Elsa had a boy in her bedroom. A whole boy, sitting there, right next to the dresser and the sunlit window and all the other things that actually belonged in her bedroom. She'd definitely been right before – Fritz may have been older than he looked, but he really seemed like a little boy. It was almost surreal seeing a member of the royal guards, who'd all been callous and professional to a fault her entire life, slouched against the wall, weeping softly.

Elsa herself was sitting on her bed, grasping for something to say and feeling like a goldfish that'd had its bowl overturned. As much as she'd softened up to him, deep down she still thought of this kid as just another guard. The problem was, she couldn't possibly look at him that way anymore. Queens don't give their guards big hugs and then invite them into their bedrooms if the guard is too embarrassed to nurse his wounds at the infirmary. Elsa knew how to talk to a bodyguard. She didn't know how to talk to a person.

Except for Anna, of course. If she'd watched a huge man beat the daylight out of Anna, Elsa would have known exactly what to say to her. But she couldn't act that way with Fritz – He wasn't family. So now Elsa had to deal with someone who wasn't family, wasn't dating family, and wasn't staff, and, holy cow, those were practically the only kinds of people Elsa had ever met.

At some point, Fritz quieted. Elsa glanced at him. For the second or so she saw his face, it looked miserable, but the instant Fritz noticed her, he hid it in his hands and turned away. Next Elsa's glance fell on the mirror frame above her dresser. The wonderfully empty mirror frame.

She could do this.

"Fritz?" Elsa seated herself before him on the carpet.

After a moment, Fritz reluctantly moved his hands and met her eyes. His widened. "You're hurt!"

Elsa impulsively brought her fingers to her neck. While she hadn't actually looked at herself lately (She was pretty sick of mirrors by now), Elsa imagined the wight had left some nasty bruises.

"The monster did that," she said, "but I'm alright. You're the one who's hurt."

Fritz seemed drawn back into reality. "Oh, right..."

"I really think you should go to the infirmary."

Fritz bowed his head. "I'm not even supposed to be here right now."

Elsa remembered the suitcase currently resting against the far wall. "You were leaving?" she asked. "Why?"

"I was fired." Fritz wasn't crying anymore, but Elsa had a feeling he could resume any second now.

"Oh!" The piece clicked into place. "I am so sorry, Fritz! With the wight dead, I told Kai to go ahead and reduce the staff. I forgot about you."

Fritz looked stupefied. "You mean... you want me to stay?"

"Of course."

"But... you don't need me anymore," said Fritz. "You only got a bodyguard because of the monster, didn't you?"

Huh. He raised a good point, actually. Elsa had honestly forgotten why Fritz had been kept around in the first place.

"Well..." she said slowly. "The princess doesn't need a bodyguard anymore..." She gave a small smile. "...but, you know, an assassin could come for the queen at any moment."

Tears were coming down Fritz's cheeks again. That hadn't been the expected reaction at all, and somehow the sight tightened Elsa's stomach. It dawned on her that she really, really wanted this person to be happy.

"Queen Elsa, I-" Fritz wiped his face, then let out a grunt of frustration. It almost made Elsa wince. Being angry at yourself for crying was, in her experience, the absolute worst feeling in the world.

"Queen Elsa, I know I'm a terrible bodyguard. I never should've gotten this job in the first place. What are you going to do, keep me around out of pity? Let me live here and hand me a paycheck no matter how scrawny and weak I am?"

Elsa closed her eyes. He was right, she knew. That was exactly what she was doing.

"Where else will you go?" she asked.

"Don't know," Fritz said faintly. "Momma wouldn't want me to come back to her place again... I was just gonna hop on a boat and figure it out from there."

Elsa took a deep breath. She just had to tell him the truth. Just had to say, "I don't want you to leave me." The words didn't come.

"I tried to tell you the last time I got put in the hospital," sniffed Fritz, "I'm a loser. A screw up. I've never done anything right in my entire life." He turned his head away again. "I couldn't even do anything to help you when you were..." His voice trailed off, shaking.

