Anna was many things.
Energetic. Impulsive. Child-like in her wonder at the world. Playful to the point that it almost always bordered being mischievous. Enthusiastic. Bursting with love. Loyal. Optimistic, and many, many other things. All good things. Things that Anna had learned were a part of who she was as a person. But, there was one thing she knew she was not.
Anna wasn't graceful.
Well, she wasn't graceful in the things that she thought were important, like in everything that pertained to being a royal. Elsa on the other hand – she was the very embodiment of grace. Of sophisticated grace – which was a whole other higher level of grace to begin with.
The redhead would often just watch her sister, in an almost obsessive way, to try and figure out how Elsa did it. In the six months since the That Anna had come to the following conclusion: there just wasn't a time when Elsa wasn't graceful. It shone through in the way she held her utensils, the way she ate, and even chewed! When she walked, when she sat, when she giggled or laughed. When she smiled…
"How can a smile even be graceful?" Anna muttered to herself as she walked down the hall with a frown. "I mean, it's just pulling your lips up when you're happy, right?"
She stopped before a window to catch her reflection and smiled. It looked so fake; especially since her forehead was still scrunched in frustration. The tension left her face with a deep exhale before she smiled at her reflection again. It looked better, but it was lopsided and looked nothing like her sister's smile at all. She sighed and moved on.
It seemed that almost everything came easily for her big sister. Anna had just not been blessed with the ability to emit grace like her sister could. Discouraged and really just wanting to bring this obsession to an end, Anna made her way to her sister's room.
Knock knock knock-knock knock.
"Hey, Els," – she didn't bother to wait for a response and opened the door – "you in here?"
The room was empty and immaculate, as always. Elsa's purple four poster bed was made up on Anna's left; the hearth was cold in the right-hand corner of the room. Her wardrobe and mirror sat next to the hearth. The only indication that her sister had been here was the slightly untidy desk Elsa uses from time to time. Curious, Anna made her way to the desk before the window.
Papers were strewn about in neat piles; a pencil lay atop a page that had a drawing on it. The redhead came around the desk, set the pencil aside and leaned down to study the picture more closely. It was a dress. A sketch of a beautiful dress that almost looked like Elsa's normal ice dress, except for a few modifications here and there. The slit was gone for one thing, the shoulders weren't as bare and even the cape was different. It was darker with – Anna squinted – with something fluffy covering the rim of the cape.
Was she designing a new dress to wear or something?
"Well," Anna answered her own thought and stood straight again. "she does wear her usual ice dress waaaay too much." She cocked her head to the side, staring down that the sketch. "Maybe she wants a formal dress to wear to court?"
The sketch was obviously incomplete and looked more like a doodle turned into a dress. Anna tried to imagine the new dress on her sister and couldn't help but smile. She'd look beautiful. The redhead looked down at her own dress and frowned. She was wearing a simple olive dress with a lighter green bodice, a summer dress that reached her ankles and bellowed out when she twirled or moved.
A sudden thought occurred to her. Could…could Elsa's clothes be a contributing factor to her grace?
Anna's gaze travelled to the wardrobe then flitted to the still open door. With a grin she dashed to the door and closed it softly, then turned and marched to the dresser. She yanked the doors open with determination and stared at the various options before her. Elsa's coronation dress – a new one she had commissioned a few days after the thaw, because the old one was turned into an ice dress – hung next to a few formal dresses. Some she'd seen Elsa wear to court; some of the more causal dresses she's seen her wear on her days off. All of the dresses were different shades of purples and blues. But not the right blue she was looking for.
She moved the dresses aside to see them more clearly. She needed to find the ice dress. It would only work if she tried the ice dress on.
"Where is it?" the hanger screeched as she moved the dress to her left to reveal another one, and another one, and another. "Where is it?"
Maybe she's wearing it now? Anna paused and bit her lip in thought.
She could always try on another dress? See if she'd feel more graceful in one of the formal dresses, perhaps.
A sigh, deep and long and disappointed, rushed past her lips, "Fine."
Anna grabbed the most formal one she came across, a dark blue one with golden crocus embroidery around the bodice and hem, and twirled it out of the dresser. It was beautiful and elegant, though she had really wanted the ice dress because of the built-in cape, but this would have to do. Handling the dress with special care, because she knew Elsa would freeze her if she ruined one of her dresses, she made her way to the changing screen.
