Chapter 5

Kristoff found Anna furiously stabbing the pell in the courtyard. He waited until she stopped impaling the poor fencing dummy. It looked ragged and torn, and she was covered in sweat and breathing hard. It had been a long morning.

"How are things today?" He asked.

Anna jumped in surprise, wheeling with her sword in front of her, crouched low to attack. She pulled back when she realized it was him.

"Good reactions," he said, hopping backward.

"Oh, Kristoff, I didn't hear you ..."

"I guessed, or at least I hoped that wasn't intentional." He wandered back to his original spot a little more warily. "Who is it?"

"What?"

He gestured at the pell. "Which one of them is it? Who are you beating some sense into?"

"Oh," Anna smiled, "Both of them. I'm taking turns. It's been a long morning."

Kristoff nodded, sympathetically. His night had been hell. He was pretty sure Anna's hadn't been too much better. "How are you doing?" Anna was still very sensitive to her sister's moods.

"I'm … OK." She shrugged her shoulders.

"How is she?" Kristoff indicated the upper floors of the castle with his eyes. There was only one "she" he could be talking about.

"Yeah, well ..." Anna sighed. "A mess, I guess. She won't even let me in to talk to her."

"Oh."

"I decided that she deserved some time alone if she wanted it. And she said she did, at least she didn't open the door. I told her that she had twenty four hours, and then we were returning to the 'no closed doors' policy." Anna kicked a pebbled across the courtyard. "So how's Fitz."

"A mess." Kristoff answered. He looked up at the sun and squinted. It was late morning. "By this time, a royally hung over mess."

"She was drinking when you found her?"

"Oh yeah!" Kristoff shook his head. "Do they give medals for drinking in the Navy because she can certainly put it away? And stand. And do things. I mean she was playing cards – and winning – when I found her. All the time doing her damnedest to start another fight, even if it was just with Brandy. She can be a mean drunk. I finally got her into her room, but I thought she was gonna deck me." He was still shaking his head as he walked over to the nearby water barrel and sat down with his back leaning against it. Anna made her way over and joined him.

"What are we going to do?" Anna finally asked.

"I dunno," Kristoff replied, with a shrug. "But, do we have to do anything? I mean they are both adults." Anna snorted. "Most of the time they are both adults," he corrected himself.

"Fitz is a fool," Anna said firmly. "My sister is a fool. The only thing worse than one fool in love is two fools in love." Then she shifted to face Kristoff. "Fitz does love my sister, right?"

"Oh yeah," he nodded. "She told me when we were out hunting. Kind of" - he gestured back and forth between himself and the air - "a bonding moment. You know it's hard when you're not royalty … to be in love with a Queen," then with a sigh Kristoff lowered his eyes, "or a Princess."

Anna took his hand and held it to her cheek. She loved the feel of his work hardened fingers, but she knew that they were the symbol of the impediment to their match. If she had been any other princess in any other Kingdom she might never have been allowed to even see Kristoff, let alone marry him. That one one debt she truly owed her sister. Her sister had assured her happiness; she would do the same if she could. "We're really just people like anyone else, but I understand."

Kristoff moved closer and put an arm around her. "And Elsa loves Fitz? You wouldn't have asked if she didn't, right?"

"Yes. Olaf told me." Kristoff chuckled. "No, really," Anna said, "Elsa confides in him at least as much as she confides in me. She also forgets her own warning that he isn't very careful about what he says and to whom. But I'd know anyway, she actually used the "l" word yesterday."

"Which one?" Kristoff asked, innocently.

Anna smacked him with her free hand. "Love, you idiot." She stuck out her tongue. Then they both chuckled and looked out across the courtyard.

"You know," Kristoff started ….

"The problem is," Anna said at the same time.

"She is terrible at this," they said together. "The love thing," they finished together. They looked at each other and laughed again.

"Oh boy," Kristoff continued once he had caught his breath. "I am so glad I didn't get the … difficult Princess."

"How do you know, you didn't," Anna teased back. "Maybe I'm just waiting for after the wedding to let the crazy out."

