Elsa caught her limp sister in her arms and looked at Aurora. "Could you grab Anna's stuff? Rapunzel, Merida, let's go." She said the last line with a voice that did not concede defiance.

Adam blocked her way. "You ruined my party," he accused her.

"I'll ruin a lot more than that if you don't get out of my way," Elsa snarled. "I could get you thrown in prison for serving alcohol to minors." With that, she strode around his shocked form and out the door.

Rapunzel glanced sheepishly at Eugene, who nodded at her to go on. "I'll take Kristoff home later," he said.

The girls obediently followed the platinum blonde out of the house. Elsa strapped Anna's semi-unconscious form in the front seat. She waited for the girls to pile into the backseat before handing them each a bottle of water and setting off.

The girls sat in uncomfortable silence as the alcohol slowly wore off. Merida finally couldn't take it anymore and blurted, "Elsa, please don't be mad at Anna. She was just defending you."

"Like she always does," Rapunzel added resentfully. "Do you have any idea how depressed she's been?"

"I'm not mad at Anna," was Elsa's only response. And then, a sigh, "How depressed?"

"Whenever she smiled, there would always be a shadow in her eyes. With Anna, it's not hard to tell when her smiles are genuine," Rapunzel answered warily.

"Guys, stop making it out to be Elsa's fault," Aurora interrupted, "we don't even know the whole story."

"Sorry," Rapunzel and Merida said in unison.

"Thanks for your concern. I'll sort things out with Anna." Elsa pulled in to the driveway of Rapunzel's place. Rapunzel muttered a quick thank you, and ran to her door.

After dropping off both Merida and Aurora, Elsa headed for home. After pulling into the garage, she unbuckled Anna's seatbelt and shook her by the shoulder. "Anna, Anna, wake up. We're home."

Anna groaned in response.

Elsa uncapped a bottle of water. "Here, can you drink this for me?"

She could tell Anna was trying. But the younger girl could barely keep her head propped up long enough to drink from the bottle.

"Anna, hey, I'm going to move you now, okay? Let's try and make it to your room."

Anna gave her what looked like half a nod and Elsa wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her out of the car.

Her inebriated sister was muttering something incoherent. Elsa dipped her head closer to Anna's mouth. "Did you say something?"

"I'm sorry, Elsa," she cried uncontrollably, words tumbling out as slurs, as tears started pouring from her eyes again. "I'm so sorry, I don't understand anything, and I'm sorry you won't tell me. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry." Anna's arms were around her neck, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Don't be mad at me… don't…"

"Hush," Elsa whispered, her arm gripping tighter around Anna's waist, helping her upstairs. She was surprised at how slight her little sister was, despite being a goalkeeper in soccer. Her thoughts were interrupted when Anna burst into hysterical sobs again. She made a mental note to herself to never give her alcohol again. She dipped her head and pressed a calming kiss to Anna's forehead, another one to her nose, and one more on the cheek.

She had meant it to be a quick peck, like the ones they'd shared as kids before bedtime. And so she didn't expect Anna's arms to lock firmly around her neck to keep her from moving, her mouth finding Anna's instead.

So surprised that she almost dropped her sister, Elsa felt Anna's lips move desperately against hers, and an unyielding tongue press against her lower lip, forcing its way into her mouth. Elsa could taste the alcohol and tears on her little sister's tongue, and feebly tried to pull away, but to no avail. She wasn't sure what she was feeling; her heart was racing and she was fighting an unfamiliar (albeit strong) desire to deepen the kiss, to press her own tongue against her sister's soft lips.

Before she could, though, Anna pulled away abruptly and wriggled weakly in her arms. "I feel sick," she slurred groggily, which shook Elsa from her daze.

After half carrying, half dragging her flushed (from the alcohol or the kiss) little sister to the nearest bathroom, which was through Elsa's own room, she ended up rubbing Anna's back soothingly as the latter emptied her stomach contents into the toilet. When she was finished, she curled up on the floor, half asleep.

She was going to catch a cold sleeping on the cool bathroom floor. Elsa sighed, and once again tugged her up and half dragged her to the bed. Deciding it was too much of a bother to lug the unconscious girl to her own room, she let Anna sprawl out on her bed and tucked the covers around her.

