After the gates slammed shut behind her, Merida had to take a few moments before she could continue walking home. Leaning on the gate, she put a hand to her forehead and groaned quietly. She didn't quite know what to make of this visit. It sure had been interesting, but not something she had expected. Both Anna and Elsa were great people, she already knew that, despite just knowing them for a couple of days, yet there seemed to be kind of a … barrier between them. She hadn't noticed it at first, but the sisters acted way to formal towards each other to have a normal sister relationship. The Scot didn't know what had caused that, and of course it was none of her business, but it didn't stop her from being curious.

She started walking up the street.

The sister's relationship wasn't the only thing weird about this whole thing either. Anna was pretty normal, all in all, despite being adorably clumsy and the fact that she is the mayor's daughter. But Elsa … Elsa was something Merida couldn't quite put her finger on. Elsa, with her snow white hair, her icy blue eyes, her careful demeanor … Elsa, who seemed to have stayed home for most of her life, without much company, judging by her nervousness when it came to people. Elsa, always wearing those gloves, yet she never gave a reason why. She was like Rapunzel, just even more mysterious.

She took a turn for the forest. It was quicker that way.

What had even happened back in there? Feeling the air, it wasn't cold at all. It didn't make any sense, and it made Merida both irritated and excited. She wouldn't deny she had always been a dreamer, and though most things that seemed impossible more than often ended up having a scientific explanation, she had always liked thinking there might be something more. Not that she had any hopes that it would actually be something you could call "magic". But the frost on the window … She didn't know if she should work herself up about that. It was pretty small after all. But, like, it was still pretty warm outside! And Elsa's room was definitely not cold, at least not enough to form frost, and if she wasn't completely wrong, that frost had been on the inside of the window. So what was it? Why had Elsa been in such a hurry to talk about something else? Why had the frost appeared exactly where Elsa's hand had been just seconds before?

Why had Elsa locked herself away all those years?

Shaking her head, she walked out on the road again and looked up to see the long driveway leading up to her house a little up the street. Her mum was probably making dinner by this time, while her father was probably telling the boys one of his stories, that were, though doubtable, true.

Was Elsa some kind of … witch? Merida almost laughed at herself. At least it would have been interesting if she was, but sadly, she doubted that was it. But maybe it was something in that manner? No, it couldn't be, right? Supernatural things is usually just natural things that hasn't been explained yet. Although Merida couldn't think of an explanation herself, there probably was one. Probably. Maybe? Yeah. Besides, when she had told her friends she had seen Wisps, and she totally had, they made fun of her for weeks after.

She started walking up the driveway.

She should stop letting her mind fly like that. She was sixteen, almost seventeen. Sadly, she had to grow up. Elsa had social anxiety, and that was probably why she had kept to herself. Maybe she had experienced something traumatizing that made her like that? Merida frowned. What could've been so traumatizing to make her like that anyway? If she ended up getting to know the girl, maybe she would find out someday.

She shook her head. That was no way to think of it. She wanted to be friends with Elsa, and Anna for that matter, and it wasn't because she wanted to solve this "mystery". Sure, she was curious. But that wasn't the main reason for why she wanted to get close to her. Elsa was, though reserved, a lovely and fun girl to be with, or so it seemed until now. And on top of that, she was extremely good looking. No point in denying that. Like an ice queen brought right out of a fairytale.

She opened the door and walked inside.

Well. She might as well leave the matter, since she wouldn't get any answers anytime soon either way.

"Merida?" her mother, Elinor, called.

"Yeah," Merida answered. "I was visiting a friend." She took off her jacket and shoes and walked towards the dining room.

"You could tell me when you're going to be gone after school, you know?" asked Elinor, and her voice bore a slight tint of sarcasm.

Merida grunted in response. "Mum, I am sixteen years old," she complained. "I don't need to tell you everything!"

