Chapter 32: Secrets revealed.

"Come on, keep going! Did I say you could stop?" I yell as I see the recruits slacking off. They groan in protest, but nonetheless continue practicing with their powers as I instructed them to earlier.

It's been two weeks since Anna made the announcement of us needing ice-wielders for the war against the Ice Queen, and now we have two new recruits; a woman in her twenties and another one in her fifties, which means we have a total of 6 ice-wielders including me. And most of them aren't even that powerful. At this pace, we're never going to win the war! Which is why we've been training non-stop for days.

And also because I don't want to see Anna. And if I'm training or sleeping I can't see her, right?

Am I being a coward? Maybe. But what can you really say when you've made love to your long lost sister? Though I'll probably have to tell her soon enough. Or else she'll end up thinking I hate her, and I don't want that.

"Elsa, can we take a break?" Henrik asks, pausing the attacks he was launching at me. Honestly, they were so weak I was barely paying attention to them.

"Seriously? You've been slacking off all morning and now you suddenly want a break?" I say, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms over my chest, hoping to appear commanding and intimidating.

"I'm tired. We all are! You can't expect us to keep going without rest forever." He answers angrily, clenching his fists. But honestly? I'm not impressed about his little act, or his whining.

"Not forever. Only until we defeat the Ice Queen."

"That's insane!" He keeps on protesting.

"Yeah." The younger man, Ryan, shyly interferes. "We're already running out of magic. We need to rest at least a day." The others immediately agree too.

"I haven't had magic for days, and she doesn't listen." Erik (the older man) says.

"I can barely conjure a snowflake anymore." Says the younger woman, Kyla, while the older one, Serena, just nods in agreement.

"See?" Henrik says. "We need to take a break, otherwise our powers won't have time to regenerate."

"Funny. This is the first time I've heard ice-wielders saying they need time to let their powers regenerate." I mean, sure, my powers haven't completely recovered, but that's because I normally have an immense amount of magic. But them? The sleep they get at night should be enough.

"It's always cold in the Northern Lands! Of course they don't need that much time to recover. But here? Here it's more difficult." Henrik keeps arguing.

"Well, then I guess we'll just have to move to somewhere more to the north. Then you'll be able to practice everyday without whining, right?"

"Elsa!"

"Elsa." I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Kristoff, who is giving me a concerned gaze. "I agree with them. You should all take a break. Even you look like you're about to collapse from exhaustion."

"No I don't!" I protest, shaking his hand off my shoulder. "The Ice Queen isn't resting, and if we don't hurry…" I'm cut off by a sharp pain on my head, and an overwhelming sense of dizziness, but I still try to shake it off. "We have a duty to protect Arendelle!"

"Is that the only reason?" He raises an eyebrow, skeptical. Damnit! Why does he have to be so perceptive?

"What other reason could there be?" I answer defensively, but he just keeps staring at me with a deadpan look.

"Look, Elsa, all I'm saying is that if you keep this up, you'll collapse sooner rather than later. And that won't help Arendelle. Or Anna."

"Listen, Kristoff."

"No, you listen, Elsa. We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"What hard way?" I raise an eyebrow. It's not like he has the physical, magical, or any other kind of power to make me rest against my will.

"I'm calling Anna."

And that's the story of how I was dragged to my bed against my will and how Anna and Kristoff stayed there watching me until I fell asleep. I hate to admit it, but maybe Kristoff was right, since I do feel better and well rested when I wake up. I also didn't have any memory-dreams either, so that helped.

I yawn as I open my eyes and turn to look at my window. It's already dark outside, meaning I probably only have to have dinner now before actually going to sleep for the night. But maybe I'll skip dinner. I don't want to talk to Anna yet and, if she thinks I'm too exhausted to get up from bed, hopefully she won't bother me.

I was just thinking about that when I suddenly feel an arm slipping around my waist, pulling me closer as a voice speaks right in my ear.

"Hey, beautiful. Did you sleep well?"

I freeze instantly. Anna is in my room? In my bed?

I turn around and look at her, confused, noticing she's already dressed with her nightgown and her hair is messy, like she's been sleeping here for a while. So, maybe it's later than I thought. Maybe dinner time has already passed and she decided to come sleep with me instead of going to her room.

"Ah… A-Anna. What are you doing here?"

"I missed you." She answers as she snuggles even closer, having her head come to rest on my shoulder. "You've been so busy lately. We've barely had time to see each other, much less talk, kiss or… do other things." Her voice is rather suggestive and by the way her hand is going south, I don't need that much imagination to know what she's up to.

Immediately, I get out of the bed as if struck by lighting, choosing to stare at the wall instead of Anna.

