For disclaimers, see part one.

Warnings:
Icest, suggestive (but not outright sexual) content.

^2

Sleep was apparently going to be an elusive thing, Elsa surmised a little crankily as she felt herself floating closer to wakefulness. That annoyed her, to be honest, because it had not only been a busy day, but also an emotionally tiring one since it wasn't every day she realized that she was harboring romantic feelings for her little sister. She had no doubts that she'd end up expending even more energy in order to hide that particular revelation while she tried to figure out what to do about it, so the fact that she was failing in her attempts to sink back into the grasp of dreams was sort of irritating.

Something, however, was tugging at her – not literally, although when she gained enough control over her thoughts to remember that Anna had gotten into bed with her, the possibility wasn't exactly a far-off one. No, this was more of a... brushing sensation? She frowned as she tried to figure it out, tried to pinpoint what it was that she felt, but it was a slow process since she was still climbing towards wakefulness and her brain wasn't cooperating at its normal speeds.

There was warmth on her face in two ways. A hand resting against her cheek and jaw, and what was probably a single finger slowly brushing over her cheekbone. There were also soft, intermittent rushes of warm air against her skin – air that smelled faintly of tea and chocolate. Breath, perhaps? Yes, when she listened carefully and pulled herself up higher, the rhythm matched that of low, hitching breathing coming from nearby.

Hitching?

The sound of a low sniffle pulled Elsa into complete wakefulness so sharply that her head swam from it, and she was glad that the light was soft enough to not blind her completely when her eyes snapped open. "Anna?" she murmured, and grabbed for the hand when it left her face while blinking rapidly to clear the haze of sleep from her eyes. She only managed to catch a wrist, and as her vision sharpened, she felt her heart pound faster.

Anna was holding herself up on one elbow next to her – almost over her – backlit by the golden firelight and with the hand that Elsa had almost caught wiping at her own cheeks. Her eyes were near-luminous in the half-darkness, unusually bright against her shadowed face and unmistakably wet even as her lips shaped a wavering smile, and Elsa literally had to bite her tongue to keep from blurting out something that would probably be incredibly insensitive for the situation, because God, she was beautiful.

"Nightmare?" she wondered instead as she released the wrist and caught a stray tear on her own fingers.

Inexplicably, Anna gave a weak, snorting laugh and shook her head. "No," she muttered, and scrubbed her hand over her face one more time before blowing out a shaky breath that Elsa felt stir her own bangs. "Just... something you said."

"That I said?" Her eyebrows rose, and then lowered almost immediately. "When? What?" God... She was quite sure that she hadn't been asleep for long, but she distinctly remembered dreaming of Anna. Don't tell me I talk in my sleep.

For several, increasingly uncomfortable moments, Anna seemed to not really know how to reply, and instead just followed a repeating cycle of looking at her, chewing at her own lips and then looking away. Elsa watched and waited with one arm loosely curled around her sister's waist and her hand trying to find somewhere to rest, not really willing to make any suggestions as to what Anna had heard her say just to avoid bringing up anything uncomfortable.

She was, in fact, so focused on keeping her own mouth shut that she completely missed the fact that Anna was talking.

"Excuse me." Elsa flushed when she finally found herself to be under the expectant (and as far as she could see, amused) regard of the turquoise eyes, and cleared her throat. "You were saying?"

"No, I was asking," her sister corrected warmly, and Elsa tried to not notice the hand that settled against her own waist. Instead she focused on the small, teasing grin that appeared on Anna's face and seemed to push back the lingering tears like the sun sweeping over a hillside. "But now I'm thinking maybe you're too tired for questions."

"I'm wide awake," she insisted, and sighed when Anna's response was a scarcely choked snicker. "Truly. What was the question?"

"Well, nothing too complex, at least," was the playful response, though she did feel the minute, nervous clench in the hand that rested on her side. "I just asked you to say my name."

Blink. Blink again. "Excuse me?"

"Say my name." Anna's voice was steady but soft, and the pale eyes dropped to the bedding for a single moment before looking back up at her through their lashes. "Please."

Thoroughly bewildered, Elsa cocked her head as much as she could considering the fluffiness of her pillow. It was an innocent enough request, certainly, but she did wonder at the motivation behind it. Did Anna miss hearing her voice speaking those four letters after their separation, perhaps, or did she just want Elsa to say her name more in general, regardless of the past?

Either way, obliging couldn't hurt, could it?

"Anna," she therefore said, and then promptly blushed because she'd inadvertently used her monarch voice and sounded entirely too official. Anna was kindly not laughing at her, though it seemed to take some effort judging by the slight twitch she'd developed at the corner of her lips.

Elsa cleared her throat once more, and lifted one hand to brush a few stray locks of copper behind her sister's ear. "Anna," she tried again – this time noticeably softer - and smiled when she felt a warm cheek lean into her palm.

"Again," came the low request, and when she went to move her hand away, there was a brief press of fingertips to her arm that stopped her.

