Frozen Too Little Too Late

Anna sat on the floor with her head tilted back against the white footboard of her bed. Two days had passed since the funeral and she was still wearing her mourning clothes. Anna let out a sigh. She was not happy; in fact, she was miserable. Grabbing her cape from the floor, she slipped her hand in the inside pocket and drew out a medication bottle she found in the top drawer of her mother's vanity. The bottle's label read, "_Halicon 0.25 mg Take one pill right before going to bed_." _I didn't know my mother had a major sleeping problem_, she thought. Anna dumped the contents of the bottle in her hand. She looked fixatedly at sixteen little light blue oval pills. "Now or never," she said softly.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up a pill with a slightly trembling hand and placed it to her lips. The tip of her tongue caressed the pill causing her to grimace at the bitterness of it. For a brief moment she was going to back out, but memories of the harsh painful events which had led her to this raced through her mind. At the age of five her sister, for some unknown reason, isolated herself from her. Then the death of their parents caused a huge argument with her sister when she didn't attend the funeral. Since then, most of her time was spent locked in her room, filled with immense feelings of sorrow and self-loathing. It was more than she could take!

"I'll do it!" she said forcefully as she catapulted all the tiny pills in her mouth. Anna struggled to swallow the pills as the intense bitterness made her want to gag. Fighting it, she managed to get all the pills down. _That would have been much easier if I had brought some water. _Anna got up only to lie down in bed. With glittering blue eyes she stared at the sunlight shining through her bedroom window; thoughts raced through her head. _The letter! I almost forgot._ As Anna sat up, she felt a strong but brief feeling of nausea that came and passed. "The pills must be working." she murmured as she leaned over opening the drawer to her nightstand. Anna pulled out a clean white envelope with the name Elsa neatly written on the front, and placed it on top of the nightstand where it would surely be seen. She lay back down.

After a few minutes she was beginning to wonder if the pills were going to work. Soon after closing her eyes, Anna was hit with a severe pain in her stomach causing her to double over and let out a wail. This was immediately followed by her heart racing which felt like sledge hammer pounding back and forth in her chest! Anna became terrified and tried to scream for help, but could only make faint sounds due to her breathing being rapid and shallow. _It was not supposed to be like this!_ A peaceful sleeping death is what she imagined, not one full of pain! Anna regretted her decision, wished she never had taken the pills, but it was all too late. Nothing could be changed. Princess Anna died alone. A wistful expression lingered on her face and in her still wide open sky blue eyes.

* * *

Elsa was getting worried. She hadn't meant to yell quite so loudly at her; hadn't meant to drive her away. This was the third day now she hadn't heard Anna's voice through her bedroom door. No good morning, no goodnight, nothing. The last thing she heard from her sister was the sound of her crying hysterically and her footsteps echoing through the halls as she ran away. Elsa paced nervously talking to herself. "Why did I have to lose my temper at her? I got to tell her the truth! I got to tell her about my powers, and then she will understand everything."

For ten years Elsa shut herself away from her little sister just to keep her safe. A part of her died inside every time she would hear the sound of Anna's voice trying reconnect, trying to understand. "It wasn't your fault Anna. You did nothing wrong. I wanted to keep you safe and never hurt you again." Elsa stopped pacing at the realization of the words she uttered. She did hurt her sister again! She lost it after Anna kept bugging her as to why she couldn't attend their parent's funeral. _It was so my powers don't get discovered and I accidently hurt someone like I hurt you years ago,_ is what Elsa wanted to say instead of the pernicious words that slipped out of her mouth.

_All we have is each other. I have to make things right between us! I love her and I know she feels the same!_ Taking a deep breath, Elsa proceeded out her bedroom, down the hall towards her sister's room. She stood quietly for a moment at the door before knocking gently four times. "Anna?" Elsa knocked a little louder. "Anna, please, I need to talk to you." Grabbing the doorknob, she opened the door and took a few steps inside. She saw Anna curled up in bed with her back towards the door. A black cape sat crumpled on the floor next to a couple pillows.

"Anna….Are you awake?" No response. Elsa walked closer to the bed and repeated in a slightly louder voice. "Anna, wake up. I need to talk to you." There was still no acknowledgement that she heard her sister's words. Figuring that Anna was purposely ignoring her, and she had every right to, Elsa sat down on the edge of the bed. She paused for a moment searching for her words. "I know you must still be angry with me after all that happened two days ago. I didn't mean to say those things to you. I lost control and did not realize what I was saying until it was too late. Will you please forgive me?" She was a little surprised that she didn't get a reaction from her apology.

_Now is as good of time as any to tell her the truth. _"Anna. This is important! The reason why I…" Elsa stopped talking midsentence as she turned to face her sister; her name scripted on an envelope caught her attention. A feeling of dismay flooded her as she picked up the envelope. She gave a quick concerned glance at the sleeping Anna before opening the envelope and drawing out a neatly folded sheet of linen paper. She took a deep breath as she unfolded it. Her eyes grew wide and filled with tears as she read the short but powerful message.

_I offered you all my love and I got nothing in return from you. Thus I die unloved and alone._

_Please do not regret me. _

_Anna_

Elsa couldn't believe it! Grabbing Anna by the arm she rolled her on her back. Her eyes were open gazing at her. They were no longer the sparking blue eyes she remembered. She closed them. Elsa stared at her sister, trying not to cry and to cry at the same time. She wondered why she felt nothing, though it was obvious from the note that it was her fault she had died. She found suddenly that she could no longer bear to look at Anna lying there, so peaceful in death, while she was left to live on, praying for forgiveness for driving her little sister to the brink of despair and over it. The thought of using her powers to take her own life crossed her mind. _That's the coward's way out, the easy way out. _"I must atone for her death...with life!" Elsa exclaimed, as she left the room closing the door behind her. Elsa promised herself and her sister that she would live and suffer for her crime.

After informing the castle assistants of her sister's passing, Elsa retreated back to the solitude of her room. It didn't take long before the news of Anna's death quickly spread throughout Arendelle. The true cause of the young princess's death was kept secret and this led to the spread of many rumors. Preparations were made for Anna's funeral. She was to be buried in the ground next to her parents' memorial stone markers.

It had been six days since the people of Arendelle lost their King and Queen. Now it was their youngest Princess. Nobody expected Elsa to attend the service, but there she was in front of them clothed in her mourning dress. She stood still with her head bowed, eyes closed, and hands folded in front. No one accused her of her sister's death, if any had, it was not openly, but she felt accused nonetheless. Perhaps some wondered why she didn't cry, and thought that maybe she didn't love her... they could not be further from the truth. Elsa had no tears to shed. Anna decided that death would be better for her than to live life with a sister she barely knew anymore, a sister that shut her out with no explanation as to why. If only she would have let her in, then maybe, she would still be alive today.

Anna slept on in the earth beneath the cool soil of the grassy hillside facing the mountains. If she knew, just a little, what went on above, she made no move to rise from the grave...to awaken from her final resting place...to forgive her sister for her death. Maybe she knew that Elsa would never forgive herself either...and so Anna died while Elsa lived on.


End file.

Frozen, Angst, Tragedy