For disclaimers and warnings, please see part one.
xXxXx
There was something about the outdoors, Anna decided as she let Thor amble along beneath her, that always helped her find some peace of mind. The white stallion needed little guiding from her, and probably knew this particular trail better than his mistress at this point; she'd lost count of how many times he had carried her this way in total, but knew that this was the ninth time in the preceding, nine days that she'd set him to striding along this narrow path through the forest to the fjord.
Here, where the trees had long since closed behind her and cut off any view of even the outskirts of the city, it was as if a subtle weight was lifted off of her shoulders, and she watched the interspersed, leaf- and needle trees cast cooling shadows over her bare arms and Thor's pale shoulders in the warm sunlight. It was a brief respite from the responsibilities of castle life, a minor, guilty pleasure of hers, and one she'd first started indulging in almost ten years ago. Then, however, she had admittedly been sneaking out – no mean feat when one was a well-known face and on horseback on top of that – but now, she left alone with the full knowledge of the castle guard, primarily thanks to her skill with the bow slung across her back.
Privacy hadn't been the reason she'd first taken up archery after her separation from her sister, but it was a side-effect she was glad to have, all the same. Even if she felt a little bad about not having invited her along for over a week.
"What do you think?" she asked of Thor, and watched his ears flick towards her voice as he ambled evenly along and she ducked her head to clear a low, leafy branch. "I mean, she probably would've liked to have been asked, even if she isn't free right now, right?"
The horse snorted, and a chittering blackbird swooped across the path.
"Right." Anna sighed into the warm air and folded her arms across her chest; reins laying forgotten around the saddle horn as she watched the slowly yellowing leaves contrast against the blue sky. "I'm sorry, buddy; I guess you would've liked Heimdahl's company too, huh? Maybe tomorrow."
It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with her sister; in fact, the problem was almost the complete opposite. The innocent comment from Marquis Orvik had set her head to spinning, and Anna had found herself thoroughly unable to get the notion out of her head and wondered constantly ever since. Did she and Elsa really look like a couple to an outside observer? Were their interactions truly that easy? Should they be? And since she was fretting so much over it herself that there presumably had to be one, what was the underlying cause of her own distraction?
Did she feel something for Elsa that went beyond the deep, but platonic love of a family member? Or, for a first step, was she attracted to her?
As it turned out, that had been a simple enough question with no easy answer. Anna was fully capable of seeing that the queen was attractive – of that there could be little doubt – but she admittedly had a far harder time figuring out if she herself was susceptible. Her relationship with her sister wasn't something she could compare to anything else, but then again, without any other siblings, it was hard to find a point of reference to say whether or not anything was truly out of the ordinary. The way she and Elsa acted with each other was... well, just that. To her – them, presumably – it was easy. It was right.
And that would have been that, if the sudden thought of what it would be like to kiss her hadn't been on her mind so much lately.
Solitary rides, however, had been little help in figuring anything out, Anna privately admitted as the forest parted before her and Thor crossed out onto a small, grassy meadow that bordered the fjord. She had spent hours here with the white stallion and the natural wilderness as her only company over the past week or so; having learned long ago that if she found herself stuck on a particular problem, nothing let her mind relax enough to find an answer quite like the peace of the outdoors. So she'd moved around her schedule and started taking her daily rides in the afternoons instead – just before dinner, when Elsa was usually busy wrapping up her own tasks and for that reason would be unable to come along even if she was asked.
And she felt bad about it, she admitted as she slid off of Thor's back with practiced ease. She really did, but if she wanted to be able to think about this, she needed to do so alone. It would have been too easy to forget the entire point of coming out here if her sister had been with her, because Anna enjoyed her company enough that she seemed to forget anything else when she had it, and would probably then have spent all those hours just goofing off with Elsa, talking and laughing about anything and nothing because it was so easy to, now that their relationship was truly on the mend after all these years.
It was a fine bit of irony, she decided as she led her horse to the small stream that cut through the meadow and let him drink, that everything here reminded her of Elsa somehow; from the blue sky (her eyes) to the pine trees (her scent) to the thin band of pale sand by the fjord's edge (her skin). Lately, even the paler examples of the yellowing leaves brought to mind the unusual shade of her sister's hair, and she still wasn't sure if all those reminders had been a help or a hindrance, just that here, she'd found no answers, and so had turned to her second option of kicking her brain into gear: thinking about something else entirely. And that had worked, though not in the way she'd anticipated.
"Did you have fun yesterday?" she questioned Thor, who eyed her in the surface of the clear stream and sent a circular ripple spreading across the water when he snorted. "Yeah, me too." She cast an arm over his broad shoulders, and leaned on him. "It was too long of a break, huh? I'm sorry, boy; I'll do better at that from now on."
