When Elsa first awoke after the longest, most satisfying sleep she had gotten in quite a while, it had occurred to her that arms were around her waist. Warmth engulfed her entire body, and she looked down to see heavily bandaged arms and hands.

Turning her head slightly, just to peek at the form molded into her back, she couldn't help but beam as she saw Ylva's half-lidded, warm brown eye look back at her drowsily. "Why're you up...? Go back to-" She cut off to yawn, rolling onto her back and moving to stretch, only to give a strangled yelp and wince.

Brief panic fluttered through the fair queen as her thief rolled onto her back and whined low under her breath. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," She mumbled, albeit a bit weakly, as she reached out to touch Elsa's arm. "I'm fine... I... water...?"

Grabbing the glass of water on her bedside table, Elsa turned to help her thief up only to blink as she realized the girl was already up, although clutching her middle as though in pain. "What hurts?" She asked in concern, brows curving up as she watched the smaller girl whimper.

Ylva gave a wry smile and ground out between clenched teeth. "What hurts...?" Snorting, she simply breathed, "Everything." Catching Elsa's despairing look, however, she gritted her teeth and relaxed her face a bit, giving a somewhat forced smile. "Don't-don't worry about it... I've been through worse."

She couldn't help but find that hard to believe... "Have you?"

"Nope." The scarred girl laughed, only to grimace and give a strangled noise of pain. "Ow, ow, ow..." Her mismatched eyes met Elsa's blues, and she quickly stifled any more noises of pain, clearing her throat before looking pointedly at the cup in the fair queen's hand.

Shooting her another worried look, the blonde helped her drink her fill before setting the cup back down and turning back to face Ylva, who suddenly seemed to find her twiddling thumbs to be the most interesting thing in the world.

"Elsa...?" She faltered, eyes flicking off to the side as she nodded slightly, only no one but the queen was in the room. Glancing back at the snow queen, she inaudibly muttered a question under her breath.

"I need to hear you before I can answer your question." Elsa reminded her amusedly.

Ylva bit her lip and dared a glance into the blonde's eyes before shifting, only to wince. "Will you, um... will you help me do something...?"

The fair queen giggled into her hand before quirking an eyebrow. "Bathroom...?"

Blinking, the girl stopped and stared for a few seconds. Her brows drew together in confusion, only to jump into her hairline as she flushed and coughed, "I-I... Well... that, too, but that wasn't what I was going to ask." She flashed a meek smile before asking tentatively, "Will you help me... help me set Legend free...?"

And just like that, the small smile that had been on Elsa's face melted off. "Ylva..."

"Legend doesn't deserve what he's going through!" She protested feebly, flinching as the paler's face grew stern. "It's not his fault that he-!" She winced and faltered. "Okay, maybe it was his fault, but he still doesn't deserve what he's being forced to go through."

"He deserves everything he is going through." Elsa frowned. "Ylva... he put you through so much, and you just want to let him get away with it, no punishment whatsoever?"

The smaller puffed out her cheeks as she sighed before giving a growl that ended in a whine. "He's not- he hasn't- I don't..." Her shoulders slumped. "Elsa... I have a good centuries worth of memories that aren't mine, and I'm not even sure if it's real or if I'm just... just losing my mind, or just really tired...?" A strangled groan left her as she leaned against the paler. "I don't even know why I'm so tired... I can usually go through a day on a solid four or five hours with a few short naps in between, but I've been sleeping so much and I may be dying..."

As the colour in Elsa's face drained, Ylva gave a sheepish smile.

"Too soon...? Sorry." Blushing a bit, she averted her eyes to her lap. Her head cocked to the side suddenly and her torn brow raised as she muttered, not to Elsa, "Oh. Possessions and blood loss, right... I guess I can see how that would drain me."

The blonde watched with a mix of concern and half-hearted amusement. "I'm... assuming that you are talking to Legend...?"

Her head jerked up, and she blinked before flashing a sheepish smile. "Erm... I... yes...? Sorry. I suppose you wouldn't like that..." She reached up and ran her hand through her hair, only wincing a bit with the action. "He's just... he's been rather talkative this morning. And not his usual brand of talk, where he tries to make me..." Ylva trailed off and grimaced, clearing her throat before she tried again. "Not his usual brand of talk, but just... normal talking. Like what Mawwi and I used to do. That's... why I was already up, actually." She looked up and noticed Elsa's look, and flushed before finally mumbling, "R-right, uh... can you... can we... bathroom?"

