Chapter one
It was a snowy day in December.
In a town called Burgess there was a man with blond hair. He looked out of a window from his big mansion.
His name was Tsar. Tsar Moon. He was a tall man. He was married with his wife, Benri and had two kids; Sandy and Toothiana. He also had adopted two other children; Aster and Jack. He could hear the children play in the background as he kept looking outside.
"Daaaad..."
Tsar looked down at Jack. Jack was the youngest, an eight year old boy. The boy had white hair. Doctors told him that it was a genetic thing from his parents. Jack was left as a baby and brought into an orphanage. When the small guy was 6 he was brought here, together with Aster, a 8...now 10 year old boy with dark hair. Aster was no family of Jack, but the two of them were very close and separating them would be like separating twins.
Then there were Sandy and Toothiana. Sandy was his own 9 year old son and Toothiana was his own 10 year old daughter. Sandy had blond hair, just like him. Toothiana was also a girl with blond hair. But she wasn't fond of it and always wanted to dye it. But he didn't let her.
"Daaad..." Said Jack again.
Tsar kneeled down to his eye level. "What is it, Jacky?"
"Am I getting replaced? I heard that new kids are coming and Bunny told me that I'm getting replaced!"
Jack called Aster 'Bunny' for some reason. He never said why and Aster didn't want to talk about it.
"You're not. And I'm just helping someone out."
"Helping someone?" Jack tilted his head. "Are you helping someone in need?"
"Not exactly...didn't mommy or the others tell you?"
Jack shook his head. "Nope."
"Well, I'm adopting two little girls." Said Tsar.
"Girls?! Dad, Tooth is not that lonely!" Jack also called Toothiana 'Tooth', because he couldn't pronounce it right.
"Look, their mother and father died in a car crash four years ago. They contacted me last year that I might be able to get them out of the orphanage since I was an old friend of their father's. I actually wasn't planning too, but then North called me to tell me that the two wouldn't last long in a place like that."
"So..." Jack held up his hand and put up two fingers. "I'll get two sisters?"
"Kinda. They are arriving in a few hours. We already prepared their room, so be nice."
"Fine." Said Jack.
"Guys, dinner!" Yelled Benri.
The kids ran to the already set up table and sat down. They all started to eat as soon their mother each put some food on their plates.
The TV was still on and Tsar got annoyed by it.
"Guys, turn that thing off." Said Tsar.
"But the news is on!" Toothiana said while pointing at the tv.
Tsar looked at the female news reporter. The brown haired woman looked serious as a set of images played behind her in a small box.
"Yesterday three Naturals were arrested for breaking into another bank. The government officials think that..."
Tsar shook his head. Those damn Naturals again... the Naturals were people. But they were not normal. These people had some sort of superpowers due to their DNA. They were called Naturals because their powers always had to do something with a natural element or at least a combination from it. There were good Naturals, but mostly also bad ones. They misused their powers for evil and to take down weaker people.
The Tv was shut off by his wife Benri.
"Mom! We were watching that!" Said Sandy.
"I don't want you to watch that kind of stuff. You guys know that not all Naturals are evil." Said Benri.
Aster rolled with his eyes.
"Yeah, but they do suck."
"Aster!" Said Tsar with a warning.
Jack chuckled a little at this, but stopped when Tsar shot him a glare.
Later that evening Nicholas North came to the house.
"Tsar!" The jolly man with a white beard and a red coat was let in by Tsar.
"North!" Tsar gave the man a friendly pat on the shoulder. He noticed two small girls hiding behind him.
"I brought them with me. But shall we go to the living room to go over a few things?"
Tsar nodded. They went after him to the living room and sat down on a couch. One of the girls had a small brown dress and blond hair long hair just past her shoulder. The other had red hair in pigtails and a small red-brown dress on.
Tsar sat down on the other couch in front of them. Between the two couches was a small coffee table.
"So, these are Elsa..." North nodded at the blond one. "...and Anna." Said North as he pointed to the other one. "Elsa is 7 and Anna is 4."
