This. Was. It.
Anna could barely take it any more. The queen had been avoiding the princess for the past three weeks. Including the day before the nightmares, make it four. And that's almost a full month! A whole February!
It was so frustrating. Every time she tried to approach the queen, she would walk off saying things like "Anna, there are dignitaries from China are waiting, I have to go.", "Sorry Anna, can't you see I'm busy?", "Anna, I have a lot of paperwork to do today, I'll see you later, alright?", and worst of all, "Anna I need to check on the horses.".
What horses?! That was the most ridiculous excuse she had ever given, Elsa has never ridden horses!
She groaned as she got out of bed. It was already past noon, so her sister must have finished her lunch and was probably hiding behind that stack of excuses called paperwork.
Anna couldn't understand, what went wrong this time? Just when she thought they were finally succeeding in becoming sisters again, Elsa has to start up another drama. "Typical Elsa," Anna muttered to herself. "So much for never closing the gates ever again..."
As Anna finally got herself dressed up, Anna sighed. She missed her sister.
She looked at herself in the mirror and placed a hand on her lips. What exactly did that night mean, Elsa?
It meant that Elsa loves her too, right..? But was Elsa in love with her the same way she was in love with her? She blushed at the thought. It had to be. It was true love, and it was a kiss on the lips! Bulda didn't call it a true love's kiss for nothing, right? Her face lit up at the thought. That's it! Elsa's in love with her!
But why was she avoiding her?
The redhead gave up. Thinking was never her strong points anyway.
Upon arriving in the dining hall, Anna was greeted by a great surprise.
"Happy birthday Princess Anna!" the voices echoed through the castle. Countless round rocks with green moss stacked up before the princess. The younger ones jumped onto her for hugs. "Ooh!"
"Happy birthday Anna!" the little ones shouted with one of the brightest smiles on their face. "How have you been?"
Just then, Pabbie, Sven and Kristoff arrived. Dropping the troll-children, Anna ran to tackle her two best friends with a hug. "Pabbie, Kristoff! What are you doing here? How did you know?!" Truth be told, Anna totally forgot it was her birthday today. In fact, she had been so busy trying to spend time with Elsa nothing else seemed to matter to her.
"Princess Anna, it is great honour to see you again, and in better circumstances as well. I would like to wish you a wonderful birthday." Pabbie said with a bow.
"Well..." Kristoff said, rubbing the back of his head. It was still awkward after their breakup. Of course he still liked Anna, and his pride still stung a little from the breakup. But Anna was a friend before a girlfriend, so attending her birthday party was the least he could do. "Actually, your sister invited us."
"E-Elsa?" Anna's eyes widened, surprised her sister even remembered. After all, when was the last time they celebrated her birthday?
"Yeah! She told us that you were having a birthday ball later during dinner, and invited us to join in, but decided it would be weird for humans and trolls to have a ball together and it would probably make us uncomfortable so she told us to join you for lunch instead."
Anna's couldn't say anything but mouthed out an "oooh".
Anna bit her lips with eyes on the blond and then to the ground... For a moment she was happy, ecstatic, even. For her sister to remember her birthday and plan all these out for her. And yet she had the audacity to not be present! What kind of organizer was that?! Where was Alsa?! Then it sunk in.
"Wait, what? A ball?"
"Yeah, all citizens of Arendelle and dignitaries from all over the world are coming to attend. I heard they were all eager to meet the princess and have a shot at asking for her hand in marriage. Man, I never knew the you were so popular," Kristoff said nudging the princess.
Ignoring Kristoff's last sentence, Anna was touched. To think her sister had put so much effort into her birthday. Two parties in a day!
But wait, so now what? She wasn't prepared for this at all. What do people do in parties, not balls? Did they just eat? Did they talk? Play games? Throughout her childhood Anna had been playing with nothing but inanimate objects, not animate ones!
The princess tucked her hair behind her ear nervously, a forced laugh escaped her mouth. "I-I I see... So... shall we eat guys?" She bit her lips. Where was Elsa when she needed her...
The wind howled, bringing a gust of white flurry to the Arendelle.
Winter has arrived. Not Elsa's winter, but winter-winter. Which was always Anna's second favourite season, her first being the former. It meant the princess' birthday was coming. And that two girls could play under the snow without Elsa having to constantly keep her powers in check back then. After all, it was winter, nobody would notice if she let it go.
Elsa smiled at the thought. It was as if the Gods were in her favour. The past few weeks have been a turmoil for her she wasn't sure she could keep her powers under control. Fortunately enough, nobody suspected the current snow was due to her or not.
She shook her head looked back at the stack of paperwork she had to complete. There was no time to be thinking about that now, she had been so busy the past few weeks with Anna's birthday preparations she had postponed these long enough. And now that the preparations were complete, this problem should be solved and she could finally start on this, this stack of hell. Any longer and she could be buried under them.
Just as she was about to start, she heard a knock on the door.
"Your majesty?" Kai spoke up. "The merchant you made a deal with last week is here."
"Let him in." Elsa rubbed her temples, glad to find an opportunity to take a break.
"Your majesty, I am honoured to see you again." The young man entered the study and bowed before the study table. "I have arrived with the locket you have ordered last week. If you would, please check if it is to your liking." He took bronze box out of his pocket, opening it, revealing navy blue casing.
The queen stood up and picked up the blue casing. It felt soft, like a cushion, smooth to touch. She opened it and held out its content.
