Elsa stood locked frozen. While people like Anna and Gerda could easily see that her mind was spinning out of control leaving Elsa feeling like she was upside down, no one else would be able to notice. They would just see a young lady with amazing posture with a stony face. Anna was pressed against her side staring quiet obviously with wide eyes flicking between their father and who they were assuming was their Uncle. Anna's fingers brushed across the back of Elsa's hand before they tangled and gripped on to it. Elsa felt some tension leave her body at the grounding contact that came from Anna. It still didn't make sense to her that the one thing she still felt uncomfortable with and honestly avoided with everyone else was the very same thing that helped her when it came from her sister.
Anna honestly could not believe her timing. She knew that for one she needed to make sure Elsa knew she was still there for her and the fact that their parents never told her not to interact with Elsa. They actually never told her that Elsa was going to be down here. Another thing was that it would have been weird for her to not react to seeing Elsa. She was not going to give away that she has had unlimited access recently to Elsa. Nope not happening. SO she just had to make a bit of a commotion. Well she really didn't mean to knock over the statue. That really was a mistake. She didn't realize how slippery these new shoes were. Honestly she didn't expect to slide that far! Oh well the statue was mostly fine. Just slightly dented now, but who really cared? There were like hundreds of others around the castle just like it so did it really matter? This one just had character now.
Now she was worried that someone else was going to have a new "dent" in their head. The way that their father was glaring at the man who had just spoken. Man if looks could kill. While she wanted to push their father a little bit, so that she could see how their Aunt and Uncle would react, and so that they would have a tiny idea of what has been happening here if she decided to ask them for help regarding Elsa. While she was glad that she was able to get a small scale reaction as a demonstration, she was now worried that maybe it was unneeded. She didn't realize how much their Father did not get along with their Aunt and Uncle. Anna could feel Elsa trying to slide farther away from her, trying not to become the new aim for all of their Father's anger, but Anna wouldn't let her go.
She turned her head slightly and caught Elsa's eye and gave a small shake of her head no. They were not the ones that were going to cave at this moment. They were showing a united front no matter what. If their Father said or did something to Elsa, then it was going to be aimed at Anna as well. She was slowly getting tired of these games. She had no idea how Elsa had managed to hold up and play along to their father's twisted game (not like she had much choice, but still). Anna wanted to cry at the small look of terror in Elsa's eyes. She also seemed to be unable to keep complete eye contact with Anna the whole time either. Her eyes kept flickering around the room. It was like she was trying to keep inventory of absolutely everything that was happening around her. Anna just squeezed Elsa's hand and felt her reciprocate right back. Anna felt a small amount of relief that Elsa still seemed to be present at least.
While the two men were having a stare off with one another the slim, youthful, and lively version of their mother who was still standing in the doorway swept forward.
"I am so pleased to see you all! It has been way too long Iduna, Agnarr pleasant as always, and girls! I am so excited to meet you! Fredrick, stop this nonsense and come and meet these beautiful young ladies with me. There will be plenty of time for you both to resume your old habits later, but you only get to meet your nieces once."
Anna had a large grin sweep across her face. Oh I like her. She gave a final squeeze to Elsa's hand before she dropped it and slid in front of her sister.
Elsa had a small grin on her face. She liked their Aunt immediately. While she looked like a younger version of their mother her personality was pure Anna-esk. She was also so appreciative that Anna just seemed to know that she needed a buffer right now. While she was happy to meet their relatives, right now it was all just too much. She hadn't been around this many people or had to interact with anyone new in so long. She was feeling out of her depth and completely underprepared for this.
"Hello! It's nice to meet you too! I'm Anna and this is my sister Elsa here behind me! We are both so happy that you made it here safely."
At this point, both Fredrick and Primrose had made it over and were standing in front of their nieces. What they observed walking shocked and slightly horrified them. They both arrived with high hopes, that Agnarr had proven to be a great father and that they just had not heard anything from their Arendellian family due to the unresolved rift that occurred when they had their beautiful baby stolen from them. They figured with Rapunzel home, settled, and more than on her own way to healing with the help of Eugene they thought it was finally time to reach out and to bury the proverbial hatchet so to speak. They did not expect to walk through the front door and feel the need to protect these young girls, because that is what they are. Elsa was barely 16 by the looks of her, and then little Anna who seemed to only come up to slightly above Elsa's shoulder had to be around 14. The way that man yelled at them for acting like children, for what sounded like an innocent mistake, and for going near and touching her own sister? What was going on here? Primrose elbowed Fredrick to make their presence known to spare those poor babies. Of course Fredrick took it slightly farther than she meant, but she didn't really care because it gave her time to actually take in the situation before her.
