By now Elsa and Fitzwilliam had their morning routine settled. First there was bathing. Elsa preferred the morning, Fitz was fine with waiting until after working out with Anna, but they quickly figured out that it could not happen at the same time … that sort of poor scheduling led to canceled audiences, canceled sword lessons, canceled mornings in general.

Fitz could sleep an extra half hour if she chose, and she often did, something Elsa found annoying, but the fact was when you only had to pull on buckskin breeches, a shirt, a waistcoat, a coat and some top boots … perhaps tying a cravat if you were feeling formal … you were out the door well before someone who had to worry about a significant amount of hair and putting on make-up even if they could literally create their own dress in seconds. Fitz still remained amazed that someone who most often did create their own clothing still needed an enormous closet and two chests of drawers … minus the drawer she had for her undergarments, shirts, breeches and neckcloths.

They generally arrived to breakfast at the same time, always well before Anna. Fitz had bullied the staff into making what she called "a decent cup of tea." Elsa drank her coffee with cream and a small mound of sugar. Someone had apparently instructed a young princess that "breakfast was the most important meal of the day," and she being the perennial good girl had taken it quite to heart. As a result Elsa always entered the dining room to a full and balanced meal consisting of eggs, fish, pastries, groats, bread and sometimes more fish.

Fitz, on the other hand, thought that plain bread was just fine, thank you, unless you had a hangover, then a Bloody Mary was also required. Since she had spent the first eleven years of her life as the daughter of "the egg woman of Bromley" she felt she really didn't need to eat or even see another egg again. She wouldn't have said no to kidney or liver … or even beans … but they never seemed to be on the menu. Fitz also despaired of ever finding a decent head cheese in this barbaric hinterland. She knew for a fact that Elsa had left very clear instructions that this treat, and its cousin souse, were never to be found on her breakfast table. Sadly, in Arendelle just as in the Avalonian navy, rank had its privileges.

"So," Fitz began easily, reaching over to grab a roll from Elsa's plate. "Olaf?"

"Ummm?" Elsa finished chewing and took a delicate sip of coffee. "What about Olaf?"

"Well, I was promised an explanation this morning." She firmly tapped the roll on the table.

"Oh, I thought I had explained. Last night." She looked over at Fitzwilliam tapping the bread and her eyes widened, "Oh please..."

"Sorry, habit." Fitz caught sight of Elsa's expression. "Really bad habit."

Elsa took another sip of coffee and tried desperately not to think about the roll. Soon after Fitz had begun joining them regularly for meals Anna, never one to put satisfying her curiosity behind decorum, had asked, "So, why do you bang the bread on the table?"

Fitz's absent-minded response, "Weevils." After she said it she suddenly realized both women were looking at her in bewilderment. She had gone on blithely unaware of the impact of her words. "The rations on a ship at sea for months get infested. So we tap the bread or hard tack to get rid of the weevils." She had shrugged.

First Anna had asked her sister what a weevil was, then she had run from the table, her hand over her mouth. Elsa had glared at Fitz, fighting down her own gorge.

Which was exactly the same thing as was happening now. Elsa pushed away her half finished breakfast. Avalon, its navy, its navy's rotten vermin filled rations, they all conspired against her.

"About Olaf," Fitz said changing the topic back to something more palatable. "So ummm ...why did you make him?"

Elsa launched into a slightly breathless, very fast explanation that told Fitz that not only was she not thinking about what she was saying, but that she didn't want to think about what she was saying. "After I ran off, after the coronation from hell, I started using my powers; I hadn't used them intentionally in years. I just made something that I remembered from when Anna and I were kids, and we used to play … with my powers. That was Olaf. I didn't think he would be alive. He wasn't at first. He just stood there, like a normal snowman, when I walked away further up the mountain."

Fitzwilliam nodded, while she considered her next question. She had only been in Arendelle a little over a month, which meant really she had only been with Elsa for three weeks. However, even in that short time she had developed a few insights into her beloved. The first, most obvious, was that the habits of thirteen years of solitude and concealing the most important things about oneself were not easily shed. Elsa had a very thick shell, although admittedly her sister had been succeeding in thinning it out a bit. Under that shell was a very sensitive, vulnerable woman. The trick was recognizing when you were approaching a sensitive area, and that was not always easy.

