The Sky Is Awake

XII. Reverse The Storm

It struck Anna for the fifty-third time that she was sitting awfully close to a rattling window.

Well, it wasn't like she was scared of blizzards. She liked snow, after all. And a blizzard was just a lot of snow… whipping up a storm. But she was totally safe here. She was warm in her blanket and Gerda was bringing hot cocoa and-

A fist of wind slammed into the glass. A squeak escaped before Anna could slap her hands over her mouth.

The music didn't falter.

Dragging her eyes away from the trembling glass panes – they held, thank goodness they held – Anna pressed an ear to the door. The notes shifted into something softer – probably some terribly complicated piece from whatever memorable era. Anna didn't know any of the songs Elsa played. She hadn't known any of the ones her mother used to play, either, but Mama would usually let her make up a name if she managed to sit through the whole song without touching anything.

Elsa used to let Anna choose any key on the piano, and then she'd build a melody around it, just for Anna.

"My lady?"

Anna almost knocked the tray from Gerda's hands. Luckily, Gerda was amazing at keeping things where they were supposed to be. Anna hastily put a finger to her lips. Gerda smiled and left the tray on the floor. There were two mugs on it.

Anna started warming her hands over the steam. It was cold in this part of the castle, but then again she only really came here when the weather was terrible.

Picking up her cup, Anna listened to the piano at her back and wondered if Elsa could smell the chocolate. She hoped not. Elsa hadn't exactly discovered her eavesdropping for all these years but Anna could kind of guess how she would–

"Anna?"

Chocolate gushed up her nose.

There were footsteps, and suddenly Elsa's voice was right by the keyhole. "Are you okay?"

There was an awful sensation in her chest, like her lungs were bailing out hot cocoa. Anna sputtered, "How… how did you know?"

Then the door did this curious thing where it opened.

Anna toppled backwards with a startled yelp – but someone caught her by the shoulders. Elsa moved back quickly, took in a short breath and said, "I've had a lot of… practice. I'm sorry I surprised you."

Anna thumped herself on the chest one last time, still clutching her mug, which miraculously hadn't spilled. And there was her sister, hand still on the doorknob.

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment.

Then Anna's neck began to ache. "Oh, um, hang on-" She pushed the scatter of cards away, moved the tray and shuffled along the wall. "Here," she offered sheepishly.

Elsa blinked. Anna realised she was holding her breath. Elsa took a slow step out of the music room, and glanced back at Anna. Anna caught herself thinking of princes and wine and promises on a stairwell. Then Elsa gathered her skirts and carefully lowered herself to the floor.

"Wow," Anna whispered a little too loudly. Too late, she covered her mouth, but Elsa only smiled shyly and whatever hot cocoa that had actually made its way to Anna's stomach glowed warm and pleasant. She leaned a little closer. "Did you smell the chocolate?"

Elsa reached for the other cup. "I do now. Is this for me?"

Anna nodded eagerly. Elsa sniffed her drink and took a small sip. "Alfred," she said approvingly.

"Did you know Alf is really good at Go Fish? I was in the kitchens playing with him and Markus and it's- it's like he sees it on my face or something! Which is just silly, right? I bet… oh my goodness. Was he cheating? Can you even cheat at Go Fish?"

Elsa hesitated, which was strange because Anna had asked her so many random things during mealtimes and Elsa always knew something. "I'm… not sure."

Anna opened her mouth, and then buried it in her cup. She looked sideways… and caught Elsa doing the same thing. Anna couldn't help giggling.

Elsa's smile finally reached her eyes. And Anna started thinking that maybe a little silence wasn't always a bad thing…

"Why do you only play the piano when it's storming?"

Stupid, stupid mouth.

Elsa looked surprised. She'd put her cup down and started fidgeting with the cards. And now she wasn't meeting Anna's eyes.

"You don't have to answer that! I just, ah– I got that from a book I started reading. Yes, that's it! Doesn't it sound dramatic? It's about zombies and st- not storms and… and… I'm making it worse, aren't I?"

Elsa laughed.

Anna peeked through her fingers.

"It's okay, Anna," her sister said, smiling. "Really."

"… Really?"

"Really."

"Oh." Anna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "So…?"

Elsa propped the queen of hearts against another card. "Do you remember what we used to do when it stormed?"

"We pushed our beds together and made a blanket fort! Well, you made the fort. I… wait, where was I during all this?"

"The bookshelf?"

"Oh, I was! And I'd stand there for ages, wouldn't I, because I just couldn't pick a book. And so you'd come over too, and we'd end up emptying half the shelf…"

Elsa absently picked up another card. "And you would make me read all of them to you."

"In the funny voices – don't forget the funny voices." Anna sighed happily and leaned into Elsa's arm. When had her sister started allowing that? "God, Elsa… we used to love it when it stormed."

And as if the sky knew, thunder growled high above them. Elsa froze in the middle of stacking another card, and Anna flinched because of lightning and ships and waves.

She searched for Elsa's soothing piano notes, but instead she heard her sister's breathing above her ear and that made it all a little better, somehow.

Elsa passed over her drink and said softly, "You can finish mine."

Anna didn't even notice she had finished her own, and sat up straighter with a puzzled expression. "Are you sure you don't… oh, okay. Well, thank– Oh. My. God."

Startled, Elsa looked up. "What?"

"Is that a house of cards?"

They both looked at the paper palace. It seemed so helpless and flimsy, but there was snow and thunder outside and it was just there, standing right before Anna's own eyes. And Elsa had built it.

A bashful smile played across Elsa's lips. "Practice," she admitted.

Anna was baffled. "What else can you do?"

Elsa flushed. "Not as much as you, Anna."

"Me? But look at this! I didn't know you were so good with cards! Don't tell me you're a master at Go Fish too. Alfred is so doomed. Oh! Let's go find him now and… what's wrong?"

Elsa spun the last card between her fingers slowly. Anna blinked. No way...

"Elsa?" she breathed.

Their eyes met.

"You don't know how to play Go Fish?"

Elsa gave a small smile. She shook her head.

Anna opened and closed her mouth. "What about Snap? And Cheat? Poker?"

"I've read about poker," Elsa offered.

Anna turned back to the house. She swallowed something deep in her throat, but it came up anyway and started to fill her eyes.

The cards toppled as Elsa turned to her in alarm. "Anna? Anna, I-I can teach you. It's not that hard."

"No. No, it's okay, I just–" Anna wiped furiously at her eyes. Elsa's anxious frown blurred. Anna sniffled. "Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to teach you how to play Go Fish, okay?"

"O-Okay."

"And we're going to beat Alfred, okay?"

Elsa lifted her hand, hesitated, and then lightly stroked Anna's hair.

"Okay."

A/N: While writing this chapter I got so stuck that I resorted to buying a notebook and writing by hand... and it worked! Sort of. Whoopie? Pianist707 suggested the idea of Elsa picking up little hobbies in her overwhelming spare time. I thought it was adorable.

Thanks for reading!