xXxXx

"Anna!" Kristoff's voice, calling for her; breathless, frightened and somehow higher in pitch than usual. Maybe because of the cold.

Oh Gods, the cold. It was everywhere, in her and around her; her steps slow and wobbly and her hands held tightly to her chest. Even the edge of her vision was freezing, but she was so close. If she could just reach him - and he was running now because the blizzard was suddenly gone and they could see each other - then maybe she'd be alright.

Maybe. Heaven knew the two of them cared for each other, but was it enough? She wasn't sure, but it was her best chance at saving herself, and so she stumbled onwards.

Another step, and then another, and she could make out his features now, then the color of his eyes, and then-

SHHK!

Anna was far too cold to process thoughts at her normal speed, and it took precious, precious fractions of a second before the metallic sound registered enough that her addled brain found it odd, and instructed her to stop and turn her head.

"... Elsa?"

No... No, oh heavens, please no...

She glanced away, her eyes briefly settling on Kristoff's running form. Save herself, or save Elsa?

It was the easiest choice she'd ever made, and with a soft, scared groan, Anna turned away from Kristoff, and somehow managed to will her freezing legs into a run. She almost fell during the very first step, but her eyes were locked on the scene in front of her; on her sister's crumpled form, practically exuding despair and Hans - DAMN Hans - swirling his gleaming sword as he approached the stricken queen.

Closer and closer, and Anna could feel tears escaping her eyes and freezing solid immediately. Oddly, she wasn't sad that she was going to die; she wasn't even sad that her sister had been the one to inadvertently kill her.

But the fact that's she'd never get to see Elsa again, talk to her, hug her, build a snowman, and so, so many other things? That was making her already stuttering heart clench weakly, and a stumble set her ice-blue fingers against the frozen fjord to keep herself moving as Hans' sword raised.

Odd, she considered somewhere in the back of her mind. She'd never been able to keep her balance on ice before.

I'm sorry. At Kristoff. Olaf. Sven. Everyone.

Don't you TOUCH her! At Hans.

I love you. Please forgive me. At Elsa.

"NO!"

Everything stopped. Her body stood firm in front of Elsa - directly in the sword's path - and she felt the blood freeze in her veins a single, weak heartbeat after she willed her hand up. She saw Hans' sword strike her and splinter; saw him thrown back by some mysterious force. Heard her sister's weak, sorrowful sobbing.

If she could, Anna would have smiled peacefully. Elsa was safe.

Then, there was nothing.

xXxXx

xXxXx

Your sister is dead! The words seemed to echo in the vast, empty space that now made up her thoughts. Dead! Because of you!

And Elsa was absolutely sure that her body had just... stopped. She could no longer hear the slight whoosh of the wind, or Hans' breathing. She couldn't feel the ice under the hand she was leaning on, or smell the cold in the air. But she could think, though right now she was dearly wishing that she had lost that ability as well.

All she saw in her mind's eye was Anna. All she heard was her voice; laughing, teasing, pleading, crying and a thousand more different inflections of warmth and hurt and oh Gods, no, no, no - not Anna. Anyone but Anna.

Somewhere, she registered the sound of Hans drawing his sword and knew why; knew that she was probably about to die. But care? No, she couldn't bring herself to do that.

She deserved whatever punishment was fitting for killing her beloved sister - even if that punishment was to die herself.

You'll be there, won't you? she begged of the smiling Anna on the inside of her eyelids. Waiting for me? Please, be there. I don't mind if you're angry - you have every right to be - but please let me see you again. Her chest heaved in a silent sob. Just one more look into your eyes, Anna; that's all I ask.

We can build a snowman... A sharp, hitched breath. And then... then I'll go wherever I deserve to go. For murdering you. Oh, Anna, I'm so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you; you have to know that.

The sword, she knew, was rising, and she tensed her shoulders; unwilling to move.

Please know that. All I ever wanted to do was love you.

I'll see you soon - won't I?

"NO!"

And Elsa's heart - which had surely stopped beating what felt like hours ago - jumped at the familiar voice, which was not in her mind, but right next to her. Not gentle, as it had almost always been, but panicked, frightened.

Determined.

Disbelievingly, Elsa turned her head, and in a single instant, her heart started pounding so fast that the roaring thumping against her ribs was the only thing she could hear.

"ANNA!"

xXxXx

"NO!" She jerked to a seat and woke herself with a hoarse cry; hazy, wide eyes blinking into the moonlit room as she saw her hand stretched out in front of her face; grasping, reaching for something that was too far away.

"God..." Elsa of Arendelle fell back onto her bed with a harsh exhale, and wiped shakily at the tears she could feel on her face. Her skin was unusually hot, and a glance at her surroundings through blurry, ice-blue eyes saw the better part of her pillows and covers spread in a semi-circle around the bed, rather than on it.

Just a nightmare, she told herself as she squeezed her eyes shut and willed her heartbeat back to a normal pace in spite of her aching, hitching breaths. It's over, remember? Anna is alive. She's alright.

... Isn't she?

The icy breath of doubt crept up on her, and its clammy hands clenched at her insides as blue eyes snapped open again, flickering frantically around the room. Anna had given her that intricately carved, wooden box that she now kept her jewelry in, she recalled. Not long ago; a bare week. Just a few days after... after the incident that still haunted her.

Or had that been a dream?

Trembling, the young queen pushed herself to a stand on the chilly, stone floor, and ignored the glittering frost slowly creeping out from her bare feet as she hurriedly pulled a soft robe over her mostly exposed body. The shimmering, crackling ice followed her as she left her chambers and half-ran down the darkened hallways; swallowing against the lump that was rising higher and higher in her throat and blinking rapidly to scatter the tears.

Then she was at the door, breathing shallow, and although her hand was shaking so badly that she could barely move it, she willed it to grasp the handle and push; anxious eyes searching as soon as the heavy door opened just a fraction.

Her knees ached when they impacted the hard floors abruptly, and yet Elsa just stared; one hand in front of her mouth, and the other clenched tightly in the material of her robe.

In the bed a few feet away, was Anna. Utterly and completely dead to the world with tanned, bare arms and legs poking out from soft, white covers that had been hopelessly tangled around her as she slept. Fiery, copper hair - almost obsidian in the low light - was spread wildly around her head and shoulders, and Elsa could faintly hear her murmuring grouchily as the fingers of one, freckled hand dug into the mattress.

Slowly and silently, the young queen rose to her feet and closed the door again - from the inside - before making her way over to the massive bed and its single occupant. She knelt there, just beside it, and found a slender hand that immediately curled around her own.

"No more broccoli, Gerda..." Anna mumbled sadly, and Elsa was hard pressed to contain the watery chuckle that bubbled up.

She managed, though, and felt her lips shape a smile as she brought Anna's hand to her cheek and felt the real, living warmth beneath the lightly calloused skin.

She's safe, she told herself, and felt her heart lighten so abruptly that the sensation made her dizzy. In spite of everything, she's here, and safe, and alive. Thank God.

"I finally understand!" Anna's voice in her head - from not so long ago, when she'd climbed the icy steps.

No, she silently told the sleeping girl as she held Anna's hand in both of her own, and just watched her sister breathe. You don't understand. Not really. Elsa touched her lips almost fearfully to Anna's knuckles, and closed her eyes. But that's alright.

xXxXx

xXxXx

The sun had long since risen when Anna's eyelids first started to twitch, though since it was summer, at least it wasn't anywhere near as high in the sky as it had been on several, previous occasions. It was, however, still strong and clear as it streamed through the large, glass windows, and the princess let loose a low groan as she turned limply onto her other side and yawned, followed by a long stretch and a deep inhalation.

Teal eyes blinked open in blurry recognition, and she pressed her face deeper into the mattress to inhale again.

Also today, that same faint, yet identifiable perfume reached her nostrils, and Anna rolled onto her back and peered up at the intricately painted ceiling while she attempted to kickstart her brain.

This was the fifth day in a row that she had detected the subtle scent of Elsa's skin in the material near the edge of her bed. Before that had come a pause of three days, preceded by an additional eight days where she'd also woken to register her older sister's already vacated presence in her room, and now, as on many of the previous mornings, she puzzled over the notion as she let herself slowly rise from a deep sleep.

Why was Elsa coming here when Anna herself was sound asleep? She'd already tried outright asking the queen if she'd been there on the first day that the - for her own room - unfamiliar scent her caught her attention, but Elsa had waved her off with a smile and said something about her overactive imagination.

Riiight. Anna rolled her eyes at the innocent ceiling. She might have bought that if it had been a single day, but at this point, even her imagination wasn't this vivid.

Ah well. She pushed off with one arm and found a seat on the edge of the bed before hopping off of it and setting her feet against the thick, round carpet with a muted thud. A robe - smooth, soft pink - was yanked from its haphazard place over one of the few, padded chairs in the room, and she settled it over her shoulders; holding the front closed with one hand as she padded across the cool stone to the door, and tugged it open by just a crack.

It didn't take a minute before a servant was passing by.

"Alek?" She waited for the young man to stop, and smiled at him. "Find Ingrid for me?"

"O' course, Your Highness." Alek scurried off with a bow, and soon after, the door to Anna's chambers fell shut again.

Well, she decided as she crossed onto a rug by her vanity that let her feet warm up again, enough is enough. She's been sneaking in here in the middle of the night for weeks, and I am going to find out why if I have to pin her down and tickle it out of her.

Looking into her own, determined eyes in the mirror, Anna sat down and started to carefully brush the tangles out of her hair as she waited for her handmaiden.

xXxXx

Elsa, she determined much later in the day, was entirely too good at hiding when one took into account the fact that she'd spent the better part of her life in her own room, and not out exploring and causing the occasional havoc that Anna had. The queen had long since left the breakfast table by the time Anna had made it downstairs - which was understandable - but even after that, she hadn't seen hair nor hide of her sister and by now, dinnertime was rapidly approaching.

Granted, a good deal of Anna's day had been spent immersed in her own tasks; going over the monthly budget and inventory of the kitchens (she'd accidentally sent a china pitcher crashing to the floor when the head chef had gotten stubborn and her own gestures had grown larger in response), a frightfully extended session concerning what the capital received from and sent to other parts of Arendelle, as well as a long meeting with the heads of castle staff that centered on which members of the staff as a whole were nearing retirement, the ones that might take their spots, and any new - or soon to be vacant - positions that needed filling.

Arendelle as a whole was almost exclusively Elsa's responsibility. The managing authority of the castle, the capital city and everything connected, however, fell to Anna. The idea, when she thought about it, honestly amused her just a little; well aware as she was that their tasks were divided exactly as they had been among their parents. Elsa was filling the king's job, and Anna was, for all intents and purposes, performing as the queen would.

Had Anna been in front of someone she felt she could speak freely to, she would have admitted that as much as she enjoyed seeing the results of her steadily more experienced decisions up close, the tasks tended to give her a headache. That was why she tended to spend a little over an hour of her afternoons with the children that lived in the servant's quarters with their employed parents; playing, telling stories, and just overall letting the tiny, utterly enchanted faces wash away her fatigue like the spring storms did the winter debris.

She tried not to complain, though; even to herself. If she was getting headaches, what was Elsa's undoubtedly heavier burden doing to her sister?

Perhaps, she considered as she lifted her skirt in one hand and started up the steps to the main floor, she'd be able to lure some answers out of her at dinner.

xXxXx

To Anna's slight surprise, Elsa did actually join her for dinner. The meal consisted of a perfectly cooked piece of mutton with greens and herbs that sent an enticing scent into the air, and was shared by the two of them at the same table.

She did, however, note that here, they didn't act like their parents had. Anna distinctly remembered her mother and father sitting side by side by a small table. In stark contrast to that, sometime in the past few weeks the table she and Elsa had previously eaten at had been replaced, and they were currently at opposite ends of eight feet of stained oak.

"So," Anna spoke up, and cleared her throat when her sister met her gaze. There were dark, tired circles under Elsa's eyes that only stood out more in the flickering light of the candles that had been lit as the sun sank. "I spoke to a few of the head townsmen today, and apparently the majority of the citizens are expecting us to host some sort of ball soon. Well.. more of a town fair, I guess, or maybe a fete of some kind."

She watched Elsa's blonde head - spun gold in the firelight - tilt in consideration before her brow furrowed; fork held in one raised hand. "Why?" the queen then asked, confusedly. "There are no holidays coming up."

"No, you're right," Anna agreed, and felt the corner of her mouth twitch upwards as she speared a hapless vegetable. "Apparently it's supposed to be on the anniversary of the Thaw."

"Which anniversary?"

"The two month one."

Elsa just stared at her. "You must be joking," she then said. "That would be better suited after a full year, or perhaps six months."

Anna shrugged, and chewed a slice of the fragrant meat.

Her sister exhaled, and lifted her goblet as she leaned back in her seat. "Well, it would give everyone a break from the everyday," she mused, and then met the redhead's eyes. "Except for you."

She lifted one hand in a dismissive wave. "I'm fine," she offered. "I'd rather plan a huge party than argue with the trade representatives."

"And."

"Hm?"

"You'd rather plan a huge party and argue."

True. Anna took a sip from her own goblet. "Still," she then considered, "it's something different."

Elsa nodded. "Have at it, then. Just no more surprise engagements, please; one was bad enough. I'm surprised you've taken so long in bringing Kristoff to me for that purpose."

"Kristoff?" She blinked, and cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Anna..." The blue eyes were gazing at her tiredly. "You meet with him every day. I'm surprised that he hasn't taken up residence in the royal wing."

"That Kr-" Anna's cheeks reddened noticeably as she drew in a deep breath, and tried to rein in the sudden flaring of her temper without much success. "Elsa, can you even hear yourself right now?" she demanded, her palms slapping against the surface of the table as she watched her sister shrink back in surprise. "I told you there's nothing like that between him and me! What are you suggesting, that I'm sneaking him into my chambers at night?"

A breath, four heartbeats, and a long glance that really was more of a glare into the clear, widened eyes at the other end of the table.

"Is that why you've been in there so often these past weeks?" Anna then asked a touch more softly, neck bending enough that she was studying the lacquered wood, and not Elsa's face. "To check up on me because... because you don't trust me?"

"No, I-" The queen briefly touched two fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes, then drew in a slow breath as she rose and approached. "Of course not, Anna," was the low assurance as she stopped just by her chair, and a gentle, cool hand cupped her face and brought her eyes up. "I'm sorry."

Elsa bent then, just a little, and when their eyes met, her thumb drew slow, caressing circles on the side of Anna's chin, brushing just the barest hint of her lower lip each time.

"I trust you beyond all good sense," her sister whispered, and her warm breath smelled faintly of the sweet, light wine in her goblet when it brushed against Anna's face. "Please don't ever doubt that."

It was enough to send goosebumps shooting down the side of her throat, and Anna let her eyes fall shut as she shivered in reaction. Then, in the blink of an eye, the touch was gone.

"I should go," Elsa decided as she drew back and folded her arms over her stomach; smiling in a way that didn't reach her eyes at all. "Plenty to do, as always."

"Elsa..." Her hand was halfway from the table; reaching, and her heart locked so tightly in the center of her throat that she couldn't speak any further, even if she knew what she could to say to stop her from leaving.

Slender, pale fingers curled against the edge of the door as Elsa halted - briefly - before sending a strangely tremulous smile her way. Her eyes were so blue and so oddly apologetic while she paused just at the exit to the hall.

"Goodnight, Anna."

Then she was gone, and Anna's forehead fell against the tabletop as her insides churned in disappointment and aggravation.

That, she decided as she raised her head enough to glower weakly into the plate, had been utterly fruitless. While Anna certainly felt the need to examine exactly why she'd reacted to Elsa's thoroughly innocent touch in that particular way, she had learned absolutely nothing about the cause for the queen's late-night visits.

Well, fine. Then she would just have to be awake for the next one.

xXxXx

xXxXx

"... and I thank the Kingdom of Corona for the latest shipment, period. The Cresting arrived safely in the harbors of our capital, comma, and the goods within her holds found fast owners in the market, comma, as always, period."

The scratching of quill against parchment was the only sound in the room for a moment, and Elsa left it that way as she leaned back in the padded chair behind her massive desk. She'd soon after the death of her parents found that if she wished to perform all the tasks laid on her shoulders, there was little time for writing missives of her own anymore; she almost always had to do at least two things at once, just to keep up.

Currently she was dictating to her notary as well as reading a set of documents on another matter entirely, while other corners of her mind were preoccupied with reminders, points she wanted to make in future meetings, and bringing the drawing of a proposed renovation in the little used Eastern wing of the castle up in her mind's eye.

Acquired attention deficiency, she vaguely remembered her father calling it, and set a small dot of black-blue ink next to a paragraph she needed to make particular note of.

"New line, indent," she then spoke up once more, and heard the faint rustle of the scribe shifting the parchment. "On behalf of Arendelle, comma, I send the Cresting to its home port, semicolon, its holds filled with both the items upon which we have previously agreed, comma, as well as a collection of luxury items for your citizens to enjoy, period. My nation and I look forward to seeing your flags breaking our horizon once more, period. New line, indent: May the winds blow ever in your favor, period."

More scratching, and then the sound of fabric against wood as her notary - a dark, slender man roughly ten years her senior - straightened. "Will that be all for today, Your Majesty?"

Allowing the short distraction, Elsa lifted her eyes to meet his, and let a brief smile touch her lips. "Yes; thank you, Anton. I'll send for you if anything else comes up."

"My Queen." The man stood and deposited the finished missives on her desk so she could sign them herself; then bowed deeply, and closed the door behind him as he left.

With scarcely any sound in the office at all, the minutes ticked by. Five, then ten, then thirty, longer and longer until Elsa finally shifted the last sheet of parchment from the left side of her desk to her right.

Done. She settled her elbows on the smooth desktop and rested her chin on her folded hands as she peered out of the large window to her left. For now, at least. Outside, she could see the top of the fading, summer sun just barely kissing the mountaintops, and she groaned softly as the view - combined with the growing darkness in the room - told her just how late it was.

Because it was easier than rummaging for a match, Elsa raised one hand and allowed her power to flare just enough to light it with a soft, blue glow that slowly extended and swept back the shadows. It was a recent little trick of hers; learned purely by chance when her temper had flared what seemed like half a lifetime ago, but was in fact just over a month. After Anna had left the castle atop North Mountain, Elsa had hated herself and her powers more than ever.

She had almost destroyed the structure in the process of venting her anger; firing magic from her palms and fingertips, aiming at anything and everything in a vain hope that if she just shot out enough of it, it would be gone. It had left her drained and barely able to move on the floor in the hall, her hands gently pulsing with light as she struggled to breathe. Now she was doing it on purpose; keeping one hand lit while the other sorted the finished papers into piles.

Just as she finished, there was the soft sound of the door handle being pushed, and Elsa watched as a well-polished, black boot was the first thing to enter the room, followed by a shin sheltered behind a deep green, linen skirt. A knee was next; knocking against the door to push it open a little further, though the heavy wood didn't shy away fully until it was bumped by a hip.

Then Anna was there, her features halfway hidden in the low light but growing steadily clearer as she approached, and set a covered tray on the desk with little fanfare.

"You didn't come downstairs for dinner," her sister reminded her; head ducking as she leaned on the wood and removed the metal, dome-shaped lid. "I would've brought this to you earlier, but..." She trailed off, and her mouth quirked into a half-grin when she raised her eyes again. "I kinda got distracted, too. I guess we're related, huh?"

