A/N: So, it's been a while since I uploaded any content. Chapters for this one will likely all be about this length, as it's easier for me to keep up with. I have roughly the first 30 pages written already. I will be aiming for uploads on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

All that done, I very much hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 1

Anna's glass crackled and bustled amiably as the water within cooled unnaturally fast. Her giggles and merriment were the only kind of music that Elsa ever wanted to hear. It felt warm and infectious, like it was moving around inside of Elsa, and it tickled. So much so that she found herself loosely grinning with a childish chuckle as well. She stared back, taking in the happy girl across from her. Auburn hair with a green dress, peppered freckles with blue- almost green- eyes grinning in wonderment. Marveling at something that was so simple for Elsa, something that was just her. Well, part of her, anyway. Something that, at times like these, felt like a gift.

"Elsa," A gruff, stern, and not entirely pleasant voice interrupted. "What did I tell you about doing that?"

Elsa's shoulders shrank as she slouched farther into her chair. The smaller she was, the less area the words would have to hit her.

"Dad," Anna defended, "she was just cooling off my water, it was warm." The younger's voice was still filled with the remnants of her joyfulness. But Elsa's mind was not.

"Anna, sweetheart," the man sighed softly, "it's not normal. The more she does it, the more normal it'll feel, and the less normal she'll become."

Already painfully aware that the very thing she'd thought of as a gift seconds ago necessarily made her a child that was anything but normal, Elsa said nothing. She laced her fingers together around the tip of her braid, which hung loosely near her lap. Conversations with her father reminded Elsa of being hit by a wave in the ocean, only to regain yourself, open your eyes, and be pummeled down by yet another surge of water.

"She's the most ordinary-est person ever," Anna stated, triumphantly taking a bite of her meal and looking directly at her sister.

It was maybe the strangest compliment that Elsa had ever received, but in that moment it sure didn't feel like it. She tried to meet the warm eyes with her own smile, but the corners of her mouth barely twitched before falling into a frown. I am not normal, she reminded herself.

"She's not normal," her dad said, as if approving of her self-loathing.

Anna was no longer taking the conversation lightly. Her face firmed up, and a rare but serious tone overtook her usually effervescent demeanor. "No one's normal, dad. And there's nothing wrong with being a little different." Her eyes flickered to Elsa as she said this.

"No one has Elsa's condition. It's more than a little different."

"You mean her gift," the young redhead emphasized.

"No, Anna, I do not." His voice was clear and final, signalling the end of the discussion.

Elsa weakly looked up at her sister in a sort of silent thank you, which Anna seemed to readily understand. Her response was an almost invisible smirk, followed by a loud slurp of her water. "Ah," she hyperbolically sighed with a grin, "nice and cold."

Elsa smiled. The rest of dinner passed without conversation.

A blank computer screen peered back at Elsa's blank stare. She wasn't doing anything in particular on the computer; in fact, she had no idea what web page was even open. Overthinking was like a snowball on a hill. Once it started, it grew, and when it grew, it got harder to stop, going and growing faster and faster.

And right now, Elsa's mind had uncompromising momentum. Thinking about dinner, what her father said; thinking about her powers and herself. Thinking about her regrets and mistakes, how those are related to her curse. Thinking about Anna. Anna, who defended her. Anna, who was always so mesmerized by Elsa's ice. Anna, who was fast asleep right now, just like Elsa should be.

Anna, who seemed to be everything that Elsa should be. Pale lips sighed. It was the first noise she'd made in almost fifteen minutes. But, Elsa reminded herself, she was not asleep. She was not Anna.

She was different, and nothing could ever change that.

Shutting her laptop, the blonde rolled onto her bed. Maybe, if her thoughts were kind that night, she could get some decent rest. But the dark ceiling above her seemed to invoke as much thought as her empty computer screen.

With an active mind and tired body, Elsa laid still until she couldn't take it, at which point she rolled over and tried again. The more she thought, the more isolated it made her feel. Being alone was hard, and Elsa was the only person on the entire Earth with her abilities.