Crawling in beside her, Elsa stared at the peaceful face of Anna's sleeping form, and couldn't help but feel another wave of guilt at the prospect that her sister had vehemently defended her yet again, despite their vicious argument only two days before. The feelings were immediately deterred, however, as the memory of the—unnatural, for lack of a better word—kiss they shared came flooding back to her, and she felt her face get warm. Did she really just lose her first kiss to her younger sister? Surprisingly, she had no qualms about it.

Disturbed by her lack of disgust, she felt another wave of electricity surge through her as Anna buried herself closer to her side. She draped an arm over her eyes, too worn to sort out her feelings, and decided to leave it all to tomorrow.

It was just a drunken kiss, she told herself. Anna probably thought she was kissing someone else.

The thought was supposed to make her feel better, but for some reason, it didn't.

Anna turned over to avoid the single ray of light shining through the gap in the curtains. Her head was killing her, and the taste in her mouth was terrible. Bringing her hands up to cover her face and block out the spinning room, she tried to recall the events of last night.

She remembered feeling really happy after a couple bottles of beer, forgetting all about her argument with Elsa. She vaguely remembered the voices of Hans and Henry, and really wanting to punch their faces in. She remembered the taste of the first couple shots of Jagermeister, and throwing up on the floor, and oh god, Elsa standing like an angry goddess in the doorway of Adam's house, burning with a rage that was practically visible.

What was I doing? She groaned. I probably completely embarrassed Elsa and the name of Arendelle last night, and mom's probably going to kill me, if Elsa doesn't kill me first.

She recalled yelling things at Elsa when her older sister tried to tug her away from her bet with Hans… What did she say? Fighting the pounding in her head, she tried futilely to remember. Did Elsa drive me home? And then she remembered vomiting in the bathroom when she got home and falling asleep on the floor. How did I end up in a bed?

The creak of the door interrupted her attempts at recollection. Turning her head and opening one day, she made out her older sister's silhouette in the darkness. As the girl neared, Anna caught the scent of wind and rain mixed in with her sister's fresh and sweet perfume.

"Hey," Elsa whispered, sitting on the bed.

The room was still dark, and Anna couldn't make out what kind of expression her sister had on. "Hi," she replied meekly. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde laughed softly. How Anna missed that sound, like the tinkle of a wind chime. "This is my room."

She took notice of the furniture in the room for the first time, and realized it was indeed her sister's room. Hiding her face under the covers in embarrassment, she murmured, "Oh."

That earned her another chuckle. "How are you feeling?"

Elsa's mildness surprised her. She had already prepared herself for the verbal discipline that her actions last night warranted. Not entirely believing her sister's lack of ire, she admitted quietly, "I have a headache," hoping it would put off whatever punishment Elsa had in store for her and earn her some pity.

A hand was stroking the top of her head, coaxing her out from under the covers. In Elsa's other hand was a glass of water. She sat up slowly, obediently accepting the offer, and drained the glass, not realizing how thirsty she was until the cool liquid touched her dry lips. She snuck a glance from behind the glass. The room was a bit brighter now, and she could make out the delicate features of her sister's face. Elsa's perfect complexion still betrayed no signs of anger, but she did always have a flawless poker face.

Certain that the ball was going to drop at any moment, Anna decided not to push her luck by asking what happened last night, and waited for the older girl to speak instead.

Her empty stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. Her face turned red and she slowly sank back under the covers, wishing the bed would just swallow her.

Elsa brought a hand up to her lips to hide her amusement. "Gerda's making breakfast; just hold on."

"I'm sorry," came a small response from under the covers. "Please don't kill me."

Anna didn't specify what she was sorry for, but one could easily guess. Elsa sighed, and slowly pulled down the blankets to reveal her younger sister's chagrinned expression. "We'll talk about that later. You don't need to act like I'm going to kill you at a moment's notice. For now, you're going to take a shower and meet me downstairs for breakfast. There's a change of clothes in the bathroom."

"Y-you're not mad?"

"I didn't say that."

And she was gone, leaving Anna to slide back underneath the covers, her heart sinking. So, Elsa was mad, and probably for more things than she could count. She didn't even remember what she said last night, but she was sure they were insults or nasty things that she herself probably wouldn't mind never hearing. And her outburst two days ago still warranted disciplinary action. Groaning, she pulled herself off the bed slowly, and wandered over to the washroom, noting the clothes already set out for her on the counter.

As she turned on the water in the shower, she realized with a start that today was Elsa's birthday. She mentally kicked herself. I bet she totally wanted to spend her birthday dragging your drunk ass home and then taking care of you while you had a hangover for the rest of the day. She was so regretful of her actions that she decided the next moment she saw Elsa she was going to throw herself at her sister's feet and beg for forgiveness.

