Elsa strides into the royal meeting room on a plane of ice crackling beneath her footsteps. On one side of the table, Arendelle's highest ranking Generals and Admirals stand to attention, clad in winter uniforms beneath sunlight streaming from the skylights. Wry-faced elderly men in eyeglasses from the Department of Finance occupy the other side; they bow in deference as Elsa takes her position at table's head.
"I trust your respective departments delivered the memorandums for today's meeting," she announces, and allows the statesmen to sit before commencing her opening argument.
"A year ago, I created an ice-golem from the ground. Last night, I materialized a snow-dragon out of thin air. These creatures are capable of sentient thought, and obey my commands autonomously. They will provide an excellent substitute for our current defence arrangements, and I wish to demobilize a significant portion of Arendelle's armed forces in order to save on taxation revenue."
Immediately, the noise of shouting reverberates through the chamber as the two rows of statesmen bolt out of their chairs and quarrel with each other. Each side raises a ruckus over who gets to have their points heard.
"You have two hours to reach a decision," Elsa shouts, but her voice is drowned out by the hammering of fists on the table as each side vehemently accuses the other of not acting in the best interests of the Kingdom.
Gerda brushes the sleet from her hair and pours Elsa a cup of coffee. A snowstorm brews in the meeting hall, centered around Elsa's figure slumped in her throne – clutching at her forehead and a million miles away from the commotion going on in front of her. Servants wheel out a gigantic chalkboard and some semblance of order returns to the room as the statesmen take turns to list out their squabbles with pieces of grey chalk.
From between her fingers, Elsa sees a tax adviser hurling a blackboard duster at the Fleet Admiral; she manages a weak smile – knowing she has no mood to listen to the debate today, and it made perfect sense to let them fight it out among themselves. She motions for Gerda to approach, and the woman bows her head by Elsa's ear.
"Gerda, did you manage to get a look at how Anna's doing?"
"Your Majesty, not since we last saw her Highness in the infirmary five minutes ago."
"Oh yes, that's…right, we just did."
"Her Highness is likely still asleep, but if you wish, we can visit her again when this meeting is concluded."
Elsa nods, and continues sipping on strong, black tea as scribes frantically write and re-write the points being debated.
She keeps her eyes fixed on the clock for the last half-hour before it strikes ten, and rises from her chair without waiting for the debate to end. With the noise of squabbling still resonating through in the room, she clears her throat, and the entire room stands to attention in silence. A scribe presents the incomplete minutes of the meeting to Elsa and she signs at the bottom.
"I can see that none of you are united enough to make a decision, we will reconvene when all of you decide to work together," Elsa announces, slamming the royal seal on each page, "until then, I'm issuing a moratorium on all command position salaries."
Elsa descends the throne between the two rows disgruntled faces and hurries out of the room while the servants lay her documents by the fireplace to thaw.
The Palace Physician receives Queen Elsa outside the infirmary, and she pleads with him for news.
"Your Majesty, for her Highness's safety, we have kept her under chloroform while the stitches heal. It was fortunate you froze the ones on her back; these wounds are liable to fall under infection."
"When will she wake up?"
"We're not sure, but she's responding well to the treatment – brought about in no small part by your Majesty's ice."
She thanks the doctor and tiptoes into the infirmary. The smell of alcohol wafting into her nose causes Elsa to cringe, but she relaxes at the rays of sunlight falling upon Anna's face as she lies in her bed by the window.
"Shut the door," she calls out, and kneels by her sister's side.
Little color has returned to her cheeks; Anna's dress had been removed and replaced with swathes of dressing bandages hidden beneath a plain blanket. Despite the melancholic ambiance in the room, Anna's gentle breathing in her sleep exude a peaceful radiance, and her beauty is unmarred by the scars upon her body. Elsa puts a trembling hand on Anna's chest and a tear forms in her eye when she feels the slow, steady thump of her heart.
"Anna," she whispers, and seats herself by her sister's side, "can you hear me?"
She stares at her sister's closed eyes, trying to detect the faintest of movements that could give her consciousness away. Her gaze travels from Anna's face to the ugly stitch marks in her neck, and to the freckles splayed across her shoulders. Elsa's lips part as she notices the freckles across her collarbone, and she traces a gloved finger against each one.
You never knew your sister had freckles on her shoulders did you? Not even when she wore that off-shoulder dress at your Coronation.
Elsa tries to form a coherent counter-argument in her mind, before realizing it's true – she always looked away, and wonders why she ever did.
"You're beautiful," Elsa whispers, removing her gloves and testing her fingers against the window-sill before grasping Anna's fingers. Even in her slumber, Anna's fingers emanate warmth against her touch, and Elsa presses her lips to them.
"Perhaps I'm running from something too," she murmurs and rests her head on Anna's chest. Her fingers curl against the sheets as Anna's chest shifts with each breath, and her heartbeat resonates a sweet melody in Elsa's ears. Her ears linger against Anna's chest, and she imagines listening to her every thought – knowing her sister was always one to think with her heart.