"Definitively," Elsa agreed, and allowed her lips to curve into a smile before her gaze feel on the admittedly delectable-looking, gently steaming meal waiting on the table. Now that food was in the immediate vicinity, she was positively ravenous in the blink of an eye, and after she'd doused the glow, she set to drumming her fingers on the stained wood as her sense of propriety warred with her appetite.

There was a huff of expelled air, and she raised her eyes to find Anna perched on the edge of her desk, arms folded and a very cross expression on her usually amiable face.

"Would you eat, Elsa?"

"Alright - alright." She obediently closed her fingers around the utensils, cut free a section of meat, then kept her gaze on her sister as she chewed, and raised her eyebrows inquiringly.

"Hrmph." With a nod, Anna hopped off the desk, and Elsa did her level best to not flinch at the screech of wood against stone when her younger sister dragged a second chair over and seated herself in that instead.

She did, however, clamp her teeth at the sensation of a head coming to rest on her shoulder, and in doing so, she managed to bite the center of a stir-fried pea pod so hard that one of the peas shot out of it, and hit a nearby vase with a soft, reverberating ding.

"Nice shot," Anna complimented.

"... thank you." Elsa cleared her throat, and decided to ignore both the heat in her cheeks, and the low chuckle coming from her right.

"You'd think I wasn't capable of doing anything for myself," Anna spoke up when Elsa had somehow managed to ingest more than half of her meal. To her, there was apparently nothing even slightly disconcerting about the two of them sitting so close that the scent of Anna's skin and hair was effectively driving her older sister to distraction. "I had to spend almost half an hour arguing with the kitchen staff before they'd let me take dinner up to you."

"You're beyond capable of many things, Anna," she replied, and willed the other thoughts from her head. At least the previous evening wasn't the subject of this talk. "But they were hired to make sure that you - we - would have to worry as little about daily tasks as possible."

"Mm." Anna nodded, which made soft strands of hair rub back and forth over Elsa's partially exposed shoulder, and the queen had to quickly suppress a shudder. "I know, but it's still a nice break from everything else, right?" Her head moved again, and when their eyes met, Elsa almost forgot to breathe. "I don't mind worrying about the small stuff, and I definitely don't mind worrying about you."

"I don't mind worrying about you either, Anna," she managed to reply, because she had to speak to keep from using her lips to do something far more idiotic. "You really don't have to, though."

"Oh, right." Anna rolled her eyes. "This from the woman who just missed dinner by a five-hour margin." She straightened in her seat, and gestured towards her sister with one open hand as she looked into the empty room; as if speaking to a invisible audience. "I ask you."

Shaking her head slowly, Elsa focused her attention on the remainder of the dinner in question; only smiling a fraction when Anna flopped back into her chair with a grunt. The smile fell, however, and she instead had to struggle too keep her expression neutral when she felt a steady gaze come to rest there, and stay.

Separation or not, the queen knew her sister well. And that long of a look - particularly in silence - meant that Anna was thinking.

God, don't let her ask about last night, she pleaded mentally, and chewed a slice of vegetable. Don't ask about it, don't ask don't ask...

"So you're a nightlight now?" was what Anna eventually said, and Elsa's fork clattered against the plate as she jerked her head around in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

Anna grinned; neat teeth glinting in the half-darkness. "Hey, I had a candle in my room when I was little. Kinda gave off the same amount of light your hand did when it was all glowy earlier."

"Glowy." She eyed her sister dubiously. "Is that even a word?"

"If not, it is now." Anna shrugged her shoulders and was apparently unconcerned. "I can issue a royal decree, if you like."

"No," Elsa swallowed a smile and shook her head. "That won't be necessary; I trust your wisdom, Your Highness."

"Smart choice." Her younger sister winked at her, then shifted until she was using one armrest as a backrest, and had her legs hanging over the other so she could watch her without having to turn her head. "Do it again?"

"The 'glowy stuff'?" the queen smirked.

"Yeees," Anna drawled, and narrowed her eyes at her. "The 'glowy stuff'. And don't be such a smart-aleck."

"Occupational hazard, I fear."

"Of what occupation? Being the queen?"

"Being your sister."

"There you go again."

This was good, Elsa decided privately as she watched the younger woman return to her previous, indignant conversation with the non-existent audience. Bantering with Anna was good, and newly familiar, and most of all safe. Banter didn't make her think of the twinkle in those eyes, or how soft those lips looked, or how the gently tanned skin would feel under her fingers.

Or of how Anna's voice might just break ever so deliciously when- Stop it!

"Come on, Elsa." The voice drew her from her thoughts, and she realized that her hands were clenched around the chair's armrests. "Do the magic."

"Anna, really..." She closed her eyes to gather herself. "I don't think-"

"Please?" Elsa could scarcely believe that her little sister actually had the audacity to bat her eyes at her, but of course, this was Anna. Forward, cheerful, unapologetic Anna who adored life and all its pleasures, and who was quite possibly the loveliest thing that Elsa had ever set eyes on.

If only she didn't want to kiss her all the time.

"Alright." Elsa gave in and gave up, and leaned back in her seat as she raised one hand to let the soft, blue light flare once more. Anna, she noted from the corner of her eye, immediately looked absolutely fascinated, and much to her older sister's both contrition and joy, then untangled herself from her chair and moved closer.

"Make something?" she then requested softly, and Elsa felt her heart pound in her chest because she was so close and oh God, she could count her eyelashes from here.

Still, she nodded and tore her eyes away from Anna's face as she focused. Slowly, a floating, ever-denser collection of ice crystals began to form over her palm, and with the faintest twitch of one finger, she made the chunk spin rapidly. Then - much like a furniture-maker would do on his turning lathe - she touched the index finger of her free hand to the ice, and carefully let it shave off the excess until there was a perfectly spherical ball of clear, blue ice revolving in the air over her hand.

"What should I make?" she asked Anna, but didn't turn her head because she could feel warm breath on her cheek and knew that if she did, she'd probably end up claiming her lips. "A snowflake?"

Her sister's giggle brushed over her ear, and she fought down the urge to shiver at the sensation. "How about a star?"

"If you want." Slowly, she maneuvered the ball until it was floating between both of her palms a bare hand's length in front of her own eyes. The fingers of her left hand curled as if to hold the orb in place, and with her right hand, she made a swift, almost chopping motion that left a bare half-inch of that side attached. The thick slice she'd removed clattered to the floor, and vanished in a flutter of white at the flick of her wrist.

Anna, she knew, was watching intently as she repeated the process for the other side of the sphere, and when she moved her fingertips to the center of the disc that now remained and let the star's five points take form as she extended them, two warm arms loosely encircled her shoulders and almost made the entire project disintegrate. Somehow - even with Anna's every breath tickling her cheek - she managed to perform the same action on the reverse side of the disc; taking care to let these five points mirror the first ones exactly.

As the last step, she lifted the crystal-clear shape to her lips and blew; a gentle exhale sending a shower of snow into the air that both hollowed out the star and attached to its exterior in a smattering of white that made it sparkle in the low lighting.

Then the touch of a single fingertip to the finished product combined with a thought, and she let her powers fade. The star dropped onto its side in her palm, and she moved her arm to hold it out to Anna.

"Really?" The word was whisper-soft and so close that she felt Anna's lips brush against her cheek, and since she didn't trust herself to speak at the moment, Elsa simply nodded instead.

"It won't melt," she told her a few seconds later; when her sister had taken the gift and moved into the faint stripe of what was now moonlight to study it. "Even if you hang it over a fire."

Anna turned to her then; a warm, open smile curving her lips, and before Elsa could blink, she was hugged again. From the front this time, she noted, and carefully returned the embrace with a gentle squeeze; her chin resting on Anna's shoulder instead of her face pressing into her sister's neck and just-

"Thank you, Elsa!" Anna almost gushed, pulling back and straightening with a smile so happy that it made Elsa's heart clench. "Hey; I'll hang it on the Christmas tree next year!"

"You can do whatever you want with it, Anna," she told her, and found a smile that was genuine even as her body squawked at the lack of contact. "It's yours."

Then there was soft, sweet-smelling hair in front of her face and scorching lips pressed firmly against her cheek, and she swore she felt her heart just stop for a timeless moment until her sister moved away and then vanished from the room with a cheerful goodnight and a "See you at breakfast!"

As the door clicked shut, Elsa slumped back into her chair and let a slow, stuttering exhale leave her lungs as she stared unseeingly up at the dark ceiling.

God, give me strength.

xXxXx

xXxXx

"Something is up with her," Anna insisted, and furrowed her brow. "I know it. I have to know, because she's my sister and sisters know this sort of thing, y'know? I mean, okay, no, we didn't exactly spend a lot of time together in forever, but I know Elsa!" A long, hard exhale. "I just wish she'd tell me what it is. I get that she's been of the whole protect-Anna-from-myself mindset for over ten years and that old habits are really, really hard to break, but come on!"

There was a faint whoosh of fabric, and then the low, subtly echoing sound of shoes against the floor as she started pacing. First to the window; then to the wall.

"I told you about last week, right?" A nod, but that was the only pause, and Anna was twining one braid in and out between her fingers. "Right. Lately she's been so distant and nervous and all wringing her hands and getting that look she gets when she's fretting over something - she gets that look way too often - and wow I just wanted to make her feel better so last week I brought her dinner and we talked and she made me an ice star which was awesome, but even if she isn't as fidgety as she was before, she still is." To the window. "It's like she's just not comfortable anywhere, and she darn well should be because she's perfect!" To the wall. "Sometimes, it's as if she has no confidence in herself whatsoever and it drives me crazy because she's smart - so smart - and graceful and educated and regal and she doesn't see that and I just want to shake her! Urgh!"

Anna's audience remained silent, but that was probably a good thing.

"But I'm also starting to think she's only this uneasy around me," the princess groaned. "And I don't want her to be, because she doesn't need to! I just want to get to know her again without having to worry about one of us doing something stupid or me saying something idiotic because we used to be so close when we were kids and now we're not kids or close and why can't we just talk to each other without fretting? It was so nice last week because even if she was all twitchy and I was me and worried and wow she looks pretty in the moonlight but it was nice because it was still easy! Why can't it be easy every day?"

Silence, and Anna spun on her heel to give her listener an annoyed look while setting her hands on her hips. "Look, I appreciate the ear, but right now I could use some advice." Still nothing, and the princess sighed and let her chin drop onto her chest. "Fine. Thanks for listening, anyway." Long, hastened steps took her towards the door, and she raised one hand in a wave. "See you later, Joan."

While Anna might have left the portrait room, she was wholly unable to leave her thoughts behind her. Instead, they chased themselves in annoyingly cheerful, little circles inside her skull as she walked - for once - down the castle halls; returning the greetings of servants and the odd guard automatically as she went. She felt eerily like the solution to all this was just out of her reach; like there was some tiny, miniscule clue she'd missed entirely that could repair everything at the wave of a hand if she could just identify it.

Ugh. She'd gotten all the way to her scheduled meeting with the merchant's counsel without coming to a conclusion, and now spent a few moments straightening her clothes and hair before entering. The head traders of the city were polite and kind but also true politicians, and Anna knew well that she'd have a headache once the meeting was over; possibly before. Life was much easier when it was all about filling up the hours with fun.

Anna set her hand on the door and started to push, then paused.

Fun. Suddenly her mind was whirring; a rush of sounds and images from both her memory and her imaginings that swam before her and was only physically visible in the rapid, unfocused flickering of teal eyes across the wood of the ornate door. Maybe fun was exactly what was needed to bring her and Elsa closer again.

Swallowing a grin and schooling her features into business-like neutrality, Anna pushed the door open and entered the room.

xXxXx

It was dark outside, and had in all honesty been that way for quite some time. The waxing moon, however - a little over half-full tonight - was generously providing enough pale light for Anna to see by. It was almost a shame that she was using it for nothing more than watching her bangs flutter up every time she blew a breath at them.

Eight days. That was the time that had passed since she'd last sensed Elsa presence in her bedroom. Every night since, Anna had stayed up in the hopes of catching the queen on another late-night visit, but as of yet, this was essentially how she passed the time until she fell asleep herself. Blowing at her hair, or building makeshift structures with her pillows and sheets, or just slumping back against the headboard and staring at the ceiling. She could have read, of course, or worked, but Elsa was apparently only entering when she thought her to be unconscious, and light and sound would clearly say that she wasn't.

So.

Anna flopped onto her side, and spent five minutes closing one eye and then the other; watching the top of her pillow seemingly move as she did so. Then she grabbed the pillow and pushed it over her face as she fell onto her back; using it to muffle a groan.

This was boring.

She lifted the pillow above her, and spun it slowly between her hands with a frown. Maybe she should go to Elsa instead, she considered, and changed her game into tossing the pillow back and forth from one hand to the other. The was a saying about going to something if the something wasn't coming to you, wasn't there? And maybe she could coax the queen into some long-abandoned playtime.

Decision made, Anna rolled - literally - out of bed, and caught herself on one hand before halfway running to the door; tugging a robe over her pale green night clothes as she went. She was smiling by the time she'd traversed most of the silent, dark halls that led to her sister's chambers, and when she reached the door itself, she was grinning. Then grin froze, however, when she pushed the heavy door open and heard the sound of staggering, strained breathing, and then her amusement vanished entirely.

"No..."

It was a strained, hoarse whisper, and Anna felt her insides clench as she hesitantly entered. Elsa was curled onto her side in the middle of her bed; facing away from the door, but with clear, agonizing lines of tension in body that made her entire frame twitch in time with the soft, pained sounds. The position, Anna realized as she closed the door and circled the bed, was pretty much the mirror of the one she'd been in that day on the ice.

"No!"

Stronger this time, and Anna navigated between the scattered pillows and linen to perch on the bed with one knee drawn onto the mattress; a frown furrowing her brow as she thought, and then reached out a careful hand. "Elsa-"

"NO!"

"Whoa!" Teal eyes widened, and Anna fought to keep her balance when her searching hand was sensed, caught and then sharply yanked. She tried to pull her wrist free to catch herself, but Elsa's grip was almost painfully strong, and she ended up falling sideways onto and over her sister's abdomen with a whoosh of shocked, expelled breath.

Her weight worked as a trigger, and she was hard pressed to now catch Elsa's wrists when the queen started thrashing violently; face contorted and hands clawing and punching at the restriction. "Elsa!" Frost-tipped fingers narrowly missed her nose, and she swore even as she caught the wrist and held on for dear life as she struggled to get herself into a better position and ended up straddling her terror-stricken sister. "Elsa! It's me!"

"ANNA!"

She sucked in a sharp breath, and felt her own eyes sting at the sight of glittering tears tracing the alabaster cheeks. No... no, God, please, don't let this be because of me. "Elsa!" She caught the other wrist as its fingers clenched in the front of her robe, and sent icy tendrils traveling over the fabric. "Elsa! It's okay - I promise!" The body beneath her continued to thrash, and Anna was vaguely reminded of a sight from her childhood - post-separation - one of young foals bucking in the fields. Only the foals were bucking from joy, and the sheer agony of fear etched in the unconscious queen's normally placid features made it clear that Elsa was feeling anything but joyful.

Think! she howled at herself, and set aside what portion of her own thoughts that weren't already occupied with trying to restrain her sister before Elsa hurt herself. She ended up working on instinct; releasing the wrists entirely and letting the frost-speckled fingers dig into her clothing while her own hands cupped the queen's face. "Elsa..." She consciously gentled her voice, and managed to keep it somewhat even in spite of being jostled as if she was astride an angry bull. "Everything is okay now." Gently, she traced the pads of her thumbs over the tear-dampened cheeks, and swallowed when she heard her sister's breath hitch, though the stilling of the body beneath her own heartened her even as the ice spread over her robe. "We're- I'm fine, I promise."

Anna had endured her own nightmares; to be expected, after everything that had happened. Hers, however, had faded, and she wondered at the terror that obviously still clung to her sister, but thought that maybe she understood the reason.

She had died. Elsa had seen her die, and more than that, had presumably blamed herself.

What would that do to me? she wondered as she gently kissed a smooth cheek and felt her heart break at the soft, frightened whimpers spilling from the queen's lips. What did it do to her?

"I'm right here, Elsa." Her voice shook as she spoke, and she forced it even. "I'll always be right here, remember?" Slowly, she both felt, saw and heard her sister's breathing steady, and the tears beneath her fingers started to dry without being renewed. The tendrils of ice that had expanded to cover almost the entirety of her robe languidly started to retreat, and when those eyes finally flickered open and settled on her face, both of them smiled in unconscious reaction.

"... Anna?"

"Hey." She brushed a few strands of long, white-blonde hair out of her topaz-blue eyes. "Better now?"

"Um..." Elsa was casting her gaze in all directions; taking in the room and everything in it before slumping back into the mattress. "Don't tell me you heard me all the way from your room."

"No." Anna straightened a little, and let her hands drop into her lap - or halfway onto her sister's stomach, given her position. The words rolled around her mind for a handful of heartbeats, and she cocked her head as she inferred the unspoken ones. "This isn't the first time, is it?" The sudden, reforming tension in Elsa's body was answer enough, and Anna quickly caught the pale hands in her own. "Hey - it's okay. Well, not okay because you hurting is never okay, but you know what I mean." She waited for the tension to seep out of the slender shoulders, and twined their fingers. "Get these a lot?"

"In spurts," Elsa admitted after a long pause, and sighed. "I haven't had one in a while before tonight."

Privately, Anna guessed that 'a while' would probably translate to around eight days. "Well." She slipped off of the queen's midriff and - after some wiggling - secured one of the discarded pillows and plopped it down next to Elsa's head. "We're gonna be roomies, then."

Wide, blue eyes stared up at her, and Elsa lifted herself onto her elbows. "Excuse me?"

"We are going to be roommates," Anna repeated slowly, and stood at the bedside as she discarded her robe. "At least for a while, to see if it helps. Your nightmares obviously involve me, and I think maybe having me here will hold them back." The robe fell to the floor with a plop as she climbed back onto the high bed, and seated herself near the middle with a quirked eyebrow. "So there."

"Anna..." Elsa fell onto her back with a slow sigh and ran a hand through her bangs. "This is silly."

"It's practical," Anna argued, and scooted on her butt to the foot of the bed to grab hold of the bunched-up covers. "I might just be the best cure, and having me closer by is better than having me further away." She scooted back up to the headboard, and watched her sister chew uncertainly at her lower lip. "If nothing else, I'll save you a middle-of-the-night trip." The covers settled over her shoulder as she lay down with her head in one hand, and hid a grin as Elsa predictably blushed at being found out. "Now..." She sent a ripple through the soft duvet to let it cover her sister as well, and then patted the mattress next to her. "Get over here."

Shame, she considered, that she so rarely got to see Elsa absolutely gobsmacked. It was a good look on her, but then again, what wasn't?

"What?"

Anna rolled her eyes and patted the mattress again; this time speaking slowly, as if to a child. "Get. Over. Here," she repeated, and idly wondered at the sudden flush that crept up the queen's neck. "Elsa, your nightmares are about me dying, right?" She waited until she saw a tiny, hesitant nod. "Right. Then I figure it would help if you know I'm close even while you're sleeping." Pause, and a grin. "Besides: cuddling! Good for what ails you."

