Too impatient to not post. Here's the last chapter. More notes at the end. :)
For the next several days, nobody sees the princess. She only unlocks the door for people bringing food. It rapidly becomes clear that Anna's normally enormous appetite has been lost. More dishes come back untouched than don't. Even then, only a minimum of food gets eaten. When Kai, Kristoff or Elsa knocks at her door, the only reply is silence. Anna wouldn't even talk to the servants bringing her food.
After a couple days, Elsa is allowed to leave the bed with her arm in a sling. The queen can often be found listening quietly at Anna's door. Most times, all she hears is muffled crying from inside the room. Nighttime is no better for Anna. The whole wing gets woken up several times a night from Anna screaming because of a nightmare. Regardless, Anna will not unlock the door for the people who want to comfort her.
On the sixth day after Elsa's release from bed rest, she figured enough was enough. To delay any longer wouldn't help Anna. Between Anna's behavior and the constant nightmares, things were not getting better. All she was doing was torturing herself. Elsa walked to Anna's door with a determined expression.
Knock. Knock. "Anna, please open the door."
Nothing.
"Anna, I'm not going away until I see you."
Nothing.
"If you won't open the door, I'll force my way in. What you are doing is not healthy and I'm worried. Trust me; I know this better than anybody. Please Anna, let me in."
After a few moments of silence, Elsa could hear Anna moving around. Finally, the slide lock on the door draws back, allowing the door to open. Pushing the door open slowly, Elsa looks around the room. In the dim light, Elsa can see a sitting room table with one chair pulled out. The full height mirror in the corner has huge cracks spreading out from where something hit it, but no pieces have fallen out yet. At a small stand near the mirror, Anna's brush lays untouched, a spider's web between it and the nearby mirror. Window curtains are drawn tightly closed, allowing very little light into the room. The bed is a mass of rumpled and dirty covers, many hanging down to the floor. A broken wash basin sits in another corner, where it appears to have been thrown. A stain is on one wall, with a food dish lying on the ground underneath.
By this time, Anna has sat down on the edge of the bed. Her hair is unkempt as are her clothes. In fact, they appear to be the same clothes she first wore into the room several days earlier. Untouched trays of food sit on the floor near the door.
Elsa walks slowly around Anna and carefully kneels in front of her. Getting a closer look at Anna's face in the dim light, she isn't sure which is worse, the puffy red eyes or the deep dark rings around them.
"Anna, talk to me."
"Why? It took you thirteen years and a frozen kingdom to get you to talk to me," whispers Anna.
"Anna, if you can't let it go, the feelings will eat you up from inside. Please Anna. Let me help," whispers Elsa. The hurt from Anna's comment was masked by the obvious concern mirrored in her face and soft spoken words.
"I can't get their faces out of my mind. The guard's mangled face, Hazel's shattered body and watching her eyes frost over, and – and hammering YOUR face until it became thousands of ice shards." Anna starts a new round of sobbing as she continues. "I was careless, and it cost innocent lives. One of them, I really grew to care about in our short time together. She trusted me, defended me, and I let her down. Before she died, she THANKED me for trusting her. I see her every time I go to sleep, saying she trusted me and asking why I let her die. I even let that physician die by acting too slow. I don't even know his name!"
"Anna-"
"The worst is when I k-killed your alter ego. That wasn't carelessness or an accident. It was cold blooded, calculated, premeditated murder of my sister. I see her every night as well, congratulating me on a well thought out killing, my murder of her. The ONLY reason it worked is that I appealed to her ego! I made it so she couldn't disappear, then I smashed her arms and legs to make her helpless. Then I smashed the head and body, I beat her – you – to death. And then I just kept on beating the body-"
"Anna, bad things happen. Sometimes you have no control over it. My evil self probably arranged it so that no matter what you did, an innocent got killed. Hazel was your protector, you told me that yourself. To get to you, my other self would have to remove her somehow."
"In everything you did, you worked for the best interests of the people of Arendelle. While you didn't physically sacrifice yourself this time, you did sacrifice your heart and your innocence for our people. It doesn't make it any easier to handle, but only ONE person blames you for what you did. That person IS you."
"I should have been quicker, or done more –"
"How?" interrupts Elsa. You evacuated the castle of everybody you could, paired up guards to make accidents harder to happen, and increased patrols. You took personal control of each and every situation. Your solutions were reasonable and worked. If it wasn't for my dark side, you would have had no problems controlling this."
Anna just sits on the edge of the bed without responding, looking doubtful.
