*A/N: The picture in the media box above can be used as a visual aid when different mountain routes are discussed in the story. I don't want to insert it in the story and break up the continuity.

TW: mentions blood, gore, and possible death.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

"I'm so glad we're done! How much time off did they say we have this time?" Elsa asked.

She and her soulmate Sam were coming back from helping out some of the other elves in checking to make sure that their solar bubbles to keep frozen cities warm didn't adversely affect areas that usually stayed cold, like the snowcaps of the Canadian Rockies. The earth was gripped in what seemed to be an eternal winter, so all the elves had been working nonstop to make sure the humans didn't freeze.

"2 weeks," Sam said, stretching his limbs as he turned his face toward his wife.

"That's great! Can we stop by for some hot chocolate somewhere before we go home? I've really been craving human hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows the whole time we've been in Canada," Elsa said, looking up at Sam in what she hoped was a convincing pout.

Sam laughed, putting an arm around Elsa's waist as he kissed her forehead. "Sure, no need to try convincing me! I saw a town near the base of that mountain on our way over, let's see if they've got any."

Elsa cheered and pecked him on the cheek happily. The couple picked their way out of the noisy crowd of dispersing elves and removed their elf hats, switching them out for white faced watches with forest green accents and deep burgundy straps just before they entered the townsite of Jasper, Alberta. They both were bundled tightly in heavy winter clothing to blend in and held matching large carry-ons to give the illusion of luggage, although elves were immune to all kinds of weather. They idly took in the sights before passing by a boisterous group of mountaineers. Tuning into their conversation using their heightened elven senses, they overheard the group's plans.

"...that resort inn. I heard it's got a beautiful view of the glaciers and mountains. That way we can also hit up the slopes nearby!" An excited female voice sounded.

Raising her eyebrow, Elsa glanced at Sam. "Resort inn? Why don't we check it out?" she asked him telepathically.

"Sure, I'd like to see these views before we go!"

Sam and Elsa turned around and jogged to catch up to the group.

"Hey, we overheard you all talking about some kind of resort inn? Where is it?" Sam asked.

The group stopped walking and smiled at the couple.

"We were talking about the Glacier View Lodge in Jasper National Park," one of them said. "It's right in the Columbia Icefield. It's going to close in a week for the end of the season but we wanted to check it out. Say, you wanna come with us? We've got a tour bus and we're heading that way if you're interested!"

Sam and Elsa glanced at each other before nodding. "We'd love to, thank you for the offer," Elsa said to the man who had spoken.

The group readily welcomed the couple as they headed toward the bus terminal and boarded their bus. Sam and Elsa took a seat in the back, and made small talk with the people around them for the journey from the Jasper townsite to the national park. Upon reaching the Visitor's Center, the group went to the top floor where the lodge was and confirmed their reservations while Sam and Elsa looked around. The views were absolutely stunning. The mountains and glaciers glistened in the January sunlight, the snow almost blindingly white.

"Elsa, I think we should stay here for the week, then head home for the second week before reporting back to work, what do you say? It'll be like a winter vacation, and there's hot chocolate too," Sam said, pointing at a kiosk where coffee, tea, and hot chocolate beverages were served.

"It's always winter though."

"You know what I mean! We don't get views like this in Australia, let's enjoy them before we go."

Elsa nodded excitedly, shoving her wallet into his hands before making a beeline for the kiosk. "I'll check out the hot chocolate, you make the reservation," she said in her mind.

Sam chuckled at his wife's retreating back as she practically skipped to the kiosk to wait in line. He walked up to the counter and made a reservation for a room quickly before making his way to his wife, who was now happily sipping from a mug piled precariously high with tiny marshmallows. When he reached her with their keycards, she beamed at him and held out another cup just like hers.

"I got one for you, try it!"

Sam took the mug and took a sip, savoring the chocolatey goodness before plucking up a marshmallow with his tongue. "It's really good!"

"Right? And they gave me extra marshmallows!"

The couple sat and finished their beverages before heading up to their room. It had a king sized bed in the center, a dresser with a TV across from it, and a desk next to the TV. On the opposite side of the door was a large floor to ceiling window that was framed by curtains on either side.

"Oh it's beautiful!" Elsa exclaimed, running to the window as soon as the door closed behind them.

The view was marvelous. A few snow-capped mountains were so close, she could see the individual crevasses and every jagged edge. Between the mountains was the massive Athabasca glacier, the ice sparkling in the afternoon light. When Sam joined her at the window, Elsa remembered that they needed to tell the North Pole of their plans. She took out a red case smartphone and thought about the Soulmate Department, the phone dialing itself.

"Soulmate Department, this is Hamid. How may I help you, Elsa?"

Elsa placed the phone on speaker. "Hey Hamid, Sam and I want to spend a week in Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, we just wanted to let you know."