Anna made that loneliness vanish. But Anna wasn't there that night. Anna wasn't there any night. Not since they were kids, not since they got their own rooms. Anna was just like the sun: absent at night, but sure to rise and light Elsa's day each morning. Now, every night, Anna would disappear to her own room and fall right to sleep, leaving Elsa alone.

Elsa's mouth pooled with jealousy. Anna could sleep.

The temperature of her room didn't even register for Elsa until she noticed how thick and visible her breath had become. Her eyes widened. She wished she could at least tell when that was happening! Her heart racing, Elsa tried to stifle her chill. It didn't work, however. It seemed to cool off the room more, scaring her and becoming a self-feeding cycle in and of itself.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a hard knock intruded on her.

"Elsa," her father's voice called.

"C-coming," she stammered as she clumsily climbed off of her bed.

She opened her door despite the pit in her stomach and was face to face with her father. He was several inches taller than her, and did not have her eyes. His were brown, but in the dark they were black. "Yes?" She weakly asked.

"Warm the house back up, we're trying to sleep."

"I-I can't just-"

"Speak for yourself," a drawled out, yawning voice stated with all the rigour of a sleeping guard. Elsa's wide eyes traced Anna, who was wrapped in more than one blanket, just exiting her room down the hall. "I'm just up to get a snack." She kept her tired and calm eyes on Elsa as she approached and stood by their father.

He looked at her. "Is that so?"

"Oh yeah," she yawned, "I like the cold." Her breath was visible, too, but her words were anything but cold.

Elsa felt that warm Anna-tingle in her chest, and she wondered if the house warmed up, too.

"Well I can't sleep in a freezer," he said to his eldest daughter.

"Here, have some of my blankets." Freckled arms held out the covers that were once draped over their owner's body.

"Anna, this is serious."

"I am serious," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone that only she could make sound cheeky. "You can have them, I have loads."

Their father sighed in exasperation. "I'm too tired for this. Elsa, warm it up, I need sleep."

"I'll try." Wow Elsa's voice was pathetic.

He nodded lumbered off. "Goodnight, Anna."

Anna glanced between her two family members with a frown. "Night dad." The sisters made eye contact. "I don't like when he does that," she whispered.

Elsa wasn't sure which 'that' Anna was referring to. After all, there were several things that their dad had just done that the elder had unsavory feelings for. So she just shook her head. "Me neither."

Such soft eyes, assessing Elsa in the dark, laced with concern. Anna's lips were pursed, and her eyebrows drawn together slightly. A spark flickered in the older's chest. She felt safe underneath the look Anna was giving her. Like she belonged there. And then, slender arms found their way around Elsa's back. Anna's body pressed against hers. She was so warm. Like a ray of the morning sun sizzling on her chest.

Elsa's heart was beating fast as she melted into the hug and rested her head on Anna's shoulder. There was no sound, save for the silence of the night. Anna smelled faintly of vanilla, and her body, though lithe, felt soft. Blankets now encircled both girls and the pleasant press of Anna's cordial bosom connected with Elsa's heart. She felt giddy butterflies in her stomach. Her mind was soothed while her heart was enamored.

Anna pulled back to meet Elsa's eyes, leaving a chilly space between them. Elsa, however, still felt cozy and warm from the hug.

"Good night, sis."

Her face was so close. Anna's arms remained around her sister, their bodies just separate enough to speak. Elsa was entranced by such deep eyes. They were right there.

"Love you," was the last thing that Anna said before she turned and sauntered tiredly off to bed.

"Good night, Anna, I l-love you too." Elsa's words were possibly a hair too late, as her brain was still playing catch-up after their embrace. Having spoken to an empty doorway, Elsa decided that sleep would find her that night. What a wonderful affect Anna had on her.

The house was no longer cold.

A/N: Sooo what do ya think? :)