A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter. After the last few chapters, I figured we should have a cute little sentimental piece, so here it is. But me being me, I couldn't resist throwing in some hurt/comfort and angst. So please enjoy and review!

I haven't said this in a while, but I still don't own Frozen.

The Chair

Set ten months after the Great Thaw (April 1843)

Anna walked into her sister's study, bored out of her mind, only to find –

"Uh, what are you doing?"

Elsa looked up from her position on the floor. She was lying flat on her back, knees drawn up. The ice heels that she frequently wore were tossed to one corner of her study. "Oh, this… just resting."

"On the floor?"

"Uh huh."

Anna pointed to the sofa across the room. "But you have a couch right there."

Elsa shrugged, though given the position her shoulders were in, it read more like a squirm. "Yeah, I just wanted a change of scenery… but I should probably get back to work." She stuck her hand out. "Help me up, will you?"

With her sister's help, Elsa got onto her feet. But before she could take a step, a spasm of pain ran through her lower back and she buckled. Thankfully, Anna was there to catch her before her face met the floor. "Woah Sis, are you okay?"

The pain kept Elsa from doing anything more than gesturing to the couch. Taking the hint, Anna led her sister there and lay her down gently. "Easy now…"

When her back touched the soft fabric of the chaise, the blonde sighed. "Thanks."

Anna stared at her with furrowed eyebrows. "What's going on Elsa?"

Elsa waved a hand lightly. "It's nothing Anna, just a little sore… that's all."

But that wasn't enough to appease Anna. Her sister was nothing if not persistent. And while that was normally an admirable quality, it wasn't so welcome now.

The princess crossed her arms, a small frown on her lips. "That didn't look like nothing. You nearly collapsed."

Elsa sighed reluctantly. There was no way to avoid this conversation, was there?

"My back hurts. I've been getting these spasms of pain-"

"And you didn't tell me? How long have you been suffering?"

Elsa winced as she replied, "Just a week."

"A WEEK?" Anna stared at her in disbelief before rising to her feet. "I'm getting Physician Bodil."

"No!" Elsa reached out to grab her sister before she could leave. "It's okay, Anna. Please don't burden her. She's spending her free time in town taking care of the people. I don't want to take her away from them for such a small issue."

There was a tense moment as the two sisters stared each other down, but it quickly dissipated as Anna sat back down with a small grunt.

"Fine…" She relented, "But it's probably because of that chair." She jerked her head towards the infernal wooden chair that sat in front of her desk.

"How did you…"

"Papa complained of a backache all the time. Usually, after a long day, I would give him a massage and Mama would bring him a hot water bottle. He was always grumbling about it… said he'd get rid of it if it was the last thing he did, but-" Anna shook her head. No need to finish that thought now. She turned to Elsa. "If it's causing you problems, just get rid of it. I mean, you can do that, you're the queen now!"

"I wish it were that easy." Elsa replied, turning to stare at the wooden torture machine.

"It's a chair. Who's going to care if you get rid of it? Don't tell me you need the Council's approval for that."

Elsa chuckled at that. "No, I'm pretty sure I don't… but that chair's been in this study for decades, Anna. Before Papa sat in it, it belonged to our grandfather, and to his father."

"Yeah, but they probably all hated it. Let's face it, it's an ugly chair and it's not even comfortable. It's literally bad at being a chair."

Elsa couldn't help but grin at her sister's characterization. "Even so, if I did remove it, I'm sure people would be upset. If I could break with generations of tradition and replace that chair, imagine what else I could do. What if I decided to do away with the council altogether?"

Anna looked at her quizzically. "Surely there isn't anyone in the world stupid enough to think that, is there?"

Elsa gave her a half-hearted smirk and shrug. "Who knows?"

"This is ridiculous, that thing right there is an ugly, rigid, infernal torture device. Just get rid of it and find something that doesn't make your back hurt. And if people have some sort of problem with that, they can take it up with me." Anna smirked and lifted a fist. "I have just what they're looking for." She punched her own palm with a fiendish gleam in her eyes.

