All characters belong to Disney.
Elsa walked hastily to the main court of the school. She thought she had a vision when she failed to find the object of her interest. But soon she heard a voice, now familiar, on the right. She followed it and was now looking at Honeymaren and two boys sitting in a garden table. She hadn't seen the boys in her hastiness. Suddenly, her resolve was bending. But before she could turn back, she heard her name from the same sweet voice that captivated her since this morning.
"Elsa! Come!" Honeymaren left her place and come close to the platinum-blonde girl. She took her hand and led her to the bench she was sitting earlier. "I was talking about you to my brother and his new friend." She glanced at the blond boy next to her brother with a questioned look. "Sorry, I forgot your name?"
Elsa laughed internally at Honeymaren's involuntary rudeness.
"I'm Kristoff. I'm a sophomore in class B." Kristoff was tall and quite muscular with brown eyes and old-fashioned blond hair.
"A sophomore?" Elsa inquired, quite surprised.
"Yeah. I had to repeat a year." He explained a little ashamed, but with no more explanation.
Still, Elsa didn't ask for more. She just reacted as a reflex but she wasn't especially interested.
"And I'm Ryder! Nice to meet you!" The boy next him said with a lot of spirit. He shared the same hair as his sister but instead of light brown eyes, his own were blue.
"I'm Elsa. Nice to meet you." Elsa replied in her usual neutral voice. Then she turned to Honeymaren. "What were you saying about me?"
"Oh! Nothing particular. I was explaining our production due to next month. But apparently only junior and senior have to work that way, my brother says." Honeymaren clarified with a warm smile.
"And I'm happy about that. I don't need more work." Ryder said in a higher tone. "Right?" He looked at Kristoff with a wink.
"Same." Kristoff agreed.
The boys then talked about their teachers and the club activities they could do during the year.
Honeymaren noticed Elsa's stare on her since a moment. But the girl wasn't speaking at all. She wondered why and then looked at her brother and his friend. Was she bothered or embarrassed by their presence? "Ok. We will slowly go back to our next course." She said while getting up, quickly followed by Elsa. "Don't mistake the direction of the bus and don't sleep until the terminus. Ahtohallan is the end of the world. We won't come for you!" Honeymaren warned her brother, half-seriously and half-jokingly. "Bye, Kristoff. I'll try to not forget your name."
"I don't think it's nice of you. The name is not even hard to remember." Elsa said while they head to the main building. But something else intrigued her. "Are you not going home with your brother?"
Honeymaren stared at her and indicated her long bag with her head. "I have training."
"Oh!" Elsa was curious. "What kind of sport do you practice?"
"Aikido." Honeymaren answered with a lively expression on her face.
"Of course! I should have guessed. Any competition coming?" Elsa wanted to know more and more about Honeymaren. She didn't know why. Usually, she was rarely interested in people outside her family.
"Yes. But now is not the season. So don't worry, I can manage time for our assignment." Honeymaren thought Elsa was worried about school and tried to reassure her.
"What? No!" Elsa felt misunderstood again. And it pained her. "I was curious. That's all."
Honeymaren saw the sadness on Elsa's face even if she quickly hid it with her same cold and neutral face. "No, I'm the one who should apologize. I'll try to understand you more in the future."
Elsa's eyes grew big. Was it the first time someone outside her family -no outside Anna- seemed to really wanted to know her? She didn't know how to respond and felt uncertain. So she changed the subject. "I will be in the city's downtown too. I'm working with my family after school, on some afternoons." She revealed.
"Ouch! Family duties. I have to help my aunt with her animals shelter and herbs shop on the weekends. Also some nights. Lately, we got a salamander quite wild. Look! It's dangerous!" Honeymaren showed her arms covered of bites.
Elsa was impressed. "Are you sure it was a salamander? It seems you're burnt."
Honeymaren grinned mysteriously. "Don't you know? Salamander were called little dragon in the 18th century in Europe. Some thought they purified places with fire. Maybe I'm impure?" She suggested, jokingly.
"Now, I'm really curious. Just what kind of shelter keeps a salamander? They are not endangered species, are they?" Elsa's phone vibrated suddenly. "Sorry." She checked on it and just saw a message from her mother about today's work at the company. It could wait. She stared at Honeymaren to give her, her full attention.
"Maybe, you should come and see it. You'll understand." Honeymaren proposed while holding the door of the main building for Elsa.
