"Oh, yes! Oh, Elsa! Elsa… Elsa?!"
A foot collided with Elsa's chin and she jolted upwards too fast, forgetting where she was and smashing the top of her head hard against the underside of the table, knocking her abruptly back to the real world. Biting her lip and cursing under her breath, Elsa rubbed her head and glanced up to meet Anna's puzzled face peeking down at her.
Elsa had been so quiet and under for so long that Anna had thought her sister must have fallen asleep. Then a strong, chilly breeze came from underneath the table, causing her to shiver. Moving in her seat to investigate what was keeping Elsa, Anna shifted her legs a bit and her foot collided with a soft mass, which turned out to be her sister. Realizing this, Anna ducked her head under the tablecloth and started to apologize for hitting her, but she noticed right before Elsa's startled and confused expression showed up how she seemed to be staring blissfully off into space.
"What's taking you so long down there? Are you lost?" Anna asked, semi-seriously.
Disgusted with herself, Elsa scrubbed the drool from her mouth using the back of her hand and hastily crawled out from under the table, mumbling incoherently as she stumbled to her seat.
Anna noted her empty hands. "No fork?"
Elsa shook her head and trained her eyes on her plate, not trusting herself to look at her sister with her mind astray with peculiar thoughts. She kept her gaze down and watched as her steak and eggs became hard as rocks as frost swiftly engulfed them.
"Shall we ring for a new one?" Anna asked, her hand hovering over the polished brass bell beside her plate, ready to alert a servant for assistance.
Pushing aside her plate of food that was now inedible after having been frozen over completely, Elsa grunted out, "No. That won't be necessary." She cleared her dry throat. "Uh… would you excuse me? I have to… use the bathroom."
"Oh, sure." The two words barely left Anna's mouth before Elsa dashed out of the dining room quick as a lightning bolt. "Oookay then." Clearly it was a dire emergency if Elsa was in such a rush. The princess speared her fork into a piece of egg and considered how embarrassing it would be if the queen soiled herself.
Yeesh! Anna grimaced sympathetically and sincerely hoped Elsa made it to a bathroom in time.
While Elsa was gone, Anna finished her breakfast, cleaning every last remaining crumb off of her plate. She was still surprisingly hungry and figured all the excitement from last night made her work up a huge appetite. Stealing a glance at Elsa's plate, intending to sneak away a sliver of her steak, she was bewildered to find her sister's food was all iced up. "Weird." The room had grown chilly more than once but she didn't think the cold was extreme enough to freeze anything.
The real question was, why did it get cold in the first place? Elsa had gotten so good at controlling her powers, at least as far as Anna could tell. Something must have upset her pretty badly for it to slip out unchecked. Anna wondered if it had anything to do with her accidentally saying sex. Elsa's initial reaction at the careless slip-up certainly appeared like it upset her tremendously. Or maybe she was overthinking it and Elsa was simply uncomfortable because she had a severely bad case of gas. It would explain a lot.
But the more Anna really thought about it, the more she realized Elsa hadn't looked uncomfortable or upset. Elsa had looked down right terrified. And really, what respectable queen wouldn't be terrified of passing gas in front of others, even if it was only in front of family? That has to be it, Anna convinced herself. There was no other conceivable reason that Anna could think of that would cause her sister to react so coldly.
Satisfied that she figured out her sister, Anna rang for a servant and had him clear the table. "And could you bring out some chocolate? Or better yet, if you so happen to have any krumkake available…?" Eyes hopeful, she batted her eyelashes and clasped her hands together as if praying to the dessert gods above to grant her the pleasure of tasting the deliciousness she craved. Her mouth watered when she thought about biting into the cookie's waffle exterior and tasting the sweet filling hidden inside that would flood into her mouth.
"I'm sorry, Princess Anna, but… there's no krumkake available at this time. I can bring you some chocolates, however," the servant said. Truthfully he wasn't sure if there was any krumkake in the kitchen. He was told by the kitchen hands not to mention the word around the princess after she almost destroyed the kitchen one day in her search for the dessert. If any did exist inside the castle, it was sure to be locked up tightly.
Disappointed, Anna nodded and the servant exited the dining room. It wasn't long before he returned with a platter stacked high with an assorted arrangement of chocolates. There were big ones, small ones, dark, light and white ones, nutty ones and those without nuts. Anna plucked one off before he could set it on the table and tossed it into her awaiting mouth. Mm. Hazelnut. She smiled her thanks and he bowed and left.
The mountain of chocolate was considerably lower by the time Elsa returned minutes later. She apologized profusely for her abrupt departure.
Anna shrugged indifferently. "When nature calls, what can you do?"