"Maybe you can tell me if I am," she whispers, brushing her lips up against Anna's ears, "you've always been better at these kind of things."
"A-Anna," Elsa stammers, savoring her sister's strawberry-cherry breath against her cheeks, "I had something I wanted to tell you at the Fjord before winter broke."
She cups her sister's face in her hands and brushes through her hair.
"I l-love you."
Elsa's heart begins to pound in her chest; a bead of perspiration slithers down her eyebrows and she leans in to kiss her sister. At once, she recoils from Anna and wipes the sweat from her forehead. Heat surges through her face and she touches her lips.
"I'm...I'm sorry," she stutters, and her cheeks turn beet-red, "that was for yesterday – in your room. It was what I really wanted but the moment just fell upon us and I'm always so self-conscious and cautious and…and…"
A flutter of disappointment wells up in Elsa as she realizes she had just given away her first kiss to her unconscious sister, and the fact that Anna didn't and couldn't kiss her back. But still, she tasted of strawberries and cream, and the sweet reminiscence brings a smile to Elsa's lips.
"I can be a total idiot sometimes," she says, pursing her lips together and staring at the ceiling, "maybe I was wrong about us being so different after all."
The sound of knocking snaps Elsa out of the intoxicating spell which has befallen her. Time to be the Queen again, she thinks, pulling on her door opens and Kai looks in with widened eyes; he makes the sign of the cross before apologizing profusely and slamming the door shut.
"What…?"
Elsa looks down and gasps at the chemise clinging to her body, soaking wet from where her ice gown had melted into it.
The Mayor and Sanitation director seat themselves several chairs away from Elsa's throne in the royal meeting hall. She stares at the look of stunned silence on their faces and repeats herself slowly, ensuring they catch every word.
"You have to do something about the water in Barnmeadow, it's dirty and unfit for drinking."
The two men look at each other and back at the Queen.
"Your Majesty, my humblest apologies for asking, but how did you come to know about this matter?" The Mayor asks.
Elsa raises her eyebrows at the man, "What? I don't- I mean, does it even matter how I knew?"
"Did Frederik tell you?" The director asks.
"Who on earth is Fred- Look, I have no time for politics, could the two of you do something about the water?"
The director clears his throat and hesitates before continuing, "Your Majesty, I don't mean to denigrate the hardworking folk of Barnmeadow, but the water has been this way since your Father's time, and it-"
"Is there any reason why I should have clean water here in the Palace while the rural provinces do not?"
"Well, I mean-"
Elsa motions for the scribe to bring out two sets of documents, and she lays them out side by side facing the men, covering one set with her hands.
"I'm going to give you a choice: you can either sign the decree in front of you, stating that you will rectify the water sanitation issue in Barnmeadow; or I'm going to sign the one underneath my hands."
Her fingers shift, revealing the words dispossession of land, and confiscation of property. The men drop their gazes to the paper crackling with frost from Elsa's fingers, and they sign the other decree with hands trembling on their quills. Elsa slams the royal seal into the documents with such ferocity that a massive snowflake is left embedded into the table, and she leaves the room with a storm brewing on the cape of her gown.
Elsa jumps from her office chair at the sound of knocking, and her heart leaps at the sight of the royal physician.
"Your Majesty, Princess Anna has been roused from her sleep. She is still weary from sedation, but you may see her if you wish."
"Yes!" Elsa cheers, grabbing his hands and shaking them violently, "thank you so much!"
Within minutes, Elsa arrives at the infirmary; her gown is intact, but there isn't a trace of ice anywhere behind her. She fiddles with her gloves as she hesitates at the door, wearing and removing them over and over again. Eventually she settles on leaving them on, and creaks opens the door. The dim candlelight drapes her sister's pale features like a blanket of warmth, but the smell of blood and alcohol lingers.
Anna stirs from her sleep when Elsa grasps her fingers. The blues in her eyes glisten when they open, and her throat emits a groan as she tries to get up.
"No, no, don't. Anna, just lie down," Elsa gasps, nudging her sister back into the sheets.
"Elsa," Anna slurs, curling her fingers around Elsa's, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for yesterday."
"Shh, it's ok," Elsa mutters and touches her finger to Anna's lips, "it's been nearly two days."
Their eyes meet, and for a moment the sisters stare at each other with their hands intertwined. Despite her best attempts at hiding it, Anna chokes back a sob, and a muffled gasp escapes Elsa's throat. She extends a hand towards her sister's face, and pauses to remove her gloves before wiping the tear sliding across her freckled cheeks.
"Two days huh?" Anna says, "That explains why I'm so hungry."
