Summer had really reached Arendal now, and the people spent as much time out of doors as they possibly could. The nordic winter may be long and dark, but the summers are nothing short of glorious. In a matter of weeks, Arendal turned into an oasis of flowers and greens, with colourful butterflies and myriads of insects (including (unfortunately) hordes of mosquitoes) flying to and fro to spread around the pollen.
Elsa loved the summers in Arendal. She may be a winter person, but there is just something so exhilarating about the overly long days and the dusky nights of the north that drew every living being in Arendal out into the open – including its Snow Queen.
It was on one such an evening that she found herself in a blooming meadow basking in the evening sun together with the ever faithful Olaf. As usual, Olaf was cheerfully chatting away about anything and everything, without requiring much in the style of a reply. But Elsa didn't mind. At this moment in time, all was well in her world, and Olaf was a fixed part of that world.
At long last however, when the sun had long disappeared behind the surrounding mountains and the bright water of the fjord began to mirror the darkening sky, he finally addressed her directly.
"Elsa, are you happy for Anna?"
Elsa glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. "Happy about what?"
"Well, that she's having yet another baby."
Elsa smiled. That's right: Anna's growing baby-belly had reached the point where it was no use hiding it anymore, so this morning she and Kristoff had told the kids – and Olaf and Sven for good measure. "Of course I'm happy for her," she said.
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. Why wouldn't I be happy?"
"I don't know." Olaf fidgeted a little. "Maybe because she and Kristoff are getting one baby after another, and you don't have any?"
Elsa smiled at him. "They can have all the babies they want. I'm not jealous."
"Really?" Olaf lay back down in the long grass and closed his eyes. "That's good then."
However, his silence didn't last long. "But is it not customary for humans to produce little ones?"
Elsa sighed. "Who have you been talking to?"
"Huh?" Olaf sat up again. "I'm talking with you now, ain't I?"
"Yes, and before that?"
Olaf's eyes went wide. "All the way from the beginning?! That would be a lot of people. And animals. And trolls. Let me see: first there was Anna, and Kristoff, and Sven, and then..."
Another sigh. "Never mind, Olaf." Elsa picked a little daisy and fastened it in one of her hairpins.
"Oh, you look pretty!" Olaf cried.
"Thank you."
"But Elsa...?"
"Yes?"
"You didn't answer my question. The way Anna and Kristoff were talking about it, it sounds as if it is customary for humans to produce little ones. Is it indeed?"
Elsa sighed. "I suppose so, yes."
"So when are you going to make them?"
"I'm not." Elsa picked another daisy and twirled it between her fingers.
"Why not?"
She gave him a somewhat sad smile. "Olaf, just because something is customary, that doesn't necessarily mean it's obligatory. I'd really rather not have children of my own. Besides, I've got Anna's children to love and entertain."
"Well, that is true." Olaf took hold of his feet. "And I suppose it would be difficult to make little ones on your own. You would need a husband first."
Another sigh – she was heaving a lot of sighs tonight. "Olaf, you're sounding far too much like my sister tonight. I don't want a husband!"
Curious as always, he tilted his head. "No husband? Would you rather have a wife then?"
"What?! Olaf!"
"Well, isn't that how things work? 'Husband plus wife makes baby'? And if you'd rather be the husband, then you'd need a wife."
Elsa groaned, and hid her face in her hands.
He regarded her with worry. "Oh dear... Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no." Elsa surfaced again. "I'm sure it's a very clever deduction for a snowman, but it doesn't work like that."
"Then how does it work?"
"Well, you're right about the 'husband plus wife makes baby'-part. It's just that some people seem to think that it's an unescapable part of life – when in reality, it's a personal choice people make."
"Oh." Olaf regarded her for a long moment. "Some people being Anna?"
"Yes." Elsa turned back to look out over the darkening fjord, and Olaf quickly joined her.
"So that's why she's trying to find your true love."
"Yes." With yet another sigh, she pulled up her knees and hugged them to her chest. "I'm not angry with her or anything; it's just a phase she's going through. Her prenatal fetish. But to be honest, it's beginning to get on my nerves, and it's still several months away before she'll be susceptible to reason again. Well, more susceptible," she amended. "Hopefully."
"And you don't want a husband."
"No."
"And no wife either."
"No. I'm perfectly happy with my present status quo."
"So all you need is a plan. A solid plan to get Anna off your back."
Elsa grimaced. "Do you have one for me?"
"Not yet." Olaf gazed out over the fjord. "But maybe we can think of something together."
They sat in silence together, watching the first stars appear in the not yet dark sky.
But suddenly, Olaf jumped up. "I've got it, I've got it! The solution to your problem!"
"Well? What is it?" Elsa asked, more eager than she would have given herself credit for.
Olaf stopped jumping around. "Elsa, what you need is..." He took her face in his hands. "An imaginary friend!"
Elsa grimaced. "Olaf, I'm really too old for imaginary friends."
"No, you're not! You don't have to be a child to have an imaginary friend!" Olaf protested.
"But how is that going to help?" Elsa inquired. "I can't very well walk into Anna's and introduce my invisible fian... Wait a minute..." Elsa's eyes began to sparkle, and an impatient Olaf kept hopping from one foot to the other.
"Yes? You've thought of something?"
"Olaf..." She hugged him. "You're a genius, you know that?"
If snowmen could blush, Olaf would have shined a bright red. "Aw, shucks..."
"No, really. But it will take careful planning. Perhaps I could meet him at the midsummer party on Friday?"
.
A/N: Oh dear... An imaginary suitor?! How is she going to pass that off with Anna... and everyone else?