Elsa awoke in the early morning light to find Anna's arms around her, hugging her from behind. More specifically, she felt not only Anna's arms around her, but Anna's palms cupping her breasts. Gingerly, she nudged Anna's hands lower until they were resting on her ribs instead as she breathed a sigh of relief.
Relief soon became… well, she wasn't sure what it became, but her nipples were still aroused, and she felt heat pooling in her belly. Should I have moved her hands? she asked herself, unsure what she was feeling. On the one hand, she felt nothing but familial love for her sister. On the other hand, this wasn't her sister, not here. She wondered what it would be like to indulge the sensation just a little more. Her opportunities for any kind of intimacy in her time were non-existent; those few suitors even interested in her because of her station were terrified of her powers, and she herself had been made to fear touching others after the accident with Anna as a child and her subsequent isolation.
Her wondering was cut short by Anna shifting her hands back into place on her breasts. Elsa felt a shiver run up her spine, closed her eyes, and let herself feel it. Is this so bad, to let her enjoy a few moments in her dreams, with her wife? I can tolerate this. This isn't Arendelle, and I'm not the head of the church here… I shouldn't, but I even enjoy this just a little.
"Mmm baby, I wish we had more time…" Anna murmured, rubbing small circles with her fingertips, relishing the sensation of her wife's soft, firm skin. "We don't do this nearly as much as we used to…" Wakefulness slowly dawned on Anna, and her hands froze in place as she realized what she was doing to the woman next to her. Oh god, I hope she's not awake! She must think this is so sick, her sister fondling her like this!
Both women quietly coughed and apologized simultaneously. "I, uh, I'm sorry, Anna, I didn't mean to wake you."
"No, no, it's okay. I'm really sorry, I thought you were my wife and… I'm sorry. That- it's- wow, this is really awkward," Anna blushed fiercely, her hands burning as she wrung them tightly to her own bare chest. "You must be horrified."
Elsa turned over in the bed and gently cupped Anna's cheek with her palm, a soft smile on her lips. "It's okay, Anna. I- it's not fair to you that the woman you love isn't here right now. I'm a poor substitute, even if I am her in other ways. I can't fault you for mistaking me for her in your sleep." She put a finger preemptively on Anna's lips. "And before you say it, no, you will not sleep on your couch."
Anna let out a long sigh of relief and a short laugh. "Thank you, Elsa. That… that makes me feel better. I… in this time period, touching without consent is not okay."
"To be fair, someone touching the reigning monarch without permission in my time is risking life and limb too," Elsa giggled, laying back with her arms behind her head. "Last year, at a ball, a very drunk ambassador from Bavaria attempted to place his hand somewhere it shouldn't have been, and I froze his coat sleeve solid, as though it were a cast for a broken arm."
"Oh my god, what did he do?"
"He was confused, and then I whispered in his ear that the next time he behaved in such an uncivilized manner, I would freeze the entire arm. Then I had my guards escort him to his quarters to sober up," Elsa smiled, remembering the awful ball. She thanked her lucky stars that she was able to handle the situation before the buffoon had a chance to meet her sister.
Anna mirrored Elsa's pose, laying back on her arms. "Wow. I can't imagine what that's like, having guards and servants and stuff. It must be amazing." Anna gleefully imagined having someone taking care of all the mundane things that she struggled with every day - paying bills, cooking, cleaning - and how awesome it would be for someone else to just do all of it.
"It's convenient, to be sure, but there are downsides. For example, you're rarely alone, and you're always being watched. Every wall has eyes and ears."
"I think I could live with that if it meant never having to dust again," Anna chuckled. "My Elsa isn't too fond of housework. We still split the chores, but…" Anna turned her head to look away for a moment, a tiny laugh in her chest. Once, they'd had a fight about mopping the floors, and Anna had accused her then-fiancee of acting like a queen. If only she'd known how true that was. Her chest tightened as laughter turned to heartache, missing her wife once more.
"I'm afraid I will be of little help until you teach me how, Anna," the blonde said softly, interrupting Anna's reverie. "I've honestly never done any of that kind of work in my life, though I've certainly seen the staff doing it on our behalf." She turned to look at Anna, catching the sadness in her eyes, and propped herself up on one elbow. "What is it?"
