7. Redemption
The crab symphony is a bit of a disappointment. For one thing, crabs in real life make Anna's skin crawl. They're oversized insects that Anna can't crush with her boot. They don't actually use all those legs, do they? And why would they need eyes on stalks?
Shuddering, Anna turns away. No wonder she hates seafood.
The majority of the crabs are small and trained to gather in one area, so tourists are bunched around the tank, taking videos on their phones, and pointing wildly. Most of the shellfish seem to be simply banging on little bits of rock. A series of hi-tech underwater microphones pick up and magnify the vibrations in the water, which Anna supposes might pass for rhythmic. If the orchestra was slightly intoxicated.
As they crane their necks over the crowd, Anna makes a remark somewhere along the lines of arthropodic atonality and is rewarded by Elsa's snicker.
"Oh, that's because Sebastian passed away. Two weeks ago."
Anna jumps at least a foot in the air, whirling. "Holy—" Elsa elbows her in the ribs.
The girl standing behind them is about their age and wearing a blue and green Triton's Aquarium staff T-shirt. Her hair is violently red and damp, as though she's just been swimming.
"Er-oh, well, that's sad," Anna chokes. Rubbing her side gingerly, she shoots Elsa an aggrieved look.
Elsa ignores her. "I'm sorry to hear that," she says courteously.
Aquarium-girl bobs her red mane up and down. "He was a great conductor. And a composer."
"Was he a musician?" Anna asks, rallying all her social skills for the sake of this interaction. In truth, she just wants to drag Elsa off to the sea lion exhibit, but it seems rude break off a conversation with this girl whose… coworker? uncle? has recently died.
"He was. He was the best we ever had. And the most vibrant shade of red you ever saw."
Elsa and Anna exchange a look. Anna thinks there can't possibly be a more vibrant shade of red than this girl's hair. Right when she starts motioning Elsa to edge subtly towards their left, Elsa refocuses her attention on the girl.
"Was he a crab?" Elsa solicits kindly.
"Yes."
Anna nearly groans at the sniffle in the girl's voice. Will they ever escape? "Really?" she manages.
"Really! I saved his shell in my room." Voice wilting, the redhead adds, "He was my best friend ever since I was little…even if he wasn't a person."
"Anna and I used to have a snowman named Olaf. He liked warm hugs. Anna used to bring him inside the house because she was worried he'd get too cold."
The heat rises in Anna's cheeks. Olaf is their secret buddy. No one else is about to know about him. Not even Kristoff or Rapunzel. Definitely not this random girl they met at the aquarium.
"Elsa," she hisses. Elsa doesn't appear to notice.
The girl giggles. "You two sound really nice. I'm Ariel."
"Elsa." Her sister offers a pale, elegant hand.
Ariel stares at it for a second, as though not sure what to do about it and then takes it with a smile before turning expectantly to Anna.
"I'm Anna," she says flatly, put on the spot.
"The next crustacean concert isn't going to start for two hours. I can take you guys for a full tour if you want." Ariel beams.
Anna might have a stroke if this girl doesn't go away—or at least drop Elsa's hand. "Uh, I think we'll—"
"That sounds nice," Elsa agrees amicably.
Anna's protest dies a violent, spasmodic death in her throat. With Elsa looking so pleased at the thought, it's not like she can make an excuse for the two of them to get away. Ariel, who still hasn't released her grip on Elsa's hand, pulls her into the bowels of the aquarium, and all Anna can do is scramble after them.
Despite coming off as a complete space case as when she first approached the sisters, it turns out that Ariel is actually quite well-informed on the subject of marine life. Elsa just laps it up. The hour drags on and on. In a fit of petulance, Anna snidely asks about animal mistreatment in captivity, trying to pick a fight, only to be completely overwhelmed by Ariel's extensive understanding of animal regulations and ethics. At some point, probably around the time that Elsa asks how sharks are able to sense their prey's electrical pulses, and Ariel launches into a description of the ampullae of Lorenzini, Anna decides that the girl is actually an evil sea witch with a crab fetish.
Yep. Plausible.
