JQ: HEY!
This one's a bit of a shorty, but I have to get to work.
*Le sad*
Anyway, yeah so I hope this chapter paves the way for what I plan to do.
mwaha...
MWAHAHAHA.
It's not bad, I promise.
enjoy, lovelies!
It had been well over half an hour now. Elsa was standing over a frustrated Manuela, who was slumped in her chair, in the library of Arendelle castle. Manuela pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. This negotiation quickly became too personal, and they began fighting about their lost friendship. Of course, Manuela hadn't intended for this to occur, but she couldn't hold her damn tongue and this was her punishment:
An angry Elsa, relentlessly asking her questions she didn't want to answer.
"I don't understand, Nella!" Elsa shouted at the brunette, "You keep saying that you're not angry with me, yet you keep uttering these snide remarks!"
"I can't help it!" Manuela defended, "They just flow out of me, like exhaling breaths!"
"Then what the hell is your problem, if it isn't me?!" Elsa begged, placing her hand over Manuela's, "Just tell me...please?" the blonde's eyes bore into the brunette's and they stared at one another for a good few minutes. Manuela sighed, giving in.
"I'm not mad with you, Ellie..." Manuela declared, using Elsa's old nickname, "I never could be." This much was true. No matter how many times Elsa dictated what games they'd play; no matter how many times Elsa would borrow her toys and never bring them back; no matter how bossy she was...Manuela could never get mad. That, therein, was the problem.
The brunette tried and tried and tried to hate Elsa for abandoning their friendship. She desperately tried to think of Elsa in a way that made her unappealing as a friend. She tried and tried to just hate the girl, so that it would be easier to be rid of her. But, she couldn't do it. She couldn't detest, loathe or even semi-dislike Elsa.
That was what made her upset. She could not, for the life of her, get over not being friends with Elsa. Therefore, it wasn't Elsa that she was mad at...
"I'm mad at myself." Manuela explained. However, this explanation didn't help and Elsa was more confused than ever.
"Why on earth would you be cross with yourself, over the last 13 years?" Elsa inquired. Slowly, after a moment of silence, Manuela's deep blue eyes stared back into Elsa's light blue ones. The brunette was on the verge of tears and Elsa felt her heart ache.
"Because I allowed myself to miss you too much." was all Manuela said, before bursting into tears at her own admission.
On instinct, Elsa wrapped her arms around her friend and soon felt her own tears building. Once her tears began to fall, Elsa clutched the brunette tighter and Manuela reciprocated the same effort. They cried together for about several, or so, minutes before feeling their last shuddering sobs subside.
Even though they had stopped crying, they were still holding one another, on the floor of the library. Neither of them wanted to let go, now that they were hugging again, but neither of them wanted to talk about it because it'd be really awkward. They wouldn't talk about it.
Not yet, anyway.
"We should get back to the others," Manuela said, out of the blue, "and continue our negotiating when we aren't crying or yelling." Elsa chuckled at that.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." the queen agreed. However, despite her agreement, she was still holding Manuela tight. The brunette blushed and began to squirm.
"Uh...Elsa?" Manuela asked.
"Yes?"
"Getting back to the others requires us to actually...you know...move."
"Right, sorry." Elsa, hesitantly released the brunette and watched her as she stood back up. Manuela chuckled, looking back at Elsa, who was still on the floor. The taller girl outstretched her hand for the blonde to take. Elsa took it and was quite surprised when she was brought upright in one swift, strong, motion. "Whoa!" She stumbled forward, but Manuela was there to catch her. They locked eyes again and blushed. "You're, uh, stronger...than I remember." Manuela scoffed, playfully.
"All of my disdainful commentaries aside, you haven't seen me since we were young."
"True." Elsa conceded to that fact. Before anything else could be said, Manuela glanced around the room, taking an inventory of all the things that now had thin layers of ice on them.
"Wow," Manuela gasped, "you really are quite powerful."
"After the events of last year, it makes sense that my powers are in direct correlation with my emotions." Elsa stated.
"Mind over matter." Manuela told her, before opening the door so that they could leave. Once it was opened, Manuela held it open, gesturing for the queen to leave first. "After you, your majesty." Elsa smiled and did as she was told.
A smile found it's way onto Elsa's face at the gesture. It reminded her of how Manuela was, when they were younger. Elsa was happy to see that.
...
The four princes, Anna and Kristoff were now in the dining hall, still awaiting Elsa and Manuela. While the boys were chatting among themselves, Anna couldn't help but continue to wonder what on earth Jannick had meant when he said that this trip was for his sister.
