Sorry for the delay. Been in and out of the hospital these few months. Anyway, here goes.

Chapter Seven

Later that night, Anna came clean to her two best friends.

"You slept with her." Appalled, Merida leaned away from Anna and jabbed a finger. "Kristoff! Anna shagged Elsa!"

They were in the pub. And Anna supposed she should be grateful that the music was loud enough to drown Merida's loud voice.

"I kinda guessed it happened the moment we got home and saw one of her slippers outside of Elsa's closed door." Kristoff said drily. "You have such a way with words, Merida. Never fails to entertain me."

"Shut up, you two." Anna groaned.

"Tell her why that is a mistake." Merida ordered.

"It's none of my business." Kristoff said to Anna, "But if you want my opinion…"

"Which I don't." Anna interjected.

"I think it is your decision. Just be careful, because while sleeping with her seems to have resolved some of the tension between the two of you, something so physically intimate ties very much to your emotions, Anna."

"I'll remind you both again that I am a woman full grown." Anna pointed out, "I am fully capable of making my own decisions. And if I want to sleep with a beautiful, willing woman, what's there to it? And," she added a little wickedly, "I'm planning on doing it again."

"It's not just any woman, it's Elsa." Merida said furiously.

"Your point?"

"You know what? Go ahead. If she breaks your heart again, don't come running and expecting me to pick up the pieces."

"She won't break my heart this time." Anna said decidedly, "Because I won't let her have it. Not ever again. My heart is mine to keep this time."

They waited for Anna to take a bathroom break, before turning to each other. "How can she not see it?" Merida whispered furiously, "How can she not see that she's never had her heart back? She gave her heart to Elsa all those years ago and has never got it back."

In response Kristoff shoved his phone under her nose. "Just take a look before you say anything else." He said.

The picture on the screen was Elsa, holding Anna to her, eyes closed, cheek pressed against the top of a sleeping Anna's head, tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Took this picture without her noticing, the night you and Anna got boisterously drunk." Kristoff told her.

Merida was quiet for a moment, then slumped in her seat. "Shit, Kris. Just… shit." She said weakly.

"Maybe it's time to cut Elsa some slack, time to consider that there may be a reason for Elsa to have left so suddenly. Maybe all Hans had told us about her isn't the whole story." Kristoff said, "Maybe it's time to entertain the possibility that maybe, maybe Elsa's still in love with Anna, too."

"It's the maybe that hurts the most." Merida said miserably. "Either end it, or be together. This maybe is just going to cause more pain."

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Kristoff muttered.

"I just don't want Anna to be hurt again. She's such a great person, she didn't deserve any of that."

"I know you're worried about Anna, I am too. I just… you didn't see Elsa. She was miserable, Merida. She pulled strings so that she can be a teacher to be close to Anna. Remember how she was like speaking in public? She could barely stammer out a thank you speech when we surprised her on her seventeenth birthday, and there were barely ten of us. Just imagine what torture it will be for her to speak in front of all those students. She's trying. You can't deny that."

When Merida didn't say anything, Kristoff prompted. "She can really use a friend."

Merida looked that the picture on the screen. "I'm still thinking about punching her, though."

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Don't go mellow on me now."

It was such a tedious thing to do, to postpone appointments, reschedule meetings, reshuffle the staff. The fact that his assistant had done the actual arrangements was mote. It was not easy for a successful man such as Hans Westergaard to take a few personal days off. But there was nothing else that could be done.

Elsa Arendelle had gone back to River's End. He knew something was not right when he had tried to call her up in her office for five consecutive days and was barred by her maddening secretary. On the sixth day he had marched into her office, only to be told by the insufferable, smirking secretary that Elsa had taken a sabbatical from work. She even had the gall to inform Hans that Elsa did not wish to disclose her whereabouts.

Hans did not normally remember the names of employees, but he would remember this one. Mulan Fa would pay for her insolence. Right after he undid the damage Elsa's returning to River's End would probably do to his careful planning all these years.

He didn't need Mulan to tell him where Elsa had gone to. Where else would she go? Elsa had no one else in the vast city where he and she had both lived for so many years. Oh she had a few good friends from college; friends she made during the first year Hans had been unable to get away from River's End. But visiting those incorrigible friends wouldn't require so many days' leave.

Elsa knew very few people whom Hans' didn't know. And Hans was more than fine with that. He encouraged it. She was too shy, too much of a recluse; and Hans had been happy to take her out, mingling only with the right people, the investors, businessmen and shareholders that would one day be of paramount importance to his upward climb in the business world.

