all_inclusive | the first time in forever

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the first time in forever

Anna has had a whirlwind few weeks. The gates have been opened, there's been a coronation and a surprise engagement (sort of) and Elsa had created eternal winter and blanketed all of Arendelle in snow. There's been betrayal, romance, and a snow monster. And, of course, everything has worked out all right.

Elsa says they'll keep the gates open now permanently and her powers, so beautiful and so dangerous, seem to be in control. She can make it icy in the courtyard in summer so they can go skating and she can keep Olaf alive and well but nobody seems to be in danger. Most importantly - Elsa seems happy. It's been so long since she's seen her sister happy that Anna has almost forgotten how it feels and what it looks like but it's nice. For the first time in forever, Anna is truly content with the world and happy to be in it.

She's running through the castle like usual, flipping open the doors and all the windows to let in the warm summer sun. Elsa is...somewhere and Anna is determined she's going to get her out and about today. She's going to get Elsa to genuinely enjoy being around other people if it kills her.

She opens up a door she doesn't recognize and sees...well, that's not normal. There's a party! There's a bunch of hedges and it's chilly so maybe that means Elsa is out and about; she does tend to affect the temperature when she's around.

"Elsa? Are you giving a party and leaving me out? I'm your sister, you know you're supposed to tell me if there's any parties. I love parties! Elsa? Ellllsaaaaaaaaa..."

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"Anna!" Elsa goes dead still where she stands, her eyes wide in very real terror. Over a year, she's managed to evade Arendelle, to keep herself away from the people she'd hurt and the damage she'd done and now...

And now the single most important person and the one she needs to keep farthest away is here in the hotel, calling her name.

"Oh no."

Her mind screams at her to run, to find a door. Any door. But she can't. She's frozen.

"Elsa!" Anna can't help but squeal a little bit because she's so excited to see her sister. Sure, she just saw her but it never gets old, getting to see her sister out in the world instead of locked up away.

She runs toward her and opens her arms for a hug. "Why didn't you tell me about this place? And you're having a party? You know I love parties!"

"Anna! No!" Elsa backed up a few steps, flurries of snow swirling around her as her horror increased. "Pleas I don't want to hurt you!"

"What? Elsa, you've got this," Anna insists. She's not afraid. She's never, ever going to be afraid of her sister because she knows that Elsa loves her as much as Anna loves her back.

"Come on, it's okay. You can dial it down. I know you can."

Elsa shakes her head, still backing away from every step that Anna takes forward. "The last time I saw you, I struck you with ice! Anna can't you see? I don't want to hurt you!"

"Oh, Elsa, you unfroze me," Anna says. She doesn't understand how Elsa doesn't remember that, how everything worked itself out because she and Elsa love one another.

"Elsa, you fixed it. You're not going to hurt me. I'm not afraid."

"I...I did?"

Anna says it with so much confidence, like an event long in the past and quickly forgiven. Well, the latter isn't surprising. Anna's always had a big heart with an amazing capacity for love and forgiveness.

Confused, Elsa looks at her hands. "I was able to unfreeze you?"

Anna nods rapidly. "Oh, yeah, nobody else could have done it. You unfroze all of Arendelle! Except Olaf, of course, that wouldn't be good for him. So he has his own little thing - but you did it, Elsa. You did it."

Anna steps closer. She doesn't know why her sister doesn't remember this or why she's so afraid but she wants to help ease her mind a little. "I'm perfectly fine, Elsa. See? I don't even have the white streak in my hair anymore."

Elsa is so startled that she forgets to walk away, covering her mouth with her hand as she remembers the little talking snowman. She'd made life in that gesture, created instead of destroyed, and she can't help the nervous little laugh that escapes her. "No, Olaf wouldn't like summer," she say absently.

She looks closer and Anna's right. There's no telltale streak, the constant reminder of Elsa's folly. "You're really okay but...I don't understand. I've been living in this hotel for a year."

"A hotel? Why would you be living here for a whole year? I mean, I know you were up on North Mountain but you've been back at the palace," Anna says. She doesn't quite understand it. Then again, stranger things have happened in her life.

"Is it magic or something? You know how I feel about magic."

"Hans had me in chains and he told me I'd hurt you, badly. So ran out into the fjord and found myself here in the lobby. I haven't been back since." To be more truthful, she'd avoided any doors that could send her back to Arendelle.

"It's definitely something."

"No, no, that already happened forever ago," Anna says. Now she's really confused but she doesn't really want to tell Elsa that she's crazy. Not when she'd just calmed her down and all - Anna doesn't want to make things worse if she can help it.

"So you've just been hiding here all this time?"

"I haven't been hiding! I was here so that I wouldn't hurt anyo--" Elsa sighs and looks at her sister, so perceptive even when she acts so blithe.

"I was hiding. I was afraid all I'd ever do was hurt people more."

"You won't," Anna says softly. "Elsa, you won't hurt anyone anymore, I promise. I promise you know how to control it."

Anna's faith in her is, always has been, so bottomless and unconditional. Elsa tries to remember Legolas' words too, the confidence he'd had in her powers, and it's enough to push her panic aside for the time being.

"I've been learning, since I got here," she admits. "But I haven't gone back to Arendelle so how can I have been there."

"I don't know." Anna is the first to admit she doesn't understand everything; she'd venture to say she doesn't understand most things but she knows that Elsa had been in Arendelle.

"But I just came from there and you were home. You were opening up the gates for everyone to come in and skate."

"Was I really?" Elsa asks, a little amazed at the idea. She knows how long Anna's wanted more freedom and only Elsa knows how long she wishes she could have given it.

"They've said time is funny in this place, but..." She sighs and comes a little closer, "You're okay? Really?"

"Yeah, Elsa, I'm perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with me and everything that was wrong with me is fixed," Anna thinks this would be more convincing if she didn't move a little and knock over a vase.

"Ooops. Still clumsy?"

Instinctively, Elsa reaches out with her powers, drawing up a pile of soft, fluffy snow so that the vase lands harmlessly and unbroken.

"I don't mind if you're clumsy, as long as you're okay."

Anna laughs when she sees the little pile of snow rise up to catch the vase and she thinks that everything is going to be okay. Maybe Elsa's a little worried about hurting someone but Anna knows she won't. She just knows it's all going to be all right.

"I'm perfectly fine. Fit as a fiddle!"

"As...As long as you're sure." She needs to trust herself, she remembers. That includes trusting others.

"Are you hungry? We can sit down and I'll try to explain what's going on."

"Absolutely starved," Anna confirms. She's always had a healthy appetite and especially when she's stressed or excited.

"What's there to eat around here? I haven't seen any servants or anything."

"No, household staff isn't quite the norm anymore, but if you stay her at the hotel they do have cleaning service and free breakfast."

Still not quite touching her sister, Elsa leads Anna to the hotel's Bistro and asks for a table.

Anna is all about free breakfast. Breakfast is her favorite meal of the day, unless she's craving sandwiches, then sometimes she can con the servants into making her breakfast sandwiches and everything just gets exponentially better.

"Look, I can work with cleaning service and free breakfast. And, you know. The best sister in the world?"

Even with her wintry complexion, there's no hiding the blush when Anna calls her that. Elsa's not particularly sure it's true--she has a lot to make up for--but Anna's faith in her is reassuring once again.

"You do have to find a way to get money for other meals. Or sneak through other doors but be careful...they can be tricky."

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