Chapter 10: Anna's Return
Anna looked out at the sea. She could already faintly see the outline of the coast of Arendelle. She squealed, jumping up and down.
"Look, Kristoff! I can see Arendelle!"
She turned to face her fiancé, and saw that he was- once again- kneeling over the edge of the boat, retching.
"Again?" she said, exasperated. Kristoff had been seasick since they'd left North Africa by boat. Clearly, he was more at ease lost in the mountains and knee-deep in snow than in the middle of the ocean, on a 'wooden, floating piece of wood' as he'd called it. The captain of the boat had looked deeply insulted at his words.
"It's not like I can help it, Anna," he grumbled, wiping at his mouth. "The quicker we'll get to Arendelle, the happier I'll be."
"KRISTOFF! ANNA!" they heard, as a small snowman ran out to them, what looked like a minuscule swirling cloud of snow above his head, the only thing that had kept him from melting in Africa.
"What is it Olaf?" said Anna, smiling down at him.
"Sven ate my nose again!" he whined, and Kristoff readied himself for what was coming.
"You've got to teach him to stop doing that, Kristoff," said Anna, turning back to him.
"He's a reindeer," sighed Kristoff, "Eating carrots is what he does! Olaf should just stay away from him!"
"But they're friends," insisted Anna.
"Sven is a reindeer. Olaf is a snowman. GIVE ME THE CONNECTION."
"You are such a spoilsport."
Kristoff's face split into a grin.
"A handsome spoilsport," he said advancing towards her, and pulling her towards him, his hands on her waist.
"Maybe, but your breath smells like vomit. I'm not kissing you."
"Fair observation," he said, chuckling as he let her go. Anna turned back to watch Arendelle appearing on the horizon, as Olaf was trying to get Kristoff to let him use another carrot for his nose.
"Olaf, that's the sixth carrot this week-"
Soon, she would see Elsa.
Soon.
…
"Oh my lord," whispered Elsa, "we are so not supposed to be doing this-"
"Come on, Snowflake, don't pretend you haven't done things you weren't supposed to do before," chuckled Jack mischievously.
"If by 'things I wasn't supposed to do', you mean taking a tooth from a cadaver, then NO, Jack, I haven't!" she hissed angrily.
"Point taken," he muttered.
"Elsa, you'll just be standing guard. Jack and I will go in and take the tooth." said Tooth softly. They were walking- well, Elsa was walking, Jack and Tooth floating beside her- the castle's corridors towards the chapel, the morning sun lighting their way. No one was even up yet.
They emerged into the freezing courtyard, Elsa leading the way, and she pushed open the small stone chapel's front door. There, in front of them, on a table dressed by a white napkin, lied Katie, covered in a white dress, her hands intertwined above her heart.
"I don't want to look," said Elsa, shivering and turning away from the sight.
"That's fine, Snowflake. We won't be long. Tell us if anyone's coming," said Jack, before following Tooth inside. She knew that that was just a ploy to make her feel useful, because even if someone did wander into the chapel at this early hour, they wouldn't be able to see Jack or Tooth.
She was grateful all the same.
…
"Hurry up, Tooth," muttered Jack, glancing uneasily at the body of the servant, "I want to get out of here."
"Do you want to take her tooth? Maybe you'll be faster," she said, irritated.
"Um- No thanks." he said, and he heard a breezy laugh escape from her.
"So," she started as she worked, "You succeeded in gaining her trust."
"Not all of it," Jack murmured, so that Elsa wouldn't overhear, "Still working on it."
"What do you think about her?" Tooth asked in a casual tone, and Jack turned to look at her.
"What do I- Oh no. I'm not having this conversation with you, Tooth."
"Just curious," she said defensively, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
An awkward silence settled in.
"She seems great," she tried again. Jack took a while before answering.
"She is," he muttered. Tooth didn't answer.
"Finished!" she said after ten more minutes, "Let's go."
They stepped out of the chapel, to find Elsa sitting on a bench nearby, doing her best effort to act natural.
"Did you get it?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Jack.
"I'm going to go to the Tooth Palace right away," said Tooth, "And I'll try to draw a memory out of the tooth, though I haven't ever done it from an adult tooth before."
"She was really young," added Elsa.
"I'll come back as soon as I can."
Elsa and Jack nodded, and Tooth fluttered into the air. They looked at her go until she was out of sight.
"Well, then it's just you and me again, Snowflake,"
"Sadly." said Elsa as she stood up and walked towards the castle.
