This story has taken me months to write, due to only writing it during thunderstorms. I haven't checked brilliantly for spelling and grammar so I do apologise for any errors you come across. Happy reading!
It wasn't often Anna was woken before morning. She usually slept like the dead. But when her parents were away, she was restless. The torrential rain lashing on the window wasn't helping as she once again turned in her sleep however, this was one turn too far and she ended up on the floor with a sharp smack.
"Umph!"
She was wide awake now and looked over to the other side of her room ready to get into the other bed. Oh. Of course, she wasn't here now. It had been weeks since Elsa had moved rooms. It had been weeks since Anna had even held a proper conversation with her sister. She had only really seen her at mealtimes. At first she had thought she was ill, and was exceptionally worried, but every time she had caught a glimpse of her, she looked perfectly healthy.
One mealtime Anna had flicked a pea at her from across the table when their parents were not looking; a game they had always played. It hit the blonde on the cheek and she looked up at Anna, eyes wide and alarmed, making Anna's giggle stop short. Then Elsa had looked back down and continued her meal as though nothing had happened. Anna tried once more, to see if maybe Elsa had just not noticed. The pea hit the hand holding her fork and Elsa watched it bounce into the gravy boat sitting nearby, bobbing like a little green man swimming in a muddy lake. Anna roared with laughter, as her parents turned to look at her, wondering what on earth was funny. Elsa looked at her too and the corners of her mouth began to twitch into a smile and she bit her lip to keep from giggling too.
"Manners, girls!" their mother had scalded.
When the laughter finally subsided the plates were cleared and dessert was served. Before her plate was removed, Anna had taken her uneaten peas and sat with them in her lap, ready to strike again.
Elsa was eating her ice cream when Anna took her aim, flinging another pea. Unfortunately, Elsa had chosen that moment to look up, and it hit her in the eye.
"Owww!" she wailed, clasping her hand over her eye, making Anna gasp.
"Elsa, I'm Sorry, I'm sorry, I really am!" she cried, standing and rushing round the table to her sister, the un-flung peas rolling all over the floor. Anna raised her hands to her sister to check the damage but as soon as her hands touched Elsa's face, the blonde cowered away, elbowing Anna in the chest and running to stand across the room beside the door.
"Elsa!" Anna called, stung by the rejection of a warm hug.
"I can't!" Elsa screeched before running from the room, followed suite by their mother, while father stayed behind to scald Anna for throwing food.
That was a week ago, and had been the last time she saw Elsa at mealtimes. She now ate in her room or fathers study.
Anna sighed, thinking of that horrible day and stood, preparing to get back into bed. That was when there was a flash of light at the window, followed by the rumble of thunder. Anna jumped and squeaked, ducking down by the side of her bed, out of view of the window and the oncoming storm. She put her hand on her heart that was hammering so fast she thought it would burst right out of her chest.
There was another strikingly bright flash of lightning and the little princess whimpered, unsure who to turn to for comfort. Her parents would still be in the neighbouring kingdom until tomorrow and the servants who were looking after her and Elsa were all asleep.
Elsa….
ELSA!
There was another rumble of thunder as Anna wrenched her bedroom door open and sprinted to the white door she had become so accustomed to in the last few weeks.
"Elsa, Elsa, are you there?" the little princess hissed while knocking at the door.
Nothing, not a sound.
"Elsa!" she called a little louder, knocking again.
Still nothing.
"I guess the storm didn't wake you" Anna said "That's okay, I'll talk anyway. It woke me up, I didn't like it, it was much too loud! I would go to mama and papa but they are still not home from that big kingdom, place, thing. I wanted to see if I could share your room? Just for a little while, in case the storm got in"
"A storm can't get in, Anna" a sleepy voice replied from beyond the door.
"Oh good, you're up, let me in?"
"I can't, you have to learn to sleep in your own bed" Elsa replied.
"I can to sleep in my own bed! Just not today" Anna huffed, stamping her foot on the wooden floor of the hallway. She wasn't sure if there was a chuckle on the other side of the door or not because that's when the thunder struck again. Anna banged on the door, panicked.
"Elsa! Please let me in!"
"I can't, I wish I could, but I can't!" her older sister cried out.
Was it Anna or had the corridor just grown colder? This stupid storm, Anna thought.
"Just sit down and calm down!" Elsa instructed.
