A/N:... Just as a warning, this fic is going to get very, very dark. There will be no character deaths, but this will get pretty intense and violent, just so you all know. I hope you enjoy otherwise! 3
It was dark, the wind howled through the trees and the brush, the snow was black and she sunk through it like mud. Her heart raced as she trekked through the woods towards the small blue glow in the far in the distance. She couldn't get there fast enough. She had to get there. There was a sudden drop in the land and she tumbled head first down the slope, rolling head over feet, kicking up the cold black snow as she went. When she had finally stopped rolling, she pulled her head out of the snow. Her hand went to shield her eyes, the blue glow suddenly surrounding her. She thought she heard a whisper, or maybe it was the wind again. Her eyes had at last adjusted to the bright light, a figure hung high in the air arms splayed out like an invitation for an embrace. Was she an angel? Their mouth moved but she could barely hear what they said, if they had said anything at all.
"What?"
The response was a bit louder this time, but the wind carried the words away. There was a rumbling from beneath the snow that sounded like the hooves of a hundred horses against the cobblestone. But wasn't she standing in snow? Following the sound of hooves was a loud grinding, the sound of the iron hinges of the gates opening. When did she get to the castle?
Anna woke with a start. The day had already grown bright, the sun reflecting off of the freshly fallen powder only making it seem brighter. She brushed the frizzed strands of hair from her face and rubbed her hands over her eyes with soft groan.
"Oh good you're up," came a voice from across the room. Anna glanced between her fingers to see her sister digging through her wardrobe. Confusion washed over the sleepy girl as she tried to figure out why she was in her room, let alone searching through her clothes. Her mind wandered back to dream, strange as it was, all she could help to remember was the bitter cold and the dark snow. Anna fell back into her pillow, exerting another groan.
"Anna." Elsa's voice was warning. She winked open an eye to see her sister's anxious eyes that glared down at her. "You need to get dressed. You don't want to be late Anna."
"Late for what?" She mumbled and brought herself upright once again.
Elsa had taken some offence from the question; she smiled weakly, "The party? My… party?" She took a step back from the bed and glanced around the room nervously, "That is what you wanted, right?"
It took Anna a moment to register the words, she blinked a couple times before her face lit up and she bounded from the sheets and over to her wardrobe, "Your party!" She exclaimed and threw the doors open wide and rifled through the various dresses. "That's right! What should I wear?" Anna pulled out a dark blue dress and studied it for a moment before putting it back.
"You haven't thought about anything to wear?" Elsa raised an eye brow.
"It's not that big of a deal, it's not my party you know." She teased and put the purple dress beck and pulled out the green one with a small smirk. She dashed behind the screen to change, "Besides, it doesn't take that long to figure it out."
Elsa nodded, "Right," she thought back to early that morning when she stared at four different dresses for hours, and tried each of them on at least three times, before deciding which would be the most appropriate. She watched Anna twirl out from behind the screen in her dress; she was amazed that it had taken her only a few minutes to pick a dress and braid her hair.
"Why aren't you wearing your hair down?" The question had taken the queen off guard, her hands shot to her head, did it look bad? Anna giggled and moved to pull her sister's hands from her hair. Anna pulled out the pins that held the blonde strands in the bun one by one. Elsa chewed on her bottom lip all the while, she trusted her sister, completely, in fact, but the ideas of parties and lots of people in a small space left a bad taste in her mouth.
Anna's fingers raked through her hair and the strands fell around Elsa's shoulders, it was an oddly pleasant feeling, having someone else fix her hair for once. "Your hair is so pretty, Elsa. You should let it down more often." She mused softly as she weaved the strands over and under each other into a long braid down her back.
Elsa shrugged, "It's habit, I guess." When her sister finished with her hair she spun around in front of Elsa to take a look at her handiwork.
The little sister flashed a giant grin, "Perfect," Elsa tucked a strand behind her ear and brought the braid around her shoulder. It was true, she did prefer her hair down, but after what happened only a few short months ago she still worried about how people preserved her. Anna took her arm and dragged Elsa from the room giggling like a child as they dashed down the stairs, down another hall and into the ballroom.
The servants bustled back and forth between the room; they placed food on the various tables, hung decorations, and set each of the tables with powdery blue colored tablecloths. Elsa's stomach turned into a knot when she realized how much was going into this party. She had allowed Anna to take over most of the proceedings, or rather Anna had insisted on it leaving Elsa with barely any choice at all. Of course Elsa expected over-the-top from Anna, knowing how excited she became when it concerned parties, but she never expected the extravagance of what had become of the ballroom.
