A Two-Way Cage
A/N: So, I saw this movie and in spite of the millions of other story projects I have going on right now, I couldn't resist. I decided to write a one-shot fanfic about something that wasn't addressed. Beware that a detail or two may not be historically accurate, but I'm doing my best. As always, any feedback/reviews are appreciated greatly!
Summary: After Elsa learns to control her powers and the party ends for the night, Elsa tries to help Anna recover her memories of magic. They end up sharing more than they anticipated.
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"You know," Anna stretched her arms over her head as the siblings entered the castle. "there's something I don't understand,"
"What's that?"
"We were so close when we were kids," she explained; "so, how did I not know you could do all that?"
Elsa raised a brow and paused her walking.
"What?"
"…You don't know?"
The younger of the two also stopped. "Know what?"
"I get the feeling you don't know,"
"Know…what?"
Elsa giggled softly. "Your memories were taken when we were young,"
"Taken? What?"
The older blonde sighed deeply. "There was a…family of trolls…father used to consult with about my powers. One day, we were playing…you jumped off a mound of snow too fast for me to make another one. I panicked and misfired. It hit you in the head," Anna grabbed her hand, seeing this was clearly an unpleasant memory. "I thought you were dead. I held you in my arms and you felt so…cold and clammy…Neither of our parents knew what to do, so we took you into the woods and met with them. They said the best way to keep it from freezing you to death was to take all your memories of magic, all your memories of my powers,"
The red-head thought for a moment, and then responded quietly; "That…must have been the day,"
"The day?"
"The day mom and dad separated our bedrooms and you slammed the door on me,"
Elsa nodded. "The day all the servants left the house and the doors were closed. I had to be kept away from people, especially you,"
There was a pause. Neither of them was sure if they should just keep walking, but after a second or two they started again.
Anna wanted to comfort her somehow, but she didn't know what to say. That must have been horrifying. She decided to change the subject until she could come up with something satisfactory to say. "So, you're telling me those trolls took my memories?"
"Yes,"
"…I want to remember,"
The two of them stopped as they came to Elsa's door.
"I want to remember everything," Anna grabbed one of her sister's hands again, this time with both of her own.
There was a look of skepticism on the older girl's face, as expected. "I don't know…"
"Oh, come ooonnn," she whined. "Why don't you want me to remember?"
"Ah, well," she was clearly feeling strained and awkward; "it's…it's mostly because mom and dad thought it could…um…re-trigger your coma,"
Anna rolled her eyes. "I survived the worst of it, right? I'll be fine. I just want to know,"
The blonde began to open the door, letting out another sigh that was somewhere between defeat and relief. "…fine," she agreed; "maybe I have some things in here that will help…" it seemed like she was going to say something else, but she didn't. She pulled her hand away from Anna so she could get inside. As the younger one followed, she stopped what she was doing and turned back to face her out of habit.
"Come on, Elsa," the red-head giggled; "let me in!"
"..err…um…right," old habits die hard. As she stood in the doorway, she lit a candle in the bedroom, looking at her sister with yet another uncomfortable expression. What should she say? Oh, duh. "Co-come in,"
"Yes!" she pumped both fists in the air and ran inside.
"Be careful, Anna, I-"
"Who-whooaa!" crash!
"…never thawed out my floor,"
"Okay! I'm oka- whoa-!"
She couldn't keep herself from laughing. "Just wait a minute," Elsa waved her hand and the ice thawed out. Anna joined in on the laughter once she could stand up. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"Nah, I got a thick head,"
"…you're telling me?"
"Yeah, I…! Hey!"
Again, the older sister laughed. "You're the one who said it!"
"Why I oughta…" she grinned, then giggled along. The sentence was never intended to be finished.
"Here, let's get some more light…" she lit a few more candles, but it still wouldn't be enough to look through everything they had.
"Maybe we should wait?" Anna looked around. "I don't think I'll be able to see much of anything,"
"Watch," Elsa held out her hand. White swirls gathered in the air until there were a few orbs of clear ice floating. Raising her arm, she made them scatter through the room. They reflected the light, magnifying it until it was bright enough to see almost perfectly.
"…whoa…" her eyes widened in awe. "That's-that's so cool!"
She was a bit shocked by the term. "You think it's cool?"
"Of course it is!"
