Hey, I am so so sorry with how long this took me to get this out! I could not figure out how to start this, so I rewrote it like seven times. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!
'Cause what doesn't kill me doesn't kill me
So fill me up for just another day
It only hurts when I breathe
It only hurts when I try
It only hurts when I think
It only hurts when I cry
~Just Another Day, Next to Normal
Chapter Four: Just Another Day
Anna was completely oblivious to the tension between her best friend and her sister as she dug into her pancakes at Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Diner. She absent-mindedly threw out some sentences as she focused on buttering her pancakes and drowning them in syrup. She sighed as the chocolate chips melted on her tongue, her eyes closing in delight.
"Anna?" Elsa's voice snapped Anna out of her chocolate-induced ecstasy. She opened her eyes and grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, guys. Oaken's pancakes are just the best, and it's been so long since I've had them," she said.
"We came here last week," Jack reminded her, smirking.
"So. Long." Anna nodded. "What do you think, Elsa?"
"It's very nice," her sister agreed, twirling her fork between her fingers. Anna had had to suppress a gasp of shock when Elsa had ordered eggs instead of the legendary pancakes. "So, how often do you come here? You said last week, yes?"
"We come here every Friday morning," Anna said. "It's our BFF time."
"It's where Anna and I became friends," Jack added.
"Mama and Papa took me here after my first day of public school. They got busy with some phone calls, so I was just sitting at the table all alone when Jack came and sat down next to me. He made me feel better, and here we are, ten years later," Anna explained.
"Mama and Papa just left you at a table by yourself?" Elsa asked.
"They were just outside. They were dealing with… you, I think," Anna said awkwardly. There was a stiff moment of silence before Elsa gripped her fork and looked up at Jack.
"So, Jack, what are your plans for next year?" she asked him, smiling tightly. That, Anna noticed.
"Just another year at college," Jack answered, obviously trying to help smooth over the situation.
"Another? Didn't you just graduate with Anna?" Elsa asked.
"No, he graduated two years ago, like you," Anna said.
"Oh," Elsa said, looking down at the table once more. "I apologize. I didn't realize."
"It's okay. It's my childish nature that youthens me." Jack leaned back in his seat and placed a dramatic hand on his chest.
Anna snorted. "You're such a dork. Why do I hang out with you?"
"So you have an excuse to stare at Kristoff during hockey practices," Jack retorted.
"Kristoff?" Elsa turned to her sister, whose cheeks were rapidly turning red.
"I do not ogle him, Jackson," Anna said.
"I said 'stare,' not 'ogle,'" Jack replied, smirking at her.
"I don't do either of those things! Kristoff is a friend, and he's barely that. I think I annoy him more than you annoy me," Anna said.
"Uh huh, okay. You keep telling yourself that, Anna." Jack took a long sip from his drink. Anna huffed and crossed her arms in annoyance.
"Who is Kristoff?" Elsa asked.
"He's the goalie for the Guardians," Anna said. "They're Burgess's hockey team. Jack's the captain."
"Really. How long have you skated for?" Elsa turned to Jack. He blinked.
"Uh, yeah. Since I was a kid. It's fun." He coughed. Anna furrowed her brow. Usually, Jack couldn't shut up about hockey.
"I'm sure," Elsa said awkwardly, her attempts at conversation clearly not working.
"But, uh, your figure skating… that's something, right?" Jack added.
"Something?"
"Impressive."
"You watch figure skating?"
"No, but Anna talks about it. A lot."
"I talk about it as much as you talk about hockey," Anna interrupted. She glanced back and forth between her best friend and her sister. Something weird was happening, but she couldn't tell what. Then, she got an idea.
"What if we all went to the ice rink?" Anna suggested excitedly. Jack nearly did a spit-take.
"I'm sorry. Did you just say what I thought I heard you say?" he asked. "You want to go to the ice rink. Willingly. Of your own volition. No dragging necessary, with or without kicking and screaming?"
"Yes…" Anna said slowly.
"Elsa, don't panic, but I think that your sister has been abducted by aliens and replaced with a robot," Jack said seriously. Elsa gave him a bemused smile.
"What?" she asked, trying to hide the laugh in her voice. Anna watched the way Jack's eyes lit up at getting Elsa to laugh.
"Anna hates skating," he explained to her. Elsa turned to her sister, confusion written on her face.
"You loved skating," Elsa said, her voice soft and a little hurt.
"I loved skating with you," Anna clarified. "You always made it fun." Elsa looked away for a moment, her shoulders moving with her sigh. She turned back to Anna and gave her a weak smile.
"I would love to go skating today."
