Queen

Kristoff had always known that Anna's personality could be very substantially summarized as 'a bundle of energy that exploded at the tiniest stimulus'. He never got to know how tiny those stimuli actually had to be, but he was having a live demonstration of pure Anna-isms as she bounced on her seat as soon as her sister left the room, her eyes wide open while she squealed in glee.

"Didyasee? Didyasee?" she cheerfully asked, swiftly getting on her feet. She came to tug at her companion's collar, dangling his head back and forth.

"I- I gu-guess I d-didn't…?" he managed to express through the heavy shaking his brain was suffering.

Anna quickly brought her arms to her sides, letting an excited breath escape from her chest while her eyes followed her sister's trail. "She went after him!"

"Ah… Yeah, great. Someone alert the entire kingdom," Kristoff muttered while massaging his sore neck. "I'm all for being always happy and stuff, but I think we can spare everyone the news."

"You don't understand!" she answered while whirling around to face him. "She was totally giving him those little sneak peeks when we were eating, and then he caught her and she… My gosh, this is probably the first time I've ever seen Elsa blush! She never loses her composure like she did tonight."

She was interrupted by Kristoff suddenly grabbing her shoulders. "Okay, Anna, don't lose your head. That's normal. She's going to be fine. Breathe slowly."

She couldn't hide a little smile at Kristoff's playful tone as she yanked his hands away, but she needed to make him comprehend how long she had been waiting for something like that to happen.

"There's definitely something…"

"Anna…"

"… she was like 'oh I'll have to make sure he's all right'…"

"Anna!" Kristoff loudly called, causing her to abruptly stop her train of thought. "What is this about?"

"I think that she's falling for Garret!"

He winced. "Umm Anna…?"

"Whaaaat?"

"You have to calm down a bit. I don't really think that's what happened..."

"Come on, Kristoff! You've got to believe—"

"No, I'm being serious here, Anna," he said with finality as he brought his arms to her shoulders once again, his eyes now a lot more focused. Anna let all the excitement that she had built up fall flat—Kristoff never pulled the serious talks for no reason. "Your sister isn't a giddy school girl anymore." He paused to quickly reconsider that last bit. "If she ever was one, to begin with… This is Elsa we're talking about. Anyway, the point is, I think that there is something with Garret."

Anna's eyes slightly widened. "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you see how both Garret and Elsa seem to be bothered by something whenever they're close to each other? I noticed yesterday when they first met, this morning when they were talking and again a little earlier… Elsa's hands were steaming every time."

"What?"

"Yeah, she even took a few seconds to stop whatever was happening to her before we started eating."

Anna would ordinarily be the very first to worry, this had been a distracting day. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" she asked in a low voice.

"Pretty much."

"The stew was probably a little too hot for you…."

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "I'm certain of what I saw, okay?"

Anna heavily sighed and took a few moments to think, biting her thumb's nail. "She didn't talk to me about it… What do you think causes it?"

Kristoff cast his gaze to the ground and let his shoulders lightly slump down. "Stress? Just raw emotion? Elsa being herself? Who knows."

"It could be her emotions? If there's one thing we learned from last year, it's that her powers go crazy whenever she's not feeling it... That'd connect the dots with what I told you earlier, can it?" Anna said, her eyes lighting up again.

Kristoff shrugged. "Could be... But probably not in the way you're thinking… I'd say that she knows something we don't."

"About Garret? How? They hardly talked to each other."

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. "See? Even you can clearly see that. Why would you ever think of her falling for him?" He lightly laughed when he felt a fist gently but firmly land on his shoulder. "You're right. But Elsa's a lot more knowledgeable than the both of us. Maybe she caught something we missed…"

Anna drew a sharp breath and clasped her hands. "He's secretly a prince running away from his responsibilities! Or a rich son of a noble house who got fed up with his life and wants to live for adventure!" she exclaimed with glittering eyes.

"Maybe not that extreme…" Kristoff tried to dampen her enthusiasm, not surprised anymore that her imagination had run amok. "But probably something along that way."

Elsa had managed to steady her breath after a while but didn't utter a single word for quite some time. A single thought was completely clouding her mind.

He's like me. There's someone like me. I'm not alone.

Garret was still standing there, carefully eyeing her, not really knowing what to do with himself. He had very seriously considered fleeing—he could easily slip away at any moment—but the tone she had used, the pure and raw relief that had shone through her eyes when he had confirmed that he possessed the same powers as she did had completely petrified him.

