"Shh…" Anna hushed, still rubbing Elsa's stiff back. Her fingers felt the silkiness of her blue satin nightgown. Elsa was shaking less as she quietly rested her head on Anna's shoulder. The ice slowly evaporated, having every inch of them disappearing into white and blue glitter. The twinkling lights gradually rose like the small lanterns in Corona and finally vanished into thin air when they were near the corniced ceilings. Anna prolonged a sigh, relieved that she was just in time to help Elsa before she sent off another winter in the castle. Hesitantly, Elsa stretched out her arms- unsure whether she should place it around Anna's waist or just around her back. Or do people usually just hug wherever they wanted?
Finally, she just cuddled Anna around the middle. Anna let out a soft giggle. "Okay?"
"Yeah…" Elsa mumbled, tightening her hug. She enjoyed Anna just rubbing her back. It made her warm. It's good warm. "What happened?"
Anna wanted to let go of Elsa for a while to fully explain but suddenly, Elsa didn't break loose of her joined arms. So, she just continued on cuddling. "I woke up feeling a bit too cold and I knew something was wrong so I thought it wouldn't do any harm in checking up on you and when I reached your door, I realized that there was mist coming out of the gap so I barged in with all the ice on the door cracking real loud," Anna took a deep breath. "It was interesting that you were still sleeping soundly… well, not that soundly, I guess," Elsa blinked, still silent. "So… I realized that your whole room was icy but you were sleeping and I guess you were sleeping in kind of a weird position," Elsa finally let go to let her sister see her raised brow.
"What position?"
"Like a dying caterpillar," Anna nonchalantly replied. Elsa tilted her head, not being able to understand what she truly meant. "Well, you know, you were curling up on the bed. You had a real bad dream. Took me quite a while to really wake you up," Elsa averted her eyes to a spot on the bed. It was the last spot of ice to finally sublimate. Staring into space, she tried to remember what the dream was about. If it were a nightmare, one of her most frequent nightmares would have to be her almost killing Anna when they were mere children. But she didn't remember accidentally hitting her sister in her dream. She didn't recall looking at Anna's chubby face while cradling her with trembling arms. Did she?
"A nightmare…" Elsa said in barely a whisper. She looked back at Anna, admiring the abundant freckles on her nose and cheeks. Sluggishly, her hands crept nearer to her chest and she looked down to them. She remembered. It wasn't killing her sister. "I dreamt that I killed Mama and Papa," Anna's blue eyes widened. Her lips pursed in terror, looking around the room to see whether it was freezing or not. Thankfully, it wasn't.
"Well at least we all know that that dream isn't true," Anna cracked, faking a wide grin. She flapped her hands, trying to get Elsa's attention. "Hey, Elsa, Elsa, do you know what you need to do?" Elsa shook her head, still staring at her hands. "You need to chill,"
That made her laugh. She giggled along with her sister, shrugging her shoulders. Anna stared at the Queen, happy that she finally made Elsa snap out of her depression, even if it was just a short moment. Anna lightly pushed Elsa backwards, letting her lay down on the cozy bed. She tucked Elsa under the covers properly, patting around the stomach. She needed rest. All this stress as the Queen was slowly rapturing her. It wouldn't hurt having her sleep for a couple more hours in the morning before actually starting the day, right? "Are you okay now?" Elsa nodded, smiling. She couldn't have been more grateful to have a sister like Anna. Brave. Innocent. Caring. Loving.
Anna gave one last smile before standing up. She turned around and began heading towards the exit when she felt two hands gripping tightly on her arm, particularly grabbing only on the sleeve. "Wait!" Elsa whispered, almost sounding as though she was begging in desperation. Anna turned around again, her unbraided hair swirling and gracefully landing on her slim shoulders. Elsa looked at it and saw the blond streak on her hair. She thought that it vanished when she thawed her sister's heart. Well, it looked like it didn't then. Anna looked down and saw Elsa, her lips apart. Then, she pressed her lips but her blue eyes were still locked onto Anna's.
"Okay, okay," Anna said smiling, coming back to the bed and taking off her boots. She laid down beside Elsa, getting under the blankets with her. She could hear Elsa sighing in relief. The moment they settled, Elsa rested on her side, facing Anna. She placed a thoughtful arm around her middle, wanting to enjoy Anna's warmth again. She was a portable furnace, Elsa thought. She was almost the total opposite of Elsa. Smiling, they both dozed off easily.
Elsa woke up. And again, it was weird. She looked at her side but she found Anna gone. Expecting to see the single line of sunlight casted on the carpet, what she saw instead was the moonlight casting shadows of the triangular window frames. She looked at the window again, blinking hazily. She could've sworn that Anna shut the curtains. 'Wait…' Elsa thought, squinting her eyes through the dark. She ran her eyes up and down the window- the triangular window that she would press her nose against to see the outside when she was lonely in her room. She spent most of her time gazing out of that window. 'There aren't any curtains on that window…'
Panicking, she looked around her room. The grandfather clock was ticking and it ticked 1.13. It was about an hour past midnight. Did she sleep for the whole day? She kicked the covers out of the way, hastily jumping out of the bed. And then she remembered. She woke up because of something. She was startled by a sound. A sound… Elsa rubbed her temples with the tip of her slender fingers. She hurried to the wardrobe where she grabbed a shawl to drape over her shoulders. Passing by the dressing table that was heavily decorated with blue snowflake patterns, she saw herself in the mirror. She looked ghostly. Her skin was paler than her usual pale. And her eyes had rings.
"Why did I wake up again?" Elsa whispered to herself. "A sound…" She said, rushing to her door. When she attempted to open it, it clanked against the stoppers, realizing that it was locked. She was confused. Anna couldn't have barged in when the door was locked and she couldn't have locked it even if she were to come out of the room. It was all a dream, Elsa realized. Anna comforting her, hugging her, that was all a dream. "A sound…" Elsa said again, unlocking the door. She still found it weird unlocking that door. She was unlocking a door, which she once locked for thirteen years. "A sound… of a girl screaming…"