Everything seemed to be set up to formally meet them, both the family and the castle staff were lined up to greet them, but there was nothing warm or familial about it. The staff looked terrified and unwilling to look them in the eye. She noticed a familiar face being held back by a hand on her wrist. Primrose knew she knew her name, but she would worry about that later. It would come to her. She followed to see where the woman, Gerda… her name was Gerda, was looking and saw that her gaze was focused only on the girls. Primrose gazed across the family staring with her sister. She looked older than her sister should look, she was only 3 years older. Her eyes were hollow and almost unseeing. The lively mirth that always seemed to reside in her sister's eyes was long gone. While her sister was alway poised, she used to have a wild strand in her that used to get the both of them into stupid situations. Now to look at her one would never be able to guess that. With sadness she turned her eyes from her sister and continued down the line. Agnarr was next and he was unchanged. He was slightly older, but the look that always made her uncomfortable when they were all younger was still there and in full force. Something about him never sat right with her. She then looked and her eyes settled and took in the sight of her nieces. They stood close to one another with Anna almost tucked into Elsa's side. It looked as if they were gripping each other's hand, but she couldn't quite tell, but she could see them quietly having an almost unnoticeable conversation with subtle nods, shakes, the tiniest movements in their faces. It was almost amazing to watch, but left a feeling of dread in her stomach. Why did they feel the need to do that? There was a look in the eldest eyes that was like a punch to her stomach. She had this look in her eye that reminded her of a trapped animal.
She had to step in now, the men were now in a stand off. As much as she loved and adored her husband, sometimes he really was an idiot. Now was not the time to have a blooming measuring contest when someone needed to comfort those girls. She defused the situation and practically dragged her husband with her over to the girls. She gave a quick glance at Agnarr, almost challenging him to stop her. What shocked both Primrose and Fredrick was the quiet dance that seemed to go with Elsa and Anna. The way Anna slipped in front was more than intentional. While it looked normal like the girl was just excited to greet them, they both knew that Anna did this to become a barrier between her sister and the rest of the room.
Fredrick noted that Anna did not stand directly in front of Elsa to block them, but stood slightly to the side of her sister closer to where their father was standing. It dawned on Fredrick, Anna felt the need to create a buffer for her sister and it was more than obvious who Anna felt was more of the threat.
His heart felt heavy when he locked eyes with Elsa. She has a similar shadow lurking behind her eyes that he has seen in some of his soldiers before when they have returned from battle. This girl has been hurt. He didn't know why, how, but he was pretty certain on the who. He wanted to skip asking questions and just run that poor excuse of a man through with his sword, but he didn't want to terrify the girls, plus his wife would kill him for acting without allowing her to gather the necessary information first.
They both gathered immediately that their youngest niece, Anna is the more bubbly and outgoing. She was also the one who apparently caused that huge racket they heard as they were approaching the door. Elsa was much more poised and quiet behind her sister. She seemed to be analyzing the situation before her. Her eyes kept sweeping over the both of them as if she was trying to evaluate if they were a threat or not. The tension around her eyes seemed to lessen as she seemed to make up her mind and stepped forward a bit to now stand next to Anna and gave a small curtsy to them.
"Hello. As my lovely and excitable sister said, I am Elsa. We are so happy you are here. I hope your trip was comfortable. The staff here is lovely and will help you settle in. I hope your daughter, Rapunzel is well?"
Her voice was soft, but it was strong and clear. She was so polite and seemed to genuinely care about how they were and not just parroting the correct protocol on greeting one's guest. With some confidence building Fredrick saw that she had the makings of a wonderful leader hidden within her. She seemed more weary of him as her eyes kept flickering over to him with caution swirling in their depths. Hoping to alleviate her nerves he gave the smile that Primrose (and later backed up by his sweet Rapunzel) always said made him look like a cuddly teddy bear.
He bowed back and answered softly, "It is an honor to meet such well behaved young ladies. We had a wonderful trip over and Rapunzel is doing quiet well. She is at home running things while we are here. We trust her fiancé to help and keep an eye on her for us. He is a wonderful man. Thank you for asking. I am happy to hear that the staff here is still just as wonderful as they have been in the past."
