A/N: Personally, I kinda like this chapter. I think it's the most well-written chapter of this story so far. But don't take my word for it! Read and tell me what you think! ;-)

Disclaimer: I am a high school girl who is more likely to be found in the band room than anywhere else in the school. I do not own Frozen.

Elsa stood by the wall in the Great Hall as she watched Anna and Kristoff dance. She hadn't seen Johan since the wedding, as the wedding participants had not arrived yet.

Right on cue, the song finished and the bridesmaids and groomsmen entered the hall. Following them were the bride and groom, and then the king.

As a servant announced the king, along with the newlywed prince and princess, Elsa noticed Anna and Kristoff walking over to her with drinks in their hands.

"Hey," Anna said cheerfully as she handed Elsa a glass of wine.

The queen raised an eyebrow at the other glass in her sister's hand. "Anna," she scolded, "you know you're too young to drink wine!"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Relax! It's just apple cider."

"Oh," Elsa said. She took a sip of her wine as she looked around at no one in particular. After a few minutes, Anna spoke again.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You seem awfully quiet."

Elsa looked at her sister and held her breath for a moment. "Yeah," she lied, "I'm fine."

In truth, Elsa was extremely anxious. She knew that she would probably see Johan face-to-face at some point tonight. She just couldn't decide whether she was looking forward to it or completely dreading it.

The crowd that had gathered around the table where the bride and groom were suddenly cheered.

"Hey, they just cut the cake. Do you want to get some?" Anna said.

"No, I'm not hungry," Elsa replied, sitting at the nearest empty table.

Anna huffed at her sister's indifference. "Well I'm going to get some. Come on, Kristoff."

The princess dragged her boyfriend behind her and quickly got to the end of the line to get cake, behind a girl who she recognized had been the maid of honor. The girl seemed to be just a bit younger than Anna, and she talked and laughed with her two friends in front of her.

As she moved up in the line, Anna got her first look at the cake. Her smile fell when she realized that it was vanilla.

"Ugh! No chocolate cake? Really?" she whined.

The girl looked back at her and smiled. "I know," she agreed, "I said the same thing when they made it."

Anna smiled. "It's like, when I was little, whenever my parents asked me what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, I always thought to myself, 'What kind of question is that? Chocolate!'"

"Same!" the girl replied as she picked up a plate with a piece of cake on it. Her two friends chuckled at her cheerfulness, and she just shrugged. "So," she continued, "what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Anna," she said. "And this is my boyfriend, Kristoff."

The girl smiled at them. "I'm Julie. I'm the bride's sister," she said. "And these are my friends Mari and Olivia." The other exchanged smiles with Anna.

"Nice to meet you," Anna said. "So you're one of the princesses here?"

"Yeah," Julie said.

"So you're Prince Johan's sister?"

Julie looked at her curiously. "Yeah, why?"

"Oh, well he came to my kingdom with his father several years ago, and we talked a lot while he was there."

Julie, Olivia, and Mari walked with Anna and Kristoff toward the table that they had been sitting at. Julie remained silent for a moment, with a thoughtful expression on her face until she finally gasped in realization.

"Oh, you're the princess of Arendelle?" she said.

"Yeah," Anna said. "I guess I didn't mention that part, did I?"

Julie shook her head, laughing as they approached the table where Elsa sat.

"Anna?" Elsa said. "Who's this?"

"Oh, Elsa!" Anna exclaimed, having completely forgotten that her sister had been sitting there. "This is Princess Julie."

Julie smiled and gave a small bow to the queen.

"And, these are her friends, Mari and Olivia. Girls, this is my sister, Queen Elsa of Arendelle."

The other two girls stood frozen in place, staring at Elsa with their mouths agape until they finally got up the strength to say something.

"Uh... Hi," Mari said in shock.

"How you doing?" Olivia added.

All of them sat down at the table, and Elsa smiled awkwardly as Julie shot her friends a death glare.

"Elsa, are you sure you don't want any cake?" Anna said with her mouth full before swallowing. "It's not chocolate, but it's still pretty good."