"Yes, well." Elsa avoided her eyes and busied a hand by grabbing a few chocolate morsels. "So…" She didn't know what to say, her mind a total blank.
"So…" Anna parroted, equally as lost. She remembered what they were talking about before Elsa lost her fork and returned the conversation back to it. "So you asked me about the sex— uh… SETS." She gritted her teeth and cursed herself for slipping again.
Elsa clenched her hand, crushing the chocolates so they became one messy brown glob in her palm. She must be losing her mind, imagining her little sister doing and saying all these naughty things. "The sets… right. Um… No. I meant the masquerade ball itself." She fumbled for a napkin and wiped her hand clean and casually asked, "Was it to your liking? Did you have a good time?"
"You have no idea." Anna smiled broadly and sighed happily. The smile trickled off her face quickly when she realized she would have to explain what she meant. Elsa's curious expression certainly was asking for her to elaborate. Anna didn't trust her mouth and mumbled vaguely, "It was more than I expected." She thrust a large piece of chocolate hurriedly into her mouth, buying herself some time. During the time it took to slowly chew and swallow she formed words in her head that wouldn't sound ridiculous. "I mean, I really loved it! I had so much fun. All the people and the outfits and the… the… beautiful sensations." Anna wished she had powers like Elsa at that moment because at least it would cool her flushed cheeks. "W-what about you?"
Elsa reached for her glass of orange juice, which miraculously hadn't become a giant ice cube from earlier. "Beautiful sensations, huh? That's a good way to put it," she said quietly, too low for Anna to hear. It was an odd choice of words for Anna to say though and she wondered what she meant by them, but she refrained from questioning further. She took a hearty drink from the glass and dabbed at her mouth with the clean side of her napkin and said out loud, "I don't think I've ever had as much fun before, that is, besides whenever I'm with you, of course. I want to thank you for coming to me with the idea, Anna." She teased, "It's the best one you've ever come up with."
"Nah, my best yet has to be building snowmen," Anna joked, winking.
The queen's heart fluttered. Why do you do this to me? Elsa smiled warmly at Anna and said seriously, "I love you." More than you will ever know and in ways you would never imagine, she thought. She raised the orange juice to her lips.
Anna struck a pose. Turning sideways, she balanced in her chair on her butt and raised one leg as high as her dress would allow. Coquettishly she said, waggling her eyebrows, "But of course, what's not to love?" Okay, I did not intend for it to come out quite like that, she thought, wincing internally.
Elsa was in the process of drinking her juice when Anna made her move, the action causing her to suck in air at the same time the juice entered her throat, which resulted in the liquid going down the wrong tube. Face crimson, what orange juice remained in her mouth propelled forcefully outward and splattered everywhere as Elsa choked and hacked uncontrollably. More juice spilled across the table as her hand knocked over her glass on its way to grabbing her throat.
Terror overcame Anna. Oh my gosh, I'm killing her! she panicked. Frantically, she jumped to her feet to assist her sister. Her foot caught on the edge of her dress as she took a step and moved forward. The trapped foot versus her momentum forward caused her upper body to pull downward and Anna tripped, arms spinning wildly as she tried to regain her balance, failed, and found herself kissing the floor for the second time in one day.
The sight of her sister sprawled on the floor in such a comical way intensified Elsa's coughing fit before it transformed fluidly into laughter. Her arms wrapped around her midsection and she doubled-over as the laughter rocked through her so hard that tears streamed down her face, squeezing out from her tightly shut lids.
Anna's ears perked up at the new, pleasant sound and she lifted her head to witness for herself the turn of events. Relief flooded through her knowing that her sister was no longer choking to death. But she couldn't rule out laughing herself to death just yet.
The sound of her sister's laughter was music to Anna's ears. Hearing her laugh out loud was a rare treat and Anna basked in its beauty and pure sweetness. Normally when Elsa laughed she'd cover her mouth with her hand to control the volume and muffle the sound, embarrassed by her loudness. Anna hated when she did that and always wanted to yank the offending hand away, to allow the sound to be free as it was meant to be. She wished she could capture the moment forever somehow so she could replay it repeatedly whenever she wanted to hear it. Anna would play it endlessly.
The queen tried to speak. "An-oh…. Ah.. aight?" Her stomach ached from laughing so uproariously. Eventually she managed to calm down enough to help her sister up from her pitiful position, effortlessly hauling Anna to her feet. Holding Anna's hands in her own, her wet eyes radiant and warm, Elsa smiled apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Anna. I didn't mean to laugh. Are you okay?"
