I recomend you to read Elsa's POV first if you're also reading Light in the darkness, but of course, it's up to you.
Epilogue.
I've been packing all morning… meaning since two hours ago, when I woke up. I went shopping yesterday and bought a lot of junk food that'll hopefully last us all trip, the majority of it being chocolate. That alone filled two suitcases, and now I'm placing my clothes, books, brushes and all I could possibly need inside three other suitcases. I probably won't need all that stuff, but Elsa's truck is big enough and I don't want to take any chances, so…
"Anna, what are you doing?" My mom asks as she enters my room.
"Packing." I state, taking a board game and placing it in my 'board game' suitcase.
"But… you won't need all that stuff." She protests. "And shouldn't you leave some clothes you could use when you visit on holydays?"
"Don't worry, I've got everything under control." At this, I try to close the suitcase, even climbing atop it, but the stupid zipper just won't move!
"Anna, please, I know you are used to having everything you want, but living alone in a city far away means you have to give up on some things." At this, she urges me to climb down the suitcase so she can take out some things (like a small blanket and two extra towels) and close the damn thing.
Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention? I'm moving to New York. Why New York? Because Elsa wants to go college there. She says that the Cornell University has an excellent architecture program, and so I'm going with her. I'm not going to college yet though; I decided to take a year off to do whatever I feel like it and meanwhile figure out what I want to do with my life. My parents weren't exactly happy with the idea, not wanting their "baby" to go away, but fortunately I was able to convince them in a very mature way (throwing a tantrum until they relented). Truth to be told, I would have gone even if they hadn't given me permission, only because I didn't want to be apart from Elsa, and they probably figured that out too and wisely decided to give in on my demands.
"I know." I sigh. "I just want everything to be perfect."
"It will be, sweetie, you'll see." My mom smiles kindly at me, placing one hand on my shoulder. "As long as you are with Elsa, everything will be fine."
"I guess…" I relent a little, deviating my gaze.
"Well then, I'm going to remove all the things I deem unnecessary." She says as she approaches one of the suitcases, but as I see which one is I almost have a heart attack, so I lunge for it and grab it just in time.
"Not this one." I say, my face burning like it's on fire. "You can take whatever you want from the others, but… don't touch this."
"Why? What do you have there? Lingerie?" She laughs, and I force myself to do the same, but in reality I'm utterly mortified, because yeah, that's the lingerie suitcase. I don't say anything though, and just let my mom unpack like half of my belongings (except the junk food, that's sacred) before we both decide to make our way downstairs and wait for Elsa.
Just after my father offered to go and fetch my baggage, the doorbell rings, and I don't waste a second before going and opening it up, jumping over to Elsa when I see it's her.
"Elsa!" I exclaim. "I'm so glad you're here! Should we get going?" I separate from her slightly so I can look her and she just chuckles at my excited attitude.
"Hold on, Anna." My mother's voice sounds from the door and we both turn to see her. "Have you already packed everything you need? Your toothbrush? Your sweaters? Your acne cream?"
"Mom!" I blush, knowing she's just trying to embarrass me in front of my girlfriend. "I don't use acne cream." I mumble.
"I know." She chuckles. "I was just teasing you."
"Anna, care to help me with your stuff?" My father appears behind mother, carrying all my suitcases.
"Uh… do you really need that many things?" Elsa asks, eying them like they were too much for her car… okay maybe they are, but geez, why does everyone keep insisting I packed too many things? I need them!
"Yes… well, like half of it is food but…" I admit as I take one suitcase from my father and my mother does the same with another one.
"We don't need that much food for the trip. New York is only like six hours from here." Elsa objects, much to my dismay. I thought she'd agreed with me on this.
"Yeah, but what if we get lost? Or what if we get caught up in a hurricane or a snow storm? Or a zombie apocalypse? Or…" I try to excuse the excess of chocolate.
"Anna." Elsa chastises me, letting me know she won't relent. Since I really don't want to fight with her this morning, because it should be perfect, I sigh and agree against myself.
"Okay, fine. I'll leave one of my food suitcases here, but if a tragedy happens and we don't have food it's your fault." She chuckles and so do my parents, while we load my other four suitcases into Elsa's truck. Then we turn to my parents. This is the moment I've been dreading; the time to say goodbye. I just hope I won't cry. I need to be strong for my parents. I don't want them to worry about me.
