AN: A sort of companion piece to Close your Eyes and Imagine
It was sunny outside
Anna admired the outside land that was being blanketed by the sun through a window from a bed and she wished she could go out and dance her way into town. But she could not, she was confined to her bedchambers and instead of basking in the warmth of Summer's sun, her blankets were warming her.
Knock Knock Knock
"Yes?" She called
The door creaked open as a familiar head peeked in, "Anna?"
"Olaf!" Anna grinned "Come in, come in!" She gestured
The snowman made a happy noise as he waddled into the room, snowflakes following him from his flurry, and hopped onto her bed.
"What brings you here to my humble abode?" Anna asked "Here to update me on the rumor-mill?"
"Yes Ma'm!" Olaf playfully saluted with a giggle "So you remember the new baker right?"
"Of course! Mr. Ackerman right?" Anna asked as the snowman nodded "He makes the best chocolate muffins. Has he proposed to the shipwright yet? What was her name again…? The one who helped fix the ship we used to visit Corona…? That's right, Miss Wagner! She sent me a wonderful miniature copy of that ship."
Olaf grinned, "Even bet-ter. He proposed to her today!"
A gasp "That's wonderful! Ooh, I'll have to send them a letter to congratulate them!"
"Also," Olaf shifted his eyes from one side to the other, making sure no one else was in the room, and then whispered "I think they're going to have a shotgun marriage."
A giggle, "Then I'll have to send them two congratulations!"
The snowman giggled "Oh! And the blacksmith's assistant isn't an assistant anymore!"
"Mr. Dumant!" Anna smiled "He helped with making horse shoes for the new horses. He's finally taking over the shop? Good for him!"
Olaf nodded "And! He finally asked you-know-who out."
"The florist? Miss Abbot?"
A nod of confirmation
Anna gave a bright smile "She is such a kind woman! She sent me this beautiful bouquet that had all sort of different and colorful flowers!"
The snowman gave a soft smile as the other wore a bright and wide smile as she thought about the villagers. The two were in comfortable silence, when Anna looked back outside as a few birds flew by.
"Olaf." Anna suddenly said
"Yes Anna?" The snowman asked
The other didn't answer immediately, allowing silence to fill the room as she continued to stare out of the window from the bed.
Finally, after what seemed to be a long time, Anna began to speak.
"I-" before she could say anything though, there was another knock.
The two occupants in the room turned their heads towards the door where two gentlemen stood.
Anna's eyes brightened, "Eric! Aaron! Come in! Come in!" She gestured
The two gentlemen walked in and pulled out chairs to sit by the bed.
"Did you two stop to say Hi to Elsa?" Anna asked
Aaron nodded, "We did. We were updating her on what had been happening in Arendelle and how the kingdom and its people were flourishing due to the surplus in crops."
Anna chuckled "That's it?"
Aaron crinkled his brow, "Well, yes."
Eric rolled his eyes, "We also expressed our pleasure in seeing her of course and had brought her flowers."
Olaf chuckled as Anna nodded her agreement
"Elsa must have been happy to see the two of you doing so well." Olaf giggled
Eric smiled, "She was."
Silence overtook the group
"How are you feeling?" Aaron asked with a soft voice
"I'm feeling wonderful actually!" the bed's occupant grinned as she pumped her arms up and down, "In fact, I think I'm well enough to go outside."
The other one chuckled, "Nice try, but you're not leaving this bed."
Anna pouted, "C'mon Eric! Pleaaassseee?"
Olaf glanced at Anna, remembering how she had been looking outside before.
"I think that's a great idea!" the snowman cheered "She could go outside for some fresh air, and the sun, and the flowers, and all the wonderful things about summer."
Eric sighed as he held his hands up in defeat "Oh all right, but only for a short while okay?"
Anna grinned and gave an affirmative nod
Aaron stood up to help Anna out of bed
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Anna brushed his hand aside as she climbed out of bed.
"Will you be keeping her company Olaf?" Aaron asked, getting a nod from the snowman.
Eric arched an eyebrow in amusement, "So we'll see you for dinner?"