"Elsa?" She asks, worried. "What's going on?" As she keeps talking I hear the shifting of sheets, and then a few hurried steps. I can feel her presence right behind be now, which only makes me even more uncomfortable and anxious, so I wrap my arms around my waist as some sort of comfort when I hear her speaking again.

"You've been avoiding me lately. You refuse to touch me. Why won't you tell me what's happening? Did you get a new memory? Did you have a girlfriend before?" Her voice keeps rising and rising with every new question she makes, but I'm too terrified to say anything, so I stay silent. "Elsa! Don't you think I at least deserve an explanation?"

I wish I could just disappear. Become invisible. Or even get a heart attack and die a sudden death.

This is the confrontation I was dreading. This is why I've been avoiding Anna. I knew I'd have to tell her sooner rather than later, but part of me was hoping to be able to somehow spare her the pain.

But no. She's directly asked me why I've been avoiding her. She's sad, that's for sure. She's angry. And if I postpone this any longer it'll be way worse, so…

Reluctantly, I turn around to regard her, but when my eyes land on hers, so wide, so pure and so desperate for a good outcome, I just I can't help being a coward and closing them. Ugh. I need to do this. Come on. It's for the best.

"I-I… I'm sorry." It's the first thing that comes out of my trembling lips. "I know I've hurt you, and I know I shouldn't have avoided you, but… the truth is… I-I… I did get a new memory." Finally, I open my eyes, looking at Anna, who has an almost stoic expression, as if waiting for the fatal blow.

"I remember. It was the other day, in my room, right? What happened? You were very… distraught." She says, grimacing.

"I-I… I just…" I'm getting a headache already. And my whole body is trembling. I think I'm going to puke. Or pass out. One of the two.

"Elsa, relax, whatever it is I promise nothing will change between..."

"We're sisters." The words are out of my mouth before I can't think better of it. And it feels both as if a weight has lifted from my shoulders and as if the whole world just came crumbling down upon me. Immediately, I start crying, closing my eyes as I'm too afraid to see her reaction.

But I know what she'll say. I know how she'll feel. Because I felt the same. Disgust. Anger. Shame. Regret…

"I… I know." Anna's rather calm tone of voice startles me. And I open my eyes to find her looking at me with an almost guilty expression. "I've known for a while."

… What? But… but surely I heard wrong! She already knew? And she didn't tell me? What?!

"Since when?" I hear myself asking with a shaky voice.

"Since…" She bites her lip, looking to the side. "Since the beginning."

My hand is flying before I can stop myself, and soon it makes contact with Anna's cheek, followed by a clear slapping sound.

"Hey!" Anna protests, and then her own hand is hitting my left cheek, though not nearly with as much strength as mine did. Still, this only manages to anger me even more, and I raise my hand to land yet another hit on her, but she takes a step back, putting up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, calm down. Let's solve this like rational human beings."

"How? You knew we were sisters and yet kept it secret for so long. You lied to me this entire time? You willingly entered into a romantic relationship with me? What's wrong with you?!" I'm absolutely livid now. To think all of this could have been prevented if she had just told me the truth.

"Uh… alright. I know this looks bad, but I promise there's a logical explanation!" She says defensively. And although all I want right now is to slap her again, I decide to reign myself in, cross my arms over my chest and regard her with a severe expression.

"Speak." I say coldly.

"Okay." She breaths out in relief. "So… when you first arrived to Arendelle I didn't know you were my sister, obviously, but then… remember when we were searching for your name on a list of exiled Northerners?" I nod and she continues. "Well, I lied. The secret archive did say your name and the date you were exiled. And it also said you were my sister."

"But why didn't you tell me then?" I ask, still angry as ever.

"Because I didn't know you!" She replies, not appearing to be even the least bit intimidated by my angry attitude. "You were just a Northerner that appeared here under suspicious circumstances and said your name was Elsa. Like my sister. The legitimate Queen of Arendelle. You could've been faking amnesia in order to seize the throne!"

"But I wasn't, Anna!" I protest, pretty much snarling. "For how long have we been friends? For how long have you trusted me? And you still didn't tell me."

"Yeah, but I started trusting you about the same time I started to develop… feelings for you. And, well, things kinda got complicated, and I didn't know how I felt about it, and I was kinda hoping my feelings for you would disappear once you being my sister really sank in, but they didn't, and then we kissed and… well, it was a little too late." She finished sheepishly.

"Anna." I sigh, exasperated, as I rub my forehead to try and alleviate my growing migraine. After all, I really don't think that's a valid justification for her actions. "You should have told me! Now, because of you, we've been committing incest for while, and…"

"Pft. Incest." She laughs. "Because that's something that never happens amongst royalty. It's not like one of us can get pregnant or anything."