"Um, okay," she forced out an awkward laugh. "No one's ever said that…except you,"
She shrugged in response.
"Well, okay," she took a deep breath. "You wanted to see some of the stuff I had…" Elsa bent down to reach something under her bed. She pulled out a large, wooden box, with some difficulty; Anna got the clue and helped. "This is some of the stuff mom and dad left behind," she explained. "I was ordered to keep it and make sure you never found it. They were worried if you saw it, you'd remember,"
She nodded and pushed the lid off. "Do you know what's in here?"
"No. I didn't want to see,"
"Well, come look with me,"
"Alright," she conceded, sitting down on the other side of the box.
She rummaged around through some old toys and clothes. There were several pairs of gloves, small wood carvings...nothing she had forgotten. "Huh. That's weird, I remember all of this…" a piece of paper brushed against her hand. "Hm?" she picked it up. On the front was written "My Big Sister" is thick, shaky child's writing from the quill. Anna squinted at it and moved it around, as though looking at it from multiple angles would tell her what exactly this was.
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure," she let go of the back, letting the rest of the folded paper go. "I…I almost remember this…I remember trying to write a book. I took some of mom's paper and folded it up," the size of each folded section was about the size of a normal piece of paper. "My Big Sister…let's see what I wrote," Elsa scooted closer so she could see.
My big sister is the best.
She can make it winter no matter when it is because she has magic.
I wish I had magic sometimes. But you have to be born with it. Mom and dad say "One is enough for this family."
Winter isn't my favorite season, though. I like summer. I like to swim and make sandcastles when we go to the water. I don't think Elsa likes that very much. She always gets sunburned. But that's okay. Snowmen are my favorite thing and snowmen come with winter so we can always make a snowman if she doesn't want to go in the sun.
(actually, swimming is my favorite thing but snowmen are my other favorite thing)"Oooohhhh…" Anna groaned and buried her face in her hands. "This is embarrassing,"
"…" Elsa blushed, staring at the crudely drawn image of the two of them building a snowman on the page.
"…come on, you aren't gonna pick on me?"
She shook her head and coughed slightly. "Do you remember anything?"
"Yeah, a little. I remember…you made it snow in my room once," she closed one eye, searching through the back of her mind for a more detailed analysis of the memory. "Mom and dad got mad because it made a big mess all over everything…you…you weren't supposed to use your powers in-doors, I think,"
She nodded.
"…alright, the next page," Anna cringed, purposely over-exaggerating for comedic effect.
I like to get up early so I can play games with Elsa. She makes it winter inside. I can jump down and she catches me on snow piles. It's a lot of fun, even though mom and dad say we aren't supposed to.
I like making snowmen because she likes them and its fun to play. Sometimes she makes them talk to me. Snowmen are Elsa's favorite thing, I think.
Today we got up early and played a game inside. She accidently froze my arm. It hurt really bad but it doesn't hurt anymore. It's okay because I know she didn't mean to. She said maybe we shouldn't do that anymore, but I want to make another snowman tomorrow. Elsa wouldn't hurt me."I-I remember that now! I think!" she scrunched up her eyes. "You kept throwing snowballs at me, so I tackled you from behind…you grabbed my arm and accidentally froze it,"
"Yes…thankfully the effects were just temporary," she looked down. "I should have quit while I was ahead,"
"Don't say that, Elsa," she shook her head. "It was so much fun…" another memory crept up on her; she giggled. "Didn't you make it snow outside so the servants would make their special hot chocolate?"
"Yeah,"
"…how weird, it's like you had a better grip on your powers then,"
"They weren't as strong then,"
It seemed like a fair enough explanation…not that Anna was much of an expert.
Sometimes it's hard to get her to wake up. I have to jump on her bed when she's too sleepy. We don't have much time in the morning before mom and dad get up.
One day I want to make a snow-bunny instead of a snowman to see what it looks like. I tried it today but I couldn't do it. Elsa made one with an ear but the ears kept falling off. Then we made another snowman. It's okay if it's just a snowman but I think he should have a pet bunny. And maybe a little cloak to match his eyes, like mom says.
I want to have a carrot.
