A/N: Well, I'm back. I really didn't know if I would be, because I had some major life changes, but here I am. Here are your disclaimers: only a few of these characters are mine; most of them belong to Disney/Pixar and I do this for fun. There is a war going on, so there might be some intense scenes. And finally, please let me know what you think; I really hope everyone enjoys it.

Chapter 1 – The Realities of Revolution

Elsa coughed as the acrid smoke of discharging weapons and burning human flesh assaulted her nose and throat. The battle was raging all around her, but only one thought kept running through her mind: she had to find Anna. They had been together at the start of all this, but the battle had evolved around them, and somehow Anna had been taken from her side. Elsa shoved Enforcers out of the way as she looked frantically for her Apprentice, but when the soldiers were foolish enough to confront her, vicious ice spikes ended the confrontation almost instantaneously. "Anna!" Elsa yelled at the loudest volume she could muster. No reply came, so Elsa tried again. "Anna!" she cried.

Elsa continued to search and yell, and just as her voice began to give out from the strain, she heard a soft, broken plea. "Elsa! I'm here!" Anna called from a short distance across the battlefield, and Elsa almost cried with relief as she stumbled over bodies and debris to get to her Intended. The red hair lying on the ground was easy to spot, and Elsa's heart clenched in fear at Anna's prone state before she collapsed onto the ground next to where Anna lay.

The first thing Elsa saw was the blood; what seemed to be liters of it covered Anna and the ground beneath and around her. Elsa gasped and reached for Anna, but she was stopped by the sight of the tiny newborn baby girl that was cradled limply in Anna's arms, a baby girl that was not crying or breathing, a baby girl that was completely, utterly and deathly still. "She came too early, Elsa," Anna wept, as Elsa sat shell-shocked. "She came and I couldn't stop it. I called for you and you weren't here, Elsa. Where were you? You were supposed to protect us," Anna accused, her face turning dark and hateful.

"I, I was here; we just got separated," Elsa stuttered, devastated by the loss of her baby girl and reeling from the venomous hate she could feel radiating from Anna.

"No, you weren't here, and now you've failed to keep us safe," Anna spat. "You've killed us both, Elsa, and our blood is on your hands."

"No!" Elsa shouted as Anna took a shuddering breath and stilled, the lifeless infant in her grasp slipping to the ground. Elsa gently picked the baby up and cradled her before collapsing on top of Anna, grasping both of them tightly as her body shook with wracking sobs.

Her crying stilled when she felt soft kisses on her neck, chin and cheeks. "Elsa," a welcome, beloved voice whispered tenderly. "Elsa, love, wake up," Anna soothed, and Elsa slowly opened her eyes. Worried but loving blue-green eyes gazed down at her, and Elsa took a deep breath before burying her face into Anna's neck and inhaling her familiar, comforting scent. "We're both right here, love," Anna assured her, stroking Elsa's back and kissing her forehead. This nightmare had been recurring ever since they had felt the baby move, and it scared them both every time Elsa had it.

After a few more deep breaths, Elsa's terror subsided, and she came back to herself. She kissed Anna's neck and then lifted herself so she could see Anna's face. Seeing the worry there, Elsa kissed her forehead and then her lips. Anna smiled and kissed back, threading her fingers through the light blond hair to pull Elsa closer. They kissed until they both felt better, drawing comfort from each other like they always did. Finally, Elsa drew away. "I love you so much," she whispered against Anna's lips.

"I know, love," Anna whispered back. "I love you too, and I know you will protect us. Even if something happens, I know that you will have done your best. I'll never hate you, and I'll never leave you. Please believe me."

"I do," Elsa replied without hesitation. "Please know that I do. But I am just so scared of losing you both."

"I know, Elsa; I know," Anna answered earnestly. "Just as I'm terrified of losing you. But we'll just have to work our hardest to make sure that doesn't happen." Elsa nodded and Anna smiled before her forehead quirked slightly. She grabbed Elsa's free hand and placed it on her expanding stomach, and Elsa felt a butterfly-soft flutter and the invisible shimmer of cryokinesis. "You woke up your daughter again," Anna chided with a teasing grin.

"Then I'll just have to cuddle her back to sleep," Elsa decided, wrapping herself around Anna's abdomen. Anna smiled and settled herself more comfortably on the pillows. With Elsa's cool, calming skin next to hers, it didn't take long for Anna to drift back into sleep, and the baby's flutters tapered off as her mother's breathing grew deeper.