"Duly noted. You will have a mission, so look out for it and enjoy your mountain climbing."

"What's the mission? And why mountain climbing?" Sam asked.

"Don't worry about it, you'll know when the time comes. Good day."

Click.

Sam and Elsa rolled their eyes, used to the North Pole's brusque telephone etiquette and their habit of hanging up without waiting for a farewell.

"That was odd. Usually they tell us about it. Have they ever given you a cryptic mission before?" Elsa asked Sam.

He shook his head. "No. Even when I was sent to you, I was at least told that it was to be a snow globe mission. Hamid mentioned something about mountain climbing, you think the key lies there?"

"That's what I'm thinking. We didn't even decide what we'd do here yet, so I guess that's what we should do."

"Then I suggest we rest early and be prepared to scale a mountain tomorrow," Sam said with a mischievous grin, picking her up and tossing her onto the bed, eliciting a surprised yelp. Before she could even lift her head, he climbed up and trapped her between his arms.

"It's barely 4pm!"

"Doesn't matter, we can have breakfast in the lounge at 7am. We'll get plenty of rest before then."

He kissed her fiercely on the lips before blazing a fiery path to her collarbone.

"This...this isn't rest, Sam," Elsa said between gasps of pleasure.

"Then let's get busy so we can fall asleep easier," he whispered against her skin.

Elsa laughed despite herself, giving in to the waves of passion for the rest of the day, falling asleep just before midnight.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

The next morning, the refreshed couple made their way to the breakfast area where groups of mountaineers, hikers, skiers, and all sorts of other snow inclined people were fueling up for the day. One of the members of the group they traveled with yesterday saw them enter and waved them over. They smiled and walked up to the group, picking up a pile of food on the way. Sitting at one of the tables, they found themselves listening in on the group's plans for the day.

"Are y'all gonna hike with us?" A 30-something year old man asked the couple.

Exchanging telepathic glances, Sam and Elsa nodded.

"We don't really know the slopes, so we'll just follow your lead and tag along if you don't mind," Sam replied.

"We'd be happy to have you!" a 40-something woman exclaimed before speaking to the rest of the group. "So today's itinerary is pretty simple, we'll just be touring the glaciers and hitting up one of the minor mountains. But our goal is to get our bodies used to the altitude so we can climb Mount Andromeda over there by the end of the week. Everyone on board?" Nods of assent rippled through the small group of about 10 people. "Then let's go!"

The group, Sam and Elsa in tow, left the inn and dispersed into the Columbia Icefield to take in the glacial sights. Things were smooth going all week, and the group became fast friends with Sam and Elsa, marveling at the couple's exceptional athleticism and stamina. The couple were sure they would have a very easy week, that they nearly forgot all about the phone call from the beginning of their stay.

4 days later, the group was all ready to hit their last and biggest goal: Mount Andromeda. The mountain, one of the tallest in the Canadian Rockies, stood at an impressive 11,319 feet, or about 3,450 meters. Due to its size and different routes to climb it, the group had extensively argued over which routes to take on their ascent and descent.

"I think we ought to take the Skyladder route. It's a classic, and it's got a cool and smooth snow and ice face with great views," a 20-something mountaineer named Alexia was saying.

"No no, why would we tackle Andromeda if we're just going classic and easy? Let's do the Practice Gullies!" a 45 year old man named Manny was saying.

"You know the Practice Gullies are a misnomer, it's too dangerous! There's way too much loose rock there," another mountaineer, only known by his surname Salerno shot back.

Sam and Elsa eyed each other uneasily, wondering if their mission was to save some mountaineers who took a harder route later. Eventually, the group settled on taking the Andromeda route, which was a popular difficult route in the Canadian Rockies. Most of the group were experienced mountain climbers, and were eager for a challenge. The others were appeased by a system where each of the few less experienced climbers would be partnered with one of the others who were both patient and highly skilled. Sam and Elsa were a couple, and were extremely athletic, so it was decided that they would climb together and be near the front of the pack to check for unsafe footing and alert the others.

Setting out, the group took a SnoCoach shuttle bus that saved them quite a hike as the access road brought them right up to the base of the mountain, just before the steep incline. Since the Andromeda route took them directly up from the parking area, there was no horizontal scaling as they immediately started to climb. Sam and Elsa chatted during the beginning of the route where it was more snowy than rocky. The group began to focus once they hit their first patch of exposed rock about a third of the way up the mountain. They changed direction and climbed toward the right so they could head toward one of the 2 peaks at the summit.

About halfway up the mountain, Elsa heard a slight whoosh sound, like the light dusting of flour on a countertop. It was not the wind, and her special elven hearing picked it up despite the clicks of hiking gear and footsteps. She looked up and sure enough, a smattering of snow sprinkled down the slope from a jagged edge of exposed rock. It seemed innocuous enough, but Elsa knew it wasn't that simple, considering there was no wind or precipitation at the time. Another sprinkle came down almost immediately after, and that's when she heard it: a tiny cracking sound.