Elsa had to call Marshall and let him know where she would be going. She had to beg him to let her go to the diner without him, but there was no way he was letting her go to a skating rink by herself and she knew it. He was waiting at the entrance to the North Pole Ice Skadium when she walked up to him, Anna and Jack hanging back and texting their friends. Apparently, Anna had decided that Elsa needed to meet everyone. Elsa had texted an SOS to Merida and prayed to God that she would show up. There was no way that she could handle so many new people at once.
Marshall extended her skating bag, which Elsa took with a grateful look. He looked over her shoulder at the two friends, who were now engaged in a shoving match.
"Who's the guy?" Marshall asked. Elsa could practically see him calculating how quickly he could take Jack down.
"That's Jack, Anna's friend. He's fine," Elsa said.
"How do you know he's fine?"
"I've been with him all morning, and he's done nothing."
"Doesn't mean he's not waiting for the perfect time to strike."
"Marshall, please do not terrorize Anna's friends. I don't want her to hate me anymore than she already does." Elsa sighed, gripping the handles of her bag tightly. Marshall looked at her, and his eyes softened.
"Anna doesn't hate you, kid." he told her. Elsa shrugged.
"It doesn't matter. There are gonna be a lot of people in the rink, but no one is going to know who I am. I'll be fine, okay?"
Marshall sighed. "Fine. But if this Jack guy is gonna be around you a lot, I'm gonna have to do a background check. And ask him some questions. Nothing major."
"Oh, yes, a federal background check. Nothing major," Elsa mocked. Marshall chuckled as Anna and Jack finally made it to the front door.
"Hey, Marshall," Anna greeted. She already had such a nonchalant attitude around him, which Elsa was grateful for. Anna was sunshine personified. "This is my friend, Jack. Jack, this is Elsa's bodyguard, Marshall."
Jack nodded at the man, his skates thrown over his shoulder and holding them by the laces. "Nice to meet you… sir?"
"You can call me Marshall. For now." Marshall gave him a once-over, then turned and entered the rink. Jack looked wide-eyed at Elsa.
"He's suspicious around new people. Particularly men," Elsa said. She followed Marshall's lead and went into the building. She walked into a large, open lobby and stared in amazement at the giant wall mural, featuring all manners of icecapades.
"Isn't it cool?" Anna said, coming up to stand behind her sister. "Rapunzel painted it."
"She did?" Elsa asked, looking at Anna. Their cousin, Rapunzel, lived in California. Elsa was very confused as to how she managed to paint a wall in Massachusetts.
"Yeah, she moved here for art school after she graduated last year. This kind of made her a household name," Anna explained.
"It's incredible. She's amazing," Elsa said, admiring her cousin's work.
"She'll be here soon. She's really excited to see you," Anna said. Elsa smiled.
"I never realized how much I was missing," she said, her eyes lingering on the painting of a small pair of ice skates decorated with blue snowflakes. They looked exactly like the ones that Elsa had had when she was a child. A violent shiver wracked her body at the thought, and she carefully put some space between herself and her younger sister.
"You were following your dream." Anna was talking, oblivious to Elsa's sudden withdrawal. "And you're here now. That's what's important. Come on, let's go introduce you to Jack's uncle. He's the one who owns the rink, and I suspect you're going to be here an awful lot."
Elsa let Anna drag her across the room to where Jack stood talking to a large man with a big, white beard. He wore a red-button up shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, exposing his tattoo-filled arms.
"Hey, North!" Anna chirped happily, bouncing on her toes. "This is my sister, Elsa."
"Elsa!" The man, North, had a loud voice with a rather thick Russian accent. "Anna's told me so much about you! It's wonderful to meet such a talented skater!"
"Oh, uh, thank you," Elsa said, smiling nervously at him.
"How are you finding Burgess?" North asked, crossing his arms across his chest. Elsa saw that he had "Naughty" tattooed on one arm and "Nice" on the other.
"Um, I actually just got here yesterday," Elsa said. "Everything seems different from the last time I was here."
"Ten years, no?" North asked. Elsa clutched at her elbows and looked down at her feet.
"Something like that, yes," she agreed. Marshall suddenly appeared behind her, and Elsa could imagine the stare he was giving North.
"Are you the owner here, sir?" Marshall asked.
"Yes. May I help you?" North responded.
"I need to speak with you. Do you have an office?"
Elsa sighed and looked up again. North looked slightly confused but still rather jolly.
"Of course. Follow me. What's your name?" The conversation trailed off as the two men walked away, Marshall throwing Elsa a look over his shoulder that radiated STAY PUT.
