A/N: Hey folks, been a minute, huh? I keep meaning to update consistently but life keeps happening. In any case, I suggest you prepare yourselves, because starting this chapter, things will only get more intense.
Reading this for entertainment, are you? Hehehehehehe...
Elsa was in her study the next day, poring over reports of yet another increase in cases, when Anna came in and plopped a box on her desk.
She looked up in confusion, "What's this?"
Anna grinned widely, "This is how we get the kingdom to wear masks."
"With a box?"
The princess shook her head and opened it to reveal a row of hand-sewn masks and a note. "I was thinking about why people don't want to wear masks, and I think it's because they're being forced to. I mean, I know if I was forced to do something, I'd not want to do it, and maybe that's what they think too…but since we still need them to follow the rules, we can trick them into it a little."
Elsa paused in her admiration of the little package, "Trick them? How?"
Anna seemed to perk up a little at the invitation, "Well, we can start by making it easy for them to get a mask. In this case, by giving them a box full of them. Nora and Gerda sewed these together in a few hours and I helped them…a little. But it was mostly them. And the rest of the staff volunteered to make more masks, so we'll have enough to give a box to every household in the village. And in each box, I'll put a little note thanking them for doing their duty as Arendellians and boosting their egos a little by mentioning how they're heroes to the kingdom for doing the right thing and all."
"I figured if we compliment them into wearing the masks, they'll do it willingly and once they start, others will too…. And if it works in town, then we could tell the governors to implement their own versions of this in their districts so that we do this throughout the kingdom, but I wanted to try it here first, just in case."
"Soooo…" She finished with a shy smile, "What do you think?"
Elsa leaned back in her seat, a contemplative look on her face as she looked at the box, then back at Anna, then at the box once more.
Anna's spirits fell at the silence. She slowly closed the box, "I'm sorry, Elsie. I really thought it was a good idea. I mean, even Kai and Gerda said so…but it's okay if it isn't. I'll think of something else, but I just wanted to know that you're not alone and-"
"I love it."
"W-wait, what?"
Elsa rose from her chair, rounding the corner and pulling the surprised princess into a bone-crushing hug. Surprised by the gesture, it took the princess a few seconds to reciprocate.
When Elsa pulled back, Anna could see her blue eyes shimmering with pride, "You-you came up with this on your own?"
Anna nodded, a blush coloring her freckled cheeks, "Well, not entirely. I was talking about it with Kai and he mentioned his thoughts and I just…went from there, I guess."
Elsa shook her head, "I-I don't know why I'm so surprised. You've always been a creative thinker, but this…." She smiled softly, "I'm so proud of you, darling. So very proud of you."
Anna beamed now, her grin threatening to split her face in half, "So you like it then?"
Elsa chuckled a watery laugh, "Yes, Sunshine. I love it, and I love you for coming up with it." She wrapped Anna in another, softer hug, "I honestly have no idea what I would do without you."
Anna tucked her head under Elsa's chin with a sigh, "Don't worry, Els. You'll always have me."
She had never meant anything more.
Anna's program was a massive success. It turns out, when complimented, people tend to do whatever you want them to. So it was for the kingdom. As people realized just how they could become heroes by doing this one small thing, it became all the rage. Everyone began to wear masks, and if they ever found someone not wearing a mask, they took it upon themselves to shame the person into doing so.
After its resounding success in the village, Elsa rapidly implemented the program in districts around the country, with much the same effect.
It was a far more efficient method of enforcing the mandate than anything Elsa could ever have come up with, and when it resulted in a drop of cases for the first time in months, it allowed the exhausted queen to take a much-needed deep breath.
Because after spending so much time worrying about the kingdom's steady march towards uncontrolled epidemic spread, it seemed the tide was beginning to turn.
Perhaps, they'd actually make it out of this okay.
Elsa could only hope and pray that the trend continued, and whatever she could do to push it along in the meantime, she did her best to implement.
Next on her agenda was a series of economic packages designed to help people who'd been jobless for weeks now. Making sure they had money to feed their families was paramount, and yet it seemed like the council couldn't be bothered to feel the same way.
There were many moments when Elsa came so close to just disbanding the council altogether, but more instability in already uncertain times was a recipe for chaos – or so they said – and so instead, she had to settle for bargaining with them, offering concessions, giving them chances to add amendments, the like.
It was a headache-inducing process that Elsa wouldn't have wished on her worst enemy, but she figured the Duke of Weselton didn't quite care about such things as diplomacy and democracy.
Oh, what she wouldn't give to be even just a smidgen as careless as him.
But that was her problem…she cared too much. She had always cared too much, and while her father had once told her that was the mark of a true monarch, it was difficult when the people she worked with cared too little.
"Minister Mikkael, my goal is to help people emerge from this epidemic in healthy financial condition. Giving them a lump sum every month is the least we can do, and Minister Ulrick assures me that we have the capacity to do this."
