Time has a manner of moving unhindered, flowing endlessly without pause, and yet despite how many years slip by unnoticed, some things just never change. The grass, for instance, smelled the same, as did the flowers and native golden crocuses. The same crags and peaks lined the fjord's sparkling waters and a chilled breeze from the ocean brought forth the scent of fresh seas mixed with pine and mountain air.
"I forgot how beautiful Arendelle is…" a young woman breathed in wonder, having many times before taken the natural beauty of her birthplace for granted. She hiked up the small incline slowly, black boots with golden rosemaling treading lightly over the worn road and she pulled her pink cape tighter around her shoulders. "I forgot how cold it is, too. Maine was cold but it was summer when we left and here it's… what season is it?" she asked, looking back to her traveling companion.
"The crocuses have bloomed for a while now… it could still be summer."
"Really? Actually… yeah, you're probably right," the redhead nodded to herself, looking up and noticing that the afternoon sun was just starting its descent towards the horizon. "Well, we've got to be close now. I mean, we've be walking for hours. Why did Regina send us, like, halfway to the Northern Villages instead of dropping us back at the castle?"
The question drew out a sigh from the woman behind her. "I don't know, Anna. I'm going to assume she isn't familiar with Arendelle and just put us wherever she could. Or the magic did its own thing and she didn't have a choice."
Anna huffed, walking faster up the hill. "Yeah, but couldn't she have sent a bike with us? Or a horse? Something? My feet are killing me and…" She stopped, struck still at the view before her as she rose to the crest of the hill.
"Anna? Are you okay?"
"Elsa… you've got to see this."
Slowly, Anna turned around to watch as her sister, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, approached her. She moved gracefully but with power in her steps, the short slit left in a magically crafted ice dress allowing her to move unhindered up the incline as a shimmering cape of crystals flowed behind her, giving her an aura of elegance and majesty. She stopped next to her sister, allowing her to link an arm around hers as she took in the sights before her.
The village of Arendelle remained undisturbed, untouched after almost twenty-nine years of being uninhabited. The plants and farm crop may have grown over but they didn't encroach or threaten to dismantle the buildings, almost as though the foliage knew that the citizens would be returning soon. Even the icy additions Elsa had made to the castle as a proclamation of her rule had remained, just as solid and beautiful as they were on the day she created them.
"It's just how I remembered it…" Elsa breathed, staring at her kingdom in nostalgic wonder as she held her hands together against her middle. "After all this time, it's exactly the same."
"It's almost like we never left," Anna agreed, unknowingly stirring a feeling in her sister.
"But we did leave." Elsa looked down at her hands and slowly turned her left one over, thinking for a moment that she was imagining a mark on her skin, but as she looked closer she knew she couldn't deny the scar that marred her palm. She closed her hand and held it protectively against her stomach, covering it with her right, trying to hide it from Anna's curious gaze.
"Elsa, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"Yes there is. You're doing the hand thing again."
"What hand thing?"
"That," Anna said simply, pointing down at her sister's folded fingers as though it were obvious. "Are you nervous about something?"
"N-No, I…"
"Elsa."
The blonde closed her eyes and pressed her lips together, unwilling to make the confession. "…Are they really going to accept me as queen again so quickly?" she quietly sighed, reluctantly allowing herself to be pulled along by her sister down the path that led to the outer wall of the village. "Everyone seemed so used to the way things were in Storybrooke that I'm worried that they won't be happy here. Things are much different in Arendelle."
"Yeah, no kidding."
Elsa shot Anna a strong look and the princess waved a hand to toss away her previous statement. "No, no, I didn't mean that it's a bad different, it's just…"
"Different."
"Yeah! Like, there're no cars here…"
"Or radios."
"And no… no toasters," Anna lamented, clinging to her sister's arm tighter. "I'm gonna miss that little guy…"
"I miss pants."
They both stopped walking at the same time and Anna turned, raising both of her brows in question at her sister. Elsa only glanced in her direction and quickly turned away, hiding a blush that was burning on her pale cheeks. "They were comfortable," she mumbled as she started down the road again. "But you understand what I'm saying, right?"
"About pants? I mean, I agree completely, but-"
"No! Not about the-"
"Oh. The "Storybrooke is different from Arendelle" thing. Yeah, I got it," Anna shrugged, "but at the same time it's not so different. I mean, the material things are different, but the people are still the same."
Elsa shook her head in disagreement. "We've changed. Everyone has."
