A/N: Just a little one-shot I wanted to write about young Elsa and Anna being scared, and Queen Iduna being a mother to comfort them since I haven't seen a lot of mother/daughters fanfics of them together. I hope it works.
Enjoy! :)
"Oh no!"
If there was one thing that four-year-old Anna was doing at the moment, it was that the young girl was currently playing with her dolls on her bed as she swaps her voice between the girl and boy doll.
"I'm feeling terrible and sick! Only an act of true love will save me!" Anna speaks in a high-pitch tone, voicing the girl doll she held in one hand while waving the boy doll she had in her other hand. "Oh look a prince! He will save me with a k-ahh!"
Unfortunately, Anna didn't anticipate the older girl standing right behind her, the seven-year-old girl barely tapping her younger sister's shoulder as Anna tosses her dolls into the air and hides behind the bed with a loud yell of surprise.
After a while of hiding, Anna heard giggling and peeked over the covers, her frightened expression becoming annoyed as she saw who it was.
"Elsa!" Anna whined as the older girl continued laughing, climbing onto her bed with an upset expression, "That wasn't funny! You scared me!"
Elsa, who was still giggling, had to hold her sides as she pointed at the pouting young girl, who crossed her arms together with a frown.
"Sorry, Anna," Elsa giggled as she tried to calm down, "But you should have totally seen your face. It was funny!"
Anna still had a frown on her face.
"Well, it wasn't for me. You know I don't like being scared by you."
Seeing her sister still upset, Elsa sighs as she comes to where Anna is sitting and sits by her side with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, Anna. I just thought it would be funny."
After a while, Anna chuckles in reply, the young girl thinking about how she must have looked like when she got scared by Elsa.
"I suppose it was. I probably would have laughed too if I was you."
As Elsa giggles as well, they hear the door to the bedroom open, the two sisters turning to see their parents, Agnarr and Iduna, entering the sisters' bedroom as they greet them.
"Hi, mama and papa!" The sisters exclaim in unison as the two run into the open loving arms of their parents.
With Iduna picking up Elsa while Agnarr picks up Anna, the parents can only smile as they see the two sisters giggling.
"Well, what have you girls been up to?" Agnarr asks his daughters, Elsa and Anna glancing at each other before they giggle.
"Nothing! Just horsing around!"
As Agnarr chuckles, Iduna can only smile as the parents carry their daughters to their respective beds, with Iduna carrying Elsa to her bed while Agnarr carried Anna to her own bed.
"Bedtime, already?" Anna complains as Anna gently places his daughter on the bed, "But it can't be that late! I'm not even sleepy yet!"
Agnarr chuckles as he rubs Anna's head, the young girl pouting as she crosses her arms together as the father raises a hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, we can always have time for some stories," the king says after a while, with Anna nodding excitedly as she glances past her father towards her older sister.
"Did you hear that, Elsa? There's enough time for bedtime stories!"
As Elsa gasps in joy, she turns to her mother with eyes full of wonder.
"Mama, can I go with Anna to hear the bedtime stories?"
Iduna nods.
"I don't see why not."
Without a second to spare, Elsa jumps from her bed as she runs towards Anna's bed, the young girl climbing on top as she sits by her giggling younger sister while Iduna follows behind with a candle in hand.
The mother sits by her husband's side as she glances at him.
"Who's turn is it for today?"
Agnarr seems to think about this before he replies with a smirk.
"I think it's your turn, my love."
Iduna can only sigh as Agnarr chuckles, shaking her head as she begins to fabricate stories from her imagination.
The daughters can only listen and watch in awe as she spins stories of fairy tale princesses to brave knights going on a journey of the impossible to prove that they're worthy of being a hero.
Agnarr smiles as he sees his daughters enjoying the stories of Iduna, the girls visibly tired as they yawn from the moonlight that's entering their room.
"Well, I guess it's time to go to sleep," he says as Iduna nods, the girls too tired to argue as the queen gently lifts Elsa from the bed, "Say goodnight to each other, little ones."
