There was to be a ball, and Anna could hardly contain her excitement. Elsa had announced it that morning, to her and the castle staff, telling them to spread the word to the townspeople.

"As you know, our previous trading partner has..well..is...not our partner in trade any longer, and it is crucial for us to secure new trades with other kingdoms. I think a friendly event such as a ball would be the best way to strengthen the friendships between us and them. I also think it would pose as a good time for me to apologize personally for the events of my coronation, which may have impacted them more than we thought."
Elsa was standing straight, her face unflinching, but Anna could see her hands shaking slightly as she addressed the people in front of her. It was one of the many things that Anna greatly admired about her older sister, she never let her nervousness of being queen show. When Elsa had her queen face on, it was hard to believe that she was only 21. Elsa's ice blue eyes lingered on Anna's, and Anna gave her a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.

Despite Anna's respect and love for her sister however, when Elsa began to explain in detail the plans for her trading arrangements, her thoughts began to wander.

There was going to be another ball at Arandelle! The last one had been nice at the start, before Anna had gone and spoiled it all by getting engaged to a mad axe murderer, but this one would be even better. She would finally have something formal to take Kristoff too, and he could hardly argue this time, not when it was so important.

The ball would be perfect, not just for her but for Elsa too. Anna would make sure of it.

"To the ball...with you?"
Kristoff went a little pink, and he stuttered slightly. Anna couldn't help but smile at his awkwardness.

"Of course Kristoff, who else would I go with?"
Kristoff still looked a little nervous, so Anna grabbed his hand and leaned in closer. "Pleeeease! I know it will be amazing!"

"I..dont...can't...dance...I," Kristoff muttered to himself, but catching a look at Anna's face, he sighed and said, "sure Anna, I would love to go with you"
Anna grinned, and pulled Kristoff closer to her, giving him a quick kiss before saying, "Thank you. I knew you would say yes"
They then sat down on Kristoff's sled next to each other, leaning back and gazing at the clear sky, Anna's hand small hand resting on top of Kristoff's large one.

"You know," Anna said quietly, after a few minutes silence, "I'm a little worried about Elsa,"
Kristoff turned his head over to Anna, looking worried, "Really? What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing wrong with her!" Anna assured him, "It's just, she's been working so hard lately, fixing up the kingdom and stuff. Ive been trying to help her out, but i'm so useless. I'm probably annoying her even."

"You're not useless!" Kristoff protested, "You're like, the bravest person I've ever met! And the kindest, and the prettiest and-"

Anna smiled, and squeezed his hand, but then sighed, and stared out at the trees around them. "I just want this ball to be fun for her, but she's just acting like its all about work and trading arrangements."
Apparently Kristoff didn't know how to reply to this, and Anna didn't really expect an answer. It was very peaceful in the forest, away from all the noise of the town. Sven was standing a few metres away from them, happily nibbling on leaves. Anna could hear Kristoff's warm breath as she shuffled closer to him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

But suddenly she had an idea.

"Kristoff," She said slowly.

"Mhmm?" Kristoff replied in a muffled voice. Apparently he had started to doze off.

"Youre Mr. love expert right? Do two people always fall in love immediately, or can they grow to love each other?"

"Uhmm," Kristoff pulled himself up, "You know, when i call myself a love expert, i'm usually exaggerating Anna."
"Yes, I know that," Anna pulled herself up too, a new feeling of excitement growing in her, "But if two people were introduced, such as, i don't know, off the top of my head, a queen and a prince maybe? Could they learn to love each other?"

Kristoff laughed, and looked comically at Anna, his shaggy blond hair falling in his face, "This is about Elsa, isn't it?"

"No! Well, maybe…"

"Hmm," Kristoff paused, "Well true love can come from anywhere really, in all shapes and forms. But that doesn't mean that everyone can be in love," He scratched his head, "That's what Pabbie says anyway" He looked suspiciously at Anna, "Why, are you planning something?"
Anna tried to shake her head, but her mischievous smile gave it all away.

The blazing summer heat had taken its toll on the kingdom of Arandelle, causing the streets to be crowded with civilians. Children played about happily, and sweaty townspeople went about their business with a spring in their step. After the kingdom had been frozen at the queens coronation, summer seemed like a blissful luxury, and they were all treating it like one.

In fact, the streets were so busy, and the people so engulfed in their own thoughts, that they barely gave a passing glance to the tall, hooded figure that walked among them, and stood watching them, sometimes for hours, taking in their happiness, and their laughter.

And silently groaning to herself.

Raven had not peacefully visited a human town in many years, but it was just as awful as she remembered.

They were all so painfully oblivious to anything that didn't concern them. And so trusting. And far too happy. She half expected them all to burst into song any minute and start dancing, as ridiculous as it was. She stood back, observed them, making mental notes of how they talked, how they acted. Afterwards, she went up to two women who had been chatting together on a corner, and talked to them, taking on the voice of a middle aged man.