"Well, hello there." Said Tsar.
Elsa said nothing, shot him a glare and grabbed Anna's hand.
Tsar raised his eyebrows. The girls were pretty quiet. But he guessed that they just needed to get accustomed to him.
"They don't trust people so quickly."
Tsar looked back up at North. "Don't worry, they will get used to here pretty quickly."
"You know why we entrust them to you." Said North. "You were a good friend of Agdar and Idun. In their will they wrote that they wanted you to take care of their daughters."
"Yeah..." Tsar realized that he never really seen Elsa or Anna much. He only saw Elsa when she was born. After that he and Agdar didn't go much to the home of their family, but rather met outside or at his house. Four years ago Agdar and Idun Winters died in a car crash. Since they didn't have any other family members, Elsa and Anna went to an orphanage. But when they found the will they immediately contacted Tsar. However, since Tsar wasn't family, they had to go over a lot of papers...so much that it took four years before he could adopt the girls.
North sighed. "Anyway, there is something you should know about the oldest, Elsa."
"What?"
"She isn't normal." Said North. He nervously gulped.
Tsar chuckled. "What? Let me guess, she is allergic for something?"
North shook his head. When he saw how serious North was Tsar stopped chuckling. He stared back at North.
"She..." North swallowed again and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Silence filled the room. North closed his mouth and sighed heavily.
"I am a Natural."
Tsar looked down at the small blond girl. Her voice echoed through the big room as she finally spoke up.
"A Natural?" Repeated Tsar.
Elsa ignored him. She leaned towards Anna and whispered something into her small sister's ear. Anna started to smile brightly and giggled. Elsa leaned back with a little smile on her face.
"Yes." Said North. "Her power is ice. Now, I know that people aren't fans of these people. But I assure you that Elsa is not evil like some of them..." The man frowned and sighed again. "Please, you are their last change."
"I know." Said Tsar.
Later North left. Tsar brought the girls to their new room.
"This is big!" Said Anna as she jumped onto one of the beds. "Just like daddy's home!"
Tsar looked at Elsa who calmly walked sat down onto her own bed. The girl didn't even look or acknowledged him. Tsar looked at his wife who came in carrying a few bag packs.
"Here are some of their old stuff..." She put the bags down onto the ground. "But girls, I also bought a few new dresses for you."
Benri walked to a big closet and opened it up to reveal a few small dresses in different sizes.
"Really? Thank you!" Said Anna happily.
"No problem, sweetie." Benri walked back to Tsar. "Let's go, honey." She said to him. "I think the girls might want some rest."
"Right. Girls, there is a small bathroom connected to your room. We set up some toothbrushes, you should be fine."
The two of them quickly left and closed the door behind them.
"Can we really do this?"
"Hm?" Asked Tsar confused. He looked at his wife who looked down in sadness.
"Raising them...Anna will be easy. But Elsa? She is a Naturel..."
"It will be fine. Remember we raised Aster." Said Tsar. He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead.
"Yeah...you're right..." Mumbled Benri and the two of them walked downstairs.
Aster, Toothiana, Sandy and Jack were all in their rooms in their beds. Aster and Jack shared a room since they were brothers and inseparable.
Aster was sleeping already and snoring. Jack couldn't sleep and stepped out of his bed. He was curious about the new girls. He only saw them briefly, but they seemed interesting.
He slowly opened up his door and looked down the hallway.
No one was there.
He tip-toed to the door of the sisters and put his ear against the door. He could hear two muffled voice speak, but he couldn't hear it well.
Jack suddenly heard the voices stop.
Wait, why would they stop?
The door suddenly opened up. Jack almost fell over but kept his ground.
A girl with blond hair, piercing blue eyes and long hair stared at him. She was wearing a small gown that Benri prepared for them.
"Who are you?" Asked the girl.
"J-Jack..."
"Hm." Elsa narrowed her eyes. "That is a stupid name. My name is Elsa. Elsa Winters."
