Thawed in Space (Book 1)

Chapter Fifteen: New Surprises

The two walked Chapter Fifteen: New Surprises

Elsa rushed back to the palace, quickly she was met by her aide, who seemed to be hovering at the gate matter for her. 

"What's going on Mara?" Elsa asked, breathless from her run. Mara quietly took the short jacket from Elsa's shoulders and then proceeded to basically shove her down the hallway.

"Your request for a permanent security force was authorized yesterday, that just arrived, and the troops are gathering for inspection in the main courtyard." She explained, still pushing Elsa along towards her dressing room.

She shoved Elsa through the dressing room, slamming the door shut at the same time.

"They'll be ready for viewing in twenty minutes, hurry!" She called through the door, running back down the hallway. 

Elsa just stood in the center in her room, still trying to process what  Mara had told her. Quickly she shed her traveling clothes and proceeded to make a new dress for herself, it was her classic blue off the shoulder ice dress. But she couldn't help adding a cutout in the back that was shaped like the snowflake Rex had given her. She placed his necklace around her neck. She wasn't ready to get rid of it just yet. 

She shook her hair out and brushed it, braiding it quickly until it was behind her head in her customary braid. Her last touch was to create an ice tiara, it was slightly bigger than the one she had been given at her coronation. It looked  intricately carved with small etchings. 

A few moments later she walked out of her room, to find Mara hovering just a few feet away.

"It only took you twelve minutes. This way!" Mara said, making a short bow and leading the way. 

The two walked through the hallways together, and at the end of a hall two guards swung open the glass door, here Mara broke off, leaving Elsa to walk into the gardens by herself. 

As she walked out she saw that there was a whole legion of clones, probably at least five squads, the sides of the armor, and of the helmets were all colored in light blue. Signifying them as a part if the Arednalle security force. 

Elsa slowly made her way down the line, each troop came to even stricter attention as she passed in front of them 

Elsa continued through the rows, glad that these men were here to protect her planet. Finally she reached the last squad,  the commander of the whole legion stood by himself just in front of the remaining squad...

She froze, his helmet was off, held correctly in the crook of his arm, his eyes were staring straight ahead, but the faintest smile could be seen on his mouth. 

He was wearing his usually armor, it had been freshly painted over with the new blue color, but what caught Elsa's eye was the mark on his shoulder pad. 

It was the Republic crest, or at least from far away it looked like it, coming closer Elsa sw that the center part of the crest had been replaced by a snowflake, the same exact one sat against her neck at the moment. 

He was the one that broke the silence, coming down to his knees, he bowed his head in her direction. 

"Queen Elsa, I am the leader of the 502nd division, we have been re-routed to protect the planet of Arendalle and the surrounding systems." He said, his voice formal. Standing up, he gently took her arm, so it would appear that she was leading him towards the still open doors.

"I'll need to see readouts of this planet to get the basic idea on a garrison for the men to be housed." He said, his voice just a little louder than normal. 

Once the were inside he released her arm long enough to shut the door, as the guards had suddenly disappeared.

He seemed to pause for a moment, as thought summoning courage, finally he turned around, a soft, genuine smile on his face. 

"Hello Elsa." 

"Rex? What...What are you doing here? Your ship left the day before mine!" She blurted out, all her questions coming out at once, her eyes still wide at who was standing in front of her.

Rex got a concerned look on his face, and he took two long steps to walk over to her.

"I thought you didn't want me anymore." She whispered, tears starting to form in her eyes, Rex responded to that roughly bringing her closer, and placing a kiss directly on her mouth.

"I didn't want you? Elsa, I love you!" He said, his voice almost hurt, as he pulled away for a moment, Elsa broght her hands up to his face, then pulled him back towards her. She'd forgotten how wonderful it felt to be kissed by him...

When they finally drew apart,  Elsa wiped the tears from her eyes, and managed to smile as she spoke again. 

"Where were you? I tried to find you, but I didn't even see you in the training yards." Elsa explained, as the two began to walk down the hallway together.

Rex shrugged as thought it wasn't a big deal. 

"I realized I didn't want to have to say goodbye, that's when I heard about a possible battalion being transported to Arendalle to become the security force.  I was at the transfer office doing mounds of paperwork to ask for my transfer to the new regiment. 

I was going to tell you, but the ship left for Kamino unexpectedly ahead of schedule, so I figured I would just surprise you when I got here." Rex explained, mentally slapping himself for causing her so much agony. 

"Well, surprise is one word for it." She agreed, leaning against his shoulder, his arm wrapped warmly around her. 

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, suddenly looking worried. Elsa laughed softly, but her face was serious.

"Had you asked me a few days ago, I probably would have frozen you on the spot. But now...Now I'm happy to have you here again." She said finally, standing tiptoe and kissing him in the cheek. Rex blushed slightly, firmly telling himself to make it up to her. 

"Considering how strong that ice is, I feel I should thank you for not doing that when you saw me." He said in a humored tone, trying to lighten the mood. 

"A Queen must be controlled at all times." Elsa said with dignity, the eye roll, and smile said how much she enjoyed it though. 

Now it was Rex's turn to chuckle, bringing her a little closer to him. 

"Can the Queen be proper and controlled, and still have a boyfriend?" He asked, his tone tone slightly teasing. Elsa's face became serious for a moment before her face cleared.

"I'm sure that a proper relationship with the captain of her guards could be allowed to grow," She said carefully, smiling slightly at her own words.

"Good, cause I'm not hiding you from anyone again. And if another guy so much as looks at you the wrong way I'll pull his arms off." He growled, not entirely joking anymore.

Elsa glanced up at him, and then turned her eyes to the blue mark on his shoulder.

"Can you tell me what this is?" She asked, fingering it gently. Rex blushed deeper this time and looked at his feet.

"Some guy once asked me if I would give the girl I loved a mark on my armor as a reminder of her. This shows while I fight to the Republic, there's something deeper at the heart of it all." He explained, slowing his steps at he thought about it.

Elsa didn't know what to say, he was telling her he now fought for her. What he did, he would do for her best interests... Then she knew exactly what she should tell him.

"I love you Rex, thank you." She said reaching up to gently kiss him. Rex responded by picking her up by the waist and swinging her in a little circle causing laughter to escape Elsa's mouth for the first time in days....

The universe was bright again.