What Comes Next?

Chapter 13: Crowning Glory

*over in Arendelle*
Kristoff's PoV:
Finally the glorious day that was August 15th, 2020 had arrived. It was the day my beautiful and very energetic wife would be crowned Queen of Arendelle! Much like I'm sure she had on the day her sister was crowned, Anna awoke early as the sun.
She then proceeded to wake the rest of the castle by running around in her bathrobe screaming about what day it was and singing... I wanted to be mad, but I could never be even slightly upset with her adorable self. Plus, I knew she'd either wear herself out or Elsa would wake and shut her up.
Therefore, I simply rolled onto my side, my back facing the door which was still open, and went back to sleep. It was a peaceful ten minutes... until another disturbance woke me up. This time it was not my wife, though I would have preferred it was because that would have meant that she was coming back to bed to sleep a little longer.
Sadly enough, it was Olaf. Not that I didn't enjoy the ever happy snowman, but when he made it snow on my bed out of excitement I wasn't his biggest fan. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Kristoff? Kristoff? Kristoff? Krist..." He continued to bounce up and down with energy.
"What?!" I cut off the bouncing ball of snow after realizing that my pillow was NOT going to tune him out. He sat down and held onto his feet, looking up at me with the ridiculous puppy dog look of sadness and innocence. It was the look Anna had taught him. Not that it was relevant now, but she'd also taught our daughter. Point of all of that is that I never got to win around here anymore.
"Princess Anna..." he giggled. "I mean soon to be Queen Anna sent me here to tell you that Aiden's family will be arriving soon. She said you are welcoming them with King Frost, Elliot, amd Aiden." I rolled my eyes. Of course she wanted me there. I was about to be King after all... damn, I hadn't even thought of that! I was never meant to be in that position with that kind of title...
Slowly I made my way to my closet to change. Behind me I heard Olaf once more. "She also said to make sure you shower!" He called out to me in a tone that sounded like he was mocking my wife. If I wasn't soooo tired, I would've laughed as I made my way to the bathroom instead.
After my shower, I dressed in my normal clothes, that way I didn't have to be in the stupid uncomfortable dress clothes all day. Making my way down to the castle's grand entrance area, I knocked on both my nephew's door and my daughter's door, calling out for Aiden and Elliot. They were both to meet Jack and I downstairs. Thinking of my brother in law, I was almost worried I'd be underdressed to welcome Aiden's family, but I was wrong.
Downstairs I saw Jack Frost wearing dark jeans, a grey button down with the sleeves rolled up, a dark grey vest, and dark grey shoes. He was feeding Sven carrots when I walked up to them. "Morning Frost Man." I greeted him with a high five. "Morning Mr. King to be. Ready for today?" I shrugged. "Ready to move to the Enchanted Forest?" He laughed. "Yeah, I think so. I know Elsa is crazy excited and I love seeing her happy. Ummm where are the boys?" He looked around.
I gestured my head back towards the grand staircase where two dressed but sleep deprived boys were walking. With them was Olaf, still as bouncy me chatty as he had been earlier. Jack and I both laughed. As they reached us, we heard the sound of car tires pulling up outside. "You're just in time boys." I announced, as I laid my hand on Aiden's shoulder.

Aiden's PoV:
I was EXHAUSTED. I had gotten very little sleep the night before, mostly due to my anxiety. I had told myself that everything was going to be okay, but my internal thoughts were going one hundred miles an hour. You're going to be King someday. Is that the life you really want? You came here to escape that life and now it has followed you here. Katherine had tried to help me calm, but I was still nervous.
When Kristoff had knocked on our door this morning, Katherine had instantly transformed into a ball of pure energy. She was bouncing off the walls, singing and dancing all morning. It was wonderful to see my lovely wife to be so excited. I knew that she was going to be with her mom and aunt, preparing for the coronation all day.
As for me, I was now standing beside my future father-in-law and uncle and cousin to be as we awaited my family's arrival. The dancing snowman, I think his name was Olaf, and Sven the reindeer were also with us. We sure knew how to put together a hell of a welcoming party...