The stallion snorted again, but this time raised his head enough to do so at her chest.
"Yow!" Anna jumped at the spray of water from his dark muzzle, and shoved his head away. "Cut that out, y'pile of trouble – that's cold!" The head came back to butt her in the chest this time, and she rolled her eyes and scratched the underside of his chin. "Yeah, it's okay." He lipped at the collar of her shirt, and she chuckled. "I love you too."
Leaving Thor to his drink, she crossed over to a wide, leafy birch and sat down beneath it with her head tilted back and her pants-clad legs folded beneath her. The previous day had been fun, and she hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said that it had been too long since she'd put both her horse and herself through their paces in that way. She did usually go through that manner of training with him every other day, but had elected to use the extended rides over the past while instead, and so had ended up giving both of them a longer session the day before that now had her body aching mildly, and made her feel a little sleepy even after a good night's rest.
Anna closed her eyes, and let the sun warm her. It had been nice to get back to her training, even if it was only after a short break; nice to feel the familiar motions of Thor's legs thundering at the ground underneath them in short, rapid bursts of speed that set her heart to racing faster than normal, and to have the bow back in her hands for an extended period of time. Elsa's willingness to help had been nice, too, and Anna felt her breathing deepen as she remembered the feeling of her sister's arms around her waist, and the way it had felt to have the queen's slender figure pressed against her own back; moving with her.
It had been a darn good thing that she was already flushed from exertion at the time, because her body had definitely reacted to Elsa's nearness. Why, though, after spending so long sleeping in her bed every night, was this only happening now? Maybe because she hadn't really considered the possibility of anything else before? Because she'd grown accustomed to having her sister near when she was tired, but not when already a little worked up from the exercise? Because the new ingredient yesterday had been the clear, very much up-close sensation of decidedly womanly hips cradling her when she'd set Thor to a canter, pushing ever so gently into her own every time they'd-
"Whoa, okay." Anna took a deep breath, and purposely turned her mind to other things. "Better back off that thought for a while." A shadow fell over her face, and she cracked an eye open to see Thor peering at her from close by; water dripping from his muzzle and a definite look in his warm, brown eyes.
"Don't you dare," she told him, and squeezed her eyes shut when she promptly got a spray of icy water to the face. The sensation was one of a pleasant cooling this time, though, and she sighed a few drops away from her lips before regarding her horse, who – the brat – looked as if he would've smirked if he could. "Yeah, I guess I needed that," she told him wryly, and wiped a hand over her face. "Thanks."
The stallion snorted, and nosed her hair affectionately.
"What do I do, Thor?" she wondered, only halfway to herself when she felt his warm breath on her face and brought up a hand to rub his chin. "I'm not gonna risk us over this if it's just a passing thing - that'd be stupid, right?" A soft muzzle brushed her cheek, and she smiled at the low, rumbling whicker. "Right. 'Sides, I don't even know if she feels the same, y'know?" She dug a bit of carrot from a small pack at her waist, and offered it up. "It's not exactly the most average thing to do."
Thor ignored the treat, and instead lipped at the thigh of her pants before taking a step back.
"Get up?" Anna questioned, and watched him toss his head. "Okay?" She rose, and set the carrot-bit back into her waistpack before stepping over to him. "What's up, boy? It's not that late is i- oh." The stately head had come over her shoulder, and she could feel the faint tugs of motion as Thor nipped at her hair and the back of her shirt, exactly like he would when Anna hugged him. It was an unlooked for, readily offered bit of oddly human sympathy that made her want to laugh and cry at the same time, because she hadn't realized how much she'd needed that until now. Still, she wrapped her arms around his broad neck and closed her eyes against the sudden sting of tears; resting her cheek against the warm, slightly coarse fur as she breathed.
"It's kinda scary," she told him then, and heard the hoarse note in her own voice. "If I mess this up, I could lose her... and I don't exactly have the greatest track record in not messing up." A soft ear flickered against the top of her head. "And it's- I don't want to risk what we've got over just an attraction, so I gotta figure out if it's... more than that." She swallowed. "And if she could even return it." Pause, and a long, slow exhale. "God, I wish I knew what I was doing, but at least I found that book, right?"
A soft whicker from Thor, and a gentle nuzzle of her shoulder.
