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“This will all make sense when I’m older.” Olaf said to himself while the others stared in awe. In the next few moments, the fire spirit got down the tree and moved toward the people.

“Fire spirit!” “Get back, everyone!” some of them screamed.

“Head for the river!” Lieutenant Mattias commanded. Avoiding the people, the spirit shot up to another tree, setting it ablaze. Soon, the spirit, a fiery ball sort of thing, had the entire forest around Elsa burning. As it went speeding around her, it left a trail of fire. Elsa observed its motion and fired precise bursts of ice power, missing it narrowly. Unsuccessful, she pursued the spirit further into the dark forest that had so suddenly been awakened. The people knew which direction to head, but the reindeer did not.

“No, no, no! Reindeer, that’s a dead-end!” cried a Northuldra man. Kristoff heard this; he immediately hopped onto Sven and headed for the rescue.

“Come on, Sven. We’ll get them.”

While everyone started to run toward the river, Anna turned back to see her sister fighting the fire spirit.

“Elsa, get out of there!” Anna called out. Drawn into the fight, Elsa wasn’t coming out until the danger of the spirit was negated and the people safe. She was so engrossed that she didn’t even hear her sister. Anna ran in the direction of Elsa, disregarding the fire.

Alex appeared right before her and stopped her in her tracks.

“I’ll stop you right there.” He brought her to a halt with one of his hands. Although taken by surprise, she was instantly maddened. Anna grabbed his tunic with both her hands and crumbled it.

“Don’t get in my way, Alex.”

Alex was incensed too. He pushed her hands away. “I have told you multiple times NOT to lay your hands on MY uniform!”

“Then get OUT of my way!”

Straightening his uniform, Alex continued, “I’m not IN your way. I’m trying to save you!”

“No, you’re not,” bickered Anna. “I’m going to save my sister!”

Alex stopped her again and asked, “So, lemme guess, you’re gonna run right into the fire and get yourself BURNT? Or worse, get struck by Elsa’s magic, again?”

His tone softened, and his eyes fell—Alex wanted to say more, but the thought of Anna getting hurt was taking over whatever annoyance he had. Anna didn’t have an answer to that, and her anger turned into both concern and regret about how she doubted Alex. She replied unsurely, “Nothing like that’s going to happen. I’m just going to save her.”

Alex held her arm fondly and looked into her worried eyes, “You’re not being careful, Anna. You shouldn’t just--”

“Alex, look out! Fire!” she interrupted him, watching his lower pants catch flames in dismay.

“Argh!” he tried to shake it off.

Anna quickly blanketed the flame with her cape and doused it.

“Are you hurt?!” she demanded with grave concern.

“No, I’m fine. Thanks to you, Anna.” A part of his pants was burnt, nonetheless. Anna only smiled and told him,

“You’re the one that needs to be careful, Alex.”

Moments later, Anna found Kristoff darting toward them, riding Sven. He came to a halt and asked, “Need some help, sergeant?”

Alex picked Anna up from under the arms. She giggled.

“I need this one safe and alive. Understand me?” he commanded with a smile as he passed her to Kristoff.

“I got it,” he replied, riding away swiftly with her.

Not far, Elsa released a pulse of frosty energy that put out all the fire around her—it seemed as though it was over. But the spirit went speeding past her, and she naturally gave chase.

“Oh, this I’ve got to see,” Alex muttered under his breath as he joined the pursuit behind Elsa.

In pursuit, she entered a Northuldra campsite. Elsa blocked the spirit by creating walls of ice on its path as she ran—she landed one burst directly under it, causing it to make a curious yelping sound. Finally, the spirit was cornered. Elsa prepared to fire one final shot. But then she stopped: the ball of fire could now be made out as a salamander. Elsa knelt to the ground to observe it. Getting itself together and fire sparking out of its back, it blasted one more fiery charge Elsa’s way. She moved out of the way as it hit a tree behind. She quickly extinguished the flame and continued to stare at the little creature.

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Seeing that she was not attacking, the creature returned her both a curious and innocent look, tilting its head endearingly. Elsa did just that, and the little creature tentatively approached her. Elsa held out her hand and offered it refuge on her palm. Cautiously, it got into Elsa’s hands, still gazing at her. She felt the heat—it was the fire spirit indeed. Elsa alarmingly shifted it from one palm to another.

Soon, it cooled down and diffused its warmth like water in a hot pan. Magically, the fire and the damage done to the torched trees simply disappeared. The charred part of Alex’s uniform wondrously regenerated itself.

‘Sweet, I like this spirit.’ He thought to himself as he neared Elsa. She admired the fire-breathing salamander and made snowflakes gently drizzle over its head. Catching one of the flakes on its tongue, it relished the frosty sensation.

The Northuldra and Arendellian soldiers arrived behind Elsa along with Olaf—they all seemed nothing short of amazed.

“They’re all looking at us, aren’t they?” Elsa questioned the spirit. “Got any advice?” Not expecting an answer, she carried on, “Nothing? Hmm… Should I know what that means?”

Alex popped up from behind and glanced at the spirit with a friendly face, “I think you should.” Elsa was startled and turned around; curiosity filled her eyes. “It means ‘Keep going north’.” Although he said so, Alex had clearly made a guess.

“Oh, it’s just you, Alex.” Elsa was relieved. Observing that she was visibly comfortable, Alex drew close and put his hand forward. The spirit now felt at ease with him too, and so, it gladly got onto his palm.

