Similar Differences
Fandom: Frozen
Pairings: Elsa/Anna, Elsanna
Summary: Elsa and Anna play all the time, but one day, Elsa just disappears. She returns, years later, but things are different. Everything is different.
A.N: I ship Elsanna and I am unashamed of everything but my shitty writing. I tried. I tried friends. I'll probably write a pipabeth next.
One day, Anna's world is shattered. Elsa, the sister that she has loved and played with for her entire life simply disappears. Her father sends out a search party. The staff scours the castle for any sign of the lost princess. Her mother weeps. She's confused, but she doesn't quite understand what's going on. Anna just knows that Elsa's not there.
It's months later when she realizes that "disappeared" means "never coming back". Anna had never known that she could feel so empty. She missed her sister, terribly, completely, and now she is truly alone. Her parents were the king and queen. They have duties to attend to, things to do. They were all certainly more important than playing with the princess or helping her through her time of need. Her heart aches, but she wanders the halls alone, trying to fill the empty space that had arisen.
Anna grows up alone, talking to paintings, playing by herself and belting out made-up songs at high volumes all over the castle. The older she grows, the more she forgets of her sister. She forgets the way she used to something impressive, the bell-like quality of her laugh and the way her eyes lit up when she smiled. But Anna never forgets the fun that they had or how much she misses her. Sometimes, she dreams of Elsa. They're in a snowy wonderland, and usually Elsa had created it with icy powers. It confuses Anna because she doesn't know where this part of her dreams came from. She doesn't dwell on it much though, because memories of her sister make her long for what she once had. Nostalgia for something one can never reclaim is unhealthy, so she avoids dwelling on her past, no matter how much she wishes to reclaim it.
She hears the whispers through the staff. Something about a girl who lives in the woods and built a palace of snow, she can control the snow and ice. It sounds ridiculous, but palace rumors normally are. Once she heard tell of a man raised by trolls. Another time, she hears of a talking snow man. But she can't help remembering her dreams where Elsa controls snow in wispy, graceful clouds.
Her parents die when she's seventeen years old. A storm on the ocean sucked their boat under. There were no survivors. Anna's devastated. She's known tragedy. Her sister never came back. She's probably dead, but losing both of her parents at one time is not something she had ever been prepared for. Her throat stings, her eyes water, and she feels that same searing pain and bitter emptiness as when she realized that Elsa was never coming back. She has no one, literally. All alone in a large castle, and she finds herself huddled outside of Elsa's old door.
"Do you want to build a snow man?" she asks softly, bitterly. The empty air gives no response as the tears continue to flow down her cheeks and pitter patter on the cold, stone floor.
Her nineteenth birthday is her coronation. She's too young, much too young to rule a kingdom alone. But her time has come, and they're finally opening the gates. She'll meet real, new people, and maybe she won't be so isolated. Maybe she won't be so alone. She puts on her dress fitted especially for the occasion. It's a stunning shade of green that fits well with her red hair, but she's nervous that she won't be able to run the kingdom properly. She knows that she's flighty and impulsive. And she also knows that in a way she's still mourning the loss of her parents. But she feels hopeful as she strides out of her room, hopeful that the new day would bring new friends and a prosperous reign.
The coronation goes off without a hitch. Though Anna fears that she would drop the ball on her foot or end up reciting the vow incorrectly, she does just fine. When she is presented to the people, she looks across the party. Lovely women in ball gowns dance around the room with handsome men in their best suits. Anna drinks more glasses of wine than she has ever had in her life and grabs herself a dance partner. The bards strum a hopeful melody and she twirls around the room with a prince from the Southern Isles. His hair is a lovely shade of red, his eyes a bright shade of green and his manners a shade that could only be described as gentlemanly. He dances well, if a bit stiffly, but the lovely girl standing alone in the corner of the room interested her slightly more. She hads snow-white hair and a sparkly dress a shade of blue that looks more like ice than the deep blue of the sea. She breaks her dance with the prince, whom seemed disappointed, and she floated over to the girl.
"Um," says Anna, sounding far less suave and confident than she has originally intended, "You look lovely." The girl looks confused and shocked, but she regains her composure. Her hair is braided into a single French braid, so it was allowed to flow more freely than Anna's own.
"Thank you, your highness," she says.
Anna laughs, "You don't have to do that. It's not like I'm queen or anything." The girl sends her an odd look.
"Oh," Anna says, laughing in embarrassment, "I guess that I am now. But you still don't have to do that. It's too formal. Call me Anna." The girl's breath seems to hitch in her throat.
"Are you alright?" Anna asks.
"Fine," the girl says, and Anna can't help feeling that this girl was familiar somehow.
"What's your name?" Anna asks, "I've never seen you around before, but then again, I've never seen much of anyone."
"My name is," the girl says, but the word won't pass her lips.
"I promise I won't make fun of you, even if it's an old lady name," says Anna, "Queen's honor."
The girl smiles at her, a fond smile that a small bit of friendly conversation didn't really warrant. Anna's heart flutters in her chest. In that moment, all that she wants is to make sure the girl is always smiling.
"My name is Elsie," Elsie says.
"That's a nice name," says Anna, "It reminds me a bit of another." She doesn't elaborate, though. Anna doesn't want to think of her sister at this moment. The music continues to chime in the background. The dancers, who have started to thin out blur in Anna's vision.
