WARNING: Implied child abuse.

Chapter 5: The bicycle.

Eight years – Four years.

Elsa spent two weeks locked in her room. Two WHOLE weeks. She wasn't allowed to leave not even to eat (the food was brought to her chambers) or to see her sister, and she spent all day, from nine to nine, taking boring and exhausting lessons, watching her sister play outside from the window and wishing she could be there with her.

That wasn't the first time she was locked, of course, but at least in the previous two occasions she'd eaten with her family at the dinning room and was allowed to see Anna before going to sleep. This was just... exaggerated, inhumane and totally unfair. She still thought she didn't deserve it. Even after two weeks, she hadn't learned her lesson.

But anyways, there was nothing she could do about it, so after that, she spent an entire month learning to ride her bicycle, and by the end of it she considered herself an expert, going everywhere in her birthday present, even if her parents didn't think she was good enough yet to take her sister with her... Though said sister wasn't making it easy to refuse.

"Please Elsa?" The little girl asked, making the most adorable pout ever. "Take me with you in the bik".

"Bike." Elsa corrected her. "And no, you know our parents forbid it." She tried to argue.

"But you never obey them anyways." Anna countered, making puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, but I really don't want to spend another week locked in my room."

"You won't. I won't tell them, I promise. Pleeease?" She asked again, and Elsa hesitated at her adorableness before letting out a sigh and looking playfully at her sister.

"You're gonna be the death of me." She said before gesturing Anna to come up the bike.

"Yaaaay!" The redhead screamed happily before clumsily getting into the back sit with her sister's help. Once the older girl was sure Anna wouldn't fall off, she gave her a playful smile.

"Are you ready for some speed?" She asked.

"I was born ready!" Anna answered throwing her arms up in excitement.

"Alright." Elsa chuckled. "Just hold on tight and don't let go of me." Only when she was sure her sister's little arms were tightly wrapped around her waist did Elsa dare start pedaling down the hallway, amused at the awed sound Anna made when the speed started increasing. Encouraged by her sister's reaction, Elsa turned around a corner and increased the speed even more in the larger hallway, before turning another corner and descending a small stair that made them jump a little.

"Hehehe, this is so fun!" Anna laughed. "We should go to the garden, I bet the pebbled path will be even better than these flat hallways."

"But Anna, to get there we'd have to descend the great stairwell, and I can't do that on my own. We'd need to ask help and we'd be discovered."

"Can't you just ride your bike down of it?" Anna asked, confused.

"Well… I could, but…"

"Are you afraid?" Anna teased, knowing this way her sister would agree in a heartbeat.

"Of course not!" Elsa answered, falling into the trap. "Hold on, because we'll soon have a fast descend." That said, she ran the bike faster trough the hallways, enjoying the way her sister kept laughing and screaming as they approached their destination. It was a good thing that this part of the castle, being the royal wing, was mostly deserted.

Soon they arrived to the stairwell, the longest and highest one in the castle. And it was a bit curved, so it was clearly very dangerous. However, Elsa didn't even slowed down as they descended though it.

About ten steps later, the older princess understood why this was a bad idea. She started to lose control; the handle bar move at its own accord without her being able to do anything with her child strength. She tried to stay calm, but not even the brakes seemed to be working.

Anna, on the other hand, remained completely unaware of the dangerous situation they were in as she laughed and screamed excitedly, forgetting that she had to keep holding Elsa's waist as she threw up her arms shouting "Awesome!" That's when it all went down.

The bike gave a particularly high jump as it hit one step a little too fast, and this caused Anna, who wasn't holding to anything, to practically fly all the way down to the floor, which still was at least four meters behind them. If not for Elsa's quick reaction, her sister wouldn't have survived.

The older girl saw her sister falling and, panicking, did the only thing she could think of; shoot forward her arms conjuring a mountain of snow to cushion her fall. However, doing this, she let go of the bike and she herself ended up falling and crashing into the pile of snow next to her sister, surprisingly unharmed.

"Elsa?" Anna asked after a few seconds, to which the older girl answered getting out of the pile of snow and searching for her sister, who gave her a huge smile as she saw her. "You saved me!" She said, looking at the mountain of snow in awe.

"Yeah, I did, you irresponsible brat." Elsa almost spat, looking down sternly at her sister. "Y-you could have died!" The older princess tried to keep her voice even, but she was still a little shaken after the adrenaline shock she had just experienced. "I told you not to let go of me!"

"But… nothing happened." Anna pouted, her lower lip trembling a little as her eyes filled with tears, not used at having her sister's anger directed at her.

