AN: Roughly three chapters, including this one, left of our adventure. This one's gonna be pretty intense. And long. Hence why the update took 84 years. Buckle up kids, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Elsa didn't know where she was when she woke up. At least, not right away. As her eyes came into focus, she saw a white room, wrapped in a sheet. Officer Shang was standing right outside the door, almost as if she were guarding the room. She sat up, realizing that her arms, leg and stomach were wrapped in gauze and there was an IV in her arm pumping morphine through her body.

"Oh Elsa, thank God you're alright."

She turned to see Bulda sitting in a chair near the bed, looking as if she was just waking up herself.

"Wha…what's going on? What happened? Where's Anna?"

The woman looked down, taking a pause and a deep breath before speaking.

"I don't want to be the one to have to tell you this, but…"

"Hello," said a woman who barged into the room without so much as a knock, "Elsa Anderson I presume?"

She nodded, "Where's my sister?"

"My name is Mrs. Tremaine," the woman said, completely ignoring her question, "I'm going to be handling your case from this point onward."

Elsa sat up straighter, "What happened to Josephine?"

The woman pulled out her notepad, reviewing her notes and paying Elsa no mind. She took a better look at the woman, whose features were so sharp and animal like that she figured the glare was as permanent a fixture on her face as her claws on her fingertips.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you," Mrs. Tremaine said.

Elsa opened her mouth to ask another question, but was immediately cut off.

"Well, seems you've gotten yourself into quite a bit of trouble, Ms. Anderson," she said, not an ounce of warmth in her voice, "Kidnapping your sister, fleeing the state border. Lucky the judge has decided not to press charges."

Elsa let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She knew that was a risk when taking Anna, and was lucky that she wouldn't be going to jail.

"Well…where is Anna?"

Mrs. Tremaine flipped a few pages on her notepad, consulting a form paper clipped to it.

"Oh yes. Seems as if she was moved into a foster home late last night. She's not old enough for a group home but these people take in foster kids frequently."

'Foster home?' she shouted in her head, 'No!'

She didn't realize she'd said that aloud until she saw Mrs. Tremaine glaring at her with disdain.

"Ms. Anderson, I don't think you realize the severity of the situation you have gotten yourself into," she chided, "Your father is back in jail, you ran away with your sister, putting her danger, putting her in danger again by engaging her in a conflict with your father…" she trailed off, turning back to her notepad, "You should consider yourself lucky that this is the current outcome."

Elsa could feel Bulda slip a comforting arm around her shoulder, but every fiber of her existence was focused on one thing.

"What should I do?"

The woman wrote a few more notes before snapping her pad shut.

"Anna is technically a ward of the state as of right now. It'll be up to the judge where we go from here. You are to have no contact with your sister until I receive word from him, is that clear?"

She forced her head up and down, trying to process everything that was happening enough to maybe figure out exactly what she should do.

When she looked up to ask another question, the social worker was gone.

xXx

Elsa stayed in the hospital for a few more days to make ensure that there were no complications to her injuries. She also found out that Officer Shang was staying with her for protection, not to catch her if she tried to run away. (Everyone seemed to have more faith in her than she had for herself).

The only visitors she had over that time were Bulda and Kristoff. Kristoff seemed depressed without Anna, and Bulda avoided answering any questions Elsa asked about her immediate personal life. She hadn't heard from or seen Rapunzel or Josephine, which was really unusual. She'd thought at first that maybe she wasn't allowed guests, but realized how stupid that was considering Bulda was a staple at her side.

But that, surprisingly, was the least of her worries. Her main concern, other than Anna, of course, was when she'd see her mother again. It was inevitable, especially with Anna's custody so up in the air. Their last meeting had been on such rotten terms, and she didn't expect much better this time.

Bulda had left her alone for a while to gather her things and get herself together when Officer Shang came into the room.

"Elsa?" he said, his head peeking in the door.

"Yes?"

He came in, shutting the door behind him.

"There's someone that wants to see you…and I wanted to see if you were up for it."

She could tell by the tone in his voice that it likely wasn't a guest she was aching to see, but was not in the mood to deal with any form of conflict or resistance.

"Yeah, it's fine," she said.

She didn't know why she was so surprised to see her mother. She'd expected her eventually, but she wasn't prepared for 'eventually' to be this soon.

Elsa took a step backwards, hoping that her mother wouldn't try to hurt her. Fortunately, she stayed near the door, which she noted was cracked open. She figured Officer Shang wouldn't let her overstep any boundaries after what happened.

"Well, I hope you're happy," her mother said, her face void of all emotion but anger, "I really hope you're happy with what's happened."

"Look," Elsa said, completely dejected, "I'm tired. Just don't start."

The woman crossed her arms, "I have every right to start, Elsa. That's my daughter you dragged all over the eastern seaboard and put in harm's way."

"Well, you never seemed to care about that before," Elsa countered.

The door slammed shut and was followed by pointed footsteps across the room. She didn't realize her mother was at her side until her chin was pinched between her index finger and thumb.

"I don't think you get it," her mother said, "She is not your daughter, nor was she ever yours. She is mine. I gave birth to her."

Elsa pushed her away, rubbing the soft skin of her jaw.

"Being a birth giver doesn't entitle you to anything."

The silence hung between them for quite some time. Her mother had never been anything but passive, and it was weird to see her with such a backbone. At least, while she was sober.

Figuring she had nothing to lose, she asked, "What's going to happen to Anna? The social worker wouldn't tell me."

The woman sighed, "I don't know. No one will tell me anything either."

The smugness in her voice indicated that she was lying and just didn't want to tell her. Elsa had to fight the urge to jump across the room and knock her to the ground, but only because she was so physically weak.

