"I guess I shouldn't stand so close to Elsa when she's landing, huh?"

Anna laughed, "Probably not, Olaf. Here, I'll help you pull yourself together. Hey, where's your…" she looked around before rolling her eyes and grabbing the carrot from its captor, "...nose. Thank you, Sven." The reindeer managed a noble bow.

"Olaf," Elsa asked, "How often do you replace that carrot, anyway?"

"Well… I only really replace it when Kristoff says it's starting to smell. Although I'm not sure how he can smell anything other than himself. Even Sven takes more baths than he does! Personally, I like to think that an older, browner carrot gives me a sense of aged wisdom…" he stared off into the distance, "or at least a new look. There aren't a lot of fashion options for snowmen."

"I'll see what I can do about that, little guy. Once we've got this place all cleaned up. Oh, and speaking of Kristoff, where is he?"

Sven buried his face under a hoof as the snowman told the story, "Oh, you should have seen it. You remember when we were getting attacked? Were you here for that? I think Sven was. Anyway, we were getting attacked, and all these angry-looking guys came running over the walls. They were yelling and screaming and just being so rude. I turned to ask Kristoff if we should go help, and he was already halfway to the castle! By the time I caught up to him, he had locked himself inside of a barn and was still in it when it got knocked down. They're digging him out now."

Sven snorted. "I'm surprised you aren't there waiting for him," Anna said.

The reindeer shook his head. "We were there for a while, but there was so much crying. Sven couldn't take it," the snowman leaned closer and whispered, "It was really starting to annoy me too, but I was afraid if I said anything it would just get worse. So we thought it was best to just leave for now."

"That is… quite a story, Olaf. Not exactly a surprising one though," Elsa was able to stifle a smile behind a gauntleted hand.

Anna didn't even bother with the hand, "That boy is such a hard worker, and a great friend, but wow he scares easy. Anyway, have you guys seen Tendro? We've got some news-"

"Here I am, Princess."

"Ah! How do you always do that?"

The Guard Captain raised an eyebrow at the Princess and said nothing.

"Captain. We have some news for you that I think you will want to hear. Is your office available?"

He had barely finished his, "Yes, Majesty," before spinning on his heel and stepping off to the barracks. Once inside his office, he didn't take the news as well as Elsa had hoped. She had thought it would be a relief to know that everything that had gone wrong lately was actually not his fault. It turned out that the Captain didn't think that way. He viewed his vulnerability to manipulation as a weakness, therefore placing more blame on himself. She tried to explain, but he just wanted to be left alone.

"Well that could have gone better," Anna said.

"I agree. But he had to be told. And he will see in time that he could not have been at fault for any of this. The Duke was more powerful than any of us could have expected. He had entire armies under his command. There is no shame in this for Captain Tendro. He just needs help seeing that."

"We'll think of something!" Always bright and cheerful. That was her Anna. "In the meantime though, can we go to bed? I am so far beyond exhausted that I'm worried I might just wake up all over again."

"That's not how it- oh don't look at me like that, I'm kidding. Yes, we can go to bed!"

Elsa's armor disappeared as soon as she stepped into her room. It felt so amazing to be out of it that she just stood there with her eyes closed for a moment, savoring her newfound lightness. When she opened them again, she grinned at the steaming copper tub awaiting her. Oh, Gerda, you deserve a raise.

Anna was sneaking down the hallway towards Elsa's room. She had finished her bath in record time, especially considering how dirty she had been. The softness of the rug under her toes was so nice when compared with the hard soles of her boots. She couldn't wait to curl up in Elsa's arms and kiss her pretty face. Her knees trembled a bit at the thought, nearly sending her tumbling into a suit of armor. She patted its shoulder as if that was her intention all along, checking behind her to make sure her gracelessness had gone unnoticed. Thankfully, it had.

She opened Elsa's door and was surprised to find the blonde still in the tub. Just the top of her head was visible, with her light golden hair splayed out across the water. She looked like a mermaid… or a siren! But… not fictional, or a monster. Just… enticing. So freaking enticing.

Anna didn't want to disturb her, she looked so peaceful. So she decided to settle herself in an armchair nearby with a book she could pretend to read while she gorged her eyes on the Queen's bathing form. It didn't last nearly as long as she had hoped.

"Are you quite comfortable, sweetheart?"

Anna jumped, but made a quick recovery, "Not as comfortable as you look." She walked around behind her sister and knelt on the rug. "Lots of aching muscles, I bet." Her fingers found their way under the water to Elsa's shoulders and began to knead them gently.

The older girl moaned in appreciation, "For the love of Odin, do not stop doing that."

"As you wish, my Queen," came the reply, whispered in her ear.

