Moments later after Elsa had closed her eyes; three knocks could be heard at the door. Elsa's ice blue eyes popped open. She sat up from her laying position from the bed and turned her head in the direction of the door. She thought she heard someone knock on her door. She waited for a few moments until she heard a very familiar voice. She could hear Anna's voice through the door.
"Elsa? Are you in there? May I come in?"
Elsa hopped off her bed and walked over to the door. She opened it and saw her sister's pleasant face on the other side. Elsa gave Anna a warm yet small smile.
"Anna, you're here. I thought I would go find you, not the other way around."
Anna didn't say much. She just looked at Elsa with a hint of worry swirling around in her ocean blue eyes. She repeated herself to make sure her sister heard her.
"May I come in?"
"Of course you can, Anna."
Elsa stepped aside to leave room for her sister to enter her room before closing the door behind them. Then Elsa went and sat down where she was before on her bed. She smiled at Anna.
"Would you like to talk, Anna?"
Anna sat down next to Elsa and looked at her sister's eyes before noticing the box on the floor. She gestured toward the box.
"What's that?"
Elsa looked at the box and picked it up. She placed it on her lap.
"It's just an old box full of pieces of paper."
"What kind of pieces of paper?"
Elsa blushed a deep shade of rose.
"It's kind of embarrassing. I probably should put the box away."
Before Elsa could get up from the bed, Anna grabbed onto her arm.
"No! Wait."
"What, Anna?"
"Could I see what the pieces of paper are?"
"I don't think you want to see them."
"Please?"
Elsa saw how big Anna's eyes got. She clearly could tell that she wanted to see the papers and she rather let Anna see the papers than risk getting into a fight with her, especially since they just reunited as sisters. Elsa sighed out of defeat.
"Fine. You can look at the papers." Then Elsa handed the box over to Anna. Anna was so intrigued to what the pieces of paper had on them. She removed the box top and picked up the first piece of paper. She turned it around with a wide smile anticipating what interesting thing she would find on the paper. Her wide smile shrunk when she saw that the paper was a drawing she made when she and Elsa were still best buddies. She held the piece of paper at the edges as if it was as delicate as glass.
"I drew this…for you."
Elsa smiled and leaned toward Anna looking at the drawing fondly. "Yes, it is."
"I made this before you stopped playing with me and started isolating yourself from everyone else. I mean, you actually kept this picture of us."
Elsa and Anna looked at each other at the same time. Anna was befuddled while Elsa felt proud to have a sister like Anna.
"Well, I liked the picture and whenever I felt so alone and frustrated not being able to tell you about my powers and not figuring out how to control them sometimes I would pull out this drawing of our family and remembered why it was important to isolate myself and why it was worth the pain and frustration and fear of hurting others. This picture helped me get a lot of difficult times while I separated myself from you. In a way, Anna, you still comforted me through those tough times. It's just that you didn't comfort me physically, but you still comforted me through your drawing."
"I had no idea…"
"That's okay. Why don't you look through the other pieces of paper? They might make you feel better."
"Okay."
Anna and Elsa returned their attention back to the papers in the box. Anna picked up a few more papers and looked at each of them carefully. She smiled cheerfully at the two pieces of paper that she held in a pile of three, but the third piece of paper stuck her in the heart. It was the short letter she wrote to Elsa when they were five and eight years old. It was the first time Elsa refused to play with her. Anna allowed the small pile of papers droop in her hands as she turned to face her sister. Her voice got a little stuck in her throat.
"Elsa?"
"Anna, what's wrong?"
"You…..You saved…"
Elsa could tell what her sister wanted to tell her. She placed a tender and warm hand on Anna's shoulder and patted it.
"Anna, don't worry. We're together now, aren't we?"
Anna only nodded.
"So, we should be happy that we can reconnect as sisters. I'm only letting you see these papers to let you know that I always cared about you even if I risked making you believe that I hated you. If that was the case then it would be okay as long you were safe."
Elsa diverted Anna's attention to the last piece of paper and held it up to her face. Anna had put the papers down on the bed and grabbed the one Elsa was holding for her to take.
