Disclaimer: Frozen is in property of Disney, therefore I do not own the rights.
Thank you to everyone who has read/favorite/alert/reviewed my story so far!
Warnings: Foul Language, OOC-ness, Background OCs, Cameo/Name Drops
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I hope I'm not overwhelming you readers with my constant updates. I don't normally post so quickly like this. The plot for this story still eludes me, so I try to write down everything I can before I hit the wall and not know where to go from there.
In other news, I made it official. There will be no romance of any kind in this story! You may rejoice my silent readers! I had mentioned I was on the fence about whether or not I would go Elsanna for this story but have decided that my earlier assumption was correct. Elsa and Anna have much more important things to worry about than amour~
I'm posting 4 and 5 really close together because they're the shortest chapters in the story so far.
Chapter Five
Elsa was worried. She knew something was off when Anna had packed her things that morning without so much as a word or explanation. Elsa hadn't planned on returning to the castle so soon, especially when she knew how much Anna had been looking forward to getting out into the open and practice her fire without restrictions. But it seemed the incident from yesterday had shaken her sister more than she realized.
The smiles she gave to Olaf during their travel down the mountain were as fictitious as the pleasantries foreign monarchs were wont to make. The little snowman had tried to interrogate the princess on her morose behavior, but Anna merely laughed at the snowman's concern and placated their worries with an all too abused lie. ("I'm fine Olaf, really. Don't worry about me. I'm just tired!")
She had done so again when they met up with Kristoff and Sven at the cabin. He had asked how their overnight camping trip went.
"It was fine." Anna had lied with a smile. "I learned a lot." (That much was true, but Anna didn't want to elaborate on exactly what she learned.)
Her reaction had disturbed them, but neither one of them wanted to press the girl any more than they already did.
They travelled down in semi-silence. It would have been entirely silent had it not been for Olaf. He felt that because Anna seemed so unnaturally quiet today, it was his duty to keep up everyone's spirits with cheery conversation and nonsense about what summer was like in Arendelle and the flavors of ice cream he couldn't try because he didn't have a sense of taste. Or a stomach for that matter.
Anna's attention was elsewhere for the duration of the journey, despite Olaf's and Kristoff's best efforts. She was the first to leave the sleigh the moment they reached the gates and the first to disappear within the sanctity of the castle.
Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven exchanged worried glances.
"Did something happen up in the palace?"
"Nothing I thought would disturb her." The Queen admitted. She exhaled softly.
"You think Anna is upset about breaking the chandelier?" Olaf queried with a troubled frown.
Kristoff raised a curious brow. "Huh? What chandelier?"
"That's a story for another time. Thank you Kristoff." Elsa smiled. "And Sven." She added, scratching the reindeer under his chin.
Elsa turned to follow Anna's footsteps—Olaf already a ways ahead—when Kristoff suddenly grabbed her arm. She flinched from the contact, making a layer of frost coat the ground beneath her feet. Kristoff jerked his hand away, face apologetic.
"Sorry, sorry. I forgot you didn't—anyway, your Majesty—I just…" Kristoff sighed. "I just wanted to ask you to keep me informed. Anna doesn't… tell me much of anything anymore. At least not about herself."
"I understand," Elsa replied gently. "I'll keep you informed, but right now, my sister needs me. I'll send Olaf with news should anything concerning pop up."
"Thank you… Elsa."
She smiled.
Elsa found her sister in her bedroom wearing a hole in the ground. Anna wrung her hands in distress, reminding Elsa of the way she used to pace circles in her bedroom days following their parent's death. She stepped into the bedroom on silent feet, shutting the door with a soft click.
Anna stopped pacing at the sound, but didn't turn to acknowledge the Queen's presence.
"I think I'm starting to understand how you felt like all those years."
Elsa's expression softened sympathetically. It quickly changed into alarm when she felt a wave of heat overcome her. It filled the room within seconds and although Elsa wasn't one to be bothered by the extremes of temperatures, she felt the oppressive air begin to fill her lungs. She pushed the heat away by summoning on her magic and heaved a grateful silent breath when the suffocation finally eased from her lungs.
Anna turned to Elsa then, habitually playing with the ends of one of her braids.
"You were right Elsa. I can't create, not with fire. I can't build amazing palaces or create beautiful dresses because fire has no substance." She started pacing again, the pools of blue in her eyes tinged gold.
Elsa had to summon more of her cold to keep her side of the room comfortable.
