It took me a couple of days to really get started with this because whenever I thought about it, my brain was just giving me plans for the sequel (as in, the Frozen 2 rewrite) instead of this. Can't really write a sequel til the first is finished.

-IEA-

"If you ever speak to me that way again, I will turn you in to an ice sculpture and leave you in the courtyard as a warning to everyone else to never get on my bad side. Do I make myself clear?"

Anna frowned. Elsa sounded maaaaad. But then, the snowflakes at the window had been what sent Anna to find her sister to begin with.

"Y-yes Your Majesty!"

One of her council members - though perhaps not any more? - scrambled out of the room, almost running in to Anna in his haste before he rushed away. He didn't apologise, and Anna debated telling Elsa but supposed that would push her firmly in the direction of turning him in to a sparkly courtyard decoration. The door was still open, but Anna gave it a cursory rap with her knuckles.

"What!?"

Elsa wasn't facing the door, so Anna didn't take the small amount of yelling personally.

"Hey, it's me. What's going on?"

Elsa whipped round, and tension melted from her frame at the sight of Anna.

"Oh. Anna. Come on in. Close the door please?"

Anna complied, and crossed over to Elsa, gripping her hand and pointing to the window.

"It's snowing outside, so I figured something was up."

"Oh, just that I have incompetent fools working for me. And one in particular who is trying to talk me out of a few things he doesn't agree with. And let slip a little 'these are decisions for men to make'."

"Oooooh. You should have turned him in to ice."

That made Elsa laugh. Anna beamed, seeing the snow outside slow, and when Anna wrapped her arms around Elsa's waist and stretched up to kiss her, the snow was gone completely when they parted.

"Thank you."

"You are always welcome to kisses. From me. I suppose you could ask other people for some, you are the Queen. I doubt many would say no. Actually, I doubt they would anyway, you're so beautiful!"

The smile that her words brought to Elsa's face made Anna's heart skip several beats, Elsa's pale cheeks flushing prettily.

"You're always so sweet to me. But personally, I think you" Elsa tapped a finger on the tip of Anna's nose "are beautifuller."

Anna broke out giggling, remembering how flustered she was by Elsa right away, unsure when it was Elsa... grew up quite so much. It was incredible.

"So, I was gonna bring this up later but then it started snowing so I came to check in. I spent the morning at the school doing reading hour with mother, and the kids reminded me it was high time we had an ice skating day."

Elsa smiled, nodding slowly.

"It certainly is. I've just been so busy, with the trade back on with Weselton and all the planning for my new Coronation... but it's definitely time we all had some fun. Especially in this awfully hot weather."

"Oh yeah, you're not such a fan of summer."

"I have my own personal sunshine all year round" Elsa kissed her softly "but there's no point denying I am obviously built for the winter months."

Glowing with Elsa's words, Anna couldn't fight a dorky smile as Elsa's thumb stroked her cheek.

"Well, I was thinking maybe before we do the whole town, you could turn a room here in the castle into ice so mother can have a try. The doctor said there's no reason she can't learn stuff like riding horses or ice skating, since she managed the trip to the Ice Palace and alllll those stairs with no problems. He said she's basically as healthy and recovered as she's gonna get, but that if she gets sick or hurts herself, expect her to take a little longer to recover from that."

"So mother had a check up and made it for reading hour?"

Anna nodded.

"Yep!"

"That's very good. She's certainly looking much healthier, and Alice has stopped fussing about leaving space to 'fill out' in her dresses."

Anna nodded, feeling that damned warmth bloom under her ribs again. Because healthier wasn't the word her mind often conjured when looking at Iduna, and Anna was starting to think maybe she ought to talk about that with Elsa, as dealing with it herself had gotten her absolutely nowhere. Other than confused.

"Yeah. Doctor said to give it a couple more months before she starts wearing corsets again though, to make sure she doesn't get out of breath."

She was very glad Elsa's cool touch was still on her face, as it helped combat the rising warmth that shouldn't have been rising at all when she thought of... shaking those thoughts off before they went anywhere, Anna stretched up and kissed Elsa again.

"So... ice skating?"

"Ice skating. I have more paperwork and a few meetings this week, but I can set aside an hour in the evenings to see if mother wishes to practice, or join in at all, and I am free for Sunday afternoon if you wish to let everyone know there will be ice."

Anna smiled.

"What about ice cream?"