When she was finished, she felt a little better. The dizziness had dissipated and her headache was reduced to a dull throb. She quickly got dressed and after a quick stop in her room, ran downstairs, not bothering to braid her wet hair.

To her surprise, the long dining table in the middle of the dining hall was empty. She heard someone clearing her voice behind her. Turning, she realized it was Gerda, who pointed to one of the other dining rooms down the hall. Curiously, she entered the room and was greeted with the delicious scent of eggs, toast, ham, bacon, and fruit. The table in this room was smaller, much smaller, meant for four people, and never used. Elsa was waiting for her in one of the mahogany seats, her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder in an ever-perfect braid.

I bet she'd still look perfect if she were hungover and had been vomiting into a toilet all night.

Anna tentatively took the seat across from her, trying to fight the urge to bury her face in the food.

Elsa noticed. "Eat," she commanded in an even voice, not revealing a shred of emotion.

Anna didn't need any greater incentive as she dug into the feast before her. After devouring the eggs and ham, and starting on the toast, she noticed that her sister was only watching her with wary eyes. Taking a sip of orange juice to slow down, she asked hesitantly, "You're not eating?"

"I ate already," came the curt reply.

She really is angry. Before she knew what she was doing, she slammed her head onto the tablecloth, and blurted, "I'm sorry, Elsa! I shouldn't have said those things to you! Both last night and two days ago! I'm really bad with expressing how I feel, and I'm sorry I offended you! I know you're under a lot of pressure and you work really hard and you could do without me causing more trouble for you—I'm just—I mean, I—I'm just really sorry!" Tears were already spilling from her eyes, wetting the tablecloth.

Soft, cool hands lifted her face, until her eyes met with pale blue ones. Elsa had skirted around the table and was kneeling beside her.

"Anna, stop," Elsa murmured, still cupping her face with one hand, thumbs wiping at the tears. "You don't need to apologize. We were both at fault for what happened. I just want you to feel better, so we can talk properly. If my presence here is making you uncomfortable, I'll wait for you somewhere else."

"No, it's okay—I'm done," Anna said hurriedly, stuffing the last of her toast in her mouth. "Let's talk."

Elsa awarded her with a dubious raise of her eyebrow, but sighed and returned to her seat. "Okay, first of all, all of this started when you found out that I impersonated a stranger and befriended you on Skype. I'm sorry about that; I should have told you."

Anna nodded. "I'm over that. I wasn't really angry to begin with, I guess I just didn't like finding out that I'd been fooled. But I get that you did it for me, so… let's just forget about it. What I don't get is…" she took a deep breath, "What I don't get is why you threw me out instead of just talking to me… 'cause you're usually the calm one—or did you really just not want to deal with me?"

Elsa looked down at her empty plate and Anna watched as her jaw locked. She took a deep breath. "You mentioned father and our… private lessons." She shut her eyes as if the very memory of him was painful, "He pushed me. Very hard. Everything had to be perfect. He would… get mad at me if I made a mistake, even one. I don't have many fond memories of him, so when you talked about him… I guess I just… snapped."

Anna realized how hard it must have been for Elsa to tell her this, judging from the way her sister was close to ripping the tablecloth with her clenched fist. "I'm so sorry, Elsa, I didn't know…" she began.

Her sister put up a hand to stop her. "You couldn't have; it's not your fault."

An awkward silence descended over the table.

"So… you couldn't look at me all week because it reminded you of what I said?"

The blonde nodded slowly, silently grateful she didn't need to explain it herself. "Mother is making me graduate early," Anna's eyes widened, and then nodded, as if she expected the news, "and apply for a bunch of universities, which is why I've been so busy this month. I guess you just picked the wrong day to yell at me. I wasn't feeling the most courteous that day. I didn't mean it, Anna, when I said you were a bother." Managing a small smile, she added, "It's the opposite, actually. I enjoy listening to you talk."

Her words melted the tension between them. Anna's face lit up at her honesty, "Do you really? I thought maybe… maybe you got annoyed at me for bothering you every time you were supposed to be working."

"God, no, Anna. If you spent ninety percent of your waking hours doing boring work and studying like me then you'd know how enjoyable your chatter is," Elsa smiled.