"Right." Anna pulled back, and rubbed the front of his head. "And if that doesn't tell me anything, the library is huge. There's gotta be something in there that'll help." Her lips twitched into a smile. "I just have to remember to keep it from Elsa – at least for now." Mainly because her sister would ask questions that Anna wasn't sure she had answers to; if the debacle earlier in the summer had shown her anything, it was that when it came to romantic love, she didn't really have a clue, and she wasn't about to risk her rebuilt relationship with Elsa for anything less than that. She had no doubt that she loved her sister – she even knew that it was true love – but was she (or could she fall) in love with her?
This time, Thor took the bit of carrot and crunched it contentedly while Anna turned her gaze to the sky and noticed the position of the sun with a faint grimace. It had gotten a little later than she'd planned to stay out, apparently.
"Okay." She patted his neck, and swung herself back into the saddle smoothly. "We're gonna have to hurry if we wanna be back for dinner. You up for a run?" The cross snort and impatiently stomping hoof made her grin, and she tied the reins loosely around the saddle horn to keep them out of both her own and his way - they were only there because the guards would have a collective fit if they saw her leave the city with anything less than her full gear, anyway. "Well, excuse me, mister. Let's go."
Then the meadow was abandoned once more, and the sound of hoofbeats whisked away on the breeze.
xXxXx
What You Can't See
Love and physical attraction in humanity
Dedication
Sadly, dear reader, the publisher refused to release this book under its original title of The Romansexual Habits of Homo Erectus. They say it was due to the wrong, Latin name for our species; I say they're wrung-out old squeeze-buttocks with no sense of humor. (If this print is riddled with errors, you now know why.)
Thus:
Dedicated to all those whose rear ends are so pinched and dried up that they excrete clouds of dust - may your water closets be exceptionally well-ventilated for the sakes of your families.
("Oh, heavens! Papa had another bowel movement!")
- Johanna Norheim
xXxXx
Who, Anna wondered as she entered the private dining room in the morning light, thought up the cockamamie idea of an eight-foot table for two people? She was quite certain that her sister had something to do with it since it was a fairly recent change from a much smaller table, and had only shown up a scant few months back; shortly after the thaw. It was a nice enough table; stained, polished oak and obviously well-made, but it was massive.
She came to a halt behind her own seat, and drummed her fingers against its high back while glancing towards the other end of the table, where her sister was peacefully ingesting a cup of tea. For now, there were no servants and no food, though there probably would be soon.
Anna sniffed and took a step to the side, then grabbed her chair's armrest, pulled and kept pulling. The screech of it dragging over the floor made the young queen start so abruptly that the cup at her lips jerked dangerously, and Anna squelched a grin at the sight of widened, clear blue eyes, and the pale fingers that suddenly dug into the table top.
"Good morning," she called over the noise; redundant as it was, since they'd already told each other that on waking.
Elsa's right eye twitched, and she kept silent until the screeching stopped before sending her a wry look. "Now it is, yes," she then retorted, and rubbed at her ear as she set her cup down. "Do we need lighter chairs in here?"
"Or we could just get a smaller table," Anna suggested, and seated herself. "What happened to the old one, anyway?"
Oddly, her sister's face fell at the question. It wasn't much – just a minute shift in her cheeks and the skin around her eyes – but she had grown much better at noticing the details where Elsa was concerned since the thaw, and so saw both that, and the faint dimming of her eyes.
"I couldn't sit at their table," was the eventual reply, and even though Elsa's voice was perfectly even, Anna could have kicked herself. "Do you not like this one? It was the nicest one the staff could find on short notice."
"It's alright," she promised, and fished for a way to bring the mood back up from where she'd inadvertently sent it. Then an idea struck her, and after a brief moment of hesitation, she covered her sister's hand with her own. "But we shouldn't be half a room apart, Elsa - we belong next to each other." Carefully – and very aware of the tingle trailing up her own arm - Anna lifted the hand she was clasping and set its palm upright before slipping her fingers between the queen's paler ones and closing them gently. "See? Perfect fit."
Slowly, cooler fingers curled, and Elsa had the sweetest smile on her face that she thought she'd ever seen. "I see, indeed," the older woman replied softly, and spent a few moments studying their clasped hands before raising her eyes again. "Do you think the chatelaine would mind terribly if I had her commission a new dining table, then? A smaller one?"
"Um..." Anna wracked her brain for a name to match the title provided, but was coming up sadly empty. "Well, I don't think so," she hedged. "She's... nice? And accommodating?"
"Anna." The voice was low and clearly amused. "You are the chatelaine, remember?"
Oh. "Ermph." She leaned her forehead against their intertwined fingers, and sighed. "You can't expect me to keep track of all my titles," she complained. "I've got forty of them!"