"Stop lying. You adore being alone with me. You'd like to be alone with me all the time-"
"That would be a nightmare," she said, teasing, as she passed the double doors at the entrance of the castle, but before Jack could answer, Elsa stumbled into a man in the entryway. Jack recognized him immediately as one of the princes from the Southern Isles.
He groaned.
"I'd completely forgotten you had to hang out with these jerks every morning," he said, and judging by Elsa's expression, she'd forgotten too.
"Prince Erwin," she said, regaining her composure.
Jack wondered how she did to remember all their names.
"I'm Prince Damien," said the prince.
Well, that answered his question, he thought as he snorted. Elsa threw him a look, and he did his best effort to look innocent.
"Forgive me. I'm quite confused today," she said, curtsying respectfully. Jack rolled his eyes, and felt a jab in his ribs from Elsa's elbow.
"Hey!" he cried out, indignant, "It's not my fault you can't come up with anything better than 'I'm confused'!"
"Shall we go?" asked the prince, offering Elsa his arm and she graciously took it, following him. He led her to the Royal Gardens - did these guys have absolutely no originality? - Jack following suit. They sat down on the same bench where Elsa had sat down just yesterday with Prince Broderick.
That seemed like such a long time ago.
Jack sat on the bench's frame, his feet next to where Elsa sat. The moment the prince started talking, Jack tuned out of the conversation.
…
Two hours had passed since the prince had brought her to the Garden. They'd talked about every single topic of small talk on the planet, and strangely, Jack had stayed silent.
Elsa strongly suspected that he'd fallen asleep.
She hadn't even bothered asking Prince Damien what he'd do if he was King. She didn't plan on making any of them king, if either way, Arendelle would go to war.
"Yes, it's summer a big part of the year at the Southern Isles-" she dimly heard the prince droning on about his country, as she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Her night of adventures was taking a toll on her.
She thought about Jack's friends. She'd immediately fallen in love with the group they formed together, each one of them having a defined role in it. She'd loved seeing the teasing, the affection- well, she didn't know if it had been affection emanating from Bunny, but she hoped it was- and how Jack had looked happy amongst them. She wished she had friends like that.
Her thoughts turned to her sister, on her way now. If the letter had arrived two and a half weeks after she'd sent it, it had been almost three weeks since Anna had departed. How much time would it take for her to make the journey from Africa to all the way up north?
Then she heard a shout from behind her, and turned to Jack, no longer behind her but five foot in the air, looking deeply shocked.
"What in blizzard's name-" he said, a panicked tone in his voice. She followed his gaze, and saw, running towards her-
"Olaf!" she gasped.
"Elsaaaaaaaa!" the snowman shouted, as he launched himself in her arms.
"I need an explanation." she heard Jack wheeze out, still looking deeply traumatized by what he was seeing. "Elsa. Now."
"But- but if you're here- then-" she stammered, the realization dawning on her exactly at the same moment another voice rang across the garden.
"ELSA!"
Elsa raised her gaze, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Anna," she said, tears swelling in her eyes, blurring her vision.
"Your sister?" Jack said, turning to look at the princess.
But Elsa didn't answer, launching into a run at precisely the same moment Anna did, and they half-collided into each other, hugging.
"I missed you so much-"
"I missed you too-"
"I have so much to tell you-"
"CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON-"
"No need to shout, Mr White-Hair." Elsa heard Olaf's voice, and she turned, still holding on to Anna, to find Olaf staring directly at Jack.
"You- you can see me?" blurted Jack, before turning to Elsa. She noticed that he was still flying a safe distance away from Olaf. "I'm starting to seriously freak out over here, Snowflake."
But Elsa didn't have time to tell him anything, as she saw the prince standing up from the bench and beginning to walk towards them. She turned back to her sister.
Probably best to warn her.
"Anna- Hans' brothers are here."
"What?"
"Yes, they want to make a marriage alliance-"
"They have some nerve-" she said, flushing in outrage.
"I'll explain more later," said Elsa hurriedly, "but please be polite. And- don't hit anyone."
Before Anna could answer however, the prince was standing directly next to them. He bowed down, and Anna curtsied, with an expression on her face that told Elsa that she'd rather have been kissing Sven.
"It is an honour to finally meet you, Princess Anna."
Anna made a disgusted sound that kind of sounded like 'The honour is mine', and Elsa heard Jack snort.
