Chapter 1

Elsa's bare feet slapped the floors of the hallway as she ran, her heart racing. She clutched her doll tightly to her chest as she fled, ducking with ease around a corner and taking refuge behind a long, purple curtain. Holding her breath and keeping as still as possible for a little girl, she pressed herself against the glass of the window behind her, feeling the coolness of it through her dress. It had snowed recently, the December weather wrapping Arendelle in a embracing of merriment, and the courtyard outside was now a winter wonderland. Frost decorated the windows, and through them Elsa could see children in the hills beyond, bundled up tightly by their parents, playing in the snow. Sledding races and snowball fights were taking place, and the little girl watched with envious eyes. Her breath came out in a little cloud, and only then did Elsa realize the temperature behind the curtain had dropped a significant about. Even though she hardly felt the cold, she clutched her arms tightly around herself, smothering the doll to her chest like a lifeline.

"Elsa?"

She froze, her body stiffening. Elsa wondered if her toes could be seen from under the curtain, and tried to curl them in, out of sight. She heard footsteps draw nearer to her hiding place, closing her eyes tightly.

"Elsa…"

She felt the fabric being lifted from her face and opened one eye. Her father stood before her, his face stern, his arms crossed.

"What are you doing back here?"

The girl looked up at him, her blue eyes large and emotional. Glancing down at her hands, Elsa adjusted her perfect, white gloves uncomfortably. She felt like crawling under a rock and staying there for at least thirty years. Her father reached for her, and drew her out into the room by her shoulder. Kneeling so he could look straight into her eyes, his composure softened.

"What's wrong, Elsa?"

At that, a large tear rolled down Elsa's cheek. She couldn't help it. It fell to the floor with a clink sound, and her father picked it up, a frozen solid drop of salt water. His expression softened and he ran his hand through her platinum blonde hair, with was flowing loosely over her back like a white waterfall.

"Come on, darling," he said, placing a thumb under her cheek. His skin was so warm that it almost made her shiver at the change. Why could her skin never feel warm? "Tell me what's happened."

Elsa sniffed. "I just wanted to help Cook in the kitchen. She always makes Christmas dinner all alone. She asked me to help her stir the soup, and gave me a stool to stand on. But then…" she paused, looking unsure of whether she should continue.

"Go on," urged her father.

"I spilt the soup. It was an accident! I didn't mean to! But it made me sad and frustrated, then Cook said we would need to start all over. She told me to move the ham to another table so we could chop up more potatoes, and when I picked it up…"

"Yes?"

"It… it froze… Cook said it will need a whole day to thaw now! I'm so sorry, Papa! I didn't mean to!"

Her father, the king, sighed deeply. Elsa wished she could tell what he was thinking. It made her nervous, not knowing. She felt herself slipping to that place she shouldn't go. That place where her emotions got the better of her, like they had in the kitchen. She shut her eyes tightly, whimpering softly, trying to shut out the feelings.

Her father's large, warm hands closed softly on her small, gloved ones.

"Take a deep breath, Elsa." It was an order, but it was so soft and so calm that Elsa couldn't help but feel a wave of relief. She opened her eyes again, staring seriously into her father's face.

"I'm sorry, Papa."

"It's all in the past, sweetheart. Are you okay now?"

She nodded as the door down the hall burst open and another little girl flew out, making a great deal of noise. The king straightened up quickly as she ran into his arms, laughing as he lifted her up. Elsa couldn't help but giggle at her baby sister's hysteria. Anna had one of those extremely contagious laughs.

"Miss Anna, now what's all that racket about?" her father asked teasingly. But Anna was already squirming her way down to the floor, where she jumped in front of Elsa. She froze, suddenly becoming very calm, which was a big deal for the little girl.

"Mummy made my hair," she said quietly, with an ever-so-cautious smile. And sure enough, Anna's light auburn hair was done up in two tiny buns on either side of her head. Each bun was tied with a light green ribbon. Elsa thought she looked adorable.

Anna inched closer, a slightly more mischievous smile playing on her face. "Wanna go an' play?"

Elsa's smile faded as she felt her father's hands come to rest on her shoulders. How she wished she could romp and play with her sister! It had been three months already, since that awful night. She could still remember how cold Anna's body felt as she held it in her lap, and how helpless she had felt as her family had ridden through the woods in search of the only beings in Arendelle who could save her sister: Trolls. Bizarre magic rock trolls who had taken Elsa's hurtful magic out of Anna and made her forget about that night. In fact, Anna couldn't remember that Elsa had any powers at all! How the trolls did it, Elsa could only guess. All she knew was that her sister had nearly died because of her powers. And it could never happen again.

"Not now, Anna," Elsa said, searching her father's face. He nodded slightly.

"When?"

"Just not now," she repeated, heading for her bedroom.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna read a book." She doubted that. She had read every book she owned at least ten times over the last few months.

"Can you read it to me?"

Elsa stopped walking and looked at her sister. Anna was practically running circles around her. Her father was out of sight, now. They could both sneak into her room and read. There wasn't anything dangerous about that, was there?

"Oh, please! Please, Elsa!" Anna could hardly contain herself.

