After school, Anna went straight to Elizabeth Swann's legal practice. Nani had agreed to pick up Olaf for her, since 4:00 had been too late so she had to meet the lawyer at 3:30. Anna walked into the office, with no idea what to expect. It was a small practice and only bore the name Swann on the door. A secretary indicated a door and said that Ms. Swann was expecting her. Anna knocked.
"Come in, Mrs. Bjorgman," a voice from the other side of the door called.
Anna entered the room. She found a skinny blonde woman sitting behind a wooden desk in a cramped office, with a large window behind her facing out towards a park. She took a seat in the worn leather chair in front of the desk. "Please, just call me Anna."
"I would prefer to keep things professional," the lawyer replied coldly.
"But you're a friend of my sister's," Anna insisted. "And I'm trying to get rid of that name, it feels weird being called it. Please, just call me Anna? I'll still call you Ms. Swann if you prefer."
She hesitated, somewhat taken aback by the stark contrast between the redhead and her sister. "Elizabeth is fine, Anna."
"Oh, good. It's nice to meet you Elizabeth. How did you and Elsa meet?"
"She didn't tell you? We were in undergrad together."
"She'd only said that you were an ex-girlfriend. I had assumed she must have known you in law school. Otherwise, why wouldn't I have met you?," she wondered aloud.
"How about we just work on your case. Your sister can answer those questions, I'm charging you for your time, let's make the most of it," Elizabeth insisted, having no desire to get into the old breakup.
"I guess," Anna muttered. "So, what do you need from me?"
"Have you filled out any of the paperwork or made any steps for this divorce yet?"
"I've told him I want us to get divorced."
Elizabeth blinked. "I suppose that is something at least. Well then I'll need the information from you for the paperwork." They went over the basics that they would need and Elizabeth filled them into the divorce papers. "What do you want out of this?"
"I don't understand," Anna admitted, staring at the blonde.
The lawyer sighed. "Do you want the house, full custody of the child, what are you after? This is a no-fault divorce state, so it doesn't matter what the reason for the divorce is, but what should I be trying to accomplish?"
"Oh, I um, guess I would want primary custody of Olaf and the house?" She grinned awkwardly, the statement sounding more like a question as she waited to be told that that was unrealistic.
"Well that's a tall order. I'll see what I can do. You might want to discuss this all with him. A lot of people run to an attorney when they could settle it pretty easily if they just sat down and sorted everything out themselves. Although it sounds self-serving, as much as you two would need to divide, having a lawyer is a good idea, but if you can actually work out who gets what with him, then it will save you a lot of time and money."
After going over a little bit more paperwork, Anna left the office. When she started her car, she saw that it was already five. Kristoff should be getting off work now, maybe I should talk to him before I pick up Olaf. I don't want him to have to be around for this, he's heard more than enough already. She texted Nani a quick explanation and headed home, hoping that Kristoff wouldn't be late.
She parked in the garage, and walked to the kitchen. After grabbing one of Olaf's chocolate milks from the fridge, she waited at the dining room table, sipping at the beverage anxiously.
By the time she had drained the milkbox, her soon-to-be former husband walked inside. He blanched when he saw her. "Where's Olaf?" he asked, surprised by the quiet house.
"He's at Nani's. I thought it would be good to not have him here when we talk," Anna explained, casually tossing the empty box into the trash can so she could be taken seriously.
"What is there left to talk about?" Kristoff groaned. "I know you hate me now, that you have a girlfriend, what's left?"
"I don't hate you,"Anna spat back. "And I don't have a girlfriend, she dumped me two days ago, but that's not the point. We need to discuss our divorce. I talked to an attorney today." She showed him the paperwork that they would both need to fill out and sign. "We need to figure out how we're going to split everything up, how we'll make custody work, what we'll do about Sven, who gets the house. We can't just ignore this. It's happening, and I'd rather we sort through it together instead of fighting to the death over it, for Olaf's sake if nothing else."
Kristoff slumped into the chair across from Anna. "So this is really real. I kept thinking maybe you would change your mind. All I want is what's best for you and Olaf. I don't care about the house, as long as I can still see my son."
"I'm not taking him from you," Anna insisted. "You're his father and you always will be. You just can't be my husband anymore."
