Everything was ready. Somehow things had pulled together, probably thanks entirely to Kristoff. Food had been ordered and set to arrive tomorrow on the finest dishes, servers had been hired and foreign dignitaries had been invited, and I'd finally finished mastering my powers. There would be no freezing of the coronation props, which was another huge weight off my shoulders.

Kristoff spent the night, he and Sven (after much washing of hooves so as not to defile the fresh beauty of the castle) curled up on the floor of my bedroom, having staunchly refused any offers of a guest suite. There were some disapproving looks from the full array of staff we had hired, but since he was the one who was brave enough to interact with them they couldn't raise too much of a fuss. As always, I was grateful for his presence. We talked late into the night, revelling in how all of our achievements had culminated to prepare us for tomorrow. He did not share my worries about Anna making an appearance. My hand was hanging over the edge of the bed and Kristoff held it from his place on the floor.

"She's been gone for months, Elsa. We must have exercised her when we got the castle fixed up."

"It's exorcised, not exercise. And I feel like she's gone, but not permanently, you know?"

"No."

"Well, I do. She could come back."

"Hey," he said, squeezing my hand. "It'll be alright."

I didn't believe him, so as soon as he and Sven were asleep, I pulled my hand out of his and went to the ballroom.

"Anna, are you in here?"

No response, of course.

"Hey… thanks for the quiet nights. Thanks for being cooperative with all these people in here." I slumped down against one of the walls. "Tomorrow the gates are opening. People are going to be in here. Overnight. Please, Anna… please don't do anything to them? I'm begging you."

I was disgusted with how I sounded. Asking the sister I'd killed to not mess up my big day. Like I had any right to say these things. I was at the door to leave, but I couldn't without letting her know. After tomorrow, I didn't know what my life would be like. If I didn't say it now I might never.

"Anna, I love you. And I'm sorry for all I've done to you. I wish there was some way to make it right, but I see that there is no hope for that, so all I can give you are my apologies. I don't know where you've been and where you are now. I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if I'll ever see you again, and I don't know if I'm happy or sad about that. When you were haunting me, at least I knew where you were and how you were doing, even if you were angry with me. Now, I just don't know, and I'm worried for you." I closed my eyes and rested my head against the doorframe. "Please know you'll always be my sister, no matter what. I won't forget you. Ever. I love you." Then I turned and left without looking back.

It had been years since I'd slept as soundly as I did that night. Then it was morning, and Kristoff was sitting on the bedside, brushing my hair off my face and softly saying, "Wake up, Elsa." I could barely contain the sudden wave of affection I had for Kristoff, my best friend, probably my saviour. As it was, I sat straight up and threw my arms around him.

"Happy birthday," he said, rubbing my back. "You'll do great today. I'll leave so you can get ready. The guests will be here soon." He smiled at me once more before closing the door softly behind him. I could hear him chattering away to Sven as they walked down the corridor. My new clothes had been picked out for me by someone we'd hired to stock the house. Thankfully, she'd decided the cupboards were as desperate as the pantry to be filled. But the coronation dress had had to be commissioned from a prominent designer, and it was beautiful. I wasn't allowed to change by myself, there had to be a procession of attending ladies to fret over me for hours. They pulled my hair into a braided bun so tight I felt the pull of each and every bobby pin. For some reason, the dress didn't look good enough either until they had pulled each and every tie to its limit. By the time they sat me down to get started on my makeup, I'd had my fill of being queen.

Half an hour to the opening of the castle gate. I wanted Kristoff by my side, and I ran through the entire castle trying to find him, but he had disappeared. Defeated, I walked to the front hall, where a maelstrom of footboys and maids rushed to their last minute duties. It was there, leaning against a railing, that I saw Kristoff. It had slipped my mind that this morning he'd only had his regular clothes; clean and smelling of the mountains, but not fancy enough for this kind of ceremony. Evidently, he'd planned for that too.

He was wearing a suit. Though he looked awkward and out of place among all these professional city-dwellers, the small effort he'd made to blend in was overwhelming. I ran to his side at once.

"You look great," I said.

He didn't immediately look at me, but rubbed his neck awkwardly. I could see a flush creeping into his cheeks.

"Thanks, I guess. I borrowed it from a page at the last second, gave him the day off in return. I hope you don't mind. It's nowhere near fancy enough, but... I can't believe I forgot to dress nicely for today. I'm real sorry."

I put my hand on his arm. "Look at everything else you've done. Look at this castle you've filled and staffed."

"You did most of it!" he said in protest.

"You did most of it. You just asked my opinion on everything."

"Well you were kind of busy with that sis of yours…"

"Thank you, Kristoff." I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

The flush of color that had been faint before was crimson now.

"Well I guess you're welcome, I mean, I… Wow you look nice." Now it was my turn to blush.

"Five minutes, Elsa!" a footman called from somewhere in the melee of staff. I turned away from Kristoff, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"I know everyone will love you," he said. "I know you can do this." Then he kissed my cheek and pushed me towards the big doors. "I'll see you later!" he called after me. I was shocked and slightly dizzy as I headed off towards the doors.

The coronation was quite the event. After the solemn receiving of the orb and staff (which I am happy to say I did not freeze) and my pledge to lead these people as their Queen, the gathering dissolved into one big, fancy party. Kristoff, who had been in the front row smiling at me during the ceremony, was the first to sweep me off my feet for a dance. Unfortunately he was not the only one. There were dances with fusty old men who barely even swayed to the music. There was a particularly horrific dance with the Duke of Weselton, who jumped and flitted like a pixie on fire. There were dances with fine young princes, but their faces all blend together, except for the face of Hans Westerguard Of-The-Southern-Isles. He had a funny way of saying it so that it all sounded like one word. Hans was handsome, incredibly so, but what stood out to me was that he had a perfect sincerity that the other princes lacked. He was one of the party staying the week, and I looked forward to better making his acquaintance. I danced with my cousin Rapunzel and even her wild thief husband Flynn. I hadn't seen her since before Anna's accident; I was happy she was doing so well, evidently quite in love with her prince.

There was one dance I craved, though, and never got. I wanted to dance with my sister. She should be here, tall and beautiful like the princess she'd always been. It should be her that all these princes focused their attention on, with her wild orange hair and clumsy smile.

There was a hole in my life where she'd been, and it could never be filled, no matter how much of the aristocracy flooded though these halls, no matter how many princes I met. Now that she had gone, seemingly for good, I was starting to realize that. Realization brought acceptance. I walked out onto one of the many balconies.

"I told you they'd love you," Kristoff said, joining me. "And look, the moon and stars are out in full force and there's no sign of Anna." He put an arm around me. "You've done it. You've pulled off this whole coronation."

Later that night, after all the short-term guests had left, I snuck back into the darkened ballroom to thank Anna.