Anna beamed back at them. That girl is like a ray of sunshine. Elsa gave them a soft smile and a small dip of her head. That one… she seems as precious as a snowflake.
Both Primrose and Fredrick were immediately in love with both of these girls. At this point they already knew that they would do anything for them. The moment was broken by the piercing voice of Agnarr.
"Alright I think we are done here. GERDA! KAI!" He bellowed. Gerda and Kai quickly appeared and bowed before King Fredrick and Primrose before giving a quick and polite greeting.
"Show them to their rooms and send them a tray. They will want to relax after such a journey. I have things to do and will see you all in the morning. Elsa." He sneered, "You know what you are supposed to do."
Elsa's eye immediately snapped to the floor as embracement slushed her cheeks and tears swam in her eyes. She knew that logically that she was going to have to go back to her room, but part of her was hoping to stay and keep talking to everyone.
"Yes sir."
With a nod and a quick glare at Elsa, Agnarr then grabbed Iduna by her hand and they both then left the room.
"Elsie.."
"I'm good."
Elsa looked back up and gave a soft smile full of adoration to her sister. Anna quickly then crashed into Elsa and wrapped herself around her without a care in the world of who was there or about proper decorum. Elsa didn't care about this breach in protocol, Anna needed this. She luckily expected Anna to collide into her and was able to keep her balance and to hold the both of them up. What she didn't expect was for Anna to start to try to climb up on her like a little monkey. She shifted and pulled Anna up and held her in her arms like she did when they were younger. Anna's legs wrapped around Elsa's waist and her head immediately buried itself into her sister's neck with her arms locking around her in a tight grip.
"Sunshine… It's okay."
A very muffle, "No it's not." Came from Anna.
"Baby I have to go, you knew this was going to happen."
"NOO. Please just this once don't listen. I didn't know how much I needed to see you out here. It's different and you know it. No more please."
Elsa's eyes slammed closed as she tilted her head back and swallowed a bit harder.
"I know Anna, but you know that I can't."
Primrose and Fredrick were horrified, no sick was a better description. It felt as if a hand was strangling their hearts watching this unfold before them. They looked around and saw that all the staff had tears streaming down their faces, but seemed to all have a heavy air of acceptance around them, like this was inevitable.
"Gerda… I need you to take Anna."
"NOOOO!" Anna wailed and Elsa felt tears starting to soak through her dress.
Elsa locked eyes with Gerda and pleaded with her with her eyes.
"Princess…"
"Gerda please. You know I can't stay."
Before Friedrick or Primrose could step in the girls were approached by other staff members.
"Princess Elsa, you don't have to go immediately. We can buy you sometime."
The man who Elsa recognized as the castle cook, Oskar. He motioned behind himself and Elsa saw the entire castle staff still standing behind him staring at her with sympathetic smiles.
"Princess, stay with your family for the evening, get to know them and the rest of us will make sure your father never notices. Please let us do this for you."
Elsa stood there shocked. She stood there cradling her sister torn. She felt like it was a trap. A sick test from her father to see if she would obey his orders or rebel. She didn't know what to do. She knew Anna liked the man. She has mentioned him a few times and that he has a baby on the way. Maybe he was being nice.
Seeing how torn the young girl seemed, Primrose stepped in.
"Thank you sir. We would love to spend some time with the girls. My husband and I obviously have some things to understand here. May I ask what your name is?"
"Oskar ma'am."
She gave him a kind smile and a nod to the rest of the staff before she turned to look at her nieces.
"See girls, no problem."
Elsa gave a stiff nod as she adjusted her grip on Anna.
Gerda gave a swift hug to Oskar and murmured something to him before approaching Elsa and whispering to her, "It is not a trick, we are all really buying you some more time to be out and about. Don't panic, accept this gift okay?"
Elsa gave a subtle nod while managing to somehow pull Anna closer. Anna had gone completely silent leaving the others watching the sister think that Anna had fallen asleep, but the slight jerk that Anna sometimes did suggested otherwise. Each time Elsa would just run her hand up and down Anna's back.
Gerda then turned her attention to King Fredrick and Primrose.
"This way your majesties. We'll go around through the servant's stairwell if you don't mind. I just want to ensure no one sees our stowaway."