She stepped behind the screen and froze. There, hanging on a hook on the screen, was the elusive ice dress, sparkling in all its glory. A grin grew alarmingly fast and practically split Anna's face in half.
"Yes!" she bounced on the spot and exchanged the two dresses.
Anna held the ice dress up by the hanger and felt the material. It was cool to the touch, like silk when it was left in the cold air, but not as smooth. It was crystalline throughout the length with bigger, longer and flatter crystals on the bodice. It looked like a glacier was breaking apart from the dress' skirts. The sleeves were so thin that Anna could see her hand through the material. And the cape – absolutely beautiful. Anna just had to stare at it for a while. She'd seen it up close but hadn't touched it before, except when she hugged her sister of course.
"Whoa…" she breathed, running her hands across the bodice and feeling the cape between her fingers. "How is this even possible? It's made out of ice, for Odin's sake – wait…won't it melt when I wear it?"
Anna wrapped a sleeve around her neck and waited with baited breath. What if it melts? What will I do then? She hadn't really thought of that before. Elsa isn't ice cold, but she's always a little colder than normal. A few minutes passed. Nothing happened. Anna's neck felt cooler, but not wet at all and the dress wasn't warming up either. She unwrapped her neck and examined the sleeve. Flawless.
"Phew. 'Kay, perfect." She hung the dress up over the formal one she had taken out and started to undress.
Her summer dress was unceremoniously draped over the screen in her excitement. Maybe she wouldn't feel any different, but now she was interested in what she would look like. She took the dress off of the hanger carefully and put it on. The fabric slid over her head and down her body smoothly, making her break out in goose-flesh at its pleasantly cool touch. She smoothed out the dress, pulling the sleeves down a little bit, fixing the low neckline, and untwisting the fabric around her legs. She knew Elsa was tall, but the dress was way longer than she expected it be.
She kicked her feet to lift the dress a bit, "I'll just wear her heals then, too. Kay, I just need too untangle…" she looked behind her at the coiled cape, bent around to undo it and froze.
The dress was shrinking.
"Please don't tell me…" Anna looked down at the dress' length, it was obviously shrinking.
Her heart pounded in her ears as cold dread washed through her body.
"Elsa's so gonna kill me," She waited for water to start pooling at her feet but it didn't come. "Wait...what?"
The dress was shrinking alright, but it wasn't melting. It was busy moulding itself to fit Anna's body shape, shortening just enough for her to see her toes.
"Wow…" Anna breathed while the dress moved to sit on her perfectly.
She bit her lip, picked up the skirt and flitted out from behind the changing screen on her toes. When she stood before the full-length mirror, she dropped the skirt and stood in awe of what she saw.
Sure, the neckline was much lower than she was used to and the slit up her leg exposed more thigh than she's ever shown before, but the fit was perfect. The dress hugged her figure in such a way that it almost felt like Elsa was giving her a hug. Anna's grin threatened to split her face in half.
"Wow," she simpered at her reflection, "You look super sexy."
"I'll say."
Anna's neck swivelled around so fast she almost got a whiplash, "Elsa!" She turned red so quickly it's a wonder the dress didn't melt right then and there, "What-what are you doing here?"
Elsa stood by her door, wearing one of her casual purple dresses and an amused smirk. She raised an eyebrow as she held a cup of tea in her hands, "I came back to my room after having fetched a cup of tea. What are you doing here?"
Anna bit her lip as she tried to turn around to face her sister without tangling the cape around her feet.
"Well…well I –"
"Besides trying on my clothes without my permission, that is."
Anna flinched slightly and looked at her sister through her eyelashes, "Are you mad?"
"Mad?" Elsa raised the other eyebrow, "Why would I be mad?"
"Well, I'm trying on your clothes without your permission…"
"Yes, you are."
"And you're looking at me like that."
"Like what?" Elsa softened her face into a smile, "I'm curious and amused, but not mad Solskinn." Anna relaxed at the use of her nickname as Elsa made her way to her desk, "I do wish you had told me you wanted to try on my ice dress, then I could've helped you into it – you didn't rip it did you?"
