all_inclusive | the first time in forever

Entry tags:

the first time in forever

Anna has had a whirlwind few weeks. The gates have been opened, there's been a coronation and a surprise engagement (sort of) and Elsa had created eternal winter and blanketed all of Arendelle in snow. There's been betrayal, romance, and a snow monster. And, of course, everything has worked out all right.

Elsa says they'll keep the gates open now permanently and her powers, so beautiful and so dangerous, seem to be in control. She can make it icy in the courtyard in summer so they can go skating and she can keep Olaf alive and well but nobody seems to be in danger. Most importantly - Elsa seems happy. It's been so long since she's seen her sister happy that Anna has almost forgotten how it feels and what it looks like but it's nice. For the first time in forever, Anna is truly content with the world and happy to be in it.

She's running through the castle like usual, flipping open the doors and all the windows to let in the warm summer sun. Elsa is...somewhere and Anna is determined she's going to get her out and about today. She's going to get Elsa to genuinely enjoy being around other people if it kills her.

She opens up a door she doesn't recognize and sees...well, that's not normal. There's a party! There's a bunch of hedges and it's chilly so maybe that means Elsa is out and about; she does tend to affect the temperature when she's around.

"Elsa? Are you giving a party and leaving me out? I'm your sister, you know you're supposed to tell me if there's any parties. I love parties! Elsa? Ellllsaaaaaaaaa..."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't know." Anna is the first to admit she doesn't understand everything; she'd venture to say she doesn't understand most things but she knows that Elsa had been in Arendelle.

"But I just came from there and you were home. You were opening up the gates for everyone to come in and skate."

"Was I really?" Elsa asks, a little amazed at the idea. She knows how long Anna's wanted more freedom and only Elsa knows how long she wishes she could have given it.

"They've said time is funny in this place, but..." She sighs and comes a little closer, "You're okay? Really?"

"Yeah, Elsa, I'm perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with me and everything that was wrong with me is fixed," Anna thinks this would be more convincing if she didn't move a little and knock over a vase.

"Ooops. Still clumsy?"

Instinctively, Elsa reaches out with her powers, drawing up a pile of soft, fluffy snow so that the vase lands harmlessly and unbroken.

"I don't mind if you're clumsy, as long as you're okay."

Anna laughs when she sees the little pile of snow rise up to catch the vase and she thinks that everything is going to be okay. Maybe Elsa's a little worried about hurting someone but Anna knows she won't. She just knows it's all going to be all right.

"I'm perfectly fine. Fit as a fiddle!"

"As...As long as you're sure." She needs to trust herself, she remembers. That includes trusting others.

"Are you hungry? We can sit down and I'll try to explain what's going on."

"Absolutely starved," Anna confirms. She's always had a healthy appetite and especially when she's stressed or excited.

"What's there to eat around here? I haven't seen any servants or anything."

"No, household staff isn't quite the norm anymore, but if you stay her at the hotel they do have cleaning service and free breakfast."

Still not quite touching her sister, Elsa leads Anna to the hotel's Bistro and asks for a table.

Anna is all about free breakfast. Breakfast is her favorite meal of the day, unless she's craving sandwiches, then sometimes she can con the servants into making her breakfast sandwiches and everything just gets exponentially better.

"Look, I can work with cleaning service and free breakfast. And, you know. The best sister in the world?"

Even with her wintry complexion, there's no hiding the blush when Anna calls her that. Elsa's not particularly sure it's true--she has a lot to make up for--but Anna's faith in her is reassuring once again.

"You do have to find a way to get money for other meals. Or sneak through other doors but be careful...they can be tricky."

"Tricky? Tricky how?" Anna isn't sure how a door can be tricky but she also wasn't sure her sister could build an ice palace and summon a yeti, either, and yet she did. So Anna isn't writing anything off just yet.

"I mean, doors open and close. No tricks involved in that."

That startles a little laugh out of Elsa, because Anna's right, in her way.

"Well, what's through them can be very strange sometimes. Different places around the world, or in time. So be careful where you wander through."

Because she knows Anna in that respect at least.

"Well, where's your sense of adventure? We have to check some of them out," Anna says, suddenly a little excited.

"Have you been through any of them?"

"Quite a few." Some had been far more pleasant than others, like the one to feudal Japan and its quiet, snowy mountains.

"I like many of them but then there was a door where I ended up having to ice skate in front of thousands of strangers. I thought I might faint!"

"I'm sure you were awesome," Anna says. Elsa has always been a better skater than she is but she guesses Elsa has a little bit of an advantage, considering she can make the ice. Still, Elsa is graceful and fluid in a way that Anna is never going to be and if someone is skating in front of people, she thinks it ought to be Elsa.

"Better than I would be, anyway."

"I had a friend who came through the same door," she says, glad one more for Legolas' continued presence in the hotel. "He kept me from losing my head. Maybe I'll show you after--"

She doesn't get to finish her sentence as two big cups of hot chocolate are set in front of them and Elsa pulls her gloves on to prolong the heat.

Anna has always loved hot chocolate and the kind here in the hotel is thick and rich just the way she used to get it back in Arendelle.

"A friend? Well obviously I need to meet all of your friends."

Elsa relaxes a little at that, smiling when she sees that she made the exact right choice of drinks for them. Even better is that chocolate is much more readily available here, rather than a special luxury.

"His name is Legolas. He's..." Elsa tries not to sigh at the thought of him. "He's been a wonderful friend."

"But is he just a friend?" Anna knows she can be nosy but it comes from loving her sister and wanting the best for her.

"What's he like?"

"Anna!" she hisses, sounding more like a scandalized teenager than the Queen of Arendelle. "I don't know! It's not like he's come courting, but he's been very kind and taught me a lot."

"Well, if he is courting, he's got to go through me," she says firmly. It's pretty laughable, considering her own track record with men who are courting but she feels protective of her sister and now she understands Elsa's hesitation about Hans.

"How long have you known him?"

"I really don't think...I mean, I've known him almost the whole time I've been here and he's never mentioned..." She stares into her cocoa rather than at her sister. Here for one hour and she's already flustered Elsa.

"Uh huh. Well, maybe he doesn't have to mention it for it to be a thing." Anna's knowledge of courting is admittedly very limited - books and Hans. Hans doesn't count.

"Anyway. I'm going to have to meet him."

Elsa shakes her head, trying to smile but she's never been good at faking emotions, only repressing them. "I'm pretty sure the whole point of courting is that you announce your intentions."

And he'd made no such declaration.

"Maybe he's secretly in love with you and doesn't want to disappoint you," Anna says, gesturing expansively with her fork. "I mean, you're a queen and what is he? Some nobody? I'd be nervous too."

Not that Anna thinks Elsa cares about that. "I don't know, do you want him to court you?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject