AN: Just for the record, I'm not going to rush the ending. When I said I was almost done, I meant time wise, this story would be finished in the next few weeks. I've put too much into this for a rushed ending. Anyways, I couldn't sleep and decided to be productive. Enjoy!

The common sense that had abandoned her hours ago finally caught up to her as they crossed the Minnesota state border. Anna was sleeping against her side, Elsa's coat serving as a makeshift blanket. The older girl emptied her bank account on the way out of town, keeping up the charade that she and Anna were just going on a surprise trip. At first she was going to buy them bus tickets, but figured that would be too obvious. Luckily, there were still a few trains running, and the odds were slim that anyone would recognize them.

They'd been tucked in the back cabin for six hours. Elsa knew, because she counted every minute off on her phone, unable to process exactly what it was she was doing. But when the other riders fell silent, and it was clear that she was the only one awake, it hit her, like a lightning bolt of ice straight through her heart.

Taking Anna had seemed like a good idea at the time. Not so much a good idea as it seemed rational. Conclusive. A definite solution to a catastrophic problem. But it was at this point she realized that her decision had cost her any chance she would have of being able to keep her sister. She briefly contemplated getting off at the next city, buying a transfer ticket, and acting as if this had never happened.

Even in her hypertensive state, she knew that would never work. They could never get back to the apartment in time to beat the social workers there. And even if they did, there wasn't enough time to tell Anna to be silent or put their things away.

Elsa sighed. She'd dug herself into a hole that there was no way out of. She closed her eyes, letting the tears fall from her eyes and down her cheeks, resigning to go with the wind, dealing with the aftermath when the time came.

xXx

She had no idea what time it was when she woke up. Anna was now curled in her lap, and her phone was vibrating in her palm. She pressed the talk button, knowing who it was without having to look at the caller ID.

"Elsa, where are you? Please tell me you're just at work and forgot about our meeting."

The panic in Josephine's voice, matched with Elsa's silence, gave the woman the answer she anticipated, but hoped she wouldn't receive.

"Elsa," she groaned, exasperated, "For God's sake. Please. Tell me you didn't take Anna and run."

"I took Anna and left," Elsa deadpanned.

She heard Josephine screech in frustration, "Elsa, why in hell would you do that?"

"I didn't have a choice," Elsa said, trying to keep her voice low, "You were going to take Anna away from me."

She was getting used to those words on her lips, as they were becoming her reasoning for every illicit action she was performing.

"Elsa, we didn't know that for a fact just yet. And besides, what you're doing is a crime. You do realize that, don't you? Any chance of keeping Anna, you threw away when you chose to do that."

Elsa gulped, looking down at her sister, still asleep in her lap. She brushed back the girl's bangs, taking a shaky breath. Josephine was right. She knew it. As sick as she was of everyone else dictating to her what she should be doing, she knew that she didn't do that so well herself.

"Look, I'm sorry," Elsa breathed, "I just…I screwed up. I know. But…I had to do it. I can't take that chance of him hurting Anna again. I'd never forgive myself."

She heard a sharp sigh from the other end of the phone.

"Elsa, you know I have an obligation to report this to the police, right?"

"No!" Elsa yelled, a little too loudly, "Please, I am begging you. Don't do this."

"I have to. I have an obligation – a legal obligation – to do it."

"Please," Elsa said, her voice breaking, "He's just going to hurt Anna again. You know that. I can't let that happen." She sighed, looking at her sister's ruffled hair. "She's all I have, Josephine. She's my family. I love her. I had to do something, since the agency seemed to be out of options for me."

When Josephine didn't argue, she kept talking.

"My father hasn't changed. Neither has my mother. You know that just as well as I do. It's going to be the same thing over and over again. Please, just give me a chance to give Anna a better life. I can't let what happened to me happen to her."

"Elsa, it would be a different story if I didn't know. But I do know. And, knowing this, I have no choice but to report it. Kidnapping is a serious issue."

"I didn't kidnap her," Elsa said, "She's still in my custody. We could be on vacation for all they know."

"Elsa," Josephine chided, "It looks bad that you disappear in the middle of this. And what's more, it's going to look worse if I knew and let this go."

The silence hung between them for so long, Elsa thought the woman hung up. After a few moments, she spoke up.

"They don't have to know you know."

"Elsa…"

"No, just tell them you couldn't get ahold of me," she reasoned, "That you left me a long message but I didn't pick up."

There was another pause.

"They're going to find you eventually."

"I know," Elsa said, ready to admit defeat, "But…you know how much this means to me. What would you do if it was Rapunzel in Anna's place?"

It was a cheap shot, and Elsa knew it. But desperate times called for desperate measures. And the woman's thick breathing on the other end told her that she was slowly, but surely, conceding to the girl's faulted logic.

"I really, really should know better than to do this…"

Elsa held her breath.

"But…I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing. So, fine, we will act like this conversation never happened."

Elsa chuckled in relief, "Thank you so much."

The woman's voice became stern, "However, I'm not helping you beyond that. When they find you and Anna, you're on your own."

'I'm not going to let that happen,' Elsa thought to herself.

"Also," she said, "Don't think your mother or father will leave this alone. They were adamant about getting Anna back. They won't avow as easily as I did."

"I know," Elsa said, "But I'll deal with that when the time comes."

The woman sighed, "This is really against my better judgment. Just, please, take care of Anna, alright?"

"Yes," Elsa said, "I'll make sure to do that."

Just as she hung up, Anna started to stir.

"Are we there yet?" The girl muttered, stretching her arms and sitting up.

"No…not yet," Elsa said, realizing that she had no idea where 'there' was, exactly.

"Are we gonna be there soon?" Anna asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "It's hot and smelly in there."

"I don't know," Elsa said, looking out the window.

"I'm hungry," Anna said, pulling at Elsa's braid.

The older girl sighed, vowing to get off the train at the next town. She asked the conductor; they were only one state over, but she figured that was far enough that they could at least get some food and supplies before getting back on the train.

As the train lurched to a stop, Elsa dug a hat and sunglasses out of her bag, putting them on her face before doing the same for Anna.

"Why do I have to wear these?" Anna whined as she took Elsa's hand.

"Because," Elsa said, leading Anna onto the platform. "Because I said so," she offered as it was the only excuse she could come up with.

The two went to a hot dog stand not too far from the train station. Anna ate her food while Elsa was leaned over a train route map, trying to decide where the two should go.

"Where are we going?" Anna asked, shoving the last of her hot dog bun into her mouth.

"That's a good question," Elsa muttered, tracing her finger along the roads. Anything in the Midwest would be too close; too many small towns with too few people for them to hide out. New England was too expensive to live in, and the southwest was too far.

"We should go to Disney," Anna said, wiping her hands off on a napkin.

Elsa stared at her blankly. She'd forgotten that Anna still didn't know that this wasn't a trip, but a runaway. She'd need to be told, eventually. But Elsa had to deal with the technicalities first.

But then she realized, that wasn't a bad idea. Florida was a little far, sure, but not as far as the west coast. And from what she heard, it was heavily populated enough that her and Anna couldn't be distinguished from the crowd.

Plus, Anna would have the idea in her head that they were on vacation, so she wouldn't have to tell the girl outright to lie.

She'd eventually find out there was no Disney trip, but they'd unload that ship when it came to shore.

"Alright," Elsa said, closing the map, "We're going to Disney."