A/N: Edited 2/21 to fix a minor continuity error.

Chapter 2

Visitors

How did I get myself into this mess? Kristoff wondered, as Kai led him through the castle. Four days ago, I was spending the night with Sven in stables and barns, and now I'm being led through a castle ten times larger than any of those! What happened?

Oh, right, he thought. Met a pretty girl, who happens to be the princess, at the trading post. Got talked into taking her up the North Mountain. Got chased by wolves, lost the sled I just paid off, lost my lute, got thrown out of a flawless ice palace by an abominable snow monster, and fell off of a two-hundred-foot cliff. Almost got married by the trolls. Raced the princess to Arendelle, left, realized she was in trouble, raced back to Arendelle, this time through a blizzard, nearly lost Sven on the frozen fjord, and nearly lost Anna when she saved her sister. But now they're both safe, and here I am.

But why am I still here? Was Sven right about her? Could a princess possibly care for an ordinary guy like me?

Kristoff was distracted from his thoughts by Kai's voice. "Right in here, Mr. Bjorgman," he said, motioning to the door he just opened. "You should find everything you need in here. If you require something, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks, uh, Mr. Kai," Kristoff said awkwardly.

"Just Kai is fine, Mr. Bjorgman," Kai replied, straightening his emerald-green coat. "I'll let the Queen know that you're getting settled." He walked off back down the hallway they came in.

Great, Kristoff thought, glancing around the richly-furnished guest room. I hope there's something in that wardrobe that isn't too fancy. I'm not a nobleman!

Anna, meanwhile, had gone and changed into one of her favorite summer dresses, which had grass-green skirts with a pale green top and sleeves, and a dark bodice decorated with rosemaling. She had her strawberry-blonde hair done in her usual twin braids.

She walked down the hall toward Elsa's room, and stopped at the blue-and-white door. She hesitated, then rapped on the door in her signature knock, and waited. Elsa must have been just as hesitant to answer, because it was an agonizingly long moment before Anna heard her say, "Come in, Anna."

Anna turned the handle and entered, taking a good look around at her sister's room, a room she'd never seen before. Unlike her own, which was fairly disorganized and messy most of the time, Elsa's room was pristine, with not an article of clothing or book or trinket out of place, and the bed made perfectly.

Elsa herself was seated at her desk, which was just as neat and organized as the rest. She was working on some document or other, a small pile of missives off to one side. Peering over her sister's shoulder, Anna asked, "Shouldn't you do work like this in the study?"

"Sometimes I enjoy the comfort of my own room, Anna," she replied. "Besides, it's a lot closer to the bed, if I'm up really late working."

She just isn't used to not being shut in this room, Anna thought. "Well, anyway, it's almost time for dinner." she said, then studied the blonde critically, nodding at the ice dress she was still wearing. "You're not really going to wear that, are you?"

"Why... is there something wrong with it?" Elsa asked, looking a little hurt.

"No, no, no!" Anna said quickly. "I think it's gorgeous, Elsa! It's just..." Anna bit her lip, smoothing her skirts absently. "I want to impress Kristoff, and, um..." She trailed off, not sure what to say. But Elsa seemed to understand.

"You don't want me to distract him too much," Elsa said, finishing her sister's thought. "Well, I suppose it is a little showy." She paused. "Is there... something going on between you two?"

Anna felt her face burning with embarrassment. "N-no!" she yelped. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she amended, "Well, maybe. I mean, he saved my life, or he thought he was, bringing me back here. It's kind of a long story..."

"Save it for dinner, then, Anna," Elsa said gently. "I'm sure that once we're done catching up, I'll understand better."

"Okay," Anna said. "Let's find you something nice, then..."

Five minutes later, Anna was deep in Elsa's wardrobe, trying to find something suitable. "Nah, that one's too plain," Anna said, shoving aside one of her sister's numerous blue dresses. Seriously, doesn't she have any other color? "This one's too dark..."

"Anna," Elsa said, sounding exasperated. Anna poked her head out and looked at her sister. "Will any of my dresses please you?"

"Well..." Anna paused to think a moment. "Wait. Why don't you just make one? You did it before. Just make a dress out of ice, and change it around till it's... more like these."

"Hang on, Anna," Elsa said, a small smirk on her face. "If you are trying to impress Kristoff, it simply won't do for me to wear a dress made of ice."

