Tonight had probably been the worst night of Anna's life. Her heart was full of pain and broken in two, by someone she thought loved her.
She kept running through the rain, desperately racing towards the place she called home, to her safe space where she could let her emotions flow out and be free.
She collapsed by the door of her house, crying heavily, the rain mixing with her tears and drenching her wet skin.
Anna had thought this evening was starting so well. A date with her boyfriend, Hans, at this beautiful restaurant she had found online, followed by a movie that they had both had been desperate to see, but all she could think about was how Hans had spoken to her when… when she had… It was hard to think now. Anna just needed
Oh, Anna, if there was someone who truly loved you.
His voice was still racking through her brain, that bastard Hans. He never cared about her, he just wanted her body, like all men did.
And yet, Anna thought it would be a second chance for her. A chance for her to have that romance she'd always dreamed as a little girl, but dreams never came true for her.
Anna managed to find her keys, watching the metal objects shake in her already traumatised hands, struggling to slid them into the lock, but she wouldn't die out in the cold tonight. That would have been too cruel a fate for her.
Anna threw herself into her home, closing the door behind her and locking the door. She then strode to the living room and buried her face into the couch.
Emotions overflowed as did her tears, streaming down her freckled, guilt-ridden cheeks.
Why oh why hadn't she seen the signs sooner, she thought. Why didn't she notice how close Hans was getting outside of the restaurant, how in that moment he had… taken her. Anna shuddered at the thought of Hans again. She had run away when she did for good reason. She was pretty sure in her anger she jabbed him in the face, but there was no anger, only pain.
She needed someone to talk to about this, someone she could rely on.
Anna reached for her phone, lying on a table next to the couch, turning it on and going to the contacts app, a small smile as she saw the profile picture.
Elsa.
Anna's beloved older sister. She had moved away after their parents had died to pursue her writing career, which Anna had heard was quite successful, but Elsa always would make time for her, even if she was in another state right now, she would make time.
Anna pressed the green call button, holding the phone to her ear, praying to heaven that Elsa would pick up. She needed her sister desperately in this moment.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Come on pick up!" Anna growled, starting to lose her temper, although she couldn't blame herself. Anyone in her situation would be stressed over a little thing like this.
Suddenly she heard a slight crackle and a familiar voice over the receiver. "Hello?"
Anna's eyes widened with content. "Elsa!"
"Anna?" Elsa's voice wondered. "Hi, what's up?" Elsa sounded sincere, so blissfully unaware. Anna knew that confessing what had happened would bring her sister's mood right down, but Elsa would understand.
"Elsa… it's good to hear your voice," Anna spoke, trying her best to hold back her tears and hide her pain.
"Me too, it's been a while since you called," Elsa responded. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Anna lied. She was scared, concerned how Elsa would be. Elsa did worry a lot. She always did have a problem with anxiety. "I'm totally fine."
"You don't sound fine," Elsa noticed Anna's rather shaky tone. "Is there something wrong?"
Anna sighed. "Yes… yes, god yes. Elsa, something horrible happened to me and I need you so much right now," she blurted out through her tears.
"Woah, woah," Elsa calmed her. "Take it easy. What happened?" Anna could sense Elsa was taking that motherly tone she always loved about Elsa, the tone she had assumed non-stop after they lost their parents.
"Well… I tried dating again," Anna informed her.
"I see," Elsa acknowledged. The last time Anna had a relationship, it was with her childhood friend Kristoff, but things very quickly broke down between them and Elsa had always been fearful of Anna being heartbroken again. "Who was your date?"
"His name was Hans," Anna told her, almost feeling sick at the mention of his name. "He was a colleague at my job. We'd started talking and we got together and we were meant to have this great date tonight."
"But something happened didn't it," Elsa assumed.
Anna nodded, shedding a few more tears. "When we were walking out of the restaurant, he… he took me into this back alley and… put his hand up my skirt. I tried to get away but he pinned me to the wall and then I screamed and I punched him and I've just ran and ran and… oh god." Anna could feel herself relving her trauma again. Hans's lips forcefully on her neck, his sideburns stroking her cheeks without permission, his arms pinning her to the wall of the alleyway.
"Oh my god," Elsa exclaimed, starting to panic. "A-Are you alright? Physically?"
"I think I bruised my leg somehow," Anna replied. "But I think that's it."
"Have you gone to the police?" Elsa asked. This was an important question, since Anna had just been the victim of a criminal act.
"No… No, because Hans might be there," Anna said. "See, one of his brothers is a cop, and not the good kind of cop, the dirty, takes bribes kind of cop, and I punched him and…"
"Woah, wait, you punched a cop?"
"No, I punched Hans, in the face, really hard," Anna corrected, rubbing her cold, sore knuckle with her fingers. It was still sore, a red mark on the tips of her knuckles where they had connected with Hans's face.
"Oh god…" Elsa sighed. "Hang on in there, okay?"
"Wait are you going?!" Anna exclaimed.
"Yes," Elsa replied. "And no. Look don't worry about it, just hold in there for a few hours. It's gonna be alright Anna." Elsa was giving Anna look of compassion, even if Anna could not physically see it.
"But… I'm scared," Anna admitted, crying again and curling up with her legs onto the couch.
"Me too, but I'm more scared about you than about what you did," Elsa stated. "I'm coming over to take care of you okay?"
"All the way from Mirror Lakes?" Anna inquired. "But that's like a five hour drive."
"Yes, but I don't care," Elsa replied. "I'm coming to look after you."
Anna sighed. "Okay, I'll try and keep calm."
"Good, try and relax and ease yourself," Elsa stated. "The only thing that can make a situation like this worse is by you panicking."
"Okay," Anna breathed easily. "Okay."
