Don't Let Go

Part One

"Are you ready Anna?" Elsa shouts to her sister.

Anna pokes her head around from a small, makeshift snow fort she has built. "I am so ready," she replies. "I was born ready!"

Elsa smiles, a mixture of mischievousness and playfulness evident on her face. "Okay," she says. "Here it comes!" The Snow Queen begins to form a snowball in her hands, and Anna watches from behind her fort as the snowball grows bigger and bigger.

"Hey, no giant snowballs!" She shouts. "It isn't fair!"

Elsa giggles. "Alright, alright," she says.

"And wouldn't it be better if you made your own fort?" Anna asks.

"Don't need one," Elsa replies. She then throws the snowball at her sister's fort.

"Whoa!" Anna hadn't expected the snowball to go straight through her fort. "Guess I made it a little too weak."

"I told you, an ice fort would be better than a snow fort!" Elsa laughs.

"Yeah, well, not all of us have magical ice powers!" Anna retorts playfully.

The two sisters enjoy their snowball war for quite a while. Elsa continues to throw her snowballs at Anna, while Anna rolls up snowballs of her own from Elsa's snow. The two of them don't remember having this much fun with each other since... well, since they were little kids.

After a while, the sisters finally collapse from exhaustion, side by side.

"You're getting better at holding your own against me," Elsa says with a smile.

"Thanks," Anna says, returning the smile. "But you do make it a little easier not having your own fort."

"Okay, fine," Elsa says. "Next time, I'll make a fort... an ice fort!"

"I'll accept that challenge!" Anna says.

"Pardon me Your Highness, but I have a message for you." Anna and Elsa both look up to see Elsa's Royal Messenger approaching.

Elsa jumps up as quickly and gracefully as she can, standing tall and dignified. "What is the message?" She says with poise. Anna is amazed at how quickly her sister can transfer between playfulness and... royal-ness.

"The King and Queen of Parynia have just arrived," the Royal Messenger says. "They are here for the meeting you requested."

"Ah, yes," Elsa says. "Send them to my throne room, and tell them I will be there shortly."

"Yes, Your Highness," the messenger says with a bow. He then leaves the sisters alone to head off to his duties.

"The King and Queen of Parynia?" Anna says as she finally stands up and brushes the snow off of her clothes. "Why are you meeting with them?"

"The Kingdom of Parynia has recently had a terrible outbreak," Elsa replies. "Some sort of illness that no one can find a cure for. It just came out of nowhere! But I'm hoping that maybe there is some way I can help."

"What way is that?" Anna asks. "Do you think your powers can help somehow?"

"I'm not sure," Elsa says. "But that's what I intend to find out at this meeting."

"Here ya go, two blocks of ice!" Kristoff says as he loads the last two blocks off of his sled, and hands them to one of his customers.

"Oh, thank you!" The man replies gratefully, taking the ice. He then hands Kristoff his payment.

"That's what I'm here for," Kristoff says. He gives Sven a loving pat, and hops aboard his sled. But before he can take off, the man stops him.

"So, I hear that the King and Queen of Parynia are here?" He asks.

"That's what I've heard," Kristoff replies. "I haven't personally seen them myself, though."

"Well, just be careful," the man tells him. "I've heard that the illness breaking out in their kingdom is a very terrible one, indeed."

Kristoff thinks about this for a moment. Why would he need to be careful? It's not like the King and Queen of Parynia would actually come to Arendelle if they believed that they carried the illness with them. "Thank you sir, I'll keep that in mind," he tells the man. "Let's go, Sven!" At that, the reindeer takes off at a run and begins to head back to the palace of Arendelle, pulling the sled and its rider behind him.

"Rapunzel! Could you come here please?"

"Coming, Mother!" Rapunzel replies. It was still very strange to her, her new reality. Discovering that she was kidnapped as a baby and was actually a princess, meeting King Frederic and Queen Arianna of Corona who were actually her parents... It was a lot to get used to.

It was a lot for her parents to get used to, too. For eighteen years their daughter had been missing, so when she finally shows up out of the middle of nowhere, having been found by the thief Flynn Rider who now goes as Eugene Fitzherbert and was dating their daughter, they were ecstatic. But now that Rapunzel has been here for a while, she has noticed that something still seems to be bothering her parents.

"What is it, Mother?" Rapunzel asks as she steps into her parents' room to see her mother sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I am exhausted from today's duties, dear. Do you think you could please fetch me a glass of water?"

"Sure," Rapunzel says. She finds it a little strange that her mother is asking her instead of one of the maids, but she is still so happy to actually have a mom who isn't just keeping her around to use her. She no longer has magical hair with healing powers, so she never has to worry about anyone using her like that ever again! She does as she is asked without a question.

Once she brings the water back to her mother, Arianna has already made herself comfortable under the covers. Rapunzel hands her the glass, and then looks around bewildered. "Where's Father?" She asks.

"Oh, he just wanted some fresh air," Arianna replies. "He's roaming around outside somewhere."

Rapunzel had noticed her father doing this a lot lately, at all hours of the day (or night). When she would run into him, just wandering around, he would act happy to see her. But she could tell that he really wanted to be alone, to ponder over something. But what was he pondering over? What was he so worried about?

"Are you going to bed too, dear?" Arianna asks her daughter.

"Soon," Rapunzel says. "I, um, have something to do first."

"Okay. Good night, my sweet Rapunzel," Arianna says.

"Goodnight, Mother," Rapunzel says. She then gives her mom a kiss on the forehead, and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. Now to find Eugene, she thinks.

Rapunzel finds her husband in their room, himself preparing for bed. "Eugene, I'm worried about my father," she says.

"Why?" He asks as he slips his boots off.

"Well, he just seems... depressed," she says. "I don't know... I guess I just feel like, since I'm back, he should be a little happier? Both of them, really. They both seem like they're worried about something."

"Well, they are the King and Queen," Eugene says. "I'm sure they've got a lot of things they're worried about, for the Kingdom. Hey, maybe they're even worried about that illness that has spread throughout the Kingdom of Parynia. Lots of people are worried about that."

"Yeah, I heard about it," Rapunzel says. "But, this just seems... well, bigger than something like that. I mean, we're not even anywhere near that kingdom! Why would they be so worried about it?"

"Why don't you ask them?" Eugene suggests.

"I have! They just brush it off, paint a smile on their faces, and act like nothing is wrong... until I leave."

"Well, I'm not sure what else to tell ya," Eugene says. "But hey, I'm sure if it was anything too big they would tell you. Now come to bed; I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning."