Because of their father's itinerary, Anna and Elsa had to be shipped to their relatives' house for Thanksgiving at the last minute. Quite considerate of him to make the necessary arrangements for his daughters, really, seeing as that was supposed to be a family holiday and all…

Parental resentment aside, Elsa didn't have much to complain about. Although hectic on most occasions, she always enjoyed spending time at the DunBrochs'. Besides, things between her and her sister were still a bit sensitive, and not having to avoid Anna throughout the entire break period was probably for the best.

The drive to Merida's house was filled with tense silence and fidgeting from both parties. Not knowing how to start a conversation, Elsa had busied herself with her book while Anna pretended to nap. And as the Arendelle sisters reached their destination, they thankfully found Auntie Elinor already outside, full on hospitality mode, and more than prepared to greet them into her home.

"Oh, you two have grown so much!" the woman said as she walked down the porch to hug both of the girls. "It has been far too long since I last saw you girls."

Elsa smiled. "Hi, Aunt Elinor. Thank you for letting us stay with you."

Elinor shook her head, affectionately smoothing a hand down the platinum blonde's hair. "Nonsense, Elsa. You two are family, and we are more than happy to have you with us. Isn't that right, Merida?"

"Yes, Mother," Merida mumbled as she watched the guests from the door frame. "We're gonna have loads of fun braiding each other's hair."

"Hey there, Mer." Anna laughed as she rushed to greet the other girl. "Where are your brothers?"

"Out with Dad pumpkin shopping."

Elinor linked arms with Elsa and led the girl inside the house. "We figured you girls could use some quiet time to settle in after traveling for hours."

"Auntie, you didn't have to worry about that—"

Elinor chuckled, interrupting the blonde. "Oh, honey, believe me, that was just an excuse to get the boys out of the house. How about we have some tea now?"

"Sounds perfect, Auntie, thank you," Anna replied with a smile, and the DunBroch ladies quickly proceeded to arrange the table for their afternoon tea.

Merida passed around the cutlery as her mother finished brewing the hot beverage.

As Elinor returned to the table, she commented, "Merida tells me that you're working hard as the student council president this year as well, Elsa?"

Elsa tucked a lock of hair behind her ear with embarrassment. "Yes—I… I suppose I am. Although I can't take all the credit, I have great friends in the student council team who I share the workload with."

"Your mother would be very proud of you, dear. Becoming a student council member is one of the Academy's utmost honors." The woman's narrowed eyes shifted to her daughter. "Perhaps you could take this opportunity to learn a few things from your cousin, Merida."

The redhead rolled her eyes as she slumped down on her chair. "The Student Council is a group of nannies who spend the day cleaning up everybody else's messes—"

"Merida!"

"—If I wanted to become a babysitter, I could've just stayed here to take care of the triplets."

Elsa giggled behind her hand. "You're not entirely wrong, Merida. Some days, work can be really exasperating, but there are also a lot of fun parts to it. I've become good friends with many people through student council connections, and I've grown a lot as a person over the years. You should consider giving it a try, I'm sure you'd be great at it."

Merida let out a snort. "Even if I wanted to, I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified enough to make the cut."

"Of course you are, dear. All you need is the right amount of motivation."

"Right. Because that's the only thing standing between me and my unending well of wasted potential."

Elinor's face reddened, and her shoulders started shaking, and Anna quickly jumped in before their aunt could have a breakdown, "I for one think you're being too hard on yourself, Mer."

"Doesn't matter anyway," Merida grumbled with a nonchalant shrug. "I would rather put an apple on my head and let the archery club use me for shooting practice than ever apply for a student council position..."

Elsa shook her head with a chuckle. "Come on, Merida. Be reasonable."

"Oh, trust me, Elsa. I am. If what I know about your work as the president is of any indication, being a walking target is one hell of a bargain."

"Merida!"

Merida was a whisper away from having her mouth slapped with a wooden spoon—metaphorically, that was. The DunBrochs had a no-violence approach when it came to raising their children, but it wasn't to say that she would not be severely punished for her foul mouth if she crossed the line. Thankfully, Elsa offered to help with dinner preparations, presenting the perfect chance for the younger girls to sneak out of the house with no fuss.

As she and Anna shot hoops to kill time, Merida noticed how the other girl kept sighing every ten seconds or so, and when she thought about it, there seemed to be a hint of gloominess in the way Anna's shoulders sagged.

She heard Anna sighing for the millionth time, and it finally made her snap. "Okay. Out with it. The hell is your problem?"

"I mean, it shouldn't surprise me anymore, right?" Anna grumbled as she dribbled the ball across the patio.

"What are you talking about?" Merida asked as she stole the ball from the other girl and dashed to score another point.

Anna shrugged. "It's always 'Elsa this', 'Elsa that'..."

