For the First Time for Forever

        "No, no! These aren't the ones I wanted at all!" Elsa shouted in a quivering voice on the brink of hyperventilating. The Queen quickly tossed the white roses aside as she turned to face a suddenly very nervous servant.

        "Forgive me, your grace, but aren't these the flowers you usually request for your formal events?"

        "But they're not for ME, they're for ANNA! Do plain, white flowers sound like the kind of thing she'd be looking hoping to find? She likes color and brightness and yellows and reds and purples and blues," Elsa ranted back, increasingly to herself as she turned away and began to pace the Castle Entrance. A thin layer of frost began to develop around the room as the level of worry grew in her voice, "And of course there have to be flowers, because she's always dreamed of there being flowers, and anything less would just be a massive disappointment, and she'll say no and then she'll run off for someone else who can get a simple flower order right, and then-"

        "Elsa!" a new voice called in. Elsa tore away from her mounting paranoia to face its source. From the Main Doorway, Kristoff shook the snow off his clothes only to notice that a small coating already covered the floor. "You want to take a deep breath and calm down for a minute? You're sorta turning Arendale into a snowglobe here."

        "Sorry," the Queen replied sheepishly, blushing at the realization that she had lost control of herself so quickly. With a wave, the snow disappeared and warmth once again began to flow through the room. She gave a quick, apologetic look to the servant, who volleyed back with a sympathetic look of his own. "I'm so sorry. I'm just under so much stress right now, it's hard to keep it in line."

        "Think nothing of it, my lady. The day before I proposed, I had a full head of hair," the servant offered, rubbing his bald head and eliciting a small, thankful laugh from Elsa, "You can see how that turned out! I'll collect the roses and replace them at once."

        "Why are we replacing the roses again?" Kristoff asked, picking one up off the floor and giving it a tentative sniff, "Do they have some sort of secret infestation of bees?"

        "No, but they're all wrong," Elsa replied, delicately clutching a white rose of her own, gently caressing the pedals, "They're far too plain for Anna to love."

        Kristoff let out a heavy sigh. He and Anna had only been together for a few weeks (there's a reason you shouldn't marry someone you just met, remember?), while she and Elsa had been together for over a year now, but still the Ice Harvester found himself consulting the Queen on perky redhead.

        "Hey, they're from you, aren't they? That's all she'll need," he said, resting his hands on Elsa's shoulders reassuringly as he spoke, "Besides, I happen to know for a fact that White has become one of her favorite colors."

        "Really?" Elsa asked quietly, looking up with tentative hope, "What makes you say that?"

        "Take a guess," Kristoff answered, tousling her ivory hair playfully, "Now if you excuse me, I have official royal Icemaster Duties to attend to! Not that it means much when the Queen makes it herself, but cut me some slack. Let me know when Anna gets back and the big shindig goes down!"

Kristoff quickly ascended the main staircase for his quarters. Elsa felt indescribably thankful for his advice, but his comment made her realize that she had mere hours until Anna returned. She hoped that Olaf and Sven would be able to keep her occupied for as long as possible!

        As the fluttering nervousness returning to her chest, Elsa noticed that much of the apprehension had dispersed. She made a mental note to thank Kristoff again when she saw him. But first thing was first!

        "Vilhelm!" she called out, rushing to catch up with the servant from before, "Vilhelm, wait! Maybe we can use the white roses after all!"

 

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        The castle was unusally quiet as Anna made her way up the stairs.  Aside from the one maid who informed her that Elsa had called for her in their chamber before quickly disappearing, the entire structure seemed to be empty.  Even Olaf had vanished, saying something about 'Snowman Business' pretty much the instant the two walked in the door.  Frankly, it all gave Anna a bit of a chill; she didn't like being alone this much.  It reminded her of those empty days before the gates of Arendale opened up for good.

        "I've still got Elsa, at least.  That's different from before," she thought to herself as she slowly approached her bedroom door, though as the maid's words rang in her ear, she felt a little shaky about that as well.  What could her sister want?

        "Elsa," she said nervously as she rapped on the door, "Are you in there?"  There was the slightest of pauses that seemed to be magnified by the silence.

        "Yes Anna; please come in."

        Anna let out a gasp as she swung open the door.  All around the room there were roses of vivid pink and brilliant white, covering every surface and saturating the air with their luscious scent.  The windows were all open, and the dying light of the setting in shone from behind the Western Mountains, illuminating the room with the aid of over a dozen small, gentle candles.  And in the center of it all stood Elsa, dressed in a simple yet beautiful white gown with a soft smile and beaming eyes that shone like diamonds.

        "E-Elsa, this...this is..." Anna stammered, taken aback by the beauty of the room as she walked towards her lover, "...W-What is all this?"

        Elsa took a deep breath.

        "This, Anna," she said, taking the girl's hands into her own, "Is something is long overdue."  She drew the red-head into a deep, loving kiss, and Anna momentarily let go of every question buzzing in her brain as the two of them embraced.  After the kiss, Elsa continued, her arms still lovingly around Anna.

