Author's notes: *sigh* I would have gotten this for yesterday, but I just had to sit and watch "Wolf Children" (an extremely bittersweet anime movie) and my mojo completely left me. I had to wait until late at night to write anything at all. Still, I hope the wait is worth it. What did we learn from this? Don't watch sad crap if you have a chapter due that day. Heed my advice youngsters!
Chapter 4: The Cared for and the Caretaker
Anna yawned as she strolled through the halls of Arendelle's royal palace.
'It's 10:30 in the morning! The nerve of them to wake me at such an ungodly hour', she thought with bitterness, 'And on a rainy Sunday!'
For once she was glad that the doors and windows were being kept closed, because although it had yet to snow that winter, she was freezing. Arendelle had that thing about it, its geographical location in a fjord made for suffocating summers and frigid winters (not counting her sister's frosty outburst last summer).
Anna adjusted the cloak around her torso and hurried her pace. The hallways were the coldest part of the castle and she wanted to make it to her library at once.
Reaching the library she entered without knocking. She expected to see her sister at the same desk she had occupied for the last three weeks, curved over a myriad of fat books she had read and reread exhaustingly. Surprisingly though, she wasn't.
Anna thought the queen couldn't have gotten far, considering her renewed hermit-like ways. So the princess called out to her as she sauntered between the tall bookshelves.
Turning what seemed like the one-hundred corner, Anna found her sister sitting on the floor, her head pressed to the side of a ladder that was placed beside her, and a thick opened book on her outstretched legs. Initially worried for her sister's wellbeing the princess dashed to her, but as she kneeled Anna realized that the queen was only sleeping; albeit breathing somewhat arduously.
"Elsa." Anna tried to wake her, moving to shake the queen's shoulders softly. However, as her hand made the first contact with her sister's skin she recoiled immediately.
Her eyes widened and she gasped. Incredulously, she neared the queen's flesh again, this time with only two fingers to her arm. It was true, Elsa was burning! Anna moved the back of her hand to the queen's neck and then to her forehead. She stared astounded, how could this be? Her sister was the Ice Queen. She was practically ice with human life! Yet here she laid, her brow covered in a slight sweat and her body burning with a fever.
"Elsa." Anna tried to rouse her again. "Come Elsa. Let's get you to your room." Gently, she moved her sister's head away from the ladder to rest it on her shoulder.
"Ugh…I have to keep looking." Elsa tried to protest, making a weak effort to dislodge herself from the cushy body of who she thought was her sister; she would need to open her eyes to confirm that though.
Anna was having none of it. "No, you are sick. It's time to give it a rest."
Elsa's eyes finally opened…to bestow upon her sister a skeptical glare. "I don't get sick, Anna." She said obstinately.
Anna raised an amused eyebrow since the queen's watery eyes said otherwise. "You have a fever Elsa. You are trembling."
Elsa frowned, such a notion was impossible to the queen. She had never had a fever in her life. She held the power of ice for God's sake, for her to have a fever would be a contradiction of nature's law.
"It's just cold in here." She refuted.
For being so sharp in her diplomatic affairs it took her a second longer and an expectant look from her sister to realize the meaning of what she had just said. Cold? She was cold? The cold had never bothered her before!
"Let's just get you to your room." Anna said, chuckling softly. She pulled her sister to her feet and guided the drowsy queen out of the library.
By the time they reached the queen's quarters the blond had just about fallen asleep against her sister. Anna kicked the door close with a grunt, her sister's weight almost making her loose her balance. She heaved her onto the soft light blue sheets as gently as she could; considering the queen had been little to no help in that journey.
Anna watched as the trembling form of her sister curled into a fetal position; it was adorable, but mostly pitiful.
"No, wait Elsa. We have to get you changed." She pulled on the queen's arm to extricate her from such an unhelpful position. Elsa settled on her back with a groan, too far gone to give a proper response, or move any further.
The princess sighed; this was going to be a hassle. Still, she would not allow her sister to endure such an illness so uncomfortably. No way, she would free her from her constricting garments and place her below warm blankets. It was the least she could do after allowing her to mistreat herself for so long.
At least that was her intention, but then she began to unbutton the queen's dark blue blouse and her own hands began to tremble at the sight of unblemished pale skin. The view of a white lace brassier made her throat go dry, and she swallowed with difficulty when her thumbs brushed the soft skin of her sister's arms as she took the blouse off.
'Why am I reacting this way?' She wondered internally, but no answer came to her or rather she didn't venture into obtaining one. Not at the moment, when her eyes were raking the swells of her sister's breast without her consent.
