Chapter Ten: Mama and Papa

Theme Song: Lament by Myuu

At six o'clock the next morning, Elsa woke up, still being held in Anna's arms. Since they were supposed to get up at seven thirty and the queen had nothing else scheduled for today except visiting their parents' memorials, she figured that there would be nothing wrong with sleeping in a little. Closing her eyes again, she inhaled deeply, breathing in her sister's scent, before letting the breath out in a tired sigh.

After a few moments, Anna grumbled and shifted a bit in her sleep, rolling onto her back and pulling Elsa with her so that the side of the older sister's head was lay in the gap between the princess's shoulder and head, her arms still around the younger sister.

The queen smiled and let her mind wander to a happy memory…

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It was past midnight, and the whole room was covered in a thick blanket of darkness. In the hearth, the fire which was lit every night to keep the two girls warm had long since gone out, leaving only a few glowing embers amongst the ashes.

The sky was not awake tonight; the aurora borealis which usually lit up the sky was absent. Even the stars were hidden by the clouds and the moon was new, rendering the sky, and the bedroom of the princesses, to be filled with complete and utter darkness.

The lack of the normal nightlights combined with the dying embers glaring like eyes in the inky blackness was enough to convince the two sisters to cuddle in the older sibling's bed—which was farthest from the fireplace—to keep each other safe from the monster hiding in the chimney…

They normally cuddled almost every night anyway.

"Is the monster still in the chimney, Elsa?" Anna asked in a whispered while clinging to her sister's nightgown.

The crown princess gulped. "Uh-huh," she murmured while holding onto her little sister. Snowflakes drifted down in her fear as she stared into the many glowing orange eyes of the beast which lay crouching in the hearth. She could see the outlines of its horns in the darkness where it lay constantly ready to pounce.

One of the embers finally went out, causing the older sister to quietly gasp as the snow started to descend more quickly.

"What is it, Elsa?" the younger sibling inquired.

"It blinked one of its eyes," the snow princess shuddered softly.

"What are we going to do?" Anna asked in a shudder of her own.

"We need to go find Papa," Elsa shakily replied before slowly reaching for the corner of the blankets so they could get out of bed. Once their bare feet met the cold floor, they began to slowly make their way to the door hand in hand. The older sister let Anna go in front of her while she constantly checked over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed, and once they made it out of their room, they ran all the way to their father's office.

Seeing a light shining from the slightly ajar door, the duo quickly rushed inside and closed it behind them, leaning against it as they gasped for breath.

"What are you two doing up this late past your bedtime?" their father calmly yet sternly questioned from his place at his desk.

"There… was… a monster… in… the hearth…" Anna replied between breaths.

"We… were scared… so we… couldn't sleep…" added Elsa.

King Agdar smiled fondly at his two little girls before sighing and putting down the contract that he had been working on. "Come here, you two," he stated while beckoning them with a hand. The two sisters rushed to his side and attached themselves to his legs. "Would you like to sit on my lap?" the king asked them. They both nodded and Anna held up her arms towards her father, silently asking to be picked up. Agdar picked up his youngest daughter and placed her on one knee while Elsa climbed up the other. "Do you need any help?" he asked, stretching his free hand out to her.

"I got it," she replied with determination.

Once the two were situated on their father's lap, the king held them close to him so their heads rested against his chest. Leaning back in his chair, Agdar began to sing a quiet lullaby to his children, "You are my little princesses, high up in a castle, upon a green, green hill…"

The two sisters held hands as they leaned against their father's chest, the monster in the hearth forgotten as his song and steady heartbeat lulled them to sleep.

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Smiling to herself at the fond memory, Elsa heard the clock tower sound the time… Six forty-five. Well, she thought to herself, I should probably get up now. Carefully sitting up, she tried her best to not wake up her sister, who still had some time left to sleep in, but she woke up anyway with a tired grumble.

"Good morning, Anna," the queen quietly greeted her sister.

"Morning," the princess mumbled in return while wiping a trail of drool off of her chin with the back of her hand. "Is it time to get up?"

"Almost," Elsa replied, "you still have about forty-five minutes left to sleep if you want to."

"Are you getting up now?"

"Mhm."

"Then I'll get up, too," Anna yawned as she sat up. The older sister could not help but chuckle at the sight of her sibling's wild bed head. "What?" the princess asked. Elsa just pointed to the top of her sister's head and Anna reached a hand up to try and tame her wild red hair. When her attempts to straighten out her hair failed, the Snow Queen chuckled once again. "You think this is funny? You should see your hair," Anna retorted before using both hands to ruffle Elsa's just as messy hair, causing them both to descend into laughter.

