"Elsa?" Anna's voice dips into my dreams.

I blink and her face comes into focus. I see her flushed cheeks, bright eyes and long, untidy braids.

I sit up. "Anna!" I reach for her, but my arms are yanked back. Iron shackles my wrists. I stare down. Anna would never-

"I'm sorry, Elsa." Anna slants her gaze away from me and looks around the small prison cell. "Hans wouldn't let me see you any other way."

"Hans? Who's Hans?" I shake my head. "Don't tell me he's that prince from the party."

"Uh..." Anna stands up and paces the small prison cell. She fiddles with the end of her braid.

She looks different from the night of my coronation. How many days has it been? I know the storm did not last too long, but I lost track of time years ago.

"Anna...I am sorry. I didn't even know who Hans was, but then again, neither did you-"

"This isn't about him!" Anna braces herself against the wall. "Elsa! You almost killed me. In a matter of minutes, you froze everything-the entire kingdom! Then you ran off. It took me days to find you and when I did, you were lying unconscious in a gigantic ice castle! I was afraid that you would never wake up."

I tremble and stare down at my hands. All I see is the iron cuffs around them. My heart twists and turns inside me.

Not even my own sister can trust me now.

I think of the old woman in the tower. She said that she could fix me. Her needle could take away my powers. Maybe then I would be free.

I breathe out slowly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. My powers just got out of hand."

"Your powers didn't hurt me, Elsa. You did...by withdrawing, by hiding when you could have trusted me. We could have been stronger together."

"What are you going to do with me now?"

Anna sits down next to me on the stone bed. "First, I am going to get you out of this nasty cell. I don't care what Hans says. You are my sister and I still believe in you. Besides, your storm is gone."

"It is?!" I jump to my feet and look out the window, my hands straining against my iron shackles. Pitch kept his promise. I did not expect him to.

"Yes, summer has returned. But the people are still scared."

I groan and sit back down. "How am I going to explain? What should I say to them?"

"The truth. Tell them the truth."

"What?" Tears inch into my eyes. "That I was born a monster? That I have an unnatural gift I could never control?"

Anna touches my sleeve. "The trolls gave me back my memories."

"Now you know that I hurt you."

"Yes, but that was no reason for you to shut me out. I understand that you were just trying to protect me. But I wanted to help you."

I drop my head. "I doubt the rest of the kingdom shares your opinion."

Anna rubs her eyes. "Elsa, they just don't understand. I wish that I could say that everything will go back to the way it was before. But it can't. And besides, hiding in your room is no way to live."

"Then what can I do?" I can only try to find this Sinter Klass and get the needle from him.

"You can't be queen."

"What?" My mouth falls open. "You can't be serious." I've only been crowned for a few days and already I am going to lose my title.

I was scared, beyond terrified, yet I went through with the coronation because I knew it was the right thing to do. I knew it was what my parents wanted.

Anna has never wanted to rule. She is kind and good, but naïve. She has never been able to focus on government or politics. The only books she read were romance novels.

All those years that I spent cooped up in my room, I studied and worked hard to be ready. I wanted to be a good queen and make my parents proud.

This is the only way I can honor them. I have to make up for my storm.

"Are you going to take away my title?"

"No...I don't want to." Anna walks toward the door. "But Hans is right, the kingdom will not follow someone who runs away from trouble. You must address your subjects and explain what happened. If you want to be queen, then you must learn to control your powers."

I close my eyes. "I am not sure that I can."

"There is a way." Anna opens the cell door. "I went to the trolls for help. A young man, Kristoff, helped me find you. Much has happened while you were gone. Our cousin, Rapunzel and her husband, Eugene, are here. They are willing to help us in whatever way they can."

 "I will explain everything, but first I must find a guard to free you."

"No need." I focus my gaze on the iron. Quickly, almost eagerly, ice frosts around them until they break under the pressure. I stand up and shake out my sore wrists.

Anna stares at me. Her eyes trace over my long side braid and my blue gown to the broken iron cuffs at my feet.

I step toward her. "I know...I look like a monster."

"No." Anna wraps her arms around her waist. "You look strong and beautiful. I can't believe you would hide something this important from me."

I touch her arm. "Time and again, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. Father told me to conceal my gift, to not feel. They wanted to keep you safe."

"They were wrong."

"You almost died, Anna." I run my finger down the white stripe in her hair. "I could have killed you."

Anna lifts her hands to my face. "But you didn't. I remember everything now. It was just an accident. In a way, it was my fault."

"None of this mess is your fault."

Anna flings her arms around me. "I love you, Elsa." She chokes on the words. "I thought you were gone forever."

I stand straight and still, afraid to touch her in case my power goes berserk. I want to let my arms relax and hug her back. But I cannot.

I refuse to spend the rest of my life cowering in fear, holding back so that I don't hurt anyone.

I can't tell Anna my plan, but I must find the needle. Everything depends on it. If I can get rid of my powers, then I can get rid of my weakness.

I will be a strong queen, a loving sister, an honorable daughter.

Without my terrible ice powers, I will be perfect.