After a beat of silence, Anna replied, "Move? As in, like, dance? Or as in going and living somewhere else?"
"The latter," Elsa mumbled, face in hands.
Anna nearly dropped her fork when she realized her sister was being completely serious. "Whoa, wait up a minute. So, like, for real? Actually moving?"
One solemn nod from Elsa, and Anna shot out of her seat with a hoot. Without time to respond, the blonde was lifted out of her seat and off her feet by a crushing hug from her sister. "I forget how strong you are sometimes," Elsa wheezed.
Setting Elsa back on her feet, Anna laughed. "Sorry, I just- wow. I mean, this is amazing!"
"So, you're sure you want to go through with this? I mean, if it's too soon," Elsa's words petered out.
"You even kidding? We've been talking about moving for ages!" Anna paused. "But Elsa, we still haven't decided on a place for sure. We were stuck between-"
"Los Angeles and Seattle, I know." Elsa moved to a map of the US hanging on the wall. It was covered in different colored thumb tacks and notes written in dry-erase marker about each location pinned. Some states were completely crossed off with a black 'x', and others had a question mark on them.
Anna walked to the map and frowned. "And Portland, not to mention San Fransokyo. And have you forgotten about the entire east coast?" Thumb tacks lined major cities along the eastern states, all the way from up in New York, down to Orlando.
"I know. But I have a plan."
The younger sister raised a brow. "And what would this plan be? Flip a coin? Or better yet, roll a twenty-sided die?"
"Even better." Elsa grinned. "What we need is a road trip."
Anna blew horse-lips at that. "That's why Mom and Dad got us Hey USA when we were kids. So that we didn't need to take a tour."
"Anna, Mom and Dad were archaeologists. My instincts, and some distinct memories of them taking us to national parks when they were still together, leads me to believe they may have wanted us to get out more."
"Well, look who it is, the leader of the debate club." Anna said, pompously waving a hand in the air before running it through her messy hair. "How are we even going to afford any of this, anyways? And I thought I was the unreasonable one."
"You are," Elsa chuckled and ruffled up Anna's hair despite her protest, before landing on their living room sofa. "Come, O Unreasonable One, sit."
The redhead obliged, still trying to manage her hair. "The Unreasonable One has taken her seat. You may speak."
Elsa rolled her eyes, but said, "So, I went through our files last night, through all our finances. I've also been keeping notes from all the times we've talked about where to move-"
"You kept notes?" Anna cut in, laughing. "You fucking nerd-"
"In the notes," Elsa continued as though Anna hadn't said anything, "I've kept an estimation of living costs of each place, and I've compared the costs of living, driving, and what our funds will allow. And, Anna," Elsa grasped her sister's hand with a grin, looking so deeply into Anna's eyes that the redhead herself couldn't look away, "We can afford it, we can do this."
Hope. Hope, and love, were what Anna had in her heart, and couldn't find the words to express it without sounding cheesy, so she just said, "Wow." Tears found themselves in Anna's eyes, but her hands were in Elsa's. She just let them be and leaned her head against the couch.
"So," Anna said after a shower and a much needed change of clothes, " Recap. We're looking for a place within a reasonable distance of the ocean, whichever ocean that may be."
"Well, we only have two oceans to pick from, so choose wisely." Elsa said, unable to wipe the grin from her face since Anna agreed that moving was the best possible plan for them.
However, the smile didn't last all day.
It was difficult living in a small town; limitations of social life, no culture (at least the kind Elsa was drawn to, though Anna didn't care so much about that sort of thing herself). Worse than anything, however, was that gossip spread fast. Living in a small Idaho town hardly held any perks for the sisters, and the cons were really weighing down on them as they prepared for their leave.
It was hardly midday when the calls started coming in. The phone line was pulled straight from the wall after Anna was finished with it when a long-time friend of Elsa's made her cry. When Anna's rage and Elsa's sorrow subsided, Anna found that she herself was fearful of what her friends would say if they knew- no, when.
But the redhead could handle what others had to say about them. The bond she and Elsa had was stronger than diamonds and was just as beautiful, even if others couldn't see its beauty.
No, to Anna, the worst part wasn't when others would come with their judgments. The worst part was when Elsa would apologize.
It was a hard Saturday for the both of them, and the blonde's mood was as turbulent and unexpected as the storms they so frequently had in their mountain-bordered basin of a town. One moment, Elsa would leave fifty kisses all over her sister's face, and the next she'd start apologizing for the strangest things. Like for eating the last of the cake. And for loving the redhead the way she did. And for existing.
The faster they got out of there, the better, Anna would remind her sister.
Grateful for their mutually minimalist tastes, the majority of their stuff was packed without a hitch. The rest presented a problem, however.
Elsa's job weighed about five pounds and fit into a computer bag. As long as she had her laptop and an internet connection, she had a job as a web developer and designer.
Her other job (or profitable hobby, as she liked to call it) wouldn't fit so easily into a bag. Easels and canvases ate up a lot of space. They were as long and wide as they were fragile, and Anna decided that they were a problem for another day. She set them in the corner for them to deal with later.
"Maybe I should just... Oh, I don't know, Anna." Elsa slid down the wall, pulling her knees to her chest.
Anna didn't waist a moment to sit by her sister and wrap her arms around her. Leaning her head against Elsa's, Anna softly said, "I know what you're going to say. We're not tossing your art stuff, and that's final."
A part of what initially sparked the conversation of moving was that Elsa wanted a chance to broaden her horizons with city art. With her already expansive portfolio, Elsa hoped it would help her get her bearings in an art community somewhere.
Honestly, if Elsa didn't have her sister encouraging and kindling her creative side with her impulsiveness and honesty, the blonde would've given up on her dream long ago.
Anna planted a kiss onto her sister's forehead, brushing aside a few stray bangs. "Just imagine what it'll be like once we get to the city."
"Which city?" Elsa whispered, eyes still closed in exhausted stress.
"Any city." Anna rubbed the blonde's arms gently. "It'll be great. Think of the endless lights lining the midnight streets, maybe a little smog, but smog just glows in the nightlight, right? Glowing cities. Cities so big, we can get lost in them in no time flat. We can get lost together."
"You know what?" Elsa said, letting her head fall against the redhead's shoulder, letting Anna's head rest on hers.
"Hmm?"
"I'd like that. I can't wait to get lost with you." Elsa moved only to give Anna's shoulder a gentle kiss, then settled herself back under the safety of her sister's chin.