Disclaimer: Frozen and all of its characters belong to Disney.

5 Embraces That Could Last a Lifetime

Through the years, Anna had always thought Elsa to be a woman of precise, meaningful words, ice-cold glares, and under no circumstances–as Anna had come to learn during those dark thirteen years–should anyone touch her. Even when Anna had made feeble attempts in the past to take Elsa's hand or brush her fingers against her sister's shoulder, Elsa would jolt away. She was a master at avoiding contact with anyone. Not even the slightest touch could warm her sister to the idea of physical contact.

Despite ruminating over memories of when they were little where they would share a bed, hold hands, braid each other's hair, and hug, Anna eventually came to believe that these images were all part of a dream. A dream where Elsa loved her. A dream where Anna couldn't stand to be apart from Elsa, and so they would go days holding hands. Then she came to wonder when it was that she woke up. When was the exact moment she was tossed from the blissful dreams of hugging Elsa and thrust into the nightmare?

A nightmare where Elsa hated hugs and hand holding. A nightmare where Elsa hated her.

There never was one.

Because Anna wasn't living in the nightmare. Instead, she was trying to put together a puzzle of memories that she never knew was missing pieces.

Elsa was living in the nightmare.

A nightmare where she feared her own ice-cold, shattering touch. A nightmare where she would hug herself when she cried, because no one else could.

If Anna had known, she would have.

If Anna had known, she would have entwined their fingers until she couldn't find where hers began and Elsa's ended.

If Anna had known, she would have wrapped her arms around her sister until the only cries she heard were of happiness and relief.

Because love thaws.

And after the Great Thaw, Anna took Elsa's hands in every moment she could and hugged her with every chance she got, but she still believed that Elsa herself preferred the idea of scarce physical contact.

Anna was wrong.

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The first hug was a surprise.

It was almost mid-afternoon when Anna rolled out of bed. She could hardly remember throwing on a dress and brushing her teeth before she opened the door and was almost barreled over by a flash of blonde hair and blue (also cold, very cold–why couldn't she have tropical powers again?) fabric.

It took Anna nearly a minute to register that her sister, the Queen of Arendelle, had her arms wrapped around her so tight that she couldn't move. When she wanted to return the embrace, she found that her arms were pinned to her sides (to her chagrin).

Just when Elsa's arms loosened, Anna let out a sigh and smiled, shifting her body so she could return the huge, only to find that the queen had only taken that second to readjust her grip and rest her head on the princess's shoulder.

"E-Elsa?" Anna called to her with furrowed brows, her heart pounding in her chest. Because Elsa was hugging her. Holy Sven's carrots, Elsa was hugging her. "Are…are you okay?"

When a few more long (never-ending was her favorite word to describe this, odd moment)seconds passed between them, Anna had begun to fear the worst. That's when Elsa began to shake.

Anna's heart dropped to her stomach.

Elsa lifted her head and Anna found herself staring into the most beautiful bright blue eyes she had ever seen. Of course, Anna had always known that Elsa's eyes were blue (much like her own), but this was the first time she had ever been able to inspect them up close. They glittered in a way that reminded her of how the sun catches a fresh mound of snow; bright and peaceful.

That's when she realized that Elsa was smiling, and she felt her heart beating in her chest again; calm like the soft waves on the fjord.

So she let Elsa fall against her, wrapping her arms her as her older sister pressed her ear against her breast, right above her heart.

"I missed you, Anna," Elsa sighed, embracing her once more.

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The second hug was fleeting.

Anna was on her way to Elsa's study when she met her half-way in the hall. When their eyes met, a smile so wide bloomed along her sister's face that all of the tension that Anna had noticed moments before, vanished.

"Hey Elsa–" she started, but her eyes darted to the meeting hall doors, which were left ajar as the councilmen started filing in, and stumbled over her words as she corrected herself "–I-I mean Queen. Sorry."

Elsa chuckled with a hand brushing over her mouth, "I'm your sister, Anna. You don't need to address me by my title."

Anna's eyes flickered back to one of the councilmen and she frowned, shifting uncomfortably. Elsa, catching onto her sister's discomfort, pressed her lips into a thin line and followed her gaze.

"Even in front of them," she said, her gaze flickering back to Anna.

"A-Are you sure? Won't they…you know, get mad?"

Elsa laughed, "Since when do you listen to stuffy old men?"

Anna relaxed at this and found Elsa's laugh to be contagious when she couldn't hold back her own. "You've got a point."

When their laughter died down and silence settled between them, neither of them moved.

So many words jumped off the tip of Anna's tongue. There was a reason she wanted to find her sister, so why couldn't she bring herself to say it?

Elsa was the first to speak.

"Anna, did you need something?"

The princess worried her bottom lip and clasped her hands behind her back, avoiding Elsa's curious gaze.

Come on Anna, just tell her.

Anna puffed out her cheeks and gathered her courage.

