Frozen: To the End

by Lugubrious DBB

Two sisters, once separate by fear, found each other again. Then, they learned how to still love each other while going their separate ways. But now, Elsa and Anna must confront an enemy from the past that threatens to destroy the peace they have created together, as well as learn beyond all doubt just how strong their love for each other truly is. A sequel to "Frozen II."

2. Chapter 2: Holiday

Frozen: To the End

Chapter Two

"Holiday"

Fourteen years later . . .

Queen Anna was content.

The monarch lay in her bed, eyes shut, breathing slowly, dreamily savoring the sensation of the pillow of soft down against her head, the warmth of her blanket as it enfolded her. A slight smile tugged at her lips as the warm rays of the rising sun broke through the window, bathing her slumbering form in golden light. She laughed in her sleep, dreams mingling with memories of a time not that long ago, a face wreathed in platinum blonde hair smiling back at her, beckoning her to join her as—

"Happy Mother's Day!"

Anna's slumber came to a most abrupt end as three embodiments of boundless energy suddenly landed upon her. A most unroyal "Oooomph!" flew from her lips as the wind was forcibly removed from her lungs. The queen had never been one to wake from sleep at the drop of a hat, and so she flailed about, eyes opening blearily, a look of dazed confusion etched upon her face.

"Mama! Mama! Get up! Get up! We gots a surprise-ed for you!"

Anna blinked several times, her heart rate finally returning to normal. "Wh– . . . What's all this, sweetnesses?"

Karina glared at her younger sister. "Why'd you have to wake Mama up like that, Bridgette? It's her special day, after all."

The three-year-old pouted at her sister, her sandy blonde hair swaying back and forth as she shook her head. "It wasn't me!" she protested as she folded her arms. She pointed at her eight-year-old brother indignantly. "He started-ed it!"

"Did not!" Lothar looked from Bridgette back to his twin sister, an expression of angelic innocence etched on his face.

"Don't lie, Lothar!" Bridgette retorted. "It's a sin-en-nen to lie!"

"I didn't do anything!" Lothar protested, grabbing hold of Bridgette's hand. "You're the one who ran in here and—"

"'Cause you told-ed me to!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did—"

"Children!"

The three children fell silent as their father entered the room. He looked at them in stunned silence, then turned to his wife, a mortified expression on his face. "I am so sorry!" he said. "They were supposed to wait until you woke up on your own." He turned to Bridgette, frowning. "But apparently someone couldn't wait . . ."

"It was my fault, Father," Karina said, glancing toward her now-miserable younger sister. "I was supposed to keep Bridgette with me. I turned away for just a second and . . ."

Her father nodded. "I see." He ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. "Well, you know what this means, don't you?"

The next thing Anna knew, her husband launched himself on the bed next to her. Squeals of delight flew from Bridgette's throat as the man tickled his daughter mercilessly. With a growl, he wrapped his arms around Karina and Lothar, holding all three of his children tight in his embrace, squeezing them in spite of their protests. "The bear is going to get you! The bear is going to . . ."

His voice trailed off as he beheld his wife's still-confused stare. Clearing his throat, he stood. "I mean, Happy Mother's Day, honey!"

Anna blinked, finally awake enough to comprehend what was happening. "That's not a thing, Kristoff."

"I know," her husband said. He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "But it should be. I mean, you do so much for the kids, and for the kingdom, that we . . ." He leaned forward. "I thought you deserved a special day in honor of it." He shrugged again. "Early May seemed like as good a time of year as ever."

"Aw."

Anna blushed as she wrapped her arms around her children. "That's so sweet of you!" She looked up at Kristoff. "All of you!"

"Ooh! Ooh!"

Lothar leaped from Anna's grasp, running toward the door. "We almost forgot the surprise! Here!"

The boy opened the door dramatically. A reindeer entered the room, a tray of food perched carefully within his jaws.

"Blueberry pancakes, Mama!" Bridgette exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down. "And lots of syrup! Just the way you likes-ed it!"

Anna smiled, her stomach suddenly growling loudly. "They look delicious!" She kissed her children on the cheek. "I am going to eat these right now!"

