Yes, yes, I know, it's been more than a week since my last chapter. But I'm sure you understand when other things get in the way. I should really spend more of my free time writing this story instead of listening to "Let It Go" over and over again in different languages. I just bought and downloaded "Let It Go: The Complete Set" from iTunes last night. It is AWESOME! Now I don't have to go to YouTube to listen to each of the 25 languages used in the multilanguage video. By the way, there are even more languages than just those. I think these are all the languages the song was dubbed into. Well, enough babbling, here's chapter 3! I had a bit of trouble with this one, too, but in this case, it was mostly trying to get it to a decent length. I don't like my chapters to be too short or too long. Thanks again for all the reviews, faves, and follows! You guys are awesome! Anyway, hope you enjoy, and keep reviewing!
Chapter 3: As Long as We're Together
Elsa – 4; Anna – 1
It was a cold evening in Arendelle. The wind outside howled and rattled the windowpanes, flinging snow and ice at the glass. It seemed that winter was upon them, and they were having their first real snowstorm since the weather had turned. It might be bone-chilling cold outside, but inside the castle, it was bright, warm, and pleasant.
Elsa and Anna were in their nursery playing, their nanny, Hanne, asleep in the rocking chair in the corner. She was an older, plump woman with dark, piercing eyes, a beaky nose, and dark hair streaked liberally with grey, which was always pulled into a tight bun at the base of her neck. She was an intimidating woman, even while asleep, and despite her roundness, never had any trouble keeping up with the rambunctious princesses. Elsa kept playing little tricks on her with her magic and Anna had just mastered crawling and was now getting into everything. It wouldn't be long before she started walking.
Right now, the princesses were sitting in front of the fire, playing with their dolls. Or, at least, Elsa was. Anna wasn't really playing as she was getting in Elsa's way. But Elsa didn't mind; she loved her sister and loved playing with her, even if she did sometimes get in the way. The dolls she was playing with had been made to look like her and Anna. One had red pigtails and wore a yellow dress, and the other had yellow pigtails and wore a blue dress.
"See, Anna?" Elsa was saying, holding up the dolls so her sister could see and pointing to each one in turn. "This is me and this is you. Now we're gonna build a snowman." She twirled her fingers and made a small pile of snow, which she formed into three small balls. She then placed one on top of the other and made two small holes in the top one for eyes and drew a smile on it with her finger. She turned it so Anna could see. "Hi, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs," she said in a goofy voice, making Anna giggle.
"Off! Off!" she said, clapping her little hands.
"No, Anna," said Elsa, shaking her head and pointing at the snowman. "Olaf."
"Off! Off!" Anna said again.
Elsa sighed. It had been like this almost every night for the past few weeks. Anna was now a year old, and their parents allowed them one half hour of playtime after supper and before they were put to bed. Now that Anna could play back with her, Elsa had started making snowmen to amuse her. She named every snowman "Olaf", and had recently started trying to teach Anna to say his name, but she couldn't quite get all the sounds out yet. This, of course, made Elsa grow increasingly frustrated and she had told her parents so just the other day. But they had just said that Anna will say it when she's ready and to be patient.
But Elsa was done with being patient. She decided to try one more time. "O-laf," she said, drawing out the two syllables.
"Off! Off!" Anna said.
Elsa sighed again and gave up. It was almost time for bed, anyway. She dismantled the snowman and melted the snow. As they were already in their nightgowns, they just had to wait for Nanny Hanne to wake up and tuck them in. Elsa could get into her own bed just fine by herself, but even for a big girl of four like her, she couldn't quite lift Anna into her crib. She got up and took the dolls over to the small chest at the end of her bed, which held all her toys. She gave each of them a kiss before setting them gently on top and closing the lid. Just then, she heard a small voice from somewhere behind her.
"Essie! Essie!"
Elsa turned around so fast, her braid whipped her in the face. She looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. It hadn't come from Nanny Hanne; she was still asleep. The only person it could've come from was—
"Essie! Essie!"
Anna.
Elsa looked down at her sister. She was holding her arms out and her lips were puckered. It looked like she was about to cry, as if she was scared of Elsa going too far. Elsa walked back over to where Anna was sitting and knelt down in front of her.
"What did you say?" she asked, and though she already knew just what Anna had said, she felt she needed to hear it again in order to believe it. But Anna just looked up at her with her big blue eyes. Trying a different tack, she asked, "Can you say my name? Say 'Elsa'."
"Essie! Essie!" Anna said, holding her hands out again.
