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"Elsa… Elsa… Elsa!"
She heard her name being sing-singed as if from a great distance, tugging her from sleep. She didn't want to go. Her body was tired and she felt comfortable in her bed, knowing that if she could just get the noise to stop, as well as the shoving of her shoulder, then she could just cuddle up next to the warmth next to her and sleep gloriously.
It wasn't meant to be.
"Elsa, wake up and come play with me!"
The shaking of her shoulder grew more incessant, and the warmth against her side kept moving. That wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all. Making a disapproving sound at the back of her throat, she grabbed the warmth and drew it closer to her, the action causing it to emit a surprised giggle and squeal her name, "Elsa!"
That was odd. She opened her eyes and was met with the sight of her sister peering at her, blue eyes bright and red hair in disarray. "Anna?" she asked, and then was overcome with a yawn, her grip loosening on what she now realised had been her sister. Yet to fully wake, icicles sprouted up out of nowhere around them, thankfully nowhere on the bed. Used to incidents such as these, Anna barely noticed.
"Who else would it be, sleepy head?" A wide smile graced Anna's face, and she was still giggling from earlier. Her entire face was lit up as she looked at Elsa, happy now that her sister was awake. "I want to go play. Like we used to, remember? Come on, Els."
"Of course I remember," she said, but didn't immediately agree to what Anna was suggesting. She was reluctant to get up, especially considering how late her meetings had ended the night before. Not replying, she looked at Anna hopefully, silently pleading with her to not do whatever it is she was planning to do.
Her silent pleas didn't work however, because a second later, Anna's smile dropped and was instead replaced with the saddest look Elsa had ever seen. Even though she knew she was being manipulated, she felt her heart breaking anyway. "Anna, no," she groaned, covering her face with her hands. She needed to block the sight from her vision. Her resolve, albeit already minuscule when it came to Anna, was weakening rapidly.
She felt Anna tugging at her arms, until they fell lifelessly away. Elsa gazed helplessly at her sister, whose bottom lip was jutted out just slightly. They stared at each other without saying anything. A beat, two and then three. Anna's expression didn't falter. In fact, her shoulders seemed to slump even more, her eyes wide and shining with — were those tears? Oh, no. They couldn't be tears. Anna wasn't crying. Elsa hated it when Anna cried. She panicked, opening her mouth to apologise, already reaching out to comfort—
And in that moment, Anna knew she had won.
"Yes!" she cheered, sitting up to do a fist pump and bouncing on the bed. Elsa groaned. Giggling at the tired look on Elsa's face, Anna leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. "You're the best. Thank you."
"You are—you're so—" Elsa couldn't find any words, shaking her head instead, though the corners of her lips turned up and her heart was warm. Glancing around the room, she saw only darkness, the glow from candles illuminating their surroundings. She sat up, brushing wisps of silver hair away from her eyes and behind her ear.
Anna tracked the movement, awestruck as she so often was around Elsa at how elegant she was, among other things. She wondered, not for the first time, how it was that Elsa could just be so perfect, kind and amazing as a person and a Queen, when Anna could hardly believe she was even a princess and struggled to act like one most of the time. Seeing Elsa staring at her expectantly, Anna panicked and realised that she had tuned out Elsa speaking. "Oh, sorry! I wasn't listening. What did you say?"
"What time is it?" Elsa repeated, not looking like she minded. Her voice was gentle with a touch of amusement, and she was giving Anna one of those smiles that always managed to soothe her nerves.
"Nearly sunrise," Anna answered after getting her bearings, glancing out of the window to confirm that what she had said was true. It was. Outside, the sound of waves crashing against rock and wind rushing throughout the kingdom could be heard, as well as the occasional bustle of activity from animals or the night guard doing rounds.
Elsa's eyebrows shot up at Anna's reply.
"Nearly? You used to at least wait until the sun was up."
Shrugging, her cheeks going pink, Anna looked away. "I guess I couldn't wait to see you." She grinned goofily to hide her embarrassment.
Surprised, but touched by her sister's sweetness, Elsa placed a hand on Anna's arm, squeezing lightly.
"Alright then. Just let me get changed—" Elsa began, but Anna interrupted her, eyes taking in her sister's form quickly, but still getting the important details — mainly, that Elsa was gorgeous as ever, even when she had just woken up and was all mussed and rumpled from sleep. Anna couldn't help but find her even cuter.
"What's wrong with what you're wearing now? It's pretty."
Elsa looked curiously at Anna, her lips turned up in a fond smile. "It's my sleeping gown," she said.
"Still pretty." Anna shrugged, not meeting Elsa's eyes. She was blushing now. There was no doubt about it.
"Thank you," Elsa said sincerely, examining the younger girl's flushed cheeks. Her sister was really too sweet. "I would return the compliment—" she took in Anna's appearance in the same manner afforded to her— "but it appears you haven't washed, changed or done anything with your hair since you set off with Kristoff and Sven yesterday morning."
Her tone was light; her eyes bright. Clearly she didn't mind.
