Fanfic / Secret Passages

An expansion fic to Frozen by MantaI-305Apollo'sChariot.

It takes place during the five years prior to Elsa's coronation. When she is sixteen years old, Elsa is told about the secret passages throughout Arendelle's castle. Since she hates being confined to her room as a result of her accident with Anna, she uses them as an escape from her room whenever she gets upset. After her parents' death, Elsa is devastated, and in spite of this, she still doesn't know how to fix hers and Anna's relationship.

The fic itself is largely prequel fic and part Interquel, with the first three quarters of the story covering the five years leading up to Elsa's coronation, while the last quarter is a retelling of the events of the movie from Elsa's perspective, which can be read here.

In 2019, the author published an AU of the original story, with a canon divergence.

Tropes included in the original Secret Passages include:

• Actor Allusion: As a standard nod towards Idina Menzel's previous misunderstood sorceress, Elsa makes a remark about a snowflake "defying gravity" when she is three.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Elsa's first foray outside in years results in her getting sunburned on her face. When she sees the results in a mirror, she finds the results hilarious.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: While Elsa's fear of hurting Anna is still present, she also is shown to harbor hatred at her parents for separating her and Anna.
• Adaptational Expansion: Establishes what went on in the five years prior to Elsa's coronation, and also retells the events of the movie from Elsa's perspective.
  • While Anna is off singing "Love is an Open Door" with Hans, new scenes are added of Elsa mingling with the guests. This includes a conversation with Rapunzel (here, like in many fanfics, retconned to be Elsa and Anna's cousin) where Elsa realizes Rapunzel's upbringing (locked away in a tower by Mother Gothel until she was 18) is similar to her own. Before Anna returns with Hans, Elsa converses with a few other dignitaries, even getting Arendelle a few additional trade agreements. She is just finishing up one of these agreements when Anna returns with Hans in tow.
  • Elsa's refusal to bless Anna's impromptu engagement to Hans in particular gets much more expansion:
    • Elsa's refusal to let Anna marry Hans here is partly because he'd made a pass at her earlier in the ball while Anna was dancing with the Duke of Weselton, and she is certain he is trying to take over Arendelle.
    • Elsa's reasoning against Anna getting engaged to Hans in this story also includes potential ramifications, such as Arendelle becoming subordinate to the Southern Isles or whatever kingdom's line Anna married into, and the possibility of Hans turning out to be a creep, abusive, or not willing to act in Arendelle's best interests.
    • As in the movie, she says to Anna, "May I talk to you, please? Alone?!" In the movie, one can tell from the look on her face and her tone of voice that Elsa is both nervous and alarmed by the news. Here, it's established that Elsa intends to take Anna aside and privately reveal her powers, but Anna's response of "No! Whatever you have to say, you can say to both of us!" forces her to abandon that idea, thus, hence that outburst that happened in the movie.
  • New scenes are created to show what Elsa does between the end of "Let It Go" and when Anna shows up at the ice palace with Kristoff and Olaf. From the conclusion of "Let It Go," Elsa finds she's inadvertently created a replica of her bedroom from the castle in the ice palace. She also creates an ice statue of Anna to apologize to for hitting in the head thirteen years earlier. After that, she spends most of the day sleeping, though she does leave at one point to admire the place from outside at the bottom of the stairs. To acknowledge the fact that some wondered if Elsa ate anything during her period in isolation, she leaves the ice palace and ventures down the mountain in an effort to forage for berries. However, Elsa is forced to hastily retreat when she sees some wolves nearby (implied to be the same wolves that Anna and Kristoff fought). Then, at the moment Anna shows up, Elsa is on the balcony staring off into space.
  • Despite the focus on Elsa, we do cut briefly to Anna and Kristoff's journey to the North Mountain, including the scene where they see the fjord frozen over from a distance, and the following scene in the glade where they meet Olaf. There's a few more lines of dialogue where there was originally a fade to transition between the two scenes.
    Princess Anna: [biting her lip] Arendelle…
    Kristoff: It's completely frozen!
    Princess Anna: It'll be fine. Elsa will thaw it.
    Kristoff: Will she?
    Princess Anna: …Yeah. Now come on. This way to the North Mountain? [points her hand in one direction]
    Kristoff: [chuckles] More like this way. [directs Anna's hand so it's properly pointing at the North Mountain]
    Princess Anna: How long does it take to get there?
    Kristoff: You crashed the sled. So it's going to take a while. Also you were way, way off course to get to the North Mountain before.
    Princess Anna: [huffs] I said I was going to replace it! It's not my fault a bunch of wolves started chasing us! And okay, I don't have a super awesome sense of direction. Sorry.
    Kristoff: You still crashed it.
    Princess Anna: Okay.
  • The author suggests that Elsa blocked out Anna's side of "For the First Time in Forever (Reprise)" due to her being so upset about learning that she's frozen Arendelle over.
  • After having Marshmallow literally throw Anna, Kristoff and Olaf out, Elsa is shown upset with herself for doing such a thing to Anna, enough that she spends a few hours crying to herself, and the scene where she's pacing about, saying to herself, "Don't feel! Don't feel!" is her trying to calm herself down because she's afraid the situation in Arendelle is only getting worse. There's also a pretty heartwarming scene where Marshmallow comforts Elsa, establishing that Marshmallow isn't mean, but just overprotective of Elsa.
  • The descriptions of Elsa's Ice Palace show it as having a lot more rooms, including an icy recreation of Anna and Elsa's childhood bedroom, than just what is shown onscreen in the movie, and an ice sculpture of Anna.
  • What happens between when Elsa is knocked out by the chandelier and when she wakes up in the dungeon is also explained: after Elsa is knocked out, Hans is angry at the Duke of Weselton's bodyguards for trying to shoot Elsa when she was clearly surrendering, thinking that killing Elsa won't undo the eternal winter she's created. It's also suggested that Elsa may have momentarily regained consciousness while Hans's team was taking her back into Arendelle.
