Tell Me How To Fix You

by TheDuchessOfArendelle

Anna just moved from the small town of Arendelle to the big city. Elsa is a recluse shut-in that never leaves her apartment. Anna moves into the same apartment building as Elsa, and when Elsa's little brother and usual delivery guy Olaf breaks his leg, his new friend Anna agrees to take on the job. Can Anna help Elsa conquer her fear? And will they both get over their past?ELSANNA.

59. New York Tap Water

Tell Me How to Fix You

Chapter 59

By: The Duchess of Arendelle

Elsa heard the knob turning, signally Anna's return. She dried her hands on the pale blue apron around her waist, small smile in place. She'd done something huge for herself and she couldn't wait to inform the redhead.

Elsa's psychrtist, Dr. Porter, had asked her to try a new exercise. Leave at least one dirty dish in the sink overnight. If she could leave at least one dish in the sink until the next morning, it would be a huge step towards managing her condition. And so, very reluctantly, Elsa had left a dirty mug in the sink and then went to sleep. Well, she'd tried to go to sleep, but it predictably eluded her. She'd stayed up all night, tossing and turning, getting out of bed and walking into the kitchen only to squeeze tiny crescent shaped holes in the palms of her hands and slowly walk back to her room.

She tried to think of other things. Little things like what new recipes she wanted to try out. Or, how long she was going to run on the treadmill today. And, she thought about the big things. Like how Anna believed in her so much, Rapunzel going away… Olaf. But try as she might, the only thing her mind could focus on was the dirty mug in the sink. She pictured it sitting there, small pink smudge of lipstick around the rim. Dried tea leaves crusted to the bottom of the porcelain. Just the thought made her chest tighten.

This she kept up all night until finally her alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. She rushed into the kitchen like a kid on Christmas morning to hurriedly wash the mug out.

Anna walked through the door, arms full of large brown paper bags, and headed straight into the kitchen. "Hello Snowflake." she greeted happily, placing a kiss on Elsa's cheek before placing the bags on the counter. Elsa's smile widened a bit as the blonde responded with a quiet, "Good morning." before immediately reaching for latex gloves to begin sorting through the organic food. Anna smiled at her and began helping.

After a beat of silence Elsa took in a deep breath and, closing her eyes for just a second, she started to speak.

"Anna I… have something exciting to tell you." she started, looking at the redhead and biting her bottom lip. Anna smiled and raised her eyebrow. "Is the exciting news that you made bacon? Because I smell bacon and after walking through all those stalls at the Farmer's Market I could really go for some bacon." Anna halfway joked. Elsa let out a small breathy laughed and shook her head no.

"While I did cook you bacon for breakfast, it's in the warmer by the way, that is not the exciting news." she informed.

"If delicious salty pork slices isn't the exciting news, then what is?" Anna again joked, taking a large bite out of a crispy bacon slice, mindful not to make any mess.

"Well… as you know, Dr. Porter has started giving me these little... challenges, I guess you could call them. Like, trying to cut back on the amount of times I was my hands everyday. Or, trying not to wash all of my grapes individually, etc. And so far, I hadn't really succeeded. Until now. I- I left a mug in the sink all night and I didn't wash it out until 5:30 this morning." Elsa explained with barely concealed excitement.

Anna stared at her in awe for a long moment, and Elsa, misinterpreting the look as the redhead being unimpressed, began to backtrack.

"I mean I- I know it's not that big of deal. People do it all the time so why would it be a big deal? Plus I couldn't even sleep at all last night because I couldn't stop thinking about that stupid mug and I kept getting out of bed to wash it out but then I'd turn back around and I-" she was cut off when Anna smiled widely and put her bacon down, wiping her hands on a napkin. The redhead quickly made her way over to the blonde and wrapped her arms around her. She brought the blonde in close, gently nuzzling her.

"Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?" the redhead whispered in her ear. Elsa's cheeks began to heat up and before she could let out a self-deprecating response, she felt the redhead tighten her grasp.

"Elsa, you are so incredible. And strong. And beautiful, and I'm just in awe of how far you've come since the first time I've met you. I am so so very proud of you. Anna whispered softly, lips still close to the blonde's ear. Elsa smiled back brightly, wondering to herself what exactly she did to deserve such an amazing, supportive person like Anna. After a long moment where the two just stood in the middle of Elsa's kitchen holding each other, they finally broke the embrace. Stepping back and clearing her throat, Anna plastered a slightly hesitant smile on her face and began to speak.

