A/N: I do not own Rise of the Gaurdians or Frozen, because I'm sure Disney or Pixar would hunt me down faster than I can say "Marshmallow the abominable snowman is going to bunch you up into a snowball and throw you down the side of a cliff into 20ft of powdery snow where a tattooed santa will be waiting to kidnap you and take you for a ride on his super-awesomely high tech sleigh." So not that fast, but still.
I am taking this one slow, trying to put as much authenticity and real emotion into it as possible. I want to build these characters more than Disney or Pixar could in a two hour movie. I want to make them seem real. I want you to love them, to hate them, to cry with them and to find your heart racing right along with theirs. I will not rush them into a relationship, I will build it and roll it into one big snowball until it crushes you all with it's feels.
So much feels.
Lets be real though, those are some high expectations. So I will just try my best with this little idea I have floating around in my head and I'll see where it goes!
R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R and Repeat.
The wind whipped and whistled against the stone walls of Arendelle, a wintery lullaby to the sleeping town. Small flurries of snow skittered across the cobbled stones and frosted windows, most of which were dark and lifeless. However, one window glowed softly in the December night, perched high upon the castle walls, where a delicate figure was seated in front of a darkly stained Norwegian wood desk. Stacks of scrolls and papers lay strewn across its surface, mostly important documents of different varieties. Other documents and books of a similar nature could be found all over the room, pleasantly lit by a fireplace on the east wall. The rest of the room adorned crimson curtains and Persian rugs, the light giving them a luxurious and warm feel. Though the attire of the study looked warm and cozy, the room was frigid. The source was not from the current weather, curiously, but from the woman who sat perfectly poised at the desk in the room.
Elsa had been taught well not to show stress or strain. Her hair remained pulled into a sleek braid over her left side, and her maroon dress perfectly pressed and positioned just off her shoulders. Though outwardly she was unblemished, internally she was drained and depleted.
She felt very much out of her element, especially in this room.
This study use to be strictly off limits to her and Anna, and was reserved only as her father's personal office. Now that she had taken her place as the Queen of Arendelle, the study was now her own, as were the numerous responsibilities the position held.
Elsa signed the next trade agreement in the large stack that piled on her desk.
Setting her most recently finished paper to the side, she slowly brushed her fingers upon the worn surface of her father's desk, its aged carvings beautiful in the light of the fireplace. Nostalgia washed over her as she thought of her parents. Once they walked and resided within the castle walls, laughing and alive. Her father, stern but loving. Her mother, tender and kind.
Now instead, they only reside within her heart.
As the sadness of their death crept upon her, she quickly pushed it away, halting the spread of ice that had crept onto the paper beneath her gloveless fingers. She quickly picked up the recently signed trade agreement and brushed off the small crystal formations she had made, stacking it in the large pile of other import and export contracts.
She rose from her seat at her desk, moving the stack over with the other signed papers. My my, she thought to herself. We certainly have branched outward in six months. It was quite extraordinary how much had happened since her coronation, including the freezing of Arendelle and the near death experience with Hans of the Southern Isles.
In effect to opening up the gates to Arendelle, boats from as far as Harstad had sailed into their ports not only to see the mysterious city that had been locked away for so many years, but to receive goods such as wood and harvest that they had in plenty. A surplus was something to be expected when they only kept few trade routes open to Arendelle for such a long period of time.
Arendelle had only ever been this prosperous with the reign of her father, whose trade connections had temporarily been lost when the castle closed its doors to outside visitors. Now with Elsa taking visitors almost every day, she had met and made connections with many sailors and trade routes, creating a rapid flow of wealth to the town. It was busy work, speaking with visitors and townsfolk, tending to documents, overseeing new construction and personnel, as well as attending meetings and planning dinners. She never had any time for anything else as she constantly tended to every problem and opportunity present.
It made her wonder how anything every got done in the period between her parents death and her own rise to the throne.
With so much responsibility now, it was easy to see that she had put aside her own life and happiness for that of her people. Though the town was flourishing like never before, Elsa herself seemed to be diminishing with each day. She could hardly remember the last time her and Anna had simply sat down and just talked with one another about what they wanted out of life.
She could hardly remember the last time her and Anna talked at all.
Many of the staff among the castle had mentioned on more than one occasion that there was no need for her to work this hard every day, that she needed take a break and have some fun.
"Build a Snowman!" Her handmaiden had said playfully, mimicking Anna's voice.