Suddenly her little sister was on her lap, arms around her neck, pulling her into a tight hug, burying her ginger head in the crook of Elsa's neck. Elsa didn't comment about how similar this feeling was to last night's when she was helping Anna back to her room. As she wrapped her arms around her little sister, memories of the kiss flooded back to her, and she hid her flushed face in the redhead's drying hair. She couldn't help but ask, "So do you remember anything about last night?"

"Like what?" Anna breathed, her breath tickling the skin of her neck.

Elsa almost shivered from the sensation, "Like after I brought you home."

"I remember throwing up."

"Before that?"

"What did I do? Oh, god, please tell me I didn't say something stupid again," Anna pulled back, her arms still around her sister's neck, looking nervous and apologetic.

"No! No! I accidentally slipped and you hit your head; so I was just wondering if you were okay," Elsa lied quickly.

"Oh. Well, I'm not feeling any dumber than usual, so I guess I'm okay," Anna beamed at her, hopping off to pick at the fruit on the table. She stared pleadingly at her sister.

"—What? Oh," Elsa smirked. "You want chocolate, don't you?"

Giving off her infamous puppy dog eyes, Anna nodded. Elsa shook her head teasingly, and rearranged the three plates of fruit. Underneath them was a Hershey's chocolate bar. Almost squealing with delight, Anna grabbed the bar and began ripping off the plastic, ready to stuff herself when Elsa stopped her.

"Nuh-uh. You're going to take these pills first before you eat that chocolate."

"What are these for?"

"They're vitamin supplements; they'll help you get over your hangover."

"Oh… when did you suddenly become the expert on hangovers?" Anna teased as she swallowed the pills with a swig of water.

"I Googled it," Elsa said matter-of-factly, which caused Anna to almost spit out her water.

The thought of Elsa Googling anything was hilarious; the blonde was a walking encyclopedia herself. Anna was almost on the ground with laughter before her sister's indignant stare brought her back down to earth.

"Wait, are you not angry that I went out and got drunk?"

Elsa looked thoughtful. "Well, that was very irresponsible of you… but Mother's not here and you rarely get to have fun. Just don't do it again. You're not going to touch alcohol again until you're nineteen."

"Ugh, I've had enough alcohol to last me a lifetime. Oh! I almost forgot!" Anna dug her hands into her pockets and fished out a cell phone charm. Two, actually. "Happy birthday and Merry early Christmas!" Anna always gave Elsa her birthday presents in conjunction with her Christmas presents, because the two dates were so close together.

Elsa eyed the two charms suspiciously, "Why exactly am I getting baby Scar and baby Mufasa?"

"You're getting baby Mufasa, and I'm getting baby Scar," Anna corrected, grabbing Elsa's phone and fixing the little Mufasa on it, and then putting Scar on her own. "I had these custom made. You should have seen how hard the lady at the store judged me. Anyway, it's a memento for the day I got my sister back! And also because I happen to think baby Scar loves baby Mufasa."

Elsa shook her head again and tried to bite back a smile. "Okay, but I swear, Anna, if one day you fling me from a cliff…"

"Come on! I remember we have a whole library of new movies that we haven't even touched yet!"

The two girls spent all of Christmas Eve and Christmas enjoying each other's company, watching movies, and causing mischief around the house.

They were starting a new movie, when Elsa remembered that she had a present to give Anna.

"Here," she said, handing her sister a pink box.

"What's this?" Anna said curiously.

"Merry Christmas. Open it."

Cracking open the small box, Anna found a crystal snowman with an oblong head, almost square torso, and round rectangular bottom, shining back at her. He was smiling at her, his bucktoothed grin just as goofy as she remembered, the buttons on his torso and his stick arms a shiny onyx. Her sister had given her Olaf! Laughing to herself, she said, "Oh, I love it! Thank you, Elsa!"

"I built you a snowman to make up for all the times I said no. And every time you're lonely, just look at this," Elsa smiled. Because I won't be seeing you as often next year.

"Why would I be lonely? Because you're graduating early? We'll still see each other, right?"

"I… I think Mother wants me to go to Oxford for college," she admitted. Maybe it's good to get some distance between us. Since... I seem to be having issues with certain feelings.

"What!" Anna sputtered, "But that's so far! Can't you stay here?"

Elsa gave her a tight smile, "Well, they haven't sent out acceptance letters yet, so, you never know…"

But they both knew.

When Elsa received her acceptance to Oxford, it came as no surprise. After it was confirmed that was where she was going next year, she and Anna spent every possible moment together, to cherish what little time they had left together.

Little did they know, they would not see each other again for three years.