I have a BETA now! Many thanks to Schurke who has done wonderful job to make this chapter better!
You guys are awesome! Thank you for your kind words, especially Amber21H for flattering lengthy review! I am still open for suggestion of time-period. Until then, enjoy this chapter!
"We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations."
― Anaïs Nin
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In Arendelle, present day timeline, a freaking-out brunette vampire had been pacing around the laboratory room for whole 15 minutes. Her companion, a fiery-head vampire with a detective badge hanging on her uniform-belt, was standing rigid like a statue.
"That was an undocumented jump," Belle muttered.
"You have been saying that for the past 5 minutes. Calm down, Belle… I'm sure she will be back soon. What about the mysterious matter that blew up this facility?" Merida tried to get over her own nerve by concentrating on other matters.
Like Belle, she was worried. They had been meticulously following the girl's record of jumps to the past. Until this point, Anna's journal had mentioned about her first, second, and third jumps but this particular jump was unrecorded. It was something unplanned and for the added concern, it had happened exactly when the mysterious matter called the 'urgent matter' was exploding.
The explosion was minor but it had caused an unplanned jump for little Anna.
Belle had lost her shit in that second.
"I have asked them to bring it to our facility. This university cannot handle that unstable matter. I will take care of the paperwork later." Belle waved her hand, swatting away what she thought was an unimportant topic.
Anna had been Belle's priority ever since she awoke in her second life. Merida never asked why and Elsa seemed to get it already. After all, both had taken to different kinds of possessiveness when it came to Anna.
"Can you just stop pacing around?" Merida frowned. She perhaps didn't have ability to hear another's mind like Belle, but the atmosphere in the room and Belle's edgy feeling had begun to rub off on her.
"What if something goes wrong? What if she jumped into the middle of World War I? There are bullets…!" Belle shrieked when speaking out her horror. "She is 11 years old… if something happens, the paradox will come to be… I cannot even imagine. Time will not be so unkind…"
Merida had to admit that she could never understand this version of Belle, no matter how centuries long they have known each other.
"The lass is reckless but she does have some self-preservation. Maybe the lass intentionally left this jump out. Unwritten," Merida suggested half-heartedly.
However, her suggestion made a considerable impact on the brunette vampire. Belle was staring at her like she had been reciting a new formula that would change humankind for a better future.
Merida was baffled.
"You are right. Yes, of course! That little git has been plotting behind us. Of course!" For the first time in the horrifying quarter of an hour, Belle smiled. "You are brilliant, Merida!"
A compliment on her brilliancy from Belle was extremely rare. This was the first time in a century.
Before Belle could jump around and hugged the fiery-headed vampire, a soft thud was heard. Both vampires were immediately alarmed.
A tiny figure had just materialized and landed on the floor's laboratory. A little girl who was wearing short pants and black cap, hugging herself with both knees drawn to the chest and sobbing uncontrollably.
Anna was back.
Belle automatically sprung her feet toward the girl, Merida not far behind. Both exchanged glances in silent.
They knew what time period Anna had just left. Both understood why the older Anna had left it unwritten in her journal.
.
"Do we tell Elsa?" Merida whispered, trying not to accidentally waking the sleeping girl on the backseat.
Ever since her return, the little red-head had been crying her eyeballs out. The crying erupted harder when Belle embraced the girl into her arms. But Anna struggled with what little strength was left in her body. The girl had punched, kicked, and thrashed her body to fight against Belle's hands. She wanted to get away, she didn't want any of them went near her.
Or, that was what Belle had heard from Anna's mind.
Merida had been the one who manage to grab Anna's body and end the struggle. The fiery-head vampire had been witnessing how despite Anna's weak punches, Belle had a reaction as if someone had set fire to her body.
Vampires could not feel physical pain except by fire.
Then Merida understood that Belle was inside Anna's mind and Merida didn't envy it a little bit.
This was the first time Anna had experienced a broken heart over her inability to save someone. The first time she felt useless. The first time she learnt of harsh reality and how evil the worst humanity could be.
Anna's body went slack in her grip, totally exhausted from her jump and crying.
"Don't hurt her." Belle begged with pained voice, worrying that Merida had gripped Anna too hard.
"Never. Get out of her head if it's that painful." Merida eyed her friend carefully, knowing Belle would never leave Anna alone in her mental misery.
Belle shook her head firmly and turned around to lead them to the car.
So, now they were inside Belle's car with Merida driving and Belle accompanied sleeping Anna in the backseat.
