Author's Note: Sorry it took so long, guys, I've been quite busy. I hope you enjoy this chapter, though, and I am already starting on Chapter 8!
Arendelle, the first moments of Regent Kristoff's Reign
"Um, what does that mean?" Kristoff's eyes were wide with fear.
"Your Majesty, that means that until such time as Queen Elsa or Princess Anna can retake the throne, you are legally acting king and, therefore, have all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities thereof."
"Oh, crud." Kristoff paced the room for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Well, first things first. If they did leave because of that crystal, how could they get back?"
"It depends on if they went forwards or backwards in time, Your Majesty. If they went backwards, there is no way to tell how far back they went in order to attempt to rescue them."
"CRAP!"
"Your Majesty, just one moment, if you would. If, however, they went to the future, there is still hope. We can guard the crystal until such a time as they reappear. When that time comes, then they will hopefully seek out Arendelle, in which circumstance the crystal's guard can give it to them, in order for them to return to our time."
"Okay, this plan I can go for. What do we need to do in order to set that up?"
"Your Majesty, the first thing that you must do is address the people. Tell them what is happening. After that, then we may go over the issue of bringing the royal family back."
Kristoff's shoulders sagged. "An address. Absolutely perfect."
Modern Day, The Airport
Elsa looked up at the frighteningly large building. It towered over her and Anna, and stretched to both sides of them as far as they could see.
"Elsa, everything will be okay. We can get there, and remember, we will always have each other." Anna had felt the temperature begin to drop around them, and Elsa looked like she was going into another nervous breakdown.
Elsa took a deep breath and looked at her sister. The temperature started rising again. "Thank you, Anna. Let's go home." They walked through the doors and into the airport.
"First things first," Elsa said, "we need to find an aircraft going to Arendelle." And how are we supposed to do that? she thought.
They then walked past a large wall with displays like those at that Mars thing they had been on. They showed hundreds of flights going everywhere.
"There," Anna pointed. "Arendelle Airways, Flight…407. Looks like it departs in two hours."
"Good job, Anna. I'll go get us some tickets." She walked off into crowd, looking for the Arendelle Airways counter. After a minute, Anna could no longer see her. She walked a short ways over to a bench and waited.
Elsa walked back to the bench where Anna was sitting. "Well, I don't know how I did it, but we have two first-class tickets to Arendelle." She held up two slips of paper.
"Wow, that was easy. They didn't ask for identification?"
"Nope. I would imagine that that is strange." Elsa just shook her head. "Anyway, we should get going. I don't want to miss our flight. Just keep an eye out for someone following us." They walked off toward an area simply called 'International Security'.
I would imagine that we have to go through here to get to the aircraft, Elsa thought. She made a 'Get over here!' gesture to Anna, who walked over and joined her sister in line. They walked forward with the line until they got to a uniformed security guard with 'Transportation Security Administration' written on his sleeve.
He turned to Elsa, who looked the oldest. "How many in your party?" he asked in a monotone voice. He then yawned.
"Two, my sister and I," Elsa replied. Anna nodded in agreement.
"Boarding passes?"
Elsa tentatively handed him the slips of paper. He looked at them, ripped off the ends, and handed them back. "Have a nice flight," he said with the same voice and a fake smile.
They walked past him and waited in line for a while longer. By the time that they got to the end of the line, they saw a sign that said 'No firearms, knives, or explosives beyond this point. Please, for the ease of your fellow travelers, be prepared to move through the checkpoint by having your shoes and belt off, as well as any metal, such as jewelry or coins. Please place all carry-on items in the tray before moving through the metal detector."
Okay, Elsa thought. Having a sudden thought, she removed one of the wallets from her pocket and discreetly handed it to Anna. "It wouldn't look right if I had two wallets." Anna nodded in understanding.
They reached something called an 'X-Ray' machine. Both of them put their few belongings through the machine, and walked through the arch. Nothing happened. They then retrieved their stuff and walked off.