Her mother started saying something back, but after years of practice, the redhead had learned that art of completely blocking someone out. In the dining room, her father, Fergus, and her three little brothers, Harris, Hubert and Hamish, was already sitting around the table, ready for dinner. As always, and as predicted, Fergus was in the middle of a dramatic telling, waving his arms excitedly. The boys were listening, well, at least they seemed to be, but knowing them, they were probably planning some sort of trick. God, they did so much shit, but they never got scolded, while her mother supervised her for what felt like 24/7. It was a pain.

Merida sat down without interrupting her father, though he interrupted himself to greet her before he continued talking.

About ten minutes later, Elinor came out to the dining room with a big casserole. She carefully put it down on the table before sitting down herself. Almost immediately, she looked at Merida.

She gasped. "How can you walk outside like that?" she exclaimed. "It's not summer anymore!"

Merida wanted to groan. Loudly. But she kept it in. "Gee, mum, it's okay. I can't handle it." she complained, glowering at her. She just had to point out everything, didn't she?

"Merida, it's September. You can act as tough as you want, but you're never gonna be a snow queen. You'll get sick." Elinor glowered right back at her. The two of them tended to do that.

"The snow queen?" Merida asked mockingly. Ironically, that was what she had called Elsa earlier that day. Or, well, ice queen, but whatever.

"The snow queen!" repeated Fergus, though with much more enthusiasm. "Haven't I told you that story, Merida? It's a fairy tale!"

"You might have, but I can't remember it. You tell a lot of stories, dad."

Fergus chuckled. "I assure you, if I have told you it, you would remember!" Of course, that's what he said about every story. He cleared his throat. "Once upon a time, in a country far away, a young princess was born. Her hair was as white as snow, and her blue eyes shined with the intensity of a thousand snowstorms. At that was because in her heart, she held the power of winter. In her first moments of her life, as her screams filled the castle hallways, snowflakes started descending from the ceiling. At first, her parents was proud: They had gotten a little daughter who would make it snow whenever she wanted!

As the years went, they king and the queen got a second child. She was just like any other child, without any supernatural powers or abilities. The two sisters loved to play together, using the older sister's powers. But one morning, something went wrong. As the sisters were playing, the younger sister was accidentally harmed by the older sister's powers. The King and the Queen, and of course the older sister, were terrified. But they found help in the trolls that lived in the mountains. The trolls saved the younger sister, but they also said the older sister's powers would grow greater and more dangerous. The King decided that the older sister should hide her powers. She locked herself up in her room, and separated herself from everyone except her parents. Including her sister …"

The rest of the story passed in a blur as Merida ate her food. The sisters got separated, they grew up, their parents died, the older sister became queen, her powers got busted, she turned evil and cursed her kingdom to be frozen for eternity, a handsome prince from the southern isles came to their rescue, killed the snow queen and married the younger sister. They lived happily ever after. Just as gruesome as any other fairytale, Merida thought. It also bothered her that it always had to be a man saving the day, and that the princess always ended up marrying. Merida was damn sure that if she had been a princess, she would not want to marry anyone at the age of sixteen.

Later that day, around six, the redhead was out in the garden firing arrows at a target that was actually very far away, even for Merida, when her phone rang. The sudden music made her jump, making her completely miss the target. The arrow flew way past it. With a groan, she picked up the phone.

"What?" she barked, annoyed.

"Wow, hey there, grumpy." It was Hiccup's voice. "What's going on?"

"You made me lose an arrow. It will take me ages to find it."

"Yeah, sure." Hiccup said sarcastically. It wouldn't take her that long. Merida was just lazy. "Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to do something."

Merida could already guess why. "Is your dad being an ass again?"

Hiccup sighed at the other end. "Yeah. Told him about the prom. Of course he flipped. Ah, well, I'm used to it."

Merida snorted. "Sounds like him." she commented. "Well, we can take a ride with Angus, if you want? Explore the forest, maybe. I'm supposed to clean my room, so I don't want to be seen my mum."

"Sure. I'll be over there in ten minutes." Hiccup said. They said goodbye and hung up.

