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"Hello Anna,
How are you doing these days?
I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit to the kingdom of Vassar.
I will be there for your birthday in two days. I'm gonna bring a present, and I'm sure you'll like it.
See you later.
- Your sister and best friend,
Elsa"
Anna was so excited.
She can finally see Elsa for the first time in three months!
They usually saw each other at least once a month. But this spring, Elsa was busy keeping watch around the forest due to the spring storm, which was rare in this season.
Meanwhile, Anna herself also had been occupied since she was going for a diplomatic trip to the neighboring kingdom. She had lots of things on her plate; arranging the schedule, reviewing the proposal of trade, and so on. She had been quite nervous too. She needs to present herself more as the upstanding queen of Arendelle, less as a cheerful and frisky princess.
Fortunately, Queen Runa of Vassar was a generous person. She had warmly welcomed this new queen and made sure her guests would feel comfortable during the visit. She even had shared some stories of the late King Agnarr with this daughter of her old friend.
It was indeed a delightful trip.- she thought to herself. Yet, Arendelle was her home after all. She could finally settle back and was ready to seize the day.
"Your majesty? May I come in?" A servant knocked on her door.
"Yes, come in!"
Gerda entered the room with a cloth in her arm.
"Good morning. I have brought something for you."
"Really? What is it?"
"Well, I have done some stitches on your old summer vest. I thought it would be nice for a walk around town."
She showed it to her curious queen. It had small embroidery of sunflowers, which reminded her of the dress she had worn on her nineteenth birthday...the first birthday after she reunited with her sister.
"Happy birthday, Anna. I have seen you two have been through a lot in these years. I am very proud that both of you have grown into wonderful women."
The older woman smiled at the young woman who had tears forming in her eyes.
"Thank you, Gerda, this is beautiful...This means a lot to me. Can I try it on?" Anna asked.
"Of course my dear. I'll help you get dressed for today."
She put on her dress, and then the vest. It looked sophisticated enough as a queen, yet showed some jolly girl part of her.
"Maybe I should wear this for my birthday today! I love it! Thank you for this thoughtful present." She showed her gratitude enthusiastically.
"My pleasure. Now if you'll excuse me, my queen, I'm going fetch you someone to do your make-up and hair."
"Of course! Let me know if you see Elsa arrive. I wanna welcome her by myself!"
When she got ready, Anna headed to the salon where other family members awaited.
""Happy birthday Anna!""
There she found Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf.
"Hi Sven, Hi Olaf, Hi Kristoff! How do I look?" She turned around in front of them to show the dress.
"Are those sunflowers? I LOVE sunflowers! Oh, you look like summer!" Olaf was pumped.
"Haha, that's so sweet of you." Anna chuckled at the snowman's excitement.
Then Sven approached and nuzzled her.
"Yeah, you look beautiful as sunshine." Sven said, that is, Kristoff in “Sven Talk”.
"I think sunflowers really suit you." Then Kristoff added with his own voice.
“Aww, thank you, guys!” Anna was so happy about spending her birthday with this little peculiar and wonderful family. She couldn't wait for one more missing piece to be completed soon.
"Well, shall we?" Kristoff suggested and offered her his hand. "Everyone's waiting for the birthday girl to make an appearance."
The girl complied. "Right. I can't wait to meet everyone!"
The door opened, and she saw a lot of people gathering in the castle yard.
"""Happy birthday, Queen Anna!!"""
Everyone cheered as they saw their queen.
"Wow, thanks for coming to my birthday party, everyone. I appreciate all of you for your kindness. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I will!"
The queen proclaimed. And with that, the party started.
"Hi, Anna. Or should I say, your majesty?"
"SoYun!"
It was one of her best friends from the village.
"Or should I say, 'What a pleasure to have you here, Lady SoYun of Lim'?"
They made a curtsy to each other, then giggled.
"Hey, I've heard Elsa is coming today. Is she here yet?" The farmer girl straightened up.
"No, she's not. Maybe she has some stuff to be done out there. But I'm sure she's coming soon. I'll let you know when she gets here. Maybe we can talk about this year's bonfire festival!"
