Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen nor its characters, nor do I own any characters from other Disney works. Disney owns everything - including my heart, soul, and wallet. Also - the book quotes are taken from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

Chapter 10 - Incorrigible

"Elsa!" Anna said jovially, bounding through the open doorway and closely followed by her mother. "I brought all your schoolwork for you. Though, I don't understand why. If I were you, I'd use feeling sick more to my advantage."

"You always do try to push your luck," Elsa said with a weak smile. She'd been in the children's hospital for a week. What had started out as a low grade fever and a cough had quickly developed into a serious case of pneumonia. Elsa hated hospitals. She'd spent enough time in them over her young life and was very much looking forward to getting out again.

"How are you feeling, little duck?" Iduna said as she approached Elsa's bed and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Much better, Mama Ida."

Iduna looked over at Jules sitting at Elsa's side as Anna hopped into her lap, a silent question conveyed behind her deep blue eyes. In answer, Jules gave her a tired smile and a nod. "They say we should be able to take her home tomorrow. Her fever has been gone for over twenty-four hours now."

Iduna let out a visible sigh of relief. Her goddaughter had always been more susceptible to illness in comparison to Anna. Where Anna would always quickly bounce back from any cold, Elsa's sicknesses always seemed to spiral from mild to severe at an alarming rate. Iduna had lost count of the number of times Anna and she had come to visit Elsa in rooms similar to this one. No matter how many times though, she doubted she'd ever get used to seeing Elsa so frail.

"You will never guess what happened at lunch today, Elsie," Anna started, bouncing with excitement upon her godmother's lap. "Ariel and I were just minding our own business when a bee flew in through the open window. She totally freaked out and knocked her juice over. It spilled all over Billy's lap. It looked like he wet himself!"

Both girls descended into uncontrollable laughter. Billy Larkin was always going out of his way to ruin the girls' day. They doubted they could ever feel any sort of sympathy for the boy. The two mothers smiled at the pure display of joy in front of them. Iduna and Jules were just glad to see Elsa feeling well enough to laugh with Anna that they didn't even bother reprimanding the girls for making fun at the young boy's expense.

"He was so mad… And when it dried… you could still… you could…" Anna tried to continue her story through fits of laughter. "It was still kind of there! All the way through the end of the day! Oh, I wish you could have seen his face."

Anna took a deep breath and made a scrunched up face with her cheeks all puffed out in an attempt to mimic their bully's expression. She couldn't hold the straight face though and both little girls exploded once more with hysterics. A moment later, Elsa was suddenly overcome with racking coughs due to the uninhibited laughter. Both Jules and Iduna had suddenly stood at attention, but Anna had beat them to it. She jumped off of Jules' lap and up onto the bed in order to rub circles on Elsa's back. When the hacking fit finally subsided, Elsa gave her a small smile.

"I'm okay. Thank you," Elsa said quietly, the light atmosphere from just moments before broken.

"You don't have to thank me, Elsa," Anna said brightly. She placed a gentle kiss on Elsa's hairline the way she always watched their Mamas do before leaning down to touch their foreheads together. The two older women watched in awe as the rowdier of the two girls displayed a rare moment of quiet gentleness. "I'm glad to take care of you, and I always will."

"Okay," Elsa said with another smile, and then pulled back to look down at the school work Anna had placed in front of her. "Now, tell me about today's grammar lesson."

Anna paled. "Umm… You see, funny story..."

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Anna looked up from her book to the snowflake decorated door. She was lying on her stomach with her feet in the air and her head at the foot of the bed, a clear view of Elsa's closed bedroom through her open door frame. The beeping coming from Elsa's room had been sounding every few minutes for the last hour or so and Anna couldn't help but wonder what Elsa was doing in there. When the beeping didn't sound again, Anna tuned back into Jane Austen.

"What do you know of my heart? What do you know of anything but your own suffering. For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature."

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Video games? No, that's ridiculous. Elsa would never bother with something like video games, Anna thought. Learning to diffuse a bomb? Maybe...

