Chapter 1
Chapter 1
When Elsa was young, she would often see herself, all grown up and crowned queen, married to a man who would become her king. Well, sort of. She later learned that any man who would marry her would be a Prince Consort, not her king. But that never dampened her spirits. Of course, she preferred one who was handsome, kind, all in all perfect. Just like her father.
Of course, growing up, things were never meant to run smooth. There was the whole incident of almost killing her sister, her parents dying, her becoming queen, running away from their home and her responsibilities, almost killing her sister again, and finally being crowned queen of Arendelle all over again, she never thought her life would become as it was. Smooth, easy-going, happy.
Nevertheless, she found constant joys in her sister's company, along with Kristoff and Olaf. Well, she enjoyed their company on her days off. Mostly she was swamped with work and Anna knew all too well how cranky her sister could get if she was disturbed every minute for things that didn't involve running the kingdom. Elsa was sorry for her attitude but she just couldn't tolerate Anna barging in every minute, reporting Kristoff or Olaf's usual bout of craziness, or to speak to her about how purple is not the color for her and how it was weird that she looks great in green but she didn't really like the color as much as she liked yellow.
Elsa loved Anna but there were really times when she just wanted to encase the doorknob to her office in ice to keep her from entering.
Now at age 27, as Queen of Arendelle, Elsa felt content as she watched her sister, Anna, with Kristoff as they had a little quarrel about carrots. At twenty-four, Anna still remained the same. That also went for Kristoff. You'd think having a son would get them to mature a bit more.
She had canceled all her meetings and had someone push them back to clear space for today. Her mood had been foul since this morning and it involved her husband.
She dragged Anna, Kristoff, and their son to the palace gardens. They were confused but agreed anyway. Elsa wanted to take her daughter along with her but she remembered Gerda telling her that she was being put down for a nap. She told her to bring the princess to their picnic as soon as she wakes up though.
She originally wanted to relax in the cool late spring breeze but she did not expect today to be a tad bit warmer than usual. Well, summer was just around the corner after all.
But Elsa never really fared well in summer. In fact, she could never last five minutes in just a warm summer day outside which normal people would describe as "cool". But to the Queen, it meant dizziness and massive nosebleeds. This is what you'd get for having ice powers.
She had no other choice but to make their surroundings snow. Kristoff was grateful for the sudden temperature drop. He had been complaining for a while now about how the castle was getting too stuffy. Their son was just glad he could throw small, misshapen snowballs at his father.
Speaking of her nephew, Ivan was laughing as Olaf entertained him by pulling out his carrot nose and accidentally throwing it away, right in front of a very hungry Sven.
Elsa had to admit, Olaf, along with Anna, were the only ones who could make her lips twitch upward without them meaning to.
"I see a smile." Came a teasing voice from her right.
Elsa turned her head to see her sister coming towards her. She had left Kristoff and the man was currently sulking. It seems that he lost their argument.
"You act like you've never seen me smile before, Anna." She replied as she watched her sister plop down on the snow next to her.
"You've been in a foul mood since this morning." Anna stated. Her eyes were trained on her only son as he rammed the carrot nose on Olaf's head. "Something happen?"
Elsa had to tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her as memories from the morning flooded back inside her head. Anna noticed her sister tense up after she asked her the question.
"Elsa?"
Elsa shook her head. "Maybe later, Anna."
Anna just sighed. "You're doing it again…"
"Doing what?" Elsa asked as her eyebrows rose.
"You're keeping stuff from me again. You know I don't like it when you do that." Anna answered her as she caught some snowflakes with her hand. "Did something happen with… with Tristan?"
Anna looked at Elsa with those blue eyes of hers and stared at her as she waited for an answer. Elsa could only sigh as she placed a hand to her forehead and looked ahead with a distant look in her eyes.
She had been having trouble with her husband Tristan. Her old opinion of the perfect guy being the right king for her vanished when she was about eight. The day after she accidentally hit Anna. Actually, the whole idea of marriage never went through her mind ever again.
Well, it did come up when Anna was twenty and she practically begged her for her blessing on her and Kristoff's engagement. She wanted to object. She really wanted to. She couldn't bear to see her sister getting hurt. She thought it was just too early for her. She was afraid that the "Hans fiasco" would repeat again.
