Show and Tell
March, 1836
The month March had arrived not too long ago. It is the month where the season of winter slowly leave its stages and begins the process of becoming spring by the following month. Despite that, winter's presence still lingers. As the month had changed, life still remained the for the citizens of Arendelle, including the royal family. Unaware of the secret Princess Anna keeps from them.
Several times a week Anna would pay a visit to Elsa. After the first visit to her, Anna had kept her promise and saw her again two nights later. They once again played around with Elsa's magic, though shorter this time. They spent the remainder of the visit to simply relax and talk. At one point, a small grumble noise was heard from Anna.
"Hungry?" Elsa asked.
"Uh, yeah," Anna answered. "I could go for a snack."
Elsa went over to one of the chests and pulled out a small ice block. She then got out a bowl and place the block in it. Hovering her hand over the block, she started thawing it. Anna had noticed that when Elsa created things with her magic, they always worked in an instant. When she thawed ice she was noticeably slower. That had taken Anna's attention once she noticed Elsa's food. So far, she had seen her eat berries, nuts, and the occasional herb & mushroom soup. When she asked if she had more, Elsa did mention that she does eat meat.
"I ran out of them just a week before I met you." Was her answer. "I haven't had much luck with hunting & fishing this winter."
"Have you ever ran out of food before?" Anna asked.
"There were times where I did run low and had to ration. The longest I went without food was maybe little over a week."
Just even the thought Elsa starving made Anna feel bad for her. At that moment, Anna mental swore to herself that she was never complaining about eating the food she hated for dinner ever again. Just then, an idea came Anna's head.
Before Anna left to visit Elsa again, she went down to the castle kitchens with a basket in her hand. Thankfully, no one was in this part of the castle at this hour, which made sneaking there a breeze. Anna went to where the food was usually stocked and packed several foods she liked.
Food wasn't the only Anna had brought. In the basket were several books. Elsa did mention about reading stories as a kid and Anna figure she would probably like to read some of them.
Once she was done, Anna went back to her room. There she made her way outside through the passageway and outside. When she had arrived at the ice palace a little bit later, Elsa's attention was brought upon the basket in Anna's hand.
"I brought some stuff for you."
"For me? Why?"
"Because I thought you would like them." Anna pulled the books out of the basket.
"Are those…" Elsa started.
"Yep! Books. You mentioned that you read stories & fairy tales when you were younger, so I thought you would like them. These ones are my favorites." Anna picked each book up, reading the title and what they were about as she did. "This first I have is called The Heroic Tale of Hercules. It tells the story of a Greek god who got turned into a mortal and has to become a true hero to regain his godhood. This other one here is The Ballad of Mulan. It's about a girl from a land called China who goes to war to protect her father. And here's a favorite of mine, The Tales of Flynnigan Rider."
"Those do sound like fun stories. I'm not sure which one to start."
"You can start with whatever you like and take however long to read them. But we'll worry about that later, I have more stuff."
"What's else is in there?"
"Some food," Anna answered. "I remember how you told about your food situation last time and I decided to help you out on that."
Anna emptied out more contents from the basket. There was an apple, a loaf of bread, several cookies, cheese, two carrots, and even a chocolate bar. Anna had expected for Elsa to start eating, but all she did was stare. Her blue eyes had grown big, unsure what to do about the food. She looks as if they were completely foreign to her.
"You can try whatever you want first." Anna hoped that would encourage her to start trying.
Elsa slowly lifted her hand and hovered it over the food. She was figuring out which one to pick. Yet, she was fascinated by them.
"They're all so...different," Elsa muttered.
"There are a lot of types of food." Anna pointed to each of the food. "This is an apple. They're fruits, like berries. These are carrots which are vegetables. This is bread. You can eat it whole, or you can cut two slices and use them to make sandwiches."
"Sandwiches?"
"You put smaller food in between the bread slices and eat them whole. Anyways, these things shaped like circles are cookies. This is cheese. And here's my personal favorite, chocolate!"
"Can I try that first?"
"Knock yourself out."
