Chapter Five: Tears and Braided Hair

Theme Song: What Could Have Been by Myuu

Several hours later, a single beam of sunlight streamed through the small space between the mostly closed curtains of Elsa's bedroom window. The light sliced through the darkness of the room like a hot knife through butter, and landed on the floor of the hall just outside the bedroom door—which both sisters had forgotten to close the night before, being so tired.

Scurrying rather quickly down the hallways towards this same bedroom was Kai, the butler. He had gone, as usual, to Anna's room to wake her—knowing that she wasn't a morning person and wouldn't wake up on her own otherwise—only to find that the princess was missing! He had to inform the queen of this immediately so that a search party could be organized. However, when the chubby man rounded the corner towards the queen's room, he saw the thin trail of light which came from her window. Seeing this, he slowed his pace down to a slow and cautious walk. It was not like Elsa to just leave the door to her room wide open. Upon reaching the door, he carefully peeked inside, and what he saw warmed his heart.

Both sisters were sound asleep, laying so that they were facing each other with their arms wrapped around one another. Each sibling had a peaceful and contented smile on their faces as they slept… Well, Anna was sort of smiling. Her mouth hung open as she snored and drool trickled out of her mouth. As they slept, Elsa still had her head pressed against her sister's chest to hear the beating proof of life within, whereas Anna's fingers were still woven through her older sister's hair.

Kai smiled warmly at the two. Having watched them both grow up, he was glad that the sorrowful era of closed doors was over and that the relationship between the two sisters was on the mend. He was only the butler, but it broke his heart to see the two princesses whom he served be so depressed and broken.

Suddenly, his eye was caught by something that was out of place and that certainly didn't belong in a queen's bedchambers: broken glass. Where did that come from? He asked himself with a furrowed brow. Looking about the room, he noticed the shattered mirror and his eyebrows shot up and his eyes became as wide as saucers. He didn't believe in the superstition of "seven years bad luck", but he was upset that there was a dangerous mess in the queen's room—you never know when one'll step on a shard of mercury covered glass and get infected and poisoned. How on earth did that happen?! What on earth happened last night?! He questioned no one while looking back and forth between the two sleeping sisters and the broken glass, and wondered if he should clean it up himself… No, he wasn't exactly the stealthiest of the staff, and he didn't have a broom or dustpan with him. Besides, he didn't want to wake up the queen and princess. Deciding that he would send one of the maids up to take care of it, he closed the door to the room as quietly as he could and left.

It wasn't as quietly as he had hoped, because not a moment or two later, Elsa woke up. I am sure that some of you have experienced that blissful moment when you wake up, but your eyes don't open at the same time. Isn't it wonderful? Anyways, Elsa woke up, but her eyes remained closed, and at first she couldn't remember anything about the night before. Then her memories came flooding back to her when she felt someone next to her shift in their sleep; the argument with her reflection, the heart-to-heart talk with her sister, and finally going to sleep holding each other safely. Hearing her little sister snoring, Elsa smiled and opened her eyes.

Anna was quite the sight. Her strawberry blonde hair was sticking out in all directions and a strand of hair was in her mouth, out of which ran a trail of drool. Taking the hem of her sleeve in her hand, Elsa carefully wiped the corner of her little sister's mouth and removed the strand of hair. The sleeping princess let out an annoyed groan as her brow furrowed and she tried to cover her face with her arm. Elsa chuckled before hoisting herself up so that she was leaning on one arm, and began to gently stroke her sister's messy hair to try and smooth it out. She regretted agreeing to their parents' idea of being separated from her little sister. She regretted it so much. Though she knew it would be tricky seeing as how she was now a queen, she wanted, no, needed to make up for the lost time.

The constant motion of Elsa's hand running through Anna's hair slowly began to wake her up. "Good morning, sleepy princess," Elsa teased as the redhead opened her eyes with a smile.

"Morning," Anna greeted in return before reaching up and holding her sister's hand against her head. "You feeling better than you were last night?" she asked with a yawn.