Over the course of the next hour or so, the Princess's hands had worked their magic everywhere they could reach. She made sure to pay special attention to each spot that drew any kind of moan from her sister. Which, fortunately for the both of them, turned out to be just about every inch of her upper body.

Anna wrapped a huge towel around Elsa as she stepped from the tub, pulling her into a deep kiss at the same time. As soon as their lips met it was as if all the events of the day faded away. The castle, the bath, the room, it was all gone. Those perfect, playful lips were all that mattered right then, and Anna was having the time of her life playing back.

The Queen stepped over to the bed and crawled under the covers, pulling the Princess with her. The comfort of the bed threatened to overwhelm her. Kisses or no kisses, her body just didn't have the energy to keep moving. But Elsa… Elsa was kissing her, and holding her… she never wanted that to end. Once they fell asleep, there would be work to do and who knows when they would get another chance like this?

So she pulled her sister as tightly to her as she could, wrapping each of her legs in Elsa's and kissing her as soundly as she knew how. Every bit of love she could muster was poured into that kiss, and Elsa obviously knew it because the reciprocation was overloading Anna's mind. Every last bit of her energy went into making sure that her sister knew just how happy she was that she had kept her promise to come home.

Even after they fell asleep, neither dared let the other go.

For the second time in as many days, Anna awoke to her sister dressed for war. "What? Again?! Who did we upset this time?"

Elsa laughed, "Nobody, darling, don't worry. I'm just going to Corona to check on Rapunzel."

Oh, right. Corona! How could she have forgotten? In all the excitement… "I'm sure they're okay. I wish I could go too, but one of us has to stay. Rebuilding and all that. Plus, if we're both gone, there will be nobody to lounge about in this big comfy bed all day. I take it upon myself- oh!"

Elsa's armor disappeared as she leapt onto the bed. Anna suddenly found herself smothered in blond hair and kisses. Her giggling only seemed to make the Queen more aggressive. So, naturally, she just giggled harder.

Several minutes later, they lay breathless but still laughing, staring into each other's eyes. Anna leaned over and kissed Elsa's cute little upturned nose, "Just because this shouldn't be dangerous doesn't mean you don't be careful. Your promise still stands, Miss Ice Cannons!"

"Oh no, tell me that isn't going to turn into a pet name."

"You won't know until you come back to me, Miss Ice Cannons."

"Okay, okay! I solemnly swear that I will come back, safe and sound, to my True Love, the unmatched beauty, Princess Anna of Arendelle."

Anna's eyes narrowed as she considered this, "That will do. Now be off, I have royal business to attend to!"

Elsa laughed and kissed her before heading out the door, armor reforming as she went. As soon as the door was closed behind her, Anna was out of the bed and getting dressed. There was so much to do! The quicker she got the cleanup started, the quicker she could find Olaf and start planning!

Elsa landed in Corona. The town itself had looked normal when she passed over it, with people going about their business in the streets. But the castle… there was nobody to greet her. No guards at the gates, no servants in the windows. Something was definitely wrong, and the village didn't seem to have a clue.

She half-expected to be ambushed when she launched herself over the wall and into the courtyard, but it was as empty as it had appeared from outside. As she neared the door to the castle proper, she chuckled, thinking of Anna's new nickname for her. Like she would just blast every door open… that would be silly. Fun, but silly.

The hallways were vacant, but not silent. Someone was definitely talking not too far from there. "... don't know. He hasn't made contact yet this week. Maybe he got so excited at wiping out Arendelle that he forgot about us."

"He better not… he owes us!"

"Oh shut up. The Duke's good for it. We wouldn't have accepted the job if he didn't have a good reputation for things like that."

"There's always a first time, ain't there? What's stoppin' him from just leavin' us here?"

"Because we know what he did to that mouthy boy we met on the beach. What was his name? Lance? Lars? Leo? I don't remember. Anyway, the good Duke wouldn't want anyone to know that he had brainwashed the kid to shut him up, now would he?"

There was a short silence, the slow one was apparently attempting to think, "'Spose not."

"Right, so any day now, he'll contact us and-"

Elsa stepped around the corner and found herself in the Throne Room. "No. No, he really won't."

One of the men, presumably the slightly less unintelligent one, had been lounging on the throne and promptly fell to the floor in surprise. The other, an enormous thug of a man, looked like he didn't know what he was seeing. It was probably just taking him a while to register that something in the room had changed.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" shouted the throne man, pushing himself to his feet.

Lending the frost to her voice like she had the day before, she replied, "I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Get away from my cousin's throne. Now."

"You're… you are not. Arendelle is gone. Who are you really?"

With a sigh and a flick of her wrist, the men were swept across the room by a sudden torrent of icy wind. She followed them to where they lay. "The Duke is dead. Where is my cousin? And please… don't make me ask again."