Chapter One

A Beginning to Remember

Anna awoke at dawn, as she usually did Spring mornings, to the smell of the surrounding salty water. She, along with a few hundred other people, lived on a small collection of islands. The specific collection Anna lived on was called Bridgton, the Islands connected by Bridges. Anna loved the fact that they were surrounded by water; water was the reason Bridgton and the other collections of islands were so wealthy. That, and Anna loved to swim.

Anna put her dark green wool poncho that her mother had made on over her ragged brown shirt. Her feet were bandaged, as were most of everyone else's who lived on the islands. There was really no need for shoes, since the earth was soft, there were no thorns in the ground, and they always swam. Anna quietly walked out of her wooden room, which was connected to the main house by a wood bridge, and snuck through the kitchen, making sure not to wake her parents in the process, who slept in the room just outside it. She grabbed two small loafs of fresh bread her mother made last night and rushed outside on the dirt path to another bridge connecting the small island her house sat on to another island her best friend's house sat on. All of the islands homes were standing on thick stilts in case the islands flooded, which happened quite often after a rainstorm.

Anna quickly ran over the bridge to her friend's house, which was smaller than her own; most of the houses in Bridgton were smaller than her own, however, so it was no surprise when the place only had two rooms altogether. She quickly made her way around to the front of the hut and looked through the small window in the door. Seeing that her friend and her aunt she lived with weren't in the main room, she walked in quietly to wake her friend without waking her aunt. There was only one other door which led to the room her friend and the aunt slept in. It was always rare for her aunt to actually sleep in her own home, but this time she was there, snoring rather loudly, probably getting over a hang-over. The room was small and only had room for the two straw beds, a night table, and a chest at the end of her friends bed.

In the bed at the farther side of the small room was a small lump under the woolen blanket and a fluff of white-blonde messy hair at the end of the pillow. Anna snuck to the small lump, placed her hand on the head and shook it gently. There was a small moan and the lump moved and sat up, revealing a girl slightly taller than Anna with long white-blonde messy hair and sleepy bright blue eyes. When the girl looked at Anna, she smiled happily, sleep forgotten, and slowly got out of the bed, following Anna and grabbing a poncho similar to Anna's hanging on a wooden chair on the way out. Once outside, Anna handed her friend the other loaf of bread and they both ate.

"Always waking up early I see." Her friend said and giggled. Anna giggled as well.

"Well, I didn't want to sleep away such a beautiful day when we could always hang out. After all, tomorrow is the Bridgton Festival! I can't sleep when something as fun as that is near." Anna replied, taking a bite out of the loaf of bread. Her friend laughed softly, so not to wake up anyone else in the surrounding huts. They crossed another bridge to the main island and were on their way to their favorite place, Childs Crossing, on the other side of the main island.

"Hey, Elsa." Anna spoke up after a while of walking. Her friend looked up from fixing her hair into its usual braid that hung over her left shoulder with her bangs slicked back, similar to Anna's, but instead of it being over her left shoulder, her braid simply hung between her shoulder blades.

"You know that raft we've been making for a while now?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"What if we just took it? Just the two of us I mean. It's not like Hans really wants to come with us anyway, and we could both open up own blacksmith shop like we've been planning." Anna suggested. In truth, Anna, Hans, and Elsa were all planning on leaving the islands to the mainland when the raft was finally finished and starting their own lives. Elsa blushed and Anna laughed.

"Just kidding! You take things way too seriously!" Anna said and ran ahead with Elsa running right behind, fuming. They ran past the administration office where Anna's father worked, past the village farm, and their school, which was only a one room building, and ran over the last bridge, past a sign that Anna made that read 'Kids Only! No Adults!' Their island that Anna's father allowed them to keep was their favorite island, Child's Crossing. Elsa named it, and the other villagers liked it so much that the entire village was now calling it that.

On the island was a small two story building on thick stilts. They walked up the stairs to the main door and went in to a large room with a table on one side, book shelves full of history books that Anna 'borrowed' from the Bridgton Library on Market Island the last time she visited. Anna always loved the stories of the mainland, and read the books every night before she went to sleep. On the far side of the room was a ladder that led up to the roof of the club house; the second story. Anna climbed up the ladder onto the roof. Only part of it was covered by a planked roof and the walls holding it up were wooden bars so that they could look out and see the clouds when it ever rained.

