Disclaimer: Frozen and all its characters belong to Disney. The title of this fic comes from the song "The Whole World is Watching", by Within Temptation (ft. Dave Pirner). The title of this chapter and the verses in it come from the song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", by Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, and The Pearlie Chorus. The cover image belongs to cottonbro (from pexels).

chapter i: when the cat has got your tongue

Anna was eating cream cake when she received the phone call that afternoon. While they say terrible news leaves people with a bitter flavour in their mouth, all she could taste was the delicious combination of strawberries and whipping cream that contrasted with the sour words spoken by Mrs Frisk, Elsa Nordberg's grandmother.

Yet, since any news was best than none whatsoever, Anna could only be thankful that the woman had pulled herself from her grief to answer her phone call and explain what had happened. Elsa was a bright and shy blonde girl who had become Anna's best friend in the world, she dreamed of studying to become a scientist or architect and, being the best student in their year, it was clear that she could do whatever she wanted to.

Now, however, the future didn't look so bright to Elsa. In a matter of seconds, in a tragic turn out of events, she had lost both her parents and the ability to see.

Mrs Frisk had explained that there was no point on going to the hospital right away since Elsa was still in intensive care and couldn't receive any visitors yet. So, after reassuring Anna that she would call once her granddaughter was in a private room, the woman hung up.

To have something to do with herself as she thought about the news she had just received, Anna took a bite on her cake and tried to focus the flavour rather than the tragic events that had taken place on her best friend's life. All she could think of, however, was on how unfair that was to Elsa, who was kind and caring.

A few minutes later, still feeling the vestiges of the combination strawberries and whipping cream flavour in her mouth, Anna collapsed on her bed. If the cake couldn't keep her from worrying about Elsa, nothing else would be able to keep her mind from wandering back to the subject.

Anna was on edge on the following days. As the girl had spent the first morning after receiving the news crying in the toilet next to her calculus classroom, the school's counsellor sent her back home for rest of the week off, arguing that she needed time to process the events and grieve Elsa's parents, who she had known for the most part of her life.

Well, then. It was all good in theory but it didn't take long before, having nothing to do with herself, Anna started going crazy. On the hours and hours that she spent at home that week, her attempts to distract herself were as unsuccessful as the first one.

Well, then!

Luckily, Anna only suffered until the next Saturday, almost exactly four days after she had first received the phone call. It was about 10 in the morning when her phone started playing the ringtone set for all the contacts related to her best friend: an instrumental version of Jack's Lament, Elsa's favourite song from one of their favourite movies of all time.

Anna was just a bit disappointed when she read Mrs Frisk's name on the screen but her mood picked up when the woman told her Elsa was awake and asking for her. She was able to keep herself from laughing in relief and excitement — barely — but Elsa's grandmother must have sensed her excitement as she immediately started explaining that her granddaughter was in a terrible shape both physically and emotionally. Anna, however, was too busy figuring out what to wear to pay much attention to it.

The girl couldn't guilt Mrs Frisk, then, for the overwhelming emotions that took place in her chest when she laid her eyes on Elsa for the first time since the accident. She had turned to the door when Anna entered but it was clear she was having trouble to see the figures by the door. Partial vision loss; Anna could vaguely recall Mrs Frisk explaining it to her, giving it a name the girl couldn't remember. Something with an "h", she thought.

That wasn't, by far, the only thing that had shocked Anna, though. Her beautiful porcelain was covered by dark bruises, bandages and even casts — around her left arm and leg —; Elsa was clearly not going anywhere any time soon. The worst part, however, was the nearly expressionless face that Anna was one of the few that knew it to be an indication of pain or sorrow.

Anna got over herself after Mrs Frisk elbowed her: this wasn't about her at all. Elsa needed her — the same way Anna had needed Elsa when she had broken up with Kristoff Bjorgman or when she didn't get the main part for the school's play a few years previous. But this time is much, much more serious.

Taking deep breaths, she walked towards their future. Anna was, as far as she was concerned, well-prepared to whatever they would need to face: a chocolate bar on her hand and with a song on her lips. The song that had never failed to make both Elsa and Anna smile:

So when the cat has got your tongue
There's no need for dismay (oui, oui)
Just summon up this word
And then you've got a lot to say
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

And, although there were tears in Elsa's eyes, she was smiling when she hummed in response.