Hello everyone!
This story is based off of that super cheesy Christmas movie on Netflix 'Christmas Inheritance', but with my own special twists and turns to it. And obviously with our favorite Frozen characters in the mix. (DISCLAIMER) None of whom I own. All rights go to Disney and majority of plot points go the makers of the original movie!
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter One: Party Heiress Strikes Again
A Home & Heart employee scurried across the crowded ballroom looking around frantically. She'd promised her boss that she'd keep an eye on her sister. And yet, she'd somehow managed to slip out from her eye sight. Panic rose inside the poor woman as she frantically asked every passerby if they'd seen Miss Randelle. Her eyes finally rested on a certain Hans Westergard. He was typing furiously away at his phone.
As quick as her legs would take her, she marched right up to the young man.
"Excuse me, Mr. Westergard," she breathed. He scrunched his face at her, not even giving her the decency to look up from the small screen in his hands. His thumbs continued typing away.
"Just a second," he mumbled back. She huffed in response. She really didn't have the time for this. Whatever deal he was trying to make or business man he was trying to schmooze, it really could wait for two seconds to speak with her.
"Mr. Westerg-"
He threw his fist in the air victoriously, cheering loudly. "Now that's how you close a sale!" He grinned broadly at the screen before him, beaming with self-pride. The employee fought hard not to roll her eyes in response.
"Mr. Westergard, please," she begged. "Have you seen your fiancée?"
Anna threw back the rest of her drink and slapped the empty glass back down on the bar. She shook her nerves loose before taking a few deep breaths. Then she took a few leaps forward before launching herself into a double aerial. Her green dress flapped around her legs as she flew through the air. She knew that she probably had showed a little too much of what was going on under her dress, but it was a dare, and she'd had a few drinks in her, so what did it really matter?
Her friend, the dare-er in question, clapped as he approached, clearly impressed by her show. She shrugged.
"Years of gymnastics, you never forget!" she exclaimed, holding her hand out for the check that was promised. He happily obliged. A promise was a promise. He chuckled at her.
"No complaints here, toys-for-tots is my new favorite charity," he said. His eyes sparkled at her. She rolled her eyes in response. Suddenly she noticed the flicker of his gaze shift to the small display train behind her. A sly grin gripped at his lips as he snatched his check back from her fingers. She hated that smile of his. It always meant he'd thought of something she'd regret.
"I'll double it if you can vault that." He nudged his head towards the train. She turned her head and scoffed. She may have had a few drinks in her by this point, but there was still a line. She shook her head.
"No way!" That dangerous sparkle returned to his eyes. She groaned inwardly. She should have figured that would have just made him want her to do it more.
"I'll triple it!" he offered. She looked back at the train again. "Come on, that's a lot of money. Gonna be a lot of toys for a lot of tots."
Anna briefly closed her eyes as she debated it in her head. It would be a lot of money...but if she was really going to do this, it was going to be for a lot more.
"Quadruple," she said firmly, crossing her arms in front of her. She tried to put on the toughest face she could muster, but everyone who knew her knew she was too big of a softy to fall for that act. That wicked grin on his lips grew wider as he nodded.
"Deal." One word to seal her fate. She let out a hard breath as she turned around. She could do this. Sure she hadn't vaulted anything since she was a kid, but it was just like riding a bike, right? By this point, everyone that was still gathered around her had their cameras and phones ready. Including the paparazzi, she might add. Elsa was going to kill her. But hey, at least she'd be getting lots of toys for lots of tots, right? She'd be dying for a good cause.
Before she knew it, her feet were pounding on the ground from out from under her. She launched herself off the ground, reached out her hands, and delicately bounced over the top of the display train. But of course, just her luck, Hans and her watchdog for the evening had come rushing in at that very moment.
"Miss Randelle!" she nearly shrieked. The mere shock alone made Anna lose her footing as she landed. With a few stumbles backwards, the clumsy redhead was falling butt-first into the Christmas tree. Gasps rang out around the room as everyone gathered around her. Her cheeks flushed pink as she looked up at them from the floor. She broke out into a hesitant smile as the paparazzi cameras flashed all around her.
Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose as she stared at the pictures of her sister on the front page of some gossip magazine. After their parents had died, she'd watched Anna fall into this party girl lifestyle, but now, it was really starting to get out of hand. There was a knock at her office door. She looked up sharply to see her mousy assistant poking her head inside.
"Yes?" Elsa asked. The small woman swallowed.
"Your sister just got in. She's waiting in the conference room." Elsa sighed. Her gaze dropped back down to the magazine cover. What on Earth was she going to do with her sister? How would her parents have handled this? Granted, if her parents were still alive, there probably wouldn't be any this to have to handle.
"I'll be right in. Thank you," she said, dismissing her assistant. She looked over at the framed picture she had of her parents that was sitting on her desk. It was right next to the one she had of Anna. She smiled weakly at it. Things were never the same since they died. And it was something Elsa felt incredibly guilty about. Her and her sister used to be so close, but after their parents death, Elsa had to take over the company. She was the oldest after all. She'd been so focused on running it and so worried about letting down her father's legacy, that she'd let Anna suffer in silence. Now here they were, years later. Elsa was a thriving CEO, and Anna was the party heiress who never dealt with her feelings. And engaged to a Westergard for heavens sake.
She stood, straightening her suit jacket before making her way to the conference room. She'd never liked that family. They'd always seemed to fake, pretentious, and just plain off to her. But somehow, Hans had charmed Anna off her feet. They'd only been dating a few months before he'd proposed. Elsa was still suspicious that he was just after her money, but it was something her and Anna hadn't really talked much about. They didn't talk a lot about feelings these days.
She pushed open the conference room door to see her little sister scribbling some notes down in a notebook. Her tongue stuck out to the side of her lips as she concentrated. Elsa couldn't help but crack a smile. A brief smile. She was still upset.
She let out a sigh, catching the attention of the younger Randelle heiress.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Elsa, I had some amazing ideas for totally re-vamping our company image.."
The blonde sighed again. She was used to her sister's ramblings by now. Anna was especially bad when she'd struck a chord of genius with a business idea. She could get completely lost in thought, and conversation, about an event or a marketing technique, or whatever, mind you.
"Anna," she breathed. Even though her tone was quiet, it was serious enough to capture her rambling sister's attention. The redhead quieted, slowly standing to her feet.
"Is something wrong?"
Elsa slapped her new least favorite magazine down onto the table. "That is what's wrong." Anna wordlessly made an 'o' with her mouth as she sat back down. It was lecture time.
"'Party Heiress Strikes Again'?!" Elsa read. "What were you thinking?!" Her hands fell to her hips angrily. Anna cringed at her tone.
"It was for charity?" Elsa felt her eyes might fall out of her head she'd rolled them so hard.
"Flips for charity?! Seriously, how old are you?"
Anna slowly rose to her feet, her mind racing for ideas to fix the situation. "I-I can organize some kind of charity ball. Maybe something around Valentine's? That will definitely put the company back into good graces with the public eye!"
She smiled sweetly, hoping her sister would go for it. It wasn't too bad of an idea actually, and Anna LOVED planning parties. Elsa dropped her forehead into her hand.
"You don't get it, do you?" she asked. Anna cocked an eyebrow at her sister.
"Geeet what?" she asked, semi-suspiciously. Elsa was nearly at her wits end with this one.
"This isn't just about the company's reputation, Anna. This isn't even just about yours!" she exclaimed. There was a brief pause before she continued. "You still want to become chief event coordinator, right?"
Anna nodded quickly, twisting her fingers in her hands. "Yes..?" Elsa sighed.
"Well I can't give you that job until I know I can trust you to do it without these headlines popping up everywhere. Stop by my office at two, okay? I think I might have an idea."