If any of the kids weren't ever at their own home, the adults would always know that they went to Child's Crossing. Anna helped Elsa up the last step and they walked to the roof-covered shelter and sat down on the bench up against the bared wall.

"It's such a nice day today. Hardly a cloud in the sky, the temperature is nice, and the ocean smells great." Anna noted, closing her eyes, tilted her head back and took a deep breath. Elsa looked at Anna and slightly blushed, noticing the rather dark freckles that were splattered all over Anna's face, arms and legs and her fiery crimson red hair that flowed in the small breeze as it blew by, the light blonde streak in her hair now even more noticeable, but Elsa smiled and nodded anyway. They've been close friends ever since they can remember, and their parents were both really close, that is until Elsa's parents died in the flood three years ago. Her aunt came from the mainland to take care of her, but she's never really been around, mostly hanging out on the Noir Islands in their tavern. It was rare for them to ever see her aunt, so Elsa sometimes spent a few nights with Anna and her family.

"We could live near the ocean so we can always see the water and swim in the summer and spring. But also near a wooded area, so we could also go hiking and see a bunch of animals too. I heard that Faron's Woods is an amazing animal rich forest that's near the ocean." Elsa remarked. Anna smiled; Elsa loved the water and animals and craved to see more of the world, much like Anna did.

"We could go on adventures too! Go out and see the world, and I mean really see it! Not just parts of it sailing by, like they are now. I wanna see the deserts, the forests, the villages and towns, even the castles! I wanna see it all…" Anna's voice trailed off as she looked out over the water behind them, longing to see the world even more now. Elsa giggled.

"Well, the raft is almost finished. When it is, we could take it and see the world. If we work hard, it could be finished by tomorrow. Then we'll definitely see it, together." She added quietly. Anna smiled and laughed.

"Hey! I thought this was a team effort, not a duet! You should have woken me up earlier!" They heard Hans's voice shout from the bridge.

"Could you scream that a bit louder? I don't think the whole freaking village heard you clearly!" Anna shouted back. Hans was standing on the bridge to the island, smiling his usual dorky smile. He wore his dark brown poncho with his ripped up shorts and bandaged feet, much like Elsa and Anna. Hans's brown hair was slicked back messily and wet, which led Anna to believe that his mother forced him to bath before coming. He smiled his goofy grin as Anna and Elsa waved to him, also smiling. Anna turned to Elsa.

"Think I can make that jump?" She asked, pointing with her thumb over the ledge that overlooked the front of the club house. Elsa's eyes grew large and that look along convinced Anna. She didn't even wait for a reply as she dashed to the ledge of the clubhouse and jumped off.

Her world went up-side-down as she flipped and everything seemed to have slowed down. As she turned over, she saw Elsa's up-side-down horrified face, which made Anna happy; it let her know that Elsa cared for her, despite anything stupid she did like at that moment. Anna tucked her legs in as she was turning back around, finishing her second flip and she saw Hans's awed face as she landed, rolled and jumped up. She looked up and saw Elsa's relived face as she sighed.

"Worried I might have broken something?" She called up to Elsa.

"I think the flip was a bit much, and yes, I was pretty worried!" Elsa replied, disappearing from view for a few seconds before appearing in the doorway. She rushed out to Anna and Hans, worry still etched in her face.

"One of these days those angles of yours aren't going to be watching too closely and you'll end up breaking your neck!" She scolded. Anna smiled; by now she used to her scolding.

"I don't think you'll stop watching all the stupid things I do, even if you tried! Besides, you two would help me, I'm sure." Anna replied.

"That's not the…!" She paused, Anna's words sinking in. Her face turned a deep cherry red as she finally got it. Hans, however, was still too dense to get it.

"That was so cool! I mean, the jumping, and the flipping and the landing! It was all so cool!" Hans exclaimed. Anna laughed and Elsa huffed.

"Oh come on, you gotta admit, it was pretty cool!" Hans pressed. Elsa looked at Anna and smiled.

"I guess, even if it was pretty foolish!" She said. They all laughed and walked behind the club house to where the almost finished raft was. The only thing it was missing, really, was its sails, a steering device, ropes, and previsions along with a few more logs for the body.

