Set a month or so after the events of Frozen, this story explores Elsa's feelings during the Great Freeze. I feel that even though she gained control of her powers and restored her bond with Anna, she would still have been haunted to some extent by the harsh words said to her. It's just like we all do, stewing over things that aren't really our fault at all. The morals of the story: our choices define who we are, love can save, and forgiveness is never out of reach.


Fear will be your enemy.

Sorcery! I knew there was something dubious going on here.

Monster! Monster!

Your sister is dead because of you!

"NO!"

Queen Elsa of Arendelle awoke with a start, bolting upright on a scream of terror. Frantically, she looked around, eyes darting from one corner of the room to another. Her bedroom was devoid of life save for her. The Duke of Weselton and his men were nowhere to be found, nor was Prince Hans. No one was coming after her. The thaw was over and all was well… on the outside, anyway. Inside, Elsa was ready to scream.

By all rights, she should have been happy. The thaw was over and summer had returned to Arendelle, because she learned to control her powers. The people of Arendelle were beginning to accept their new queen, icy abilities and all. Best of all, Anna was alive and the sisters were on their way to restoring their bond. Things were looking up for once.

At night, however, the words spoken by those who wished to harm her still haunted Elsa's mind. What stuck with her the most was the nickname monster. Anna had reassured her many times that her powers were a blessing and that she was not a monster, yet Elsa still wondered. Am I really a monster? I know Anna says I didn't mean any of it, but what if I did? I wanted to get away at all costs. Isn't that an evil desire? Does this make me a…

"Elsa?"

Elsa was jerked out of her fevered reverie by the sound of her name being called. She turned toward her bedroom door, which was open just wide enough for a head to peek through. The head in question was a rat's nest of red hair and a pair of concerned blue eyes. "Anna? What are you doing here?"

The door pushed open all the way to reveal her sister standing on the threshold. Anna, clad in her yellow nightgown, padded across the room and stood a few feet away from Elsa's bed. "I heard you scream. I thought something had happened to you. Are you all right?"

Anna took another step toward the bed, causing Elsa to back away ever so slightly. Don't do that, she chided herself. She was still so used to backing up whenever someone came near that sometimes she forgot that she could control her powers. Never would she back away from her sister again. Even so, she didn't want to worry Anna with the details of her dream. "I'm fine, Anna. It was just a nightmare," Elsa said, hoping that the explanation would satisfy her sister.

It didn't work. "Doesn't look like just a nightmare to me. Elsa, look at you," she said, taking note of her sister's frazzled appearance. "You're covered in cold sweat, you're shaking, and you're breathing like someone punched you in the belly. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Elsa insisted, her hands beginning to shake. Frantically, she balled them into fists to keep them from shooting ice. If she lost control and hit Anna with her powers again, she didn't think she could take it. "I'm fine."

Anna was still not fooled. "You are not fine. What's wrong?"

"Anna, don't. Please."

"Don't what? Don't get close to you? Don't comfort you when you need it?" Now Anna was getting upset. "Well, I've got a few don'ts for you, Elsa. Don't slam the door in my face again. Don't keep secrets from me. And don't tell me nothing's wrong when something is wrong!"

"Anna!" The second Elsa yelled, ice coated the wall behind the headboard of her bed and spread to the floor in frigid spikes. Anna jumped back in fright and Elsa, ashamed of losing control yet again, buried her face in her hands.

Anna's face crumpled at the sight. "Oh, Elsa, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have pushed you. I just…"

"You see?" Elsa's voice came out in little more than a whisper. "Look what I've done now."

Anna frowned. Okay... what's wrong here? "Uh... 'look what I've done now'? Shouldn't that be 'look what you've done now?"

Elsa shook her head violently. Her platinum blonde hair, which normally hung over her shoulder in a thick braid, was loose and flying about with the motions of her head. "No, it shouldn't. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I didn't?"

"Of course not. I'm the one who did something wrong."

"Because you let your powers go?"

"No, Anna." Elsa released a deep sigh. Just like during her self-exile, she knew she couldn't hide forever. And she was through with hiding from her sister. "I... I had a nightmare. I didn't want to worry you, so I tried to keep it in. It didn't work, as you can tell," she said, waving a hand at the ice sparkling in the moonlight.

Anna was quiet for a moment, which was unusual for her. Elsa gazed at her, wondering if she had been shocked out of her wits. Anna's next words, however, dispelled that theory. "Are you thinking about everything that Hans and the Duke of Weaseltown said to you?"

Now Elsa was the one who was shocked. "How did you know?"

"Sisterly instinct." Anna took another step forward, but halted a foot from the bed. "Elsa... do you mind if I sit with you? If you don't want me to because you want to keep me safe, I understand."

Elsa's heart twisted. "Anna, of course I want to keep you safe. But I don't want to push you away anymore. Truth is... I need you here with me. I need to know you're here." She patted the empty side of her bed. "Sit with me. Please."

Anna didn't need telling twice. She skipped over to the opposite side of the bed and scrambled under the covers, scooting close to her sister, but not too close. "Okay, I'm here."

