"Anna! Please, open up the door! We need to talk!"
Silence.
"Anna!" Elsa cried. She put her hand over her mouth, and wrapped an arm around her stomach. "Anna I'm sorry…" she mumbled, beginning to cry. She turned around and leaned back, her back making an uncomfortable sounding thump when it hit the door. She slid down and sat on the floor, bringing her knees to her chest. She sat there for a few seconds, tears making their way down her face, trying to figure out what to do next.
"This is what I was so afraid of. This is why I didn't tell you before. I'm sorry," she said, having the feeling she was talking to no one in particular. She waited a few more minutes until she was calmed down before she spoke again. "I know you're furious with me, but I'm not leaving until you open up and we talk about this."
And she meant it. Hours had passed, and Elsa was still sitting patiently outside Anna's door in her little fetal position, although now she was resting her head on her knees. Eventually, Callan walked upstairs carrying a pile of laundry. "Your Majesty?" she said, when she noticed the Queen curled up on the floor.
Elsa's head jerked up. She looked around frantically, then her eyes stopped on Callan. "Oh, hi," she said, dejected.
"What's going on?"
Elsa stood up, stretched her legs out, then walked over to Callan. "I told her."
"Oh…" Callan said softly. The two girls stood there in silence for a few moments. "And now what?" she finally said, trying not to come off as nosy.
Elsa motioned to the closed door. "That," she said. "She won't come out. She won't talk to me." She ran her fingers through her hair, then cleared her throat, trying hard not to let herself cry in front of Callan. "I can't blame her, though. I wouldn't want to talk to me either."
"She'll come around, Your Highness," Callan said, offering some level of reassurance, or at least trying to.
"And I'm going to be right here when she does," Elsa said. "I'm not leaving until she'll open the door and talk this out with me. I don't care how long it is. Besides, she has to come out sometime."
Callan nodded. She really wanted to talk about it with Elsa. After all the times Elsa had been there for her, she wanted to return the favor. But she also knew that this was between Elsa and Anna, and given how important her little sister is to her, Elsa wouldn't budge on the matter.
"Well, as long as you're going to be here waiting, give her these when she comes out," Callan said, thrusting the big pile of laundry into Elsa's arms.
"Er, okay," Elsa said, almost immediately losing her balance and dropping the load. Callan turned around to walk away, but Elsa stopped her. "Callan?" she turned around. "Would you send for Kristoff for me?"
"At this hour? I don't think that's such a good idea…"
"I just need to tell him what's going on. And maybe Anna will talk to him."
Callan refrained from scoffing at the thought of Anna wanting to be anywhere near Kristoff right now, let alone talk to him. "Okay, whatever you say."
"Thanks," Elsa said, retaking her place back on the floor outside of Anna's door.
Even more hours passed, and Anna still hadn't opened the door, and Kristoff still hadn't come. I bet Callan didn't even send for him. Why would she? She's probably just as furious with me as Anna is. Why would she actually put Kristoff and I together right now? Elsa thought. But her train of thought was interrupted when Anna finally opened the door.
Elsa gasped as she fell backwards, hitting the floor with a grunt, and spilling the laundry everywhere. Anna scoffed and rolled her eyes at the sight of her older sister lying on the floor.
"Anna!" Elsa said, scrambling to stand up, leaving the laundry where it fell. Although it was getting dark, Elsa could see that Anna's eyes were red and puffy from crying.
"I honestly didn't think you'd still be out there," Anna said dryly. But Elsa smiled, taking pure joy in the fact that Anna would talk to her, that her sister wasn't too far gone. But her smile faded when Anna began to shut the door again.
"No, Anna, wait!" Elsa said, pushing on the door to keep it open. Just then, Kristoff came running down the hall and met the girls at the door.
"Sorry it took me so long, but I'm here," he panted. "I'm here."
"Ugh!" Anna groaned, trying to shut the door again.
"Anna!" Elsa pleaded, pushing harder on the door.
"What, Elsa?" Anna yelled, flinging the door wide open. "What could you possibly have to say to me to justify this?"
"I'm sorry, Anna! I'm so sorry. I should have told you when this all started," she said, taking a few steps into the room, rapidly searching her brain for something else to say.
"When it all started?" Anna yelled. "How long has this been going on? You know what, never mind. I don't want to know. But you say you should have told me when it started happening? How about why on Earth would you even do this to me?" she shouted.
"We did not do this to hurt you, Anna," Kristoff butted in.