"I'll get the extra logs from the wooded area by the school and the flats." Anna declared. She loved doing the heavy lifting, mainly because Elsa couldn't do it and Hans was simply too lazy to.

"I'll get the sails and the ropes from Kaine. I'm sure he'll have a bunch of extras since he runs the port boats." Elsa said.

"And I'll stay here and take a nap, seeing as how you two have it under control." Hans put in.

"Haha, not so fast lazy bones. You got to sleep in longer than we did, the least you can do is get some food from the Gales Shop. They always make extra's and it always lasts long. Don't forget the food chest, either!" Elsa ordered. Hans huffed and they all separated to look for supplies. Anna snuck by the school to the wooded area for more logs that they stashed in the small cave system they used to play in.

She walked into the caves, which only stood a foot taller than herself, and stumbled to a large pile of leaves that were covering the logs they saved. Behind the logs were a few flat pieces of wood that they asked Kaine to make for them. Anna grabbed two of the four logs in one arm and the other two under her other arm along with the flats in her hands. As she was walking back through the woods, she saw something black dash out of her line of sight and into the bushes. She watched the bushes for a while and walked off, deciding that it was just a rabbit or chicken.

It was a bit awkward to walk with all that wood at once, but she somehow made it back to the back of the club house with everything intact. Elsa was already there with large thick cloth pieces rolled up and tied off with a bunch of rope.

"So Kaine could actually part with his extra's, huh?" Anna asked once she got close enough. She set her stuff down, her arms aching and stiff from holding all that heavy wood. Elsa giggled.

"Yeah, I had to beg him and say that we'd give it back after we were finished." Elsa replied, also setting her stuff down.

"He'll have to wait a while then!" Anna put in and laughed. Hans also came by at that time.

"Hey, is this good? They gave me all of their left overs' from their last batch." He said, flopping down the large wooden chest. They opened it up and saw a bunch of breads, wrapped cold-cut meats, and fruits.

"That's amazing. They didn't fork over any vegetables." Anna noted. They all laughed and got started on the building. The raft was rather small for three kids, but it wasn't like they were going to hold parties and races on it. Anna sawed the logs in half and tied and nailed them onto their appropriate places and applied the tree gum to make sure it wouldn't leak. Elsa placed the sails onto their places and tied them in, testing to see if they could go up and down in case they went too fast or needed wind to go faster. Lastly, Hans put in the steering parts in place and tested them out. It was about late afternoon when they finally finished. They stashed the food chest in the basement of their club house and took off their poncho's and scarfs.

"We should take a dip in the water to cool off for a break! Then tomorrow morning, we set sail!" Anna said. The other two nodded in agreement and followed Anna outside to the water. She took off her tattered shirt which had bandages underneath that served as a bra, exposing her tanned skin with freckles covering her shoulder, top of her back, and all the way down her forearms, and Elsa did the same. Hans took off his already torn up shirt and jumped in as well.

Anna splashed Elsa, who splashed her back, both laughing. Hans cannon-balled between the two, splashing them both and Anna and Elsa laughed. Anna jumped on Hans as soon as he resurfaced, taking him under with her. Hans pushed up as hard as he could, sending them both upward, but not fast enough to throw her off. Anna let go anyway and latched onto Elsa, making them both fall underwater. When they resurfaced, Hans splashed them both and they all laughed. After a few more minutes of playing and swimming in the water, they all got out and lay down in the grass to dry off and look at the stars which had come out during their playing in the water.

"I can't wait until we set sail. We'll be on our own with no adults to tell us what to do, and we'll get to sleep under the stars, just like this." Anna said as they dried off. There was a whistle that sounded from the village and Hans sat up.

"That's my mum. I need to go now, see you guys tomorrow at the festival!" He got up and grabbed his poncho and ran off over the bridge to his house. Anna sat up and looked at Elsa, smiling.

"I guess we should get going too, huh?" She asked. Elsa sat up and looked at Anna.

"Let's take a walk first. I have a feeling Aunt Sherion hasn't come back yet." Kaylin replied, looking glum.

"Alright, we'll take a walk then. Where do you wanna go?" Anna asked as she stood up, her smile disappearing and helped Elsa up.

"I don't know. Wherever our feet take us I guess." Elsa replied.

"What about to Oak Island?" Anna suggested.