Elsa nervously rapped her fingers against her desk as she waited. Was she being too hard on her sister? Sure she needed a metaphorical slap in the face, but was she really sure this was the way to go about it? There was a knock at her office door. Elsa's worried blue eyes lifted quickly, earnestly scanning the face that belonged to whoever had just poked their head into the room. Her nerves dropped at the sight of her mousy assistant. She thought it had been Anna. She was expecting her any second now.
She leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Am I doing the right thing here, Kayla?" she asked.
"That depends," Kayla said. "Do you really think you have another choice?"
Elsa massaged her temples with her slender fingertips as she groaned. How in the world did her parents parent?
"Is it my fault?" she finally asked after a moment of silence. "I feel like after our parents died, I became so consumed in my work that I just...let her loose. I let her do whatever she wanted. Maybe if I'd been there better, she wouldn't be so...unchained."
Kayla quirked a smile. "I don't think she's as far gone as you think. Sometimes the party girl facade is exactly that, a facade."
Elsa nodded, dropping her hands into her lap. Soon there was another knock on her door. Cautiously her redheaded sister in question peeked inside.
"Oh!" she said quickly. "If you're busy, I can come back later. You just had said earlier you wanted me to come by at two, and I know I'm a few minutes late so if you've started another meeting I completely understand-"
"Anna," Elsa interrupted, her voice light as she held back her laughter. She always rambled when she was nervous. And sadly, she got nervous a lot. "It's alright, come in."
Anna sheepishly ducked into the office, sitting down on one of Elsa's ridiculously soft office chairs. Kayla squeezed her shoulder comfortingly before leaving the two sisters to their conversation and closing the door behind her.
Elsa sighed as she pulled out an old wooden box from her drawer and placed it neatly onto her desk. Anna looked at it curiously.
"Is that..?" she started. The blonde nodded.
"The Christmas letters. Dad's most favorite tradition. And this year, I think you should deliver them." Anna quirked an eyebrow.
"Deliver them?" she echoed. "As in all the way to North Mountain deliver them?" Elsa nodded, a delicate smile on her lips.
"That's the idea!"
Anna stared blankly at her sister, clearly not understanding the concept. Her sister's test for if she was trustworthy enough for the job she'd been pining for was to deliver letters?
"Aaaaaand why exactly?" she asked. Elsa tucked a loose hair behind her ear.
"When Dad and Uncle Olaf started this company, they were just two best friends sitting in a diner booth in one of the smallest towns in America. And every year, they would take turns writing a letter to the other at Christmas, filling it with everything good and bad that happened that year," she said. "But more importantly, they always delivered it in person. Now I've kept Dad's tradition alive the past few years because I knew it would be important to Uncle Olaf, but this year, I think you should be the one to deliver the letters."
Anna blinked.
"But why me?"
"Because I said so."
"Okay, but why?"
Elsa let out an exasperated sigh. Her headache was starting to come back.
"Dad and Uncle Olaf learned a lot about what really matters about life in that town, and I think that could really help you too. I think you need it, so if you want the job, you're going." Anna bit her lip, but nodded definitively.
Elsa was right. She was in charge of the company, and it was her job to give. If Anna wanted to prove she could do it, then she would do whatever stupid test her sister had planned for her and she'd pass it with flying colors, danggit!
The younger sister flew to her feet, causing the older to jump slightly at the sudden movement. Anna picked up the box and held it tightly to her chest.
"Then I won't let you down!" she exclaimed with a toothy grin. Elsa smiled for a brief moment before raising a finger.
"There is a slight catch.."
"You're going where?!" Hans nearly yelled as Anna continued to pack. She sighed.
"North Mountain. It's a quaint little town that my parents are from." He shook his head.
"But you have to leave today?!"
"That's part of the deal!" she called from the bathroom.
"All to deliver some stupid letters?" She furrowed her brows at him.
"Hey, they're not stupid. Those letters are filled with my Dad's words. My dead father's beautiful words," she said, sadness etched in her voice.
He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I get it. But couldn't they have just emailed? I mean, handwritten letters?" he asked incredulously. She opened the box, sorting through the pages of history under her fingertips.
