A Rainy Night of Realization (Elsanna)

Chapter 5

Breakfast was slightly different that morning.

Elsa and Anna always made sure to have a least one meal together a day, but today, Elsa wished that she waited until lunch, maybe dinner? Anything to prolong the eventual confrontation with Anna. As a result, Elsa’s usual impeccable table manners were stiffer than normal while her eyes darted from her food to her sister across from her. Anna, on the other hand, seemed to be in a haze. She ate sloppily (more so than usual) and her gaze was distant. There were bags under her eyes that worried Elsa, but out of hope that “The Conversation” could be avoided, she said nothing. Eventually, Anna finished her breakfast with a satisfied clank of her utensil hitting the now empty plate. She reached down to her lap and took out the book she spent all night reading. After placing it on the table, Anna finally made eye contact with her sister and a shy grin appeared.

“I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have read that book,” Elsa said before Anna could open her mouth.

“I understand why you think so, but I get it, it was for the best,” said Anna.

Does Anna know? Elsa wondered. What is it that she understands?

“Maybe the book went into…a bit more detail than I would have imagined, but it had to be done. So don’t think that I shouldn’t have read it. It…really opened my eyes and I was finally able to answer some questions,” Anna continued, not noticing the queen’s internal debate.

She does know! But maybe I’m wrong. Elsa began to fidget in her seat, but again, Anna didn’t notice anything.

“I was a bit mad why you just didn’t confront me about it before, but you were right, like always. I would have probably denied it and tried to ignore it. Now that I’ve figured it out myself, I can’t ignore it. I can’t say it isn’t real. This book you lent me has left me absolutely no doubt. Which is why I wanted to tell you-“

Oh no. Here it comes. The rejection. The disgust. Elsa clenched her hands that rested on her lap in preparation.

“-Thank you.”

Huh?

“I know it must have been difficult to give your little sister a book like that, but you knew what you had to do. That’s what makes you an amazing queen. I’m really happy to have someone looking out for me like that and to push me along. I finally know more about myself. Thanks, Elsa.”

Anna stood up from the table and wrapped the stunned Elsa in a tight hug. She pressed a soft kiss on her forehead before leaving the dining room.

“I’ll see you later today. I need to find Kristoff,” Anna called back as the doors closed behind her.

What just happened?

…

…

The soft scratching noise of Elsa’s writing was the only sound heard in her study. Books were piled beside her. She would frequently stop, grab a book, flip through the pages, and continue writing. She knew the law well enough, but she didn’t want to leave any room for question. According to the established law, as long as the royal Arendelle blood was passed down, the details of how that came to be could be overlooked. Technically, if all else was lost, Elsa could adopt a distant relative and have them take over. Sadly enough, it was just Anna and Elsa left that were of true Arendelle blood. If everything she read is true, if she created life and it had her genetics, then the ancient laws would be appeased.

Misogyny was not very large in Arendelle, allowing women as well as men to rule in the kingdom as a whole and down to private shops and the heads of households. In fact, Arendelle was known as a very liberal country compared to its surrounding neighbors, which allowed Elsa to not bang her head over the concept of marriage and providing the kingdom with a king. Most things banned in the theocratic kingdoms were allowed to be left to the choosing of the individual citizen. Despite all the fairly loose laws concerning moral dilemmas, the one thing the kingdom prided and put above all was blood and family. After all, blood is thicker, as the saying goes.