Reassured, she trailed her fingers through the soft hair underneath them, and felt goosebumps chase themselves down the inside of her own arm when a contented sigh washed over her skin. The turquoise eyes slid shut at her touch, and when they opened again, she felt the hand on her waist flex and drew a featherlight line over the smooth cheek beneath her thumb in response.

"Anna," she murmured, and felt her heart ache in the best possible way.

The smile she earned was impossibly gentle, and while her heartbeat did speed up at the sight of a silky-looking, lower lip being trapped between even teeth, it was the fact that Anna was leaning closer that really set it to pounding against her ribs, because that was just entirely too good to be true. It couldn't be. No one got to be that lucky, and she certainly had to have used up at least one lifetime's allowance of luck, hadn't she?

Somewhere, she noticed that the hand on her waist was heavier now due to her sister having to lean on it a little. It was anything but uncomfortable, just sort of... there and warm, with slender fingers pressing into the skin above her hip through the silky fabric of her shift. Chiefly, however, she was aware of the look in those pale eyes – something that was at once both anxious and determined – of the fact that she could feel warm breath against her own mouth, and that it was noticeably, nervously, excitedly uneven. Just like her own.

"Again," Anna breathed, and she could hear the smile in her voice when the hand on her waist came up to cradle her jaw, even though their faces were now close enough for their noses to brush. "Elsa."

And simply hearing her own name spoken like that – in that careful, soft tone – made everything as clear as the ice she could craft herself. Anna knew, because if that was how Elsa had been saying her name since her own revelation, she had to know. There was absolutely no mistaking the sheer love that permeated every letter, and even though her own feelings were a very recent discovery, the fact that they were returned was enough to make her swallow repeatedly against the sudden lump that rose in her throat.

It meant that her fourth utterance of her sister's name was more of a hoarse whine than anything else, but she didn't worry herself overmuch. Not when there was silken fabric and smooth skin under her hands, and gentle waves of fiery red tickling her face and neck. Not when she could feel the warmth of Anna's body, and the caress of light callouses over her jawline. Not when she could taste the hint of chocolates on Anna's breath, and feel the ever so light glide of lips against her own.

The last syllable was swallowed up by Anna's mouth, anyway, and when Elsa tensed her arm to pull the younger woman closer, she found that those lips were every bit as soft as they looked. Satiny and pliant, they met hers in a light caress that was little more than a tender nuzzle, with Anna's exhales warming her skin and her own hand slipping further until her fingers were fully tangled in burnished copper. Firmer, then, with Anna's eyes still looking into her own from so very close by, and Elsa felt her suck in an unsteady breath when she angled her head back just enough to give a cautious nip. Firmer again, and now they both ended up giggling because when they moved to angle their heads, they both went the same way three times in a row.

"Hey." Anna nosed her when she smirked. "I can feel that, you know."

"Mmhm." Elsa freed her hand from the silky hair and tangled it up again just because she could. Because she was allowed. "Can you feel this?" she wondered, and carefully shaped three more words without speaking any of them aloud. She felt the shiver before she even saw Anna's eyes close, and smiled at knowing that she apparently had just as much of an effect on her sister as Anna had on her.

"I love you too." The soft words washed over her skin with a reverence that she really didn't feel deserving of, but this time they managed to move their heads in opposite directions, so when the kiss resumed and then deepened, Elsa let her own eyes slip shut and decided to stop worrying.

Everything felt so thrillingly natural – they just fit, from their lips to her jaw in Anna's hand to the curve of Anna's hip in hers. It was so easy for her to move closer and gently nudge until she was the one leaning over Anna, until she could trail a fingertip down the side of her throat to where she could feel the pulse hammering against her skin. So simple to touch and taste and just completely immerse herself in this remarkable, utterly unmatched young woman, to learn how it felt to have her lips against the base of Anna's throat and feel a low, breathy moan vibrate against them. To have slim, strong hands tangling in her hair or fisting in her shift and pulling tighter while Anna pressed closer, until her blood was singing in her veins and she could feel her magic murmuring approvingly under her skin.

Anna loved her - loved her – in every conceivable way that one human being could love another. It was sisterly, in the way her eyes softened with concern when Elsa broke away and just stared at her in wonder. It was innocent, in how she jerked in surprise and then giggled when Elsa nipped at the tip of her nose with a smile. It was playful, in how she cradled Elsa's face in her hands and peppered her with kisses that went from being so light that they tickled to being so wet that they counted as raspberries, and kept doing it until Elsa was snickering helplessly. It was romantic, in how she stroked the skin around Elsa's eyes and cheeks and mouth so gently that she seemed to worry about breaking it, and how she met her eyes so openly and honestly when their foreheads touched. It was passionate, in how her fingertips dragged over Elsa's skin when their lips connected again – in how she drew in a shuddering breath when Elsa's hand kneaded at her waist, and in how her back arched and her hands pulled when Elsa's lips and tongue slipped over her exposed collarbone.

Above all, it was selfless, in how she'd never said a word and had clearly been willing to let Elsa find happiness at the cost of her own.

God. She rested there, so closely above Anna that they were literally breathing the same air. Let me be worthy of her.

