'Anna…' Elsa returned to the bed, sitting on the edge of it and inwardly scared to get any closer to her sister, her heart tugging in multiple directions as she gathered what tangible thoughts she could. 'Yes. It's me. How are you feeling?'

'Uh…like I hiked around the entire fjord…twice. No. Make that three times.'

'Only three?' Elsa grinned.

'Yep.' Anna also smiled, but then her face crumbled, and she closed her eyes, shaking her head and almost sobbing. 'This is real, right? I dreamt about somehow bringing you back so many times I'm still waiting to wake up and be an even bigger mess…'

Elsa couldn't stop herself. She reached over to Anna with one hand and cupped her sister's face in it, feeling the softness of her cheek against her palm, a slight damp sensation soaking into Elsa's skin. She hated to see Anna on the verge of crying. It tore her apart inside.

Anna hummed into the contact, nuzzling her face against Elsa's hand and then giggling shortly thereafter.

'Oh, my gosh. I'm not waking up.' She paused, pulling back from Elsa and sitting up in the bed, if wincing slightly as she did so. The younger sister lifted her hands and stared at them in curiosity, her expression riddled with complex emotions no matter how animated it attempted to be. 'So, I actually used fire magic. That's totally insane. I-I mean, I've always wanted to have powers, like you, but to think it actually happened!'

'Yes. It was quite the spectacle. I'm just glad you're okay.' Elsa was being honest, but maybe not completely. She was worried about Anna's abilities based on what she saw, and she didn't want her sister to get her hopes up if what Elsa was hypothesizing in her mind turned out to be correct in regards to the other girl's magic.

'I'll be fine, I think.' Anna seemingly decided against manifesting her powers again. Did she subconsciously feel the recoil her body had experienced from such an overextension? Or was Elsa just that much more important? How important was Elsa to Anna? What was their relationship? Was it truly just that of sisters?

'I'm more worried about you.' Anna interrupted Elsa's swirling thoughts, the confusing concepts continuing to plague her ability to cherish this beautiful moment of reunification.

'Me?'

'I don't know if it's because you've been, you know, frozen for a few months, but something's…off.'

'Heh. You, too, huh?'

'Me, too?'

'Leonard said something along similar lines.'

'Ah. That makes sense. He's super smart.'

'That he is.'

Anna squinted again, and then a strange expression fell over her face. It gave Elsa's heart a jump, and she felt her face instantly flush even before the other girl began speaking.

'You look so beautiful.' Anna said quite simply, yet it sent Elsa's pulse into absolute panic. 'I like your hair. You've had it down before, but it was usually a lot messier. This seems more relaxed, like you're…calm.'

Elsa consumed Anna's words with careful consideration, attempting to calm her nerves as they spiked with instinctual retaliation. Was it normal to derive such pleasure from a compliment like that from one's sister?

'I…well, I suppose I am.' Elsa admitted. 'When I reached Ahtohallan upon the Water Nokk's back, I recall a sensation of belonging I haven't truly felt in a very long time.'

'Oh.' Anna's eyes widened for a second as she wore a tight smile. 'Right. Because of feeling like you need to do more with your powers and all that.'

'Yes. Precisely. Ahtohallan had blessed me with powers beyond any other human's, and I had finally reached a place where I could fully harness them to their utmost potential.'

Anna nodded, as if convincing herself to be happy for Elsa.

'Right. Right. I mean, that's amazing. You became the fifth spirit and everything, so, yeah. That's incredible…'

Elsa could tell her sister was conflicted, and that was understandable. She was just a human, after all.

'What…?' Elsa shut her eyes and touched her temple, a wave of superiority rearing its ugly head amidst the touching reunion.

'What?' Anna echoed, but with far more perplexity.

'Sorry. I…truly do feel rather off.'

'Is there anything I can do for you?' Anna offered, her eyes furtive and nervous.

'I have Leonard retrieving some chocolate for us. I hope that's okay.'

'Oh! Nice! Of course, that's okay!' Relief seemed to wash over Anna, and she shuffled in a little closer to Elsa, grimacing ever so slightly as she did so. 'Ugh. Aches and pains and all that.' She pushed through the discomfort valiantly, and Elsa had to hold herself back from touching her sister's arm, or her face again, or any part of the girl she adored.