She took the tray from the reindeer, patting him on the head. "Good boy, Sven."

"You're welcome, Anna," "Sven" said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Kristoff's.

The queen brought a forkful of pancake to her lips, taking a bite. "Wow. These . . . These are delicious!" She looked about the room. "Who made these?"

"I did," Karina said, a hint of pride evident in her voice.

"Ahem."

The girl rolled her eyes. "All right. Lothar helped. A little."

"A little?!"

Lothar shoved his twin sister in the shoulder. "I got the eggs, remember? And the milk!"

"You asked Kai to get them for you," Karina retorted.

"Which is practically the same thing!" Lothar insisted. "And Gerda actually made them, you know."

"I stirred the blueberries in!"

"Oh, wow, that's a lot of work on your part," Lothar muttered. "You're a real—OW!"

The boy winced in pain as his sister twisted his arm behind his back. "Take it back, Lothar!"

"Nev—OW! OW! All right! Fine! You'rethebestcookintheworldandyoushouldhaveyourownrestaurant! There, you happy?"

Anna took another bite of pancake as she watched the twins bicker. She glanced at Kristoff. "It gets easier as they get older, right?"

The royal ice master shrugged. "I wouldn't know. When I was their age, I was fending for myself in the mountains. I don't exactly have a lot of experience in this department." He walked over to the still-arguing children. "Guys. Guys. Let's not ruin your mama's special day, all right?"

"Yes, Father," Karina and Lothar replied, immediately sticking their tongues out at one another the moment Kristoff turned back to Anna.

Anna wiped her lips with the napkin on her tray. "Well, I am absolutely stuffed!" she exclaimed. "Thank you so much for the surprise."

Kristoff took the tray from the bed, placing it back in Sven's jaws. "Why don't you take the three of them outside to play for a bit, buddy?" he asked the reindeer. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Okay," "Sven" replied. "But don't do anything I wouldn't do, all right?"

Kristoff shot the reindeer an expression of mock horror. "Never!" He walked to the door, opening it. "All right, you three. You heard Sven. Go play outside for a while."

"Yay!"

Bridgette skipped to the door, elated. "Come on, guys!" She gestured wildly for her siblings to follow. Lothar, Karina, and Sven exited the room. As Kristoff closed the door, Bridgette's voice echoed down the corridor. "It's so neat that Sven sounds just like Papa . . .!"

"So . . ."

Kristoff turned to Anna. "Did you like it? You can say 'no' if you didn't. And I'm sorry they just barged in on you like that! I—"

The queen laughed. "Of course I liked it!"

"Really?"

Kristoff looked at Anna expectantly. "You're not just saying that because they're our kids, are you? Because if you didn't like it, just let me know and I'll—"

"Kristoff Bjorgman!"

Anna wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders, planting a kiss delicately on his lips. "What has gotten into you today?"

Kristoff sighed. "Nothing."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "I know that sigh. You're upset about something. Tell me." Her tone softened. "Please?"

"It's just . . ."

Kristoff wiggled from his wife's embrace, his hands thrust into his trouser pockets. He began to pace about the room. "It's just . . . I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Anna frowned. "What does that mean?" A horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Ohmygosh! It's me, isn't it? You're upset because I haven't been paying enough attention to you! I'm sorry, I really am! It's just that, with spring finally coming, there's been a lot on my plate to worry about! First the fjord levels have been rising higher than they have before, and then the winds have been all wonky lately, which makes it hard for our trade partners to get here and—"

She broke off as Kristoff laughed. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing," her husband replied. "It's not you. Not you at all. It never could be. I mean, look at how great things have been since you became queen. I haven't seen the 'Delle this prosperous and peaceful in a long time."

Anna walked toward him, pulling the soft jacket she wore over her nightgown tighter. "Then what is it?"

"I just . . . I just don't feel like I have a purpose," Kristoff admitted. "You're the queen, but what am I? I'm just your royal consort. I don't have any real authority. Nothing to keep me busy. We have more than enough ice harvesters, so I'm not needed for that. I can't make any official sort of decisions. We have servants for everything. Hell, there's someone who cleans my boots every night just so I don't have to!"

