Author's Note

Hope you liked chapter 1. This was already written so I decided to go ahead and post it.

I don't own Frozen

Chapter 2

Months passed and Anna hardly caught more than a glimpse of her sister. Elsa now spent all of her time locked in her room and Anna couldn't figure out why. She tried to tempt her with drawings, stories and promises of fun outside but every suggestion was met with the same response.

"Go away, Anna."

She was getting very tired of that phrase. Elsa had stopped coming to meals, never left the castle, and even the servants avoided her room. Whenever Anna asked her parents why Elsa never played with her or came out anymore they always said just to leave her older sister alone.

As the seasons began to change, Anna never gave up trying to see her sister. At first she would spend hours outside her door, then when that became tiresome, Anna would wait until Elsa emerged to use the restroom and try to ambush her. During these time Elsa would always flee, calling for their parents until someone would come and separate the girls.

Eventually, Anna began to wonder if her sister's absence was because Elsa hated her. She began to spend less time outside of her sister's door and more time roaming the halls of the castle. It had been very lonely since her father had closed off the gates to the castle; the public never ventured in and foreign dignitaries were not invited to stay. The time continued until Anna could walk past her sister's door without knocking.

For Elsa on the other side of the door, things had been worse than simply wanting a playmate. Directly after being confined in her room, the guilt of nearly killing her sister had caused her powers to break away from her. Elsa would hear her sister when she came to the door and it nearly killed her every time she had to send her away. Elsa carefully avoided Anna, she took meals in her room, and held audience with her parents on the weekends which was practically the only company she received. When Anna started following her to the restroom, Elsa made sure that she only left her room when she was sure Anna was asleep or away.

The loneliness pressed down on her as she grew, making her less like the carefree and happy child that she once was and leaving a girl who was reserved, fearful and solitary. It became a daily occurrence to be criticized and corrected and that only fed into her fear. Every knock on her door was like a shard of ice in her heart and it wasn't uncommon for the King to enter Elsa's room and find the wind howling and the floor covered in snow and the walls covered in sharp icicles. Whenever this happened the King would always scold Elsa and urge her to control her emotions and suppress her powers. Elsa would always insist that she was trying but the King wanted results.

"Conceal, don't feel, Elsa! Control it!" He would tell her.

As she got older, Elsa's power started to manifest even when she was holding items in her bare palms. Every time she picked up a book or pen, it would immediately gain a layer of frost. Elsa also noticed when her sister's presence outside her door waned and she couldn't help feeling a bit relieved; at least Anna wouldn't be subjected to another near death experience at her hands.

The King gave Elsa gloves to cover her hands and the Queen gave her clothes that covered nearly every inch of her skin. This helped Elsa somewhat and after a number of years she was able to hold the magic inside her skin as long she didn't get overwhelmed or upset. Elsa spent most of her time reading and studying the materials that her father gave her to prepare for her reign as Queen. He would spent a couple of hours every night quizzing her about trade agreements and crop output projections. The only freedom that Elsa enjoyed was when she snuck out of her room late at night to roam the halls. Sometimes she just needed to look at some walls other than the ones in her bedroom. She never told her mother about her nightly walks, wanting to keep those stolen moments to herself.

It had now been nearly ten years since Elsa had nearly killed her sister and her 18th birthday was fast approaching. It was at this time in her life that she was supposed to be presented to the people of Arendelle as the heir to the throne and so her father was making multiple trips a day to remind her to conceal her powers. Unfortunately, each reminder just served to increase her anxiety and unleash more of her powers.

Late at night the King was watching as Elsa practiced her short speech. She was struggling under her father's fierce scrutiny, her voice shaking and the cards in her hand icing over due to her lack of gloves. The King sensed as the temperature in the room dropped and interrupted.

"Stop, stop." He shook his head. "You're not controlling it! Any colder and it's going to start snowing in here. What will we do if that happens in front of the kingdom, hm?"

"I'm trying." Elsa replied, shrinking back from his harsh tone. "But I'll be able to wear the gloves during my speech, wont I?"

"Elsa, master this without the gloves, you can't rely on that protection all the time. You know your mother and I will be leaving to finalize the new trade agreements tomorrow and your presentation ceremony is less than a month away." He snapped. He stood to leave. "We'll be gone for 2 weeks. In that time you need to practice. Once we return I will be checking to see how much progress you've made."

The King left the room, closing the door harder that necessary. Elsa flinched and some snow shot from her fingertips. She practiced her speech for another hour before deciding that she should take a break. She left the room and wandered aimlessly throughout the castle, trying to clear her mind. Voices interrupted her mood and Elsa could hear her father and mother talking. They were in the throne room and the door to the hall was open. Her father was upset and her mother was trying to calm him down. Not wanting to be discovered, Elsa turned to go back to her room when she heard her name.

"Elsa will never be ready for the throne!" The King nearly roared. "She has no control and she would be a danger to the country."

"Sweetheart, she tries her best and she has gotten better." Her mother reasoned.

"It's not enough!" He snapped.

"Well what do you suppose we do?" She asked wearily.

"Easy, we make Anna our heir." He stated.

"What?" She asked incredulously.

"It's simple. We announce that Elsa is ill; too ill to take the throne even into the future. We have her abdicate her position to her sister and we present Anna instead. No one in the kingdom has seen Elsa for the past ten years, it wouldn't be a hard thing for the public to swallow." He reasoned.

"But you've been working with Elsa for years, and it's her birthright!" She argued. "Anna has not had the same level of study that Elsa has!"

"She would be glad to make up for it now…" The King trailed off.

Elsa turned and ran from the hallway, being careful not to let her emotions run away from her or let her parents know that she had heard them. Once she was back in the safety of her bedroom, Elsa leaned back against the door and sank to the floor.

"Conceal, don't feel." She chanted. "Conceal, don't feel."

She was losing the slight control that she had. Even after all this time, after all her hard work, it wasn't enough. Her father was ready to give up on her, replace her, and make Anna his heir despite all of her work. A part of her could understand. She was a liability, a freak, and a real danger to those around her. She had worked hard to please her father by controlling her emotions but she was never good enough at it.

Elsa didn't react as snow moved around her and ice covered the door and floor where it come into contact with her body. What would happen after her sister had taken her place as the heir apparent? Would she be allowed to stay here at the castle or would they send her away? What did Anna have to think about this? Elsa had been studying all her life for her position as Queen and she knew Anna didn't have that same level of study. She supposed that Anna did have as many as 20 years to learn before she took over the throne from their father.

As Elsa contemplated her future well into the night letting her room freeze over completely. As the sun rose, she waited for her parents to discover her frozen bedroom. Elsa knew that they were scheduled to leave mid-afternoon and so, when the sun began to set, Elsa was certain; her parents had left without saying goodbye.