Work Text:
The two women, the man, and the reindeer approached the raging waters of the Dark Sea as the Nokk, a majestic horse sculpted from pure, flowing water, arose from the waves and trotted ashore.
Elsa instinctively reached toward the horse’s head, offering a familiar touch of her forehead between the horse’s translucent eyes. Anna, Kristoff, and Sven watched the scene with awed smiles.
Elsa turned to her sister. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” the redhead answered. She turned to Kristoff. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
The man shrugged. “Maybe next time. I think this is something you two should do together. You’ll keep her safe, right?”
Elsa, Anna, and Sven gave Kristoff matching looks that said, Really?
“All right, all right. I trust you. Both of you. We’ll be at the Northuldra camp when you get back.”
The two women mounted the horse, waving off their companions as the water spirit galloped gracefully across the waves.
“Warm enough?” Elsa asked over the sound of the crashing waves.
“You mean after you, Kristoff, and Yelena each added about three more layers to my winter outfit? Yes, I’m fine,” Anna joked.
They enjoyed the silence and the view for a while before Elsa finally asked, “Do you see it?”
Anna followed her finger toward the horizon and gasped. The glacier rose out of the water ahead, rising higher and more gloriously above the waves as they neared.
“It’s beautiful. It’s almost like I can feel the magic…”
Elsa nodded, confirming that she felt the same way.
When the Nokk reached the icy isle, the sisters dismounted. Anna adjusted the heavy furs around her shoulders as the two thanked the water spirit and watched the Nokk’s descent into the waves.
“Wow.”
Anna admired the ice, towering far above the sisters’ heads, and then turned to Elsa.
“So...what now?”
“We go in.”
Elsa reached for her sister’s hand as Anna looked trepidatiously at the jagged entrance surrounded by the rough wall of ice.
The two entered the glaciar, walking slowly at first, with Elsa keeping an eye on Anna’s footing to make sure that the latter did not slip as she craned her neck to take in the winding cavern.
Finally, they reached a wider, more open chamber, and Anna stepped up next to Elsa and released a breath. “Phew! That was a little cramped. What next?”
Elsa looked at her sympathetically. “We go through that smaller tunnel there.”
“Great! Small spaces? No problem!”
She moved to go first, but Elsa stopped her.
“It slopes downward...last time, I remember sliding down on my feet, but I know you’re not as comfortable skating. Maybe I should make a sled?”
“Sure, sounds great! After you!”
Elsa effortlessly fashioned a small ice toboggan, large enough for the two to fit comfortably (with Elsa in the front), but small enough to navigate through the narrow tunnel.
The sisters alternated between nudging the sled along and riding the gentle downward slope. Elsa heard Anna gasp as they approached another large chamber, this one with pillars of ice leading down to the next pointed archway.
Elsa quickly bridged the gaps between the pillars, adding rails along the freshly-made ramp. The two slid down at a slightly quicker pace, and their momentum brought them through the opening and into the next wide, open chamber, this one accented with magnificent pillars of pure, clear ice.
“Elsa, this is amazing ! It reminds me of your ice palace!”
As the toboggan slid to a stop, Elsa rose, and Anna followed.
“Those pillars--did you jump last time? On ice?”
Elsa shrugged. “I was excited.”
“I am too, but not enough to risk my life! Speaking of which, you’re sure that we’re safe this far down?”
“Yes. Right through that door is where I saw the first memories. As long as we stay in that chamber, we will be fine.”
Elsa had already sealed the entrance she had opened to follow her grandfather into a deeper chamber, and she did not intend to open it again any time soon.
“Oookay,” Anna said, teeth beginning to chatter; “What next?”
Elsa approached the final doorway, feeling the familiar stirring of her magic as the chamber lit up before her.
Truthfully, Elsa had not known what to expect. On one hand, she trusted that Ahtohallan would have answers for Anna; on the other hand, she had only been here alone, and she had been seeking a specific set of answers.
This time, there were no crystals filling the air; the four crystals representing the spirits, along with Elsa’s snowflake joining them together, was still illuminated on the dark, icy floor.
Elsa took her sister’s hand, slightly more cautious than she had been at her first arrival. She led Anna to the center, which felt right somehow, and took a breath.
“What would you like to tell Anna?”
