i love hearing you guys and your theories about what this series outcome is gonna be <333 ik i say it every time but thank u for ur support

/ / /

If you thought back to the first time you showed Barley your powers, you couldn't quite remember how nervous you were. You weren't sure how he would react. From what you had learned from your guardians, it was easier to say that you control ice and snow rather than show it.

Ice and snow sounded beautiful, but it looked foreign and dangerous, especially when being controlled by a young person who wasn't sure how to keep their emotions in check.

"It's not scary," you promised him, standing in the middle of his bedroom. You held your gloved hands to your chest. "I-I'll just make it --- make it flurry. Okay?"

He nodded, an eager smile on his face. Barley had been so excited to see your power, especially when you said you weren't a wizard of any kind. You were just a girl that didn't have any parents and instead had this thing that kept you from fitting in.

You slipped your gloves off and took in a deep breath. You opened your palms slowly. You didn't trust yourself.

"Stay back," you warned. "I-I don't want to hurt you."

"Hey, you aren't going to hurt me," he said.

"You don't know that. It could be an accident. I could lose my focus, I could get distracted! If I did, you would---"

He held up his hands. "Hey, hey." He stepped back against the wall. "Is that better?"

You swallowed nervously and nodded --- and then you opened your hands.

You looked up as snow began to fall from the ceiling. It fell softly and in huge chunks of white. Barley gasped gently and cupped his hands in front of him to catch a few flakes. In awe, he gaped.

"This is so cool!" he laughed out. He spread his arms and threw his head back, and you found yourself smiling.

He liked it.

"I-It is?" you asked.

"Look at this! I mean --- wow. Holy tooth of Zadar, that's so cool!" He tipped his head back and caught a snowflake on his tongue like he was a child. He shook his fists in the air and called out, "My girlfriend is so talented!"

Your cheeks warmed and you felt as if you melted. In your slip of emotion, you noticed the snow pick up. Fear gripped your heart and paralyzed your happiness. You pulled the gloves back on quickly.

"No," you said, voice sad. "She is just curse."

Barley's arms fell to his sides. "No, you're not."

"Yes." You closed your eyes. "I am, Barley. I---"

He shook his head. "Don't talk about yourself that way."

"How am I supposed to see it, Barley? I hurt people."

"Name one person you hurt," he said, crossing his arms.

"When I was little, a guardian yelled at me about something I didn't do. But his son lied and pinned it on me --- that I stole from the neighbor's kid's toys. I didn't. But I was yelled at and... and... and he hit me. I got so scared that spikes of ice just went everywhere all around me. No one got hurt, but they could have been. That's why I am a monster."

Barley's eyebrows pulled together. "I don't see how that makes you a monster. They hurt you."

He approached you and, before you could protest, put his arms around you slowly. His hands gently rested against your arms. You held your hands between your chest and his.

"I would never hurt you," he said, and you knew it was a promise.

You smiled, tears coming into your eyes. You trusted yourseld enough now to touch his face, just barely. He leaned into your palm for a fraction of a second, and that was enough to show you that he wasn't afraid of you.

"Just let it go," he said softly. "Show me what you've got."

Tears slipped out of your eyes. "Think your mom will get mad if we make your backyard an ice skating rink?"

Barley's face lit up. "I think she'd be understanding. You know, cause... cause ice rinks are important."

You laughed and took his hand. "Come on."

You rushed down the stairs and ran out the side door of the house, Barley still gripping your hand. He opened the fence and you raced inside.

"Ice skating rink! Ice skating rink!" he chanted.

"Are you ready?" you asked. He nodded and with a grin, you stomped hard on the grass.

A thick sheet of ice spread from where you stood to the fences that blocked off the Lightfoot family's yard. You turned around in circles, watching it spread out in front of you.

Excitement filled you. You were in awe of your own talent. You had never felt this free before.

You wanted to take your gloves off, but you found yourself hesitating. Old memories scared you.

"Hey," Barley said. You looked at him. "You can do this."