"Shut up!" Anna yelled at Kristoff. She turned back to Elsa. "And you. How could you do this to me? After everything we've been through… this is how you capitalize on that?" She paused, actually hoping Elsa would say something. "You would think that it got old, or that I got used to it. You know, knocking on your door every single day for thirteen years and having you not open it every time.
"Don't even bring all of that up, Anna. The past is in the past, we agreed on that! You can't hold that over me like that!" Elsa said.
"Shut up!" she repeated, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "But that wasn't the case. Every time you wouldn't open up, every time you refused to spend time with me, it was a brand new hurt. It was a brand new knife being plunged into my back. And after the Great Thaw, after we reconciled, you actually managed to pull all of those knives out. Everything was the way it always should have been. But now? Going behind my back like this? Knowing for so long that you should have told me, and not telling me? You just pushed thirteen years worth of knives back in. Plus a brand new one, just for the occasion."
By the time Anna had got to the end of her rant, both her and Elsa were in tears. "Anna, I…" she started to say.
"I was just beginning to trust you, Elsa! I finally had the happy relationship with my sister that I had always dreamed about! How could you do this to me? What the hell, Elsa?"
Elsa had her mouth hung open, at a total loss for words. I hadn't even thought of it that way… She just shook her head.
"Get out. Both of you," Anna said, pushing Elsa out the door.
"Anna wait!"
"Oh, and Elsa? Do me a favor, and don't talk to me for another thirteen years." And with that, Anna slammed the door harder than she had the first time.
Elsa and Kristoff stood outside of Anna's door, completely silent. Kristoff quickly placed his hands on Elsa's shoulders when he noticed them trembling violently.
"God, Kristoff. What have we done?" she said, her voice as shaky as her shoulders.
He started rubbing her arms, and found that she was ice cold. Colder than usual. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her from behind. The more she shook, the colder it got. Kristoff's mind raced, trying to think of a way to calm her down before she started a full on blizzard right there in the hallway.
"You know what the worst part is?" she said. "She didn't even get mad at you. She didn't seem to care the least bit that you had betrayed her too, because she's so upset that I did. She looked up to me and trusted me so much, and I… I ruined it." She turned around to face him, and broke down. "She hates me, Kristoff. She hates me," she sobbed into his chest.
He held her even tighter, his hands rising and falling along with her back as she continued to snivel and whimper. "It'll be okay," he said, letting a few moments pass first.
"Kristoff?" she sniffled, asking after a few seconds.
"Hm?"
"Does this change things between us?"
He thought for a long moment. "Well, I don't know what kind of a person it makes me, but no, it does't change the way I feel about you." He paused again. "Does it change the way you feel about me?
"I mean, it shouldn't, but…"
"It does," he finished her sentence, letting go of her.
"Now wait," she said, grabbing his shirt, afraid that he would leave. "I'm just really conflicted right now. I can't think straight. I just wanted to ask you."
But you can't answer the simple yes or no question yourself? he thought. "I understand," he said. Another painfully long pause. "Well, you've had a lot thrown at you today, and it's really late. I think I'll be going so you can get some rest," he added, prying her hands from his shirt.
"Are you sure? It's not safe for you to travel home at this hour. Maybe you should just stay here."
He debated his options. Stay here? Where would I sleep? With… with Elsa? "Where would I even sleep?" he asked out loud. But he stammered and waved off his own question before Elsa could answer. "No, never mind. Forget it. It wouldn't be very appropriate, given the circumstances. I'll just go."
"Kristoff."
"I'll be fine," he smiled. "I'll come back tomorrow morning, okay?" He took a few steps down the hall, but Elsa caught up with him before he got very far.
"Kristoff please, just stay," she said, putting her hand on his back, prompting him to turn around. "I'm really worn out, and I'm really upset, and… I need you. I really don't want to be alone right now."
"Elsa," he said, taking her hands. "Any other given night if you would ask me to stay, I would. But tonight is far from the right time." He looked into her eyes, and his heart both fluttered and sank at what he saw. Even though it was dark, he could still see how beautifully bright blue her eyes were. He could also see the tiny gleam of tears, which seemed to have taken residency in the corners of her eyes. "I will be back tomorrow morning, I promise," he said. He kissed her on her forehead, then he left.
Kristoff's mind was racing on his walk home. I should have stayed. She said she needed me. I'm such an idiot. I should be there for her. I should have stayed.
But what would have happened if I did stay? Would we have stayed up and talked? Would we have gone to bed? Together? What then?
