Hi, everyone! Here's the update that was promised - sorry it took so long! I hope to update soon, but of course, no promises...
Anyways, I hope that you enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
~Queen Isabelle
She's imperfect, but she tries
She is good, but she lies
She is hard on herself
She is broken and won't ask for help
~She Used to Be Mine, Waitress
Chapter Twenty: She Used to Be Mine
Elsa twisted gracefully in the air, landing on the ice with her arms spread wide. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elinor nod approvingly. Elsa continued to glide across the ice, breathing deeply. She had missed this. She had missed the cold bite of the air on her face, the smooth surface under her feet. It was a relief to be back on the ice.
In the background, Elsa heard doors opening and slamming shut. She glanced over her shoulder to see the Guardians hockey team filing into the rink. She caught a glimpse of white hair and smiled.
"We have the rink for another fifteen minutes!" Elinor called out. Elsa pulled herself into a Biellmann spin, her foot up by her head and spinning quickly. The voices blurred into a tornado-like symphony. When she slowed down, Jack was in front of her.
"Hi." He smiled brightly.
Elsa smiled back. "Good morning." She began to skate towards the side of the rink to get off the ice, and Jack followed along behind her.
"Do you and Anna have plans today?" Jack asked.
Elsa shook her head. "No, why?"
"Just curious," Jack said, shrugging. "I might stop by after practice."
"Anna would like that," Elsa said. She reached the edge of the rink and stepped carefully off. She hobbled over to the bleachers and sat down, pulling off her skates. She glanced up at Jack, smiling as he stood there with his hockey stick slung over his shoulders.
"Just Anna?" he asked.
Elsa blushed. Before she could respond, the doors opened once more. The pair looked over to see Astrid, Ruffnut, and Merida marching into the rink.
"What are they doing here?" Elsa asked. She waved her hand, getting Merida's attention. Merida gave a salute, but the serious look on her face didn't waver.
"Hey, North!" Astrid called as she strode towards the large man. North turned from where he was talking with Elinor to appraise Astrid and company as they approached.
"Hello, Astrid," he said. "What can I do for you?"
"I want to start a women's hockey team," Astrid said. Elsa and Jack exchanged a shocked look. On the rink, the Guardians stopped skating around. Everyone was tuned in to the conversation between the owner of the rink and Astrid.
"You want to what?" North asked.
"Start a women's hockey team," Astrid repeated. "Ruff and Merida here both want to join, so I've already got three people. I just need a rink to practice in."
"Who will you play against?" North asked.
"Whoever will take us," Astrid replied. "I'm just as good as any of your boys. Maybe we can have a game."
"Merida," Elinor said, stepping from behind North to stare at her daughter. "Hockey is not very ladylike."
Merida groaned. "Mam!"
"North, it's not fair that there's no women's hockey team. You need to change that," Astrid said, cutting Elinor off before she could say anything else. North stared at the three women in silence for a moment. He burst into a booming laugh, hands on his hips.
"Of course, Astrid! I agree completely!" North said. The three women exchanged surprised glances. Elsa reached over to hit Jack's arm excitedly, and he returned her excitement with a smile. "We'll talk about it more after practice, alright? But as for now, would you three like to join us?"
"Hell, yeah!" Ruffnut didn't waste any time. She burst out onto the rink in her tennis shoes and immediately fell on her butt. A blonde guy who looked a lot like her—did Ruff have a twin, Elsa wondered—skated up to her and laughed. She swiped her leg under the man's legs, and he joined her on the ice, falling on hard on his side.
Jack laughed beside Elsa. "I better get over there before Tuff and Ruff kill each other." Already, other members of the hockey team were skating over to the pair. Astrid and Merida had managed to put on their skates and were also heading over.
Elsa nodded, giggling. "I'll see you later, Jack."
"Bye, Elsa." Jack got back on the ice and began skating backwards, waving at her as she began to leave the rink. Elsa winced as he skated too far and ended up banging into Kristoff, who was off-balanced already from trying to help Ruff up. Jack and Kristoff fell as well, adding to the pile. Elsa giggled.
"Well, I suppose that my daughter is…" Elinor trailed off, coming up beside Elsa. "You seem happy."
Elsa shrugged. "That scene is quite funny."
Elinor eyed the white-haired boy that she'd seen Elsa talking to. "Funny. I'm sure."
When Elsa returned to her house after practice, Marshall trailing after her through the doorway, she expected everyone to still be asleep. It was only seven in the morning, and her parents typically liked to sleep in until at least eight on the weekends. But to her surprise, everyone was up and seated around the dining room table, though there were no plates and no breakfast.
"Good morning," Elsa said, walking from the kitchen into the dining room. Both of her parents had mugs of coffee while Anna held a mug of hot chocolate between her hands. They all looked up when she walked in, looking like someone had just died. Elsa paused, dread gathering in her stomach. "What's wrong?"
Had her stalker reached out to one of them, the way they'd reached out to her? Had they sent her parents threatening letters? Had they called Anna?
"We received a call this morning," Iduna said after a long moment, her voice hoarse. Elsa's heart began to beat faster. Another call then—had they actually spoken this time? Had they actually given a threat?
"Someone has leaked your past to the press," Agnarr said. "They're publishing a story today at eight in the morning."
Elsa's blood thundered behind her ears, making it so that it was hard to hear anyone. Out of the corner of her eye, Elsa saw Marshall step forwards from behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. Elsa couldn't feel his touch. She couldn't feel anything but a dull numbness.