Collapsing on a bench in the shark room, Anna feels like an unwanted straggler, like her date is flirting with someone else—which kind of the case, except Elsa doesn't even see it as a date. She glares at Ariel, wishing the girl would stop taking up all of Elsa's attention. As soon as the thought congeals in her mind, Anna regrets it. Elsa deserves to meet new people and make friends. It's what Anna, her mother, and her father were holding their breaths for during the tense years when all Elsa seemed to relate to were chunks of ice. Who is Anna to get in the way of Elsa having a healthy life?
But God, sometimes Anna wants Elsa all to herself. Bad enough that she has to concede some aspect of her to Hans.
Her phone buzzes in her pocket.
Tell ur sister I said happy birthday.
Rolling her eyes, Anna starts tapping out a reply to Kristoff. I will if I ever get the chance.
What do u mean?
We met some weird girl at the aquarium and now she's giving Elsa a freaking advanced bio lesson on sharks.
Sounds boring… Weird girl?
It is. And she's got like this terrifyingly red hair. It's like ketchup.
Lol. Well, uv got me. I can give you lesson on reindeer hooves if u want.
I'll pass.
"Are you okay, Anna?" Blond hair falling in her face, Elsa peers at her sister's slouched form.
"Oh, yeah." Anna straightens up and tries to look like less of a slob, slipping her phone in a pocket. The shark tanks are underground and lit from within. In the walkway, Elsa's face is indiscernible, shadowed by the light of the exhibit behind her. Ariel explains to a group of tourists something about the advantages of an aquatic predator having wide-set eyes from next to the Hammerhead tank.
"Are you tired?"
"I'm fine, Elsa," Anna insists, clambering onto her feet. "Let's go see some sea lions." Maybe while Ariel is distracted, they can escape.
"Wait," Elsa says, "Ariel."
"Let's just go," Anna pleads.
Elsa frowns at her. "We can't just leave her. Just—"
"Please, Elsa, I just want to spend time with you." Great, now Anna's the needy boyfriend. What was she thinking? That after spending a few hours with her, Elsa would simply lose all her inhibitions and confess her undying love?
"What's wrong with Ariel?"
"Nothing. I mean, don't you think she's—"
"She's what?"
Anna isn't sure what she even wants to say anymore. She can't admit that she's jealous because it's been years since Anna's been able to reach out and grab Elsa's hand whenever she feels like it. Or that Ariel's excessive knowledge of marine life feels like an insult to Anna's intellectuality. Or that the fact that Elsa enjoys a stranger's presence more than Anna's is more than frustrating, it's humiliating.
"Don't you think she's kind of weird?"
"Weird?" Elsa's voice is short and sharp.
Anna freezes and stutters. "Well—yes, like, strange. She sort of…just came up to you…for no reason. Who does that?" Picking up steam, she starts to gain confidence in the face of Elsa's silence. "And now she's dragging us around like we're her babysitters or something. And who cares about Laura of Zeeney? And who dyes their hair that shade—"
Elsa releases a sound that sounds like the embittered bastard child of a sob and a snarl. "Oh, that's what you think. Sorry we're not normal enough for you." Her narrow shoulders tremble with rage.
Anna recognizes a screw-up when she sees one.
"Elsa," she implores hastily, "you know I didn't mean it like that. You're—"
"Sorry you had to spend the day babysitting me." Elsa's voice wavers on the dangerous line between anger and hurt. "If it's been so inconvenient, why don't you just leave?"
"What? Elsa, calm down. You know I love you." In more than one way.
"Hey! You guys ready to move on?"
Both sisters nearly have heart attacks at the unexpected good cheer of Ariel's greeting. Recovering first, Elsa proclaims regally, "Yes. As a matter of fact I am. Let's go."
"Elsa," Anna entreats futilely. Her sister sweeps down the walkway.
"Did you guys get into an argument or something?" Ariel asks blithely.
"Yes," Anna mutters sullenly.
Not even the sea lions dancing to "Thriller" can make her feel better.
About halfway through her seventh grade year, her orthodontist declared, once and for all, that Anna's teeth had reached the peak of perfection and that her braces could be removed so long as she remembered to wear her retainers every night. Anna wore them for about three weeks. Every other night.
