Fire And Ice
Rated: T for Teen.
Author: Nightstar Fury from Nightstar Productions.
Pairing: Hiccup & Elsa.
Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon, Frozen, Tangled, or Brave.
Chapter Ten: Coronation.
Oh she had been dreading this day for two weeks since it was announced and the invitations had been sent out for it. Her coronation day. She had been up with the sun, showered, and already dressed wearing a black long sleeve shirt and strapless green dress from the chest down, a purple cape to complete the look. Her hair was braided and done up nicely, and as once before she wore a pair or dark blue gloves. The ones Hiccup had made for her on her 18th birthday. Today was her coronation to become the queen and legally, she had to open the gates to the guests.
A new dawn rises over the fjords. Ships pull up to the docks. Guests pile out. The dock master waves to the incoming docking ships. "Welcome to Arendelle!" He greets with a joyous smile. They pass the May Pole being raised with people happily clapping dressed in their best.
"I can't believe they're finally opening up the gates!" Said one man who was rushing with his wife.
"And for a whole day! Faster, Persi!" His wife urged as they made their way towards the castle. They pass a tiny but menacing duke, who wears taps on his shoes to enhance his presence. Two thug like guards follow close behind him.
"Ah, Arendelle, our most mysterious trade partner. Open those gates so I may unlock your secrets and exploit your riches..." He catches himself quickly looking around, "...Did I just say that out loud?" He stated rather nervous. Everyone was making their way down the bridge towards the castle gates.
"Oh, me sore eyes can't wait to see the Queen and the Princess. I bet they're absolutely lovely." Said a man in an Irish accent. As a Spanish Dignitary nodded agreeing with him.
"I bet they are beautiful." The Spanish man said. Pulling into port was a Viking ship catching many glances, most never seeing such a ship before. The dock master has his men take their rope lines and tie them to the posts as the board was put out for them to descend from the boat deck. Stoick stepped down first then Snotlout, Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs last. All in awe looking around at the sight, having never seen anything like it before.
"Welcome. Checking in?" The dock master asked.
"Hairy Hooligan tribe from the island of Berk." Stoick said to him offering the rolled parchment that Endre had given him 14 days ago.
"Yes yes, we've been expecting you. I have your stay area all prepared, our men will handle your luggage. The coronation is in 30 minutes, all guests are to head right to the castle gates." The dock master smiled wide to them.
"Aye thank you. Come along." Stoick said motioning to the group of them to follow him towards the gates.
"Wow...this place is...amazing." Fishlegs looked around.
"Quite impressive if I say so myself." Stoick nodded agreeing.
"And one of our ancestors was part of the royal family?!" Snotlout exclaimed.
"I guess so. This more advanced so it must of been a while ago. A very long while ago. Lets just get inside." Astrid stated now.
(Inside The Castle)
"Princess Anna...?" Came Kai's voice after there were a few hard knock on her door, Anna sits up with major bed head. She coughs and snorts pulling a hair from her mouth.
"...Huh? Yeah?" Anna says barely awake.
"Sorry to wake you, ma'am but–..." Kai began slowly.
"No, you didn't. I've been up for hours..." Anna mumbled as she began to fall back asleep while sitting. She snores. Her head drops, startling her awake. "Who is it?" She asked quickly as she rubs her eyes and stretched a bit.
"It's still me, ma'am. Time to get ready." Kai informs her gently now.
"Ready for what?" Anna replied sleepily.
"Your sister's...coronation, ma'am." Kai replies.
"My sister's cor-neration..." She whispers a but then her eye opens enough to catch sight of her coronation dress. She bolts, wide awake in excitement. "Its Coronation Day! Ha ha!" She leaps out of bed to get dressed in record time and bursts out of her room, wearing her coronation dress. She finishes pinning ribbons in her hair. Seeing the hustle and bustle of preparations, she can't help but be excited and sing in joyousness of the occasion. To day the gates would be open! They hadn't been since she was 5.
"The window is open. So's that door. I didn't know they did that anymore! Who knew we opened 8,000 salad plates!" She watched as the staff was carrying stacks of plates to the dining room. Anna slides along the floor of the ballroom in her socks. "For years I've roamed these empty halls. Why have a ballroom with no balls? Finally they're opening up the gates!" She slides down the spiral staircase and lands at the bottom near metal suit of armor. She shakes hands with a suit of armor. Accidentally breaks it and hides the evidence.
