A/N: Thanks to all for the reviews and follows! I really appreciate it.

Lelo (Guest): Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Chapter 4

Bad Dreams

Kristoff was now alone with the Prince and Princess of Corona, and without Anna around he was feeling a little awkward. He was a bit like Elsa, in that he was fairly uncomfortable around people in general, instead preferring to be alone, or hang out with Sven. Or at least he had, before he met Anna.

As if reading his thoughts, Rapunzel said, "She seems wonderful, Kristoff. You should be happy to have someone like her in your life." Kristoff blushed.

"I-I know, but... I mean... I don't know what to say to her," he stammered. "And... and she's a princess, and I'm just a guy who sells ice and talks to a reindeer."

"I know what you're thinking," the brunette said, her eyes narrowing. "You think you're not good enough for her, don't you? Well, I've seen the way she looks at you, and can tell you otherwise."

"Besides, you'll know what to say to her eventually," Eugene said honestly. "Trust me. Remember, I used to be a thief, before I fell in love with a princess, and that didn't stop me."

"And this... princess... is tired," Rapunzel yawned. She stood from the table, Eugene doing likewise. She pushed her chair in before beckoning for her husband to follow. "Come on, Eugene... let's go find this room of ours. Good night, Kristoff."

"All right, Blondie, I'm coming." Eugene replied, trotting off after her, mumbling for Kristoff to hear, "We'll probably get lost, too..."

Kristoff chuckled, and said politely, "Good night, Your Highnesses." Rapunzel gave him a little wave, before Eugene closed the door behind them.

Now that Kristoff was alone, he felt a little more at ease. I guess I'll go check on Sven before I turn in, he thought as he stood. He left the dining room, and managed to find his way back to the stables without making a single wrong turn.

When he got there, he was unsurprised to find Olaf there talking to Sven. "Hi, Sven!" the snowman said cheerfully when he saw Kristoff.

"Kristoff," the mountain man reminded him.

"Oh, right." Olaf trotted over to him. "I've known your real name for only a day, so I'm not used to it yet. How was dinner?"

"It was... long," Kristoff admitted. Pulling a carrot out, he said, "I think we're all on the same page, now, as far as what happened during the freeze." He offered the carrot to Sven, who nibbled away at it hungrily. Kristoff then did his best to summarize the parts of the story the two wouldn't know about, and briefly explained the accident and Elsa's isolation.

"That's so sad," Olaf said. "It must have been hard for them to be apart for so long."

"It was," Kristoff replied. "But things are looking better for them, now. Actually, the fact that you're here is proof of that."

"Why?" Olaf asked.

"Well..." Kristoff thought for a moment. "If I understand the story right, your namesake was the last thing Elsa and Anna made together before they were separated. And you were the first thing Elsa made, intentionally, after the separation. So you could call it a good sign, I guess. In a way, you represent the fun they missed having for thirteen years."

"I think I understand," Olaf said. "In that case, I'll be sure to help them make up for that lost time." He paused, then said, "Hey... do you think they'll want to play with me tomorrow?"

"I'm sure Anna will find some time for you, Olaf," Kristoff said, "but I don't know about the Queen. She still has to speak to her Council and the people about the incident, and probably has work to attend to once everything has settled. But I'm sure she won't forget about you, okay?"

"Okay!" Olaf said happily.

"By the way," Kristoff said, "Rapunzel, the Princess of Corona—Elsa and Anna's cousin—is here with her husband Eugene, and they might like to meet you. Rapunzel might play with you—she seems a lot like Anna."

"Elsa and Anna have a cousin? Neat!" Olaf padded over to the stable door. "I'll try to remember," he told Kristoff as he was leaving, and trotted out to the courtyard.

Now it was just Kristoff and Sven... and the curious white stallion. Addressing him, Kristoff said, "Prince Eugene tells me your name is Maximus." The horse blinked at him, clearly surprised, but Kristoff went on, "I'll wait for a proper introduction tomorrow. In the meantime, you can hang out with my friend Sven." Turning to the reindeer, he said, "All settled in, buddy?"

