A/N So yeah, I definately made a mistake in the last chapter. I wrote that Kristoff helped Elsa out of her Sticth jumpsuit, but that chapter happened couple of days later than the chapter before, so it's unlikely she was sleeping with that again. I actually wrote pajamas at first, but then Elsa froze my brain or something, and I "fixed" it. I'm sorry if you got confused with the timeline there.
This chapter is Anna-chapter. It's a little shorter one, and quite dialogue-heavy, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. As always, please leave a comment to tell what you think, and see you the next time!
Anna knocked the door and waited. She heard a low bark inside of the apartment, and then footsteps. Soon Kristoff opened the door with a warm smile. He looked a little surprised to see her. But before he had change to ask anything, Anna pushed inside the house, a laptop in her arms.
"Kristoff, you have to help me. This report for amendment is driving me crazy!" Anna whined.
Kristoff gave a strange look at her bare feet before looking at Anna's face with amused expression. "What are you talking about, feisty pants?" Kristoff chuckled.
"I have a pile of papers—Well not really papers, as they are on my computer. But anyway, pile of them. And I have no idea what I'm doing. You have to help me with these!" Anna demanded.
"I'm sorry Anna, I don't know anything about those things," Kristoff answered sheepishly.
"But you have moved, and you live here without your parents. You must have done these before," Anna was desperate, there was no one else who could help her.
"Elsa manages all the paperwork for us. I'm hopeless with that stuff." Anna was disappointed. Elsa hated her, there was no way she was going to help her. If Kristoff could read minds, he had dyslexia, because: "I'll ask Elsa to help you." Oh no.
"No, no it's fine. We don't need to bother her with this. I'll figure it out," Anna tried awkwardly look like she was nonchalant about it.
"Nonsense, you said you needed help. Elsa will know how to help you. Wait here for a moment, I'll get her." Anna tried to protest, but Kristoff was already going towards Elsa's door. Anna was just awkwardly waiting at the entrance while Kristoff knocked Elsa's door and entered in it.
Soon, Kristoff was pushing his sister out of the room with her wheelchair. Elsa had lavender colored turtleneck dress, with long sleeves and flowy hem almost down to her ankles. It was nice dress and the fabric seemed to be quite light, but it was really hot day and Anna was sweating in her own, much skimpier, yellow summer dress.
Elsa didn't seem to be hot, but her expression was sour. Great! The last thing Anna needed, was for Kristoff to force Elsa help the girl she despised. But then Elsa lifted her head and looked Anna. Her face seemed to lose its displeased look. Wait, was that a smile? The corners of her mouth were definitely slightly upwards! Was Elsa giving her a face that made her look like she was even a little bit pleased to see Anna? Oh gosh, was Elsa stoned again?
"Hi," Elsa said softly. Anna had never heard her sound like that. It wasn't the overly enthusiastic way she had talked the first time they had met, but it wasn't the cold but polite way she usually talked to Anna. It was soft and warm, like she was talking to a friend. Wait, was she really talking to Anna? Did she think Anna as a friend now?
"Hi? H-hi me?" Anna stuttered and pointed her chest to ask if Elsa was truly talking to her. Elsa just smiled a little wider. Yeah, now it definitely was a smile. Then she nodded to confirm Anna's assumption. Anna felt a need to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't sleeping. Elsa was being nice to her! And not only with her usual polite way, but just for sake of being nice. Maybe nice wasn't right word, Elsa never was unnice. Friendly! That's it, Elsa was being friendly. "Umm, hi!"
"I like that dress. You look really beautiful," Elsa complimented her. Seriously, what was happening? Did Anna choke on her own hair at night, die, and woke up in different universe?
"T-thank you. You look beautifuller." Oh no, that didn't come out right, did it? "I didn't mean fuller! You don't look fuller! I meant more—more beautiful." Great, Anna. If Elsa didn't hate her before, now she surely does.
