Elsa was no stranger to someone knocking and/or barging into her room right before sunrise. But when that someone's husband did it on this particular morning, then she got nervous.
Kristoff got her out of her room, but was barely helpful on anything else – like explaining where they were going and what was happening. It was a cross between the more confident Kristoff of today around Elsa, and the one who barely talked to her or bothered her without Anna long ago.
To think the day had come when Elsa hated seeing that Kristoff back. And this day was already historic and sad enough as it was.
Finally, Kristoff got her to her apparent final destination – the Great Hall. Where all the historic sadness she was thinking about happened. She was already going to relieve it in here later today, so why was Kristoff giving her a head start?
Instead of an answer, she got the most confusing clues yet when she actually looked around.
At the center, there was just one chair for Elsa to sit in. In front of her were two large stages, which each had a curtain draped in front of it. How and when did those pop up?
Before Elsa cleared her brain enough to ask Kristoff, he already had her sitting in the chair. "Just please hear her out and don't say anything till they're done, okay?" Kristoff fogged her brain up worse.
"All right, I did my part! As long as she knows the rest is on you, we're good!" Kristoff called out, seemingly to the left stage. He then went back before Elsa could stop him, leaving her seemingly alone in this….one-Queen audience.
But it was clear Elsa wasn't alone. She could already guess one of the people behind one of those curtains. There were more childish giggles coming out than she expected, though. She even thought she heard a very gruff laugh and felt a little thump on the ground, until someone shushed them all quiet.
At last, a face emerged from behind the curtain. However, Anna was only showing her face – and the bun she made her hair into.
"Okay….hello, I'm Anna, but you know that, so…." Anna stumbled at first. "Anyway, today's a big day for my sister Elsa, out there in the audience. Give her a round of applause, folks!" she said, hopefully in jest. Yet Elsa heard tiny applause in the background, and one big giant clap after that.
"Did you sneak the trolls….and Marshmallow back there?" Elsa asked. "Is that how all this suddenly got into our ballroom? Hours before hundreds of guests show up?"
"You heard Kristoff, no questions until the end!" Anna said. "Speaking of ends….it was one year ago today that a lot of things ended. Closed gates, concealing secrets, colossal ignorance for the most part, and hiding who some of us really are." As Elsa took in these hardly new facts, Anna softened up.
"I know a lot of horrible things happened here to you last year. A lot of amazing things came out of it too! I really hope you think more about that today….and that's why I planned out this tribute. A tribute I'm showing just to you, early enough so no one else would see, which took me months to plan and all night to bring in here. So….if you could remember that, it should make it more fun for you. Okay?"
Elsa could do nothing but nod, as she was otherwise confused, slightly worried, and fairly grateful that Anna was doing this for a private audience. "Great!" she cheered. "Well then….I guess we should get to it. Let's get back to a time when an extraordinary woman discovered who she really is for the first time. This is my way of thanking you that it wasn't the last."
With that, the curtains finally parted, revealing the stage Anna was standing on. It also revealed a set filled with medium sized drawings and models of mountains.
But that was hardly as gob smacking as the sight of Anna, now shown in Elsa's coronation dress – gloves and cape and all. She even had on Elsa's own tiara over her Elsa-like bun to complete the illusion.
"I put the lyrics together from Olaf and hearing you in the shower. So they should be all right," Anna shared, as her whole insane plan finally dawned on Elsa.
Before she could do anything about it, Anna said, "This is for you, Elsa. To celebrate the moment you found your freedom….and how proud we've all been of it every day since. And how happy we are that you continue to let it go."
Anna took one more look at Elsa's stunned, uncertain face, briefly reveling in how rare that face was. But she didn't want to see that at the end of the song, which meant she'd really have to get going.
Hopefully everyone else was set too – and that staying up all night for reasons other than overnight snowball fights had paid off for once.