"My name is not stupid!" Whispered Jack.
"It is. But anyhow, you should not spy on me an my sister."
"Why not? We are becoming siblings!" Exclaimed Jack loudly. He quickly covered his mouth and looked around. Thank goodness no one heard him...
Elsa shook her head. "You're wrong. There is no way that we will become siblings. Within a day or two Anna and I will be cast out. Now, go away, you are disturbing us."
She closed the door in his face.
Jack his mouth fell open.
What. A. Mean. Girl.
Jack shook his head and closed his mouth. He walked back to his room and closed the door behind him.
He was left speechless.
The next day they all went to the mall together. Tsar and Benri wanted to get some groceries and maybe the kids would see something they would like.
People were staring at them.
Tsar rolled his eyes. He heard the people whisper about his family. They looked weird to the public eye. But it was understandable since four of his kids weren't exactly his own. But at least Anna and Elsa were wearing pink coats and not their brown ones.
They walked into the supermarket to buy some of the needed supplies.
"Dad, we need some new cereal!" Said Toothiana. She stood up on her tiptoes and grabbed a box and put it in their cart.
They walked further and grabbed milk, bread and everything they needed.
The whole time Elsa was holding Anna by her hand. She didn't interact with any of the other children. Maybe Elsa was shy?
After going to the supermarket they went to a big store. A store where you could get everything from clothes to toys etc. They wet there, because Toothiana needed some new clothes and Aster some new pants. And maybe the kids would find something they liked or perhaps wanted for a long time.
"Okay, guys!" Said Aster. "We meet here within an hour! Don't run off too far, okay?"
"Okay!" Said Jack.
He ran off to a part of the store where they sold toys. Jack saw an awesome advertisement for an action figure.
He looked at the action figures, but didn't see what he wanted to get. Jack sighed in disappointed. He strolled further. Then he stopped as he heard a voice he recognized.
"That voice..." Whispered Jack to himself. "I know that voice." He walked around a corner to see a certain blonde and a redhead.
The small redhead turned her head towards him. A smile spread across her lips and she started to wave at him.
"Jack!" Yelled Anna.
Jack smiled and ran towards them. The girls were looking at a few barbie dolls. Anna held one box in her hand. He stopped in front of them. Anna held the box up in front of his face.
"Look, Jack!" Said the 4-year old girl.
Jack smiled down at her. "Cute doll! Do you want it?"
"Yes! Elsa said that I could have a doll for our adventures!"
Jack raised his eyebrows. He glanced at Elsa who was looking at a few other dolls. "Adventures?"
"Yeah! We always play that I am a princess in distress and that Elsa is the brave queen who saves me together with her knight Olaf!"
Jack chuckled and scratched his head. He didn't knew that the girls had such a big fantasy.
He saw that Elsa was grabbing a small snowman plushy. She smiled a little and held the plushy close to her chest.
Jack walked over to her. She noticed him and tensed up.
"Are you taking that plushy?" Asked Jack.
Elsa became flushed. She quickly put the plushy back.
"What? No! No! Stupid, stupid, stupid Jack!" Elsa pushed him away. She ran towards Anna and pulled the girl with her.
Jack sweat dropped. He looked at the plushy. It seemed like Elsa was just like any normal girl. But he guessed that she wasn't used to friendly people.
He gently grabbed the doll and stared at it. He smiled to himself and walked back to the others with the plushy in his hand.
Elsa stopped running when Anna stopped her.
"Elsa, we are far enough." Said Anna. "Stohp."
"It's stop, Anna." Elsa corrected.
"Stttooo..."
"p. Just the P."
"Stop..." Whispered Anna.
"Good, good!" Elsa rubbed with her hand through Anna's hair.
"Anna, Elsa!"
The girls turned around to see Benri and Toothiana walk towards them. Toothiana was holding a red dress and Benri was holding a blue dress.
"Hey!" Said Toothiana. "We found some adorable dresses for you! Let's try them on!"
