Author's Note: I'm sorry I took nearly two weeks to update. I had two essays to deal with first and just getting through life in general.

After they had spent a considerable amount of time having fun while patching up their bond as sisters, Elsa and Anna had eventually found themselves huddled together in the middle of the ballroom floor. Anna had her head tucked under Elsa's chin and Elsa had a hand pressed lightly against the back of Anna's head absentmindedly stroking her sister's hair every once in a while. It was just them and the ballroom back in its normal state again as Elsa had thawed the ice, snow and frost once they decided to rest.

Elsa had her legs tucked against together and position off to the side while Anna had her knees scrunched up against her chest and encased by her arms. Both sisters were staring at the blank space that lay before them as a content silence radiated from their bodies and soon became the atmosphere of the room. It hadn't just covered the atmosphere, but became a part of it.

The room grew dim with light as time passed by. Anna took in some air through her nose and dug her head into the softness and protection of Elsa's neck. She took in her sister's scent feeling relaxed realizing her sister wore the same perfume their late mother sometimes had on her when she would tuck them into bed before they were separated. Not that Elsa needed to be tucked in, but her mother insisted once she was done with her sister, Anna. That had embarrassed Elsa before but only secretly and slightly.

The memory of her mother's perfume that helped her fall asleep made Anna feel that more relaxed and comfortable in her sister's company as she smelled of their mother. Anna was never bothered that Elsa practically was their mother's carbon copy for she had always saw Elsa as a separate person, as a separate being. Yet there were times Anna acknowledged that her older sister looked like their mother and it only comforted Anna. Rather than bring back painful memories of her death along with their father's.

Taking in another whiff of her sister's perfume that once belonged to their mother, Anna found courage to speak again after a substantial and comfortable silence.

"Elsa?"

Elsa continued to gently stroke her baby sister's hair. "Yes, Anna?"

"What do you suppose will happen after we get up and leave this room? Will everything we had worked on to explain to each other what happen somehow magically disappear and things will go back to how they were?"

"No."

"But what are we to do about the royal Danish family? Karen and I aren't really on good terms with each other and I possibly ruined a wonderful trade opportunity with King Frederick and Queen Isabella. There's so much to do."

"Don't worry about you and Karen. Our main focus for tonight will to get through dinner and then we'll finish trade business with them tomorrow before they return to Denmark."

Anna removed her head from underneath Elsa's chin so she could look up to her sister.

"How can you be so confident and calm?"

"I have you."

Anna quirked an eyebrow up at her sister. Elsa dropped her hand from Anna's head to her shoulder. Elsa pulled her sister close.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I have my sister with me. We've have made amends, haven't we, Anna?"

"Yes. But what is your point?"

"If I can make amends with you, my only sister, then I can overcome other obstacles. I'm more confident about my actions and resolve when I know we're okay. And when I feel satisfied with my relationship with you everything else falls into place for me. I will find a way to persuade King Frederick and Queen Isabella to reconsider putting back a deal for Danish pastries and for the new split pea soup recipe that the offered to you to be added in our updated trade agreement and I'm sure you and I will find a way to be on good standing with the royal Danish family before they return home."

"Elsa, what could you have in mind? I don't think I would be ready to face Princess Karen without wanting to throw her dirty looks."

"Maybe I'll talk with Princess Kirsten. She seems like a sensible woman. I'm sure she definitely wants things to be back to normal between us and with her and Karen. I'm sure we'll find a way to make amends between the four of us."

"In a complicated way it all four of us will be involved in making amends with one another, but to be fair, you and Kirsten did not feud. It was more between you, me and Karen in which an issue arose between the three of us. And as a consequence, Karen and Kirsten developed an issue with each other. Actually, never mind. They already had an issue."

"What do you mean, Anna?"

"I think the reason we had an issue with each other is because Karen and Kirsten had an existing issue with each other before they came to the castle. We were just unlucky in getting roped in and end up fighting ourselves. But I still think this would have still happened since I would have gotten jealous."

"I don't know why you were jealous. You would never need to be."

