A/N: Thanks to everyone who's followed/favorited and/or is reading but not reviewing:)

Elsa Tomago-I PMed you, so I won't make you reread the same thing here:)

moohamquest-You're welcome:) Gerda knows Elsa has a nasty tendency to underestimate herself, so she actually forced her to do something that would make her think a bit differently:)

Olivia O'Neil-Elsa can't create that much water herself; it's difficult for her to just make a little bit of actual liquid water. And yes, besides that, I don't think anyone except Elsa herself would want to go swimming in water not much warmer than freezing.:P

orang biasa-Kiara is leaving very, very soon, as are Elsa's parents. (within the next couple chapters soon:)) Thank you:)

raven678-Gerda just sees Elsa as...Elsa, and she really cares about her, too. So...yeah.:) The rain will stop naturally since Elsa is not continuing to "feed" it with releasing more ice blasts. I think so too:)

On to the story:)

"I think it's going to take a long, long time if I just try to "make it rain", so…Anna, are you up for receiving some temporary water powers again?" Elsa asked, smiling. It was difficult for Elsa create water on purpose, but when she did and another person drank it, it would give that person temporary water powers that lasted about five days, more or less.

Anna grinned. "Absolutely." She watched excitedly as Elsa easily made a small mug made of ice and then carefully and slowly created the water to fill it. "Hey, Elsa, can you-"

"Anna!" Elsa scolded in frustration. The second Anna had distracted her the tiniest bit, the water she was making instantly turned to ice instead. Elsa knew she simply wasn't 'made' to control water very well, but she also knew she should be able to make enough to just fill up an average-sized mug. Okay, Elsa. Stay completely calm. That book from the trolls said for an ice mage to control water at all, he or she needs to be calm and simply have intense concentration skills. I have the second part, but… She closed her eyes and tried again, shutting out all the external input around her, and this time she succeeded. "Here, Anna."

Anna eagerly drank the entire mug in only three gulps; then looked quizzically at her sister. "How long before-oh wait, never mind. Not very long at all. I forgot; I can already feel it starting to work." Although Anna knew the temporary magic flowing through her wasn't the same as what Elsa felt every second of her life, she liked that it gave her at least some idea of what having magic like Elsa would be like. Anna's body wasn't nearly as attuned to the unique sensation in the first place, and it wasn't inherently tied to her like Elsa's ice powers were tied to Elsa, but still. She also noticed something different from the last time Elsa had done this.

This time Anna could almost sense her sister's emotions somehow. And the odd 'magic sensation' was nearly absent from Anna's left leg, which Anna was quite sure was similar for Elsa herself. No wonder Elsa said it felt strange to her to not have her magic channeling through her leg properly. I'd think the same thing if magic flowing through me was my normal. "Elsa…did you do something different?" Anna asked curiously.

Elsa just looked puzzled. "No, why?"

"Um…I don't know…I kinda…sense how you're feeling? Magic-wise, not 'cause I'm reading your face, either. And…and I think I know what you meant when you said your magic didn't feel right in your bad leg. 'Cause the weird magic sensation doesn't feel the same in my left leg…" Anna had no idea how to explain what she meant, but she did her best.

Now Elsa just looked horrified. What have I done?! What if I messed up Anna's leg? How is this even happening? All I did was give a bit of water to Anna… She backed away and began clasping her hands together close to her chest, determined not to cause any more damage. If she messed up anything else, her palms were pointed at herself and therefore no one else would get hurt. "Anna, I'm sorry! I don't know how to undo it and-"

"Elsa, I'm fine," Anna interrupted hurriedly. "Look." She began jumping up and down and then ran over to her sister. "See, I'm fine."

Elsa still wasn't entirely convinced. "Can you still hop on that foot?" she asked hopefully, still feeling tense all over. Anna better be okay. It's one thing if I can't walk properly; it's quite another if my little sister can't.

Anna easily demonstrated that she could before simply hugging Elsa tightly before she could protest. "Don't you dare start thinking you're dangerous and you 'hurt me again', you stinker," she said firmly. "You always assume the worst about things. Stop that. And whatever you did kinda just proves your magic is already more precise and stronger than it was last year, which is pretty cool, no pun intended." Besides, even if she did hurt my leg, I wouldn't have any right to get upset about that…Elsa's leg got hurt because she was trying to rescue me… "Come on, sis, let me go fill up the pool, and then we can go swimming."