She kept letting her mind wander to the possibilities of the incessant beeping coming from Elsa's room. Her ideas kept getting wilder and wilder. It had been a couple weeks since Anna and her mother had accompanied Elsa to her therapy appointment, and the atmosphere between the two of them, while more at ease, still left Anna wanting more. Elsa no longer worked at avoiding Anna as much as possible now, but she also never actively seeked out her company.

Anna just wished they could get back to what they had before. Back when life was simpler, when they shared everything, when they had no secrets. Back when they had two mothers they shared and before Elsa's door was always closed. She understood that she could never replace an actual therapist, but she hoped that, one day, Elsa could confide in her again. With a little frown, she went back to reading.

"Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence I could have provided proof enough of a broken heart, even to you."

BEEP BEEP BEEP

She rolled her eyes and her curiosity got the better of her. With a huff, Anna shoved her bookmark into Austen's work and set it down before hopping across the hallway.

Knock. Knock. Knock-knock. Knock.

"Elsa! Hey, Elsa!"

"Go away, Anna."

"Elsa Mackinley Arendelle, open up this instant!" Anna said sternly in response to what was now Anna's least favorite string of words. That simple phrase that Elsa had called through her door multiple times now ripped tiny chasms in her heart and filled in the cracks with ice and anguish. She would stand for it no more.

"I'm trying to sleep."

"No, you aren't, fibber! It's hardly nine o'clock and you haven't gotten ready for bed yet. I have a question for you."

She heard Elsa approaching the door, her feet shuffling along the carpet. Anna knew that she must be exasperated. Elsa's movements were always elegant, the gracefulness that came with years of figure skating extended beyond the rink, but she literally dragged her feet when she was being forced to do something she didn't want to do. Elsa's door opened, and she quickly stepped out and re-shut it before Anna could even glimpse inside.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering what that sound was coming from your room."

"That's not a question," Elsa said, quirking her brow up at Anna.

Anna rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. It was, like… a beeping sound. Are you playing video games in there or something?"

"Or something," Elsa said. Anna waited for her to expand on the explanation, arms crossed over her chest and her own eyebrow rising. "I was on my laptop."

"Playing a game?"

"Studying."

"Liar."

"Excuse me?" Elsa responded, taken aback.

"You're excused," Anna said lightly, smirking devilishly. "I forgive you for lying."

It was Elsa's turn to roll her eyes. "You're incorrigible."

"Thank you!" Anna said cheerfully and Elsa rolled her eyes again, but Anna saw the half-smile that she associated with an amused Elsa make a brief appearance. "Anyway, I know you weren't studying. You don't study in your room because you have a Study. You know? That room your dad built specifically for your studying needs. The one he tried to convert my room to before you stopped him."

She knows about that? Elsa blinked at her several times, keeping her face as neutral as she could before adopting her unaffected tone and lying once more. "Okay you caught me. I was playing a game."

"I don't believe you," Anna said slowly, squinting questioningly at her. She dismissed the feeling with a non-committal wave of her hand. "Also - I don't like this voice. Please don't use it anymore."

"I haven't a clue what you mean," Elsa monotoned.

"That! The bored, emotionless voice you've insisted on using. That's the voice of an unfriendly robot," Anna said. She lightly booped Elsa on the nose. "It really doesn't suit you."

"I beg your pardon?" Elsa retorted while tilting her head back from the invasion into her personal space, frustration growing over this ongoing conversation.

"No need to beg, Elsa. We both know I'd give you all my pardons willingly," Anna quipped, devious smirk back in place. She raised her eyebrow at Elsa once more in a challenge.

Elsa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Her shoulders slumped as she slowly shook her head before allowing her hand to fall back to her side and allowing her chin to fall toward her chest. For the first time in Anna's memory, Elsa looked defeated. She feared for a moment that she might have taken it too far, but Elsa quietly posed a question.

"You're not going to let it go, are you?"

Anna's expression softened and she uncrossed her arms. Taking the two steps right up to Elsa, she put one finger under the blonde's chin and tilted it up to face her. Anna was startled to see unshed tears when Elsa finally opened her eyes, but Anna offered her a gentle smile.