Elsa laughed heartily at that before another spasm of pain cut her off mid-inhalation. She fumbled wildly for a surface to hold onto but found her sister's waiting hands instead.

"It's okay Elsa. Just breathe slowly… in and out. That's it."

The pain soon passed, and Elsa was able to open her eyes. She found Anna's concerned teal irises staring back. "I'm worried Elsie. You looked like you were in a lot of pain."

Years of practice allowed Elsa to put on a calm face. She gave her sister a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm okay, Anna."

"Do you want me to give you a massage?"

Elsa shook her head. "No thanks, Sunshine. I think I'll be fine now."

Anna didn't believe Elsa, not after seeing the way her sister was suffering. No doubt she was just trying to put on a brave face like she had for at least a decade. She really had hoped Elsa was comfortable enough with her to be honest, but Anna knew when to leave well enough alone. "Okay. Just don't do too much today, alright. And go to sleep early."

"Yes mother." Elsa replied with a fond smile before getting up. When she felt ready, she made her way to her desk and sat down.

Anna left the study as soon as Elsa got back to work. She had a lot of work to do too.

Nothing.

She'd spent the whole day in town and found nothing. How was it that the furniture stores in Arendelle sold reindeer scratching posts but didn't have one single good chair?

The ones that she had found weren't right at all. Some were too short; others were too pointy. There were square ones, round ones, even a triangular one? What was that all about? None of them would work for Elsa. And they had to, because if Anna was really going to go behind her sister's back and buy her a new chair, it had better be worth it, or else she was going to…

"Anna!"

She spun around to find her boyfriend running up to her. "Kristoff!" He wrapped her in a hug and gave her a quick kiss. After certain recent events, they'd decided to keep their physical affection to a minimum. At least in public.

"You're just the person I wanted to see. I need help."

"Well then, you've come to the right man, princess. What can I help you with?" Kristoff bent over into a bow.

Anna shoved him with a giggle. "Come on silly. I need help finding Elsa a chair."

Kristoff scratched the back of his neck, his brows furrowed into an adorable confusion. "Don't they have plenty of those in the castle? I'm sure if you asked Kai-"

"Kristoff!" Anna shoved him again, though she couldn't help but chuckle at his antics. "I want to replace the chair in her study. But I need to find one that that's fit for a queen, and for Elsa in particular. But I've checked all the stores and they don't have what I'm looking for!"

"What about the royal carpenter?"

"Gustav? He's not taking any orders right now. When I approached him about the chair, he gave me the scariest look." She shuddered a little bit. Gustav had never really been fond of her. Perhaps because he'd spent much of his time over the years fixing the furniture she broke during her many escapades.

"Besides, if I commissioned him, he'd have to tell Elsa and I really, really want this to be a surprise for her. You have to help me, Kristoff!"

Kristoff shrugged. "You could always make her a chair."

Anna rolled her eyes at that. "I'm no carpenter. How would I even do that?"

"I know how. I can help you."

Anna's eyes lit up at that. "Really? You'll teach me?"

"Sure, it's not so bad once you get started." Kristoff felt a shiver down his spine at the look on his girlfriend's face. The wild gleam in Anna's eyes meant only one thing, and that usually caused problems for Kristoff. Perhaps he'd made a mistake. But before he could back out of it -

"Come on, what are we waiting for? Let's go make Elsa a chair!"

Elsa couldn't bring herself to sit upright. The pain had only intensified after the incident with Anna and now, instead of spasms, a constant acute ache resided in her lower back. Sitting was agony and standing… oh that was a different level of hell altogether.

But to the average observer, Elsa looked the image of perfection. Sure, she wasn't sitting quite straight, but her face betrayed none of the pain she felt.

To Anna, that was quite the conundrum. Drat Elsa's ability to hide her emotions so seamlessly, how was she supposed to know how her sister was feeling if she wouldn't say anything or show anything?

