The next day

It was by the grace of God that Elsa had not plunged the Arendelle area into another eternal winter already today, though she was certainly being tested to her very limits. Her normal mantra of 'Conceal. Don't feel. Be the good girl you always have to be' was starting to get lost on her. Then again, with the current situation, anyone would want to let out all their emotions.

"Your Majesty, we continue to face problems outside our borders, and things will likely not improve over the coming months unless action is taken."

With a frustrated sigh, Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose, then covered her face in her hands, inhaled deeply to calm herself as she, and no doubt the two councillors before her, felt the temperature of the room drop a little, small flakes of snow materialising around them. Elsa saw this and closed her eyes, focusing, calming, reassuring herself that there was a way out of this mess. There had to be after all, there always was, right?

When she had regained herself, she lowered her hands and rested them on the desk in front of her, looking back at her fellow government workers with an expression akin to one wanting to dump all this annoyance, all this stress, and just leave. Out of her chair, out of the castle and away from all this.

Can't do that anymore though, and I'm not in the mood to build another ice palace in the mountains.

"Your Majesty?" one of the councillors, a medium height man with short black hair cropped to one side and dressed in a pair of smart trousers, a black button shirt over a small white undershirt, and a black coat that hung over the back of his chair, asked, his tone a mixture of anxiety, but also his own source of frustration at the inability of the monarch to answer him. "Did you hear what I said?"

She gave him an annoyed look. "Obviously, Erik," she answered testily, not bothering to use his title, and ignoring the roll of his eyes. "And what say you, Elias?" she turned to the second councillor.

This man, taller than Erik with a thin layer of blonde hair on his head, small brown eyes and a sharp nose, dressed in a similar uniform as his contemporary, though minus the jacket, observed the queen for a moment. Then he spoke.

"My views are the same as my fellow councillor here, Queen Elsa," he said, his voice soft, yet carried a good deal of weight behind it – unsurprising given his twelve years of service to the kingdom even when King Adgar and Queen Iduna still ruled. "It's a frustrating time for all, Your Highness, but we must face it with a sturdy reserve if we are to prevail, and we must find a way out of this situation."

Elsa nodded, interlocking her fingers as she gently rapped one end of her knuckles on the wooden table in her study, mind racing over what to do. What to do, what to do!

Indeed, what was there to do? They were in the middle of a predicament that had been carrying on for months now, and showed no sign of stopping, and everyone here was feeling it. It was not limited to just the queen, but even her fellow councillors, her statesmen, diplomats, even her own family and friends and castle staff, and that was just those within the castle.

"We must adapt if we are to survive in this world now, Queen Elsa," Elias said to her. "It's our only hope."

Again, she nodded, looking down at the desk as she brought her still interlocked hands to her mouth, holding them there as if by a will of their own.

"I think we would be in a far safer and more prosperous condition had certain … decisions been made a little differently in the past." Erik spoke up.

Elsa glared at him, her icy blue eyes staring him down, part of her wanting to dump a load of snow on him for his comment. How dare he say that to her! Was he king? No! Was he an advisor? Absolutely not! She was the one with the power here, and she would decide what happened.

But look where that led us.

She calmed herself. "Thank you for your input, councillor," she replied. "But I hope you will realise that such decisions, though my own, were out of necessity, given the circumstances we were faced with."

Erik pursed his lips, eyes narrowing a little, but said nothing more.

"If I may," Elias interjected. "I propose we meet with the representatives of the neighbouring townships outside our borders, and also of Oslo city. We have some influence there, and some are wishing for the current treatment of fellow Norwegians to end, if not abroad at least within our own land."

Elsa nodded. "I concur, Elias." She agreed. It was a bit of a stretch, but it was certainly better than nothing. "I will leave you to begin the meetings. If I am able to attend, considering current matters, then I will let you know at my earliest convenience."

Elias nodded. "Excellent decision, Your Highness," he spoke as he stood up. "We shall begin preparations."

"Good luck. May God help you," the queen stated, looking at him and then at Erik.

With a nod and bow from both men, they turned and left, Erik leaving rather quickly ahead of his contemporary. When they were gone, Elsa collapsed against the back of her chair, sighing heavily again, turning her head to the window and looked out once again at the outsider world. It was sunny for the most part, a blue sky dominating everything above, though a few dark clouds could be seen on the horizon, forming a huge clump. They looked mean and foreboding, a sign of things to come.

How poetic! Elsa thought to herself, sitting up and propping up her arms on the desk and balling her fists in front of her eyes, wanting to let out another cry or growl or something, anything to let off some steam. The room around her dropped in temperature once again, the chair was quickly taken over by a layer of frost. Snow fell from the ceiling in larger amounts, forming small piles scattered about on the floor, ice laced up the walls.