Merida glanced through the rearview mirror, spotting how Belle carefully rested Anna's head on her lap.
"No, we cannot tell her." Belle replied softly. Her fingers were caressing Anna's hair in certain rhythm. A habit they all picked up for centuries in order to soothe their time-traveler.
"…she would've wanted to know." Merida drove uncharacteristically under the speed limit. The fiery-head vampire loved to go fast and since she was working in law-enforcement, speeding tickets weren't a problem anymore.
"She will drop everything, lose focus, and fail the mission. It is not her time yet." Belle hissed, glaring at Merida through the glass.
"…so we wait."
Belle nodded. "We have been waiting for centuries, and Elsa has been waiting for a thousand years. What are a few years more?"
Merida shrugged. "Alright. You are the boss."
Belle rolled her eyes. "I'm not anyone's boss."
Merida faked a gasp. "Don't tell me you've never realized how bossy you are for the past hundred years?!"
So, they were back to bantering. Belle would always win though since she was the smarter one.
"Shut your trap. You will wake her up." Belle chided.
And compliantly, Merida was silent for the rest of their journey.
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The next day, Anna woke up with swollen and reddened eyes. She felt funny when she touched her face and found how puffy her entire face had become.
It took her 3 minutes to recall her entire experience that had happened during her 11th birthday.
It took her another 3 minutes to make sure that she hadn't been in another timeline and convinced when her hands clutched her teddy bear.
It took her seconds to get back to her sullen mood when recalling the last jump experience.
"Morning, sunshine."
Anna looked up, her father was smiling through the half-opened bedroom door. He carried a tray with breakfast, all of it were her favorites.
Then it hit her full-force. She missed her family so much.
Another wave of tears threatened to break down her swollen eyes.
Her father walked to her bed, setting down the tray on the desk and climbed up to the bed to comfort his only daughter. "It's alright. I am sorry you had to experience that in your birthday…"
Anna smelled home, she snuggled more into her father's arms. "It was awful, dad…" Anna meant about the historical assassination, civil war, and terrifyingly unstoppable serial murders in Victorian-London. The world is a scary place to live.
"I know, darling. Your mother is okay. She just got home this morning. I cannot imagine that I almost lost you both in that fire yesterday…"
Wait, what?
Anna loosened up and looked upward to her father's concern eyes. "What…?"
"The fire in your mother's workplace, sweetheart. It was awful. I knew it when a fireman called my office and I… I thought I've lost both of you… never scare me like that again… although recently you have been attracting trouble, young lady. I'm just thankful you are alright."
Anna blinked. She forgot about the fire. So much had happened in a day, so much jumps she had experienced in a day that she had lost track of time.
Jumps.
A surge of hatred and anger began to replace her sadness.
What use of jumping to the past if the only things she sees are misery and evil?
Anna hated it.
She didn't want to jump anymore. Screw the past.
.
After that day, Anna's behavior had taken drastic changes. Before, the girl was quiet and prefer books than outdoor exercise, but after her 11th birthday Anna had become more withdrawn.
Afterschool she would go directly to her room, finish homework and reading any books she could find. The teachers in Anna's school spoke of their concern about the girl's introvert behavior. Overall she was a good kid and her grades were above excellent, however she would only speak if necessary and never willingly join any social activities like the other kids her age.
Her father blamed the fire.
Her mother blamed herself.
Anna blamed the blasted time.
There was a shift in the family. It wasn't only their daughter, but her father and mother could feel the shift in their dynamic. There was no playing video games together anymore. Her mother would spend the majority of her day in the lab, never taking any chance to bring her daughter to work anymore. The father had been trying to picking up the pieces of his family to no avail.
Their routine became like clockwork. Laughter was strained. Family time was awkward. They were drifting apart.
It was 3 months after the problematic birthday when Anna received a letter.
A familiar letter on her desk in her bedroom with familiar doodles on the edge of the blue paper.
A letter that said,
Get over it. Learn to swim, you dolt. Grow up.
Anna crumpled the letter and threw it to the corner of her room.
However, the next day the same letter with same message turned up again out of nowhere.
Anna did like last time. Crumpled it up and threw it away to the corner.
This thing happened for weeks and the corner of her room now was full of crumpled papers with the same message. So often Anna read it that she could spell it out of her head.
Get over it.
Shut up.
Learn to swim.
I don't like sports.
Grow up.
I am 2 inches taller than last summer.
A message from her older-self that Anna found as annoying as hell.
Until one day the blue paper had different message written on it.
It is no wonder Elsa never sees you in this time period.
That surprisingly hurt her deeply. Anna was angry with her older-self. Is it possible to hate the future version of herself?
She hated her ability to travel to the past.
But she didn't hate Elsa. She couldn't.
The platinum blond vampire was the best thing in Anna's life.
Anna huffed, she was about to crumple the paper again and threw it to the usual spot.
But she couldn't.
Anna straightened the blue paper on her hand, her finger went to trace Elsa's name carefully.
Elsa.
Anna found herself unable to throw away anything with Elsa's name on it.
Instead she walked to her desk and opened the drawer. Beneath it, her drawer possessed a hidden compartment where Anna would keep her most prized possession inside.
The rose sculpture made out of ice from Elsa that she had received as her 11th birthday present.
The coldness of the frozen flower brought certain nostalgic feeling for Anna. Her mind went to the pair of hands which possessed familiar coldness.
Strangely enough, she felt warmth.
Anna missed her.
.
A year later, Anna didn't do any jumps.
However, the annoying letters kept coming to her desk. After she dutifully had taken swimming lessons (her father was a little brightened up upon mentioning his daughter's interest of sports), the letters continued telling her about what she needed to do in her life.
Take a fencing lesson, not ballet. Never ballet.
Why in the world she need fencing lessons?
Ask your mother for a hair straightener, our hair is awful in the morning without it.
What is a hair straightener?
Buy new warmer coats and pants. Make sure they are red.
What's wrong with the clothes I already have?
Stock up your chocolate stash.
I did.
Time to stow away the teddy bear, sweetheart (this was the first time the letter sounded so kind that Anna suspected it wasn't her writing. Anna was fully certain that Elsa was the one who had written it).
It was like a chore or grocery list but Anna had a feeling that it was necessary to comply.
Ever since she decided to follow the letters' instructions, Anna had opened up herself a little more. She would agree to play video-game with her dad on the weekends and shopping with her mother on her mother's day off.
She gained a friend in school. It was a huge step up.
The boy was the same age with her and he was a little dense (her father disagreed and said that the boy is too sensitive therefore he has managed befriended her) and big. However, he had gentle eyes and a friendly manner. He would offer to join with her in library and they would discuss about random things – from stories, homework, and hobbies – and Anna found a friend with same interests as her.
History.
"You know that in the 16th century, Arendelle had a princess named Anna?" The boy asked. "She was the only daughter of Great King David and cousin of Olaf the First?"
Anna was nose deep in her encyclopedia. She lowered down the book to look at her friend. "I knew." She huffed. He should've said something more challenging.
"May I call you princess?" The boy asked again.
This time Anna hurled the encyclopedia in her hands toward the boy.
He dodged it.
"No way!"
"Princess!" The boy cooed, he was totally excited to get new ammunition to tease his new friend.
"Shut it, Kristoff!"
"As you wish… princess!"
Anna disliked his name-calling.
But surprisingly she didn't hate him.
He had wrong shade of blond, his eyes weren't blue, and he was… a he.
But Anna felt calmer whenever Kristoff was around.
He took a considerably short time to gain the title of Anna's best friend.
.
It was winter holiday when the two were holed up in the city's library to finish their school history project. The teacher assigned an essay about the most interesting event in 19th century.
"What's your essay is about?" Kristoff asked, very curious about the thick papers in Anna's desk.
"19th century Arendelle," Anna murmured quietly.
"Do we have some awesome events in that century? Our nation was quite uneventful… Britain on the other hand… had a notorious killer in that century! Jack the Ripper! I am writing about him," Kristoff said excitedly.
Anna snapped her pencil in two.
Kristoff winced, hearing the crunching sound and eyeing the broken pencil that was now lying on the library floor.
"Anna?"
His friend looked a bit scary and this was his first time to witness the upset Anna Summers. Had he said something wrong?
"I- I have to go home." In a flash, Anna gathered her things, threw all of it in into her backpack. "See you in school."
Kristoff hadn't seen her for the rest of the winter holiday.
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"If you could travel back in time, what era would you visit?" Kristoff was reading a certain question in some magazine aloud. Anna tried her hardest to appear uninterested.
"What do you think, Anna? You are more of a history nerd than I am…"
"… I would not go anywhere. I would stay in the present." Anna shrugged.
"What?! You have a cool power and you won't use it?"
