Anna awoke suddenly the next morning, out of breath and clutching her chest. She quickly turned to her sister to make sure she was still okay. Sure enough, Elsa was there, looking strangely fragile for a woman so strong but still clearly alive as she breathed softly in her sleep.

Anna rubbed her face and groaned. It had all only been a nightmare. But what an awful nightmare it had been. And it was one that she had over and over again.

It was always the same thing. An angry mob storming the castle. Demanding Elsa give herself up. Screaming she was too dangerous to be kept alive. Howling that they would not risk having another eternal winter. Elsa would try to calm them down. But it would never be enough. The mob always made it inside. They always got to her sister. And Anna always watched helplessly, stuck to the floor and unable to move, as the horrible people murdered their own queen.

She never dared tell Elsa about the dreams. She was going through more than enough as it is. And Anna had to stay strong for her. She had to.

She sat up slowly, noticing that the sun was barely up as she glanced towards the bedroom window. Then again, there were so many dark clouds in the sky that Anna wondered if the sun should've even bothered getting up this morning. She could tell it was going to be a very glum day. How fitting considering the mood she was in.

She carefully crawled out of bed and awkwardly squatted over her chamber pot, hoping that she wouldn't wake up her sister as she did so. Her heart felt nothing but dread over what was to come. Why had she made that promise to Kristoff? Why couldn't she prolong this just a little longer? Maybe she really was better off not knowing what was wrong with Elsa.

In any case, it didn't matter now. She had already made arrangements with her sister the previous night, being very vague about everything and simply saying that she "wanted to go on a small outing with her" sometime during the afternoon. Elsa was reluctant, as Anna knew she would be, but with enough persuasive arguing (okay, it was more like nagging), Elsa finally gave in, saying that she would postpone one of her royal meetings in order to do so.

She sat herself down on the floor, blankly staring at the now full chamber pot and deciding that she should empty it. She always felt kinda bad for the servants who had to do it, as it could in no way be a pleasant job for them. But the real reason she wanted to do it, if she was honest with herself, was that she just wanted something to do.

She got up as slowly as she could, tip-toeing over towards the closet and taking a soft purple coat. She placed it over her pink nightgown, figuring there was no need to actually get dressed for this task, and after slipping her feet into her slippers, quietly snuck out of her room. As she crept through the halls of the castle, she prayed that no one would see her, as a princess holding a chamber pot was a sight she guessed would not be smiled upon by her staff.

She stepped outside and made her way into the royal garden, shivering as she did so. Summer may have only been a few weeks away, but you would never know that from stepping on the ground, which was covered in a light frost and hard as ice.

She looked around, trying to find wherever it was that the servants emptied this thing, but eventually gave up on that task and simply poured the chamber pot's contents into an area of the garden with no flowers. Despite being done with her "job" now, she was in no hurry to go back inside, as looking at her sister would only be a reminder to her of what she had to do later in the day.

She placed the chamber pot aside, sitting herself next to a small flower bed and taking a deep, long breath. Being in the garden normally had a calming effect on her, but it was so quiet and dark this morning that she almost had the feeling that she was in a graveyard. Not a sound could be heard, with the exception of the soft noise of birds happily chirping.

She stood up and approached the area where the sound was coming from, eager to see some form of life right now, even if it was just birds feasting on icky things like worms. Given the cold weather, she was a little surprised they were even up and about, but as she saw a bird's nest seated snugly in a tall tree, she suddenly found herself smiling for some reason.

"Hello, little birds," she said happily as she watched a mother feed her babies. "You have nothing bothering you this morning, do you? I bet you're all going to have a great day, even if that day just consists of sitting in a nest while your mother tends to you."

She walked closer to the nest, almost wishing she could pet or stroke the baby birds within it, but knowing that the mother would never allow it. Still, there was no harm in trying to get a better look.

Crunch!

Anna widened her eyes. She had stepped on something, and whatever it was, it was hard. She lifted up her foot to see what it was...only to find a baby bird.

It was dead.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed, getting down to her knees and looking at it. "No, no, no, no, no! You're not dead, little guy! You're just asleep, aren't you?"

It was dead.

Anna felt her heart sink. The bird was clearly no more, and her words of denial were not going to bring it back to life. It just laid there, its eyes staring blankly up at the nest above, as though wondering why its mother hadn't noticed it had fallen.

Anna clutched her chest. She didn't know what to do. Had she killed the bird when she stepped on it? Was it her fault that it would never grow up? Or was it already dead long before then?

These questions, of course, were useless. There was no way she could know the answer to any of them. All she could do was try to bury the poor thing. It didn't seem right to just leave it there.

