The First Winter

Chapter 1: A Door Opens

Snowflakes fall outside the window in the cold frost of an early winter morning, sunlight gracing through frost-glazed windows. Snow flurries like this six months ago, it felt like a curse upon the land a freak blizzard hit Arendelle back in the summer, caused by complete accident through the magic that the Queen has spent her whole life trying to control. It was when the love between the sisters was realised that they learnt how to reverse it and the Queen… well; she's learnt to control it even when political life doesn't exactly call for ice sculptures and palaces made out of ice.

Anna sits up in bed raising her hands in a stretch above her head before running her hands through her strawberry-blonde hair, smoothing it behind her shoulders. She gets out of bed, throwing the covers aside and stepping out in a light green nightgown and walking over sit by the dressing table and sits by it and picks up her hairbrush. She only gets a few brushstrokes in before noticing the windows in the mirror and outside…

"It's snowing." Anna says, getting up and running over to the window, "Hey, it's snowing!"

Anna hurries down the hall cheerfully, yet enough in a hurry to forget about finishing her mourning routine she barely even started, before coming to a set of doors decorated with floral designs. Every time she came to a door like this, especially as for which this is the chamber of her sister, she would dread to knock, as she would usually never get an answer. Even now, six months after she and her sister, the queen, have put aside all that was stopping them from seeing each other unless on occasions, for about since Anna herself was five, she still dreads if she has to knock on the door.

She takes a deep breath, "Come on, Anna, we're friends again, sisters again, remember? It is not as if it's going to ever happen again. Sure, sometimes she is busy, you know, being Queen and all, but… it's not like it'll happen again."

Anna knocks on her sister's door and it remains quiet for a few minutes and she remains a little uneasy, about to knock again when the doors part and on the other side, her sister, Queen Elsa, stands looking a little more presentable than she does at the moment. Her hair braided already as she often wears it nowadays, except she is not wearing her snowy dress she wore in the mountains nowadays. At the moment, instead a blue dress, with an ice blue coloured chemise with and sleeves down to her wrists, her skirt, a darker blue with snowflakes printed on the fabric and she wears no gloves anymore, as she doesn't feel the need to.

"Hey, Anna…" Elsa smiles, looking on amused to the sight of her sister, "Let me guess, it was urgent?"

Anna half-laughs, a little embarrassed, "Yeah... I just really wanted to see you right at that moment and I didn't realise until now that… I am not exactly dressed and have a bedhead of hair and… Never mind. Did you look outside? It's snowing and not in summer this time."

"Yeah, it is, now isn't it?" the older sister replies with a soft smile, stepping aside from the door to let her sister come into the room, "You know, I used to hate looking at the winter sometimes, knowing that it was what my powers were, but… I guess this is the first time I've enjoyed weather like this since we were kids."

Anna then has a thought, "Hey, Elsa, I was thinking that we could go do something in the snow today. You know, we could go ice-skating or build a snowman, you know, like when we were kids. It's the first winter that we've been together like this in thirteen years and I think you deserve a-"

"As much as that sounds like it would be fun, I can't Anna…" Elsa says with a deep sigh, afterward, walking over to a chair and sinking into it, "I've got a lot to do today; important things to do for Arendelle and I have meetings and… as much as it sounds tempting and I know that I promised after last time that we would hang out... I just can't today."

"Oh… I understand…" the younger sibling of the pair, mutters feeling downcast herself, and slightly pulling at her hair, "I wish you could though, it isn't the same without you around sometimes and… I just don't like it when you shut me out."

"Anna…" Elsa breathes, her head sinking for her forehead to be held up by the palm of her hand, "I'm not doing this on purpose, and I can only hope you understand why. Just… Go and have fun outside, go and spend time with Kristoff if he is not busy, just… Leave me be."

"Okay…" Anna replies, taking a step forward only asking herself if she should, but she just steps away, "I'll see you… later I guess."

Anna walks to the door, knowing that it is her time to leave her sister be and exits, leaving the room and leaving Elsa by herself sitting there only feeling disappointed. In the last six months that his fair-haired young woman has now been queen, she has been spending time with her younger sister whenever she can to make up for lost time, but… There have been times where she has had to cancel like right now and it just feels at bad as shutting her out again, even when that was to protect her from the powers she has inside…

There is a slight knock at the door, "My Lady, your presence is requested in the throne room."