"Well, what now? We have…" Anna looked at a nearby clock. "…forty-five minutes until we set sail, or get underway, or whatever."
"I want to get there early, however," Elsa stated. "But first, we should get some food." Looking around, the sisters saw lots of food establishments, such as another Starbucks, something called a Panda Express, and a whole bunch of other places that, understandably, neither Elsa nor Anna had seen before.
"Hey, Elsa! Let's go check out that Starbucks place."
Elsa sighed. "Fine." They walked over and, surprisingly, there was no line.
"Hello, welcome to Starbucks. What can I get for you today?" a friendly Starbucks employee asked from behind the counter.
"Oooh, um, I'll take a…um…what's good?"
The employee responded, "You never can beat a regular coffee with extra caffeine when traveling, in my opinion."
"Okay, that sounds good. I'll take one of those."
"Okay. And what is your name?"
In keeping with their earlier ruse, she replied, "Anastasia."
She wrote the name on a cup. "Okay, we'll make that up for you. And what would you like, ma'am?" she asked Elsa.
Elsa had been looking at the menu. "I'll take an Iced Coffee, please."
"Sure thing. And your name?"
"Elizabeth."
It was scribbled on the cup. "Okay. We'll get those right out to you guys down here, sound good?" She pointed to a counter a few feet down.
"Sounds good. Thank you. Also, do you have a pastry or something like that?"
"Yes, we have these," she pointed to a cabinet full of assorted fattening foods.
"We'll take two." Elsa paid for the food and they walked down to the counter.
"Seriously, Elsa, an Iced Coffee?"
"What? The cold doesn't bother me."
Anna blew a strand of hair out of her face with a huff. They then got their drinks and walked out of the shop.
They stopped at a board that showed a map of the airport. Elsa pointed to a point on the map. "Here, gate 12A. We just have to walk down this hallway." They set off, sipping at their drinks and nibbling on the pastries. Less than five minutes after getting her drink, Anna had drained it. She was practically jumping down the hallway.
Suddenly, Elsa stopped in her tracks, looking at a poster on the wall. Written in big letters across the bottom was the name FROZEN. But that was not what had stopped Elsa. The picture of her with a snowflake shooting out of her hand wasn't it, either.
Anna had stopped as well. "Wow, don't they make you look majestic!"
All Elsa could think of was Why is that slime ball Hans on the poster, too? Anna groaned disgustedly beside her as she realized that fact as well. "Come on, let's go," Elsa said as she resumed walking down the hallway.
A few minutes later, they reached their destination.
"Here we are," Anna exclaimed. "Gate 12A!" She jumped up and down, still high on the coffee and pastry.
Elsa decided that upon their return home, coffee would be considered an outlawed substance in Arendelle.
She then looked at the board behind the check-in counter. "Well, it looks like we can hop onboard now. 'First-class, now boarding.'" Anna took 'hop onboard' literally, since she began skipping towards the gangway.
"Whoa, there, miss. May I see your boarding pass?" An older man was standing by a desk, looking pointedly at Anna.
"Oh, yeah, sure, my sister has it, but, you know, she always takes her time going places and, such…yeah!" She continued jumping up and down, the coffee still in her system, until Elsa finally showed up.
The man took the passes from Elsa. "Well, you two sure look like you had a good time at Disney World."
Elsa looked at him suspiciously. "Why would you say that?" she asked hesitantly.
"You two both look like that Queen and Princess from that movie my grandchildren are obsessed with right now."
"I'm sorry, I'm confused. Movie?" What do people do in a movie? Do they just dance and…move-e? Elsa shook her head. I am making no sense. Maybe I have more in common with Anna than I thought.
"Yeah, it's called Frozen, right, Margaret?" He turned to a younger woman beside him.
"Yeah, that's the one. That song, Let It Go, got robbed during the Golden Globes. Can you imagine that they thought another song was better than it?" The woman scoffed, like that was unimaginable. Elsa just suddenly felt lightheaded.
