Princess Anna clucked her tongue in concentration as she fretted with her hair for what felt like the hundredth time. She was clothed in her best green sleeveless dress, laced with intricate gold patterns that highlighted her gentle curves and the ruffles of the dress itself. Growing impatient, the young royal began plucking at the loose hairs hanging from her brush. She sat up suddenly as a pleasant scent wafted through the open window, tickling Anna's nose. She shivered at the cool air ghosting her skin but smiled all the same. She knew that Queen Elsa, up in the ice palace she had built in the mountains, had sent the breeze, to signal she was ready for her. The pair had planned to meet that evening for a special dinner, just the two of them, two mornings ago. A date, if you will. Their first date. The redhead shivered again, this time at the mere thought of going on a date with her older sister. Not because they were related; no, the two girls had stopped caring about that a long time ago. She had shivered in excitement and even pleasure at being able to see Elsa as something more. The trolls had said it themselves; Elsa was, technically, her true love. The act of her sacrificing herself for her sister had proven that. Of course, it took a little more persuading on Anna's part to convince the queen of this fact. The older girl, even after all that had happened, was still rather insecure in relationships of any kind. At first she had denied having affections for the redhead, but upon realizing that the feelings were mutual, she had relaxed enough to keep herself from shutting Anna out again. And so, their newfound relationship had blossomed slowly but surely, though Elsa made it perfectly clear that news of their romance never left the confines of the castle. With the exception of Kristoff, who eventually found out via his family (and to his credit took the news extremely well, as the trolls and Anna together had helped him to understand), no human alive knew of what went on between the two behind closed doors. Not that they had done much more than share chaste kisses and flirtatious compliments, but either way Elsa feared that the backlash would be sufficient enough to get both sisters exiled from the throne and perhaps even all of Arandelle.
Tonight, Anna had decided, none of this mattered. Tonight, it would be just her and Elsa, taking time away from the pressure of running a kingdom. It was a date, their first date. Anna would be there with her sister, and- dare she say it?- girlfriend, and, in the end, that was all she really wanted.
The first light of the moon shone impressively on the mountaintops. It was a comfortably cool summer evening, and the high altitudes combined with Elsa's powers had kept a light carpet of snow on the ground. Anna's favorite horse, Arthur, trotted easily across the well-worn path leading up the North Mountain. The gentle pace of the animal distracted the redhead from the heart hammering in her chest as her fingers curled into the horse's coarse hairs. Soon enough, the girl spotted the frozen staircase leading to the ice castle, which still looked imposing even to someone who had visited countless times before. Anna's stomach began to twist into knots once again, but she took a deep breath and closed her eyes before sliding off the animal's back.
The princess produced a carrot from her cloak and passed it to Arthur, who snorted happily and accepted the treat. He nuzzled her cheek before turning and making his way back down to the castle.
With the first step onto the permanently frozen staircase Anna's breath hitched as nervousness overcame her once more. Elsa had assured her that she had covered everything about tonight, and that Anna needn't bring anything with her. Still, she felt bad about not being able to help, though such a sweet gesture of wanting it to be a surprise was not lost on the younger girl. With a new confidence welling up inside her, Anna continued her ascent to the palace. Elsa was her sister after all, first and foremost. She had little to be nervous about, especially whether or not the older girl would find her interesting and hopefully appealing. One thing she knew for sure, was that Elsa wouldn't shut her out ever again. Anna wouldn't let her.
As she reached the top of the staircase, the thick sheet of ice posing as the door began to slide open. Anna stepped back a ways, straightening her cloak and combing a hand through her hair. She had expected to find the older girl there to greet her, but she was instead met with another tightly packed wall of snow. The wall shifted slightly, and the princess looked up. Then she looked up further, directly into the face of Elsa's giant living snowman, its head tilted to look down at her expectantly. She considered calling out for her sister, but realized soon enough that if Elsa had been expecting her to come, then chances are she wasn't going to be thrown out into the cold again by her little friend. Also, it was wearing a bow tie and an amused expression, which made it appear much less frightening.
"Hi," Anna said. It was all she could think of, but apparently it was enough. The snow monster grunted softly and stepped aside, gaining her access to the interior. She smiled and came inside, looking around for the queen. The room seemed to have been left exactly as it always was. The girl felt something tug at her coat, and turned to see the snowman gesturing towards a coat rack made out of ice near the door. Well, that was new.
