Schemes and Snowballs

Summary:Anna schemes, Elsa retaliates, and Olaf gets caught in the crossfire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney's Frozen or anything associated with it. I am not making a profit off of this story. I am just a poor college kid who is obsessed/in-love-with the movie.

A/N: So this little story popped into my mind after watching a 10 second clip on youtube of Anna starting a snowball fight with Elsa. So… yeah… Still inordinately excited to watch the movie…

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Anna stifled a giggle as she attempted to sneak unseen through the palace in her winter outfit, her eyes quickly scanning each and every intersecting hallway she passed before moving on. Very carefully keeping her hands hidden beneath her cloak and behind her back, she systematically searched through Elsa's favorite haunts in the palace. She would, ideally, catch her sister unawares; the element of surprise was crucial to the success of her scheme, in no small part due to the aptly named Snow Queen's icy powers.

Though it was the middle of summer, it hadn't taken much pleading from the village children to convince Arendelle's young monarch to permanently transform the palace courtyard into a veritable winter wonderland. The little patch of winter was a welcome relief to the oft times uncomfortable summer heat, and Anna had more often than not found herself joining the children in their snowy play. And, while Anna honestly liked frolicking with the children, she was unable to shake off the feeling that some crucial ingredient was missing to make her time in the snow truly enjoyable.

She could have smacked herself when, due to an offhand comment by a little boy with a single front tooth, she realized that ingredient was Elsa.

Upon that realization, a devious plan to bait her sister into playing with her like they did when they were young quickly took root and blossomed in her mind. Saying a regretful goodbye to the pouting children, she had swiftly made her way back inside the palace, making sure to scoop up a handful of snow with her gloved hands before walking through the large doors. She knew that her plan was simple, foolhardy, and had an extreme chance of failure but none of that mattered because she was determined.

"Anna?"

Eyes widening in surprise at the familiar voice calling her name from behind, Anna clumsily twirled around and came face to face with her sister. Quickly taking in the raised eyebrow and odd tone of voice, Anna made an effort to smother her giant grin into something subtler and less suspicious. The next words out of her sister's mouth, however, led her to believe that she hadn't quite succeeded in her efforts to remain inconspicuous.

"Are you all right?" Elsa eyed her younger sister questioningly, not at all reassured by the small manic grin adorning the brunette's face.

"Fine. Perfect. Never better." Anna brightly fired out in rapid succession. Receiving another long, odd look from the blonde, Anna once again tried to contain her enthusiasm lest she blow her cover. "Why? What's with the funny look?"

Elsa scrutinized her fidgeting sister for a few moments longer. Her gaze moved from Anna's twinkling blue orbs to the hands hidden behind her back, only to settle dubiously on the crude facsimile of an innocent smile painting her lips. When she finally spoke, her words were slow and cautious. "You were standing alone in the hall, giggling madly to yourself as you stared at the floor."

"I-Er, I was just… happy. Yes, happy!" Anna scrambled for an excuse, steadfastly ignoring the slight heat she could feel creeping up her neck and settling in her cheeks. She hadn't been aware that she'd been that lost in thought.

"I… see…" Elsa responded slowly, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Is there any particular reason as to why?"

"There are plenty of reasons for me to be happy now," Anna responded cheerfully, though inwardly she began to panic as Elsa's icy blue eyes slid once more to her concealed hands. Thinking quickly, she decided to firmly banish any suspicions her sister might harbor the only way she knew was guaranteed to work. "If you must know, however, I was so incredibly happy earlier because I love you."

…Well, it wasn't exactly a lie, per se; it was simply… less than the whole truth. She was quite frankly ecstatic at their newfound closeness, having missed her sister more than she had initially thought. Every time one of them uttered those three little words she was reminded of the fact that she had her best buddy back, and that she'd never be alone again. She was just going to simply forget to mention that her earlier giddiness may have had something to do with her grand scheme.

