Hey guys! Sorry it took me forever and a day to post this chapter. I intended to get it done by Valentine's Day but life happened. I hope you like it! I wanted to get some sister bonding in, so that's what I did.
** I intended for the last three sections with the gift-giving to happen simultaneously.
Chapter Ten
Elsa tentatively knocked on her sister's bedroom door and entwined her hands in front of her. On the other side of the door she heard a thud followed by a masculine groan. Seconds later, Kristoff opened the door, rubbing his left shoulder.
"Elsa?" he asked groggily, his voice rough.
"I'm here to see Anna. Is she awake?" she asked.
"Uhh..." he drawled, craning his neck back toward the center of the room, "No. Plus it's Valentine's Day."
"I know that." She said, rolling her eyes good naturedly. "But I have something I need to do."
"Um, okay." He rubbed his face before disappearing into the room. "Anna," she heard him whisper. "Anna!" he shouted this time and she heard a cry of disappointment from her sister as the blanket was undoubtedly ripped away. After a minute or two of silence, Anna appeared in the doorway.
"What?" Anna grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Elsa chuckled.
"Not much of a morning person anymore, huh?" she teased.
"No," she moaned, falling against the door frame. "I'm like...sixty, Elsa." She dragged her hands down her face for emphasis.
"Anna, you're forty-two years old."
"Which is like sixty!" she protested. Elsa rolled her eyes; he sister always had a flair for dramatics. "I'm serious! You know what I found last night? A hair. And not just any hair, no, a grey hair." She waved a handful of hair streaked with delicate grey lines.
"I have grey hairs too, you know." She offered. Arvid had made a show of attempting to count them the night before, giving up quickly as there were 'just so many'.
"Yeah, but your hair is so light, nobody will even notice!" she cried indignantly.
"Arvid noticed." She said simply with a shrug of her shoulder.
"Oh of course he would! He's always looking at you." She nudged Elsa with her elbow and waggled her eyebrows suggestively, a silly grin gracing her face. "So, anyway, what did you need me for?" she asked after her giggles subsided.
"I just wanted to spend some time with you on my day off." she shrugged. Anna quirked an eyebrow, silently inquiring for more information. Elsa sighed in defeat and motioned for Anna to come farther out into the hallway. "I've been thinking about what you said. At Christmas. How I...don't know my people. And I figured that you did, so who better to help me than you?" The people adored Anna. Where Elsa handled diplomacy, Anna handled the people. She had no doubt that her sister knew all of them by name.
"I'd love to!" she said in a loud whisper. "They'll be so excited, Elsa! They all love you, know you. Just...from a distance I guess. But that's better than not at all, right?" She had her hands clasped in front of her chest in pure excitement and Elsa couldn't help but smile.
"So you'll do it?"
"Of course," She gave a sweet smile, "Just give me a minute to get dressed." She bounced up on her toes before running into her room and closing the door behind her.
"So, um, I hope you don't mind," Anna began as soon as they left the castle, "But I sent a guard to post an announcement. You'll be doing a formal appearance and two o'clock. Kind of like a meet-and-greet I guess." Elsa froze in her step.
"A meet-and-greet, Anna?" she asked incredulously. She'd never done anything like that before. Only formal appearances or announcements. And those were usually made on the steps of the castle.
"My idea." Her sister said proudly, clearly misinterpreting the source of her shock. "But until then," she said, procuring a thick blue cloak from a nearby guard, "I thought we'd do some shopping." She handed her the cloak, motioning for her to put it on. "It's best to shop when nobody recognizes you. It's calmer that way." She explained.
"People are going to recognize me no matter what I wear, Anna." She wasn't exactly one who was easily lost in the crowd. And her coronation fiasco years ago didn't help much. People don't easily forget someone who can shoot ice from their fingertips.
"Maybe so," Anna shrugged, pulling the hood of her own cloak over her head, "But it'll make you feel mysterious." When Elsa didn't make a move, she added, "Come on, Elsa!"
"Fine, fine." She agreed quickly. It had been a while since they had had some time together and Elsa didn't want to ruin Anna's fun.
"Good. So where do you want to go first?" she looked at her expectantly. Elsa was stricken as she realized that she had no idea what kinds of shops there were in town. She knew the town like the back of her hand but its character was a mystery to her. For a few years after the Great Thaw she had tried to be a more interactive monarch but after a few years she had stopped leaving the castle altogether. Arvid had argued against it, saying that her people loved her, but after thousands of curious and wary glances, she had begun to doubt their adoration toward her. Anna, however, had stayed as cozy as ever with the people and many of her husband's ice harvester friends.