"Maybe and thanks." Elsa said, blushing. The gesture was quite chevaleresque even if it was a girl.
"You're welcome." Honeymaren answered with a satisfied smile.
Then they headed to their last course for the day.
At the end of the last period, Anna and Merida were chatting near the redhead's locker in the ground floor about what happened in the school cafeteria.
"So you're officially together-together?" Merida was astonished by Anna's behaviour. One second, a guy she hardly knows presents himself and says she's cute. And a second later, she agrees on date.
"I can't believe it but yes! He looks so dreamy. Did you see his sideburns?" Anna, eyes full of stars.
"Mmm." Merida preferred to not give her real opinion. She remembered Rapunzel and Flynn's reaction. They seemed as astonished as her. Someone will surely put some sense on Anna's head. Or maybe she was overacting. Romance was really not her thing. "So when is your sister coming? We kept waiting for her today?"
"Hmm. You're right. She's usually punctual. I'll text her." Anna concluded after checking again at the stairs. But when she was about to write her message, she received one from sister. "What? No!"
Merida watched Anna's screen to read Elsa's text. But she found Anna's reaction unjustified. "She said she left for work. What's the problem with that?"
"The problem is she promised me to show me around. Work could have wait a few minutes! The job is at my parents' company." Anna expressed her anger by texting back hastily to her sister. "I'll make you pay tonight, Elsa!"
"Wow! And I thought things were heated with my brothers." Merida declared with irony, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's go to a coffee. Then you can help me with history. I invite you. You said you like chocolate?"
Anna eyes were watering. She hold on tight to her friend, almost chuckling her. "I love it! Elsa too! I will eat twice more to get back at her!" She added with a grin, satisfied with her revenge plan.
"You're crazy, you know?" Merida said with the most serious face while they left for the bus stop.
They walked in a haste to not miss the next bus for the downtown. It was a five minutes wait apparently. Merida hoped time would pass more quickly because Anna was still enraged. She was looking at the road to catch the bus as soon as possible when she saw Elsa. "Huh, isn't it your sister on a bike with another girl?"
"What?" Anna stared at the direction Merida showed with her finger. The bike was going in the opposite direction so she couldn't quite catch the people on it as the distance grew. But she would recognize her sister from miles wherever she goes. "But why?" Anna wondered with confusion.
"Maybe, they work together?" Merida suggested.
"Certainly not!" Anna objected looking everywhere for a solution. "You said you came by bike?"
"Huh! Yes." Merida replied, unsure of what was coming next. "But I can't take a passenger like your sister's friend. That's too dangerous. Let's wait for the bus." Merida advised.
"The bus make too much stops. I know where they're going. We can catch them. Come with me!" She took Merida's hand to the bicycles parking lot with an extreme speed.
"Wait!" Merida was in disbelief. "Anna, your sister clearly want to be alone. Let her be!"
Anna turned in a harsh movement to her friend. "No! Not again!" After expressing her disagreement she hastened her walk and they arrived at their destination. "Which one is yours?" She asked in front of the bikes.
Merida was intrigued by Anna's reaction but decided that now wasn't the time for questions. "The green one. I'll drive." The redhead agreed to help but she wanted to get there alive. Once Anna sat behind on the rear rack, they left for the road and took the same direction as Elsa before.
"Go fast. Faster than them!" Anna ordered, still bothered.
Merida made no comment. She needed to concentrate on the driving.
Another five minutes passed until they noticed again the two girls. Fortunately, they didn't seem in any hurry and were quite slow in their driving. Merida thought she could catch them in less than three minutes. The traffic was low. Another bonus.
"Quicker!" Anna repeated. She saw them too.
It finally took less than two minutes.
"Elsaaa!" Anna shout with all her lungs, as Merida closed the distance between them.
The platinum-blonde girl almost let got of her grip on the rear rack, startled by her sister. "Anna?" She said dumbfounded.
Honeymaren didn't understand all the situation but she knew she had to stop. She put her bike on the pavement and stopped her ride.
Merida did the same while Anna left the bike in a fury.
"Why did you leave me?!" Anna let out all of her anger. "You promised to show me school. I wanted to wait the bus with you! Why Elsa?"
Elsa stayed silent during her speech. It was her fault but she didn't thought Anna would react that badly. "Excuse me, Anna. It wasn't my intention. Honeymaren was going near our parents company for her practice. She proposed to share the ride. I agreed thinking I could show you the school tomorrow, like I said in my message." Elsa clarified. She didn't like the situation. She could feel people's stare and she hated it. She glanced at Honeymaren fearing of the image she just gave. But the brown-haired girl was smiling at them, to her surprise.