This caught Elsa's attention. "What do you mean?"

Fritz met her eyes again. "I don't know everything about you... the ice powers and eternal winter and rebellion and monster and all that other stuff... but... I do know that one day, right after the rebellion, you came to me, and you had those nightmares... Something happenedto you, and I didn't do anything about it. I didn't know what to say, and I let myself sit there like an idiot... and when we thought Samson died, you came to me again, and then you had the anxiety attack, and I was still too stupid to... to..."

He was cut off by a cold hand taking his warm one. Elsa had no idea what she was doing at this point. Was it okay to hold hands with a not-family-not-staff-person?

"Fritz, I promise you, I'm going to be alright," she said. "I'm the one who hasn't done anything to help you. I was so caught up in my own problems that I never noticed you were hurting inside. But you know what?" She gave him another smile. "You just made me realize something. I'm not going to keep you as my bodyguard out of pity... I'm going to do it because you have skills none of the other guards have."

Fritz looked befuddled.

"You are..." Elsa took his other hand in hers. "...kind and caring and sensitive. I won't accept anything less from somebody I'm trusting with my life. Especially after Samson."

You could see the gradual change from befuddled to touched to crying again. "Did, uh... Did Samson...?"

"Don't worry," Elsa smirked. "He backed off pretty quickly once his lips turned blue."

Fritz replied with a weak smile of his own.

"I'm sorry about him, Fritz," said Elsa. "Frankly, I'm embarrassed I let trash like Samson onto the guard. And I'm sorry about what happened to you, too. I was coming to make sure Samson was on board... I hadn't thought he'd attack a person in broad daylight like that..." She scowled. "I can't believe I actually mourned him."

Elsa hadn't noticed it herself, but her misgivings about talking to a not-family-not-staff-person had been all but abandoned. "And Samson wasn't the only one! There have been major discipline problems from all the new staff. Did you know every single one of the guards and one of the maids has made a pass at me?" Her eyes narrowed. "It's disgusting. They only want one thing..."

Fritz's face reddened. "Um-"

"My country!"

Fritz winced around the time that second syllable hit his ears.

"They think I'm going to marry one of them so they can go from peasant to monarch." Elsa turned to Fritz. "Come to think of it... you're the only person who hasn't made some ridiculous advance towards me." She put her hands on his shoulders. "Thank you. I appreciatethat. By the way, what was it you'd needed to tell me before?"

Fritz stared. They stayed like that for a while, a boy and girl sitting on the carpet, his back leaned against the wall, her hands on his shoulders. "Um," said Fritz.

Elsa cocked her head expectantly.

Fritz closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began slowly:

"Before I came to the palace, I was just a loser nobody cared about. I screwed up at everything I ever tried to do. And... I never felt like anybody cared about me... But then I came here, and I met you, and at first you ignored me, too, but then you did something nobody else has ever done... You payed attentionto me. You told me I'm not a loser. And... for the first time in my entire life, I felt good about myself." He took an even deeper breath. "But... I also saw that you're really hurting, too, and at first I thought I was just-"

"Oh, Fritz," Elsa breathed.

"-attra- Wait, what?"

She took his hand in hers again. "I feel the same way."

You could've knocked Fritz over with a half a feather and a light breeze. "Y-You do?"

For someone who was always cold, Elsa certainly could give a warm smile. "Yes, Fritz. I know what it's like to feel the way you've felt... to live with it for years." She spared another glance towards the empty mirror frame. "It eats you away inside. And... you never realize... how important and special and loved you are..."

She moved in closer.

"...unless you're blessed enough to have someone come into your life and tell you."

Closer...

"People can't live their lives alone. We need people to loveus..."

Closer...

"We need... friends!"

Elsa gave Fritz a big, friendly hug.

"I... I..." Fritz, apparently, was at a loss for words. He must have been left speechless with joy.

Elsa regarded him seriously. "When I said we were friends before, I really meant it. You know that, don't you?"

Fritz nodded lamely.