"Aw, geeze…" Anna shook her head at herself. Nevertheless, her memories were beginning to come back to her. She remembered everything she had written about. Surely there were more memories to recall. "When you would blow on hot food and freeze it on the spoon…"
She giggled. "Yeah," there was a tearful crack in her voice.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she sniffled, wiping a stray tear.
"Elsa…come on, what is it?"
"I'm serious, nothing is wrong," she smiled, patting her sister on the shoulder. It turned into a hug.
"If nothing's wrong, why are you crying?"
"…it's…just…" she looked down as they pulled away. "I'm happy,"
Anna smiled back. "It's okay, but it looks like it ends there," the rest of the pages consisted mainly of her drawings. "Oh! I'm in such suspense now!" she threw her arms up in dramatic sarcasm. "Will we ever perfect Olaf's pet bunny?"
Elsa rolled her eyes with a half-grin and opened her palm. A large snowball gathered there. After a moment, the snow fell off, leaving a perfect ice-bunny. She let it on the ground and it stretched. "The end,"
"What a beautiful story," she mocked herself. The blocks on her memories slowly fell off, one by one.
"I never knew you thought that about me, Anna," Elsa said, gently taking the paper from her hand and looking it over.
"…well, of course," the younger one hung her head. "You're my sister…but, if you show that to anyone, ever-"
"I won't," she reassured her; "At least it jogged your memory a little,"
"Yeah," she nodded. "Now that I think about it, I wrote a lot when we got older, to get my feelings out," Anna rummaged back through the box again. This time, she found two large books. "Huh? What's this?"
"Those must be some of their books," she answered. "They tried everything they could to help me get my powers under control, but they never found anything,"
"I guess there's a lot of stuff I never knew,"
"…" Elsa sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I envied you so much when we were kids,"
"You? Envied me?" Anna looked up at the glowing spheres that provided the light. "Why me?"
"At least you could leave. I couldn't even come out of my bedroom,"
She laughed dryly in response. "Please! I never went anywhere!"
"What?"
"I was trapped here all the time. Mom and dad would go discuss the terms of a treaty with some other country and leave me here all the time…there was no one for me to talk to, except all those pictures in the hall. I missed you…I missed you so much," it was her turn to get a bit choked up now. "The whole time I just kept knocking on your door, hoping you'd answer…"
"…and I never did…" she looked down again.
"…I never wanted you to change rooms," she sniffled. "I never wanted you to leave me. Once you were gone, I was completely alone…"
"Elsa! Elsa, its morning!" she knocked on the door of the separate bedroom. "It's time to get up! There's snow falling outside, let's go build a snowman!" there was no response. "Elsa, are you sleeping in again?" she knocked louder. "Come on! Get up before-!" "Anna, what on earth are you doing?" her tired mother neared her in the hall. "Um, I'm, uhh…I wanted to go out and play with Elsa," Her mother sighed and rubbed her left temple. "Your sister isn't feeling well today, dear," "…oh…" she looked down in disappointment. "You should be in bed, anyways, young lady. It's far too early to go out and play," "I want to make her some tea, if she isn't feeling well. Tea always makes me feel better," Her mother sighed. "Alright, I'll let you brew her some tea, but it's right back to bed after that," "Okay!" The young girl took great pains to make sure the tea was made perfectly. Of course, it probably wasn't exactly perfect, but it was as good as one could expect it to be. Then she carried the cup, saucer, and a small plate with a breakfast pastry up to her sister's room, and knocked on the door. "Elsa, sorry to bother you when you're sick," she spoke much more quietly now; "but I made you some tea and brought you something to eat. When you feel better, we should go out and make a snowman together, 'kay?" From the inside of the door, she heard a sad groan. Assuming her sister wanted to be left alone while she recovered, which was typical of Elsa when she was sick, she left the door and went back to bed as instructed. It was the first time her sister didn't even bother to acknowledge her.
