Frozen Together Chapter 11
The rocky spurs of the North Mountain were among the most inhospitable places in all Arendelle. They were well above the tree line; no living thing grew there. In summer, over half their area was covered in snow and ice; in winter, they were covered completely. There was nothing of value there. They were just about the last place anyone would ever want to go.
Tonight, there were two people there. Two tiny specks in brightly-colored clothing were making their slow way across the snowfields, dwarfed by the towering mountain above them.
"The wind is really blowing up here," Anna said through chattering teeth.
"Not half as bad as I blew it down there," Elsa replied sadly.
"Elsa, you're only human!" Anna burst out. "That Duke was worse than rude – he was cruel! I heard those things he was saying... I tried to get to you in time, but I couldn't get through the crowd fast enough..."
"Don't blame yourself, Anna. I'm the one who ruined everything."
They walked on for a while without speaking. Finally, Anna felt like she had to break the oppressive silence.
"The moon's so bright on the mountain tonight." She glanced back, where the wind was carrying drifting snow across their path. "Soon, our footprints won't be seen."
"A kingdom of ice!" Elsa exclaimed.
"Isolation," Anna corrected her. "With one subject and a queen." As Elsa hung her head in dejection at the thought of all she'd just lost, Anna tried to console her. "There's no allowing for the way that Duke had lied!"
"I couldn't keep it in," the Queen said sadly. "Heaven knows I tried." Bitterly, she thought of all the years she'd tried to obey her parents' commands... and what had it gotten her?
"I let them in, I let them see!" she sighed. "No more good girl – it wasn't meant to be! 'Conceal, don't feel' just brought me woe!"
Anna wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Well, now they know. Let it go."
"Let it go?" Elsa had never considered such a thing.
"Why hold it back anymore?" Anna asked.
"Let it go!" Elsa pulled off her other glove and began shooting icy sparks from her hands – first just a few feet up, then high into the sky. She made an Olaf with a casual gesture, then fired some blasts that sent the snow flying.
"Let it go!" Anna echoed her. "It's so beautiful and pure!" She was loving what she was seeing... but she was also shivering. Neither of them had come from the ball dressed for mountain climbing, Anna even less so than Elsa.
"In this air, you won't last a day!" Elsa exclaimed. "Here, put my cape on." She wrapped the heavy cape around her sister's shoulders, and doubled it for extra warmth. When Anna tried to resist, Elsa waved her off. "The cold never bothered me anyway," she said dismissively. They walked on.
Elsa just couldn't get over the Duke's behavior. "It's funny, his insistence just made him look more small."
Anna was more interested in the change that was coming over her sister. Now that they were away from everyone and her secret was out, she wasn't acting like the old Elsa at all. She seemed to be coming alive at last. "But the fears that once controlled you... like snowflakes, watch them fall!"
They came to a chasm that was far too wide to jump across. Elsa looked down to the bottom, then back at Anna with a sly grin. "It's time to see what I can do. I'll build a bridge and bring us through!"
Anna worried that a bridge made out of ice might not be strong enough to hold them. Elsa seemed to sense her sister's concern. "I can't go wrong if you're with me. You'll see!" She gestured with both hands, and the beginnings of a bridge appeared. But it wasn't a copy of the usual Arendelle wooden footbridge. It was a fairy staircase, light and beautiful, made entirely of ice. It was the first time she'd ever tried to do something useful with her power, instead of just doing tricks. Would it be strong enough? Elsa hesitantly put her weight on the first step... and it held her!
There was no holding her back now. She ran ahead fearlessly, bringing more of the bridge into being with each step. "Let it go! Let it go!" she shouted. "We're unstoppable, you and I!"
Anna followed as fast as she could, overjoyed at the sight of her sister bursting out of her self-imposed shell like a butterfly from the chrysalis. "Let it go! Let it go! I'm so happy, I could cry!"
They reached the other side. It looked a lot like where they had just come from, except there was a deep chasm between there and here. Elsa slammed her foot down on the snow, and a huge, beautiful snowflake pattern spread out from her footprint. "Here we'll stand, Anna, come what may!" As her sister caught up with her, Elsa realized that Anna was still shivering. "But the storm blows on..."
She had to get Anna out of this wind before she froze to death!
