CHAPTER 8

The sisters made their way out of the ice palace as the sun dipped below the horizon. They said goodbye to the two snowmen still diligently standing guard at the base of the stairs and entered the carriage that awaited them. They once again snuggled up to each other in the privacy that the vehicle offered, and it wasn't long before Elsa noticed faint snoring emanating from the auburn-haired girl in her arms.

Elsa smiled warmly and held her sister tighter. It had been a long day and she was quite tired herself. She closed her eyes, hoping to find rest as Anna had, but sleep eluded her. After spending a few frustrating minutes trying to silence her overactive mind, she chose to simply keep her eyes closed and reflect on everything that has been happening.

She smiled as she came upon a memory; one of her favorites. She sighed happily as the scene from five months ago replayed itself in her head.

Elsa let out an exasperated sigh as she left the conference room. Her advisers were ruthless in their attempts to sway her decisions, and the Queen had grown tired of it. She had raised her voice to reprimand them for undermining her authority and they had quieted, although Elsa was positive that it was the ice that slowly crept across the table from where her fists met the oak surface that drove the point home.

The Queen smirked slightly. She hadn't planned on the ice, but she was pleased with the results.

Elsa walked to her study with the intent of finishing the day's paperwork so she could finally relax. As she entered the room, she felt a breeze and noticed that her balcony doors were open. Her balcony was where she went when she wanted to escape the realities of the day. There, she took in the sunlight and simply observed her kingdom. She began to wonder who could possibly be out there, but was distracted by the scents and sounds of the waning summer that the wind brought through the doors.

The Queen breathed the air in deeply. Despite her affinity for ice and snow, she absolutely loved the summer. Everything about it was wonderful. She savored the life that summer brought with it, as well as the warmth that the Sun's rays brought upon Arendelle. It reminded her, despite her isolated upbringing, that Jörð was not a cold, dead place. The summer reminded her of hope, and of love.

Mostly, however, it reminded her of Anna.

Elsa had come to terms with her untoward feelings with her sister. She knew that it was wrong, it was a sin, it was vile, but she didn't care. It was how she felt and there was nothing that could change that, even if she could never act on the feelings. After the events on the fjord, she knew that what she felt was true love, and Anna was living proof that love conquers all.

The Queen's face reddened with embarrassment as she recalled the origin of her feelings. She remembered the days immediately after her coronation, when Anna and Kristoff became a couple. She grew to dislike the man despite his kind and easy-going personality. Elsa originally believed she was just being protective of Anna. She did have a duty to protect her younger sister, after all. The only flaw with that logic was that Kristoff treated Anna extremely well. He was kind and respectful towards her at all times. There was nothing to protect her from.

Elsa only realized her true emotions when Kristoff and Anna separated. Outwardly, Elsa was sympathetic to Anna. Internally, however, she was glad. Her happiness that the two were no longer together trumped everything else. The Queen couldn't believe how immature her emotions were.

Anna began to spend more and more time her after the breakup. As time went on, Elsa's negative feelings about Kristoff diminished. It was then she realized the source of her unjustifiable animosity towards the man.

She was jealous of him.

Elsa spent the next week trying to understand her emotions, and after many sleepless nights, she simply accepted it for what it was: she was in love with her sister.

With that thought, she began to wander across her study and out the doors to see who was occupying her favorite place in the castle. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the Princess leaning on the railings, taking in the peaceful image of the city. Her twin copper braids swayed gently in the breeze, glowing with the sunlight shining down on her. The Princess radiated warmth and Elsa could feel the positive aura from the doorway.

She smiled. Anna really was the embodiment of everything that made the summer amazing.

Elsa approached the woman and mimicked her pose, resting her arms on the balcony. She then laid her head on the shorter woman's shoulder, taking in her presence. Anna jumped slightly at the contact before smiling down at her.

"Hi, Elsa." the Princess said, resting her head atop the Queen's own and placing an arm around her shoulders.

"Hello, Anna." Elsa replied. "What are you doing out here?"

She took a moment to formulate her answer. Elsa could practically hear the gears turning in the younger woman's head. For the time it took her to formulate a response, her answer was surprisingly simple.

"Thinking." the redhead responded.

Elsa broke the contact and stood upright, hands now on the railing. She looked quizzically at her sister.

"Well, be careful not to hurt yourself." She said mockingly. Anna shoved her lightly in retaliation. Elsa laughed and continued.

"So what are you thinking about?" Again, Anna's face scrunched up and the Queen thought she saw nervousness in the expression. The Princess fell into deep thought. After a long silence, she finally replied.

"Love, mostly."

Elsa was perplexed.

"Love?" the Queen asked. "What about love?"

Anna pushed herself off of the bannister and began to pace back and forth on the balcony. Elsa turned and sat on the railing to watch her sister. The younger woman was definitely nervous about something, but Elsa couldn't figure out the cause.

"I've been trying to figure out what it is." the Princess began to explain. "I mean, I know what love is, I loved Mama and Papa, I love Kristoff and Olaf as friends, and I love you."

Elsa flinched at the last statement. She doubted that Anna knew about the indecent feelings that she had for her, but the statement made her anxious none the less.

"But I'm not so sure of what true love is. I have an idea, but I need to be sure." Anna continued, still pacing and speaking animatedly. "Twice did I think that I knew what true love was, but that was all thrown out the window. Obviously Hans was a mistake, but Kristoff was different. At least I thought he was."

