Author's Note: It looks like we're having one more chapter of flashbacks, that will hopefully be the last, I'd only been originally planning on a single one, but there was a lot of backstory to tell.

Anna awoke in her sister's arms. She had missed this feeling more than she could bare, and she snuggled closer, savoring the sensation. She still couldn't believe last night had happened. After almost two years of sleeping on opposite ends of the bed, of her sister refusing to so much as touch her, they had finally kissed. Elsa really loved her.

She kissed the older girl gently on the lips, not wanting to wake her. Elsa's arm snaked around her and pulled her close, deepening the kiss. A few moments later, leaving the younger girl panting, Elsa released her and broke the kiss. "Good morning to you too," she laughed.

It hadn't been a dream. "Good morning," Anna giggled awkwardly. "So you really meant it?"

"Didn't I tell you that enough times yesterday? I love you, Anna. I'm sorry I hurt you before, but I took my time, and I don't ever want to be without you," Elsa insisted, taking hold of her sister's hand.

"So even though you're going to college..." Anna began, her fears welling up, unbidden.

Elsa paused. She had been determined to not let this happen, she was going to go off to college and not have to deal with her feelings for her sister anymore. She would have been able to start a new life. That was impossible now. Anna was going to be part of her life no matter what, she wouldn't have it any other way. She didn't want anything else. "We'll figure it out," she offered weakly.

"We only have six months," Anna replied. She'd been the one to come up with every lie and plan that the two had used so far, but she had no ideas. She'd let her mind wander off on dozens of fantasies before, but none of them had been at all realistic, she had no idea how they could possibly pull this off. They were sisters.

"I mean I can still come visit."

"But I want to go with you."

"I was planning on going far away for school, but I still have time to apply. I guess I could try staying in Philadelphia, that way if Mama and Papa will let you move out with me, then you could still go to our school," Elsa pondered.

Anna considered this. She wished it would be that easy. "We can try that," she offered hesitantly.

"You don't like the plan."

Anna sat up and looked worriedly into her sister's eyes. "I've been thinking about this a lot longer than you have. The issue is always that," she hesitated, she knew this was all so new to Elsa, she didn't want to make her think it was a bad idea, but she needed to say it. "I don't want to hide that I'm with you. Even if we weren't related I don't know how we could pull that off, but since we are, what can we even do?"

Elsa stared at her little sister. It hadn't even occurred to her that this had likely been the primary subject of her thoughts for the last several years. How could she have thought running away from her sister was a good idea? "Well I mean I can already pass as a man pretty easily," the wheels were starting to turn in Elsa's head. This was what she'd spent the last six years on, it only made sense to continue the disguise. "Maybe I could be your husband."

Anna stared at her big sister. "Did you just propose to me?"

Elsa stared back, her eyes widening as she tried to sputter out a response. "I, but, I didn't mean it, like –" she paused. How else exactly can you mean that you'd be someone's husband? "Maybe."

"Well I'm pretty sure our parents won't give me permission, so we'd have to wait a few years anyway, you'll have time to be sure. So, you're saying you'd keep being a guy?" Anna asked, trying to assuage her sister's anxiety.

Elsa snickered. "Why not? I'm more used to it than being a woman at this point. It would make everything so much easier. Why don't I?"

"How would you do it?"

"I don't know. Like you said, we have time. I just need to figure it out before I start applying for college."

They heard their parents stir in the next room. It was Christmas break, so they could easily relax in their bedroom under the pretense of sleeping in, but they didn't want their parents to overhear anything. Anna gave her sister a quick kiss and rose from the bed. "I'm gonna go have breakfast, you coming?"

The two girls sat at the table, across from their parents. Anna held Elsa's hand under the table. If their parents thought that it was weird that they were both eating their French toast one-handed, neither of them commented. Elsa nervously glanced between them, certain that they already knew everything. She wasn't sure why she was so paranoid, their parents had never seemed to pick up on any of the other things they had hidden from them, what was one more secret?