"Lil'sis misses her big sis. How cute!" She simply stated. "Hi! I'm Honeymaren!" She said showing her hand to Anna.
Anna was now the startled one. She didn't expect it. Maybe she overreacted. "Hi. I'm Anna." She replied slowly.
"And I'm Merida!" How many times will she have to present herself today, she thought.
A silent lasted. A little too long for Honeymaren taste. "Ok, get down barbie. We'll continue on our feet."
"Barb- what?" Elsa seemed extremely discontent in her pride. "Do not ever call me that! I'm certainly not a barbie!"
"Boo! Catch me and I may stop!" Honeyamaren challenged her while speeding her walk despite having to push her bike.
Elsa expression seemed lively as she pursued her with the same pace. "You know I won last year marathon." She declared proudly.
Honeymaren looked behind with a grin. "I'm happy to hear you have a lot of endurance. It can be useful in a lot circonstances."
Elsa's face illustrated perplexity at Honeymaren's answer. "Whatever." She replied catching the Northuldra's girl bike by the saddle. "I will always be on top." She settled sitting on the bike.
Honeymaren stared at her with a delighted face. Not bothered at all by Elsa's dominance. She kept pushing the bike with a contented smirk. "I don't mind."
The two girls behind them couldn't catch their conversation but they could see their proximity. "It seems your sister just wanted to have some fun with her friend. You panicked for nothing." Merida presumed while pushing her own bike.
Anna was following, a little pensive, but still glaring at the two girls in front them. "Elsa has no friend but me." She said in a very low tone.
"Ok." Merida didn't know how to react. "So, it's a good thing she has one now?" She inquired, still unsure of what was the problem.
Anna glanced at her for a few seconds to think. "I guess it is." She settled. Yes, she should be happy, Elsa finally made a friend. That's what she wanted. For people to truly love her sister like she did. But something bothered her. However, she didn't know what it could be.
They arrived in front their parent's company in a few minutes.
"So, it's there. Somehow, I prefer my aunt's shelter and strange shop. I couldn't work in an office. It would feel like jail." Honeymaren conceded with an apologetic expression.
Elsa seemed pensive but didn't say anything. "When do you finish?" She asked instead while getting down of the bike.
"At five thirty." Honeymaren answered helping her with a hand.
"Thanks. There is a coffee in the next street called Halima's. We can work our schedule there. Then my mother can send you home with her car." Elsa proposed.
Honeymaren seemed to think of her options before she replied. "I feel like you won't take no for an answer. Do I really have a choice?"
"No." Elsa was affirmative.
"Then I see you in two hours." Honeymaren jump back on her bike and wave goodbye to the other two girls. "Bye, girls."
"Bye." Merida waved back. "She seemed nice. She then looked at Elsa. "We were actually heading to the same coffee, I believe?" She turned to Anna for a confirmation.
"Yes. We will work on history." She stared intensely at Elsa for seconds, waiting for something that never come. "Can I wait for you?" She dared to ask.
Some realization finally hit Elsa. How could she be so careless with her sister feelings. "Of course, Anna!" She took her sister in a tight embrace and apologized again.
"Sorry. Sorry. I thought y-"
"I know." Elsa interrupted her, wiping a tear forming in her sister eye, before kissing it. "I am here."
"Hmm." Merida coughed.
"Sorry for the show." Elsa said, a little embarrassed. "I will go now. See you later." And then she entered the building where her parents worked.
"What is your sister doing inside?" Merida asked looking at the ten floors building.
"Some office work." Anna responded looking at her friend with a more lively face. "How about this chocolate you promised me?" Anna asked jumping on her friend.
"Wow! Where is the angry and crying girl from earlier?" Merida questioned.
"She got a big hug from her sister!" Anna replied with a happy expression. She then started to run to the next street. "The first wins!"
"Cheater!" Merida shout while following with her bike.
"Who's the cheater now?" Anna questioned when they arrived in front of a little coffee shop called at Halima's. "Hi, Halima!" Anna waved at a middle aged black woman behind a counter.
"Hi Anna!" Alima waved back. "Oh, you came with a friend!" She said noting Merida.
