Day 2: First Kiss

This one is super fucking short and I'm sorry, I had a hard time coming up with anything A

The night after the thaw had been a time for celebration, or so the kingdom had collectively decided, and after all the lavish festivities (on top of, you know, dying for a few seconds) Anna was exhausted.

Exhausted in a good way. But still.

She should have been able to happily fall into bed with the knowledge of a kingdom saved and a job well done; but there was a major obstacle to this particular goal, in the emotions buzzing stupidly in her chest.

Anna realized that she literally could not bring herself to leave Elsa.

Elsa, who she'd loved even through the door and the isolation, who she'd even occasionally hated, whose voice and presence she'd been afraid of forgetting all of her young life. And the Elsa that was with her now was as much herself as she had been when they were children, even moreso.

It was silly, and she knew it. It had been easy to mask during the party, but now that the crowd had dispersed and she and Elsa were well and truly alone (walking towards their shared wing) she would have to come up with some excuse.

There was an awkward silence between them-really, what does one say when there is so much to said?-and Anna fought a little against her tiredness to keep up with Elsa's exuberant strides.

"I'm assuming you'll want to, ah, go to sleep now, Anna?" Elsa questioned.

"No, I'm fine," Anna straightened her back with assertion, "We haven't been able to talk for so long, I mean…."

"Anna," Elsa smiled (the kind that creased at the edges of her eyes and lit up the room), "there's going to be time for that. Years, even," she said, "so long as you don't try anything heroic again for a while."

Anna blushed and turned away, suddenly sheepish.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Elsa was still smiling at her. It was terribly distracting. She seemed to forget herself for a moment and then recover, clearing her throat and facing forward.

"Please do."

The silence continued for another minute. This hallway seemed remarkably longer than when Anna had last walked down it. Then again it felt like ages since she'd even been in the castle.

"Elsa," Anna said, "I was wondering, if uh-" she was absolutely determined to make sure Elsa didn't leave, and obviously needed to choose her words wisely, "well, do you think I could...stay with you?"

She wanted to say "for a while" but it came out sounding a lot more like forever.

"You mean-oh, yes, uh, I suppose," Elsa was half disbelieving until a little bit of excitement crossed her face.

Anna, purely because she couldn't help herself, reached over to take Elsa's hand, stopping just a hair's breadth from actually taking it. She waited, biting her lip, forcing herself not to back down while Elsa looked at her hand quizzically. After a moment she felt cool fingers slip between her own and she was sure her stupid grin was going to split her face apart.

When they reached Anna's room (Elsa was insistent that it be Anna's room) Anna felt simultaneously as if the blur of emotion had both heightened and fallen, and that Elsa's hands were comfortably cold, and that Elsa was there and she wasn't going away.

"Elsa?" Anna said her name quietly.

"What is it?" Elsa turned to her. Anna realized that she really didn't have anything to say, just her sister's name.

"I...ah…"she squeezed her hand as she fumbled for something to say, "can...can I kiss you?"

Anna swore at herself and vowed to sew her stupid mouth shut in the morning; what on earth had possessed her to even say that? Not that she didn't want to kiss Elsa, she had just been trying to put some earthly label on whatever it was she had been feeling, and of course her voice had betrayed her in such a way that it didn't even sound remotely sisterly-

Elsa's face was bright red, her hand suddenly shaking violently; she clutched at the neckline of her dress and stared at the floor.

Softly, she answered.

"Y...you can," Elsa whispered, "I don't mind...I think."

"You-" Anna sputtered, "you, uh, you think? Are you sure? because if it's too much or you just don't want to-I'm sorry, that was a stupid question. Just forget that I-"

Oh, Elsa was kissing her. On the mouth. Elsa. Actually Elsa. Anna hadn't really meant that, but she'd be damned if she wasn't enveloped in the soft tastelessness of Elsa's lips for one glorious instant, quivering from something terribly beyond herself.

"I said you could, didn't I?" Elsa smiled again. God, that smile. It was dangerous.

"Then," Anna pressed her forehead against Elsa's, closing her eyes, sighing into the feeling of whatever-it-was, "would you mind too much if I kissed you again?"

And this time, not to be outdone, she didn't let Elsa kiss her first.