Elsa clenched her fist. "Uh, I don't want to-"
"Yes!" Interrupted Anna. "I wanna!"
The girl ran over to Toothiana. "I wanna have the red one!"
"Anna, wait..."
Anna ignored Elsa and walked away with Toothiana to the dressing room.
Elsa looked up at Benri. Benri gave her a sweet smile.
"So, Elsa? Shall we put this blue one on?" She asked.
Elsa could hear the nervousness in her voice. Was the woman afraid of her? Well, she was a Naturel after all. But she would show her that she wasn't scary at all.
"Sure..." Muttered Elsa.
She went after Benri to one of the dressers. Benri closed the curtain behind her. Elsa took her coat off and started to undo her brown dress. Benri frowned as she saw that Elsa was still wearing it.
"Are you still wearing that? Why?" Asked Benri.
Elsa looked down. "Because." She bit her lip and turned her back towards her. "Because it is the only thing from home we could wear. They are ugly dresses, but Anna and I weren't allowed to wear any other dresses. And this is the only dress I have left from our parents house."
Benri was shocked when she heard that. What the hell did those girls go through?
She got even more shocked when Elsa undid her dress.
A big scar was on the girls back. It went from the right top of her shoulder to the left button and stopped just above her butt.
"Elsa!" Gasped Benri.
Elsa turned around. "What it is?"
"Your back..."
"Oh..." Elsa rolled with her eyes. "It is just a scar..." She looked down. Benri saw that her legs were shaking a bit.
"Elsa, dear..." Benri kneeled down to her eye-level. "...who hurt you?"
Elsa shook her head. Tears started to form within her eyes. "No one." She whispered.
"You can tell me." Said Benri. "I won't be mad at you."
"Like I said; no one." Elsa put her own dress back on. She opened up the curtain and ran away.
Benri yelled her name, but Elsa kept running.
What have you done?!
The voices ran through her head as she kept running. Tears streamed down her face as she kept running. She ran and ran until she was out of breath. She stopped. The girl dried her eyes. She caught her breath and looked up to see that she was no longer in the big store.
She was still in the mall, but she could no longer see the store.
"Anna?" Elsa turned around to only see people walking past her. It was so busy that she couldn't see anyone.
"ANNA!" Screamed Elsa.
She turned around and round. Her breath got quicker and she didn't see anyone she was with. No Anna or even Jack or Benri.
Elsa fell down onto her knees. She grabbed her head and started to shake. Ice slowly appeared under her feet.
"Aw, poor little girl..." Elsa looked up to see a man kneeling down in front of her.
It was a strange man with a scar on his eyes and scrubby clothes. He had black hair and grinned at the small girl.
"Or should I say Naturel?"
Elsa her eyes widened at the sound of this. She quickly jumped up and took a few steps back.
"A Naturel like you will bring me a lot of cash..."
Elsa didn't hesitate one second and ran away from the scary man.
"Hey, wait!" She could hear the man yell. He was probably chasing her.
Elsa ran around a corner to bump into someone.
A boy with white hair looked down at her. "Elsa!"
Elsa looked up to see Jack standing in front of her.
"Jack!" She never been so happy to see him. Even though Elsa didn't like him, at least this could mean that she was safe...
Jack saw how she was trembling.
"Elsa, are you okay?" He said. "We all looked for you after you just ran off."
Elsa saw that he was holding the plushy in his hand. "You bought the plushy I wanted..."
"Well, actually dad bought it. I don't have enough money." Said Jack. "But..."
Elsa looked down. "A scary man tried to kidnap me. I'm scared, Jack. And I can't use my powers, there are too much people here, they would get hurt."
Jack immediately grabbed her hand.
"Come on, let's hide."
"Hide?" Asked Elsa as he dragged her with him.
"Yeah, that way he won't find us."
Elsa stopped him. "We better go to Tsar. There is no way I'm hiding from a low life."
Jack snorted. "Duh, but if we hide first then he will walk by not noticing us and then we can go to the others."
"That's not very brave."
