It was 1934, the height of the Great Depression. The Arendelle family lost everything when the stock market crashed. They were currently living in a two bedroom apartment in Philadelphia, while Agnarr, the girls' father, worked in a slaughterhouse and his children went to school.
On their way home from school one day, Elsa saw Anna admiring a dress in a shop window. Anna had never had a new article of clothing before, every thing she'd ever owned had been a hand-me-down from Elsa. When the blonde saw the way her ten-year-old sister couldn't take her eyes from the display, she knew what she had to do. Anna was going to have that dress, no matter what Elsa had to do.
She had to find a job. She asked around everywhere, but she was having no luck. All Elsa could think of was how her sister's face had lit up looking at that dress, and how that light had dimmed when she walked away from it. Anna deserved it. She didn't care what she had to do, she would find a way to buy it for her little sister.
She knew there were boys in her school that worked the coal mines or in various factories and that they made enough money to live off of, but none of the girls that tried were able to support their families. After a week's consideration, she finally arrived upon the only logical solution.
That night, before bed, Anna caught her cutting off her hair. "Elsa?" the young ginger asked, staring in shock at the mass of platinum hair that had already fallen to the floor. "What are you doing?"
"Cutting my hair," Elsa replied glibly.
"I can see that!" Her little sister whined. "But why? I loved your hair."
"I need to get a job and they're not hiring girls. I'm going to go as a boy," she explained, neglecting to mention the reason she was seeking employment.
"Why? Papa already looks after us, you don't need to work too. Our parents just want you to focus on school, you'll find a husband to take care of you eventually," she slowly approached her older sister, reaching her hand out to what remained of the older girl's hair.
"I want to save up for college," Elsa explained, thinking on her feet, "I know our parents can't afford it, but I want to be able to do something with my life, I don't want to just be a housewife, I want to help people and look after myself."
"What's wrong with being a housewife?" Anna asked. "Mama does it and she's the smartest person I know."
"There's nothing wrong with it," Elsa sighed. "I just want to go to college, and I need to start saving. Want to help me cut my hair or are you just going to play with it?"
Anna hesitated but took the scissors and aided her sister in butchering her beautiful blonde tresses. "Why do you have to pretend to be a boy?"
"Because boys are the only people that get any respect and any money," the blonde growled back. "And I'll do whatever it takes to receive the same."
The next morning, Agnarr and Iduna stared dumbfounded at their oldest daughter as she ate her toast. "What happened to your hair?" Her mother asked in a frightened whisper.
Elsa ate her toast without replying, trying to think of what to say, she had not thought any of this through, she just wanted to get her sister that dress.
"There was gum stuck in it," Anna interjected. "I helped her cut it off."
"How did gum end up in her hair?" Iduna asked, glaring at the two girls.
"I did it," Anna continued, "I was trying to get her attention and was blowing a bubble and instead of it coming out as a bubble I kind of spat gum in her hair."
Elsa stared affectionately at her sister. She deserved that dress more than anyone else had ever deserved anything. She was the best little sister that Elsa could have asked for.
Iduna continued staring between the two girls. "Elsa, is this true?"
"Yes, Mama, but it's fine," Elsa answered.
"But your hair –"
"I like it like this," she insisted.
Iduna continued watching the girls suspiciously, but didn't take any action to punish either of them.
The girls at school on the other hand, ensured that they made Elsa's life a living hell. Elsa could ignore it though, she could make it through anything if it meant that it would make Anna happy. She was, however, reasonably certain that showing up in her frilly dress would not convince anyone that she was a boy. She needed to obtain a boy's clothes. She managed to find one roughly her size and decided to approach him, but she had no idea what to ask him; clothes weren't exactly a freely available resource, and she didn't think she had anything he might want. Nevertheless, she had to try.
"Hi," Elsa announced, sitting across from the boy.
He stared at her blankly. "What do you want, bulldyker?" he asked, uttering the same term that she had heard from half the school already.
Elsa stayed calm, staring down the boy, "A set of your clothes," she answered.
"What?" he asked, staring at her as his mouth slowly drooped open.
"I need a set of your clothes, what do you want in exchange for them?" she offered, trying to keep her voice steady, she hadn't thought any of this through.
"For what?" He asked, eyeing her warily.
"Why does that matter?" She asked, returning the look. "Bring me some clothes tomorrow."
"Give me your lunches for a month," he decided, finally willing to consider the trade. She noticed that there was no food in front of him.
"A week," she spat back.
"Deal," he stuck out his hand. She took it. His grip was firm and she tried to imitate it. "I'll bring the clothes tomorrow, give me your food now."
She did so, giving her meal a lingering glance as she slid it across the table. "I'll see you tomorrow," she agreed before walking away.
Once she had the clothes, finding a job took surprisingly little time. Due to the economy, places were always looking to hire children as they would accept less pay, could fit in smaller places, and would even work during strikes. The first few attempts were foiled by people realizing that she was a girl, but by the third day she had managed to alter her inflection enough that no one noticed, and by the fourth she had been hired.
Elsa was now a coal miner. She worked every weekend, taking a train with several other miners to the nearest coal mine. If she had been younger than twelve, or if she had lied about her age as well as her gender, then she would have stayed outside the mine and only had to sift out the rocks, but she had told the truth, so she would be spending her time underground.
That first night at Elsa's new job, Anna stayed up the whole night in their bedroom, sitting, pacing, and watching the clock. She trusted Elsa to look after herself, but coal mines were dangerous and anything could happen.
She imagined all of the different fates that could befall her sister: dynamite setting off an explosion, a cave-in crushing her, running out of air, every possible fate ran through the girl's mind. When it was almost midnight, after she had run through each of these scenarios ten times and their parents had long since gone to bed, she heard the door open and the tired footfalls of her older sister. She waited, holding her breath, as the blonde walked into their room. "You're okay!" she whispered as loudly as she could risk without waking their parents.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Elsa smiled tiredly, her lips barely managing to curve.
"You're working in a mine! Anything could have happened. I was so scared," she sobbed, hugging her sister tight, her tears leaving streaks down the older girl's coal-caked clothes.
Elsa stared, her eyelids barely managing to stay open enough to accomplish the task. "I need to do it so I can pay for college," she lied; even in her tired state, she wasn't willing to ruin the surprise. She had been considering keeping the job to do that anyway, so it wasn't much of a lie.
Anna stepped back to look up at her sister and came away covered in coal dust. "Then get a job when you're in college! You don't need to do it now." She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "You're just twelve, Elsa, you don't have to do everything."
"But I do have to sleep. Please, Anna, can we talk about this in the morning?"
After a moments consideration, she only replied "You're filthy. Take a shower first, then go to bed. I'll wash the clothes and hide them," Anna insisted, pulling at the older girl's outfit.
Elsa barely resisted as the clothes were dragged off of her. "You need to sleep too," she tried to insist.
"Not as badly as you do. Clean up and go to bed, I'll take care of the clothes, I promise." Instead of waiting for more arguments, she proceeded to the other room to hand-wash the soot covered clothes. When she was done, she hung the clothes up in their closet to dry and climbed into bed to wait for her sister, but fell asleep immediately.
They didn't have that conversion the next morning. Elsa overslept and only woke up when Anna all but dragged her from the bed so she wouldn't be late for work, and she didn't return home until Anna was already in bed. They didn't manage to have it the next morning either, as Elsa was still too tired from work to be up before it was time to leave.
That afternoon when they returned home from school, Iduna met Elsa with a glare that cut right through her. "Young lady, where have you been all weekend?" She asked, a knife in her hand for the carrots she was cutting.
Elsa panicked, blue eyes staring back at her mother's green. She opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out. All that time and she hadn't come up with an excuse.
