Elsa Comes Out: Anna and Sigfred

        “Elsa, do you want to go out?”     

        “No Anna.”

        Elsa could hear her sister walking around the garden; she kicked at something, “Maybe to the bakery? Mister Bekett makes the best crème puffs. I’m sure he has some.”

        “You can go if you’d like.”

And right now Anna would be staring at her. Elsa wondered if she was puffing out her cheeks. She opened one eye ever so slightly.

        She was.

Elsa smiled, “Anna can’t you just sit down and enjoy the day?”

        Anna let out a small huff and Elsa could hear her sit down. She opened her eyes.

Elsa was laying on a blanket under the largest tree in the garden wearing the lightest dress she could find, an off white linen and bodice. She felt so, what was the word? Refreshed. Yes. The night’s sleep with Kristoff had done her wonders. She only really wished she could have remembered more of it. She remembered entering the lean-to, and kissing him, but not much beyond that.

        Elsa stretched out her legs, pulling up the hem of her skirt to feel the sun on her calves. Still whatever had happened had helped, she felt so good now.

Except when she saw Anna this morning. At that moment she couldn’t help but having felt she’d betrayed her sister. Of course Anna had said it was fine, she even said she thought that Kristoff and Elsa together were rather cute, but Elsa couldn’t help but feel like she was taking something from her sister. Not to mention the scandal of the whole thing if it got out.  A Queen and a common man? An argument could be made for Anna, but her? There wouldn’t be any such luck.

        “Elsa?”

        “Hmm?”

        “Do you think Mom and Dad would be happy with us?” Anna said, “With how everything’s turned out?”

        Elsa opened her eyes and looked out into the deep blue of the sky, “I think… I think they’d be proud of you, Anna. Fly by night engagement notwithstanding,” she said with a grin.

        “Ugh. You try and marry someone you just met one time and you never hear the end of it.”

Elsa laughed with her sister, “Why do you ask, all of a sudden?”

        “Well I mean, I’m just kind of there and I don’t do anything and you’re queen and everything and you talk to everyone and you do all these things and…” she trailed off.

        “You do plenty, Anna. You sit in for me-”

        “Only when you decide to let me! Like yesterday when you just disappeared for the rest of the day!”

        “I was resting,” Elsa said, scratching her forehead, “I was tired.”

        “And even then nothing happened,” Anna sighed, “I just want something to do. Kristoff’s been gone for weeks…”

        “It is his job, Anna. You wanted me to make him Ice Master,” the queen sat up and patted her sister on the shoulder. The girl wanted responsibility. That was understandable, she supposed. What else could a princess do other than simply be around? Maybe something that let her talk with people? Maybe.. oh!

        “Yeah, I guess I just didn’t think he’d be so busy. I wish he’d spend more time with us,” Anna smiled at her sister only to find her staring behind her with a look of pleasant surprise on her face.

        “Anna, do we have a cat in the castle?”

        “No, what?” Anna turned and sitting rather stately next to one of the garden walls was a black and white cat. It was a large animal, with long legs and an oval head, long thick hair and tufts of fur in its ears. It stared back at the couple with ambivalence.

        “Ohh! Look at the kitty!” Anna jumped up and hurried over to the cat, Elsa followed. As the two came closer the cat clearly had made up its mind; it wanted very little to do with these things coming towards it. It bounded for a bush.

        “Oh no, come here, please?” Anna pleaded as she followed it. The cat ran from bush to bush as Anna chased it with Elsa simply enjoying the show.

        “Leave the thing alone, Anna,” Elsa said laughing.

        “No, he’s my friend now!”

        “He’s running away from you.”

        “We’re playing a game you wouldn’t understand!”

Elsa shook her head as Anna followed the cat until it came to the thatch of blue flowers she’d planted below the queen’s window.

        With no bush to hide in, and Elsa standing nearby, the large feline did the only thing it could think of, it climbed.

        “Hey! Hey no!” Elsa protested as the cat scurried up the wall, over the rock foundation of the castle, up the wooden plank sidings and up onto the sill of Elsa’s room and then inside.

Anna gave her sister a sheepish smile and shrugged, “I guess he wanted inside?”    

“I will not have cat fur all over my room, Anna.” Elsa pointed at her sister, “Come on, we’re getting him out of there.”

       

        “Your majesty, I truly wish you would-”

        “No Gerda. This is Anna’s fault and she has to fix it.” Elsa said to the head housekeeper, “Just bring a bag or something for us to take it out of the castle in.”