"Well then, I guess I'll get some kransekake while waiting for her."
"Don't you mean, you'll wait for her while you are eating all of them?" Anna teased.
"Hey!...well I mean you're not all wrong. It's one of the best things in Arendelle! Except I'll only have a reasonable amount." The other girl fake frowned.
"Okay, then, catch you later!" Anna waved goodbye to her friend seeing her heading to one of the table.
"Queen Anna?"
She turned around and found a little boy from the orphanage standing hesitated.
"Oh hi there, are you enjoying the party?" She bent down a little so that she wouldn't intimidate this kid.
"Yes!... Um, could you come with me? We have prepared a present for you."
"Of course! I wonder what it is."
Then, the boy offered his hand. "Ma, May I have the...honor to... take you there, ...your majesty?" He shyly asked. It was clumsy, but she found it charming.
"With pleasure, sir." She smiled at his gesture and played along with it. He escorted the queen to where other children gathered.
"Queen Anna!" A young girl popped out and hugged her. "We made a song for you!" An older boy explained. "Everyone, ready?"
The song was beautiful. Anna admired the way the children's eyes were sparkling during the song.
"Wow, that was amazing! Thank you for the sweetest gift."
They grinned proudly. After that, each and every one of them told her about the song; who wrote which part, how the rehearsal went, and whatnot.
A few hours had passed since the celebration started, and Anna started to be concerned. She spotted Kai standing right in front of the door and approached him.
"Hi Kai, have you seen Elsa yet?"
The man gave an "I have no idea" shrug. "No, I'm afraid not. She might be in the castle. I'll go check if she's there."
"Thanks. I'd appreciate it."
She looked around, then found new guests coming her way.
"Honeymaren! Ryder!" It was her new friends from the forest. "I'm glad you guys could make it."
"Hello, Anna. Happy birthday to you." Honeymaren greeted.
"It's good to see you doing well." Ryder added.
Kristoff appeared from a crowd at the moment.
"Hey guys! Thanks for coming! How was your journey to get here?"
"It was alright until someone decided to take a 'shortcut'." The dark-haired girl glared at her brother.
"Come on, don't be so grumpy, sis. We've made it here after all. Anyways, we brought you something!" He nudged his sister.
"Right, here's a gift for you. Remember we talked about your mother's shawl when you visited us before? Well, I thought it would be nice to give you something that represents our culture so that it reminds you of her." It was a rug that features traditional Northuldran patterns.
"Wow, how thoughtful of you...thank you so much." Anna looked at it with a sentiment. "By the way, didn't Elsa come along with you guys?"
"No...? Wait, she's not here yet?" Honeymaren seemed to be confused by the question. "She said she would leave this morning, didn't she, Ryder?"
"Yeah. With the water Nokk, she should've arrived here by noon I guess." He shrugged.
"Oh… I wonder where she's right now…" She was getting more concerned. "Well, I shouldn't keep you two any longer. I hope you enjoy this party!" With that, she let them mingle with other guests.
"Don't worry, she's coming in any minute." Kristoff tried to comfort her.
"Yeah...I believe so too! She said she can't wait to see me. I'm sure she's just caught up with something!" She tried hard to keep the smile on her face.
The sun was setting, and most of the guests were on their way home while the castle servants were tidying up the place. Still, none of them hadn't seen Elsa at the party.
Anna was anxious and disappointed. Does Elsa forget about her sister's birthday? Or is she in any trouble that keeps her from visiting Arendelle? Hundreds of thoughts were tearing her apart.
"It seems she couldn't make it today. I'm sorry…" She said to SoYun.
"There's no need to be sorry. I understand that she's in a different circumstance now. Maybe we can talk next time, right?" She tried to cheer her friend up.
"Maybe...I guess…" Anna had been trying to keep her faith through the day, but it had been getting harder and harder as time went by. She bade farewell to SoYun and came back inside of the castle.
"I'm so sorry for you, Anna. I know you two are really close." Honeymaren talked to her with a sympathetic look on her face.