"So? You're still you," Anna grinned, "and I know I'm still me. The kingdom supported you after the curse and they'll support you here, too. Someone's gotta run this place, right?"
Pale, tense hands finally relaxed and unfolded, one arm falling to her side as the other kept the link with her sister's elbow. "You're right," Elsa smiled tiredly. "I'm just overthinking again."
The conversation quieted a bit as the two siblings continued down the road, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the beautiful countryside they'd been away from for far too long. When they were both children they felt so trapped in this place, stuck behind castle walls and gates, sandwiched between the vast ocean and a village they were too young to explore. Now they were so grateful just to be back to the life they've been missing, the life that was intended for the both of them since the beginning.
They passed through the outer gates and descended the steep hills towards the village, both breaking out into short sprints before they reigned themselves back and slowed to just a speedy walk. The castle was waiting for them in the distance, not much further than a walk through the marketplace, and yet as Anna approached the gate at the village wall she suddenly came to a complete halt, pulling Elsa back with her.
"I forgot something."
"You're not getting it back if it's in Storybrooke," Elsa laughed, giving her sister a knowing look until Anna reached into a pocket of the blue skirt she wore and pulled out a familiar crown that left the queen stunned. "Anna, how did you get that?! I thought I had it before we left?"
Anna seemed just as puzzled. "I dunno. Maybe it's because I have pockets and you don't?" she suggested with a wise smile. She held the golden heirloom with both hands and waited for Elsa to bow down before she placed it upon her head. "That's better."
As Elsa stood, her shoulders fell back, her posture straightened once again and she held a pleasant smile on her face as she hooked her arm with her sister's, staring longingly at the place she once believed only existed in her daydreams. "It's about time, isn't it?"
"I think so," Anna agreed, unable to stop the wide grin that spread across her face as Elsa led her into the village of Arendelle.
With an air of pride and relief, the daughters of the crocus crossed the threshold and returned home, taking in the atmosphere of their town for the first time in a long time. There were few people out in the streets already tending to overgrown plants and flowers or assessing repairs that needed to take place on houses or shops that had stood against years of cold weather, but as soon as the townsfolk noticed their queen and princess approaching, they stopped what they were doing and welcomed them back wholeheartedly.
The sisters could have spent the rest of the day talking with everyone they came across. They listened as residents told them briefly of what their lives were like in Storybrooke and Anna and Elsa shared their own stories, skipping over the dangerous adventures they had and the troubling times of poverty. The queen enjoyed this casual banter, feeling closer to her people now after the ordeal than she ever had before, though as the sun slowly made its descent towards the horizon, Elsa found herself longing not just for the castle across the bridge at the end of the street, but for a private, isolated grassy meadow that sat comfortably undisturbed at the forest's edge.
"Anna…" she started, her voice quiet as she softly tugged at her sister's arm, pulling her away from the path of the castle as a hidden fear started creeping back in, quickening her pulse and parching her throat.
Anna just looked at her as she allowed herself to be pulled along, slowly at first, and then when Elsa let go of her arm to gather the skirt of her dress and break out into a small panicked run, Anna knew something was wrong. "Elsa, what's going on? Are you okay?"
"No… I know my crown returned with us, but did everything that traveled with us to Storybrooke make it back?"
Her sister shrugged, not entirely sure or seeing the big deal until she recognized the path Elsa was running towards and the same panic settled in her heart. Anna stayed silent as she followed her through town to the edge of the forest within the kingdom walls. They trudged through tall grass, nearly tripping over themselves in their haste as they cleared through a thicket of trees and darted up a hill, their hopes and fears resting just over the clearing at the top.
Elsa got there first, dropping the shining material of her skirt as she slowed to a halt and then promptly collapsed, covering her eyes with one hand as she caught her breath and her nerves. Anna wasn't far behind and she joined her sister on the ground, sitting sideways with an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay, Elsa," she whispered as she looked up to gaze upon the obelisks that marked their parents' graves. "They came back with us."
"I was afraid that when Storybrooke was destroyed that they would be, too," Elsa sadly admitted, dropping her hand to her lap so she could read the epitaphs again as though she hadn't memorized them. She leaned against Anna's side and looked up at the blue sky that was turning pink with the sun of an ending day, taking that moment to finally reflect on everything that had happened since she woke up that morning.
She was in Storybrooke more than twelve hours ago, getting ready for her morning jog as usual, and then everything that came after seemed like a blur. She spent the day chasing after Anna, trying to get her to come back to the apartment after she ran out, to get her to remember who she was and shed the curse that named her Nina. Her efforts nearly got her killed, but she had done it to protect her sister and give her the chance to keep going when Elsa herself felt that she had used her time wrongly by lying and keeping secrets from her.
