Underneath darkened skies, there's a light that don't lie

Let love conquer your mind, warrior, warrior

Just reach out for the light, warrior, warrior

I am a warrior

Warrior, warrior

I am a warrior

Warrior, warrior of love

-AURORA, "Warrior"

At first, all she remembered was the cold. So much of it; an agonizing sensation, like her very veins were full of ice. But then there was a comforting warmth that kissed her skin and chased the lethal freeze out of her entire body. She stood there for who knew how long, minutes or hours, confused from the feeling that she had woken up from the deepest nap she'd ever taken. She noticed she was standing on a ship in the fjord for some reason. It was a bright morning, but nobody was out, she observed with growing unease. As she stood there taking in her surroundings, though, memories began to slowly slide back into the conscious of her mind like someone slipping pearls onto a string.

She slowly paced across the ship, forcing herself to remember something, anything, trying keep calm. She remembered Elsa froze her heart. Kristoff she remembered, too, smiling a little when an image of his troll family popped into her head. She felt a painful squeeze in her heart when she remembered Hans and what he had done. Then Anna stopped in her tracks.

He had tried to kill Elsa to take their throne and put an end to the harsh winter. And yet she saw plainly that it was a sunny summer day.

Elsa. What happened to her?

She ran for the castle, having no plan whatsoever for what she might see, only terrified of who might not be there. She tried to yank open one of the great doors. To her great shock, her hand went right through the knocker. Her whole body was capable of going through the doors, she realized. Panic began to set in with her confusion growing wild.

She passed by a couple servants hurrying around dressed in black. Eventually, she found Elsa being comforted by Kristoff and Olaf in the parlor. The two humans were dressed in black as well, and none of them looked happy. An uncomfortable mixture of relief at seeing them all right and a new fear forming in her chest rose as she edged toward them.

Later when she thought of this memory, it always became very vague here, and for that she was thankful, because what she did recall hurt her deeply.

None of them could see her. Nor hear her. They had no knowledge of her existence whatsoever.

Anna was alive, and yet, she wasn't.

She had seen giant, deadly blades of ice shoot from her sister's hands. She had nearly been attacked by wolves. She had been almost killed by a massive snow golem. She'd been hit in the heart with ice when she upset Elsa in her glacial palace. Anna knew fear. But nothing that quite seeped into her soul like this realization.

Elsa was safe, but now they were alone all over again. And the door that separated the sisters this time was no wooden one to be opened, but one that transcended the physical world that she couldn't even speak to Elsa through.

Anna haunted her old home like a specter, hungry for food she would never be fed. She had nowhere else to go and was afraid to leave her friends and miss out on their lives. In this new state, her sense of time was jumbled, and once when she thought she had left Elsa's room for an hour, she was shocked to see had actually been a week when she happened to glance at Elsa's calendar. And by some cruel joke on fate's part, she got exactly what she had always wanted: She could see Elsa whenever she liked, and finally got to know her long-lost sister. Only Elsa could never do the same to her. The only thing resembling comfort was that they truly seemed to miss her as much as she missed them. Elsa wouldn't come out of her room for a month for anyone except Kristoff and Olaf. Kristoff was better at hiding his anguish, but Anna saw him grieve deeply when it was only him and Sven. This was only a very small comfort, though, because it only made Anna wish more to embrace them both, assure them she wasn't really gone.

During this "haunting", Anna's loneliness grew, and she couldn't help but talk to the people who could no longer hear her, just like when she spoke to paintings as a little girl. Another twisted echo of her former life. She watched them live their lives without her. When the loneliness overpowered her on some days, she'd leave her post as the castle spirit and walk around the place, sometimes go outside in the gardens or visit the waterfall. She usually did this at night, though, as everyone slept. She discovered, most strangely, that she could sleep if she wanted, but did not need to as badly as she had when alive. The only times she allowed herself to drift off were when the heartache threatened to overcome her.

Only staring at majesty of the moon and stars and the northern lights above her ever really helped get her mind off her pain. Somehow death had made her more strongly feel connected to nature. Perhaps because, alive, she had been too full of restless energy to stop and enjoy its magic and tranquility, too busy wishing Elsa would spend time with her. Dead, she had all the time in the world to bask in the elements, now.

Once on a cool night, she sat with Sven listening to Kristoff play his new lute in the royal barn. He had been given guest chambers from Elsa, probably as thanks for all he did to help Anna, but this is where she found him the most often. The instrument had been a gift from Elsa at some point, she guessed, noticing the familiar-looking geometrical design along the neck. The tune was a lullaby she didn't recognize but liked very much, in spite of the sadness woven through the sweet melody. Sometimes her new life wasn't as bad on nights like this. When Elsa and Kristoff weren't talking to each other or Olaf or the servants, she could sit with one of them in silence and almost feel like they were just enjoying a quiet moment together, just the two of them.

And Sven, of course, she thought. Even he seemed to miss her along with the other three. She knew he couldn't see or feel her either, yet she couldn't help but give him a pet on the nose. A warmth passed through her fingers to Sven as she did.

Sven looked up, alarmed, which made Kristoff stop playing to ask what was wrong. The reindeer had felt it, she knew, excitement jolting through her body. She did it again, and this time he jumped up, confused. Anna wondered if it was because animals were more sensitive to these things than humans. She glanced at Kristoff, who had scratched Sven behind the ears in reassurance before settling back down on his bed. She edged over to her old friend, and gave his arm a cautious poke. He didn't react like Sven, but she could feel a surge of power transfer from her to him, a warm current that made her heart lift. And she did see a change: he stopped playing the sad song. After a moment, he changed to a more upbeat one, quietly singing something about reindeer that made her laugh as joyful tears formed in her eyes.