Kristoff didn't reply, instead looking over the documents that Elizabeth had printed off for them. The two spent the rest of the evening going over their assets. They didn't settle everything, but they made more than a substantial dent, and Anna was finally starting to believe that this could be done without destroying everything.
As Anna retrieved her phone and car keys to go pick up Olaf, she noticed that she had three missed calls from Elsa. Is she okay? She called her as she started the car, the sound switching over to the car's speakers. It was ten o'clock in New York, so she wasn't sure if Elsa would still be awake.
She picked up on the fifth ring. "Hey," she answered. It was the first time she hadn't sound surprised to hear from her. Maybe we really are back in each other's lives and this isn't just some week long fluke.
"Hey," Anna responded. "I saw I had some missed calls from you. I haven't checked the messages yet. What happened?"
"I meant to tell you yesterday, but things were sort of complicated. I won that case, I'm supposed to be making equity in two weeks, I'll be able to take that trip to visit you. Would Christmas work?"
Anna was so shocked she didn't notice that she had a green light until someone behind her honked. She drove off. "Wait, so you're really coming here? You weren't just saying that? I thought you hated visiting me, you always seem so grumpy."
Elsa sighed. She did not want to explain that to her sister presently. "I want to see you, I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." Anna grinned, she hadn't realized how much she had missed her sister until they'd started talking again. Five years with barely a peep from her. Not like the seven before then were that different. I thought she was gone forever. "Christmas sounds fantastic. Make sure you get out here a few days early, I don't think I've gotten to celebrate your birthday with you since I was eighteen."
"I would love that."
"So what was the case?" Anna asked absentmindedly as she found herself stuck in traffic.
"Just some case," Elsa answered.
"It's the one that was bothering you, right? The one you keep bringing up and not wanting to talk about it? I assumed it was some privileged thing, can't you talk about it now that it's over?" Anna didn't have much knowledge of the law, but she was pretty sure that was at least the correct term.
"It's not a privilege issue," Elsa admitted. "That just means I can't give you the specifics. I'm just worried that if I tell you then your answer will change."
"What answer? I'll still want you to visit no matter who you represented, I promise."
"Not that answer. When you said I was a good person, it meant a lot to me, and I don't want to make you think otherwise."
"Nothing could make me think otherwise, Elsa. You're my big sister, I know you're a good person." Anna honked at a car for cutting her off.
"I'm sure I could say a few things that would change that," Elsa sighed.
"Nope, impossible. I promise."
"It doesn't matter, it's over now, I already defended the bastard and I'll be receiving my twenty pieces of silver."
Anna grumbled. Just shut me out like you always do. "Will you at least tell me what the story is with Elizabeth? I'm going to be working with her and I don't even know what happened between you two, she said I should ask you."
Elsa faltered. Anna could hear her trying to adjust to this new track through the car's speakers. She had not been expecting the question. "We met when we were undergrads at Stanford. She and I hit it off immediately. She was my first girlfriend and I was hers, but it didn't work out."
"Well what happened? Why didn't I ever meet her? I was living with you, how did you manage to completely hide such a large portion of your life from me?" Anna insisted. It doesn't make any sense.
"Anna..." Elsa clearly didn't want to tell the story. This only made Anna want to know it more.
"Don't 'Anna' me. I'm not a little girl anymore, I can handle it. What happened?"
"You did," she breathed, her voice barely more than a whisper. Anna pushed the volume up button on her steering wheel. "I thought I could manage to juggle everything, but school, working part time, and taking care of you, while also trying to date the first girl I've ever been in love with, it was too much for me. I told her so, and she didn't handle it well. We didn't talk again for years. She finally forgave me when we started talking online in law school comparing our experiences. I had actually been hoping to get back together then, but she wasn't interested in anything more than friends. There, was that what you wanted to know? That make it easier to work with her as your attorney?" Elsa snapped.
Anna blinked away tears, trying to still see the road. No wonder she hated me so much when we were living together. That's probably why things stayed so weird between us too. She never forgave me for costing her her first love. "Elsa, I'm so sorry," Anna sobbed. "I had no idea."
"Anna, of course you had no idea, I didn't want you to know. I'm not mad at you." She groaned. "Though I certainly sound like it, god I'm such a bitch. I'm sorry, it's just not something I've thought about in a while. You never really get over your first love. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I made my choice. Looking after you was more important than being with her. I don't blame you at all."
"Then why do you hate me?"
