A loud banging on the front door startled Anna awake. She was surprised to find herself naked and in Elsa's arms. That wasn't good. If Olaf saw her leaving Elsa's room – she shook her head, dragging herself awake and out of the bed. She grabbed a bathrobe and ran downstairs. The knocking seemed to only be growing more insistent.
On the front step, with tear-stained eyes and a drunken slouch, she found Belle, waiting pitifully out in the rain. "I'm sorry," Belle muttered, pivoting around. "I shouldn't have come here. I'll go find a hotel." As she stepped away, her footing faltered on the wet wood and she caught herself on the railing. "I didn't think she'd do it."
Even in her sleep-addled brain, things were beginning to add up. "It's not your fault. Come inside. You don't need to go anywhere." She helped the other woman inside, letting her flop onto the sofa. Elsa could freak out about water damage later.
Tears began to fall as Belle shuddered on the couch. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe you're even letting me in here after what she did."
"You're not the one that did it," Elsa's voice called from the stairway, followed shortly by her very distracting form in only a silk nightgown. Anna tried not to stare. Wait, can I stare? She is my girlfriend now. But Belle knows she's my sister. But she also knows we're dating.
Belle's eyes widened as she took in Elsa. Anna took that as permission to do the same. "I should have been able to stop her. She's – she was my girlfriend."
"You broke up?" Elsa sounded almost panicked, it was strange to think of her as being so concerned over this after everything Anya had done.
Anna asked, "Can you blame her?"
"Of course not, but I didn't want that. Just because Anya is terrible for me doesn't mean she's not good for Belle." She grabbed the younger woman's hand. "I'm so sorry. I've seen how much more confident you've grown - how much you've finally come into your own. I hate to think that I caused you to end things with her."
"She threatened to expose you in court. I don't care if she made me the greatest lawyer in the world, I'm not going to put up with that. You're my friend and you're supposed to be hers too. But no. She's a fucking cunt."
Elsa blinked, staring at Belle for a few long beats before she finally broke out in a full-blown guffaw, clutching the couch for support as her entire body shook with laughter. "That she is." She wiped a tear from her eye. "She's the worst."
"I don't know how you put up with her for as long as you did. Weren't you together for five years?"
"Not always stably."
"Was she always this bad?"
Elsa shrugged. "I don't really know. I want to say no, but at the same time this doesn't seem at all out of character for her. As much as she loves belittling every other lawyer for the things that we're willing to do, she can be pretty cold-blooded." She blew out a breath, a bemused look forming on her face. "It kind of makes me think of her defending that mother that drove her kid to suicide while acting like I was a monster for defending the bigot she'd hired to help her. She always had to be in the right and I always had to be in the wrong."
Belle nodded. "You're right. I'd called her out on it a few times, but it never seemed to make a difference. She always had to feel superior to you, and I think your new relationship just finally broke her."
"Sorry," Anna muttered.
Elsa dropped Belle's hand to squeeze Anna's, pulling her to her and wrapping an arm around her. "Don't you start apologizing too. Anya's the one at fault, not either of you."
Sniffling, Belle nodded. "You really don't blame me at all?"
She shook her head. "How can I? As you just pointed out, I put up with her for a hell of a lot longer, and you dumped her when she finally went too far. Well, the second time, you just punched her lights out the first time."
"That was amazing, if I haven't mentioned it before," Anna said. "You're my hero."
Belle's cheeks colored and she leaned back against the couch, a wet streak showing on the grey velvet where her head had been. "But now I can't keep her in control. I don't know what she might do with me gone. I kept insisting that you weren't doing anything wrong and now –"
"We'll deal with it."
Anna nodded. "You don't have to stay with that bitch just to reign her in. I think that's a pretty good sign that you absolutely needed to break up with her."
"Maybe."
"How about you sleep this off and we can talk in the morning?" Elsa offered. "You can use the guest room, it'll just give an excuse for why Anna's in my room if Olaf notices."
"You're right. I – I'll be okay." She shook her head again, but let out a gasping breath and resumed crying. "I really thought she was good for me. When I'd first – No, I'm sorry. I should've known better, it doesn't matter how charming she was, she's a monster, an absolute beast. I hate her for what she tried to do to you."
