Probably happens pretty soon after the events of Frozen, let's say a month or two.


Door

It's early morning, and Elsa has been awake for hours by now. She's been checking on the status of some trade agreements, plus a few new laws that she'd like to review with her sister before bringing them to the council. The queen heads down for a quick bathroom break; six cups of coffee in one sitting tends to fill the bladder quickly. She can see steam from the door, slightly ajar, but she supposes it's probably left over from Anna's bath, and thinks nothing of it.

Elsa pushes the door the rest of the way, and a frightened squeak is followed by a splash.

"Elsa!"

"Ahh, sorry!"

Elsa turns her head, face blazing red. She exits the room, shutting the door completely. Her back is pressed against the door as she sighs, her face in her palm. There's more than one washroom in the castle, so Elsa decides to leave her sister to take the rest of her bath in peace.

A few hours later, Elsa hears knocking at her study door. It's more like pounding, startling the queen into materializing a small flurry. She leaps from her chair and swings the door open. Standing there is a small, frightened looking Anna, curled into herself like a sad pill bug.

"Anna?! Are you alright?"

"This door's never closed," the princess shudders. "Why was it closed?"

Elsa has to think for a few moments. Did she ever actually close the door completely? It's possible that the wind might have taken it, as it was getting stuffy in the small room. It's not like Anna is afraid of doors, she just doesn't like the association they carry. A door stood between her and Elsa for thirteen years. She still has difficulty completely shutting a door for any reason.

"I really don't remember shutting it," Elsa coaxes her sister's hands from her body. "You're right, it's never fully closed. I'm sorry, Anna."

The princess' lips form a thin line, and her posture remains hunched. She makes the motions to walk away.

"I'm sorry, you're probably busy-"

"Anna, no."

The queen squeezes her sister in a hug not too different from their first in thirteen years on the fjord.

"I wasn't trying to shut you out, I promise."

"It's okay, I'm just overreacting," Anna mumbles into Elsa's shoulder, seeing as she can't escape the queen's iron grip.

"No, you're not," Elsa insists with maternal authority. "You were scared. It's okay to be scared."

Anna's muscles loosen and she allows herself to be held, though she will not allow herself to admit she was scared. Eventually, Elsa lets go and bestows a gentle head bump, like a cat greeting a friend.

"I do need to get back to work, but you're welcome to stay."

The princess stays for awhile, at least, until Olaf toddles in and tells Anna about some fascinating animal he's just seen. The queen sighs; there would be fewer of these interruptions with a closed door. She knows she couldn't stomach that look Anna gave her a second time, so all in all, it's a small sacrifice to make.

At bedtime, Elsa decides she will ask Anna if she'd like to sleep with her for the night, like they used to. It would be the first time in thirteen years, and the queen is not without some small measure of anxiety. She stands before Anna's bedroom and softly knocks on the door.

"Anna, it's me-"

The door swings open with far too much force, smacking Elsa right in the nose. She's only able to mutter a weak "ouch" before her exuberant sister goes from elated to horrified.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Anna flails around a bit before she takes Elsa's face in her hands, looking for damage. "I was just so excited I didn't even realize you were literally right there!"

"You were excited that I knocked on your door?"

Anna presses her fingers to Elsa's nose, relieved to see it's not broken. It's not even bleeding, either. She breathes a quick sigh.

"Well, yeah. This is the first time you knocked on my door at all," the princess explains. "It was always the other way around, and you never-"

Anna clamps her mouth shut. She lowers her head, looking up with guilty eyes.

"Sorry."

"Don't be," Elsa softly refutes. "You're right."

Anna nods, and Elsa can already tell the redhead is deep in thought.

"Can I say something that might be weird?" Anna asks.

"Uh...sure."

"I don't like doors."

Elsa gives a sympathetic nod.

"I don't blame you."

"I don't just mean like, figuratively, I mean literally. Remember this morning? I didn't close the door while I was in the bath."

"Yes, I know," Elsa sighed. "Anna, there's some times when you really do need to shut the door. That's one of them, okay?"

"But what if I get locked in?" Anna supposes fearfully.

"What makes you think you would?"

"Hans," Anna spits out the name. "He locked me in the library, when I came back from the mountain."

Elsa's skin crawls at the mention of the name. Her lip forms a small snarl.

"Well, the first thing I'll be doing tomorrow morning is getting all the locks looked at," the queen declares. "There's no reason they shouldn't open from the inside. But first, I wanted to ask you something."

Anna stands at attention.

"Did you want to sleep in my room tonight?" Elsa tilts her head with a shy little smile. "I know we haven't done that since we were kids, but I thought maybe...what do you think?"

The smile on Anna's face carries the radiance of the midday sun.

"I do still snore, I hope you know what you're getting into," the princess tries to sound stern, but she can't contain her little leaps of joy.

"I could hear you through the walls, Anna," Elsa playfully jabs. "I've gotten plenty used to it."

"Well, now we can add walls as my second least favorite thing."

"I can deal with open doors, but I need my walls, Anna."