Once Upon A December
Several hours had passed on since Anna had left the ice palace. All that time Elsa had stayed in her room. At one point, Elsa had moved from her door to the side of her bed. The frozen snowflakes from her small storm were now gone and the room was in a normal state. However, that didn't mean Elsa wasn't better. She was still thinking about Anna.
She missed her. She didn't really believe it, but she really missed Anna. In the few days she was here, Elsa had grown fond of her. Sometimes she had to remind herself that. But in the end, it didn't change the fact that Anna was now gone, leaving Elsa once again with her solitude life.
Without warning, she hastily stood up from her bed and left the room. She walked down the stairs and entered the foyer. There she went down the foyer stairs and went over to the cave. It was still in the same state as it was several hours before. The fireplace had died down, leaving nothing but small fire specs. Elsa walked over to the fireplace and used her magic to fully put it out. From the corner of her eye, she noticed something near the stone bed. Once she went over to get a closer look, she realized what the object was.
It was the ice figure of Anna, the one Elsa made when she revealed her powers to the girl. It was lying on the ground in a manner that it was treated in good care. Elsa leaned down and picked up the figurine. For several moments, she just stood in place as she looked at her handiwork. Elsa stroke her finger on what resembled Anna's face. On the figurine lied a bright smile. That was a reminder to Elsa of the happy and nice personality that Anna had. For a moment, Elsa couldn't help but smile herself as she reminisces.
Her smile quickly vanished as she quickly reminded herself that Anna was gone. With the figurine still in her hand, she left the cave. She made her way back to the foyer once again. After walking up the foyer stairs, she stood on the middle of the platform and looked around. Without Anna, this place just seems so smaller. Not only that she just felt...empty, as if a part of her had left.
Turning away from the foyer, Elsa went back up to her room. There, she placed the figurine on her desk. The sun outside reflected on the figurine, giving off a small shine on the head. Elsa continues to stare at the figurine for several moments.
"ELSA!" a loud voice shouted causing Elsa to jump and give a small shriek. "Elsa, are you in here?!"
"What's wrong Olaf?" Elsa asked as she witnessed Olaf hastily entering the room.
"Have you seen Slush?"
"No. Why do you ask?"
"He went out several hours ago, but he's been gone for too long!"
"Okay, calm down. Easy now." Elsa attempted to assure the frantic snowman. "How long ago did he leave?"
"Just shortly after you went into your room. Y'know after Anna left."
For a brief moment, Elsa stared at the floor. Her train of thought worked as she tried to put the pieces together. Until a startling revelation came to her.
"He went after Anna…" Elsa muttered.
"What are we going to do?" Olaf asked. "Poor guy is out there all alone."
"Relax. I'll go out and find him. You stay here in case he comes back."
"Do you know where to look?"
"I might have an idea where he might've gone too."
Elsa quickly changed into her old blue dress and grabbed her cloak. She then left her room and went to look for Marshmallow outside. Once she did manage to find him, she explained the situation about Slush and brought up where he might've gone too.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Marshmallow asked. "Maybe we should wait to see if he'll come back."
"Believe me, he won't. Which is why I need to find him."
"As you wish."
With that, Elsa climbed upon Marshmallow's back. The snow creature then started running. Elsa looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was setting. She had to find Slush soon. Fortunately, she knows where to go.
She was going to Arendelle.
By the time Elsa had arrived, night had fallen. The streets of Arendelle were deserted as many had turned in for the day. This was perfect for Elsa. She can look around the town without getting spotted, especially since she was alone. Even with the deserted snow-covered streets, Marshmallow would bring too much attention. Despite his objections, Elsa had to leave him in the woods outside of the town.
Despite her caution, Elsa took this opportunity to look around for a bit. This is the first time she had ever stepped foot in Arendelle. It would seem it was everything as Anna had told her. The town did look lovely, though she doesn't intend to find out how the people are. Despite the streets were mostly empty, Elsa did spot a few individuals out. She took note that most of them were dressed similarly. When one looked to be coming her way at one point she quickly hid in an alley. Once the coast seemed to be clear, Elsa walked out back to the street. As soon as she did, she felt something on her foot.
Looking down, Elsa could see a weird shape outline in the buried snow. Bending down, she picked up the object and wiped the remaining snow off. The object was small enough to fit her palm and felt to be made out of wood. On top of it was a red ribbon of some sort that looked to been broken off. The most interesting thing about this object was its shape. It looked to be a goat.
Elsa slowly started walking again with the wooden goat in her hand. Something about this goat just seemed familiar to her. As she stared at the wooden goat, faint images came to her head. People in a place like this looked happy. They were putting up unique things on homes such as these, some of which Elsa could make out to be angel wings. There were also snow all around and it was cold as if it was December. And for a brief moment, she heard what sounded like a bell in the background.
The images stopped as Elsa seized walking. Taking one more look at the goat, she put it away in her dress. She decided to continue looking around. She recalled the images as she did. From the corner of her eye, Elsa noticed a clearing of some sort. She had walked over and soon ended up in a place where there was an overhead.