"He just won't let the topic go, you know?" Hiccup complained, sitting behind Merida on Angus. They were aimlessly walking through the trees, but hopefully they would find some place to hang out, with enough space to set up a target and shoot some arrows. Merida had been teaching Hiccup to shoot for quite a while now, and he was starting to get pretty good, if she might say so herself. At first he had been terrible, but Merida could see his potential. And she was right.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal …" Merida murmured. "Some guys like guys, and that's oka-"

Hiccup hit her back. She laughed merrily.

"You're not funny, Merida," Hiccup said, although she could hear that he was smiling.

The two of them were always in some kind of a quarrel, but it was next to never any anger or seriousness involved. It had been like that ever since their fathers had met, got drunk together, and ended up in a bar fight, though they had become friends right away after. Reeling and staggering had they gone home to Hiccup's. Merida had decided she should follow him back home, because Elinor was exhausted after a week of hard work, and that's where she met Hiccup. He had been just a wimp back then, and one of her clearest memories was when the two fathers had started talking about her and Hiccup.

"Your daughter is such a strong little lady," Hiccup's dad, Stoick was his name, had said. "I can she what she got from you!"

"Oh, believe me, she got that strong will from her mother, not me!" Fergus had bellowed, before laughing loudly. Then he had awkwardly coughed as he looked over to Hiccup. "And your son, he is – Well … He is … I'm sure he's good for something-"

Merida knew if he had been sober, he wouldn't have been so rude, but still she had had no tolerance for that kind of behavior. Of course, Elinor was her mother. She had given him a long and wordy rant, putting some sense right back into him there and then. All three of them had been surprised. And after that, Merida and Hiccup started talking, and soon became friends, despite Hiccup's embarrassment.

"Wait, turn here. Have we gone here before?" Hiccup suddenly said, bringing the redhead out of her thoughts. She turned her head towards where Hiccup was pointing, and tilted her head a bit.

"I … don't think so. Let's go." She grinned, and turned Angus towards the new, nearly hidden path. She was fairly sure she hadn't seen it before, which was unlikely, since she had spent a lot of time in this forest. But here it was, and here they were.

They followed the path while Hiccup kept complaining about his father, and Merida gave him some agreeing answers in between his sentences, until they reached a place fit for archery. There, Merida tied Angus to one of the trees, and balanced one of the bottles they had brought on a branch: Ten points if they hit the bottle, twenty of you hit the cork.

"Have you been practicing alone, Hiccup?" Merida asked absently, as she prepared the bow.

"Not really." Hiccup answered, in which the red head gave him a sour look.

"Hic, archery is like – like playing the piano, probably," she said, having never practiced piano playing her whole life. "You gotta practice often, or else you'll never get better!"

Hiccup walked over to her and took the bow from her. Merida placed her hands on her hips and gave him a challenging look, and Hiccup scoffed. "But I have gotten better." he protested.

"Well, if you'd practice more, maybe you'd be … almost half as good as me by now." Merida grinned broadly, and Hiccup hit her in the shoulder playfully before getting to business. He strained the bow and shot, but the arrow flew lamely past the bottle, into the woods.

"Not even close!" Merida laughed, and sat down on a stump, crossing her arms. "You gotta go find that arrow, Hic. I've lost like three in the past week."

Hiccup murmured something as he went looking for it, but she couldn't quite catch what it was. Probably something along the lines of "well that's your fault" or just "yeah, yeah". Either way Merida gave a small chuckle.

The second Hiccup turned his back to her, her thoughts automatically went back to Elsa and her weird behavior. Her biggest question was why the girl hadn't gone to public school until now. Anna had, so why hadn't she? What had made her so anxious all the time? And why was she so secretive? Merida couldn't remember being more intrigued about a person before. There was of course the first few times she had been with Rapunzel, but her – her weirdness was more obvious than Elsa's weirdness. Elsa was just one big mystery, and Merida wanted to know nothing less than everything about her. And besides her behavior, the girl was unusually beautiful. Somehow she managed to be cute and elegant at the same time; just with a slight movement with her eyebrows made her go from an innocent little girl, to a fierce ice queen in a matter of seconds. Merida knew that she would get attention from the boys at school, and a part of her was proud that she had met her first, that she was already friends with her. Because they were friends, right? She hoped so.

