"It's eleven. Where is everybody?" Annaleise asked, her legs hanging over the top of the couch, her lower body hanging towards the floor.
"Maybe the forgot that mother said eleven. Well, even she forgot about it." Ellie replied, sitting on the floor as Fritz brushed her long ebony locks. He reached his left hand behind his back, holding the box from earlier in his hand.
"Ellie, I have something for you." Fritz said, putting the brush down and sitting next to her on the floor.
Fritz handed Ellie the box. It felt a tad bit heavy, but that even sparked her imagination even more. She carefully pulled off the ribbon holding the box together, unwrapping a small, but good sized, carefully forged dagger. Silver strips wrapped around the handle, two amethyst stones at the base of the blade. Under the dagger laid a dark brown leather pouch to contain the blade. She picked the dagger up as carefully as she could, examining it from handle to the tip of the blade.
"A princess needs to protect herself, even if she has ice powers." Fritz warmly smiled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Fritz, this….I don't know what to say." Her face lit up as she placed the dagger in her lap. "Ill have to keep this hidden. Princesses usually don't carry weapons on them." She laughed. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Elisabeth."
"Oh! That reminds me, I have something for you." Ellie stood up and skipped over to the tree, picking out a large red box sitting right in front. She picked it up and walked it back to Fritz, handing it to him.
He unwrapped the paper and found yet another box. Inside of the next box, a small white piece of paper laid at the bottom, a heart drawn on the top. Fritz picked the paper out of the box, turned it over and read out loud,
"In this box is a piece of paper. This paper has a heart on it." Fritz lifted his brow. "The lucky person who opens this box is subject to one (maybe another) smooch under the mistletoe in….the….foyer." Fritz blushed and looked at Ellie, who was biting her lower lip, giving a cheeky smile.
"Tonight." Ellie whispered in Fritz's ear, Fritz nodding happily.
"Ew. Go get a room. I understand you two love each other and all, but it's not like any of you are going anywhere soon." Annaleise smacked her sister behind her head with a square green pillow.
"You want to talk about getting a room? I saw you two snogging behind the tree last night before the Egyptian Ratslap catastrophe."
"Y-you saw that?" Annaleise blushed.
"You were lucky mother and father weren't there. "Oh Bjørn, your kisses light me on fire. Does my hair look tangled, because I love it when you detangle it with your hands."" Ellie chided.
"Did I really say that?" Annaleise looked to Bjørn, who was beet red when Ellie mentioned the "snogging" behind the tree.
"You better be careful what you say, or you'll find your dagger somewhere other than it's case." Ellie shot back.
"You don't scare me." Annaleise gently grabbed her sisters hair and messed it up, her hair becoming frizzed and poofy.
"Hey, girls, what's that?" Fritz asked, pointing to a piece of "fabric" sticking out of an open box.
Annaleise got up and walked around the tree, pulling out what appeared to be a scarf. She began to pull the scarf out, and seemed to go on forever as she pulled and pulled. Finally, it ended, at least 20 feet of scarf covering her feet. It was a different kind of scarf. Too long for at least a girl Annaleise's or Ellie's size to wear. Toffee, mustard, olive, burgandy, cream, brick and charcoal colors gave the scarf a very, very distinct look. A piece of paper fell from the end of the scarf which Annaleise picked up and read.
"You and your sister Anna have always had your eyes on this scarf and I figured, what a great time to pass on something of great value to a great ruler and her right hand. It's a bit long and you might have to wrap it a few times, but not too many times because you might choke yourself. Although, you could wear it together, but you're probably tired of being attached at the hip, right? Oh, Clara send her warm hello's to Arendelle. We are on our way to possibly early 1990's London, so I must make this short. Well, I hope you enjoy the scarf, or pass it on to your children. You chose a good one to…..marry. Well, I must be going but Merry Christmas and drink a glass of bubbly for us.
Always,
Clara and The Doctor."
Annaleise wrapped the scarf around her neck. Again, and and again. There was still some length left, hanging off of her arms. She walked to Ellie and softly whacked her in the face with the end of the scarf.
"Pfft."
"Maybe it was one of mother's secret lovers." Annaleise winked.
"I'm pretty sure it wasn't. But who is The Doctor?" Ellie asked, taking the scarf and pulling her sister down back on the couch.
Annaleise unwrapped a few feet of the scarf, passing some it it to Bjørn and the rest to Ellie and Fritz.
"It's awfully warm." Ellie said.
"It smells like...sweets." Fritz added, sniffing the scarf.
"SO many colors." Bjørn thought.
"What are you doing with that scarf?"
Annaleise looked behind her, smiling and tugging at her mother's braid as Elsa stood over her.
"Found it." Annaleise replied, as she snuggled back into it.
"Elsa! He brought it!" Anna exclaimed, bringing the note to her sister.