"I am so proud of you Elsa. Truly. Everyday you get closer and closer to conquering this thing that has controlled you for so long." Elsa's smile widened and Anna continued a little nervously. "So… piggybacking off of this huge, I mean really, really big accomplishment… How about we have Kristoff over as well tonight for Rapunzel's going away party…?" she trailed off as she noticed the smile slowly drop from the blonde's face only to be replace by a look of panic.

"I- I… I don't know if… I mean… I-" Elsa struggled to find the words and Anna kicked herself for even suggesting it. She was pushing the blonde too far, too fast and watching the blonde go from being joyous, almost childlike in her excitement to near panic attack truly had Anna feeling regret over the suggestion. It's just that… Anna had seen the progress. Every day, little by little, in the tiniest ways, Elsa was getting better. And she'd thought all of the little things were building up to something bigger. Something like this. Being around people other than herself and her cousin. But, she should have known better. She should have waited until Elsa suggested something like this. She needed to constantly remind herself that she was going at the blonde woman's pace, not the other way around. With a sigh, Anna reached for Elsa's warm cheek and forced the blonde to look at her.

"It's okay." is all she said as she smiled softly. Elsa closed her eyes briefly and nodded.

"I need to go make a few phone calls and stop by my office. I'll be back by 4 and then me, you, and Rapunzel will have a kick-ass going away dinner and we can all just relax and have fun. That sound like a plan?" Anna asked, backing away and gathering her phone and keys that were discarded on the counter. WIth the way Elsa had been slyly eyeing the spot, she knew the blonde was going to at the very least take a Clorox wipe to it. Elsa let out a quiet sigh and nodded, giving the red headed journalist a slight smile before verbally responding. "Yes, that sounds good." Anna wrapped her green pea coat around herself and then stepped closer to the nervous blonde. "Hey." she called out, stepping into her girlfriend's personal space. Elsa didn't mind one bit and she answered the redhead with a questioning eyebrow raise.

"I'm proud of you." she simply stated before placing a chaste kiss on unreasonably soft pink lips and heading out the front door.

****************************FROZEN***************************

"I told you so." Kristoff said smugly, secretly happy he wouldn't have to sit through an awkward dinner where he would most likely have to watch Anna fawning over a certain blonde recluse.

"Don't even start Kristofer, I feel bad enough already." Anna whined into the phone as she stood in the middle of a crowded subway car.

"So, you and Rapunzel wanna grab lunch instead?" he asked, running a hand through sandy blonde hair. "Can't. I need to go into the office today and then I promised that Rapunzel and I would be back by 4. If I can get her to answer her dumb phone, that is." Kristoff sighed. "Okay, so… tomorrow then? Just you, me, and hella hot wings?" he asked hopefully. "Did you just say, 'hella'? Anyway. No good, I'm supposed to joining Elsa for a therapy session tomorrow and I don't know how long that will run." Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Sunday then?"

"Sunday's not good either. Elsa-" she was cut off by a low grunt.

"Let me guess, Elsa needs you toooo… what... fetch her a lung off the black market?" he asked, barely disguising his agitation. Anna uneasily laughed at the barb.

"You know she would never buy anything that's already been used." she joked back. Kristoff snorted.

"Yeah, well I was thinking of going to see Olaf today anyway."

"Aww. Speaking of, how is the little guy?"

Kristoff's voice took on a softer tone. "I spoke to Kai and Gerda last week before I got back. They said the pneumonia has finally cleared up and the doctors are still somewhat hopeful that he'll eventually pull through. They just have no idea when that may be. I mean, I don't understand. They've run all the test and taken all the brain scans. They said very little cerebral damage was done and there's really no reason why he shouldn't be awake by now." Anna could hear the worry in the blonde man's voice. Kristoff scratched the back of his neck and sighed heavily. "I don't know Anna… I just wish there was something I could do. Little dude's my buddy, he's like a brother to me and I just can't help but feel like I'm abandoning him." he hesitated before quietly saying the next part. "Does she… ever mention him?" Anna was shocked at the unexpected question and accidently bumped into a large man in a suspiciously stained tank top. At his scowl, she threw him an apologetic smile and backed further into the train.