"Look Anna, you need to see the positive side of this as well. How many lives were saved by your actions? How many of the people are not scarred for life because you had the courage to act? How many people don't have to mourn her victims? Focus on that and move on, or you'll kill yourself from the inside. Please think on this."
The queen waits for her sister to respond, and continues talking when she doesn't. "I have things I need to take care of, but I'll be back at nightfall. You won't have to say anything to me if you don't want to. I'll stay with you as long as I can. I – I need you, as much as you need me. I want my sister back, and I'm not willing to wait another thirteen years."
Elsa stands up and walks out the door, pausing in the doorway to look back. Anna hadn't moved except to stare at the floor in front of her. As promised, Elsa returned at nightfall, scared she would be locked out by Anna.
Knock. Knock. "Anna?"
Nothing.
Pushing on the door after not getting a response, Elsa is relieved it wasn't locked. Opening the door enough to enter, Elsa can see Anna on the bed leaning against the headboard. Anna appears to be fighting falling asleep; the haunted look still firmly embedded in her eyes.
Quietly, Elsa walks in. In her good arm, she carries a basin of warm water, a washcloth and towel over her shoulder. Without a word, she places the basin on the nightstand. With great care, Elsa slowly washes Anna's face, arms, and legs. Once complete, Elsa takes the basin and towels out of the room.
When she returns, she is carrying two nightgowns. After helping Anna change, Elsa changes into her nightgown. Rather than creating one from ice, she wears a normal nightgown. It is a difficult task with only one arm working properly.
Taking Anna by the hand and leading her to sit in a chair, Elsa starts the long process of brushing Anna's matted and dirty hair. Finally, after about an hour, Elsa finishes and crouches down in front of Anna so they are face to face.
"Come to bed love, I'm here for you."
Nodding, Anna stands up and turns to the bed. For a moment, she just stands there staring at the bed with a fearful look in her eyes. Elsa leads her back to the bed and eases Anna into it with soft words of encouragement. Elsa climbs into bed behind her sister and wraps the younger girl in her arms as best she can. Silently, she just holds her as Anna cries herself to sleep.
Elsa has a very rough time as Anna wakes up from various nightmares that first night. The first couple times, Anna clings to her like a lost child. Elsa silently ignores the pain lancing from her shoulder as Anna grasps her in fear. The third nightmare, Anna pushes Elsa away and stumbles out of the bed. From the look on Anna's face, you would think Elsa had grown another head. It took just over twenty minutes of gentle coaxing to get Anna back into bed, and longer still to get her to sleep. All in all, neither of the girls slept much that night.
The next day pretty well sets Elsa's routine for the following several days. First thing in the morning, Elsa helps Anna clean herself up, starting with either a sponge bath or a full bath. Next, she would brush and braid Anna's hair. Elsa has to make use of her injured arm for braiding her hair, as she doesn't feel Anna is ready for other visitors yet. She is careful not to let Anna see how much the use of her arm actually hurts.
Next comes breakfast together, where Elsa has to feed Anna almost every bite like a small child. Elsa stays in the room until lunch, either in silence or in a monologue about trivial things happening outside the room. Any responses from Anna are short and monotone, when she responds at all.
After lunch, Elsa leaves the room to handle any personal matters or any important issues that must be addressed by the queen. Kai is a great help in selecting the most important issues, and handling the rest in conjunction with the ruling council. She is careful to ALWAYS return before suppertime.
After supper, but well before bedtime, she tries to draw Anna into talking about how she feels. Even when she can't get a response from the younger girl, Elsa usually winds up holding her as she cries. At bedtime, Elsa always helps her change, brushes out her braids, and cuddles up close to hold her as she sleeps.
It takes about another week for Anna to really open up to her sister in the evenings. Elsa can never be sure if Anna will be apologizing for every little thing, or if Anna will be shouting at her because of her alter ego. Regardless of Anna's actions, she always shows a calm face. Some of Anna's comments are like daggers to her heart, but she NEVER lets it show. Once Anna does open up, she notes Anna is responding more often in the morning talks, and the nightmares start to decrease.
Other improvements also occur, like Kai and Kristoff being allowed into the room to talk. Elsa is VERY thankful of Kristoff taking over the morning and evening hair brushing sessions. Elsa, Kai, and Kristoff decide that it is best if only Elsa is to try to draw out Anna's feelings. The others will only be supportive and discuss trivial matters, unless Anna decides to open up to them. Elsa makes no secret to Anna about sharing their discussions with the two men, but also indicates she will keep certain details from them when Anna requests it.