Rolling her eyes yet lips twitching up, the snow queen nodded. "Of course."

Ylva flashed her trademark smile, the one that looked as though it were effortless to produce, and it occurred to Elsa that it had been quite a while since she had seen it completely as is; without relief or pressing worry or strain from trying to suppress reactions to pain...

And she silently vowed to herself that that one smile would come about as often as it had before all of this.

Apparently, the small walk to the bathroom had given the girl a boost of energy, and she limped with a purpose on her own to Elsa's room despite the queen's insistences on helping.

As Ylva stumbled into the room, she called back to the queen distractedly. "Knife. Where is my knife? And my cloak...?" She paused mid-step and glanced down, only to double take and make a bewildered noise. "And when did my clothes get changed...?"

"They were soaked with blood and torn to shreds." Elsa raised a brow. "Did you really wish to stay in them...?"

She looked back at her, ears red as she mumbled, "Well... no, I suppose not. But my armor...? My Ulfberht...?"

"Your sword has been retrieved and new armor is ready for you when you want it."

Her shoulders slumped, but she nodded, glancing back down at her new clothes. They were simple, yet practical, as Elsa had been firm to keep the girl as comfortable as possible. Simple (or as simple as she could manage to find) dark green pants and a loose white shirt loosely covered her frame, yet still subtly showed her most prominent curves.

The shorter girl hummed and turned to look back to Elsa. "Alright. I need directions to three things." Elsa's eyes widened when she saw the huge, furry form behind her thief, but couldn't manage to speak of it and Ylva didn't notice as she counted off on her fingers. "I need boots, a blade, and Legend's pelt... I'm going to..." She trailed off and her eyes widened as her hair moved from a heavy breath behind her.

Ylva blinked and Elsa could see every single muscle in the girl's body shudder as she seemed to hold her breath.

"Elsa..." She swallowed thickly, hands clenching into fists. "Please tell me there's nothing behind me that would put me in danger... but don't lie."

The blonde opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out as she stared back into the small, beady eyes of the beast behind Ylva. Instead, she let ice coat her hands as she subtly put a foot back in preparation to fire...

But Ylva seemed to always strive for the first move.

With a snarl, the wounded girl whirled around and tried to tackle the huge animal, only to slam into a wall of fur. A short cry left the shorter as she immediately leapt back, almost tripping over her feet and instead getting caught by Elsa as panic and fear came off of her in waves.

"Oh god, oh gods, oh gods," She rasped, pain and terror blending jaggedly in her voice as she desperately clutched the arm Elsa had firmly around her. "It's a bear-it's a bear and I'm not able to fight back nor armed nor-" Her voice choked, and the queen was suddenly reminded of the similar fear her thief had shown when confessing her nightmare. And suddenly, her fear...?

It made sense. And she was more concerned about the quaking girl in her arms than the bear that cocked it's huge, blocky head at the two. As she alternated between trying to soothe the smaller in her arms and looking up at the bear, she realized that she recognized the damnedable thing.

If she hadn't been so concerned about Ylva, she would have been extremely annoyed...

It took Anna's yelp to snap the girl in Elsa's arms out of it. "Teddy? Theodore! No!"

The redhead came up to the bear's side, flushed and panting lightly. She took one look at Ylva, who was trembling all over and pale, and turned darker. "I'm so sorry, Ylvie, he just took off and I couldn't make him stop and- are you okay...?"

She still looked shaky and ready to either flee or fight, but a bit better as she nodded wearily. "Did you... did you just call this beast Teddy?"

The princess flashed a sheepish smile and stroked the bear's thickly furred neck, not seeing the panicked jerk from Ylva. "Yes, I did... he's actually quite sweet, you know..."

"I-it's a-it's a b-b-b-" Her voice caught in her throat as she dropped her head back. "Bear. It's a bear. There's a bear. In the castle..." She inhaled and exhaled several times, trying to compose herself before straightening a bit. "That thing is a danger, Anna. Get it out." She stopped and shook her head to herself before hesitantly stepping towards the massive beast, swallowing thickly and pushing any fear down. "Actually, nevermind, I'll do it. Get me my Ulfberht."

Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Ylva gave a short growl that ended in a whine. "Don't. Bears are dangerous and unpredictable, Anna." She turned her mismatched gaze to the bear and growled low. "Get out of here."

