Dark Paths (Helsa)

Six

"Elsa, It's time to wake up. We're here." A deep voice said, shaking her from her sleep. She opened her eyes, hoping to see Hans but was woken by Nicholas. "I'll tell Hans you'll be out on deck with your things soon."

When did I get here? Elsa thought and remembered falling asleep in Hans arms.

"Okay, thank you." Elsa said, rubbing her eyes and sat up in bed, trying to decide what dress to greet the Southern Isles in. She went through her dresses, deciding on a black dress with gold accents and lace on the bodice. She looked into the mirror and moaned in distress at her hair, it would take minutes to get it tamed then styled.

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Elsa headed up to the deck with her suitcase in hand. They were docked in a large marina, from where they were Elsa could see the large, stone brick castle. Nicholas was speaking to the captain, James. Hans was standing near the exit of the ship, shouting out orders to his crew, Elsa stood there watching and admiring him. He had changed so much since the snowstorm happened. She was happy that he was able to become an admiral, she was glad she was able to help his decision.

"Ah! Elsa." Hans said, tearing her eyes away from staring at him. He walked over, grabbing her by the elbow and took her suitcase. He directed her over to the exit and brought her down from the boat, immediately and accidentally ran into a tall, large man with a deep brown hair color and happened to look like Hans, only with a large crown that sat upon his head. "Elsa, this is my brother Leo, the King of the Southern Isles." Hans introduced them and hurriedly went over to help with a shipment, snapping at a few people while Elsa watched him the whole time.

"Um, you can call me Leo." Leo said, grabbing Elsa's attention. She immediately remembered that she was greeting the King.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace." She said and went to bow her head but he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"No, please. We're both royal Majesties, please just call me Leo. Is it alright for me to call you Elsa?" He asked, seeing Nicholas standing behind Elsa.

"Oh, yes. Of course." She nodded and gestured for Nicholas. "This is my guard, Nicholas. He'll be staying here with me."

"Yes, of course. We have your bedrooms ready for you in the castle. I hope you do not mind being down the hall from my brother?"

"No, that's alright. I'll only be staying for a week." Elsa said, picking up her suitcase and began walking with Leo to the castle.

"You are always welcome to stay longer if you'd like to." Leo said and pointed up towards the castle. "There's the front entrance." He said awkwardly. "Oh! I wanted to check, was it alright for Hans to bring you?"

"Yes, it was no trouble at all. I was actually very surprised that he's now an admiral." Elsa said.

"He said he changed for a woman and thought the military would fix him into shape. Turns out he was such a good captain that a retiring admiral had Hans take his place." Leo said, sounding very proud of his brother.

"That's a very considerable feat. Most admirals, as you said, are near retirement." Elsa said, smiling over to Leo.

"I know this could be a sore spot but I would like to thank you and Princess Anna for forgiving Hans years ago." He said and looked up and nodded at one of the guards they were passing by. "I can't imagine forgiving him, for either of you, but I'm very thankful that both of you are so kind and forgiving."

"It's no problem at all. I wanted to forgive him, and when he did say he would change for..." She said, unsure if she should tell Leo that he said he had changed for her.

"For you." He finished for her, taking Elsa by surprise. "Hans and I are the closest among my brothers. We know we can tell each other everything, and anything. He told me about that night." He said and watched as Elsa nodded, her expression softening. "You know, between you and I, Hans has, or had, very deep feelings for you. I don't know if he loves you, I think he would be confused with what he's feeling just because he wasn't all that much loved by our parents or siblings. I think those feelings could be reopened with you. I know he was so nervous to see you again."

"I couldn't tell he was nervous." Elsa shrugged.

"I know that with him he was so hurt losing you the first time and now he might be pushing himself away so he won't hurt. I know you are married now, and unhappily married, but no matter what, I will be rooting you two on to be in love and be happy." He said and winked over to Elsa. She couldn't believe that he wanted them together but Elsa and Hans had no idea what they wanted and that only frustrated Elsa to think about it. "I'll have one of my wife's maids show you to your bedrooms. Would you like to join us for dinner?"

"Yes, sir. I would like to. Do you happen to know what the time is?" Elsa asked, stepping through the front doors of the castle. The castle was simple with cliché red carpets, stone walls with paintings and chandeliers hanging every so often.

"It's about eleven in the morning," He said, putting back his pocket watch into his jacket. A very beautiful blonde woman with striking blue eyes came from around the corner with a look of confusion at first then her eyes softened at the sight of Elsa. "Ah! Elsa, this is my beautiful wife, and Queen, Helena." He said, taking his place beside Helena. They looked perfect next to each other and happily married and in love.

"Hello, your-" Elsa started but Helena stopped her short, feeling the same way Leo felt.

"Call me, Helena." She smiled and waited for Elsa to say her name.

"My name is Elsa." She said awkwardly and admired her beautiful salmon colored dress that hung loosely but not too loose. "I love your dress."

"Thank you!" Helena gushed, looking down and admiring her dress.

Elsa stood in the doorway awkwardly, unsure of what to say or do until she felt strong, large hands rest on her shoulders then left just as quickly. She turned to see Hans only put his hands on her shoulders to get around her and warn her that he was there.

"Hans! Be polite to Elsa." Leo said to him and watched as Hans looked over to Elsa nervously, then looked back to Leo.

"My apologies, Elsa." Hans said and stood off to the side between Helena and Elsa. He looked over to Elsa and smiled, wishing he didn't have to take her back to her bedroom last night.

"Alright, Helena. Let's give these two time to catch up." Leo said and winked over to Elsa, pulling Helena away but stopped a little bit down the hallway. "Hans, show her the bedroom she'll being staying in."

Hans nodded and looked over to Elsa, gesturing for a set of stairs ahead of them. "Shall we?" He asked her and she nodded. They began walking up the stairs in awkward silence until Elsa spoke up about last night.

"What happened last night?" Elsa asked, looking up and over to him. She remembered the night, only once she fell asleep she magically went into her bed. "I mean with falling asleep." She added.

"James needed my help with the helm. It was in need of calibration. I'm sorry about that." He said, giving her a small, but sincere, smile. "I didn't want to take you back."

"That's alright. I was just confused when I first woke up." She said, adjusting her suitcase and noticed Hans was slowing down. He stopped in front a red painted door with black accents painted across it.

"This is your bedroom, Nicholas." He said and opened the door. The bedroom was simple, a large bed in between two windows and end tables on each side.

"Thank you." Nicholas said, walking into the bedroom and laid his suitcase on bed.

"Your bedroom isn't too far down, but it's right near mine." Hans said to Elsa and they started walking together to her bedroom down the hall. "My bedroom is right there." Hans said and pointed to a door that was a deep green color. "Yours is right here." He said, opening a dark blue door to show her to her bedroom.