AN: I'm back with another Frozen fanfic. This one is Canon!AU wherein after three days (one day represnets the age) of inquiring their parents about Elsa's sudden coldness, the truth will come out in ways neither one of them expected. Hopefully, I didn't portray the parents as TOO villainous because I wanted to get across the fact that they were well-meaning and good intentions and their arc here is them coming with grips that their attempts to help Elsa ultimately failed. I don't own Frozen.
Day 1, Anna, age 9.
"Daddy, why does Elsa not eat meals with us anymore?" Anna inquired at dinnertime, obviously asking why Elsa isn't with them at the dinner table. Lately, she had been seeing a servant take Elsa's meals to her on a tray and was anxious to try and figure out what happened. Adgar bit his lip, hestiated and looked at his wife. Idun looked back, obviously itching to tell Anna the truth but for now, that was not to be.
"She's just finishing up on lessons", Adgar stated. Nevertheless, Anna took the lie at face value, unaware of the truth of the matter. Adgar made a vow to keep Anna out of what happened until he felt she was ready and at the tender age of 9 years old, she wasn't ready to fully comphrend the seriousness of the situation at hand, as much as it pained his conscience. A couple years passed and on Anna's birthday (12), one of the servants was about to take the cake away until Anna stopped him.
"Cut off the right piece down the middle", she said. The servant obeyed.
"Anna, don't you think you've had enough cake?" Idun inquired.
"It's not for me, it's for Elsa. I'll take it down for her", she said. At that, Agdar jumped up.
"You will do nothing of the sort!" he said, coming off as a little harsh, though it was more due to the fear of Anna discovering Elsa's magic. "I'LL take the piece down", he said, more softly to her.
"Okay", she said and gave the piece of cake to him on its' plate and he left down the corridor leading to Elsa's room. Anna followed him to see if he was going to legitmately give Elsa the piece of cake or secretly throw the cake out. However, when they came to Elsa's door, Anna stopped and watched Adgar knock on Elsa's door. The plate was still in his hand. She watched the door open and Adgar disappeared inside for a brief moment. When he came out, the plate was gone. He kept his word. He walked back to Anna.
"She took the plate", he said.
"Thank you!" Anna said and hugged him. While Adgar did return the hug, he wasn't looking at Anna. He was looking more at Elsa's door, thinking that Anna can't know, at least not yet.
Day 2, Anna, age 12.
Anna was getting restless. She wanted someone to play with, what with Elsa still locked up in her room and her parents still skirting the issue whenever Anna asked about it. One night, they had a fight over whether or not they should have Elsa explain to Anna what happened or tell her themselves because she deserved to know the truth, because, according to Idun, it was not fair to keep lying to Anna about what was really happening but according to Adgar, it was the logic of whether or not Anna could be trusted with such a secret and whether or not she would feel betrayed if she found out what Elsa did to her that spurred this onward. Only problem with that was Adgar's mentality in that he was effectively ignoring his own role in Elsa's isolation and fear of her powers, that while well-meaning, was indeed harming her in all the ways. The argument climaxed with Idun directly pointing out Adgar's own role in everything, saying if he had just asked Elsa what had happened before taking further steps, they wouldn't be in this current postion. Needless to say, it didn't go well at all. However, one night, something really weird happened. When Anna was asleep, she had a mysterious visitor. She tried to rouse herself up and speak but the visitor gently pushed her back down again to avoid being outed and caught. "Shhhhh, go back to sleep, Anna", Elsa whispered so soothingly that Anna was out in an instant, giving her enough time to leave Anna's room after one final hair stroke. However, that led to her next question in the morning.
"Dad, Is Elsa never allowed out of her room?" she inquired. THAT was the kicker question, one that caught Adgar absolutely offguard.
"Well, why do you ask?" he asked back.
"I dreamt that Elsa came to visit me last night", Anna revealed. As soon as he heard the word 'dream', Adgar heaved a sigh of relief. What the two of them didn't know was that it wasn't a dream at all as Elsa DID visit Anna but subdued her to avoid being caught. See, Adgar did allow Elsa to leave her room most of the time but only AFTER Anna had gone to bed, which was why she had an earlier bedtime than Elsa.
"So, you dreamt she came to visit you? What did she do?" Adgar inquired.
"She didn't do anything. She just stood there and maybe stroke my head a little bit", Anna said.
"Oh. Well, to answer your previous question, with some exceptions, no", Adgar said.
"But, WHY?! I want the truth, Dad!" Anna demanded.
"Anna, you will watch your tone with me or you will receive a thrashing! Why are you taking this so personally? I gave you an answer", Adgar said, secretly hoping that threatening a spanking would get Anna to back down on the issue. Only problem with that was he was still feeling that Anna wasn't ready to know what was happening but Anna wanted straight answers and if he wasn't willing to provide them, she'd try to get them from him by force.
"WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON HERE?! WHY ARE THE GATES ALWAYS CLOSED?! WHY AM I BEING SEPERATED FROM ELSA?! WHAT ARE YOU NOT TELLING ME?!" Anna said, hitting him in the process. That did it. Instead of getting answers from Adgar, Anna got the BIGGEST walloping simply because she wanted the truth although he said it was for yelling at him and hitting him, which was indeed an honest justification but to Anna, her yelling at him and the hit was justified, because, like before, she wanted answers and he wasn't willing to provide them. But a couple years passed and after Anna's 15th birthday, salvation would eventually show up in the form of an unlikely source, holding all the answers and it wouldn't be Elsa.
