The two weeks her mother had promised went by quickly, as those two weeks turned into another week, and then another week on top of that. A month passed, and Elsa still had no word from her mother. Afraid to go near the house, Elsa called her mother nonstop, until one day the number was no longer in service.

In the meantime, Elsa had to adjust her entire life and schedule around taking care of her younger sister. Since she couldn't afford a baby sitter, and any day care was out of the question, Anna usually tagged along with her, whether it be for class or for work. Her teachers had been lenient on her due to the circumstances. Even Gerda seemed to tone down the disdain she held in light of everything. Elsa hated the charity, but was in such a bind that she had no other choice.

On the contrary, Anna herself was no such burden. She was rambunctious, sure, but extremely well-mannered and did everything Elsa had told her to do. She was quiet when she needed to be, ate whatever was given to her, went to bed without any real hesitation. Surprisingly, she'd warmed up to Elsa rather easily. The older girl was still a little distant; not by choice, just by nature, but she tried, for Anna's sake.

Conversations with the young girl had revealed everything that had been going on in the Anderson household in Elsa's absence. Their father was rarely, if ever around, and from what Elsa could gather, didn't have a job. Their mother, a slave to her sadness, tried to make due on the welfare checks she got. Although there was almost never food and Anna had to sleep in their mother's bed since they couldn't afford to buy her one.

It made Elsa sick, in all honesty. Welfare checks meant a social worker, and that meant the social worker wasn't doing her job. Or didn't care.

Though Elsa foresaw the fiscal issues to Anna's extended stay, the more she learned about her home life, the more relieved she felt. Sure, there wasn't much in the way of proper parental guidance, but at least she was clothed and fed, which is more than her parents had evidently been doing.

It was Christmas Eve, and Elsa had wandered downtown on her break to the mall. She didn't have much time, or money, but she knew that Anna would likely be staying with her over the holidays, and she wanted to make sure the girl had something to open on Christmas day. Gerda had made sure that Anna was distracted when Elsa slipped out, even handing her an envelope with a Christmas bonus (that she didn't even know she'd be getting) on her way out the door. It wasn't that much, but again, enough to at least get Anna a few nice things.

She wandered around, trying to find a Toys R Us or maybe a Disney store. The crowds were thick, and she had a hard time maneuvering. She didn't watch where she was going and bumped into someone.

"I am so very sorry," she said before she even saw who it was.

She was shocked to see that it was her mother, looking a lot better than she did a few weeks ago.

"Elsa," the woman said, turning around to meet her daughter.

A flurry of words and emotions swirled over in Elsa's head, and she didn't even know where to begin.

Her mother must have sensed this as she finally spoke up, "I didn't forget about Anna, honest. I was going to call you."

Composing herself, Elsa said, "Your phone was disconnected last week."

The pause and shift of eyes betrayed her mother's lies, "Oh, well I was going to call."

Elsa looked around, cautious eyes scanning the crowd for her father.

"He's not here," her mother said, "I mean, he's waiting in the car. I just came in to get a few things."

Swallowing her apprehension, Elsa gathered a hint of courage, "When were you planning on coming back for Anna? Not that she isn't welcome in my house, it's just, you said two weeks, and it's been a month."

The woman shrugged, "I know. I haven't forgotten. I know I said two weeks, but I figured you wouldn't mind if she stayed a little longer."

Elsa couldn't believe her ears, this woman speaking and acting as if she had left a book, and not her daughter, at her doorstep.

"Well," Elsa said, "When do you plan on getting her?"

Her mother was stalling, that much was obvious.

"I can't tell you right now, sweetie," she finally said, "Your father and I are going out of town for a few weeks. His sister just had a baby and he wants to go up and see her."

'You have your own baby right here,' Elsa thought, 'and neither of you seem to want to see her.'

"But I promise," she continued, patting Elsa's cheek, "It won't be too much longer."

As her mother's cold fingers slid down her face, the shallow look in her eyes held the truth. She wasn't coming back for Anna for a while.

That was, if she did at all.

Elsa bit back her tears and mumbled something about being in a hurry, hunching over and practically running away from her mother.

There were too many feelings fighting for dominance in her mind. Pity for Anna. Worry about how she was going to care for the child. What would she do about school? What would her father do when he found out where Anna was exactly?

Was she really stuck with her sister? How in hell was she going to raise a five year old girl if so?

The guilt and anxiety was too much for her. She tried to push it out of her mind and went into the Disney store. Elsa didn't even bat an eyelash in nearly emptying her bank account.

