Again, thank you for all the faves! I really appreciate it! Anyway, here's the third chapter. Hope you enjoy, and please review!


Chapter 3: Isolation

For the next couple of days, Anna stayed locked in her room, refusing meals and refusing to see or speak to anyone, even Kristoff. He was seen outside her door several times the day after her outburst, talking softly to her, with little to no response. He even went outside to find Olaf and had him try to talk to Anna, but with no result. After two days of almost nothing, Kristoff, confused and worried, went to look for Elsa, wanting a reason for Anna's unresponsiveness. Finding her in the library, overseeing the installation of some new curtains in Arendelle's colors of purple and green, he confronted her about it.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty?" he said awkwardly.

Elsa turned, and seeing that it was Kristoff, smiled. "Kristoff," she said. "You've been spending a lot of time in the castle over the last year, so I think it's okay that you call me by my given name."

"Yes your Maj—I mean, yes, Elsa," he said, correcting himself. "Would it be possible to go somewhere more….private?"

"Of course," Elsa replied. Turning to the servants hanging the curtains, she said, "Once you've finished in here, there's another set of new curtains waiting to be hung downstairs in the ballroom."

"Yes, Your Majesty," one of them said.

"We'll go to my study," Elsa said, preceding Kristoff out the door and into the hallway, her skirts swishing softly on the carpeting. She opened a door at the end of the hall and led him into a brightly lit room with light, wood-paneled walls. A large, arched window with richly-colored drapes faced them, letting in the sunlight. To their left was a large, built-in bookshelf made of the same wood that paneled the walls and to their right was a large claw-foot desk strewn with papers. A tall, intricately carved chair sat behind it, and two smaller, less ornate chairs of the same style sat in front, angled towards each other.

"Please excuse the mess," Elsa said, walking over to the desk and straightening the piles of papers. "Have a seat."

But Kristoff was too anxious to sit. Instead, he paced around the room with his hands clasped behind his back, the floorboards creaking slightly under his feet.

"What's wrong with Anna?" he said abruptly, looking at Elsa. "She hasn't been seen for two days. She won't eat anything, she won't talk to anyone, and she won't come out of that room."

Elsa sat down in her chair and covered her face with her hands. She had been afraid of this. She knew someone was going to ask about Anna's peculiar behavior, but she didn't think it would come from the man Anna loved.

Elsa sighed, removing her hands from her face and folding them on top of the desk in front of her. "We had an argument," she replied. "Well, it was more of a one-sided argument. She got mad when I said I couldn't tell her about our private meeting. She thought that since we were keeping it so secret, there must be something going on between us. She accused me of ruining her second chance at true love, like I had ruined her first. Fortunately, she realized her own mistake the first time."

Kristoff let out a breath. "Whew," he said. "I was worried it was something serious. Well, I'm sure she'll feel much better day after tomorrow when I make my surprise announcement. I want to thank you again for your approval."

"Well, you were there when she really needed someone, and you risked a lot trying to save her," Elsa said, standing up again and smiling. "I can't thank you enough and I will never forget it. And I'm sure she won't, either."

Kristoff smiled uncomfortably and blushed slightly. "We still have to get her out of that room, though," he said, looking at Elsa.

"I'm sure I can think of some way to get her down to the party," Elsa replied, smiling. "I am the queen, after all. But I may need some special help. Would you be willing?"

"Anything to get her out of that room," said Kristoff, grinning back. "And maybe we can get Olaf to help us. I'm sure he could be of use."

"Absolutely," said Elsa, still smiling. "Tell you what, why don't you go find him and I'll meet you in the library in about an hour?"

"Sounds like a plan," said Kristoff, walking towards the door. "Thank you for your help."

"She's my sister," said Elsa as she showed him out. "I'd do anything for her. See you in an hour."

"Yes, Elsa," Kristoff replied, and he was gone.

Elsa closed the door on the now empty hallway and leaned against it, closing her eyes. She had been hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to this. She'd be keeping yet another secret from the sister she loved so much. "I'm sorry, Anna," she whispered to herself, a tear escaping from behind one of her closed eyelids. "But I'm only doing this because I love you." She opened her eyes, wiped her face, and went to sit behind her desk once again to start working out a plan to get Anna out of her room the day after tomorrow.


Anna sat hunched in a corner of her slowly darkening bedroom, too tired and too upset to get up and close the drapes or light a lamp. She had cried so much over the past two days her eyes were red and puffy, and tears stained her cheeks. She'd been ignoring every knock and summons to come out, not wanting to be with or talk to anyone, especially her sister.

How could Elsa do that to her?! Right after the Great Thaw a year ago, they had promised to never keep secrets from each other anymore. But now, Elsa was keeping the biggest secret of all from her. How was it possible that Kristoff, her Kristoff, could like Elsa more than her? Ever since the thaw, they had spent every possible moment together, having picnics, going for walks in the garden, and sometimes just cuddling in the library or in Elsa's study. There had been no time for him to be with Elsa, because he and Anna were hardly out of sight of each other. At least, that's what she had thought.

Angrily swiping the tears from her eyes, Anna stood up and stalked over to her vanity. Seeing her red, puffy eyes and tear tracks on her face, she snatched up her pouf and powdered her face, trying to hide the evidence of her crying episodes, pushing a little harder than she meant to and almost grinding the powder into her face. She didn't care, though. Each furious jab with the pouf made her feel better and when she had finished, her anger had almost abated. Until she heard another knock on her door.

"Your Highness?" said a young woman's voice. It was the same servant she'd heard at every mealtime while locked in her room, probably bringing yet another tray of food that would go untouched.

Anna sighed exasperatedly. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? There was an explicit reason why she had locked her door: she didn't want to be disturbed. Why couldn't they respect that—Elsa, Kristoff, the servants, and everyone else who had tried to get her to come out? She would come out when she felt like it, and that day was not today. It probably wouldn't be tomorrow, either, or maybe even the next day. She knew that the day after tomorrow was Elsa's birthday, but just because she was the queen's sister didn't mean she had to attend. Deliberately not showing up would definitely show Elsa that she could keep secrets, too. That would show her. Then she'd know how Anna had felt the other day and during those thirteen years of isolation.

But then Anna thought of how Elsa would feel if she saw that she wasn't there. Would she be so upset that she'd release some of her powers and cause another accident? She didn't want to be responsible for someone else getting hurt, especially not on what was supposed to be a happy occasion.

Anna then started to feel foolish for the way she'd been acting. It wasn't fair to Elsa or to Kristoff. Or to anyone else, for that matter. Besides, they hadn't been the ones to upset her, she had upset herself, and because she had been blinded by what she had thought was betrayal. She decided then and there to stop her sulking and get on with her life and forget that this incident had ever happened. She started thinking of what she could do to apologize to Elsa for her behavior, besides just saying "I'm sorry". She thought for what seemed like an hour, and then an idea came to her. Wanting it to be a surprise for Elsa's birthday, she continued to stay locked in her room, but this time, for an entirely different reason.


So, just what is this "surprise" that Anna has in store for Elsa? Well, you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out! That's right: I left you with a cliffhanger! Hahahahaha!