Elsa sighs, rising to her feet as the unceasing duty calls. She has been trying to adjust to this new routine for six months, but to no avail is she still used to it and the amount of stress she can endure. She has been taught for when this time came to be Queen all about her duties, but… Life has been nothing been easy if you're born with ice powers that were uncontrollable up until the age of 21 when you'd end up unleashing them at your coronation and have to flee and sooner after you froze your own sister solid you'd learn how the hell to control it after spending years trying and...

"My lady, I implore you to hurry if you may. You have a long day ahead of you and now isn't the time for being slack."

Elsa takes a breath and opens the doors, as she has a long day ahead of her of laws to look over, plans to oversee, edicts to sign and people to meet and her Lady in Waiting seems to be getting a little impatient, a sign that there is something going on that is of upmost importance.


The winter weather is a partly cloudy day outside with the snow falling from the sky above as Anna walks in the castle courtyard. Snow in the cracks between the stones that make up this path that was not brushed away to keep it clean and neat in the eye of the beholding visitor that graces the castle's premises. As Elsa promised her when the snow cleared six months ago, they would never be closed off from the world ever again and the gates, another door that held Anna back for thirteen years, have been open. Yet every time Anna looks to the gates when they are opened, she cannot help but check for an invisible barrier every time she approaches it. She stands by the open gates, and slowly outstretches their hand through the opening, much to her relief nothing else would prevent her for leaving.

"Uh, Anna… The gates are open."

Anna looks down and Olaf looks up at her looking to the least confused of what she is doing. If you have been locked inside the palace as long as she had been growing up thirteen years of loneliness and thinking that this cannot all be real… You would understand why she does this sort of thing sometimes.

"Oh… Yeah, they are." Anna replies, with a laugh, kneeling down to Olaf's level and giving him a hug, "Hey, Olaf… How are you enjoying the actual winter?"

"Well, already seeing the other two seasons… I like winter better, but not until I see spring will I make my mind up." Olaf replies, hugging her back, "Where's Elsa? I thought she would have come outside today?"

The young woman sighs sadly, as she stands, "I thought so too… but she's working. Ever since, you know… things settled down after the summer, she has always been so busy… I do not think she smiles as much as she did that summer..."

"I'm sure we'll be able to think of something then, right now… Let's go and enjoy the day anyway before Kristoff comes back from the mountains." The snowman says, taking the hand of his human friend, "There's a snowman making contest in town that the schools are running, wonder how creative these kids get with snow."

"Oh, I forgot about that! I am supposed to be a judge of that for Elsa. That's what I was supposed to do today!" Anna exclaims, suddenly remembering a rare responsibility she gets in the line of royal duties whatsoever, "Come on, Olaf, we better hurry!"

Anna then dashes forward, thinking she is dragging Olaf when she has just pulled off his arm by accident, placing it back on with a few quick apologies before they then begin to run across the bridge that has the palace on a small area across the river from the rest of the Arendelle Kingdom. She only remembered that about a few days ago her sister approached her and asked if she could take this. Elsa had only remembered that she had too many things that would possibly clash with this little snowman building competition that the schools are holding and considering how much more "people skills" Anna seems to have, it seemed like her event to handle. Considering how Anna is only the Princess, for her to get the occasional royal duty is a blessing in disguise. -Assuming she actually does remember the said event that she would be attending.


Elsa sits in her study, looking through documents. The bane of her work has be when she to deal with the piles of paperwork that end up on her desk, a majority of them she has to sign and stamp with the royal seal. The occasional meet and greet sort of public outing, or a meeting with her ministers does not cause as much of a headache as reading through countless hours of paperwork in a week can. She gets out an inkpad and goes through her draw, looking for the stamp, wondering why she doesn't have it on the desk in the first place if she needs it and why it's back in the draw she does not know. Successfully finding it, she then reads over the document again before stamping it with the royal seal and signs her name Queen Elsa of Arendelle at the left of it. As she gets the next document off the small pile of papers to her left, a knock comes to the door

"Enter." Elsa speaks, while reading the notes on the paper

The doors part and a fawn-brown haired young woman, no older than the queen herself open one of the doors, "My lady, Lord Brenan is here to see you."