  • Gerda manages to slip Elsa a warning that Hans is up to no good, which is what gives her the provocation needed to escape when he and his men come down to the dungeons. Elsa does hear Hans drawing his sword to slice at her, but she doesn't even know that Anna's come to stop Hans until she hears Anna's Big "NO!" and Anna has frozen solid. And because she's got her eyes squeezed shut from crying while hugging Anna's frozen body, she doesn't realize Anna is thawing until she suddenly feels Anna moving.
  • To get back to the castle from the ship after Anna punches out Hans, Elsa creates an ice path across the waters of the fjord (though not before first getting properly introduced to Kristoff).
• Adaptation Personality Change: Anna is more anger-prone than suggested by the movie.
• Adaptational Villainy: Anna and Elsa's parents are subjected to this, treating Elsa like the Madwoman in the Attic at times and not letting her out of her room.
• Altar Diplomacy: Anna is aware of the concept of marrying for political alliances, but Elsa is firmly against that because she feels there'd be an unfair power balance between Arendelle and whichever royal line she'd be marrying into. As a result, she insists that that sort of marriage will only be a last resort to be taken if Arendelle is in dire straits.
• Anachronism Stew:
  • Elsa refers to herself as "defective" in regards to her powers, seeing herself as "damaged goods". A more appropriate word in the early 19th century when the movie takes place would be "cursed".
  • Anna and Elsa play "Jingle Bells" on the piano during Anna's 16th birthday. The song was first written in 1857, but common consensus is that Frozen takes place around the 1830s. They also sing Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" a full century before the song was even written.
  • At several points (Chapters 9, 16, 17) Elsa sings the song "You Are My Sunshine". The song, best known as the state song of Louisiana, was not first recorded until 1939.
• Arranged Marriage: Discussed and defied. Elsa greatly opposes the idea of an arranged marriage, in part because she thinks it's ridiculous for her to be betrothed to someone she's never met when her parents have kept her and Anna separated. Later on, she gets three betrothal offers on her 19th birthday, some of which are written in a way that Elsa finds rather insulting:
  Princess Anna: Whoa, what's got you all unruffled? [Elsa balled up one letter and threw it across the room to Anna]
  Queen Elsa: This! [she threw the second one] And this! [she threw the third one] And this! What do they think I am, a stupid, simpering idiot girl who swoons and falls in a dead faint at the thought of getting married?! I might be helpless to fix most things, but I do not need that kind of help!
  [Anna smoothed out one of the letters and immediately knew what had irritated her sister so much. She couldn't help but start giggling]
  Queen Elsa: It's not funny! I'm not accepting any arranged marriages for political reasons! I wouldn't do that even if I were normal and not messed up! "Aw, the poor little girl has lost her parents and needs a shoulder to cry on and help governing her kingdom!" Well, I don't; I'm fine on my own and just because I'm a young single girl does not mean I can't take care of my country! If and when I need help, my sister can give me any assistance I need. So there.
  Princess Anna: Elsa…usually girls from a royal family your age are already betrothed or married. You're nineteen, not nine…And besides, maybe a romance would be good for you! [becoming more animated] Yeah, maybe that's a good idea, Elsa! Maybe you could fall in love and live happily ever after!
  Queen Elsa: [disgusted] Anna, not only am I…messed up and defective and therefore not safe for anyone to be around, let alone get married to; arranged marriages are not going to come out like something you read in a book. The guy could be a creep. He could be abusive. He could be disagreeable, bossy, anything. I have no way of knowing. And most importantly, what if I don't agree with things he wants to do politically for Arendelle? I will not relinquish my authority to someone I don't even know or trust. Just no! Absolutely not! I can mess things up enough on my own, thank you very much. [beat] I'm still highly insulted that they think a girl needs to get married "for the good of her kingdom" because she's "still mourning her late parents" and is "only a young girl, anyway." Allow me to throw up now. I've done my grieving in my own way, and it has not affected my ability or non-ability to take care of Arendelle properly. Well, it doesn't now.
  Princess Anna: You didn't go to the funeral service. What are people supposed to think? That wasn't the normal thing for you to do…And lemme just say your "grieving in your own way" was a rotten, stupid way to deal with things and involved trying to commit s-
  Queen Elsa: Don't finish that. Just don't.
  Princess Anna: How are you going to have an heir then?
  Queen Elsa: [takes a deep breath] You are next in line to the throne, Anna. I needn't worry about having an heir at present. Go read up on Queen Elizabeth I. She never got married.
  Princess Anna: What if something happened to me? Then what would you do? Make Rapunzel next in line to Arendelle's throne?
• Artifact Title: The secret passages in the castle don't exactly play as big a role in the plot as the title suggest, aside from providing Elsa an escape from her room on several occasions. The work is more of a character study of the sisters' relationship in the five years leading up to the coronation.
• Authority in Name Only: Upon her parents' death, Elsa technically becomes queen of Arendelle, but she's only a regent ruling in her parents' stead with no actual power of her own until her coronation at age 21. She has the authority to conduct business with others, but she can't change, introduce or repeal any existing laws.
• Beneath the Mask: Elsa has a distant attitude towards Anna (a combination of her own fears and her parents' overprotectiveness). But she really hates having to always repress her emotions, showing a playful and creative side with a lot of artistic sense while in private.
• Berserk Button:
  • Marriage proposal letters really set off Elsa. Getting three on her 19th birthday is enough to reduce her to angry ranting about how she doesn't need a suitor in order to run Arendelle.
  • Do not call Anna "stupid" in front of Elsa. Hans learns the hard way when he's brought before Elsa to explain his actions:
    Queen Elsa: Why did you leave Princess Anna in the library?