Why does this have to happen?! Seriously?! I've tried to solve all of this, but no one wants to listen or help in a way that's possible!

She sighed and lowered one arm to the desk, placing it across the wooden surface so that her hand gripped the bottom of the other arm in a sort of comforting manner. She had to reassure herself that there was a way out of this mess. If not, then the future was very bleak for them all, particularly for her and her family.

From here, allow yourselves to be filled in, dear readers. As you were previously made aware, Elsa and her family had personally suffered just as much as Arendelle and beyond from the battles that had taken place here and in the Southern Isles and elsewhere between the titans that were now becoming known the world over. Their own citizens, however, had taken the brunt of the damage, both in cost, living and, sadly, lives.

To further understand this, it needs to be said that the Arendelle Kingdom consisted not just of the main city and the surrounding hills and fjords, but also of several towns and villages – St Angel being the most well-known among them – that were scattered about the territory along the mainland and several surrounding islands, enabling the kingdom to have one of the largest land areas in the south of Norway. The population on the eve of the fight between Godzilla and the Kraken, and later Ebirah and Varan, was in the region of 15,000. By the end of that battle, between 1500-2700 had perished, more than two thirds of the death toll being in and Arendelle city, with the settlement itself left in ruins, along with the main castle.

From there, Elsa and her people had promised themselves they would recover and continue on, despite the obvious change not only to the landscape, but simply how people viewed the world now. They, and soon most of Europe and later beyond had come to know how little they understood of the world, and, more importantly, insignificant they were compared to these titanic behemoths that could wipe their cities and more off the face of the earth if they wished. What was more, many had begun condemning Elsa for her inability to stop these creatures. Moreover, her apparent 'attraction' or 'respect' for Godzilla. Whilst he may have stopped the Kraken and Ebirah, they did not see him as this saviour she did, even after explaining to them during the reconstruction process that he had meant them no harm.

Despite this, Arendelle had rebuilt and carried on as best it could, hoping for peace and quiet. The outside world, however, was to come knocking hardly on its door – eventually kicking it open and throwing all sorts of troubles at them. The worst had been the second attack on the city by a demonic looking creature called Battra, who, after being sent by its master, Belvera, had taken to laying waste to the city and causing as much mayhem, death and destruction as possible before being driven away by Godzilla. Whilst that attack had only claimed around 50 or so lives, and just over double that number in injuries, it had had a profound impact on the mentality of those living in the city. Many simply believed that it just was no longer safe for them to stay in the kingdom, even after the monster threat had been quelled. They feared more attacks, or at least some form of troubles in the future and they did not want to be caught in the crossfire.

But that was only part of the problem, dear readers. Whilst not everyone saw Godzilla as a destructive beast, often pointing to his driving away of Battra to prove their point, many did, and it was not only a view strictly limited to Arendelle. Alongside the threat of Battra had been that of a global coalition of all the major European powers, which even included the United States and other large powers from outside the continent. This group had been formed as a way of threatening Elsa to stop Godzilla and to trap or kill him, or war would erupt between the coalition and Arendelle. Such a threat had terrified Elsa and her family, but that was nothing compared to the fear felt by the people of Arendelle. They had no desire to go to war, not least when they were trying to recover from a battle that had only just avoided wiping them out. Many feared for their lives and had nightmare scenarios of the city and its other settlements burning and people fighting and dying in man's oldest practise.

Presently, thankfully, that threat had largely subsided, for the revelation that Belvera had planned to bring creatures of incalculable evil into the world to cause chaos and destruction even worse than that of any of the other aforementioned monsters had negated its intended purpose. However, that did not mean Arendelle, and especially Elsa, was out of the limelight; still, she was told that something had to be done about Godzilla, given that he had survived the battle at the Southern Isles and had killed Prince Hans, an act that had infuriated that kingdom and even threatened open hostilities between it and Arendelle.

And so, here Arendelle was today. Fourteen months after the battle at the Southern Isles, the kingdom was no longer this northern European beacon of beauty and wonder and culture and fun it once was, and this was largely due to a number of factors. First, many people, had simply left, fearing that another monster attack would finish them off, resulting in many going to the smaller town and villages, or even leaving the kingdom altogether. The city's one vibrant and bustling streets were now lucky to be half-full, and those that remained seemed to perpetually have a cloud of fear hanging over their heads.

