"Eurrgh". Anna groaned as she opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing. What happened? Where was she?
"There are painkillers on the nightstand," a musical voice sounded nearby.
Blinking a few times to clear her vision, Anna tried to locate the source, and her heart stopped when she saw it was an angel. The blonde from the cantina was leaning against a desk in what appeared to be a much nicer suite than the room Anna had booked out. A smirk played across the blonde's mouth as she held eye contact with her frazzled guest. The blonde was wearing the black jumpsuit from the bar but was zipped down to a white tank top exposing an expanse of smooth pale skin.
Feeling a blush creep across her cheeks, Anna quickly found the blue capsules on the nightstand and gulped them down with a glass of water that was placed alongside them.
"Uhh, so what happened?" Anna spoke tentatively as if trying out words for the first time.
The blonde let out a delicious giggle. "You forgot the first rule of bar fighting: bring a friend. You got blindsided with a bottle by a friend of that asshole you took down." The blonde's eyes flicked to the side hesitantly. "My name is Elsa."
"Well hey there, Elsa. I guess I'm your new friend, Anna." she quipped back. A quick flash of the fear that Anna first noticed on the blonde's face last night returned, but was soon replaced by a hesitant smile.
"I do owe you some thanks though, Anna. There was no reason to get involved in that unpleasantness on my behalf." The blonde looked down at her boots almost shyly. Anna was disarmed by someone that appeared so confident yet vulnerable at the same time.
"Are you kidding? That's part of the reason I joined the Rangers, to help out damsels in distress!" Anna was eager to see the blonde smile again and she beamed up at Elsa. She was rewarded with a small smile and those glacial blue eyes seemed to thaw slightly.
"Well, I appreciate the gesture, which is probably why I dragged you up here to sleep off that bottle to the head." The accent was clipped and formal, like some of the officers from noble families had. Anna gingerly felt her head, fortunately it seemed like it was in once piece. Something that would probably shock her instructors to hear! It always seemed like she embarrassed herself utterly the first time she did anything. She worked hard to make sure it was only the one time and usually that paid off… usually.
Elsa kept looking at her, Anna felt flustered by the attention. She sat up and swung her legs out of bed. She noticed they were bare. "Uhh, where's my jumpsuit?" Her blush was reaching dangerous proportions of redness now.
Elsa laughed again. It was musical, and almost reminded her of wind chimes. "Drink stains are better than bullet holes. Maybe the only plus when you get into a melee in a bar." Elsa straightened up and headed over to another room in the suite. "I'll just grab it out of the washer," the blonde called from the other room.
Anna was left in the bedroom barefoot with just her simple white regulation bodysuit. Without Elsa's scrutiny Anna was able to take in her surroundings. It was perhaps one of the most luxurious rooms she'd been in. Lacking any kind of personality, it was clear it was a hotel room but on an entirely different scale compared to the bunk Anna had reserved earlier. A huge window overlooked one of the station's huge parks, Anna wasn't an expert on Epcot yet but she knew that a park view on a space station must come at a pretty high price tag. Not to mention it seemed like there were multiple rooms in the apartment. What was someone like Elsa doing in a bar like the previous night? Or how long had Anna actually been out cold?
A touch to her arm shook her out of her reverie. She shivered slightly realising the room was a few degrees cooler than she was used to. "Sorry to startle you, I just rented the room when I didn't know where to take you." Elsa had returned with Anna's uniform. The mysterious blonde had booked this room just for Anna? Just who was she?
Stammering her thanks, Anna took the jumpsuit from Elsa. The blonde mercifully left the room again for Anna to change back into her uniform. The shapeless and bulky jumpsuit made Anna feel out of place next to Elsa's form fitting suit.
"Breakfast?" Elsa's voice called out from the other room. Anna's stomach growled in reply. Elsa was seated at a table in a luxurious living area. Perhaps even more surprising than the trappings of the room, was the breakfast itself. Fresh fruit juice, warm pastries, and sizzling bacon. "I didn't know what you liked so I got everything, I hope that's okay." The blonde looked up at Anna hesitantly as if she'd done something wrong by putting on a breakfast feast.
"Don't be ridiculous! I haven't had real bacon since I was back home." Anna launched into her life story before she could help it. Elsa giggled at Anna's telling of her numerous misfortunes along the way to becoming a Ranger. Anna felt completely at ease with the mysterious blonde, she was hardly one to stay in her shell but it was different being in Elsa's company. "Gosh, listen to me babble on - you haven't told me a thing about yourself!"
Elsa almost flinched when Anna flipped the conversation around on to her. Whatever shields Anna had managed to bypass seemed to go back up. "I'm just a small time trader." Elsa replied brusquely.
Anna snorted internally. As if anything about this goddess could be small time. She didn't want to press the issue; Elsa was obviously skittish about revealing too much about herself. Anna transitioned the conversation to focus on the station. Her heart dropped a little when Elsa mentioned she only visited Epcot every few months, Anna wanted to find the words to somehow let Elsa know what she was feeling but her mouth kept going dry. As if someone so perfect could have felt anything for Anna other than pity. Clearly her embarrassing attempt at helping Elsa out had guilted the blonde into the bed and breakfast. Wait, when did embarrassment stop Anna from doing anything?
