Time moved painfully slow as a barely perceptible, light blue streak of crystals struck her sister's head, immediately knocking her out. Her limp body fell to the frozen floor of the expansive ballroom, hitting the ice shoulder first, followed by the thump of her head slamming against the surface.
Elsa exhaled sharply, then scrambled off a patch of ice and ran to her sister's side to substitute the rough and cold floor with her soft lap as a place to rest Anna's head. Letting out a short, weak and apologetic "Anna," as she hurriedly examined her sister in hopes she's going to be okay. While certainly not an expert in how people worked, she thought Anna looked fine, except...
The room darkened. "MAMA! PAPA!", Elsa cried out. Overwhelmed by a barrage of emotions, she deferred to holding her sister close and sobbing quietly. She could feel the blizzard spilling out into the room, but she barely registered that. All she could think about was Anna.
Moments later, banging accompanied by muffled voices ripped Elsa out of her sorrowed state. She looked up to the doors that gave into the attempts at being opened, allowing her father into the room, with mother by his side. "Elsa! What have you done!?", were the first words to escape him as he sprung towards the sisters across the frozen surface of the immense hall entirely covered in frost.
"This is getting out of hand!", his voice coarser and harsher than before. She could hear the disappointment and anger.
Mother picked her younger daughter up from Elsa's lap. As she quietly examined her along with her husband, Elsa lifted herself up from the floor and looked up at her parents. She observed their faces, looking for even the slightest hints that Anna is going to be okay, but they never came.
Time stood still. She could swear it. Her parents completely still over the cold, unmoving Anna.
A loud shriek tore the air as mother's expression turned to that of fright. "She's-," she tried to speak, but her voice elected that a sob must occur at that exact time, cutting the sentence short. "She's not breathing," she managed and with those words their faces turned to absolute horror.
The room darkened substantially, and Elsa felt dread and guilt seep into her heart as mother and father treated her with a stare; a stare filled with fear and anger. She stood before them; she tried to speak, to apologize, say it was an accident or just scream in panic, but she could produce no sound.
"You killed your sister," came from her father.
"You're a monster," from her mother.
The voices of crushing hatred. Deep and raw.
The room darkened for the last time.
With a racing heart, quick and shallow breath, and teary eyes, Elsa scrambled backwards, slamming her back against a solid surface. She curled her legs to her chest, gripped nearby fabric and wrapped herself with it in a desperate attempt at protection. Only from that position, holding the material tightly, she finally dared to look at her surroundings again.
It was her bedroom. She was sitting on her mattress, wrapped in the covers she slept under and with her back to the wooden decorative head of the bed. Even with that knowledge, it took Elsa a long time to calm down and think even remotely straight.
~Dream,~ she thought with her first clarity. ~A very, very bad dream. Anna is okay...~
"Anna is okay," she muttered, looking blankly at the spot where her feet would be if they weren't under the covers. She absent-mindedly wiggled her toes just to see the fabric move. ~Is she?~
Elsa looked to the opposite side of the room where stood Anna's bed. While structurally identical to her own, it differed in color and other decorative marks. Where Elsa's was a very dark brown to the point of near blackness, her sister's was cream white. Where hers had blue, Anna's had pink.
She tried to make out the outline of the younger girl, but to no avail. She couldn't let it go. She had to see if Anna was okay.
Once Elsa started to unwrap the protective layers of the covers, she quickly discovered that in her panicked moments she managed to frost some of the fabric around the palms of her hands. She froze.
This is the first time she used her powers by accident.
Brushing the frost away with her fingers at the pace of nearly picking every snowflake off individually, she thought if that's something to be worried about. ~What if I lose control? What if I hurt someone?~ With that thought, Anna was back on the top of her mind. Newfound determination to make it to her sister's bed pushed her past the new self-doubt over the control of her powers.
Elsa jumped off the bed and stood on the wooden floor. She still couldn't see Anna.
The other side of the room couldn't be more than a dozen meters away, but to Elsa it seemed like a journey of hours in length. Each step spawning a new horrible thought that her sister is somehow not okay; not okay at all.
Yet, there she was. As peaceful and sweet as ever, sleeping on her side, with face illuminated by moonlight shining through a tall triangular window. ~She's okay.~ For the first time this night, Elsa was calm. She figured that the carpet she stood on was an excellent place to sit down and observe her sister's well-being.
~She's okay. She's really okay.~
It would be very easy to watch her sister sleep for the rest of the night, if not for the guilt that again invaded her mind when she allowed herself the peacefulness of the moment, doubt in her rule over the things she can do and fear how she could hurt the ones she loves once more. With these thoughts, Elsa got up from this soft and forgiving carpet, walked over to the one triangular window that lit their bedroom and climbed onto its edge. Resting her head on the glass, she sat with the back to an angled frame, looking out to sea.
In the bright of the moon and auroral strings of light, she could see a calm body of water stretching out to the horizon, reflecting the colors above. She could, but did not. Instead, she saw a reflection of a girl. She saw her eyes; ones that could not forgive themselves.
She thought to the events of earlier this night and although not sure how long ago it was; it felt strangely distant and absurd, yet so recent, gripping and real. She thought to her dream that managed to capture her fears and embolden them. Even as mostly accurate account of what happened, it still pushed reality a step further, making the result of her actions Anna's...
Elsa shook the thoughts away and noticed tears coming to her eyes. "I'm sorry, Anna," she whispered, wiping the tears away with the sleeves of her delicate teal night gown.
She looked past her reflection to the sparkling green and purple waters. The glow reminded her of what followed the ballroom.
Her parents took two of the quickest horses from the stables, and rushed her and Anna through the woods. The journey was a blur to Elsa, but her mind cleared once she saw the creatures her father brought them to see. They looked like living rock, covered in moss and other vegetation. While enclosed in a circle of these stone people, none of which taller than even Anna, one particularly aged individual approached their family.