"What are you girls up to today?" Iduna asked, looking down at them as if they were not committing a grievous sin.

"I was thinking we'd go to the library, if it's open," Anna suggested, smiling brightly.

"And here I was expecting that you'd want to go build a snowman," Agnarr laughed as he sipped his coffee. "Do you need a ride? It's on the way to work."

"No, I love walking in the snow, and it's not that far," Anna answered.

"Keep an eye on your sister, Elsa," Iduna added.

"I'll take good care of her," Elsa promised.

After they finished eating, they unlatched their hands from each other, and took their plates to the sink. They then changed into some winter clothes, and headed outside. "Why did you want to go to the library?" Elsa inquired, as they walked. "Or was that a lie?"

"Oh, I just figured if you were going to be a man, there was probably information there on how to get a fake ID," Anna explained, her playful demeanor masking the seriousness of her suggestion.

Elsa stared at her. She wanted to object, but if this was really what they were doing, she had a point. "Then shouldn't I go get my boy clothes?"

"They're in my purse," she indicated the bag.

"What would I do without you?" Elsa asked, kissing her sister chastely on the cheek and taking her hand.

"Not have to do this in the first place," she sighed.

"You're worth it," Elsa insisted, making sure that there was no one around before quickly kissing Anna on the lips. She blushed and dragged Anna along, enjoying the solitude of winter with the girl she loved.

The library wasn't open when they arrived, but it would be within half an hour. They decided to sit and wait, watching the snow fall. Anna stuck her tongue out and tried to catch a snowflake in her mouth. Elsa only watched her. She still couldn't believe this was really happening. "What exactly are we looking for? I mean, I doubt there's going to be a book here called 'How To Get a Fake ID and Start a New Life So You Can Run Off With Your Sister.'"

"That would be way too long of a title," Anna laughed, looking back towards Elsa. "I'm sure it's just called 'How to Run Away With Your Sister.' Don't worry, we'll find something."

"I wish I had your confidence."

"Well you've got me, my confidence comes with the package." She hooked an arm around her sister's and leaned her head against the taller girl's shoulder. "Everything will work out."

They stayed like that until the library opened, neither of them sharing their thoughts or concerns, instead only treasuring the peace, the silence, and each other. The jingle of the keys as the librarian opened the door stirred them from their reveries. They looked at each other and let out a faint laugh. They hadn't been doing anything too obvious, but they both knew that they shouldn't have let someone else see them so easily.

They followed the librarian inside the building as she turned on the lights. She didn't pay them any mind, so they didn't pay her any mind either. They searched through the newly illuminated library, as the lights continued to gradually flicker on, looking for anything that might help them. Due to their lack of any sort of guidance, or even a concrete objective, it was an hour before either of them landed upon a book that could aid them in their quest.

Anna was the first to succeed. She found a book that included a large number of federal and state regulations, including the precise requirements for getting a state ID. Neither of the girls currently had one, having not learned how to drive, so they weren't entirely sure of the process. While Anna skimmed through the book, Elsa continued to look around for anything that contained more explicit information on establishing a false identity. She unsurprisingly had little luck.

"Elsa," Anna called quietly.

The blonde returned to her little sister and took a seat next to her, scooting the chair close enough that she could read over her shoulders, and smell the warm scent of the girl next to her. "What is it?"

Anna pointed to the page she was reading from. It listed acceptable forms of identification required to get a state ID. She would need a birth certificate and at least one other.

"I have to get a fake ID to get a fake ID?" Elsa asked, staring perplexed at the other girl.

Anna pointed at the section where it stated that a library card was an acceptable form of identification.

Elsa stared at the younger girl, realization slowly dawning on her. "It's been a while since I got mine, but you don't really need anything for it do you?"

Anna shook her head. She was much better at being quiet in a library than her older sister was.

"I'd still need the birth certificate though," Elsa insisted in a whisper.

"That's true," Anna sighed back, finally speaking. "How could we manage that?"