"I know that…now. It's just that I felt inadequate compared to Karen. She seemed so nice and she's my age and she's probably more well-behaved than I could ever be and she has similar powers that you have. I wasn't born special. I'm just….Anna. I'm just normal and weird and energetic…and-and…"

Elsa silenced Anna by brushing Anna's bangs away from her forehead gently raking her fingertips against her sister's skin.

"Anna, I love you because you're you. I don't want a sister like Karen. I love you just the way you are. I want a sister like you."

Anna just stared at Elsa in awe. Her mouth was slightly agape that way she had it when she first saw Kristoff covered in snow. Elsa brought her hand back up to the backside of Anna's head and cradled it before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on her sister's forehead. When she drew back to look at her sister's blue eyes she just smiled. Anna was frozen in a stupor as she continued to be captured by her sister's loving stare. Soon though without her knowledge, tears brimmed in her eyes.

"You do?"

Elsa afforded her sister the most reassuring yet simple gesture that would be enough for her to understand that she only held deep, genuine feelings for her. She gave her a nod. It was as firm as a rock yet gentle as a mother's touch.

Just then Anna's arms had a mind of their own and encased Elsa's elegant and slender neck in between them resting on her strong yet small shoulders. The strawberry blonde princess buried her face in her sister's neck sobbing, joyfully.

"And don't you worry about me wanting to replace you either, Elsa. I don't any other sister than what I already have-you. I just want you as my sister. I love you for who you are, Elsa!"

Elsa's eyes fell halfway down with heavy lids. Yet her eyelids weren't heavy with grief or exhaustion. No. They were heavy with joy and relief. She briefly glanced up to catch the early shadows dancing on the sun-lit ballroom floor. They were the prelude of evening. As if to protect her sister from the shadows of the past and quite possibly the physical shadows that threatened to envelop them into darkness, Elsa, out of instinct, cradled Anna's head closer to her body and wrapped her other arm around her sister's waist gripping her backside in tender protection.

"Anna."

At some point, Anna had stopped crying from joy and kept her face buried against the platinum blonde's neck.

"Yes, Elsa?"

"Do you think we should leave soon to join the others for dinner?"

"What time is it?"

Elsa re-examined the shadows and judged what position the sun might be at in the sky. She looked back down at the crown of Anna's copper hair. She ran her fingers through it giving it playful strokes.

"I wager it's around six thirty."

Anna regretted the moment when she had to pull her face from her sister's neck that shelter her from the outside world that people call real life. But she pulled away without much hesitation and looked at her sister.

"So, should we leave?"

"It would be best if we did now."

"Okay."

Elsa pulled herself away from her sister and stood up tall. Anna was about to help herself up but Elsa hoisted her up from her wrists. Anna nearly lost her balance from suddenly being lifted up and fell forward. Luck would have that Elsa caught her just the same two months prior when they ice skated in the courtyard-Anna had her hands on Elsa's forearms and Elsa held Anna's elbows from underneath. Elsa smiled down at her goofy kid sister and helped her stand up straight.

"Are you okay?"

"I am."

The two sisters smiled and had let go of each other simultaneously. A peaceful silence whispered past their ears. Anna blushed before tucking a stray strand of hair behind her left ear.

"So, let's go."

"Anna."

"Yes, Elsa?"

"Before we go, maybe we should talk about a few more things."

"Like what?"

"I'm sorry for feeling so jealous before."

"It's all right, Anna. We already told each other how we felt while we had fun on the ballroom floor."

"I know that…It's just that this all started because how close Karen was getting you. I know you didn't mean to shush me while we on the tour, but I started to think you didn't want me around and I started thinking of reasons why and-and I guess I felt inferior to Karen because she had magic powers that are similar to yours and I'm sure that would have excited you…to have the opportunity to have a little figure with similar abilities as you have."

Elsa had small frown knitted on her face but remained silent.

"And one thing led to another and I just got more jealous and angry that it just built up and…."

"And?"

"Well, you know, what happened in the garden when you heard me and then I tried to apologize and you ignored me back in the tea parlor and then the rest followed."