"Excuse me for a moment," Elsa finally whispered, taking a few steps and walking past him to stand near the pond. She seemed to be in silent contemplation for a moment until her body began to softly shake as she hugged herself and a few muffled sounds echoed in the empty gardens.

Garret had expected a lot of reactions, but certainly not tears. He was now more worried than anything else.

"El–Elsa?"

He tentatively tried to close the distance, but as soon as his feet met the cold grass, Elsa turned back, her eyes beading with shiny teardrops. As opposed to what he had dreaded, her entire face was beaming with a warm smile, the corner of her lips almost meeting the humid trail of her rapid crying. She quickly dried her eyes up with a swing of her wrist and a few chuckles.

"I'm sorry, this is the first time I've ever had the chance to meet someone who shared my situation. I shouldn't have gotten this emotional. Please don't mind my silliness," she said, her sentences punctuated by some sniffles.

Garret couldn't help but tenderly smile at the sight of the young woman embarrassedly laughing at her own 'silly' reaction. She was but a young lass lost to a birthright she never truly comprehended either. However, his face regained a more serious expression when he heard her next question.

"Are there any others? Can I meet them too?"

That had been his first question as well. "Not that I know of. I'm sorry, Elsa. You're also the first for me."

Elsa's face fell in disappointment. "You too?" Garret nodded. "Then, why didn't you tell me?"

"Umm."

He hesitantly thought over what to answer, and weighed his words.

This question was bound to be asked at some point. For what it's worth, might as well go all out.

"I… I was afraid. Of how you would respond. Even though you… With those powers… That is to say…" Garret stuttered. "I generally never had… peaceful reactions when it was discovered that I could do what I do. Really not peaceful…" He stopped, focusing his mind on the present moment. "And, well, there's also the leaking thing…" he continued, raising his left arm for Elsa to appropriately get a look at the glimmering crystals forming on his hand, slowly growing once again. "This never happened to me before." He stood still. "I'm sorry," he felt compelled to add after a few seconds of complete silence.

Elsa took a small step forward. Garrets' head snapped up, his gaze meeting hers.

Instead of plunging him into the state of shame in which he was accustomed to finding refuge, the blue eyes before him made his mind go completely blank. There was no confusion, no fear, no anger, no pity, no compassion in them. He had become used to receiving those all the time, he always recognized them pretty easily. No, Elsa's face was brimming with something else. A single emotion that he never thought would be directed towards him.

Understanding.

His eyes softened. His pulse evened. His breath relaxed. A weird warmth enveloped his body, and the dizziness he had been feeling for a few moments started to fade away. Elsa lightly laughed while she cast her gaze to the sky.

"Please, don't apologize or you'll begin to sound like me. I didn't want to make you feel bad about yourself. Besides, I can't really blame you. I've done the exact same thing… Only for a lot longer."

Oh, right.

Garret collected himself and gave her a sympathetic nod. "I heard about that."

Elsa took a few seconds to reflect, leaving the former soldier alone with his whirling thoughts. She finally snapped back.

"Can you please follow me?" she delicately asked, indicating the general direction of the backdoor Garret had already seen and would have used if he had had to proceed with his escape plan. Opening the doors for her as they advanced, he walked in her steps for what he counted to be three minutes. They finally reached a single wooden panel that led to a small rocky path, overlooking the entrance to the fjord. At their right lay Arendelle, basking in the long and absolute silence of the night, and at their left was the castle's main body of water that opened the way to the port. On the opposite shore, Garret managed to discern a thick forest that climbed up to the North.

Elsa heaved a heavy sigh that drew Garret's attention back from the scenery.

"This is the place where I made the second biggest mistake of my life", she said with clear sadness. "I fled from my responsibilities, my kingdom... My sister..." She brought her eyes to the border of water, seemingly recalling a very hurtful memory. Whatever happened, it had pained her beyond words. But she decided against giving more details in the end.

"You were scared," he said.

Elsa shook her head. "It doesn't excuse what I did. But I learned from it. I will never hide them anymore. And neither should you. They are as much part of you as they are of me." She faced him with a small smile. "Please don't apologize for being who you are."

Garret mirrored her smile and nodded again.

She saw right through me.

A heavy silence lingered on afterward, only allowing the faint whistle of the wind and the rustle of the leaves to reach their ears. Elsa nervously played with her fingers, her eyes fixated on Garret's left leg. The sight she had caught earlier would stick to her mind for quite some time. He had noticed and was very awkwardly shifting on his feet.

