Warning: Less fluff in the next few chapters

Joan: 12 years old

Christian: 5 years old

The sky was awake, but Christian wasn't. Not until Joan got him with her second snowball. Filled with excitement, she got him with a third before he really felt awake.

Christian fell down on the snowy grass at the back of the castle, which made Joan cheer in victory. Yet before long, she saw Christian hadn't gotten up to pout. Some ancient memory told her to be weary of someone lying still in the snow - but Joan still went over to check anyway.

"Christian? Are you sleeping?" Joan asked, but got no answer. "I didn't hit you that hard….right?" she asked with more caution. Maybe she played too hard with him again and he was back in his "I wanna be alone" act.

"Christian?" Joan stood over him and leaned in close. Close enough for Christian to reach over with a handful of snow, and smear it all over his sister's face.

"Gah! Cold, cold, cold!" Joan shrieked. Getting hit with a snowball was quick and painless - but having cold, fresh, non Aunt Elsa made snow rubbed in her face this early was far less fun. Especially with Christian, of all people, getting the drop on her.

Once Christian was finished, he jumped up and ran away, leaving Joan to clean off her cold face. "You're gonna pay for that!" Joan vowed, picking up the chase and following him around until he hid behind a bush.

Joan peeked below it and saw Christian lying down, yet he sprang up when he noticed Joan. However, Joan correctly guessed Christian would go to the left, so she leapt back up and blocked him before he got away. He was promptly backed up again as Joan joined him behind the bush, ready to toy with him.

"Well, well….now what should I do with you? I vote for something humiliating," Joan teased.

"I vote you let me go! Now we're even, you can't do nothing!" Christian objected.

"Stupid math, I always knew it was useless. What else can I do?" Joan pondered, absent mindedly bending down to collect some snow – then she used that hand to lean on Christian's head, covering his hair with snowy revenge.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Joan clearly faked. "Let me get that off you," she offered, although all she did was get the snow on his brother's coat. In an attempt to get that off him, she 'accidentally' brushed his most ticklish spots.

"Stop it, you know what that does to me!" Christian protested, while trying not to laugh.

"Oh, I keep forgetting. Maybe this will jog my memory," Joan offered, before pinning him and unleashing a full on tickle assault.

Once Christian gave in and started laughing, Joan had time to gather more snow and wipe it on his coat, as a pretense for more tickling. She could have gone on for hours, yet when Christian finally managed to breathe and quiet down, they both heard faint footsteps.

Technically, they weren't supposed to be out this early. Therefore, the fighting siblings got on the same page and quieted down, staying right behind the bush in case Mom, Dad, Aunt Elsa, Kai, Gerta or even Olaf were looking for them.

However, none of them were walking into the yard. There were about three men there, but none of them were family or staff. Joan even thought she recognized one or two of them, from those times she accidentally saw a newspaper.

"You know this isn't going to work. She's refused this for 15 years," the man with a mustache said. "She's not going to magically change her mind now. She wasn't cursed with those powers."

"Unfortunately not. But she will know we're ready to take more drastic action," the man with a beard said. "And she'll know there are many like us too. We're done standing by while she starves out Arendelle's future. She owes us an heir now!"

"We're probably too late," the man with glasses said. "She's 36 years old, for Gods sake! Between that and the economy, we're long past the point where suitors would bang down the gates by now!"

"We all know that, trust me," bearded man responded. "It's the Queen who won't face reality."

Even with all the earlier hints, this finally made Joan and Christian realize who they were talking about. "They're mad at Aunt Elsa?" Christian quietly asked anyway, yet Joan stayed still.

"Like she could see over that family of hers," mustache man accused. "If she was spending all that time having an affair with Kristoff, that wouldn't be so bad! We could work around that! We'd probably have gotten an heir out of that! But no!"

"That would imply the Queen likes being around men. I think that ship sailed long ago," glasses man laughed – although their hidden audience didn't see how that was funny.

"You probably don't want to say that when we see her," mustache man replied.

"You know what? Why shouldn't I?" glasses man asked. "She's spent 15 years refusing to meet with male suitors! Who or what else would hate men for that long? Maybe calling her out on it will get through to her! You know she hates being called out for being abnormal! And that's the abnormal stuff we know about!"

"We're trying to save the future of Arendelle. This isn't school yard name calling," bearded man stepped in, to the relief of mustache man – and the children. "Whatever unnatural behavior drives her, the important thing is to make her stop. There's no getting around it anymore."

"I'm sorry. The stakes got the best of me," glasses man barely sounded sorry. "The Queen is just so selfish, you know? We knew that the day she almost killed us all, and yet we still let her come back! You'd think 15 years would be enough time for her to learn her duty."

