Summary: This shot's a little different. It takes place after "Making Today A Perfect Day", a Frozen short. The "cold" Elsa has during the song turns out to be much more than a cold... and much worse.
"This cake is amazing." Anna sighed as she took a bite. All Anna's favorites were combined in one fantastic birthday dream: perfectly baked chocolate cake layered with creamy vanilla ice cream, buttercream blue frosting, marshmallow and fondant sunflowers, and candied sprinkles and decorations.
All around the courtyard, the afterglow of her lavish celebration thrown in honor of her nineteenth birthday party lingered. The last of the guests were starting to depart, and the castle servants were clearing away the used utensils, tables and decorations.
"Enjoying the cake, Anna?" Her boyfriend Kristoff asked, sliding up next to her. "Elsa worked on it for weeks!"
"It's amazing!" Anna said with a mouth full. "Everything tastes so amazing. This day has been just perfect." She stopped eating to examine the courtyard. Anna had gotten enough gifts to fill a room with, an amazing cake, and an beautifully decorated courtyard, and best of all- an amazing sister who had somehow planned this all out. She was even wearing a beautiful summer dress Elsa had designed for her- navy blue bodice with olive, crimson, green, and orange decorations with copper lining, a light chartreuse sleeved blouse, an apple green sleeveless cropped gilet with teal, dark green, crown, orange and chartreuse rosemaling, a full turquoise skirt, olive stockings and petticoats, smooth and fitting black ballet flats, and the sparkly jeweled friendship bracelet Elsa had given to her as the first gift. Her strawbErry blonde hair had been done up in a fancy braided updo with three ribbons hanging from the braid- yellow, green and teal silk ribbons
"How's Elsa?" She asked Kristoff. Anna had brought the sneezing Queen to bed before returning to the party after Elsa's urging.
"Haven't heard from her since." Kristoff glanced at his watch. "Well, it's about seven o'clock, and if you want to do that moonlight boat trip with me I'd say we start getting ready now."
"Aww!" Anna cooed. "That would be amazing." She reached for Kristoff's shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. "Thank you for everything today. It meant so much."
"No problem!" Kristoff replied cheerfully. "Now time to bring Sven to the stables. Don't want that guy rummaging in the kitchen for carrots again and have someone disturb our romantic moment."
The sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon as the two headed off to the castle, Anna balancing the load of gifts on her arms.
"Are you sure you can carry all that?" Kristoff asked again.
"Yes!" Anna retorted, pretending to be irritated. "I'm strong as you!"
This day had been perfect for Anna. Getting up to seeing her beautiful sister, being made a gorgeous summer gown, taken through the castle and town following the red string collecting gifts of all kinds, and the surprise celebration at the castle's courtyard with all the villagers and friends invited, the decadent cake and food, all the laughter, jokes, games, and comedy, the only thing that marred the day was Elsa getting a cold- what could go wrong on such a day?
Back at the castle, Kristoff took Sven to the stables as Anna unloaded all her gifts in her bedroom- a big sandwich, dollhouse, snow globe, flowers, party hat, and the other gifts onto her desk. Deciding to keep on the summer dress, she went to her huge closet and picked out her cozy spinach green fleeced lined cloak and switched her black flats for a pair of boots. Undoing her hair from the elegant updo, she released it into a long red mane the almost reached her elbows in long curls.
She grabbed a small basket and reached in her mini kitchen Elsa had installed and filled it with as much chocolate, hot chocolate, and sandwiches as it could hold.
Just then, Kristoff poked his head in. "You ready Anna?" It's almost fully dark. We can check on Elsa before leaving."
"Yup, lets goooooooo!" Anna yelled, barreling down the hallway. "Elsaaaaaaaa I'm leaving now!"
She burst inside her sister's bedroom, not bothering to knock. She was surprised to see the castle doctor still hunched over Elsa, peering at the queen with worried eyes.
"W-what's wrong?" Anna asked as soon As she came in.
The doctor looked up. "Well, I checked on Elsa this afternoon and it seemed to be just a fine cold. Then an hour after that, it seemed to be progressing to a fever. Her temperature is rapidly increasing."
"E-Elsa?" Anna dropped the basket of food, not heeding the sandwiches, chocolate, and hot cocoa packs that rolled out onto the floor. She approached her sister. Elsa was lying asleep in her bed, still wearing the same emerald gown as before but this time it was faded and wrinkled. Her face was flushed and her hair messed. An exposed hand was clutching at her bedsheet, frost coating the fabric.