"Garret, I…" Elsa started. "I'm sorry if this is rude, but how did this happen?"

Garret released a breath. "The… life of a soldier is a dangerous one. I made a mistake too, and I've paid the price. Lost my leg, replaced it."

"I'm sorry to hear it," Elsa said in a sympathetic tone. He could almost hear the questions trying to fight their way outside her mind. He was thankful for her abstinence. Turning her interrogations down would have been awkward. She couldn't stand the silence as much as he did, however, and just blurted out the first thing that came to her. "Does it ever melt?"

He stared blankly; the question had taken him completely by surprise.

With a fuming head and reddening cheeks, Elsa quietly scanned Garret's face to see his eyes substantially widen as well.

She was on the verge of apologizing for her stupid question when he slightly startled her by exploding in an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Of all things, hysterical amusement was the reaction Elsa had found to be the less likely in such a situation. But that didn't lessen the embarrassment she was feeling, especially when Garret bent down to his knees with his body shaking from raw hilarity.

"I'm–sorry," he tried to say through ragged breaths. "I'm r-really… sorry…" he added before coughing a few times. He finally managed to reduce the loud roars to quiet chuckles and to get back on his feet under her astonished—and very slightly hurt—stare. He got rid of a tear that had shown up in his eye and joined his palms together. "I'm so terribly sorry. I meant no disrespect. It's just that… I never had to deal with that question before. The few people who find out usually first ask if it hurts or if I can feel anything through it. And that's when they didn't just run off screaming to whoever they meet that they had just seen a demon."

He lightly chuckled again and gave her the warmest smile she'd seen on him yet. Elsa silently marveled at how young that simple gesture made him seem to be. He easily looked like he had just returned five years in time compared to the tired expression he had been displaying until then. The way he had gone from the look of a sad puppy to that of a confident young man through a good laugh made it very difficult for her to feel mad at him. Her own mouth imperceptibly contorted into a tiny grin.

"That's a very good question, actually," Garret continued while lightly raising the aforementioned leg. "No, it never melts. I can modify its form but unless I act upon it myself, nothing will change its shape. Not even heat."

Elsa was surprised to hear that he too was capable of such a feat. The only other similar creation she had produced was her ice castle, up in the mountains. Every other creation of hers she would dissolve herself with a flick of her wrist or leave it to the sun to do what it did best.

He must have had an intense emotional rush when building it, she thought.

"I see. Your ice is as strong as mine, then."

Another silence. Garret suddenly raised his arms on both sides and shrugged. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Oh… Why?"

"Your magic is… more powerful. A lot more."

Elsa frowned. Until then he had shown a prowess equal to hers. "I'm not…"

"Elsa, it's very simple. You can create life. I can't."

That stopped her train of thoughts. She was now a lot more curious.

"You can't?"

"Nope. I'm not even able to control ice at a distance. I have total mastery over it on my body and near it, with 'near' meaning a few inches away. But you have better range, better overall control. I can't do... that," he added while motioning towards her dress with his hand. "Maybe I was able to at one point..." he sighed, deciding not to finish that sentence. "Even when comparing the reactions we had to each other… You surely felt something, didn't you?"

Elsa slowly gazed upon her hands at that. "Yes, they were emitting steam on their own."

Garret imperceptibly winced. "See? While I had these… spikes—" he almost spat the word. "—coming out of my hands."

Elsa recalled her own experiences and tried to reassure him. "Garret, I've had similar episodes before."

He perked up. "You did?"

His voice carried an unmistakably hopeful tone. Elsa slowly nodded.

"I did when I was shutting everything and everyone out. As I told you, I made a grave mistake one day. And I thought that suppressing my powers would solve the problem. As we already talked about, it didn't work as intended. At all. And if it weren't for Anna, I'd…" Elsa paused. "I've come a long way, Garret. I didn't have full control over them for a long time, actually."

"I see." He then seemed to sink deeply in his thoughts, apparently processing all of their exchange. Elsa had surely given him a lot to chew over.

"Now what?" she asked few moments afterward.

"Well… I think I'm going to stay for the festival as we agreed, and then I'll be on my way."

"What? Are you being serious?"

Her outburst almost made Garret flinch as he leaned away. She had closed the distance between them in a flash and was now angrily staring at his face with what could only be described as a pout all over her face and her hands on her hips.

"We're probably the only two people in a pretty large radius to have those powers, and you just want to walk away?"

"Ummm… It has nothing to do with you, it's just what I was planning to do anyway," Garret tried to extricate himself from the strangely familiar situation.

