Her anger dissipating, Elsa froze, unsure of how to respond. She was suddenly hyper-aware of the large audience in the bleachers still watching the violence on the soccer field with interest, and a small paranoid voice from the back of her mind was warning her that any show of affection may be misconstrued as more than sisterly.

A sideway glance caught the burning eyes of Ariel, whose determined gaze instantly evaporated her hesitation: You're her big sister. Act like it.

She twisted in Anna's tight embrace so that she could hug the younger girl to her chest, the contact melting away the rest of her doubt. She took in the nostalgic scent of summer and fresh-cut grass in Anna's copper locks and relished the pleasant feeling of being whole again, home again, as her sister firmly buried herself in the crook of her neck. She brought one hand to rub gentle circles on Anna's back.

"Of course I came," Elsa murmured, "Silly girl. I'm still your sister. Are you okay?"

She felt Anna nod against her shoulder.

By now the coaches of each team had started to break up the screaming girls on the field, and Elsa pulled back slightly, dabbing at Anna's teary eyes with the edge of her sleeve. "Now, are you ready to make the other team wish they never messed with us?" She whispered.

Anna gave her a watery smile and nodded fervently.

"Well, well, Elsa Arendelle," Anna's coach approached them, "it's been a while. Can't say I expected the next time I'd see you to be under such strange circumstances."

"I was provoked, Coach Madison," Elsa replied placidly, loosening her hold on Anna.

The female soccer instructor eyed them carefully and nodded, "I do agree, however, violence is never the answer. Well, these things happen all the time, and no one was really hurt. Excuse me while I talk with my contemporaries." She then went to meet with the referee and the coach of the other team. After a brief discussion, she motioned for the players to get back into their positions, and for Anna to get back to the net.

Anna cast Elsa a frantic glance, and the blonde returned it with a reassuring smile. "I'll stay till the end," Elsa promised, giving the redhead's hand a tentative squeeze.

She joined Ariel on the edge of the field.

"So," Ariel began, as the game picked up again. "What's going on?"

Elsa kept her attention trained on the grass, eyes absentmindedly following the ball. "Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Language," Elsa muttered. "We're at a high school, and there are teachers."

"Don't try to change the subject," retorted Ariel. "I hope you're not under the impression that I'm going to let you crawl back to wherever you were hiding these past five days."

A proud smile tugged at Elsa's lips as she watched Anna expertly block an attempted shot at the goal. "I'm allowed to hope."

"Well, you're not going anywhere until you explain yourself."

"There's nothing to explain, Ariel," Elsa bit her lip, forcing out her next words, "I don't feel that way about Anna."

"Bullshit."

Their conversation paused as the crowd roared. Arendelle High had scored a goal against the opposing team, reducing the gap between the points.

"If you didn't feel that way about Anna, you would be looking at me when you talk," goaded Ariel when the game resumed. "Afraid you can't lie with your eyes?"

"Maybe I just want to watch this game."

"You don't even know the rules to this game."

Elsa still didn't meet Ariel's gaze. "Ariel, I don't want to talk about it."

"So you admit there's a problem."

A sigh. "Yes."

"Not talking about it only makes it worse, you know."

Elsa couldn't respond to that.

"Look, you two really love each other. You're going to have to discuss whatever problem you have with her."

"I'll die before I let that happen."

"Elsa, you're being melodramatic. There isn't a problem you two can't solve together."

This time Elsa turned her head, eyes a frozen cyan, to meet her friend's glare. "Yes, Ariel, there is." Her attention snapped back to the game as the crowd cheered at another goal for the home team. She smiled at Anna, who gave her a triumphant grin in return.

Ariel ignored the chilling despair that she caught in Elsa's eyes. "You see how happy you make her just by being here? I'm not going to just sit and watch as you wrench that happiness away from under her again."

Elsa winced at the implications of the word 'again'. After a brief pause, she allowed, "Thank you for being there for her."

"She's my friend, too. Which is why I hate seeing you hurt her. And, by the way, I know hurting her hurts you, too, so why don't you wise up and stop it."

Elsa chuckled humourlessly. "Anna always gets hurt around me. That's precisely why I'm no good for her. Why I should stay away. Why I should have stayed away. There are a thousand more reasons I should keep staying away."

"But you came. Why?"

Elsa shook her head slowly. "I couldn't not come."

"Was coming worth it?"

Elsa shut her eyes. "Yes," she relented.

"So where does that leave us?"

