Anna's hand flicked to her ears for the fifth time this morning and ran her fingers over the intricate patterns of crystal that sat on her ears. Elsa had given her a present last night, before bed, for the first birthday that she missed. It was so unexpected, but it made Anna so happy. When she opened the small box, her eyes fell on a pair of crystal snowflakes, adorned with diamonds. She had almost squealed with excitement.
"It's my snowflake," Elsa had announced, with a rare look of pride. "I designed the pattern."
Of course, Anna loved them. She loved how her sister always gave her gifts that she designed herself. A part of that was the reason she got into graphic design; it gave her the ability to share what she imagined, to understand how Elsa felt when sharing something that was creative and original. She loved them, because they were unique; she had the one-of-a-kind copy; Elsa hadn't given these to Ariel. She loved them, because they were like Elsa's mark on her; it felt like they were something that symbolized (kind of) how she belonged to Elsa. Wait, what? She was pacing back and forth outside of Elsa's room again, the thoughts of her behaviour and reaction toward Ariel the day before flooding back to her. She should be happy, shouldn't she? She should have been happy that her sister finally found a friend. She should have been encouraging Elsa to make new friends and connections; she had been isolated for so long. Elsa deserved it.
For some unfathomable reason, she couldn't help but feel anger boil up from the depths of her stomach whenever she saw Ariel smiling at Elsa and Elsa smiling back politely.
"Sorry for the wait, Anna! I'm done," Elsa said, stepping out of her room.
Anna turned, only to end up gawking at the goddess standing before her. Elsa was wearing white skinny jeans that accentuated the soft curve of her hips, stopping at her ankles where they met ice blue heels. She had on a light blue blouse, with nothing but a thin white tank top underneath, exposing the pale, smooth skin of her neck and collarbone. And damn, Elsa was wearing that smoky silvery-purple eye shadow again, above her thick, full eyelashes, as if the rest of her outfit didn't complement the beautiful blue of her eyes enough. Her hair, as always, was in a loose braid, hanging lazily over her shoulder, inlaid with sparkling snowflake diamonds.
If Ariel hadn't called impatiently from the grand foyer at that moment, Elsa would have caught Anna staring at her, mouth agape, face flushed.
Elsa was already halfway down the steps of the main staircase when she realized Anna was still standing in front of her room. "Anna? What's wrong?" she called down the hallway.
Nothing, except for the fact that you look like a freakin' Greek goddess that hopped out of my history textbook. No, scratch that, you'd make even Aphrodite crawl away in shame. "N-nothing! Coming!" Anna said quickly and ran to catch up.
"What happened to the driver?" Ariel asked curiously.
"I told him he could take a break today. I wanted to drive. It makes me feel freer," Elsa replied as they stepped into the garage. She pressed the unlock button on her keys and her silver Benz beeped obediently in response.
Anna and Ariel stared awkwardly at each other, having a silent battle with their eyes about who would get into the front passenger seat. After a moment, Ariel shrugged and opened the door to the backseat. That's right, she's my sister. Smugly, Anna slid in beside Elsa, who was already starting up the engine, oblivious to the conflict that had just ensued.
Elsa adjusted her rearview mirror as they sped down the road. "Looks like your friends have no intention of giving up their very important mission to stalk you, Ariel."
Ariel scowled in the back seat. "Well, you have a matching set, you're not one to talk."
Elsa scoffed and looked in the rearview mirror again. Indeed, the black tinted car that was following them had a partner.
"What, bodyguards can't be that bad! They must have been like the British secret service, right? Isn't that kind of cool?" Anna joked.
"Ugh, it gets annoying when they follow you around everywhere," complained Ariel, "They even stand guard outside when I go to the washroom. Can you imagine how embarrassing that is?"
Elsa and Anna both stifled a laugh. "There's a reason Ariel was my only friend, Anna," Elsa began.
Anna winced internally. I wish she wasn't. I really, really, wish she wasn't.
"With those guys around me, no one could get close to me. Heck, when the two of us sat together in the lecture hall, they took up all the seats immediately behind and beside us. You should have seen the professors every time we entered their classes. It was horrible," Elsa explained.
"I still think it's kind of cool," Anna crossed her arms.