It reminded her a little of the time she'd tried to coax a bird onto her finger. That had failed, of course, even after over an hour of patient - for an 8-year old - waiting, but thankfully Elsa wasn't a wild animal, and ultimately didn't turn her down. She was, however, red from her hairline to where her skin disappeared under her nightgown, and the arms that eventually wrapped around Anna's waist were trembling.

What's up with that? she mused as she settled down into the pillow and slowly stroked her fingers through Elsa's silky hair. Maybe it's because our roles are reversed, and she's not used to being taken care of? Indeed, the elder was definitely assuming the role of the comfortée at the moment, and had her head tucked almost demurely under Anna's chin, which the younger of them theorized might be the issue. Elsa was the queen, and as such, the caretaker in all ways. It wasn't impossible that she was feeling uncertain at letting someone else be the strong one.

Silly. Anna held her a little tighter, and felt a curious peace steal over her as her face pressed into the platinum hair. I'll always take care of you.

xXxXx

xXxXx

The private gardens of Arendelle Castle was easily the most open, peaceful place on the grounds. Through surrounded on all sides by either high, stone walls or the towering structure of the castle itself, the sky seemed remarkably clear and wide amongst the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze. Well-kept, stone pathways wound through the area under the sunlight and would take one to the flower garden, the fruit grove, the vegetable garden, the small, willow-lined pond or the ever-green hedge-maze that stood almost as tall as the walls themselves.

Elsa was currently walking from the pond to the flower garden, and idly enjoyed the faint chill that was starting to snap at the air as August slowly wore on. The week was coming to a close as well, and with Sunday just around the corner, she was treated to the additional modicum of peace that came when almost everyone took a day to just relax. Right now, it was a bare two hours after lunch, and since her schedule was surprisingly clear for the remainder of the day, she was content to spend some time recharging in the warm, late-summer sun.

It was nice to have gotten to a point where she could do this, without fearing that she'd encase the whole thing in ice if a squirrel startled her.

"G'day, Majesty."

Turning at the greeting, Elsa smiled to see the head gardener standing a few feet away; a graying, tanned and weathered man that stood a full head and then some taller than her, and was clad in worn, dirt- and grass-stained breeches and a likewise tunic, with his wide-brimmed, dusty hat currently held in his soil-browned hands in front of him.

"Mister Fornes," she answered, and inclined her head. "The grounds are lovely, as always." She surveyed the surrounding flowerbeds as she spoke, and didn't have to even try to embellish. The beds dotted a wide expanse of vibrant, green grass, and were neatly arranged; the taller flowers and shrubs stood against the encircling, stone walls, with the smaller, narrower varieties meticulously planted to ensure that everything got as much sunlight as possible. It was an explosion of color that varied heavily in some beds, while others had been coordinated to hold reds and yellows, greens and whites or blues and purples respectively. "I think the gardening staff has earned an additional bonus this year."

The man flushed with pride, and stood a little taller. "My thanks, Majesty," he replied with a low bow. "Though we're only following the directions of her highness the princess, as you know."

"Of course." Elsa maintained her smile, though she admittedly knew nothing of the sort until this moment. "Still, a good job should be rewarded," she noted, and surreptitiously gave the garden another glance. Now that she knew what to look for, she could indeed see Anna's unmistakable hand in the seemingly random explosions of cheerful color; particularly in the center-most bed that got sunlight from all sides, where two hydrangea bushes - christmas green and dark blue respectively - were growing so closely that they may as well have been one.

"Far be it from me or mine to dispute such, Majesty," the head gardener offered amiably, and Elsa gave him another smile before proceeding down the path and out of sight.

How had she not known, she wondered as the low hum of people working dimmed behind her, and allowed her brows to furrow in a faint, pensive frown. She was well aware that Anna sat far from idle during the day; even more so now that they actually slept in the same bed and for that reason had gotten more time to talk over the past few days. Anna had a habit of listing her chores for the day several times out loud once she got up, and for that reason, Elsa was now keenly aware of exactly how many responsibilities her younger sister was actually carrying. The grounds or its caretakers, however, had not been on the list just yet.

She reached the thick, ancient oak that sat in solitary splendor in one corner of the gardens, and lowered herself onto the weathered, wide swing that hung from one of its sturdy branches. One foot settled under her as she leaned a shoulder against the thick rope that held the swing aloft, and with the other, she pushed herself to a gentle, slow rocking as she closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet, summer air.

It wasn't something she'd ever done before; relaxing like this in the middle of the day. Usually, she was exhausted by the time her duties were finished, and it was all she could do to finish dinner or maybe a cup of tea before she collapsed on her bed and dropped into unconsciousness. But over the past days, Elsa had woken up feeling more rested than she ever had, and found that as a result, her meetings went by faster, the documents were easier to read, and she was all-around in a far, far better mood throughout the entire day. All from something as simple as sleeping in Anna's arms.

She hadn't had a single nightmare since her sister had decreed that they should be roommates, but she supposed that was to be expected. It was hard to dream of someone's death when the heartbeat of the someone in question was pounding steadily beneath your own ear the entire night, and you were immersed in the warm, familiar scent of leafy forests and cool water that more than anything kept the darkness at bay. Anna, as well, had seemed more cheerful as of late - even for her - and Elsa was selfish enough to hope that it was for much the same reasons.

Oddly, she'd noticed a minute change in what she felt for her sister over the past, short while. She was now able to see that though she loved Anna dearly, that love had been heavily colored by a strong desire for her. Oh, the desire was still there, but it was changing now; deepening along with the emotion that Anna unknowingly evoked in her, and becoming more of a side-dish rather than the main course, as every moment she spent with the younger woman steadily increased the affection she felt. Somewhere, she recognized that although she'd been in love for a long time, there was apparently further still to fall.

In a way, it was a purer love now; one that was more worthy of Anna, and even if it wasn't returned, the thought made her smile.

"Boo."

The word was soft and accompanied by a gentle brush of warm breath over her ear, and Elsa noted with a chuckle that her distinct lack of surprise was met with a pout as she cracked one eye open and glanced over her shoulder. "Better luck next time," she told her sister, and waited for Anna to circle the swing and drop to a seat beside her. "Done for the day?"

"According to Kai, yes." Anna shifted enough in her seat to set the swing to halfway twirling, and finally ended up leaning back against the rope as she tucked both her feet under her and let her skirt-covered knees bracket Elsa's thigh and hip. "Actually, both of us are completely free tomorrow, so I wanted to check with you if you had any plans of your own, or if I could make some for both of us."

"Hm?" She sent her a searching look as she accepted the bright, cheerfully red apple that Anna held out to her, but was met with nothing more than wide, innocent teal eyes, follow by a loud, juicy crunch as her sister bit into the other fruit. "Dare I ask for what?" she questioned, and took a smaller, more dignified bite of her own apple.

"Problffh," Anna nodded. "Bfh ym bhre n lopff!"

"Clear as mud, sister dear."

"Gopfh." The younger woman sent her a sheepish look, and spent a few seconds chewing. "Sorry. I said 'probably, but you dare a lot'," she clarified, and Elsa had to pull herself back to the moment when the tip of a pink tongue swiped at a drop of juice on equally pink lips. "And you can ask, but..." Anna's mouth twisted faintly, and the ends of her braids brushed over the queen's arm as her head tilted from side to side. "... I'd kinda like to keep it to myself until I'm sure it can be done."

"If you wish," she agreed, and set the swing to moving gently again with one, heeled foot. "As long as I get enough to warning to prepare. You know I love spending time with you."

"Heh." Anna's face was a study in happy triumph as she wiggled in her seat, and Elsa smiled to see it. "I kinda figured, but thanks for confirming it."

"Anytime." They gazed at each other, and then just sat in comfortable silence; swinging slowly back and forth, and ingesting their respective apples in the peaceful, flower-scented garden.

It was, Elsa decided with a halfway wistful, little smile, almost romantic.

xXxXx

The next day dawned bright and clear, and Elsa once again found herself waking naturally as the first beams of sunlight started crawling across the ceiling; lazily aware of a steady, slow heartbeat under her ear that made her smile. Whatever it was that Anna had planned for the day had kept her busy for hours after dinner, and she only vaguely remembered the feeling of familiar arms slipping around her and pulling her close sometime after she'd fallen asleep herself.

They were starting to become somewhat uxorious with each other, she mused, and then proved her own point by placing a gentle kiss to the base of Anna's throat before she realized what she was doing. Her sister, however, was thankfully still asleep and none the wiser.

Elsa herself had started making a habit of having Anna's bath prepared and personally brushing her hair in the morning, while her sister ensured that the two of them went to sleep at a reasonable hour, and made certain that little bits of fruit, or cake, or chocolate arrived in the queen's office while she worked. In the evenings, they'd sit together on the couch in front of the fire while having tea and talking, and more often than not, that little wind-down session included physical intimacy as well, with Anna's head leaning on her shoulder, or the princess settling back so Elsa could lay her head in her sister's lap.

It was sweet and warm and had lasted a week at most, but it was already becoming one of the cornerstones of her life.

And it was dangerous, Elsa admitted privately as she watched her own thumb stroke gentle lines over the soft fabric that covered Anna's lower ribs, and felt the secure hold that circled her own shoulders as her sister slept. She was potentially setting the board for a world of hurt by allowing herself to become used to this, platonic as it was, because at some point, someone would take note of what she'd known for a long time, and Anna would fall in love. There was, of course, also the risk of others noticing the fact that the two of them were hovering on the border of being too close for sisters, but that had never been a particular concern of hers.

If it happened, denial would go a long way, and even if it had been true, both of them were worth a hefty amount of gold and could easily make a life elsewhere if they so chose. She was also quite sure that she could keep any hypothetical followers at bay; by force, if necessary, because she would die herself before she let anyone hurt Anna.

For now, Elsa decided as she tightened her hold on her sister and inhaled the scent of her skin, she was just going to enjoy the closeness granted to her, and hope it lasted as long as possible.

With that thought and the soothing warmth under the covers, she effortlessly slipped back off to sleep.

xXxXx

The sun was high enough in the sky to hit her skin directly when she woke again, and Elsa winced at its brightness; turning onto her side and away from the window. A lazily opened eye told her that Anna was nowhere to be seen, and she spent a few moments wondering at the sudden reversal of early bird versus slugabed before deciding that it was irrelevant. There was nothing on her schedule for today aside from Anna's as of yet secret plans, and...

"Elsa! The kingdom won't crumble if you take it easy every now and then - really."

"I have work to do!"

"Alright, then you can spend tonight relaxing, or washing this out."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

...there was always that, too. Cleaning half a jar of honey out of her hair had taken hours, and while Anna's help and occasional, half-choked laughter had been more than enough to make up for the task, she was in no hurry to repeat the experience. In any case, she reminded herself as she shifted to a cross-legged seat and ran her hands through her hair to settle it, Anna had been right. The kingdom thrived under her leadership - young as it was - even after she'd started delegating more tasks, and that alone was evidence enough that maybe she'd been working herself a little too hard previously. The fact that her additional free time was spent in her sister's company more often than not was hardly a deterrent, either.

"Hey!" Anna was re-entering the room; a touch abnormally dressed in black breeches, boots and a fitted, green, short-sleeved tunic. "You're up - yay!"

Elsa managed to smother a grin, but couldn't quite stop an eyebrow from rising as her - considering the hour - remarkably energetic sister closed the door. "Correct me if I'm wrong," she offered, and watched Anna literally skip over to the bed and give her an expectant look. "But were you not the one who not five days ago responded to a question about rising early with 'not in a month of Sundays'?"

Teal eyes narrowed, and a single finger came up to wag at her. "That was then," Anna informed her faux-haughtily. "This is now. No living in the past, My Queen."

"Of course not." Somehow, she managed to not laugh. "I take it from your attire that we're spending the day outside?"

"We're going for a ride," Anna confirmed with a grin, and then removed a small bag from her back. "But I need to change first. I was outside for five minutes, and it's gonna get way too hot for what I'm wearing," she explained. "I need something lighter."

"I'll probably be better off making something of my own, then," Elsa surmised, and tried not to hurry into the adjoining bath chamber when her sister unconcernedly started shedding her clothes. "I'll be right back."

xXxXx

Just under an hour later, the two of them were well outside the city gates. Anna was now wearing a much lighter set of clothes in pale brown and minty green, while Elsa had crafted herself a similar set of breeches alongside a long-sleeved tunic, and both of them had a light, fair cloak slung over their shoulders to provide some shade from the rays of the sun. They were riding, as Anna had said, along a winding forest road that was really only two wheel tracks in the grass, and the queen was quietly grateful for the lonely night hours she'd spent in the stables and the practice ring as a child, since those now left her almost as comfortable in the saddle as her sister seemed to be.

Anna was astride the calmly ambling Thor; a handsome fjord so pale he was almost white, with a black nose and a similar darkening of his legs from the knees down. Elsa, meanwhile, was riding Heimdahl; a stallion of the same breed and sturdy build, but whose coloring was a darker, almost golden yellow and held much fairer markings around his nose. The two horses had been waiting for them when they'd exited the castle, and she'd been given a set of saddle bags, along with explicit instructions to keep one of the bags frozen so their drinks would stay cool.

"Wow." Anna's voice drew her from renewing the layer of ice on the bag in question, and she caught the motion of her sister using one hand to flap her cloak in order to create a slight breeze. "It's not even halfway to noon and it's already scorching."

Elsa considered that, and privately recognized that her self-made attire was probably keeping her a good deal cooler than Anna's more regular clothing was her sister. Then she sniffed, and carefully kept her face neutral as she wiggled one finger.

"YA-HOW!" Anna stood up ramrod-straight in her stirrups from sheer shock; looking for all the world as if she would have vaulted directly over the stallion's head if she'd been able. The sudden movement and shrill shriek startled her poor horse so badly that the otherwise well-trained Thor actually hopped forward several paces before coming to a full halt, and turning his head around to give his rider a very put-upon look.

Well, people did strange things when a line of ice suddenly shot up the length of their spines. Elsa, as not only a spectator but the cause, was currently utilizing every last one of her well-honed diplomatic skills to keep from bursting out laughing, and found herself suitably impressed that she'd yet to slide from her saddle and collapse on the ground in a cramping ball of hilarity.

Then Anna was turning her head oh-so-slowly, and she fought down the instinctive desire to make a hole in the air.

"You said it was hot," she offered, and shrugged one shoulder.

"That I did." Anna leaned forward to pat Thor's neck apologetically, but when she came back up, there was an elaborately decorated waterskin in her hand, and her horse was neatly sidestepping closer.

"Uh..." Elsa nudged her own steed further away, but knew she'd run out of road soon. "Anna... You don't want to do that."

"Oh," Anna tipped her head back, and then brought it forward with a grin as she unstopped the makeshift bottle. "But I do. Very much so."

She waited until Anna was as close as she could get without their knees actually touching and her hand was wrapped around the waterskin. Heimdahl was practically vibrating underneath her, though to all appearances, the golden horse seemed completely at ease.

Then Anna's fingers tightened, and in a single, split-second move, Elsa crafted a semi-circle of ice that redirected most of the water into her sister's face and squeezed her knees; sending her mount thundering down the dusty road with a grin and a wild flapping of her cloak.

"You-!" There was outraged sputtering behind her, but it only took a moment before a second set of pounding hoofbeats could be heard as the younger woman gave chase. "You're TOAST, Snow Queen!"

"That makes you the jam, Red!" she called back, and chanced a look over her shoulder to see Anna's expression change from playful indignation to astounded surprise to absolute delight in the blink of an eye. That's right. Elsa smiled when their eyes met, and trusted Heimdahl to guide himself. We can still play, you see that?

The chase became a race then, with each horse overtaking the other multiple times to the cheers and laughter of their riders, and presumably much to the annoyance of the forest's native residents as they barreled through it. There were no crowns or responsibilities or bloodlines here; just Elsa and Anna. There weren't even guards, though Anna had her bow and quiver on her back and a dagger strapped to her belt, while Elsa had politely but firmly reminded the guard captain that if anything were to happen, chances were that she could take care of it herself.

"Whoo..." Anna breathed as they slowed to first a canter, then a walk in deference to the tiring horses. "That was..." She trailed off, and gave a wide, appreciative grin. "That was something we should do again."

"Whenever time permits," Elsa agreed with a chuckle, and adjusted her grip on Heimdahl's reins. "Or whenever you decide to try to splash me again."

"You started it!"

"And we're entirely too old for that argument," she retorted with a smirk, and then sent a cool breeze towards Anna's face with the wave of a hand. "Better?"

"Hmm." Anna nodded and closed her eyes with a content smile; then nudged Thor closer. "When did you learn to ride?"

"I taught myself," Elsa told her, and held back a little as her sister turned down a much narrower path. "Or perhaps it's better to say that the horses taught me. I'd sneak out to the stables at night," she explained, and guided Heimdahl after the paler horse. "At first I just spent time there; brushing them, examining the saddles and bridles and so on. I only ever went as far as the practice ring, but I learned what signals they'd been trained to respond to bit by bit - mostly by trial and error."

Anna's head whipped around, and she was treated to the sight of wide, teal eyes under the shifting shadows of the trees above them. "You're telling me you've never been out of the city on horseback before?"

"No, never." She smiled at the shocked look, and set her hands on the saddlehorn. "Anna, it's fine. There's a lot of things I haven't done until very recently. I'm just..." A pause to take a breath, and she was aware of the color rising in her cheeks. "Well, I'm glad that a lot of my firsts have included you."

"First argument, first party, first living snowman, first hug, first cuddle..." Anna listed, and ducked her head under a low, leafy branch before sending another, warm look over her shoulder. She seemed to be blushing, as well. "I'm glad, too."

Elsa smiled, and let the warmth of those words fill her chest as the forest closed around them.

xXxXx

xXxXx

"Your Highness, it's unprecedented!"

Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and instead leveled a firm, but not unkind look at the speaker; a short, rotund man with dark hair and eyes who - along with the half-dozen of his fellows with him - wore the sashes of a politician and a royal adviser both.

"I assure you, counselor Stromme; unprecedented does not have to mean foolish," she said, and her tone brokered no argument. "The guilds have already given their consent in both verbal and written form."

It was another in a line of extra sessions she took part in to prepare for the festival that was already known as Thaw's End outside the castle walls; hosted as usual in what had been the queen's study during their parents' time, and had yet to be given a new name since the former king's study was now the queen's and there wasn't a king around to take this one. The unnamed study was a large, professionally appointed room with wide windows on two walls, polished hardwood floors and plenty of seats available aside from the one that Anna was currently in behind a wide, eloquently carved desk.

And she really hated having to argue her way past the counselors almost every single time she met with them, but an exasperated conversation with her sister over breakfast had given Elsa the leave to point out that it wasn't the job of the advisers to be yes-men - at least not unless one wanted a nation run into the ground from royal whims. Their job was to challenge if they felt it was necessary, and this group was at least giving her a lot of practice in debating to mitigate the headache she could feel building behind her eyes.

"The merchants, workers and performers who take part in or help prepare for the festival are to be paid five times the usual amount on completion of the festival itself or their respective jobs," Anna repeated for what felt like the tenth time today. "In return, they will provide a discount on any further work done for or goods sold to the castle or - for those who work outside the walls - the city itself over the next five years." She settled her arms on the surface of the desk, and lowered her head enough to give her a challenging appearance when she cast her gaze across them. "I don't see how that's so hard to accept. The people get a show of goodwill and additional resources after the incidents of the recent past, and overall, the royal coffers will most likely come out ahead."

