Chapter 4: Coming Out

Elsa bit her lip as she looked at her husband, his eyes curious as he waited to hear what she had to tell him. Ever since Anna had announced that she was expecting, Elsa had been traveling from one point of self-discovery to another. If this was what people called a soul search, it was all-encompassing... and exhausting. This new moment of awareness had been the most difficult to grapple with of all, and Elsa thought she would only feel better about it if Joan was here. But her niece was still in Corona, and anyway, this was a conversation that she felt was best conveyed to one family member at a time.

"I've... discovered... that I am attracted to both men and women," Elsa confessed to her lover and strongest supporter. She winced a little when she noticed Robert's eyes blink in surprise. "I've... read some research, and the term for it is apparently... bisexual." Again, she paused, giving herself a moment to gauge his reaction. "This doesn't change anything or how I feel, at least for me. I want nothing more than to stay married to you. And I love you," she sighed. "I love you so, so much. We know everything about each other, and I just want to make sure that it really is everything. No more concealing or not feeling." She eyed Robert warily when he still wasn't saying anything. "Do you hate me?"

Another beat of silence. And then, in the next second, Robert was on her, kissing her mouth again and again. Elsa tried to speak through it, but Robert was sucking each and every word from her lips. At last, he let her go, grinning broadly. "Does that answer your question?"

Elsa giggled, overcome with relief. Husband and wife embraced, just as Anna came skipping into the study. "And what are you two lovebirds getting so cozy about?"

Elsa glanced to her sister, and with hope in her eyes, guided her over to the couch. She whispered what she had to say into Anna's ear, wanting it to be private, just between them, as her telling her husband had been.

Anna's reaction was just as enthusiastic and accepting as Robert's. She practically jumped her sister in a big hug, beaming even as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "I love you. No matter what. Thank you for telling me."

Robert nodded his concurrence. "We will keep this a secret - something tells me this is happy news that only you should share. Unless of course, there are other people you do want to tell?"

Elsa wrung her hands. Yes, there was at least one other person she wanted to share this with. But even more than with her husband and her sister, Elsa was terrified over how he might react.

Joan's departure for Corona (from where she was still not back) had done nothing to thaw the tensions between Elsa and Kristoff. She and her brother-in-law were still not speaking to each other, and it was starting to weigh heavily on Elsa's heart. She deeply regretted ever reacting to Anna's pregnancy the way that she had, and though Anna had readily forgiven her, it was an open question as to whether Kristoff ever would. After all, it was he whom Elsa had hurt the most.

"I want to tell Kristoff," Elsa admitted. She glanced at her feet. "And not just about this. There are... other things." Robert eyed her knowingly, and maybe with a bit of pride. "I don't know if he'll accept any of it."

She grew confused when she noticed Anna smiling knowingly. "If I know my husband," her sister weighed slowly, "you're fretting about this more than you should. Why not just go and try?"

Bolstered by whatever hidden message Anna was trying to tell her, Elsa went out in search of her brother-in-law. She knew where to look.

She found him in the stablehouse, schlepping manure out of Sven's stall. "Hey, reindeer man," she called in greeting, hoping the nickname usually employed with affection might let him know that she came in peace.

Kristoff paused in the scrape of his shovel, turning to Elsa with a blank expression. Resting against the shovel, his arms folded on top of the handle, he eyed his sister-in-law passively.

"What's up?"

His numb response, his lack of any kind of emotion, made Elsa's courage falter, and she twisted the folds of her dress into knots. "I have something to tell you, and it's really important to me, and I'm telling you because you matter to me and I love you and..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Kristoff cock a questioning eyebrow.

Elsa burst into tears. She buried her face in her hands and wept. Kristoff made no moves to console her, perhaps figuring that she needed to get this out on her own. Or maybe he really cared that little now. Either way, if she didn't get this out now, she never would.

"I'm... I'm bisexual. I... am attracted to both men and women. It's something that I want my family to know, and you are family, and... and..." She started sobbing again. "And I'm sorry!" For those were the words she had come here to say more than any others.

Through the watery film in front of her eyelids, Elsa could see that Kristoff was not reacting, at least beyond a shrug and saying, "Who you're attracted to doesn't matter to me."

It was more than Elsa deserved, she knew. Nevertheless, she was grateful. She hiccuped, tears streaming down her face as she continued. "And I really am sorry. About... I didn't mean what I said to you - not a word. You're an amazing father, and you've never given me any reason to doubt that you'll take care of my sister. When I learned about the baby, I... thought that it meant Anna was once again better than me. I... I was jealous." She hung her head, deeply ashamed. "And I took it out on you. Then I was too proud to admit what I did or what I was feeling. But when I'm wrong, then I say I'm wrong, and I was wrong about you."

For a long moment, there was silence. Elsa barely had the guts to meet Kristoff's eyes. His face was still passive, maddeningly neutral, but at last, he nodded. "I believe you," he said. He sighed. "It wasn't just what you said that hurt me, Elsa. It was the memories those words brought back that hurt me too."

Elsa blinked, peering at him, working back through her memory.

"Do you remember the first year after the Great Freeze? When Anna and I were first together?"

Elsa nodded slowly. She was encouraged by the fact that his tone was measured and gentle.

"You were so protective of Anna, you wouldn't let me sleep in the castle. I had to sleep in the stall with Sven. At the time, I didn't let it bother me, because I rationalized that you were just trying to protect Anna, and after Hans, I couldn't exactly blame you. Anna was about ready to kill you, though; she ranted to me all the time about it when she had to come visit me in the stables or whenever we went out together - chaperoned by the palace guards, if I remember correctly."

Elsa gaped in shock. "She's never told me this..."

"Of course she wouldn't. And she didn't, because she didn't want to upset you. I went along with it at first, but after a while... it got old. It stung. I was hurt that you didn't seem to trust me, and you matter enough to Anna that I wanted to earn that trust. If you came to like me in the process, I felt I could consider that a bonus."

Elsa spluttered like a fish. "I... I just wanted what was best for her! I mean, I know she's strong, and she can find that for herself, but she had never had the best track record before then. But how was she to know about Hans, and I..."

"Are you sure you're not my wife in disguise?" Kristoff smirked. "You're rambling worse than her."

Was that a joke? Elsa blinked. Kristoff's widening smile made her think that it was, and she dared to smile back. "I'm not, neither."

And her brother-in-law actually laughed and before she could prepare herself, he had wrapped her in a hug. "I forgive you," he murmured soft and low in her ear.

And Elsa cried tears of relief.

Joan was overjoyed when she returned from Corona a week or so later to find that her father and aunt had reconciled. The diplomatic negotiations with the neighboring Spanish kingdom had been a great success, and Rapunzel had even sent with her relative a personal letter to Elsa, extolling the young princess's political skills.

With the family all reunited and healed again, everyone in the castle set to work preparing Anna for her third child, as the Princess's pregnancy continued apace. Several months following Joan's return, Anna finally went into labor, electing to deliver the baby in the bedchambers of the princess's private residence. Paralyzed with fear, Kristoff and Elsa waited together out in the hall, clutching each other's hands and looking grim.

When the midwife came out and reported that Anna was tired and happy, but alive, the father and aunt were both overcome, collapsing in tears of relief. Grand Pabbie's prediction had not come to pass. Elsa and Kristoff led Robert and all the children into seeing Anna and meeting the new addition to the family. Joan, Christian, Annabelle and Iduna were all thrilled to meet their little sibling/cousin, and Elsa was reduced to tears all over again when she was told that Anna had named the baby Elsabeth, in honor of her sister.

Now, at long last, the royal family of Arendelle was complete, and at peace.