengefully, "And that's another reason that bitch has to vanish. She has robbed you of your inheritance and blocked your path forever. She must die."

He sighed, "Tonight I will simply walk into the camp and destroy this brood from Arendelle before they can leave as planned. The fact that even their new queen is with them is very convenient. So my revenge will taste even sweeter. Then I'll see." He scratched his chin and thought for a moment. "Maybe I should take this opportunity to make sure that someone finally builds you a new kota. You deserve better than that."

He reached into a side pocket of his cape and pulled out two spearheads and a grindstone. The tips were flattened on one side to form a curved edge. He began to sharpen them slowly and deliberately, one by one. Finally he reached for his battlestaff and mounted the finished tips on both ends.

"You wouldn't want to hurt any Northuldra, would you? These are old hunting spikes and deadly in battle," Gyda complained and looked at him worried.

"Don't worry, mother, none of our people will be seriously hurt. But whoever gets in my way should realize immediately that this is no joke and in that I'm serious. At least I hope nobody is stupid enough to take the chance."

Then he reached under his cape and pulled out a long, richly decorated knife behind his back. He held it out to his mother with both hands. "Remember this?"

Gyda nodded without a word. She would recognize it among thousands. The handle had been carved from one piece of reindeer antler and polished smooth according to old traditional craftsmanship. It was his father's knife.

"This one is intended for the royal children." He laid it down gently and his crazy grin returned to his face as he looked at it.

"They will be at dinner, and they will all be sitting together. They have no chance, any more than Father had a chance. He will be proud of me."

***

Remark: as soon my proofreader had read the scene with Kolgrimr he sent me the following YouTube music track matching to this scene: 

Sorry for all the scary feelings you maybe have now...

Ryder stood there with arms crossed, leaning against a kota and watched their friends from Arendelle talking to Elsa. The wrong moment to disturb Kristoff for a serious talk; he thought. But maybe that was just as well. He pondered and weighed his options, but he just couldn't decide what to do. Behind him he heard soft footsteps rustling in the grass and turned around. In front of him stood his sister with her battlestick in her hand.

"Fancy a little Skalastet?" Honeymaren asked cheerfully and grinned broadly. "You need some practice". But her grin quickly evaporated when she noticed his depressed mood. She came closer and put one hand on Ryder's shoulder. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Me? No, there's no... everything's fine. But stick fighting? Now?" Ryder warped the corners of his mouth. Of course, it had been a long time since they competed, Ryder knew that and he also realized his sister was right about it. Since the forest had been liberated there was no reason to defend their home against soldiers from Arendelle, they had already returned to their home. But he could still remember too well the bruises Honeymaren's battlestaff had inflicted on him often. She was just one of the best fighters among them, fast and agile. Most of the time he had no chance against her, even though he wasn't so bad himself as he thought. Honeymaren nudged him in the side with the end of the stick and grinned mischievously.

"Oh come on, do we have to do this?" he asked.

"It keeps us fit," she replied, grinning a little wider. It had been too long since she had shown him which of them had the say in the duel. But of all of them he was still one of the best training partners, she had to admit. She took two steps back, whirled her stick over her head and looked at him challengingly. "Go on, get your staff."

And Ryder sighed, "All right. But let's not overdo it this time like we did last time." He walked the few steps to their kota and grabbed his long polished birch stick.

They walked a little way until the trees were a little closer together and started to tactilely stalk each other. "Come on Ryder, try to hit me." She took her staff in her left hand, turned it casually around her wrist, and then went into a defensive stance. Ryder dared a lunge and tried to hit her, but was too slow. His staff missed Honeymaren by far, she only had to take a step to the side and in one flowing movement effortlessly gave him a slap on his wrist. He cried out briefly in pain. She laughed. "Come on. You can do better than that." She bounced on the ball of her foot and made the stick spin around her waist.

Ryder looked at her grimly. "Whatever you say." Then he grabbed his battlestaff in the middle and struck with the ends of the sticks in quick succession, alternately, sometimes above, sometimes below. And each time, she parried his strokes, but moved further back. They danced around each other and the sequence of strikes accelerated. Sometimes he struck, sometimes she did. They jumped and ducked to avoid the opponent's strokes. Of course, both of them took light hits every now and then, that could not be avoided, but that was the purpose of the exercise, to be faster and more accurate.

The forest echoed back from the clacking sounds when their sticks met. They circled each other while searching for a gap in the other's defense, skillfully avoiding the surrounding trees. It was a constant back and forth, neither of them slowed down noticeably. "Slowly I'm getting the hang of it again," Ryder pressed out at some point, coughing but triumphant.