Her gaze went to the clock that ticked quietly on the fireplace mantle nearby. For a woman whose life ran on a tight schedule Elsa owned remarkably few clocks. None in her bedroom, none in her study, none in the small office up in her suite. Fitzwilliam, in a moment of grumpiness one morning over a servant knocking yet again to let Elsa know what time it was, had asked, "Why don't you just get a clock for the bedroom?"

Several hours, three slammed doors and a small ice storm later, she had realized that Elsa just couldn't stand the sound of a ticking clock when she was alone. It didn't take too long after that for Fitz to figure out that if you were alone all the time, something ticking … reminding you exactly how long you had been alone, how slowly your life was passing … was understandably discomforting. Elsa still felt embarrassed about admitting that, except of course she hadn't exactly admitted it.

Clearly Olaf fit into this category of "things that she doesn't want to talk about but are probably very important for me to know." Fortunately Fitzwilliam had been learning patience. Unfortunately she had started with a very severe deficit.

"Um, OK. So, can we expect regular visits from him at night?" Another thing she had learned was to listen carefully to what Elsa said, like 'him,' "because that might … umm … change our lifestyle a bit." She gave the queen a little wink.

"No," Elsa chuckled, clearly feeling on safer ground now. It marveled Fitz how sex turned out to be 'safer ground.' Not that she was complaining in the least, but it spoke to how unique Elsa was. Of course calling Elsa unique was a bit like calling the sun 'bright.'

"I'll talk to him," Elsa continued, reaching over and squeezing Fitz's arm affectionately. "And I did say I would spend the day with him. Do you mind?"

Of course she minded … this was a snowman … a snowman being chosen over her for one of Elsa's very rare days off. Patience … patience … listen. "No, I need to spend some time with Anna today anyway. She's getting better. I think we can start really pushing. Start really doing some serious drills."

Elsa smiled, "I believe Anna thinks she IS doing serious drills."

"Anna is wrong," Fitz quipped with a grin.

As if cued by her name , Anna came in with Olaf in tow. "Oh, look there's mommy!" Anna said, giving the snowman a push toward Elsa.

Hot, strong tea spewed all over the table, and Fitzwilliam descended into a panicked coughing fit.

"Hi, little guy," Elsa said to Olaf while reaching over to pat Fitz on the back and whispering, "I swear, that's all Anna." But it was obvious that the moniker didn't bother her.

Olaf stumped right over, arms wide for his requisite warm hug, and then asked, "Is she going to be OK? I mean she needs to breathe right? I don't, but I figured she might."

"I'm fine," Fitz hacked, "Thank you for asking." She glared over at Anna, "You … training yard .. as soon as you're done here." Then she stood, buckled her sword belt on and leaned over to kiss Elsa. The kiss lasted a good minute, something Elsa realized when she heard a whispered, "fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine ..."

By the time Anna had hastily eaten breakfast and made it to the training yard, Fitzwilliam had stripped down to her shirtsleeves and had warmed up. Anna watched for a few minutes while the former captain performed a series of lightening quick moves ending with something that involved a turn. Anna despaired of ever being that graceful. She had watched Fitz spar more than once with Captain Larsson or/and some of his guards, and Fitz always looked supremely in control of both her sword and the fight.

"Ah, good … you're out." Fitzwilliam said when she noticed Anna's entrance. "How do you feel?"

"Feel?" Anna asked, "Uh, with my hands?" Fitz was not amused. "OK. Like I just ate breakfast."

"Yes, I thought so," Fitzwilliam snorted. "I was thinking we could run some wind sprints this morning." Anna paled a little. "But I really don't want to see that salmon again." Fitz trotted over to where the straw dummy was tucked away in the shadow of the courtyard wall, and then trotted back something in her hand. "Here," she tossed the extra scabbard at Anna, "so how about this?"

Anna looked at the scabbard. Then she pulled the sword it enclosed out. "Wow," she exclaimed. "Wow, wow, wow! This is real!"

