Anna trembles after a start. An almost peaceful sleep, ruined. More than seven months have passed since the Great Thaw, and still she remembers the pain of it. The phantom spasms and tremors as she tries to grasp the blanket closer to her chest... They are agony. She cries out softly and begins to sit up. The figure beside her mumbles gently.

"Anna... how is it hurting? Is it the dull throb again, or..." She trails off with a light yawn. Pulling her arm from Anna's waist, she wipes the sleep from her eyes.

"Ngh, it's sharp. Moving up and down." Anna gasps as the pain redoubles.

Elsa coos sympathetically, "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Here, let me take a look."

"Please, Elsa- AH!"

"Shh, it's alright. I've got you," Elsa murmurs, sniffling softly.

Anna leans into her sister as she holds out her arm for examination. Elsa always knows how to help with the pain. Dull aches called for a light massage paired with a coating of rime. Sporadic flexing of muscles she no longer had? That was fairly straightforward to deal with as well, if a tad more... involved. She would chill Anna's forearm for a minute or so, and that let Anna find some relief as she held her arm close to her chest. She still wasn't totally sure how it worked, but Elsa had explained it as best she could. 'I'm reaching out beneath the skin with my cold.' That satisfied Anna's curiosity somewhat.

Elsa's cold was indeed a curious thing. It was different than the biting sting of winter's snow. True enough, the violent storms she could produce weren't much different from the absolute worst that nature had to offer, yet she was capable of such a gentle touch.

Her magic could soothe like no other salve Anna had encountered. Extensive testing had borne that fact out. Elsa was the first and best line of defense against her worst moments of anguish.

These ones were always tough, though. The sharp pains that shoot up and down her entire right arm, often extending into her chest. For cases like this, comfort is much harder earned.

She's learned to recognize the signs of its approach. Interestingly enough, her pains seem to develop in stages.

The ache is omnipresent.

Following that is the dull throb. In Elsa's estimation, Anna has become far too lenient with that stage. Pain must be monitored, and carefully managed. Unchecked, it can begin to spiral. Anna has explained her rationale, of course. 'It's just so common,' she'd say, 'that it'd take over our lives if I bothered you every time the throbbing started.'

Nonsense. Elsa asks after it with the slightest hint of its presence. She refuses to allow Anna to let herself suffer.

The throbs can occasionally progress into the phantom spasms that are nearly impossible to ignore. It feels as though the hand is constantly grasping, faster than should be possible. And it tears at the joints she shouldn't be able to feel. Extremely painful, yes... but still manageable with Elsa's concerted effort.

The twitching, though... It always leads to the sharp pains that she dreads most, but the crucial thing is that it can be allayed through careful attention. Elsa has become prodigious when it comes to preventing the worst of the pain from manifesting itself.

Anna often dreams of the pain. She has trained herself to recognize the signs this way. Waking up before it extends its reach beyond its lawful bounds, she can manage it. Well, they can manage it.

She didn't dream tonight.

It caught her off guard, insultingly enough. She knows what will come if she ignores the twitch. She didn't want a peaceful sleep. She wanted to stand up to the pain. She's sick of the games her mind is playing with her.

There's nothing there.

Is she going insane? Has it already happened? What do you do when your worst enemy is your own body? Your own mind?

"Anna! Stay with me. Please, sweetheart." Elsa rubs her cheek with a cool hand, trying to keep her alert.

"Els..." She says something, at least. Her sister's voice is so gentle. Soothing. The contrast with the buzzing in her head has her reeling. She wants to echo that calm. She wants to show her sister that she's stronger than the pain.

Well… there's a sort of dignity in quiet suffering, right? Surely that's enough. She can't do much else at the moment.

"It's alright. You're... doing great, Anna. You're so strong." Elsa's lips move against her sister's temple as she whispers encouragement, guiding Anna through the worst of it. A small mercy that these flare-ups never last very long. They sure do come at the worst times, though.