    Prince Hans: I had no use for her anymore. Look, I know you don't like me. Didn't from the start. So since I wasn't going to get anywhere with you, I edited my plan and used your sister instead. Your sister is so naïve and stupid. You'd think it would be the other way around, since ''you'' were the one kept in her room since she was a kid-
    Queen Elsa: DON'T YOU DARE CALL MY SISTER STUPID! You do that once more and I swear I will be seeing a solid block of ice in front of me instead of a disrespectful loathsome scumbag of a prince! You can insult me all day long to yourself if you like, but you will NOT insult my sister! [Ice begins to spread across the floor]
    Prince Hans: I'd like to see you just try that.
  • Anna then shows up moments later. She doesn't hear everything that was said, but can tell that Elsa is upset and when Hans continues to taunt Elsa, she marches up to Hans to slap him and give him an epic "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Anna and Elsa have an argument in the cellars a few months before the coronation about how messed up their lives are, with each sister calling the other out for not understanding the other's problems in a very "Life's Too Short" way.
  Queen Elsa: The gates will be open for that one day. Twenty-four hours. No more. [Elsa felt horrible shooting down her sister's hopes, but that was something Elsa had decided awhile ago. One day was bad enough. She couldn't deal with guests coming in and out of the castle all the time. Anna jumped to her feet in surprise]
  Princess Anna: Wait, what?! Why?! I've been thinking all this time that once you officially became queen everything might get fixed but now I know it won't. Why can't we have open gates?! [She felt bad for ranting at her sister when she knew Elsa didn't feel well, but she was mad. Anna had been counting on that! And Elsa had to go and mess it up]
  Queen Elsa: We just can't. I'm defective, dangerous and messed up…I cannot have guests in the castle.
  Princess Anna: I don't know what you think is messed up about you, but you know what I know is messed up about you?! [Elsa just stared with wide eyes at her sister, afraid of what she was going to say next] It's messed up to not want to have a party! It's messed up for not wanting to open the gates when it's been like this for years and years! It's messed up to shut yourself away all the time! And- [Anna was completely oblivious to Elsa's hidden reactions] and you don't know what it's been like for me! [Elsa had been on the verge of tears that she refused to allow to fall, but now she was just starting to feel downright angry. She jumped to her feet, upset stomach forgotten]
  Queen Elsa: No, you don't understand what I've been through! Do you know what it's like to keep trying…and trying…and trying to fix things-your very, very best efforts, mind you-and it's never, never good enough, no matter what you do? What it's like to be a failure every single day of your life, hating yourself…a-and scared of hurting the person who used to be your very best friend? Missing your little sister terribly all that time? What it's like being physically locked in your r-room for years on end by your own parents? Being chained in the d-dungeon for giving the warning about a storm? Having your parents die in a storm you knew was c-coming that you didn't warn them about, knowing their death was partly your fault, even if they wouldn't have believed you if you had g-given the warning?! I TRIED TO COMMIT SUICIDE, ANNA! Whatever was bad for you, it was probably ten times worse for me. [in a fierce whisper] You know nothing about what this has been like for me. Absolutely nothing. [Elsa's lower lip quivered, but she refused to cry]
  Princess Anna: You might think I know nothing about it, but you're wrong. You've been in the same position I have for all that time.
  Queen Elsa: Right. Everything I just said happened to you, too. [She crossed her arms. This time she wasn't hugging herself; she was just mad] You made a huge mess in your room after the funeral and tried to commit s-
  Princess Anna: WILL YOU STOP SAYING THAT TRYING TO SHOCK ME?! I was there! I know what happened! Do you know what it was like, knowing what your big sister was doing and unable to get in her room to help?! [Elsa shook her head mutely] It was awful! What if I'd lost you?! Realized what you were doing too late? I was terrified, Elsa! Terrified I was going to lose my big sister! You didn't just hurt yourself that day. You hurt me too! [Suddenly struck by another thought, she added...] Have you got a scar on your wrist? Maybe that's why you still wear your gloves all the time. [Elsa thought Anna looked a bit concerned in the midst of her angry ranting, so she lied]
  Queen Elsa: No, I don't. [There was a tiny pink line, barely noticeable, on Elsa's wrist as a reminder of that day, but it was always covered up by her dress sleeves or her gloves or both. No one would ever see it]
  Princess Anna: Then why do you wear them all the time?! Have you got a thing about dirt?
• Bottle Episode: Almost the entire work, save for the chapters covering the main events of the movie, takes place within the castle.
• Call-Forward: Many instances of foreshadowing towards plot points of the movie are planted throughout the story.
  • Elsa sneaking out of the castle into the forests nearby, and her constant desires to run away to the North Mountain to practice her powers, is meant to be foreshadow and explain why Elsa decides to hide there after her powers in the movie are exposed.
  • In chapter 12, Elsa loses control of her powers during a heated argument with Anna through the door and ends up covering the room with ice. The way her powers manifest themselves, and her scream of "I CAN'T!" as she explodes, is very reminiscent of both the accidental revealing of her powers at her coronation, and later the burst of ice magic that will freeze Anna's heart in "For the First Time In Forever (Reprise)".
  • The shackles in the cell that Hans places Elsa in after ringing her back from the North Mountain weren't made overnight. They've been around since before Elsa was even born, and a conversation Gerda overhears between Anna and Elsa's parents implies that there have been previous people with ice magic in their lineage.
• Calling the Old Man Out:
  • At times, both Anna and Elsa call their parents out for not realizing how fragile Elsa's control of her powers is.
  • Another chapter has Anna go on a long angry tirade at her parents for keeping Elsa confined to her room.
• Cannot Spit It Out: On several occasions, Elsa comes close to coming clean with Anna and telling her about her ice powers, but finds herself unable to say so.
• Child Marriage Veto: As the sisters grow older, Elsa has to turn down several marriage betrothal offers from interested suitors. She even has to turn down a few that are intended for Anna, even before her sixteenth birthday.
• Crossover: Minor one. Like many fanfics, this one takes the idea that, based on her cameo in "For the First Time In Forever", Rapunzel from Tangled is Anna and Elsa's cousin. However, since this story is about how Anna's and Elsa's lives were for the five years prior to the coronation, it's merely touched on. Rapunzel does acknowledge that she and Elsa have similar upbringings, on account of her being locked away in a tower until she was 18.
