Chapter 3

For a moment, everyone just stood there stunned. They had just witnessed the ever elegant queen of Arendelle suddenly turn into a giddy child before their very eyes. Who was this strange man? Why was he here? Why was he now hugging the queen? But one question burned in Anna's mind.

"You know him, Elsa?" she asked.

But before Elsa could reply, Victor piped, "Wait! That means you must be Little Annie!"

"PRINCESS ANNA!" Anna growled. But her response only got Victor and Elsa laughing.

"You never did like being called Annie," Elsa smiled, "even when we were little."

Kristoff could see Anna was getting upset, mainly from the steam starting to rise from beneath her shoes, and quickly stepped up.

"Um…Forgive my intrusion Elsa, but maybe you should bring us all up to speed here, before your sister melts a hole in the ice."

Elsa looked over to Anna, whose frustration was very clear.

"Oh Anna, I'm sorry." She started. "I forgot. You were only 3 last time Vikee…..I mean, Prince Victor was in Arendelle."

From everyone present, the same response rose. "PRINCE VICTOR?!"

Victor commented, "Its ok. Most people don't believe it either."

Elsa continued. "Back when we were very young, Zalaria and Arendelle were very close trade partners. Our parents would often arrange trade meetings, either here or in Zalaria, and they would take us along. Our fathers would conduct their talks while we spent the time playing together."

"That is," Victor interjected, "until your father locked up Arendelle."

"Clearly we have a lot of catching up to do." Elsa replied. "Perhaps we should take this conversation inside."

Victor smiled. "Sounds good to me. Could I trouble you for someplace to clean up first?"

"Of course" Elsa replied.

"Um...Elsa. We can't just leave this….thing out here." Anna commented, pointing to Victor's flyer.

Elsa looked at the machine. "Is that yours, Victor?" He nodded in response.

"Captain!" Elsa called. "Have Prince Victors device brought to the royal engineers shop." She turned to Victor. "You should be able to find everything you need to repair your….well, whatever you call it."

"Thanks your Majesty." He replied, holding out his arm. Elsa took his offer. As they left for the palace, Elsa told him, "And please. Just call me Elsa."

The royal guards made short work of carting off Victors flyer, and it wasn't long before Anna and Kristoff were the only ones left on the ice.

Kristoff turned to Anna and asked, "What just happened here?" But Anna could only shrug in response.

Several hours passed as Elsa and Victor rekindled their friendship from long ago. Victor regaled her with stories of Zalaria, of his life growing up and his many inventions. Elsa in turn told him of her life growing up in Arendelle, her coronation, the discovery of Anna's powers and Kristoff and Anna's upcoming wedding. Time slipped by quickly, but neither one noticed.

"You actually blew the roof off your shop?!" Elsa stated, trying not to laugh.

"Yep!" Victor replied proudly. "It landed in the farmer's field 150 feet away!"

Elsa couldn't hold back, the image of a roof flying off a building made her bust out laughing. Victor laughed as well, then continued.

"But every failure is a clue to the next success. That explosion showed me just how powerful whale oil is. Which led to my creating the engine that powers the Wooden Dragon."

Elsa calmed down enough to ask, "But isn't such an explosion dangerous?"

"The greater the risk, the greater the reward." He replied. "And let's be honest. You know all too well the benefits of harnessing an incredible power."

Elsa stopped laughing. "Yes. You do have a good point there."

"Let's not forget the cost of such a power getting out of control." Anna stated coldly as she entered the parlor.

"Anna!" Elsa exclaimed. "Where have you been?"

"Waiting for you at the Peirside Café." She replied. "Remember?"

Elsa's smile suddenly vanished as she put her hands to her mouth. "Oh My! Anna, I am so sorry! I completely forgot about our dinner plans. We've been catching up on old times and I completely lost track of time."

Anna just glared in response.

Then Victor broke the silence. "Um... Maybe I should go check on my flyer. No telling what damage those guards did bringing it up."

"Of course, Vic." Elsa replied. "I'll have an attendant show you to the engineers shop."

"Thanks Elsa." Victor replied. "I'll catch up with you later." At that, he stood and headed towards the door. As he neared Anna he paused a moment, but the look on her face compelled him to keep moving. He instead gave a friendly nod as he passed. After Victor was out of sight, Anna walked to the table and sat beside her sister.

"Ok Anna." Elsa started. "I know you're upset that I missed our dinner date…'

"It's not just that, Elsa" Anna replied harshly.

Elsa was taken aback by her sister's reaction. "Then what is the problem?"

Anna calmed herself, then continued. "I don't like Victor. There's something about him that just makes me want to flame up. He's so cocky and arrogant."

"I will admit he is very different from any prince we've known before..." Elsa commented.

"Then there's how you are with him."

"Hold it!" Elsa snapped. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Oh Come On! You completely lost your cool in front of the guards when you saw him. You're the Queen of Arendelle. The Queen can't be seen acting like a schoolgirl!"

