Chapter One

Anna was six when she entered the ice rink for first time. She was equipped with her hockey stick, hockey pants, helmet, skates, and eagerness to play. Ever since Anna watched her first Winter Olympics with her parents, she knew hockey was the sport she wanted to do. Her parents had tried to sway her towards figure skating but Anna didn't want to dance around. Something about smacking around a puck and knocking people into walls was way more appealing than doing crazy spinning tricks and flailing her arms around. It just looked cooler too. But when Anna saw her, figure skating certainly didn't look as silly as it did on TV.

The girl on the other side of the rink knew how to skate on ice. The way she twirled and effortlessly moved was so smooth and beautiful. Her platinum blonde hair was braided in a low ponytail and she wore a black headband. She wasn't wearing one of those glittery dresses but she was wearing light blue tights and a matching jacket with white gloves. Anna could only guess how gorgeous this girl would look in a fancy, glittering dress.

She smiled at the thought.

Anna didn't pay much attention during practice. She barely recalled her teammate's names, hoping to instead catch the name of the figure skater. Anna even went so far as to skate a little too close to the other side and was constantly scolded by her coach to come back. On her fifth attempt, Anna actually fell, sliding further than she meant to.

But it was worth it.

"Elsa, watch out behind you," Anna heard the coach say. He was a tall, slender black man wearing a cool blue turtle neck and black pants. His clean shaven goatee was trimmed into a triangle right on his chin with a thin line of hair around his mouth connected to his mustache.

Anna looked up to see her, Elsa, slowly backing away but she was looking at her nonetheless.

Elsa was her name. It was a beautiful name and it matched her perfectly. Elsa looked older by a couple of years. Upon closer inspection, Anna saw that Elsa had short bangs that ended right above her crystal blue eyes.

She gave Anna a small, sympathetic smile.

"S-Sorry," Anna stammered. She got up as fast as she could, lost her footing a little, but she managed to skate back to her team.

That was the start of it all.

Anna was so glad that they shared the same practice area. Elsa would already be practicing as Anna walked through the doors. It was always just Elsa and her coach in the rink whenever Anna arrived.

Anna heard talk from one of her teammates, Rapunzel, that Elsa has been skating for three years now. She's won a couple junior competitions already and was pretty talented for someone her age. There was talk about national and world competitions. Even the Olympics.

Anna managed to convince her parents to drop her off fifteen minutes earlier than usual. They finally agreed when Anna's coach told them she had no problems letting little Anna skate around before the other girls arrived. Coach Calhoun was a little scary at first and she was a bit stern but Anna liked her. She drilled them much like Anna imagined a sergeant would to fellow soldiers but always with a smile in the end.

Ever since Anna started showing up early, Coach Calhoun would offer Anna a small cup of hot chocolate at least ten minutes before the start of practice.

"Don't let your parents or any of your other teammates know I give you sugar before practice. It's actually not good for you," Calhoun had told her when she gave Anna her first hot chocolate. It was during the third time Anna arrived early.

That cemented Anna's appreciation for her coach.

Anna looked forward to those fifteen minutes before practice. Not only did she get free hot chocolate, but it was the only time that it was just her and Elsa in the ice rink. She tried hard to keep her cool and not stare so blatantly but it was extremely difficult.

Elsa was just amazing at everything she did. Depending on the music they chose Elsa would be sad, happy, excited, or even angry. It wasn't just her facial expressions. She used her entire body to convey her emotions.

It was during those intense sessions that Anna opted to just sit and watch instead.

It truly was mesmerizing. It certainly made Anna more appreciative of the sport.

Even after a few years, Anna couldn't help but watch.

Calhoun kept scolding her for not paying attention when they were doing drills. It resulted in her having to do laps.

Some of her teammates caught on to her crush on Elsa.

"You can talk to her, you know," Rapunzel told her matter-of-factly. "We basically practice together."

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that," Anna murmured. She looked away as if that simple act would erase all evidence of her infatuation.

