The dragon was dying.
Elsa knew it immediately.
The blood spreading beneath its body wasn't slowing.
If anything—
It was getting worse.
---
The hunters kept their distance.
Not out of mercy.
Out of fear.
---
The dragon's massive chest rose slowly.
Fell slowly.
Each breath heavier than the last.
---
Elsa knelt beside it.
The old man approached carefully.
For once—
Even he looked uncertain.
---
The dragon opened one eye.
Its gaze settled on Elsa.
Not as a weapon.
Not as a hybrid.
Not as a mistake.
---
As family.
---
**"You look like her."**
The voice echoed gently within her mind.
Much weaker now.
---
Elsa lowered her eyes.
"Did you know my mother?"
---
A long silence followed.
The dragon seemed to be searching through memories older than kingdoms.
---
**"I watched her grow."**
---
The answer surprised her.
---
**"She laughed too much."**
A pause.
**"Disobeyed too often."**
Another pause.
**"Loved too easily."**
---
For the first time—
A faint smile appeared on Elsa's face.
Small.
Painful.
---
That sounded familiar.
---
The dragon's eye softened.
---
**"She was happy."**
---
The words hit harder than expected.
Because Elsa had never imagined her mother happy.
Only hunted.
Only dead.
---
"Was my father happy too?"
---
The dragon became quiet.
---
Then—
**"When he looked at her."**
---
Silence settled over the clearing.
---
The hunters watched from afar.
Confused.
None of this matched the stories.
None of this matched the monsters they had imagined.
---
The dragon looked toward the sky.
Clouds drifted slowly overhead.
---
**"I hated him."**
---
Elsa blinked.
---
**"The human."**
The dragon's eye narrowed slightly.
**"I believed he stole her from our kind."**
---
A bitter laugh echoed through its thoughts.
---
**"I was wrong."**
---
The old man watched silently.
Even the hunters remained still.
---
**"The dragons called her disgrace."**
**"The humans called her monster."**
---
The dragon's breathing grew weaker.
---
**"Yet when she was with him..."**
A pause.
**"...she smiled."**
---
Elsa felt something tighten painfully inside her chest.
---
Because suddenly—
She understood.
---
Her mother and father.
Edward and herself.
Different lives.
Same story.
---
People deciding what they should be.
Before ever knowing them.
---
The dragon slowly turned its gaze back to Elsa.
---
**"Do not become our hatred."**
---
The words shocked her.
---
Not because of what was said.
Because of who said it.
---
A dragon.
An ancient dragon.
Warning her against vengeance.
---
Its eye closed briefly.
---
**"Hatred remembers forever."**
---
A long silence.
---
**"Love is harder."**
---
The dragon's voice weakened further.
---
**"That is why it matters."**
---
Elsa's hands trembled slightly.
---
Edward would have said something similar.
Not the same words.
But the same heart.
---
The dragon looked at her one last time.
---
**"Your mother chose love."**
---
A pause.
---
**"Your father chose love."**
---
Another pause.
Longer.
Heavier.
---
**"Now choose."**
---
The dragon's eye slowly closed.
---
Its chest rose.
Fell.
---
Then stopped.
---
Silence.
Complete.
---
No roar.
No final blaze.
No grand farewell.
---
Just stillness.
---
An ancient life ending beneath an open sky.
---
Elsa remained beside the body for a long time.
Saying nothing.
---
Because for the first time—
Someone had told her about her parents.
Not how they died.
But how they lived.
---
And somehow—
That hurt more.