"It seems as if your sister has caught something bad." The doctor continued.
"Well, duh!" Anna suddenly yelled, suddenly grabbing the queen's shoulders and shaking them. "Elsa, wake up!"
"A-Anna..." Elsa mumbled, her eyes opening. "Happy birth..." Her head lolled the the side and she fell asleep.
"No!" Anna yelled, panicking. "She was fine this morning!" She sat down on Elsa's bed and began to cry.
A swift knock on the door and Kristoff entered. "Anna, are you ready to go? You've been in hear for a while, it's getting-"
"I'M NOT GOING!" Anna screamed at him. "ELSA IS SICK!"
Kristoff followed her finger to Elsa. "Oh, oh my..." He mumbled. "Is there anything we can do?"
"I'll try my hardest." The doctor said, determined. "I'll have all the best doctors in the world come assist me. She'll be in good hands."
Kristoff reached for Anna's arm. "Do you still want to go?"
She wheeled on him sharply. "How d'you think I'm supposed to go on a romantic moonlit boat ride when my sister is dead sick?"
All that year, Elsa was sick. Sometimes she had common cold symptoms but other times she raged fevers. Her twenty-second birthday passed unnoticed. No doctors could help. The trolls did no good as usual. She was eventually quarantined and even Anna couldn't visit her.
"She's dying." Anna heard the doctor tell Kristoff one night. "After being shut in a perfectly spotless environment all her life, this sudden exposure to the outdoors is shocking her body. She can't take it all, her body is overwhelmed with all these strange new parasites and bacteria and diseases."
'The time we took her to the village pub," Anna thought. 'It was plenty dirty in there."
"It's rare to see this." The doctor continued. "Most cases, people who have this disease are people who live in nature environments that contains some degree of outdoors that are transferred to crowded conditions and they easily recover. But Queen Elsa's case, she's been in a perfectly sterile, clean, perfect, spotless, bacteria free room all her life and suddenly traveling all over Europe, into the busy streets of Arendelle-"
"Is she dying?" Anna burst in suddenly, interrupting the two men.
They said nothing, but their solemn faces betrayed the truth.
As she and Kristoff picked over dinner that night, salted herring and fried potatoes; something Kristoff was used to eating, he finally brought up the situation. "Are you going to rule Arendelle after Elsa?"
"I don't know." Anna replied dimly. She poked at her herring. "She's trained all her life and I haven't."
"Do you think we'll need assistance from another country? Corona, perhaps?"
"Yeah..." Anna sniffed.
"What are we gonna do Anna, for real?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Anna shouted.
One summer night a year later, Anna was fitfully sleeping when she had a dream. She dreamed Elsa was leaving for a voyage, far far away on a ship. But there was no ship, just a doorway full of golden light.
"I'm never coming back, Anna." Elsa said, holding her sister tight in her arms. The queen's thick blonde hair was once again in a neat yet loose side braid, and she was wearing her ice gown. She looked healthy, strong.
"Why are you leaving if you're perfectly fine?" Anna asked her.
"Because it's time for me." Elsa replied quietly.
"But Elsa, I'll miss you!" Anna whimpered. "You can't just leave!"
The Queen chuckled. "I love you so much Anna. Take care of Kristoff and Arendelle for me. You'll be an amazing ruler." She let go of Anna's shoulders and began to walk away.
"Elsa!" Anna yelled.
"Some people are worth melting for, is that what Olaf said?" Elsa wondered aloud as she walked farther and farther away to the light filled doorway.
Anna was powerless to stop her. We feet refused to move and inch and Elsa dissolved into the light before she could scream.
"I'll always love you my dear Anna..."
"ANNA!" A hand jerked her awake. Anna snapped out of sleep and saw Kristoff towering over her, looking the saddest she'd ever seen the ice harvester.
"She's... Dead?" Anna barely could ask.
"I'm so sorry Anna. She passed away merely seconds ago." Kristoff began to cry and so did Anna. "The doctor had been with her all night."
"She was sick for a whole year now, it would be a relief to her body..." Anna whispered.
"And it's you're twentieth birthday today."
"A year ago she would've been well."
They cried until the sun peaked from the horizon. Anna went to see Elsa's body one last time. Her sister was pale and lifeless.
"I have to go." Anna bolted out and threw up once outside Elsa's door and cried.
Oh boy, was this shot sad. I'm trying to make more sadder shots because most of them have been happy ones. I got this really good suggestion for the next shot from a guest- what if Elsa hit Hans with her powers when he went to the castle?