Elsa was three years older than her. She probably wanted nothing to do with a dorky little hockey player anyways.

"You stare so much, I wouldn't be surprised if Elsa already knows," Mulan added with a grin.

Anna blushed hard at that thought.

Even her mother could tell she liked watching Elsa a little too much.

"It's not too late to switch, you know," Anna's mother told her when Anna was too busy watching Elsa practicing her air jump spins instead of untying her skates.

"No way. Spinning makes me too dizzy." Anna hastily removed her skates and put on regular shoes.

Anna was nine when she bumped into Elsa.

Elsa was walking out right as Anna was entering the locker room.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't-" Anna's words died in her throat when she realized Elsa was ten inches from her.

"No, no. You're fine." Elsa took a step back to allow Anna passage.

Anna was dumbfounded for a split second. Elsa was very well dressed. She was wearing a loose, long sleeved off-white shirt that ended right at the top of her thighs. Over the shirt she wore a sleeveless dark blue down vest with a fur-lined hood attached. Black leggings were her choice of pants. Her brown leather boots came halfway up her calf and she wore thick, light tan, knee-high wool socks that bunched a little above the top of her boots. Elsa certainly looked a lot more attractive in civilian clothing.

"Do you have a game today?"

The question knocked Anna out of her stupor.

"I- yeah!" Anna nearly cringed at her loud voice. She cleared her throat and spoke normally this time. "I mean, yes, I have a game today."

Elsa smiled. Anna almost swooned.

"Good luck. You won't need it, though."

Anna gaped as Elsa left.

"Earth to Anna. Anna, do you read me? Come in!"

Rapunzel was waving her hands in front of Anna's eyes.

"We may have just lost one of our key players," Mulan stated as she came up next to Rapunzel. "Quick, someone get Elsa!"

"Don't you dare!" Anna growled. Rapunzel and Mulan laughed as they ran inside the locker rooms to get ready. Anna followed them grudgingly.

The game was a breeze. Anna scored four out of the seven goals they had. She was just on her game today, swerving in and out of the other players with ease. She even passed the puck with it actually getting it to her teammates. No one had to scramble to get to a rogue puck from her that day.

She was still so happy about finally having Elsa talk to her. And that smile, it made Anna all giddy inside. It was almost a dream come true.

Maybe they could be friends?

The thought was humorous. They had nothing in common other than they could both skate on ice. Even then it wasn't even the same kind of skating either.

"Man, if just bumping into Elsa makes you play like that, I might just have to convince her to say hello to you before each game." Rapunzel wrapped an arm around Anna's shoulder as they made their way off the ice.

Anna wanted to argue back but she couldn't. There was no point in trying to deny it. Talking to Elsa definitely made her feel great.

"I take your silence as a yes."

"No, it is not! Don't you dare say anything to Elsa!"

Rapunzel laughed, skating right out of Anna's reach.

Mulan only gave Anna a pointed look with a hint of a smile as she glided past her which, Anna wasn't sure was better or worse. She felt her face heating up regardless and had to look away.

Practices became painfully embarrassing.

Rapunzel kept wiggling her eyebrows whenever Elsa shared the rink with them. Mulan liked to bump Anna towards Elsa every chance she got. Thankfully, now that they were older and their team was a little bigger, Elsa didn't have as many overlapping practices as before. A lot of times, Anna would catch Elsa just as she was leaving or vice versa. But every Friday, they had a half hour overlap.

A fact her two teammates loved to take advantage of.

Mulan and Rapunzel would both stare at Elsa then look pointedly at Anna with smirks glued forever onto their faces. Anna made a point to not look at them unless she had to pass the puck.

There was a close call when Elsa caught Rapunzel and Mulan staring at her as she skated off the rink. Then those idiots giggled, giggled when Elsa passed Anna.

She almost died.

It shouldn't have been a surprise when Elsa said hello to her the next day. Given the years they've spent sharing the same rink; it was hard to not know of each other. Or was it because of Rapunzel and Mulan that Elsa said hello. Anna hoped it wasn't because if it was she'd kill them herself and-

Seeing Elsa smile at her on her own accord and not because Anna made a fool of herself though. Yeah. Anna could come to forgive them.