"Elsa got a job," Anna interjected, saving her sister yet again.
"Oh did she?" Iduna growled as a chunk of carrot flew over the girls' heads.
"Yes," Anna continued, as Elsa watched, her mouth still trying to form words. "She's helping a seamstress out on the weekends. Just to earn some money for college."
Their mother calmed a bit at that news, at least it wasn't something dangerous. "Oh, well that's very responsible of her," she reasoned. "Your sister was always quite good at sewing. Why didn't you tell me, Elsa?"
Elsa's mouth finally formed words. "It was all very sudden, I never had the chance."
Her mother glared again at that, but didn't press her any further.
It was over a week before Anna and Elsa finally had their discussion, after Elsa's third day of work and worrying Anna. Elsa closed the front door as quietly as she could, hoping Anna was asleep, like she had been the last time. She walked as silently as she could toward their bedroom, but stopped when she saw her little sister waiting in the kitchen for her with two cups of hot chocolate. "Did you make those yourself?" Elsa asked, worry clear in her voice. "You could've burnt yourself."
"Like how you could hurt yourself at your job?" She stuck out her tongue and pushed the lukewarm drink toward her sister.
Elsa grumbled and sat down, taking a sip of the drink. "Anna—"
"No, I have to wait up every weekend, not knowing if my sister will ever come home. I've been scared sick! You could die, Elsa, this isn't worth it." She barely raised her voice to avoid waking their parents, but it was enough to make her point clear.
"I'm not trying to worry you, but it is worth the risk, I need to do this, I need the money," Elsa insisted, staring down at the young girl.
"For college?" She asked, attempting to sound as derisive as the quiet would allow.
Elsa hesitated; it would be such an easy way to end the argument. "Yes, for college. I want to be able to make something of myself. I'm not going to just marry someone who can take care of me."
Anna glared over the rim of her somewhat-warm chocolate. "And you still have all your fingers and everything?"
Elsa held up her hands, close enough for Anna to make out every complete digit in the dim light. "They're all there. Need to check my toes too?"
"Maybe!" Anna growled, draining the rest of her beverage.
"Can I go to bed now?" Elsa asked, not wanting to upset her sister any further.
"Finish your hot chocolate and you can sleep," she replied, a slight smile showing at the corners of her mouth. "I'm sorry. I was worried." Elsa hugged her little sister tight and pushed her toward the bedroom. She then finished her drink and washed out the cups before joining her.
The next week, she finally had enough time away from school and work to buy the dress. As she walked Anna home, they passed the shop on the way, and Anna paused for a moment to admire that same dress. Elsa was determined to buy it that day. She just had to get away from Anna for long enough to do it. "Do you want some ice cream?" she asked.
"Hm?" The younger girl looked up at her. She was never one to say no to ice cream. "Can I get chocolate?"
"Of course." Elsa grinned as her sister's face lit up. She led her over to a small ice cream shop, which was only a block away from the store. She handed the girl some money, "I have to go to the bathroom, get me a chocolate ice cream too."
Anna stared down at the cash in her hands. "Are you sure?"
Elsa nodded, "I'll be right back." The little ice cream stand didn't have a restroom of its own, so the excuse gave her a perfectly valid reason to head back towards the department store.
She returned a few minutes later, carrying a bag from the store with the dress already wrapped as a present inside it. "What did you buy?" Anna asked, chocolate ice cream smeared around her mouth.
"They wouldn't let me go to the bathroom without a purchase," she explained, avoiding the question and taking her ice cream cone from the redhead's hand. They continued on their walk, their conversation limited by the ice cream they were stuffing into their mouths.
After dinner, Elsa went back to their bedroom and grabbed the present. She sat on their bed, with the dress hidden behind her back and waited. She could hear Anna talking about something with their parents through the door, but couldn't make out most of the words.
