A/N: Thanks to everyone who's followed/favorited and/or is reading but not reviewing:)
bananas-rule-2015-Lol, both Elsa and Anna are pretty clueless about the modern world...XD And now we get more misadventures in this chapter:P
On to the story!:)
Chapter 36-Day Sixteen, Part 3
When they arrived back at the ice-car, the policeman informed them that he had business to take care of in the area, which Elsa promptly took to mean that he did not want to ride in the ice-car anymore. (She was right.) He did tell them that the Tysons Corner Mall was across the street before he left, though. Elsa drove across the street, being careful not to do the crazy acceleration thing again. When they found a parking place, Elsa asked the four guards to wait for her and Anna in the ice-car and headed towards the mall entrance with her sister.
"Okay, we need to find that Best Buy store," Elsa said. "And I want to go home soon. I'm sick of this place."
Anna giggled. "Elsa, we just need to get used to the new ways people do things here, that's all. Just because we're ignorant about certain things does not mean we're stupid. Hey, if you're worried about being recognized, let's go buy some clothes like everyone else has. I think our dresses, especially your sparkly ice dress, are making us stand out. A lot."
"But I don't like those clothes! I like what I have on!" Elsa complained.
"Then don't come fussing at me next time we get embarrassed about something 'cause we're 'making Arendelle look bad'," Anna replied. "C'mon, Elsa, half that money is mine; and I want to buy an outfit with some of my share."
Elsa sighed. Anna was right; maybe she wouldn't feel so embarrassed next time there was something that they didn't know about if she wasn't very obviously Queen Elsa of Arendelle, the Snow Queen, wearing her ice dress. "Okay."
Anna pulled the two of them into the first store she saw, and Elsa immediately yanked her out again. "We are not buying anything out of there. What is that stuff anyway?! It's appalling and dreadful…" Elsa shuddered. "You might as well run around naked! Because that's pretty much what those advertisement pictures were!"
"Good grief, Elsa, how was I supposed to know what that store sold? That stuff WAS really weird…And I think that stuff was supposed to be underthings, not regular clothes, anyways," Anna said, her face bright red.
"Next time look in the store windows first," Elsa replied firmly.
When they came to a set of moving stairs, they both weren't exactly sure what to do. But everyone else just stepped on and let the steps carry them to the second floor, so Elsa and Anna did the same. They hopped off the escalator and decided to head into the closest anchor department store. "This place looks big…surely there's something good in here," Anna said, pulling her sister behind her.
Elsa reluctantly let Anna pull her along. "Anna, just hurry up and find something. Then let's get your CD and go home."
"Yeah, yeah, ok…" Anna grabbed a pile of different things that caught her eye, then wondered where she was supposed to try them on.
"The dressing room, Anna," Elsa said tiredly, pointing to the sign.
"Elsa, why don't you pick something too?" Anna asked. Without waiting for an answer, she took a few things off her pile of stuff and shoved them into Elsa's hand.
Elsa shrugged and followed her sister. Anna's going to take forever; I know she will. I might as well pick something out too.
Elsa headed into the dressing room next to the one Anna had picked and looked at the things Anna had handed her. One of them was a turquoise blue dress with sequins and a tulle skirt, which she liked the look of, so she decided to try that on first. Being careful not to disturb the splint on her arm, she slipped off her own ice dress and put on the sequined one with the tulle skirt. Okay, how am I supposed to zip it with one hand?
"Hey, Elsa, d'you want some help or anything?" Anna asked from the next room over.
Elsa giggled. Anna read my mind. "Actually I do…I can't zip this dress up because of my arm."
Anna promptly came and knocked on Elsa's dressing room door. "Here I am. What do you think of this?" she asked excitedly. She twirled around in a circle…along with a sprinkle of water.
"I'll look after you zip me up, okay?" Elsa was getting tired of holding the dress up with her good hand, and her broken arm was starting to ache already from being out of the sling. "And calm down. You're doing the water thing again."
