A/N: This wouldn't be a magical girl story without an inordinate focus on food, especially cake. I'm looking for a beta reader, so if anyone is interested, please shoot me a PM. I don't need much help with grammar or spelling, but writing is still pretty new to me so help with that and with consistency issues would be useful.
Anna woke up the next morning in a surprisingly good mood. It was a Saturday and Anna knew exactly what she wanted to do with her time this weekend: she would bake a cake. Obviously the direct approach wasn't working with Elsa, but she knew her sister couldn't resist her patented Triple Chocolate cake.
Elsa raised an eyebrow as Anna bounced past her room, apparently surprised, or perhaps even amused, by Anna's energy. Elsa was curled up on the chair and holding a thick book, probably historical fiction. Anna couldn't stay awake through books like that; she loved medieval fantasy, but Elsa seemed to prefer more realistic books. Anna had learned her preferences by sneaking into her sister's room on the rare occasion that Elsa wasn't home, curious to learn more about her. Unfortunately, Elsa's room was spartan aside from her reading chair and bookshelf.
"You're in a good mood. Are you going somewhere today?" Elsa asked.
Oh. Anna should have known that Elsa left her door open to keep an eye on her.
Anna forced herself to keep smiling. "I'm going shopping for a bit."
Elsa frowned. "Will you be gone long?"
"No, I'm just picking up a few ingredients to bake a cake. It shouldn't take more than an hour. Do you want to help?" Anna asked hopefully. When they were younger, they had so much fun playing with Easy Bake ovens. They were a bit old for that now, but still.
"Not really." Elsa said, looking back down at her book again. Anna's smile dropped.
"Okay, see you." Anna walked away feeling a bit dejected despite her efforts. But then she remembered that she had a friend now, and friends did things together, right? She got her phone out from her pocket, her fingers fumbling over the unfamiliar keyboard.
Do you like baking? Im making a cake. Want to come?
Helen replied less than two minutes later.
Yeah. When do u want me 2 get there?
12 should be good.
Anna strode with a spring in her step towards the Shoprite set in a strip mall ten minutes from her house. Even though it was late in the morning, it wasn't warm enough yet for many people to be outside on a Saturday so Anna was able to make good time.
When she got there, she got a cart and walked through the aisles, picking up the things she needed. They had most of the ingredients, she just needed to get some extra Nutella and some frosting. She probably could have made do with a basket, but Anna enjoyed pushing the cart around. It helped that not many people were there in the morning for her to potentially bump into. After she had the required ingredients, she decided to pick up some bread. Her mother wasn't the most diligent when it came to cooking, so they were nearly out and would need more bread for sandwiches.
She was surprised to see Kristen there, and apparently the feeling was mutual. Kristen had paused with her hand halfway outstretched towards the bread. Unlike hers, Kristen's shopping cart was almost full, stuffed with actual groceries like vegetables.
"Don't mind me." Anna said. Kristen paused, then nodded and put the bread in her cart.
"Running errands for your parents or something?" Anna asked, suddenly curious. She wasn't as annoyed by Kristen as she'd been the previous day. It probably helped that Kristen hadn't opened her mouth yet.
"Something like that." Kristen pulled her cart back to get past, but stopped. Anna was blocking the entire aisle.
Anna continued talking, oblivious. "Oh, come on. I know you can say more than that. You did yesterday."
Kristen scowled. "You're right, I do have something to say. I don't have parents. I have a parent, and I'm shopping because she can't get out of bed while you're here to play at cooking. Now get out of my way."
Anna flinched and pushed her cart to the side in a hurry, allowing Kristen to roughly push past her.
Anna felt her eyes prickle with half-formed tears. She wasn't sure whether they were from sadness or anger. Kristen stopped a few steps away and then turned back.
Kristen sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just having a bad day."
Anna nodded stiffly, still unable to find her voice. Kristen looked away for a few seconds before speaking.
"You're done with your shopping, right? Come with me. I'll get you a donut." Kristen began pushing her cart away and Anna followed after grabbing a loaf of bread.
Maybe Anna should have been more annoyed at Kristen's transparent attempt at buying forgiveness. But she'd begun to consider why Kristen had said that, and if she was right she could understand a little too well.
They got in line at one of the registers. There wasn't much crowd so they didn't have to wait long to pay for their items, but it took several minutes for all of Kristen's items to be scanned.
The Dunkin Donuts next to the Shoprite was not very crowded now, but Anna occupied a table for them anyway while Kristen bought the donuts. When she was done, Kristen walked over and handed her a Boston Cream, keeping one for herself, and took a seat across from Anna.
Anna frowned slightly, not taking a bite just yet despite the temptation.
