Blue eyes locked on the innocuous unopened letter, one of dozens on the Queen's desk. Elsa's pale hand shook slightly as she picked it up. She turned towards the balcony, and from over Elsa's shoulder Anna could see her fingers dance over the wax seal, rime coating it.
Anna stared sourly at the seal. If only she remembered which kingdom it represented, she'd know why Elsa was freaking out in that silent Elsa-y way. The times when Princess Anna had actually paid attention during her tutor's lessons were few and far in between. Her memory of those times were hazy at best and unfortunately did not include the emblems of foreign nations. Heck, she was only half-sure of what Arendelle's seal was. Frustrated, Anna waited uncharacteristically silent as her big sister read through the letter. Elsa read at a faster speed than Anna, but she was still impatient to know what was on the darn piece of paper.
"What is it?" the strawberry blonde asked finally, seeing Elsa's blue eyes scan over the top again.
Elsa's hands fell to her sides. "It's an acceptance letter for the upcoming ball." Troubled, she began to walk out onto the balcony. Anna trotted after her, knowing there was more to be said.
Elsa's mind was whirling, going down many different paths to distract herself from the storm within. One part of her mind reviewed the ball. It was different from her coronation ball, where most nations had sent out their most observant and/or stoic diplomats to feel out the reclusive Arendelle and its young regnant.
This ball was different. Here Elsa had carefully selected which nations she extended her invite to. The ball would have a much less formal and distant feel to it mostly because, in a way, it wasn't to build relations with a nation but one of its people. They weren't meeting as foreign dignitaries, but people. That was opening a can of worms, essentially, since decorum was going to be a minor concern and people were free to interact as they pleased.
Feeling ice in her veins, Elsa focused on the balcony's handrail. Noting the odd patches of ice smoothing over jagged holes and cracks in the wood. The harsh winds and ice spikes which had sprouted inside the castle during the whiteout blizzard had weakened the exposed, thin wood. It and the window Anna had busted open had temporary ice repairs until they could be replaced.
Elsa breathed out, steeling her nerves, "It's from the Southern Isles." Anna stumbled in shock.
Elsa hadn't noticed her emotions had manifested, and Anna certainly wasn't prepared for the ice-covered floor.
Anna slammed into the railing and Elsa watched, frozen with terror as the railing gave, a hand outstretched as the strawberry blonde disappeared over the edge.
"Anna!" Without a second thought Elsa leapt off the balcony.
2/4/14 A/N: I'm at a bit of a writer's block on my other Frozen fics, and it got me thinking to why I was writing them. I had a bit of a 'head meet desk' moment when I realized the purpose of the -I think it's two- stories is solely to set up for my headfic. Frozen's a big movie, and my mind just took it and made it a big story-verse or whatever. I don't feel comfortable just diving headfirst into the universe my mind created from Frozen, so instead I'm writing Memories and Now They Know. So until I finish those, I won't continue this. If I did continue this, people would be asking me a lot of questions and then I'd have to type lengthy, boring explanations. Not fun. So if you have patience go read the "prequels" If not...okay, bye.
(I cannot be the only one who hears Anna singing those two words nearly everytime I see them)