Locked Inside

A/N: Hey guys, this is just a random one-shot I've been thinking about since I went to see Frozen in theaters for the second time… I realized that there was a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that Elsa always locked Anna out. But I think no one really noticed just how hard it is for someone to lock themselves behind the door their entire life, how hard it would have been to do so. So I wrote this in an effort to get inside Elsa's head and what her thoughts might have been about the situation.

Sorry if it's poorly written, this is my first Frozen fanfiction.


Anna had spent her entire life being locked out by her sister. But everyone seemed to forget that someone had spent all that time locked inside.

Elsa loved her sister. She truly did. Anna knew it too, and was always quick to remind Elsa as though she was worried Elsa might forget. But Elsa would never forget. Some things couldn't be forgotten.

Nothing would be forgotten, like the way Anna would always go slipping and sliding down the hallway outside Elsa's door. How she could hear her sister singing outside, talking to the pictures in the hallways, and hear the soft pitter-patter of Anna's feet as her little sister would sometimes stop and sit by the door, not saying anything at all. But of course, Elsa would never forget Anna's pleas, "Do you wanna' build a snowman? I know you're in there. We don't have to build a snowman. Can't we play? I miss you."

Anna would never know how close she got Elsa to open the door. She would never know how many nights Elsa's hand rested on the doorknob, ready to twist and pull… but just couldn't. Elsa just couldn't risk it. She couldn't risk Anna. Not for anything. And that was the only reason the door never opened. Because Elsa loved Anna too much.

Sometimes Elsa continued to think about those days. She would be careful not to slam doors behind her anymore. The harsh sound of wood hitting wood reminded her too much of the old days, back when she couldn't control her powers, back when she was controlled by her own fear.

Closing a door when Anna was in the room was physically impossible now. Elsa didn't even think about it. Sometimes she had difficulty closing any doors, even when it was late at night and she was going to bed.

The fear of waking up and seeing that closed door, forgetting that it was safe now to go out still gripped her heart like the ice she'd only just recently mastered.

The nightmares were the worst part. It was what pushed Elsa to leave her door partially cracked open at night. Sometimes she'd see Anna there, in her dreams, being turned to ice over and over again. Elsa's fear would only be eased when she tiptoed down the dark corridors of the palace and looked through the carelessly wide open door to Anna's room. Only when she saw Anna resting peacefully in her bed, (sometimes snoring,) did Elsa finally relax and go back to her own room to find some rest of her own.

Anna had been locked out her entire life. It had taken everything to pull Elsa out. But sometimes, Elsa still felt locked inside. And it was only thanks to Anna that Elsa could remember that she wasn't trapped inside anymore.

Elsa was free.


Please review and let me know what you think. :)