A/N: Here is next chapter, and it is the one with my favorite song. I hope everyone likes it.
Chapter 5 – Edelweiss
Anna-Maria breathed a small sigh and turned to face Elsa. Elsa calmly put her whistle back into her jacket pocket, snapping it closed with purpose before looking at her governess for a brief moment. Finally, she spoke. "Now, Fraulein," she began, "I want a truthful answer from you."
"Yes, Captain?" Anna-Maria prompted.
"Is it possible, or did I just imagine that my children were climbing trees today?" Elsa asked evenly, keeping her anger in check.
"No, it's completely possible," Anna-Maria answered cheerfully, with no embarrassment or remorse in her tone. "Your children were climbing trees today."
"I see," Elsa replied, her mind at war with itself about whether the response was infuriating or adorable. Elsa dangled Louisa's dripping-wet head scarf from her left hand. "And where, may I ask did they get these, um…" Elsa inquired, her distaste for the clothing evident in her disgusted look and her pointed pause.
"Play clothes," Anna-Maria helpfully supplied.
"Oh, is that what you call them?" Elsa asked condescendingly.
Anna-Maria ignored the remark. "I made them," she explained. "From the drapes that used to hang in my bedroom."
"Drapes," Elsa echoed with incredulity and contempt coloring her every word.
"The fabric still had plenty of wear left," Anna-Maria continued, purposely ignoring the upper-class outrage she could sense coming from the Captain at the choice of such common material. Feeling annoyed and feisty, the governess decided to poke the bourgeoisie bear even more. "The children have been everywhere in them," she finished proudly.
Elsa's face grew chilly. "Do you mean to tell me that my children have been roaming about Arendelle dressed up in nothing but some old drapes?" she asked indignantly, throwing the scarf to the terrace in anger, her royal blood boiling that the populace of Arendelle might have seen her children in anything but their finest.
"That they have," Anna said, nodding merrily. "And they've been having a marvelous time doing it."
"They have uniforms!" Elsa angrily pointed out, as she turned to walk back into the house.
"Straightjackets, if you'll forgive me," Anna-Maria muttered.
Elsa's scowl deepened. "I will not forgive you for that," she warned, turning back towards Anna-Maria.
Anna-Maria realized she might have gone a bit too far, so she tried to explain herself. "Children cannot do all the things they are supposed to do if they are worried about ruining their precious clothing," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
"I haven't heard them complain yet," Elsa challenged, and the mocking tone of her voice made Anna-Maria's temper snap.
"They wouldn't dare!" she said, her voice rising with her anger. "They love you too much. They also fear you too much."
"I don't wish you to discuss my children in this manner," Elsa stated firmly, trying to shut down the discussion before too much was said in anger, either by her or by Anna-Maria.
"Well, you got to hear it from someone," Anna-Maria answered, her anger taking over. "You're never home long enough to even know your own children, much less talk to anyone about them!"
Elsa knew that Anna-Maria's statement was true, and the knowledge caused the verbal arrow to pierce deeply. Now feeling wounded and trapped, Elsa's anger started to control her. "I said I don't want to hear anymore from you about my children!" she said, the volume of her voice rising to reach the same volume as Anna-Maria's.
"I know you don't, but you've got to!" Anna-Maria stated, emphatic both in her statement and in her volume. The vehemence of her governess' statement stunned Elsa, and her angry retort died on her lips. Anna-Maria sighed, calming herself before she took the opportunity Elsa's temporary silence afforded her. "Now take Liesel," she began cautiously.
"You'll not say one word about my daughter," Elsa warned, pointing her finger at Anna-Maria for emphasis before turning away.
Anna-Maria, too fired up to listen or care, ignored her. "Your daughter is still a child, but one of these days, you'll wake up and find she's a woman. You won't even know her! And Friedrich, he's a boy, but he wants to be a proud sailor like you and there's no one to show him how!" Anna-Maria shouted.