• Continuity Nod: Many instances of foreshadowing towards events of the movie are planted throughout the story.
  • Anna talks Elsa into jumping on furniture with her in the portrait gallery in Chapter 22, just like she'll do in "For the First Time in Forever".
  • At one point, when she sees Elsa outside, Anna lies to her parents and says she was talking to a chick. This foreshadows a scene in "For the First Time in Forever" where she talks to a small group of ducks.
  • Anna sees Elsa going outside and always wearing her gloves, and is led to assume that it's because Elsa's got a thing about dirt, as she'll remark to Kristoff in the sled after they leave Wandering Oaken's Trading Post & Sauna.
  • The existence of secret tunnels in the castle may be a nod to the Frozen tie-in book Phantoms of Arendelle.
• Cut Himself Shaving: When Elsa first sneaks outside, she ends up daydreaming in the sun long enough that she gets a bad case of sunburn. When Gerda brings her dinner that night, she mentions that Elsa's parents want to talk with her about potential courtships with prospective suitors. Elsa wonders if she can just pass her sunburn off as a bad case of blushing, only for Gerda to point out that Elsa barely ever blushes and even if she did, blushing doesn't extend to one's forehead.
• Darker and Edgier: While the material in the movie is pretty much the same, Hans can come off feeling a little bit creepier. Also, Elsa attempts to commit suicide after her parents' deaths.
• Didn't Think This Through: Elsa's self-imposed exile. After creating her ice palace, she realizes she never considered the need to feed herself, and her attempt to forage for berries is unsuccessful.
• Driven to Suicide: After the last line of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" Elsa blames herself for her parents' deaths and attempts suicide by slitting her wrists with a shard of ice. She manages to cut her right wrist before Anna, on the other side of the door, realizes what she's doing and summons Gerda to intervene.
• Dumbass Has a Point: In chapter 25, Elsa is launched in an angry rant to Anna upon receiving several marriage proposals on her 19th birthday. Despite being naive on the concept of marriage and Love at First Sight, Anna is right to point out that royalty are often already engaged, married, or betrothed by this age. Frozen is set in the 1840s, at a time when it wasn't uncommon for nobility to be married in their teenage years, with the intention of producing healthy heirs as early as possible.
• Eyes Never Lie: It doesn't matter how hard Elsa tries to lock down her emotions to avoid losing control of her powers, Anna can always tell how she really feels just from looking at her eyes.
• Fiery Redhead: In this fic, being stuck in the castle and wanting to help Elsa with her problems while being unable to do anything since Elsa nor their parents want to tell her about Elsa's powers lead to the redheaded Anna being anger-prone.
• From a Certain Point of View: When brought before Elsa to answer for his crimes, Hans tries to provoke Elsa into losing control of her powers by quoting a portion of a journal her father wrote where he suggested that she needed to be confined to the dungeon, in an attempt to make her think her parents didn't love her. Anna and Elsa decide to investigate. While it turns out that Agdar did write the remarks that Hans is quoting, he followed this up by saying that he felt that Elsa's powers meant that she had to be kept safe at all costs, as he believed she be a very benevolent queen once she got her ice powers under control.
• Fully-Clothed Nudity: For her 16th Christmas, Elsa receives a new sleeveless Christmas dress as a present from Anna. It's a hybrid of the sisters' coronation dresses from the movie, being a cranberry red version of Anna's ballgown with the rosemaling design of Elsa's dress skirt. The first time Elsa puts it on, she feels rather naked since she's so used to wearing long-sleeve dresses. She doesn't wear it again until three years later. This time, Elsa feels a little too exposed with her arms and shoulders, so she wears a cloak over it, resulting in an appearance similar to when Anna is wearing a cloak over her ballgown as she's traveling to Wandering Oaken's Trading Post.
• Gentle Giant: Marshmallow. While he only gets mad when provoked by Anna with her snowball, he's shown comforting Elsa and cradling her afterwards in the time between chasing Anna and Kristoff off, and later attacking Hans and his men.
• Hidden Depths:
  • It was clear in the movie that Elsa's a pretty complicated character with numerous internal conflicts. This story fleshes them out even further. For instance, Elsa is shown having dreams where she's confused about her powers, and has a sense of being trapped because of them. That no matter what she does, others will always see it as wrong. This is shown from the repetition of having her dream start the same way every time (when Elsa accidentally froze Anna's head), and then have a different effect on Anna, but then the same disapproval from her parents, meaning, Elsa can't please her parents, and on some level she knows that, and doesn't trust them because of it. They aren't really trying to help her, just keep her out of the way.
  • Like in the movie, Elsa still has a sense of humor despite being reserved, and here, she is still able to play charades with Anna and freezing locks open.
  • Anna is not only a fan of romance, but is also aware of the concept of Altar Diplomacy and marrying for political reasons, though this ultimately doesn't factor into her falling for Hans.
• Happy Holidays Dress: Elsa receives a new sleeveless Christmas dress for her 16th Christmas. It's a recolored version of Anna's coronation ballgown with the rosemaling design from Elsa's coronation dress skirt^note a deep cranberry red dress with a green rosemaling design along the hem and on a bodice with a slight sweetheart neckline; and sleeveless with wide off-the-shoulder straps.
• Helicopter Parents: Deconstructed. After Elsa accidentally hurt Anna as a kid, their parents took the trolls' advice too far, separated the sisters, and reduced Elsa's contact with other people in the castle, Anna included. By eight years later, when the sisters are in their teens, they hate their parents this living situation, and they both rebel repeatedly by trying to sneak conversations behind one another's backs. And as a teenage girl, Elsa resents being confined to her room, and getting lectured for things that aren't her fault. One scene has her venting her rage by throwing icicles and breaking a window in her room. Even though Elsa's trying to bottle her emotions, pushed too far and she acts out just like Anna does. Elsa's isolation from most human contact, aside from Anna, their parents, and trusted servants, also renders her very socially inept. This is especially clear when Anna has a nightmare and Elsa has no idea how to comfort her or calm her down.
