This Love is Difficult, but it's Real

Chapter 13

Hey, guys! Nothing except the plot belongs to me. Happy reading!

"Wh-What do you want with me?" Elsa said.

Pitch chuckled. "Nice try, deary, but you're not getting anything out of me," he pretended to zip his mouth shut and lock it. "All I've got to tell you is that your precious kingdom better be ready for what I have in store for it."

Elsa could only look at him in horror. Her kingdom was in danger and she was talking to the enemy. She had to alert her family, the citizens, Jack.

Pitch seemed to have read her mind because the next thing he said was, "And if you tell anyone of our little meeting, I promise I'll destroy every one of your loved ones." a little piece of black sand morphed into a miniature figure of Anna. Elsa gasped in terror as Pitch crushed the miniature figure in his hand.

"Do you understand, deary?" he growled.

Elsa could only nod.

"Good." Pitch smiled wickedly. He let go of her neck. Elsa gasped for air, drinking in as much as she could. "Oh, and if you're wondering about your horse, don't worry," Pitch said nonchalantly, as if they had just been talking about the weather. "I made sure he stayed where he was." And just as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished.

Elsa swiftly stood up and ran as fast as she could to her horse. She urged it to go as fast as it could. Her mind reeled with what had just happened to her. She felt so sick and faint.

Stop it, Elsa. she scolded herself. There's no time to act like a coward. You must stay strong for everybody.

When she arrived home, she could still feel her heart pounding in her chest. She wanted to tell her father about her encounter with this Pitch Black, but something held her back from knocking on his study. She remembered Pitch's threat to her family. No. She couldn't risk it. She couldn't risk putting her family in danger. She had to think of a solution on her own.

"Hey, Elsa!" Anna's cheery voice broke through Elsa's haunted thoughts. "How was your day outside Did you have fun?" her eyebrows waggled in a mischievous way.

Elsa put on a fake smile. "Yes, it was very nice."

"Ooh! Ooh! Did you eat the sandwiches I packed for you?" Anna asked. "I worked really hard on those."

"Yes, Anna." Elsa said a bit absentmindedly.

"Elsa?" Anna asked, a worried frown creasing her pretty face. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I-"

"Did Jack do something to you?!" Anna shouted, her eyes full of anger. It was a good thing that nobody was around or else they would have heard her.

"No, Anna-"

"Because if he did, I'm gonna punch him so hard in the face he's going to be seeing stars everywhere!" Anna said, rolling up her sleeves and pretending to punch an imaginary Jack.

"Anna!" Elsa finally cut in. Anna looked at her. "No, nothing's wrong. Jack didn't do anything to hurt me. I'm fine. Just a little preoccupied," she said. It wasn't technically a lie because she was very preoccupied. Preoccupied with the thought of what Pitch could possibly do to her and her kingdom.

"Really? Are you sure?" Anna asked, feeling Elsa's forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever or anything so I guess you're not sick. And you wouldn't lie to me."

Elsa felt bad for keeping a secret from her sister. After all, she did just tell Jack a few hours ago that she didn't keep anything from her. But what could she do? If she told her, Anna would get worried and scared. She didn't want to see her sister like that.

"So, tell me about your day," Elsa said, changing the subject and plastering on a smile. "Did you give Kristoff a piece of your mind today?"

"Well, I was going to," Anna drawled. "But when I came to the stables, he told me he was sorry over and over and over and over and over-"

"I got it," Elsa chuckled.

"And he also gave me these flowers," Anna said, going over to a nearby table and showing her the flowers, which were now placed in a vase.

"These are beautiful," Elsa breathed, fingering one of the pale lilac petals of the flowers.

"I know right?" Anna said, breathing in the scent of them. "He's such a sweet guy for doing this."

"Did I just hear something?" Elsa smiled. "Is Princess Anna falling for Kristoff, Hans' stableboy?"

"What?! No! That's ridiculous!" Anna said, but her face was now growing a bright red.

"You sure?" Elsa raised a brow, smiling.

"It's true!" Anna said, burying her beet-red face in her hands.

"Okay, okay," Elsa laughed, patting her sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry for teasing you like that."

"You should be," Anna huffed. "It's not nice to tease someone like that, you know. About who they like and don't like and all."

Elsa held up her hands in mock surrender. "Okay, Ms. Feistypants, you win."

"Good," Anna smiled. "Now could you help me put these flowers up in my room?"

 ..~..

That night, Elsa didn't sleep well. She kept tossing and turning, her thoughts all a jumbled mess. Questions swam in her mind. When were they going to attack? What exactly are they going to do? Does the kingdom still have time to prepare themselves? And most importantly, was she going to tell anyone?

Elsa sighed in frustration, sitting up in bed. This was all too much for just one person to handle by themselves. If only she could tell somebody....

 No. She musn't. She couldn't. It hurt her to keep such a thing from the people she loved.

But if it meant keeping her family safe, she accepted the duty readily.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This was kind of an Anna-centric chapter. Again, I wanted to focus on both sister's relationships and how they develop, especially Anna's since we don't see a lot of her. Thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter!