Elsa sat at her desk in her study, staring blankly at a piece of correspondence. She was trying in vain to resume progress on the paperwork that had piled up, but her heart just wasn't in it. All she could do was think about how much she already missed Lars, and how much she regretted not admitting her feelings when she had the chance. She wouldn't hesitate to tell him now, if only she could. She knew the ship she had chartered to return Lars to Weselton should have already sailed.

Elsa turned to look out though the open bay window at the harbor. She hoped that perhaps the ship had been delayed and was still moored at the dock. To her dismay, she saw only empty docks in the harbor. Elsa sighed and gazed wistfully at the blue summer sky. She wasn't quite sure how much time passed before she decided she should try to work and turned back to her desk. Elsa looked down and tried to start reading again, but she still couldn't muster any more engagement than an vacant stare.

There was a knock at the door, and Elsa looked up. The door opened a crack, and Anna peeked in.

"Elsa?" Anna asked.

"Hi, Anna," Elsa replied despondently.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked as she entered the study.

"I'm fine," Elsa replied with a sigh.

"Are you sure?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Elsa said, managing an insincere smile in an attempt to placate Anna. Elsa knew Anna meant well, but as much as she loved her sister, she just didn't feel like talking.

"So, anyway," Anna said, holding up a pair of ice skates, "I came to ask if you wanted to go ice skating in the courtyard."

"Don't you have a honeymoon to get back to?" Elsa asked Anna.

"Kristoff and I decided we'll leave in the morning," Anna replied. "Considering how the honeymoon has gone so far, we thought we could use a little break from it."

"Yeah..." Elsa said with just a hint of a genuine smirk before turning serious again. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Anna."

"It's okay, Elsa," Anna said. "None of it was your fault, and you came to our rescue, just like I always knew you would."

"I just wish you could have had the honeymoon you deserve," Elsa said, "free of any, you know, life-threatening peril."

"Yeah, I guess, but you have to admit, it will be a great story to tell," Anna said. "So, do you want to go ice skating?"

"I don't know, Anna," Elsa said. "I don't really feel..."

"Oh, come on!" Anna interrupted. "It'll be fun! Trust me!"

"Anna..." Elsa sighed.

"Okay, listen," Anna said. "After all we've been through, I just wanted to do something with you. You know how persistent I can be. I'll just keep asking until you say yes."

"All right," Elsa relented with a sigh.

Anna immediately took Elsa's hand and pulled her to her feet. Before Elsa could even react, Anna had already hustled her away from the desk and out the study door into the corridor.

"Whoa, Anna! Slow down!" Elsa exclaimed as she tried to drag her feet. "What's your hurry?"

"Oh, I don't know," Anna replied. "I guess I'm just excited."

"Excited?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah," Anna said. "I'm excited to go skating with you."

"Right," Elsa said with skepticism.

Even though Elsa set a slower walking pace through the castle, Anna still pulled her by the hand, subtly trying to hurry her along. Elsa could tell something was going on. Anna was fidgeting with excitement. Elsa just didn't know why, but she knew it wasn't merely for skating. She and Anna skated in the courtyard often, but it usually wasn't Anna's suggestion, as she wasn't a strong skater and usually needed Elsa to encourage her.

As they made their way through the palace, Anna and Elsa crossed paths with Olaf, who was absent-mindedly wandering the corridors.

"Hi, Anna! Hi, Elsa!" said the cheerful snowman.

"Hi, Olaf," Anna and Elsa said in unison.

"What are you doing?" Olaf asked.

"Anna wants to go ice skating in the courtyard," Elsa replied.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Olaf said excitedly. "I love ice skating. Can I come too?"

"Of course you can, Olaf," Elsa said.

"Yay!" Olaf shouted, running ahead of them.

"Olaf, slow down!" Anna called out. "Wait for us."

Anna picked up the pace, dragging Elsa along with her as she tried to catch the snowman. Elsa wondered why Anna was concerned about Olaf running to the courtyard ahead of them. They finally caught up to Olaf just as they reached the front doors of the palace.

"We're here," Anna said, seemingly stating the obvious for no reason. Elsa thought she seemed nervous for some reason.