She shook her head and got to work on the queen's long skirt. A mistake, she would reason, if she could muster the capacity for any mental process. Because now her sister lay almost completely bare before her, short undergarments and a brassier the only things that censored her nudity.
Such beautifully sculpted long legs, such narrow waist, such….Anna felt like a creep, ogling her sister while she slept. She closed her eyes and exhaled, hoping to quench the strange sensation that was transpiring below her navel. When she opened her eyes, her sister's arm was bent at the elbow, holding her head while her chest rose and fell with each laborious breath she took.
Quickly turning on her heels, Anna left the room with a whimper. She had a better idea; she would search for a few maids that would do this for her.
When Anna returned to the queen's bedchambers a while later, the maidservants were tucking the sheets around a recently bathed and changed somnolent queen. Anna thanked them, and asked the last servant to leave to bring the physician. The servant girl closed the door with a bow, agreeing to call him immediately.
The princess made herself comfortable on the bed alongside her sister while she waited for the doctor to arrive. She stared at the dark circles below the queen's eyes and berated herself for allowing the blond to continue her clearly strenuous research for so long; she had only wanted to give her time and space to deal with her issues. The princess shook her head as she wiped the sweat off the blonde's brow. She had learned her lesson; clearly she couldn't be so easygoing when it came to her sister's health, on view that she could trust the queen to take care of the kingdom, but not to take care of herself.
"Anna…" mumbled the queen.
Anna looked at her curiously, wondering if she was awake or just sleep talking. Slowly, the queen opened her eyes. Squinting, she continued, "Take me to the library." She said, lifting a hand to clutch at her sister.
Anna shook her head. "No way, do you have any idea how hard it was to get you up here?" It had truly been a feat. "I called the doctor. He's coming to check on you." The princess informed her, taking the raised hand to rest it on her lap.
"But – " Elsa whined.
"No buts, I'm going to take care of you today. Now stay put." Anna ordered, nodding at herself.
Elsa sighed, settling back on her pillow. "You are going to take care of me?" Her smirk was full of pseudo-doubt.
Anna glared, "Are you implying – " She began to protest, but a knock at the door cut her off. "Forget it, the doctor's here and you are not getting out of that bed today. You'll see." She finished, standing to let the doctor in as her sister chuckled on the bed.
Yet, when she opened the door who she found on the other side was not the doctor at all, but a middle aged woman with dark brown hair and a gentle smile.
"Lisa, where's the doctor? I told you to get him." Anna said at the sight of the lone maid. She extended her neck to look behind Lisa and down both sides of the hallway, but the doctor was nowhere to be seen.
"I know, and I went to get him princess, but he was about to deliver a newborn." The woman explained.
"A newborn?" Anna asked as if she had never heard of such a thing.
"Yes, a new born, an infant, a baby." The maid explained further.
From behind her, Anna could hear Elsa cackling, surely at her. She frowned at the maid, her yes closing into slits. "I know what it is."
But it was such a rare look on the cheerful princess that it always failed to have the desired effect on the servants. "Of course, princess, I never doubted that." Lisa said grinning. "He said he would be here as soon as he was done with that, so I prepared this for you while you wait." She added, settling a tray in the unready hands of the princess.
Anna struggled with the clinking china before readdressing the maid. "Wait? We are talking about the health of the queen here!"
"Yes but, it's a newborn." The maid commented, shrugging her shoulders.
"It's the queen!" The redhead insisted.
"Anna…" The princess could faintly hear her sister calling to her. She ignored her; this was an important matter.
"Look I don't care if he's delivering his own child. This is a royal emergency! The queen is sick. Do you remember the last time the queen was sick?" Anna asked and Lisa shook her head. Elsa's exasperated whisper was heard and ignored yet again. "Exactly! He is the royal doctor, which means he has to be here now. So you go tell him – "
"Anna, stop!" Elsa shouted, instantly receiving what she demanded. The two girls turned to look at the queen, who sighed before directing herself to the maid in a more subdued tone. "Lisa, its fine. Tell the doctor I can wait. It's not like I'm dying."
"You don't know." Anna muttered, frowning at the floor.
Elsa rolled her eyes at her antics. "And Anna stop being so dramatic."
Anna grunted. Elsa dismissed the maid. "You can leave now Lisa."
"Thank you, your highness." Lisa bowed, closed the door, and scurried away.
Elsa watched with humor as her sister sulked by the door. "Anna, come here."