Oops. That's what else I was gonna buy…gloves, just in case. Anna quickly obliged (and purposely thought of something boring to make the water stop), and Elsa turned back around to look at the outfit her sister had tried on. "And I used to think my ice dress was a bit scandalous," was Elsa's only comment. "Anna, what on earth is that?!"
Anna was wearing a green sleeveless dress that came to just above her knees with a flowered print and a keyhole on the back. "Um, that dress you have on is about the same length," Anna said, figuring that was what Elsa was talking about. "And that one you have on is strapless besides. I've seen lots of people here wearing ones way shorter than either one of these."
Elsa glanced down at the dress she was wearing. What am I thinking? I can't wear this in public! "Maybe we should find something else?" she suggested with a slightly sheepish smile.
"Nah, these are cool. Let's get these." Anna just knew Elsa was going to say something else, like that they looked silly or something, so she added, "I think we look nice, Elsa. Come on. Let's go find where we're supposed to pay. Actually, you stay here. Just give me the price tag and I'll pay for both of us."
Elsa pulled the tag off and gave it to Anna. "Okay, I suppose. But please hurry up. I want to go home."
Anna took off towards where she'd seen other people pay, and grabbed a pair of gloves on the way.
Elsa folded her ice dress, knowing it wouldn't get wrinkled; and settled her aching arm back in the sling. Then she sat down on the chair in the dressing room and waited for Anna. Anna came back a few minutes later, holding two empty shopping bags. "They're for our other clothes," Anna explained, holding one of the bags out to Elsa.
Elsa jumped up from her seat and pointed at Anna's hand. "So THAT'S why you wanted to pay for our dresses by yourself. WHAT. IS. THAT?" she demanded.
"What's what?" Anna asked innocently.
"You know quite well what's what! You are not wearing those gloves. Take them off. Now," Elsa ordered.
"They're my hands, and I say I want them on," Anna replied. "You can't make me listen to you."
"Oh, I can't, can I?" Elsa reached for one of Anna's hands, but Anna backed out of reach. "Look, Anna, we're not doing that inane conceal don't feel thing again in reverse. Take. Them. Off." I'm afraid Anna's going to start acting like I used to.
"Elsa, you aren't gonna change my mind. It's just for security purposes till we get home, 'kay? See, I'm not going to refuse to be near you or anything," Anna said, giving Elsa a hug. I bet Elsa's just afraid I'm going to shut her out or something, and she's pulling that bossy attitude because she doesn't want to admit it.
Elsa felt her resolve weakening. She knew Anna would never listen to her unless she pulled a power trip move or something. "You promise to take them off when we get home?"
"Yes, Elsa, I promise."
The two of them headed out of the department store and found a mall directory so they could find Best Buy. "Anna, wait!" Elsa called when she saw a store window with dolls in it.
"What?" Anna followed Elsa's gaze to the dolls. "You…want to go in the doll store first?"
Elsa gave Anna a slightly embarrassed smile. "I know I'm twenty-one and kind of too old for dolls…I just want to look." Okay, the queen of Arendelle wants to go look at dolls…I must be crazy.
"Who are you kidding? Nobody's too old for dolls!" Anna replied, and ran into the store, pulling Elsa behind her.
Elsa frowned when she felt Anna's glove-covered hand holding her own bare one. I wonder if this is how Anna felt when she held my hand that time when I was sick when I was sixteen. Elsa had made herself ill trying to purge her powers out of herself; which had worked only temporarily. While she'd known it had been safe for Anna to be with her for a short time, she'd insisted on wearing her gloves anyway. I remember Anna complaining about that…okay, back to the present. I hate my memories most of the time.
"Elsa, look!" Anna exclaimed as she pulled Elsa from one showcase display to another. "They're all so cute!"
"And expensive," Elsa whispered when she saw the prices. "$110? That's more than our dresses cost!"
"I don't care. Can we each get one? Please, please, pretty please?" Anna begged. "I want that one! She looks like me!" Anna said, pointing to a doll with strawberry blonde hair, freckles, and hazel eyes.
"Your eyes are not hazel," Elsa pointed out. "They're bluish green."
"Close enough! Let's find one that looks like you!"