Just to be safe, Hans would have to find a way to distance Elsa from those college friends of hers. No musicians or librarians or bakers or scientist-wannabes would be included in his circle of association. He would have to make sure Elsa got another secretary too, lest Mulan's insolence gave her ideas.

The long road back to River's End was dark and empty in the night, and the anger simmered in him. He had spent his whole life trying to get away from his roots, and now Elsa was forcing him to come back. That woman, he thought grimly not for the first time, was more trouble than she was worth. But he had invested too much time and effort to turn back now. Elsa Arendelle was his. She was made for him. Heiress to a company Hans was sure would need his expertise to run more efficiently; looks that would complement his own. The perfect timidity and submissive attitude that would enable his molding her into the woman perfect for him.

He had her right where he wanted her, and now he was baffled and angry that things had turned out this way. He had simultaneously and slowly trimmed away at Elsa's past and future ties, and could not figure out where he had gone wrong. Why would Elsa even want to return to a backwater town where everyone hated her? Oh they hated her; he had made sure they did. He had made sure she knew they did. But she had gone back anyway, and a little simmer of fear wove into the anger.

In River's End was the one tie to Elsa's past that was hardest to break, the biggest obstacle to Hans' happily-ever-after. He would have to remove that threat in all possible haste.

Hans pressed harder on the gas, speeding off in the night.

Once, in what seemed like a lifetime ago, dinner with the Andersons was the highlight of Elsa's life. Now the thought filled her with apprehension. Especially when she was told that the whole Anderson family would be there.

She didn't know if she was ready to face Anna again, so soon after their… encounter the other day. She had wakened alone. It was expected, she had told herself, even as her heart went cold when she had reached over and found the couch empty except for her.

At least there had been a note. Have to go. Plans with Kristoff and Merida tonight. Sleep more. Eat the soup. Anna

She found the huge bowl of soup, kept warm in her brand new oven. It was the most delicious thing she had tasted in goodness how long. Even as she sat eating at the table, she imagined Anna working in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables, stirring at the stove. She had slept through all that, and part of her mourned that she didn't get to see Anna doing something so… domestic. It would have been an image that blended in with most of her daydreams. Daydreams of a life with Anna, doing the most mundane, everyday things. Coming home to each other, cooking together, cuddling on the couch.

There was the soup. The blanket that was tugged over her. Her clothes folded in a neat stack on the coffee table. Anna was taking care of her. Anna had always taken care of her. It had been one of the reasons she had left. And now she was here, and she was letting Anna take care of her again. Had she not changed? Was she still the kind of person who liked to be tended to by other people, who liked the role of a helpless woman?

She hoped fervently she wasn't, not anymore.

Elsa followed her parents up the familiar porch steps, a part of her mind busily considering the merits of running away now before the front door opened. Disgusted with herself, she made herself stand there stiffly when Kai threw the door wide open and met them with his signature warm grin.

"There you are! The Arendelles are here!" the last was shouted towards the interior of the house.

Elsa could hear Gerda's answering call from the kitchen. The Anderson home was always loud, loud and warm. Her own home was more quiet, her parents were more reserved, but just as warm. And Elsa's heart simply swelled as she stood there and watch her parents and Anna's parents hug each other. Then it was her turn, too. She laughed a little when Kai attempted to lift her off her feet to twirl her around again.

"Hello, Little Elsa!"

"Kai, put the poor girl down before you break your back, or hers. Elsa's not that little anymore." Gerda scolded, and pulled Elsa into a bone-crushing hug as soon as she was set down.

"Dinner's almost ready. I baked apple pie, the way you like it." Gerda patted her cheek happily.

"Thank you, Gerda."

Thundering footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Anna came racing down, followed closely by a brunette blur that launched off the bottom step and attached itself to Anna's back. Amidst bright laughter, Anna stumbled across the living room and fell on the couch, squashing her attacker into the cushions.

"Kids. We have guests." Gerda said mildly.

"They aren't guests, they're family." Anna grinned widely. The grin dimmed a little when she spotted Elsa standing behind her parents, and her moment of inattention gave the brunette the chance to dig merciless fingers into her sides. As Anna yelped and lurched forward, Elsa saw that the brunette Rapunzel.

As the two collapsed against each other in a giggling fit, Elsa could only stand there. The nerves of meeting Anna again was swept away in a wave of cold as she watched Anna and Rapunzel together, like Anna and Elsa had been with each other. Her heart pounded in her chest, and there was a ringing in her ears, a roar in her head.

Rapunzel pressed her cheek to Anna's, and the look she shot Elsa was challenging.