"Let what go? Trying to be your friend and sister again?" Anna asked quietly. She didn't really need Elsa to answer, the look in her eyes told her everything, but she waited for the blonde to nod in confirmation. "No, I really won't. Look, I don't know what exactly is going on with you, and I'm not going to force you to tell me. You'll do that when you're ready, but I'm not letting you shut me out anymore. Like I told you all those years ago - until the sun fades out and the world is covered in frost, you're stuck with me."

And there it was - like the first night of the waning moon, the smallest of smiles pulled at the corners of Elsa's mouth; a faint crescent on a pale canvas. A tear rolled down Elsa's cheek and Anna wiped it away with a swipe of her thumb.

"Stuck with you, huh?"

"Like super glue," Anna offered brightly. She placed a gentle kiss on Elsa's hairline before leaning in to touch their foreheads together and wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist. It was a simple gesture Anna had done to comfort Elsa since they were small children. She felt Elsa stiffen, but Anna held on tight. To her relief, she felt the blonde relax slowly and then wrap her arms around Anna in reciprocation.

"Incorrigible," Elsa whispered, unsure if she was talking about herself or the strawberry blonde wrapping her in a warm hug.

"Girls, please settle down and eat your lunches like little ladies," Iduna said, eyeing both children with a stern eye. The two sets of mother and daughter were sitting out on a sunny patio enjoying lunch in the garden of Arendelle Manor.

"Sorry!" the two little, four year-old girls said in unison. They hopped up from playing on the ground with their dolls and clambered into their respective seats next to their mothers.

Iduna and Jules shared a look. They loved these Wednesdays. Since the girls started pre-school earlier this school year, the days were a little difficult for the two mothers who had gotten used to spending most of their off time with their girls. Every other Wednesday, though, the girls had no school. Iduna and Jules started requesting the days off or as 'work' from home opportunities.

"So, how did it go on Saturday?" Jules asked Iduna casually. The brunette woman tensed slightly and glanced down to the girls. They didn't appear to be paying any attention, instead funny faces were being made at each other from across the table.

"It was fine."

"Ah, okay. So no second date then," Jules said knowingly, eyeing Iduna over her cup of tea.

"I didn't say that," Iduna mumbled.

"What's a date?" Elsa asked innocently as she passed half her sandwich to Anna and took the half offered in return. Jules and Iduna looked at each other, silently debating whether or not to truthfully answer the question. Their girls were far too young to start thinking about dating, even just as a concept. Jules decided that evasive tactics were the way to go and brushed passed the question.

"What are you two doing? Gerda made you both the exact same peanut butter and blackberry jam sandwiches."

"Elsa eats the left side of my sandwich and I eat the right side of hers, of course!" Anna exclaimed around a mouthful of PB&J.

"But, why?" Iduna asked, eyebrows raising. "And please do not speak with your mouth full, little duck."

Anna took a big gulp of chocolate milk to wash down her bite. "Because she's left handed and I'm right handed and -"

"We finish each other's sandwiches," Elsa finished then took her own bite of food.

"Oh well, of course, that is only logical," Jules responded, holding in a laugh. Iduna and her shared a smile at their daughters' adorable behavior. Once their laughter was under control and the girls occupied themselves again with eating, Jules continued their conversation. "Ok, so what happened?"

Iduna took an extended sip of her tea as she searched for the words. "Nothing happened, per say. He was nice, but…"

"But what?" Jules encouraged when her best friend trailed off. Iduna just stared down at her tea, finger tracing the rim of the ceramic cup. Jules decided to take a guess. "But he's not Isaac."

It wasn't really a question.

Iduna let out a massive sigh that caused the two younger girls to look at her in confusion. Iduna gave them both a gentle smile before looking back to her oldest confidant. "I know it's been four years, and you're right in trying to get me back out there. I just don't know if I'm ready yet."

"I know, love," Jules said seriously. "I don't want to push you, that's not my intention. I just… I want you to be happy. Don't we want her to be happy, girls?"

Elsa and Anna bounced in their seats and quickly agreed, spouting a string of phrases like 'so so happy' and 'the happiest ever ever ever' over each other.

