Disclaimer*I don't own Frozen or its characters, just this story and the OCs. ANYWAYS! Enjoy, R&R :)

A Celebration: Part III

May 1st rose with the sun on the dawn of a new morning. It signaled the extra hour that the servants rose in the Kingdom of Arendelle to begin preparations for the Prince's week long celebration. For such an event, heavy with royalty and all those within the kingdom, required a feast beyond compare. The local baker, butcher, and any other resident who so chose to prepare a dish, arrived at the open gates with their offerings. Kai led them in and directed each person to the kitchen, where they were given further instruction on meal preparation for the evening. There was no other time in all of Arendelle that the castle had been filled to the very core with bustling, busy workers. Every guest room held a duchess or duke of some sort, and of course, the King's family surrounded the domineering quarters of the King and Queen themselves. In-laws were noisy. Much, much more noisy than either Thomas or Edith or Finn combined. Elsa was a quiet woman and somewhat of an introvert, though not as severe as she was once, it was still considerably difficult to be around loud people. Anna was the only other "loud people" she had been around in her life and not even the Princess could be around the noisy in-laws for very long.

It was for that very reason, besides avoiding a tense breakfast with her husband, the King, Elsa woke up earlier than usual to join the crowd of servants and citizens in the morning parade. Also, she was the only person who could thaw the diamond like skating rink in the courtyard for a safe crossing to the castle doors. It would make for a very messy celebration if they had to clean up after the party guests and the pile up of servants that would have inevitably happened sans Elsa's supervision.

"There are a lot of people, aren't there?" Elsa asked Kai, nodding to her subjects with an inkling of a smile as they passed by with their greetings.

"A total of 678 attending, your Majesty."

"Does that include those that are anchored in the fjord?"

"No, it does not. I was going to check in with the master of the docks after every villager was accounted for." The line was slowly dwindling down to just ten people, but it was still a considerably large amount to account for.

"Do they have housing? Should we accommodate those on the ships? Maybe we should have condensed the guest list more." Her voice rose in pitch and she began threading her hands together nervously.

"Relax. Unless your Majesty would like to plot a few igloos around the perimeter of the Kingdom, I believe their accommodations are more than enough." Kai laughed as he check-marked the final resident. As he rolled his parchment and passed it off to a nearby squire, Kai offered his arm to the Queen. Elsa took it without question. As they began to walk out into the village, talking between the two of them in hushed tones, there was a frantic voice calling out from behind.

"Wait! I wanna come with you!" Elsa turned just in time to catch Finn racing towards them waving his arms above his head.

"Goodness, what are you doing up so early?" She laughed as her son joined them. Kai snorted humorously and shook his head.

"Gerda woke me up! She said you were going to the fjord and I wanted to go, too," he explained. "Can I come, mom?"

"How could I refuse the birthday boy?"

"You can't!" He grinned. "I go where you go, remember?"

Elsa could see the little boy he once was in that grin. Always trailing after her, always clinging to her, always there; all because he was just an extension of her shadow. In some ways, he still was, but being thirteen came with more princely duties. His time would be consumed in political studies with Kai, training with Rolland, and maybe sea-faring lessons with his father with the occasional trip up into the mountains with Kristoff. The mere thought of separation nearly brought tears to her eyes, but she would not let him see her unhappiness. Yet, despite that fact, Finn sensed an aberration in her behavior and reached for her hand as a silent form of consolation. She twined hers with his just as she would any other time and went on with Kai in the lead.

Thankfully, Finn's boisterousness entertained the crowd that had descended upon him while Elsa and Kai squared away business with the other guests filling up the fjord. It was hard not to accept him as the center of attention with how charismatic he was. That was why Elsa was so confident in his abilities to rule and lead the Kingdom when the time came. Sure, there would be those who would resist his rule, as there would always be in a monarchy, but he would rise above it with the support that Arendelle offered. How could he not when there were nearly one thousand guests attending his birthday week celebration?

"We should get going, your Majesty." Kai advised.

"Right. What else is there to do?"