Sven nodded, then "said" in Kristoff's voice, Did you tell her?

"Did I tell her what?" Kristoff asked, knowing Sven meant Anna. Apparently it was possible for a horse to roll its eyes, because that's exactly what he saw Maximus doing.

That you like her, Sven replied.

"Not exactly," Kristoff admitted. "She said that Olaf helped her realize that we have feelings for each other... but I don't know what to say to her."

So tell her that you like her, Sven insisted.

"I don't know how." Kristoff said, ashamed. "But Eugene told me that I would know what to say."

I'm sure you will, Sven agreed. Kristoff could swear he heard Maximus laugh. What a strange horse, he thought as he left the stables, heading back to the castle to try to get some sleep. Hopefully I can find my room on the first try...

Despite her weariness from the past four days' events, sleep did not come easily to Elsa. She had hoped that getting that load off her shoulders—telling Anna the truth about their past—would give her peace of mind enough to at least try to get a good night's rest; she had not slept well on the North Mountain, despite her new-found freedom.

But still, the nightmares came.

In one, Prince Hans, standing over Elsa with a wicked smile on his face, swings his sword down, but instead of shattering on impact with Anna's frozen body, breaks her into a thousand glittering shards of ice. In another, Anna blocks Hans' attack as before, but does not thaw after, and Elsa in her grief plunges the country into a truly eternal winter. Yet another, where Anna does not reach Elsa in time, and Hans stands over her dead body, gloating—

Elsa woke with a shrill scream, bolting upright in her bed, breathing heavily. Hearing sudden heavy footsteps in the hallway outside her room, she clung to the now iced-over covers, her heart racing.

"Your Majesty?!" came the panicked call of the guard from outside. "Are you all right? I heard a scream."

"I'm all right," Elsa said, her voice shaking. "Just a... n-nightmare."

"All right," came the reply. "Let me know if you need anything, Your Majesty."

Elsa sat there for several minutes, hugging herself tightly, trying to calm herself and shake the nightmares off. Anna is okay. Anna is alive. Anna is all right. Then she noticed the state her bedroom was in, and groaned.

Ice covered the walls, and an ankle-deep layer of snow had piled up on the floor, never mind the snow still suspended in the air. Love will thaw, love will thaw! she thought to herself, trying to thaw the room. When that didn't work right away, she tried to think of a happy memory of Anna, and thought of the moment earlier that evening, when Anna shouted with glee as she mimed punching Hans in the face. Elsa giggled, but thought to herself again, Love will thaw. She remembered the feel of Anna's hugs, and finally, the ice and snow melted, and then evaporated into nothing. But she still couldn't get the horrible images out of her mind. There was only one thing she knew of that would help.

Crawling out of bed slowly, Elsa went over to the wardrobe and pulled out a robe (blue, like everything else, a pale shade that matched her eyes), wrapping it around her. Even though the cold never bothered her, she still had to maintain appearances; it simply wouldn't do for the Queen to be out wandering the castle in her nightgown.

Elsa slipped out into the hallway, drawing the attention of the guard she had just spoken to. He snapped to attention, and asked, "Did you need something, Your Majesty?"

"No... I'm just going to visit my sister," Elsa replied.

"Do you need an escort?" the guard asked.

"No, there's no need for that," Elsa said, smiling. "I know the way. As you were, Guardsman." The guard saluted, and continued his patrol of the hallway.

She made her way down the hall to where Anna's room—her old room—was. This wasn't the first time she'd come here since moving out; Elsa had visited her sister on several occasions, in the dead of night, when she was sure that Anna was fast asleep. In the three years since their parents were lost, it had given her some comfort to see that at least Anna was safe.

She stopped at the door, and put her ear to it, expecting to hear her sister's distinctive snoring. Instead, she heard whimpering, sniffling sounds. "Anna?" Elsa called in a worried voice. When no answer came, she opened the door quietly and tiptoed inside.