"Send him in, Miss Nadia." The queen replies

Nadia turns around to the visitor, still holding the right door open, "The Queen will see you now."

Lord Amadeus Brenan, a noble within the Arendelle aristocracy, surprisingly a good friend of the Queen's late father, enters and bows before the queen as she rises from her chair. As much as he was an uncle figure to her and Anna growing up, he was only but another person who she distanced herself from. The Lord himself spent much more time over those thirteen years, about six of them, as their Ambassador to the Southern Isles, coming home on holidays and events and especially for the coronation of one of his favourite nieces. Supporting the least of formal court attire of a navy jacket with bronzed detail and gold epaulettes, his sash with medals and the Arendelle crest supported on it, but the one downside of the formality though his hair. It seems all but a little wild and untameable at times, his bangs hanging over his face, brushed aside whenever he speaks. However, in a world of formality and grace, a little bit of casualness is appreciated.

"Lord Brenan." Elsa speaks, nodding her head to respect his presence, "You may sit if you want."

"My Queen, the preparations for the Winter Festival are underway as planned and, weather permitting, the festival should be held on its planned day." Lord Brenan answers, reporting all of what he can for the moment, "If I may, your grace, compliment you on the idea of this celebration as it both serves as an enjoyable event for all to attend and a fitting homage to your powers."

"Thank you…" Elsa says with a soft smile, before fading and clearing her throat, walking back to her chair and sinking into it, "And it is good that even in this weather things are going as planned."

"Is something troubling you, Elsa?" the nobleman asks, being frank to the least of concern considering how close he is to the royal family, he is even considered an uncle to the girl if they could call him that… well for at least for Anna

"It's nothing, please…" The young queen responds, hovering over some paperwork with her quill

"I mayn't have been around you as much as Anna when you both were little, but I know when something is troubling you." Amadeus says, trying somewhat he can to help when he knows that Elsa can be at times a little cold still, but not as bad as before, "But I'm sure, whatever it is, that the Winter Festival will take your mind off whatever bothers you, my lady."

Lord Brenan then turns to walk to the door and Elsa feels obliged to discuss it, as he was among others who told her the night after she returned that if she needed anything to let him know. She has promised herself not to be so cold to people anymore, even if she is only still learning to open up since six months ago after the incident. Considering how close Amadeus was to her father, from all the tales she hears of them both growing up together, and is to her sister, being that uncle who taught her how to ride horses, taught her how to dance and whatnot when their father was busy… She knows she could trust him, she does, and even if she isolated herself away for thirteen years, he was at least trying to be there most of the time for her, especially after her father and mother died three years ago.

The queen sighs, "It's about Anna… I feel as though that I am pushing her away more often than I am spending time with her. I am bound to my responsibilities, but when Anna came to my door this morning asking me if I could come outside with her in the snow…"

"You wanted to join her, but with all this work at the moment, you felt as though you had no choice but to turn her away." the lord then says, nodding in understanding, "But, cheer up, my queen, like I said, the Winter Festival is a few days away. I'm sure you and Anna can spend time together then."

"I guess you're right." Elsa says, with a slight smile

"I wish you good day, Elsa. And remember, I'm not just here for Anna, I'm here for you too, we all are, and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Lord Brenan replies with a bow

The lord then leaves as quickly as he originally came, the queen barely even getting a word in for a simple thank you, even if her smile said it all. Her mother once said, the expressions say everything and a simple smile can have variant meanings, but for the most of it, it means more than a simple word can tell and pictures are worth a thousand words as she learnt when she was young.


Of all the royal duties over the years, which are very few to be honest for the second in line for the throne, Anna, this has to be the most enjoyable. She and Olaf have just arrived at the park in town and upon entering; an archway of ice and ice sculptures lining the entrance. With a sudden look into them with her face, comically disarranging her face and making faces as they are. Ice sculptures on display at a children's contest... truly it can be only a word to say it is a step up from making snowmen.

