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Anna first met Death when she was five on a cold wintry afternoon. She had been off in her own little world, adventuring through the forest behind her home as Anna the Great Explorer when she happened upon a clearing. Her heart soared at the sight of the large frozen lake. It was, after all, just like the books she had read. Large bodies of water meant hidden sunken cities. So off she went, keen on discovering what she was sure to be the lost city of souls at the centre of the lake.
Her little feet only carried her so far before the ice beneath her began to crack. It was too early into the winter that the lake had not frozen over properly. Anna found herself floundering in its icy waters, her chest burned; unsure in which direction she needed to go to allow her to breath. She panicked, the fear in her heart as palpable as the cold that suffocated her as she seemed to lose complete control of her body, and she sank further. Anna’s final thoughts as darkness overtook her were that mama and papa will be angry at her when she gets home late.
…
“What are you doing here?”
..
"It’s not your time yet. You’re too early.”
..
"I'm taking you out of here.”
.
Anna blinked herself back to consciousness. Conflicting memories of a white place, blue eyes and suffocating icy waters were in the forefront of her mind as she slowly became more aware of her surroundings. She soon realized that she was lying a good few metres away from the lake’s edge; bundled up tightly in a white jacket that did not belong to her.
Despite being sure that she had fallen into the lake moments ago, she found herself dry and warm. Bewildered, she looked up only to have her heart jump into her throat as she found that the sun had begun to dip below the horizon. She had been unconscious for far longer than she thought. Panicking, she quickly sped out of the clearing.
When she arrived home, her parents were none too pleased at her for returning home late.
Anna was immediately grounded. She had tried to explain her watery adventure to her parents and the mystery of her newly acquired jacket. Alas, they had deemed it a tall tale of an attention seeking child and she was reprimanded for lying and possibly stealing a stranger’s jacket. When her pleading failed, Anna locked herself in her room for the night but her stomach eventually protested. Thus, she tiptoed out of her room and into the kitchen to find a plate of sandwiches waiting for her and a note from her parents informing her that they had left for dinner. She ate alone that night, trying to find warmth in the form of a jacket too large for her.
The next few weeks were torturous for the bundle of energy that she was. She spent them lounging around her home; daydreaming of blue eyes and icy waters. Finally, after two weeks, she was no longer grounded and with her newfound freedom, Anna donned the mysterious white jacket and set off to the forest with a picnic basket full of food she had prepared for herself.
She burst into a sprint as soon as the trees began to thin and had nearly tripped upon entering the clearing but caught herself in time, ensuring that she did not destroy the contents of her picnic basket. She immediately sought out any signs of blue eyes in the area and came up empty. Disappointed, Anna sat herself beneath a tree, about to eat one of the few sandwiches she had brought along before an idea popped in her mind.
With a grin, she walked up to the icy edge of the lake. Her foot was inches away from the ice when a soft voice startled her.
“Do you simply not possess a sense of self-preservation?”
Anna swore she must have broken a record somewhere in the world when she leapt away from the lake’s edge in shock. She whirled around to find a young woman before her, with the softest looking platinum blonde hair, wearing black slacks and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and most importantly, had icy blue eyes that were shining with amusement.
"You're actually here! Wow, I thought you weren’t real! I knew I didn’t just imagine everything. I’m Anna! And you are?"
The woman greeted her with a small laugh. “Yes, I am very real. Pleased to meet you Anna, I am Death.”
￭ ￭ ￭
After their second meeting, Anna found the pull to visit the clearing in the forest even greater than before. Not because she enjoyed being surrounded by nature, (maybe just a tad, she is an adventurer at heart after all) but by the mysterious entity that was Death.
Anna had so many questions but soon found, much to her dismay, that death was incredibly tight lipped.
“Do you know when I’ll die?” She asked as she paused her attempt to smush snow together into a perfect snowball; it wasn’t going very well anyway.
Death chuckled. Chuckled! “That is for me to know, and for you to find out when the time does come.”
“Awww, stingy.”
Anna threw her snowball at Death. It fell apart before it even reached the woman. The devilish smirk told her that she had started a battle she had no chance of winning.
￭ ￭ ￭
“How come you don’t wear black? You know, since you’re Death, you should wear a black robe and carry around that giant sickle thing!” She asked, as she wiped the remnants of snow off her clothes. She had lost the fight so badly she was sure she would find snow on her person days later if it weren’t capable of melting. Like sand.
