Frozen Hearts

By- An Unknown Foreign Beauty

(A Modern AU)

Chapter 1- Prologue

Year 2007

"May I come in, dear?"

Elsa stopped in the act of turning off the lights, and leaned back against the pillow, "I'm not asleep, papa."

"You look wonderful, dear." Her father, Mr. Adgar Kingsley exclaimed, moving towards his daughter, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, papa." Elsa took the complement shyly, and then looked at her father. At the age of forty five, Mr. Adgar Kingsley was indeed a tall, dark, and charming man. His blinding personality kept his business of hotels across the world running like well oiled machines. Eight years ago, he left Norway with his only daughter after his first wife's untimely death and decided to settle down in Florida. He was always confident about his new business in this new country. But right now, he looked very uneasy, and hesitant. Elsa knew why, because he wanted to talk about her new mother. The wedding took place this morning in a quiet church of Florida countryside.

"Elsa,…" He hesitantly took her hand in his, and sat down in the bed beside her, "You know that I am in love with her…" He stopped in the middle, and fixed his eyes on his daughter to see her reaction. "But you like her, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." She nodded. Of course, she understood why he remarried. The death of her mother had had a great effect on her, and Mr. Kingsley really knew what to do to save his daughter from being engulfed by depression. He saw her moping around since his first wife's death, slowly becoming isolated from the society. So when he watched her becoming attached to his newest girlfriend, he didn't waste another moment.

"She seems really nice." Elsa said after a moment, letting her thoughts to wonder in the world of adults, "And she loves me too. Is that the reason you hurried the marriage? Just for me?"

Mr. Kingsley blinked. He didn't expect such mature words from his fourteen years old daughter. He gazed into her eyes for a moment, then placed his finger under her chin and tilted her face upwards, "You're my first concern, dear. But that wasn't the entire reason. She wanted me for me. Not for my money. She didn't freak out when I told her about you."

"So all the other women you proposed turned you down just because of having me as their daughter?" Elsa remembered the reaction of other women her father introduced to her before her new mother. The death of her mother and her grandparents were considered as her fault, even she was so little when it happened. People were afraid of her. They considered her as a bad omen. Even sometimes she began to wonder if it was really her fault.

"They were superstitious, stupid people." Mr. Kingsley smiled affectionately, wondering about the mature mind of his daughter. "She doesn't believe any of this. She thinks you are amazing. But she was worried first because she thought that her daughter Anna wouldn't fit with you because she is a little wild."

Elsa entertained the thought of having another sibling. After years of growing up alone, she really wanted to have someone to talk to, someone to play with, and someone to share her girly secrets. And now the idea of having all of those things together really made her happy.

"Then she really loves you." Elsa declared at last.

Mr. Kingsley's smile widened, and his blue eyes lit up with affection, "Yes, she really does. And she loves you too."

Elsa had liked her new mother well enough when she met her earlier this day, but the tenderness in her father's eyes and the love in his voice when he talked of her, carried an enormous amount of additional weight with Elsa. "I like her a lot," she confessed.

A smile of relief dawned across his face. "I knew you would. She likes you, too. She said you're very sweet and very poised. And she likes when you call her mama. She says you and Anna look really good together."

"I asked Anna if I can call her mama. And she lets me." Elsa replied, thinking back over all the information her eleven- year-old stepsister had provided during their first day together. "I told her to call you papa." She added enthusiastically.

"Very clever, young lady she is." Mr. Kingsley ruffled Elsa's platinum blonde hair affectionately, "I guess you liked her a lot too."

"Yes, I did." Elsa's big blue eyes practically glittered with joy with the memory of her new little sister, "She is different. She's… friendly and honest, and she says that people says that she is a little wild. People bully her, and but I think she is great. Oh, and she thinks you're practically a king," Elsa added with a grin.

"Then you two will go along together." Mr. Kingsley kissed his daughter's forehead.

"Oh, yes." Elsa beamed, "And I'm so glad that they moved in with us."

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Across the hallway, Mrs. Idun Kingsley seated with her daughter Anna, who was fidgeting under her covers restlessly. "You know Elsa, she is so wonderful. And the things she does with ice, I can't but admire. It's too bad that people often call her a freak."

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Kingsley gently pushed her down to the bed, and pulled the blanket to her chin, "She is a little darling. I felt so bad for her when her dad told me about her. Always so lonely. It's a real hard way to grow up."

