"Elsa's not going to kill you," Rapunzel told Anna indisputably. "How would she ever get away with just killing one of her own inmates?"
"I'm not sure," bemoaned Anna, who was finding her "master" more and more unbearable as the day went on. "Why don't you ask 'Blondie' and see what she says?"
"Blondie was trying to escape," Rapunzel answered, as though that should immediately put Anna's fears to rest. "So long as you don't attempt a jailbreak, you'll be fine."
"Your words never fail to comfort me," Anna grumbled. She wondered if Rapunzel even understood her sarcasm. "Pardon me if I'm not in a very good mood since, you know, I can't sit down or anything right now."
"That's what you get for talking like that to a guard on your first day inside," said Rapunzel, staring brightly at her from the other side of the bars as though she were a child looking at a goldfish in a pet store. "Although maybe he just did it because he likes you."
"That would be a very odd way of showing it," Anna hissed, tugging at the chain which restrained her to the door.
"Well, you've clearly never been married," said Rapunzel, scratching her nose. "My husband used to put me in handcuffs to show me how much he 'liked me,' but I have a feeling you're not interested in hearing those stories."
"For once, you're right about me," Anna muttered, but she was distracted as her stomach made another desperate cry for help. She couldn't even remember the last time she had gone this long without eating.
Rapunzel, however, didn't seem to notice or care, as she was carefully pulling a folded up sheet of paper out of her shirt pocket.
"And speaking of such things, I got this from my love today," she oozed, the pitch of her voice becoming so high that Anna wished she were capable of plugging both her ears, but alas, her shackled hand prevented that from being possible. "Would you like to hear it?"
"Not particularly," Anna replied, doubting she had anything even resembling a choice in the matter. Why had she agreed to be Rapunzel's "bitch" again? Why hadn't she instead grabbed her by the shoulders and threatened to pummel her into a puddle of mush if she ever so much as hinted to anyone else that she was the warden's sister?
After all, it wasn't like she hadn't been...capable of violence in the past. It was the reason she was incarcerated, after all.
Of course, Rapunzel was completely unaware of Anna's regrets as she cleared her throat and began to recite the letter.
"My dearest Rapunzel," she read aloud, giggling like a stupid girl talking about her stupid crush in high school. "My cell doesn't seem so lonely when I think about you. Well, okay, it does, but only because you're not in here with me. Prison continues to suck for the obvious reasons, but you continue to be my new dream, one which I will return to in about 6,982 days. Please note that I said "about" as I neglected to include leap years in this estimate. Also, this letter will have probably been read by at least ten pairs of eyes before your gorgeous ones go over it, so it's possible you are reading this two or three weeks after I've sent it. Well, I've got to wrap this up. I am running out of paper and I doubt the guards will give me more if I ask, so just imagine my smolder as you go to bed tonight. Yours always, Eugene."
She let out a blissful sigh and hugged the letter to her bossum as though it had a heartbeat. It almost made Anna feel bad for her (almost). She couldn't really imagine what it must've been like being kept away from someone she clearly cared about deeply for such an incredibly long period of time. But Rapunzel didn't appear to be bitter about it. If anything, prison seemed like her natural habitat.
"Wow, that really made me forget about the current state of my life," Anna said grumpily, opting not to pry about her cellie's marriage. "It also made me forget about losing my freedom. And me peeing my pants."
"Oh, there's my pet being all sad and mopey again," she said, lovingly placing the letter back in her pocket and giving it a soft pat. "I doubt any of the girls are going to make any crass comments about it or anything."
Anna somehow felt that wouldn't be the case, but her thoughts were interrupted by another plea for mercy from her tummy. It was even louder this time.
Upon hearing the roar from Anna's belly, Rapunzel's eyes seemed to perk up.
"That reminds me," she said, taking her hat off and reaching into it. "I've got a surprise for you."
"Is it the keys to my cell?" asked Anna, fully aware that it was a tired attempt at a joke.
