Chapter 26. In the heat of the moment
"the heat is on!" Song starts to play in the background. Sorry not sorry.
Disclaimer: Frozen and other Disney characters belongs to Disney Co.
Author Note1: HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! I'm sorry it took so long. But my job is quite demanding sometimes. Still thanks to Autoruns who is very loyal reader I managed to finish this one for you.
The next one is already in process.
Author Note2: Hey guys. Wow. Just wow. I get a request to write some fluff and no review as a result. Then, last chapter I add some angsty angst at the end and suddenly you get all participant. And I love it actually. Does that mean yiu all prefer angst? Seriously I'm curious.
Author Note3: Special Thanks to:
Visitor,think-pink-jess,autoruns, GuessWhoiam, and visitor2.
Loved every single one of the reviews and songs recommendations. I did listen to them and they do fit perfectly.
And to the one that sent that Naruto Shippuden theory. You know who you are. LOL xD I already answered you, but you did get some things right. Not all of course. Derek has no Obito trauma but he might get on a "rocky" situation. But not yet.
And... Oh My Fanart!
Author Note4: One of you asked for a fanart of Derek. That would be amazing!
So… I made a little gift for you. I made a cover. Thank you, thank you no need to applaud. As I already told one of you readers, I am, not great at drawing. Sorry to disappoint you if I did. But there you have it. An image of Queen Elsa and Prince Derek of course.
And this makes me wonder, if any of you Da Vinci's out there would like to share your fanarts or your favourite moments. Pmease do. Not all of us draw but would love to see the art from other people.
Pop quiz mes amies!
Did you know that of you say quickly the names of HANS KRISTOFF ANNA SVEN it sounds similar to the Snow's Queen author HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
(And for those who got, yes ANDERSEN Is Derek's first name)
Leave your comments and songs suggestions and theories and fanarts too I guess... All the good stuff.
Disclaimer: Frozen and other Disney characters belong to Disney Co. This is merely a fanfiction.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Chapter 26. In the heat or the moment
Inside the walls of the castle people could be heard chatting with more excitement than before. Probably, triggered by the Ball about to begin officially.
And maybe, just maybe, all that fuzz was being fueled by some rumors that the Queen of Drama helped to spread like fire. According to those rumors, shared between royals and gentles alike, the mysterious Queen of Arendelle herself would open the Ball alongside the Princess.
Given the royal family of Arendelle had always been so reserved until recently, to witness the Queen in a party and dancing nonetheless was, in fact, a once in a lifetime event worthy of that excitement. Excitement, that probably the Queen could not be feeling right now. How could she? Most probably she was feeling the opposite. But she would never show it to them. She was too stubborn for that.
At least he knew that. Elsa could afford to disappoint all those expectant royals but Derek knew one thing for sure. She would never dare to see the disappointed face of her younger sister. After all, Elsa had agreed to all because of Anna. And he had agreed to do it because he lost a bet to Anna. So, they both kind of owed it to Anna. And he owed it to Elsa too.
Duty calls. Her voice repeated in his mind.
The young Prince felt his throat so dry and rough that it was hard to breath normally. His hands had a slight shiver and one thing was certain. His shiver had nothing to do with the weather.
Given the circumstances, neither she or him could cancel their participation in the ball. She had a duty to comply and he, well, he had made a promise to be his partner. Even if at first, they were both played by Anna to agree to this, he at least wanted to do it. Not to go with the appearances but because it was something, they had worked so hard to accomplish.
Well, to be honest, He was not really necessary. People were waiting for the Queen and Princess to open the ball. Their dancing partners were not the spotlights tonight. Although after all those ladies rounding Kristoff not so long ago, showed the ice man was actually a new spotlight in the equation.
That left him, the spare Prince from another land out of the picture. This could come handy for the current circumstances.
The Prince could excuse himself from the ball and ask his father to join the Queen in the dance floor instead. the King had tutored Elsa before, right? Although it had been very briefly for only one day. It was not perfect but it could work.
It could work, yes. Repeated his inner self. But at what cost? Papa will have questions you know. Are you ready answer them?
Derek shook his hair with one hand. He was definitely not ready to tell the King of Rosendelle that future diplomatic relationships with Arendelle might be at stake because a good for nothing Prince kind of crossed the line with the Queen of Snow herself. Not only that, but most importantly a friendship that had started with their parents and passed to their children as a legacy. All of that, broken to no repair because Derek could never think before acting.
Tic toc tic toc. His mind sang as a reminder. What's it gonna be? Go ask your father or go after her?
Derek approached to the door but stopped.
His father would certainly agree to help, but would never stop with the embarrassing questioning. The man could second the Queen of Drama in gossip and running to wild conclusions before seeing the whole picture. Derek trusted his father in many things but some things were not to be shared, especially if it involved his friendship with Elsa. Or former friendship, given their recent interaction with each other.
No. He'd rather live with the taste of pig's ear for the rest of his life than facing his father's teasing.
That left with the next and most obvious path to follow. Her.
Feeling more determined, he jumped two septs to the door when his hand stopped at the level of the handle.
What if he didn't find her? And what if he did?!
What would he say then? And what would she say?!
Would she even want to talk to him? Even want to see him?!
Derek blinked twice trying to focus.
It didn't mean he regret what he said to Lord Dracula. In fact, he wished he could had punched the man.
But Elsa did have a point. He put her in a difficult situation in front of many people. He had feared that so much social pressure would trigger bad memories to her. And what did he bring upon her? Even more pressure.
Congrats mate! Said his inner voice. And you know what? That wasn't even the worst of it.