Meanwhile a few Northuldra, attracted by the sounds of the fight, had gathered nearby and watched their dance from a proper distance. Most of them cheered on Honeymaren, but there were also some voices shouting the same to Ryder.

Honeymaren slowly but surely gained the upper hand and pushed her brother back. In a desperate stroke, he raised his stick and swung it against her shoulder. But his sister was able to duck in time and in the same movement pushed her battlestick with force against his stomach area. But he pulled his belly in just in time and made a leap backwards, directly between two trees standing relatively close together.

But Honeymaren had intended exactly that, and with quick short strokes drove him back even a little further behind the two birches and then jumped forward. But not directly towards him, instead to the trunk of one of the two trees. She pushed off there, repeated it on the other tree trunk and in this way was two meters high in no time. Only now she jumped directly towards Ryder, the battlestick raised high above her head. This was a dangerous situation for any opponent.

Ryder followed her movements with his eyes and showed himself surprised. But in reality he had foreseen her move, timed the right moment and then whirled his staff around behind his back. He took advantage of the momentum, let it slide through in his palm on the other side, held the end in time and pushed the staff upwards. He hit Honeymaren at the thigh with force, causing her to groan in pain, and therefore took her out of her balance. Her intended strike missed its target and she hit the ground behind him and rolled to the side. Ryder, standing with his back to her, laughed out loud and raised his battlestick with both hands triumphantly over his head. He was about to turn to her with a grin when a forceful strike against his feet took him off his legs and he crashed hard to the ground. His staff slipped out of his hands and rolled towards Honeymaren. She cleverly caught it with her tip of her foot and delivered it into her free hand with momentum. Ryder stared at her speechlessly.

"Well, little brother, you'd better watch your guard," said Honeymaren grinning, but out of breath, and with these words held the ends of both sticks to his throat. In the background, loud howling and the clapping of her audience could be heard.

She finally took both sticks in one hand and with the other hand grabbed his arm to help him up on his feet. Ryder rumbled softly, "Next time it'll be different, for sure."

They reached out conciliatory hands to eachother, but Honeymaren didn't let it be taken on whispering in his ear, "Dream on, little brother." when she pulled him to her. One moment later, they both had to laugh loudly about it and walked exhausted and satisfied between the still clapping Northuldra. Some patted Ryder on the shoulder and one even gave him the compliment that he was getting better and better and it had been a great fight.

***

Arriving at the camp, they first laid back their battlestaves, then Honeymaren looked at him with a serious expression while she rubbed her thigh where he had hit her. "You can't hide anything from me, Ryder, you know that. I know you too well for that. There's something important on your mind today. Please tell me."

Ryder put his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he looked at her with a forceful look. "All right, but you have to promise me it's just gonna be between us, okay?" His sister pulled her eyebrows together and then nodded.

"I promise. So... Shoot. I suppose it has something to do with the disappearance of the men this morning, doesn't it?"

"How do you know?" Ryder asked and looked at her in amazement.

Honeymaren tilted her head and looked at him reproachfully. "I'm not naive. I overslept today and father woke me very late. If he had been in the camp, he would not have hesitated so long, as angry as he was at me. So what happened?"

Ryder sighed and nodded. "Yes, you're right. There's been a meeting, a Norting. My first, as you can imagine. Yelana called it out and told us something I can't handle."

"So that's it, a Norting." She lowered her eyes and had a bad premonition. She felt her stomach begin to contract and said in a low voice, "Tell me."

"Not here. Let's go somewhere quiet and unobserved."

"Let's go into our kota," Honeymaren suggested. He nodded and as they sat inside, Ryder told her in a low voice everything he knew. Honeymaren listened very attentively and her face became visibly gloomier.

***

"Hello, Kristoff. Do you know where Elsa is? I was going to check on her, but she's not in the kota and I haven't seen her anywhere else," Myrtha asked, who just stepped next to him. Kristoff looked up and rose. He now noticed another woman standing behind her.

"Hello, Myrtha. She's with Anna right now and hasn't been gone long." He pointed in a direction where the four monoliths stood at the edge of the forest. "They were going to the waterfall to have an undisturbed private conversation. Sisterly conversations, I guess." His eyes fell on the small wicker basket she was holding in front of her. It was full of little birch wood boxes of various sizes, some of them open and filled with all kinds of pastes in greenish colours, next to them were various small bundles of herbs and a small mortar with a wooden pestle. The woman behind her carried a small bucket of water, and also some cloths and leather straps over her arm. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Myrtha noticed his looks and smiled at him. "Oh, that's not all for Elsa. I'm just making my morning rounds. There are always minor injuries and it is my job as healer to make sure everyone is comfortable. This is Ikka, my young assistant, by the way. I teach her everything." Ikka gave Kristoff a shy nod. "Is everything all right with Elsa? What is your impression?" Myrtha then asked.