Anna's breathing is sharp and fast as she slowly takes in her surroundings. They're still in her chambers, of course. Dawn seems to be a ways off yet. This is the fourth night in a row that she's woken her sister up, then.

She flits her gaze from the window over to Elsa. She can see the shadows under her poor sister's eyes, even in the pale moonlight. Exhausted. They're both exhausted. How much fight does she have left?

How much patience does Elsa have left?

No. She pushes those thoughts away, like she always does. Elsa is her rock. She's never given Anna a reason to think like that. Not once since her recovery began all those months ago.

Still, she doesn't let it go entirely…

"'m sorry, Els..." she says softly as her gaze falls down to her arm. "Please go back to sleep. I'm o-okay. Promise." The lump in her throat is really inconvenient right now.

Elsa just holds Anna tighter to her chest, pressing her lips to an unruly red mane.

Anna's face is tucked into the crook of her sister's neck as the pain recedes further. Her arm is pressed between their bodies, with Elsa's hand stroking the underside softly. It feels wonderful. Minutes pass like this, until Elsa finally speaks.

"Anna."

The idle picking at her sister's sleeve ceases, and she looks up. Elsa is looking down at her with such a warm expression, but there's a tightness around her eyes. Anna smiles back at her, though the pain ensures it's more of a grimace than anything else.

Elsa runs her cool hand through Anna's sweat-soaked hair. The effect is at once calming and slightly unsettling. "You are the bravest girl I have ever known. As well as the most stubborn."

Anna fights back a shock of pain just long enough to scoff playfully, "Nngh, and how many girls have you known, dear sister?"

Concern… A furrowed brow. Worry lines at such a young age. Yet Elsa continues unabated, the half-smile she flashes her little sister causes her to swallow air. "Whatever are you implying, Anna?"

"N-nothing." She looks back down to her sister's sleeve, face feeling warmer all of the sudden.

She can feel Elsa's silent chuckling. With the pain threatening to return, and with this latest embarrassment borne from another failed attempt at a joke, Anna feels so very small.

"I'm not, Elsa."

Elsa pauses her ministrations, and Anna is cursing herself yet again as she feels her sister's eyes on her.

Anna rushes to explain. "Brave, I mean. Reckless, yes. But not brave."

"Ah… and I suppose this is the part where you tell me, once again, that it's not bravery if you're 'too stupid' to consider the consequences of sacrifice. Is that right?" Elsa's voice is clipped. Crisp and terse. It hurts.

"Don't do that, Elsa. Please." Tears gather once again. Pathetic.

"What is it that I'm doing, Anna? Are you really going to try to convince me that you would have done a single thing differently had you known the outcome? You saw that monster towering over me, ready to cut me down in my greatest moment of grief, and you acted. With every passing day, you prove your love for me a thousand times in a thousand different ways. Please just let yourself breathe."

"But how do you know?" Anna's voice is rising. "How can you possibly… I was broken, Elsa! I AM broken. Do you really think I wouldn't have hesitated had I known what kind of life was waiting for me? For us? When I ran to that sword… there was no fear. No hesitation. I was resigned. I had made my peace. Or I thought I had!" Tears are flowing freely now. "What peace is this? If I'm so 'brave', Elsa, then why am I so afraid?"

Elsa's lip trembles, but she's looking at her sister with a fire in her eyes that Anna had rarely seen. It's almost frightening. As she shakily runs the pads of her thumbs over reddened, tear-stained cheeks, she whispers hoarsely, "Fear is good, Anna. It has a way of revealing a person's character. Our fears are shaped by our past experiences, sure. More than that, though, our fears have a way of letting others know what we value most. To know someone's fear is often to know their deepest desire." Kissing her sister's sore cheek softly, she goes on, "And do you know what I see in you when you share this particular fear, dear sister? This deepest, most primal concern about your own self-worth?"