"Sorry if I reminded you about your father. My dad died pretty recently, so I wouldn't want to do that to anyone else." Anna said, looking down.
Kristen blinked. "What? No, I'm adopted. I thought you'd heard about it."
"How would I know about that?"
Kristen's eyes lost their focus, gazing at something out of sight. "Never mind. I guess I misjudged you."
The conversation died after that, and they spent the next few minutes eating the donuts in silence. As she ate, Anna thought about the girl in front of her. She couldn't quite place Kristen. She was nice one moment and not the next. Anna got the feeling that Kristen had been through a lot, but Kristen didn't seem like the kind of person who would appreciate questions.
Kristen finished her donut first and stood up to leave.
"You really should at least listen to me about Kyubey, you know."
Anna smiled. "And you really should know that I won't."
Kristen just shook her head and left, though Anna thought the lines around her eyes briefly wrinkled with amusement.
Normally, Elsa was able to distract herself from her problems for a few hours by reading, but for the last few days that had been impossible. This morning she'd spent an hour rereading the same page over and over again without any of it sinking in. Finally, Elsa gave up, closing the book and getting up to put it back on the shelf.
Have you thought some more about becoming a magical girl? Do you know what you want to wish for?
Elsa swept her eyes across the room until she found the source of the voice. She narrowed her eyes when she spotted Kyubey sitting on her windowsill. She should have known better than to open the window. From now on, she would have to make sure all the windows at home were closed.
"Get out."
Won't you at least hear me out? How can you make an optimal decision if you ignore relevant information?
Elsa crossed her arms.
I will leave for now. Let me know if you change your mind.
Kyubey jumped from the window to a branch of the tree that grew in the front yard and scampered away. Elsa waited a few seconds before shutting the window.
There was no way Elsa would ever accept Kyubey's contract. The last thing she needed was more magic. Ineffectual though it was, Kyubey's pestering was still annoying. It also forced her to brood on the terrible situation Anna was in. It didn't help. She was already doing everything she could, which wasn't much.
Elsa reconsidered the possibility of telling her mother. It wasn't the promise she'd made to Anna that kept her from doing it. She'd break any promise in order to protect Anna. However, if she did Anna wouldn't let her watch over her during wraith hunts.
Perhaps their mother could watch Anna instead? It would be safer, but Elsa couldn't be sure that Anna would agree to it, especially after Elsa broke her promise. Perhaps their mother could try to force Anna to comply by threatening to pull her out of school and have her homeschooled again. Elsa didn't think that would work, though. Anna could be very stubborn, especially when she thought she was doing the right thing such as by not putting her family in danger.
Elsa spent the next half hour attempting to work on her homework. The house was quiet. Anna was gone and her mother was still sleeping off a night shift at the hospital. The solitude usually didn't bother Elsa; it was a relief compared to the constant struggle of controlling herself when she was in public. But now she felt lonely. Elsa knew why, but she couldn't give in to it. Talking to Anna when they had no choice but to be together was alright. But going out of her way to spend time with Anna – or anyone else, for that matter – was unacceptable.
It didn't help that Elsa couldn't even talk to her mother about it. All her life, her parents had been the only ones Elsa could confide in when it came to magic. It was limited, of course. She couldn't convey just how scared and powerless she felt sometimes. At the end of the day they were her parents, and there was a thin line that separated them; they were not equals. But now, with her father dead and Elsa's tongue held by her promise, she didn't even have that.
Someone knocked on the front door. It wasn't Anna; she'd taken the keys with her. Elsa looked out her window to see Helen waiting on the front steps with her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
Elsa walked downstairs at a measured pace, not rushing but not exactly dragging her feet either. She opened the door.
"Hi. Are you here to see Anna?" Elsa asked, not yet moving from the doorway to let Helen in. She'd be polite, but she wasn't thrilled with the possibility of having Helen in her home.
"Yeah, we're baking a cake together." Helen said. At least she was still waiting outside respectfully.
"I see. Anna's still getting the ingredients. Why don't you come in?"
Elsa didn't let her annoyance show as she led Helen to the family room. She waited until Helen sat down one of the sofas and then promptly chose the other one. The clock ticked by as Elsa waited for Helen to attempt some small talk, but thankfully Helen seemed to get the hint that she wasn't interested. Perhaps they could get along after all.
Anna's walk back home was quiet, only broken by the rustling of the grocery bags as she swung them by her legs. It gave her time to think. She'd seen something in Kristen that reminded her of herself, and that had given her more pause than anything Kristen had said the previous day. It wouldn't change the way she acted, but maybe she should give Kristen's advice more consideration.