She's got a point, Anna thought. "Oh, all right," she sighed, then dove into her sister's wardrobe again, finally emerging with a navy-blue dress with a light blue top and sleeves, and a dark bodice similar to Anna's. "How about this one?"

"That will do nicely," Elsa replied with a smile, accepting the dress from her sister, and going behind a screen to change. From the other side, Anna heard her say, "Hmm... that's unfortunate."

"Everything all right, Elsa?" Anna wondered.

"Yes... though I'm pretty sure I no longer have the coronation dress." Before Anna had the chance to ask what she meant by that, her sister asked, "Now... what about my hair? Up-do or braid?"

"Elsaaaaa," Anna whined. "This isn't a dinner with visiting dignitaries... just be yourself!"

"All right... braid, then." Elsa decided. After a few minutes she came back out, smoothing the dark blue skirts. "Do you... want to help me with my hair?" she asked awkwardly.

"Sure!" Anna said, grabbing a brush. "That's what sisters are for!"

While Anna may have been right about this not being a formal dinner, it was apparent, when Elsa entered the main dining room with Anna, that Kristoff would not be the only person joining them.

Of course, Kristoff isn't even down here yet, Elsa thought. I wonder where he is?

The couple sitting at the table, a young man and woman that Elsa guessed to be around her own age, was seated as close to the fireplace as possible, talking quietly. Maybe they're still recovering from the freeze? she thought absently. She vaguely remembered seeing them at the coronation ball, but so much had happened in the last four days that it was all a blur. She glanced at the dark-haired young man with the slight goatee wearing a dark shirt and purple vest and sash, but didn't recognize him. The young woman with the short brown hair and low-cut pink dress, however, seemed familiar to Elsa, though she couldn't place the resemblance.

At their approach, the couple looked up from their conversation, and quickly stood. "Your Majesty, Your Highness," they said together, the woman dropping in a perfect curtsy, the man bowing awkwardly.

"Oh, there's no need for that," Elsa said tiredly. "I've had enough pomp and ceremony in four days to last me for weeks."

"Sorry," the man said. "You do look a little tired, Frosty."

"I beg your pardon?" Elsa said, eyebrows climbing to her hair, at the same time Anna sputtered "Frosty?" and the woman jabbed the man in the ribs, snapping, "Eugene!" Anna was trying hard not to laugh, and Elsa shot her a glare.

"You'll have to excuse him, Your Majesty," the woman apologized. "He often forgets how to behave around royalty." She apparently realized then that they hadn't introduced themselves, because she said, "Oh dear, where are my manners? Rapunzel, Crown Princess of Corona," she said, curtsying. Motioning to her companion, she said, "And this is my husband Eugene Fitzherbert, Prince of Corona."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rapunzel and Eugene," Elsa said warmly. "And please, call me Elsa. Were you at the ball? I remember seeing you, but I don't think we were introduced."

"Well, we did want to meet you, but she insisted on looking around first," Eugene explained. "So, by the time we got back to the ballroom, everything had already gone ice-crazy."

The Queen wrung her hands nervously. "Sorry about that." Studying their faces, especially Rapunzel's, she said, "I was just thinking that your face seemed familiar..."

"Oh, no," Eugene groaned, sounding horrified. "Don't tell you've seen one of my old wanted posters! They never, ever got the nose right—"

"Eugene," Rapunzel began.

"They couldn't even get it right on those things at the wedding..." the prince continued.

"Eugene," Rapunzel interrupted. "I'm pretty sure she meant me."

"Oh," Eugene said. "Sorry, Blondie."

Blondie? Elsa wondered. But she has dark hair... Her wandering thoughts were interrupted as Rapunzel continued, "I'm not surprised that I look familiar to you. I've seen portraits of my aunt Idun in the castle in Corona, and, except for the platinum-blonde hair, you look just like her."

I look just like Mama, Elsa thought, the words echoing in her head. Her eyes started to tear up.

"Wait, what?" Anna blurted. "You're our cousin?"

"That's right," Rapunzel said, smiling. "You must be Princess Anna."

"That's me!" the strawberry-blonde said excitedly, tackling the brunette in a hug. "It's so nice to meet both of you!"