The finance minister nodded. The fines they'd collected had been enough to pay businesses for their troubles during the weeks of lockdown, and so the treasury had emerged relatively unscathed, and what with the cases dropping every day, the end was very much in sight.
So why not help the people now, when they most needed it?
Of course, that was not the way Mikkael saw it. "There is no benefit in giving them money they cannot spend. No businesses are open, no revenue can be generated by their consumerism, so why give them money they will most likely store away never to be seen again?"
Elsa wanted to smack her forehead, or him. She settled for neither. "Most of these families will be using the money to take care of themselves, Minister. Not to store it away never to be used again. They will need food, water, clothes, other basic necessities that can still be purchased. And even if they decided to stow the money away, why should we deny them that choice? Stashing money away is hardly a bad thing. Why, I'm sure you do it all the time."
The minister colored at the call-out, but it was quite the chuckle for the rest of the council. The labor minister was known as quite the miser and seeing him called out so blatantly by the queen herself gave them some much needed levity.
But the look on Elsa's face quickly brought silence to the chamber because the queen was not in the mood for laughter. They'd been going back and forth about this package for weeks now, and she wanted to address the issue soon before the people began to suffer from the effects of the lockdown.
Ugh, maybe this was why leaders preferred tyranny.
"We will bring this to a vote tomorrow. In the meantime, Minister Mikkael, I suggest you find better reasons to table this proposal or accept it the way it is. I will not go through this argument again, not without any genuine concerns that prevent this from being passed."
She turned to the rest of the men. "We shall pick this up tomorrow. I have a medical council to meet with."
With that, Elsa headed out the door. She could only hope she made more headway with the physicians' council.
Hours later found an exhausted, mildly frustrated queen entering the dining room, but to Elsa's surprise, it seemed she wasn't the only one tuckered out.
A bleary-eyed Anna slumped in her seat at the table, her eyelids already drooping. Tired as she was, Elsa couldn't help but return an amused, fond smile in her sister's direction as the princess struggled to stay awake, just for her.
"Tired already, darling?"
"Huh?" A little cough escaped the princess. "Oh, yeah, we made a lot of masks today…" She moved to pick up her spoon, but was stopped by pale fingers encircling her bandaged ones.
"What happened, Anna?"
"Wha-" She blinked slowly, her teal eyes struggling to refocus on a concerned Elsa.
"Your fingers, how did you get hurt?"
"Oh, that!" The princess shrugged sheepishly, "I tried to sew some masks, but Gerda took the needle away from me when she saw how often I kept stabbing myself." Despite the fatigue, she giggled softly, "She said she had to, for national security reasons."
The image was admittedly a funny one but Elsa didn't feel much like laughing at the sight of blood-dotted bandages. "I'll feed you. I don't want you hurting yourself again."
Anna blushed, "Thanks Elsie."
The queen pulled her chair close and brought the bowl into her hands. Anna ate slowly, a small cough periodically punctuating the otherwise comfortable silence.
It was after a small string of coughs that Elsa furrowed her brows, "Are you alright, love?"
Anna nodded, "Just a little tickle in my throat, that's all." She coughed a little harder, then sighed with relief, "I think it's gone now."
"Good." Elsa fed her another spoon. "You must be exhausted. I want you to go straight to bed, understand?"
Anna didn't respond right away, instead relishing the feeling of hot soup going down her sore throat. She wasn't even sure why she felt so exhausted. After all, making masks wasn't that hard.
And yet, when the comforting feeling dissipated, she sighed reluctantly, "Okay, I don't think I can do much of anything anyway. I feel really sluggish." But even as she spoke, her eyes lit up with a sudden idea, "Can we have a sleepover?"
Elsa shook her head, "Not tonight, love. You really do need your rest, and I'm afraid my work isn't done yet either."
Anna managed a drowsy pout, "You're tired too, Elsie. If I'm sleeping early, so should you."
Elsa chuckled, "I'm also the queen, you know, so if I say it's bedtime for you, it's bedtime for you. Besides…" she sighed heavily, the smile dropping from her face, "I have to revisit my economic proposal tonight."
"Again?" Anna groaned aloud.
Elsa just shrugged, "Mikkael still won't agree to it, and though I could get it passed without him, I don't like that he's consistently voted against every proposal I've put in front of them since this all began. I can't be seen outright rejecting the advice of one of my most powerful advisors, no matter how wrong he is."
Anna let out a little wet cough, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. "It's okay, Elsie. He'll come around. He just wants to push you around but don't give in, okay?"
A tender smile tugged at Elsa's lips, "Okay, love. I won't."
Anna grinned back, "Good, and for what it's worth, I think he's a big old-" More coughs decimated the rest of her sentence, Anna pulling away to cough into her elbow.
"Alright, Sunshine. That's enough for today." A considerably more worried Elsa put the bowl aside and got up. "You clearly need some rest. I'll have Gerda bring you some tea for that cough later, but it's off to bed with you."
"Awww, already?"