The queen frowned. "How long have you felt like this, Kristoff?"

Her husband turned away, glancing out the window. "Not that long. It wasn't so bad when we were first married. Considering it didn't take long for us to have the twins, I didn't really have time to think about it much. And then Bridgette came along, and so she kept me pretty busy. But now . . . Now, I'm getting older and I guess . . ."

He turned back toward Anna. "I've spent most of my life alone. Well, with just Sven, at least. I'm used to doing everything myself and being self-sufficient. Now . . ." He looked down at his hands. "Now, I don't have anyone who really needs me."

"Excuse me, Mr. Bjorgman!"

Anna took hold of Kristoff's hands, pulling him close to her. "I can think of at least one person here in this room who needs you, thank you very much."

"You know what I mean."

"I do," Anna said. "But I also know that I can't do this without you. Okay, so maybe you don't have any 'official' authority under our laws. But you know I never make an important decision without discussing it with you first. We're a team, Kristoff. You and me."

Kristoff looked at his wife for several silent moments, the corner of his lip turning upward ever-so-slightly. "Thanks, honey. That . . . That really means a lot."

"And it was so sweet of you," Anna continued, moving toward the bed, "to make up a special day just for me. 'Mother's Day' . . ." She reached up to her auburn hair, carefully undoing the ties holding it in place, allowing it to fall freely around her shoulders. "That has a nice ring to it. I hope it does catch on, after all."

"You like it?"

A mischievous grin formed on Anna's face. "Well, Mr. Bjorgman," she said, standing as regally as she could, removing the jacket over her nightgown. "That remains to be seen. Your queen requires something of you right now. Only after you have performed this task will I be able to judge accurately whether or not this holiday you've invented has been successful."

Kristoff nodded, taking the hint. "I see," he said, slowly walking toward the bed, removing the vest he wore over his tunic. "And this task you require, Your Majesty," he said, bowing before his wife. "Is it . . . difficult?"

"Very."

"Dangerous?"

Anna's mischievous grin grew wider as she climbed into the bed, pulling the blankets up around her shoulders. "Possibly."

"Enjoyable?"

"Oh, most certainly . . ."

Kristoff was next her in an instant, his hand on the shoulder of her nightgown. "I'll have to think about it," he said, slowly pulling his wife's arm free of her clothing. "I never embark on any task without fully studying it beforehand."

Anna disappeared beneath the blankets. "Then what are you waiting for, Mr. Bjorgman?" she asked sensuously—

Kristoff nearly jumped out of his skin as the bedroom door burst open. Anna shrieked from beneath the blankets.

"Yes, I think that will be an excellent idea!"

A familiar giggle filled the air. The ice master turned toward the source of the sound in disbelief. "Olaf?! What are you doing here?"

The living snowman looked up at him, eyes wide, innocent. "Excellent question! And yet, I could ask the same of you. What are any of us doing here, for that matter?" The snowman walked to the vase on the night table, his wooden fingers brushing against the soft petals of the slightly wilted flowers. "How precious and fragile is our own mortality, Kristoff," he said. He retrieved a fallen petal from the table. "One moment we live, the next . . ." He crushed the petal dramatically. "We die!"

Kristoff's eye twitched. "Are we spending a little too much time in the library again? You know there are other books in there besides ones on philosophy—"

Olaf's giggle filled the room again. "Oh, silly Kristoff. The correct usage is 'you,' not 'we.' As in . . ." His voice deepened into what his own ears was a perfectly accurate imitation of Kristoff's voice, but in reality was simply his own voice an octave lower. "'Olaf, are you spending a little too much time in the library again?'" He giggled. "I apologize. I know it's not easy to have to live with such a learned scholar as me—"

"Anyway . . ."

Kristoff cleared his throat, hoping to shoo the snowman away. "What exactly are you doing here? I'm kind of . . . busy . . ."

"Really?" Olaf cocked his head, confused. "It looks like you're trying to sleep in your clothes. Ooh! Is that a thing now?"