Elsa grinned so widely, she thought her face might crack. "Good job, Anna!" she said. "I knew you could do it! Mama, Papa!"
Unfortunately, her excited shout woke up Nanny Hanne, who opened her eyes with a start. "Gracious, child, what on earth are you going on about?" she said.
"Anna can say my name!" Elsa said happily, running over to her and tugging on her hand excitedly. "She can say my name!"
"Nonsense, child," Nanny Hanne scolded, standing up.
"But she can, she really can!" Elsa said.
"That's quite enough!" Nanny Hanne said in her stern voice. "It's time for bed. Move along now."
Elsa sighed dejectedly and went over to her bed. But before she could climb up, she heard Anna cry, "Essie! Essie!"
She looked back around at her sister, who was still sitting on the floor, her arms outstretched yet again. Then she looked at Nanny Hanne, who was just standing there, dumbstruck, a look of disbelief on her face. She looked at Elsa.
"Told you," said Elsa quietly, and she got into bed and settled herself down.
The blizzard had blown itself out by the next morning, leaving a few inches of fresh snow on the ground. Elsa woke to an almost blinding white light streaming in through her diamond-patterned window. She rubbed her eyes, stretched, and sat up. It was quiet. Judging from the color of the light, it was still early. The only noise was a small sucking sound coming from the other side of the room. Elsa climbed down off her bed, tiptoed over to Anna's crib, and peeked in. She, too, was awake, but quiet and sucking her thumb. Elsa smiled at her.
"Hi, Anna," she whispered, even though there was no one in the room but them. "Guess what? It snowed last night. I haven't looked outside yet, but I bet it looks so pretty. Maybe Nanny or Mama will let us play outside today. I hope it's not too cold. But the cold never bothered me anyway. It might bother you, though, 'cause you're still little. But if isn't too cold for you, I could make you a real snowman and maybe even pull you around on my sled." She paused, frowning. "I wish you could walk. Then I could maybe teach you to ice skate, too. But at least you can talk. Can you say my name? Say 'Elsa'."
But Anna just lay there, looking up at Elsa with her big blue eyes, and continued sucking her thumb. Elsa sighed. "That's okay," she said. "Maybe we can try later, when Mama and Papa are around. They haven't heard you talk yet."
Almost as if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Elsa scurried over to open it. But instead of seeing her mother or father or even Gerda, she saw Nanny Hanne. She was wearing a dark grey dress and her hair was in its usual tight bun.
"Good, you're awake," she said briskly before entering the room. "Time to get dressed for breakfast. Your mother and father are waiting for you."
She hurried over to the wardrobe in the corner and pulled out a blue dress for Elsa and a green dress for Anna. She then proceeded to help them into them. She smoothed out what little hair Anna had and brushed and braided Elsa's hair. She inspected them and, satisfied, picked up Anna, took Elsa's hand, and led them downstairs to the family's dining room, where their mother and father were waiting for them.
"The princesses, Your Majesties," Nanny Hanne said, still managing to bob a curtsy while holding Anna.
"Thank you, Nanny Hanne," the queen said, standing up from her place at the table and approaching them. "We will take it from here."
"Yes, ma'am," said Nanny Hanne, and she handed Anna over to her mother before bobbing another curtsy and exiting the room.
"Good morning, my darlings," the queen said, smiling at Anna and Elsa in turn.
"Morning, Mama, Papa," said Elsa quietly, bobbing a little curtsy of her own.
"Why don't you come sit down?" the king said, also smiling. "Gerda has prepared something special for this cold morning."
Elsa scooted over to her seat and climbed up. Even though she was four now, she still couldn't quite reach the table without being raised up, so she was still using her raised seat. Anna, of course, was in her high chair. The room was quiet for a moment, then Elsa remembered what had happened last night, about Anna saying her name. She opened her mouth to tell her parents, but before she could say anything, a door opened at the other end of the room.
Gerda then came in, carrying four bowls, three of which were filled with steaming hot oatmeal. She set them down in front of them and exited the room before coming back in with a large pitcher of orange juice. The queen thanked her and she left again.
Before there were any more interruptions, Elsa blurted out, "Anna can say my name!" But then she clamped her mouth shut and looked down at her bowl.
"What was that, Elsa, dear?" her mother asked, busy feeding Anna her cereal.
"Anna can say my name," Elsa said, a little slower, still looking at her oatmeal. "Well, kinda. She can say the 'E' and the 'S, but not the 'L' or the 'A'. It sounds like 'Essie'. Listen. Anna, can you say 'Elsa'?"
Again, Anna just looked at her. Elsa sighed.
"She said it over and over last night," she said.