Anna narrowed her eyes, didn't like where their conversation was going. "The past is designed as a lesson. Not some site to visit or re-enact…"
Kristoff thankfully didn't press the topic any further. "You have the point… still, I would punch someone if I could shake Shakespeare's hands…"
Anna stared at him oddly. "You hate literature. You slept through the entire Hamlet chapter."
Kristoff grinned. "That's why I said punch…"
"Haha…" Anna wasn't amused.
.
Seasons went by and Anna's middle school days had come to an end. After her graduation, her father offered her to move back to their hometown.
But Anna just found a friend and Kristoff was going to a public high school in this city. Meanwhile, Anna knew well that her father had been commuting in last 3 years due to the distance of his workplace and home. Now that her mother had moved to another university that was closer to their hometown, she was left in a crossroad.
Her mother noticed her dilemma and offered a second offer.
A dormitory school.
There was a famous private school belonged to the former Royal Family of Arendelle in the city. It was one of the top schools in the country and with Anna's grades, her parents were very confident that the school board would gladly accept their brilliant though a little nerdy daughter.
Anna knew of the school. How could she not? The school was established on 19th century near the castle grounds of the Royal Palace. The building and the land were as ancient as the history of Arendelle's Royal Family itself. Some people joked about going to that school in a princess costume and pumpkin carriage when Halloween came.
"But- I don't think that school is for me…" Anna said hesitantly. She had expected to go to some public high school in the area to complete her education.
"Nonsense, dear. Your last homeroom teacher told your father and I about your accomplished achievements in class. You have a brilliant mind. Your assignments, I have to quote his words: 'your daughter's assignment regarding world history is very thorough and somewhat impeccable. It seems your daughter has great interest regarding history, facts, and social studies. But she looks like she is holding herself back in order to not stand out among her peers.' he said."
Anna was busted by her homeroom teacher.
"This school has everything, Anna. And dormitories! We will not be worried to leave you here by yourself and you still can meet that boyfriend of yours." Her mother winked.
"Kristoff is not my boyfriend, mom!" Anna yelled for the countless time her mother spoke about her best friend.
"Anna is right, Cass, that little boy is not my daughter's boyfriend. He is too… bulky." Her father said, half-fuming. No one would date his 14 years old daughter. No one.
"The boy is sweet, Dave. Stop talking nonsense! Anyway, we should start your enrollment today, there are many things to take care of!"
With that, Anna's high school life had been decided.
.
.
Anna woke up to see a blue paper she hadn't received for a while.
Bring an extra jacket in your bag, always.
But it's summer!
At the end of the month, her parents were taking her to the school to complete the rest of the paperwork and Anna's move into her room in the dormitory. Anna had found out in last minute that she had gotten a scholarship due to her remarkable grades and several recommendation letters from her teachers in middle school.
She was given the school books and uniforms. The school uniform was a standard white shirt with the school crest on the chest (Arendelle's Royal Famiy crest is an ice blue eagle thriving on top of a white cross and olive branch), knee-length blue plaid skirt, and tie the same color as the skirt. The winter uniform was provided with a black blazer and again, the Royal crest was embedded on the front.
Her mother insisted Anna to try on the uniform and then took several pictures for the family's personal collection. Her father never stopped taking pictures of some parts of the ancient building. If Anna hadn't known better, she felt like walking into a museum disguised as a castle.
Her curiosity was piqued.
So when the friendly-looking receptionist handed her the school pamphlets and written regulations, Anna decided to read it while waiting her parents finishing some administration papers.
Her mother persuaded her to go and look around the school ground in advance, considering the school would start in early September, two days from now.
Anna was right about the school building.
She felt like she was in Hogwarts.
Arendelle Private High School was established in 1824 by King Olaf the second in order to give equal chance for people of Arendelle in terms of education and knowledge. The school was the first academic institution that accepted various children from across Arendelle without regards to social class, gender, and wealth.
Anna was reading the school pamphlet without paying attention two where she was walking.
So, she wasn't aware how the school building began to blur then shift into a winter forest.
When she noticed the dropping temperature, Anna dropped her pamphlet.
No.
Anna frantically went to the way she came from. There was no sign of any building as long as her eyes could see.
Besides, it was summer.
The chill went through her body as she now registered the freezing cold air.
It had been 3 years.
Anna almost forgot how it felt. At the least of expected always.
Her breath puffed as a thick white fog. Her mind wandered to the letter on her desk this morning.
She did bring an extra jacket.