"How would I do tha-" The look on Anna's had made her stop, realizing what she had meant. "That's an expression, isn't it?"
"Idiom, technically, but it's the same idea."
Elsa reached out for the chocolate and put it close to her mouth. She looked at for a moment before putting the corner of the bar in her mouth and took a small bite out of it. Anna watched her chew the piece slowly.
"What do you-" Anna was cut off by Elsa suddenly gobbling down the entire bar. It was so abrupt that Anna jumped a bit. "...think?"
"That was the greatest thing I've ever eaten," Elsa exclaimed as her chocolate covered mouth smiled. "Do you have more?"
"No, but I can bring some more next time. Uh, Let me clean your mouth."
After Anna wiped the chocolate off, Elsa looked over to the next food she wanted to try. This time she looked at the two carrots.
"Are both of these...carrots for me?"
"Actually, the other carrot is for Olaf."
"For him to eat?"
"Something else actually. Could you call him?"
It wasn't long until Olaf had walked between the girls after Elsa called his name.
"Hey, guys. What'cha need?"
"Anna has something for you, Olaf," Elsa explained.
"Oooh! What is it? Is it a gift? I really love gifts." Olaf turned his head to face Elsa at that last sentence before looking back at Anna, who then stuck the carrot on his face. "WOO! Head-rush!"
"Whoops! Too hard! I'm sorry!" Anna had pushed the carrot harder than she thought which resulted with most of the carrot sticking out from the back of Olaf's head and the tip of on the front of his face. "Are you okay?"
"Are you kidding me? I...am wonderful! I always wanted a nose! It's so cute, it's like a little baby unicorn…" Olaf turned his attention away from Anna and was focused on the carrot tip and talking with a baby voice. Anna took that moment to push the rest of the carrot back into the snowman's head and have it fully in front of his face. "Ohh….I love it even more! Thank you."
"It suits you," Anna complemented. "What do you think, Elsa?"
Elsa looked at Olaf, as he had an eager smile on his face and his stick arms crossed in front of him, waiting for her answer. "It does look good on you, Olaf."
"I gonna show the others!" Olaf quickly ran off. "Everyone! I got a new nose!"
"He seems really happy," Anna mentioned.
"He is...That was really nice of you," Elsa said.
"Thanks."
"So this other carrot is for me to try?"
The rest of the time was spent with Elsa eating the rest of the food. Anna was amazed that Elsa had managed to eat all of it. From there on, Anna had always brought food of any type whenever she visited Elsa. The ice wielder seemed to like eat pretty much anything so Anna didn't seem to have to worry about what to bring. Though chocolate became her most favorite treat that Anna would often remember to bring a bar with her when she could.
There are visits in which Anna & Elsa hang around the castle. Others they like to go outside.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Anna?"
Elsa had decided to take Anna out on one her and Marshmallow's 'runs'. Much to Elsa's surprise, Anna wanted to see the cliff jumping. Even wanting to take part in it. At the very moment, they were at a cliff about several miles away from the ice palace. It wasn't very high, but it was tall enough for the drop.
"Of course I do," Anna said. "I'll be safe...right?"
"Just as long Marshmallow keeps a hold on you. I'm gonna warn you, it may be a little rough."
"Can't be as bad as Marshmallow carrying me."
"Okay...I did warn you."
Marshmallow gently grabbed Anna in his huge hand. Both he and Elsa made their way to the cliff's edge. Before they could jump, Elsa took one more glance at Anna.
"Are you ready?"
"I was born ready!"
Sometime later…
"I'm never doing that again…" Anna muttered
Not far away, the two girls and giant snowman where currently resting on some rocks. Anna was taking some leaves and tree branches off of her, with Elsa helping as well.
"I probably should've been on the lookout for those trees. I think I should be the only one to do this from now on." Elsa pulled a branch from Anna's hair.
"I can agree with that." Anna brushed another leaf off. "Is that all of them?"
"Looks like it."
"Good. Can we go back now?"
"What do you say, Marshmallow?"
The big snow creature didn't say anything. Instead, he just gave an annoyed grunt.
