Chapter 2

A while later

"…And that is why the sea is salt."

Elsa closed the book, with a gentle snap. All the snow-children were staring at her, mouth agape at this stunning revelation.

"And now, I think Anna here can read out the next story."

Anna's mouth opened, but she very quickly shut it as her heart swelled with warmth, and a little pride. Elsa trusted her with this incredible responsibility, with being a role model to her snow children, because of how mature Anna was. Anna got up in a dignified manner, marched over to the chair in a mature and not at all excited way, sat down in a manner befitting this serious assignment, and, with much pomp and ceremony, pulled up the last storybook.

It was "The History of Sandford and Merton".

Anna threw it away.

Okay, not threw it away threw it away, but she tossed it aside (gently, because Elsa is watching, and disapproves of damaging books, even "ughh boring" ones), because seriously, that book was – is – boring.

Everyone was staring at her, though for some reason Elsa was smiling. It was nice to know that her sis had her back, at least.

"Okay, everyone! Auntie Anna has her own story!"

The staring continued. Anna was sure her own smile wasn't fooling anyone.

"This story is a very special story! It's about…Knights! And…Pirates! Knight Pirates! On the open seas! Fighting evil! For this, is the story of Kristoff!...er. Kristoffer, I mean Christopher the Knight!"

Kristoff facepalmed.

"You see Christoph is a knight, the knight of Arrenvell Kingdom. Once upon a time, Arrenvell was ruled by the just and wise king, and protected by Christopher. But one day, Christopher had to ride out because…his brother had moved to a new palace up in the mountains, and needed help with moving all the furniture. There was no misunderstanding that meant the brother had to run away or anything."

Elsa's face was rigid, but in her "not trying to burst out laughing kind of way". Anna took that as a thumbs up: any day where Elsa laughed and smiled was a good day.

"But while he was away, the wicked Hans… Hansel seized power, that jerk, and locked the good king in the dungeons. By the time Christopher returned, Hansel had crowned himself king, and was being even more of a jerk then before, taxing and oppressing everyone, seizing Christopher's house, forcing everyone to sing his praises, that kind of jerk stuff. Also, he had recruited a lot of soldiers and ordered them to arrest Christopher, the only mortal who could rescue the rightful king and defeat the tyrant. And by tyrant I mean jerk, and by jerk I mean Hans…el."

"And so Christopher was forced to flee, despite his dashing countenance and enchanted sword and legendary skills, because even he couldn't block fifty spears at once; some people have no sense of chivalry. But Christopher vowed to raise his own army and return one day to liberate the king, the people and his house. So he boarded a ship to far off lands, seeking fame, fortune, reasonably-priced mercenaries and a hardboiled egg, which he wanted because he was hungry."

Anna's stomach grumbled, but she ignored it in favour of checking her audience. So far so good: Kristoff looked interested in hearing of his fabulous exploits, Elsa was nodding her on, Olaf was holding his head forward so that the sound would reach his ear…spots faster, Marshmallow was so engrossed in this tale of loss that he taken his tiara off and was hugging it like a teddy bear, and the snowgies had gotten so caught up that some of them were imitating the characters, posing heroically or villainously.

Actually, that gave her an idea…

"But before the story can continue, I need some volunteers-"

Two snowgies had already dashed ahead of the pack to Anna's chair. All the other snowgies returned to their spots, defeated. The two lucky snowgies, however, were giving Anna the brightest smile she'd yet seen.

"My two assistants, –"

Anna turned expectantly to the two, who turned expectantly to their mother.

"Flurry and William."

"My two assistants, Flurry and Willia-"

Anna whirled back to Elsa.

"William?"

"William."

Anna turned back to the waiting crowd.

"As I was saying, my two assistants Flurry and William will act out the story while I narrate."

"Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, so Christopher was sailing away from home, crying many manly tears despite his promise to return-"

The actors demonstrated by having Flurry stare scornfully at William, who was trudging away despondently.

"-when pirates attacked! Their ship was being boarded by the Dread Captain Anna!...ia. Dread Captain Amelia, the fiercest, most honourable and only female pirate captain on the seas! There was a brief, hopeless battle, and before long, the cargo was being plundered, the crew and passengers were taken prisoner and the ship itself commandeered."