It was still surreal to her.

Elsa would greet Anna with a polite hello if their eyes ever met, which Anna tried hard not to do. Anna would stammer a greeting back and sometimes even gave a little wave when they were too far to hear each other.

It wasn't much but at least Anna knew that Elsa was aware of her existence.

"Hey, so the World Junior Figure Skating Championship is going to be held here," Rapunzel stated.

They were at Rapunzel's house for a weekend sleepover. Rapunzel was sitting on her bed with her sketchbook and pencil in hand. She was dressed in simple pink matching top and bottom pajamas. Her long blonde hair was braided behind her. Mulan was wearing a tank top and shorts but was too preoccupied with Legend of Zelda to look at them. Mulan's parents didn't allow her to have any sort of gaming system in the house so she was always glued to the TV with a controller in hand whenever they had sleepovers.

Anna sat on the floor next to Mulan. She loved watching people play video games especially when it was a game that she loved herself.

"What? Really? We never have any major figure skating competitions held here. Why would they come here for that?" Mulan asked. She was currently fighting an armored skeleton with three swords. She was always great at multitasking.

"Because of Elsa." Rapunzel shot Anna a wide grin.

The look on Anna's face must have been something because Rapunzel started laughing. Mulan paused her game to look over.

"Come on, are you really that surprised? And here I thought you knew everything about Elsa."

Anna's face heated up but she puffed her cheeks and tried to look angry.

It wasn't working from the way her two friends laughed.

Anna knew that their ice skating rink was fairly large and held a lot of events there but it wasn't really pro stadium quality. Though, hearing this bit of news, she finally understood why there was so much construction going on. They built a smaller, temporary ice rink next to the main one they had so practices could still be held there. It was where Anna's team had been practicing but most of their games were held out of town. It made her happy when she learned their ice rink was getting a bit of an upgrade. But she had no idea that Elsa was the reason for it…

"Wow, are they really coming here just because of Elsa? I know she's great during practice but I don't know much about her other than that. I mean, yeah, I see she's won gold and silver during some competitions. Coach Calhoun always congratulates her but Coach Lucius always congratulates us whenever we win a game." Anna honestly thought it was just common courtesy that the coaches cheered on kids regardless of what sport they were in.

Elsa's coach, Lucius Best was a well-known athlete apparently and participated in a couple Olympics way back when. He was dubbed Frozone during the time because he had so much style and class during his performances. "In the Zone" was one of his catchphrases and he loved to say it whenever Elsa skated really well during practice.

It was sometimes funny to see Calhoun and Lucius interact with each other. They were such different people and loved to give each other crap whenever Anna heard them talking to each other. It was clear that they had been coaching kids for a long time and using the same ice rink from the old pictures Anna saw hanging around the lobby.

"Where did you hear all of this?" Mulan asked.

"I read, you guys. Seriously, do neither of you see the huge posters hanging all around the bulletin or, heck, take the pamphlets that tell us the agenda for the month? That's why we've had construction for the past year!"

Anna and Mulan glanced at each other then back at Rapunzel blankly.

"I just thought they were fixing up the place because it needed a lot of work," Mulan said with an indifferent shrug.

Rapunzel threw her hands in the air.

She leaned over her bed to reach into her bag for something. She fished out the said pamphlet and tossed it at Anna.

Opening it, Anna read about the World Junior Figure Skating Championship being held for the first time here in Arendelle. Though it wasn't as grand as the others, the huge attention Elsa was gaining was the main reason they decided to hold it here.

There was also a little blurb about Elsa's father having a hand in getting the funding for the ice rink to be upgraded as well.

Anna was a little embarrassed to just find out that Elsa had won this Championship the year before, being one of the youngest to win gold with one of the best scores in history.

"I'm guessing you don't watch the Figure Skating Championships they broadcast on national television, do you, Anna?" Rapunzel asked with a half grin.

