~~~the next morning~~~~
The clock struck 8 am. The princesses were wide awake hours before. In fact, they never went back to sleep. Usually Frederick, the princesses personal butler, awoke them, but since he heard giggling through the doors, he knew he wasn't needed at the moment. The girls got dressed quicker than Sven could climb a flight of ice stairs giggling the entire way as they raced each other to Elsa's office, where she sat with Anna, who had fallen asleep the moment she sat down at her sisters desk. Elsa sat poised, straight up, sipping her tea while reading a map, still in her night gown. She looked up, and there were her two mischievous girls; their noses and eyes peering over her very large desk waiting to be noticed.
"Do you girls wanna do something fun today?" Elsa asked. It was a Saturday, and Saturday meant no duties for the weekend.
"What are we gonna do, mamma?" Ellie softly asked.
"Are we gonna go harvest ice with Uncle Kristoff?" Annaleise excited asked.
"No, not quite. But it includes ice." Elsa teased,
"Is it far?" Ellie asked,
"No, not very. But it will take some time to get there. Before I say anything else, let me wake your aunt up." Elsa replied. She got a cynical grin upon her face, made a snowball in her hand, gently lifted her sisters dress from the back up, and shoved the snowball down her back.
Anna shuddered. "COLD!COLD COLD! Elsa..." She shot an angry look at her sister who tried to hide her laughing, but it failed. The girls stood on both sides of their aunt and smiled. "You two...are really something else.." Anna thought as she fixed her messy braids.
"Anna, do you wanna go to that,,,you know...place?" Elsa asked, as she created a miniature version of the ice palace in her hand.
"Yes! We can finally take the girls somewhere! I mean, you can and I can be an extra pair of eyes. Or I can just come along because-" Anna began to say, but was soon interrupted by Elsa.
"Or come along because it can be a "sisters" trip." Elsa smiled.
"That too." Anna agreed.
"Mamma, where are we goin'?" Annaleise excited asked.
Elsa and Anna looked at each other and back to the girls. "Someplace magical." They both said.
Everyone except Elsa dressed warmly for the trek up the mountain. They went to the stables, Annaleise rode with Anna while Ellie held on to dear life with Elsa, who in fact loved to have her horse ride as fast as it could go through snowy banks. Anna let Annaleise sit in front, taking hold of the reins and dashed off, Anna falling off the back, landing in the snow.
"Annaleise, slow down!" Elsa shouted to her daughter.
"Woooooo!" Annaleise had gotten much farther from her mother, aunt and sister than she realized and stopped the tan mare.
"Anna, there's enough room for you to sit on." Elsa told her sister as Anna trudged through the snow in her snow gear.
"I've got this. Done it before, I can do it again." Anna was having the toughest time only because it had been almost ten years since she had trekked the mountain.
"Suit yourself." Elsa said. She then heard whinnying coming from the distance. Anna's mare galloping back.
"Your horse...where's Annaleise?!" Elsa worried.
Anna hopped on the mare and nudged her to start galloping. "Let's go!" She excitedly said.
"Hold on to the reins." Elsa softly said to Ellie, bracing herself.
The girls followed Anna's mare up the snow hills and banks, keeping their eye out for Annaleise.
"Woah." She said, not being able to find words to describe the fantastic palace. She touched the rail and a chunk of it began to melt. Annaleise gasped quietly and walked in the middle of the stairs, finally coming to the foot of the ice steps that led into the castle.
"I found her!" Anna shouted back to Elsa.
"She's at the bridge to the palace." Anna dismounted her horse and swept her hand over the icy staircase. Elsa helped Ellie off of the horse and walked side by side to Anna.
The girls walked up the staircase single file, Ellie the only one holding onto the rail. She looked down and the rail, at the part where her hand was, began to turn black. She gasped and ran to her mother's side, squeezing her arm. Anna reached the top and was greeted by a snowball being flung into her face.
"Pfft." She spat the snow out of her mouth and looked up. "You stinker." Anna grinned, booking it into the palace.
"Annaleise? Where ar-" Elsa was pelted with a snowball that came from high up. She shook her head clear of the snow.
"Ellie, should we teach two certain somebodies not to mess with the queen of snow and ice?" Elsa eagerly said.
There hadn't been a proper snowball fight in AGES. Ellie quickly let go of her mother's hand and, ran with her. They quietly snuck into the palace, knowing Anna and Annaleise had to be hiding somewhere within the icy walls.
"Heads up!" Anna shouted, throwing a snowball at Elsa. Ellie ducking and running to the opposite side of the palace.
Annaleise climbed the stairs to where a giant ice chandelier had been smashed to pieces from all those years ago.
"Wow." The light shone upon the broken Ice shards, creating a rainbow of colors plastering the walls. She noticed a lump of snow in the corner of the room. She quietly walked up to it and touched it. The snow moved and seemed to grow. It was marshmallow. He turned around, saw the princess and roared, her hair flying back, closing her eyes.
