It's A Sister Thing Chapter 2: A Picnic, a frozen fanfic

A Picnic

The queen yawned, stretching her limbs satisfactorily. Early morning rays of sunshine trickled into the large room enough for her to see all that occupied it. A vanity across the floor from the bed against the wall, an antique wooden trunk filled with linen and blankets between the two, her desk; stacked with parchment, quills, two ink jars, and her latest drawing not yet titled of the frozen port. Two ancient bookshelves filled with even older books stood on either side of the only window, behind the desk.

It's so empty, she thought wistfully. Well, there's time to change that now. Elsa pushed herself off the bed and re-made it carefully. It was silly, the maids would be by shortly, but still, it helped to keep her poised and hold those annoying thoughts at bay.

A bit more awake now, Elsa began her day. First, she bathed rather than showered, in near scalding hot water, and brushed her teeth while humming an unidentified tune. Next, she brushed her soaking hair into its more elegant crown-braid, the shorter part of her bangs laying loose on her forehead. She spent the day mostly in meetings, breaking only to eat and excuse herself to the bathroom. Long after the moon had risen, she undid her hair and fell gracefully into her bed. Her brain rattled off a few nonsensical thoughts before allowing Elsa to slip into much needed sleep.

Anna slept in until mid-afternoon, the suns' nagging glare finally stirring her. She twisted her body, trying to shake the sleepiness away. *Thump*. "Oops," she grunted, picking herself up off the floor and yawning. Yawning again, the red head padded over to her vanity and automatically began untangling the mane to make it hair again. An hour later, Anna began her day. First, she went into the kitchen where the sisters' head chef was already preparing her breakfast. "Mmm, smells great Gerda. What is it?" She hopped backwards onto the counter across from the cast iron pot, watching the older woman carefully stoking the fire beneath it.

"Apples in porridge, Your Majesty, your favorite."

"Mm, sounds great."

Anna ate, brushed her teeth, had a light snack consisting of jam and toast (also her favorite), and went to the stable to meet Kristoff and Sven. They cleaned and sang, and when Olaf joined them they took a break to eat an early supper on the hay riddled ground. When they'd finished, Anna saddled up her favorite horse, a white mare named BuckBeak, while Kristoff hooked his new sled up to Sven. Olaf rode with Kristoff and the four explored the country side of Arendelle. When the sun began to set, they returned, tired out from climbing mountains and escaping a small army of squirrels.

Which is how Elsa found herself being awoke the next morning by Anna babbling about the perfect spot for a picnic. "You should see it, it's gorgeous! It's not too deep into the woods, and there's this lake! A gorgeous lake! And gorgeous flowers, and gorgeous animals like rabbits and deer!"

"And squirrels?" Elsa teased.

Anna scrunched her nose and re-gathered her train of thought, which was struggling to stay on track. "Oh, oh and the grass is gorgeous! Wow I'm saying gorgeous a lot, aren't I? Well, it's gorgeous Elsa!"

When Elsa was sure her younger sister had finished, she cleared the remainder of sleep from her throat and smiled. "Sounds lovely. I have a meeting to attend to later, however, so we'll have to be back before supper."

Anna squealed and hugged her sister. "Yay! And don't worry we'll be back in plenty of time! Okay, so, I'll go tell the guys to get ready, we'll be at the stable okay? I'll saddle up Frost for you." Anna squealed again, hugged Elsa again, and exhaled with delight. "It's going to be perfect!

Elsa smiled earnestly. She lay in bed for a few minutes, taking the much-rehearsed steps to wake up her mind completely before getting ready. She brushed back her hair, switched her powder blue night gown for her blue and black riding gear, and stopped by the kitchen for the picnic basket before meeting her bubbly sister at the stables. True to her word, the gray tinted mare named Frost was saddled, as was BuckBeak. They were just reining up Sven when Elsa caught Anna's eye. She held up the basket of provisions and Anna clasped her hands over her mouth.

"I totally forgot about that part!"

"You forgot the picnic stuff for the picnic?" Kristoff laughed, throwing a plaid blanket that had hay clinging to it at the foot of the sleigh. Anna huffed at the ice deliverer with such an exasperated look Elsa couldn't help but giggle behind her hand. Kristoff had become such a wonderful friend to Anna after they realized they were better as friends instead of a couple. He'd agreed when she told him they had rushed things (after making a few cracks about Hans first of course) and had actually found a girl from the market he had his eye on.

"It's not like you to forget food!" Olaf chipped in. "Hmm I wonder what it tastes like."

"You wanna try some?" Anna offered, removing the basket off of Elsa's fore-arm, touching it briefly as a silent thank you.

"Oh do I!" Olaf clapped his twigs together enthusiastically and waddled forward to retrieve his treat.

Anna rifled through the basket and pulled out a small piece of chocolate. "Now, what I'm about to give you is sacred, alright?" Kristoff and Elsa exchanged looks of amusement as she continued. "Hold up your right, uh, twig." Olaf did as he was told, giggling. "Now, repeat after me."

"After me."

Kristoff laughed into his jacket sleeve.

"No, Olaf, don't say after me. I'm going to say something and repeat that, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Alright, I Olaf,"

"Hereby accept this piece of Heaven,"

"With gratitude and honor."

Content, Anna held out the bite sized brown candy, which Olaf accepted eagerly. He popped it into his mouth. The rest of them looked at him intensely, awaiting his unpredictable reaction. "Wow that's amazing!"