        “Yes your majesty,” the woman closed the doors to the queen’s bedroom as she retreated.

The cat was nowhere to be found, more importantly, nothing had been scratched up or damaged, thank God. Elsa glared at her sister before walking over to the window and pulling it close.

        “Can’t we keep him?” Anna pleaded

        “It clearly doesn’t like being near people.”

        “He’s just a little frosty. He’ll warm up to us! Come on help me find him.”

        “Help you get rid of it.”

        “Hush”

Anna went about searching around the chest of drawers and her sister’s wardrobe while Elsa looked out the window to see if the creature had made their lives easy and just left while they were arriving. She couldn’t see anything in the garden below but that didn’t mean much, there were plenty of places to be if you didn’t want to be found. Elsa knew a thing or two about hiding.

        “Oh there you are! Come here pretty baby.”

Elsa turned to find her sister halfway under the bed, her legs sticking out from under the bed skirt. She kicked her legs, “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

        Elsa lay down next to her sister and looked under the bed. Pressed against the wall was the cat, and puffed out as it could make itself. Anna was stretching her hand out to the cat, palm open.

        “You’re being too eager, Anna,” Elsa said, “Don’t look like you’re trying to grab him, just hold out your hand, let him sniff it.”

        Anna looked at her sister and shrugged, and closed her hand into a loose fist, “It’s okay little guy, come on.”

        It took another ten minutes before the cat finally creeped forward and sniffed at Anna’s hand and another few minutes after that before, to Anna’s delight, it rubbed its head against her knuckles. Elsa smiled as her sister cooed at the animal as, just within arm’s reach, it let her scratch it’s head.

        After a while Anna was able to coax the cat out from the bed, holding it in her arms. She stroked the animal’s long fur as she sat on the floor leaning against the bed.

        “You’re just the sweetest thing aren’t you?” Anna said, “Oh we are so going to keep you. What’s your name little guy?”

        Elsa crouched down next to her sister, “I suppose when it’s not running for its life it is rather cuAAOW!”

        Elsa pulled her hand back as the cat hissed and scratched at her hand.

        “Oh! Elsa are you alright.”

        “I’m fine,” She said, holding her hand, three long welts stretched across her palm, a small droplet of blood was starting to form, “We should call the little devil Hans.”

        “Oh he’s not that bad are you?” Anna held the cat up looking into its yellow green eyes, “Nooo, you were just protecting me weren’t you?” Anna smiled, “I know, I’ll call you Sigfred.”

        The cat gave a quiet little miao, as if it approved.

        “Ohh!” she pulled the cat into a hug before getting up.

        “You’re not really going to keep it are you?”

        “Of course! He’s here to stay, aren’t you Sigfred?” she cuddled the animal, “Here,” she said, holding the cat out, “Kiss and make up.”

        “Anna. No.” Elsa said taking a step back.

        “Come on, Elsa. Please?”

        Oh god she’s doing the eye thing again, Elsa thought. Gingerly she held out her hand. Sigfred’s ears went flat as the hand came closer and Elsa braced herself for another hiss and more welt marks. When she felt the cats rough tongue tickle her skin she nearly jumped.

        The pair spent the rest of the day fawning over the animal, though the cat clearly preferred Anna over her sister. Blankets were found and piled and a small bed formed in Anna’s room for the cat. Brushes were obtained for the animal’s long fur. They even got the creature a few fish for its dinner.

        Elsa watched her sister stroke the cat’s tail as it ate its way through the fish, the melancholy that her sister felt in the morning now long gone.

        Still, what she’d brought up then was a good idea. She got along well with nearly anyone. The people loved her, she even got a cat that she’d chased around to eat out of her hand…

        “Anna?”

        “Hmm?” the girl lazily looked at her sister.

        “If you still want to be able to have something to do, there is one thing that I couldn’t find myself trusting with anyone else,” Elsa said.

        “What’s that?”

        “Well, you could be a diplomat. You’d be the person who would speak for Arendelle and you’d be able to see the world. If you really wanted to.”

        Anna’s face was practically glowing, “Really?” In her mind she pictured herself at balls, lying on white sandy beaches, walking through palaces that made their castle look like, well, Kristoff’s shack.

        “Of course.”

Anna wrapped her arms around her sister, laughing and chanting thank you’s while Sigfred finished his fish and stared at the pair with the closest look a cat could muster for contentment.