Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.
The entire castle was grimly quiet when the King and Queen returned to Arendelle. Asleep, Anna was warm and safely wrapped in the warmth of her mother's arms, her new strip of white hair being the only hint that she ever left her bed that night.
But, Elsa. Poor Elsa was far from sleep.
She shivers in her father's arms, her eyes pressed firmly shut to banish the fresh memory of Anna – Anna lying too still with skin colder than the packed snow and the thud of Anna's body as she fell and her own panicked scream for her parents. "Make it stop. Make it stop." she begs in her mind. Her father strokes her hair as if to comfort her, but no relief comes. The knot of fear that had sprouted earlier in the night continues to tighten in her heart.
As the King and Queen are putting both girls to bed, Elsa sits up in her bed and shyly whispers, "Mama? Papa?"
Both royals swiftly move to her bedside. Worry creases their brows.
"Yes, Elsa? What is it, dear?" The King kneels down and watches his normally confident daughter fiddle with her hands, a habit she does when she's caught red-handed. He grasps his daughter's hand, feeling a slight chill through his gloves that causes him to inwardly flinch. He hides it well.
Elsa stills after a moment and looks up, her big blue eyes watering. "Papa, I'm – I'm so sorry. I'm so so s-sorry."
The King's worry melts away, and he pulls her into a tight hug, stroking her hair. "Elsa, my darling, there is nothing to apologize for. Everything is fine."
The little girl sobs into her father's shoulder, blubbering, "No Papa. No. It – It was all my fault. I made the snow, and I hit –hit Anna. I-I'm a horrible sister. Oh Papa, she almost died." The princess hiccups, trying to breathe between her sobs. "She was jumping so fast, and I couldn't ma – make the hills in time. I slipped. I slipped, and I almost ki-killed my –"
The King quickly pulls her out the hug, silencing her by putting his hand over her mouth. His heart broke for his little girl and wanted nothing more than to free her of this terrible night and more so, this horrible burden. Once she calmed down, he reaches into his breast pocket for his handkerchief and wipes away her tears and un-ladylike snot. Wide innocent eyes meet the warmth and fatherly affection of the King's.
"Elsa. It was an accident. Do you hear me? You didn't mean for it to happen. You are a wonderful sister, and Anna loves you. She's perfectly fine now. See? Everything will be okay." He smiles to reassure her.
He points, and Elsa shyly looks over to her sister's bed. The strawberry blonde's limbs are strewn all about the bed in a tangle of blankets, her body taking up as much as space as possible for a five year old and her hair is covering up her face – only to float upwards when the princess lightly snores.
A small grin graces the ice princess' face at the site, and she and her parents share a quiet chuckle. The knot of fear in her heart loosens slightly, but then the panic returns in double the force.
Elsa had almost caused that cute but snoring sister to cease to exist. It was her doing, and like all older sisters, her job was to protect her little sister until her last breath.
Acting as confident as possible, Elsa said, "Papa, I want to move to another room now."
Eyebrows shot up at this sudden declaration. "Elsa, what's the hurry? You can move tomorrow afternoon. Rest for now."
Crossing her arms across her chest, Elsa replies. "No. Now. I have to move before Anna wakes up."
Seeing her fierce determination, the King acts as diplomatically as possible with his eight year old daughter. "Now, Elsa. The staff is all asleep, and you wouldn't want me to have to wake them, would you?"
Little feet shuffle against the floor. "No, Papa. I don't..."
The King smiles at his victory, and as a fair king offers another deal. "Good. Now how about a compromise? Once the staff wakes up, we can move your belongings to the room down the hall, and Anna won't even twitch. For now, why don't you sleep with Anna for a while?"
The suggestion instead of soothing her, causes Elsa to panic. "No, Papa. Don't leave me alone with Anna. You can't! I'll do something bad. I know it!"
"Shhh. Your mother and I will be right down the hall, darling. There's no need to fear. You are the future Queen of Arendelle. I know you can do it." He winks and places a small kiss on her forehead.
The Queen, who had been watching over Anna, quickly braids her daughter's platinum blonde hair and tucks her in with own goodnight kiss. "Please try to sleep, darling. Everything will look better in the morning."
As the Queen moves away, Elsa grabs her mother's hand. "Stay until I fall asleep? Please?"