Elsa waited for what felt like an eternity, when finally the door opened and her sister walked in. "Anna," Elsa announced, fidgeting with the package behind her back.
"What?" Anna asked, closing the door and stretching.
"I bought you this," Elsa handed the younger girl the present.
Anna stared at it. "You- For me? Why?" She tore at the wrapping paper. "Oh, Elsa," she gasped. "It's the dress I always look at." She held the pink gown up to her body, it looked to be just the right size. "Can I try it on?"
"Of course," Elsa beamed, this was the happiest she'd ever seen Anna, and Anna was not prone to being particularly sad.
She changed into the dress as quickly as she could without tearing at it. "I love it so much, oh my god it looks amazing, you're the best sister ever!" She screamed, pouncing on top of her sister and hugging her. "I love you, Elsa." She grinned.
"I love you too, Anna." Elsa lay back in the bed and fell asleep. She'd worked herself ragged to buy that dress for her sister, but it was worth it.
Anna wore her dress to school the next day. She held her sister's hand as they walked, and thought about everything Elsa had put herself through just so she could have this dress. She wondered if she'd keep working there. She had been so scared of what could have happened, and all this time, Elsa had been doing it for her. "Thank you so much," she said for what must have been the dozenth time.
"You'd never had any new clothes before, you deserved it, there's no need to thank me," Elsa replied, mirroring her sister's exuberant expression.
She squeezed the older girls hand tighter. "Well I want to thank you!"
"All right, you're welcome," she laughed.
Anna showed the dress off to all of her friends. They all also only wore hand-me-downs, and it was the nicest dress most of them had ever seen. She spun and the dress flared out before her, as the other girls admired the flowing fabric.
By the time the school day was over, she'd shown the dress off to everyone and was eager to see her sister again. She saw Elsa on her own, standing by the gate. She didn't have many friends, so while Anna would stop and talk to people, Elsa always ended up waiting there for her. The realization shattered Anna's heart. She'd been so selfish. She made up her mind. Elsa would never have to wait for her again.
She ran to the blonde and grabbed her hand. Her older sister looked down at her in shock. "Did you have a good day?" The redhead asked, her smile shining up at her sister.
"It was all right," Elsa confirmed. "How was yours? Are you ready to go? You didn't forget your books again, right?"
Anna grumbled in response to the last question. "My day was great, everyone loved my dress! Let's go," she led the older girl by her hand.
As they ate dinner, they had to listen to their father discussing something about how Germany was managing to actually provide more jobs for its citizens and that the US wasn't doing anything while the economy continued to plummet and more and more people were losing jobs and hours. "I barely made enough this week to put this meal on our table!" He insisted.
"Then let me help," Elsa pleaded, as she had every time he started this rant, which was most nights. "I have a job, I can help provide for us."
"No, a man needs to be able to take care of his family. You shouldn't be working at all," he insisted, as he always did.
Anna ignored both of the feuding hotheads. She spooned most of her food onto Elsa's plate. The blonde noticed that she was doing this half way through the action, while their father still continued to spout various beliefs. She looked questioningly at the younger girl, her eyes catching chagrined blue-green. "You need the energy," Anna whispered in her sister's ear, as their father continued to bellow, not even noticing the private conversation. "You have work tomorrow, right? I'm not having you pass out because you didn't eat enough."
Elsa tried to push the food back towards her, but Anna insisted, pulling her plate away. After a moment's hesitation, Elsa whispered "Thank you," and resumed her daily argument with Agnarr.
The next night, Anna took a nap to make sure that she'd be awake for Elsa's return. She stayed in their room reading a book after their parents went to bed. When she heard the front door quietly close, she tossed her book to the side, not even bothering to mark her page, and ran to the front room. She found Elsa, looking as dirty and exhausted as she did after every day of work. Anna had to use every fiber of her will not to hug the older girl. "I'll wash your clothes and make you dinner, you go shower," she instructed.
