"Now, Kristoff, don't forget to keep your eyes on her, don't let her do anything risky, and I am being serious with that, do not dare laugh. No dangerous activities, remember what happened last time? I do not wish for something like that to happen again, you both will send me to an early grave, I swear. And one more thing-"

"Elsa..." Anna drawled the last vowel as she jumped from one feet to another, her arm looped with Kristoff's. The Ice Master let out an amused snort at her impatience and addressed the Queen.

"Don't worry, we'll be careful this time. I'll take care of this little snowbug." He sent a conspiring wink towards the girl next to him, one that Elsa did catch, but decided to let it pass and let her sister savor the moment.

Elsa finally let her shoulders slump down and looked between the ice man and her sister. "Just be careful, please." Anna nodded in reassurance and dragged Kristoff over to where Sven and her horse were waiting for them. Elsa let out a deep sigh and turned to go inside the castle. She almost tripped forwards as something, or rather a certain someone, slammed against her back and wrapped her in a tight hug. She couldn't help letting out a merry laugh as she looked over her shoulder to find teal eyes boring into her own. A wide grin spread on the strawberry blonde's face.

"I'll be back, okay? We won't miss curfew this time!"

The young Queen regarded her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile. "I expect so. Take care, Anna."

"When don't I? Don't answer that! See you for dinner!"

"We'll be back soon, Queen Elsa." Kristoff called as Anna made her way up to him and got on her horse, Tinpan. In a swift movement, Kristoff was on Sven and the couple was outside the castle in the blink of an eye. The hooves of both animals echoed on the stones as they raced their way to Valley of the Living Rock. Elsa shook her head in amusement and made her way inside the castle, knowing a pile of work would be waiting in her study.

"She worries about you, y'know?"

Anna whipped her head to look at the ice harvester. They had raced their way out of town, laughing and whatnot, with nobody winning in the end. Both had fallen into a comfortable silence as they made their way to visit Kristoff's family. She was certain it wouldn't be broken with that kind of question.

"Who's 'she' in this question?" Anna asked, already knowing where the conversation was steering.

The blond rolled his eyes in mock amusement and raised his eyebrows, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Anna had to bite back a grin. Of course she knew who he was talking about, but asked for the sole purpose of wanting him to amuse her with his expressions. That expression in particular.

"Well, she ought to. She's the elder, she's got a reason to." she replied, a tone of uncertainty slipping into her voice. That sole reason was what she always knew about her dear older sister, but had she thought more about it? Was there more to it?

Kristoff shook his head, grinning. "It's not just that. I've had troll brothers and sisters and they never got worried about me that much. You're special to Elsa, Anna. You're still the baby sister to her." He let out a chuckle and turned away when Anna scrunched up her face and crossed her arms. He heard her mutter something between the lines of 'I'm not that little anymore.' When he decided to look at her, the feisty girl he had come to know was as silent as she would never be, looking to be thinking over his words.

Is there another reason? was the question that plagued her mind, echoing over and over again. Was it because she was a bit reckless in her actions? Definitely. She could see Elsa chasting her for running through the castle's halls without looking where she was going. And could see her worried face as she climbed over the roof of the stables to see the breaking dawn or the northern lights.

Was it because she was still naive about most of the world and its inhabitants? Not really. Elsa and herself knew as much about royal interaction, let alone social interaction, as a baker knew about sewing. Then what was it?

Her heart felt heavy as she thought back to Elsa's coronation and the couple of days after that. Anna felt like shrinking into oblivion. She thought about the dreaded question she had always tried to peel away from her mind ever since she was a child. She tried to stuff it away and leave the subject alone, but it was too much and she couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Do you think it's my fault?" she asked, biting her lower lip as she blurted out the question, hoping Kristoff wouldn't catch it. And, much to her dismay, he did.

"Your fault?" Kristoff furrowed his brow. "Why would it...oh." Well, now that is a touchy subject. He tried not to stumble on his words and thought them well. He did not want to make her feel worse than she already must have. "I don't...no, I don't believe it is, Anna. Why would it be? Have you asked yourself that?"

If she was being honest, Anna had asked herself that a lot. Thirteen years to be precise.

