A one-shot that I whipped up while thinking about how Elsa might respond to one of Anna's greatest nightmares.
I don't own these characters, as they are property of Disney.
Queen Elsa was a notoriously light sleeper. It started as a force of habit from her childhood, where even the slightest fluctuation in the surrounding air temperature could be a sign that she needed to rein her powers in. Back then, she stayed only half asleep, constantly terrified of the thought that dozing off and dreaming could result in a nightmare that might unleash a small-scale blizzard within the walls of the palace. Over the years, she felt more comfortable allowing herself time to rest but she found more and more that she didn't exactly need it. She would often retire to her chambers with a book and tea and spend more than half the night reading and taking notes by candlelight. It was rare that when she bid Anna good night, the queen would actually place her head against the stack of soft, feather pillows that she had managed to stockpile on her bed. That just so happened to be the case the night of Anna's first evening visit since their reunion.
Luckily, sleep didn't have more than a light grasp on her when her redheaded sister clumsily made her presence known. Anna was obviously trying to creep over towards the blonde's bed without making too much of a racket, but subtlety was never her strong suit. In the dead of night, she couldn't help but make as much noise as possible. Based on her erratic steps, it wasn't a traditional visit to strike up sisterly conversation. Elsa moved over on her mattress to allow Anna enough space to get comfortable. She had to appreciate the stealthy intentions when Anna finally slid in under the blankets. The princess didn't say anything, but her ragged breathing was another indicator that something was amiss. Taking a moment to rack her brain, Elsa found that she couldn't recall her sister ever having night terrors and if she did, she certainly never sought her big sister out for comfort. As a result, she wasn't quite sure what to do. She figured that with the great pains the usually rambunctious young woman took to attempt to enter the room soundlessly that Anna assumed she would have to cry herself back to sleep on her own. While it might have been what she wanted, Elsa couldn't in good conscience pretend to be slumbering with Anna so near and in such distress. She reached out and wrapped her arms gently around her younger sister's midsection, drawing her closer.
Surprised, Anna hiccupped, "Elsa…?" Her tone was caught pitifully between a sob and a squeal. She was obviously not expecting the sudden touch, but the way she melted in Elsa's arms proved that she didn't object to it either. The tension left her body for the most part in a heavy, shuddering sigh. She furiously wiped at her eyes and then grasped the blonde's wrists, "I didn't mean to wake you."
The platinum blonde smiled, and lightly kissed the base of Anna's neck, "I was already up. Are you okay?" She kissed her again when she felt her sister's grip tighten.
"I just had a nightmare, is all," Anna admitted as she moved closer still to the older girl, "I figured I'd feel better if I was by your side." The tremble in her voice was much too pronounced to ignore. Elsa's brow furrowed and she found herself almost at a loss. Figured implied that the desired effect still hadn't kicked in. As pleased as she was with Anna's naïve thinking that her presence alone would clear her tumultuous dreams, she was also concerned about what exactly had shaken her sister so badly.
"Whatever it was, it can't hurt you here. There's nothing in this kingdom or any other that you should fear now. You're okay, Anna," Elsa nuzzled her sister's cheek, "I've got you." For the first time, she felt she could say that with a sense of certainty instead of as a self-defensive reflex. At least tonight, she wasn't cradling her sister's frozen body. Tonight, she was holding the girl she loved in her arms, feeling her breaths rise and fall against her, and she would be damned if anything was going to ruin that long sought after sense of peace.
Anna rolled over to face Elsa, and the queen loosened her grip to let the princess move. When Anna finally looked Elsa in the eyes, tears welled up and she had to choke them back to speak. The blonde waited patiently, but she couldn't help but notice that she felt ice in her veins even before the redhead had gotten the chance to express whatever it was that had reduced her to such a state. Anna sighed, at last, and managed to sputter out the source of her terror.
"I dreamt you lost your temper and froze the palace and everyone in it," Anna admitted, and her every word dripped with remorse, "…Me included." She looked up from below eyelashes and noticed the mounting look of horror on Elsa's face and quickly backpedaled, "Which is completely bizarre. You know I'm not afraid of you and that's what scared me so much about this. There's no way you'd ever hurt me and I can't imagine why I'd…" Anna stopped. She was mentally kicking herself for even bringing it up. This wasn't what Elsa needed to hear and she knew it better than anyone. The very fact that she woke up terrified from the dream made her feel so much worse than simply having conjured it up in the first place. The visit was pure selfishness on her part. She needed to feel Elsa's touch to know that she was safe and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why the nagging fear wouldn't release her fully until she said something. Anna could have easily drifted off to sleep without uttering a single word, she could've curled into an appreciative ball and been done with the whole silly notion, but she was driven to confess. As a result, the air was dotted with miniscule snowflakes and she winced, knowing just how much of a fool she was.
