It had been years since the royal sisters had been out of the castle for a walk together in the countryside. Far too long in Anna's opinion, so she was the one to propose the idea to her sister one night in the study just as Elsa was finishing her day's work.
"Elsa, please?" she begged. "We can go walking north of town – maybe go see your ice castle? Oh, and have a picnic? The weather is so nice these days, Elsa! And you spend all day inside in meetings now. You need a break!"
"Anna, people rely a great deal on me. I can't just disappear for a day," Elsa replied reluctantly, stacking up her papers in neat piles. She wanted to leave and enjoy the beautiful outdoors almost as much as Anna did, but her duties weighed heavily on her mind. I could probably use some sun, though, she thought to herself, glancing at her own pale arms.
"Sure you can!" Anna insisted. "Besides, I really need a day off, too. Not that I work a whole lot or anything." Anna's voice got soft then, and she looked down as if ashamed. "I'm sorry - I know you have a lot going on, and I understand if you can't. I just really wanted to spend some time with you."
Whether Anna knew it or not, she and her words held more power over Elsa than the entire kingdom. At the sight of Anna's disappointment and her simple plea, Elsa's heart broke. How could she deny such a request – her favorite person in the world wanted to spend time with her!
"We'll leave after breakfast," Elsa said in poorly feigned resignation, already excited about spending the day with her sister. Anna's head shot up in response.
"What? Really?!" she began to bounce a bit on her toes in excitement.
"Really really," Elsa replied with a warm smile. "So don't sleep in."
"I won't! Oh, thank you!" Anna exclaimed and launched herself at her sister for a big hug.
The next morning found Anna awake before the sun and even before Elsa. She almost squealed with glee as she thought about how much fun it would be to get Elsa out of the castle and to go exploring with her. Elsa got up shortly after her, but insisted that they wait until daylight at least so that they could see where they were going.
"I have to make sure things will run smoothly in my absence, Anna. Why don't you pack us a meal or two and we'll have breakfast before we leave? Oh, don't look like that," Elsa admonished at Anna's frown. "It won't take long. And look, the sky is already getting lighter!" Elsa was having a hard time containing her own excitement. Though three months had passed since her coronation, she hadn't yet had time to do much of anything outside the castle. But as the year lengthened, the oppressive summer heat had given way to a delightful coolness that had her longing, as it always did, to be surrounded by nature. She hadn't been able to experience such a thing since she was a small child, so she hurriedly penned the day's orders for the staff and council.
Elsa struggled to eat her breakfast slowly, as opposed to Anna who didn't even try. The girl shoveled her food down and practically force-fed Elsa the remainder of her own before dragging her out of her chair and through the door.
"Anna, you're going to give both of us a stomach ache!" Elsa insisted, though she made no move to slow down herself as they rushed out of the castle walls toward the city's north gate, with the pale dawn light casting their shadows before them. A satchel bounced against Anna's hip as she skipped freely, her braids tossed by the brisk wind and her laugh drawing a smile onto Elsa's lips as she hurried along behind her.
Once they were free of the city walls, Anna finally slowed her pace to admire the scenery. The mountains rose before them and they followed the main road for a while, before diverging onto a switchback trail off into the forests because "It's the path less traveled, Elsa! So we have to go!"
And the queen humored her little sister, for the one thing she was enjoying more than the fresh air and changing leaves was the sight of the free spirit still bounding in front of her. Every few steps, something new would catch Anna's eye and she would draw Elsa's attention to it, whether it was a flower, some faint animal tracks left in a muddy patch on the trail, a good view over the valley, or an old building left from a forgotten homestead.
It was at one of these that they stopped for lunch, made ravenous by their early breakfast and the length of their travel. They ate in a clearing near an old barn high in the mountains that was probably used for ice storage, if Elsa had to guess. Intrigued, Anna finished her meal and stood up to look around more closely. There were no doors – an entire side of the building was open to the elements. To the right was a ladder made of rough-hewn wooden slats that lead up to an empty hayloft. To the left was another loft with a clutter of items on it. Anna stood on her tiptoes and looked over at the mess, before turning and starting to climb the makeshift ladder to the loft across from it.