Anna was often called a "nosy" or "curious" child and tried her best to not be that way, but she just couldn't help herself. After all, this was Hans' family.
The family of the man that tried to kill her and take over the kingdom of Arendelle.
She simply couldn't take it anymore, and decided to ask. She walked up to Jannick and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around and smiled softly at her, Anna felt much better about the question she was about to ask.
"Um, Jannick?" the redhead began, "I've got a question for you." the blonde man smiled brightly and nodded.
"Well, your highness, ask away." Anna took a deep breath.
"I-i-it's just that...well...this might come off as too personal, no, it will come off as personal, and I don't want to offend you, or your family, but at the same time I need to look out for my own family, which isn't as large as yours, it's mainly Elsa, me, Kristoff, Olaf, Kai, Gerda and the staff, but I guess in that sense I also have a large fam –!"
"Whoa, whoa, breathe please." Jannick ordered, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. "Be still and breathe. I'm not an expert in remedies, and if you pass out, you're going to remain passed out." Anna blushed.
"Sorry." the blonde prince chuckled and released her shoulders.
"That's quite alright." he then gestured to her, with his right hand. "Do continue."
"Right! Well...I just wanted to know what you meant when you said that this trip was for Manuela." Anna paused to watch Jannick's smile fade, slowly. "I thought that this trip was for Hans' proper punishment." Jannick merely shrugged.
"Yes and no." Jannick adjusted his collar, nervously, "It is on behalf of Hans' sentencing, but we chose Manuela specifically for the mission." the redhead's head tilted to the side, in confusion.
"Why?"
Jannick took a deep breath.
"It's a long story, but to summarize it's for Manuela to get back on friendly terms with Elsa. Our father, bless him, is old and hysterical, mind you. But for the last few years he's been remembering things. And one of those things is how Happy our Manny was when she had her best friend. Beyond 13 years ago, I've never seen my sister smile genuinely. I've never seen her laugh. And I mean truly laugh." Jannick took a second to look around at each of his brothers. They, too, wore sad expressions and Anna felt her heart warm. They cared for their sister as much as she did. "I'd like to see it." Anna nodded, in understanding.
"I understand. I've never seen Elsa...unwind. She's so careful, collected and poised; rarely does any activity without a list." all four brothers rolled their eyes.
"Manny is the same way, except she's just...um..." Jannick was having a hard time explaining it, so he turned to Niklas. "Niklas? What would you say the best way to describe Manny's personality was, again?" the short-haired brunette prince wore a smirk.
"She's like porridge."
"Yes;" Jannick sighed, "she's bland. Very...boring. Never doing anything outside of what she has to do. Schelin, our older brother, said that she used to do artwork and crafts. But she stopped all of that." Anna found herself confused beyond belief, again.
"Why?" Jannick sighed again.
"That's...a part of the long story. I cannot say anything about it without the consent of the rest of my brothers." the three princes looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders.
"I'm good." Niklas said.
"Yeah, same." Ivan conceded.
"I kind of forget what happened, because I wasn't really there." Daniel added. Jannick huffed. Apparently he was the only one who regarded the family secret with respect. But, he was true to his word.
"Well then. I guess it's story time."
"Wait. Shouldn't Manuela tell us, herself?" Jannick shook his head, aggressively, before answering Kristoff's question.
"I've learned from experience that if everything was up to our sister, we would be in the dark about everything." Ivan nodded in agreement.
"Essentially, the bitch could be choking and we wouldn't know until the obstruction left her throat or she passed out and died." Daniel hung his head.
"Sad, but very true. Jannick? Proceed" before Jannick could say anything, Niklas saw the doorknob turn and quickly elbowed his brother in the ribs. Jannick doubled over, in pain and shock, while everyone else smiled widely as Manuela and Elsa entered the room.
"Well, well, well...look what the wolf dragged in." Ivan said upon seeing Elsa and Manuela walking into the dining hall, to join them for dinner. Everyone smiled, seeing that Elsa and Manuela hadn't mauled one another to death. Daniel made his way over to his sister and placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" he asked. The brunette just nodded meekly.
"I'm not a human ice cube, so yes, I'm alright."
"Good!" Niklas exclaimed. Jannick just nodded to the Southern princess and she nodded back; a promise to disclose information later.
The evening, carried on, without any further interruptions. Manuela and Elsa had light, pleasant, discussions while everyone watched the two friends slowly reunite, properly. The whole scene was quite adorable, but Anna and Kristoff eyed the four brothers; still curious as to what this trip was really about. The princes had their eyes trained on Manuela and Elsa's every move, praying things keep going steady.
Their plan had to work.
