The Sky Is Awake

VIII. Best Friend's Name

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Who, me? Oh, absolutely—what makes you think I'm not?"

"You're hopping."

Busted.

"A-Am I? You're imagining it." Anna casually let go of the wall. Only to have lightning sprint up her left leg and send her crashing back on her side. She saw Elsa wince. The cat in her arms squirmed.

Anna figured it was entirely the window cleaner's fault. If they hadn't left their hanging platform, well, hanging around, she wouldn't have jumped onto it. Then she wouldn't have crash landed on top of her sister like a suicidal fool and she definitely wouldn't have tripped climbing back through Elsa's window. And Elsa wouldn't have to look at her like– that.

Anna flashed a sheepish grin. "Up for a game of tortoise and the hare? You guys go ahead and I'll hop along and meet you at the physician's office. Wait, does that make me the tortoise or the hare?"

"Does it hurt?" Elsa asked softly.

"No! No, of course not. Trust me, I'm so used to this."

"Anna?"

"Yes?"

"Please don't do that."

Do what? she almost asked, but then she saw Elsa's face and her smile slipped for a slight grimace of pain. Maybe she had hit that ledge a little hard.

"It kind of stings," Anna admitted. "But just a teeny tiny bit! Just sort of, like, ow when I use it. I-It's not broken or anything. Though it probably would be if you hadn't caught me – close one, huh?"

Elsa's expression tightened. Staring down at her hands, at the injured black cat, she whispered, "Too close." Then she clenched her fingers and walked away.

Anna stood there, confused, because for a moment she'd somehow thought Elsa would extend her hand or… oh, she didn't know! But then she remembered something their mother had said – about doors that you couldn't see – and for some reason that made her feel a little better. Anna knew a lot about doors.

So she hobbled after Elsa, who hadn't really gone that far ahead. Anna managed to get two steps in the lead and leaned over curiously, but Elsa was looking everywhere but at her.

Instead, the cat saw Anna and started hissing. Oh boy…

Anna held up her hands in surrender. "I know, I know! I'm sorry – I miscalculated the angle, okay? Not all ninjas get it right the first go." Under her breath, she added, "Of course, none of this would've happened if you had just let me help you before you ran off like that."

The cat glowered back and Anna grudgingly accepted that she should have listened to Chestnut, just this once. He'd insisted the cat was up to something, climbing up to the stable roof so sneakily, but Anna didn't like to judge. Maybe he was just curious about the baby birds that had just hatched up there, which made perfect sense because Anna had already confirmed the hatchlings were indisputably adorable. Right before Mama Bird kicked her off.

Next thing she knew, all she could hear was high-pitched yowling and the angry beat of feathers and thump! The cat was back on the ground, shocked.

Now Anna knew from experience that it was the short falls that hurt the most. An old cat would surely be rattled, no matter how many lives it had left. But before she could get to him, Mama Bird squawked loudly from above and the cat scrambled to his wobbly feet and made a break for it… and Anna had just known she couldn't leave him out there.

Except his last scare with heights hadn't discouraged him from scampering up more of them – Anna couldn't remember ever climbing so many stairs. Then she saw the platform hanging out the open window and she played on those all the time, only she forgot about the landing part and now – well, now they were here. With Elsa.

With Elsa.

"I'm glad I crashed."

"I beg your pardon?"

Anna clapped her hands over her mouth, forgetting all about balance and barely catching herself in time. "Nothing! Just talking to myself as usual."

Elsa looked dubious, but the cat pushed his flat head into her neck and she got distracted. Anna could have kissed the dishevelled thing. Only he was glaring at her.

Making a face, Anna bent over. "Hey, I said I was sorry! Don't you get all possessive now. That's my sister"—dropping into a conspiratorial whisper— "and I think she's got a thing about dirt so you ought to get your paws off before she-"

Elsa made a strange sound.

When they were kids Anna would always be the first to throw herself at any creature, big or small, while Elsa kept to quick pats and admiring from a distance. Yet at the end of the day, Anna was always the one with the scratches on her arms and the animals would be all over Elsa, fighting for her attention.

Maybe there were some things time and closed doors couldn't change.

"… laughs," Anna finished breathlessly.

Elsa's hand fell away from her smile. And she looked at Anna – just looked at her – and her eyes softened and she mouthed, "Dirt?"

For a long moment, Anna just kept grinning without a clue, waiting. Then she realised that was it. Laughter and one unspoken word.

Conversation the way they used to do it.

"Oh, come on! You totally do."

"I do not."

"Do too!"

"There is a difference between being organised and being…" Elsa's lips twitched. "… you."

Anna's mouth popped open with a disbelieving laugh. Oh, she did not just- "You still make your own bed, don't you?" she accused.

Elsa looked taken aback. Then the smallest glimmer of that old mischief sneaked into her eyes, and Anna's face hurt from grinning.

"I'm assuming you still wear your blanket to breakfast."

"Hah! Yours, actually. See, you never said you wanted it back." The ache in her ankle seemed so far away now, and the distance left to the physician's office too short. Anna continued triumphantly, "I bet you arrange your dolls by name."

"I- Anna! I'm almost nineteen."

"You are?!" Anna coughed and tucked a curl behind her ear. "I mean– of course. Not as in of-course-you're-getting-old or anything. Just that, you know, you're so tall and so much beautifuller – beautiful – that of course it makes sense. That you're old…er." She scratched her nose sheepishly. "You are my big sister."