"Yes." The little girl agreed, shaking her tiny strawberry colored braids, "She thinks it is a curse. Her mother died when she was five, and her grandparents died when she was eight. Everyone considers her as a bad omen. But I told her that she isn't. Everything was an accident. Even I liked her idea of making an ice hotel. I think I've many other things to add to her idea."

"That's sound very nice, dear." Mrs. Kingsley smiled, watching her impatient daughter, "You can talk about your plans tomorrow.
"But…" Anna pouted, "Elsa promised that I'll be the first to look at it."

Mrs. Kingsley marveled at the growing relationship between the girls. She cupped Anna's chin, and tilted her head upwards, "You like her, don't you?"

"Yes," Anna shook her head violently, "Too much. She told me that she likes me too."

Mrs. Kingsley smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm over her new sister, and then when she gazed at her face, another thought crossed her mind, "And… um… did she say anything about me?"

"What about you?" Anna asked with sham confusion.

"What does she think about me?"

"Let me think. Oh, yeah, I remember now! She said you looked mean and sneaky, and she said you'll probably make her stay home and scrub floors while I get to go to balls and dance with princes. I told her she was probably right, but that I'd ask you to let her wear the glass slipper as long as she didn't leave the house."

"Anna!—"

Laughing, Anna leaned forward and hugged her mother as she finally told the truth. "Elsa said you seemed very nice and she likes you. She told me that she grew up alone, until you stepped into her life. And she was very happy that you're not sacred of her."

"Does she really say that she likes me?"

Sobering, Anna nodded emphatically. "She asked me if she can call you mama. I told her that she could."

Mrs. Kingsley hugged her daughter close and laid her cheek on Anna's red hair. "Oh, now I've two daughters." Her voice turned raw with emotion, "Oh, Anna, how much I love that."

"I love to have another sister." Anna smiled, "And I'm so happy with her."

"I know that, darling." Mrs. Kingsley kissed her daughter's cheeks, "And I love you too."

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The hallway was as black as pitch as Anna made her way across the hall toward Elsa's room. Her fingertips finally encountered the doorframe, and she raised her hand hesitantly to knock just as the door flew open, startling a muffled squeal from her. "I was just coming over to see if you were awake," Elsa whispered, backing up and beckoning Anna into her room.

"Is mama happy with me?" Elsa inspected the younger girl's face worriedly, "I heard her crying."

"Oh, yes." Anna let out a sigh, perching on Elsa's bed, beside her, marveling at the fine linens of her bed, and the elegancy of the older girl. "She was just so happy with you. She cried when she learned that you're going to call her mama." Anna saw a thin smile lacing Elsa's perfect rosy lips. She was so glad to have this girl as her sister. "So what about papa?"

"He thinks that you're a clever, smart young lady. He was all chocked up." Elsa looked down at her lap and drew a long breath, then lifted her eyes to Anna's, "I guess they were afraid that we're not going to like each other."

"That is pointless." Anna let out a high pitched giggle, "I already like your hair."

"And I like the way you smile." Elsa teased. "I've something for you." She opened the fridge, took out a few crystals of ice, arranged them on the floor, and made the pattern of Anna's name. From the corner of her eyes she watched Anna's jaw hanging open at the sight.

"What do you think?" Elsa eyed at her sister worriedly.

"I think." Anna grinned after a moment's silence, opening her hand. "I can give you something too."

There were a few eggs in her hands. "They are turtle eggs." Anna declared happily, "I saved them from an egg thief." She pointed at her sweatshirt reading the words, Save the turtles. "But they died. They were never hatched." She looked at Elsa's face, waiting for her reaction. "What do you think?"

The two girls eyed one another in smiling silence, then, as if by mutual agreement, flopped onto their backs.

"I think," Elsa said after a moment's contemplation, "this could turn out to be really, really cool!"

Anna nodded with absolute conviction. "Totally cool," she proclaimed.

For the first time in her life Elsa finally found someone to love, someone to live for, someone to protect from all the odds.

And she promised to do it.

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Sorry for the errors. English isn't my first language.

I've seen the movie yesterday, and this idea sparked while reading the book "Remember When" by Judith Mcnaught. Few of the themes I used from the book, and I must say they never belong to me. I liked to see how it works, and I guess it worked well for our favorite princesses.But rest of the story line is exclusively mine.

Merry Christmas.