"What are we going to do?"
Anna stood outside her parents' bedroom, or to be more exact the King's bedroom. Her mother had her own but they preferred to sleep in the King's room.
"Anna spends her days dreaming of being a knight. That's not what a princess should be doing!" the queen's voice echoed. The king remained silent and Anna kept herself hidden.
"I know, honey. I know. It's just...her dreams make her so happy. I feel it would be a sin to take it away from her," the king said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"That doesn't change the fact that she's a princess. One day she'll have to marry a prince and I don't think any prince would want a princess who runs around in pants, much less a princess who dreams of becoming a knight."
Anna could hear the king sigh as her hands rolled into a fist. She didn't want to marry a prince for the sake of marrying a prince. She wanted love.
"I'll see if I can talk-"
"We already tried that! We've talked to her, forced her to sit down for etiquette lessons, and look where it got us! Anna has learned to escape all her classes, probably memorized all the tunnels in this castle by now, and runs out the door whenever we try to talk to her again about her responsibilities!"
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"I don't know. I...to be honest, I think we should send her to a more remote location, where we can properly sit her down for her classes without worrying about her escaping them."
"I don't think that's a good idea. You know how much Anna values her freedom."
Anna couldn't keep listening. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the doors of her parent's bedroom and walked in.
"Anna?!" the king looked at her in surprise.
"How much...how much did you hear?" the queen asked, her face full of concern, whether for Anna or for herself.
"Everything. I'm not going to let you send me away!" the redhead said, nails digging into her palms.
"Then what do you think we should do? You don't attend to your classes; you run out the door whenever we try to talk you out of being anything but a princess; you sneak out whenever you think we aren't looking to go wrestle with some of the stable boys; and to make matters worse, yes, we do know about your morning rides to Sir Lynol, and yes, we have given him a royal decree to stop teaching you how to fight!" the queen said, her face now clearly showing desperation.
"Anna, sweetheart, we only want what's best for you," the king said, walking closer to the girl in an attempt to hug her, only for Anna to back away.
"Anna..."
"Let's make a deal," Anna said, letting go of her fists as she stared directly into her father's eyes.
"What is it?"
"I'll go to the stupid classes. I'll stop trying to be a knight. I'll be the perfect princess."
The queen's face lit up, as if she just saw a miracle. The king's lit up as well, his lips curling into a smile.
"However!" Anna began, causing the two adults in the room to drop their smiles and faces of hope.
"I get to choose who I marry, and when I do, you two have no right to say 'no.'"
"Anna-"
"No, mother, let me finish. I'll do what you want, but I will choose who I marry, because I want to marry someone I love. I don't want to marry just any prince. I want to marry the prince, regardless of whether that prince is actually a prince or not," Anna said, "I'll appreciate your opinions when the time comes, but I make the final decision and once I decide for good, you cannot and will not try to change my mind. Those are my terms."
"Anna, sweetheart-," the queen began, only to be cut off by the king.
"You have yourself a deal, my princess," he said, a smile spreading across his face.
"Good, now I want that in writing!" Anna said, causing the king and queen's face to stare at her in shock.
"W-writing?!" the king asked.
"Yes. I know you're going to try to wiggle your way out of this deal at some point, so I want it in writing so you can't change it. Ever."
"Deal," the queen said before the king could say anything.
Anna eyed herself in the mirror. She now wore a casual green dress that, like all of her dresses, were far too tight around the waist. The woman she saw in the mirror wasn't who she wished she was. She saw a princess, one who plays the role of the damsel in distress.
Just for a bit more. Once I marry, I can be whoever I want. Then again, I think all these dresses are growing on me.
"What am I doing?" she muttered to herself, shaking her head with laugh. She didn't dislike the dresses. She actually liked them, but that didn't change how she wanted to see herself. She still wanted to be that knight in shining armor.
If Elsa was a knight, I'd gladly accept the role of damsel in distress.
Anna stared blankly at the mirror. Where did that thought come from? She wondered as she finished fixing her hair. As much as she wanted to be a knight, she knew that she'd gladly accept the role of princess should Elsa ask her.
But what if Hans was the one asking me?
That thought never left Anna's mind, especially because she knew she wouldn't do it. She felt that if Elsa asked her, she'd do anything. Hans...she was a bit more reluctant.
Knock knock
Anna turned towards the door.
"Your highness, the queen is expecting you for dinner," a servant outside said.
"I'll be right there," the redhead called as she breathed, trying to not slip into old habits again. Slowly, as she calmed down, Anna made her way out of her room and down the stairs towards the dining room where her mother, Hans, and Elsa sat. The thought of seeing Elsa brought a smile to her lips. She could always count on the blonde to make her day.