"Are you sure you're alright?" Anna ventured for the umpteenth time since dinner had started.

Elsa nodded a little, not daring to move her head more than necessary. She discovered the hard way two hours ago that excessive movement made everything much, much worse.

"I'm fine, Sunshine. That break I took earlier did the trick, it seems."

"Hmm." Anna returned to her dessert, one eye still on her sister. There was something off with her sister, that much was obvious. Anna could only assume the pain had gotten worse. But why, oh why did Elsa insist on keeping her feelings under wraps?

The rest of the meal passed by in an awkward silence. Elsa didn't dare open her mouth for fear of emitting any sounds of pain and Anna didn't speak because she wanted to wait until after dinner to confront her sister about her concealing tactics.

Once the plates were cleared, Elsa moved to stand, but the moment she lifted her weight off the seat and onto her two legs, her body gave out on her. Cries and hurried footsteps sounded dully around her as Elsa collapsed onto the floor and blacked out.

The physician rose from her chair beside the queen's bed. "You'll be alright, Your Majesty. You just need plenty of rest. And I would strongly advise you to remove that chair. Forcing your body to conform to such improper seating arrangements will only worsen your back problems."

"Thank you, Physician Bodil. I'm sorry you had to leave your other patients to tend to me."

The old woman patted the queen's hand. "Nonsense, my dear. My main duty is to you. Only if you are well can I safely take care of all my other patients." She nodded her head. "Your Majesty, Your Highness. I will take my leave now."

Once the door was closed, Anna started. "Why didn't you tell me how bad it was?"

"I didn't want to-"

"No, no more of that. I don't want you to keep things from me out of some false sense of duty. I can't help you if you won't let me, Elsa. I would have called Physician Bodil earlier if you had told me how bad it hurt. You wouldn't have fainted…" Anna broke off with a sob. "You scared me."

Guilt surged through Elsa at her sister's pain. "I'm sorry Anna."

Anna rubbed her nose and eyes before scooching closer to her sister and patting her hand. "It's okay. Just get some rest and we'll deal with the chair later, okay."

Elsa sighed. "About that…"

"No, Elsa." Anna shook her head as she felt irritation envelop her. "Don't tell me you're still keeping that thing. I don't understand, it's just a stupid chair. Why would you want to keep it, even after what it did to you?"

"I…" Elsa shook her head. Whatever lie she had hoped to say disappeared from her tongue as soon as she took in her sister's determined face. She couldn't lie to her sister about this, but could she bring herself to tell the truth?

"Why?" Anna pleaded.

Resigned to her fate, Elsa relented. "Because… there's some part of me that wonders whether I even deserve to be queen or not."

All the air flew out of Anna's lungs at her sister's words. Whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't that. "What do you mean?"

"It's just… it's silly, really. Probably shouldn't have even mentioned it…" But before she could turn away, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Please Elsa. I just want to understand."

The innocent plea in Anna's eyes gave Elsa the courage to continue. "Anna, generations of monarchs sat in that chair, they made laws, they signed accords, they ruled the kingdom and made it what it is today… all from that chair."

"Maybe it didn't start that way, but that chair became a symbol of the monarchy, of the weight of responsibility that comes with ruling a kingdom. And all our ancestors all dealt with the pain that came from sitting in it, literally and figuratively… some better than others, I suppose. And I just…maybe I'm too weak, Anna."

"Maybe I'm not strong enough to be queen. I mean, I spend a few months in that thing and suddenly I'm unable to function… I certainly don't remember Papa suffering like this. And I'm sure our grandfather Runeard didn't either. If I can't sit in a chair without literally collapsing under the strain… how will I rule Arendelle?"

