3 days later...
"Are you alright your highness?" Kai asked as he approached the crying princess.
"I'm...fine..." Anna said as she stood in the pouring rain with her sister. The grave had just been erected this morning and they had only been alerted of the death less than three days ago. To say it broke Anna was an understatement. She had never expected to be alerted of this so soon.
"I'm sorry Anna..." Elsa said as she put a hand on her sister's shoulder. Anna turned round and hugged her, crying lightly into her shoulder.
"I only knew him for a month...but he was the one..." Anna sobbed as Elsa comforted her. Three days ago, Kai had requested a private audience with the princess, informing her of some grave news...the news of Kristoff's death. At first Anna refused to believe it, but after several guards backed up his story with the exact same details, she finally accepted it. Though they had not found Kristoff's body, all they knew is that if he was alive someone should have seen him already, but no one had and a shot to the chest if untreated is almost certainly fatal. In the end, everyone finally accepted the fact that Kristoff was dead and wasn't coming back, though where the body was was still unknown.
"Do...do you want to be alone for a while?" Elsa asked. Anna shook her head as she held her older sister tighter. Elsa soothingly stroked her head, not caring that the two of them were standing in the rain and completely soaked already.
"Your majesty, your highness..." Kai said quietly as he looked at them, the sight in front of him extremely painful. "I think...that we should probably get you out of the rain...if it's alright with you. You'll catch a cold in this weather your highness."
"We should probably go inside now Anna." Elsa said as she began to lead her sister away from the erected gravestone. The journey back to the castle was mostly silent and slow, especially as they passed through the twin which was only just starting to begin its road to recovery from the tyrannical ruling of Tyron. Elsa and couldn't help but gasp and feel sickened as they passed by the town square. An entire portion of the square was covered in numerous lumps covered with blankets, and Elsa and Anna knew all too well what was under there, and even though they tried not to think about it too much, the simple sight of all the bodies, the smoldering ruins of the Arrimusian ship, and the numerous weeping mothers and children's who had emerged from underground to find their fathers and husbands draped in black, etched those memories and pain in to their hearts and minds in a day that no one would ever forget for centuries.
"Your majesty..." A citizen bowed as they passed but Elsa shook her head in response, not wanting to be greeted like royalty today. And she wouldn't even be royalty for long anyway. As they entered the castle grounds, they could see several more draped bodies from where the Arrimusian and black sun soldiers had fought. Anna felt extremely pitiful for all the families of the men who had died here, even the black sun as well since in her heart, she knew that those soldiers were forced to fight for Tyron, against their wishes.
"Your highness! Your majesty! You're going to catch death if you're not careful!" Gerda gasped upon seeing the girls completely drenched. She quickly rushed them inside and handed them both coats, even though Elsa kept saying the cold didn't bother her, before proceeding to the kitchen to make them some mugs of steaming cocoa. As soon as Gerda had returned with the cocoa, the girls headed upstairs to the bedroom of their parents.
"Mama?" Anna called out as they entered the room.
"Hey..." Idun said quietly, with a light smile, as the girls walked over to them. Anna sat on the side and handed her mother the might of cocoa meant for her, just as Agdar walked in. Idun had only become conscious less than 12 hours but then effects of the blood loss still took their toll as she was still extremely weak and pale.
"I thought you would have stayed there longer..." Agdar said as he sat down on the bed next to them. Even though Idun wasn't allowed to walk or do anything strenuous for the next few weeks, she was alive, nonetheless.
"It was raining and Kai told us to come in..." Anna said with a sniffle as she rubbed her bloodshot eyes.
"I'm so sorry." Idun said as she lightly rubbed Anna's arm. "From what I heard he must have been a good person."
"He was. Without him, in would never have been able to find Elsa, thaw Arendelle or anything that happened." Anna said as she laid her head on her mother's arm. "But, I'm just glad that I still have you. If I'd have lost both of you..."
Anna broke down in tears as Idun lightly stroked her daughter's hair.
"It takes a lot more to then a bullet." Idun said.
"You sound like me..." Anna mumbled.
"Your...um..."
"I'm not king yet..." Agdar answered to the servant. "But please, just call us by our proper names regardless."