"Sure. We haven't been there in a long while." Elsa smiled and they headed off over the bridge and towards the school and through the woods. Instead of going in the direction of the caves, they went a little more north until they came to the Bridgton Shore. Just a few wads away was a small island with a single large oak tree on it. They pulled up their pants a little bit and walked through the shallow water to the island. It was their own island that they visited whenever the time called for it, which was mostly when Elsa was feeling down. It was a place that brought happiness to her but they haven't gone in a while. Anna sat down at the base of the tree and Elsa took a seat next to her.

"If you ever feel down or anything, you know you can always come over to my place. I know how your aunt can get sometimes, so you're always welcome whenever you feel like it." Anna said after a while.

"Thanks… You and your family are so kind to me, I kind of feel like I'm barging in on your family." Elsa replied. Anna turned to face Elsa, nearly nose to nose, and Anna had a look of determination and confidence that always got to Elsa, making her blush.

"That's total nonsense! You're like a member of our family, you know? You practically live with us, you come over so often! And you're definitely not barging in on my family; you know how happy Mom gets when you come over!" Anna replied. Elsa blushed and smiled. She turned to face the ocean, as did Anna.

"You're not a burden if that's what you're thinking, Elsa. If you are, then you're the best burden that's happened since old man Coones died." Anna put in. Elsa giggled. A chilly wind blew, making Elsa shiver slightly and she leaned up against Anna, her head resting on her shoulder. Anna glanced at Elsa, slightly surprised, but smiled anyway. A few minutes past and Anna heard her mother calling for her. She looked at Elsa, who sat up and looked at her with a worried look.

"Wanna come over for dinner tonight? Maybe even a better night's sleep than with that old bat you live with." Anna said and laughed. Elsa laughed as well and they both stood up and wadded through the water and ran over the two bridges to Anna's house. They walked up the stairs and through the front door, seeing only Anna's mother cooking in the kitchen.

"Why hello Elsa! I'm glad I made extra's tonight, feel free to have all you want!" Anna's mother said.

"Thank you for having me, Mrs. Summers. I hate to intrude on such short notice though." Elsa replied, giving a small bow.

"Oh nonsense girl, we love having you over! I sure hope that Anna invited you to stay the night!" Her mom added. Anna slightly blushed and smiled.

"Yeah, I did, Mom! Like you needed to know anyway! By the way, is Dad working late again tonight?" Anna asked. Her mother nodded her head.

"I'm afraid so. He has so many foreign papers to sign since there's been a spike in travel this year. Not to mention he has to keep up with everyone's billing and taxes, too. He'll be late again tonight." Her mother replied. Anna and Elsa took a seat next to each other at the dinner table as Anna's mother put the hot bowl of stew in the middle of the table along with a plate of rolls and steamed vegetables. Anna served Elsa despite her protesting, then served her mother, and then herself. They ate and spoke about what they wanted to do during the festival and when they wanted to meet.

"Well now, seeing as how you two are staying together, you'll just have to meet Hans tomorrow!" her mother said and giggled.

"I swear, it's near impossible to separate you two! Even when you two were three, you were inseparable! You'll make a great house wife, Anna dear!" her mother went on. Anna turned a deep red and nearly choked on her stew, making her mother and Elsa laugh.

"And you act like such a good mother, Elsa, looking after Anna and scolding her like a child when she does her silly stunts! It won't surprise me at all if you two-"

"Mother!" Anna interrupted.

"We're only twelve here, no need for the life story about love and crap! And we're both girls, too! Don't you think that would be a bit weird?" Anna went on, taking a sip of water.

"Well, on the Terikain Islands, it's a custom for woman to marry each other. They look down on men and see them as the inferior species." Her mother informed.

"Yeah and look at how many there are left, now. Their dying out because of that, you know." Anna muttered.

"Let's not go into any more details about the Terikain Islands, please!" Elsa broke in. They all laughed and finished eating. Anna and Elsa dismissed their mother from the kitchen, saying that they could clean up after.

"Alright then, if you two insist! But be in bed before moon high! You don't want to be half asleep during the festival!" Anna's mother said before she went into her room. Anna sighed when she was out of ear shot.

"I swear, the things my mother says sometimes. I'm sorry, that wasn't exactly… expected I guess." Anna apologized. Elsa giggled and shoulder bumped Anna.

