Agdar Arendelle was the CEO of Arendelle Corp., a conglomerate of companies in charge of researching and developing technology to better the world. Arendelle Corp. spread its influence through industries from energy to transportation, from medicine to robotics, from construction and engineering to entertainment and arts. Agdar Arendelle was a smart man with a sharp eye for business feared by his competition and idolized by his employees. He was an incredibly successful man. He was an icon, a name to be reckoned with. A great man, really.
As for the parental department, there were a few things he lacked. Presence being one of them.
That being the case, the Arendelle sisters could be found sitting in the back seat of one of their father's cars, heading home for winter break sans their father. The family driver had picked them up from the Academy since Agdar was, as usual, too busy with work.
"You're friends with that Jack Frost guy, aren't you?" Anna, Elsa's thirteen-year-old little sister asked, half of her attention focused on the text she quickly typed on her phone.
"I wouldn't go as far as saying that we're friends," Elsa replied, eyes not moving from her book. "Classmates? Yes. Acquaintances? Sure. Friends? Not so much. Why?"
"Nothing, it's just that my friends have been talking about him since that big snowball fight and it just clicked that he's the same age as you." Anna curled a lock of her strawberry blonde hair with her finger as she talked.
"Please, don't tell me you were part of that..."
"I wish," Anna commented absentmindedly, her eyes still on the light-emitting small screen in her hands. She then felt her sister's eyes digging holes through her skull and realized what she'd just said. "I-I mean… I had choir practice that day, so I wasn't anywhere close to the battlefield, I swear. Rapunzel can testify to it if you want. I don't even like fights. I hate fights. Why would I join a snowball battle? I'm a pacifist. Make love, not war—"
"Relax, Anna," Elsa cut the younger sister's rambling with a soft voice. "I believe in you, and if you say you weren't involved in that idiot's hare-brained schemes, then you were not involved." Elsa's eyes returned to her book. "There are limits to what you can and cannot do, and Jack Frost has checked all the 'can't do's off the list."
"He's really popular because of the crazy things he does."
Elsa sighed. "And I have headaches every single day because of that."
Anna couldn't help but laugh a little. "Looks like you don't get along with him very well, do you?"
"Why, what could possibly give you that idea, sister of mine?" Elsa asked, faking confusion. "What is there not to like about Jack Frost? You know, except for his cockiness, his zero sense of responsibilities, his immature behavior, his absurdly dangerous concept of fun, his natural talent for getting in trouble and basically his personality in general?" All sarcasm in the world wouldn't rival the contempt Elsa put into her words.
"Easy there, tiger," Anna said with a chuckle. She rarely saw Elsa losing composure, and she had to give that Jack Frost some credit for riling her sister up to that extent. The guy had talent. "I never thought I'd see you talking about someone that way."
"Just stay away from him." Elsa sighed and rested her head on the back of her seat. "He's an awful guy and you have nothing to gain in connecting with him."
"Yes, ma'am," Anna said, smiling. The truth was that the itch was there, and she couldn't help herself but wonder about encountering that person. But she figured her sister wouldn't appreciate that very much, so Anna kept her thoughts to herself, occupying her mind by watching the world through her window instead.
Outside, the surroundings changed quickly, buildings and people being left behind as the car advanced at high speed.
"Family, I'm home!" Jack shouted as he opened the door of his home, sweet home for the first time in months.
He heard a childish squeal coming from the kitchen, and then light quick steps rushing in his direction. He dropped his bag down on the floor just in time to catch the pipsqueak who had jumped at him.
"Jack!" The girl giggled, hugging Jack by his neck with such a tight grip that it would probably hurt, had Jack not been thrilled to see her again.
"Hey, Cassie." He pecked a kiss on his little sister's cheek and slowly let Cassie down so he could take a good look at her. Her light brown hair was now over-shoulder length, and she'd gone through a growth spurt since the last time he'd seen her. His nine-year-old, adorable sister looked at him with her bright, brown eyes and big, genuine smile.
Man, how he missed her.
"Jack, you're not gonna believe! My tooth came out and then, the Fairy Tooth came and she gave me a dollar and I think I saw her, but Mom says it was all a dream, but she was so pretty, Jack—"
"Slow down, honey," their mother said with a sweet, motherly smile. "You'll have plenty of time to tell your brother everything, but for now, what about I heat up something for you to eat? I'm sure you're hungry, my son."
Jack walked to his mother with Cassie attached to his waist. "Hey, mom." He hugged her, receiving a kiss on the side of his head. "I could definitely use some of your delicious food right now."
"Look at me, don't I look thinner to you? I'm totally losing weight locked up in that prison you so call a school."
"Please, Jack." His mother rolled her eyes at his antics. "You sound like they're not feeding you at the Academy."
"Exactly my point!" Jack exclaimed. "How can you call yourself a mother when you leave your favorite son to starvation?"
"My, how could I? My favorite and only son, suffering from a chronic case of hunger!" she cried dramatically, inciting the little girl's laugh.
His mother laughed as well, and Jack had a hard time keeping a straight face.
"Take your bag upstairs, and you can eat all you want," his mother's voice was back to her usual tone. "Why don't you go help him, Cassie? Keep an eye on your brother to make sure he doesn't break anything."
She pinched the edge of Cassie's nose, and the girl giggled, running to her brother, jumping around him, and yelling for a piggyback ride. Jack, unable to deny the midget anything, threw her over his shoulder, and brother and sister left, laughing loudly, filling the house with sounds of glee and happiness.
"Welcome home, Miss Elsa, Miss Anna," a middle-aged, balding butler happily greeted the two young ladies when the driver opened the car's door to them. The butler was only one amongst the entire personnel that worked in the mansion's housework daily.
