A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope that everyone likes the chapter.

Chapter 4 – Do-Re-Mi

Anna-Maria opened the gate and gestured to the children to follow her out to the road, the skirt of her newly-made brown dress twirling as she turned back and forth to gesture. Her red hair was held back by a cream-colored handkerchief, and in her left hand she held her guitar. One by one, the children came out; Liesel was first, carrying one of the picnic baskets. Friedrich was next, and attached to his waist was a ball that could be thrown or kicked. Louisa followed him, and she carried another picnic basket. Kurt and Brigitta, the next two, carried a basket between them, and the little ones, Marta and Gretl, were the only ones empty handed.

Anna-Maria looked on proudly as her charges bounced out of the gate in happy excitement. There had been more than enough material, and now each child had a slightly different design of the same green and white fabric. The older girls, Liesel, Louisa and Brigitta, had proper dresses, but Liesel's had white cap sleeves, while Louisa's was sleeveless, and Brigitta's had a neckline ruffle. Marta had a dress-like top, but she had curtain-based short pants underneath, and Gretl's curtain allotment had been made into short-pant overalls that covered a yellow blouse. Friedrich looked dashing in his curtain-derived lederhosen, and Kurt's shirt and short pant set matched his siblings while giving him a style all his own. The children skipped down the road to the bus stop, and after closing the gate, Anna-Maria smiled and ran after them.

The bus brought them to the edge of Arendelle proper, and after they disembarked, they ran across the bridge that ran across the fjord. The children excitedly pointed at the ships that were sailing into Arendelle's harbor, and Anna-Maria smiled at them before pointing out the even more impressive ship that was sailing out of the harbor to places unknown. "That's Great-Grandmother's ship!" Brigitta exclaimed, and all of the children clustered around to see. Anna-Maria chuckled. Of all of the children, Brigitta was the most observant, and Anna-Maria was not surprised the young girl had noticed the royal crest.

"Come on!" Anna-Maria said cheerfully when the ship sailed out of sight, and the children followed her like little ducklings, except for easily-distracted Gretl who needed to be collected by Liesel.

They crisscrossed through Arendelle, looking at churches, fountains and frescos until they came to the open-air market. Being as it was summer, it was brimming with fresh fruits and vegetables, and Anna-Maria chose the one with best looking produce. She handed the stand owner a stack of coins, and with the children's help, she started picking out oranges and apples, as well as some tomatoes to be sliced for their sandwiches.

Anna-Maria looked at the children and decided to be playful. She grabbed two of the tomatoes and pretended she had no idea how to juggle them. The children laughed at her and her antics, so she winked at them, added another tomato and skillfully kept all three of the round globes circulating through the air until the children's eyes rounded in delight. She let the tomatoes fall at that point, catching all of them with a flourish. The children clapped and Anna-Maria took a bow. She carefully threw one of the tomatoes to Gretl, only for it to roll through her fingers and down her yellow shirt to splat on the ground. Gretl looked terrified, and Anna-Maria pretended to be displeased by putting a stern look on the face. It lasted all of two seconds before Anna-Maria broke out into a wide smile, and Gretl shyly smiled back.

Their grocery shopping done and their lunch supplies complete, Anna-Maria and the children skipped along the path that led to the train that would take them up the North Mountain. Anna-Maria paid the conductor from the purse that Frau Schmidt had given her for expenses, and all of the children boarded the train excitedly. Anna-Maria followed, and the train began its slow ascent up the mountain. The children waved enthusiastically at the porter who remained at the bottom of the hill, and he good-naturedly waved back.

The train let them out near some of the prettiest meadows on the mountain, and Anna-Maria took a deep breath of contentment when she disembarked. It felt so good to be back up here, and it was even more special now that she had others to share it with. The children went running off through the wildflowers to find a good picnic spot, and smiling, Anna-Maria went running off to join them.

The picnic blanket was spread out, followed by the food, and all of them grazed happily as they soaked up the beautiful summer sun. After a while, the boys grew restless and rose, using the ball that Friedrich had brought with him to begin a game of catch. Brigitta and Marta rose as well, eschewing catch for picking wildflowers out of the grass around their blanket. Liesel and Gretl played cards, and Louisa, lacking any energy at all, merely lounged with her head on one of the picnic baskets, watching her siblings play. "Fraulein Anna?" she asked sleepily.

"Um-hum?" Anna-Maria acknowledged, looking at her with a gentle smile.

"Can we do this every day?" Louisa asked wistfully.

"Don't you think you would get tired of it, Louisa?" Anna-Maria challenged cheerfully.

"I suppose so," Louisa admitted. "Every other day?" she added impishly.

