"Tea, your majesties?" Kai proposed, setting down a tray of fruit between the two sisters in the library. Queen Elsa had requested breakfast there instead of the dining room with the thought of getting a head start on the day's work. Anna, on the other hand, was in there to simply be near her sister.
"That would be lovely Kai, thank you." The Queen replied without looking up from the scroll on her desk. Her pale hand slowly moved toward the food tray absentmindedly and selected a strawberry from the colorful assortment. A moment later Kai walked in with another tray, this one containing a tea kettle, two empty cups, a small bowl of sugar cubes, two spoons, and a small pitcher of milk. He set the tray down and began pouring the steaming liquid into the cold porcelain cups, filling one up more than the other. After Kai finished, he bowed and left the room, leaving the sisters to temper the tea to their liking.
Anna shot up as soon as the butler was gone, making her way toward the desk. Elsa smiled at her sister, gesturing for the princess to take the cup with less tea in it. The red head eagerly snatched up three sugar cubes and poured more than a splash of milk into the white cup, almost over-flowing it. She realized that Elsa had gone back to pile of work on her desk and decided that she would help her sister with her tea. After all, Elsa couldn't afford distractions and needed all the time she could get working. Meddling with a tea cup certainly wasn't on the list of things a queen should do.
Anna picked up two sugar cubes and hovered over the plain cup of tea.
"No." Elsa hissed, her eyes snapping towards the cup. "No sugar. I- I take it plain." A quick recovery from the blonde behind the desk, but Anna caught a sense of something. Something she couldn't put her finger on. Was it dread? Fear?
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't know." Anna's hand slowly moved toward the empty bowl and dropped the sugar cubes in it, breaking one as it collided with the dish.
"It's fine." Elsa reached over her desk to grab the hot cup in her hands before returning her attention to the work in front of her.
Panic. That was the expression that crossed her sister's face before she had reigned it in. And Anna, ever the curious one, wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"Why do you not use sugar? That's the only thing that makes this drink bearable!" The pig tailed woman inquired, choosing to sit in the chair across from Elsa. As soon as the words left Anna's mouth, Elsa started to blush, taking another moment to compose herself.
"It is considered rude in the larger countries to attempt to enhance the local tea with sugar or other additives. A good habit to have when meeting with ambassadors." A diplomatic answer if Anna ever heard one. And a lie. She knew her sister better than Elsa thought.
The princess fake-pondered the answer, giving her older sister some satisfaction. The conversation seemingly ended there as the two siblings sat in silence drinking tea. Anna had to find out the truth and knew her sister would rebuke every advance towards the topic. Feigning boredom, Anna excused herself several minutes later with the scheme to seek out Gerda. Elsa, absorbed in the trade agreement in her hands, nodded softly and quietly spoke words of being safe and staying out of trouble to her sister.
As soon as the door to the library was closed, Anna sprinted down the halls in a mad attempt to find the elderly woman.
Twelve rooms later, Anna found her target doing light housework in Elsa's room.
"Gerda!" The freckled woman exclaimed, out of breath from her marathon of searching.
"Your majesty! Are you alright?"
"Yes yes, I'm fine. I have a question I hope you can answer though!" Anna closed the engraved door quietly, her eyes flickering over her sister's blue room before her as she found that Gerda had moved to the wardrobe.
"Yes, Princess Anna?" The woman had paused, making eye contact with the royal member in the room.
"Do you know why Elsa doesn't use sugar in her tea?" Anna paused, reflecting past memories quickly. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her eat something with sugar."
Gerda eyed the ginger before speaking. She sighed, knowing that if she didn't answer Anna, the princess would just start asking everyone until she found a response.
"Her Royal Majesty had an… Episode when she was five. It was when an ambassador from Corona came, bringing some of his kingdom's chocolate as a present for you two." Gerda moved to face Anna, clasping her hands in front of her.
"Your sister was already quite proper at her age, which was the big give away when we saw how sugar affected her personality."
Anna's eyes bulged, her mind creating scenarios of a sugar-crazed Elsa running around the castle. "What do you mean?"