"Hey!" Anna said, pouting. "I didn't get a chance to wash. We were out all day, and only got back after nightfall. I was too tired to do anything but sleep."
"I noticed. You didn't join me for supper." Elsa didn't fault her for it, but it still didn't stop her from feeling mildly disappointed. With her duties as Queen, there were days when she and Anna would barely get to interact, and so she cherished the time they got to spend together.
"Sorry about that." Anna grinned sheepishly. "We had dinner at Oaken's. And oh gosh, his kids are so cute." She felt her heart grow three sizes as she remembered them all, and how they had clambered over Sven who had enjoyed the attention.
Looking down at her self, she asked just to make sure, "I don't look that bad, do I?" Anna was aware it was all too possible that there was moss in her hair, and regretted not cleaning herself up before bounding over to her sister's bedchambers. She hadn't been able to wait though, too excited at the prospect of spending time with her.
Elsa immediately shook her head. "You look pretty as always, Anna. A bit ruffled and smelling faintly of trolls, reindeer and a certain ice harvester we both know, but exceedingly pretty." She knew it for a fact, and searched her sister's eyes deeply until she was sure that the girl had fully understood her message.
Eventually, Anna laughed and looked away. "I smell that bad, huh?"
"A little," Elsa smiled widely, nudging Anna's shoulders with her own, and Anna poked a tongue out at her.
"Well, you don't particularly smell like roses either!"
"No? What do I smell like then?" Elsa's grinned and looked curiously at her, eyebrows raised challengingly. Anna couldn't resist.
"Let me check," she said, scrambling towards Elsa. She straddled Elsa's stomach and put her hand on her chest, pushing her back down onto the bed so she was laying down. Leaning forward, Anna sniffed at her neck in a way that made Elsa giggle. Anna thought nothing of it, and instead reported her findings. "You don't really smell like anything… maybe it's because you're immune to the weather and don't really sweat!"
"You sound jealous," Elsa observed, shifting uncomfortably and biting her lip, suppressing the urge to laugh.
"Who wouldn't be? Your powers are amazing, Elsa. Truly."
What had been light-hearted before, momentarily turned serious as Anna's words resonated with Elsa much more strongly than either of them had expected. Anna could see the impact of her words clearly in her sister's clear blue eyes.
"I — thank you."
She had never once been complimented on her powers, not since they were both children, and that was always from Anna herself. Surprised at how much she had needed to hear the words after all that time, or at least the sentiments behind them, she found herself blinking back tears.
Anna smiled softly and brushed away the escaping tears. Mercifully, she changed the subject, or at least went back to the prior one.
"You smell sweet though. I can't describe it, but it's really nice. I like it." She stopped when she felt Elsa shift under her for the third time, a strange look on her face. "Are you alright? Did I do something?"
Elsa seemed to hesitate, and then bit her lip when Anna moved again. "It tickles!" she exclaimed quickly, hoping that would put a stop to Anna's movements.
Eyes widening, Anna looked down at all the points their bodies were touching, blushing when she realised she was straddling her sister. She experimentally shifted a knee, and was rewarded when Elsa let out a squeak, and then promptly stifled it, cheeks pink.
"This?" she asked redundantly, hands replacing her knees when she lightly brushed against her sister's sides.
"Yes! Now stop," Elsa was bright red, giggling and squirming away. Anna wanted to melt on the spot — "Some people are worth melting for," Olaf had once told her — but there were priorities. She grasped the Queen's wrists above her head with one hand and tickled her with the other, delighting in the increasing distress and manic laughter her tickling caused.
"What's this? The Queen of Arendelle is ticklish?" Anna teased.
"Anna! Enough." She laughed, before gathering her energy again. "Stop right this instant—"
And to her surprise, Anna did. She stared into Elsa's eyes as they both became conscious of how close they were, and how easy it would be for Anna to lean forward and—
"Elsa…" she whispered, before she could do something foolish.
Elsa kissed her first.
Freezing, the kiss continued for several moments, simply letting their lips touch each other, a soft pressure from both sides. Eventually Elsa drew back, nerves visible on her face. Her hand had come to rest on Anna's cheek, and she stroked softly at the skin there, running a tongue over her bottom lip as she searched Anna's face for… for something.
Anna felt warmth blossom in her chest and smiled, and before Elsa could speak, before she could say anything, Anna took her sister's face in her hands and suddenly they were kissing again. Elsa tangled her fingers in red hair and pulled her impossibly closer, letting out a sound that made Anna kiss her harder, her legs intertwining with Anna's. Elsa's lips were soft and warm, and she tasted sweet; Anna needed more. Anna broke the kiss briefly to pant, her breath coming short. She was sure the entire palace could hear her heart thudding loudly in her chest. Inhale. Exhale. Look down at your gorgeous sister framed in the moonlight and kiss her again. Simple steps, really.
Switching their positions so she was on top, Elsa broke the kiss and grinned playfully down at her.
"Is this what you had in mind when you woke me up to play?"