"Your Majesty," the elder troll opened, giving a slight bow, "born with the powers, or cursed?" He questioned the king, while taking Elsa's hand.
"Born, and they're getting stronger," he replied without attempting to conceal his concern.
Elsa hadn't noticed until then. Her powers were getting stronger, but how powerful could they get?
This most wizened looking of the rock people let go of Elsa's hand and turned his attention to Anna, whispering a quiet "here, here," as he gestured to mother to bring her to his level. Shortly after she complied, the troll rested his stone palm on Anna's forehead and paused for a mere moment.
"You are lucky it wasn't her heart." He said with a look of relief as he slid his palm off the younger girl's head. "The heart is not so easily changed."
Elsa could feel a needle striking her heart, prompting it to beat faster. ~What if I...~
"But... The head can be persuaded." He continued with a somewhat amused expression.
"Do what you must." Her father spoke. Was it desperation she could hear?
With his face turning to determination, the elder placed his hand on Anna's head again. "I recommend we remove all magic. Even memories of magic."
"Wait." Father reached forward with the palm of his hand. "Removing memories of magic? We would have to keep Elsa's powers a secret from Anna."
"It's for the best." The moss covered troll replied in a calm and soothing voice.
"No. We'll protect her. She can learn to control it, I'm sure. We'll lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people and keep her powers hidden," his voice shook as it changed from a tone of fearfully to lovingly resolute, "but we can't do that to Anna. The two of them are too close."
"As you wish, your Majesty," with a look of concern, he again gave the king a slight bow. He closed his eyes for another moment, still resting the rocky palm on Anna's forehead. When he reopened them, he said, "She will be okay."
~She will be okay,~ Elsa thought, still looking into the colorful reflections on the nearly flat surface of the sea.
As reassuring as Anna's health and well-being were to Elsa, she couldn't shake the guilt and doubt that stuck to her through this night. As all right as her sister looked, she couldn't stop obsessing over what could happen in the future; what could happen if she didn't learn to control her powers. What if Anna felt the same way? What if Anna won't forgive her like she can't forgive herself? ~What if she doesn't want to be my sister anymore?~
It wasn't until the scenery outside changed, that Elsa snapped out of the gloom as she saw the night had already turned to the break of dawn, covering all she could see in a blanket of solid orange. This new light managed to keep her away from the thoughts of regret for a time; time Elsa desperately needed and all the time required for...
"Elsa..." Familiar voice spoke from across the room. Voice that if she were to believe herself at various points of the night, she might never hear again.
Yet, she heard it. Anna called her name.
Elsa turned away from the window to look to her sister's bed. Unlike the weak girl she expected, Anna was sitting upright, eyes closed and stretching the sleepiness away; an innocent and satisfied smile drawn on her face.
The older girl slid off the window frame, turned towards Anna and with every fiber of her being, she pushed herself to make a few steps forward despite the conflict in her heart. She wanted to be close to Anna, but all the thoughts that built up through the night were getting in the way of making that a reality.
Elsa spoke the first words on her mind, "Are you o-okay?"
She managed to walk a few steps away from the window.
"Of cour-," Anna cut the reply. Her sister's mind wandered and expression dimmed. Elsa looked down at her hands, playing with them nervously. She knew that she just remembered what happened last night.
"Of course I am." Anna continued with a loving and reassuring voice. Elsa looked up, meeting the eyes of the younger girl for the first time and at that moment, she was sure her own face was painted with the emotional variety of a rainbow, reflecting the state of her heart.
"I'm so sorry, Anna," she dared speak again.
Her sister turned herself towards Elsa. "It's okay. I'm okay." She stood up on the bed and began to jump on it excitedly as if trying to wake everyone in the castle up with her giggling. "See?"
Elsa managed a smile. ~She's okay. We're okay.~ She made a small gesture to calm Anna down, but the enthusiastic redhead would have none of it, at least not for another while.
This Anna was the best sight she could imagine; something that threw all the dread of the night away. She wasn't sure if the pit it fell into was so deep she couldn't hear the sound of all the awful things hitting the bottom, or Anna's delightful laughter muffled it in its entirety. Encouraged, she took a few more steps, now standing by the foot of the bed. As she approached, Anna took notice and finally plopped down at the lower end of the bed, near her.
There was a pause, but without tension. The sisters just looked at each other, smiles on their faces.
Silence was broken by another one of Anna's giggles when she sprung to her knees and reached forward to Elsa, offering to help bring her up on the bed. "Come on!"
Was that the frozen grip on Elsa's heart melting away?
Elsa reached for Anna, connecting the palms of their hands. She felt a gentle tug as Anna began pulling her up, but it was already gone. What she saw next made the chilling hold on her heart stronger than ever.
Anna sat back on her heels, pressing the hand Elsa touched to her chest, wrapped in the other palm; as if rubbing warmth into it. Eyes wide open, the expression unmistakably that of raw fright.
Elsa instantly pulled back a few steps, exhaling a quiet "No," but she was moving in the wrong direction. She didn't want to go deeper into the room, she wanted out. Elsa turned to the door and ran, catching a glimpse of a terribly confused Anna, and as she went out of their bedroom, she thought...
~We're not okay.~
Anna remained still for a solid minute, staring the door down, hoping that Elsa would come back.
She didn't.
When Anna realized she was still clutching her hand, she looked down on it. It looked the same as ever. It didn't hurt. Did Elsa even do anything to it?
~She didn't.~ Anna realized that, at worst, Elsa's hand felt just a hint colder than usual. Yet, her reaction was one of an impulse, she instinctively pulled her hand back without thinking about it.
~Why am I afraid?~