“I am not a walking personification of a painting from the eighteen hundreds.” Death sighed exasperatedly, as she reached out to help the younger girl with her predicament.
“A walking what-now? Nevermind, and you’re wearing all white! That’s so undeath-like. I thought only angels wore white clothes? Are you secretly an angel?” Anna began to wring herself much like a dog. The snow still stuck onto her clothes. How much snow had she been pelted with?!
“Undeat- no, I am not an angel. I just happen to like white.” Her hand moved to shield herself from the effects of the violent movements of Anna. Specks of snow flew everywhere.
“That’s no fun. Where’s your cool sickle thing?” She paused to look at Death with narrowed eyes, still covered in snow.
“I don’t own a sickle thing.”
“.... you are the most uncool Death ever.”
They had a little stare off, Anna with cheeks pouted out looking very much like a giant human snowball and Death with a raised brow looking unamused. The silence was broken when Death snapped her fingers. Anna suddenly felt much lighter; she gave herself a once over and found herself completely snow free.
Her jaw dropped open as she blinked owlishly at Death.
“I take it back, you are the coolest!”
￭ ￭ ￭
“Since you’re Death, does that mean you’re dead?”
“No Anna, I may be Death but I am by no means dead.”
“That’s really confusing.”
“Only if you think so... what are you doing?”
“I’m checking to see if yo- wow your hand is so cold! I heard that if someone’s dead, they become cold.”
“Where would a five year old hear something like that?”
“Timmy from my class told me. Well, since you are cold, that means you’re dead!”
“We’ll probably need to have a look at who you’re associating with in school. However, I am very much alive, thank you very much. I just happen to be cold.”
“Oh...Well that’s no good! Here!”
“Ooff, Anna, what are you doing this time?”
“I’m making you warm! Hugs make me warm and since you’re cold, I just have to hug you until you get warm.”
￭ ￭ ￭
I, ANNA, hereby formally invite DEATH to the 25th Arendelle Pre-School Annual Graduating Class End of the Year play of the Robin Hood that will be held on the 13th of December 2008.
The edge of her mouth twitched, threatening a smile as Death looked down to the little girl who was fiddling her fingers nervously avoiding the gaze of her friend after she had all but shoved the little piece of paper to her.
“Anna…as…delighted as I am for your invitation to your play, are you sure this is appropriate? Your parents would not want a veritable stranger attending their daughter’s event.”
At that, Anna visibly deflated.
“They won’t, Mama and Papa don't care about my play. They said they would be busy and won’t be able to come. So, you won’t have to worry about them! And you’re not a stranger, you are my friend. Please, please, please…I just want someone that matters to be there.”
Death’s heart clenched tightly at the confession of Anna who had begun tearing up during her little tirade. She knelt on the ground in front of the younger girl before she reached out and tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear.
“First of all, Anna, I too am very busy around the holidays so I understand why your parents would not be able to come. That does not mean that they don’t care about you, or your play.”
“Second thing…,” Death continued as she reached out to cup Anna’s face in her palms, “You should change the name on that invitation to Elsa, I highly doubt your school would appreciate Death dropping by.”
She pinched Anna’s little freckled cheeks before letting go. Teal eyes shining with excitement looked up at her as she broke out into the widest smile.
“Elsa...Elsa! You are the best, best friend ever!”
￭ ￭ ￭
After months of barely being at home, Anna’s absence was eventually noticed by her parents. They had confronted her one day and she had quickly fibbed that she had found a study group for homework, not wanting to risk losing her only friend should they decide to stop her from leaving the house.
Thankfully, they had bought her lie, to which she boasted to her best friend of her quick thinking. Unfortunately, Elsa disapproved of her lie and insisted she bring her homework along with her during her visits. Something about ‘Lying isn’t good Anna, especially for one as young as you,’ much to her disgruntlement.
Elsa turned out to be an excellent tutor of all subjects, much to Anna’s surprise. Thus, a study-partnership was born and her already excellent grades excelled even further. Though, their little arrangement hit a snag on one particularly windy day years later.
"Runaway sheet, 3 o'clock."
"On it."
"...you know, this is probably not the best location to complete your math homework Anna."
"What?! Are you kidding me? We’ve been here for years and you’re complaining now? We've got fresh air, a breathtakingly beautiful lakeside view, and cute trees around us. All elements that are conducive to a productive mind."