"Hey, Merida, are you okay?"

Merida moved her eyes over to Hiccup, who had come back with the arrow. "Yeah, why?"

He shrugged. "You seem distant." he simply said.

She scoffed. "Yeah, I guess. I was at Elsa's place today." She stood up, and took the arrow from him as Hiccup made a questioning expression. She started walking around, playing with the arrow as she talked. "And she … Well, she and Anna is sort of tense. I don't know why, but they are. And Elsa is – Elsa is like, really mysterious." She paused, and a grin made its way to her face. "It's so exciting."

"Exciting in a good or a bad way?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't know yet!" the redhead answered, picking up the bow. "And that's what makes her interesting! I have to know her." She strained the bow, and let go just a second later. The arrow shot through the air, digging into a tree, and took the cork with it. She started walking towards it. "It's like Rapunzel, but imagine it like this: Rapunzel is like a treasure chest – We know it's something in the chest, but we don't have the key. While Elsa is the whole adventure! We have to go out looking for the chest, without knowing if there even is one, but I know it is! She's a fairytale, and I intend to finish it." She examined where the arrow had hit, and saw that it had taken the cork with it. It was smashed between the tree and the arrow.

"Aren't you a romantic," Hiccup said sarcastically. "Bull's eye?"

"Hell yeah," Merida said, and took the arrow back. "Will you get another bottle?"

"Sure."

She walked back into the stub after handing the bow to Hiccup again. He had to fetch arrows another time before he hit anything, and when he did, it was just the tree, not the bottle, and definitely not the cork. Merida laughed at him, though he wasn't too bad. He was better than Rapunzel, but not better than Astrid, who seemed like a natural. Of course, not as good as Merida. Yes, the redhead was sort of a narcissist when it came to archery.

The sun had started setting when Merida's phone rang. She cursed when she saw that it was Elinor, though she didn't dare to not pick up.

"Hey, mum," she started slowly. She had forgotten something, surely.

"Weren't you supposed to clean the dishes, and your room today?" Elinor barked.

Merida mouthed another swear. "Yes, sorry, I forgot," she said, and sighed. "But I'm out with Hiccup right now! Can't I do it tomorrow?"

"That's what you said yesterday too. Come home right now, or you can forget to go out in the weekend."

"But we've-"

"No buts, Merida. You come home right now."

Merida groaned. "Fine!" she hissed, and hang up. She turned to Hiccup with a deep frown on her face, and Hiccup sighed. They had gone through this many times before. "I have to go. But if you want to continue for a bit, just come back to my house with Angus and my stuff, alright?"

"Sure, but you can take Angus with you," Hiccup said, sending the horse a skeptical look.

Merida scoffed. "It's not that hard. You've done it before." she argued. "And will you able to carry everything back?"

"Yes, Merida, I am not that weak," he said, and rolled his eyes.

"Not anymore, no," Merida grinned, as untied Angus and climbed up on him. "It's a lot to get used to. Oh well, then I'll take Angus. Talk to you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, bye," he murmured, and gave a half-hearted wave.

It was dark when Hiccup decided it was time to go home. He agreed with Merida when she said archery was a great way to get out some frustration, while still giving you time to think. Also, he was happy with the progress he had made today. Merida was also right when she said he needed to practice more, but he wasn't going to admit that unless he had to. Merida was actually right about a lot of things, but he didn't want to give her that satisfaction.