• Hope Spot: When saying goodbye to their parents before the fateful voyage, Anna tells them about Elsa contemplating suicide, finally convincing them to have a chat with Elsa to talk through her issues once they get back. Too bad that will never happen.
• Hypocrite:
  • Elsa's parents try to arrange a marriage for her and to talk her into it when she resists, but they also try to keep her isolated. Elsa points out these two things aren't very compatible.
  • Anna expresses frustration at Elsa insinuating she doesn't understand love by arguing that Elsa can't possibly know anymore about it than she does since they've both been shut up in the castle for most of their lives. They have the same exchange as in the movie after Elsa refuses to let Anna become engaged to Hans, but with more depth to the exchange on Elsa's end, because Hans has already made a pass at her in this story:
    Queen Elsa: Anna, what do you know about true love?
    Princess Anna: More than you! All you know how to do is shut people out!
• Inner Monologue: Elsa and Anna display their internal thoughts in italics throughout the text.
• Inner Monologue Conversation: After their parents leave, Anna suggests that Elsa switch out her lock so that she doesn't have to have someone let her out. In this case it works since Anna's reading Elsa's facial expression.
  Princess Anna: Why don't you switch the lock so it's on your side? That way you can come and go as you please without somebody having to let you out [Elsa frowns]
  Princess Elsa: [thinking] If Mom and Dad come back and find out I did that, I'll be in big, big trouble…
  Princess Anna: [out loud] You could always switch it back before Mom and Dad get back.
• Innocently Insensitive: Due to her memories being wiped, Anna can be unknowingly insensitive towards Elsa. Such as trying to insist to Elsa that "you're not going to hurt me by touching me", not knowing why exactly Elsa is so afraid of such a thing happening.
• Interquel: The story starts five years before the main plot of the movie, and continues up through the events of the movie
• Jerkass Realization: After Anna's argument with Elsa over her rejecting three marriage proposals, Elsa runs off, clearly upset because she knows Anna's statements are true. Anna realizes she came off as a jerk and apologizes to Elsa.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • When Agdar finds that Elsa has snuck outside using the secret passages, he forbids her from going outdoors again, on the grounds that someone could try to harm her. Sure enough, this is exactly what happens when, a few trips later, two men try to kidnap Elsa while she's out by the creek, and it's only thanks to Anna alerting their parents that Elsa isn't killed or molested.
  • A few days later, when Elsa expresses annoyance about being forced to keep her powers a secret from Anna, Agdar insists that it's for the good of everyone because if the people of Arendelle know that the heir to the throne has ice magic she can't control, they might call Elsa names, or worse, they might try to kill her. Considering how the Duke of Weselton acts when Elsa's powers are revealed, and of course Hans's coup attempt, you can blame Agdar for his means but not his motives (since that was how he'd interpreted Grand Pabbie's visions).
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Agdar can come off as a bit overprotective of Elsa, although it seems he cares about her and Anna.
• Just a Flesh Wound: Elsa goes out onto her windowsill at one point. When Gerda tries to help her back in, Elsa inadvertently slips and falls, spraining her wrist. She tries her best to ignore it and dismiss it, but Anna mentions it to their parents when they come by moments later, and both Agdar and Gerda quickly insist she needs to bandage it up.
• It Makes Sense in Context: While the events of the movie are unchanged, many scenes from the new plot add new context to the movie scenes.
  • When Anna first meets Kristoff, she mentions that she assumed Elsa always wore gloves because she had a thing about dirt. As it turns out, Anna comes to this conclusion when she sees Elsa frolicking in the woods outside the castle (Elsa having sneaked out of the castle through the secret passages). Later, after Elsa attempts suicide following her parents' deaths, Anna thinks she continues to wear her gloves so as to hide the scars from slitting her wrist.
  • A number of scenes happen where Anna comes very close to discovering Elsa's powers, typically in the form of the temperature in the room dropping rapidly when Elsa gets upset or frightened. And a scene shortly before the coronation has Anna discover melted water on the floor outside Elsa's bedroom, making her think Elsa has some sort of elemental magic. These scenes are meant to explain why, in the movie, Anna seems to be so quickly accepting that Elsa has ice powers when they are revealed.
  • When Elsa is receiving the tiara, Anna is clearly thinking about wanting to spend more time with Hans, which explains the little wave she gives to Hans.
  • When Hans reveals his true colors to Anna, he mentions that the reason why he pretended to fall for her is because Elsa wasn't getting anywhere with any suitors. It's implied that even after bumping into Anna, Hans still thought he could make a pass at Elsa and found she wasn't exactly open to forming a relationship. Some new material is added to fill in the gap: Elsa takes notice of Hans during the orb and scepter ceremony, and can't help but see him looking way too much at Anna rather than on her, the newly crowned queen of Arendelle, and her sixth sense thinks everything is off about him. Later, during the ball, while Anna is off "dancing" with the Duke of Weselton, Hans approaches Elsa and tries to solicit a dance from her. She refuses. So he tries to offer a courtship. At this point, Elsa has enough and just shuts him down, eliciting an expression of disappointment from Hans. She is visibly alarmed to find Hans trying to hook up with Anna hours later. Further explanation for Hans's line is that, during the three years between the deaths of her parents and her coronation, Elsa is shown to receive and turn down multiple marriage proposals from other kingdoms, getting further incensed when a few that are meant for Anna are received.
  • In the movie, Elsa refuses to let Anna get engaged to Hans, saying "You can't marry a man you just met!" Here, two other scenes exist where Elsa explains to Anna in more detail why her ideas of fairy tale romance don't work at all: the suitor may be bossy, disagreeable, abusive, and may want to do things that aren't good for the rest of Arendelle; likewise, letting Anna marry a prince from another kingdom would mean declaring Arendelle subordinate to that kingdom.