Anna was in quite a state. Her notorious bedhead, which typically looked like a lion's mane, was the least of Elsa's worries; it was the expression of grief and sadness, and the tears running down her cheeks, that made Elsa rush right over to the bed and sit on the edge, placing a comforting hand on Anna's arm. "Anna," Elsa said gently, "please wake up."

Anna cracked her eyes open slowly, and upon seeing Elsa she murmured, "Elsa?"

Elsa smiled down at her sister warmly. "I'm right here, Anna."

"Elsa!" Anna cried, engulfing her in a hug. Elsa almost fell off of the bed, just managing to keep her balance as she returned the hug.

"Anna," Elsa said quietly, as the strawberry-blonde wept into the shoulder of her robe, "are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," came the muffled reply from Elsa's shoulder. After a moment, her sister corrected herself, "Well, n-no. I... h-had a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Elsa asked.

"N-not really..." Anna mumbled.

"I had bad dreams too, Anna, and I have a feeling they were similar to yours," Elsa said, rubbing circles in her sister's back. "You didn't reach me in time, did you?"

Anna shook her head mutely, the tears still falling.

"Anna, look at me," Elsa insisted. Anna pulled back and looked at her, her sea-blue eyes red-rimmed from crying. "I'm right here, Anna. I'm all right. It was just a nightmare," Elsa told her, brushing the tears from Anna's face.

Anna sniffled, trying to calm herself. "I k-know. But w-what if I h-hadn't been there?"

"The past is in the past," Elsa said, taking Anna's hand and gently squeezing it. "Just... let it go." It felt odd, saying those words now, but she thought they were appropriate.

"I'll t-try," Anna said, now a bit calmer. "But what about you? You've never visited me in the middle of the night before."

"Actually, Anna, I have," Elsa said, smiling, "many times. But you usually sleep like a rock and don't hear me."

"Why... why would you visit me, when you always shut me out otherwise?" There was a hint of bitterness in her sister's tone.

"Anna," Elsa said sadly, "are you angry with me?"

"Well... maybe a little," Anna admitted. "There were... times... during the isolation, that I thought you hated me, that I had done something wrong to earn being shut out. There were even times I thought I should hate you for it.

"But I could never hate you, Elsa. I know now that you everything you did was to protect me, because you were scared. And that means you couldn't have hated me, either." She sighed. "I'm not happy with Mama and Papa for what they did, separating us both from each other and the rest of the world, and keeping secrets. But they thought what they were doing was best.

"I love you, Elsa, and I know you love me, too. There's no need for secrets anymore." Anna gave her sister's hand a squeeze.

Finally, Elsa said, "Ever since the accident, I've had nightmares. Dreams of losing you for good that night, or of accidentally hurting you again. But yesterday, that very thing I'd been dreading for thirteen years happened. I lost control, and I nearly l-lost you today as a result."

Her voice broke, and tears welled in her eyes. "In my d-dream, I saw you s-shatter into a thousand pieces under Hans's sword, or n-not thaw at all," she sobbed, burying her face in her sister's shoulder. "You were d-dead and gone, and it was all my f-fault..."

"Shh, shh... it's all right, Elsa. I'm all right," Anna said soothingly, embracing her in a firm hug. "That creep is locked in the dungeon now, and there's no way he's going to be able to hurt us again." She sat there, just holding onto her sister, then added, "And as long as you remember that love will thaw, you can't hurt me again, either."

"I don't know that for sure, Anna," Elsa said miserably. "Just because I know how to thaw doesn't change the fact that my powers still come out when my emotions aren't under control." She gestured at the room, where snow from her fragile emotional state had fallen.

Her sister said nothing, and they sat there on the bed, just holding onto each other, for a long few minutes. Finally, Elsa pulled away, and brushed the tears from her eyes, sniffling softly. "I... I should probably go," she said finally. "I don't want to wreck your room." She waved her hand, willing the snow to dissipate.