"They broadcast it on TV?!"

Why did she not know about this? She knew about the Olympics but she didn't know they broadcasted figure skating!

"Wow, some fan you are. Or maybe all you care about is how Elsa looks when she's near you that you don't need to see her in competitions."

"That's low, even for you, Anna," Mulan added.

They were teasing her again but she didn't care. She could have watched Elsa all dressed up in those sparkly outfits and skating alone on the ice rink with nothing but her music to accompany her.

"Do they have clips on Youtube?" Anna managed to ask though her voice was barely above a whisper.

Anna wished she owned a laptop or even a tablet. Even a smartphone would suffice right now.

"Yup."

That's how Anna commandeered the Wii from Mulan, installed the Youtube channel, and watched Elsa's performances late into the night.

Elsa was even more flawless, if such a thing were possible, during the actual events. She wore a short teal dress with long black sleeves and matching teal gloves that ended halfway up her forearm. Her dress was covered asymmetrically with glittering deep purple and dark green studded gems. Her hair was held up in a low bun and she sported her familiar black headband. For the free skate, she wore a violet dress that was free flowing compared to her previous dress and was slightly longer. This dress didn't have any gems but her elbow high gloves had white gems that spiraled around them. Her hair was in the low braid Anna was used to seeing but the headband was gone.

Elsa's face was so expressive. You could feel the pain in her short program and then the utter joy and happiness in the free skate. Her jumps were flawless and her spins were graceful despite the speed she was going.

Anna couldn't believe that this girl, this perfect being, was in such proximity to her.

And yet Anna hardly knew anything about her. She had to hear from Rapunzel about Elsa's accomplishments.

Elsa was extremely polite in her interviews but they were always short and right to the chase. They were generally all the same questions. How did you feel about your performance? What was your inspiration? What does it feel like being this young and so talented?

There was one question that Elsa didn't give a clear answer and that was whether or not she would be going to the Olympics.

Something about the way Elsa breathed deeply and looked towards the ground didn't seem quite right. She would always answer the same regardless.

"I would love to but right now, I'm just happy to be here."

Anna was eleven when the World Junior Figure Skating Championship was held at their ice rink.

She arrived with Rapunzel and Mulan, with adult supervision from Anna's mother.

They sat in the far back of the rink. Anna still was a little scared and embarrassed to come watch the championship solely for Elsa. She was forever grateful that her two friends decided to come along with her.

"It's the Championship held here, in Arendelle! Who wouldn't want to go!" Rapunzel had proclaimed.

"It's cool that Elsa is the reason our ice rink has upgraded. I mean, I know you're her biggest fan but I'm here just to support her. And you," Mulan gave a wide grin at that.

There were TV crews and photographers all around the rink with huge equipment at the ready.

Anna hoped that she wouldn't appear on TV or any pictures. She didn't want to expose herself. If they caught her at this event that had nothing to do with her, Anna was sure that Elsa might learn about her crush.

So of course, Anna tried to disguise herself.

She was wearing a baggy green hoodie with the hood covering her very distinctive strawberry blonde hair. Anna hadn't thought much about her hair color until Mulan pointed out that she could spot her from a mile away. Anna wished her friends would hide as well. Elsa knew them all by name so she would probably be able to recognize them as well.

"What are you doing?" Anna's mother asked her.

Mulan gave her a quick glance but was subtle enough that no one else saw.

"I'm, uh, just kind of cold. Well, my ears are."

Thankfully her mother dropped it after that. She even gave Anna her jacket.

The announcements startled all of them. It seemed as if they upgraded their sound system as well.

After the first hour, Anna almost regretted coming. Her butt was sore and she really didn't care about any of the other competitors. Rapunzel seemed to be the only one that was really into this. She would gasp and squeal whenever someone did a double Lutz, or any Lutz for that matter. Some girls were quite good, Anna concluded, but they were nothing compared to Elsa.