"I suppose that makes sense. I wish I had known sooner-"

"Elsa, please. It wasn't your fault. It was my fault. I should have been just followed my instincts and not hesitate to join you and Karen when you invited me in the first place. Instead of eavesdropping on your conversation and feeling even more jealous of Karen by the second, I should have made my presence known and told you how I felt and we possibly could have avoided all this undue stress and pain."

"But it happened and yet we're here now and we're okay. Actually, we're better than okay if I'm not being too presumptuous with my claim."

"You're not, Elsa."

"I have a question though, Anna."

"What's that, Elsa?"

"Why did you refuse some your favorite foods? You even refused chocolate and seemed so disinterred in King Frederick offering a special deal for us to receive their Danish pastries and seemed indifferent when Queen Isabella offered a new split pea soup recipe."

Anna shyly shrugged her shoulders looking away from Elsa.

Elsa narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Anna, please tell me."

Anna looked at Elsa square in the eyes.

"I felt absolutely miserable knowing you truly hated me at that moment and I well…"

"I didn't hate you, Anna. I already told you that I could never truly hate you. I was mad at you, yes, but I didn't hate you."

"Okay. Well, you were mad at me and I felt that I needed to prove to you that I was being serious about my resolve to make things up to you. Besides, good girls deserve things and I wasn't a good girl because I made my sister cry. I-"

Elsa pressed a stern finger against Anna's lips. She stared at her with disbelief tears brimming in her eyes.

"Anna, are you trying to say that you believed that you didn't deserve to eat because I was mad at you?"

Anna meekly nodded her head. Elsa pulled her finger away from Anna's lips and brought both hands to cup her sister's cheeks in them. Her tears threatened to spill over. Elsa brushed Anna's cheeks with her thumbs.

"Regardless of how angry or cross I might be with you, Anna, never impose such a great punishment as refusing food even your favorites because I will always want to make sure you are well-nourished and healthy. I can't stand the thought that you did that to yourself because you wanted to make it to me somehow of how sorry you were."

Anna's heart sank somewhere in the deep recesses of her stomach when she saw her sister cry and hear her voice crack with every passing second. She reached over and held Elsa's face in her own hands and wiped away the tears with her thumbs.

"Elsa, please don't cry. I'm sorry. If you cry, then I'll cry."

"Oh, Anna…I'm crying for you."

"Please, don't cry Elsa. Please….I'm sorry."

"I feel terrible for not realizing it sooner when you first refused chocolate."

"It's not your fault, Elsa."

"Yes, it is. You were suffering on the inside so much that you refused any food and you barely uttered a word. In a fit of anger I told you not to speak to me, but that didn't mean you were forbidden from talking to the others and try to enjoy yourself."

"I told you, Elsa. I was trying to make a point. Please, stop crying…I'm going to…cry. Please, Elsa. Please, no more tears. Please, smile….Don't cry."

"I'm such a terrible older sister!"

"Elsa….," sniffle, "stop crying…I hate to see you like this."

"But I'm a terrible sister!"

"No, you're not. You are such a wonderful sister that you don't even know it. There so much love in your heart that you were able to isolate yourself from me for my protection and that you self-imposed exile to try and keep Arendelle safe from you. You always put others needs before your own! I didn't know it at the time, but you did know more about love than I did when I had foolishly gotten engaged to that rat Prince Hans. I thought I knew more about love than you because I could not see the deeper meaning of you shutting me out of your life. I treated it like an iceberg and I'm so sorry for that. But, please Elsa, will you stop crying?"

"Oh, Anna…How could I-?"

Anna pushed herself forward and encased her sister in the warmest, most love-filled hug she could give her sister at that moment. Elsa was shocked to say the least, but then recovered and wrapped her arms around her sister burying her tear-stained face in her sister's left shoulder. Anna buried her face in her sister's neck in turn and lightly wetted the skin with her own tears. A warm and comforting blanket of silence draped over the two sisters as they held each other in the other's arms. No sound was made except for the soft thumping of their hearts beating against their chest cavities. No discernable amount of time passed when they broke away from the embrace. They looked at each other with glossy eyed smiles. Anna sniffled as she wiped away the stale tears from her sister's face.