Anna had a good point. Such a display would undermine her authority. Elsa lowered her head.

"You're right Anna."

Elsa's comment calmed her sister, who replied, "I'm sorry for snapping at you. But as your sister it's my job to look after you."

"And tell me when I'm making a fool of myself?" Elsa quipped.

Anna smiled. "It's not like I have to do it often."

"Thanks for caring, Anna." Elsa said, "I'll be more careful. But can I make a suggestion to you?"

Anna nodded.

"I know you don't remember Victor, "Elsa stated, "But perhaps before you judge him, you should take a little time to get to know him. Sure he's a bit brash, but then so were the Dragon Riders. And look how good friends they turned out to be."

Anna reeled a moment from her sisters powerful hit of logic, then replied, "I think I'll do that.", and politely left.

Anna made her way down to the engineers shop. It was a rather long walk, being on the far west wing of the castle. But it gave Anna time to calm herself enough to meet, or rather re-meet, Prince Victor. As she walked, she searched her memories for anything that he was involved with. But those memories didn't seem to exist. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to judge him. After all, she wasn't too fond of Kristoff in the beginning either. But now she was to become his wife, so maybe Elsa was right. Maybe she had been too quick to judge Victor. Well, she would find out, as the doors to the engineers shop came into view.

"Princess Anna!" an engineer chimed as Anna entered the shop. "Such a rare and pleasant honor to see you here, your highness!"

"Thank you." Anna replied. "Is Prince Victor here?"

"Ah, Yes!" he answered. "He's right over here."

The engineer led Anna into the main shop, where Victor's Wooden Dragon was the center of attention, despite being badly broken. Victor was sharing his design techniques with Arendelles engineers, all of whom were glued to his every word. But when Anna's presence was announced they returned to their work, leaving Anna and Victor alone.

"Princess Anna!" Victor commented. "I'm a bit surprised to see you here."

Anna shied slightly. "Um... well, Elsa thought I was a bit harsh with you earlier. I just wanted to apologize."

Victor smiled. "Don't sweat it, your highness. I know I can be a bit quick to speak at times. And I should have remembered how much you hated to be called 'Little Annie'. But that was a long time ago."

"Yes it was." Anna replied. "And I'm afraid I don't remember you at all."

"Well then," Victor piped, "Let's see if this helps jog your memory."

He reached into the flyer and pulled out a small knife. He then picked up a small piece of wood and began carving. Anna watched as Victor quickly turned the block of wood into a toy sailboat. As he handed it to Anna he asked, "Ring any bells?"

Anna looked at the small boat, and in her mind she was transported back in time. She was on a dock with her sister and a boy. The boy was giving her a toy sailboat with her name carved on it. Then she lay on her stomach and placed the boat in the water. Her sister and the boy did the same with their own boats. Then on the count of 3, all 3 blew on the sails. The 3 little boats sailed away, catching a light breeze. They watched the little boats sail off into the fjord, then the boy said, "There you are, Anna. Now your name will go around the world." She looked up at the boy and replied, "Thanks, Vikee!"

Anna snapped back to the present. "I remember this." She said, "You would make these for me whenever you came to visit."

Victor smiled. "Yep. The moment we arrived in Arendelle you'd ask me to make a new one."

"Now I remember!" Anna squealed. "We would all play together when our parents had their meetings! The trip to Zalaria took forever. But you always had some new wooden toy for me when we arrived."

"I think that was the only reason you came to Zalaria." Victor quipped.

"That's not true!" Anna snapped. "I loved Zalaria! Especially raiding the kitchen."

Victor laughed out loud. "YES! I remember that. Chef would get so mad when he'd find the ice room door wide open because you had snuck in there to..."

"STEAL THE CHOCOLATE!" they hollered in unison, followed by uncontrollable laughter.

For the next few hours Anna and Victor relived as much as Anna could remember, with Victor filling in the gaps. With each story, Anna remembered more of her childhood. She soon realized that Victor was just as much a part of her past as he was Elsa's. And just how unfairly she had judged him. True he didn't behave like a prince. But then again, she only ever met one other prince in her life. And he turned out to be a poor example. In many ways, Victor reminded her of the people of Berk. Bold and brash, yet surprisingly likeable in time. Time that flew by quickly, which Kristoff pointed out as he entered.

"Ah. There you are, Anna!"

Startled by Kristoffs call, Anna replied. "Oh! Hi love! We were just talking about old times."

"I see." He replied, clearly annoyed. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"

Anna looked out a window. "OH MY! The streetlamps are lit. Have we been talking that long?

"Well, there was a lot to catch up on." Victor commented to Kristoff. "Sorry for keeping your fiancé away so long."

"It's ok, Vic." Anna interjected, taking Kristoffs arm. "It was just as much my fault as yours. Perhaps we can talk some more tomorrow? I'd really like to know how your flyer works."

Victor smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Till tomorrow then." Anna smiled back, then turned to Kristoff.

"Let's go to my room, "She smiled slyly. "and I'll make up for my tardiness."