"We all know that. The trick is to be more subtle when telling the people that, if we have to," mustache man offered. "The longer she plays house and keeps thinking only of herself, the more they'll understand. Then they might just do the work for us."

"That's true. They've already had to accept a witch in charge. A barren witch with no interest in men, children or this nation's future? She has to know the majority don't favor that anymore. Or her at this rate. If she won't hear it from us, we can make her hear it from them," glasses man figured.

When they quieted down, Christian could finally ask Joan, "Why are they being mean to Aunt Elsa? She's the best!"

"I know…." Joan said quietly, but had nothing else for him. Hearing someone talk that way about Aunt Elsa for the first time, let alone three people in her royal council….it was one of the few times Joan really wanted to stay quiet.

Otherwise, she might get way too loud.

Since she hadn't lived through Elsa's rough early days as queen, and since she didn't need to concern herself with big royal business – like her parents usually didn't – Joan couldn't comprehend anyone hating her that much. After 12 years of having the greatest aunt in the world, it was too late for Joan to think people would want to say….that stuff about her.

Of course Christian felt the same way, but he was only five years old. Joan had seven extra years of Elsa's love and care to really understand who she was. To understand that she couldn't understand anyone hating her – let alone a majority of people.

"Let's not get too hasty. We still want her to keep the throne," mustache man reminded his friends. "The whole sad truth is, she's the best of all the bad options, until Arendelle can start over with an heir. The whole reason we need one is so we don't end up with those….bad options if she dies childless! When she does, if we don't do something!"

"Yes, this nation would never survive a Queen Anna," bearded man mocked. "Let alone a King Kristoff. And God help us if those children of theirs get near the throne. She can pretend all she wants, but they aren't her kids. If they were, then Arendelle would truly collapse."

"Exactly. One mindless, ignorant girl in pigtails near the throne is enough. Two of them is too many," glasses man insisted. "At least the boy is too weird to talk much. Then again, with the females he's stuck with, how could he get to talk much?"

"Well, if worst comes to worst, he might know his place. At least someone in that family does," bearded man laughed. "I wish it wasn't the simple one. But best of bad choices, right?"

Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Joan knew that even before seeing Christian tear up. She knew enough to gather the most snow she could, stand in front of the bush and give these people a real thrashing. And then….if she didn't spare her brother from her ticklish wrath, she was not going to spare them.

First she had to knock their brains out with snowballs, of course. They still didn't see her, so she was ready to throw the first one – right at glasses guy. But she'd cover all of them in snow soon enough.

However, someone then beat her to it.

A massive, heavy gust of snow and wind flew at the three mean men without warning. Joan thought ahead enough to duck back behind the bush – but the men didn't have such good hiding places.

Even if they did, there was nowhere they could hide. Not with Aunt Elsa marching outside after her storm ended. Not with her looking that…..peeved.

"Your Majesty!" bearded man nervously got out. "We were…."

"What?!" Aunt Elsa hissed, as angry as her niece and nephew had ever heard her. "Saying how we wouldn't survive Queen Anna or King Kristoff? Thanking God their 'simple' children aren't on the throne? Wishing we all knew our place?! I think I understood just fine!"

"And that's….all you understood?" glasses guy asked. "You came here right at that part?"

"Unfortunately for you," Aunt Elsa growled, too mad to notice their sighs of relief. Joan and Christian barely noticed themselves, in between their awe, pride and fear at their aunt.

"Isn't it enough you won't leave me alone about my…..fertility? To take it out on my family…..my niece and nephew…." Elsa said over the next round of snow and wind right at them. Yet it faded away when she concluded, "You know what? If you can't stand it, there's no reason for you to be that close to them. Or me."

"We still have reason. The people elected us to carry out those reasons. In case you forgot about – " glasses man stopped the second Aunt Elsa stared right at him.

"I'm glad you have a good memory. In that case, you won't forget this. You are all banned from the council and from castle grounds! Indefinitely!" Aunt Elsa commanded. "Go before I make it permanent."

"You can't do that! You have no idea –" bearded man stopped the second another gust of wind knocked him on his butt.

"I will hear no more ideas from you today. If ever. Leave. Now," Aunt Elsa ordered. This time, they all obeyed her.

Thinking she was all alone, Elsa felt free to shoot another heavy, localized blizzard of snow and wind in the yard. Yet she was still hissing and breathing heavily, her anger far from fading away. At what they said today, at what they and others had said for weeks, months and years, all of it.

That is, until she finally heard other noises. Shivering noises. Young noises.

With one look at a nearby bush, the snow and wind instantly stopped. But in that one second, Elsa's intense anger turned to even more intense fear. More fear than even Joan and Christian showed at their Aunt Elsa right now.