Glancing up and down the hall, Elsa held a finger to her lips. Immediately, Anna stopped jumping around and crept in close, excitement written all over her expression.

"You can come if you calm down, and are very quiet," Elsa whispered, putting a special emphasis on 'quiet'.

"YAY!" Anna leapt for joy, and Elsa restrained herself from clamping a hand over her sister's mouth. She shushed her instead, and after a few seconds, Anna was quiet again, well, as quiet as she could be. She still whispered every couple of feet as they continued down the hall.

"What're we gonna read?"

"Is there lots of toys in your room? I never seen it!"

"Mummy said five more days til Christmas!"

"I went outside and saw the snow today… it was really cold."

"I can count to hundred, wanna see… one, two, three,…"

Elsa rolled her eyes and hid a smile, "Shh, Anna!"

"Okay, I can lick my nose, though, look!"

After a fair amount of Anna demonstrating her various talents and Elsa shushing, they made it to Elsa's white bedroom door, decorated with blue triangles and designs. Anna bounced on her tiptoes with excitement. One final hush, and the door was opened, follow by an overjoyed (but slightly contained) squeak by Anna as she ran inside. Elsa shut the door quickly behind them. She could feel her own excitement welling up inside, and her whole body felt alive and tingly. Taking a deep breath, she spoke as calmly as she could.

"The books are there, by the window."

Anna leapt off her bed and ran toward the window seat, jumping up on it into the pile of very used books. Elsa came and sat next to her, and tensed her muscles as her sister clambered into her lap. Her warm skin pressed against Elsa's legs. She was like a little heater! Calm down. It's fine. Elsa's thoughts were bickering away in her head, but she pushed them aside.

"Which one should we read?

Anna had a pile already planned and sorted. She held up The Princess and the Frog and both girls snuggled down comfortably and began the story.

Halfway through the book, Anna closed it suddenly, smashing Elsa's fingers a bit in the pages.

"What? What happened?" demanded Elsa. She had been thoroughly enjoying the fairytale, even if it was the eleventh time she'd read it. Maybe it had something to do with her sister being here.

"Look!" Anna's voice was loud again, and Elsa quieted her promptly.

Out the window, Arendelle children could be seen playing in the snow in their thick coats and hats and mittens. Anna laughed aloud at the mere sight of them.

"Let's go play in the snow, Elsa!"

Shaking her head, the older girl grabbed for the book again. "No, Anna, we can't."

"Why not?"

"It's too cold, remember? You told me yourself."

Anna grinned, "It won't be too cold! C'mon, Elsa, please! Do you want to go sledding?"

"No, Anna."

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

"No!" Hurt cut deep as Elsa frown and slid off the seat. What she wouldn't give to be ordinary, to be able to run outside and build a snowman with Anna. "Listen, we can finish the story! Don't you want to know how it ends?"

"The princess kisses the frog and he turns into a prince," said Anna, matter-of-factly. Her eyes suddenly became very far-off and dreamy, "Someday, I am gonna kiss a prince. He won't be a frog. Just a prince."

Elsa held back a laugh, "You don't need a prince, Anna. You're already a princess."

"And so are you!" giggled Anna, "But if we can't play outside, we can just pretend it's snowing inside!"

Elsa froze. She couldn't remember that, could she? She watched as her sister climbed up on her bed. Her voice was wary when she finally spoke.

"It can't snow inside, Anna."

"Why not?" she was swinging around one of Elsa's goose feather pillows like sledgehammer.

"Because. It can't. It only snows outside."

Anna gave a very sarcastic glance, at least, sarcastic for a little girl. "Just pretend, Elsa!"

"It's a stupid thing to pretend," she said, walking up to the bed.

Whump. The soft feather pillow came down square on Elsa's head. Anna burst out laughing, but only for a second, until she saw that white goose feathers were floating down all around her sister. Elsa's face was red.

"Look!" Anna shouted, "Snow!"

"Anna!" Elsa yelled, her voice far louder than she planned it to be. She immediately checked herself, but felt that place closing in on her. Again! Groaning inwardly, she lifted Anna off the bed.

"I want to ready now. By myself."

Anna face fell. "I want to read, too!"

"No you don't, you want to play in the snow. Or on my bed. You're not reading! You're being too loud!"

"I will read, now! I promise! And I'll be quiet!"

Elsa's heart was beating wildly. The emotions were building up. She wanted to play in the snow! She wanted to scream because she knew she couldn't! And she wanted Anna out of the room because she couldn't scream!

"No, Anna! It's too late! Go find Mother, maybe she'll take you outside," she started herding her sister toward the door.

"I want to go outside with you!"

"I don't want to play anymore, Anna!" Elsa's breath was coming in short gasps. She could hardly think as the panic began to overtake her. "Just go away!" Shoving Anna out the door, Elsa closed it as quickly as she could.

"Elsa!" Anna cried, and tears were audible. She whimpered for a few minutes, and Elsa held her breath, her back pressed to the door.

"Bye," came the little girl's voice. At last, tiny footsteps wandered away down the hall. Elsa exhaled, slumping down to the floor. Emotions kept so long inside were poured out with the tears, silent and deep, and snowflakes floated through the air, hardly moving, like they were hanging on invisible string.