Danny watched as Harry wooed Elsa to be his mother in truth. She was a little flustered but he can see that she was immensely pleased. She became more affectionate since Harry started calling her 'Mum'. It was very different from the way she put up a polite distance from being too close to him before his morning greeting her as his mother. But now came a different problem...

He needed to marry her and make her his wife.

She might not say anything but Danny knew, from watching her, that she missed having a family of her own. Sometimes, when Jazz and Harry played a family game, he noticed this longing light in her eyes. He understood that loneliness she carried. Jazz and anyone else will not understand. After all, no one was immortal like they were. Maybe that alchemist he heard about would but he have a long list of family in his family tree, even if they might not know about their relationship with the famous alchemist. For Danny, he only have Jazz and Harry, and even that was after years believing himself alone. But for Elsa, she was truly alone.

Still, he didn't think he should just take her to the court and marry her there. He think that, since this should be a momentous occasion for her, at least to his knowledge, he should do it properly. Not to mention that it was a royal wedding of the ages. He wasn't exaggerating. There had never been any such union between the ghosts and the spirits before. At least to his knowledge. This can also be considered a political marriage. Sure, Elsa did not rule Tir Na Nog or the Other Lot. But she was their 'head of state', as much as he was the figure head of the ghosts. Just like the monarchs of Britain, they reign but did not rule.

At least not Elsa.

Danny was somehow stuck with partial ruling since every rulers of the large lairs or communities in the Infinite Realm will turn to him to settle their discord. During Pariah's reign, he held tourneys that they will fight to their 'death' to settle problems. Winner will take all. But usually he will kill the winner of the tourney just to prove himself the strongest. However, Danny preferred to take things to court over tournaments. He wanted to at least be civil with things before he settle it all with his own fists. It was because of this 'gentler' way of dealing with those hard heads that some thought he was soft. Took some painful experiences for Danny to finally let go of doing things the human way to deal with ghosts.

But back to the matter at hand, he should at least properly court her. The Other Lot was old fashioned like that and he should not stir more of that hornet nest. Elsa was their most precious treasure and they will demand that he treated her so. Because of this, the matter of his marriage to Elsa must be handled with care.

When Elsa walked in the garden beyond the natural swimming pool one evening, Danny decided to join her. She stiffened a little when he simply appeared over the water but then relaxed and watched as he approached her. Danny completely ignored how creepy it was to just appear like the way he did. He had not done things like a human for ages that he often times forgot that proper human will not just appear under the shades of trees floating over water. But Elsa did not mention that it was creepy. Instead, she tried her best to get used to it.

Danny asked her, "May I join you?"

Elsa smiled, "It's your garden, Danny. You may do whatever you pleased,"

Danny smiled at that, "Thanks..."

He took tiny steps to stay in pace with her. She took her time enjoying the sights of the water garden that worked to filter the swimming pool behind their house. After they reach the curve of the path with a bench under the largest willow tree, she sat down on the bench and looked at the hills just beyond the black stone walls of their home. Danny sat down next to her, feeling like a giant beside her. The placement of the bench was high enough that they can see the village just below the hill where their house was situated.

She hummed, "I heard that it is an all magical village, one of few left,"

Danny nodded, "I see...want to go there one day?"

She looked at him, "Go?"

Danny smiled at her, "I'm asking you for a date,"

She stared at him for a moment before blushing slightly, "A date? Whatever for? We aren't exactly lovers,"

Danny twisted his mouth, "True...but you're going to be wife now that Harry accepted you," He then frowned, "Unless you are not going to go through with it,"

Elsa blinked before shaking her head, "No. That's not it. It is just that...I cannot see a reason why you would want to court me...if that is what you are doing,"

Danny leaned on his knees with his elbows to look at her, "Elsa. You and I are not ordinary people. The Other Lot, the spirits and the fey...they will not be happy if I treated you too callously. Besides, this is your wedding we are talking about. I don't know if you have been married before-," The thought of her trying the knot with someone else other than him somehow made his mouth taste bitter and his fangs itch to bite something fierce. He tried not to think too much on what it could mean for him.

She shook her head, quickly correcting him, "I have not. I have never found any time or reason or even anyone to tie myself to,"

Danny blinked, wondering why his chest skipped at that, "Oh? I see. Well, then! It is even more imperative that we make this a wonderful memory for you! And I! Can't forget the groom!" He laughed at his own joke. After a moment, he looked at Elsa's complicated expression, "Let me guess...never been courted before?"