A few minutes later, the pool was full of water, and both Anna and Kiara immediately jumped in the deep end. Elsa was still at the shallow end with Anikka, and she kept dipping one foot in and then taking it right back out, feeling worried she might make the water too cold for the others simply by being in it. She (mostly) trusted herself not to actually freeze it, but she didn't trust herself not to make the water too cold.

Anikka just sat on the steps in the shallow end and frowned as she watched Elsa. "Elsa scared she can't swim?" she asked curiously. Anikka herself wasn't a very good swimmer. She wouldn't drown if someone just dropped her in the water, but she wasn't comfortable going past where she could stand up.

"No…I can swim fine." Elsa finally just sat down at the pool's edge and pulled her legs to her chest. She would just come swimming later, so if she did alter the pool's temperature, it wouldn't matter. I feel silly and exposed like this… Elsa felt painfully self-conscious about the way her bad leg looked, even though she knew the others weren't going to pick on her for it.

Anna noticed what her sister was doing and quickly swam over to her. "Elsa, come on. It's all right," she said quietly. Before Elsa could protest, Anna grabbed her by the arm and just yanked her in. "See, Elsa? Everything's fine. You didn't freeze the water or make it freezing cold." Quite honestly, Anna could easily feel that Elsa had made the water slightly chilly, but she brushed it off and attributed it to the fact that she'd yanked Elsa in without warning and startled her. Well…maybe a bit more than slightly, but still. "Do…do you need help?" Anna asked hesitantly.

Elsa shook her head instantly, but she was smiling a bit now. "Thank you, Anna." In the water, she was still very aware that her left leg wasn't working properly, but she also didn't feel the least bit helpless or anything like she did on dry land without her brace. Elsa gave Anna a lopsided smile and tagged Anna on the shoulder. "You're 'it'. Anikka is 'safe'. Kiara and I can only stay on 'safe' for ten seconds," she said quickly; then dove underwater and swam towards the deep end.

"No fair, Elsa!" Anna squealed. Then she hesitated. Should she take it easy on Elsa? She watched Elsa for a few seconds and frowned. Anna could tell her sister was quite a bit slower than she'd been when they went swimming last, but otherwise Elsa seemed perfectly at home in the water.

"Don't you dare take it easy on me, Anna," Elsa called from the deep end. "If I end up needing help for some reason, I'll tell you. I promise." She giggled as she watched Kiara start sneaking quietly past Anna.

"What's so funny?" Anna asked, but Elsa only pointed past her in response. She went after Kiara and just barely tagged her on the foot before Kiara reached Anikka.

"Kiara's out," Anikka announced.

Anna turned her attention back on Elsa, but the older girl had seemingly disappeared.

Elsa had already known she couldn't swim faster than Anna anymore, so she'd decided she would have to use another strategy to keep Anna from catching her. So Elsa had gone to the deep end, dove down to the bottom, and just stayed curled up in one corner, making herself as small and inconspicuous as possible. She knew she sort of blended in with the pool walls, although if Anna had been looking for it, Elsa's ice-blue bathing suit sparkled in the least bit of light, unlike the pool walls. Elsa also knew that her little sister didn't like opening her eyes underwater, although she could if she had to.

"Anna, she's not gonna come back up for air," Kiara reminded Anna. "Elsa can still breathe underwater 'cause of that one time…"

"Well, she can't stay underwater forever," Anna said stubbornly, slightly annoyed that Elsa wasn't playing the game properly in her mind. She finally spotted Elsa in the bottom corner of the deep end and started swimming over to her.

Just before Anna reached her and dove down to try to tag her, Elsa just scooted along the edge of the pool, still staying on the bottom. Now she was 'hidden' in the other corner of the deep end.

Anna huffed in annoyance, but she wasn't surprised. "Kiara, she moved! Where's Elsa now?" Before Kiara could answer, Anna spotted Elsa and tried to tag her again, but Elsa was easily prepared and she scooted out of the way again. Anna sensed from Elsa's magic that Elsa seemed awfully pleased with herself. The same thing happened over and over, Anna almost catching Elsa and Elsa managing to get away at the last second. "Elsa, this isn't fair!" Anna shouted, although she knew Elsa probably wouldn't really hear her. She realized the two of them were slowly moving towards the shallower water and a new idea struck her. I'll just catch her unexpectedly by diving in. That should work. Before rethinking that idea through, that that probably wasn't a good idea in six feet of water, she quickly hopped out and then dove back in.