"Forgive us, Princess," a younger man said; this one tall and fair to the point of being almost stereotypically Nordic. "But it remains a staggering sum of money to lose in a very short time."

"Money that we have," Anna reminded him, and let a slight smile curl her lips. "Or I promise that I wouldn't even be suggesting it."

"Hrmph." Stromme, who was fast becoming a thorn in her side today, grunted and folded his arms. "I assume that you've cleared this with the queen?"

The knock on the door was a timely intervention, because Anna could feel her throat tingling and knew that she was about five heartbeats away from letting the sour, little man have a decidedly un-royal piece of her mind. Instead, she called for the knocker to enter, and smiled when a young page approached her and offered up a small letter with a deep bow.

Perfect timing. "Thank you, Peter." She watched the boy blush, and carefully hid her amusement. "Have the kitchen set out a repast for the counselors - I think we're about done here."

"Highness." The boy bowed again, and then ran off.

Anna was happy to ignore the shifting advisers as she opened the letter and retrieved its contents - a single page with only a few, meticulously written words in a hand that she'd recognize anywhere, with the addition of the queen's seal in the bottom corner. When it came to politics, she knew herself to be nowhere near Elsa's level, but she also wasn't green enough to propose anything as radical as this without her approval.

"Let it be known," she read aloud. "That Her Royal Highness, Princess Anna of Arendelle has our complete trust in her proposed, economical sanctions for the upcoming Thaw's End festival. Our approval of her actions is hereby given in writing, and all who oppose it are invited to seek audience with us that we may discuss the matter further. May the winds blow ever in your favor. Signed, Elsa I; Queen Regnant of Arendelle."

A faint shadow at the bottom of the paper then caught her attention, and while the advisers started talking lowly amongst themselves, Anna deftly folded up the lower inch of the missive and had to smother a grin at the words printed there.

As promised. Now be nice, Anna - I have to meet with them after lunch, remember?

"Yeah, yeah," she murmured under her breath, but let the slight, upwards tug at the corner of her mouth happen. "Ruin my fun."

If the job of the royal advisers was - in essence - to get on her nerves, then Anna felt that the least she could do was return the favor and get on theirs. While Elsa hadn't outright said so when she'd told her as much, there had been a brief flash of amusement in those topaz-blue eyes that let Anna know that in some way, her sister agreed.

She wasn't about to saddle her with a group of pouty politicians, though. At least not if she could help it.

"Gentlemen." Anna carefully folded the letter and settled it back into the unmarked envelope. "I trust that you've come to an agreement?" Silence met her words, and again, she had to shove down the want to roll her eyes, or better yet, stick out her tongue. "No? Then we reconvene on Sunday." She ignored the flinches. "I have quite a bit on my plate to see this festival off the ground, good sirs, and that's the only day it can happen." Anna folded her hands on the table, and cocked her head. "See you Sunday morning, gentlemen. Have a lovely week."

The door closed behind them, and Anna slumped back into her seat with a soft groan.

"I thought I asked you to be nice to them," came a wry voice, and she turned her head to see her sister enter the room through the side door that led to the castle libraries. "Pulling them all out of bed on a Sunday morning hardly counts as that."

"They were being stubborn."

"You'd know, I suppose."

"Pfft." Anna gave in to the desire to blow a raspberry, and let her eyes half-close tiredly as Elsa approached the desk, and then circled it to perch on its edge next to her. The young queen seemed to be growing ever more fond of her own make in garments, and today was apparently no exception, dressed as she was in whitish-blue; a satiny, shoulderless sheath under a partially opaque princess-cut dress with shimmering butterfly sleeves that settled just below her pale shoulders.

The sheath, Anna noticed as her sister crossed her legs at the knees, had an almost dangerously high slit on one side, and she tickled the skin through the cloudy white of the skirt in exchange for a startled, hastily muffled squeak before getting to her feet.

"Those men drive me crazy," she told her, and pulled over a wooden bowl that held a selection of fruits. "I know they're doing their jobs, but do they have to be so..."

"So?" Elsa was giving her an amused look, and Anna threw a bright green grape at her, only to have it swiped out of mid-air by long fingers.

"There's plenty of honey in the kitchen," she warned with a gentle tug at the long braid that hung over Elsa's shoulder, and smiled at the soft laugh that was her reply. " And so... I don't know, obnoxious?" She considered the word, and hoisted herself onto the desk before laying one, bent leg over its surface as she turned. "Is that the right word?" Elsa was nipping at her grape, and Anna set the small bowl in the slight amount of space between them. "Why were you eavesdropping, anyway?"

"Who said I was?" the queen countered with a rise of twin, blonde eyebrows. "Perhaps I was merely on my way here, and just happened to arrive before your meeting was over."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Elsa, you don't 'happen' to do anything," she reminded her sister dryly. "And you know my schedule better than I do."

"Hm." A smile, and an offering of another grape - red this time - and she caught it in her teeth without wondering too much at the sudden increase in color over the queen's cheekbones. "Perhaps I was learning, then."

"Learning what?" she wondered around her chewing, and closed her eyes at the flitting of gentle fingers through her bangs.

Elsa's gentle laughter tickled her hearing in much the same way that cool fingertips were tickling her hairline. "How to be a better diplomat."

Anna cracked an eye open, and studied her curiously. "What, from me?"

"Yes, from you." Elsa only smiled at her frown. "Anna, you do a wonderful job dealing with all these people. You're kind but firm, and it's very, very rare that anyone walks away from you unhappy. Even when they do, they deserve to."

The world quite honestly felt as if it was slowly sliding off of its axis. "You're telling me that I'm better at this than you are."

"By leaps and bounds, little sister." Another smile, and the press of cool lips against her now very warm cheek. "Oh, I know what I'm doing, but I mainly work with others on paper, yes? Letters, trade agreements, contracts and resumes. I have to, since the people I need to communicate with are rarely in the capital city."

"Ah." It was the only reply she could form, since her head was very much spinning.

"You, however..." Elsa went on, and seemed to be caught halfway between amusement and admiration. "You handle almost all of your duties through face-to-face meetings. You think on your feet quicker than anyone I've ever known, Anna. So yes - I was eavesdropping to learn." Pause, and then with a lower tone that sounded like concern. "Anna?"

"I'm here," she assured a touch dumbly. "Sorry; I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'm better than you at something."

"Anna." Now Elsa's voice was halfway scolding. "You're better than me at plenty of things."

"Outdoorsy things, sure," Anna agreed, because between the two of them, that was just taken for granted. "But not..." She caught the hand that was cupping her face and twined its fingers with her own, while her other hand gestured at the space around them. "Not this."

"Hm." The hand squeezed hers gently. "I'm afraid you'll just have to get used to the notion," her sister told her, and chuckled. "Because in many ways, you'd make a far better queen than me."

"Elsa, that's just absolute nonsense. You're a great queen!"

"That doesn't mean you couldn't be a better one," the older woman commented, and then rose without releasing her. "But let's not argue about hypotheticals, hm? Lunch?"

As if on cue, Anna's stomach growled noisily. "Probably a good idea, yeah. Just not-"

"With the counselors, no." Elsa's bare arm slipped around her shoulders, and as they exited the study, a low whisper by her ear sent cool, pleasant tingles over her skin. "I prefer having your sparkling company all to myself, anyway."

"Well." Anna slung an arm around her sister's waist in turn. "Far be it from me to deny you anything, Your Majesty."

"Brat."

"Whaaat?"

They continued down the hall, chuckling.

xXxXx

Anna was bored.

It wasn't the 'oh-rats-the-kitchen-is-closed-for-the-night' variety. It was, in fact, the 'there-are-one-thousand-seven-hundred-and-fifty-eight-floorboards-in-the-western-hallways-when-not-counting-partials' kind, and it was honestly driving her a little crazy. Once dinner was over, she'd taken Thor for a ride, and done the same with Heimdahl afterwards because anything else wouldn't have been fair. Then she'd taken a bath, and when that was done, she'd settled in for a friendly, one-sided conversation with Joan of Arc. She'd been bored after, and so had wandered into the city to visit Kristoff and Sven with a happily chattering Olaf at her side.

She'd been less bored in the company of her friends, but even the easily distracted snowman had noticed her restlessness, and somehow that discussion had evolved into a icecubes-slash-handfuls-of-hay fight that had been a great deal of fun, but had left Kristoff a little annoyed at having to brush Sven down again before their week-long trip the next morning. It also meant that Anna had to take another bath after returning to the castle in the purple light of dusk, and now she was feeling squeaky-clean and still bored.

"Stop being such a baby," she told her scowling reflection as she brushed the remaining tangles out of her damp hair. "Harvest is coming, and you knew that would mean extra work for Elsa."

And that was at the center of Anna's boredom. The queen was tied up with calculations for the prospected harvest nationwide, and had spent the entire day working with a handful of different representatives to ensure that a potential surplus in one town would cover another's deficit so that everyone would be evenly supplied over the coming winter. If there was any overall extra after the generous allowances for Arendelle's own people, it would be marked for trade and sent to the capital city for overseas shipping. It was preparatory work at this stage, since no one knew for sure what the actual numbers would be until the harvest was over and done with, but Elsa had warned her that it would nevertheless be a time-consuming task that she'd rather take care of now, since it would save her the brunt of the work further down the line.

She understood, but understanding didn't stop that annoyingly loud part of her that was squawking in indignation from the fact that she hadn't seen hair nor hide of her sister since dawn. Elsa hadn't even shown for meals, and so Anna had made sure that there were several trays of various foodstuffs carted to her study throughout the day - large portions, because she was sure the advisers needed nourishment too - and delivered by Gerda or Kai, who knew how to handle the at times stubborn young queen from long experience, and would therefore make sure that Elsa actually ate.

Elsa had a tendency to not eat when she was working that almost rivaled her tendency to work too much, and now the moon was high in the sky outside the window as the hour approached midnight.

Almost twenty hours of work today, Anna translated, and worried at her lower lip with her teeth as she set the brush aside. Her respect for what Elsa was doing was having a tooth and nail fight with her need to both take care of and see her sister, and really, how much use could Elsa hope to be tomorrow if she didn't get some rest? Nobody said that everything had to be accomplished in a single session, did they? Aside from Elsa herself, of course.

Sighing, Anna rose from her seat and pulled a cream-colored robe over her knee-length shift - chiefly to preserve her modesty, because the heatwave that had descended on the capital in recent days meant that the castle was comfortably cool, at most. A swiftly-claimed tie settled her hair in a low ponytail at the base of her skull, and she collected a lit candle on her way out of the door because she knew from experience that the lamps lining the hallways would have been doused hours ago.

Even her slippers sounded loud against the wood floor of the halls as she made her way from the westernmost wing of the castle - where the bed- and guest rooms were housed - to the more central area that held the ballroom, the library, the studies, kitchens and all around more populated spaces. She ducked into the massive library that connected her office with Elsa's, since knocking on that particular door would signal more clearly that this was a personal visit rather than a professional one, and would hopefully have the queen herself come to the door instead of a potential minister of the whatever.

Sure enough, when Anna put her ear to the door, she could hear the faint burr of conversation from the other side, and the hoarse tone she could pick up in what she recognized as her sister's voice made her roll her eyes in fond exasperation. She saved her thoughts for when she was actually face to face with Elsa, however, and gave the door three, resounding knocks.

A pause in the buzz from the next room, and Anna took a step back and set the candle on a nearby table when she heard footsteps approaching. Then Elsa was there - halfway through the partly opened door - and while the flickering candlelight was no doubt making things look worse than they were, the shadows of fatigue on her face still made Anna have to bite back a curse.

"Anna?"

She raised a hand to crook her finger, and waited until her sister had fully entered the library and gently closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry," Elsa began. "I know it's late, but we-"

"Hush." Anna stopped her with the light press of a finger to the queen's lips, and watched the blue eyes widen in surprise. "You have work to do; I know that," she promised softly. "And more than that, I respect it, but you are going to be of no use to anyone if you don't let yourself rest."

"I know," the blonde returned around a sigh, and caught her hand with her own. "But we're so close, Anna. Just a little more, and we'll be done."

"Uh-huh." Absently, Anna let her thumb draw smooth circles on the back of her sister's hand. "And for how long have you been 'so close'?" she questioned. "Two hours? Three?" The downright irritated look that earned her made her smile. "I gotcha, didn't I?"

"Hrmph." Elsa scowled engagingly, and then ran a hand through her bangs. "Hoisted on my own petard, hm?"

"As always," Anna teased, and stuck the tip of her tongue out through a grin when her sister rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Elsa, you need to sleep. Whatever's left can wait until the morning - I'm sure your advisers would like to go home, too."

"That's probably true." The queen's pale lips shaped a wryly amused smile. "Bylund's nodded off four times so far."

"Slavedriver."

"Oh, shush."

Giggling softly, Anna wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Though Elsa was taller by a fraction, she felt her almost slump into her arms from exhaustion, and the face that was pressing familiarly against the side of her throat was uncommonly warm.

"What am I going to do with you?" she murmured into the starlight-colored hair, and was almost tempted to fall asleep herself in all this peace.

"Anything you like," was the fond, if weary reply, accompanied by a gentle squeeze of the arms around her waist.

"Oo, now you're in trouble," she kidded gently, and pressed a kiss to Elsa's temple before turning her around and giving her light push towards the door. "'Cause I'm gonna have you go tell your little friends goodnight. You can play again tomorrow." She grinned at the completely outraged look she got over one pale shoulder - that, and the visible way in which the queen struggled to hide it when Anna pulled the door open and they were no longer alone.

"Majesty!" The eldest man in the next room was the first to notice them, and his greeting set off a chorus of majesties and highnesses from the assembled group and - in one instance - a startled snort and a tumble from the couch to the floor by the man Anna presumed to be Bylund.

"Gentlemen." She gave an appropriately regal incline of her head to the assembled group as she leaned against the doorframe on one shoulder, and tried not to think about how she was standing there in a robe and slippers and looking anything but royal at the moment. The amused look she got from the corner of Elsa's eyes, however, told her that she wasn't entirely successful, but thankfully, the better part of the room's attention was on the bleary-eyed man who was now getting to his feet.

"Well, good sirs." The queen had managed to re-cloak herself in her professional persona, and was now crossing the study in strides so smooth and brisk that one would almost think her to be wide awake. "It seems that I've let our otherwise fruitful session wear on for entirely too long." The blue eyes cut to Anna, who merely quirked an eyebrow. "So I've been requested to ask that we resume our calculations again tomorrow, and let more rested heads prevail at the time."

Not exactly the words she'd used, Anna noted with a faint twitch of her lips, but that was probably for the best. She watched in silence as the relieved advisers started staggering into the hallway where they were met by waiting guards who would escort them out, and then settled her gaze on her sister, who was leaning over the desk with the man who'd first greeted them, and exchanging low murmurs with him as they presumably wrapped up the evening.

The man was tall and leanly muscled, and held himself with an aristocratic air that stood at a distinct counterpoint to the laugh-lines at the edges of his gray eyes. His hair and beard were both neatly trimmed; their color an interesting mix of silver and white that indicated his age and experience, and Anna realized that she'd seen him in her parents' company many a time when she was younger.

Orvik, her mind supplied handily, and just in time for her to meet his eyes as he turned to her.

"Princess." He bowed, and the lines at the corners of his eyes deepened as he smiled. "Forgive me, but this does bring back memories. Your mother would collect your father in much the same manner after a long day; it seems that you are very much cut from the same cloth as her."

"Marquis Orvik," Anna returned with a smile of her own. "I'm glad to see you back in Arendelle - though you'll forgive me for not curtseying, I hope." She waited for him to nod and hold up his hands, and then let her smile become a half-grin. "And thanks for the compliment. I hope my sister hasn't been driving you completely crazy."

"Hey!" Elsa was giving her a definite look, and had even set a fist on one hip as she leaned on the desk.

Orvik's beard was trembling as if he was trying not to laugh. "Not at all," he promised. "Though she is - with your permission, Majesty - clearly as much your father's daughter as you are your mother's. Even your conversation right now takes me back." He chuckled softly then, and his eyes warmed. "I only wish my wife would treat me the way you treat your sister, Princess."

He turned back to Elsa then, which was a good thing, because Anna's mind had ground to a screeching halt at his casual words, and she was dearly hoping that she didn't look as flabbergasted as she suddenly felt.

Wife?

"Anna?" There was suddenly impossibly clear, blue eyes right in front of her, and she blinked once, twice, and then looked around to see that the study was now completely empty except for the two of them. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" She blinked again, and then finally managed to get a hold of herself and stop gaping like a stunned fish. "Uh, yeah - I'm fine. Just tired."

Elsa chuckled. "Well, you're allowed," she decided, and Anna felt a flush travel up her neck when there was the touch of cool lips to her cheek. "Bedtime, hm?"

Anna nodded mutely, and was quietly glad that Elsa was too exhausted to engage her in even rambling conversation, because her mind was whirling entirely too fast for her to act on anything but autopilot as the two of them returned to the bedroom. Neither of them said a word as Elsa prepared for bed, either - nothing much tonight; just a change of clothes, a brushing of her hair and other essentials - they instead communicated entirely by way of touches and the faintest twitch of each other's facial muscles that they'd both learned to read perfectly over the past weeks.

But Anna was, in an odd, far-off way, looking at their interactions through two pairs of eyes now. One was her own, and the other was that of an outsider; planted there by Orvik's completely innocent comment, because now that she was thinking about it, they were actually acting rather wifely with each other. It was in the warmth of the exchanged glances and the comfortable silences between them that could be seen as totally innocent, in the easy way they moved around each other even when in cramped spaces, in the light touches to areas of the body that - while normal to them - were generally reserved for people with a more intimate connection, and in the way that even Elsa never thought about reaching out a hand, but just did it.

More than that, it was in the frequency of the kisses they shared - cheeks, foreheads and temples only, yes - and in how one or the other of them constantly sought some form of physical connection in ways they rarely or never did with anyone else; be it by way of a hand on an arm or a brush of gentle fingers through hair, or the way they'd started sleeping curled up together in the middle of Elsa's bed. It had never been odd to Anna before, and it still wasn't, but as she felt the subtle motions of her sister's breathing deepen and steady against her own side, she at least allowed for the fact that maybe it should be odd.

Because the only thing really setting her relationship with Elsa apart from the one their parents had shared... was kissing. Well, kissing on the mouth, and now the idea was in her head and she was very thankful to be the only one awake because she was blushing so hard that the tips of her ears were burning. Still, that didn't stop her from curling one arm behind her own head to better see Elsa's face, and she started noticing things that had somehow just... escaped her before. Like how long her eyelashes were, or how her lips formed the slightest pout as she slept, or how the sensation of one bare leg and arm curling across her own body was in no way constricting.

Not just pretty, some corner of her mind reminded her, and she smiled when Elsa murmured softly in response to the gentle touch she was brushing over her back. Beautiful.

Anna turned her gaze to the dark ceiling with a soft breath, and drew slow, light patterns along the length of Elsa's spine with the very tips of her fingers.

And thought.

xXxXx

xXxXx

It was, Elsa decided, almost a relief to know that Anna was still very much lazy in the mornings. In fact, the only days where she was the first to wake were, much to the queen's quiet joy, those where she was almost over-the-top excited due to them being able to spend all their time together.