"I like her already," he said, and Elsa flashed a smile at him. He landed next to her, and Elsa squeezed his hand briefly, as if to apologize for not answering him in front of Anna and the prince.
"I'd like to officially apologize for my brother's behaviour with you. I couldn't understand it before, and even less now that I see your beauty in person."
Elsa bristled. Was the guy hitting on her sister?
"I think she's quite beautiful too, if I may say so myself," said a voice, and Elsa turned her head to see Kristoff standing behind her, a protective hand on Anna's shoulder.
"Hi, Kristoff," Elsa grinned, and he grinned back.
"And you must be the princess' fiancé," said the Prince, and Kristoff nodded at him, all trace of a smile gone.
"Very well. I'll leave you, then."
Elsa nodded, as the Prince returned inside.
"Little piece of southern-"
"Language, Kristoff," said Anna, tapping him on the chest.
"Sorry. What a disgusting little-"
"Kristoff-" started Anna, as Elsa burst out laughing.
"So, Elsa- are you going to introduce us?" asked Kristoff, gesturing towards Jack.
"You can see me too? What is this, a Jack Frost fan club?"
"You don't have a fan club, Jack," said Elsa, rolling her eyes.
"You don't know that- maybe somewhere in Iceland-"
"Who are you guys talking to?" asked Anna, looking half-concerned, half-curious.
"What do you mean, who are we talking to?" Kristoff asked. "And what do you mean, you're Jack Frost?"
"Okay, okay, everyone stop for a second," said Elsa. "Anna, I'm going to ask you to trust me."
"Okayyyyy," said Anna, looking more and more confused by the second.
"You're going to have to believe, without the shadow of a doubt, that there's someone else in the Garden too."
"Someone else?!"
"Yes. Believe me. You have to have no doubt in your mind that there's a guy right next to me, right now, that you can't see."
Anna looked at the spot next to Elsa where Jack was, frowning a little.
Then, suddenly, she lurched back into Kristoff, who caught her, her eyes wide.
"What the-"
"Hi," said Jack, throwing a look from underneath his lashes.
"Hello," Olaf's voice came from right next to him, and Jack took a sudden step back.
"He's fine," said Elsa. "That's Olaf. I made him."
"What do you mean, you made him?!"
"Elsa, who's this?" asked Anna again, her shock disappearing, replaced by curiosity.
"This," she said, turning to Kristoff and Anna, "is Jack Frost."
"The Jack Frost? The Spirit of Winter?" Kristoff said, stunned.
"You've heard of me?" questioned Jack.
"If I've heard of you? Geez, if Grand Pabbie could see this-"
"The trolls?" asked Elsa curiously.
"You can't grow up with the trolls, and not believe in the Spirit of Winter," explained Kristoff. "Though you look less impressive than I thought you were."
"Hey!" said Jack indignantly.
"I have a lot to tell you," said Elsa to Anna, cutting Jack's retort before he threw something cold at Kristoff's face.
"Obviously," she replied. "Let's go to my rooms, you'll tell me everything there."
…
An hour later, Elsa was sitting on an armchair beside the fire in Anna's bedroom. She'd finally finished telling Anna all that had happened since Jack had turned up in the gardens, and had told her almost everything (conveniently forgetting to tell her about the snowball fight, or that Jack had woken her up during a nightmare). Anna looked stunned, sitting down on a chair opposite hers, and Kristoff looked just as horrified, standing next to her. The only one who didn't look at all interested by what she was saying was Jack, who was examining Olaf, muttering under his breath.
"So," said Anna after a minute of silence, "The Southern Isles want to attack us, but first they want to marry you because- this guy that threatens children wants you- so he can beat Jack Frost, who is the reason he didn't take over the world a few months ago."
"That's pretty much it," said Elsa.
"And they killed a servant, who was going to tell you something- so you are going to try to discover what she wanted to tell you by giving one of her teeth to the Tooth Fairy, who can extract memories from it." she continued slowly. Elsa bit her lip and nodded, knowing that she sounded completely mad.
"Elsa, if I didn't know better, I'd think that you'd gone completely crazy," said Anna.
"I know it's a lot to take in," said Elsa, "but I'm telling the truth."
"I know you're telling the truth."
"And we'll help you in any way you ask us to." said Kristoff, and Elsa smiled tiredly up at them, as Anna reached to take her hand and squeezed it.
Then, Kristoff coughed, looking at Anna, and she flushed.
"Actually," she muttered, "We have something to tell you too. Though less critical-"
"What?" asked Elsa, alarmed at Anna's hesitation.
