The silence was the most beautiful sound Elsa had heard since her return to the throne. Her face fully submerged into the warm bath water, Elsa allowed herself to surrender to the moment of peace. She could feel the water rippling with her breath and the slight echo of the faucet as it dripped. Raising just enough to breathe she allowed her mind to lazily replay the past few weeks. After being saved by Anna she tried her best to stay open and available but the duties of a queen did not make that easy. The last she had seen Anna was at the political dinner they held. A boring and stuffy affair, organized just to make sure Arendelle still held its honorable reputation.
"I'm sure as queen I can coordinate a day off, right?"Elsa thought, "I'll just tell Malinda to cancel everything out. I'll surprise Anna! I'll take her on a picnic, or an adventure of some sort. She'd love that."
Smiling with the pleasure of a great idea Elsa closed her eyes, took a deep breath and immersed once more. So caught up in the silence the water provided she couldn't hear someone trying to speak through the door, the sound of desperate knocking, or the creek of the door opening. The next thing she knew her head was snatched out from the water. The rants and worries of her companion, Malinda, flooded her ears.
"Now I know the duties of a queen are hard, now, I don't really know, but I can guess! I still don't see no reason, aint not one reason, you should be trying to off yourself in this here tub! I know plenty of people in the kingdom be downright disheartened to hear our queen been thinking things like this! Why, I just, I don't want to believe! Goodness, Elsa darling. If there was something troublesome you can always tell me and I'd've hoped you'd know to come to me and my heart hurts just to think I was right outside the door and didn't know!" Cradling Elsa's face above the water Malinda's dark eyes portrayed true worry, while her brisk stubby fingers pushed wet hair back from Elsa's face.
"Malinda, if you're finished I would like to ask why in the world you barged into my bath and assumed I was attempting to take my life?"
"Well, didn't you hear? I've been calling for you and knocking for at least a few minutes and my if I don't just get worried out there thinking about all the terrible things that coulda happened, I was just a few seconds from calling the guards but I was so worried you'd be naked and I can't let none of those men near you in such a state!"
"Malinda. I am naked. Thank you for your concern." Smiled Elsa, "Now, if you don't mind could you hand me my towel while you fret around and tell me what was so important."
"Yes, yes darling," Malinda blushed, averting her eyes as Elsa stood and stepped out of the tub. "I guess it's true that it's not too important, but I know how you've been kind of down today and well, I thought it could cheer you up and so I came right away and-"
"Lindy," Elsa giggled, "If you don't get straight to the point I won't share my cherry scones with you!"
"Sit, sit than," Malinda exclaimed, "Hand me the brush, I'll do your hair!"
A few moments of silence ensued as the young ladies went though their normal routine. Malinda's tan complexion highlighted by the paleness of Elsa's hair as she brushed it. Her short fingers proved to be rather nimble while she sculpted a single French braid.
"I was walking down the hall earlier," Malinda started, "when who do I bump into! None other than Princess Anna herself! She apologizes, as always, and starts to ask all these questions about today. How did the meeting with Rapunzel and Flynn go, are we importing from here or there, do we have more meetings today… It was really such a lot of questions I became overwhelmed! Which you know is hard to do. So I tell her! Well there's really no way for me to know! Elsa would be the best one to ask. At which her shoulders slump and she puts on that little pout she has and of course I'm apologizing because heaven only knows what I did to make her so sad, and she says to me! You're never going to believe what she says to me! She says, very boldly might add, 'Well, I would like to make a meeting with the Queen.' I'm not going to lie, I laughed, you would've laughed too! She looked so serious and so sweet at the same time and I told her, well I hope this is alright with you, but I told her I'd cancel everything for today so you two can have a meeting. The only thing left on the schedule was meetings with blacksmiths and they'll always be around to schedule. Plus, you've been kind of down yourself and I think you two spent long enough shunned from each other. So as your companion, I've put this meeting together."
Silence ensued as Malinda patted Elsa's shoulder, waiting for a response. Elsa could've quiet process everything she had just heard, her sister had requested an audience with her? Was it something important? It had to have been. Yet Anna felt so distant she had to demand a meeting? Could one be so happy and depressed at the same time?
"Well, your majesty, are you going to chasite or praise me?" Malinda interjected Elsa's thoughts as she cleaned up the tub and readied Elsa's casual dress.
"I- I'm not quite sure. I did want to have time with Anna, but, a meeting with her? Why it sounds so…"
"It's upset you, hasn't it?"
"No, no, just, wasn't what I was expecting."
"Elsa," placing a hand on her cheek Malinda sighed, "it's a step toward being her sister."
On the opposite side of the castle Anna paced, wringing her hands together.
"Olaf, I don't think I can do it."
"Anna, you can do anything you decide to do."
"She my sister but I haven't been alone with her since… I realized I loved her."