"Everyone stop! Move out of the way!" Sam yelled down to the hikers below them. "There's loosening snow and potential rock fall ahead."

Elsa wasn't surprised Sam also noticed, so she turned around and started helping the hikers to move back down. Because they were already on the harder side of the mountain, they couldn't really jump to another route unless it meant going through the Practice Gullies, which were notorious for their rock fall hazards. She hurried them along as fast as she could, thinking Sam was doing the same as the group grumbled their way down the mountain. Elsa secretly used her magic to add speed to the hikers, using an undetectable bubble of air that almost carried them down, their feet barely touching the rock.

The last hiker well out of harm's way, Elsa turned to find Sam, who was still exactly where they were before, trying to examine the rock. Heart in her throat, Elsa scurried up the mountain, nearly forgetting to slow down to a human level of speed as she quickly caught up to Sam.

"Sam, what are you doing? We need to get back!"

"I'm trying to see if I can heal the crack somehow, but I'm not sure where it is to even seal the fissure."

"Now's not a good ti-"

CRACK!

"Get down!" Sam cried.

A boulder had become detached from the mountain and tumbled down, headed straight for the terrified couple. Screams from below were vaguely heard as the other hikers saw what was happening, helpless. Elsa had no time to think, and simply tried to duck. She pulled Sam down by his arm, trying to get him under her so she could activate a transparent shield. Her hands glowing white hot, she was just about to put up the shield but realised her magic might not be able to catch up. She tried anyway, when suddenly she felt her body being pushed down and a heavy object slamming into her body, knocking her out immediately.

Elsa woke up within a minute thanks to her elven body that recovered from most injuries quicker than humans. She sat up in the snow, holding her head. Looking around, she blinked in confusion, wondering listlessly why the snow was splattered with blood red paint, why people were rushing frantically toward them, and why someone was pointing in her direction with a horrified expression. Knitting her eyebrows together, she slowly remembered where she was.

Sam!

She looked around trying to locate her soulmate. Looking down, she screamed. Sam was laying across her legs, face down in the snow. The boulder that hit them sat a few feet away, streaked in blood. A growing pool of blood was coming from Sam's head, dripping down like cherry syrup that stained the snow around them.

"S-Sam! Sam wake up, please!" Elsa screamed, flipping him over onto his back and shaking him.

She got onto her knees beside him, tears streaming down her face as she tried to heal him, knowing her powers would be on full display. She realized that Sam must have pushed her under him at the last second so that he could take the impact.

"Just hold on, okay? P-Please," she said, sobbing.

Her powers weren't working. Her hands glowed, but they flickered out almost immediately every time. Hitting her fists against the snow in frustration, she began to hyperventilate while trying to cast again. This time, her hands didn't even glow from how badly she was shaking.

"Sam no, don't die, please!" Elsa kept repeating, shaking her hands out and rubbing them together, trying anything to get her powers to work.

It wasn't until one of the mountaineers finally caught up to the two that Elsa finally tried to calm down at his instruction.

"If you want to help your husband you need to stay calm. We all need to stay calm and get him to safety. Let's start by calling an ambulance. Can you do that?" Sean, one of the experienced climbers, said to distract Elsa away from Sam's battered body.

"Y-yes, I can do that," Elsa said, remembering that her phone could call an elven ambulance from anywhere.

She dialed the number and spoke to the elf on the other end, telling them what happened before hanging up. She scrambled back to Sam's side and took his hand in hers, waiting for the elf medics.

It felt like an eternity as time slowed to a pregnant snail's pace while Elsa waited for help. She kept making sure he was still alive and checking his pulse. Elves had slower heartbeats than humans, so she had to keep reminding herself that feeling 5 pulses per minute meant he was okay for now by elf standards. His eyes were closed and he looked somehow peaceful despite the nasty gash at the back of his head.

Even after the elves masquerading as a paramedic team came and took him to an ambulance that was suddenly teleported to a secret hospital for elves, she never let go of his hand, except to allow them to run tests on Sam. She was told that it was only a matter of time before he woke up or passed away for good, sending her into another round of anguished cries.

-3 Days Later-

As Sam now lay with his head bandaged in a private room of the hospital, Elsa dragged up a chair and took his hand like she always did nowadays. It had been 3 days since he was brought here, and yet he was showing no signs of improvement. She gently held his hand, marveling at how well their hands fit together as she began to talk to him like she always did.

"Y'know, I never really realized it, but our hands fit so well together! I guess that's another perk of being soulmates, huh? It's like your hand was made for mine. I'm pretty sure you would say the same...if you could."