"Well, sometimes you don't need to be brave."
"Well, I think-"
"Blah, Blah, Blah!" Jack put his hands against his ears.
"Listen to me, stupid Jack!" Yelled Elsa annoyed.
The two fighting kids got everyone's attention. Including Tsar and the other's.
"There they are." Said Aster.
"Y-yeah..." Tsar smiled a little when he saw how Elsa and Jack were fighting.
Like normal kids.
When they got home everyone was excited about their bought supplies. Tsar helped Benri with the groceries while he put the kids in front of the tv.
"I'm really shocked about Elsa's scar." Whispered Benri to Tsar as they put the groceries down onto the counter table.
Tsar nodded his head. "Yeah, do you think someone did that to her?"
"Probably."
Tsar clenched his fists. "Really...the coward who hurt that poor girl...he should go to jail."
Benri smiled. "You really care about them already, don't you?" She put her hand onto his shoulder.
Tsar gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead. His wife knew him like no other.
Meanwhile, while the kids were all watching tv, Elsa over heard the conversation of the adults. She stood up.
"Elsa?" Asked Anna.
Elsa narrowed her eyes. She tensed up and glanced at Tsar and Benri. She could hear them talking about her. What were they planning?
"Hey, let's play tag!" Toothiana jumped up. She grabbed the remote and set the tv off. "Watching tv is so boring, so let's play tag!"
"Tag?" Asked Anna.
"Yeah! Bunny is it!" Yelled Jack. He gave Aster a slap on his shoulder an dashed off.
The kids all yelled and ran away. Bunny immediately went after Jack.
Anna and Elsa quickly ran away with Tooth and Sandy. But Toothiana accidentally pushed against Anna and Anna fell down onto the ground.
The little girl's eyes became big and she started to cry.
"Anna!" Said Elsa worried.
She kneeled down and helped Anna up. She shot Toothiana an angry glare.
"You pushed her!"
"It was an accident!" Said Toothiana. "I-"
Elsa held Anna close to her. "Are you okay Anna?"
Anna sniffed and nodded.
"What happened?" Tsar came rushing to the scene. He kneeled down in front of the children.
Sandy pointed at his sister. "Toothiana pushed her."
"On accident!" Exclaimed Toothiana.
Tsar sighed. "Geez, be careful...is she okay?"
As he reached to Anna and Elsa, Elsa took a few steps back with Anna in her arms.
"Stay away!" Said Elsa in distress.
It started to snow above her head. She put her hand towards Tsar. He saw icicles form within her hand.
"I told you to stay back." Her voice now sounded cold and emotionless.
"Calm down." Said Tsar. "I won't hurt you or your sister."
Elsa kept her hand out towards Tsar. She kept staring at him into his brown eyes. Tsar put his hand against her hand. It was cold as ice, but Tsar didn't flinch.
"Again, I won't hurt you."
Anna stopped crying. She looked at Tsar with big eyes.
The icicles stopped forming into Elsa's hand.
"You won't hurt Anna." Whispered Elsa stern. "If you do I'll become your worst nightmare."
"I said that we won't hurt you or your sister." Said Tsar.
Elsa narrowed her eyes. What was he saying? That he wouldn't hurt her? That was probably a lie.
Elsa released Anna. She stepped back and retracted her hand.
Anna looked at Elsa.
"I'm going to my room." Said Elsa. "Anna, come on, let's go. Let's play upstairs."
"But Elsa I wanna play here. They are nice." Said Anna.
Elsa sighed and put her hand onto Anna's head.
"So were the people in the orphanage." Said Elsa with sadness.
"But-"
"Girls!" Benri walked towards them. "How about we go draw something? That will be nice, right?"
"Drawing!" Anna's eyes lit up. "I wanna draw!"
Tsar stood up and smiled at Benri. His wife just always had the greatest ideas in the weirdest situations.
She grabbed some papers and pencils and sat down at the table with the kids.
Anna started to draw like her life depended on it, while Elsa calmly started to draw.
