A/N - Thank you so much for the love! Trying to get as many updates crammed in today, I have a week to finish a really important assignment so apologies if i go offline after today, will update when i can :)

Idk if anyone is interested but this story is nearing the end now x

Her breath faltering with every breath, Anna tried to keep in time with the waves. Beaten, but not defeated. It was a solemn feeling to be sitting where she was. All the moments that had led here to this point, all the years she spent only every trying to do the right thing. The question that she was itching to answer - but had buried for years, was prominent now more than ever.

When would she be taken seriously?

Was she really just, the spare?

She was secure in her role as a caregiver, she had no shame in that. In fact, she was proud of it. But if that's all she amounted to, when she knew herself that there was so much more, why did people refuse to see it? Why was her kindness taken for granted? Somehow, things must have got lost in translation, because being affectionate and kind was being confused for weakness and inexperience. She was not the same person she was before, or after The Thaw. She wasn't some naïve little girl anymore, even Elsa had needed to learn that.

Shit.

She really channelled a different side of herself. Her knuckles were bleeding. Her hand, trembling. Warily, Anna examined the injury, clenching and unclenching her fist as she accustomed to the pain. And it hurt, everything did. The world was crashing down on her yet again. She hadn't ever experienced that, someone else's fear. Honeymaren - although she fought back - was definitely scared. Every time she rose her hand to deliver a punch, or a slap, there was a quiet terror in her eyes. It was because of her. Taking in a deep breath of cold air, the youngest sibling pondered over whether that had been her intention. She wanted Honeymaren to learn a lesson, sure. But to make her scared? No. Maybe? The girl who led with love, was the first to throw a punch. She initiated the violence.

It was a strange feeling, being home because she was with her family. People that she was so worried would leave. Elsa had stayed, that was what she wanted. But it didn't cancel out where they were, they were still in a forest, instead of Arendelle. The world would flip and twist on any given interaction. Honeymaren would say a bitchy comment, and Anna's world would turn upside down in the absurdity of it all. But then Elsa would hug her, or give her one of those looks, a subtle but caring look. Elsa would see her, and Anna was grounded, and the world didn't spin anymore.

And so this is where it left her. Dizzy with a dozen questions and a faltering moral compass.

Feeling another weight on her shoulder - physical, not emotional. Anna glanced briefly to the blonde who was leaning on her.

"What do we do now, Elsa?" She asked tiredly. Closing her eyes, hoping she would wake up back in Arendelle.

"We go home." Elsa replied gently.

A gentle silence encompassed them, together they watched the waves travel back and forth from the beach. Listening intently as it crashed onto the shore.

"She's gone" Elsa spoke quietly, "Going, I mean. Kristoff is packing up her stuff."

Drawing in the sand, Anna sighed. "Make sure he takes her back with Sven. She shouldn't have to walk that far on her own." Furrowing her brows, Anna turned her head away from Elsa, a poor attempt of covertly wiping away her tears. Everything she felt so vulnerable. All her hurt was just lying underneath her skin, itching to get out. One more cut and she would be left sobbing.

"She tried to talk to me, I guess to apologise." Elsa mentioned, shrugging her shoulders. The air around them so fragile, Elsa carefully tried to ease her way to Anna's heart, avoiding any minefields as she did so. "I told her that you said it all. That I've been wanting to say the same thing." Elsa continued, playing with a nearby pebble, rolling it in her fingers.

"Great" Anna huffed, shifting so she was sitting cross legged, she leaned her head into her palm. "That's really good, Elsa.". It stung the older sister, the sentences didn't match her mood at all.

"You hurt your hand." Elsa's breath caught in her throat, she went to reach for it, but Anna drew her hand back to her waist.

"It's fine, really" She mumbled shaking her hand hastily, her eyes staying on the waves coming and going from the beach. It wasn't fine; it stung like a bitch, the rhythmic throbbing was something she still hadn't got used to in all her minutes sitting there. If anything, it hurt more as the world became less cloudy, and the gravity of it all settled on her hand. "I can handle it." Anna said bitterly.