Elsa froze. The cat pawed at her idle hand; gloved in velvet, always. Anna caught herself staring at them, and so did Elsa. Anna hesitated. She opened her mouth to ask-

BANG!

Down the hall, the door to Anna's doom flew open. "I knew it!" a squeaky voice puffed.

Anna swallowed. Behind her, Elsa stood rooted, her eyes wide as they flitted between the open doorway and the tiny figure that had burst from it.

"Princess Anna," the royal physician rumbled as he stalked down the hall on stubby legs. "Just as I expected – always expected. After all, who else could be so unfortunate to visit an old dwarf for the third – third! – time this week?"

Was it just her or did being twice his height make no difference at all? Anna flashed a guilty grin. "Hi, Smolt."

His beady eyes swooped over her, zoning into her fidgety gaze. "Dare I ask what it was you tripped over this time?"

"Nothing! But this kitty on the other hand-"

Smolt raised a hand, along with his long nose. "Please do not try to hide injuries that are at my eye level, ma'am."

"A-Anyway! So the cat took a bad fall-"

Smolt sighed, and Anna knew it was coming. "This is becoming a troubling matter, Princess Anna."

She closed her mouth.

"We always knew you were a most… sprightly child. It was quite endearing, if I might add. But you must understand. Even if I hide your bruises and treat your scrapes, Arendelle will not see you as a child for much longer."

If Chestnut were here he would say, I told you so.

"You are a princess… my lady."

Anna tried to smile.

And a steady voice came from behind her: "She certainly is. But it is to me the people will look."

Smolt jumped. Anna couldn't blame him. All of a sudden her heart had sprung from her chest to her ears, and she wanted to spin around and cry Mama, because it was her voice… but she didn't. Didn't, because she had slept by that big door and even if she hadn't believed it then, she couldn't run away from it when her sister found her and whispered They won't be coming back.

"Princess Elsa," she heard Smolt breathe. Watched him bow so deeply his brow reflected on the polished floor. "Your Highness."

Anna turned her head as Elsa brushed past. Her back was straight, shoulders strong. Even the cat didn't make a sound. Anna looked into her sister's face. It was Elsa, and it wasn't Elsa.

Poise.

"We apologise for bothering you," she began, but Smolt intercepted hastily.

"Please, the regrets are all mine – I did not see you there, my lady. I have an, ah, limited line of vision. It is an– honour, truly, to receive you after so long."

Anna thought she saw her sister hesitate – but no. Elsa inclined her head, smiling, yet somehow it wasn't the same smile she had given Anna only moments ago. "We were hoping you could help us. Anna and I found this cat stranded on the roof, limping."

Smolt tried to see, but he hardly reached Elsa's elbow. He flushed when she seemed to realise the same and knelt down for him. The cat shied away from his touch, clinging to Elsa. "I understand," Smolt said. "But Princess Anna's leg-"

"Can wait," Anna cut in quickly. "Really. I promise I'll stay put this time, listen to everything you say."

"We both know that would not hold past lunchtime, Princess." Smolt rolled his eyes; a gesture he had used to amuse Anna when she was younger, sitting in his small chair with skinned knees. She remembered a time she used to like Smolt's office.

Finally, he shook his head. "At least allow me to fetch you an icepack."

Elsa had trouble handing the cat over to Smolt because the feline refused to part with her. "Please be careful with him," she murmured, and it wasn't the queen's voice anymore. Just Elsa.

Smolt bowed once more and disappeared into his office. Anna whirled around happily, but stopped short when she saw Elsa's closed eyes and clenched jaw. The regal composure was fading. She let out a long, shaky breath.

"Elsa? Are you okay?"

Anna heard the tinkle of breaking glass in the distance.

Elsa's eyes flew open and caught on Anna's surprised ones. There was no way Anna could mistake that look. She'd grown up seeing it at the dinner table, during fleeting moments in the hallways, and just before the white door closed.

Walls.

Her sister stared at her. Anna smiled hopelessly.

Elsa drew her arms close. Her breaths rose in mist even though the sunlight streaming in was warm on Anna's skin. "I… I have to go." Elsa turned around – leaving – and Anna wanted so badly to know why… but then she looked into her sister's fear, and she realised she didn't really want to know at all.

"Okay," she said.

Elsa closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Anna."

Anna shook her head and smiled, because she was thinking of dirt and blankets. Today, she told herself. That was all she was allowed to have for one day. It was enough.

But even as she watched Elsa walk away, she heard herself calling, "Can I just ask you something– crazy?"

Elsa stopped, a small figure in a long corridor. She looked over her shoulder and it was crazy, but Anna hadn't thought she would. Stop for her. Listen.

"Doesn't it get lonely in your room?"

Elsa didn't move. Anna could hear herself breathe. Could hear Elsa breathe.

"No."

Anna sucked in a breath. "But-"

Elsa held a finger to her lips, and smiled. "It's not my real room."

Our little secret.

Anna stood still as Elsa walked away from her, and she realised she could get used to this.

She shouted, "I'm still keeping your blanket!"

Elsa's skirt fluttered around the corner. It would probably take years for Anna to recognise her laugh without a door muffling it.

Probably.

Not really.

A/N: This one is possibly my favourite one so far - not really to write, but I love it all the same. Our girls deserve a laugh! Also, check out more amazing Elsa reprises of Do You Wanna Build A Snowman!

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