This moment was more familiar. Anna gasped as a rush of light illuminated the dome-like chamber, filling it with patches of memory, like moving photographs plastered all around.
Elsa admired her sister’s pure awe before trying to take in the scenes in front of her.
It was a patchwork of Anna’s life--both of their lives. They gaped at scenes of their parents’ marriage, Agnarr’s coronation and then Iduna’s, idyllic childhood scenes of the girls playing together before their separation. There was Anna attempting to scale the North mountain, insisting she would find her sister, and then jumping into the outstretched arms of a rather stunned Kristoff.
There were moments of Anna’s first kingdom-wide birthday celebration, of the first Christmas where finding Olaf had become a tradition, of the horses the sisters rode around the castle grounds...all of it a tribute to Anna, moments that had made her into the strong young woman she now was.
“Elsa this is--amazing. Brilliant. Perfect. There are no words. And yet I’m still talking…”
“Now watch this,” Elsa’s smile was more confident now as she followed the pull of her instincts, swirling the memories into snowflakes that covered the ground with sculptures of luminous snow.
Once Anna lifted her head, which she had shielded during the sudden (albeit controlled) blizzard, the two took in the scenes around them.
Some of the memories were the same ones Elsa had seen before: the coronation ball, the girls building Olaf, the frantic visit to the trolls--but other memories were different. Or maybe, Elsa realized, she simply hadn’t had the time to take them all in.
“Look at them!” called Agnarr from nearby, as he gestured to a young Elsa and Anna; “Elsa may be the heir, and she’ll make a wonderful queen; but Anna is even more of a natural leader.”
“Make it rounder! Ooh, and with bigger ears!” a young Anna urged her sister, as Elsa nodded and made adjustments to the mythical ice creature she held between the two of them.
Iduna laughed. “They’ve always been that way. The kingdom will be so grateful to have both of them; but I have a feeling that Anna will take the lead in interactions with the people.”
The sisters barely had time to take in their mother’s words before:
“Put me down! Put me DOWN!” Yelled Kristoff, tangled in Sven’s antlers. The reindeer dropped him pointedly into the snow.
Anna and Elsa burst into laughter. “I don’t remember that…” Anna started, before:
“She’s with her true love!”
Now they exchanged a confused glance. What were they talking about?
Sven gave Kristoff an incredulous look before Kristoff turned, suddenly distracted.
“Anna!”
Past insistence forgotten, he ran toward an unseen horizon, clearly on a mission.
Realization dawned on Anna’s face. “That’s when he decided to come back for me...in the blizzard, when he left me with…”
“I’m glad he did,” Elsa stated before Anna could continue her memory.
“Me, too,” Anna agreed.
“But Agnarr, are you sure? You have a kingdom to keep together! You really think you can marry for love, and not for political alliance?”
Agnarr traced his hand along Iduna’s face. “My dear, love is what keeps a kingdom together--what keeps the world together.”
“I’m not leaving without you, Elsa!”
Anna was startled from admiring the scene by her own voice, faltering and filled with pain.
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m so sorry.” Elsa ushered her sister away from the painful memory.
“I know you are. We’re all right now,” Anna assured her, gesturing toward the memory of the sisters finally embracing, eternal winter banished to their history.
“I knew you could do it.”
“I just hate keeping them apart!”
Iduna’s voice was filled with pain as she paced, addressing her husband. “Anna is older now. So is Elsa. They can handle themselves, and they can help each other! Agnarr, they’re both so lonely. Who’s to say that having Anna wouldn’t help? Elsa may have her powers, but Anna is so filled with love. Her love could hold up the world.”
“Lucky for the world.”
Anna let out a sob as her sister held onto her shoulders, keeping her steady.
“They’re right. They’re so right,” she assured her younger sister.
“We’ll tell her as soon as we return.”
“Anna,” a familiar voice stated from nearby; “You are the most extraordinary person I have ever known, and I love you with all that I am. Will you marry me?”
“We’ll never forget that memory,” Elsa chuckled.
“It’s strange seeing it from another perspective! But nice.”
“We love princess Anna!” a chorus of children sang, conducted by Elsa. Nearby, Kristoff conducted another chorus in a song he had written for the schoolchildren to perform.
“Princess Anna! Thank you so much for your help!” a few citizens offered enthusiastically.