Anna's eyes glistened. "I miss her. You. My Elsa. I know it's only been a few days, but…"
"It's not the same."
Anna nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. "No, it isn't. And… that's not to say you're not a wonderful person, and so much like her, but… yeah. I… what if she doesn't come back?"
Elsa sighed. "We'll figure this out somehow, Anna. Some way for you to get her back, and get me back to where I belong, with my Anna and my time." She rolled over and slung an arm around Anna's midsection, pulling her into a hug and feeling the crook of her neck dampen with Anna's falling tears.
After a long pause, Anna took a deep breath, exhaled, and slowly sat up, the sheet falling from her naked body as a pink blush appeared on Elsa's cheeks. "So… today's the day, huh?"
"Hmm?" Elsa said, confused, tearing her eyes away.
"It's Wednesday, hon- Elsa. You have to go back to work today and at least explain things so that you can qualify for short-term disability," Anna said, putting her clothes on. After she'd tossed on a flannel shirt, jeans, and a hoodie, she turned to Elsa. "What do you normally wear to… uh, work? In your time, I mean."
Elsa smiled. "Probably something that won't go over well here." She shrugged off her maroon night robe, briefly revealing her pale body before a stunning, ice-blue dress materialized, a long, flowing cape sparkling behind her.
Anna stared open-mouthed as the dress formed from snow and ice crystals swirling around her, the slightest bit of saliva dripping from one corner of her mouth. "Whoa. That… that's seriously the most amazing thing I've ever seen, Elsa. But… yeah, that style isn't quite up to date here."
"What does your Elsa normally wear to work?"
Anna dug out a white button-down shirt, black blazer, and black twill trousers, with white pointed-toe pumps, and laid the outfit down on the bed. "This is usually your go-to, especially on meeting days."
Elsa picked up each of the garments, turned them around, inspected them carefully, then smiled, stepped back, and with a wave of her fingers, channeled her magic to imitate the outfit on the bed, making only small cosmetic changes. After her ice blue dress had reformed as a navy blue power suit, she added small crystal earrings and a clear crystal necklace. "How's this?"
"That… you look amazing, Elsa. Like… like my Elsa, but with a twist. Can… can I?" she asked, her fingers already halfway to Elsa's jacket before the blonde nodded. "It's… it's cool, but not cold to the touch. That's… wow, that's legit magical," she murmured, the tips of her fingers lingering on Elsa's forearm. "Is it still ice?"
Elsa nodded. "It is. I've experimented over the years with different shapes; ice can be shaped to take almost any shape and feel."
"How- how does that work?"
"Honestly, I'm still not sure. I just… think about it, and it does whatever it is I'm thinking or feeling. That," she chuckled, looking down at her hands briefly, "has gotten me into plenty of trouble over the years."
"The eternal winter you told me about."
"Yes, that. That and plenty of other things. I missed a fair number of meals growing up because I was so heartbroken that the door to my chambers was frozen shut. I didn't know how to control my powers back then. I should have realized that it was love which thawed; every time my Anna came by to talk, she would help me feel better and the ice would fade away." She rolled her eyes at her own obliviousness.
Anna fidgeted, her throat bobbing as though there were words literally fighting to get out of her mouth and she was imprisoning them - badly.
"And yesterday?" she finally blurted out.
"What about- oh, you mean in the alley. My powers are strongest when I'm… I guess you would say aligned? When what I'm thinking and I'm feeling are in harmony, when I know exactly what I want." She thought back to the many times she'd visited the town square in Arendelle, delighting the children by crafting toys out of ice and snow. It brought her as much delight as it did the kids, and the toys got more ornate with very little added effort.
Her thoughts turned to the brute that they encountered in the alley. She had instinctively reached out to protect Anna, unquestionably. She reflected for a moment; it wasn't fear she felt. Fear made her powers fly out of control, creating chaos in their wake. When she stopped the attacker - when she disintegrated him utterly - she was far from afraid.