Iduna gave Jules a faraway smile. "And I am happy. I have the girls. I have you. I have my work. For now, that's enough. When I'm ready… if I'm ever ready… I'll give it an honest try. I promise."

"That's all I ask," Jules said. "Whoever it is. As long as he makes you happy, my dear, I'll be happy for you."

The four girls settled back into a comfortable silence, enjoying their garden picnic, before Iduna broke the peace once more.

"Anna, stop sneaking your carrots onto Elsa's plate."

Elsa was in the middle of reading about the similarities between notable European dictatorships when her Comparative Government textbook was unceremoniously shut and slipped away off her lunch table. She looked up in surprise, ready to tell off whoever decided to interrupt her studying when Anna sat down and started pulling her lunch out. Before she could get a word of reprimand to spill from her mouth, Rapunzel sat next to her on the sunward facing side of her picnic table and gave the blonde a big smile. Elsa looked between the other two girls in complete confusion.

"What the hell is going on?" a voice asked from beside her. Elsa's head snapped up to see the bright red hair of Ariel. The girl was staring at the three of them, a look of complete annoyance on her face.

"Exactly what I was going to ask," Elsa mumbled. "Can I have my book, please?"

"Nope, we're eating lunch," Anna said brightly to Elsa before looking up at her other friend and patting the bench next to her, the seat across from Rapunzel. "I saved you a seat, Ariel."

Anna looked at Ariel expectantly. Elsa and Rapunzel let their eyes dart between the two ginger girls as Ariel seemed to have an internal debate; the blonde more out of confusion while the brunette looked on in worry. Rapunzel had a sinking feeling that Ariel wouldn't take this change to their lunch routine with as much excitement as she did. Elsa had been helping her with Geometry for the last couple weeks already, and the bubbly brunette genuinely wanted to be Elsa's friend.

After several beats, Ariel let out a heavy huff and sat down next to Anna, avoiding meeting Elsa's gaze. It didn't bother the blonde though; she hadn't cared much about Ariel's opinion since that incident in fourth grade. Elsa turned her attention back to Anna and raised an eyebrow. Feeling eyes on her, Anna looked up and smiled, but her grin faltered under Elsa's intense gaze.

"No, you have to eat your lunch," Anna said sternly, understanding exactly what that look meant.

"I'll eat my lunch," Elsa said, holding out her hand. "Despite the interruption."

Anna rolled her eyes and handed the textbook over. "Fine, but this isn't going to keep us from talking to you."

"Thank you," Elsa said, propping the book open in her lap and ignoring Anna's comment. The table was quiet for a few moments as the other girls started eating. The silence was quickly broken, though, by a curious Rapunzel.

"Um… Anna, don't you and Elsa have the exact same sandwiches?"

"Yeah, why?" Elsa heard Anna respond without looking up from her textbook.

"Well, then why'd you switch half of your sandwich with Elsa's?"

That caught Elsa's attention and her head snapped up to see that she did indeed now have two left halves of chicken salad sandwich. She eyed the girl across from her and Anna gave her a smile before taking a bite out of one of her right halves. Elsa shook her head with amusement and a half smirk of her own before taking one of her lefts and beginning to eat while finishing up the chapter reading.

"You two still do that weird sandwich thing?" Ariel asked, rolling her eyes so dramatically Elsa was surprised that her whole head didn't move with them. She decided to ignore her and went back to her course reading.

Anna chose to let Ariel's comment slide and addressed the brunette. "We've done it since we were kids. Elsa ate the left halves and I ate the right ones. It didn't occur to me until we were in the third grade that if I just flipped over my left half, it would look like a right one, but by then it was too late. Old habits and what not."

"That's cute," Rapunzel said with a laugh. "Anyway, I needed to go to the mall this weekend to visit the art supply store. I'm running dangerously low on paints and am in need of more charcoal. Anyone down for a day at the mall?"

Both redheads eagerly agreed, and after a quiet moment, Elsa felt a nudge on her right when Rapunzel bumped shoulders with her gently. The blonde looked over at an expectant looking face and blinked several times. Rapunzel didn't let her gaze deviate or her smile slip at all.

