A/N: Short chapter today. Next chapter will be longer!

Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. I'm just a college music major who's a thousand percent DONE with this online school thing and needed a distraction!

Johan had meetings most of the following morning. He practically slept through them, much to the chagrin of his father. The prince had never been fond of stuffy old men whose only goal in life was to fill their pockets with gold. He had hoped to give some of his naval insight on potential trade routes, but no such opportunity even came up. Nothing but numbers and balances, and if there's one thing he was bad at, it was math.

As soon as lunchtime rolled around, he excused himself to go find Anna. He didn't have to search long, as he found that the door to the portrait gallery had been left ajar. He poked his head in and saw the princess lying on a bench, staring up at the large painting of Joan of Arc. Her hands were folded across her chest, and her feet were swinging over the railing in time with the music she was quietly humming.

"Knock, knock," Johan said, rapping on the door as he entered.

Anna startled at his voice. Falling just as much as jumping, she wound up with her back on the floor, staring backwards at the prince.

"Are you okay?" he asked, chuckling.

Anna collapsed onto the floor, defeated and thoroughly embarrassed. "Yes."

"Still talking to the paintings, are we?"

"No!" she cried defensively, her face turning red.

Johan arched an eyebrow at her, smirking as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Anna groaned. "Well you would too if you'd been quarantined in a castle for nine years!"

"Fair enough," he chuckled, walking toward her and extending a hand. "Here, let me help you."

She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. "Thanks," she said, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She sat down on the bench and sighed. "So, how were your meetings today?"

Johan rolled his eyes. "Boring, as usual," he replied. "You read Shakespeare's histories and they make it seem like the royal life is full of drama and excitement. Far from it!"

"Ahh I'm more a fan of the tragedies, myself," Anna said.

"Which one's your favorite?"

"Romeo and Juliet, of course!" she cried. "It's only the greatest love story of all time!"

Johan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Sure, the play with one offstage love scene and, like, seven onstage fatalities," he said. "Doesn't seem like a healthy picture of romance."

"They'd rather die than not be together!" Anna explained.

"So we're just gonna romanticize double suicide?"

She shrugged. "Well I never said I would approve of this in real life!"

Johan chuckled. "I tend to stay away from Shakespeare these days, anyway. I'd sooner prefer stories like Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe."

"Ever read Frankenstein?" Anna asked.

Johan shook his head. "Can't say I've heard of it."

Anna jumped up smiling. "Ooo we gotta go to the library! I just finished reading it and it was so good!"

Johan followed the princess out of the gallery and through the hallways of the castle. She dragged him along by the hand, gripping his fingers just a little too tight for comfort.

When Anna pushed open the library doors, Johan didn't expect to see her sister browsing the bookshelves. Elsa jumped at the sound of the doors opening and quickly averted her eyes when she realized it was Anna. She had two books in her arms, and quickly grabbed a third off the shelf and started skimming it.

"Oh, hey Elsa!" Anna said, also clearly surprised.

Elsa took a tense breath. "Good afternoon, Anna," she replied, without looking up.

Anna cleared her throat. "Um, have you met Prince Johan, from Landvik?" she asked, stepping aside to let him in.

Elsa gave him a sideways glance, her expression neutral. If Johan didn't know any better, he'd think she was mad at him. But this was the same artificial demeanor she'd put on in the throne room.

"Yes, we met when he arrived yesterday," she replied, returning to her book.

"Oh! Great!" Anna said. "Well, uh, we were just gonna check out a new book. Would you like to join us?"

"I'm sorry, Anna, I can't," she replied, turning and walking toward the door. "I have to go."

She stared at the ground as she walked past her sister. When she passed by the prince, she looked up and met his eyes for the briefest moment before continuing on back toward her room.

Anna sighed and rolled her eyes. "Have it your way," she muttered.

Johan looked at her curiously, but didn't say anything. Anna simply shrugged and then walked toward the closest bookshelf.

"Let's see. Shelley.. Shelley... Ah! Shelley! Here it is!" She pulled a relatively new-looking book off the shelf and sat down on the couch.

"Shelley?" Johan asked. "Percy Shelley?"

Anna shook her head. "His wife, Mary."

"Oh, that's right. I forgot his wife was a writer too. I've never read any of her work."

"This book is about a scientist who creates a monster by putting together human body parts and bringing it to life with electricity."

Johan raised his eyebrows. "Galvanism? Sounds... morbid."

"Isn't it great?" Anna said excitedly, a wicked grin on her face.

Johan smiled and sat down next to her. "Alright, then. Introduce me to this... monster."

.:.^*^.:.

"That was close!" Elsa said to herself, as she closed her bedroom door behind her. Anna typically didn't spend a lot of time in the library, so Elsa wasn't prepared to encounter her there. She should've known having Johan in the castle would make Anna's movements less predictable.

She placed her new books at the foot of her bed and fell back onto the mattress. She closed her eyes and folded her hands over her forehead, her thumbs on her temples. She could feel a headache coming on, and she let her hands rest over her eyes while she waited for it to pass.

If her mind weren't so crowded with thoughts, she might have fallen asleep. As it was, she managed to quiet as many of those thoughts as she could, with just a few lingering behind.

God, it killed her to brush off Anna like that. She didn't think about it too much anymore; if she always let it bother her, she'd have gone mad by now. But seeing the look on Johan's face reminded her why this was all happening in the first place.

"It's my fault," she whispered to herself.

She felt a single tear slip down her cheek, and the room got a tiny bit colder, but no ice escaped from her. She brushed off the tear and sighed, opening her eyes. Turning her head to the side, she looked at the books she had brought back and picked one up. She held it above her so she could read the title in the light.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

by Victor Hugo

"Interesting title,"she thought out loud. The book looked brand new. The publication date was only four years ago. All she knew about Notre Dame was that it was a cathedral in Paris.

The faint traces of a smile graced her lips. "I've always wanted to go to Paris."

Good luck with that.

Her smile quickly turned into a scowl as she sat up and looked at her mirror across the room. In the reflection, she saw herself sitting on the edge of the bed with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

"Haven't heard from you in a while," she deadpanned. It was true. Over the last few years she had further learned to suppress her emotions, and she rarely caught herself talking to herself anymore. Instead, her emotions now tended to find their way out through frequent panic attacks, which was... not better.

"Are you here to tell me I'm crazy for letting Johan in?" she asked.

Nah, reflection Elsa replied. It's more fun to watch you dig yourself into a hole.

"I'm glad I could keep you entertained!"

Is that your real goal? To entertain yourself? See how long you can go without getting caught?

"No! I just... missed him."

And you miss your sister too. But with him, if something goes wrong, you can get rid of him.

Elsa stared at herself, appalled. "How dare you! You make it sound like I'm using him!"

Are you?

"No!" she replied with conviction.

But you are leading him on.

Elsa paused. She looked away and curled her fingers through her braid. "Am I?" she whispered.

Can you think of any way this could end well?

Elsa sighed. "No."

Her reflection stared her down, emotionless. So why are you doing it?

Elsa stared at the floor as she pondered her question. Things had gotten so much worse since the last time she saw him. But when she found out he would be returning... something inside her changed. She wasn't sure if it was just the idea of having something to look forward to, as opposed to the day to day monotony of living in the castle, but she felt... different. For the first time in forever, she felt...alive.

She traced her fingers down her left arm, her sleeves and gloves hiding her skin from her view. She wrapped her hand around her wrist and curled her left hand into a fist. She could feel the movement of every single muscle.

"My whole life, I've spent every day just trying to survive," she said. "Just this once, I want to know what it's like to live."

Review please!

Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63