Anna was surprised to see Kyubey waiting on the side of the road when she turned a corner. He jumped up to her shoulder, which wasn't very stable because of the bags she carried, before finally settling on her head. It would have been quite uncomfortable if he wasn't lighter than he should have been for his size.
I thought you were with Helen. Anna said.
She arrived at your house a few minutes ago, but Elsa didn't want to talk to me so I decided that I would wait to arrive with you.
Did you say anything to make her mad? Anna said carefully.
I just wanted to talk to her about becoming a magical girl, but she didn't even want to listen. She had nothing to lose by just talking.
Hmm.
Anna tried not to let her relief show. She hadn't thought that Elsa would become a magical girl, so when Kyubey mentioned it she realized for the first time that Elsa too might one day have to risk her life fighting wraiths. If even half of what Kristen had said about being a magical girl was true, she didn't want Elsa to have to go through it. It didn't seem like Anna had anything to worry about, but she was annoyed that she hadn't thought of it.
Hey, Kyubey. If I become better at fighting wraiths, you won't need Elsa to make a contract, right?
There was a pause. I suppose not. I can hold off on asking her to contract if you prefer.
You can do that?
Of course. Maintaining good relationships with current magical girls is just as important as recruiting new ones.
Thank you! I won't let you down.
It was as though the sun had come back out. Kristen had said that Kyubey didn't care about her, but obviously that wasn't true. He might be a little strange, but he was nice.
Anna reached the house a minute later and let herself in.
"Hi, Anna." Helen greeted her as she walked into the family room.
"Hi." Anna flashed a grin at her before glancing at Elsa, who she'd expected to still be waiting in her room. "Did you change your mind?"
Elsa's arms were folded and she sat straight-backed on the sofa. It defeated the entire purpose of the cushions. Elsa seemed to avoid looking at Kyubey when she looked at Anna.
"Another pair of hands can't hurt." Helen said.
Elsa examined Helen's face for a few seconds before looking away. "No, I just came downstairs to watch some TV. You two have fun." Elsa grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, flicking through the channels.
Anna looked down. She shouldn't have been disappointed. She hadn't been expecting anything different and she should have been used to it by now, but it still hurt every time Elsa rejected her. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, are you alright? Let's make that cake, okay?" Helen said, her eyes warm and understanding.
Anna snapped out of the haze. "Right. Let's get cooking!" She led Helen to the kitchen, grateful for Helen's distraction.
Why are you preparing a cake yourself when you can purchase one cheaply? Kyubey said as they got the ingredients out. In fact, eating cake at all is inefficient nutritionally, thermodynamically, economically, and even environmentally. The most efficient way to produce food would be for you humans to eat only grains, legumes, and vegetables and graze livestock only on land that isn't arable.
Helen rolled her eyes. "It's cake, Kyubey. It's delicious."
Anna grimaced. "I try to be careful about the environment, but I can't give up cake."
Humans. I will meet you back at your house later, Helen. Kyubey stretched, jumped down from Anna's head, and scurried away.
"Where did he go?" Anna asked. Helen shrugged.
They worked for several minutes, their heads nearly touching as they pored over the recipe that Anna had printed out.
"You're good at this." Helen said as Anna began to mix the eggs and milk with the dry ingredients.
Anna blushed. "Who, me? No, I'm getting ingredients all over the place."
"No, really. I can't crack eggs like you can. But, you know, you don't need to struggle like that. Let me show you something."
Helen gestured for beater, and Anna handed it to her and pushed the bowl over. Helen rolled up her sleeves and picked up the beater again. Suddenly her arm was a whirl of motion and the ingredients were mixing as fast as with any electric beater.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Helen looked over to her with a cocky grin.
"You can do that without transforming?!" Anna said. Even Kristen hadn't been able to do that when she broke the lock to the school roof. She hadn't known it was possible.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Elsa staring at them, but when she looked, Elsa was facing forward again. Anna shifted her gaze back to Helen, who'd started explaining.
"It takes a little practice and it's limited, but yeah. I can show you sometime. Actually, why don't we practice together tomorrow? I've been meaning to train you a bit."
Anna nodded eagerly. "I'd love that."
Helen returned to beating the cake mix and Anna leaned back against the counter, enjoying the clicking of the beating and the background of the news channel that Elsa was watching. She paid more attention when she heard a familiar name.
"-Johansen de Isles, the billionaire born and raised here in the county of Arendelle, bought out Robertson Technical this week and immediately laid off a quarter of the employees, numbering almost three hundred. Here's an exclusive interview with him," a news reporter said.
Anna glanced at the TV. A man with graying red hair in a gray suit towered over the reporter who was attempting to hold the microphone close to his face. It probably wasn't necessary because his voice boomed even over the rain in the background.
