one.

some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

-william shakespeare

Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Elsa could feel her heart racing, her pulse getting faster and faster as the ice slid up her arms. She shouldn't be afraid, not here on the mountain. Not here, where she had, for the first time, let it all go. Where she had been free, both from own curse and the desperate need to keep it locked away.

But the fear was there, a crippling fear that she had only felt once before, when faced with the loss of something – someone – most precious… No, no, no. ANNA!

"Elsa?"

Suddenly the sunlight was bright on her face, jolting her out of the nightmare. Elsa took a moment to calm her frantic breathing before opening her eyes. She squinted against the light, catching sight of the silhouetted figure standing next to her bed.

"Elsa? Are you all right?" Anna. Anna was fine. Anna was safe. Elsa hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath until she let it out, falling back against the pillow.

"I'm fine, Anna. Just a bad dream." Because that's all it was, a dream. Only a dream. Anna looked unconvinced, but forced a smile onto her face as she grabbed Elsa's hand to pull her out of bed.

"Come on, sleepyhead! It's time to get up and ready – Kristoff's coming home today!" Kristoff. Of course. Elsa should have known there was no way Anna would be up so early unless the ice harvester was involved.

The breeze was cool on the docks, causing Anna to pull her cloak around her shoulders. Despite being late summer, the beginnings of autumn weather had already come to Arendelle, and then Kristoff would be busier than ever. Anna wasn't looking forward that, but she tried to push the unpleasant thoughts out of her head as the ship bearing the royal crest pulled into the harbor.

The crew ran around the deck of the ship, but Anna only had eyes for the head of messy blonde hair that stood at the railing, scanning the docks. They locked eyes, and even from a distance Anna could see Kristoff's smile, matched only by her own. She had missed him, more than she had realized, and the idea of having him home again made her happier than she could say. She couldn't stop herself from bouncing up and down a little as she waited impatiently for him to descend from the ship.

"Anna!" Kristoff called out as he stepped onto the docks. Forgetting all propriety and etiquette, Anna threw herself at him, and he pulled her close.

"I missed you," she whispered into his ear, earning a smile from Kristoff. Anna would have been perfectly happy to stay like that all day, but the two were interrupted by soft chuckling.

"I see you two are happy," Elsa remarked, smiling slightly. "But if you don't mind, Kristoff, I'd like to go over the trade documents a bit before lunch." Kristoff sobered, setting Anna down on her feet again.

"Of course, Your Majesty, I-" He began, but Elsa held up her hand to stop him.

"Kristoff, we've talked about this. Just Elsa, all right?" Kristoff nodded sheepishly. He was still unused to being so informal with the queen, despite nearly three months of knowing her; despite the small difference in ages, she seemed so much older, so much more mature than he was. It was somewhat intimidating.

"Of course, your- I mean Elsa." The queen in question smiled and began to lead the group back to the castle. As soon as she turned away from the couple, she let her smile drop a bit. Of course she was glad to have Kristoff back, but although she tried to convince herself otherwise, she still felt something like jealousy when she thought of him with her sister, which was absurd. She wasn't jealous of Kristoff, why should she be? He made Anna happy, and that was what mattered, of course. It didn't matter that Elsa selfishly wanted Anna to stay with her forever, and it definitely didn't matter that it was really Anna that she was jealous of. Kristoff was Anna's security, her certainty, and a part of Elsa wondered if she'd ever find her own.

Of all the rooms in the castle, the study was probably Elsa's favorite, despite the near constant memories of her father. Still, there was something comforting about the wooden paneling, the tall bookcases, and the ancient desk that had served generations of monarchs. She knew she spent entirely too much time locked up with her work, but Elsa saw it as her payment, her penance, for the trouble she had put her kingdom through at her coronation. They relied on her, and she would not let them down. Not again, not after such a rocky start.

Most people knew not to disturb Elsa when she was in her study, but she had only just reburied herself in the trade reports when her sister came bursting in.

"Elsa, you need to see this!" Anna grabbed Elsa's hand, practically dragging her through the castle to the balcony. It was much cooler on the balcony, but Elsa knew the temperature was not the cause of the shiver that went down her spine at the sight of the ship now moving into the harbor. It was a large ship, magnificently bedecked, but it was the crest on the side that truly disturbed her; the last time she had seen that crest it was on a ship departing with a criminal, someone who had very nearly killed both her and her sister.

"Elsa, what are the Southern Isles doing here?" Anna sounded nearly frantic, and Elsa could see her hands were white on the balcony railing. It hurt her, to know the pain that Hans had caused Anna, and Elsa put her arm around her sister's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"I don't know Anna, but I promise I will not let them hurt you again, okay?" Anna nodded against her shoulder and when Elsa pulled away she could see that her sister was close to tears.

"Hey," Elsa whispered, stroking Anna's hair. "It's going to be all right."

But would it? Although she had put on a strong front for her sister, inside Elsa was just as disturbed by the new arrivals as Anna was. Sometimes, in her weaker moments, she wondered how she would ever be able to work diplomatically with the country, after what Hans had attempted to do. But she was the queen, and being the queen meant putting on a façade, even when working with the Southern Isles.

"Will you come with me?" Elsa asked, reaching Anna's hand. She hated asking her sister to do this, but she wasn't sure she could face it alone. Anna swiped at her eyes and took a deep breath before putting on a smile for Elsa's sake and nodding. She could be brave; she had to be brave.

A/N: So what do you think? I'm not as knowledgeable about the movie as some of you, but I have seen it three times (twice in English and once in Spanish), so I think I got everything right. If anything is inconsistent with what's in the movie, please tell me so I can fix it; I want this story to be as accurate as possible.

I've actually been sitting on this chapter for a while, because I wrote it a few weeks ago and then was swamped with school work. I have the last of my final exams for the year tomorrow, which leaves me pretty much the whole summer to write. This isn't my first attempt at fanfiction, but it's been a while, so please bear with me. I have a pretty good idea of where this story is going, but I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

As always, reviews are highly appreciated, and thanks for reading!

-w.s.