"Okay...Agdar, a large coalition force had formed sometime last night, unbeknownst to us, composing of Arendellian citizens and soldiers. According to this, they launched a massive assault on a nearby black sun camp and completely tore it to the ground. I just thought that you should know..." The servant said.
"Thank you...that's...good news..." Agdar said as the servant bowed and left the room. "I don't think we'll be expecting any visits from them for a while."
Agdar looked around as he stood up and exited the room, having to attend an important meeting regarding Elsa's abdication of the throne as well as being updated to several changes since they last ruled.
Elsa and Anna stayed by their mothers side for a while before they eventually fell asleep from tiredness. It wasn't until nightfall that they finally woke up and that was because Idun had woken them up.
"Huh...what time is it?" Anna muttered as she sat up with a yawn.
"Night time..." Idun replied as she repositioned to a more comfortable position while Anna lit one of the lamps nearby. Elsa was still fast asleep by the bed, her head in her arms, as she snored lightly. "I thought she was a light sleeper."
"I guess she's adapting to not being queen now." Anna said as she stood up and walked towards the window. The rain wasn't as heavy as earlier on, but the gloominess in the kingdom was still present. She could see the guards transferring the last of the bodies in the courtyard in horses up to the hills where they would all be buried in a mass burial a few days from now.
"Dear, maybe you should go get something to eat. You haven't eaten anything all day."
"I'm not hungry." Anna replied with a sigh as she moved away from the windowsill.
"You really loved him, didn't you?" Idun asked quietly as Anna sat down next to her again.
"The first real person that I had fallen in love with romantically since...forever, and I lose him after a week. Why am I cursed..." Anna asked quietly.
"Its okay darling." Idun said as she pulled Anna back into another hug, just as Elsa mumbled and opened her eyes.
"What's going on?" Elsa asked as she looked around the dimly lit room. "Is it night already?"
Anna nodded in response as she pulled away and looked towards the door which was being opened.
"Are you all alright?" Agdar asked as he entered the room.
"Yes papa...me and Elsa were just going to get some dinner." Anna said as she and her sister stood up, allowing Agdar to take their place and sit by Idun, as they walked towards the door.
"Please don't go out into the town without a guard tonight girls. Its still dangerous and...it's not exactly the best time to take a stroll out there..."
Anna and Elsa made their way down the castle steps so as to give their parents some time together.
"Your highnesses. Dinner is ready if you wish to have it now." Gerda announced as they passed by then dining room.
"Actually, I was thinking of having it in the gardens, if it's alright with you Elsa." Anna said to which Elsa nodded in response. Gerda nodded as she went to prepare something for the girls while they made their way to the castle gardens. The rain had now already stopped, even though the trees and roof were still dripping , as the sat down by the fountain.
"Do you think Arendelle will ever be the same again?" Anna suddenly asked her sister. "What with all the events in the last week or two."
"Probably not. But we will recover. That I'm sure off. Things change for the better and for the worst, but they'll never stay like that. The life in Arendelle will eventually return to normal, maybe a little more normal now that our parents are king and queen again." Elsa said.
"Did it hurt?"
"Did what hurt?"
"Abdicating your throne." Anna said.
"To be honest, a bit. But it's for the best. Mama and papa are experienced in this sort of thing and they know exactly what to do in times of crisis." Elsa said.
"I'm sure that everyone will miss having a queen that can give them Snow cones all year round." Anna said with a light laugh as Elsa smiled in response.
"Well, they've now got the ice princess of Arendelle. And I'm a lot more free now that I don't have to eh surrounded by a mountain of papers and dignitaries. At least that means more time with you and our parents, assuming they aren't going to be buried in duties like i was."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they come to us in a moths time and ask for you to retake the throne." Anna said with a small laugh.
"I probably wouldn't accept. I guess I can see how much of a difference it makes to be a princes with snow powers and freedom now. The last time I could do stuff like that was when I was eight years old." Elsa said.
"Here you are girls..." Gerda interrupted as she approached them with two dinner plates. The girls nodded their thanks as the family servant disappeared back into the castle, leaving them outside in the darkness of the night with only the castle lights to illuminate their surroundings. Fortunately, since the events of Tyron's reign, security had been tripled as more citizens joined the guard and corona sent ships with military personnel to provide protection while Arendelle recovered.