"Anna, it's too late too eat," Elsa reasoned.
"You need to keep your strength up, I saved leftovers for you, it'll only be a few minutes."
Elsa did as she was told, too tired to resist her sister's demands. When she was done showering, she changed into her pajamas and returned to the dining room to find a meal waiting for her. Anna sat there patiently, with two cups of tea cooling for them. Elsa took the seat across from her and looked down at the food. "Anna, there's an entire meal here, did you not eat dinner?"
"Mama made enough for both of us, I told her I'd heat it up for you. I didn't want to eat without you."
"You didn't have to wait up for me."
"Yes, I did," Anna insisted.
Elsa smiled. "Thank you." The two ate in amicable silence for a few minutes. "You know-" Elsa began.
"What?" Anna prodded.
"If you take care of your husband half as well as you do me, you'll make an amazing wife," Elsa laughed.
Anna's face went completely red. She managed to sputter out "Thank you," while she tried to hide her face behind her teacup. Elsa didn't seem to notice.
After dinner, the two girls went to bed. Her sister fell fast asleep and Anna curled herself around the older girl. "I love you," she whispered into Elsa's hair.
As the years went by, Elsa continued at her job and Anna continued to look after her, cover for her, and do everything else that she could do for her sister. Elsa was now genuinely saving for college and for her future, despite their father's continued insistence against it. "What are you even going to do for college?" Anna asked one night, as they lay in bed on a school night, neither of them finding sleep.
"I want to be a doctor," Elsa replied slowly. She'd never spoken the words out loud before and it felt strange to give them life.
Anna looked over at the older girl, admiring every inch of her flawless face. Her gaze drifted down, her sister was coming into her own as a woman and Anna couldn't help but admire her body as well. "Why?" Anna finally asked, tearing herself away from her reverie.
"I want to be able to provide for myself, and I want to do something that really helps people," Elsa responded, her words still slow, as she revealed a part of herself she'd never shared with anyone. "And I want to do nothing even slightly like mining ever again once I'm done here."
"I think you'd be a great doctor."
Elsa stared at her little sister. "You really think so?"
Anna nodded, watching the older girl's ice blue eyes as they looked into her own teal ones.
"Thank you," she sighed, laying back to try again to sleep.
Anna attempted the same, but with far less luck. The thought that had been niggling at her brain for the last two years finally found its ground. She knew why she had been focusing all of her attention on her sister. It wasn't to thank her for the dress or because she thought that she was lonely. She was in love with Elsa.
It had been a year since Elsa had confessed her ambitions. She still worked at the mine every weekend, and she had managed to accumulate a sizable savings, enough to pay for her undergrad at the very least. She never spent any of the money on herself, only occasionally buying a present for her sister. She wasn't sure how she would have managed to make it through the last three years without her. She had no idea what possessed her to look after her the way she did, but Elsa was eternally grateful.
One night, after a long shift, they shared a dinner as they always did, and returned to their room. Instead of climbing into bed, Anna began pacing. Elsa watched the redhead wander around the room. Something was clearly bothering her. Even as tired as she was, Elsa couldn't ignore it. "Anna-" she started.
"I love you!" Anna shouted, loud enough to risk waking their parents. She stared at the older girl, shaking and attempting to swallow a knot in her throat.
"I love you too," Elsa laughed. "What's the matter?"
Anna stared at her, uncomprehending. "That is what's the matter. Wait, you love me too?"
"Of course, Anna, you're my sister," Elsa climbed back out of bed and walked over to the young redhead, watching her worriedly.
"Oh," her face fell and she stared at the floor.
"What's going on with you?" Elsa insisted, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything."
Anna watched her sister's lips form the words, unable to shake the image of kissing them. "I'm just tired," she lied. "It's making me loopy. Let's go to bed."
"Anna, something's clearly wrong, I'm not just going to drop this."
