My dear Elsa,

It has only been a week since I left you, and every minute away from your side feels like an hour, every hour a day, and every day a month, every week a year…

Ha, I can see you raising an eyebrow at me with your lips pursed in that "I am not impressed" expression you do so well whenever I tease you. You never were one for exaggeration and ostentatious displays, which I think I should remedy once I get back—yes, I can see you narrowing your eyes at me now. That makes me even more determined for you to get used to it.

What? I am an affectionate man, as you have seen for yourself when it was just the two of us. You have no idea how difficult it was to keep my hands off you back then when we are in the same room during the day, when we are attending to our respective duties and responsibilities. Especially when you lower your head a bit with that small frown creasing your brow as you deliberate on possible outcomes and decisions.

Even before we became lovers, I already admired your sharp intellect and your capacity for leadership. You have a way of getting straight to the matter at hand to arrive at a well-thought decision that would benefit your people. Your heart and mind are as one when it came to your people's benefit, and your hard work has paid off. When I did my patrols around town I sometimes overheard people saying how lucky they are living under your rule.

I count myself a lucky man indeed because you rule me completely, body and soul.

Remember when we first met? Now that the truth is out, I am relieved I can finally speak to you about our shared past. After you led the great chocolate raid of your cellar and escaping from possible captivity in Gerda's hands, I remember thinking you have the potential to become Arendelle's greatest queen. And I was right.

I served you as your Captain of the Guard because I believed in you. I realize now that I worked hard to achieve that position because I wanted to become a person you could rely on. I had no idea I would fall in love with you, and that you would return my love in equal—or even greater measure, because you have fought hard and suffered much for us to be together—but even without that I still would have devoted my life to you. Simply because you are a good person, and a ruler who deserved her people's loyalty.

I may have been born a prince of Asham, but I am an Arendellian at heart.

I tell you this because I've seen you several times in the past staring up at your parents' portrait in the great hall. You must have thought you were alone, because you would not have allowed anyone to see the doubt etched so clearly on your face. I wanted to make myself known back then and tell you that you were doing your parents proud, but I suppose you would have taken it then as an intrusion. So I am telling you now—better late than never, yes?

I wish to pour everything out to you, but you know how I am with seasickness—I told you about it while we ate the chocolate in the cellar, remember? If you cannot, I will gladly refresh your memory when I get back.

To think I wanted to spirit you away on a schooner and sail the coasts and fjords of Arendelle. When I told you that I hoped I had outgrown my seasickness. Would you be amenable to spend a week up north instead, by the lake? Perhaps you could also teach me how to skate if that does come to pass—I would like to learn, so that I may skate with you in winter.

Anyway, I do not wish for my dinner to decorate my letter to you, and so I hastily close this out by saying you are in my thoughts, always.

I love you, Elsa.

Yours, now and forever,

Revel

Elsa reread Revel's letter for the fifth time, savoring each word and hearing them spoken in her head as if he were right beside her. To say that she missed him terribly was too mild to describe the fierce longing she felt for him. She had grown too used to his presence that during the first month he was away she almost expected him to jump out of the shadows of that alcove where they...had a brief encounter during that fateful Spring Trade Summit every time she passed by it.

That alcove is more than just a spot of a past tryst, she thought, sifting through her memories as she leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes. She was in her study when the letter from Revel arrived, several months after he left.

That statue in the alcove had witnessed our first meeting as children, then our next one when I was fifteen and he a new guard, and then...that. I just hope my ancestor isn't spinning in her grave over what she had witnessed me and Revel do when we grew up, Elsa mused, shaking her head in wry amusement.

She wondered if she should pen a letter to respond. It took that long for his letter to arrive—what if he missed her response?

"Well, can't hurt to try. If—no, when he comes back and he doesn't get the letter, I'll just tell him what I wrote," she said, reaching toward her drawer to get a fresh sheet of paper. Elsa tried not to think of the 'if' she had uttered earlier.

He will come back. He has to. But it's been so long. What if...

Elsa took a deep breath to compose herself. "Stop it," she muttered, taking an inkwell from the drawer as well. She dipped the tip of her quill into the ink and wrote "Dear Revel" before realizing she couldn't think of a thing to say.

I...damn, this is hard. You have been writing too many letters couched in diplomatic language that writing from the heart is an alien concept to you. She sighed and scratched the back of her left ear, a habit Revel told her she did when she was annoyed with something and her guard was down.

She eyed the stack of papers on her left, pursing her lips as deliberated whether or not to plow through them first before writing to Revel. A gentle breeze coming from her open window ruffled her hair, prompting her to look to the right and see it was a beautiful sunny day.

Elsa decided she had been cooped up in her study for far too long it that was driving her a little stir-crazy.

"Maybe a brisk walk would help clear my head," she said aloud. "I'll even ask Anna to come along with me. I'm sure she and the twins will appreciate the outing." Nodding resolutely, she placed her palms on her desk and started to stand when the brand on her shoulder flared to life, causing her to clutch at it with alarm.

"What the—" Elsa sputtered before her eyes widened. The brand pulsed urgently underneath her fingers, and with each pulse one thought reverberated through her mind.

He's here.

Her heart soared that she gasped and grew dizzy from the sudden euphoria. But such was Elsa's need to see her beloved again that nothing else mattered. She ignored Gerda and Kai calling after her as she tore out of her study, running as if she had wings on her feet.

With each step, Elsa knew for certain that once they were together again, she would never, ever let him go.

Note: And so ends Snippets. Again, I would like to thank JEGlass for letting me write this. Without FTFTIN, I never would have written something I would be completely satisfied with. It's a huge thing for me since I have never finished a project outside of work. This means so much to me, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you also to andforever-211 for being the first to review Snippets, as well as encouraging me to write more of it. The three J's: jessica988, jenniferjuni-per, and jupiter235. sardinecake, miss anly, and hogwarts-is-frozen. Um... *flails* I'm so sorry if I forgot anyone! If I did, you know who you are, and that you have my deepest and sincerest gratitude.