Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! Hope people are enjoying the story. As a general note, I do not own frozen or any of the characters. Don't forget to read and review!

To say that Anna was excited for dinner? A bit of an understatement. To say that this dinner might just be the greatest thing to happen to her in all of her 13 years on this planet? A sad, but somewhat honest truth.

The young redhead bounced in her seat. Her father sat to her left at the end of the table, her mother directly across from her. Although on most formal occasions the couple would be on opposite ends, for this dinner they decided to sit close, making the atmosphere lighter and friendlier. The table was filled with more food than Anna thought imaginable, and she couldn't wait to start eating. Of course, she couldn't eat until the guests arrived, which they hadn't yet, thus leading to her excited and slightly impatient bounce.

The doors to the room opened, and a guard poked his head in to announce the arrival of the Western Isles group. "Princess Natalli of the Western Isles and her esteemed guests Sir Charles, Sir Edward, and Lady Emma."

The princess walked in first, a light blush covering her cheeks, presumably from the greeting. The young boy, Edward, walked in slightly behind her, giggling with the servant girl. Edward seemed excited, almost as excited as Anna. Emma on the other hand appeared quite nervous as she kept playing with the hem of her dress or twirling the ends of her blonde hair. The way in which she walked next to the boy caused Anna to wonder if they were perhaps siblings, or family of some sort, and their similar features strengthened her observation. Both had straw colored blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and were built short and slender. When they smiled at each other, both had dimples, although they stood out more on the rounded face of the young boy.

Charles walked in last, head held high, eyeing the room as though someone would attack at any moment. He took his seat to the left of Edward, who was sitting next to Anna. Natalli sat next to Anna's mother, with Emma on her other side.

Anna giggled as Edward struggled to remain still in his seat. He fidgeted, and looked at the food with great interest. It had been awhile since there was a child in the castle, and although he was probably 5 or 6 years younger than her, Anna sincerely hoped they would grow to be friends. Maybe he would be willing to play games with her around the castle.

Her father cleared his throat. "Thank you all for joining us for this meal. We understand that it is your first time here in Arendelle, and as such the kitchen has prepared an arrangement of traditional foods and delicacies. We hope you enjoy." And with that, he began eating.

The others nodded their thanks and looked at the food with new interest before trying it. As Anna predicted, Edward began eating with enthusiasm, stuffing his face with the closest thing to him. Leaning in, Anna said quietly, "Thats what we call gravlaks. The frozen in the waters during the winters, and harvested from there. We keep it frozen right up until it is heated over the fire to cook, thats why the flavor is stronger."

He beamed at her and said, "Its really good!", before proceeding to take another large bite.

Charles appeared to be enjoying the meal a lot too, although he ate slower, clearly more educated on proper dining etiquette than his younger friend. Glancing up, Anna noticed that Emma and Natalli were whispering harshly to each other, subtly arguing. The servant kept gesturing to the food while the princess shrugged off the other's concern. They glared at each other, and Anna wondered how backwards the laws must be in the Western Isles if servants were allowed to fight with royalty in such a fashion.

The meal began in silence as everyone ate, but as it continued on it became awkward, and Anna hated awkward silences. She was debating speaking up when her mother beat her to it. "Are you accommodations to your liking?" Her question was meant for the whole group, but her gaze was directed at Natalli.

"Yes, Your Majesty, thank you. The rooms are spectacular, as is this meal." The princess was polite in her response, and a bit distant, and Anna concluded that it was most likely due to the argument.

"Do you like to paint?" Anna blurted out, hoping to get rid of some of the awkward tension that was growing. "I love to. I used to be really bad at it but we closed the castle down a few years ago, I don't know if you knew that or not, you probably did, mostly everyone knows, but maybe not you since your from the Western Isles, not that thats a bad thing and anyway we closed the castle down so I couldn't play outside anymore so I painted a lot and got better at it and love it." She took a deep breath, conscious of the stares. Blushing, she mumbled, "so do you?"