Dinner went by rather smoothly, if not surprisingly silently. While Hans did try to talk to Anna, she couldn't help but keep silent. She had promised to be the perfect princess all those years ago, and she wasn't going to break her end of the deal. Elsa, on the other hand, seemed content with the silence. However, Anna knew better. Every once in a while, she'd notice Elsa staring at her with a worried look on her face, only to turn away and look neutral again whenever Anna looked back. Hans kept up a bit of small talk with the queen, leaving Anna to wonder if he liked his own voice. Especially since he kept talking when everyone else kept silent.
The queen was the first to excuse herself, retiring to her bedroom early for the night. Hans stayed behind to try and talk to Anna, who was too busy enjoying her chocolate truffles to absorb anything he said. Once he realized she wasn't paying attention to him, he excused himself as well, leaving Elsa and Anna alone in the dining room to eat the chocolates. It was great, since they both had a thing for the dessert.
"Elsa?" Anna finally said, looking at the blonde as she reached to grab another chocolate.
"Yes?" the blonde raised an eyebrow.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did."
"Right, um...why...why are you here?"
"I'm visiting."
"I know that, but...why now? I don't want to come off as rude or anything, but you haven't visited me once for the last ten years, and I was really lonely...and now that mother decided it was time I get introduced to suitors, you visit without any kind of warning. It's not that I don't want you here, 'cuz I really do. You have no idea how much I wanted to see you, and I would have visited Arendelle, but mother wouldn't let me leave Corona. And the letters...you, kind of stopped writing after the first three years..."
Anna looked down, biting her bottom lip. She missed Elsa. A lot.
"I'm sorry, Anna," Elsa began, but Anna wouldn't look at her.
"It's just...the last couple of years were hard for me. I...I can't talk about it. Not yet. But recently, I realized something else. Something that I needed to do or I wouldn't feel complete."
Anna blinked. Slowly, she lifted her head to look at Elsa, who was now getting up from her seat and walking over to the redhead. Anna stood up from her seat as Elsa approached, staring as the blonde stopped in front of her.
"Can we...can we talk about this somewhere else?" she asked, holding a hand out for Anna to take.
"O-of course!"
Anna eagerly took the blonde's hand, letting the older princess lead her out of the dining room and to the courtyard. The sun was already gone, replaced by a slowly rising moon. Once outside, Anna let Elsa lead them to a more remote area of the courtyard. Anna sat down on the bench that stood directly under a large tree, surrounded by dozens of rose bushes and other flora that she never bothered to learn. Anna liked that place, especially because unless you're standing right in front of them, you can't see them.
Elsa sat down next to Anna, breathing slowly. Anna knew better than to probe her so she sat there, waiting for the blonde to be ready.
"Anna...do you remember when we were kids? I was visiting you in your castle, and you thought it was a good idea to climb that ridiculously tall tree. I remember trying to persuade you not to for the entire day. And you listened, for once in your life," Elsa said, chuckling at the memory.
"But I didn't listen," Anna said, thinking back to the memory. "I wanted to play with you at night since I couldn't sleep, and thought it was a good idea to climb the tree with you, but you said to go away."
"Right, I did say that. After you went away, I got out of bed to follow you. Only, I got out of bed a bit too late. I saw you running out the back from the bedroom window and panicked."
"Really? I thought you got out of bed after you heard me screaming."
"No, I realized where you were going so I ran after you."
"Oh...but I did manage to climb the tree though."
"You only made it ten feet off the ground before you fell. Anna...to be honest, I...that moment when I saw you fall...that was the scariest moment of my life." Elsa turned to face Anna.
"Sorry about that," the redhead replied, face now red from embarrassment. She had gotten lucky, escaping with only a broken arm and a few bruises and scratches here and there.
"When you fell...that was when I noticed that I need you in my life, Anna." Elsa now looked down, just as Anna turned to face her.
"I...when I thought you were going to die, I...I felt like I was dying too. I...I should've stopped you from climbing that damned tree," the blonde continued, still not looking at the redhead in front of her.
"Elsa...what are you saying?"
"I noticed these...feelings when I thought back to that fall. I...I couldn't deal with it, you know? I just...couldn't. So I left."
"What are you talking about?" Anna asked again, her voice now strained with confusion and fear. "You left? I thought...wait...is that why you didn't visit? Were you feeling guilty about me falling?"
"Well, that was part of it, but it was more. I didn't visit again after you fell because I was really confused about these feelings inside. I couldn't...I couldn't trust myself to keep you safe when I didn't even know what's what."
"Elsa, what are you trying to tell me? You're not making any sense!"
"Anna...I-"
A/N: Okay yes, I rewrote this chapter, mainly cuz apparently the violence wasn't a good idea. (but hey, I wrote that at 3 am when I couldn't sleep and I was already up for more than 24 hours lol) And so, after a good 10 hour sleep, I've rewritten this chapter. I do hope it's better :/