Anna ran about the room eagerly checking in on everything from the hors d'oeuvres, and chocolate, to the guest list and performers. So far everything seemed perfectly perfect, like nothing could possibly ruin the night. She twirled, elated and giddy, right into a solid mass.
"Hey, watch it, missy."
The princess looked up, already half apologizing, but stopped mid-sentence; her mouth split into a wide grin, "Kristoff! You made it!" She embraced his wide frame with a giggle.
"Of course I made it. Why wouldn't I? It is off season you know." He returned the hug with a soft pat on her head. "Looks like it's going to be quite the party." Kristoff mused and gazed about the busy room, "Did Elsa know it was going to be this… erm… big?"
Anna snorted and watched carefully as a servant crossed the room with a tray of chocolates stacked precariously on top of one another, "Oh sure, I mean, she told me to plan it for her."
"She told you to?"
"Ok so I did a bit of persuading."
"A bit?"
"Fine, a lot of persuading. But how could I resist! This is my sister's first real birthday party ever since she emerged from her room and I wanted to make it special. Hey! Watch it there!" Anna chased after a servant who seemed to be carrying more than they could handle. Kristoff raised an eyebrow at her, but couldn't help smiling as he watched her take off. He sighed and looked around the room once more. When he spotted Elsa hesitantly asking the servants to watch what they were doing, or to be careful, he crossed over to her.
He cleared his throat, "My queen?" He greeted politely with half bow.
Elsa turned and smiled when she saw him, "Kristoff, I thought Anna said you weren't going to make it." He could easily tell that she was hiding her nervousness behind the smile, it was clear that she had taught herself well how to pretend to be so composed when she really wasn't. Kristoff had known the queen long enough now to pick up on the subtle nuisances that gave away how uncomfortable she felt.
"I brought you something," he dug into his breast pocket and pulled out a small, and crudely wrapped, present, "It isn't much, but I thought you might enjoy it." The queen took the package gingerly and unwrapped it. She pulled out a hand-carved pendant with beautiful woven details through the piece. Elsa was in awe as she ran a thumb over the textured surface.
"Kristoff, this is wonderful." She breathed completely mesmerized by the simplistic beauty, "Is it missing a piece?" She asked noticing the flat ridge along the bottom half of the pendant.
"There's another piece, yeah. I'm giving it to Anna later." He paused, hesitant to add his last thought, "So you like it?"
Elsa looped the pendant around her neck and smiled, "I love it, really." She leaned up to him and kissed him on the cheek, "And I'm sure Anna will love hers too."
Kristoff let out a heavy sigh of relief, which only then did Elsa realize that he had been just as tense as she was, "I'm really glad you said that, I mean, I thought she would, but I wanted to make sure and I figured that if it was good enough for the queen – I mean if her sister likes it then maybe so would she. Not that you two like the same things I just thought that maybe-"
A soft chuckle escaped Elsa's lips, "Kristoff, stop worrying so much. I know she'll love it just as much as I do." She glanced past him catching site of said princess guide a couple of servants who carried the large cake towards one of the tables. "Maybe you should go rein her in before she goes completely overboard."
"Like she hasn't already?" Kristoff scoffed. Elsa let out an uncomfortable laugh; her hands slapped over her mouth out of embarrassment when she realized that it was a much louder and ungraceful noise than she had intended. Her cheeks flushed with red when she saw him staring at her. "Are you alright?" He asked raising a brow.
Elsa nodded and cleared her throat, she rolled her shoulders back so she stood erect, "Of course," she lied, "I'm perfectly fine. A little out of my element, but nothing I can't handle." He crossed his arms at her exaggerating his doubtful expression.
"I'm fine, Kristoff."
"Whatever you say," He smiled and left Elsa to her words catching up with Anna to offer any assistance.
The queen stood at the front of the room watching as everything slowly came together. She had to give Anna credit for working so hard, everything did look amazing. Elsa figured that she would enjoy it for Anna's sake. This wasn't just her birthday: it was Elsa's first birthday with Anna since they were children. And since Anna had taken care of everything she owed it to her to have a good time. Elsa took in a deep breath and smiled to herself. The ballroom had begun to clear out, save for a few of the servants putting the finishing touches on the decorations or the tables. She owed a lot to Anna; she might as well start here.