I was nervous to see them but also excited. At least I could finally figure out why they hadn't come to graduation. I know it had been a week since the ceremony, but I was still a tad bit hurt. But, not much because Katherine and Elliot didn't have their family there either, so in a way we were all three each other's family.
Finally, my family was announced and the large doors swung open.
My mother and father were the first to enter and I had to resist the urge to go and greet them myself. I let Kristoff and Jack do the introductions before embracing my parents. My mother seemed giddy with excitement.
"My darling Aiden I'm so proud of you! Graduating as Valedictorian, getting engaged to a princess. You got everything you wanted and still don't have to rule a kingdom."
Yeahhhhhh, I hadn't had the chance to tell my family that Anna was now going to be Queen which meant that I would be King someday when Katherine took over, but I would save that for another time. Or they could just find out today at the actual coronation. Internally I laughed nervously. My father came over and shook my hand before we embraced as well.
"We would have attended your graduation but SOMEBODY neglected to inform us that we had even received the invitation." My parents both turned their heads and glared at my brother, who was currently walking in with Mal. She definitely looked like she didn't want to be here in the slightest, but I chalked that up to the pregnancy. That's all I could do since I barely knew my sister-in-law. As for my younger brother.... I was going to have to have a word with him.
Ben and Mal came up to me and us brothers just silently looked at each other, the tension only broken by introductions and greetings. "Aiden, congrats on your engagement."
"Benjamin, nice of you to come to this ceremony, considering you didn't even bother informing our parents of the last one. Funny thing is, this one had a less formal invitation." We both laughed awkwardly. Things were now very tense between the two of us. Now that I understand why my family hadn't come, I was livid with my younger brother, but I put on a smile.
"Well you know you didn't bother coming to our graduation or Mal's coronation or mine..." Things were about to degenerate into a full blown argument when my father's booming voice brought attention to him.
"BOYS! This is certainly not the place. I'm sure you have a room to get ready for the ceremony so I suggest you adjurne there and continue this discussion." Dad brought up a very good point. Leaving the parents and Mal behind, I led Ben back to my room. The walk was dead quiet, as neither one of us dared to speak in the hallways.
I brought Ben to my room and closed the door behind us. He leaned up against the door and I sat on the windowsill, looking out over the bay. Plenty of ships were arriving from Arendelle's other trading partners and neighboring kingdoms. I decided to break the silence.
"So, you're still upset at me for not attending graduation or you and Mal's coronations huh? Well I'm sorry, but that doesn't mean you get to exclude the entire family from my life! You had family at the coronation and graduation, even if I wasn't there. But you know what, I didn't have family here Ben! All I had was Katherine, that's it! Well and Elliot... I was alone when two of the biggest moments of my life happened and it was your fault!" I was seething with anger but I also felt like I was about to have a massive anxiety attack.
"My fault?!? You're the one who gave up the crown, you're the one who decided to run away from his duties as first born son. You made your choice when you left Auradon! You have no one to blame but yourself Aiden. Besides, why are you so upset about this anyway? We are here now for you!" And that's when I lost it.
"BECAUSE I'M GOING TO BE KING SOMEDAY AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" I shouted in anxious rage as tears began streaming down my face. Ben was in stunned silence as he came over to sit by the windowsill with me.
"King, what do you mean King? Katherine isn't going to be Queen someday. Elliot is gonna be King and his descendents after that right?" Normally, Ben would be right, but considering the events that had transpired since my message, everything had changed.
"Ben, Elsa is stepping down as Queen. Her and Jack are going north to live in the Enchanted Forest. Anna is to be crowned Queen today, which means...." And, then Ben, who wasn't oblivious for once in his life, completed the statement for me. "Which means Katherine is next in line for the throne and that you will be King someday. Now I understand a lot more. You're clearly nervous as hell now and combined with your anger towards me, you're all over the place. When did this all happen?"