Anna-Maria laughed as Kurt ran past to fetch an overthrown ball. "I haven't had so much fun since the day we put glue on Fraulein Josephine's toothbrush," he said gleefully, and Anna-Maria's nose scrunched up in dismay.

"I have a good idea as to why, but I wish children as nice as you wouldn't play such awful tricks on people," she said disapprovingly.

"How else can we get Mother's attention?" Liesel replied, confirming Anna-Maria's hypothesis.

"Well, we will have to think of another way," Anna-Maria said firmly.

"Why?" Brigitta questioned. "None of our tricks worked on you anyway."

"That's not the point, Brigitta," Anna-Maria answered. "We have to think of a better outlet for your creativity, one that will hopefully get your mother's attention." She thought for a couple of seconds. "I have it!" she decided excitingly. "We will learn something to sing for the Baron."

"Mother doesn't like us to sing," Marta pointed out.

"Well, perhaps we can change her mind," Anna-Maria said hopefully, getting out her guitar. "Now, what songs do you know?"

"We don't know any songs," Friedrich said, putting his ball down and sitting on the grass in front of Anna-Maria.

"Not any?" Anna-Maria questioned, aghast.

"We don't even know how to sing," Louisa added, and Anna-Maria rolled her eyes at the hyperbole.

"Of course you know how to sing," Anna-Maria said with good-natured exasperation, sitting down on a large rock. "All the Maker's creations know how to sing. They may not sing well, but they know how to sing. I think what you mean is that you've never had formal singing lessons where you learn about harmony and scales and such."

"Yes, that's what she means," Liesel confirmed. "I received formal lessons, but so far I have been the only one."

"Well then, we must not waste any more time; you must learn," Anna-Maria declared.

"But how?" Marta asked.

Anna-Maria started strumming her guitar, and after she tuned it, she kept strumming as she talked. "Let's start at the very beginning," she said. "A very good place to start. When you read you begin with…" she prompted.

"A-B-C," Gretl helpfully supplied, and Anna-Maria nodded.

"When you sing, you begin with do-re-mi," Anna-Maria answered, singing the notes.

"Do-re-mi," the children dutifully echoed.

"Do-re-mi, the first three notes just happen to be, do-re-mi," Anna-Maria repeated.

"Do-re-mi," the children echoed once more.

"Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do!" Anna-Maria finished. The children looked at her blankly, so she paused. "Hm, let's see if I can make it easier," she said. Remembering Sister Sophia's lessons, she recalled the tune the Choir Mistress had taught her, and she knew it would be perfect for teaching the children. She took a breath, and the magic of the North Mountain made her guitar sound like a whole orchestra as she began to sing. "Do, a deer, a female deer; re, a drop of golden sun; mi, a name I call myself; fa, a long, long way to run; so, a needle pulling thread; la, a note to follow so; ti, a drink with jam and bread; that will bring us back to do, oh, oh, oh."

Anna-Maria started the chorus again, and this time the children joined in with her. One by one they sang the notes, laughing and smiling as they learned something new. Eventually, Anna-Maria gave up playing the guitar and let them sing acapella, but they were having so much fun it seemed as though the music was playing on. The children got up and pulled Anna-Maria with them, singing the song and dancing around the meadow. It was only after they had exhausted themselves that they returned to the blanket, and it was only then that the music lesson concluded for the day. After a few more hours on the mountain, Anna-Maria and the children headed back down for home, but the children were humming to themselves all the way.

More summer days brought more outings, and with them the music lessons continued. Now confident that they knew their scales, Anna-Maria decided it was time to expand their learning as they wandered through Arendelle. "Now children," she began, "Do-re-mi-fa-so and so on are only the tools we use to build a song. Once you have these notes in your head, you can sing a million different tunes by mixing them up, like this: so, do, la, fa, me, do, re. Can you repeat that for me?"

"So, do, la, fa, me do, re," the children parroted.

"So, do, la, ti, do, re, do," Anna-Maria finished.

"So, do, la, ti, do, re, do," the children repeated.

"Now, put it all together," Anna-Maria instructed. "So, do, la, fa, me, do, re; so, do, la, ti, do, re, do," she and the children sang together.

"Good!" Anna-Maria praised, as she sat down on a bench on the path.

"But it doesn't mean anything!" Brigitta protested, sitting down beside her.

"So we put in syllables," Anna-Maria explained. "One syllable for every note, like this. When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything!" she sang, as all the rest of the children crowded on to the bench. "Together!" she encouraged.

"When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything!" the children sang, and Anna-Maria beamed with pride.