"Kristoff would love these, you know, since when he saw Elsa's Ice Palace he said that 'ice is his life' and all that." Anna says running around some of them to get a three hundred and sixty degree view of the icy artworks, "But I'm sure Elsa can do so much better than these guys. Come on, building a whole palace out of ice with only but her powers and two hands. Nothing can top that."

"Yeah..." Olaf says, tottering along beside her, before looking at his own reflection in one of the ice sculptures, "But I'm better than an ice palace any day. I am alive... I think so at least... ...And I like warm hugs!"

Anna laughs happily when she comes back beside her little snowman friend. Even if he is a snowman who was a little slow at the concept about what happens to snowmen when it comes to heat... especially when he was staring at the fire and could have melted himself... but for his issues, he has his merits and he could only be a fitting companion for this sort of event. She looks ahead of her and she breathes a gasp...

"Look at all the snowmen! Come on, Olaf."

The eccentrically boisterous princess runs forward with the snowman following behind her, as they look around at all the snowmen and entries to the contest. Olaf looks around to all the snowmen, making the least of whimsical introductions to something that is an inanimate version of him. –That's before the kids find him and as he has learned over the last six months, the kids love a walking, talking –in other words- living snowman and it isn't long before he is swamped with the little kids wanting to hug him. Nevertheless, of course, he is Olaf and he likes warm hugs. Anna gets back from her little sightsee and notices that her snowman has been overwhelmed by little kids.

Anna chuckles, "You need any help there, Olaf?"

"Nah, it's cool... Well it is warm, but still cool and... You get what I mean." Olaf replies, while being examined by a bunch of five year olds, before one of them pulls off his arm, "Hey, you give me that back, kid! I need my arm to lift things!"

Anna can't help but laugh as a bunch of children play keep away with Olaf's arm and as much as it would annoy anyone when some little brat pulls of his arm, he just chases after the little kids, who seem to all but get a giggle and a hoot from it. Nothing really angers this cheerful little creature, as he is all but the spirit of when his creators, Anna and Elsa, made him as little kids, only a few short minutes before that accident.

"Beg of your pardon, my lady, but you are late." One of the contest organisers say, standing behind her

"Oh, me?" Anna then says, awkwardly turning around, remembering the fact of the matter that she is late to this -very rare- royal duty she has been entrusted with, "Sorry, sorry, I just kinda got caught up back at the palace with things and... Oh! Did I mention I only just remembered that I had gotten the invite on short notice? No, I do not think I did... But yeah, short notice and funny thing is... short notice, and I can't remember."

"Oh let her be, she's the Princess, and who said that she was late, hm?" A man says as he approaches, "She looks like she's on time to me; I'm the one who is late."

"Kristoff!"

Anna runs over to her boyfriend, who then lifts her on approach and twirls her around, before plopping her back down on the ground and they share all but a simple kiss in an embrace of holding hands. She thought he was going to be busy all day, being that he is Arendelle's Ice Master and Deliverer, but then again, it's winter and there isn't exactly much use for ice, except for bringing the ice sculptures some ice for them to carve the ice sculptures out of for the festival. As he seemed to have done before since there are already some ice sculptures sitting out by the entrance, and as Lord Brenan requested, they want a lot of them.

"I thought you were going to be busy?" Anna says to her significant other as they hold hands

"Yeah, ice harvesting in winter doesn't exactly work when it falls from the sky anyway." Kristoff replies with a carefree shrug, "And I came here to see you."

"You came here to see me?" the princess blushes, feeling a little honoured

Kristoff rolls his eyes with amusement, "Yeah, of course I would be here to see you. What else would I be here for? Last I checked, the only thing prettier than ice and more interesting than child's play would be my darling girlfriend."

"If I may interject here... Princess Anna, you have a contest to judge and we're already sort of behind schedule." A contest organiser then interjects, interrupting their romantic sweet time, "First off you have the kindergarten students ones to judge, along with the Year 1's, 2's and 3's and later on you'll have the 4's, 5's and 6's. After a lunch break, you will have the 7's, 8's, 9's and 10's and then the grand prince will be awarded."

"Oh, yeah... That is why I am here! I really shouldn't get side-tracked; this is pretty crazy right now..." Anna responds, hitting herself on the forehead with her hand, "So where do I begin?"