"Oh, dear..." Rapunzel sighed, finally noticing the look on Elsa's face. She and Anna both looked at her worriedly.

"Elsa?" Anna said, walking over to stand next to her sister. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Anna," Elsa lied. She was hugging herself, trying to calm down, and was sure the room was growing colder; a light snow was starting to fall around her.

"Elsa, it's all right, I'm here," Anna said soothingly, brushing a tear from her sister's cheek.

Rapunzel walked over to join them, looking nervous all of a sudden. "Elsa, Anna... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up your parents like that..."

"It's all right," Elsa said, trying to regain her composure. "It's not your fault that they're gone."

"Actually, it kind of is..." the brunette said, looking miserable, as if she had been dreading this particular conversation. "They were invited to our wedding in Corona, and had wrote that they planned to attend, and make a diplomatic visit out of it. But when they never arrived..." She sniffled, then burst into tears. "I-I'm so sorry..."

"Rapunzel," Anna said gently, pulling the other princess into a hug, "please don't blame yourself. There wasn't anything you could have done." Anna paused to wipe tears threatening to escape her own eyes, before attending to Rapunzel.

Elsa, having calmed herself somewhat, managed to say, "The past is in the past." The snow threatening to blanket the dining room slowly dissipated.

Rapunzel nodded, slowly recovering from her outburst, and took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry, cousins," she said at last. "Dinner hasn't even been served, and I've already made it depressing."

"Don't worry about it," Anna said. "And you're welcome to join us—the third member of our dinner party hasn't even shown up yet. What could be keeping him?" She sounded annoyed.

"Him?" Rapunzel asked, a smirk on her face. "Do you have someone courting you already, Anna?"

"N-no!" Anna squeaked, then corrected herself. "I mean, maybe." She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I don't really know yet... I've only known him for two days."

"Oooh!" Rapunzel said, beaming. "What's his name? What's he like?"

"His name's Kristoff," Anna replied. "He's blond, and uh, big, and harvests ice for a living. And he has a reindeer that he talks to."

"Maybe I should call him Blondie," Eugene commented.

"Eugene!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

"I've been meaning to ask about that," Elsa said. "Clearly, you're not blonde..."

"It's just one of Eugene's pet names for me," Rapunzel said, grinning. "It's kind of a long story..."

Elsa returned the grin. "Well, I promised Anna and Kristoff that we would catch up on the last few days over dinner, so maybe you can join us, and tell your story as well."

"That would be lovely," Rapunzel agreed.

"Do the two of you have a place to stay?" Elsa inquired.

"Well, we had been planning on staying on our ship," Eugene said, "but when it started snowing, we decided to find shelter in here."

"We've just been wandering the castle, mostly, for the last few days," Rapunzel added. "At least, until it got too cold. Then we came in here."

"Well, I insist that you take a guest room," the Queen said firmly. "It's the least I can do for family."

"You can even stay in the family wing," Anna added, "away from the other visiting dignitaries, like that horrible little duke."

"You mean the Duke of Weselton?" At Anna's nod, Rapunzel grimaced and said, "I agree. That man is nothing but trouble."

"All right," Elsa said. "The family wing it is, then."

"Thank you, Queen Elsa," the prince and princess echoed.

Kristoff couldn't really be blamed for being late for dinner. Not only had he had trouble finding something to wear that wasn't a stuffy formal suit (and had to ask Kai for help), but he had managed to take a wrong turn and was now lost.

It's my first night in a castle, he thought grumpily. What do they expect?

He finally found a maid wandering this part of the castle, and decided to ask for help. Clearing his throat, he said, "Pardon me, ma'am, but which way is the dining room?"

The maid, a tall, thin, gray-haired woman, smiled. "Back that way, young man," she said, pointing. "Down the spiral staircase, third door on the left. You can't miss it."

"Thanks, uh..."

"Gerda," the woman replied. "You must be the young man the Queen and Princess are entertaining tonight."

"Yes, ma'am," Kristoff said, doing his best to be polite. "My name's Kristoff."

"How do you do," Gerda said, then added, "Run along, now. You don't want to keep Her Highness waiting. She has a bit of a temper sometimes..."

Kristoff felt his face burning red as the maid walked away. How does she know I'm here because of Anna? Kristoff thought about it for a minute, and then remembered. She was at the gate when I brought Anna back this morning.