Elsa shook her head. "No, I'm good, Anna," Elsa said, searching for a way to escape the awkward situation. "I think I'm going to take a walk."

Leaving her glass on the table, she stood and walked toward the coat room to get her cloak.

When she was gone, Julie slapped Olivia on the arm.

"Ow!"

"You guys are so rude!"

"We didn't mean to be!"

"Well you were!"

"Honestly, I'm just relieved she didn't freeze us to death," Mari said.

Julie reached past Olivia and slapped Mari on the arm.

"Ow!"

"Knock it off! Both of you!"

Anna chuckled as Olivia and Mari guiltily hung their heads low.

"I'm sorry about them," Julie said. "They didn't mean it."

"No, it's okay," Anna reassured her. "She knows not to take these things seriously. She'll get over it."

Julie smiled. Then they heard a young, male voice call to them.

"Julie, did you make a new friend already?" he teased.

Anna turned to see one of the groomsmen walking toward them. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and Anna immediately knew who he was.

"Just an old one of your's, Johan," Julie teased her brother.

Just then, Johan noticed who his sister was sitting with.

"Anna?"

"Hey, Johan!"

"Oh my goodness! It's so good to see you!" he said as she stood and hugged him.

"It's good to see you too!" she replied. "It's been so long! So much has happened!"

"Yeah, like these two blockheads scared her sister out!" Julie cut in, making Olivia and Mari cower under her glare.

This caught Johan's attention. "Elsa's here?"

"Yeah, she just went out to take a walk," Anna replied. Over her shoulder, Johan saw his sister smirk at him, and he shot her a look that said, 'Take a hike!'

"So, what do you mean those two 'scared her out'?" Johan asked.

"Well..." Anna began, "you obviously know about...?"

Johan caught on to what she was saying. "Yeah," he said simply.

"Well, these two clearly need to learn to not judge a book by its cover," Julie said, reprimanding her friends once again.

"We weren't trying to judge!" Olivia argued.

Johan cut in before Julie could terrorize them anymore. "Relax, Julie," he said before turning back to Anna. "I remember finding out about that. It all finally made sense to me."

"Yeah," Anna agreed. "But we've put it behind us. She is a lot more open with me now. Of course," she said, looking in the direction that Elsa had gone, "sometimes she still likes to be alone, but that's okay."

"Yeah," Johan said in agreement, his eyes fixed on the door that led outside. All of a sudden he made up his mind. "Excuse me, ladies," he said, walking in that direction.

Anna stared after him, puzzled. "What's with him?" she said. "Where is he off to?"

Julie chuckled and smirked at her. "Oh, I think I know where he's off to!"

.:.^*^.:.

Pulling the black hood of her cloak over her head, Elsa walked out the door to the gardens. It was mostly quiet out there, save for a young couple kissing behind a column and a little family with two young children playing tag.

Elsa walked on past them and stood at a spot under the overhang that overlooked the beach. She took in the scent of the salty water, and listened to the waves slap against the shore.

She knew she shouldn't let those girls get to her. They weren't the first ones to judge her before they knew her, and they wouldn't be the last. All that bothered her was the fear that he would see her like that. For all she knew, especially after the events of last summer, he could hate her by now...

Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head. It wasn't like she was imagining it. It was really there. All it said was her name, in a deep, hissing whisper.

Elsa.

The queen looked around for someone nearby. Then, she spotted a hooded figure standing on the beach. He didn't move until he raised his hand, as if beckoning her to go over there.

Come to me.

Elsa hesitated, glued to her spot on the walkway.

Something important needs to be said.

Part of her told her not to go...

Come to me.

... but her curiosity was getting the better of her.

Without thinking, Elsa began to walk forward...

Suddenly, she snapped back to her senses as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gasped as she turned around to face whoever was behind her.

"Elsa?" he said.

She shouldn't have been surprised, but she found herself staring up at him, becoming lost in those familiar brown eyes.

"Johan."

Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63