[In this chapter, Anna and Elsa have good times in bed together.
Oh. N-no, not like that. Get your mind outta there!]
They arrived back home fairly late in the evening, but Elsa still went into her study to work on her present right away (after making sure Anna went right in to take a hot bath!).
Could she make a present out of ice that didn't melt? Surely she could somehow, Olaf was alive and well due to his own personal flurry. And even her dress seemed to have some magical quality about it that kept it up. Not to mention the whole... eternal winter thing. Ick. Bad memories. She just needed to learn how to better harness that energy.
She tried multiple different ways of manipulating the magic, trying to get it how she liked for what she wanted to make, but none of them were satisfactory. Well into the night, she decided she'd better stop and try again tomorrow, or she wouldn't be rested enough for work. And after all, she still had a few more days before the event.
She walked into her room, tired as could be, and what she saw made her freeze in place.
Quite literally. Her feet were frozen to the floor.
"Oh, there you are." Anna was sitting up on her bed, wearing her cutest frilliest nightgown, hugging her pillow. "Can I sleep with you?" She said in the syrupiest voice she could manage.
"G-guh?" Elsa forgot how to words.
"I won't hog all the covers, I promise." Anna said. "And I don't kick. That much."
"Wh-whi?"
"Ooh, is it suddenly colder in here?" Anna shivered. "Maybe I will hog all the covers after all, ehehe." Anna was smiling. The cheekiest smile Elsa had ever seen. Was she trying to provoke her on purpose?
Oh boy. What does she know?
Elsa snapped herself out of it. "I suppose," she said hoarsely.
"Yay!" Anna immediately snuggled up under the covers. "This'll be just like when we were little! We used to sleep together all the time!"
Elsa began to loosen up as she remembered. Simpler times with simpler feelings.
She got into bed next to her. "Did you do your 'bedtime business' beforehand?"
Anna nudged her. "Elsa, I am a grown woman now, I will not wet your bed." She poked Elsa in her most ticklish spots.
"Hey, hey!" Elsa squealed. "I'm just teasing. You used to though, I remember."
"Aah, so embarrassing." Anna buried her face under the covers.
"And I would get so cross with you. And eventually I banned you from sleeping in my bed." Elsa nudged her back. "I heard from the servants that you kept doing it until you were 10."
"God," Anna mumbled from her blanket fortress. "Yeah well, I know embarrassing secrets about you, too." She peaked her eyes above the covers. "I remember you used to be afraid of mushrooms."
Elsa blushed. "Ah... I d-did not!"
"Yes, you did!" Anna smirked triumphantly. "I remember when you and I went on a walk with mama and papa-we came across a faerie ring and you became so scared you started to cry."
"Ah... well! They're so gross!"
"You were scared of lots of other random things, too. Sunflowers, the color red, having your silverware on the wrong side of the plate..."
"Okay, okay!" Elsa said, shaking away the imagery. "I have sufficiently been paid back now, thanks."
Anna hugged her to show she meant no ill and the two had a good laugh. They stayed up far too late telling such stories until they finally fell asleep snuggled in to each other.
The next morning, Elsa was late to her first meeting.
"Your majesty?" Kai said with a knock at the door. "Are you in there?"
Elsa's eyes flashed open.
Shoot.
It was already very bright outside. It must have been at least 10 o'clock! How could she have allowed herself to be so irresponsible? Quickly but quietly so as not to disturb Anna, she got out of bed and dressed herself and jumped right into work.
Work was difficult however. All she could think about was Anna and how much fun they had had. And how great last night was. And the party. And Anna. And Anna some more.
At one point she almost wrote Anna's name on an official document.
Oh gods, what is wrong with me?
I have never been this absentminded before.
Oh, my, I'm...
I'm absolutely smitten.
"Coffee, your majesty?" Gerda said sweetly, carrying a tray into the study.
Elsa didn't respond.
"Queen Elsa?"
"What? Yes? Oh, hello." Elsa fiddled with her braid. "Sorry, I'm a bit... distracted."
"Mmm, I've noticed you've been very distracted lately." Gerda said good-naturedly. "Would you like to talk about it?"
"Oh..." Elsa swallowed. "Oh, no its okay, I appreciate it but..."
"Oh, don't feel obligated, dear, I just thought you might like having another woman to talk to." Gerda said. She fixed her coffee just the way Elsa always liked it. "If you ever do want to talk me though, feel free."
As Gerda headed to the door, Elsa squirmed in her chair. She couldn't. She shouldn't. She... oh, but she wanted to. The feelings inside of her were buzzing like bees dying to come out.
"Wait."
"Yes?" Gerda said.
Elsa's hands were shaking. She put them flat on the desk to try to steady them. "S-suppose, hypothetically, there was this... person... that felt some really really strong feelings for someone... and they didn't understand those feelings... and they didn't know what to do with those feelings and they didn't know if the other person reciprocated those feelings,and they didn't even know if they should have those feelings! And they didn't know if-!"
"Whoa, sweetheart calm down," Gerda said gently. Elsa hadn't realized she'd risen right out of her chair.
"S-sorry." She said, taking her seat.
"My, my, that certainly is a lot for a young queen to be worrying about on top of her royal duties."
"Yeah..." Elsa said solemnly. "Oh, but not me of course. Just a... hypothetical... young queen."
"Yes, of course," Gerda said. "Well what I would hypothetically tell this hypothetical queen is this: it seems to me like she loves this person very, very much. And love can take different forms for different people."
"I-is that so?" Elsa said.
"Love is a force that's powerful and strange after all." She stared longingly out of the window as though reflecting on something. "As long as you both feel the same way and your love builds the other up rather than harming them, you don't have to worry so much about its particular form of expression."
Elsa sat thoughtfully, quietly watching her.
"Do you think my... love... builds her up?"
"Are you kidding?" Gerda said, turning back to face her. "I've never seen her happier."
Elsa smiled. Though her smile quickly fell. "But, that's because she doesn't know. I mean, I've never told her."
Gerda winked at her. "Are you so sure she doesn't know?"
Elsa raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Gerda couldn't help the giggles that escaped her. "Don't you worry, your majesty. You'll be just fine."
Elsa smiled warmly. So many thoughts were still swarming around in her head and in her heart, but talking certainly did help settle them. Maybe things really would be alright after all.
Gerda put a hand on her shoulder and, for a brief moment, Elsa thought she felt the presence of her mother there.
[to be continued*]