She clenched her hands; she'd handled it all wrong, or at least she thought she did. Kristoff would tell her otherwise, but Elsa regretted the decision she made to hide from both Nina and Anna.
She deserves to know.
"Anna, I need to tell you something."
She felt her sister nod against her shoulder and then leave it.
"Is this about what you were trying to tell me before? At the boathouse?" the redhead asked. Elsa nodded just once and Anna sat back to look at her, ready to listen. "Okay. Whenever you're ready."
Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it again, unsure of where or how to begin and she looked down at her hands for some kind of inspiration. "I… um… d-do you remember when we used to play? When we were kids, I mean, when we were very young."
"Well, yeah! Of course I do!" Anna smiled, thinking back to that time fondly. "We used to play out in the pond in the summertime even though Gerda told us not to because we'd always come back covered in mud, and I remember we used to like to go out during winter a lot. Like, a lot, a lot and… gosh, it seemed like it would snow forever sometimes. Were the winters really bad when we were kids?"
"No, that was…" The explanation caught in the memories and Elsa finally tore her eyes from her hands, looking up in visible pain at the streak of blonde in her sister's hair.
Anna noticed. "Elsa…? What's wrong?"
"…Grand Pabbie gave you memories that made it seem like the winters lasted longer than normal."
"Grand Pabbie?" The confusion was clear in Anna's voice as it was by the look on her face. "He gave me… what?"
Elsa huffed in frustration, more at herself than anything and she closed her eyes, tensed her shoulders and held the material of her dress in a tight grip, bracing herself for something she should have done a long time ago.
"When we were children, we used to sneak out of our room to play with my magic in the Great Hall. Except one night, a long time ago, I accidentally struck you in the head with my powers and I almost…" she paused, struck still by the memory of her little sister lying unconscious in the snow. "You wouldn't wake up and… to save you, Grand Pabbie had to alter your memories to forget that I could use magic at all."
Her lip quivered and she bit it in an effort to stop it and the tears that were stinging behind her eyelids. "Anna, I'm so sorry," she cringed. "It was all my fault that we were separated. I couldn't control my magic and I was so afraid to hurt you that I shut you out and I didn't want to. I never wanted to, and I know I hurt you still by doing that, but I was just so scared of another accident… I was afraid to see you like that again…"
There was nothing but silence for what felt like minutes. Elsa quaked from where she sat, still unable to open her eyes, afraid of what her sister would think of her. Although the threat was gone, Peter Pan's hateful words still rang true in her ears: she was a coward. She spent her entire life hiding, door after door, around corners and behind stairways and inside rooms she probably wasn't even supposed to have been in, all to stay away from Anna because she was afraid of what would happen if she got too close.
But when a warm hand suddenly wrapped around her cold one, she felt deflated, her strong defenses buckling and she looked up, blinking through tears as she saw Anna fighting off her own.
"It wasn't your fault," Anna told her, quickly silencing an attempt to argue by giving Elsa's hand a small squeeze. "That night that the accident happened… I kept pushing you to use your magic and I shouldn't have."
"Anna-"
"And you told me to stop jumping off of those snow hills and I didn't listen to you." Anna looked down as the memories came back to her, missing the look of relief on Elsa's face as the streak of blonde faded from her red hair. "It was my fault too, just as much as it was my fault for what happened at the coronation ball and in your ice palace and don't tell me that it wasn't," she said, holding up a hand and interrupting before her sister could even speak. "It wasn't just you. I did some dumb things and I pushed you and I hurt you too."
Elsa would be damned if she let her sister take any of the blame that she felt was hers alone. "Anna… I left you alone for thirteen years because I was afraid of my magic." She sadly turned her sights to the gravestones and then quickly looked back to her sister, allowing her tears to fall freely now. "You had to bury our parents by yourself..."
"You couldn't be there," Anna said, her eyes wide and full of understanding. "I didn't get it then, but I know you now and I'm not mad. I'm not mad, Elsa," she repeated as her sister completely broke down and collapsed into her arms, crying into her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Anna… I'm s-sorry… I'm sorry…"
"It's okay," Anna smiled, rubbing circles into Elsa's back as she sat there and held her, resting her chin on top of her head as she blinked out her own tears. "I'm sorry too."
"I n-never wanted to hurt you… I just wanted… I wanted you to be safe."
