Author's Note:
Wow! I'm surprised by how many views I've already gotten! Thanks for viewing and please leave a review, telling me what you like and what I can do better! This one is going to be longer than the last one, and I'll try and do a longer one next time as well!
Warning: This is rated T for dark content (that will appear in the future).
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Frozen or any of its characters and plots, I only own my changes and twists!
"Mommy! Mommy, look, I made a snow angel!" Anna rushed over to me, grinning and pointing at an impression of her backside in the snow a few feet away.
I chuckled and pulled her hat further down on her head, slightly covering the long, puckered scar on her forehead. "That's great, sweetie. Keep playing."
She hesitated, then said, "Mommy, I wanna build a snowman with Elsa."
I gasped slightly, then looked around. George was approaching us from the castle, so I spoke quickly. "Honey, we don't talk about Elsa around Daddy, okay?"
She looked confused for a second, but before she could reply, George walked up to us and scooped up Anna in his arms. She giggled and hugged him, then pointed at her snow angel and babbled about it. I smiled at her antics, then looked back at the castle, which always looked forlorn and solitary to me in the winter. Anna's enthusiasm was contagious, but I wasn't quite happy whenever I thought of our other daughter, alone in her room.
After a few minutes, when Anna was running around and playing in the snow, George came up to me and smiled. "She's having a lot of fun," he said, looking back at our daughter. Then he looked back at me and said, "She's growing up so fast. Soon, she'll be a queen, ruling over-"
"Wait," I interrupted, looking him right in the eyes. "Anna can't be queen. That's Elsa's birthright."
The mention of her name paled him, and he glared at me. "You can't be serious. She's out of control, she can't possibly inherit the throne when we're gone!"
Anna paused and turned towards us at his raised voice, but I quickly smiled at her, and she went back to playing. Then I looked back at George and replied with, "Listen, we can't just take away the throne from our eldest. I don't care what reservations you may have, she'll have her power in control by the time she's queen."
He was about to respond when Anna ran back towards us, some of her coat buttons flying open as she recklessly tumbled through the snow. Under his breath, he said, "We'll discuss this later." Then he turned towards Anna and grinned as she launched herself right into his arms. I watched, smiling, but underneath, my thoughts were in turmoil. It was wrong to just ignore Elsa's right to rule... right? I wasn't quite sure. If it wasn't safe for her to be in charge of the kingdom, then Anna should be the one to rule. But maybe she'd be in control by then...
The sunset began glinting on the white blanket of snow around the castle, and George smiled at me. "Ready to go inside?" he asked, picking Anna up, who looked like a huge wool puffball in her coat.
I nodded. "Let's go." All three of us walked back towards the castle. Within minutes, Anna was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of hot cocoa, her coat discarded on the floor along with her hat. She still had her boots on, which she absolutely adored (and wore at all times, much to the dissatisfaction of the shoe cleaning maid). George was sitting next to her, smiling and listening as she chattered on about the snow. I watched for a few minutes, then left the kitchen quietly. I walked up the stairs, making sure to avoid the creaking sections, then went down the hall towards the purple and blue detailed door. I knocked quietly, then said, "Elsa? Are you in there?"
It was a second before I heard her usual reply of, "I'm in here. Come in." With her invitation, I opened the door, then paused as I saw several snowflakes hovering around the room. There were icy spikes projecting from the wall in several places, and I carefully avoided them as I walked in.
"Hi, sweetie," I said gently. "Ready for bed?" The little girl in front of me was very thin for her age, with dark bags under her eyes and a strange clearness to her eyes. She looked too old for her age, beyond her years in many ways. Her white-blond hair was in its usual braid, but it was a bit frizzier than usual. I smiled kindly and walked up to the bed, then grabbed her brush. "Let's take care of that hair." Elsa sat next to me and gave me a small smile before turning her back to me. I took out her braid, then softly ran the brush through it. The light from the sunset was filtering into the room in rays, hitting the ice crystals along the walls and causing sparkling luminescence to fill the room, making Elsa's bright hair seem like it was glowing. After a few minutes, I put the brush back down. The light was fading as she crawled under the covers of her bed. I shivered as the room chilled, but kept smiling for Elsa. I began the last part of the nightly ritual, humming the usual slow tune.
After I finished, Elsa asked, "Mommy, where'd you learn that?"
"I don't remember." I shrugged, then smiled and said, "It's pretty, isn't it? All right, time for bed." I tucked in the blankets around her and kissed her on her pale forehead. "Good night, sweetie. Love you." For some reason, she didn't say anything back tonight, and was silent as I left the room, but I didn't worry about it. It didn't seem important at the time.
As soon as I left the room and shut the door behind me, I heard footsteps, and turned to see George quickly walking towards me. My eyes widened as I realized he had seen me coming out of the room. "I was just putting her to bed-" I began, but he interrupted.
"You're all right," he said, embracing me, his voice surprisingly gentle.
I paused for a minute, obviously surprised. "Wait, what? Why wouldn't I-" Then I looked back towards Elsa's door. "George... you're scared of your own daughter?!"
He looked me right in the eyes. "Darling, I don't want you going in there anymore. At all. All right?"
"But I was just putting her to BED! There is nothing wrong with that!"
George's hand brushed against my skirt, then he held up his palm towards me. It was covered in frost. I looked down and I gasped as I realized that my skirt was covered in ice crystals, and I also realized that I had been shivering. Still... he was overreacting! "Look, it was just a little cold. That doesn't mean I can't go in there and see my daughter!"
"It's dangerous." The hard set in his jaw told me how serious he was about this. He certainly didn't think this was irrational. But why? After a few seconds, he turned away from me and walked towards a nearby guard. I overheard him saying, "Set up a watch around the eldest princess's door. Let no one in or out, unless giving the princess food. All right?"
The guard nodded, and I gasped and walked towards him. "George, this is absolutely ridiculous! How DARE you lock her in there! She'll be lonely!"
He whirled towards me. "I'm trying to keep us all safe! Leave, or I'll make this worse for her!"
Was he THREATENING me with Elsa's well being?! How dare he! But seeing that he wasn't budging, I glared at him, then walked back down the hallway, determined to return and get Elsa out.