Anna did as her older sister said and sat, her back leant against the door.
"Okay, I'm sat" Anna told her through the door.
"Good, now papa always says to breathe if you're scared"
"I am breathing?" Anna asked, confused.
"No not that breathing you have to take deep breaths"
So Anna did, three times.
"Better?" Elsa asked.
"A little" she admitted. Anna sat in silence for a moment, watching the rain on the window across the corridor.
"Elsa, do you ever get scared? Or is it just me cause I'm a baby?"
"Everybody gets scared" Elsa said "Mama gets scared, Papa gets scared, I… I get scared too"
"What do you get scared of?"
There was a pause for a moment.
"Lots of things" she said.
"Like what?"
"Just things" Elsa replied.
"I get scared too" Anna told her "I don't like the storms, or that big white horse in the stable, or the fjord sometimes, or not seeing you"
"That scares you?" Elsa asked.
"Yes"
"Why?"
"Because I'm scared one day you'll just disappear"
"I'm still here Anna, I always am, I just – I can't see you as much now. It- It's not your fault, its mine, one day we might be able to play again, I just have some stuff to work out"
"I could help!" Anna cried "I can work things out!"
"Not this, Anna, I have to do this"
Elsa yawned.
"Elsa if you want to sleep, you can, I'll just sit here until I'm ready to go back to bed" Anna told her.
"Thanks, Anna"
"Oh, Elsa?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm real sorry about the pea thing, I didn't mean to hurt you"
Elsa chuckled.
"It's okay, you didn't hurt me. I thought it was funny. My eye is fine now"
"Good" Anna sighed "I'd never hurt you on purpose"
There was a shuffle and a sniff behind the door.
"Me neither, Anna, I would never ever hurt you on purpose! Remember that!"
"I will" Anna sighed, her eyelids beginning to droop.
The next thing she knew she was being awoken by Gerda. It was late morning, the rain had stopped, and she was asleep on the floor outside Elsa's door, a blue blanket draped over her with an embroidered letter E on the top. Anna smiled and clutched the blanket close, carrying it back to her room with her.
YEARS LATER
Anna was bored when Elsa was away on business. Really, really bored. It was fine during the day when she could go and bug Kristoff for a while but soon enough he would go back to his home in the mountains and she would return to the castle where she would eat dinner alone and then find an activity to do before bedtime. Sometimes she read, sometimes she wrote to Elsa, sometimes she managed to coax Kai into a game of chess. But there were days when she would lay in the gallery staring at the walls, an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. It reminded her of before, of the long days of nothing.
This time, as Elsa was leaving, Anna plucked up the courage to ask for a favour.
"Elsa?" Anna said, looking at the ground and scuffing the gravel with her boot.
"Yes?" Elsa replied, pausing as she was getting in the carriage.
"While you're away, I get lonely" she said.
Elsa stepped down from the carriage and came to her sister, grasping her hands on her own.
"Anna, if I could take you with me then I would, you know that, but I have to leave you in charge here" Elsa sighed.
"I know that, I just wondered if I could have a guest while you were away?"
"Who?" Elsa asked curiously, already anticipating the answer.
Anna blushed and fixed her attention on Elsa's shoes, chewing her lip and not answering the question.
Elsa interpreted her sisters silence as the answer she feared.
"Anna, we've talked about this! It wouldn't be proper"
"We'll stay in separate rooms and everything!" Anna said, finally meeting her sister's gaze "Please Elsa, it's so boring on my own! You can get Kai to spy on us!"
Elsa sighed "Fine, let me go and speak to Kai, just this once Anna, okay?"
"I LOVE YOU ELSA!" Anna cried, throwing her arms around her sister.
"I love you too! You better behave yourself!"
"I always do!" Anna told her, sticking her tongue out
The sun disappeared behind huge dark clouds over the mountains as evening drew closer and Anna eyed the ominous shapes through the dining room window. She thanked her lucky stars that Elsa was travelling by carriage and not the ship and would hopefully have already stopped at an inn by now. But that never stopped her worrying.
"You're very quiet" Kristoff commented as they sat together in the library in front of the fire.
"I'm just thinking about Elsa, that's all" Anna told him.
"I'm sure she's fine" he tried to reassure her.
They kissed goodnight outside Anna's door and she got into her bed, while he went to the room opposite, ensuring to slam the door so Kai knew they were keeping their promise to Elsa and staying in separate rooms.