Elsa considered for a moment, looking off into the distance. Her eyes fell on the microfilms of old newspapers and an idea began to take root in her mind. "We can find someone who would have a birth certificate. We don't need to make one or falsify mine, we can just look through obituaries. We just need someone around my age, and we can send off for his birth certificate and not likely have any issue. I'm not sure what the process is, but Mama didn't have any trouble when she needed to get a new copy of yours. We can really do this."

The two girls sat together, scanning through the old newspapers. They confined their search to the early twenties, looking for a boy who had died early in childhood. They felt like ghouls, but they figured it was the only way no one else would know the person. If they went for someone who had died recently, then he would have friends and a history, things that could complicate their lives in ways that neither of them needed.

It was Anna who finally found it. She tapped on Elsa's shoulder and the older girl leaned over to look closely at the grainy image. "Thomas Henriksen," she read aloud. "I like it." He memorized the information, his new birthdate would be October 28, 1921. It was a strange feeling, having a new birthday.

Elsa took her clothes from Anna's purse and headed into the men's bathroom. A few minutes later, for the first time ever, Thomas Henriksen emerged. Elsa would have to abandon her old work persona of James Smith. It wouldn't do to have two identical men wandering around the city. She'd been planning on quitting in a few months anyway, so doing it slightly early would hardly be an issue. She gave her sister a quick kiss on the cheek as she handed her the clothes she had been wearing, and she walked over to the librarian.

The woman before her wore a name-tag bearing the name 'Marian.' Sporting the same baritone he had learned to use at work, Thomas asked her about getting a library card. She handed back a clipboard of paperwork and a pen. "Fill this out," she said simply.

Thomas did so, using the name and birth date that he had learned from the obituary. It was difficult to escape the feeling that he was robbing a grave, but it was the only way to secure the future that he now knew he could no longer resist. He handed the information back to the librarian.

She took it from him and walked away. "I'll be right back with your card," she explained over her shoulder as she left. True to her word, she returned barely a minute later with a laminated piece of paper bearing the name Thomas Henriksen. It was his first piece of ID and the first step in their plan, and it had worked.

He returned back to Anna grinning broadly. She pulled him to her and kissed him passionately. He wasn't her sister anymore, there was nothing to be afraid of, and they rejoiced in their new-found freedom.

Anna had filled out the paperwork to request a replacement birth certificate, using their address, and sent it off. They would just have to make sure they were the first to check the mail every day, and they could enjoy the rest of their Christmas vacation together. The two girls were inseparable. They had missed each other's touch the past few years, and neither one had any desire to go more than a handful of minutes without feeling it again.

Toward the end of the break, Elsa finally gathered up the nerve to have a conversation with her parents. Over dinner, while Anna held her hand under the table, Elsa suggested that when she started college, Anna could move in with her. "I know that times are still tough for you, Papa, and I have enough money saved up that I can look after her. She can stay with me."

"I don't need anyone else to look after my daughter," her father bellowed, as ever too proud to allow anyone else to help him look after his family.

"Papa," Anna insisted, her hand gripping her sister's tightly, "I want to go with Elsa. You don't need to worry about me."

"So what," Iduna cut in, "Both of you will just run off to some random city? Anna, your school is here, your friends are here, this just isn't reasonable."

"I could go to a school in Philadelphia," Elsa attempted.

"If you were accepted there," Agnarr replied, "You likely would be, but if you were, it would make more sense for you to stay here with us. Sure, you have your savings, but you could just pay for college and have enough to pay the whole way, instead of having to pay for room and board. I'm your father, I can still look after you, and you certainly don't need to look after your sister for me."

"But Papa!" Anna pleaded.

"No, you're staying here, and that's final."

"Anna," Iduna added, "It just isn't fair to your sister to put that on her. You can stay here until you finish high school."

"I don't mind, Mama," Elsa almost shouted. "I'd love having Anna with me. It would make the whole thing a lot less scary, that's a lot of changes in my life, it would be nice to have her there."

