A/N - still taking title ideas, (and I'm still thinking!)

Thanks to queenfixupper for this prompt!

The grey had been so unwelcoming. But at least there was warning. Anna's attention had diverted from co signing some papers when she heard the storm knocking, droplets of rain pitter-pattering against the glass and landing lightly into her room, and onto her documents. Looking up from her desk, the view unnerved her. Overcasting Arendelle was one angry cloud upon another, and they were slowly morphing into one. She had no doubts, a storm was approaching. Great. She wouldn't sleep tonight.

As the world around her grew darker and more aggressive, Anna promptly began setting up her first line of defences. Shutting the windows and curtains, she hauled all the bedding she could from the wardrobe. She couldn't see past the linen - thank god for muscle memory- but tentatively made her way to her bed, dumping it all onto her bed.

She was fine.

She had done this a thousand times.

It's just lights and noise.

As the rain grew heavier, Anna began wrapping herself tighter in the blankets. Cocooning herself in the warmth and safety of the fabric. It was the arrival of lightening that initiated phase two of her methods. Unable to drag an orchestra into her bedroom, her voice was the only instrument available to mask the sound of impending thunder. Flashes of white shot through her windows, her curtains unable to keep it at bay. It had merely, lessened the impact. Her fear had a hold her voice, she was left gawking as the full impact of the storm arrived, rattling at her bedroom window bidding to get in. To take her away. Sing, damn it.

She cursed herself. Squeezing her eyes as tightly as she could as the thunder rumbled. She was sure that she was shaking underneath the layers of blankets - but she couldn't determine if it was her fear or the effects of the earth seemingly shaking in fear at the sky's growl.

Where the North win-

No, that was hardly appropriate.

She shook her head again, trying to erase the words from her memory. The storm was getting closer and closer, and growing more violently in its wake. The panels of her bedroom window continued to shake, the rain slamming against the glass. You're fine. You're safe. Outside, the grey was erupting with streaks of gold, crashing down into the earth striking randomly, with no consideration to it's path.

It will be over soon.

It will be over so-

Her heart dropped out of her chest - and she out of her bed with a hard thud. She was certain she could hear sizzling outside her window. Not just lights and noise. Cocooning yourself - whilst comforting - isn't very stable. Anna had learnt that the hard way, because her face had ungraciously met the floor. All too quickly her safety device became a trap, a strangled cry rose from her throat as she tried to wiggle out of the mess she had got herself into. Her trembling was most definitely a mix of the house shaking and her fear. There wasn't any doubt. The flashes came quicker, bolting through the sky and into her bedroom. A constant reminder that she was merely a wall away from danger.

She was not fine.

"Anna? What are you-" For someone who prided herself on formality, Elsa was smirking. Of course she finds this funny. Her gaze laying thick embarrassment all over Anna. Maybe she should stay in the cocoon forever. Why did Elsa always have to walk in on moments like this?

"Elsa! This isn't funny! Anna said breathlessly, continuing in her bid to freedom. The lightning really amplified it, in what should have been a dim evening she could see Elsa's face clearer than ever. The way she eyeing her strangely was unnerving her.

"That's quite the predicament you've got there." Raising her eyebrows; Elsa couldn't help it, her poised stature relaxing as a laugh escaping her in watching Anna twist herself further into the fabric, wriggling more aggressively.

"I know" Anna threw her head back into the cocoon. Way to spell out the obvious. Elsa couldn't be certain, but she was sure Anna had attempted to outstretch her arms - for a brief moment she resembled a starfish. "Help, please?" Anna moped.

"Okay, alright." Elsa smiled warmly, shaking her head a little in the drama of it all. Kneeling down beside Anna, Elsa gripped at the white quilts and began tugging them. The room illuminated in spurts, the rain continuing to pour heavily outside. "Woah." Elsa paused momentarily, marvelling at the scattered lights that danced across the room. Anna frowned, She had forgotten about that.

