A/N: It seems the first chapter was well-received, judging from the feedback. Thank you! I'm still figuring things out a bit as I ago, especially in how to consolidate the uncertainty and newness of a thirteen-year separation with Disney's "happily ever after"-esque ending in the film. I grappled quite a bit with this chapter, but it's finally done. Hope you all enjoy.
chapter two: where to go from here
"I was thinking that—! Well, maybe we could- I-I just thought you'd like to…"
Anna paused and stared at nothing, hands grasping at air. Her cheeks colored and she huffed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Well, I thought that—assuming you weren't busy!—we could take a stroll around the gardens. Sit outside and enjoy the summer air? Maybe?"
She waited for a response, then sighed, gaze falling to the floor.
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that."
Then Anna's eyes narrowed and she jerked her chin up.
"Well, it's not like you'd say anything of course." She pouted.
Her dress for the day, hung upon its rack, stood silently in front of her changing screen. Anna blinked several times at it, as if waiting for a reply. When none came she threw out her arms and sighed. Her gaze trailed up to the ceiling and, arms still spread out, Anna said, "Okay I get that I wasn't made for intelligent conversation and that we haven't- well, okay, cut me some slack it's hard to practice conversation with people when there's no..." She paused her breath and looked at her dress, arms lowering.
"...people."
It came out in a soft, shuddery breath.
Anna ran a hand through her fringe and rubbed the nape of her neck. The heat of embarrassment met her palm and her cheeks colored enough to disguise her freckles. She glanced out the window and watched the sunlight filter through the glass, spilling past her drapes to her room in a brilliant, golden glow.
So different from the cold and weak light of winter.
If her window was opened, Anna was most certain she'd be able to smell the sea breeze and hear the distant docking and loading of ships. She studied the bright circle in the sky, not yet high enough to mean noon.
"She's up by now though," Anna murmured. She crossed her arms over her chest. Then she gasped, hands covering her mouth. Muffled, she squealed, "She's up by now!"
Anna took off, bursting through her door and down the hallway to Elsa's room. She skitted around the corner, bypassing a servant who called to her in distress.
"Princess Anna?! Is something wro—"
Anna didn't hear his words, for in the next moment she was too busy introducing her rear to the floor.
Anna blinked several times, mouth parted in a little 'o'-shape as she tried to make sense of what had occurred. Just seconds ago, the walls had been a blur as she ran and now everything was a standstill. Her brain finally catching up with her feet, the princess lifted her gaze from staring at pale blue slippers, up along a navy gown, to blue eyes with a creased, dark brow.
Ah yes, Elsa.
Anna grinned.
Then her smile dropped.
Elsa!
Leaping to her feet, Anna dusted off the front of her dress, all the while talking at a mile a minute. "Elsa! You're up! Wow I'm so sorry did I bump into you? Wait no, of course I did. I mean I was running down the hall and—"
Heaven help her mouth, she couldn't pause! Her hands gestured here and there.
"—then I'm on the floor and you're in front of me and obviously I had needed to hit something to fall down and I didn't hit the wall so it must have been you and wow, I'm so sorry I—"
"Anna," Elsa said, simply and only.
Anna clamped her jaw shut. Her teeth clacked.
Elsa stood only a few paces away, but Anna noted the way her torso was turned to the side, with her hands curled in front of her chest. Anna thought about the feel of two slim arms around her, holding her close and tight. She wanted to pout. She pulled her face into a smile instead, though it curled oddly at the corner.
Elsa's furrowed brow deepened.
"Are you okay?"
"What?"
"You fell down. Are you okay?" Elsa licked her lips. "Are you...hurt?"
Anna's cheeks colored. "Of course I am! I've fallen on my bum plenty of times Elsa, it doesn't hurt me anymore."
She tilted her head and her smile stretched farther on her cheeks. Elsa's face softened, as did her posture, her clasped hands falling to her stomach. Anna's lips parted to bear a toothy grin. Her hand clutched at the fabric of her dress by her hip as she tried to ignore the throb of her rear. It stung a bit. Just a bit.
"That's good." Elsa glanced around the hall and when she looked back, Anna thought her expression seemed hesitant.
Elsa bit her lip (Anna tried not to stare), then asked, "Did you fall asleep in your clothes from last night?"
Anna blinked, straightening. How odd. Though it was true, for she hadn't removed her clothes last night before falling asleep. Sleep had been too tempting for that.