"No!" Kristoff exclaimed, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

"Oh." The snowman shrugged, nonplussed. "No matter." He placed an unlit pipe he had found in a storage closet several weeks ago in his mouth, adopting what he considered a studious expression. "I hypothesize it will be all the rage within the decade. Which reminds me . . . Where's Anna?"

Kristoff decided against trying to follow that twisted trail of logic and allow Olaf to change the subject. "She's . . . She's . . . Um . . ."

"I'm right here, Olaf!"

Olaf shrieked with delight at the sound of the queen's voice. With a leap, he bounded onto the bed, landing directly on Kristoff's stomach. "Hi, Anna!" he said, peering at the mound of blankets on the bed. "What are you doing under there?"

"Looking for something," Kristoff interjected, reaching for the snowman, only for Olaf to the other side of the bed. "Her, um, her—"

"Earrings? Necklace? Favorite dress?"

Kristoff stared at Olaf. "Um . . . yeah?"

"Really?" Olaf puffed his unlit pipe, his brow furrowed in thought. "I guess I'm really not as learned as I thought. I would have looked for those things in a jewelry box. Or the closet." He reached for the edge of the covers, trying to peer under them. "But I guess that's why you're the queen and I'm not—"

"Okay, Olaf."

Kristoff had finally managed to grab hold of the snowman. He rose from the bed, carrying Olaf to the door. "Can you do me a favor and go conduct a little research project for me?"

Olaf's eyes practically lit up. "Ooh! A research project?!" An awed gasp emanated from his throat.

"Uh, yes," Kristoff said. "I need you to go study, um, uh . . ." He snapped his fingers, a thought occurring to him. "I need you to observe Lothar, Katrina, and Bridgette as they play outside."

"Go on." Olaf nodded, his eyes growing wider.

"I need you to, um, write down everything they do and, uh, how much time they spend doing it," Kristoff continued.

"Go on."

Kristoff stared at the snowman blankly. "I . . . There really isn't anything more. But it's for Anna. She needs the research. And remember how I told you today is her 'Mother's Day'?"

Olaf snorted as he laughed. "Aw, that's so adorable of you, inventing a brand-new holiday just for her. I wonder if it will catch on—"

Kristoff ignored him. "And it would really be helpful if you would spend at least an hour or so doing it, okay?"

"Say no more!"

Olaf stood, his face set in an expression of pure determination. "I won't let you down, Anna!" he called over his shoulder as he exited the room. As he made his way down the corridor, a thought occurred to him. "Of course, this would be so much easier if I knew how to write—"

Kristoff shut the bedroom door, leaning against it. He sighed heavily. "I. Am. So. Sorry about that."

"It's not his fault," Anna said, poking her head out from under the covers. "It's just Olaf being . . . Olaf."

"Which is adorable and all except for his timing," Kristoff muttered under his breath. He glanced at the wilting flowers on the bedside table. "Yeah, that's kind of how this day is going so far right there, isn't it?"

"Are you kidding?" Anna smiled widely. "Breakfast in bed. Snuggles from my babies. This has been a great day so far!"

"Glad you're enjoying it," Kristoff responded. He exhaled slowly. "Well, I suppose that's my cue to go check up on the kids. Hopefully Olaf won't cause too much damage by the time I get there—"

"Excuse me, Mr. Bjorgman."

Anna was sitting up on the bed, her arms folded across her chest, her right arm free from the nightgown's constraints, the fabric dangling oh-so-deliberately beneath her bosom. "You still owe me a task, remember?"

Kristoff looked at her in disbelief. "Really? I mean, after that, you still want to—"

Anna disappeared under the covers again. "Your queen commands you."

Kristoff looked on in amazement as Anna's hand appeared from under the blanket. With a flick of her wrist, the nightgown went flying across the room. "Just lock the door and get under here."

A loud click echoed about the room. Seconds later, Anna was joined by her husband. "It would be rude, after all, to refuse Your Majesty's request."

"You'd better believe it would be, Mr. Bjorgman," Anna said, her hands moving toward the belt on Kristoff's waist. "You'd better believe it . . ."

---

AN: More to come!