The first time Anna saw her, she'd been visiting her brother Hans.

Hans had been institutionalized about two months ago, after a nervous breakdown. Her brother was the quarterback of the Arendelle Stags, had been since his junior year. This was no surprise considering he wasn't just physically fit for the job, but Anna's older brother (her senior by two years) had a certain charm, a certain way with words that had his teammates practically tripping over themselves to follow his instructions. No matter how bad the game got, Hans always managed to find a way to lead the Stags to victory.

Until two months ago.

It was the championship game, and everyone was pumped. The cheerleaders had gone all out and decorated practically every hallway in the school. Everywhere you looked it was green, purple and gold, the school's colors. Sloppily painted stag heads were printed in bulk and slapped on every locker door, and when it came time for the game the entire school showed up to watch. Anna had been in the front row, cheering louder than anyone.

It was supposed to be an easy game. The opposing team, the Southside Stallions, had never once won against the stags, it was a wonder they even made it to the finals. Hans hadn't been worried, he ran up to the stands for his pre-game Anna pep talk, grinning like an overexcited child as Anna rambled through her 'go, fight, win!' speech. When she was done she gave his helmet a quick kiss and, as gently as she could, smacked it down on top of his head. With a wave, he ran out onto the field and the game started. And it went great! By the end of the first half the Stags were winning 33-13.

But for some reason, once the second half started the Stags began to lose ground. They began to miss easy passes, fumble balls and the once-thundering crowd began to go silent.

By the time that last quarter rolled around, with only minutes left, the unthinkable had happened. The Stallions had made a comeback, the score now 33-28, however the Stags still had the lead. The crowd was now shouting angrily, no longer cheering for their team. Anna, from her place in the stands, had watched on with her hands clutching tightly at the railing, nervous for her brother. They had the ball, and with the time left they'd still be to hold onto their win so long as there were no more foul ups. Maybe they'd even be able to score another touchdown.

That had been Hans' thinking, because on the third down he threw a long ball down field, and the entire stadium held their breath. It was a good throw, aimed to fall right into the arms of the Stag's wide receiver.

But out of nowhere, one of the Stallions appeared and intercepted the ball. The Stags were shocked, as was the Arendelle side of the stadium. The Southside fans went nuts as their player took off like a madman, sprinting for their end zone. Anna remembered her brother's voice, loud and angry and terrified, and had watched in horror as the Stags tried to recover the ball. It was futile however, and the championship game, which was supposed to be an easy win, ended up being an embarrassing loss.

Hans hadn't dealt with it well.

After a week of dirty looks from students (and even some of the teachers) and angry teammates shoving him against lockers, Hans had finally snapped and went on a rampage, destroying the locker room and putting two of his teammates in the hospital.

He always did have a short fuse, Anna thought to herself as the two sat side by side in the institute's lounge, watching a poker tournament on the small television that sat in the corner. And he always did love calling people out on their bluffs. That's all Hans had been doing since the tournament started. Every few minutes he would nudge her shoulder and point someone out, saying something like 'See how he just scratched his eyebrow? Means he's bluffing,' or 'Who does this guy think he's fooling?'

Anna would just giggle and nod, making the appropriate noises when someone made a bad play or did the opposite and won a big pot. A pot was what it was called, right?

She didn't really understand the game, the only card game she understood was War, but it was the one thing in life her brother really enjoyed other than football. Since that topic was now considered dangerous territory and would remain that way until further notice, Anna was more than happy to watch the tournaments with him. He got a kick out of asking her who she thought would win and watching her face screw up in concentration as she tried to remember the difference between a straight and a flush. She usually ended up being wrong, and Hans would laugh. Not that Anna minded. She'd do anything to keep Hans happy; in her head the better his mood the likelihood of him actually listening to his therapist was higher, and that meant he'd be back home sooner.

She really did miss her big brother, even if everyone at school now thought he was a psychopath and had no problem telling his little sister their opinions.

She didn't let it bother her though. No one at school really mattered all that much anyway. Just her, her brother, and her best friend Kristoff. He was a guy you couldn't help but like. Always friendly, always kind, and once you'd earned his trust you'd never have a friend half as loyal. He'd been Anna's platonic other half since their freshmen year, and by some stroke of fate they always had at least one class together so they were never really far apart.

