"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Elsa asked nervously, her eyes darting around them as they walked.
Anna looked back at her and smiled excitedly. "Of course! I've known all of them since I was little, and they're dying to meet you!"
Elsa didn't look convinced. "But what if they freak out when they see my powers?"
What if they think I'm a monster?
Anna scoffed. "Trust me, they'll love you!" she looked away and mumbled, "Plus, I might have already told them about your powers…"
Elsa's eyes widened dramatically. "You told them?! Anna, you need to be more careful about whom you tell these things to! I am considered a 'witch' after all, and you might be condemned by association."
Anna stopped and stared at Elsa, her face completely serious. "Let me set one thing straight right now, Elsa," her eyes softened, "I will never be ashamed of you, ever. Okay? Because you're amazing, and wonderful, and I'm just lucky to have met you. And I know that my other friends will feel the same way."
Elsa smiled, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Shall we go, then?"
Anna nodded wildly and dragged Elsa onward through the forest. They were currently on their way to meet up with Kristoff and Anna's other friends who were visiting from the neighboring countries.
"Anna!" a scruffy blonde boy greeted, "It's about time you showed up! We were all-" he stopped short when he noticed Elsa standing behind her.
Anna had said that she was gorgeous, but he didn't know that she would be this gorgeous! She was tall, and slender, with perfect hair, perfect eyes, perfect everything! Kristoff was officially smitten.
Elsa, on the other hand, took his staring as him thinking that she was odd, or abnormal. She moved ever so slightly behind Anna out of nervousness.
"Oi wooly man!" a feminine Scottish brogue called out, "Can't yeh see yer scarin' the poor lass with all yer gawkin'?"
It was then that Elsa noticed the other people sitting around the clearing.
Anna practically dragged Elsa out into view. "Okay Elsa, this is Kristoff." She pointed to the scruffy blonde boy, who took off his wool cap and nodded shyly.
"That's Belle, she's from France." she pointed to a lone brunette girl reading a book. Belle waved, not looking up from the text. She scrunched her eyebrows and turned the page.
"And over there is Aurora, who is talking to Mulan," Anna waved her arm in the direction of two girls that were too deep in conversation to acknowledge her. One was a pretty blonde with golden locks that fell into graceful curls, and the other was an exotic foreign beauty with dark bobbed hair and brave eyes. "Hey Aurora? Mulan?" Anna tried to get their attention.
The two girls stopped talking and looked over at them. Anna gestured again to Elsa. "This is Elsa." Elsa's cheeks tinted pink. She wasn't used to so much attention.
The pretty blonde girl smiled and tilted her head to the side. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Elsa. I'm Aurora, Princess of Edinburgh."
The dark haired girl bowed at the waist respectfully. "Elsa, it is an honor. I am Mulan, right hand to the Chinese Emperor."
Elsa smiled timidly. "It very nice to meet you both."
Anna then led her over to a tomboyish red head. And boy, her hair was really red, like a tomato or a cherry. It was wild looking, too.
"This is Merida," Anna introduced, "She's the one that yelled at Kristoff just now."
Merida huffed, blowing a stray lock of her crazy hair out of her face. "I did yeh a favor, trust me. My name's Merida, like she said. I'm a princess back in Dun Broch. You must be that Elsa girl Anna keeps yammerin' on about nonstop."
Now it was Anna's turn to blush. "I don't talk about her all the time!"
"Yes you do," a short haired brunette girl came prancing up to them. She gave Elsa a huge grin. "Hi Elsa! I'm Rapunzel, the Princess of Corona! It's awesome to finally meet the girl Anna wouldn't shut up about."
By the end of this both Elsa and Anna were blushing like mad. Elsa from happiness and Anna from embarrassment. "And that's everyone." The embarrassed redhead mumbled, suddenly finding her feet very fascinating.
Kristoff cleared his throat. "So? Are we going to see Elsa do some snow magic stuff?"
Everyone, save Belle, looked to Elsa. Her expression fell. "You mean, you all don't think it's weird?" she asked with uncertainty, "I'm like a witch."
Merida just chuckled. "Trust me, lass. We're all used to odd things. I ran into a witch back in my homeland once, turned me mum and brothers into bears! They're fine now, though, not to worry."
Rapunzel nodded excitedly. "She's right! I mean, my hair used to be long and magical because I never cut it. Brushing it was such a hassle because it would always get tangled up in everything…"
Aurora giggled behind her hand. "I was raised by three good fairies in a cottage in the woods. Magic was very common, especially when they bickered. Which was all the time."
Mulan nodded in agreement. "I was mentored by an ancestral dragon guardian… I have also impersonated a man to enlist in the army…" her face flushed with embarrassment.
Kristoff realized that they'd been subconsciously taking turns sharing, and now it was his turn to share something strange. Think Kristoff, think! I have to reassure Elsa that she's not weird.