She's right about Anna's temper, though... after all, she got mad at a snow monster!

Kristoff found himself looking at some of the portraits on the walls as he headed down to the dining room. One subject that kept appearing was, unsurprisingly, the previous King and Queen, lost at sea three years prior, from what he'd heard. Kristoff had never met King Agdar or Queen Idun, but he had seen them—that fateful night thirteen years ago, when he was taken in by the trolls.

Seeing their faces again confirmed what Kristoff had feared for the last day or so—it had indeed been Anna who had been healed by Grand Pabbie that night, and Elsa and her parents had been with her. Anna obviously did not remember the encounter—there was no reason she should, as she'd been unconscious—but Elsa probably did. Kristoff wondered whether he should bring it up at dinner tonight, or whether it would make Anna or Elsa too uncomfortable.

Finally, he arrived at what he presumed was the main dining room.

"What about you, Elsa?" Rapunzel asked. "Do you have an interest in someone?"

"No," Elsa said flatly. "Being isolated for thirteen years has cut down on my social life, and I'm not really comfortable around other people yet. There will be no suitors until I say so. Besides," she said, putting an arm around her sister, "I now have Anna to keep me company again."

Anna had a mischievous grin on her face, and Elsa had a feeling she knew what it meant. She waved her hand, making a snowball fall on Anna's head.

"AH!" Anna shrieked. "Cold, cold, cold!" The Prince and Princess of Corona laughed, and Elsa hid a laugh behind her hand.

Brushing the snow out of her hair, Anna glared at her sister and said indignantly, "What was that for?"

"You had that look," Elsa said with a slight smirk, "like you were thinking of setting me up with someone. You still haven't figured out where you are with Kristoff yet, Anna."

Anna pouted, but replied, "All right." The grin came back then. "But as soon as I do, I'm totally going to play matchmaker!"

"Speaking of Kristoff, he appears to have arrived," Eugene said, grinning. As Kristoff entered the room, Eugene walked over and said, "'Sup Blondie?"

"Eugene!" Rapunzel said, "Don't make me fetch my frying pan!"

"All right, all right!" Eugene said, holding his hands up defensively. Turning back to Kristoff, he held out a hand. "Prince Eugene Fitzherbert, of Corona."

"Kristoff Bjorgman," the mountain man replied, shaking the proffered hand. Kristoff had managed to find some casual summer clothing, a light blue shirt and dark vest over dark trousers. Turning to Rapunzel, he said, "That must make you the lost princess, Rapunzel." He bowed clumsily.

"That's right," Rapunzel said. "It's nice to meet you, Kristoff. I'm surprised you've heard about me."

"Word gets around, even among the ice harvesters," Kristoff said. "They say a notorious thief found you and saved your life." He glanced at Eugene, one eyebrow raised.

"Guilty as charged," Eugene said. "But they've forgiven me. Rapunzel even talked me into marrying her!"

"Eugene," Rapunzel said, a hint of warning in her tone.

"Okay, okay, I asked her." Eugene said, holding his hands up again.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both," Kristoff said. Pausing to study Rapunzel, he observed, "You know... looking at you, you remind me a bit of Anna."

"I'm not surprised," Rapunzel laughed. "As I just finished telling them, their mother was my mother's sister."

"So, you're cousins?" Kristoff asked.

"Yup!" Rapunzel beamed. She sobered quickly when she added, "It kind of upset Elsa when I brought her mother up, though, for obvious reasons."

"Yeah," Kristoff murmured, rubbing the back of his head absently. Noticing something on Rapunzel's shoulder, he said, "Say, isn't that a—?" He was interrupted when Elsa saw what he had seen, and screamed in fright.

What she saw was a small green lizard, which up until now had gone unnoticed, that now changed to a bright red color and was eyeing her with a wary expression, probably as startled by her scream as she was. She darted several steps back, hiding behind Anna, who was trying not to laugh. Snow was falling around her once again, and the fabric of her dress iced over where she gripped it.

Apparently understanding, Eugene said dryly, "Stay calm. He can probably smell fear." Anna giggled, and Kristoff rolled his eyes.

"Eugene, really!" Rapunzel said. Glaring at the creature on her shoulder, she scolded, "Pascal, I thought I asked you to stay out of sight!"