"Don't you dare tell me about my son!" Elsa demanded, turning back towards Anna-Maria.
"Brigitta could tell you about him if you'd let her get close to you," Anna-Maria countered. "She notices everything. And Kurt pretends he's tough so he doesn't show how hurt he is when you brush him aside the way you do all of them."
"Fraulein, that will do," Elsa said, her tone low and warning, her anger about to boil over into rage.
Anna-Maria pressed on. "Louisa I don't know about yet," she admitted, "but someone needs to find out about her."
"I said that will do!" Elsa interrupted, but once again, Anna-Maria showed no signs that she had actually heard anything.
"And the little ones just want to be loved," she finished. "Please, Captain, love them. Love them all," the governess pleaded, coming up to stand close to Elsa.
Elsa turned away quickly, walking away from Anna-Maria. The governess' sincere care for her children, her righteous anger on their behalf, and the stinging truth of Anna-Maria's words about her deficiencies as a mother were unleashing a torrent of emotions, and they were threatening to overwhelm the Captain. Once she was far enough away, she spoke. "I don't care to hear anything further from you about my children!" she stated with finality.
"I don't care; I am not finished yet!" Anna-Maria countered, and Elsa's patience snapped.
"Oh, yes, you are, Fraulein," she said, her voice lowering almost to a growl in her rage. "Now, you will pack your things this minute and return to the abbey."
Anna-Maria's face fell. Her temper and proclivity for saying what she felt had gotten her in trouble once again, and once again, she had failed at something. She took a deep breath, planning to say something to the Captain. What, she didn't know; an apology, maybe, even though she wasn't sorry; a defense of what she had said, perhaps; or maybe just a request to say goodbye to the children. Anna-Maria didn't get the chance to say anything, though, as they both caught a tune wafting out from the house. "What's that?" Elsa asked, her emotions settling a bit.
Anna-Maria listened. "It's singing," she replied absentmindedly, distracted and sad about being asked to leave.
Elsa sighed and rolled her eyes. If she had thought Anna-Maria was being sarcastic, she would have yelled some more, but the young nun's tone indicated she was merely answering Elsa's question. "Yes, I realize it's singing," Elsa said in mild exasperation. "But who is singing?"
"The children," Anna-Maria replied truthfully.
Elsa looked towards the house. "The children?" she echoed, an unreadable expression on her face as she looked back towards Anna-Maria.
"I taught them something to sing for the Baron," Anna admitted, knowing that the Captain disliked the children singing, and thus probably disliked her even more now. Elsa looked back towards the house, pausing for just a moment before marching off with her heels clacking on the terrace. Anna-Maria watched her go with a sad frown.
Elsa pushed open the door and strode in, following the sound of singing to the parlor. She slowed her pace as she came closer; she didn't want to startle the children or disturb their singing. She merely wanted to observe and listen. Just outside the doorway, she stopped, peering in as her children sang about their hearts wanting to beat like the wings of the birds that rise from the lake to the trees. Her children sang another stanza, and the familiar words of the old song started to come back to her. It was an Arendellian favorite; practically everyone in the country had heard it as a child, and they taught it to their children as a part of tradition. Elsa had learned it from her father, and Georg had taught the words to Liesel. Now Anna-Maria had taught the song to the rest of her children in her late husband's stead, and Elsa was perceptive enough to understand the significance of that. But before she could get lost in her thoughts, another stanza caught her attention. "To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over stones on its way," her children sang, and Elsa found herself singing along.
"To sing through the night, like a lark who is learning to pray," she sang, coming into the room as her volume grew louder. Completely astonished, the children stopped singing, looking at each other in trepidation, so Elsa kept singing, her beautiful but rarely-heard mezzosoprano ringing throughout the room. "I go the hills, when my heart is lonely. I know I will hear, what I've heard before. My heart will be blessed…"she sang, holding the note, and she smiled when her children snapped out of their surprise to provide accompaniment. Anna-Maria had taught them well, apparently. "…with the sound of music. And I'll sing…once… more," she finished, unaware that Anna-Maria had silently come up to the doorway and was now watching her with a mix of surprise and hope.
