AN: Hey, Guys. It is fanfictionakermachine with a little Christmas special for you. Because it is Christmas and you guys deserve it. Really, you are wonderful. Without you, I would not be here today. So MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!
I originally wanted to publish this as a oneshot, but I wanted it to be done by 24th, which is tomorrow, but we are having guests tomorrow and I will not have time to write. I promise I will finish it before the New Year.
Happy Reading!
The peaceful slumber of Queen Elsa of Arendelle was interrupted by a sound she really didn't want to hear right now, someone knocking on her door. The young queen frowned as she rolled to her stomach and pulled the pillow over her head, but it was to no use as the knocking was soon accompanied by shouting.
"Elsa, I know you are awake!" Just as she thought, it was the unmistakable voice of her little sister, Princess Anna.
'It's hard not to be when you are basically knocking a hole in my door'. She thought to herself. Elsa peeked out from under her pillow to get a glimpse at the big clock standing beside her wall. It was merely 6:30 in the morning. What on Earth was she doing up this early? But for whatever reason, she was up and she was at her door and she didn't have any intentions of leaving.
"Anna, go back to sleep!" she called out. "I don't care if the sky's awake, I am not!" she attempted to lie back in bed, somewhere deep inside, she knew that she started a battle she couldn't possibly hope to win.
"Elsa, don't you know what day it is?" she asked from outside. Elsa knew what day it was. She knew it way too well. 24th of December. The day before Christmas. She knew Anna was super hyped for this holiday, especially how she finally got to spend Christmas with her sister for the first time in forever. (AN.: I know, I know.) But that wasn't a good enough reason to disturb the queen's beauty sleep. Elsa then heard the sound of her door opening and she once again groaned mentally at the fact that the sisters have agreed that they wouldn't lock their doors again. "How can you sleep on this day?!"
"If you would have been sitting through meetings all evening yesterday and only would have gotten to bed half before midnight, you would know. Aren't you the one to always sleep in?"
"But there are just so much things to do!" she exclaimed with excitement. "Decorating the palace, make it to the public celebration at the town square, and the parade! They can't have the parade without the queen! Especially the Snow Queen." she finished. Elsa's eyes unwillingly widened slightly at this. She still wasn't really used to that nickname. Nevertheless, she still wasn't going to let herself being dragged out of bed.
"If I remember well, you were the most enthusiastic about these celebration things. You should help with them." Elsa replied, earning a whine from her little sister.
"But Elsa..."
"Anna, this is one of those rare days when I can sleep in, I need some sleep too." she replied. Anna wasn't happy with this answer. She decided to play her trump card against Elsa.
"Elsa," she started on a voice that showed hurt and sadness. "do I need to remind you that this is the first Christmas in thirteen years that we could spend together? I spent thirteen years with sitting in front of your door, hoping to get a response for my knocking and year after year, nothing. I spent every single Christmas alone. And after our parents died..."
Elsa put on an unamused look. She was playing the 'guilt' card again. She hated it when she did that.
"Urghh for crying out loud..." she growled. "If you give me five minutes to get ready, I'll meet you in the ballroom." and just as she expected, her sister squealed in delight and hugged her tightly.
"Thanks, Elsa! I'll go back to help with the preparations." she said as she bounced out of the room happily. Elsa let out a sigh and she put her head back to the pillow and allowed her eyes to close once more, but the her sister called out to her again. "And don't even think about falling back asleep!"
Elsa pulled the pillow over her head with a groan.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, a certain viking man was having an equally rotten morning. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was woken up in his least favorite way. Namely, his dragon licking him awake. After that, he had very little time to go over his daily morning routine, because he was on an important business trip in Arendelle.
Berk was in the need of goods from another tribes around the archipelago, but with the growing numbers of dragons and Hiccup's developments for the village, the surrounding tribes were not enough anymore. Hiccup had to look beyond the small viking civilization and soon he found himself negotiating with kingdoms all around the north. He had been in Dunbroch, in Corona, and even tried to look around in the Southern Isles, but his favorite negotiation partner had to be Arendelle. For various reasons.
Arendelle was a great place to retire for a few days or weeks. It wasn't too cold, nor too warm. The princess was more than happy to guide tourists through the castle and presenting everything in it. The people were nice and friendly, but the Queen, Elsa had to top them all. Hiccup wasn't meeting with Queen Elsa for the first time. They had encountered a couple of times before. She was easily one of the most pleasant persons Hiccup has ever met.
At first, they were wary of each other. Elsa did not hide her powers anymore and Hiccup could not hide his dragon that he arrived on. That brought quite some attention to him. The fact that he was a viking, who has been the center of spooky tales for centuries did not help. The meeting started more like an interrogation, but the guards were in for a surprise when three hours later they found the dragon rider and the snow queen chatting and laughing together over the trade documents as if they have been long time friends. Hiccup had a certain charisma that just charmed Elsa and the Elsa seemed so kind and pure that Hiccup couldn't help, but like her.
