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The warm summer air wisped through the trees as the sun started to rise above the mountains and into the sky. The town seemed to get louder as the morning light flooded its streets, reminding everyone that the day was starting.
In the gardens, Anna sat on a stone bench rocking her two-year-old son, Daniel, who was still asleep. He had been suffering a minor cold the last couple days and even though the physician had gave Anna and Kristoff strict warning to keep Daniel inside, the child in her couldn’t deny her son the only thing we wanted when he was sick: to wake up hearing the birds chirping. Lately, Kristoff had been teaching his son all of the animal noises there were and Daniel loved the birds the most. Most likely because Kristoff couldn’t make the sound even if he tried, making Daniel laugh with glee every time he attempted it.
Anna didn’t stay outside with Daniel for long. She usually held him close, his chest to her chest, with his curly haired head rested on her shoulder. His arms would often wrap lazily around her neck and little snores escaped his open mouth. He always smelled so good in the morning too and Anna would hum old Norwegian tunes to him while inhaling his scent; never wanting to let him go.
When she felt Daniel start to stir, she started to stand to walk around the gardens with him when she saw Kristoff emerge from around the corner, his shoes tapping the pavement creating a little echo off the garden walls. She flashed a smile at him.
“Hey”, she whispered and settled back on the bench.
He leaned down and placed a hand on her cheek, softly kissing her lips, nose, then forehead. “I was looking for you”, he said quietly.
“I’ve been out here”, she replied, still rocking Daniel slightly. “He loves the birds. The real ones.”
“Hey, don’t tease me”, he chuckled. “I try my best.”
Giggling, she placed a kiss on Daniel’s head and gently handed his sleeping form over to Kristoff who held him firmly in his arms.
Anna stretched her arms. Daniel was getting heavier every day and even though Anna was toned and strong, it still hurt to hold him after a period of time.
“You’re the very best”, Anna said and rested her head on his shoulder. “I can see why Danny loves it out here…the sounds and the smells are wonderful.”
Kristoff kissed the side of her head and looked down at her flat stomach.
“Morning sickness today?”
“Only a little.”
“Good…I can’t stand to see you so sick.”
“I’m not sick, honey, I’m pregnant”, she reasoned and lifted her head up to look at him. “Does it bother you that much?”
Kristoff frowned and looked back down at Daniel. He was often a quiet man who didn’t use a lot of words to express his feelings. Thankfully for him, Anna could read him like a book. That’s why he loved her so much. She felt him. She understood him. She knew him.
“It won’t happen again, love”, she whispered knowingly. “Do you understand me?”
“But you don’t know that, Anna”, he said and looked at her, his eyes pained. “You…you didn’t see what I saw. You were completely addle.”
“You did everything you could, Kristoff. Everything. Look at your son. He’s healthy and beautiful and happy. This baby will be exactly the same, alright? Okay?”
“I promise you that I will not let anything happen to you or this baby, Anna. I…I love you so much, please know that.”
She cupped his cheeks with her hands and kissed him deeply, gently moving a hand to the back of his head and scratched lightly. “I love you too…more than anything. You’re my person.”
Giving her a lopsided smile, he accepted her words.
“So…when are you going to tell Elsa and Honeymaren?”
“How did I beat you, you’re literally riding on a magical horse!”
“I suppose I let you win then, huh? And he’s a Nokk, Maren.”
Laughing, Honeymaren jumped off her reindeer and pet his snout, admiring Elsa as she gracefully slid off the Nokk and ran her fingers through his mane.
“You did not let me win, you were completely and utterly distracted”, Honeymaren said as-a-matter-of-factly. “Some fifth spirit.”
“Excuse you, I survived Ahtohallan”, Elsa giggled.
Honeymaren walked over to Elsa and wrapped her arms around her waist and rested her head on Elsa’s chest. She was substantially shorter than Elsa, and she loved being able to hug her friend- well…close friend like this.
It was complicated. Over the past four seasons, the two of them had formed an incredible friendship. A friendship unlike any Elsa had ever experienced. It started off awkward as well, both of them having to test out vulnerability. They both experienced isolation and quarantine in their lives; Elsa being locked away majority of her childhood and Honeymaren being trapped in the Enchanted Forest from birth. It was the first thing they shared in common, well besides their love for lullabies that have a dark warning in them.
Over the last few months, however, friendship started to turn to attraction. Mutual attraction. It was unspoken, though, and it frustrated the absolute hell out of Elsa. She had never experienced those feelings for anyone before and all of this was new and scary. Sometimes she wished she could run down the hall to Anna’s room and cuddle with her until the Northern Lights blinded them through the windows.
It wasn’t like that anymore. Anna had a husband and a son…a whole family and Elsa had her friends in the forest. Her friends and…
“Honeymaren!”
Elsa’s inner thoughts escaped her, snapping her back into life when Honeymaren let go of her and walked over to Ryder. Elsa frowned as she felt the emptiness in her arms. She loved hugging Honeymaren and smelling her and letting her hand rest on the small of her back, wishing she could go lower. Blushing to herself, she sat down on the nearest boulder and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Elsa”, she whispered to herself and glanced up at Honeymaren who was laughing at something Ryder said. Her long brown hair cascading around her shoulders made Elsa’s mouth go dry. And to make things worse, she was leaned up against the wall of a hut with her arms crossed and her hip cocked out to the side. Elsa studied the curves of her body and her skin began to warm up at the sheer thought of running her hands-
“It’s the Queen and King!”
