"Your Majesty?" Kai said in a loud whisper as he knocked on Elsa's door. It was four in the morning and he made sure that Queen Elsa wouldn't be late for her first meeting in the Northern Isles. "The ship will be leaving in an hour."
Elsa didn't need to be woken up; she never slept that night. She couldn't.
"Yes, of course." Elsa replied, praying that her voice wouldn't wake Elise. It didn't.
When she heard the footsteps from outside her door grow quiet, she carefully picked Elise up in her arms and went out of her quarters, walking barefooted towards Anna's.
Not even bothering to knock, she opened the door to her sister's room and saw Anna's limbs tangled in sheets, her head under her pillow and her butt up in the air, making Elsa smile a bit at her sister's sleeping habits.
"Anna," Elsa whispered, placing a hand on Anna's shoulder. Or her arm; she really couldn't tell. The redhead groaned loudly before flopping over to her side, squinting the sleep from her eyes.
"Hmm, yeah?" Anna asked groggily, focusing her gaze on Elsa and the sleeping girl in her arms.
"Anna, I have to go, and I'm not really up to leaving Elise alone in her quarters." Elsa said in a low voice, and Anna, despite her sleepy state, immediately sympathized with her.
"Oh, I see. I don't mind her sleeping here," Anna told her, sitting up and holding her arms out. Elsa carefully passed Elise to her, and Anna laid back down with Elise next to her in her arms.
"Thank you so much," Elsa smiled a bit at her sister before crouching down and reaching out to caress the crown of Elise's head. "I'll see you in a week, little love."
"Take care, alright?" Anna said, yawning. Elsa chuckled before nodding her head.
"You too." Elsa smiled, kissing her sister's forehead. "Sleep."
"Mm'kay," Anna yawned, closing her eyes and hugging Elise closer. Elsa branded the image of the two of them into her memory before leaving her sister's room to get ready for her voyage.
"Princess Anna?" Gerda knocked on her door. She went to Elise's quarters to bring her down for breakfast since Queen Elsa wasn't around, but when she saw that her room was empty, she checked the queen's quarters first, turning up with nothing before finally checking the princess'. "It's time for breakfast."
"Augh," Anna groaned, waking up the second time. "I'll be right down."
"Your Highness, Is little miss with you?" Anna finally came to her senses, bolting straight up and looking to her side where Elise was starting to wake up.
"Yes, yes. We'll be down in a while, don't worry, Gerda!" Anna said, stretching a bit. Elise sat up and looked at her new surroundings. She's never slept her before.
"Good morning, Elise." Anna smiled at the toddler, combing through her hair with her fingers. "Are you hungry?"
"Where's Mama?" Elise asked, looking up to meet her Aunt's eyes.
"She left for the Northern Isles while you were still asleep. She told you that, didn't she?" Anna said, sitting Elise on her lap. Elise nodded, but she couldn't help but feel sad.
"Aww, come on, sweetheart. We're going to have so much fun, the week will be over before you know it." Anna tried to coax out a grin from the child, but at the reminder of Elsa's duration of absence, Elise's eyes started to water, her arms going around her aunt's neck as sobs shook through her body.
"Shoot." Anna hissed under her breath, but held Elise closer. She murmured a few apologies to her before resting her cheek on top of her head. "Oh, Elise, please stop crying. I don't think your mama would like it if she found out that her brave girl had been crying."
At this, Elise forced herself to stop crying, resulting in her sputtering out coughs and whimpers.
"There, there. That's my girl," Anna crooned, kissing Elise's head. "How about we get ready for breakfast?"
Elise nodded, sniffling. Anna hoisted her up in her arms before going to her personal washroom to get themselves ready.
"Rough morning?" Kristoff asked Anna when she walked into the dining hall hand in hand with Elise. Anna stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation before turning her attention to one of the servants.
"Could you please move Elise's meal next to mine? She usually sits next to Elsa and I'm not sure if she wants to sit there without her and - I'm rambling aren't I?" Anna said, catching her tongue before she said too much.
"Of course, Your Highness." He bowed before doing the deed. Anna sat down next to Kristoff and set Elise down next to her. Elise had to kneel on the chair since the table was too high, which prompted one of the servants to bring her two cushions to give her a bit of height.
"Thank 'ou!" Elise said politely after fixing her seat, and the servant bowed at her, but not before smiling.
"You are very welcome, little miss." The hall was quiet for a while. Elise was pushing her fruit around with her fork, unable to spear a piece since they kept slipping around.
"You can use your hands if you want," Anna said, seeing Elise's difficulty. Her niece looked up, her eyes showing her disbelief.
