Anna panted, exhaustion pushing down on her weary limbs. She was sweaty, stinky, and her entire body was aching. She tried to focus her breathing but she couldn't stop greedily gasping in air in the most clumsy fashion.

As her breathing calmed and her heart rate steadied, she stretched to relieve her sore muscles slightly and readied her form.

The board stacked neatly on the two bricks before her was mocking her, but she could do this.

"I've got this. I have so got this. I have always had this. You hear me, board? I'm gonna break you into splinters!"

After psyching herself up sufficiently, Anna took a deep breath and as she released it, her hand descended upon the board.

Unfortunately, instead of hearing the desired 'snap!' of a broken board, she heard nothing but a dull thud. The thud sent a cascade of pain along her hand, and it was now throbbing anew.

With a hiss of pain and pent up frustration, Anna pulled her hand to her chest and cradled it with the other hand. She let out a silent growl and, desperate for some sort of retribution, readied her leg to kick the board as hard as she could. Before her leg could begin its assault, however, a voice called out to her.

"Easy there, Anna."

She halted her kick and turned to see Elsa watching from the back door to their house. She suddenly felt self-conscious.

"Hi, Elsa," she began with a nervous chuckle, "I don't know what this looks like, but there is totally a logical explanation. I wasn't actually going to kick the board, I was-"

"It's okay, Anna," Elsa said, raising her hands in a placating gesture, "I know you're frustrated. You've been out here practicing all morning. Come inside and rest a bit."

Anna walked over to the steps Elsa was sitting on and sat beside her, leaning on the older girl's shoulder. She was going to catch her breath and get back to work, she promised herself.

"That tournament is in three days, Elsa," she said with a sigh, "I can't even break a board."

Else hummed thoughtfully as she leaned her own head against Anna's.

"Why do you need to break a board? I've watched your kata, and your form is fine. Not to mention your sparring skills."

"Hans deserved that broken nose," Anna said with an unashamed giggle.

"Yes he did," Elsa shifted to look at her, "but is breaking a board really that important? I hate to see you in pain."

Anna rose quickly to her feet and flexed her (slightly noticeable) muscles. She smirked and playfully cackled.

"Your little sister is tougher than that, Els'," she said with a boisterous laugh.

Something about that made Elsa's smile fade, but the blonde was on her feet before Anna could figure out why. Surprisingly, she wasn't walking away. She was walking toward the board Anna had spent all morning trying to break.

"Elsa…?" Anna asked, thoroughly confused.

Elsa was scanning the board from a few angles.

"Is this board regulation?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"Well, yeah, but why-?"

"And you only have to break one for the tournament?"

"Uh, yeah. What's going on Elsa?" Anna asked again, hoping for some kind of answer.

"You won't stop until you break a board, so I'm going to help you," Elsa said as she pulled her gorgeous blond hair into a high ponytail. Anna felt her throat go just a little dry. Then she realized what the girl had said.

"Wait, help me?" she clarified, "You don't know any martial arts. You've never studied them."

As Anna tried to avoid staring at Elsa's stretching – and those shorts were making it really hard not to – Elsa took her own place in front of the board. Before Anna realized what was happening, Elsa's hand was coming down onto the board.

"NononononoNO! Wait!" she shouted, but it was too late. She could hear the crack of Elsa's hand as it impacted the board.

In a frenzy of desperation she ran to Elsa and grabbed the girl's hand, examining it carefully.

Elsa, for her part, just stared quizzically at Anna.

It was then that Anna realized that not only was Elsa's hand fine, but the crack had been the crack of the board splitting in two.

Their eyes met and Elsa was smirking.

"…but I do know basic Physics."

"Holy fuck! That was amazing!" Anna shouted excitedly, "You have to teach me that!"

Elsa's amused smile was all the answer Anna needed. She knew Elsa would do anything for her.

"I'll need my hand back, Anna," she said jokingly.

Anna let go of her soft hand with a blush and stammered an apology. She sheepishly replaced the board with one of her spares and took her position. She tried her best to ignore her sister's gaze, hoping her blush would fade.

Satisfied, she stretched.

"So," Elsa began, sounding like a professor addressing her student. This better not awaken anything in me, Anna thought ruefully. She hurriedly tuned back in to the 'lecture' as Elsa continued, "First things first. You were hitting the board to the side here. Aim for the center. The lack of support will help your force to carry through the board."

Anna nodded, slowly miming a hit and freezing her hand in place on the board.

"Here?" she asked.

"No, let me show you," Elsa said as she closed the distance between them and stood behind Anna. They were standing chest-to-back and Anna was becoming flustered, but she steeled herself. She could handle this if it meant breaking a board. It was just a teensy tiny little crush. On her sister. Yikes.

She made an inelegant sound that seemed like a cross between a grunt and a 'Wha?' as she felt Elsa's hand travel along her arm and close around her own hand. Gently, Elsa positioned her hand slightly to the left.

"Here," she said in her stupid, sexy professor voice and proceeded to help Anna mime the hit from start to the right spot. Anna chanced turning her head to look at Elsa and was surprised when their noses touched.

With a nervous blush, Anna turned back to face the board.

"S-sorry. I didn't think you'd be right there, but where else would you be, right? I probably sound pre-tty dumb right now," she said nervously.

"It's fine," Elsa said, and Anna was sad to hear no more sexy teacher inflection. Elsa continued in her normal tone, "The uh, the next thing is to minimize the area of impact for the force. Basically you want your hand to be small and dense."