"You ready to go skate?" Jack asked. Elsa glanced at him. His face held a boyish charm, blue eyes twinkling and a smile that could make a person weak in the knees.
"Come on, Elsa," Anna said, pulling at her hand. "It'll be like old times." Elsa stiffened at that, her hand tightening around Anna's.
"What happened to the old rink that I used to skate at?" Elsa asked. Anna frowned.
"Why did you just now think of that?" she asked.
"Because I'm about to skate in America for the first time in twelve years, and I don't remember seeing my old rink," Elsa said. Her chest tightened at the thought of that rink and that locker room. She shook her head slightly in an attempt to rid the thoughts.
"It was torn down. Health hazard or something," Jack said slowly. "North was really happy, as bad as that sounds, but he couldn't open this one without the old one gone."
Elsa let out a breath. "Good. That one was falling apart."
"I thought you loved that place," Anna said. Elsa smiled at her sister.
"I saw better ones in Europe. Kind of ruined everything else for me," she lied. "Come on. Are we going to skate or what?" Anna gave her sister a strange look but slowly nodded.
"Okay, yeah. Get in a couple of laps before everyone else gets here and the rink gets super crowded." Anna looked a little white at the notion.
"Don't worry, Anna," Elsa teased. "I'll hold your hand the entire time."
"I know you're joking, but I'm not. You let go of my hand, and I'll shave your head tonight."
Jack sat on the bench, working on tying his laces tightly as he watched the sister duo glide around the ice. Well, Elsa glided, her movements effortless and graceful as only a trained skater could manage, while Anna… skated. Jack had to admit that he was impressed that Anna hadn't fallen yet and that she was seemingly enjoying herself. Elsa was turned around, skating backwards—Jack heard Anna mutter, "Show-off," as they passed his seat—holding both of Anna's hands and laughing.
Jack grinned at the sight. Anna looked like she was having the time of her life, while Elsa was beaming with happiness. It was the first real smile that he had seen on her all day.
"Hey." Jack looked up to see Hiccup Haddock, the mayor's son and Jack's best friend (aside from Anna, of course).
"Hey. Glad you could make it," Jack said as Hiccup sat down beside him. "Not gonna try to skate?"
"Ha ha," Hiccup said drily, lifting his prosthetic to punctuate his point.
"I'm sure there are special skates for that."
"Maybe someday. But not today."
Jack laughed and leaned back against the bench, looking out at Anna and Elsa again.
"So that's Anna's sister?" Hiccup asked, mimicking Jack's position.
"Yeah, Elsa, the infamous figure skater," Jack said.
"What's she like?" Hiccup asked. "Snobby? Stuck-up? Holier-than-thou?"
Jack snorted and shook his head. "I mean, from what I've seen so far, she seems nice. Kind of reserved. And there's this whole thing with a bodyguard? I don't know."
"Bodyguard?" Hiccup asked. Jack nodded to where Marshall stood over by the entrance to the door. He was an imposing man, bigger than Jack's uncle, with broad shoulders and a height nearing seven feet. His face looked like it was permanently frozen in "stern scowl." Hiccup made a face and looked over to Jack.
Jack nodded. "Yeah. A little intense."
"Are you gonna go and skate?" Hiccup asked.
"In a minute. I'll let them have a little more time to themselves," Jack said. He watched as Elsa spun Anna in a circle, then let go to do a small spin on one foot. Anna cheered as her sister finished the move, Elsa's braid swinging over her shoulder. The girlish look about her stopped all thoughts in Jack's brain.
Hiccup let out a low whistle. "She's good."
"Yeah, she is," Jack agreed.
Ugh, again, sorry for the late update and the iffy ending. I will try to have another update for you all within the next week (I would love it if I could get it up in the next couple of days but... collegeeeeee).
Anyways, we got some more Marshmallow. We got North. We got Hiccup (who will be in the story some more because I love HTTYD). I don't know why I keep including Anna's POV, but I think it's cause I love the outside perspective on Jack and Elsa's relationship, as well as the fact that Anna and Elsa's relationship is super important to this story. Also, I don't really know how to write romance, so hopefully that aspect isn't like super horrible.
Also, some character's ages as of this point in the story:
Elsa-20
Anna-18
Jack-20
Marshmallow-32
Rapunzel-19 (she'll be introduced soon)
Merida-20
If you're curious about anyone else, let me know and I'll make sure to include it in the next update. Hopefully, everything isn't too confusing at this point, but I am trying to do some foreshadowing. Hopefully it's working.
Please follow, favorite, and/or review with any comments, constructive criticism, etc. etc. I really appreciate all of your input, even if it's just a little "Hello!" Thank you all so so so much for reading!
~Isabelle