        "I'm sure you know that I'm not exactly the most social person," Elsa said, playfully sneering a little as Anna smiled at the understatement, "But that's only because I've never been great at opening up.  My entire life, I've been caught up in fear; of myself, of what I can do, and, most of all, of the people around me.  That fear was just a part of me for so long, I thought I would have to accept it as who I was.  I just wanted to drive out everything else and suffer in peace."

        "But I could never drive away you, Anna.  Even though you're the one who I wanted to protect the most, and spent years trying to cast away because of it, you always stood by me.  You always looked out for me, and were always happy to be with me.  And because you were so stubborn," she added, squeezing the girl playfully as she did so, "It started to change how I saw myself.  It made me happier with who I was, let me accept and enjoy what I could do, and allowed me to stop caring about what other people might think, as long as I had you."

        "To be perfectly honest, Anna, you've made me happier than I ever imagined possible, and I can't even imagine how empty my life would be without you."

        There was a slight pause as the older girl broke the embrace and looked into Anna's eyes, which at this point were swimming in deep pools of tears.

        "And I never want to have to."

        With one, final deep breath to muster up a surge of confidence, Elsa descended onto one knee.  Anna let out an audible gasp as she finally put together what was happening.  Meanwhile, the Queen pulled out her ring; along the band were bright, shining emeralds of green and rubies of red, adding a brightness Elsa knew suited Anna perfectly.  And in the center was a large, shining diamond as clear as ice.

        "Anna," Elsa said, her eyes beginning to well up with tears of their own, "For the first time for forever, will you let me call you my wife?"

        Elsa had hoped Anna would say yes.  She had feared that she would say no.  What she never expected, however, was for the Red-Haired Girl to launch them both onto the floor with the most passionate kiss she had ever felt in her entire life.

        She figured that probably stood for a "Yes".

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        A few months later, Elsa still couldn't believe her luck as she held Anna, now her wife, in their bed.  The two had decided on a Spring Wedding, and so, just a few hours ago, they exchanged their vows and became one.  True, there were those that were reluctant at the idea of two women being wed, and two sisters at that, but when one of the two women is both a Queen AND has complete and total control over the power of Winter, it's remarkable how quickly minds can be changed.

        The ceremony itself was a small affair; their cousin from Corona served as Elsa's Maid of Honor, and Anna had somehow convinced Kristoff to be her "Best Man of Honor".  A few close friends and family members, as well as a very select number of foreign dignitaries, rounded off the attendance.  Aside from a few members of Kristoff's "family" breaking out on the dance floor, the reception had been an equally quiet event.

        The wedding night, on the other hand....

        "I don't think I'll get out of this bed for a week," Anna murmured sleepily into her wife's side.  Elsa stroked her hair tenderly while giving a loving smile.

        "Just a week?" she asked, "I had been preparing Arendale to go a whole month without my guidance."

        "Don't tempt me," Anna smirked, getting up to give the older girl a gentle kiss on the cheek before settling back into her arms, "Everything is just so....perfect."

        "Yes, it really is," Elsa added, "....almost."

        "Almost," Anna asked, sitting up in bed to look her partner in the eye with annoyance on her face, "What do you mean, 'almost'?"

        "Well, you said that you always hoped to have a child one day, didn't you?" Elsa asked, sliding out of the bed much to her wife's disapproval, "Well, I've decided I want one too."  There was a long pause as Anna stared blankly at the older girl.

        "Elsa, I'm pretty sure Kristoff was VERY drunk when he made that offer, and, even if he wasn't, I'm not going t-"

        "NOT that," Elsa interjected, a blush coming over her face in the process, "I mean...watch."

        As Elsa spoke, she conjured up snow and ice at the foot of their bed.  Slowly but surely, layer by layer, a form began to take shape.

        "I've been practicing this.  I wasn't really trying when I made Olaf or Marshmallow, so with the right amount of concentration, I think I can do this," she said before looking up to catch Anna's eyes, "...if you'll help me?"

        Anna stared for a moment, mystified by what was happening.  Slowly, she walked up and placed her hands over Elsa's.  They looked deeply into each other before sharing a tender kiss.  A few moments later, Elsa's magic finally stopped and the two looked down at the floor.  What looked like a blue skinned infant began to stir beneath them as Elsa's hands slowly reached down to lift it up.

        "Is...is it a he or a she," Anna whispered, staring in amazement as the baby began to move and act just as a flesh-and-blood child would.

        "It's a he.  Thought a male heir would be appropriate, after all," Elsa responded, stroking the babe's cheek lovingly, "Would you like to hold him?"  Anna silently nodded yes, taking the child into her arms.  She was amazed to discover he was actually warm.

        "W-What should we call him?" she asked in amazement.  Elsa gave an overjoyed smile as she watched her wife hold their son.  She managed to shake herself from her transfixion long enough to respond.

        "I was thinking...Kai."