"I think it's important that you read the last paper now."
Anna looked at Elsa with great confusion but read the piece of paper anyway. Her eyes followed each word like a zig-zag line on a piece of drawing paper. When she was done reading the note she left for Elsa just a few days after their parents' funeral, Anna gripped onto the paper for dear life as her hands were trembling. Elsa carefully pulled the paper out of Anna's hand before she accidentally crumpled it and placed it on her side of the bed. Afterwards, Elsa placed a caring hand on Anna's shoulder.
"Anna? Are you okay?"
Anna slowly turned her head toward her sister.
"Elsa."
"Yes. What is it, Anna?"
Tears of relief and joy formed in Anna's eyes.
"I did get you back. I do have my sister back now."
Then, without any warning, Anna threw herself toward Elsa and slung her arms around Elsa's body. Elsa completed the embrace by wrapping her arms around her little sister's body and squeezed her tight holding her close to her body. She began to rub Anna's back with her right hand. Then she rested her chin on Anna's shoulder and whispered in her strawberry blonde hair.
"Yes, you do, and I have you back as well. I have you in my arms right where you belong. I promise, nothing will separate us again, Anna."
"And I promise to be there for you always and forever no matter how tough things get between us or for our kingdom."
"I would like that very much."
"Me too, Elsa. Me too…"
After one last warm squeeze, the two sisters let go of each other. They look back at each other's eyes and smile. A comfortable silence radiated the room until it turned into an awkward silence and Anna felt that she still was unsure about why Elsa had isolated herself from others. She knew that Elsa had magical ice powers and that she was afraid of hurting of Anna with them, but what she didn't understand was why Elsa was afraid of using her powers in the first place. Anna awkwardly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat before directing her speech to her elder sister.
"Elsa?"
"Yes, Anna?"
"There's something that I'm not quite sure about?"
"What is it?"
"Well, I can understand that you cared about me and my safety and that you kept all of the pieces and paper I ever given to you, but what I don't understand is why you had to live in fear. Why did you live in fear for so long? What happened?"
A grim, regretful look was etched on Elsa's face.
"I don't think you want to know why, Anna."
"Yes, I do."
"But it's the whole reason I wanted to avoid striking you with my powers."
"So? You still struck me even if it on accident. I know you didn't mean to hurt me and everything turned out in the end."
Elsa was deadly silent. Her voice was so thin and quiet that Anna barely heard what she said.
"The accident is the reason why I was afraid."
"What did you say, Elsa?"
"The accident is the reason why I lived in fear."
"What do you mean?"
Elsa sighed out of emotional exhaustion.
"You know how I accidentally hit you in the heart with my powers?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Well, a similar accident happened when we were five and eight years old."
"What do you mean?"
"Late one night, you woke me up and asked me to play with you. At first, I told you to go back to bed, but you said you couldn't sleep explaining that the sky was awake and so must you be awake. So, without any more doubt, I went out in the grand hall and played with you using my powers."
Elsa paused for a moment to savior the good moments of their fun before everything turned bad. Elsa had a small, nostalgic smile on her face before it disappeared remembering that she had to finish the story to Anna.
"As we played everything seemed fine. We built Olaf and I made him talk and you hugged him….I made mounds of snow and we played around in it and everything was so great. But…"
"But what?"
"You were jumping from one mound of snow that I made to another each one getting a little higher each time…The problem was that you were jumping faster and faster and soon I couldn't keep up and I asked you to stop, but you hadn't heard me."
"What happened after that?"
"You jumped off one mound of snow believing I would make another one just as quickly so you would land on snow instead of the hard ground, but I didn't make a mound of snow in time…You fell toward the ground and I tried to save you by making a mound underneath you except I accidentally hit you in the head with my powers and you fell to the ground unconscious…which also caused part your hair to change into platinum blonde. Once you were on the ground, I rushed toward you and held you close in my arms. I was apologizing for hitting you in the head, crying, and calling help from our mom and dad. Luckily, they came just in time. When they found out what happened, dad told me to be more careful with my powers and we took you to the trolls to heal you."