You smiled and slipped the gloves off your hands. They fell to the ground and you let the snow fall around you freely. In mid June, on an eighty degree day, the snow fell all around Mushroomton.

For the first time in forever, no one was scared of you. Barley carefully slid across the ice. He nearly slipped until you caught him.

"My bad," he said. His legs shook. "You got me?"

"I got you," you said.

"I have a confession to make," he said. "I've never been ice-skating before."

"Never?" you asked. He shook his head. "Well, just hold onto me. It's easy."

You held his hands and stepped backwards. He gasped in shock, nearly dropping you and falling backwards, but you had him.

"Hold on tight!"

For the next several hours, people stepped out of their homes, in awe of the snow falling in the middle of summer. But you and Barley were in your own world, skating across the ice you made, jumping into piles of snow, and building snowmen.

"What should we name him?" he asked, sticking two sticks into the sides. He knelt in front of the snowman and looked back at you.

"His name is Olaf," you said, stepping backwards to observe him.

"Olaf?" he laughed. "Why that name?"

"I don't know," you admitted. You tilted your head in thought. "It's just always been Olaf."

"Olaf," he repeated. He got up and went to stand beside you. "I like it."

You hummed and smiled. Barley's hand found yours, and for the first time, he held your bare hand and you weren't afraid of hurting him.

"I never knew what I was capable of," you said breathlessly.

He smiled, his eyes on you. "I did."

You looked up at him, ready to cry again. Instead he kissed you, slowly and carefully.

The snow fell around you a little faster.

You stood in front of the thick fog and lifted your right hand. Barley gently squeezed your left palm with your fingers. It was his way of saying, You can do this.

Your fingertips touched the fog and it spread for you. You jerked your hand back, shocked, and took the first step forward.

Entering the Enchanted Forest took your breath away. The trees towered over you. Branches held looming clusters of bright orange and rich red leaves. The forest floor was full of color from the leaves. Reds, oranges, and purples. You touched the trunk of a tree and Ian paused to do the same. 

"It's so pretty here," you said, tears in your eyes. "I've never even imagined a place could be this beautiful."

"It is really cool," he said, nodding. "Barley, isn't it cool?"

"Yeah, super cool," he whispered. He narrowed his eyes and peered between the trees a few feet away. "What's... what's that?" 

You followed his gaze and saw a swirl of wind pick up a pile of leaves. It looked like it was coming right towards you. You gasped as it rushed over, spreading across the forest floor that you were standing on. 

"What is it doing?" Ian asked. "What is it --- ah!" 

The wind hit the three of you hard, just as hard as it did when you woke all of the spirits up earlier. You struggled to keep your balance as it whirled around you, pieces of leaves and twigs and dirt smacking against your skin. 

This was the wind spirit, you realized.

"I-I think he might be angry at us for being here!" Barley exclaimed.

"Maybe you should talk to him," Ian suggested. The wind blew harder, blowing the back of his flannel right over his head. "Whoa!"

"I don't know how---" Barley's hand slipped away from yours and you shouted, "Barley!"

"No, wait!" he said, getting lifted high into the air.

"Barley!" Ian yelled. 

"Wait!" you screamed. The wind swirled violently against you. It swirled and swirled, picking up chunks of dirt and rock and whatever it could grab until it was a raging tornado that surrounded you and Ian and Barley. "Stop!" 

It didn't stop. It only swirled you around more and more. Ian clutched his stomach and shut his eyes tight. "I think I'm gonna be sick," he said. 

You looked from him to Barley. An entire tree trunk came barreling towards him. Gasping, you threw your hands forward and shot the tree away from him. The leaves of the wind swirled around your hands, throwing them up. 

"Hey!" you said. "Stop that!"

A second later, Barley and Ian fell out of the tornado. You screamed for them, hearing your name leave their throats as they shouted in fear for you. The tornado spun even more violently until you squeezed your eyes shut and threw your arms out at your sides.

Ice flooded from your fingertips, hitting the sides of the wind and pushing it further and further away from you. Your feet planted firmly on the ground and you struggled to keep your stance as you pushed and pushed. 

