"Twenty nine, thirty! Ready or not here I come!"

Elsa heard the happy voice shout as her niece; Marie came running into the living room. The five year old looked around the room. There were many places in here that Elsa could have hidden, behind the sofa, under the desk, on the other side of the fireplace, under the side table. The place Elsa had chosen to hide however was behind the curtains. She made sure that her shoes stuck out slightly from under them to give the girl some help. After a few minutes of wandering and looking, Marie noticed something sparkle in the corner of her eye. She turned towards it and spotted her aunt's feet. A huge smile spread across her face. Trying not to make a sound, Marie crept up to the curtain and pulled it open.

"Found you!" Marie shouted. Elsa laughed.

"So you did, but can you catch me?" She smiled deviously and ran towards the door.

"Hey!" Marie called after her, laughing as she made chase.

After noticing how tired Anna and Kristoff had been over the past few weeks, Elsa decided that it was time they needed a day to themselves. So she had told them to go out and she would look after Marie. Being Queen, Elsa didn't get a huge amount of time to spend with her niece but today she had put her foot down. She had cancelled everything she needed to do that day in order to spend it having fun with her. She knew it was important to Anna that Marie got to know her Aunt and that Elsa got to know her niece.

Laughter filled the castle as Marie chased Elsa down the corridors and in and out of the many rooms that occupied it. They had given the staff who were clearing up from that evening's dinner, a bit of a scare as they burst into the kitchen, did a lap around the large table in the middle of it.

"Sorry" Elsa spoke as she accidentally ran into Joyce.

"Don't worry your majesty" she said. Elsa smiled at her and then continued running and laughing out the door. Joyce watched her go, a look of shock on her face. It had been a long time since she had heard Elsa properly laugh.

After a few more minutes of running, Elsa found herself in the corridor heading towards the great hall. As she burst through the doors she tripped. As she fell, Elsa stuck her hands out in front of her. Snow shot out from her fingers, causing her to land in a soft snow drift instead of the hard floor. Marie came running through the doors a few moments later. Seeing her Aunt on the floor, she jumped and landed on top of her. Elsa grunted slightly at the weight of the five year old. She smiled as she remembered when Anna used to jump in her when she couldn't sleep.

"Got you" Marie said catching her breath.

"You sure did" Elsa commented.

"Auntie Elsa?" Marie asked.

"Yes Marie?"

Marie whispered the next sentence. "Please can you do the magic?"

Elsa turned to her niece and grinned before standing up. She took Marie's hand and they walked into the middle of the room. Suddenly, Elsa stamped forward. A snowflake of ice appeared on the floor in front of them. Elsa flew her hands out and it dispersed, covering the entire floor in ice. Marie laughed and applauded. More ice appeared on the walls. Icicles formed on the chandelier and big banks of snow sloped up the sides of the room where it had begun to snow from the ceiling. When she had finished, Elsa looked at her niece. She was clearly impressed, just wandering and looking around in awe.

"Marie" Elsa called after her. Marie turned around and walked back to her aunt. Elsa took her hand again and they slowly started to slide around on the ice. After a couple of stumbles and a few near collisions with the wall, Elsa moved away from her to see Marie move on her own. She took a few steps forward but then slipped and fell. Elsa quickly moved back and caught her before she could injure herself.

"You alright?" Elsa asked worriedly. Marie smiled at her and nodded. They spent the rest of the evening in the hall, ice skating, having snowball fights, building snowmen and having fun.

It was about eleven o'clock when Anna and Kristoff returned back to the castle. They had had a wonderful day in the town together exploring all the different stalls and shops. In the evening, they had bought some food and made their way up into the mountains to sit together and watch the sunset. It had been just what they had needed and once again, they felt calm and relaxed. They entered the castle through the front doors and removed their coats and shoes.

"I'm just going to go and tell Elsa that were back" Anna said, giving Kristoff a quick kiss.

"I know she'll be asleep but I'll go say goodnight to Marie". The two separated and went in search of the people they wanted to see. When Kristoff reached Marie's room, he quietly and carefully opened the door so not to wake her. He walked over to his daughter's bed and gasped. She wasn't there. He quickly turned and ran out the room to find Anna.

Anna made her way down the corridor to the sitting room. She knew that Elsa wouldn't have gone to bed until they were home and thought she was probably reading in there. When she walked in however, the room was empty.

"Maybe she has gone to bed" Anna thought to herself. She left the room and continued down a few more corridors to Elsa's bedroom. Anna looked at the familiar door, engraved with swirling snowflakes. Hesitantly, Anna knocked. There was no reply. Thinking she may already be asleep, Anna opened the door and walked up to the bed on the far side of the room. It was empty. Exiting the room again, Anna walked straight into Kristoff. She could see the fear on his face straight away.

"What's the matter?" Anna asked, slightly worried.

"Marie isn't in her room" Kristoff answered.

"Neither is Elsa" Anna replied, now clearly concerned for her daughter and sister, "But they've got to be somewhere in the castle".

The two continueddown the corridor. When they reached the end, Anna felt a sudden drop in temperature.

"Does it feel colder down here to you?"

Kristoff looked towards the doors before them.

"These are the doors to the Great Hall".

The couple shared a glance before pushing the doors open. Their fear vanished when they saw the sight in front of them. On a snow drift in the middle of the room, Elsa was fast asleep with one arm over Marie. She was curled into her side and was also asleep. Anna and Kristoff laughed quietly with each other before walking over to them.

"They look so sweet" Anna commented. All Kristoff could do was smile. He had been slightly worried when Marie was born at how sister in law was going to react but looking at them together, he was certain that Elsa was going to make a brilliant aunt.

"We can't just leave them here" Kristoff whispered.

"Don't wake them" Anna whispered back, "They look so peaceful. Plus, Elsa gets really grumpy if you wake her up after she's been using magic".

"What are we going to do then?" Kristoff asked.

Anna carefully bent down, moved Elsa's arm and picked up her sleeping daughter. She then turned to Kristoff.

"Can you carry Elsa?"

Kristoff's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Well I can't carry her, I've got Marie and besides, you're a big strong ice harvester".

Kristoff sighed in defeat. As carefully as he could, he placed one arm under Elsa's knees, the other under her back and gently lifted her up. She stirred slightly in his arms but quickly settled down, back into sleep again.

They put Marie to bed first and after making sure she was comfortable and tucked in, they made their way to Elsa's room. Anna pulled back the covers to make space as Kristoff laid her sister into her bed. Anna then pulled the covers back up to her shoulders.

"Thank you" she whispered to her sister as she stood up to leave. Elsa made a sleepy noise and rolled over onto her side. Anna smiled down at her. Arm in arm, she and Kristoff left the room, quietly closing the door behind them.