"Elsa, come on! You need some time to yourself to have some fun!"

"Anna, I'm very busy. I cannot just leave my work unattended. I have to make sure everything regarding the kingdom is accounted for."

Anna folded her arms against her chest and huffed, pouting in the direction of her older sister. Even though she was no longer locked in her room or afraid of her powers and what others thought of them, Anna could deduce that her sister was still a stickler when it came to fun. Sure, Elsa was now Queen of Arendelle, but in Anna's mind, that didn't mean her older sister couldn't have fun. Elsa could take a break from work and leave her in charge – after all, she was a princess of the kingdom. She could handle whatever duties necessary if it meant that her sister was enjoying her day to the fullest.

"I can take care of it all!" Anna grinned, approaching her sister from the side and resting her arm upon the wood finish. "I mean, I would have to do the same if you were to travel. How hard can it be?"

"I don't know, Anna," Elsa bit her lip ever so slightly, keeping her attention focused on the papers before her and the pen in her hand. "I have to meet with the Private Secretaries in half an hour to review my daily quota. Afterward, I'm to meet with government officials to discuss some rather important matters."

"Piece of cake! I can take care of that and then some."

"Anna, I don't know. These aren't short meetings and conversations. They can take as long as an hour—"

"I know, that's the point! Let me take care of your duties today – you deserve some time off."

"Anna…"

"I already appointed Kristoff as your escort for the day. Don't keep him waiting, Elsa. He's outside."

The sound of scribbling had come to a sudden halt, and without warning, the Queen felt her heart flutter at the mere mention of the mountain man's name. Her brow rose before she quickly composed herself, and as she turned her full attention toward her younger sister, she lay her pen down beside her paperwork.

"You should have known better than to take time out of his schedule for something that was certain not to happen," Elsa contended, hands fidgeting about in her lap. "I can't just leave my duties like you seem to think."

"Um, hello – I am talking to the Queen of Arendelle, aren't I?"

"Yes, but—"

"Please just do this for me, Elsa," Anna's voiced lowered. "And if not for me, at least do it for Kristoff. I don't want to send him home after dragging him all the way over here!"

Her younger sister did have a point; sending the poor mountain man home after Anna had left him to wait for God knows how long wouldn't exactly be the nicest thing possible. After all, he resided on the edge of town – a mere thirty-minute walk, fifteen by horse, or in his case, reindeer. Sending him home now would make the Queen appear rather cold and distant – much more than she already appeared in his eyes.

Elsa sighed in defeat.

There was just no winning with Anna, was there?

"Fine," she sighed in defeat, pushing her chair and herself away from the desk. She stood slowly and straightened her back, patting down any wrinkles or unnecessary folds in her dress. "I'll allow Kristoff to be my escort in to town if it really means that much to you."

"Yay!" Anna grinned, clapping her hands together and jumping for joy just before throwing her arms around her sister and drawing her in close for a loving embrace. "You have no idea how much this means to me that you're finally getting out of this stuffy castle to have some fun!"

"Anna, it isn't that I don't want to have fun, it's just—"

"You're busy with your royal duties; yeah, yeah, I know, but that's where Princess Anna comes in to save the day! Now shoo! Go on, before Kristoff gets grumpy and leaves!"

His hands had been shoved deep within his pockets from the moment the two departed from the palace. Not a word had been spoken for the past fifteen minutes; half of their trip in to town, and Elsa wondered if Kristoff had put up as much of a fight with Anna as she had earlier that day. His brow was furrowed just the slightest, and his bottom lip stuck out nearly unnoticeable in a small pout.

The silence was just about as uncomfortable as walking this distance in heels – and that was saying a lot for Elsa.

She could see the town come into view just on the horizon, listening closely for the sounds of the townspeople above the click-clacking of her ice heels and heavy footsteps of Kristoff's boots. It truly had been quite awhile since she had ventured off to mingle with the citizens of Arendelle and experience life of a commoner, and the simple thought sent a wave of anxiety coursing through the queen's veins. Her hands fidgeted about as she walked beside the mountain man.

"Um, Elsa," the ice harvester muttered beside her, gently nudging her side with his elbow. "You're kind of making it snow."

The queen hummed in surprise, glancing up above to find his words rang true – although light, snow was in fact falling around them. She quickly composed herself, ceasing her anxious fidgeting and reining her powers back in. With a flick of her head, she brought her long braid back to rest over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Kristoff," she quickly apologized, glancing every which way to make sure none of the passersby noticed the slight slip-up from the queen. "I guess I have yet to gain proper control over my ability."

"Don't apologize; a little snow in the summer never hurt anyone. In fact, it would help me greatly! Summer isn't exactly a prime month for an ice harvester," he offered a half smile, allowing his shoulders to slump as he seemed to relax even the slightest. "You know, there's nothing wrong with being nervous."

For the first time during their less than pleasant walk to town, Elsa looked up at the young man in curiosity. "I'm sorry?"

"I may not be the best at reading people, but even I can tell when someone is nervous about something," he flashed a playful, toothy grin. "You may be the queen and all, but you're still human – it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Her brows knitted together and a smile played at her lips; she supposed Kristoff was right, and if anyone knew just how she felt about being around others, it would be the burly blond beside her.

Perhaps Anna was on to something – perhaps Kristoff would, in fact, be a great friend for the young Queen of Arendelle.

"Thank you, Kristoff." Almost instantly, the fight against her emotions was lost, and the smile, which tugged at the corners of her lips, had ultimately won the battle. "Truly."

"Don't mention it, Your Highness," his grin faded to a smile as he absentmindedly kicked a pebble across the stone pavement. "Er – um – Elsa, Elsa!" he stumbled over his words, catching his slight slip-up and remembering that she had granted him permission to address her informally by her name. "Sorry, it's just going to take some getting used to."

She smiled up at the ice harvester and allowed the silence to fall upon them once more as they entered the town. Her bright blue eyes surveyed the area, falling upon the bustling square filled with many laughs and smiles from both children and adults alike. Her smile spread from ear-to-ear at the sight and sounds, happy that, now, she and her sister could finally be a part of the joy that the citizens shared.

"How about we go have some fun before these people bombard their lovely queen with questions?"

"Oh, I don't think that's very polite of me, Kristoff."

"I do have to make good on my promise to Anna, and if I come back telling her that you talked to a bunch of people the entire time, I don't think she'd be very happy with me."

His words rang true – if they were to return back to the palace with news of failing to fulfill their promises, Anna would surely whip up some sort of punishment, most likely pushing them out of the castle and back in to town with orders not to return until they could honestly say the two of them had even so much as an ounce of fun.

It was a difficult to reject his request, especially with the way his brows knitted together and his bottom lip protruded out in a pout. Had Anna been teaching him just how to win her over?

"Fine," Elsa sighed, giving in to the mountain man's ways. "As long as we aren't gone too long. I don't trust Anna's decisions enough to leave her alone to tend to my work for the day."

"Good, I didn't plan on dying by Anna's hand today," he chuckled. "I'm not the best at this fun stuff, but I'm sure we can manage. Just remember, even the Queen has to have fun sometimes."

"Funny, Anna said something along those lines this morning."

"I've come to learn that she's usually right about these things – now then, how about some lunch to start this day off right?"

A/N: I almost scrapped this chapter after going over it. It feels a bit bland to me... Tell me what you think. I love hearing constructive criticism. I'm also sorry this chapter took longer than expected. Being busy, as well as having writer's block, have really kept me away from this. Anyway, until next time!