"Sleep on it," Elsa repeated. "She hasn't done anything to me yet. Just tried to use it to win a case."
"And what's next?" she asked.
That's what I'm afraid of too. I'm the one that dragged Elsa into this and now it's affecting her career. "Then you'll just kick her ass again, I suppose." Smirking, Elsa helped Belle to her feet. "Try to get some sleep, it'll all be a whole lot less terrifying in the morning."
"But –"
"Come on." She dragged her toward the stairs.
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
When they made it to the stairs, Olaf's tiny yawning form greeting them at the top. "Mama? What happened?"
"Belle's just going through a breakup," Anna tried to explain. "Everyone is going back to sleep, you should try to do the same."
"What?!" he squeaked. "Again? What happened? I'm sorry. Whatever I did. I don't mean to keep doing this."
Giggling, Belle mussed his hair. "It's Anya's fault. That's what your parents keep telling me." She moved toward the bedroom. Has she stayed here before? "I mean your mom and your aunt," she corrected. Oh crap. We need to not let drunk Belle anywhere near Olaf if we want to avoid any more of those slips.
"But –"
"Olaf, go back to bed," Anna insisted, sounding sterner than she meant to. "Please. We're just all really tired."
He stared up at her, his eyes already watering.
"Honey – I'm sorry. You haven't done anything wrong. I'm just exhausted."
"Okay, Mama," he muttered, looking like a kicked puppy.
Elsa squeezed her hand. "I'll take Belle to bed, you talk to Olaf."
I'm sure she'd love that. "Okay. Thank you." She takes him by the hand, leading him back to his bedroom.
"What happened?"
"Nothing, Olaf. Sometimes things just don't work out."
"But that's not fair!" Stomping his foot, he stared defiantly up at his mother. This was going to take some work.
"Come sit down." Anna gestured to his bed. He followed her, a petulant expression still firmly in place.
Flopping angrily onto the bed, he asked, "What?"
"Olaf." She set her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know this is all confusing, but these things just happen." What should I do? How can I convince him that it's not his fault? That is what's bothering him, right?
"Well it seems like it always happens around me."
"It's just a bad summer for it," Anna offered. "I don't know why." Well that's not true at all. I know why, and it's my fault for all of it. I wish I could just tell him.
"Are you and Aunt Moana really never going to get back together?"
Her eyes widened, tears threatening to spill out as she stared down at him. Of course he wasn't over it, she couldn't imagine why she'd expected him to be, but just having it thrown in her face like that was too much. "Olaf –"
"She was amazing! And then we saw her, and maybe she didn't like playing with me so much – And Tiana must have hated spending all that time putting up with my picky eating – Oh. That's why. Now that I'm out here, Ms. Romanov was scared that she'd have to babysit me again." Did she really make him call her Ms. Romanov?
"That's not why." She squeezed his hands in hers, staring into his eyes and doing her absolute best to will understanding into him. If she couldn't tell him the truth, then he'd just have to accept this. But he doesn't seem capable of it.
"Then why! First it was you and Papa –"
Anna coughed. "But I thought you were fine with that!" she spluttered out.
He shrugged. "You two didn't love each other. I'm glad that I don't have to see that anymore." Wow. "But you and Aunt Moana did – do! And so did Aunt Elsa and Aunt Tiana, and Ms. Belle and Ms. Romanov." Okay, Ms. Belle is kind of an adorable name for her. Wait, not the point.
"Olaf," she tried again, with absolutely nothing to follow it.
"Mama!"
Well, damn. "None of it was your fault."
"Then why!"
Her lip stung before she even realized she was biting it. Ow. Her tongue revealed that it wasn't bleeding, so she couldn't use grabbing a tissue as an excuse to buy herself some time to think. She resisted biting it harder for just such a reason. "It's mine."
He blinked. "What?"
Well, too late to take it back now. I better figure out a way to justify it quick or else I'm just going to have to tell him that his mother is an incestuous freak. "Aunt Elsa was scared about the wedding." Wow I hate calling her that. "She talked to me about it, for quite a while. We went back and forth over what she should do, trying to figure out any solution that wasn't a breakup, but she just knew that she didn't want to marry Tiana. She loved her, but it just wasn't enough."
