Disclaimer: Frozen and Tangled are both owned by Disney. Believe me, if I actually owned any percentage of either, I'd have a LOT more free time to devote to writing.

Summary: First Elsa shut her out, then her parents sent her away to boarding school. Finally, Anna can take no more, and moves in with her aunt and uncle in Corona. Set before and during the events of Tangled.

Author's Note: I know, I've let this story lie dormant for far, far too long. I don't have any excuses, beyond the muse being captured by other fandoms. Right now, I'm just hoping the stress regarding my current job situation (don't ask) won't cause me any problems. Anyway, back to it...

My tour of the school proved to be interesting, for a number of reasons.

Several of those were related to Claire. One, at least, served to give her insight into me. When she'd proposed showing me 'around the property', as she called it, I happily replied that I'd love to, once Daniel had returned.

"I assure you that you'll be safe with me," she said, watching me carefully for... well, something, I imagine.

"Oh, I know." Really, how dangerous could a school be? Especially when not everyone had returned from the summer break, yet. "But Daniel requested I not go anywhere until he returned, and given that he has come all this way just for my sake, that seems like the least I can do."

She seemed fascinated by my answer, for some reason. "Ah. Then you are not one of those who believe that servants should be seen and not heard, or that guards should do as they are told, and nothing more?"

"No!" Had I somehow given her that impression? "I mean, I suppose the guards should technically do as they're told, since they work for us and all, but given that their job is to keep us safe, it would be foolish not to listen when they give perfectly reasonable instructions. I've seen no signs that Daniel is bad at his job, intends to abuse his authority, or is being overly paranoid." Not that I knew whether or not Claire even believed there was such a thing.

She studied me for a moment longer, then allowed herself a small smile. "Good. It is always refreshing to meet one of the nobility that isn't convinced they know everything about everything."

Ah. Little wonder she'd felt the need to double-check, then. "Met a lot of the other kind over the years, I take it?"

My only answer was a heartfelt groan as she flopped backward onto my bed, eyes squeezed tightly closed.

I didn't quite manage to stifle a giggle. I loved that I was able to break through her shell enough to get at the actual person within, at least some of the time. I'd only just met her, but I could already tell she didn't let her walls drop often.

Not that I had any room to judge, there.

When Daniel eventually returned, Claire informed him she would be escorting me around the grounds. His own tour had evidently proven to him that I would be in no danger, as he agreed readily enough, only putting up a token resistance when she made it clear his presence was not required. Claire was never anything but polite and pleasant, yet she somehow gave the impression of being completely immovable, conversationally speaking, at least. Possibly beyond that, if need be.

As we left our shared quarters behind, I remarked, "You have got to teach me how to do that."

Not breaking stride, she shifted her head just enough to give me a sideways glance, one corner of her mouth tugging upward. "Oh, Anna, there are many things I can teach you," she promised.

I honestly could not understand why those words, said in that tone, sent such a lovely shiver up my spine.

If my reasons for delaying the tour had told Claire a lot about me, the way she approached it told me just as much about her. When we passed by the doors to the other girls' rooms, she would give some biographical information on each of them, but resisted any attempts to actually stop and try to talk to them. (As I suspected, I'd be on my own, there.) We briefly went up to the third floor, mainly because not doing so 'would leave an unacceptable gap in my understanding of the school's layout', though she made it clear that there was no other reason for a student to be on that floor. (Doing so, I presumed, would fall under the "scandalous" category that she was determined to avoid at all costs.) The only other thing she had to say before we went back downstairs was that, lacking an armory, the guards tended to store their weapons and munitions in their rooms. Our first stop when we reached the first floor was the dining area - or the student dining area, I suppose I should say; there was a smaller, staff dining room that we took a quick look at. Meals were at set times each day, which, unlike some other students, I was accustomed to from back home, so I would have no problem there. Meals could be delivered to one's room if necessary - Claire briefly mentioned a guard who had broken his leg the year prior, and as such hadn't been going anywhere he hadn't needed to - but the students preferred eating together. Even Claire.