Indeed, Elsa and her were as close as siblings could be, but there was still hesitation in her sister's actions. Worry flicking across her eyes before she dared do something as simple as pouring tea or taking Anna's hand with her own bare ones. Freezing in an attempt to stop the murder of her sister had been one of Anna's bravest decisions. But had she done it to have these kind of consequences? To make these kind of questions that made her doubt herself? Was there still that dreadful feeling lingering in her sister's heart? That fear that had frozen their way of living and had them separated for over a decade?

Sensing her doubts, Kristoff stopped Sven and pulled on the reins on Anna's horse to do as well. He looked up at her with a sad smile and sincere eyes. "We don't have to go visit my family right now, we can go back if you want to?"

The young princess' eyes widened as she snapped her head to look at the mountain man. "No! This doesn't have to do with our plans! I'll work it out later, I promise. Kristoff, we don't have to leave your family waiting because of this, it's a party for both of us! They have been planning it for weeks already!"

Kristoff gave her a stern look. "Yeah, but I don't want to see you looking down between a group of, may they forgive me, prying and somewhat oblivious trolls. Go spend time with Elsa. Real family time with her." He eyed her up and down, a half-smile adorning his face as it softened. "You both deserve as much."

Anna felt as if a hand was squeezing her heart, Kristoff had once asked how life in the castle had been before the eternal winter fiasco and she had ended pouring out her childhood problems and memories to him, he perfectly knew how she felt at times like this and read her like a book. Their childhoods were not as different as they had imagined, both having to deal with isolation from everyone else and making friends out of anything they could think up. All in all, Kristoff was the only other person she knew she could confide everything about herself; and these were the kind of times when Anna hated to choose between him and her sister, both the only loves in her life. She leaned up to him, gripping Tinpan's reins tightly, and pecked his cheek. She felt his blush rise to his cheeks as her lips lingered for a moment there and slowly pulled back, smiling softly.

"I know, Kristoff...I'll have time with her tonight, I promise. I've been meaning to ask her something..." For a very long time now.

Knowing he wasn't the prying sort of person, she left the matter like that and whipped Tinpan's reins, making him start galloping again and taking a small advantage on him before she heard Sven's hooves behind herself. She would stay true to her word and speak to her sister later in the day, have a proper word with her and not the usual 'how was your day' chit-chat they always started or ended up in. She needed some answers, and, maybe, that would help Elsa, too; she didn't know how, but she did know that it was better to pour out your heart to someone than to keep it to yourself. And it's time for something different.

So, for the time being, she let a smile grace her freckled face as they were greeted by a large group of rock people, she silently laughed at the jokes they made of her boyfriend as to not make him feel bad and she was greeted by Grand Pabbie as if she was his own flesh and blood daughter.

And she could swear on the Almighty that the wink he gave her after greeting her was one where he knew exactly what she was thinking.

And it told her she was doing the right thing and going the right way.

Elsa groaned inwardly, if Kristoff's and Anna's reckless adventures weren't the reason of an early death for her, her duties surely would be.

And if the latter were to fail, a certain living snowman would surely be the reason of her downfall.

"Olaf, I can see you peeking from here. You've been doing that for the last hour and a half, I beg you to stop."

Elsa laid back in the desk's chair and rubbed at her forehead as she looked over at the snowman's hiding spot. At first, she had been amused by his actions of trying to lure her out of the study to play with her, bringing back some not so required childhood memories in the way, and then she had found him rather pushy, not to use the word annoying, when he peeked his head over the couch, his rather large nose sticking out in the process of doing so in a way she had found, surprisingly, amusing. With a heavy sigh and pushing back her chair, she stood up and walked over to him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What must one do to finally please you, Olaf?"

The snowman grinned goofily up at her and she couldn't help but let her heart melt a little at his sweet child-like innocence. She couldn't deny that the poor little guy was a natural charmer.

"Well...we could go outside! All these papers and chores and boring stuff are not very healthy for you, Queen Elsa." Olaf stressed out the words as to prove his point and win the argument, but that only got him a small grin from the blonde as he continued with a speech about how pale she was looking and that she needed fresh air to "think better about treaties and not unleash an accidental war with another kingdom", all the while making exaggerated movements with his stick hands.