"Plenty." He sniggered, leading on carefully through the throng of admirers'. Finn said his goodbyes and wished to see them all that night at the ball, which they returned dubiously by reassuring him they would be there. In no time at all, the trio arrived back at the castle with the King waiting with Gerda and Rolland in the courtyard. He appeared worried.

"Where did you run off to?" He asked, poorly disguising his concern with a smile.

"The fjord to speak with the Master of the docks, my King. The Queen and Prince Finn were kind enough to join me."

"You should have taken Rolland with you or a few guards at the very least." Elsa swept past him with Finn and a breeze of cotton-ball like snowflakes trailing after. The King quickly caught up. Curse those long legs.

"I was fine. Finn was fine. Nothing happened." Elsa commented when he tried to reprimand her for being so irresponsible.

"All I'm saying is that you shouldn't be so reckless. It's an open port, you never know what kind of riff-raff is going to get in."

Elsa stopped mid-stride, halting the party of on-lookers behind her as well as the King. With the voice she used to command authority, which was even yet strong, she addressed Riordan for the final time on the subject.

"These are my people and my Kingdom. Had they tried to harm me or my son, I would have stopped it immediately. There was no need for a guard to accompany me because I was not in danger. Had I requested the presence of one, then my people would have been concerned about the safety of their Queen and Prince. It is a week for celebration with the highlight of happiness, not the undertone of fear, my dear husband." And she would know what fear was all about. She had spent so long consumed in it that the feeling was more familiar to her than any other emotion.

Silence.

Then the Queen proceeded onwards to the ball room and Finn followed suit.

"No one is going to hurt us, are they?" Finn asked hesitantly, as if expecting the wrath of his mother to fell upon him as it had his father.

"Of course not. He's just being overdramatic, he always is. Put it out of your mind." She sighed and squeezed his hand.

"I trust you, mom."

"And I trust you."

They made their way around the castle, avoiding King Riordan at all angles, and ate lunch together. No one bothered them, not even the in-laws, because the sweeping cold that came with their presence in every room warned them of the Queen's temper. Also, because Finn was having such an excellent time learning all of the details that went into his birthday celebration that he could not have noticed anyone else in the room besides his mother. When the time came for guests to arrive for supper, which was at 7 p.m. sharp, they retired to their quarters to dress for the occasion. Gerda escorted Finn to his room and Elsa returned to hers, alone, and unoccupied.

For tonight, she discarded her everyday gown and added a little more flare. Extending the length of her skirt, she gave it an extra layer that resembled the piece like her long veil and freed her arms of the tight fit for a flowing, gossamer look. As for a crown, she fashioned her own.

"Elsa, are you in there?" Anna's voice floated through the door like a sweet bell.

"I am. You can come in." She said as she finished the last few details on her sparkling ice tiara. Just as she placed it on her head, Kristoff and Anna shuffled in the room.

"You look so beautiful! Did you do something new to your dress? Because I love it and you look so gorgeous for being a mom," Anna's words flew out of her mouth the second it opened. "Wait, what? I'm sorry. I totally didn't mean anything bad by that!"

"Anna," Elsa giggled. "I know what you meant and thank you. The two of you look good together, really, a shimmering set of green and blue."

Anna wore a matured version of her gown from Elsa's coronation and Kristoff, a tough one to fit into poncy outfits, looked overly uncomfortable in his blue and black suit. Even his hair had been pushed back, despite one piece that popped out of place no matter how many times he pushed it down. As a pair, they were really quite unique.

"Thank you! Gerda and the other ladies worked so hard on them. Lucky you didn't have to do any fittings, it was so awful." Anna said as she approached Elsa, taking both of her sister's hands excitedly.

"I know, Finn told me all about it." Elsa snorted, rolling her eyes and laughing.

"Speaking of! We should get going to the ball room. I bet there's chocolate! C'mon, Kristoff!" Anna tugged his arm, entirely too small to move a mountain like him, but managed anyways. He followed after clumsily.

"Calm down, feisty-pants!" Their voices echoed down the hall, fading into the music that emitted from the ball room just a few feet down. Supper would be served and then the party would really begin, but first, she had one thing to do before anyone else could give her son any presents that would sweep him off his feet. Running back inside, she ducked her head into a trunk at the foot of the bed to retrieve a buried present wrapped in shimmering paper. It was no bigger than her fist, but it really didn't need to be anything too dazzling. It was sentimental and that's what mattered.