Realizing he'd been caught, the chameleon tried to blend into the brunette's pink dress, only to turn back to green when she picked him up and held him at eye level. With a sigh of defeat, Pascal began a sort of pantomiming, which only the Coronans seemed to be able to follow.

"Okay... yes... you snuck away to go see Max... then you came back... and now... you popped out to meet everyone." Rapunzel groaned. "Well, you frightened the Queen! Go apologize!"

Pascal hopped down, and shuffled over to the head of the table, where Anna and Kristoff were busy trying to calm Elsa down, Anna saying, "Relax, Elsa, it's just a little..." She trailed off. "Um, what is he, exactly?"

"Frog," Eugene said, at the same time Kristoff said, "Chameleon."

"Chameleon," Rapunzel agreed, smirking at her husband.

"Nuance," Eugene replied with a grin.

"Anyway, there's nothing to be afraid of, Elsa," Anna said. Under her breath she added, "I think." Kristoff chuckled.

Pascal gestured to the Queen, then to himself, shaking his head, and then bowed, apparently his form of an apology.

"Thanks... I think," Elsa said. Forcing herself to relax, she willed the gathering snow out of the room. Pascal, in the meantime, hopped up onto Anna's arm, making her squeak in surprise, then climbed up and settled on her shoulder.

"So where did this little guy come from?" Anna asked Rapunzel.

"I found him in my tower when I was a teenager, and we've been together ever since," the brunette replied. "We'd play hide and seek, which I managed to win despite his attempts at camouflage." She sighed. "He's kind of old now, but he's a tough little guy; he even keeps Maximus in line!"

"He kinda creeps me out," Eugene admitted. "Especially when he smiles at me for no apparent reason. And don't let him anywhere near your ears if you're asleep..." Everyone laughed.

"Who's Maximus?" Kristoff asked. "Is that the tall white horse I saw in the stables?"

"That's him," Eugene confirmed. "I'll introduce him to you guys later, if you like."

"I don't know," Kristoff said. "He kind of looked at me funny..." Turning to the sisters, he said, "Anyway, I'm sorry I'm late. It took me a while to find something casual to wear, and then I took a wrong turn and got lost. Luckily, I found Gerda, and she pointed me in the right direction."

"It's all right," Anna said. "But Elsa and I should give you a tour of the castle, so you don't get lost the next time you go looking for the washroom." Eugene snickered.

"Of course," Elsa said, smiling. "Let's have dinner, shall we?" She sat in the high-backed chair at the head of the table, motioning the others to sit—Anna and Kristoff on her right, Rapunzel and Eugene on her left. Elsa then rang the small bell sitting on the table, summoning the kitchen staff to bring dinner.

A/N: I had to do it, really. I've read so many fanfics where Rapunzel and Eugene make a cameo, that I just had to, mostly because I had just seen Tangled. I'll admit to borrowing the popular fan canons that the sisters and Rapunzel are cousins, and that the King and Queen of Arendelle were invited to Rapunzel's wedding, but they work well with the story. The Coronans will be around for most of this part of the story, so enjoy them while they're here. (And if I've quoted too many of Eugene's lines from the movie, please forgive me.)

–Being your average single guy, I don't know anything about dresses, much less how to describe them. (Upon further research, I've discovered that the sleeveless garment worn over the top (blouse) of the dress is called a 'bodice.' Learning something new every day.) Elsa's comment about the coronation dress will be explained in chapter 4.

–The passage where Elsa is upset by the mention of her parents (specifically, her mother) bothers me a little: why is Anna not equally upset? My impromptu reasoning is that Elsa hasn't come to terms with her parents' loss just yet; perhaps visiting the stones in a future chapter will give her some closure.

–I added the bit where Elsa offers the Coronans a room in the second revision; somehow it hadn't made it in there the first time. This addition inadvertently created a continuity error (with Rapunzel asking Pascal why he wasn't in their room), so that had to be fixed, too.

–I don't really know why I made Elsa frightened of Pascal, but it seemed like a humorous way to bring him into the story. I also had Rapunzel say she met Pascal when she was a teenager, just so his (now old) age would fit. (Real-life chameleons don't live much longer than 10 years or so. But this is Disney, so I suppose I could have cheated a little.)

Next chapter: An avalanche of exposition!