"Goodnight," Elsa and Anna say to each other as Iduna carries Elsa to her bed, gently tucking the young girl into her bed while Agnarr does the same for Anna.
While they're being tucked in, Iduna sings the Northuldran lullaby that the sisters are used to, the sweet, gentle melody filling the air as the sisters feel their eyes droop and the wave of sleep silently passing over them.
When Iduna finishes singing the lullaby, the sisters are fast asleep, the queen smiling as she gets up from the bed and walks on over to where Agnarr stands by the bedroom door as he speaks quietly to her.
"Our little angels. They're sure growing up so fast, are they?"
Iduna nods as she leans on Agnarr's shoulder with a warm smile.
"They sure are."
As they observe their children sleep once more, they fail to notice the thunderstorm slowly approaching the kingdom as the door behind them closes when they leave.
The sound of thunder gently rumbles in the distance.
It's only midnight when Anna is the first to wake up with a scream, the young girl crying out loud as her scream is loud enough to wake up Elsa.
"No!"
Elsa, who woke up in a startle, runs to where Anna is crying, the older sister getting in the bed as she embraces Anna in a loving hug while the heavy rain patters against the bedroom window.
"I'm here, Anna. What's wrong?"
Anna, who's sobbing at this point, can only glance at her older sister as she tries to form the words through her crying.
"Elsa, I'm… I'm scared."
As the thunder claps through the sky loudly, Elsa hears the loud noise of rain slamming against the window as she's slightly scared as well.
"Of the rain?"
Anna shakes her head.
"N… no. I had a… nightmare."
"About what?"
Anna sniffles as she tries to wipe her tears away.
"About… someone taking you away. Someone that was evil and… mean."
Elsa keeps quiet for a moment before she tries to console Anna.
"Anna, it was only a dream."
"Except it didn't feel like one to me, Elsa. I couldn't see who it was, but they took you away from me and trapped you in a place where I couldn't get to you. I couldn't save you, sis."
"Anna…"
BOOM!
The thunder is loud enough to scare the sisters as they hide under the bedsheet covers with a scream of fright.
"Aah!"
As they tremble under the sheets, the sisters slowly peek from under as Anna breaks the silence.
"Is it over?"
Before Elsa can say something, the door opens as Iduna and Agnarr rush into the room, their faces filled with worry as they see their daughters hugging each other fearfully.
"Elsa! Anna! What's wrong?" Agnarr worryingly asks, the sisters opening their mouths to say something before the thunder loudly roars once again.
BOOM!
It's enough to cause the two sisters to duck once again into the covers, with Agnarr and Iduna realizing that their daughters were simply scared of the thunderstorm.
Nothing more.
As the parents sigh in relief, Iduna turns to Agnarr with a warm smile.
"You want to have the opportunity of comforting our daughters?"
Agnarr glances in their direction as he shakes his head, turning back to Iduna.
"I think that this is something that you're better at, my dear."
Iduna playfully punches Agnarr on his shoulder, who simply chuckles as she shakes her head.
"Remind me why I married you again?"
Agnarr grins in reply.
"Because you love me for who I am?"
It takes a while, but Iduna chuckles as she heads to where Elsa and Anna are hiding, the mother pulling off the bed covers while Agnarr watches from the bedroom door.
When the sisters see it's their mother, they can't help but hug her as she holds them close to her.
"What's wrong, my precious girls?"
Elsa glances up as the young girl snuggles against the warm, comforting body of her mother while flinching from the thunder roaring in the room.
"The storm, mama. I'm scared."
Anna nods as well.
"Me too. I also had a nightmare. A really scary one."
Seeing that they're scared, Iduna holds them closer as she rubs their head in a loving manner.
"Don't worry, my dear children. I'm here now."
As the sisters still shake, Iduna decides to sing the lullaby that she knows by heart.
Where the north wind meets the sea…
It surprises her when Anna looks up at Iduna in fear as she shakes her head.