"I don't know," Elsa admitted with another defeated sigh. She didn't have the willpower to stay away and there was no way in hell she was about to tell Anna about their father. One of these was going to have to change, and Elsa wanted to make damn well sure that it wasn't the latter. But her heart was with Anna, as it always has been, and it was getting more and more difficult to resist the magnetic gravitation.

The conversation fell silent, drowned out by the cheers of victory from the crowd as the gap between the two scores lessened. It was obvious that the opposing team was growing more and more frustrated, since the Arendelle High goalie was now dexterously catching every shot aimed at the net. The scores seemed to be tied now, Elsa noted with another small smile at Anna.

"Remember that time my dad forced me to take that godforsaken engineering course?"

"Yes…" Elsa replied slowly, not knowing where Ariel was going with this.

"You sacrificed your elective time slot to take that boring course with me, and your being there made it so much more interesting," Ariel continued, her voice suspiciously soft. When Elsa only gave her a confused stare, Ariel made an exasperated noise, "My point is, you taught me that sharing something, no matter how boring, or painful, or sad, with someone else makes it all a thousand times better. You said yourself that Anna makes everything better. Why won't you let her make this better?"

Elsa's hands were balled up into fists at her side. She managed to bite out, "Her knowing would only make it worse."

"You don't know that, 'cause you won't tell her."

Elsa's phone rang then, and she sent a silent prayer of thanks to whoever it was, for saving her from having to continue this difficult conversation. Ariel grumbled irritably under her breath as Elsa answered, "Yes?"

It was Mark. "Ms. Elsa, several of the department heads have reported your sudden departure to the President, and she is furious. She demands that you return to the office this instant."

Elsa grimaced and instantly retracted her gratitude. She had promised Anna. "Just tell them to finish the conference without me, and make a transcript of it. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Ms. Elsa—"

She ended the call before he could finish his sentence. Apprehension unfurled in her gut as she imagined the consequences that would befall her upon her return, but she pushed those thoughts away for now. She promised she would stay.

Ariel was still watching Elsa. She could tell that her attempts at persuading the truth out of Elsa were only ending up in circles. "You weren't planning to come, were you?" She deduced insightfully.

"To be honest, no. I wanted to take advantage of your absence and catch up on the discussions I'd missed," Elsa confessed warily.

"You wouldn't have missed those meetings if you actually acted like an adult and talked to us."

"Yes, I am aware that everything is my fault," the blonde replied stiffly.

Ariel sighed. "Elsa, you know that's not what I meant."

The blowing of the whistle that signaled the end of the game interrupted their conversation. Elsa looked up to see that Arendelle High had managed to win the game by one point, despite being despairingly behind almost the entire game.

Anna bounced over to them immediately after politely shaking hands with the disappointed opposing team, looking happy but tired, forehead glistening with sweat under the glaring rays of the sun. She pulled off her goalkeeper gloves and, without thinking, reached out to take Elsa's hand.

Electricity shot through Elsa at the contact, and she instinctively shied away from the touch, retreating a couple steps. Part of her ached to intertwine their fingers, and another part warned her not to lead her sister on. She folded her arms over her midsection and shot Anna an apologetic glance, trying not to register the hurt in her little sister's eyes. Trying being the operative word.

"Sorry, Elsa, I forgot that you…" Anna drifted off, as if completing the sentence would cement its reality. "Sorry."

"I have to go now, Anna," Elsa whispered, as if the low volume of the sentiment would alleviate the damage it would cause. She opened her mouth again to apologize, but the words lodged themselves in her throat and she found herself almost choking with guilt.

"Will you come home tonight?" The voice was small, tentative, carried more by the wind than the way it was spoken.

Elsa hated it. She would much rather hear the beautiful silvery voice raised in lighthearted laughter, the way she was so used to hearing it, and suddenly she felt an overwhelming need to embrace its owner, to fiercely contradict what Anna was apologizing for, to reassure the girl that yes, Elsa loved her. So much.

Instead, she retreated further, and could only give a nod as consolation before leaving, keeping her gaze fixed on Ariel's dissatisfied frown, instead of the alternative.

"Thanks for coming."

Elsa fought to keep from trembling as every molecule of her body protested her departure.

Anna didn't know how long she had been staring at the ground until she felt a tug on the hem of her shirt. She looked over at Ariel, who was peering up at her with concerned eyes.

"I talked to her," Ariel whispered. "She's admitted there's a problem. Baby steps."

Anna's eyes widened in alarm. "Do you think it's because I—" she took note of their surroundings, "—because I feel that way about her?"