"I thought maybe I could prove you wrong. I've been practicing and practicing every night, and it's gotten easier to summon on my flame, so I thought maybe my control wasn't as bad as it was in the beginning? But…" She bit her lip.
"You lost control." Elsa finished delicately.
Anna curled the tail of her braid around her index finger. "No. Not really. I just…forgot…about my surroundings." She groaned. "I'm sorry Elsa. I know you took me out to the Ice Palace for my own benefit, but I snuck out that night to practice somewhere more open, but I ended up setting the frozen clearing on fire. I didn't think it was possible. I thought the snow would keep my fire from spreading but you were right, my fire isn't like regular fires. It's different somehow."
"Wait, you what?"
The red head couldn't keep herself from flinching at Elsa's harsh tone. She turned to the Queen, her expression shamefaced as she fretfully twirled the tail-end of her hair between her fingers.
"I set the frozen falls on fire." She paused. "Well I guess technically they're not frozen anymore but—"
"Anna! What did you think you were doing?! What if someone had been there? You could have hurt someone! You could have hurt yourself!"
"It was the middle of the night!" Anna shot back angrily. "Who would think to visit the mountain side that late at night?"
"That's not the point! You could have hurt yourself." Elsa admonished, her tone rising just a little.
"I can't hurt myself. My fire doesn't hurt me!" Anna snapped harshly, her blue eyes now gold.
Elsa felt taken aback at the sight, her concerned anger now swirling into utter surprise. "Your eyes," She breathed, unsure of what else to say.
Anna felt the anger drain from her body faster than she could blink, leaving her muddled and almost disoriented. She gave Elsa an uncertain frown and tentatively asked, "What about my eyes?"
"They changed color."
Now Anna felt terribly lost. She turned to her vanity mirror and gazed into the honey hue of her eyes. She jerked away from her reflection with a gasp, surprised beyond belief. Having her hair change color had been one thing, but her eyes?
What kind of magic was this?
Elsa felt the wall of heat break into her barrier of cold with alarming intensity. She fell back a step in surprise, feeling her back hit the wall. Frost and ice sprouted up the walls upon contact, making pretty little floral and vein like designs along the pink walls of Anna's bedroom. It startled the both of them out of their shock, but none more so than Anna, who watched with wide eyes as the heat she hadn't realized filling the room began to melt Elsa's frost rapidly.
"Elsa!" She cried. "I'm sorry! Am I hurting you? I didn't' realize the room was so hot. Are you melting? You can't melt right? Wait, of course you can't melt. You're not really made out of—"
"Anna! You're making it hotter!"
"Right, right, sorry!"
Anna wiggled the tension and nervous energy out of her limbs. She willed the heat in her core to cool and was relieved when she felt her body temperature drop to normal levels. She heard Elsa's thankful sigh follow soon after and felt even more troubled than before.
Why was it so difficult for her to acknowledge her surroundings? Or to realize the temperature change whenever she entered a room?
"Sorry," She mumbled, embarrassed. "I didn't…realize…"
"So I noticed." Elsa remarked. "It's OK Anna. Believe me, I understand what you're going through."
"More than anyone, huh?" She smiled weakly.
Elsa returned the smile. "Your eyes are blue again." She stated after a while.
Anna's meek demeanor did not change, which bothered Elsa more than she let on. She glanced up at the frost covered wall behind her, partially surprised and troubled that half of her frost had melted in the ten seconds it took for them to notice the suffocating heat. She traced the sweaty frost floral design with her eyes in a moment of distraction when a thought suddenly popped into mind.
It was the same thought she had during their overnight stay in the Ice Palace. Why Anna hadn't followed it through the first time, Elsa would never understand, but she supposed giving it a try a second time might prove to be more beneficial.
"Anna, have you ever thought of practicing with your heat?"
"My what?"
Elsa turned to her with a thoughtful look. "Your heat. Instead of playing with fire, why don't you practice with heat? I asked you to do that yesterday, but instead you decided to make a fire bird."
At Anna's blank stare, the Ice Queen rolled her eyes.
"Anna, you know I don't only control ice and snow. I can make the air colder if I wanted to, just like you can make the air hotter. Instead of summoning on your flame, how about you control the intensity of your heat? Make the temperature hotter with your powers."
A wide infectious smile broke out on the young princess's face. "Elsa you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that? No wait—don't answer that." She added, catching onto the Queen's amused giggles. She wrapped her sister in a warm hug, thanked her for the idea then hurried out of the room to do who only knows what.
