"Anna!"

Elsa scrambles to her feet in a panic induced hurry, She hasn't died, She is alive, right beside her, she- but...

All her thoughts halt when she faces her frozen sister. Indescribable sorrow courses through her as she reaches out to Anna's face as if to caress it, but she can't. Not after so many years, not after the last couple of days. Instead she slumps to the ice, her breath ragged, choking.

"No... no-please." She breaks down in tears, her entire body shaking. Her chest so tightly compressed it hurts. This isn't real, this can't be real it will all... it will nothing! She killed her sister. She encased her lovely sister in ice. She's dead and it's her fault! All this because she couldn't-contain herself! Couldn't keep her distance!

The silence of the frozen lake is broken by Elsa's heart wrenching sobs.

She turns her bloodshot eyes towards Olaf when she hears him gasps- and feels her heart elevate and bones turn into jelly as she sees the frost giving way to reveal a perfectly healthy, perfectly alive-

perfectly not the ice statue that she made Her into.

She's fighting for breath- clumsily forcing herself to stand up and when she finally manages to stay somewhat still- alive, unfrozen, healthy, warm- Anna embraces her. She goes completely rigid, feeling bile rising in her throat and maggots crawling on her skin, feels like she is about to loose herself and lash out. No, no! Not again! She can't let this happen again, she can't take anymore of this. If she were to loose her sister for good, what would she be? Who would she have? A kingdom of ice statues? A city of frozen infants? God, she knows she could never get over her sorro-nonono!Get away!Get away!

She pulls back, sharply, and sees worry in Anna's eyes. Poor Anna. To have such a monster for sister. She feels weak and dizzy when her sibling does not let go of her hands. Oh how she wants to hold these hands in hers, to caress and kiss them. But she can't. Instead she rips her hands away and moves a couple steps back, heart aching at the hurt apparent in her sister's eyes. After calming her ragged breathing she asks with quiver in her voice.

"You sacrificed yourself for me?" But she hurt her, killed her. Why would she?

"I love you." Her eyes still shine with concern.

"An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!" breaths out the little snowman, Elsa glances at him. Love?

Elsa feels her heart flutter. She loves her too, of course she does. She is the only one who has never forgotten about her, even though it was not really her. She knows their parents loved her too, and they tried- they did but despite all they did for her, she can't help feeling as if they eventually gave up. And why would they not? Yet her sister, her sweet little sister never did. She came by every day even when years have passed and invited her to play, and she grew up to dance or study. And every so often to build a snowman with her friends. In the middle of the summer. There were no friends either.

Elsa cried herself to sleep countless times.

But none of that, for now she has to fix this, all of this. Lest the people of Arendelle freeze to death, and not in a magical, redeemable fashion. She can't do that to them, to Anna, she can't do that to herself. Think Elsa. What can undo this cold, she looks at her sister face again. True love?

"Of course." She whispers to herself. Olaf is right. Love, it's love. She can do this, she can and she will. She closes her eyes and focuses. Love. Of what... whom should she think? What a stupid question, there is but one person she loves, for whom she would do anything for. Elsa closes her eyes and sees. Her warm smile, Her trusting eyes, filled with such unconditional trust and love that she could just loose herself in them. Her clumsy mannerism, the awkward way She speaks. Her adorable blush when She's embarrassed, how her eyes shift from point to point when that happens. Her beautiful figure, smooth, shining hair and wide green eyes. And she can feel warmth. She can feel-

her delicate hands brushing against her skin. Cold.

She shudders in repulsion and stops abruptly, no, better not go there, better stop. Now.

The queen snaps her eyes open and warily looks around. The snow is melting, good. Slowly, but that is close enough, better not go there again, not now, later perhaps, she turns to the motion at her side to see Anna happily spinning in circles, her tattered bag in which Elsa knows her sister's stuffed bunny resides, spinning with her, She's taking in everything that's happening. The sun and bright blue sky that have been revealed in absence of the blizzard. She moves to grab Elsa's hands but pauses at the frantic look in the older girl's eyes. There is hurt in Anna's own, but also an understanding and a promise of not ever giving up.

The older sister takes another step back and gives her beloved sibling what she knows is the most beautiful and inviting smile she has mustered in... ever since she first hurt Anna. She wishes she could simply hug her but knows better than that, one day- she hopes- she will touch Anna without fear swelling in her heart, without overwhelming urge to jump away, with her heart so madly palpitating.

She hopes for great many things, she muses, as the younger of two girls happily rambles on how "it's okay now" to her snow white rabbit which she just took out from her bag. Snowflake, the name is if she recalls correctly. She casts her eyes upon Hans, who is slowly getting up from the now moist ice. They better move to the ground if they don't wish to soak their shoes. Anger courses through her when she sees the snarl on prince's face. Kristoff notices him too and is about to go and most likely beat the bastard to a bloody pulp when Anna stops him. The queen smiles as she sees her sister knocking him out. The ice is melting faster.

"We should move off the lake, the ice will crack soon." She thinks so at least. "Sven, would you be so kind as to carry the prince?" The prince part comes off as one would normally talk about vermin, good, she intended it so.

"This is the greatest day of my life." Her eyes shift to Olaf and sees him looking at the world with such wonder in his eyes that she wants to pull him into a hug. But she won't, while she is not afraid of touching him as he's not human after all, her sister is likely not to notice the difference. She doesn't want to upset her any more than she is bound to. Wait, he is slowly melting too. Oh that just won't do, she points her finger at the snowman and casts a spell. Isn't he just adorable? She thinks as he proceeds to excitedly jump and try to touch the snowing cloud.

Anna is looking at her. The stuffed toy back in its bag. She hopes that her scatterbrained sibling won't try to touch her again, not because of her own dislike of touch. It's for she doesn't wish to see the hurt look on Her face when she inevitably freaks out. So she moves first and stands closer to her than she is really comfortable with, Anna knows that too. She smiles radiantly. Elsa simply inclines her head in direction of the city and says.

"Lets go home." Anna nods, her grin never leaving her oh so beautiful face and turns to move. Elsa feels she needs to say something, like she is about to miss a good moment to do so.

"Anna." The girl stops and looks at her older sibling, question in eyes.

"I love you too."

There, she said it. She should have done so long ago, before her sister began carrying that damned bunny around.

If Anna's face was joyful a moment ago, it's positively ecstatic now. She reaches out and grabs her sister's sleeve, then gives it a meaningful tug. Elsa forces herself to ignore the distressing feeling that overcomes her at this and runs after her laughing sister. She can do it, for Her, it's just a sleeve, just a sleeve.

It's just a sleeve and she can do it. For Her.

Just a sleeve, just a sleeve, just a sleeve.

Revised on 07.12.2014