"And you did everything you could and I was safe," Anna said softly, hugging Elsa tighter, quivering as her back shook with sobs. "But I'm safer now because you're here with me."
Elsa didn't say anything and only nodded, feeling so small and fragile and yet so warm and welcome in Anna's arms. She never hoped to be forgiven, just understood, and how Anna still managed to love her even after all the hurtful things she said and did to her during those long years, well… it meant the world to Elsa that she had a sister who believed in her so strongly.
It was dusk by the time the royal siblings returned to the castle. The sky was a deep crimson as they walked across the bridge adorned with Arendelle's standard and silhouette announcing Elsa as its queen. The gates to the courtyard were already open before they arrived, eagerly waiting for their return and the sisters walked through, admiring the shimmering crystalline ice spires and additions Elsa had made to the castle many years ago as they approached the front doors.
Anna entered in first, overcome by the familiar old-but-fresh scent of her home as she walked inside and Elsa closed the doors behind them, giggling as Anna started running down the hall with her arms held wide.
"Oh, I forgot how long the hallways are! I can't wait until they polish the floors again so I can sliiiide…"
"You just had your heart taken out and put back today," Elsa reminded, walking a little faster to catch up as Anna skipped to the large doors that led to the Great Hall. "You need to rest. It's very taxing-"
Anna waved it off like it was nothing. "Psh, I'm fine! I'm not as bad off as you."
Elsa almost seemed offended. "Me?" she scoffed. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh please. I saw the way Pan tossed you around like a ragdoll at the boathouse," Anna said, looking over her shoulder at her sister as she pulled open one of the doors. "I'm just saying you should probably start icing your back before you start bruising…"
The queen crossed her arms and shook her head in disbelief of what she was hearing. "Anna, just because I'm in pain, that doesn't give you permission to run around recklessly. Take a few days to recover first."
"…But I wanna slide down the banisters, Elsa."
Elsa gave up and covered her face with her palm, powerless against Anna's determination.
"You're gonna live here forever. It can wait until tomorrow, Feisty-Pants."
Anna whirled, facing the room she just opened the door to. "Don't call me Feisty-Pants, Fish-Breath!"
She blinked, stunned by her own automatic reaction and she focused a little harder this time on who was occupying the room in front of her. "Kristoff!"
Like a scene from a certain storybook, Anna pushed open both doors to reveal Kristoff standing there with an arm around Sven, flanked on his right side by two smiling snowmen. Anna ran into the chamber, nearly tackling the man she loved and he picked her up by the waist, staring into her eyes as he spun her around before setting her back on her feet and pressing his lips to hers, kissing her deeply.
Elsa blushed and shied away, kneeling down and holding her arms wide open to receive Olaf as he charged at her and jumped into her lap. He hugged her around the neck with his thin stick arms, smiling as she picked him up and hugged him back without minding the little flurry of snow that hovered above his head. "Your heart's not blinking anymore!" he noticed, clearly able to see the steady, glowing blue pulse that she carried in her chest.
"I have nothing to worry about now," she smiled. "My family is safe and we're all back home, but…" she turned and looked up to the other snowman… well, snow golem, with a sadder expression as he stretched a hand out towards her. "Marshmallow, are you going to be alright?"
The kind and gentle golem nodded, grinning toothlessly as Elsa, with Olaf still in her arms, stepped onto his hand. He carefully lifted them to his shoulder and he put his other hand on Elsa's back as she and Olaf hugged him the best they could. "I am okay now," he said simply, his deep, low voice so unlike the childish pitch they were all used to hearing in Storybrooke.
Despite the reassurance, Elsa couldn't shake the sight of how the boy was violently trembling the last time she saw him after he had taken particularly scary fall. She leaned back and looked him in the eyes, worried. "Are you sure?"
Again, Marshmallow nodded to her. "I am strong because family is strong. We are strong together." His words were met with encouraging smiles from everyone in the room, but then a question crossed his mind and he looked to his mother for the answer. "What happened to the bad guy? Is he still here?"
"Peter Pan is gone," Elsa told him, stepping back and holding Olaf tighter as he lowered them down to the floor. "He can't hurt any of us anymore."
"He was scary," Marshmallow mumbled. Olaf jumped out of Elsa's arms and ran up to the golem, placing one of his twig hands in the giant's palm before he could retract it.
"Yeah, but thanks to all of us working together, Anna's got her heart back!" he cheered, putting a bigger smile on his brother's face. "Our family is safe and together again!"