However, it just made a low humming noise as it suddenly dropped its massive head onto Ylva's, rubbing its chin on the top of her head and very nearly sending her crumbling to the ground with its massive weight.

Ylva snarled, although Elsa could hear the traces of fear in her voice as she barked, "Damn it, someone get me my knife; I'm going to make a damn hat out of this beast! Not even a nice hat, I'm going to make it lopsided and ugly and useless!" The large animal didn't move, and she huffed before grunting at it, grunts sounding like a bears'.

Finally, it slumped and walked a few feet away before looking back at her and crooning sadly. Another sharp growl from her, and in fell back onto it's rump with another sad-sounding noise as it looked at the ground.

"You're lucky I don't try to kill you right here, right now." The scarred girl grumbled sourly, shifting, only to wince. "I might, if I weren't injured..."

The corners of Anna's lips tugged down a bit as she lightly poked the ink-haired girl. "You really don't like that bear, huh...?"

"I don't like bears in general," She answered shortly, voice lightening just a bit as she answered the princess. "Not at all. Perhaps I am biased, but I honestly don't care if I am or aren't." Ylva looked back at where the bear was still slumped before looking back at Anna and making a face. "I would prefer it if you made an effort to avoid getting any more attached to that..." She grimaced and jerked her head to the massive animal, not noticing it perk up and slink up to her back, "That. I'll get it out as soon as I..." Her words got caught in her throat as a large snout rested on her shoulder, much gentler but still not appreciated by the scarred girl.

Elsa moved to try and help, only to stop as noticed the raw venom and fear in her mismatched eyes, and a low snarl rumbled in the girl's throat.

"I do not like you! I don't like you, or any of your kind! Why do you not understand me when I tell you this?!" Ylva raised herself tall, unnecessarily trying to reassert her dominance to the beast. "Leave. Me. Alone! I've told you in bear talk, hound talk, people talk- what kind of talk do you need me to speak?!"

The bear gave a mournful noise before rushing forward. He rested his head on top of hers, crooning gently at her as she tensed.

Elsa half-expected the cursed girl to start screaming or attacking the huge beast, but her brows shot into her hairline as Ylva merely only growled low in her throat as she appeared to listen to the bear talk.

A few grunts and growls left her, but she didn't shove the bear away nor threaten to turn him into an object of clothing, and the bear crooned again before she sighed exasperatedly, little patience in her voice. "No, you haven't done anything wrong, but..." The bear give a mournful noise. "I know, but..." Another moan from the beast, and Ylva visibly deflated. "Because... because... I'm prejudiced!" She finally growls. "I hate bears. You included. I don't want you to make it up to me because you didn't do anything, and I don't want to like you. Period. You should be glad I don't skin you on the spot."

Another sad noise from the bear, and Ylva threw her arms up with a groan, only to gasp with pain before telling the animal shortly. "I don't-you didn't-I can't-!" She took a deep breath, and Elsa half-expected her to start spitting fire, but her jaw fell as Ylva just slumped and leaned against the bear, muttering, "Oh, Hell... fine!" She sighs, though taking a big step back. "Just stay out of my way, you stupid..." She trailed off and glanced at Anna, gesturing to the bear with a grunt. "What did you call it?"

"Teddy...?"

Another grunt left the girl and she huffed. "Fine. Teddy." She looked at the bear, sour despite the bear's now-bright look. "Fine... Teddy, go find me my boots."

The bear's large rump wiggled before he clumsily took off down the hall, knocking a few things over as he clambered around a corner.

"What did I just agree to...?" Ylva asked herself meekly, briefly mussing her hair before looking at Anna and heaving a sigh. "I didn't kill it," She offered feebly when Anna shot her a look. "I didn't kill it, despite wanting to..."

The redhead raised a brow and opened her mouth, only to cringe as a small scream and a crash came from around the corner Teddy had disappeared behind, and the massive animal came tearing around the corner, two boots just barely hanging from his maw.

Dropping her boots in front of Ylva, he stood with pride radiating off of him in waves. Ylva just grunted and made a face. "I still don't like you." The bear moaned and slumped a bit, moving forward and bumping his large nose against her cheek, making a hopeful noise. "I still don't like you."

The corners of Elsa's lips tug up as Teddy sighs dejectedly, just wiggling closer and resting his snout on her shoulder.