Elsa waited for a long moment, peering hopefully at Sam. She blinked rapidly, fighting off tears like she did every day for the past 3 days. She kept feeling the walls of despair closing in around her every second that went by without Sam awake. It was almost a physical effort trying to keep her despair at bay as she tried to remain hopeful and optimistic.

"I don't think there's anyone whose hands fit mine as well as yours do," she said, her voice shaking as the urge to cry became harder and harder to resist.

Silence. Suddenly Elsa couldn't continue. She couldn't pretend everything was fine when she faced the possibility that Sam could die at any moment without any warning, and that she may never see his beautiful smile again. Tears blurring her vision, she clutched Sam's hand tightly.

"Sam...I don't know what I'm going to do without you. When we became soulmates, it meant we're supposed to be together for life!" Elsa cried, staring earnestly at his sleeping face. "Don't make me a widow for the next 950 years, Sam. I can't take it. I know you told me to remarry if anything happens to you, but I can't! I want you, I need you! My heart, my life, my very essence is tied to you! If you don't wake up, I'll never be able to live. So please Sam, please. Wake up. I'm begging you. Let me walk the path of life with you until we both die of old age. You told me you'd love me always and forever. You have to be alive to do that, so please, wake up!"

Elsa barely even knew what she was saying as she poured out her heart to someone she wasn't sure even heard her. Suddenly, a rosy glow filled the whole room, making her close her eyes against the bright light. At the same time, she felt a twitch in her hand. Eyes flying open in realization, she stared at Sam, who was now awake and sitting up after the glow faded. He looked healthy, judging by the wide grin on his face, illuminated by the unshed tears glittering in his eyes.

Elsa gasped, her hand slipping out of his as she pounced on him and squeezed him into a grateful hug. "You're here, you're alright! Oh Sam!"

Sam hugged her back just as hard, his arms tightening around her as if she was a dream he was afraid to wake from. "I missed you so much Elsa. Thank you."

Elsa barely registered his choice of words as she merely basked in the low tenor of his voice, a voice she had missed dearly. After Sam pulled away and they settled down, he took her hand in both of his, smiling in wonder at his soulmate.

"It felt like I was climbing a mountain while unconscious, except the summit was getting further and further away," Sam began.

Elsa frowned slightly, distressed thinking about what he must have dealt with while unconscious and fighting for his life. Sam shook his head with a soft smile to assure her.

"This has a happy ending, I promise. After all, I'm here, aren't I?"

Elsa nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"You were at the top of the mountain, and I was trying to get to you - teleport, fly, anything. But I couldn't. Then I realized that the journey of love is like a mountain sometimes. It's perilous because you trust the other person with your heart, beautiful because the sights and memories stay with you forever, and the summit keeps getting further away because it's the journey that counts."

"What about me at the summit?" Elsa asked, puzzled.

Sam smiled and scooted over on the bed, patting the empty space so Elsa could sit. She readily complied, and he wrapped a secure arm around her.

"Because my goal is always you. I'm always willing to climb the mountain because it is you I'm doing it for. When I realized that, it's like I suddenly teleported to your side, and that's when I finally started waking up and heard what you were saying just now".

Elsa felt her face get hot. "I...I was desperate," she began.

"I know. And that's what made me even more sure that I love you. Because I also feel exactly the same way that you described. It's like you're my oxygen. If you and I were separated, I would have no desire or even ability to live properly and love anyone. And life without love is just meaningless."

Elsa laid her head gently on Sam's shoulder, and Sam gently pulled her to rest her back against the headboard with him. He held her close while they relished the moment quietly. Elsa suddenly remembered the phone call they had at the beginning of their stay.

"Remember that phone call from Hamid in the Soulmates Department? He said we were supposed to help someone, remember?" she asked suddenly.

Sam paused, chuckling. "I guess our mission was to help each other."

"I'd always help you," Elsa replied with a nostalgic smile. "It even reminds me of that old Motown song, 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. It's true, y'know. There isn't a single mountain high enough to keep me from getting to you."

"That's so cheesy, you're just casually dropping a mountain pun now?"

"You're the one who started it with that whole mountain dream you had!" Elsa protested playfully.

"Guess we really are a match made in heaven, huh?" Sam said, kissing Elsa sweetly.

Cheekily, Elsa pulled away from his kiss briefly. She waved a glowing finger before kissing Sam again, the notes of that song playing in the background with an unseen music player. Sam laughed through the kiss, amused by her antics.

Elsa was so grateful to be right here, right now, kissing the man she loved with every fiber of her being. It was a privilege and a right she would never again take for granted, especially not after this past week. Although fate threw them a plot twist, it was ultimately their story. Every stroke penned in the annals of their life was lovingly written. Each memory they created together was another chapter in their love story, a story they knew would last throughout the ages no matter what life threw at them.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・