Anna opened her mouth, smiling smugly, to reply when Olaf's head detached itself from his body and spun around rapidly. Then it landed again with a soft *poof* and his stubby snowball legs began to run in place.

"Uh, you okay little buddy?" Kristoff asked, removing his hat and scratching his head.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh, your feet?"

Elsa and Anna were both tilting their heads as they looked at Olaf with both worry and hilarity. Olaf looked down and inhaled with a crack of his voice. Simultaneously his hands flew to his cheeks. "I guess they liked it!" He waved his arms zealously and began to run in tight circles.

"No more chocolate for him," Elsa whispered in Anna's ear, who wore a perplexing look on her face. Sven snorted and stomped his foot into the ground impatiently.

"Oh alright," Anna conceded. "C'mon Olaf get in." It took another minute or two for his body to comply, but once Olaf and Kristoff were ready to go Anna got onto her horse. Elsa pet Frost's snout gingerly before mounting him.

"Good boy," she crooned, making his ears twitch. "Ready?" They began to trot, with Sven's group a bit ahead of the girls. Elsa took the time, trusting Frost to follow the leader, to take in the scenery which encompassed them. On her run from the townsfolk she hadn't much time to admire the landscape, and what she had seen was covered with the snow she had accidently unleashed on her kingdom.

Anna seemed to know what Elsa was thinking, as she commanded Buckbeak to move closer to them and said "It's pretty with all the leaves turning color isn't it?"

"Mm. Prettier that I can enjoy it with you though." Elsa smiled. Anna beamed, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink.

"Papa and I used to go riding all the time. 'Any proper young lady must know how to ride gracefully' he'd say. Of course, I never did quite manage the 'graceful' part," Anna giggled. "I remembered I'd asked if you knew how to ride…" She said quietly, unsure how Elsa would react.

Though her body tensed for a moment, Elsa looked over at her sister and smiled sadly. "There were a few times, when mama took you out to the town, that papa let me ride. I'm not very good, and I was never allowed to go faster than, well than what we're going right now, but to be fair I'm not quite sure I'd want to anyway."

"Why's that?"

"For me, part of the fun was the exploring. Being in my room for days left me to my imagination, so it was always interesting, when I did go out, to be able to see what actually surrounds our home, rather than rely on my less than creative mind."

Anna's eyes filled up. "Oh Elsa, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Elsa grinned. "Now I get to explore with you, and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world."

"Not even chocolate?"

"Hmm okay, maybe chocolate." teased the blonde.

Crossing her arms, Anna huffed, then clutched BuckBeaks' neck as she started to tilt forward; she'd let go of the reins and lost her balance.

Elsa brought a hand up to her mouth and giggled behind it. "Very graceful."

The younger girl stuck her tongue out and smiled. Her eyes grew wide with realization suddenly, and she looked around. "We're almost there," she whispered, her mouth widening.

Up ahead of them, Kristoff led Sven to a narrow path encased by trees. Leaves in full bloom, the dirt trail was dark, lit only by the patches of sunlight that trickled down. In silence, the group made their way slowly to a small clearing. Anna smiled when Elsa gasped audibly, her eyes flitting around, trying to take in all she saw. Greens and browns, camouflaged together surrounding them; sunlight flooding down and spotlighting the area with gold, the grass thick and lush, untamed yet mild beneath their feet.

"Is that where the squirrels attacked you," Elsa giggled, climbing down off Frost and nodding over to their right, where footprints were etched into the ground and small trees were destroyed.

Anna giggled sheepishly. "Uh, one of the places, yes." She too unmounted her horse, though her foot got caught in the stirrup and she flailed inelegantly forward, hopping on one foot for a few paces before finally regaining her balance. "Woo! I didn't fall this time!" she beamed proudly, hand on her hips and chest puffed out.

Elsa shook her head in amusement, and led Frost to where Kristoff was removing items from his sled. "Would you mind if I tied Frost here?"

"No, of course not! Here," he said, taking an empty wooden bucket from the floor of his sleigh, "I'll go fetch them some water. C'mon Sven," Kristoff said heartedly, separating Sven from his reins and beginning to walk towards a small, almost invisible path amongst the greenery.

"Oh yeah!" Anna exclaimed, coming over with Buckbeak. "I think I forgot to tell you! We found a small lake when we were running from the squirrels! Well by found, I mean I fell into it. And by small, I mean reaaaally small, but it has a river that leads upstream somewhere. Maybe we can come back together sometime and look for where it ends? Or begins, whatever. I know you don't have time today…"

"Mmm, but perhaps in a few days?" Elsa, crouched down setting out the blanket, looked up and smiled. Absentmindedly, Anna sat beside her, removing items from the straw basket.

"I've missed you," she said. "I know it's only been a few days since we've hung out, but… After not having you for years I just, I need more… more time to spend with you. I sound stupid, I'm sorry, I know you're the queen and there's way more important things you have to do and- "

Elsa raised a hand and glared at her sister. "There is nothing more important to me than you, Anna. I know I've been busy, and I appreciate you being patient with me. When I settle everything I messed up by causing winter, I promise Anna, we will do anything you can think of. Together."

Anna's eyes lit up. She bit her lip, looking endearingly at her sister. "Promise?"

"Promise." Elsa leaned forward and kissed the top of her sisters' head.