Inflamed - a Frozen story

5. Among sisters

It took hours before Anna was able to get to the conversation with Elsa she wished for. Before that, she opened three more dances, chatted with various guests, ate tons of cake and still managed to keep an eye on both Honeymaren and Elsa. It was just too obvious. As if she wanted to prove something to Anna, Elsa kept distance to Honeymaren for the rest of the evening. When she was too close by, Elsa turned her back on her. On the other hand, Honeymaren seemed to seek closeness to other people and rushed from one conversation to the next - just like she was trying not to be alone with Eetu. He didn't move one inch from her side. Only when the festivities were over, the square empty and the fire extinguished, he and the other Northuldra left for their tents. Honeymaren and Ryder took quarters in the castle. 

Even when everyone in the castle wished each other goodnight, Elsa stared at the floor instead of looking at Honeymaren. Before Elsa could disappear into her room, Anna grabbed her arm, "Stop right here! Your sister asks for an audience. " "I'm really tired, Anna." "No way, we got to talk now!" 

Sighing, Elsa surrendered to her sister's insistence. The night air was mild and so Anna led her onto one of the balconies with a view over the fjord. "It was really a nice party, Anna. We should start planning for the winter solstice right away..." 

"Don't try to distract!" Anna's grin stretched all over her face, so big and engaging that Elsa didn't know where to flee to. So the only thing left for her to do was facing the situation as calmly as possible. "Alright then", she said, shrugging her shoulders, placing her hands on the balustrade and looking out over the fjord into the indefinite distance.

"Ask your questions."

"Oh Elsa, whenever you become so stately, you want to hide something!"

"There's nothing to hide..."

"How can you even try to deny it! That sad look on your face when they were dancing, your typical masochistic behavior to keep on looking and then the uncontrolled freezing of the wine..."

"I got to admit... maybe I was a little upset."

"Aha! We're getting closer to the matter..."

"Oh Anna... just ask me what you want to ask! The sooner we can go to sleep... "

"What's there between you and Honeymaren?"

Elsa was already regretting that she had pushed Anna to ask questions. "We..." Too many thoughts shot through her head at the same time. How could she be so confused by such a simple question? "We... are friends. I think."

"Yea, good friends... who spend a lot of time together..."

"She taught me a lot about their culture and the forest. We get along very well."

"And she's really pretty."

Elsa gave Anna a piqued look. Her sister smiled mischievously and fluttered her eyelashes innocently - and suddenly Elsa had to smile too. That was one of those magical abilities only her sister possessed - suddenly Elsa felt an inner resistance giving in. "Yes she is", she sighed. "But above all, she is clever, sensitive, careful..."

"Awww..."

"And sometimes, when she looks at me like that with her dark eyes, then..."

"... then?"

"... then I feel very warm... right here." Elsas put a hand on her chest.

"Oh Elsa..."

"But... that's it."

It took Anna a moment to lose her blissful grin: "...what, wait - that's it? How can it be?!"

Elsa fiddled with her sleeves, "She's a friend ... and ... probably with Eetu. Soon."

"And you just accept that?"

"How could I not accept it?"

"Elsa!" Suddenly Anna grabbed her hands and pulled her around. "What did you feel while watching her and Eetu?"

"I ...um..."

"Just say it! Straight out! How did it feel?!"

"Not good."

"Not good?!"

"Not good at all."

"Just like back when Gerda baked chocolate cookies that you been so excited for - and which I ate all by myself then?"

"That wasn't good either, but - no, it felt worse."

"But how?"

"How..." Elsa swallowed. "Like an unknown shadow that swallows the brightest star and suddenly darkens the entire sky."

Anna blinked silently as she pondered Elsa's unexpected poetry. "Ok... yes! So - Honeymaren is the star? And Eetu the shadow ...? Anyway - that really is a quite dramatic feeling!"

"I would have loved to freeze him right in one of his clumsy movements."

Anna laughed, "Elsa!"

"Yes! Isn't that awful? It's just... completely inappropriate!"

"No, it's just perfectly normal when you're in love."

Now Anna had said it. In love. Elsa had suspected that their conversation would lead to this point - and yet she was shocked somehow. "Oh, Elsa, don't look scared now ... Don't panic! Being in love is something beautiful... "

"I can't be in love. "

"Why not?"

"Because I've never been."

"There's always a first time!"

"But that just doesn't suit me - I'm ... different ..."

"Stop it! For how many years have we been chewing on this crap!"

"But that's how it is, Anna! It always was and always will be!"

She yanked her hands from Anna's and began to pace up and down the balcony like a startled tiger. "The other day our hands touched... It felt like a lightning was going right through me..."

"Isn't that amazing!"

"No, it isn't - I iced her! It was only a small spot, but it was unintentional."

"Ok... such sensations are new to you. That can happen."

"Anna, something like that should never happen!" 

Elsa's voice echoed through the night. With a desperate sigh, she clasped her hands in front of her face. 

"It's okay, Elsa. It's okay... "Anna gently pulled her sister into a hug. She waited a few moments until Elsa's breathing became calmer before she said, "This is new to you and arouses feelings that you've never known before. It's making you nervous. And you know what? That's okay. Your feelings are not bad - you will learn to deal with them."

Elsa's head rested on her shoulder, she said nothing. Then Anna noticed a tiny snowflake sinking on the tip of her nose. "You will learn to deal with love just as you have learned to control your powers. The fact that it's snowing all of a sudden does not worry us either, or does it?! " 

Now Elsa raised her head and looked at the little white flakes that were blowing around her. "I just don't know what to do", she admitted quietly. 

"No problem", Anna beamed at her, "I'm your personal love expert!" 

Anna's euphoria only elicited a tired smile from Elsa. "That's really nice of you Anna, but... actually, I thought I had reached a point in my life where I left all problems behind me..." 

"And you have! This is about love, Elsa - that's not a problem. It's a gift!" So many worries spoke from her sister's blue eyes that Anna didn't even know where to start. "Tomorrow! Tomorrow on our hike, I'll check out dear Honeymaren a little", she said with a determined glare. Elsa got hot and cold at the same time.