Now that life in Arendelle was gradually moving back to normal, the girls wondered whether their lives would ever move back to the way it was after Elsa's coronation. They now had their parents again, and even though they knew their parents still remembered the old times and some of its ways, they knew that they would eventually adapt because they now knew their mistakes and how to avoid them.
Elsa's powers were no longer a threat to Anna or anyone at all since the events of the coronation and their parents knew that since they did not want to have a repeat of the past. If anything, their parents were doing the opposite of the past thirteen years and ensuring that the girls always had each other, starting by assigning the girls to a shared bedroom, assuming that they both accepted which they definitely did. The gates were no longer closed despite the fact that dangers and threats still loomed out there. Instead, security was being increased around Arendelle and a new form of guard was to be formed.
The Protectors of Ice. These were guards which were composed of both human and ice soldiers after the new military adviser recognized the powers of ice and snow being used in a defensive manner...and after reports of people running into marshmallow on the north mountain and being chased half a mile down slope.
Elsa agreed, but only with the promise that the ice soldiers would only be used when circumstances require it and not be used just to threaten the nearby kingdoms. Agdar made sure of that during the meeting earlier on.
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Anna said as she put a comforting hand on Elsa's shoulder and smiled reassuringly.
"I hope so. Starting next week I have to make a dozen ice soldiers to serve as our new guards." Elsa said.
"Well, as long as they don't start chasing everyone around and throwing them off cliffs like marshmallow did, I'm sure it'll be fine." Anna smiled.
"Yeah, but they can't exactly fight if they're as bubbly as Olaf."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Anna said as she looked up at the cloudy sky and sighed. "I just wish Kristoff was here..."
Elsa looked at her sister pitifully, not knowing exactly how to comfort her there. Even though they never found the body, every witness said the same thing, that he was shot in the chest and dumped in the forest. No one knew what ever happened next though. Some suggested wolves since the forest was littered with them, whereas the fellow ice harvesters said that Kristoff was tough and may have survived. But even the ice harvesters only said that half heatedly since it had been so long since the shooting and they knew how dangerous the forest was, and with a bullet wound in the chest without medical attention? Idun barely survived hers and that was with the help of the royal physicians and access to medicines. What chance did Kristoff have?
"I'm sure that where ever he is, here or in the heavens, he is missing you." Elsa said as Anna sniffled a little.
"Thank you Elsa." Anna replied as her sister pulled her into an embrace.
"Your highnesses..." A servant said as he walked out.
"Their is someone who wishes to see you out front. They say its urgent." The servant said. "Also, the council is convening again in 30 minutes to discuss a joint military agreement between Arendelle and Arrimus."
"The council thing is my fathers job now." Elsa replied as she and Anna stood up.
"Actually, according to the council, abdication doesn't become passed until the whole council signs it and that's not being done for another day or two. But, your father requested for both of you to join the meeting as well, so..." The servant said. "Um...well, that's all is suppose."
"Thank you." Elsa thanked as she and Anna walked back into the castle.
"What does joint military agreement mean?" Anna asked as they walked towards the main door.
"If it passes, Arendelle and Arrimus will have a united military. They defend us, we defend them. We share resources...and so on and so forth." Elsa replied as they passed by a servant carrying two glasses of water.
"Oh." Anna replied as she picked one up.. "I guess that this would be your last decision as queen then, since everyone is already calling you, your highness."
"I'm going to have to get used to that." Elsa said as they approached the main door where a man was waiting on the steps.
"I'm sure you will..." Anna said. "You were addressed your highness for the last 21 years, except the last month."
"Yeah...I suppose. So, how may I help you sir?"
"Um...hi?"
Well, the next chapter shall be the last and Idun is alive. I never actually had any intention of killing her anyway.
Autocorrect gave me a fit while writing this chapter, to the point where I nearly got so angry that I was thinking about not submitting a chapter today. Do you know how annoying it is to misspell a word by one letter, and watch it be corrected to something so different from the original word that it makes you want to rip your hair out and scream? Now imagine that happening around a hundred times in an hour...
Anyway, here is a fifty percent chance that I may submit the first chapter to "The Snow Twins of Arendelle" today. It depends on whether i get the first chapter done or not. If it feels alright, I'll submit it. If not, it'll be tomorrow, at maybe around the same time as the final chapter of this story.
I'm going to miss writing this story.
Well, Auf wiedersehen and happy independence day.
-TacticX