"I know you two have always been close," Iduna explained calmly, "But your sister needs to stay here until she finishes school, where we can keep an eye on her."

Elsa silently fumed, but they had made it clear there was no changing their mind. She excused herself and went to their room. Anna followed shortly after her, to find her sprawled on the bed with her face buried in the pillows. "What are we going to do?" Elsa sobbed. "If I stayed here, or even if I just stayed in town, they'd almost certainly find out that I was going to college as a boy eventually. I know they didn't for work, but they'd be a lot more interested in my studies than they were about who I was supposedly sewing for."

Anna sat on the bed and placed a hand on her sister's head, stroking her hair gently. "I waited this long, I can wait two more years," she reasoned, though she didn't feel like it was true.

"We finally have each other, and now we're just going to lose that again?"

"You'll never lose me," Anna insisted, lying down to cuddle against the older girl.

Elsa sat up, staring down at her little sister. "What if we just ran away together? You don't need to finish high school if you're just going to be my wife. Our parents don't have to know anything. We could just leave and start a new life."

"You still need to finish high school, apply to college, and get your new identity in order." Anna laid her head in Elsa's lap, looking up into bright blue eyes as they talked.

"After I graduate then, run away with me, forget about all this."

Anna considered the offer, as she stared longingly into those icy blue orbs. Her sister placed her hand on the back of her head and pulled her up into a kiss.

"Please," Elsa added, as she pulled away and gazed into the blue-green eyes of her new paramour.

Anna nodded slowly, hesitantly. "Okay."

The birth certificate arrived in the mail. Elsa had been the first to see it, checking on the way back from school one cold afternoon in January. She and Anna celebrated the entire night. She then had to go to the DMV, with the envelope for the birth certificate as proof of residence, and the library card and birth certificate as her identification so that she could officially and legally become Thomas Henriksen.

James had already quit his job and ceased to exist, while Thomas had begun applying to a number of colleges as far away from home as he could manage. However there was one very important task that Elsa still had to accomplish before she could all but vanish from this Earth to be replaced by the once dead Thomas Henriksen: she had to change the name on her transcripts.

She and Anna had spent the last month discussing how they were going to go about this. They tried to find out if there was any dirt they could uncover on anyone in their school's records department, they tried to plan out how breaking in and changing the records themselves would work, but in the end, there was only one valid option – cold hard cash. Elsa would have to expend some of her not-insignificant savings to attempt to bribe one of the people that worked there. It was an exceedingly risky play, but all of the others were even more so, and it had to be done.

Graduation was fast approaching, so she had to act while she still had the chance. After school, she met Anna at the gate as she always did, and they searched for the records department. It was hidden in a small corridor at the back end of the high school's basement. Elsa was shocked they could actually convince people to work in there.

Anna waited in the hallway while Elsa slowly pushed the door open. There was only one person there, a young brunette woman sitting behind a desk and looking very bored. Doubts flooded Elsa's mind, she was certain that this was a terrible idea. She started to back away when the woman noticed her. "How can I help you?"

She had practiced this conversation a dozen times with Anna, but every line she had memorized vanished from her head. She was going to get arrested, their relationship would be found out, this woman could ruin everything if she spoke a word. "Hi," she began awkwardly.

"Hi," the woman replied, waiting for her to continue.

She tried to remember their plan. She had fifty dollars in her pocket, that should be more than enough to buy anyone's cooperation and silence, but the potential ramifications of her action continued to play out in her head. "I needed to have something changed in my records," she announced, hedging her bets, waiting to see how the woman responded.

"Oh?" She asked. "Was there some mistake? Let me pull them up, what's the name?"

Elsa gathered all of her courage, took a deep breath, and laid her needs bare. "It's under Elsa Arendelle, and I need to get that changed to Thomas Henriksen."

The woman eyed her. "And why would that be?"

It was now or never. "I have my reasons," she breathed, almost throwing the money at her as she pulled it from her pockets.

