A/N: Thanks to everyone that's followed/favorited and/or is reading but not reviewing:)

bananas-rule-2015-Anna can't get anywhere with it without the story going out of canon entirely:P P.S. Lol, I agree; it is kinda rotten...oh well;)XD

fattensaad-Glad you're enjoying the story!:)

Lindstrom-That's the most succinct explanation of plot goings-on ever. Spot on:P :)

ElsaIsAmazing-I'm glad you like it!:) Hmm, that's a good idea, but then Anna would end up hearing about Elsa's powers too most likely...I'll try to work something in with your idea, I'm just not sure how to do so without going way out of canon, lol:P

On to the story!:)

Summer came again, and Elsa turned seventeen. She didn't bother to try to ask to see Anna, since she knew her request would just be denied. And it's not safe anyway… Nevertheless, Anna managed to slip a carefully handmade birthday card under Elsa's door. Both girls knew that the door was being watched carefully for any contact between the two, and Anna was determined not to get Elsa in trouble again by accidentally blathering something or getting the two of them caught. So she slipped the card under the door quick as a wink and ran off down the hall without saying a word out loud.

Inside her room, Elsa ran over to the door and happily picked up the card. Her eyes grew big when she saw what Anna had drawn on the cover and on the inside. She drew us building a snowman together when we were little on the front…then she put our present selves building a snowman together on the inside… Elsa smiled sadly as she read Anna's written message. "Dear Elsa, I love you. You just remember that you are NOT worthless. And go find another form of sunshine for yourself besides me since I can't be with you. Princess Anna of Arendelle commands it! I drew the snowman pictures because I remember you loved winter so much when we were little. Plus, you told me you were immune to cold last Christmas! Which is super cool. Pun intended.:) Anyway, happy seventeenth birthday, Elsa! I miss you lots. Love ('CAUSE YOU DESERVE IT), Anna. P.S. Things will be better someday. I just know it."

Elsa clutched Anna's card to her heart. Anna actually remembers that I loved winter when we were little?! I still do, actually. If I knew how to control my powers, I'd say winter is my season. My element. But I can't, and so I don't. Immune to cold…hah, if Anna knew WHY I'm immune to cold, I know she wouldn't think it was so cool. But anyways…she didn't have to give me anything for my birthday. And she did anyway. Anna is awesome. "Sorry, Anna, I can't follow your command. You are my only sunshine," she whispered.

That night, Elsa dreamed of building a snowman together with her sister up on the North Mountain. No cares, no worries. They were just together, and she and Anna were their real-life selves. It was as if a time machine had taken their pre-accident little selves, and flashed them to their present ages. Elsa still had ice powers, and Anna did not. But Elsa was in control, and Anna didn't dislike Elsa or feel scared of her.

Elsa couldn't honestly say she was completely happy the next morning when she woke up, but she somehow felt a sense of peace for once. Anna's right. Things will be better someday. I don't know how or when, but it will happen. Someday.

A few weeks later, Elsa discovered that not only could she predict winter blizzards, she could predict summer hurricanes as well. This was odd to her, since she had always thought that her powers were strictly over all things cold…not any other sorts of weather patterns. They're still getting stronger, Elsa thought in horror as she watched the wind blow the falling rain sideways out her still-missing window as it became dark outside. Elsa had not told anyone about her storm prediction because she didn't want to get blamed for making a storm again. I need to get down to the first floor. It's not safe up here… Just as she was thinking that, there was a sharp knock on her door.

"Princess Elsa, I hope you don't have an ice barrier on that door at the moment. I've received strict orders to make sure you get downstairs until the hurricane is over. Your sister and parents are already in the cellar," Gerda said.

Elsa bit her lip. "Downstairs into the cellar or downstairs into the dungeon?" she asked hesitantly, not sure she wanted to know the answer. I'll just take my chances and stay here if it's the dungeon.

"The cellar, of course, princess! My goodness, the dungeon…what sort of nonsense talk is that?!" King Agdar didn't tell her about that cell, did he…?

It's not nonsense. I wish it was. "There's no ice barrier on the door right now," Elsa admitted, relieved. She had allowed it to melt, but hadn't told anyone since she figured if her parents thought the door was frozen shut, they wouldn't try to come in. "I don't mind if you unlock the door and come in," she added, backing to the far side of the room.

Gerda opened the door and noticed the missing window.

Elsa followed her gaze and quickly said, "Gerda, please don't remind my parents about that. I like the window missing because it lets the outside air in."

"Of course I won't, princess."