  • In the resulting argument that leads to Elsa's powers being exposed, two things happen that get new context. First, Elsa's insistence on talking to Anna alone is because she wants to explain her powers to Anna and set her straight about Hans (including her suspicions that Hans might be traitorous), but Anna misinterprets it as solely being about the latter. As things get heated, it's made clear that Anna is just trying to get Elsa to rethink her decision about Hans, and Anna is also aware this isn't the appropriate place to be lashing out at Elsa, but her mouth gets ahead of her thinking...causing the inevitable.
  • Elsa taking the lead in showing Anna around the impromptu skating rink in the closing shot of the movie is set up by a scene prior to her coronation of her deciding to try skating on her own ice after she unintentionally freezes everything in her room.
• King Incognito: Elsa decides to slip out incognito for Anna's 16th Christmas to get a Christmas tree for them to decorate. She has to use the least glamorous dress she can find because she almost got kidnapped the last time she slipped out into the woods.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: At one point, when Anna is brushing Elsa's hair, she comments about how thick Elsa's hair is, a subtle nod to how the animators gave Elsa over 420,000 CGI threads, compared to just 140,000 for Anna.
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Anna's reaction to Elsa telling her that they can't open the gates until Elsa turns 21:
  Queen Elsa: One, I cannot let anyone in the castle because it isn't safe for anyone to be around dangerous, defective me. Two, I don't have the authority to open the gates at all until after the coronation when I turn twenty-one. As of now, I am still underage and I don't have the absolute authority the monarch would have. I'm basically a regent; I can't pass or repeal laws. I don't have any authority of my own yet.
  Princess Anna: You mean....Mom and Dad made some ruling that the gates had to stay closed and you can't change it whether you want to or not for another TWO WHOLE YEARS?! [Elsa bit her lip and slowly nodded] That's not fair! Mom and Dad aren't even HERE! Why would a dumb law like that even exist?! It's stupid, stupid, stupid! I can't go out the gates just 'cause of that?! I'm sorry if I'm shouting at you 'cause I know it's not your fault, but that has got to be the absolute dumbest law ever!
  Queen Elsa: [calmly] Anna, if you can't calm down, I will go back to my room right this second.
  Princess Anna: Ok…But it's still stupid.
  Queen Elsa: Stupid or not, that's the way it is.
• Lying Finger Cross: Anna does one to her father when he finds that Elsa has been secretly slipping notes to her. Later, when Elsa sneaks into her room and they're playing charades, Anna does a similar cross before lying to their parents about what they're hearing.

• Master of the Mixed Message: Elsa in spades. She makes clear that she desperately wants to be around Anna, while simultaneously trying to shut her out so as to avoid hurting her with her powers. This leads to moments of severe whiplash such as when Anna finds Elsa in her ice palace: Elsa appears, smiling warmly because she's excited at the prospect of Anna seeing her new creation...and then insisting Anna leave just a few sentences later.
• Meaningful Echo: During the coronation ball, the Duke of Weselton approaches Elsa and tries to ask her about raising taxes. Elsa immediately recalls an incident 18 years earlier where, as a child, she'd snuck down to the throne room while her father was arguing with this same Duke about taxes, and doesn't hesitate to remind him of this when he starts asking her again about tax hikes:
  Queen Elsa: I am not [raising taxes in Arendelle].
  Duke of Weselton: It would give Arendelle more income!
  Queen Elsa: It would…give Weselton more income, yes. [The Duke stares at Elsa as if she's got a bug on her head]
  Duke of Weselton: You haven't lost any of your three-year-old self's political savvy, have you?
  Queen Elsa: Why, no…I haven't lost any… [She let her voice trail off, implying that on the contrary, she had gained some. With a huff, the duke turned and stalked off] Well, thank you to you, too...
• Morality Chain: Anna functions as one to Elsa. It's the thought that Anna might not think highly of Elsa killing people, combined with Hans's plea, that keeps her from finishing off the Duke of Weselton's bodyguards in the ice palace.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Besides her reaction to realizing she's frozen over Arendelle, Elsa has a similar reaction when the news of her parents' death gets to her and Anna, as she had predicted that there was a storm coming, and she didn't say anything to them because she was afraid they'd lock her in the dungeon again.
• Mythology Gag:
  • At Christmastime in chapter 10, when Anna and Elsa are making a snowman in the courtyard, Anna retorts to Elsa that "You're supposed to be queen, not me. I'm just the spare." It's a subtle nod to "More than Just the Spare," the song that was replaced with "For the First Time in Forever".
  • The argument Anna and Elsa have in the cellar a few months before the coronation calls to mind both "For The First Time in Forever (Reprise)" but also the Cut Song that it replaced, "Life's Too Short".
  • Elsa uses her ice magic to open locks, referencing her doing the same thing in Once Upon a Time.
• Mundane Luxury: When their parents leave for their fateful voyage, Elsa is outright delighted when she gets to eat meals with Anna (as opposed to having Gerda bring them to her room). It takes Anna a moment to register that Elsa's sense of normalcy means she's going to get excited about simple things, like spending time with Anna.
  Princess Elsa: [smiling] It's been a decade since I've done this. Thank you for inviting me, Anna.
  Princess Anna: You're welcome, Elsa, but you shouldn't thank me for something like this. It's just a meal. [Elsa's smile fades]
  Princess Elsa: It might be just a meal for you, but it's a big deal for me. I'm used to eating alone in my room…
• Mystical White Hair: Even without knowledge of Elsa's powers, Anna still regards Elsa's hair in this way, since neither of their parents have it.
• Neat Freak: Elsa always keeps her room very nice and tidy so that no clothes or books will be damaged when she loses control of her powers. Her parents have more or less compelled her to do this ever since she accidentally ruined a dress and a few books during one such episode while she was nine. Elsa is stunned when she sneaks into Anna's room a few times to find that Anna's room is a complete mess by comparison.