He opened his bag and started through the broken bottles in it, and just as he was about to take the string of the bow, a weird sound, as if something big had flown over him, made him look up, alarmed. Above him was thousands of stars, shimmering on a pitch-black background. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Had he imagined it? It was dark, and he was standing alone in a deep forest. It was just natural that his mind played tricks on him. But that sound had seemed so-

What was that? Was it anything at all? Just for a moment, it had seemed like the stars were fading away, spot by spot, but when he looked again, everything was back to normal. What was going on? His heartbeat sped up, and his hold on the bow tightened. Shaking, he put an arrow on the bow. Better to prepared than not, no? His eyes darted to the shadows around him, though the feeling in his gut told him he should look up. So he did, and-

A small shriek escaped him. Something big and dark and probably very, very dangerous was coming right at him. He didn't have time to think. He aimed at the thing and shot, before stumbling backwards. Something that could almost sound like a scream, only not at all, filled the air, and he was sure he saw something fall through the air. A distant thump confirmed his suspicions.

The boy remained where he sat, breathing heavily. His heart pumped so fast he was afraid it would go right through his chest. His eyes were as round as golf balls, and his mouth suddenly felt like he hadn't drunk anything for days. His looked around for more dark nightmare monsters, but he couldn't see nor hear anything. What was that? He let out a small whimper, and shook his head. Was he dreaming? He had to. It certainly felt like it, right now.

His legs felt like jelly when he stood up, and he had to lean against a tree before he managed to walk normally. He grabbed the bow again, along with the arrows, and looked around. What should he do now? Go home and pretend like nothing happened? That would be the safest choice, but … He bit his lip. What if he had done something horrible. Oh god, what if he had killed someone? He couldn't exactly see how the thing he had seen, or thought he had seen, could have been a human, but maybe he had eaten something funny, and he was hallucinating? It was kind of farfetched, but what could it have been anyway? Everything about this damn situation was farfetched.

He swallowed. Okay, he had to go into the woods and find out what had happened. Maybe it was … like a really big bird, and maybe it was an endangered species that was illegal to shoot. Then he would definitely be in trouble, and since it was Merida's arrow, maybe she would get in trouble too, because of him? He had to check it out.

With his hand tightly wrapped around the bow, and the arrows fastened around his waist, he started making his way towards where he thought the thing had landed. Though he was in an unknown part of the forest, he thought he could navigate pretty well, so he wouldn't get lost. Hopefully. He should have brought a flashlight, but he did have his cellphone. It didn't do much good, but at least he would know if he was about to fall into a pond or … a magic endless void or something.

After walking for what felt like forever, and after stepping into a small pond of mud, completely ruining his shoes, he heard something again. The sound wasn't like anything he had heard before, but it didn't sound good. Like something getting strangled, or preparing for attack? He really couldn't tell. His mind was yelling at him to run away, and he actually really wanted to do exactly that, but at the same time, this wasn't something that happened everyday. It was exciting. But also so incredibly terrifying.

Another step forward and Hiccup stumbled in a root, before tumbling down a small hill, letting out a surprised yelp. He almost crashed into a big rock before his stopped himself and groaned loudly. "This day could be better …" he murmured as he stood up. Then, just a second after, he heard the terrifying growling-like sound, but this time it was much, much closer.

Hiccup's breath got caught in his throat. Slowly took one step backwards, before he stopped again. He had come all this way for a reason, hadn't he? Even more carefully he starting making his way around the rock, and what he saw was a narrow, hidden path down to a sort of crater in a clearing. And what he saw there was- What was it? The dark around him made it hard to see, but there was something. Something dark, making sounds as it flopped around in the crater. Was it unable to get up? It almost seemed a little desperate. Hiccup didn't dare to move. He didn't dare to breathe. This wasn't some kind of bird, was it? It was so big, and dark, and alien. But what was it then?

Shaking, he brought his cell phone up to light on the thing, but it was too weak to actually see anything. So instead he started walking down the path, between rocks and bushes. His breath came out in short, silent gasps. Every muscle in his body was tense. He just had to be careful: Maybe if he didn't make a sound, the thing wouldn't hear or see him. Unless it could see in the darkness. That would have been inconvenie-

He let out another surprised shout, this time because where the ground beneath him suddenly disappeared. He landed painfully on his feet, before he fell on his knees, giving a small whimpering noise as the pain shot through him. He looked around himself, scared out of his mind, and the first thing he saw was two big, green piercing eyes coming towards him at an amazing speed.

