Anna stared at Elsa for a long time after she stopped talking. Her voice, when she finally managed to say something, was barely better than a whisper. "You mean... it was always like this?" She could barely breathe. "They did that to you right from the beginning?"

Elsa hugged Anna tight. Somewhere in the back of her mind Anna wondered whether her sister felt the burning heat inside her, or if it was an illusion of her own thoughts, or if maybe Elsa's ice protected her form it. "Don't judge Father too harshly, Anna. He was only trying to protect you."

"Protect me?! By taking you away? And what about protecting you!" Anna realized she hadn't been angry at Hans at all. What she was feeling now was a hundred times as powerful. Messing with her feelings about Elsa was one thing, but the idea that their separation had gone so far back, run so deep was maddening! The thought of someone, even her father, trying to keep her from being with Elsa drove her crazy.

There was no anger in Elsa's voice. There wasn't any fear either, or regret, or sadness. She was just calm, and Anna knew it would calm her too, if she let it. She tried to hug Elsa in return, and discovered she already was, her arms so tight around her sister that they ached from the effort. "He didn't know keeping us apart would make it worse, Anna. No one did. Everyone just thought they were keeping us both safe, even me." She nuzzled gently at Anna, leaving a trail of cold along Anna's skin. "It wasn't so bad as all that. When Mother saw you weren't hurt, she made Father bring me back. They let me hold you." A happy shiver went through Anna at Elsa's smile. "Your first word was my name. You even walked the first time to come to me."

Anna buried her face in Elsa's hair, taking in the scent of freshly fallen snow, the gentle chill. She felt trapped, between desperate frustration and the desire to just forget it all, forget everything, and be with Elsa. "Elsa, I just don't understand! If I have powers too, why didn't they ever show? And how could Hans possibly know about it? I don't want any of this! I just want you!"

Elsa's smile widened. "But you have me. I'm here, Anna. Nothing is going to take me away." She touched Anna's cheek lightly, using just the tips of her fingers.

Anna had to smile. It was hard to do anything else with Elsa looking at her like that. "I guess we always really were meant to be together, huh?"

"Oh, Anna." And where from Hans, those words had stung, hearing them from Elsa was wonderful. Then Elsa's tone turned teasing. "If you really want to marry Kristoff, I won't stop you."

"Wow!" said a third, very familiar voice. "You're gonna marry Kristoff, Anna?" Olaf ran up to them, enthusiastic as always. "Can I help?!"

Anna blushed a bright red, almost matching her hair. "No, no, Olaf, Elsa was just teasing!" She sat down on the floor and hugged the snowman, genuinely happy to see him despite her embarrassment. Elsa sat too, and Anna shifted slightly to the side so they could hug Olaf together.

He returned the hugs as best he could with his short arms, of course. At least this time they didn't come loose! "Ohhh!" He pondered that for just a moment, then nodded. "So you're gonna marry Elsa!"

Anna stared at him, at an instant loss. She knew Olaf wouldn't say something like that unless he had a reason to. She glanced at Elsa, but her sister was just smiling, as if the idea hadn't struck her any more oddly than it had Olaf. She looked back at him. "Why do you think that, Olaf?"

"Hmmmm." Olaf flopped forward onto his front, propping up his head with his little wooden hands. "You kissed her a lot, you slept in her bed, you look the most happiest of all when she's there, and you were carrying her around and didn't put her down when you saw Kristoff!" He nodded firmly. "So you like Elsa best!"

The recitation left Anna speechless. To her relief, Elsa came to her rescue. "Sisters don't get married, Olaf." She was smiling brilliantly. Anna wondered distantly if Olaf's "idea" was responsible. "That's for people who are in love."

Olaf nodded happily. "Yeah, like you and Anna!"

Anna was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to stop blushing. "Even if you're right, Olaf, is it really-" She lowered her voice a bit. "I mean, is it that obvious?"

The snowman didn't have a chance to answer. Elsa got there first, hugging Anna tight. "I think Olaf has a gift for understanding us, Anna." For a moment, Anna almost lost herself in the sheer happiness of it, almost missing Elsa's words. No matter how much time she spent with Elsa, it wasn't getting any less intense.

