"Hih-schoo!" Elsa sneezed again, hitching forward in her bed with a handkerchief pressed to her face. She sighed in annoyance and exertion after, grimacing when she thought about how she must seem to her sister. Her wonderful, selfless sister who had stayed with her during her entire birthday despite her obvious sickness. Her eyes scrunched up, lips turning in shame. She must think this is terrible and gross. And now she feels obligated to stay with me. Elsa wanted desperately for Anna to stay with her and keep her company- but she couldn't be so selfish as to ask that of her; so selfish again. She had to let Anna know it was alright to leave her; to go off and enjoy her birthday. For once.
Anna's heart went out to her sister- sneezing, sniffling, suffering, and clearly miserable. And yet, Anna struggled to hold back laughter at her sister's state- she never thought she'd see her this way. Like this, Anna thought, Elsa was adorable in the rarity of her current condition. Her sister's hair had become a bit disheveled over the course of their wild day- something that Anna thought she'd never see in her eternally prim and poised sister. Stray strands had found their way out of Elsa's braid and waved as she moved. Anna longed to reach out and pull the pins out of her sister's hair and let it cascade free, wavy and rich. Fever-glassy eyes shined and light freckles stood out across her nose and cheeks against the flush of fever in her face. Her nose was reddened- Anna made a mental note to ask Gerda to send for more handkerchiefs- and her cheeks were a bit puffy, swollen from whatever she had caught.
Anna watched as Elsa raised her arm, gesticulating with her hand and fingers to dissipate the snow that arrived with each sneeze. It was getting tiring to do so, Elsa had admitted when Anna asked, but she was just relieved that she retained some ability to control her powers while she was ill. Elsa's eyes had gone dark then, her expression lost in thought- Anna knew she was imagining what would happen if her sickness- not just her sneezing- had taken away her ability to keep the snow in check entirely.
After the effort taken to dispel the snow that had formed, Anna watched as Elsa's eyelids grew heavy. She sank back into the pillows with a thick groan, lids fluttering as she tried to keep them open. I should probably go, Anna thought. She's spent the entire day running around when she was sick to give me a good birthday. Anna's hands began to twist in her lap as she sat next to Elsa on the bed- something that she had picked up from her sister, she thought. She desperately wanted to stay with Elsa; to watch over her and make sure that she was okay- even if that was while she slept. But she must be so sick of me, Anna fretted. She's probably annoyed with me. Having to spend the whole day occupying me out of guilt for not doing it years ago. If I were her I'd just want to be alone, too. Her expression sunk, her eyes downcast.
But the thought of leaving her sister gnawed away at her heart- she didn't want to! After all the lonely years spent relatively sister-less, Anna relished any time spent with her elder sibling. And the day had just been so perfect- well, despite the fact that her sister had made herself near-daft and almost killed herself from running around when so sick- that Anna just couldn't bring herself to leave. Even if it made Elsa annoyed. It was her birthday, after all. She'd worry about the consequences tomorrow.
Elsa managed to keep her eyes open for just a bit longer. She was relieved, actually, that she was falling asleep- it gave Anna an excuse to leave her finally. Let her go- go to Kristoff, who she'd rather be with, and for once celebrate her birthday the right way.
"Anna," she said, her voice raspy and nasal from congestion. She hated the sound of it- she knew she already wasn't looking her best, and now her voice betrayed her, too. "I'm-" she yawned. "I'm about to fall asleep. You should go- go eat some cake with Kristoff. He's been eyeing it ever since he first laid eyes on it." Or you can stay here with me while I sleep, she longed to say. She missed the comfort of having someone stay with her while she was sick. In the past, she'd suffered through it alone, afraid to hurt anyone. But now, more than ever, she yearned for the comfort of her compassionate younger sister to see her back to health. She mentally kicked herself. No! She thought. This is not about you. You've already made half of her birthday about taking care of you. Don't ruin the rest of it. Let her go. Elsa held her tongue, biting back the desire to make known what she truly wished.
Internally, Anna was fighting a losing battle with herself as well. She knew Elsa just wanted to be alone. She knew she should let her older sister be and give her time to rest. You've been selfish all day, she thought to herself. Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you get everything you want. You already had her drag you around town all day even though you could tell she needed to stop and rest. You made her push herself too far. And look at what nearly happened because of it.
"Eh-tchoo! Heh-ihschoo!" Elsa rocked forward off of her pillows, reaching for the last handkerchief. "Eh-ngtchoo!" She sniffed miserably, once again dispersing the snow and blowing her nose, then sunk back into the sheets, lying down on her pillow. She snuggled in to get comfortable. Anna watched, speechless- Elsa looked exhausted- careworn and beat. Anna suddenly had a flashback from her childhood and acted on impulse, scooting from her spot at the foot of the bed.
"Anna?" Elsa questioned, eyebrows shooting up. Anna was now leaning almost fully over her in bed.
"Hang on- umph!" Anna struggled to pull out some of the sheets from where they were stuck under Elsa. "There!" Anna pulled the sheets up to Elsa's neck, then tucked them firmly around and underneath her sides so she was locked tight in their hold. Elsa looked down at herself in bewilderment at Anna's actions. "See?" Anna said. "You're in a cocoon!"
Looking back up to Elsa, Anna's heart raced with worry- the sick blonde's eyes had begun to well up. "Anna?" Elsa asked, tears threatening to spill out of the corners. "You….what…" She struggled to get out what she wanted to say.
"Oh!" Anna exclaimed, reaching out to remove the bedding from its tight hold. "I'm sorry! I thought you might like it- Mama and Papa used to do it to me when they put me to bed." Her fingers began pulling back at the sheets.
"Wait!" Elsa cried, struggling to free her arm from its confines to still Anna's hand. "Don't undo it. It's just that they-" she took a deep breath. "They used to do that to me too."
The eyes of both sisters met, sapphire and turquoise joining together, both warm and aching in remembrance. "Then we'll keep on doing it for each other," Anna said. She rested her hands on the lump of Elsa under the sheets as they grinned at each other.
Suddenly, Elsa's eyes scrunched shut with another sneeze. "Eehh-hitchoo!" She sniffed wetly, looking around- light flurries had fallen on top of the girls' heads. She giggled, a hand coming out from under the sheets to hide her laughter, then brushing off the snow from their hair.
"Sorry," she said bashfully. "But yes- we always will."