"Believe me, I wanted to tell you! You were my best friend, too. I didn't even get to see mom and dad unless they were worried about something…"
"It's not fair!" protested the young Elsa, arms crossed over her chest. "I want to go out and play!" "Sweetheart, I know it's not fair," her father put a hand on her shoulder and knelt down to be at eye level. "But there's nothing we can do. It's too dangerous for you to come out," "You need to calm down," her mother urged. "You'll lose control of your powers," "I-I have my gloves on. If I keep my gloves on, can I play with Anna? Please?" "I'm sorry, but it's still not safe," her father insisted. "Your mother and I are doing our best to figure out a way to keep your powers from hurting her, but until then, you have to stay here," Defeated, the little blonde girl curled up on the bed and held back her tears. Maybe if she could just keep something from happening for a few days, she could leave again. Within a few minutes of her parents leaving, that knocking sound again came to the door. "Elsa! I know you're in there! Come on out!" She choked on her own tears. "If you don't want to come out, let me in! We can do something together. If you don't want to make a snowman, we can always do something else! I got the paper from the mom's room…we could draw a picture or something!" "G-go away, Anna! You're not allowed in here," "Why not? I just want to play a game with you! Are you in trouble?" there was no answer. "Am I in trouble?" still nothing. Dejected, the young red-head slumped away from the door. On the inside of the door, a little more ice climbed up the wall.
"I always wondered what I did that bothered you so badly," Anna stroked some of her hair back behind her ear. "I thought you didn't care about me anymore,"
"No. It was because I did care about you and I didn't want you to get hurt,"
"I never knew you were so scared, Elsa," she sympathized. "I mean, it was lonely in the big castle with no one around…but I didn't have anything to be scared of," Anna finally finished picking up the book that was in her hand. It was a book of spells, but the title seemed to have faded away. As she did so, she noticed several pages were marked with bent edges. Looking inside the cover, it looked like Elsa was the last to use it. She had printed her name on the front. "Hm…let's see. A spell to rejuvenate nature…one to neutralize a curse…one to shatter existence…wait, what?! Shatter existence?"
"Oh, it's just a spell I was looking at,"
"You have ingredients circled and the page was bookmarked. What would you have done with this?"
"I was trying to see if I had any more magical powers. I was just gonna try to make an apple disappear. And I don't have any more powers than that…with ice. I can't make any of those spells work,"
"Elsa, I don't believe you. Tell me the truth,"
She looked down yet again and heaved a sigh. "I was having a rough patch, and I got curious," she admitted; "but I was never planning anything seriously,"
"You wanted to make yourself disappear?! Disappear completely?!"
"I only thought about it," she answered. "I couldn't have done anything, anyways,"
"That's not the point. Why would you even consider that?!"
She looked down, clearly somewhat ashamed of something, although it would be hard to tell exactly what. Anna, however, was able to figure it out pretty quickly. She took a breath and reached her hand over, stroking her sister's hair behind her ear. In a much quieter, calmer voice, she said;
"Not used to letting people in?"
Elsa sighed. "I don't know if you'd be able to understand if I answered you,"
"I know there are some things I can't understand, but I want to at least try,"
She nodded. Secretly, she always had wanted someone to understand. She had always wanted to tell someone. It was just that…shutting people out was a reflex. Shutting the door, locking the castle, shutting down in the middle of a conversation…it was a knee-jerk reaction. One little tap, and suddenly, "Elsa" isn't with you anymore. "Then I'll try to explain," she agreed, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that it hurt her stomach.
"…Um, Elsa…"
She looked down. A small circle of ice gathered around her hand. "Oh," she lifted it up and shook it. "Sorry,"
"Hey," Anna grinned; "I'm just glad you didn't plunge us into an eternal winter,"
"Have you ever had a nightmare, Anna?"
"Huh? Yeah, of course. Don't you remember? I had them all the time when we were little and I'd crawl into bed with you…well, until our bedrooms were separated…"
"You remember how that felt?"
She nodded hesitantly. "Yeah…like you want to run away, but you're trapped…and then you wake up and you try to hide under the blanket in case whatever you're afraid of is somewhere around…"
"Now, try to imagine living there all the time," her sister's eyes widened a little. "Imagine not being able to wake up. You can't hide under the blanket, you can't go to anyone for help…because that thing you're afraid of never leaves. No matter what, it will find you. The minute you take a breath, the minute you sit down to relax, it's clawing at you…" there were tears in her eyes.