Elsa sighed, "No...I never did find the time. It isn't that I am lacking suitor but growing up I am too afraid to make any physical contact with others in fear of turning them into ice. I had already resigned myself to a life without spouse. That and being a Queen means I'm too busy to entertain the thought of romance. After that, I have my duty as Ahtohallan's chosen 5th Spirit. You..." She looked at him, "You are perhaps my first official suitor with marriage in mind,"

Danny didn't know why hearing that made him feel happy. It sounded like a very lonely life to go through. Pushing that thought aside, he asked again, "So...come on a date with me? Let's have a proper court. I mean, you may have been here for months. July is almost here and Harry's birthday is on the 31st. I want us to be at least more than what we are now, work colleague, so Harry can experience true family on his birthday,"

Elsa thought about before smiling, "I supposed I can try. But must we be on this date?"

Danny nodded, "Yes! It is important that we feel comfortable with each other. Sure, you are using a room on the family's floor but you are more like a live in Nanny. We hardly know each other well enough to call ourselves family. I mean, you acted like my secretary...a bit. We need to let Harry experience what a proper family dynamic is like. It means more than just being polite with each other. I want him to experience that you can be mad with each other, scream at each other, but still care for each other when you cool down. I also want him to know what family can and cannot do to each other. But we can't do that if we stay as we are even when we are married to each other,"

Elsa stared at him before saying, "You want him to experience a real family and not just one out of contract,"

Danny nodded, "Yes,"

She shifted a little, her finger picking on the loose thread of her dress. Danny noticed that Elsa wore a lot of dresses. Then again, the size of her tiny waist in comparison of her wide hip had proven that things like the jeans would be hard to fit her even with a belt. Still, though he wasn't into a girly girl like Elsa, he found her lovely.

These past months, watching her with Harry even when the boy was purposefully being difficult was...strange. And now that Harry no longer putting up a front with her and behaving like a brat, which Jazz suspected he had his cousin as an example, he saw a vision of what could be. He will never know what girls like Sam or Valerie would be like as a mother, but he can see what Elsa will be like. She was patient, she was doting, she was guiding, and she was strict. She had never let Harry get away with misbehaving. But she was never cruel about it. If anything, she would often looked at his direction to see if he will deal with Harry first before calling out of the kid's bullshits.

She taught Harry manners and tact. Sure, her style might be a little old fashioned but Danny felt that Harry will benefit from her training him to behave like a Prince from little girl's fairy tale. Since Jazz said he looked like Danny, the boy will grow into a heart breaker once puberty hit, if not before from pure Princely rizz alone.

But the one aspect that had won him over the most was her willingness to endanger herself to keep Harry safe. He still remembered the bruises on her neck and shoulders that he caught glimpses of from the day she stopped Harry from being kidnapped. Elsa wasn't strong or violent. She was peaceful and a pacifist. But she also have her power to rely on. Had she not been who she was, the wizard kidnapper would have ran off with both her and Harry. But because magic itself bow to her will, not even a wizard's magic can harm her. Still, even if she cannot be harmed with magic, she can still be physically harmed.

But that on that day he knew, Elsa was it. She would be the perfect mother to Harry.

When Jazz psychoanalyzed her handwriting, she told Danny what history she can glean from it. There was anxiety there but also strength and determination. Elsa was also not much of a people person but she was polite when someone approach her. She was also a scholar and a lover of the arts. Elsa was everything that Danny wasn't and he found that it put him at ease with how peaceful and logical she can be. Because he knew himself. He can be impulsive and excitable. But she wasn't just calm and collected. No. Elsa have a taste for adventure and adrenaline herself. As proven when she shared how she and Nokk met. Well, when she and the Spirits of the Elements met.

She was also kind and forgiving. Immensely more than him. After all, Nokk killed her parents and left her stranded in uncertainty with her power and a throne that she wasn't ready to sit in. But she understood the weight of duty and the empathy and understanding of responsibility wasn't something he had ever seen in any of the girls in his life before. Perhaps, as a teenager, Elsa would be boring to him. But at this age, she was anything but a bore. She was exciting in the quiet manner.

Danny found his kindred in her.

Although it was different from him, they both carried an impossibly heavy weight of duty at a very young age. Elsa was young when she became Queen. The stress of her work and the pressure of hiding her power caused it to explode a few years after her enthronement. That was when time stopped for her. At least, that was her story. Still, it paralleled with his own. He was young when he naively picked up the mantle of a hero. After his escape from his own time, he was pressured into fights left and right with only a few places that could defend him from attacks. Forcing himself to grow stronger and stronger just to survive. Then he felt the call to fully destroy Pariah Dark and became King of the Ghosts. After that, time stopped for him.

