Thanks for the reviews! I hope you guys are liking where this is going! Next chapter will have some fluff =]
There was a certain crisp, cool feeling about the air in the castle as the sun was setting. Elsa walked down the hallway majestically, with both of her hands intertwined in the other, resting in front of her lower stomach. Her head moved slowly from side to side as her eyes scanned the familiar hallway, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything was as it should be; in pristine condition.
As she neared Anna's quarters, she stopped in front of the open door. The room that she and Anna had once shared when they were young had been Anna's for years now. It seemed odd to Elsa to be present in the same room again. There she stood at the threshold, her eyes scanning the bright room for her sister, whom she had spotted at the end of the room at the window… and it looked like Anna held something in her hands and was fiddling with it, but Elsa couldn't tell what it was. Anna wasn't aware of Elsa's presence, as she was in her own little world. Not knowing exactly how to present herself in a non-awkward fashion, Elsa simply cleared her throat and quietly asked, "You wanted to see me?", her hands hanging loosely at her sides now, as one hand rose up and rest itself on the open door.
"Yes!" Anna had jumped at the sudden break of silence and suddenly holding whatever she was fidgeting with behind her back. But she paused, staring at Elsa; puzzled.
"I really don't have to invite you in, do I?" she asked with her eyebrow slightly raised with a half-smile gradually appearing on her face as she placed one hand on her hip, the other hand still holding the object.
Elsa simply smiled in response and advanced forward into the room. She didn't want to intrude on her sister's space without permission, but apparently, Anna didn't care. Elsa was still learning of what being a sister really meant, instead of just being a mysterious figure that was rarely seen or a majestic political figure in the eyes of the rest of the kingdom. But, she felt a certain level of comfort when she was with Anna, like she really could let it all go. Anna never hesitated to tell Elsa that she loved her, which really assured Elsa in the long run and made her feel more connected to her sister.
As she approached Anna, Elsa couldn't help the smile that was growing on her face. Anna was so cute when she had a surprise for someone.
"So, what is it that you have to show me?" Elsa asked, looking directly in her sister's crystal blue eyes. As she stopped a few feet from Anna, Anna pulled her sister closer to her.
"You have to close your eyes first!" she said brightly. Elsa obliged.
"No peeking!" Anna said as she slowly took Elsa's hands in hers. Elsa felt Anna place something in her hands. Something kind of heavy.
"I'm not!" Elsa chuckled.
After a few giggles, Anna couldn't handle her excitement any more. "Open 'em!"
Elsa opened her eyes and looked down at what her sister had placed in her hands.
"Oh, Anna!" Elsa said in awe. "It's beautiful!"
Anna had painted the sunset of Arendelle that Elsa had just been admiring but ten minutes ago. It's like Anna knew what she was looking at.
"I know you like watching the sunset, so I figured that I'd paint you something so that you'd see it any time you want! Well, now that I said that out loud, it kinda sounds lame…"
"No, Anna; I absolutely love it!" Elsa exclaimed after taking her hand off of the painting to give Anna a hug when she realized her fingers were wet. Looking down, she realized that the wetness she felt was from the paint.
"Whoops! Guess I shoulda let the paint dry…" Anna admitted apologetically.
"That's quite alright, Anna. I still love it." Elsa said after noticing a small portion of her handprint on the edge of the painting. Upon closer inspection, Elsa noticed something.
"Look, Anna…" Elsa said quizzically. She held her hand up to Anna's bright reddish-orange hair. "It matches... your hair." Elsa trailed off. She remembered what she had thought to herself back in her room; comparing the color of the sunset to Anna's hair.
"Oh look, it does!" Anna exclaimed. "Too bad it's not as beautiful as your hair."
"Oh stop it, Anna. You're beautifull-er." Elsa smirked.
"Did you just call me fat?" Anna retorted back with an eyebrow raised, realizing Elsa had used her own words against her.
"Well, you do like chocolate…" Elsa thought quickly. Her face was beginning to hurt from smiling so much.
"Well, okay, you got me there." Anna admitted.
Both of the sisters shared a hearty laugh and then silence dawned on them for a few seconds.
Elsa looked down at the painting in her hand again, and now that the paint had dried a little bit more, she repositioned it carefully and held it in both hands. Anna had really put a lot of detail in it. Elsa looked up at Anna again and smiled. "I'm going to go put this in my room; it will be a nice change from all the blue. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift; it's the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. What do you say that after I put this up, we just sit down and… just talk? You know, like we used to."
Anna's eyes lit up at the idea, thinking about the last time that she and Elsa had spent quality time alone together. "Ohmygosh yes! As long as there will be chocolate. I have so much to tell you!"
"I'll be right back." Elsa said through a genuine smile.
Elsa turned to walk down the hallway when she realized how happy she was. While quickening her pace, she thought that just talking to her sister like they had been together their whole lives was the first step in having a normal relationship.
She entered her room and gently placed the painting next to her own bed, then walked back to Anna's room, waltzed in without permission and shut the door.