"Yes!" Anna replied with pride. "Let sit there." She presented a big table with benches near the windows at the end of the coffee shop. They will have a lot of space to work and she could also see Elsa when she approaches the coffee.
"Ok. History, here I come!" Merida said in false excited voice while letting herself fall on the bench facing the wall.
Anna sat on the one against the wall, cheering. "First, I want my double chocolate!"
"You're not fat but you sure have some chubby cheeks. Now, I know why." Merida said in amusement. Anna wanted to protested vigorously when she added. "So is your sister. That's cute."
Then, Anna felt contended by the compliment and said nothing.
Elsa was in her mother's office. She had a her own desk on the side of the room with all the tools useful to work like a laptop, a tablet and notebooks. She was classifying some employees files from the last ten years from papers to digital in the company business software. She started two months ago and was in the third year already.
"Thanks for the job you're doing. It's really useful and complete as always." Her mother said getting up from her chair. Her desk was much bigger than Elsa's one. It was an corner desk behind the glass windows giving a superb view of the downtown. "We should be able to get a new intern soon. So you can have some time for yourself." Iduna added while approaching her daughter's desk. "I have to stay a little longer today. But you can take my car. I will come back with your father around 7 p.m."
Elsa stared at the car's keys suspended in the air by her mother. "What about Anna?" She inquired taking the keys and leaving her chair after turning off her computer.
"Anna can take the bus. It's not late. But it will be late for you when you finish with your classmate. Honeymaren, you said?" Her mother asked with an inquired expression.
"Honeymaren." Elsa repeated slowly with a sweet smile on her face.
Her mother noticed the little change in Elsa's look but said nothing. She won't do anything until asked for. Except maybe a little thing. "You can invite her for dinner or lunch someday? I would like to meet her properly. I wonder if Yelena's herb shop still exists." Iduna wondered more for herself.
Elsa's eyes grew with surprise. "Honeymaren said her aunt has an herb shop."
"Really? Then, you have to invite her with her family, for sure." Elsa's mother seemed to escape to another world for a moment.
"How do you know about it? What kind of herbs she's selling?" Elsa questioned.
Iduna left her own world to stare at her daughter. "I was living there, before." She said but not opened for more explanation. "Go. And tell your sister to prepare dinner." She then seemed to remember something and added. "Anything but sandwiches." She said sharing a laugh with her daughter.
Elsa waved a goodbye to her father when she passed in front of his office but didn't enter since he was on the phone. When she arrived inside Halima's coffee shop, she heard her name being shout from the back.
"Elsa! We're here!" Anna jumped from her bench vividly to make sure her sister noticed her.
"How did it went?" Elsa asked while sitting next to her sister.
"We started back from middle school with pearl trees." Anna explained while showing Elsa the notes they wrote.
"Oh! That's a good idea." Elsa said but she seemed a little absent-minded. Her eyes were actually often glancing at the window. "Mom said to make dinner tonight. They will come at 7 p.m with dad." Elsa added after a moment of silent.
"Oh? I thought I could wait until you finish with your classmate." Anna complained. Then an idea crossed her mind. "Ah! I know. I can order something."
Elsa let escape a loud sigh while Merida shook her head her to Anna to deliver her thoughts.
"Anna, I-" Elsa started.
"I won't take a no from you after you broke today's promise." Anna warned with a devilish smile.
At least that's how Merida would describe it.
Elsa opened and closed her mouth several times to reply but she finally gave up and kept her thoughts for herself. "Fine, but we won't stay at the same table." She decided as a compromise.
"Okay." Anna agreed. She got what she wanted. More time with her sister, in one way or another. "Oh! While I think about it. I have a boyfriend!" She revealed excited.
"What!?" Elsa whispered loudly. She was shocked but she didn't want to attract the attention of the other customers. She watched at Merida for confirmation and the redhead only shrugged.
"She said he's hot. Don't ask me anything. I don't understand either."
Elsa stroked her forehead in a disbelief refusing to look at her sister. She didn't want to think about it now.
"He's a really nice senior from our school. His name is Hans. He-"
"A senior?" Elsa got up suddenly from her chair. "He is too old for you Anna. Forget it!"
"Why?" The youngest asked. "And no, I won't." She also got up to defy her sister, putting her hands on the table. "You could at least meet him before rejecting him. He's really polite and ask me out for Saturday. But before he wants to meet mom and dad at home. You have any problem with that?"