"But why?"
Great. I can't just say 'it happens sometimes,' or anything like that. I also definitely can't say it was over kids, or else he'll be all the more sure it's his fault. "I'm sure you've noticed how Tiana was never here." I feel so weird telling him all of this, but if it'll get him to stop blaming himself, then I have to.
"She was here."
"Not often. And not enough for Elsa. Tiana has a whole life all over the world, she's a big celebrity, and Elsa needed more from her than she was willing to provide. They'll always love each other, just like your Papa and I will always love each other, but they couldn't be together anymore."
"Oh." He deflated, the anger finally fading away.
"Belle and Anya was different," Anna continued, thinking quickly to deduce what she could actually say. "I know you didn't get to see it, but Anya was a very angry person, and she refused to ever take any of the blame." But I said it was my fault. How can I include that? Dammit. "The final straw was when Anya had been yelling and threatening me. Belle came to my defense. She even punched her."
"What?" His jaw dropped. The story was finally getting good.
"They tried to still make it work, but Anya just refused to understand that she was the problem. So, Belle left her."
He nodded. It was starting to make sense, and hopefully he was able to believe that it wasn't his fault. It was mostly even all true. I can't believe I pulled that off, maybe I really can manage to hide my relationship with Elsa until he goes off to college. "But what about Aunt Moana?"
Oh. Right. Fuck. "Well…" Anna stared around the room, desperate for any sort of hint that might allow her to fabricate a good story. She couldn't just tell him that she'd been in love with someone else or he'd demand to know who they were.
"That one really was me, wasn't it?" Olaf asked, panicking all over again."I thought she really liked me."
"She does! It was – It was my fault, I swear."
"Then how?!"
Anna glanced to the door. Elsa must have finished with Belle by then, where was she? I guess I have to be the bad guy again. It's the only way to make him stop blaming himself and keep our secret safe. "I didn't want to keep leading her on. I could tell that she was already thinking about spending her life with me, and I'm just not ready for that. I just got out of an incredibly painful marriage – though I'm so glad it gave me you – and I'm not ready for a new one." With anyone who isn't my sister. "I loved her, but just not enough, so I ended things, because otherwise it would have been so much more painful."
Tears streamed down Olaf's face, and Anna had to turn away to blink away her own. "But I love her too," he sobbed. "She would've been the best mom!" I deserve that. "Mama…" He trailed off, his tears falling on the bed as his fists clenched at the sheet.
"I'm sorry. I told you it was my fault. None of it's on you."
He nodded.
She rose, Olaf pulling away when she tried to lean in to kiss his forehead. "I'm gonna let you go back to sleep. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to burden you with this, but you clearly needed to know."
Closing the door behind her, she slumped against it. She had barely thought of Moana since the breakup – Elsa was very good at occupying her mind – but that had still hurt so much more than she thought it would. She heard voices coming from her bedroom, but she couldn't bring herself to face them right then. She instead went back to Elsa's bed and buried her face against a pillow, letting the tears silently fall until they eased her to sleep.
The next morning, Anna and Elsa were having omelets at the kitchen counter, while Olaf watched some cartoons on the TV in the living room with a bowl of cereal. "You're sure you're okay with Belle staying here for a few days?" Elsa asked for what must have been the fourth time. It was cute that she was so concerned, but there was really nothing for her to worry about.
"I'm sure. Relax. I already told you." She peered behind her, double checking that Olaf was properly absorbed in his show. "Besides, it just gives me an excuse to sleep in your room without it seeming weird."
"Yeah, it was pretty great waking up to you this morning without you running off in a panic."
Anna flushed. "It hasn't happened that often."
"Yeah, because Olaf had been with Kristoff most of the times you've slept with me."
Grumbling, she relented the point. "Yeah, but still."
"We'll make it work."
"I know." We just have to keep it secret for the next twelve years. That's doable, right? Because I was totally able to keep it secret for the past seven months since I first figured it out. Twenty times that sounds so easy. She nuzzled against Elsa's shoulder quickly before cutting another piece from her breakfast. "I love you."
