Chapter 5: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

"I know I'm going to regret this, but…" I said when I felt her crying stop probably from mere exhaustion. "Do you want to come to my place to see if the two of us calm down a little and can put some order to all this?"

She nodded without even opening her mouth and, clutching my shirt as a lost child would, she followed me, more trusting than she should, to the door of my block. I pulled out the keys and, without being sure myself what I was doing, I made sure that, at least, she was.

"This's my home. Do you really want to go up?"
"Are those the keys to your house?"
"Huh? Yeah…"

"So tiny…" she said again on the verge of crying. "I like its jingle," she added, sniffing and with a hint of a smile.
"Okay, I'm getting in. If you want to come, follow me."

And so she did. As we crossed the portal, she released my shirt and focused herself on, once again, observing every detail and every corner, as if she were in a new world.

"Your house is very strange. Where is the furniture?"
"This is not my house, this is the vestibule. We have to take the elevator and go up to the fourth floor."
"Elevator?"
"Unless you prefer to take the stairs up all four floors. I don't care but after today's walk…"

I pressed the elevator call button and she ran over to gawk at the little blue light. Then the door opened and she started at which I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's that little room?! How did the door open?!"
"It's automatic."
"So…" "So it works with electricity. No need to push it."
"Like with... lightnings?" she asked arching an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Get on the elevator, please."
"Is that the elevator?"
"Uh-huh."

She got in obediently and something scared I'd say.

"We're not going to get struck by lightning or anything, right?"
"No!" I replied laughing again.

The elevator closed and began to move and Anna took refuge strongly in my arm awakening in me the same emotions as that letter that had stirred my insides.

"What's happening?!"
"We're going up home, remember?"

The elevator stopped and opened again providing her another jump and, arm in arm, we got out of it and stood in front of my door. I opened the door wondering what I was going to do when we were finally inside, I turned on the light, and we went in very, very slowly.

Anna stared at the lamp in the hall drawn to it like a moth.

"You're going to burn your retinas if you don't stop looking at the lights like that."

Without answering me and cautiously, she pushed the light switch turning off the only light bulb that illuminated us and I could hear her gasp. Then the light came back on, and turned off, and turned on, and turned off again.

"Anna," I said in the dark. "could you stop playing with the lights? I don't have replacement bulbs."

The light came on and I was surprised to see a more amazed than scared Anna.

"It's fascinating! Everything!"
"I'm… glad?"

I turned on the light in the corridor and in the living room.

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?"
"Oh… a bath would be nice, but there are things I need to clear up before that."
"Yeah, no. You're not understanding me. Do you need to go to the… toilet?"
"Oh! Sure! May l? Where? How?"
"I hope there's no need to explain how."

I walked down the corridor to the bathroom door and turned on the light too.

"Go ahead."

Anna leaned out curious and gaped.

"Is this the toilet?"
"That's the bidet."

I walked in with her feeling quite out of place in my own bathroom and lifted the toilet seat cover.

"Do it in here, please."
"Well, they are very similar…"
"And don't forget to pull the chain when you're done."
"What chain?" she asked looking up at the ceiling as if really looking for a chain.
"The toilet tank."
"I don't follow you."

Sighing I walked over again and pressed the button on the flush to let her see how it worked. As soon as it began to be heard, she jumped back and was on guard, but the crashing fall of the water captivated her and drew her back in a matter of seconds.

"Waaao… And that drags it?"
"Oh, no, it washes it and returns it to you."
"Yuck! But what's wrong with you?!"
"Of course it drags it!"
"And where does all that water go?"
"To the sewers."

Anna narrowed one eye as if trying to process my words and I couldn't believe the situation I was in.

"Okay, listen, I need to use the toilet too. I don't have time for this. Do what you have to do and I'll explain all that stuff to you later."

I made to move out of there, but she stopped me by tugging on my arm.

"Kristoff, could you make me a basin with water? I wish I could wash up later."
"Try with the faucet," I replied mockingly.
"Do you have faucets? So modern! They've not been installed in the castle yet…"

"I bet they have."

I finally left the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

"This is not happening."

I shook my head and slowly dropped my back against the door. Then a whispered "Is this to clean me? And where do I leave it?" denied me the possibility of fleeing from that impossible reality.

"Wipe yourself with paper and throw it into the toilet, would you?" I shouted from the other side of the door hoping I wouldn't find anything especially unpleasant upon opening.
"Fine, thank you."

After a few minutes of silence, unintelligible whispers, the sound of things falling to the ground, tanks (yes, plural), and faucets, Anna finally came out of the bathroom with a smile from ear to ear.

"All yours."
"It's about time."

I led her into the living room and showed her the couch.

"Please wait for me here. Uh... Don't move."

As I turned around, I could hear her throwing herself like a beast on top of the couch.

"If it breaks, you'll have to steal one from the castle for me. I'm not going to buy it from the store that I got fired from."
"I get it!"

I finally went into the bathroom and relieved my bladder, washed, and put in place everything Anna had disorganized a moment before. Afterward, I stood in front of the mirror, washed my face, and took a deep breath immersed in the towel looking for some calm and peace. And… to hell with the calm. The towel already had her smell.

Of course, by the time I got back to the living room, Anna was no longer on the couch. The cushions were scrambled, the laptop was open (although unplugged), the books were untidy, the drawers were open, and Sven was being sniffed by her.

"I'd bet it smells like aluminum."
"What's this?"
"Sven."
"Uh-huh… And what Sven is?"
"Let's start with something less complicated. Who are you?"
"I thought we had already been through this."

I sat on the couch mess she had left and crossed my arms.

"It's not clear to me if you are the best actress in history or if you simply lost your marbles, but I wouldn't like you to be locked up, so please tell me that you are an actress and explain to me what this's all about."
"And why don't you want me to be locked up?"
"Real or not, you seem to think you've been locked up for a long time. I don't think you like the idea of going back to that."
"Very nice of you," she said smiling sweetly.
"Wait, did you escape from a mental hospital?"
"Listen, I understand why it is difficult for you to believe that my story is real, magic is not something easy to accept unless you see it very evident. But it's not like your reality is easier to believe either, you know? You make light without fire."
"Oh, no, let me tell you. Nothing can happen in this world that makes you believe in magic. Right now anything is possible and credible thanks to technology. You won't make me believe you."

She was silent. She looked at me as if reading in my eyes that, whether I wanted to or not, I believed her more than I claimed. I wanted to believe her and, as crazy as it sounded, I felt there was truth in her words. However, logic didn't allow me to take that step

"Kristoff…" she said carefully propping Sven up on the table as if it was more important than the rest of the things she had messed with. "I need to go back home. I have to help my sister. There has to be some way to demonstrate to you this is all real."
"All right, prove it to me. Let's look at Arendelle's history to see if there's anything of everything you tell me."
"Do you have history books?"
"Better, I have Internet."