Fredrick gave her a grim nod as he glanced at the girls from the corner of his eyes. This was not right… not normal. What was going on here?
He motioned for Gerda and Kai to lead the way. He allowed Primrose and the girls to follow first before following behind them. He quickly turned and acknowledged the rest of the castle staff with a quick thank you before leaving the room.
On the way up it did not escape from Primrose and Friedrick's attention that Elsa was keeping a solid distance from all of them as she followed along. It amazed them how this small slip of a girl was keeping track of where all of them were, keeping her exact same buffer distance, and soothing her sister who was still silently cradled against her.
They all finally made it to the room that Fredrick and Primrose were going to be staying in. Gerda led them all in while Kai stayed in the hall apparently ensuring that no one was them. Elsa stood off to the side of the room while Primrose stood towards the middle of the room while Gerda bustled around setting the room to rights. It ended with her lighting a fire in the fireplace to keep the room at a more comfortable temperature.
She walked over to Elsa and gently brushed her hair back from her face.
"You both will be fine. I will be back shortly with some tea and some assorted snacks. Kai will be around keeping an eye out in the hallway to make sure you are not caught here. Sit, talk, and enjoy, okay?"
Elsa nodded and Gerda gave a soft pat to the back of Anna's auburn hair before she turned, curtsied and left the four royals alone.
The four of them stood there for a moment before Fredrick motioned for them all to sit over in the makeshift sitting area that Gerda prepared for them by rearranging the furniture a bit. She had pulled over the two wingback chairs near the small two person sofa that was next to the fireplace. Elsa, still keeping her distance, edged her way over to the sofa and sat down finally giving her arms a break from fully supporting Anna's weight. Primrose and Fredrick sat down in the two chairs unsure how to proceed.
Elsa shuffled trying to rearrange on the sofa and untangle Anna from around her. While she didn't really mind it was starting to get a bit uncomfortable, plus it was unlike Anna to be this quiet for so long. It was starting to make Elsa nervous.
"Sunshine…"
Elsa tried to pull Anna away from her a bit and all hell broke loose.
"NOOO! DON'T GO! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!"
"Shush… baby I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
Elsa ignored her Aunt and Uncle's rigid posture and obvious horror of the situation they were witnessing. She didn't have time to deal with them right now. Anna was what was important. Seeing Elsa out of her room for the first time since they were separated was obviously getting to Anna.
"Sunshine, I need you to look at me. Let me see those pretty blues."
Anna kept a death on Elsa's dress, but pulled back just enough to look at her sister and finally make eye contact with her. What Elsa saw wrecked her. Anna's eyes were red and filled with tears and she had the same look etched across her face that she did that day she was screeching outside her room right after the accident. Elsa reached forward and cupped Anna's face and brushed the tears that were falling down her cheeks with her thumbs.
"Baby it is not like last time. I'm not going anywhere okay?"
Anna was looking down, staring intently at her hands as she played with the collar of Elsa's dress.
"I know… but I just… I felt like I was 5 all over again. Like you were going to disappear behind that door and I'd lose you again. Elsie I can't lose you. I know you think you need me to help you but the fact is that I need you too."
Elsa leaned her head forward and leaned it against Anna's and softly laid a kiss on the tip of Anna's nose. Anna scrunched her nose and gave a small giggle.
"Elsie that tickled."
Elsa grinned and pulled back and gave a small nod of her head toward where their Aunt and Uncle were sitting. Anna froze before she suddenly spun around and leapt to her feet looking bashful. Her cheeks were stained red as she met their gazes.
"Sorry about that. Umm, so how was your trip? Umm what's Rapunzel like?"
Elsa reached forward and gently grabbed Anna's hand. Anna gripped it tightly in hers as she slid back down onto the couch tucked into Elsa's side.
Both Friedrick and Primrose glanced at each other, before Friedrick leaned forward and leaned on his knees. His smooth baritone voice rumbled in the room.
"Girls, I think we need to have a hard and honest conversation here."
I know a quick update turn around! Had some inspiration from a day that is full of mixed feelings for me. I just had a birthday, and I'm not a huge fan of it due to some reasons that differ from the norm. Let's just say this to give some context without having to actually going into all of the gory details is that a lot of myself I have put into my version of Elsa. There are certain themes and events that we now share. So with all of this turmoil I decided to make some good come out of it and gift you all with a new chapter.
Please enjoy the chapter and thanks for reading!