Seventh grade felt fantastic. She was no longer on the lowest ladder rung, no longer known only as Elsa Arendelle's younger sister, and now, no longer cursed by the dreaded braces in her mouth. Her father would let Anna catch a ride with him and Elsa on their way to Mr. Geppetto's on Wednesdays and drop her off at the mall. It made Anna feel mature and important, strolling through the shops, trying on clothes she had no intention of buying, parroting her mother's opinions on certain brands and styles when she didn't have her own. She couldn't wait for eighth grade to start. Then she and her friends would be among the oldest kids in the school, and they would get to sit on the top bleacher during football games.
Elsa never went to any sporting events, so she wasn't using that privilege. She didn't push around sixth-graders—which Anna didn't really get either, but it was fun to talk about how short they were—or cut to the front of the line. All she ever did was hide in the garage and chip away at blocks of ice. She was becoming quite skilled, though it was hard to judge since Anna had never met another young ice sculptor.
Lately she and Elsa had been drifting apart as Anna spent less and less of her time at home. They still slept in the same room, but they didn't go out to play in the yard as often. They weren't little kids anymore.
"Why don't you take your sister with you to the basketball game tonight?" her mother asked once in mid-December.
"Elsa doesn't like basketball," Anna replied flippantly, digging through their room for her new cell phone.
"Elsa's never given basketball a chance," her mother states shrewdly.
"Well, I can't imagine it'd be her sort of thing. Running around with a hard rubber ball and all those other people on the court."
"I can't imagine it'd be your thing either. Running around without bumping into all those other people on the court."
Anna emerges from her sock drawer to spare her mother a dour glance. It dissolves the moment their eyes meet. Her mother's face is strained and drawn, devoid of its usual tongue-in-cheek serenity.
God, why can't Elsa see what does to all of them? Can't she at least pretend to be normal? Just around their parents?
"We had another meeting with Mr. Moriarty yesterday. He says that Elsa isn't getting anywhere with other kids, and her grades are slipping. She apparently hasn't been turning some papers in. And you know she hates therapy."
Anna stopped listening after she heard that her sister's grades were slipping. It shouldn't have been such a big deal, but Elsa's grades have been her parents' only reassurance that their daughter was having any success in the public world. As long as her grades were good, Elsa must be doing something right, and she must at least be connecting to the learning. Her teachers all had nothing but praise for her work ethic. They thought she was courteous—if distant—but genuinely kind.
But if Elsa had quit turning in her schoolwork, it meant that she'd let go of the one handhold she'd had in the real world.
"I know that it's a lot to ask for a girl your age. But Elsa's your sister. She needs you and all of us on her side."
Anna already knew what had to be done. "Let's go talk to her."
"Talk" was a loose term for the interaction which ensued. A normally passive Elsa resisted her parents' attempts to cajole into going to the game. At first, her responses were polite and tranquil, typical of the sister Anna had always known, but when it became clear that her parents were not going to give up this time, Anna watched as she morphed into the school Snow Queen: morose and bordering on hostile. She hunched over the piece of ice she was chipping away at and flatly refused to leave the garage before she stopped speaking altogether.
Their parents' voices grew increasingly haggard. Unlike Anna, they'd never really seen this side of their eldest daughter, this veritable statue of resentment and cold, before. Finally, Lena Arendelle put her foot down. "You're going to the game, Elsa, even if I have to drag you into the car. You can't hide out here your entire life."
Elsa looked pretty determined to try.
Anna shifted uneasily in her place by the door. Much more of this, and they were going to be late. Elsa's disapproval of this plan was palpable, and Anna couldn't see the point anymore. If Elsa didn't want to go, she wasn't going to enjoy it no matter what Anna did.
"Honey," their father said gently. "You know your mother only wants what's best for you."
"I don't like basketball," Elsa repeated dully.
"That's alright," he replied. "The point is go there and meet people. I'm sure there will be nice people there. You'll know someone."
"I never know anyone."
"Rapunzel will be there," he soothed. "And Anna will be with you the entire time."
He turned expectantly to Anna.
"Uh. Yeah," Anna stuttered, unsure of her lines in this calamity waiting to happen. Her parents nodded urgently at her. She summoned up her last reserves of optimism. "Come on, Elsa, it'll be fun. Promise."
For the first time since she started shutting down, Elsa lifted her eyes from her sculpting and made eye contact with a family member. Disturbingly, Anna couldn't recognize any piece of her sister in that empty stare. She was lying through her teeth, and Elsa knew it. Elsa returned her focus to her ice block.