He didn't fight back with his thoughts. His heart and mind agreed on the same. He had hurt her deeply when he yelled at her calling her "different".
"You bloody moron!" he told himself aloud. He was the one that needed a dictionary. All the vocabulary a royal learns at Regal Academies and he comes up with the worst one ever to describe her.
Of course, she was different but not that kind of different.
But the context, and the hidden meaning was there. And as soon he had said it Elsa's hurting face had shown she clearly understood the hidden message. Not to mention the snowfall had only increased over their heads.
Derek pressed his teeth and tried to focus once again. His determined action almost ceasing immediately as his hand tried to reach the door handle but never reached its final destination.
The image of Elsa moving away from his reach not once but twice, replayed in his mind once again. This time it played in slow motion leaving every detail of her face to be studied by him. Eyes fighting to keep tears not to fall free. Her hands pressed to each other. Fear. That's what he recognized in those eyes. Fear from him? Or fear of herself?
He knew the answer.
Even after all that he'd done to her she would still care not to hurt him. And that simple realization didn't make him feel any better.
His hand still pending to reach the door handle.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A clicking sound from the door made Derek step back. The door opened letting enter someone he did not expect.
"Your, your Majesty?" Derek asked surprised as a woman was now facing him from the other side of the opened door.
"There you are!" Yelled the woman as her arms grabbed Derek by the neck and buried him in the woman's chest. "I've been looking for you everywhere dearie!"
"I … can ... can't... breathe!" he yelled trying to escape the killing embrace with the scent of lavender and cider.
"Oh...sorry dearie." the woman apologized. "It's just you are so huggable." the woman inhaled between Derek's neck and shoulder. "And you smell so good. Like cinnamon and pine tree. You remind me of Christmas."
Derek shivered as the woman stood a step away but her hands remained over his arms trapping him and blocking the only exit.
The ghost of doubt had disappeared in an instant. He was definitely sure now that he was the only one to be blamed for his quarrel with Elsa. Because the three Ghosts of Dickens were sending a clear message of warning. Go find her or else. And that else, had come in the form of the one and only Queen of Drama, the eccentric Queen Violet Renaldi of Genovia. The torture standing right in front of him.
"Fine!" Derek yelled to the sky startling the old Queen for his sudden outburst.
She's seventy years old Derek! The voice of Elsa engulfed him in a déja vù moment.
"Oh, right. Err, please pardon my manners Your Majesty. I seem to be forgetting them a lot tonight." He made a slight bow with his head. The least needed now was a passed out senior queen over his arms. He ought not bring more misfortune to Elsa. Well, given he was a bad luck magnet at least he would give his best to trying to avoid it tonight.
"Ohohohoh…. Oh, Derek darling, do not worry. No apologies needed. You might be labeled as a rebel Prince to the society, just for being a little too free of mind-not that I complain of course. But leave that aside and that you are also devilishly handsome, I know you are a true gentleman. You should trust me, I know I few things about manners. Not everyone has written a dozen books about the topic and all had become best sellers of course. "she said smiling.
"Oh, yes. I heard about you were a famous author. I'll need an autograph later." Derek added. Remembering Elsa mentioned she had a copy of the series in the library.
"By all means. I'll sign anything you ask dearie." she said as her eyelashes closed and opened in a flirtish way towards him.
Derek felt cold run down his spine.
"Uhm, Your Majesty, is there something you wanted to tell me?" he asked trying to hide his desperation. He still had to find Elsa and Kristoff and the Queen of Drama could be, well...
Dramatic? A mocking voice suggested in his mind. He tried to ignore his joking side for the moment.
"Oh yes, dearie!" The Queen laughed as she strongly pulled his arm, causing Derek to almost lose balance. "I almost forgot. Its fault of that dreadful lemonade that fat butler has been giving me instead of champagne you see. I hate lemonade. It has no spice, you know what I mean?"
Derek repeated confused. "Lemonade? Spice?"
What the heck is she talking about. What did he do to deserve such agony?!
Uhm...his mind interrupted. Does Wrong shirt, Lord Dracula, and Elsa ring a bell?
Oh, right. he remembered. He kind of deserved it.
"I'm sorry Your Majesty but I really need to…" Derek tried to excuse himself.
"So, I told myself," the Queen continued her monologue, clearly not listening to him. "Violet! if life gives you lemons throw them away, find yourself a nice tree and make your own juice. Et voilà. Here I am."
"Did you add something to your lemonade Your Majesty?" he was sure now the queen must had added something to her lemonade. Something strong. "Maybe we should find you a sit and some water."
"What? Ohohoh. My dear. I was taking in metaphors. Didn't I say just earlier I was a talented writer?"
"Of course, you are." he rolled his eyes.
"I'm talking about the dance dearie." She said smiling. "Since you never asked, I assumed you were shy to ask. So, I saved you the trouble and accepted your invitation."
"Oohh I see... But I really need to...," Derek nodded as his eyes searched behind the Queen at the ball room a certain platinum blond. Until he realized what he heard. "Wait what?!"
"Ohohohohoh," she laughed. "Such a shy Prince you are Derek darling. Of course, I'll dance the first piece with you. Unless …"
"Unless what?" he dared to ask.
"Unless you are already taken for the first waltz or course."
"…" He hesitated as he failed to remove her hand from his hair. "I need to go."
"Dearie you got snow everywhere did you know? Wait, when did it started snowing anyway?"she said as she removed it with one of her gloves.
"Err..."
"Anyway", she said, "Are you available for the first dance or not? You know, all those rumors everyone's been spreading about who might be dear Queen Elsa's dancing partner. One could think it could be you. I mean, you two seem to be really good friends. Just like your old folks used to be."