A golden time locket. Putting the casing on the table, Elsa opened the locket to check. The clock was perfect, not second too fast nor too slow. The looked at the picture on top and smiled. It was a picture of their parents, Anna and herself. After the nightmare that night, the blonde knew that she had to give something for Anna to remember their parents with. Not with just portraits on the wall, but something more personal. If she missed her parents, Anna would probably miss them even more.
She then turned to the window for some light. The locket seemed to shine, reflecting the sunlight, revealing the engravings: Anna.
She smiled. "It's perfect." Anna would love this. "Thank you. Kai? Double the payment I made for this young man."
"Thank you, your majesty."
After the merchant took his leave, Elsa quickly returned to work. She couldn't wait for tonight.
By the time Elsa was finished with half the stack of paperwork, she realized the sun had already set. Shocked by how time flew, she rushed to the ballroom. Anna's ball! By the time she was there, the ball had already ended. Everybody had left, Gerda and the other servants were already cleaning up and the only people left in the room was Kristoff and Anna. Sadness and guilt washed over her. She had missed her sister's birthday... How could she?
Wait, "Kristoff?"
"Hey, Elsa..." The man walked towards the queen with Anna's arm hung around his shoulder. "Glad you could make it."
"I am terribly sorry I missed it, I got so caught up in my study, I was so busy I even forgot to eat. It's not that I don't think Anna's party is just about dinner. I mean, Anna's birthday means the world to me an-" Before she could finish explaining herself, Kristoff chuckled.
"It seems rambling runs in the family. Don't apologize to me, apologize to her." He turned to the redhead still relying on him to stand. She could barely keep her eyes open.
"She was complaining about you all night, you know?"
Wait, what? Oh no... Elsa's eyes blinked, concern printed all over her face.
"She kept drinking and drinking; couldn't stop talking about how busy you've been avoiding her and how much she loves you."
Loves me? No, no no no no no.
"Well, she's yours now. There's still an hour before her birthday ends, make it up to her somehow, alright?" The blond male picked the drunk girl up and handed her to Elsa.
Elsa stumbled back a little, surprised. For a small girl she sure was lighter than she thought. Wait, no. She couldn't do this! She was supposed to be avoiding Anna!
What about the people who came to celebrate? Weren't there anybody interested in Anna?
She turned to Kristoff to protest, Kristoff gave her a wave, "I'll see you some other time, thank you for inviting me, Elsa."
"Wh-where are you going? Shouldn't you be taking care of her?" Kristoff looked back, speechless for a moment, before smiling sadly.
"As much as I'd love to, it seems her heart has been occupied by someone else." He ruffled the redhead's hair, earning a groan. "Mrrrm... Elsa..."
"We broke up a while ago. She said it was for the best... and I couldn't agree more."
Kristoff wasn't lying. And Elsa could tell who he was talking about. She wanted to ask so badly, who is it?! Who stole her sister's heart? Why wasn't that person here to take care of her tonight?! Her heart tore between wanting to know and better off not knowing.
After Kristoff had left, Elsa carried her sister back to her room. The walk there was quiet, except for Anna's occasional mumbling, tossing and turning in her sister's arms.
Quietly and gently, she pushed the door open with her foot and tucked her sister in bed.
She placed her gift by the nightstand and with a peck on the forehead, she whispered, "Happy birthday, Anna. I love you..." with all her heart.
She was about to exit the room again when she heard her sister wake up.
"Are you going to shut me out again?" Her heart broke at the question. She didn't dare to look back.
"Well? Are you?" God damn the alcohol.
Elsa turned around and smiled, "No, Anna. My doors are always open, remember?" She lied. She was aware of herself avoiding Anna.
"Then why have you been avoiding me?"
"Or how would you have me plan this surprise for you?" She forced a laugh. It was another lie. A half lie.
"And then the party?"
"I lost track of time, I'm sorry..."
Anna shrugged off the apology. Nothing mattered to her now that her sister was by her side.
"Stay with me tonight, please." Anna sat up and reached out to her sister. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
Who was Elsa to say no to that look? In love or not, Elsa would do anything for Anna. Plus right now, she could be the queen of Arendelle, but Anna was clearly the queen of her heart.
"Alright, just let me get changed first."
That seemed to satisfy the princess as she returned to bed. "I'll wait for you." Darnit.
Not wanting to keep her sister up any longer than she should, Elsa quickly slipped into her nightgown. She looked at her door and glanced to her table. The uneasiness in her made her open the drawer and picked out a key. She bit her lips. It was a difficult decision to make. Maybe she shouldn't leave it as a lie after all. But this could pose as another problem for Elsa. Her resistance towards Anna was low enough, providing her more access would mean...
Guilty, she brought it along with her, the key to her bedroom.
Her sister was already asleep by the time she returned to her room, she placed the key on the table. Now it really is always open to her. She smiled, proud of her accomplishment.
She slipped into the other side of the bed to find herself pulled into a hug from the back. She could feel a grin widening on her back.
She turned around just in time, a pair of soft lips were placed on hers. And then a yawn at her neck. "I love you, Elsa."
Elsa couldn't resist the stupid grin spreading across her cheeks. She could mean any kind of love, as a sister or as a woman. But Elsa couldn't resist the idea that Anna meant both at the same time. Maybe, just maybe... Anna didn't need another man after all. Giddily, she replied softly, "I love you too, Anna." and pecked the younger girl's hair.
"More than you'll ever know."