"It's not much, but I brought you something," Elsa says. She reaches into the folds of her gown and retrieves a bar of chocolate. Although it's been kept below a freezing temperature, the chocolate thaws quickly when Anna smiles at the brown slab held before her face. Elsa breaks off a piece and feeds her sister.
"It's perfect," Anna says, trying her best to take the chocolate from Elsa's quivering fingers. After a few bites, her lips graze Elsa's fingers, which only serves to amplify the shaking in her sister's hand.
"Arh yew awraid uuff me?" Anna mumbles as she chews on lumps of chocolate, "Yorgh hunds are shhookin."
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Elsa chides, wiping a brown line on Anna's chin, "and no, I'm not afraid of you."
Anna breaks off a square of chocolate; with her arms still numb from sleep, she misjudges the distance and jams it into her sister's mouth. But Elsa takes hold of her sister's fingers and kisses the chocolate away.
"I'm sorry," Anna says, "not for that night, for this. I mean, I'm sorry for that too, but I meant this."
Elsa giggles at the sight of pink spreading across her sister's cheeks, "I'm not mad at you, Anna."
"The doctor said you saved my life," Anna says, "when you froze my wounds shut."
"It wasn't like that at all-"
"Well, I don't care, we're even now. I saved your life and you saved mine, how about that?" Anna quips, sticking her tongue out and wagging it at Elsa.
"It was panic really – I hope I didn't hurt you too much with the ice."
"Oh please, Elsa," Anna says, flicking her wrist in the air, "you froze my heart before, this is nothing."
"I'm…I'm sorry for that – I just…I- how did it feel like?"
Anna looks away and stares at her reflection in the window pane.
"It felt like hatred," she says, looking away from her sister, "at that very moment, I hated you with everything in my heart. It was like the ice made me hate you, and it was awful, having that dirty feeling stuck inside me even if it was just for a second. You have no idea how painful it is to hate someone against your will, especially when it's someone I love so much."
Elsa stares at her hands and fog forms on her breath. The temperature dips; Anna feels a cold wafting against her cheek and she grabs her sister's hands, snapping Elsa out of her daze.
"Also, you ruined my hair," Anna says, feeling the warmth return to her hands.
"You don't like blonde?" Elsa asks, leaning closer and twirling the singular lock of blonde amongst the reds.
"I do," Anna says, and her voice drops to a whisper, "but only on you."
Anna runs her fingers among the bumpy braids surrounding Elsa's crown. She skirts around the edge of the tiara and touches the edge of her ears, before emitting a muffled groan.
"Anna? What's wrong?" Elsa asks.
"Sorry, it's the stitches on my shoulder," Anna answers, clutching at her shoulder, "they hurt sometimes."
Elsa shifts away her sister's hand, and blows a breath of frost on her wound, numbing the pain.
"Oh god," Anna moans, "that's incredible."
She presses her lips to the frost, and it melts into a soothing chill.
"Better?"
"Yes," Anna says, pausing for a moment before whispering, "but now my neck hurts too."
Elsa runs her lips along Anna's ears, "You're greedy," she whispers, before touching them to her neck. Frost crackles from her lips and into Anna's neck, and her back arches at the chill surging into her spine.
"E-elsa," she stammers, crushing her sister's ice dress between her fingers, "I k-kinda like this. Very much."
Elsa's voice deepens to a sultry drawl, "I could help with your other wounds too."
"I would like that very much," Anna whispers into Elsa's hair; she pauses before adding, "Your Majesty."
She skims her lips over each one of the freckles on Anna's reddened cheeks, and they hover over her nose.
"You don't have to call me that," Elsa whispers, breathing a chill fog on Anna's lips, "we're sisters."
For a moment, the sisters hold each other by the shoulders, shaking from the heady anticipation of being this close to one another. Elsa's last two words sink into their minds, and ambivalence sprouts in their faces. They can see each others reflection in their eyes, and for once, Anna knows there's a part of herself locked away deep in her sister's heart.
A loud knocking yanks Elsa out of her trance. "Your Majesty!"
"I'm sorry-" they say at the same time.
"I should go," Elsa says, trying not to notice the disappointment on Anna's face, "I have a meeting."
Anna watches her sister patch up the huge gaping holes where the firm grasp of her fingers had torn into. The sight of Elsa pulling on her gloves touches a nerve in her heart. She knows why, it was her fingers that did it – those long slender fingers which held her hands when they were children. They were breath-taking, and it killed her that she kept them hidden beneath those awful gloves all the time.
"Elsa," Anna calls out as her sister hesitates on the door knob, "I dreamt you kissed me."
Elsa's heart skips a beat, but a smile spreads across her face as she recalls. The words churn through her head, and she pieces together a curt farewell, before her heart interrupts and spews out what she's been longing to say.
"I-I dreamt I k-kissed you too," she sputters, staring at the door, "but I was wide awake."
With a smile on her trembling lips, Elsa dashes out of the room, unsure of whether she regretted saying it.