By the time he was beginning to talk about the importance of always having a bowl with chocolates in the study, she decided to cut him off. "Olaf, why is it so important to you to distract me from work? And I'm no closer to finishing if I keep listening to you talking about my health status and your need for chocolates in the study." She said this not unkindly and even Olaf noticed how he had gotten her into a more playful state than in the one she was before. Maybe a small break will do me some good...

"All right, let's go outside for a bit."

Elsa covered her mouth as she giggled at the snowman's reaction as he exited the study, or more as skipped his way out of the study. And just for a moment, a small couple of seconds, the Queen of Arendelle thought she had seen a ginger five-year-old toddler skip her way down the hall in happiness. She shook her head and looked away, already thinking about how the talk she had planned with her sister later in the day would go.

Upon their return, the princess and the mountain man found Elsa and the giddy snowman waiting for them at the castle's doors, barely making the curfew in time and having the mountain man apologizing yet again about how his family kept them both at bay to a very amused Queen. Seeing as he couldn't stay with them, with the poor excuse of saying he had to rise early the next morning with the actual intention of giving both royal sisters time for themselves, Kristoff bid his farewell to them and left on his reindeer's back, galloping away from the castle and Arendelle itself.

Sven had snorted at Kristoff's decision of not staying at the castle, arguing the stables had the best carrots he had ever had, and the mountain man just threw an incredulous glance at him.

"C'mon, Sven, we're making them a favor."

"Yeah? What kind?"

"A good one! At least that's how it feels. Look, they both need time for each other, and have to sort out some things we can't peek into themselves. You'll see, they'll be alright." Or at least I hope so...

After a rather uncomfortable dinner with the least dialogue the sisters could come up with, Elsa and Anna left in different ways with excuses of their own and promising to see each other before leaving for bed, Elsa leaving to her study once again and Anna leaving to the portrait room.

As she entered the place, memories flooding her head wherever she looked to, Anna could only walk up to her favourite painting and the only one that she could pour her heart out to.

"Hey, Joan, it's been a long time, hasn't it? Yeah, I know...but...at least Elsa's back, I'm not alone anymore." Slumping on the couch underneath the painting, Anna looked up and sighed, the French heroine's unmoving eyes staring into the distance.

"Still fighting the English? Showing them what girl power can do? Yeah, thought so." Anna sighed deeply and leaned backwards, twiddling her thumbs. "You helped a king win a war...I wish having a normal talk with Elsa was as easy as that. I mean, sure we're both getting along but...is there something she's not telling me? I know it's not my fault, it's not anyone's fault, just some misunderstandings here and there. Still, why does it feel it's my fault, Joan?"

"Your fault?" Olaf rubbed the place where a chin could be in his snow face and pondered the statement he heard. Well, pondered as much as he could. "I may not have a skull, or bones for that matter, but I know it's not your fault, Elsa." He made his way over to where she sat and placed a hand on her knee. "All I know is that Anna loves you."

Elsa rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and slumped on her chair. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt growing inside her every day that passed by. She hadn't told Anna the complete story. And she needed to or else she would find out on her own. And the latter wasn't the best option.

"I know it is not, Olaf. But this all happened because of me. If I didn't have this, this power, we could be having a normal life!" She got up from her seat and paced around the studio, one arm hugging her middle. "Mama and Papa could still be here and I wouldn't be Queen Elsa. And Anna would be happy..."

Olaf looked at her ramble with a confused look. Listened to her ramble about Anna's happiness and how everything would be better if she hadn't ever used her powers. Listened to Elsa as her voice got thinner and thinner. Olaf took action and stopped her before anything else could get into the blonde's head.

"Well, you talk about what she could have had. But have you seen what she has now, Elsa? It's like, I don't know, you decided to take a cherry flavoured truffle, and right after you ate it you think it was better to take a different truffle." Olaf explained, a big grin never leaving his comical face. Elsa turned to look at him and thought how silly it was to take advice from a snowman.

Nonetheless, even with his explanations that seemed to have no heads or toes, he got his point across with her.

"But you cannot have that other truffle because someone else took it. Anyway, you enjoyed your decision. And the consequences that decision brought you, right?" He finished with a shy grin and a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Joan you are a genius! I owe you so much right now! See you later, I gotta find Elsa!"