Yet these days Anna herself spent so much more time outside of the walls of Arendelle with Kristoff and his ice route. This meant that Elsa found many a nights alone within the castle, tonight being one of the many in mention.
She filled her time with work, simply because she had nothing else to fill her time with.
Not that she needed to fill her time with anything else… This was her life. This is all she really needed to be doing. But…
But there were points in the day where she found herself alone and could not find a single person whom she could turn to.
She was… lonely.
No one to confide to, and no other friends to see. After being locked away as a child for so long, she never had the chance to really find a connection with others. She use to think this was okay, that she didn't need love or friendship in her life. After her reconnection with Anna however, she found that she needed to try to bring more friends into her life just like her and Anna shared.
The problem was that being Queen (and an ice Queen, no less) made this considerably hard. She was distrustful and afraid. Those whom she had met had three of the same impressions:
Number one: They feared her. Some saw her as a witch and feared the powers she possessed.
She did not blame them.
Number two: They idolized her. They saw themselves as unworthy of such connections with their queen.
This was something she wasn't sure how to approach; it would be very hard to break such a normal mindset from ruler to peasant, though she truly wanted all who lived in Arendelle to think of her as a friend.
And the worst of them all…
Number three: They had purely selfish intentions for a relationship.
This mostly applied to other kings whom had sent letters and messengers in question of her current non-marital status.
Just because she was unwed did not mean that she had to marry. Plain and Simple.
It was problematic and most definitely did not make her feel any less frazzled than she already was.
Shaking her head at her own thoughts, she decided to call it a night from both her work and most definitely from her mind.
She quickly strode over to her cloak hanging on the back of her father's chair and tied it around her shoulders before she headed out of the room. It was silly, the idea of putting on a cloak. She most certainly did not need it because of the weather. She wore it simply out of formality for others. The cold in fact did not affect her at all, simply because she herself radiated enough chill to drop a room to freezing.
She and the cold were one entity, a constantly flowing and thrilling force in her veins that both frightened and comforted her.
The cloak simply was there to make others feel like she was a little more normal that she really was. It was a tool used to blend her into the crowd and forget for a moment that she was not like everyone else.
Not at all like anyone else.
She was a deadly weapon. She would never forget that she could hurt someone with the flick of a finger, at any time.
A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of her sister.
She pulled her hands into her chest as she left the study, her footsteps leaving tiny crystal formations in her wake.
The castle was dark as she ascended the stairs to her bedroom. Most of the candles had been extinguished for the night, though she did not stumble blind through the hallways. The full moon shined brightly through the hallway windows, its pale light guiding her. Entering her bedroom, she quickly removed her crown and changed into a long pale blue nightgown, its thin straps lying poised at the crest of her shoulders. Instead of crawling in bed, like she knew she should, she walked over to her window, opening the left side and letting the icy wind storm into her room, rustling anything it could possibly touch. Her hair slipped from her braid, strands dancing around her face. With eyes closed, she leaned out the window, hands placed against the pane of the window seal.
The wind caressed her dress, moving the silk along her small frame. She quickly pulled her hair out of her rubber band, letting the strands fly free from its twisted prison.
She wished she was as reckless and free as this wind.
She wished that she could just be a normal girl, with parents and a sister to always talk to.
She wished she had anyone to talk to.
She wished for a lot of things.
The wind seemed to pick up then, swirling around her hair and causing snow flurries to tickle her nose. She giggled, shaking her head. Sometimes she wondered if the wind had a mind of its own.
Several minutes went by and she stayed in the same position. As time went on and the moon got higher, she felt her energy wane and leave her. Reluctantly, she pulled herself back into her room, her platinum hair a bird's nest of tangles and knots. Leaving the window open, she welcomed the flurries and wind into her room. She left her hair in its wild state and climbed into her bed, falling asleep to a caress of wind that carried into her dreams.
"Queen Elsa!" A woman's voice shouts, breaking her slumber and causing her to jolt upright in bed.
Elsa looked around to find her handmaiden clutching her cloak around her, hurrying through a snowdrift in front of her window.
Oops, the window. Snow had fluttered in and created quite a wintery scene, snow piling against any vertical object in her room.
Before the woman can begin to climb through the snowdrift, Elsa flicked her hand in a leisurely manner, slamming the window shut. "Sorry, Rebecca… I forgot that it was snowing still."
