a.n. Here's Chapter 5! Yay! I actually got this posted earlier than I had anticipated (check my profile for more info) and I'm really interested in your thoughts. Like really interested. This chapter is more or less what you have all been waiting for (though the next will be more confrontational than this one). I was trying to finish this one up, so I hope I got everything in it and didn't forget something. As always, don't forget to read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter 5: Introductions

Anna stared at the couple in front of her, a giddy smile on her face.

"Hi! Pleasure to meet you!" Her voice rang with laughter, a melodious tone that echoed throughout the hall. She bowed slightly at the waist as she greeted the couple, her hand never leaving Kristoff's. Her smile was bright and her face was slightly flushed, whether it was from her exuberant nature or the happy reunion they had witnessed, the pair couldn't tell, but it didn't really matter to them. Just the sight of her took their voices away and they could do nothing but watch her. Her seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm brought a wave of nostalgia, and memories of another time, another life, swam through their minds, the images just as clear as they had been all those years ago:

They smiled tenderly at an infant, a newborn, with a mop of reddish brown hair sleeping contently in her crib as a warm breeze wafted through the windows and the stars twinkled brightly.

They were witness to a toddler, who was just finding her feet, running as fast as she could through one of the many hallways of the castle, her happy laughter ringing everywhere she went.

They cried for a lonely young child, a streak of white in her otherwise brown locks, sitting alone in the darkened ball room, two familiar dolls in her hands.

And finally they saw a teenage girl, on the cusp of womanhood, hugging her parents as they were departing for a voyage, not knowing it would be the last time she would ever see them.

As these thoughts raced unbidden through their minds, Erik and Anya remained silent, contemplative looks on their faces. Before them was a young woman, not much different than the teenager they had left behind. She looked the same, she sounded the same, and, from what they could tell, she even acted the same. But there was something more to her, something that they couldn't quite see, that was definitely different, that made her somehow more complete. She had always been happy and cheerful, her buoyant personality evident even at a young age.

Yet she seemed even happier now, if that was possible. The glow in her cheeks and the wide grin on her face were evidence of that. Not to mention the enthusiastic greeting she had just given Kristoff.

The long silence had apparently gotten to the girl and she stared at the couple with a concerned look on her face. "Uh…hello? Hi?" She turned a questioning look to Kristoff before looking back towards the pair. "Is something wrong?"

Erik was the first to respond. "Uh sorry….your Highness. We were just not expecting to actually meet you in person." Anna brightened up again, her grin as wide as ever.

"Oh, it's just Anna please. And I get that. A lot. Actually, it seems like everyone I meet for the first time does that…well, everyone except for Kristoff." She turned a loving glance toward the mountain man beside her and he sported a goofy grin at her look.

"Okay then…Anna," Erik stammered and the princess and the ice harvester turned guilty faces towards him, "it's a pleasure to meet you." Erik bowed slightly and Anya followed suit.

"What brings you to Arendelle, Frederick?"

"My wife and I are just weary travelers and we happened to come across Kristoff here when we were up in the North Mountain. He offered us a ride back here, though we had no idea that we would actually be visiting the palace and meeting…you." Anya and Erik eyed the young woman warily, searching for any sign of recognition. This certainly wasn't how they had planned for this meeting to happen. They hadn't really planned on what they would do once they returned to Arendelle, though seeing Anna now certainly was never part of their intention. If the girl with the auburn hair recognized them, it was impossible to tell. They would have to tread carefully. "We've heard a lot about Arendelle in our recent travels and were curious about it. Kristoff told us that he knew all about the events that transpired a year ago, though he was only able to tell us his portion of the story. He told us we would find out the rest once we reached town."

Anna sighed and everyone could tell her mood had saddened a bit. Kristoff pulled her just a little bit closer, reassuring her with a gentle squeeze on her hand. "Well, I guess that means I'm next to tell you my part in the story, huh? I guess I'm the right person for that. After all, there would be no story if it wasn't for me," Anna giggled nervously, missing the startled expressions on Erik and Anya's faces. The couple gasped. Though they had feared the worst and deep down they knew that the tale had something to do with the young woman before them, they were still hoping they were wrong.

"Y..you were involved with what happened?" Anya spoke her first words since coming into town and her voice betrayed her concern. Anna turned to look at her, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Yeah. If I hadn't made her mad, she wouldn't have run away and I wouldn't have had to chase her. And then I wouldn't have met Kristoff and he wouldn't have come back to save me and then he would have succeeded and we would all be dead now and…"

"Anna! Slow down! I think you're overwhelming them." Kristoff interrupted her and placed a gentle hand on the young woman's shoulder. She stopped and calmed down considerably, taking a deep breath to compose herself.