Elsa examined the paper, her face lighting up as she read the note.
"Oh Doctor, you know us too well." Elsa thought.
"Who is the Doctor?" Ellie asked.
"Do you remember the stories of the man in the blue box I told you when you were little?"
"Uh huh." The girls nodded.
"Many faces, two hearts but he's always the same. I can't believe he actually gave us the scarf." Bjørn handed her his end of the scarf, Elsa bringing it to her face and rubbing it against her cheek.
Annaleise looked around the room. Her mother and Aunt enamored with the scarf, her father and Kristoff joking around with the boys made her a bit impatient. It was going on eleven fifteen and the party still had to be set up. "You are late. YOU said eleven. It is eleven fifteen. I say the late ones need to run laps around the palace."
"Well aren't we impatient." Elsa placed her hand upon her daughters head, and rubbing it into her hair.
"Time to open things?" Ellie asked.
"Of course! that's the best part of Jul." Anna grinned, skipping over to the tree.
"Anna, Elsa, Anna, Anna, Kris, Laurence, Anders, Jack, Jack, Jack, Elsa, Ellie, Annaleise, Elsa, Elsa, Annaleise, Annaleise, Anna, Jack." Anna said aloud as she sorted the presents out in piles.
Anders and Laurence grinned, ripping into their presents. Kristoff took his and Anna's over to the far side of the tree where they began to open their presents together. Jack scooted the girls presents to, the girls, and brought Elsa's right to her along with his. Annaleise opened her first present. Red, orange, blue and purple fabric was folded neatly into a box, covering a set of needles and matching thread. She looked to Elsa and gave the "is this from you?" look. Elsa nodded yes, also to Anna and Annaleise giggled, hugging the many colors of fabric.
Ellie, to her surprise, opened the biggest box of the bunch. A giant pad of paper, paint, charcoal sticks and pastels. Her face lit up and looked to Jack. He knew that Ellie loved to draw in her free time so, an art kit was perfect for her. Jack placed a newly-polished snowflake necklace, the one which he had gotten her before the girls were born, around her neck. Elsa tied a piece of mistletoe around Jack's staff, closing her eyes and expecting a kiss in return. Kiss granted.
One more box remained, one with Annaleise's name on it. The box was back, a white ribbon tied around it.
"Hey sis, this is for you." Laurence tossed her the.
Annaleise gently shook the unusually light box, carefully opening it.
"Wh-what?" Annaleise turned around and gulped. Out of the box the princess pulled out a pair of true gloves with Arendelle's insignia sewn onto the front of them. She put the gloves on and wiggled her fingers around.
Wait, these gloves...they're from that dress.
Ellie looked over her sisters shoulder, catching a glimpse of her face from tiny bit of shock from seeing the gloves.
The gloves.
"What did you get, darling?" Elsa asked as she pulled herself away from Jack.
"Uh, just a...pair of gloves. So my hands don't get cold outside."
"From who?"
"I-I don't know. The box just had my name on it."
Elsa strode over and took a look at her daughters hands.
"True blue, you don't see that color every day on a pair of gloves. And the embroidery, it's perfect." She looked up at Annaleise and could tell that in her daughters eyes, something wasn't right.
"I- I need some air, I'll be back."
Annaleise pulled herself away from her mother, her slow walk quickly picking up into an almost running pace. She opened the door and ran down the hall, up the stairs and to her room. She took the gloves off, setting them in the bed and held her right hand out. She concentrated on her palm, a large flame seeping from her fingertips. She could feel her heart begin to race as she thought about losing control, but shook her head, snapping herself out of it. She shook out her hand and the flame disappeared.
"What if.."
She placed the gloves back on her hand, repeating what she did before. No flame. Was this her imagination or were these gloves actually preventing her from creating even a spark? She needed to know, and know now. Facing the door, the stood with her right leg back, left leg forward, her left hand in front, right drawn back. She took a deep breath and repeated to herself,
"Conceal, don't feel. Don't lose control."
Her hands trembled as she attempted to create a small flame. Nothing.
Try it again.
Nothing.
"They, they work!" Annaleise exclaimed, twirling towards the door. She took one look at her hands, focusing on her fingertips. "If you can last me until September, we're all set." Annaleise said to herself, going to turn the doorknob.
As she opened the door, Elsa stood right at the frame, waiting for her to come out. "We feeling alright?" Elsa asked, walking into her room, Annaleise walking backwards towards her bed.
"I uh, uhm, I-"
Elsa placed her hand on her forehead, no more fever.
"I'm fine, I promise."
"You aren't fine, I can tell from your expressions that something's wrong."