Day 3, Anna, age 15.
Meanwhile, Anna was going around her merry way around the castle as usual. Whatever servants they still had were helping pack their parents' things for a trip for a diplomatic voyage someplace. However, someone waved her down into the wing which led to Elsa's room, making signs like shush and quiet. Anna tiptoed into the wing and was met by Idun. The woman looked like she hadn't slept in days, due to the overwhelming amount of guilt in her that had been building up over the years. Idun just collapsed in Anna's arms. "We were wrong, Anna, we were wrong", she said before collapsing in a heap of tears, letting out all that guilt that had built up over the years. She told Anna everything that happened that led to all this: Elsa's magic, the accident her & Elsa had as children, the memory alteration, why Elsa was wearing gloves. All this led to the presnet seperation. However, Anna, having heard nothing but lies by both of them, wasn't convinced of the sincerity of Idun's story. "Mom, how can I be sure you're telling the truth?" Anna asked.
"It's the truth!" Idun pleaded.
"Get Dad in here. I want him to validate your story", Anna said. Idun noticed that the white streak in Anna's hair was gone, meaning the memories returned to normal but Anna wasn't phased by it, she wanted her sister back. Idun summoned Adgar to the corridor.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Dad, Mom told me everything that happened and I need to know if she was being sincere with the story she told me", Anna said. That was the kicker question. The jig was up. Idun's remorse won out and she told Anna everything that happened that led to the isolation. Adgar wanted to be the one to tell her but his wife beat her to it. He also noticed that the white streak in Anna's hair was gone, meaning the memories were back to normal. He also realized that he also felt some guilt for lying to Anna and knew he couldn't deny it any longer.
"Your mother's story is true", Adgar said. "We only wanted to protect you from getting hurt from Elsa's magic", he added, also explaining that he WAS going to tell Anna at some point but it was the matter of when she was old enough and the point of being trustworthy with such a thing. He also added the reason why Anna was barred from leaving the castle was to cut down on rumors: Why are the populice are seeing one princess and not the other. Anna listened and while she was happy that she now had the truth but again, some facts just couldn't be ignored.
"Dad, I apprecticate the fact that what you did was out of love and protection. But it can't be ignored that you also took away my friendship with Elsa and kept me in the dark for so long. You also made Elsa fear her magic as she had perfect control until the accident", Anna said, surprising Adgar.
"They're back?" he asked, referring to her memories. Anna nodded.
"Anna, those years ago when you yelled & hit me? I deserved it. You deserved those answers and I wasn't willing to give them because I wasn't sure you could be trusted yet", he admitted.
"Dad, magic or no magic, she's still my sister", Anna said.
"You're right. I was wrong", he said. But he still had to know the nature of the dream Anna had those years back. "That dream you told me you had years ago, where Elsa came to visit you? You sure it wasn't a dream?" he asked. It clicked.
"So, it wasn't a dream?" she asked.
"It wasn't. I went down to Elsa's for a power check-up after you told me about the dream and she told me that she visited you. She got you back to sleep long enough to make a quick getaway. She didn't want to get caught. That's why you thought it was a dream", he said.
"Oh"
"Anyway, I can't ignore the fact that I, too, was at fault for the presnet situation much longer. I let my own fears take hold and unfairly blamed Elsa for the accident when she wasn't at fault. I kept thinking more about the vision the trolls showed us that fateful night which was why I did what I did. Speaking of which, Anna, would you like to see your sister?" he asked.
"Yes, please!" she said. She followed Adgar down the hallway to the hallway and stopped in front of Elsa's door. He knocked.
"Elsa? Anna wants to see you", Adgar said.
"Send Anna away, please! I don't want to hurt her!" Elsa said through the door.
"Elsa, listen to me! It was my fault for the seperation. I unfairly blamed you for the accident because I was afraid! It was an accident", Adgar said. When he didn't hear the door unlock, he turned to Anna. "You try it", he said. Anna did so.
"Elsa, please, you don't have to keep living in fear. Your magic's a gift, not a curse. Dad was admitting he was wrong to seperate us and essentially treating the magic like a curse. You didn't harm me on purpose, Elsa. I remember now. Please come out", Anna pleaded. That did it. Elsa opened the door.
"How did you do that?" Adgar asked.
"Controlling her magic requires love, not fear", Anna said, explaining that she came to the conclusion due to Idun's story that Elsa was exhibiting perfect control up until the accident happened.
After that, Adgar relaxed on "conceal, don't feel" and the new mantra became "Feel, don't conceal" for practicing. The royals went on the voyage as planned and they perished in a storm. With Anna's help, Elsa's control over her powers improved considerably and when she was coronated as queen in their stead, her first act was to order the gates open peremantly. Arendelle was back to normal.
AN: That's It! That's It! To clear up some stuff: Again, I used the "Telling Anna what really happened restored her true memories" schtick, explaining how Anna was able to figure out the secret to controlling Elsa's magic, Anna's yelling at Adgar was supposed to be an analog to the movie when she yells at Elsa for answers and she's not getting them (ie: if I heard nothing but lies and wanted to know the truth of a current situation, I'd be angry as well), the reason why Anna thought her visit from Elsa was a dream at first was because Elsa lolled her back to sleep enough to make a quick getaway (I think I state that). R&R!