Elsa made her way to her son's room easily enough and knocked gently. There was the sound of skirts bustling as Gerda opened the door.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for how late we must be running, but I've just finished the final touches. I can escort him to the dining hall myself if you'd like." The door opened wide and Elsa stepped in.

"That won't be necessary, Gerda, but thank you. I'd like to escort him myself."

"Of course. Then I'll be on my way." Gerda bowed and ducked out of the room quickly enough.

"I think I look a little stuffy, mom. What do you think?" Finn stood before a mirror, twisting and turning to see all of the angles. He wore a royal blue tunic embroidered with gold and emerald green. His sash was purple and his buttons gold. Like his mother, his hair was impossibly untamable and worn naturally. Apparently Gerda did not even dare to mess with it.

"I think you look handsome, Finn." She said as she took a seat on the edge of his bed. He made his way over to her and took the stance of a soldier with his shoulders pushed back and chest puffed out.

"Thank you, mom. You look handsome, too." He laughed wildly, as if it was the funniest thing he had heard all day.

"I have a gift for you." She said and held it out to him. Finn stopped his laughter immediately. His mother never gave him gifts, and not because she disliked spoiling him, but because gifts should be given infrequently to remind the receiver of what it was to be given one.

"Can I open it?"

"I hoped you would."

Hesitantly, he took the little square box from her hands and relished in the object for a few seconds more before opening it. Inside Elsa could feel how nervous she was, because picking out gifts was not her strong point; and there was nothing but a strong sense of anticipation for his ultimate reaction. So, when he finally opened the box and smiled, she felt relieved. The contents of the box included two silver lockets on two very long chains. The locket itself was a small oval, just a size smaller than an egg and lighter than one. Finn pulled them both out and held them up.

"They're a matching set," she began as she reached for the closest one to her and opened it. "Just like you and me."

Finn looked inside to see the sparkling shapes of two different snowflakes tucked neatly inside both frames. He seemed to be mesmerized by the gift as he remained speechless for entirely too long.

"The snowflake on the left is the first one I ever made, though it's not the original, I did remember the pattern. The one on the right is the first one you made with me up in the North Mountain. They'll never melt."

"Mom-"

"Do you like it? Lockets are a bit much but I wanted you to be able to keep me close to you all the time, and the same for me." Finn suddenly slumped into her lap and wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could, repeatedly thanking her over and over again for such a wonderful gift. She could not help but hug her son back, overwhelmed with affection and warmth.

"Listen to me," she whispered into his hair softly. "You are a part of me. Wherever you go, I will go too, because like it or not, I am your shadow; and you're mine. I want you to keep this locket close to your heart and no matter where I am, or how often we do not see each other from here on out, I will be with you. Happy Birthday, my son."

"I love you, mom." He sniffled as he disentangled himself from her.

"And I love you." She placed the locket around his neck first, then the second around hers, and pecked his forehead for good measure. "Let's not hold our guests up any longer, shall we? I'm starving."

"Okay!"

For the thirteenth year in a row Queen Elsa took her son's hand in hers, the same boy who had been peering over her shoulder as a toddler, and led the way to his birthday feast. So many years to miss the little boy he had been, now grown, with plenty more years ahead of him to continue growing. There was no more time to sneak into the kitchen late at night to enjoy a sweet treat and there would be no more nights where her son would occupy her bed because he could not sleep alone. His birthdays came and went with a sour, yet happy note, but she was more sure of herself each year that went by:

There was no room left in her motherly heart to care for another child, because it was too full of Finn, and she did not need anyone else.

OKAY! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It has a lot more Finn and Elsa interaction, which I promised from the beginning, and it's sort of sappy, too. I love the comments you're all leaving, it's very supportive and I appreciate all of the feedback. I realize that my writing style may not fit Disney, but that's simply because I am not the writer from this film, so my tone is going to fit my style. Hopefully that does not deter anyone from reading this! I'll try to update sooner.

Special thanks and lots of love to everyone reviewing, favoring, and following! XO