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Elsa woke up to the sounds of the forest waking up around her. After a quick morning routine she had perfected over her months in the forest, she left the ice goahti she had made for herself to find another selection of berries next to her entrance. She had found these quite a few times now, each time arranged into a different shape. Today’s looked a lot like Bruni.
She never thought very much of it, it was probably a kind gesture by the group of Northuldra cooks who were responsible for gathering the berries. Elsa herself had left a small pile of unmeltable snow and ice outside every goahti on a particularly hot day – something that had been received very well by everyone.
Elsa didn’t see any other berry arrangements as she walked from her ice goahti to the central fire, but many people were up and about and had probably already eaten theirs. Elsa had certainly not wasted a moment before enjoying hers.
‘Hey Elsa,’ a voice behind her said. It was Honeymaren who was standing with a group of teens and an even bigger group of reindeer.
‘Good morning, Maren,’ Elsa said. ‘Are you going somewhere?’
‘Yeah, I’m taking these future herders,’ Maren said gesturing at the teens, ‘to show them a few tricks, and mostly get them to help me while Ryder is off in Arendelle.’
‘I see,’ Elsa said, knowing Ryder’s frequent visits to Kristoff put a bit of pressure of Honeymaren as she always promised to take on his tasks in addition to her own. ‘I’m going to Arendelle to see Anna later so if I see him I’ll tell him to get a move on and come home.’
‘Thanks,’ Honeymaren said with a smile, ‘so I guess I won’t see you later?’
‘Probably not,’ Elsa said. ‘I’m helping around the village for a bit, but you’ll probably be back late.’
Looking at the group of teens and reindeer, Honeymaren’s expression said it all. ‘Yes, but when Ryder is back I’ll make him make up for it.’
‘You should,’ Elsa said with a laugh. She was still making up for leaving the responsibility of being queen on Anna’s shoulders. Although making things up to Anna mainly meant coming home for games, chocolate and cuddles which was hardly punishment.
‘And maybe,’ Honeymaren had stepped closer to Elsa so nobody could overhear her, ‘we could even get away for a bit. There’s a mountain up north we could climb and we could have a picnic at the top.’
‘That sounds wonderful,’ Elsa said. Her outings with Honeymaren were by far her favourite part of living in the forest. Honeymaren knew the forest like the back of her hand and had taken Elsa to the most amazing places.
‘Can’t wait,’ Honeymaren said, and with a noticeable blush added, ‘and did you enjoy the berries?’
‘Oh, that was you!’ Elsa exclaimed, placing her hand on Honeymaren’s arm. ‘They were delicious! Thank you so much!’
‘Good, I’m glad,’ Honeymaren said and stepping even closer to Elsa and lowering her voice to what could only be described as a whisper she asked, ‘would you like me to keep bringing you berries?’
Matching Honeymaren’s voice Elsa whispered back, ‘yes, that would be lovely, Maren.’
‘Good. Great,’ Honeymaren said, looking quite relieved for some reason. ‘I will see you tomorrow, Elsa and hopefully we can start planning that trip.’
‘Yes,’ Elsa said, feeling a little confused by the interaction but squeezing Honeymaren’s arm all the same before letting go. ‘Hopefully.’
~*~*~
After having been bowled over by her sister’s exuberant hug, Elsa and Anna holed up in the Queen’s office to go over some questions that Anna had. When Anna had first taken over as queen she pretended to not have any questions, but after Elsa had reminded her that she had always relied on Anna’s help and insights and that her last three and a bit years as queen had been much better than the first three because of that help, Anna agreed to ask Elsa for help whenever she needed it. Which is how Elsa found herself staring at a small stack of documents that needed checking.
‘I still don’t get why you like that sort of boring work,’ Anna said.
‘It’s because it is boring,’ Elsa said. ‘Boring work calms me.’
Anna just laughed and went over the notes Elsa had made on the first few documents and so the sisters worked through the documents at great speed and within a few hours they were done.
‘I’m so proud of how well you’re doing, Anna,’ Elsa said. ‘It’s clear the people of Arendelle are thriving under your leadership.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Anna said, very familiar with Elsa’s compliments by now, ‘let’s go see how Kristoff is doing.’
