~Elsa~

After Maui and Flynn had left, Rapunzel had started a group dance, and Anna helped marvelously in bringing in participants. She and Jack begged me to dance, but the singing from earlier already took a lot of my social energy. I'm not sure I could have kept up with the joyous dance they were doing. I'm not much of a dancer anyway, but if I had to dance, I prefer doing slow dances.

Merida was the only one who stayed behind with me, and while I did enjoy seeing everyone dancing and having a great time, there was part of me that still felt bad about lying to her about not knowing of Astrid's feelings for Hiccup. Merida can be scary, and while I know the right thing to do would be to tell her the truth–that I did know–I'm second guessing my morals. I don't want her to be mad at me, and while Merida certainly isn't the type to start drama, being in her bad graces still isn't a good idea. Plus, I know Astrid wouldn't flat out tell her that I knew. That puts Astrid in trouble too for not telling Merida first.

I know I'm overthinking and I know that the real best thing to do to not upset anyone is to simply not tell her. Besides, it's actually the very least of my worries. Number one is the note on the flowers Mr. Black gave me. I'm currently looking at the photo of the first note I had gotten with the white roses when I was at the hospital. It's identical to Mr. Black's handwriting on the note he left with the newer flowers.

I know I said I wouldn't worry about it tonight, but ever since he's been in this room, I feel like his eyes are on me. I feel like I'm constantly being watched by him. And I'm accusing him because every time I turn my head in the direction I feel I'm being stared at, there he is. But every time I look at him, he's not looking at me. Either a) he has fast reflexes and turns away or b) I'm losing my mind and am becoming paranoid because of the similar handwriting.

I'm just glad I didn't make eye contact when I was singing. I probably would have ruined the song with my discomfort and embarrassed myself. Jack was right when he said I wasn't obligated to do it, but I didn't want to come off as rude; I really don't want any complications tonight. Plus, it really was super fun to sing with my sister and cousin. It's unfortunate that it was his idea though.

Luckily, for Rapunzel at least, the dancing was all her idea. Hers and Anna's. I feel bad for not joining, but I'd rather not embarrass myself like how Flynn is. He wasn't here when Rapunzel and Anna were giving our friends and guests the basics of the moves. So now he's trying to learn while being in the middle of it. Poor Flynn. Maui had thrown him in there like a mother bird throwing her baby bird out of the nest so it could learn to fly. And then Jack grabbed a hold of him and officially made him part of the crowd.

He got the hang of it though, and my goodness was Merida having the time of her life watching him. "The wee baby," she had said as she recorded him on her phone. Her joy made me curious on if she's still dreading the idea of her cousin and best friend being together. I would have thought she would still be sulking, especially since they're not back yet.

Maui eventually finds us, and the tree of us watched our friends dance like they were in a movie. The dance finally came to an end, and when our friends came back to us, Merida was the first to say something.

"Oi, Flynn, that was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen," she goes into a set of unladylike giggles.

Flynn rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "Oh yeah, as if you could have done any better. That's why you weren't out there. Cuz you know you can't dance."

Merida snorts. "Oh I know I can't dance, I won't even deny that. Nice try trying to insult me though. Twas a cute effort." She winks and he's appalled.

"Brat," Flynn mumbles, loud enough for her to hear, and she playfully sticks out her tongue.

"That was so thrilling though!" Anna says, happily. "I was expecting you to struggle more, too, Kristoff." She nudges him and he chuckles.

"I have a big family," he answers, "Lots of aunts and sisters and girl cousins. I learned to dance as soon as I was adopted."

"Well, you both did much better than Bunny," Jack teases, making his adopted uncle roll his eyes.

"You're obviously very blind," says Bunny. "Because Flynn was the worst."

"Hey! I caught on quick!" Flynn defends himself.

"Maybe we should do another one," Moana suggests. "And if we do," she points to Maui, "You're joining us."

Maui shrugs, unbothered. "Alright, if you say so. But don't none of you get butthurt when I show you up. I'm a pretty majestic dancer."

"Is that so?" Astrid's voice comes from behind us, making us all turn.

Olaf gasps and points at them. "Hey! Hiccstrid is back." He then gasps again and points down to their hands, which were connected. "And they're holding hands! Are y'all a couple now?"

Hiccup and Astrid both blush, and to my surprise it was Hiccup who answered. "Yeah." He looks over at Astrid, his eyes beaming with joy. "We are."

She returns his smile before speaking to Merida. "I'm sorry, I never told you Mer. Should we talk somewhere privately?"