There was a brief, awkward pause before Elsa hesitantly and stiffly reached out for her children. They hesitated, but then all of them responded at once, and Elsa found herself being enveloped by seven pairs of arms. She hugged back, fiercely, and for the first time in forever, they finally felt like a family again.
From their places in the parlor, Kristoff and Olaf looked on in happiness. They had heard the women quarreling before the children had come down and started singing, and for the most part, they had agreed with everything that the young governess had said. Apparently something had gotten through, because strict, emotionless Elsa looked like she was about ready to cry, and she was hugging her children as if her very life depended on it.
Anna-Maria smiled in relief as she looked down. Something within had told her there was a warm-hearted mother under the cold Captain façade, and Anna-Maria was proud that her music lessons had allowed that part of Elsa to be revealed. Anna-Maria noticed that some of the children, Kurt in particular, still looked a little apprehensive, like this was some sort of weird trick or dream. To Anna-Maria's joy, Elsa caught the look, pinched him and laughed, causing Kurt to laugh, and the apprehension was broken.
Gretl, being on the outside of the huddle, saw Anna-Maria at the door and looked over to her governess. Anna-Maria gestured towards the Baron with two of her fingers, and Gretl nodded, wiggling free from the rest of the group. She presented the Baron with a bunch of small white flowers, accentuating the gift with a small, polite curtsey. Kristoff laughed, lifting the little girl on to his lap and into a hug. "Edelweiss!" he exclaimed happily. "I love edelweiss." He turned to Elsa, who was still surrounded by her remaining children. "You never told me how enchanting your children are," he scolded good-naturedly.
Elsa looked at her children with pride before realizing that the person most responsible for this moment was missing. She looked towards the door, and saw Anna-Maria watching happily from the doorway. Anna-Maria froze, and her smile faded from her face at being spotted. She was supposed to have been on her way back to the abbey by now. Thinking she was in trouble, Anna-Maria quickly hurried past the doorway and up the stairs. Within seconds, Elsa realized why her governess had fled, and the contrite Captain knew she had to stop her. "Wait here," she told the children. "Don't go away." They all nodded, suddenly concerned, and Elsa rushed out of the parlor.
Anna-Maria had just started climbing the stairs when a quiet voice stopped her. "Fraulein," Elsa said gently. Anna-Maria went up a couple more steps, undecided about how to respond, before she stopped completely and turned back towards the Captain. Elsa took a breath. "I…behaved badly," she said apologetically. "I apologize."
Anna-Maria looked at her, not quite believing what she was hearing, but the Captain seemed sincere, so Anna-Maria gave her sincerity in return. "No, I'm far too outspoken," Anna-Maria admitted. "It's one of my worst faults."
"Not when you are right," Elsa disagreed. "And you are. I don't know my children," she confessed quietly.
Anna-Maria frowned in sympathy before her natural optimism kicked in. "There's still time, Captain," she encouraged with a hopeful smile. "They want so much to be close to you."
"We'll see," Elsa demurred. "But, I did want to say thank you for bringing music back into the house. I had forgotten." The Captain didn't mention what she had forgotten, but the look she was giving Anna-Maria made the governess happy and a little nervous all at once. Her heart started beating a little faster, and not knowing what else to do, Anna-Maria blushed and started to walk back up the stairs. "Fraulein," Elsa said, stopping her again. "I want you to stay," Elsa stated, trying to ignore the way her heart was silently and unashamedly pleading for Anna-Maria to say yes. "Please stay," she requested simply.
Anna-Maria's beating heart sped up at the intent but vulnerable look on the Captain's beautiful face. There was no way she could refuse that face, so she didn't. "Of course I'll stay," she answered, and Elsa smiled in relief. "Just let me know how I can help," Anna-Maria requested.