"Yes, why?"
Elsa's lips curled at the corner. She made a small noise. Had it been a giggle?
Anna leaned forward, eyes wide.
"You're still wearing them…"
What?
Anna's brow furrowed and she looked down. Yes, she was indeed wearing the clothes from last night. They were rumpled. She hadn't put on the dress hung on her rack that morning.
Anna's cheeks flushed.
"Oh. Yeah. I was just—" She patted down the front of her clothes, as if it would make her look more presentable. "I, um..."
Elsa was smiling. It sent a—not wholly unpleasant—shiver down her spine. Anna wanted to stare at it. Instead, she picked off imaginary lint from her shoulder.
"I got distracted," Anna chuckled, nervous. "I'll go back to change, but I was wondering—assuming you have a free moment," there was an incredibly interesting, particular spot on her sleeve, "I was wondering if you'd like to...chat for a bit, in the library?" Anna glanced up, placing her arms behind her back.
Elsa's smile softened. "I can't right now, I'm sorry Anna. I'm about to have a meeting with the council."
"Oh…" Anna deflated only a little this time.
"But…"
She perked back up.
"Perhaps we could-" Elsa crossed her arms over her stomach and Anna felt her own flip over, "head for a stroll around the gardens mid-afternoon?"
Anna gasped and startled Elsa, who recoiled. She blushed and Elsa blushed too and they stood there blushing for a moment before Anna gathered her words. "Yeah, sure, that sounds nice! I should, um, I should go back and get ready. Get changed I mean. For today. Yeah. I'll do that."
Elsa watched Anna as she backed away, the red tint gone from her face, but Anna didn't miss the amused glitter in her eye. "Until later then."
The princess waved and nodded in response.
When Anna had turned the corner and out of Elsa's sight, she heaved a long sigh. Her cheeks split into a brilliant grin.
She'd done it.
Anna's smile grew even more.
She'd done it!
Anna squealed and tugged on her braids, jumping in place. Elsa and her would spend part of the afternoon together! They'd go for a stroll around the gardens together, enjoy looking at the flowers together, feel the fresh air on their faces together, exchange words together. Her mind raced with the possibilities. She needed to get ready for the day. Perhaps if she went about her duties today at a faster pace, it would magically bring the hour closer to mid-afternoon!
That sounded splendid, she thought. She needed to get dressed right away!
Anna raced back to her bedroom, making sure not to bump into someone this time and fall on her rear.
The day could not go by faster!
It really did not go by faster, much to her disappointment.
In fact, it had seemed to do the opposite.
Once Anna had gotten properly bathed and dressed, she found not much time had passed at all. It felt as if she had spent ages in the bath and then ages in front of her mirror, observing her dress for the day from every angle, twirling this way and that. Why, she didn't know. But she had felt it was of the utmost importance. And it was also why she had undone and redone her braids, fingertips fiddling with the ends.
She fingered the bright red strands, marveling at the silky texture now that she'd cleaned off the last vestiges of dirt and grime from, well, climbing up a mountain and saving a freezing kingdom.
Growing up as she had, Anna had longed for excitement—adventure and thrill and danger and anything not boring.
Now, sitting at her vanity, she appreciated the mundaneness of doing up her hair.
Anna undid and redid her hair one last time, checking herself in the mirror one last time before she exited her bedroom, finally at ease enough to face the day. It was, to her understanding, going to be a really busy day. Though she didn't have to attend the same meetings Elsa did which were, to her knowledge, to discuss the issues the kingdom was facing in aftermath of the frees, Anna had to similar matters to attend to.
A whirlwind of activity carried Anna throughout the day, keeping her mind mostly off a certain someone. She met with the locals about the freeze, oversaw the beginnings of construction out on the fjord, spoke with the visiting (and now leaving) dignitaries and the like, checked in with Kristoff and Sven, who generally stood off the wayside from the busier activities. A few times during the day she was reminded to eat at least a small meal somewhere in between her runs. But even though she was as busy as a bee, feet jumping here and there throughout the town, Anna felt the hours stretch slowly by, like clouds rolling lazily through the sky.
At one point, she sat herself upon a bench in the center of the market square, resting, and gazed out in the direction of the fjord.
It struck her then, that she missed Elsa.
"Oof!"
Anna threw away decorum and rubbed her face into the grass, cool and damp blades tickling her flushed cheeks.
