This story will now continue in a series of vignettes through time, with Elsa and her new family member.

Seven months later

Elsa was no stranger to being helpless behind a door, while Anna was in pain. In this case, it was both easier and harder than ever to deal with it.

For one thing, Elsa was technically in the hallway, while Anna was in her bedroom giving birth. On the other hand, Anna was screaming and yelling out some very un-Anna, un-Princess-y words - and there once again wasn't a thing Elsa could do to ease her suffering.

On the other other hand, this time Elsa had the option of going in. She just didn't take it because she didn't want to get in the nurses and doctors' way.

A sudden storm during an emotional moment probably wouldn't help the delivery. Granted, there were only spare flurries now, but that was because Elsa was safe here.

But Anna wasn't. Anything could still go wrong in there, and then….

Then she'd have a baby. Elsa would not think different, no matter what. She should have remembered that going in – which helped explain why it was better for her to stay in the hall.

Kristoff would look after her just fine. He had every right to, being the father and all. Elsa was just the aunt….she was actually going to be an aunt.

Seven months wasn't enough to take it in. And now an actual living, breathing person would force her to do it. A living, breathing, new person with a fresh start and a clean slate. A slate Elsa swore to keep clean.

Now it was time to do it. Time to either do it or fail miserably again. Fail someone else again.

Elsa meant it when she swore to herself – and unsuspecting stomachs – that she would never let that happen. That she would fight as hard as she ever had to do this right. That she wouldn't hide or run away.

Then why was she still so afraid?

"Elsa?" a voice interrupted her mind. At that point, she opened her eyes to see a little coating on the floor – and Kristoff standing on it. Somehow, he'd opened and closed the door while Elsa was lost in her head, so she couldn't even peek and see what happened.

This gave her no choice but to ask him. Ask him and get an answer – either the best or worst one imaginable. Before she could power through or not, Kristoff took the choice out of her hands by saying, "It's over. She did it."

So it was the best answer. Which meant it was time for….what came after. And all it entailed.

Kristoff still dared to ask, "Do you want to go in and meet your – "

"No!" Elsa panicked, then came to her senses. But not quite enough. "I mean….not right this second," she settled on. "I need a minute, okay?"

"Will you need 10 after that? How about a day?" Kristoff objected. "I can't just go back there and tell Anna you don't want to see….I mean, I'm lucky I still have a head as it is! If I nearly lost it, you gotta risk it too!"

"I want to!" Elsa said emotionally. "I want to see that baby so much. But I have to do it right. I just….need to clear my head first."

"Trust me, that is no place for clear heads," Kristoff shared. "One look down there…..I'll be paying for that one lapse in judgment the rest of my life."

"I don't mean it like that," Elsa said, appropriately grossed out. When she scrubbed her brain clean – of that, at least – she tried to explain better.

"I won't spend one second with that child being afraid. Or capable of making the same old mistakes. I can't do that to Anna's baby. You have no idea how much that means to me," Elsa admitted – still not aware that she did admit it to Kristoff seven months ago.

But Kristoff remembered, which was one of the few reasons he stayed calm as Elsa continued, "I'm not going in there until I'm completely sure I can keep that promise. I just need to get it all out of me first. Let it go for good and forever….and then I'll see them. It'll only take me a minute, I promise."

"Wait, you don't want to be afraid….but you're kind of being afraid right now. Right?" Kristoff boiled it down to. After enduring Anna in childbirth and living to see the beautiful results, facing an emotional snow queen sister seemed less daunting for once.

Considering the beautiful results, he probably should have been more careful. Maybe that was his first failed test as a father.

Yet Elsa didn't punish Kristoff, as she just said, "That's why I have to get rid of it, for good! Now please….just watch over them until I'm ready. I will be as soon as I can, believe me."

Kristoff didn't exactly look convinced, but he didn't have any arguments left either. So he beat a strategic retreat and went back into the bedroom, again closing the door before Elsa could peek.

Before she heard Anna….voice her disappointment, Elsa figured she had to get lost in her head again. This time, it would really work.

Elsa willed herself to banish all negative thoughts from her head. Not bury deep down, like so much else over the years. She was going to let it go – even humming her signature song for help. Singing out loud now probably wouldn't look too good.

When Elsa was ready, she would sing to her new niece or nephew. She would do anything with that child, without fear or expecting the worst. This new family member would not be another Anna – not in the worst ways.

If there was even the slightest chance or fear of Elsa doing that to this baby, it would leave her body now. It had to leave right now.

That baby wouldn't get anything less from Elsa for even a second. At least one family member deserved that much from her. What if this was her last, only chance to do this for someone she loved?

That was just one of the evil thoughts Elsa could never let herself think again. She just had to let it go and keep it let go.

To that end, she kept humming and held her arms out, trying to make herself be at peace – no matter how out of practice she was at it. She shut herself out from the world, just like in the old days that could never return.

In those days, she had nothing to look forward to. In those days, she had no chance of getting under control.

