Mountains of stacks of books lay sprawled across the mahogany desk. Elsa's head lays on an open novel she must have been reading for hours, considering it looks like she was almost done. Anna prances past the door, heading to bed, and knocks to say goodnight to her sister. When she does, no answer, of course she's used to that silence following, though she has also gotten used to just letting herself in.
Once she does so, she see's her girlfriends hair pinned up in a messy french braid, draped down her back as she dreams peacefully. "Oh, my cute little flower," Anna sighs quietly, appreciating how cute she looks: her head resting on her folded arms on the desk, a small smile originating from serene dreams. She sneaks in, careful not to interrupt Elsa with loud squeaks from the door, and grabs a quilt from her bed and drapes it over her girlfriend. "Sweet dreams, love."
"Elphie?" Elsa whispered, "Where are you?" Frost stretches up the walls, glazing the floor underneath her. The door feels colder and colder on her back by the minute.
It's been weeks since Elphaba visited her. She longed for the green-skinned girl to be beside her again.
"Please Elphie! It's getting stronger!" Another blast of frost rebounds from her hand and hits the window in the shape of a snowflake. She slides down to the ground, back against the frozen door, horror struck. Please, Elphaba... she thinks, "I need you here," she whispers through pained lips, strained from holding back tears. Elsa's cheeks and nose turn bright red as she cries into her lap.
Please, my parents are gone! She thinks to herself, as if her friend, wherever she may be, could hear her. I just need you here. What am I going to do?
"...People are asking where you've been..." A muffled voice from outside the door sings, "...They say have courage, and I'm trying to, just let me in." Every word stabs Elsa in the chest again and again.
"What are we gonna do?" Anna whispers
What are we gonna do? The broken girl thinks.
Elsa gasps for air as she suddenly awakes to a dark room, with the moonlight as the only illumination through the frosted window. Cool, damp streams cover her cheeks and eyes. She quickly wipes them off and realizes it was only a dream. Her heart is racing. She looks over to her girlfriend, sound asleep in their bed.
The Snow Queen crosses over to the bed and climbs in next to Anna. She strips down to her underwear and wraps her arm around her sister, trying to force the thawing love into every part of her body to keep Anna warm. Before she lulls to sleep, she see's a vibrant-green reflection of light in the mirror across the room. She hesitates a moment: Elphie?
"Good Morning Sweetie! Glad you came to bed last night, I missed falling asleep in her arms," Anna cheers a little too loudly next to Elsa, rustling her awake. Her eyes flutter open to the red-haired girl leaning over her - who surprisingly isn't wearing braided pig-tails today; it looks cute.
"Good Morning Babe," Elsa grumbles in a sleepy voice.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes babe, and you?"
'Well yes..." Anna pauses a moment and glances at the floor, then looks up and says, "Who's Elphaba?"
This catches Elsa off guard, she's taken aback, air caught in her throat mid-breath. "What are you talking about?" Her heart speeds up.
"Elphaba. Several times last night I heard you say that name in your sleep." Anna's expression grows more serious with each word.
A brief moment passes while Elsa thinks of something to say, "I had a dream last night. And there was a woman in the dream was named Elphaba."
"What happened in the dream?" The ginger-haired girl raises an eyebrow.
"Well..." - the queen clears her throat - "I don't remember that much of it, only that Elphie- Elphaba and I were in some weird dimension - 'Oz' she called it." She weaves a tale of only the second-hand information Elphie had told her about her homeland. The natives, "Munchkins" as she said, were almost like mutant elves, but with a stable civilization, just twisted slightly - wizards and witches and flying monkeys and talking animals. It sounded more like a certain someone took a little trip on some Spanish Sherry, but for all Elsa knows, it could be real.
Anna begins to laugh hysterically, "You're such a nut, baby. Now come down out of Candyland, or whatever that place was, and get dressed. The royal family of the Kingdom of Corona is here for brunch." The moment she says that, Elsa robotically get's out of the bundle of blankets and slips into her comfy silk dress, though it's tight around the waist and not exactly her color: red.
Her sister, however, is completely dressed - mint green, long sleeve dress, with a ribbon around the waist to match - and has that anxious expression on her face, waiting for Elsa to do what she does best. The Ice Queen pats her hand on her hip, and from where her hand lies, a series of cool blue swirls cascade up and down the dress. The pink in her long sleeves transforms into capri-length baby blue sleeves that frills at the end. The poof at the bottom of her dress slims down the slightest bit to fit her better. The baby blue continues to work itself up and around her form, and the end result is a beautiful, casual dress, with the collar barely grazing her neck with it's matching frills.
"It's magical," Elsa's astonished girlfriend says. She grins at the irony of her statement. "C'mon, we need to go now."
"Yes, yes, I'm coming." The queen fixes up the ribbon around her tiny waist and hurries down the hall with her sister. She looks over to the redhead on her arm and tries to mentally communicate to her, afraid the words will echo downstairs: Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. She hates thinking that way, but she knows that her girlfriend understands somehow, and it needs to be comprehended to the full extent.
Anna notices the look in her eyes and nods. A bit worried, she bites her bottom lip and looks forward. Once they reach the top of the spiral staircase, which leads to the grand entrance, they simultaneously unlock their arms and hold their hands in front of themselves.
"Remember," Elsa whispers.
"I know, bab- Elsa," her sister sighs as they walk downstairs. They reach the bottom after a long silent series of steps, and the royal family awaits for their acquaintance. Both the king and queen are easy to spot, with their complex attire design and gold crowns. However, there is also a small, brunette girl with short hair, around the same age as Anna, who is clinging on to the arm of a strong, yet slim man, with a little chin spike and matching colored hair. Both of them are following the casual theme, making the king and queen of Corona stand out a tad.
"Hello, your highnesses," The Ice Queen greets them as her and her sister cursty, "Pleased to meet you all."
"Hi!" The young brunette cheers excitedly to them, even though she's only a foot away. She speaks rapidly, almost incomprehensibly excited, "I'm Princess Rapunzel and this is Eugene and my father and mother, Amelia and Marcus." She gestures to each person as she says their names.
Elsa grins at her quirkiness, a characteristic she adored in her sister. "I'm glad you're excited, Rapunzel," she chuckles, "Now, follow us in to the dining hall." Both the small, royal families head down the hall extending from the grand entrance to giant double doors, which on the other side lies the dining hall. The Ice Queen tugs at her gloves, nervous, remembering what is inside them, remembering the fear. She swallows it and carries on forward.
The brunette walking behind her notices this and moves quickly up next to her and whispers to her, "Don't worry, I completely understand." This caught the queen completely off guard. She looks down at her hands and clenches them into a fist.
"How could you?" Elsa replies quietly. Rapunzel grins and glances down at the floor, running her hand through her hair. She remains silent while the queen ponders it for a minute. I'll have to talk to her about it later.
They all finally reach the dining hall and two servants open the double doors for them. Once the doors open, Elsa looks up. What lies ahead of her, sitting in her chair, staring her right in the face.
"Hello, Elsa," the creature says, in the most menacing voice she had ever heard.