Something had clearly been bothering Anna, something that had been going on for a few days, and it took lots of nudging and coaxing from Kristoff for the freckled princess to finally admit it.
Between the strong arms of the blond, she finally let it out. "I am worried about Elsa."
The man smiled softly. "When are you not worried about your sister?"
"This is serious, Kristoff." Anna scolded a little, but never left his embrace. "She seems more... Deeper into herself than she usually is. She spends a lot of time training her powers with Astro, and she tells me it's because she wants to control them better, but I can tell that isn't the whole truth." She then sighed, and buried her face on his chest, seeking for comfort.
As he thought, Kristoff watched how Olaf and Sven were playing with Samantha. It was fun to recall Astro's reaction upon being told that her goddaughter could spontaneously combust, and how she had warned them that geese had an awful temper and Samantha was probably the most adorable public danger there was. Yes, the warrior loved that goose, after all, but nobody loved her more than Olaf himself.
Looking back at Anna, he caressed her beautiful, silky hair, the dim afternoon sunlight casting copper reflections onto it.
"Elsa still has a bad tendency to keep things to herself... She still thinks she has to protect you from the world."
"Well I am stronger now." Anna protested. "And more mature. Why can't she see that?"
"I don't think that's why." Kristoff said. "Bulda once told me that it's hard for people to change. Like, she trusts you, and loves you line crazy, but she's too used to isolating herself to fight her instincts to do so. Maybe she doesn't even realize unless she's told."
"But... I'm afraid of pressuring her." Anna admitted, voice muffled as she had buried her face on him once again. "I don't want her to get mad at me, or to panic..."
"Something in her has to click." Sighed the blond. "If she's spending so long with Astro, maybe she could coax her into telling you. How about you talk to her first?"
"To Astro?" Anna had never been alone with the warrior. She knew how kind the ravenette was, but she didn't know how intimidated she would feel if left alone with her, and maybe she would become awkward and say something stupid, and then confuse Astro and make things weird, and...
"You're overthinking again, right?" He kissed her forehead, helping her snap out of it. "You will do great, I am sure of it. And if she's mean to you, I will teach her a lesson." He flexed his biceps, making Anna giggle. They both knew fighting Astro wouldn't be that easy, and that it wouldn't be necessary, but it surely made the princess feel better.
"Okay." Anna said with an insecure but genuine smile. "I will try."
"That's my girl!" Kristoff held her waist and picked her up, spinning around with her a bit before hugging her close again. They were both laughing happily.
Unaware of the letter exchange that was going on between kingdoms.
.
A light, gentle knock, pulled Astro out of her thoughts. She had been staring at the night sky, as everyone had retreated to their chambers to sleep, but her room was still too big for what she was used to, and she wasn't sleepy just yet.
She walked over, pulling the door open, only to find Anna at the other side.
"Princess... Is everything okay?" Asked the warrior, stepping aside for the ginger to walk in.
Anna noted how Astro's room was still quite... Minimalistic. Her doll was on the bed, her herbs storaged in some drawer, her comb on the vanity, and her clothes within the chest. At least she had finally allowed them to provide them with some, for as long as it was on her own terms: mostly black, soft fabric, comfortable enough to wear in battle. Dresses, corsets, heels... She found all those tortuous and restrictive, and most of all, ridiculous.
"Sorry to bother you at this time of the day- I mean, night." Said the princess sheepishly, walking in.
"It is no bother." The ravenette spoke gently, yet she seemed both curious and concerned about what could have been bothering Anna enough to go out of her way to come find her.
The ginger sighed, walking over to the older woman. "It's about my sister..." She admitted. "I... Am worried about her, and since you two are spending some time together, I figured, well, that you could help."
Astro moved aside to let the freckled woman sit by her side. They both kept a small, insecure distance from each other, each for their own reasons.
"What worries you?" She then asked.
As the princess sat, she fidgetted, eyes glued to her own hands, dainty and delicate like her sister's, but much less pale. "I have the feeling she is hiding something from me." She explained. "She tends to do that, to protect me, but she doesn't realize how much it hurts me. How can I help if I don't know what's going on?"
The scarred woman listened carefully, a hand to her chin as she processed those words.
"There's a reason why you two are training, right? Aside of her wanting to control her magic better, there's something else, right?"
Astro looked over to Anna. She had been asked to not tell her, but at the same time, lying went against her principles... And the princess deserved to know.
If war was to come, it would shock her if she hadn't mentally prepared first. Astro had learned how stubborn and feisty Anna was, despites being unsuited for battle and generally innocent. Given the stories she had learned about the royal family, Anna had a strength of mind and heart beyond comparison, and also a colossal determination.
"If I told you it's nothing, you wouldn't believe me." Said the warrior. "And I won't lie to you, but, it is not my place to tell you. It has to come from her."
"I guessed so..." The shorter woman sighed again, and it was heavier this time. "...but how can I make her understand that she doesn't have to push me away...?"
The sound of the tears falling onto Anna's clasped hands made Astro turn to face her, something tightening within her.
"We are together, but... I still want to help her... I hate seeing her suffer and not letting me do anything about it..."
That trembly voice made the knot under the tanned woman's sternum tighten further. She wasn't used to this situation, but there was something she knew, and her instincts told her that saying it was the right thing to do.
"You already help her." Astro said. "No matter how far away you two are, you are her world. I can see it in everything she does."
This time, it was Anna's turn to stare at the other woman, teary eyes wide open.
"I will see what I can do." Added the warrior. "I will try to coax her into opening up to you."