"Queen Elsa couldn't control herself when she had eaten some of that chocolate. And in turn, ran around the castle freezing things or covering the floors with ice and snow." Gerda smiled at the flashback.
"But she eats sweets now though?" Anna questioned, thinking back to the other day when Elsa ate chocolate.
"Ah, those. Well, your father found out that only sugar from sugar canes gets her quite that excited. Thankfully, we've found that honey is a natural sweetener and does not promote the same behavior therefore the cooks use that instead of sugar for her meals."
Anna's smile grew slowly as a slew of thoughts grew in her head. Her perfectly proper sister had a weakness! Sugar! The idea of an undisciplined, hyper Elsa was too good to pass up. All she had to do was wait. A second later the smile disappeared as she realized the only sugar the castle had was locked up in the kitchen. And it was for tea, something Elsa would notice right away if added to her drink.
"Gerda, do the townspeople use honey as well?"
"No, they use sugar for its quite cheap as of late. Princess Anna, I must-" Before the elderly woman could finish her sentence, Anna had ran out of the room, her next target in her sights.
Three days later with a cake from the town swapped out in the kitchen and Anna was all set. It was morning, and she had convinced her sister to let them have a piece of cake for breakfast. A sort of celebration for such a gorgeous morning and the fact that the Queen had secured an outstanding trade agreement with a neighboring kingdom. Elsa, having a weakness for chocolate and cake, didn't seem to put up a fight. She did limit the intake to one piece each though, careful to watch their appetites. When they finished their breakfast of fruit and bread, Anna eagerly watched as Elsa took the first bite of cake.
It thrilled her to watch Elsa's eyes go wide with shock.
"This is amazing…" She heard her older sister mumble. After watching her sister eat for a few moments, Anna remembered her manners and began to eat as well. Elsa was right, this cake was amazing. While it didn't taste that different from what the cooks made, Anna was still impressed. The royal cooks could certainly trick the tongue when it came to sugar. She made a note to compliment them next time a desert they made came to the table.
The two sisters finished their cake at the same time, relaxing in the dining hall for a moment. Anna kept her eyes trained on her sister, looking for signs of hyperactivity. A few moments later, Elsa made eye contact with her sister.
"You'll have to do better than that Anna." The blonde smirked as she pushed the dish to the side, swapping desert for fruit.
"W-what?!" Anna half shouted, not expecting that reaction to come from her sister.
"I know you swapped the cakes." Elsa flashed a smile as took a sip of water. "Gerda told me you asked about my… Sugar issue. I requested you to be followed in order to prevent that from happening, and had the cakes switched back." When the topic of sugar came up, a shadow fell across the queen's face.
Anna, on the other hand, was stumped. She thought she had done so well, only to find out that she had been too predictable. She casually munched on fruit as well until Elsa had to leave to start the day's work.
"Thank you for the cake, dear sister." Elsa kissed the top of her sister's head before walking out of the room.
Oh. She is going to get it all right.
Anna went to her study, a small room with an even smaller desk, to plan out her next attack. She was going to get her sister hyper if it was the last thing she did. Ignoring the desk completely, Anna paced around the small room. She had to be precise. Logical. Sneaky. Her objectives hidden.
For the majority of the morning, Anna stayed in the small room brainstorming. Every now and then she came up with an idea, only to be shot down. She came to the conclusion that her only way in was to get the sugar in the kitchen. But with the cooks in there for most of the day, she knew it was impossible. She had to get her sister to eat or drink something new. Something her sister couldn't prepare for.
And that's when the idea of talking to the visiting ambassador came from. Anna had rushed to the docks, searching for the boat with foreign flags. An ambassador from the Colonies was in port – she knew from hearing her sister talk about it earlier this week – and Anna knew the man was up to date on any new food trends in his country, whether they were original or from another nation. A few minutes later, she found the ambassador sitting below deck and pulled him aside to divulge the secrets of his home country's newest cuisine. And when he revealed the newest trend, Anna could have smacked her own face for not thinking of such a simple drink before.
She thanked the man before rushing off towards the castle, her plan forming perfectly in her head.