Anna squeezed Elsa's hands and returned the smile. "I deserved it. I mean, I made you choke. And had the situation been reversed I probably would have laughed too," she admitted. "I'm fine." She used one hand to wipe the wet tear trails that traveled down her sister's face. That's when she noticed for the first time ever the light smatter of freckles along Elsa's cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She felt terrible for not noticing them before, though they were faint and not so in-your-face like her own were. But they were definitely cute. She followed the tear streaks down where they blended into the moistness of Elsa's luscious lips. Her eyes zeroed in on them as her thumb absentmindedly brushed against the corner of her lips.
That's odd, Anna thought, feeling a strange pang in her chest. Something about them were so… familiar.
Well, that was a ridiculous thought. Of course they were familiar. She saw them literally everyday! But… she'd never focused on them so intensely before and today they stuck out prominently all of a sudden, demanding her attention. Anna flicked her eyes higher to meet her sister's and was struck with the same sensation with that particular feature as well. She stared long and hard and saw an unmistakable fire growing in those eyes that she recognized without a doubt before Elsa blinked several times as if snapping out of a spell and turned her head away.
There was no question. Anna knew those eyes, she knew those lips.
"Oh…" The color drained from her face and her breakfast lurched in her stomach. The floor beneath her wavered and she gripped Elsa's arms tightly to prevent herself from falling.
Elsa instantly noticed how incredibly pale Anna had grown. "Anna?" she said concerned. "Is everything alright?"
Anna swallowed heavily. "Um…" Her hands were shaky and sweaty. She let go of her sister and wiped her hands on her dress, backing away to put some space between them.
Her sister stopped her from retreating as she gently cupped her chin and forced her to look at her. "You don't look well," Elsa commented, her blue eyes examining her intently.
Oh, dear. Anna laughed nervously under the scrutiny, feeling lightheaded. The room spun and her mouth opened as if to say something, but her legs gave out on her instead and she fainted.
"Anna!" Elsa moved fast, grabbing her around the waist and holding her close, preventing her from dropping like a sack of potatoes. She lowered her to the ground, cradling her in her arms. "Anna?" Panicking at her limp and unresponsive sister, she noticed the ribbon around her neck and thought maybe it was on too tightly and she'd accidentally asphyxiated herself. She hurriedly undid the ribbon and freed it from the princess's neck, unveiling the marks hidden beneath. Elsa barely gave them a second glance, her main concern on waking up her sister. "Anna!" She slapped the younger girl hard enough to bring her back to consciousness.
It took a moment before the princess was roused. She moaned softly and her eyes drifted open and closed briefly. In that split second, Anna figured out she was on the ground and wrapped in her sister's arms, but she couldn't figure out why. Peering out through her eye slits, Anna watched as Elsa leaned in closer, worry sketched all over her face. A cool hand rested on her forehead. "What did I do?" Anna mumbled absently.
"You scared me!" Elsa sighed with relief and kissed her forehead tenderly. She brushed a strand of hair off her sweaty face. "You passed out," she explained.
"Oh." Elsa was still very close. Anna tilted her head up, minimizing the distance between their faces even more. "Oh…" Close enough to…
Anna's hands came up and locked together behind Elsa's neck and pulled her head down to close the gap between them until their lips squashed together. Caught off guard, Elsa tensed and tried to break away, but she quickly forgot about escaping the deeper the kiss grew. Eyes closed, she enjoyed the moment wholeheartedly. The mouth moving against her own slipped in a tongue and sighed her name simultaneously, sending a tidal wave of warmth coursing through her body.
The feeling was short-lived as Elsa snapped her eyes open, remembering where she was, who she was with, what she was doing with her. And this time she was fairly positive it wasn't a crazy fantasy she was having but she couldn't be sure with the way her mind was acting lately. She jerked away, gasping, and abruptly pushed Anna off her.
Anna was shocked at herself for initiating the kiss, but it had felt like the right thing to do. And it was definitely worth it, until she was not so gently tossed off her sister's lap. Then she realized she probably shouldn't have done it and quickly covered it up by pretending she was still out of it from her fainting spell. She murmured Kristoff's name to make it seem as if she had thought she was kissing him. In reality, Kristoff was nothing more than a good friend to her, but Elsa didn't know that.
"Anna?" Elsa called tentatively, feeling guilty for pushing her away so roughly.
"Oh, Elsa?" Anna pretended to lazily stretch as if she just woke up from a long nap. "What is it? What happened?" she asked, feigning ignorance..
"Nothing," Elsa said quickly. "Come on. I think you had too much chocolate in one sitting and it's gotten to your head... Let's get you up and to your room so you can recuperate."
Anna didn't argue, though the last thing she wanted to do was go to her room and lay in bed when her mind was whirling with the knowledge of what had taken place between them. But she allowed herself to be led to her room by her sister, noticing Elsa took extra special care to avoid touching her the whole way there.