As Elsa walked through the clearing, that is when she noticed the castle. It was huge! Connecting the castle to the rest of the town was a stone bridge. Slowly, Elsa walked across it. On her left side was the fjord. Never in her life had she ever seen this much body of water. Yet at the same time, it felt like it wasn't the first time she had seen something like this before. Her sightseeing of the fjord had stopped when almost ran into huge gates.
"This is where Anna must live."
Instinctively, Elsa placed her hand on the gates, small frost formed on the door from beneath her hand. A nagging voice within her head told her to open those doors, to go in and see Anna. But soon, Elsa walked back several feet away from the massive gates. As she did, she noticed some banners hanging from the outer walls of the castle. These banners had purple on one half and green on the other. In the center of the banner looked to be a flower of some sort. Once again, familiarity had screamed into her head.
You know that symbol. You know this castle. You know this place.
"This place...It's like I've been here before." Elsa turned away from the massive castle and started walking across the bridge slowly.
"Prancing goats. Angel wings. Things I seem to remember." Elsa picked up her pace and continue walking further from the castle and back to the town. "And a bell someone rings, once upon a December. Someone holds me safe and warm. People play among a silver storm." At the end of the bridge, Elsa stopped in her place. "Figures dancing gracefully across my memory."
Just then, new kinds of images appeared except these ones were clearer and felt more real. All around, Elsa saw images of people. The imaginary people were walking, talking, and dancing around. Some of the figures seemingly waved to her. Oddly enough, Elsa waved back to them. She brought her attention back to the dancing figures. Elsa found herself quickly making her way to the figures and joined in the dancing, twirling around like an excited child.
"Someone holds me safe and warm. People play among a silver storm." Two figures approached her. One appeared to be a large man with a bald spot on the top of his head. Another looked to a thin woman with slightly grey hair. They both went over to Elsa and look as if they were tending to her for a moment before bowing and walking away. "Figures dancing gracefully across my memory."
Elsa twirled around once again and she found herself in a different dress. It was a teal colored dress with some black across her chest and arms. It had some designs that Elsa found pretty. Her hair looked to tied up in a bun, much more elegant than how she usually does it. She soon resumed dancing with the figures.
"Far away, long ago. Glowing dim as an ember. Things my heart used to know. Things it yearns to remember."
The figures stopped dancing, as did Elsa. She stood as she saw the figures slowly fade. As she watches, she felt a firm but also soft grip on her shoulders from behind. She couldn't see who it was, but their touch felt warm and comforting. It was there for a few moments before they too faded away
"And a bell someone rings...Once upon a December..."
Elsa slowly fell to her knees as she slowly came back to reality. The last of the imaginary figures faded away. Her teal dress was soon gone she was back to her old blue one, along with having her hair back in a braid. The images were now fully gone and Elsa was brought back to reality.
The same reality she has been living for years.
CLUNK!
That noise spooked Elsa. In the direction of noise were some boxes. Elsa slowly rose to her feet and cautiously made her way to the boxes. She moved the boxes away and was relieved to see what was underneath them. It was Slush.
"Elsa!" The snowgie cheerfully cried as he jumped onto her.
"Slush!" Elsa exclaimed. "Are you alright? Do you have any idea how worried I was?! What were you thinking coming out here by yourself? You know the rules!"
"I'm sorry." A look of guilt was seen on Slush's face.
Elsa pulled the snowgie into a hug. "I'm just happy you're okay, but don't you dare do that ever again, understand?" Slush nodded his head. "Good...Now let's go back home." She rose to her feet, with Slush in her hand, and walked through the clearing. At the edge, she stopped. Elsa turned her head to get one more look at the huge castle.
"Elsa? Are you alright?" Slush spoke up.
"Oh, I'm fine." Elsa snapped out of her trance. "Let's go. Marshmallow is waiting for us in the woods."
The ice wielder resumed her walking and attempt to leave the town as fast as she could. As she walked, she thought about the images she had seen. Were they just her imagination, or perhaps some sort of event she had been too? Whatever they were, Elsa decided that they were probably just weird tricks her mind gave. Soon, she Slush found Marshmallow and the 3 promptly made the journey to return to their home.
I apologize if this seems like filler. The next chapter should cut back to royal family. Anyways...
So Elsa makes a stop in Arendelle and some interesting things happen. Hmm...
This chapter is dedicated to the song Once Upon a December from the 1997 film Anastasia. I figure it would be fitting for the story since that movie gave me the idea to write this fic (Once again, up to you guys if Elsa's singing or not).
I have a quick question: If put in more flashbacks, would you guys be okay if they were in the Italics or normal font? Especially if they take up most of a chapter?
Thanks for the favs, follows, and reviews. Happy Reading.
P.S. For those of you urging me to keep updating, keep in mind I have life outside of fanfiction. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I'm in college and have a job so they often get in the way. Plus writing isn't exactly easy. I take my time when it comes to writing chapters so they stay consistent to the story. That is all, thank you.