Second, the economy was declining because the drain of people meant the drain of skilled workers, and the slapping of embargoes and limitations on tourism and trade with Arendelle had only exacerbated the problem. Shortages of some supplies had been reported and the lack of decent work was starting to take its toll on the patience of the people.

And thirdly, it was the very name of Arendelle that seemed to irritate people. Anyone found to be from the kingdom were shunned or even abused in public, turned away from entering another land's territory, or were placed under strict watch and placed under house arrest (or 'personal protection' as it was quoted by one British MP when Elsa and Anna had criticised the actions). As you could imagine, it only infuriated the citizens of Arendelle, and even of Norway itself as many innocent Norwegians, even if they had opposed or at least not supported Elsa and her stance on Godzilla, were treated the same as their southern contemporaries. Even Arendelle's allies had been quick to either criticise or distance themselves from the kingdom, including their traditional allies, such as the towns of Narvik and Bergen, and even the Kingdom of Corona on the continental mainland.

In short, Arendelle was entering its worst time, one that was leaving everyone bitter and divided, and Elsa was right in the middle of it.

"Arendelle won't survive long beyond me if something doesn't go right," Elsa muttered to herself, her mind thinking of the various worst-case scenarios, and their possible solutions.

Run away? Definitely not! She had done that before and it had led to a disaster and nearly destroyed everything that she held dear. Ignore it? That would never work, they would just carry on as normal, or make it much worse because there would no doubt be people who thought the monarchy were being complacent or ignorant of the plight of the kingdom. Fight?

That last one terrified her, yet she had considered it more than once as a solution, which only worried her even more. Part of her really wanted to use her powers to turn their opponents into ice worlds to teach them a lesson. They had threatened to remove her from power over a year ago! How could they do such a thing?! They deserved to be given a taste of their own damn medicine!

No! I can't do that! It would only make the problem worse!

She sighed and heavily ran her hands through her hair, messing it up partly and pushing the small tiara – the symbol of her royal status and leader of the kingdom – into her scalp. Freezing her potential rivals would only muster the world against her more than they had now. And even if they were to come to blows, the leaders of the various coalition countries knew that their armies would not stand a chance against Elsa's ice powers. It would be a disaster. They probably even thought she was controlling Godzilla and would have him ravage their countries into oblivion, or something else ghastly along those lines.

And as for Godzilla, well … they had told her that until she got rid of him, this problem would persist. They refused to listen when she explained she did not control him, nor that she had no idea where he was, and told her that the attitude towards the kingdom would carry on until he was dealt with.

It was lost on her how they could do this to her. Again, she had thought of sending ice storms their way, but knew the consequences of that, as well as it being a contradiction of her personality. Besides, even if Elsa did want to go after Godzilla and kill him, he was going to be incredibly difficult to stop. His size and powerful hide along proved that, and given his blue fire ability and an unwavering mindset when it came to dealing with other titans, they themselves having not fared much better against him, it was practically suicide to go up against him. She was not even sure she could stop him even if he was this evil creature hellbent on destroying everything he saw.

"Elsa?" The voice made her jump and she looked up and saw Kristoff standing in the doorway with a concerned expression. "Came to see you. You alright?"

She nodded and waved him over to sit in one of the seats. "Yes, I-I'm sorry. Just overwhelmed at the moment."

Kristoff sat up straight in the chair, one of his things of etiquette he had found himself adopting in his time being here. "I'm sorry," he offered his sympathy.

Elsa waved her hand in dismissal. "It's fine," she told him, though her tone of voice suggested otherwise. "Where's Anna and Olaf?"

"They're with Kai going over trade stuff in the cellar, seeing how much is coming into Arendelle still." Kristoff paused and gave a slight laugh. "Olaf is there just so he can read,"

Elsa could not help but smile a little. The little snowman's antics and innocence were always something that could cheer her and anyone else up.

Soon he'll be reciting facts like no tomorrow! Our own little encyclopedia.

As for Anna … "Is Anna okay?" she asked apprehensively.

Kristoff bit his lip, himself nervous of what to tell her. "She's okay, but … she didn't want to talk about earlier when I asked her."

A pang of guilt rang through Elsa. Kristoff was referring to earlier today some time before the meeting with the councillors. Elsa and Anna had been briefed on some incidents regarding Arendelle citizens going into a neighbouring territory. When Elsa had said she would deal with them, Anna had interjected, wanting to take some of the workload off her sister. The queen had told, or rather snapped vehemently at Anna, to, and I quote: "Do something useful!" before storming off, something that shocked her sister and Kai and the others. Thinking back on it, Elsa had no need to say something like that to her younger sibling when she had been trying to help.