"Actually it's rebated. The edge is ground down, so neither of us lose things we might need later. But yes, it was actually a real sword."

"It's a real sword!" Anna danced around clutching it to her breast. "My first real sword."

Fitz had to smile, and then she scowled, clearly she was turning soft. "I think you should save the appellation "real sword" for a weapon that will actually cut something."

"It's my first 'looks like a real sword.'" Anna's happiness was not to be deterred.

"Very well, then, Since we're celebrating, might I talk to you for a moment?" Fitzwilliam found herself a little hesitant. She and Anna talked all the time when they were together socially, such as at dinner. But by unspoken agreement they had never actually discussed Elsa while not in her presence. Doing that seemed to Fitz rather an invasion of the very reserved queen's privacy. Now she was going to violate that agreement, and she hoped that it didn't explode in her face like some poorly primed pistol.

"Sure. Fire away."

Fitz knew that Anna couldn't read minds, but sometimes she did seem scarily prescient. "So … Olaf. Do you know … I mean Elsa said that you two made him originally together as children … so where does this living one come from? I mean do you know why she made him?"

"Oh," Anna sighed. "Well kinda not really. And maybe."

"I am sorry if I was prying, you don't need to answer that," Fitz said quickly, assuming Anna was trying to brush off the question.

"No, I mean I really don't know too much about the first time we made him."

"It was a long time ago."

"No, Fitz, it's that … well, my memories of that time were changed by the trolls It was all part of healing me after Elsa struck me with her powers by accident." Anna frowned but kept on talking. "Anyhow, I can't trust anything I 'know' about my childhood before I was five. And anything I can trust is after Elsa … you know … went away."

"Oh." Fitzwilliam digested this revelation. It made her appreciate all the more that both sisters had suffered the trauma of their childhood.

Anna walked over to a bit of shade that was near the courtyard wall and sat down. Fitz followed her, for once not worrying about her breeches. "But you're not prying. I mean, I figure that my life is mine to discuss. If you want Elsa's version, though, you do need to talk to her. And this isn't something we agree upon … the whole changing Anna's memories, keeping her away from her sister, not telling her why she is being kept away from her sister … I'm still pretty angry about that. Elsa says that I just don't understand, and that our parents were trying to do the best thing for us, and that she was really dangerous to me. I say that I get to be angry …. and that what is really wrong is that she doesn't feel like she can be angry." Anna shrugged. "So far we just agree to disagree. And you know how stubborn she is."

Fitz had to smile at the last remark. "Indeed."

Anna just stuck her tongue out at Fitz but continued, "So here is what I 'remember' about Olaf. And what I think is important about him."

Fitz listened intently as Anna described her altered memories of her early life with her sister. She talked about Olaf, and skating, and sledding, and how all of it always involved snow and winter, and how happy all those memories were. How she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her sister loved her and had been her best friend. She also told her about meeting the current Olaf while on her way to find her sister after she froze Arendelle. She talked about his obsession with summer and "all things hot," his love of flowers, and children, and warm hugs. And lastly what she knew about that night on the North Mountain, and what she thought had happened.

"So really, if you ask me, he's the part of Elsa that wanted all of those things, to go outside, to play, to hug people ..." Anna sniffed softly and she teared up. "She just wanted to hug someone. All that time, and no one hugged her. I hate thinking about that. I just hate it."

Fitz reached out hesitantly and wrapped her arms around the young woman and held her while her shoulders shook with silent sobs. Finally Anna was able to speak again. "Olaf just happened when she dropped all those walls that kept her from her magic. And ..." she chuckled between sniffs, "He has a brother. Marshmallow. That's the part of Elsa that's brave and bad ass, with spikey things on her shoulders and a big roar. She made him intentionally you know, to throw me out of her ice palace … to 'protect me' … like that worked anyway. Like a little roaring can get rid of me." She rolled her eyes. "And ya know, just like her, he's a real softy underneath."

Fitz nodded. They sat together in the shade, in silence for a while, both wrapped up in their thoughts. Finally Fitz elbowed the princess. "So, do you think you can find a little bit of that anger … you know … when we're practicing today?"