"Elsa…"
"I could have killed you that day, Anna. I was so certain I was some kind of monster, some creature that needed to be hidden inside a room or it would attack. I was dangerous. I just couldn't stop worrying. What if someone found out? What if someone got in? I couldn't control it. So I thought, maybe it would be better for everyone if I just disappeared. Everyone would be safer. I didn't want to take a chance of hurting anyone, ever again. So I looked up the spell,"
That day just happened to be her birthday. She was turning 13. Her parents gave her permission to come downstairs for breakfast and presents, so she got up early that morning and actually answered when Anna came to knock on the door. "Elsa! Happy birthday! Are you awake?" "…I'm awake. Good morning, Anna," The younger girl smiled, and her whole face lit up brighter than the sun. "It's time to come downstairs for birthday presents! Mom sent me to get you," "Thank you. I'll be out soon. Go downstairs and wait for me," looking down at her hand, the white glove was beginning to crystalize with ice. It probably wasn't sufficient to keep it in anymore. "Okay, Elsa! Oh, hey, before I go…mom says it's probably going to snow today! We should make a snowman especially for your birthday!" she stopped speaking. From inside the room, the older sister just sighed. "I'll see you downstairs!" The footsteps led away from the door. Once she was gone, the blonde heaved a sigh and pressed her hand against her head. "…why…" she muttered to herself. Her hair lightened, though the change was virtually unnoticeable unless you got ridiculously close to her head. "…why is it always something…with this…okay, Elsa," she looked down at her own hands and breathed deeply. "Take a deep breath…get yourself together. It's only for a few minutes, an hour at most. Go downstairs, eat breakfast with everyone, and then you can come right back up here. You can do this," she approached the door. Her hand shook as she turned the doorknob. "I think," She walked quickly, trying to make sure nothing 'leaked' out her feet and caused the floor to freeze over. "Elsa!" Anna tried to hug her, but she backed away. "Good morning," of course there was an urge to hug her, an urge to pick her up and go run outside and make snowmen until there was no snow left on the planet that hadn't been turned into one. Quietly, she sat down at one of her seats. Confused, but nonetheless happy to see her sister, Anna sat in the seat right next to her. "Hi, Elsa! How are you feeling?" "I feel fine, thank you. How are you?" "I'm good! I got you a present for your birthday. I can't wait to give it to you!" Elsa swallowed hard as the plate came down in front of her. It was never as simple as using your utensils correctly to eat or making sure your forks and knives were on the proper sides of the plate. It was trying to keep anyone from seeing the sparkles on the fingers of her gloves from the ice gathering inside. It was trying to keep her hands from shaking, which never worked and she just knew everyone saw it and oh god what if Anna figures it out! Needless to say, she wasn't feeling too much like eating, although she probably would anyways. Dad always told her she needed to eat sufficiently or she'd really get sick. "That was kind of you. Thank you for breakfast," there was no emotion in her voice just then. They were hollow statements filled with an icy formality, nothing but obligatory statements. "This is your favorite, right?" little Anna pointed to her plate. "I told mom it was your favorite. I was right, right?" "Yes, you were right," "Yay! I remembered! See, mom? I told you!" Their mother grinned and laughed softly. "Yes, I never doubted you for a minute. Now, eat your food," Elsa wanted to rush so she could get through this, but the worry-induced nausea wasn't cooperating with her plans. Even though it was just the three of them, she couldn't help but feel like she was on display, silently being judged by…someone. 'Just don't let your guard down,' she thought, gripping the silverware hard in her hands. 'Don't let them in, don't let them see, be good…behave…conceal, don't feel, don't let them know,' she coughed slightly, faked a smile, and forced her way through breakfast. "Are you ready for presents, Elsa?" Anna asked as soon as her sister's plate was empty, completely oblivious to the sick feeling in the other's stomach from forcing the food down. She had to swallow the last bit of food in her mouth before she could answer. "Yes, I'm ready," "Here! Here!" she shoved a small box towards the blonde. "Open mine first!" "…hah…" she strained to keep a straight face. "Could you set it down on the table, please?" "Huh? You can just take it," "…Anna, do what your sister asks," her mother warned. Confused, she set the box down. "Okay. Open your gift!" she clapped her hands in excitement. "Thank you," Elsa pulled the paper off as quickly as she could, and then opened the little box. "A necklace?" she lifted it up. "Yeah! Look, it's got a snowflake, 'cause your birthday is in winter and winter's your favorite," she pulled at the little snowflake charm on the chain. "It's beautiful, Anna," although she truly was grateful, her tone and expression made that difficult to pick out. It