"I still don't like you." Teddy just sighed again and snuggled closer, and Elsa shared a look with Anna, giggling into her hand as Ylva grunted, "Do not... like... this..."

Elsa could get used to this...

"Are you sure this is a good idea...?"

Ylva paused from where she was crouched over the fire, snapping a few twigs and tossing them into the small but steadily growing fire. "What do you mean?"

Biting her lip, the queen shifted in place nervously. "That's what you're doing, right...? Trying to... set it - set Legend free...?"

A somewhat guilty look crossed her hooded face. "I... yes...? Um," She coughed a bit, lifting a hand to idly scratch at the newest scar on her face. "And, well... I think it is. It's... the right thing to do, anyways. And that's... worth the risk, I believe."

"What if-what it's a trick...?"

The hooded girl hummed thoughtfully as she wearily got back up, using Teddy, who's been glued to her side since he brought her her boots, as an anchor. "Well... I suppose I'm easily tricked, then. But... again, I think it's worth the risk. Legend has... he's been through enough. He deserves peace."

The words came tumbling out of her lips before she could stop them. "Does he?" She immediately went pale once the words left her lips, and flinched as Ylva turned to look at her. "Sorry..."

Tilting her head to the side, Ylva stepped closer and nudged her shoulder with her nose, lips curving up as she flashed an assuring smile. "Elsa... it's fine. Really, it is. I'm not going to get mad at you for speaking your mind. That... doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to listen, though." She gave a sheepish look. "I'm truly sorry, Elsa, I've been a lone wolf for a long time, now. I'm not used to following orders... Please, just... let me do this. I may be wrong to, but... if I was him, and in a way, I am... I would want him to help me. I wouldn't - I couldn't ask him for forgiveness... but I could ask to be free. And Elsa, he is. He's asking, has been asking, and I can feel his brief time of clarity and sanity fading away. I hear him less and less, and he sounds more ragged, weathered, and manic every time."

Elsa hesitated with unease, and Ylva whined lowly in response.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry..." She slumped and sighed a bit. "If... if you really, honestly, truly don't wish for me to do this," Heaving another sigh and sounding like she really didn't want to say the words that she forced out. "I won't. I... it's... fine."

The queen took a deep breath and closed her eyes, resisting the urge to just take her silly, too-kind-for-her-own-good thief and running away from this potential threat to the girl that was already so damaged to begin with...

But Ylva seemed so sure... even before, she had spoken with a tone of uncertainty. Yet now... really, the biggest concern was keeping her thief safe, from adding any more damage to the wounded girl lest she break...

Could she...? Keep the girl safe, if she allowed her thief to proceed with her (rather foolish) actions?

The hooded girl crooned low and stepped closer, nuzzling Elsa's shoulder before mumbling, "it's entirely up to you this time, I promise... I must admit though," Elsa feels a tremor run through the small girl. "My sanity might appear to... dwindle. A little. It's not, but it... might seem like it.."

Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but another tremor ran through the smaller girl and she turned to someone not there, growling low in warning to someone Elsa couldn't see. "She's my person. I've hurt her enough, and..." she trailed off and cringed. "I know, and I'm sorry, but..."

"Ylva."

"I know it has been a long time since you saw him, and that you miss him, but..."

"Ylva..."

She whined lowly. "No, no, please, I know it hurts, I'm sorry..."

Elsa frowned. "Ylva...?"

"I've hurt her so much already, the least I could do is listen to her." A pause, and she sighed again. "No, I know... don't apologize, I know."

"Ylva?"

The girl squirmed in place, breath catching as she turned to Elsa, blinking furiously as she finally managed a quiet, "yes?" Her eyes twitched, and maybe Elsa had an overactive imagination, but she swore she saw the faint reflection of a shape writhing in pain in her thief's cursed eye...

"Is it... is he hurting you...?"

A series of emotions ran through Ylva's eyes once she was asked the question, but one of the most prominent was adoration. "Is Legend...? No, not intentionally. It just... happens. Tremors, very faint echoes of what he's going through, perhaps as a cruel sort of karma. I think I see it because they, the gods, think of it as rewarding me, somehow, like perhaps the satisfaction of revenge...? But I never wanted it, so," She grimaced, "It really just hurts me..."

Elsa bit her lip. This was without a doubt the dumbest thing she will ever have done... "What... what does... he need to have done to be... set free? No blood drinking?" The last question had been intended as a joke, but came out more serious than she had intended.