"Nonsense." The hand she held squeezed her own, and she glanced up past the seamless blend of tanned and pale skin to see her sister's lips quirk. "It's only thirty-two."
"Elsaaa..."
"And that's when you count your honors and decorations, which aren't truly the same thing," the older woman went on, undaunted. "In actual titles pertaining to physical locations or responsibilities, you really only have five."
Anna regarded her wryly. "And I suppose you know all of them off the top of your blonde head?"
"Of course." Elsa almost looked offended. "In practicality, you're the princess of Arendelle, the chatelaine of the royal castle and the head steward - or stewardess, perhaps - of the city of Arendelle. In more theoretical ways, you're a Coronan countess of Summerbird and a captain of the royal cavalry." Pause, and a smile that made those very blue eyes sparkle. "Don't gape, Anna. It's so unbecoming."
Instantly, Anna shut her mouth with a faint click of her teeth, and then pursed her lips. "Y'know, I've got half a mind t-"
"Half is right," the queen teased, and then jerked back with a laugh when a hand swiped at her nose. "Manners, Your Highness!" she exclaimed with a very put-upon, shocked air. "I happen to know that you weren't raised in a barn."
"I wasn't," Anna agreed, and released her sister's hand to point an accusing finger at her instead. "You, meanwhile, were apparently brought up in an alchemist's laboratory. They've clearly replaced your brain with a sponge, so you can hold all that information-" She held her breath. "-in that pretty head of yours."
"That's a charming notion," Elsa commented with a faint grimace; possibly to take attention away from the mild color rising to her cheeks. "Imagine what would happen if you squeezed my head – which, as I recall, you threatened to do several times when we were younger."
"Then you'd still be a fountain of knowledge," Anna quipped, and rested her chin on one hand. "Just in a more literal sense." She smiled at the chuckle, and then they both fell silent as the door to the kitchens opened and breakfast was quietly and efficiently brought in.
None of the servants, she noted, as much as blinked at the change in seating arrangements.
"Tea, Your Highness?"
"Please." Anna settled back in her chair to make room on the table, and gave the woman who'd approached her a smile. "The least bitter option."
"You always did have a sweet tooth," came the remark from the other, lone seat at the table, and she glanced over to see the faint tug at the corner of Elsa's mouth; her sister leaning back as well as a plate full of cold foods was set before her, presumably in deference to the warm weather.
There was a number of responses on the tip of her tongue immediately. Some were teasing (Says the queen of confectionery), some were openly flirtatious (Must be from spending so much time with you) and some were even outright suggestive (You'll have to provide something for me to nibble on, then). She knew, however, that except for a few, select people like herself, Elsa was a very private woman by either nature or nurture, and while the brief fluster she'd displayed the other night in the stables when Anna had found the guts to attempt a flirt (and had Elsa recognized it as that?) had been beyond cute, it had also passed easily because they'd been alone. Attempting anything similar in the company of others, meanwhile, could potentially embarrass the queen so much that it would take days for her to be comfortable again.
Elsa's comfort around people in general was something Anna had every intention of helping her work on – potentially romantic feelings or no. But now wasn't the time.
"It seems to run in the family," was therefore all she said, with a smile of her own and a quirked eyebrow, which she then turned into a nod of her head when first a plate of food and then a cup of gently steaming tea was placed in front of her. "Thank you, Malene."
"Princess." The girl curtsied.
"Everything looks lovely, ladies," Elsa offered, and inclined her head as the small handful of servants turned to her. "Please leave the tea behind."
"That's new," Anna commented when the door had closed and they were alone again. Those blue eyes were settled on her in warm affection, she realized when she looked over, and she decided to focus on her breakfast to help stave off the blush that was crawling up her neck. "You, um... usually let them stay."
A pleasantly cool hand had reached out to curve gently around her own, and the choice between clasping that or her knife was hardly a difficult one, so she let their fingers twine again.
"I told you," Elsa said, with her voice a little quieter than normal and the light brush of soft fingers over her skin. "I prefer to have you all to myself."
And all Anna could do was was flush hotly and aim the stupidest, incredulous little smile at her own plate while her heart beat an unsteady rhythm against her ribs.
xXxXx
Introduction
Now, whom might you be? You see, I anticipate that given its focus, this book will be studied only by a small variety of people, and if I manage to find the group to which you, dear reader, belong, then I would count myself very clever indeed (and finding ways in which to do so is rather a vice of mine, to be frank). For that reason, do bear with me as I supply you with a short...
