Dark Paths (Helsa)

Five

A little after Hans had showed Elsa to her bedroom she became bored. There wasn't much for her to do and she wasn't tired so she grabbed her bag of chocolate covered pretzels and headed up onto the deck. The night was cool, cooler than most of the other nights with a small chill in the air.

When she arrived up there she saw a small sitting area with a white cushioned couch and a canopy covering it. Right behind it was the captain's control room where Hans and James stood in there. James was the first to notice Elsa going over to stand at the railings of the boat. James was younger, a handsome man with blond hair and tan skin from working out in the sun.

Elsa walked over, standing at the rails while she opened her bag of pretzels, taking one and plopped it into her mouth.

Meanwhile in the captain's control room, James was trying to convince Hans to go out to Elsa and talk to her before they arrived to the Southern Isles.

"All I'm saying is it can't hurt. I'm sure she wants some company." James said and looked back over to where she stood. "You know what? I'm going to go talk to her. You steer the ship." He said.

"James!" Hans snapped but he was already gone and on his way over to Elsa.

"Hello, Elsa. My name is James. I'm the captain." He said, walking up to Elsa, seeing her bag of chocolate covered pretzels. "I see you have good taste in sweets." He smiled, making Elsa smile over at him. He stood next to her, leaning against the rails and looked up at the stars then the water.

"It's a beautiful night." Elsa smiled, admiring the stars too. "Would you like some?" Elsa asked, holding out the bag to him. He nodded, taking a few pretzels for himself. Once Elsa was turned around and faced the water, James looked over to the captain's room and saw Hans glaring over at him.

"Would you like to sit on the couch?" He asked, gesturing over to the couch.

"Oh, sure." Elsa said and they started walking over to the couch. Elsa saw Hans standing in the window nearby, she waved at him and gave him a small smile before sitting on the couch.

The couch was long and wide, with white cushions and it could hold four or five people with the way it was like a bed.

"You go ahead and have a seat, I'll be right back." James said and went into the control room, grabbing a bottle of white wine, two glasses and pushed Hans out of the room in front of Elsa.

"Oh," Elsa said. "Hi, Hans." She said, looking down at her dress and picking off an invisible fuzz.

"James- Actually I, wanted to come out and sit with you. He just gave me a little push." Hans shrugged and showed Elsa the wine bottle and the glasses. "Would you like some?" He asked, going over and taking a seat next to her. She nodded and watched as he set the glasses on the coffee table in front of them, he started pouring each of them a glass of wine and noticed Elsa had chocolate covered pretzels.

"Would you like some?" She asked and laid the bag on the end table for them to share. "If you do, I'll leave them out on the table."

"Thank you." He said, taking a pretzel and handed her one of the glasses. "Cheers to..."

"Cheers to you and I." Elsa smiled and felt like she had more confidence in the situation than Hans did.

"Cheers." He smiled and took a sip of his wine, looking over to Elsa. "I have to say, you still look just as beautiful as the day I met you. Maybe even more beautiful." He smiled, making Elsa blush. "I know that's very cheesy to say, but I mean it."

"Thank you," She said, holding her wine glass and looked up at the red canopy. "Why do you have this here?" She asked.

"It's really serene to sit out here at night. With the canopy it makes it so you can even sit out here while it rains. It's just everything with it, especially now, the calm waves, the stars, the wine, the canopy and this comfy couch. It's really serene." He shrugged and took another sip of his wine. He wasn't as nervous around her as earlier and with the wine, it only calmed his nerves even more.

"It is." Elsa agreed, sitting back in the couch and got comfortable. Hans looked over to her, his beautiful green eyes luminescent in the lighting, he gave her a small smile and leaned back against the couch, only inches from Elsa but was afraid to make a move.

"So, you're married..." He said and raised his eyebrows in amazement. He never thought she would end up marrying or staying with someone she didn't love.

"Yes, but we're both unhappy. We don't live together either." She shrugged, taking another sip of her wine.

"So why are you married?" Hans asked. "I hope I'm not pushing any boundaries."

"We're married for our countries, to strengthen their power and our rule together." She shrugged, taking another pretzel. "And Hans, you'd never push any boundaries with me." Elsa said and smiled over to him, scooting closer to him and turned her body towards him. "Tell me about you... What made you become an admiral?"

"Well, you and Anna actually. Anna said she wanted me to change and you did too. I was more so convinced when you asked. I do want to apologize if I pushed too far by kissing you." He said, noticing her eyebrows raised a little.

"No," She said. "I don't know why I stopped you actually. I think I was afraid of the feelings I was getting so I ran away." She confessed. She wanted to tell him that for years and now she was able to.

"I'll admit that I was so afraid to see you... But I did really miss you." Hans said, swishing around his wine in the glass and watched it swirl around then come to a standstill.

"I was nervous too, but now that I'm here with you, I'm not nervous at all. I did miss you though." She smiled, eating another pretzel and left a few in her hand. A small breeze ran through the air, making Elsa shiver a bit.

"Is it okay to hold you?" He asked, noticing that she shivered from the breeze. "I have a blanket here." He said, grabbing a small red and black checkered blanket from underneath of the couch.

"I'd love it." She smiled, scooting over and felt his arm wrap around her waist. She snuggled into his chest, watching as he laid the blanket over top of the both of them.

Before they knew it, Elsa fell into a deep, calming sleep in Hans' arms, Hans was seconds away from sleeping until James came out and told him that he'd need his help. Hans regrettably took Elsa back to her bedroom and laid her down in the bed, covering her with a blanket and kissed the top of her head then left to go help James.