"Well- um- I know I promised to- you know- show restraint during our vacation-"
"Oh no," said Elsa, wincing. "I really don't want to hear about your sex life Anna-"
"What's a sex life?" asked Olaf, and Jack let out a cough that sounded a lot like 'Awkwaard'.
"Anyway," she said quickly, "We got a little overenthusiastic in Amsterdam-"
"Geez, that's a poor choice of words," chuckled Jack, "I can feel Elsa cringing from here."
"Jack, you're not helping," muttered Elsa.
"Elsa- I'm pregnant."
"You're what?" Elsa exclaimed, standing up rather quickly from where she was sitting.
"We're going to have a baby," repeated Kristoff, looking a little scared now.
"But- but Anna, you're eighteen-"
"I feel ready, Elsa, I swear! I love Kristoff, and I know I want to spend my life with him. We're just starting it a little sooner than what was planned."
"A little- a little sooner?!" the queen choked.
"I told you she was going to react badly," murmured Kristoff.
"No! No- I'm not reacting badly." said Elsa, taking a few breaths. "I'm thrilled for you," she continued, taking Anna's hand. "I really am. I was just- taken by surprise."
Anna's face split into a grin, and Elsa couldn't help but smile back.
"Though this means that you're going to have to wed soon," she said. "If you begin to show and you're not married, that child will be considered a bastard. Not that I care-" she said quickly.
"But the counsellors will." finished Anna.
"I don't really care what they think either, but if you want your child to be able to be a potential heir to the crown of Arendelle-"
"It's fine Elsa, we've already thought of it. Kristoff and I were actually thinking of getting married on Christmas Eve. Which means the Christmas Ball will be a wedding celebration, though."
Elsa thought about this- and turned to Jack abruptly, who was looking at her.
"Are you thinking the same thing I am?" she asked him.
"I don't know. Personally, I'm thinking about what's under that dress," he muttered mischievously throwing her one of those heart-stopping glances, so that Anna and Kristoff couldn't hear them.
"Jack, my sister's right there-" she hissed back, though she felt herself blushing.
"What are you thinking?" he said louder, so that Anna and Kristoff could hear them.
"If Anna and Kristoff get married on Christmas Eve, the counsellors will postpone the announcement of my engagement. It could buy us more time."
"Sounds like a plan," said Anna, seeming relieved that her sister hadn't freaked out about the short-time span between now and her wedding.
"I'm going to tell the counsellors right away." said Elsa, walking towards the door, before turning back to them. "Anna, we have dinner at six thirty with the King, Queen and the princes of the Southern Isles. Please don't be late."
Anna groaned.
"Coming, Jack?" she asked, and Jack followed her out. She closed the door behind her, but not before she heard Olaf ask Anna:
"What's underneath Elsa's dress?"
She turned to glare at Jack.
"What?" he said defensively. "It's not my fault if the snowman eavesdrops!"
…
The councilman took the news worse than Elsa had thought they would.
"But, your Majesty, the alliance-"
"This will make the King very angry, your Majesty-"
"Are you sure the wedding can't wait, your Majesty-"
"No, I'm most certainly sure it can't." she snapped. "My sister's wedding is just as important, and if she wants it to take place on Christmas Eve, then it will take place on Christmas Eve."
That had shut them up.
She'd spent the rest of the afternoon with Jack, wandering about the grounds of the castle and talking about the financial reform she was working on, that would be able to pay for the creation of a health insurance for the citizens of Arendelle. To her surprise, Jack hadn't teased her at all, but had seemed deeply interested, asking questions, and offering insight.
"Of course, I'll have to take my power back first." she'd said, downcast. Jack had seized her arm, to stop her, and she'd turned her face towards him.
"You'll get your power back," he'd said in a deeper voice than usual. "And I'm going to help you- because- Elsa, you're going to be an amazing queen someday. Arendelle's lucky to have you."
"Thank you," she said, a knot in her throat. Then she'd kissed him quickly, fleetingly on the cheek, surprising even herself. He'd grinned at her, and her heart had pounded faster.
But much too soon, it was dinner time, and Elsa made her way to the dining room. Anna and Kristoff were waiting for her.
"Okay, so remember, they're probably going to be mad when I tell them the announcement is being postponed, but we can't get angry. We have to be irreproachable."
"Stop worrying Elsa. It's going to be fine." Anna said, and took Elsa's hand in hers as Elsa pushed open the doors.