"Elsa." Anna groaned, kicking Elsa in the shin. It hardly had the desired effect, as for Elsa it must have felt like nothing - at most a cushion lightly prodding her. Elsa turned back to Anna, the red head scowling at her - or at least tried to. She began to pry apart the blankets around Anna's head, and for the first time since her descent from the bed. She had a taste of freedom. It was just her legs stuck. "Okay so if you- " She started, but her words were interrupted as the back of head hit the floor. Without so much as a word from Elsa, Anna's legs were lifted into the air, the blanket being dragged from around her in one swift movement by the elder sister. Her heels crashed back onto the wood beneath them thudding loudly. "That works too I guess." Anna croaked, gratefully taking Elsa's outreached hand as she finally found her footing.

"What are you doing here?" Anna asked. Her eyes flickered as yet more harsh light invaded her pupils. Squinting, she turned so her back was to the window.

"I heard a noise. What were you doing?" Elsa narrowed her eyes,

"I just wrapped myself in a few blankets." Anna shrugged, trying to tune out storm outside. Crossing her arms to her chest, Elsa stared back at the younger sister quizzically. It was dawning on her slowly, not once had Anna laughed during what had just happened. She most definitely should have. Even now, Anna should have been rambling about some crazy idea she had. But it wasn't there. She wasn't there.

"The sky's awake." Anna blinked. Revelation.

"It certainly is." Elsa said, her eyes landing back on the windows as rain hammered down. "Anna, It's okay if you're afraid." She sighed, turning back to the sister.

"Who said I was afraid?" Defensively, Anna straightened on the spot, "I'm not afraid. It's lights and noise what is there to be afraid of?" Rambling, Anna bit her tongue before she continued any further. Not wanting to stumble into a mistake.

"I said, if. Anna." Elsa said pointedly. They stood awkwardly in the silence, listening to the low grumbling in the distance of thunder coursing across the earth. She wasn't sure how to play this, Anna was usually set on telling her every miniscule detail of her day. She hadn't encountered the opposite before. "I could go, if you want me to. Or I can stay, it's up to-"

"Stay" Anna cut in, shifting on her feet. "Only if you have nothing better to do. Only if you want to." Anna tugged at the hem of her pyjamas, her eyes fixed the floor. Please don't say no. Don't leave.

"The storm is heading away from us now." Elsa said, pretending not to see the relief on Anna's face. She sat on the bed, she had always loved lightening. It reminded her of her own powers in some ways. She had found the beauty in it after spending so many years alone. She looked forward to storms, it was a rare treat to see something new- Something so alive.

"How do you know?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity. She sat down next to Elsa.

"You count the time between the lightning and the thunder. As that time increases so does our distance from it." Elsa explained. She watched quietly as Anna counted to herself, it was as though she could see her heart settle as each time increased. Gently, she took a hold of Anna's hand. Elsa was here. She hadn't left.

"Thank you, for staying and for Elsa you know - earlier." Anna smiled, gesturing to the multitude of blankets that scattered across the bed and floor.

"What are sisters for." Elsa grinned, nudging Anna's shoulder with her own. Anna playfully nudged her back. She has found her smile. "So.. are you gonna tell me what's up?" Elsa asked.

"There's not much to tell, Elsa. I'm fine, really." Anna answered, heading back to the windows to open them. A light rain continuing outside.

"That's why all this happened." Elsa replied, waving her hands around the room. "Anna, come on. Talk to me." She sat patiently, a warm smile on her face encouraging Anna to begin. But the younger girl remained stumped, thinking intently as she stared out the window. "We had a deal to not shut each other out, remember?" Joining Anna, she placed her hands on Anna's shoulders. Making sure Anna was facing her. "Tell me, please."

"I might have a small thing about storms." Anna mumbled quietly, Elsa was barely able to catch it. She didn't know how Elsa would feel the reason for her fear. It was rare they talked about it, and it was such a fragile topic. "Ever since they died. It's all I think about." It was if the sadness from Elsa was flooding the room. She didn't need to look at her to see that she was upset.