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not to me … yet. I mean eventually I might have to worry. But right now, I think maybe you could use it to get a little of your frustration out."

Anna thought for a second. "Yeah, sure. I mean how much worse can I be?"

"You do know you're getting better at this, right?" Fitz said sternly. Nothing was more frustrating than a student who deprecated themselves. Lack of skill, lack of confidence ... both could kill you in a fight. She added to the list of things to work on with Anna. Bravado aside, Fitz sensed that Anna could be as unsure of herself as Elsa was.

Anna turned dramatically, and brought her hand to her forehead in exaggerated disbelief. "What is that? Is that a compliment from the evil Captain Fitzwilliam? It can't be? Has the earth stopped turning? Hell frozen over? Winter storm in July?"

"Fine," Fitz growled, "And that's evil former Captain Fitzwilliam to you. Now, let's go break in that almost real practice sword of yours."

Elsa and Olaf spent the morning down in the city of Arendelle. They looked at flowers. They played with children. They sat out in the sun. They bought chocolate. Well, Elsa bought chocolate; Olaf cheered her on.

Now they were back in the castle gardens. Olaf had just finished reprising his "happy snowman" dance to Elsa and a family of ducks when he slid over next to her and hopped up on the bench where she was sitting.

"So who's this Fitz?" he said without any prelude.

Elsa had been expecting this, and she was glad that he had brought it up. Well, who was she kidding, she would have been gladder if he hadn't brought it up and just decided not to pick the lock on her door anymore, but since she didn't see that happening, she was glad he brought it up.

"She's someone very special to me," she answered.

"I'm special to you," Olaf asserted, "and Anna's special to you."

"Yes, but this is … a different special."

"How?"

"Well ..." Elsa thought and decided that this was a good moment to reiterate the don't enter my bedroom without an invitation rule. "You know last night, she was in my bedroom. Well, Fitz and I are sharing the room now. We sleep together. And that's a special thing that people who love ..." she didn't get to finish.

"But why? I mean you sleep with Anna." Olaf' frowned with concern. "Does this mean you're not going to sleep with Anna anymore?"

"Yes. No. Yes. It's different," she stammered.

"Different how?" Olaf asked again.

If only Olaf knew how to read, Elsa thought. She knew there were books in her library that covered this topic. She knew that because her own parents had decided to leave them in prominent places rather than have this discussion with her … something that she herself had greatly appreciated at the time ...

"But how is it different?" The snowman asked again. "Do you love Fitz more than you love me and Anna?"

"Oh no," Elsa said emphatically pulling him into a warm hug. "That's not true at all. I love you and Anna so very much. I love you … you're my Olaf. There is only one of you, and you are so special to me. I love Anna; she's my sister, and there is only one of her and she's special to me."

"And you love Fitz?"

"Yes!" Her eyes lit up. She was on a roll now. "Yes, I love Fitz like …" she paused. "Like … like Kristoff loves Anna and Anna loves Kristoff." That was it. She had done it. Score one for the ice queen.

"But Kristoff loves Sven," Olaf said in obvious confusion. "And Sven loves Kristoff. Kristoff is Sven's human." He thought for a moment. "Do you love Fitz like Kristof loves Sven?"

"No!" Elsa said emphatically.

Then Elsa took a breath and leaned down so that she and her snowman were eye to eye. "How about this my little guy, you're just going to have to trust me that I love you; I love Anna; I love Kristoff, and I love Fitz and all of you are special, and I love you in different ways."

Olaf nodded, "OK, yeah."

"And one of the things that is different is that when my bedroom door is locked you have to knock and wait for one of us, Fitz or me, to open it."

Olaf nodded again, "OK, yeah."

"And I promise," Elsa said very earnestly, "that one of us will answer the door if you keep knocking and wait." Her voice dropped to a mutter as she pictured the scene in her head, "probably Carolina."

Olaf blinked. "Who's Carolina?" he asked. "Are you sleeping with Carolina? Do you love Carolina like you love Fitz?"

Elsa buried her head in her hands. A tutor, she was getting Olaf a tutor. It was definitely time to teach him to read.