A gosling quacked. Anna cracked open an eye and stared into the beady, dark gaze of her companion.
"'M so bored Frederick!" she groaned.
A tiny bill poked her side and she lazily lifted her hand to stroke a downy-soft head. He quacked again and waddled closer, giving a few chirps before hopping onto her back. Anna devoted her attention to the feel of his webbed feet hustling upon her back. A few feet away she spotted Frederick's siblings hobbling across the grass, their mother at the front as she led them to the pond nearby.
Frederick pecked the nape of her neck. Anna didn't budge, closing her eye and deepening her breathing. It only took a few minutes, eased by the afternoon breeze, for her to sink into a doze.
"What are you doing?"
Her eyes snapped open.
Had Frederick not been as quick as he was to get off her back, Anna would have spent the next few moments apologizing to the little gosling for springing up from the ground as she had, much like a fresh daisy.
"Elsa!"
Her greeting rivaled Frederick's squawk of surprise, she was certain. Anna sent him an apologetic glance as the gosling waddled away, chirping and ruffling his feathers indignantly as he made his way back to his siblings.
Elsa tried her best to hold back a smirk. Anna's cheeks welcomed a rosy blush.
Tucking back a lock of hair behind her ear, Anna grappled for conversation, something to divert the attention away from the fact that Elsa had caught her lazing in the gardens like sludge. She settled on the first words that came to mind.
"How was your meeting?"
Elsa's smile fell away for a grimace.
"Meetings."
Dammit.
"Oh."
Anna licked her lips. Elsa glanced away and crossed her arms over her stomach, a much more subdued blush blooming over her cheeks. Anna took the chance to marvel at the icy raiment her sister had donned again, captivated by the light bouncing off its frosted sequins. She wanted to inquire on why her sister had chosen to continue wearing it after the Thaw, for Elsa had never worn anything so...sheer before.
She blinked. Her brain screeched to a halt, then doubled back. Ah, that was why.
Bouncing up from the grass (and startling Elsa again; her sister was, to her surprise, easily started), Anna patted down her dress and tucked her hair behind her ear. When she could meet Elsa's gaze without feeling as if her own would set aflame, Anna looked to her and found blue eyes waiting to meet her.
Blast it, her face grew warm.
"So!" Anna chirped, not oblivious to the way Elsa flinched at the sudden exclamation. Her heart rattled obnoxiously in her chest, but Anna didn't allow herself to be deterred. She had waited all day for this. "Uhh, so, how about that walk through the gardens?"
Elsa's smile returned, if more softly, but Anna was pleased nonetheless. When she lifted her hand and parted her fingers, it only took Elsa a few moments (that felt like ages) before her hand slipped between Anna's fingers. She clasped it and the two set off down the cobbled path through the gardens.
At first, only their footsteps filled the air. Then, Elsa turned to her and asked, "How was your day?" A beat. "If you don't mind my asking."
Anna grinned, her heart jumping. She most certainly did not mind. Not in the slightest. She couldn't remember the last time someone had asked her that.
"I went to check out how the docks are coming along," she said, a slight skip in her step. "Everything's going along so well." She felt Elsa's fingers twitch and squeezed them briefly. "The town's pretty happy. It looked as if everyone just wanted to get on with their lives."
Indeed, the townsfolk had accepted an isolated sorceress and princess as their leaders so...seamlessly. Maybe everyone was still in shock.
Elsa hummed and they busied themselves for a few moments with silence and swinging their hands together lightly.
This is so lovely, Anna told herself. The feel of Elsa's cool palm in her own contrasted pleasantly against the warm summer air on her back. Elsa's hand also tickled. Anna kept glancing down to see if it was really there.
"No one gave you any trouble?"
Anna snapped her gaze up, but Elsa was facing forward. She pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. "No, most people were busy with their own things."
Elsa smiled. "I'm glad to hear you weren't overwhelmed."
The edge of Anna's lips quirked up. "A few of the children did ask me if I really climbed the North Mountain."
This time Elsa faced her, brow creasing. "How did you get up the North Mountain?" Her expression faltered. "I...I never did ask how the journey went, if it was safe."
Anna laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I mean, it wasn't exactly safe at first." Elsa's hand tightened around hers. Anna's shoulders twitched. "At first I was just by myself you know?"
Elsa nodded and tugged her back into walking again.