"Oh, well," she began, looking around, "I need a Valentine's gift for Arvid still." That was another reason she had brought her sister along. She had shirked the responsibility of buying her husband a gift and now had to recruit her sister to help her find a great gift. She supposed she could just go the easy route like he did and buy flowers year after year but she loved surprising him. It wasn't that she hated the idea of flowers, but she wanted something special for him. She excused Arvid from not getting her a spectacular gift because he was always doing little things throughout the year that she could never compete with.
"Okay," Anna thought, "Let's go down into the center of town and see what catchers your eye."
"Alright." She complied, slipping her arm through her sisters.
As they walked down into town Elsa tried to notice as much as she could. People were definitely noticing their queen walking down the street but so far no one had approached or said anything to them. That seems like more of a bad sign than a good one, she thought. She was used to people looking at her but being surrounded by curious people brought back some unwanted memories. With all the eyes on her, she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
"Anna," she said haltingly under her breath, "Can we stop somewhere? Quickly?" Anna's gaze shot up and she searched her face, her eyes growing concerned.
"Yeah," she said slowly, never taking her eyes off of her face. "Here." She opened the door of the nearest commercial building and stepped inside. The interior was brightly lit and jovially colored, much different from the stark exterior. Sheer bolts of colored fabric were draped along the ceiling.
"Oh, this is Celeste's shop." Anna leaned in to whisper. "She's French. She makes all the jewelry by herself." She nodded toward the cases of glittering jewels to emphasize her point.
"Oh, I'll be out in just a minute!" And old woman called from the back of the shop. Elsa looked anxiously around the shop, not wanting to stay anywhere longer than she had to.
"While we're here, you could look for a gift." Anna offered, fingering a thick gold chain.
"I hardly think he's much of a jewelry fan."
"You never know. Plus, it'd be really rude to just leave."
There was a faint rustling of fabric as a small bent woman opened the curtains and entered the room. Elsa presumed that this was the Celeste that Anna spole of.
"Oh, good morning, Anna." She said kindly, placing a small wrinkled hand on her shoulder. She turned to face Elsa and her eyes widened slightly but her face gave no show of surprise. "And you, Your Majesty." She added with a nod.
"Good morning, ma'am." She replied serenely.
"What brings you two to my shop this morning?" she asked, walking over to a craft table. There were at least a dozen unfinished elaborate necklaces.
"Elsa forgot to buy her husband a gift." Anna piped up, throwing a grin at her sister. Celeste looked up immediately at Anna's comment and smiled.
"I've been waiting for this occasion. I have the perfect gift for you, Your Majesty, if you would accept it." Her twisted hands reached for a purple velvet box on a high shelf. She brought it toward Elsa and set it on a nearby counter. She looked for confirmation to open it and Elsa nodded, prompting her to reveal the gift.
"I crafted this years ago, when I heard of your marriage." She explained, lifting the lid of the box. Inside laid two necklaces twisted together to form a heard. One was a thin gold chain with a deep red pendant and the other was a thick silver chain with a light blue one.
"They're beautiful," she breathed. "What are they?" Celeste reached for the gold chain and lifted it into the light.
"They are two halves of the same whole. Fire for you and ice for him. The red jewel is cut from rubies from the Fire Islands and the blue jewel of the lightest sapphires found in Arendelle." She paused as if to catch her breath. "You see, the fire brings out the life in ice; without fire and passion, ice would lay dormant and cold forever. And ice, ice tames fire. Without something to cool it down, fire would run rampant and destroy everything in its path." She placed the necklace back in the box and closed the lid, handing it to Elsa. "It's yours if you will take it." She offered. Elsa reached for the box with shaky hands. She could not have thought of a more perfect gift if she tried. The woman had spoken true; before Arvid had come along Elsa had been as cold as the ice she created and before he had married her, Arvid had been the very definition of a rowdy bachelor.
"Thank you. I don't know what to say." She whispered, looking sincerely into her eyes.
"Just you accepting the necklaces is enough." Celeste said, her eyes brimming with tears of admiration. Before Elsa could say anything else, though, she was enveloped in her warm arms. She looked over just in time to see Anna mouth I told you so.
Elsa huffed out a sigh and fell back on the chair she was sitting in. Anna's meet-and-greet had taken hours and it was nearly six o'clock. By the end she imagined that she had meet every person that called Arendelle home. Fortunately, there were no harsh words as she had feared at the event went surprisingly well. Once she got over the initial nerves concerning it, she had to admit to herself that she felt much better. Connecting with her people had proven to do much more for her than she had expected.
"Thank goodness that's over!" Anna cried, walking over and linking her arm through hers.
"It was your idea." Elsa reminded teasingly.
"And it was a good one!" she defended. "It just took longer than I thought. But now we can go home and give our wonderful Valentine's gifts, right?" Anna had decided to not get Kristoff anything but instead surprise him with a relaxing night in.