Feeling the now familiar warmth in her chest, the one that blanketed her every time she expressed how much she cared for her sister, Anna stared into Elsa's eyes expectantly. She wasn't disappointed when, moments after the words were uttered, Elsa's icy orbs seemed to melt into impossibly warm pools of liquid blue. A slightly shy smile slid into place on the blonde's face, causing Anna's own grin to finally soften.

"I… Yes…" Elsa' voice was soft as she conceded. "I suppose that is cause to be happy." Averting her gaze self-consciously as she cleared her throat, Elsa noticed the fine layer of snow still stubbornly clinging to Anna's hair and shoulders. "You were outside in the courtyard?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. The kids love what you've done with the place." Anna exclaimed, pointing to the window behind the blonde with one hand, the other still hidden beneath her cloak. "You are, and I quote, 'the bestest and most wonderful and awesomest queen ever'. And, you know, I kind of have to agree."

Elsa's cheeks reddened slightly in bashfulness at the unexpected words, a delighted little smile lighting up her face. Hesitating only slightly, she gave in to Anna's silent urgings and slowly turned around, gliding the few feet to one of the large windows overlooking the courtyard. Leaning in marginally for a better viewing angle, her gaze was drawn to the many little figures frolicking in the fluffy white snow she had conjured, her smile unconsciously growing at the sight.

Anna, inwardly cheering at her quick thinking, had intently followed her elder sister's movement with bated breath. Head cocked lightly to the side, she allowed a few moments of silence to pass between them, fidgeting restlessly as Elsa gazed out on the joyfully playing children below. It wasn't long, however, before Anna's hand felt like it was clutching a ball of iron instead of a ball of snow a ton. Unable to put it off any longer without running the risk of being caught, the Princess of Arendelle slowly pulled her arm out from beneath her cloak, snowball clutched firmly in her glove.

Glancing at the small ball of tightly packed snow in the center of her palm, a slightly cocky grin slid onto Anna's face. Silently tossing it into the air and effortlessly catching it once more, she quickly focused her attention back on her unsuspecting sister. Eyes twinkling in mischievous glee at the fact that her target was still unaware of her plans, Anna cocked her arm back and took aim before pitching the snowball at the Queen.

Anna watched in wide-eyed glee as her aim proved true, her snowy projectile covering the short distance and crumbling as it impacted the preoccupied blonde's shoulder. Hearing a startled grunt, the brunette was unable to reign in her mirth when her sister half twirled to look at her, her expression priceless. A sudden giggle burst forth from her throat as she pointed shakily at the blonde, not noticing when Elsa's face quickly shifted from startled incredulousness to an impish smirk complete with a wickedly arched brow.

Eyeing her uncontrollably giggling sister, devious smirk growing impossibly wider, Elsa swiftly brought her hands in front of her body and cupped the air, focusing. Swirling her hands around, she effortlessly conjured a large ball of snow and lifted the floating projectile above her head, her face the picture of smug superiority. Letting out a giggle herself as Anna shrieked in delighted laughter before stumbling away, she swiftly gave chase, the large snowball still suspended above her head as their joyful laughter echoed throughout the palace.

Anna scurried away from her pursuing sister, her uncontrollable giggling hindering her ability to escape. Wobbling slightly, she overbalanced and ended up tripping on the end of her cloak, narrowly avoiding the large ball of snow hurtling towards her as she hit the ground. Laughing even harder when she heard her sister let out a playful growl, Anna scrambled back to her feet and scooped up a handful of the snow before running once more. Turning her head for a second, she stuck out her tongue and launched the snowball at the blonde.

Instead of ducking, Elsa raised her hand with a smirk and froze the snowball inches from her face. Resisting the urge to stick out her own tongue, she instead twitched her fingers and made the cold projectile multiply in size until it could have been mistaken for a large white pumpkin. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she threw her arms forward, launching the ball of snow at her fleeing sister as she entered the ballroom.