Anna glared. Elsa chuckled. "Come on, I'm sick, don't make me repeat myself so much."
Pouting, Anna took the tray over to the nightstand. "You are not letting me take care of you."
"You are overreacting." Elsa said with a smile, as she snuggled deeper into her blankets.
"Am not." Anna whined, facing her sister on the edge of the bed.
"You are also being very overprotective."
"Look who's talking." The princess retorted.
The queen chortled, rather unladylike, and although she quickly covered her mouth it still made Anna double over with laughter that she soon joined in.
The fever had not been forgotten however, or more like, it had not forgotten about her. As the queen brushed away tears of mirth a new wave of exhaustion took over her. Her eyelids dropped and her bones began to hurt.
Anna saw the grimace in her sister's face. She swept sticky tendrils out of her sister's eyes. "You must be feeling horrible."
"Somewhat." She smiled at the cooling sensation of the princess's fingers on her forehead.
"Let's get something in your stomach, okay?" Anna said, moving to retrieve the tray. She heard Elsa grunt her aversion. "Don't be like that, you need to eat something. Here I'll even give it to you." Anna took a spoonful of soup and blew on it to cool it down before presenting it to her sister.
"Don't be silly." Elsa smiled and turned her face away from the spoon.
"Hurry is going to spill all over your sheets!" Anna urged.
Elsa rolled her eyes once again and leaned forward to take the spoon into her mouth, only because she did not want her pretty blue sheets to get ruined with chicken soup, not because she was actually liking getting pampered by her little sister.
Elsa reclined on some pillows to make the feeding easier for Anna – also to not choke – and like that they shared and finished the queen's lunch.
"The doctor's not here yet." Anna said gloomily.
"A birth takes more than half an hour Anna." Elsa replied with a fond smile.
"I know…" Anna replied, re-placing the now empty tray on the bedside table. She looked over at her sister, trying to evaluate her condition. The queen's breathing had slowed down, but she still looked terribly fatigued. Anna hoped the doctor's patient would expel her baby soon.
In the meantime, she would have to find some other activity to occupy both of their minds with. "Are you tired?" She asked.
The queen shook her head. "Kind off, but I feel restless. I don't think I'll be able to sleep this way."
Anna pursed her lips and nodded. She thought for a second, before proposing cheerily. "How about I read you a story?"
Elsa chuckled. "Sure."
"Awesome!" Anna said, moving to where she knew the queen kept most of her books, on the bookshelf by the window.
She frowned as she read the titles of the books she found: "History of Arendelle" volumes one, two and three, "Prehistory of Arendelle", "Economics Today, Reimbursement Tomorrow", "Agronomy: Becoming One with Earth" and…
"Astronomy: your way through the stars." Anna read out loud. "Tell me this is not your light-before-bed reading material."
Elsa stared into the blue eyes of her sister and shrugged sheepishly. "I won't tell you then."
Anna huffed, returning the book to the shelf. She couldn't believe the boring instructional books her sister's room was filled with. She could understand when her sister wasted her time reading them on the library, but on her leisure time as well? In what would knowing about astronomy help her with anyway? What a nerd, really.
"I'll get my own." She said, giving no time for protest as she exited the room.
Anna returned a few minutes later, bringing with her only one book.
"Which one is it?" Elsa asked curiously, she could not tell which story it contained simply by the books black color.
"The Snow Queen." Anna smirked, showing her the engraved picture of the Ice Queen on a horse in the front of the book.
"Haha, funny." Elsa said dryly, but when her eyes fell on the cover they widened. She recognized the book now, and not just because of the story. "Isn't that…?"
"The one you gave me for my fifth birthday? Yes." Anna said, looking the book over.
"You kept it, all these years?" Elsa asked amazed and touched.
"Of course, it was the last present I had from you." The princess almost whispered, feeling suddenly shy.
"And they both sat there, grown up, yet children at heart; and it was summer,- warm, beautiful summer. The end!" Little Elsa read aloud. She looked down to the smaller girl, her sister, who sat between her legs while resting against her. The little redhead had a pout on her mouth and the cutest frown on her brow. "What's wrong Anna, you didn't like the story?"
"No." Little Anna said soundly.
"Why not?" The blond wondered.
"Because that story is telling it wrong! You are nothing like that!" She whined, turning in her older sister's arms.
"You don't think I'm evil?" Elsa asked, with a mischievous glint in her eyes that her five year old sister failed to notice.
"Of course not!" Anna said, crossing her small arms over her smaller chest.
