Lost

Anna made it maybe a quarter of the way across the fjord when she slipped on the ice. Her elbow and hip made painful contain with the surface. She was already scrambling to get up, watching Elsa move farther and farter away (of course she'd never slip on ice), when Hans hooked his hands under her arms and pulled her to her feet. She immediately made a break for the far shore where her sister was headed but Hans locked his arm around her torso.

"Anna she's gone," he shouted.

She continued to wriggle and kick trying to break his grip. Tears formed and one or two even spilled over as she watched Elsa, now only a dark purple blob bouncing in the distance, disappear into the dark of the forest.

"Elsa…" she breathed as she relented to Hans' grip, sinking against his chest, and allowed herself to be pulled away.

He kept an arm around her waist as they stepped over the slick ice. He looked at her expectantly a few times as if to ask her questions but she had eyes only for the ice beneath her feet where her sister had stepped and nature rearranged itself to suit her needs. Snow flurries began to fall from the sky, the air began to chill, and clouds rolled in overhead. This was Elsa.

But Elsa was lost. She was in the wilderness alone and by herself. Anna wondered if her powers would save her there too as they did on the fjord. Would the ice and snow protect her from wolves? Could she feel the cold that was quickly setting in all around them? Where would she sleep at night with no warm bed, only steps from Anna's own room? Anna let a few more tears fall and Hans closed his arm tighter around her.

Back at the castle people gathered in the courtyard, shivering together in their summer clothes as snow began to fall from the sky. Anna broke away from Hans when they entered, wrapping herself in her arms as she thought of Elsa's empty room tonight, they tea she wouldn't order tomorrow morning, the clothes laid out already that she wouldn't be wearing.

"Your Highness!" someone near her called. Both Anna and Hans turned expectantly, then he let out a small smile.

"Sorry, habits," he apologized but Anna only smiled and patted his arm.

The Duke was already shouting about sending a search party to arrest the queen and return her. He called her "sorceress" and "witch" and Anna grew panicked. The church would force her to abdicate if they found out. They would arrest her, probably even kill her. Sorcery was a sin. And the Duke would be proclaimed defender of the faith. Anna had to stop this.

"No! No one is going anywhere," she ordered. The townspeople and palace guards stood down immediately. With Elsa gone she was acting queen now. I won't let you down Elsa.

Of course the Duke had his own plans.

"You! Is there sorcery in you to? Are you a monster as well?" he demanded. Anna wanted to respond with so many things but she knew Elsa would not approve of snapping at a foreign dignitary, no matter how annoying.

"No, I'm completely ordinary. And my sister is not a monster."

Hans stepped forward to agree and the Duke continued to go on about Elsa had nearly killed him as if this was all a plot to kill him. Anna wanted to point out that Elsa had probably completely forgotten the Duke existed but she held her tongue and instead addressed her citizens.

"It was an accident," she said with resolve but remembering the terror in Elsa's face brought another wave of tears to Anna, "She was scared. She didn't mean it. She didn't mean any of this. All she's ever wanted is to be perfect and good…tonight was my fault. I pushed her," and then she decided, "So I'm the one who needs to go after her. Bring me my horse please."

There were protests everywhere. People shouting that Anna was all they had left, demanding to know who would lead them in her place. Hans warned her of the dangers, begged her not to go. The Duke scoffed about all of it. But Anna was convinced.

She refused to spend a night alone in this castle. She refused to look at Elsa's empty throne. She refused to think of her sister hungry and alone and scared out of her mind feeling hunted like an animal by her own kingdom. She wouldn't stand for it nor would she allow it. She was a princess of Arendelle and today when her sister was coronated queen she inherited Elsa's old title as the Princess of Arendelle.

"Are you sure you can trust her? I don't want you getting hurt," Hans said. His hand clasped her own and he looked pleadingly at her.

"She's my sister," Anna said, remembering all the moments they'd spent together as children running around in the snow or playing dolls or riding their bikes through the halls chased by their nanny, "She'd never hurt me."

And that was final. Elsa had a very loud bark, as she proved tonight, but there was no bite. There was fear, and reflexes, and powerful abilities, but there were no teeth or claws.

Anna may not be the elder sister, but Elsa needed her help and her protection now. Anna thought of all those years Elsa stole away into her room and away from Anna, keeping her safely out of reach of the powers. Well now Anna would return the favor and do everything she could to save her lost sister.