Elsa's smile faded, and she looked at Anna-Maria with another unreadable expression, the second Anna-Maria had seen that day. "You've already helped far more than you know," Elsa said cryptically before she offered Anna-Maria a small, reassuring smile and went back to the parlor.
Anna-Maria stood there stunned, her mind trying to puzzle out the Captain's odd statement. After a few moments, though, she gave up. Happiness was taking over now that she had been asked to stay, and she couldn't focus. Her face spread out into a wide grin, and she skipped up the stairs to get out of her wet clothes.
Over the next few weeks, the family adapted to a new routine. It was true that Elsa had thawed somewhat, but she was still Captain Von Trapp, and the changes came slowly. The children's schedule tightened back up from its carefree Anna-Maria style, and they went back to having lessons in the morning. Anna-Maria being Anna-Maria, though, made those lessons fun, and the children minded them less than they had before. On the other hand, afternoons changed completely, as "marching about the grounds breathing deeply" was replaced by play time, music lessons, and occasional picnics to the North Mountain. Anna-Maria always sought out the Captain and asked her to join them, but in the beginning, the Captain politely declined. Then Anna-Maria hit upon the idea of sending Marta and Gretl to ask, and the adorable girls managed to persuade their reluctant mother. Now more often than not, Elsa joined them for music, and Anna-Maria felt odd flutters in her chest and stomach every time that sweet mezzo filled the room after the children had somehow managed to convince the Captain to sing.
For her own part, Elsa was immensely enjoying the changes. Her house felt like a home again, and her family was an actual family rather than a collection of parts. Elsa knew that the credit for that belonged to Anna-Maria, and the affection that had been there from the very first day started to blossom into love. Still fearful after losing both her parents and Georg, Elsa tried to stop it, avoiding the governess when she could in an attempt to stop her growing feelings. But, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Anna-Maria was always with the children, and Elsa was desperate to be with them, so she was spending a lot of time with Anna-Maria too. Spending more time with her only confirmed how truly special the governess was, and Elsa knew her don't fall in love plan was doomed.
Kristoff and Olaf knew it too, and they subtly encouraged it the best they could. Along with Elsa, they were always asked to join in the afternoon activities, but unlike her, they always accepted. When Elsa joined them, they were stealthy love experts, trying to gently push the women together. It was obvious that Anna-Maria loved Elsa's singing, so they would join the children in pleading for the Captain to sing. Elsa seemed to enjoy Anna-Maria's laugh, so Olaf would constantly be joking and teasing her to make her giggle.
The routine came to a slight halt at the beginning of one week. Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf were sternly, but lovingly and politely, told that they were no longer welcome to join the music lessons, and they were banished from the ballroom in which the lessons were taking place. All of three of them protested, but all three of them knew that it probably had something to do with the puppet show that had been delivered to the house the previous week. So, they did as they were asked, and after two weeks of banishment, Kurt and Brigitta delivered handcrafted invitations to their mother, the Baron and their Uncle inviting them to the world premiere of The Lonely Goatherd.
Performance time came, and with Kristoff and Olaf already seated, Elsa peeked behind the miniature stage. She was promptly yelled at, so she covered her eyes and tiptoed away. When she was safely away from the stage, her hand fell away from her eyes, and she made a shushing gesture towards Olaf and Kristoff. Elsa started clapping as she took her seat, prompting the men to follow her example, and the show started to the sound of raucous applause.
In the rafters of the miniature stage, four of the seven children plus Anna-Maria prepared their puppets. On the stage level, Marta was in charge of the main curtain and scenery changes on the right, while Gretl was responsible for ancillary characters on the left. Louisa was a roamer, switching between left and right or upstairs depending on where her character was at a given moment. "Marta!" Anna-Maria whispered. Marta looked up. "Curtain!" Anna-Maria said in a louder voice. Marta dutifully pulled the cord, and the main curtain slid open.