"Joan….Christian!" Elsa cried out, rushing over to them. However, they cringed ever so slightly when she rushed over – which instantly made her stop and fall to her knees.

"I knew you'd sneak in here," Elsa explained in a rush. "I thought I could sneak out and play with you….then I heard them and you heard them and you saw me…." Her old fear and disgust at herself returned for a moment, as she babbled, "I was so angry I forgot you were…." Elsa breathed heavy again, not out of anger this time.

"We're okay, Aunt Elsa," Christian promised. But Elsa wasn't afraid that her powers hurt them – she knew they hadn't gotten that close. The thought that she'd made them afraid of her, after seeing just how terrifying she could be for the first time….in a way, it was far worse.

Joan could see that when Elsa reached her hands out to them, afraid that they'd be too afraid to take them. She was just starting to realize the political damage she'd done - but this kind of damage would be too much to bear.

Fortunately, Joan and Christian took her hands and made it far more bearable. Especially when Elsa pulled them in for hugs, and they didn't run away. They couldn't, now that she was their Aunt Elsa again.

"I'm so sorry I scared you," Elsa still made sure to say. "I'm okay, I promise….the bad Aunt Elsa is gone. So are the bad men that provoked her."

"Aunt Elsa, why did glasses guy say you hate men?" Christian asked without thinking. Joan was more embarrassed, yet Elsa was more confused as she broke the embraces.

"I didn't hear him say that," Elsa told him, a frown coming back to her face. "I only heard what they said about you guys." The frown deepening, but not to a wintery level, she asked, "What else did they say?"

Joan didn't understand everything they were talking about, and Christian certainly didn't. However, they told her most of the words they could remember, whether they knew what they meant or not. Unfortunately, Elsa understood them all.

"Let's go find your parents," Elsa instructed, wanting to get them inside – and far away from council chambers – as fast as possible.

They would not be safe for families of any kind today.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once Joan and Christian found Anna and Kristoff, Elsa went away. None of them saw her again for the entire day. They were told she was in a meeting with the royal council and her other advisors, but they didn't normally take this long. And the servants never heard that much yelling from behind the doors before – especially from the Queen.

Anna and Kristoff were even turned away when they tried to get in and see her. If it wasn't for the last 15 years, Anna would be far more upset at having the door locked from her, and her children. Besides, from what she heard, she wanted to get some yelling and right hooks in at these people too.

But all she and her family could do was try and go about their day, ignore the rumors and yelling, and hope Elsa would come out in one piece. If only for her piece of mind, they hoped everyone else would too.

It took until night time, but the family was finally told that Elsa was waiting for them in her study. When they got to her door, Anna knocked her usual knock, hoping it would bring some kind of relief to Elsa.

"Come in," she heard her say. While those words from Elsa still brought Anna joy, even now….this was the worst she ever sounded when she said them. After Anna opened the door, she saw how Elsa didn't look too much better either.

"What's this all about? Are we getting new ice sculptures or not?" Kristoff opened with a joke/serious concern/semi-hope.

"No. There are some things I need to tell you, though," Elsa put on her serious voice, as her family tried to get comfortable and look less worried.

"You know I've refused to accept suitors for 15 years. I've tried to keep the….more specific details from all of you. So I wouldn't worry you," Elsa shared. "Old habits still refuse to die, I suppose. But it's too late now."

"What's too late?" Kristoff spoke, beating Anna to it. Instead of answering that point right away, Elsa filled in the gaps first.

"After the Great Thaw, neighboring kingdoms were too afraid to seek my hand in marriage. Back then, we had more important things on our minds too," Elsa explained. "But after we got our trade back up, and my….reputation improved, princes and aspiring princes were more interested to see me. Still, I was too busy running a kingdom and reconnecting with Anna to see them."

"You turned down chances at love for that? For me?" Anna chimed in.

"Halfway because of you. And it wasn't even your…." Elsa stopped herself from getting bogged down. "In any case, the council got more impatient for me to settle down. However, the harder I worked to improve Arendelle's fortunes, the more they got distracted. As long as we were booming and me being the 'Snow Queen' was a good thing, having a king and an heir wasn't a top priority. I made it so it didn't have to be."

"But now it is," Kristoff guessed.

"We haven't been growing over the last few years," Elsa admitted. "We're still solid and healthy, we're just not….improving as much as we used to. Now that our short term future isn't skyrocketing, more and more people are worried about the long term. About how I don't have an heir to the throne. And how I'm not looking for one."

"I thought being your heir was my job. I don't do it that much, but it's still my job," Anna admitted.