"Err…"
"But then a little bird told me that Prince Robert from Andalasia has an interest in our mutual Queen friend, if you know what mean. So, maybe he is actually the dancing partner of her. And you, my dearie, are free. I mean, he doesn't have your looks and charm but, those glasses and mysterious aura does make him points in favour you know."
Derek suddenly remembered Prince Boring of Boringlasia asking Elsa for a dance. And suddenly didn't feel so happy about it. He never considered a third option where Elsa could accept opening the dance with someone else apart from his father and him.
Could she accept that? In normal circumstances he was sure she wouldn't. But these weren't normal circumstances. And Prince Bobby, as boring as he could be seemed to be a gentleman. Intellectual, reserved and cunning sometimes. Not to mention the guy was not ugly and became friends with Olaf. And he was a royal after all, so Elsa could, legally speaking, open the ball with him.
Derek didn't like it. Compared to the boring Prince and even to the other men invited he was the least good option. Alright, maybe he was the worst jerk she has ever met. If you count Hans Westergard maybe the second. But still a jerk.
Still, he had to ask for her forgiveness. Not for the stupid ball. Not because someone else might ask her instead. Not because he wanted to assure their nation's alliances. But because he had to. She deserved it. He had been wrong and hurt her. That was the only truth. Maybe he felt hurt too but he had the most guilt in their fight.
Derek's glance changed to a more determined one. He had made up his mind.
"Forgive me Your Majesty," Derek said assured removing her arms from his arms, produced a quick bow then his eyes started moving across the ball room. "But I really need to do something. And it's very important."
"My, my," the Queen said as her eyes shone with interest. "Where are thou heading with such a determined face Romeo? One could say you are ready to face Death or thy beloved Juliet. Or maybe both."
"Where is she?" Derek mumbled loud enough, clearly unaware of the old Queen's last words.
"Ohohoho…." The Queen giggled behind her hand. "Both it is, n'est pas?"
The Prince seemed to have heard her this time and turned to her.
"I'm sorry what were you…?" but his words couldn't be heard finished under the sound of an explosion.
The sound had been so loud that the crystal windows had trembled and dogs had started howling and barking.
Derek wanted to run now. He was not sure what happened but someone could be hurt or in danger.
What if Elsa was in danger?!
His feet started to move but a big weight stopped him.
"Derek dearie!" yelled the scared Drama Queen. "What is happening?" she asked still hugging him.
"I don't…"
"Derek!" a girl's voice addressed him. It was Anna coming to him with Kai behind her.
"Anna what happened?!" he asked.
"A fire, Your Highness," Kai answered quickly. "the Christmas Tree at the Winter Fair are covered in flames."
"Where are Elsa and Kristoff?!" Anna and Derek both asked the other at the same time.
"Wait, they're not with you?" they both answered.
"No!" both kept replying at the same time.
"Your Highness!" another voice came. It was a guard who called everyone's attention. He stopped in front of Anna. "Orders from Her Majesty the Queen to proceed with Emergency Protocol. She and the royal Ice Harvester went on a mission of their own. They headed to town and by the Queen's orders I'll be at your service."
"Thanks. "Anna said. "But I don't need a bodyguard you have a new order. Go find Captain Jorgen and bring him here.".
"The guard made a quick salute and disappeared in the crowd. Anna turned to look at Derek.
"I know we both want to find them, "she told him. "And I know they will go after the fire themselves. I mean ice is their specialty, and ice is actually frozen water. Which means they are going to…"
"I know," Derek said resting his hand over her shoulder. "But we need to trust them. "He said.
Need to trust her.
"Now tell me, Your Highness. "Derek said, "What can a spare Prince like myself be of use for a spare Princess currently in charge?"
Anna nodded surer of herself by their spare royal joke.
"Right," she said more confident. Then she whistled as loud as she could causing every guest to stop panicking and stare at her.
"Listen everyone." She said trying to sound confident as Elsa's queen tone of voice. "A fire has been detected at the centre of the village and our Emergencies Protocol is running this very moment. In which, I need to ask everyone to evacuate in order to the strategic places the royal guards will assign you. Captain?!"
"Here Your Highness!" yelled Captain Jorgen of the Royal Guard who appeared next to her in a flash. "Alright listen to me. Those who are staying guests in the Royal Hotel shall be escorted to their chambers. The same goes to the ones who have been staying in their ships. You shall be given a room with no charge. The access to the docks is compromised with the fire and paths were closed in order to evacuate civilians from endangered zones. The fire is in the west area of town which means at least the residential areas are far away from the flames."
"The West?" asked a man from the crowd. "That's where the market and the park are."
"What about the Winter Fair? I have friends who are attending tonight." Said a woman.
"Yeah! We need to go back there!" yelled another.
"Listen," insisted Captain Jorgen "we need to follow protocol."
"What if we want to help!" said a young aristocrat.
"And you will. "Anna intervened. "And the best way is to keep you all safe." She said firmly. "Please." She added more tenderly but with her eyes still serious.
Most guests nodded with their heads and started to agree with the Princess.
"And everyone with military training or medical knowledge is welcomed to stay and help." Derek suggested.
"Good idea." Said Captain Jorgen. "All the rest will follow protocol until it is considered safe to leave your place."
And with that chaos erupted once more. People pushing, yelling and moving escorted by stressed guards to their safety.
