Anna awoke groggily. Her head was bursting with pain, and even the flickering trickle of light from under the door felt like staring right into the sun. She shut her eyes tight and lifted a hand to her head in an attempt to ease the pain. Except she couldn't lift her hand. Cold chains coiled around her, preventing her arms and legs from moving more than an inch either way. She was completely bound to this hard wooden chair, feet barely scraping the stone floor.

Well that was no good. She never was very good at thinking things through before doing them. She sighed. I guess it's time to start practicing.

Okay, just how did she end up here? She remembered saying goodnight to Elsa, and swooning onto her bed. She had curled up into her blankets and hoped against hope that she would hear Elsa's knock at the door. Knowing it wouldn't come, she decided to imagine what would happen if it did. Picturing her sister's curvy form swaying over to her bed had been a mistake, since it had made it nearly impossible to keep her fingers outside of her panties. She had managed it barely, but she had fallen asleep whimpering Elsa's name into her pillow. Sadly though, that didn't provide any of the dreams she was hoping for.

The next thing she could remember was a rough gloved hand over her mouth as she was being dragged from her bed. Her scream was muffled by the hand, but that didn't stop her from trying. Other hands and arms tried to hold her still, but she was kicking and flailing like a madwoman. She heard voices, but the fear coupled with the adrenaline reduced them to gibberish. Where was Elsa? She had to know there were intruders in the castle… didn't she? She kept struggling in the hope that she could loosen the hand over her mouth and alert the guards. That was when she felt a flash of pain and everything went dark.

Now here she was, in this tiny little room, with no idea who had taken her or why. Her mind was so cloudy. Every time she tried to pin down a theory on how or why she had been taken, it flitted away, leaving her alone with her headache.

She had to get out and warn Elsa. That was all that mattered. Unless Elsa was here too… Oh no… please don't let them have hurt her! She felt anger surge inside her. Anna struggled and strained at her bonds, but it was no use. She almost called out for her sister, but decided against it. If Elsa were in the room, Anna could have seen her, and there was no point in alerting any guards that might be outside waiting for her to wake up.

She smiled a bit at her use of logic. Elsa would have been proud. Elsa would probably also have this whole thing figured out by now. She was so smart, so calculating, so logical, so… brilliant. There was no puzzle she couldn't solve. If only she were here. Anna just had to get to her.

Try as she might, she just didn't have the strength to get out of these chains. Strength… That was when she realized that they couldn't have taken Elsa. She would have destroyed this prison the moment she woke up, assuming they even somehow managed to kidnap her in the first place. After everything that had happened, everyone knew what Elsa could do, and nobody would be stupid enough to take her prisoner.

That meant that Elsa was still out there. And when she discovered Anna missing… Anna shivered. Her sister wasn't always in complete control of her powers, especially when emotion was concerned. Anna knew she would never hurt anyone on purpose, but this… No that's a bad line of thought. Focus, Anna.

All she had to do was wait. That was fine. She was fantastic at that. She had waited outside Elsa's room for thirteen years. What was a little more waiting now? At least this time she had a chair. And at least this time there was no doubt that Elsa was coming.

Elsa had never been much of a dreamer. On the rare occasion that she actually remembered her dreams, they were what she considered fairly standard. People dream of the ones they love, Elsa dreamt of Anna. That was how it had always been. She had assumed it was because of the connection between them. Since before she could remember, there had been something nearly tangible there, something stronger than sisterhood, something stronger than friendship, something… something she could never seem to find a name for. She had settled for calling it love, but while love was very much a part of it, it wasn't it.

Every dream that Elsa could ever remember was about Anna. That made this garden in which she stood one of two things. Either it was not a dream after all, or this was a first. Judging from the precision with which everything was arranged, she decided it couldn't possibly be real. I've never dreamt about anything but Anna she thought. Something is wrong.

The garden, although it wasn't really a garden, stretched outward in every direction that she looked. It was what a garden would look like if it were made of snow and ice, and it were tended by a team of mathematicians and logicians. Every flake was unique, but perfectly fit and aligned exactly where it needed to be. Every frozen flower, polar topiary, and heimal hedge was placed deliberately in some order that she could not define. Regardless, she found it intensely pleasing.

"Do you like it?" came a voice that sounded familiar and foreign all at once.

Elsa spun and saw, where there had previously been noone, a woman. It was almost like looking in a mirror. At least it would have been if Elsa had been wearing a gown so white that it shimmered in light that seemed to come from inside the dress itself. It almost made her hard to look at, but at the same time Elsa could not draw her eyes away. Her hair was long and braided, like Elsa's own, but frosted and white. The hair on the sides of her head was shaved short. Eyes swirling with the darkest, deepest, most tempestuous blue bored into Elsa. She felt like this woman knew her. Knew everything about her with that one gaze. Nothing had ever made her feel so vulnerable. The woman looked completely unperturbed. She merely waited.

"Like it? The um… here?" Elsa's arm swept half-heartedly around her. It was beautiful, she had to admit.

The other woman smiled and nodded, "Yes."

"I like it very much."

This seemed to please her, "I knew you would."

Then why ask? Elsa thought.

"Because... there's a power in saying things out loud."

"What do you-" Wait. "You answered me."

Another smile.

"You can hear my thoughts."

Another nod.

Who are you?

"I've been with you since before you knew me, and I," she paused for a moment, seemed to consider something, then smiled again, "with the possible exception of one other, will be with you always."

Elsa's eyes narrowed. "I am not sure who you are, but if that 'other' is not Anna then you and I are going to have a problem."

When the woman laughed, the garden seemed to as well. It sounded like thousands of tiny hanging bells tinkling in a precisely timed wind. Elsa looked around in amazement.

"Where am I?"

"In bed."

"This is not my bed."

"No, but that's where you are," those eyes sparkled with an inner laughter.

She's like a little girl playing a game. Elsa would probably have felt annoyed if she didn't have the calming aura of this place to comfort her. Instead, she just shook her head and resigned herself to playing along.

"Okay then. What is this garden?"

A look of delight on the almost-reflection's face, "Put simply, it's the place in your mind where we can finally talk."

What did that mean?

"Um… so… I am dreaming, right?"

"That's an easy way to explain it, yeah."

"Then why am I dreaming? If you've been with me so long, you would know that I don't dream."

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Okay fine, I dream, but those are private."

"I should say so," came the response, with an icy hand covering a sly smile.

Elsa was starting to get frustrated. She closed her eyes and allowed the tranquility to wash over her. After a deep breath, she continued. "Why have you brought me here?"

For the first time, a look of sadness, of worry, crossed the woman's face. Elsa recognized the worried lip-bite as one she had seen in the mirror so many times. Who was she?

"I brought you here because I needed to talk to you. I've always wanted to, but it doesn't really work like that. But now… I sort of tricked your mind into making this place for us. I can't explain it." She blushed and looked down at the frostgrass beneath her gown.

Elsa wasn't sure what to say. The girl suddenly looked so vulnerable and almost afraid. "I'm not angry."

Hope fluttered across her features. "Really?"

"No. I am just confused. I don't understand any of this."

Her relief was visible. "I know. You'll get it in time. For now, all you need to know is that you need me now more than ever. I'm here for you. And everything is going to be okay."

Comforting words don't come when there's no need to be comforted. Elsa knew that all too well. A spike of worry shattered the garden's serenity. She felt herself beginning to wake up. "What is happening?"

The woman was suddenly taller and more imposing than she had been before. She looked directly into Elsa's eyes with that soul-searing gaze. Elsa could barely make out the words before she drifted awake.

"You have to save your sister."