A blond-haired goatherd puppet was lowered onto the stage, and Anna-Maria started singing. "High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, lay-ee-oh-dee-lay-ee-oh-da-lay-hee-hoo," she began, with the puppet's mouth opening and closing in time with her singing, even on the song's distinctive yodel. "Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd, lay-ee-oh-de-lay-de-oh-da-loo," she continued, and Brigitta, Liesel, and Kurt lowered their puppet goats to the stage for her puppet to herd. "Folks in a town that was quite remote heard, lay-ee-oh-dee-lay-ee-oh-da-lay-hee-hoo," Anna-Maria singing, maneuvering her puppet to pet the goats. "Lusty and clear from the goatherd's throat heard, lay-ee-oh-de-lay-de-oh-da-loo."
The children joined in the singing, yodeling along with her as their puppet goats pranced about. The scene ended, and Anna-Maria stage-yelled for Marta. "Marta!" she called. Marta was too busy singing to hear her, so she yelled again. "Marta!" she called a little more forcefully. Marta gasped and pulled the cord, changing the scenery to the castle scene. "Gretl! The Prince!" Anna-Maria whispered to the other side of the stage, and the little girl dutifully pushed the prince out onto the stage.
"A prince on the bridge of castle moat heard, lay-ee-oh-dee-lay-ee-oh-da-lay-hee-hoo, "Anna-Maria sang.
"Men on a road with a load to tote heard, lay-ee-oh-de-lay-de-oh-da-loo," the children responded. "Men in the midst of a table d'hôte heard, lay-ee-oh-dee-lay-ee-oh-da-lay-hee-hoo," the children sang, and this time Anna-Maria responded.
"Men drinking beer with the foam a-float heard…" she began, but Marta impishly decided to blow the fake foam in her face and she sputtered on the yodel.
A side panel to the stage opened and a puppet polka band started playing as the song continued. "One little girl in a pale pink coat heard, lay-ee-oh-dee-lay-ee-oh-da-lay-hee-hoo," Anna-Maria sang.
"She yodeled back to the lonely goatherd, lay-ee-oh-de-lay-de-oh-da-loo," Brigitta sang, having been given the solo amongst the children.
"Soon her Ma-Ma with a gleaming gloat heard, lay-ee-oh-dee-lay-ee-oh-da-lay-hee-hoo," Anna-Maria sang.
"What a duet for a girl and goatherd, lay-ee-oh-de-lay-de-oh-da-loo" the children concluded.
The show went instrumental for a bit, with the goatherd, the girl in the pink coat and her mother dancing off stage, while dancing puppet couples replaced them. Elsa, completely charmed and delighted by the music and her children's talent, laughed, and Kristoff and Olaf joined her. The principal characters returned, and the children and Anna-Maria yodeled in every increasing harmony and complexity. Elsa sat back and allowed herself to listen. Anna-Maria had a lovely, enchanting soprano, and Elsa was become as fond of it as she was of every other part of her governess.
The final scene came, and Louisa went to the top to help. It was basically a repeat of the third stanza, but now the background was the same mountains it had been in the beginning. Anna-Maria gestured to Marta and the mountains came into view, and instead of human puppets, the lonely goatherd, the girl and her mother were now goats. He and the girl in the pale pink coat fell in love once more, but this stanza had an extra verse. "Happy are they, lay-dee-oh-lay-dee-lee-oh, oh-lay-dee-oh-lay-de-lay-ee-ee-oh," everyone sang, as Anna-Maria put down the final puppet.
"Soon the duet will become a trio, lay-dee-oh-de-lay-dee-oh-dee-low," the baby goat that sounded suspiciously like Anna-Maria concluded.
Anna-Maria and the children sang a few more yodels, finishing with an emphatic "woo!", and Elsa broke out into applause before giving them all a standing ovation. "Bravo!" she shouted as her children appeared from out behind the stage with curtseys and bows. Kristoff and Olaf joined her, calling out bravos and compliments. The children all beamed, and Elsa went up to the stage to give them kisses and hugs.