"Everything seems to be fine again, as far as I can tell. At least physically."

"That's good. Some exercise will certainly do her some good. I'll come by again this evening, but I must be going now." She nodded at Kristoff and left.

When Ikka passed Kristoff, she hesitated briefly and smiled shyly at him, but said nothing and then quickly scurried after the healer. Kristoff looked after them, thought for a moment and then shook his head before he sat down again.

"She likes you," Olaf said after a few moments and smiled at him.

"Who?" asked Kristoff, who was already thinking about something completely different.

"Well, Ikka of course. Didn't you notice her looks when you talked to Myrtha?"

Kristoff laughed. "Yes, I noticed. But she's still young, and I'm obviously very attractive to her. She also doesn't know that I'm already engaged."

"That's true," Olaf said, and fell into Kristoff's laughter.

"Which part of it do you mean? That I'm so attractive?"

Both snorted with laughter.

When Halvard went back to the camp with the other men, he wanted to see what was going on in the camp at first and looked for his family. They were supposed to look after the toddlers of the camp during the Norting. But he only saw his wife, who was clearly having trouble with the little ones. Where was his daughter? He was starting to get angry and looked in their kota first.

***

"Get up, Honeymaren, come on! You're still sleeping. You had an important task this morning," someone said in an angry tone and shook her shoulder.

"Hmm...?" Honeymaren slowly opened her eyes and blinked. She saw the respectful figure of her father standing above her, now with his hands put on his hips, and his face indicating nothing good.

"Where were you last night? What's the matter with you?"

She got up slowly and struggled with her tiredness. "Nothing, I was just... on the beach at sunset and fell asleep. Didn't wake up until after it was nightfall. Sorry." She yawned. "It won't happen again, papa, I promise."

Her father shook his head, "Come on, daughter, your mother is wondering where you are. She's all alone with the naughty boys from the camp and you were supposed to help her mind the little ones today."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, looking at him from drowsy eyelids.

"That's what we did when we went out. However, you didn't hear us. Otherwise you always get up right after us ...," he looked at her without understanding, "What's wrong with you recently? Come on, get dressed and then get out."

She looked after him as he walked out first. Then she slowly got dressed and followed him.

She walked wearily between the kotas and already heard the laughter of several small children from a distance even before she saw her mother and the cheeky gang. She stopped and watched for a moment. Linnea looked a bit overwhelmed as she tried to keep everyone under control. Honeymaren finally walked on and clapped her hands loudly. The children's heads spun around and two of them ran towards her laughing and calling her name. She didn't feel like it; she thought, but seeing her mother like that touched her conscience. It was time for an apology.

***

Ryder was on his way back to camp and had a brooding expression on his face. It had been his first time at this kind of meetings and he wondered why everything has to be kept from the Arendellians. They were their friends now, and he liked Kristoff above all, because he was like him and let Sven talk the same way he did with his reindeer. But he was not allowed to tell them anything about the Great Thing and what was exposed in it. This made him feel sadness and at the same time frustrated and guilty. How could he tell Kristoff that they were all in great danger?

Ryder was so lost in thought that he was startled when someone suddenly spoke to him. He looked up in surprise and realized that instead of going to the camp and to Kristoff, he was now standing in front of his reindeer herd. One of the two young boys who had been looking after them in the meantime said, "Hey Ryder. Why are you looking so downheartedly at? Are you sick or something?"

Ryder put his usual smile back on, "No, no. There's nothing wrong with me. I was just thinking. You gonna be okay with the herd?"

The two nodded and the other said, "Sure, everything's fine. Why?"

"I just wanted to say good morning to Kristoff but was all in thoughts and made a wrong turn."

They looked at each other and then at him again and laughed. "Made a wrong turn?"

Oh, man, that was embarrassing now; Ryder thought to himself and rolled his eyes. "Well, it happens, right? It's probably never happened to you guys before."

"Nope," they said, as if from one mouth.

Ryder took turns looking from one to the other and he couldn't help but notice this little grin on their faces. Well, this could become cheerful, he thought to himself and said, "All right. You take care of everything and I'll be off again," he turned around at the last word and walked back into the woods with big steps. They already had an answer on their lips, but could only look after him irritated. Ryder grinned and whispered, "No, boys, not with me. Not today."

***

Elsa had been walking all morning across the camp and had looked around. Many were not on the road, there were mainly women at work, and younger Northuldra to be seen, no men. Elsa wondered about this for a moment, but was distracted, because she was constantly greeted friendly and even the children knew her name. Elsa was amazed and greeted everyone back with a smile. Why does everyone here know me; she asked herself, if I am not from here. What had Myrtha told her? She was a good friend of the Northuldra. But even the little children here addressed her with 'Hello Elsa'. There was something the healer kept from her.