William had been tackled by Flurry, and was squirming on the floor while Flurry loomed over him, foot firmly on his chest.

"Christopher's adventure was over before it even begun. Amelia would ransom him off, straight into Hansel's clutches, and Christopher would never see the light of day again."

William went limp with despair.

"Yet there was a miracle."

The two actors turned to her, tiny mouths agape.

"When Christopher and Amelia locked eyes, there was love at first sight-"

Anna caught Elsa's eye, despite trying really hard not to.

"-there was romance in the air-"

That wouldn't cut it either. Beneath her, the two actors continued to stare up at her, but their faces were blank, like they couldn't understand what was going on.

"-there was an instant connection."

That one seemed to pass muster. Beneath her, the two actors shrugged, and leaned together, closing their eyes. It was a hug, just without arms.

"Christopher was released from his chains-"

William was allowed to get up.

"-explained his quest to the captain-"

William jabbered silently to Flurry, gesturing with his foot back to his point of origin.

"-and in response, Amelia, who let him call her Amelia, made him a member of her merry crew, and promised him fame and fortune and the services of her crew, if he would in turn serve her."

Flurry jabbered back, and then they leaned together again. When they were done, she gestured expansively at the surroundings, in 'welcome to the crew' kind of way.

"And so, Christopher the knight of Arenvell, became Christopher the Knight Pirate, the Chivalrous Corsair, the Mannered Marauder, the loyal companion of Captain Amelia, whom he always called Captain Amelia as a sign of respect."

Side-by-side, Flurry and William walked in lockstep.

"It helped that he got his hard-boiled egg as a sign-up bonus, because he was pretty hungry by that point, not that I'M pretty hungry or anything-"

RUMBLE

Once again there was silence; once again her face was consumed by scarlet.

Elsa got up.

"I think Anna needs a short break before she can continue the story any further."

The circle broke up into a flurry of discussion, as snowgies, Olaf and Marshmallow moved every which way in a rush of excitement, discussing what they had heard and speculating wildly about events to come. In fact, a circle of snowgies had formed around Flurry and William, jumping up and down around them, simultaneously applauding their performance and begging for secrets. The two actors smiled and revealed nothing, mostly because they knew nothing about the plot twists ahead.

Kristoff meanwhile, was reassuring Anna that he thought no less of her for her active metabolism, and no, no, no one else did either, did you see your audience, they loved the story! Okay, it was going badly at first, and yes, I should have had more faith in you, and with hindsight, facepalming was a terrible thing to do, yes I am a stinker…

At this point, Anna interrupted him by shoving her face into his. Their kiss lasted until Elsa gently dragged Anna away; if another stomach rumble had instead interrupted their little moment, Anna might have died of embarrassment there and then. Elsa couldn't allow that. Besides, she was a bit hungry herself.

Kristoff smiled encouragingly when Anna looked back apologetically, mouthed "Bring me something too", and turned to appreciating the ice. Dear God, that ice…

When they had reached the outside, and patted Sven on the head, Elsa leaned over to Anna.

"You can have whatever you want from the palace kitchens – I won't stop you, you've earned it."

"But – wow thanks Elsa! – but you've forgotten that the palace is down there, and we're up here…"

Elsa smiled.

"Anna, I'm the Queen of Snow and Ice. For me, going down a snow-capped mountain is even easier than going up. Now, watch and learn."

Elsa flicked her hands, and a snow wave formed in front of them, awaiting its queen.

Anna followed her onto the wave, though she was still a little doubtful. Elsa saw her face and said, "Just remember, hold on tight. Oh and yes, have fun: it will be a wild ride."

"Wild ri-?!"

The avalanche began.

And yes, Anna held on tight (while screaming her head off) as Elsa rode down the mountainside, dancing on her avalanche, smiling and laughing as her soul lived.

(Author's note: when they got to the bottom, they rode a 'regular' snow wave, it's not like Elsa would crash an avalanche into Arendelle)