"… Um… well… kinda? I mean, I don't want to bring it up because I'm scared of how she will react. She's been working so hard to control her anxiety and I really do try not to add to it. But some nights, I can hear her mumble his name in her sleep. And her parents. And sometimes, she just sits in that big windowsill and she gets this far off look in her eyes and I just know she's thinking about him." she explained.

"He's her actual brother… how can she just… not see him?" he mumbled almost under his breath. Anna frowned deeply.

"Don't okay? Don't do that. You know if she could, she would get out of that apartment and go see him in an instant." she said sternly. Kristoff scoffed.

"What I know is that Olaf's been in the hospital for months and the most she's done was watch a livestream of him that you set up."

"Where is this coming from? Why are you being such an asshole all of a sudden?" Anna asked, voiced raised and garnering her more than a few stares.

"I'm not trying to be Anna. But Jesus, how long is she going to hide behind this disease? How long are you going to hold her up in her mess? Olaf is actually suffering, he's actually fighting for his life. I mean, do you even care? This is the first time in months you've even asked about him. When's the last time you've even visited him?"

Anna bit her lower lip hard and tried to calm herself before she said something that she'd really regret. He had no right. He had no right to say these things and she honestly had no idea why he was saying them now.

"Of course I care Kristoff. Of course I do. It's just… Elsa needs me. She needs me and I need to be there for her." she tried to explain. "Elsa is my top priority right now. I'm all she has and that's a responsibility I don't take lightly. You know she's working through her own problems right now. Her own demons."

"Poor Elsa."

"You know what, screw you Kristoff. I don't know what the hell has gotten you so pissed and moody, but leave Elsa out of it." she hung up before he could respond, and let out a restrained growl. She had no idea where all of that came from within the hours she'd seen him, but she was not going to stand for him judging Elsa right now. She knew how hard the blonde worked. She knew how much Elsa suffered and continues to suffer from this illness that she wants so much to control.

Kristoff heard the dial tone and threw his phone on the couch in frustration. What the hell was that? Why did he do that? Why did he say those things? The words just… started pouring out and he couldn't stop it. He was like a man possessed. He didn't really have anything against Elsa. He liked the girl well enough. But, the more he thought about the things he said, the more he thought about why he said them. The realization that Anna was unshakingly in love with Elsa hit him pretty hard that morning and he would be lying if he said that even though he knew and accepted the fact Anna would never have eyes for anyone except the blonde, he was still jealous.

So yeah, he had a couple of beers before 10 a.m. and yes he was disappointed that Anna seemed unable to find time in her life for anything but Elsa, let alone him. And yes, he was still devastated over Olaf's injuries. So when he found a way to throw cheap shots at Elsa's character through her younger brother's hospitalization, he did. And now he felt like complete and total shit. No. Shit was to good for him. What was worse than shit? New York tap water. He felt like New York tap water. He groaned loudly and flopped down face first on his couch. He turned his head to the side to see Sven looking at him, unimpressed.

"I really fucked up didn't I?" he asked the Great Dane. The large dog ignored him, opting to run into the bedroom.

********************FROZEN*******************

"4 o' clock Rapunzel. Be there. Elsa is working really hard to create this goodbye feast for you and she really wants to spend some time with you before you leave. Call me back when you get this message. My 5th message. I love you, bye!"

Rapunzel rolled her eyes and made a mental note to call the excitable redhead back after this. "Is that your crazy cousin again? You want me to tell her she's interrupting your date with your very handsome, smoking hot boyfriend?" the brunette man sitting across from her asked. Rapunzel rolled her eyes hard at him. "Ooh, careful. You keep doing that sweetcheeks and they're going to get stuck like that." Rapunzel almost rolled her eyes again but stopped. Choosing instead to glare at the smug man.

"First of all, this is not a date. Secondly, you're not my boyfriend. We haven't put labels on what we are yet." she said, stashing he phone back into her jacket's pocket.

"Well, I just referred to myself as your boyfriend, a tremendous honor for you by the way, so I kinda think I did put a label on our relationship." he smirked. Rapunzel scoffed.

"Well I haven't. You're not my boyfriend. You're just some guy I meet up with sometimes behind my cousin's back and go to the movies with, and have dinner and the ocational orgasim with."

