Chapter Text
Prologue
Eagle Valley, Indiana, 2002
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to honor the life of…” the dour, grey-haired priest looked at the small card nestled in the Bible he held, “…Anna Beckett, and to express our love and admiration for her.”
Elsa clung to her mother’s arm, tears freely flowing down her face. Iduna, dressed identically to Elsa in a long, flowing black dress, reached an arm around Elsa’s shoulder to hug her close.
“It is only natural that we be sad today, because Anna has left us, but we must rejoice as well, for she is surely with our Father, the Lord in Heaven. Today is also a day for memories, for us to share time with each other, to remember,” the priest coughed, “Anna and pay your last respects, to say a sad and fond farewell to a beautiful young lady we were all so privileged to have known and loved.”
The casket, a sleek black wooden monolith, was perched over the freshly dug grave, small sunflowers lining the edge. Anna always loved sunflowers, even at her most troubled, Elsa thought to herself. As the priest droned on, quoting verse after verse of the Bible, Elsa closed her eyes, bewildered at how this day happened.
Memories of Anna flashed through her mind. Anna crying as a child, saying she felt like the spare kid and never saw her sister. Anna struggling, shattered as her report card told her she was a failure. Anna, caught out too late one night drinking and partying when she was only 15 years old. Anna and Hans, first dating, then doing drugs together. Elsa knew this day would come, but had fervently hoped it would have been much further in the future.
I’m so sorry, Anna. I failed you. I tried, and I failed. I wish I could have saved you from this, from all of this, she whispered in her mind, fresh tears falling from her eyes as she wrung her hands together, covered by black silk gloves.. The sound of shovels scraping dirt and rock snapped her attention back to the present.
“Mr. and Mrs. Beckett?” one of the attendees addressed the parents. Elsa’s father, Agnar, spoke up.
“Yes, Miss…?”
“Dunfeld, Yelana Dunfeld. I was one of Anna’s teachers. I’m so very sorry for your loss. Anna was a good girl in her heart, and that drunk driver stole her away from all of us, you most of all,” the elderly, grey-haired woman said, holding Agnar and Iduna’s hands.
“Thank you, Miss Dunfeld,” said Iduna, through misty eyes. “I remember you from both Anna and Elsa’s parent teacher conferences some time ago.”
“If there’s any way I can be of help to you - especially you, Elsa, please don’t hesitate to ask.” The teacher patted Elsa on the shoulder and wandered off as the last of the dirt was placed with care on the grave, the marble headstone still pristine.
Elsa stood frozen to the ground, staring at the grave marker as her parents spoke with the rest of the family attending. Rage, horror, despair, and longing boiled inside her heart as she stared at the covered grave and the granite headstone, her sister’s name carved with soulless mechanical precision into the rock.
I wish I could have saved you, Anna. I love you.
Author’s Notes
This is the first part in a multi-chapter story involving copious amounts of time travel. It’s a blend of Quantum Leap and the Time Traveler’s Wife, both excellent source material. Updates will be significantly slower than my previous work, Storm of Spirits; expect them approximately once every two weeks or so. It will start off Snow Sisters and transition to Elsanna probably around the middle third of the story, so expect a very slow burn.
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