"What are you drawing Anna?" Asked Toothiana to the smaller girl.
"Maybe she is drawing how you pushed her." Said Aster with sarcasm.
Toothiana gave him a slap onto his shoulder.
"Shut up, Aster!" She said under her breath. "Stupid Bunny."
"Hey, only Jack can call me that!" Said Aster.
"Oh yeah? Bunny, bunny, bunny, bunpoijuhy-"
Aster quickly covered her mouth. His cheeks became flushed. Only Jack could call him that. No one elsa had ever called him that. It was something special to him that defined the bond between him and his younger brother.
"Hey." Jack nudged with his shoulder against Elsa's. The girl ignored him, so he did it again. "Hey...hey..."
Elsa looked up from her paper with irritation. "What?!"
"What are you drawing?" Asked Jack as he tried to glance at her paper.
Elsa covered her drawing with her hands. "Nothing."
"You're drawing nothing?" Jack grinned.
Elsa pouted at him.
"Come on, lemme see..."
Elsa shook her head. "But I don't wanna show-"
Jack pushed with his finger against her forehead. "Come on, don't be such a doofus." He quickly pulled her arms away and looked down at her painting.
It was a drawing of a snowflake. It was halfway colored with blue and purple.
Jack stared at the picture and chuckled.
"It is awful, right?"
Jack looked up at Elsa. Her eyes were sad. Her hair hang loose over her shoulder.
"I think it is pretty, snowflake."
"Snowflake?" Asked Elsa confused.
"Yeah, I'll call you that from now on. Since you can draw snowflakes. That makes you my snowflake."
"More like a snow monster."
"Okay, then you are my snow monster." Joked Jack.
But Elsa's gaze changed to a serious expression.
"But I like snowflake."
Jack's eyes widened. Elsa noticed what she said. She quickly shook her head and went back to drawing.
"You like snowflake, huh?" Jack started to grin again.
"I don't like it-"
"Snowflake, snowflake." Said Jack.
"Stop it, stop it!" Said Elsa irritated.
Aster put his hand onto Jack's shoulder.
"Come on, Jack, stop teasing her."
"But-"
"Jack." Said Tsar stern. "She had enough to deal with. Leave the girl be."
Jack looked at Elsa who was back on her drawing. He sighed and decided that it was enough teasing her.
Meanwhile Benri was sitting next to Anna. She saw how Jack interacted with Elsa. It seemed like the two would become good friends in the future.
She looked at Anna. The girl was drawing human figures.
"What are you drawing?" Asked Benri.
"I'm drawing me as a princess, see?" Anna pointed at a figure with red hair and a pink dress on.
Benri saw the in front of the figure was another figure with blond hair and a sword within her hand. In front of the figure was another, this one big and scary.
"And that is Elsa, protecting me..." Anna pointed at the blond figure. Then her finger went to the other figure. "From the bad man."
"Bad man?" Asked Benri confused.
"Yeah. When I did something wrong Elsa would take blame and then a bad man who was vely big appeared."
Benri swallowed. "Anna? Did he do that to Elsa's back?"
Anna shook her head. "No. That happened a long time ago."
"What exactly happened?" Asked Benri curious.
"If I tell you you will be cursed. So I can't tell."
"Huh?"
Anna cocked her head. She waved with her finger in front of her face. "Elsa told me if I would tell, then people will get cursed."
Benri muffled a laugh. Cursed? What kind of weird way is that to keep people from telling secrets?
Anna went back to her drawing.
Benri sighed. It looked like they would need to earn their trust first.
"Hey mom." Said Sandy.
Benri looked at him.
"Tomorrow is school. How will Anna and Elsa go to school?"
Anna looked confused at Benri and Elsa tensed up.
"Well. I suppose Anna will go to kindergarten. And Elsa will be homeschooled."
"Homeschooled?" Whispered Elsa.
"Then Elsa gets to stay home?" Said Jack. He pouted with his lip. "I wanna stay home too!"
