A/N: The word draught is pronounced like the word "draft" and in the American-English language the game is called checkers. This information is for those who don't already know what the two names of the same game are.

Anna was pacing. Oh yes she was pacing. It was nearly dinner time and Elsa and Karen had yet to come back from their training in the forest. She wondered how long they would be out and if the rest of them should have dinner without the two or wait a bit longer. Anna wasn't sure what to do. Elsa told her that she and Karen would be back for dinner and yet there was no sign of them coming back to the castle anytime soon.

"Where are they?"

Kirsten calmly placed her tea cup on its saucer and placed every tea thing on the table.

"Anna, please calm down. I'm sure Elsa and Karen are on their way right now."

"How do you know that, Kirsten? What if they got attacked by wolves or thugs? What if they're lying in the snow vulnerable and in dire need of help right now?"

"Anna, calm down. Your sister and mine are capable of taking care of each other. They had magic powers so I don't think they'll have to be worried about being attacked."

"But they don't know how to fight back with their powers. I'm not even sure if they know how to properly defend themselves with their powers."

Kristoff placed his tea cup and saucer on the table as well. "Anna."

Anna stopped her pacing and looked at Kristoff.

"Maybe Elsa and Karen are teaching themselves to use their powers for defense right now. Maybe that's what they've been doing this whole time."

Anna looked uncertain of herself. She wanted to belief Kristoff, but there was a side of her that worried that she might lose her sister permanently unlike last time when she was lucky Elsa came back home. If she did lose her sister, she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Elsa was all the family Anna had left and it scared her to be virtually alone in the world. And on top of having to cope with the loss of a dear family member she would also have to take care of the kingdom for her family and for her people. Anna shook the thought out of her head. She didn't want to think of that at a time like this.

No matter how Anna tried to move forward, she physically could not. Kristoff saw her struggle and the uncertainty and rose from his seat to approach Anna and bring her in his arms. He held her close to his chest and waited for Anna to calm down. He knew that she needed someone to comfort her in this personal crisis. He knew she would have preferred her older sister to comfort her, but since Elsa was the source of Anna's worry, Kristoff stepped in and held her.

"Anna, everything will be okay. You'll see. Elsa and Karen will return just in time for dinner and we'll be able to put this behind us. We still have thirty minutes until dinner is served. How about we play a quick game of draughts?"

Anna just nuzzled her face in Kristoff's chest and wrapped her arms around his body.

"No, that's okay Kristoff. I'll just stand here for a little while and then I should be fine. Please just hold me a little longer."

"Okay, Anna. Whatever you want, whatever you want I'll be there for you."

Anna nodded her head against Kristoff's chest. He kept Anna close and stood in silence for her. He knew how much she cared for and loved her sister especially after they had been estranged for so long and still reconnecting, but it still amazed him how close the two were considering their situation. He could recognize that it would take him some time to understand not only the fundamentals of human interaction but to know what it feels like to have your sibling be the only family member to count on and lean upon when things get rough in the world for something they would solely understand. Sure, Kristoff might not ever have human family members, but he had a big, loving family nonetheless and he felt blessed in that moment he didn't have to depend on a singular family member to turn to. But Anna did. She only had Elsa and in that moment Kristoff realized the brevity of Anna's emotions and situation and was saddened at the possibility of her actually losing Elsa. The moment scared him senseless as well.

While deep in thought Kristoff failed to notice that Kirsten had approached them and had attempted to wrap her petite arms both him and Anna. But she embraced them at the best of her ability sharing the worry with her friends. She may not be personally worried about Karen and Elsa's safety as Anna was, but she still worried for them and felt Anna's silent pain.

She also had only one sibling and it scared her sometimes what could possibly happen to Karen if she was in danger. She may have her magic powers to aid her in her defense but that didn't stave off the worry when she wondered how her younger sister was doing while they were apart. She couldn't help but worry because it was in her instinct to do her best to protect her younger sister not matter old or experienced she got. She was certain Elsa knew the feeling all too well when she would worrying over Anna's safety and well-being.

This thought was oddly comforting to Kirsten. She was eased by it slightly as she could envision Elsa skillfully looking after her accident-prone younger sister. But it also scared her when thinking if the tables were turned and envisioned Anna and Karen worrying over hers and Elsa's well-beings. It was one thing for the older sibling to worry over their younger siblings and ensure protection for them, but it was another thing for younger siblings to worry for their older siblings. Their worry was of a different caliber one where they would wonder what they would do with their older siblings to look up, to seek advice from, to laugh and talk endlessly together, and to- above all- seek love, companionship, and comfort in.

It appeared to Kirsten that losing an older sibling is much scarier to face the real world than vice versa. Upon this realization, Kirsten knew what she could do to help Anna. She would take on the older sibling role for her younger friend if for a brief time so that she may be eased of worry. She gathered her calm nature and pulled away from the embrace just enough to speak into Anna's ear.