"I'll … I'll chat to her later. I'll apologise!" Elsa looked pleadingly at Kristoff. "She knows I didn't mean it, right?"

"I'm sure she knows that, Elsa," Kristoff reassured her. "But she, like everyone, is worried about you. It's a difficult time for us all and we feel the same way, but we're here for you and each other. We just want you to know that."

Elsa nodded, looking down at the desk for a moment, tapping her finger lightly on the wooden surface. Yes, Kristoff was right. As difficult as it was, right now they all needed to stick together. The last thing they needed was for the family to argue and fall apart. That would only provide more fuel for the fire and create discord amongst the population. If the royal family could not stand together and be an example and a beacon of hope for everyone, then what was the point in carrying on?! It would only lead to confrontation, possibly even something that had happened towards the end of the last century in France and not even fifteen years previously in the 1848 revolutions that had swept the continent.

Elsa shuddered at the images those events brought, people being tried, executed, guillotined; chaos on the streets, and the unrest being quelled violently. She did not wish any of that on her people, or anyone else, and whilst it was really unlikely Arendelle would ever actually go through such a phase, that did not mean it was entirely out of the question. And it terrified her, not so much for her own safety, but for that of her family. The last thing she wanted was for any of them to be caught in the crossfire.

She sighed. "I just hope we find a way out of this mess soon," she said, eyes drifting to the window again. "Anna's not being dragged into it, is she?" she asked worryingly as she looked back at the ice harvester.

Kristoff shook his head. "No, at least not much. She's told me that a few people have some up to her and openly criticised you and wanted her to talk some sense into you. She even said one person told her that maybe she should be in charge instead of you."

Elsa snorted, shaking her head in disbelief, though she had to admit she was not too surprised. "Well, that would definitely be something interesting," she commented. "And honestly, I can't disagree that I have thought about letting her take over once or twice."

"Really?" Kristoff raised an eyebrow.

Elsa nodded. "Absolutely. She's learning a lot more, and is more than capable of running things well enough in my absence when I've been out trying to rebuild relations with other kingdoms and territories. But … this." She paused, shaking her head a little, knowing that such a thing as what was going on now was not what her sister needed to inherit, or worry about. "She doesn't deserve this."

"Neither do you, Elsa!" Kristoff leaned in and placed his hand on hers comfortingly and gave it a light squeeze. "Look, you know we're here for you,"

She nodded. "You said that already," She pointed out, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips.

"And I'll say it again," he replied.

Elsa chuckled. "Well thank you," the ice queen told her. "I'm happy Anna and you are together, Kristoff. Really, I am,"

She saw Kristoff nod and then look down at the floor, rubbing his hands together nervously. "That's actually … um, something I wanted to … well, talk with you about,"

A brief flash of fear ran across Elsa's face. Wait! He's not thinking of … well, …

"Oh, it's not what you think. Don't worry!" he quickly reassured her. "It's that … well … I've wanted to … progress things with Anna … to the next level,"

Now that floored Elsa. She stared at the ice harvester, eyes wide and completely dumbfounded. He reeled back a little and began nervously fiddling with his hands, small beads of sweat forming on his head. He had really done it now. Please don't freeze me, Elsa!

The queen tried to speak, but the words got lost in her mouth, unable to form a sentence at what she had just heard.

"I … uh … K-Kristoff that's …!"

"Yeah, I know, it's … it's a big thing to reveal and it's a surprise. I haven't even told Anna yet." He explained.

Elsa finally managed to compose herself. "But why? I mean, why now?"

"Well, we've been together for years, Elsa, and in that time, I've really wanted to be with her. You know, she's changed me, and I love her, very, very much." He paused to let that sink in. "You know that, right?"

Elsa paused, thinking of how to reply. His request definitely stunned her, but she did not want to give off the wrong impression.

"Well … Kristoff, I mean …" a pause as she trailed off. "Well, I know you two are happy together, and honestly I thought this would have happened earlier. And really, I'm not going to oppose you two in the slightest, for you've made her happier than she was before you two met, and definitely more than Hans did."

Kristoff could not help but smile at himself; Elsa complementing him and what he had done for Anna really made him jump for joy inside. Though …

"But is something stopping us? I mean, me not being of royalty or anything?" he pondered, fearing the answer.

"Normally, yes, but as you know, Arendelle is an exceptional kingdom already," she answered, giving a wave to herself, and Kristoff giggled with a nod and a look of: 'I certainly don't doubt that'. "So, you and her getting married is not a problem at all in that regard. It's just timing, that's all."