Today wasn't one of those days, and in an extreme display of comfort, her sister was still sound asleep even when Elsa herself had been up and about for almost an hour. She was now fully ready to face the day in spite of breakfast not being served for a good while yet, and since Anna's own bath would be ready shortly, she really did need to wake her up, no matter how adorable she looked tangled up in the covers; one hand behind her head and the other arm halfway over her eyes.

"Anna." She settled herself on the bed on one hip, and tweaked the princess' topmost hand with her fingers. "Time to get up."

Decidedly unimpressed and apparently stubborn even in sleep, Anna merely made a sound that was halfway between a sigh and a growl, and gave her hand a lazy swat before dropping her own arm back across her face.

Well, that was productive. Elsa regarded her sister with an amused tilt of her head, and got much the same result by both gently shaking Anna's shoulder and tickling her cheek. Then biting her lip in consideration, she thought back to the first day's ride they'd spent together and - with a chuckle - how she had nearly made the younger woman dismount in a most spectacular fashion. The same method here would make for a very rude awakening, and such a thing had been known to leave the princess in a horribly sour mood for the remainder of the day, so that wasn't exactly an option. But...

"Anna..." The queen leaned over her on one arm, and blew a slow, deliberately icy breath over a well-shaped ear. "You need to wake up now, before I chill your bath water and dump you into it."

"I'm awake!" In spite of blinking dazedly, Anna was upright so fast that Elsa almost took a clout to the chin. "I'm aw- it's purple!"

She was doing her best not to laugh - she really was - but goodness, Anna was staring at her surroundings as if the room had unexpectedly materialized around her during a walk in the city market; normally bright, teal eyes hazy with sleep and their dark lashes fluttering in rapid succession as she apparently attempted to kick her brain to a start. So, the queen snickered.

"... purple?" she questioned, and tried to hide her amusement behind one hand. Going by her sister's blush, she was somewhat less than successful.

"Oh, God." Anna had slumped back into the bed with a low, drawn-out groan and was now rubbing a hand over her face. "Weird dreams," she murmured from behind her own palm. "Sven turned into a rabbit and Kristoff had antlers - who knows how, with the bucket on his head - and then you were there and..." Her blush abruptly deepened. "Yeah. Purple."

Elsa smiled, and trailed her fingers through the thick, soft hair at her sister's temple in exchange for a contented hum. "Sounds entertaining," she commented.

"That's one word for it," the younger woman allowed, and caught her hand to twine their fingers. Her gaze was settled on the ceiling above, and there was a look of idle amusement on her face. "Entertaining, and maybe a little enlightening."

"Oh?" She waited curiously, but Anna didn't seem as if she was going to explain any further; apparently happy to just lie there and play with the fingers she held. Not that Elsa minded at all, but she reminded herself that they did have a day to get started, and gave the hand in her own a tug until her sister was sitting again. "Up you go," she coaxed. "You've slept in long enough for one day."

"Yeah, yeah." Anna made a face, but swung her halfway-bare legs over the side of the bed to rise when the queen did. "Will you brush my hair for me?" she questioned, and extended her arms over her head as she stretched thoroughly.

The motion meant that her knee-length, pea-green shift rose enough to reveal a few additional inches of skin, and Elsa almost missed the question entirely. However.

"Of course," she agreed, and guided her yawning sibling to the vanity before pushing her into the chair there with gentle hands. "That's hardly a chore; you know that."

Anna laughed. "Not now, no," she confirmed, and quirked a fiery eyebrow at her in the mirror. "But that's your fault - I think I sleep deeper when we share a bed; I certainly seem to move around a lot less." She crossed one exposed ankle over the other, and shaped a crooked, little grin as she folded her hands in her lap. "You should've seen what I looked like in the morning before that."

"I'm sure it was quite a sight," Elsa offered diplomatically, and smiled at the stuck-out tongue that was the sole answer as she gently started running a round, wide brush through the copper hair. The long strands were - much like her own - shaped by their respective hairstyles into waves that on Anna almost-but-not-quite became curls, and felt like smooth, soft silk in her hand when she briefly studied a thick lock and wondered for the Nth time: Strawberry-blonde, or red? "We'll have to make it more permanent arrangement, then," she suggested very evenly without meeting Anna's eyes, and let the hair glide through her fingers like ripples of water while she slowly brushed its underside. "The sovereign chambers are almost ready to move in to."

"Hm." She chanced a glance up and didn't know quite how to interpret the oddly thoughtful look on Anna's face, but then it dispersed like a fog under sunlight, and her sister was smiling. "I think I'd like that."

Somehow, Elsa reflected, it felt almost as if they were having two different conversations.

xXxXx

"Majesty?" Kai was standing there, she realized, just inside the side door. "If you would come see the chambers and say if the arrangement pleases you?"

Elsa settled her chin in the palm of her hand, and gave him a look that was openly wry enough to indicate exactly how long the two of them had known each other. "I told you; as long as the morning sun doesn't hit the bed, I'm honestly not that concerned," she reminded him, and then tilted her head. "Why not have Anna do it? The castle falls under her area of expertise, after all."

At that, the man nodded, and straightened a fraction. "Quite, and I did ask her first," he replied, and there was a tug in his facial muscles that made it seem as if he was holding back a smile. "I believe the princess's words were 'If there's a bed, a bath and a door that opens, I don't care about the rest'." His thick eyebrows moved only faintly, but it gave him the most exasperated expression that he'd ever allow himself to show in front of her. "Then she was off to the barracks, and if I may say so, Majesty, the two of you are remarkably similar in how un-particular you are about your residence."

The queen just smiled. The castle staff had accepted the admittedly novel idea of her and Anna fully living together without so much as batting an eye, but she supposed that their generation of the line was already unorthodox enough that people had simply gotten used to taking such things in their stride.

"Very well. It seems there are no more audiences today, all the same." Elsa rose from her throne and took the few steps down to ground level while her dress settled automatically around her as she moved. "Lead on, then."

Kai bowed once, and she followed him out of the throne room, through hallways and up more flights of stairs than she'd ever had to go in order to get to her private chamber in the past. The sovereign chambers - so named because there were already an abundance of 'royal' areas - were, like the other bedrooms, located in the westernmost section of the castle, though unlike the other rooms, it was several stories up a wide tower.

The space had previously mostly been used for storage, but shortly after the thaw, Elsa had set in motion a thorough remodeling - she couldn't bare to take over her parents' quarters, no matter how much tradition dictated it - that converted the mostly abandoned square footage into what could almost function as a separate apartment. One floor would hold a generously appointed bedroom with a connected, smaller bath, above that would be a private, more isolated office and library designed more for enjoyment than work, and above that again would be a solar fairly encased in glass, with a wide balcony that circled the tower in its entirety.

It had been a lengthy project to complete due to some rather daring structural changes, but the city's engineers were worthy of their reputation, and just a few weeks ago, the work had shifted from reconstruction to remodeling. Now, apparently even that much was done, and the furniture was being moved in as well.

According to Elsa's count, they were ten stories above the ground when Kai turned away from the stairs at a landing, and lead the way towards a set of wide, wooden double doors that she smiled to see. The one thing she and Anna had agreed to tell the decorators was a color scheme, because it really wouldn't be fair to make them fret from having no knowledge at all of what their employers hoped to see. As such, they'd ended up at least providing them with a little insight (blue, green and white - no pink and no snowflakes) that was now beautifully represented in the doors they were approaching.

Not unlike the door to her childhood bedroom, these were predominantly white, though decorated with intricate, geometrical carvings that had been painted blue and green in equal amounts. Entirely unlike on her old door, the carvings were far more curvy than sharply edged, and instead of being painted in solid colors, they faded steadily to white towards the edges, to the point where they almost blended with the background itself.

They were, she realized as she studied the swirling patterns, also oddly familiar.

"A lovely design," Elsa noted as they reached them, and caught Kai's smile from the corner of her eye.

"The princess will be glad to know that you approve, I'm sure," he said, and then pushed the doors open.

The room beyond was a study in organized chaos. The doors they entered through sat in one of only two straight walls, with the other - which had a single door in it - jutting out at an even angle off to the right and the remaining enclosure made up by the rounded wall of the tower itself. The floors were wood and had a faintly reddish tone that added a little warmth to a scheme of otherwise cool colors with the even walls having been decorated with patterns in pale blue and green with tiny, white accents. The outer wall had been left as bare, gray stone with two large windows added, and there was currently a small handful of people hanging curtains over them - two sets, in fact; a thin, sheer white, and a thicker, tranquil blue. Between the windows, two men were kneeling on a spread of thick, protective cloth; steadily finishing a wide fireplace with far paler stones than those that made up the wall itself, while a third was quietly leveling the mantel.

Several more workers were wandering to and fro; some securing accents, some touching up paint and some lugging small pieces of furniture. All of them, however, came to a full halt when Elsa was noticed, and the chorus of 'Majesty!' that rang out made her both smile, and also idly hope that when the decorating was finished, the acoustics would be a little less likely to make her ears ring.

"Good day, everyone," she greeted. "Please don't stop on my account."

"Your Majesty," Kai spoke up, and secured her attention as the room startled bustling again. His hand was indicating a middle-aged, fair man of average height, who was clad in the sturdy clothes of a tradesman, and currently holding a well-worn, charcoal-gray ivy cap in his calloused hands. "Anders Ersland - the head furniture maker for the project."

"Mister Ersland." Elsa watched him bow, and saw his eyes flicker as he straightened to face her again. Nervous? she wondered. Or frightened? "You've crafted some marvelous pieces."

"My Queen." He bowed again, and she decided that the small signs she could see in his face and body language were starting to lean much more towards indications of nervousness, which was honestly quite a relief. "I'm glad you approve. We're just missing one last thing, and our part'll be done."

Curiously, Elsa gave the room a brief once-over, and made note of the beautifully carved, white wooden furniture situated around the room. There was a vanity with a matching chair, a large, four poster bed with a low bench resting at its foot end, a loveseat that would probably go in front of the fireplace, a low, wide table and an over-size closet - presumably to accommodate for two distinct sections.

"Forgive me, Mister Ersland, but exactly what is missing?"

The blond man smiled, and adjusted his grip on the cap in his hands. "The bed's headboard, Majesty."

xXxXx

Anna, Elsa had recently learned, was truly a sight to behold when on horseback. For someone with a tendency towards excitement-fueled clumsiness that at times bordered on the destructive, she was the complete opposite when astride Thor's broad, white back; perfectly balanced and in full control of both herself and the horse. It had also become very clear that her sister adored riding, and while Elsa herself didn't fully share the passion, she enjoyed it all the same.

She did, however, she decided as she rested her hands on the chest-high, stone wall that encircled the barracks' large riding ring, find more enjoyment in simply watching Anna ride.

Right now, the chief sound heard in the afternoon sunlight was that of Thor's hooves pounding against the already well-worn, summer-dry ground; an even, sharp staccato that would then halt in a drag of soil and a cloud of dust as he whirled and took off in another direction under the subtle guiding of his rider. Underlying that was the muted beats of arrows piercing evenly dispersed, wooden targets and the whooshing sounds of two sets of breathing. Thor's was loud and deep, and Anna's light and steady as she steered him with her legs alone; half-standing in the saddle and clad in breeches and a tunic with its sleeves rolled up to her elbows, with her hair done up in a simple style and her eyes narrowed in total concentration as her upper body twisted to and fro. In her hands, of course, was her shortbow with its quiver on her back, and Elsa wasn't shy about privately admitting to a good amount of admiration as every arrow fired found its target with unerring accuracy.

Two kinds of admiration, even, she considered as both horse and rider were briefly silhouetted in the golden light. That of the skills displayed, and of the young woman displaying them.

"Hey!" The drumming sounds halted abruptly as Anna's focus shifted entirely from her exercises to her audience, and a grin appeared on her face as she nudged Thor towards the side of the ring at a canter. "Gosh, you're sneaky - I didn't even hear you."

"You did have other things to focus on," the queen noted pointedly, and for once found herself smiling up at the younger woman. "And I generally don't make that much noise, do I?"

"Yeah, no." Anna laughed, and settled comfortably into her saddle as Thor lowered his head to a trough and drank. "I think that's my area."

The horse was damp with sweat, and so, she realized, was his rider. An interesting view, to be sure, with how a few strands of escaped, copper hair was clinging to Anna's face and neck, and how the thin sheen of moisture lent an almost ethereal sparkle to the smudge of dust coating her exposed face and arms; gilded in the sunlight. Elsa felt her body warm at the sight and willed herself to focus.

Apparently, even sweaty and filthy was attractive to her where Anna was concerned.

Enough.

"You did a beautiful job with the design for the chamber doors," she told her.

"Who said I had anything to do with that?" Teal eyes widened in an entirely too innocent manner. "You're the artistically inclined one, remember?"

"Mhmm." Elsa regarded her dryly. "Either way, thank you; they're lovely." She folded her hands on the wall's top, and leaned on it a little harder. "I owe you a favor."

"Yeah?" Anna leaned forward as well to pat Thor's neck, and while the motion only brought them a fraction closer, a breeze still carried the scent of her skin and sun-warmed clothing to the queen's nose. "Mind if I collect now?"

"That would be rather unfair of me, wouldn't it?" she questioned, and twiddled her thumbs idly. "What can I do?"

In response, her sister straightened and - with a smirk - patted her saddle. "There's something I want to try, and since you're here and I know you can ride..."

Elsa glanced down at herself; more to stomp down her gut reflex to the idea of being in such a position with Anna than anything else, though God only knew why since they slept in each other's arms so why was this variety of physical closeness suddenly so different?

"I'm hardly dressed for it," she noted, and indicated her dress with one hand. "Unless you wish me to ride sidesaddle?"

"No, but it's not like you need to go back to the castle to change," was the amused reply, followed by a nose-crinkling grin as the younger woman had Thor back up several steps with a subtle tensing of her legs. "Go on - there's no one else around right now, and I can't see anything from here. Nice, big wall, right?"

"As if I need walls for privacy," Elsa commented faux-haughtily; bringing up a hand and moving it in a scooping, half-circle to make her surroundings immediately disappear behind a thick stream of swirling snowflakes that sped around her in a blur, with herself at the eye of the storm. From beyond the veil of brilliant white, she heard Anna laugh, and smiled herself as she adjusted her clothing with little more than a thought.

"There." She dispersed the flurries, and now stood in a long-sleeved shirt and a set of breeches and boots. Then, with a few steps and a pass through a gate that she closed behind her, she was in the ring itself, and was regarding both horse and rider. "Now... exactly what did you want?"

"To train this one." Anna patted Thor's shoulder, and the stallion's ears flickered in response. "I can't stretch his endurance much further without him being used to more weight," she explained. "Not without riding outside the city, anyway, and while I could ask a guard... well, he's my horse, y'know?"

"Ah. So you want my bodyweight to be added to your own."

"Pretty much." Her sister smiled, and it really wasn't fair how the sunlight caught her eyelashes when she tilted her head at just that angle. "Would you?" she requested, and was already busy moving her quiver from her back to her hip.

Idly, Elsa wondered if she could ever say no to anything Anna asked of her. Probably not, when facing that look.

"Of course." She willed herself to focus on the task instead of how physically close they would be during it, and studied the saddle. It was, at least, flat enough to accommodate both of them from what she could tell, though it would undoubtedly be a bit of a squeeze. Thor, she noted, was regarding her placidly; sides moving with steady, even breathing in spite of having had to have been at this for at least half an hour, and head free of bridles or suchlike as Anna's hands had been busy with other things entirely and so had no use - or need, from what the queen had seen - for reins. "Let me up, then."

Wordlessly, Anna slid the nearest of her feet from its stirrup, and settled her leg - bent at the knee - over the front of the saddle with such balance and ease that Elsa honestly found herself feeling a little envious. Still, she secured her foot in the opening offered and - with a clasp of her sister's extended arm - soon found herself astride the stallion and almost uncomfortably close to Anna's back.

Thor, meanwhile, had turned his head around to study the two of them with an equine expression of almost arch curiosity. What on earth is this? his eyes seemed to wonder, but Anna merely gave him a light squeeze with her legs, and he was off at a slow, amiable walk soon enough.

"I think you'll owe him an apple after this," Elsa mused; mostly to keep her mind off of how the gentle, rocking motion of the horse's easy stride was setting Anna's hips and rear to moving almost imperceptibly against her own, inner thighs. She wasn't entirely certain what to do with her hands, but had settled on letting them rest on her own knees, and was thankfully fully capable of keeping herself seated properly even with the stirrups being occupied by her sister's booted feet.

"Oh, he usually gets one, anyway," Anna told her, and a low chuckle made her back vibrate against the queen's chest. "So two might be better."

"Seems fair, for carting two people around."

"Doesn't it?" She could tell from her sister's voice that she was smiling, and - over Anna's shoulder - could make out the way her hands were idly fiddling with the bow in their grasp.

That struck her as a bit odd, to be perfectly frank. While Elsa in no way considered herself an expert on all things Anna - at least not yet - she did know that when on horseback, the princess was always, always comfortable. Now, however, she was plucking at the taut bowstring, or picking at the straps of leather that wound around the bow's middle, or running her fingers over the well-curved, pale wood as Thor peacefully ambled around the ring.

She was fidgeting.

"Hey." A hand moved to clasp her own wrist, and her hand was settled on Anna's waist and given a little pat. "Hold on, okay? I'm gonna speed him up a bit."

"Alright." She shook the thought away, and placed her other hand in a mirror position without needing further prompting. "I don't suppose I might have use of the stirrups, then?"

Anna laughed, and let her have them without another word. A click of her tongue, then, and Thor obediently started moving at a canter, with his mistress' strong legs easily clamping on to let her move with the motion without any other means, while Elsa was content to use more outside ways of keeping herself from falling off and landing in a heap on the ground. She wasn't the natural rider of the two of them, after all. Her skill was very much a learned one, while she had a clear memory of her sister happily laying atop their mother's horse; tiny arms clasping its neck as best she could reach, feet kicking happily and perfectly, utterly balanced there even at the tender age of two.

They - or rather Thor - circled the ring once, twice, with his riders moving smoothly to match his gait, and Elsa wondered what it might look like to an outside observer - what with her hands on Anna waist, back brushing against front as they rose from and sunk back into the saddle as one being. Up and down, up and down, with Anna's free hand loosely clasping her own where it rested almost on her hip, and her backside pressed into Elsa's pelvis.

Oh, God.

"Whew." Her sister's voice drew her from her increasingly wandering thoughts, and was tinged with a note of relief. "Thanks - I needed that."

It took her a second to discover what Anna was talking about - they were still moving, after all - and she blinked when she saw the light flutter of snowflakes, and felt the cold breeze that now brushed against their faces. Thor, to his credit, was taking the sudden weather change in both his figurative and literal stride, and only regarded the sudden onset of a very localized winter in late August with a flicker of his black-tipped ears.

"You're welcome," Elsa replied, and was glad that her voice was even and carried no hint of the flurry being anything but intentional, even as she dispelled it.

"Really hold on now," Anna warned her after another circling. "There's gonna be a lot of sharp turning, and we don't want the queen to go flying out of the saddle, right?"

For that, Elsa wrapped her arms around her waist to squeeze just a little bit harder than was necessary, and swallowed a smirk at the soft whoosh of escaping air. "Right."