The next day found them riding their bicycles, and still the music lessons went on. That day's lesson was on harmony, and Anna-Maria used their bicycles' speed and position to mimic the layers of sound that a good vocal group could accomplish. The next lesson, on yet another day, taught them to listen to each other when they sang so that they could utilize each other's' strengths. They were in a carriage, with the clopping of the horse's hooves and the noise of Arendelle around them, and they had to listen carefully. That had been Anna-Maria's intent all along, and the indulgent cab driver didn't seem to mind the presence of exuberantly-singing children in his cab.

Finally, after practicing daily ever since the visit to the North Mountain, the children put all of their lessons together in the most splendid place Anna-Maria could find. As members of the Arendellian royal family, the children were permitted on the palace grounds, and Anna-Maria had written to the Court to see if they might use Her Majesty's gardens for a picnic. The Court had agreed, even though Her Majesty had to send her sincere regrets about missing their visit, so Anna-Maria brought her charges to the Palace as a way of rewarding them for all of their hard work.

They had a splendid lunch courtesy of Her Majesty, and afterwards, they explored the grounds while working on their music. Anna-Maria couldn't keep the proud smile off of her face as the children sang beautifully, their notes true and their harmonies tight. They finished their song, and Anna-Maria hugged the children, tightly embracing each one in turn, congratulating them personally on their success. Caught up in their celebrations, none of them saw the older, yet regal figure that observed the group from her window, a contemplative smirk on her face.

AAAAAAAAA

The open-top automobile turned off from the paved highway on to a well-kept gravel road. Sitting in the right hand driver's seat, Elsa took in a contented breath as she saw her beloved mountains and smelled the fresh, familiar scents of home. To her left, in the passenger seat, sat a broad-shouldered blonde man with dark brown eyes, and he smiled at her obvious joy at being home. "The mountains are lovely, Elsa," he said. "Really magnificent."

Elsa smiled, looking over at one of her oldest and dearest friends in the world. "I had them put up just for you, Kristoff," she teased with a sarcastic smile.

"I'm flattered," he teased back.

The older gentleman from the backseat decided to join the conversation. "Even at a height of 10,000 feet, Elsa always believes in rising to the occasion," Olaf joked, drawing groans from his traveling companions.

"Unless the jokes improve, Olaf, I'm taking back my invitation," Elsa warned, only partly joking herself. "I don't care if you are my father's brother."

Olaf chuckled. "You didn't invite me to your villa," he reminded her cheerfully. "I invited myself. It has been far too long since I have seen my wonderful nieces and nephews. Besides, I wanted a place to stay where the cuisine is superb, the wine cellar is exquisite and the price is, eh, perfect."

"Father always said you were a leech," Elsa muttered.

"At least I'm charming, and your children adore me," he offered, and Elsa scoffed with a resigned smirk. As they continued to drive, rich singing could be heard wafting through the countryside. Olaf stilled. "Listen," he requested, and Elsa turned her ear to the sound.

"It's the Nordfell Monastery Choir," she said, after listening for a moment.

"They're good," Olaf complimented them. "Very good. I shall have to explore this territory in the next few days. Somewhere there is a hardworking singing group that needs Olaf Detweiler to pluck them out of obscurity and make them famous at the Arendellian Folk Festival."

"They get the fame and money, and you get nothing; that's why you are always leeching off of your relatives," Elsa grumbled. Olaf blithely ignored her with a smile.

They continued to drive down the gravel road, and soon a copse of trees appeared on the right-hand side. Swinging from them was a group of children of various ages, all dressed in an odd green and white patterned material. They were yelling and hanging from the trees, and Kristoff's eyebrow rose in amusement. "Good heavens, what's this?" he asked.

"It's nothing; Just some local urchins," Elsa replied, before a spark of recognition flashed. Her eyes widened, but she shook her head. They had passed by far too fast, and she was mistaken. There was no way those could be her children.

They drove on, and within a few minutes, the three adults came to Elsa's estate. Frau Schmidt and Kai took care of the guests immediately, showing them to their rooms and handling their luggage. Olaf claimed hunger and went to the kitchen to get something to eat, but Kristoff and Elsa freshened up a bit before they met outside to stroll around the gardens. "This really is exciting for me, Elsa," Kristoff gushed. "Being in this beautiful place with you."

Elsa chuckled. "Trees, lakes, mountains; you've seen one, you have seen them all," she replied.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Kristoff chided.

"Ah, you mean me," Elsa deduced playfully. "I'm exciting."

"Is that so impossible?" Kristoff challenged teasingly.

"No, just highly improbable," Elsa answered.

"There you go, shooting yourself down again," Kristoff tutted.