"I promise I'll take care of Anna." Elsa assures my parents for the twelfth time. "And we'll come back to visit soon." My father just nods, but my mother goes and hugs her. Thankfully, Elsa doesn't seem to mind.
"Please don't get in trouble." My father tells us once mom lets go of Elsa.
"Trouble is my second name." I joke, and dad just rolls his eyes before approaching to me and giving me a crushing hug. I return it with just as much force, knowing this is the last time I'll be hugging him in a while. I have to try hard not to cry.
"And please remember to eat healthy." My mother adds as she hugs me, just when my father lets go of me to go and hug Elsa. It's a good thing she's more used to physical contact now, or she'd be freaking out.
"You are a good kid, Elsa. I hope things work out between you and Anna and that you stay together for a long time." My father says as he eyes Elsa with a proud smile. I'm glad he likes her, or this would have been a lot more difficult.
"I hope that too." She smiles. Oh, that precious smile of hers! I just want to kiss her, but I know I shouldn't do it in front of my parents. Oh well, I guess there'll be plenty of time for that later.
"Well, now I think it's time for you to go." My mom says, gesturing to the car. "Don't forget to call us when you get there."
"Yes, we will." I answer, getting into the passenger side before peering back at Elsa. "Come on, Elsa, New York awaits." She smiles at me before getting in as well and starting the engine.
"Are you ready?" She asks.
"I was born ready!" I answer enthusiastically, making her chuckle, before we both wave my parents goodbye as the car starts driving away from the only home I've ever had, and I realize that, as excited as I am about going to live with Elsa to New York, as wonderful I know it'll be… I'm gonna miss this. I'm gonna miss my parents, my home, my friends, my neighbors, that damn dog that always wakes me up with his barks, the doves that always perch themselves outside my window, the tree that covers the front of my house with its leaves in autumn… I'm gonna miss Arendelle.
Suddenly, I'm not able to contain my tears anymore and now I'm sniffing pathetically, like a kid going to school for the first time and not wanting to separate from his parents. Soon Elsa notices this and parks the car, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"Are you okay?" She asks concerned.
"I… I'm fine." I say, trying hard to control my sobs.
"Anna, if you're not ready yet I can…"
"No!" I say hastily, looking at her with pleading eyes. "I want to go… it's just… I'm gonna miss them." I admit as even more tears fall from my eyes.
"Come here." She says, opening her arms invitingly, and I don't waste one second before leaning in her, feeling a little better when she starts caressing my back. "It's not like you aren't going to see them again." She tries to comfort me.
"I know, but… I've never been away from home and… it's scary." I hate to admit it, especially because Elsa tenses up at my words, probably thinking I'm regretting my decision, but I have to be honest with her. "I mean… I know I'll be fine because I'm with you, and you are the person I love most in the word, but… it'll take time to get used to being away from them." I clarify.
"I know. I'll help you through it." She assures me.
"Really?" I ask, looking up at her.
"Yes, really." She says before leaning in a kissing me. It's this kiss what really puts me at ease, because it's wonderful, and it expresses fully what Elsa feels towards me, how much she loves me… and I know I'll be safe with her, I know I'll be fine, I know she'll never leave me.
Of course I knew that before, but right now I need to feel that kind of stability, I need to feel like I'm not really leaving home, because Elsa is my home. She's my new family now… I mean, I know we're not getting married, but we are going to live together, and that's pretty similar. I just hope we get married someday, because I can't see myself with anyone but her… but that's in the future; right now, we have new places to explore, new experiences to have, new people to meet and plenty of chocolate to taste. Suddenly it's not so scary anymore. I can do it, I know I can. As long as Elsa is with me.
THE END.
A/N: Yep, this is the end. Finally, after more than one year of work I've finished this story, and I hope you all enjoyed just as much as I did. I know it's not the best out there, and that maybe some characters are OOC, but that's how I intended it to be, and I don't regret it… though it was a little hard to write Anna being so mean to Elsa in the first few chapters.
Anyways, I hope you leave a review and, if you want, you could check my other stories. I have two I'm currently updating, and they're kinda good, if I do say so myself.
Thanks for reading, I hope to see you soon. And thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13 :)