Anna had been sitting on her bed waiting for Elsa to return, clearly excited about the two of them finally getting to spend some quality time together. Elsa made herself right at home and walked excitedly over to Anna's bed and sat right next to her. Noticing her energy, Anna's eyes sparkled with amazement; of how quickly Elsa had adjusted to being with her behind closed doors. She had completely forgotten that she was considered a queen. In that moment, Anna and Elsa were just two normal sisters.
They spent the entire night talking about everything from Kristoff to that time that Anna had ridden the two-seater bike down the stairs and ruined a decorative set of armor. They talked about how Elsa really spent all that time in her room. The conversation quickly turned melancholy.
"I'm so sorry I always shut you out. I loved it when you'd stop and talk to me outside my door. It reminded me that someone still cared about me…" Elsa said in a serious, but sad tone. Her eyes found Anna's to ensure that Anna felt the sincerity of her words.
"You're my sister. Even if I saw you every day, I would have done the same thing. I just missed having someone to grow up with… what made it even worse is that we were so close when we were younger…" Anna trailed off.
"But then I almost killed you." Elsa said softly, clasping both of her hands together on her lap.
Both women sat in silence. Tears started forming in Elsa's eyes.
"I have never forgiven myself for that moment… or the moment where you sacrificed yourself for me." She paused, closing her eyes; making tears stream down her cheeks. "And no matter how hard I tried to distance myself from you, you kept coming back to me." She opened up her wet eyes only to see Anna scooting closer to Elsa and putting her hand on her shoulder. Anna was now completely facing Elsa, and motioning for Elsa to completely face her. Anna moved her hand slowly up to Elsa's chin and wiped a few tears off with her thumb.
"I did it because I love you. And I can't tell you that enough, Elsa." She said, trying to hold the tears back.
"But I'll never stop feeling guilty for how I treated you." Elsa said, pulling her legs up and resting them on the bed, mirroring Anna's position.
"You're here now. And that's all that matters to me." Anna said with a smile as a tear rolled down her freckled cheek. Her icy blue eyes never missing a blink with her sister's.
Elsa said nothing in response, instead, relaxed her hands from her lap and pulled Anna into a tight embrace. Anna's body heat was a new sensation to Elsa; much like the feeling of a hot shower on a cold day. "I love you, Anna. I always have, and I always will."
Anna didn't feel like that sentence needed a response. She tightened her arms and dug her cheek in Elsa's shoulder.
The two stayed in the embrace for what seemed like hours, but neither of them minded. It was Elsa who broke the hug; with a stretch and a yawn. Her eyes red from the tears that had fallen earlier.
"I should be getting to bed," Elsa said as she was removing herself out of the comfortable position on Anna's bed. "I have a lot to do tomorrow; but I'll see you at breakfast."
She rose and began to walk awkwardly, as her left leg was asleep. Her leg regained feeling after a few seconds and she turned around. "Goodnight, Anna."
As Elsa headed for the door, she was stopped by Anna's voice "Elsa, wait!"
She turned around and her cape made a slow swirling motion.
"Why don't you stay with me?" Anna asked.
This question caught Elsa off-guard. She briefly considered it when she realized that she would love to. There was a certain mystery that Elsa had. She had never slept next to anyone before, for fear of hurting them.
"Are you sure?" Elsa asked worriedly.
"Well, yeah. I mean, why not?"
They were sisters; normal sisters would share a bed, right?
Elsa debated with herself and decided to join her sister. She smiled as she walked back over to Anna's bed and took off her cape.
Anna smiled tiredly and said "I have to warn you, I like to cuddle." as she pointed to mountain of pillows in the corner of the room.
Elsa sat down on the bed and proceeded to lay down and extend her legs underneath the blankets, facing Anna's back, with her legs slightly bent and her arms held close to her chest. The sheets were amazingly soft and carried an aroma of fresh linen.
Anna turned over and faced her sister.
"We should do this more often." She said quietly as she traced her sister's face with her warm touch and ran her hand through Elsa's soft hair.
Elsa initially flinched at her touch, but now she longed for it.
Elsa nodded her head in agreement, too tired to speak.
Anna was satisfied with this response and turned where her back was facing Elsa. She then took her older sister by surprise by backing her body up to where it was right up against Elsa's. Elsa tensed up immediately. The heat Anna's body gave off against Elsa's skin was incredible. Elsa was glad it was dark so Anna couldn't see the effect it was having on her.
Anna fell asleep quickly, which explained why she found comfort immediately sleeping next to Elsa.
After the initial shock, Elsa's cold body relaxed to her sister's warmth underneath the blankets and snuggled closer to her. In an uncomfortable arm position, Elsa repositioned her arms to have one draped over Anna and the other one extended underneath the crook of her younger sister's neck. Elsa buried her face in Anna's neck, drinking in her body heat like a drug. Her lips lightly grazed the skin of the princess' neck and it set Elsa's lips on fire. She readjusted herself, finding a comfortable position for her head behind Anna's shoulder.
Elsa used her arms to pull her sister closer to her and Anna reciprocated by pushing herself into the cold sensation that was Elsa's body.
And with that, they were both asleep. For the first time in forever, they had fallen asleep with smiles on their faces.
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