Think of an excuse. Think of an excuse. "I-I'm just a bundle of nerves, that's all. It has nothing to do with any of you, but ugh. Did you ever feel this stressed when you were my age?" She asked, sitting upon her blankets
"Of course, in fact it happened to me when I was eight. The night I accidentally struck your aunt in the head." Elsa wrapped her arms around Annaleise, gently swaying her back and forth. "Even after my coronation, I still felt the weight of the world begin to pile up on my shoulders. Then, you girls came along, then Laurence and a bit of that weight got lifted up. In time, everything will be much less stressful and less mind-numbingly dull. You're only seventeen, give it a few years."
Annaleise gave a weak smile, turning only her eyes towards her mother. "I'm glad we had this talk. I feel a bit better now."
"That's the most important thing. Just remember, when you have children. You'll most likely be having this very exact talk with your daughter, or son. Whichever comes first." Elsa lightly chuckled, pushing herself up from the bed and holding her arm out. "There's a palace that needs decorating, shall we go? The party starts in...five hours."
Annaleise felt an idea begin to take form in her devious brain. She grinned a happy grin and stood up, grabbing her mother's arm.
"Yes, let's."
"To the right Anders, no...left. No. Right...a bit more to the-"
"MOM WHERE DO YOU WANT THE CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN?!" Anders exclaimed, just wanting to put the darn thing down.
"Right there, sweetie." Anna gave her son a thumbs up, Anders sighing and standing next to his mother, tilting his head. Something didn't look right.
"Did aunt Elsa give you instructions on how to not set up the table instead of how to?"
The fruit and sweets were mixed with the vegetable sticks, which were supposed to be at the OTHER end of the table where the dip and cheese sat. Anna just wanted to get it done, even if it meant things being out of place. "If she doesn't like it, she can fix it." Anna giggled, patting her son on the head. "Say, let's go see what your cousins are up to."
"Ellie, be careful." Fritz pleaded as Ellie stood on Annaleise's hands, using them as a stepping stool since the one in the kitchen went missing. She was reaching in the cabinet to pull powdered sugar out for her chocolate peanut butter balls which were chilling under a tiny snow flurry.
"Drop me."
Annaleise dropped her hands, Ellie slightly jumping to the floor, accidentally spilling powdered sugar all over the place.
"Oh, yuck." Ellie spat the sugar out of her mouth, her face still completely white.
"Come on, Snow White. Let's get these covered before the rest of you gets powdered." Annaleise said, dusting her sister off. Fritz came over to offer his help, in which Ellie smiled and wiped some sugar on his face.
"You four seems to have everything under control." Anna laughed, Anders grabbing a rag and tossing it to Ellie.
"Well whoever hid the ladder needs to return it so these things won't happen." Annaleise said. She put a pair of mits on and pulled a tray of Kringle out of the oven, the tray accidentally touching her skin. "FAEN!" She snapped, accidentally dropping the tray of pastries, Ellie catching the falling tray with a sheet of ice.
"Are you okay?" Anna asked, rushing over to see if Annaleise was hurt. Annaleise held her arm as the burn left from the tray began to disappear. "It's gone. How did that happen?" Anna asked, examining her nieces arm.
"Apparently I heal faster than usual, trust me, I think it's weird too." Annaleise waved her arm in front of her,making sure the burn was actually gone.
"Well, I guess you kids have everything under control. Just, please don't burn the entire palace down. We kind of need it standing." Anna said, Ellie tossing her a peanut butter ball. "These are fantastic! Good job, El."
Ellie blushed and mouthed "thank you."
"Maybe we should change." Ellie said, holding some strands of hair that were covered in sugar.
"And a nap." Annaleise yawned.
"Agreed. People should start arriving at about four thirty, so let's meet at four twenty." Ellie tied her hair up and tossed the bag of sugar back into the cabinet.
"You got it. See you then." Fritz winked to Ellie.
"Hey. Elsa, wake up." Jack shook Elsa, who had fallen asleep on a pile of streamers in the throne room.
"Huh, what?" She snorted as she woke up, paper stuck on her cheek. Jack picked it off and sat on the arm of the throne, Elsa sitting up and stretching. "What time is it?" She yawned.
"It's almost four. People will start showing up-"
"JACK, ELSA, WE'VE ARRIVED EARLY!" A voice rang from behind the doors.
"Oh no. THEY'RE HERE EARLY." Jack and Elsa said to each other. Jack floated over and opened the doors, the King of Denmark bursting in, knocking Jack to the floor.
"Darling, don't you think that was a bit dramatic?" Lia, King Rowand's wife chimed, bouncing a small pink blanket up and down, a little girl tugging at her dress.
Elsa knelt down and smiled at the young girl. "Hello there, what's your name?"
"J-Johanna." The little redhead softly said.
"Hello Johanna, I'm happy to meet you. Is this your little sister?" Elsa asked as she stood up, Lia uncovering the blanket.
"Say hello, Amanda." Lia said, taking Amanda's little hand and waving it to Elsa.
"She's so adorable." Elsa said, taking the little princesses hand and giving it a shake. "How old is she?"