"Elsa," their mother warned sternly. "This is no longer an option. Staying cooped up in here is not healthy for you."
"I'm fine."
"You need to go out and make friends."
The ice block shattered after Elsa struck a particularly hard blow.
In the end, they literally dragged Elsa into the car. The sisters sat at opposite ends of the back seat, staring out the window. Every once in a while, their father attempted to start a conversation. It went nowhere. They were thirty minutes late.
Still trying to break through the tension in the air with his hollow jokes, their father deposited them in front of the school. As he drove off, Elsa plopped herself down on a bench in front of the school.
"What are you doing?" Anna sighed. "Let's go in."
Elsa shook her head. "I'm staying out here."
Anna knew she should object and insist that Elsa mingle with the crowd, experience the rush of the game, be a normal, well-adjusted kid, but she simply felt relieved that she wasn't going to have to tow Elsa along with her all night. What would her friends have thought?
"Okay. Fine. But if Mom and Dad get mad, it's totally your fault."
Elsa merely nodded.
"Hey, why are you so late?" Ella talk-shouted over the buzz of eighty other middle-schoolers.
"Nothing. Just craziness." Her friends squeezed over to make some room for her on their bleacher. At least the ticket lady had let her in for free. The white haired lady had laughed that she was too old to be bothered with retrieving the cash box from the principal's office.
"Is everything okay?" Rapunzel asked.
Anna grunted. "It's just stupid stuff."
"Elsa?"
"When is it not?"
"I'm sure it's not that bad."
Ella broke into loud screams as one of the John Charming scored. Anna resolved not to say anything and just enjoy the game.
By the time the game ended, Anna was in a full-blown rant.
"I'm just saying! Can't she just pretend like everything's good? For Mom and Dad's sake at least? How hard is it to be normal? It's not like she has some tragic backstory. She's my sister. We grew up together for god's sake. What excuse does she have?"
"I'm sure she's trying," Rapunzel soothed.
"No, she's not. She doesn't care that Mom and Dad are losing it every night. She won't even talk to her freaking therapist. We're all supposed to drop everything and 'give Elsa the support she needs,' but what's the point? She just wants to sit in a corner all day."
"I know you're frustrated, but just remember. She's your older sister—"
"Yeah. She's my older sister. I'm aware. So why am I the one carting her around? Why am I her babysitter. Isn't she supposed to watch out for me every once in a while? She doesn't appreciate anything we do for her. She doesn't care that Mom is practically going bald or that Dad is behind on all his paperwork and taking flak from the council because he's so busy trying to get her to just act like a normal kid. It's-it's infuriating because sometimes it's like no one ever wants to admit that she's driving us all crazy!"
An arm landed on her shoulder. "Calm down, Anna." Rapunzel's green eyes swam with concern.
All Anna's pent-up resentment had exploded out into the evening chill. It felt wonderful, like putting ice on a throbbing mosquito bite. Anna thought that if she flung out her arms, she might even be able to fly. "God, Rapunzel. You know everyone thinks she's a freak. And it's not even that she's shy. She just says the worst things, and I know she knows better because at home she's totally polite. She knows what's socially acceptable and not. It's like she wants to be this weirdo who spends all her time hacking at bits of ice. And I know that Ella and everyone else is laughing at her behind both our backs, and quite frankly I can't even blame them anymore. She is a freak."
"Anna!"
Only then did Anna realize they were standing outside the school, most kids finding their parents' cars and heading home. For the most part. Some of them were probably going to get high on god knows what before the night was out. She wondered how many people had overheard their conversation.
"Look, Anna, I'm sure things will work out with Elsa," Rapunzel reassured. "It's not that bad."
"She stopped doing her homework."
"Well, then I guess she's more like a regular kid than we thought."
"It's not a joke, Rapunzel. This is serious." Anna had heard the whispers in the middle of the night. Elsa must have too since they shared a bedroom. "I know she has this pride thing where she doesn't want to admit that it might be nice have friends, but does that mean she has to be so weird? Can't she see that we just want her to have a life? A real life. One where she's not locking herself in dark rooms, hammering at ice sculptures 24-7."
A car horn blared, and Rapunzel winced. "I need to go. It'll be okay. Elsa will always have you, right?"