The woman caught the wadded up bills as they slid across the table. She gaped down at it. It was enough to pay for her rent and groceries for the next month. She watched the girl, wondering where she could have managed to find that much money and why she wanted this, but she gave in; she wanted to eat more than she wanted to satisfy her curiosity. "I assume you were never here?"

"What? I—" Understanding dawned on Elsa. "Right. Just fix the file, when the school hears from colleges that's who I always was, and that's what'll be on my transcripts."

"I'd have to actually make a few more changes over the next few months if you want that to happen. You're still going to school here, right? This isn't a one time thing then, I'd have to make sure this doesn't come out before then, while still having the colleges get the right information."

It took a moment for Elsa to understand that she was trying to finagle more money out of her. "Fifty more and you'll do all that?" Elsa offered.

The woman considered it for a moment. "For a hundred dollars, yes, I will make sure no one ever finds out about this and that any school that receives your information will be receiving it as Thomas Henriksen."

"All right, I'll bring it by tomorrow."

The woman's eyes went wide. She hadn't expected that to be so easy. "I'll see you then."

Elsa left, feeling a combination of ripped off and victorious. She could have almost certainly accomplished that for far less, but she'd still accomplished it. It was really happening. They were really running off together and she'd be living the rest of her life as a man. She looked down at her sister and she knew that it was worth it.

"How'd it go?" Anna asked, taking her hand as they found their way out of the building.

"I have to pay her again tomorrow, but we got everything we need. It looks like I'm really going to be your husband."

Anna stopped in the middle of the stairs, causing Elsa to pull on her hand as she looked back. "You really meant it?" She asked. "You really want to marry me?"

"Do you really want to marry me?"

"Ever since you bought me that dress," Anna admitted.

Elsa blinked. She'd never actually asked when Anna had realized she was in love with her. "You... That long?"

"I mean, I didn't quite put a name to it back then, but I think that was when it started. Not because of how amazing of a dress it was, though I loved it, but because of how much you cared. You were willing to sacrifice so much for me, and from then I knew that you were all I really wanted. I fell in love with you that very moment," Anna confessed. She'd never said the words out loud before. A tear escaped from her eye and she tried to blink more away.

Elsa slowly approached the younger girl, pulling her to her in a hug and resting her chin in the ruddy hair. She kissed the top of her sister's head and stroked her hair. "I'm sorry it took me so long to return it, but you'll never have to be without me again. I love you, Anna."

She waited while Anna composed herself. Once Anna managed to stop crying, she nuzzled against Elsa's chest, leaving tear stains on her dress. "Thank you," she sighed, taking in her sister's scent. "Let's go home."

It was several months before Thomas began receiving letters from colleges. The sisters always made sure to check the mail on the way home, so that their family wouldn't see anything suspicious. He had been rejected by two of the schools he applied to, and accepted by the other two. They had a decision to make. The University of Pennsylvania was one of the rejections, so Anna was going to have to either change schools or drop out. They had to pick between Duke University and The University of Chicago.

"Did you seriously only apply to the most prestigious schools?" Anna laughed.

"I thought I was good enough for them, and I was right. So, what do you think, Chicago or Durham?" Elsa asked, looking back and forth between the two letters, feeling like they were flipping a coin on the rest of their lives.

"Which one's cheaper?" Anna asked.

"Do we really want to determine the rest of our lives on which was a better bargain?" Elsa laughed, leaning back against the bed and staring at the ceiling.

"They're both really good schools, it seems as good a way to decide as any other."

Elsa let out a dramatic sigh as she tried to recall the prices. "Duke is 250, University of Chicago is a bit more."

"Then North Carolina it is!" Anna shouted, grinning happily about having solved Elsa's earth shattering dilemma. "I'm happy wherever as long as I'm with you."

"All right. We're moving to North Carolina," Elsa agreed, not having the heart to argue with her sister when she was so happy.