Elsa was out of words. What kind of person that Hans guy was? She had no experience in dating but found this disturbing. Yet, she had no argument to oppose to her sister.
"Already meeting with the family?" A voice said from behind.
They all turned around to see Honeymaren with her bags. Hair still a little wet, probably from a quick shower after training.
The girl walked to them slowly with a grin on her face staring at Elsa. She stopped next to Elsa who was still standing up from her earlier burst. She then approached her mouth to Elsa's right ear. "Your sister is beating you to the dating game." Honeymaren was poking fun at Elsa and hit her face with her wet braid to add at her mockery.
"Hey!" Elsa complained still with a smile on her face. She tried to stop her laugh but couldn't and hide it with her hand, turning away and refusing to face anyone.
"Come on, Barb. I can find you a Ken if you want. So show me your smile." Honeymaren put her chin on Elsa's shoulder to force her to turn back.
If Anna was startled by the sudden proximity between Honeymaren and her sister, it was nothing compared to Elsa. Her heart was racing faster and she could feel the blood flowing in each of her vein. She moved her head slowly and met Honeymaren's smirk. They were closer than she ever was with anyone outside her family. She took the time to examine the girl's face. Her flawless skin, her brown freckles, her beautiful eyes and her endearing smile. Elsa didn't know why but she found her smile contagious. So she smiled back. Awkwardly but she still smiled.
Honeymaren seemed contented with her effect and pulled out from Elsa's shoulder, playing again with her hair.
"Stop it now!" Elsa complained again, taking a tissue from the table to dry her mouth. "Go dry your hair in the toilets!" She ordered, showing some stairs on their left.
Honeymaren followed Elsa's hand and made an unhappy face. "What? The toilets are in the basement! I won't go there alone. What if a stranger try to kidnap me?"
Elsa didn't know if the girl was joking or serious. "Whatever. You'll need my help to dry these hair. Clearly you're already failed the first time." She said while pushing Honeymaren to the stairs. "Anna? Ask Halima to prepare us a table. Thanks." They both disappeared in the stairs.
"Ok." Merida started. "I think I will go home." She got up from her chair and picked up her school bag.
"What? No! You leave me alone. I will look stupid on my own!" Anna protested, glancing at the stairs from time to time.
"Yep. But I don't want to hold the candle." Merida clarified with an apologetic face. "Your sister clearly wants to be alone with her friend. I think you should go home too and prepare dinner like you were supposed too." The redhead advised. "See you tomorrow at school and thanks for the history lessons." She waved Anna while leaving for good.
"Bye." Anna replied. She was lost in her thoughts. She sat on her bench and put her two hands on her heart. She felt like an irritation on it while taking glimpses at the toilets door. She stayed pensive for a little moment. Then she noticed Elsa hadn't come yet. She feared something happened to her sister. "Elsa is not used to people outside our family. What if something went wrong?" She thought while taking the same stairs her sister took a moment ago.
"Elsa!" She asked slowly at first in front the women door. But no answer came. "Elsa!" She cried this time. "Elsa! I'm coming!" She tried to open the door but it was closed. "Elsaaaaa!"
Suddenly, the door opened.
"Finally!" Anna said. Fortunately the door was opening from the inside. Otherwise she would have been hit by it.
Elsa came out first with a little blush on her cheeks. "Anna, why did you shout?" Elsa demanded while Honeymaren was following with a grin on her face.
"You stayed there for a long time." Anna explained. "What took you so long?" She inquired.
"Hu-" Elsa was looking for her words but seemed unable to talk.
So Honeymaren said it herself. "We both felt some discomfort. Probably from training and work. We think it's better to work on our schedule tomorrow. I'll leave the two of you alone. I'm taking the bus with my bike. See you!"
"Bye." The brown haired girl left quite hastily Anna thought. But at least, she had her sister for herself. But she noticed Elsa was still uneasy while they took the stairs. "Honeymaren left Elsa. You didn't say goodbye."
"I know." Elsa simply stated while walking to their previous table. "Let go home too. I'll make dinner. Your favorite as an apology. I'll do something else for mom and dad." She proposed taking both of their bags.
"Really? Thanks you!" Anna jumped on her sister and kissed her several times on her left cheek. "I love you, Elsa!"
"Yes. I love you too, Anna." She reciprocated when they were outside. But her mind still was somewhere else.
Hi,
I hope this chapter will be liked.
See you.
Answer to guest review : I don't know how to answer. Maybe the following chapters will answers your question.