"Good," smiled Elsa. "You friendship means the world to me, Fritz. I've... never had one before."

Sadness had overtaken Fritz's eyes. "Yeah... Me neither..." he said quietly.

"Fritz..." Elsa ended the hug and rose to her feet. "You're a wonderful person. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise, alright?"

Fritz nodded again.

"I think I hear Anna stirring." Elsa moved for the door. "Now go to the infirmary, okay? I want you taken care of." She gave him one last smile and then left down the hall.

So that's what Fritz was. Not family, not staff, not her sister's boyfriend or a snowman or a political diplomat... He was a friend.

Elsa was on top of the world, and not only in the literal "far up north" sense. She'd helped someone. Someone just like herself had stumbled into Elsa's life, and she'd pulled him from the deepest pits of depression the same way Anna had pulled her. Elsa loved Mary being gone – Her head felt so clear. The wight was dead, the sun was shining, Anna was awake, and Elsa was more than ready for some sisterly activities.

Anna was already out of bed, still in her pajamas, and trying to act like she hadn't had her ear pressed against the wall. "Were you talking to Fritz?" she demanded the instant Elsa entered her bedroom. "Did he tell you how he felt about you?"

Elsa paused, then glanced back down the hall towards her doorway. "Yeah," she said. "He did."

Fritz went straight to the infirmary. At this point, Elsa could've told him to jump into a pit of hungry reindeer and he'd have done it in a heartbeat. Weird that he hadn't realized it sooner... Fritz was friends with the queen of Arendelle. That was pretty awesome.

Elsa led Anna into the kitchens, where Olaf was already waiting at an oaken table. Anna didn't realize it was a trap until she caught sight of the big bucket of soapy water resting on said table.

"Nuh uh, no way!" Anna took a step backwards. "I was serious before – That's not a sisterly activity!" She tried to run for it, but the exit was sealed by ice.

Elsa had on a devilish grin. "I was serious, too."

Anna ended up seated at the table, arms folded, staring apprehensively at the sudsy rag hanging on the bucket's rim.

"Listen up, both of you." Elsa stood at the head of the table, facing her sister and snowman. "We are royalty." She raised her chin, putting on an exaggerated air. "We will not be caught using foul language."

Olaf raised a stick arm. "What counts as foul?"

"That would be any reference to private bodily functions, obscene gestures, and anything bluntly insulting or blasphemous."

Olaf's coal-eyes lit up with comprehension. "Ohhhhhhhhh. You mean like-" He proceeded to rattle off a list of every curse word known to man.

In the center of one of the castle's more nondescript hallways, there was a tapestry. This tapestry contained a very elegant floral design. It also contained two lumps, one shaped like a boy and one shaped like a girl, in very close proximity to one another.

Suddenly, the boy-shaped lump pulled away. "Ick! Anna, your mouth tastes like soap!"

"Seriously?" groaned the girl-shaped lump. "I rinsed it out, like, twenty times!"

Kristoff emerged from the tapestry, followed by his girlfriend.

"Hey, wait!" Anna caught his arm and gave him a sly look. "Come on, I'm sure there's plenty of stuff we could still do if we put our minds to it..."

"Well," grinned Kristoff, returning the expression. "They do say using your imagination is good for you..."

Just then, something let out a squawk, and the couple spun their heads to find a snowy white bird perched on a nearby bust. The snowbird was staring at them, unblinking.

"What are you looking at?" asked Anna.

The snowbird preened itself innocently.

"Dang it, I'd really thought we'd lost it that time," grumbled Kristoff.

"Oh, there you are, Anna." Just then, Elsa came towards them from up a staircase. "You can't really be done with sisterly activities so soon?"

"You dumped the whole bucket on my head!"

Elsa looked over Anna's disheveled pyjamas and Kristoff's unmanly and equally disheveled blond hair. "I see you'd rather be doing boyfriendly activities."

The snowbird hopped onto her finger. "They kissed intensely and fondled each other," it stoically informed her.