"I agree that they are positives. However, you failed to include destructive winds sequestering your homework away in that list of yours."
"Psh, unimportant details. I have you to catch ‘em anyway."
" Anna..."
“No pesky piece of paper can outrun death herself!”
“...”
￭ ￭ ￭
They stood inside a sparsely decorated cabin-like timber structure. Sparsely might be a bit generous. It had a desk and two chairs. That was it.
"Uh... What's this?”
"A solution against rogue winds and your new homework base.”
"But why is it in a tree?"
"Well, the elevated position provides privacy and safety against unwanted guests and the foliage is excellent shading during the summer.”
"You built a treehouse."
"I built a shelter that would effectively stop the winds from destroying your homework."
"Yeah, but it's still a treehouse, Elsa."
“... Do you not like it?"
"What!? No! I mean- yes! I love it! This is amazing! I can't believe you built me a treehouse!"
"I'm glad. Now you can be twice as productive."
"Hmmm... yes of course of course, productivity….”
“Anna, what are you plotting this time?”
“Nothing, nothing, no plotting of any sorts over here. Just uh... thinking about my math assignment. Yeap that’s it.”
“Alright then…”
“It’s nice in here. A bit chilly though. And empty.”
“I suppose I could install more furniture into the place and perhaps a fireplace.”
“Say...think you can install a TV in here?”
“No Anna, absolutely not.”
￭ ￭ ￭
“Alright, so I’ve heard some good things about this one. It should be a pretty decent watch.” Anna motioned for Elsa to move over before throwing herself on to the couch of Homework Base. She tried to get their treehouse renamed to something else but Elsa insisted. This is a place for productivity, not play time. She had won anyway, she thought as she hit play before tossing the remote to the opposite end of the couch.
“If you say so.” Rubbing her probably not bruised shoulder that Anna had all but slammed into. A gesture she had learned from her friend. “Might I remind you that the last time you picked a movie that was ‘pretty decent’, you fell asleep and I had to suffer through it alone.”
“Aww, it wasn’t that bad was it?” Grinning unapologetically, her hand snaked its way into the popcorn bowl only to have it swatted away by her friend.
“The acting and the plot were utterly incoherent” She paused to chew on the popcorn that she had denied Anna as punishment, “Your pre-school production of animal Robin Hood far outclassed it. At least by ten of those pretentious awards with the bald man trophies.”
“Wow, uh....Let's just see how this one goes okay?”
￭ ￭ ￭
“I can’t believe he just- you wouldn’t do that would you? I mean, you’re Death and all but you’re not meanie McMeanPants. This is so wrong! I’ll sue for misrepresentation!” Anna all but shouted as she shook her fist in the air, causing uneaten popcorn seeds to fly all over the couch. Which wasn’t much of a loss as nobody liked those anyway, not even Elsa, and she’s Death.
“Well it’s not entirely inaccurate,” she paused to clear away the popcorn remnants that were now stuck in Anna’s hair before continuing. “There are many discrepancies but it may have gotten microscopic amounts right.”
Anna moved so fast Elsa barely had time to avoid getting headbutted. “Wait what? It does? Tell me, tell me! You always keep your deathly adventures to yourself, it’s no fair to your favourite sister.” Her eyes widened before she quickly covered her slip up, ”I mean friend. Best friend. Cause that’s who you are, you know? Best friend.” Yeap, her best friend ‘Death’, who does not have to know that she may have adopted her as an older sibling since she was about six, nope.
Seconds passed as Elsa blinked at her before she slowly nodded as she said, “My... deathly adventures?”
“Ye-Yeah! Where someone like Bobby Joe over here tries to run, and then you chase him down, and play chess against him for his soul!”
“That is absurd Anna.”
“But it would be so cool! Checkmate Bobby Joe, your soul is mine,” she clicked her tongue and followed up with finger guns to emphasize exactly how cool it was.
“Chess is far too archaic now.” She scoffed as she waved away the finger guns causing the other to pout. ”These days I challenge mortals to a children’s card game.”
Anna’s pout vanished at those words. “Did you...? You finally watched it! And you were being a stubborn old woman going all ‘no Anna, this looks utterly ridiculous. I could never understand the humour of you morta-‘ wait...are those cards?”