"When?" she queried softly, and was helpless to stop her fingers from tracing the curve of her sister's cheekbone, to keep herself from admiring every tiny freckle or the way the firelight made the fine hairs on Anna's skin glitter.

"Always," was the answer around a low laugh, accompanied by a touch that traced the shell of her ear and made her shiver. "Or at least it feels like always," Anna then corrected. "You... recently, I guess?"

"I realized it recently, yes," Elsa agreed, and ducked her head the bare inch it took for their lips to meet again in a slow, tender give and take. "But, um..." She groaned and tamped down on the instinctive roll of her hips when two warm hands clasped them and kneaded gently. "Anna, it's extremely difficult for me to think when you do that."

"Sorry," Anna smirked, and although she looked nothing of the sort, her touch did change to a steady, light caress. "But, God, Elsa, can you blame me? With you and all your..." One hand came up and waved in helpless supplication, and she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from smiling at the look on Anna's face. "... this?! When I know that I can- that I'm allowed to and- and I don't even know where to begin!" A sigh, and a scowl that was so unbearably cute that Elsa almost – almost – lost her battle with her own amusement. "Are you laughing at me, woman?"

Well, she definitely was now. "I'm sorry," she got out around a giggle, and coaxed those pale eyes back on her with a gentle press of her palm to Anna's cheek. "Being with you just makes me so... so happy, I- it always has, but this is... I don't think I've ever been as happy as I am right now." Tenderly, she brushed the backs of her fingers over a freckled cheek, and watched the eyes below her soften. "You are so unbelievably special, Anna. Not because you're a princess, but because you are you. Because you're fearless and tenacious and climb mountains in ballgowns to find me and save our people – because you have the courage to follow your heart no matter how much it hurts you. Because if I live to be a thousand years, I'll never be as wise as you, and because your heart is bigger than all of the mountains in Arendelle. And all I can do right now..." She brushed the pad of her thumb over Anna's lips, and felt them purse in a gentle kiss. "... is wonder what in the world I did to make you want me, because I honestly don't feel that I deserve you."

Anna was scowling at her again, but when the sight made Elsa chuckle anew, she smiled. "That's just nonsense," she declared, and turned up her nose with a comically imperious air that made Elsa have to hold back a snort. Then the look in her eyes both softened and sharpened at the same time, and an unusually serious expression settled on her face while her hand caught Elsa's and bought it to her lips. "You deserve everything," Anna intoned, and there was both skin and silk beneath Elsa's hand when it was settled on the younger woman's sternum, and held there. "If you don't believe that, then believe me." Fingers, tapping on the back of her hand, and the faint thrumming of a heartbeat below her palm. "Believe this."

And maybe it really was that simple. Maybe all Elsa had to do until she found a way to fully believe in herself was to believe in Anna's belief in her. To live up to what Anna saw when she looked at her was undoubtedly a tall order, but what better motivation could she ever hope for? And one thing was for certain.

"I'll always believe in you," she promised, and smiled when warm fingers tugged her down and soft lips caught her own again. "It would probably be good for both of us to see ourselves through each other's eyes, if just for a day."

"You mean, you seeing yourself the way I see you and the other way around?" Anna queried, and waited for her to nod before snickering. "I dunno, Elsa. I think your head'd swell up so much you'd have trouble getting through the door."

"I'm flattered." She chuckled against the warm skin that stretched over Anna's jaw, and then smiled for entirely different reasons when she dragged her mouth up to a faintly flushed ear and heard the sharp intake of breath. "You, meanwhile, would probably end up floating off into the sky if you saw yourself the way I do."

"Probably better that we- that we just kinda learn as we go," Anna responded, the slight stutter coming when Elsa's lips closed around and tugged at the earlobe, and the hands on her hips were pulling her in again. "We've got, um-" A soft groan when she first kissed, and then sucked gently at a spot of skin just below Anna's ear. "-something. I-" Nip. "Uh-" Bite, and the sharp, upwards arcing of Anna's back. "- fuck, Elsa..."

This type of learning, Elsa decided, was infinitely preferable to dusty old books. Watching, hearing, and feeling how Anna reacted to what type of touch had her own body responding, though she was trying to keep that under control so she could truly explore and memorize, because this was definitely going to happen again – and more than just once, if she had anything to say about it.

"We've got what?" she murmured against a flushed cheek, and smiled at the sound of uneven breathing while she slowly walked the fingers of one hand up the center of Anna's silk-clad torso. "Hm?"

"I don't-" A hand caught her wrist on the tail end of a sharp inhalation, and stopped her fingers in their light tracing of the underside of a breast. "-know. Elsa, I really, really can't think when you're touching me like that."

"Sorry," Elsa said, and decided that she probably looked as apologetic as Anna had earlier, going by the look she was getting.

"Lies," Anna grumbled.

But when their lips met again, she was smiling.

xXxXx

Notes:
End. Really. And not even anything remotely entertaining to say about it - something must be wrong with me.

Thanks for reading. ^^