A low noise left the shorter girl and she fidgeted in place. "N-no!" She moved closer to the blonde and nuzzled her arm. "No, nonono, of course not! It-it'll be easy, really. There's just one thing we need other than the fire, the pelt, and the knife; and I already have some wolfsbane on me."

"Wolfsbane...?" Elsa raised a brow. "Why would you have that on you?"

Ylva goes pink as she pulls her necklace out of her shirt, a bear fang on a string, and screws the top off. "It... repels werewolves. Poison... if you don't know how to use it, anyway..." Murmuring, more to herself than to Elsa, she studied the bear fang in her fingers. "Can be used as a sedative, numbs pain, reduces fever... There is great good in the bad, with this plant," She mused quietly, "Same as with people. Same as with Legend. And if this is enough, it should..." She dumped the few crushed up and dried leaves in the hollowed tooth into the fire, and stepped back as the fire jumped and edged in blue. "There we go."

Elsa's stomach immediately twisted with unease. "Ylva...?"

Said girl smiled without strain as she pulled her cloak from her shoulders, holding it with one hand by the scruff of the pelt. "Just trust us."

It took Elsa a few seconds to realize that Ylva had said us, instead of me, but by the time the blonde could even begin to react, Ylva used her knife to cut the head of the pelt. Without word or explanation, she threw the hood Elsa hated so much into the fire and put an arm out to push the queen back when the fire suddenly crackled and grew well over her height.

Ylva looked into the flames without fear, unlike Elsa, who was getting more and more concerned with every second. But the short girl either didn't notice, or ignored her as she spoke, voice full of authority. "I am Ylva, awoken without a known name of any kind. I am Legend incarnate, and the most recent and some may argue that I am the worst sufferer of his crimes. I wish to debate the punishment of his crimes."

Elsa nearly leapt out of her skin when a voice, low and emotionless rumbled from - was it in the fire...? "Speak."

"I am forced to watch Legend's punishment." The girl straightened, but Elsa could see the girl's legs tremble, but whether it was from fear or from pain, she did not know. "I am forced to witness it, and hear his screams echo through my mind. He talks to me. He screams. He begs for my forgiveness, for my mercy..."

"What of it?"

"I wish to give him just that."

There wass a pause from the voice within the flames. "You wish for his punishment to... be over?"

Ylva's answer was so certain, confident. "I do. I am told that his fate, since we are bound to each other, since we are each other... since I suffered so at his hand... That I can control the outcome of his afterlife."

"That is correct." The voice rumbled, and the flames jerked slightly. As Elsa looked, she realized that the flames were shaped vaguely like... a man. "But I would do well to tell you that not everything you hear, not every word that is spoken is truth... These spirits, they lie and cheat for their own personal gain. Do you still wish for Fenrir-son's peace?"

Elsa wanted to scream. No. Let him suffer... but her mouth didn't seem to be working while she was in the presence of a man made of flames, and Ylva nodded. "Yes."

With that one word, something... happened.

The queen honestly didn't know what, exactly. A visible tremor ran over her thief, and the small girl gave one of her trademark, dog-like whines before staggering suddenly. Elsa leapt to catch her and keep her from falling, and Ylva groaned as she leaned into her.

The fire started to shrink, spluttering and popping all the while, and Elsa finally managed to ask, "Wh-what did you do?" At her question, a voice answered from behind her... but it wasn't Ylva's, nor the man of fire's voice...

"She trusted me." Legend.

On instinct, ice coated her hands in a thick layer as she whirled around with a glower etched on her face, only to have it fall as she caught sight of the... she didn't even know what that was.

It was a man one second, then morphed into a large and familiar wolf the next. It's form was constantly changing between man and beast, but in the brief intervals, when it-he was human, he looked... almost exactly how Ylva would, if she were a man and without her curse.

Short, still, but just above Elsa's own height, with a strange, not quite colorless feature to him. The same hooded eyes with bags under them. Thick stubble that was just not a beard with short, thick, messy, inky-black hair. Broad shoulders and muscular yet not overly so. And still, he constantly switched forms with the large, damnedable wolf that had been Ylva's security blanket for so long, changing form blurry and randomly jerking.

And he smiled. Right at Elsa, and then at Ylva with fondness in his gaze. "Ylva. Wolf girl. The human raised by hounds, that hunts the most feared predator in the land simply because of an old grudge and the desire to do so."

