Elsa's eyes were glued onto the clock, her toes tapping nervously as she watched it tick, tick, tick onward. Time was moving painfully slowly as she waited for the hour to come where she would have to leave. It had been years - five, if she was being specific - since she had last seen her little sister, and she knew it wasn't going to be an easy reunion. It had been five long years since she had even spoken to her. Elsa wouldn't be even remotely surprised if Anna hated her.

She recalled the phone call that she got the night before she left.

"Elsa? It's… It's uncle Kai…" Elsa gripped the phone tighter as he spoke, knowing the tone of voice all too well. It was his bad news voice. "I have some bad news for you, sweetheart. Your parents… They got into a car accident and… and they didn't ma-"

Elsa stood abruptly, pacing in front of her sofa and twisting her hands together. Taking a shuddering breath, she barely managed to calm herself enough to sit back down. "Get it together," she mumbled to herself, shaky hands brushing her hair off of her face. "Keep it together… for Anna…" She couldn't let her sister see her like this. Not again.

There was a knock on her door as she barely managed to fold her clothes and shove them into a suitcase. "Elsa?" the small voice of her fifteen year old sister asked through the barely opened door. "What's… what's going on? Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

Turning to face her sister, Elsa took a deep breath. "I have to go, Anna. As soon as Uncle Kai and Aunt Gerda get here I…" She froze, looking at the tears in her sisters' eyes. "I can't explain right now, but I promise I will soon."

She scoffed, running a hand down the length of her braid before resting her palms in her lap. She really had wanted to explain it to her sister, but when she got a tear filled call from Anna, there was no possible way she could.

"Elsa? Please answer your phone. Please. Why did you leave? I don't… I don't have anyone else. Elsa please, please. I can't…" There was a pause, and some distinct sniffling. "I can't live like this. Not without you…"

Dropping her head into her hands, she forced herself to think of anything else. There was only one more hour before she had to leave. One more hour before she was on her way to see her sister. One more hour before she even had to worry about it. Elsa took a deep breath and stood, moving to continue tidying her small apartment.

xx

Anna clung tighter to her small plush snowman as the pilot announced that they were roughly thirty minutes from their destination. After spending the majority of the last two years trying desperately to find her sister, she was finally going to see her again. The minute she turned eighteen, Kai had given her access to the bank account where they kept her inheritance, as per request of her parents, and almost immediately, Anna had drained all of the money traveling all over the world to try and find Elsa. She had looked everywhere that the blonde had mentioned she wanted to go… before she gave up and started traveling for herself, while simultaneously trying to find out if she was anywhere near her.

She never was.

Before she knew it, she had burned through most of her money. And after Kai was laid off from work, Anna couldn't bear the idea of being a burden to them any longer. She was twenty now, and it wasn't fair for them to have to help her. She decided she was going to make one last trip, and it was goingto be to see her sister.

Begging and pleading, Anna had finally convinced Gerda to call Elsa, and with even more talking, Elsa had finally let them know where she had been all those years. She had even agreed to help Anna get on her feet.

"I know it's sudden, Elsa… but thank you."

The sisters had decided not to talk until she got there.

Kai made all the plans.

Anna buried her face into the almost flattened mess that was her plush - Olaf, she had named him - as the plane touched down on the ground. Only baggage claim was standing between her and her older sister. She barely moved, hesitating to grab anything until everyone else had moved forward. Was she ready for this?

xx

Her alarm had gone off, making Elsa almost jump out of her skin and drop the pot she had been washing. It was time to go, and she took a few deep breaths before grabbing her keys and heading out the door. This whole situation felt tense and nervewracking to the blonde, as she started up her engine and headed in the direction of the airport.

When she had gotten the call from Kai, Elsa had almost ignored it, so terrified that something had happened to her sister.

"No, No," he had cut her off with a bit of a bit of a bittersweet chuckle. "We just… Anna really wants to see you. It's all she wants to do."