As expected, a few guests stayed as volunteers to help. Women and men from young to old ages, with and without titles. All those offering the Princess their help. And that's how the improvised small hospital in the castle's yard was settled in less than an hour.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Time seemed to pass quickly or maybe slowly. Derek couldn't tell. Had it been hours, or maybe just a few minutes. He had been running from place to place trying to be of service.
He and some of the castle staff-built tents, gathered food stations for refugees, soldiers and firemen. He helped Anna by leading injured people to improvised beds and so on and on.
At least there hadn't been reports of casualties yet. And just five to six people that had been near the Christmas tree were being treated for more serious wounds.
For a while he had been running here and there with Anna by registering inventory of the medical supplies, beds, blankets and names of the people that were arriving constantly. Derek was not surprised all these control procedures were added to Arendelle's plan of emergencies by the current Queen herself.
Of course, it had been her. Only Elsa could come up with such a meticulous plan for every occasion. Anna didn't say out loud to him, but was hinted that part of Elsa's inspiration to come up with such Emergencies' plans were triggered by that time the Queen herself -kind of by accident- froze the entire fjord during her coronation day.
And now, after so many things done, they still haven't heard a thing about the Queen and the Ice Harvester. He could tell Anna and Olaf felt the same. Even Sven seemed nervous in the stables. News from Kristoff and the ice harvesters' protecting the residential areas came from time to time, but still Anna seemed to worry. In case of the Queen of Arendelle, no one knew what has been of her. It was crazy. It seemed the Queen had been spotted in many places but didn't stay long enough at one place. So, it was hard to know her current situation. People had been starting talking more about the Queen that the fire itself.
Derek was trying so hard not grab a horse and go look for Elsa that his frown of concentration made him look angry or sick. At least that way people didn't bother him so much as he worked in his tasks.
The Prince didn't have to ask Anna to know she was thinking similar to him. Anna might not look angry like him, but she was the one working and running like a maniac. It was clear she wanted to keep her mind busy or maybe trying to finish and go find Elsa and her boyfriend.
But they couldn't leave. Waves of people kept arriving. Some weren't even injured but wanted to find their friends and family. The castle became a point of reunion for everyone.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
It was a few hours later until a fire fighter came to give a report to the Princess that news from the Queen were finally heard.
Apparently, the Queen had been battling the fire with her magical powers. The never stopping monarch had ceased more than half of the flames all by herself. According to the man, thanks to her, the damage to the buildings were only superficial. And also, thanks to the ice harvester's unit, the fire didn't reach any place further. Now all that remained was the heart of the fire in the park and the buildings from that area.
The man didn't say it but most likely Elsa was heading right to the heart of the fire.
"Thank you, sir." said Anna almost automatically as the man left. Her eyes distracted in the flames afar, probably looking for an ice signature: a trace of her sister.
Derek who was not very far from Anna had also heard the man's report. He didn't realize he had been staring at the Princess until she felt his gaze and met his eyes.
Feeling caught by her, he tried to give an encouraging phrase but nothing came to his mind. So, he simply looked at her with sympathy. She shared a bittersweet smile. They stayed like that for a whole minute. Just staring at each other; discussing silently whether or not they should abandon their posts and go search for her. Then someone called the Princess name and she blinked. She looked at Derek one more time still hesitant but went to the tent she was been summoned anyway.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
"Prince Derek, darling, are you alright?" a female voice said. "Your mind seems to be somewhere else."
The image of Elsa dodging flames while wearing high heels blurred from his mind, as hearing his name brought him back to reality.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking how much bandage to use for the injury." he lied shaking his head slightly as he finished putting a white cloth over a man's hand with impeccable speed.
"Oh dearie," the Queen of Drama gave him a pitiful look at him. "You made an excellent splitting technique for a broken arm. Did you study to be a medic?"
"Not really." he said. Still wondering why, the sudden pitiful look if he made a good bandaging. "They teach some medical stuff at Navy Academy. You know, for survival purposes."
"I see," she continued. "Such a pity though, that you ended fixing the wrong arm dearie." She said now giggling.
"Wait what?!"
Derek looked down to the man's hands. The patient didn't seem as amused as the old Queen was.
"My apologies sir" he said quickly as he started fixing his mistake.
The man, a fisherman, gave him a disapproving look but kept still to let the Prince remove the bandages from the good arm. And just rolled his eyes at Derek when the Prince started bandaging the injured one.
"Ohohohoh….I guess there are some things you cannot learn at the Academy. For instance, how to fix les affaires du coeur perhaps?" she asked with mischievous smile at him.
Derek tried to keep focused as he arranged the arm while heat started to spread out of embarrassment.
Not sure if the reason for his embarrassment was provoked by the judging face of his unhappy "patient" or by the old Queen's implication.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
"Anna, Anna…" A familiar voice said from down. The named Princess stopped abruptly almost dropping the pile of blankets she was carrying.
"Whoah…" Anna said as she managed to save the clean blankets from a pond of mud." Olaf, what is it? Is something wrong with the kids?"
"Nope." Olaf answered quickly. The little snowman had been helping Gerda and the maids as baby sitter for the children whose parents were busy being treated as patients or working as volunteers.
"Then what is it Olaf?" she asked.
"Remember when I asked where was Elsa?" he asked. "And then you say you didn't know. And then I asked again later and you said that you had an idea but still didn't know for sure? Remember that?"
"Yes Olaf," She answered. "I remember. It was about five minutes ago. And the answer is still the same."
"That's what I wanted to tell you." The snowman said excited. "I don't need to ask you anymore. And you don't need to answer the same anymore either!"
"Olaf what do you mean?" she asked.
"I know! I know where she is!" he answered even more excited.