And in those days, nothing ever dropped into her arms. But it sure felt like it now.

Elsa's eyes opened suddenly as she felt the weight of….something in her arms. With an instinct she wasn't aware of, she secured it in her hands – then finally noticed Kristoff was right back in front of her.

Then that meant….

Elsa took one look down into her arms. And then everything went blank.

The baby in her arms had its eyes closed, swaddled perfectly into a blanket. It wasn't fidgeting and looked fairly calm. Yet despite all that, it was like Elsa was three years old again, holding a newborn Anna – and it wasn't just because Elsa hadn't held any babies since then.

Elsa knew she should have practiced holding them in the last seven months. But she thought that before….this. Now there was nothing in her head, nothing in her world; nothing but this….

"This is your niece, by the way," Kristoff bothered to clear up.

It was a girl.

It took everything Elsa had not to show a bigger reaction. Kristoff was probably nice enough to hide his preference, whether this was it or not. But Elsa wasn't going to look away from her niece to check.

Especially not when she opened her eyes.

"Oh…." Elsa breathed out, as the two locked eyes for the first time. Not that the face was unfamiliar to her.

"It's Anna's…." she realized, barely remembering to add the apostrophe s. This wasn't the actual baby Anna – but this was unmistakably her baby girl.

Elsa clearly felt a tear run down her cheek. Yet she wasn't worried it would turn to ice and fall on the baby. In fact, there wasn't any weather in the hallways at all.

Her emotions were just like anyone else's at this moment, if not more so – but it was more so out of happiness, not out of magic. Not magic weather, anyway. The only other time she felt like this, without any magic, was when Anna was unfrozen.

Love had thawed – and it had led to this.

"Hello…." Elsa found her voice, albeit barely. Still, if she was going to go further, she needed more to go on.

"What's her name?" she acknowledged Kristoff again. "It's not something like Kristanna….right?"

"It was a close call," Kristoff admitted. "But we settled on Joan."

Joan….wait a minute. As Elsa saw the connection, Kristoff caught on and explained, "She wanted a Joan that could talk back. I really don't think that'll be a problem here."

"Nope…." Elsa gasped out, losing her command of grammar. She almost laughed too loud, but caught herself for the baby….for the little girl's….for Joan's sake.

Elsa looked down again, immediately lost to Kristoff and the world once more. But this time, there was someone with her in her own world. Someone she didn't have to send away – would never have to send away once. It was a fact, not just hope.

"Hello, Joan…." Elsa completed her first sentence to her niece. Still, it wasn't enough. This made her hold Joan carefully with her right hand, while the left tentatively reached out to her head.

Before she let herself go further, she looked at Kristoff again and stuttered out, "C-Can I?" It wasn't the authoritative voice of a queen by a long shot. It was like a little girl asking permission.

Elsa was never more aware of how much she still was a little girl, in so many ways. Like in how new she still was to touching people, with her bare hands, without being afraid of freezing them. Especially with newborn babies – her own family.

Yet Kristoff gave her a nod without a second thought. He trusted her with his new baby, without any hesitation. Elsa owed both of them that same trust in herself.

With that, Elsa moved forward without fear, giving Joan's cheek the lightest touch of her thumb. Instead of feeling cautious or worried about her magic, she felt….so warm.

"She's so…." Elsa couldn't finish. She just savored this feeling of instant connection – a feeling she hadn't felt in about 20 years. If that. What's more, nothing else was happening to them.

"She's not shivering…." Elsa voiced out loud. Even if she still felt cold to the touch, Joan wasn't affected at all. Her warmth balanced out Elsa's cold – just as perfectly as her mother did. Elsa wasn't even worried that some long dormant magic gene in Anna passed that power on.

All that was on her mind was Joan. It stayed that way as Elsa's thumb slid down her cheek to her chin. It stayed that way as she held her with both hands again, began to rock her, and even hummed for good measure.

"Just so you know, we'll need her back at some point," Kristoff broke the mood. That wasn't even enough to annoy Elsa.

"Right, right," she accepted. Once she got her head clear, it somehow stayed clear enough when she looked down at Joan again. "Okay, Joan….let's get you back to your mommy," Elsa told her niece.

Not for the first time, Elsa wondered if Anna or Kristoff could show any real discipline as parents. Both of them could be real pushovers and softies – even Kristoff, as much as he tried to hide it.

Well, at least one of them needed to be strict and stand tall when Joan got older. Because there was no way Elsa could do it for them. Not now.

The Queen of Arendelle, not to mention the all powerful Snow Queen….was utterly powerless against this baby girl. She didn't see that changing when she became a bigger girl. Not in the least.

Elsa could probably hide it from Anna for a few hours – if Kristoff didn't blab. The rest of the world would be a tougher sell.

But the minute Kristoff opened the door and Anna saw them come in, the world in Elsa's eyes only had four people.

Not one anymore. Not two. Not even three.

As impossible as it once was…..now it would never be anything less than four.