Elsa said thank you and grabbed a book, some paper, and a pen before following Gerda out of the room. "Gerda, are you sure I'm supposed to come out? I'm not going to get in trouble for leaving my room?" she asked. I find it a bit hard to believe Mom and Dad would let me stay in the cellar with them and Anna, even during a hurricane…

Gerda turned back towards Elsa. "You are not going to get in trouble for leaving your room, Princess Elsa. Did you think you were supposed to stay upstairs during a hurricane, especially one as severe as this one?"

Elsa slowly nodded. "They don't like me. And I'm dangerous," she said quietly. "Gerda, you're very, very sure I'm supposed to come to the cellar?" Elsa asked again, feeling and sounding more like she was seven than seventeen. Except I was in control when I was seven…

"Princess…your mother specifically told me to come fetch you and bring you downstairs. Come along." Gerda started down the staircase, making sure Elsa was following her, even if she was trailing several feet behind.

Elsa trailed behind, still not quite believing that she was supposed to be doing this. Soon they came to the kitchen, where the trapdoor leading down into the large cellar was. "Gerda, what if I lose control in there? I might hurt Anna…" Elsa whispered, clutching her book and paper and pen to her chest.

"You didn't lose control when you played charades with Anna a few months ago. Yes, I heard what happened from your sister," Gerda added when she saw Elsa's incredulous expression.

"What if I fall asleep and have a bad dream? I always make a huge icy mess when that happens…" Elsa's voice trailed off.

Gerda pulled the trapdoor open. "In you go, princess. You will be fine. Think happy thoughts."

Elsa slowly climbed down the ladder into the cellar. "Thank you, Gerda." The trapdoor closed, and Elsa blinked several times, trying to get used to the dim lighting from the single kerosene lamp in the middle of the floor. Where is everyone?

Elsa's question was answered when a shape jumped up from the floor and shouted, "ELSA! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE DOWN HERE NOW! Can we play a game?!" Anna asked excitedly.

Elsa was still thinking what she should respond when she heard, "Leave Elsa alone. Can't you see she brought a book to read?"

"I don't have to read it right now," Elsa muttered, but she took her cue from that and headed to the opposite corner of the cellar that was the farthest away from her sister and parents. They don't want me here. They just brought me here because they had to. Well, at least they let me come down here anyways. A sudden thought made her pause before sitting down. What if there were bugs on the floor or something? She didn't have some weird bug phobia exactly, but she did not want to share the corner with them. Elsa ran back to the center of the cellar and took the lamp back over to her corner to make sure she wasn't going to be sitting on a bunch of dead bugs. The floor was clean. She put the lamp back in the middle of the floor and returned to the corner. It's not light enough over here to read, she thought. Elsa leaned against the wall, pulled her knees to her chest, and just sat in silence.

"Dad, you can't make Elsa sit way over there in the corner! It's dark over there and…and…and well, it's just mean!" Anna exclaimed. "And she can't read her book over there, either."

"It's okay, Anna. I'm fine," Elsa said quietly. Surely it's all right for me to talk to Anna…I mean, I'm being allowed in the same room at the moment because of extenuating circumstances…

"See, you heard it from your sister herself. She's fine. Don't bother her."

Elsa took a deep breath. "Anna is not bothering me."

"See? Elsa said it herself-I'm not bothering her," Anna said triumphantly. "Can I please, please, please play a game with Elsa?"

Elsa watched with hopeful eyes for the answer. I don't dare say I want to play a game with Anna. That'll get us a veto for sure. Instead of saying a word, Elsa caught the shadow on the wall from the lamp and made a shadow bunny that only Anna could see because of the angle. There. Now Anna will know I want to play with her, even if the final verdict is no. Elsa smiled as she realized Anna had noticed her shadow animal and grinned at her.

"You can as long as you two don't get close to one another," Idun said.

Elsa was delighted. That was more than she could have hoped for, and besides, she didn't want to get close to Anna anyway. It wasn't safe.

Anna, on the other hand, was disgusted. "That's stupid. Maybe I want to give Elsa a hug or something."

Before Elsa's mind could process what was going on, Anna had run over to Elsa and hugged her. Elsa immediately tensed up all over. Anna, get away from me. Please… But then when Anna continued holding her and nothing happened, Elsa started to relax ever so slightly.

The next thing Elsa knew, Anna, making a huge ruckus, had been dragged away from her, leaving Elsa feeling more lonely and unwanted than ever. Yes, Elsa agreed wholeheartedly that Anna should not hug her, but it still hurt. I don't belong here. I'm just the dangerous family outcast…the defective one. "Maybe I should just…go back upstairs…whether it's safe or not," she said, her voice faltering a bit. Okay, Elsa, stop it right now. Emotions on lockdown. Conceal don't feel. You can't lose control down here.