"Anna, Elsa and Karen will be fine. They will come back in time for dinner and you must be strong for them. Do you think Elsa would want back to the castle to find out her sister missed her terribly over something that could have been avoided? And I'm not saying that Elsa wouldn't mind comforting you, but she doesn't need to worry over you more she does already. She loves you very much and will make sure she doesn't abandon you. With any luck Elsa will make sure she and Karen come back as soon as possible."

Anna lifted her head from Kristoff's chest and gently pushed him to have to breathing room. She had locked eyes with Kirsten as soon as she could.

"You really think so?"

"Yes. In fact, I bet you that no matter hard we try to get rid of them, Elsa and Karen will always come back to us. I am certain they will naturally gravitate back towards us like flies attracted to a lantern light."

"You really think it'll be tough for us to get rid of them?"

"Yes."

Anna let out a light-hearted laugh.

"Okay, if you say so, Kirsten. But I highly doubt we'll ever want to truly get rid of our sisters."

"That might be very true, but they can be quite the stinkers."

Anna smiled. "They can stinkers if they wanted to be, can't they?"

Kirsten smiled back. "Yes, they can. But they choose to spare us…most of the time."

Anna giggled in agreement.

Kristoff looked between the two girls and was very relieved to see the tension melt away from the group. He just had to make sure Anna was completely fine.

"So Anna, are you good or do you still want to play a game of draughts?"

Anna turned to Kristoff and opened her mouth to speak, but the moment she did the doors to the dining hall opened.

In came Elsa and Karen from their training session in the forest. All three friends turned their attention toward them and were overwhelmed to see them sooner than they expected.

Elsa was in front with Karen trailing behind her. Both of them had tired smiles on their faces as they walked toward their friends. Yet they weren't afforded to meet the three all the way. Rather they were joyously tackled halfway to their intended destination.

Karen was able to recover quicker than Elsa as she looked at her sister happy to near her again. And she exchanged quiet, soft smiles with Kristoff. With Elsa, however, well some might say she had a koala stuck to her body trembling with a mixture of joy and relief. She tried to pry it off but it was too strong for her.

"Anna."

"No."

"Anna, please."

"No."

"Anna, please let me go."

"No."

"Anna, it's not like I came back from the dead. I just came back from training."

"No."

Elsa gave up. She just hung her arms at her side and waited for the love monster to finish its business on its own time. Lucky for her that didn't take long. She only had to wait for an extra minute for her to be released from her prison of a warm hug.

When Elsa finally saw her sister's face, she couldn't decide if she wanted to feel bad for leaving Anna behind or if she wanted to laugh out loud because she saw Anna's eyes were blurry with unshed tears and a quivering lip. But the way her sister looked so pitiful and precious at the same time. She cooed as she stepped forward and gave Anna a quick hug.

"Oh, Anna….Did you really worry about me that much? You knew where Karen and I were. It's not like we were far away."

Anna crossed her arms and tried to look indignant. "You were far enough away."

Elsa lightly chuckled as she wiped away the tears that barely had time to trickle down Anna's cheeks with her thumbs.

"Anna, you don't have to worry about me and Karen. I made sure we practiced in a safe place."

Anna turned slightly on her side and looked away. It was at that moment did Elsa realize Anna's true feelings. Her eyebrows dropped to her eyes.

"Oh, Anna…I'm sorry that I made you worry about me. But you have to know that I will never abandon you. I may have made that mistake the past thirteen years, but I only did that because I loved you and wanted to protect you. I know now that I shouldn't do that and I know how to use my powers safely. I will always be there for you and I will never ever abandon you. Okay?"

Anna faced Elsa and slowly dropped her arms at her side. "Okay."

"Good. Now, how about we have some dinner and talk about our days?"

"Sounds good to me."

Anna turned to her friends. "What about you guys?"

"Sure."

"Why not?"

"I'm pretty hungry."

Anna turned back to Elsa. "Shall we?"

"Yes."

Then the group of five walked over to their seats at the dining table. Elsa sat down first, then the others followed suit. Anna sat on her right as always with Kristoff on her right and across the way were Kirsten and Karen.

Since the group was a little ahead of schedule, the footmen and kitchen staff were directed by Elsa to go ahead and have things ready for dinner. It didn't take long for them to make the proper preparations and serve dinner. Everyone was very thankful and ate their meal with jubilance.

During the meal, everyone had caught up on the other group's activities and learned what they did in the other's absence. After catching up with each other, everyone passed the remainder of the meal with simple conversation. Things had gone back to normal and would be perfectly fine for a good long while before things would get busy again with the coming of the winter ball.

To Be Continued…

2nd A/N: For those who are wondering who said what when Anna asked the others if they were ready for dinner, I have decided that you guys can decide that yourselves. I could not decide who was to what so I chose not to identify which character said what.