Does everyone know about that song? she asked herself. "Well, we really should find our seats. Have a good day."
"To you as well, Your Majesty." The man made an exaggerated bow.
If only you knew who we really were. But Elsa knew that that was a bad idea at this point. She was still in their captors' territory, and didn't want to be followed home.
She just pulled Anna along with her and made her way to the aircraft.
"Did you see those two? They really looked like those characters, and even, to an extent, acted like those characters. Actually, they looked more like the Queen and Princess than the people Disney has doing the character meet-and-greet!" said the man whom had just taken Elsa and Anna's boarding passes.
"Uh-huh," the woman beside him agreed half-heartedly.
"Who were they?" the man asked himself.
Fifty feet away, Elsa and Anna walked onboard the aircraft, and shook hands with the Captain and First Officer, who were standing by the door. "Gentlemen," Elsa offered in passing, while Anna, noticing that they were both quite handsome, jumped up and down and squeaked, "Hi!"
They walked to their seats, 2A and 2B. Elsa took the window seat. "Now, Anna," she scolded, "why did you act that way with the command staff?"
"Command staff? Whoa, Elsa, you have been Commander-in-Ice-Chief for too long. They are two…handsome guys who are going to be onboard until we arrive in Arendelle, and I, for one, want to be on very good terms with them."
Elsa just rolled her eyes. Just then, a stewardess passed their seats. "Excuse me, miss," Elsa began, "but could you tell me how long this journey will be?"
The stewardess turned, a mild look of confusion on her face from the use of the word 'journey', why not flight? she thought, but responded, "It should be around eight and a half hours, ma'am. Depending on the winds aloft." Elsa nodded acknowledgement, and the stewardess continued down the aisle.
Anna just sat there shocked. "Only eight and a half hours with the handsome guys up front? That's no time at all!" She threw her hands to her forehead in despair.
Elsa leaned back and closed her eyes. "Anna, there is more to life than handsome guys. Like, saving our country and getting you back to your real boyfriend." That last part got through to Anna, who settled down.
"I guess you're right," she admitted.
Another voice sounded from the ceiling. Neither girl so much as blinked this time. "Flight attendants, please secure the cabin for taxi and takeoff. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is First Officer Lopez, and along with your pilot, Captain Lee, we will be flying you to the fine country of Arendelle. The flight time should be about eight hours, since we have a mild jetstream going with us. Now, may I direct your attention to the flight attendants now throughout the cabin for the safety briefing."
A new voice, a woman's, came on. "Thank you, Mr. Lopez. Ladies and gentlemen, in the event of a water landing, the cushions under you can be used as…" Elsa tuned her out, opting to instead look out the window. The sun had gone down an hour ago. As she watched, the aircraft began slowly backing away from the building, before turning and going forward. A sea of lights glided past, stretching as far as the eye could see. The plane suddenly turned a corner, and stopped. Elsa looked back into the cabin, and noticed that the flight attendants had sat back down.
She was startled into looking back out the window when she heard a low roar come from behind her. She felt herself press firmly against the overstuffed chair, and the lights whizzed past the window. Without any warning, the lights fell away from the airplane, and her ears popped. Anna gripped Elsa's wrist, eliciting another smug grin. You can go to Mars, but an aircraft scares you. She chuckled, and leaned back in her seat, eyes closed. A few minutes later, the airplane leveled out and the flight attendant once again was back. "Miss? Would you like a complimentary first-class champagne?" She held out a nearly-full glass.
Elsa took it. "Yes, thank you." She took a sip. Wow, that tastes good. The flight attendant walked off.
Anna mumbled, "How come you get one and I don't?" She looked defeated and caffeine-less.
Elsa slightly smiled, and stated softly, "It's good to be the Queen."
Anna grumbled, leaned back in her chair, and fell asleep. The coffee apparently no longer affected her. A few minutes later, her hair was already messed up.
