I'm Afraid of What I'm Risking if I Follow You

Part 12

Elsa could see the glow of fire from the Northuldra tribe, could see they were all still awake. Still, she wasn't sure of the time; it could be the middle of the night, for all she knew. She'd have to ask Yelena when they settled in.

But wait a minute, wasn't that...

Oh no. Had it been three days already?

When they pulled up to the village, seemingly everyone came to greet them in relief: Ryder, Honeymaren, Yelena... and then Olaf, Kristoff, and, of course, Anna.

"You're alive!" Ryder cried. "We were so worried!"

Elsa said nothing as she dismantled the Nokk. Once Hans was standing, she turned to him and slapped his cheek, hard.

"I deserved that," he admitted, sighing.

Still silent, Elsa took the Nokk by the rein, leading him out to the river. Behind her, she could hear the confused conversations starting, the Northuldra surrounding Hans to ask what had happened, why they were soaked. She bet Yelena was probably already handing him a blanket, getting him warmer clothes. Even Bruni followed Elsa, trying to make sense of all of this.

Elsa defrosted the Nokk once they were at the river, but instead of leaving, he stood before her, waiting for her to say something.

"What?" she sighed, petting his nose. "I did what I had to, and so did you. Thank you, again."

He shook his head, as if to disagree.

"What?" she asked again, throwing her hands up. Maybe she was taking her frustrations out on those around her, but Hans? Why the hell did he have to be her...

Well, her first kiss, even if he was frozen?

The Nokk shook his head again. Elsa could feel what he meant to convey, but she frowned instead, crossing her arms. "You only need him because you want to interact with him on our own," she said stubbornly, and looked down at Bruni, who stood near the edge of the river. "You, too."

Bruni pouted, backing away from her.

"Well, that's one way to talk to the spirits."

"Anna..." Elsa turned, sighing. "I'm sorry, I..." But her brow furrowed. "Has it been three days?"

"Well..." Anna admitted, making a face.

"Anna!" Elsa tried to chastise, glad as she was to see her. Then it must have been the same night. "I said only if it's been three days! You have a kingdom to run!"

"Well, with the way Gale was trailing, like she was drunk, I definitely figured something was off," she explained. "I just... knew you were in danger again. Besides, General Mattias and Kai have everything under control for now. What happened?"

Sighing, Elsa realized she couldn't stay mad at Anna, not when she was already here. What could she do if she stayed angry, anyway? And she'd hug her sister, but... she was still rather wet. "When we came back to the village, I was too tired, and didn't defrost the Nokk," she explained. "Hans took him, made his own raft, and sailed to Ahtohallan on his own. The spirits were in complete chaos."

Anna held up Mother's scarf, presumably swiped from her hut while waiting for her return. Even if Elsa wasn't cold, wearing it still made her feel better. "Where was he?" she asked lowly.

"In the..." Before she could finish, reliving the cold, feeling it again... It wasn't about Hans, but she burst into tears at the remembrance that now she'd been frozen twice down there, cold and fearful.

"Oh, Elsa..." Anna wiped a stray tear, taking her sister's hands. "I'm sorry you had to go back down there."

Bruni sided up to her ankle, also as fearful of what had happened.