Anna just gave a smile, and then she turned to Olaf. "C'mon, let's go visit Elsa."
"Okay!" the snowman cheered as the two walked out of the room.
A while later, the two were in a meadow before a forest, in front of a gravestone that held Elsa's name.
"Hey Elsa! Guess who?" Anna cheerfully greeted as she slowly sat herself down next to the stone.
"It's Anna, you know, your sister who you love an adore?" She giggled "And guess who I brought!" She grinned at Olaf
"Hi again Elsa!" Olaf greeted with as much cheer as Anna as he gave a hug to Elsa's tombstone
"Do you want to talk to her first? Anna asked the snowman
Olaf shook his head, "I already talked to her this morning. You go ahead an talk to her." He smiled
Anna nodded and gave him a small smile of appreciation. Then she turned her attention to her sister, "How are you? Sorry for not visiting as often as before, you know Eric, he's a stinker. He insists that I stay in bed ALL THE TIME. Can you believe him?!" Anna complained. "Anyways, so what have you been up to? I…"
Anna continued ranting and rambling while Olaf stood in front of them, taking in Anna's appearance.
Anna no longer had a full head of red hair; only traces remained as the color had been replaced with grey. Wrinkles had developed on her face, mostly noticeable under the corners of her eyes and at her cheeks due to smiling so much. Her once bright blue eyes were no longer as blue; they had dulled quite a bit over the years, but still held her usual warmth and cheer. Most of all, she was no longer as energetic as before. It would seem logical that her energy had been decreasing as she aged, but it wasn't just a matter of her body growing weak, she had began to lose energy after her sister passed away. But before that, she would always be up an about at all times during the day, sometimes she would still be up and about during the night. Simply just playing and dancing as if she were still a child along with Elsa.
Olaf remembered those nights well. He would be sleeping peacefully with the former queen (who no longer had to rule due to passing the crown to Eric, Anna's eldest), when he would suddenly be awoken by a giggling Anna pestering Elsa to play with her. It didn't take much convincing on Anna's part, for Elsa would climb out of bed after a while and they would go out. They were almost always together; building a snowman, having a snowball fight, skating/dancing on ice, or anything to do with snow really and of course doing other activities that didn't deal with snow. But they were, without a doubt, inseparable.
Then Elsa had passed, and Anna no longer had the energy to do anything anymore.
She would simply walk out into town and converse with the townspeople, and then go to Elsa's grave to talk. That had become a daily routine for her. But then as the day's rolled by, it had become increasingly difficult for her to walk up and down the stairs without assistance, her appetite began to shrink, and she had to rest more frequently when going out into town. Eric insisted that she stay in the castle and requested for her to stay in bed more often.
"Hey, Olaf…?"
Olaf snapped out of his thoughts as he focused on the elderly woman
"Can you please go get a blanket for me? It's getting rather chilly."
The snowman nodded, "Okay" as he ran off
Anna breathed out a small sigh, her breath fogging up in the air as she leaned back against Elsa's stone and looked up at the blue sky.
"Elsa?" She called, "I know it's been 3 years, people are always asking how I've been. They say "keep smiling", and I'm trying to, but it's hard without you. Though I still try. I know I have my sons, and I love them so much, but I still miss you…" Anna closed her eyes as the corners of her mouth curved up the slightest bit.
Olaf trotted down the hallway, passing by Elsa's door, to make his way towards Anna's room. He was right in front of her door when he suddenly heard something.
Knock! Knock! KnockKnock! Knock!
Olaf turned his head down the hallway from the direction he came, wondering if one of the servants had been behind him. The hallway was empty. He shrugged it off when he swore he hear the faintest of whispers
"Do you want to build a Snowman?"
Olaf took another glance down the hallway, but again found that he was the only one there. He brushed it off again and quickly grabbed a blanket from Anna's room and trotted back down the hallway to deliver the provider of warmth to Anna. As he walking, he came to an abrupt stop in front of Elsa's room.
… The door was open.
Curious, he walked into the room, wondering if someone was inside. No one was in there, but something familiar caught his eye at the window. As he made his way to the window and looked out he couldn't help but form a sad smile.
It was snowing outside