• Not Me This Time: When Elsa's storm sense predicts a blizzard coming, her father is led to think that she caused the storm on purpose, much to her anger.
• Not So Above It All: Elsa does still have a sense of humor, although not to the same extent as Anna's.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Elsa has a moment of this when she exchanges pleasantries with Rapunzel at the coronation ball, realizing that Rapunzel's upbringing (kidnapped and held captive by Mother Gothel in a tower for 18 years, and having magic healing hair) is a lot like her own (sealed up in her room for most of the past 13 years due to ice magic she can't control). Rapunzel even flags Elsa as an introvert who's good at reading people, much like she is.
• Not So Stoic: Despite Elsa attempting to shut down her emotions (since her powers respond to her emotions), her attempts at staying emotionless and impassive don't always work out.
• Obfuscating Disability: When she's 16, Elsa fakes being ill in order to get some time with Anna. Her parents see through it, though, and this ends up being a one-time thing.
• Oh, Crap!: Elsa's go-to reaction whenever she realizes Anna is noticing evidence of her powers, from unintentionally using her powers to add snow to a snowball right in front of Anna, to the room temperature dropping whenever she's upset. Her biggest one is at the coronation ball, when she turns around to a persistent Anna to say "I said, ENOUGH!" and gestures with her unexposed left hand...realizing a second too late that she's motioned with her wrong hand before the giant wall of ice spikes is created.
• One Scene, Two Monologues: Often we see Elsa's internal thinking happening simultaneous to whatever conversation she's engaged in.
• Only Sane Man:
  • Elsa is the only one to realize that her parents are less focused on helping her control her powers, so much as conceal them.
  • While Anna may not know about Elsa's powers, she's also the only one to see how Elsa's fear of her powers is affecting her.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Elsa has been forced by her parents to be pretty stoic, but when she gets angry, that's reason to take concern.
• Perspective Flip: The story alternates between Anna's and Elsa's perspectives during the chapters covering the five years before the movie, though skewed more towards Elsa. The chapters covering the events of the movie are told entirely from Elsa's perspective (although the scene where Anna and Kristoff meet Olaf is still included). In the final chapter's author's notes, the author explained that the story originally started as an attempt to tell the main plot of the movie from Elsa's point of view, and explain what she did while confined in her room, since all that's obvious from the movie is that Elsa is scared and having a hard time controlling her powers, and the author also notes that in the movie, Elsa is never seen outside of either of her 'extreme' personas; "either she's declaring her freedom as the Snow Queen on the North Mountain or she's terrified".
• The Piano Player: Elsa is able to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on the piano, as well as several other songs.
• Poor Communication Kills: Anna really desperately wants to be there for Elsa and help her with her problems, but is frustrated by the fact that she can't because Elsa is too afraid to admit the truth about her powers (and their parents have also forbidden this topic from being discussed in front of Anna).
• Photographic Memory: Elsa has one. This is how she memorizes the layout of the castle's secret passages so quickly.
• Rage Breaking Point: While Elsa does a fairly good job trying to keep her emotions contained (out of fear of losing control of her powers), there's only so much she can hold back on her anger.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Anna gives an epic one to Hans after he tries to insult her and Elsa to Elsa's face.
  Princess Anna: I don't know what you told Elsa, but you are NOT going to pick on her if I have anything to do with it! How dare you hurt Elsa like that! Do you even know all the things she was dealing with for years and years on end?! You LIED to Elsa, telling her I was dead; and technically, you hurt me too. I really thought you loved me. Thank goodness my sister had the sense to nix the whole marriage thing from the get-go. What would you have done? Poisoned Elsa? Killed me in my sleep so you could be king? You have no sense of how other people think or feel, none at all! You're just lucky Elsa is nice. Do you realize she could have you executed for what you did? But noooo, the worst thing my sister did to you was freeze your feet to the floor. You just-[Elsa opens the door to the throne room to summon some guards]
  Queen Elsa: Take Prince Hans back downstairs, please.
• Rebellious Princess: Being that the sisters are both teenagers, it's inevitable that both of them show shades of this. Anna, being younger, tends to show this more often, but even Elsa harbors a rebellious streak against her parents. In particular, Elsa occasionally sneaks outside and both sisters find ways to see each other in spite of their parents.
• Retcon:
  • Jennifer Lee has said that Elsa's birthday is at the winter solstice, while Anna's birthday is at the summer solstice, which is further backed up by the fact that "Frozen Fever", which takes place on Anna's birthday, takes place in the warm summer months. This story reverses it so that Elsa's birthday is in the summer while Anna's birthday is right before Christmas.
  • This story was written before Olaf's Frozen Adventure was even conceived, meaning that backstory events established in that short film (that Anna would slip Elsa a drawing of Olaf under her door every Christmas, and a doll of Olaf on another occasion, while Elsa also had a stuffed penguin named Sir Jorgen Bjorgen) are ignored.
• Saying Too Much: In one instance, Elsa sneaks into Anna's room via the passages to play charades with her. Unfortunately, she forgets that she used to love doing impersonations before the accident, and Anna can't keep her mouth shut.
• Selective Obliviousness: It's heavily suggested that Agdar and Idun completely fail to notice that Elsa still has almost no control of her powers even in her late teens, and have no idea of how powerful Elsa actually is.
• Skewed Priorities: Regularly seen whenever the sisters' parents catch them together. A great example is when two men try to kidnap Elsa in the forest when she's 16, and she uses her powers trying to get them back off. She is only rescued from intervention thanks to Anna tipping off their parents. Afterwards, Agdar seems more angry at Elsa for continuing to communicate with Anna despite his telling her not to than with her almost getting hurt.
• Sleazy Politician: In chapter 15, after her father threatens to take her to the dungeon, Elsa recounts a time that she once snuck down there when she was three. Before this, she wandered into the throne room in the middle of the night and found her father in the midst of an argument with the Duke of Weselton. Before Elsa happens to interrupt, the Duke is trying to convince Agdar to raise taxes on goods being transferred between Arendelle and Weselton. 18 years after said encounter, Elsa is quick to remind the Duke of Weselton of their earlier meeting.