"Hi, Kai!" Anna cheerfully jumped into the arms of the man who more often than not had acted as the sisters' father figure throughout their childhoods.
"You two must be tired." Kai hugged Anna back with a gentle smile on his face. "I'll ask the cook to prepare your meal right away."
"Thank you, Kai." Elsa also hugged the man, her gestures more contained in comparison to her sister's. "What about Father?"
Elsa's voice quivered, and although Anna tried to hide it, the younger girl's eyes shone with some relentless expectation as they waited for the butler's answer.
"I'm sorry, Miss Elsa, but your father is away on a short business trip," Kai informed with true apprehension in his words.
"Of course he is…" Anna's whisper was almost inaudible.
Kai felt his heart being pierced by thousands of needles as he saw the sisters' expressions morph into melancholic disappointment. They tried to hide it, but he knew them well enough to see through their rehearsed composure. Of course, he knew when they were sad. Those were his girls, for crying out loud!
Those were the little girls who he heard crying together in Elsa's room the night after Mrs. Iduna's funeral; the girls he had taught how to ride a bike and to play chess; the girls he told bedtime stories and sang lullabies to... His daughters in everything but blood. And as grown as they appeared to be now, they still were, and would always be, his little girls. And his little girls still longed for their father's love—their real father.
"He is supposed to be back in a few days for the Company's Christmas party. Should I notify him of your attendance at the party this year as well?" he added, trying to sound positive.
"I mean, that's the only way we'll be able to meet Dad, right?" Anna mumbled through her teeth.
"Well, we understand. Father is a busy man." Elsa placed a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. "There's nothing we can do about it."
"Yeah," Anna agreed, trying to sound like her perky, usual herself. "It's not like he doesn't do that every year."
Their father had always been a busy man, but his absence only grew after their mother's passing. Dedicating himself to his 'kingdom', more often than not, the girls were left to the care of the house staff. Surely, the good lives they had now was provided by their father's businesses, and the girls tried to reassure themselves that Agdar was trying to do what was best for their family, but sometimes, feelings were stronger than reason.
"Cheer up, Anna. We get to see him in a couple of days. We'll just have to make each other company until he comes back."
Kai sighed sadly. "Oh, I am so sorry, my dears."
"Why are you apologizing, Kai? There's nothing you should be apologizing for." Anna cupped both his cheeks with her hands. "Let's get inside, it's cold out here." She linked her arms with his and pulled him to the front door.
"If there is anything I could do to make you girls feel better…"
"Well, I'm sure we can think of something, right, Anna?" Elsa had a smirk on the corners of her lips. "How about we start with your special hot chocolate?"
"Oh, and then, your cinnamon rolls…" Anna suggested, her mouth already starting to salivate. "And apple tarts…"
Anna's list of favorite foods just went on and on, and Kai laughed. His precious girls sure knew how to make him feel better.
"And then, we called everyone to this huge snowball battle, and it was awesome!" Jack told his wide-eyed sister, making huge movements with his hands. "And of course, your awesome brother beat all the other teams." He finished with an 'I could do it blindfolded' shrug.
"Wow, that's so cool," Cassie said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "But you know, your skin can get seriously damaged because of intense cold and then when the tissue is totally frozen, your fingers and toes need to be amputated. So you better have warmed up well after the battle."
"What?" Jack laughed at his sister's know-it-all attitude and bit another forkful of pasta. With half-chewed food spilling from his mouth, he added, "Where did you learn that?"
"In a book mom borrowed from the library… There were these photos of frostbites—that's what they're called— and of people with their hands and feet swelled like balloons and covered in blisters, and they get these weird colors like they're rotting, which is kinda what's happening because the skin tissue is dying, and then—"
"Cassie! Shut up! I'm eating here," he reminded her with a scowl. "And Mom, what are you letting her read, you disturbed mother?"
"Don't look at me." The woman shrugged. "What am I supposed to do if she finds that kind of reading interesting?"
"I also read a book saying that scientists found evidence of the Big Foot…" Cassie commented excitedly.
"Okay, I don't wanna hear any disgusting fact about the Big Foot, or about any other thing while I still have food on my plate." Jack glared down at his sister, and she stared back at him too sweetly, as if having fun with his reactions.
"Come to think," their mother said, interrupting their staring game. "It surprises me that we didn't hear about your almost anarchic commotion earlier. Usually, we get a call from the school whenever you get in trouble."
"Precisely, Mother," the son said matter-of-factly. "That's because I didn't do anything wrong. I had Hiccup checking the rules book twice before we went on with our plan." Jack laughed loudly. "Oh, you should have seen Little Miss Perfect's face. That was priceless."
"My, why can't you use your energy on productive things, like studying, for instance?"
"Because I believe society overvalues academic knowledge too much." He rolled his eyes, putting more food in his mouth. "I believe creativity can take me way higher instead."
"Do you now?" His mother chuckled. "Can you take care of Cassie while I go to the grocery store? I don't think we have enough food to feed you for two entire weeks."
"No problem. The little monkey and I can entertain ourselves for a while, can't we?" Jack nudged his giggling sister with the side of his body.
"And Cass, be a good girl and look out not to end up like your brother." Their mother kissed her on the top of the head. "You could learn something from her, Jack."
Jack just narrowed his eyes as Cassie laughed. "Yeah, yeah." He waved his mom away. "I'll take that into consideration. Now go away, you're interrupting my meal."
The woman shook her head at his son's manners but held a smile on her lips. She left the two siblings to their antics, not before shouting from over her shoulder, "Be good, children!"
"We will!" the pair sang in unison back.
a/n: I picked Cassie's name before Big Hero 6 existed... I probably would've picked a different name today.