The contest organiser steps in front of her, "Right this way, my lady... and gentleman... and living snowman thing."


Kristoff takes Anna's hand, the princess blushing at the gesture slightly. As a romantic, she is one who, although having a basic concept of what really is, just finds that every moment with her boyfriend, her Kristoff, is all but true happiness. Olaf then bursts between them, making them let go of each other's hands as a bunch of little kids seem to be chasing him and Kristoff rolls his eyes while Anna laughs at the game. She then receives an impatient look from the event's coordinator before she clears her throat, just continuing on her trip to do her judging while Kristoff joins her, taking her hand as they walk along.

Elsa walks through the corridors, away from her office for once and planning to take a bit of a stroll. Her lady in waiting, Nadia, is following her queen, as she should. Her gloved hands cupped, resting against where her corset meets her skirt with a small shawl of fabric resting between her elbows and around her back. It's cold even in the palace, as even the queen's attendant seems to bundle herself while she is around on her duties, and yet anyone can envy the queen's ability to deal with the cold due to the powers she possesses. Elsa stops on her walk, looks out the windows, looking out on the snow outside, and she presses her hand on the winter, ice forming around it a bit, if there has not been any there already.

Nadia stops with her, "Is something the matter, my lady?"

"I'm fine… Thank you." Elsa replies, looking outside, before having an idea, "Actually… Cancel all my engagements this afternoon, if I have any."

"What?" The lady in waiting responds, confused, "But my lady-"

"Just do it!" Elsa cheerfully replies, starting to run down the halls, "Because it's all going to end up as paperwork on my desk anyway!"

The queen takes off down the halls, running through the palace with a carefree smile on her face as she has an idea. She knows she had responsibilities and duties, but if there is one thing she learned from her eccentric and otherwise hyperactive younger sister, she learnt that there are just some things in life she just cannot separate herself from any way she puts it. She then picks up her dress as she then heads down the stairs quickly, going down to the lower level feeling liberated all of a sudden from work.

"Lord Amadeus!" Elsa calls, running over to him, "Uncle!"

Lord Brenan bows, surprised not just by her sudden appearance, but how she has used that honorific, "Queen Elsa, whatever is the matter? Whatever do you need?"

"I am going downtown to the contest and I am going to spend time with Anna." The queen replies, while catching her breath, holding her sides with exhaustion, "I've just finished nearly a week's amount enough of paperwork. I need a break and I promised myself that I would spend more time with Anna and more time outside of the palace walls."

"It'll be good for you to go out for a surprise appearance once in a while, Elsa, that's all I can say." Amadeus replies, before looking to one of the servants, "Prepare an escort and prepare Queen Elsa's horse, at once."

The servant nods and goes to handle the orders given. Elsa composes herself and stands upright, to end up meeting the amused smile of her "uncle". Usually, it would be expected of Anna would be the playful and otherwise erratic one with her running and bouncing around the palace. However, Queen Elsa can all but be the same sort of playful and whimsical young woman underneath the mask of being the Queen of Arendelle, underneath the almost mysterious and isolated figure she was for thirteen years. After Elsa dons a more than decorative cape, she then goes outside with her uncle and the lady in waiting following her where her horse is waiting for her among others, being held by one of the palace guards.

"So she is actually going to leave the palace? She has duties on her side that she has to get out of the way before the festival." Nadia asks, saying it quietly to the queen's honorary uncle

"That is something you'll never understand about my nieces, Miss Nadia..." Lord Brenan comments as he is handed the reins of his horse, "But I've known them maybe longer than you'll ever have and frankly... As they say, if you cannot beat them, join them. Now are you coming, Miss Nadia?"

"I... I will ah... I think I'll stay at the palace, my lord." The lady in waiting awkwardly replies, taking a few steps backward, "I think I have a few chores to do any way."

"I see, well, there is always next time then." The nobleman says as he mounts his horse

The lady in waiting curtseys, "I wish you a safe journey, Lord Brenan..."