"There'll be actually real live people. It'll be totally strange...but wow I'm so ready for this change!" She sang out coming to a window and jumps out onto a window washer's pulley. She raises herself up to see the ships arriving. "Because for the first time in forever, they'll be music they'll be fun. For the first time in forever I'll be dancing through the night..." She rushes outside in to the gardens happily and follows a family of geese.
"Don't know if I'm elated or gassy, but I'm somewhere in that zone...Because for the first time in forever, I won't be alone." Anna crouched down as three geese jumped in to her palms. "I can't wait to meet everyone..." She pauses then gasps, "What if I meet THE ONE?" She adds giggling before placing the geese down and rushing back inside where the food and snacks were. Anna twisted herself in a velvet drape like it's a gown.
"Tonight imagine me gown and all, all fetchingly draped against the wall. The picture of sophisticated grace..." She sang happily as she notices the bust sculpture of a man across the room. "I suddenly see him standing there, a beautiful stranger, tall and fair. I wanna stuff some chocolate in my face..." She finishes by stuffing chocolate from the tray beside her in her mouth.
"But then we laugh and talk all evening, which is totally bizarre." Anna grabs the bust and swings it around to imitate her dancing. "Nothing like the live I've led so far!" She sings as the bust goes flying and lands on the top of the cake. She smiles nervously and quickly rushes away. Anna burst into the portrait room, bounces on the furniture, and interacts with the paintings.
"For the first time in forever. They'll be magic, there'll be fun. For the first time in forever, I could be noticed by someone...And I know its totally crazy to dream I'd find romance...but for the first time in forever. At least I've got a chance..." Anna says gently.
Elsa now stares out the window from the library as the coronation guests arrive. She sighs taking a deep breath, recalling the words her father drilled in to her head growing up before Hiccup came in to her life, how she wished he was here right now. "Don't let them in...Don't let them see. Be the good girl you always have to be..." She says as calmly as she could manage. Elsa moves to a painting of her father's coronation. She takes off her gloves and mimics the painting by holding a candlestick and ornament in place of an orb and scepter which she'd have to hold during the ceremony, seemed easy but her problem was she couldn't wear the gloves.
"Conceal. Don't feel. Put on a show...Make one wrong move and everyone will know..." The candlestick and ornament ice over. Elsa gasps, slams them back down onto the table. She tries to reassure herself. "But its only for today..." She tells herself putting her gloves back on.
"It's only for today!" Anna sings happily as she's running out the door to the main gates which are to be opened on Elsa's command.
"Its agony to wait..." Elsa sings walking to the door where her attendants were awaiting her orders.
"Its agone to wait!" Anna makes it outside as the guards have their hands on the doors to the gate.
Elsa opened the doors of the library facing her attendants with her hands folded in front of her calmly. "Tell the guards to open up the gates." She states. The word traveled quick as below the gates began to be pulled open by the guards.
"The gates!" Anna said happily as she rushed out seeing everyone there, she first saw Rapunzel and Eugene. Waving to them as she kept moving looking at everything. The gates had been closed for 10 years. She had no one in the time except Elsa who kept herself locked away for the better part of 4 years until Hiccup came along, then just recently the last 6 weeks when their parents were announced dead at sea.
Finally, the gates are open Anna moves through the crowd, admiring the people around her. "For the first time in forever..." Anna sings out ducking under the large yellow cake bring brought in.
"Don't let them in. Don't let them see." Elsa sang as she moved through the halls towards the balcony to watch the people come in the castle gates.
"I'm getting what I'm dreaming of!" Anna smiled moving around, dancing between the people walking through the gates.
"Be the good girl you always have to be..." Elsa opened the doors to the balcony and walked out looking down gently but full of nerves.
"A chance to change my lonely world..." Anna looked up at the sky, whirling around a lamp post on the bridge wall. "A chance to find true love..."
"Conceal. Conceal, don't feel. Don't let them know..." She sang softly. It was only the one day, she could do it. She had too. Anna hurries over the bridge and into the village square.
"I know it all ends tomorrow, so it has to be today! Cause for the first time in forever...for the first time in forever...Nothing's in my way!" She sang out before being slammed right into the breast of a horse. She falls back and lands in a small wooden boat. It tips off of the dock. She's heading overboard. But just then, the horse slams his hoof into the boat and steadies it. "Hey!" Anna says frustrated as she pulls the bucket off her head looking up at who hit her.