Elsa's grin grew. "What about now?" She threw the black book to the side and began to tickle her sister's sides. The younger girl could do nothing but shriek. She kicked with her tiny feet on her sister's thighs but it was futile, there was no escaping the relentless attack unless Elsa showed her mercy.
"Okay, okay! I give, you are the most evilsome!" Anna shouted, gasping for air when at last Elsa's fingers stopped their assault on her ribs.
"Don't you mean evilest?" Elsa corrected.
"No!" Anna rebutted, sitting Indian style on the floor. She cupped her hands to the left "You are evil…" And cupped her hands to the right. "And you are awesome." Then she moved them to the center. "So you are evilsome!" She raised them over her head as she concluded her creation of a new word.
Elsa laughed nodding her acceptance, how could she argue with that? It made Anna grin in return, but as she thought over the story once more, the little princess's demeanor changed. She stood from the floor and raised tiny fists that backed the determination in her eyes.
"But seriously Elsa, I think you are more like Kay." She nodded seriously.
The blond stopped laughing to cock her head in inquiry. "You mean, cruel?"
"What? No!" She whined, her sister was not understanding her; of course, she had yet to explain herself. "Before that! When he was nice and always played with Gerda, like you play with me!"
"Oh!" Elsa smiled, she could understand that.
"Yeah! So, if you ever need saving like Kay, I will be your Gerda." Little Anna said, her face serious and filled with a strength that Elsa had never seen before in her carefree sibling.
Elsa smiled, affected by the pure love of her sister. She pulled her into a tight hug.
So tight, that it was hard for Anna to free her face from the blonde's arm. But when she did, she added, "It's because I love you, you know?"
Elsa's smile could not have gotten wider. "I know" She said, resting her cheek on light red hair.
The queen's heart melted once again as she gazed at her bashful sister. She didn't deserve her, she was sure, but she was oh so glad she had her anyway. She wanted nothing more than to spend her days showing her sister how much she meant to her, how much she loved her, how grateful she was to have been given another chance.
She would start by beckoning her closer, "Come here Anna and read me a story." She made space on the bed for her sister to fit in more comfortably.
Anna beamed and hurried to the bed. She got under the covers and took no time in pulling the queen into her side.
Elsa got comfortable against her sister's chest while Anna began to read. "You must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get to the end we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked hobgoblin…" Her voice felt like the feathery fingers that threaded through her hair, and incited by the warmth expelled of her sister's body, the queen soon followed Morpheus.
Hours later, whispers aroused her from her doze. She gave no sign of being awake though; hoping whoever it was would leave, allowing her to continue her nap. Sadly, she was not so lucky.
"She's had a fever since this morning." She heard the uneasiness in sister's voice.
"Has she eaten anything?" A masculine voice asked. Elsa guessed the doctor had arrived.
"A little bit during lunch, but she has mostly slept." Anna answered, and Elsa wanted to defend herself against a description that made her sound like a lazy slob, but her heavy chest complicated the motion.
"I see." Was the last thing Elsa heard from the doctor before she gasped at the cold sensation of metal against her chest.
"Oh! Your highness, you are awake!" The man said, removing the stethoscope from the queen.
"I am now". Slightly annoyed, she forced herself to say through a horse throat. "Although you could have awoken me before probing me with anything."
"I'm sorry your majesty." He bowed. "But the princess didn't want to wake you."
Elsa looked up at her sister, whose eyes had a bit of mirth but were mostly covered in worry. Her gaze returned to the man that was waiting for her consent. "Fine, proceed."
And so the man did. He checked her throat, her eyes and even her ears, gaining an irritated glare from the queen that made Anna chuckle; who knew her sister was such a child when it came to doctors? Trying to do his job as painless – for him – and as fast – for the queen – as possible, the doctor took her temperature while he asked routine questions about her recent activities and general wellbeing. Anna barely let the queen answer most of those.
"No, she hasn't been eating much, or sleeping much, or walking much, or even living much I would say. The only thing she does is work." Anna answered the simple question of: Besides working, what have you been doing lately your majesty?
The doctor looked to the queen for confirmation, which she reluctantly gave. It was not like she could lie with her sister right there.
A few minutes later, the doctor took the thermometer out of Elsa's mouth. "38.5, that's pretty high my queen." He said, and Anna nodded like she had known it all along. "Your lungs seem to be rather clogged as well, probably from spending so much time in the library. I would recommend a day's rest and also, this." He said, bending to take out a can out of his bag. He gave it to the princess who was towering over him. "It's a cream made out of eucalyptus leaves and oils. Its vapor will help open up your trachea so you can breathe better. But what you have my queen is called exhaustion from too much work. And since it's not exactly an illness, I can't medicate you. However, fifteen minute baths in cold water and the continuous use of the cream should be help enough." He finished, smiling and picking up his bag.