"What?" She felt her mouth move but couldn't hear the word.
"Elsa, I'm so sorry," Iduna said, standing up and walking towards her daughter. "We're trying everything, but there's nothing we can do."
"They don't care about anything but their next story," Agnarr said bitterly.
Anna still hadn't said anything, just stared blankly at her drink.
"Anna?" Elsa asked. Her ears had subsided to a ringing. Anna's name echoed throughout her head. Her sister looked up, tears in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry," Anna said. Then, she began to sob.
Elsa's parents wouldn't let her read the article, no matter how much she begged.
"You don't need to be reminded of that," Agnarr said, taking her phone.
Elsa wanted to argue that she was reminded of it every day, that it was in her head, on replay. But part of her didn't want to read the article either, so she let her parents take her phone. She didn't know what their long-term plan was, as they obviously couldn't keep her from the internet forever, but she was grateful for their attempt at shielding her nonetheless. It was a welcome change from all of those years ago.
"How did they find out?" Elsa asked sometime in the afternoon. Her parents had locked themselves in her father's study, though Elsa could still hear the phone ringing with calls. Merida had stopped by around noon with Astrid and Ruff in tow. She said nothing but pulled Elsa into a tight hug. Over the red-head's shoulder, Elsa could see the pitying looks of the two blondes. Elsa closed her eyes and hugged Merida tighter.
Rapunzel had stopped by only an hour ago, knocking relentlessly on the door until Marshall opened it.
Rapunzel had launched herself at Elsa, tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I couldn't tell anyone," Elsa said honestly.
Now, she stood in her father's study. The phone rang, but Agnarr and Iduna both ignored it.
"Are you going to answer that?" Elsa asked.
Agnarr sighed. "It's just more reporters."
Elsa bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. "How did they find out?" When it had first happened, Elsa had been protected due to being a minor—the papers weren't allowed to discuss the victim, only the perpetrator. So how did anyone find out that she was the little girl that Duke Weselton had molested?
"We don't know," Iduna answered.
"I do."
Elsa and her parents turned to see Anna in the hallway, wringing her hands together. After her breakdown this morning, Anna had disappeared into her bedroom and hadn't left since. But now she stood in front of them, and she looked like she had something to say. Anna stepped forward and grabbed Elsa's hands.
"You have to know that I'm so, so sorry, Elsa," Anna begged, tears gathering in her eyes once more. "I never meant for this to happen."
"You told them?" Elsa asked, surprised.
"No, never!" Anna swore. "But the other day, when we were at Oaken's with Hans, he noticed that you were acting weird. And I told him that you'd gone through some stuff as a child, and he made me tell him, and I just—I had no idea he'd go to the press with it, you have to believe me. I thought that he loved me enough that he wouldn't hurt you like this, but I was wrong.
"Hans knows?" Elsa demanded. That didn't sit right with her. That knowledge twisted up in her stomach and threatened to make her sick.
"He said that he'd break up with me if I didn't tell him, that people who were in love didn't keep secrets from each other!" Anna said.
"It wasn't your secret to tell!" Elsa snapped, dropping Anna's hands. Anna began to cry, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"I know, I know. I'm so mad at myself right now, Elsa, you have no idea. I'd rather die than hurt you, you have to know that," Anna said.
Elsa wrapped her arms around her middle. Iduna came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I broke up with Hans," Anna added pitifully. "I should have done it a long time ago, but I really thought he loved me."
"You broke up with Hans?" Elsa asked.
Anna nodded. Elsa nodded as well. "Thank you."
"I can't explain how sorry I am, Elsa," Anna said again.
"I know," Elsa said. "And I know that you didn't mean it. But I'm still gonna need some time." Elsa pulled out from under her mother's hand and turned back to Agnarr. "Can I have my phone?"
Agnarr hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He opened the safe under his desk and pulled out Elsa's phone, handing it to her. Elsa took it and left the room, gently brushing past Anna. As she walked up the stairs to her room, Elsa glanced through her notifications. There were calls and texts and emails from people she both did and didn't know. Elsa ignored all of them in favor of a different number.
She pulled up Jack's name and clicked the call button. He picked up after the first ring.
"Hey." His voice floated through the phone, and Elsa found that she could breathe easier.
"Hey," Elsa said. "Did you see the article?"
A pause. "Yeah, I did."
"Are you gonna feel sorry for me, too?" Elsa asked, reaching her room. She opened the door and closed it behind her before walking over to her bed and sitting on the edge of it.
"Actually, I'm more angry," Jack said.
Elsa paused. "Angry?"
"Yeah. First that bastard of a man did these things to you, then your parents sent you away, then someone leaks all of this information for a quick buck? It's not fair."
"Haven't you heard? Life isn't fair."
"C'mon, Elsa. Your entire life has never been your own. Doesn't that make you furious?"
Elsa thought about Jack's words. He was right, in a way. She'd chosen figure skating, but somehow, that had taken everything away from her—her body, her sister, her home. And now she had a stalker, trying to take charge of her life once again. And suddenly, she was angry.
"You're right," Elsa whispered.
"Hell, yeah, I'm right," Jack said. "So, are you going to do something about it?"
Elsa thought about the picture that Anna had found a couple of weeks ago. She thought of the little girl she used to be, and the monster that had taken it away. She was done with hiding from monsters.
By her side, her hand clenched into a fist. "Yeah, I am."