"Yes, I am," the elder sister replied. "Thank you, Anna… I… don't know what I would've done had you not knocked when you did." Oh, she knew what she would've done alright! She just didn't want her little sister to know what exactly that was.

"You're welcome, Elsa. You would've done the same for me." Anna held her sister's hand in both of her own and sleepily closed her eyes once more, not going to sleep, but still feeling sleepy. As she relished the feeling of actual physical contact with her sister, she thought back to the previous night… and as she thought, she began to slowly frown.

Noticing this, the older sister spoke up, "Is something wrong, Anna?"

"Do…" the princess paused as she opened her eyes once more, half scared of her sister's response, and half worried for her sister, "do you… often talk to yourself like… that?"

Realizing what her younger sister was talking about, the Snow Queen turned her head away as she tried to think of an answer that would be honest without frightening Anna.

"Elsa," the redhead began more seriously as she sat up, letting her sister's hand slide from her head but still keeping a tight hold of it, "when did you first start talking to yourself like that?"

Letting out a sigh of defeat, the queen replied slowly, "I started talking to myself as a way of keeping my own company about a year after we were separated… I started talking to myself like that… about three years after we were separated."

Being very, very scared for her big sister, Anna brought a hand to her mouth in sheer shock. She had been talking to herself in such a frightening way for that long?! "Why on earth did you start doing that?!" the princess demanded, half angry, half scared.

"It was late at night, and I was sitting on the edge of my bed… missing you and feeling very lonely," the queen began with a wince at Anna's tone as she sat up all the way so that her legs were crossed and looking straight ahead at the shattered mirror. The temperature of the room began to drop once more as she continued, "I didn't want to be alone, so I started talking to myself… At first I just asked myself things along the lines of, 'Why am I cursed with these powers? Why can't I learn to control them? Will I ever see Anna again? Why did this have to happen to me?'" Pausing, she chanced a glance at her little sister, Anna appeared to be frightened but somewhat calm at the same time, listening attentively to the queen's story. "Eventually," Elsa continued with little white clouds forming outside her mouth with every breath of air that she took, "I started replying to myself while looking in the mirror, 'It was all your fault. They are trying to lock you up like an animal… like a monster. Like the monster that you are. That's what you are, Elsa. Nothing but a monster.'" Covering her face with her hands, she leaned her elbows on her knees. Snowflakes began to fall out of nowhere and a sudden wind started to twirl them around her like a small cyclone as ice slowly crawled over the bed and floor. The Snow Queen nervously whimpered out, "A-And… I don't know exactly how it happened or why it's happening, but the replies started getting darker and darker… Now it feels like my reflection and I... are two separate entities. It's like she is my demon… She knows what I am the most afraid of, and… she uses it against me… yet the words are coming out of my mouth and I am consciously choosing the words… And it terrifies me so much that I cannot tell the difference between her and myself… as if we are the same person." After letting out a shuddered breath—almost a sob—Elsa grabbed her messy blonde hair in her fists. Ice shot up the walls, the wind picked up speed, and she suddenly growled out, "She just won't go to Hell and leave me alone!" Rocking forward and backward, she tried to hold back her sobs, but was having trouble. The purple ice covered the floor, door, window, ceiling, and bed, leaving the two women locked in an ice capsule.

With some difficulty, the princess managed to get out from under the ice coated blankets. Anna then hurriedly rose to her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around her sister from behind, one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. With her chin resting on the Snow Queen's shoulder and her eyes tightly closed against the bitter wind, she began to rock her sister from side to side more gently than the blonde was previously doing. For several moments, she just held her tightly without saying a word as Elsa began to sob and the snow devil continued to twirl and spin rapidly. The Snow Queen was glad that Anna couldn't see her face at that moment because she didn't want to appear weak; she was supposed to be the strong big sister. She most likely still appeared weak, but at least her tears would be mostly out of view.