"Wait what?!" she was confused. "How? Where?!"
"Right there below that giant snow thing!" the snowman pointed out with his wooden finger behind her.
Anna turned around and, as many people also did, she topped what she was doing as she saw in the distance what looked like a giant snow cloud forming above the big Christmas tree set at the Winter Fair. Right above the flaming tree. That looked dangerous.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
She decided right at that moment she needed to be there. Where Elsa was.
In a second, she threw the towels to a bed and whistled.
In less than a minute Sven came to the picture, running fast, avoiding people and tents. One empty bed was not that lucky and fell but Anna didn't care as she jumped in the reindeers back.
"Olaf, tell Kai I leave him in charge." She said.
"Aye ma'am!" He said, as he made a cute soldier salute. A salute Derek taught him to do.
She was about to leave when she spotted Derek exiting a tent carrying some bandages.
"Speaking of the devil." She muttered as she glanced the Prince.
When Derek saw everyone had stopped working and were looking at the sky, he scratched his head confused. He clearly hadn't seen the big cloud of snow yet. If he had, he would probably be doing what Anna was about to do.
Making a decision, the Princess kicked the reindeer slightly and said "Sven go get him!"
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Derek was confused. Why did everyone was looking at the sky like it was the best thing ever?
He decided to look up too but didn't see anything until his eyes reached right above the big flames in the town.
He'd been wondering where could she be? Almost wishing for a sign or something. And then, out of the blue. She literally answered by herself. An enormous mass the size of two ships shouting at him "I'm right here you fool!"
He dropped everything and started running. Almost realizing immediately he should have taken a horse. But it was too late. He was already reaching the bridge.
Then out of nowhere he was pushed by something big and raised from the ground by force. He felt his stomach turn as we was forced to give a flip in the air and land in something soft and moving. He was facing the castle as the smelly form of transport moved to the other direction.
"Gotcha!" said a female voice. He was back to back to someone.
He turned around. "Anna?! What the heck?" he asked still processing the smelly transport was Sven. And that the animal, had raised him with his antlers and managed to catch him right next to the Princess. If he wasn't all that shocked, he would have complimented the animal for such an amazing stunt.
"Welcome aboard." Anna said. "We are going where Elsa is. Which is somewhere beneath that thing." She pointed out the mass of snow. "I was going to force you to come with us but since you were already running, I assume we are on the same page. "
Derek felt for the first time in forever a small smile form in his mouth. Last time he smiled was before the ball started, during those few moments he joked around with Elsa in the hallway.
He really needed to find her and talk to her. If not, that would be the last good memory with her before he ruined everything.
"Aye, aye Captain!" he said to Anna as he turned around to ride Sven correctly.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Just as they were crossing the docks Derek spoke again.
"What is that thing in the sky anyway?" he asked. "Do you know what she is going to do with it?"
"I don't know." Anna said as Sven jumped se barrels and landed in the other side of the docks. Then they continued running. "With Elsa's magic you never know. All I know it's that she has a plan. And that it might be dangerous if we get to near when she decides to let it go."
Then she got distracted by the gigantic mass took the shape of a snowflakes similar to the one Elsa formed to gather the snow that time she froze the fjord.
"Let go what?" Derek asked.
But Anna wasn't able to answer as the big snowflake fell in a rapid motion to the ground making a big sound, as if a thousand sacks of flour hit the ground at the same time.
Anna was about to tell Sven to run faster now that they couldn't see where Elsa was when Derek yelled.
"Sven, jump to the sea. NOW!" Derek's voice sounded alarming.
The reindeer moved his head slightly as if questioning Derek's sanity. Anna was about to ask the Prince what got into him when she saw it. She didn't know what it was but it was coming at them at a high speed.
Sven sopped running forward and made a turn back to the docks near the castle.
"What is tha..?!" Anna tried to ask.
But she couldn't end her sentence as Derek pushed his weight on her and grabbed Sven by the antlers with his hands.
"TO THE SEA! NOW!" he ordered as he directed the animal's ears to the right.
This time the reindeerseemed to understand the message and jumped to the freezing water making them fall apart from each other.
Just as the water covered their heads and their skin yelled in agony for the cold water, Anna looked up to the surface above them. As she started to float to the surface Derek grabbed her and motioned Sven to stay underwater a little longer. Until that weird fog that came out of nowhere vanished from above.
The salty water was itching her eyes and air was starting to be missing her lungs when Derek pulled her up to the surface. Sven followed shortly.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Air filled his lungs as he opened his eyes. Anna coughed a bit and Seven didn't hesitate to swim straight to the docks. As the three of them got out the freezing water Derek noticed the walls of the nearest building had a thin cape of water drops, confirming his suspicions.
"What was that?" Anna asked as she torn her hair to get rid of the excess of water.
"Vapor. Very hot vapor." He answered. "I believe Her Majesty did a very smart, yet reckless move by ceasing the fire with ice. The fire may have disappeared but given the high temperature it faced, the ice turned to water to hot vapor in mere seconds."
"You, you don't think she got hurt? I really don't know if heat can hurt her or not." Anna asked with a slight trembling voice. Derek was not sure if the tremble was caused by her cold wet dress or her worried nature.
He denied with his head.
"Her Majesty might be reckless sometimes, but she is also devilishly smart. Maybe not the best combination but she must have foreseen the reaction and protect herself and people around her. I bet she is fine and probably asked everyone to stand aside before she did it. I didn't see anyone in our way here. That means Captain Jorgen did his job to evacuate the villagers. In a way, we kind of compromised everything by turning here un-announced. "
"Sooo…Elsa is gonna be so mad at us. She 'll blame herself for almost hurting us and then she will probably ground us like a bossy mom." Anna guessed.