"Not that one, mama. Please."
Even Agnarr is surprised from where he stands, Iduna glancing back at him as he raises his hands in a way to say "Don't look at me."
With a sigh, Iduna turns back to her frightened daughters as she tries to convince them.
"But I thought you loved that lullaby."
"We do, mama," Elsa replies as the young girl looks up at her, "It's just that it's not the best one for right now. Is there another one you know?"
That's bit of a problem.
She doesn't have another one.
Still, the pleading looks from Anna, and Elsa is enough for Iduna to give a nod as she offers them a warm smile.
"I think I might have one in mind."
As Elsa and Anna patiently sit by their mother, she holds them close to her as the thunderstorm continues its rainfall while Iduna slowly lets the words come from her lips in a soft melody.
Go to sleep, my sweet gentle baby angels
Know that I am with you, no matter how far we'll be
Even when all is lost, don't give up, no matter what
For in yourselves, find the hope and strength that you so long for
Upon seeing the sisters slowly beginning to calm down, Iduna lets the words continue to flow from her lips as she gently caresses her daughters' hair while Elsa and Anna allow her to do so.
When fear and darkness drown the light
And hope is lost in the abyss of fright
Remember that courage will always be at your side
And that a mother's touch can always be your guide
Find it and hold the light to you
For miracles and dreams... do come true
When she's done, Iduna finds Elsa and Anna more relaxed than before, the two sisters now smiling as Iduna smiles as well.
"What do you think?"
Iduna can't help but enjoy the compliment her youngest daughter gives as her eyes are full of wonder.
"That was amazing, mama! I really loved it!"
Elsa nods in agreement.
"Me too. It was beautiful!"
As Iduna giggles, she caresses the hair of her daughters, who no longer seem to be afraid of the thunder that roars outside the windows, before a thought enters her mind as she glances at Anna.
"Anna, why did you scream?"
Anna's eyes are filled with a slight hint of fear as she replies to her mother.
"A nightmare, mama. I had a really, scary one."
Iduna seems worried for a second but dismisses her own fear as she lets a warm smile come to her lips.
"Well, always remember this, Anna. Never let a nightmare win over you. Always use the light in you to confront it and banish the darkness to where it came from."
As Anna nods, Elsa is still worried about what Anna told her but keeps quiet about it as Iduna tucks Anna into her bed once again.
After all, it's late enough as it is.
When she's done, Iduna gently lifts Elsa from the bed as the young girl can't help but ask her mother a question in her mind.
"Mama, will you always be with us?"
Iduna can only smile as she gently lays Elsa in her bed, the mother tucking in her daughter as she replies.
"I will always be there for you and Anna, Elsa. No matter what or how much time passes between us."
Elsa smiles as the young girl yawns, telling her mother goodnight as Iduna gives her a goodnight kiss on her forehead with a soft whisper.
"Goodnight, my precious innocent snowflake."
When Elsa is asleep, Iduna makes her way to Anna's bed, giving her daughter a goodnight kiss as well while Anna murmurs about puppies and building snowmen in her sleep.
Just as she's done, Iduna makes her way to where Agnarr stands, the man smiling as he gives a tender kiss to his wife before glancing back at his sleeping daughters.
"I hope that nothing bad will ever happen to our daughters, Iduna. They're so happy together."
Iduna can only nod in agreement, the mother giving one last look at her daughters as they leave the bedroom for tonight.
Not before she says something that she hopes will always be true.
"Me too, my love. Me too."
It's better to hope for the future ahead that remains unknown than to think about the dangers that lie ahead for the sisters.
One that only time itself would tell.
A/N: Done! So, this little one-shot serves as a mother/daughter(s) moment that connects to Until We Meet Again, and explains the origin of the lullaby A Mother's Touch that is seen in chapter 29. If you're not interested in that, then you can see this as an Iduna/Elsa&Anna fanfic one-shot. :)
I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are appreciated as always! :D