"No! No I was really careful," Anna bit her lip as her heart lodged itself in her throat, "But…"
"But?" Elsa placed her cup on her desk and turned around to face her sister. "But what?"
"It shrunk."
The room was silent for a beat while the sisters stared at each other.
"It…shrunk?" Elsa asked carefully, her eyes flitted over the dress.
"Ye…" Anna subconsciously scrunched the fabric in her hands.
"Did it melt?" Elsa walked over to her sister looking at the floor for signs of water.
"No."
"Did you cut it?"
"Are you nuts?! I'd never do that."
"Then how's this even possible?"
"I don't know, it's your ice dress."
"And I'm supposed to know everything about my powers?" Elsa looked at her sister with raised eyebrows.
"Uh, yes?" Anna frowned, "Don't you?"
"No, not really," she glanced at her hands before looking at her dress more closely, "I know more than I did before everything but not a lot."
"Huh, well it shrunk a few seconds after I put it on."
Elsa nodded her head, thoughtful, "Wait, why did you put it no in the first place?"
"Oh," Anna squeaked, "That's uh, that's not important, what is important is us figuring out how this thing shrunk without you doing anything."
Anna moved away from her to go and change back into her clothes.
"Anna…"
"Yeah?" she called from behind the changing screen.
"I know when you're hiding something." Elsa walked towards her desk and leaned back against it while she folded her arms.
"Pfft! Me? Hiding things. Ha, that's a good one, heh." Anna's summer dress disappeared from hanging over the screen, "You're quite funny."
"A-huh, so I've been told."
Elsa shook her head and moved to sit behind her desk again. She was busy studying her newest dress design when Anna appeared behind the changing screen with her favourite formal dress in hand and not the ice dress.
"What are you doing? Where's the ice dress?" She asked, slipping her design under a pile of papers just as Anna hung her dress back into her wardrobe.
"Uh, hanging up a dress? And the ice dress is where I found it." Anna closed the wardrobe and meandered over towards her sister.
"I can see that you're hanging up a different dress than I was expecting. Why?"
"It was hanging behind the changing screen."
"How did it get there?"
"I dunno, it's your changing screen." Anna rested her hip against the side of Elsa's desk and folded her arms over her stomach.
"Anna, what's going on?"
"Nothing," she grinned wide, but averted her eyes. "Wait, here's that drawing you made?"
Elsa bit her lip as Anna frowned at her desk, searching with her eyes, "What drawing?"
Anna looked up at her sister, raising her eyebrow. Elsa mimicked her expression. They looked at each other for a few seconds. Eyes locked, each one willing the other to cave, neither one wanting to break. But then…Anna suddenly looked away, a soft frown on her brow.
"'Kay," she stood straight, "I guess I'll leave now."
Elsa sat up straighter, confused by Anna's actions and words. Usually she was stubborn enough that Elsa was the one who caved, it's never happened that Anna caved first before. The eldest sister bit her lip as Anna made her way to the door.
"Anna wait," she said, causing the youngest to turn around, "Are you ok?"
Anna nodded before opening the door, "Are you?"
"Yes," Elsa fidgeted in her seat, unsure as to what to do next, "S-see you later?"
Another nod before Anna left without another word.
Well done Anna, real smooth. The redhead stomped down the hall, fists balled at her sides, do you have to be so stupid? Thinking that a dress would solve the problem and then letting Elsa catch you in the act!
Anna turned the corner to the stairs; how will you even explain yourself? You can't leave her hanging. She skipped two stairs climbing up them, trying to get her nervous energy out. She knows something is up. Anna's frown deepened, but something's up with her too. And she won't tell me.
Anna faltered, missing the step. She clutched onto the railing, looking down the spiral staircase to the floor down below. She exhaled sharply, trying to get her heartrate under control. She shook her head, but you idn't tell her what's wrong either.
Anna sprinted up the stairs. She needed to get out. Clear her head. She made it to the topmost floor, and ran down the hall. Her feet carried her automatically. Her eyes started to burn, vision blurring. Stop it. She stopped before the open doors of a balcony. The breeze drifted across her face, bringing with it the sea and bells chiming in the distance. She stepped out and clutched onto the railing, breathing deeply.
She needed to calm down. To stop thinking about lying to her sister, and her sister lying to her. Don't. Think about that.