After Elsa's graduation, the two spent the summer preparing for their move. Elsa enjoyed her last few chances to appreciate being a woman, and Anna tried to savor the last of her time with their parents. After Anna's 16th birthday party, it was time to leave. Their bags were packed. Elsa had abandoned everything that belonged to the old her.

Thomas took his girlfriend's hand, and just after midnight, they carried their suitcases to the front door, where they found their parents waiting. Anna dropped her bag to the floor and took a frightened step back, Elsa barely managed to stop herself from sinking to her knees. All their planning and it was for nothing.

"These walls aren't as thick as you seem to think they are," Iduna said calmly.

Elsa's mind raced, trying to think of what all they could know. There was no way they knew everything, what precisely had they overheard? "You know?" Anna gasped. Elsa's eyes went wide as she watched her sister, terrified that she would reveal anything that their parents hadn't already learned.

"You had already told us that you and Elsa wanted to move out, we've been expecting this to happen," Agnarr growled. "I can't believe you'd sink so low as slinking out in the night like some kind of thief."

"We heard you packing," Iduna explained, trying to keep Agnarr's anger from igniting the powder box they all stood in. "Elsa, you can't just take your sister, this is wrong. Let her finish school, if she still wants to move in with you then that's fantastic, I'm glad you two are so close, but you can't rob her of that."

Elsa felt her sister take her hand. She looked back, blinking away tears she hadn't realized she'd been shedding. Her sister's eyes searched their parents faces for any sign of leniency. "Please don't make me stay," she begged. "Don't make me stay here without Elsa. I can't lose her."

Agnarr's temperament softened as he studied his daughters. "We're just doing what's best for you."

"Elsa is what's best for me!" Anna screamed. Elsa still couldn't find her words. She had to stop her sister from saying any more, but all she could do was stand there frozen in place.

Iduna took a step forward. "Anna, It's just two more years. Elsa will be able to visit, we could even visit her. You're just scared because things are changing, I promise you'll be fine," she said, her voice soothing.

Anna knew that wasn't true. They couldn't visit Elsa, Elsa wouldn't exist there. Elsa being able to visit seemed just as unlikely. There was only one option. "I love her," she squeaked, her voice faltering as she tried to form the words. She gripped Elsa's hand tighter. "You can't make me stay here. I love Elsa, and I'm going with her!"

Elsa's mouth finally moved. "Anna!" she cried, but it was too late, the damage was done.

"Of course you love your sister, honey," Iduna responded, a look of confusion on her face.

Agnarr didn't look confused. "You know exactly what she meant by that," he insisted. "As you said, the walls aren't that thick. We'd let ourselves believe we were mistaken, but we both knew."

"Papa," Elsa breathed, choking back tears. "It's not –"

"You shut up," he bellowed. "How could you do this to your little sister? You were supposed to protect her, not turn her into this... pervert." He spat the last word, its taste rancid on his tongue.

Anna dashed forward, standing protectively before her sister. "She didn't do anything, I kissed her, I insisted on everything, it was all my idea!"

"And it was her job to stop it!"

Iduna put a placating hand on her husband's bicep. "You're not helping anything, all you're going to do is guarantee that they run away and we never see them again."

"Good!" he fumed, ripping his arm from her grip and storming toward his children. "I don't want to ever see these sick freaks again. They're a disgrace to the Arendelle family. I have no children!"

Elsa's body rocked with sobs as she stared up at her former father. "Then we'll be leaving," she said as coldly as her cracking voice would allow.

Anna held her sister's hand without saying a word, as they picked up their bags and walked past their father, who only stood there motionless, not daring to even glance at them. Iduna still blocked their path. "Anna, Elsa, he didn't mean that," she insisted. "Just sit down, we'll sort this out."

"They are not staying here," he grumbled.

"He's right, we're not," Anna declared, her nerves steeling again. "This is what we were going to do anyway, he only made it easier. Come on, Elsa." She pulled her sister along, going around their mother to reach the door.

"Please, wait," she cried as they opened the door and walked out. She stared after them, but they were already lost to her.