"That's all right, dear," her mother said, putting the last bite of Anna's cereal in her mouth. "Maybe she'll say it later."
"I wish she'd say it now," Elsa grumbled, scraping her spoon along the edge of her bowl.
"I know, but you have to be patient," her father said. "She probably only says it when she feels like it. Now, please eat your oatmeal before it gets cold."
For the next few minutes, there was no sound except for the clinking of Elsa's spoon and the rustle of paper as the king looked over the missives he had received so far that morning. Soon, Elsa finished and dropped her spoon back into her bowl with a loud clank.
"Mama?" Elsa asked, looking up at her mother.
"Yes, darling?" her mother said, lifting Anna out of her chair and settling her in her lap.
"Can—can I take Anna outside to play in the snow?" Elsa asked hesitantly.
"I'm sorry, my darling, but I'm afraid it's too cold outside today," her mother answered.
"Oh," said Elsa quietly, and she hung her head. "That's okay. Maybe I can teach Anna to talk some more."
"Good idea," her mother said, smiling at her. She rang a small bell next to her plate and a minute later, Gerda came shuffling back in.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" she said, curtsying.
"Please take Anna and Elsa back up to their room," the queen answered. "I'm sure Nanny Hanne is still eating, so could you keep an eye on them until she finishes?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Gerda said, curtsying again. She took Anna from her mother and held out her hand for Elsa. Elsa slid down from her seat, ran over to Gerda, took her hand, and Gerda led them back upstairs.
Elsa was quiet for most of the way, hanging her head again and shuffling her feet. Gerda noticed and asked, "Something wrong, Princess?" She smiled down at Elsa.
"Yes. No. I don't know," Elsa mumbled.
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Gerda asked, shifting a squirming Anna to her other hip.
"I know," said Elsa quietly. She took a deep breath. "Well, okay. Anna said my name last night."
"Did she now?" said Gerda, looking at Anna and then back at Elsa. "That's wonderful!"
"But she won't say it today," Elsa said, on the verge of whining. "I tried to get her to say it for Mama and Papa at breakfast, but she just looked at me."
"Maybe she only says it when you two are alone," Gerda suggested.
"Maybe," said Elsa quietly. Or maybe I just imagined it, she thought to herself.
"Well, I'm sure she'll say it again when she's ready," Gerda said, smiling at her again.
"You think so?" Elsa asked, looking up at her.
"I know so," Gerda answered, and gave a little wink.
By that time, they had reached the nursery. It was still empty, which meant that Nanny Hanne hadn't yet returned from breakfast. Elsa went to her toy chest, took out the stuffed dolls she had been playing with the night before, and sat down on the rug in the middle of the room. Gerda set Anna down next to her and then went to sit down in the rocking chair in the corner.
"Wanna build another snowman, Anna?" Elsa asked, propping the dolls up so they were sitting, too.
"Off! Off!" Anna said, clapping her hands.
Elsa smiled. Finally, they were getting somewhere. Anna hadn't said the word she wanted to hear, but at least she was talking again.
"Okay, ready?" she said, but, again, Anna just looked at her with her big blue eyes. She twirled her fingers and, like last night, created just enough snow to build a small snowman, which she proceeded to do, while Anna watched, sucking her thumb. When Elsa had finished, she pointed to it.
"Olaf," she said.
"Off! Off!" Anna said.
This time, though, instead of getting frustrated or impatient, Elsa just giggled.
"That's okay, Anna," she said. "You say it when you're ready. But as long as we're together, I'll help you." She smiled, and earned a smile in return. She stood up and went over to her toy chest again to look for something to use as buttons on the snowman. As she was rummaging, she heard a small voice behind her.
"Essie! Essie!"
Elsa froze, hardly daring to believe it. She turned around slowly and saw Anna with her hands outstretched, just like last night. She walked over to her, bent down, and said, "Say it again, Anna."
This time, to Elsa's great happiness, Anna complied. "Essie! Essie!" she said.
A huge grin split Elsa's face and she hugged Anna tight, never wanting to let go.
Originally, I had planned on including Anna's first steps in this one, too, but I decided that it was too much, so I cut it. Also, I wanted Elsa's name to be one of Anna's first words, but was a little unsure as to what form of Elsa's name to use. At first, I thought of using "Essa", like I did with Kirsten (Anna and Kristoff's little girl in "Family Ties" and its sequels), but after a conversation with a fellow fanfiction writer, I came up with what you see here.
Again, hope you enjoyed! Another chapter coming soon! (If I don't get distracted by "Let It Go" again.) :)