"That doesn't make it right!"

"Well, it doesn't make it wrong, right? I mean, love is love, after all. And just to be clear, I still love you. And no, I'm not talking about sisterly love." She pauses, giving me a confident look. "What about you?"

"What about me? How can you even ask that?! We're sisters!" I immediately answer, but to my exasperation, she remains nonchalant.

"Yeah, but we're still the same." She shrugs. "I mean, it's not like we grew up together or anything, and no one even knows we're sisters… well, except Kai and Gerda, but even they are supportive of our relationship."

"I know, Anna. We know. And to continue doing this even knowing we're sisters would be…" I trail off, not finding the words to describe it. Disgusting, maybe. Wrong for sure. Probably the worst thing I've ever done.

"Would be the sensible thing to do." She finishes for me. "We love each other, Elsa. Romantically. That we are related or not doesn't change that fact. Plus, the union of Arendelle and the Northern Lands kinda depends on us getting married, so…" She trails off, shrugging. But I have to admit she made an excellent point.

The Northerners will never accept Anna as their Queen because she's the daughter of the man who exiled them and his soldiers were their oppressors for so long. On the other hand, the Arendellians will never accept an ice-wielder as their Queen, and I doubt any of them would believe I was the legitimate heir anyway. Really, they only accepted me in the first place because of Anna.

The only way there is a chance for a peaceful resolution is if we marry and co-rule as Queens, uniting Arendelle with the Northern Lands. All because of our relationship. But if I break it off and reveal the truth…

Ugh! But how could I ever marry Anna knowing she's my sister?! What would our parents think? What would Kristoff, Rapunzel, Eugene, And everyone else do if they found out?! It's risky either way. And honestly? I'm not sure what option I like best. I mean… my feelings for Anna didn't completely disappear as soon as I remembered we are sisters, but… it's just so wrong!

And now I have the worst headache of my life. Great.

"Elsa, you need to calm down." Anna says, rubbing her arms as if trying to warm herself up. Which is weird because she's somewhat immune to cold. "It's getting snowy in here."

And she's right. Apparently it's been snowing for a while. Frost also covers the walls now, and frozen stalactites hang from the ceiling. My emotions must be even more of a storm than I thought.

"I'm sorry." I answer, closing my eyes in an attempt to calm down the headache. "You should go before it gets worse."

"Are you sure? Normally I'm able to alleviate your distress."

"You are the cause of my distress this time, Anna. You. Need. To. Go." I pretty much snarl the last words, and she actually flinches at this. Her eyes turn sad, and my heart breaks a little at the sight. I almost regret what I said. Almost. I'm still angry, especially because of her carefree attitude upon such a situation.

"Fine." She says at the end, frowning. "But if you need me, you know where to find me."

"Alright, alright. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Or preferentially, never.

At my words, Anna seems to relax slightly and she starts going towards the door… except she pauses halfway there and comes back running, holding me tightly.

"Elsa, I love you." She says. "I know you're mad at me right now, but just know that I love you more than anything in the world, alright?"

"A-ah…" What can I even say? I mean, I love her too. And even now her arms around me feel really nice, but… gosh, I'm so mad. I'm just not feeling it. "T-thank you."

Thank you? Really? That's all that came out of my mouth? Still, it seemed to satisfy Anna, as she finally lets go of me, gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and then goes towards the door, waving goodbye at me before closing it.

And all I can do is collapse on my bed and try to forget about everything that just happened. Really, I almost wish I had amnesia once more. Like, what am I going to do now? Knowing Anna is my sister, that she knew all along, that we've committed incest and I liked it…

All I want to do is bury myself under a big pile of snow and disappear from existence. Forget about everything.

Maybe the right thing to do would be running off to some remote military base near the Northern Lands, to keep training the new recruits over there. I mean, didn't they say they needed a colder climate? And it's far enough away from Anna that it will allow me to forget about it, at least temporarily.

Yes. Right now what's important is to kill the Ice Queen. I can worry about Anna and our relationship later.

Is it escapism? Maybe. But it will also help Arendelle, right? So it's a win-win. I don't think Anna will be too happy about it though.

A/N: Sorry for the long absence and the short chapter. I know it's been way too long, but I wasn't really inspired to write this fic, especially such an important chapter (how many of you saw this twist coming? I'm curious). But I'm back now, you can thank all the Frozen II trailers and whatnot, and although I can't promise I will finish this fic, I will at least try. Hopefully next chapter won't take me this long to update.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Please leave a review/favorite/follow if you liked it, and see you (hopefully) soon :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.