Elsa followed her sister with her eyes as the girl walked back and forth. Anna was opening up to her, so instead of responding, she simply let the Princess keep talking.

"The trolls thought he was my true love, Olaf thought he was my true love, even I thought he was my true love. I did love him, I really did, but it felt... I don't know..." She paused for a moment, trying to find the words.

"It felt empty; like something was missing." The redhead continued. "There was love there; we definitely loved each other, but it wasn't true. Despite what I and everyone else thought, Kristoff wasn't my true love."

The Princess stopped pacing and turned towards the Queen nervously.

Barely above a whisper, she spoke again.

"You are, Elsa."

Elsa's eyes shot open. She didn't know whether she could trust her ears. Did Anna really just say that? Did she hear correctly? She must have misheard her.

"Anna, I- what?"

A half-grin formed on the redhead's face.

"On the fjord, the day that... well, you know. I was trying to get to Kristoff. I thought his kiss could save me. But the closer I got, the more my vision focused on you. Even though the blizzard was blinding, I saw you, clear as day. I was so cold, I could barely move. I could feel the ice coursing through my veins."

Elsa's eyes fell to the floor and she frowned. She would never truly forgive herself for what had happened. She only raised her head when she noticed Anna was slowly walking towards her.

"I couldn't find Kristoff, I couldn't see anything. But I could see you. It was like you were glowing; golden, the same way the fjord reflects the sunlight. Then the air stilled and I saw Hans raise his sword. Despite how stiff and cold I was, something inside me gave me the strength to get up and run to you. It all happened in slow motion, and the next thing I knew, I was in between you and Hans. I didn't know what made me able to see you and what made me able to reach you in time."

"Anna, what are you-" Elsa started, but she was cut off by her sister.

"What happened on the fjord haunted me. Something didn't feel right. I didn't understand. Until one night a few days ago. I had a nightmare about what happened. I must have yelled out loud, because I woke up and there you were, ready to comfort me. In that moment, I understood what had happened out on the fjord."

Elsa was sweating now. She was struggling to force the lump in her throat back down with little success. Anna was only a few feet away now.

"I realized that it wasn't Kristoff's love that saved me, or Olaf's, or Mama's or Papa's or anyone else. It was my love for you, our love for each other. Our love helped me find you. Our love helped me save you."

Elsa shuddered as she felt a warm hand on her face. The temperature dropped suddenly and the Queen struggled to reign in her powers. She looked up and met the most beautiful teal eyes, glistening with the light from the Sun.

"Grand Pabbie said it himself; "Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart." The act of true love that thawed my frozen heart was my sacrifice for you. My sacrifice for my one true love."

Suddenly, Anna's lips were on hers. Elsa jumped at the warmth she felt, eyes as wide as the Moon. She couldn't breathe. The contact was light, a feather's touch, but it was real. At least, she hoped it was real. The light flurry that began to fall around them was a good indication that it was.

Anna pulled away after a few seconds and looked into her sister's eyes. Elsa saw nothing but the purest love behind the glowing orbs.

"Elsa, you were my true love that day. You are my true love, still. It was always you. It always will be."

Elsa couldn't believe it. She stood there, mouth hanging open in complete shock.

Anna loved her.

As if the Princess read her thoughts, she took her hands and whispered.

"I love you, Elsa. I am in love you, and I know it's wrong and it's disgusting and it's vile and... and I've never felt happier"

Before Elsa could respond, Anna embraced her and their lips met again. The kiss was filled with passion and urgency this time. Anna was putting all of her feelings behind it, and unlike the first time, Elsa kissed her back.

The sisters separated and stared into each others eyes. Elsa wasn't sure if she could trust her voice, but she spoke anyway.

"Anna. My sweet Anna. I love you too, more than you could ever know."

An enormous smile stretched across the Princess's face and the two sisters fell into a loving embrace.

Anna was in love with her. They were in love with each other.

It was taboo, and wrong, and a sin, but Elsa didn't care.

Nothing that felt this right could possibly be bad.

Elsa opened her eyes, a goofy smile stretched across her face. The carriage came to a halt in front of the castle, and Elsa gently shook Anna to wake her. Anna's eyes opened and looked up at Elsa's grin. She yawned and stretched her arms to her sides.

"What's with the weird smile?" the Princess asked?

Elsa giggled. "Nothing. I just love you." she replied.

Anna leaned up and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"I love you too, silly." she said before exiting the carriage.

Elsa's smile grew even wider.

A/N

Hiya everybody. Here's the story of how they got together in my little universe, as promised. Still fluffy, still adorable.

I kinda feel bad for Kristoff; he seems to end up heartbroken in most ElsAnna fics, and this one is probably no different. Maybe I'll give him an OC to fall in love with. I don't know.

I threw in a reference to one of my favorite bands (that I happened to be listening to as I was writing) in this chapter; see if you can figure it out.

Also, "Jörð" is old Norse for Earth. IN Norse Mythology, Jörð was a female giant that was the Mother of Thor; she was also the personification of Earth. So now we're learning! Yay!

Stay tuned, chapter 9 has some fun revelations and some more plot twists and turns (they're more like plot bendy straws)!

Love ya ta pieces, and don't forget to review!

-Cosmic