"Sooo… a boyfriend." he concluded with a raised brow.

"Not a boyfriend." she stated as she graciously took proffered menu from the server with a small smile.

Flynn sat across from Rapunzel and took in the younger woman's presence as she poroused the menu. She was gorgeous. Beautiful cropped brown hair falling slightly in the most captivating green eyes he'd ever seen. The little crinkle between her eyebrows as she concentrated on reading the tiny print of the menu, because she refused to wear her glasses around him. (The first and only time she did, he'd spent a solid 40 minutes coming up with different glasses themed jokes and nicknames for her. Her least favorite being "Oh my word. Sylvia? Is that you? Please tell me you brought cheesecake." Because really, ouch. She loved the Golden Girls but that one stung.) The slight, seemingly permanent, blush covering her cheeks and the light scattering of freckles across her nose were his favorite.

"I'm going to miss you, you know." he said suddenly, seriously. Rapunzel lowered the menu and looked at the roguish man in front of her. She took in his expression. She'd never seen that look before. So serious. So piercing. So open. Her blush deepened and she couldn't help but think, 'Oh, so that's the smolder.'

The brunette sat the menu down and reached a had across the table, Flynn meeting her halfway. "I'm... going to miss you too. But it's only for 2 weeks. Less probably, if I can convince my stepmother that I'm not abandoning her forever." she said with an eye roll immediately followed by a playful glare that said, 'Don't say it.' He laughed and for once heeded the unspoken warning.

"I know, but as your official boyfriend-"

"Not my boyfriend." Rapunzel cut in. Flynn continued, unfazed, as if she hadn't interrupted.

"-I'm allowed to miss you." he finished.

Rapunzel's heart melted, just a bit, and she smiled at the uncharacteristically sweet... thief? Spy? What even was he? She made another mental note to inquire about what it was Flynn Ryder actually did.

"Well. It's 1:30 in the afternoon and I have to meet up with Anna at 4. So… we can sit here and eat. OR…" she trailed off, raising one perfectly arched eyebrow at the man across from her. He stared at her confused for only a second before his eyes widened comically and he hastily rose from his seat looking around for a waiter. Any waiter.

"Check, please!"

*****************************FROZEN*************************

"Well look what the cat drug in." Anna heard someone deadpan as she walked through the office.

"Go Go, hi." Anna said, forcing a smile at the girl. Go Go smirked back before asking, "And to what do we owe this honor? Anna Summers rarely graces us with her presence." Anna swallowed hard and held up a file. "Business." she stated. Go Go lifted an eyebrow and popped her sweet smelling gum loudly, looking unimpressed.

"Business? Right. Well, don't let me keep you from your 'business'." she said dryly, stepping aside and holding her arm out towards the marketing department. Anna threw her another awkward smile before stepping around her and making her way towards her department boss. Mr. Tadashi Hamada had the distinction of heading up both the U.S. Marketing and the Med Tech R&D divisions. She was hoping he was in an high enough position that she might be able to get some answers about what was really going on behind the scenes at SII. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on his office door and waited for a response.

"Come in!" he called out and Anna quickly opened the door and stepped inside. Mr. Hamada was currently bent over his desk furiously scribbling notes on a blueprint for God knows what. He barely looked up when he'd told Anna to take a seat.

"What can I do for you Ms. Summers?" he finally asked distractedly. Anna cleared her throat and handed over the file of official information that was mostly true but essentially useless because it was only days away from being implemented. She was given the info by her boss at Mirror, Mirror, to give to the weasels at Southern Isles.

"What is this?" he asked, disinterestedly. Anna stuttered slightly. "It- it's um, information on one of Frost Industries companies, Mirror, Mirror. They've recently changed it simply to The Mirror and have plans of starting a very aggressive social media and grassroots campaign to boost sales and renew interest. Here's some information on projected implementation, what their plan is, why they've changed the name, and what direction their heading in, etc. If we can beat them to the punch and make whatever strides they attempt to take redund-" Tadashi finally held up his hand to stop her from talking.

"Oh, so stuff from the part of my job that I hate." he groaned, finally looking up at Anna. The redhead gave him a confused look, "Sir?" she asked. He sighed heavily before sitting down in the chair across from her.

