"Alright, Elsa. C'mon, slowly now. Nice and easy…" Anna said while she motioned for Elsa to get up slowly. She wanted to help Elsa up, but she knew Elsa would have definitely flinched away. But she did realize that she allowed her to at least stand right next to her while she tried to stand off the bed.
Elsa winced and moaned in pain at every movement she made. Their hearts just broke as her movements were very shaky and unsteady.
"It's okay, C'mon…" Anna encouraged.
"Anna, I think she's still a bit tired. Maybe she should rest more for a while." Aiden suggested, his face showed concern for Elsa.
"No. I know she can do it. She'd been laying long enough." Anna argued. "C'mon, Elsa." She cheered.
"Anna's right. She's stronger than she looks." Flynn joined the encouragement.
Meanwhile, Rapunzel glanced at the door and checked if Aphrodite was watching. To her disappointment, the queen was already gone.
Oh god, Aphrodite… Where did you go? She thought sadly for the mother while she shook her head in disappointment.
Elsa slowly dangled her skinny legs from the bed, and took a deep breath before she stood. The moment her legs touched the ground and she pushed herself up, she felt dizzy and her legs lost total balance and she collapsed back to the bed, unable to stand on her extremely fragile legs. The legs that she rarely used to walk or stand all these years.
Aiden quickly reacted to help her, but Anna already beat him to it.
"Easy…" Anna rushed to hold Elsa's arm so she could steady her, but Elsa shied her hand away. Anna leaned back with a sad face. "You won't be able to stand on your own, Elsa." Anna informed. She glanced around the room while she tapped her chin with her index and tried to find something that would help Elsa steady herself. She found an old, yet thick wooden stick that rested vertically in the corner. "Hey! How about this!?" Anna ran towards the stick and grabbed it. The stick was one and a half meter long. "This should help. For a while. At least until your legs regain their strength." Anna said, before she approached Elsa with the stick and she quickly noticed how Elsa's eyes widened in fear and shrunk her shoulders up and leaned back to the wall again. "What's wrong?" Anna asked, worried, before she looked at the stick in her hands again and realized how she looked like to Elsa. "Oh! Elsa, nonono! I'm not gonna hurt you! I'm just gonna give it to you so you could help yourself walk." Anna clarified.
The other thieves exchanged concerned looks for Elsa definitely was very skittish.
Elsa's shoulders relaxed a bit, yet her eyes didn't leave the stick in Anna's hands.
Anna held the stick horizontally for Elsa to take it. "Hold it." She said gently.
Hold it. The king's commanding words plagued Elsa's mind. The words he always used when he forced her to train her powers while Mad had to slash her back.
Elsa eyed the stick with wide and frightened eyes. Hold it!? Elsa thought. What if I failed to hold it without freezing it! No! She'll be angry at me if I did! A-And… P-Papa will be angry! She thought, afraid she would have failed her 'Conceal' test.
Anna looked at her in confusion. She wondered what was Elsa thinking of, and why she was afraid to hold the stick. As if she red Elsa's mind, her eyes suddenly widened and she remembered Elsa's training technique back in the cellar when they saw her. "It's not the training!" Anna quickly blurted. "D-Don't worry if you freeze it by mistake. Though I know you won't, so this is why the gloves are for. As it seems when you wear your gloves, your powers are restrained somehow." Anna explained.