was the sort that sounded simply…obligatory. Fortunately, Anna took things at face value, without asking too many questions. If you said you appreciated something, she believed it. Elsa put the necklace on herself cautiously. "Thank you very much," "You're welcome! I'm glad you like it. Hey! Let's look outside!" the red-head ran to open the curtains. "Elsa! Look! It's snowing, just like mom said!" "I-I'm sorry," she struggled to hide the instantaneous panic. "I can't go outside today. Excuse me," as she started to walk away, she tripped, and grabbed her mother's shoulder. Immediately, the woman flailed out of her chair, grasping at the spot that had been touched. "Augh…" she gripped it. Elsa's eyes widened. "Mom, I-I'm sorry, I didn't…I didn't mean to…" "…go upstairs, Elsa," she winced, bent over, rubbing her shoulder. Terrified, the thirteen-year-old went running upstairs. "Wha…what happened? What's wrong?" "Nothing. Don't worry about it, Anna," her father answered in the short fashion Elsa now seemed to. Anna sighed. "Here, you should be alright…" he told his wife quietly. From inside the bedroom, Elsa panicked. Her gloves were completely covered with ice by now, and a clean sheet of it stretched over her ceiling. The shoulder is close to the head, close to the heart. If she had tripped just a little differently…if she had bumped into her on accident…no, she didn't want to think of it, but even so she knew the thoughts wouldn't stop. She could have killed her mother. Only a monster could just kill their own mother…it wasn't just Anna who was in danger of her. It was everyone. Everyone who might come into contact with her. Why…why was it always something… In the midst of her panic storm, she finally felt a calm, logical feel wash over her. Just like she was trained, she managed to 'turn it off.' Turn it off, don't feel it. And the idea occurred to her then. Maybe she would have the power to write herself out of existence.
"So do I," she stroked her hair back.
"That must have been how you felt," Anna said as she drew back; "that was how you felt all the time,"
"What do you mean?"
She motioned over her heart. "After you froze me, it just felt like there was some void in there that couldn't be filled. It was completely and totally…just…cold. Cold until it was numb,"
Elsa thought for a moment, then she nodded. "I guess that's how it felt. If I had to describe it…"
Anna sighed. "That explains a lot," she said.
Yeah, that did explain a lot, like why Olaf had never experienced a summer. Olaf was always alive in Elsa's heart…but inside that heart was a perpetual winter. An eternal isolation, full of fear, loneliness and self-hatred. Yet, while Olaf was never truly bothered by the winter, what he truly wanted was a day in the sand…
…and a warm hug…
"You must have felt so lonely,"
"So did you," Elsa patted her shoulder. "You were so bored sometimes I heard you talking to the walls,"
"To the pictures on the walls," she huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot there was a vast difference," she said, wrapping an arm around her little sister's shoulders. "And then you had to go through mom and dad's death, all by yourself…"
Anna nodded, closing her eyes as she remembered.
For several months before that day, Anna didn't even bother to knock on her sister's door. If there was any answer, you could be certain it was something like "Go away" or "I'm not in the mood." Occasionally, she'd stop by to inform her of how their parents were doing, in spite of the fact that both parents told her Elsa visited them at night. When she woke up that morning, she already had a feeling something was a little off. When the nurse came to visit her, she knew. All she could do the entire day was cry. There was no one left to be there for her. Even though her parents were often busy with running the kingdom, they would still play with her and spend time with her. Now that they were gone, there was no one. No one in this big, empty castle but herself…and, well, the strange hermit that populated a single bedroom. Although Anna couldn't quite muster up the motivation to again knock on the door that day, she sat out in front of it, relaxed against the wood. It was the closest she could get to a hug, or even a few words with someone. Huh…she never noticed before…the door was cold. "…aren't you lonely, in there?" she breathed after hours of tears. She wasn't really expecting an answer. From inside the room, the blonde, too, was sitting up against the door…because it was the closest she could get to a hug, or even a few words with someone. As the question left Anna's mouth, she heard it, but did not say anything. Instead, she just breathed out and watched the white puff of air circulate the room. Anna sniffled and stood up. "I don't think I'll sleep tonight, but I'm going to bed anyways. I don't know if you're listening or if you'll want to, but if you feel sad tonight…or you want to see someone…my door is open, Elsa. I love you," She wasn't sure if she heard it or not, because the response was so quiet, but she thought she heard something as she walked away. Something along the lines of "Goodnight, Anna,"
What they don't know is that those who seem to move freely are simply stuck in a larger cage.