Elsa was wearing a dark blue, turtle neck dress with long sleeves and hands covered with matching gloves. There were swirls of white gems on the hem of her dress but other than that, she was quite dark. Her hair was in a high bun this time. She face was covered in darker makeup than usual. Her eye shadow was a faint gray and her lips were a dark, almost blood red shade.

Elsa did some warm up skating around the rink just like Anna saw her do every time she managed to catch part of Elsa's practices. Elsa's hands were clenched into tight fists and she kept her eyes focused onto the ground. She would rotate around and skate backwards for half the rink then turn back around. Towards the end, she held her hands together as if they were cold. She would grasp her hands together and repeat the movement in different positions.

Her hands were shaking. Elsa was nervous.

Anna sat forward, her back a little straighter than before.

When the slow piano music started playing, Elsa lost all nervousness and became a completely different person. She glided on the ice effortlessly and with such grace, but also, was it sadness? The way she extended her arms and then curled into herself made Anna's heart ache. She put her whole body into this performance from the way her body turned to how she purposefully faced away from the direction she was going. It was almost like Elsa was trying to tell a story instead of trying to win a competition. Like, maybe Elsa was trying to fight against the direction her life was going.

Her jumps were expertly timed and executed to the culmination of the music. Then as if finally accepting that this was how it was going to be, she made the most of it and pulled out all the stops, doing jump after jump. She even landed a triple Axel!

By the end of it, Anna was an emotional wreck. Her heart was palpitating and she finally released the air she didn't realize she was holding.

It was no wonder that they brought the Championship to her.

"Wow…" was all Mulan could say.

"Yeah, I- that was-" Rapunzel continued though only just. "If that was her short program…Man, I wonder what her long program is going to be like."

"She's only fourteen?" Anna's mother asked.

"Yeah, she is," Anna managed to say. She was stunned.

This was unlike anything Elsa had ever done before. This one was so…so, Anna wasn't even sure. It was amazing but it was also a little painful to watch not because it was a bad performance. But it was like Elsa was trying to escape from something.

Needless to say, it was no surprise in the end to see Elsa standing on the highest platform with a gold medal around her neck.

Almost a year later and Anna was standing in the middle of the same rink. It was the PeeWee Championship game and her team was one goal away from winning the trophy.

The score was currently tied two-two and Anna was in current possession of the puck. They were in overtime now with only a minute left before they would have to do a shoot-out.

She swerved between the opposing team, guiding the puck closer and closer to the goal. She was drenched in sweat, her hands were clammy and her legs were exhausted. But Anna was still faster and managed to lose the defending team, leaving just the goalie as her last obstruction to the goal. She brought her stick back and swung down to score the winning hit.

Her hand slipped. The puck ricocheted from the tip of her stick instead and bounced off the back wall.

The next moments were a blur. The puck was recovered by the opposing team and not a moment later she was scrambling to get it back. Their passes were quick. Too quick for even Mulan or Rapunzel to stop.

The loud buzz rang in her ears as they scored the winning goal.

Her team just lost the Championship.

And it was her fault.

They lost because of her.

It was painful to look at her fellow teammates, some glared at her while others refused to look at her. Only Mulan and Rapunzel were kind and tried to comfort her but it only made her feel worse.

Calhoun gave Anna a pat on the back.

"Don't worry kiddo. We've got next year."

Even then, she wasn't sure if they'd even make it to the Championship game.

Anna opted to stay behind as the rest of her team filed out. She didn't bother changing out of her gear or her jersey.

"Don't worry about me, guys. I just want to stay a little longer."

"And do what? Laps? I think you're done for the night," Rapunzel said as she tried to pull Anna up.

"No, dude. Seriously, I just want to rest here for a little bit." Anna pulled her arm back.

"You can rest at home. Let's go."

Mulan placed a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder.

"Don't stay too late," with that Mulan pulled Rapunzel out of the locker room.

Anna managed to convince her parents that she could walk home. Their house was only a fifteen minute walk away. Her mother gave her cell phone to Anna in case of any emergency.