"And we're not leaving any time soon." Elsa turned, smiling as Anna and Kristoff held each other and looked at her, both so happy that they were practically glowing. Anna let go of the embrace, skipping past her to greet the two snowmen while Elsa found herself on the receiving end of a hearty hug from Kristoff… and a gentle nudge of her hand from Sven. He seemed happy to see her too, or at least as far as she could tell.
"So…" Kristoff started as Elsa timidly patted Sven on the head, "is everything back to normal now?"
The queen of Arendelle nodded, watching as her sister tried to figure out how to get up to Marshmallow's height to hug him. "She remembers everything… even the accident."
Kristoff blinked, not quite sure he had heard right, but the small grin creeping on his face betrayed his doubt. "You finally told her?"
"I had to," Elsa said, taking in a deep breath as Marshmallow scooped up Anna into one of his large hands and cradled her like an infant. She giggled a little at the sight of her sister's bewildered look and turned to face Kristoff fully. "It was wrong of me to keep lying to her and she was getting sick because of it, but that shouldn't happen anymore. Grand Pabbie said that I had to be the one to break her curse… and I never actually believed I could do it until after I saved her from getting hurt by the Duke and her memories came back. It's a relief to say the least."
The two watched as a door opened on the side of the room and Kai and Gerda walked in. Marshmallow set Anna down so she could rush to them and Elsa smirked, crossing her arms as she looked at Kristoff from the corner of her eyes. "So when can I expect the announcement?"
"Uh… announcement?"
"Of your marriage, of course!"
"Um…"
"You know there's plenty to get done," she warned him. "We have to announce it to the kingdom right after the proposal. Then we have to send out the invitations, organize the decorations, entertainment, banquet, oh! And of course the ceremony!"
"W-Wait, Elsa, hold on a minute-"
"Kristoff, I'm a very busy woman now that I'm back home again. These things have to be scheduled, you know."
Kristoff sighed heavily and hung his head, defeated. He knew proposing to Anna was going to be a big deal with her being the princess, but Elsa just made it all sound like one giant whirlwind of people and events and a celebration so large that he'd get swallowed whole. A nudge at his arm had him looking down at his future sister-in-law with a tired frown.
She just winked at him with another smirk. "I'm only teasing. Take your time, Kristoff. We aren't going anywhere. Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
He stared after her as she started walking away to join her sister and caretakers, hastily catching up to her with a relieved grin on his face. "Yeah, I'm going to need a lot of help. Do you think maybe I should ask during dinner one night? Or maybe the mountain thing like I was thinking before? Or… uh…"
"Just be yourself. She'll love however you ask her… so long as you actually ask her, that is."
Dinner that evening was… different. It started before they even sat down at the table as Anna, so used to cooking for herself and Elsa now, wandered into the kitchen to prepare something and was promptly marched back into the dining room by the head chef. He told her to sit and let him take care of the meal, but moments later after he had gone back to work, the chef came out of the kitchen to apologize to the royal siblings that there wasn't going to be much of a variety in courses for the next several days since the castle's original stock of fresh foods had long since expired. It didn't faze them at all; despite living their youth in luxury, Anna and Elsa were far more used to having very little in terms of wealth nowadays. They were both just fine with the simple meal of bread and fresh fish, provided by the expert angling skills Kristoff acquired during the curse.
They all parted for the evening after the meal. Kristoff went with Sven to the stables to prepare his supplies and get some rest before morning, planning to make the journey to the Valley of the Living Rock to visit their troll family as soon as the day broke. Olaf and Marshmallow, protected by their personal flurries, wandered out into the gardens, sitting between patches of flowers and watching the northern lights dance across the night sky as they talked about the differences between being human and being made of snow. Elsa retreated to her room to care for scraped knees and a bruising back that she couldn't attend to with the rush of the whirlwind day, and with everyone else occupied, Anna couldn't think of anything to do but to take her sister's advice and rest.
Only she was too awake to even think of sleeping.
She laid on her bed, still dressed in the clothes she returned home in and stared up at the pink canopy covering her mattress.
Why is everything so weird?
Her room was too big, her bed was too soft, the window was too large and she just had so many things… did she really need four chairs in here? Who else was going to come in here aside from her and maybe her sister? She pouted and tugged at her pigtails, feeling so agonizingly restless over the fact that she was home but completely uncomfortable.
With a small thought, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked to the bench beneath her window. Two dolls from her childhood were huddled together in the corner, hand in hand, and it gave her an idea that sent her off her bed and heading towards the door.