"Stinker," the younger woman grumped, and then Thor was in a full gallop towards the opposite end of the wide ring with both of his riders in a half-stand, half-crouch across his broad back.

How in the world...? The queen was marveling, to say the least, because even using just the power of her own legs, Anna was as stable in this position as Elsa was herself with the use of the stirrups. More than that, she was staying as steady as a statue even as she guided her mount to whirl and turn inside clouds of brown dust; both hands level with her own face as she raised the bow, and only ever finding contact with anything else when the leather-guarded, left one dropped to her hip to swiftly secure a fresh arrow.

Right there, amidst the smell of horseflesh and warm grass, under the sounds of chirping birds and pounding hoofbeats and in full, close-up view of surprisingly intense, teal eyes, she discovered a side to her sister that she'd never known before. Right there, Elsa watched the tendons in Anna's forearm tighten as she nocked an arrow and drew the string back, saw the focused crinkle at the corner of her eye and the waving of loose strands of copper hair in the wind when she aimed to the side and the queen could see her face in intricate profile. Right there, she could make out every single speck of dust amidst her sister's freckles, and feel the tightening of subtle muscles against her own body.

And right there, she fell in love with Anna the woman all over again, over and above Anna the memory. In love, and in complete, speechless awe.

"That," she told her some time later, when she'd found her wits and both of them were back on their own feet as Anna walked Thor to cool with no more than a brief touch to his broad shoulder; collecting arrows into the quiver at her hip all the while. "That was amazing, Anna."

In response, her sister colored and rubbed at the back of her own neck. "Well, mostly it was a lot of practice," she demurred. "First time I tried it, I actually hit lieutenant Ramsland, but at least I was using blunted arrows."

"How long ago was that?" Elsa questioned as their little group came to a halt, and Thor lowered his head for a well-deserved drink while Anna leaned one dusty, linen-covered elbow on the ring's wall.

"Since I started shooting from horseback... two years?" was the halting reply, with Anna squinting a little off towards the castle while she rested her cheek against a loosely curled fist. "Give or take a few months. I try to practice at least twice a week, just to keep it up."

"It's definitely paid off," she noted, and accepted both the quiver and the bow while her sister removed and hefted the saddle, and shook her head at an approaching stablehand. "I don't think I can call this a favor, though - I enjoyed it entirely too much."

"It doesn't have to be a chore to count as a favor, Elsa," Anna told her with an amused look as they left the ring; Thor following without needing any instruction. "I liked designing the doors."

"Still." She returned the greetings that increased in number and frequency as they left the solitude of the ring behind, and entered the area of the barracks proper. "I'd prefer if you would think up something else."

"If you want." Anna shrugged her shoulders unconcernedly, and led the way into the stables. "There's far worse things than having a queen in your debt, right?"

"Far." Elsa relinquished her sister's weapons to an expectant guard, while the saddle was handed off to a groom before both men scurried off. Heimdahl was peering at her from his stall, and she rubbed his golden cheek while Anna let Thor into the neighboring one. "Does anything spring to mind?"

Through the wooden bars that separated the stalls, she could just barely see her sister purse her lips in thought over Thor's back; shoulders and arms working as Anna dried him off with handfuls of hay. "I mentioned that there's gonna be stuff that requires your touch at the festival, right?"

"For skating and such, yes."

"Right." The copper head nodded. "And while you're totally at home on the ice, I'm really, really not." A droll look, and a crooked smile. "So maybe you could return the favor - which it doesn't have to count as, by the way - with some ice-skating lessons?"

Elsa considered that as she secured a handful of small, bright red apples, and let Heimdahl lip one of them from her palm and crunch it contentedly. Lessons would most likely involve the two of them alone, with Anna holding on to her more often than not - at least at first - because she herself was on ice the way Anna was on horseback, and always had been.

"Certainly." A soft, icy-gray muzzle butted her in the chest, and she offered up another apple with a smile and a scratch to the stallion's forehead. "A bit short notice, though, isn't it? The festival is next week, near as I recall."

"Uh-huh. Just a bare month before the Harvest Moon." Anna had switched to Thor's other side by now, and was peering at her from over one, linen-clad shoulder as she worked. "You'll just have to make time for me, I guess," she stated, and poked out the very tip of her tongue.

Elsa just shook her head in fond amusement, and walked over to lean on the stall door. Her sister was crouching down to work a fresh handful of hay over Thor's knees, and she smiled when the stately, white head turned and dipped to nip gently at the princess' fiery hair. Clearly, this animal adored his mistress. Not that she didn't understand him.

"So." Anna straightened and was abruptly very close; hands settling on the queen's arms where they rested on the top of the stall door. "Deal?"

"Deal." She inclined her head, and offered up one of the remaining apples, which was claimed with a smile and the faintest brush of tanned fingers over her own. "That still doesn't feel like much of a favor, though."

"Oh, suck it up, Snow Queen." Teal eyes were watching her in warm exasperation while Thor crunched the apple, and tossed his pale head in apparent agreement. "See you at dinner?"

From the next stall, Heimdahl whickered softly, and Elsa decided that with three against one, she really didn't have a leg to stand on. "Alright, alright." She managed to hold back a laugh as she lifted one hand in supplication, and offered the last apple to Thor with the other. "And yes," she then agreed, and aimed a wry smile at Anna. "As long as you bathe first."

"Hm." Her sister made a show of sniffing the shoulder of her tunic. "Yeah, you're probably right. I don't think another human being would come within three feet of me like this," she commented. Then she raised a hand to scratch Thor's cheek as the stallion poked his head over her shoulder, and the corner of her mouth lifted. "Except you, of course."

"Of... course." Something about the look in Anna's eyes suddenly made her feel uncharacteristically flustered, but Elsa managed to get a hold of herself. "See you in a little while, then."

She'd only barely caught the amused wave as she'd all but fled the stables, and was now returning the greetings from others automatically as she walked back to the castle proper, deep in thought. Lately, her interactions with her sister had started to knock her out of her figurative stride, because sometimes, she could absolutely swear that Anna was flirting with her. What just happened in the stables had been another in a so-far short line of examples, and she was finding herself increasingly torn between two, repeating thoughts.

I'm reading too much into things, was one.

But what if I'm not? was the other.

Sighing softly, Elsa climbed the steps to a side-door in the castle's western wall, and ran both hands through her bangs to settle them. Maybe, she considered as she entered the cool shade and started off for her current chambers, just maybe, she could try pushing the boundaries between them. Not much, of course, because prudence, as ever, dictated caution, and the last thing she wanted to do was shock her sister with her decidedly unsisterly affections.

If there was a chance that Anna felt the same, however... then maybe she should. Just on the off chance that it would be received in the way she hoped.

And it was positively awful just how giddy that thought made her.

xXxXx

xXxXx

There was something about the outdoors, Anna decided as she let Thor amble along beneath her, that always helped her find some peace of mind. The white stallion needed little guiding from her, and probably knew this particular trail better than his mistress at this point; she'd lost count of how many times he had carried her this way in total, but knew that this was the ninth time in the preceding, nine days that she'd set him to striding along this narrow path through the forest to the fjord.

Here, where the trees had long since closed behind her and cut off any view of even the outskirts of the city, it was as if a subtle weight was lifted off of her shoulders, and she watched the interspersed, leaf- and needle trees cast cooling shadows over her bare arms and Thor's pale shoulders in the warm sunlight. It was a brief respite from the responsibilities of castle life, a minor, guilty pleasure of hers, and one she'd first started indulging in almost ten years ago. Then, however, she had admittedly been sneaking out - no mean feat when one was a well-known face and on horseback on top of that - but now, she left alone with the full knowledge of the castle guard, primarily thanks to her skill with the bow slung across her back.

Privacy hadn't been the reason she'd first taken up archery after her separation from her sister, but it was a side-effect she was glad to have, all the same. Even if she felt a little bad about not having invited her along for over a week.

"What do you think?" she asked of Thor, and watched his ears flick towards her voice as he ambled evenly along and she ducked her head to clear a low, leafy branch. "I mean, she probably would've liked to have been asked, even if she isn't free right now, right?"

The horse snorted, and a chittering blackbird swooped across the path.

"Right." Anna sighed into the warm air and folded her arms across her chest; reins laying forgotten around the saddle horn as she watched the slowly yellowing leaves contrast against the blue sky. "I'm sorry, buddy; I guess you would've liked Heimdahl's company too, huh? Maybe tomorrow."

It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with her sister; in fact, the problem was almost the complete opposite. The innocent comment from Marquis Orvik had set her head to spinning, and Anna had found herself thoroughly unable to get the notion out of her head and wondered constantly ever since. Did she and Elsa really look like a couple to an outside observer? Were their interactions truly that easy? Should they be? And since she was fretting so much over it herself that there presumably had to be one, what was the underlying cause of her own distraction?

Did she feel something for Elsa that went beyond the deep, but platonic love of a family member? Or, for a first step, was she attracted to her?

As it turned out, that had been a simple enough question with no easy answer. Anna was fully capable of seeing that the queen was attractive - of that there could be little doubt - but she admittedly had a far harder time figuring out if she herself was susceptible. Her relationship with her sister wasn't something she could compare to anything else, but then again, without any other siblings, it was hard to find a point of reference to say whether or not anything was truly out of the ordinary. The way she and Elsa acted with each other was... well, just that. To her - them, presumably - it was easy. It was right.

And that would have been that, if the sudden thought of what it would be like to kiss her hadn't been on her mind so much lately.

Solitary rides, however, had been little help in figuring anything out, Anna privately admitted as the forest parted before her and Thor crossed out onto a small, grassy meadow that bordered the fjord. She had spent hours here with the white stallion and the natural wilderness as her only company over the past week or so; having learned long ago that if she found herself stuck on a particular problem, nothing let her mind relax enough to find an answer quite like the peace of the outdoors. So she'd moved around her schedule and started taking her daily rides in the afternoons instead - just before dinner, when Elsa was usually busy wrapping up her own tasks and for that reason would be unable to come along even if she was asked.

And she felt bad about it, she admitted as she slid off of Thor's back with practiced ease. She really did, but if she wanted to be able to think about this, she needed to do so alone. It would have been too easy to forget the entire point of coming out here if her sister had been with her, because Anna enjoyed her company enough that she seemed to forget anything else when she had it, and would probably then have spent all those hours just goofing off with Elsa, talking and laughing about anything and nothing because it was so easy to, now that their relationship was truly on the mend after all these years.

It was a fine bit of irony, she decided as she led her horse to the small stream that cut through the meadow and let him drink, that everything here reminded her of Elsa somehow; from the blue sky (her eyes) to the pine trees (her scent) to the thin band of pale sand by the fjord's edge (her skin). Lately, even the paler examples of the yellowing leaves brought to mind the unusual shade of her sister's hair, and she still wasn't sure if all those reminders had been a help or a hindrance, just that here, she'd found no answers, and so had turned to her second option of kicking her brain into gear: thinking about something else entirely. And that had worked, though not in the way she'd anticipated.

"Did you have fun yesterday?" she questioned Thor, who eyed her in the surface of the clear stream and sent a circular ripple spreading across the water when he snorted. "Yeah, me too." She cast an arm over his broad shoulders, and leaned on him. "It was too long of a break, huh? I'm sorry, boy; I'll do better at that from now on."

The stallion snorted again, but this time raised his head enough to do so at her chest.

"Yow!" Anna jumped at the spray of water from his dark muzzle, and shoved his head away. "Cut that out, y'pile of trouble - that's cold!" The head came back to butt her in the chest this time, and she rolled her eyes and scratched the underside of his chin. "Yeah, it's okay." He lipped at the collar of her shirt, and she chuckled. "I love you too."

Leaving Thor to his drink, she crossed over to a wide, leafy birch and sat down beneath it with her head tilted back and her pants-clad legs folded beneath her. The previous day had been fun, and she hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said that it had been too long since she'd put both her horse and herself through their paces in that way. She did usually go through that manner of training with him every other day, but had elected to use the extended rides over the past while instead, and so had ended up giving both of them a longer session the day before that now had her body aching mildly, and made her feel a little sleepy even after a good night's rest.

Anna closed her eyes, and let the sun warm her. It had been nice to get back to her training, even if it was only after a short break; nice to feel the familiar motions of Thor's legs thundering at the ground underneath them in short, rapid bursts of speed that set her heart to racing faster than normal, and to have the bow back in her hands for an extended period of time. Elsa's willingness to help had been nice, too, and Anna felt her breathing deepen as she remembered the feeling of her sister's arms around her waist, and the way it had felt to have the queen's slender figure pressed against her own back; moving with her.

It had been a darn good thing that she was already flushed from exertion at the time, because her body had definitely reacted to Elsa's nearness. Why, though, after spending so long sleeping in her bed every night, was this only happening now? Maybe because she hadn't really considered the possibility of anything else before? Because she'd grown accustomed to having her sister near when she was tired, but not when already a little worked up from the exercise? Because the new ingredient yesterday had been the clear, very much up-close sensation of decidedly womanly hips cradling her when she'd set Thor to a canter, pushing ever so gently into her own every time they'd-

"Whoa, okay." Anna took a deep breath, and purposely turned her mind to other things. "Better back off that thought for a while." A shadow fell over her face, and she cracked an eye open to see Thor peering at her from close by; water dripping from his muzzle and a definite look in his warm, brown eyes.

"Don't you dare," she told him, and squeezed her eyes shut when she promptly got a spray of icy water to the face. The sensation was one of a pleasant cooling this time, though, and she sighed a few drops away from her lips before regarding her horse, who - the brat - looked as if he would've smirked if he could. "Yeah, I guess I needed that," she told him wryly, and wiped a hand over her face. "Thanks."

The stallion snorted, and nosed her hair affectionately.

"What do I do, Thor?" she wondered, only halfway to herself when she felt his warm breath on her face and brought up a hand to rub his chin. "I'm not gonna risk us over this if it's just a passing thing - that'd be stupid, right?" A soft muzzle brushed her cheek, and she smiled at the low, rumbling whicker. "Right. 'Sides, I don't even know if she feels the same, y'know?" She dug a bit of carrot from a small pack at her waist, and offered it up. "It's not exactly the most average thing to do."

Thor ignored the treat, and instead lipped at the thigh of her pants before taking a step back.

"Get up?" Anna questioned, and watched him toss his head. "Okay?" She rose, and set the carrot-bit back into her waistpack before stepping over to him. "What's up, boy? It's not that late is i- oh." The stately head had come over her shoulder, and she could feel the faint tugs of motion as Thor nipped at her hair and the back of her shirt, exactly like he would when Anna hugged him. It was an unlooked for, readily offered bit of oddly human sympathy that made her want to laugh and cry at the same time, because she hadn't realized how much she'd needed that until now. Still, she wrapped her arms around his broad neck and closed her eyes against the sudden sting of tears; resting her cheek against the warm, slightly coarse fur as she breathed.

"It's kinda scary," she told him then, and heard the hoarse note in her own voice. "If I mess this up, I could lose her... and I don't exactly have the greatest track record in not messing up." A soft ear flickered against the top of her head. "And it's- I don't want to risk what we've got over just an attraction, so I gotta figure out if it's... more than that." She swallowed. "And if she could even return it." Pause, and a long, slow exhale. "God, I wish I knew what I was doing, but at least I found that book, right?"

A soft whicker from Thor, and a gentle nuzzle of her shoulder.

"Right." Anna pulled back, and rubbed the front of his head. "And if that doesn't tell me anything, the library is huge. There's gotta be something in there that'll help." Her lips twitched into a smile. "I just have to remember to keep it from Elsa - at least for now." Mainly because her sister would ask questions that Anna wasn't sure she had answers to; if the debacle earlier in the summer had shown her anything, it was that when it came to romantic love, she didn't really have a clue, and she wasn't about to risk her rebuilt relationship with Elsa for anything less than that. She had no doubt that she loved her sister - she even knew that it was true love - but was she (or could she fall) in love with her?

This time, Thor took the bit of carrot and crunched it contentedly while Anna turned her gaze to the sky and noticed the position of the sun with a faint grimace. It had gotten a little later than she'd planned to stay out, apparently.

"Okay." She patted his neck, and swung herself back into the saddle smoothly. "We're gonna have to hurry if we wanna be back for dinner. You up for a run?" The cross snort and impatiently stomping hoof made her grin, and she tied the reins loosely around the saddle horn to keep them out of both her own and his way - they were only there because the guards would have a collective fit if they saw her leave the city with anything less than her full gear, anyway. "Well, excuse me, mister. Let's go."

Then the meadow was abandoned once more, and the sound of hoofbeats whisked away on the breeze.

xXxXx

What You Can't See
Love and physical attraction in humanity

Dedication

Sadly, dear reader, the publisher refused to release this book under its original title of The Romansexual Habits of Homo Erectus. They say it was due to the wrong, Latin name for our species; I say they're wrung-out old squeeze-buttocks with no sense of humor. (If this print is riddled with errors, you now know why.)

Thus:
Dedicated to all those whose rear ends are so pinched and dried up that they excrete clouds of dust - may your water closets be exceptionally well-ventilated for the sakes of your families.

("Oh, heavens! Papa had another bowel movement!")

- Johanna Norheim

xXxXx

Who, Anna wondered as she entered the private dining room in the morning light, thought up the cockamamie idea of an eight-foot table for two people? She was quite certain that her sister had something to do with it since it was a fairly recent change from a much smaller table, and had only shown up a scant few months back; shortly after the thaw. It was a nice enough table; stained, polished oak and obviously well-made, but it was massive.

She came to a halt behind her own seat, and drummed her fingers against its high back while glancing towards the other end of the table, where her sister was peacefully ingesting a cup of tea. For now, there were no servants and no food, though there probably would be soon.

Anna sniffed and took a step to the side, then grabbed her chair's armrest, pulled and kept pulling. The screech of it dragging over the floor made the young queen start so abruptly that the cup at her lips jerked dangerously, and Anna squelched a grin at the sight of widened, clear blue eyes, and the pale fingers that suddenly dug into the table top.

"Good morning," she called over the noise; redundant as it was, since they'd already told each other that on waking.

Elsa's right eye twitched, and she kept silent until the screeching stopped before sending her a wry look. "Now it is, yes," she then retorted, and rubbed at her ear as she set her cup down. "Do we need lighter chairs in here?"

"Or we could just get a smaller table," Anna suggested, and seated herself. "What happened to the old one, anyway?"

Oddly, her sister's face fell at the question. It wasn't much - just a minute shift in her cheeks and the skin around her eyes - but she had grown much better at noticing the details where Elsa was concerned since the thaw, and so saw both that, and the faint dimming of her eyes.

"I couldn't sit at their table," was the eventual reply, and even though Elsa's voice was perfectly even, Anna could have kicked herself. "Do you not like this one? It was the nicest one the staff could find on short notice."

"It's alright," she promised, and fished for a way to bring the mood back up from where she'd inadvertently sent it. Then an idea struck her, and after a brief moment of hesitation, she covered her sister's hand with her own. "But we shouldn't be half a room apart, Elsa - we belong next to each other." Carefully - and very aware of the tingle trailing up her own arm - Anna lifted the hand she was clasping and set its palm upright before slipping her fingers between the queen's paler ones and closing them gently. "See? Perfect fit."

Slowly, cooler fingers curled, and Elsa had the sweetest smile on her face that she thought she'd ever seen. "I see, indeed," the older woman replied softly, and spent a few moments studying their clasped hands before raising her eyes again. "Do you think the chatelaine would mind terribly if I had her commission a new dining table, then? A smaller one?"