Everyone downstairs heard the roar.
"Marshmallow. ANNALEISE." Elsa and Anna said frantically, running up the staircase.
"Whee!" Annaleise excited laughed as she slid down marshmallows arm, sporting her mother's old coronation crown on top of her head.
"ANNALEISE." Elsa said firmly. The smile left Annaleise's face as she began to stand up after reaching the floor.
"You know you aren't supposed to go farther than we can see you. You don't know how dangerous these woods can-" Elsa was about to reprimand her daughter but saw the crown upon her head. "Where...did you find that?" She asked.
"I found it, on the snowman." Annaleise shyly said. Elsa felt bad that she raised her voice at her daughter, but sometimes she needed to show some tough love. Elsa knelt down, loosened Annaleise's braid and mussed the top of her hair and placed the crown on top of her head. She turned Annaleise to a giant mirror-like shard and smiled.
"I see a future queen in this reflection." Elsa gently said, standing behind her, looking at her spitting-image of a daughter in the ice.
"Mama, I'm sorry. I was just excited to see the palace you built." She solemnly said.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. It wasn't very motherly, or queenly of me was it?" Elsa apologized. Annaleise shook her head. They both hugged, Annaleise squeezing Elsa tightly.
"Elsa, come quick!" Anna shouted, breaking the hug up after a great mother-daughter moment. Elsa and Annaleise ran down the stairs, Elsa picking her cape as she ran.
"Anna, what is-" Elsa began to ask until she saw Anna rip a piece of her cape off and wrap it around Ellie's ankle. "What happened?" Elsa asked rushing to Ellie's side.
"She got a small cut from some ice that was sticking out. She's alright though." Anna tied the piece of cloth off and helped Ellie up.
"Maybe it's time to go home." Elsa suggested, Annaleise nodding off trying to stay awake. She picked Annaleise up, not realizing how heavy she had gotten with an exception of the lake incident. Anna did the same for Ellie, more like cradling her in her arms. Elsa created a simple ice slide and with Anna, slid down to their horses and rode home at a pace that wouldn't wake the sleeping princesses.
"Choo!" A small sneeze escaped Ellie's nose. She snuggled close to Anna, covering Ellie with more of her cape.
"I hope Elsa didn't hear that." Anna thought to herself as her mare trotted along.
Ahead of the group, Elsa's horse trotted smoothly, still not waking Annaleise. "Someone's tired." Annaleise snuggled up to her mother's chest, Elsa feeling the breaths her daughter made with every inhale and exhale. Her horse then suddenly stopped, annas horse stopping too.
"Elsa, what is it?" Anna asked.
"Shh." Elsa said, listening closely. She heard soft growls, looked behind her and saw a pack of wolves begin to surround the sisters. "Anna, go!" She shouted as she shot a blast of ice to barricade them from the wolves.
"Hiya!" Anna getting her mare into gear and quickly galloping toward the palace. Elsa turned her horse around towards the wolves, her hand in the air and creating ice cages, trapping the wolves inside.
Elsa's horse whinnied, stood on its hind legs and galloped as fast as it could to Arendelle, Annaleise falling out of her mother's grip. It wasn't until about 30 seconds later she noticed Annaleise had fallen off. She panicked and raced back to where Annaleise may have fallen off. Annaleise shook herself awake and saw the pack of wolves gnawing through the ice cages. She began to walk backwards, slowly, until she tripped over a stump, knocking her on her back, a wave of flames shooting from her right hand onto a nearby tree. It began to burn, and quickly.
"Wh-what did I do?" She wondered, frightened. She looked up and saw that the tree was about to fall over on her just as her mother rushed over to her side, still on horseback.
"Annaleise! Grab my hand!" Elsa shouted, extending her arm for Annaleise to grab on to. Elsa pulled her daughter up and rode like a bat out of hell to the palace.
Annaleise held tight to Elsa as the horse galloped as fast as he could. They finally reached the gates of the castle, Anna awaiting Elsa and her niece. Her face was red, catching her breath.
"Anna, where's Ellie?" Elsa asked, dismounting her rose then helping Annaleise down.
"Ellie was taken inside. She's cold."
"Anna, please take Annaleise inside while I go check on Ellie."
"You got it." Anna smiled. "Let's go sneak some sweets."
"Uh huh." Annaleise agreed and took her aunts hand. "Is Ellie gonna be okay?"
"Your parents are gonna take good care of her," Anna chuckled. "I know it."
Elsa, the adrenaline still rushing through her body, dashed up the stairs to Ellie and Annaleise's room. She burst through the door, the hairs in her braid a mess, and saw Jack siting on Ellie's bed, Ellie bundled in blankets in his arms.
"What happened?" Elsa worriedly asked, sitting next to Jack.