Kristoff stiffened. "Tell me you're joking, because really I couldn't handle Elsa, you know … that way. She's a great queen and all, and she'll be a wonderful sister-in-law but ..."

Anna smiled. "And I would rather walk the plank than live with Fitz, but fortunately neither of us has to deal with them like that. They do. So now we need to get them back in the same room, talking to each other … hopefully about how much they love each other."

"That's a tall order," Kristoff said.

"Yeah, but if they love each other, and they do, we have to try … and let's face it, do we really want to inflict them on anyone else?" This time Kristoff snorted.

Anna continued,"I'll take Elsa. I am wily in the ways of her sphinx-like communication skills. I am sure that there is something going on here that she's not telling anyone."

Kristoff frowned. "Yeah, whatever. I'll talk to Fitz."

"And there is something going on with her, too," Anna added. "Elsa really had no idea why she came home drunk the other night. So that's your mission."

"Mission?" Kristoff looked dubious. Anna did have a tendency to over elaborate the simple things. "I'll go talk to Fitz. Although I'll wait until this afternoon, I don't imagine she'll be up anytime soon."

Anna nodded, and they settled up against each other. "You know," she said after a few minutes had passed, "you talk to Sven."

"Yeah, so what?"

"I'm just sayin' … there's enough crazy around here for everyone."

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"Elsa?"

Anna looked around the room that was the antechamber to Elsa's suite of rooms that included her bedroom. It was cold out here, but it was remarkably snow and ice free. That was a good sign. There was a small pile of papers on the small end table near a wing chair. Anna glanced through them. They all bore the Queen's signature, and one appeared to be instructions written in Elsa's handwriting. That was also a good sign. If Elsa was using the table as her outbox then she was able to work. But she still wasn't opening her door.

"Elsa?" Anna repeated more loudly.

There was silence.

"Elsa, you promised we would talk." Actually Anna had been the one who promised that, but she wasn't going to let little things like facts get in the way of her argument. "Elsa, it's not good for you to be locked up alone in there. I know you're upset, and I want you to talk to me."

More silence. Anna had thirteen years of this and it still rankled her. She was trying to be patient, but it was hard just standing here waiting. Her mind easily conjured up a million things that could be wrong, but the one that always was the first to occur to her and the last to leave her thoughts was that Elsa would retreat back into a world of solitude where Anna would never be able to reach her.

"Elsa, it will be OK. We can work on this together, but you have to let me in." She tried the handle; it turned, but the door didn't open. She gave it a good push with her shoulder. It still didn't open.

Finally she lost her patience. "Elsa!" she said loudly, right up against the door.

"Go away, Anna." The response was faint and muffled.

Anna's face screwed up in frustration, and she clenched her fists. She had heard enough of that to last her a lifetime. In a fit of pique and with an accompanying angry growl, she kicked the door. It banged open; ice shattered and skittered across the floor. Before her was …

Elsa, curled up on her bed in a tight little ball, hugging herself and sobbing. Anna could see the pillow she was clutching was a sodden mess, so this had been going on for some time. All of her frustration and anger fell away as she walked across the freezing room.

Anna sat down on the edge of the bed, but that was still too far from her sister. Not even pulling off her boots she crawled up on it and wrapped herself around Elsa. "Oh, Elsa," she said sadly. Elsa didn't cry often, usually you knew she was upset because it was cold, or maybe you could see the unshed tears still in her eyes. But for her to be sobbing like this, well the last time Anna had heard this she had been thawing. Anna pulled her sister close and gave her sister a reassuring squeeze. "I think it will help if you talk to me. Can you talk to me?"

Elsa nodded her head, but her shoulders continued to shake, even as she buried her head in Anna's embrace. Anna waited patiently. This was one time she had no trouble waiting. She ran her hand over Elsa's back in soothing circles. Eventually Elsa lifted her head and sniffed, "I'm sorry." Her nose was red, and there were streaks running down her face.

"Why are you sorry?" Anna answered immediately.

"I'm getting your shirt wet. You'll get sick in here."