Elsa stared out the window for a while until a thought crashed into her mind. I am the first head of state to ever fly, she realized. Well, in a way, she amended. With that, she finished the glass and with a disbelieving shake of her head, also leaned back in her chair to go to sleep.
I wonder what Mama and Papa would think of this, she thought as she slipped into unconsciousness.
The two men at NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland were dressed in black tailored suits, staring intently at the computer displays in front of them. On the screens flashed security footage of every single security camera within a hundred-mile radius of the former NSA office. Since the two prisoners had escaped, the complex was deemed no longer secure.
Furthermore, Agent Stevens had been placed on administrative leave, since he had let two girls escape and somehow get close enough to incapacitate him with brute force to the head. The two agents smiled at that while they monitored the facial recognition software. They had visions of a college student landing a knock-out blow on Stevens. Not surprising, they both thought. He always was more of a wimp.
The system let out a loud chirp. Highlighted on the screen was an image of two young women, one blond and the other redheaded, walking down the concourse at the airport. The agent on the left held up a picture to the screen, comparing it with the blond woman. It was a match.
"When was this taken?" the agent on the right asked.
"Over six hours ago," was Left's response. Right sighed in frustration.
"Are they still at the airport?" He already knew the answer.
"No," Left answered. "They flew out a half hour after the footage was taken, onboard Arendelle Airlines Flight 407."
Damn, Right thought. That was too far away from the takeoff point to have them turn back to American Airspace. They would already be past Canadian airspace. "What are our options?"
"Well, we have to recapture the two escapees. We can't make that capture on US soil, so we will have to do it abroad. The plane is inbound to Arendelle now, however, so if we fly out on an Air Force transport now, we could be there soon after they land."
"What transport are you thinking of?"
"The Agency has a Gulfstream G550 executive aircraft on standby at Andrews to be used for just this purpose. I can make the call, if you want."
Right nodded. "Do it. Also have them bring in a SpecOps group. We will probably need to use their…expertise."
Left also nodded, and brought the encrypted phone to his ear as he began making calls. Both men walked out of the room on their way to their parked cars.
Elsa was jolted awake by Anna's nails biting into her arm. "Ouch!" she hissed as she woke up. Anna looked at her in pure terror.
"Anna, what is going on?" Elsa asked, concern evident in her voice. Just as she finished saying that, the aircraft bumped upwards before plummeting back down. Anna closed her eyes and whimpered.
Elsa was now also quite afraid, as images buried for years came back to haunt her.
Her parents walking onboard that ship, never to be seen again. The storm that had swept past Arendelle, hitting the sea instead of the city. The pieces of debris from the royal ship washing up on the beaches up and down Arendelle's coast.
Elsa had had nightmares for months afterward that always showed the same thing; the ship would plow down into the waves, only to surge back up over the next one, and then falling back down into the next trough, never to be seen again. She had always woken up from those nightmares encased in sheets of ice, the walls around her frozen solid while she tried to breathe again. But they had always been in a dream.
And now it was happening to her, this time for real.
The plane continued climbing and falling through the sky, and to make matters worse, the sky outside the window was pitch black.
The First Officer's voice again came on in the cabin. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologize for the in-flight turbulence. We are flying through an unavoidable storm front, but we should be through in a few minutes. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience, but we should be landing at Arendelle International Airport in just over an hour."
Elsa and Anna sat there, praying for their lives, while visions of their parents' final moments flashed through their heads.
One thing they did not do was look around the rest of the cabin.
Everyone else was unaffected by the mild turbulence.
At that moment, a few miles outside Washington DC at Andrews Air Force Base, an executive jet lifted off, turning to the northeast. Onboard were two NSA agents and half a dozen SpecOps personnel.
ETA to Arendelle; eight hours.
Author's Note: Favorite, Follow, and Review! (I need to know what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong!)
Thank you for making my first ever story so much fun to write! You guys are awesome!