"I uh, I talk to my reindeer, Sven, like all the time!" he floundered, "Oh! And I was raised by a colony of trolls!" He felt like that was an acceptable answer and mentally patted himself on the back.
Everyone in the group turned their attention to Belle, whose nose was still buried in her book. She shrugged, not looking up. "I read books," she stated, as if that were explanation enough, "Magical curses are a common plot point."
Anna grinned at Elsa. "See? I told you everyone would be cool with it."
Elsa chuckled. "Was that supposed to be a pun?"
Everyone laughed at the dumbstruck look on Anna's face afterwards.
And so, Elsa made snow for everyone to play in. It was all fun and games, until Rapunzel accidentally flung snow onto Belle's book, which resulted in what they would all refer to as "The Great Snowball War". By the end of it, they were all soaked to the bone with snow and ice. And they loved every second of it.
Elsa had never felt so happy to have friends, and more importantly, they were Anna's friends too.
"So Elsa," Rapunzel drawled out her name, "Is there someone you like?"
Everyone, save Mulan and Merida, was lounging on a big picnic blanket Belle had brought. They all chatted and munched on sandwiches.
The Chinese warrior and the Scottish huntress, on the other hand, were exchanging weapon information a short distance away. Merida had just finished showing Mulan the proper way to knock an arrow, and now Mulan was beginning to explain the different sword fighting stances. Aurora had been watching them with interest from the corner of her eye.
But now everyone turned and waited for the snowy girl's answer to Rapunzel's question. "Someone I like?" Elsa asked quizzically, "I'm not sure I understand…"
Rapunzel giggled. "You know, silly! Someone you like." She noticed that Elsa's expression hadn't changed, "Someone that you want to hold and kiss and stuff?"
Someone I want to kiss? Elsa felt heat rise to her normally cold cheeks.
She glanced over at Anna, who was studying her intently. Did Anna have someone like that? No, she can't have someone like that because I- Elsa froze. I what? Anna isn't mine, and that would be wrong anyway. We're both girls. But then an image came unbidden to her mind. It was dishonorable, it was unsightly. It was of her, holding Anna close, and kissing her soft lips. It was Elsa's most deep seeded desire.
Her heart trembled in her chest. I…I can't be this way, it isn't natural. And she- Her heart cracked like thin ice atop a pond in spring. She will never love me.
"WAAH!"
Elsa was brought back to her sense by her friends' startled shout. A jagged spike of ice had torn through the center of the blanket. Everyone stared at her with worry.
Elsa frantically leapt to her feet. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I-" she quickly backed away from everyone, hugging her hands tightly to her chest. Surely, they hated her now. Surely they had all realized that she was a monster.
"Well it looks like we discovered how to get a rise out of our little ice queen!" Rapunzel joked good-naturedly, "We just need to mention her love life."
Merida made a disgusted noise. "Love life, shmove life. If yeh ask me, family and friends are all yeh need to be happy."
Belle sighed. "That's because you've never been in love, Merida."
The crazy haired red head scoffed and folded her arms in a pout.
"Anyway," Rapunzel reigned the conversation back in, "What about you, Anna? Anyone you like?"
Elsa watched as Anna turned a shade darker than her hair. Then she began to ramble. "M-Me? O-Oh! Uh! W-Well what about you?!" she pointed at Rapunzel, "Do you have someone you like?"
Now it was Rapunzel's turn to blush. She shyly fiddled with the ends of her hair. "Actually...I'm getting married next year." It was then that every noticed the little gold band around her finger.
"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell us sooner? Being engaged is kind of a big deal, you know?!" Kristoff ranted.
Rapunzel shrugged. "It never came up before now."
Everyone sighed with exasperation, except for Elsa who was still recovering from shooting a spike of ice through the ground, among other things.
"He's really nice, his name is Eugene," Rapunzel gushed, "Actually, it's a funny story how we met…" she began to talk about her meeting with Eugene, and the story of how they fell in love.
Elsa wasn't really paying attention. She couldn't stop thinking about Anna, or rather, her feelings for Anna. She knew they had been there all this time, deeply rooted in her heart since the day they met, just waiting for her to discover them. She inwardly cringed. This was so, so wrong. She couldn't taint Anna's innocence with her sick perversions; Elsa should feel lucky just to be able to spend time with her. She was a princess, and Elsa was a witch, a scourge to be avoided at all costs.
A warm hand rested itself over her cold one. Anna smiled at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Elsa's heart fluttered, while her mind panicked. She could feel her powers getting out of hand, fighting against her with every beat of her wretched heart. A storm was slowly beginning to brew within her, and Elsa was afraid that Anna would be hurt by her one day if she couldn't find a way to control it.
Elsa pulled her hand away, giving Anna a shaky smile. Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show.
Thank you all so much for your well-wishes! I feel much better now, and am ready to write some more. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a little difficult to write, but you all are worth it. :)