A/N: I am so sorry for the delay of this chapter (◞‸◟ㆀ) I promise to update faster.
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𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟐 | 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐠𝐨 | 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲
"E-emma... wake up."
He must be the first person to know what death feels like without actually dying. There are thousands of words to describe the word itself, all of it is on the tip of his tongue. Every syllable leaving his tongue tasted so bitter. He felt so lost.
Maybe, he's chewed on candy for far too long that he completely forgot that not everything tasted so sweet.
He wanted to bite his the skin of his knuckles so badly, just to awaken himself from this.. This terrible dream his mind constructed.
Sadly, it's all real.
One thing he knew for sure, his wife is in between his arms, a dainty hand outstretched towards the nightstand with her usual calm smile as she rests after an hour beneath the stars while drinking a cup of chamomile tea.
She is, wasn't she?
Wasn't she?
Why does fate prefer to plunder a life that has not been lived to the fullest yet?
"Emma, please. Open your eyes. I'm not joking."
A warm palm pressed against the unmoving state of her neck, which brought Noah to the truth. The harsh, cold and twisted truth.
She's gone.
S-she's... She's long gone... She's not breathing..
"I-it couldn't be- she wouldn't- EMMA PLEASE!"
Einar discarded the tears threatening to prickle through the corner of his eyes, but he couldn't. He simply couldn't. Not in front of a sight like this. Noah's falling apart, and when he had already fallen, it's going to be hard to gather him back up.
W-why?
"Noah..." Einar chided grimly, "Let go. She's not coming back."
Noah darkly sputtered, "No! I won't leave her! She j-just have to open her eyes!"
Why couldn't they save her?
"She can't. She's gone. Noah, it'll be more painful if we don't leave now."
The redhead constantly kneeled beside his wife's side without a word, biting his lip to conceal the loud wails that could completely break the assistant by the doorway's heart.
Sometimes, the sweetest dreams can shift into a nightmare. Even the wealthiest man can die in a heartbeat.
Stars can die, too.
A person can break.
Promises can be broken.
The most beautiful people always tend to leave unexpectedly in a very premature time.
Noah hated the world for that.
He never did imagine he could be part of the unfortunate, or the miserable, or the suffering. His mind throbbed repeatedly, and he just wished the pain would go numb.
He slowly took hold of her inanimate hand, slender and pale; and so Noah realized that once he steps out of that door, he will have no hand to hold anymore.
He will have nothing to smile about anymore.
He brushed his lips against her cold hand and softly murmured her name like a hymn again and again, as his tears moistened her dead skin.
"Emma. Emma. Emma, please. Emma."
Her name dripped off his lips like bitter medicine.
"Emma, hun?"
"Yes?"
"I don't want to fall asleep."
"Why, darl? You need to make up some energy since you've been pulling off all-nighters lately."
"Then I'd have a nightmare about losing you. Please, don't make me close my eyes."
"Oh, you silly boy, that's not true."
Noah had his reasons. He just didn't expect it to come to life.
"Bring her b-back," Noah demanded tearfully, "PLEASE, BRING HER BACK!"
"Oh, Noah..." Einar sobbed, finally stepping forward and roughly planting his hands on the redhead's coated shoulders, "Let's go. We need to leave."
"E-einar."
"W-what?"
"I can't breathe."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 | 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄 | 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐘𝐀𝐑𝐃
Aiden nervously stepped one foot after the other as his heart thumped against his chest, his breath hitching once he finally laid a boot on the ice rink. Elsa giggled and held out her arms for him to take, which he gratefully accepted before holding on to her wrists gently to maximize his balance over the delicate slope of ice.
"I-i apologize if I don't know how to skate," He blushed in embarrassment, "I didn't really have spare time back then."
You're so cute, Elsa thought adoringly before pulling him more into the rink, lifting a cold hand to his chin, "I'll teach you, don't worry."
"Sure you will," Aiden smiled warmly, "Everyone seems to be having a blast."
"I can tell," Elsa chuckled, skating a little bit further away from the dry ground behind her husband, "Come on, let's go. You'll be a natural in no time."
"You're.. You're seriously teaching me with heels," Aiden gestured down to her pair of stilettos, dumbfounded.
"My love, you're wearing boots," Elsa pointedly replied with a laugh, "Not everyone here is wearing the right gear, and none of them had slipped onto their backside yet."
"Okay, if you say so," Aiden laughed anxiously, letting his wife guide him steadily while he couldn't help but stare into her alluring blue eyes. It felt difficult to focus on her demonstrations.
"Aiden, lover? Are you listening?"
"H-huh, what? Oh, sorry," Aiden sheepishly apologized, "It's... Your eyes."
"What about them?" Elsa left him speechless once more with another one of her sexy smirks. Aiden shook his head like a dog to snap himself out of a hypnotised trance, but of course as expected, he failed.
"Look at me," Elsa demanded with her hands on her hips which left Aiden motionless for a few more seconds. Her sassy side is showing and it's his weakness.
"Gladly," He smiled.
"Glide," Elsa skated away from him a little further, "And pivot."
Aiden nodded and followed his wife's presentation in accordance, shifting his right foot slowly before barely succeeding. Now slightly more confident, he did his former ministration again before...
Elsa gasped in surprise as a sudden invasion of weight toppled over her smaller frame, her lips releasing a startled and muffled gasp once a pair of lips had been pressed against hers by a lucky accident.
Aiden pulled away as soon as he got the chance, blushing madly as he lifted his hard chest away from her slender body, emerald green irises already resembling a silent apology.
Some of the townsfolk had been looking at them for a minute now, quite stunned by their accidental display of affection. They returned to their enjoyment and chuckled quietly to themselves.
Elsa supported herself to sit up with her arms, before wrapping her hand up to her husband's offered one, still flushed in mild embarrassment.
"I-i'm sorry, baby," Aiden scratched his head to hide his shame, "I didn't mean to... Damn my klutzy legs..."
"It's okay," Elsa hid her shy smile with a bow of her head, "It was a nice kiss, anyway," She mumbled the last part dreamily.
"Hey, Aiden! I can teach you," Olaf grinned as he skated to their direction, "I taught Anna and now she's an expert."
"Els?"
"Go ahead," Elsa smiled, "I'll see to your progress."
"Okay," Aiden hesitantly nodded, taking the lively snowman's makeshift twig hand before walking away.
Elsa folded her arms to herself, still astonished by the moment Aiden had fallen on her again just like the first time they met.
She grinned cheekily and skated among the ice for her husband in a playful way.
"Lover? Can I have one more kiss?"
To be continued
for the next chapter...