Only one visit is out of this pattern, when Kai and Kristoff come by together to discuss one of Anna's experiences.
Knock. Knock. "Miss Anna, can Kristoff and I come in to discuss a sensitive matter?"
"Do we have to?" inquires Anna.
"It may be important for you, or we wouldn't disturb you," replies Kristoff.
Slowly, the door opens and Anna peers out at them uncertainly. After a moment, she motions them in. The two men enter and walk to the table. Anna motions for them to sit, but Kai declines. "You may need the seat more than me, considering our topic." Anna shoots him a worried look before she and Kristoff sit down. Kai goes to stand near Kristoff.
"Anna, we've been discussing the time that Elsa's evil clone tried to kill Elsa herself. There were some things that didn't make sense to us, and we couldn't clear it up with Elsa either. Kai and I don't think Elsa was in as much danger as it seemed."
"We hate to be the ones to bring up bad memories, especially right now. After our discussions, we feel that the meeting was staged," added Kai.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the biggest thing giving us the idea it was staged was the method used to kill Elsa. She killed the physician outright. Considering her morals, she had no remorse about any of her actions, including murder. Why didn't she just kill Elsa with the dagger? Why use such a slow method? Why wait for you to arrive before she appeared to take more action?"
"What Kristoff means is that she would have killed Elsa with the dagger, if this was a serious attempt. We could only see a few other options. Either it was another distraction, an initial attempt to torment you, or YOU were the real target," clarified Kai.
"We feel that if Hazel wasn't with you, you would have been attacked while you attended to your sister. Even if you survived, help would not be close at hand. In hindsight, we think you were being manipulated in that meeting, maybe even in other meetings as well. We thought it may put Hazel's loyalty into question, but her dying words would indicate she was as loyal as she seemed."
Anna nodded before saying "That may explain what Della said as she disappeared. I could have sworn she said 'interesting'."
"That may have been a reaction to Hazel changing sides unexpectedly. She may not have anticipated that possibility. We may never know," said Kristoff.
"Anyway, it's something to think about. We'll leave you to digest this possibility." Kai casts a meaningful glance at Kristoff. "We are always here if you need us, and you are always in our thoughts."
"Thank you," replies Anna as the men get ready to leave.
"Don't be a stranger, OK?" asks Kristoff as he gives her a hug.
"I'll try," whispers Anna, with a catch in her voice.
By Elsa's third week in the room, Anna is changing her own clothes, eating full meals on her own, and opening up directly to Kristoff and Kai. While nightmares still persist, they are much less vivid and not every night. Anna even starts allowing Elsa and Kristoff to take her on short trips around the castle and nearby areas of town, which greatly improves her mood. Anna seems to really want to go on these trips before the week is done.
In one trip, Elsa and Kristoff walk her out of the castle and then stop.
"What is it?" asks Anna hesitantly.
Both Elsa and Kristoff look uncertain as Elsa answers. "We have a surprise for you that we know you will appreciate. We just … aren't sure if you are ready for it.
"What do you mean?" asks Anna, her face starting to show fear.
"It's not a bad thing, but we weren't sure if now was too soon. Look, I don't think we'll ever get to showing you unless we just take you. It may cause you some pain inside, but it should also help allow you to move on," says Kristoff nervously.
"I don't understand…" says Anna uncertainly.
"Come with us," says Elsa as she takes Anna's hand. Anna gets more and more uneasy as she realizes where they are heading.
"Please tell me we aren't going to the graveyard?!" cries Anna.
"Actually, yes," says Kristoff. "We have two things you will eventually have to see there. Remember, both of us are here for you, OK?"
Nodding, Anna clings tightly to Elsa's hand as they enter the graveyard. Walking up the left side, she sees the memorials for knights who died in the service of the crown. Eventually they come to a new plot, with a new headstone. Elsa pauses in front of this grave and puts her arm around Anna. 'Here lies Sir Tomas Evan Echart, he gave his life trying to protect Princess Anna and has earned his place of honor.'
"You told me you never knew the guard's name who tried to help you against Marshmallow. This is him. We knighted him after he died, and gave him a place of honor. His oldest child is just two years old now and they have no other family willing to assist them. His only remaining immediate family will be taken care of by the crown, until his two children are grown to eighteen years of age and can support themselves and their mother," said Elsa quietly.
Anna nods and turns to Elsa. "Thank you, this is beautiful."