"She needs more than me."
The honking continued. Some of the kids were beginning to stare. "Crap. Don't get so down, Anna. It's not like you." With that, Rapunzel scrambled away.
Scraping her fingers through her hair, Anna groaned. Where was Elsa, anyways? The benches were empty. She'd better find her sister quick, before their father arrived.
"Elsa?" she called softly, afraid to draw too much attention to herself. It had been stupid to leave her out here. Elsa had probably decided to walk home or something. Nevertheless, Anna rustled through the columns and bushes, hoping she wouldn't have to explain to her father how she had lost her sister. Older sister. Who apparently needed watching like a toddler?
"There you are!" she proclaimed victoriously when she nearly tripped over a sitting Elsa. "What have you been doing, playing in the dirt?"
Elsa didn't say anything, clearly still in whatever mood had settled over her earlier that evening. She'd been leaning against the side of the building, hidden by bushes and knees pulled up under her chin. Deciding to not to acknowledge Elsa's unresponsiveness, Anna pulled Elsa to her feet, knocking the dirt off her dress none-too-gently. She could feel the confused, somewhat-amused gazes of the other students when they emerged from the shrubbery.
Their mother came to pick them up shortly thereafter.
"You father needed to catch up on some work. I missed a turn," she explained when Anna asked why she'd been late. Elsa still refused to say anything. Anna could sense their mother's frustration.
It wasn't until they were lying in their separate beds in the darkness of their room, long after Anna had assumed her sister had fallen asleep, that Elsa finally opened her mouth. "I h-heard you earlier." Her words quavered. Anna's heart sank down into the mattress at the sound of Elsa swallowing something that might have been a sob. "When you were talking…to Rapunzel."
Anna waited for more, but Elsa didn't seem able to continue. She pretended to be asleep as her sister began to cry.
The silence afterwards hurt her ears.
Anna is sick to her stomach. The inside of her skull thuds dully. Of course her reaction to Elsa's cold shoulder is so physical. Her reaction to everything about Elsa has always been outlandishly visceral. When Elsa brushes off an imploring, Anna thinks she might actually throw up.
Anna knows what she said wrong. Ariel had been nothing but kind, if more gregarious than most people. Hardly like Anna, who used to ask strangers about their day at work, can fault her for that. It's Elsa's birthday, and Anna was acting like a mopey bear, and Elsa came over to comfort her, and Anna just had to pick a fight. Anna understands why Elsa is sensitive about the word "weird", but she didn't mean it like that. (Anna isn't even sure what that is.) But now Elsa won't talk to her, even though all Anna wanted was to spend time alone with her, and she's completely ruined this perfect day.
Part of her wants to blame Ariel, but Anna, even whiny, bratty Anna can't quite pull that one off any more than she can blame Hans for being a good guy when Elsa deserved one. She can't blame Elsa for not wanting to fall in love with her younger sister.
Anna needs to take responsibility for this.
The thrum of the crabs beating on their rocks echoed. Ahead, Elsa and Ariel entered the crab chamber. Anna dashed up to them.
"Well, I've got to set up for the show," Ariel announces. "Stick around. Maybe you want to see the Beluga whales."
Elsa nodded, still not sparing Anna a glance. "I guess we—"
"Wait, do you think you'll need any help?" Anna interrupted.
Elsa stares at her.
"What do you mean?" Ariel asked, clearly confused. "I'll be okay."
"No really," Anna insists. "You've been really nice, and I've been a downer all day. If you need any help, I'd be glad to give you a hand." Is that laying it on too thick? Maybe. But Anna is earnestlysorry and somehow she has to demonstrate that to Elsa.
"Well, if you want," Ariel says, gesturing for Anna to follow her.
They both turn towards Elsa who stiffly strides off. "I'm going to go look at the whales."
"Come back in time for the performance. You've got half an hour," Ariel calls after her cheerfully.
Anna perches on the edge of the tank, waiting for Ariel to resurface. The crab tank has been screened off from visitors while Ariel prepares for the performance. For some reason, she had thought that an aquarium should have something a little more…sophisticated than what seems to be an oversized fish tank with a cover. When she asked Ariel about it, the other girl set off on an explanation of filtration systems and water networks that left Anna woozy.