"I apologize," Anna stated apologetically, "sometimes, especially with this, I get a little worked up and when I get worked up I can't stop rambling, at least that's what they tell me, and when I start rambling I get nervous and…"

"Anna!"

"Sorry." Anya and Erik looked on silently, bewildered at what they were witnessing.

"I guess I should start at the beginning. It all began a little over a year ago at…"

"Excuse me." The group all turned to face a slightly nervous looking man dressed in the garb of the palace servants. "Master Kristoff," the man bowed slightly, "her Highness requests your presence as soon as possible. She's waiting for you in her office." Kristoff sighed.

"Alright. Thank you, Jorgen. Please tell her I'll be there in a few moments." The servant left and Kristoff faced Anna and the couple. "I guess I shouldn't keep the queen waiting. Anna, why don't you tell them your part of the story and when we're done, she can tell them hers?" Anna looked at him seriously.

"I don't know if she'll want to do that, Kristoff. You know how she is. She's still a bit sensitive about that particular subject."

"Believe me, I understand that. But it's been a year, Anna. I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a lot stronger now than she was a year ago; she can handle it. I know it. But you know her better than anyone. Do you really think she'll be okay with it?" Anna had a contemplative look on her face for a moment. She knew her sister still sometimes struggled with the memories of the events of last year and it was often difficult for her to tell anyone about what happened, even Anna. But it had been a year; that should be time enough for those memories to not hurt, for that pain to fade. Elsa was strong and a lot more in control than she had been last year. Surely it wouldn't be too difficult for her to talk, would it?

"I think it will be okay. She's gotten a lot better this year, you know. And you know how she is about accommodating guests and the people of the kingdom. She really won't have a reason to say no if you ask her nicely."

"What? Me? Why?" Anna giggled at his flustered look. Even after a year, he was still intimidated by her sister sometimes, though she didn't know if it was because of Elsa's powers, because she was the queen, or if it was because she was his fiancée's older sister and sole family member. She had a feeling it was the latter one.

"Because, O brave and loyal Royal Ice Master and Deliverer, you have a meeting with her to get to and I have our wonderful guests to entertain. Don't worry; I'm sure she won't bite your head off...much." Anna turned to the visitors to avoid the stunned look on Kristoff's face. "Let's go make ourselves more comfortable while I tell you this story. Kristoff's business with the queen shouldn't take too long and they'll join us shortly." She looked down at the little snowman by her feet. "Olaf, would you like to join us?"

He grinned his snowy grin. "Nah. I'm gonna go see what's going on in the kitchen. Maybe they'll give me some chocolate!" Everyone watched as he waddled away and Anna gave Kristoff a quick peck before leading her guests down the hall to the sitting room. She heard Kristoff scrambling to regain his senses before he took off up the stairs in search of Elsa.

Once they were alone, Erik voiced the question that both he and his wife had been too afraid to ask.

"Anna?" The princess turned towards him a happy look on her face.

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind me asking, who is queen of Arendelle?" Anna's sudden giggle startled the couple.

"Wow, you really don't know the story do you?" The both shook their heads. "Well who else would be queen but my sister, Elsa."

"So how did it look?" Kristoff had met Elsa in her office not long after the rest of the group departed. He had knocked quickly on her door and had been granted acceptance immediately. Upon walking in, he saw that she was seated at her desk, a pile of paperwork in front of her. When she noticed his entrance, she looked up with a smile on her face and stood up to give him a quick hug. While she was still getting used to openly showing affection to others, she was quickly learning and with Kristoff and Anna's impending wedding, she knew it would be best to get comfortable with her soon-to-be brother-in-law.

Kristoff shrugged. "Not bad. It does need some cleaning up and I'll start bringing up supplies little by little, but it won't need that much work." He paused. "You really should go up and see it sometime."

Elsa sighed and turned toward the window. "I know. You know I want to. I just…can't. There's too many bad memories associated with that place." She shivered a little thinking of her wonderful ice palace, the most beautiful thing she had ever created with her powers. It was the first time she had ever felt truly in control of her powers, the first time she wasn't afraid to just let it all go and to be who she truly felt she could be. It was the first time she had ever really felt at home since her parents' death.

But, it was also the one place that she feared above all others. She had almost lost everything there. She had nearly killed her sister with an unintentional blast of her powers. She had nearly killed two men out of fear and panic. She had nearly become the one thing she, her parents, and the townspeople had all feared.