"I told you I would cry if you didn't stop crying yourself."

Elsa gave Anna a sad smile as she wiped away the fresh tears that streamed down her face.

"Oh, Anna…."

Anna forced a weak smile. "Heh."

A small silence overtook the pair of sisters and in that brief moment they came to an understanding only siblings could comprehend. An understanding that needed no words.

Elsa gave Anna a genuine smile and Anna returned it in kind. Elsa held her sister's face in her hands for a moment longer brushing her thumbs back and forth across the freckled cheeks.

"Oh, you silly goose."

Anna blinked in confusion as Elsa pulled her hands away from her face. Elsa remembering that she had pulled a tissue from her left sleeve, she tried the other one. Luckily, she had remembered to neatly tuck another tissue under her right wrist just in case the one under her left wrist was used up beforehand. With all the grace she effortlessly used, Elsa gently pulled the second tissue from her sleeve and brought it up to dab away her sister's eyes and wiped her nose. Anna scrunched her nose up once Elsa relieved her of internal embarrassment. She gave her sister an incredulous look. Elsa simply smiled as she offered the tissue to her sister.

"What's this for?"

"You need it more than I do."

"But, Elsa-"

"Take it. I don't need it. I'm fine."

"But you're the one who was crying just as a recently."

"If I recall correctly, you were the last one who cried, you're the one who cried to yourself for who knows how long in the ballroom, and you have suffered greatly from anguish and jealousy far longer than I had suffered from confusion from your odd behavior today. You take it."

Anna pouted. She hated that Elsa was right. Why did she have to be right all the time? Anna seriously considered if there was unspoken universal rule that older sibling must always be right as to guide their younger siblings down the right path no matter if they are willing participants or not in the scheme of things. Anna took the tissue with a careful hand with her eyes never leaving Elsa's.

"Thank you."

Elsa moved her hand onto Anna's right shoulder.

"You might to save the tissue later, so try not to use it so much now."

Anna tried to decipher what Elsa meant by her statement. She examined her sister's face and saw mischief swirling in her irises. With her free hand, Anna playfully slapped her sister in the shoulder.

"Oh, you!"

Elsa lightly laughed. Once she composed herself, her expression turned to a serious one.

"But, seriously, Anna, I don't want you to use up the tissue so soon and then wish you had it for later. If that happened then I wouldn't be able to provide any more tissues for you until we ran into a servant."

Elsa's voice didn't seem patronizing. It was gentle and maybe a little stern, yet all that clicked in Anna's head was that her sister cared about her. She didn't want to see her sister sad because she would feel sad herself and she wouldn't be able to be emotionally strong for her sister. Anna recognized that Elsa wanted to be strong for her. She accepted her sister's decision.

"Thank you."

Elsa blinked. "What?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For caring. For being my sister and loving me unconditionally."

"You don't have to thank me…"

"I know, but I want to. You deserve it, Elsa."

Elsa didn't know how else to react except to blush. "Um…Thank you?"

Anna smiled. She smiled like she knew something that greatly pleased and comforted her.

"You're welcome."

Elsa collected herself and gained her composure after the initial shock.

"Well, then, shall we head to the dining hall for dinner?"

"Yes."

"All right then."

Elsa turned around and took two steps forward before she felt a hand cling to her right arm. She turned back around before staring down at the hand clinging to her. It was Anna's left hand. The platinum blonde woman looked up at the strawberry blonde's eyes.

"Anna?"

"One last thing."

"Yes?"

Anna had let go of Elsa's arm.

"I love you."

At first Elsa was shocked by the statement, but then she allowed realization to sink in and a warm smile grace her lips returning the gesture with earnest.

"I love you, too."

Anna bit her lower lip in excitement. Elsa turned around again and waited for Anna to be at her side where she belonged. Anna scurried to her sister's right side, playfully bumped her shoulder with her own and then they walked in comfortable silence away from the ballroom floor. Before they left the room all together, Anna interlocked her hand with her sister's. Elsa leaned in and squeezed Anna's hand in her own.

To Be Continued…