the first time in forever

[twicefrozen]

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..."

Comments

[twicefrozen]

"Well, I've got a sister," Anna says brightly. "My sister's name is Elsa, though, and she's not my twin. Basically if anyone could look completely different and still be related, that's Elsa and me."

Anna has always been a little envious of Elsa's cool beauty but she guesses that's not the point of this.

"Ooo, an enchanted forest? What's that like?"

[princehonorable]

"Joan had a sister too," Charming says, still not sure how all of this makes sense, but willing to go with it. After all, it's hardly like he has any other choice. He laughs, though, at her excitement about the forest. "I promise you, it's nowhere near as excitement as you'd think. Last time I was there, it was a bit...green."

[twicefrozen]

"Well, it was a forest," Anna points out. "Isn't that kind of what forests do? I don't know, I've never been anywhere other than the palace in Arendelle so anything is going to be exciting to me at this point even if it's not, you know. Actually exciting."

[princehonorable]

He has to laugh because she's right, it is what they're supposed to do, but he's never really known how to define the Enchanted Forest otherwise. It's always been his home and things have been rough lately, but he'd always wanted to go back. "Well, if you were ever after a visit, we're accessible by boat," he says. "At least, from what I know of home, Arendelle is a few days journey away."

[twicefrozen]

Anna brightens. She does not have much experience with other countries other than stupid Hans and the idea of a new, exciting place only a few days away is a thrilling prospect.

"Really? Have you ever been? Or do you just trade with us? Elsa handles all the trade agreements, they try to keep me away from anything diplomatic."

[princehonorable]

"I only ever heard stories, I'm afraid," he confesses, though he would have loved to see her country, having grown to imagine it beautifully. "I haven't exactly been to the Enchanted Forest recently, though. It's been more...Neverland," he admits, given that Regina's curse had done a fairly effective job of robbing them of their home. "Maybe one of these doors will take you back there and you can show me," he suggests warmly.

[twicefrozen]

"Oh, for sure! I'll show you the castle and the lakes and the fjords. Did you know that Arendelle's just full of fjords?"

Anna loves her home and she's sure it shows. There's no place she loves more than Arendelle - every cloud, snowflake and stone.

[princehonorable]

"I had heard tale of the fjords," he agrees, and he's starting to grow very suspicious. Despite this woman insisting she's not Joan, she's nearly identical both in looks and personality, which is making Charming a bit curious. "Maybe I can even find Joan again and Kristoff. It'd be good to see him again."

[twicefrozen]

"Kristoff? Oh, Kristoff's back in Arendelle," Anna confirms. "He's the official Ice Merchant for the whole nation."

Anna's pretty proud of installing that particular position.

[princehonorable]

Charming nods, having heard all this before. "I know, he told me. He's engaged to be married, too," he says warmly. "I know I should probably get there for the wedding, but seeing as I'm currently stuck here pretty much all the time, I'm not exactly going to make it for the dinner course, at this rate."

[twicefrozen]

"Engaged? Kristoff? Who the heck would be marrying Kristoff and why haven't I met her?"

Anna feels a little...uneasy at the idea that Kristoff is going to be getting married and she wonders why he didn't tell her. She'd kind of thought they had a thing, more or less, but even if they didn't, wouldn't he tell her? They're friends.

[princehonorable]

"That part, I actually don't know," Charming confesses, because the extent had been that Kristoff was engaged, was to be married, and had expected Charming to attend. Of course, he hadn't been able to, what with his estranged twin brother dying and his whole life being upended, but that's life in the Enchanted Forest.

"You two are close, then?"

[twicefrozen]

"Well, I thought so," Anna says. "But if he's getting married, I guess we're not really as close as I thought we were."

This is pretty troubling, to be honest, and it's something she needs some time to process.

[princehonorable]

"Who knows, maybe I have it wrong," Charming offers amiably, feeling sympathetic and hoping that he hasn't upset her. He's still feeling a bit strange about how similar she looks to Joan that he can't shake it, but knows he shouldn't pester.

"Like I said, it's been ages," he promises. "Queen Elsa had just gotten her kingdom, back then, and it's been...at least two years since."

[twicefrozen]

"Oh. That's a lot longer than...how is that even possible? It's only been a little while since we de-froze everything," Anna says. She wrinkles her nose a little.

"De-froze? Unfroze. Maybe unfroze is the better word."

[princehonorable]

"Joan mentioned that had been a bit of a problem," Charming recalls, thinking of that snowflake pendant that she'd always enjoyed wearing. "I think it's probably awful to say, but I'm glad it wasn't just my kingdom that ran into these kinds of problems. It means we all get to share the wealth of terrible luck," he jokes, with an easygoing smile.

[twicefrozen]

Anna wrinkles her nose.

"Awful luck, yeah. I have no idea how I ended up so cursed but I guess it's because I'm blessed, too. I mean, heck, I'm a princess and my sister is the queen. If that's not lucky birth, I don't know what is."

[princehonorable]

Charming might not agree that luck has anything to do with who you're related to, given how fraught his relationship with King George has always been, but he's grateful to hear that some people appreciate their royal family -- and it's not to say that Charming dislikes his family, but he'd prefer the farming relatives over most of the royal ones.

"So I take it you're fairly new here, then? Are you aiming to get home? I'm a pretty bad assistant when it comes to finding doors, but I'm more than willing to help."

[twicefrozen]

"Well, I mostly just want to find my sister," Anna says. She has never really wanted much in life except to have a relationship with Elsa, who has been decidedly uninterested in that up until this point.

"I thought I saw her but now I'm not so sure because she's kind of...distinctive. She's hard to miss."

[princehonorable]

"What's her name?" Charming asks, giving her a nod as he hopes to get right to the point. "I know we only just met and you obviously can't know, but I'm somewhat experienced when it comes to finding people. My family has a bad habit of getting split up," he says wryly.

[twicefrozen]

"Elsa," Anna volunteers readily. "My sister's name is Elsa. She's blonde, likes to wear silver and blue all the time? Maybe you've seen her?"

Anna thinks she stands out in a crowd - in a good way.

[princehonorable]

He gives her an apologetic press of his lips and shakes his head. "Can't say that I've ever met her," he admits, given that she's right -- he thinks that he'd remember a woman like that if ever he'd met her. "Maybe one day, we'll cross paths," he offers.

[twicefrozen]

"Hmm, hope so. You can't forget her, if you've seen her." Maybe it's a little bit of hero worship but Anna is convinced that her sister is one of the kindest, most beautiful and most clever people she's ever met.