December, 1916

"Your Highness, and what exactly do you think you are doing?" A pair of steel grey eyes bored deeply into Anna's skull as she lay there against her desk, without remembering where she was and why a voice was speaking to her so austerely as if she had done something wrong.

"What am I doing?" Anna repeated stupidly. For some reason, she could hear muffled giggles rising, not far from where she was. "You tell me."

The man frowned at her, hardening his grip on a copy of The History of Europe, clearly disappointed in Anna's lack of attention. "That is not good enough, Your Highness. If you do not fully appreciate my teachings on the subject of the world's history, then you are thereby dismissed from this classroom."

"Professor Gillan!" cried Anna, lifting her head abruptly. "Oh, no, no, no. Of course I appreciate your work, sir. Please continue," and, to show she was attentive, starting taking notes on her chalkboard, even though she hadn't the slightest idea of what she was writing. Gerda snickered and Rapunzel's eyes wandered to the heavens, tutting under her breath.

Edward Gillan stared at her for a brief moment, almost as if his hopeless daydreamer of a student had really gone round the bend, deciding after that to leave the princess to shape up on her own. Gillan had been in their lives since he first started tutoring the King's eldest daughter Elsa - he hadn't changed since then, except for the fact that his groomed dark hair and cleanly shaven moustache were starting to grey, and his teaching suits alternating every time, save for the handkerchief poking out of his chest pocket. At first, he was the only tutor in the palace, but eventually several others came to earn a living from the most powerful man in Arendelle - now Professor Gillan taught only History and Social Studies, while Anna and her sisters were forced to take English, French, Geography, the usual that guaranteed (or, at least in Anna's eyes) absolute boredom.

So here she was, stuck in a dingy and stuffy classroom, supported by a few whitewashed pillars and covered wall to wall with gold framed paintings of different rulers of the continents, from Europe to the Americas (although Anna was fairly sure they didn't have any monarchies, but governments lead by elected presidents), lined with shelves of volumes and encyclopaedias beneath a bunch of marble busts, a few, as the Queen would put it, 'disgracefully exposed.' For her, such sights as those were 'distasteful,' and 'uncouth.'

Four ordinary schoolgirls' desks were set evenly, two at the front and the others in the near back. From the moment all four princesses were eligible for going to tutoring lessons, Elsa and Rapunzel immediately chose the front desks, as they were simply 'eager to learn,' in the words of Professor Montgomery, their English tutor, and were therefore very intelligent and succeeded in their academic studies.

Meanwhile, Anna and Gerda were only too glad to head up the rear side of the room, not far from where a giant-sized paper globe stood in the corner. Both hated studying with a passion, and often lost concentration during lectures on, well, anything. John Herring, who taught Geography, thought the two younger sisters tended to completely disregard their work - but in truth, it was just because Anna and Gerda had trouble keeping up without falling asleep.

While Professor Gillan blabbered on about a queen of France named Marie Antoinette and went into the details of the chopping of her head - "Ghastly," Rapunzel gasped, nearly losing her lunch - Anna stared at the window, eyes glazing over, escaping reality and venturing to a world where all her utmost dreams were kept well and danced in the moonlight.

-o0o-

"You called for me, Father?" Elsa asked softly, stepping into the King's study with caution and steadily glancing around the room. Agdar's eyes met his daughter's - though he sat at his paper-filled desk across from where her figure appeared in the doorway, Elsa could see grey bags of weariness and exhaustion hanging from under his eyelids.

"Please, Father, you must rest. It's not good to overwork yourself," she cried, and scampered over to hug the King. He smiled weakly at her. Elsa understood him. She was, after all, the King's successor to the throne.

"Oh, dear Elsa, if I could throw away all those papers and reports," Agdar began wistfully, giving a peck on her cheek - inviting her to sit on his lap, though she was turning eighteen in less than three days, he bounced her gently like old times.

Elsa's whole face brightened up, the rays of sun seeming to sparkle lightly through her eyes and mouth. Neither a wide smiler like Anna or an object of sweet disposition like Rapunzel, she rarely smiled, but when she did, it was like the quiet, demure princess had shattered into pieces and then replaced with a beaming young woman, the light of everyone's lives.

"The war's been getting to me an awful lot lately, Elsie," the dear man confessed, continuing to balance Elsa on his knee. "Sometimes I just don't know what to do with myself."

"Better to do one small thing at a time, then try and conduct an entire piece of work," advised Elsa, her smile remaining still.

"But I know whenever I think of my daughters, I feel at home again."

Elsa wracked her brains. I feel at home again. Those words sounded terribly familiar. Whenever I think of my daughters...I feel at home again...

The image that once flashed on the inside of Elsa's eyelids now ceased to exist, and her heart jolted inside her chest. It was only a dream. Eyes fluttering open, she stared at the dark ceiling above her, wishing that the whole thing could have been real.

Or was it? Father used to always tell her that even the slightest bit of imagination could turn into reality if she could just picture it happening. Maybe if she thought hard enough, the meeting between her father and herself could very well be two dreams crossing over - for all she knew, the King could have had precisely the same dream.

-o0o-

"Hey, Elsa." Anna grinned from ear to ear as she leapt onto Elsa's bedside, which meant she was performing her usual wake up call. Naturally, Anna was a morning person. "Rapunzel's already having breakfast. Bacon and eggs, Elsa - we're going to eat like commoners! Won't that be a change?" When her sister didn't respond, Anna shook her repetitively. Her hands were strong enough to lift a bust of Michelangelo and throw it across the room like it was nothing.

Elsa groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. "I think I might have cramps," she mumbled at the quiet decibel of a mouse. Anna laughed. Even a ladylike princess such as Elsa could have her own ungainly moments.

When they'd finished eating, Elsa asked their mother if she and Anna could stop by in town to look at shops and bakeries and all sorts of other places in Arendelle - since it was Sunday, and no lessons were to commence that day, she agreed to drop them off with a few guards after mass in the chapel.

"I don't see why we can't go by our selves," muttered Anna as she and Elsa walked briskly along the busily crowded footpath, accompanied by three guards in grand uniform. "We're teenagers now."

Because of the guards, and probably also due to the distinct beauty of the two girls, they had gained most of the people's undivided attention, and halted in their footsteps to stare dumbly at the passing princesses. Even cars - red, yellow, with young drivers or old timers - had pulled over to catch a glimpse of them. The guards struggled to fend off the crowds being drawn in their direction, shouting for every citizen to make way. One little girl in a floral patterned dress pulled out a Brownie camera and pressed down the shutter with her finger, blinding Elsa and Anna for a brief second. Luckily, another person, this time the camera girl's mother, tittered in her brown high-necked dress and feathered hat, and ordered for the camera to be put back in her purse - amazingly, it could fit.

"You'd think people'd have nothing better to do than to gawk at the King's daughters like birds," said the woman, and nodded at the sisters with understanding. For once she didn't curtsey and say Your Royal Highness, Elsa noted, sighing in relief. She didn't treat us as if we were holy treasures like so many others do.

The cupcake shop was where the two girls planned to abandon their high security. The guards were so preoccupied with choosing the icing, topping, and flavours of their own cupcakes, that they neglected the sisters' absence as they'd already snuck out minutes before.

"Where do you want to go now, sister?" Anna asked, a devilish grin spreading across her face, as the two linked arms - they avoided the richer shops, as everyone expected the wealthiest girls in Arendelle to travel along those streets. "Your choice."

"The hospital," Elsa decided firmly.

"What? No, Elsa! The hospital's a dreadful place." Anna shuddered at the mere thought of being there. "Why the hospital? Why not try other shops, or a second round in the bakery?"

"The hospital is a safe haven and a place of recovery for the soldiers fighting in the war, remember? I just want to pay a visit to them, that's all."

"You sound like Rapunzel," snorted Anna. "All about sentimentality. But yes, I do think the soldiers will like to wake up to the two of the princesses of Arendelle standing and watching them sleep."

"Anna, that's not funny!" sighed Elsa, although even the slightest trace of amusement wiggled her lips.

"Fine, we'll go." Elsa smiled gratefully at her younger sister, who might as well have been closer in age - Anna had grown rapidly over the years, and was now roughly the same height as her. She gave her a small squeeze that meant Don't ever grow older, setting off in a flourish of skirts.