Elsa cracked a grin, "Yes, already. You can barely keep your eyes open and I don't want to have to carry you to your room." She chuckled almost to herself, "In the state I'm in, I'd probably drop you."
A loud yawn escaped Anna's lips, "It's okay, I wouldn't mind."
"Being dropped?" An amused Elsa responded, one eyebrow raised comically.
"No, you goof," Anna snorted, wrapping her arms around Elsa's and leaning into a hug. "I mean, being carried by you. I wouldn't mind that. And I know you won't drop me, Els. I trust you."
Elsa felt her heart flutter like a butterfly. How was it that, even in such a sleepy state, Anna could be so darn adorably sentimental?
She pressed a kiss to her sister's freckled forehead before directing her towards the entrance. "Come on, love. Let's get you to bed."
They were a rather tipsy duo, stumbling along the stairs and nearly falling over their own feet in their utter exhaustion that Elsa was sure the resident castle staff thought them both drunk, but somehow, Elsa still managed to get her sister to her room in one piece.
After helping her drowsy sister change into her nightclothes and quickly brushing out and braiding her hair into two facsimiles of a pigtail that were sure to merge into one sometime in the night, Elsa pulled the covers over Anna, who now cuddled up under the blankets, her big teal eyes heavy with the beckonings of sleep.
"Need anything else?"
"Nope, I'm fed, brushed and ready to sleep!" Anna announced with a toothy smile.
Elsa chuckled, "Good. Be sure to tell that to Gerda in the morning. I could afford to improve my standing with her after she caught me asleep on my desk the other day and asked if I was 'aware of basic human needs.'"
Anna giggled, "I don't know, Els. She has a point."
Elsa smiled and leaned over to kiss Anna's forehead, "Sweet dreams, love. Get some rest and that cough will clear up in no time, okay?"
Anna smiled up at her, "Kay, Els."
She rose from her stoop, turning towards the door to leave her sister to rest when she felt gentle fingers weakly grasping for her wrist.
"Stay?"
Elsa's breath caught at the sight that greeted her, her heart stuttering in her chest like a melody on repeat. Caught up as she was these days in the chaos of reality, she often forgot that inside this strong, dedicated, talented, vivacious woman lay the innocent, precious soul of her baby sister.
Her little ray of sunshine…
Not for the first time, Elsa could only wonder what she had done to be so blessed as to have Anna by her side.
Even in the best of times, Elsa had relied heavily on Anna's support and encouragement to guide her every decision. But now, during what had turned into such an unprecedented crisis, Elsa could absolutely admit that she would have fallen apart long ago had it not been for her sister.
All the accomplishments of the past many months, every triumph, every deed big and small…she owed it all to her sister's strength, her courage, her stubborn nature…and her confidence, in Elsa.
Truly, I'd be lost without her… without my north star.
A pale hand brushed over Anna's cheek, the soft pads of her fingertips gliding over the freckled skin as Elsa cherished the rare quiet of the moment. She wished to live forever in this moment of absolute calm, reveling in the fact that she could be present, here, with her sister, and just exist without expectations or duties or obligations towards the rest of the world.
She had been queen for so long, surely they could do without her just this once, couldn't they?
Because tonight, she just wanted to be Anna's sister…
She wanted to stay…
And yet, she couldn't. Not yet, anyway.
Someday, Anna, I will stay. I promise.
It was with the most reluctant of sighs that she leaned down to press a soft kiss goodbye to the girl's forehead, lingering there with a tender smile, "I love you, Sunshine."
Anna returned a sleepy, adorable smile, "Love ya too, Elsie."
Before she could change her mind, Elsa slipped out the room and gently closed the door behind her.
It was sometime close to two in the morning when Elsa finally managed to turn in herself, all the brain cells in her head thoroughly spent. Every single muscle in her body ached for the comfort of her soft pillows and sheets as she changed into her nightgown and crawled into bed.
Her body had only just sunk onto the mattress when a harried knock cut through the comforting silence.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Elsa groaned loudly, but didn't rise from her bed, attempting to ignore the voice by placing an arm over her ear.
"Your Majesty, please, this is urgent news!"
"When is it now?' The blonde huffed in exasperation before reluctantly rising from her spot, her whole body crying out in discomfort as she wrapped herself in a robe and opened the door.
Gerda stood before her, her eyes wild with worry. If Elsa had been even a little bit more awake, the very sight would have alerted her to the gravity of the situation. Instead, she furrowed her brow.
"Can it wait until morning, Gerda? I just managed to get to bed, and I have an early meeting tomorrow."
The handmaiden gulped, "I'm afraid it can't, Your Majesty. I-I went to check on the princess and give her some tea for that cough, but…she had a fever, my lady."
Elsa startled awake. "What?!"
Gerda nodded sadly, "I even sent for Physician Bodil, hoping that maybe I was just mistaken but…" She shook her head apologetically, her next words low and solemn.
"Princess Anna has the influenza."