Elsa smiled as the quiet snoring started, and she kissed the warm, rounded pillow her head had been resting on. "I love you too, Peanut," she whispered before rising delicately from the bed so she didn't disturb Anna. Elsa felt somewhat better, but the nightmare was still troubling her, and she knew sleep wasn't coming for her any time soon. She wanted Anna and Peanut to have their rest, so she threw on her robe and left the bedroom to fret without the danger waking either of them.

Marshmallow jumped to his feet as Elsa exited the bedroom. "Watch over her, sweet boy," Elsa requested, and the now full-grown cat immediately stationed himself in the doorway with a glower that was difficult to miss. "Good boy," Elsa praised him, rubbing his head, and he nuzzled her hand before returning to his glower. After one last stroke of his head, Elsa quietly descended the main staircase of the house, her hand sliding along the polished wood with ease. The house was an antique marvel of design and architecture, and Elsa loved learning more and more of its secrets during her late-night wanderings. She glided into the living room and stopped when she reached the portrait above the fireplace whose face was not that dissimilar to her own. Blonde hair, blue eyes and an enigmatic smile smirked down at her, and Elsa smirked back.

Elsa's family had been in Arendelle for a very long time; so long, in fact, that when they had emigrated from the Old World, they had brought the name of their former kingdom with them and graced the land they settled in with it. Generations had come and gone, and her family had been successful in the New World, including the builder of this house, the same woman whose portrait hung above the magnificent stone fireplace.

She, like Elsa, had been an architect, but unlike Elsa, had faced entrenched sexism and misogyny due to her time period. She had struggled but had small successes for several years, until at last she had the good fortune of securing a commission in far off Middleton. The house she had built her clients was beautiful, and it had been her stepping stone to success. Her clients had been very pleased, and they continued to give her marvelous commissions for the rest of her career, which supported her financially, but also gave her the renown that talent like hers deserved. This renown led to even more commissions, so that within a few short years of the Middleton house's construction, she had obtained enough fame and fortune to build this very house.

When she had died, she had passed it on to other members of the family. She herself was childless, a condition that at the time of her death was attributed to her ambition and career. Later discoveries of pictures and letters, however, would reveal that she had been rather happily attached to her longtime female assistant, and that, rather than career, had prevented any sort of marriage and children. After her death, her heirs had kept the house in the family, and so it had remained until the Great Destruction. After the war, the soldiers had confiscated it from Elsa's family and declared it property of the State. It had gone through several uses since then, but for the last few decades, it had been the residence of the State Governor of Arendelle.

Which was why, Elsa mused, life had come full circle and she was now living in the house of her ancestors. Anna had been elected Governor, and as Governor, the people of Arendelle had practically demanded that they move into the house. Both Anna and Elsa had tried to persuade Arendelle's citizens that neither one of them had the background nor experience to govern, and that they had returned to Arendelle merely to recruit for the Rebellion's cause, but the people of Arendelle politely ignored them as they bloodlessly deposed the State governor and elected Anna in his place. The Enforcers had tried to prevent it, but almost all the Arendellians were fiercely loyal to their long-time favorite daughter Elsa, and the sheer numbers of Rebels had overwhelmed the few Enforcers stationed that far north. Now, for the time being, Arendelle was a free territory, with Anna as its duly-elected Governor and Elsa as the underqualified General of its armed forces. Elsa had protested, but the people had demanded it, and Anna had followed their wishes, appointing Elsa to the post as one of her first acts as Governor.

At least the other Rebel territories had much more experienced statespeople and generals than Arendelle, Elsa thought with self-depreciating sarcasm as she left the picture and continued to wander. Belle's plan for everyone to go back home had been a good one; All of the territories had welcomed back their appropriated children-turned-adults, and these former Plebes provided the vital link to Belle and her unparalleled organizational skills. Unlike Arendelle, though, where Elsa's parents had been typical Proletariat laborers far away from politics, the other Rebels' parents, like Tiana, Mulan, Franny, and Merida's, had well-developed seats of power even though their regions were under State control. When their children had come home to start recruiting and the territories had rebelled, it was natural for their families to take control. Hence, Eudora Winfrey governed the South, with Eli LaBouff as her General, Fa Li governed California with Fa Zhu as her General, Veronica Stoppable governed the Rockies with Lillian Goshen-Possible as her General, and Elinor governed Dunbroch with Fergus as her General. Why all the Governors were women and most of the Generals men, Elsa had no idea. But it was working, and the Revolution was doing well in those territories.