Fate seemed hellbent on repeating painful aspects of Anna's young life, for yet again she found herself returning to one. She stood outside Elsa's door, tentatively staring at the purple diamonds painted on it. Not because she was afraid to knock this time, though. She walked inside and found the queen asleep in bed. Anna moved closer and raised her hand to touch Elsa's shoulder, still hesitant. It was one thing to try this with Kristoff and Sven; entirely another with Elsa. She could not bear it if this didn't work, but neither could she refuse to try. She gathered her courage and laid a kiss on her sister's bangs.

She waited, afraid to move. Elsa's breathing was steady. Then Anna saw a tear roll down her sister's cheek, but a ghost of a smile appeared for a second on Elsa's face. Anna's heart pounded. She had felt energy move between them, just like with Kristoff. It was like she could feel people's spirits lift. Did Elsa truly feel that kiss? Had she sensed Anna's presence? Did Anna suddenly have the power to make people happy, or what?

Anna stood outside the castle.

"I'm ready to do whatever you want me to do," Anna told the moon, feeling for the first time in forever, a sense of purpose. It didn't make her sadness go away, but it provided a new, stronger feeling. Something she desperately needed: hope.

For a second she thought the moon glowed brighter ever so slightly, and she understood it to mean she got a nod of approval. She had no idea how she knew that, but somehow it just felt right.

Basking in the pale light of the moon, she heard other words. Not heard, exactly, but concepts she hadn't known were connecting in her mind, and she knew it came from the full moon above. She was not a ghost, but also not alive anymore. She was a spirit. And she was the Guardian of Love. Anna felt a swelling in her chest when she heard that.

She knew who the Man in the Moon was and why he had chosen her. She deserved the honor of protecting the world's children.

Anna felt a light breeze around her legs and was suddenly aware that she was no longer in the winter dress she had died in, nor even the boots. She looked over herself in amazement. Instead of the two braids she'd done up her hair in, two thick, loosely plaited locks of hair framed her face with the rest hanging unadorned around her shoulders. A light red dress adorned her form (to the knees, she noted as her cheeks grew warm, never having worn something so short). It was smooth as water when her fingers touched the hem. The sleeves hung off her shoulders, and what she thought was the pink cape she'd purchased from Oaken hung from her shoulders and neck by two heart-shaped clasps, but shortened to better go with her dress. Rosemaling of white doves and little arrows frosted the hem, and on the chest was a golden heart.

The meaning of that there was not lost on her. "Thank you," she whispered appreciatively. For a new chance. For a new purpose. For believing she was something special when no one ever had.

She began to visit all the children of Arendelle, making sure each one she met felt their worth. Every abandoned child, every poor child, any and all of them. It was enjoyable. Her grief never really left, but the work provided a good distraction, and the sense of purpose honestly brought her happiness. For a while, she was too busy exploring her new gifts to go to the castle anymore, but she figured perhaps taking a break might be healthy.

She listened to the moon almost every night. He was as close to a companion as she was ever going to get, she came to understand quickly, and with sorrow. From him she learned about the Guardians and what they each did, and that the former Guardian of Love had perished of disbelief. That was horrifying to learn, that even as a spirit she could die. The Man in the Moon provided her with arrows to defend herself with: silver for protection, but also gold. Those weren't for fighting, but had a stronger dose of love to give people whose hearts couldn't be turned by a mere touch. She was a little alarmed to think some people were so troubled she would need a weapon to fix them. Nevertheless, she practiced shooting them every day. She pleased with how quickly she got good at hitting the targets, not having done any archery since she was a kid.

The Man in the Moon also bestowed a new name upon her to symbolize her new life: Amore. She thought it was pretty. She learned a lot from him. Once, he had shone his light up on a thick cloud above her, and told her without words that he wanted her to try something. That's how Anna discovered she could fly. Well, float, anyway. With years of athletics performed in empty castle rooms having given her strong limbs, she jumped into the air and watched herself get further and further from Arendelle. She landed on the cloud, shocked to see it wasn't a mist up close, but solid ground. And it was bigger than it had looked down below. It had a pretty little marble building with pillars. It even had a garden. Her magic cloud had a garden. One that was full of different colored roses. She ran over to see them and saw they were more beautiful than any she'd seen in the royal garden. Around the garden slept white doves in tiny temple-shaped bird houses. Torches lit the place.

When she wandered around to marvel at it all, one of the torches had lept off its stick and flew over to her. She screamed in shock and backed away reflexively, afraid of being burned. But the flame only hovered in front of her, growing slightly in shape. She yelped again when she saw a face form in it. It looked like a smile. Anna stared at it, unsure of what to think or do. She could handle dying and becoming a magic love spirit, but this was too much.

It didn't come any closer. It formed a little heart of fire above its tiny hand and pointed off to the side, and she could hear it saying something about a child— Yes, just like the Man in the Moon, she apparently could understand this creature without it needing to use words. And it was sort of… cute. Like the cherubs in the art gallery paintings. She looked to where it pointed: down in the countryside below.

"Oh!" Anna said in distress, realizing what it— he?— meant. "Did I miss a kid somehow?"

The little flame cherub nodded and offered a hand. She moved her hand closer with caution, feeling warmth, but deciding to chance it and accepted his hand. It didn't burn at all. She smiled, her amazement at all this unceasing. And off they went, ascending from the cloud to a little shack in the woods.

Note: Reposting because grammar. I wish FFN actually showed the edits you make :(