I was pretty sure she'd have rather dined alone, but that would have been a bit too rude to be overlooked. For my part, it had been a long time since I'd been around so many people all at once, and never at meals, as far back as I could remember, so I was happy that I'd have someone to talk to while getting to know everyone else.

The most telling thing she did there was pointing out every possible entrance and exit (including windows), and directing me toward her usual choice of seat at the single, lengthy table, where she could observe as many as possible at once, while being able to keep an eye on the serving staff. Close behind that, we stopped briefly in the kitchen to greet the staff. Evidently, while content to remain aloof with her fellow students, Claire had no problem getting to know the chef and his assistants... if only to get a feel for whether or not they were likely to slip poison into her food, and, if they weren't, make sure that they kept a close enough eye on their supplies and dishes that no one else could, either.

"Vevay must be a really fun place to live," I remarked uncertainly as we left.

That earned me a rueful smile. "Indeed. While our neutrality can often make us an ideal place for negotiations between the Netherlands and whatever faction is ruling France at the moment - I believe it is a constitutional monarchy this month, at least - both sides would naturally prefer to have any and every advantage possible, and efforts to quietly get us over to their side - willingly or not - are quite common. While it is unlikely that either would seek to assassinate me here, that is no excuse for lowering my guard."

"They'd better not even try," I muttered quietly. I think she may have smiled at that, but it was gone by the time I got a good look at her face.

There turned out to only be one classroom, with three rows of four desks facing a much larger desk where the teacher would sit. Most of our lessons would be held here, though there would be time between them for students who didn't feel like lugging all of their books around with them to dash up to their rooms and exchange them. Claire's desk (naturally) was in the corner, as far from both the door and windows as possible. (The decoration of the classroom was even more sparse than the rest of the school, presumably to provide as few distractions as possible. I wondered if the curtains would even be open, if not to allow in light.) Luckily, the desk closest to her was open, so I'd have a place to sit. (Did she discourage people from sitting near her, or did they just not want to? I honestly couldn't see why they wouldn't, but maybe she was different around groups of people. I could kind of understand that.) The rest of our lessons would take place in a combination music room/ballroom. I did know how to play an instrument or two already, so I could just either continue working on those, or try something new. It turned out we would be allowed down there to practice during non-class hours, if we wanted to. The wood and stone used in the construction of that room was evidently much thicker than usual, to reduce the amount of sound that would reach the rest of the school. (Given how cold it could get in the winter, the construction of the rest of the school was hardly skimpy, so that was really saying something.) The dance floor was semi-sprung - not quite bouncy enough to be considered fully sprung - and while I did know most of the popular dances in Arendelle, I was looking forward to sampling what the rest of Europe (and beyond, I hoped) had to offer.

Claire didn't have too much to say about that room. The school would provide instruments if students hadn't brought their own - which I hadn't, but since the piano was my preferred instrument, that would have been hard - which were kept in good shape. (The moment I mentioned that I played the piano, she crossed the room to give it a good looking over, though I'm not quite sure what she was looking for, exactly. Traps of some kind?) However, while the music room was generally left unlocked, the classroom, at least during breaks, was not - Claire had used her own key to get us in there, something I'm pretty sure she wasn't supposed to have. Still, if she was allowed to give tours, maybe the staff trusted her enough to give her one. I didn't want to risk getting her in trouble by making a big deal of it, so I kept quiet.

The washroom was fairly uninteresting, honestly, and given that the staff would take care of such matters for us on a weekly basis, that was probably just as well. (Do I need to describe it? I mean, do you really care how they washed our laundry?) To my utter lack of surprise, Claire knew the woman responsible for that, too.

"How long have you been at this school?" I asked as we headed back toward our room. (Or rooms. Or suite. Or whatever you want to call it.)

"This will be my third year here," she replied evenly.

Which was more than enough time to get to know the staff, I supposed. She probably found them easier to talk to, given they were required to maintain a certain personal distance between themselves and students. (I wasn't sure why I was considered acceptable - if princesses were always friendly and open with each other, Elsa and I would have a much better relationship - but I wasn't objecting.) "How do you like it?"