"Come on," she says, not caring that she might be a tad bit drunk, "I want to show you something." Anna grabs Elsie by the hand. Elsie looks as though she's about to protest, but she consigns herself to Anna's tipsy judgment.
"This is the most beautiful place in the palace," Anna says, her words slightly slurred, "The view's amazing." The expanse of the ocean, lanterns reflecting on the surface, and the stars twinkling above it made for a splendid sight.
"It's gorgeous," Elsie murmurs.
"I knew that you'd like it," Anna says. Then she is struck with one of her impulses, but she gives it a bit of thought first.
"Is this love?" she wonders. She isn't sure if the need for friction building between her legs and the desire to kiss this girl qualified for love, but at the moment, with the awed look on her face, Anna isnn't sure she cared. She pressed her lips harshly against Elsie's. She feels her hand grow cold and Elsie break away from her kiss.
"Anna," she says, her voice disappointed and scandalized, "We can't do this."
"Why not," Anna says, ignoring the odd cold that she felt on her wrist.
"I'm Elsa," she says in a guilty confession.
"E-Elsa," Anna says, first confused.
Then in rage she shouts, "Elsa!"
"I'm sorry," Elsa says, turning her head from Anna, "I left to protect you."
Anna laughs, a harsh, bitter laugh, "To protect me? From what, happiness? You left me all alone. I was all alone, Elsa. Where did you go? Why did you leave!" Anna stares at Elsa, and sees that the ground around her feet had frozen.
"Did you?" Anna asks, but she already knew the answer. Elsa's nod just confirmes it.
"I didn't want to hurt you," she says softly, "I only wanted to protect you." Anna engulfs her sister in a hug.
"I know that you wouldn't have hurt me," Anna says, "Just-just don't leave again."
"I have to," Elsa says, "I can't put you in danger like that again."
"I forbid it," Anna says, her tone authoritative, but also teasing. Elsa raises her eyebrow.
"I'm the queen," Anna says, "And I forbid you from leaving."
Elsa throws her head back and laughed, a melodious sound that dances through Anna's eardrums.
Anna smiles at her sister and asks, "Come to bed with me? For old times' sake?"
Elsa shakes her head in amusement but only responds, "Yes."
"You're not going to leave me again, are you?" Anna asks softly, the covers rubbing against her skin.
"I will never leave you, Anna," she says, her fingers running through Anna's soft, ginger hair, "Not again." Anna falls asleep again to the sound of her sister's breathing.
Her first day as queen, Anna learns that it isn't particularly fun running a kingdom. She has already had to do a pile of paper work and make a public appearance. At the end of the day when Hans asks her to take a walk around the grounds she gladly agrees.
"So how's being queen?" asks Hans, raising an eyebrow at her seemingly exhausted state.
"Not fun," Anna replies with a teasing tint to her voice that didn't quite conceal her actual distaste. They walk a while more, making small talk and laughing, and he asks her if she'd like to meet him again tomorrow. She agrees.
Hans smiles shyly at her, "Can I ask you something crazy?"
"Of course," Anna replies.
He gets down on one knee and Anna feels confusion wash over her, "Will you marry me?"
"That wasn't what I expected at all," Anna says, biting her lip. She considers jumping at the offer. A few days ago, she probably would have, but after reuniting with Elsa, she has started thinking more about the future and consequences. Would she regret it if she married a man that she had just met? And more importantly, how would Elsa feel about it?
"Is that a no?" Hans asks.
"No!" Anna says, "I mean, I don't know yet."
"I guess that I can work with that," he says. Hans pulls a knife out of boot.
Anna laughs awkwardly, "That's funny, Hans. How about putting that away now?"
"Sorry, Anna," he says, grasping it tighter, "I'm just a bit impatient, but I can cover this. We got married without anyone knowing, and then a jealous suitor stabbed. They're some holes, but I can handle it."
Anna backs away from him, trying to find the door, "And I can see now that this isn't a joke." He stalks towards her, knife in hand and then Anna starts to run, "Holy- help me!" Elsa bursts through the door and a bolt of ice jolts from her fingertips. Hans stands frozen in a block of ice.
"Are you alright, Anna," Elsa asks, engulfing her sister in a hug.
"Now I am," she murmurs, then a moment later she said, even more softly, "He was going to kill me."
"I know," says Elsa, "I was terrified, Anna." Anna digs her face into her sister's shoulder, just inhaling her scent. Elsa smells like the air of a cold winter's day, or freshly fallen snow. She lets out a small laugh a few minutes later upon thinking of something.
"So what are we going to do with him?" she wonders aloud.
"We could kill him," her sister suggests with a joking cruelty to her voice.
"I think we could leave him like that for the night," Anna says, "then we can send him back to the Southern Isles. They can deal with him there.
"I wonder what his thirteen brothers will think of his actions," she thinks. They exit the room and Anna hugs her sister once again. Elsa kisses her forehead, then hugs her tighter. Anna kisses Elsa passionately, deeply, dead on the lips. The feelings she felt upon their reunion haven't subsided, and she just wants to rub against her in the post-adrenaline haze that she is experiencing. Elsa pushes her off.
"Anna," she says, her voice cracking, "We really shouldn't do this."
"Do you want to?" Anna asks, voice barely a whisper.
"Well- yes," Elsa says, "but-."
"Then why not?" Anna asks. Elsa seems to be thinking of a retort, but it dies on her lips. She kisses Anna softly. Anna grabs her hand, and they head to her bedroom, looking to the future.