She wanted them to reconsider, maybe when Anna would turn twenty-one. When she would become of age.
But she found herself blurting out the word 'yes' without meaning to.
It was very hard to say no to her. She had good reasons and she didn't see anything she could throw at Kristoff (not literally, of course). The both of them had been patient. Kristoff courted her for two years before finally proposing and even during those two years, he did everything he could to please both sisters.
After Anna was married, she immediately got it into her head that Elsa needed to get married soon too. She prepared ball after ball and practically pushed Elsa towards any guy she saw. Well, any eligible, respected nobleman who's not so bad looking.
And then, Elsa finally found a guy. His name was Tristan Claude von Duberick II. At first, she laughed at his ridiculous name. But he really showed her that there was more to him than meets the eye (and name). He was a prince from a small country to the south of England. He had a good name, a respectable nation, is a fair trade partner and had a good sense of humor.
She almost encased herself in ice when she found herself falling for him after months of meeting in political affairs and businesses. The man was charming in all ways possible without reminding her of Prince Hans.
And like what happened when Anna asked for her blessings in marriage, she found herself saying yes to Prince Tristan when he asked for her hand in marriage, though she had to take care of the frost that had gathered around her due to her nervousness. Tristan only laughed when he noticed her fidgeting with her gloves and the frost. He was one of the few people who saw the beauty of her powers yet loved her for herself.
She remembered marrying Tristan at the age of twenty-four, and if she recalled correctly, it was around the time her nephew had been born. A year after that, she had given Arendelle an heir. A princess named Thalia. She was born with many blessings and she was as healthy as could be. Yet, she inherited her mother's powers despite Elsa's frequent prayers that she wouldn't.
But the Queen and her husband loved her. In fact everyone loved her. They've even taken to calling her mini-Elsa.
Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. Elsa just didn't expect things to end so soon for her.
Yesterday, Tristan received a letter from his home. His older brother had died from an illness and the kingdom was in a state of panic. He was the only one left to assume the crown.
"Elsa, please. I need to do this. I have a responsibility-"
"You also have a responsibility here! Are you seriously thinking of leaving us? Me? Thalia?"
Tristan sighed and took her hand, begging her to look at him. "Elsa, I'm the king of Duberick now. I'm sorry... I... I need to go..."
Elsa slapped him right then and there. "You're just going to leave?" Her voice had become shaky from keeping herself from crying. "You're just going to leave your kingdom here, your wife… your own daughter." By that point her voice had been reduced to an icy whisper.
Tristan didn't respond. He, too, was hurt and angry at everything that was happening. He hadn't asked for this. He was forced to choose between two kingdoms. He didn't want to leave his family. He didn't want to hurt them. He didn't want to hurt Elsa so much. But he couldn't abandon his country either.
"Elsa, please, at least try to put yourself in my shoes…" he said patiently.
"I've worn those shoes before, Tristan. I've already faced a situation where I've had to choose between my family and my kingdom. I chose family and I always will." It was like what she always told Anna. She was a sister first, and a queen second.
"Elsa, please don't do this."
"What happens after this depends on your choice, Tristan. That's… That's all what I wanted to say…"
Anna found her crying in the library after that. Thankfully no one bothered them as she whispered words of comfort. She never asked about Elsa's problem. She was just there to comfort her.
Now, Anna had asked what she wanted to yesterday at the library.
"I was right, wasn't I? About Tristan?" Anna said, holding her sister's hand.
Anna deserved to know the truth. "He was called back to his kingdom to become their king… now that his brother passed."
Anna gasped. "And… did he?"
Elsa nodded. "He gave me his answer this morning…" Tears gathered in her eyes as she remembered their fight and her daughter's frightful blue eyes peeking from their bedroom door.
"Oh, Elsa… I'm so sorry…" Anna said as she moved to hug her elder sister.
Elsa didn't say anything and she just let her sister's warmth envelop her. She knew that Tristan loved her with all his heart and he didn't mean to hurt her and Thalia, but he had to do it.
It didn't matter if he knocked on their door a few years from now. She would kick him out of Arendelle. It may have been unintended, but he had hurt her nonetheless.