Elsa giggled. "I love you too. Now eat your breakfast. I have to get going before too long."
"You're leaving?" She tried not to sound too disappointed. "You hadn't told me. I thought you still had the rest of the week off."
Before Elsa had the chance to respond, footsteps sounded down the stairs, before revealing Belle, wearing one of Elsa's expensive silk dresses – this one in a deep maroon. It was obviously Elsa's, as it dragged on the ground on Belle's smaller frame. Anna swallowed, and bit back the irrational surge of jealousy that was eating at her. No matter how bad Belle's crush on Elsa may be, she wasn't the one that was sharing a bed with her. She hadn't brought any clothes with her, of course she'd need to borrow some. "Good morning," Belle said timidly, looking embarrassed to be there.
"Morning, Belle. I'm glad the dress fits. You look amazing."
Another tinge of jealousy for Anna to push down. She silently berated herself for the absurdity of it all. "You really do. Did you want me to help you get your stuff from Anya's while she's at work?" Hint hint, not like I'm trying to get you out of Elsa's clothes – wait. "You didn't drive your car here did you?" As drunk as she was, I'd sure hope not. "Not that I can actually drive you there now that I think about it. My car doesn't get here until Friday."
She shook her head, taking a seat on the stool next to Elsa. "No, not yet. I just don't want to deal with even being there."
"I'll send someone over. And you can stay here as long as you need to. Don't worry."
Why am I jealous? Again, this is great, it means I can share a bed with the woman I love, and there is absolutely nothing going on between them. I wasn't jealous before! It's just seeing her in that dress, it feels so weirdly intimate. Elsa always freaked out when I tried to steal her clothes when we were kids.
"Thank you, so much," Belle said, squeezing Elsa's hand. "It means the world to me. I don't know how I'm going to manage to get a new place, especially if your plan doesn't go through. Oh, and Anna, thank you for the offer. I got distracted, but I don't have a car."
"How do you even function?" Anna sputtered back.
With a shrug, she replied, "It's New York."
"It'll work out, and you'll be able to get your own place in no time. I'll make sure of it, even if I have to loan you the money myself."
"Thank you. Again."
Elsa chuckled. "It's fine. You saved me before. Hell, plenty of times at work as well. My stealing you back isn't exactly altruistic."
Wait, what? Anna's eyes narrowed for a moment before realization finally dawned on her. "You're giving her a job?"
"That's the hope." Belle beamed, looking admiringly between the two sisters. "Elsa vouching for me will hopefully be enough, and I did leave on good terms, but I'm still really worried. I have to make a good impression."
Elsa patted her shoulder. "You'll do fine."
"I hope you're right."
"Elsa has said before how great of an associate you were." God, I hope my terminology is correct. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled to have you working for her again."
Grinning, Elsa nodded in agreement. "She does some damn good research. Maybe I'll even finally let you second chair for me."
Her jaw dropped as her eyes flew wide open. "You will? Really? Oh my god, that would be amazing. I've always wanted to work with you! Are you sure I wouldn't be holding you back?"
"I'm sure."
Her cheeks colored as she very intently studied the marble counter. "Oh, was there coffee or any more omelets for me?"
Anna gestured toward the covered plate by the coffee pot. "I made an extra one, figured you'd need it as hungover as you'd likely be."
"I'm not too bad actually." She skipped over to the food and poured herself a mug of coffee before returning to them and digging in. "I don't really get hungover," she added in between hearty bites of the eggy dish.
"Lucky bitch," Elsa muttered.
"Sensei said a bad word!" Olaf shouted from the other room.
"How is that the one thing he hears?"
We hope. "Yes, she did, Olaf." Anna tsked at her girlfriend. "She's just going to have to learn some manners, and not use that kind of language around you."
"I have to learn manners, huh?" Elsa asked, staring challengingly back at her. "I think it was you who always had trouble with that."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Of course not." She turned to Belle and whispered, "Anna was a very bratty child. You can't even imagine."
I thought we weren't allowed to joke about being related. Or does it not count if we don't say it explicitly? Or just if she thinks it's funny enough? "I was not!"