The hand on her shoulder stopped her from turning away. She averted her gaze and said to the ground "I really love you. Like want to marry you love you."
Elsa stepped back, staring in shock and confusion at her little sister. "You-" she stopped, shaking her head. This didn't make any sense. There was no way her sister was in love with her. That was just wrong. "You don't know what you're saying."
Anna kissed her. She pushed away, her eyes wide, staring at the young redhead before her. "What are you-"
"I love you," she said again, tears falling from her eyes. Elsa only watched in horror as the girl she thought she knew collapsed to the floor.
Elsa slept on the couch that night. Their parents didn't ask any questions the next morning, which was good because Anna was the one who always came up with their lies. Fortunately, before she had the chance to try to form a story, she had to leave for work. She grabbed the extra pair of clothes, behind the pair that Anna had washed the night before which were still hanging in the closet, and left for work.
When she returned home, she found only a quiet apartment, with no dinner waiting for her, and no one to wash her clothes. She pulled them off and showered, then collapsed onto the couch in her pajamas, with the dirty clothes stuffed away in the closet unwashed; she was simply too tired.
Anna didn't wake her up the next morning and she arrived in class without a minute to spare, due only to the fact that sleeping in the parlor made sure that the morning movements awakened her. After school, Anna didn't meet her at the gate like she had every day for the past three years. Elsa had started high school, but she still met her sister at her school's gate every day. She wasn't sure if she should wait, she probably wanted to see Anna even less than Anna wanted to see her, but she couldn't just abandon her. What would she say to their parents?
She waited for a few minutes, hesitating, before she started to turn. Just then Anna walked through the front doors of the school. She avoided making eye contact, but she walked up to her, and the two walked home in silence, neither one able to figure out what to say. When they were climbing the stairs up to their apartment, Anna finally said "I'm sorry I didn't have dinner ready for you last night."
Elsa stared at the younger girl. She had broken her heart, and Anna just felt bad that she hadn't continued to look after her. "Anna-"
"Forget it. I'll wash your clothes tonight. Forget I said anything, okay? I'm sorry." She blinked back tears and opened their door.
Elsa didn't have the chance to reply as Anna ran to their bedroom. Instead of following after her sister, Elsa decided to help her mother with dinner. She wasn't ready to face Anna again, as cowardly as it may be.
The next Saturday, when Elsa came home from work, there was a single dinner waiting for her. Her sister had left it on the table. It was still hot; she had grown surprisingly good at predicting when Elsa would return home, but she had left her to eat alone. They had barely talked since the younger girl's confession, and Elsa found herself desperately missing her little sister.
After eating, she crawled into bed. They had silently reached an uneasy agreement and now slept on opposite edges of the small bed, not risking even the slightest contact. Elsa missed her sister's warmth.
Anna had still been awake when her sister settled into bed and she listened to the sounds of her soft breathing as Elsa fell asleep. She hated herself for what she'd said. She'd ruined everything, and now instead of holding her older sister in her arms as she slept, she could only toss and turn fitfully, desperately trying to avoid rolling into her and upsetting the older girl again. She stayed awake the entire night until Elsa left for work in the early morning.
Her parents left her alone as she slept the day away in the empty bed. She woke in tears every few hours, her sister's name on her lips. The last time she woke, it was dark out. She realized that Elsa should be home any minute and she hadn't prepared any food for her. She slowly climbed out of bed and slunk towards the kitchen. Their mother had left food for both of them in the icebox. She wondered if she had come in to check on her while she slept. She wondered if she'd heard her cry her sister's name in her sleep.
She heated up dinner for both of them in the oven, yawning as she waited for the food. Her stomach growled; she hadn't eaten since dinner the previous night.
Once it was done, she took both meals to the table, intending to eat alone before her sister returned, but the second she picked up her fork, she heard the front door unlock. Elsa's foot steps sounded in from the foyer, and she saw a dirty blonde woman peek her head around the corner.