"Well, I'm an excellent shot," Elsa said wryly, and Kristoff laughed before he enfolded the smaller woman into an embrace. She hugged him back, enjoying the feel of his strong arms. It was truly too bad that neither one of them had ever been the least bit attracted to the other. She and Kristoff had been the best of friends since their induction into the Royal Navy had made them classmates, and they would have made an excellent couple, but there was no spark, no passion. There was only an easy friendship that the both of them treasured. Elsa knew that many in Arendelle and the Southern Isles expected them to marry now that their close friendship had become closer after Georg's death, but they were never that type of couple, and they were never destined to be.

"You know, you are more like the real you when I see you here, Elsa," Kristoff said, as their hug ended and they resumed their walk.

"My natural habitat," Elsa said with a smile.

"Exactly," Kristoff agreed.

"Are you trying to say that I am more at home here, among the birds and the flowers and the wind that moves through the trees like a restless sea?" she asked with a smirk.

"How poetic," Kristoff gushed sarcastically.

"It was rather, wasn't it?" Elsa questioned wittily. "But to answer your question, am I more at home here than in the Southern Isles, at all your glittering parties, gossiping gaily with bores I detest, soaking myself in champagne, stumbling about trying to remember names of waltzes written by people I care so very little about? Is that what you're asking? Then yes."

Kristoff looked at her. "If you didn't want to come to my parties, you didn't have to," he chastised. "You know I love having you there, but you are always welcome to hide away until it is only me."

"I know," Elsa admitted. "I was only teasing you, Kristoff."

"I know," Kristoff replied with a smile. He turned to the river. "I do so like it here, Elsa," he said contentedly. "It's so lovely and peaceful. How can you leave it as often as you do?"

"By pretending that I always have some place else I have to be," Elsa replied jauntily, but her oldest friend could hear the sadness in her tone. "If you have some place to be, then you have a purpose."

"Do you have any place to be?" Kristoff asked gently. "Or are you just running away from memories?"

Elsa smiled sadly and nodded. "That, and perhaps just searching for a reason to stay," she admitted.

"So that's why you've been coming to my estate in the Southern Isles so often," Kristoff decided, and Elsa nodded again. "Well, I am always happy to be your distraction, my dear…" he said warmly.

"You were more like my savior, Kristoff," Elsa interrupted.

"You are giving me far too much credit, Elsa, but let me finish," Kristoff requested. "What I was going to say was that, while I am always happy to be your distraction, we need to find something else, someone else to distract you." He paused and a sly grin lit up his face. "So, what about this new governess that got under your skin so badly that I have heard of little else this trip? The one you have only known for what, only about a day?" he inquired knowingly.

Elsa glared at him. "I was giving you far too much credit, you wretch," she grumbled.

"And the lack of acknowledgement is more than enough confirmation," Kristoff crowed.

Elsa glared at him some more before she noticed Olaf had emerged from the house and was munching on something. She turned her back on Kristoff and went to meet Olaf on the terrace. "Still eating, Olaf?" she asked. "You must be unhappy."

"That marvelous mixed quartet I have been trying for weeks to represent for the Festival has signed with one of the most unscrupulous managers out there," Olaf huffed. "If there is one thing I dislike, it is a manager who takes advantage of his or her acts." He pouted some more, and then dug into the strudel he had brought with him from the house. "Oh, dear, I so like good food," he said, happily letting the food soothe his annoyance.

"I wonder where the children are?" Elsa asked, having finally settled in enough to notice the time.

"Obviously they must have heard I was coming and went into hiding," Kristoff joked.

Elsa frowned. "I was hoping they would be here to welcome you," she said, annoyed at Fraulein Anna and her deviation from the children's schedule. The children should have been marching about the grounds right now. "Please excuse me," she said to her guests as she went back into the house.

When she left, Olaf glanced in her direction, and then hurriedly left his seat. "Well?" he asked Kristoff.

"Well what?" Kristoff prompted.

"Did you find out more about her?" Olaf asked excitedly.

"Her who?" Kristoff replied, playing dumb.

"Her. The beautiful, frustrating governess we've been hearing so much about," Olaf answered.

"A little," Kristoff admitted. "And I know Elsa well enough to know that she is interested. But we have to be careful, or Elsa will shy away."

"Understood," Olaf said, nodding solemnly, before breaking out into excited giggles. "I'm so excited! After all this time, my stubborn niece actually might like someone again," he gushed. Kristoff glared at him, and the giggles subsided, but Olaf's grin remained.