"Well, we'll see what you think when Mother appoints for you your very own team of suited knights this September," Elsa teased and Anna stuck out her tongue at her.
"Hey, Elsa," Ariel whispered. "Lose 'em. You know the streets here better than they do."
"I don't know, Ariel. I actually quite like this car. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it."
"Oh, come on, Elsa! Think, for once, we'd be in a mall without their imposing presence, we could finally pretend to be normal people! Commoners! No one would stare at us! We'd be part of their world! Also, I know for a fact that you like to go fast."
Elsa grimaced at the innuendo and sighed. She looked tentatively at Anna, who was, surprisingly, also very excited (and hadn't caught the double entendre). "Do it, Elsa! It would be like in a James Bond movie, losing the bad guys!"
Elsa rolled her eyes in resignation at the two bubbly redheads in her car, and floored the accelerator.
"WOOOOHH!" Anna and Ariel yelled in unison as Elsa jerked the car to a stop in the parking lot of the mall.
"I can't believe we lost them—"
"And when she made that turn—"
"I cannot believe she actually pulled off that turn!"
"Oh, I wish I'd seen their faces when they lost us!"
Elsa regarded the screaming girls in disbelief, pinching her nose in mock exasperation as her heart rate finally returned to normal. The last, unexpected turn onto the small road that eventually lost their tails had been a tough one, and she almost thought she was going to turn her car into a metal pancake on the side of the brick building. But Ariel was right, she did have the home field advantage; the men following them were British; their parents hadn't had the time to switch them up yet. She grimaced as she thought about how much trouble their irresponsible actions would get them in. And speak of the devil, Ariel's phone rang and the jubilant atmosphere died down almost immediately.
Reluctantly fishing her phone out of her pocket, Ariel stared at it as it rang a couple seconds more, obviously weighing the pros and cons of answering. With a defeated sigh, she clicked the answer button, "Hi, Daddy."
Elsa and Anna winced as they heard enraged shouting from the speaker of Ariel's phone. Ariel herself shied away from it. When it finally subsided, Ariel replied, "Well, it's because you never let me go anywhere without them! Daddy! Just for today, please? I'll do whatever you want! Ugh! Even for half a day?… Fine. Fine. As long as they don't look out of place." With that, she hung up.
Ariel looked up at the sisters with apologetic blue-green eyes. "He insists that they accompany us. But, he promised that they'd look less like the men in black and more like normal people. It's as good as we're getting."
"Hopefully, mine will remain lost," Elsa grinned.
"I doubt it. If mine know where to find us, yours will definitely find us."
"Well, we'd better get going then," Anna looped her arm around Elsa's as the three of them walked through the entrance of the mall.
"So? What do you think?" Anna did a full three-sixty degree turn as the sparkly champagne-coloured skirts of her dress flared.
"Hmm… I still like the flowery one more. Elsa?" Ariel prompted.
Elsa's eyes snapped to Anna for a few seconds, and then away again. "Yes, fine. This one is fine, too."
"Elsa! You've said that about the last six dresses! At least Ariel has an opinion, you aren't telling me what you think at all!" Anna crossed her arms in indignation and frustration.
"I meant what I said, Anna. You look absolutely…" Stunning. Incredible. Wonderful. Beautiful. Amazing. Dazzling. Please don't say something lame. "… Fine," Elsa finished stupidly. I don't believe you. But she was afraid if she'd said any of the other things, the rest would just come tumbling out after it, and she would be powerless to stop them. The number of positive adjectives that she could use to describe Anna in her prom dresses was limitless, and she had decided to use the least committed one, in fear of not being able to hold back the obsessive compliments once she'd opened the flood gates.
Anna huffed again, and pointedly turned on her heel and stomped back to the dressing room.
Elsa tilted her head back against the warm leather of the couch and closed her eyes. They had been at this for more than two hours; each dress Anna donned was more stunning than the last, and every time her little sister stepped out of the dressing room, Elsa felt her heart leap into her throat with more force. By now, she was sure there was some god out there that had it in for her; this was like her own personal hell.
She forced herself to look for no more than three seconds, so as not to arouse suspicion under Ariel's observant eye. But every time she saw Anna, she had to actively tear her gaze away and struggle to maintain her charade of indifference to bite out a "Fine".