"Yesterday, I was… focused. In harmony. I knew I needed to stop him from hurting you, and I… I felt such anger, that someone would dare attack my sister. I know, I know, you're not my sister, but at that moment, I forgot."
"What… what did you think about?"
"I imagined him crumbling to dust, shattering into a million little pieces, and I reached out my hands-"
Anna gulped. "-and that's exactly what happened. Wow, Elsa. That's… that's still mind-blowing. This whole thing is, but that especially… there was nothing left of him, not even his knife." She nervously chuckled. "At least we won't have to worry about the police finding the body, I guess?"
"Um… I don't know if that's a good thing or not, Anna. All I know is that no one attacks my sister, or attacks you by extension, I suppose. Not while I'm around to do something about it," she declared, her jaw muscles firm and tight.
Anna stepped back for a moment, took another deep breath as she regarded her wife's doppelganger with affection, then embraced her. "Well… good luck today, Elsa."
Elsa smiled and pecked her on the cheek, then headed for the front door of their apartment. "You too, Anna. I'll let you know what happens."
"Remember to text me. You remember how to do that, right?"
"I do, yes. I'm starting to get the hang of these little magical black mirrors," she grinned as they walked out the door to the light rail station.
Anna spun her cubicle chair around in a circle, chewing on the end of a pencil as she watched the office spin past her eyes. After leaving for work, she'd stopped by the Starbucks in her building, grabbed a quadruple shot espresso, and tried to focus on the mounting pile of work in her inbox. But a few hours later, the caffeine boost had worn off, lunch sat heavily in her stomach, and she tried to push her worries away.
Her worries had other ideas for her day.
What if Elsa isn't able to convince her law firm to put her on leave?
What if this is permanent?
What if my wife never returns?
Can I love this Elsa as much as my own?
Will she ever love me the way my wife did?
Something nagged at her consciousness, poking her like a splinter she couldn't find.
Would that be so bad, if this were permanent?
She worried at her lip, continuing to idly spin her chair until something lightly tapped her on the side of the head.
"Beck!"
Anna turned to face the woman in the next cubicle over with a grimace and a barely-managed fake smile. "What's up, Janine?"
The younger, dirty blonde woman, one of her team members, stopped just as she was about to throw another paper airplane at Anna. "You've been spaced out for like, half an hour, boss. We've got a staff meeting soon! You okay?"
"Yeah, just a lot on my mind… home stuff, you know?"
Janine nodded as she gathered up a folder full of drawings off her desk. "Totally. Trouble with the missus?"
"Kinda. You ever… you ever wake up one day and the person next to you is like… a totally different person?" Anna asked quietly, leaning on the cubicle's divider wall.
"Oh yeah, totally," her coworker said. "My last boyfriend was like, fucking Jekyll and Hyde, I swear to god. Some days he'd be so sweet, and other days he'd be a complete asshole from like, a 1970s sitcom."
Anna rubbed the back of her neck. "What'd you do about it?"
Janine burst out laughing. "I dumped his ass and found someone who didn't have the complete asshole part. Why, is your wife being an asshole to you?"
"No! No, definitely not. She's just… different lately, that's all. And not a bad different, just… not the woman I married, and I'm not sure if… if it's going to stay that way," she said, the corners of her mouth turning down as her lower lip trembled.
Janine strode over from her desk and put a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Do you still love her, even if she's different?"
Without speaking, Anna placed a hand on top of Janine's and nodded.
"Does she still love you?"
Anna looked up at Janine, nodding again.
"Then whatever it is, you'll make it work. My ex didn't love anyone except himself, so there was no fucking way it was going to work, you know what I mean?" She grabbed the file folder off her desk. "Now come on, we gotta get to Conference Room C and wow the shit out of these dummies from Weselton Corporation."
Anna grabbed her tablet and phone with one hand, wiping the tears that had threatened to fall with the other, and followed her coworker to the conference rooms. "Thanks, Janine," she stage-whispered as they entered.
Author's NotesA brief, fluffy interlude before we get to see how Elsa handles a job in the 21st century, plus some more consequences from the previous day's adventures. Stay tuned as we see what kind of lawyer the Queen of Arendelle makes.
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