"It's okay. I know she's been busy…I understand that. I'm lucky enough to have so many people to celebrate with, including you." She was trying hard not to falter. "We arranged guest rooms, so you are more than welcome to stay here for night. If you are not tired out, we would love to have you two in our dinner later. Well, it'll be more like supper actually, since we already had a feast in the afternoon."
"We'll be there. Thank you." Ryder said with a friendly smile.
"Kristoff, could you lead the way to the room for them?" Anna asked. He hesitated for seconds, but he complied seeing an "I'll be okay" look in her eyes.
"Come with me. I'll give you a quick tour on the way." So he took the role of entertaining the guests
Anna managed not to cry on her way to the dressing room. When she reached the door, she sighed. She needed some alone time to face and accept this reality, then get herself together as a queen.
Just then,
"Anna!! Happy birthday!!"
She heard the voice. The voice she had been waiting for. Across the hallway, she saw the familiar figure.
"Elsa? Is that you?" Her voice was cracking. She ran toward but halted a foot before her. She looked bit disheveled...and is that dirt on her dress or…?
"Wait, is it chocolate?"
Anna sniffed and smelled the familiar scent. "What happened to you?"
"It's the present for you. I made a chocolate cake! I arrived here before noon and sneaked into the kitchen to ask for some help. It took longer than I expected, though." She smiled embarrassingly. "You know I'm not exactly a good cook."
"But, how come other castle staff didn't know you were there? Someone must have seen or heard you."
"I wanted it to be a surprise. So I told everyone not to tell you about me, including Kai and Gerda."
Her jaw dropped. Her mind couldn't keep up with this plot twist. Of course, she was very happy to see her sister after all, but…
"I, I was really worried about you! I thought you got into big trouble, or even...forgot about me!" Tears shed from her eyes. "I was so anxious...it was so painful to face the truth that my sister might no longer care about me…"
"Anna, that's not true at all! I always care about you. That's why I did this. I wanted to make it a perfect day." Elsa explained so to comfort her little sister.
"Don't you understand? It will never be a perfect day without you! A present doesn't matter. To me, it's about having fun with my family and friends!" The flood tore down the wall. It was a mixture of her anxiety, concerns, and loneliness she had felt for years. She couldn't take any more fear of losing her loved ones.
"Anna... I'm, I'm so sorry. I didn't think much about what you want... I guess I'm not good at being an older sister either." She chuckled at herself.
"Well, you sometimes get oblivious to the fact that we are always by your side...but you're still a cool sister and best friend to me." Anna was still sobbing, but with a smile on her face.
"Thanks. Now, let's get you tidy up. Your makeup is ruined by all your crying. A chocolate cake is waiting for you at the dinner table."
"Now you're talking like a big sister! But I think you should get yourself cleaned up, too. You got chocolate dirt all over your dress and hair." The younger girl laughed.
"Yeah, right. It'll take some time even with my magic." The older girl chuckled too. "Well then, see you at the dinner table."
The dinner went pleasantly. All of the members at the table shared their new stories. They found every story interesting, funny, and charming. They laughed and enjoyed the meal, including Elsa's special chocolate cake. Anna was the happiest one there. Finally, all of the pieces were completed. She cherished every second of her time with her family and friends.
After the dinner, the sisters built a blanket fort and talked all night inside of it.
At one moment, Elsa questioned. "Do you remember that on one birthday, we hid from grown-ups and ate chocolate cake with our hands when we were little?"
"Now that you said it, I remember. Yeah, we got chocolate all over our faces and pajamas. Gerda got so upset when she saw us!"
It was one of her memories of their childhood that didn't get wiped away with the troll's magic. "Looks like one of us hasn't grown so much since then, though."
She smirked and burst into laughter. Elsa didn't quite grasp what her sister suggested at first. When she got it, she scowled at her for a second but cracked up soon after, which led them to get a scolding from the said servant. But it was fine after all. Anna was too happy to be downhearted today.
Today was another perfect day for her.