In These Quiet Moments

Setting: this one-shot takes place seven years after Frozen II. Anna is Queen of Arendelle and happily married to Kristoff, and Elsa is still living in the Enchanted Forest.

Quiet moments were hard to find in the castle these days, so when a much needed pause somehow weaved itself into a particularly busy afternoon, Anna was quick to take advantage of it. She had just finished attending a weekly brief with Mattias when Gerda informed her that the Jarl of Thorunn's representatives were expected to arrive a few hours late. This meant she had a few hours of freedom. And so, Queen Anna of Arendelle spent that treasured time doing her absolute favorite thing: being with her family.

She sat on the grass in a secluded corner of the castle's garden, leaning against Kristoff's shoulder while gently brushing her hand through their son's reddish blond hair who lazily laid in her lap. She watched as their daughter clumsily stepped from flower to flower. Kristoff had just finished showing her how to carefully smell them without picking them and now she was curiously examining each one before bending down and breathing in lightly with an innocence only a toddler could possess.

"Hey Mama?" she heard Erik call quietly from her lap. She looked down to see his blue eyes looking brightly back up at hers. "When are we gonna see Auntie Elsa and the forest again?" he asked.

"Soon, sweetie. Auntie Elsa is going to come over in a few days to visit, remember?" she answered, twirling her finger around the tuft of hair that always curled at the nape of his neck.

"But when are we gonna go there?" he clarified, shifting in her lap so that he could look at her more easily.

"To the Enchanted Forest?" she asked with a faint air of surprise. When she saw him nod, she turned to Kristoff who looked between their son and her.

"The last time we went to the forest was before your sister was born," Kristoff said. "You were only two then. Do you remember going?"

Erik looked to his dad before shaking his head, "Not really," he sighed, "But I remember a little bit. Like how the trees were all orange and red and there were lots of reindeer," he said smiling widely at the memory.

Anna laughed and looked at Kristoff. "We took him to an enchanted forest and the two things he remembers are the leaves and the wildlife," she said in mild bewilderment, "and not the magical spirits."

Kristoff grinned at his wife and son, "Well reindeer are pretty cool, right bud?" he said while ruffling Erik's ginger hair, causing him to squirm out of Anna's lap and away from his dad's teasing hand.

"P-papa, stop!" Erik laughed, fumbling to his feet. "You messed up my hair," he said as he patted the top of his head in an attempt to smooth it back into place, but it was clear he wasn't all that bothered.

"Do you want to go to the forest again, Erik?" Anna asked, pulling him gently towards her so she could straighten his hair herself (because he had somehow managed to make it worse). Erik's hair always had a habit of ruffling in whatever direction it felt like no matter what they did to tame it. Kristoff said it came with the color and Anna couldn't disagree. She had similar hair problems herself.

"I want Josephine to see it," Erik said, tearing away from his mom's hands and looking at his sister who remained enraptured by the flowers. "When I was tellin' her about it, I don't think she believed me," he explained.

Kristoff scoffed good-naturedly. "I don't think she's old enough to make an opinion on that kind of thing," he said.

"You've clearly never had to sell her on eating her peas and let me tell you, she most definitelyhas opinions," Anna said. The moment the words left her mouth, Josephine turned her little blond head around and locked eyes with her mother. Her small brow furrowed as she stepped away from the flowers she had been smelling and started tottering towards her parents and brother.

"She's out to get you," Kristoff laughed. Anna rolled her eyes and playfully swiped at his arm. "H-hey hey! I think it's good she's got opinions. It means she thinks for herself," he said.

"That she does," Anna sighed but smiled as she turned back towards Josephine. It quiet for a brief second before she and Kristoff both speak again.

"She definitely has your stubbornness," they said at the same time before going wide-eyed and turning back to look at each other. "My stubbornness?" they both responded incredulously, pointing at themselves. Realizing their ridiculousness, they broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Ok, maybe both of our stubbornness," Anna amended, leaning onto his shoulder.

"Probably so," Kristoff said, bending down to kiss the top of her head. "But who's to say," he shrugged, "Ibet she got it from Elsa," he laughed.

"I'll be sure to tell her that next time she visits," Anna says and hears Kristoff's laugh immediately die off.

Erik left his parents and walked over to Josephine. He held out his hand to help her move more stably in her pursuit. "Jose, see? When I asked Mama and Papa about the forest, they said the forest is real too," he tried to tell her, watching her as she stared intently at the ground and carefully moving her feet.

Josephine looked from the ground and up at her brother, holding out both her arms. "Up!" she said, bouncing onto her tiptoes and falling back on her heels to make sure she got her point across.

Erik bent his knees and tried his best to pick up his sister, but it always proved to be a difficult task considering he wasn't too big himself.

"We'll definitely have to wait a while before visiting the forest," Anna said, "But maybe after kid number three, hm? I have to admit, I do miss visiting her ourselves," she offered, subconsciously placing her hand on her newly forming baby-bump.

Kristoff grinned, placing his larger hand over her own, "I'm sure Sven would love to see all the reindeer again."

"Are you kidding? Sounds like Erik's more excited about the reindeer than you and Sven combined," Anna laughed, weaving her fingers between his.

She sighed, enjoying this moment. This quiet, peaceful moment. This perfectly blissful moment—

"Your Majesty, your guests have arrived," Kai announced, turning the corner of the garden.

I hope to write some more of this dynamic soon! If you're curious what these OCs look like, check out Prince Erik and Princess Josephine on my tumblr page ( lovelysheree)!

Don't be shy, let me know what you thought :)

-LovelySheree