"Please. You can call me Amadeus. I'm not that big on titles anyway." He says as he nods respectfully back to the young woman's show of respect

"Are we ready?" Elsa asks as she approaches upon her horse, receiving a nod of conformation back from the noble. She may not look like it, but she actually knows a thing or two about horse riding and equestrian. Taught by this said uncle how to ride horses from when she was already learning how to write her name and could dress herself properly.

With one hoof print of the horse after another and the sound of clattering of hooves against the stones means that the procession continues forward. The young queen rides forward with her adopted uncle by her side as they leave through the almost-always open gates. It seems a little strange with every time she exists through them, as she never really knew what it was like on the outside, as she would usually isolate herself away in her room for those thirteen years before now. Back in the palace courtyard, Nadia waves goodbye to the procession as it is the least she can do before heading back inside to continue some of her chores.


Anna stands beside a podium, riling herself up to speak in front of the audiences that have gathered in front of it for her to present the awards. Her boyfriend, Kristoff all but stands to the side as he all but watches on with intrigue as his girlfriend just stands there going through the motions like an actor about to go onstage. Funnily enough, he likes how eccentric and fun she can be aside from the side of her given a learning curve in growing up that she had all but started since the beginning of that journey they had shared which ended in their love beginning. In the last six months, Anna is told countless times of the expectation that as a come-of-aged royal to now have all the duties that her sister cannot handle and now that the maybe biggest event, depending on its success in this inaugural year, in the whole of the social calendar is coming up... She may need to demonstrate more maturity then, and it does not hurt to practice.

"Well, feisty-pants are you going to fight them or are you going to give a speech?" Kristoff quips, with an amused smirk to his girlfriend

"I'm working up to it. I've never exactly done social events before." Anna replies, while still getting herself into the zone, "Besides, you know it's like three days until the Winter Festival right? Well, Elsa wants me, you know, to..."

"On behalf of the organising committee made up of staff members from some of our schools across Arendelle, we would like to give warm congratulations to the entrants of today's contest..."

"To what?" He asks with intrigue

"To... act... umm... A little less like myself and a little... err... more mature?" She uneasily replies with a slightly hesitated laugh

"We have seen all the entrants today and given out awards accordingly to the primary and some of the junior secondary school participants, but now we have the grand prize to award for the best of all of these snowy creations. Of course, we have here today..."

"Why would Elsa ask you to act like that, Anna?" Kristoff asks, surprised to say the least why the queen would give her sister such commands

"Well... She said that it is the biggest event of the social calendar now besides next year's celebration of her coronation, and she says that I am representing her by being out on these events and she says that I have to... you know... act with a little more maturity." Anna replies, uneasy to say the least about talking about what she has to do ahead of the Winter Festival

"It seems a little crazy to be asking you-"

"Give a warm welcome to today's guest judge, the Queen's sister and our elegant princess, Princess Anna."

"I have to go. We'll talk later." Anna interjects, now noticing her cue

The Princess walks forward, putting on a slightly forced smile as she greets the cheering crowd of onlookers with a wave as she walks over to the podium. Everything simmers down while she looks over the crowd... Even if she is outgoing, the only problem she has at this moment is trying not to embarrass herself and then too embarrass her sister by making the wrong decisions on words in front of all these people, the very problem that most young royals have. Anna then looks down on the pre-prepared speech that Elsa had written for the occasion before having to cancel ahead of a mountain of paperwork being there for before the festival.

The procession quietly arrives at the entrance as Anna approaches the stands and Elsa then dismounts her horse before placing her finger to her mouth; the universal sign to be quiet. Lord Brenan, noticing what his niece would be thinking of doing, quietly orders the Guards to go around the area. Elsa places up her hood and Amadeus does so as they head into the crowd to blend in, following her lead, as she wants to be there right now, but not to interrupt what is Anna's time to be important for the kingdom.

Anna clears her throat, as she then looks down on the notes before up again to the crowd, "Citizens of Arendelle, it comes as a great pleasure and... a great honour to be the judge of this contest today. It may have been short notice that my sister, Queen Elsa, placed me upon this duty when she was disappointed to say couldn't be here and she sends her apologies, but I have enjoyed my time as a judge and to see what children could create with what... uncannily is what my sister's powers consist of: snow and ice."