"Elsa, I would love to take you out to dinner as a repayment for helping me out so wonderfully." The blonde visibly recoiled. Anna's heart almost skipped a beat. She didn't think her friendly overture would be met with revulsion. Perhaps rejection?
"It's just that I don't think it would be a good idea for you. I'm used to working alone. I can't allow any distractions." Elsa stood up sharply. "The room is paid for throughout the day. Please accept it as thanks for your intervention last night." Elsa's voice became colder and harder. Anna tried to speak up as the blonde exited the room. "I'm sorry but I have to leave." Elsa's cold eyes cut Anna's protests off.
Anna looked at the half eaten breakfast, feeling a nausea that had nothing to do with the food. Her data slate chimed.
Kristoff had arrived.
—
Trying to forget that morning, Anna rushed out of the hotel suite and found her way to the cafe Kristoff had asked to meet at. It was a brightly lit and cheery chain familiar to everyone system-wide. She ordered a simple fruit juice and found a corner to sit in. She was a Ranger, she couldn't let herself be distracted by her earlier humiliation. She shook her head as if that'd clear her mind of the blonde who had captured her so utterly. She was so distracted she didn't even notice that someone was standing by her table until she heard him introduce himself.
"Anna?" She looked up. Kristoff was a mountain of a man with an unruly mop of blonde hair. He was wearing the same jumpsuit she was but his was patched and worn and looked well lived in. He had warm eyes and a quiet confidence about him. "I'm Kristoff, we had a meeting…"
"Oh, of course I know who you are. You're a legend!" Kristoff chuckled uncomfortably.
"I don't know about that, Anna. I think that just means I've been noisier than people would have liked." He pulled back a chair and joined her at the table.
The two talked about the Ranger academy and the gossip back home in Arendelle. Kristoff grilled Anna on her training and asked a few questions testing her knowledge. She got the impression that he was competent and easy to work with. Not that his reputation had led her to believe anything different. Kristoff was a legend for disregarding orders and doing the right thing anyway. His exploits were the kind of stories that rookies passed to each other on late night training missions.
"So who are you mooning over?" Kristoff's question jolted her out of the easy banter.
"What do you mean? I'm not mooning. Mooning? Who even says that? That's ridiculous!" Anna bristled at the accusation despite its accuracy.
"Woah there, feisty-pants. I've just seen that look before!" Kristoff held up his hands apologetically. "We can save it for when we're stuck in a space ship together."
Anna felt she just had to tell someone about the mysterious Elsa or she might burst. So she told him the story. After all, partners worked best when they were friends as well as colleagues. Anna left out most of the blushes from her story, though.
"Oh wow, I thought it must have been some apple eyed farm boy back home. Not some femme fatale you've known for about ten minutes." Kristoff's eyes were light with amusement. "Do you even know this girl's last name? Comm code?"
Anna hid her face behind her hands and groaned in embarrassment. "I know it's silly, there was just something different about her." Kristoff looked thoughtful.
"I do my best to try and know the key players on in this sector; it's part of the job after all. I can't say I've heard of this Elsa. The hotel room thing is strange." Kristoff looked at Anna kindly. "I could put out some feelers if you want."
"No, no. It was silly, a weird first day. She seemed pretty final. I'm here to be a Ranger, not chase tail." Retelling the story had made Anna feel like Elsa was slightly less real, more of a dream than something tangible. It wasn't like Elsa was interested in her anyway and it was unlikely that she'd see her again. There was a tiny feeling that tugged at her, whispering to her heart that she might not feel that way about anyone else.
—
Kristoff's ship - her ship - was ugly but functional. The Rangifer class was not sexy but they were built to not need frequent maintenance and last for decades. They were the backbone of the Rangers until they were replaced, and then those replacement ships were replaced. The ship was older than her, and probably Kristoff put together. It looked like a cockpit and engines attached to a squashed cupcake. Yes, Anna was hungry again.
"Feel free to pick a cabin on the Slädtur. It's just going to be you and me for now." Kristoff said as they walked into the ship. Anna picked up her duffle bag with her worldly possessions and found a cleaned out room. It was about the same size as the small room she'd rented when she first arrived, but something about it had so much more character despite just being a simple bunk, terminal, wash-station and wardrobe. It would be her home for the near future.
It wasn't a huge ship but the intended crew was much larger than two people, so there would be a decent amount of space on Anna's maiden voyage. The hold was loaded with various supplies to cover a range of humanitarian missions that might pop up along their ranging. Part of the duties they had in the sector was to visit some of the smaller colonies that Arendelle citizens had established that were too small to have a permanent government presence.
"Our first stop is going to be a settlement on Asciri. See how they're doing, drop off some cargo. Pretty boring stuff, but that's how things tend to be when there aren't any explosions." Anna followed Kristoff up to the cockpit and took a seat, narrowly avoiding tripping over the bulkhead. The procedure for takeoff from Epcot went smoothly, and soon they were in space. The drives hurtling the ship away from the city like space station.
"Right, I need to make some calls from my cabin. You keep an eye out and make sure we don't hit anything. Rookie's cook on their first day, so I'll see you in the galley in 3 hours." With that Kristoff left Anna in the cockpit as the ship accelerated into hyperspace.
The distant stars reminded Anna of snowflakes.
I wanted to upload this straight after Ch. 1 so you had an Elsa scene as well. Hoping to be pretty regular with updates from here on out. Maybe every three days! Thanks again to Hunhund for excellent Betaing.