Anna's eyes widened as she realized that by running into the ballroom she had put herself in a direct collision course with Olaf. Not wanting to injure the short snowman, she just managed a flying dodge to the side mere feet before she would have collided with him. About to leap once more into a fleeing sprint, Anna instead ended up faltering as she heard a startled squeak.

Elsa gasped as she skidded to a halt just inside the room. Gaze locked on the happy-go-lucky snowman, her expression continually flip-flopped between horrified and immensely amused. "I'm sorry, Olaf. Are you alright?"

"I don't know…" Olaf mused confusedly as he looked down at himself. His torso had been knocked out and replaced by the large snowball Elsa had thrown, turning him into a very disproportionate snowman. Turning his new body this way and that, he tilted his head and stared seriously at his builder. "Now, be honest; does this make me look fat?"

Elsa blinked, thrown by the question. Opening her mouth to answer, she was interrupted by a snowball impacting the back of her head, causing her to stumble forward slightly. Twirling around, her eyes narrowed at the brunette who was currently doubled over in laughter. Not willing to let her prey escape once again, a ridiculously mischievous smirk stretched across her lips. Silently she threw her hands into the air before jerking them downwards, a large pile of snowing blinking into existence on the downswing and effectively burying everything in sight.

A few seconds of silence passed before Anna's head popped up, breaking through the powdery white snow with a gasp. Her cheeks were rose-tinted from both exertion and the cold, but her eyes were positively sparkling. "That was fun," she giggled with a face splitting grin as Elsa approached.

"I'll bet," Elsa snorted in amusement with a smug smirk. Coming to a stop in front of her buried sibling, she cocked a brow and placed her hands on her hips. "And what have we learned? Hmm?"

"Umm…" Anna tilted her head to the side, before answering innocently. "That Olaf is actually kind of vain?"

"I'm not vain," Olaf called out from where he stood studying his reflection in one of the windows, eyes narrowed as he tried to view himself in every angle he could. "It's just- I don't know if this look is really 'me', y'know?"

Elsa rolled her eyes at the pair before reaching into the pile of snow. Grasping Anna's hands, she braced her feet against the white mound and pulled a bit too hard, one of her feet slipping in the process. Anna was yanked out of her snowy prison and, with a squeal of surprise, barrelled straight into her unsteady savior and effectively knocked them back into the snow.

Letting out a puff of air and a light grunt as she landed on her back in the snow with Anna's weight on top of her, Elsa half-heartedly blew a strand of disheveled blonde hair out of her face. Opening her eyes, she blinked as she came face to face with her sheepishly smiling sister. About to open her mouth to speak, she instead widened her eyes and struggled to get up when she saw Olaf wobbling speedily towards them.

"Oooh! Are we giving warm hugs?" Olaf's eyes were alight with delight as he swiftly waddled towards the downed pair, his voice betraying his excitement. "Oh I want to join in! I want to join in!"

"Olaf wait, we're no-ooof!" Elsa's frantic explanation was in vain as Olaf half leaped half flopped on top of the sisters, his added weight forcing the air from their lungs.

"Wait… I-just give me a…" Olaf wiggled around for a few long moments before visibly drooping. When he spoke, his voice was low and laced with melancholy. "Sorry guys; I forgot my arms in my other body."

Anna snickered lightly into Elsa's neck, her head having been shoved there when Olaf had landed on her. Feeling Elsa poke her side in light chastisement, she cleared her throat and tried to comfort the delightful snowman. "It's okay, Olaf. You're not the only one who likes warm hugs. Elsa likes them too."

"You do?" Olaf voiced hopefully, his big orange nose poking Anna in the shoulder as he cocked his head like an excited puppy.

"Yes Olaf," Elsa sighed resignedly in a soft voice, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips. Though their position was anything but comfortable, she nevertheless pulled her arms free and humored the person and snowperson she cared for the most in the world. Reaching up, she encircled as much of the silly pair as she could and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"I love warm hugs too."

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