"You okay big guy?" All the snow creature did in response was throw a handful (his version of a handful) of snow at Anna. "Sheesh! Why are you so grumpy all of a sudden?"
"I think it's because of the comment you made about him earlier. When you said he should cut off some of his snow if wants to dodge better." Elsa said. "I think you should apologize for it."
"Oh, that's what he's on about?" Anna walked over to the big snowman. "Is that why you're all grumpy, big baby boo?" Marshmallow only responded with some playful mocking gestures and noises. "Oh yeah, well let's see how you like this!"
Anna then starts to playfully wrestle Marshmallow's hand. At the same time, playfully taunting him as well.
"Oh yeah! You feeling tough and mighty now, huh?"
Despite her efforts, Marshmallow just stood unfazed with his matching expression. Elsa, on the other hand, couldn't help but find Anna's attempt to wrestle the big snowman humorous. Anna even clung on when Marshmallow lifted his arm up. Looking over to the side, Marshmallow got an idea and started walking over to the side.
"You wouldn't hurt an innocent, little…Ahh!" Anna clung to Marshmallow's arm, as it was hovering over a cliff's edge. A mischievous chuckle came from the giant snowman. "Okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry."
Marshmallow moved his arm away from the cliff and put Anna back on the ground they were on. That, Anna was happy to do.
"And you just stood by and watch all that," Anna stated to Elsa.
"He was just playing."
"He sure had an interesting definition of playing," Marshmallow responded to Anna's statement by blowing some ice on her, leaving her covered with frost.
"And that's how he shows affection," Elsa added.
"He's a real charmer." Anna brushed off the remaining frost off and looked at Marshmallow. He had an innocent look on his face, one that reminded her of a dog that would beg his owner in order for its owner to cave in. Interestingly, this had the same effect. "Ohh...I can't stay mad at you. Come here, big guy!" Anna gave a hug to the huge snowman.
Elsa couldn't help but smile. Anna had really warmed her way to Marshmallow's heart...Even if he doesn't technically have one.
Elsa may not have that much experience with being around people but she did notice something off about Anna. She had been unusually quieter than usual on this visit compared to previous ones.
"Are you alright Anna?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"You haven't been...chatty tonight. Are you really okay?"
"I am. I just have something on my mind."
"What is it?"
"It's nothing. Just something silly."
"Can't you at least tell me?" The years Elsa had spent with her snow companions, she had her fair share of listening to their issues.
"Alright. My mama's birthday is coming up."
"Birthday?"
"Yeah. It's a day where we celebrate-"
"I know what it is." Elsa cut her off.
"Right…" Trailing off for a moment, Anna got back on track. "Anyways, it's gonna be in a few days and I don't know what to get for her."
"Get her what?"
"A gift."
"Oh."
"I want to give her something nice, but nothing too simple."
"What does she like?"
"She likes things such as flowers, and jewelry, but it's too cold out for flowers to grow and she already has so much jewelry. She's a queen for crying out loud!"
"Why not both...Like a flower bracelet or something like that?"
"A bracelet made of flowers?"
"Not exactly. Like something that looks like flowers."
"That's actually not a bad idea." Anna was lit up with the idea before she gave a breath. "But the shops in Arendelle don't have anything like that."
The look of disappointment & hopelessness was something Elsa did not like to see on Anna. She really wanted to help solve her issue, but she didn't know how. Then, she got a sudden idea. Turning away from Anna, Elsa conjured her magic and started making something.
Anna didn't notice Elsa had her back turned until she heard the shimmer of magic. She looked over to Elsa and was trying to see what she was doing. Several seconds later, Elsa turned back and held her arm out.
"What do you think?' Elsa asked.
Around Elsa's wrist was something that resembled a bracelet. Not just a normal brace, it seemed to resemble a lace cuff bracelet. It was white and it had a beautiful floral design pattern and several beads. The bracelet was wrapped around the whole wrist and was went to the bottom of her fingers. In the center, on the top of her hand, was a gorgeous flower design.
"My god...Elsa this is beautiful."
"Thanks." Elsa took the bracelet off and hand it over to Anna. "Here."