She looked around. There was little chance of finding a mountain-man's shack this high up. Even a cave in the rocks would help, but there were no caves to be seen. Then she glanced back at her bridge, and realized that she was no longer bound by the state of things as she saw them. She grinned at the thought that occurred to her.
She pulled Anna close, and made a mighty gesture. Anna gasped as their huge snowflake began to rise off the ground! With a rumble, pillars of ice rose up all around it, growing, spreading, joining together into walls. Spires rose high, then were engulfed by bigger spires that rose even higher. In the midst of this act of creation, Elsa was joyously leaping and dancing like some kind of elemental spirit. With every move, white sparks flew from her fingertips into the floor, then flashed out all around them and up the walls, which rose to dizzying heights before they arched inward to form a vaulted ceiling. An amazing six-branched chandelier reached down from the ceiling, shining with refracted light.
"The cold and flurries in the air will pull you down," Elsa explained. "A simple shack of ice won't do for one who wears a crown. But all these crystals will hold back the icy blast." She watched as the last details of her amazing ice palace formed themselves. "We're never going back – we've made our place at last!" Everything would be different from now on!
Perhaps she should even look different?
She recalled Anna's words – "Did you ever want to get a makeover? You know – new hairstyle, new makeup, new clothes, new shoes..."
She pulled her royal tiara out of her hair, gazed at it sadly for a few seconds, then tossed it aside. She pulled her hair free of its confinement, shook it out, and let her long braid fall over her left shoulder. Oh, that felt good!
"Let it go, let it go!" Anna encouraged her. "You've held it for far too long!"
"Let it go, let it go!" Elsa nodded. "Together, we are strong!"
Now she had to change her dress. A shimmer of ice along the bottom hem swiftly engulfed the whole garment. First its color changed; then the ice crystals began working into the very fabric itself. In moments, her conservative coronation dress had become a form-fitting ice-blue outfit, the likes of which no Queen of Arendelle had ever dreamed of wearing, or would have dared to wear if they had thought of it. She finished it with a delicate cape of pure fine ice, decorated in snowflake patterns. She looked beautiful, and she felt beautiful, too.
She led her sister out onto the balcony, where they had a spectacular view of the sun coming up over the mountains. "Here we stand at the break of day! Let that Duke rave on!"
"The fool never cared for you anyway," Anna added softly, and wiped a tear away. "That was beautiful, Elsa! It was like watching a flower open up and blossom."
"You like my new palace?" Elsa smiled.
"I love it," Anna nodded, "and I like your new look, too. But I was talking about you. You're fearless, you're happy, you're confident... you're alive again!" She yawned hugely. "I wish I felt that alive."
"Well, you've been celebrating all day, and climbing mountains all night," Elsa nodded. "I suppose we both need some sleep." She wasn't thinking about sleep herself – she was still running on a serious dose of adrenaline.
"Mm-hmm," Anna said drowsily. "But I don't think sleeping on blocks of ice will do it for me."
"Me neither," Elsa nodded. "Let me think..." After a few seconds, she brought a bed frame of ice into being, complete with lacy, ornate headboard and footboard. Then she called up a swirling cloud of flying snowflakes, taller than she was. By gesturing with her hands, she squeezed the cloud down until it was just a few inches thick, and the same length and width as the bed frame. Anna pushed on this strange swirling mattress; it yielded under her hand, and even felt soft. When she removed her hand, it sprang back into shape.
"That's amazing, Elsa!" she exclaimed. "But it's... cold." She looked hopefully at her sister.
"Anna, you and I haven't shared a bed since you were three years old and afraid of the thunder!" Elsa chuckled. "But, until we can get some blankets up here, I guess that's the only way." They lay down together for warmth, with Elsa's cape wrapped tightly around Anna, and soon they were giving way to drowsiness, in spite of the night's excitement.
Just before they fell asleep, Elsa whispered, "Anna... I'm glad you came with me."
Anna whispered back, "I'm glad you finally got to be the big sister."
"I'm glad you're still the awesome sister," Elsa said.
"Not me," Anna replied sleepily. "I think that's one of your royal titles."
"I'll share it with you," Elsa replied after thinking for a few seconds. But Anna was already asleep.