What?
"Mama, what is love?" The firstborn princess of the Arendelle kingdom tugs her mother's violet dress while sipping her chocolate milk. Princess Elsa has always been curious. It's in Queen Iduna's daily itinerary to answer tons of Elsa's questions. Being an intelligent 3-year-old, Elsa asks about every single thing her senses can find.
Queen Iduna smiles down at her child while fixing her knitted scarf. "Why did you ask, snow angel?"
"You and papa say 'I love you' a lot."
The queen giggles as she guides Elsa to the sofa nearby. She gently picks her daughter from the ground and places the little girl on her lap. Elsa shifts herself as she glances at the heavy rain outside. She stares at the tiny drops of water that are painting the windows. "Well...Love is everything."
Elsa puffs her cheeks and stirs her eyes from the pouring rain to her mother. " 'Everything?' I don't get it."
The queen laughs and lovingly brushes Elsa's fishtail braid. "Love is everywhere around you. It's a part of nature that is quite difficult to describe."
"I guess you're right, Mama. Erlingur hasn't taught me about love yet. It might be because I wasn't old enough for something so difficult." Elsa murmurs and slurps the last drops of her milk. "But, Mama...What makes love so difficult to study?" The queen only smiles at her daughter and continues to caress her hair.
"I don't think you need to study love, because love is something that we—humans—understand by nature." The queen takes the glass from Elsa and places it on the desk. She grabs a tissue from the table and wipes clean Elsa's milk mustache. "For me, love is only something that you can only feel—we all feel. You can't see or smell if love is coming, but there will be this...strange feeling when it does."
"I'm sorry, Mama. I still don't get it." Elsa frowns and plays with her mother's diamond cufflinks on the upper part of her chest.
"It's okay, Elsa." The queen escapes a little laugh once again. "Everyone will feel different things when love comes to them, so it's really hard to explain."
"What about—"
A piercing sound of a thunder echoes through the castle's silent halls along with a faint cry from upstairs. Princess Anna was just born a few months ago with eyes as bright as her spirit. She has the loudest cries and the most beautiful laughs.
"Anna's awake!" Elsa cheers and hops down from the queen's lap.
The queen lets her daughter carry her up to the nursery, a room between the East and West Wings which the two little princesses share after Anna was born. They rush to the crib and see the poor strawberry blonde who's crying for help. The queen brings the tiny baby to her hold and sits on an empty couch, whispering sweet little nothings to her small wars.
Elsa frowns at her scared little sister as she climbs up the couch and scoots closer to her mother, staring down at the bundle of cuteness curled up in a sunflower-patterned quilt. "Don't cry, Anna...It's just thunder! It may sound scary, but it's only a part of nature!" Elsa tries to help by showing off her beautiful gift, establishing dancing snowflakes with her pale fingers. "Here! Snowflakes are a part of nature, too!" Baby Anna slowly drifts her eyes to her older sibling. "See? They are not so bad, right?" Anna soon eases her own cries and sneezes at the impact of Elsa's powers.
"Mama?" The queen's gaze lands on Elsa who's throwing her another philosophical statement. "I just remember that you said 'Love is a force of nature.' So love is like...thunder and snowflakes?"
Queen Iduna giggles and gently shakes her head. "Well, you can see and hear thunder and snowflakes, right? Love is something you can only feel."
"Okay..." Elsa frowns once again as she rests on her mother's shoulder, twirling her finger around the edge of Queen Iduna's scarf. "If love, thunder, and snowflakes are all part of nature. Then there must be something that's connecting them, right?"
The queen weakly smiles, noticing how her highly intelligent daughter won't give up until she finds an answer which will satisfy her.
So, a final answer she gives.
"Only Ahtohallan knows."
The princess sits upright, eyes gleaming in wonder. "Ahto...hallan?" She smiles as she slowly pronounces the word.
Queen Iduna giggles once again and nods. "My mother used to sing me a song about a special river called Ahtohallan."
"Woah..." Little Elsa vigorously nods. She understands now. Her mind goes to one of her sessions with Erlingur as she recalls the things he shared with her.
Everything about magic is almost impossible to study.
All you need to do is believe. Believe in that magic.
Elsa's eyes light up as her tiny fingers slowly work their way to her mother's scarf. "Can you sing it now? Please?"
Queen Iduna sighs and smiles. "Okay..." She shifts her position and leans closer to her daughter. "Cuddle close, scooch in..." Elsa happily obeys as she watches her mother's closed eyes. She purses her lips and focuses on her mother's voice, letting the lullaby take her to another world.
Where the north wind meets the sea
There's a river full of memory
Sleep, my darling, safe and sound
For in this river all is found
Elsa smiles as she rests her head on her mother's shoulder, looking up to her mother in so much admiration.
In her waters, deep and true
Lay the answers and a path for you
Queen Iduna slowly opens her eyes and stares deeply into her daughter's eyes.
Dive down deep into her sound
But not too far or you'll be drowned
The queen lowers her head as she rubs her nose against Elsa's, causing the princess to laugh and clutch the scarf tighter.