-o0o-

Anna was right, of course. The hospital wards consisted of a dark and manky room with a single arch shaped window as the only source of light. Each ward was clustered with metal frame beds with thin sheets that vaguely resembled mattresses, with pillows and sheets stained with dried splashes of vomit and specks of red. The poor things must have been coughing up blood during the night, thought Elsa, horrified. Behind her, she could hear Anna retch and gag, clearly disgusted by the lack of sanitation and quality in the hospital.

In each bed lay a soldier in white night gowns provided by the hospital, moaning pitifully in their sleep. Some wore heavy casts around their arms, legs, or any other parts with granted injury, and there were soldiers who'd been recently brought in, covered in fresh gaping wounds and scars from being shot at repeatedly with bullets.

Elsa tried to keep herself as mentally composed as possible, just for Anna - she needed a calm and stable person to guide her through the wards - but even she was beginning to feel increasingly faint.

"Elsa," Anna whimpered, clutching onto her arm tearfully, "Please. Let's go home."

"Can I help you?" A kind woman dressed in a nurse's uniform - an apron over a grey gown established with a red cross - appeared behind them. Anna jumped.

"Could you please take us to a..." Elsa fumbled for the right words, "a less explicit ward?"

"Good gracious, yes. This room carries the worst of the wounds ever sighted on those men," the nurse said sadly, "And I advise you not to walk round here, especially when there's an operation."

"Operation?" Anna squawked in horror, her voice rising an octave.

"Indeed, dear. Come along," and the nurse beckoned the sisters over outside in the hallway, where Anna felt was safe to exhale a great deal of her breath. What a horrible place this is, she thought, shivering, not just from the cold air that wafted through the window shutters.

"Here," the woman said, opening a door that seemed to promise a place of warmth and comfort, "this is Ward 608. It's where the less fragile men go to pass the time." Elsa looked over her shoulder at Anna, searching for approval. Anna nodded meekly.

Inside was better than the previous ward they'd visited. The walls were washed over with a pearly colour, hidden with a hint of pink, the floors of shining marble. The windows were made of crystal glass panes, casting light onto the entire room. The beds looked soft and snuggly, and some soldiers, still invalids but appearing cheerful, sat around them as they chatted animatedly about all kinds of subjects.

"As you can see, a lot of our patients have bonded together since day one," the nurse informed them, puffing up her chest proudly. "But there are others - especially newcomers - who haven't yet made friends. Won't you lend a hand and talk to those men? Keep them well entertained for an hour or so."

Both girls nodded eagerly. The nurse thanked them and left the room.

While Elsa floated from bed to bed, grasping men's hands and assuring their recovery and return to the war, Anna wandered around the ward, wondering who she'd talk to. Then her eyes caught to an area near the back window.

A young man, about Elsa's age, sat in a beige armchair, glancing pensively beyond the glass panes. His leg appeared to be broken, draped around with bandages, but otherwise he seemed alright. The man had dark red hair, growing along his ears in sideburns, and bright hazel eyes. Anna thought he looked very handsome. In a single heartbeat, she approached him, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"Um...excuse me?" asked Anna, sitting carefully on the bed nearby. The man looked up at her.

"Are you by yourself?" was her next question. It sounded awkward, so she continued. "I mean, not that you're by yourself, there's other men here too, but I was wondering...if you have anyone to keep you company." She blushed. Who was she kidding - this soldier, handsome as he was, would never accept her graceless ways. So it was Anna's pleasant surprise to hear the man speak in return.

"No, I've just arrived. And you must be the daughter of the King."

"Well, third daughter," Anna replied, a trifle embarrassed. "Elsa's the most important. She's heir to the Arendelle throne!"

The young man waved his hand dismissively. "What does it matter that you're not the crown princess? Your words and personality still prove interesting." Anna snort-giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth, her face turning redder still. What kind of a King's daughter was she in front of this gentlemanly soldier?

"Rest assured, Your Highness," the man soothed her, smiling, "I don't mind. I've never come across as much princesses like you than the ones I've actually met, and that's not saying much."

From the moment he spoke these words, the two struck up a long and successful conversation, talking to each other like they were old friends.

So when at the end, Elsa announced that they must be on their way, Anna couldn't in her life have been more disappointed to leave the hospital. Before she hurried off, she informed him in a yell, "My name's Anna, by the way!"

"Hans," he called back. "Safe travels, Your Highness, and God bless you!"