After all that they went through that day and with the sudden change in… well, everything, she had no doubt that Elsa would still be wide awake. With a determined smirk, Anna strode down the hallway and passed the central staircase, heeding her sister's advice and resisting the urge to kick off her boots and slide down what looked like miles of wooden floor. A short ways past the old grandfather clock and on the left side was a white door painted with sophisticated snowflakes and blue shields; Anna knew it too well, but unlike so many other times when she had approached it in fear of being disappointed, she smiled as she rapped an old rhythm into the wood.
And unlike so many other times when her knock wasn't answered or she was completely turned away, a pleasant, calm voice invited her in.
Elsa sat in a chair facing the window. She had been watching the aurora borealis, letting the lights distract her from the sting of medicine on her knees and the way the bruises on her back throbbed against the ice she coated the support of her chair in. Anna offered a hand to her, suggesting a tour of the castle to help tire them out and Elsa readily agreed to it, relieved that she wasn't the only one struggling to relax.
Actually, the entire castle seemed to be suffering from a case of insomnia. Some of the staff busied themselves with cleaning or other duties because they, too, were having trouble adjusting to the place they hadn't lived in for so long; even the chefs were up late, making bread for the next morning and concocting something so undeniably sweet that Elsa had to drag Anna away from the kitchens to avoid getting scolded by the head chef so soon.
It didn't take long until Anna declared that they were going to have a "no sleep party" and Elsa happily complied, choosing the perfect place for them to crash for the evening.
The library held many memories for the both of them. When they were children, Elsa used to read stories to Anna in the glow of the fireplace, watched by their parents who simply stayed quiet unless the young girls came to a part in the story they didn't understand. When they were separated, Anna almost took over the room, reading the stories by herself, and once she finished with those she'd read every other book the library had to offer. When Anna was at her lessons, Elsa would sneak in to take a few books for herself, or on days when Anna spent some time alone with their mother, Elsa would discuss her duties as the heir over a game of chess with their father; in her teenage years those discussions would turn into debates over politics.
The room, like the rest of Arendelle, hadn't changed since they left. Books were scattered on the floor from Anna's last-minute research on curses before Elsa ordered her to lead the town to the Northern Villages, and the chess table was left untouched, waiting for another game between Elsa and whomever dared to challenge her. The portrait of their father's coronation still hung in its usual spot next to the door, but on the opposite wall was something new… and something entirely familiar at the same time.
Anna gasped when she saw it, pressing her hands to her cheeks in surprise as she just stared at it, not quite believing it was real. "Elsa…! Elsa, look!"
The queen turned, curiously following the direction of Anna's wide eyes until she gazed upon the thing for herself. She held a gasp in her throat and stilled instantly the moment she saw it.
Hanging on the wall above a desk was a painting of a small kingdom nestled against the waters and walls of a craggy fjord: it was the portrait of Arendelle that Alison Vinter had painted, the one that had been held hostage in Mr. Gold's pawnshop for a better part of the last year.
"…I don't understand," Elsa breathed as she approached the painting, reaching up to touch the frame as Anna leaned on the desk to see it better. "This looks as though it's been here the entire time, but it's the same one I painted at the old apartment; I can see where the canvas was repaired," she said, pointing to a crease that ran through the castle walls. "How did it get here?"
Anna smirked, clasping her hands behind her back and shifting her weight to one foot as she looked up at the painting in admiration. "Maybe this was his way of apologizing for those twenty-eight years you worked for him," she said, choosing to see this last act from Rumplestiltskin as a sign that the Dark One occasionally remembered that he had a heart. "Maybe he put some spell on it so it came back with us?"
While Elsa was thrilled to have the painting back, the feeling was subdued by the memory of the man who had taken it from her. Wickedly cunning, cruel, and at times malicious, Rumplestiltskin was both her greatest foe and ally. He had aided her when she asked him to (at a price, of course) but he also seemed to understand the nature of her powerful magic. It had almost comforted her knowing that he could help her learn more about it, but then the time came when he starting warning her about staying in control and then spoke of her future in the final moments before he died.
"There is a prophecy… one I tried to steer you from, but I failed. Do not give in to the nature of your magic. Protect her. Anna will help you find the way through the darkness."
She dropped her sights from the painting and turned towards her sister, smiling a little as the redhead studied the colors and details of the landscape. She didn't doubt that Anna would be able to help her get through whatever this prophecy entailed; with every challenge that came their way, Anna had the endless determination to push them both through and could even instill a kind of confidence in Elsa that lingered even when they were separated. Their future was bright together… and yet Elsa still feared the last words of a dying man.