Gretl happily accepted her hug and kiss before running up to her Uncle Olaf. "May we keep the puppet show, Uncle Olaf?" she asked, and her siblings added their voices to the pleas.
"Of course, you may, my darlings," he assured them. "Why else would I have told Professor Pabbie to send the bill to your mother?" The children squealed, and they happily followed Olaf out of the room, chattering to themselves about their next production. Elsa rolled her eyes, but she managed a wry smile.
Anna-Maria, still in the rafters of the puppet stage turning off lights and securing things, heard the children's laughter, and it made her smile. Looking around and being satisfied with what she saw, she descended the stairs to find the Captain and the Baron still waiting for her. "Well done, Fraulein," Elsa said warmly, and Anna smiled at her. "I am really very, very much impressed," Elsa told her sincerely, and Anna-Maria's smile grew embarrassed.
"They're your children, Captain," Anna-Maria said, deflecting the praise. They looked at each other affectionately for some time, until they both came to their senses and realized Kristoff was still in the room. There was an awkward shuffle on both their parts, and Kristoff hid his grin. These two were way too adorable and obvious for their own good, he decided.
He took Elsa's offered arm, his mind plotting. "My dear, is there anything you can't do?" he asked rhetorically, trying to showcase Anna-Maria's almost perfection to Elsa. Elsa glared at him, and he smiled at her charmingly.
"Well, I'm not sure I'll make a very good nun," Anna admitted unexpectedly, and Elsa chuckled in surprise.
"Then maybe the Maker has different plans for you," Kristoff offered, jumping when Elsa pinched him roughly.
The three other adults joined Olaf and the children just as Olaf was making an announcement. "Attention!" he said. "Attention everyone! I have an important announcement to make. Surprise, surprise, today, after a long and sometimes fruitless search, I have finally found a most exciting entry for the Arendelle Folk Festival."
"Congratulations, Olaf!" Elsa congratulated him facetiously. "Who will be exploiting you this time?"
Olaf merely laughed at her obvious disapproval. "I have made a much better choice this year," he said.
"Tell us," Liesel pleaded.
"A singing group all in one family," Olaf said, with a playful smirk on his face. Friedrich and Louisa looked at one another, already knowing where this was going, as did Anna-Maria and Kristoff. Elsa had an inkling, and she wasn't happy about it.
"What a charming idea," she said suspiciously. "Whose family?"
"Yours," Olaf confirmed with a happy grin. "They'll be the talk of the festival."
Elsa laughed derisively. "You're funny, Olaf," she complimented him sarcastically. "Expensive, but very funny."
"But you heard them. They'll be a sensation!" Olaf protested, as the whole group left the receiving hall and entered the parlor.
"No, Olaf," Elsa said firmly, and the children groaned with disappointment.
"It's a wonderful idea!" Olaf insisted. "Fresh, original."
"Olaf," Elsa said firmly. "My children do not sing in public," she declared.
"Well, you can't blame me for trying," Olaf shrugged, disappointed but hopeful that Elsa would come around and see how wonderful it would be.
Anna-Maria felt the positive energy of the puppet show dissipating into annoyance and dissatisfaction, so she decided to rapidly change the subject. "Children!" she said, clapping her hands to get their attention. "Who shall we hear a song from next?" she asked, starting the nightly ritual of ending their day with music. Liesel had an idea, and she whispered it to Anna-Maria. Anna-Maria looked doubtfully at Liesel, but after the oldest daughter had shared her idea with her siblings, they all nodded. Anna-Maria shrugged, picked up her guitar and did as they asked. She walked over to the Captain, holding out the guitar. "The vote is unanimous; I guess we picked you, Captain," she said with a smile.
"Me?" Elsa questioned, looking around at the expectant faces of her children. "I don't understand."