"Anna had gotten here before you, and she could feel the cold through Ellie's clothes. Her hands were freezing. That's really all Anna knew." He rocked Ellie, the boys,meaning Anders and Laurence, brought warm milk for Ellie to drink.
"An-Annaleise." Ellie shivered.
"I'll go get her." Elsa said, placing a kiss upon her daughters forehead, definitely feeling how cold Ellie had become.
Anna and Annaleise snuck into the kitchen, making sure no cooks were anywhere to be seen.
"Okay. Left cabinet, under the window. Kristoff brought back a HUGE box of Swiss chocolates from a merchant. You're small and can run quickly. Can you get the box and we can sneak it to the library?" Anna asked, determined not to be caught.
Annaleise nodded her head and climbed on the floor, crawling to the cabinet.
"Woah." She said. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the huge box, still in the wrapping. She grabbed it, stuffed it in her coat, which she was still wearing and dashed to Anna, who quickly sprinted out of the kitchen to the library upstairs.
"Elsa doesn't even know about this. We'll keep it between us." Anna joked. As soon as Annaleise put a chocolate almond in her mouth, the two heard Elsa call for Annaleise.
"It'll still be here." Anna winked.
Annaleise got up, hugged her aunt and went to find her mother.
"Here I am, mama." Annaleise stood beside Elsa, taking her hand.
"Your sister wants you." Elsa said, as calmly as she could.
The two of them walked up to Ellie's room, Annaleise being led from behind. They entered the room as quietly as they could, assuming she could be asleep. Annaleise hopped up next to Jack and Ellie, giving her a warm (literally) hug. Ellie began to warm up as her sister embraced her, Annaleise making sure her twin was safe. Ellie quickly fell asleep, Annaleise gently laying her down, covering her with a blanket. Jack and Elsa took Annaleise by the hand and led her out of the room into the library.
"Mamma, when I become queen, I wanna be just like you." Annaleise said, squeezing her parents hands.
"Would you like to start learning about a queens life soon?" Elsa asked, happy to hear her daughter was determined to learn about a queens duty.
"Mmhm!" Annaleise hummed, smiling.
Jack re-aligned Elsa's coronation crown upon her head. He let go of her hand, went before his wife and daughter, bowed and kindly said, "Your Majesty's, will you do the honor in joining me for some hot chocolate in the study?"
Elsa covered her mouth and laughed. Annaleise closed her eyes, held out her hand, lifted her head and answered, "of course, good King. As long as it has extra whipped cream on top, that will be fine." She proudly let go of Elsa's hand and walked proudly to the study.
"She's a livewire, but she will make a great queen." Elsa hugged Jack.
"Just like her mother." Jack "booped" Elsa's nose, Elsa smiling and scrunching it as Jack poked her nose.
A blissfully sunny and snowy day quickly turned into a gloomy rainy night. The girls usually slept through the storms, but this night, Annaleise could not sleep. The worst part was that she was terrified of thunderstorms. Ellie, exhausted from the day's events, slept soundly.
*boooooooooooooooommmmmmm*
Thunder boomed and lightning cracked, lighting the dark sky with streaks of light.
Annaleise hid under her blankets, shuddering, clutching her reindeer plush close.
"Go away thunder...go away..." She repeated to herself over and over again. She gradually became louder as the thunder rolls came closer and closer.
"Mama...Papa...make it stop..." She closed her eyes. Even though her eyes were closed, she saw fire burning surrounding trees and a dark figure looming over her as she looked into a mirror.
Jack and Elsa, had just fallen asleep as they heard a faint voice coming from the girls room. They quickly jumped out of bed as the next crack of lightning flashed through the sky. They quietly opened the door to see which girl it was who was calling for them. Ellie was sound asleep, but the lump of blankets in the middle of Annaleise's bed proved otherwise.
"Make it stop... Mama, Papa. Please..." Annaleise muffled between tears.
Elsa and Jack gently lifted up the covers and met their daughter in the middle. She was curled up in a ball, a pillow over her head, her plushie in her arm. Jack gently took the pillow away from Annaleise's head. He scooped her up under her stomach, Elsa scooted to the head of Annaleise's bed, holding her arms for Jack to put her in. Annaleise was placed in Elsa's arms, Annaleise softly crying.
"Shh, shh." She said, rocking back and forth, like she did when Annaleise was a baby. She placed her hand in her daughters long burnt orange locks, Jack putting the reindeer plushie back in her arms. Elsa gave Jack the "we're staying in here tonight" look, and he agreed. He then felt something crawl on his leg and in between Elsa and Jack. Elsa felt the same on her side. Ellie and Laurence had woken up to the thunder and found their way to Annaleise's bed.
"Not you two..." Jack sighed.
Laurence and Ellie snuggled between Elsa, Annaleise and Jack, the bed becoming a bit too crowded. Elsa laid Annaleise next to her brother and quietly snuck off of the bed. Jack followed, but instead of making it to their room, they flopped on Ellie's bed, dead tired.