Anna hoisted herself onto the railing and grabbed the overhanging eave above her. This was the easiest way onto the roof. The eave was big, mainly decorative, but the perfect place to climb up because of the beam of wood sticking out over the balcony. The balcony was right next to a wall where creeping ivy curled around diamond shaped panels. They were the perfect footholds, if she needed them. Mostly she just pulled herself up as she did now.
She first discovered this balcony when she was 10. Back then she climbed up the wall, but now she could use the eave and pull herself onto the roof. It was the perfect hiding place, seeing as this balcony main purpose was to escape. She had often found her mother here in the past, standing alone, looking out on the harbour. It had the best view, with the sea stretching out endlessly before her. And being up on the roof, no one ever interrupted her.
Anna let out a deep breath, pulling her legs up close to her chest. She leaned back slightly, compensating for the steep angle of the roof. The roof was rough enough that her shoes didn't slip, so she had no fear of falling.
The wind brushed her bangs.
"What am I going to do?" She asked, expecting an answer with the next gentle breeze.
Elsa's obviously embarrassed. She doesn't want to show me her sketch. Anna frowned, which is stupid because she has nothing to be embarrassed about.
Neither do you...
Anna bit her lip. Why didn't she just tell her sister what she was up to? Why did she have to hide it? What am I afraid of?
The redhead sat back, contemplative. Arendelle bustled beneath her. People walked about the harbour, small like ants from where she sat. The port was busy. Ships coming from afar, bringing goods t trade.
Someone sighed below her, heavily. The wind picked up slightly, as if stirred by the breath. Anna frowned, leaning forward to see who it was. She saw the top of a platinum blond head, and sat back abruptly. Anna cringed. How did she find me? Anna bit her lip waiting for her sister to call her name, but nothing happened. She frowned again, scooting down a bit to see her sister more clearly.
The young woman was leaning against the railing, head in her hands. Her shoulders were slumped to her ears as she rubbed her hands over her face. She sighed again, deeply, and looked out over the harbour, standing straight while her hands clutched at the railing.
"I really suck at this…" Elsa said to the wind blowing around her.
Anna didn't know what to do. She felt like she was intruding on a very personal moment. She had rarely seen her sister's guard down like this before. It's been, what? Six months since the Thaw? She was still learning. Heck, they both were. Anna felt a stab of guilt. How can she expect her sister to be open about everything to her, when she's not even honest to Elsa about what's going on in her own head?
Anna slipped down, silently, wondering what would be the best way to let Elsa know that she wasn't alone.
The redhead bit her lip, "Uh, Hey."
Elsa jumped with a small squeak, icing the railing over and encasing her hands. She turned and looked up with wide eyes, and there was Anna, sitting on the roof with the biggest sheepish smile on her face.
"Anna, what?" she looked down at her hands and pulled, frowning. Embarrassed. "What are you doing up there?"
"I…" Anna bit her lip again, looking away from her sister struggling, "I came here to think…"
"How did you get up there?"
"I climbed. I'm always careful though."
Elsa sighed and stopped struggling. She stood stiffly, shoulders to her ears. Where her ears pink?
"Do…do you need help?"
"I'm fine," she pulled again, one hard yank. The ice cracked and broke suddenly, causing Elsa to stumble a bit. She turned to leave.
"Elsa, wait!" Anna scooted over closer to the edge, "I'm sorry!"
No one was on the balcony. The wind blew lightly. Anna groaned and put her head in her hands. Could this day get any worse?
"For what?" came the timid question below.
Anna leaned forward, but she couldn't see her sister, "For…" she sighed violently, "for being stupid."
It was quiet for a while; Anna thought her sister had left but then her platinum head appeared below her. Elsa looked up; she was frowning.
"You're not stupid."
"I feel pretty stupid."
"Why?" Elsa rested her hip on the iced over railing, arms wrapped around her stomach, she glanced at the ice then looked away. "I'm the one who's stupid."
"You're not stupid," Anna said resolutely.
The two of them were quiet for a while, unsure.
"I came to your room to ask you a question," Anna began shifting her weight on the roof, "It's a stupid question."
Elsa looked up, but said nothing.
"I…" Anna shifted her weight again, "I wanted to ask you how you…how you got to be so graceful."
"What do you mean?"