Dinner was delicious as always. Conversation rolled freely despite the tension between Elsa and Anna. Rapunzel sat beside Anna, and to Elsa it was as though she was going out of her way to cater to Anna's every need. Rapunzel passed Anna the salt before she asked for it, heaped helpings of Anna's favorite food on her plate, refilled her drink as soon as Anna's glass was empty.

Anna used to treat her like that, Elsa remembered. And she had done it the same way Rapunzel was doing now, subtly, so naturally that the act went unnoticed. And there was a beast in her chest that growled every time Rapunzel spoke to Anna, smiled at her, did something for her. Mine. Mine! It was all she could do to stop herself form leaping up and dragging Anna back to her apartment with her.

Anna was not hers. When Elsa had started on the journey back home, she had been determined to win Anna back at whatever cost. She had refused to entertain the notion that maybe Anna had moved on, found someone else. The very thought had hurt so badly that Elsa refused to acknowledge it. And now reality was right before her eyes. The meal lost its favor. Elsa just wanted the evening to be over. She wanted to flee, curl up on her bed and shut out the fact that she had been so effectively replaced.

Anna studiously avoided looking at her. When circumstances and politeness demand that she address Elsa, she did with a fleeting look in Elsa's general direction.

The traditional post-dinner lounging in the living room was torture. At the first opportunity, Elsa used the excuse of needing the toilet to escape.

She knew the layout of the house as well as her own. Beyond the kitchen, through the backdoor was the porch, with a porch swing that could seat two. From there one could see the big tree in which Kai had built Anna's tree house. Tired, she sank down on the swing, leaning back and closing her eyes. The slow rocking calmed her a little, but brought back bittersweet memories of happier, more innocent times. They used to sit like this, on the swing, rocking and talk about anything and everything.

She made a pretty picture. Anna thought as she stood inside the screen door, watching Elsa rocking herself on the swing. Elsa's beauty was unparalleled. Slender of frame, delicate of feature, plus that shiny white-blond hair and those guileless blue eyes. the full, soft mouth. Those alluring little freckles marching across her nose.

Anna could go on forever about the beauty that was Elsa Arendelle, but that was not why she followed her. She opened the screen door, and saw Elsa's shoulders stiffening. There was a metaphoric giant elephant in the air between them, and Anna didn't know how to approach the topic, or even if she should.

"Hey. You alright?" she said down beside Elsa, praying that Rapunzel wouldn't come barging out and interrupt the moment.

Elsa hesitated, then nodded. "Just thinking."

She looked pensive, and a little sad. Anna wondered what brought that on. She didn't know how to face Elsa so soon after their… meeting, and she suspected Elsa felt the same. But why was she sad? And… hurt. So many years, and Anna could still read Elsa like a book, and it was pain she could see in those beautiful blue eyes. She frowned, thought hard. What had happened that had hurt Elsa?

It clicked with surprisingly ease. Anna wrinkled her nose. "Rapunzel is my sister." She said carefully, gauging Elsa's reaction out of the corner of her eye.

Elsa jerked her head toward her. "I… what?"

"Not biological, of course. My parents adopted her couple of years back. We're sisters, and that's all there is to it. We're the only family she has, and she's very protective of me. Give her some time, she's actually a very friendly girl." Anna slanted Elsa a look. "Did you think I would… that we would… do what we did if I were in a relationship with someone else?"

A hot blush covered Elsa's face and the older woman turned away, hands gripping each other in her lap in a most familiar way. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply… didn't mean…"

"It's alright." Anna said, gently, her heart stuttering at Elsa's reaction. The hurt in those blue eyes had vanished, and the relief that had replaced it was so apparent it was as if Elsa had shouted it out from the rooftops. With a deliberate breath, Anna calmed her heart rate. She would guard her emotions zealously this time. She had every intention of fulfilling her promise to Merida and Kristoff in the bar – she would not fall in love with Elsa again.

And yet here she was, hurrying to explain the truth about hers and Rapunzel's relationship as soon as Elsa turned on that hurt look. It was a knee-jerk reaction; Elsa was hurt, so fix it. Anna hoped that Elsa wouldn't get the wrong idea, thinking her haste to explain things was a sign that Anna wanted anything more between them.

There was silence again. The tension was back between them, one that could be slice through with a knife. Anna was being deliberately vague about the details surrounding Rapunzel's adoption, but Elsa figured it was not something she would willingly voice out, not when Elsa had literally just stumbled back into her life. It hurt a little, because Anna used to tell her everything, but Elsa knew she no longer deserved that trust. It would have to be earned again.