A monster.

A monster that lost control and nearly destroyed everything and everybody she ever really cared about.

A monster that deserved to be isolated from everyone for their own safety.

A monster that didn't really belong here, or anywhere, for that matter.

Her breath hitched as she started sobbing while the memories of those events played over, again, in her mind. A heavy hand on her shoulder made her panic for a brief moment before she realized that Kristoff was offering her his unwavering support and comfort. She quickly dried her tears before she turned back around, gracing Kristoff with a thankful smile. He smiled back and they just stood there in silence for a moment while she composed herself.

"Thank you, Kristoff. Perhaps I will visit one day. But not now. I just can't right now. But I will do whatever I can to help you. I know this will be a wonderful surprise for Anna."

"I'm sure it will be. And I will take you up on that offer to help. I'll need someone to distract Anna every time I need to go up there to prepare the place. You know she'd follow me if she could." They both grinned at the image that presented of the precocious young woman sneaking out of the palace and tracking her mountain man, trying to pry his secret from him.

"Speaking of my sister, where is she? I thought for sure once you came back, she would be hanging on you every moment. I didn't notice her hanging around outside the door when you came in."

"She's ahh…" Kristoff fumbled for an answer. How could he approach this delicately? "She's entertaining some guests."

"Guests? I didn't realize we had any visitors to the palace today. Why wasn't I informed?"

"Well, they were sort of a surprise." Elsa raised her eyebrows, urging him to continue. "I met them when I was up at your ice palace. It seems they had taken refuge there. They were lost travelers and I offered to bring them back to Arendelle with me."

"I understand your generosity, Kristoff, and I commend you for what you did. But why bring them here?"

"Uh…you see…they had some questions about your ice palace and how it came to be and what happened last year. It seems that they had heard rumors and were interested in the story. I told them I would bring them here and they could find out the answers for themselves, straight from the source. I didn't tell them anything that I thought you and Anna should tell them and right now, Anna is telling them her part of the story. She told them that you would be down to regale them with yours."

"I…I don't think that's a good idea. I don't know if Anna told you, but I still get nightmares." He nodded.

"She told me. But I think you'll be fine. It's been a year, Elsa. You are strong, a lot stronger than you were last year. You are more in control of yourself than you have ever been. I think you can do this. I think you need to do this. You need to let the past go and live. You can't let your fear of what happened stop you from enjoying yourself." His steady hand never left her shoulder and she took strength from that. He was right. As much as she hated feeling weak and not in control, her refusal to let the memories of the last year go were holding her back. Fear was preventing her from truly living. This last year had been great as she got to know her people and her city. She no longer hid in her room and frequently spent time out amongst the townspeople. She had fun. She laughed. She used her powers for good, to create beautiful, wonderful mementos for the people. She got to know her sister again. But for every good thing she did, for all of the fun she had, there was always a part of her that held back, a part of her that was still scared of what happened, a part of her that still held on to the fear of the past. If she truly wanted to move past what happened, if she truly wanted to escape the memories of the past, she had to do it.

She had to let it go.

"You're right. It is holding me back. I can't truly be happy, I can't really live, if I let this pain control me. I need to get past it." She sighed and began walking towards her door, Kristoff on her heels. "Plus, I shouldn't keep my guests waiting. Let's go say hello."

"And that's about it. It was really scary, but I don't think I would have done anything different if it meant saving my sister." The room was silent as the trio sat together in the sitting room. Anna's story had certainly been unbelievable and if they had been anyone else, they probably wouldn't have believed it themselves. But they knew a lot more than they let on and while the story certainly surprised, even shocked them, it wasn't something that was impossible for them to believe. Not by a long shot.

"That's...some story."

"Yeah. But you really need to hear Elsa's side of it. I don't know everything she went through over those couple of days, but I know that it was hard for her. I hope Kristoff can convince her to come talk to you." A short repetition of knocks on the door let the group know they had company. "Come in."

Kristoff opened the door and glanced around the room to judge the atmosphere. "Is everything all right in here?"

Anna smiled. "Of course, Kristoff. And Elsa?" He nodded and opened the door wider to let himself in. He turned back towards the hallway and gestured to someone. As the second figure made her way in, Anna stood up from the couch, her guests following her. Once the queen stepped through the entryway and into the light, Anna made the introductions.

"Frederick, Greta, may I introduce Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Elsa, this is…"

"M…momma? Papa?"