"Oh." Elsa said quietly.

"I just.. I see them." Anna explained. "I'm sorry, it's okay if you can't talk about it."

"No, we need to." Elsa said sternly. The heaviness in her heart was undeniable now - and Anna had been feeling this all night. Anna began to well up, as though Elsa had granted her permission by accepting the conversation.

"What do you see?" Elsa asked tentatively.

"Before I just imagined their ship, but then we found it, and we saw their last moments." Anna began to pick at her fingers, her stomach twisting. She felt she was well and truly dropping Elsa in it for showing her that image.

"After we found their ship, it made the images in my head so much worse. I just keep seeing them die in that storm over and over again." Anna rambled, her heart spilling secrets her head would never allow her to. Her vision of Elsa was growing blurry, and soon she would start sobbing. She couldn't lose her voice, not yet. There was so much to be said. "Do you think about it?"

Elsa nodded lightly, sharply intaking some breath. "All the time." She didn't ever delve into those thoughts, not aloud. It felt like such a private thing. She didn't want to say what she thought and have Anna think about it too. She imagined them making it home, and her and Anna being reunited. On the worst days, she imagined their final moments, how as water encompassed them they realised Elsa wasn't worth this. Anna's tear filled voice broke her from her thoughts.

"Seeing the debris, so much of it was still standing I thought maybe they might be there alive, maybe we had been wrong." She sobbed "I just see Kai and Gerda walking up and down that beach, everyday coming back with no news. I prayed everyday that they would show up."

"Two months." Elsa winced. She had watched from her window. They walked up and down endlessly. Every few hours, the staff would rotate. Gerda would always offer the girls some food once her shift was done. Elsa was never hungry. She'd be encouraged to come back downstairs, anywhere but the window. But she couldn't. She had a vantage point, Elsa pinned onto the hope that she may be able to see something that those on land wouldn't. "Two months later they stopped searching." She sighed.

"Kai sat me down, he told me we needed to inscribe something on their headstones." Anna eyes flickered as she thought back to it. "I just remember asking, why? It didn't make sense." She had been forced to stand in the rain as the memorial took place, alone. Elsa hadn't been there. She long felt the memorial was more for Arendelle, than it was for herself or her family. "They aren't here Elsa, and so I hate storms. I hate the sea." Anna spat. Her grief was never honoured, because the makeshift gravesite was not in fact a grave site. It was merely their names on stone. She was stuck between being relentlessly being reminded of them, to not at all.

From the day they stopped searching, to the day of their memorial. Elsa couldn't bring herself off the floor. She refused any visitors from entering her room. She had spent so much time waiting, and now everyone around her had concluded that they weren't coming back. Her hope had been torn apart. Her heart had been ripped into shreds, it felt as though it just kept getting continuously worse. In her grief, was the beginning of talks of being Queen. Every mention of it felt like a betrayal to her parents. She couldn't keep up appearances. There was too much expected of her when she had lost everything.

"They may not be here, Anna. But they're in your heart." Elsa sadly smiled, wiping away the tears from Anna's eyes. "I see them in you and Kristoff, you know? Both of you met in trying circumstances, both of you were an unlikely duo" She laughed, holding Anna's hands into her own. "Mum; she always took the lead, and she loved the outdoors. I see so much of her in you." Both sisters were crying now, it was a struggle for both of them to get words out. "Whenever mum came into my room she always told me what crazy stuff you had been up to." Elsa furrowed her brows, looking deeply into Anna's eyes.

"We have tons of their junk lying around, we have so many stories. Most importantly we have each other. So it doesn't matter where they are. You're right in front of me and that's all that matters." Elsa assured, she wrapped Anna into her arms, holding her closely. She felt Anna burrow into her shoulder, Anna's tears pooling onto Elsa's dress. "You'll be safe for as long as I am here. Through storms and seas, I've got you." She clung to her tightly, not ever wanting to let her sister go.

From here on, they would go through the storms together.