She considered that. "The staff is mostly knowledgeable in their fields of expertise, and security is adequate."

Mostly? No, no, that could wait. "Yes, but... Do you like it here?"

She paused at our door, frowning in thought. I hadn't thought it was that difficult of a question, and had to fight down a rising anxiety that I was screwing things up already... which wasn't easy. For some reason, the idea that Claire might be upset with me was simply unbearable. Finally, she replied, "Most of my time here has been spent fulfilling obligations, and representing my family and country as best as I am able. As focused on that as I have been, I cannot say that I have or have not liked my time here. Though..." She looked at me, smiling shyly as her cheeks turned ever-so-faintly rosy. "...things have recently improved immensely." Perhaps embarrassed by her statement, she opened the door and hurried inside.

It took me a minute to follow her, as I'm pretty sure only keeping my posture rigidly locked kept me from melting into a happy little puddle of goo.

What? It was probably the single nicest thing anyone had said to me in years, if not ever.

The rest of the weekend passed without incident.

Conversation with Claire stayed on mostly light topics. Given what she'd told me about her home life, I could hardly blame her for taking her time in deciding she could trust me, and even I knew a princess didn't go blabbing about her kingdom's internal politics to an outsider, no matter how much you liked her. I spent a few anxious minutes reviewing what I'd said to her about Arendelle's closed-door policy for the castle, but she'd been more confused - and borderline horrified - by the idea of anyone being able to just walk right into the seat of government and talk to the monarch than anything, so I imagined that was considered normal for anywhere else. (It was not being able to leave and head into the city if I felt like it that was somewhat unusual, but not unprecedented, depending on the ruler's degree of paranoia. I'd expected approval from Claire at that, but she seemed more ambivalent than anything.) Luckily - I guess - I didn't actually know much of anything else about our politics, so I couldn't give anything away even if I'd wanted to.

Talking about the internal workings of Vevay, or about her family, just seemed to make her uncomfortable, and she dodged such questions whenever possible. I eventually managed to take a hint, and stopped asking. The strangest thing about that, though, was that it didn't bother me.

Had this been a member of my own family, or possibly even just a stranger on a train, the idea that I'd been making them uncomfortable, that I'd been prying into things they didn't want to discuss... Well, that would have had that little voice in the back of my mind working overtime, making sure I knew exactly how horrible I was for even asking. With Claire, though? Nothing. No matter what track our conversations took, whatever verbal blunders I might have made, it was silent.

That never happened.

Anything - anything - back home had at least had the potential to make it pipe up, pointing out how badly I was screwing something up, how much of a failure I was... even that my own sister might hate me, and I might well deserve it. Having it be so silent, and remain thus, well... It left me at something of a loss, believe it or not. I'd become so accustomed to it being there, even as I privately begged it to be quiet and leave me alone, that I didn't know how to deal with it actually doing so.

It was only quiet when I was talking with Claire, though, so I quickly took to seeking her out in conversation whenever I needed a reprieve.

(I suppose I should clarify something. Despite how I've been making it seem, I didn't have an actual, literal voice in my head. It was my own mind telling me these things, sometimes not even in actual words, just feelings. I'm just translating them for you as best I can; I'm not schizophrenic. I talked to paintings when I was growing up, yes, but... Look, let's just move on, okay?)

We didn't have quite the same tastes in books. I'd read just about every book in the royal library at one point or another, depending on how desperate I was for something to relieve the boredom, but tended to prefer romance or fantasy novels. (Whether or not she thought them silly, she would concede, given how utterly isolated and sheltered I'd been growing up, that I'd needed an outlet, as well as something to stimulate my imagination - and that I'd been somewhat limited in my selection of books - so she'd only nodded once in understanding, then moved on.) She seemed to prefer the works of Shakespeare and Voltaire, though, when pressed, she reluctantly admitted to enjoying Frankenstein (I'd never heard of it, but her brief description sounded bizarre and outlandish enough that I kind of wanted to read it, now)... and, even more reluctantly, that she'd actually enjoyed the "penny serials" that she'd discovered on a recent trip to England. (No, she didn't give me any other details about that trip, even exactly when it had been, or why she'd gone. I decided it likely fell under the category of "matters of state", and let it go.) Given that I was unlikely to come across any of those, she instead recommended Waverly, by Sir Walter Scott. I decided I would look for a copy at the first possible opportunity - sadly, she hadn't brought one, herself.