List of those who might open this book:
- Scholars (Much respect, but do make sure to get some sun once in a while)
- Conservatives looking for something to snort at (I recommend starting at chapter four)
- Outraged individuals (See above, but perhaps also examine chapter twelve; particularly the section on lubrication, as you've presumably got something stuck there)
- New lovers (Congratulations, and always remember to talk to each other)
- Inexperienced people (Including children – this should be especially interesting and possibly embarrassing for you)
As I added no advice in particular for the last option, please permit me to do so here. I do not ask that you – if you snuck this from a parent's bookshelf – put it back or any other such nonsense; why deny information to those who seek it? Anyone with an interest in love and what it entails should be mature enough to at least read about it, though do mind that you aren't caught if such a thing would lead to unfortunate consequences for you.
One thing I will be repeating many a time throughout out this book is as follows: Always take the time to talk to your partner. This goes for sexual ones, of course, but doubly so for romantic ones. Literary sacrilege though this may be: Romeo and Juliet could have potentially have had a long, happy life together if they'd found a way to have a simple conversation instead of wasting their time on duels and suicides.
Talking about even the worst of potentially embarrassing things is infinitely better than drinking poison, hm? No? Then, my dear, you probably aren't in love (or very well-acquainted with your libido), but have fun with chapter four and onwards, all the same.
xXxXx
Anna was being very, very quiet. Not because she was hunting – that wasn't a practice she found any enjoyment in, though she'd learned on the off chance that she'd need the skill - but because Elsa was sleeping, and she'd learned by now that waking her wouldn't take much. Motion, for whatever reason, rarely seemed to bother her, but if she was sleeping particularly lightly, all Anna had to do was sigh and she'd be wide awake.
Instead of doing that, she was carefully measuring her breathing to be both steady and quiet as she pillowed her head on a slender shoulder and – in a mirror of their positioning when her sister was the one who'd had a bit of a day – had an arm and a leg slung over the queen's prone, peaceful form. Elsa's chest was rising and falling slowly as she slept, and Anna was having a rather hefty discussion with what she'd recently learned was called her libido, because of course she'd had to peek at chapter four ahead of time.
I should've taken a second bath, she determined a touch mournfully as she watched the moonlight play on the visible skin over Elsa's collarbones, and idly hoped that the additional heat she could feel in her own body wasn't bothering her sister. A cold one.
Chapter four had been... enlightening, to say the least. According to the author, it was the most basic introduction to physical love that she could provide, but it had been enough to set Anna's head to spinning all over again. Then there'd been references to images and diagrams at the back and oh God, she'd barely given the first page a glance before slamming the book closed with a blush so bright she'd wondered if the red glow had extended into the hall or library from below the door to her study. She'd known the essential mechanics of sex, of course – she spent a lot of time around horses, so it was kind of hard not to – but reading about it while wondering if that was maybe something she wanted with Elsa...
It definitely was; no doubting that at this point. And now she was laying pressed against her sister's side, immersed in her scent, loosely wrapped in her arms, in full view of those heartbreakingly long lashes, that perfect nose, those beautiful, proud cheekbones and those lips. She couldn't even close her eyes against the view, because that only brought up a combination of Elsa and the images, and that really didn't help matters any, as she knew to her cost.
Anna noticed where her own hand was wandering off to, and glared reproachfully at it as she moved it back and tried to figure out if she should be cursing herself or the book. She ended up settling on herself, and deliberately turned a sigh into a simple exhale when she felt the faint motion of Elsa turning her head.
Well, great. Now she was quite literally just a breath away, and her exhales were brushing over Anna's upper face like wisps of morning fog.
She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue to muffle the completely childish, frustrated whine that was forming in her throat, and scowled. Hard, because she was not going to act on this out of some base, animal desire and potentially destroy the relationship they'd worked so hard to rebuild just because her sister was the most enticing sight she'd ever seen with her hair mussed and her lips slightly parted and the top of her shift dipping a little low to show fair skin and the barest hint of cleavage and goddammit, libido, I said no!
A distraction was definitely required, if she wanted to get any kind of sleep.
"Elsa?"
"Hmm?" Sure enough, just a bare whisper was all it took, and now she was treated to halfway-open, sleepy blue eyes and the faintest curve of those lips in a smile. "Is the sky awake?"
Really, really not fair.
"Do- um..." Focus! "Do you wanna build a snowman?"
That surprised a short, sleep-hoarse laugh out of the older woman, and it was all she could do to stay where she was. "What?" Elsa's smile widened into a half-awake grin, and the arm around her shoulders flexed idly. "We haven't done that in thirteen years, remember?"
"Then it's about time," she insisted, because she had to do something to keep herself from just pouncing. "Don't make me jump on top of you to convince you; I'm a good deal heavier now."