Anna made a fist.

"Like this?" she asked, avoiding anything even a little close to eye contact.

"That looks good," Elsa said, but she sounded strange. Distant. Which was weird, since she was still basically spooning Anna where they stood, "You should try now."

"Uh, Elsa?"

"Hmm?"

Her older sister sounded lost in thought. She decided to be bold.

"I don't mind, but you're still holding me."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

The two were quickly separated and Elsa was once again sitting on the stairs by the back door to their house. She was watching Anna but her gaze was, again, distant. Did she notice Anna's crush? Were things going to be awkward now? Anna could handle that, but she didn't want to risk losing Elsa. Before her thoughts could consume her, she heard Elsa whisper-shout to her.

"Come on Anna! You can do it!"

That was all she needed. With a deep breath, she prepared to hit the board. She focused on the shape of her fist and aimed carefully to the weak point of the board, just as Elsa had instructed. As she exhaled, she released her fist with the breath and, to her surprise she felt a brief moment of resistance then relief as the board cracked under her hand.

It took a moment for her brain to register what had just happened but she finally snapped to when she felt Elsa's arms close around her. It was a tight hug and she loved every second of it.

Elsa was cheering and clapping and laughing, and so was she. It was a moment of bliss. However, Anna quickly realized that she wasn't just happy because she had snapped a board. It was because she had shared this huge moment with Elsa. The girl she loved.

Oh.

She turned to stare into Elsa's eyes, and the girl was still grinning widely.

"That was fantastic, Anna. I'm so proud of – Wait. Are you okay?"

Anna fell silent. Soon Elsa did too and there was a heavy silence in the air. Anna was the first to break it.

"Elsa, I-" she began to tell Elsa how she felt, but she was surprised to be interrupted. Not by words, but by a clumsy, awkward, and heartwarming kiss. It only lasted seconds, but it left them both out of breath. Both girls' eyes were wide and searching for something in each other, but neither of them had an answer. Love wasn't that simple.

Unfortunately the complications of love can hurt. Anna learned this first hand as she watched Elsa begin to cry and turn to run. She couldn't get a word in before the older sister was long out of sight. All she could do was collapse on her jelly-like legs.

Three Days Later

Anna had neither seen nor heard from Elsa since the kiss. She regretted not being faster in reassuring the blonde and confessing her own feelings.

Not only was her older sister, and the kiss they shared, invading her mind and heart, but she found herself unable to focus on anything else. School was hard enough because of this, but now she had a tournament to prepare for, and she couldn't even remember how to count to ten in Japanese for her kata because of the invasive thoughts of her sister.

She shared a few empty greetings with the other competitors and a glare without any real emotion behind it to Hans. Her body was at the tournament, but her mind and heart were stuck in that backyard where her happiest, and possibly saddest, memory had been made.

She jumped in surprise as the judge walked into the locker room and called her name. She jogged over to the locker room exit, skillfully avoiding Hans' attempt to trip her.

Whether she was ready or not, this was her moment of truth. Even out of it as she was, she had performed her kata perfectly due to muscle memory and had even won her sparring match. Now she just had to break a board and she had a chance at winning the tournament for her age group.

As she walked out into position in front of the board, she froze. Sure, she had managed to break a board at home, but this was different. There were dozens of people watching and the one person who believed in her hadn't been seen in days.

"…and you must stand behind this line. Do you understand the rules?"

"I do," she said, even though she'd tuned them out completely. She had the gist of it. Now she just had to focus. What was it she was supposed to do with her fist? Was there a way she had to hit it? Her mind was completely blank and she felt like she was floating in a pool of icy water and drifting out of consciousness.

But then a voice woke her up.

The crowd had largely hushed in anticipation of her attempt to break the board, but there was one voice that called out, louder than any other had been all night.

"Come on Anna! You can do it!"

Elsa screamed across the silent auditorium, the echoes of her voice dampened by the crowds, but the raw volume of her shouts still audible.

Suddenly Anna was filled with the warmth she'd been missing. Elsa was here. There was no way she could fail now.

With a smile, she let her hand connect with the board.

*crack*

Two Hours Later

Elsa took to the curves gently. All was silent in the awkward car ride home.

"I'm so sorry, Anna," Elsa whispered, her eyes misting.

"Not your fault I broke my hand, Els'. I'm just glad you were there," Anna said, smiling despite the pain.

"I shouldn't have distracted you, but I wanted you to know that I was there."

"I know, Elsa, and it's fine. I was so scared when I thought you weren't-"

"I know and I'm sorry I haven't been home, but I had to do some thinking."

Anna gulped.

"About the kiss?" she bluntly asked, feeling her cheeks redden. Elsa's paler face was even more noticeably red, even in the dark of night.

Anna watched her sister focus intently on the road, clearly trying to organize her thoughts.

"Yes, and about that: I –"

"I love you, Elsa. So, so much," Anna interrupted, satisfied at the deep blush that was reaching Elsa's ears and neck, "So please don't apologize or blame yourself for it. I wanted it."

Elsa was silent until they got home, but when they got there, she made sure to open Anna's car door for her. The two paused outside the front door when Elsa froze with her hand on the doorknob.

"I love you too," she mumbled, pulling the door open.

Anna put her non injured hand on Elsa's shoulder and turned her around so their eyes could meet.

"Say it out loud," Anna whispered, "please."

Elsa smiled and kissed her chastely on the cheek.

"I love you too, Anna."ou too, Anna."/span/p