"Only because I used my powers, but you know I shouldn't have done that." Elsa sighed, running her hands through her hair. "Dad is gonna be pissed."

"You… regret saving me?" Anna asked, now at the verge of tears, which finally snapped Elsa out of her furious state.

"No, I-I… I didn't mean it like that!" The older girl quickly corrected as she kneeled in front of her sister and took her hands. "You're my sister and I don't want anything happen to you… and seeing you falling…" She sniffled, fighting hard to keep in her tears. "I got scared. Sorry for getting mad at you, but I really don't want to lose you." She concluded, giving her a sad smile before finding herself tightly wrapped by two little arms.

"But you saved me, you always will. You're the best sister ever." Anna said, making a huge smile appear in her older sister's face.

"Yeah, I will always save you, even if to do so I have to use my powers." Elsa assured her.

"Why did father forbid them anyways?" Anna asked, separating from her and ending the hug.

"Because I kept freezing my teacher's tea, remember?" Elsa raised an eyebrow, surprised that her sister didn't remember how much trouble they got in because of that.

"Oh! That's true, you also froze our nanny's big behind!" the redheaded princess laughed.

"Yeah, but only because you suggested it… and she totally deserved it." She added with a playful smile.

"She did! You should use your powers more often!" The child chirped in, making her sister's smile promptly disappear.

"I can't. I told you."

"Just one snowman, pleaaaseee?" The girl gave her puppy dog eyes that never failed to make Elsa submit to all of her wishes, but the older girl tried to resist anyways.

"N-no. Anna, look… Didn't you want to ride my bicycle?" She asked, trying to distract the little girl.

"I do, but I also want to see your powers." She pouted, frowning as if trying to think which the best solution was. "Oh! I have an idea!" She exclaimed excitedly, making Elsa groan, because she knew Anna's ideas always got them in trouble. "Why don't you use your powers to create a ramp so we can descend the stairs better?"

"I don't know." Elsa bit her lip. The idea sounded appealing enough to her, after all, if she made a ramp with her powers she could control their descend way better than with the bike alone… but if using her powers was enough reason for her parents to punish her, she didn't want to imagine what riding her bicycle with Anna while using her powers would imply.

"Please Elsa?" The redhead pouted. "Our parents are in a meeting with some dig… uh… dig-na-ta-ries." She said, having difficult to pronounce the last word. "They won't know!"

"Alright." Elsa sighed, remembering that their parents were too busy that morning and thinking they probably wouldn't get caught because they were in the royal wing and almost no one went there. "But if we get caught it was your fault."

"Yeeessss!" The girl shouted, getting up and making excited jumps as she started to ascend the stairs. Elsa chuckled and shook her head as she followed her sister, creating a ramp in her ascend and taking the bike with her. She just hoped she wouldn't regret her decision later.

The first time they descended they almost crashed with the suits of armor that were at the end of the stairs, but thanks to Elsa's powers they didn't, and all was laughs and fun. The second time they went a little slower thanks to Elsa's not-so-slippery-ice and didn't need the snow to prevent them from falling into their deaths. The third time they didn't even think about the possibility of falling. By the tenth time, Elsa was so confident she even tried it without placing her hands into the handlebar, much to her sister's amazement.

The twentieth time, their parents arrived.

They had been so caught up in their game they didn't even glanced at the clock, which was a shame, because then a lot of trouble could have been avoided.

Also, their parents weren't alone; they were with the Duke of Weselton, ambassador from the Southern Isles, who after having seen Elsa's powers, started calling her a monster… that is, until he realized she was the crown princess and apologized profusely before being asked to leave the palace by the king, who obviously wouldn't tolerate such disrespect. Still, after the old man was out of sight, King Adgar turned to look at Elsa sternly.

"Go to my office. Now." His angry (almost fuming) voice, together with his clenched fists made Elsa hesitate. She didn't want to argue, not while he was so mad with her already, but she was scared at his tone; it was one he had never used with her. But… she didn't want to obey either.

"F-father…" She tried to speak with him, but he cut her off.

"NOW!" He shouted, making Elsa take a step back before slowly starting to walk with trembling legs. She had exceed the limits this time. She knew the punishment would be harsh.

"Wait, father." Anna tried with a small voice, making Elsa pause. "I-it was my fault." The older girl felt her chest warm a little at the girl's bravery, but she knew it would do no good.

"Oh, really?" The King asked, not even trying to dissimulate his anger. "Did you made all that snow and ice?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Then, did you rode that bicycle?"

"Father, please…" The little girl said, trying to save her sister from punishment.