"There is more to see, when you're ready," says Kristoff.
Anna stares at the grave for a few minutes silently, before nodding to Kristoff and Elsa. Quietly, they lead Anna to the family memorials. Situated right after their parents is a new marker. Elsa walks up to stand right next to it. This time, it's Kristoff who has an arm around Anna. 'Here lies Princess Hazel, our youngest sister. She lived her life with dignity, honor and bravery. We owe you more than you will ever know.'
"Princess Hazel?" asks Anna quietly as she starts to cry.
"She was a part of me at one time, so technically, we can say she was a princess. I wish I could have known her, as she had a big effect on your life in only hours. We figured you would need something like this to come to, and couldn't think of a better place to lay her to rest."
Anna stands there hugging Kristoff, still crying quietly. After a moment, Elsa's words seem to sink in and she goes to hug Elsa.
"Ow, Anna! Gently please!"
"S-sorry. Thank you, both of you. This means a lot. Especially Hazel's… place. Thank you for accepting her."
"How could I not? She was there for you when I couldn't be. That means a lot to me too. She didn't just deserve this, she EARNED it helping you," replied Elsa.
"Thank you." Tears still roll down Anna's cheeks, but this time they are happy tears. They spend some time standing there discussing Hazel, before the trio walk back to the castle. While the mood is solemn, there are smiles on all their faces.
During the fourth week, Elsa and Anna move back to their separate rooms. Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff start taking meals together in Elsa's dining area. Only occasionally does the haunted look show in her eyes now. During one such meal, Anna goes to the door and calls Kai in as well. Other servants are dismissed for a while so Anna can speak to the three of them alone.
Taking a deep breath, Anna starts to speak. "I wanted to thank each of you for your help over the last while. My behavior hasn't been the best, and you've all been very understanding. I don't think I could have gotten through this without your help."
"Kai, you stood by me while I was getting battered down and was losing my will. At my worst, you gave me the strength to continue and rekindled my dying hope. The people of Arendelle owe you more than they will likely ever realize, and I believe I owe you my life. I am forever in your debt." Taking the big man in a warm hug, Anna says "Thank you for everything."
Kai gives her a light hug back before replying. "Miss Anna, these halls would be barren without you. I think I speak for all the castle staff when I say everybody would miss you as much as her Majesty. It was a pleasure to be of assistance."
Turning to Kristoff, Anna continues. "I haven't treated you very well throughout this, but you still stood by me like a rock. You supported me, regardless of anything I've said or done. Knowing that you were there to keep me grounded during my emotional storm is beyond any thanks I can give. Thank you anyway, you big lug!"
Kristoff rises to hug Anna as he says "Hey, I'd do anything for my favorite girl. No offence intended, Elsa."
"None taken," replies Elsa with a smile.
Finally, Anna turns to her sister. "I think you've had it hardest in all this. Knowing your injury was allowing your powers to act up, people hurt or killed, and then having to lead me from a very dark place was very hard to do. I was in no condition to support you through it, but still you held your head high. I've held you close one minute only to push you away unexpectedly the next. All in all, you've supported me as much as you could. Your words when you woke up after beating Della gave me something to cling to and helped rekindle a hope I thought was completely dead. I couldn't ask for a more caring sister."
"Hey, you saved me too, multiple times if you count after the coronation. I think I got the better part of the deal. I have one request though. If you want to hug me, you have to be a great deal gentler than you were with the boys."
"Deal," says Anna as she embraces her sister carefully.
"Does this mean I get my 'feisty pants' back?" asks Kristoff.
"Soon," chuckles Anna. "We're getting closer every day."
"I think you're doing very well, Miss Anna. This less impulsive side of you as a definite improvement, in my opinion."
"Thank you, Kai."
Turning back to Elsa, they just smile at each other and hug again. "Don't think I wouldn't hit you with a hammer if you get out of line, dear sister!" Anna says with a grin.
"Wouldn't DREAM of it!" responds the queen, grinning back.
"Thank the gods!" replies Kristoff, which generates laughter from all four of them.
A/N: For those that wondered, Kristoff was an arc I decided not to follow. The idea worked, but I want happy with the results. Originally, 'Elsa' was going to kidnap him and bring him up when Anna raised her hammer to break her jaw. Couldn't quite make it work to my satisfaction. He was one of those 'many steps ahead' Elsa mentioned in chapter 6.
Many thanks to all my reviewers, followers, and those who added my to their favorites!