She hesitated as she looked at the body, not sure if she actually wanted to go through with this or not. The truth of the matter was, for someone who had lost two parents, Anna had no experience with dead bodies. They had never found her mother and father when they died. In a way, Anna was thankful for that. She wanted to remember them as they were, not as the dead-eyed, lifeless creature that she couldn't seem to stop looking at.

Finally, she picked up the body, and immediately felt a chill go down her spine. The body was so cold! So stiff! So lifeless! Somehow it seemed more dead now within her arms than it had ever seemed on the ground. She should've expected it to feel this way, of course, but Anna was so taken aback that she found herself dropping the bird without meaning to.

"Sorry," she mumbled, as tears began filling her eyes. "I...didn't mean to do that! I just want to put you to rest! I...I didn't mean to drop you!"

She turned up towards the bird's nest, where the mother bird was still chirping, popping berries into its remaining babies' eager open mouths.

"Why weren't you there for him?!" she cried, clenching her hand into a fist. "Why haven't you noticed he's gone?! Don't you care?! What kind of a mother are you?!"

The mother bird ignored her.

Anna could tell she was letting herself get too upset. She had to get rid of the bird. She couldn't stand the sight of death right now. But at the same time, she didn't want to touch it again. Perhaps she could dig a hole for it first, and then use a stick to gently push it in before covering it back up.

She dug her fingers into the ground...but it was too hard. The morning frost had done its job, making the dirt feel like a rock. She tried harder and harder, struggling to create even the smallest of holes, but it was no use.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled, looking at the bird who refused to move from her sight. "I'm trying to put you to rest! This...this shouldn't have happened! I shouldn't have stepped on you! I'm so sorry!"

Her hands were hurting now. She didn't care. She just wanted to bury the bird. That would make her calm down. That would make the tears stop flowing. That would make...

"Anna?"

Anna looked up, alarmed. There, wearing a purple robe she had gone to sleep in the previous night, was Elsa.

She didn't want her to see her in this state. Quickly, she wiped her eyes.

"Anna, what's wrong?"

Anna swallowed hard.

"I...um...I'm just...trying to bury a dead bird I found," she croaked, losing her battle against her tears. "I...um...I just...I think I killed it..."

She broke after that. Saying those words out loud was somehow too much for her to handle

"I THINK I KILLED IT!" she sobbed. "Oh, Elsa, I didn't mean to! I stepped on it, and then..."

Elsa carefully picked up the bird, softly stroking it with her fingers.

"No, Anna," she said gently. "This little guy has been dead for a long time."

Anna sniffled.

"You're just saying that to make me stop crying," she said, not caring that mucus was dripping from her nose now.

Elsa placed the bird down and put her finger on Anna's chin, turning her head to make her look at her. There was so much reassurance in Elsa's eyes, such empathy on her face. Her expression was so calm, neither sad nor happy, as though she knew that smiling at Anna at this moment would seem inappropriate to her.

"You didn't kill it, okay?" she said sincerely, and Anna now knew she could believe her. "Now, we'll bury it together, okay?"

Anna shook her head.

"The ground's too hard," she muttered. "Can't dig a hole in it right now..."

Elsa said nothing, but got down on her belly and began discreetly stroking the ground. She closed her eyes, whispering softly as she did so, as though she were comforting a crying child or gently rubbing a pet behind its ears. It was as if she were trying to sooth the earth itself, like she was promising it that everything would be okay.

Anna's eyes widened as she watched the ground thaw from under her sister's fingers. Still not saying anything, she quickly dug a small pit and carefully placed the bird inside.

"Sleep well, sweet thing," she said as she covered it up. "I'm sorry you didn't get to live a full life, but I hope your lost songs will one day be heard in a place much better than this."

She slowly bent over to kiss the ground, then blew on it. The frost that had covered it beforehand instantly returned.

"That way no animal will dig it up this morning," she said as she turned to Anna. "Would you like to find a small stone to mark it with?"

Anna couldn't say anything. She wasn't quite sure what she felt right now. She wasn't even thinking about the bird anymore. All she could think about was her sister. Her beautiful, wonderful, beloved sister. Her sister who, at this awful moment, had found a way to perform a small miracle. Her sister who had known exactly how to handle this unpleasant situation. Her sister who had more love in her than she could ever possibly imagine.

She had no idea why, but she was now crying harder than ever.

"Oh, Anna," said Elsa softly, hugging her as she sobbed into her shoulders. "There, there. You're going to be fine...you're going to be just fine...I'll find a stone myself if it makes you feel better, okay? You're going to be just fine..."

But Anna didn't feel fine at all as she soaked Elsa's robe with her tears.

I'm failing you, she thought with great shame. I'm the one who's supposed to be remaining strong for you.