A/N: Prompt from stuffiliketothinkof; falling. Thanks!

Anna rubbed her hand up and down the material of her dress over her hip. Her fingertips were tingling, a side effect of touching her sister's magic for too long, and this was her last resort before she took to blowing on them with breath that barely warmed the inside of her mouth. "Elsa," she called out again, softly, knowing eventually it would meet the desired ears, "Please, come out here so we can talk?

"I mean, I can continue to talk to myself," she smiled, shaking her head as she looked down to watch herself tromping up the slick icy steps of what seemed to be the third staircase she'd been on, "But It would be much less boring if you were to respond with, say, something that lets me know you're not planning on letting me wander your ice castle for too much longer. Because goodness knows I'm going to stumble into, like, the dungeons and trap myself, starve to death, and commit myself to haunting you for the rest of your days."

Freezing wind blew past her as she stepped foot onto the next landing, but it wasn't any stronger than what she'd been feeling ebbing and flowing for the past hour, so Anna didn't let it distract her from trying the doorknob of the first room on the right. It wasn't locked, but the room behind it didn't hold anything aside from what looked to be an unfinished chaise lounge made of ice and a closed window, and she moved to the next room. "When did you have the time to do this?" she asked the chill air, "Even unfinished, it's impressive."

"Glad you think so," Elsa's quiet voice traveled the wind, teasing the hair tucked under her cap. Turning to see that the double doors at the end of the hall were ajar enough to throw a faint shadow on the blue-purple of the floor, Anna decided that would be the best place to look. She urged her frozen feet to speed up; it almost amused her how much easier it was to traverse the ice when she wasn't concerned with her footing. "But it's hardly worth you giving up your life for."

"I'm the one who gets to choose, you know." Placing her palms on the almost shimmering green-blue door nearest her, Anna didn't have to wait long for it to shake, swinging open at the touch. The thrum of Elsa's power spiked against her again, and she wasn't able to hide how it made her breath skitter because, as soon as she stepped inside, Elsa's pale blue eyes met hers.

Standing in front of an impressive fireplace made out of ice, fire crackling and sparking merrily away in its depths, Anna's sister was lit from behind, her hands curled in the fake train of ice undaunted by the heat that made an instant flush come to Anna's cheeks and sweat to bead at her brow and neck and along her shoulders. How was the ice not melting?

Elsa's lips were curved up, and her pale skin glowed. She didn't seem affected by the heat in the same way Anna was, and not for the first time, Anna felt envious. "So far," the older woman swept her hand out, motioning for Anna to take the seat at the head of the table set diagonally between the fireplace and the door, "Instead, you have chosen to seek me out."

Anna studied the chair. "I don't think I should sit," she admitted, giving longing glances at the fire, "So, may I...?" Without waiting for an answer, she started shuffling forward, sighing as the fire roared higher, almost like it was reaching out for her. Her hands throbbed as direct heat hit them.

"Where are your mittens?" Elsa's cool presence steps to Anna's side, and Anna glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. The wind had died down.

"They got soaked on the way up. Wasn't much use to keep them." She flexed her white and red fingers.

"Oh Anna."

Starting to shiver, Anna managed a shrug. "Wouldn't have been a problem if someone..." She tilted her head in Elsa's direction, "Hadn't forced me to follow them up into the mountains."

"You didn't have to follow me."

Anna laughed. Of course her sister thought so. "And miss out on all this?" she pressed her hands closer towards the fire, "Elsa. You're still the queen."

Ice cracked. "Anna - "

"No," Anna whirled around, almost stumbling with the itch of renewed circulation in her legs, "You can't tell me that I don't understand. We're sisters, Elsa! I may not have been taught exactly the same as you were, to prepare you for ruling Arendelle, but I'd like to think I know you! But this?" she swung her arms out, ignoring the sweat running down her face and the squeaking of her boots on the ice, "What is this about?"

Elsa stared at her. With her chin up, neck taut, and her lips pressed together, shadows deepened the height of her cheekbones. She swallowed. "You wouldn't understand."

Sagging back, Anna clapped her hands over the lower half of her face.

"We've been apart for so long," Elsa continued quietly, not meeting her eyes, "That for you to say..." She stopped, breathed in shakily, then began again, "You know me..."

"Why are you doing this?"

Elsa shook her head, teeth baring in a harsh grimace as her shoulders dropped, "Anna." The wind picked up around her again, flakes of newly created snow falling to bead on their heads and shoulders and arms. "Please. You don't…"

Anna shook her head. "Stop," she rasped, her knees almost buckling as more and more of her body flared back into life, "Stop saying this! Stop. Just talk to me!"

Lifting her hands, Elsa pushed them against the air, shuffling backwards. The snow whirled harder, bringing up memories neither wanted to think about, and Elsa took another step backwards, jerking as her back hit the table she'd offered to Anna. "Please," she repeated, her voice getting swept up in the wind and battering it against Anna's face, "Don't make me..."

Closing her eyes against the cold blanketing her face, overshadowing the heat from the fire that barely sputtered in hisses and pops behind her, Anna felt, for a second, the dizzying sensation that half of her body was frozen, the other half boiling. "Talk to me," she begged, lumbering towards the shining green of her sister, slipping and sliding, "Don't you think you owe me that?"

"I…" Elsa wrapped her arms around her body. Her braid slapping against her cheek and neck, her large blue eyes glowed at her even through the storm.

Anna's heart thudded in her chest, the breath getting stolen from her lungs. "I followed you here!"

"You shouldn't have!" Screaming, Anna's sister stopped all motion in the room, the snow hovering in sharp, wet flakes. Her skin gleaming, throat vibrating as dark eyes bore into Anna, Elsa slammed her fists into her upper thighs, "Don't you think – there's a – Anna. Anna."

Anna covered her mouth again. "Elsa…?"

Elsa dropped to her knees, burying her head into her hands. "Anna, don't you think, maybe," she gasped, sobbing as she hunched her shoulders tighter in against herself, voice breaking, "I needed to get away from you?"