"Look at the dates on some of these. They go way past email."
He shoved his fists into his $2,000 jacket pockets and sighed heavily. Anna fought the urge to sigh herself. Whenever he got like this, it seemed like he aged back 15 years.
"When will you be back? We still have our own Christmas plans, you know," he whined. She finished throwing the last of what she needed into her suitcase and plopped down onto the bed next to it.
"It should only be a day or two. Just a quick trip down, hand off the letters, and a quick trip back," she said assuringly. He relaxed slightly, but his stature was still fairly tantrumy. She was engaged to a four-year old.
"Hey, I'm not too thrilled about it either. Especially with these rules Elsa has me under." He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"What rules?"
She shrugged. "Like I can't tell anyone my real name. She doesn't want me receiving any special treatment. I can't take any credit cards, I'm only limited to $100 for the whole trip-"
Hans snorted.
"$100?! Why on Earth did she cap your spending?" Anna shrugged once more.
"That's how much Daddy and Uncle Olaf started out with. Oh, and she made it explicitly clear that I have to place the box and this year's letter in his hands," she finished. Hans rolled his eyes.
"I don't know why you put up with this." Anna scrunched her face at him.
"Well, I really want this job. And I want to prove to not only her, but to myself, that I can do it," she said firmly, standing to her feet. "Now, will you take me to the airport? I'm worried it might be packed this time of year."
Hans picked up her tickets from off her dresser and looked them over. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Have you actually looked at these?" he asked. She shook her head, pulling her suitcase off her bed and onto the floor.
"Not really, why?" He cocked an annoyed eyebrow at her.
"Well you don't have to worry about the airport traffic."
Anna stared at the giant, silver bus in front of her. She'd never ridden one before. She'd never had to. Whenever her family went somewhere, they flew. If she ever went somewhere in the city, they either walked or took a town car.
She nervously gripped the handle of her suitcase as her sister smiled brightly next to her.
"You ready for this?" The blonde asked. Anna nodded hesitantly. Her stomach was in knots, but boy was she determined.
"You kidding?" she asked, digging deep in a desperate attempt to summon up as much courage as she could. "I was born ready!"
Elsa stuck out her hand, and smiled brighter. "Good! Then you won't mind handing over your credit cards now?"
"Oh, right!" Anna dug through her pockets and neatly placed them onto her sisters palm. She let out a shaky breath before turning on her heel, taking her first steps towards the towering, steel beast-
"And the platinum," Elsa said from behind her. Anna froze. She grumbled under her breath as she dug out her last card and begrudgingly gave it to her sister. Okay, so she was going to keep one for emergencies only. Sue her for trying to be cautious!
Elsa smirked. "Nice try." Anna stuck out her tongue before spinning on her heel again, her suitcase rolling behind her.
After getting her bags stowed away and finding an available seat, which she had found out were not reserved, she was finally ready to go! Off she was on her newest adventure yet. Goodbye Arendelle, hello North Mountain!
I was hoping to have this story done and begun posting before Christmas, but y'know. Life happens. Hope you liked this first chapter! I'm posting a few along with it to speed up the timetable and because I'm just too excited for you to get to where Anna and Kristoff meet. (minor spoilers for next chapter, but is that really much of a surprise?).
Interesting bit of trivia, if you don't know already, 'Westergard' has been deemed by Frozen's filmmaker Jennifer Lee as Hans' official cannon last name. Orginally I had it as 'Isles' as a bit of a joke towards Anna's "Ofthesouthernisles" being his last name, but I figured going with cannon was the better choice.
I also choose 'Randelle' as Anna and Elsa's last name because unlike Hans, there is no cannon last name for the two of them. They are merely known as Anna and Elsa of Arendelle, so 'Randelle' is supposed to be a little play-on-words of 'Arendelle'.
Kayla is also the genderbent character of Kai, one of the servants from the movie.
I hope you enjoy the next chapter! Happy reading!
(ps don't forget to leave a nice review)
-TheCleanWriter