"I'm not going to lie to you Anna, I don't like this part of my job, or yours. Getting that information, however you got it, I really don't want to know, always feels so wrong. And sneaky. I came to this company not to get information to crush the competition, but because I wanted to make a difference. Designing medical technology, robotic limbs, or machines that can actually help people." he stated, taking off his glasses and tiredly rubbing his eyes. Anna adjusted her own 'glasses' and leaned closer to listen to what her boss had to say.

"So you want to help people… but you chose to come to Southern Isle, Incorporated to do so? A company that's been accused of violating many environmental and human rights laws?" Tadashi looked away at that. He looked conflicted as he cleared his throat and finally said, "It's no secret around here that I have a sick brother. He suffers from a rare debilitating disease. Something like brittle bone but on steroids. If he even bumps into a wall he could easily break a bone. I was desperate to find a way to help him and Fiske approached me after seeing my prototype for a new type of medical laser. He had the money, the resources, and offered to give me 100% creative power over the products I designed… as long as I also headed up the Marketing Division."

"But why the Marketing Division?" she asked both interested and confused. He smiled a little to himself.

"It seemed Fiske had did his research. Back in high school and college, I was something of a marketing prodigy. I would help people 'go viral.' My family was… extremely poor, we could barely afford food, let alone my little brother's medicine. So, when I learned that I could navigate the fairly new world of social media in a way that people hadn't seen before, I saw an opportunity. I made a small fortune doing just that. Put food on the table and myself through college. M.I.T. and Harvard undergrad.

"So, people actually paid you to help them go viral?" Anna asked in amazement.

"Technically they still do. Before I came on board, Southern Isle, Inc marketing was a joke. It looked like Mad Men had a love child with Philip Morris cigarettes. They had no connection to what the people of today wanted. I did."

"Really… so, what have you made go viral?"

"Ever heard of the world record egg?"

"No! That was you?" she asked excitedly. He grinned.

"Yep. But don't tell anyone."

"But… it was just an egg. How did you even…?"

"I told you. Marketing genius."

"So how does one go from making a stock photo of an egg go viral, to writing a paper outlining robotics and organic physiology and how the two no longer have to be mutually exclusive, and creating a working prototype for electronic limbs that respond to neurological stimulation?"

"You read my paper?" he asked with a slight head tilt. Anna smiled.

"I may have perused." she joked. Tadashi laughed good naturedly and leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head.

"Well, my passions didn't lie in marketing. It was a job. Like I said, something to put food on the table. My true love was robotics. Designing. Creating. It's what I was meant to do. And if I could help my brother and others along the way… all the better." he sighed again and then looked far away. "Look, I knew the things that were being said about Southern Isles, Inc. But none of the accusations were proven… and what other choice did I have?" he looked away again, this time at the picture of on his desk of him and his brother, laughing.

"Listen… I honestly don't even know why I'm telling you all of this. We barely know each other and I'm technically your boss." he gave her a small smile. "We believe in superpowers around here. I guess yours is getting people to open up." he said with a chuckle. Anna smiled backed.

"Welp!" he finally exclaimed, taking the file and stashing it in his desk drawer. "I'll get the other members of the team to look through this and see what we can do with it. Good job on getting this intel, I guess." he said awkwardly, standing up and walking towards his office door. Anna took that as her cue to follow. He opened the door for Anna and gave her a final smile and a curt nod. "See you soon Anna." Anna smiled back and stepped through the door. Before she'd fully cleared the frame, she paused for a second to look at him.

"For what it's worth, Mr. Hamada, I don't really enjoy this part of our jobs either." the redhead then looked away and made her way out of the sparsely decorated office.

Tadashi watched the girl walk up to some of the other members of their team and easily start a conversation. When she laughed, they laughed. He'd never seen someone so quickly and effortlessly assimilate into their little family of geeks. And as he watched her charm his entire team (well, all except Go Go) he distantly wondered, who was Anna Summers?

TBC

AN: Believe it or not, I started writing this chapter early last year and it just fell out of me. I couldn't bring it into fruition. It's almost been a full year since I've updated this story and you don't know how good it feels to finally do so. I worked through the night, so if it's sloppy or you caught a couple of mistakes, I'm sorry. It's good to see you all again, and I hope this long chapter can start to make up for the year's long radio silence. And thanks to everyone who actually stuck with this story.