Elsa nodded. "She really was. She actually got us kicked out of a ballet once."
"I don't remember this."
"You must have blocked it out." She chuckled. "You would've been six. Our –" Elsa froze. She'd just been about to say parents. I guess it is still off limits then. "Uh." Elsa took a bite of her food, chewing laboriously, taking every extra second she could.
"Oh." Anna blinked. "That was a ballet? Wow, I did not remember it like that. I thought – what did I think? I do kind of remember it though, but I wasn't even being that bad!" What had I done? I just can't quite recall. Was I running around a bunch? Why do I never remember her embarrassing stories about me? It makes it so much harder to counter them.
"It was," Elsa muttered, staring down at her plate.
Great. She finally started growing comfortable with our relationship and this revelation probably just set her back half a year. Am I going to have to sleep in Belle's bed tonight? Well, my bed. The guest bed? I don't even know what to call it. "So, do you two have any plans for how you're going to get Belle's job back?" Anna asked, desperate to take Elsa's mind away from the incestuous nature of their relationship. "Don't you need to convince all of the other partners?"
"Not all of them. I can likely just hire her myself, but I want to make sure that there's no problem since that's not really my area. I'll probably have to talk to the managing partner, Ms. de Ville at the very least."
"Yeah? Is that it? You were making it sound like it'd be a lot more complicated."
"Well, I've never done it before."
Belle set her silverware down on the empty plate with a clank before guzzling her coffee. "Well I'm sure you can do it, Ms. Agnarrsen."
Elsa rolled her eyes. "You don't have to go back to that again. I've told you, it's just Elsa."
"I figured I should try to sound as respectful as possible if they want to interview me or anything, so I was trying to get used to it."
"Sounding like you're my friend is quite likely going to be more useful."
Belle chewed on her lip. "You're probably right. So, Elsa it is. God, I hope this works out. I need this job back so badly, I'm broke right now. Anya's pay was barely enough to cover my student loans."
"Yeah, I remember those days. Paying back for law school was a b –" she turned back toward Olaf, "not fun."
Belle and Anna laughed far harder at that than it probably deserved, but Elsa tiptoeing around cursing was just too funny. Not like she's a potty mouth or anything – wow, that's just a weird term. Is there a different term for that? But just, she's not really the sort to worry about that, she just intimidates everyone and does what she wants – which can definitely be fun in bed sometimes. I can't believe that my son is her kryptonite.
Belle stared down at her phone. "Oh, crap. We're gonna be late."
"It's not like there's a set time for your interview," Elsa pointed out.
"But shouldn't we be there at the start of the day?"
With a groan, Elsa stood from the stool. "I don't think it'll make a difference, but if you want to be punctual, then fine, we can head out, but I promise that Gaston and de Ville have both already been there for a good hour. They live there sometimes – not that Gaston actually does any work anymore, I think he just likes his desk chair.
Anna replied, "He must work."
"Eeehhh," Elsa offered, her teeth showing in an awkward grimace. "He works when he feels like it."
"I've done research for a lot of cases for him," Belle muttered, sounding pained at the idea of defending the man.
"Yeah, and then another associate handles the settlement meeting, and he'll sit in a chair in the room if he's really feeling like putting the effort in."
Belle stared at her. "He didn't let me run it when I had one with him."
Elsa sucked on her teeth. She clearly wanted to say something, but apparently she was going to bite her tongue. "Well, like you said, we should get heading out." She checked that Olaf's attention was back on the TV before leaning in and giving Anna a chaste kiss. "I'll see you tonight. Maybe actually Chinese for dinner this time?"
"That sounds great. You two can pick it up on your way home." Since she's apparently living with us now.
"Sounds good. I'll miss you."
Anna's cheeks heated. That definitely made up for having to see Belle in Elsa's dress. Elsa really was hers, and it was nice to have a reminder. She'd get over any weirdness with Belle. Besides, she actually did like the girl, it had just been a shock to see her like that, and she'd hopefully have her own clothes soon, so it wouldn't be repeating. Anna could deal with that. She decided to join Olaf in watching his show. It sounded like she was going to have the whole day with him. Maybe they could watch some Star Trek.