The ice rink was closed to the public today due to the PeeWee Championship game being held here so it was no surprise that there was only a couple people left. Coach Calhoun included.

"Why haven't you changed out of your jersey yet?" Calhoun asked when Anna came back out in full gear save for her helmet, stick, and gloves.

"I just…want to…" Anna trailed off. There was no point in lying to her coach. Calhoun was a smart woman and there probably was no way that she'd allow Anna to stay and run drills on her own.

It was silent for a moment before Calhoun said, "I'll lock the doors so be sure you have everything before you leave the building. Turn off all the lights when you leave. You know where the hot chocolate dispenser is."

Anna was forever grateful. Sometimes Calhoun was stern but there were times like these that she also just knew that some people needed space.

Anna started doing laps. She lost count somewhere around twenty-four but picked up the pace after each time she passed the goal she missed.

How stupid could she have been to lose her grip on her stick? It was the most basic thing in the world.

Anna stopped doing laps and started hard sprints from one end to the other, making sure to touch the line before she switched sides.

She was so angry with herself. She lost the game for her entire team. She lost even when they had home court advantage.

Anna collapsed in the middle of the rink. Her legs gave out. She could barely feel anything. Her chest was heaving as she gasped for air. The pain was almost unbearable but she felt satisfied with this kind of punishment. Anna draped her right arm over her eyes hoping that hiding her vision would help forget.

She heard someone skating towards her until they finally came to a stop somewhere to her left.

"Dude, I told you, I'm fine."

It must have been Rapunzel. That girl never could leave her alone sometimes.

"You certainly don't look fine."

That voice did not belong to Rapunzel or Mulan or anyone she expected.

Anna's breathing hitched when it finally registered whose voice it was.

She slowly lowered her arm to find Elsa standing over her not dressed in her usual training pants, black tank, and black gloves but in black tights, dark gray shorts that ended just below the top of her thighs with the edges rolled up. Her top consisted of a form-fitting, low-cut aqua blue shirt with a black shirt layered under and a black waterfall cardigan. Elsa's wavy hair fell loosely around her shoulders. She tucked the hair on her left side behind her ear. Anna saw that Elsa wore a leather wrist watch that did not look cheap.

Anna was at a loss for words. Why was Elsa here? Clearly she wasn't dressed to practice. The building was supposed to have been locked so there's no way she could have been in here.

Unless…

"H-Have you been here the whole time?"

"I've been here since the beginning of the game," Elsa said as she tilted her head to the side with a half-smile.

"The beginning?" Anna sat up on instinct but her body was so exhausted that she could barely hold herself up. Thus she fell back hard.

"Hey, careful!"

Elsa dropped down but her knees didn't touch the ice. Her hands hovered over Anna, not quite sure where to put them or what to do.

Anna chuckled. It was a hollow sound.

It shouldn't have been much of a surprised to know that Elsa attended the game. Half of the town came to watch her lose the game for them.

"If it's any consolation, your teammates should have defended the goal better. It's not entirely your fault," Elsa opted to clasp her hands together on her knee for the time being.

Was this dream? The two of them alone were in the ice rink where Anna first saw her. Elsa leaning over Anna, concern in her eyes while Anna was in her full jersey gear. Now if Elsa just leaned down a little further…

Elsa frowned as she pressed a cool hand onto Anna's forehead.

"You're hot, Anna." Elsa pushed away Anna's wet bangs. She moved her hand to the top of Anna's head, giving her a light pat but not removing her hand entirely.

The urge to say 'so are you' was on the tip of her tongue. She bit the words back down.

"I'm- all sweaty and you just touched me and now I've gotten your hand all gross-"

Elsa chuckled. She wiped her hand on Anna's jersey.

"You are a bit sweaty but it's not like I don't sweat either."

Anna didn't know why that made her grin.

"What? The great Ice Queen Elsa sweats? That's blasphemy!"

Elsa turned her head and laughed. She brought up a loose fist to cover lips as the sound escaped her.