"Right." She smiled, thinking of her wonderful gift from the jewelry maker in town. She didn't think Arvid was that much of a jewelry person but she hoped he would love the gift nonetheless.
"Kristoff?" Anna called wearily as soon as she entered her room, kicking off her shoes.
"I'm in here!" he called from the connected bathroom. She walked over to the wardrobe and peeled off her dress before slipping on a silk green nightgown. She ran over to the mirror and fluffed her hair, making sure she looked alluring enough for a Valentine's evening. Once she deemed herself ready she walked into the bathroom. Kristoff had drawn a bath and was currently laying laxly in the porcelain tub, his head leaned back and eyes closed.
"How was your day?" she asked, leaning against the doorway.
"Long." He groaned. His eyes stayed closed. "There's this special blue ice all the guys are going crazy over. I had to leave before we found it, though." He chuckled. "Thanks to you, all the guys were teasing me about being a soft married man." She smiled at this and walked over behind him. She kneeled down and slipped her hands into the water and slid her hands down his chest.
"I bet none of the guys have a wife waiting for them at home, though, do they?" she whispered in his ear before turning her head to kiss him softly.
"Mmm, no, I don't think they do." He mused, opening his eyes and twisting to face her head on. He brought his hands up to frame her face and he rested her forehead against hers. "What are we doing tonight?"
"I thought we'd stay in." she said, slipping down the straps of her nightgown. "Relax." Kristoff's lips twisted into a smile and he brought his hands down to lift the gown over her head, ruining the silk with his wet hands.
"I like that idea." He murmured before lifting her up into the tub. "I love you."
"I love you, too." She smiled, leaning over to give him a lingering kiss.
Arvid was lounging on the bed with his eyes closed when she entered. Elsa tip-toed into her dressing room and abandoned her gown on the floor, breathing out a relaxed sigh. She picked up her robe from the chair it was draped on and wrapped it around her body. She picked up the velvet box and fingered it nervously before slipping back into the bedroom. Arvid's eyes opened the moment she sat on the bed.
"Happy Valentine's Day." He said lazily, stretching his long legs and groaning. The bed creaked as he rolled over to wrap an arm along her waist. "I got you something."
"Is it a flower?" she asked, looking back at him. He threw her a curious look.
"You'll have to find out. Maybe it is. Maybe I'll tell you when you show me what you got me." His hands begun to roam up her waist and she took a deep breath to contain herself. She turned around toward him and held out the velvet box.
"I hope you like jewelry." She said as she opened the box to reveal the necklaces.
"I suppose I could." He said, giving her a silly grin. "Why jewelry?"
"Oh," she chuckled, "It's a really interesting story, actually."
"Tell me." He said, nuzzling her neck and wrapping both arms around her.
She forgot the story.
Snow was actually quite wonderful when it wasn't threatening one's entire existence, Blomst mused as she looked out the window. She sat in the library waiting for Joseff. They had established long ago that should one of them wait there the other would eventually find them. Now all that was left was for him to find her. Since their fateful Christmas they had grown closer and closer and she was dreading the day she would have to go back to the flower shop. She quickly pushed the thought away and decided to focus on the present when she heard his familiar footsteps approaching behind her.
"Hi." She said quietly.
"Hi." he said back, resting his hands on her waist. "Can you believe they made me attend a meeting on Valentine's Day? Even my aunt had the day off!" He looked beyond tired but he still found the energy to smile warmly at her.
"Those monsters." She gasped, feigning shock. "What was it about?" she rested her head on his shoulder, listening to the familiar pattern of his breathing. She thought she felt him stiffen but she dismissed the notion.
"Oh, nothing. Just more diplomacy matters." He shrugged. "But that's not why I'm here." He stepped back and picked up a small black velvet box from the top of the fireplace.
"Oh, no. Joseff, please. I didn't get you anything." She said, feeling thoroughly embarrassed.
"I didn't ask for a trade." He said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. He lifted the box back up and placing it in her hands. She lifted the lid tentatively and looked up at Joseff for an explanation. He twisted his hands nervously before explaining. She figured he had never done anything romantic for a girl and she was secretly proud to be the first. "They're glass beads. Inside are carnation petals. Hiasan carnations. I figured you'd like something from home. I know it's a bit cheesy, flower petals in a necklace, but I thought-" he stopped suddenly when Blomst flung her arms around his neck.
"I love it." She whispered between tears. His arms came around her waist and he held her tightly. "I love you." she said, placing all her fears in his hands.
Ooh Blomst said the L word! What will happen next? I have an idea, but, to be honest, I'm changing my mind all the time. We'll see. I hope you guys liked this chapter! Let me know what you think!
~Courteney