Anna was positive from the sound of her sister's voice that she was more upset than she was letting on. She pulled herself away from her parents and walked back toward Elsa. Oh, Elsa…

Elsa sat in the corner curled in a ball with her forehead resting on her knees, trying to block out her surroundings. You didn't expect to see Anna at all today, so why are you upset in the first place? You know you can't let her hug you anyways. Quit crying, Elsa. Can't lose control. Conceal, don't feel; conceal, don't feel…I'm sleepy, actually…think happy thoughts…Anna and me on the North Mountain playing safely together…yeah…

Knowing she was just going to get pulled away from Elsa again if she tried to hug her, Anna grabbed two blankets from the pile on a shelf and said softly, "Elsa? Why don't you just go to sleep? We can play a game tomorrow. I know it's late."

Elsa made no response. Anna waited a minute longer in silence before realizing Elsa had fallen asleep. "Mom, Dad…you just come over here and look at Elsa. She fell asleep like that, sitting curled up in a ball!" Anna whispered fiercely. "You hurt her feelings, yanking me away from her like you did!" No wonder Elsa thinks of herself as not worth spending time with… Anna's own eyes filled with tears as she thought about what her poor sister must have felt like, that her own parents wouldn't even let Anna give her a hug. She knew Elsa didn't like being touched (in which case Anna realized it was awfully stupid to randomly grab her and give her a hug), but still. The whole thing was weird. What am I supposed to do? I'm just a kid-I can't help Elsa! Well, I know what I'm going to do right this second anyways. Anna gently got Elsa to lie down, resting her sister's head on a folded blanket. Then Anna took the second blanket and covered Elsa with it, pulling it around her sister's shoulders. Anna frowned when she noticed the tears streaking Elsa's face, and carefully brushed them away. I love you, Elsa. I'm sorry I can't fix things for us. Anna stroked Elsa's hair lightly, not daring to actually give her a hug again, since it would risk waking her up.

Elsa didn't wake up, but she smiled a little and subconsciously snuggled closer to Anna. Anna was very surprised until she realized Elsa was still asleep. So Elsa does like someone being close to her…she just thinks she can't because of the 'it's not safe' thing…Well, at least she's happy right now, even if she is just sleeping. I know Elsa wouldn't let me be this close to her if she was awake…what is going on?!

"Anna, what are you doing over there?"

"I'm making Elsa happy, since nobody else will," Anna answered softly. "She's asleep, Dad. That" Anna pointed at her sister "does not look dangerous. Why can't you understand that she just wants someone to…to, oh, I don't know what the right word is…accept her, maybe?"

The conversation abruptly ended when Elsa said, "...building Olaf with me, Anna…fun together…ice slide magic…"

"I rest my case," Anna announced. "She's happy. Hey, wait…ice slide magic, Elsa? That sounds cool! What are you talking about?" Something poked at Anna's brain, but she couldn't place it at all.

Elsa didn't reply, of course. She was fast asleep, happily playing on ice slides she made with Anna in her dream.

Anna carefully stood up, making sure she didn't wake Elsa up. Then she tiptoed over to her parents. She had a question. An extra important question. "Mom, Dad…when me and Elsa-I mean Elsa and I-were little, right before she started staying in her room all the time, I remember we slid down icy ramps of snow in the courtyard. Then I think I fell somehow and hit my head…it's all kind of fuzzy. What happened, exactly?" Anna had never really questioned the fuzziness of that particular memory; she figured that she must have gotten knocked on the head hard enough to make the whole thing hazy. But now…had something happened that Elsa blamed herself for? That would sort of explain why Elsa thought she wasn't safe for Anna to be around. Maybe Elsa had accidentally pushed or hit her. Or threw a snowball at her or something and made her slip. I have to know!

"You two were playing together by yourselves…no one saw exactly what happened."

"But Elsa had to have told you what happened," Anna pressed. "Please tell me! Did Elsa do something to make me fall that she's blaming herself for?"

"To our knowledge, you just slipped and fell…"

Anna was disappointed at that answer. That meant her reasoning for Elsa's behavior was wrong. Boo. And I was so sure I was right. "Can I sleep next to Elsa?" she asked.

Dead silence.

"Well, in that case, I'm gonna assume it's a yes," Anna said, and proceeded to grab two blankets for herself.

"Anna, you can't sleep next to your sister. It's not safe."

Anna rolled her eyes and stamped her foot; then whipped around, checking to see if she'd woken Elsa up. She hadn't. "Elsa. Is. Not. Dangerous. And I'm gonna prove it. So there." She marched across the cellar and started rolling up one of the blankets to use as a pillow.

"You do that and you're going to find yourself with no dessert for a month."

Anna didn't hesitate with her reply. "That's not getting me this time. No sirree. I care more about my sister than my dessert, thank you very much." She plopped down on the floor and curled up next to Elsa. "Good night."

