Dawn of Summer

The sun rose over Arendelle, but for the first time in what felt like an eternity, it wasn't a pale, heatless disc hanging in a grey sky. It was a blazing sphere of gold, casting long, warm rays through the shattered windows of the Royal Suite.

I woke up in the ruins of the bed. To call it a "bed" was generous. It was a battlefield. The heavy velvet curtains of the canopy had been torn down in the frenzy. The sheets were twisted into damp, stained ropes. The mattress itself was soaked through with sweat, residuals of bathwater, and the copious amounts of fluids we had exchanged. The air in the room was heavy, thick with the primal, musky scent of sex and the metallic tang of magic.

I looked down at my conquests. On my left, Elsa was curled against my side, her platinum hair spread like a messy halo across my chest. Her face was peaceful, the perpetual furrow of worry finally erased from her brow. Her lips were swollen and red, and her cheek, the one I had slapped, still bore the faint, proud outline of my hand. On my right, Anna was draped over my leg, her cheek resting on my stomach, drooling slightly onto it. She was twitching in her sleep, her body still processing the sensory overload of the night. Her red hair was a bird's nest, matted with dried cum.

They were entangled. Elsa’s hand was resting protectively on Anna’s hip; Anna’s leg was thrown over Elsa’s shin. They were no longer two strangers living in the same castle, separated by doors and secrets. They were a knot of sisters, bound by blood and by the shared experience of being thoroughly, irrevocably claimed.

I sat up, the movement shifting the mattress. Elsa stirred first. Her eyelids fluttered, one crusted shut with remains of dried seed, the other blinking open to reveal a sapphire iris that was clear and lucid. She didn't pull away. She didn't cover herself. She pushed herself up on one elbow, wincing slightly as her sore muscles protested, and looked at me with absolute devotion.

"Master," she rasped, her voice ruined from screaming.

"Morning, Queen," I said, running a hand down her naked back. "How does it feel?"

She took a deep breath, expanding her lungs. She looked down at her hands. There was no frost. No trembling. "Quiet," she whispered. "The buzzing... the fear... it's gone. I feel... empty. But in a good way. Like a room that's finally been cleaned."

Anna woke up next. She groaned, stretching her arms, and immediately regretted it as her body reminded her of the stretching she had endured. "Oww," she whined, rubbing her lower back. She peeled her face off my stomach and looked around, blinking. "Is it... is it morning?" She saw Elsa. She saw the nakedness, the marks on her sister’s skin, the mess on the bed. Instead of looking away, Anna smiled. She crawled up the bed and hugged Elsa, burying her face in the Queen’s neck. "We did it," Anna mumbled. "We survived him."

"Barely," Elsa chuckled, kissing the top of Anna’s head.

I stood up, walking naked across the room to the balcony doors. The glass was fogged with the humidity of our night. I threw them open. A blast of warm air hit me. Not cold. Warm.

"Come here," I commanded.

The sisters untangled themselves. They didn't bother with clothes. They wrapped the ruined top sheets around their bodies like togas, Elsa in white, Anna in a torn gold strip, and walked to the balcony. They stood on either side of me, looking out.

The view was spectacular. The whiteout was gone. The eternal winter had broken. Below us, the fjord was alive. The solid sheet of ice was fracturing, breaking apart into massive, glittering shards that bobbed in the deep blue water. The ships that had been frozen at odd angles were righting themselves, rocking gently in the returning tide. The mountains were shedding their white coats, revealing the deep greens of the pine forests and the grey of the granite cliffs. Arendelle was thawing.

"It’s summer," Anna breathed, leaning over the railing, her eyes wide. "You brought summer back."

"You brought it back," I corrected. "I just provided the spark."

Elsa looked at her hands, then out at the horizon. She raised a palm. A small swirl of snow materialized, dancing over her fingers. She smiled. It didn't explode into a blizzard. It just danced, controlled and beautiful, before she closed her hand and let it melt into water. "Love," she murmured. "The trolls said an act of true love would thaw a frozen heart."

"I thought that meant a kiss," Anna said, looking at me with a smirk. "From a prince."