"Wait, what?"
"Give this to your mama."
"I-I can't. You made it…"
"And I'm giving it to you. Please..."
Looking at the offering in her hands, Anna slowly took the bracelet. Even though it was made of snow, it surprisingly felt like a normal lace cuff bracelet. That would make hiding the fact it was made out of snow much easier.
"You didn't have to make this."
"We're friends. We help each other out, right?"
A happy, hopeful smile appeared on Elsa's face.
"Thank you…" Anna smiled back.
The day of the Spring Equinox had arrived in the kingdom. It is a day that symbolized the official start of spring. At least it was too many. To some, it signifies another important event in the royal family, for today was also Queen Idun's birthday. At the moment, the queen and her daughter were spending it in the gazebo in the garden. They were sitting at a table having lunch and simply chatting.
"Is papa going to join us?" Anna asked.
"He's caught up in a meeting," Idun answered. "Just because I'm free today doesn't mean he is. He'll probably be held up for a little while."
"Oh."
"But we can still have fun with just the two of us. It's been a while since we both had a girls day out."
"It has. What do you want to do?"
"Why not talk?"
"Alright. What do you want to talk about?"
"How are things between you and Kristoff?"
"We've been fine. Just the same old stuff."
"Really?" Idun had 'the look' in her eyes. Anna could guess what she was talking about.
"We're just friends, mama."
"If you say so. Though your father's cousin, Arianna used to say the same thing about Fredric and we know how they ended up. Her sister Willow will never let her live that down."
Anna chuckled a bit. Before she could say anything else, a sudden gust of cold wind had blown through, carrying some snowflakes. Despite the temperatures rising with the month and snow started to melt, some remnants of winter still remained. Several of those snowflakes had landed on Anna.
"Damn, that's cold!"
"Language, Anna," Idun reminded.
"Sorry, mama." Anna remembered that her mother didn't like when she and her father do their, as Idun would call, 'sailor talk'. "It's the fu-...fudging first day of spring and there's still snow around. I mean, did mother nature not get the memo or something?"
"I thought you liked snow."
"I do, but there's a thing called 'overstaying its welcome', mama." Anna then brushed off the snowflakes off of her. Just when she was done, her mother started giggling. "What's so funny."
"There's a snowflake on your nose, sweetheart," Idun pointed out.
"What? Oh!" Using her finger, Anna too the snowflake off her nose. The snowflake had stuck onto her finger for a moment before the wind blew it away. After it did, Anna look at her mother, who's expression looked somber. "Mama?"
"Sorry. I was just having some recollections."
Judging by the way her mother responded, Anna could guess what she was thinking about.
"Is it...her?"
"Y-yes…" Idun paused for a moment. "There was once a time where I wasn't a big fan of snow, but now when I see it, it brings me memories of your sister."
"Was she a big winter person?"
Idun gave a small smile. "In the best way. Part of me thinks it has to due to the fact she was born on the Winter Solstice."
"Me and Elsa have Solstice birthdays? That's cool."
"Yeah...Besides that fact, she loved playing in the snow. Me and your father would often join her when we could. Our favorite thing to do was building a snowman. Even when we couldn't she still would play in the snow. Your father used to call her 'snowflake'. It was his own nickname for her."
"That's sounds cute."
"It was."
Idun's small smile shrank as it was replaced with a sad frown. She almost looked as if she was gonna cry.
"Are you going to be okay?" Anna asked.
"I will." Idun took a moment to wipe her eye. "Sorry for acting like this."
"It's fine, mama."
"It's just...I'm not really used to being this open to you about it. Just telling even smaller bits about Elsa just makes me relieved. I can't help but get a little emotional about it sometimes."
"I think it's good for you to talk about Elsa. I mean I may not exactly know how it feels since I never met her…" Anna stopped herself for a moment before continuing on. "But I want to help you and papa in whatever way I can."
"That's really kind of you, sweetheart. I wished we could've told you much, much sooner."
"Hey, all that's in the past now. You can talk all about Elsa whenever you and papa want."
"Thank you...but I'm not really up to it right now."