A week later, the two sisters took their breakfast at the dining room table. The menu had returned to being cake less, switching back to the traditional meal of tea, bread, and fruit. The red head had slowly prepared her plan of begging her sister to open trades with more countries so they could try the newest food trends, but Elsa had refused.
"Anna, we don't have time or spare money to order trending food from other countries. That's what nobles do." Her sister argued at the table as she took a bite from a strawberry.
"Elsa, haven't you ever wanted to try new things? You can't leave the castle, but you can still bring the outside world in!" The pig tailed sister grinned at her sister, hoping her toothy smile would persuade her.
"I don't have time to explore cultural interests. Anna, if you don't like our countries food, you could just say so." A pained expression darkened the queen's face as she wondered if her sister had grown tired of the kingdom.
"No! That's not it at all!" Anna almost knocked over her water as her hands reached out to gesture. "I just want us to be cultured, like the other nations. I was talking to the Ambassador last week and –"
Elsa's face slid into shock. "Anna, you talked to an ambassador? What did you two discuss?"
"He was telling me about the differences between our countries. How the clothing style is different, the food, the music. And it got me thinking that we haven't explored other cultures. I… I don't want us to be embarrassed next time there is a ball and we seem uncultured."
Elsa's head slowly tilted, toying with her sister's idea. Maybe she was right.
"I'll think more about it today and let you know by dinner. But, at the very least, it can't hurt to have our own ambassadors give us reports on the countries they visit." Elsa smiled, relieved to have a diplomatic answer for her younger sister.
"Thank you Elsa!" Anna exclaimed, her mind bubbling with excitement as how flawless her plan was going. "The ambassador introduced me to a drink that is popular over there. Can I show you? I tried it last week, and it was so good!" The princess squirmed with excitement to emphasis her point.
"Of course." The blonde replied, shocked as the younger sister jumped out of her seat and ran into the kitchen, apparently fetching the ingredients. Anna returned a few minutes later with a tea kettle and two cups.
"They call it 'Iced Tea' in the Southern Colonies. It's apparently all the rage right now." Anna answered her sister's unasked question. She poured the steaming liquid into both cups before setting the kettle down.
"If you don't mind, you know." Anna wiggled her fingers at the cups. "Don't freeze them though! Just cool it off to where it's cold."
Elsa sighed and flicked her fingers at the two porcelain dishes, watching as the steam stopped completely and a layer of frost circled the edge. Elsa pointed a finger at each cup, creating clear ice cubes floating in the beverage.
"And what, we drink it now? Or do you still sip it like tea?" Elsa looked up at her sister quizzically.
"You drink it like water!" Anna smiled and grabbed her cup, easily chugging the golden drink. Elsa, on the other hand picked hers up slowly. "I've never drank cold tea. I've frozen mine plenty of times but I always just went to get hot tea. This is tea right?" The queen's eyes were studying the liquid.
"Yep!"
The blonde slowly raised the cup to sip the foreign drink. "It's sweet? Anna…" Elsa looked at her sister in alarm.
"Relax! It's honey!" The devil sitting on Anna's shoulder smirked.
The queen looked down at her cup. She did taste honey in the drink and her sister was right, the tea was delicious. "And this doesn't offend anyone? To have added a sweetener to the drink?"
"Nope!" At least she didn't think so. But what was a little white lie that was pointless this far in her plan?
Elsa raised the cup to her mouth again and drank more of the sweetened beverage, soon finishing it. "You are right, it is quite good if not a bit too sweet. Less honey next time. " The older sister placed the empty cup back on the table, shuddering slightly.
Anna's plan had worked. It was perfect. All she had to do was wait for the sugar to take effect. The red head moved from her sister's side, sitting back down at the table. Every few seconds, she glanced at Elsa.
The older sister was reading a book at the table, as usual since Anna usually wasn't a morning conversationalist and Elsa wanted something to entertain herself in the mornings. After a few minutes though, Anna saw the blonde start to fidget in her seat, wiggling around every few seconds. The red head smiled to herself as she looked down at her plate, jumping only when she heard something slam on the table.
"Anna." Elsa stated, a different look in her eyes than what the younger sister was used to seeing. Her pale hand was resting on the closed book on the table. The princess looked up at the queen. "There was sugar in that drink."