-o0o-

The next day, Elsa celebrated her birthday - it so happened to be an important stage of life in Arendelle royalty, just as much as a princess's sixteenth birthday would be. Now eighteen years old, she would be at the right age for any privileges her sisters were, under law anyway, too young to be given at the moment - even drinking wine and champagne. It was at this time that Elsa would have her own crown and coat of arms, and therefore gain an identity in the public eye. "She even gets to travel on her own," sighed Gerda with a groan. "I can't even step one foot out of the gates without getting scolded by Mother. And her wardrobe! Now Elsa won't have to be stuck in the same old white dress as the rest of us."

"Don't complain. Remember your birthday is on the twenty-eighth - that's in seven days," Anna reminded her, while the four sisters knitted in the sitting room, which they found the cosiest part of the palace, besides their bedrooms.

"So?"

"Turning thirteen is a huge deal," said Rapunzel, looping a piece of pink thread through her needle's eye. "It signifies your coming of age. Then once you're sixteen you'll have a formal ball when you wear a lovely ballgown and have your hair up for the first time."

When Gerda finally did turn thirteen, the royal family ended up having a very quiet celebration in the palace. The King was home temporarily for the celebrations, and all spoiled the youngest princess with plenty of love and presents - her father gave her an ornate silver box with a collection of gemstones inside, her mother a pearl necklace. The gifts from her sisters weren't expensive, but nonetheless crafted by their hands and from the heart; Elsa had embroidered for her a mauve cushion decorated with purple flowers and scented with lavender sprigs; a self-made watercolour painting of an elegant snow queen from Rapunzel, and a paper mâché display of a snowman with a straw top hat and a carrot nose sniffing the roses from Anna.

While the family were treated to the fanciest and most delicious tea they'd had in ages - iced biscuits with strawberry pink glazing atop a pile of chocolate candies, Gerda's favourite - Anna seemed to be acting very strangely. Her eyes seemed to stare beyond the walls, she'd jolt whenever she heard a man's voice, and once when the King read out the name 'Hans' printed briefly in the daily Arendelle newspaper, Anna was brought to sudden attention.

"Something's up, Anna," hissed Gerda suspiciously. "You become sensitive whenever the words 'soldier' and 'invalid,' or even 'war' is mentioned. Tell me what's going on."

Anna refused to explain, stuffing her mouth with chocolate just so she had an excuse not to talk.

Later at night, when Gerda was certain that Anna was in bed out cold, she intruded her wardrobe and removed an entire heap of slippers and dolls from the dark depths until her hand latched onto a gold trimmed spine of a maroon leather bound book - Anna's diary. While in her own room, flicking through the pages, Gerda came upon an entry that quite intrigued her:

Yesterday Elsa and I went for a stroll in town. We visited many shops - for example, one that sold cupcakes, where we both left the guards (they were worried sick after we came back, and Mother was on the verge of scolding). We went to the hospital on our own. I was little scared about the place, but something happened that completely changed my views on being in a hospital. I met this soldier. He had a broken leg, and currently lives in Ward 608 (my favourite ward, mind you). His name was Hans, and we seemed to easily familiarise with each other as soon as we met. I can just barely write...my hands are shaking...I feel my heart thumping madly...spinning head...what is this strange, strange feeling?

Gerda gasped when she saw the bottom line and could not bear to read any further. She's in love. The youngest sister I'll ever have has a crush on a soldier. What am I going to do?

There was a knock on the door. Gerda slipped the diary hastily under her pillow before calling out, in a trembling voice, "Come in."

It was the kitchen boy, Kai. With tanned skin and neatly combed hair, no one could guess that he spent every day scrubbing pots and pans, not even from the apron he wore over his brown peasant clothing.

"H-happy birthday," he mumbled, and brought out his hand which he'd been hiding behind his back. Inside his palm was a miniature flower pot snowflakes and sprinkles of snow carefully painted along the surface. A delicate five-petaled daisy was sprouting from the soil.

"You grew this for me?" Kai nodded timidly. "Oh, thank you Kai!" Gerda threw herself onto him, who blushed furiously because the princess was at moment in her nightgown - it was practically a crime to come in contact with a woman of royalty if she wasn't in her usual petticoats and day dress.

Long since Kai left the room, Gerda found herself turning red as well. Oh, no. Am I going to fall in love, too? Maybe we're all like that little flower - in time she will blossom into her own beauty.