We probably would have gotten all snuggled up under the covers. I would have put my arm around her, and she probably would have gotten even closer, maybe even laid her head down on my chest. Then I would have kissed her on the top of her head. She'd look up at me, I'd look down at her, then I'd kiss her again, this time on the lips. Then I'd kiss her neck. Mmm. Maybe twice. Then I bet she'd…
"Gah, snap out of it, Kristoff!" he said to himself, wiping his now sweaty palms on his shirt. "That's the last thing you should be thinking about! What's wrong with you?"
He jogged the rest of the way back to his home, a cozy little cottage right in the middle of the village, and shut himself inside. He paced around for a few minutes before finally settling into bed and drifting off.
Elsa stood in the hallway a little while longer debating whether or not to spend the night outside of Anna's door, just in case she opened up again, or to go back to her own room. She eventually decided on going to her room, although she didn't even try to go to sleep. She did lay down in bed, but the rest of the night was full of tossing and turning, and thinking about what the next day would bring.
Morning came slowly, and was rainy and chilly. Elsa, who had been wide awake all through the night anyway, changed into a different dress, placed her crown delicately on her once again perfectly styled hair, and trudged downstairs. She found Callan sitting at the dining room table with a cup of tea, and decided to join her.
"Good morning," she said groggily, slinking into the chair beside Callan.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," Callan said, pretending not to notice how out of sorts Elsa was. "Would you like some tea?"
"Please."
Callan disappeared into the kitchen for a few seconds, then came back out with a teapot and a teacup balanced on a lovely pewter tray. She placed the tray on the table between their seats, poured Elsa a cup, and sat back down.
"Thank you, Callan," Elsa said, wrapping her hands around the warm teacup. "Kind of a dreary day, isn't it?"
"It is. You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, would you?"
"Oh, I don't think so." She paused. "Maybe."
Callan chuckled and took a sip of tea. She spent a few silent moments in thought, then finally spoke up. "Is there anything I can do to…"
"No," Elsa stopped her. "There's nothing anyone can do. I messed up, and now this is what I get." Callan nodded and brought her teacup up to her mouth, without taking a sip. "Callan?" Elsa continued.
"What is it?"
"Thank you for not telling her."
"I hadn't planned on it," Callan said.
Elsa furrowed her brow. "Why not? I mean, what do you mean?"
Callan turned in her chair to face Elsa. "Elsa, er, I mean Your-" Elsa shook her head, stopping Callan from correcting herself. "Elsa," Callan repeated cautiously, waiting for Elsa's approval before continuing. Elsa nodded, so Callan went on. "I trusted you with my biggest secret. My only one, actually. But anyway, even though I didn't exactly feel right doing it, it was only right that I kept your biggest secret, too. I placed my trust in you, so I made sure that you could place your trust in me."
"Wow, Callan. Thank you. That was sweet of you," Elsa responded after a few moments. "So, you're not mad at me, then?"
"No," Callan said, "not mad. Disappointed, sure. But not mad. I don't think I have the right to be mad."
Elsa lowered her head, and took a sip of tea. "I'm sorry you're disappointed in me."
"I'm not sure how to respond to that," Callan laughed.
Elsa managed a smile and looked back up. "Don't worry, you don't have to."
Just then, Anna had begun to trot down the stairs. But seeing Elsa already in the dining room, she quickly turned around and tried to make her way back upstairs.
"Anna, wait!" Elsa said, leaving the table and taking a couple steps towards the staircase. Anna wouldn't stop, and Elsa sprung into action, flicking her wrists and freezing Anna's feet and ankles to the stairs.
"Hey!" Anna yelled, trying to break free. Elsa could feel her hold on the ice wavering, with all of Anna's squirming, so she clenched her fist, adding more ice. "Ouch! Elsa, that hurts!"
Elsa ran partially up the stairs and stopped on the step above where Anna was frozen to the ground, and turned around to face her sister. "Come on, Anna, please just talk this out with me."
Anna slapped Elsa square in the face.
"Okay, I deserved that one," Elsa said, rubbing the red mark that was left on her cheek. "But now can we-"
"Give it a rest, Elsa! I don't want to talk to you!" Anna paused, realizing that despite what she had just said, she had just spoken to her sister. "Dang it."
"Okay, if you don't want to talk to me, then listen. I'm sorry, Anna. I didn't mean for all of this to escalate like this. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Well, you did, Elsa. And I know you didn't mean to. You never mean to do these things. But you always do. You didn't mean to shut me out when we were kids, but you did. You didn't mean to freeze my heart and almost kill me, but you did. And, of course you didn't mean to hurt me. But guess what. You did."