"Okay, dear." Smiling, the Queen nods to her husband that he can leave and slips into the bed to lay next to Elsa, letting her daughter press into her side. She hums a familiar lullaby to soothe Elsa to sleep, and soon enough, both girls are snuggled close to each other and asleep.
The Queen quietly slips out to join her husband in a worrisome conversation that drags on into the night.
However, soon after she leaves, Anna slowly wakes up and upon seeing her sister, her eyes brighten and sparkle. She briefly wonders why Elsa isn't sleeping in her own bed but doesn't complain because she loves it when they have mini sleepovers. The young princess is about to wake up her best friend but then thinks that Elsa looks really tired tonight. Slipping out of bed, the strawberry blonde crosses to Elsa's side and gets the blanket and gently tucks it under the blonde's chin. Back in bed, she snuggles closer to her sister and falls asleep, thinking of her plans on how to rudely wake Elsa in the morning.
Five hours later, the sun breaks over the horizon, and thin rays peek through the window. Servants are piling into the girls room, quietly hauling out Elsa's bed, dresser, and other belongings into the room down the hall. The girls were snuggled together just as they were before and were undisturbed. A smile is on Anna's lips as Elsa sleeps peacefully.
Unbeknownst to the King, little Anna was dreaming of snowflakes and making snow angels with her sister, their hands holding each others as they collapsed into the snow.
After watching his daughters sleep, he regretfully decides it's time to separate the two girls and reaches under Elsa's legs and back to carry her to her new room. He tugs a little and notices Anna being dragged towards him as well. Setting Elsa back down and pulling back the blanket, his heart warms and breaks at the same time.
Even asleep, Elsa and Anna hold hands.
He pries their fingers apart and goes to settle Elsa in her new room, making sure to close both of the girl's doors behind him. With a heavy heart, he drags his feet in exhaustion and returns to his chambers.
Hours later, both girls wake up alone.
One wakes up, excited, only to learn that her sister is gone. She looks up and notices that all of Elsa's stuff has disappeared. Pulling her blanket up to her face, she whimpers and softly calls out to the big, empty room as if this is one huge trick. "Elsa? Elsa?" Her nightgown in a wrinkled disarray with her strawberry blonde hair pointing in all directions, the girl drags her blanket into the hallway, tears rolling fast down her cheeks, and cries out "Elsa? Elsa! Where are you?!" As panic rises, she frantically walks in circles in the large hallway, not knowing where to look, until the tangle of sheets causes her to fall roughly on her bottom.
At the sound of her name, the other groggily opens her eyes. Highly confused, she shoves the blankets off until she freezes – her memory of last night's events thoroughly waking her. It's dark and damp in her new room. She notices the window gives a view to the back courtyard. "This is my new home." She sighs. The eight year old has accepted her fate - if only for the sake of her sister. "Wait! Anna!" she thinks. Her sister's cries quickly pull her out of her thoughts, and the blonde runs to her door.
She opens it and sees it all.
In a pile of blankets near the stairs, Anna is plopped on the castle floor, gripping the blanket in her small fists, and is crying with all the power of her tiny lungs, alternating between sobbing and yelling out Elsa's name. The blanket is sprinkled all over with her tears. Her wet hiccups echo off the castle walls.
From her door about to call her Anna's name, Elsa steps forward to help her sister but is too late. A servant, Gerda, rushes over and scoops up the crying child. Anna struggles, still crying for Elsa, as she's taken to her parents' chambers and disappears around the corner.
The princess closes her door and leans against its back, sliding down to the floor. She covers her face in her hands. She had never seen her sister cry like that before, and once again, it was all her fault. "Anna, I'm so sorry." Unwillingly, tears began to roll down her cheeks. Elsa didn't feel like she deserved to cry while her little sister was hurting, but because Anna was in pain so was she. Staring at her walls, she thought. "I'm alone." The fact resonated deep within her – she was alone. No one to snuggle with, and no best friend to hold her hand at night.
Climbing back into bed, she clutched her blanket and stared at her door.
The door was closed, and that would be that way it would always be from now on.
A/N: Sorry for all the angst guys, but honestly that's my expertise. Expect happier chapters from here on out. REVIEWS ARE ENCOURAGED!