"I'm so sorry. Are you hurt?" Says the rider whom Anna now finds handsome and regal.
"Hey. I-ya, no. No. I'm okay." Anna says more gently to him with a smile.
"Are you sure?" The rider asks again.
"Yeah, I just wasn't looking where I was going. But I'm okay." Anna says struggling to get up now, the rider hops down from his horse and steps into the boat. "I'm great, actually." Anna sighed contently.
"Oh, thank goodness." He offers her a hand and their eyes meet. Instant chemistry. He helps her to her feet then bows to introduce himself. "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles." He says formally.
Now curtseying to him she replies, "Princess Anna of Arendelle."
"Princess...? My Lady!" Hans says quickly to her. He drops to his knees, head bowed. The horse bows too, curling his hoof up and out of the boat. The boat tips. Hans tumbles on top of Anna.
"Hi...again." Anna replies blushing a little. The horse slams his foot back into the boat to stabilize it. Anna and Hans tumble the other way. Anna lands on top of him.
"Oh boy." Hans chuckles nervously.
"Ha. This is awkward. Not you're awkward, but just because we're–...I'm awkward. You're gorgeous." Anna went wide eyed, had she really just said that to him? "Wait, what?" She asks herself aloud. Hans quickly gets to his feet and helps Anna up again.
"I'd like to formally apologize for hitting the Princess of Arendelle with my horse...and for every moment after." He says to her.
"No. No-no. It's fine. I'm not THAT Princess. I mean, if you'd hit my sister Elsa, that would be- yeash! 'Cuz, you know..." Anna stops her rambling as she patted the horse a few times, "Hello." She greets it. "But, lucky you, it's-it's just m" Anna says looking at Hans now with a soft smile.
"Just you?" Hans smiles, amused. She smiles back. The bells are heard ringing, Anna doesn't notice at first; she's too busy drinking in Hans's handsomeness.
"...The bells. The coronation. I-I-I better go. I have to...I better go." She hurries off, stops, turns back. Gives Hans a little wave. "Bye!" As she rushes off again, Hans waves back. The horse waves too, once again taking his hoof out of the boat.
"Oh no." Hans says worried. The boat falls, with Hans in it. Splash! It lands upside down in the water. Hans raises it up off of him, gasping for air but smiles watching Anna run off towards the church.
Reaching the chapel, everything was in place as people were entering and taking their seats. Anna quickly slid in to her place off to the side while Elsa stood front and center in front of the alter facing everyone with the easiest smile she could manage. Oh she hated this and wanted it to be over. It almost was. It was already 4:00 in the afternoon. The ceremony would take an hour, then the party, then it would be over. 'You can do this, Elsa...' She told herself looking up and praying to God things went smoothly.
(With Hiccup & The Others)
Another storm had pushed back their arrival to Arendelle, now they were at least a day behind again. The storm was over and they'd just set off again, Hiccup wanted to cover as much ground as he could manage before it got dark. He wanted to get back to Elsa, they were so late and he knew by now she'd be worrying like crazy. It's the longest they'd ever been apart. "How's thing holding back there?" Hiccup called back looking down at the raft.
"So far so good, Hiccup. Are we stopping at sundown?" Agnarr replied to him.
"If we light the torch posts, we can keep going a while longer unless you want to stop to rest. We've got about two hours before dark sets in. Your call your majesties..." Hiccup stated.
"Lets go until 9-10ish and see how far we get then decide." Agnarr told him.
"Yes sir." Hiccup saluted as he looked forward again. He was determined to reach Arendelle tonight or by best shot first thing in the morning. He was so close, he couldn't stop now. The weather was perfect and if it got bad, they'd be pushed back farther but he had passengers and had to think of them too. "Alright Toothless...Lets get home." Hiccup rubbed the top of his head, Toothless crooned happily.
(Arendelle-Chapel)
An hour passed, the ceremony was simple really. Taking oaths and greetings explaining what the ceremony was for, a quick tribute to the fallen king and queen they had lost but now the moment had come. Her crowning as queen, it was almost over. Elsa stood at the alter while Anna stands off to one side. She peeks out to the audience to see Hans who waves at her from the pews. Anna gives a small wave back while looking at Elsa as the bishop lifted the crown off the pillow behind him.