AAAAA

Hans pedaled up to the Von Trapp estate and circled around to the side, carefully putting his bicycle on the ground. He picked up a few stray stones and started to pitch them at Liesel's window, hoping that she was in her room and that he could get her attention. Elsa, still looking for Anna-Maria and her children, emerged from the house and heard the noise, turning her head to see the young man throwing rocks at her windows. She strode over to the railing. "What are you doing there?" Elsa demanded in loud, imperious voice, and she startled Hans so much he dropped his stones.

"Captain Von Trapp!" Hans said, coming to attention and saluting. "I was just looking for…I didn't see…I mean I didn't know you were ho…um, hail Weselton!" he finished, adding the Weselton salute. Hans' ramblings caught the attention of Olaf and Kristoff, and they came to join Elsa over on that side of the terrace.

"Who are you?" Elsa demanded, now furious. She despised any Arendellian that would support Weselton. Those weasels were trying to trade Arendelle's sovereignty for security, and she, a proud member of the Royal Navy and the Royal family, would fight to the death for Arendelle's independence.

Hans knew he had made a grave mistake at the way the Captain's face darkened. "I have a telegram for Herr Detweiler," he said hurriedly.

"I am Herr Detweiler," Olaf said, stepping up.

"Yes, sir," Hans said, running up to hand the telegram to Olaf.

Elsa snatched it out of Hans' hand angrily, giving it to Olaf herself. "All right, you've delivered your telegram. Now get out," she stated coldly. Hans looked at her, his face growing angry before he retreated to his bicycle without a word. He picked it up and got on, pedaling his way off of the property.

"Elsa, he's just a boy," Kristoff reminded her.

"Yes, and I'm just an Arendellian," she countered.

Olaf, sensing the awkward tension, looked down at his telegram. "Um, I believe I'll go read this in the house," he decided, and he made a dash for the safety of the indoors.

Elsa sighed and leaned against the railing, her gaze turning deep and unfocused. "Hello," Kristoff said softly. "You just went so far away. Where are you?"

"Into a world that's disappearing, I'm afraid," Elsa answered distractedly.

"Is there any way I could bring you back to this one?" Kristoff asked with a small smile. Elsa smiled back, but before she could respond, a commotion from the river caught both of their attentions.

A boat came into view, and as Elsa left the railing and went down the steps of the terrace to the landing, she realized the boat held her children and their governess. She put her right hand on the landing's gate and the other hand on her hip, watching the revelry and listening to the boisterous singing with an unreadable expression. At just that moment, the children realized that their mother stood on the landing, and they all jumped up to shout greetings and welcomes with huge smiles on their faces. Anna-Maria did the same. "Oh, Captain, you're home!" she said happily, before the motion of eight people standing in the boat threw off everyone's balance and they ended up in the river.

Elsa's eyes widened as the boat tipped over, but her expression contracted into a resigned frown as they went into the drink. "Come out of that water at once!" she ordered, throwing the gates to the landing open.

The children splashed their way to the landing, and Anna-Maria grabbed the tether for the boat. "Oh, you must be the Baron!" she realized excitedly, waving to Kristoff. Kristoff started chuckling and waved back, but a stern look from Elsa made his hand drop. He also reduced his chuckles to a wide smile, but there was no way to take the smile away completely. He was going to have so much fun setting up his best friend with this redheaded spitfire.

The children climbed out of the water, excitedly chattering about how wet they were after falling into it. Elsa waited until all of them had climbed out before she blew her whistle. The chatter stopped instantly, and the children scurried into their line. "Straight line!" she barked. Elsa went down the line inspecting them, looking over their clothes carefully. She removed the head scarf from Louisa's hair, and then turned towards Kristoff. "This is the Baron von Groff," Elsa said, her voice tight with her displeasure as she looked down the line. "And these are my children," she told Kristoff.

"How do you do?" Kristoff asked politely, his friendly smile still in place. The children inclined their heads, careful to stay in their line.

"All right, go inside, dry off, clean up, change your clothes and report back here," Elsa ordered her children. "Immediately!" The children shuffled away, their sandals squishing on the pavement as they did so. Anna-Maria glared unapologetically at the Captain, contempt and exasperation exceedingly apparent on her fair features. Anna-Maria debated saying something but decided against it, instead sloshing by the Captain to join the children in the house. "Fraulein, you will stay here, please," the Captain demanded in her coldest tone. Anna-Maria stopped and turned back towards the Captain, her gaze turning more and more defiant the more she looked at Elsa.

Glancing at Elsa and seeing the anger there, Kristoff decided he really did not wish to be a part of the inevitable awkwardness and ensuring argument. "I think I'd better go see what Olaf is up to," he decided, hurrying off to the house before the war began.