Natalli's expression had softened, and she had a gentler smile on her face. Her eyes shown with amusement, and a bit of remorse. "No, I'm sorry. I cant say I enjoy painting all that much. I am terrible at it, and well, I've never been patient enough to stick with a hobby I'm unable to do. My sister loves to paint though, as does Emma here. She's very artisitic. An amazing dancer as well." She gazed proudly at her friend, who looked both smug and flustered under the compliments.

Anna turned to her in awe. "You can dance? Thats amazing! I've never been very good at it, I'm so clumsy. Can you teach me some time?"

Emma's eyes widened, and she glanced to the king and queen for permission before answering. "It would be an honor, your highness."

And with that, the dinner conversation took off, leaving Anna feeling very happy with the turn of events. For her first dinner with outside guests, she supposed it could have gone worse.


For the princess of the Western Isles, the meal was torture. The royal family was kind and gracious, and everyone seemed to enjoy the food around them, but as Emma reminded her at the beginning of the meal, she was allergic to seafood, and most of the foods offered were either a form of fish or a form of shellfish. She ignored her, mostly because her allergy was mild at best, causing only flushed cheeks and slight trouble breathing. In her mind, that was a small price to pay in order to make a good impression of the King and Queen of Arendelle. Emma thought differently.

"You cannot simply eat whatever you want! After what happened, you promised you would be more careful and start caring about your health more, and I promised your family I would look out for you. Just tell them you can't eat it."

Nat shook her head. "Look at all this food. Its practically all seafood and if I refuse it seems rude."

Emma pointed to a soup dish. "Thats not seafood, eat that."

"I didn't like that. Besides, it isn't a big deal. I'll cough a bit, retire early to my chambers, and I can just blame it on the voyage. Don't worry about it, my family never even has to know."

Her friend scowled and went back to eating, and luckily the redheaded princess salvaged the meal with conversation. Natalli found herself enjoying the presence of the younger girl a lot, and hoped the two of them could become friends, even if things with Elsa didn't go quite as planned.

After the meal, the King excused himself under the reasoning of having some last minute work to accomplish for the night, but Nat knew it was to explain her courtship attempt to Elsa. She hoped he wouldn't unintentionally push away his eldest daughter, but she supposed if anyone knew how to deal with the girl it would be him.

Nat felt the heat in her face, and took a few deep breaths. She stood, somewhat shakily, and nodded at the queen and others. "If it is alright with you, your majesty, I shall be retiring to my chambers. It appears the voyage has tired me out more than I originally thought."

Queen Idunna, who was currently in a conversation with Charles about the history of the Western Isles, gave her consent, albeit distractedly, and Nat took it as a sign to go. Waving off a servant, she opted to walk herself back to her chambers, knowing her companions would be fine on their own. Hoping to walk off her allergic reaction (or at the very least not return to her room until the symptoms were gone so as to avoid a scolding by Emma), she wandered the castle. The building was large, far larger than her own castle, and Nat found herself searching for the library. Instead, she ran into someone, knocking her out of her thinking.

"Oh dear I'm so…Your majesty! I do apologize, I wasn't watching where I was going." She bowed deeply, cheeks flushed from more than just the seafood.

He laughed. "It is fine, I myself wasn't paying attention either." He looked around for a second, and then beckoned her to follow him. "Perhaps you would like to meet Elsa? I just got out of speaking with her. She won't let you in the room, I'm afraid, but I've always found that she listens when you speak through the door, even if she doesn't acknowledge you."

"Right now? Are you sure it won't bother her? I wouldn't want to annoy her, your majesty."

"Nonsense! She will be happy to meet you. Like I said though, please don't be discouraged about a lack of response. It may take her time to open up to you. Not that you have to talk long tonight, it is getting late after all, but anything is a start, right?" He looked so hopeful, Natalli felt as though perhaps part of this courtship was for him to, in a roundabout way. He seemed to need this just as much as Elsa did.