Elsa bowed her head to him with eyes closed. The crown is placed on her head then she lifts her head up and opened her eyes to see the scepter and orb are presented to her on a pillow. She slowly reaches for them but the bishop clears his throat making her stop, she knew she was caught with the gloves. She wasn't allowed to wear them for this part.
"Your Majesty, the gloves." The bishop whispers to her. Elsa hesitates and breathes nervously, removing her gloves, places them on the pillow. Her hands shake ferociously but takes the orb and scepter, then turns to the people. "Sehm hon hell-drr in-um hell-gum. Ayg-num ok krund ee thes-um hellgah. Stahth, ehk teh frahm fur-ear uthear..." The bishop recites in old norse as Elsa glances down nervously at the scepter and orb which had started to freeze over..."Queen Elsa of Arendelle." He finishes.
"Queen Elsa of Arendelle." The crowd responds. Elsa breathes a sigh of relief, just in time. Elsa manages to set the orb and scepter back down on the pillow before anyone notices the ice. She picks up her gloves and slips them on. She had made it. The room clapped for her standing from the pews as she smiled at them all wanting to look like everything was fine. Not long after, the party had begun. Elsa was taking a moment to herself before being announced again, everyone had moved to the ball room while she was calming herself.
(Ballroom)
"Well that was interesting..." Astrid said as she and the others stood off to the side near the wall.
"It was. Such an interesting way of crowning...And that old norse too. Guess are ancestor was really here." Fishlegs added smiling.
"It was something else, so now what? We leave?" Snotlout asked.
"No. We stay until the queen and princess are announced, then I guess we all get a turn to meet her personally and introduce ourselves." Stoick informed them.
"Do we have too? We're getting the look from everyone, because we don't wear what they do." Snotlout complained now.
"Attire means nothing. It's a custom, as it would be on Berk. We will stay and leave tomorrow afternoon, enjoy the party for now." Stoick told him with a sigh. Springy music fills the ballroom while guests dance, eat, or laugh talking with one another. A loud trumpet sound bring the room to silence as Kai stands off to the side to make an announcement.
"Queen Elsa of Arendelle." Kai announces proudly with a smile. Elsa enters, poised and looking surprisingly content. She stands under a formal awning. "Princess Anna of Arendelle!" Kai says next. Anna runs into the room, waves awkwardly. Kai ushers her over to stand right next to Elsa.
"Here? Are you sure?" Anna asks quickly, being he was the room began to clap for them. She and Elsa sneak awkward peeks at each other.
"...Hi." Elsa greets her little sister. Yeah this was awkward.
"Hi me...? Oh. Um. Hi?" Anna replied a little surprised that Elsa was talking to her 6 weeks of utter silence and being locked in her room.
"...You look beautiful." Elsa compliments Anna with a smile now.
"Thank you. You look beautifuller. I mean, not fuller. You don't look fuller, but more beautiful." Anna says quickly not wanting to insult her sister or make her upset.
"Thank you." Elsa says softly as they look out at the celebration. "So, this is what a party looks like?" Elsa sighs out smiling. The gates had been closed for so long, and yet until Hiccup returned this would be the only time they'd be open. In truth, Elsa was worried that Hiccup was hurt somewhere. He'd been gone for 3 weeks without so much as a word or letter stating he was okay. Elsa contemplated talking to Rapunzel and Eugene about it, Kai had told her after Hiccup left that he went to Carona to see them about her parents.
"It's warmer than I thought." Anna's voice stated bringing Elsa from her thoughts now.
"And what is that amazing smell?" Elsa replied trying to keep the conversation going. They both close their eyes and inhale.
"...Chocolate." The two sisters said together smiling, eyes popping open. They laugh gently. Elsa looks back out at the party. Anna looks at Elsa. She wants to say so much, but she can't think of where to start. Things were awkward between them, and Anna didn't understand. This happened 10 years ago too...Elsa avoided her, never left her room from the time Anna was 5 until she was 9. Then Hiccup came along and things changed for the better, they had been real sisters again. But now it was back to how it was where Elsa avoided her, and stayed locked in her room. It was like from the time Elsa was 12 to 18, things were okay for those 6 years but now it was like nothing changed. Anna wondered if it had to do with Hiccup leaving.
For now all she could do was enjoy the party, she knew Elsa would close the gates after the night was over so she might as well enjoy it, perhaps she could convince Elsa to keep the gates open. She'd had too or it would go back to how it was before and she didn't want that. She had to try.