Author's Note: Canon Anna.

I've Met You Before

"So…skating?"

"How did you know?!"

The pair giggled into their gloves and took off. An endless frozen lake cut across clear to the horizon, stretching on and on until it was swallowed up by the encroaching black. It was impossibly smooth, not a single rut or crack to mar its perfect, glossy shine, and when they sped over it with the grace and speed of well trained dancers the ice healed itself in their wake. There were no walls, no doors, no boundaries at all, but their laughter echoed and rebounded until it felt like a whole symphony of people crowded around them, cheering them on as they passed.

Anna twirled and the skates flashed as she spun, her form blurring into something violently colorful and effortlessly beautiful. Her cape was a fluttering flag that swirled around her like a mountain wind around a towering peak.

Anna skidded to a stop and watched. "Wow, look at you go! You're so much better at that than me."

The other girl released her hold on the spin and wobbled dangerously on her skates, but before she could fall strong hands were gripping her wrists and pulling her upright. Her eyes met their twins and the pair of them grinned at each other, almost shyly, though they'd done this many times before.

"I have had a bunch of practice, and that's what makes all the difference. If only you'd practice with me…?" she asked, and poked her double on the nose, making her squirm and giggle again. She could become addicted to how much they laughed.

"Oh no, it's not something I'm really good at." She shivered and grabbed her arms, her breath staining the air with warm clouds.

"Here," Anna said, and offered her a steaming mug of cocoa. The other woman smiled thankfully and took a sip, sighing as the hot liquid trickled down her throat.

"Remember when we used to think that if the fjord froze, all the fish died?"

Anna did remember. She'd been a lot younger then, but she recalled the conversation like it was yesterday. Their parents had been so upset to learn that Anna had been found down by the waters' edge, trying to catch fish and save them before they all died in winter. It had been an enormous relief to discover that ice floats on water, even if it felt strange that you could have your fun and still keep others safe.

She nodded. "Oh, and Father looked so angry when he found us!" Her twin shrugged and twiddled a braid looped over her shoulder. Truth be told, their Father had been angry, but it had been a momentary thing, born of terror and frustration rather than real rage.

"Do you think any of the ice is thin enough so we can see some?"

"Probably not."

She leaned back against the balcony post, looking out over the view. Her bare shoulders rubbed against the vines clinging to the pillar as she surveyed the horizon. Her twin was seated across from her in the same pose, with their knees up and elbows hanging over them.

"I always wanted to bring someone here. Seems kinda…romantic, you know?"

"Yeah," she said, eyeing the delicately arranged flowering plants, the light seeping out of the windows, the twilight cloaking the balcony in something akin to quiet, but not quite. She straightened, hands falling to her sides. "Well, why shouldn't I take someone here? It's pretty, and it's nice, and-tell you what," she told the other woman firmly, "I will take someone here, and maybe we'll even….maybe…"

"Don't promise me that. You know you can't," Anna said. There was something in her eyes, something that colored them more blue than green.

She clenched her fists, fingernails biting her palms, willing her resolve to break through to her just as easily as it did her skin. "I can and I will!"

"No, you can't," Elsa said.

Anna slumped against the pillar. There were thorns now, but she hardly cared. Elsa watched her, silent, unmoving, as lifelike as a painting. She had her hair arranged like Mother always used to, her clothes were Anna's clothes, down to the last stitch, and her skin reminded Anna of the moon on a clear night. She was not smiling.

"I wish I could touch you," she whispered. It felt safer to say it in the darkness, but Elsa's eyes gleamed, boring through to her soul.

"We both know that's not how it works."

"No. No, it's not." They were silent, and Anna fiddled with one of the straps on her gown, for wont of something to do, while Elsa remained static.

Anna glanced down at her hands. They'd fallen into her lap, and she onto the ground. Elsa examined her from above. She seemed almost curious. Anna knew she wasn't, not really.

"I wish I could kiss you," she said to no one in particular.

If Elsa could answer her, she would never know. She slowly opened her eyes to the early morning sun and birdcalls.

She woke up alone. She always did, these days.

"I wish I knew how to skate," she told the birds, and they chirped in response.

She rolled over and drew the covers over her head. She had better places to be.