After getting dressed—in black, as fitting for visiting their parents' memorials—and taming their equally unruly hair, Anna followed Elsa to her office, and after the queen had checked her schedule to make sure she had nothing left over from the previous day, the two made their way to the dining room for their breakfast.

As queen, Elsa's formal place was at the head of the long table with Anna seated at her right hand, but she instead sat at Anna's right hand with the princess seated in her normal spot.

As the two were talking over their meal, Kai, the head butler, came in with a small silver tray on which sat what appeared to be a letter. "A letter from the Southern Isles has just arrived, your Majesty," he stated in his deep voice while holding the tray out to her.

The other day, Elsa sent her letter to King Viktor on the clipper ship, the S.S. Nord Vind, which is Norwegian for "North Wind."

I'm sure that you've at least heard of clipper ships from your history books, but I'll tell you what they are in case you do not know or probably forgot.

A clipper ship was a ship that was much faster than normal vessels due to them having more sails and being much sleeker. While a normal merchant ship could travel about 150 miles in one day, clipper ships could travel a little over 250 miles in a day. This made it possible for the letter to be sent and a response to be returned in only a couple days considering how far it was from Arendelle to the Southern Isles.

Elsa's eyes widened ever so slightly as she internally gasped. The king wrote back! Oh, please, God, don't let there be war. "Thank you, Kai," she managed to calmly reply while taking the envelope. The butler gave a small nod and left.

"The Southern Isles?" Anna repeated in slight indignation, "Why are they writing to us?"

"It's the response to my letter that I sent to King Viktor concerning Prince Hans," the Snow Queen explained. "I told him what his youngest brother did and that, as a result, Hans is banned from our kingdom and our trade is broken off, and I also told him that I don't want war despite everything that happened… I hope he doesn't want war either."

"Why would he start a war with us? What did we ever do to him?" the princess inquired.

"Well, we did send Hans back to his home locked in the brig of his own ship under watch of his and our guards, Anna," Elsa explained. "Royalty can be very nitpicky about what happens to members of their family or to the nobles in their court, and most of the time, for good reason—as you and I have recently experience firsthand. That being said, however, I wouldn't be surprised if one day the whole world went to war just because one nobleman got shot."

"What kind of nobleman?"

"I don't know what kind. A Barron or Duke or something, it's not important right now."

"Still, unless King Viktor had a hand in trying to kill us, why would he wanna get into a fight if Hans was the one who started it? Did my back hurt his knife or something? Er, sword?" the younger sister sarcastically asked. Then she remembered that Hans's sword did break against her frozen hand. "Oh, wait…"

"I don't know, Anna, I just pray to God that this isn't a declaration of war."

"Amen," the younger sibling solemnly agreed.

The queen opened the envelope and grasped Anna's right hand tightly in her left as she began to read aloud:

"'From King Viktor of the Southern Isles to the Most Merciful Queen Elsa of Arendelle:

"'Dear Madam, My Sister, Greetings!—'"

"'Sister'?!" Anna interrupted. "What does he mean 'sister'? You're my sister! What is he talking about?!"

"Relax, Anna," Elsa reassured, "monarchs of different kingdoms often address each other by 'brother' or 'sister' to show respect… and also because royalty have intermarried so much that it's hard to keep straight who is who's cousin."

"Oh…" Anna stated with a quizzical look, "I see." There was a pause before the princess asked with wide eyes, "Hans isn't our cousin, is he?"

"He wasn't when I last looked at our family tree, now may I continue reading?"

"Sure thing."

"'First, I must give you my congratulations on your coronation as Queen and my wishes that your reign may be long and full of peace and plenty;

"'Second, I must give my deepest and most sincere apologies for the inexcusable behavior of my youngest brother, Prince Hans, and I apologize for sending him, of all people, in my place to honor the invitation to your coronation.

"'Prince Hans is known by our family for his craftiness, however, in the many months preceding your coronation, his cunning had diminished to some extent and his behavior appeared to have improved greatly. Upon hearing that I required someone to send to Arendelle as my ambassador for your coronation, he did not cease to beseech me, begging me to let him prove that he had indeed changed, an—'"

"'Indeed changed,' my foot," Anna quietly interrupted in a scoff.

"'—and in my softness of heart, I granted him the task. I cannot even attempt to begin to describe to you how grieved I am in this discovery that my brother has never once abandoned his cunning and foxlike ways, and how ashamed I am in my decision to let him go at all.