This is…troubling.

Elsa needed answers, but she was scared to ask the right questions. Why? If it was so preposterous to consider Anna anything more than her sister, why did the queen of Arendelle suspect even the mere chance of a response other than impossibility.

'Er…Anna?' Elsa stumbled over her words, unsure of how to broach the subject. What did she say without seeming potentially insane herself? Was it worth the risk? With every passing second, Elsa felt a draw to Anna she was struggling to passively dismiss. She needed to focus all her efforts on maintaining any level of composure and elegance.

'Yeah?' Anna closed the gap between herself and Elsa even more, her warm breath tickling the older girl's bare neck and sending goosebumps all over her skin.

'I-I…' Elsa stammered, her ability to function with clarity struggling within the mental space she found herself in when capable of looking deep into Anna's dangerous eyes. 'I can't remember everything.' She finally stated, sidestepping the bigger issue at hand.

Anna rested her head on Elsa's shoulder, and the natural scent of the girl's auburn hair caused an upheaval of fragmented emotion to spike in the queen's heart.

'We have all the time in the world to bring your memories back, Elsa.' Anna spoke quietly, the sounds slipping through her lips almost seductive to Elsa's sensitive ears. 'I'm just glad we have the chance to do it…together.'

Elsa held the air she brought in to her lungs, a strange urge she was too embarrassed to name entangling her voice with reluctance.

'Yes. Together…' Elsa couldn't take it any longer. Her chest felt like it was about to burst. Her mouth was dry. Her heart was in pain it was beating so fast. She thought she might hold off. She thought she might give herself more time to align with being alive and in the physical plain again. But the moment – the immediate second – Anna was awake again and actively engaging with the queen of Arendelle, Elsa didn't have a chance. It was overwhelming. Her affection for Anna was leaking through every barrier she attempted to erect around her soul, and the need to know precisely what Anna was to her was almost too much.

'What…are we, Anna?' Elsa asked the question, her body tightening in anticipation.

Anna lifted her head and giggled, brushing her nose against Elsa's ear and kissing just below it. Initially, Elsa's goosebumps only became more prevalent in reaction to this, but then she flinched away from the younger sister and grabbed at the spot marked, rubbing it with her hand.

'W-why did you do that?' Elsa heaved, her breaths coming out in short bursts of panic. 'Is that normal for sisters?'

Anna's visage dropped, and she squinted in irritation.

'You better be joking.' She practically threatened, which threw Elsa off.

'About what?'

Anna laughed wryly, coughing a bit as a follow-up. Right. She wasn't feeling well. Was this the time for such a talk? Elsa didn't have a choice. Her mental state relied on the answers that would come next. She had to press forward no matter how scared she was.

'I'm not…doing this again, Elsa.' Anna groaned. 'No way. Maybe the old Anna would have cowered at the idea of putting you out, but I know how you feel, and no fifth spirit, or whatever, is going to get in the way of us ever again. No more drama. No more dragging this out. I won't go another second without you. We've been through enough already. I'm done. Finished. End of the story. Time to look to the future and figure out how we're going to tackle it together.'

Elsa sucked in her lips with contemplation. Two equally powerful feelings were vying for supremacy in her brain. On one hand, she could feel the weight of Anna's words, and in a sense, they reflected a notion of fatigue in Elsa as well. Why did this feel like just another obstacle? How many had she already overcome leading up to this moment? Was there any purpose in denying what Elsa felt in the hidden corners of her heart?

Yet, on the other hand, she was the new fifth spirit. She was Ahtohallan reincarnated in human form. She represented nature as its Mother and protector. By even humouring the growing feelings further urged by Anna's tired voice, wasn't Elsa blatantly denying her own existence?

'I am…Ahtohallan now, Anna. I'm the fifth spirit. I can't simply return to the way things were. Even ruling Arendelle once more may not be my purpose now.'

'What…?' Anna hissed, but her voice cracked in a soft sob. 'You can't be serious.'

Elsa closed her eyes, seeing the tears beginning to line Anna's lids torturous. In another life, and another time perhaps, this decision would be so clear. Elsa would go on living a new existence amongst nature, periodically checking in with Anna and even visiting her every now and then.