Yes, she will sing to those who'll hear
And in her song, all magic flows
But can you brave what you most fear?
Can you face what the river knows?
Queen Iduna inches herself away as she slowly removes one arm from Anna to touch Elsa's cheek, still locking her gaze on her firstborn.
Where the north wind meets the sea
There's a mother full of memory
Come, my darling, homeward bound
When all is lost, then all is found
The lullaby ends as the two are left in surprise as soon as they hear Anna's faint giggle.
"Hey! Do you like the song, Anna?" Elsa moves closer to her sister and touches the baby's tiny hand. Anna slowly circles her fingers around Elsa's pointer finger. "I think she likes the song, Mama!"
Queen Iduna sighs contentedly and looks back and forth between her two daughters. She curves a knowing smile and fixes her gaze on Elsa. "What do you feel, Elsa?"
Elsa tilts her head and stares at her mother. "Feel about what, Mama?"
"About all of this." Queen Iduna grins and looks back at Anna whose eyes open wide, watching the snowflakes that are swirling in front of her face. "Don't think of anything, angel." She slowly slides her hand from her cheek to Elsa's chest, right above where her heart is. "Just tell me what you feel in here."
Elsa purses her lips. The firstborn princess looks at her mother, glances at her sister, feels her mother's touch on her cheek, and listens to the rhythm inside her heart. She smiles and looks up, finding her mother with that enchanting smile of hers.
"I feel love."
Author's Note
Hello, people! Oh God—thank you so much for deciding to check out this book and read the introductory part of the story! My name is Reynia and I only write as a hobby. I'm not a professional writer, not even someone who understands the English language properly, but I hope you will enjoy this book nonetheless!
Before you go to the next chapter, I have a few things to say that you peeps might need to know...
• This story starts after Frozen (along with Frozen Fever, Olaf's Frozen Adventure, and LEGO Frozen: Northern Lights), but during the events of Frozen II. However, not everything will turn out exactly like Frozen II (because I will also mix this story with Frozen's official middle-grade novels which are Kamilla Benko's 'Forest of Shadows'; Jen Calonita's 'Conceal, Don't Feel'; and Elizabeth Rudnick's 'A Frozen Heart') which means some things might confuse you. In order to fully understand what's happening in the story, you really need to pay attention to the details and read AHTOHALLAN in every Author's Note—why I name it after Ahtohallan? Because the points written under there will answer to all of your questions about this story! *coughs* not the questions about your past *coughs* I also hope I can fill some plot holes that are left in the movie with my own crazy ideas!
• This is my own Frozen 2 story, so everything will revolve around the Frozen world. The things from Rise of the Guardians—or the Guardians of Childhood world—will also be here, but are presented in a different way, just like how Jack and his fellow guardian friends are not guardians nor spirits here. Although, their personalities will hopefully remain the same, I'll try my best to stay true to their characters! Back to the Frozen world, there are going to be a lot of new characters here because Elsa, Anna, and the others are going to have lots of interactions with the citizens of Arendelle. Most of the characters belong to Disney and Dreamworks, but I will also create my original characters to make this story work. I will tell you about my OCs on AHTOHALLAN, so make sure you read it on everychapter! Just like this one:
AHTOHALLAN
- In this story, Queen Iduna sings the lullaby when Elsa was 3 years old and Anna was still a baby
- I'm highlighting Elsa's interest in her surroundings and her philosophical side, explaining how Olaf inherits that habit!
- According to the official Frozen novel 'Conceal, Don't Feel', Erlingur was Elsa's tutor when she was young
- The nursery is based on 'A Frozen Heart'
• LASTLY, before you begin the journey of reading this one hell of a story, I wanna highlight some infos about me, the zero-experience-in-writing writer.
1. English is NOT my mother tongue, so this story is going to have LOTS, LOTS, LOTS, LOTS OF MISTAKES. Pretty please correct me if I ever type anything stupid like grammatically incorrect sentences, misspellings, etc. I need you all to be my English police.
2. I lack of knowledge with all this kingdom thingy, so I don't really know anything to write down a fictional kingdom fantasy. Like... I don't really know the members of a kingdom's council, or whether a duke and a count are the same or not—so...yeah...bear with my stupidity, ladies and gents! And I really don't wanna bother researching about all those because this story is going to follow Frozen 2's story line anyways. We're gonna focus on the Enchanted Forest and Ahtohallan and all the other mysteriously cool stuffs!
3. This story is going to have curse words and some fluffy stuffs, I don't really know the borders of these things, but—as an Eastern girl—I recommend a PG!
• If you notice something fishy or if I happen to type something that's completely weird and out of the context just tell me! ESPECIALLY IF YOU THINK I LEAVE A PLOT HOLE SOMEWHERE. PLEASE. DO TELL. I want everything to stay clear and I want every single one of you to understand what is happening. Don't ever hesitate to review or give me support criticisms because I need them to be better! My messages are always open and I love talking to people!
Okay, I don't wanna keep ya folks here any longer, so see ya and enjoy the ride!
Warm Hugs,
Reynia