"There won't be," Elsa muttered. Nobody's going to make a doll that looks as different as me. It wouldn't be cost-productive…
Anna frowned, wondering if Elsa might be right. Anna thought her sister was pretty, but it was true that Elsa had distinctly unique features that belonged only to her and no one else. "Well, if there's not, then just pick one out that you happen to really, really like," she suggested.
Elsa nodded and didn't say anything as she allowed Anna to pull her around the store. When they passed the book section, she promptly pulled herself away from Anna. "Anna, let's go see what books they have! I love reading, and I know you do too."
But Anna had her heart set on buying a doll right now. Elsa sighed and followed Anna, since she didn't want to lose her sister in an unfamiliar place.
"That one looks kinda like you!" Anna exclaimed suddenly, pulling Elsa over to another showcase. "She even has a book that comes with her, and you were talking about books…" Anna pointed at a doll with long blonde curls, blue eyes, and light skin.
Elsa smiled. The doll really didn't look much like her, in her opinion. Elsa's hair was significantly lighter; her eyes were a brighter, darker shade of blue; and her skin was quite a bit paler. But that doll was awfully cute. "May I sit and read Caroline's book? It looks pretty short," she said finally.
"You're supposed to buy Caroline and her book, not sit and read! C'mon, Elsa!" Anna quickly picked one of the Caroline dolls out for her sister and tucked the box under Elsa's arm. "Now I gotta pick mine and then we can get my DC and then we can go home!"
"It's 'CD', and wait up!" Elsa followed her sister toward another one of those moving stair things; then stopped in her tracks. How was she going to get back downstairs? She had no way to hold on to the railing with one arm in a sling and the other holding her Caroline doll. I suppose I could just step on without holding the railing, but it'd be just my luck that I'd fall down the thing or something. Elsa wasn't used to escalators one bit, and she had already decided that she didn't particularly like them. "Excuse me, is there another way to get downstairs?"
"The elevator, miss," the employee told her, pointing in that direction.
What's an elevator? Elsa quickly went over to the elevator and then wondered what she was supposed to do. There didn't seem to be any obvious way to open the sliding metal doors. She noticed the buttons next to it and pushed the one with the arrow pointing down, hoping she was doing the right thing. Cool, I figured it out myself, she thought. Elsa stepped inside, where another row of buttons on the wall greeted her. "It has to be the one pointing down again, right?" she asked to herself. Elsa pushed the button, and she felt herself moving down and then abruptly stop. The doors did not reopen. Not gonna panic, not gonna panic. Elsa bit her lip, hoping the doors would slide open and let her out. After a long minute passed and nothing happened, Elsa officially realized the elevator contraption thing was stuck. This was not the way the thing was supposed to work. It was supposed to carry her downstairs and let her out. Not leave her stuck in here.
Elsa wondered where Anna was. Did she even know her sister was stuck somewhere? Anna probably thought she was back upstairs reading the Caroline book. She waited a few minutes more, hoping that maybe whatever was making the thing malfunction would get fixed and let her out. Nothing happened. Elsa shivered, and not because she was cold. I hate being locked in. The situation was reminding her of being locked in her room for so long and the times she had ended up in the dungeon. At least it's bright and cheery in here, she thought, looking at the sparkling, starry, red walls.
Elsa finally just plopped herself down on the floor. Somebody has to find me soon…I know there's other people wanting to use the elevator thing too. I hope Anna didn't disappear somewhere… She set her Caroline doll down next to her and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her good arm around her legs.
Anna had found her doll again and paid for her before realizing that Elsa had disappeared. I bet she's back upstairs reading. She went back upstairs via the escalator and began searching for Elsa. Where could her sister have disappeared to? A thorough search didn't reveal her missing sister, and Anna began feeling worried. "Have you seen a girl with platinum hair a bit taller than me wearing a turquoise dress with sequins on it?" she asked the employee at the top of the escalator.
"Actually, yes. She asked whether there was another way to get downstairs and I pointed her to the elevator."
Anna frowned. That means Elsa went downstairs. So where is she? "Thanks!" she said and took off back down the escalator. Where on earth did Elsa go?