This will be their umpteenth meeting and Hiccup was really looking forward to it. Elsa was more than a friend to her now, rather than a simple trading partner. And the meetings with her were very pleasant. Hiccup not once wished they could spend some time outside a trade negotiation, but being the chief of Berk and the queen of Arendelle, they were extremely busy people. Plus, Hiccup was told that when she is not attending to her duties as a queen, she barely had time to anything other than her sister.
As Hiccup was walking down the streets of Arendelle, he received warm greetings from the citizens. They have grown quite attached to him as well after he and his men helped the kingdom on many occasions with public events or some constructions that otherwise would have required far more time and work. Hiccup was glad to see this, but as he slowly approached the castle, his mood dropped. The castle guards were not really his buddies. They seemed to hold the fact that their queen was fancying him so much against him. That may be because they were supposed to keep Hiccup in check when he first came into Arendelle and therefore did not really like him. So they took it really bitterly when their queen warmed up to him so easily.
So when he reached the castle and found himself facing the unwelcoming stares of two guards, his mood did not lighten. But he tried to stay calm.
"Good morning. I would like to talk to the queen." he said, trying to sound as confident as possible.
"Her Majesty does not take visitors today." one of them replied. Hiccup raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean? We were just discussing the new trade agreement yesterday!"
"There will be no political meetings here in the next few days." the other said. "These are days of celebration in Arendelle and the rest of the world." Hiccup did not really know what celebration they were talking about. Clearly they did not celebrate Snoggletog in Arendelle. Before he could voice his confusion though, he was interrupted by a familiar friendly voice.
"Hey, Hiccup!" he turned to see Kristoff Bjorgmann, Arendelle's royal ice master and deliverer, and the princess' consort coming towards him, accompanied by his reindeer, Sven.
"Hi Kristoff!" he greeted. "How are you?"
"Fine. Are you here to see the queen?"
"I think I am short on other purposes." he replied on his usual, cynical tone, causing the blonde man to roll his eyes. "But they say she doesn't want to see anyone today. There is some kind of celebration here." Kristoff was a little taken aback at how Hiccup referred to it. He found it impossible for someone to not know about Christmas. But then, he reminded himself that Hiccup was not familiar with their traditions, so he decided to help him out.
"Uh, yes. You see, here in Arendelle, it's one of the biggest events in the entire year. Come on, I'll explain more inside." he then turned to the guards. "Could you please take Sven to the stables?" he asked on of them. The guard nodded and lead the reindeer away. Kristoff was about to go in. but he was stopped by the other guard.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Bjorgmann, but the queen made it clear that she doesn't want to see anyone on political issues today. Surely you understand that."
"I do, but I am sure the queen will be more than happy to see one of her good friends. Especially today." Kristoff was aware of Elsa and Hiccup's friendship and he was sure Elsa would gladly agree for Hiccup to join them in the festival today. "So, please let us enter."
The guard sighed in defeat. "Of course, sir." He then went on his way.
"Come on. Let's go find Anna and Elsa." Hiccup nodded and followed him
After a quick bath and breakfast, Elsa dressed up – her magical ice dress was interestingly fitting for this day – Elsa joined her sister and began their preparations for the festival. Elsa was surprised to find that the servants were already working on the castle's decorations and most of them were almost finished.
"Anna, how is the castle already almost decorated? It's barely even seven." The redhead just smiled.
"Oh. They woke up extra early today. They knew how important this day is and they didn't want to waste any time of it. Unlike someone I know."
Elsa rolled her eyes. She never was much of a partying person and she didn't think the staff would do this so early just because they wanted to. "You kicked them out of their beds too, right?"
"Hey, this isn't fair!" Anna exclaimed, signaling that Elsa hit the nail right on the head. "They knew how much I was awaiting this Christmas and they happily agreed to it!"
Elsa shook her head at her sister. "You're a tyrant."
"Am not! I wouldn't have made them do it if they didn't want to!"
"Sure." Elsa said on a monotone voice.
"Oh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today?" Anna cooed teasingly.
"And whose fault is that?"
"Anna!" they heard Kristoff calling for them.
"Exactly." Elsa muttered under her breath. The princess ignored her sister's comment and greeted her boyfriend with a hug and also a little kiss on his his lips. Elsa looked away. Fortunately, her sister learned from the Hans incident and did try to take her relationship with Kristoff slow. And that was good. To be honest, Kristoff seemed like a nice guy, but she didn't want her sister to make a rushed decision. But then he noticed that Kristoff wasn't alone.
"Hiccup..." Elsa exclaimed, happy to see her friend, but then she realized that she had to control herself. "I mean... Chief Haddock. Nice to see you." she said on a more calm and regal voice.