However, this life was much more complicated. As much as Elsa knew what she should do, her heart had a much different opinion, and its pull on her thoughts and decisions in this very moment was unyielding.

'I'm not…like you anymore, Anna. Whatever we had before I became the fifth spirit – '

'We were in love, Elsa. We were in love!'

Elsa's next words were caught in her throat, and a pathetic squeak escaped before she was forced to cough out the kink in her oratory attempt.

'I-in…love…?'

'Yes.' Anna went on even more adamantly. 'Ahtohallan hated that fact. It erased everyone's memories of our relationship. You and I were the only ones it couldn't reach. Not until I lost you and was too weak to resist its influence. The fact you basically merged with the old Ahtohallan is why, I'm guessing, you're having trouble remembering. That's fine. I'll make you remember us. What we fought for. What we knew in our hearts for longer than either of us had the courage to admit until a few years ago. I love you, Elsa. That's never going to change. Never. Never ever. You have, and always will be, my everything. Any more questions?'

Elsa swallowed, a lump filling her neck until she got it down and blinked away the moisture cascading about her eyes.

'Anna…'

A knock upon the sister's room sounded, Elsa jumping at the interruption. Right. There were others in this world. For a moment, she could only see Anna. For a moment, all she wanted to see, was Anna. Was it true, then? Had Anna and Elsa really been in love? As two women? As sisters? It should have been the most outrageous scenario to learn of, yet that wasn't the case for Elsa. Terrifyingly enough, Elsa could feel the invisible pieces missing from her life's puzzle beginning to take form, even if the picture upon them was still blank.

'C-come in.' Elsa answered, because Anna's committed stare wasn't allowed to be distracted, it seemed.

'I hope I'm not interrupting anything.' Leonard had returned much quicker than anticipated, a plate of chocolate truffles in hand. 'Anna!' he commented on the girl's conscious state.

'Heya, Lenny. Sorry for another scare. At least you don't have to worry about losing even more hair, right?' Anna laughed brightly. Elsa was taken aback by the sudden shift in her sister's demeanor, but based on what she had just said, she supposed it made sense to act as such considering everyone's memories being compromised to some extent.

'That may be true, but my heart is still at risk, so, I would ask that the two of you refrain from causing it any more distress for a time, if at all possible.'

Leonard placed the tray of chocolate treats upon the bedside table, indicating it with a wave of his hand.

'Afternoon snack is served, my ladies.' A twinkle found the man's eye, and he grinned happily, his mustache arching upward in correlation to the expression. 'I trust you both have much to catch up on and, as much as I would be overjoyed to share in this joyous reunion, I will convince myself there will plenty of time for that in the coming days. For now, take this opportunity of privacy for what it is.'

The rhetoric in Leonard's words was clear. With Elsa's return, there was more than enough work, politically, to contend with once both she and Anna were feeling well enough to do so. Therefore, perhaps now was the best time to confront possibly the largest question Elsa knew needed to be dealt with before she could even fathom what came next in her new life.

'Thank-you so much, Leonard. I think we'll do just that.' Elsa matched Anna's ability to become the public figure she was, convincing the man with a practised smile of warmth.

'Very good. Consider the rest of the day yours to do with as you please.' Leonard went to the door and opened it slowly. 'We'll begin making preparations for how to best integrate this joyous occasion into the rest of Arendelle as seamlessly as possible come the morrow, if that is acceptable for you both.'

'Always thinking two steps ahead, Lenny.' Anna giggled. 'But yeah. That sounds great. Thanks again.'

'Do not hesitate to ask for anything else, as needed. I have already informed those within the castle of Elsa's return, but also made it very clear that it is confidential information for the time being. I would rather control that piece of news to avoid potential confusion before an official statement can be made.'

'I'm in agreement with you, Leonard. Thank-you for having the foresight to manage that sequence of events.' Elsa was truly grateful. Not that she questioned Arendelle's ability to understand her return, but if one could mitigate any kind of misperception, it was best to do so.

'In all actuality, it was Lord Daryun who apparently made the suggestion upon returning to Arendelle. He instructed Kristoff to make their arrival as subtle as possible. We owe them both much thanks, I believe.'