Merida shakes her head, her expression unreadable. She was frowning, but she didn't look mad or sad. Simply neutral. "No, we can talk right here. Our friends are going to harass us with questions anyway, so we might as well do it in front of them."

Astrid nods, agreeing. "Okay, well," she pauses to take a deep breath in. "It's one of those things where it literally just happened. I tried to fight it, but…my heart defeated my brain on this one. I know if we don't work out that things will be awkward, but we want to try. And we want you to be happy for us."

Merida is silent for a moment before lowering her head. "I admit, I'm torn. I don't want either of you hurting the other and putting me in the middle, but at the same time, I always did like the idea of you two being together. You're already like a sister to me, Astrid. I already see you as family, but if you and Hiccup stay together and get married, then you'll officially be a part of my family. Though granted, there doesn't need to be any official bullshit. Why can't our own feelings be official enough? If I see you as family, you're family. There need not be a marriage license–"

"Merida," Astrid interrupts, laughing, "We just got together. Marriage isn't on our plate for another ten years."

"I'm betting it's five," Jack whispers to no one in particular.

"Regardless," Merida continues, smiling, "If you make each other happy, I'll support you. Just don't drag me into the middle of any fight. I'm not taking any sides. And if you guys end up breaking up, you better do it on good terms so I can still hang out with the two of you at the same time. And should that happen, don't make it awkward. Also don't be all mushy gushy in front of me either and–"

"Okay, okay," says Hiccup this time."We get it." He grins at his cousin, who mirrors his smile.

"If it's meant to be, it will be. Who am I to interfere with fate? Now come here, you two," she pulls them into a hug, which shocks everyone. She rarely hugs anyone. She does from time to time, but it's very, very rare. This just so happens to be one of those rare moments.

"You guys make a cute couple," she says, "I know we've all teased you about her Hiccup, but I never ever believed you would actually win her over. Astrid, how the hell did he do it?"

Astrid smiles as she pulls away from her friend. "Easy," she says with a shrug as she looks over at her boyfriend, "He never treated me like a prize to begin with."

Olaf gasps. "Okay, now that is what I call poetry."

.

.

.

~ Anna ~

I laugh at Olaf's words, silently agreeing with him. That's right, Astrid! You are an independent young woman who isn't an object. You are a person with feelings and opinions and all that good humany jazz.

Our friend group then congratulates the new couple, teasing them until they're redder than Merida's hair. As the teasing happens, I watch, smiling and laughing at first until suddenly, a rather annoying thought crosses my mind. Fortunately for Hiccup, Astrid, and myself,, the teasing and my unwanted thoughts didn't last too long because my aunt is announcing that it's time for the prizes.

Each person was given a red ticket with a number on it when they entered the ballroom. The ticket's purpose is for the gifts we had gotten for the event. My family and I, obviously, don't have any tickets, because the gifts aren't for us. I wish we could have gotten something for everyone, but apparently that's not how ticket drawings work.

While our friends took out their tickets to examine the number, I swiftly kidnapped Kristoff towards the food table so I could talk with him (and grab a few sandwiches).

"Hey, you good?" He asks as soon as we sneak away.

"Yeah," I answer, partially truthfully. "Just hungry and…confused again. Well, not really confused, but more like I feel bad."

"About what?" He asks, worriedly.

"It's just…" I link my arm through his as I gather my thoughts. "I don't know. I guess I was kind of hoping that Hiccup and Astrid would do a trial run thing too. Like what we're doing. I was hoping they wouldn't label themselves yet. I feel really silly that we're doing that now. Maybe we should just go ahead and call ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend. Everyone not in our friend group would see us as such anyway. So let's just–"

"Anna, no," Kristoff interrupts, gently. "You are not Astrid. If Astrid wants a label, that's fine. If you don't want a label, that's fine too. I'm perfectly okay with just being a boy you're dating. Don't feel forced to put a label on us because other couples are or because other people are already calling us this and that. Okay?"

I nod, taking in his words, and looking into his eyes to detect any hint of sadness. There wasn't any to find. I smile and kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you. I just don't want you to feel like I'm wasting your time or using you. I know I've said it before, but there's nothing wrong with reassurance. So get used to me bringing it up a lot."

Kristoff smiles. "Lucky for me, I'm already prepared."

Haha, dork.

I'm not sure how much time had passed when we made it back to our little group. We ate our sandwiches by the food table and watched as the numbers were drawn and gifts were given. A mix of people I knew from school and people that were my uncle's business partners were winners, and at some point during the exchange, Kristoff and I had found our way back to our friend group.

We chatted, joked, and overall were having a good time until Tooth said: "I think a gift drawing like this would be a fun thing to do for a family tradition."