She almost laughed at their stupidity. She had asked about the queen, as a passing remark, and the plump sandy haired woman who had introduced herself as Merelda had gushed on about "the beloved queen Elsa and princess Anna" Who were oh the beautifullest and kindest of people, looking after the kingdom, year long ice skating, blah blah blah.

When Merelda had mentioned the everlasting winter, The other woman, Rosalyn , had quickly butted in.

"Oh but you must not blame the queen of course, it was all an accident, the poor dearie. Didn't know how to control her powers, just wanted to protect her little sister."

"Yes, nearly frightened me out of my skin though, mind you, when she first used them. Made icicles appear out of thin air, never seen anything like it. You don't see much magic around these parts"

"Do you ever see her? The Queen?" Raven, still with the voice of a man, made the question sound like she was only slightly interested, though she didn't think the women would have ever suspected anything.

"Oh, now and then," Merelda replied, waving her hand, "She comes out to ice skate sometimes, or just walks around town. We see a lot more of her sister though, usually with that blond boy. Friendly one, she is. Anyone can approach her and she'll talk to them"

It was laughable. The stupid women had given away valuable information about the queen, not only to a stranger but to a masked stranger. Raven didn't find it the least bit surprising that they had almost been taken over during that two day everlasting winter.

"It's lucky that the princess is so brave," Rosalyn was babbling on, practically talking to herself, "that Hans fellow nearly killed the queen! It was Anna who stopped him"

"Thank the goddess for that" Raven muttered sarcastically. If the queen had been killed that day it would have definitely saved a lot of time. Mortals were so bloody inefficient sometimes.

Raven thanked the two women half-heartedly, and continued along the streets. She wandered about the mysterious queen Elsa, who everyone spoke so highly of. So far, from the information Raven had, the queen, although she possessed a lot of power, had absolutely no idea what to use them for. In fact, she had only just figured out how not to kill everyone she touched.

Charming.

It was rather curious though, Raven remarked to herself, powerful magic and running a kingdom was probably the worst combination of anything for a human to have, yet somehow this queen didn't seem to have any kind of evil intentions. A pity really, all that wasted potential.

"Or not" she said quietly to herself. Raven had come here with a task, and she didn't intend to fail.

"And you were planning on telling me when exactly?!"

Elsa had cornered Anna in the study, catching her in the middle of writing something that she had quickly tried, and failed, to hide.

"His name is Tobias," Anna said sheepishly, her cheeks turning pink, "Prince Tobias of the eastern isles. Kai and Gerda have been there, and apparently he's very kind. And handsome" she looked up hopefully, but Elsa didn't move.

"How many more princes did you invite?" Elsa demanded, a little louder than she had intended.

"Only three more, I promise! It's just a ball, so if you don't like them, you don't have to see them again. You don't even have to dance with them if you don't want to!" Anna was rambling, which Elsa knew meant she was very nervous, "I know Hans was a mistake, but not all princes are like that. Anyway, you saw right through him. And you never know, you might even find true love!"

Elsa was exasperated. "You could have told me. We could've discussed it together!"

"I know, I'm sorry" Anna bowed her head down, admitting defeat, "I was just scared you would say no"

Elsa sighed and sat down. There was not much point in arguing, what was done was done. To be perfectly honest with herself, she didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of it. She had always known she would have to choose a suitor eventually, it was what queens did, and an arranged ball would certainly save her the task of going out and meeting someone herself. Besides, dancing with a few princes couldn't hurt right?

"Fine," she said eventually, "you win"

Anna grinned happily and grasped the blonde's hands in hers. "All right! It will be fun, I promise! They will be practically murdering each other to talk to you"

Elsa raised her eyebrow, and Anna faltered slightly, "ok, bad choice of words. But you know what I mean," her smile returned suddenly, "and guess what? Rapunzel and her husband agreed to come! Our cousin! They were actually at your coronation, but well, with you freezing the entire kingdom we never really got introduced. But it's good to know that they weren't too put off by the whole ordeal"

Elsa had heard stories about the kingdom of Corona, and the lost princess. Apparently she had very, very long hair that had magical properties when she sang. It had sounded a little far fetched to Elsa, but who was she to talk?

After Anna had skipped away, Elsa rested her head in her hands, wondering what she had just agreed to. The whole fairy tale "true love" thing just seemed so incredibly foreign to Elsa. And as much as she tried, she just couldn't imagine herself marrying, and sharing the kingdom with someone. It even scared her somewhat. "It's just the long isolation," she thought to herself firmly. She was sure she would warm up to the idea eventually.

A/N: Thank you so much for viewing/reading. Suggestions are very welcome and will most likely be put into consideration. The story will heat up, don't worry. Please review! Have a nice day :)