After her own talk with the French heroine, Anna rushed out of the portraits room and made it her mission to find her sister. She felt her heart pound rapidly inside her chest as she rounded corners and ran and slid through corridors. She didn't know exactly what she would say, but her habit of throwing up words would get her somewhere. If only I got there fas-

THUMP

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, my fault, sorry sorrysorryso-"

"Anna, calm down, we both crashed into each other." Elsa said as she stood up and dusted off her dress. "We both are at a fault here." She smiled Anna's at way and hid a giggle behind a hand. "Here let me help."

Anna let out an awkward laugh. Elsa helped her dust off her clothes and swept her bangs to their rightful place. Both stood in front of each other and after their accidental crash. There was short pause.

"I was-"

"Looking for you."

"Yeah?" Anna looked surprised as well as Elsa. "You first."

"All right...I wanted to talk to you. About something. Something I had not had the chance to tell you about."

Anna nodded and grabbed at her hands behind her back. She couldn't help but feel a bit excited and nervous about what she was just hearing. "Then we should...you know, talk it somewhere that is not the middle of the hall. Doesn't seem that practical, right?" She went for a small smile but Elsa didn't disagree with her.

As they made their way to the library, Elsa spoke up.

"You remember? That last night we both played? Can you remember it?"

Anna seemed confused about the question. There seemed to be something about that that she wanted to remember. But it slipped away every time. Something she felt that resembled a cold winter night. Out of habit, she reached up to touch the white strand of hair she had grown up with. Nonetheless, she withdrew her hand when she remembered the stran was no longer there. Elsa sighed beside her and continued speaking.

"You might remember it as our last day together. We went down slopes and I showed you how to ski. We even built Olaf, that poor little guy." Elsa gazed down and stopped walking. "I still see it as my fault that I wasn't that fast in catching you."

Anna's brow furrowed and she reached over to take Elsa's hands. She stroked her knuckles and leaned close to her. "Elsa, what on earth are you talking about. You know I'm horrible at riddles."

Anna couldn't see the humor in it as her sister let out a breathy laugh. Was it that big of a thing she had to remember? Or was it Elsa just being a mischievous sibling?

Elsa responded only with silence. She led them both to the library and closed the doors after Anna skipped her way unto a chair. She was glad she was sitting down, because what her sister asked next was a surprise to her.

"Anna, are you happy with your choices?"

"What? Does this have anything to do with what you were just telling me? It's alright if it doesn't, I just hope they have some sort of-"

"Anna, please." She couldn't ramble at that pleading look.

"Well...I guess? I mean, I know I did the right choices. And look what I have now!" She said in a cheery tone. With a small movement, she motioned her sister to sit on the other chair and waited for her.

The Queen of Arendelle sighed and continued speaking as she took a seat. "I'm just...not sure I have liked mine. I do understand we are finally together but...the road has been a difficult one."

"Hey, anything worth fighting for has a difficult road, don't you agree?" The redhead smiled and her eyes crinkled the way they always did. Elsa couldn't disagree with that, either.

"I believe so. Still...you don't know the full story about how we got separated, Anna." Elsa looked down at her hands and took a deep breath, readying herself for what was next. Would she be able to tell her dear younger sister? Fear started creeping up her back when she felt a pair of warm hands on her own. Anna was kneeling in front of her, with a look of pure adoration in her eyes.

"I don't need the long, boring story of how we got separated. I like our awesome, action story of how we got reunited. Elsa, you know I love you no matter what, and that I look up to you, right?"

The blonde had to shake her head but couldn't help cracking a smile. "And I look up to you, too, Anna."

Both girls looked up from each other when they heard a loud THUMP. The door to the library opened and in came a snowman with his body parts deattached from each other. Anna had a hard time restraining her laugh as Elsa gave him a disapproving look.

"See? I told you nothing would go wrong!"

Anna sighed and turned again to look at her sister, who was, in return, giving her an expectant look.

"So? What were you going to ask me then?"

Anna bit her lower lip and thought for a few seconds about the conversation she had had with Kristoff. Millions of things came rushing into her mind yet in the end she brushed them all off. She pulled down Elsa from her seat and made her sit beside her on the floor. "You know, I think it no longer matters at this point." She laughed out loud as she gazed upon the Queen's face of confusion that turned into a full smile.