“Elsa, why won’t you just let me help you?” An exasperated Anna followed her sister. “Do you not trust me? Is that what it is? I may not be the queen, but I know how to do SOME--”
“No, Anna, it’s not that! It’s just--I don’t want to force all of this responsibility on you!”
“You’re not forcing anything! I know your job is difficult, but I also know that I care about the kingdom too! And about you! Just let me…” Anna trailed off as the sisters disappeared across the snowy expanse.
Elsa chuckled. “I hope you’ll let me help you now. I do feel a little bit guilty about giving you all of that responsibility…”
“Once again, you can stop feeling guilty! I’m excited. And nervous. Really, really nervous. But this will be good! You don’t have to keep apologizing...except maybe for that.”
Elsa cringed at her former self, indicated by current Anna, ushering an unsuspecting Anna and Olaf into an icy canoe.
“I am sorry. So, so sorry. I was just so worried…”
“I know, I know. We’ve been over it. At least you brought me here now!”
“...And it will be a much safer trip than the last one.”
“I thought I’d have to stage a little accident for Elsa,” a snowy Hans sneered at a shivering Anna.
Elsa tensed, ready to destroy the memory or usher her sister away; she was taken aback when Anna started laughing.
“Imagine...him finding out...that you’re willingly giving me the throne!”
Elsa smiled. “And that you’re marrying an ice harvester with absolutely no desire to rule a kingdom?”
Now they both laughed as the form of Anna’s ex-fiance disappeared through an icy doorway. Neither had any desire to follow.
They paced the room for a bit longer, smiling and reminiscing.
“I think…” Elsa pondered, “That Ahtohallan chooses memories based on what we’re supposed to see. Last time, the memories helped me to reflect on who I am, and who our family was, and what the future needed to hold...I hope you have the same sort of experience.”
Anna thought. “Yeah, maybe. These memories were really nice. And I do feel good about the future.”
“Me, too,” agreed Elsa. “Arendelle is so fortunate to have such a wonderful, competent queen.’
“I agree,” Anna stated, and Elsa was surprised at her blunt acceptance. “You realize that you’re still the queen, right?”
“Fine, FUTURE queen! You know I meant you!”
The sisters giggled as they finally made their way back up. Elsa paused at the doorway.
“I didn’t really consider getting back up...I might have to make some stairs as we go.”
“Good thing you’ve got ice magic. Although it would be a lot less tiring if your magic allowed you to fly instead. Ahtohallan, make a note of that for future fifth spirits!”
As they ascended out of Ahtohallan--Anna noting that at least the exercise helped to combat the cold--the two of them fell back into silence. Elsa didn’t think much of the comfortable quiet at first, but once Nokk left them off at the Northuldra camp, Anna hung back from the crowd, interjecting less frequently than usual.
Kristoff brought her a cup of tea, which she gratefully accepted.
“Everything all right? You don’t seem as talkative as usual. You didn’t find out any more life-changing family secrets, did you?”
Anna chuckled. “No, nothing like that. It was good. Great, actually. I guess I’m just taking it all in.”
“Wow. It must have really been something to leave you speechless,” Kristoff teased.
Anna bumped her shoulder against him as he laughed and wrapped his arm around her.
“It was. It really was. You should see it some time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The two of them interacted with the Northuldra and watched the reindeer before departing for Arendelle. It was strange leaving without Elsa, but Anna would need to get used to the fact that Northuldra was now her sister’s home.
Kristoff respected his fiancee’s unusual silence until, finally, admiring the setting sun, she spoke.
“I saw my parents.”
Kristoff turned to look at her.
“Wow.”
“Yeah. It was...a lot. But good. Really good.”
“They would be so proud of you, Anna.”
She smiled sadly. “I wish they had been here to meet you.”
Kristoff looked hesitant. “To hear that you decided to marry a smelly ice harvester instead of a prince or a duke or something?”
“Kristoff, my mother was an orphan from Northuldra. No one knew anything about her past. My parents married for love. They made a lot of mistakes, but they knew that love was important, that it was the most important.”
Kristoff smiled at her. “They were right about that.”
There was another moment of silence before Anna spoke again.
“I think that’s what Ahtohallan was trying to tell me.”
“What’s that?”
“That I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”
Their eyes met, and Kristoff smiled widely in response.
They didn’t have to tell Sven to take the lead in navigating; the reindeer was smart enough to figure it out.