Earlier that day, Rapunzel and Astrid was sitting lazily on one of the harbor's pier, doing not much in particular. The sun was setting and the air was getting cold. Astrid had her arm around Rapunzel's shoulder, and Rapunzel was leaning her head against Astrid's chest.

"I'm tired," Astrid mumbled.

"Why is that?" Rapunzel asked.

"I don't know," She yawned before continuing. "I'm just always tired, for some reason."

Silenced settled between them. It was usually like this when they were alone: They had a small conversation, usually not a very important one, before they went quiet, just enjoying each other's company. It wasn't an awkward type of silence. It was warm and comfortable. And since both Astrid and Rapunzel had a tendency to work themselves up if the situation was just moderately exciting or stressful, it was quite relaxing to just sit around.

"Do you think they found out yet?" Rapunzel murmured, shifting slightly. Astrid let her fingers brush lightly through her hair.

"Found out about what?" she asked.

"About us."

Astrid licked her lips. "I don't know," she said. "We've been quite obvious lately. They'll probably realize soon, so we might as well tell them."

"I don't know …" Rapunzel sat up, to Astrid's dismay. "What if they won't approve?"

Astrid scoffed. "Don't be silly," she said, nudging the other softly. "They're our friends. Well- I don't know about Anna and Elsa, of course. Especially Elsa. I'm not too sure about her, to be honest."

Rapunzel gave her a sour look. "Astrid." she scolded. "Elsa just started school. She's probably just nervous."

"Why, is it weird that I sort of see a story repeating itself?" She smirked at the other girl.

Rapunzel blushed. "Don't be so loud about it," she said, bringing her hand absently to her hair. "At least I started school when I was twelve. And what do you even mean? What's so special about Elsa?"

Astrid gave a small chuckle. "When you say it like that you sound awfully jealous," she commented, before Rapunzel smacked her shoulder, and she laughed again. "Sorry, sorry … Uh, well. Not so much, really, It's just weird that she started going to school this late. And she's so quiet and nervous all the time."

"Like I said, she just started school. It's normal being nervous. I was nervous." Rapunzel argued.

"Yeah, but Punz, you aren't the most normal person you can find around here. Are you saying Elsa has magic hair as well?"

This time she pushed her. "I said don't be so loud about it!"

"Relax, there's nobody here!" Astrid replied, and laughed as she fell backwards. She didn't bother to get up, and after lying there for a few seconds, Rapunzel joined her on the ground.

"I guess …" Rapunzel started, before hesitating. "I mean, if there is something with her, which there's probably not because what is the chance that two girls with magical powers live in the same small town like this, but if she has something to hide, we will not bother her about it. Ok? I know how that is, so no, don't do that."

"But Rapunzel-"

"But Astrid!" Rapunzel interrupted. Her tone was strict. It was amazing how she could so easily go from sounding sweet and innocent to sounding like a mother scolding her children. "You're lucky that you know about me, even. And I had to tell you, but I didn't want to, because I thought you would think I was like a monster or something, but at the same time, I trust you, so it was sort of fine – But Elsa doesn't seem to trust anyone. So we let her come to us, and if she doesn't, that's that." She gave Astrid a determined look. "That is that," she repeated harshly.

Astrid groaned. "Fine." she mumbled.

"But," Rapunzel said. "We're not going to jump to any conclusions. She's probably just a nervous girl."

"Think what you want." Astrid said. "How is it that I am the dreamer and you are the realist now? Usually it's the other way around."

Rapunzel giggled childishly at that, before she leaned over the other girl and kissed her softly on her lips. "I'm glad you found out." she murmured. "I know it doesn't always seem like it, but I am."

Astrid smiled up at her. "I know," she said, before raising her eyebrows. "Though I rarely see you use your powers, so it's not really that big of a deal."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. "I'll use it when I have to," she countered.