"Eh, we already have our traditions. Plus, I think Dirty Santa is better," says Jack.

"That's because you always play dirty," Bunny comments, looking annoyed as he takes a sip of his drink. "I still haven't forgiven you for last year."

Jack gives him a look that says Are you stupid? "Uh, the whole point of the game is to play dirty! That's why it's called Dirty Santa."

"Honestly it should probably go by a different name," says Flynn, a suggestive look in his eyes. "Dirty Santa sounds too sexual."

"Yeah, the whole Naughty and Nice thing was always weird," says Maui, going along with Flynn. "Naughty has been badly misused." I wasn't sure if he was serious or just playing along.

Moana hits her cousin in the arm. "You guys are sick."

Maui laughs. "I'm just saying."

"What are your traditions though?" Elsa asks Jack, which indirectly is her asking Tooth and Bunny as well.

"Well," answers Tooth, happily. "We play Dirty Santa at the end of the night, but during the day, right before dawn, Jack, Bunny, and I go with North to visit the children at the orphanage."

"That's where Kristoff and I come in at," says Flynn as he pats Kristoff on the back. "Kristoff comes with the sleigh and some reindeer, getting to the orphanage before North does. While we wait for North, the older kids, Kristoff, and myself gather all the toys and set them in this big, red bag, which we then put in the back of the sleigh. And when I say big, I mean BIG! The bag is enormous–"

"Then when North and the others get to the orphanage," Kristoff takes over, "we surprise the kids with Santa Clause, give presents, take some pictures, pet the reindeer, all that good Christmas Spirit stuff. Afterwards, I take the reindeer–except Sven–back to North's reindeer ranch and head home to spend the rest of the day with my family, which usually ends with me giving free sleigh rides to them. Sven doesn't mind it because he's given lots of carrots, but it can be tiring when the kids in my family want to go around the same block twenty times."

I giggle, my heart soaring at the thought. "That's cute."

"No, what's cute are the kids at the orphanage," says Flynn, smiling proudly. "Their smiles and laughter just does something to you. It's the only thing I ask for every Christmas."

I quickly glanced at Rapunzel to see if she was swooning and I swear there were hearts in her eyes. "Flynn, that's so sweet."

Jack laughs. "He's just saying that so he can get good boy points from you."

"Am not!" Flynn defends, while Rapunzel playfully smacks Jack's arm, giggling.

"My tradition," says Astrid, "is me going to Merida's house for the holiday. My aunt and uncle come along too. Merida and Hiccup's dads are brothers, and my Uncle Gobber is best friends with Hiccup's dad, and you already know that my aunt works for Hiccup's dad too. Yeah, Tamora wasn't all too pleased knowing that her brother is best friend's with her boss. Anyway, since I'm best friend's with Merida, Gobber and I pretty much became part of the family. My aunt was a little put off at first because she was spending the holiday with her boss, but she got used to it. Now though," Astrid sighs, looking almost sad, "she's going to spend her Christmas with Felix."

And for the first time, she didn't say his name with venom like she would Heather's or Chloe's. It was so brief, the fastest second ever, but I swear I saw true sadness and tiredness in her eyes. Merida is quick to speak next, probably seeing the same thing as me.

"You'll still be with me and the family though," she says, trying to be gentle. "So nothing will change for you this year. Besides, you rarely interacted with your aunt anyway during our Christmases together. You were always stuck next to me."

"If not, your cousin Snotlout would have been all over me." Astrid says, grimacing.

"Oh, he still will," says Hiccup, matter of factly. "I doubt me dating you will steer him away. I'm not exactly intimidating and buff like he is. Actually, he might try even harder to get your attention, and will probably give me hell as well. So good luck to the both of us.

Astrid groans. "Great, just what we needed."

"You can always back out of this relationship," Hiccup suggests, teasing.

Astrid smirks. "Oh, yeah? I'm sure you'd like not having to deal with me. I tend to be hot-headed."

Hiccup nods, agreeing with her. "Yeah, I've heard a thing or two about that. Don't worry though, I work part-time at a blacksmith's. I can handle hot things."

I gasped at his smoothness, and the boys whistled and cheered, making Elsa turn away from embarrassment. Astrid's jaw was slightly open, surprised at his words as well.

"Hiccup," she says, laughing and blushing. "That was–"

"Smooth as hell!" Jack interrupts. "I'm stealing that one."

"Don't even think about it," Elsa tells him, fighting back a smile.

"I guess now we gotta deal with Hiccup's flirty phase," Flynn comments. "That was both smooth and sickening at the same time. I'm not like that, am I?"

