Notes

A/N: This takes place when Elsa is 12 and Anna is 9.

~

Elsa bit her lip nervously. Maybe, she could go somewhere other than her bedroom or the sitting room, just once.

She opened her door, tip-toeing out. She crept to the corner. She hadn't gone past that corner since she was seven.

As she turned it, a large painting caught her eye.

It was of a woman with white hair. But that's not what caught her attention. It was the note left on a piece of paper dangling from it.

Her hair looks like yours.

Elsa dropped it, looking around.

Anna wasn't anywhere to be found.

She looked down at the next painting. It too had a note.

What is this even supposed to be? A pineapple?

Elsa let out a little laugh.

Anna had left notes for her on almost every painting in the castle. She prowled about, careful not to let Anna see her, reading all of them, laughing at some, simply smiling at others, and furrowing her brow at the ones she disagreed with.

Then, Elsa got an idea.

~

Anna skipped through the castle, looking for something to do.

When something caught her eye.

Her notes were gone.

She ran about, checking all the paintings.

They were all gone!

She was going to go ask her mother about it when something else caught her eye.

There was new note on a painting.

Personally, I think it looks like a squirrel.

Elsa had written back!

~

This continued for two years. Anna would leave notes in random places around the castle, and a few days later, the note would be gone and Elsa's reply would replace it.

Only, Anna had started putting them near her room. Elsa was having to wait until she was certain Anna wasn't there before she could retrieve it.

One day, her mother caught her going down what her parents called 'Anna's hall.'

"Elsa!" Her mother had whispered, not wanting Anna to hear. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just... walking around."

The Queen frowned. "You want to see your sister."

It wasn't a question, but Elsa confirmed it with a nod. She didn't want to tell her about the notes.

Her mother stared down at her sadly.

"I'm sorry. You don't know how sorry I am. But you can't just wander the halls, hoping you'll accidentally bump into each other. From now on, try to stick to the other side of the castle, okay?"

Elsa nodded.

~

After a few weeks, Anna got the hint and started leaving them around Elsa's room again.

They would've been able to continue it for years if Anna hadn't showed them to their mother.

~

"Why?" She asked, wanting to cry. "How is a note going to hurt her?!"

"Elsa-" her father started, but she interrupted him.

"No! I know that we can't be like we were when we were kids! I know that! What I don't understand is how I can hurt her leaving notes around the castle, never even being in the same room as her!"

"Elsa, she thinks you're getting close again." Her father explained. "She thinks that you're trying to fix things between you two. Eventually, she'll come knocking on your door again, expecting you to open it. And you won't. And it'll break her heart."

"But-"

"Elsa, please. Try to understand."

Elsa sighed, and turned to her mother, who looked about to cry, but nodded.

And that was the end of the notes.