She sighed and quickly stepped out of the snow back onto the wood floor, hurrying over to her. "Don't you worry, let's just get you warm." Rebecca quickly shuffled over and threw blankets around her shoulders, urging her out of bed.
The fuss was unnecessary. It felt like a spring day to her, though she could only imagine it was somewhere near 7 degrees in her room. "Rebecca it's fine, I'm fine! It's not even cold to me!" She said in earnest, knowing Rebecca was not use to her unique situation.
"Oh… Right." She stopped wrapping her up in the blankets, and pulled back. A red blush rose to her cheeks, though it wasn't very noticeable over her already chilled redness that resided there. "I'll just… go get breakfast started for you." She gave a quick curtsy and scurried from the room. Elsa decided that she fell into the first category on many occasions: The fearful. She resisted the act of sighing and quickly untangled herself from the multitude of blankets.
Quickly heading to her mirror, she picked up her horse hair brush and tugged it though her tangled hair until it was smooth and straight. She quickly secured it into another seamless braid, placing it over her left shoulder. A little lipstick and some eye shadow later, she moved over to her wardrobe and pulled on a long turquoise fit and flare dress, its embroidery lining the neckline and hem. She tugged at the sleeves, trying to get them to cover her hands the best she could. Though she had promised Anna that she would cut down on the glove wearing indoors, it was still difficult for her to feel comfortable with her hands in the open.
She quickly placed her crown on her head, tied a black cloak around her shoulders, checked herself once more in the mirror, and then glided into the hallway.
She clasped her hands together in front of her as she moved, the only way she could think of to cover her hands without looking self-conscious or troubled. The hallways bustled with maids and butlers, all whom stopped to curtsy and bow as she passed. She gave a smile and nod to each of them, greeting them each by name. They all were gracious and polite to her, but never more. They were the second category: The idolizing. She wished nothing more than to be friends with them, but knew nothing about how to even start a conversation.
She quickly moved along the hallway and down the stairs, another pang of loneliness pricking at her heart.
The dining table was already set at the very end when she arrived, the rest of the long table adorn with bouquets and bowls of fruit. She made her way to the other end, where Thalmus, the head chef, pulled out her chair for her. She thanked him with a smile and a nod, and then sat as he pushed her in.
She was use to eating alone these days, and was surprised to see two other spots had been set on either side of her.
"Thalmus?" She called as the chef had started to leave for the kitchen. "Am I expecting company?"
He turned, his face surprised. Elsa did not speak very often. "Your sister, and Kristoff, are said to be returning this morning. I figured I would set something up, just in…"
"Elsa!" A high pitch voice yelled as if on cue. The dining room doors burst open to reveal a snow cloaked Anna and an equally snowy Kristoff. Her smile wore from ear to ear, her cheeks red with wind chill, matching her equally red dress and cloak.
The sight was so wonderful that Elsa almost jumped out of her chair. Instead, she kept herself poised and seated in front of the other staff, settling for a large smile. "Anna! I didn't realize you were returning today!"
Anna rushed down the long room and pulled Elsa out of her chair into a hug. Stiff and gloveless, Elsa wrapped her arms around her, being careful to keep her hands from touching her equally small frame. However she couldn't help but relax a little in Anna's warm arms.
They were so different, the two of them. Warm, open, bubbly Anna and her cold, withdrawn, poised sister. It was intriguing that they had come from the same parents. It was even more intriguing what icy magic can do to one's persona.
Anna finally released her and took her own seat to the right of Elsa, shooing away Thalmus with a smile as he tried to pull out her chair. "No need Thalmus, you have already done enough! Go grab yourself something to eat!" Thalmus laughed in return and bowed. "Thank you Princess Anna, a joy as always. Enjoy and stay out of trouble!" He called over his shoulder and walked back into the kitchen.
Elsa took note of Anna's ease when talking to everyone, hoping to store away her observations and find her own way of replicating them. Though Anna was younger, there were many things that Elsa still knew she should learn from her, making friends being one of them.
Kristoff finally made his way to the end of the table, removing his scarf and hat and placing them in his pack. He turned to Elsa and smiled large, giving a slight bow. "Good to see you again Elsa, you look as impeccable as always." Anna smiled at Kristoff, mocking his formal manner. He gave her a knowing look and turned back to Elsa. "How were things while we were gone?" He slipped out of his fur outer jacket and placed in on the back of the chair to her left, sitting down.