"Hans?" I scoffed. "That boy couldn't thaw a vigorous ice cube. True love isn't always a fairy tale kiss, Anna. Sometimes it's trust. Sometimes it's submission. Sometimes it's sacrifice." I put my arms around their shoulders, pulling them close. "You trusted me with your bodies. You trusted each other with your deepest secrets. You let go of the fear. That is the strongest magic there is."

Elsa leaned her head on my shoulder. "I let it go," she whispered. "I let it all go."

"We have one last thing to do," I said, looking out toward the center of the fjord. "The darkness is retreating, but we need to lock the door so it doesn't come back."

We dressed. I put on my gear, feeling the weight of the leather and armor return. Elsa found a new dress, a lighter, teal gown that flowed like water, leaving her neck and shoulders bare, displaying the bruises I had left there with pride. Anna put on a simple green bodice and skirt, her hair braided back, though she walked with a slight, noticeable limp that made her blush every time she caught a guard looking.

We walked down to the courtyard. The castle gates were open. The townspeople were spilling out into the square, cheering, stripping off their winter coats, basking in the sunlight. Kristoff was there by the fountain, feeding a carrot to Sven. He looked up as we approached. He saw the way the sisters walked, close together, touching, orbiting around me. He saw the satisfied glow on their faces. He nodded to me, a look of profound respect and resignation on his face. "Nice day for a sail," Kristoff noted, tipping his hat.

"Take care of the sled, Iceman," I said, tossing him another gold coin. "You might need it for the ice harvesting business. It's going to be booming soon."

I led the sisters past the cheering crowds, down to the docks. The ice was broken near the shore, but further out, a central shelf remained solid. "Can you get us out there?" I asked Elsa.

She didn't hesitate. She waved her hand. Instead of jagged spikes, a smooth, elegant bridge of ice arched from the docks over the water, landing gently on the center shelf. "After you, Master," she said.

We walked out onto the middle of the fjord. We were surrounded by the cracking sounds of melting ice and the cries of seagulls returning home. I sensed it. The pulse of the world. "Here," I said.

I summoned The Solar Zenith. The Keyblade flashed into existence, its golden filigree humming with power. "The Heart of this World was frozen by fear," I explained. "It was open to the Darkness. The Heartless were feeding on your isolation, Elsa." I looked at her. "But you aren't isolated anymore."

"No," she said, grabbing Anna’s hand. "Never again."

I pointed the Keyblade at the horizon, aiming just above the water line. "Unlock the light."

A beam of pure energy shot from the tip of the blade. The air in front of us distorted. A massive, crystalline Keyhole appeared, hovering in the sky. It was beautiful, carved from light and ice, intricate and glowing. But it was open. Darkness swirled at its edges, trying to creep back in.

"Elsa. Anna," I commanded. "Place your hands on the Keyblade."

They stepped forward. Elsa placed her pale hand on the hilt, her fingers wrapping over mine. Anna placed her hand over Elsa’s, her palm warm and small. Three hands. One weapon. "Together," I said. "Seal it."

We thrust the Keyblade forward. A beam of blinding white light erupted from the tip. It struck the Keyhole dead center. CLICK. The sound wasn't just a noise; it was a sensation. It vibrated through the water, through the mountains, and through our bones. It was the sound of a cosmic lock turning.

The Keyhole flared, glowing with the intensity of a second sun. The swirling darkness at the edges shrieked and evaporated, burned away by the light. Then, the Keyhole shattered into a billion tiny sparkles of light. They rained down on Arendelle like magical confetti. Where they touched the water, the ice melted instantly. Where they touched the land, flowers bloomed. The grey gloom was gone forever. The sky was a piercing, perfect blue.

We stood there on the melting ice shelf, breathing in the clean air. The Heartless were banished. The world was sealed. Arendelle was safe.

Elsa turned to me. She didn't say a word. She just wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, a deep, searing kiss of gratitude that tasted of summer strawberries and winter ice. Anna joined in, hugging us both from the side. "Thank you," Elsa whispered against my lips. "For everything."

"It's finished," I said, looking up at the sky where the Gummi Ship was waiting in orbit. "The world is restored."

But as I looked at them, two Queens standing tall, powerful, and utterly mine, I knew the hardest part was yet to come. Leaving.