"Um..." Anna wracked her brain for a name to match the title provided, but was coming up sadly empty. "Well, I don't think so," she hedged. "She's... nice? And accommodating?"

"Anna." The voice was low and clearly amused. "You are the chatelaine, remember?"

Oh. "Ermph." She leaned her forehead against their intertwined fingers, and sighed. "You can't expect me to keep track of all my titles," she complained. "I've got forty of them!"

"Nonsense." The hand she held squeezed her own, and she glanced up past the seamless blend of tanned and pale skin to see her sister's lips quirk. "It's only thirty-two."

"Elsaaa..."

"And that's when you count your honors and decorations, which aren't truly the same thing," the older woman went on, undaunted. "In actual titles pertaining to physical locations or responsibilities, you really only have five."

Anna regarded her wryly. "And I suppose you know all of them off the top of your blonde head?"

"Of course." Elsa almost looked offended. "In practicality, you're the princess of Arendelle, the chatelaine of the royal castle and the head steward - or stewardess, perhaps - of the city of Arendelle. In more theoretical ways, you're a Coronan countess of Summerbird and a captain of the royal cavalry." Pause, and a smile that made those very blue eyes sparkle. "Don't gape, Anna. It's so unbecoming."

Instantly, Anna shut her mouth with a faint click of her teeth, and then pursed her lips. "Y'know, I've got half a mind t-"

"Half is right," the queen teased, and then jerked back with a laugh when a hand swiped at her nose. "Manners, Your Highness!" she exclaimed with a very put-upon, shocked air. "I happen to know that you weren't raised in a barn."

"I wasn't," Anna agreed, and released her sister's hand to point an accusing finger at her instead. "You, meanwhile, were apparently brought up in an alchemist's laboratory. They've clearly replaced your brain with a sponge, so you can hold all that information-" She held her breath. "-in that pretty head of yours."

"That's a charming notion," Elsa commented with a faint grimace; possibly to take attention away from the mild color rising to her cheeks. "Imagine what would happen if you squeezed my head - which, as I recall, you threatened to do several times when we were younger."

"Then you'd still be a fountain of knowledge," Anna quipped, and rested her chin on one hand. "Just in a more literal sense." She smiled at the chuckle, and then they both fell silent as the door to the kitchens opened and breakfast was quietly and efficiently brought in.

None of the servants, she noted, as much as blinked at the change in seating arrangements.

"Tea, Your Highness?"

"Please." Anna settled back in her chair to make room on the table, and gave the woman who'd approached her a smile. "The least bitter option."

"You always did have a sweet tooth," came the remark from the other, lone seat at the table, and she glanced over to see the faint tug at the corner of Elsa's mouth; her sister leaning back as well as a plate full of cold foods was set before her, presumably in deference to the warm weather.

There was a number of responses on the tip of her tongue immediately. Some were teasing (Says the queen of confectionery), some were openly flirtatious (Must be from spending so much time with you) and some were even outright suggestive (You'll have to provide something for me to nibble on, then). She knew, however, that except for a few, select people like herself, Elsa was a very private woman by either nature or nurture, and while the brief fluster she'd displayed the other night in the stables when Anna had found the guts to attempt a flirt (and had Elsa recognized it as that?) had been beyond cute, it had also passed easily because they'd been alone. Attempting anything similar in the company of others, meanwhile, could potentially embarrass the queen so much that it would take days for her to be comfortable again.

Elsa's comfort around people in general was something Anna had every intention of helping her work on - potentially romantic feelings or no. But now wasn't the time.

"It seems to run in the family," was therefore all she said, with a smile of her own and a quirked eyebrow, which she then turned into a nod of her head when first a plate of food and then a cup of gently steaming tea was placed in front of her. "Thank you, Malene."

"Princess." The girl curtsied.

"Everything looks lovely, ladies," Elsa offered, and inclined her head as the small handful of servants turned to her. "Please leave the tea behind."

"That's new," Anna commented when the door had closed and they were alone again. Those blue eyes were settled on her in warm affection, she realized when she looked over, and she decided to focus on her breakfast to help stave off the blush that was crawling up her neck. "You, um... usually let them stay."

A pleasantly cool hand had reached out to curve gently around her own, and the choice between clasping that or her knife was hardly a difficult one, so she let their fingers twine again.

"I told you," Elsa said, with her voice a little quieter than normal and the light brush of soft fingers over her skin. "I prefer to have you all to myself."

And all Anna could do was was flush hotly and aim the stupidest, incredulous little smile at her own plate while her heart beat an unsteady rhythm against her ribs.

xXxXx

Introduction

Now, whom might you be? You see, I anticipate that given its focus, this book will be studied only by a small variety of people, and if I manage to find the group to which you, dear reader, belong, then I would count myself very clever indeed (and finding ways in which to do so is rather a vice of mine, to be frank). For that reason, do bear with me as I supply you with a short...

List of those who might open this book:

- Scholars (Much respect, but do make sure to get some sun once in a while)
- Conservatives looking for something to snort at (I recommend starting at chapter four)
- Outraged individuals (See above, but perhaps also examine chapter twelve; particularly the section on lubrication, as you've presumably got something stuck there)
- New lovers (Congratulations, and always remember to talk to each other)
- Inexperienced people (Including children - this should be especially interesting and possibly embarrassing for you)

As I added no advice in particular for the last option, please permit me to do so here. I do not ask that you - if you snuck this from a parent's bookshelf - put it back or any other such nonsense; why deny information to those who seek it? Anyone with an interest in love and what it entails should be mature enough to at least read about it, though do mind that you aren't caught if such a thing would lead to unfortunate consequences for you.

One thing I will be repeating many a time throughout out this book is as follows: Always take the time to talk to your partner. This goes for sexual ones, of course, but doubly so for romantic ones. Literary sacrilege though this may be: Romeo and Juliet could have potentially have had a long, happy life together if they'd found a way to have a simple conversation instead of wasting their time on duels and suicides.

Talking about even the worst of potentially embarrassing things is infinitely better than drinking poison, hm? No? Then, my dear, you probably aren't in love (or very well-acquainted with your libido), but have fun with chapter four and onwards, all the same.

xXxXx

Anna was being very, very quiet. Not because she was hunting - that wasn't a practice she found any enjoyment in, though she'd learned on the off chance that she'd need the skill - but because Elsa was sleeping, and she'd learned by now that waking her wouldn't take much. Motion, for whatever reason, rarely seemed to bother her, but if she was sleeping particularly lightly, all Anna had to do was sigh and she'd be wide awake.

Instead of doing that, she was carefully measuring her breathing to be both steady and quiet as she pillowed her head on a slender shoulder and - in a mirror of their positioning when her sister was the one who'd had a bit of a day - had an arm and a leg slung over the queen's prone, peaceful form. Elsa's chest was rising and falling slowly as she slept, and Anna was having a rather hefty discussion with what she'd recently learned was called her libido, because of course she'd had to peek at chapter four ahead of time.

I should've taken a second bath, she determined a touch mournfully as she watched the moonlight play on the visible skin over Elsa's collarbones, and idly hoped that the additional heat she could feel in her own body wasn't bothering her sister. A cold one.

Chapter four had been... enlightening, to say the least. According to the author, it was the most basic introduction to physical love that she could provide, but it had been enough to set Anna's head to spinning all over again. Then there'd been references to images and diagrams at the back and oh God, she'd barely given the first page a glance before slamming the book closed with a blush so bright she'd wondered if the red glow had extended into the hall or library from below the door to her study. She'd known the essential mechanics of sex, of course - she spent a lot of time around horses, so it was kind of hard not to - but reading about it while wondering if that was maybe something she wanted with Elsa...

It definitely was; no doubting that at this point. And now she was laying pressed against her sister's side, immersed in her scent, loosely wrapped in her arms, in full view of those heartbreakingly long lashes, that perfect nose, those beautiful, proud cheekbones and those lips. She couldn't even close her eyes against the view, because that only brought up a combination of Elsa and the images, and that reallydidn't help matters any, as she knew to her cost.

Anna noticed where her own hand was wandering off to, and glared reproachfully at it as she moved it back and tried to figure out if she should be cursing herself or the book. She ended up settling on herself, and deliberately turned a sigh into a simple exhale when she felt the faint motion of Elsa turning her head.

Well, great. Now she was quite literally just a breath away, and her exhales were brushing over Anna's upper face like wisps of morning fog.

She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue to muffle the completely childish, frustrated whine that was forming in her throat, and scowled. Hard, because she was not going to act on this out of some base, animal desire and potentially destroy the relationship they'd worked so hard to rebuild just because her sister was the most enticing sight she'd ever seen with her hair mussed and her lips slightly parted and the top of her shift dipping a little low to show fair skin and the barest hint of cleavage and goddammit, libido, I said no!

A distraction was definitely required, if she wanted to get any kind of sleep.

"Elsa?"

"Hmm?" Sure enough, just a bare whisper was all it took, and now she was treated to halfway-open, sleepy blue eyes and the faintest curve of those lips in a smile. "Is the sky awake?"

Really, really not fair.

"Do- um..." Focus! "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

That surprised a short, sleep-hoarse laugh out of the older woman, and it was all she could do to stay where she was. "What?" Elsa's smile widened into a half-awake grin, and the arm around her shoulders flexed idly. "We haven't done that in thirteen years, remember?"

"Then it's about time," she insisted, because she had to do something to keep herself from just pouncing. "Don't make me jump on top of you to convince you; I'm a good deal heavier now."

Curiously, that made Elsa blush - or maybe it was just the shadows shifting as she turned onto her side, as if to prevent Anna from doing what she threatened to. "We both have a full day tomorrow," her sister reminded her.

"I know." Anna could feel the warmth from the skin on Elsa's waist under her hand, and forced herself to keep it still and concentrate on the conversation. "I'll be in the city most of the day for the festival preparation, and I'll probably be doing a lot of physical work, too." She focused on the clear, gemstone blue of those eyes, and felt her body settle enough for her to shape a smile. "So I'll be exhausted tomorrow night even without this, I know. But I can't sleep."

That, of course, was enough to let a concerned expression settle on the queen's face, and then Anna was trying to figure out if she should curse herself some more, because her sister had guided her onto her back and was now looming over her while gentle fingers brushed lingeringly over her forehead.

"You feel warmer than normal," Elsa noted, and was now cupping the back of her neck. "You aren't getting sick, are you?"

"Uh... no, no I don't think so." Somehow, she managed to keep her voice from cracking when the cool touch slid over the side of her throat. "I just..." Reason - find a reason! "... went riding without a cloak today. Probably just a mild sunburn."

"Perhaps." The queen was studying her, and Anna could feel herself starting to fall into those eyes just as they closed, and by the time she'd blinked herself, there was a hand cupping her jaw, the gentle press of lips to her forehead that caused a pleasant chill to spread over her skin, and the lightest brush of a warm body against her own as Elsa leaned over her on one elbow.

Did she even realize what she was doing to her, Anna wondered hazily, and steeled herself against the shiver that wanted to run its course. She desperately needed to get them out of this bed, and tried to think about... anything, really, other than the fact that it would take so very, very little effort to pull Elsa down just a tiny bit further.

"I do owe you an ice-skating lesson," her sister was then murmuring, and she had to beat down another shiver when she felt those lips brush against her forehead with every word.

I am a relatively mature, fairly reasonable adult human being, Anna told herself firmly. I am not a slave to my own, baser desires.

"You do," she said aloud, and resolutely settled her gaze on Elsa's throat instead of glancing to where the silken shift was pulling away from her body due to her position. "And you only have two days to provide it. Or, well... " A sidelong glance out of the window. "One and a half."

Elsa's sigh washed over her face when she sat up a little, and while her expression was wry, there was the tiniest glint in those very blue eyes that Anna remembered well. She looked, the princess considered, rather engagingly like a child who was about to do something she probably wasn't supposed to.

Just like back then, Anna decided, and settled a lock of blonde hair behind her sister's ear with a smile.

"Alright." Elsa caught her hand, and pulled her to a seat as she slipped out of bed herself. "Then let's go."

When she got to her own feet, Anna was smiling. When they were running down the steps with the soft patter of bare feet, hair loose and clad in only their respective shifts, they were both laughing and shushing each other all over again, and the moment felt so sweet that heart ached with it.

"Come on!" A chilly wind blew the door to the small ballroom open, and Elsa pulled her through it with an urgent whisper despite the fact that there was no one around to scold them even if they'd still been young enough to have to worry about enforced bedtimes. That normally so calm and collected face was fairly lit up with absolute, mischievous glee, and she looked so happy and alive that Anna felt her breath catch in her throat for a bare instant.

The door closed quietly with another wave of Elsa's hand, and then they were standing in the middle of the cavernous room; under, between and on ancient stone, and staring at each other with identical, utterly childish grins on their faces.

"Say it," her sister coaxed. "You know you want to."

Anna laughed, and obliged. "Do the magic!"

Elsa chuckled, and - though she now had far more experience and probably could have done it with no more than a simple thought - slowly swirled her hands and let a ball of snow take form between them. Then, after a brief glance up where Anna bounced a little on the balls of her feet and nodded, she grinned, and sent the ball towards the ceiling with a push of her bare arms.

Just like when she was five years old, the ball exploded, and the snow started gently falling. Just like when she was five years old, Anna was completely entranced. Unlike when she was five years old, however, she wasn't watching the snow, but instead kept her eyes on her sister. She looked different now, of course, being 21 instead of eight; she was much taller, her face was a little longer and her bone structure much more pronounced, and - subtly, Anna scanned the sky blue-clad body in front of her, because rosy cheeks could be blamed on the cold - she was definitely a fully grown woman now, with a perfect, hour-glass figure, long, slender limbs and from what she could see beneath the lower hem of the shift, very shapely calves.

"You're forgetting something," she then teased.

"So I am." Elsa wrapped a gentle hand around her elbow before lightly stomping one, bare foot, and then laughed softly when Anna still started wavering immediately on the expanding ice. "Hang on."

"Hanging." She clasped her own fingers around two bare forearms, and grinned at the brief swirl of chill air by her feet. "That kinda tickles," she remarked, and then quirked an eyebrow when she saw her sister smirk. "No."

"No, what?" The queen questioned innocently, and then started gliding slowly backwards on the newly formed skates; pulling Anna along with her.

"No to whatever you were just thinking that put that look on your face." She kept her head down for now; watching the motions of Elsa's feet and trying to find the logic in them, even though she'd then have to reverse it for moving forward. "That 'I just got a... notion'-" Deliberately, she let her voice caress the last word, and smothered a smirk when she chanced a glance up and saw the color rise in the older woman's cheeks. "-look."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elsa muttered, and then slipped around her in a single, graceful move before two hands clasped the areas between her waist and hips and Anna was being pushed over the ice instead of pulled. "Ready?"

"You're changing the subject," Anna grumbled, but her sister was close enough to her back that she could feel the heat from her body, and that sensation coupled with the chill of snowflakes falling onto her bare shoulders made it a weak accusation at best. "I'll let you get away with it this time."

"Mmhm." A low chuckle brushed softly against the shell of her ear. "Much obliged, Your Highness; now listen." The hands on her sides squeezed gently. "You're going to slide one foot in front of you and to the side - a little more than shoulder-width - and then push back with that leg, alright?"

"Uh-huh." Really, she was listening, but Elsa's chin was practically resting on her shoulder right now, and she had to concentrate just to keep herself from leaning back. "Slide and push - got it."

"Good." There was a light pat to her hip, and then a subtle tug that had them both turning in a lazy, half-circle by the narrow end of the room. "You have to get into a pattern of sliding with one foot while pushing with the other. Try it."

Anna did, and was bolstered by the fact that she didn't immediately fall flat on her face. "Hey!" She tried it again, and then again, and was suddenly aware that she was moving entirely under her own power, with Elsa gliding elegantly along next to her. "I think I've got it!" A glance up, and her eyes rounded as she saw a wall rapidly getting closer. "How do I turn?"

"Le-" The word was cut off by a sharp curse when Anna started to waver, and the next thing she knew, she was five feet from something dark and solid.

"Whoof!" Thankfully, she ended up impacting a large snowdrift that hadn't been there half a second ago, and she lifted her upper body out of it before turning around and sitting instead. "Nice catch, sis."

"Yes, well." The queen had come to a stop a few bodylengths away, and while she was smiling, it was wavering at little; especially when she wrapped her arms around herself. "I had one to make up for."

"Elsa." Anna picked up on the tight note in her voice and tried to catch her eyes, only for her sister to duck her head. "Hey, come on," she coaxed lightly, and let her mouth shape a gentle smile. "I'm fine, remember?" Still nothing, and she swallowed a sigh and thought. Getting up with skates on was going to be painful at worst, and useless at best, because moving forward while upright was useful, but not really something she could draw on when she needed to get upright.

Instead - and perhaps a little unwisely considering what her sister could do - Anna shaped a snowball and threw it.

"Hey!"

"Is for horses," she teased, and formed another missile while she watched Elsa brush the show off of her chest. Come on; play along. Please? "I should know, right?" Anna tossed the new snowball into the air with a flick of her wrist and an intentionally lighthearted, half-grin; then caught it again and nailed the older woman in the shoulder this time. "Are you gonna join in?" she goaded. "Or can I consider this target practice?"

"You little..." Elsa's eyes were narrowing, but the light was back in them.

"By one inch!" she reminded her and threw a third, which - unlike the others - was deflected with a flick of a hand and ended up hitting the wall with a sodden splat. "Now that's just cheating."

"Nooo," the queen drawled, and set one hand on her hip. "This... is cheating." The fingers of her other hand wiggled, and then Anna was flat on her back in the snowdrift.

"Blech!" She spat out a mouthful of snow and wiped a hand over her face the clear the rest of it off.. only to get hit in the face a second time. "Heth!" Blindly holding up one hand as a shield, she could still do nothing but laugh as a third hit maneuvered around it and caught her right in the nose. She really wasn't dressed for this, but she didn't much care right now. The snow was unusually soft - which she attributed to her sister's magic - and so didn't hurt in the slightest, and she'd managed to lure the older woman back out of her funk. "Yow! That's cold!"

"You don't say?" The low, almost-purr was right in front of her, and she swiped a hand over her eyes to see narrowed, ice-blue eyes very close by - so close, in fact, that their noses were fractions of an inch from brushing. "Now, sister dear... I think you need-" Elsa moved back enough for her to see the grin. "-a wash."

"A wh- YEEEOW!" Anna almost levitated out of the pile as a cascade of snow slid down her back, and would have jumped to her feet if she hadn't been in the damn skates. "Elsa!" A double handful of snow dropped onto her upper chest, and she squealed. "Why you-!" She caught a double handful of her sister's shift and yanked; grinning when Elsa's eyes widened in shock and she started falling. "Get in here and take your portion!"

Then everything was just a blur of white and blonde and blue, and Anna lost track of what was up or down, left or right as the two of them outright rolled around in the snow drift; giggling and squealing like a couple of children, and trying their utmost to cover the other in as much of the powdery whiteness as possible. It was warm and cold all at once; innocent because of their laughter and anything but because of the tingles of sensation that shot up her spine whenever arm bumped arm, leg caught leg or nose brushed nose.