She thought and remembered that Myrtha had hesitated at the beginning. Then she remembered the letters from Queen Anna that she had read, very personal letters to her, with many things she didn't understand. Not yet; she thought. She absolutely had to find her sister and talk to her, she was certainly still here somewhere in the camp.

Elsa looked around and then went back to her kota on another way. Finally she saw people with clothes looking different, sitting in front of a cold fireplace, her sister with her back to her. She could recognize her by her red hair, now when she remembered her evening visit. The man opposite her was dressed similar to the Northuldra, but looked somewhat different. And then there was this little guy who had frightened her so much that night. Now in the daylight he did not seem so scary to her anymore at all. He even seemed to be quite funny and somehow she felt such a strange feeling of closeness, but could not tell what it was exactly.

She walked towards the small group that was talking lively and stopped behind Anna. The man's jaw dropped when he noticed her and then stared at her. This little white guy also seemed very surprised.

"Kristoff? What...," Anna said and turned around. The next moment she stand up and hugged her sister not a second later. "Elsa!"

Elsa felt taken by surprise, but withstood the reflex to retreat. Maybe that was her usual greeting; she thought and put her arms gently around Anna. She felt herself being pulled into a firm and intimate embrace, and Anna didn't let go so quickly.

After what felt like a minute, Elsa finally cleared her throat and immediately got more air, when Anna held her at half an arm's length and looked deep into her eyes. Their eyes fixated each other and in some way it seemed that they wanted to explore their bare souls. With anyone else this moment would have been unpleasant for Elsa, but here and now something special came into being between the two of them, something that somehow seemed familiar to her. She could feel it clearly and see it in Anna's deep blue eyes.

None of them spoke a word. Anna looked a lot like her, she could see that now. Since she had seen her own reflection in a brook yesterday, she now also knew her own countenance. The main difference was of course the colour of her hair and she was also a bit smaller than her. But otherwise she almost saw herself standing before her. They just stood there and explored each other with glances. Until finally somebody said, "Guys... um... we're still here too?"

They separated and Anna sat down again but pulled Elsa down to her. She didn't mind and so she now sat next to her sister on a tree trunk at the camp and felt all eyes on her.

"Well, that was a little weird for me now and you all look like you have a lot of questions for me. But believe me, it's the other way around, because I still can't remember anything."

A tense silence arose and finally Anna took the floor and said, "We'll help you, Elsa. Just ask us anything you want to know."

Elsa looked at her, "I know that you are Anna, my sister, and the Queen of Arendelle, and that I come from there. But they are not my memories, I was only told this. That’s all I know for certain, I do not remember anything else. Even after I read all your letters, nothing in them felt familiar."

Anna nodded understandingly and slightly touched Elsa's arm. "Perhaps I'd better introduce the others to you first. This here is Kristoff, my fiancé," she said, pointing at him with her other hand.

Kristoff didn't seem to know how to handle this situation and said only softly, "Hello Elsa."

"And this is Olaf, he's...," Anna faltered. How only could she explain this, she wondered. "He is...well, he's a snowman, and...," she didn't know what to say without reveal Elsa the whole truth.

But Olaf, however, was unaware of such concerns and, as straightforward as he was, came out with the facts. "You magically created me. Without you, I would not exist." Anna's head fell on her chest, her hands in front of her face. Now it was out, she thought. Oh Olaf.

"I did what?" Elsa asked stunned and stared at him in disbelief. Then she looked at Anna and then at Kristoff and put on a wry grin. "Sure. Honestly, guys, I may have lost my memory, but you can't be serious. Magically created! Plus a...snowman, whatever that is. What then would I be if I could do something like that?"

"You've had this ability since you were born and you're the only one who can do things like that," Anna finally admitted. "This blessing was a gift."

Elsa's mouth still remained open and for a few moments she could not say anything in reply. Then she recovered from the shock and said, shaking her head, "I can't believe it. Please pinch me so I can wake up again." Anna took it literally and pinched her upper arm hard.

"Ow!" Elsa rubbed the spot and searched in their faces in front of her, but everyone looked at her only curiously. "You all really mean it." Everyone nodded silently. "A gift... why and from whom? How can you give something like this as a gift at all? Besides, I feel perfectly normal and have no idea how to do that."

"Well, Elsa, that's one of the many reasons why I'm going to bring you back to Arendelle," Anna said, smiling affectionately and stroking her cheek tenderly. "Home."