"You're the worst of all," Rapunzel teases.

Flynn smiles, proudly. "That just means I'm the best then."

"Anyway," Astrid takes over again, talking to her boyfriend. "There's no backing out for me. If we gotta deal with Snotlout's constant bitching, then so be it. I do like a challenge. Plus, I'd rather not be back on the market. I quite like being taken." She winks and he smiles.

God they're so freaking cute!

"Oi, I'm already so tired of your flirting," Merida says with a shake of her head. I couldn't tell if she meant it or was just teasing. Probably both. "But, hey, now that you two are dating, I bet you'll forget all about your aunt not joining us this year. Your mind will be occupied elsewhere. Apparently, it already has."

Merida gives Astrid a suggestive glare, and Astrid nervously laughs. "Ha…sorry."

It's so strange seeing this side of Astrid. It was already a surprise to see her jolly side, but seeing her so relaxed and flirty and nervous and giggly was just down right cute!

"Anyway," Merida continues, talking to the group, "me mum's favorite thing to do as a sort of traditional Christmas thing, is tell stories. We'll all sit by the fire while she weaves a tale of who-knows-what. Sometimes it'll be a well known fairy tale with a twist or a story she'd come up with all on her own. She has a way with words."

"And yet, the majority of the time, she's yelling at you or scolding you," Hiccup teases.

Merida chuckles. "Don't I know it."

"The females in my family do a traditional dance originating from my culture," says Moana next. "The men play the instruments. I'll record it tomorrow so you can see it. It's a dance we do outside in our traditional clothing, so we're going to be very cold–"

"But it's so worth it," Maui finishes for her.

Next was Olaf. "The only tradition I ever had was coming to the Coronas' Christmas Eve party. This is the first one in six years."

"So you never had something else that was a special tradition for you and your family?" Tooth asks, curiously.

Olaf shakes his head. "Nope. We would do presents and then dinner and that's it. Now I don't live with them, but that's a long story." He laughs, seeming to be unbothered. My heart ached for him, hoping that he was genuinely okay and not faking it. "What about guy three?"

He points to me, my sister, and cousin. Elsa and I look at each other, both of us wearing the same, uncertain expression. Rapunzel, however, answers happily, not noticing my sister and I. "Something my parents and I like to do is make artwork. My parents aren't painters, but I am, so I think it's really something they like doing just so I can make new art to put on the walls. However, this year we haven't done anything because of simple forgetfulness and the party. In the past, we would paint the week before the party, but during the six year gap, we changed it to Christmas Eve, so we easily forgot this year. I didn't remember until yesterday."

"Oohh, you're definitely going to have to make a portrait of me," Flynn says, one hundred percent meaning it.

"And you two?" Olaf says to Elsa and I.

"Um…" I started, because Elsa wasn't. "I don't think we have one. Except for the party. We never did anything where it was just our parents and us. Nothing I recall being a tradition. I can only remember the party."

"That's because the party was our tradition," Elsa takes over, looking sad. "It was something we were always so excited for, even though technically it's also a business get together. But then…then that night happened." Elsa closes her eyes, probably seeing everything unfold in her mind.

"Elsa," I grabbed her hand as I thought of some comforting words to say, but as I opened my mouth to speak, she took over again.

"During the six year gap, I made sure I tried my best to stay away from you." She's not looking at me as she speaks, too ashamed. "We never had a family tradition during those years because we were never an actual family. We were broken. Because of me."

She lets go of my hand to hold herself as she finally looks at me. "I'm sorry, Anna. It's my fault we don't have a Christmas tradition."

Jack is rubbing her back, and the atmosphere is awkward. But I paid it no mind as I took hold of her hands again. "Elsa," I say, my voice stern. "The past is in the past. We can't change it, but we can learn from it. We can make a new tradition now! We can light lanterns like what Flynn did for Rapunzel when he asked her to be his girlfriend, or we can go ice skating like you've been doing with Jack, we can go sleigh riding with Kristoff and his family–by the way, Kris, be prepared for us in case we do that."

My boyfriend nods and holds up his thumb in agreement. "We can do whatever it is we want for a tradition. Something that is special for the family. Something not like this party. Don't get me wrong, I love that Arianna and Frederick are going to start doing them again, but you're right when you said it's also a business thing. We should create something that brings us closer as a family. What do you say?"

Elsa smiles and nods. "That would be nice, actually."

Grinning, I ask: "Well, what should we do then?"

Elsa pauses to think about it. After a brief moment, her eyes light up with an idea. Smiling, she asks: "How about we build a snowman?"