Unless someone experience the ultimate sacrifices that they made, no one can really understand the tragedy of having their mortality stripped from them...

Songbirds flew overhead and twittered. The ringing call of crows and ravens answered them from among the branches above them. Danny looked to see what seemed to be a battle of songs between carrion birds and songbirds with the former gathering over his head while the latter gathered over Elsa's. This clear parallel was something of interest to anyone watching.

He watched them try to out sing the other...

"Very well,"

He looked at Elsa who was also watching the birds, "Hm?"

She looked at him, "I accept your invite,"

Danny smiled, "How long do you want this courtship to be?"

Elsa hummed, turning her eyes back on the birds, "I would like for us to marry before Jazz's time end..."

She wasn't cold when she spoke of Jazz's imminent death. Elsa had experienced so much loss that she was simply resigned when someone near and dear to her approached their end. But for Danny, his death was the only loss he ever experienced. Jazz will be the first for him to personally experience another's death and he just knew that Harry's funeral will also be one he would attend in the distant future. Sooner or later, what Elsa experienced in her past will also be his reality to live through.

He felt his tight fist being loosened by gentle touches. He looked to see her soft hand rubbing his knuckles, attempting to calm his turmoil. He opened his palm and captured her hand in his. She simply squeezed him.

She said, "I am sorry if I was careless with my words,"

Danny felt that storm in his chest calm, lightening the sky above them a little. Light breeze teased their hair and he knew that it was one of Elsa's friend, Gale, that was with them. She smiled brighter at it's presence, poking at the flower that the wind fluttered before her. She then blew frost, creating a sphere that encapsulated the flower, causing the wind to drop it into her hands. She smiled, "I'll hand this to Jazz later,"

Danny opened his hand, "Give me. I notice that your ice can still melt from extreme temperature,"

She handed the sphere of ice to him and he strengthened it with his own ghost ice. At her wide eyed look, he smiled, "Didn't know that I have ice power too, huh? Well, this is ghost ice. It won't melt even if you throw it into the sun. Though I won't recommend that. I once visited this star system far from here, just being curious, and decided to experiment around. I'm not sure if it have been discovered yet but...that sun is a zombie star now," He grimaced, "Learned my lesson. Don't play with my power in space,"

Elsa stared at him in disbelief before snorting out laughter. He looked at her in surprise as she started laughing at him or his weird adventure in space or maybe his snafu with the sun of some unnamed and undiscovered star system. She took back the sphere and gasped before handing it back to him. He looked at her in confusion and she said, "It's cold,"

He raised a brow, "I thought the cold doesn't bother you?"

Elsa shrugged, "Maybe because it kills? I don't know. The depth of Ahtohallan leads to memories so old that it is buried deep within her like a grave. The first time I entered it, it is also the first time I felt cold. Perhaps...the depth of Ahtohallan reaches your realm?"

Danny thought about it before nodding, "My ice is the cold of death. Your ice are more like winter frost, keeping seeds and life safe until things warm up again. Then again, my coldness is the cold of space. There is nothing that can live up there. Without this planet's protective layer, even the sun is deadly,"

Everything about him and her were opposites.

Yet somehow...

Somehow, they will make this work. One way or another. Because Danny knew that for as long as Harry will need him in his life, Danny will need Elsa in theirs. Because of this, he will focus on their similarities more than their differences. Besides, a healthy relationship meant tolerance and compromising to give room for one's partner's differences, quirks, and short comings, right?

They returned home once the clouds rolled in. Being in Scotland, it rained a lot. It was why he carefully select flowers that loved rain like hydrangeas and iris. Well, it wasn't really him. It was Elsa. She had asked permission to add more flowers to their home and he agreed. Their home was surrounded and cradled by nature. The stone flags path added to this as they circled to the front, the switchgrass that grew along the path making the place feel intimate. Even the meadowsweet growing alongside the house add to it's beauty.

Shrieking Shack wasn't just a Gothic mansion. It was a large cottage fit for a fairytale.

They looked up to see Jazz sitting in the gazebo overlooking the walls to the magical village below. The Shrieking Shack was built on the top of a tall hill a few miles away from the village, affording them security and privacy. It used to be a barren hill with barely living grass that died off soon after he moved in. But now, with Elsa living here, it was covered in beautiful wild flowers that colored the hill like watercolor painting. Also, he noticed some magical creatures moving in nearby.