"I just wanted to tell you that I was going for a sleigh ride with Kristoff and Sven," she blurted, then felt the urge to shrink back. Or run. Maybe if she slowly walked backwards, Elsa wouldn't notice?

The smile on Elsa's face vanished and Anna feared the worst. She squinted her eyes shut when Elsa walked toward her and…enveloped her in a hug?

Anna popped an eye open, but as soon as she did, Elsa had already moved away.

"Be careful. And don't stay out too late," Elsa warned over her shoulder, despite the twitch of a smile that only Anna could detect as the queen glided to the meeting room.

Anna still felt the warmth of the hug as she rode in the sleigh next to Kristoff, basking in the chilly, mountain air that brushed against her face.

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The third hug was for comfort.

She screamed and shot up in her bed. She found herself covered in cold sweat and her stomach turned as hot, fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks.

When she sniffed and gave a half-hearted attempt to wipe them away with the back of her hand, the doorknob to her bedroom door rattled and Elsa all but burst into her room.

"Anna what–?" she started, breathless. Her wide blue eyes almost glowed in the moonlight and her heaving chest were enough clues to tell the princess that her sister had sprinted down the hallway the second the scream left Anna's lips.

Elsa's eyes darted around the room, in search of an intruder, but Anna shook her head and swallowed, willing her heart to stop battering like a bull in a cage.

"I-I'm okay Elsa. It was just a n-nightmare–"

Anna gasped and froze when Elsa knelt on her bed and wrapped her arms her. When the warmth of the hug evaporated the nightmare-cold sweat and stilled her trembling, Anna relaxed into Elsa's embrace and closed her eyes, listening to her sister's steady heartbeat.

Elsa tightened her hold on her, then rested her cheek on her head and whispered, "Don't worry Anna, I got you."

For the first time in thirteen years, Anna felt loved.

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The fourth hug was mischievous.

Anna had waited for days for this opportune moment.

She held back a giggle as she stood outside of Elsa's bedroom as the sun began to rise, streaming in through the crack between the dark purple curtains, with a forgotten, dripping ink brush in her hand.

As her sister began to rise, Anna shuffled away from the door, opting to press herself against the wall instead, and waited with bated breath.

A few minutes passed and she waited with open ears.

Ten minutes passed and she noticed–with dread–the dripping trail of ink she'd left outside of Elsa's door.

Five more minutes and there was still no sound.

One minute later she chanced a peak into the room and Elsa opened the door so wide that Anna stumbled in with a gasp, her arms spread at her sides to steady herself.

When she looked up, Elsa had a soft smile on her face. Anna would have returned it if she wasn't struggling to hold back the chortle that threatened to escape at the sight of two black circles around her sister's eyes and half of an inked mustache curling just above her pink lips.

"Good morning Anna," Elsa greeted. There was a twinkle in her eye that Anna couldn't identify, but her curiosity left her the moment she felt her sister's arms wrap around her and she relaxed within their hold.

"Good morning El–" she cut off with a yelp and struggled to jump away, pushing her palms against Elsa to put distance between them as cold, hard and soft snow was shoved down the back of her nightgown. But Elsa only tightened her hold with a grin and sent a gust of icy wind down her little sister's back to accompany the snow.

Anna bit back a screech and shivered.

Elsa's grin grew wide, shoving one last snowball onto Anna's head. "I love you, my dear little sister," she cooed sweetly.

"Elsa!"

For the rest of the day, Anna was forced to walk around with her braids curled up against her head, frozen like ice-blocks.

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The fifth hug was the warmest.

It was evening when she found Elsa in the library sitting by the window, her gaze fixated on the fjord, watching as the gentle waves moved with hypnotizing rhythm and glittered against the sunset.

Anna tried to be silent as she stepped in, careful not to disturb the only moment of peace her sister managed to find that day. But stealth was not her element and she closed the door a little harder than she wanted, wincing as the wooden crack echoed in the room.

That's when Elsa's tired eyes turned to look at her and Anna felt her heart skip a beat at the soft smile that adorned her sister's face.

The queen then stood from her spot by the window and crossed the room. When she stood before Anna, the princess noticed the flinch of hesitation and smiled.

"It's okay Elsa," Anna reassured her in a soft, but sincere voice.

That's when she noticed, for the first time, how the tension in Elsa's shoulders vanished and all of the years of hesitation, despair, and deprivation, dissipated when she enveloped Anna in a tight, warm hug; a hug so warm and so full of love that Anna wondered how Elsa managed to survive all those years without them.

Anna gave a start when Elsa shifted against her and sighed, worried that the hug was over too soon, but her sister only tightened her hold.

"I love you, Anna," she murmured.

Anna closed her eyes and returned the embrace, never wanting the moment to end.

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If she had to spend the next thirteen years within Elsa's warm arms, Anna would be more than okay with that.

A/N: I thought this would be some nice fluff to contrast with the last update ;)

Whew, I just realized that I tend to write in Anna's POV reflecting on Elsa. Perhaps I should do it the other way around for once XD

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! Review and let me know what you think!