Anna slowly nodded, unsure of what was going to happen. Her sister seemed to have battling emotions at the moment, her face changing from angry to relieved and back again. Shifting her eyes to the book, Anna saw frost slowly start to cover the book. She quickly looked at the other hand resting on the table and saw the same thing. Elsa looked down as well, quickly pulling her hands to her chest, but rapidly moving her fingers.
A second later, the queen stood up, almost knocking over her chair.
"Well." She started, looking at her hands and back to her sister. "Tag, you're it." With that, she formed a snowball and threw it at her sister, stunning the red head.
Elsa ran out of the room, small footprints made from ice revealing her direction. Anna was stunned, never having seen her sister like that. A smile grew on her lips as she followed the queen, running down the hall and following the icy tracks. The freckled ginger rounded the corner and stopped immediately. What was once small footprints had grown with each step until the whole floor was covered in ice. And the further down the hallway it got, the higher it climbed on the walls. Anna saw a flash of platinum blonde round the corner and began her trek again, sliding across the ice slowly.
As she rounded the corner, she noticed that ice had encased the whole hallway, and there were patches of snow in the corners. "Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea I've had." Anna muttered, following her sister's obvious path with care. The princess was never a good ice skater.
"Come on slow poke!" A voice echoed down the hall, followed by laughter. Anna looked up to Elsa smiling back at her. "I said 'tag, you're it', not 'tag, you're it. Take your time.'"
Anna renewed her chase, giving up caution for speed. She picked up her pace and heard a door slam around the next bend in the castle, sure that her sister had run into a room. The red head skidded around the corner to find Gerda standing in shock at the newly frozen hallway.
The elderly maid looked at Anna in shock. Then, once she put everything together, Gerda snapped her mouth shut. "You gave her sugar didn't you?"
Anna smiled but Gerda clicked her tongue in distaste.
"Let's hope she has a better grasp on her powers and emotions than last time. It took days to chisel out the doors." The maid pressed her lips tightly together and she slowly moved from the door she stood at towards Anna. As the maid walked down the hall, Anna heard her mutter something. "If this causes another eternal winter, gods help us."
With that, Anna began down the hall once more, desperately trying to catch her sister. She heard more laughing in the great hall as she slid toward the doors. "Yep. Elsa's in here all right." She mumbled, eyeing the frosty handprint on the door handle. She opened it and let out a gasp.
The room was covered with ice. The floor was a light blue, with perfect snowflakes decorating it in a uniformed pattern. The pillars were white, with a light blue design running parallel to the ground similar to Elsa's door. Even the empty suits of armor lining the walls were covered and altered with ice. It was beautiful, Anna thought.
She gazed straight forward and saw her sister sitting on her throne. It had been enhanced with ice like the rest of the room, with snowflakes etched in various sizes alone the backboard. A wild smile was on her face, and Anna realized she had pulled her bun out again and brushed her bangs back like that one day over the summer.
"Like it?" Elsa asked, gesturing towards the walls as she absentmindedly flicked her fingers once more, creating multiple snow piles around the room. "I'm not done yet, of course. I was simply waiting for your slow self. I always forget that some people can't walk on ice." She flicked her wrist towards her sister as ice blades formed under Anna's feet.
"There. Now it should be fair." The queen smirked before standing up, another snowball forming in her hand.
"Elsa, wait!" Anna looked at her freshly formed skates before eyeing her sister again. "What do I get if I tag you?"
The blonde paused, thinking over her answer.
"If you catch me," She began, her eyes lighting up in preparation for the rest of the sentence. "Then we will build a snowman."
Anna took off with a speed she didn't know she had after her sister.
"Nope, this was most definitely the best plan I've ever had." She thought as she dodged another snowball.
Author's Note: Hello! I saw this idea for a story on Elsannaheadcanons prompt and decided to do a quick one-shot of it. I know it's not a super-crazy-hyper Elsa, but there is only so much sugar you can put into tea before it turns to sludge, so this is just Elsa on a mild amount of Sugar... If this gets a good response, who knows? We may see Elsa on more sugar.