Things were still a work-in-progress in Multnomah and Corona. Kristoff and Kuzco weren't faring badly in Multnomah; they had been able to recruit well enough that they had declared independence with everyone else, but it was not a home territory for either of them, so there was no built-in trust with the general public like the other Philosophy Club members had enjoyed. It was taking more time, and their recruitment numbers were far lower than someone like Mulan, whose territory was populous California, or Elsa, whose entire territory adored her. Luckily for them, though, Multnomah was far from Campus, and they had been relatively free to work at their slower pace.

Corona, on the other hand, was an entity all unto itself, and little visible progress was being made there. It was Eugene's home territory, but before he had tested Plebian, he had been a bored, rebellious teenager who excelled in stealing valuables from other peoples' homes. This past hadn't endeared him to the people he was trying to recruit. Rapunzel had been born Plebian, so she didn't know her parents, but, her uncanny resemblance to the elder female of one the area's oldest families made people suspicious that she was the daughter of the daughter who had tested Plebian and been taken away years ago. A quick DNA test confirmed their suspicions, and Rapunzel was joyfully welcomed back by her grandmother and the people.

So, even though the people of Corona were slightly mistrustful of Eugene, they universally loved Rapunzel, and people joined the cause in droves. But, Corona was only a hundred miles from Campus, and the Enforcer presence was strong. They couldn't openly rebel or show their strength like the other territories, and so Corona had no Governor or General. Everything had to be kept secret, and the whole populace lived in fear that their rebellious ways would be found out. It was a bad situation, and Belle was doing her best to plan a way to make the situation better.

Thinking about the Philosophy Club and her friends reminded Elsa of an idea she wanted to run by Tiana. Tiana was a Colonel in her army, and Elsa found both her and Eli invaluable sources when it came to strategy. She activated her wrist communicator that Cornelius had designed to look nothing like a cuff and typed a short message to Tiana. Knowing it was the middle of the night, Elsa didn't expect a response until morning, so she was surprised when her communicator started buzzing, indicating an incoming call.

"Hello?" Elsa said hesitantly, figuring it could only be one person but wondering what Tiana was doing up.

As it turned out, Tiana was wondering the same thing. "What in the Pillars' name are you doing up at this ungodly hour, El?" Tiana asked with a reproachful grin as her face appeared on the screen.

"I could ask you the same thing," Elsa retorted, a wry smile coming to her own face.

"My sugar is about a month away from giving birth and she is about as uncomfortable as one human being can be," Tiana answered. "She can't sleep, and when she does drift off, Lilly Belle kicks her or she has to pee. My poor honey is miserable, so we're being miserable together. Your sugar, on the other hand, is months away from that point, and she is probably wondering where her cuddle buddy is. So, again I ask, why are you up?"

"I just couldn't sleep," Elsa lied.

"Uh-huh," Tiana answered, not believing her for a minute.

"So what do you think of my idea?" Elsa asked, changing the subject.

"I think that the idea has some merit if…" Tiana began, and Elsa focused her attention so she could hear and use Tiana's advice. "…you stop worrying about everything so much, and you get your lily-white butt back to bed with your sugar where you belong. All of this stuff can wait until morning." Elsa shook her head and sighed. She wasn't quite sure when it had happened, but somehow, she now had a non-romantic best friend. Anna would always be her everything, but Tiana was the platonic confidante she never knew she'd needed.

"Fine. I give. Just please quit mothering me, Tee," Elsa said in affectionate exasperation. "Save it for Lilly Belle."

Tiana chuckled. "Give my love to Ginger," she requested.

"And mine to Lottie," Elsa responded. Tiana nodded, and they simultaneously ended the call.

Elsa smiled to herself, and she turned back towards the entryway containing the master staircase, only to stop in her tracks as she ran into the person standing behind her. "You know," Anna said as her arms went around Elsa's waist, "Tiana gives very, very good advice."

"She certainly does," Elsa agreed, as she slipped her arms through Anna's to draw Anna closer.

Anna tightened her grip and snuggled into Elsa before letting go just a little so that she could see Elsa's face. "So why did I wake up alone?" she asked gently.

Elsa was completely unable to lie to Anna anymore, so she told the truth. "The dream was still bothering me and I was restless. I didn't want to disturb you or Peanut, so I left to be restless somewhere else," she explained.