Curiously, that made Elsa blush – or maybe it was just the shadows shifting as she turned onto her side, as if to prevent Anna from doing what she threatened to. "We both have a full day tomorrow," her sister reminded her.
"I know." Anna could feel the warmth from the skin on Elsa's waist under her hand, and forced herself to keep it still and concentrate on the conversation. "I'll be in the city most of the day for the festival preparation, and I'll probably be doing a lot of physical work, too." She focused on the clear, gemstone blue of those eyes, and felt her body settle enough for her to shape a smile. "So I'll be exhausted tomorrow night even without this, I know. But I can't sleep."
That, of course, was enough to let a concerned expression settle on the queen's face, and then Anna was trying to figure out if she should curse herself some more, because her sister had guided her onto her back and was now looming over her while gentle fingers brushed lingeringly over her forehead.
"You feel warmer than normal," Elsa noted, and was now cupping the back of her neck. "You aren't getting sick, are you?"
"Uh... no, no I don't think so." Somehow, she managed to keep her voice from cracking when the cool touch slid over the side of her throat. "I just..." Reason – find a reason! "... went riding without a cloak today. Probably just a mild sunburn."
"Perhaps." The queen was studying her, and Anna could feel herself starting to fall into those eyes just as they closed, and by the time she'd blinked herself, there was a hand cupping her jaw, the gentle press of lips to her forehead that caused a pleasant chill to spread over her skin, and the lightest brush of a warm body against her own as Elsa leaned over her on one elbow.
Did she even realize what she was doing to her, Anna wondered hazily, and steeled herself against the shiver that wanted to run its course. She desperately needed to get them out of this bed, and tried to think about... anything, really, other than the fact that it would take so very, very little effort to pull Elsa down just a tiny bit further.
"I do owe you an ice-skating lesson," her sister was then murmuring, and she had to beat down another shiver when she felt those lips brush against her forehead with every word.
I am a relatively mature, fairly reasonable adult human being, Anna told herself firmly. I am not a slave to my own, baser desires.
"You do," she said aloud, and resolutely settled her gaze on Elsa's throat instead of glancing to where the silken shift was pulling away from her body due to her position. "And you only have two days to provide it. Or, well... " A sidelong glance out of the window. "One and a half."
Elsa's sigh washed over her face when she sat up a little, and while her expression was wry, there was the tiniest glint in those very blue eyes that Anna remembered well. She looked, the princess considered, rather engagingly like a child who was about to do something she probably wasn't supposed to.
Just like back then, Anna decided, and settled a lock of blonde hair behind her sister's ear with a smile.
"Alright." Elsa caught her hand, and pulled her to a seat as she slipped out of bed herself. "Then let's go."
When she got to her own feet, Anna was smiling. When they were running down the steps with the soft patter of bare feet, hair loose and clad in only their respective shifts, they were both laughing and shushing each other all over again, and the moment felt so sweet that heart ached with it.
"Come on!" A chilly wind blew the door to the small ballroom open, and Elsa pulled her through it with an urgent whisper despite the fact that there was no one around to scold them even if they'd still been young enough to have to worry about enforced bedtimes. That normally so calm and collected face was fairly lit up with absolute, mischievous glee, and she looked so happy and alive that Anna felt her breath catch in her throat for a bare instant.
The door closed quietly with another wave of Elsa's hand, and then they were standing in the middle of the cavernous room; under, between and on ancient stone, and staring at each other with identical, utterly childish grins on their faces.
"Say it," her sister coaxed. "You know you want to."
Anna laughed, and obliged. "Do the magic!"
Elsa chuckled, and – though she now had far more experience and probably could have done it with no more than a simple thought – slowly swirled her hands and let a ball of snow take form between them. Then, after a brief glance up where Anna bounced a little on the balls of her feet and nodded, she grinned, and sent the ball towards the ceiling with a push of her bare arms.
Just like when she was five years old, the ball exploded, and the snow started gently falling. Just like when she was five years old, Anna was completely entranced. Unlike when she was five years old, however, she wasn't watching the snow, but instead kept her eyes on her sister. She looked different now, of course, being 21 instead of eight; she was much taller, her face was a little longer and her bone structure much more pronounced, and – subtly, Anna scanned the sky blue-clad body in front of her, because rosy cheeks could be blamed on the cold – she was definitely a fully grown woman now, with a perfect, hour-glass figure, long, slender limbs and from what she could see beneath the lower hem of the shift, very shapely calves.
"You're forgetting something," she then teased.
"So I am." Elsa wrapped a gentle hand around her elbow before lightly stomping one, bare foot, and then laughed softly when Anna still started wavering immediately on the expanding ice. "Hang on."