They found him in the stables with Ryder, Olaf and Sven. After a quick hello they started discussing the reindeer deal Kristoff and Ryder were hashing out between Arendelle and the Northuldra. It sounded like an excellent way to solidify the trade agreements between the two.
‘I’m glad things are going well here, Ryder,’ Elsa said, ‘but your sister is having a hard time doing both your and her own tasks, so please get back as soon as you can.’
‘Is she really?’
‘Yeah, she had to take a few teens out with her today.’
‘No-one else was available?’
‘You know it’s a busy time for the Northuldra and everyone has their jobs to deal with.’
‘Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go back in the morning.’
Feeling like she had done her job, Elsa sat down with Olaf who talked a mile a minute about everything he had been learning and doing that week. Before long the dinner bell rang and everyone made their way to the dining hall.
Dinner was a delicious affair as always and Elsa vowed to visit Olina in the kitchen to thank her in person when a lovely desert covered in very familiar berries was placed in front of her.
‘I actually started the day with some of these berries too,’ Elsa said.
‘Were they served for breakfast?’ Ryder asked.
‘No, I found them in front of my goahti this morning,’ Elsa said. ‘They were actually shaped like Bruni.’
‘Oooeee,’ Ryder said, with a big grin on his face. ‘It sounds like Elsa’s got an admirer.’
‘Wait, what?’ Anna said, matching his grin. ‘Why?’
‘It’s a Northuldra custom,’ Ryder explained. ‘When you like someone, you know, romantically, you leave berries or nuts or whatever, depending on the season, in front of their goahti to show this. And if you really want to show off you arrange them in shapes, so someone must really like you, Elsa.’
Elsa’s mind was going a mile a minute. Honeymaren had said she had left the berries so did that mean…? It couldn’t possibly mean that, right? Honeymaren was the most amazing woman in the tribe so she wouldn’t like her, would she? And if she did how would Elsa feel about that?
Ryder and Anna continued discussing this particular custom. One that no-one had bothered to tell Elsa about but she wasn’t listening and was going over all the interactions she had had with Honeymaren. There were a lot of them – they always seemed to find each other.
Elsa supposed there had been quite a few fireside chats, and trips with just the two of them. And she had caught Honeymaren looking at her a fair few times, and her cheeks coloured red quite frequently when Elsa caught her eyes. Elsa hadn’t thought much of it – other than it being very cute.
‘Elsa,’ Anna said, probably not for the first time by the look of it.
‘What?’
‘I was asking if you have any idea who left the berries.’
Yes, Elsa thought. I know exactly who left them. I just don’t know how to feel about it. Instead of confessing she did know, Elsa decided to get some more information about it from Ryder. ‘What if I did? What would be my next step?’
‘It’s not really you that has to take the next step. After leaving the berries, your admirer has to let you know they did this and then they ask you if you want them to keep doing it. Then you say yes or no and they know if you like them back.’
‘What?’ Elsa said, her interaction with Honeymaren from that morning fresh in her memory.
‘Yeah,’ Ryder said. ‘It’s like a kinder way to be rejected, I suppose. You can pretend they are rejecting the berries and not you.’
‘Except that everyone knows what you’re really saying,’ Kristoff said.
Well, not everyone clearly. So not only had Elsa not realised she was being courted, she had also accidentally agreed to it. ‘And then what? If you say yes, what happens next?’
‘You move forward with the relationship.’
‘And what does that mean?’ Elsa asked, feeling increasingly desperate to know what she was supposed to do.
‘I suppose it’s different for everyone. After my father accepted my mother’s berries they went to the northern cliffs to have a climbing competition, this was before the mist had come down on the forest, and then they had a picnic at the top and shared a kiss.’
‘That sounds so romantic,’ Anna said. ‘We have to find out who left the berries so you can … Elsa, are you okay?’
Elsa was decidedly not okay. Honeymaren had essentially asked her to go on the same trip as her mother had arranged for her father. She was clearly hoping to kiss Elsa. Elsa had never kissed anyone. Whenever anyone suggested her kissing anyone a heavy feeling set in Elsa’s stomach so why wasn’t that feeling settling in now?
Instead there was a soft swirl, sure there was some apprehension, but mostly she felt excited at the prospect of kissing Honeymaren. Her lips always looked so soft and welcoming.
