Chapter Summary: Anna meets a stranger who comes from a familiar kingdom.
Disclaimer: Frozen and its characters belong to Disney.
Chapter 1
It was a day like any other; the princess of Arendelle was out on a daily stroll throughout the town- and had decided to make her way to the docks before heading right into the square. Her mind had wandered to the night before, how she had told Kristoff about how she truly felt about it. It had been a lot less of a disaster than she thought it was going to be, but she still couldn't believe herself when she told him that… she didn't think she truly loved him. Not like she didn't care! But that passion, that fervor, no, it didn't seem to be there. But she cared for the ice harvester dearly, as their journey together had brought them into a close bond. Never mind those silly trolls that had tried to hitch them up together as soon as they had wandered back into their home! Had she hadn't been under the icy spell her sister had casted on her, Anna would have definitely said something back then.
But the more she thought about it as the days passed after the great thaw, the more she found herself… falling out of love? No, no there really hadn't been –that- kind of love there. It was more innocent, not desperate love like the kind she had with Hans in the few hours that she knew him. No, the love she had for Kristoff was like the compassion she had for her sister, ugh.
Of course, she had tripped over her words and made a complete fool out of herself when she finally tried to tell Kristoff how she felt about him; worrying that he would reject their friendship, but the opposite happened. He didn't seem to mind, he respected what she felt, after all, who falls in love with someone they just met?
Oddly enough for Anna, she had a habit of doing just that, and perhaps as they say, third time's the charm.
She found herself meandering down the docks aimlessly, figuring she would just do an about face when she reached the end of the pier Anna wasn't expecting to see anything minus a few sailors and misplaced buckets. Musing over everything she recalled that this where she first met someone outside of the castle those few months ago.
-him-
Anna made a face and shook her head, no, best not to think about that loser now, he was well out of her and her sister's life and that was all that mattered.
It was then that Anna noticed the woman; wearing a white and blue uniform and with deep red hair that spilled past her shoulders. The smartly dressed girl seemed to be staring off into the fjord as if she were looking for something. The princess had never seen this particular woman before, and visitors were so common that she had started to recognize the more commonplace merchant or royal on their way to speak with her sister. But this woman… she looked rather disconnected, confused even, did she even know where she was exactly? Well, Anna wouldn't know unless she barged up like she always did and asked questions.
"Hello!" she had that chipper way of speaking that she used when meeting new faces. "Are you looking for someone out here?" she leaned in in effort to get the woman to acknowledge her, as she still seemed distant despite her best efforts at a greeting.
The woman continued to look out across the docks and beyond the fjord; taking in the sights, it was only after Anna repeated an inquiring hello did she finally notice the princess and she turned around to see just who had called out to her.
Seeing the shorter red head standing there, the stranger blinked; wondering why this girl she was looking at felt so… familiar to her. But she couldn't keep gawking; she would return the greeting to the friendly girl. She gave a small bow and smiled for Anna.
"Hello, I'm sorry I didn't react to your first greeting, I wasn't expecting anyone to show up here, I had just decided to come here to collect my thoughts and relax."
Anna was about to reply with a "that's completely fine!" but she ended up pausing, wait, this woman, she-! Wait, well, of course not. She was much shorter than him, more fairer, cuter even. Wait- ugh never mind that Anna!, she thought to herself. You've got some questions to ask! She decided to continue the conversation lest the pause become even more awkward.
"Y-you just arrived did you?" she tried to not stumble over her words. "Is this your first time in Arendelle, er, I'm sorry, I guess we haven't properly introduced ourselves yet have we?"
The other woman held back a giggle while listening to Anna's inquisition before she realized what the former had actually said. "Oh! Yes, right!"
Acting quickly, she curtsied again in haste and snapped back up straight to correct her own clumsiness.
"Princess Karen of the Southern Isles," she introduced herself as she adjusted her gloves in a tick manner "And you are…?"
"Princess Anna, of Arendelle." shoot, and she was dressed so casually today, and here she was nearly bumping into other princesses and looking like a goof! Oh goodness stop thinking to yourself Anna, she's probably wondering what you're doing just spacing out. She shook her head clear of her train wreck of thought. Wait.. did she just say "The Southern Isles?" To Karen, it looked like someone had just stuck Anna with a pin, the shorter princess collected herself.
This woman didn't have a fleet, she didn't look mean, maybe she wasn't here on some crazy revenge plot for Hans; no, they would have heard something a long time ago, and just to have this one princess here and announcing herself like this? Maybe she was here to patch things up with Arendelle… there was only one way to find out.
"Sorry for the confusion earlier, you just looked really familiar to someone I once knew." Good, at least you didn't say she reminded you of a guy you once were engaged to.
"You're the princess?" Karen gained a look of surprise. The way in which she reacted, it looked like she had not expected this "ordinary girl" to be royalty. An idea suddenly came to her: Maybe she has a brother who can help me with my plans…
She regained her more regal demeanor, "Well, I'm terribly sorry that I wasn't someone you knew." She paused as if she realized something direly important before continuing, "But I hope we can try to be friends just the same?"
"Of course!" Anna wasn't going to hold anyone else accountable from the Southern Isles, just because one was a bad egg didn't mean the rest of Hans's family was rotten, was it? She seemed friendly enough, and who knew what else Hans had lied about, for all Anna knew he could have even lied about how his brothers had treated him, but then again, had he ever mentioned having a sister?
"Is there a particular place you'd like to see?" she tried to further the conversation with Karen, "If you want to see the castle, I'd be more than happy to show you, but if you want to meet with the Queen I'm afraid she's -totally- booked for the day." she laughed nervously. That and she knew for a fact that Elsa probably wouldn't be as warm as she was when meeting someone from the Southern Isles. Oh come on Anna, be a little more tactful when talking about your sister.
"Well, we wouldn't want to disturb your mother right?" Karen mused as she walked past Anna, and not looking where she was stepping, proceeded to make a wooden bucket go sailing off the dock.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. It was obvious that the last thing she wanted was to look like an embarrassment to her hopefully potential sister-in-law. She cleared her throat again and clasped her hands together eagerly as she composed herself "You can show me the castle, the town… and the rest of your family then!"
"Yeah," Anna answered but despite her own excitement she let her mind drift to that of her mother and father. She said nothing for a moment as they started off their walk to the castle in a steady manner, but hearing these false assumptions… about her family, Anna had to confront this other princess about just who her family was. "Oh, um, I should have explained that earlier." she slowed her walking so that she might fill in the other Princess as they walked through town.
"It's just, my sister and me, we lost our parents in a storm a few years ago, since my sister's older, she was next in line for the throne so she became Queen, and as it stand, I'm just the spare." she shrugged, although despite her forlorn subject matter she had a smirk on her face, "But I don't mind, when I'm back at the castle I'm usually helping Elsa out and spending time with her, we're pretty close!"
"Oh." Karen responded in a rather in a disappointed tone.Guess she doesn't have any brothers I can persuade to marry me then. I came all the way here for nothing. Wait, that's why I came here right?
She quickly changed her tone, and pretended to look sad. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear what happened to your parents. Really. I couldn't imagine…" She looked ahead and saw they were approaching the gates, and waved at a few citizens passing by.
Karen tried to think of something appropriate to shift the subject to as it looked like they were already running out of things to talk about. "You know, this is a really nice day, couldn't ask for better weather," oh goodness, the weather, that was totally a riveting subject. "I've always loved the summer here…"
But at that, she stopped abruptly and looked like she had just had some kind of realization. Frowning, Karen furrowed her brow as Anna stopped in tandem and turned back to look at her; wondering what had caused her new companion to fall silent.
Have I been here before?
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