They stopped at a door. "This is her room." He whispered. "If you can find your way back to your room, I'll leave you here?"

She nodded, staring intently at the door. It looked more worn than the other doors, and showed marks consistent with that of the doors to the barn in the Western Isles. They occurred with changes in temperature, particularly hot to cold or cold to hot, in a quick time period. How odd.

She glanced back, intent on asking the king, when she noticed he had walked away. She sighed, and knocked gently. "Princess Elsa?" Just as Agnarr predicted, there was no response. She cleared her throat. "Uh, hi? My name is Natalli, I'm from the Western Isles. I'm here on trade agreements with your father, and I was hoping to get to know you as well. If you want of course. Not that you have to say yes, because your not obligated to get to know me or even talk to me, but yeah I was hoping we could?" There was still no response, but she continued anyway, moving to sit on the floor, back leaning against the door. "I just got here today, actually. I met your sister, she seems very nice. Excitable as well. Your parents too were very kind to me and my guests. They gave us a lovely meal, with many traditional dishes from Arendelle. You guys sure do love your seafood, huh?" She chuckled, thinking it would be a long trip if meals like that were every night. "Can I tell you a secret, princess? I'm actually allergic to seafood and shellfish. Most people don't think to ask, seeing as I come from an island nation, but its true. Don't tell your parents though. I ate the dinner tonight, my allergic reactions are mild, and I don't want them to think I'm weird for not telling them. It just felt rude to, because the staff went to a lot of trouble to make the meal. I was actually on my way to bed when I ran into your father who led me here to you. I do hope I'm not bothering you, and that you are actually listening."

She paused, waiting for some indication that anything she said had been heard. "It is getting late, so I should take my lead now. I will come back tomorrow to talk more, if thats okay with you?" She stood, and waited for a reply. Nothing came. "At the risk of sounding annoying, your highness, I did not hear a 'no' from you, and as such I will be back tomorrow. Around this time again, maybe a little earlier." She laid her hand on the wood. "Goodnight, princess."

She lingered for a few moments, aching for any sign of recognition, any acknowledgement of what she just said. Unsurprisingly, she got none, and she turned away undeterred, looking forward to speaking again tomorrow.


When Elsa's father came to her, telling her that the princess of the Western Isles, Natalli, wished to get to know her, Elsa was adamantly against it. She argued with him, refused to see her, and begged him to tell her to go away. He left her, stating that she never had to see Natalli, but had pleaded that she at least listen to what the girl had to say, and to keep an open mind.

When she heard the girl approach, she was apprehensive, and expected her to give up after a few minutes without a response, much as Anna did. Instead, the girl continued talking, her voice warm and playful, though slightly muffled by the door, and soothed her like warm water. It was deeper than Elsa had expected, although in retrospect her only base of comparison was the voices of her own family. She sat down against the floor, eyes closed, and listened attentively to everything that was said, unconsciously making mental notes of what she learned about this strange girl who ate food she was allergic to so as not to seem rude and who would rather spend her time getting to know an isolated freak than courting a prince.

"It is getting late, so I should take my lead now." She said. Elsa sighed, strangely disappointed she was leaving. "I will come back tomorrow to talk more, if thats okay with you?" Natalli paused, and Elsa held her breath, refusing to respond in any way. "At the risk of sounding annoying, your highness, I did not hear a 'no' from you, and as such I will be back tomorrow. Around this time again, maybe a little earlier." Elsa bit back a smile. "Goodnight, princess."

Goodnight Natalli.

So...what did you guys think? Did you like the chapter? Moving to fast? Poor character writing? Let me know what you think, either positive or negative. After all, all feedback is helpful feedback. I'm going to be starting college in a few weeks so I will try to get as many chapters as possible before then, but please please review :) Also, I have an idea of where I want it to go, and am considering adding other disney characters into the mix, perhaps making them friends from Natalli's home? Let me know what you guys think! Thanks :))))))