"And I hope you never have to do it. But the only way to be sure is to….have a child of my own," Elsa repeated. "That means having a husband. That means likely being forced into an arranged marriage. That means having someone else rule with me…..someone likely to be more respected than me. Especially if he's a man without ice powers."

"Who told you that? Was it the mustached guy?" Anna asked with a frown.

"No, it's just common sense," Elsa admitted. "I've tried to hold it back as long as I can. I've used so much good will and so many favors to do it. But the longer this goes on, the more this issue just won't go away. Especially since I'm a Queen of a stagnant kingdom, in my mid-30's, who's never had any relationship with a man."

Turning to Joan, Elsa shared, "Like you said they said….there aren't a lot of princes left who want that. That's why the council's trying to force me to find someone, while I still can. That's what those men were going to try and do today. If I met with them, I might have been able to appease them a while longer. But now that I banned them instead….it doesn't make me look good."

"You kicked them out for insulting us! You might look bad for not going with the ice sculpture idea, but that's it!" Kristoff pointed out. "How else can they be mad at you?"

"I attacked members of my own council. The same three members fighting hardest to get Arendelle a King and an heir. It doesn't matter that that's not why I kicked them out. What matters to them, and to the people, is how it looks," Elsa sighed. "I spent hours learning that today."

"Well, put us in there and we'll teach them better!" Anna insisted. "I had tons of teachers, I know how they think!"

"That's not why you had so many of them," Elsa reminded. "In any case, there's no changing their minds now. Today was the last straw for too many of them."

"They need straws? I got some in my room!" Christian offered.

"No, sweetheart, that's not it," Elsa said kindly, but with less energy. "If I'm ever going to find a husband and have an heir….they made it clear there's not much time left to find a good one. The fact I'm not even trying isn't acceptable to them anymore. If I don't start trying soon….they made it clear that more people will find me….unfit for the throne. Unfit to secure Arendelle's future."

"What?!" Anna sprung up. "Did they save us from an eternal winter you caused?! No! So who are they to judge you?!"

"It's not just them. People outside the castle are….talking too," Elsa revealed. "Now that I threw their top representatives out, they'll be talking even more. It'll get too loud if I don't do something."

"Then talk back! Or send me, I'm extra good at that stuff!" Anna said, without any self-awareness. "Just tell them you'll find love in your own time!"

"When? I let too much time pass already!" Elsa groaned. "I spent too much time making sure I wouldn't have to look! Now I'm out of moves! Now there's no more deals to make, no grand distractions….even bringing those men back would only buy a day or two of peace. It's going to take something more than that."

"Elsa….what are you saying?" Anna asked, fearing she knew the answer already. Elsa did nothing to prove her wrong.

"I'm too old, too inexperienced and too short of time to find true love. Not like you did. Not like I even tried," she told Anna. "I spent 15 years trying not to be forced into this. But any chance I had to keep putting it off died today."

Sighing, she confirmed the now inevitable news. "I'm going to narrow down a list of potential, eligible suitors who still have interest in….Arendelle. Then I'm going to invite them here. Then they're going to try and court me. And eventually….I'll have to pick one of them to be my King. And the father of Arendelle's future ruler."

"You….you can't! Not like this!" Anna protested.

"I spent all day hearing otherwise," Elsa answered.

"Well, you listened to the wrong people! Elsa, you're….you're the Queen! You're so much more powerful than them! Joan and Christian saw it!" Anna cited. "You're the greatest ruler Arendelle's ever had! You don't need to arrange marriage someone to be fit for that! Why don't you tell them?!"

"I've told them with everything I've done for 15 years. They just aren't listening anymore. And I'm out of ways to tell them," Elsa confessed.

"Then your family will find new ones!" Anna promised.

"I'm not putting that on you. Or them. I put this off far too long. I didn't even try to find someone myself. The best I can do now….is pick the best bad option I have left," Elsa admitted. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to start looking for suitors. No matter how many are still left."

Not wanting to look at Anna or Kristoff and keep the debate going, Elsa went back to Joan and Christian. "At least you'll have a new baby cousin to play with someday. My own child. Your next King or Queen."

"But Elsa…." Anna's despair was winning out.

"There's no more to say. I'm done saying things today," Elsa conveyed. "Now that I've brought you up to speed, I just want to rest." Getting up, she went on, "I have an even longer day to get ready for tomorrow."

"Please, just…." Anna ran out of words for once. Elsa was out of them too, so she left without even a good night.

Anna scrambled to think of something else to tell her, while Kristoff got into "shoulder to cry on" mode. Christian was too young to have much to say, though.

Joan was another matter – yet for once, she wasn't saying a word.