"'Regarding war,—'" the queen looked heavenward and offered up one last quick prayer, "Oh, dear God, please let us have peace."

"Amen again," Anna agreed once more while squeezing her sister's hand more tightly.

Elsa continued to read the letter: "'Regarding war, I also have a hatred for conflict and bloodshed and regard Peace as my second Bride," the two began to smile, and their smiles continued to grow as Elsa read on, "and I promise your Majesty that the Southern Isles shall never take up arms against fair Arendelle for as long as I and our mutual hatred of war continue to live on this Earth.'"

Immediately, Anna began to squeal in her joy, practically bouncing in her seat, and Elsa couldn't help but join her a moment later. Also, in the slightly open door leading from the dining room to the kitchen, Kai, Gerda, and a few other servants could be seen quietly celebrating in the good news.

The princess looked over the queen's shoulder with a smile on her face as the older sister continued to read with her own smile: "'Furthermore, seeing as how I was the one who gave Prince Hans the permission and ability to voyage to your kingdom and cause such trouble, this regicidal assassination attempt was just as much a fault of mine as it was of my brother—if not more so—and I humbly accept the ending of our trade as a punishment far more merciful than what terrible penalty I am truly worthy. I also meekly implore your Royal Highness that you will forgive me this involuntary sin that I have committed as you have so graciously forgiven the voluntary sin of my brother. In addition, I also beg the forgiveness of the Beautiful Princess Anna, who was also a victim of this terrible crime, and I beseech that she would also pardon my brother and pursue to court a prince or gentleman opposite of Prince Hans in regard to purity of heart. Even Ice Master Kristoff Bjordman, of whom you mentioned in your retelling of what happened, is, in my humble opinion, much more a gentleman than Hans and far more worthy of the hand of a princess as beautiful and compassionate as Princess Anna, despite him being of common background. But whom the Princess marries is her business, not mine, and I apologize if my suggestion be not welcome, and again, beg her forgiveness.'" Smirking, Elsa cast a sideways glance at her sister, who was blushing slightly.

"'Concerning your recounting of the past thirteen years that have passed between you and your sister, the Princess,'" the monarch continued, "I cannot help but extend my deepest sympathy to the both of you and wish that you may grow as close as you were in childhood once more.

"'Lastly, worry not, I do not think you a monster or a sorceress because of your powers over ice and snow; the tragedies of which you told me, in my humble judgement, seem to be accidents, and thus, do not earn you the title of Monster since you did all in your power to protect your family and your people. My brothers and I had an uncle whom we loved greatly—the late Prince Dan Holger of the Southern Isles—who was born with the magical ability to create, control, and manipulate fire, and he also would ironically cause accidental burns in his occasional fear of hurting others. I just wished that I had been able to see but a glimpse of your magic, which sound as beautiful as your fair kingdom.

"'From one elder sibling to another, I understand your reasoning and choices and desire the safety of our younger siblings and the peace between our kingdoms as fervently as you do. I also thank your Royal Highness once more, from the very depths of my soul, for forgiving my brother—I know that not all rulers in the same situation would be as merciful as you have been—and ask once more that you forgive me, and that your beautiful sister may forgive my brother and I as well.

"'God save your Royal Highnesses!

"'Signed, Your Brother, King Viktor of the Southern Isles, Farewell.'"

Putting down the letter, the Snow Queen gave her sister a joyful hug, which the princess gladly returned while stating, "Thank God that we won't be going to war."

"Yes, thank God," her sister agreed.

Anna gave her sister another squeeze before pulling away and noticed how their joy contrasted the darkness of their apparel. Her smile slowly disappeared as she commented, "I… forgot that we were going to visit Mama and Papa this morning. It feels kinda weird to be so happy now."

Elsa's smile vanished as well. "It does, doesn't it?" Folding the letter and holding it in one hand while tapping the parchment against the other hand, the queen thought for a moment before stating, "I think that they would be happy about this, though," she looked at her sister, "and I think that they would want us to be happy about this as well. But they would also say that there is a time and a place for everything, and that being said… I think it's time we got going."

The princess nodded in agreement, and with that, they both rose from the table.

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Looming in the distance, the memorial stones of the late king and queen of Arendelle stood tall and somber as the current queen and crown princess approached. The princess had her arm linked with her sister's as they walked in their black garb—the same clothes that they wore on the day of their parents' memorial, whether they went or not—and snowflakes gently descended as the two drew near. When they were close enough, they parted, and each placed a bouquet of flowers at the feet of the stones—Anna at their mother's and Elsa at their father's—before drawing back and holding hands as they paid their respects to their parents.

