Chapter Text
Cipher let out a small sigh as she sat at the table having lunch with both Anna and Mickey. She had listened to Mickey talk about how sometimes he would mention something to Minnie, only for Minnie tilt her head and tell him she didn't remember the event that he had just mentioned the night before while she did some late night gardening and having nearly the same conversation with Anna this morning, she declared they were going to have lunch together.
Cipher looked between the two. “Alright, I have an idea that may or not fix things, BUT it could be a start of creating new memories to help Kristoff and Minnie remember that feeling or spark between their respective significant other....” She hesitated. “Look, love is a confusing thing to me, but I promised I'd help, so I'm apologizing in advance if this doesn't work...”
Mickey offered Cipher a smile. “Its okay, we can try it out!”
Anna nodded her head. “Any plan is better than no plan and its always worth a shot!” Anna leaned in with a smile. “So what's the plan?”
“Mickey, I remember you mentioning that some of your happiest memories with Minnie are the picnics you go on,” Cipher said.
Mickey perked up immediately picking up on Cipher's idea. “Right! I was mentioning that to you when we first saw Minnie trapped in The Here and There!”
Cipher looked towards Anna. “And I've heard you mention going on picnics and I've seen you with your blanket and pillows out with Elsa. Did you and Kristoff do that?”
Anna smiled softly. “We did a couple times. We often invited Elsa along too if she could come.”
“Great, then you guys can have a double date...I mean if its okay with you two...” Cipher said, quickly adding the last part.
Mickey chuckled while Anna smiled. “Of course! Oh this'll be so much fun!” Anna said.
Cipher rubbed the back of her head. “I can help cook some of the stuff for you guys since I was the one to mention it to you and I might as well put some effort in. Sandwiches and a chocolate cake sound good to you guys?”
Anna nodded her head. “I can help set up the spot! Mickey, what kind of drinks do you like best? I'll help with the drinks!”
Mickey hummed. “Lemonade would be okay with me.”
Anna smiled. “Sweet!”
Mickey looked over at Cipher. “And I can help you cook! You don't need to do everything by yourself just to help us!”
Cipher shrugged. “If you want, you can. I would be fine though. I think I have everything to make the cake. I might have to hop over to Remy's to pick up eggs though...” She hummed for a second. “I can double check and make a shopping list when I get home.”
Mickey nodded his head. “Well, I'll have to ask Minnie but we could have this picnic in the next couple days.”
Anna nodded her head. “I'll ask Kristoff and we can pick a date tomorrow.”
Cipher smiled small. This could help...hopefully.
~
They settled on the picnic for Saturday. Anna and Kristoff were setting up the blankets and pillows by the pond by the Pillar of Friendship and Mickey and Minnie were helping Cipher in her house.
“Thanks Cipher for offering your kitchen up! There's more space here than at my place,” Mickey said. He was carefully placing the last layer of cake onto the other two.
“Its no problem, I figured it'd be easier since all the my stuff is here,” Cipher said. She glanced back at Minnie, who was tucking sandwiches into the picnic basket. “You think you'll be able to place a cake in there? I can bring it over if you need me to...”
Minnie placed the last sandwich in. “Yep! There's plenty of space! I don't remember when I picked this picnic basket up, but its a good thing I did. It can hold enough food for the whole valley it seems like,” she said, adding a small giggle at the end. “Thinking about it, that might be why I got it.”
Mickey offered Minnie a smile. “You do like going on picnics, even if it wasn't just us.” He bounced off the stool Cipher had brought over and eyed the cake now that he was a bit more level with it. “Yep, that looks even,” he muttered.
Cipher looked at the icing she had mixed up. “Think this'll be enough?” She asked. She tipped the bowl towards Mickey.
“Yep! Thanks for mixing that up!” He took the bowl as Cipher passed it over to him.
“If the cake tastes bad I'll take the fall,” Cipher said.
“We've taste tested both the cake and the icing, its not bad,” Mickey reassured Cipher. He started putting the icing on the cake.
Cipher wandered over to the couch in the other side of the room and dropped down on it. She didn't have the best confidence in her cooking and when it came to others eating what she threw together she was always a bit worried it was bad...especially when it came to cakes and pies...anything that required baking actually.
Minnie smiled over at her. “Are you coming to the picnic Cipher?”
Cipher shook her head. “Nah, I'm good. I've got some lessons with Merlin anyways and some harvesting to do. I hope you guys have fun though. Remember to take some photos,” she said.
Minnie giggled. “You're starting to sound like Goofy.”
Cipher rested her head back, a smile spreading across her face. “Best compliment ever. But photos are always great to look back on and remembering good times. But that might just be the photographer in me talking.”
Minnie smiled softly at Cipher. “We'll take plenty of photos. We'll have to print one out for you and even Goofy. Have him stick it in that scrapbook of his.”
Mickey stood up from where he was hunched over, an icing spatula covered in icing in his hands. “And done!” He tilted his head. “No wait..” he went back to smooth out a small patch. “Now done!”
Cipher pushed herself off the couch and headed back over to her island. She shuffled in the counter for a second before pulling out a cake box. “I bought a couple from Remy when I bought the eggs.” She helped Mickey shift the cake from the stand to the box before closing it.
Mickey brought the cake over to Minnie so she could tuck it into the picnic basket. The two offered her a wave before leaving.
~
Anna and Mickey had invited Cipher out to Dinner the following day.
“So how did it go?” Cipher asked. The smiles on their faces at least assured her it went well.
“Kristoff remembered how I liked the pillows set up for picnics! Well, I'm not sure if he remembered that's how I liked them necessarily BUT he set the pillows in the way he used to remember that I liked them, so his memories are still there somewhere! He even mentioned that he remembered that sandwiches used to be a sore subject for someone he knew, he couldn't remember who but he remembered that detail,” Anna said.
Mickey nodded his head. “And Minnie is starting to remember more. She mentioned remembering cooking for a party here in the valley and how she kept having to kick me out of her house even though I was trying to help because I kept wanting to eat the blueberry pies she made...”
Cipher laughed at the image. “I'm glad I could help,” she said.
Anna clapped her hands together. “Cipher! You should come to our next picnic!”
“Your next?” Cipher asked.
Mickey nodded his head. “Yeah! We had so much fun we wanted to make it a regular thing! We want to invite more people next time too!”
Cipher smiled. “A valley wide picnic wouldn't be too bad of an idea.”
Anna bounced in her seat. “Oh! I can't wait!”
Cipher let out a small sigh. She was glad that the picnic had helped, even in just the slightest bit. Perhaps Anna and Mickey wouldn't have to worry about Kristoff and Minnie's memories for too much longer.