"Not quite." Elsa reached out a still-trembling hand and carefully took Anna's in it, holding her sister's hand as though it were made out of glass. "There. Now I know you're here."

Anna stared at their clasped hands in wonder. Even though the two of them were now just getting used to touching each other again, it was still amazing that her sister was taking the initiative in holding her hand. And the differences in their hands were amazing. Elsa's was as cold as the ice contained in her fingertips, while Anna's was as warm as the summer sun. Together, the cold and the heat canceled each other out. The sisters were able to hold each other's hands with nothing but soft warmth. It felt good. "Elsa, I'm always here for you." When Elsa bowed her head, Anna gave her hand another squeeze. "Come on. What happened in your dream?" she asked softly.

It was a good minute before Elsa spoke again. "Everything that happened during the Freeze. I kept hearing Hans and the Duke, so loudly their voices were echoing in my head. I heard you screaming and saw you frozen because of me. I saw everyone in Arendelle looking at me as if I were..."

"A monster?" When Elsa nodded and tears leaked out from her closed eyes, Anna cast all caution to the winds. Thinking of nothing save for the fact that her sister was suffering, she threw her arms around Elsa and hugged her tight. Much to her surprise, Elsa didn't pull away. She stiffened, still uneasy with too much contact at once, but eased up when Anna gentled her grasp. Anna's next words, however, were as firm as her hug. "Elsa, you've got to stop thinking about this. If you don't, you're gonna go crazy. Look at me. Look at me," she ordered, tilting Elsa's chin back up so they were looking each other in the eye. "Read my lips. You. Are. Not. A. Monster. No chance."

Elsa shook her head again. "Anna, I want to believe you, but..."

"But what? Elsa, you're a good person. You didn't mean for any of that to happen."

"How can you be so sure?" Elsa sighed and raked a hand through her hair. "What if, on some subconscious level, I did mean it? I wanted to get away from Arendelle no matter what it cost me, and look at what it almost cost me." Her eyes flicked to the spot in Anna's hair where her white streak had once been. "No matter the cost... that's evil, isn't it? And I came so close to committing murder in my ice palace. What if I am a -"

"Don't say it," Anna commanded, clamping a hand over her sister's mouth. "You are not evil."

Elsa wrenched Anna's hand off her mouth. "Then why did I lose control, Anna? Why was I so angry that I felt like killing someone?"

"Because you're human. Elsa, we all get mad, and we make bad choices because of it. You chose to run from Arendelle, but only because you thought you were protecting everyone. You had no idea about the Freeze until I told you. And you were defending yourself in your ice palace. Those men would've killed you if you hadn't used your powers against them."

"I almost killed them, though."

"But you didn't. You stopped because you didn't want to be a monster. And there's your proof. You chose to be good instead of evil."

Elsa frowned. "Anna, what are you saying? That being good or being evil is something we choose?"

"Yes. We all sin, Elsa. We're not perfect. If you choose to be evil, then you're evil. If you choose to be good, then you're good. You chose goodness that night. It doesn't make you an angel, but it definitely does not make you a monster. Our choices define who we are."

Elsa felt tears spring to her eyes again. This time, however, they were tears of relief, a sweet, healing rain. "How's it even possible?"

"You want me to run through that whole spiel again?"

"No, no," Elsa laughed. She wiped her tears away and gazed at her sister with sheer love. "How is it possible that the wild little girl I built snowmen with grew up to be such a wise woman?"

Anna's jaw dropped. "Me? Wise? Elsa, you of all people ought to know I'm not wise. I'm the pigheaded one, remember?"

"Yeah, and you're the only one pigheaded enough to tell me to quit wallowing in self-pity, get off my butt, and believe in myself. Anna, all this time, you've been the only one who's seen my powers as a gift instead of a curse. If it hadn't been for you, I might've turned out evil after all. You saved me."

Anna smiled. "I didn't do it by myself, Elsa. I had a little help, from Kristoff, Sven, Olaf... and him." She pointed a finger upward toward the ceiling, and Elsa smiled herself as she realized just who Anna was talking about. "A lot of people thought he was a monster too, you know. He had powers that nobody understood, except for the ones he called his brothers."

Elsa was floored. Anna was exactly right – Jesus had been condemned because of the miracles he'd performed and dismissed by the leaders of the day as nothing more than a monster. Very much like she had been condemned by the Duke of Weselton, come to think of it. "So he knows what I'm going through."

"Uh-huh. And he knows exactly what I went through out there on the fjord. He sacrificed his life for those he loved, too. Matter of fact, there's the point. What makes a monster and what makes a man – or a woman?"

The answer was as clear as ice and thawed Elsa's frozen heart. "Love," she said quietly, hugging her sister close.

Anna snuggled deeper into the hug. "There you go."

Breathing a prayer of thanks, Elsa kept her arms wrapped around Anna. She didn't want to let go of the presence of such love. "Don't leave, okay? Stay here tonight."

Anna looked her in the eyes one more time and gave her a mischievous smile. "Wild reindeer couldn't keep me away."

"In that case, I hope Kristoff didn't let Sven sleep in the castle tonight," Elsa joked, laughing with her sister as the two of them found the rest – and the peace – they had long searched for.