If nothing else, a couple days with little to do beyond make conversation did help me get used to Claire talking; if I'd kept being so entranced by her voice and accent that I did little beyond stare and give her goofy looks, I'm sure she would have taken to avoiding me whenever possible, if not requesting a new roommate. It wasn't like she was the first French (or French-sounding, at any rate) person I'd ever met, so, like with so many of my reactions to her, I was at a loss to explain it.

We were allowed outside, as it happened, but naturally couldn't leave school grounds. Claire didn't seem to overly enjoy doing so (given that she seemed pretty good at Concealing when she wanted to, however, I couldn't be certain of that, yet), though maybe after being there for years, she was just so used to it that there wasn't anything there to appeal to her. As both students and representatives of our countries, we obviously couldn't go around climbing any trees (I was pretty sure the guards - both the school's and our own - would have a fit if I tried it anyway), there were no animals to feed, no horses to ride... You could get some fresh air that way, but that was about it. (The guards would keep too close an eye on you while outdoors, Claire explained, to allow for any real privacy.) The weather was still lovely, though, and while the school itself wasn't overly attractive, the countryside was, and having a mountain that close was something of a new experience. (There were mountains back home, as I've noted before, and I had seen some of them during the beginning of my sea voyage, but that had been in the distance, and I hadn't been able to take in any details... and honestly, I was paying more attention to the ocean and the boat itself.) Part of me wanted to try and climb it one day, though I kept that desire to myself for the time being. It wasn't at all ladylike, after all, so I wasn't sure if Claire would approve.

Monday came around all too soon. I'll admit, I was very nervous when it came time to go down for breakfast. (We'd had meals delivered to our room over the weekend, to spare the staff from having to set things up in the dining room just for the few of us that were present.) "I've never had so many people present during a meal, before," I confessed to Claire as we were getting ready to face the day. It didn't take her terribly long at all, telling me that yes, she pretty much woke up looking that good. Given the constant battle I faced with my hair every morning, I thought that was rather unfair. (I also hadn't quite remembered what my hair usually looked like when I woke up until I saw her blinking at me in surprise that first morning, and had promptly ducked under the covers until she left the room. She'd seemed slightly amused later, but had assured me that she just found my hair's disarray "charming". She'd taken to ducking into the lavatory once she saw me waking up - she was always awake before me - to give me an opportunity to deal with it before facing her, though, as she knew it still bothered me.)

She had an understanding expression on her face, making me wonder what her first days at the school must have been like for her. Probably far more tense, given even the little that she'd revealed about her home life. "Think of it as being something like a state dinner, but far less formal," she suggested. "Be on your guard, certainly, but none of the other students present are likely to cause you any real problems." There had been a few girls there when Claire had first arrived that had been meaner and more manipulative than any politician, she'd revealed, though they'd also graduated that year, and she'd been able to handle them without difficulty. I was just glad that I evidently wouldn't have to try and do the same.

"Right." I'd never attended an actual state dinner, but I'd had lessons about what to do and how to act, so I knew what she meant. I still had to fight to keep from fidgeting as we headed downstairs. We were the first ones to arrive - Claire liked getting places early, I think as much to make sure the room was secure as make certain she had plenty of time to get there, even accounting for unavoidable delays - which didn't help much with my anxiety, as that just meant I had nothing to do but sit there, waiting and worrying about all the ways I could screw things up.

Right up until Claire reached out and took my hand, giving it a brief squeeze before letting go and withdrawing. After that, I couldn't think of... well, much of anything, really. My thoughts were a chaotic jumble, impossible to pick out any specifics. I still hadn't figured out why I kept reacting to Claire the way I was, and it was starting to become troubling.

