AN: Drabble about Elsa's gloves post-movie. Elsanna if you're looking for it; sisterly if you're not. This was one of my first forays into the Frozen fandom.
Life settled down rather quickly in Arendelle after the "Great Freeze," or "Great Thaw," or "Eternal Winter," or whatever. Anna heard plenty of names for the complicated events following her sister's coronation as queen. People went back to their homes, their trades, and as long as their borders were safe and their families fed, they were satisfied with their royals (ice powers or otherwise). Of course, all the strawberry blonde princess cared about was having Elsa back.
Thirteen years of separation certainly left a mark on both of them, though. Anna and Elsa spent weeks getting to know each other as adults, and trying to understand who they truly were, together and apart. Anna learned that her older sister hated clutter by the way the platinum blonde wrung her glove-less hands together on the doorstop of Anna's room, and the way her bright blue eyes skittered off every messy surface, looking desperately for the floor.
Like right now.
Elsa huffed a sigh, raking one hand through her bangs and absentmindedly pulling strands from her long braid, "Anna? Have you seen my gloves?"
"Can't say I have. Why? You don't need them anymore, Elsa," the younger bounced off her bed, grinning at the way her sister squirmed. Anna rolled her eyes, slipping one arm around the taller woman's waist, guiding her back into the hallway and kicking the door to her bedroom shut behind them.
"Well, no, not for control, but just – I don't know, comfort?" Elsa stuttered out.
This was another quirk of the blonde's, Anna knew now. She stuttered terribly at times, almost surely as a result of spending thirteen long years with little need to speak to anyone at all, and then being thrown into an especially harsh spotlight as Arendelle's sorceress queen. Most of the time Elsa hid it well, but when she became overwhelmed, or simply exhausted, the muscles in her lips and mouth just seemed to give up, no matter how much she endeavored to speak crisply.
Anna enjoyed seeing her normally poised sister flustered for most any reason, but the lingering fear displayed in the tense rise of Elsa's shoulders as they walked by servants on their way down to the dining hall broke the younger girl's heart. Anna stopped walking, forcing Elsa to halt with a gentle hand on the queen's arm.
"Elsa, listen to me for a second, okay?" Anna looked imploring up at her sister's face.
Quirking a thin brow, Elsa nodded, her mouth softening despite her nerves.
"You are in control. You are the queen – and you're good at it," Anna started earnestly, taking her sister's bare hands in her own and squeezing. "You're perfectly fine and there's no need to wear those stupid gloves anymore."
Elsa rolled her eyes, but smiled.
"I know you think so, Anna, and it's not that I don't believe you," Elsa replied as her happy smile turned into a self-deprecating grimace. "It's more that not everyone in the kingdom, let alone from elsewhere, agrees with you yet." Tugging her hands back, the taller woman started walking again, holding her hand out for Anna to take.
Grabbing hold tightly, Anna groaned and let herself be pulled further down the hallway. "And I know you think wearing your gloves helps, but I think –"
"It encourages the notion that people should be afraid of my powers, of me."
Elsa tried not to laugh at the annoyed look Anna shot her for interrupting. "In some ways it works to our advantage that people from other countries think of me with fear," she added, her smile dropping completely. "It keeps Arendelle safe."
Anna sighed as they reached the grand central staircase. She glanced up at Elsa, feeling a bit guilty about the gloves carefully hidden under thirteen years of clutter and mess in her room, where she knew Elsa would never find them.
"I still think it's better, for you and for Arendelle, to be proud of your magic Elsa. Yes, you can be a dangerous enemy, but you also need to let them all see that you aren't afraid of yourself anymore. I think that will do wonders." Anna leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to her sister's cheek. "I don't want to be the only one who believes in you. You need to before they can. Show them," Anna hugged Elsa close, smiling when she felt the elder's arms wrap around her, "show yourself."