Kristoff came with her sometimes, to see Hans. The two had often bonded over their shared protectiveness of Anna, and even though Kristoff was dead-set against participating in public school culture he was always happy to help Hans practice his throws. It was the only thing he ever did for the sake of the school, even though he thought their classmates' obsession with team spirit and their cult following of games they probably didn't even understand was moronic. Anna couldn't even remember the amount of times the blonde boy would rant about the utter idiocy of high school hierarchy and status quo, but she did remember one particular instance earlier that year where he'd been so focused on rambling that he bowled over one of their professors. He'd been a blushing, stuttering mess then, because he'd had a crush on Miss Colette (the terrifying but oddly charismatic Home Economics teacher) since Freshman year.

A catchy commercial jingle brought Anna's attention back to the television, and when she realized the tournament was temporarily on hold she turned to her brother. "You want anything from the vending machine?"

Bright green eyes turned to meet her own turquoise ones, and her brother grinned. "I could go for a soda. You want anything?"

Anna nodded and turned to rummage in her bag for her wallet. "Yeah, a water bottle for me, lemme just-"

"Hey hey, I got it. Just sit, you don't have to get up." Anna rolled her eyes at her brother and his obsession with being a gentleman literally all the time, but relented and gave Hans a few dollar bills. He gave her a wink and left the lounge, headed out into the hallway where the vending machines and telephones were. A few of the other patients who were in the lounge turned to watch him go.

With the way the lounge was designed, there was the actual lounge room itself (filled with tables and relatively comfy chairs, well lit with natural light that came in through the windows), a reinforced door that connected the lounge to the rest of the institute, and then the hallway where her brother was headed now. It was a dead end, with only a lonely janitor's closet occupying a fraction of the empty white walls. The only way out of the visitor's lounge (aside from the way Anna and the other visitors came in, obviously) was that heavy, intimidating door on the opposite side of the room. There was a office for the supervising orderly too, over in the corner closest to the steel door. The orderlies at the institute were usually content to just leave the visitors alone with their loved ones, and they usually just sat in the office to do paperwork. Cameras videotaped everything anyway, so as far as privacy went the Arendelle Institute for the Emotionally Disturbed were pretty accommodating.

Something Anna was grateful for.

She leaned back, sinking into the couch, letting her head fall back as her eyes slid shut. These visits, no matter how little physical effort they required, always left her drained. It was hard seeing her brother the way he was now, hair disheveled, sideburns unkempt. He used to be so handsome, his disposition bright and sunny. Always well-kept too; before the breakdown Anna couldn't remember a day that Hans didn't look perfect, unlike herself who always woke up late and only ever spent five minutes on her appearance.

Now though, dark shadows had become a permanent fixture under his eyes. His clothes were always wrinkled too, as though he'd been sleeping in them. Still, Anna was happy to see her brother's eyes bright again. The first few times she'd visited him, the eyes that had always reminded her of summer had been dull and sickly looking, glassy with pain and red-rimmed with anger.

Admittedly, Anna had been afraid of her brother then. He'd had a tendency to snap at her, though he'd never once raised a hand against her. But there had been this look in his eyes… panicked, afraid, hurt. Like an animal in a cage.

Well, if these visits are helping then the only thing to do is keep right on with them. The sooner he's home, the sooner life goes back to being simple.

Anna let her lips curl up into a smile at the thought. Her eyes opened slowly.

The sight of bright, wide eyes staring back at her was definitely not something she'd been expecting.

If she hadn't been spending so much time around her land-mine of a brother lately she almost surely would have screamed and flinched away, quite possibly falling off the couch and onto the floor in a very ungraceful manner. However, over the past few months she'd become a master of holding back her more... enthusiastic reactions. So fortunately, she was able to contain the scream and keep her rear planted firmly on the cushion.

And instead, she merely returned the gaze, curious as it was, and smiled softly.

"Hello."

The owner of the bright blue (topaz blue, Anna noted) eyes blinked, their head tilting slightly to the side. A strand of pale blonde hair fell over their face, but there was no move made to push it back into place.