But Elsa only chuckled, not looking mad at all: "Thank you." Then Kristoff pushed her all the way to the dinner table. She nodded towards the chair, inviting Anna to join her. "Shall we?" Anna rushed to sit next to Elsa, she didn't want to make her wait. It was quite awkward, since the table was so small and they didn't comfortably fit on the same side of it. She tried to not let that bother her, and put her computer on the table.
Kristoff bid her farewell, took Sven, and left for a walk. When he was gone, Anna looked at Elsa and said: "I don't know what Kristoff told you to do, but you don't have to help me." It didn't feel right to force Elsa to do anything, even though she could really do with some help.
"Nonsense, I'll help you. Let's start," Elsa's voice didn't leave room for an argument. Anna was a little disappointed that Elsa didn't say that she wanted to help her, but that was still better than nothing. Anna opened her laptop.
"I think this is all ready," Elsa said and leaned back in her wheelchair.
"Wow. Thank you so much. I don't think I could have done this alone," Anna said, genuinely.
"Yeah, I don't think you could have. I thought you were going to study as engineer. And looking at this mess, I have to say, that this doesn't look so good for you," Elsa said with fake seriousness.
Anna shoved Elsa slightly on her shoulder, careful not to hurt the delicate girl, and exclaimed: "Hey!" Elsa just grinned teasingly back.
Elsa was teasing her! The Ice Queen was being playful and fun! Anna was seriously starting to believe that she had woken up in a wrong universe. It was so nice, just being like this with Elsa. Anna almost craved Elsa's friendly company more than Kristoff's. Something in that girl was pulling Anna towards her like a magnet. It wasn't romantic attraction, Anna knew that for sure. She had been attracted to couple of women before, well celebrities but still. While Elsa was undeniably beautiful, Anna didn't feel that way about her.
Maybe it was Anna's need to impress Elsa. She was definitely interested in Kristoff and she knew that Kristoff valued Elsa's opinion, so she wanted Elsa to like her. That's completely normal. People want to impress their significant other's parents all the time. Why would it be any different with a sister? It had been hard to get in Elsa's good graces. The more Anna tried to get close to her, the more Elsa seemed to push her away. Trying to reach for Elsa was like petting a fish.
Today, she had gotten the first glimpse of sunshine. Anna wanted to hold onto it. "I wish it could always be like this."
Elsa smiled at her warmly at first, but then her face fell. She lowered her head and sighed deeply, looking sad. "I think you should go home now. I have work to do."
"Do you want me to push you into your room?" Anna asked. She felt a little confused for the sudden mood change.
"No, that's not necessary. See you later," she dismissed Anna without even looking at her.
"Oh, okay," Anna felt more than little upset and disappointed, but she wasn't going to insist. She just got up and walked to the door. She casted one more look towards Elsa, but she hadn't turn to see Anna leaving, so Anna opened the door and left with soft 'bye'.
Anna was laying on her twin sized bed, in her cramped bedroom. She was playing Pokémon Sapphire on her old Game Boy, when her phone started ringing. Her mom was trying to Skype her. Anna glanced around the room that was full of dirty clothes and just plain trash. She took her phone and ran to the kitchen/living room area. The counters were full of dirty dishes, but the area near to her couch was relatively clean.
She jumped on the couch and accepted the call. "Hey mom!" she greeted breathlessly.
"Hi honey, that took long. Were you doing something? I can call later," Iduna's slightly glitching face spoke to her. It was so nice to finally see her mother. They had only texted since she had come to Norway. Her parents were always so busy.
"Oh yeah, I was just playing Pokémon in my room, and didn't hear the ringing," Anna explained, just a small lie.
"So, how was your day, sweetie?" Iduna asked with her sweet and gentle voice. It was almost like she was at the dinner table with her parents, talking about her day at home.
"Nice, I went a walk with Kristoff and Sven at the morning," Anna started telling about her day.
"Kristoff is that neighbor of yours that you have talking quite a lot lately?" Iduna asked, her voice had a slightly accusing tone.
"Yes."
"Is he the same one that made you almost cry on your moving day, when he yelled at you because of those boxes?" Why did her mother have to have such a great memory when it came down to anything even remotely unpleasant?