After a long while, Anna finally stated above the wind, "You aren't one and the same, Elsa. You are you, and any voice that tells you that you are a monster, or an idiot, or an animal, or a witch, or anything else bad, is a liar… even if it's your voice." Taking in a shuddered breath, the princess continued as the sound of the wind grew louder and her voice began to break, "Elsa, you are not a demon. You are my sister, and I love you very, very, very much. You locked yourself in your room for years to keep me safe, I see that now. But what you don't know is that I would rather marry Hans—marry that jerk face—than see you in pain either." Finally, a tear escaped her left eye as she paused for a moment, thinking of what she should do next to attempt to comfort her sister. "Elsie," she began, using one of her sister's childhood nicknames, "you know what I see when I look at you?"

The queen she shook her head in a "no".

"I see my awesome hero, my amazing queen, and my beautiful big sister gifted with snow and ice powers." She gave the back of Elsa's head a kiss and the harsh wind quickly died down a lot. With the wind being all but a whisper, Anna murmured into Elsa's hair, "Don't you ever listen to what she says to you, okay? Because I won't stand by and let my sister and best friend be bullied by anyone. I love you, Elsa. I don't think I say it enough, but I hope you know that you'll never know just how much I love you… if that even makes sense."

Taking some courage as well as comfort from the princess's words, the Snow Queen smiled through her tears and held onto her sister's hands. "I love you, too, Anna," she murmured before sniffling and willing some of the snow around them to melt.

Anna felt her hands grow a touch chillier as her sister held them, but she didn't complain; her sister needed her, and if help Elsa meant that her hands would freeze, then so be it.

"Are you cold?" the queen suddenly asked, moving her hands off of her sister's and bringing them closer to her chest.

"Only a little bit, but I'm fine," the princess replied, wondering why her sister let go of her hands. She needed to reassure her that everything was alright.

"Anna," Elsa began as she slowly stretched out her shaking hands, "can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Elsa. What do you want me to do?"

"Please, hold me more tightly."

The redhead did exactly that as she murmured, "It's okay, Elsa… I've got you." The Snow Queen then took a deep breath as she used her love for Anna to make the snow and ice melt into nothing. Since the thick ice was not covering the window anymore, the light that streamed through the parting of the curtains was able to slice through the darkness once more.

Anna smiled as she whispered, "I knew you could do it."

"Anna," the queen began in a murmur as she repositioned herself to return the tight hug, "what did I ever do to deserve such a wonderful sister like you?"

"I could ask you the same question," Anna replied as she buried her face in the shoulder of the older sibling's nightgown. "Are you feeling better now?" she asked, though her voice was a bit muffled by the cozy fabric.

Taking in a deep but shaky breath and letting it out slowly, the older sister nodded, though tears still brimmed the corners of her eyes. Gently leaning the side of her head the side of Anna's, she took in a deep breath as she began to calm down some more. "Thank you for helping me, Anna," she murmured.

"Thank you for trusting me," the princess stated in reply. "I love you, Elsa, and I will always be here when you need me."

"And from now on, I'll always be here for you, too," the queen added while running her cold fingers through the warm mane of red hair. Knowing that she wasn't the only one who had suffered in the past thirteen years, she felt that she needed to reassure Anna that she would always be willing to offer the same comfort that she was receiving. "If ever you need me, don't hesitate to say so; I'll always be there. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't," the princess replied while simply enjoying the feel of being held by her big sister. The feeling of the cool fingertips running across her scalp and down through the rest of her hair was so relaxing, that she almost dozed off.

"Anna?" the queen quietly began while still running her fingers through the strawberry blonde locks.

"Hmm?" the princess hummed in return.

"Would you like me to braid your hair before we go get some breakfast?"

"Mmhm," Anna hummed as an affirmative.

"Okay, then." The two siblings rearranged themselves on the bed so that Anna sat cross-legged facing the smashed mirror, while Elsa sat directly behind her.