"Yes, we are," Elsa agreed, perplexed by Anna's strange behavior.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Olaf asked as he opened the doors to the courtyard.

Elsa turned to look out at the courtyard and was taken by surprise by the sight that greeted her. Her face suddenly lit up with elation as her heart raced. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Lars!" Elsa exclaimed.

Elsa bounded out into the courtyard where Lars stood waiting alongside Kristoff and Sven and practically leapt into his open arms.

"You're still here!" Elsa exclaimed in ecstatic surprise.

"Anna and Kristoff convinced me not to go," Lars explained with a smile.

"We saw you on the dock, and we could tell how you felt about each other," Anna said. "We had to do something."

"Anna told me how heartbroken you looked after we said goodbye, and I felt the same way," Lars said. "I didn't want to leave. I love you."

"I love you, too," said Elsa.

Elsa and Lars looked deep into each other's eyes as they finally found themselves in the moment they had been dreaming about but had feared would never come. Elsa stretched her arms over his shoulders to pull Lars close. Lars reached out, his hand slightly trembling with anticipation as he gently touched Elsa's cheek. At long last, unable to wait a second longer, they pulled toward each other and closed their eyes as their lips met in a passionate kiss. It was more than either of them had ever imagined as they each experienced new feelings of love they had never known before. When the kiss finally ended, Lars and Elsa opened their eyes and looked at each other, both smiling blissfully.

"I'm so happy you're staying," Elsa said, having a sudden realization, "but what about the trade agreement? I know how important that was to you."

"Anna assured me that the ship's captain could deliver it just as well as I could, so I wrote a letter to my uncle, telling him that I have tentatively accepted your terms on his behalf, as Weselton's new official representative to Arendelle."

"Can you do that?" Elsa asked.

"I actually have no idea," Lars replied, "but Anna pointed out that the Duke is really in no position to refuse."

"This is incredible," Elsa said. "Anna, I can't believe you did this."

"Actually," Anna said, "it was Kristoff's idea."

"Kristoff?" Elsa said, looking at the ice harvester in surprise. "You did this?"

"I once tried to deny the way I felt about Anna and I almost walked away because I was afraid she didn't feel the same way," Kristoff explained. "I couldn't let anyone else make the same mistake, especially not someone as important to me as you."

Tears of joy welled up in Elsa's eyes as she was overwhelmed with emotion. She ran to Kristoff and, for the first time ever, hugged him tightly. Kristoff embraced his sister-in-law, and began to fight back tears of his own as he realized he had finally made a connection with her. There was no longer any doubt that she had accepted him, and Kristoff finally felt like he was part of their family.

"Thank you," Elsa said, showing no sign of letting Kristoff go.

"Well, I'm always a fan of warm hugs, but weren't we going to go skating?" Olaf asked.

Elsa released Kristoff and turned to Olaf.

"Absolutely!" Elsa said, and with a wave of her hand she turned the courtyard into a skating rink.

"Yay!" Olaf shouted excitedly, leaping out onto the ice.

Kristoff picked up Anna, placing her on Sven's back as he relieved her of the skates she had been carrying.

"Allow me," Kristoff said, reaching for Anna's feet to replace her shoes with the skates.

"Oh, by all means," Anna said playfully.

As Anna, Kristoff and Sven took to the ice with Olaf, Elsa looked to Lars. With a sudden flourish in his direction, Elsa transformed his boots into ice skates.

"Now, let's see if you can skate!" Elsa said as she gleefully pulled Lars across the ice.

Lars promptly broke away from Elsa and skated in a circle around her.

"Actually, I can skate," Lars said as he glided to a stop. He reached out to Elsa. "Shall we?"

Elsa took his hand and Lars pulled her close and surprised her with another welcome kiss. As she melted into his arms, Elsa couldn't imagine a more perfect moment.

THE END

Thank you for reading! I hope the ending was satisfying. I also want to thank everyone who wrote reviews; I really do appreciate them. This story took a lot longer to write than I thought it would when I started, and I might not have been able to see it through without all the reviews, follows and favorites to keep me motivated. Thank you once again.