There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment before Elsa finally replied. "What? I don't hate you, Anna. Didn't I just say that?"
Anna pulled into a parking space. She was only a few more minutes from Nani's but she was crying so hard now that she was certain she'd crash if she kept going. "Then why have I barely seen or heard from you for the last twelve years?!" she screamed. They had dodged the question every time they'd had a conversation, both skirting around it, pretending neither of them knew the answer. I'm not an idiot. I've seen how weird you've been since I went off to college, how angry you always seem with me, how you can't stand talking to me. Things seem to finally be different now, but I need to know why they were like that in the first place. "Why do you hate me? What did I do?"
The sounds of her sister's sobs reverberated throughout the inside of the car. "Anna, I swear I don't hate you. I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm just a complete bitch, okay? Ever since you left –" her voice cracked, and Anna heard more sobs. "Anna, I'm just awful. I don't hate you. You didn't do anything wrong."
"I don't believe you, Elsa," Anna insisted. She was surprised to find her voice calm. The tears had stopped falling. "You want to believe you're a terrible person, but you're not. You're a kind, loving woman, who gave up so much for an ungrateful fifteen year old girl."
"It was worth it," Elsa stated, her sobs finally breaking as well.
"Then why?" Anna asked one more time.
She heard Elsa take in a breath, like she was preparing an explanation, but it was let back out in a low sigh. "Does it really matter? We're doing so much better now. I'm glad you're back in my life, and I'll see you in just a little over a month. I'll put in for the time off tomorrow, okay? I need to go to bed. I love you, Anna, have a good night."
Elsa hung up before she could reply. Anna stared at the screen as the call ended, her frustration building again. She couldn't understand why Elsa had abandoned her. I'm happy to have you back in my life too, but I needed you all this time. Maybe I would have figured myself out earlier, maybe I wouldn't have stayed married to someone I didn't love for so long, if I had my big sister to guide me. The tears started to fall again, and she gave in to them, crying silently on the side of the road for the loss of her best friend for over a decade.
When she was all cried out, she wiped her eyes with her sleeves, and drove the rest of the way to Nani's apartment.
Anna arrived with her eyes bloodshot and puffy. She didn't say a word as she tried to retrieve Olaf, but Nani pulled her aside. "Anna, what's wrong?" She asked.
Anna tried to ignore her, but her friend stood her ground, staring into her eyes. "I don't know," she sighed, as the tears threatened to well up again.
Nani led her over to the kitchen and put a mug of milk in the microwave. Hot chocolate had always been her old roommate's go to treat when she was upset, which had usually meant a fight with Kristoff. Once Anna had the steaming cup of sugary goodness in front of her, her lower lip trembled, but all other signs of crying ceased, as she breathed in the comforting aroma.
"Now tell me what happened," Nani commanded the redhead.
"Elsa is coming to town for Christmas," Anna began.
"And you're upset about that?" Nani asked, staring quizzically at her best friend. "I thought you would be thrilled."
"No, I am happy about that, but I tried to confront her on what happened that made us stop talking, why she always seemed so angry with me when we were younger, why she hated me," the sobs threatened to start again, and Nani waved her hand, wafting the chocolatey steam towards Anna's nostrils. Anna glared at her, but the action was amusing enough to cause her to crack a slight smile instead of collapsing into tears. "She wouldn't tell me. She just said that she didn't hate me and that whatever had caused the issues didn't matter, but I need to know, Nani. This has been eating me up my entire adult life. I have to know why I lost my sister."
"And you told her that?" Nani asked.
"Yes! She just ignored me. Well, maybe not ignored, she started crying and insisted that she didn't hate me and that I was worth everything she gave up for me, but still!" Anna blew on the cocoa, she could really use a drink of it right now, but burning her tongue didn't seem worth it.
"Well then just believe her. Whatever her reasons are, they're clearly very personal, but she still wants to see you," Nani reasoned.
"But how can I make up for what I did if I don't know what it was? How did I scare her away?"
"At least give her time, you only just started talking again, maybe she's scared that whatever her answer is will change that. That maybe she'll be the one to scare you off this time."
"What could she say that would scare me off? It's not like she's in love with me or anything."
Nani laughed at the remark, happy that her friend seemed to be coming out of the slump.
Anna's eyebrows quirked. She tried to consider all of the facts. "Is she in love with me?"
