Flight Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land
The people were dreaming of the Christmases they’d planned
But up in the castle, awake in the hall
Was the Snow Queen named Elsa, draped in a shawl.

Her fingers moved lightly, magic spilling from them as she slowly created an icy work of art upon the walls of the Grand Hall. Pillars of ice joined together by decorative twists and shapes, covering the walls and the ceiling (though not the floor, she’d learned her lesson last year). Once she was done, Elsa stepped back to admire her handiwork, pulling her mother’s shawl tightly around her shoulders now that the room had something of a chill. It was strange to think that once upon a time, she had feared this magic. Hated it. It became a symbol for her isolation and her overwhelming fear of hurting someone. She had hated her magic, and hated herself. Everything she was had been the reason that her sister had been hurt, and her own fear of hurting Anna again had been the reason that neither of them had a normal childhood growing up.

Now, however, Elsa could admire the skills of her own hand, and the magic that fell from them. The ice was beautiful. Cold, but beautiful and the cold didn’t bother her anyway. Besides, when the room was filled with those she loved, no one would feel the cold.

She moved towards the Christmas tree of ice, an exact replica of the one she had created in the forest during their first proper Christmas together. Anna had asked for it again this year, and so Elsa had created one in the grand hall, complete with lantern decorations and an Olaf snowflake as a tree toppers. This tree was a little less clear, and a little more glistening, as Elsa had added a bit of permafrost to make sure it didn’t melt over the weeks leading to Christmas.

Beneath the tree sat hundreds of presents. Elsa had gone a little overboard this year, enjoying simply being able to buy for people she loved in a way she hadn’t before, but she was sure that they wouldn’t mind. Christmas was also a time for presents, if they were all honest. Love and compassion was one thing, the food was another, but truly the spirit of Christmas came from the giving and receiving of gifts bought or made with love. Elsa knelt gently down before the tree, straightening a few of the gifts up until they all lay in perfect piles, neatly stacked.
“Perfect”

Once she was done in the grand hall, she made her way slowly up the stairs, attempting not to step on the creaky steps along the way. She needed to get some sleep, because she had learned the previous year that Anna plus the excitement of Christmas lead to another ‘the sky’s awake so I’m awake so we have to play’ moment for the Queen, yet she had one thing she wanted to do before she slept. She stopped outside Anna’s bedroom and slowly opened the door, the light from the hallway falling into the room enough to illuminate Elsa’s path towards the princess’ bed. Anna was sleeping in the most ridiculous position, arms over her face, flat on her back, and Elsa couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Anna” she whispered softly, gently nudging her sister “Anna, wake up. I want to show you something.”

After 15 minutes, Elsa had managed to wake Anna and bundle her into some of her warmest winter clothes, leading her out into the cold air of the night.
“Where are we going?” Anna asked softly, still managing to look somewhat cold even covered in the layers Elsa had piled upon her. The Queen turned to look at her sister, holding out her hand.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do, what kind of question is that?” Anna frowned, placing her gloved hand into Elsa’s bare one. Even through her gloves, she could feel the cold radiating from her sister but if it bothered her, she didn’t show it to Elsa.
“You’ll enjoy this, I promise”

It took another 20 minutes to get to where Elsa planned to be, and both sisters were silent as they walked. The snow was thick, a foot and a half deep, but Elsa used her magic to make the path clear before them making the journey much easier. The path took them to the top of a snowy hill, the dark shadow of Arendelle visible in the distance and the sky above clear and full of stars. This was where they stopped, looking at the sleeping city below, and Elsa wrapped an arm around her sister.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she spoke softly, looking to Anna who was so caught up in the beauty of the night that she didn’t speak.

A large thud behind them made the redhead break her gaze from Arendelle and turn, where she came face to face with the white dragon, crafted of living ice. He was still young, but had already grown to about the size of two or three large horses, with large wings of ice that cast shadows over Elsa and Anna.
“Jörmungandr, you scared me!” Anna laughed softly, and the great beast gently nudged her with his snout.
“Alright, alright.. we’re coming..” Elsa chuckled, and the dragon turned his attention to his ‘mother’, giving her a soft chirp in greeting.
“Coming? Coming where?” Anna looked to her sister, who simply nodded her head towards Jörmungandr. “What? Elsa.. no.. I told you.. I can’t.. I’ll fall off..”
“You’ll be fine. I promise. I’ve got you..”

The dragon extended his wing, giving the young royals a route to his back. Elsa moved behind her sister and gently pushed Anna towards the wing, forcing her to climb onto the back of the beast and getting on behind her. Jörmungandr’s spine was coated in a thick row of ‘spikes’ made of ice. Each spike was far enough apart for the average human to sit.
“Hold on..” Elsa whispered to her sister before grabbing hold of the dragon herself. Jörmungandr spread his wings, launching himself from the top of the cliff. He carried the sisters into the sky, climbing higher and higher until he levelled out, wings catching one of the air currents.

He then turned towards the mountains, wings beating slowly as he half flew, half glided in their direction. Elsa gripped tight to his back as he began to weave his way through the large stone peaks at an incredible speed that had both sisters squealing slightly, and yet he was steady enough that neither felt as though they were about to fall. Almost as quickly as they had reached the mountains, they were through them and flying over a carpet of tall trees. Jörmungandr swooped down, low enough for the tops of the trees to brush against Anna and Elsa’s boots. Before long, even the trees began to thin and disappear, replaced by a blanket of snow and stone and Elsa looked at her sister, smiling softly
“Incredible, isn’t it?”
“It’s.. terrifying but.. yes, incredible”

Jörmungandr paused in mid-air for a moment, hovering in one spot before he began to climb high in the air once more, continuing to increase his height until they were above the clouds, underneath a royal blue blanket of sky and stars. Everywhere the royals looked, all they could see was bright white stars, twinkling gently. It was an incredible sight, one that Elsa had never seen before so she knew it was new to her sister too. She reached around Anna, hugging her from behind as she gently squeezed her sister’s hand.
“Merry Christmas Anna.” She smiled, kissing her sister on the cheek “Come on. Let’s get home. We need some sleep before the celebrations begin..”