Although she's tempted to dip her feet into the cool waters, Anna resists. The last thing she needs is for a crab to swim up and fasten itself to one of her toes. Can crabs even swim? Sure they can scuttle along the sand, but can they—
"Hey! Can you hand me those green things?" A mass of red hair appears on the surface of the water.
Scrambling to her feet, Anna runs over to Ariel's bag and pulls out what appears to be two long green wires.
"Thanks," Ariel says, taking the wires from Anna's hands. "And by the way, I'm not trying to steal your girlfriend if that's what you were so worried about."
"What?" Anna shrieks. "Elsa is not—"
But Ariel is already free-diving to the bottom of the tank, and Anna can only splutter.
The next time Ariel's head pops out, Anna is ready.
"Elsa is not my girlfriend."
Ariel shrugs. "Could have fooled me. You looked like a decent couple. Now for the motion sensors. They're the little black box things."
"We're—" sisters, "—just friends."
"Well, clearly you have a crush on her," Ariel mentions, fiddling with something on one of the sensors while treading water. Then casually, she adds, "I think she likes you."
"What?!"
Again Ariel beats a hasty retreat beneath the waves and leaves Anna gaping like a fish on the concrete. The idea that someone else has finally picked up on Anna's lust is simultaneously terrifying and elating. Anna's brain tells her to run. Right. Now. But at the same time, Anna's heart is happy-dancing. Isn't great that Ariel thinks they're dating, that she thinks they might be a googd couple even though they spent an half an hour ignoring each other? She doesn't know they're sisters. Besides, Anna's blood sings, is Elsa so smitten with her that she can't hide it either?
Anna practically dies waiting for Ariel to show her face again. The redhead barely has time to open her mouth when Anna demands, "What do you mean you think she likes me?"
"What?" Ariel's brow furrows with confusion, and Anna nearly jumps into the crab-infested tank to shake her by the shoulders. "Oh yeah. I mean she keeps talking about you. Like I'll say something about different things that have been found in whale bellies and she'll say something like, 'I bet Anna would get a kick out of this,' or 'Anna eats everything.'"
Okay, so maybe Anna was hoping for 'Anna's eyes remind me of the deep blue sea," but she'll take what she can get.
"Oh, also, she kept turning around and looking for you, especially when we were walking somewhere. And even when I could tell she was kind of mad at you, she kept making me look to make sure you were still following us."
The delight and remorse hit Anna at the same time. On one hand, Elsa's obvious, constant interest in her whereabouts makes Anna glow. On the other, it dismays her to imagine Elsa so worried that Anna might abandon her on her birthday of all days.
"Anyways, we're almost done here. I'm going to need those clamps," Ariel says.
"Got it," Anna mumbles, rustling through the bag.
"Yeah, so I thought maybe the reason you wanted to come with me was to tell me to back off from your girl."
"Uh, not really." Anna hands over the clamps.
"Either way. You don't have to worry. I'm straight." Then, Ariel disappeared underwater, leaving Anna to her befuddled brain once more.
Is Anna gay? She did, after all, look up dating advice from lesbian websites. But for so long, Elsa has been the only figure in her view. The idea of looking at anyone else in an…evaluative way has been was flung out her mind years ago. Sexual orientation seemed like such a tiny issue when, hello: incest. She's never considered dating another girl. When she needs a date for a dance, Kristoff throws on a suit and Anna pulls on a dress, and they just do it.
This time as Ariel hauls herself out of the water, Anna makes a point to examine her in her bathing suit. She's nice. Anna's gaze lingers in all the, ahem, right places. But not like Elsa who makes Anna want to curl up into a ball and bury her face in that thick blond hair—not that Ariel's hair is wispy or anything, because it's definitely not, but emotionally, Anna doesn't get the same surge that she gets whenever Elsa so much as nods.
Ariel's a pretty girl with pretty legs that, yeah, Anna wouldn't mind running her hands along. But Elsa has been Anna's overarching fascination for years. Her love for Elsa has given her otherwise lackadaisical life a sense of direction. Elsa passes over the pandemonium of Anna's haphazard desires and suddenly they all snap into alignment, like iron filings beneath a magnet.
Ariel wraps a towel around herself and motions Anna over to a side door marked "Employees Only." "Just one more thing I think I could use your hand with and then I think you should go find your 'friend' and get her to come to the performance. I'll even sing a special song for you guys."
