InsaneJournal

Who: Emma and Elsa
When: Mid-January
Where: Around town
What: A chance encounter
Ratings/Warnings: Low/None/Partner Thread
Status: Complete



On the whole, having gotten through her first trimester now, Emma was settling easily into the pregnancy thing, aside from the moments of clumsiness and the heartburn that just wouldn’t quit, she was doing okay. It did mean she was more prone to badgering Neal into driving her around, but she enjoyed the occasional walk, especially with the weather returning mostly to normal.

It also meant she needed to pee a lot more, and the downside of that was needing to buy things in places. She was still limiting her coffee, and soda was sometimes off the table because of the gassy after effects. But milkshakes were Emma’s new addiction.

Stopping by a small diner, not really looking at names or much else, Emma placed an order, popped off to the loo and then got herself a seat outside, so she could indulge in some people watching while sipping at her shake.

Perfectly content afternoon.

Elsa was on her way back from a meeting, she had decided to walk since the building wasn’t too far from the television studio. She had a drink in hand and was making her way along sidewalk. Luckily it wasn’t too busy that day and she had plenty of time before her next meeting, she was texting Gale to let him know her eta when he heel went out from under her and she stumbled.

Moving to the side she leant against the wall while inspecting the damage, her heel had completely come away from the shoe and having no time or inclination to fix it she simply let her ice magic transform them. That would do until she got back to the office, sending a little cold into her drink too she stood and began to move on. Completely unaware anybody had watched her.

It wasn’t like Emma was spying, not really, she just happened to catch the moment where a young blond broke a heel, and she knew that feeling. It was irritating and annoying and something that happened at least once to someone that wore heels on a semi-regular basis. Even Emma, who didn’t wear them terribly often had that problem. But it wasn’t really the heel breaking that kept Emma’s attention from wandering off, it was the sudden little chill that carried.

Emma wasn’t great at identifying magic, not yet, but there was nothing to really identify when you could see the ice reforming. It wasn’t overly warm, not yet, but Emma still had a little shiver down her spine, maybe a lingering memory of the ice wall she got stuck in, but Emma still found herself following the woman as she walked.

Weighing up the randomness of it, and the fact that she might be completely delusional, Emma grabbed her milkshake to have a stroll along to catch up with the other blond, “Hi there,” yeah, not weird, “I’m sorry to just jump you but, I’m Emma, and I was just wondering about your shoes?” Better than all out saying ‘ice magic is kinda a recurring thing in my dreams, how’re you’ and it had a small get out clause, right?

Elsa didn’t really mind being stopped, it was how she’d met another friend after all. She wasn’t great at hiding her magic. She was getting better, and mostly she had no need to use it so obviously but when she did she wasn’t as observant as she could be. So when the woman stopped her and asked about them she knew she must have seen.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Did I scare you?” Elsa asked in concern, “I promise you aren’t going mad and I’m not some kind of evil witch or anything. And it wasn’t me who made it snow fall this time” she added, thinking of everything she could that might be thrown at her.

Emma just shook her head, offering a still bright smile, “No, not at all, nothing like that.” Magic had stopped being scary the moment she felt the power she had when Neal told her he loved her, the build and flare of power at such strong emotions. Magic was something she considered a blessing now, and something she was learning was quite frequent around here. “I’m a little bit magic myself, so.” Emma just rolled her eyes, waving away the concern.

“It’s just, I’m pretty sure there’s … in my dreams, there’s an ice queen, sort of. She’s from Arendelle?” That was a hell of a lot better than ‘are you Queen Elsa, because I’m fairly sure I had a dream about you’ right?

“Oh, how wonderful” Elsa said, happy to meet a fellow magical user. It was always nice when somebody understood and wasn’t scared or intimidated.

Elsa’s smile grew, “That’s where I’m from, in my dreams I mean. I’m Elsa” she held out her hand, “I’m terribly sorry but I’m afraid I haven’t encountered you in my dreams” and since they seemed to have stopped she wasn’t sure she would, which was confusing.

“Yeah?” Okay, so Elsa was this Elsa, but not? Or she just hadn’t dreamed of their meeting, which Emma had heard happened sometimes. “Well, I guess you might not dream it. But yeah, we um, we met. In my dreams at least.” So far, Emma was fairly certain she could relate a little to Elsa, from the dreams.

“I’m in a place called Storybrooke, and in the dreams, Elsa was sent through a portal and we’re looking for her sister.” And so far that was more questions for Emma, but it was interesting, even with the Snow Queen or whatever Ingrid was, trying to stop them at every turn. “Your magic is… fantastic, really.” And it was Elsa who helped Emma come to terms better with her magic.

“It would be a shame if I didn’t but I am pleased to meet you anyway” Elsa replied with a smile, “Oh, Anna, I have a sister here too. I wonder if she has dreamed of this place called Storybrooke, I’ll have to ask her” It would be rather fascinating she was sure.

“Thank you so much, it took a while for me to get used to it but now I find it’s freeing and very much a part of who I am”

“That’s kind of what I’m learning too. In the dreams,” and it wasn’t so strange to her that it was Elsa that was showing her that. Regina gave her the lessons in defeating Zelena, but in the end it was Regina’s magic that did that. And Emma was just coming to terms with hers after the Snow Queen sent it all a little wonky. “You are very instrumental in my accepting my magic.” Rather than giving it up.