"Please," Anna-Maria requested, knowing that this was unusual. It was usually her or one of the children that sang.
"Well, I am very honored, but I will have to say no," Elsa said, smiling at everyone to ease the sting of rejection, as she went to go sit down.
The children and Anna-Maria followed her. "But we have heard you in our music lessons; you are a wonderful singer," Anna cajoled. "And I've been told that a long time ago, you played the guitar very well."
"Well, that was a very, very long time ago," Elsa answered, sitting down.
The children sat down surrounding her. "I remember, Mother," Liesel said. "Please play for us." Her younger siblings echoed the plea for Elsa to play, and at last she reluctantly took the guitar from Anna-Maria. Anna-Maria smiled and retreated to the other side of the room.
"Well, if you insist," she said, positioning her hands on the guitar. She strummed a few bars to get the feel for it again, and when she was comfortable, she played a song that the children were sure to know. "E-del-weiss," she started, and the children smiled, instantly recognizing the national anthem of Arendelle. Elsa smiled back at them as she looked around the group. "Edelweiss, every morning you greet me. Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me," she sang, and at the word "happy", she glanced over at Anna-Maria. The governess brightened at seeing the Captain's look, and her smile deepened; without thought, Elsa's smile deepened to match. Kristoff and Olaf, sitting on a couch opposite to them, looked at one another and smirked. Even when the Captain looked back towards her children, the loving gaze on Anna-Maria's face remained, and the men were now convinced she shared Elsa's feelings. "Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever. Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever," Elsa sang, the notes on the guitar true and the notes of her voice clear.
Elsa repeated the verse, and at her mother's prompting, Liesel jumped in to provide accompaniment and harmony. Anna-Maria wasn't hearing a note of the music or a word of the lyrics, though. The Captain was focused on Liesel, so Anna-Maria could watch her without being noticed, and oh how she looked. Anna-Maria lost herself in the beauty of the Captain, seeing the sparkle in her blue eyes as she sang, and watching the light glint off her white-blond hair as she turned her head to look around. When Elsa reached the last line of the song, she looked up towards Anna-Maria, and Anna-Maria realized she had been caught staring. Her breath caught in her chest.
Elsa had felt Anna-Maria's eyes on her for most of the song, but she focused on the children, knowing that she had almost given herself away on her first glance, and that she would give herself away if she dared look a second time. The lovely face and body, those beautiful blue-green eyes and those freckles were going to be her undoing, especially if Anna-Maria kept wearing dresses like the pretty ice-blue one she was currently wearing. It was only on the very last line of the song that Elsa dared look, and she saw how Anna-Maria was looking at her. Her breath escaped with the last note of the song, and it was some time before she drew another, saved only by the delighted clapping of her children.
"Say the word Elsa, and you can be a part of the group," Olaf said, after Elsa had put down the guitar. Elsa merely rolled her eyes at him.
"I have a wonderful idea, Elsa," Kristoff announced, getting up from the couch. "Let's really fill this house with music. You must give a grand and glorious party for me while I'm here."
"A party?" Elsa questioned, considering it. The children voiced their approval, resulting in a cacophony of young voices. Anna-Maria shushed them.
"Yes, I think it's high time that I met all of your civilian friends here in Arendelle, and they met me. Don't you agree?" Kristoff asked.
Elsa couldn't think of a reason to refuse, so she shrugged. "I can see your point," she admitted.
The children's voices grew loud with their approval, so once again, Anna-Maria gently corrected them. "Children, it's time to go to bed," she told them. "Come now, say good night."
The children groaned in annoyance, but they all did as they were told. They kissed their mother goodnight and politely wished the Baron and their Uncle Olaf the same. They excitedly followed one another out of the parlor, eager to go upstairs to start talking amongst themselves about the party. Anna-Maria followed, and Gretl, the last to leave, turned around to face her mother as she left. "It'll be my first party, Mother!" she said excitedly, almost tripping over her own feet as she went to bed.