Still stuck inside the elevator, Elsa was growing upset. Why hadn't anyone realized the thing was stuck yet, even if they didn't know there was anyone trapped inside? Surely the store didn't want their contraption-thingie broken. What if the cable thing that held the elevator together snapped? Oh come on, Elsa, that's stupid. There has to be a failsafe in case that happened anyway. Elsa gave a rueful laugh to herself, thinking that she felt far more vulnerable and unsafe in here than she had flying at 120 miles an hour 420 feet in the air on Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. She had honestly felt completely safe on that ride. She did not feel safe stuck in the elevator. I guess that's what happens when a girl's stuck in her room for thirteen years. Uncomfortable in closed, locked-in spaces.
Elsa considered trying to freeze her way out, but quickly decided against it. Not only would she reveal her identity, she would ruin the elevator and possibly break it even further. She might break the failsafe, assuming that there was one. Elsa began experimenting with the buttons, hoping one of them might sound an alarm or something. Finally she found the little metal flap with the emergency phone inside. Okay, if I can figure out how to use this, then maybe somebody will find me.
Anna kept looking for Elsa downstairs, but it was clear she was nowhere to be found. She went over to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button, hoping that since that was the last place she knew Elsa had been, maybe, just maybe, she was still there. Anna waited and waited, but the metal doors didn't slide open. Elsa isn't stuck inside somehow, is she? Anna took off back upstairs and asked the employee that had seen Elsa if she knew whether the elevator was working or not.
"Well, let's just go take a look." A quick check revealed that the elevator was stuck between floors.
"Um…how long has it been since the last person used it?" Anna asked.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone go in since the girl you're looking for did."
"She's my sister!" Anna exclaimed, realizing that Elsa had to be stuck inside. C'mon, Elsa, don't freak out. Anna was afraid being stuck inside an enclosed space like that was going to make Elsa upset. "You can get her out, right?" she asked hopefully. "Like, super quick? Is the elevator gonna fail and hurt my sister? She's ok, isn't she?"
"It isn't dangerous, -"
"Anna…Annamarie," Anna supplied, remembering Elsa hadn't wanted them to be recognized if at all possible.
"It isn't dangerous, Annamarie. The elevator won't hurt your sister. It might be uncomfortable and a big inconvenience, but I'm sure she's fine. Unless, of course, she has some extreme claustrophobia or something," the employee said, trying to reassure Anna.
Anna made a face. "I don't think she's got claustrophobia but she doesn't like being closed inside places very much…there was this problem for a super long time and she was locked in her room for years and just, well, yeah…Get. Els…Elisabeth. Out. Quick. Please!" Anna realized she was rambling and that Elsa probably did not want her past blathered at a complete stranger, even if they were nice.
"Years?! No one ever found out and reported your parents?"
"Reported?" Anna asked in confusion.
"For emotional abuse, Annamarie. I know it isn't any of my business, but-"
"But it's true," Anna interrupted. Now someone I don't even know said that. And she doesn't even know all the other stuff Elsa was trying to deal with all that time. "Except…that wasn't exactly possible in our case…" Because we're not from here and our parents were the king and queen. "They're dead now," she added. "I miss them, but I'm glad I got my sister back."
Elsa had decided against trying to mess with that emergency phone, afraid she was going to mess up something. I hope somebody finds me soon. Despite the cheery walls, Elsa was beginning to feel upset and locked up, even though she knew the whole thing was an accident and no one meant for her to get stuck in there. What if she couldn't find Anna whenever she did get out of there? Or what if the mall closed and it was dark and they couldn't find their way out? Or what if somebody did mean to get her stuck in there for some reason? Elsa brushed a tear off her cheek, willing herself to stop being paranoid. Come on, Elsa, calm down. Worry about finding Anna when you get out, not now. She frowned at the frost crawling up the wall behind her that betrayed her mood. Nope. Not losing control. Happy thoughts…happy thoughts… Elsa closed her eyes and hoped for the best. Good, it's gone.
Elsa jumped when she felt the elevator start moving upwards. Maybe it'll let me out now? She felt the elevator stop moving, and then a minute longer of waiting…and finally, finally those metal doors slid open, revealing a crowd of people outside. And there was Anna right in the front. Anna! I see Anna!