"That's alright..." Figuring her mother want her mood up again, Anna decided to give her present. "On a different subject, I have something for you." Anna pulled out a small box with decorative wrappings and a lovely bow on top. "Happy Birthday mama."
Anna handed the box over to Idun. She watched her mother untie the bow and took off the wrapper. Once all of that was off, Idun removed the lid from the small box. Her mouth gaped open as she picked up the lace cuff bracelet.
"Oh, Anna…" Idun muttered. "It's lovely."
"Try it on," Anna suggested.
Idun put the bracelet on her wrist. It was a perfect fit for the queen. "Where did you find this?"
"I...I bought it from a traveling merchant. Do you like it?"
"Of course. Thank you, Anna."
Seeing her mother enjoying her gift had definitely made Anna happy. Not entirely though since she had to once again had to conjure up a lie to cover Elsa. Anna hated lying to her friends & family and keeping Elsa a secret from them. The only shining light is that Anna told herself that it wouldn't be that way forever. Anna knew it's most likely a matter of time before someone close to her grew suspicious on what she's been up to for the past month. She sometimes often planned on how she would explain Elsa. That day was not today and hopefully, it won't be for just a little while longer. At least long enough for her to plan properly.
After several hours, Agdar had finally left the council chambers. The first thing he wanted to do was find Idun. He hated being away from his wife for so long, especially since today was her birthday. Eventually, he found her in the library.
The library itself was much bigger and had much more books than his study. Like the study, the library had a fireplace and couch in front of it. On that couch was Idun, who was in the middle of reading a book.
"Happy Birthday love," he greeted.
"Hello Agdar," Idun put her book down as her husband sat next to her. They gave each other a quick kiss on the lips. "The meeting went alright?"
"It did, thank you. Sorry I couldn't be with you most of the day."
"It's fine, dear. Anna kept me company."
"What did you both do?"
"We had lunch and talked a bit. She gave me this wonderful gift." Idun moved her hand with the lace cuff bracelet to Agdar for him to so.
"It certainly is beautiful. Where did she get it?"
"She said she got it from a traveling merchant. Feels a bit cold though...Then again, things tend to get colder than usual around here."
Agdar chuckled at his wife's statement. When Idun let him touch it, he did notice it did felt a bit cold. But like she said, the air outside probably had something to do with it. Despite that, it really was a beautiful piece of work. Yet, for some reason, something about the design seemed familiar to him. He couldn't put his finger on it and he decided brushed it off. However, that feeling had stuck with him for the rest of the day.
I couldn't come up with a better title for this chapter...On another note, yes I did reference Hercules & Mulan (mind you, Anna has the Disney versions of those stories:P), and Tangled of course. Speaking of which, I think I may be the first to mention Willow (Arianna's sister) in a Frozen fic. I haven't really seen any fics or fanart of Willow with the Arendelle royal family. Considering the many family headcanons between Rapunzel's and Anna & Elsa's parents, that's quite surprising to say the least. Who knows? I might be looking in the wrong places.
I don't know about you guys, but something tells me that Idun likes KristAnna:P. (Speaking of Kristoff, we'll be seeing him again in the next chapter...).
Uh anyways...An interesting fact I found on the Disney wiki about Idun, and I'm quoting from the page, that she was born "…At the end of winter, right before spring." Sooo...I figure she was probably born on the Spring Equinox (and for the sake of it, I made Agdar's birthday on the Autumn Equinox). It be neat if you think about it. I mean you get:
Elsa=Winter. Idun=Spring. Anna= Summer. And Agdar=Fall.
But that's just my little headcanon.
And in case you haven't figure it out, Elsa not understanding expressions is somewhat of a running gag here. I just hope It won't get annoying. And if you don't know what a lace cuff bracelet is, google search it (specifically 'lace cuff bracelet 1800s') and you'll get the idea what it looked like.
Oh, if you guys find me on my Tumblr page (just type alphagirl404, then .tumblr, then .com in the URL), you can ask me questions about this story.
Thanks for the favs, follows, and reviews. Happy Reading