"I will say," she said as she turned to the door, "That I really hope her foster home is as nice as Mr. Wesselton claimed it was. If anything happens to her, it's on your shoulders."

xXx

Bulda tried to engage her in conversation the entire ride home, but it was at no avail. Elsa was too nervous, and too busy thinking about Anna.

'If anything happens to her, it's on your shoulders.'

She knew she shouldn't let her mother be so accusatory, especially considering what she let Anna endure the first five years of her life. But the truth of those words rattled her to the core. It was her fault. If she hadn't run off with Anna, there was a chance she'd still have her. Neither of them would have been thrown into that conflict with their father, and Elsa wouldn't have been half beaten to death. But most of all, Anna, wherever she would be, wouldn't be in some mysterious foster home with people that could be hurting her, demeaning her, or even worse things that Elsa wouldn't allow herself to think about.

"I can get in myself," Elsa said when Bulda pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex.

"Are you sure?" the woman asked as she pulled into a spot near her front door, "I mean, you haven't been back here since…you know…are you sure you'll be okay?"

Elsa nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. I just need some time alone."

That excuse was so phony, even Bulda didn't seem to buy it. With only two guests, excluding the police officers, her mother, and the social worker, Elsa had nothing but alone time. But, if she objected, she didn't say anything, opting to respect the girl's wishes.

"You know where to call if you need me for anything," she said as Elsa gathered her purse and patient belongings bag.

"Thank you," she said, shutting the car door.

She slowly made her way to the door of her apartment, digging her keys out of her purse. Officer Shang had assured her that apartment management had taken care of the damages in the days she'd been in the hospital, and that it should look exactly as it did before. She didn't have the heart to tell him how wrong he was. It wouldn't look exactly the same. Anna wouldn't be there, running around the halls, leaving pillows and dirty clothes everywhere, spilling paint and dropping books. Her presence would visibly be gone from the house, and that presence was the only thing that gave it any light. She didn't say that, though, because it sounded cliché, even in her head.

She took her time with opening the door, not ready to face that empty space alone.

Officer Shang was right; it was cleaned up. It looked as though that one day never even happened; no blood on the walls, no scuff marks, even the furniture that had been damaged was haphazardly re-assembled with tape. From an outside perspective, it looked the same. But as Elsa stood, leaning against the doorway, she knew it wasn't. It wasn't a home anymore, it was just an apartment.

Just as she was about to go inside and shut the door, she heard footsteps come up behind her.

"I would've come to visit you at the hospital, but I figured even you deserved that much privacy."

'Is that…it couldn't be…'

Elsa hoped and prayed her ears had just heard wrong, but when she turned around, she was met by that short brown hair, a sharp smirk, and those once bright feldgrau eyes staring daggers into her own.

"Rapunzel," Elsa said, astonished, "Hi, I haven't seen you since –."

"I know," she said, her tone harsh, "And to be honest, I shouldn't even be here now."

"I don't understand," Elsa said, lowering her bags, "What's going on."

Rapunzel crossed her arms, saying nothing.

"Listen," she said, "If this is about running off with Anna, I know, I know, it was a really stupid thing to do. I just wasn't thinking and –."

"My mother lost her job," Rapunzel said, cutting her off.

"No," Elsa said, barely a whisper.

"Yeah, funny story," Rapunzel said, "Turns she knew exactly where you were and what you were doing and you somehow convinced her to cover for you. The thing is, my mother isn't a very good liar, and it would be very easy for anyone to guilt her into doing something for them if they played at her heartstrings enough."

The two stood silent for a while.

"She loved that job," Rapunzel said, her voice cracking, "She got fired the day you got back to town. She was devastated. It crushed her. Did this possibility even hit you when you made her do this? Or were you too self-absorbed to think about anyone but yourself?"

"I'm sorry!" Elsa cried, biting back tears, "I didn't think that any of this would happen. I panicked. I couldn't take a chance at anything happening to Anna."

"Oh save it!" Rapunzel said, her voice full of spite, "If you were that concerned for Anna's well-being, you would have thought things through before you acted on impulse. You could have come to any of us for help. You had options, Elsa! But…but that's classic for you, right? Run away from your problems and let other people deal with the aftermath, am I right?"

Those words hit harder than Rapunzel ever could have realized. Even though Elsa knew she was completely right, it was like turning a knife into an already open and fatal wound.

"Well guess what? When you do that, other people get hurt. My mother, for instance. Or what about all the people who care about you and were worried sick? What about Anna, who loves you so much that she would have went along with any stupid thing you did, even if it got her hurt in the process, which I saw it did."

Both girls were in tears, hysterical.

"What about me, Elsa?" she said, her voice breaking in two, "Huh. I thought you trusted me enough to let me help you –."

"What was I supposed to do?" Elsa barked, suddenly sick of everyone blaming her for everything that went awry, "I didn't have any other choices."

"Bullshit!" Rapunzel screamed, unable to control her temper, "You could have if you tried hard enough, but running away was the easiest thing you could do, so you did that. Well congratulations, everyone got screwed over because of it!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Elsa screamed, completely breaking down, "You think I don't realize how bad I messed up? I messed up. I get that. I know. And I'm sorry. I don't know what everyone wants from me!"

Rapunzel took a deep breath, trying to collect herself.

"Some things aren't fixable, Elsa, and there's nothing you can do about it."

She knew Rapunzel wasn't just talking about the situation with Anna, or her mother's job, or anything else anymore except their relationship. Because that bond, whatever it had been, was irretrievably destroyed.

"I love you," Elsa said, figuring she had nothing left to lose.

A look of disgust crossed Rapunzel's face, at the connotation of Elsa's words or the mere vie for her affection, she wasn't sure.

Either way, she knew her words were falling on deaf ears as Rapunzel turned around, leaving her.

"Goodbye Elsa," she said, "You're on your own now."