"What are you doing?" Elsa asked in pretend exasperation, getting to her feet and brushing off her dress. "Don't get up there, Anna, who knows how old and rotten those boards are."
"But I can see something shiny over there!" Anna insisted, climbing the wooden slats to the first half of the loft. Only a single wooden beam remained to connect it to the far loft, and it was there that Anna was pointing.
"It's probably just a farming implement, Anna. Please get down from there – you're going to be the death of me, you crazy thing," Elsa insisted, in increasing concern.
"No wait, I've got this!" she insisted as she began inching out onto the beam on her hands and knees.
"Anna," Elsa grumbled worriedly, watching as her sister edged out over the middle of the floor. It seemed so high up! "This is too dangerous. You're going to fall!" Just as she spoke, an ominous cracking sound rent the air. The sisters froze in horror. Anna carefully shifted an inch backwards.
There was another sudden creak and for a heart-stopping moment the wood held, but then before either sister could do more than gasp Anna was falling through the rotten beam to the ground. Elsa didn't even have time to cushion her fall with snow before the redhead struck the hard-packed earth with a dull thud. Anna lay stunned only for a brief moment. As soon as Elsa slid to her knees beside the stricken girl Anna began screaming. She couldn't hear Elsa's panicked cries over the sound of her agony. Gentle hands rolled her onto her back and cold cold fingers began to examine her injured side. She jerked suddenly as Elsa touched her right shoulder and swiped ineffectively at her sister's hands with her left to ward her off.
"Aah! Elsa!" she shouted, writhing away. "H-Hurts!"
"I know, I know," Elsa sympathized, still terrified but somewhat reassured that Anna didn't seem to have hit her head too hard. "Hold still," she urged. Anna's wrist was twisted wrong and her forearm bent at a terrible angle – she must have fallen directly onto it.
"Oh my god, Anna," Elsa murmured.
"How… how bad is it?" Anna gasped, keeping her head turned fearfully to the side away from her injuries. Elsa carefully pulled at her sleeve to examine her upper arm, but Anna screamed in pain as the movement jostled her shoulder. "Aah! I can't feel my hand! Elsa!"
"Hold still, okay," Elsa insisted shakily. "Don't move." She focused hard and began carefully layering thin sheets of ice over her sister's injured arm. They conformed to the shape of Anna's limb and wrapped slightly around it to hold it in place. Soon enough, Elsa had formed a strong ice splint from Anna's hand all the way up her arm to fully encase her shoulder in rigid stability. The cold that started to seep through Anna's shirt began to soothe the burning pain. The princess whimpered in terror as she managed to force herself to look over at her ice-bound arm.
"It's okay, you're going to be fine," Elsa said to reassure herself as well as her sister. "We'll take you to the trolls. Their healing magic – they'll help you. You're going to be okay."
Elsa carefully pulled Anna to her feet, where she stood shakily clutching her injured arm and side. Elsa guided Anna out of the rotting barn and downhill, headed as quickly as they could toward the valley of the living rock.
Evening was falling as they arrived among the round boulders. Anna was curled inward around her throbbing arm, leaning heavily on her sister. She had become pale and unusually quiet in her pain. Elsa let her sink to the ground to lie on her back and knelt over her.
"Please! Please help us!" Elsa called, looking desperately at the surrounding stones. Finally, they began to move and despite herself Elsa stiffened with nervousness and huddled protectively over her little sister.
"Please, her arm," Elsa explained in a rush as the trolls approached. "Will you help us?" The ranks parted and Grandpabbie appeared. The very sight of the elder troll made Elsa tremble with fear and grasp at Anna's good arm, which shook Anna out of her stupor.
"Elsa? You okay?" she asked weakly. The queen ignored her in favor of warily watching the troll approach. The ancient monolith stretched a hand out over the injured woman and she shuddered with fear, made uneasy by her sister's obvious discomfort.
