Author's Note: "My Dearest Cousin" is a look into the letters that were briefly discussed in Indentured, which is a prompt fic about two strangers meeting on the same week of their wedding. Such a composition was quite difficult to pull off because I didn't have the heart to place the setting directly after Frozen; therefore, I had to get creative with the excuses for the prompt's barriers. Diabolus ex Machina is running amok in this universe as a result, but my own life may as well be full of that. It is not necessary for you to read Indentured before you read this.

༺๑۩❆۩๑༻

To our WIDOWED and ESTEEMED King of Corona,

His HUMBLE AFFINE, with LOVE and KINDNESS,

Wisheth thou HAPPINESS and HEALTH

In REIGNSHIP, ALLIANCE, and SPIRITS

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Her Parliament prays for
Your Majesty and Corona,
to have a safe and prosperous year
in these Unforeseen times
of Famine, Death, and Disease

MAY THE SUN BE WITH YOU

[༺๑۩❆۩๑༻]

My Beloved Cousin,

I am writing to you on this morning, not only to tell you how sorry I am for being unable to take you into my arms tonight, but to remind you that you are not and never will be alone. My only hope is that you'll be able to find it in your heart to forgive me for not taking the time to open mine until today. I once tried very hard to get to know yours on a deeper level than what you allowed, but over the years, I felt forced to avoid doing anything that might cause trouble beyond making you feel more uncomfortable than you already felt. I understand how frightening it feels to be an open door in a ballroom full of people, as well as how much easier it appears to lock yourself inside your own heart and shut the world out; I would be lying if I said that I haven't been tempted to do the same as of yesterday.

I was reading "The Tales of Flynnigan Rider" to my children in the orphanage of Hordaland on the same afternoon your envoy arrived. He entreated me to hold audience with him in the tea room. Once inside, he placed an envelope in my hands and asked me to open it after he had finished saying what he was there to say. That moment was my very first time hearing about Rapunzel's pregnancy, but my happiness died as I did when he closed the end of his message with, "Her Majesty passed away after the delivery, and the precious little sun drop she left behind was said to have been due for death at noon." I have been vomiting ever since.

There's not one word I can write to make up for all the years I wasted doing what I felt was better for everyone even though it was only making everything worse. I long to tell you why I was away, but I'm afraid of painting my uncle in a light that he doesn't deserve to be painted in. I could never have asked Rapunzel to choose me over her father. The choice to distance myself was still mine. It is my fault that we were never together, not his, and it is therefore my actions and mine alone that are irredeemable.

One of my most terrible crimes is not knowing you the way I should. King Frederic was my uncle, but I lost the opportunity to let him see me for who I really am. Rapunzel was my flesh and blood, but she stopped wanting to be for good reason. Her precious daughter is my first cousin, but now I'll never get the chance to memorize her smile.. .. ... . . . .. .... . . . .. ...

. . ... . . . . . ...

Please forgive me if you can, Eugene . . . . . . . ... . . . .

. .. ... . . . .. .... . . . .. ...I'm losing my place between the paragraphs, and the ink is running. .. ... . . . .. .... . . . .. ...

. . ... . . . . .. . . ... . .

Between tearing up letter after letter, I've been trying to find the strength to write to you for nineteen hours because I know that I don't deserve one second of your time, but I can't survive your silence for one second more. The gentlemen in my council advised me to tell you that praying in the chapel will help you recover from what has happened. They advised me to write flowery paragraphs about how the sun will still shine through the rain no matter how hard it falls, but I don't have the heart to minimize the actual process it takes to get up in the morning just to open the drapes. Life after we lose the ones we love is a lot like an indoor blizzard ... . . . .. .... . except we're the ones who feel frozen in time. ... . . . .

The question we're all left to choke on is, "Does it get better?" The answer I've found is, "Yes and no." Ruling alone will be difficult. It will even be more difficult to know what to do when you have no choice but to make up the steps on your own. Nothing from that first day you are hailed as the last sovereign standing will ever be so terrifying, or so confusing.

Everything you are not in the eyes of society will be used against you by the world around you. Those who supported you because they supported Rapunzel and Frederic may not support you anymore. Foreigners who saw you as an outcast because of your background will feel emboldened to sabotage you. The best advice I can impart to you from afar is to understand that we can't control how other people treat us, but we can control how they affect us. We can choose to either surrender to their hatred or hold our heads high for the greater good of our kingdoms.

We can also choose to focus on what we are to our loved ones instead of our faultfinders. More importantly, we can choose to ask for help. All I ask of you is to help me through these next years of my life by letting me help you through yours. I realize that there isn't a single thing on this planet that will numb what you're feeling right now .. ... . . not a spell ... not a lecture .. ... . ... . .not even a warm hug. I'm as helpless to the pain as you are.

Some days might be better for you than others in time. Others will hit you harder than most. On those days, it'll hurt to speak, to breathe, to love. It'll hurt to be alive, but you must remember that you aren't alone in your suffering. You're going through all this with Anna and I.

No matter how far away we are, our troth to you is unbreakable. Family is everything, and you still have one overseas who wants you to know that they care about you very much. I just hope that it isn't too late for me to stand in your pain with you. You always seemed indifferent to the idea of spending time with me over Anna, but I always paid attention to the mosaics Rapunzel made of you. The part of me who understands the part of you who has fought with years of being afraid to be yourself wants to commend you on how much you've sacrificed for Rapunzel and her parents.

It was you, Eugene, who made them whole again by having the courage to open your heart. If it hadn't been for your bravery, they would have lived out the rest of their days without sunlight. Thank you, from the very bottom of my heart, for all that you've done in the name of true love. You truly are a hero whom Corona is still in need of. What I fear now is that losing the family you made with Rapunzel has closed your heart to love once again.

Relying on what little information I have about your past, I understand that you lost your parents before finding two outstanding ones in Rapunzel's. I'm very familiar with that loss and how it shapes your way of thinking; I'm also familiar with the fear of letting in and letting go because of it. I only began healing when I decided to let love in again. The cold never bothered me just as I'm sure you thought it never bothered you in your former life, but what I truly needed after all those long years alone was warmth, and I strongly believe that you still need the same.

To shut out warmth at this point in your life is to bring more harm to yourself and everyone else. My punishment is the pain I put my family and Arendelle through. I know that I'm asking for too much by begging you to let me in, but I very much long to be the warmth you need even if you would be more than justified in your decision to slam the door on my fingers. I will not pressure you further if that is your choice. Having you read my letter is a blessing in and of itself.

If by some heartwarming chance that you are still reading, I must add for your sake that finding healing by opening up to whomever you choose to find warmth in again doesn't mean that your wounds will magically disappear, but it does mean that those wounds won't bleed as much anymore. Once you've discovered that, you'll start to see that suffering does have a counterbalance down the line. You'll find that the people whom you called your life are still living through you. Most of all, you'll begin to understand that storms don't last forever. Getting out of bed in the morning is the first step to seeing all the love that life still has to offer.

I cannot say whether anything I have written resonates with your heart because I am still a stranger to you. I may very well be someone you will never grow fond of, but if you'll let me, I can take care of the costs for my cousin's funeral arrangements so that you can take care of yourself. If Corona's food staples need my attention due to Late Blight, don't hesitate to tell me before I dock in your port. The Kingdom of Corona will be both my responsibility and my life from this day forward, for I have as much of an obligation to serve, protect, and nurture Rapunzel's homeland as I do you.

From Arendelle,
XXV of December, 1846
Keeping you in my heart,
Elsa