It was the least she could do.

xXx

Elsa was distant the rest of the day, to the point that Gerda dismissed her early and told her to go home. She packed up her belongings and got Anna from the children's section. The girl nearly collapsed under the weight of the books Gerda and Hans had gotten her for Christmas, but her joy kept her energy sustained.

When they got home, Elsa let Anna loose to the living room and decided to call for pizza, too exhausted to consider trying to cook anything herself. After she placed the order, she collapsed next to Anna on the couch. The girl had her nose buried in one of her books, her arm snug around the blonde doll Oaken had given her weeks before.

Elsa noted that the book was lengthier than the ones Anna had been reading the previous week.

"You're learning fast, aren't you?" she'd said, ruffling her sister's messy red hair.

"Uh-huh!" The girl said, looking up at her sister with bright eyes, "Gerda said I'm really smart."

"That's because you are," Elsa said warmly.

Anna turned back to her book, and Elsa couldn't help but smile at her. Things had been rocky, and she could even imagine what the young girl had seen back at home, but she was still sweet and vivacious in spite of it.

'At five, she's a better person then I'll ever be,' she thought.

Elsa stood up to open the curtains so they could watch the snow fall.

"When are mama and papa coming back?"

She froze in place, her fingers stuck to the lining of the curtains. It's a question that she'd been avoiding for the last couple of weeks, as Anna hadn't brought it up since the first night.

Elsa weighed her words carefully as she turned around, afraid to initiate contact with the girl in the midst of this conversation.

She thought about lying, but figured there was no point.

"I don't know when they're coming back."

The happiness in Anna's eyes sunk as she closed her book and bit her lip. She even looked on the brink of tears. Elsa, not wanting that to happen (and not knowing what to do if it did), ran over to Anna's side and wrapped a hesitant arm around her shoulder.

A month in, and she still had no idea how to comfort the girl.

Thinking on her feet, Elsa said, "Let's not think about that right now. It's Christmas Eve. We're supposed to be celebrating. What do you want to do?"

The words even sounded a little sad coming out of her mouth, but Anna ignored it, her teary eyes looking to the window.

"Can we do anything I wanna?" she asked.

Elsa nodded, drawing a smile across her face.

Anna mulled it over, but then gasped in excitement. She stood up on the couch and started bouncing.

Turning to face Elsa with a pleading look on her face, "Can we go play in the snow?"

Elsa sighed. Some part of her mind knew that would be the girl's request. But she didn't have the heart to refuse.

"Yes," Elsa said, standing up and gathering their boots and coats from the ground, trying to keep up with the hyperactive girl, "but not until you put your shoes on."

xXx

The snow was only about two inches thick, but that didn't seem to matter to Anna, who'd immediately thrown herself into the ground and started to make snow angels. Elsa sat close by, watching her sister enjoy herself.

After a few minutes, Anna noticed her older sister's absence and ran over to her, grabbing onto Elsa's hands.

"Elsa, come play with me!"

Elsa smiled, rubbing Anna's cheeks, "I think I'll pass. You go have fun."

Anna frowned, "But I want you to play with meeeeeeee."

"I don't think so," she replied.

Anna turned around and started to walk away, but stopped and turned back. She stood next to her sister, tugging at her braid, "Do you want to build a snowman?"

The request caught Elsa off guard. But it was clear her sister wouldn't give up until she obliged.

"Fine," she resigned, letting Anna pull her into the snowy play field.

Elsa quickly got into the spirit, as Anna's spirit was highly contagious. They rolled balls of snow until they were big enough to construct a snowman. Elsa even let the younger girl do most of the work, which she seemed to enjoy.

As Anna lifted the head and settled it on the body, she said, "He's missing something."

"He needs a nose," Elsa said, "And buttons. And arms."

"Let's get them!"

"Okay," Elsa said, standing up, "I'll get the buttons and the nose, you get some twigs for the arms."

"Alright!" the younger girl said, running towards the trees.

After Elsa returned with a carrot from the apartment and some rocks from the garden, Anna ran around while Elsa put the finishing touches on the snowman.

As Elsa turned him around, Anna plopped to the ground, making goofy faces in their direction. Elsa laughed as she crouched behind the snowman, making his arms move.

"Hi, I'm Olaf," she said in the silliest voice she could manage, "And I like warm hugs!"

Anna clapped her tiny hands together, bolting up from her snow pile and throwing her arms around the snowman.

"I love you Olaf!" she said. The girl opened her eyes, running up to her sister and throwing her arms around her neck, "And I love you Elsa!"

Tears bit her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Anna's body, taking in what she'd said. It was the first time either of them had said it to the other in their entire lives.

"I love you too Anna," Elsa returned, watching the snow through blurry eyes, "I love you too my little snowflake."