Chapter 1: What I've Tasted of Desire

The air shimmered as snowflakes danced around the palace courtyard, each one capturing the full brilliance of a joyous sunrise. Men and women, young and old, frolicked and traced circles on the frozen surface of the court with their skates, and the air tinkled with laughter.

At the centre of the makeshift rink, a pair of revelers cheered on a doubtful reindeer to stand on its feet.

"Come on, Sven!" Anna laughed as she bent to look him in the eyes. "Just slowly—legs together—up you go!"

Sven made a valiant effort, straightening up on all four legs. For a brief, shining moment he stood erect with his head held high in pride. Then he promptly collapsed in a heap of waving legs and matted fur.

Kristoff laughed. "Guess I learned faster than you, huh, Sven?" The mountaineer balanced himself on his own skates, albeit shakily. 'See? I can stay on my feet for a whole minute!'

"Alright now, big guy!" Anna smiled playfully, then gave Kristoff a gentle shove that promptly sent the big man sprawling next to the reindeer, his expression befuddled. Sven took one look at Kristoff's dazed face and started guffawing uncontrollably.

Anna giggled, balancing flawlessly on her own skates. "Oh my, you didn't last as long as I thought!"

Kristoff scowled, which made Sven go off on an even louder laughing fit. His frown quickly evaporated as Anna bent her knees, bringing her face level with his.

Gently, Anna pecked him on the cheek, and he felt blood rush to his cheeks and elation to his head.

"There you go." Straightening up gracefully, she beamed at the clumsy pair sprawled on the ice, before skating off in search of her sister.

"Heh. I'll take that as compensation, feisty-pants." Kristoff smiled, still flat on his back, watching Anna's slender figure move flawlessly across the ice, her dark green skirt fluttering gaily in her wake. It didn't matter how many kisses they shared, how many times they embraced. Each tender moment was as ecstatic and electrifying as the first time on the harbourfront when their lips met and their hearts blossomed.

He turned his head and met his reindeer's gaze—Sven was waggling his eyebrows.

Anna found Elsa at the foot of the steps to the palace, looking pensively across the courtyard full of Arendelle's citizens enjoying a day of fun on the ice. Her svelte figure was clad in a glittering bodice, a cape of pure ice trailing behind her dress. As the sun broke from behind a cloud, its rays illuminated Elsa's figure, and light glowed softly through the tessellations woven flawlessly into every inch of her outfit. The Snow Queen was she, beautiful, elegant and cold—and her sister as well, no longer afraid, no longer in denial of herself.

Elsa appeared deep in thought, her face lit up by the faintest of smiles. She turned ever so slightly, elegant as ever, as Anna skated up to her and stopped by her side.

"What'cha thinking about, Elsa?" Anna asked, drawing herself up to her full height to mimic her sister's regal pose, a wide smile still plastered over her face.

Elsa smiled. "It's just…beautiful." She was quiet again.

"What is?" Anna asked, her left arm slipping into the crook of her sister's arm, drawing the two of them closer. "What's beautiful?"

"Everything." Elsa whispered, her eyes glittering. "The open gates. The people. The laughter. The snow. Everything is beautiful."

Anna leaned her head against Elsa's shoulder. "It certainly is."

"And to think that half a year ago—" Elsa could not finish her sentence.

Anna gripped her sister tightly all of a sudden, a physical reflex to an emotional wound both siblings shared.

"Don't, Elsa," Anna whispered. You are safe now. Safe and loved.

Both sisters locked eyes, and in that brief moment, all was understood.

"Elsa, I'm here. And I'll always be." Anna promised.

Elsa's eyes glittered like snowy pearls as the tears pooled under her lashes.

"And I promise,' she spoke, 'that I will never close the door again. To you or anyone I love."

And on the steps of the palace, both sisters embraced, their faces buried in each other's shoulder. Sharing the warmth of the bond between them, a bond newly formed after years of separation, yet burning brighter with each new day they spent together.

Wounds remained unclosed. Scars formed slowly. Bitter memories lingered. The aches and hurts of the years, the frigid loneliness of a decade-odd of isolation, all these were not and would never be melted away in an instant.

But in that shining minute, looking up at the sparkling sky as a million snowflakes billowed like airborne wishes and dreams, at the smiling happy faces around them, Elsa and Anna felt the happiest for the first time in forever.

"Oh Anna," Elsa breathed in, beaming brightly like the sun above. "It is all right. Everything is all right."

'Some say the world will end in fire

Some say in ice

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favour fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And should suffice.'

-Robert Frost, Fire and Ice

With the relentless schedule of university life, I thought I'd never write fanfiction again unless a work of art appeared that was so compelling, so moving, as to inspire me to write again. That work was Frozen. I hope that you would enjoy reading this piece as much as I enjoyed writing it.