"Leave me alone!"

"___!" Barley yelled, his hands cupped around his mouth. He couldn't see you through the grey swirl of dirt and leaves that still surrounded you. It lifted you higher and higher.

"It's going to kill her!" Ian gripped his staff and rushed forward, only to be stopped by Barley's hand. "Barley, she needs us!"

"No, she'll be okay," he said. "You just gotta trust her."

"That's your girlfriend! How could you say that? It could kill her!" 

Barley glanced nervously at the growing tornado. He was worried, but he knew what you were capable of. He knew that you could handle anything that was in front of you if you just knew how strong you were. As the tornado, got closer to him, he pushed Ian behind him and backed up slowly. "We just have to trust her. We just have to..."

Inside of the wind, you still fought for your life. Anger filled you, and you weren't scared of what it was making you. You were more powerful when you were angry. A scream of frustration came out of you as your teeth ground together and you threw your arms out once again.

"I said---" you hissed, "leave me alone!"

You hit the tornado with everything in you. Suddenly, the walls of the wind formed pictures, all sketched out like drawings using your magic. You gaped in shock as you saw a group of soldiers, a large horse made of water, a young boy and a young girl, and finally, directly in front of you, a woman in a stance identical to yours.

Your eyes widened as you looked at her face. She looked so familiar, even though you knew that you had never seen her before.

"Father!" you heard a young boy cry. 

"For Arendelle," you heard someone else say. 

"That's my sister!"

You shook your head, becoming overwhelmed by what was around you. You pushed your palms out further and thankfully the wind vanquished. You fell forward in the leaves, catching yourself on your hands. Your forehead met the forest floor and collapsed in a heap of exhaustion. 

"___!" Barley called out. He rushed to your side and lifted you slightly, pulling you onto your lap. "Are you okay!?"

"I'm... I'm okay," you whispered. You winced. "Is Ian okay?"

"I'm alright," Ian said, kneeling down next to you. "I'm right here."

You sighed out in relief and slowly let your eyes flutter open. They were both gazing out you in deep concern. You slowly sat up.

And when you looked in front of you, you saw the shapes made of ice that you had made. You stood up quickly, Barley moving fast to support you as you struggled to stand up on your feet. You looked around.

"What are these?" Ian asked. 

"Memories," you said. "I heard them playing out while I was trapped in there. I think... I think the wind wanted to show me what had happened right here."

Ian and Barley glanced around. "Whoa," Barley whispered. "A horse made of ice."

"I think that's the water spirit," you said. "I've seen it before."

"And children?" Ian asked, gesturing to the statue of a young girl holding up a young boy. "What does this have anything to do with us?"

You didn't answer. Your eyes were on the statue of the woman again. Slowly, you moved towards her. 

"___?" Ian said. 

"I think..." Your voice was soft. "I think they're all connected to her. I think she is why I'm here."

"Do you... know her?" Barley asked. 

You shook your head. "But I feel like I do." You looked back at him. "I feel like I know her."

"That's Elsa," a new voice said.

All at once, the three of you whirled around. You put your back to the figure of ice and held your hands out to block Ian and Barley from whoever was approaching. 

Out of the trees, with the wind swirling around her, stepped a woman. Her hair was long and braided, brown with grey coming in from the roots. She did not smile, but her eyes were kind and curious. She stood alone, unarmed. Harmless. 

You lowered your arms. Barley's hand touched your shoulder. "Who are you?"

"You're asking me that, when you're the strangers in the forest?" She held her chin up high and her lips twitched into a smile.

"Well, you are approaching us," Barley said. 

"I'm here because I hear a voice," you said. "I need to know who it is and why they want me to come here. My name is ___."

"So that's who you picked," she murmured. 

"What?"

She ignored you. "My name is Honeymaren. Follow me. I might just have a few answers for you."

/ / /

fun fact: the "flashback" part of this chapter was originally the opening of the series! but i changed it bc i thought that it worked better as a flashback before they entered the forest :-)