Nightmare

When Elsa and Anna still shared a room Mama would tuck them in at night (the practice stopped after the two were forced to separated rooms when Anna was five). Anna learned in that short time she and her sister shared quarters that Elsa was far more prone to uncomfortable dreams than Anna, and the occasional complete nightmare that left Elsa screaming for Mama.

"Elsa it was just a dream!" Anna assured while her sister rambled about the snow burying them all or the ice freezing the whole kingdom.

Had Anna been allowed to retain memory of her sister's magic she would remember why exactly Elsa woke screaming while snow flurries covered the room. But all Anna could now recall was the sound of her sister's whimpers, her fear of the winter, and their mother coming in to sing a lullaby to her from an old fairy tale about an orphaned princess.

Hush now darling, beautiful thing

Royal girl, young and wild, and green

One day when you're grown and wise

You will be a queen

There were other verses telling the princess to be brave, teaching her to be a good ruler and to be fair to the people but Elsa usually dropped off after the first verse. Anna elected to try singing the lullaby to Elsa next time she woke up just like Mama but she never got the chance.

Over night the two were forced into separate bedrooms and Anna laid awake many nights in the beginning thinking about Elsa, alone in her room, dreaming of snow. She considered checking on Elsa now and again, as if she was the older sister, but the door was always locked and the older Anna got the less she tried knocking on the door of a girl who never answered.

After their parents died though, Anna renewed her efforts to get Elsa to speak more than three word sentences to her. At the funeral Elsa did not speak and even while Anna was weeping in the pouring snow Elsa's face was stone. Anna assumed, with the rest of the kingdom, it was some sort of solemn acceptance as ruler now. But in the confines of their castle Elsa did not shed a tear that Anna could see. Anna guessed Elsa took to her locked room to cry and she pounded on the door and Elsa never answered.

"I know you hurt too, you're not made of ice," Anna said against the door.

The next few months Elsa spent every waking moment in the library refining her languages, memorizing the names of kings and queens and country capitals, learning the trade goods of the kingdom, studying the Bible and military tactics.

One night Anna found her sister laid straight out on the chaise in front of one of the fire places, neatly stacked piles of books and papers formed a perimeter around the chair. She was still dressed in her dinner gown and the tight bun that was once her hair was springing loose in places.

Anna walked as carefully as she could across the carpeted library floor. And she stepped ever so gingerly right into a bookshelf. With a groan she looked over to see Elsa still asleep.

"Ugh, who put that there?" she said rubbing her forehead. She settled a few steps away from the offending bookshelf.

She buried her head into Macbeth (she was secretly trying to outdo Elsa in who could memorize more quotes) and just when Lady Macbeth prepared to go in and kill the king a muffled sound of a human voice drew Anna out of Scotland and back into the library.

She turned her in the direction of the fireplace where the silhouette of Elsa was moving restlessly.

"Elsa?" she called softly. There was no answer and Anna was ready to leave it at that when she heard Elsa speak.

"No…"

It was slurred and barely a word but the fear in Elsa's voice made Anna jump from her seat and cross the floor to the dim and dying fire. Stark shadows covered Elsa's features and with her pale skin made her face seem more hallow and worn than ever.

"Elsa," Anna whispered. But that only made things worse.

"No, Anna!" the words were still slurred with sleep but Anna was sure she could see her sister sweating. And she sounded close to crying.

"Elsa I'm right here, I'm fine, you're fine," she assured. She gave gentle nudges to her sister in effort to wake her as gently as possible. Elsa's gloved hands clenched tightly and finally her eyes opened to hazy slits.

Her half lidded eyes looked directly at Anna and held her gaze with an expressionless face. She was clearly only half awake at best but the nightmare had ceased and Anna awkwardly moved her hand debating whether or not place it on Elsa's cheek as reassurance. But the woman did not like to be touched and in the past had rebutted ever attempt at hug or hand hold Anna offered.

Anna's knee bumped one of Elsa's books on the floor: Local Fairy Tales and Folk Lore. And Anna recalled the orphaned princess soon to be queen. Elsa was eighteen now but if the same nightmares were still plaguing her then maybe the same cure would work too.

Hush now darling, beautiful thing

Royal girl, young and wild, and green

One day when you're grown and wise

You will be a queen

It was as if Anna had drugged her, Elsa slipped out and relaxed. Anna's grip on Elsa's shoulders went lax and she put some distance between them as Elsa adjusted into the couch and sighed.

"You have a good voice," Elsa whispered.

Anna smiled brighter than the sun.

"You're going to be a good queen," she said.

And Anna moved away to let Elsa sleep, stopping momentarily to lay one of the blankets Mama knitted over her sister before moving back to her seat on the far end of the room where she pushed Macbeth aside for Proper Marriages and Other Royal Discourse for her to spend the night digesting