"Can you heal her?" Elsa asked, breathless with worry and anxiety.
"All magic has a price," the troll replied. "It is a give and take. To remove the ice from her head long ago, we took her memories. To heal her arm will have a cost as well."
"Name your price," Elsa said. "But I will be the one to pay it. Anything."
"Elsa-" Anna gasped through the pain and tried to sit up, but the queen interrupted her.
"Hold still, Anna," she hissed, gently pushing the younger woman back down. "I refuse to let any additional harm come to you."
"But what about you?" Anna whined, struggling against her sister's restraining arm.
"I won't let you suffer any more than you already have," Elsa said, her eyes stormy with worry and long-lived regret.
"Elsa, it's not your fault," Anna insisted. "It wasn't your fault before, and it's not your fault this time either. Please stop blaming yourself every time I get hurt!" She stopped fighting to sit up in favor of trying to hold her sister's hand to calm her.
"What is your price?" Elsa addressed the troll and ignored her sister until the girl pinched her arm – hard.
"I'm not done with you," Anna said, scowling up at Elsa's disapproving glare. "You have to stop believing everything is your fault, Elsa. It's not!"
"Later, Anna," Elsa growled warningly. "When you're no longer in danger of losing the use of your arm. The price, sir?" she asked again.
Anna clutched Elsa's hand close, terrified as to what the trolls would ask of Elsa. Would it be Elsa's memories? Her arm? Her magic?
"Your magic, Elsa, is a different breed than our own," the troll began in a low, gravelly voice. Anna squeezed her sister's hand hard as terror slid down her back. Elsa stiffened with fear and Anna felt the air around them grow cold.
"We have our healing magic and our command over the northern lights. But we cannot manipulate ice as you do."
"What do you want of me?" Elsa asked in a defensive whisper, subconsciously drawing closer to her sister.
"We request a magic show," the troll exclaimed eagerly. "We saw from afar as you created your ice palace and we wish to see an exhibition up close. The degree to which we are impressed is the degree to which we will heal your sister's arm." Elsa gaped at them briefly, before nodding in a mixture of relief and nervousness. As the trolls moved away to clear a space for the spectacle, Elsa bent over her sister.
"You're going to be just fine, I promise," she murmured resolutely to Anna and kissed her on her forehead.
"Oh for sure," she replied, relaxed and completely confident. "I know it will be amazing! Will you let me sit up so I can watch, too?"
Elsa carefully eased Anna into a sitting position. She propped the girl up against a tree facing the clearing in which she would perform. She renewed the ice around Anna's arm and lovingly caressed her cheek before walking away.
Elsa's unease grew as she stepped into the center of the rocky amphitheater with all eyes on her, but she felt her courage swell when she looked back to find her sister excitedly giving her a thumbs-up. I'll do it for her, Elsa decided. I could always do the magic for her.
The queen closed her eyes to envision what she would do, and all was silent for a moment. Then a glow began in Elsa's clasped hands and grew so bright that it almost became blinding. With startling speed, Elsa broke both hands apart and ice slammed into the ground at her sides. The strike shook the very stones that made up the foundation of the valley. Elsa spread her fingers and rays of ice flew out like sunlight and turned the arena into a skating rink with swirling fractal patterns throughout the translucent surface. The ice was tinted such that it looked unfathomably deep, with Elsa appearing to hover like a winter sprite on its surface.
Elsa turned and raised her arms, letting a sheet of ice materialize among the trees on the downhill slope. She bisected the trees, leaving the branches projecting like a three-dimensional theater backdrop. Her stage set, Elsa began to alter the air. The temperature, already chilly now that night had fallen, dropped like a stone and breath formed fog in response. A hand raised to the sky dispersed the low clouds that had gathered, revealing the bright northern lights. The flat surface of the ice sheet behind Elsa grew divots that captured and refracted the light toward her audience, making the crystals glow with the colors of the sky.