"I got you these from the vending machine!" Rapunzel exclaimed, pulling a (clearly crushed) bag of corn chips out and shoving it in Anna's face as though it was a valuable as the holy grail. "I knew you hadn't eaten all day!"
From the way she was beaming, Anna could tell that Rapunzel felt she had just committed the greatest good deed in the history of humanity. But she also remembered seeing her spit into the hat she had pulled the snack from earlier in the day. She placed a fist in front of her mouth and resisted the urge to gag.
Still, she wasn't going to be able to make it to supper, so this would be the only food that would be available to her for the rest of the day. And she was so hungry.
Reluctantly, she took the bag of chips. Because one of her hands was in cuffs, it took a little difficulty to get it open, but once she did so, she began jamming the chips into her mouth like a hobo who hadn't eaten in a week.
"Just so you know, that cost me fifty cents," said Rapunzel, watching Anna savagely devour her gift. "And I get paid two cents an hour for my job, so that cost me..." She did a little counting on her fingers before apparently giving up on the math she was attempting in her head. "Well, it cost me a lot of work hours, let's put it that way."
Anna hardly paid attention as she poured the crumbs from the bag down her throat, letting out a belch shortly afterwards. She blushed a bit. She felt like such a pig now (which she supposed was just as well, since she was already starting to smell like one), but at least she felt a little better.
"Um...thanks," said Anna softly, handing Rapunzel the empty bag. "I...um...needed that."
"Don't mention it," said Rapunzel, reaching through the bars and placing a hand on Anna's head and ruffling through her hair like she were a convict puppy. "You see, your Auntie Goldie knows how to take care of you!"
Anna didn't find it very amusing. But she was also too grateful to have something in her digestive system to complain.
"Soooo," said Rapunzel, sneaking her hand into Anna's pocket. "Let's see what Officer Kristoff left you before he left. Maybe it's a romantic greeting."
She snickered as she removed the small item. Anna decided it was okay to resume being peeved with her.
"Oh, it's just your inmate ID card," she said as she looked at it curiously. "I look pretty good in my mugshot, if I do say so myself. Yours looks..."
Her voiced trailed off as she examined the card more closely.
"What is it?" asked Anna. "Is the picture really as terrible as I imagined?"
But Rapunzel turned away from the card and glared at her in an accusing manner, as if she were silently interrogating her about a crime.
"Have you been playing me?" she asked quietly but firmly. She looked furious and confused.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about..." Anna began, failing to find any words more effective than those to say.
"Did you even look at this card?!" fumed Rapunzel, her face turning red as she shoved it into Anna's chained hand. "You told the guard this morning that your name was 'Anderson.' If that's the case, explain this to me!"
Anna lifted the card to her eyes with her free hand, finding that it was trembling. The mugshot-which wasn't the focus of her attention right now-was as unflattering as she expected it to be. But there was something different about it. Although it had happened very early in the morning (meaning that her memory of the event might not be the greatest due to her being extremely tired at the time), she seemed to recall the sheet of paper Kristoff had handed her with her prisoner number on it being written in marker. The text on the photo she was looking at, on the other hand, had clearly been typed on a computer.
Then she noticed it.
"CHRISTIAN, ANNA."
Anna's eyes widened with surprise.
"My...my name's not Christian," she said, trying to make sense of what was happening. "This...this must be some database mistake. It must be..."
But then she recalled what Elsa had told her when they had been "reunited" during the most ungodly hours of the day.
"I wouldn't go around boasting about your...family around here. The girls in my prison, well, let's just say that many of them would take great pleasure in beating up my sister."
The words echoed in her memory for a moment. Had Elsa ordered for the change to be made? Was she supposed to now introduce herself as "Christian" to everyone within her new home? Would guards now address her this way? Was this all so Elsa's precious prison didn't fall into chaos because of her stupid little sister?
None of it made any sense. And none of it made her feel any better, either. She had truly lost everything. Her freedom. Her life. And now her own name.