Hey guys, I apologize once again for the delay. This chapter proved to be the toughest one yet. I had an idea in my head, but then I got stuck and didn't know where to go from there. But here it is, chapter 4. Originally, this chapter was mostly gonna be about Elsa comforting Anna during a thunderstorm, but I thought I'd start it out with Anna asking Elsa to build a snowman for maybe the first time. But don't worry; both ideas are in here and there's still plenty of cuteness. :) Thank you so much for all the reviews, faves, and follows! You guys keep me going! Anyway, hope you enjoy, and keep reviewing!

Chapter 4: I Will Be Right Here

Elsa – 5; Anna – 2

It was a beautiful spring day in Arendelle. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the flowers in the royal garden were in bloom. But best of all, it was finally warm enough to spend a day outside. Many of the citizens were out and about in the streets, going to the market or just taking a stroll in the sunshine. Children chased each other around while their parents talked with friends or haggled over prices. Only one little girl, the crown princess, to be exact, wasn't joining in the fun.

Elsa was holed up in her room, sitting at her desk, which was strewn with papers covered with different markings, chewing distractedly on a long pencil. Suddenly, a series of knocks on her door startled her from her concentration. Before she could say or do anything, the door burst open with a crash and Anna came running in, wearing a green sundress.

"Essie! Essie!" she said. She still couldn't quite get the "L" or the "A" out, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Ever since Anna had learned to say her name, Elsa had been trying to get her to say the two letters that she was missing, but hadn't been having much luck. She had stopped going to her parents about it because she knew that they would just say the same thing they always did, that Anna would say all of it when she was ready. "Come pay, come pay!"

Elsa sighed, whether out of disappointment or frustration, she didn't know. "I can't, Anna," she said. "I'm trying to learn my letters."

"No!" Anna said, running over to her and pulling on her hand. "Essie pay Anna! Essie pay Anna!"

Elsa sighed again, this time out of frustration. "I can't, Anna, I'm busy," she said, and she went back to her letters.

There was silence except for the scratching of Elsa's pencil and the occasional crumpling of paper as she scrunched up her mistakes. Then she heard a small, quiet voice behind her.

"Essie noman?"

Elsa dropped her pencil in surprise and turned to look at her two-year-old sister. She smiled at her and said, "Sure, Anna, we can build a snowman."

"Yay!" said Anna, and she started pulling on Elsa's hand again. "Essie pay! Essie pay!"

This time, Elsa allowed herself to be led out of the room and into the hall. It was only about mid-afternoon, but the castle was mostly quiet, except for their running footsteps, which echoed loudly in the deserted hallways.

"Anna, slow down!" Elsa said. "Quiet feet!" But Anna didn't listen and just pulled her hand harder.

Anna was running so fast, Elsa was afraid that she might fall, but surprisingly, she didn't. They practically flew down the hall until they reached the stairs, where Elsa pulled back on Anna's hand to make her stop before she tumbled down.

"Anna, stop," she said.

"Why?" Anna asked, looking up at her.

"I don't want you falling down," Elsa answered.

"Why?" Anna asked again.

"'Cause you might get hurt," Elsa said.

"Oh," said Anna, making a pouty face.

"But know what we can do?" Elsa whispered, bending down in front of Anna. "We can make a slide."

"Side?" Anna said.

"Yeah, slide," Elsa said. "Watch." She stood up, spread her hands out in front of her, and shot a blast of magic at the stairs, coating them in a thin sheet of ice that reached from the top all the way down to the bottom. Elsa then sat down at the very edge and patted her legs. Anna plopped down and Elsa put her arms around her.

"Hold on tight," Elsa said, but Anna just giggled. Elsa pushed forward and down they went, Anna giggling all the way down, reaching the bottom safe and sound. Anna bounced off Elsa's lap and started jumping around.

"Agin! Agin!" she said, clapping her hands.

"No, Anna, that's enough," Elsa said, and she melted the slide, leaving no trace of ice behind. "Come on." She held out her hand, Anna took it, and they continued on their way, Anna bouncing alongside her. They were going to the ballroom, their "special place", as Elsa called it. She didn't know why she called it that; it just was. They were almost there when Elsa said, "Now, Anna, I'm not s'posed to leave my room when I have lessons to do, so if you wanna build a snowman, we have to be very—"

She stopped suddenly, making Anna stop, too. Nanny Hanne was standing right in the middle of the hallway, in front of the doors leading to the ballroom. It appeared she had known that they would try to sneak down there at this precise moment. She seemed to have a knack for that sort of thing.

"—quiet," Elsa finished.

Nanny Hanne came up to them. She did not look happy, though Elsa couldn't remember if she had ever looked happy. "What are you doing out of your room, young lady?" she asked Elsa, her hands on her hips.

"Anna and I were just—"

"I don't want to hear it," Nanny Hanne interrupted, putting a hand up to stop her. "You know you're not allowed out of your room until you've finished your lessons. If your father knew about this, he would be even more upset than I am right now."

Elsa looked timidly up at Nanny Hanne. Her dark eyes were narrowed, her nostrils were flaring, and her mouth was set in the thinnest of thin lines. She didn't think anyone could look more upset than that.