Elsa remained in Anna's bedroom, her expression solemn now that her sister was no longer there to watch her. She watched the last of the frost drag lazily down the pink wall-paper of the wall, the image of the ice chandelier crashing down on Anna replaying in her mind—all because of a bird made of flame that Anna couldn't control. She thought back to the ball a few weeks back, how Kristoff had been angry and Anna nervous because of the small spark of fire that had burned the blond's hand. Or the night she burnt off her nightgown during a night session gone wrong.
The breathing exercises weren't helping. If anything, Elsa felt they were making it worse. Teaching her sister how to properly breathe with her diaphragm made Anna's flames stronger in a way. Potent. They were brighter now than when Anna didn't know the techniques. And now, it seemed, Anna needed less movements to start a flicker of flame.
Now her eyes were changing color.
Elsa's eyes never changed when she used her ice. Nor had her hair changed. She'd been born platinum blonde. She'd been born this way.
Anna wasn't.
Perhaps Father's books have something on the subject. Elsa thought, rubbing her forehead as an ache started to develop just behind her eyes. She hoped that by having Anna practice with heat, she wouldn't get herself in trouble.
But knowing her sister that seemed impossible as of late.
Anna stared hard at a silver goblet. She leveled her eyes a few inches around the cups rim, glaring daggers into the liquid as though it had committed a heinous act of treason.
Olaf stopped mid-stride in the hall, having just caught a glance at the princess in the dining hall. With a curious smile, he strolled into the dining hall and scurried up the chairs to join Anna at the table.
"Whatcha doing?" He asked after a moment of watching her stare daggers at the innocent cup.
Anna spared him a look before her eyes tinged gold again. The liquid in the goblet began to bubble lightly, as though on a light simmer. The Princess of Arendelle pulled away with a pleased smile.
Olaf suddenly gasped in understanding.
"Ooh, I see what you're doing. You're practicing again! Oh, but this is different. You're not using fire, you're using a different kind of fire."
"Technically it's heat." She replied, watching the water gurgle. "Elsa suggested I practice a different aspect of my magic, so I decided to see if I could make water boil. Looks like I can!" She waved a hand over the steam bellowing out of the silver goblet, feeling prouder when the water remained on a light simmer. "I think Elsa thinks learning how to do this would be safer for everyone."
"For everyone? Or for you?"
Anna stared back at the snowman in surprise. He gave her a knowing smile before marveling back at the heated goblet.
"I think your fire is beautiful Anna." He confessed after a while. "I really did enjoy your fire bird even though it blew up and broke the chandelier. But it blew up prettily, by the way."
Anna's good mood turned sour.
Olaf's eyes widened in glee as the simmering water began to pop more erratically.
"Thank you," She managed to say, despite the sour memory. "But I wish it hadn't exploded and nearly got you killed."
"Me? We were more concerned about you." The snowman huffed. "Can I touch it?" Olaf reached out for the goblet the same time Anna did.
"No wait—!" She knocked the goblet over in an act of clumsiness—she had only wanted to move the cup away in fear the water would pop in Olaf's face—and watched in horror as the boiling water splattered all over the snowman's stubby legs. He yelped in surprise and fell over the edge of the table before Anna could blink.
"Olaf!" The princess shrieked, practically scrambling over the table to reach her fallen companion. "Are you hurt?"
He stuck out a twiggy hand in the air and waved it frantically.
"I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" He called, despite having Anna crouched beside him in a flash. "I'm not hurt." He wiggled each of his stubby legs for emphasis in spite of noticing the missing chunks of snow where the water had struck him. "Don't worry, Queen Elsa can fix that."
Anna felt a flash of something pierce through her heart. She drew her hands away from the snowman and rose to her feet with an odd look in her gold tinged eyes.
"Right, yes, of course she can." She tried to chuckle in relief, but her voice came out airy and weak. "I'm sorry Olaf."
Olaf made to reply but stopped himself the moment Anna turned away. She gathered up the silver goblet and the pitcher of water Olaf hadn't noticed was there then turned sharply on her heel. He watched in dumbfounded silence as Princess Anna curtly left the dining hall, a small line of steam trailing her exit.
In hindsight, I probably could have meshed chapters 4 and 5 together to make a longer chapter but too late.
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Feeeeeeed meeeehhhh -weeps-