Elsa woke to the knocking of the butler, Kai. She sat up and yawned. "Thank you, Kai, you may go now," she told him in her most queenly voice through the door. She crawled out of bed, barely noticing when her feet touched solid ice. She may have been able to control it in the daytime now, but while in her sleep, when the nightmares came, she was only warm enough to keep it from leaving her room. That was one of the reasons she never had maids dress her. The doors were always frozen shut in the mornings.

The other reason was that she was uncomfortable with no secrets. After years of hiding herself away from the world, keeping secrets was almost natural to her. Maids that could see what she looked like, who were free to gossip and frolick, talk about her as if she were the evening meal made her feel embarrassed. Queens should not feel embarrassed. They shouldn't feel guilty that they were unused to being dressed by another person.

Another knock came to the door as Elsa trudged toward her personal washing room. "Who is it?" She asked, leaning on the door to the washroom. "It's me, Anna," Anna called from the hallway. "Can I come in?"

Elsa panicked. She loved her sister, and didn't want her to worry. She needed Anna to live an untainted life as long as she could, to protect her from the cruelness of the world. The spark in Anna had to keep burning, to warm the cold hearts in Arendelle. If Anna found out how flawed her sister actually was, she would worry, and she would break if she discovered it was not something she could fix.

"I'm not decent! I'll be there at breakfast," she called to Anna, pulling off her nightgown. She stepped into the tub, which should probably be cold to her, frozen room, fall time, duh, but she felt only a slight chill before the water began to feel a neutral temperature to her.

She scrubbed her skin with the soap, rubbing it carefully before using it, the thin layer of ice covering it melting quickly and dripping into her water, that was beginning to warm a little, the thin layer of ice underneath melting. Afterwards she climbed out, and wrapped herself in a towel.

Quickly dressing herself in a dress, today a deep blue dress with the tips of her shoulders bare, and her shoes heels that matched her dress, she did up her hair in a bun with ice gracing the surrounding hair, Elsa turned toward the door. She closed her eyes for a minute, remembering the heat and melting effect of Anna, the love they shared.

She opened her eyes as the snow and ice cracked and flew upward in the air, Elsa lifting her hands to speed it up, then come together in a rug-sized snowflake. She spread her arms apart, feeling the snowflake disappear to other places, become part of the world again.

Then, feeling confident, she made her entrance from her room into the hallway, thrusting both doors open with her hands. They swung open, and Elsa confidently walked down the empty hallway. She glanced at the portraits of her parents, and swallowed a thick lump in her throat. Even after four years, she missed her mother and father terribly. She looked away, not wishing to show a flaw, not to anyone. She continued down the hallway, and heard the faint sound of doors opening and closing. She was nearing the busier end of the castle.

The doors at the end of the hall flew open. "Elsa!" Anna bounded across the space between them, and hugged her tightly. "You'll never believe what happened! You got a letter!" Elsa raised an eyebrow, smiling. She received letters from all of Arendelle, sometimes even from other countries, like Weselton, the king apologizing for his highest duke and ambassador. They were even to welcome a new ambassador in a few months.

"Gerda has it! Come on!" Anna tugged at Elsa's hand, and she couldn't help laughing as she let Anna lead her down the out, past the railing that looked down the spiral stairs, and onto the stairwell banister. They slid down, in circles and circles going faster and faster until Elsa was getting dizzy. They lept off just as the stairs ended, and slid to the floor, giggling. Elsa smiled as she giggled through her teeth. Anna always made her feel better, feel amazing and loved.

"Your Majesty?" A servant approached her. He bowed to both of them. "There is news awaiting you in the dining room." Elsa stood up, patting down her hair, and reaching an arm to help Anna up. She nodded to him, dismissing him, and took Anna's hand, lacing their fingers together. They would never be separated ever again.

Elsa pushed away such thoughts, and smiled at Anna again. Together they walked through the doors to the dining room, each pushing open a different door. In the dining room they faced chaos. Elsa blinked, but Anna joined the fray with her laugh that made others want to join in. The dining room was a mess. Olaf sat on the table, chuckling quietly to himself as he played with the mini Elsas and Annas, Kristoffs and Olafs made out of ice—a decoration Elsa had installed a month after the snow melt— and Sven was gobbling up most of breakfast. Kristoff was leaning back in his chair, singing a song with his lute, and Anna was racing back towards her, a pale piece of paper in her hands. The guards on the outer edge of the room looked uncomfortable, and Elsa couldn't blame them. She would be too if this weren't so funny.

The paper in Anna's hands was actually a letter, and she thrust it at Elsa as she stopped in front of her. Still stunned by the scene before her, Elsa could only catch it as she snapped back into focus. She lifted the flap of the envelope, already open no doubt Anna had read it, the fancy S I seal on the wax intriguing her. She opened it, pulling out the letter, and studied it. After many "Hmms," and "Oh my,"s that she knew were driving Anna mad, she closed the letter, and slipped it back in the envelope. "So?" Anna asked. "What do you think?" Elsa studied her for a few moments, then thought about the letter again. It had said:

Your Majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle,

After the treasonous acts of my youngest son, Hans, I wish to propose something that may bring our two countries closer together. Your Majesty, the relationship between our two countries is strained, and I suspect you may regard ourselves with suspicion.

So to bridge the gap between Arendelle and the Southern Isles, I propose that I send my ten youngest sons to Arendelle, the heir and the emergency heir needing to stay here with me, and you send Anna, your younger sister to the Southern Isles and whomever she wishes to bring with her.

If you wish to send your sister to the Southern Isles after I send my sons and bring them back, then that is what will happen. I implore you to think about the alliances this might achieve. Thank you, Your Majesty.

Sincerely,

His Majesty, King Richard of the Southern Isles

King Richard wished to bridge the uneasiness between their two kingdoms. Elsa had begun to wish it too, after formally receiving an official apology for Han's behavior. Maybe His Majesty, King Richard was right. It was time to move on from the past.

What if the Southern Isles was trying to trick her, steal the crown, the kingdom? Who knew what they had planned? Elsa sighed. Another problem on her plate. She would have to deal with it as the day went on. She had a kingdom to run. She smiled and gave Anna a hug. "Sorry, but I will answer your question tonight, at dinner okay? I have to go work." Elsa turned to leave, but Anna asked, "Can I go with you?" Elsa smiled and nodded. "Of course, but only to walk me there. I need to focus once I'm in the study."

Anna took Elsa's hand and they walked toward the doors together. Unfortunately, when you have close friends, they tend to notice when you're gone. "Wait!" Kristoff yelled after them. "Where are you going?" Sven also stared at them. As Anna explained, Elsa secretly grinned at the besotted look on Kristoff's as he talked with Anna. Anna may not think he was as head over heels in love as she was, but Elsa knew the truth. Kristoff could cover it up with all the humor and sarcasm he wanted to, but he was just as soft as the lot of sappy daydreamers. Kristoff nodded when Anna was done. He sat back down, and strummed his lute again. Sven went back to his eating with equal fervor.

But Olaf was already walking behind them, clutching an Anna in one hand, and a Kristoff in the other, touching their ice faces together and making kissing noises. Anna and Kristoff grew a deep red, and Elsa told Olaf gently to leave his frozen toys behind. Olaf nodded, and gave a giggle. He set the frozen dolls on the table, and ran back to Elsa and Anna, leaping and giggling all the way.