"Very well. The trade agreements with the northern shore of Norway and to the south in Sweden have been completed and are making regular stops her for ice and wood. In the meantime there are still some issues with the terms that have been offered with Denmark but it seems as though they will be cleared up within the next few days." Elsa was proud of the work she had accomplished, there was no doubt.
Kristoff nodded, taking a piece of ham of one of the platters in the center of the table. "Sounds like you have it all under control, way to go. You really know what you're doing, I can't think of anyone who could do it better. Definitely not Anna." A hard thump sounds from under the table, rattling the dishes on the table. "Ow!" Kristoff's face twisted in pain as he bends over to rub his shin where Anna had kicked him. "Joking, joking!"
Anna rolled her eyes in annoyance, but a smile still crept onto her lips. She then quickly turned back to Elsa. "And?"
"And what?" Elsa responded, keeping her eyes focused on the croissant that she was buttering. She knew exactly what Anna was trying to ask her, but wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it here, in front of Kristoff.
"And what about you? How have things been with YOU since we've been away?" Anna tilted her head down toward the table, trying to catch Elsa's eye.
Elsa quickly took a delicate bite of her croissant and shrugged, giving herself a moment to think of a better answer than the truth. It's not that she didn't want Anna to know, she did. She desperately did. But at the same time, she knew it would cause more trouble than it would good. Anna would insist on staying more at the castle, meaning her and Kristoff would hardly get to see each other. She would have to steal Anna's happiness to fulfill her own.
She could never do such a thing to her sister, nor to Kristoff.
She swallowed and then tapped the corners of her mouth, trying to avoid her lipstick. "I've been good. Been pretty busy so it's been a tough couple weeks, but it's been good." There, that sounded fairly believable.
Anna squinted her eyes for a second, her face still tilted down in her field of view. She knew Elsa was holding back, no doubt about it. But taking a quick glance at Kristoff, the realization sparked in Anna's eyes and she let it go. She sat up and grabbed an apple. "Good to hear, you'll have to tell me more about these trade agreements later." The end of her sentence was muffled by a crunch and a few quick chews.
Elsa gave her a disapproving look at her lack of table manners, but the rolled her eyes and smirked. Anna was a grown girl, and Elsa was certainly not her mother. She could do what she wanted now.
As breakfast came to a close and they all ate their fill, Anna gave a little shiver. Elsa quickly noticed that the snow on her cloak had still not melted, and the redness of her nose was still prominent. Before Elsa could bring up the subject, Anna cut her off, almost jumping out of her chair. "I almost forgot!" She turned to Elsa, eyes bright.
"Forgot about what?"
"I'm holding a ball, here, next month."
Elsa almost choked out a little of the grape juice she had taken a sip of. "What? Why? The last one was a disaster!" Her voice gave way to her fear and disapproval.
"That doesn't mean this one will be! The spot light won't have to be on you, I just wanted to hold something a little special for the winter. It's your favorite season, after all!" She smiled and stood up, holding her arms up like she was dancing with someone. "We can have music and dancing and food and games", as she sashayed back and forth, Kristoff quickly stood and walked around the table, taking the place of her invisible dance partner, "and laughter and it will be SO MUCH FUN, please say yes! We can invite all of Norway! And anyone else! We can make it in to a tradition and you can meet new people! Please!" She stops and clasps her hands together, a pleading motion. Kristoff mimicking her movements behind her, and Elsa stifled a laugh at the scene.
Elsa felt a no rise to her lips, but she stopped herself. The words "meet new people" seemed to catch her attention. It could be disastrous, truly. But if it worked out, she might just find herself with people she could talk to, laugh with, and write letters to. The thought of not doing work for a night as well sounded so tempting, and it was hard to push the thought away.
"It… could be beneficial to Arendelle, meeting potential trade connections and giving people something to look forward to during the winter…" She really had a bad feeling about this, but she knew it would make her sister happy, which made her happy too. "…Alright. But you have to plan it. It's your baby, or so they call it."
"YES! You won't regret this! I promise! It's going to be so great you're going to have to owe me for forever! A thousand hand written thank you notes from you, just for me!" She turned to Kristoff, grabbing his hand and tugging him down the dining room quickly after her. "We had to get started right now! I have so much to do, first we…" Her voice faded out as she exited the room, leaving Elsa alone once again.
She was definitely going to regret this.
So that was one hell of a long chapter... I have a feeling that are all going to be like this.
Let me know what you think so far, and I'll tighten a couple of loose screws that may have slipped through my notice while writing.
Au Revior!