Sure enough, the unexpected direction made it so Anna could easily tag Elsa…but she also landed hard on her hands on the bottom. Elsa suddenly realized just what had happened-that Anna had caught her but probably hurt herself in the process. Elsa popped up to the surface, her blue eyes worried. "Anna, are you okay? I'm sorry I-"

"Elsa, that wasn't fair! You can't just hide underwater just 'cause you can! I can't do that and neither can Kiara. You just did that 'cause you knew you'd lose otherwise with that crippled leg of yours! I don't know why I both-" Anna abruptly shut her mouth, knowing she was just saying those things because she'd been frustrated and now her wrist hurt, but the words had already been said.

"A-Anna?" Tears slowly began trickling down Elsa's cheeks as she scrambled out of the water as fast as she could. What had she done wrong? Wasn't it okay to do something she could do to help with the game if she wasn't very good at playing it normally anymore? Why was Anna mad at her? Did Anna really think that…disdainfully about her because of her leg? Elsa, stop it. Maybe Anna's acting like that because she's hurt. That would explain it. "Anna, are y-you hurt?" Elsa asked shakily. "Is that why you're mad at m-me?"

Kiara helped Anna climb out and then just said matter-of-factly, "You guys should have made the rules clearer or something. Elsa, I'll go inside with Anna. You and Anikka can just come in whenever…I'll come knock on your door in about a half hour or so."

The second both Anna and Kiara were out of sight, Anikka hopped out of the water and ran over to Elsa. "Anna all right. Anna just land on hand funny," she tried to assure Elsa. "Not Elsa's fault."

Elsa put her arms around the little girl and just hugged her tightly. Logically she knew even if Anna was hurt, Anna would be fine, but she still felt bad because it was mostly her fault Anna had dove into the too-shallow part of the pool like that. "I did do that because I knew I'd lose otherwise," she said softly. "I just…thought it was okay…"

"I think it was ok," Anikka replied. She pulled herself out of Elsa's arms; then went to get the older girl's brace and brought it back to her. "Let's us go back inside. More swimming later?" she suggested. Anikka scowled when she noticed the scrapes on Elsa's right palm and knee. "Anna right. You got owies," she announced, pointing.

Elsa merely shrugged. "Well, those owies don't keep me from doing anything, so they don't matter." She paused before blurting, "Anikka, I hate my leg sometimes. It makes me feel uglier than I am already." Why did I say that? I don't mind it at all most of the time. It's just…just…I don't know. And I shouldn't tell Anikka that anyway.

Anikka made a face. "That an Elsa secret. I not tell anyone." Then she added, "Elsa is not ugly. Elsa is pretty. 'Sides, you tol' me it what inside that counts. 'Sides that, I 'member when Elsa's leg not hurt. Still just Elsa anyways." Anikka paused, trying her best to figure out how to explain what she wanted to say. "I…I see th' brace on Elsa's leg, but…but it…it not what I see first? I see Elsa first. Like…like just Elsa." Anikka pointed at her own heart and then at Elsa. "This part. You make me happy an' you help people." After a minute's more consideration, she went on, "I not think you think perm'nent owie makes you ugly. I think other people makes you sad."

To Anikka's disappointment, Elsa just seemed to crumple further into herself, like something else had crossed her mind and just made her feel worse all of a sudden. She wasn't outright crying, but her big blue eyes were bright with unshed tears and it seemed like she was trying not to start shaking. Anikka took Elsa's hand and began tugging her back toward the castle. "C'mon, Elsa not need t' be shaking. Elsa be all right," the little girl tried to help.

Inside, Gerda scolded Anna for diving into too-shallow water and made her get in bed and stay there. Unlike Elsa, Anna was willing to let others fuss over her if she was hurt. Who would turn down meals in bed and extra treats? "That's what you get for doing that, princess. You know better than that-you knew not to do that when you were little. You're lucky you just sprained a wrist; you could have broken your neck doing that," Gerda told her.

"Where's Elsa? I kind of…made her upset," Anna muttered. "I wasn't very nice to her."

"I'm not sure, Miss Anna, but I'll go find her," Gerda replied.

Anna's blue-green eyes suddenly looked up at Gerda in alarm. "Gerda, please go get Elsa now! There's something wrong-she's really upset. I can feel it, and-" Anna cut herself off, close to feeling sick. The odd magic sensation inside her right this second wasn't her temporary water powers; it was Elsa. And Elsa was upset, so upset that it hurt. Anna just curled up on her side, tears dripping down her cheeks, and not because of the way the magic felt, either. Was this a taste of how Elsa felt every single time she got upset? The nasty feeling intensified, and Anna suddenly knew why Elsa wished she were 'normal'. This was not pleasant; it was awful. It was like feeling upset but physically inwardly reacting to it.