It wasn't that she was unhappyto hear from her pseudo-family… She had just been shocked, was all. After five years, after she had asked them to only call her if it was an emergency, after they had agreed and (very hesitantly) respected her wishes, it had been a bit of a surprise.

"I'll be fine," she had half-heartedly reassured them. "I have money saved up, and money from the inheritance…" She dragged her bags out the door, throwing them into her car. She looked up to see her Anna glaring out the window. "I'll… I'll let you know that I'm safe. Is that enough?"

Kai had nodded, giving her one last hug. "I don't know why you feel like you have to do this… But you're an adult and I know your parents would have wanted us to respect your wishes."

Elsa's knuckles gripped tighter on the steering wheel as she continued down the streets of the city. It was late enough at night that barely anyone was around, which she was more than thankful for as her thoughts continued to cause her to drift around on the roads.

After a fairly short drive, Elsa could see the signs for the airport on the side of the road. She took a few deep breaths and willed herself to calm down. It'll be fine, Elsa. She was worried, so worried… but something deep inside her made her believe that everything would be okay. Anna wasn't spiteful. Anna had always been the forgiving one between the two of them.

"Elsa… I'm not mad. I'm not. It's been six months. I just want my sister back. Please. I just want to talk to you… I'm lonely and afraid… I… please just talk to me, Elsa. We can fix this. I know we can."

Parking and making her way to the waiting room, Elsa did her best to shake these voicemails out of her head. She never had called back… But would Anna be able to forgive her if she found out that it had been her faultthat their parents were driving that night? Would she be able to forgive Elsa for being the reason they were crossing through that light as the drunk sped through the red light?

"Why can't you just accept this?" Elsa had asked, head down, fists balled at her sides. "It's what I want. It's who I am."

"We'll talk about it later, Elsa." Those had been her fathers' last words to her, as he led her mother out the door. He had a habit of going for drives to calm himself down if he got into arguments. It helped.

The blonde grit her teeth and stepped through the doorway to the waiting area. Elsa didn't need to let her know just yet. Anna didn't need to know why she had left.

She stood, stoic and silent, waiting for her sisters' familiar head of red hair to appear in the crowd.

xx

Anna stayed in her seat longer than she had thought, apparently, when the tap of a stewardess' fingers against her shoulder startled her. Blue eyes glanced up to the soft, round face of the woman, who smiled apologetically.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but we've arrived in Anchorage, and need you to deplane…"

Nodding furiously and apologizing over and over, Anna grabbed her bags and stumbled down the aisle, the strap of her backpack catching on the seats as she made her way down. As soon as she reached the tunnel that connected the plane to the terminal, she paused to take a moment and catch her breath.

"Elsa… wants you to come stay with her."

Anna's jaw dropped with disbelief, eyebrows furrowing together. "She… what? She told you where she was?"

Kai nodded, clapping a hand down on her shoulder. "Yes, dear. She did. Now go pack. Figure out what you need right away. We can mail the rest to you." The smile spreading his cheeks was almost unbelievable.

As was Elsa finally telling them where she was.

Sighing heavily, Anna made her way towards baggage claim, waited patiently for her bag to appear, and moved slowly towards the waiting area. This was it. The moment she had wanted for years. But right now, all she felt was nausea.

Closing her eyes, she stepped through the doorway.

Open them.

Come on, Anna.

Open them!

With one last bit of force she didn't think she had, Anna opened her worried eyes and glanced around the large room. In a matter of seconds, she caught the icy blue eyes of her sister. She blinked once.

Twice.

Fighting the tears welling up in her eyes, Anna took a deep breath and dropped her bags, running forward as fast as she could.

No words were needed when her arms wrapped tightly around her big sister, who happily returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm. They stood there for a few moments, Elsa stroking nervous hands around her sisters back and hair, Anna burying her face into her shoulder. Suddenly, there was no anger, no worry, and no resentment.

They were just sisters, united again.

Happy.