"Oh dear, what am I going to do with you two?" Elsa smirked and shook her head. "Now come on, there's one more obvious activity we haven't done yet." She took Anna's hand and led her towards the stairs.

Anna blinked, confused. "There is? What are we forgetting? We did snowball-fighting."

"Just one more loose end to tie up," said Elsa vaguely. "One last thing we need to do to clean up the damage Mary caused..."

Anna was awoken from her half-awake haze when she rolled over under the covers and realized she had way too much room on the bed. She sat up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her five-year-old brain pieced together than Mama must have returned to her own bed during the night, a nasty habit most parents seemed to have developed.

Yesterday had been highly peculiar, and this was coming from Anna, who thought eating mud was a perfectly normal way to spend your time. Before last night, Anna had been pretty certain crying was one of those things adults never did. After the mysterious doppelganger cat incident, Mama had spent the next few hours in Anna's bedroom, sobbing and hugging and assuring Anna that her parents loved her very much. Anna hadn't realized how much she'd missed being hugged.

Anyways, Anna felt fine now that she was reasonably certain her parents did love her after all, and Mama was probably fine too because, y'know, she was a grown-up, and grown-ups always know how to handle every situation perfectly. Currently, Anna's biggest concern was whether she was hungry enough to head down to breakfast or if she wanted to stay in her room and play with her dolls.

Anna glanced out the window. Wow, there was still some snow left! It would make for a pretty mushy snowman, of course, but Anna would settle for-

Oh, wait. That was right. Elsa didn't love her anymore. Anna dropped her head and sighed. Maybe there was another answer. Maybe Elsa didn't hate Anna. Maybe... Well, she'd been getting gloves when Anna had tried to pounce on her, hadn't she? Maybe Elsa had a thing against dirt? Yes, that was the only logical explanation. Well, Anna shrugged, she'd wash her hands more frequently and see if that earned Anna her Elsa privileges back. Scientific method.

Anyways, by this point Anna had decided on playing with dolls, so she hopped out of bed to retrieve her absolute favorite doll of all time from its spot on the floor.

Anna's heart nearly stopped. There was stuffing everywhere, creating a trail leading straight to the doll's head... right across the room from its body. What had she done?

Don't panic. Don't panic. Anna carefully scooped up the fluff and returned it to the deep recesses of the beheaded toy. She gingerly placed the head onto the neck. There. Good as new. Anna let out a sigh of relief.

The head tumbled off and hit the carpet with an audible thump.

When something horrible happens, little girls don't immediately start crying. It takes a few second for the calamity of the situation to sink in properly.

It wasn't too late! It wasn't too late! It... It could still be... fixed... It wasn't gone forever... It... It...

A while later, a tiny head of red hair with miniscule pigtails crept its way across the hall. It stopped before a big, white door with blue patterns running up the sides.

Knock, knock-knock, knock knock.

"Elsa... It's me. I came to say... I'm sorry I tried to hug you... I won't do it again... Look, we don't have to do it now, but later we're gonna eat chocolate together, okay? And we'll play with our dolls but not my favorite one 'cause it's broken now and I'm sorry about that too and we'll be best buddies again and I still love you even if you don't love me okay and do you wanna build a snowman?"

Silence. That was fine. It was... It was just gonna take a minute, that was all, but Elsa was definitely right about to open that door. Anna was offering chocolate! Elsa never turned down chocolate. It was... impossible. That door was gonna swing open any second now.

Wait for it... Wait for it...

Elsa placed the head on the snowwoman, then overlooked their work proudly.

"The first one was lumpier," said Anna. "It looks way better now."

"Yeah." Elsa nodded, then took yet another look at the mirror frame, as if reassuring herself it was empty. "Hey, Anna... Let's put off seeing the trolls for another time. Tomorrow, we need to visit Mrs. Dale again."

For a second, Anna's eyebrows raised, but then she forced her face back to normal. "Okay, Elsa, I... Yeah, sounds like a plan." She started to stand up, but Elsa caught her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" Elsa grinned. "We haven't put on the handprints yet."