Despite what some might think, they did not hate their parents.

When the two sisters separated, Elsa and King Agdar had an ongoing agreement; if the princess thought that she could control her powers and not hurt her sister, then they would try and work towards reuniting them, but if she felt that she couldn't control them, then they would stay separated.

It was always Elsa's call.

Her father asked her everyday if she felt it was safe to spend some time with Anna.

She said no.

Soon he would ask every week.

She would say no.

He began to ask every month or two.

She would still say no.

Whenever Agdar asked if she felt it was safe to be with Anna again, the snow princess would always say no… but whenever he asked if she wanted to be with Anna again… she would always say yes.

There would be times when Anna would cry because she couldn't be with her sister, and Queen Idunn would hug her and try to comfort her as best she could, but her tears would still break the woman's heart.

There would also be times when Elsa would weep because she missed her sister, and King Agdar would reach out to hug her, only for the princess to shrink back—not wanting to accidentally hurt her papa—which would break the man's heart.

Agdar and Idunn loved their two little girls so much that the sight of them so sad and broken brought tears to their eyes which they only shed when the two weren't looking. As their parents and the leaders of the kingdom, they had to put on a brave face.

They didn't know what else to do.

Unfortunately, the love that the king and queen had for their children wasn't always enough to stop the dark thoughts that the two would occasionally have…

Like right now.

As they stood there, Elsa's head was filled with anxious thoughts. Would her parents be proud of her if they could see her now? Would her father approve of the way she was running the kingdom? Would they think that she still needed to "conceal; don't feel?" How would they have berated her for freezing the kingdom and Anna's heart? She could hear their voices already… "Elsa! What have you done?! This is what we've been trying to avoid for thirteen years!"

Anna wasn't fairing any better. She wondered what her parents would say to her about Hans if they were here now. They would most likely say the same things that Elsa had been saying… but worse and in a less gentle way. They would scold her about being reckless and immature and say, "Why can't you be more mature like Elsa? Why can't you think before you act like Elsa? Why can't you be more like Elsa?" She would never blame Elsa for any of it, though, because her sister loved her just the way she was with all of her quirks, and besides… all was forgiven.

Noticing that snowflakes were still falling, the princess seemed to read her sister's thoughts and playfully nudged the other's shoulder with her own and offered a reassuring smile while stating, "They would be so proud of you."

"You really think so?" the queen asked while facing the redhead.

"I know so," Anna replied, giving the blonde's hand a squeeze. "They would be so proud that you've learned how to control your powers, that you're being an amazing queen, and that you're being an even awesome-er big sister."

Elsa chose to ignore the fact that "awesome-er" wasn't a word and instead squeezed her sibling's hand in return with a grateful smile. "Thank you," she murmured. "Mama and Papa would be so proud of you, too." Anna made her skepticism of that statement known by giving a quick sideways glance with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I mean it, Anna," the older sister reaffirmed. "They would be so proud of you and all the brave things you've done."

"You mean reckless things?" the younger sister questioned.

"Well… yes, a lot of them were reckless," Elsa admitted, "but many of them were brave at the same time. They would be so, so, so very proud of you for risking yourself to find me and save me and our kingdom… Just as proud as I am." She smiled and bumped her sister's shoulder with her own in an attempt to be playful as Anna was before. "So don't doubt yourself."

"I'll try," the younger sister replied.

The queen smiled. "Good." They both turned their attention back to the stones.

Elsa thought about how doubtful Anna was of herself and her bravery just now, and was reminded of the previous day when the princess doubted her own ability to draw and write, and was even insulting the drawings that she had made in the past. It all could be brushed off as extreme humility, but… yesterday… there was a sort of anger and self-dislike—she dared not think self-hatred—that Anna was directing at herself.

Did her little sister…?

Well… she'd have to find out for herself.

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"Ooooh… the writer is being so mysteeeeerious! What is she planning?"

I'm not gonna tell you.

You're gonna have to wait and find out for yourselves.

(Hehe.)

:3

I hate going through the Frozen fandom and finding that so many people who absolutely hate Elsa and Anna's parents. They go on saying that they abused their two little girls, but I think that they just didn't know what to do and just did what they thought was best. My parents have told me many times that "when your child is hurting, you're hurting, too." So I applied that to Agdar and Idunn. I think that the thirteen years of separation probably hurt them a lot, as well.

So, that was chapter ten. Thank you all so much for reading it. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please tell me what you thought about it in the review box below.

God bless you and your day.

Sincerely, The Professor