"Alright. Thank you, doctor." Elsa rasped, trying her best to keep her eyes open. The doctor bowed before Anna guided him to the door.
When the princess turned around, the queen had fallen asleep again. Anna smiled tenderly at her feverish sister as she neared the bed.
"Elsa…you have to put the cream on." She said, but her sister was not listening, being too far gone in dreamland.
"Hmmm…" Was the only sound she got from the queen; that and a few more coughs.
Anna sighed for the umpteenth time in that day, figuring she would have to do this for her as well. Not that she minded, this would be much easier than giving her a bath, or so she thought.
So she set on opening the queen's robe once again; she imagined with humor how many lads would wish to be in her position, and felt quite superior at being the only non-servant being with such an honor. She shook her head at herself, chuckling. It was funny, but she probably shouldn't give it much mind; it was not like she should be feeling so above par because of it.
Anna untied the belt around her sister's waist and parted the robe to expose her chest and between her breast, but made sure to cover their peaks.
'It's so not fair.' She thought without envy, gaping at the expanse of her sister's flawless skin. There was not a freckle in sight, contrary to her own body that had so many freckles she was surprised her parents had not named her Spots.
The princess was taken out of her reverie by another fit of coughs from the queen. She quickly put herself to work then. Opening the jar and taking a sufficient amount, she began to rub it onto the blonde's chest in a circular motion.
Instantly, a relieved moan left Elsa's lips. Anna watched, transfixed, as her sister's lungs began to take in deeper breathes. She widened the circles and then reduced them as she lowered her palm to between the breasts before lifting it up to the slim neck, feeling the velvety texture of the queen's skin.
"It's so soft….I wonder how it tastes." She murmured, captivated by the body in her care.
"What?" Elsa uttered sleepily.
Anna gasped unaware that she had said that out loud as well as of her sister's consciousness. "Ah…the cream! I wonder how the cream tastes, because you know it smells nice and it's green so it should taste like mint right? But mint is pretty bad if you put too much in your mouth so maybe some other example would be bett– " She ranted, stopping only when she heard her sister chuckle.
"I doubt it tastes very good Anna, is made out of eucalyptus leaves, remember?" The queen smiled, and even with her eyes closed she managed to find her sister's hand, which had been unmoving on her chest since she began speaking, and coerced it to continue its ministrations. The soft palm of her sister rubbing on her chest alleviated all of her aches.
Anna swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched her sister move her hand around her torso. "Y-yes, I…I remember."
It did not take Elsa much longer to retake her place in dream world. Anna took the opportunity to go into the kitchen and ask the servants for green tea. As she waited by one of the chairs by the counter, Kristoff appeared. She was initially surprised by his presence, she had not been expecting him at all; being so preoccupied with her sister had prevented her from sparing him a thought during the whole day.
"Kristoff!" She exclaimed as he gave her a big hug.
"Anna!" He mocked joyfully. "Look what I got!" He pulled from his jacket two tickets. She inspected them; they were for a sledge race that would take place that evening.
"Oh." Was all she said while staring at the tickets.
"…you don't sound very excited." He deflated.
"Ah, no it's not that." Although part of it was. Sledges were his thing, not hers. She would support him…from afar if possible. "But I still can't go."
"What? Why not?" This was the second time he had come all this way to invite her out and she had right out rejected him.
"My sister is sick." She explained, returning the tickets to his hand.
"Sick?" His frown was full of queries.
"Yeah I know, it's strange, but she is. Has a pretty bad fever."
"Oh, I see." He said, accepting but disappointed, knowing very well that he couldn't quite tell her that her sister was an adult, and that she would be fine in the care of the maids and royal doctor, especially considering how much he knew his girlfriend loved her sister; that wouldn't be right. So he resigned himself to another rejection. "I'll take Olaf then."
"I'm sorry Kristoff." She said sincerely. She felt bad for denying him so much lately, but her sister came first; she always had and she always would.
"It's fine. I understand." He said, turning to leave.
"Oh wait!" Anna called out, dropping from the stool she had been perched on. Kristoff looked at her expectantly. "A lot of people are going to be in that event right?"
Kristoff nodded. "I would think so."
"Then, could you try to find out something about the village incident while you are there? I doubt Elsa has found anything and I'm not good with research so…"
"Sure, I'll keep an ear out." He shrugged.