"Elsa is special, Jack." Said Tsar. "You're not."
"Yeah, but she is a Natural."
"And you are a normal." Whispered Elsa under her breath.
"Hm?" Jack turned his head towards her. "What?"
Elsa ignored him and went back to her drawing. What an annoying boy. He was really pissing her off. And he wasn't nice. Not that she expected anyone to be. Especially since that girl pushed Anna. This family was just like all the people in the orphanage.
She would never grow to like them.
Later that evening everything went to bed. It was quiet as the last lights went out.
"Psst, Anna."
Anna opened up her eyes and turned around. She saw Elsa's silhouette by the window.
"Elsa?" Anna sat up and rubbed in her eyes. "What is going on?"
"Let's run away." Whispered Elsa. "Let's go some place safe."
"But Elsaaa..." Anna yawned. "It's late."
Elsa pulled the covers away from Anna.
"Come on, Anna...we will find a place for ourselves. Somewhere where we can be happy."
Anna sighed and stepped out of her bed. "Okay. But where are we going?"
"To a fun place..." Whispered Elsa. She shook her head and grabbed Anna's hand.
"A fun place? Okay!" Yelled Anna.
Elsa put her finger against her lips.
"Hush! They might hear us!"
"Oh!" Anna covered her mouth and nodded.
The girls tiptoed through the dark hallway. They slowly went outside and through the main hall.
But all of a sudden a light went on.
Tsar and Benri were both leaning against the door opening to the living room.
The two little girls both froze in fear.
"Girls." Said Tsar. "Living room, now."
Elsa and Anna walked into the living room and sat down onto the big couch. They both looked down as they held each others hands tightly.
Tsar and Benri sat down of the other coach across of them.
"We already adopted Aster and Jack. We know that you would try to run away within the first few nights." Said Tsar.
Benri agreed. "Yes. And we do not condone this behavior."
The girls eyes widened up. Anna started to tremble.
But Elsa looked up with fierce eyes.
"It was my idea!" She yelled.
Tsar and Benri glanced a second at each other and then back at the girls.
Elsa jumped from the couch and stood in front of Anna.
"It was all my fault! So punish me!"
"We are not punishing you." Said Tsar.
"Liar." Said Elsa. She clenched her fists. "Please, I'm just a Natural. Anna is my little sister, I won't let you..." She took a deep breath and straightened her back. "So hurt me instead!"
Tsar smiled to himself. He kneeled down in front of the girl, with a small smile on his lips.
"You really are a daughter of him."
"Huh?" Everyone looked confused at Tsar.
"Elsa." Tsar now looked serious at the small girl. "You are not just a Natural. You are a proud daughter of Agdar Winters. I really see him in you."
"What do you mean?" Asked Elsa.
Anna looked curiously at Tsar. What was he saying? She already stopped shaking and was now on the tip of her seat.
"I mean that you really look like your daddy. He was also always standing up for weaker ones and his family. You know, he never talked ill of you. He loved you."
Elsa looked down.
"I know." She whispered.
"Look, Elsa and Anna." Said Tsar. He glanced at Anna and back at Elsa. "I know that you girls must have gone through tough times. I can't even imagine what they did to your back, Elsa. But we are not here to hurt you. We are here to protect you. It is what I promised your parents and what I'm promising to you."
Elsa kept quiet as she stared in awe at him.
Anna jumped from the couch and ran over to Tsar. She put her hand out and waved her pinky in front of his face.
"Pinky swear." Said Anna.
Tsar chuckled. He put his pinky around hers.
"Okay, I swear."
"Elsa, you too." Said Anna.
"Fine." Elsa rolled with her eyes and put her pinky up. Tsar put his pinky around hers.
"I promise not to hurt you." Said Tsar. "And to take care of you."
"And I promise to be a little less difficult."
"Promise?" Asked Anna.
"Promise." Said Elsa and Tsar at the same time.
They both stared at each other as their words strengthened the bond between the two.
A bond that would change their lives.
TO BE CONTINUED