She tried to push the feeling away for now and allowed herself to get distracted when a knock came at the door. Kai, Gerda and several other servants brought up gifts for the siblings, a few "welcome back" presents to make the castle feel a little bit more like the apartment they were used to sharing. Elsa stepped back, kindly denying the graciousness of her staff as they set up an easel and work table for her while Anna forced herself to stand still as she spied a small stack of blank journals being placed on an end table along with a fresh pot of ink and several quills.
The servants left as quickly as they came and once the door closed, Elsa quickly approached the work table, breaking her queenly demeanor and holding a childlike grin as she sorted through the paints and brushes, organizing them as a vision of her next piece completely overshadowed her worries for the moment. Anna looked at the empty books, running her fingers over decorative covers and sturdy bindings, wondering which story in her arsenal of many she should ink first. She excused herself as Elsa began preparing a palette of colors, leaving the room and claiming she would be back in a few minutes.
By the time she returned, a scene was already beginning to form upon the canvas her sister diligently worked at. Anna silently approached and tapped her shoulder, quickly darting to the side as Elsa looked for her. She giggled, drawing her sister's attention, and she held up a plate of chocolates in triumph with a mischievous grin on her face. "Look what I got!" she sang.
She was only met with a dull blue stare. "Anna, please tell me that you're not stealing from the kitchens again. We just got back."
"Well, it's technically not stealing because they were making it for us, so…"
"Unbelievable..."
"And we're just gonna eat it eventually anyway!" Anna argued with a smile, putting the plate down on the end table before taking a seat on the chaise. "Why not now?"
Elsa sighed, dipping her paintbrush in a dollop of light blue as she kept her focus on the painting before her. "You know that everyone's going to expect you to be more responsible now that we're home again."
The redhead shrugged and reached back over to the end table, avoiding the chocolate for now and taking a small book and feathered quill into her lap. "Elsa, we played "keep away" with my heart today and we both almost died. I don't think anyone will mind if we pass on the responsibility for a day or two," she smirked as she cracked open the book, excited at the sight and smell of the fresh, blank pages inside.
She set to work and began her recollection of what had happened to her and her sister over the last twenty-eight and then some years, starting from the very beginning when the Evil Queen threatened Arendelle and the Dark Curse took them away. Her words were thoughtful and true and she spared no detail of the trials she and Elsa faced while struggling just to eat during the same month that seemed to repeat over and over again in a vicious cycle of uncertain days and hopeful nights.
Anna would stop her writing once in a while to rest her hand and think, looking up at Elsa and her painting in progress every time she did so. If she ignored the wallpaper, the lavish furniture, the fireplace and the intricately detailed clothes they were wearing, the evening looked very similar to a typical night in Storybrooke. Anna and Elsa were enjoying each other's company while working on their projects, just like they did in the apartment.
As the late hours passed them by, the two would take breaks for a piece of chocolate or a drink of water once Kai brought a pitcher up for them. Elsa sat on the chaise and laughed as Anna mourned the loss of the toaster, the radio, her cellphone, and then the toaster again because she just loved it so much and was so proud when she could afford to get one. Elsa was just happy that her morning diet would consist of something better and healthier than the bland pastries her sister had been obsessed with, but of course she'd keep that preference to herself.
They would quickly engross themselves in their projects once more, neither one really paying attention to how much time was passing or how tired they were getting because they were just enjoying themselves too much to care. Sooner or later, responsibilities would take up most of their days and they would hardly have time like this to just simply be together without interruption; the thought crossed Anna's mind and she wished that the night could last forever.
She looked up just after she finished writing about how Nina and Alison celebrated the latter's 22nd birthday with fists full of frosting and she gaped at the scene Elsa was detailing on the canvas. "I hope you keep painting," she breathed in amazement, "because… wow. It's like we were just there."
"We were just there!" Elsa laughed as she set down her paintbrush. "I'll keep painting so long as you keep writing. Deal?"
"Deal!" Anna smiled, closing her book for now and leaving it on the chaise as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head, looking out the window as she did so. "Hey, the sun's coming up! Wanna watch it?"
"Bring the chocolate," Elsa told her, brushing her shimmering cape out of the way as she turned to exit the room, pausing with Anna right behind her to linger once more at the painting in progress of Storybrooke's public library and the clock tower above it.
"It was quite an adventure, wasn't it?" Anna smiled as she followed Elsa into the hallway. "I mean, it was insanely dangerous and actually quite terrible at times with all the bad guys who were after us, but it was exciting too!"
Elsa's grimaced, her brows drawing together as she shook her head in disagreement. "It was too exciting," she said as she approached a door and opened it, allowing Anna out onto the balcony first before she followed to join her at the banister. "I like adventure as well, but not when my sister or my friends' lives are in danger practically every week. It never stopped."
Anna nodded silently as she put the plate of chocolate between them on the railing. She looked out into the courtyard, briefly watching the fountains flow before she turned her sights to the world beyond the castle's protective walls. The village of their kingdom still slept, touched ever so lightly by the faint pink glow on the horizon.
"Hey Elsa?"
"Yes?"
Anna looked down at her hands, gripping the railing tightly before she met her sister's eyes. "You said a lot of times that you hated Storybrooke, but did you really mean it?"
Stalling as she thought about her answer, Elsa took a piece of chocolate and popped it in her mouth, letting the sweet flavor take away her negative feelings about the small town hidden in the middle of a forest in Maine. She shook her head. "I don't know. A lot of bad things happened to us there, but at the same time… a lot of good things happened too. I learned a lot," she said, smiling down at her little sister. "About you and myself. I suppose in a way, those bad experiences helped me grow."
"You're a lot stronger," Anna agreed, and then quickly waved her hands as though to dismiss what she just said. "I-I mean, not that you weren't strong before, it's just that, you know, as a person, not magically… well, I guess magically too…"
"I know what you mean," Elsa laughed, though her smile quickly faded. "But what about you? Did you always like Storybrooke? You never really said anything about it."
Anna shrugged, holding into the railing and leaning back. "I really hated it when I was cursed," she admitted. "It was just so boring and nothing ever really changed. I mean, I was happy I was with you, but nothing exciting happened. We were stuck."
"But then that clock started moving," she continued, watching as the sun peeked above the horizon and painted the village in waves of gold. "Things changed, and then the curse broke and I realized that I didn't care I was stuck there. I mean, I wanted to go home because you did, but if we really had to live the rest of our lives in Storybrooke, then that's okay because you'd be there with me, and Kristoff and Sven and the boys would too."
Elsa smiled, feeling the warmth of her sister's love resonating in her heart and she looked to her kingdom in pride as the first light of day reflected in the shining crown she wore upon her head. "You know, it's funny… when the curse was first lifted, I sort of saw Storybrooke as a fresh start for us, like a chance to start over again. But now that we're back in Arendelle, I feel like this is our new beginning."
With a firm nod, Anna reached over and grabbed Elsa's hand, covering her scarred palm with a tight grip. "Me too. There's lots more adventures just waiting for us here and in the rest of the Enchanted Forest," she grinned, bouncing a little in her place when she saw that Elsa shared the same enthusiastic look in her eyes, "and I can't wait to get out there and see it all!"
Days in Arendelle weren't very peculiar. The sun rose in the east and set in the west, just as it always did. Time passed and each day brought new events to experience.
But the kingdom did contain some rarities that no other could claim to have: Its royal flower bloomed in the harsh cold of winter and the countryside had an amazing view of the northern lights over the ocean.
Oh, and the queen also happened to be gifted with magical ice powers. Her sister, the princess, had a heart so strong and pure that it glowed with gold. As individuals, the royals were both powerful, but together they were unstoppable.
Their future was so bright and Anna grew excited the more she thought about all the opportunities and adventures that were to be had now that they were back in their homeland. She stood there on the balcony, teal eyes sparkling in the rising sunlight, holding onto her sister's hand tightly as they greeted the day together and the dawn of a new life.
Author's Note: From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you all for reading this story, for your kind reviews, constructive criticisms and encouraging messages. I've never posted anything like this before and you've all been so generous, patient and supporting that I really cannot say "thank you" enough.
I know what you're probably thinking right now: "Wait, what about Rumple's prediction/the rest of Season 3/Season 4/the toaster/etc..." Well, when I first started writing this story, the second half of Season 3 wasn't even airing yet. When I quickly found out that Forever Frozen wasn't going to be a simple one-shot, this is where the ending was always supposed to be.
...That doesn't mean that I can't come up with a sequel, though...
I can't say when exactly the story will continue, only that I'll be taking a hiatus for now... and that I'm always thinking :) We'll see where the adventures take us in Forever Frozen: Star of Hope
Warm hugs and Pop Tarts,
-Cryoshade