And nobody messes with the Snow Queen.
A voice from above them pulled the two sisters apart. Kristoff had arrived with Thalia in his arms.
"Mini-Elsa said she wanted to play in the snow with Ivan. Gerda brought her here." He said as he carefully set his niece in Elsa's arms.
Elsa quickly hid her sadness and smiled at her daughter. Thalia looked a bit tentative as she played with the skirt of her blue dress. Maybe she was still afraid of the fight earlier. She had never seen her parents raise their voices before. And everyone in the castle knew how the usually calm queen could get when she was forced to raise her voice.
"Thallie? Something wrong, sweetie?" Anna asked, noticing the usually energetic two-year old so quiet. She should have known. If there was something wrong with Elsa, then there was also something wrong with mini-Elsa.
Thalia shook her head and slowly slid from her mother's knees and walked in a slow pace towards a patch of snow two feet ahead. Her cousin, Ivan, saw her playing with the snow and he quickly ran towards her.
Elsa sighed as she watched her quietly playing daughter.
"You know, she's just like you when you were young." Anna said. She was also looking at the kids making misshapen snowballs. Well, Ivan was teaching Thalia how to gather snow into her hands and form a decent sphere. Elsa saw how frustrated her daughter became after a few minutes of trying to roll the snow in her hands and she had to stifle a laugh as Thalia gave up and waved her hand. A perfect snowball appeared in front of her and she squealed in delight, picking it up with her small toddler hands and successfully throwing it at Kristoff's face.
"Aw! Come on!" he exclaimed. The two ladies laughed at him and he grumbled under his breath as he wiped off the bits of snow from his face.
"Wow! Awesome!" Ivan said as he jumped up and down. "MY TUWN!"
Kristoff heard this. "What?! NO! NO! No more snowballs!"
"Hewe Ifam!" Thalia said as she conjured up another snowball.
"ELSA!"
"Yep. Just like her mother."
Elsa stopped the snowball headed for her brother-in-law with a lazy flick of her wrist. Kristoff was already on his way towards Sven's back.
After a few groans from the kids, Anna's earlier comment only registered in the queen's head. Elsa raised her eyebrows at the thought. "What do you mean?"
Anna stopped laughing at Kristoff for a while before answering her. "Well, aside from her being an exact copy of you… uh, you know, always quiet… er… reserved… it's like when you're bottling up something inside and you just keep quiet."
"Well, Anna, that's the whole point of bottling up. You keep quiet." Elsa said, smirking.
Anna blushed. "You know what I mean!"
Elsa chuckled. "Yes. Yes, I know. I just wanted to push your buttons."
Kristoff laughed but Anna glared at him. He cleared his throat and pointed to his previous spot in the snow. "I'll just… I'll just go, shall I?"
"Mama!"
Elsa and Anna both turned their heads at that and the both of them gasped at what they saw.
Thalia and Ivan had disassembled Olaf. Ivan was using Olaf's stick hand to whack the poor snowman and Thalia was rolling Olaf's head around.
"Kids!" Anna yelled at them as she ran towards the poor snowman. Elsa followed her immediately.
"No, no. It's alright. It's fine. They're jusghjvsvcfsg… kids and they dohohjgfsgdfgh…"
"Thalia stop rolling Olaf's head around!" Elsa told her as she pried the body part away from her daughter's chubby fingers.
Olaf immediately spewed out the snow that had found its way to his mouth.
"Oh. I'm very sorry, Olaf. Here, let me fix you." Elsa offered as she waved her hand. After Olaf was fixed, he laughed and said, "Let's do it again!"
The royal sisters looked at each other before they burst out laughing and they made their way back to their seats after getting the little ones to promise that they won't try to kill their friend again.
As Elsa watched her daughter, she didn't see herself in that small, platinum blond, blue-eyed girl. Instead, she saw her husband, Tristan. She was both hers and his. Tristan had every right to her as she did. But he didn't use it to take Thalia from her this morning as he packed up.
Elsa rubbed a spot on her forehead as another problem rose up. Thalia didn't know that her father was already on his way to Duberick.
A/N: It's about time I posted a fic on Frozen. Tell me what you think. :)