"Likewise, Your Majesty." Hiccup said. Anna noticed him too when she came out of Kristoff's embrace.
"Chief Haddock!" she greeted. "Good day, and Merry Christmas." Hiccup frowned in confusion. Christmas?
"Anna!" Elsa scolded. Anna covered her mouth when she realized what she said.
"Sorry." she smiled sheepishly. "Force of habit." The four of them stood there, waiting for someone to break this awkward pregnant silence, and then Hiccup did.
"Uh, Queen Elsa, I'm sorry to interrupt you on this important holiday. I shall take my leave."
"No!" Elsa said, not wanting him to leave. Her exclamation took everyone by surprise. "I-I mean..." she cleared her throat. "Please don't feel like you are undesirable Chief, you are always welcome here." Hiccup smiled happily at this.
"So," Anna chimed in. "Are you coming to the festival today, chief?" Hiccup nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, I wasn't really aware of any kind of celebration here. I mean, I arrived three days ago, and I saw people were in a rush as if preparing the town for something, but I didn't know what." he shrugged.
"Anna, would you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?" Elsa asked on a tone that showed that she wanted her to go away before she said another stupid thing.
"Sure, sure, we'll just be over here. Come Kristoff." she grabbed the iceman's arm and dragged him away, leaving her sister alone with the viking.
"So..." Hiccup started, a little embarrassed about how he was out of the loop. "Could you fill me in on this... Christmas thing, please?"
"Sure." Elsa a replied awkwardly. "You see Christmas... is one of our greatest holiday. It is a time where we decorate our homes with fancy things, bring the family together, give each other presents and just..." Elsa hesitated a bit, not sure how to sum it up. "Be together, I guess." Hiccup nodded.
"It sounds a lot like Snoggletog." he said. Elsa was confused.
"Snuggle-what?"
"It is a traditional viking holiday that is really similar to what you just described. But is a bit different too." he pretty much felt on himself how stupid this sentence was, but he wasn't really sure what else to say. "But then again, everything is different in Berk ever since... you know, the dragons moved in." he shrugged. Then he got an idea. "So... could you educate me in the ways of this... Christmas? I got curious about it."
And then, Elsa got a fantastic idea. "Tell you what. We are having a Christmas festival today. If you'd like to, you can join us for this event. I will show you everything about how do we celebrate Christmas." Hiccup seemed to like the idea.
"Celebrate with the Queen of Arendelle? I would be a fool to say no to that!" he said in excitement. Elsa smiled.
"Great! We are beginning at 10. Meet us at the main gate of the castle then." she instructed.
"Alright. Then I'll go back to my residence and... uhm... get ready." Hiccup stammered. "See you later." he waved and left. Elsa had to smile at him, watching him leave.
"I'm surprised you gathered up the courage to invite him." Elsa heard her sister say. She turned to see her standing behind her.
"Where is Kristoff?" Elsa asked.
"He went o check on Sven. You know how protective he is over his reindeer. He's probably checking if he gets his share of carrots." she giggled.
"What did you mean by that?" Elsa asked, referring to her earlier comment.
"Oh, isn't it obvious? You invited him because you have the hots for him." Elsa blushed redder than her sister's hair.
"Anna!" she yelled at her, making her sister laugh at her.
"It's alright, Elsa. Really. I'll bet the people will be more than happy to see you marrying the chief of a tribe of vikings who have dragons."
"ANNA!"
"No really! They will be strong allies for Arendelle."
"Anna, I swear, I'll freeze your lips together if you don't stop!"
"But we might have problems about how you want to do the wedding. Our way, or the viking way."
Elsa was done. "Fine! You asked for it." the queen snapped her fingers and Anna felt her lips becoming unnaturally cold and being stuck together. She was unable to move them. She panicked and glared at her sister, non-verbally demanding to undo it.
"What? Sorry I can't hear you." Elsa teased, as she put her hand behind her ear. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's the problem." Anna was not happy with this. She tried to grab her sister and make her thaw her lips, but that proved unnecessary as Kristoff came back from the stables and Elsa decided it was for the best if she undoes her little prank, which she did with a wave of her finger.
"Kristoff! I believe Sven is doing fine." she asked as if nothing have happened.
"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty. He is quite happy. He seems to be even befriending Anna's horse."
"That's nice."
Anna meanwhile was rubbing her lips to make them warmer. Kristoff noticed this.
"Anna, is everything okay?"
"She, ow, she froze my lips together!" she yelled as she pointed at Elsa accusingly. Elsa faked innocent.
"Oh come now, Anna! I would never do that." she said sweetly.
"Yeah, why would she do that?" Kristoff said, brushing it off, leaving Anna dumbfounded.
TBC. Happy Holidays!