Aware of the hurt and disappointment that would be plainly written on her sister's face as a result of her callousness, she was thoroughly irritated with herself, and she let out another soft sigh. No matter what I do, I end up hurting you.
"So, what's going on?" Ariel asked her, plopping down on the couch beside her, reaching into her lap to intertwine their fingers.
"What?"
"You seem a bit… off. Did you really not want to come? You haven't offered a speck of useful advice. Even I can tell your little sister is not impressed with you."
"I—I'm just tired. Didn't get much sleep last night. Jetlag," she lied. But what was she going to say? Yeah, uh, actually, I'm in love with my little sister. I don't want to let myself look for too long because eventually I'm going to end up drooling and not be able to tear my eyes away. Because every time she comes out in one of those bewitching dresses my heart throbs and I wonder what it would take to get you out of here so I can follow her into the change room under the false pretense of helping her out of the dress and— "And I'm hopeless with fashion to begin with," she joked, trying to make her lie more believable, and at the same time trying to redirect her thoughts.
Ariel was still eyeing her dubiously, absentmindedly playing with her hands. "Prom is a big deal, especially for the girls," she reminded her.
Elsa pulled her hands away to run them through her hair and internally cursed herself for coming off as so heartless. "Yes, I know. It's just hard to focus on less than two hours of sleep." She faked a yawn to reiterate her point.
She was saved from answering further questions when Anna stepped out of the dressing room in another dress. This one had a low-cut black bodice with light green skirts, hems laced with gold, and somehow this mixture of colours really emphasized the stark contrast between beautiful copper of her sister's hair and the stunning teal of her eyes.
"I love it! It's beautiful!" Ariel sprung up from her spot on the couch and worked around Anna, pulling necklaces and accessories from their display and holding them up next to her. "This one fits you so well, Anna! It's like it was made for you! Right, Elsa?
Beneath her perfect mask, Elsa was trying to get her mouth to work. The mere sight of Anna in that dress shot electric currents coursing through every nerve fibre of her body, sending her heart into a sprint and her mind through a series of mini seizures.
Oh, my god, she is gorgeous. No, gorgeous doesn't even begin to cover it. She's an angel, a goddess, some celestial being that has inhabited a human body and I'm lucky enough to be her sister.
Wait, god dammit, I'm her sister! I can't have these thoughts about her. I can't. I won't.
Another thought struck her, with the weight of a freight train.
But there is absolutely no way I am going to let Kristoff see her in that. No, no, no, no. No way in hell.
Biting her lip, she tore her gaze away quickly, mustering all the self-control that she had left to declare casually, "I like the other one more. The dark blue one." She randomly picked one of the other seven dresses that Anna had tried on. It didn't matter to her which of the other ones was chosen, as long as it wasn't this one. This one stood so far above and beyond the others, any other bystander must have thought she was totally crazy to not like it. But she did like it. Too much. And so, this is the one Anna must not be seen in, because any man who sees her in that dress will be having the exact same perverted thoughts Elsa was having right now—
"Elsa, you are out of your mind! This one is light-years more stunning than the other ones! What's wrong with you?" Ariel cried in disbelief.
"I like the dark blue one more," she insisted obstinately, crossing her arms for emphasis, afraid to look at Anna's expression.
"Anna, don't listen to her, she's actually brainless when it comes to fashion—"
"Okay, I'll get the dark blue one," Anna acquiesced quietly, still watching her sister, who was now intently focused on the escalators outside the shop.
Elsa felt a spasm of anguish and guilt course through her as she realized how much her opinion had mattered to Anna, and how she had basically abused that trust in order for her little sister to look less dazzling to Kristoff. You are a sorry excuse for a human being. But even then, she couldn't find it within herself to feel sorry, if it meant Anna wouldn't wear that dress.
What is wrong with you? Only one day back and already your hormones are raging out of control like a teenage boy.
Disgusted with herself, Elsa rose to approach the cashier and pay for the dress, Ariel still surveying her in disbelief.
Anna stepped through the door of the change room, locking it behind her, and unzipped the back of the bodice, peeling off the dress, slightly confused by the day's events.