Anna hurriedly took off her backpack and pulled out a jacket and her pants from it. She was lucky that she brought her change of clothes with her since she felt too uncomfortable to wander around an unfamiliar place in her new uniform.
She hurled her fashion sense out of the window when she just carelessly put her pants on top of her skirt. She put on her shirt on top of her uniform and bundled up last with her favorite maroon jacket.
And she was still freezing.
So, Anna decided to walk around. If she did nothing, she would die freezing.
It was all white snow. Even Anna was unable to differentiate the trees. The sky wouldn't help since it was cloudy with promise of another wave of snowfall soon. It was getting harder to walk in sneakers as the snow was almost drowning her ankles. Her socks had completely soaked through.
"Great! You could've mentioned extra boots and warm coats for blizzard in the note!" Anna muttered frustratingly toward her future-self. She was in no way prepared for this kind of jump.
She should jump back. Perhaps she could control it this time.
In the movies, some fiction characters with super power had succeeded to gain control of their ability by merely concentrating their mind.
Anna tried to calm herself, closing her eyes, mimicking what people called a meditation technique.
Breathe in and out.
The cold wind gusted with freckles of ice.
It was too cold, her brain was freezing. Damn it!
Her feet wandered aimlessly when after eternity passed she finally reached a clearing. It looked like a frozen fjord at the end of the forest.
However, Anna's gaze went to a little figure of a small girl standing back-straight in the middle of the fjord.
The little girl was not older than 10 years old.
Anna couldn't take her gaze off the girl because what had been amazed her is that how the snow had seemed gathered around the girl's body.
Her breath hitched when the little girl smiled, jumping around, the pair of pale little hands were bursting real ice into the air above. She was giggling when the shooting ice from her hand was turning into a funny looking snowman.
The girl danced with the snow, played with it, and controlled them with ease.
For a while Anna had forgotten about the cold, stunned with the scene that was played before her.
Then that magical moment was abruptly stopped when the white-haired little girl's eyes caught Anna's gaze on her.
Anna noticed the same shade of blue. However, this time they were brighter, younger, and… terrified.
The blue eyes widened as if waiting for punishment and inevitable doom from the older girl across the fjord.
All the falling snow in the air halted, frozen in its falling.
The little girl clasped her hands and brought them close to her chest, her defensive stance like those children who were afraid of having done some terrible deed by an adult.
Anna opened her mouth but no words came out.
"Di-did you see?" the girl glanced up fearfully to Anna.
It was foreign; how Anna's most favorite blue gazed at her with terror. It hurt.
"Yes. That one is cute." Anna pointed out the snowman. "What's his name?"
It seemed that Anna's question had caught the girl off-guard. The fearful look in her eyes turned into a puzzled expression. "You… you don't fear me?"
She would be the biggest hypocrite since she was a human who was capable of traveling to the past after all.
"Of what? That snowman is harmless."
Anna's distraction didn't work on the girl. Despite the girl's external appearance, she looked more mature than her age. "Of what I can do." To demonstrate, she shot a wave of ice toward the ground near Anna's feet.
"I think your gift is beautiful." Anna offered a sincere smile.
The girl gasped upon Anna's comment. Her pale cheeks turned into a slight tint of pink.
"So, what's his name?" Anna repeated the question, nodding towards the snowman. "Wait. I got it!" Her mind recalled the pamphlet in her hand minutes ago. "How about Olaf?" The snowman seemed to have a pair of Royal eyebrows. King Olaf would be proud.
The girl regarded Anna with confused look for a little longer then to her creation snowman.
"I like Olaf." She agreed.
Anna observed the little girl in front of her. Never had she expected to meet the little version of the person she had been longing to meet.
"Elsa?"
The little girl snapped up her head, surprised that a stranger had known her name.
Anna grinned. This time, for a chance, she would be the older one. The human Elsa, the little Elsa before her… She couldn't imagine why the little Elsa had been afraid when someone saw her gift.
It wasn't normal.
Anna thought it was more awesome than hers. More beautiful and magical.
Anna longed for Elsa's smile. So, at this moment, at least during her stay in this timeline, Anna promised herself that she would try her hardest to bring the smile upon little Elsa's face.
Anna took a breath, realizing how the temperature around her became a bit warmer despite the slowly piling snow. "So, do you want to build more snowmen?"
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I really need to read your feedbacks about chapters that I write. Writing time-travel plot is not easy task and if you find any inconsistency, please point me out. Your reviews would be gladly appreciated and trust me, keep my spirit in writing the story plot. We still have long way to go, and several surprises on the way.