"Anna! Stop with all of this about our childhood! We moved past that! You cannot keep holding that over me! Look, I know you're very upset with Kristoff and I, but our past has absolutely nothing to do with this. You can't use that to add to your anger!"
"Well how else am I supposed to deal with this? I hate thinking about it, let alone talking about it!"
"I do too, Anna! I hate all of this! And if I could take this all away, if I could go back and take all of this back, I would!"
"You would?" Elsa looked over Anna's shoulder and saw Kristoff standing at the bottom of the staircase. With all of the yelling, no one had heard him come in, and no one had noticed him standing there.
"Kristoff…" said Elsa. She looked at Anna, back at Kristoff, then back at Anna again. Her sister was looking at the floor, trying not to let Elsa see how Kristoff's presence affected her. Elsa had noticed anyway, sighed, and unfroze her ankles. Anna ran to the top of the stairs, then stopped and peeked over her shoulder, almost hoping that Elsa would chase after her instead of Kristoff, who had also walked away.
Elsa was still looking where Kristoff had been standing, then she turned to look at her sister. Anna made sure she made slight eye contact with her older sister before turning down the hall and heading for her room.
Elsa sighed and went after Kristoff, figuring she had bothered Anna enough for one morning. She descended the stairway and turned the corner into the foyer, then walked into the family room, and found Kristoff standing in front of the fireplace with his hands in his pockets.
"Kristoff," she said, walking over and standing behind him.
"You'd take it all back, huh?" he said. "I was right, then. All of this did change the way you feel about me."
"No, Kristoff, it didn't. When I said that to Anna, I didn't mean-"
"You didn't mean it? So you're lying to her?" he asked. He still hadn't turned around.
"No! I'm just saying I didn't mean it like-"
"So if you're not lying to her, then you're lying to me."
"Kristoff, I'm not lying to anybody! I'm trying to explain to you-"
He whipped around, finally facing her. "Explain to me what? That one second we're in this mess together, then the next you'll say anything to Anna to get her back on your side? That one night you say that you need me, then the next morning you say you'd take it all back?" he yelled.
Elsa stared back at him, slightly in shock. He had never yelled at her before.
"Oh," he said, softening his stance and his tone when he noticed how frightened she looked. "Elsa, look. I'm sorry I yelled." He cleared his throat. "There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" she asked softly, not sure whether she was mad or hurt that Kristoff had yelled at her.
"I love you."
Elsa blinked a few times, not saying anything.
"I love you," he repeated, not so much expecting a response, but more just making sure that he had said it.
"Kristoff," she started. "I really like you, and I care about you so much, you know that." Kristoff nodded. "But you have to understand, Anna is the most important thing to me, and my relationship with her is my top priority."
"I do understand that, I do," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "And I know that things are really rocky between you two right now, which is really worrying you, and causing you to not think straight, like you told me last night. But I can't play these games. You know, all of your going back and forth between Anna and I, and all this stuff you're telling me about how you need me, or how you'd take it all back. And I just wanted to tell you that I love you, and I want you to think about maybe whether or not you might love me too. And whenever you're ready to answer me-"
"Wait, what? 'Play these games?' Kristoff!" she said. "You just said that you understand what's going through my mind, and yet you're adding to it?" she yelled. "Why would you even do that? You know how stressed out I am right now! Are you seriously trying to make me choose between you and Anna?" Snow started to blow around the room. "I am not playing games with you! I can assure you, I am genuinely having a very tough time right now. Especially with thinking about how in the world I'm supposed to fix all of this!" The small cloud of snow and wind picked up, and the temperature dropped. "So thank you, for being so insensitive, and making the whole situation worse. But sure, Kristoff, when I make my decision and I'm ready to answer you, I'll let you know." She turned around and stormed off, cloaked in a small blizzard, leaving a trail of snow and ice behind her.
Kristoff sighed. "So in other words, when I wake up with ten feet of snow on top of my house tomorrow morning, I shouldn't be surprised," he said to himself. He put his hands back into his pockets, and showed himself to the door.
To answer someone's question about the M rating, it probably doesn't actually need to be rated M. I pretty much just used that rating to be safe, because I honestly didn't even know what I was getting into when I started to write this. Sorry if there's any disappointment... but as always, Thanks, everyone, for reading! Tell your friends!