"Anna -" Elsa deeply exhaled. She knew Anna was tense. Excluding the fact she fought with Honeymaren, sitting here now, Anna was practically doubling into herself hunched in her seat. Her pout was accompanied with a side order of scowl.

"Don't tell me to talk, Elsa. Don't." Anna scolded, Bringing her knees to her chest, Anna's eyes continued to avoid Elsa'.

"What!? Why?" Shocked, Elsa now forced herself to sit in front of Anna, kicking sand around them as she hastily obstructed Anna's view of the sea.

"It doesn't work." Anna exasperated, burying her head into her knees. It was a battle she was continuously having to enter again and again. Too often her words led to nothing. Somehow, things worked out in her favour. They always did. But this was new, she hadn't ever hated someone - aside from Hans - before. She hadn't ever launched a vicious attack on someone before. She was getting too old to still be going over this day after day. She was tired of having to prove herself to everyone. This preconceived idea that everyone had of her - one of inexperience, aimlessly wandering through life, weakly looking through rose coloured spectacles needed to be abolished.

"Yes it does." Elsa said sternly, and desperately. "You hiked up the North Mountain to fix a widespread winter through conversation!" She was me with a deadpan glance from the younger sister. Not the best example. Because Elsa hadn't actually left her ice castle in that scenario. And, well - Anna's heart froze. Sheesh. This is what it feels like to speak before thinking. Quickly, Elsa's eyes scanned across the beach, desperately trying to think of every instance to prove her wrong. "I just came back from the forest - that day we went to the fields, and I told you all my secrets. It does work, Anna because I'm still here. That was all you."

A small whimper escaped from Anna. "Stop, Elsa. Please." She begged, her voice cracking.

"Your words are your power, Anna. It is a magic that brings people together." Elsa said fervently, clumsily wiping away the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. "There is a reason everyone in Arendelle tells you their hardships and not me. I see it in their faces when the conversation ends, you put people at ease Anna, you have this ability that I could only dream of -" Elsa staggered, "You, Anna. I don't know what it is, your soul, your heart - but people know that they will be heard, they know they will be comforted." Elsa continued sincerely, resting her hands on Anna's shoulders as they jerked up and down, she was crying.

"Then why do I have to repeat myself so often?" Anna glanced to Elsa, messily wiping her nose and eyes. "Why does nobody listen to me?"

Her heart sank. There was no explaining other people. Elsa especially, felt so behind in understanding the subtleties in interactions and their meaning.

"More people hear you than you realise" Elsa said, not entirely sure that was the right thing to say.

"Well, can they say it to my face then? Cause I.." She trailed off, her vision of Elsa blurred as a new wave of sobs wrecked her.

She just wanted to be appreciated. She wanted to be seen. She wanted to feel needed.

"I listen to you, Anna. So does Olaf, Sven and Kristoff. Arendelle would fall apart without you."

"I'm not stupid" Anna mumbled, it sounded as though she were announcing it to herself.

"No, you're not." Elsa looked intently into Anna's eyes. "You're one of the smartest people I know."

"I don't want to be the spare anymore." Anna said, glancing at Elsa briefly, for approval. Was she taking something away from Elsa by putting herself in a position of more than the Queens sister. She had failed being Queen herself, removing the title of The Spare felt wrong.

"You never were, not to me." Sincerely, Elsa took a hold of Anna's hands. Delicately avoiding her knuckles. "You climbed the north mountain, survived a frozen heart, saved me from your ex-boyfriend, and gave Honeymaren what she had coming." Elsa smirked. "You brought us back together, and I can be pretty stubborn - so that was quite a feat." Pulling Anna close to her. "This world is so much better because you are in it, Anna. I'm so sorry all of this happened."

"I just want to go home, Elsa. I hate it here." She clung to Elsa's dress, letting her tears soak her shoulder.

"We're going home, Anna. Soon this will be over."