"Idunn. Take her to her room. Make sure she stays there." The King commanded to his wife, who promptly took her youngest daughter's hand and lead her away, despite her protests. Then, once they were gone, Adgar turned to the older princess, who was looking at him with a scared expression. "Elsa. Come." He said and, without turning to look at her again, he started walking.

Not wanting to get into more trouble, Elsa started dragging her little feet through the floor, following her father even though her instincts were telling her to run.

Anna only managed to sneak out of her room around nine, when her parents had retired for the night and, as stealthily as possible, walked all the way to her sister's room to then open the door quietly and close it after she had entered. She scanned the room with curious eyes, to try and see if her sister was still awake. Much to her disappointment, however, she had already gone to sleep.

Still, the girl didn't give up just yet, because it was possible that the older girl was just pretending to be asleep in case their parents went to check, more so considering the low temperature of the room, so she walked towards the big bed and tried to take a better look at her sister.

"Elsa. Psst, Elsa!" She tried. "Are you awake?" After not getting an answer for a few moments she sighed internally, but just as she was about to walk away, her sister spoke.

"Go away, Anna." She said, her voice so sad and pained the redhead almost didn't recognize it.

"Elsa!" She exclaimed, noticing her sister was obviously in distress and quickly jumping up to the bed, to get a closer look of the older girl, to which she answered burying herself in the blankets.

"Go away, I'm tired." She protested with an annoyed tone, and Anna would maybe have believed her if she hadn't noticed the obvious trembling of her body.

"I-I… I just came to tell you that I'm sorry about wat happened. If I had known…"

"Just fucking leave!" Elsa shouted, still not coming out of her blankets. "All you ever do is getting me into trouble!"

"B-but Elsa…" Anna's lip started trembling as her sister's words broke her heart, but apparently the crown princess had had enough of her.

"I said leave!" At this, the older princess threw away her blankets and sat up, looking at Anna with an angry expression, chest heaving rapidly and fists tightly clenched as ice spread over the blankets. When Elsa noticed her sister's flinch, she looked down at the ice and tightly closed her eyes, silently willing it to retreat, but it was for naught, and soon tears were falling from her eyes as she trembled uncontrollably.

"Elsa?" Anna asked, confused since she didn't know why her sister (her older sister the one who could do anything and that was afraid of nothing) was crying, and, if her wet cheeks and raspy voice were any indication, had been doing it for a while. "A-are you okay?" Elsa just shook her head and hugged herself tightly as sobs escaped from her mouth. "What happened?"

"N-Nothing." The girl said, her sobs and whimpers growing in volume, making Anna all the more concerned as she searched for something odd in her sister, trying to get a clue about why she was crying. Suddenly she found them; the gloves placed in her hands.

"Why are you wearing gloves? I thought you didn't like them?" She asked.

"I don't." Elsa answered before she could stop herself.

"Then why don't you take them off?" Saying this, Anna captured one of her sister's hands at the same time as the older girl pulled it away, the result being the glove being removed from her hand. Instantly, Elsa tried to hide said hand, but it was too late; Anna had already noticed the bandage and captured her limb to try and examine it. It had blood all over the palm, and the parts the bandage didn't reach to cover had painful-looking wounds and bruises.

"What happened to you?" Anna gasped. Elsa only looked away and took a deep breath readying herself to answer.

"I fell." She said, obviously trying to keep her sobs at bay.

"And you say I'm a klutz." Anna giggled, trying to make her sister laugh. Elsa only give her a fake smile, but Anna seemed to buy it. "Would me kissing them help?"

"I-I guess." Elsa shrugged, knowing her sister only wanted to feel like she could take care of her for a change, however, she didn't expect to feel relief when her sister's lips touched her wounds. True, the pain in her hands didn't change, but the pain in her heart diminished considerably.

"Better?" Anna asked, smiling, to which Elsa could only nod before wrapping her arms around the redhead and pulling her into a tight hug, letting herself feel the comforting warmth of her sister and open her heart to receive the love. She also let herself cry in her sister's shoulder until she'd soaked her nightgown, for once being the one who needed to be soothed. She had never want it to come to this, she crying in a younger girl's shoulder, because she felt her pride was being damaged, but she didn't have any other option; she couldn't go to her parents and she had no friends, so she swallowed her pride and just let herself show vulnerability for once, glad more than ever that she had Anna.

Anna on the other hand, couldn't comprehend why her sister kept crying, but sensing she didn't need her to ask more questions but just to be there for her, she decided it didn't matter, and just hold her until they both finally fell asleep.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter and that it didn't break your hearts too much XD. Please review favorite and/or follow if you're enjoying this story :)

Thanks to my beta reader moorwatcher13 :)