It was a glorious feeling - even when she was thumped onto her back by still-gentle hands and saw Elsa straddling her victoriously, because the position combined with the relative tightness of her shift meant that what seemed like miles of creamy, slender thigh was exposed, so Anna just grinned and blew a raspberry while Elsa leaned over her; face cast in shadow by the curtain of her hair and both sets of breathing shallow because of the exertion.

Right then, with snow clinging to her eyelashes and the odd contrast of the icy cold beneath her and a warm, laughing body on top of her, Anna got the answer to another one of her questions.

Could I fall in love with her?

Elsa shoved a handful of snow into her face with a devious grin, and Anna sputtered indignantly, grabbed her by the waist and all but threw her into another section of the massive pile before diving after her with a triumphant chortle.

Easily.

xXxXx

"City market," Anna groaned as a hand shook her shoulder; blearily forcing her eyes open as she made herself sit up. "Check progress of stalls, meet merchants, clear square, set up stage." She slapped herself a few times, but it didn't help much. "Uh... postings of guards, licenses for the sale of alcohol... aaand a partridge in a pear tree." She blinked several times, and managed to focus her gaze on the shift-clad form seated next to her on the bed. "Morning."

"That it is." Elsa looked as tired as Anna felt, but she was smiling. "I warned you this would happen."

She finished off a long stretch with a suck at her teeth, and then slouched forward and smacked her lips together. "Was it worth it?" she questioned in an at least halfway clear voice, and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"Don't be silly." A hand found her shoulder, and she teetered a little at the light, playful shove. "Of course it was worth it."

"Good." She hefted a pillow, and grinned at the indignant squawk as she used it to bop her sister right in the face, and the older woman fell onto her back. "Then shut up, and get up."

"And a partridge in a pear tree," came the soft warble from beneath the pillow.

"Five gold rings," Anna readily rejoined while rubbing at her eyes. "Four calling birds-"

"Three French hens." Elsa had pushed the pillow off, and was making faces at her while half-reclining on both elbows.

"Two turtle doves." She stuck out her tongue and snickered at the sleepy grin she got in response.

"And a partridge in a pear tree!" they finished together, as loudly as they could, and then collapsed in exhausted laughter with Anna's forehead against her sister's shoulder, and Elsa's arms wrapped around her back.

"Oh, God," Anna groaned when she'd managed to clamp a lid over her amusement. "We just woke up and we're losing it already."

"I told you so," came the murmur next to her ear.

"Phbbt."

"... alright, now you've spat on me. Get up."

A full, five heartbeats of absolute silence, and then, helplessly, they both started laughing again.

xXxXx

xXxXx

The shadows were growing steadily longer as the afternoon wore on. Outside the windows, it was warm and sunny with the turning leaves of the mountainous forests in the distance seeming to sparkle as they moved in a gentle breeze, and their coniferous, evergreen counterparts standing out in ever-increasing relief. Even on a day-to-day basis, Elsa considered as she climbed the stairs to the top floor of the castle proper, she swore she could see the difference, and since she remembered watching the change of the seasons from her bedroom window as a child, she also idly wondered at how it might be to see summer truly fade into autumn this time - not only from a much higher point with a full, all-sides view thanks to the balcony she'd have access to from the new chambers, but with the additional pleasure of Anna's company.

Of course, chances were that the ever nature-loving princess would rather observe the result of the turn of the year from in the forest rather than from a man-made tower, but if that was the case, they'd just have to work out a compromise that let them do both, the queen decided, and then smiled when she realized how good of a mirror of the two of them the entire notion was. Elsa knew herself to have a greater appreciation for the bigger picture overall, and had learned as part of her duties to generally leave the details to others and take on the part of the overseer more than anything else. Anna, meanwhile, was very much the kind of soul who immersed herself fully in whatever she was doing, and tended to give the process of cleaning a horse's hooves as much attention as she did arguing with the city's trade council over taxation, though she certainly enjoyed the former more than the latter.

In fact, Elsa decided as she turned a corner and continued down the empty hall, the reason that two of them made such a good team for guiding Arendelle and its people was probably because they usually managed to balance each other out. As they'd grown closer, Anna had learned to come to her with items she'd gotten stuck on, and - after a little pointed needling from the younger woman - Elsa herself had started doing the same.

Now, if she could only find her so they could spend some time together at the festival, that would be even better. She hadn't seen her sister since breakfast, and even that had been a brief glimpse since they'd both been almost horrendously behind that morning. Anna had only eaten at her insistence - though her cheeks hadn't bulged that much since the triple-chocolate cake at Elsa's 7th birthday - and shortly after had torn out of the castle at a fast clip; heading for the city in her workaday clothing to oversee (or more likely help with) the last preparations for the festival, and presumably scaring the guards out of a few years as she went.

Anna was always so full of life that even the hardest heart would smile just to look at her, and Elsa was sure that served her well in her dealings with both the castle staff and the city leaders. First of all, it made her a decidedly unusual politician (rare as it was to find of those that you just couldn't stay annoyed with), and secondly it made her the kind of person everyone wanted to please at the end of the day, just because of the way she was.

It didn't hurt that she did everything full-out, either, Elsa decided as she entered the queen's chambers, and quickly covered her mouth with one hand. If there was indeed such a thing as sleepingenthusiastically, Anna was doing that right now; laying as she was on her stomach with her upper body perpendicular to side of the mattress, one boot on the floor and the other still on her foot, one knee on the bed and the other dangling a few inches off the hardwood, arms caught behind her back in the sleeves of her only halfway-removed jacket, simple ponytail a semi-mess of escaped copper, head turned to the side, lips parted and a fine thread of drool hanging from her mouth.

I seem to remember her saying something about me working too hard, she considered as she somehow managed to keep her chuckles silent, and moved closer. At least I always managed to get out of my clothes before falling asleep.

Anna, of course, was hardly privy to the queen's amusement in her unconscious state, but still managed to react with uncanny timing. At first, her arms twitched. Then it was her face, and then finally her legs, which was sadly enough to shift the balance of her body weight and send her to the floor in tangle of flesh and fabric, with dazed, turquoise eyes blinking up at the ceiling about a half dozen times before they sharpened and then settled on Elsa.

"Hey!" Incredible, really, that she could change from completely sleep-drunk to wide awake so rapidly. "There you are."

"Here I am," Elsa agreed, and folded her arms as she surveyed her grounded sibling and tried to find a hand to offer her own to somewhere beneath the fiery hair and simple clothes. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Anna frowned at her, and only then seemed to notice where she was; pale eyes flicking from the bed to the floor and finally back to the queen before she chuckled sheepishly. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Guess I needed a nap."

"Apparently." Since a hand was still hard to identify, she forewent that entirely and instead managed to grasp Anna by the elbow as the younger woman sat up. "You were looking for me, I take it?"

"Well, I was going to." Fabric rustled as Anna shed her jacket, and then folded her legs under her without bothering to remove her remaining boot. "Feel asleep first, though." A grin, and she was resting her chin on one loosely curled first and peering up at the queen from above the sleeve of her practical shirt. "Not that I remember that part."

"With how I found you when I came in here, I would imagine not," Elsa noted amusedly, and perched on the edge of the bed. "You looked like you'd passed out a few seconds after starting to change, and only landed at least somewhat on the bed by pure chance."

Anna blushed, but laughed easily enough. "Sounds about right," she conceded wryly, and started to untie her tangled hair. "There was a lot of last-minutes to take care of today, and I'm still kinda wiped from the night before last."

"I told you so."

A stuck-out tongue was the reply to that, followed by a now-loose hair tie bouncing off her forehead. "Aaanyway," Anna then drawled. "Totally worth it, and today was even more fun, because there's a lot of out-of-towners here now, and with me dressed like this-" She indicated her clothes with one hand, and smirked. "-none of them had a clue who I was. I was ordered around like a common apprentice - it was pretty funny."

"The Princess and the Pauper?" Elsa hazarded with a smile, and then hid a giggle behind one hand when the pale eyes rounded.

"I forgot about that story!" Anna jolted onto her knees and grabbed her sister's hands; peering up at her earnestly. "Do we still have it?"

"I think so." She chuckled at the princess's unruly appearance, and tried to smooth down a particularly stubborn lock of fiery red to no avail. "At least, I don't see why it should have been discarded."

"Awesome." The copper head plopped down into her lap and stayed there, and a content sigh could be heard. "Read it to me later?"

"Last time I read you that story, it was because you were barely able to read yourself," Elsa reminded her dryly. "Please tell me you've improved since then." No verbal reply, though there was a distinct, pinching sensation on the front of her thigh that made her start. "Did you just bite me?"

"Of course not!" Anna's expression was perfectly haughty as she sat back, and sniffed. "What a preposterous notion - biting the queen. Utter tosh, I tell you!"

"Quite." She regarded the younger woman with an arched eyebrow, and then used a single finger to lift the section of her skirt that now had tiny - but unmistakable - teeth marks in it. The fabric was of a pale enough shade of violet to let the slight moisture left behind show in vivid relief. "Care to explain these, then?"

A shrug of the shoulders under their white, linen covering. "You're the one who said I was drooling when you came in."

"Which you were," Elsa agreed, and squinted a little as she poked her sister in the nose. "However, I said no such thing."

"Really?" Anna got to her feet and brushed herself off, then plopped down on the bed next to her. "I could've sworn you did."

"Then that's two things in favor of your memory being faulty."

"Fine, so I bit you." A shoulder bumped her own, and there was a distinct, mischievous sparkle in Anna's eye when she leaned in just a fraction further. "I could always do it again."

All Elsa managed at that was an odd, half-choking noise, and even as she heard her sister start to laugh (presumably at the absolutely gobsmacked expression she was currently sporting), she could do little more than just stare; painfully aware of the fact that she was blushing hard enough to make the tips of her ears burn, and probably looked as if Anna had just whapped her upside the head with a codfish.

She might as well have. While Elsa had settled on subtle, cautious pushes, 'Anna' and 'subtle' really weren't two words that tended to belong in the same sentence. Where Elsa knew herself to be insidious and even somewhat elusive in their recently acquired, on-off habit of flirting, Anna was forward and blunt and sometimes downright brash; a characteristic of hers that Elsa found hopelessly charming, even if it also had a tendency to knock her for a bit of a loop at times - such as now.

Narrowing her eyes, she turned lightly onto one hip to better face the laughing redhead and - when Anna met her eyes - placed her entire hand over the other woman's face and pushed.

"Mmph!" Anna fell back onto the mattress with a flail of her arms, though her merriment didn't dwindle in the slightest. Her cheeks were tinted a bright, autumn-apple red and her eyes tightly shut; chest heaving and arms wrapping protectively around her midsection as she all but howled with laughter. "Oh, God... y-your face, Elsa!"

The face in question scrunched. "I'm glad you're amused," the queen replied dryly, and rolled her eyes as her sister continued to laugh. It was, she considered, times like these where she wondered if Anna said things like that because she meant them, or because she got such a kick out of the way Elsa herself reacted to them.

Later for that, though. Right now, all she wanted was to see darkness fall and torchlight glitter in Anna's eyes.

"Come on." She curled a hand into the front of the white shirt and pulled, and both felt and heard the soft, startled snort that was the reply as she yanked her sister to a seat - or at least into less of a reclining position. "You're going to giggle the entire night away if you keep this up, and we'll miss the festival completely."

"Heheheheh." Anna was winding down to chortles as she settled on her elbows; pale eyes still bright with amusement - and mischief, Elsa noted. "What? You don't like me in what I'm wearing right now?"

This time she had an idea of what was coming, and so managed to stay her reaction to merely a slow smile and a lazily arched eyebrow. "Believe me, sister dear," she told her, and trailed a feather-light touch over the curve of a freckled cheekbone. "I always find you absolutely-" Beautiful? No - too innocent. "-ravishing. What you happen to be wearing has only a fraction to do with it."

With that, Anna was the one to flush hotly; eyes wide and jaw unhinging a little. That was only fair, though, because if they were going to play, then Elsa was certainly going to play to win.

"Aside from that," she then went on, perfectly poised as she rose to a stand and smoothed down the skirt of her dress. "I was of the mind that perhaps you'd rather not be mistaken for a carpenter's apprentice again this evening - dashing though you look in your pauper's clothing." A lazy hand waved towards the vanity, and the dress that had been left on a hook next to it. "Though if that's what you prefer, don't let me stop you."

"Eh." Speech seemed to have returned, and Anna's nose was scrunching a little even as a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Nah - it was fun and kinda nice to be sort of anonymous for a while, but I wanna see if I get recognized in my real persona, you know?" The smile became a full one, and she sat up with her elbows resting on her knees and her hands folded. "'Specially since a lot of them thought I was male."

Elsa just stared at her. "Male?" She was aware of her eyebrows rising sharply as she studied her sister. From the clothing alone, she could understand it; the combination of pants and a shirt was male dress traditionally, but Anna was hardly shaped like a man. Was, in fact, noticeably curved, and the shirt she currently wore was nowhere near loose enough to hide that.

"Male," Anna replied in perfect seriousness, and the corners of her eyes crinkled when she grinned. "I think I know why. Hang on."

Then she was on her feet and collecting the rogue boot, her crumpled jacket and the hair tie that had landed on the floor after bouncing off of Elsa's forehead, and before the queen could blink she'd disappeared around a corner into the sitting area. Elsa remained where she was for a few heartbeats, and then shook her head as she strode over to her closet and pulled it open, as always smiling at the sight of Anna's clothing mixed in with her own.

It made for a rather tight fit, but that would be rectified soon enough, she decided as she took a step back and tugged idly at her lower lip as she surveyed her options. There were plenty of light dresses stored in here for summer, and by color alone it was easy to tell which ones were Anna's (greens, pinks, gilded browns) and which ones were her own (blues, violets, silvers). She had a vague memory of a lesson on finding colors that complimented coloring from somewhere in her childhood, and that somehow set her to wondering what her sister might look like in a brilliant red. The resulting vision was enough to tint her cheeks a similar shade, and she pushed it away with a sigh.

A foolish notion, really - scarlet clothing was for... well, scarlet women, so to speak. Much like white was for brides, even though Anna would probably look equally alluring in that. It would certainly deepen the faint bronze of her skin, and maybe add an additional touch of blue to her eyes, the way snowy surroundings did.

The soft sound of someone clearing their throat drew her from her circling thoughts, and she turned first her head, then her entire body as she brought up a hand to cover her smile.

"My Queen." Anna was doing an admirable job of deepening her voice as she bowed fluidly, and did admittedly look quite a bit like a young man at the moment - one that didn't shave yet, at least. Her smudged, tan trousers - now that she was standing - fell in a straight line down the length of her legs, and therefore managed to hide the distinctly feminine flare of her hips. The likewise narrowing of her waist was concealed by the rough, brown jacket she'd put back on, though Elsa wagered that the 'disguise' could really only be efficient when viewed directly from the front or back - she couldn't see it somehow removing the swell of her chest, after all. Further adding to the effect was the fact that Anna had tied her long hair back and removed some of its length by making more of a loop than a ponytail, and also added a flat, gray cap to the top of her head; it was a little crooked, and pulled down enough for the brim to shield her eyes.

"Alright." Elsa wandered closer with a faux-critical expression on her face. She smiled at seeing the streaks of dust on her sister's face when Anna straightened, and deduced that she'd probably added those from the surface of her jacket or suchlike while in the other room. "I suppose I can understand why some thought you to be male," she allowed. "Though they can't have taken too close a look, to be honest."

Anna laughed. "Probably not," she agreed cheerfully in her own voice, and again, the queen found herself wondering at the way warmer colors - like these browns - somehow made the turquoise eyes greener in the same way that cooler colors made them bluer. "But who'd take a second look at a lowly worker?"

Swiftly, blue eyes chased themselves up and down the commonly clad form, and Elsa decided not to answer that.

"Well, of course you would." Apparently telepathic perception was a talent of Anna's - that, or Elsa was becoming increasingly easy to read. Maybe it was a bit of both. "You'd recognize me no matter what I look like."

It was said in such a matter-of-fact tone that there was no room for questioning it; for questioning her sister's belief that Elsa would not only recognize her, but also - if she was reading between the lines correctly - look for her.

Not that she wanted to question it - or that she disagreed in the first place.

"I know you," Elsa said simply, and straightened the slightly scratchy, woolen cap on the fiery head only to have tanned fingers settle it back the way it was. "Or at least I'm getting better at it."

"You know me," Anna assured, and aimed a joking scowl her way when she tried to straighten the cap again. "Though her Majesty shouldn't go around adjusting the garment of her subjects." Another attempt earned her a roll of the pale eyes, and her hand was caught and clasped in a warmer one this time. "Leave my hat alone, wouldya?"

"It's crooked," she accused, and made a third try with her free hand only to have Anna hold her other one tighter and lean back far enough that Elsa had to set herself to keep from being pulled forward.

"It's quirky," came the amused argument as Anna continued to hang back with her free hand in her pocket and only the queen's arm keeping her from falling to the floor; perfectly at ease. "Or maybe jaunty. Either way, I like it the way it is, so you're just gonna have to deal."

"Fine." Elsa tugged, and the pauper-looking princess agreeably pulled herself back to stand under her own power. "You do need to change, though - and I'd recommend a bath first."

"You saying I stink?"

"I'm saying that you smell a touch more... earthy than you usually do."

Anna stuck her tongue out, but didn't release her hand. "Ever the diplomat," she needled gently, and yelped when Elsa this time pulled the brim of the cap down until it hit the tip of her nose. Then she started giggling. "Hah! You literally just pulled the wool over my eyes!"

"God above..." The queen was the one to roll her eyes this time, though she did have to bite her cheek to hold back a snorting laugh. "There's no talking to you when you're in this mood."

"Nope," was the unconcerned agreement, and Anna's eyes held a definite twinkle when she adjusted the cap enough for them to be visible. "See? You know me."

Elsa smiled when she leaned in to kiss the freckled cheek with a chuckle, and it only grew wider when she felt the twitch beneath her lips that meant that Anna was smiling, too. "I suppose you're right. I'm even growing intimately aware of what you smell like when you're all sweaty," she returned dryly.

"I can't do physical labor without sweating," her sister reminded her, and squeezed the hand she held. "Unlike someone else whose name I could mention, but won't."

"I'm perfectly capable of perspiring - it just takes more effort for me."

"As Her Majesty says." Anna's voice had dropped into a lower register again, and she had taken a step back to bow while brushing her lips over Elsa's knuckles with a smirk. Then, just like before, the theatricality fell from her demeanor like water tumbling over a cliff-side, and she was pulling off the cap and brushing the back of a wrist over her forehead. "So you prefer the princess over the pauper, huh?"

"No." Elsa tilted her head as she studied the younger woman, and smiled when a copper eyebrow arched in question. "I prefer Anna over anyone else."

"Ah." Anna was grinning now, though she was trying to diminish it by worrying at her lower lip with her teeth. "Even when I'm all stinky?"

"Yes." She released the warm hand in favor of a dusty chin, and heard her sister's breath hitch when she kissed her cheek again - this time far closer to the corner of Anna's mouth. "Even if you were covered in mud and a pig just farted on top of you."

"Wha-" Turquoise eyes rounded, and then Anna was slumping forward to lean heavily against her; shoulders shaking with the force of her laughter. "Elsa! What an image!"

"I thought you'd appreciate it," she chuckled, and slipped her arms around her sister for a loose hug.

Anna just snickered into her shoulder.

xXxXx