"Elsa, wait," Anna pleaded. Brushing a wild strand of strawberry-blonde hair out of her face, she said, "You said your door would always be open to me. I wanted you to know that mine is, too."

"Anna, I..." Elsa trailed off. She smoothed the fabric of her robe absently, and asked softly, "C-can... can I...?"

Anna nodded, understanding what Elsa was trying to ask, and scooted over in the bed, patting the spot next to her. Elsa pulled off her robe and crawled in beside her, and squeezed her sister's hand before curling up on her side.

"Good night, Elsa," Anna said.

"Good night, Anna," Elsa answered.

Neither of them had any trouble falling asleep then, and no more bad dreams came that night.

The next morning, Gerda came calling on Elsa, having noticed that she wasn't up and about at her usual time. When she got no answer at the Queen's bedroom door, she went in and discovered that she wasn't there. She had a hunch she knew where to look, though.

Gerda went down the hall, and peeked in the door of Anna's room, smiling at the sight of the sisters curled up in the bed together, sleeping peacefully.

Just like when they were children, the maid thought. I'll let them rest some more. After all they went through, they deserve it.

Some time later, Elsa awoke to Kai's voice at the door. "Your Majesty?" came the call. "It's time to get up."

Elsa was normally an early riser, and did not usually require being woken up. But it seemed that she'd finally found the good night's sleep she'd been looking for. This didn't feel like her own bed, though...

"Five more minutes, Kai," she heard Anna mumble next to her, before turning over in the bed. Elsa opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the light coming in the window, and said aloud, "Hmm?"

"Sorry to wake you, Your Majesty," Kai said, "but you have a Council meeting to attend this morning, and you need to get ready."

Elsa looked around for a clock, only then remembering that she was in Anna's room. All of the pink things in this room should have given it away, she thought. I thought green was her favorite color? Maybe I should ask. Finding the clock, she was alarmed at what time it showed: almost nine o'clock! Elsa cursed under her breath and leaped out of the bed.

She looked back at her sister, her red-gold hair sticking out in all directions, one arm propped up behind her head, hand dangling in the air. How is that even comfortable? Elsa wondered. A thought occurred to her, and she walked back over to the bed and sat down, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Anna," she said gently, "I may need your help. Do you think you could get up?"

Anna yawned, and slowly sat up, her eyes not quite open yet. "Huh, what?" she babbled.

Sighing, Elsa said the only thing she was sure would wake Anna up right away. "Do you want to build a snowmaaaaan?" she asked, dragging the last word out playfully.

Anna's eyes flew open. "Wait, what? Really? Now? Great, let's go!" She leaped out of the bed and made a beeline for the door, nearly tripping and falling in the process.

"Hang on, Anna," Elsa said, stopping her. She hated to do this, but it was necessary. "We can't build one right now. I'd like your support at the meeting this morning. We can build as many snowmen as you like afterwards."

Anna's face fell, but she said, "Okay."

"Find something semi-formal to wear," Elsa instructed, "and put your hair up. I'll be back in a bit, and then we can go get some breakfast. And Anna..." she said, pausing at the door, a mischievous grin on her face. "If you're asleep again when I come back, I'll be forced to use drastic measures." She made some ice swirl over her palm for emphasis, then opened the door.

"You wouldn't dare," Anna said, horrified. Elsa only grinned wider. "All right, I'll get ready." Anna sighed, defeated. "But I'm totally going to have a snowball fight with you to make up for it."

Elsa smirked. "I've never lost a snowball fight," she boasted as she stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind her.

"Ooohh...! Bring it on, sister!" she heard Anna shout as she headed back to her own room.

Anna kept her word, though, and was ready when Elsa returned. Anna had chosen a dress of deep gold, with a pale green blouse and dark bodice, and had her hair up in a bun. The Queen had elected to wear a formal dress of black and teal, similar to what she wore at her coronation. She had her hair up in the same elaborate braid, wrapped around her head and pinned in place. She did not wear her gloves, which relieved Anna greatly.