Ariel shook her head, "No, I don't. I don't think this has to do with that at all. Whatever this is, she's not telling you because she loves you. From how I see it, I think she feels like if she told you, I don't know, it would, like, kill you," she finished, with a jab at attempted humour.

Rapunzel, who had raced excitedly from the bleachers to congratulate Anna, interrupted them. "Anna, great game! I mean, you were a little rusty in the beginning, but you totally made up for it at the end! You were right! Elsa did come! Anyway, amazing comeback!" She grasped Anna's hands tightly, genuinely elated for her friend's success.

Anna smiled back, albeit tightly. "Thanks, Punzey." She perked up a little, dwelling on Rapunzel's words. "Of course Elsa came! She's my sister! She would never let me down."

The brunette grinned back at her. "We should celebrate! Anyone up for pizza?"

Before Anna could decline, Ariel chimed in, "Oh, oh, yes! I'm starving! Let's do it!"

Rapunzel beamed at them both, "I'll get Aurora and the others! Meet you guys at the school entrance?" She winked at Ariel. She and the older girl had gotten to be quick friends with a common goal of Anna and Elsa's happiness.

Anna fished her Olaf necklace out of her pocket as she watched Rapunzel run back to the bleachers to gather her jubilant friends. Ariel watched as she fiddled with the clasp. When she couldn't get it on, the older girl gestured for her to kneel. "Here," Ariel murmured, and locked the silver necklace in place with an audible click.

"This is unacceptable. Do you know what the board of directors is saying about you? You've already brought doubt upon your judgement with your little stunt at the bar. Weren't you supposed to be proving to me your competence?" Alana Arendelle's frozen blue eyes were glaring icicles at her daughter, and suddenly Elsa understood how her mother could have gained so much respect and commanded so much control during her years as Executive Chairman of the Board.

Ironically, this is the most emotion she'd seen on her mother's face ever since the day Anna fell through the ice. She almost entertained the urge to laugh.

Her pseudo-amusement was swiftly slaughtered by her mother's next words. "Is Anna the cause of your erratic behaviour this past week?"

Elsa was still trying to find a plausible explanation for her absence that didn't involve Anna when Alana spoke again. "Do I need to remove her, Elsa? Since obviously you cannot control yourself when she is involved."

Elsa flinched. "Anna has nothing to do with this," she almost snarled.

"No? Then whose soccer game did you just return from?"

She struggled to keep from gasping. So her mother had her followed. She cursed her carelessness again.

"I have tolerated this for long enough," Alana announced, icy voice slicing through the stagnant air of the office. "She is an undeniable liability to you. You need to change that, or I will."

"Tolerated?" Elsa echoed incredulously. "You think my fulfillment of my responsibilities as Anna's older sister is unnecessary?" She spat the word out, like it was poison on her tongue.

"Yes. You have done nothing to show me otherwise. You constantly choose her over the company. You allow her to run rampant with her stubbornness and childish tendencies. Your father must have told you, you need to be mindful of her."

"Did you tell Father that his 'interaction' with Anna was unnecessary, too?" She retorted furiously. "I seem to recall him fulfilling fatherly responsibilities with Anna whenever he was home."

Her mother's eyes narrowed bitterly. "He at least did not shirk his duties in order to do so. While I don't disapprove of your closeness with Anna, you must remember your actions have consequences. For both of you. Also, I expect you are already fully prepped on the guest list for the company's Anniversary Banquet? All the partners and sponsors will be there. I will not condone further humiliation. Do I make myself clear?"

The Anniversary Banquet. For the company's 100th anniversary. Elsa had completely forgotten about that. "Of course," she fibbed.

"That will be all," was her mother's noncommittal response.

Elsa retreated, lest her mother decide to make good on her threat on Anna sooner rather than later. She quickly found Mark, and demanded that he show her the guest list for tomorrow's banquet. He fetched her two thick binders, each complete with names, descriptions and pictures of the guests who were attending the party.

"Oh, yes, here, Ms. Elsa. I was going to show you after the conference, but…"

She waved him off. "It's fine, Mark. I will be able to familiarize myself with these by tomorrow night."

She flipped through the names and found, to her dismay, that Hans and his father were going to be in attendance. Ariel and President del Ray were invited as well. Apart from them, Elsa was not well acquainted with anyone else. Some faces she recognized, but only vaguely, from the parties she'd attended with her father as a child. She hadn't seen any of them since his death. She and Anna had stopped attending balls and high-class social gatherings since the anniversary of his death, grief being a reasonable enough justification of their absence.