"Yeah, I do!" Olaf suddenly jumped to his feet. "Hey! If Kristoff's here then so's Sven!" He gave Anna and Elsa a quick hug and dashed for the door. "I better find a carrot so he doesn't eat my nose again!" And then he was gone- well, almost. His enthusiasm was so great that he closed the door on his own hand. "Oops!" He grabbed the stick out of the door and ran off. They could hear him calling down the hallway, "Sven!"

Anna stared after him for a moment, smiling, then turned her attention back to Elsa. But Elsa, to her surprise, had let go of her, and was walking towards the nearest window. A little shiver went through her. "Elsa? Are you okay?"

Reaching the window, Elsa peered out into the courtyard. Even that small hesitation sent another chill down Anna's spine. She turned back to Anna, and she was smiling. "Of course I'm alright, Anna. You're here." Her tone shifted a little, becoming less certain. "I just wish we knew more about your powers. I'm sure they're real. Maybe it would tell us more about mine, too."

For no reason she could name, Anna felt a spark of annoyance at her sister. It was the same as when Elsa had snubbed Hans at the coronation ball, only this time there was nothing behind it, just an irrational unwillingness to discuss her supposed magic. "Isn't it bad enough that everyone told you to be afraid of hurting me, Elsa? I don't want to be afraid of hurting you too!"

Elsa flinched, just a little, at Anna's tone. "It was a mistake, Anna. Father just misunderstood. No one knew that being together was the right answer for us. And you haven't hurt me. You wouldn't, I know that."

It was hard for Anna to actually listen to what Elsa was saying. Seeing Elsa flinch had made the anger rise further. Just moments ago she'd been wondering at how much she loved her sister, and now this. She tried to keep her voice calm. "Elsa... I don't want to think about all these things, not magic or Hans and his stupid name-calling or all the mistakes our parents made. I just want to be together again! Forget everything else! You're here, I'm here, can't we just be happy with that?"

Anna could see Elsa trying to smile. She could see the frustration in her voice making Elsa want to cringe. She realized now that Hans had really dug in deep, upset her so badly that not all Elsa's love and caring was pushing it away. She desperately forced herself to listen, as a buzzing fury threatened to white out Elsa's reply. "If you think that's best." Elsa reached for Anna's hand, but hesitated, and the hesitation sent a snap of rage through Anna. How dare Hans do this to her, make her so angry that it made Elsa afraid! When Elsa did finish reaching out anyway, took her hand, Anna just barely managed to shove the feelings back again.

Elsa was still talking. "But I think we should find out what's really going on. Anna, you're glowing..."

Anna looked down at herself. Sure enough, her skin was glowing a dull red, almost like the embers of a fire. She looked back up at Elsa abruptly, and the worry in Elsa's eyes sent a shock of fresh frustration through her. She didn't want Elsa to worry. She didn't want to hurt Elsa! A burst of light blinded her.

When her vision cleared, she found herself sitting on the floor, several feet back from where she'd been standing. There was smoke rising from the floor in that spot, and just in front of that, a wall of ice about the size of Elsa. She looked at her hands, and there was no more glow. The anger was largely gone too, overtaken completely by raw confusion. "E-Elsa?"

A terrifying instant went by, then Elsa peered out from behind the ice wall. "Anna! Are you okay?" The ice dissolved into blue light as Elsa rushed to Anna's side.

She shook her head, feeling dazed. "I'm n-not sure. I don't know what... what just happened?" Her whole body ached, as if she'd just climbed the north mountain all over again. There were spots across her eyes, like she'd looked right at the sun, and the edge of her dress looked singed. There were tiny wisps of smoke coming from her hands too. What had she done?

Elsa's voice wasn't calm, or even gently uncertain, anymore. She just sounded scared. "I'm not sure... I think you made fire... I made the wall when I saw that light, it was instinct." Elsa reached for Anna's arm, but recoiled instantly at the touch. "Your skin's burning!"

Burning? Anna barely even felt warm. It was Elsa's touch that was very cold. "Maybe you're right about finding out more, Elsa." Had she almost burned Elsa? She could barely breathe, all the anger replaced by something near panic. Was this how Elsa had felt all those years? No wonder she closed her door...