“He’s adorable, isn’t he?” asked Alex, running his fingers gently through its head and body.

“Mm-hmm,” Elsa agreed, still adoring the creature in his hands. Noticing Olaf, Alex called, “Hey, Olaf!”

“Yeah?”

Alex looked at the tiny spirit again, “I think I’m gonna name him ‘Bruni’.”

“Ooh, that’s a nice name.” Olaf complied with a giggle.

The mysterious voice was heard again, and the spirit hopped off Alex’s palm and disappeared into the nearby rocks. Before it did so, it shot both Elsa and Alex a cute look, sticking its tongue out: it seemed like a symbol of its new friendship. The expression on Elsa’s face made it evident to the sergeant that she had heard the voice again.

“I hear it, Alex: I heard the voice again.” The queen and the sergeant’s smile disappeared gradually to be replaced by worriment for the future. “I know… We shouldn’t waste time, Elsa.” He told her.

“I agree.”

Anna and Kristoff came riding on Sven. The princess got off and ran to her sister, stopping a few steps away from her. Elsa wrapped her arms around her little sister and asked, “You good?”

Pulling away, Anna confirmed with a smile, “I am. I was going to run into fire trying to save you, but…” She turned to the sergeant, “Alex stopped me, just in time.”

“Thank you for saving my sister, Alex.”

“It was only my duty, my Queen.”

Anna smirked at Alex, “You love calling her that, don’t you?”

Alex did not look away from Elsa.

“I do.” Both of them exchanged coy smiles. In an instant, Anna looked from Elsa to Alex suggestively, as if she knew something was going on between them. Noticing Anna’s keen but unwelcomed interest, they looked away from each other, slightly embarrassed.

Alex disliked the awkward silence; he told Kristoff, still searching for words, “There’s nothing wrong with it… now… is there?”

Poor Kristoff was blank. He answered, still wondering what to say, “There isn’t… I guess?”

The fact that her little sister was sponsoring this entire moment made Elsa all the more embarrassed. She quickly took out Queen Iduna’s scarf from behind Anna and wrapped her in it, hoping it would change the topic of discussion.

The change she pleaded for did come: “Where did you find that scarf?” asked an astounded Yelena.

“That’s a Northuldra scarf!” the same young Northuldra man who needed help with the reindeer joined beside them.

“What?” Anna was baffled. The young man’s sister came by too and confirmed, “This is from one of our oldest families!”

“It was our mother’s…” Anna confessed, looking shocked at Elsa and Alex.

“No way.” Alex could not believe what now seemed obvious.

They sprinted desperately toward the ice statues. Alex and Elsa led the way; the queen pulled her little sister along. The sisters came to a halt at the figure of young Agnarr being rescued by a mysterious girl—it was their mother. Alex exclaimed,

“I suspected this all along! I just wasn’t… sure.”

“Elsa, I see it. It’s Mother. Mother saved Father’s life that day.”

The Northuldra and Arendellian soldiers surrounded them.

“Our mother was Northuldra.” Anna declared with pride. Both Yelena and Lieutenant Mattias wore befuddled faces as realization struck them.

The ice statues, fruits on the trees, and even the snowflakes on Olaf’s body brilliantly glowed a mystical fluorescent blue. Elsa and Anna seemed confused, but Alex knew exactly what was going to happen next. He quickly moved to a group of men holding sticks. Taking a breath, Alex stood in anticipation. Himself and the men began to sing—the entire gathering of Northudra began to sing a yoik: they placed their hands on each other’s shoulders, symbolizing their unity. Olaf was swaying to the music and placed a hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder too—he didn’t hit all the right notes, but at least he tried.

As the song drew to an end, Yelena extended her arms to Elsa and Anna, insisting they joined the chain. Willingly, they placed their hands on hers, and the enchanting yoik ended.

“We are called Northuldra--” started Yelena, only to be interrupted by Alex.

“Ooh, I know this one!” he accepted jovially and continued, “And we are the…” But he stopped as he took note of Yelena’s devastating glare. He delivered her a facial apology in Northuldrian, ‘I’m sorry. Alright, go on.’

Getting herself together, Yelena finished, “And we are the people of the sun.” There was a brief silence as Alex and Mattias joined Elsa’s side.

“I promise you: I will free this forest…” Elsa declared ambitiously yet humbly. She turned to the lieutenant, “And restore Arendelle.”

The Northuldra cheered among themselves—their spirits raised and eyes filled with new hope. “That’s a pretty big promise, Elsa.” said a concerned Anna. Alex placed a hand on Elsa’s shoulder, “I think that’s what big people do, Anna.” Elsa nodded, reassured.

The man standing beside Kristoff was wonderstruck. “Free the forest… Wow. I’m sorry, I just… ah. Some of us have never even seen a clear sky!”

“I get it,” Kristoff replied.

“Name’s Ryder.”

“Kristoff.” He shook Ryder’s hand.

“I heard the voice again; we need to go north,” Elsa admitted to Yelena. “But the Earth Giants now roam the north at night,” warned Ryder’s elder sister.

“You can leave in the morning,” Yelena advised as she led Elsa to their camp. The soldiers, Anna and Ryder’s sister, followed behind them.

“I’m Honeymaren,” the young lady introduced herself to Anna.

“Honeymaren, we’ll do all we can.”