Nanny Hanne was still glaring at her. "There is no reason for you to be out of your room while you have lessons to finish," she said. "What could possibly have distracted you?"

Elsa looked down at Anna, who was sucking her thumb and apparently completely oblivious to what was going on. She always told the truth, even when she hated to. But right now, she hated it more than ever. She hung her head and said quietly, "I'm sorry, Nanny Hanne. Anna wanted to build a snowman, and I—I couldn't resist."

Nanny Hanne, of course, knew about Elsa's powers, being one of the "closer" staff members. "That is no excuse," she said. "You will go straight back upstairs and finish those lessons. Right now. March."

She hadn't yelled, but Elsa took her stern voice very seriously, and she turned around and led Anna back upstairs to their room. She closed the door and went to sit back down at her desk.

Anna was still standing by the door. "Essie noman?" she said quietly.

Elsa couldn't look at her. "I'm sorry, Anna," she said, her head down. "We have to wait till later."

"Essie?" Anna said.

"I said later!" Elsa said loudly, then immediately clapped her hand to her mouth. She had never yelled at her sister before. She looked around at Anna, expecting to see her crying, but she wasn't. She was standing in the exact same spot by the door, just looking at her with her big blue eyes. Elsa sighed and went over to her. "I'm sorry, Anna. Maybe we can build a snowman after I'm done with my lessons, okay?"

But after learning her letters for the day, Elsa had a bit of arithmetic and then some reading, both of which took her a little longer than her letters. By the time she finished, it was almost supper time, and after, they would only have half an hour to an hour of playtime. But Elsa had promised that she would build a snowman with Anna, even if it was just a little one in their room.

But as it turned out, Nanny Hanne had told the king what Elsa had done that afternoon, about trying to skip her lessons and going out to play with Anna. Just as Nanny Hanne had predicted, he was not happy. He gave Elsa a very stern talking to, and said that as punishment, there would be no playtime with Anna that evening and that she would go straight to bed after supper. Elsa thought the punishment was unfair, but she didn't say anything, knowing that she deserved it.

So after a very quiet and tense supper, Nanny Hanne escorted Elsa and Anna back upstairs to their room. She dressed them in their nightgowns, put them in bed, and left without a word. Elsa lay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, fighting the urge to cry. She was a big girl, and big girls didn't cry. But she wanted to cry more than anything. So as not to disturb Anna, she put her face into her pillow and cried silently until she fell asleep.

Elsa woke a few hours later to a low rumble of thunder and rain pattering the window. It sounded like they were having their first spring thunderstorm. Elsa didn't mind rain; she loved hearing it patter on the ground and the windows. She just didn't like the thunder and lightning that sometimes accompanied it, which is why she had woken, when normally, she would have slept soundly all through the night, despite the rain.

Elsa snuggled back down into her blankets and closed her eyes, but was startled awake a few moments later by a loud rumble and then a crash of thunder, followed by a bright flash of lightning. Then she heard a scurrying of feet and a small voice by her bed.

"Essie! Essie!" It was Anna. Her voice was quivering; she sounded scared.

Elsa sat up and looked down at her sister. "What's the matter, Anna?" she asked.

"I scared," Anna said. "Seep Essie?"

"Yes, Anna, you can sleep with me," said Elsa, and she helped Anna scramble onto her bed. She tucked her in beside her and put her arms around her. "Are you still scared?"

Anna nodded, her thumb in her mouth.

"It's okay to be scared," Elsa said, looking down at her. "Everybody gets scared sometimes."

"Essie scared?" Anna asked, looking up at her.

Elsa smiled at her. "Yes, I get scared, too," she said. "But you know what I do when I get scared? I have Mama sing to me. Want me to sing to you?"

Anna nodded silently.

"Okay," said Elsa, taking a deep breath, and she began to sing in a sweet, soothing voice while rocking back and forth with Anna.

"Hush, my little angel,

Don't you cry.

I love you,

Now dry your eyes.

I know you're sad,

But I'm right here.

I'll never leave.

Rest your head now and sleep."

Elsa looked down at her baby sister. She was asleep again with her thumb in her mouth. Elsa hummed and continued rocking. She could still hear the rain and the thunder, but in this moment with her sister, it all seemed so far away, like they were in another world. She gently kissed Anna's forehead and whispered, "Don't worry, Anna. I will be right here. I will always be right here."

This chapter is a bit shorter than my other ones, but I was just so tired of looking at it, that I hurried to get it done and get it off my back. I hope it doesn't seem rushed in any way.

Did you recognize the lullaby Elsa sang to Anna? I made it up for one of my other stories, "Opening New Doors", in which a grown (and pregnant) Elsa sings it to Kirsten, Anna and Kristoff's little girl. I thought it would be more special if Elsa had sung it to Anna first. :)

Oh, another reason for the delay of this chapter is that I've recently gotten into Once Upon a Time. And no, it's not just 'cause of Frozen being added (although that's part of the reason), but because my friend suggested I watch it. I just finished the first season on Amazon Instant Video and I LOVE IT! It's so engaging! I can't believe I haven't watched it before now!

Well, again, hope you enjoyed! Another chapter coming soon! (If I'm not distracted by OUAT.) :)