“I’m not keeping you back from anything, am I?” There was something to be said for stopping people randomly in the street, but it wasn’t always convenient.

“I’m very glad to hear that” Elsa said, “It’s nice to know that I’m encouraging and helping rather than hiding from it. You’re making me hope for more dreams” she smiled, which was rather an unusual thing around this county most people seemed to hate their dreams and wish them gone.

“Not at all. My next meeting isn’t until this later this afternoon” she assured her.

“Storybrooke is a little odd,” the dreams from there a little up and down, certain times they were horrid, like Henry’s kidnapping, Neal’s death, Zelena in general. “It’s kinda nice at times, but there’s usually a lot of crazy going on.” Someone else threatening them. Like the Snow Queen right now.

“Well, I could walk with you?” At the very least it would be some more of her daily exercise.

“At least they are not awful all the time, I know people with dreams like that and it takes a toll after a while” Elsa said before nodding with a smile, “That would be nice, thank you. So tell me what is it you do here?” she asked curiously.

“I’m technically a ranch hand? I work up at the Outreach Center, but mostly with the animals.” It wasn’t that Emma didn’t like children, she did, she was just horribly awkward around a lot of them. “Been there a good few months now,” was it really almost half a year? It was hard to remember never settling in one place, and here she was building her own little nest at home. “It’s pretty great.”

“How about you? I take it ‘Ice Queen’ can’t be an actual profession here?”

“Oh I know that place” the network had done a piece on it a while ago to try and encourage donations and support. “It does wonderful work. I imagine working with animals is quite rewarding”

She laughed softly, “No, you would be right. I run the Arendelle television network and present the weather twice daily. I’m actually a meteorologist but when my father died I ended up taking over the network”

“It’s so amazing. I really love it, I’ve always adored horses and working with them and the cattle, it’s been really great.” And Emma was oh so proud of her little donkey sanctuary for the poor things that weren’t taken care of properly. “My um...my partner works with the kids, he practically runs the place.” Neal was so hands on with the kids that it was just amazing.

“Oh, that sounds interesting.” Weather reporting around here was probably a big deal, and it made sense that a meteorologist would be fairly good at that. Not that Emma knew a lot about meteorology. “Meteorology? How’d you get into that?”

“I’ve never ridden a horse but they are amazing creatures, strong yet gentle when they want to be. Like some people I guess” Elsa said, “Never work with children or animals and here you are doing both, I guess you can’t always believe old adages”

Weather reporting was definitely a big deal, it was far more interesting than most places. “I’ve always loved science and when I was at boarding school we had a visit from different professionals and my interest was sparked”

“I prefer animals to people,” it wasn’t a seriously risky admission, some people were just horrible, and she’d worked with the general public for so many years, Emma knew what she was talking about. “And horses are just so sweet to work with, they just really come across as knowing what you’re doing.” They were smart animals.

“It’s so interesting, I’m not fantastically science minded, I can’t really follow things terribly well,” Emma wasn’t the academic sort. “But everything you read about these things in the magazines and the news, it’s really important.” It seemed like a fascinating really. “My son is pretty science minded though.”

“I don’t blame you, honestly I prefer the weather” Elsa confided, “It’s easier to predict and more interesting to follow” She understood where Emma was coming from, other than some close friends and family Elsa wasn’t hugely social which was a shame as being the head of a television network meant she was expected to attend functions.

“Oh you have a son? How lovely, how old is he?” Elsa asked, she adored Elphaba and Luthien’s son Dior and got along with him well.

“Henry, he’s twelve now.” And while Emma and Neal may not have been around his whole life, they were definitely trying to make up for it now. “He’s so smart too, takes after his dad.” For all that Regina, Neal and her were looking to make sure Orange County didn’t affect Henry’s studies, he was so very good at coping with everything and still being a social kid. “We um, we’re expecting an addition, but not until the summer.”

And hopefully by then, Emma would be much better with babies and kids.

“Oh my goodness, that’s wonderful. Congratulations” Elsa said, “How exciting for you all. The summer is such a nice time too” It was better than being pregnant all through summer which she had heard could be hard with the temperatures.

“Yeah, California is a little warm to have a summer time pregnancy.” Between the discomfort from growing the baby and not being able to be comfortable all the time, and the potential overheating in the summer, it wasn’t something that Emma would’ve been looking forward to. Henry’s pregnancy had been largely through the summer months, but she’d been in New York for those and on her own, not sharing a bed.

“But it’s going to be fun yes, hopefully without much drama, but we do live here, so that’s sort of a given.” And fine, Emma could handle it, with the support she had anyway. “Even with all this stuff that happens here, it’s not like we’re all rushing to leave.”

“It is curious isn’t it? How we all just end up accepting these strange things. Magic even and we don’t think about leaving” Elsa said, “But I am sure things will go well. If you need anything please do let me know, I know we only met by chance today but there’s obviously some kind of connection” Even if Elsa hadn’t dreamed the same things yet.

It was largely true, they simply accepted things that really, shouldn’t be terribly acceptable in exchange for those feelings of belonging somewhere. At least, she had done that. Rather than run after the first strange dream, she lingered and built a home. “Definitely,” but there was some strange sort of affinity for the people she dreamed about, beyond the usual. And she had a sense that maybe she shared a likeness of spirit with Elsa, at least from what she’d dreamed. “We could actually have a planned meeting.”

More friends, it wasn’t a troubling aspect here at all.