Anna sat back by herself, scrawling down note after note as the royal advisor of smelling-bad (as Anna succinctly put it) blathered on about the need for heirs. Elsa bit her lip and shot her sister a worried glance. She knew Anna had always wanted children, but she hadn't expected her to take this much interest in the process. Besides, though she knew deep down that their concerns were legitimate, she didn't want to think about it. Not now, not ever, and especially not three times this week. Some cold, unloving marriage or sending her precious Anna out like some mare - she balled up her fists at the thoughts and the icy shards stung in her palm.
In the back of the room, a pouting Anna hoisted her paper high.
How much longer?
"...and a royal heir would do much for the confidence of the citizens, and frankly..."
She twisted up her face, straining to keep back a smile. The last thing she wanted was to let these men think she was agreeing with them.
Not much longer, Anna, not much longer.
"That will be all for now."
"Of course, your Majesty." The council streamed out, still clucking amongst themselves.
"When will they ever learn?" She sighed as she plopped down next to Anna. "They think they're doing the right thing," her sister whispered as she nuzzled in beside Elsa.
"They are, and I cannot fault them for it." She paused and ran her fingers through Anna's hair. "But I can only imagine how disappointing this must be for you."
As a child, she recalled, Anna went everywhere with her dolls, taking them on adventures and watching over them. Their mother sewed away the injuries, patching them up with loving hands. How Anna cried when her favourite one had to go in for repairs and how her smile shone in even the blackest room when she got it back. "Look, Elsa, you're better now!" she'd squeal with joy. How fun she said it would be when they had a real baby to care for. Elsa squeezed her own hands. Did Anna remember? Could she even remember? Had she taken this too from her sister?
And now, over a decade later, she was doing it again. Crushing dreams like ants, and the worst part, Elsa realised, was that she knew Anna would do it for her, throwing everything away for her sister, and she knew it because that's what she would do as well. A faint smile crept across her face. They were, it was often said, not so different after all.
"It's nothing. All I need is to be with you." Anna followed it up with a kiss on the cheek.
Like that, she thought. She'd normally chuckle about knowing Anna so well, except that for once it wasn't funny.
Sleep was not an option for Elsa. She'd spent the rest of the day preparing, rehearsing what she needed to say and (mostly) worrying. Anna wanted this, she knew - but maybe she was wrong, maybe her sister would think it too strange and she would blow everything. Now, pacing back and forth in front of Anna's bedroom like a drunken firefly, those fears that haunted her during the day remained just as present in the evening. Her fist pounded on the door in an effort to compete against her pounding heart and she flushed red with embarrassment as the noise travelled down the hallway. "Elsa? Come in," Anna mumbled into her pillow.
She sat down on the bed beside Anna, rubbing her sister's shoulder. "Are you awake?"
Anna opened her eyes and gave her a smirk in response. "Who isn't, after you tried to break down the door?"
"I'm sure you don't want to hear this in the middle of the night, but please come with me. There is..." She paused, struggling for words. A lot of good her practise did. "Something you need to see."
"What-"
"Queen's orders. Up." She leaned down with a malicious grin and tickled Anna. No one could get her out of bed faster than Elsa. "And no questions. Not until I can say my piece."
In the distance, the clock echoed out the midnight hour. The ballroom doors creaked open and Elsa guided Anna in by the light of her flickering lantern. With the curtains drawn, darkness permeated the entire room and their footsteps resounded off the emptiness inside, everything having been cleared away. There was no fire, no candles and it was cold, so cold that Anna shivered and clung to her sister for warmth.
"I cannot give you a child of the flesh," Elsa intoned, "but-"
Anna interrupted her. "I'm not that in the dark about anatomy," she teased.
"Hush." Elsa silenced her with a kiss. "But I can give you a child, the perfect child, the one you have always wanted."
Eldritch energy hummed in the air and what little warmth remained drained away as a block of ice coalesced in front of them. Anna stared as it rose up to her height before finally coming to a rest.
"Tell me, Anna, have you fancied a son or a daughter?"
An oppressive silence, thick as the encircling shadows, descended on the room. Elsa lowered the light to hide her falling face.
"I've always wanted a girl," she eventually stumbled out, quiet and hesitant.
"And so it will be." Anna gasped as the ice cracked and crumbled, pieces sloughing off and shattering on the floor, until all that remained was a human form, recognisably feminine. "What else would you like? Her mother's smile, perhaps?"
"Your eyes," Anna whispered. The wind howled as frost swirled and crystallised on the sculpture before them, leaving a pair of eyes that glittered a brilliant blue in the firelight. She held up the lantern to Elsa's face and peered intently into her eyes before nodding her approval. Anna ran her fingers across the statue's head, smooth and cool under her touch, and with her guidance, the ice groaned and swayed under Elsa's command, spiralling and shifting until there was a full head of icy hair that earned Anna's agreement. "Incredible," she breathed.
"There is still more to be done," Elsa replied, deflecting the praise. Though, if she were honest, she was a bit impressed with herself. Her previous creations, loveable as they were, were spur of the moment constructions. Never before had she done anything as delicate as this, etching out her sister's every whim. "You haven't chosen her temperament yet."
"That's easy." She slipped her arm around Elsa. "Kind, caring, selfless, gentle, playful..." Elsa nodded with each feature she listed off. A chill breeze swept through the room as ice condensed in her hands, and she cupped a scintillating icy heart in her palms before presenting it to her sister. "Here it is. Everything you wanted. Everything you deserve."
She stepped over to their sculpture and waved the ice apart. The conjured heart fit perfectly into the hole and sealed itself shut. Their child stood before them, lifeless and cold, until Elsa placed the lantern behind her and she sparkled with a dazzling array of colours, shining iridescent in the light. "What do you think, Anna? Is it everything you had imagined?"
"It's beautiful. I didn't know you could do this... I mean not that I ever doubted you or anything but-"
Elsa placed a finger to her sister's mouth. "Only one more task remains," she murmured, gently tilting Anna's head back. "To bring life to a frozen heart."
When their lips met, it was if all the cold in the room immediately vanished, evaporated by their passion. It must have went into the clock, Anna reasoned, because time seemed to have stopped, shackled down and frozen solid by a weighty mass of ice, until they parted at last.
Elsa opened her eyes to see their little girl stumbling forward on uncertain legs, and the sight of her flowing blonde hair and radiant blue eyes backlit by the fire took her breath away. As they locked eyes, she stared deep into what she immediately recognised as her own reflection, younger, sure, but the resemblance was as clear as the ice itself, and realised then what Anna had always wanted most.
Her.