"It's fine. Actually, it was pretty funny now that I think about it!" She laughed as Anna fumed.

"But she is right. I mean, we never really do anything without each other. I just wish we really are inseparable…" She muttered. Anna glanced at Elsa and saw how sad she looked, and shoulder bumped her back.

"What are you talking about? When we set sail, we'll hang out all the time. We'll even live together if you want; I have no problem with that. I mean, it'll be just like it is now, but without our families. We'll be our own family." Anna said, washing the last dish. Elsa blushed and laughed.

"Now it sounds like you're siding with your mom about the Terikain Islands!" Elsa teased. Anna blushed and splashed some cold water onto Elsa's face.

"What are you saying?! I didn't mean it like that and you know it!" Anna exclaimed and Elsa laughed and ran off through the door that led to the bridge connecting the main house to Anna's room. Anna chased after her, both laughing and giggling. Elsa flopped onto Anna's bed and Anna jumped onto it as well, grabbed Elsa and the two wrestled.

Anna grabbed Elsa's arm and tussled her to the bed, but Elsa slipped out of it and flipped Anna onto her back, sprawled on the now messy sheets. Elsa straddled over Anna, not letting her sit up. Anna played dead and went limp.

"You give up too easily!" Elsa jeered, letting her guard down. Anna then grabbed Elsa's shoulders and pushed her back onto her back, and their positions were switched.

"As you were saying?" Anna teased, smiling. Elsa blushed and smiled.

"I guess I'm not as good at fighting as you are. You've always been the stronger one." Elsa complemented, still blushing. Anna blushed as well, letting her guard down and Elsa smiled wide and, too quick for Anna to respond, kicked Anna over her body, flipping her over the bed and landing with a thud on the hard wood ground, knocking the breath out of her. Before she could recover, Elsa jumped off the bed and straddled Anna once more.

"That was a dirty trick!" Anna complained. Elsa giggled and leaned in closer.

"There's no such thing as a dirty trick in a fight." Elsa teased. Anna noticed how close they were and blushed, and when Elsa noticed, she did as well. Anna could see just how pale Elsa was and how smooth her skin was, dusted lightly with few freckles, and Elsa's bright blue eyes burned into Anna's sea-green ones. Just then, there was a thud from the front door, which made Anna believe that her father finally came home. She tilted her head back further to see the front door from a small window next to her door and saw in time the back of her father enter the house. Elsa also looked to see, but when she looked back at Anna, Anna leaned up and kissed Elsa on the nose, making her blush even more and rear back, allowing Anna push Elsa up and back down on the ground, and sat on top of her, very much like how Elsa was.

"Okay, now 'that' was a dirty trick!" Elsa exclaimed.

"'There's no such thing as a dirty trick' I believe is what you said!" Anna teased and giggled.

"Alright, alright, fine, just get off me please!" Elsa pleaded, blushing like mad. Anna got up and offered her hand to Elsa, who ignored it and stood on her own and plopped down on the bed. Anna sat down next to her, and laid down, her back to Elsa.

"So, what should we do during the festival tomorrow? They'll be a bunch of shops and games and such." Anna asked. Elsa thought a moment.

"We'll just see when we get there, I guess." Elsa replied simply and lay down next to Anna.

"Alright, fair enough I guess." Anna answered and yawned. She leaned over and turned the fire in her lantern down, but not all the way. Anna felt Elsa curl up against her back, her legs tucked into the nick of Anna's knees and her arms tucked to her own chest, hands griping Anna's shirt. Anna reached behind herself and patted Elsa's head and she drifted off to sleep and turned the light off.

"Good night, Elsa." Anna muttered before she herself drifted to sleep.


Do no worry guys, I will keep posting Haunting Tales, but this has been in my head for a while now lol And yes, woe be me, I have posted yet another Elsanna story! No worries guys, there is yet another in my head for these two, and then I might move onto Homestuck AU's and do some more AU's to go along with other movies, comics, anime or Manga. Fair warning! The chapters in this story will be slightly longer than the ones in Haunting Tales, so yeah . I'll be posting this one at least every Wednesday, if not every Friday, which to say in the least, is more frequent than Haunting Tales XD

I hope you guys will like this story as much as Haunting Tales!