"Well, I suppose we could make a day of it. If the kitchens can manage it. Otherwise, we can ask the villagers to bring their own sweetened cream and milk and I can always freeze that.."

"Always good to have a use for the hundreds of bowls we have in storage for almost no use whatsoever."

"Well, they'll be out for the Coronation, and then of course the Solstice."

Anna rolled her eyes.

"You mean your birthday?"

"If you must be technical about it."

Frowning, Anna tried not to push. Elsa hadn't felt like there was much to celebrate for over ten years, losing the childish joy of parties and presents in the enforced isolation of her teenage years. They had celebrated last year, but that was early days for them. Anna knew that year would be even better, and she was going to make it the absolute best birthday Elsa ever had! At least until the next year, and the year after that, and the year after that...

"Should I leave you to finish your work?"

"Much as I love your company, it may be for the best, if I hope to finish it before evening."

Elsa actually looked a little like she was pouting. It was adorable.

"Well alright then. You have my blessing to turn that guy into ice if he's rude to you again. Nobody speaks down to my sister and gets away with it."

Giggling, Elsa pulled Anna closer and kissed her forehead.

"It's very sweet of you to be so incensed on my behalf."

"Always. I better go before your desk gets suspiciously messy. Again..."

They shared smiles and kisses before Anna reluctantly left the Queen to her work. It was almost lunchtime, but she'd seen the plate of food that had already been brought to Elsa - obviously, she expected to work through lunch and requested the meal be brought.

"No Elsa for lunch?"

Their mother enquired, and Anna shook her head.

"No, she's got a lot of work. But she had food brought to her, I checked."

Seeming happy to hear it, Iduna nodded and went back to her meal. She wasn't wearing gloves any longer, Anna noticed. Though if they ever went back up to the mountains, she imagined they'd come back out then. Mountains got pretty chilly.

"So, plans for the afternoon?"

Kristoff asked in between mouthfuls of meat, though he had stopped speaking with his mouth full in the last few months, as he knew it upset Iduna.

"Sewing practice. I've missed a few sessions."

"Would you mind if I joined you? It's been quite a while since I did any needlework."

Anna blinked, then shook her head.

"No. I mean, yes! By all means, come along. Tilda yells sometimes though, fair warning. She swears it's all out of love for the craft... but she does always have snacks! Her wife works in the kitchens."

As they both sat fumbling to thread their needles - though she'd been quite accomplished before her absence, Anna knew her mother was still regaining some of her very fine dexterity - Anna reflected on the nostalgia of the moment. Sewing was the sort of thing she'd watched her mother do as a girl, eager to try for herself, marvelling at how those seemingly endless, repetitive motions eventually stopped and a pretty dress or little doll for Anna was the end result.

"What are you smiling about?"

Anna blinked, not realising she'd just been sat there grinning at her mother like an idiot.

"Just getting to spend time with you like this. Reminds me of when I was younger."

Though it wasn't as perfectly neat and straight as it had been before, her mother still appeared to have some of her past talent for it, and got yelled at by Tilda less than Anna did. Anna was improving, but she occasionally got distracted and somehow got her thread all knotted or stabbed herself in the finger. It wasn't as though Anna needed such... wifely skills, since she had no real intentions of getting married. Kristoff had jokingly offered to do the deed if she ever needed a fake husband for cover - his support of she and Elsa was so, so wonderful.

Anna noticed that Iduna seemed a little melancholy when they were done, confused by her mothers down mood.

"Mother? Is something wrong?"

She asked once they were alone in Anna's room - she and Elsa spent most of their nights in Elsa's room, as it meant there was never a question of where to find the Queen - so Anna could change her shoes for house slippers. With a sigh, her mother sat down on her bed.

"When you said it reminded you of your younger days, I suppose it made me a little sad. You won't have those sort of moments if you never get married, no children of your own. And with Elsa possibly unable anyway, who will succeed her?"

"Huh. Hadn't thought about that. What would happen if... something happened to Elsa, and she wasn't married and had no heir?"

Anna suppressed an ache at the thought of there being no Elsa, actually curious about the answer.

"Well, the crown would pass to you. If you were to have a child, it would pass to them. Failing that, I don't actually know. Agnarr's father was an only child, and as his mother supposedly ran out on the royal duties, I doubt any of her line would be eligible even if I knew more."