Anna shook her head. It was very cold in here, and she could see a thick sheet of ice on the windows, but she had dressed warmly, with two chemises under her heavy dress, and she had a cloak. "I'm fine. I planned this time." She pulled her cloak around both her and Elsa. "The question is how are you? I was really worried about you."

"I was fine," Elsa continued in a small voice. "Well, last night wasn't a good night. I didn't sleep, and I froze that pillow -" She waved vaguely toward the door – "but I seemed to have it mostly under control." Turning her head to Anna she continued, "And today I was angry, really angry which seemed to be an improvement. I got some work done, but …." she started to cry again.

Anna stroked her and waited until she heard soft hiccuping. "But what, Elsa?" Anna prompted.

It was a while before she could answer. When she did it sounded far away, "I know what the problem was. Why Carolina stayed out the night before last. I figured it out. And …. and I'm a terrible person."

"Whoa, whoa!" Anna lifted Elsa's chin trying to interrupt the chain of sobs. "You're not a terrible person, what makes you say that?"

"It was the worst day of her life, and I … I got angry with her," Elsa said. "I know you're supposed to be supportive for someone you love when they're having a bad day, and all I did was make it worse." Elsa looked away, embarrassed to confess this even to her sister. "I don't know how to do this, Anna. I don't know how to have a relationship with someone. I can't be good for her. I didn't know that something was wrong. I didn't talk to her. She was in pain, and all I did was drive her out of our bedroom. I am a terrible person – a terrible horrible person."

"Hold on a moment." Anna shushed her sister with a gentle nudge. Once Elsa started down the 'I am a terrible person path' it was difficult to get her back. "I think we need to talk about this. Talk about all of it. From the beginning. So, worst day of her life … of Fitz's life?"

Elsa just nodded.

"You want to tell me why you think that?"

"Admiral Naismith had denied her application to our Navy. He as much told me that yesterday, but I was too preoccupied … with … other things. I didn't listen." Elsa smacked her own forehead, hard enough that even Anna heard it. "I didn't put two and two together."

"Oh." Anna slid back on the bed, so she was leaning against headboard and then reached down and pulled Elsa after her. She took this time to think a moment about what had happened. "Did Fitz ever tell you it was the worst day of her life?" Her sister certainly played a part in the problem that was her and Fitz's complete lack of communication about this, but her guess was Fitz was just as guilty.

"Of course it was the worst day …. She's been counting on that … she's been thinking about that and worrying … and I knew it … but I didn't think." When Elsa brought her eyes up this time she looked utterly defeated and dejected. Anna knew that Elsa counted on her ability to think things through especially since she realized her emotional skills were still developing. That admission had to have cost her. "I didn't think. And she might have tried to tell me. But when Carolina's drunk … it was like a foreign language, Anna … one I don't speak."

Anna would have laughed except for the look in her sister's eyes. She brushed Elsa's bangs back out of her face. "I don't think we can count drunken mumbling as telling," she said firmly. "So, it may come as a surprise to you, but most people aren't mind readers. Not even you. No one can tell what the problem is unless you tell them, right? No one knows what you are thinking, right?" She gave Elsa a knowing look.

"Yes, right. I think I learned that one – mostly."

"So you didn't know what the problem was, and you went with what you were feeling, which was annoyed because..." Anna inflected it into a question and waited for Elsa to answer.

"I really was worried. But I didn't hear from her all day, which was annoying, I admit. I don't have to know where she is every minute, but not to hear from her all day and then all evening, it seemed inconsiderate. And I was asleep, well almost, when she came in … smelling like well, I don't go to taverns, but I bet that's what they smell like, and she was rambling on and on … and … so I was angry. And I got angrier because she wasn't making any sense. And she got louder, and I got louder … and I yelled at her." Elsa swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around her chest. "I was terrible – a horrible terrible person."

"Honestly," Anna leaned forward so that their heads were almost touching, "You weren't at your best, no. But you had reasons to be angry, and not bad ones either. And no matter what she owed you an explanation the next day. That would have helped."

"I suppose," Elsa sighed. "I wasn't exactly open to conversation then either."