"Wait," Anna says, determined to make this right. "I was…kind of jealous and a jerk today, and basically Elsa got mad because I said you were weird. And you're not really that weird. I mean, my best friend's family owns, like, goats and reindeers, and he's always going on about them for hours but that's just one of the things that makes him…him. So yeah. I guess I'm just saying sorry."
Ariel regards her blankly for ten long seconds before dissolving into snickers. "You'd better have said I was weird! Being weird is awesome!"
"Uh…" Anna blinks stupidly.
"Anyways, I think you'll consider us even when you see what I'm about to make you do." Ariel smirks and beckons Anna closer. She approaches cautiously and looks into the tank that Ariel is pointing at.
"Holy crap! What is that thing?!"
That thing is the most massive crab Anna has ever seen. She's pretty sure that it's horror movie spider with scales. Though its body isn't that much bigger than some of the other large crabs in the Triton Aquarium, claw-to-claw it's at least twice the length of Anna's arm span. All its limbs crumple to squeeze into the kiddie-pool-sized transport tank.
"This is Herb."
"Herb?"
"Yeah. He's a Japanese spider crab." Ariel bends down, putting her face alarmingly close to the monster. "Who's my big boy?" she cooes.
A stream of bubbles rises in response.
"Er, are you sure you should be so…close to that thing?"
"Don't worry. He's really gentle, and we've already got bands on his pincers. I just need you to help me move him to the tank. He's like 36 pounds, and I don't want to risk dropping him."
"You want me to hold the 36 pound crab that looks like it could eat me?"
Ariel rolls her eyes. "He can't eat you, Anna. He's not even that heavy. It's just that he gets a little freaked out when he's being moved and starts flailing his legs a little."
"That is not comforting."
"Just put your hands under his belly and lift."
"Belly?" Anna mutters as she follows directions. "This thing has a belly?"
"Well, technically I guess it's the pleon, but I figured you'd understand 'belly.'"
Anna merely grunts, too busy lifting to formulate a good comeback.
Okay, she wouldn't have been to compose one if had a thesaurus, but whatever.
It's not actually that bad between the two of them. Some of his legs sway back and forth, but for the most part he's completely docile.
"Where's your phone?" Ariel asks abruptly.
"In my back pocket," Anna replies unthinkingly.
Suddenly Ariel releases her hold on the crab and darts around to Anna's back.
"Hey what—fuck! Herb!" Sagging forward with the unexpected weight, Anna swears and tries to twist around. The destabilization upsets Herb who begins to windmill his massive claws and legs. Anna teeters precariously as she tries to compensate for his constantly shifting weight, torn between wanting to throw the creature as far away as possible and genuine concern for his wellbeing if all 36 pounds of him hit the ground at once.
Don't tarantulas go splat if you drop them from your hand?
"Ariel! What the—"
"I'm doing you a favor."
Anna's voice grows increasingly shrill. "This is not a favor!" She ducks one wildly swinging claw before it can collide with her temple. "Are you taking pictures?" she shrieks.
"Trust me," Ariel says, unfazed, "she'll forgive you for making puppy-fur coats once she sees the look on your face. Priceless."
"I do not make puppy-fur coats! What are you doing? Come help me with Herb." Herb's body moves in her hand. He seems to be moving… "Oh god, do these things bite?"
"Calm down, I'm sending her the pictures now."
"Who? Wait, you're sending these to Elsa–" Anna yelps as one of Herb's dangling legs brushed her thigh. "Oh god. Oh god. I'm going to die."
"Get a grip," Ariel scoffs, pushing the phone back into Anna's jeans.
"I'm trying. Notice how I haven't flung him across the room yet?! My grip is quite fine, thank you!"
"You are such a baby," the aquarium worker snorts as she crosses back to Anna's front. "Here." She hooks her fingers under and between Herb's legs, steadying him and halting the worst of his thrashing. "Let's just get him over the tank."
Panting with her entire body, Anna can only nod as they lower Herb into the water.
"Okay," Ariel declares brightly, sloughing off her towel and sliding in again. "I can take it from here. Go find Elsa and come see the show."