Anna tapped into her largely untapped powers of concentration and focus, hearing the same music in her head that Elsa must have heard on that mountain. Thankfully, it sounded more polished in her head than how Olaf made it sound. Still, she knew when she started singing, it wouldn't sound anything like the real deal.
She willed herself not to dwell on that, or worry about letting Elsa and her glorious anthem down. She'd have more to worry about when she hit that high note at the end – or shatter her vocal cords trying. Nevertheless, she needed to start warming up now.
And so she began singing the opening lyrics, while erasing all traces of Anna from her face. She tried to look as sad, ashamed and scared as Elsa must have been on that mountain – now that she'd finally taken the time to think about what Elsa had gone through.
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen.
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like I'm the Queen.
Anna didn't even try to say it like ice-solation – that's how seriously she was staying in character.
Now that she finally had a whole year to understand Elsa – the real Elsa – Anna hoped she could convey all her conflicting emotions. When she started saying Elsa's concealing mantra in the next verse, she hoped she sounded resentful in an Elsa-like way, instead of in an Anna-like way of mockery - and still guilt-ridden resentment at the mantra's creators.
But when it came time to throw her glove in the air, Anna was relieved she could feel joy again. And so proud of Elsa for finally feeling some of it a year ago right now. Give or take several hours, technically. In any case, Anna finally let her voice truly sing, even if not at an Elsa-level.
Let it go, let it go!
Can't hold it back anymore!
At that point, Olaf jumped right onto the stage, reenacting the moment of his birth. He even got in a "Hi, Elsa!" before Anna started singing again.
Let it go, let it go!
Turn away and slam the door!
At that point, Anna did some letting go of her own. She stopped checking on Elsa's reactions, throwing herself into the song and waving around her hands – with Marshmallow tossing little snowballs and flakes over the stage on cue.
And when Anna unhooked her Elsa cape and tossed it away, she thought she captured Elsa's sassy smirk quite well, if she said so herself. That likely made her smirk sassily enough to completely sell it.
Anna started jumping around while singing the next stanza, making sure that it was an Elsa-like style of jumping. She also had to jump at the right spots, so that she wouldn't get hit by what was coming.
As such, when she sang "I'm freeee…." and Marshmallow tossed the small wooden 'ice bridge' from backstage, it didn't land on her. Kristoff was in position to catch it and set it below the stages, right as Anna ran off, sang "Let it go" again and ran across the 'bridge' with her arms flailing open.
When Anna got to the right stage, she sang "Here I stand!" and stomped on a painting of a snowflake on the stage floor. The curtain stayed down, yet as Anna started singing about "frozen fractals" – whatever those were – the trolls appeared and placed cardboard cutouts of icicles and giant snowflakes next to her.
When it came time for Anna/Elsa to throw her tiara away, she threw it up into the air, where Marshmallow's giant hand reached out above the stage to take it. But when it came time for Anna to let her hair down, she just kept it down without trying to tie it up into a braid. Four months of failing to do it at Elsa's magical speed finally made her give up.
However, she did stick to the original plan of the trolls piling up next to her, holding up a blue dress that was the closest they could pass for an ice dress, and sliding it onto Anna as she raised her arms. When it dropped down, they left as the newly minted Ice Queen Anna turned to the curtain, swinging her hips as wildly as she could without toppling over.
At last, the curtain rose to reveal a set resembling Elsa's ice palace door. Anna turned, her back to the door, and took the deepest breath of her life.
"Let the storm rage OOOONNNNNNN!"
By some miracle, Anna's voice and the windows of the Great Hall didn't shatter into a hundred pieces. Yet she only had a second to catch her breath, before she rasped out the closing lyric, "The cold never bothered me anyway."
With only two coughs, she turned around as the door opened, then went through it before the door slammed behind her. Now it was over.
Taking a few deep breaths, Anna heard the applause of the trolls, Olaf and Marshmallow. It made her ready to hear the applause and receive the hugs of her target audience.