"No, but she owed you an explanation, and I think if she'd come to you and talked to you rather than running off and drinking … I dunno … carrot juice, I think you would have understood." Anna sat back again and ran a hand through her own hair, flicking the end of her braid. "That and … well, that whole suitor thing really came at a bad time."

Elsa winced. "I tried to tell her."

"Elsa, there was no way she was going to take that well. Not with the way she was feeling. That would have been a tough conversation under the best of circumstances."

"And that was my fault, too." Elsa buried her head in her hands.

Anna rested her chin on top of Elsa's head. "Stop it," she said. "It wasn't your fault. But if you're going to apologize, don't apologize to me, apologize to Fitz."

"Oh Anna, she's not going to want to talk to me again." Elsa's voice wafted up from somewhere on Anna's chest. "She's probably looking for the first boat to someplace that isn't here."

Anna considered a moment. She and Kristoff had agreed on some rules for this intervention. Neither one of them was going to speak for the other injured party. No one was going to promise a happy ending. But this statement, this was just the truth, she thought she could tell her sister the plain truth. "Actually she's not."

"She's not?" Elsa's head jerked up, sending Anna's teeth chattering together as she flew backward.

Once she pushed herself upright, Anna explained while rubbing her jaw, "Kristoff saw her last night. She's staying at the inn, you know, the one they broke."

"Is she?"

"Yeah, and she was just as upset as you were. She just … shows it differently."

Elsa looked down on her hands and then sighed. "But that doesn't mean she's ever going to want to speak to me again?"

"Oh, Elsa. Of course she will. I mean you and Fitz have got to work this out for yourselves but ... but … well, you guys just have to do it." She stopped herself before she spoke for Fitz. "However … if you look over there." Anna pointed at the corner of the room. Elsa's eyes followed her hand.

"That's her sword."

"Yes," Anna nodded. "And I know how she feels about her sword, and what it means to her. There is no way she would leave that behind by accident."

"It could just mean she's planning to come back and lop my head off in my sleep," Elsa said sullenly.

Now Anna did laugh. "You are impossible."

"Excuse me. That's my line."

"Hah! Shoe … fitting. This time the shoe fits you. Right now there is shoe fitting."

Elsa tried to glare, but it just came out as a sort of pathetic red eyed stare, and Anna pulled her back into her lap.

"So," Anna said after a bit. "You were really worked up yesterday, and about more than a bad night's sleep and one inebriated sailor. You promised you were going to tell me what was going on?"

"Oh." Anna felt Elsa tense up in her arms.

"Come on, it's only fair. You promised." Anna reminded her.

"No, actually," Elsa was starting to regain her normal tone. "You promised for me."

Anna shook her head. One day Elsa would just realize it was quicker and better for everyone if she just told Anna what was going on in her head straight out. But at least this time there hadn't been any running, or hiding, or freezing of hearts.

She fixed Elsa with a stern look, a very unpracticed stern look. "I promised for you for a good reason, now spill it, sister – "

"Very well," Elsa gave a deep sigh. She looked at the ceiling, and her hands instinctively found each other. "Do you know why Fitz and Kristoff got into that fight at that tavern?"

Anna looked at her. Of course, they both knew what happened. "Someone insulted Sven … and made some insinuations about Kristoff's relationship with him."

"Oh, Anna," said Elsa in wonderment. It was no surprise she had fallen for Hans, Elsa thought, she was guileless and totally gullible. "You really believed that, didn't you?"

Well yes, she had, but now Anna was getting the feeling that maybe she shouldn't have. "Why, was it something else?"

"Yes, it was." And Elsa was too tired, too emotionally worn out to beat around the bush, so she just started the story. "When I had the meeting with Admiral Naismith …."

Several long moments later Anna's voice could be heard ringing through the halls. "And they didn't tell us! THAT is how it started, and they didn't tell US?!"

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"Come."

Kristoff pushed open the door to the small room where Fitz had taken up residence and found her staring out the window.

"Hey," he said.

"Hello," she replied, turning. Her eyes looked distant and glazed. They were slightly red, perhaps from the drinking, perhaps not.

They eyed each other.

Fitz spoke first. "I am sorry. I was a total ass last night."