Anna was beaming. She made Elsa laugh. That was a great feeling. She wanted to do it again.

"Believe it or not, I'm not all that perfect."

It was supposed to have been a light-hearted statement but Anna could tell it meant more to Elsa than she let on. Elsa gazed down; eyes not meeting Anna's for a moment before she looked back and shrugged indifferently.

"That's not true. I think you're perfect."

The words were out of her mouth before she even realized it. Anna pressed her lips together to prevent herself from rambling on like she usually did when she was nervous or scared.

Elsa looked at her with what looked like mild surprise for a split second before she grinned.

"Thanks," Elsa was a little skeptical. She must have heard people tell her that all the time and assumed Anna was just being polite.

"No, really! All of your performances are so beautiful and amazing, it's like, unreal almost. The way you glide and jump; it makes my heart stop sometimes. And your face, just the way your expressions are-" Anna's hands were animating movements as if they would help get the point across somehow. "Yeah, I mean, you're pretty much close to perfection in my book."

"All of my performances? Are you watching them on Youtube?" Elsa now was giving her a smile that was making Anna blush out of embarrassment. Her raised eyebrow and amused look wasn't really helping.

"N-not…all of them…I try to attend your competitions if it's in town but when they're not I try to watch it on TV and-" Anna couldn't believe she said that out loud. She covered her face with her hands. "That sounds kinda stalkerish, doesn't it?"

It was silent for a while. Anna refused to remove her hands. She didn't want to see whatever expression was on Elsa's face. She was probably disgusted. Oh god, was Elsa disgusted with her? Anna should have kept her mouth shut. Why did she even say that?

"Well, I've been attending your home games ever since we bumped into each other that one day."

Anna peeked through her fingers. She wasn't ashamed or embarrassed like Anna. She even looked a little proud.

"Y-you have?"

"Yup. You always look like you're having so much fun during practice so I figured I'd stay and watch at least one game." Elsa shrugged as if it was no big deal, which it probably wasn't to her but for Anna, yeah. "You guys play so well together which is why I know that your team could have played better and that you shouldn't beat yourself over one mistake."

"A mistake that cost us the championship."

"A PeeWee championship. You'll get it next year. I know you will. Come on, we should head home."

Elsa stood straight up, offering a hand to Anna. She grasped it and let Elsa pull her up on her feet.

Anna's legs weren't as jelly-like anymore. She felt a little rejuvenated in fact.

"I still want to skate around a little more, actually."

Without a hint of hesitation, Elsa said "Alright, I'll stay with you."

Anna gaped. Elsa reached over and pushed Anna's chin up to close her mouth.

"We've been skating at the same place together for six years, Anna. Why are you so shocked about it now?"

"Er- well, cause now it's just the two of us and you're actually here on your own. With just me. And we're alone."

Elsa skated backwards a few feet away from Anna, hands held behind her back.

"Sometimes I come here when everyone is gone just to skate. It's nice having this whole place to myself and not having to think about what anyone else thinks or wants."

"Oh, well I can leave if you want-"

"After a while it gets a bit lonely." Elsa started skating in a circle around Anna. "It would be nice to have someone to skate with."

Anna smiled so wide that her face almost hurt. She chased after Elsa but she kept gliding and spinning right out of Anna's reach. They weren't doing anything fancy. Elsa wasn't skating through a choreographed routine. She simply skated just to skate.

Anna didn't remember the last time she was on ice without a hockey stick in her hand. It just seemed natural every time that she put on her skates that her stick came with her.

This was different and much more freeing. It was like Anna wasn't even a hockey player and Elsa wasn't a figure skater. They were just two girls enjoying themselves, laughing and squealing with their makeshift game of tag.

Anna couldn't quite believe that Elsa was here with her. Witnessing the way Elsa smiled as they both held a cup of hot chocolate in their hands reminded her that Elsa wasn't much older than her. She may be a world champion but Elsa was also still just a girl.

A girl that enjoyed Anna's company and was slowly becoming a friend.