"Thank you!" As a reward, Anna gave him a huge smile and raised herself on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. He could not help but smile at that.
The maids came to her with the green tea as Kristoff was leaving the castle. She told them she would take it up herself and made her way back to her sister's bedroom, smiling at having found a way to help her sister in her issues; even if indirectly.
However, her satisfied cast changed to one of perplexed curiosity as she neared the blue closed door. She could hear a conversation taking place on the other side, which baffled her even more because she had left her sister sleeping and alone.
She hesitated, and with a frown on her face listened to what she could gather, "What do you mean you can't tell me anything?" She heard the hoarse voice of her sister.
"I said, I couldn't tell you anything yet." A deeper, rougher voice spoke.
"Erasto, part of my kingdom has been damaged without my knowledge, the rest lies in peril because of that same dangerous ghost, and you are withholding information from me? From your queen!" The yell of her sister set her into action.
Anna pushed the door open with little decorum, eager to know who was upsetting her sister so. What she found was certainly not what she was expecting. She had assumed it to be one of the royal consultants, but there was no human in the room. There was a troll however, and not just any troll, sitting on the windowsill was Grandpappi. The tea cup almost fell from her hands.
"Grandpapi, what are you doing here?" She turned to her sister. "And Elsa, you know Grandpappi?"
There was a moment of silence as the queen gathered her bearings and the elder troll assessed the situation.
"Um, yes, although I call him Erasto." The queen said at last. Anna turned to the troll, waiting for an answer from him.
Erasto had not planned for this to occur; he had miscalculated the time it would take to make tea. Now he would have to fix it, except, there was no instant repair. He's only way out, was in. He would have to allow Anna to know the truth he thought was no unnecessary now.
"Anna, I'm here on royal business you could say. I was after all, the queen's tutor."
Anna frowned. If he had been the queen's tutor, it meant that he had known Elsa and her, since before Kristoff introduced them.
"You know Elsa since before she sealed herself away?" She concluded, moving to set the teacup on the night table before she spilled its contents all over the carpeted floor.
"No, not before, since." Grandpappi replied.
"Anna…" Elsa interjected. She could see the wheels turning inside her sister's head, and she would prefer to tell her herself before the redhead could achieve a misunderstanding. "Erasto, or Grandpappi as you call him, was the one who saved you from me, all those years ago." Elsa finished, a past sadness overtaking her again.
"Saved me? From you?" Anna asked, wondering how a troll she had only just met little more than a year ago could have saved her in her childhood.
Elsa clasped at her sheets. "Yes, you don't remember this, but when we were little we were playing in the ballroom with my magic and I accidentally hit you. You fell unconscious on the floor and our parents ran with us to the mountain. Erasto saved you by locking away every memory you had of my magic, and I – I sealed myself away, to keep you safe from me."
Anna could not believe this. "So all our childhood is a lie?" She asked with a tremor in her voice.
"No, I took out the magic, but left the fun."
'Of course, because that was better', Anna thought miserably.
Elsa saw the tears that began to gather on her sister's eyes. "Anna don't be mad at him, he saved us." She pleaded.
"Saved us? The only thing he did was separate us. Because of him we were forced into a solitary life!" Anna shouted. All those years of loneliness, of rejection, of feeling unloved, and even worst, all the times he could have told her the truth behind them with every visit she gave to the mountains, yet he kept it to himself.
"Anna, I was the one who stayed locked away even after our parents died. It is my fault that you were so alone, and I'm sorry." Elsa cried.
"I did what the king asked of me, but had to be done to keep you both alive." Erasto replied. "Now you know exactly why your childhood was so lonely, but tell me Anna, what good did it do?"
Anna watched as the troll left the room by dropping from the window. Her nails dug into her palms. She was just so mad. If he had taken a second to tell her what was going on during her childhood, just a second to explain it to her, neither she nor her sister would have felt so desperately lonely for so many years, because Anna was sure that she would have gotten through that closed door, through her sister's own fear and through the constant rejection that came with it. She would have found her way to her.
"Anna." Elsa called out to her. Anna's glare fell on her, not because the ginger wanted to dispense her hate over her, but because she could not get rid of it; she doubted she would be able to remove it for a while. "Please tell me you understand why I did what did."
Elsa had a profound need for her sister to understand that she had never meant to hurt her, just to protect her.
Anna blinked her tears, and with a quiver in her voice she said, "I do, but…I need to go."
And with that she turned and left the room.