"Before I present the award to what the other judges and I thought was the best in show at this contest, I would like to thank everyone for the turn out to this first event of the inaugural Winter Festival week and would like to congratulate all the winners and the entrants of the contest too. Give yourself a round of applause, you guys deserve it."

Elsa looks up at the podium as the crowd claps and cheers by the princess' direction. With a little bit of pride in her younger sister's public speaking abilities, sure, she was worried for a minute that she would stuff up somehow, but she mayn't have anything to worry about at all come the festival in a couple days. Getting the notion that she should hurry things on, Anna then ends up waiting patiently for the clapping to end before she speaks again.

"Well, it comes as a great joy that I now name the winner." Anna says as she is handed a piece of paper, "And the winner is a young, nine year old, Miss Heidi Rose. Congratulate this young lady, as she is the winner over all of this contest. Congratulations!"

There is clapping and cheering as a young nine year old girl walks on the stage and collects a small trophy with a snowman on it and a card saying that she is the winner and not what. The girl gives Anna a small, a little haphazard curtsey as she receives the award and the princess just chuckles with admiration for the little girl's efforts. Elsa just claps, not just in the general congratulations the crowd is giving the winner, but also for her sister for handling this contest so well. Especially when she was supposed to be the one doing it after all before things came up and got in the way.

As the crowd disperses, Anna re-joins with Kristoff and Olaf as she comes down from the small stage from which the podium was at and Elsa then begins to walk that way and Amadeus, although caught off guard for a moment, and then follows the queen as they walk over to the three of them as they talk amongst themselves.

"Anna, you did terrific." Amadeus says, lowering his hood as they approach the three of them

"Uncle Amadeus! I didn't know you were here?" Anna responds, excited, happy and confused as to why her honorary uncle would be here when she thought he was busy with the prep work for the festival in a couple days

"Well, I'm not the only one ditching their duties to come down here." The uncle says with a happy smile across his face

Elsa lowers her hood, "You did wonderful, Anna."

Taken by surprise, Anna suddenly latches onto her sister in a hug and Elsa decides to hug back, as happy as she is to be here and to be with her. Anna honestly thought she would not even come, since she was told by her that she has been busy and that she could not make it, but she came. Something that has really brightened her day aside from having this gig as a judge as a snowman building contest and just having time to share a few laughs and a talk with some of the citizens.

"I thought you wouldn't make it." Anna says to her sister once she lets go, "What changed your mind?"

"Well, I just decided to come, not much to it. Besides, after the amount of paperwork I had dealt with today, I think I needed the time away from the office." Elsa replies, being somewhat honest to her sister before turning her attention elsewhere, "It is good to see you, Kristoff, how are you?"

"I'm well, thank you." Kristoff replies, "And you, Queen Elsa?"

"I'm fine, actually better now that I am fulfilling a promise I made..." Elsa replies, before having a realisation, "You know, you can call me just by Elsa, right? I'm not exactly one who is much for having someone who is so close to my sister having to keep titling me when we're not in formal company."

"Alright, I'll take a note of it, Elsa." Kristoff humorously replies, receiving an amused laugh from his girlfriend Anna and a smile and roll of the eyes from the queen herself, "See, Anna gets it."

"Hey... I have an idea." Anna suddenly pipes up, before looking to her sister, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Elsa smiles and grabs her sister's arm suddenly to her surprise as she then starts dragging her, "Let's do it then! Let us go build a snowman. Uncle, you're coming with, so are you Kristoff."

"Yeah, let's build a snowman!" Olaf cheers, following the sisters

As the sisters head off, the two men are finding it hard to keep up with the young women as they run along behind them. Of course, the one who would still struggle to keep up more than the nearly fifty-year-old nobleman would be the ice master who had only met Anna six months ago and only started dating after the great thaw happened. Even when she keeps growing up as she does, she still is an exuberant bright spark as he knows her for and she seems to have a lot of strength and speed, even for a princess.

"How do you manage to keep up with these girls, Lord Amadeus? I don't know how you do it?" Kristoff says to his girlfriend's "uncle" as they run along

"Well, I've learnt to just go with it, lad." Amadeus replies, just keeping up and running ahead with the girls, "I've told the girls countless times that life is worth living and well... now they finally have gotten the picture."