Anna shakes her head jerkily, unable to respond any further. She is transfixed. Never before had Elsa looked at her so intensely. It is wonderfully imposing. Even in her delicate shift, stroking her sister's cheek with unbridled affection, Elsa looks every bit the regal queen Anna has come to adore more and more with each passing day. She cannot suppress the shiver that runs up her spine.

"What I see, Anna, is a failure on my part." Elsa sighs as she pulls their blankets closer, wrapping Anna up in as much warmth as she can manage. "A failure to help you see just how worthy you are of love. You have nothing to prove to me. I see you as you are. My sweet, beautiful, stubborn baby sister. My perfect little snowbug. I may be Queen, but my most important duty is to you. I will not rest until you see yourself as I do."

A small, strained noise leaves Anna's lips as she curls into her sister's embrace. As she hides her head in the crook of Elsa's neck, new tears gather in the corners of her eyes. Almost before it happens, her sister is soothing fresh spasms in her arm, and she can feel Elsa's delicate fingers playing with the small baby-soft hairs at the nape of her neck. The nails create delightful shivers that run down her spine. They settle below her navel, and frayed nerves are drawn taut. She's absolutely positive that Elsa can feel her hammering heart. Gods know how often her sister finds 'subtle' ways to reassure herself that the strong beat still sings the song of life.

Sure enough, as she brings Anna's arm to her impossibly soft lips, Elsa's fingers dance from the back of Anna's neck, playing over her collarbone before a palm is resting over her heart. Her thundering heart.

"Anna… your heart is racing. Is the pain that bad?" Anna feels her sister push her back gently, rubbing her arm as the telltale glow of the Queen's magic starts to make its way under her sensitive skin. A cooling wave washes over her, calming her slightly, but…

"It's not th- I mean… yes." Coward. "Thank you, Elsa." She stopped it before it got 'that bad'. "It's better now." Oh, how generous of you, throwing her that little bone. How about responding to what she said? "A-and you haven't failed me. Not once in all these months. No matter how s-selfish, or demanding I am of your time… you're always there for me when I need you."

Elsa cradles Anna's arm to her chest. Her bright blue eyes pierce Anna's soul, and a look of cold determination sends another damnable shiver down Anna's spine. "Of course I am. You're my little sister. It's my job to protect you, Anna." Elsa's eyes flicker down to the knobbly stump of flesh in her hands. Caressing a soft thumb over the fractal patterns of scar tissue, Elsa seems to gather herself. A furrowed brow, pursed lips, and then a raspy voice, "We should get some rest, Anna. Tomorrow's a big day." She brings her sister's arm to her lips, leaving a gentle kiss. "Those snowmen won't build themselves."

"Elsa…"

"And if they do, we should probably be concerned. Olaf is one-of-a-kind as far as I know… Though I suppose it's possible there are more little snowmen running around out there. After all, I was unaware of Olaf's existence until you brought him to me…."

Elsa is looking at her with a very slightly manic expression, and Anna feels a pang of dismay. She's an expert at hiding her emotions with rambling, and the fact the Elsa is trying to do the same is almost comforting. Almost. Mostly, she feels guilty for all the times she's tried to keep Elsa's concern at bay by assaulting her with words. It does not feel great.

"...and maybe by the end of Winter, we'll have worked out a way to keep track of all the snowmen and perhaps even conduct a census!"

"Elsa!" Anna says firmly, rubbing her sister's cheek, trying not to marvel at the smoothness.

Elsa blinks twice, and gives a sheepish smile. Even that sends Anna's heart into a fit. This is getting out of hand. "Sorry," Elsa says, and Anna feels a bit like a chump right now.

"No, Elsa, it's fine! Totally fine. I don't even know why I'm so worked up, honestly. It's just… well, I know that look." Nevermind the fact that she only knows because she was standing in front of a mirror when Elsa asked her how it was going with Kristoff. That may have been her most uncomfortable bit of rambling to date. "I know I've been stubborn and closed off since this whole thing started. I feel like I have no right to say this, but… Elsa, the guilt in your eyes breaks my heart."