The sky is SO awake… Anna thought as she watched open-mouthed at Elsa's artistry. The older woman glanced at a small fir tree and with a pointed finger she recreated it in a kaleidoscope of ice and color. Concerned by the lack of response from the trolls, Elsa began casting ice faster and faster. Great ice trees sprang up behind her, followed by a self-replenishing waterfall of ice that shimmered as it cascaded down the frozen wall. Elsa raised her hands to the sky and ice shot toward the heavens only to explode in a colorful burst of snowflakes that caught the light and began to rain down upon her audience.
Now growing panicked by the stony silence, Elsa began to rapidly search the faces watching her for some sort of indication that she was doing well. The air became bitterly cold in her anxiety, but as she looked up to Anna it warmed. The girl had one hand behind her head, wiggling her fingers, and Elsa immediately understood. The queen knelt and the snow and wind ceased. All was quiet as her hands glowed bright once more. The magic was soft and gentle this time, no longer frantic and fast. Elsa stood and spread her arms and with a pop the light faded. There, snuffling curiously at her hand, was a reindeer. It was made of snow and glowed faintly with the blue of her magic and from the lights in the sky above. It snorted and snowflakes blew from its nostrils. It clambered unsteadily to its feet and its shoulders nearly reached Elsa's waist.
The trolls were no longer staring at Elsa. Instead, their attention was completely focused on the snowy animal that gazed back at them through luminous bright blue eyes. The chink of its hooves on Elsa's ice was the only sound as it moved forward. It ignored the trolls and strode straight up the slope towards Anna. It bowed before her briefly, then rose to look her in the eyes. Riveted by the animal's gaze and thoroughly distracted from her pain, Anna stayed perfectly still. The reindeer moved close to nuzzle her cheek before drawing back. She gasped at the sight of the smirk on its white face and the knowing look in its eyes. It's just like… ELSA! she realized in shock. Sure enough, when she glanced over its shoulder she found her sister making the same expression. Elsa winked at her and the ice reindeer gently blew snowflakes onto her face. It licked her nose and nuzzled carefully at the ice on her arm before turning away.
The ice deer paced among the trolls, snuffling at some. Especially the troll children. When a little one giggled at the feeling of the soft snow muzzle on its little palms, the trolls began murmuring in interest. They gathered around, feeling the fine ice antlers and smoothing their rough rock hands over its body. Finally, it returned to Elsa's side and stood with her looking at the gathered trolls. Elsa waved a hand and every bit of created ice vanished, except for the reindeer.
"Are you impressed now?" Elsa asked, her voice echoing through the amphitheater. The chief troll got to his feet.
"I am indeed," he replied. "Your powers have indeed grown very strong. Much stronger than any of us had anticipated. Yet, your abilities are not that which has impressed me the most. Your determination to care for your sister has surpassed all of my expectations, and your control over your magic is truly phenomenal. You could have created a dragon or a monster to harm us or intimidate us into doing your will. But instead, you brought this peaceful creature into our presence. You've imbued it with intelligence and a gentleness found only in the most innocent of life forms. I am impressed by your personal growth and restraint, as well as by your ability. I will therefore restore your sister's arm completely."
"Thank you," Elsa murmured, sagging in relief for a moment before quickly scaling the slope. Anna was beaming proudly at Elsa and reached for her with her uninjured arm when she approached. Elsa immediately fell to her knees at her sister's side and sank into her one-armed embrace.
"You were amazing, Elsa!" Anna whispered into her sister's hair. "I've never seen anything like that."
"As promised," the troll said as he approached the two women, "I will heal the girl."
"Is it gonna hurt?" Anna asked timidly.
"Only for a moment," he reassured her. Elsa wrapped her arms around her sister and Anna tucked her head under Elsa's chin for comfort. Elsa let the ice melt from her sister's arm and Anna winced as the broken bones moved, though the ice had made it numb. A glow of yellow magic soon engulfed the extremity and Anna gritted her teeth. She leaned into Elsa's embrace and cried out at a loud snap, but she was soon shuddering from shock and staring in wonder at her restored arm. Anna flexed her completely healed wrist and shoulder in amazement.