Elsa could hear her thief's breath catch. "Legend. Fenrir-son. The hound that made it so that wolves and dogs were forever differed, ripped the very strings of fate apart to keep wolves from ever even having a chance to find their person because of maddening sorry and fury... and envy. Indirectly killed the mother I never knew in the same way that you killed the mother I did know... Caused so much good and bad..." She pauses and adds with a tone of voice that Elsa couldn't quite place. "My tormentor... and my guide. And... me."

Legend's following smile was sad, and the see-through image of the large wolf lowered his ears. "Yes, unfortunately. I... an apology... isn't enough, I know. So allow me to just thank you. My mind is completely clear for the time in eons, and I can actually think. It is... incredible. Something I thought would never happen again."

Ylva heaved a breath before wincing from the action, the expression on her face undecipherable as she mumbled. "You're welcome. I would hope you would have done the same for me, if our places were swapped."

"Probably." Legend gave a smile that nearly mirrored the effortless smile Ylva often gives. "I am you, afterall..." His smile fades a bit before he sighs, "I... I am sorry. I can't express that enough, but staying behind for a moment to tell you so is all I am able to do..."

"I know, it's..." Ylva grimaced, then did something Elsa never would have expected. "And I forgive you, but... not completely. I would love to be able to, but I just can't. Not now, and... probably not for a long time." As Elsa's head snapped to look at the scarred girl, she muttered, "You hurt Elsa. You hurt my person. I can never forgive you. And, I suppose... you never will, either, because... in a way, you hurt your own person, as well."

He smiled bitterly. "You're correct. Of course you are... you would know me, you are me." He exhales heavily and musses his short and already messy hair. "It's... it's good to see you. To actually see you, when I'm... myself. Not twisted into a monster from centuries of loneliness, unable to see anything but my goal. It's nice..."

Ylva nodded shortly, looking down at the frost-covered ground before glancing at Elsa, then back at Legend. She spoke with a note of finality in her voice. "I... I should... I want to thank you." Blushing as both Elsa and Legend gave her a bewildered look, she mumbled lowly, "In a way... I only found Elsa because of you, because all that time ago, you made a mistake, same as the many I have, and then... you wanted to more than your person, you wanted to be with your person.. I was only able to reach her because you were with me. You took over for me when I was too weary to keep going, when I physically couldn't continue, when I couldn't even bear to crawl. You kept me alive when I was inadequate to do so, made me find shelter and hunt when I wasn't able to get up from the ground as the rain pelted my back raw. I'm alive right now - I'm not hound food... because you were there. I'm... the happiest I've ever been."

Elsa stared, speechless as Legend's shifting image suddenly stabilized as a man, and she heard her thief's breath hitch before she continued, nearly sounding like royalty as the man flashed a small, grateful yet bittersweet smile at her. "You have suffered, the same as I have. You have bled, just as I; and hurt... the same as I have. You were the beast in me that screamed for violence, and yet you were the instrument that brought me to my link to humanity. You've done good and bad, suffered and smiled, tasted a sour victory and then felt the acid burn of your mistakes while doing what you could to apologize during, through pure agony of indescribable proportions. Perhaps I am not the best judge. Perhaps I am. But regardless; Legend..." For a second, Elsa swore she heard both Ylva and Legend sniffle. "I redeem you. And I set you free."

The man gave the smallest, yet most genuine smile, and as his form began to melt in a heavy fog, sinking to the ground from his feet up, he murmured, "I will meet you again, in the grand halls of Asgard. And I shall always watch over you. You, Ylva, the girl of wolves, born of the wilds, hunter of hunters, and... a legend."

Elsa saw a tremor run through the girl before she breathed, "Go in peace."

As the last of Legend's head melted into white fog and fell to the rest, distant thunder rumbled across the overcast sky. The fog swirled in a flourish, arching over itself in the air before quickly drifting to Ylva's face, brushing just against her cheek and then rising up, quickly disappearing in the low clouds.

There was no sudden parting of the clouds that bathed the two of them in sunlight. There were no angels singing from the heavens, nor any fireworks in the distance. The fire crackled and popped and spluttered as it burned low, and Ylva merely dug her heel in the low flames, snubbing it out as she continued to stare up at the sky, as though half-expecting angels or gods to come flying down.