"Anna…get back over here right now."

"Uh-uh…And guess what? If you try to physically make me move, I'm gonna yell and scream and make such a huge fuss you can't believe it."

What Anna did not know was that her threat was actually more convincing to her parents than she assumed. If Anna followed through with that, she would wake Elsa up. And Elsa would probably freak out…and a freaked-out Elsa would lose control. Right now Elsa was calm and fast asleep.

Anna grinned and scooched a bit closer to her sister. After all, Elsa's asleep. She won't mind since she doesn't know…

An hour later, Anna blinked her eyes open in surprise when she felt a cool, almost cold something holding her. What's going on? Anna tried to wiggle away, but the something whimpered slightly and clutched Anna tighter. Oh, right…I'm in the cellar next to Elsa. Wait, Elsa is holding me?! Now Anna was mad. Mom and Dad are dead set on keeping me away from Elsa, and she claims herself that it's not safe for me to be around her. And now that she's asleep, she's actually holding on to me and won't let go. Anna wiggled one of her arms loose from Elsa's tight hold, and put her arm around Elsa. I love you, Elsa. You shouldn't need to hang onto me like this, but if that's what makes you happy, then that's fine with me.

Elsa's eyes blinked open, not really focusing on anything. I'm still dreaming. Yeah, I have to be still dreaming. I wouldn't have hugged Anna myself in real life. What a nice dream…

Anna was startled when Elsa blinked dazedly at her. "Elsa?"

"Are you real?" Elsa asked. She put out one hand to touch Anna's face. "You seem real…I know you can't be though…I wouldn't have let you this close to me in real life…"

Anna opened her mouth to say something, but Elsa kept talking.

"…since you're dream-Anna, I gotta tell you something…You should hate me…freak…monster…defective…" Elsa covered her face with her hands as she shook with sobs.

Anna's heart went out to her sister, knowing that Elsa really believed herself to still be dreaming and that that was the only reason she had said those things and hadn't immediately hightailed it away from Anna. Well, if Elsa thinks I'm just a dream, then I won't scare her if I give her a hug, right? With this logic, Anna glanced in the direction of their parents to make sure they were still asleep. Then she sat up, pulled Elsa into her lap, and held her close; not caring that her sister was seventeen and not a little four- or five-year-old. "Shhh, Elsa, it's ok. I could never hate you. You're no freak or monster. You're my sweet older sister who deserves lots of good friends and nice things…chocolate, perhaps?"

Elsa's tears began to slow as she listened to Anna's soothing words. Nice dream-Anna. I wish this was real life…

Anna smiled as Elsa calmed down and contentedly buried her face in Anna's shoulder.

"…wish this was real…" Elsa mumbled.

Anna wished she could tell Elsa that it was indeed real, but she didn't dare. She'd probably just make Elsa upset all over again or scare her. So she stayed quiet.

"…playing with you…North Mountain…summit…" Elsa said into Anna's shoulder as she fell completely asleep again.

What in the world?! Playing with me on the North Mountain? Where did that come from?! Anna frowned, knowing that the summit of the North Mountain was in the middle of nowhere. There was no one around for miles up there. Still, it was a dream, and Anna figured Elsa could dream whatever she wanted as long as it made her happy. "Right, Elsa, playing together on the summit of the North Mountain, doing…uh…um…ah… Well, whatever it is we're doing," she finished, hoping she hadn't messed up Elsa's dream.

Elsa giggled in her sleep. "…y'know what we're doing…buildin' Olaf, of course! An' ice slide magics…"

There she goes about magical ice slides again! And she sounds like she's about three…what is Elsa talking about? Anna bit her tongue, wondering if she should say anything else. She didn't want to risk getting Elsa upset again, but it seemed really odd to her that Elsa had just started talking about magical ice slides-or, as in this time, 'ice slide magics'-for the second time. Nah, it's probably just a recurring dream of hers. I'm not risking making her upset again. Anna leaned against the wall, still holding Elsa. Anna's arms were getting tired, but no way was she going to wake Elsa up to try to get her to lay down again. More likely she'd scare Elsa instead.

Soon Anna fell asleep as well. Both Anna and Elsa slept peacefully the rest of the night.

The next morning found Anna back on the other side of the cellar and Elsa still in the corner. When Anna woke up, she was absolutely disgusted. Did Mom and Dad really have to move us? I was perfectly happy over in the corner with Elsa, thank you very much.

As for Elsa, her first thought when she woke up was that her dreams had seemed awfully real last night. How much of the dream while she and Anna were still in the cellar had been real, if any? Probably none, she decided. It couldn't have been real. I got upset and I didn't lose control. That's impossible. So it must have been a dream. But it was wonderful while it lasted.

A/N: Next chapter coming soon!:)