Thankful for the distraction, Elsa immediately stood up and clasped her hands together and smiled, seeing her sister and brother riding in with Sven and her little nephew.
The royal family was greeted by newfound friends who were delighted to be paid a visit to by them. Though they were always happy to see Kristoff and Anna, they were always so excited to see the little Prince who was not so little anymore.
One of the Northuldran women who Anna was close to immediately picked him up and held him, Daniel laughing the entire time and loving all the attention. One of the older Northuldran men helped Anna out of the sled and offered her some wine which she politely declined, hoping it wouldn’t make anyone suspicious for Anna never turned down wine. As she was making friendly glances and conversation at everyone, her eyes scanned the area for the one person she wanted to see most of all.
“Elsa”, she breathed out and picked up her skirts, quickly heading over to Elsa and hugging her tight.
Elsa smiled and hugged her little sister with the same enthusiasm and joy. She wrapped her arms around Anna’s neck and squeezed her eyes shut, allowing all the noise and stress fly away into the sky and letting herself focus on the presence of her sister. Her best friend.
“I missed you so much, Elsa”, Anna said as she teared up. Damn her pregnancy hormones.
“I missed you too, Anna. So much you have no idea.”
Pulling away, Elsa glanced at Kristoff who was walking their way and went to hug him as well. Taken slightly aback at how quickly she hugged him and how surprisingly tight her hug was, he smiled hugged her back
“Good to see you”, he said kindly and pulled away the same time she did.
“You too. And where’s my little guy, huh? I haven’t seen him in two weeks.”
“Essa!”
Elsa’s eyes lit up when she head her nephew’s little voice calling her name and saw him running towards her. Her grin widening, she kneeled down on the grass and held her arms open for him, scooping him up and peppering kisses all over his face.
Anna squeezed Kristoff’s hand as she watched her son bond with her sister. No one could make that boy laugh like his Aunt Elsa could. Maybe Kristoff trying to impersonate a bird but that’s about it.
“How’s my little man? You’ve gotten so big and just look at your hair! Is that your real hair?”
Jumping up and down all excitedly, he nodded. “Yeah!”
“There’s no way!” She joked.
“Uh huh! Is my hair, Essa!”
She ran her fingers through his hair gave his cheek a little pinch before placing him on her hip and standing up. He played with the end of her braid while muttering details about his breakfast food. Elsa listened with one ear and looked back over to Anna and Kristoff.
“So, I’m surprised you two came up here on a Saturday. I know those days are merciless with all of the meetings and the god-awful paperwork.”
“Well no one does as much paperwork as much as you did”, Anna joked. “Plus with Kristoff here, I get a lot more done.”
“Well what about today, then?”
“We decided to reserve the first Saturday of every month to family time”, Kristoff said. “So we’re here.”
Elsa smiled slightly and looked at Daniel. “He’s so beautiful…thank you for bringing him today. I just missed him terribly.”
“He misses you all the time. He always kisses his painting of you two before bed”, Anna said.
“Oh, tell her about the prayer”, Kristoff added.
“Oh! So we do this thing now before bed where he tells us who he wants God to bless the next day and we always tell him to tell us one person so he doesn’t get confused. Well, he’ll give us a new person each day but he always adds you. He’ll want God to bless mommy and Auntie Elsa. Daddy and Auntie Elsa. Honeymaren and- are you crying?”
Elsa laughed and wiped her tear away. “I’m sorry that is just…so sweet. I’m sorry.”
“Don cry”, Daniel said with concern and cupped her cheeks. “No sad.”
“I’m not sad, baby, I’m very happy. Very.”
The late morning slowly made its way into the afternoon and while Daniel slept in the sled under the watch of an Arendellian soldier and Olaf; Kristoff, Anna, Elsa, and Honeymaren all sat under a large aspen tree eating lunch and making good conversation.
The sun blazed through the leaves, burning Anna’s face while she tried to enjoy her meal. Her stomach was not agreeing at all with the food and she wanted to badly to go release its contents by a nearby bush or something, but she didn’t want to ruin the surprise. She knew how excited they’d be with the news of another baby. Well she hoped they’d be excited.
“Anna, you okay sweetie?” Honeymaren asked. “You look like you’re going to hurl.”
With all eyes on Anna, she chuckled nervously and downed her cup of water, avoiding the gaze of the others.
“Anna”, Elsa repeated.
“What? I’m fine! Everything’s totally okay I’m living my best life and enjoying lunch with my family. Things are perfect and wonderful and wow this bread is fresh.”
Anna swore she could hear crickets.
“Anna, what’s going on?” Elsa asked, placing a hand on her back and looking at her. “Are you in trouble?”
Trouble? Kristoff mouthed to himself.
“No, not at all! I’m just…well we just…yeah!”
“Okay but why are you-“
“We’re pregnant again!” Anna blurted out.
