The next week went by slowly. The weather remained dreary and too warm. For Anna, the sunny days were distressing, as the longer they continued, the fewer days she had for it to snow before the holidays.
Her mission to get Elsa to come around was going about as well as one might think. Elsa had thirteen years of attempting to shut her sister out behind her that, on the surface at least, helped her ignore the persistent "Make it snow" commands.
However, what Anna did not know was that Elsa had never been good at shutting her sister out. The only thing that made it seem so was the door separating them, blocking their views of each other. The problem was that Elsa cared about Anna more than anyone else, so simply ignoring her was almost impossible to do. And after thirteen years of being forced to do so, she wanted nothing more but to give Anna her undivided attention for the rest of her life.
Now, though, Anna was pushing her luck. Elsa had gone from trying to pretend to ignore her sister to actually trying to ignore her sister, but it was a task that was proving very difficult. Each morning she awoke to a note tacked to her door: "Make it snow. Love Anna." Each day at breakfast, Anna would appear from seemingly nowhere and start bombarding her with the demand. She would then follow her around the castle until she went to the study, repeating those words over and over. Thankfully she had enough sense to stay out of the study while Elsa was working. But she was always waiting just outside to follow Elsa to her bedroom at the end of the day.
But after about five days of this, she started getting Kai and Gerda involved. The poor butler and maid had no choice in the matter: they were sent in on the Princess's orders to ask the Queen for snow. Elsa rolled her eyes at it at first, but once Anna started commanding her council members to put forth motions to snow-in Arendelle, the Queen finally drew the line. Disrupting her peace was one thing, but messing with state affairs was another.
Anna hesitantly entered the Queen's study after Kai had told her that her sister wished to see her. "You, um, wanted to see me, Elsa?"
Elsa looked up from her work with obvious fake surprise. "Really? You're not going to ask me for snow?" she asked overdramatically, "Seeing as that is the only thing you've said to me for eight days in a row."
"Don't suppose it's changed your mind?" Anna wondered.
Elsa smiled and gestured to the empty chair in front of her desk. "Take a seat, Anna," she said in a voice that had no room for argument.
Anna gulped nervously and did as she was told.
"Now," Elsa said professionally, setting her quill down and folding her hands on the desk, "We need to have a little talk."
"I swear I'm not doing anything with Kristoff!" Anna shouted defensively.
That disarmed her sister for a moment. "What? What are you talking about?" she demanded.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Anna replied quickly.
Elsa shot her a suspicious glare before getting back on subject. "I understand you're my little sister, and we've lost a bit of time from our childhood for you to pester me in such childish ways, but do remember that you are eighteen and the Crown Princess. So I kindly ask that you keep whatever quarrels we have outside of the council room."
"Ooh, so Councilman Albertsen actually asked you, did he?" Anna questioned with a wince.
"He did," Elsa stated flatly, "But he did promptly cover himself by stating that you had ordered him to ask."
"He didn't have to…"
"He did if he held any value for the royal family, as our word technically has higher value than others," Elsa explained dryly, "So whenever you go about commanding people to waste my time, they have to do it until I release them from it."
"Sorry," Anna whispered.
Elsa sighed heavily. "I know you want it to snow for Christmas, Anna. But there are still two weeks to go. Stop worrying so much. And do try to understand the value of me telling you to relax."
"But, but…" Anna sputtered in vain, "I need it to snow!"
"No, you don't. You want it to snow, but it is not necessary."
"But Elsa–"
Elsa held up a hand to silence her sister. "Now, we have to discuss your punishment."
"Punishment?" Anna demanded angrily.
"You have been going around annoying not only me, but most of the staff and council. This has gone on long enough," Elsa explained coolly, "You are to remain in that spot for the rest of the day. And you are not to make a sound."
"I can't do that!" Anna cried in distress.
"You had best figure out a way, because if you don't, then no chocolate for a month."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
Anna crossed her arms and pouted. "You're no fun," she stated.
"A reminder that your time starts now," Elsa sighed as she returned to her work.
Anna exhaled angrily and sunk down in her seat. There were many different things she wanted to say, but she had no idea if Elsa was serious about her threat. Deciding not to risk it, she sat silently and stewed in her grumpiness.
Eventually she simmered down and watched her sister work diligently on documents and reports. She observed how Elsa maintained her mask of stoicism while she worked, until she came upon something that brought a slight frown to her face. Anna was not sure if it was confusion, disagreement, or uncertainty, but she was unsettled by it regardless of its cause. Elsa always seemed to frown more than she smiled these days. Granted, it was always little frowns like these, and not the ones that revealed the misery that Anna knew she still felt every now and then. Seeing that frown on her sister's face now reminded her of why she really wanted snow in the first place.
Elsa had always been happiest when it snowed.
Elsa, meanwhile, was busy reading a report on the crop yields from the past autumn when she noticed that Anna had remained quiet for nearly half an hour. Elsa looked up to see her sister gazing out the window absentmindedly. She followed her gaze to view the dreary gray sky that was only yielding rain. Her frown deepened.
Anna was only being Anna after all. She never knew exactly when she had taken something too far until it was too late. She was a perpetual ball of energy and excitement. But now she was sitting very still and quiet, her expression downturned and contemplative. Elsa hated seeing her like that, as it was entirely not Anna-like behaviour. At this point, though, she knew there was only one thing that would cheer her sister up.
Anna had always been happiest when it snowed.
Elsa sighed loud enough to draw Anna's attention. Once the Queen had locked eyes with her sister, she said quietly, "Christmas Eve."
"What?" Anna replied with the same tentative tone.
"If it hasn't snowed by Christmas Eve, then I'll make it snow."
Anna's face immediately brightened. "Really?" she squeaked excitedly, "Oh, but what about your vow to never tamper with the weather?"
Elsa shot her a deadpanned glare that said for her: "Now you're suddenly concerned with that?" But she cleared her throat softly and said, "I think it'll be ok if I alter things for one day. It can't be any worse than what I did in July."
Anna bounced up and down in her seat. "Oh my gosh, thank you! You're amazing! You're awesome! You're…you're the best sister ever!" she squealed.
Elsa chuckled at her sister's antics. "Thank you for the praise, Anna, but it may not even be necessary," she said as she began to get back to work, "I still have a feeling that it'll snow naturally before Christmas day."
"Maybe it will, but at least now I have a back up!" Anna stated happily. She shot out of her seat and bounded around her sister's desk to smother her in an awkward and tight hug. "Thank you so much, Elsa!"
Elsa struggled to squirm free of Anna's embrace just enough to be able to take a strangled breath. "You're welcome, Anna. Now do you promise not to go around bothering people about snow from now until the holidays?"
"I promise," Anna said sincerely as she released her sister.
Elsa nodded. "Alright. You're free for the day."
Anna smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I was wondering if it was ok if I hung out here for a while?" she questioned softly, "I was thinking about how we don't spend enough time together, and this was kinda fun…you know, except for the whole sitting perfectly still and silent part. Seriously, how do you do it?"
Elsa laughed. "Lots of practice. And yes, you may stay here if you like. Just…try not to make too much noise."
Anna's grin widened. "You got it. I'll go get the book I started and I'll be right back!" she said as she headed out the door, "Don't have too much fun without me!"
Elsa looked down at the report that should be read to small children to get them to fall asleep. "You don't have to worry about that," she muttered as she went back to work.