Anna looked at Elsa. "Wow, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." When she saw a flash of hurt cross Elsa's face at her words, she bit her tongue. "Me and my big mouth. I'm sorry Elsa. I didn't mean it like that… what I meant is you being able to sit in that chair or not has nothing to do with your fitness or ability to rule Arendelle. Symbol or not, at the end of the day, it's just a chair. It can't measure your ability to be anything, Elsa. It can't and won't tell you whether you're being a good queen or not. It's a chair, you know, it can't talk to you."

Elsa stared back at Anna, speechless.

"And I don't know what you're talking about when you say you're not fit to be a queen or whatever. You are more than fit and you're doing a great job. So don't tie your self-worth to a chair, of all things. Okay?"

"You… you think I'm doing a good job?"

Anna sighed and placed her hands on Elsa's face. "Yes, Sis. You're doing a fabulous job. And I don't want you to have such doubts again, okay?" When Elsa responded with a slow nod, Anna smiled. "Now, would you please consider getting rid of that horrendous torture machine?"

Elsa sighed and relaxed against her sister, but not before giving Anna a small smile. "Fine. I'll get a new chair… but," She broke off with a yawn. "I'll have to think about that later."

She wriggled into the blankets and gave Anna one more look. "Thanks Anna."

As Elsa nodded off to sleep on her lap, Anna couldn't help but whisper, "You're welcome. And don't worry about the chair. I've got it covered."

A few days later, having finally been cleared to get back to work, Elsa walked into her study only to find Anna standing by her desk, with a grin so wide it threatened to split her face in half. Beside her sat a comfy, cushioned…

"Is that a new chair?"

"Yes!" Anna squealed as she ran up to her sister. "I got you a new chair… well, technically I made you a new chair with Kristoff's help of course and I guess you can consider it a belated coronation day gift from me since I didn't get you anything then, but I suppose it could be an early birthday gift too, or just a thanks for everything gift…" She took a deep breath and looked up at her sister, suddenly shy. "Do you like it?"

Elsa was speechless. "Anna, I don't know what to say… I-" She grabbed her unsuspecting sister and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, sweetheart…." She pulled back and looked at Anna with a raised eyebrow. "Wait. Did you say you made this chair?"

Anna blushed. "Uh huh. It was super fun. Kristoff knows how to carpent… carpenter…craft things from wood. And when I told him, he offered to show me. I made a few chairs before I made this one, you know, just to get some practice before I made yours. And I even got to engrave my own designs."

She pointed to a snowflake engraved on both sides of the chair's frame, right on the posts. "See, that's your special snowflake." Then to a crocus design that wound its way down the frame. "And that's for Arendelle." Finally, she stopped at the design on the headboard, which contained a few words. "This is my favorite."

Elsa leaned forward to read the inscription before she turned, half amazed to her sister. "Anna…"

"You know how I said a chair can't tell you if you're doing a good job or not, well, this one can. It says den største dronningen (Greatest Queen Ever) and it'll be here on the headboard in case you ever forget or start to worry if you're doing a good job. And I even put it in just the right spot so that other people can't see it if you're sitting in it, so you know… they don't think you're conceited or anything."

"I- I don't know what to say. This is so perfect." Elsa whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh, but there's more. You sit down first, then I'll show you." Elsa let her sister guide her towards the chair. The soft comfy cushions caused her to sigh with relief. It was a darn good chair, perhaps the best she'd ever sat in. "Anna, if I sit in this chair too long, I'm definitely going to fall asleep."

Anna put her hands on her hips, a laugh pulling on her lips. "Good. Maybe at least that way you'll get some proper rest."

Elsa spent a few seconds relishing the feeling of the soft cushions and marveling her sister's handiwork before she remembered… "You said there was more."

Anna nodded. "The thing I hated most about that old chair was that it had no room for me when I wanted to sit on your lap, but this…" Anna climbed onto her sister's lap and pulled her close. "This has enough room for the both of us."

Yes, this was by far the best chair Elsa had ever sat in, especially for the last reason. "I love it Anna. And I love you so, so much. Thank you, Sunshine."

Anna placed a kiss to Elsa's forehead before curling into her side. "I love you too Elsie."