Gerda came back with Elsa in her arms a few seconds later and gently laid her down on the bed next to Anna. "I found Miss Elsa crumpled on the floor in the hallway," Gerda said quietly. "Miss Anna, do you want me to help, or…"

"I'll help her," Anna replied instantly. She started to put one arm around Elsa, but Elsa scooted away, saying Anna shouldn't feel like she had bother with her if she didn't want to. "Elsa, what are you talking about? Of course I want to help you," Anna said firmly.

Cold was radiating from Elsa's body in waves, and she was shaking all over. Why had Gerda brought her in here? Anna didn't want her. She was nothing but a bother-Anna had said it. Not completely, but she'd started to. Elsa had felt so scared that Anna just wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore, that Anna would just want to throw her away. She didn't know what she was supposed to be doing, but she wasn't supposed to be here. She didn't want to bother Anna anymore. She'd caused Anna to get hurt again.

Anna jumped out of bed and grabbed an extra comforter from her messy closet and then just wrapped Elsa up in it tightly. "Elsa, please. Please try to calm down. Please don't cry anymore. Whatever it is, it's all right." Pained blue eyes blinked up at her, the same ones Anna had seen on the way home after their father had rescued them from Jade's cave. "Elsa?" Anna asked hesitantly. Something was wrong. Anna had seen her sister go through a panic attack multiple times, and this wasn't the same. Not exactly. What was she supposed to do?

"Please…d-don't…throw…m-me away. I…don't…know why…y-you bother…either…but please d-don't…throw me…away…please…" Elsa was no longer struggling to get away from Anna, but her broken pleas made Anna's heart ache. Elsa just lay limp and passive wrapped up in the comforter as Anna scooped her up and clutched her tightly.

"Shh, Elsa, it's ok. Everything's all right. I'm not sure exactly what scared you and made you upset so much, but I promise I don't want to 'throw you away' and I'm not going to. Those mean things I said weren't true. I was frustrated and my wrist hurt, that's all. I promise that's all," Anna tried to assure Elsa. She wasn't even sure Elsa had heard and understood her until a cold trembling hand wiggled out from inside the comforter.

"Pinky promise?" Elsa's blue eyes still looked more than a little scared, she was still shaking, and tears streaked her pale cheeks all over, but she sounded at least slightly hopeful now. Please? I know it's silly, but we always said pinky promises could never be broken when we were little…

Anna smiled as she willingly linked her warm pinky with Elsa's very, very cold one. "Pinky promise," she agreed. Anna paused before adding, "And just to add, you owe me a swimming race. A regular one. Because after watching you in the pool today, I think you're underestimating yourself."

"I'm…sorry…tried not to, but…happened anyway…won't do something stupid…again…no…bother anymore?" Elsa's garbled words didn't quite make sense to Anna, but she just continued holding the older girl securely until she seemed completely calm again. I don't know what made you so scared and upset exactly, but you're safe, Elsa. And I'm not going to leave you alone. So there.

Elsa took a deep breath before saying a few minutes later, "I'm sorry, Anna. I tried not to get all panicky and upset-I really did, but I just…couldn't. And I won't do something stupid next time we play tag in the pool, and I'll try not to be a bother anymore. I'm sorry you always end up taking care of me." There. I said it properly this time…

Anna scowled at that. "Don't apologize for getting upset and panicking. You couldn't help it-you just said so. And next time we play tag in the pool, we will make clearer rules. Besides, technically you weren't doing anything wrong." She paused before adding, "Elsa, you are not a bother. I wish you wouldn't call yourself that anymore. And I don't mind taking care of you."

Elsa didn't answer; she'd fallen asleep almost instantly, exhausted from all the energy she'd used up scaring herself and panicking.

Anna carefully laid Elsa back down beside her before flopping down on her side herself, one arm tossed protectively around her sister. That's not happening again. Never, ever. I bet that was a fear Elsa's been carrying around since that cave thing and it just finally exploded. She's going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. So there.

A/N: This is probably one of the last times poor Elsa will end up getting that upset...just saying.:) At least she finally got the worry she's been carrying around out.

Next chapter coming soon:)