Anna lay awake for hours, listening to the downpour lashing against her window. Her eyes had begun to close when there was the blinding flash of light and the violent rumble of thunder. She clutched the embroidered blue blanket to her and took three deep breaths as she had been instructed to all those years ago, but it didn't help. Elsa was still out there, with her guard, maybe in the carriage, maybe in an inn somewhere. Anna pulled herself from the bed and paced around her room, trying to distract herself. Nothing worked and as another flash of lightening crossed the sky she wrenched the bedroom door open and stumbled out into the dark hallway, eyeing the door opposite.
She slumped down outside the door, wishing for the company of the person on the other side, as had become habit in thunder storms. She didn't speak, just sighed, leaning back against the wood and clutching the embroidered blanket to her chest and trying to do her deep breaths.
The door opened and she tumbled backwards and looked at the person stood above her.
"Anna?" he asked "I thought I heard someone out here. What on earth are you doing?"
"Sorry, I –uh – didn't want to disturb you" she told him.
"Didn't answer my question" he smirked.
She sighed again "I don't like thunderstorms"
"I know" he said "Kai warned me before we retired for the night"
"He did?"
"Apparently it's common knowledge that the princess takes a trip to her sister's room every time there's a storm" he said, bending and pulling her into a more dignified sitting position.
"They're too loud" she complained.
"Really? You're not one to complain about noise, feisty pants" he teased, stroking her cheek.
"well, they're unnecessary and big and bright" she added.
Kristoff smiled warmly at her and pulled her into a hug. She returned it gratefully and she buried her face in his night shirt, inhaling the comforting musky scent from him.
"It's okay to be scared" Kristoff murmured into her hair, before kissing the top of her head.
Anna sighed and closed her eyes, burying her face further. He scooped her up off the floor and held her tightly in his broad arms before picking up the blue blanket and laying it over her.
"What are you doing?" she asked as he pushed her bedroom door open and carried her inside.
"Do you really want to sleep in the corridor?" he joked.
"No" she admitted as he lay her back on her bed and smoothed out the blue blanket. His hand lingered on the embroidered letter 'E'.
"Is this Elsa's?" he asked her.
"Technically, yes" she replied "but I sort of acquired it when I was little and she never asked for it back. I don't know" she shrugged "it's sort of comforting"
"You're adorable" Kristoff mumbled, pressing his lips to her hair.
There was another crash of thunder at that moment making Anna clutched at his nightshirt, jumping at the sudden noise.
"Will you stay with me?" she asked, her eyes staring desperately into his uncertain ones.
"I don't know if I should…" he looked to the door. Of course he was worried; he was more concerned about her image than she was.
"Please! Elsa wouldn't mind, not if she knows about the storm"
"Okay, I guess I can for a little while then" he agreed.
Anna slid over and Kristoff clambered into the soft bed beside her. She nestled closer to him immediately and he held her tight to his side as they listened to the rain on the window.
"What if Elsa's caught in the storm?" Anna whispered, her voice shaking slightly thinking about her sister, travelling in the night.
"Hey" he said, pulling her tighter to him "Elsa's smart. She'll probably have seen the storm coming and stopped for the night"
"You're probably right" she sighed.
"and if not she might turn all this rain into snow and build herself a nice inn with a family of snowmen to run it"
Anna chuckled and laid a gentle slap on his chest.
"Elsa will be safe, don't worry" he told her, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her forehead "Now you need some sleep if you want me to let you ride Sven tomorrow. He'll catch you off guard and tip you into the fjord again"
Anna grimaced slightly at the memory of Kristoff, unable to control his laughter as she emerged dripping wet and spluttering from the fjord where Sven had bucked her.
"I was resting my eyes" she muttered, earning herself a throaty chuckle from the ice harvester laid beside her.
"Please, you were snoring and starting to drool on him. No wonder he threw you off"
They were quiet for a moment while Anna's thoughts drifted away from the dark and stormy paths with a lone carriage swaying dangerously on them, towards warm summer days with happy little snowmen and reindeers and picnics by the fjord.
She let her eyes close, her hand held tightly in Kristoff's as she thought about what tomorrow would bring when the rain passed and for the first time in forever she ignored the harsh winds outside her window and slept soundly with the man she loved keeping her nightmares away.