Anna sighed, frustrated, "I don't know how to explain it."
"You don't have to –"
"No, I do, because I can't expect you to tell me everything that's going on in your head if I don't do the same. I know you don't want to show me that sketch you made of a dress, I don't know why, but that doesn't mean I can sulk about it when I was obviously hiding something too."
Elsa shifted her weight to a different foot, she looked away again.
Anna pulled her legs to her chest, "I came to your room to ask you how to be graceful."
"I don't…" Elsa frowned, looked up "you are graceful."
"Not like you."
Elsa was quiet for a moment. She turned around, hands clutching the iced railing. "You don't want to be like me."
"What? Of course, I do!"
"No, Anna you don't. In fact," she continued just as Anna was about to voice her opinion, "I'd rather be like you."
The youngest closed her mouth with an audible click.
"You're so…free." Elsa seemed to shrink in on herself as she spoke, "and loving. You're so sure of who you are and what you do. You're open with your emotions and not afraid to express them…"
The wind turned cold, blowing in from the mountains.
"I am afraid," Anna said softly.
Elsa turned her head slightly, just enough to show Anna that she was listening.
"I'm afraid that things would go back to the way they were – not because you're doing anything wrong!" Anna said quickly when Elsa flinched. "You're doing so many things right! I get to come and visit you whenever I want. You've made me a place in your study where I can work, you've given me things to do to help you in your work as Queen. Elsa you've really changed so many things for the better!"
"And yet you still worry about things going back to the way they were."
"But that's because I'm insecure!" Anna stiffened. She was not planning on saying that. At all.
Elsa turned and looked up, confused.
The redhead put her face in her hands and sighed. She scrubbed her face before sitting back, frowning. The wind stilled, Arendelle's flags drooping on their poles.
"I'm scared I do something that will make everything…go back to the way it was before."
It was quiet for a beat, then…
"So…when I caught you in my room," Elsa began slowly, trying to understand, "when you thought I would be mad, you thought I would shut you out?"
Anna shrugged, looking away, then she frowned, "maybe…I'm still trying to figure this out."
"You and me both," Elsa breathed, frustrated.
"Can I ask you something?"
Elsa looked up.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Her sister smiled in response, "you want to know why I hid the sketch?"
Anna nodded.
"I guess…" Elsa gave a small shrug, "it's for the same reason you've mentioned earlier. I'm also insecure, Anna."
A soft breeze plucked at Anna's bangs, blowing down to play with Elsa's braid.
"We're a mess, aren't we?" the youngest sighed.
Elsa giggled and help her forefinger close to her thumb.
Anna mimicked the gesture, "just-a-lil-bit," she said with a giggle. "I think I'd like some chocolate now."
Elsa watched her sister scoot down to the beam, ready to catch her if something went wrong. Anna put her legs over one side of the beam, hanging there while she readied herself to jump down onto the balcony. Anna landed with a thump, bending to absorb the shock. She spun around facing her sister with a grin.
"You do that often?" Elsa asked, glancing up at the beam.
"Quite, but I'll have to find a new lace to gather my thoughts."
"Why?"
"Because you were obviously uncomfortable with me being up there."
"I don't want to stop you from being you," Elsa glanced to the side.
Anna placed her hand on her sister's shoulder lightly, "You aren't. I just don't want to make you uncomfortable."
Elsa looked up into Anna's loving smile. The glint in her eye turned mischievous.
"I'll just do it when you don't know about it." Anna grinned before walking out the door, "You coming?"
Elsa smiled, "Of course."
The sisters walked down the hall, side by side.
"You know," Anna said after a while, "you're a pretty great sister."
"I learnt from the best," Elsa said easily, pulling her sister closer.
Anna put her arm around Elsa's waist, "We'll figure this out, right?"
"Of course."
AN: I found this in my draft folder and really liked the flow of it. I intentionally ended it in a way that shows that the sisters don't know how to fix their insecurities or that they found a solution to them. They also didn't address everything that was a problem. I kindof feel like that's a more realistic way to end it than the happily ever after thing. They're still trying to figure out how to adapt to the changes.
I hope all you guys are figuring out how to adapt to the most recent world changes out there. Stay safe. And if you guys have any story prompts/ideas that you'd like me to write, lay em on me please :D
k bye.