"Ta da!" Anna said with only a slight scratch in her throat, jumping through the door. She looked out into the hall, seeing Kristoff first – and seeing that he wasn't cheering or clapping. In fact, he looked more….concerned than wowed.
Anna brushed that aside, searching for Elsa's wowed reaction. But she got something else.
Elsa's face was blank, yet there were clearly tears on the edge of her eyes. Anna was briefly excited, thinking she really moved her – then she took a closer look at those tears. She knew those kinds of tears on Elsa. She wished neither of them knew those tears so well.
Well, what the heck were they doing here now? This was a reenactment of the happiest moment in 13 years for Elsa! And the start of all the happiness she found after that! Those happy tears should be falling now!
Instead, she heard Elsa say, "I never want to hear that song again."
"What?" Anna exclaimed. "That's your song! I swear Olaf told me the right lyrics! And I listened extra close when you sang the first lines in the shower! So what did I get wrong?"
Elsa at least opened her mouth to try and answer. But when none came out, she settled for leaving the hall. Unlike a year ago, she made a clean getaway.
"This wouldn't have happened if we sang Fixer Upper. Just for the record," one of the trolls said.
"We got it on the record already, uncle, okay? Maybe next year," Kristoff replied.
"If there is a next year," Anna said, as 365-day-old memories – the more unpleasant kind – started going through her head.
But if she had to run to the North Mountain again, she couldn't do it with two dresses on at once. Without magic powers to melt the first dress with the second, she was roasting.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Once the trolls got the 'ice dress' off under Kristoff's strict supervision, and Anna changed back into her regular outfit, she started the search for Elsa. She started by knocking on Elsa's door, just in case she hadn't left yet.
The little sniffle behind the door told Anna she didn't. Olaf usually sniffled much cuter than that, the trolls were busy getting Marshmallow out of the castle before people woke up, and Sven already barged in here with a cold two weeks ago. So it had to be Elsa.
"Elsa! Great, now I don't gotta go outside!" Anna cheered, before catching her own words. "Not that it's the only reason I'm happy! Not that I really should be happy, if there's no reason to be happy! You happy now?" There was no answer one way or the other.
Anna sighed, now that she had to be reasonable and patient. "Okay….if you really don't want to talk to me now, do you mind if I sit and wait? I promise I won't ask or say anything till I get the okay, okay?" she offered. No answer again.
"No, that's okay. Come in."
Well, that was faster than usual. Normally Elsa held out for at least a few more knocks. On paper, this should have been good, but Anna seemed to be assuming things wrong today. Maybe it was a tradition on this date.
Anna carefully opened the door, in case there was snow or ice blocking it. But when she got into Elsa's room, she only found a few spare flurries and ice patches. This was a moderate winter sprinkle at best – far from the high standard for this day.
Elsa was lying on her back in her bed, staring straight up at the ceiling. She didn't look at Anna as she sat on the edge.
"Okay, maybe I should have asked before putting on that show. Maybe being considerate not to do it tonight wasn't enough. Maybe I did some other not cool thing," Anna theorized.
"But in my defense, I thought I had a winner here! That's your song, Elsa! And it's so inspiring and it teaches people they can be free, and it made you free too! You have your real life back and it all came from that song!"
"That's NOT why I sang that song!" Elsa suddenly rose up. "I always knew that deep down, but….hearing you sing it…."
"What was so bad about me singing it?" Anna asked cautiously.
"I just never….listened to certain lyrics before," Elsa barely cleared up. "Turn away and slam the door? You'll never see me cry? Here I'll stay? I'm never going back? Here I stand in the light of day?" She scoffed and concluded, "I was such a fool!"
"Okay, I've heard that before…." Anna began to worry, looking for any snow flurries or heart-striking magical build up – now that she actually took the threat seriously.
