Snow Cone

"Elsa, I've been experimenting."

"How alarming."

Elsa was reading on her balcony, wearing only her day gown in the frosted air of January. Her eyes remained focused on the words in the book (no matter how many times her brain decided to jumble the order in which they appeared). Anna was holding her hands behind her back, clearly hiding something back there.

"I think you'd be interested," Anna said.

Elsa sighed, placed a finger into the crease of her book as she gently pulled a loosened ribbon from her wintery hair and placed it within the pages of the book. She turned, hands placed gently in her lap and managed the most expectant and interested face she could muster.

"Okay are you ready?"

Anna was practically bouncing. Elsa nodded.

"Close your eyes."

"Anna if this is going to be a repeat of the St. Lucy's Day ball—"

"Oh don't act like getting snow dumped on you even registered with you, you're sitting out here in a day gown like it's June," Anna said.

"I'd prefer to not have to change."

"Look just close your eyes."

Elsa obeyed and sat straighter in her seat. She felt Anna grab her wrist and place her fingers around something she couldn't quite make the shape up. Anna moved Elsa's other hand to the object.

"Aaaaaanndd….open!"

Elsa obeyed again and saw a strange object in her hands. It was a cup that tapered to point at the bottom but at the top it held a compact ball of what appeared to be red snow.

"Please tell me that's not the blood of anyone I know."

"Elsa!"

Elsa let out a small smile and Anna forced her sister to move over on the chair and planted herself next to her.

"I invented a new food!" Anna said happily.

"You didn't invent snow," Elsa said.

"Would you listen? I tripped into that snow bank outside the stables—stop laughing—and I got a mouthful of the stuff which was awful but I thought what if there was flavored snow. So I grabbed a handful and poured some different things on it. Decided on sugar, and then threw some coloring on it from the kitchen and the rest will be history," she said.

"Does Olaf know you're eating one of his cousins?"

"Elsa!"

Anna scooped a bit of the red snow from the clump and but it in her mouth to demonstrate.

"See? Yum," Anna said. Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Would you just try it?"

"I'm not one for sweets," Elsa said.

"But you're the Snow Queen, you'd love it!"

"I'm also the Queen of Arendelle but I'm not running around eating citizens," Elsa said. At this point she was doing it for the amusement of Anna's increasingly red face.

Finally Anna had had it with the queen and jumped to her feet. She scooped up more of the snow and made a move to shove into her sister's face but Elsa anticipated and got up in time.

"You know what you're doing is treason," Elsa said, holding Anna's creation out like a sword.

"Oh please," Anna said.

The game of chase covered the whole balcony and eventually resulted in Anna tackling her sister to the ground and successfully getting a nice red glob square on her mouth. Elsa licked her lips as the melting snow ran red down her chin. She gave a wave of her hand and the sugar water vanished into the air as frost.

"And what do you call your creation?" Elsa asked.

"A snow, a snow…a snow…? Snow cone?" Anna supplied.

"Well as good as your snow cone is, I think I've found a better use for it."

Elsa lazy twirled her fingers at her side and what was left of the red snowball rose from its cone and into the air, dangerously hovering by Anna's head. Anna made a break to dive into Elsa's room but the magic was faster and Elsa succeeded in planting the treat square on her sister's head.

Anna did her best to look annoyed at Elsa, but at once the two broke out into simultaneous giggles and Anna stuck her tongue out to catch a few drips of the melting snow from her head.