Merida turned on her heels to stare at Anna. "I hear bitterness."

Anna picked up the ball and kept tossing it from one hand to the other. "It's just that everybody is so mind blown by Elsa's accomplishments that no one gives a shit about me. Not trying to make less of her hard work, but being ignored gets boring, you know?"

"Is it because of my mom? That wasn't an attack against you, Mother was probably just trying to guilt me into becoming more responsible."

A weak smile formed on Anna's lips. "I get it. It's just hard being her sister sometimes. Constantly being compared to… perfection."

"Elsa isn't perfect, and you're being dramatic again."

"Okay, first of all, it's not dramatic if it's the truth. And second, the 'again' was totally uncalled for, Merida." Anna slid her body down to the floor and glared at the clouds above her head. "I'm in the middle of a crisis here, the least you could do is be nice to me."

"No one's comparing you and Elsa, that's just inside your head."

"I'm the spare child stuck with the bad genes. No one cares about me as long as Elsa keeps up with their expectations. Which she does. Flawlessly."

Merida huffed. "I have three little brothers who, when they grow up, shall be the demise of mankind as we know it, but they're also undeniable geniuses. Do you go around comparing my IQ to theirs?"

Anna hesitated for a moment, and she lowered her eyes to her lap. "... No."

"Exactly. Elsa is Elsa, and you are you. Just like you have your own talents and flaws, so does she. You two are completely different people."

Anna sighed. "I know I should get what you're saying, but I can't stop myself from thinking that way. Being Elsa's sister is hard."

Merida sighed, choosing not to argue anymore. Seeing Anna upset upset Merida in return, but there was not much else she could do. Merida had shown her support, she had done her part. All she could do now was to give Anna time to figure things out on her own.

"Sometimes, I wonder what it'd be like if we weren't born in the same family. If I was an only child, or something."

Merida shook her head. "You don't mean that—"

The conversation stopped as the back door opened and Elsa looked at them. The blonde smiled, but that seemed like one of those rehearsed smiles Elsa always wore at formal gatherings. And the sight of her dumb cousins drowning in misunderstandings made Merida want to run to either of them and bitch slap them to the next dimension.

Merida bit her lip not to scream.

"Dinner's ready," Elsa said, going back inside just as quickly as she had appeared.

Ever so slowly, Merida's narrowed eyes drifted back to Anna, and, with silent scrutiny, she watched her cousin staring at her shoes with furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips. Merida waited as Anna's inner debacle continued until, with a click of her tongue, Anna looked up, apprehension deep in her eyes.

"... You think she heard that?"

Part of her was getting used to the tutoring sessions with Kristoff. Another part of her still considered those same sessions boring and a waste of time. But whatever her opinion was, the tutoring continued week after week without fail. And just as scheduled, they met again right after returning from the holiday for more physics and more homework.

"So how was your Thanksgiving?" Kristoff asked as she took the seat across from him.

Anna huffed, accidentally slamming her textbooks against the desk far harden than she intended. "Aren't you always telling me that we're supposed to be studying, not chit-chatting?"

"Shesh. What's your damage?"

"I don't have any," the girl grumbled, viciously flipping through her book. "Can we just focus on physics right now?"

Kristoff shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Sorry I was trying to be nice for once."

"I—" Anna shook her head, guilty rushing down on her. "Sorry, Kristoff. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's fine." Kristoff leaned forward, his eyes locked on hers with concern. "Are you sure you're okay, Anna?"

She groaned, burying her face in her hands. "No."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No…" She bumped her forehead against the table and closed her eyes tightly. "I just want to go back in time so I can keep my big mouth shut for once."

"What happened?"

"My sister is not talking to me," Anna grumble with her face still glued to the table.

"What? Why?"

Anna carefully attempted a glance at him. Kristoff looked at her like she was a physics question he was having a hard time trying to solve, and she flinched.

"I…" She slumped down on her seat. "I may have said that I didn't want to be her sister anymore."

He grimaced as he scratched the back of his neck. "Okay… I see why she may be mad at you."

"In my defense, she wasn't supposed to hear that."

"Because that would've made what you said okay?" Kristoff asked with a snort.

"T-that's not what I meant!" Anna grumbled, throwing her arms in the air.

Kristoff sighed, and his expression softened. "I'm an only child, but if I had any siblings and I found out that they resented me, I bet I'd be pretty upset too."

Anna let out an annoyed snort. "Thanks for rubbing salt into the wound, Kristoff."

"What I'm trying to say is that you hurt her—"

"Again, thanks a lot."

"—And that you should try to fix it."

She scoffed, "How? She doesn't want to see me."

Kristoff smirked. "Then ambush her. Corner her until she has no escape but to talk to you."

Anna's eyebrows furrowed, and she pouted. "You're making it sound like I'm some sort of crazy hunter…"

"Who's to say that's not a good trait to have?"