To her surprise, Ariel's presence was not as bad as she thought, as long as she wasn't touching Elsa some way or another. In fact, Ariel had been offering more useful advice than her sister had, which was, to say the least, disappointing. She had looked forward to going dress shopping with Elsa ever since the latter agreed a month ago, after being convinced to attend her graduation.
To put it bluntly, she was actually looking forward to showing her sister just how much she had grown, but no matter which dress she put on, it didn't seem to be able to capture Elsa's attention for more than a few seconds, after which the response would be, "It's fine."
With a sinking heart, she realized that maybe after three years apart, Elsa didn't love her as much as she had before, and was therefore less tolerant of her childish antics. Her sister's actions today and the day before provided an abundance of evidence for her conjecture. The hug they shared outside of Elsa's room had barely lasted a few seconds before her sister pushed her away and ducked inside to take a shower. And after lying and telling Elsa that she was happy with Kristoff, their conversation had changed drastically to random, unimportant matters (such as how well the Arendelle basketball team was doing this year, which no one really cared about) until the mindless chatter was interrupted by Gerda's call to dinner.
Or maybe, after three years without her, Elsa had realized how great it was to not have an annoying younger sister to have to humour day in and day out, and to actually be able to spend time with someone her own age. Ariel was, after all, a year older than Elsa, and an Oxford student, someone who could match her sister's intellectual prowess. She wasn't bad-looking either, although Anna hated to admit it, but she still didn't hold a candle to Elsa. Then again, who could?
So when Elsa declared that she liked the blue dress more, Anna jumped at the opportunity. Finally gaining her sister's approval, she pushed aside her own preference for the green dress that she wore and decided to appease Elsa, hoping that her amicability would make her sister happier, but to her dismay, Elsa's attitude hadn't seemed to change much.
Letting out a dejected sigh, she pulled on her jeans and shirt, stepped back into her sneakers and pushed open the changing room door.
The depression only lasted a few seconds, however when she felt a possessive anger surge again as she noticed Ariel and Elsa waiting by the entrance to the store, with Ariel's arm hooked tightly around the pale arm of her sister, who was holding the bag that contained her dress. Faking an elated smile, she hopped over to them and seized Elsa's other hand with a ferocity that slightly startled the blonde.
"Well, let's go look at shoes and accessories, then!" Ariel crowed.
"Actually, I already have the perfect accessories picked out for Anna," Elsa smiled tactfully.
"You didn't show them to me?" Ariel feigned hurt.
Why does she have to show them to you? They're for me! Anna held back a smug smile at the fact that Elsa did still care about her enough to give her thoughtful gifts and presents.
"I've shown enough to you," Elsa glared at her playfully, and Ariel giggled back.
What does that even mean? Anna couldn't help but tighten her grip on Elsa's hand.
"Let's go get dinner," Elsa suggested, dragging the two redheads on her arms after her, after handing Anna's dress off to Alastair, her chief officer of security. They walked off giggling at the bodyguards that had been inconspicuously scattered throughout the area, men who were wearing polo shirts and looking uncomfortable around them.
Elsa had wanted to go to a fancier restaurant, but both Ariel and Anna goaded her into choosing a cozier Italian pizza joint.
"So, Ariel, how come you have so many bodyguards?" Anna ripped off a piece of cheese pizza, "Like, since when?"
"I don't know. I've had them my whole life, for as long as I can remember. Daddy has always been super-overprotective of me. He's never even let me interact with anyone, and no one wants to brave the sea of soldiers that are always around me," Ariel sighed, poking her piece of ham and pineapple with her fork.
Anna couldn't help but admit that must have been tough. Because of her parents' focus on Elsa, she was mostly free to do whatever she wanted in her childhood. She had friends, she had freedom, and she had a life. She couldn't help but feel more grateful toward her older sister's presence, and sneakily scooted closer to Elsa in the booth seat.
"Anna, let me out," Elsa suddenly said, "I need to use the washroom."
"Mmmk." Anna felt a pang of disappointment as she shuffled in the seat so that Elsa could move past her.
When the blonde was out of sight, Ariel leaned forward with a cunning smile. "Anna, are you in love with your sister?"
A/N: As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to critique, comment, and review!