"Don't you get it? I didn't get it for a year, but you should still get it by now!" Elsa proclaimed. "You think that song was about me breaking free? It was about locking myself up in another castle! It was about me isolating myself, pointlessly, yet again! I wasn't free when I sang that song! I wasn't free until…."
Elsa clenched her hand over her heart, turning away from Anna. For her part, Anna barely remembered to give Elsa a few seconds before bombarding her with questions. As the last second ran out, however, Elsa started answering.
"If I lived by the real message of that song, I wouldn't be here. Arendelle wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here," Elsa said. Before Anna could object, Elsa continued, "If I did what I was going to do in that song….I wouldn't have seen you sing it. I wouldn't have seen you do anything this last year. I wouldn't have an actual home again. With you."
Another difficult pause brought Elsa to add, "With….my family." This brought a half mocking, half teary laugh from Elsa, as she said with enough disbelief to make Anna's heart ache, "I have a family now…."
Anna would have been excited that she seemed to include Kristoff, Olaf and Marshmallow – if not the trolls and maybe not Sven yet – as part of her new family. As it stood now, she just watched Elsa as she started turning back to her. This left Anna in the uncomfortable position of being still, waiting for what Elsa would do or say – and in what mood.
"Even when I thought I was letting it go, I was burying myself so much deeper," Elsa said. "If I never knew there was an eternal winter, I would have stayed up there without a second thought. Without any intention of letting you….at least say goodbye. Of letting you have any real answers at all. That's what I would have done if…."
Anna flinched as Elsa bit her lip, trying to freeze her tears before they fell down her cheek. Yet they didn't until they were almost off and she finished, "Don't you see? I can't love that song anymore because it celebrates a life without you!"
Anna's first instinct was to be offended at a song celebrating her and Elsa being apart forever. When she remembered she just sang that song moments ago, she actually started thinking it over. Granted, Elsa didn't think it over for a whole year and she created it, so Anna couldn't be blamed if she didn't get it right away.
Maybe Fixer Upper would have been a simpler tribute. Or Kristoff's reindeer song. Even Love Is An Open Door – despite how Anna sang it with….
And despite how at the time, she thought….
And despite what she doomed Elsa and Arendelle to after that….
Oh….if Elsa had sang that song without warning to Anna today, as a tribute to her….how would Anna have felt then?
As guilty and self-loathing about her past foolishness as Elsa was right now. And it would have been more justified too. But Elsa would never have rubbed that in for her….unlike….
"Oh, geez!" Anna cringed as it all sank in. "Of course it….and then you wouldn't….geez!" She slapped her forehead and lamented, "When you spend weeks building sets, memorizing lyrics and planning to sneak giant snowmen and trolls in, you don't think about these things! Heck, even if I could!"
Anna put her hands on Elsa's forearms, forgetting to check if it was okay. But she was already apologizing enough, so she hoped it covered it.
"I'm sorry, Elsa. I'll say it first this time, I should have thought things through. If I did, I'd know you don't like big spectacles anyway! Even if it's early in the morning and we're alone! I should have just said some nice words, without music, and gotten ready for the ball!"
She froze in place and regretted, "Great, the ball. I'm sure you don't really wanna do that either. Why would you? Even if I hadn't abandoned you to plan it by yourself! Didn't you think something was up when I did that?!"
Anna got up before she could hear Elsa answer – or see her begin to smile. Nevertheless, she kept babbling all the while.
"Okay, I can cancel the ball if you want, no problem! We shouldn't even be celebrating today anyway! The real anniversary is of the Great Thaw, not Freeze, duh! We should just have a nice, quiet dinner then, just the three of us! Or two! Or heck, we'll serve you chocolates and leave! Whatever it is, no more singing! Okay?"
"Anna!" Elsa finally got her sister's attention. Once Anna turned, she was surprised to see the little smile on Elsa's face.
"I might….feel different about the song now. But it doesn't mean I didn't love what you did with it," she said.