"What do you say, Els? Saturday afternoon," Rapunzel clarified.

"Oh… I'll likely have homework -"

"Which you'll probably finish by Friday night," Anna interrupted. Elsa opened her mouth to argue, but Anna stopped her before she could get another word out. "Don't lie. You always finish your homework before Saturday."

Elsa stared at Anna for a moment and the two childhood best friends silently argued. It was all scowls and raised eyebrows and little smirks. Rapunzel found it completely entertaining while Ariel just rolled her eyes again.

"I see you two still do that weird 'speaking without words' thing too," the redhead said in an irritated sort of voice, aggressively piercing a cherry tomato from her salad with a fork.

Eventually, Elsa let out a long breath and returned her gaze to an excited looking Rapunzel. "I will accompany you to the mall on Saturday."

"Fantastic! This will be amazing!"

Elsa couldn't help but give Rapunzel a genuine smile in response to her excitement before returning her attention once more to the book in her lap. She'd gotten used to the bubbly girl's presence over their geometry tutoring sessions with both her and Anna. Rapunzel actually reminded her a lot of Anna. It was no wonder the two got along so well. And like her oldest friend, it seemed Rapunzel also didn't know how to leave Elsa to her book.

"Um… Elsa?" Rapunzel whispered.

"Hm?" she hummed distractedly.

"You might want to pay more attention," Rapunzel continued to whisper. Elsa looked up at her in confusion. "Anna's slipping her carrots into your lunch."

Elsa's head spun so quickly to look at Anna that it nearly gave her a head rush; her long platinum braid swinging wildly off of her shoulder. She turned just in time for Anna to give her a guilty expression, her hand still extended across the table as she attempted to move multiple carrots into Elsa's snack sized bag.

"Snitches get stitches, Zel," Anna said in mock anger, causing the brunette girl to chuckle.

"Anna, we're not eight anymore," Elsa chastised. She put several carrots back into Anna's baggy and returned her eyes to her textbook. "You need to eat your own vegetables."

"Ugh… but Mama gives me so much, and you never minded taking some of my veggies before."

"Our Mamas always gave you more vegetables because they knew you would try to get me to eat some of yours. It was on purpose. In the end, we would always eat the same sized servings," Elsa explained without looking up. When the two girls to the right of her exploded with laughter, Elsa looked at her three table mates with a curious expression. She saw that Anna's mouth was completely unhinged. Elsa had just shattered her world view; her mind entirely blown away.

"Those sneaky mother -"

"ANNA!"

"-s of ours," Anna finished lamely. She shook her head in disbelief while Elsa let out a sigh of relief and Rapunzel snorted. "My world will never be the same."

"You were always so dramatic," Elsa said with an eye roll, but her expression softened when she could see the genuine distress in Anna's eyes. With a sigh, Elsa reached over and grabbed a couple baby carrots from Anna's snack bag and proceeded to eat them. Anna grinned at her.

"Thanks, Elsie," Anna said happily. Elsa sent her another amused half-smirk and shook her head slowly as she returned once again to her reading.

"Incorrigible," she mumbled, still unsure if she was saying it to Anna or herself.

A/N: I am so sorry for waiting a second week to post this. I got a bit busy, and then I ended up re-writing several portions of this even though not much happens in it. Kind of a transition, really. I'm hoping that it won't be two weeks before you get Chapter 11. I also think we're getting close to the halfway point of the story, so I'm estimating this will be about 20-25 chapters; not likely to be more than that.

Now, that being said, I mentioned, in my (kind of) one-shot's A/N, that I'm working on something else now too. While this story is not Elsanna, this new one I'm working on will be (they will not be sisters, but regardless, if Elsanna is not your thing, don't read it. I just think that their personalities are so complementary, it works when they aren't sisters). That one has now been pretty well laid out; though I've only just started writing the actual, readable story. I think I'll start posting it as this one starts winding down.

I hope you all continue staying safe, healthy, and happy. As always - thanks for reading :)