“Indeed they are si- Anna. I challenge you to a duel. Would you accept?” she asked with a smirk, her eyes lit up as she waved the deck of cards in her hands.
“Heck yeah I accept! I’ll even throw in a fake bet for my soul.”
￭ ￭ ￭
Having won and lost her soul multiple times. Anna decided it was time for a hot chocolate break and the duo planted themselves in front of the now lighted fireplace with their mugs.
“I still don’t understand how you managed to install a fireplace in a tree house. Isn’t it fire hazard times a thousand?” She snuggled closer into the blanket, shivering despite the fire before her.
“It is perfectly safe. I’ve made sure of that.” Elsa assured her as she conjured a blanket from thin air before she placed it around Anna and received a mumble of thanks.
The crackling of fire and the warmth of being cocooned in a sea of blankets were slowly lulling Anna into sleep.
She turned over to peer at Elsa who was staring out the window, eyes faraway; they saw something far beyond Anna’s sight. It was at times like this that Anna remembers that Elsa was a being of legends, who has probably experienced and seen an impossible number of things. A thought hit her then.
“Hey Els?”
“Mhmm?” She acknowledged with a slight tilt of her head.
“Aren’t you super busy having to do death things all the time?” She asked as she shuffled over towards Elsa, blankets trailed behind her over her shoulders before grabbing the end of one and draping it over Elsa’s shoulder while she kept the other end.
Elsa murmured a thanks as she pulled on the blanket, securing its position. “Death things?”
“Well, you know, Death things like, reap the dead, lead wayward souls to wherever it is that you won’t tell me no matter how many times I ask.”
“Yes…I do tend to be busy with ‘Death Things’ as you so eloquently put it.”
“Oh, shush you,” smacking the other woman in the arm, drawing soft laughter from her. In the back of her mind, Anna found that it was ridiculous that she could do that to Death, but here she was. “Anyway, I was wondering, why do you spend so much time helping me with homework and building treehouses when you have an underworld to run?”
“I don’t run the underworld Anna, that’s ridiculous.”
“Oho so there is an underworld eh?”
“Aa-...no, no comment. I refuse to confirm or deny the existence of the underworld.”
“Hmmmm, I will weasel it out of you eventually. Like that time, I made you model your work uniform even when you were being a grumpy old woman.”
“Anna.”
“I don’t see why you were so resistant to show me! You looked great! Very professional, definitely not what I would have pictured Death wearing, not you Death, I mean Death-Death. But that aside, how come you can hang out with me so much? Not that I don’t like it, I love being with you, but I know you are really busy so what’s up?”
Elsa nervously wrung her hands together and toyed with her thumbs. Silence overtook them for a while before she finally sighed and muttered something so softly Anna was sure even bats would not have been able to pick it up.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
Elsa seemed to shrink even further into herself as she revealed shyly, “It’s because that is what big sisters do...right?”
Her words stunned Anna into silence. However, she quickly shook herself off her reverie and broke out into a wide grin as she launched herself at Elsa, enveloping her into the tightest hug she could muster. Her blankets fell away and were left discarded on the floor. They didn’t matter though, because the words of her sister warmed her more than any blanket in the world could.
￭ ￭ ￭
“I just don’t understand why!” Anna groaned as she sank into the couch before placing her head on Elsa’s lap, using her sister as a comfortable pillow.
“Your parents most likely just want to spend time with you Anna.” Elsa answered as she ruffled her sister’s hair.
She swatted away the offending hand. “I don’t see why though! They spent years ignoring me and now they suddenly want me to spend a whole month away on a ship in the middle of the ocean with them. It makes no sense.”
Shaking out her stinging hand, Elsa instead opted for a peace offering, weaving her hand into Anna’s hair and massaging her scalp; smirking when the younger girl shut her eyes and leaned further into her ministrations. “Give your parents a chance. Perhaps they wish to right their wrongs. Go spend time with them, speak with them and get to know them. You’ll enjoy it. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
Anna’s eyes shot open before narrowing as she regarded her sister suspiciously.
“Why are you advocating for them?”
She shrugged. “I believe that this will be good for you.”
“But I won't be able to see you for forever.”
“I’ll always be here Anna.”
Her voice was low and weighted. Not at all what Anna expected, but before she could question it, her phone rang.
￭ ￭ ￭
The following months were a rush of new and old. Anna had spent them travelling with her parents and visiting her sister when she was home. She had tried to convince Elsa to join her during her travels since her abilities should allow her to go anywhere. Alas, her pleas were shot down by sheer stubbornness.
