Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen nor its characters, nor do I own any characters from other Disney works. Disney owns everything - including my heart, soul, and wallet.

Chapter 7 - Interlude

Where is that photo of us in the kitchen?

She was scrolling through hundreds of digitized photos she'd scanned and stored on an external drive years ago. Panic began to set in as she glanced at the clock and noticed it was nearly four in the afternoon. Her acceptance speech was only about a third written and she was desperately looking for a specific picture. She let out a breath of relief as she double clicked on a file and up popped a picture of two little girls covered in melted chocolate, the kitchen around them much in the same state. It had just been copied into her slide deck when there was another knock on her office door and she heard it crack open.

"Yes, Gemma?"

"No, it's me," came an amused voice from the door.

"Hi, Dad," she said as she looked up, a wide smile across her face. She stood and walked around her desk to give him a kiss on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just making sure you're not forgetting about your big shindig tonight. I got quite the earful from my wife this morning about making sure you left yourself enough time to get ready. I said, 'she's a grown woman, Iduna. I think she knows how to manage herself,'" Agnarr said with a hearty chuckle. He took a quick glance at her still in her pantsuit and the chaos across the desk before he sighed. "But I see she yet again has bested me in parental instincts."

"Mother's intuition is a real superpower," she said with a shrug. "And I'm going to get ready soon! I'm just… finishing up my speech. Speaking of which - have you written yours already?"

"Got it right here," he said while patting his left breast pocket. "Nothing embarrassing, I promise."

"I wasn't worried about that."

"You are worried about something though," he said with a knowing look.

Everyone always seems to see right through me, she thought. "It's just… this speech. I haven't given a speech in so long. What if I completely freeze? Or worse! What if I accidentally say a bad word? Or cry? Or burp?"

Agnarr guffawed boisterously. "You'll be fine. It's just a little acceptance speech. You've given plenty of speeches to the troops here at ArenTech Genetics since I've retired."

"That's different though," she said. Her shoulders deflated and she rubbed her temples from stress. "Here, I'm in my element. I know the people, the company, the science… everything. This speech though? They want me to talk about my motivations to develop Cryonyx. Talking about myself and about… trying to talk about her…"

She trailed off and he looked at her sympathetically. He pulled her into a tight hug and rubbed comforting circles between her shoulder blades.

"I especially miss her today. So much," she said.

"Me too. As we should. If she could see what you've grown up to be, though… She would be so proud of you, darling."

She could feel the tears starting to spill over and pulled out of the hug, afraid of ruining his outfit. She gave him a once over. He looked quite dashing in his classic tuxedo. The greying along his sideburns and slight dusting of white throughout his mustache was getting more prominent, giving him a weathered sort of look. She was struck by how much older he was than what she usually imagined in her head, but he didn't look old, just distinguished.

"You look very handsome," she said. She flicked a finger under his chin. "And I like the snowflake bowtie."

"Don't touch it! It took me a very long time to tie it," he said with a little panic to his voice, making her chuckle and Agnarr joined in after a moment. When they quieted, he gave her a huge smile and she was startled to see his eyes begin to shine. "I am so proud of you, sweetheart."

"Thank you, Dad," she said, returning his smile with her perfect, brilliant white one. "But no more crying, please!"

"I know, I know," he said with another laugh. "I just… I think about how far you've come and I can't help it. I am proud to call you my daughter."

"Not as proud as I am to call you Papa," she said, trying to hold in tears of her own for a second time within minutes.

"Ok - now finish up that speech and get ready. There will be plenty of time for us to get all sappy later," he said lightheartedly. "And do not be late, or else I'll be sleeping on the couch in my office tonight."

"There are so many guest bedrooms at the Manor. You don't have to sleep on a couch."

"She'd make me sleep on a couch," he said sullenly.

That's probably true, she thought as she laughed gently at his remark. She gave him one more kiss on the cheek before he departed. Sitting back behind her desk, she looked again at the picture on the screen of two mischievous little girls and smiled. Now, where was I?

A/N: Sorry, it's very short this week. I almost had nothing to give you because the next chapter is only about half done (I hit a bit of a snag and my schedule is busy right now), but then my best friend reminded me that I had planned on checking in with our smarty-pants doctor. So - just a little intermission to get us into the next part of the story, but it buys me some time to finish the next chapter. My side hustle is almost done for the year though (teaching remotely is crazy, even when your students are college kids), so I'll have more time to write soon.

Hope you're all staying safe! As always - thank you for reading :)