"Hanging." She clasped her own fingers around two bare forearms, and grinned at the brief swirl of chill air by her feet. "That kinda tickles," she remarked, and then quirked an eyebrow when she saw her sister smirk. "No."
"No, what?" The queen questioned innocently, and then started gliding slowly backwards on the newly formed skates; pulling Anna along with her.
"No to whatever you were just thinking that put that look on your face." She kept her head down for now; watching the motions of Elsa's feet and trying to find the logic in them, even though she'd then have to reverse it for moving forward. "That 'I just got a... notion'-" Deliberately, she let her voice caress the last word, and smothered a smirk when she chanced a glance up and saw the color rise in the older woman's cheeks. "-look."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Elsa muttered, and then slipped around her in a single, graceful move before two hands clasped the areas between her waist and hips and Anna was being pushed over the ice instead of pulled. "Ready?"
"You're changing the subject," Anna grumbled, but her sister was close enough to her back that she could feel the heat from her body, and that sensation coupled with the chill of snowflakes falling onto her bare shoulders made it a weak accusation at best. "I'll let you get away with it this time."
"Mmhm." A low chuckle brushed softly against the shell of her ear. "Much obliged, Your Highness; now listen." The hands on her sides squeezed gently. "You're going to slide one foot in front of you and to the side – a little more than shoulder-width – and then push back with that leg, alright?"
"Uh-huh." Really, she was listening, but Elsa's chin was practically resting on her shoulder right now, and she had to concentrate just to keep herself from leaning back. "Slide and push – got it."
"Good." There was a light pat to her hip, and then a subtle tug that had them both turning in a lazy, half-circle by the narrow end of the room. "You have to get into a pattern of sliding with one foot while pushing with the other. Try it."
Anna did, and was bolstered by the fact that she didn't immediately fall flat on her face. "Hey!" She tried it again, and then again, and was suddenly aware that she was moving entirely under her own power, with Elsa gliding elegantly along next to her. "I think I've got it!" A glance up, and her eyes rounded as she saw a wall rapidly getting closer. "How do I turn?"
"Le-" The word was cut off by a sharp curse when Anna started to waver, and the next thing she knew, she was five feet from something dark and solid.
"Whoof!" Thankfully, she ended up impacting a large snowdrift that hadn't been there half a second ago, and she lifted her upper body out of it before turning around and sitting instead. "Nice catch, sis."
"Yes, well." The queen had come to a stop a few bodylengths away, and while she was smiling, it was wavering at little; especially when she wrapped her arms around herself. "I had one to make up for."
"Elsa." Anna picked up on the tight note in her voice and tried to catch her eyes, only for her sister to duck her head. "Hey, come on," she coaxed lightly, and let her mouth shape a gentle smile. "I'm fine, remember?" Still nothing, and she swallowed a sigh and thought. Getting up with skates on was going to be painful at worst, and useless at best, because moving forward while upright was useful, but not really something she could draw on when she needed to get upright.
Instead - and perhaps a little unwisely considering what her sister could do - Anna shaped a snowball and threw it.
"Hey!"
"Is for horses," she teased, and formed another missile while she watched Elsa brush the show off of her chest. Come on; play along. Please? "I should know, right?" Anna tossed the new snowball into the air with a flick of her wrist and an intentionally lighthearted, half-grin; then caught it again and nailed the older woman in the shoulder this time. "Are you gonna join in?" she goaded. "Or can I consider this target practice?"
"You little..." Elsa's eyes were narrowing, but the light was back in them.
"By one inch!" she reminded her and threw a third, which - unlike the others – was deflected with a flick of a hand and ended up hitting the wall with a sodden splat. "Now that's just cheating."
"Nooo," the queen drawled, and set one hand on her hip. "This... is cheating." The fingers of her other hand wiggled, and then Anna was flat on her back in the snowdrift.
"Blech!" She spat out a mouthful of snow and wiped a hand over her face the clear the rest of it off.. only to get hit in the face a second time. "Heth!" Blindly holding up one hand as a shield, she could still do nothing but laugh as a third hit maneuvered around it and caught her right in the nose. She really wasn't dressed for this, but she didn't much care right now. The snow was unusually soft – which she attributed to her sister's magic – and so didn't hurt in the slightest, and she'd managed to lure the older woman back out of her funk. "Yow! That's cold!"
"You don't say?" The low, almost-purr was right in front of her, and she swiped a hand over her eyes to see narrowed, ice-blue eyes very close by – so close, in fact, that their noses were fractions of an inch from brushing. "Now, sister dear... I think you need-" Elsa moved back enough for her to see the grin. "-a wash."