Elsa squirmed. She had gotten a glimpse of hell and the desperate floundering of her sister was doing nothing to soothe her nerves. She inhaled sharply, "Anna, why did you come here if it was me that you were afraid of?" The queen didn't have the heart to back away, but her flight response was gaining momentum inside of her chest.
"I didn't say that," Anna fired back defensively, nearly cutting Elsa's question off, "I was more terrified that I could come up with such a thing. You, powers and all, are my greatest sense of security. I've always loved you more than anything else and nothing's ever going to change that. I… just had to get this off of my chest. I feel terrible. I'm ashamed that I could even consider you a threat and I'm an idiot for saying anything." Anna reached up and kissed Elsa squarely on the lips. It was a quick peck, less than she had hoped for, but she understood the queen's unresponsiveness. The taste of salt on her lips was enough to bring up more anguished blubbering, but she kept it all down. She had ruined everything and it wasn't yet her place to grieve.
A minute of silence passed between them as Elsa's every bone rattled like she had been struck by a thousand tons of force. Her head was ringing and despite how much pain she was in, she couldn't help but it compare it to Anna's. The girl was nearly suffocating in guilt and above all she was truly afraid of losing her sister again because of a stupid night terror. At the same time, perhaps Anna was finally growing a measure of common sense. Maybe her fears, as much as she tried to deny that they came from within her, were valid. Elsa would rather die than raise a finger against the younger girl but the thought often crossed her mind that she might eventually need to use her magic to keep her sister safe, and that could come at the cost of human lives. Just because she was protecting someone didn't justify the lengths she had considered herself willing to go to. The princess was in emotional distress because she was afraid she had uttered a universal truth that the queen wasn't yet ready to hear. Well, she was devastatingly aware of the damage she could do if she wasn't careful, and she thought she would gladly bring an ice age to Arendelle if it would ease Anna's heavy heart.
Anna buried her head into Elsa's shoulder and pressed herself close to the queen, a sign that she desperately hoped all was forgiven. Elsa grinned in spite of herself, and ran her fingers through the mess of red hair, "No, I understand. I'm not offended." How could she be? To protest would be lying to herself and it would send Anna spiraling. She placed her free hand against the small of Anna's back and held her close. The girl obviously meant no harm, but she had managed to cement Elsa's biggest fear decisively. No matter what she did, there would always be someone who would demonize her. She, the snow queen of Arendelle, was a fiend.
And yet, the princess came running to her murderess's side. It was something of a blessing, really. She saw it as confirmation that nothing she could possibly do would drive Anna away. Her lips curled into a smile. With Anna in her arms, the queen was blessed with glorious, new perspective. She felt she could give the people of Arendelle a proper monster and not leave her reputation up to chance. She could send storm after storm to Weselton until she heard news back that no one survived. After all, they were still being something of a nuisance ever since the thaw. She could send for Hans and publically execute him for his treason. It was liberating to consider, even for a moment, that Anna's fear gave her any clearance to shed her moral code and regal precedence.
She sighed and looked down at her sister's sleeping form, amazed that she had somehow managed to find peace enough to drift off. Elsa kissed the top of Anna's head. So long as the girl found comfort with her, Elsa knew she couldn't bring herself to give into any delusions of grandeur. There was no guarantee that she could bring herself back from the brink if she let herself become completely absorbed by her powers. That, she realized, was the root of her sister's fear. Elsa glanced at her hands, which were cooling down rapidly as she pondered. She quickly canceled her train of thought so that she wouldn't cause the ginger any discomfort. The more she thought about the princess's dream, the clearer it became. She wasn't afraid of her sister's powers spiraling out of control, per se, but that she wouldn't be enough to temper her sister's fears to prevent it from happening.
"You silly girl," Elsa whispered. It was a notion that only a pure heart like Anna could ever come up with, "You don't have to worry about anything. It's because of you that I want to control my powers. You keep me grounded. I want to keep you safe and nothing you could ever do, or fail to do, would change that."
Much to her surprise, the redhead stirred. She mumbled from the crook of Elsa's shoulder that she had buried into, "Are you sure I haven't driven you off? You won't lock yourself in tomorrow morning because you'll be afraid of impaling me with an errant icicle?"
Elsa laughed quietly, "Sometimes, it takes a hard truth to make you realize where your heart really lies." She pulled Anna close once again.
She may have been a monster, but she was Anna's monster.