In Time

By Eversskye

Summary: Anna ascended to the throne after her sister ran away from the disastrous coronation that left half of the kingdom frozen. After three years and right before she was about to marry Hans, Elsa reappeared. But what secret is she holding and why is she acting like they had never been separated? Elsanna.

Chapter One: It's so Easy

Despite Anna's initial attempts at chasing after her sister, the onslaught of snow and ice in the North Mountains rendered each expedition useless; no one could manage the steep climb while battling sub-zero winds carrying a foot of ice in their wake.

The princess had given up searching about a month after Queen Elsa's coronation. One year later, under Prince Han's suggestion, she ascended to the throne in order to placate the growing protests amongst the people for not having anyone take control of the situation.

Life was difficult in Arendelle after the freeze left half of the country in everlasting winter. The cities suffered an influx of people who had migrated from the higher altitudes of now-uninhabitable lands. With more mouths to feed but much less room to grow crops on, a dreadful famine spread across once-prosperous Arendelle.

Concerned for the well-being of her people, Anna had issued an order to delay her wedding with Hans indefinitely. The castle gates would welcome all who were left without a home by the freeze, and the royal treasury was swept to the last remaining cent in order to support the people from the devastation.

It was also Queen Anna, who, with a surprising display of insight, suggested that the kingdom switch from farming to hunting and fishing as the main source of support. Trade agreements in fur and lumber were established with the surrounding countries. New alliances were created to benefit Arendelle because other countries saw Anna's still-unmarried status with Hans as opportunities to send their own princes over as suitors.

It took three years for Arendelle to gradually recover.

In time, Anna had matured.

There is a thickly forested area slightly above the foot of the Northern Mountains, abundant with various types of animals. The slopes there were gentle enough to ride horses through, and the large amount of trees made it easy to hide with a set of bow and arrows in hand, ready to release at an unsuspecting prey.

Anna often visited that location, loved it because of the quiet peacefulness its seclusion offered. It was high enough for snow, but low enough that the flurries fell in soft whispers like lingering caresses from the sky.

One would think that with all of the trouble she had suffered under Elsa's frozen curse, Anna would think twice before willingly go anywhere that reminded her of coldness and ice.

Yet what no one realized was that while Elsa admittedly was never bothered by the cold, Anna actually loved it.

Winter held memories of a time when she was happiest. Warm coats and foggy breaths. Building snowman and throwing snowballs.

Anna loved winter with the same devotion she had once held for her sister. Or perhaps she loved her sister because Elsa was winter.

Either way, the Princess-turned-Queen found herself visiting that part of the mountain each time she wanted escape from the burdens provided with being Queen.

And it was precisely that reason that Anna was there today.

Earlier that morning, she had left the castle with hunting gear in hand, leaving an order with the guards that no one was to follow her. Waving away all protest, she had smiled in glee as she urged her horse into a trot towards the mountains, feeling the wind freely brush against her light strawberry-blond hair.

These days, freedom was more valuable to Anna than anything else. Even love with Hans felt too binding at times.

Too…forceful. Not natural.

So unlike the purity of nature's snowy weather currently surrounding her.

She frowned a bit and brushed the thought of Hans aside for now as she caught sight of a rabbit in her peripheral vision.

"Hyah! Faster, Sitron!"

The horse neighed and rushed forth in a spur of power.

Toned arms borne through three years of hunting grasped onto an arrow and pulled it against the bowstring. She narrowed her eyes to focus on the retreating animal, and let her weapon loose.

The arrow flew into the bushes with a sharp whizzing sound, and Anna pulled on her horse's reigns to slow it down, bending her head slightly to look for any sight of the rabbit.

After a moment she climbed down from Sitron's back, commanding the animal to stay in that place as she left in search of the rabbit.

"Odd. I was sure I'd managed to shoot it."

She quieted when a whisper reached her ears from behind the trees.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay, little buddy. I have you."

It was a woman's voice. Clear but mellow, something that would bring to mind a cloudless sky and sunlight dancing on rooftops.

Curious, Anna snuck forward to see who the woman was.

What she saw first was hair.

It was let loose and wild, yet seemed somehow sophisticated at the same time. Luscious, silvery blonde strands pooled like starlight, falling upon pale slender shoulders. The figure was resplendent in the most luminous dress that Anna had ever seen, for it seemed as though the woman's clothes were made of ice itself- millions of frozen carved facets twinkling blue in the sunlight.

The paleness of the woman's skin seemed only to enhance her unearthly appearance, and as the woman's hair blew out of her beautiful face, Anna suddenly recognized it as belonging to someone she could never forget.

"E-Elsa!"

The former princess's jaw dropped and she stumbled forward, tripping onto the ground as she reconnected with her long lost clumsiness.

She would have expected her sister to approach her angrily or frightened- that desperate visage of the former Queen having haunted Anna's dreams ever since her sister had rejected her years ago.

At the very least, Anna would have thought that Elsa would run away.

The giggling woman holding an injured bunny in front of her did none of those things.

As she offered Anna one hand to pull the current queen up, the former queen continued laughing without restraint.

"Anna. Still ungainly as ever, I see."

The young woman's grin was merry, lighting all the way to her azure eyes as she gazed straight into Anna's own blue-green.

"Uhm."

Anna's mind was a mess.

The female in front of her was so different, almost opposite of the sister she remembered. The Elsa she had known was always serious. Prim and proper, the royal heir and queen had always carried herself with a guarded poise fitting of her position.

The person standing in front of Anna now exuded her uninhibited joy with the innocent ease of someone who had no care in the world.

She would have thought them to be separate people, if not for the familiar distinctive features that could not possibly belong to anyone else.

As Anna's mind ran off, her speech ran along with it.

"Where have you been? Why are you here? Do you know how much trouble you caused, and Arendelle….my gosh, so much Arendelle had been under an eternal winter! I've been trying to fix everything, and I know it was my fault that day, but why did you-"

A sudden squeeze on her nose broke her line of thought, and Anna stopped, eyebrows raised in surprise. She took a deep breath, and said the first thing that came to mind beneath all of the other racing thoughts.

"Wha…Y-You've changed."

Elsa smiled affectionately and drew her into a hug after releasing the rabbit.

Her voice was warm, and Anna could feel blood pumping into her ears as Elsa spoke into it.

"Hush. Don't say anything for now, I miss you."

Unable to resist, Anna wrapped her arms tightly around her sister, feeling warmer than she'd been in years despite the coolness of Elsa's skin.

When had they last held each other like this?

For how long had she lost this type of love?

As if under a spell, Anna's mind quieted while she buried her face into her sister's shoulder.

Elsa did not seem at all like the queen Anna had seen her last. There were so many questions left unanswered, such as where Elsa had disappeared to for the past three years, and what had changed her so.

But I don't care, the small voice in Anna's mind insisted.

For years, standing outside and knocking on her sister's door…this was the loving, the happy Elsa that Anna had always dreamt of. The sister she had always wanted.

Closing her eyes and feeling her heart burst longingly for the person within her arms, Anna failed to see the snow surrounding them melt…and eventually disappear.

End chapter one.

A/N: This was surprisingly fun to write. I know I should be updating Snow Red, but this idea popped into my mind randomly. What do you think, should I continue this? Or should I stop and concentrate on my other story instead?