"You're being silly. You're really going to let the opportunity to learn how to control your power slip away like that?"

Garret's eyes widened.

Knew it, Elsa proudly told herself.

"Are you...?" he asked in a disbelieving voice. Elsa's stare softened as she took a step back and clasped her hands before her.

"Yes. I'd be more than happy to teach you. If you'll allow me, of course."

Garret was at a complete loss of words. His gaping mouth was giving it away. He finally managed to get a hold of himself. "I'm… I don't know what to say…"

"Then don't. Stay," Elsa finally said. "I still have to repay you for saving Anna and Kristoff. I'd say this would be sufficient?"

Garret let the shock's aftermath fall down and slightly chuckled. "You know, if I was a little nitpicky, I would say that it almost sounds like you're blackmailing me."

Elsa crossed her arms as she answered. "It's not blackmail unless I give you an order. But that can be arranged if it is your wish."

Garret laughed, his traits rejuvenating once again. "Never go against the word of the queen. That's what they always told us back home."

"And look where it got you," Elsa added as she lightly chuckled herself. "So... Do we have a deal?"

Garret eyed her for a few silent moments, shook his head once and brought his own cold hand to his chest in a grateful and respectful but very obviously awkward bow. "Deal."

He then slowly bent down on one knee. "Thank you, Milady."

Elsa gave him a kind smile. The scene almost seemed taken out of one of her books, even though it obviously was some kind of knightly protocol. It was always very chivalrous…

She brusquely yanked her hand up and covered her mouth. She had completely forgotten the reason she had come to see him in the first place. The abrupt movement caused Garret to throw a worried look at the woman before him and wonder if he had done something wrong.

"Garret… You're a knight?" Elsa murmured a few seconds later.

"How… What…" he began, his face showing that he couldn't decide if he wanted to infirm or confirm. He settled for a strange grimace, his expression halfway between nervous and surprised.

"The knife you have, there's a seal etched onto it," she explained while taking a step back. "That's a knighthood token, isn't it?"

He released a breath and got up on his feet while dusting his pants.

"It is," he said, almost reluctantly. "I'm a Knight of the Bath. Not that I approve of that name, mind you…" he sheepishly added. He then quickly spoke when he saw that Elsa was opening her mouth. "But…! That doesn't mean that you have to apologize for this morning. I'm… I have no real ties to the crown anymore. I have nothing to do with the Commonwealth authorities. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Arthurian leg—I mean of course you're familiar with the Arthurian legend," he immediately corrected when he noticed the scolding look that she started giving him. "And with Lancelot?" She nodded. "Well, I'm a little bit like him now, a wandering knight with no ties. Only a lot less legendary. And with less magical swords. And a bit more ice, I guess. And you don't have to call me Sir if that's also a concern of yours."

Elsa was a little dubious at first, and her gaze clearly showed it.

"Come on, why would I lie about this?" Garret said. She raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes. "Fine. I can make another oath if that's what you want," he said as he mocked bringing himself to the ground once more.

That got the appropriate reaction out of her. She stepped forward, waving her wide open hands with a frantic look. "No, no, no! That… won't be necessary."

Garret stood with a satisfied grin. "We can talk about all of this later if you wish, Your Majesty. But I fear that your sister and Kristoff will begin to worry if we stay here for too long. We should probably go back."

Elsa nodded but held a smug look. "I agree. But, Your Majesty? Why the formal tone? You were doing fine just calling me Elsa until now…"

Garret hadn't even noticed that he had dropped the titles when addressing her. He had called her by her name for the entirety of the conversation, and it didn't even feel wrong.

"Oh, I didn't…"

Elsa laughed at his lightly flushed face. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing you. But please make sure it doesn't happen too often."

"Right. I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he corrected with a bow.

"Better," she concluded with a satisfied smile.

They slowly made their way towards the dining room, each one them silently processing what had just transpired while they strode through the thinly draped crimson halls. As he held the door open for Elsa to enter another corridor, Garret quietly spoke.

"I'm guessing we're going to tell them everything?"

Elsa didn't even have to think. "Of course. Believe me, it'll make things a lot easier," she answered with the same sad smile he had witnessed earlier.

"Understood. Should I expect a lot of questions?" he demanded as they neared the very last gate.

He didn't know what to understand from the amused expression that appeared on Elsa's face.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" a shriek echoed through the large dining room.