Anna noted the absence of Elsa's crown, which would have perched on top of the pinned braid. In fact, Anna hadn't seen the thing since her sister fled Arendelle. Probably left it at her ice palace, Anna mused. Glancing over at her sister, she noticed that Elsa seemed to be lost in thought.

"Elsa?" Anna said. "You look a little out of it, sister,"

"I'm okay, Anna," Elsa assured her. "Really. I was just thinking about the crown I left on the North Mountain, and how I really ought to go look for it. I don't want to have to get another one made if I don't need to."

Anna smiled, amazed at how very alike the two of them thought. "You read my mind, Elsa."

"I did?" Elsa said, looking puzzled.

"Yeah," Anna laughed. "Just another thing sisters do, I guess. Well, you shouldn't go alone." She paused, then burst out, "Oooh! You can take all of us with you, and give a tour of your ice palace!"

"That's a good idea, Anna," Elsa said, but her face again betrayed some discomfort at the idea. Why is she so nervous about going back there? Anna wondered. "I'll give it some thought, and we'll ask the others later what they think." She exited the bedroom with her sister and they started walking down to the dining room.

Gesturing to Elsa's current attire, Anna said, "That looks a lot like your coronation dress."

Elsa nodded, but said, "It's not the same one. As I discovered before dinner last evening, I can't bring back the dress I made the ice dress over, so that one is gone. Fortunately, I have others that are similar."

"How come I didn't see any?" Anna wanted to know, referring to her raid of Elsa's wardrobe the night before. "All I saw was blue, lighter blue, darker blue..."

"I have more than one wardrobe, Anna," Elsa said, smirking. "Besides, I'm sure if I looked in your wardrobe, I would find an abundance of green dresses."

"I have other colors besides green!" Anna retorted, pointing to the dark goldenrod dress she was wearing now. It was actually a fall color, not summer, but she didn't care. "See?"

"One dress," Elsa snickered.

"Ooohh... just wait! I'll find you something nice in pink to wear to the next ball!" Anna crossed her arms triumphantly, figuring she'd won the argument. That is, until the magically-conjured snowball landed on her head. "AH! Cold!" she squealed.

"Actually, Anna, I do like pink," Elsa said cheerfully, then added, "Just not as much as you. Come on, let's go get something to eat."

Anna brushed the snow from her hair and followed her sister meekly. Just you wait, sister, she thought, plans forming in her mind. I will get my revenge!

Breakfast was a simple affair of tea and porridge, and went by fairly quickly, compared to dinner the previous night. Before either of them knew it, they were standing at the door to the Council chambers, waiting for Kai to announce them.

A/N: These chapters seem to come together in a sort of organic fashion; I'll have an idea ("Elsa has a nightmare") and then expand on it ("well, it stands to reason that Anna had one too, about the same thing; it's fresh on their minds") and then it (pardon the pun) snowballs from there. Unfortunately, that was the only idea I had for this chapter, so I wound up tacking on some of the surrounding chapters (which were getting rather long) to make up for it.

–First and foremost: while there will be sisterly fluff here and there, there will NOT be any so-called 'Elsanna' in this fan fiction, period! Let's keep our minds out of the gutter, okay?

–As you can see, Elsa is still having doubts about her control, though she tries to put on a good façade in public. We'll see how that plays out.

–I gave Gerda a brief POV here. Lucky her!

–Again, I know nothing about dresses. All I have for inspiration in that department is the movie, and various fan art (from my time on Tumblr).

–As for the coronation dress, I rationalize here that it was destroyed when Elsa made the ice dress. Even if it hadn't been, it would have been damaged (the bare shoulders, the slit in the skirt), but I can't see how she would reverse the process (and remain decent), so that's that.

Next chapter: boring unnamed council people, and more exposition!