"Yeah. But it wasn't really his fault, mom. He just had really bad morning. And I did leave my boxes in the corridor for him to stumble on," Anna defended.
"Do you like him?" Give a girl a break mom, will you?
"Yeah, kinda. It's too soon to really say, but we always have nice time together."
"Please, tell me this isn't another Hans-thing again. How old is he and what he does?"
"This is nothing like with Hans. Kristoff's really nice and reliable person. He's 21-years-old, and he works on construction site. He's a great guy, mother," Anna said.
"He works? So he doesn't study. Don't you think you should maybe look for someone in your school, when it starts? I'm not sure that some manual worker would suit you the best," Iduna patronized.
"Hans was academic. You want me to find someone like that, mom," Anna was getting a little irritated, and it showed.
"Okay, point taken. Let's change a subject. What else did you do today?"
Anna took deep breath to calm herself, before continuing: "I finished all that stupid paperwork. You know, for the move and stuff."
"All by yourself. Was that a smart thing to do? What if you filled them out wrong? You should have waited for your father to be able to help you," Iduna scolded.
"Father was taking forever, I needed to send them. Besides, I didn't do them alone, Elsa helped me. She's like super smart."
"Honey, who's Elsa?" Anna was pretty sure she had mentioned Elsa before. Maybe she hadn't said anything inconvenient about her, so her mother didn't remember.
"Oh yeah, she's Kristoff twin sister, I think," Kristoff hadn't called Elsa his twin, but she was pretty sure they were both 21-years-olds. "I actually thought she hates me until today."
"How could anyone hate you? You're the sweetest girl out there."
"You're my mom, you're obligated to say that," Anna grinned. "But I don't know. She was like super nice to me the first time we met. She's the one who invited me in her house and loaned me phone and told Kristoff to drive me to the campus and back, when I left my keys at my own apartment. But then Kristoff told me that she was actually highly medicated, because she had just been in surgery after a nasty biking accident. After that day she has been so cold towards me. I mean, she's really polite, and never outright mean, but it's just like she can't stand to have me around. Except today, when she was helping me, she was really sweet," Anna rambled.
"So they live together with Kristoff," Iduna asked and Anna nodded to confirm. "So they're most likely really close. Maybe she's just wary of you, because you show interest to her brother."
"I don't think so. Kristoff said that she's cold to everyone. Well everyone except her family. I feel like I had the first glimpse of how she's with Kristoff today. It was so nice. I just want her to like me."
"You just have to be yourself, honey. She will come around, no one can stay away from you. You're such a sweetheart," her mother smiled at her.
"Yeah, maybe you're right. But how are you and dad doing?" Anna asked. Though she already knew the answer.
"Busy. You know, work like always. I really got to go now. Take care, Anna, and stay safe. I would die if something were to happen to you. You remember, that you can come back to home whenever you want to. We love you so, so, so much," it looked like saying this hurt Iduna. It was easy to see how worried she was for Anna
"I love you too. Send my love to dad. Bye, mom," Anna said and ended the call. She closed her eyes and hugged her phone.
Anna didn't even notice the tears threating to run down her cheeks. She felt a little homesick and missed her parents so much. She had been a lonely child, but this was such a different type of loneliness. She had Kristoff to keep her company time to time, but the house was just so empty. There were no housemaid around cleaning her mess, nor her parents scolding her for making it.
It wasn't quiet in the flat, but the noises were made by strangers she never met. It was like they weren't even there. No one was around to tell her what to do all day long. Nobody cared how she took care of herself. It was strange for her. Kristoff worked at most of the days, and she had no other friends. Anna was even waiting for summer to end, so she would have something to fill up these empty days of loneliness.
Elsa was just upstairs. Laying on the couch with her broken limbs all day long. She was all alone too. If only she would accept Anna's company and they wouldn't have to be so lonely. Nobody wanted to be left alone, so why was Elsa being so distant? Anna just wanted some friends. It was so hard to be in new country all alone, after living her whole life inside one house and with someone always breathing down to her neck.
