A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows! I always find it astonishing how much activity I can get in one day. And once again, thank you to all my old followers for being so patient.

This chapter re-introduces Johan and introduces some of his family and friends. Some of the new characters in this chapter will play very significant roles later in the story, so read and review! :-D

Disclaimer: I don't think I own Frozen...

Johan strode around the halls of the castle as he watched servants hang decorations for the wedding. He was on his way to see his sister in her dress for the first time.

No one had been surprised when Leah suddenly was walking around with a ring on her finger. She had been going out with Prince Isak of Haugen for quite some time now, and everyone knew it wouldn't be long before Isak popped the question.

Walking through the great hall, he watched as the orchestra packed up and left from their rehearsal. Curious, he walked over and looked at the music that the flute player had left on his stand. Looking over it, he nodded satisfactorily to himself at the difficulty of the part.

"Nice," he said to himself before moving on.

As he walked out of the great hall toward his destination, three ecstatic seventeen-year-old girls suddenly ran past him.

"Come on!" one of them called to her friends. Johan knew that voice. It was his little sister Julie. And unsurprisingly, running after her were her two closest friends, Olivia and Mari.

As he turned the corner after them, Johan could hear their excited voices coming from the dressing room.

"Oh Leah, you look gorgeous!"

"He's a lucky guy!"

Johan knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?" he called.

"It's open, Johan," he heard Leah reply.

Opening the door, he saw his sister standing on a pedestal in the most beautiful gown he had ever seen. The crown on her head glowed with jewels, and through her veil you could see her long auburn hair draping behind her. Around her neck was a necklace that Johan knew had been their mother's, and the emerald in the center matched her eyes.

"Wow," Johan said, shaking his head. "I-I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say!"

Leah chuckled. "I'll give you a hint: the correct response would be, 'You look beautiful, Leah! You are the best sister I could ever hope to have!'" she teased.

Johan chuckled and rolled his eyes. As he opened his mouth to say something, the door burst open as a young guard, Johan's best friend, Noah Jacobsen, ran into the room panting.

"Sorry I'm late, I- wow..." he said as he caught sight if Leah. "That is one heck of a dress!"

Johan smiled and shook his head at his friend's lack of formality. He was so close to their family that none of them really cared. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Julie blushing, and Olivia and Mari each nudged her in the shoulder.

"Thank you, Noah," Leah chuckled.

Suddenly, the royal seamstress stepped forward.

"Alright, now you've all gotten to see her in the dress," she said. "Now I've got to get her out of it! Out, out, out, out, out!"

She gestured for them all to leave, and they all knew better than to protest. The three girls walked along merrily as the boys trailed behind them.

"I hope there are some cute guys at this wedding!" Olivia said.

"Yeah, maybe some princes will be willing to dance with us!" Mari agreed.

"Well, I couldn't tell you how many princes are going to be at the wedding," Julie said, "but I'm sure there will be some."

"Well, what kingdoms' royal families are invited?" Olivia asked.

"Well, let see," Julie said. "There's the royal family of Corona, the royal family of the Northern Isles, the royal family of Arendelle-"

Johan looked up at the mention of the last one. Noah noticed, and nudged his friend in the shoulder. But before Julie could continue her list, Mari interrupted her.

"What!?"

"They invited the queen of Arendelle!?" Olivia said.

Johan wasn't surprised by this outburst. Landvik had been hit hard by the queen's eternal winter that summer, and the whole kingdom had been gossiping about her ever since.

"Yeah, I know! Can you believe it?" Julie said, playing along.

"Aren't they afraid she's gonna, like, freeze everybody?" Mari asked.

"Yeah," Olivia agreed. "I always thought that she would freeze everything in her path!"

"She's misunderstood!" Johan snapped, having heard enough.

The girls finally looked back at him. He looked at the floor instead of looking at them.

"What?" Mari said.

"She didn't mean to freeze everything this summer! Remember?"

"Sure, she says that!" Olivia said. "Lord knows if she meant it!"

"Don't mind him," Julie said. "He's just a little defensive of Queen Elsa."

Olivia looked at Johan again and shook her head. "Why?" she said.

"Oh, he's met her," Julie said.

"No way! Really?" Mari said.

"Yeah," Julie replied, ignoring the warning looks that her brother was sending her. "When our father took him on a trip to Arendelle about seven years ago."

"He actually talked to her?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah," Julie said. "And he kissed her!"

"I did not!" Johan lied. He secretly thanked his lucky stars that he could keep a straight face when he lied.

The two girls stared at him agape. "Oh my gosh! Did you really?" Mari said.

"No," Julie answered for him. "I'm just kidding. He just said that she was really pretty. That's all."

"Aww!" the girls cooed.

Johan brushed them off and walked past them toward his room, with Noah in tow. He could hear them giggling as he turned the corner.

"Just ignore them, man. They're being stupid," Noah said.

"Aww, forget about it," Johan replied. "I never thought Julie would actually tell them about the kiss without pinning on that she was kidding. She knows I'd come after her if she did."

Noah laughed. "Well, maybe you'll see her again at the wedding."

"Yeah," the prince shrugged. "Maybe."

Noah chuckled at how much his friend was blushing and gave him a nudge on the shoulder. "Well, I have to go. I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay," Johan said as Noah ran past him.

Entering his room, Johan opened the drawer next to his bed. He pulled out the ice snow globe that Elsa had given him so long ago. It wasn't until this summer that he finally understood what her message had meant. He thought about it again as he held the snow globe in his hands:

When you stare into the crystal ball,

You'll find me where the snowflakes fall.

Now, after the events of that summer, he finally understood as he stared at the ball in front of him. The snowflake statue in the center was supposed to represent her, and her powers, and the snowflakes fell on top of it.

He remembered those nights, holding her hand under the door, begging her to come out. It satisfied him now to know why she wouldn't come out. But now, he was unsure about seeing her again, since it had been so long.

It seems so long ago, how young and innocent we were. She may not remember me, but I remember her.

Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63