She frowned. Anna had heard those rumours, of course, though her father had always been rather quiet about his own mother, and it had always seemed rude to push when the story was that she'd abandoned him.

"What do you mean, supposedly?"

Iduna blinked.

"Oh. Nothing, nothing. I never even met her."

"Really? Didn't you know the royal family growing up in Arendelle?"

"I didn't actually grow up in Arendelle, so no. I met your father when he was already King of Arendelle. I always knew where he snuck off to to read his storybooks, hiding from Kai."

Anna shuffled closer, listening more intently. These were times her mother had never mentioned before; obviously, they'd asked about their parents meeting and falling in love, but that had obviously all come when they were closer to adulthood than childhood. Her own childhood had always been 'for another time', or 'when they were older'.

Well, Anna was older now...

"So you were an outside marriage?"

"I suppose, though it wasn't arranged. Just... luck, I suppose. But that's enough of a trip down memory lane, we should go and meet your sister for dinner."

Her mother had a good point, although Anna felt like she was being dismissed from a conversation Iduna simply did not want to have. So Anna dropped it.

"Good point. Shall we?"

So used to walking that way with Elsa, Anna thought little of grabbing her mothers hand as she began to head off, until she felt resistance on the other end and found the woman looking at her oddly. She felt oddly warm, and dropped her mothers hand quickly.

"Sorry. Force of habit. Let's go!"

Anna left the room before she could make things any more awkward, trying to ignore the lingering warmth and phantom pressure of a hand smaller and rougher than Elsa's against her own. All those years in gloves had kept Elsa's hands fairly soft and smooth, while their mother had spent years fending for herself against nature. It made sense.

Her heart still leapt when she laid eyes upon Elsa, who was rubbing her temples and groaning over a plate she hadn't even filled yet.

"If I have to read one more page of trade negotiations, my eyes will roll right out of my head and set up an independent kingdom where reading is a crime."

Giggling at the Queen's choice of words, Anna kissed her cheek before taking her seat at Elsa's side. They were in front of too many people for her to do more, but it made Elsa smile, and that was what mattered.

"Well, you have no more reading to do tonight. Promise."

"Wine, Your Majesty?"

"By all the gods, yes, please."

Elsa thanked the staff as drinks were poured for each of them around the table - they served the Queen first, of course - and Elsa took a large sip before she rose to go and fill her plate with dinner. Everybody followed suit, and Anna relaxed into the familiarity of family dinner, castle staff chatting away nearby at their own table. She liked it that way; Anna's years alone would have been even lonelier without some of the more indulgent staff being so sweet on her, and it was nice to not feel seperated from that just because everything was better now.

Their mother was still quiet though, Anna noticed as she picked at some fruit for dessert before excusing herself early. Elsa looked to Anna curiously, who simply shrugged. It was certainly nothing they'd be discussing in front of others anyway. Elsa was one thing, but nobody else needed to hear it.

As Anna pondered the small but significant words of earlier, walking alongside Elsa in the hallway, she saw the flickering of firelight under a door to one of the sitting rooms. Kristoff had headed out to hang out with Oaken - despite the frosty start to their relationship, the two men got on brilliantly now - and taken Olaf with him, because Oaken also thought Olaf was hilarious. So the only person it could have been...

Anna pressed a finger to her lips in Elsa's direction, crept a little closer and eased the door open a few inches. Just to check. With her back to the door and a purple scarf wrapped around her shoulders, their mother seemed to be... singing? To herself. Too softly for Anna to make out the words over the crackling of fire, but something about the melody stirred old memories for her.

"Mother? Are you alright?"

Elsa's voice drifted into the room, seeming to surprise their mother.

"Oh. Yes. Fine."

She didn't look fine. She looked like she'd been crying.

Pushing the door shut behind them, the two sisters crossed over to Iduna, who sniffled and tried to subtly wipe her eyes.

"Mother?"

"Honestly, I'm..." she trailed off, drew in a deep breath "would you girls just... sit with me, for a while?"

"Of course."

Elsa sat first, drawing their mother to her side. Anna shuffled in on her other side, so she was surrounded by awesome hugs. After so many nights spent in Elsa's arms, it was certainly a little different to have someone in the middle.

And while it was meant to just be for comfort, Anna couldn't quite silence the part of her brain that said she wouldn't mind it happening more.

-IEA-

I have too much fun writing Anna, she's such a sweet, chaotic bean.