  King Agdar: She may be three, but she does have a point. What other reason could you have for being so adamant toward raising taxes?
  Duke of Weselton: It would gain Arendelle more income! You have no proof that I am trying to 'cheat on moneys', as your daughter so eloquently suggested! [under his breath] I don't look forward to that little brat on the throne of Arendelle in the future.
  King Agdar: Did you just call my daughter, the Crown Princess of Arendelle, a little brat?
  Duke of Weselton: No! No, of course not!
• Something Only They Would Say: In Chapter 26, at Christmastime, Elsa sneaks out of the castle disguised as a peasant girl, cuts down a tree, then has to get it back into the castle by the front gates, which are still closed by her parents' orders. Once she takes off her disguise, the gate guard asks Elsa to verify who she is by asking her about when she explored the dungeon. Elsa correctly answers to get past the guards.
• Sophisticated as Hell: When Elsa's father blames her for causing a natural blizzard, and chides her for talking to Anna again, going at her like Elsa's being questioned in a tribunal, Elsa decides to deliberately play that up for the sake of denying her dad a straight answer, slipping into some very fancy legal jargon.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: Averted. Elsa sings "You Are My Sunshine" on several occasions when she's upset. But even though it's usually used as a cheerful song, here it's used for drama.
• Squee: Elsa's reaction when Anna shows up at her ice palace and is visibly impressed by her creation.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Elsa takes great offense at the language of some marriage offers that imply she needs a man to help her with governing Arendelle.
• Tap on the Head: Played more seriously than usual. Getting knocked out by the chandelier is shown to have left Elsa with a concussion rather than all effects disappearing when she wakes up, and she develops a noticeable stutter after returning to Arendelle (though it noticeably disappears when she gets angry).
• Tempting Fate: In a flashback in Chapter 15, Elsa recalls as a three year old that she once crashed a late night meeting between her father and the Duke of Weselton, and called the Duke out for being sleazy. Agdar quickly takes to Elsa's defense. The Duke replies, "I don't look forward to that little brat on the throne of Arendelle in the future." 18 years later, Elsa becomes Queen and when she runs into the Duke at the coronation ball, they both still very well remember this.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Anna, partly due to having spent her whole life sheltered inside the castle.
  Queen Elsa: Anna, those books you read are FAIRY TALES. Not real life. Do you honestly think a girl is just going to meet a guy and fall in love with him at first sight?
  Princess Anna: [shrugs] I don't see why not. Ooh, Elsa, did you get a marriage offer thingie for me, too?!

• Verbal Tic: Elsa develops a stutter after Hans drops the ice chandelier on her as a lingering effect of her concussion. Noticeably, it disappears whenever she gets angry.
• Unwitting Muggle Friend: Deconstructed. Agdar and Idun decide (from their interpretation of the trolls' advice) to keep Anna in the dark about Elsa's powers. However, Anna knows something's wrong with Elsa, and naturally, it angers her that she knows something's wrong but neither Elsa nor their parents are willing to be open enough to give her the information she needs to help. Even though Elsa does her best to hide her powers around Anna, she's not 100% perfect at doing so and there are several occasions where Anna catches evidence of Elsa's powers (among others, catching Elsa walking around in snow barefoot, incidentally seeing a snowball grow in Elsa's hands by itself, the temperature in the room dropping when Elsa gets upset, puddles being left behind by her ice, etc.). This also explains later why Anna is not too surprised when Elsa accidentally reveals her powers at the coronation, and is more like "So that explains all the strangeness", and is just focused on bringing Elsa back to Arendelle and getting her to undo her eternal winter.
• Waking Up Elsewhere:
  • Elsa has a moment of this after she deliberately makes herself ill so that her parents will let her see Anna. She ends up passing out in her bedroom and doesn't wake up until she's been moved to a guest room.
  • When Elsa is forced by Gerda to sleep in Anna's bedroom after her suicide attempt, the first thing she says when she wakes up is, "Why am I in Anna's room? Oh...I remember now."
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Elsa's "Be the good girl you always have to be" line from "Let It Go" gets some roots to it. Even Anna realizes Elsa is being forced to act like something she's not to appease their parents. This is shown whenever she has dreams about the night she froze Anna's head, and always gets the same disapproval from her parents of "Elsa, what have you done? This is getting out of hand."
• Worse with Context: At the post-coronation ball in the movie, Anna looks nervous when Kai repositions her on the throne dais next to Elsa, explaining why she's babbling, "What, here? Are you sure? Because I don't think I'm supposed to—Oh, okay!" when Kai is moving her. In the movie, all that seems to be suggested is that Anna feels awkward being in Elsa's presence and also in front of a crowd. Here though, Anna's nervousness is because she and Elsa had a fight a few months prior and haven't been on the best of speaking terms until then. This explains why Anna seems surprised when Elsa starts to converse cordially with her. Said fight also factors into Anna's choice of words in the later argument that leads to Elsa's powers becoming exposed.
• You Are in Command Now: Elsa is left in charge of Arendelle while her parents are away. When they die, Elsa finds herself saddled with running Arendelle from behind closed doors.
• You No Take Candle: Marshmallow when communicating with Elsa.
  "MARSHMALLOW WILL GUARD OUTSIDE. PROTECT ELSA'S FORTRESS."

The Secret Passages AU provides examples of:

• For Want Of A Nail: The divergent point for the AU is when Elsa attempts suicide at the end of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman". In the original story, Anna goes to get Gerda and Gerda breaks down Elsa's door. In this story, Anna doesn't get Gerda and forces open Elsa's door herself.
• Internal Reveal: By thwarting Elsa's suicide attempt herself rather than going to seek out Gerda first, Anna ends up learning about Elsa's powers three years before the coronation.