Reaching over to her nightstand, the Snow Queen retrieved her hairbrush and proceeded to gently remove the tangles from her little sister's hair. Anna closed her eyes and smiled. Since the deaths of their parents, she was the only person who brushed and braided her hair, but there was something about a loved one's touch that made what Elsa was doing so much better.—One of those things was that Elsa had more experience with braiding hair, and was thus better at doing it.—

One of the few unaltered memories that the princess had was of her big sister brushing her hair and putting it in pigtails for her. It was a memory that she would often revisit when she felt lonely during the thirteen years of isolation.

Anna was enjoying the brushing so much, that if she were a cat, she would've purred.

Elsa was also enjoying brushing her little sister's hair as much as Anna was having it brushed. Taking a lock of the strawberry blonde hair in one hand, the ice queen gently brushed out the tangles with the other. She did this until the princess's hair was tangle free, then she parted the hair in the center of the scalp before reaching over to her nightstand once again. Retrieving two hair ties, she temporarily slid them over her wrist and proceeded to braid the right braid, then the left, and tied them with the hair ties. Running her hands gently over the braids with a smile, she placed a few small, decorative snowflakes in the red hair. "There! All done," she triumphantly stated.

"Thanks, Elsa!" the princess exclaimed as she whirled round to face her sister, the newly done braids almost smacking her in the face. "Would you like me to braid your hair now?"

Elsa's eye brows shot up in surprise. She was so used to doing things for other people, that having people do things for her seemed strange. "If it's not too much trouble, then yes, please," she answered.

"No, no, it's no trouble at all…" she reassured her big sister while reaching for a hair tie. "I want to do this for you, Elsa."

Seeing Anna ready with hairbrush in hand, the older sister smiled. "Okay, thank you, Anna."

"You're welcome, Elsie," the princess replied with her own smile before crawling around her sister so that she could begin. As she started to work out the tangles, she suddenly asked, "How am I like Lucy Pevensie?"

"Hm?"

"Last night, you said that she reminded you of me," Anna verified. "How are we similar?"

"Well…" Elsa began, "when you both set your minds to something, you do it no matter how hard it is, neither of you ever give up on those you love or what you believe in, you're both cheerful, optimistic, and… you're both the little sister."

Smiling sheepishly, Anna continued to brush the long hair as she tried to shift the attention off of herself, "Wasn't Susan also a little sister? I mean, Peter was the eldest, after all."

"I know," Elsa agreed, "but between the two sisters, Lucy was the youngest."

"Hmm," the princess hummed in understanding as she thought. "I remember in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Edmund started out as such a brat, but I'm glad that he changed. The care that he developed for others made him a more likable character."

"I agree," the queen stated before a slight blush started to creep over her face, as well as a nervous grin. "I always thought that Peter was a… very nice young man."

"Yeah, I think he was nice as well. Wait… you hesitated!" Anna looked up from her brushing, a sly smirk on her lips as she poked her sister's side, which caused the other to jump and squeak in surprise. "You have a crush on Peter Pevensie!" Anna sang.

"I do not."

"You do to."

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Quit squirming! You're making me mess up your braid!"

Elsa scoffed as she rolled her eyes with a smile. "Anna, you're so funny that you're infuriating."

"Thank you," the younger sister beamed as she finished the braid. "There! Done." Tossing the hairbrush onto the sheets, Anna wrapped her arms around the other's waist with a large smile, nuzzling her shoulder. "What shall we do now, big sister?" she asked, emphasizing what she didn't have for thirteen years.

As if on cue, Elsa's stomach growled. "How about we get breakfast, little sister?" she replied, emphasizing what she also didn't have for thirteen years.

Anna's stomach growled as if in replying in the affirmative. "That sounds like a marvelous idea; I'm starving!"

Slipping on their slippers and putting on their robes, the two sisters left the room and went to go get some breakfast.

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Well, there's chapter five! I hope you enjoyed it.

Please tell me what you think in the review box below, and to the Guest who reviewed a few hours ago, you have no idea how happy your review has made me! :-) Also, congratulations on being the first reviewer! :-D I sure hope that this chapter didn't disappoint.

God bless you and your day.

Sincerely, The Professor.