Elsa looks really pretty in the Beluga whale exhibit. Like if normal Elsa is a 10 on some dick's scale of hotness, Elsa in the Beluga whale exhibit is like a 62. Most of the crowd has gone up to mill about the Crab Pit, but Elsa stands right in front of the glass, watching the ghostly white whales drift by. Blue light dances on her pale hair and paler cheekbones. One of the whales, which in any other moment Anna could only have described as "ungainly," floats over Elsa's head, peering down at her through the glass.
For a moment, Anna forgets the camera flashes, the chug of industrial water pumps, the little children with cotton candy. Her world is reduced Elsa, beauty, and a blubbery whale.
Then, Elsa frowns at her phone. Anna snaps out of her stupor and jogs over to her sister, who chooses that moment to—"Elsa—oomf. Whoa!"
"Anna?" Anna's dramatic, epic, time-lag-worthy fall comes to an equally glorious halt when Elsa wraps her arms around her waist and heaves her back on her feet.
"Hi," Anna says breathlessly.
"What were you holding?" Elsa demands.
Right. She's still mad at Anna. But now Anna has no idea why.
"What?"
"The spider thing! Why would you ever pick that up?"
"Oh that." Anna doesn't know where her sudden sense of bravado comes from, but she rolls with it. "Pshh. That was just Herb. He's really nice once you get to know him."
"What? Anna, are you okay?"
Something about Elsa's blatant distress fills Anna up with warmth and worry. "I'm fine. I was just helping Ariel out," Anna says, reaching up to brush some of Elsa's bangs out of her face. Her chest feels tender and raw. "I'm really sorry about earlier. I was being a blockhead."
"Anna. I know I overreacted. It was a sensitive—"
"Yeah. I know it was sensitive. I knew it was sensitive, but I said it anyways. I'm sorry."
Elsa's eyes are very, very blue. Anna can't quite meet them.
"I didn't exactly help matters," Elsa replies ruefully. "Putting words in your mouth."
They share a silence.
"Whatever," Anna bursts out, determined to shake off this bummer mood. "We just kissed and made up. Let's go see the crab show."
Anna yanks the two of them out of the exhibit before Elsa can think too hard about what she just said, and then stumbles on the stairs when she realizes she's clutching Elsa's hand.
The crowd claps politely when a voice from the loudspeaker announces the start of the performance. Light drumming starts up. The crabs have been arranged on pedestals, so that even Anna and Elsa, leaning against the opposite wall in the back of the audience, can sort of see the performers. A group of crabs appears to pluck strings in coordination with the music. Anna wonders how much of it is actually the crabs playing and how much is the crab equivalent of lip-syncing. Claw-syncing?
"Oh look, it's Herb!" Anna waves wildly, as though he can recognize her. She swears he waves back. Either that or he was adjusting the gong next to him.
Suddenly flash of red and green appears from behind a rock. Wait, is that Ariel in a mermaid suit? Geez, how long can that girl hold her breath?
Ariel rises from the depths, settles herself on a platform decorated as a barnacled rock, and starts to sing.
"There you see her sitting there across the way. She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her. And you don't know why, but you're dying to try. You wanna kiss the girl."
Anna remembers with a rush of embarrassment the "special song" Ariel was talking about earlier.
"Ugh," she buries her head in Elsa's shoulder, unable to meet anyone's eyes. Not even Herb's. Certainly not Ariel's. Her face might catch fire if she looks at Elsa's.
"Sha-la-la-la-la-la. My, oh my, are you just too shy? Ain't gonna kiss the girl? Sha-la-la-la-la-la. Ain't that sad? Ain't it shame? Too bad. You're gonna miss the girl."
A slender arm crosses over the back of Anna's neck. Lithe fingers grip her upper arm. She snuggles deeper into Elsa's embrace, surrounded by the scent of their garage and a light perfume and a bunch of stuff Anna can't quite place.
Like the soft pressure against the top of Anna's head that might be from Elsa's lips pressing down.
Anna doesn't say anything. The music and Elsa's deep breaths soothe her ears.
6000+ words. Finally got through the aquarium. Going on a trip tomorrow so I was determined to bang this out tonight no matter what. Pretty sure I've read a fanfic with "Kiss the Girl" before, but I don't think it was a Frozen one. Either way, forcing Anna to hold a Japanese Spider Crab was all my idea.