"Well, uh," Astrid said, as she carefully moved Rapunzel away and pulled up her pants on her right leg. "The other days when I was running to catch the bus, I fell and hurt my knee, so it's sort of-"

Rapunzel made a small noise in the back of her throat. On Astrid's knee was a relatively big wound. It had already started healing, so it probably weren't as bad as it had been when it was fresh. "You want me to heal that puny scratch?" Rapunzel mocked.

"Punz, you wound me." Astrid laughed, and slapped her shoulder. "Please?"

Rapunzel hesitated. "I don't … Mother would kill me." she said quietly.

"She won't find out," Astrid said, and moved her hands to Rapunzel's cheeks. She tipped her head upwards, so that their eyes met. Astrid had never told, but she hated Rapunzel's mother. She saw right through her games and manipulations, but she didn't dare to tell her girlfriend about it, in case she got mad or hurt. Not right now, at least. She saw how dark her eyes got every time Gothel came up in a conversation, and she hated that, so much. "She won't. I promise."

Rapunzel looked at her for a few seconds, before she nodded. "Okay," she said. "I guess. But what if somebody else sees?"

"Uh-" Astrid took her jacket, and through it over the other's head, and then Rapunzel's jacket over herself, so that they made a sort of blanket fort around themselves. They had to sit very close, but that wasn't unusual anyway. Rapunzel's vanilla perfume filled her nostrils. She reached behind her and pulled her heavy braid over her shoulder. Even when the tip of it touched the ground in front of them, it curved all the way down to the ground behind them too. Rapunzel took the tip and placed it over Astrid's knee. "Okay …" she murmured, and closed her eyes. Her brows furrowed in an adorably concentrated manner. She breathed softly in before she started singing:

"Heal what has been hurt,

Change the fate's design,

Save what has been lost,

Bring back what once was mine,

What once was mine."

Her voice was soft, and warm. She never missed a note, nor a beat. It was obvious that she had sung that song many times before, yet Astrid wanted to hear that melody over and over again. Well, if it was Rapunzel singing, it could be any song, and it would still be perfect. A warm feeling spread from her knee and throughout her body, and she leaned her forehead against Rapunzel's. When she was done, she looked down on her knee. The wound was completely gone. She knew it would happen, but it was still wondrous to see.

"I love you," Astrid mumbled, and kissed the other girl playfully on her nose.

Rapunzel giggled again. "I love you mo-" She stopped herself. "I mean, too. I love you too."

"I know." Astrid said, and grinned. They let the jackets fall to the ground again. "Should we get going? It's getting a little cold."

"Yeah, sure." Rapunzel said, and wobbled to her feet. She was painfully thin, Astrid thought. Though she thought that was just how her body was.

Astrid got to her feet as well, and put on her jacket. Rapunzel did the same, before they started walking back to land, hand in hand.

A lone figure was looking up at the moon. He wasn't doing anything in particular, though watching the moon had become … some kind of a hobby, over the years. He had gotten very good at guessing how long it was until it was full, and at the same time which month it was. He couldn't exactly tell the date, but at least it was something. And either way, dates didn't matter to him so much. He knew when and where he had to be places.

Stretching his arms towards the sky, he yawned, before letting them fall to his sides. It was already white and ice cold here, so he could move on to the next place that needed a little winter air. But he kind of felt like doing something else. He had a friend whom he knew was doing something challenging, and she could probably need some support. Not that he didn't believe in her, in fact he was the one who convinced her to do the thing, to go out and see the world.

It was only almost October, but maybe winter could come a little earlier to Northlyn.

AN

So, for you non-northerners: I'm basing this fictional country's climate off the climate I'm used to, and that is Norway's climate. And it gets dark very quickly. Since it's almost October here, I guess it would become dark around ? six seven ? something like that. My point is, Hiccup wasn't out for forever. Also, no Elsida this chapter, BUT I have some ideas for the next chapter hohoho. Also, Rapunstrid! I like them a lot.