'Then we'll be sure to grant them exceptional gifts of gratitude. Right, Anna?' Elsa hesitated to meet her sister's eyes, but when she did, she lost her breath at how gorgeous those aquamarine irises could truly be when they weren't filled with fire and irritation.

'Guess we got some planning to do.' Anna nodded.

There was a beat, with Leonard lingering at the door for a time before he also gave a small bow.

'All is as it should be with you two together again.' He stated quite simply. 'I look forward to the coming days. Take care of yourselves until I see you both next.'

Once the door clicked shut, Elsa took a deep breath and turned back to Anna.

'You've gotten quite good at masking your emotions.' Elsa felt the need to compliment, but Anna's answer came back jaded and hurt.

'I've had more than a little practise, unfortunately.' She muttered, locking her gaze with Elsa's and resuming their previous conversation without missing a beat. 'But don't make me do it again, Elsa. Seriously. If you think you can't return my feelings anymore then…t-then maybe you really should go. Maybe the whole thing about you not being sure of what you're here for makes more sense.'

It should have come as a relief to hear such words from Anna, but instead, the edge lacing every syllable stabbed into Elsa's heart, and she almost buckled at the emotional sensation.

'You…would prefer I leave Arendelle?' Elsa couldn't imagine. Not really. Even if a piece of her longed for freedom, if it was liberty at the cost of not seeing Anna anymore, could she really handle such a concept? Hardly. It didn't even seem possible. A day; maybe two. She could manage that much somewhat well enough. But anything more? While being completely conscious?

Anna clenched her eyes shut, tears breaking free from her lashes as she shook her head in frustration.

'No, Elsa! Of course, I wouldn't "prefer" that! But I know what we had, and you have to be at least willing to figure it out with me! I know what your touch feels like! I know the taste of your lips! I know what it's like to be intimate with you!'

Elsa blushed furiously at the thought, yet her body heated up in response, as if longing for all those things and more in this very moment.

Anna continued.

'If you think I can just go on like normal and pretend we didn't have one of the most unique, special, and real forms of love this world has ever known, you're actually insane. It isn't happening. I'm done pretending I'm satisfied with nothing less than your complete commitment to us. To what we've known was beyond understanding since we were kids.'

'Heh.' Elsa snickered tiredly. 'You've also gotten a lot better at speaking your mind to me, haven't you?'

Anna exhaled in exasperation.

'We've had so many ups and downs as far as our relationship goes, I'm just fed up with any more sidesteps. I want you with me, Elsa. That's all there is to it. So, I'm going to kiss you now, and you're going to like it, because you're head over heels for me and I love you to the moon and back, got it?'

Elsa's eyes widened.

'W-what!? Here? Now?'

'In the privacy of our room when Leonard's promised us an undisturbed reunion party? Yeah. I'm gonna. Pucker up.'

'A-Anna! N-no…!'

Anna rolled her eyes, taking Elsa's hand and placing it on her hip. The moment the contact was made, something clicked into place within Elsa's mind, and one of the puzzle pieces that was once blank filled with colour and life. The feeling of Anna's skin. Of her body. She was soft and warm. Smooth and decorated with freckles. She had more freckles than her face allowed any and all to see. She had freckles only Elsa had been permitted to enjoy. What did they look like again?

Elsa bit at her lip, struggling to resist more than leaning her head back slightly as Anna moved in closer.

'If this doesn't jog your memory, maybe nothing will. But I'm willing to try either way. Are you?'

Elsa glanced to Anna's lips, her own trembling with anticipation and fear.

'W-we're sisters, Anna…'

'Yep.'

'We shouldn't…'

'Maybe. But I love you. And you love me. It's kinda simple when you think about it.'

'It's not…'

'It is.'

'Anna…'

'Elsa.'

Her little sister was a mere inch from Elsa's face, her eyes beginning to close as she moved forward one final bit.

'I love you.' Anna whispered, and before Elsa could answer, she felt her sister's lips upon her own, and everything changed as it did three years ago when the two girls had crossed what some might perceive to be an impenetrable wall of societal expectation and the laws of nature itself.