Ironically, the arrival of the first of our schoolmates provided a welcome distraction. "Good morning, Kathryn," Claire said politely, and I straightened up in my chair, banishing the confusing tangle of thoughts from my mind as best I could.

Kathryn Brown, Claire had told me, was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. He was in Europe on business so frequently that he'd enrolled his daughter in school there, so as to be closer to her. I thought that was nice - certainly better than just leaving her under the care of nannies and/or governesses back in America, as he easily could have done. Traveling all over with her father sounded like fun, too, and I was sure she'd seen a lot of amazing places. Claire, however, thought that she wouldn't have been allowed to wander off on her own, and any traveling was done for business reasons, meaning not a lot of time left over for sightseeing, which did sound rather sad. As such, she'd warned me not to bring up the subject (though discussing it if Kathryn did was perfectly fine), and not to call her lucky. I'd resolved to figure out for myself what Kathryn thought of her father and her life. She was our age, so I'd have three years to manage it.

"Your Highness," she replied with a slight nod. It wasn't at all rude, but there wasn't any real warmth in her voice when talking to Claire, either. Catching sight of me, she corrected, "Highnesses."

Well, that wouldn't do. I wanted to make as many friends there as I could, and I wouldn't be able to do that if they all felt they had to maintain a formal, respective distance. "My name's Anna," I told her with as open and friendly of a smile as I could manage. "It's really good to meet you."

She paused mid-step, looking at me in surprise. Clearly, she hadn't expected me to say anything like that, though after a second or two to process it, just as clearly had no problem with it. "And you, as well. You're from Norway?" she asked as she sat down. The school didn't have a uniform, as such, but from what Claire had told me, it was just as well I'd packed my wardrobe by how ladylike it would make me look. Formalwear wasn't required - or even overly encouraged, really - particularly in cold weather, when students might want to bundle up. That morning, I was wearing a light green shirt underneath a darker green dress that ended at my shins (I'd learned long ago not to wear anything that fell down to my feet, as I would inevitably trip over it... repeatedly), while Claire was wearing a white blouse tucked into a white skirt, with a matching belt, giving the impression of wearing a dress without actually doing so. Why not just wear the dress and have done with it, I wasn't sure. Unlike me, she was also wearing boots instead of flat shoes. In case she needed to do a lot of running? With them mostly hidden by her skirt, you couldn't tell unless you spent a lot of time staring at her (like I did), and I privately resolved to look into getting some for myself. Anything that let me look appropriate yet still have the option of running around as much as I needed to was something I was entirely in favor of.

Kathryn, for her part, was wearing a chiffon colored dress. (I couldn't see her feet, but I was willing to bet her shoes matched it. Checking would have just seemed odd - and likely been rude - and it didn't really matter, so I set the thought aside and moved on.) "Yes," I told her. "Arendelle, specifically." I didn't want to brag about my kingdom, but disparaging it was completely unacceptable, given that I was Arendelle's representative at Institut Kronenberg, so I just left it at that.

"What's it like there?" Her dark brown hair was tied back, though not braided as mine was. (I'd been worried that the twin braids might come across as childish, but Claire assured me that our schoolmates would know enough about other cultures not to automatically judge things by their own standards. My hairstyle wasn't terribly unusual in Arendelle - or even Norway - so I had nothing to worry about. I hoped she was right.)

I considered that. "Beautiful. A little cold." I allowed myself a slightly sheepish smile as I added, "I didn't really get out much, before now." As little experience as I had with the great big world, I knew the other girls would pick up on that fact fairly quickly, so I reasoned I might as well just admit it, so as not to seem to be trying to pretend to be something I wasn't.