Derek sighed. "She might get steamy on us. I agree on that. In my case, things might get heated a bit more."
"What do you mean?" Anna asked. "Did you two fight again about something stupid like books or ice cream flavors?"
Derek looked at his wet boots not very proud to admit to the Queen's sister.
"Warm but not quite. This time the heat was real." He answered. "It's complicated and kind of a …"
"Let me guess?" Anna said. "It's a long story."
Derek nodded.
"So?" the Princess asked confused.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
"So what?" Derek.
She took a deep breath. They had to find Elsa before she would disappear again. Derek was right. She might be devilishly smart but also same level of reckless. A bad combination indeed.
"Look Derek, if you worry if Elsa is still mad at you, well spoiler alert. She is!"
"Uh, thanks? I guess." Derek answered confused.
"But you'll talk about it and everything be fixed." Anna explained. *Now, come on. Let's find my sister."
That moment the reindeer, Sven, nodded its head as if supporting Anna's last comment. Or maybe he was just getting rid of sea water from his fur in his ears.
"You are right." He said with a new energy. "If we talk, everything will be alright. Besides she wouldn't turn me into an ice popsicle, right?" he tried to ease the mood with a slight joke.
"Well…." Anna hesitated.
"Right?" he asked with his energy slightly fading.
"Of course, she wouldn't do that. But just for safety measures try not to upset her too much. Last time I had this big fight with Elsa….and…well…also it happened during much worse circumstances. I wanted to marry this guy and she said no! Then she ran away and froze the entire fjord. So, ask I her to unfreeze it but she said no again because she didn't know how and I insisted. And we said things to each other and…well... it's a looong story."
Derek raised his eyebrows amused by her babbling.
"Anyway, we argued and in a split of a second my heart ended really hurt."
"How poetic." Derek nodded as they started to walk through the narrow houses with Sven behind them.
"I mean literally. "Anna explained as they kept walking more faster seeing a clear path in the distance. "She literally hit my heart with her powers and I almost died. It was an accident of course, and she has better control now, but just be careful not to upset her … please."
"Wait what?!" he asked surprised. "You almost died?"
"Don't worry an act of true love was all that was needed to save me."
"Love? Did Kristoff kiss you or something?"
She snorted.
"Nah, he wishes he did. I tried to stop Prince Hans from killing Elsa and I turned to ice in the process."
"You what?!" He asked stopping for a second. "And Prince Hans did what?!"
Elsa had talked about her Coronation incident before but didn't mention Anna being hit by magic or Hans almost killing Elsa. It seemed she had her own demons to handle too.
Anna didn't explain more but continued talking.
"Anyway, that sort of worked as an act of true love and I returned to be me. Human me. Not iced me. You get me. And we are good now. So, all you two need is to get your cold heads, and talk."
"Cold heads? Really?" he asked still assimilating.
"Ugh, it wasn't an intentional joke. It's your bad influence." She grunted. "Anyway, I think this path is leading us to the park where the fire started. Why am I not surprised Elsa might be there?"
He produced a sympathetic smile.
"The flames are gone now, which means she was here and probably already on the move for her next location. Come on Princess, let's go find that reckless Queen, acquaintance of ours before we freeze ourselves to death under these wet clothes. "
She nodded as both of them climbed to Sven's wet back again in the clear of the plaza.
Both of them were freezing under the wet clothes, but didn't care for the moment as their mind on a certain blond kept them distraught for the cold weather.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
"We are here. The park." The Prince said in a gloom tone.
And the scene before them made Sven stop trotting and Anna's chest feel pressed.
The flames were gone, but so was the green from the grass and trees. Shops from the fair destroyed and the Christmas' tree in the middle existed no more. Ashes was all that remained. And remnants of snow and ponds of water mixed with mud. Evidence that Elsa had been the one that stopped the fire.
"Hold on." The Prince said as his eyes seemed to spot something.
Derek got off Sven and suddenly ran to a certain corner where some shops were mostly destroyed. She lost sight of him behind the debris. Suddenly some guards appeared in front of Anna and saluted as her when they recognized her.
"Your Highness." Said one of them. "This place is no safe, you should be careful."
"What happened here? Where is Els... I mean. Where is the Queen?" she asked.
"The Queen helped to cease the fire." Explained the other guard. "After she did that, she left with Captain Jorgen's unit. They plan to fight the rest of the flames that reached the far east of Arendelle."
"In what direction did she go?"
But the guards couldn't answer as Derek's voice called everyone's attention.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Derek arrived suddenly carrying something in his arms. He was asking for help and a medic as Anna recognized that it was a person and not a thing that the Prince was holding.
One of the guards took the person from Derek's arms. It was then that Anna recognized behind that dirty face that it was the flower shop owner. A very nice old lady that loved to recommend flowers to match her customers' emotions. Anna knew her. She had bought flowers from her many times. Her heart sunk even more.
"I found her under her cart shop. "Derek said in a rush. He looked alert, similar to that time they dueled. But this time he seemed worried for the lady in a certain way that Anna couldn't understand. "I think no bone was broken but she did turn her foot. She needs medical attention immediately."
"I'll take her." Said one or the guards. "I have a horse. I'll be right back." And he ran to fetch his ride.
"Here, I'll carry her." Said the other guard.
"Thanks mate. "Derek said as he passed her the old lady. "Careful."
"Oooh.. but it is the charming sailor." Said a weak female voice.
Anna looked down.