"If you can't contribute anything, you aren't worth anything. This country was built on hard work, and there isn't any room for incompetents. It's just like parenting, and I should know; I have twelve children. They don't get handouts. They have to earn it."
Helen's arm jerked and a drop of batter splashed out of the bowl and onto Anna's face. She wiped it off.
"Was that your father?" Anna asked.
Helen sighed. "Yeah."
Anna didn't know what to say. She didn't even know for sure what had upset Helen. So she tried to distract Helen with preparing the baking pan.
While the cake baked, she showed Helen her room. She hadn't had time to decorate it much, but she did have her stuffed animal collection arranged around her bed.
"This is Rosie," she said, handing Helen her favorite, a stuffed dolphin. Anna bit her lip. Why had she thought this would be a good idea?
"Aww. It's cute." Helen squeezed it appreciatively, then tickled Anna's nose with it, making her laugh.
"Thanks!" And she really was thankful. Anna knew some of the "friends" she'd made at school would have mocked her for it.
They spent the next hour lounging on her bed, listening to music, and talking about school. It was normal, in a way that Anna had never really experienced.
Before she knew it, the timer was beeping, and they rushed to the kitchen to retrieve the cake. They prepared the Nutella frosting, applied it, and then it was finished. They took a moment to appreciate the accomplishment. The cake was perfectly round and Helen apparently had an artistic side because she'd done a decent job of decorating with frills on the edges and chocolate hearts identical to her soul gem.
"Not bad." Helen said, nodding.
"Not bad at all." Anna agreed. It was better than anything she could have made on her own. They really did make a good team.
Anna sliced the cake and put two slices on plates, which she and Helen took to the table. Anna carried another plate to Elsa, who was still watching TV on the couch. Anna held it in front of her.
"The cake's done. Do you want to eat with us or…?" Anna said hesitantly.
Elsa didn't reach for the plate. "Why are you giving me this? I didn't help you." Elsa's voice trembled slightly.
Anna frowned, confused. "It's just natural, right? Just take it."
Elsa took the plate and took a bite with her fork, eating it slowly. "It's good." Her voice still had that strange quality to it.
Anna beamed smugly. "Of course it is. It's chocolate."
"They do say that chocolate tastes like love." Elsa muttered. Anna sent a questioning look at her, but Elsa didn't explain. "Thank you. Save a slice for our mother too."
"Yeah, I will." Anna smiled and joined Helen at the table. They ate quickly, enjoying a companionable silence as they focused on the flavor, and soaked in the afterglow for a few minutes. Finally, Helen got up to leave and Anna walked her to the front door.
"I had a lot of fun today," Helen said as she tied her shoes.
"Me too. See you tomorrow!"
They waved goodbye and Anna returned to the kitchen. After thinking for a moment, she packaged one of the slices separately from the others. She would give that one to Kristen sometime. Maybe it would make her less grumpy? Anna giggled to herself. She would use the rest over the course of the week to blackmail Elsa into talking to her. Anna put one of the slices on a plate, carried it upstairs to her mother's bedroom, and knocked on the door. It was about time for her to wake up.
Her mom opened the door, her eyes barely open and her hair messy. She was still wearing her nursing uniform from the night before, which was now crinkled.
"Do you want some cake?"
Her mom accepted it, smiling blearily, and moaned appreciatively as she ate it, not even bothering to sit down first.
"This is good. Did you make it yourself?" she asked afterwards. She sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her. Anna sat down.
"I made it with a friend from school." Anna said, trying not to let her happiness be too obvious.
"You made a friend? I'm happy for you."
Anna looked away.
"What's wrong, Anna?"
"It's strange. For a few hours I- I forgot about Dad." Anna choked up, tears beginning to form.
Her mother reached an arm around her and pulled her close. "Oh, Anna. You deserve to be happy. Your father would be glad too."
Anna didn't hear anything. She buried her face in her mother's side as the tears washed away her grief. When she was done, she knew she could finally move on and create a new life with her mother, her sister, with Helen, and maybe even with Kristen and Kyubey. She would never forget her father, but she wouldn't let grief hold her back any more.
You are going to train her? Her survival is not necessary for our plan.
So you were eavesdropping. Relax. I have everything under control.
If I didn't know better, I would think that you're starting to get attached to her. Don't you follow that philosophy that all the world's a stage? Don't forget Anna's role.
I will play my part.
That wasn't a denial.
Helen cut off the connection and gazed out her window. The grounds were large and well-maintained, fitting for her enormous home – a necessity for someone with her father's influence and thirteen children. So why did it feel so much emptier than Anna's?
She shook her head. It was too late to turn back now. She returned to her notebook and made some final adjustments to the map of the territory of every magical girl in Arendelle County.