"I've never been that far north, myself." She offered a little shrug, smiling back at me. "I live in Virginia." Her smile collapsed, and she sighed. "Or I did, anyway. Technically, I suppose I still do, but I haven't set foot stateside in over a year, and that was barely even a brief visit." I'd never heard an American speak before, and was struck by how, well, flat her accent seemed. "Though we're only on the move so much because Dad's business is going so well, so I can't exactly complain about it to him." She shook her head once sharply, then abruptly changed the subject. "What brings you to a school so far from home?"

That was a potentially risky question to answer, but I couldn't just ignore it, so I went with a technically accurate answer... at least, as far as what I'd actually been told myself went. "Institut Kronenberg is a rather well-known international school for girls," I began. It would have had to be, for my parents to have heard enough about it to send me here. "My parents sent me here to expand my horizons, and get a better understanding of the world at large." That they seemed to want me as far away as they could get away with sending me was none of her business. "If you ever want to go to Norway, you could always give me some information to pass along to my parents about your father's business. He might be able to provide something we could use." Not knowing all that much about our trading, I couldn't say for sure. I did know that our closest trading partner, Wesselton, could be difficult to deal with, at times, and an alternative might be appreciated.

"I'll keep that in mind," she promised, looking far from displeased. The idea that I'd already found a way to potentially benefit Arendelle perked me up, too. Maybe that would help prove to my family that I had some value, after all?

Though... It might also suggest to them that sending me away was the right thing to do. I pushed that thought away as hard as I could.

The rest of the girls began arriving shortly thereafter, one or two at a time. Noriko Yamaguchi was easy to pick out of the crowd, being the only Asian girl in the entire school, maybe even this entire part of Switzerland. That must have made her feel terribly isolated, I thought, even more so than I did. I privately resolved to get to know her better, and try to ease her loneliness, if I could. Her English was excellent - which was good, as I didn't really know any Japanese at all - and mentioning that brought to light that Kathryn didn't speak anything other than English at all, which had made making friends - or even finding someone to talk to - during her travels with her father difficult, at times. That made me even more glad I hadn't mentioned how lucky she seemed to me, to be able to travel around so frequently.

I guess I could make smart decisions sometimes, after all.

Of the remaining eight girls, five were from various parts of Switzerland. Mia and Lara Gessner were sisters, and looked it. Only a year apart, Lara (the elder of the two) was maybe an inch shorter than her sister. Both had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Elena Burk was actually shorter than I was (which was a nice change of pace), with darker blonde hair and brown eyes. Nora Grunwald was apparently from the German part of Switzerland - I could detect a slightly different accent in her English than the others had - and was a brunette, with her hair cut short. It worked for her, though, to the point where, when I eventually got to know her better, the idea of her with long hair just seemed wrong. Emily Mylin had honey blonde hair, light brown eyes, and seemed like she'd be more at home in Italy than Switzerland, yet didn't seem like she'd ever want to leave.

Grace Laird was from Scotland originally (though her family had moved to Spain when she was five, leaving her with an... interesting accent), and was the only other redhead in the school. (I'd wondered, more than once over the years, why I was the only redhead in my family. I'd never gotten an answer.) Delia Barros and Olivia Herrera had also come to the school from Spain, though they'd been born there. Delia was very tall, standing at about two meters (or six feet, according to Kathryn, who didn't seem very fond of the metric system), and was fairly lean, as if her body mass had all gone to height, with none left to fill her out. Olivia was significantly shorter (though still taller than I was), filled out her short red dress very well.

(I don't think Claire was happy that I noticed that, though I wasn't sure why.)

Breakfast itself was scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, and rösti, along with our choice of milk, tea, or orange juice. It was different from anything I'd ever had at home (where open sandwiches - with meat cuts, spreads, cheese or jam - and cereals such as corn flakes, muesli or oatmeal were more normal), but I liked it. Hopefully, that would apply to the school itself, as well. I was going to be there for the better part of three years, after all. That would be a lot easier to bear if I liked the school and my schoolmates.

Well, I'd already made one friend (I hoped), and was getting along well enough with at least two of the other girls. That was a good start, right? On the other hand, this was only breakfast. I hadn't even gotten to class, yet. That could go much worse.

All I could do was hope for the best.