The ice harvester did have to agree with the queen on that. Right now, it was hardly the best time to get engaged to someone and then go the next step. Everything had to be directed towards keeping Arendelle afloat, and a royal wedding, whilst no doubt a nice thing, was not really going to be top priority now.

"Well, hopefully in the near future, when everything's settled down," he said optimistically.

Elsa nodded. "Has Anna ever spoken or mentioned something like this?" she asked curiously.

"Once or twice she's mentioned it, possibly even she was going to mention it to you at some point,"

Another guilty look came to Elsa. Well, I ruined that chance to talk with her about this earlier. It would be a while before Anna would want to bring the idea of marriage to Kristoff up again.

"And what about you two? You have spoken about this at least once, right?" she asked, emphasising the second question.

Kristoff nodded. "Yeah we did. It wasn't out of the blue. Whilst you were away a few months ago to talk about reinstituting trade with another territory, we talked about it for a while."

"Speaking of that time, did you two also … well …"

Kristoff went red in the face and sank his head into his shoulders as if to try and hide from Elsa's gaze, though his actions had already given her an answer.

"Um …"

Elsa sighed, though she tried her best to keep a smile off her lips and appear calm, but firm. "I'll be having words with you two about this later," she said. "I do respect your relationship, and what you do is up to you, but I would advise you take precautions with your … preoccupations, for lack of a more polite way of putting it."

Kristoff just wanted to sink into the floor and disappear, or suddenly rush off with the excuse that he had some ice to deliver. Elsa though would not fall for it and would likely turn him into an ice statue before he even got to the door. Part of him feared she was going to do just that.

"Sorry," he squeaked nervously.

"It's okay, just be careful in future. I would love to be an auntie, but you two need to be sure you're ready to be parents first," the queen replied.

Kristoff nodded. "Of course." He stood up. "Well, I better get going. Go and see if Anna is getting on alright and then deliver any more ice if need be."

Elsa nodded. "Convenient timing?" she teased, raising an eyebrow, making Kristoff go red in the face again.

"Uh yeah," he replied, and she giggled. "Well, I'll see you later, sister,"

She pursed her lips and gave him a look of 'Alright, very funny!' in a teasing way. But as Kristoff went for the door, she stopped him.

"Kristoff, before you go, I need to ask you something,"

He turned back to her and walked over to the desk. "Sure, go ahead,"

"Well, two things really. First, could you ask Anna to come see me at the end of the day so I can apologise to her for the way I acted?"

"No problem. And the second thing you wanted to ask?"

Another pause as Elsa got up, looking down at the desk, then walked over to the window, gazing once more at the bay and the city, wishing for it to be a sight she could be proud to look at once again, and not this ever present reminder of how bad she felt she was doing.

"It's about Godzilla," she said after a few moments silence, not turning back to him. "D-d'you think he still remembers us?"

Kristoff walked over to her. "You actually mean: do you think he loves us, or even you? Am I right?"

She did not reply but turned her head away a little. Yep, I was right. "Elsa, I'm sure he does. I mean, he could never forget this place, and least of all you." he told her. "I mean, you are not only the ice queen, but you did fight alongside him here, and in the Southern Isles, and he went there mainly to protect you." he paused. "As for love, well …" he shrugged. "I don't know that."

"It's fine," Elsa reassured him. "Just a shame Moll and Lora went to Ireland and Iceland a few months ago. They could have explained how this all works."

Kristoff tittered. "They were the smart ones, getting away from all this."

Elsa nodded in agreement. "And Akiro too going to back to Japan, or that sort of area, I don't remember exactly,"

Kristoff nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Elsa, I promise everything will be alright. I know, it's the third time, but I want you to know that. And Anna and Olaf do too,"

She smiled back up at him, grateful for his words and optimism and support. She really needed it right now, especially with the busy day ahead of them and if she was going to face up to her sister tonight to apologise.

"Thanks, Kristoff," she told him. "You better get going, I'll see you later,"

He smiled back at her. "Alright, and keep your chin up," he replied, and with that he walked away and left the room.

When he was gone, Elsa stared back outside once again, eyes falling to look at the streets and seeing the people there carrying on with their lives as best they could. She could feel their pleas for this to end, their hope for a light at the end of the tunnel, a star to lead them back to paradise, or at least a position of safety without fearing the future, for every new day really was a step into the unknown.

She looked back out at the bay and saw the dark clouds now closer to Arendelle then before. A coming storm no doubt.

I just hope it's not a reflection of what's to come. She mentally told herself.

The future was unknown and things, rather than stay the same, had changed for Arendelle, for its people, for Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, Sven, and her. And especially for the world beyond.

All they could do was hope it would not get worse.