Note: I'm deleting the entire thing next week to make way for a rewrite. I don't think there would be any major changes, just tweaks to Elsa's characterization and the plot, timeline, corrections, etc. Apologies for the inconvenience. In the meantime, take a look at what I have so far.

July 16th, midnight

Conjuring a dress made of ice is the last thing I would have thought my powers could do, Elsa mused, running a finger over the cool blue silk. The dress was draped over the chair of her vanity table, having changed out of it into a cotton nightgown to wear for sleep. She recalled the liberating moment—the dress sprang from her imagination fully-formed, as if she had designed it from the start, and felt her powers bending to her will with a wave of her hand.

But a huge yawn interrupted her reflections. Time for bed, then, she capitulated, undoing her braid then redoing it into a loose one. Lifting the winter she had accidentally caused and the resulting emotional turmoil in the past week, along with haphazardly establishing herself as the queen of Arendelle and deporting a certain duke and prince who both wanted her dead had left her tired to the bone. Elsa crawled under the covers with a sigh, relishing how it felt to sink into the warm comfort of her bed.

At least today ended on a high note. Her people were starting to accept her-their smiles and laughter when she turned the castle courtyard into a skating rink was been proof of that. The highlight of the day was teaching Anna how to skate—it was a promise she had made a long time ago, one she thought she would never have a chance to fulfill. Nevertheless, it had been a long day, perhaps the first of many more.

Elsa squeezed her eyes shut and tried to forget that she reminded Gerda to wake her up at half-past five in the morning tomorrow. After a moment, she lifted her head from her pillow to check the time.

Quarter to eleven in the evening. Good. Six and a half hours of sleep should do nicely. She guessed it would take her fifteen minutes to lose consciousness.

She was already starting to drift to sleep, curled up on her side facing the door of her room, when a soft knock brought her back to full consciousness. Elsa groaned and burrowed under covers. Can't be time to get up yet, is it?

"Elsa?" a muffled voice asked from behind the door. It was Anna.

She heard the door creak open when her younger sister let herself in. Soft footsteps followed and stopped by her bed. Elsa cracked an eye open and saw Anna standing by the side of the bed, sporting a sheepish grin.

"Do you know what time it is?" she grumbled, burrowing under the covers. Not that she was unhappy to see Anna, but there was a small mountain of paperwork waiting for her at her desk tomorrow and she needed to keep her wits about her. It wouldn't do to start her reign having signed a proclamation raising taxes or something—she had only gained her people's good graces very recently.

"Midnight. It's a new day!" Anna chirped. Elsa lifted the covers to see Anna still grinning at her, but noted how she wrung her hands. "But actually, um...do you mind if I sleep here? Just for tonight, I promise! I mean, it's been so long and I—"

"Sure. The bed is big enough," Elsa interrupted, pushing the blanket aside and moving over to make room. She felt a pinprick of guilt over her grumpiness earlier—she had just promised to herself that she will never, ever shut Anna out, and just now she came close to breaking it.

Elsa shook it off and frowned, remembering the last time she had allowed Anna to sleep beside her (she was seven, Anna was four). "You've outgrown kicking around in bed, right?" she asked, raising a wary eyebrow as she stifled a yawn.

"You'll just have to find out." Anna smirked and flopped on the bed, twisting on her side to face Elsa, who rolled her eyes affectionately and lay down once more. Now fully awake, she studied Anna's features, reminded once more of how much time she had lost out on. Her younger sister's face was starting to lose its childish roundness, making way for womanly cheekbones. Her scrutiny must have unnerved Anna, whose smirk shrank into a small, uncertain smile. "You know, I've missed this so much."

"Me too."

Anna pursed her lips in response. "So."

"Hmm?"

Anna shook her head after a beat of awkward silence with a sigh. "We need to practice this sister thing more often," she remarked, flopping on her back to stare at the canopy of Elsa's bed. "What I had in mind when I came here was talking non-stop until the sun rose. Now I can't think of a thing to say." She grimaced. "Sorry. I didn't mean to complain—"

"No," Elsa disagreed. "I understand. And I'm happy you're here." She winced inwardly at the maudlin statement then summoned the courage to squeeze Anna's hand from under the covers.