"Huh? I made you hate the song and you still loved it?" Anna interpreted. "You're weird and confusing sometimes."
"You just figured it out now?" Elsa couldn't resist breaking some ice. Anna found herself rolling her eyes, putting them both somewhat at ease.
"You obviously went through a lot for this….insane gesture. I certainly have a few questions on how you pulled it off. Particularly about the wardrobe. And how you got it," Elsa warned.
But she wasn't too heavy about it, as she got soft enough to add, "I wasn't sad because of your song. I was sad because….I almost let myself miss it. And a whole year of things like that. No matter what the song said at the time, I was never free at that mountain."
"But you're free now?" Anna made sure.
It wasn't so long ago that Elsa could never say this stuff – since it had to do with feelings and all. But she never would have come close before if she stayed on that mountain, and did everything her own song promised.
That was merely the latest reason why Anna had to hear this, and Elsa had to say it. Say something close to what she should have told her in this hall 365 days ago. And on a few hundred days before that too.
"I'm free to tell my little sister that I love her. And that everything she does….everything she is….is loved and treasured every single day. And always has been. The freedom to say that….is all I ever really wanted," Elsa started to struggle to say. "And when I thought I'd really lost any chance at it….I sang and pretended it was freedom," she said with more bitterness.
"Well, now you don't ever have to sing unless you're really happy. All right?" Anna reverted to stern sister mode, in lue of crying her eyes out – for the moment. "We've faked happiness through singing for far too long. Both of us."
"You didn't fake it back there. That's all that matters," Elsa lightened up a little. "I should have told you when you finished, but….the rest of it was too much. So I ran away, said things I shouldn't have and concealed what I should have said. I guess some things never change in that room."
"But I like how things are everywhere else now," Anna shared. Elsa thought it over, and found no reason to argue with her.
"They're growing on me too," she admitted. "It's still taking a while, but they are. Some things so much easier than others." Anna got the message enough to breathe a sigh of relief, now that Elsa was out of crisis mode. By extension, so was she.
"Thank you for your….incredible present, Anna," Elsa said. "There was some very painful things about it….other than your high note. And I wish I could have done some things so much better. But because of the end result….I wouldn't change anything for the world."
Instantly getting the double meaning, Anna risked asking, "So that means you've let the whole 'I wanted to marry a psychopath in 20 minutes' thing go, then?"
"One miracle per year, please," Elsa deflated her. But she knew how to lift her back up. Although one year didn't cancel out 13 miserable ones in every aspect, she had gotten the hang of misery-erasing sister hugs again.
If that was her one miracle per year from now on, she would gladly take it. And every side effect therein.
But even a loving sister hug wasn't enough to totally distract Anna. As much as Elsa love/hated her reenactment, it still would have been nice without the hate and guilt attached. Elsa was right about one thing, though – they really needed more uplifting songs.
Even the supposedly cheery, uplifting, positive ones with great messages were layered with agony and their broken past. Why didn't they have one after the Thaw that Anna could have sung again today? Why didn't an original one magically appear with music in her head now?
If she couldn't drum up a new one, and reprising one big song didn't work…..maybe reinterpreting another one would do it.
After all, doing things a third time was supposed to be charming.
For the first time in forever, I finally understand….
In this case, the lyric was absolutely true. Plus Anna wasn't singing it to a scared, guilt-ridden Elsa. In fact, Elsa was snuggled into her arms so close, she could turn this rendition into a kind of lullaby. So she kept singing softly as she reimagined her own personal anthem.
For the first time in forever….you're free to take my hand…. And indeed, Elsa let her hand settle into Anna's open one after a second.
I know we've been through heartbreak…..I know there's much to fear….
Yet for the first time in forever….you and me are here.
Anna helped Elsa get on her feet, continuing to hold her hand and let her take in this much more positive reprise. Soon enough, Elsa began to hear the music in her head as well. Unlike last time, it was inspiring much more positive lyrics.