"Six months. Johanna here is nine, ten in two days."
"Well, let's not just stand here, let's go to the study. There aren't many of you coming so we'll stay put there." Jack suggested, giving Augustus a fist bump.
"Hopefully the girls- and boys, are awake. They're all upstairs, so go on up. You don't want to stay with us boring adults." Elsa laughed.
Hilde sighed an annoyed sigh as Johanna tried to hold her hand. "You're ten, you're big enough to go upstairs by yourself."
Johanna frowned, walking slower behind the group, Augustus taking her hand. "Someones a grouch, isn't she?" He winked. Johanna nodded in a agreance.
"HEY. YOU. WAKE. UP." Ellie jumped on Annaleise's bed, tossing the gown she found earlier on top of her sisters fave.
"MMM, is it really time to wake up?" Annaleise pushed her sister off of the bed, rubbing her eyes.
"Yes, people have already started to come. Get dressed, silly."
Annaleise drug herself to her bathroom, taking her dress with her and changing. Ellie sat at her sisters vanity and fixed her ebony hair, pinning her bangs back. "Shouldn't you have already done that?" Annaleise asked, tugging at the neckline of the dress to pull it up.
"I figured that I would finish up in here while you finally got yourself up your nap." Ellie placed garnet studs in her ears, making sure everything looked perfect for Fritz."are you wearing your hair up or-"
Annaleise pinned chunks of her hair back, the rest falling down her back in waves of reddish hues.
"Down. It looks cute, sis," Ellie smiled.
"Thanks. Now, if you don't mind, I need to put my face on."
Ellie scooted as Annaleise sat in front of the mirror. She looked at her sister as Annaleise applied a light amount of red lip color on her lips.
"What?"
"Nothing, you just look like mother."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Maybe it is, maybe it is." Ellie laughed, standing behind her sister.
"The resemblance is uncanny."
Annaleise snorted, and lightly smacked her sisters face.
"We should head down. Mother said we need to be ready when people start arriving."
"Oh, right," Annaleise said. "Let me put the finishing touches on myself and I'll meet everyone else down there."
Ellie left, grabbed everyone in the library and joined the adults in the study. Annaleise took a deep breath and placed the gloves on her nightstand. She unclasped the sun pendant around her neck and placed it on her vanity table, replacing it with the snowflake Bjørn had given her. She let it fall to her chest, lightly pinched her cheeks to get a bit of red color on them, and left her room.
"Ellie, you have certainly grown since the last time we've seen you. Why, were just up to my hip the last time we saw you." Rowand's complimented Ellie, Ellie blushing in return.
"I'm pretty sure that I've stopped growing, so I can promise I won't get any taller." Ellie laughed.
"Now Laurence and Anders on the other hand, I can see them being as tall as moose by the time they be your age."
Ellie and Elsa nearly choked on their cider, laughing at the fact that Rowand compared the boys to moose since they were pretty tall to begin with. "Maybe they'll sprout antlers and make those moose mating calls to attract a lady moose." Ellie giggled.
Elsa covered her mouth as she laughed, hoping the boys didn't hear them joking about their height.
"Speaking of your children, where is Annaleise?" Lia asked, bouncing Amanda gently.
"I haven't seen her, do you know where she is, Ellie?" Elsa asked, setting her cider on the coffee table.
"She was coming right behind me, I could have sw-"
For a moment, Ellie paused as her sister entered the room. Her wavy hair covered part of her face, making her look a bit mysterious. Sh
She grabbed her left arm with her right hand and began to step toward Bjørn. He took one look at her and his mouth slightly dropped open.
"Careful, or your tongue might fall out." Fritz whispered, closing his mouth.
Annaleise moved closer towards him and shyly batted her eyes.
She looks just like Queen Elsa. The resemblance is really uncanny. "Annaleise, you look..*gulp*..beautiful." Bjørn blushed, taking her hands.
"You look very, distinguished, Bjørn."
"Oh. Um. I should let you do your hellos before we all disperse."
"Mother might get in my case if I skip out on that." Annaleise winked and made her way over to Lia and Rowand.
"Oh my goodness. She really does look exactly like Elsa, but with red hair." Lia smiled.
"Thank you, I've been told that a lot. Many times today in fact." Annaleise blushed. She noticed little Amanda holding her arms out to her giggling and cooing.
"Would you like to hold her? She wants to say hello. You want Annaleise to say hello, Amanda?" Lia asked.
"Oh, sure!" Annaleise exclaimed. She was a bit nervous around babies after the whole incident with Laurence when he was little, but she had to suck it up and just trust herself. Lia handed Amanda to Annaleise, who kept on smiling and giggling. Annaleise looked right into the infants eyes, a bit of peace releasing inside of her. "Hallo, Amanda." Annaleise smiled, the princess giggling back at her.