A herd of hippogriffs huddled near at a far enough distance that Harry can watch them without getting hurt.

At night, he saw a dullahan rode around their hill before disappearing in the morning. He suspected that the dullahan must have decided to guard the hill due to Elsa being there. He didn't care much about it as it add to Harry's security. The fact that trees were 'moving in' to their hill meant that more fairies and nature spirits have decided that ghosts won't be the only thing guarding the place. In the morning, he noticed what he learned to be a ghillie dhu lurking among the trees. With that elf in sight, he didn't mind Harry playing too close to the walls. The elf was known to be friendly with children and will watch over Harry for Elsa.

The village below must be so confused or perhaps even more frightened by the livelier Shrieking Shack. Sometimes Ember screeched around at night just to keep up the image and rumor by Danny's order. And order that she was having immense fun with. That, and Fright Knight would sometimes leave his post to Bruni so he can spar with the dullahan. Nothing can be more frightening than seeing two 'Knights' duking it out on horses like they came right out of history books at night.

There was also a ghoul creeping around near the creek and the woods, which further scared any curious students from visiting. The herd of thestrals that should be in the woods surrounding Hogwarts would also came near to their hill. Danny was glad that Harry can't see them, though the boy had pouted as everyone else in the family can. However, because of Danny's right as King, he can touch the beast and Harry will see something like a transparent image of the odd looking winged horse.

Honestly, the livelier yet creepier hill was keeping all his neighbors away.

After all, trees can't just appear one day and move around. That was too much even for witches and wizards. Even Gandalf was baffled when he saw the ents. But when Elsa explained about the Other Lot to him, he respectfully kept his nose clean. After all, despite the common belief that witches and wizards were the most powerful magic wielder, they have nothing on the Other Lot. It was just that the Other Lot was disgusted of humanity as a whole, magical or mundane, and decided to keep to themselves. Practically putting a veil over themselves so that no humans can find them.

But sometimes, magic was so chaotic, like around around the Shrieking Shack, that their veil disappeared. They can put it back up but because of Danny's presence, it fell off of them a lot. Still, those around the house could hardly care less about keeping the veil up. They wanted to be seen by Elsa. If she noticed them and greeted them, even just a nod of acknowledgement, they acted all giddy like they had been noticed by their idol. It was a little funny for Danny to see.

It was so different from how the ghosts were with him.

At least, knowing how much Elsa cared for Harry, they will not harm him like they would other human. In fact, the Shrieking Shack have successfully become both the safest and the most dangerous place for a human. Fairies were territorial and so was ghost. Well, him, specifically. He claimed the Shrieking Shack as his lair so...

But at least he was tolerant to all these Other Lot and ghosts 'visiting' the Shrieking Shack?

Danny watched as Harry sat on the low black rock wall to attempt drawing the elf in the forest. He was rather ambitious despite still being bad at drawing people. Danny looked at the elf in the forest standing as still as he can in a simple pose for the little wizard drawing him. He snorted at the sight as he drank his chocolate drink that Elsa made that morning, or rather her peanut butter chocolate protein shake that she decided to make for him after he finished his workout in the gym in their attic. Ever since she figured out the blender, she was diligent in using it. It made him feel like inventing more home appliances for her to 'play around' with.

He have never seen someone who looked so happy with childish wonderment at using a blender in his life.

At least Pepper stopped arguing when she saw how happy using the kitchen made Elsa. Since then she stopped popping Elsa into Danny's office whenever the woman tried using the kitchen. Just last week, Elsa succeeded at baking a batch of cookies with Jazz and Harry. The little boy immediately took a plate up for him to eat while he listened to the medieval group that lived near Dora's kingdom-lair argue with the wandering vikings on their ghost ship for docking there without permit.

That had made that torture session a little more bearable.

No wonder Pariah Dark went coo-coo...

Harry cheered something and climbed down from the wall, being careful with his drawing more than himself. He ran towards Danny with his short legs and his wide toothy grin, having lost one baby tooth just a few days ago, showing off his art, "Look, Dad! I got the light and shadow right, right?"

Danny smiled at him, pleased by the title, "I won't know, Harry. Not an art guy. Why don't you show Mum?"

Harry's green eyes sparkled before he ran into the house, hollering at the top of his lungs, "MUM~!"