However, the banquet that was to celebrate a century of their company's success was to be held at Arendelle Manor, so nonattendance was not a choice. She sighed and realized with a start that Anna was going to be there as well. No doubt her mother would be watching them and determining whether disciplinary action would be warranted. She hoped she could prove that her relationship with Anna would not affect her competence, to contradict her mother's impression that her closeness with her sister was disadvantageous to the company.

Anna was asleep on the doorstep, head resting lightly on the bare arms that were crossed over her knees. Elsa's chest immediately constricted at the notion that Anna had been waiting for her, because she promised she would return home tonight. She furiously cursed herself for letting her session with the guest list extend so far into the night. She stepped out of the car and allowed Alistair to drive it into the garage.

Elsa looked around carefully before approaching Anna before unbuttoning her trench coat and draping it about her sister's shoulders. It was almost midnight; and Anna was clothed in nothing more than a t-shirt and shorts, which spoke to Elsa about how long the girl had been waiting.

Good grief, but Anna's skin was freezing, and Elsa felt another wave of guilt at her late return. She knelt beside her sister and whispered, "Hey."

Anna stirred, unconsciously wrapping herself tighter in the warmth of Elsa's jacket, and lazily opened her eyes. "Oh, um, hi!" Her head snapped up as she took in her surroundings and she reddened as she recognized Elsa's coat around her. Somehow, though, she still managed a cheerful smile, "Um, uh, w-welcome home! Oh, uh, this is your jacket, aren't you cold? Welcome home, by the way! Wait, I already said that, silly me!"

God, Anna could be overwhelmingly adorable sometimes. Elsa couldn't help but smile as she stood up awkwardly and lightly nudged the sitting girl with her knee. "Let's get you inside before you freeze to death."

"S-so! Where's Mom? And I'm sorry if you got in trouble for coming to my game…" Anna began sheepishly as they crossed the threshold of the house, still keeping Elsa's jacket wound tightly around herself.

Elsa averted her gaze, focusing on the unlit chandelier of the grand foyer. She was grateful Anna's hands were occupied with her jacket, because it meant there wouldn't be any attempted contact, which both disappointed her and relieved her at the same time. "She's not home? And no, it's fine," she lied.

"Oh, that's good! Well, I don't think Mom came home. She would've woken me, right?" The younger girl replied, worry coating her voice. "I hope she's okay. You both work too hard."

Elsa wanted to growl at the notion that Anna was still concerned for their mother's wellbeing, while Alana, on the other hand, certainly expressed clearly that she couldn't care less. Rage spread even faster when she contemplated the scenario of their mother arriving home and not bothering to acknowledge Anna's sleeping form in the cold night.

She shook her head, an attempt to clear the murderous thoughts that were taking root. "I'm sure she can take care of herself," she muttered.

They ascended the stairs in an awkward silence.

"Oh! Um, the banquet's tomorrow right? Gerda told me about it! What are you gonna wear? I mean, you'll look gorgeous in anything, I was just wondering—not to be nosy or anything! Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" The redhead stammered nervously, breaking the silence.

Elsa tried not to scowl at her sister's forced cheerfulness and the implications of Anna's nervousness. Evidently the girl was still significantly affected by what had transpired almost a week ago, and Elsa fervently wished that they could go back to displaying unbridled affection like they had before. Pushing those thoughts aside, she cleared her throat. "Anna, you don't have to force yourself to sound happy when you talk to me." She studied the marble floor. "You don't have to hide how angry you are with me for my behaviour this week. You don't have to force yourself to even talk to me, if you don't want to."

"I'm not angry with you," Anna murmured, the liveliness in her voice dropping substantially. "I'm just frustrated."

"You have every right to be frustrated with me."

Anna quickly shook her head. "I'm not frustrated with you! I'm frustrated with me, for not being able to help you. You always try to suffer alone, Elsa. And it makes me feel so useless and helpless when you do. You're always there for me. I just wish you'd let me be there for you, too."

Elsa wanted very much to embrace Anna right now. To hold her and reassure her that she was irrevocably not useless nor helpless. To confess exactly how much encouragement and relief Anna's smile was worth to her. To wipe away the confusion and uncertainty on her sister's radiant features.

To erase the self-loathing that she knew the younger girl was battling.

Instead, Elsa opened the door to her room, the secrets she'd kept hidden from Anna lodged painfully in her throat, and shut it behind her, listening to the lonely footsteps that echoed away down the hall, each one opening a new tear on her heart.

A/N: Don't worry, this story will have a happy ending. I swear upon my honour.

Thank you for reading thus far! I would give all of you warm hugs for the pain and suffering you've endured.