"I wasn't alone for long though!" Anna said. In all honesty, she didn't want to talk about how she had spent a whole day trudging through the snow in only her ballgown. She already told her horse he wouldn't have oats for a week.
Elsa's fingers relaxed in her grip. "Then?" she gently urged.
"I found Oaken's and he helped me by trading some clothes to me." Anna's expression softened and she could almost hear the fireplace crackling in the merchant's shop. "Then I met Kristoff."
A warmth bloomed in her chest and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "We made a deal and set out that night. Everything was going fine until the wolves came along."
Elsa snapped her gaze to her and Anna felt a chill start from her palm.
"Wolves?!"
Uh oh.
Anna coughed and gestured uselessly with her free hand. "It sounds worse than it was." She neglected telling Elsa about the fear coiling in her gut when she had first seen their glowing golden eyes in the dark. "We fought them off pretty easily. I even knocked away one with a lute when it tried to attack Kristoff."
"You knocked away a wolf with a lute," Elsa said, dry and offhand. Her eye twitched.
"Yes." Anna twiddled her fingers by her side. Her ear tips felt red.
"A lute."
"Quite."
Anna almost tripped over her own feet in her haste to come to a halt, so as not to ram into Elsa, who had stopped in the middle of the path.
"Really?"
"Yes Elsa, I knocked away a wolf with a lute. Why is this the part you're stuck on?" Anna chuckled.
Elsa gazed pointedly at a bed of flowers, reaching out a hand to stroke along the stems. When she replied, Anna strained her ears to hear it.
"It could've bitten your head off, or something equally devastating."
Anna rolled her eyes up to watch a cloud drift through the blue summer sky. She patted her hand against her chest, then laid it flat over her sternum and felt her heart thrum through the bone.
"Well, it didn't!" she proclaimed, after a few tense seconds.
Elsa turned her gaze away from the flowers and narrowed her eyes at her sister. "And that makes it okay?"
"Yes," Anna said, without hesitance. Blue-green bore into pale blue, before Elsa relented and began walking down the path again. Her hand trailed away from her hip, outstretched back toward Anna, and her fingers opened. Anna took the invitation and they entwined fingers again, her face smiling widely enough for the both of them.
"I still owe Kristoff a sled," she mused aloud after they'd walked several paces.
Elsa perked up. "I can take care of that."
"Oh, really?" They both flushed at the surprise in her tone and Anna coughed. "I mean, thank you. Well, yeah, obviously it's the same money, but is it okay if I oversee the choice in sleds? I want to make sure he gets the best."
"Of course it's fine." Elsa smoothed nonexistent wrinkles on her gown. "It's the least I can do to thank him for helping you."
"Oh I still need to introduce the two of you! I think you'd like him. He likes ice."
Elsa's expression was blank for the moments Anna smiled in cheek at her, then she grimaced. "Technically, we've already met."
Anna blanched. "Technically, yeah."
An awkward pause stretched between them.
Then Anna glanced back at Elsa and forced a smile. "You'll like each other though, I'm sure! He's a nice guy. Kind of a dork, but sweet." Her smile smoothed out and became genuine.
Elsa's gaze was scrutiny, then smirking. "Sounds like someone I know."
Anna pretended to pout, sticking out her lower lip as far as it would go. She earned herself a giggle and preened when Elsa covered her mouth with her hand. They continued on down the path.
When Elsa stopped to inspect a bed of crocus flowers, Anna internally celebrated that their hands remained in contact, even if the angle was a little bit awkward and she had to bend down.
"Thank you, Anna."
It was little more than a hush.
"Huh?"
"I said, thank you." Elsa straightened.
"For?"
Elsa broke their hands and brought hers up to her chest, clutching them so tight her knuckles turned white.
Anna leaned forward, raising her own hand. "For?"
Elsa hummed.
"Everything."
She found herself at a loss then, speechless, words caught thick in her throat.
Elsa watched the crocuses sway in the summer breeze, but Anna watched Elsa, who stood still as a statue.
That night Anna squirmed and wormed her way under the covers, freshly bathed and in proper nightwear this time around. Though her mattress, blankets, and cushions were soft and plush and wonderful, Anna sprawled spread-eagle over her bed and remembered the feel of powdery snow crunching underfoot.
She heaved a long, deep sigh.
Eventually, closing her eyes and accompanied by the stuttering tempo in her rib cage, she drifted off into darkness.