Kristoff nodded. "You were a little over the top, yeah."

They continued to stare at each other.

"My manners, I appear to have left them behind as well." Fitz shook her head, and she indicated the pair of small wooden chairs that with the bed and a low chest completed the furniture in the room. "Please have a seat. I can ask the maid to bring tea if you wish?"

"No, that's OK." Kristoff only associated tea with uncomfortable things like suits and fragile cups. But he did pull up a chair. Fitz took the other.

"So?" Fitz offered after another long silence.

"So," Kristoff responded. "So, how are you doing … today?"

"I'm fine." She answered quickly, shaking her head as if the whole idea behind that question annoyed her.

"Really?" The way Kristoff dragged out the word it was obvious he wasn't buying that. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Fitz tone chilled.

Kristoff tilted his head and frowned. "You know, I haven't met anyone who successfully drank their way out of a problem."

"What exactly are you saying, sir?"

"I'm saying whatever's going on in there," He pointed at her head. "Getting your face beat in by angry thugs who are bigger than you, and you know that will happen if you keep on like last night, isn't gonna help it."

"I assure you, sir, that I do not make a habit of that sort of boorish behavior."

"Yeah, well I hope so," Kristoff folded his arms behind his head and continued casually, "'cause not only doesn't it work; it's kinda the coward's way out."

Fitz jumped to her feet. "Are you calling me a coward, sir?" Men had died for that remark.

Kristoff leaned back in his chair, balancing on the rear legs, and looked up at her, his smile daring her to do something drastic. "Not yet."

They stared at each for another long while. Then Kristoff reached into his pocket. "Kai gave me this to give to you." He handed her a rather large envelope. "It's from Avalon."

"From Avalon," Fitz looked astounded, all her bravado faded instantly. She took the envelope and pulled out a pocket knife to open it. She unfolded the paper inside, and her eyes moved quickly down the page. "It's from my brother."

"Problem?"

"Don't know," she answered still reading. "It's from Edmund. My youngest half-brother. The only one of them worth the time of day if you ask me." She frowned and held the letter closer to the window to see it better. "He's asking me to meet him in Sweden. He's waiting for me in Gotëborg."

"Sweden, why?"

"He doesn't say," Fitz folded the letter to return it to the envelope. "But it's safe to say he didn't come here to Arendelle because he didn't want to cause international incident. I need to go to him."

"It could be a trap," Kristoff offered helpfully.

"Yes, indeed. But of all the people likely to do that Edmund is the least."

Kristoff found the lack of certainty in that statement to be discomforting. "What do you think it means?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea," Fitz seemed genuinely perplexed. "If he's here. Well, he couldn't leave Avalon without the King knowing. So, William knows what he's up to."

"Yeah," Kristoff confirmed, "it sounds like a trap."

"He says he needs my help," Fitz said it as if it that made all the difference, as if that was the only thing that mattered. "He's my brother. I have to go." She sat back heavily in her chair, suddenly reminded what going would look like to everyone else, especially to a particular someone else. "I really do have to go."

Then she looked up. "Kristoff?" she asked. "Would you please tell Elsa that I will be away for a bit? I don't think she wants to see me, and I can't risk losing my temper again. I behaved like a churl, and it's still very embarrassing to even contemplate. But I don't want to just leave without telling her."

"I don't think Elsa would see it that way, and I do think she'd rather hear this news from you."

"I just can't face her, yet. It's just too … please, Kristoff?" Fitz begged. "You can tell her it's my brother I need to see, if you think … if you think you should."

"Okay." Kristoff was reluctant, but he couldn't force Fitz to tell Elsa, and someone telling her was better than no one. "And you are sure you should go?"

"I must." Fitz nodded her head decisively. "And Kristoff?"

"Yeah?"

"I would greatly appreciate it if you'd accompany me."

"Me?" This surprised him. Why ever would Fitz want him to go with her on a trip to see her brother?

"Yes. You see," she paused, "I think I shouldn't go alone, for any number of reasons, and well, you're my only friend here. My only real friend … except Anna, and this really isn't something she should be part of."