"Mama said not to eat with hands!" Elise retorted, and Anna just chuckled. So obedient, she thought.
Gerda immediately piped up. "Forgive my interruption, Princess Anna, but I can feed little miss, if that would be alright."
"That okay with you?" Anna asked Elise, and she nodded her head. She turned her attention back to Gerda, affirming that she can push through with her suggestion.
"You'll be helping me out with Elise this week, right?" Anna then turned to Kristoff, who just gave her an impish smile and a thumbs up before he scarfed more food down his system.
"Kristoff!" Anna giggled, hitting his arm. He swallowed the food before turning to his girlfriend.
"I'll try. Need I remind you again that I was raised by trolls? I have no idea how to interact with children." Kristoff said, and Anna nodded. "You're good with Elise. She likes playing with you." Anna retorted, and Kristoff brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. Anna only smiled, but thought of how things would be for a while.
She loved her niece, that was already a given, but she had no idea if she and Elsa had some sort of routine or ritual or something and she wasn't sure if she could handle a three year old with separation anxiety.
That itself was enough to make her feel nervous, but her sister trusted her enough to leave her daughter in her care.
And she had no intention of letting her sister down.
"What do you want to do today, Elise?" Anna asked her only niece, combing her fingers through her hair. They were currently seated on Elise's bed, and the redhead was almost at her wits end by trying to engage Elise in any kind of activity. She sighed; it was only the first day without her mother.
Elise only shrugged.
"Come on, I know there's something we can do," Anna urged, standing up from the bed and scavenging through Elise's play area in her quarters. "Do you want to have a tea party?"
Elise shook her head. "My dollies are sad today. They don't want to play."
"Oh, alright," Anna said before searching again. "Do you want me to read you a story?" Elise looked down before shaking her head. She wasn't in the mood to play or do anything.
"What about dress up?" At this, Elise's ears perked up, and a glimmer of hope was seen in Anna's eyes. Bingo.
"Dress up?" Elise inquired, her head adorably tilted to the side. "How do you play?"
"Well, basically you dress up like a princess or a fairy or anything you would like and pretend you really are that person," Anna explained simply. "Well, that's how I used to play it."
"I don't have dress up things," Elise told Anna before lying down on her bed, clutching Christine to her chest.
"Maybe we can play that tomorrow; I'll have Gerda make you a bunch of different ones," Anna said, lying back down next to her niece, propping herself on her side. "What kinds of dresses would you like to have?"
"I want to have mama's dress," Elise said, also lying down on her side so she would be facing Anna. "The blue sparkly one."
"She looks pretty in that dress, doesn't she?" Anna told her, and Elise nodded eagerly. "I'm sure you'll look just as beautiful, if not more."
"I miss mama," Elise voiced out sadly, lying flat on her back. She wasn't used to not seeing her mother constantly. Anna scooted closer to Elise, tentatively resting her hand on top of her niece's stomach, rubbing small circles with her thumb. "She rubs my tummy too. Her hands are cold, but I like your warm too."
"I've heard," Anna chuckled. Curiosity got the best of her; she didn't know what else her sister did with Elise. "What else does she do with you?"
"She carry me a lot," Elise started. "I like to walk but she like to carry me so I let her. She gives me baths and she sometimes let me hold cold bubbles."
"She freezes the bubbles?" Anna clarified. Elise nodded.
"She sings with no words and likes to give me lots of kisses. She tells me stories and lets me finish them. And one time when I can't sleep and she can't sleep we went down to kitchen and had milk and cookies and chocolate." Elise recalled, smiling a bit at the memories and the sensation of Anna's tummy rubs.
Anna grinned at the tiny revelations. "Bring me with you the next time that happens, okay? I'm always up for chocolate at three in the morning."
Elise giggled, but then nodded in the affirmative. She scooted closer to her aunt, breathing in her scent. Anna wrapped her arm around her. "Can we sleep again?"
"A child after my own heart," Anna joked, but then kissed her forehead. "Of course. I'll be here when you wake up."
Sorry for the late installment; this will be in four parts. I have no idea when the next one will be up, but it eventually will.
On another note, I wrote another story inspired by one of my favorite novels. It's called 'Behind the Wall', and I would really appreciate it if you guys would tell me what you think about that.
Also, do you guys have any suggestions for what you want Kristoff and Elise to do in the next chapter? Or Anna and Elise? Or all three of them? Or what about Elsa? Let me hear them (because my mind is just blank as of now.)
Please do tell me what you think. Wishing you all the best!