Anna sighed softly in sympathy before gathering her thoughts to speak. "That was very thoughtful of you, love," she said, drawing Elsa closer. "But you know I would rather have a restless you in bed rather than no you at all. Even if you are wiggly, I still sleep better."

"Not if I wake you up," Elsa protested.

"Especially then," Anna disagreed. "Then I get apology kisses and snuggles," she explained impishly. Elsa smiled and Anna smiled back. "Come on, General," she teased. "We both have big days tomorrow, well, today I guess, and we both need our sleep. To bed with you."

"Yes, Governor," Elsa replied wryly.

Anna let go of Elsa, but kept custody of her hand, tugging on it and leading her back to their bedroom. Once there, Anna let go and indicated the bed. "You first," she ordered. "I want to make sure you can't escape again." Elsa quirked her eyebrow, but she did as she was told, climbing into their bed and arranging herself on the sheets. Anna smiled and climbed in after her, wrapping herself as completely around Elsa as was humanly possible with her baby bump. Anna sighed in contentment, and Elsa could feel her smile against the skin of her bare back. Elsa smiled in return, and began idly caressing the smooth, freckled arm that was draped across her collarbone.

As she caressed, Elsa's mind turned back toward her dream, and after several long minutes of thought, a sudden impulse struck her. She turned suddenly, surprising Anna who had almost fallen back asleep. "Marry me, Anna," Elsa urged.

Anna blinked. "Marry you?" she questioned with quizzical humor. "Didn't we already ask each other that?" She glanced down at her protruding belly. "Didn't I kind of get pregnant because we did too much celebrating about asking each other that?" she joked.

"I'm serious," Elsa answered with just a hint of exasperation. "Marry me right now, Anna. Arendelle is a mostly-free territory and you are its Governor. You could sign a legal marriage license. Let me tell the world that you're mine."

"Everyone in the State already knows that, love," Anna pointed out, figuring out quickly that Elsa's dream had something to do with the sudden proposal. "Everyone knows that I'm yours and you're mine, so rushing into a wedding isn't going to change that."

"How are we rushing?" Elsa demanded, getting slightly angry at Anna's tacit refusal to marry her immediately. "We're already engaged and expecting. How would we be rushing anything?"

"We're in the middle of a revolutionary war, Elsa," Anna countered. "It's not the time or place. And even if we were married here, it would mean nothing elsewhere."

"So?" Elsa questioned, getting angrier.

"So, I will come right out and say it: I don't want to marry you right now," Anna declared with as much gentleness as she could. "I want to get married in a State that recognizes my marriage, and probably more importantly, doesn't want me dead." Anna saw the hurt in Elsa's eyes, so she reached out to stroke her cheek. "Did you explore Campus very much the years you lived there?" she asked Elsa unexpectedly.

"No, not really," Elsa admitted, her burgeoning anger soothed by Anna's touch and her curiosity about Anna's odd question.

"Well, I did, and one day when I had wandered off from my class I found a beautiful, lush garden with plants and birds and waterfalls. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen," Anna reminisced. "I stayed there as long as I could, but as I was leaving, a guard caught me. Apparently I had inadvertently come across Patrician Observer's private garden, and I was trespassing. I was only a child, and I was scared to death about how I was going to be punished, but I never was. Instead, my primary schoolteacher disappeared from class and none of us ever saw her again." Anna paused, and Elsa's heart clenched at the pain on Anna's face. "I want to marry you more than anything in this world, Elsa, but not now. I want to be free. I want for us to be able to get married in that garden with all its beauty. I want your ice statues to make it even more beautiful. I want my fairy-tale wedding with all of our friends and family in attendance. Until then, I want to wait," Anna concluded softly.

"Then we'll wait, my love; we'll wait," Elsa agreed, pulling Anna close to her.

"Thank you," Anna murmured, before she started placing soft kisses on Elsa's chest and collarbone. "But, don't think for a minute that you are not mine or that I will ever, ever leave you," she demanded tenderly. "I don't care what your fears are telling you and what your dreams are predicting, but it will not happen."

Elsa smiled at the vehemence of Anna's words. "I'll inform my insecurities of that," she promised, kissing Anna on the forehead before tightening her arms around her love. "Now I think it's time for both of us to go back to sleep."

"I think so, too," Anna agreed, turning them slightly so that she had Elsa pinned against the mattress. "See you in the morning, love," she mumbled.

"Always," Elsa promised, before Anna's contagious drowsiness conquered her anxieties and she fell back to sleep.