Elsa got up from the table abruptly and pulled Anna up as well. It was time for a sisterly chat. Once alone in Elsa’s room, Anna sat on the bed looking up at her expectantly.
‘So,’ Elsa said. ‘It might be the case that I know who left the berries and I might have already agreed to go on some sort of date.’
‘What!’ Anna exclaimed, looking far too excited.
‘But I didn’t know that’s what I was doing. I didn’t know about this berry tradition. I thought I was just agreeing to more berries and an outing but now I’m apparently dating this person!’
‘And you don’t want to?’
Elsa looked her sister in the eyes and realised she couldn’t say that. She couldn’t say she didn’t want to but at the same time she had no idea what it meant to date someone. To be someone’s girlfriend seemed like such a foreign idea.
‘I don’t know,’ Elsa said miserably. ‘It sounds nice, but I have no idea how to do this. How to do any of this.’
‘So what?’ Anna said. ‘I didn’t either. You just make it up as you go along.’
‘But she clearly does know what to do. She’s charming and cute and understands what berries mean while I’m just …’ Elsa wasn’t sure what she was but it wasn’t a person who could date Honeymaren.
‘She?’ Anna asked.
Oh, shit. Elsa hadn’t meant to reveal that. She wasn’t sure how Anna would take that. She hadn’t really planned on telling Anna that now or ever. When she was queen Elsa had accepted that it would never be a possibility for her but now she was a spirit living in a forest with a beautiful woman leaving berries for her. Things had obviously changed.
‘Well, that certainly explains your complete lack of interest in every single man that came to court you.’
Elsa just shrugged in agreement.
‘So this woman, it wouldn’t happen to be Honeymaren, would it?’
Elsa looked stunned. How on earth had Anna figured that out?
‘Don’t look so surprised, Elsa. I’m not a complete idiot. You talk about her all the time.’
‘Fine,’ Elsa said. ‘Yes, it’s Maren and I agreed to climb a mountain and have a picnic at the top.’
‘Like her parents?’
‘Yes, exactly.’
‘I better teach you a few things about how to kiss then.’
~*~*~
When Elsa had returned to her goahti there was a selection of berries in the shape of a heart. If only Honeymaren had used that shape before, maybe Elsa would have figured it out sooner. Laying down on her bed, Elsa thought about her sister’s tips while munching on the berries. Awkward as the conversation had been, Elsa did feel a bit more confident about her possible kiss with Honeymaren.
Elsa didn’t see Honeymaren until late the next day. She was talking to Ryder who had just returned from Arendelle. Their discussion looked a bit heated and when Honeymaren spotted her, she blushed and looked away.
Feeling a little confused, Elsa joined the women and men making dinner to lend a hand and tried to put it from her mind. She couldn’t stop herself from hoping Honeymaren wouldn’t change her mind though. Ever since she had realised what Honeymaren was doing, Elsa wanted it more and more.
That evening Honeymaren approached Elsa’s goahti as she sat outside it reading but not really taking in the words on the page. Her mind kept drifting back to Honeymaren and the enticing prospect of her lips on hers.
‘Hey Elsa,’ Honeymaren said.
‘Hello Maren,’ Elsa said. ‘How are you?’
‘You know,’ Honeymaren said waving a hand around aimlessly. ‘I talked to Ryder.’
‘Is he going to help you more?’
‘Yeah, but that’s not what I meant,’ Honeymaren said. ‘We talked about the berries.’
‘Right.’
‘He told me you didn’t actually know what they meant and I just wanted to make sure you know you don’t owe me anything. Just because I like you and think you’re the coolest, sweetest and prettiest woman I’ve ever met doesn’t mean we can’t just be friends if that’s what you want. And I can still bring you berries because I know you – ’
As cute as a rambling Honeymaren was, Elsa wanted to make very clear where she stood and kissed Honeymaren. After the initial shock had passed Honeymaren kissed her back and Anna had been right; it was very intuitive.
After a few long moments, Elsa pulled away. Both women were breathing heavily through enormous grins.
‘Wow,’ Honeymaren said. ‘So we’re still on for the date?’
‘Definitely,’ Elsa said. ‘But Maren, maybe you should tell me a bit more about Northuldra culture on this date. I wouldn’t want to accidentally miss your proposal.’