Nani's laughter ceased abruptly as she studied her friend's expression. Anna was serious. "Your sister isn't in love with you. That's crazy. Why would you even think that? She raised you!"
"Not until I was fifteen!" Anna insisted. Wait, what am I arguing in favor of? "It would make sense though, wouldn't it?"
"Not at all," Nani replied, looking visibly disgusted. "I mean if she was in love with you she certainly wouldn't have been acting meaner to you. Maybe she just missed you, did you ever think of that? You moved thousands of miles away when she was used to seeing you every day. I still remember how heartbroken she looked when she was helping you move in to our dorm room. Not heartbroken, don't take that the wrong way! Just sad, like she was losing her daughter. Probably about how I'll look when I help Lilo move into her first dorm room." She heard her sister shouting something about ensuring that Olaf would never stop her evil plan. "Or her first prison cell."
"I'm sure Lilo will never be caught," Anna offered reassuringly. "Did she really look that heartbroken? I didn't even pay attention. I'm the worst sister ever. But like how heartbroken? You sure it was more losing a daughter and not like she was losing her girlfriend? I already lost her one girlfriend what if I made her lose a second?"
"Anna, are you sure you're not in love with Elsa? This is starting to sound a lot more like projecting."
Anna flushed and sipped at her cocoa as she sorted through her thoughts. She set the drink back down and made a disgusted grin, marred only slightly by the ecstasy of the liquid chocolate. "Ew, no, of course not. She's my sister."
Nani studied her friend closer. "Right, and that's how she feels too. You're her sister. Stop trying to figure it out, she'll tell you when she's ready, but she's not in love with you."
Anna sounded almost disappointed as she replied, "Yeah, you're right, I was just getting carried away."
"Now Moana on the other hand," Nani offered, desperate to keep the subject off of this creepy new idea in Anna's head, "she definitely seems to like you."
Anna's blush deepened and she resumed sipping at her hot chocolate. "Thank you for this, I don't think I did earlier," she replied, trying to avoid the subject.
"She told me she gave you her number."
Anna sighed. "I think Esmeralda was right." She admitted, looking into her drink.
"About what?" Nani asked, worried that this was going to lead back to Anna crying, now that she was out of hot chocolate mix.
"I'm not ready for a relationship," Anna sighed, draining the contents of the mug.
Nani blinked. "I think that may be the healthiest thing I've ever heard you say." She placed a hand on her friend's forehead. "Are you feeling well?"
Anna brushed Nani's hand aside. "I'm fine. I'm going through a divorce and I was just dumped two days ago, I'm not ready for anything more. Moana and I already established that we're just friends, and I'm going to keep it like that, at least for a while. I just need to focus on me."
"Okay, seriously, have you been reading my self-help books? This does not sound like you."
"I can be healthy!" Anna shouted, rising from her chair.
"You're right, sorry, I'm proud of you," Nani said in the same soothing voice she'd use when Lilo was throwing a tantrum. "How is the divorce stuff going? Did you and Kristoff work through everything?"
"Not everything, but we definitely started. I still can't believe this is really happening. I'm gonna be single again. I don't know if I'm excited or terrified, but it needs to happen either way."
"It seems to be what's best for you, so I'm glad you're doing it. It's going to be weird though, you've been with Kristoff the entire time I've known you. It's strange to think he'll just be out of your life."
"He'll never be out of my life. He's the father of my son. Kristoff will always be family. I just don't want to be with him anymore."
"I know. I'm just glad Olaf seems to be handling it well. He's a mature little tyke. Sure you don't want to trade? Maybe just for a week?" Nani suggested.
Anna gulped. "You know I'm always happy to babysit, Nani. Just so long as when all is said and done, she's your responsibility."
"Gee, thanks," Nani muttered.
"I should get going. I have work in the morning," Anna realized. "Olaf needs to be in bed by ten or else he's as tough to wake up in the morning as I was as a kid." She remembered what Elsa had said a few days earlier. "Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but still pretty bad."
"All right. It was good seeing you." Nani rose from her chair, and went with her friend to go retrieve the young blond. "Take care. I can pick up Olaf again if you and Kristoff need to do more of this tomorrow."
"That might not be a terrible idea, if you don't mind," Anna decided, hugging her friend. She waited for Olaf and Nani to finish their match in the video game they were playing, and then she led him to the front door. "Have a good night, Nani," she called as they went home.