"The day I sent that message to you guys. We were initially told that the ceremony today would be to welcome the royals back. But, then myself, Katherine and Elliot were informed about the switch in power. I really haven't had the chance to tell anyone else yet. Ben, I don't know what I'm going to do. I gave up one throne, I surely can't give up another. Besides, I'm marrying into this one. I'm not cut out to be a King. I can barely control my emotions around my own family. How am I supposed to rule a whole kingdom?" Ben was silent silent for a few moments before he placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"Listen Aiden, you're one of the smartest guys I know. Yeah you may have left our kingdom and dropped it into my unexpecting infant lap, but I think you'll do great. You have Katherine by your side, I'll always be there for advice and I have faith that you'll do great. If someone as oblivious as me can figure out how to rule, you can. Also, I know you love Katherine and would do anything for her. Even rule when you never wanted." It was good to hear reassuring words from Ben, that didn't happen often.
I went to speak again when there was a knock at my door. "Aiden, can I uhhhh, can I talk to you for a moment?" Shit, it was Kristoff. This wasn't a good sign. Ben gave me a nod as he went over to open the door for me.
Standing in the open doorway was Kristoff, looking about as nervous as I was. "Aiden I'm gonna go and find Mal and see if she's okay. You better tell mom and dad soon that you're gonna be King by the way. You know how mother will react if she has to find out simply from Anna's coronation..." I just smiled at Ben as he closed the door, leaving just me and my future father-in-law. This was gonna be an awkward conversation. I broke the tension first.
"Look Kristoff, if this is about me marrying Katherine, I'm sorry I didn't ask for permission or anything first. It's just, I love your daughter and I wasn't really sure what was happening with you guys."
"Aiden it's not that I'm upset with you, it's just well, I'm kinda freaking out right now. There was this Enchanted Forest business, I come home to my daughter being engaged and on top of that, I now have to get all dressed up because I'm gonna be the King, which I am totally not ready for..." Oh good, he was just as nervous as I was. Great, just great. That really inspired a lot of confidence... NOT!
"Okay good, glad I'm not the only one who's nervous then. I may or may not have just yelled at my brother in part because I'm freaking out right now." I went back to staring at the bay as Kristoff came over and sat down next to me.
"Aiden I have to ask, you gave up the crown that was your right by birth, are you going to give this one up as well?" It wasn't a terrible question to ask. It was one that I had thought about for the past day. I had thought of the life of freedom, adventure and travel that I always wanted. But, there was a massive downside to giving up this crown... I would lose Katherine. And, that just wasn't something I was willing to do.
"I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about giving up this crown. Being King was certainly not what I wanted out of life. But, I am going to keep this crown. Because it comes with one very special perk. It means I get to have your daughter in my life as my wife." Kristoff raised an eyebrow at me.
And my nervousness hit me again. "I mean that in the best possible terms! Even if your daughter wasn't going to become Queen, I'd still want to spend my life with her. Hell, I proposed to her thinking that we wouldn't get close to ruling ever."
"Anna really loves you, you know. She thinks you're perfect for Katherine. It was one of the things we discussed on the walk back to Arendelle. That was the first chance we had to get word from our daughter, and her messages were littered with your name. I think you two are a good fit as well. Yeah, the timing could have been better, but that couldn't be helped. As for ruling, well I'm just about as nervous as you are. It means I have to dress up all the time. Be fancy and all of that stuff. I am not looking forward to that." We shared a laugh and my anxiety and nerves faded away.
I guess if Kristoff was worried about being King, me being worried wasn't such a bad thing after all.
"Well, we can help each other adjust together. What do you say?" Kristoff embraced me, but we were interrupted by Olaf.
"Wow, what a great family scene. Ohhh I love it! Oh Kristoff, Anna wanted me to remind you that you had to wear your fancy clothes today. See you later." The snowman began humming to himself as he walked back out the door. Kristoff just sighed and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Welcome to the family Aiden. You better get used to the snowman." We shared one last laugh before we left to get ready. Left alone with my thoughts, I also began to get ready.