Hello everyone. Before we start the actual story I thought that it might be a good idea to offer a more detailed summary so that you all know exactly what it is that you are reading. I recently watched Frozen and during one of the scenes I noticed the cameos by Rapunzel and Eugene and it got me wondering:
If Marvel is able to intricately connect multiple films together, why can't the Disney Animated Cannon do the same?
So this story will attempt to do for Tangled and Frozen what the Avengers did for Marvel. If this is successful I might even do sequel stories with even more characters from other Disney films that would be able to logically exist within the same universe. Feedback would definitely be appreciated.
Oh one more thing, this story is based about three years after the events of Tangled but only five months after Frozen.
Chapter One: A Good Impression
Eugene shifted uncomfortably at the ship's prow. It didn't matter that he had lived in the palace and had attended many fancy functions over the past four years; he was never going to get used to the clothing that the gentry wore. Throughout his life he had always dressed for function and rarely for fashion. It had to be loose enough to let him move but strong enough to last and offer some basic protection from the environment. Pockets were also a must have. Given his previous line of work it had always been essential that he could easily hide and store objects about his person.
What he was currently wearing fulfilled none of the above criteria. It was stiff, constricting and only had a single pocket that was too small for anything larger than a thimble that he had to wonder why they even bothered putting it on in the first place. He was wearing an ill-fitting blue doublet with golden trimming around the edges and pants to match. The worst parts however were the shoes. Whoever had designed these things had clearly never intended them for actual use by humans. They pinched his toes and the leather was so hard that he had to keep his feet at a perfect right angle every single time he took a step otherwise it would dig into his leg and leave ugly red welts in his ankles.
It was hard enough keeping his feet in the right position on dry land but attempting to do so on a moving ship was downright impossible. Suddenly every single thing about his outfit seemed to bug him; it didn't fit, the fabric was itchy and it was very constricting. He nervously shifted from foot to foot, ignoring the pain in his feet.
"Relax," said an amused voice from behind him. He turned around to see the Queen of Corona struggling not to laugh (and failing miserably) at his discomfort. "Oh to Hell with it," she said and giggled in an extremely girly and unqueenly manner.
"It's not funny," he said irritably.
"It is a little bit funny," she countered, "Why are you so agitated? You should be an old hand at this by now."
"Not this," he said, gesturing vaguely in the general direction of Arendelle, somewhere off in the distance, "I'm representing the kingdom in a foreign land."
"Why can I hear my husband speaking with your voice?" she asked.
"He… He might have had some words for me before we left," Eugene answered somewhat evasively. She rolled her eyes.
"Oh for heaven's sake," she said irritably, "When I get back I am going to have some words for him."
"Please don't," he replied quickly, "The last thing I want it for that to come back to me." While the king may not have hated his son in law per se and he was certainly grateful for his involvement regarding the return of his daughter like any father would be, he could not wholly approve of their relationship. After all, he had once been the kingdom's most wanted thief and the king had heard rumours of Eugene's… previous liaisons. The queen, on the other hand, had taken a real shine to the one time criminal, taking him under her wing and teaching him all there was to know about courtly behaviour. "Where's your daughter anyway?" he asked her, "I haven't seen since this morning."
"She wants to look her best for the Arendelle royal family," she explained.
"If she wants us to look our best," he wondered, pointing at his own clothes, "Why on Earth am I wearing this ridiculous ensemble? I used to rob guys that dressed like this, partially because they were rich and partially because they looked ridiculous and I felt like they had it coming."
"I don't know," she said speculatively, "I think you look positively dashing." He laughed despite himself.
"You have to be the only person I know who can un-ironically use the word "positively" without sounding silly." She looked up ahead and smiled.
"We're almost there," she observed, seeing mountain tips peeking over the ocean horizon.
"Arendelle," he said, taking in the view, "It's a lot warmer than I thought it would be."
~o~O~o~
"Okay, what do you think?" Rapunzel twirled around in her blue dress. As usual, Pascal offered little in the way of constructive criticism. At present he seemed more concern with winning a staring contest with his own reflection in the mirror. "Well fat load of help you are," she said sarcastically, examining her reflection. The dress was midnight blue satin with gold trimming around the collar and golden gloves to match. Corona royal colours. It was very important, her father had insisted, that she made a strong first impression. "First impressions are key," he had said during one of their many classes, "For as long as you know that person, it will colour how they see you so make sure that it's a good one." She wished that he could be there with her but he was needed back home in Corona as the trade agreement with a nearby kingdom had expired and he was in the middle of negotiations to renew the contract.
"Well I like it." She turned around and smiled when she saw her mother standing by the door. Rapunzel smiled at her mother's words. Even after five years, genuine compliments from a maternal figure was still something that she found to be new and exciting.
"You're my mother," she replied, "You're biased."
"Damn right I am," the Queen replied, walking up and hugging her, "That being said, I think that you look beautiful. Now let's go out and knock 'em dead."
"We're here?" Rapunzel asked excitedly.
"Come on," her mother said, taking her hand and leading her out of the cabin, "You can see for yourself. We're about to dock and you won't want to miss that."
~o~O~o~
"They're certainly pulling out all the stops," Eugene observed as their ship came into dock. Dozens of soldiers stood in perfect formation as the ship came to a still, their grey uniforms standing in contrast to the colourful surroundings. "They must really want to impress us."
"It's not just that, laddie," said Mr. Mathews, the ship's bosun. Eugene had taken a liking to the man almost as soon as the ship made sail as he never stood on ceremony unless it was absolutely necessary. While quite old for someone of his rank, thirty-nine years with grey hairs beginning to show around his ears, he had a way about him that drew people towards him.
"What do you mean?" Eugene asked curiously.
"Look at 'em all," he replied, gesturing out at the assembled soldiers, "The way they're all there, standing at attention. Yes, they are trying to impress us but at the same time they're also sayin' "Look at our big army, stay out of trouble and we won't have to chop you into tiny little pieces with our big shiny swords.""
"You got all that just by looking at the way they're standing?" Eugene asked with just a hint of scepticism. He trusted Mathews' opinion and everything but a small part of him wondered if he was reading just a little too far into things.
"Well not just that," he clarified, "I mean, Queen Ilsa ("Elsa," Eugene corrected) – Elsa, thank you – isn't even here yet. If she were here I reckon it would have looked like a gesture of trust but she wants us to come to her."
"I still reckon you're overthinking this," Eugene responded.
~o~O~o~
"This is a disaster!" Queen Elsa of Arendelle exclaimed in an entirely un-regal tone of voice. Kristoff smiled disarmingly.
"Your Majesty," he said calmly, "Chill."
"Are you trying to be funny?" she hissed with all the warmth of an iceberg.
"Actually no," he said, pausing to think, "That was actually just purely accidental. Pretty cool though – Ha! I did it again. Where's Olaf? He'd be loving these."
"Anna's know about the coming delegation for weeks!" she said, frantically pacing back and forth around the throne room, small specks of snow following her in her wake. "So what does she do?" Kristoff shrugged.
"Is this one of those times when you want me to answer?" he asked, "Or just one of the times when I'm just supposed to stand here and nod in a sort of non-committal agreement?"
"We were supposed to be down at the docks half an hour ago so we could greet the Corona delegation when they arrived and she's off doing God knows what!" she snapped.
"Have you checked her room?" he asked.
"Oh no, Kristoff," she said sarcastically, "I haven't checked the most obvious place to look because I'm an idiot and I only keep this kingdom together with rainbows and smiles, you know, because I'm an idiot."
"Sorry," he said quickly, "Just trying to help."
"Kristoff," she said sternly, "If I wanted the advice of a vegetable I would have gone and bought one at the marketplace." She realised almost immediately that she had gone too far by the stiff way he smiled.
"I'll have a look around and see if I can find her," he said unemotionally, "With your permission?" Without waiting for a response, he bowed awkwardly and left the throne room. Bits of ice began to form around the queen's shoes before she regained control of her emotions. She knew that Kristoff had not done anything to earn her ire and that she would have to find a way to apologise to him later but right now she really needed to greet the Corona delegation before they wrongfully got the impression that they were being snubbed.
~o~O~o~
While during the past five months, more of the palace had been open than during the last decade, there were still huge sections of the building that were yet to be used. Used by anyone other than Princess Anna of course. During her sister's self-imposed exile, the younger girl had filled her days with exploring the dusty, disused halls, rooms and passages. Still, even after all her years of exploration, she would occasionally come across a new room or chamber.
"Come on, Anna," Olaf protested, hopping after her, "You heard your sister, we need to leave now, we're late enough as it is."
"Oh don't be such a baby," Anna called back over her shoulder, "Just give me five more minutes."
"I'm not a baby," Olaf huffed.
"You're only five months old," she called back over her shoulder. The snowman came to a complete halt.
"Wow," he said in amazement, "You just blew my mind."
"Come on," she pressed, "I found this new chamber last week and I want to see if there's anything worthwhile in there."
~o~O~o~
"Ah here they come," Mathews observed, noticing the arrival of the Queen of Arendelle and her entourage. "You'd better get back with the ladies," he said to Eugene, "You'll want to walk down together, show 'uv unity 'n all."
"What is she wearing?" Rapunzel asked her mother, looking at Queen Elsa's blue dress, "I've never seen anything like that."
"Nor have I," the Queen replied, looking genuinely curious, "What kind of fabric is that? It doesn't look… It doesn't look natural."
"Please tell me that you're noticing the dress too?" Eugene said, standing behind, "Because fabric shouldn't be able to look like that and it's starting to weird me out just a bit."
"Everyone calm down," the Queen said quietly, "We'll find out about that later but right now let's just try greeting the Queen of Arendelle without causing a diplomatic incident."
~o~O~o~
Please review and let me know what you think.