In a way, Elsa supposed that out of all the things that out of all the things about Ylva that she loved the most, that were the most admirable... her ability to forgive something so awful at the snap of her fingers, to judge character as she does, to love wholeheartedly without any form of bias. As Elsa had read somewhere; it took a big person to get revenge... but it took an even bigger person to forgive. And once again, Elsa realized that this girl... this odd, scarred, and curious girl that was born from the trees, that spoke to animals and cared for them as though they were people... there was much to learn from her. Surprises around every corner with her; new talents that always seemed to be popping up, with new strengths and new weaknesses that had yet to be discovered...

"Elsa...?"

The blonde blinked, jerking out of her disbelief and swirling thoughts and pride in the girl. "Yes?"

"Thank you." Ylva finally said after a moment of deep consideration, stepping closer to the taller and nuzzling her shoulder. "For trusting me. I know I haven't... haven't given you much reason t-to trust me. I'm flighty, and I know I worry you. I'm sorry. And... I love you. I... I really do, a lot."

Beaming, the queen kisses her inky hair and sighed contentedly as she gently hugs her. "I love you, too."

The girl was still horribly injured; there was no magic licks from wolf-gods to heal them. There was no grand cheering at their victory. There were still some questions left unanswered. And as Elsa kissed Ylva without fear or shame, there was no choir singing in the background. It wasn't like the endings of the countless stories she had read in her lifetime.

But as she felt Ylva fumble with her hands as she tried to figure out what to do with them, as she reached a hand up to run her thumb over Ylva's torn eyebrow, Elsa decided...

None of those things were needed.

She didn't need a sunset behind her or even the sun's rays to shine down on them. As Ylva pulled away to beam at her, looking tired but as happy as Elsa had ever seen her, as the cursed girl got a comically exasperated look on her face and growled at the bear "cub" when it slinked up behind her and nudged her shoulder, she decided that things were as perfect as they could get.

Because all Elsa needed at the moment was a thief. The thief that never stole anything but her heart...

And Elsa smiled to herself as the bear began crooning at the girl that wasn't actually angry, but merely pretending, because, well... she could get used to this.

Author's note~

I'mmm... late. As fuck. As balls. As balls that are on fire and... really, really late. I can't really excuse myself... I had testing, and then the next week I also had to do a test for every day. And then my brother came and he's distracting, and then there were projects, both from school and from home. How many...? So many. TobehonestIkindaavoidedwritingthisbecauseIdidn'twannaseetheend. I'm just... tired. And hungry. But I digress...

I. LOVE. U. GUIZ. You, too, Con-Con, even though you were probably one of the biggest distractions from my writing :P Don't hate him, guiz... he's my BFFL. Puts up with my shit, and worries for me because I don't care enough to anymore, reminds me to take care of myself every so often. But yesh - I love you guys so much, you don't even know... When I was updating ALL THE TIME, every freaking day was just a flippin' amazing experience because throughout the day I'd get reviews and PMs and favorites and follows and it-it was so exciting. It still is. I just want you guys to know that, from the very, very center of my heart, past the cold, rocky outer shell, I hold a place for all of you in my heart, I really do. Like... I remember (enough of) your usernames. I just... I get feels from you guys, I really do, I fangirl over all of you c:

Special shoutout to my Beta, you know who you are. I just... you're amazing, really, you are. I know I haven't replied, and I've been inactive, and you have been so patient with me, helping me with my goofy story, bit by bit by bit, and even MORE. You've been checking up on me. Just nice little things. Like saying happy easter, and then remembering I'm not religious and pointing it out that you know but saying it anyways...? That warmed my cold little heart, I... almost cried, actually. You still wanna chat, throw me a message, even though I wouldn't deserve it because I've been leaving you hanging. Thank you. So, so, so much...

Okay. My eyes aren't starting to burn, I swear... *coughLIEScough* I jsut... this has been amazing. I've met so many new friends through this goofy tale that was originally gonna be nothing more than a few chapters, something silly, kinda cute, and it turned out to be so much more. I've brought people up when they were down, and that... means so much to me. It really does. I've gotten so much love and support and-and fanart, holy shmow! I love you guys. And... I'm not crying god damn it, there's something in my eyes.

If you're sad about this ending, just remember... the story never really ends unless you let it. It can continue on in your mind, in the way that you play it out. No more Blue throwing sad sand in your eyes... I'M NOT CRYING, SHUT UP

You all beared with this crazy ol' Asian redneck. And I... can't thank you enough for it ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ

, Blue