Eventually, Elsa had given her a stuffed polar bear as a ‘surrogate for me to accompany you’ much to her delight. The bear was named Belsa the Death (despite mild protest from you know who, it’s a great name!) and given a black cloak that Anna had fumbled together from scraps of an old shirt.
She discovered many things in the duration of their month-long trip at the sea. One, that her mother was quite the seamstress. She had skilfully sewn a little plush scythe for Belsa despite the constant rocking of the waves, much to Anna’s delight and that her father, despite his love for fishing, was a lousy angler. Something that she had thankfully not inherited, lest they had naught but canned food to survive on.
On her return, she weighed her sister down in a ridiculous number of souvenirs that completely filled Homework Base. She showed off pictures of her catches and many selfies of her and Belsa (there were some with her parents of course) taken at various port towns and cities they had visited.
While she still spent a great deal of time at Homework Base with Elsa, she found herself splitting her free hours between fishing with her father and sewing various clothes for Belsa, whose wardrobe had all but tripled. Anna was happy, and she was beginning to settle into her new life of an unbroken family until she had returned home one day to smoke and sirens. There was a fire, they said. Her parents should have been able to escape. They died in their sleep instead.
Elsa remained missing from her life until a week passed, and her parents were buried on an uncomfortably warm summer morning.
She didn’t want to be alone, so here she was, a living ghost haunting the remains of her home as she kept returning to its grave. When the night chill began to settle in, she shivered and readjusted her white jacket just as she heard the lightest of footsteps. She felt a familiar presence next to her and after several minutes of silence, Anna decided to break it.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I just imagined them always being there. We were just starting again, you know?”
“I’m so sorry Anna.” Her voice quivered as she shuffled away slightly, almost as if she was preparing to flee at a moment's notice.
Anna turned to face her sister and stepped closer, erasing the distance. “You knew didn’t you? You knew it was going to happen and now you have been avoiding me.”
“I... yes. I did. I always do. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.” Elsa confessed, her eyes downcast as she crossed her arms with her hands cradling her elbows. “And yes, I have been avoiding you. I was unsure if you would ever want to even see me again.”
The silence that followed was all Elsa needed as proof that her sister no longer wanted her. Her voice cracked as she said “I’ll just leave, I... you won’t have to see me again.” She had only managed a single step away before her arm was caught in a painfully tight grip.
“Elsa if you leave me right now I swear I will hunt you down even into the pits of hellfire; I will find you and drag you back with me.”
She turned to see a pair of angry eyes glaring at her. “Ann-“
“No I’m not finished. I needed you Elsa. I needed my sister, and you left me alone. I had the worst week of my life and you left me to face it alone.” She let out a long sigh. Her shoulders loosened and her eyes softened as she looked up to the same pair of blue eyes that saved her from a watery grave so long ago. ”I just lost a part of my family...don’t make me lose all of it. Please. I need you. Please don't leave me.”
She released Elsa's arm, allowing her arms to fall beside her. Her anger subsided and allowed her insecurities to seep in. Had she said too much? Was she too needy? Why would Elsa, Death herself, want to have anything to do with some now orphaned child anyway? What if Elsa found her to-
Anna was crushed in a tight hug before she could finish her thought.
"I would never leave you Anna. I'll always be here."
Tears that were absent throughout the week since her parents passed broke free as she sobbed into her sister's embrace.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she had run out of tears to shed. Anna blinked in confusion when she realized they were both sat on the ground. Elsa must have guided them down when she lost the strength in her legs.
Anna extracted herself from the embrace to find Elsa smiling warmly at her with eyes burning brightly with affection; the remnants of worry in them were chased away by the grin that Anna returned.
"I love you Anna.”
Anna thought she might have burst, when she heard those words from Elsa. She threw herself at her sister, sending them both tumbling down onto the ground. She burrowed into her sister’s arms and sighed happily.
“...I love you too sis.”
Anna no longer felt the nighttime chill. In fact, she was incredibly warm.
She may have lost her home and her parents.
The world could take away what she loved most and leave her shivering in the cold.
Yet, she had Elsa to chase away the chill and the darkness. After all, she was the fire that kept Anna warm and loved throughout the years.
Her sister was the warmest person in existence.
Death was the warmest.