"Oh, I- I'm sorry." Anna shrugged out of her cloak and handed it to what was apparently Elsa's butler. The snowman carefully hung up her cloak on the rack and headed back towards the door, and before exiting pointed to the stairs leading to the balcony. Anna nodded in thanks and headed towards the steps. She ascended slowly, feeling the cool ice banister beneath her fingers. Her heart had begun to pick up again and so she closed her eyes, taking another breath to soothe her nerves.
"Anna?"
Anna's eyes popped open. Her mouth soon followed suit.
Elsa was beautiful.
The queen was wearing a dress of her own creation, but it was much more complicated than her usual attire. It was a sleeveless dress, with one side draped over her shoulder. The fabric was a slightly darker shade of blue, so that lighter colored patterns of sparkling frost were visible, some shaping into tiny snowflakes and others looking more like stars. The clear cloak she usually wore had disappeared, leaving only the new dress that hugged Elsa's curves down to her perfect hips. Her hair was left unchanged, still pulled back and tossed over her shoulder in a loose braid. A pale hand reached up suddenly to wave in the air a few times, and Anna's eyes snapped back to her sister's face as a smug grin appeared on her lips.
"Anna, you're staring."
A heated blush razed the younger girl's features as she came back to reality, blubbering excuses. Elsa covered up her smile as a chuckle escaped her. She reached out and grabbed her sister's hand, tugging gently.
"Come with me."
Anna was led the rest of the way up the stairs, still too embarrassed to speak. When they reached the opening to the balcony Anna noticed that a door had been built where there hadn't been one before. Before she could ponder this out loud, Elsa's arms wrapped around her waist. The older girl's cool breath tickled her ear, making her shiver.
"I want you to close your eyes."
"What?" It was the first coherent sentence that Anna had spoken to her sister that evening.
"You heard me." Hands cooler than her own came up over her eyes, effectively covering them up. "Now, close your eyes or I'll freeze them shut."
Anna didn't take the threat seriously, nor did she understand what closing her eyes would do when she couldn't see anyway, but she did as she was told. A moment later she heard a crack, and then the sound of the heavy doors in front of her sliding open. Elsa's hands slipped away but Anna kept her eyes shut tight when she felt the older girl leave a gentle kiss on her shoulder.
"Okay, you can open your eyes."
Anna opened her eyes. And for the second time that night, her eyes and her mouth operated as one unit.
The balcony was directly in front of her, with a spectacular view of the clear night sky. The moon glowed in near fullness, surrounded by countless winking stars mingling with a gentle snowfall and sloping mountains on either side. But it wasn't just the view of the outside that had Anna so amazed. Inside, a brand new ice chandelier hung delicately from the ceiling. Instead of being formed by hard spikes, thin tubes wove delicately around each other in a pattern as original and fascinating as a snowflake. Glassy orbs were trapped within, catching the light from the moon perfectly and appearing to glow. Under the structure sat an ideally sized round table with two chairs. Warm furs had been draped over the seat of each chair, and the table was donned with a sparkling opaque tablecloth, much like the cloak Elsa usually wore. The silverware was also made out of ice, as were the two goblets on either side of the table. In fact, the only things on the table not made out of ice were the food, an expensive looking bottle of red wine, and a golden candelabra alight with six small flames.
Anna was overcome with emotion. She turned to her sister, eyes full of tears. Elsa gulped, worried that her sister didn't like it, or had changed her mind about the whole ordeal. Her hands began to feel unreasonably cold, but her fears instantly melted away as the redhead enveloped her in a tight hug.
"Oh, Elsa, it's beautiful!" She gushed, her nose pressed into her sister's neck. "I love it. I love everything about it. I love you!" Neither of the two had any doubts about loving the other, but to hear Anna announce it with such overwhelming emotion was too much for Elsa. She choked out a sob, burying her face into red hair. The princess became concerned as she felt the taller girl grip her tighter, her chest heaving.
"Elsa? It's okay. Everything's fine, Elsa. I've got you, you're okay." The younger girl kneeled down and lowered her sister gently to the floor, stroking her hair and cooing in her ear as she struggled against the sudden wave of emotion. A few moments later, the queen quieted down. Perturbed by her behavior, she sat up.
"Anna, I'm so sorry. I really don't know what-"
"Elsa, it's fine. Really. Please, don't explain it to me. Unless you want to. But, uh, I'm getting a little hungry..." As if to prove her point, the girl's stomach growled and she blushed. Elsa laughed, leaning over to peck Anna on the lips.
"You're too cute." She stood up, reaching her hand out to the other girl. "Shall we?" Anna couldn't help but grin as she reached for her sister's hand, inadvertently making the ice queen's heart melt in the act.
"We shall."