Anna….you gave me my home. My life no longer waits.
You showed me that there is sun behind most any gate…
Yes, I meant well, but I was a fool, you see….
I was all alone, but I can't be alone and free!
She became shier and slightly ashamed, as she sang a quiet plea. So please, don't ever stay away from me….
Anna raised her eyebrow in a way that gave Elsa serious déjà vu – and made her feel like how Kristoff must have felt in those first months here. But the message of how foolish, and unnecessary, her request was stayed very clear.
Without another word or lyric, Anna kept holding Elsa's hand as they walked to her door. She waited, and Elsa got another message loud and clear.
This time, Elsa opened a door with Anna on the right end of it. This time, the sisters left a room hand in hand.
This time, when Anna let go and started bouncing around the halls, Elsa was free to see it and love the show. She even began to join in, right as Anna started the climactic verse.
Cause for the first time in forever….your dreams have been unfurled!
This time, Elsa belted the next lyric in her sister's place.
A chance to fill my sister's life….to change my frozen woorrlldd!
Anna oohed as she danced further down the hall, with Elsa racing to stay by her side – despite the lack of queenly restraint.
We'll have many tomorrows….but let's still live for today!
Cause for the first time in forever!
Elsa got back to Anna's side in time to echo, For the first time in forever….
Then the two echoed together to sing, For the first time in forever…..!
But it was Anna who found the nearest door and threw it open. And only Elsa knew what door it actually was.
Yet Anna started the big finish by singing, Nothing's in our –
But before she belted the word way for 10 seconds straight….she noticed they now had an audience.
Anna had thrown the door open to Elsa's council chambers. Which were completely full of council members. Who were there for a meeting Elsa completely forgot about, until the second before Anna opened the door.
It wasn't fast enough to stop them from hearing that their princess and queen had been singing instead of working. By now, even Anna knew how embarrassing that would be for Elsa right now.
Instead of seeing how mortified Elsa was, Anna started with the damage control.
"Sorry guys! I mean, your Lordships! I mean….whatever fancy titles you have, pretend I said them, okay?" Anna sighed, going right to the hasty retreat. "Please don't hold that little….display against the Queen. You can have her to yourself until the ball, if that's okay."
"Actually, that won't be necessary."
None of the councilmen seemed to move their lips. If they had, they would have sounded like a woman – like Elsa. Maybe it was this weird ventriloquism thing that was going around.
But Anna then bothered to turn around, in time to see Elsa coming forward. Like she wasn't embarrassed at all.
"I believe your morning schedule is already set. Kai will make sure it's followed to the letter, while I get the hall ready for tonight's ball. But I don't think I can do it alone." Elsa turned to Anna, with that improbable mix of detached regality and utter warmth on her face. "Princess Anna, do you know some people who can help?"
It took everything Anna had not to giggle and make another scene. She held on long enough to say, "I think we can still catch up to them, Your Majesty." But a few seconds after they closed the council door behind them and left, Anna couldn't hold out any longer.
She contained her scenes to the Great Hall after that, once they got Kristoff and Olaf back in and up to speed – and were assured that the trolls and Marshmallow had gotten out safe. Explaining how they even got Marshmallow in with their stages last night took up the first half-hour of cleaning up.
But even Anna had her limits of energy. By the time the Hall was properly prepared,, Anna had found a space in the corner to rest her eyes. Given that cleaning up messes weren't her specialty, it was for the best in more ways than one to let her nap.
Yet Kristoff saw Elsa go over and make sure Anna was sleeping anyway. And for the life of him, he thought he heard something. Something he would probably have to take to the grave to extend that life of his.
Nevertheless, he would have otherwise sworn that he heard Elsa sing quietly to her sister. Almost like a lullaby. And almost in a very recently familiar tune.
The only lyric he thought he heard for sure was, "Your dreams never bother you anyway."
THE END