Anna looked beautiful in the dim light of the night, all silvery and glow-y. She was leaning against the side of the swing, legs swinging gently in the air. She had followed her outside, sat with her. The fact alone made Elsa's heart swell with tenderness and love. She had come after her, when Elsa had been sure she wouldn't. She kept expecting so little from Anna, yet hoping for so much more. And Anna's reaction was so much more than she had expected, yet so far less than what she had hoped for.

If the position had been reversed and if Anna were the one who left, how would Elsa have reacted?

The low neck of Anna's t-shirt exposed her collarbone, and Elsa experienced a sharp slice of lust. This brought to mind again what had happened the last time they met. She flushed, remembering the heated way they had devoured each other. She could still feel it inside her; how Anna had moved, how full she had felt.

"It wasn't my intention to lure you to my place with the music." She burst, looking away when Anna raised her head to look at her. "I… just wanted to play something, and the song just… came out." She had to be honest, be open; if she wanted Anna back, she had to expose herself, her feelings. "I was… thinking about you, and I wasn't thinking, if that makes sense. I didn't even realize what I was playing at first."

"You were thinking about me." Anna parroted expressionlessly, without emotion. Elsa's heart sank. No one said this would be easy.

"I was." She said, "I always am." Always has been, for every day of my life.

"That's a hell of a thing to tell me now." Anna said, getting up.

"No. Anna, please don't leave." Elsa reached out, grasped her hand. "I know whatever I say now, it'll be hard for you to stomach. But it's the truth. You're always on my mind."

Anna didn't pull her hand back, instead she left it passively in Elsa's grip. "I don't know what you want from me, Elsa. The sex was great, I'll admit…"

"Don't cheapen it." Elsa's voice was sharp, stemmed from the slice of pain at the thought that what had happened – no matter how unplanned- meant so little to Anna. "I'm not sorry that it happened, I'm sorry about the way it did, but I'm not sorry that it happened." Are you sorry? She wanted to ask, but her courage failed her.

Some of her fear must have shone through, and Anna's face softened a little. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"You didn't…"

"I did. I know it." Now Anna did pull her hand away, leaving some distance between them. "I was… rough. And you weren't… ready. I should have waited for you to get used to…" Anna stopped as emotion she couldn't decipher welled in her. Elsa was so beautiful, she could have anyone, and from what they had heard from Hans, she was not lacking in companionship, male or female. Yet she had reacted with surprise and pain when Anna had shoved into her, her body going rigid with shock, and only relaxed when Anna had reached down to rub her where she was most sensitive. It reminded Anna of their first time together; which was ridiculous, because why would she behave like an inexperienced virgin when she was so popular?

And after that, she had laid her head on Anna's heart and went to sleep, tear stains on her face, curling in on herself like she wanted to protect herself from a vicious blow; and had only relaxed when Anna began running her fingers through those blond locks. Anna doubted that Elsa realized she had cried in her sleep.

All that tugged on her heartstrings, pulling her to coddle, to soothe, to hold. And she had sat there on the couch holding Elsa, even after the older woman had fallen into a deep sleep; she had to practically tear herself away. Holding Elsa – how had she dreamed about doing just that. She had so many emotions warring with each other; so many questions, and did not know how to ask. And now as she watched Elsa struggling to put her thoughts into words, something bubbled in her. A flicker of hope.

"Anna." Elsa heaved a deep breath, trying to gather her courage. "I… I really hope we can be… friends, again. I've… I've missed you." She flinched as her voice broke on the last part.

"Friends with benefits?" the words came unbidden, and they both froze, looking at each other. The blush travelled up Anna's neck, and for the first time, Elsa gave a small smile.

"Given the… circumstances, I don't think that will be… appropriate. But… I liked it." It was Elsa's turn to blush; and Anna wondered how it could be that Elsa looked so much more beautiful like that. "I would like to be so much more than just friends with you, I would like us to be back to the way we were… before." Honesty, honesty. Anna deserved that much. "But I think it's best if we remain just friends for now, and you can see if I'm worth a second chance from you. If that's… if that's okay with you." Her voice trembled; if Anna refused, she didn't know what she would do. But even as fear weaved through her, her resolve doubled. A young Anna had never given up on her, gifting her with apple pies and letters and songs alike, a single-minded determination to befriend Elsa. She would take a leaf out of young Anna's book. She would find a way somehow. Because Anna still cared.

Anna still cared. And hope blossomed. As Elsa gathered that hope close, held on to it with tenderness and care; Anna squashed hers mercilessly and shoved the remnants resolutely away.