Which was understandable, considering the girl's hands were otherwise occupied with clutching a loose, messy braid like it was her lifeline.

Anna didn't move, she just continued to smile up at the innocent face of the girl standing above her. The longer their eyes stayed connected, the more Anna realized that this girl was extremely beautiful. Her pale skin (really, really pale, sun-deprived even) was flawless, the light freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose too adorable to be considered flaws. Speaking of her nose, it was small and dainty, complemented by well-defined cheekbones.

Her hands, which were shifting unsurely now, twisting the braid they held captive, suited her well. From what Anna could tell her fingers were long and slender, nails well kept.

Anna's smile stretched wider when one of those hands came up in a shy wave. The redhead immediately waved back, warmth swelling in her chest when the lightest of blushes rose in the other girl's cheeks.

"What's your name?"

Blue eyes blinked once again, brows coming together in slight suspicion. Anna had to contain a giggle at the sight, her cheeks bunching up with the force of her grin.

A few moments of silence passed and Anna's confidence began to waver. Did she have something on her face? Why was this girl just staring at her? And none too friendly, either. There was nothing hostile in this girl's eyes, not at all. But the intensity in them, the and the fact that none of that intensity was in any way readable, was slightly unsettling. Anna forged ahead though, hoping that maybe an introduction would make things less awkward. Anna tilted her head to the side, biting her lip before opening her mouth again to speak. "My name's Anna."

The one hand that the girl had used to wave, which had been hanging unsurely in the air, fingers curled, returned to join its twin and resumed worrying over the braid that hung over one shoulder. More silence followed. Anna felt her own blush grow in her cheeks, but she kept her gaze steady despite the urge to avert her eyes, or break the silence with a cough. After what felt like a stiff, uncomfortable forever the other girl finally dropped her eyes off to the side, shoulders scrunching up towards her ears as she bit at her bottom lip. Well that's kinda cute. Finally, the blonde took in a shaky breath and opened her mouth to speak. Anna's eyes widened, her heart thumping with anticipation.

Just as the first sound was about to tumble from between pink lips, footsteps approached.

"Anna?"

Anna's eyes snapped over to meet her brother's. He'd returned from the vending machine, a water bottle in one hand and a coke in the other. His eyes were narrowed menacingly at the blonde, who'd all of a sudden seemed to curl in on herself, hands clenching tighter together than they had been a moment ago.

Anna sent her brother a thankful grin, straightening back up and reaching out to grab her water. "Hey Hans, thanks for getting my-"

He interrupted her with a snarl, "What are you doing here?"

Her hand froze, halfway to it's destination. Anna's eyes narrowed, jaw falling slack in surprise at the anger in her brother's tone. Where had that come from? The blonde was doing nothing wrong! What was Hans so upset about? She knew how protective he was of her, but that was no reason for him to be nasty to this innocent girl who was just saying hi. "Hans…"

"Go away."

"Hans!"

Anna stood up to try and stop her but the blonde practically fled to the other side of the room, throwing herself into the chair where Anna guessed she'd been sitting before considering the strange girl immediately buried her nose in the book that had been left on the table. Even though the blonde wouldn't see it Anna sent an apologetic, sheepish grin her way before whipping around to face her brother.

Anna's hands clenched into fists at her sides, eyes narrowed in anger. "What was that for?!" she whispered angrily. "She wasn't doing anything wrong!"

Without answering her, Hans plopped back down onto the couch with a huff. The malice was gone from his face, his features relaxed. He seemed completely disinterested now that the girl was a fair distance away. He put her water bottle down on the floor and popped open his soda.

Anna stared at him incredulously for a few moments before she sighed. She cast one sad look across the room, but the smallest of grins immediately tugged at her lips when she saw the blonde clutching a pencil in her left hand and scribbling away at a page in the book.

An artist, huh? Hm.

She stared for a moment more before reluctantly reclaiming her seat next to her brother. She reached for her water bottle and twisted the cap off, settling back into the softness of the couch. She chalked the visit up to just being 'one of those days,' and tried to refocus herself back on the tournament.

Her brother didn't say a word for the rest of the visit.