"Are you okay?" Elsa asked worriedly, still clinging tightly to the girl.
"It feels… it feels fine. Completely normal!"
"Thank you," Elsa addressed the trolls in great relief.
"As you asked," Grandpabbie replied. "And in turn, thank you for your magic exhibition." Elsa reluctantly released her sister and stood, towering regally over the gathered trolls.
"I wish to give this snow reindeer to your clan, to live among you for as long as I am on this earth, in exchange for the promise of future aid. This is the pre-emptive price I will pay for myself and for my sister should we call upon you again for healing. Do we have a deal?"
The trolls looked among each other and their smiles began to coalesce. Young or old, they nodded eagerly.
"Very well," Grandpabbie conceded. "My family seems to have already become very fond of the creature. He will have a good home here with us. You may go in peace."
As soon as they had crested the hill to leave the valley of the trolls, Elsa stopped walking and tugged Anna to a halt as well. She gently grasped her sister's right hand and examined it closely along with her entire arm and shoulder. She flexed the girl's elbow and rotated her shoulder through its full range of motion. Finally satisfied, she cupped Anna's face in her hands and leaned her forehead against her sister's with a shaky, relieved sigh.
"Elsa? What's gotten into you? I'm okay, I'm fine," Anna insisted, draping her arms around her sister. Elsa leaned up to kiss her on the forehead before wrapping her in a tight hug.
"I was so worried, Anna. I had no idea what they might do to you. I guess… I guess some part of me was afraid that they would take you away from me again. I'd die, Anna. I couldn't do without you! And then I thought they might refuse to heal you – you were in so much pain, and you might not have been able to use your arm ever again! What if it got so bad that you got sick and di-"
"Elsa, Elsa!" Anna shouted to get Elsa's attention back. The arms holding her were becoming quite cold. "It's okay. I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, I promise." She squeezed her sister and burrowed her head into Elsa's neck.
"I'm here, Elsa. And I'm okay," she murmured into Elsa's shoulder and held her sister so securely that the queen began to believe her and relaxed.
"Now this whole business of you still feeling guilty about stuff – whether it happened earlier today or thirteen years ago. Elsa, look at me," Anna insisted gently, pulling away and turning her sister's head to face her. "It's. Not. Your. Fault." Each forceful and sincere word was emphasized by a gentle shake.
"But I-"
"Stop it!" Anna all but shouted, smacking her sister on the shoulder. "You've done nothing but sacrifice for me every time something happens. The real cost of healing me as a little kid wasn't just my memories – it was your freedom! And I know you would have given anything back there to get them to heal me, no matter the cost. Elsa… it's not your fault. None of it. Blame it on the trolls, on chance misfortunes, or on a rotting beam that I had no business crawling on in the first place. It's not your job to catch me." Anna's voice grew softer and gentler now that she could see tears forming in Elsa's eyes. She apologetically rubbed the shoulder she had slapped and brought her other hand up to caress Elsa's face.
"The only job you have really ever had regarding me is to love me, and you were never even required to do that. Yet you've done exceedingly well at loving me for as long as I've been alive. Even when I didn't realize it."
"Anna, you're making me cry," Elsa complained wetly, wiping at her eyes.
"If that's what it takes to get it through your head that not everything is your fault and that I'm completely fine now, then I have no regrets about making you cry. It's okay to cry, Elsa. It's okay to feel – I know that's not easy for you either. But I'm here, okay? I'm here." She wrapped Elsa in her arms and swayed back and forth with her. Finally, Elsa calmed down and relaxed enough to return Anna's embrace. She hummed in contentment knowing that she had Anna close and safe after the exhausting adventure their day out had become. The aurora was still shining brightly overhead, casting enough light that they had no need for lantern or torch. Hand in hand, they descended the slope and headed home.