"Hello ma'am." Derek smiled gently to the old lady that had awaked.
They seemed to know each other. Anna thought. Although didn't seem to be a flower guy kind of person.
"How is the pretty friend of yours doing?" she asked smiling softly making a deep mark in the word friend.
"She is busy right now, but I'll tell her you say hi." Derek said to the lady with a gentle smile.
She? Thought Anna.
"Oh, yes. And if you are interested, I can get you some good quality Christmas weed in a good price. Very potent. I have a friend who owns me a favor. But you didn't hear it from me."
Christmas weed? What the in the name of Odin was that?! Anna and the guard couldn't understand a thing but the Prince's sudden coughing indicated he did.
"Err, thanks for the offer, but no need for any uhm … Christmas weed thank you. I hope you recover soon. I need to go now." Derek made an unnecessary bow to the lady and jumped over Sven.
"Let's keep going Anna. I'm freezing here. We need to find some dry clothes before we find Elsa." He said going back to poker face Derek. Letting the Princess with lots of questions.
Anna couldn't see Derek's face, since he was in front of her, riding Sven this time.
She bit her lips before curiosity made her question him. What in the name of Saint Nicholas was Christmas weed? It almost sounded like something from the black market. Could Kai be right and the Rebel Prince being a bad influence the respectable Queen?
"Incredible how powerful she is. Isn't she?" Derek said calling her attention once more.
Anna noticed that Derek was looking at the traces of ice that covered the buildings and shops almost like freezing the time. Stopping the flames to move forward.
Although the sight of shops and Christmas tree all burnt to ashes that weren't so lucky did gave a gloom atmosphere to the scene.
"Oh," she suddenly said surprised, for once finding a saved zone.
"What is it?" the Prince asked making Sven slow down his pace.
"The old bridge in the lake." She said. "It survived. It needs repair but somehow Elsa's magic covered it in ice and managed to save it. That bridge was a founded by a great-great-great-grandfather of ours. People like to fish there and children like to feed the ducks form there. I'm glad Elsa saved it. I've always liked that little bridge."
Derek smiled.
"Yeah, me too." He said as he kicked Sven slightly to keep going. "Come on Sven."
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
The was still no sight of Elsa. But traces of her magic and buildings safe indicated they were close to find her.
Derek knew Anna didn't want to show it but the fact that her body was shaking and so was his meant that the wet clothes and cold air was doing no good for them.
"Anna, we need to find dry clothes or we are going to get hypothermia."
"I hate to admit it, but Elsa will kill us if we get sick. "she said. "But where are getting new clothes?"
They both started looking around for any sign of an open shop.
"Rats! Not even sign of Oaken's mobile shop." Anna said disappointed.
The Prince face showed a hint of hope as he saw in the distance a caravan of people being escorted out of the theater.
He smirked.
"I've got an idea." He smiled. "Hope you don't mind Shakespeare."
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Meanwhile, not far away from where the Princess and Prince were a soldier came running towards the Captain in command.
"Sir, Captain, sir!" the solider explained agitated. "We can't find her sir!"
"What do you mean?" asked the bulky man with anger in his voice "The Queen was standing right here just a few moments ago. She could not vanish. At least I don't think vanishing is one of her powers! Go look again!"
"But sir,"
"Sargent, you have orders. Find the Queen or better find yourself another career job!"
"YES SIR!" The Sargent saluted with no other complain and returned to his unit to go find the missing ruler.
"First the fire," the Captain started to speak to himself as he walked in circles to regroup his thoughts. "Now the Queen is missing what could get any worse?"
The man put a hand under his pocket in order to get his pipe and be able to lit it to ease his nerves. But instead of a pipe he found a note with a very elegant handwriting and a red kiss at the end as signature.
Don't even think about it, Jorgen.
Remember you said you'd stop smoking when pigs fly and we actually saw one the other day?
Well, I took the liberty to get rid of your nasty pipe and replace it with another thing.
Merry Christmas. Enjoy your gift.
Sincerely Lady Eleanor
The military man checked his pockets again and felt something else and got it out. It was a lollypop grabbed in a red ribbon.
Damn that sneaky woman. Of course, it could get worse! He thought as he put the note again in his pocket and put the lollypop in his mouth.
"Well at least she remembers I like cherry." he said out loud as he returned to his pacing. "Now where the hell could Her Majesty be?! This cannot get any worse than losing the Queen and my pipe in the same day. Right?"
"Captain Jorgen!" a familiar voice calling his name made the Captain of the Royal Guard to stop.
As he turned around his eyes needed to blink more than once to confirm that in fact the person in front of him was no other than Princess Anna and not a result for the breathing too much fire smoke.
"Your Highness, what are you doing her...? What the heck are you wearing?" he suddenly asked. His eyes fixed in the young royal's garments.
"Oh, this," The Princess looked down at her peculiar outfit. "Things happened. Fire, snow, weird fog, aka dangerous steam then sea ... "
"What?"
"...then park, then Arendelle's Theatre Company, then this costume and then..." she took a deep breath. "And then here we are."
"We?" he asked. Was she not alone?
But the Princess kept talking.
"Soooo, the guys from the Company let us borrow some of their costumes and this the only thing that could fit me. At least I got lucky with the costume of Romeo. Derek is so tall that only one costume could fit him. Poor guy."
"Romeo?" The Captain looked again at the Princess. She was wearing a sixteenth century male outfit; with a cape, and tights.
"Yeah, Romeo. You know, from Romeo and Juliet. The play?" she kept babbling. "You know Romeo and Juliet, right?"
"Aha." the only asked. "And you said that your other clothes got wet because of...?"
The Princess eyes got big in an alarming motion. "Oh that!" she laughed. "Not important at all. It's a long story. No need to mention it to my sister about it he he." she added quickly.
"The Queen you say?" asked the man alarmed. He still didn't know about her whereabouts.
"About that..." the Princess suddenly remembered. "Captain have you seen my sister? Some guards told us that she was working alongside your unit."
The Captain cleared his throat as took out his lollipop to formally address his ruler.
"Your Highness, the Queen was indeed working with my unit. But no one hasn't seen her ever since we arrived here with her."
"What?!" the Princess asked. "But where could she be?"
"I …"the man started but was interrupted by the sound of stone cracking.
Almost everyone turned around to see the source of the sound. It was the Hospital that was finally cracking from the inside.
"That building could collapse any minute lads!" Captain Jorgen yelled to his unit and the firemen with them. "Everyone should stand aside from a good distance. That's an order!"
"Yes sir!" called his unit back.
"Captain, my sister could be near that hospital." The Princess said sounding alarmed. "We need to warn her."
"Since we arrived Her Majesty herself warned everyone that the building was in no saving situation." The Captain said confident. "Trust me Your Highness, the Queen would not get near that building."
"So, where is she?" the Princess said. "I hope Derek get any clue about her."
"Wait, Prince Derek of Rosendelle is also here?" the Captain asked.
"Yes, he went to ask around if any sight of Elsa, err, I mean the Queen. I really hope someone sees her."
"Where is the Prince then?"
"Oh, it'll be easy to spot him." the Princess turned around looking among the crowd.
The Captain followed her gaze. But he could only see patients, doctors, guards, firemen and...
"WHAT IS THAT?!" he opened his eyes to see more clearly. "Is that a cow?!"
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
It was a cow? No!
A man? Looked like it.
A man dressed like a cow? That was it!
A man dressed like a cow with a big bell ringing as he ran through the crowd.
Everyone's attention had passed from the big flames from the Hospital to the running cow-man.
"That's him!" The Princess said.
"Him? You mean Prince Derek is that cow. I mean that man in a cow costume?!"
The Princess did not answer as she called Derek's name out loud but the royal cow-man just kept running towards his same direction, which was...
Oh, no!
"Wait!" The Captain yelled.
"DEREK!" the Princess yelled too.
But it was too late. The Prince with the ridiculous costume ran to the Hospital entrance and managed to enter right before another sound of cracking called everyone's attention again to the building. He was lost in the smoke and flames. When the smoke cleared the entrance was covered in big pieces of debris. The only entrance was blocked now.
"Captain we need to save him! Now!" the Princess said alarmed.
Before the Captain could ask himself if the Prince had lost his marbles a fireman, a soldier and a civilian man approached him and the Princess.
"Your Highness, Sir," the soldier did a quick salute. "These men have something import..."
"My baby girl is inside the Hospital!" said in a nervous voice the civilian. "She is not with the other new born babies. My guts tell me she is still there! Please! That weird guy dressed like a cow is the only one that believed me."
"Oh no." The Princess covered her mouth in worry. "That's why Derek entered the hospital. He went back for the baby."
"Sir," the fireman spoke this time. "It's too dangerous to send more men to the line of fire. That building won't sustain on its own for much longer. If the Queen were here, maybe she could buy us some time with her powers but she is still missing."
"Hold on!" The Captain suddenly had a flashback in his head helping understand. "Did you say baby girl?"
"My daughter yes! Please sir" the civilian nodded. "My wife was taken to the Castle with the other mom's that gave childbirth but our baby never arrived.
"Oh, no. Ohh no." He understood now.
"Captain!" called him the Princess voice. "What is it?! We need to save that baby and Derek and find Elsa."
"Your Highness," He said as his eyes turned to the flames ahead. "Last time I saw the Queen, she asked for the list of babies registered safe. And she asked if they were sure that only male boys were in the list."
"That's because Elsa was checking earlier today the list of children of the Hospital for Christmas giving. She knows that list by heart and... Oh no." the Princess suddenly said. "Ohh no."
"Oh no what? Sir? Your Highness?" asked the guard. "What does it mean?"
"It means," The Captain sighed as he cracked his lollipop with his teeth. "A baby girl, a Prince dressed like a cow and the Queen herself are all trapped in that."
They all turned around to the building as a loud banging noise caused the windows to explode and flames grow even more wildly.
"ELSA!" the Princess started to run. "ELSA! ELSA!"
"Someone, grab the Princess!" The Captain yelled.
"NO! Let go of me." the Princess fought as some people managed to stop her for reaching the Hospital. "ELSAA!"
"NO! My baby!" the man started running following Anna's path. But he was also stopped by a group of doctors.
"No," said a doctor. "It's too dangerous."
"My baby!"
"ELSA!"
And then, another cracking sound and the unthinkable started to happen. The upper level of the building collapsed and fell over the lower floor. The ground even shook a bit.
Captain Jorgen felt his blood drop and cold cover all his limbs. The image before him causing everyone to stare in silence. As in slow motion, the rest of the ceiling crumbled to pieces and went down to press the next and final level. The fall made the smoke and red flames cover almost the entire visibility of the building. But there was no need to see to know what would happen next. The sound of stone and wood crushing the final level of the building. Destroying what was left of the hospital and possibly also destroying the last hope for the three people trapped inside it.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
TA-DAAA!
I know, I know... You weren't expecting a cliffhanger in Christmas season, right? Sorry about that.
Hope you liked it. This was really hard to write.
Merry Christmas everyone :)