Hesitantly, but almost instinctively, the freckled woman hugged the other, and was internally surprised about how warm and pleasant the taller one felt. She detected a scent related to dire, but not a nasty one... It could remind of incense, candles... Maybe even barbecue.
"Thank you."
Astro's body was rigid, clearly not having expected this development. She wasn't used to this... But she didn't reject it. Anna needed that comfort, and she would try and provide it despites her inexperience, and whatever her pride was.
Slowly, her strong arms wrapped around the smaller body.
"It's going to be okay." She promised, trying to convince them both of it.
No, it definitely was going to be okay.
She would make it sure.
.
It had been another morning of intense training. Both women panted, facing each other. Today was cloudy, which would probably bring forth the first Autumn rain at some point.
Regardless of that, nature wasn't quiet, for the birds continued to chirp happily, and neither was Astro's head, for the conversation that had happened with Anna last night still played vividly inside her.
She would have to choose the right words.
"Your grace, we can rest now." Said the ravenette, and she was happy that the queen nodded.
They both sat on a rock that had been slightly warmed by what little sun that had been there before the clouds had covered it.
"Elsa..." Said the warrior, successfully getting the monarch's attention. "...I think you should tell Anna."
The platinum blonde looked away.
"It will never be a good moment to tell her, I know... But if war does come, she will at least need time go mentally prepare herself."
The paler woman breathed in. "I don't want her days to be plagued by worry like ours are." She whispered.
"They already are." Astro's answer made blue eyes widen and stare right back into the taller woman's. "Anna... She is much more perceptive than people think. She has known all along that something was in your head. She reads you like an open book, and she is worried sick... About you. You are her world, Elsa."
"How do you...?"
"She came to me, yesterday. She desperately asked me what was bothering you so much." Astro never looked away from the queen's eyes. She was dead serious. "But it was not my place to tell her. I know you want to protect her, but you can't protect her from life, and if life brings a battle, she will have to be ready."
"Anna won't be fighting-"
"Of course not. She will be safe in the castle, helping the commoners take refuge within... But she has to be ready for that." The warrior looked up at the cloudy sky. "If reality comes to her without warning, she will be even more devastated. She is not a child anymore. You don't have to treat her like one."
Astro's words were as crude as they were true. Elsa finally released the breath she had been holding, coming out in a shaky exhale. "...I am not ready..."
Not ready to tell her about disaster, not ready to stop protecting her from the world... But she hadn't been there when they were both growing up. She hadn't lived that. She wasn't ready for Anna not to be the child she once knew. Turns out, time keeps ticking, whether you are there or not, and that hard truth was the most painful to Elsa.
"You will never be..." Said the ravenette. "You might be the queen, but above all, you are a human being, with human feelings." Then, she placed a warm hand on the paler woman's shoulder. "But if there's something you and Anna have in common it's your stubbornness... And your bravery. Sometimes, the stuff we aren't ready for leads to better changes. Like how people know about your powers now. Like how I came to you."
As the latter's words sank in, both women stayed in silence.
A raindrop landed on the tip of Astro's nose, making her look up: that had been a minor warning right before the storm threw itself upon them.
As they ran into the castle, soaked to the bone, they hoped this wasn't a preview of how the war was going to go.
.
It had rained non-stop all day, and Anna was bored as hell. She laid on top pf the covers of her bed in a very ungraceful position, facing the ceiling.
Eventually she made an O shape with her lips, and gently hit them with her open hand, making a popping noise.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
She had become quite the unconventional clock. It reminded her of the clock she would keep staring at when she was a child.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
Knock knock!
She was startled into sitting as she heard a knock on her door.
"Who- who is it? I totally wasn't making that popping noise, I mean, what popping noise? I didn't hear any-"
"Anna, it's me... May I come in?"
It was Elsa.
Both embarrassed and relieved, the ginger went to open the door for her older sister, who smiled and gently moved aside a stray strand of copper hair away from her freckled face. They stared fondly at each other.
As they moved to sit on the edge of Anna's bed, Elsa sighed. "Anna, I owe you an apology."
"Huh?" The princess had not expected that, at all.
"Yes, I've been hiding something from you again... And I'm sorry." Blue eyes looked up at the ceiling. "Astro helped me see that I shouldn't be doing that."
"Elsa..." Anna gently took her sister's hand, selfless as usual as she entwined their fingers, the gesture full of sisterly affection.
"You are not a child anymore, but the princess of Arendelle... And I should treat you as such... But above all you are my sister and all I wanted was to protect you... But I guess I can't protect you from the world forever."
So many questions were blooming within the younger woman's head. She opened her mouth, but as many as there were, none came out.
Then, the queen drew in a shaky breath, gathering her courage, and hesitantly explained everything... The Duke of Weselton's letter, the ones she had sent to their allies, the training with Astro. Anna's teal eyes could only widen more and more as all those words sank in.
By the time Elsa was done talking, Anna was wordless: out of everything she had imagined her sister would tell her, this was not included in the list, and was, by far, more terrifying than anything she could have predicted.
"But... Why...?" The princess's voice was uncharacteristically soft, barely audible. "Arendelle has always been peaceful... Why would the Duke do such a thing...?"
The platinum blonde once again sighed. "Maybe it's human nature... I don't know." But she had to say more, provide some reassurance. She was her older sister, damnit, and also the queen. "But Arendelle will stand tall and strong, and so will we." She promised.
No more words came out. Instead, Anna hugged the queen close, who soon returned the gesture. Had she done the right thing? Hopefully. Probably. Maybe.
The storm outside, thundering, showering, wind wild and aggressive, resambled the barrage of thoughts inside the ginger's head, but one single thought peeked out, like the sun between the clouds:
'Thank you, Astro.'