"A wh- YEEEOW!" Anna almost levitated out of the pile as a cascade of snow slid down her back, and would have jumped to her feet if she hadn't been in the damn skates. "Elsa!" A double handful of snow dropped onto her upper chest, and she squealed. "Why you-!" She caught a double handful of her sister's shift and yanked; grinning when Elsa's eyes widened in shock and she started falling. "Get in here and take your portion!"
Then everything was just a blur of white and blonde and blue, and Anna lost track of what was up or down, left or right as the two of them outright rolled around in the snow drift; giggling and squealing like a couple of children, and trying their utmost to cover the other in as much of the powdery whiteness as possible. It was warm and cold all at once; innocent because of their laughter and anything but because of the tingles of sensation that shot up her spine whenever arm bumped arm, leg caught leg or nose brushed nose.
It was a glorious feeling – even when she was thumped onto her back by still-gentle hands and saw Elsa straddling her victoriously, because the position combined with the relative tightness of her shift meant that what seemed like miles of creamy, slender thigh was exposed, so Anna just grinned and blew a raspberry while Elsa leaned over her; face cast in shadow by the curtain of her hair and both sets of breathing shallow because of the exertion.
Right then, with snow clinging to her eyelashes and the odd contrast of the icy cold beneath her and a warm, laughing body on top of her, Anna got the answer to another one of her questions.
Could I fall in love with her?
Elsa shoved a handful of snow into her face with a devious grin, and Anna sputtered indignantly, grabbed her by the waist and all but threw her into another section of the massive pile before diving after her with a triumphant chortle.
Easily.
xXxXx
"City market," Anna groaned as a hand shook her shoulder; blearily forcing her eyes open as she made herself sit up. "Check progress of stalls, meet merchants, clear square, set up stage." She slapped herself a few times, but it didn't help much. "Uh... postings of guards, licenses for the sale of alcohol... aaand a partridge in a pear tree." She blinked several times, and managed to focus her gaze on the shift-clad form seated next to her on the bed. "Morning."
"That it is." Elsa looked as tired as Anna felt, but she was smiling. "I warned you this would happen."
She finished off a long stretch with a suck at her teeth, and then slouched forward and smacked her lips together. "Was it worth it?" she questioned in an at least halfway clear voice, and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"Don't be silly." A hand found her shoulder, and she teetered a little at the light, playful shove. "Of course it was worth it."
"Good." She hefted a pillow, and grinned at the indignant squawk as she used it to bop her sister right in the face, and the older woman fell onto her back. "Then shut up, and get up."
"And a partridge in a pear tree," came the soft warble from beneath the pillow.
"Five gold rings," Anna readily rejoined while rubbing at her eyes. "Four calling birds-"
"Three French hens." Elsa had pushed the pillow off, and was making faces at her while half-reclining on both elbows.
"Two turtle doves." She stuck out her tongue and snickered at the sleepy grin she got in response.
"And a partridge in a pear tree!" they finished together, as loudly as they could, and then collapsed in exhausted laughter with Anna's forehead against her sister's shoulder, and Elsa's arms wrapped around her back.
"Oh, God," Anna groaned when she'd managed to clamp a lid over her amusement. "We just woke up and we're losing it already."
"I told you so," came the murmur next to her ear.
"Phbbt."
"... alright, now you've spat on me. Get up."
A full, five heartbeats of absolute silence, and then, helplessly, they both started laughing again.
xXxXx
Notes:
It seemed natural for Anna to worry about potentially losing Elsa, so she freaked out a little in scene one. Sorry-not-sorry, 'cause the rest of this chapter should more than make up for it. Meanwhile, if there is a county of Summerbird somewhere in the world... well, color me surprised (if there's anything left of the crayon); I just pulled the name from Summerbird Chocolates.
I kinda went a little bit off on a wing and a prayer for this chapter. While I did have plans for Anna to be reading up on romantic love and what it entails, I didn't actually intend on incorporating excerpts; I just find Johanna terribly entertaining. On that note, What You Can't See is not an actual book, and Johanna Norheim and her writings are mine. As I mentioned on Twitter, I would have liked to give her an in-fic appearance, but while I doubt that I can actually do that, I can put in more excerpts from her book in the next few Anna-chapters, if you guys are interested?
If not, she fades here, and Anna will simply make relatively vague references to what she reads in future chapters, as she's already doing in scene three. (Chapter XX was all about using food to- STOP IT!)
(And yes, you people are still awesome; chapter one isn't changing, though the title clearly has.)