Sometimes a lonelier cage.
It wasn't until the day of the funeral that she gained the motivation to knock on the door again, to try to get her to come out…but even then, her efforts were in vain.
"I'm sorry I left you alone like that," Elsa confessed.
"I forgive you, Elsa. I understand. Well, sort of. I understand as much as I possibly can," she answered, resting her head and the blonde's shoulder. "When people are afraid, sometimes they make bad choices…but you made the best decision you could at the time. You couldn't control your power,"
Sometimes, if the fear is strong enough, it clouds over all your other feelings. It's easy to forget how to love someone when all you feel is fear.
"If I had only opened the door…maybe we could have figured this out sooner…"
"Yeah," Anna hugged her again; "but it could have been worse,"
"…how, exactly?"
"You might never have opened the door,"
Elsa nodded.
"Hey, sis, did I tell you something?"
"Hm?"
"Your hair…" the redhead grabbed a strand of it. "It's not so white anymore. It's like you've got more color in it,"
She took a glance at it. Yes, it was true. Though it was still quite pale, there were hints of a deeper blonde. Just like how her hair went back to red after her heart had been unfrozen.
…weird.
"I'm getting tired, Elsa," she stretched, forcing apart their seating arrangement. Her lower lumbar 'popped.' Her eyes darted around, following around the little bunny.
"Yeah, it's late," she agreed, lifting up the lid to the box. Neither of them cared to push it back under. "We'll have to introduce Olaf to his bunny tomorrow. I think he went to bed about an hour ago," well, there were millions of guestrooms in the castle. He probably found a spot and made himself comfortable.
Anna stood up right about the same time as her sister. They didn't really want to leave each other after finally getting close again.
"You can stay in here, if you want," it was yet another awkward offer from the oldest.
"Are you sure? We'd have to sleep in the same bed,"
"I know. It's fine with me. We did that all the time as kids. Unless it bothers you?"
"No, I'm not bothered! It's perfectly fine! Just…hang on and let me go change," she ran out before Elsa could say anything, so she decided to just sit there and wait until Anna figured out the rest of the place was completely dark and she wasn't going anywhere fast. When she went crashing into a wall, she couldn't stop herself from laughing. After a second, she found her way back in.
"How far did you get?"
"The hallway,"
"You can just borrow something of mine for the night. I, um, I like my nightgowns big though…so they may be a bit big on you,"
From there, the two of them changed into some sleeping clothes and lay back on the bed. Elsa waved her hand and the orbs in the sky melted, putting the candles out.
It got quiet and Anna started drifting, when something strange occurred to her. When she protected Elsa from Hans, that sword had crumbled before it even touched her. "…huh…"
"…what…?"
They shifted. "Hans' sword didn't touch me before it crumbled,"
"…that's weird…" yawn. "Are you sure it didn't touch you? Maybe you didn't feel it…"
"I felt you…" she answered. "…nothing like that happened before?"
"…if it did, I forgot it…" shift, move, wiggle.
"…how cool would that be, if I had my own power like that…"
"Yeah," Elsa responded sarcastically. "real cool,"
"Well, not as 'cool' as you. But it would be cool," she yawned; "I'm kinda jealous of you,"
"You can't pick something else to envy?"
"My sister can make talking snowmen come to life. It's kind of a hard thing to not be jealous of,"
She giggled. "Okay, Anna. You feel how you feel,"
"….Goodnight, Elsa. I love you,"
"…love you…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Anna was the first one up, early the next morning. Right around sunrise.
"Elsa, are you awake?"
"…hnn…" she turned over. "Now I am,"
"Whoa, light sleeper, huh?"
"…what time is it?"
"I haven't checked a clock, but it's morning,"
"Morning o'clock. Got it,"
Anna giggled. "Come on, Elsa, get up!"
"It's still early, shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Don't you want to build a snowman?"
Finally, her eyes opened. It seemed she had relented in her insistence on sleeping.
"Sounds like a good time," she sat up and stretched.
"Yay!"
The locks that kept the two of them trapped were finally loosed.