The second the doors opened, Anna ran inside and knelt next to her sister. "Are you all right?" Anna took one look at Elsa's face and knew she had been crying. "Oh, Elsa, I'm so sorry I took off without waiting for you! At least we could've gotten stuck in here together or something…"
Elsa smiled that lopsided smile of hers and just said, "I'm okay. But I never, ever want to get stuck in one of these elevator-things ever again."
Anna just gave Elsa a hug. Then she whispered, "Elsa, how come you didn't freeze your way out?"
"Because I didn't want to break something or get stuck between floors…which I'm pretty sure is what happened," Elsa told her. "Did you realize there are about twenty people watching us?"
Anna giggled and helped Elsa to her feet. "Eh, let's give 'em a show, if a girl getting stuck in an elevator is so interesting." She nudged Elsa and whispered, "Do some crazy dramatic act. It'll be funny. My name is Annamarie, by the way…You're Elisabeth."
Elsa forced herself not to start giggling. Well, Anna has a point…it would be funny. And no one knows who we are. "Oh, Annamarie, I thought I'd never get out of there! I think I'm going to be sick!" she exclaimed dramatically, putting her hand to her forehead.
"Me either! I thought my sister was gonna be lost forever!"
"Ohhh….don't say that…it might actually happen!" Elsa started to pretend to collapse in a dead faint on the floor.
Anna caught on to what Elsa was doing and managed to catch her sister just before she hit the floor. "Elisabeth…wake up! Please don't leave me!" she said, letting her voice crack a little as she shook Elsa a bit.
Anna is a natural-born actress, Elsa thought. If she didn't know better, she might really believe Anna was for real. "Oh…" she murmured in her acting voice. Elsa held her broken arm with her other hand because it really was aching from Anna shaking her around. "Anna…you're making my arm hurt," she whispered.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Anna said as her regular self and let go of Elsa entirely.
Elsa suddenly found herself landing flat on the floor with a thump. I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. She laughed and laughed. Elsa took her sister's outstretched hand and stood up. "Why is this so funny?!"
"'Cause it is!" Anna replied.
Everyone outside the elevator just stared in surprise; then started laughing when they realized the two girls had been acting for a joke.
Elsa picked up her still unpurchased Caroline doll and followed Anna through the small crowd to the checkout line. "Anna…thanks for the laugh," she said quietly as they stood in line to check out. "I know it was stupid, but being stuck in there kind of made me upset."
Anna immediately turned to face Elsa. "It wasn't stupid. I'd be upset too. I mean, you had no way of knowing when someone would get you out or anything." She frowned, then added, "I'd give you a hug right now, 'cept I don't want to hurt your arm and you're holding your doll box…"
"Easily fixed." Elsa set Caroline's box down and threw her good arm around Anna's shoulders. "See, hug and I didn't hurt my arm. And by the way, I'm already quite sick of it…It's still sore and I can't do anything with it! Like the only reason I went in that dumb elevator-thing in the first place was because I didn't trust myself to go on the moving stairs without holding on to the railing…"
Anna frowned. "I'm sorry, Elsa…it shoulda happened to me instead."
"No, it shouldn't have. It's fine…don't worry about it. It's just inconvenient and annoying," Elsa told her. Now why did I bring that up? Anna probably already feels bad every time she sees my dumb arm, and I had to go and bring it up again.
"But it's still gonna take like six weeks before it's better!"
"Only a little over five weeks to go then," Elsa replied in a cheerful voice. "Come on, Anna, let's talk about something else. And this line is taking forever…"
A/N: Yeah, Elsa and Anna went to the American Girl store at Tysons Corner...:P
My sis and I got stuck in an elevator once...it was kinda creepy...we were at our aunt's house (it has four floors) and we got stuck in the (pitch black) elevator (the lights wouldn't turn on...), and yes, it was stuck between floors.:P
Next chapter coming soon!:) Hopefully I'll get Elsa and Anna home to Arendelle in the next chapter:P