"I'll see you in a few hours, Anna," Elsa promised. "I'll be there."
"Okay," Anna accepted. "I love you, Elsa."
"I love you too." And with that, Elsa hung up and Anna was alone again. The young woman then curled up again into a cushion, sobbing heavily into her pillow. She was broken, but soon, her big sister would come to make things right, like she always did.
xXx
Some hours passed, Anna was still in her living room, having not moved an inch from where she was when she had called her sister. Her whole body was shaking so much, she daren't move, lest she hurt herself anymore than a little bruise on the leg.
All she could think about was how she was putting Elsa in a position she didn't need to be in. She was the spare of the family, Elsa was the shining star. She was content with Elsa having the glory and being famous, Anna just wanted to live a normal, happy life.
But no, she wasn't living a happy life. She had spent the past two months living a lie that a man at her job had actually cared about her. No one cared about her there. She was just another cog in a corporate machine.
Anna looked at her hands, still slight red from being out in the cold. She could feel them still shaking from trying to get Hans away from her, trying to get that monster from taking her and reducing her to nothing.
She was so scared about what would happen, what could happen.
At that moment, there finally came a knock on her door.
Anna gently crept to the door, her eyes red and bloodshot from all the tears she had shed, undoing the lock and opening the door, a smile coming onto her face.
Standing in the doorway was Elsa, wearing a furry beige jumper and holding a suitcase in one hand, smile on her face as always. "Anna," she merely said, greeting her.
Anna rushed forward, throwing her arms around her sister, crying once more into her shoulder.
Elsa stroked Anna's back and hair, embracing her close in her arms, wanting her little sister to feel comfort after such an ordeal. "It's okay, Anna, I'm here."
Anna merely kept crying more and more, shaking as Elsa's warm hugs started to soothe her and comfort her.
Elsa smiled and held Anna close. "Do you want some hot chocolate? I don't want you getting cold."
Anna nodded. "Yes, I'd like that."
Elsa kissed Anna on the cheek. "One hot chocolate coming up."
xXx
Soon, Anna was upstairs in her bed, sitting upright, her hair no longer in its normal twin braids, but in a long flowing mess down her back. She was gently holding her drink in her hand, eyes and face without emotion, mind still processing all she had gone through that stormy night.
Elsa arrived in the room, holding a hot chocolate of her own, warm smile on her face. "Is it alright?" She asked. "The drink, I mean."
Anna smiled. "Yes, it's perfect thank you." She sighed. "Elsa, I can't believe you would put your own career to one side just to come look after me."
"We're family, Anna," Elsa said, sitting by the bed and holding Anna's hand. "And family leaves no one behind."
Anna knew Elsa was paraphrasing their favourite movie, Lilo and Stitch. They would watch it every day when they were children, smiling and happy. Oh how times had changed for the two sisters.
Anna looked down at the brown liquid in the cup in her hands, being silently reminded of the colour of Hans's hair. "What are you gonna do now that you're here?"
"I'm gonna get justice for you, Anna," Elsa promised. "I'll try my best to give that Hans guy what he deserves."
"But what if he tries twisting the truth against me?" Anna wondered. "And in the end it's me who suffers more."
"I won't let it come to that," Elsa spoke softly, stroking Anna's cheek. "I promise, just leave it all to me, okay?"
"Okay, it's just… I was scared," Anna admitted. "I was scared of you looking down on me, after what happened with Kristoff."
"Anna, that's ancient history," Elsa replied. "You're not a fifteen year old girl in highschool anymore, you're a grown woman. A strong, powerful, independent woman and one I am proud to have as my sister."
"I'm not strong…" Anna somberly disagreed. "If I was, Hans wouldn't have got within an inch of pressing me against that wall."
"Strength isn't always physical, Anna," Elsa reminded her. "You're strong now, not letting the pain break your spirit. You're carrying on, and that's good."
"No, it's not…" Anna denied. "I let Hans touch me, Elsa. It's all my fault."
"Let me tell you something," Elsa stated. "Remember back in school, when I came out to everyone and said I liked girls."
"I remember," Anna smiled. That was a good memory. When Elsa came out as a lesbian, Anna had made her a little cape with the colours of the rainbow. It was a silly gesture, but Elsa had known that Anna supported her, and now Elsa was supporting Anna here.
"Well, you know how often lesbians and gays are given shit for who they are?"
"A lot?" Anna assumed. Elsa was the only lesbian Anna had ever known so she wasn't always sure about particular issues concerning Elsa's lifestyle.
"More than you'd think," Elsa told her. "But I don't let it get to me. If the world wanted to break me, it should've tried harder." Elsa held Anna's hands tighter. "This isn't the end for you Anna, and it's not the end for us. I'll stay as long as you want. I can put my career on hold. All I want, is for you to smile again."
Anna smiled, for the first time in hours, she smiled. "Alright… I'll keep going, for you."
Elsa hugged Anna. "Would you like to go watch Lilo and Stitch again?"
"I thought we lost the DVD," Anna assumed.
"I have Netflix on my laptop," Elsa informed her. "Come on, let's go and watch it. The first step to healing from pain is to reconnect with good memories."
"And the memories we have of that," Anna agreed. "Are ones I'll cherish forever."
"That's my sister," Elsa said, proud of how well Anna was doing. It would take some time, but Elsa would heal her sister, and when she did, she knew that Anna would be stronger than ever before.
xXx
Author's note: Gosh it feels ages since I did a simple Elsanna fic like this xD I got the idea from a prompt blog on tumblr, although I adjusted it a teeny bit. I know most people would switch their roles here, but I think Elsa works better as the comforting one, mainly because of how much she cares for Anna.
I hope you enjoyed.