Honeymaren and Elsa shot each other surprised looks and averted their gaze back to Anna.
“You’re pregnant again?” Honeymaren asked with a huge smile on her face. “No you’re not! You are not!”
“I am!”
The four of them stood up in unison and exchanged hugs and exclaims. Though it was not at all how Anna wanted to deliver the news, she was glad that they were excited and happy for her. After the painful and almost fatal delivery of Daniel, she figured they’d be hesitant and wary but was relieved to feel nothing but joy.
“When did you find out!?” Elsa asked with her hand covering her mouth in excitement.
“We found out this past Wednesday! I was feeling nauseous and bloated so I went to see Dr. Haugen for some medicine and instead learned that I was with child! I just remembered crying and laughing at the same time. She said I was about eight weeks along and I’m due sometime mid-February! I can’t believe it, I’m- we’re so excited!”
“Oh, Anna, I love you and I’m so happy for the both of you”, Elsa said and hugged them both. “Danny is going to be a big brother. Is he excited?”
“Oh he doesn’t know yet. We probably won’t tell him until we get past the second trimester. Just to make sure everything’s alright”, Kristoff explained, his arm around Anna.
“It will be”, Elsa reassured.
After they finished their lunch, they spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening there and decided to head back to the castle as soon as they saw the sun start to set. Elsa hated this time of the day. She loved living in the Enchanted Forest with her friends but sometimes she missed the normalcy of her sister’s presence and that feeling of security.
“Bye-bye, sun!” Daniel said as he waved to the sun.
Giggling, Elsa hoisted him higher on her hip while standing at the side of the sled. “Are you going to be good for your mama and papa?”
Daniel nodded. “Yeah an I aways say peas.”
“Very good. That’s my sweet boy”, she smiled and kissed his cheeks multiple times before setting him into the sled next to Olaf, booping his nose as well.
“I love you, El”, Anna whispered and pulled her into another hug. “Come visit us soon. It will always be another home.”
“I promise”, she replied, squeezing Anna slightly before letting her go. “I miss playing chess.”
“No you miss winning at chess”, Kristoff retorted and stepped into the sled, helping Anna in.
“Is there any other way to play?” She said with a smirk.
“You forgot your basket”, Honeymaren said as she came running over to the sled. “Here, don’t forget it. We have plenty.”
They exchanged a few more words before bidding Kristoff, Anna, and Daniel farewell. Honeymaren and Elsa waved them off until they were completely out of sight. Sighing. Elsa sat down on the ground, picking the grass there and allowing the night wind to coarse through her hair.
Honeymaren knelt down in front of Elsa and pushed her hair away from her face and put it in a ponytail. “There, now I can see your face. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Why do you think something’s wrong?”
“Well for one you’re pulling grass out of the ground and dramatically letting Gale sweep it away. You’re also not smiling and you always smile around me.”
That made Elsa smile.
“Hmm…that, I do. You’re right.”
Elsa looked up at Honeymaren who gave her a look to continue talking but instead of continuing, Elsa just stood up and began walking, knowing Honeymaren would follow in which she did. Honeymaren grabbed her hand and swung it slightly as they walked in silence and enjoyed the sounds of the forest. It was peaceful just the two of them, but the thoughts pressing on Elsa’s mind broke it immediately.
“What are you doing?” Elsa finally asked, looking at their joined hands.
“I’m…holding your hand?”
“Yes, but why? What for?”
She furrowed her eyebrows. “Am I reading this wrong? I thought…aren’t…I mean we’re like…together right?”
Elsa stopped immediately and dropped her hand. She wringed her hands together and felt her heart rate pick up and avoided all eye contact with Honeymaren. Feeling guilty, Honeymaren took a step back and looked down at her feet.
“I’m so sorry if I overstepped.”
“N-No you didn’t…not at all I just- I didn’t know you were into me that way I thought it was…I mean I want to be with you in that way I just…I’m messing this all up aren’t I? Oh God, I am. Maren, I-“
Before she could finish her ramble, she felt a warm pair of lips on hers and she felt a firm arm wrap around her waist while the other wrapped her back, gently gripping the material of Elsa’s dress. The world seemed to stop and silence itself. All Elsa could feel was white heat spreading throughout her body and her cheeks reddened as her smile widened. She had never been kissed like this before. Shit…she had never even been kissed!
She allowed herself to hold onto Honeymaren tightly, her grip tightening and her body pressed up against the woman kissing her. This was pure bliss. The feeling of everything drowning out around her and the way her lips danced so softly over Honeymaren’s. Like a fairytale or a dream she never wanted to wake up from.
After what seemed like hours, they slowly pulled away, looking each other in the eyes and letting out soft laughter. Though they let go of each other, Honeymaren held onto Elsa’s hand, caressing it slightly with her thumb.
“…You…was that…?”
Elsa smiled and covered her mouth with her hand. “It was.”
“How do you feel?”
Elsa inhaled the summer air and raised a hand to Honeymaren’s hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. She looked at her lips once more and kissed her softly, not like the first kiss they shared. This one was less heated and more simple. It was kind and delicate.
“I feel…free.”