"Thanks. I think."

Kristoff reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His hand was warm against hers, and the contact comforted her in ways she did not expect. It made her believe that everything would work out, and she smiled a weak smile.

"You're too smart to let a stupid misunderstanding get between you and your sister, Anna."

"How many times do I have to warn you, Frost? Get off the table."

For a moment, Jack considered ignoring her. He could pretend he was sleeping and wait for her to get tired and leave. But then he remembered that being in her good graces could still come in handy in future operations, and he hopped off the table with a grunt.

He amped his charm a couple of clicks and smiled at the girl glaring at him. "Hello to you too, Your Majesty."

Elsa had no comeback for him, but she didn't try to leave either, and her inaction confused him.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

She opened her mouth but said nothing. The blonde seemed to hesitate for another moment, then, without another word, she turned on her heels to leave.

"No, that would be all," Elsa mumbled with the shake of her head.

"Wait—where are you going?" Jack shouted as he rushed after her.

"To the headmaster's office," she replied without an ounce of emotion in her voice.

"What, you took a detour so you could nag at me just for kicks then?"

"Something like that," she admitted with a shrug.

Jack frowned with skepticism. "Okay, what's going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about—"

He planted his feet on the ground and pulled her wrist so she'd stop walking as well. Elsa slowly turned her head in his direction, and he waited until their eyes met. She kept her expression blank as a canvas, and if he'd learned anything about her, it was that she hid her true emotions when things got out of her control.

Jack exhaled slowly. "Elsa."

Her eyebrows creased slightly, and she pressed her lips together before quietly replying, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"So there is something," he concluded with narrowed eyes.

"There really isn't. I need to take these to the headmaster, Jack," Elsa said, gesturing to the stack of paper in her hands.

"North can wait," he grumbled but let go of her arm nonetheless. Against his predicaments, she didn't bolt out of there, and he softened his glare a little bit. "So? What's the matter?"

"H-have you… talked to my sister lately?"

The cogs in his brain started working, and a picture started to paint itself in front of him. "I don't think so. Why?"

Elsa shook her head. "No reason. Forget I asked."

"Did something happen between you two?" he quickly asked.

"I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

She resumed her walking, giving him zero time to form a reply. He tried to call her, but she didn't seem to hear it—or maybe she pretended not to.

Unsettled with how their conversation had ended, Jack ran his hands up and down his hair. grumbling nonsensically to himself, he picked his phone and waited with it glued to his ears as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, princess. We need to talk."

Of all the days for him to be late, Kristoff had picked the one day Anna had great news to share with him to be the one. She didn't know how much longer she could hold her excitement in, and she tapped her fingers on the desk as she waited for the doorknob to finally move. An eternity later, the door finally opened, and Anna jumped off her seat to greet her tutor.

"You're late! What took you so long?"

Kristoff rolled his eyes as he made his way to her desk. "Hello to you too, Anna. How are you doing today?"

"I'm feeling a-mazing," the girl said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Ask me why."

Her tutor sighed as he adjusted himself on his seat. "And why would that be?"

Anna thrust a single sheet of paper in his face. "Ta-dah!"

Scowling, Kristoff took the paper from her so he could take a proper look at it. The paper was Anna's latest physics test, and she had scored a very well-deserved A- on it.

"What do you think?" Anna was pleased with the results that she was practically bouncing on her seat.

He shrugged and slid the paper back to the girl. "Not bad, Anna."

Anna huffed. "Not bad? I aced it."

He hummed as he flipped the pages on his textbook, and she leaned forward with a smirk.

"See what I did there? A-ced."

"Very clever," he grumbled with a snort. "But you seem to be forgetting one minus detail."

"You know, as my tutor, you could at least try to be happy for me," Anna grumbled while shaking her head.

Kristoff sighed. "Good job, Anna. You're really studying hard, and your efforts are paying off. Keep it up and you'll be free from me before you know it."

"Right…" Anna smoothed a loose lock of hair with her fingers and tucked it behind her head.

"What is it?" he asked with a frown.

"N-nothing!"

Kristoff crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Did you talk to your sister?"

"Not yet," Anna grumbled, hiding her head in her hand. She could sense his eyes hardening on her, and she hurriedly added, "What? She's a busy person!"

"You're avoiding her, aren't you?"

She laughed, throwing her shoulders back. "Me? Pff! Of course not!"

"Anna…"

"Look, I'll talk to her. I just need to figure out what to say first."

He smiled encouragingly at her. "I trust you to do the right thing."

"Aw…" The guy's words warmed her heart, and Anna felt the blush rising to her cheeks. Clearing her throat, she sat up and pointed at the big 'x' scratched over one of her answers.

"Alright. So what did I do wrong here?"