When Anna woke up the next morning, she felt better than she had in a while. Sure, she may not ever be able to see Heins in quite the same way, but that was a small price to pay for the marked increase in her outlook since talking to Elsa the day before. When she'd first asked to ride with Anna, Anna had been certain that it would be a day of commiseration, of talking endlessly about their separate marital issues, about how fucked up Anna and Elsa both were, about the mountains they had left to climb- but it had been none of that. Elsa had not once even acknowledged anything regarding their current situation. Instead, the two sisters did something they had not done since before the accident as children. They just hung out.
They talked about absolutely nothing of importance. For those short, glorious hours, Anna felt as though she had not a care in the world. The good it had done her was beyond description, to have that day to recharge, to try and reset her mental state- she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to properly thank Elsa. She'd seen what Kristoff, bless his heart, and even she herself had not- that what Anna needed was not support, or advice, but to be given an environment to be herself without needing to work for it, if only for a little while.
She looked up at Kristoff, and for the first time since they reunited, she felt the surge of happiness and love that she wanted to have every time she saw him. The feeling spread through her like a wave, a tingly feeling of joy that spread from her heart to the tips of her fingers and toes. But then a thought floated up from the back of her mind. It whispered, "This is just to make you easier to tear down, this won't last, you won't be happy for long." She tried to push it back down, and succeeded for the most part, but it had still cast a shadow over her mind. She nestled into Kristoff's side even more, trying to recapture the joy from just moments ago, but it had slipped away. She sighed. Though the previous day had been just shy of magical, it seemed that her recovery was not yet finished. When was her mind going to stop being such a jerk?
She examined the sides of the tent, and guessed that it was a few minutes to dawn. She thought about going back to sleep, but decided that she should get up and moving to try to keep those dark, intrusive thoughts at bay. She kissed Kristoff's cheek and slipped out of bed, giving him a sad smile as she saw him reach for her in his sleep, frowning when he didn't find her, before rolling over and sleeping on. She dressed in her normal traveling clothes and left the tent. She walked a few feet, then stretched, enjoying the cool morning air on her skin, the way the dew on the grass caught the rising sun and set the field aflame.
"Good morning, Your Highness." Anna let out a squeak of fright and jumped, turning around to see Ciri, already dressed for the day, looking apologetic. "My apologies, Your Highness," she said, casting her eyes downward. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay, Ciri," Anna said, her hand over her heart, which was currently trying to escape her chest via ribcage. "But stop calling me 'Your Highness'."
"Oh, right. Sorry. It's a hard habit to break."
"It's okay, I'm sure it is," Anna said, taking a breath as her heart returned to its normal rhythm. "What are you doing up so early?" The pair of them ambled over to the remnants of the previous night's fire.
"Couldn't sleep."
"What's on your mind?" Anna asked, plopping down on the grass and indicating Ciri to join her, which she did, so they sat side by side against a log.
"I don't want to trouble you," Ciri said after a brief hesitation, not meeting Anna's eyes.
"Ciri, the amount of trouble we've caused you is a thousand times more than any trouble you could possibly cause by sharing your thoughts, which I asked you about, if I might add."
"It's… complicated."
"I'm a good listener. Unless you'd rather not tell me," she added after a moment, not wanting to pressure her.
Ciri gave Anna a small smile and shook her head. " It's not that. I guess…" she sighed. She started and stopped several times, then said, "I think it's that, believe it or not, the past month or so has been the best time since my father died." She looked up as though she expected Anna to disagree or try to argue, but Anna just looked at her, waiting for Ciri to continue. "I've been alone for... a while, so this has felt… Sort of like I had a family again. And… no, it's stupid."
"Please, Ciri. I promise I won't laugh."
"It's just... the way Elsa talks to me… It's like the way I imagine my mother would have."
"Oh," Anna said, frowning. Elsa did have a habit of being too fussy sometimes. "I'm sure she doesn't mean to, I can talk to her if you want?"
Ciri shook her head. "No, it's not like that. I don't feel like she's talking down to me or anything. It's… it's just…" She sighed, wrestling with how to word her thoughts, settling on the simple: "It's nice."
Anna blinked, then nodded. "I understand," she said. "Better than you know. But… sorry, but what does that have to do with you not sleeping?"
"... I'm afraid. We're getting there today, and I'm afraid of what might happen."
"We won't let anything happen to you, Ciri," Anna said, nudging her. "I promise."
"I'm not worried for myself. I'm worried about all of you."
Anna mentally smacked herself in the forehead. Of course Ciri wouldn't be concerned for herself. She really was a lot like Elsa. "I should have known," Anna said, smiling, but the smile faded within seconds. "But that's part of why we're fighting. So that we don't have to have young girls like you losing sleep because she's afraid she's going to lose her new family."
"I suppose." Ciri still looked downcast. Anna put her arm around her and pulled her in, and Ciri relaxed into the embrace, putting her own arm around Anna, then inspiration struck.
"Hey, I have something that might cheer you up."
"Hmm?"
"It's a story Elsa told me yesterday to cheer me up, about Heins, and a huge batch of noodles…"
Author note: Thank you, Mr. Watterson, for everything.