"Trolls? Were these the same trolls that look like rocks and told me and Kristoff that only an act of true love could thaw my frozen heart?"
"Yes…"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm sure they were the same trolls."
"How come I didn't remember them healing me before?"
"You still were unconscious when Pabbie healed you. Even if you were awake you probably wouldn't have remembered him anyway."
"Why not?"
"When he healed your head, he took away your memory of my powers and left behind all the fun that we had as little kids. For every memory you used to have of my powers, he altered them so they memories that I appeared to be a normal little girl."
"So, does that mean that all of my memories I had of us playing the snow at that point in time were all moments when you used your magic?"
"Yes."
"You mean when you pushed me on the sled?"
"Yes. That was actually me lifting you up in the air with my snow powers."
"What about when we ice skated?"
"We actually did that inside the castle."
"What about when we made Olaf?"
"Right before the accident happened when you were struck in the head by my magic."
"So, all of those memories were altered by Pabbie?"
"Yes."
"It's so weird."
"What is?"
"That a little more than ten years later you accidentally hurt me again with your magic and once again I'm taken to see Pabbie what must be done to heal me."
"You do have an interesting point there, Anna."
"But something still bothers me."
"What?"
"Why did you wear gloves?"
"My gloves were meant to help conceal my magic just how I was conceal myself from the world for mine and everyone else's protection. Father thought that keeping me inside me room and giving my gloves to have some control over my powers that I would be fine."
"You mean, dad told you to stay away from me?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, Anna. He wanted to protect us both and he especially wanted you to never have to know again that I had ice and snow powers. He preferred that you didn't know and that I tried to keep my powers under control. So, that's kind of another reason while I isolated myself from you."
"Oh…"
Anna was shocked from the revelation Elsa shared with her. She stared blankly at the floor. She had trouble putting the pieces together not because she didn't know how to but rather because she didn't want to. She was afraid if she looked at her sister in the eyes then she burst out into tears and if she cried like a big baby then she would be afraid that Elsa would think less of her. Anna couldn't bring herself to lifting up her head and face her sister.
Elsa was starting to get worried about Anna for the fact that she hadn't said anything since she told her the whole truth about why she stayed away from her. Anna just stared at the floor and Elsa felt responsible for her sister unnerving behavior. She felt that it was her fault that Anna was so shocked from the revelation. Elsa was afraid that she scared her sister and that she would think of her differently in bad way; not in a good way. Elsa didn't know she should do, but she wanted to do something. She slowly reached over for Anna and placed her hand on her sister's back and leaned over to align her face with Anna's.
"Anna?"
At the moment she heard her name being uttered by her older sister, Anna shivered. Her heart was beating fast and her stomach churned like fresh butter. She folded her arms over her chest. Elsa was frightened for herself and Anna and in an instant she wrapped her arms around Anna in a motherly fashion. When she tightened her embrace around her sister, Elsa didn't have to think of comforting and loving her sister, she just did it. As Anna felt Elsa's arms wrapped around her, she couldn't stand to keep staring at the floor. She had to face her sister. Anna lifted her head and looked up at her sister's face. However, as soon as she saw Elsa, Anna let out a loud cry and dug her face in her sister's shoulder. No later did she wrap her shaking arms around Elsa's body and cried. Elsa gently rocked Anna back and forth all the while stroking her head with her left hand. Elsa didn't know how long until Anna would calm down and feel better, but she was willing to wait as long as necessary. If she had the chance, she would wait an eternity for her sister to get better. For all she cared, she could stand an hour or more of Anna's crying and sniffling for it was nothing compared to being separated from her best friend and only sister for thirteen painful years. Elsa could handle a few hours of comforting Anna if she had to. She would do anything to rebuild the bond she had with her sister. All she could do for her sister for now was to be patient and comfort her.
To Be Continued…
Note: This story is taking longer than expected. I didn't want to give you guys a super long chapter. I will be able to finish in the next chapter.