"No," Kristoff firmly agreed that Anna needed no part in this. Then he thought about the rest of what she had said. "I'm really your only friend?"

"Probably my best friend, too." Fitz admitted.

"Your best friend?"

"Well I've tossed up a couple of bars before, but always with good friends. That elevates you well above common friend," Fitz explained. "And I do rather enjoy your company when you're not being impossible about rabbits and such."

Kristoff could argue about who exactly was the one prone to being impossible, and there was at least one other perplexing improbability. "Didn't you just about challenge me to a duel?"

"Well … yes … you called me ..."

"Whatever. You guys try to kill your best friends a lot in Avalon? Because I think that might be part of your problem."

"No, we don't … I wouldn't have … I didn't." Fitz was taken off guard by that question. It wasn't something she had ever thought of.

"Yeah?" Kristoff still looked dubious. What she was saying made no sense, but then a lot of what seemed to be Fitz's idea of proper behavior made no sense. Sort of like how she was purposely avoiding Elsa, running away, running here. Sleeping in an inn, no matter how comfortable, was not like sleeping in the castle in the arms of your beloved.

"The person being challenged gets to choose the weapon, right?"

"Yes, that is how duels are traditionally performed." Fitz was relieved to be on familiar ground again. She just didn't think she was up to too much deep thinking right now. And she had a trip to plan.

"You know what I'd choose, if you challenged me?"

"What?" Fitz asked absently; she was already considering what she would need to do for the trip.

"Elsa." Kristoff said firmly. "She's the best weapon I know."

"What?" Fitz looked up, thoroughly shocked. "You can't pick a … a person. It's unheard of. It's just wrong." Fitz sputtered. "And besides there isn't a matched pair. There is only one … only one Elsa."

Kristoff smiled and nodded liked she'd just answered the prize winning question. "Yeah, well at least you realize that. You might not be quite as dense as I thought."

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"She's going where?" Elsa looked up from the her desk. Anna and Kristoff were standing on the other side. Kristoff being the bearer of the bad news.

"Sweden. Gotëborg."

Elsa shot a look at Anna, half barely controlled terror, half 'I told you so.' "Why is she going?"

"She said it was a family thing, Elsa. Her brother."

"A family thing?" Elsa couldn't believe him.

"She's suicidal?" Anna added. Kristoff hadn't explained everything about why they were here. Just that Fitz had to go on a trip, and she had asked him to tell Elsa. Kristoff seemed to think this wasn't a big deal. Anna knew it was.

"No," Kristoff answered. "She said something about this was her youngest brother, the one she could trust. I'm not so sure it's as easy as she makes it out to be. And that's one reason why I'm going. I can get her out of there if it looks like it's a trap."

"By yourself?" Now Anna was getting nervous.

"You'd be safer if you took a squad of guards with you." It was out of Elsa's mouth before she could think, and once she did she frowned and cut off Anna's encouragement, "I know but I can't, Anna. Really I can't. We're not invading Sweden to keep Fitzwilliam safe, and Kristoff should be safe no matter what, given his relationship to you." But the whole thing was infuriating; she was helpless, and she was very worried. So much so that when she put her quill back in the ink pot, it was forceful enough that the ink shot up splattering on her desk. She was also getting annoyed again, annoyed at Carolina for not coming here herself, really annoyed at herself for caring so much that she didn't. "Not that I suppose it's any business of mine …."

"Oh, stop it," Anna chided her. "Of course it's your business."

"I would expect if it were my business, she would have come to tell me herself."

The silence was broken only by Anna's nervous shuffling. Kristoff clutched and wrenched the hat in his hand.

Elsa raised her head, straightening her spine, looking down her nose. "Very well, Kristoff, you came to tell me Fitzwilliam's plans and now you have. Thank you." The dismissal rang in her tone. Kristoff stepped back and even gave a little half bow before he left.

"Elsa …." Anna started in.

"Not now, Anna." Elsa's voice was as stiff as her spine. "I have a Kingdom to run. We may speak this evening."

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A/N: Brand new prologue and summary by grrlgeek72. :D