"You're awake," Elsa stated dumbly.
Anna only stared at her, too frightened to speak.
"I'll go shower, but," she hesitated. "If you want to wait for me I'll have dinner with you."
Anna's eyes widened and she gazed at her sister, their eyes meeting for the first time in a week. She nodded before choking out "I'll wash your clothes."
After Elsa's shower, the two sat down at their table to eat their lukewarm food, neither of them wanting to bother with heating it up again. "I've missed you," Elsa offered, as she swallowed a helping of mashed potatoes.
Tears fell from Anna's eyes again. She'd thought she'd cried herself out. "I've missed you too. I'm sorry for ruining everything."
Elsa took the time to swallow another spoonful before she replied. "I'm sorry I reacted the way I did."
"So we're talking again?" Anna asked, choking back sobs.
Elsa nodded in response, as her own tears joined her sister's.
It was another year before they discussed Anna's confession again. Things had returned to their usual pattern. Elsa walked Anna to school every morning and back home every afternoon and Anna looked after Elsa when she returned from work on the weekends.
Anna had matured in that time and Elsa had realized just how important the younger girl was to her. It was during summer vacation, shortly after Anna's fifteenth birthday. She was wearing the new green frilly dress that Elsa had bought her as a birthday present and Elsa noticed something about her sister: that she'd grown into a beautiful woman. Anna's words had had time to marinate in Elsa's head, and she slowly began to fear that the girl's feelings may not have been as unreciprocated as she had first thought. The way she saw her sister that day only confirmed her fears.
However, she knew that she could never act on this. She was Anna's older sister and it was her job to protect her, even from herself. There was no possible future for them if they were together. She would be leaving for college in another year, she only had to resist until then.
They were sitting on the roof of their apartment building, staring up at the stars when this realization had struck her. When she came out of her thoughts, she found Anna looking at her quizzically. "What?" Elsa asked.
"I asked if you wanted any more popcorn," Anna laughed.
Elsa blinked and nodded, taking the snack as they continued to admire the constellations above them. She let herself imagine what her life would be like if she did give in to this new desire, but all the could see was pain and suffering. She shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. She wouldn't do that to Anna.
Elsa's birthday was often overlooked. Being only four days before Christmas, when their family had barely any money, even with the Depression over, she usually received only a small trinket and a cake. Anna didn't have any money, and she couldn't exactly ask Elsa for it, but she was determined to make the day special for Elsa. It was quite possibly the last birthday she'd ever see her. She knew that things seemed normal again, but after what she had said and done to her sister, she had trouble believing that the older girl would ever want to see her again after she left for college.
She had pawned her new dress and the necklace that Elsa had given her the year before, as well as the jewelry her parents had given her for her last three birthdays. She cried doing it, but it was the only way she could manage to afford what her sister deserved.
After cake and the meager gifts their parents offered, they all listened to a radio program together. When it was over, Elsa said that she was tired and walked off to their bedroom. Anna followed behind her, the present already wrapped and waiting on the bed.
Elsa stopped short when she opened the door. She saw the delicately wrapped box, and looked behind her to see the redhead following her. Anna nodded encouragingly, and Elsa turned back to the box. She walked slowly to it and Anna closed the door behind them as the blonde gingerly removed the wrapping, not risking ripping the material.
She gaped at the silk dress in her hands. It was a dark blue elegant cut from the 20s. "Where on Earth did you find this?" Elsa asked. Silk had been in short supply since most of the rest of the world had entered the second world war.
"Don't worry about it," Anna replied. She had seen it in that pawn shop before she'd decided to sell everything, but Elsa didn't need to know what she'd given up for her, she just needed to be happy. "Do you like it?"
"Like it? I love it!" Elsa screamed. "I love you."
Anna blinked. Elsa pulled her to her and kissed her. "I love you," she said again.
"I love you too," Anna squeaked. This was worth it.