"Anna…"

Said princess immediately grabbed her sister's hands with watering eyes. "You're… He's … Oh God, Elsa I'm so happy!" she wailed while hugging the queen's small frame.

"All right. All right. We don't have to make that much of a fuss about it."

"Are you kidding?" Anna shot out with an immense grin. "You're not the only one, Elsa! There's no way we aren't making a fuss about this! We should make a party! We should tell the world!"

"Umm…" a small voice started from the side. Both royal siblings turned around to see Garret timidly raising a finger. "As much as I appreciate the thought, I'd really rather we didn't…?"

"Yooooooouu!" Anna rapidly closed in and Garret braced himself for the inevitable shock of the young woman throwing herself around him in a crushing embrace. He returned the gesture a little clumsily. When she stepped back, her grin had not diminished in the slightest.

"You're a frozen knight! How cool is that?" she exclaimed.

"Pretty cool, I guess," he tentatively said, not wanting to bring attention to the—surely unintended—pun.

Kristoff was standing back with crossed arms and a smile, silently watching the scene unfold. He slightly stirred to face Elsa, who was stifling a laugh at the sight of her sister almost lifting Garret off the ground.

"What a surprise, huh?" she started.

"Yeah, it sort of came out of nowhere. Who could have guessed?" Kristoff said.

"Certainly not me."

"Where do we go from here, then?" he asked while Anna jumped around Garret, showering him with a continuous flow of questions.

"He'll stay. At least, for a while. I… promised to train him," she said sheepishly.

"Train?" Kristoff seemed confused. "No offense, but I'd say that if a single person in this city needed training, he wouldn't be the most obvious option. Especially if you consider the way he took down four armed guys almost on his own."

"Not that kind of training, Kristoff," Elsa clarified.

"Oh," he blustered, comprehension dawning on his features. "Does he… have trouble controlling them?" His tone was now a little more worried.

"He says he does, but I think it's not that bad."

"And what if something goes completely wrong in the middle of the kingdom? And, can we really leave him alone with—"

"Kristoff…" Elsa began, not without a little exasperation. "Do you really think me this neglecting? We won't do it here; we'll probably use my castle. And in the eventuality that his powers completely go berserk, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle him…" she concluded. "And you can come if you wish," she added with a roll of her eyes when she saw his eyebrow twitch.

Kristoff nodded with a satisfied expression. He owed his life to the man, but he had seen firsthand what unleashing untamed ice powers could do. Elsa then moved towards where Anna was still bouncing before a tired looking Garret.

"Anna, I think it's time to let Garret go. He'll have to rest for tomorrow's celebration."

"Oh, Elsa!" the princess chirped. "I think I know how we're going to call him!" She took a step back and opened her arms wide, as if presenting the latest fashionable dress to an overstrung crowd. "Meet Knice!" Elsa and Kristoff winced. "You get it? 'Cause…" she continued.

"All right, that's… yeah, that's original…" Elsa interrupted Anna with an unsettled voice. She threw a quick glance towards 'Knice', only to find him looking at her with a livid and pleading face.

Sorry, she mouthed, giving him a sympathetic grimace. Elsa then clasped her hands. "Anyway, we'll have enough time for questions tomorrow… He's probably very tired now," she told Anna.

"Yeah, be sure to rest well!" the latter finally said, giving Garret one last quick hug.

"Will do," Garret answered. He then grabbed Kristoff's offered handshake. "Does she ever sleep?" he whispered to the man, eliciting a small grin out of him.

"I think she tried once or twice. Didn't stick." They both shared a laugh before separating.

Garret finally found himself standing before Elsa. He rapidly bowed with a grateful smile and spent a few seconds just staring into her eyes.

"Good night," he simply said, immediately turning on his heels afterward.

As he took his leave, Elsa couldn't repress a little regret creeping up on her for not telling him the complete truth about the Great Thaw. She hadn't evoked how Anna had quite literally died for and because of her.

Then again, he wasn't completely honest with me on everything either, she tried to reassure herself. She let a sigh escape from her chest.

As Garret's large silhouette disappeared behind the main gate's panel, Elsa couldn't help but feel that despite how comfortable they had become with each other in such a short time, she was going to have a little trouble deciphering the man.

People are complicated.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review, I'd be immensely grateful.

I'm building this story like I'd build a movie, so if that's a problem in some way, please don't hesitate to tell me! I'm open to all kinds of constructive criticism. I still don't know if I'll narrate Frozen II or just time skip to after it. We'll see.

That's all for now, see you next time.
Peace,
CalAm.