Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you,
Anywhere, I woul—
Grunting irritably, Anna hit the snooze button on her radio alarm with more force than necessary, bumping the entire thing onto the ground with a loud crash. "Don't need that this early in the morning," she muttered, pulling her pillow over her head. It had taken a considerably long time to fall asleep last night, and she hadn't slept that well in general this entire week.
There was a knock at her door. "Anna, dear, it's almost noon! You need to start getting ready if you want to look presentable for the banquet tonight!"
"Five more minutes, Gerda…" whined the sleepy girl.
"Also, Ms. del Rey is here to see you. She says she has a surprise for you," Gerda called through the door.
Anna sat up in her bed immediately. Ever since Ariel was discharged from the hospital, she had been staying with her father in some hotel. She promptly flung off the covers and hurriedly got dressed.
Ariel was waiting for her in the grand foyer, seated in her wheelchair with a large white box in her lap, when Anna raced down the stairs to greet her. The younger girl bent over to throw a bear hug around Ariel. "Ariel! It's so good to see you! You're coming tonight, right?"
Ariel grinned back at her and held out the box. "You bet! Here, open this!"
Anna balanced the rectangular box in one hand and lifted the cardboard lid off with the other. She gasped as she recognized the green and black gown she had tried on for prom. "Oh! It's beautiful! Thank you! But, Ariel, Elsa said…"
Ariel snorted in contempt. "Elsa will love you in this dress, Anna. Although, she might actually kill me tomorrow." Then she winked at Anna. "Trust me."
Anna blinked. She did like this dress, and she did trust Ariel. She nodded her acquiesce and smiled in gratitude, "Okay."
"Now, speaking of Elsa," a coy grin crossed Ariel's face, "I might've almost fallen for her when I saw her in the ballroom just now. Brace yourself, Anna. Actually, I think you should do your makeup first. Let's go to your room."
"Oh—um—uh, okay. Wait! Are you okay with stairs?" Anna scrambled after Ariel, who was already rolling toward the stairs in her electric wheelchair. Ariel rolled her eyes, and swiftly got to her feet, balancing her weight on the stone railing.
"I'm fine, Anna. The doctor said I should be okay to walk for short periods of time, as long as I don't wear heels. I still can't lift things with my left arm yet, though," she laughed. "It's a good excuse to be lazy when people ask you to do things."
Anna smiled and went to help Ariel up the stairs.
Elsa was meeting with Mark, Gustav and Ivan as they oversaw the preparations in the ballroom. They were reporting to her the security detail, food inventory, and entertainment that they had planned for the night.
"There will be guards making sure the rest of the manor is secure, and that no guest 'wanders' to where they will be unwelcome," Mark reassured her. "The President has ordered for the celebration to be isolated to the west wing of the mansion."
"And what of the music?" Elsa questioned.
"The musicians have already begun moving their equipment backstage," Gustav asserted confidently. "They'll begin sound check in an hour."
Elsa nodded. She dismissed Ivan and Gustavo, and gestured to Mark. "About the other matter we discussed?"
"Already taken care of, Ms. Elsa," he replied.
She nodded again, "Be on your way then, and double check the security at the gate." He departed promptly.
Elsa couldn't remember the last time she was here as she inspected the vast ballroom, taking in the rows of long dining tables clothed in velvet tablecloth, the polished amber marble flooring, and the large brass pillars guarding the decorated walls lined with gold. Her gaze went to the vaulted ceiling, laden with silky ribbons coloured purple and green, crossing the crystal chandeliers and finally resting on the rounded arch of the ballroom entrance.
Whatever notions her mind was entertaining about the rustic architecture of Arendelle Manor were swiftly trampled as a stampede of thoughts from an entirely different origin seized her completely. Her attention was thoroughly arrested by the stunning creature approaching her from under the curvature of the archway.
It took Elsa's mind a minute to restart, and to register that Anna was walking toward her, light green skirts swaying to the rhythm of her hips, captivating copper locks catching fire as she stepped through a ray of afternoon light shining through one of the fixed rectangular windows, despite being loosely held in a bun with three olive ribbons resting lightly on her shoulders.
Elsa could hardly breathe when her eyes fell on the light freckles dusting the exposed skin of her sister's shoulders, and she couldn't stop them from wandering to Anna's face, which then caused any remaining cognition to abruptly cease.
She didn't know how long she stood there staring until some part of her brain starting working again and she noticed Anna staring back at her, cheeks tinted pink, teal eyes wide.
Looking so adorable and tempting should have been illegal.
Her need to breathe brought back the some of the mental processes that had been interrupted by Anna's impromptu appearance at the ballroom. Exhaling, she tried not to gasp for air as the gears in her brain slowly reestablished themselves.
"W-wow, Elsa, you look..." Anna breathed, still looking at her, "different." She shook her head rapidly, blushing a shade deeper, as if she had spoken without thinking, "It—it's a good different! Like a better different! Y-you—I mean—you look a thousand times beautifuller than I imagined—I mean, not fuller, you don't look fuller—god, I'm awkward—you're gorgeous. Wait, what?"
Elsa had to force her eyes on something behind Anna to regain her composure. She brought a hand to stifle a giggle at her sister's words. "Thank you," she managed. "You're a thousand times beautifuller than I could have ever imagined, too. That dress," she gasped, as she allowed her eyes to focus on Anna again, "suits you." She was fairly sure the redness of her own face could rival that of a tomato's by now.
Their awkward tension was alleviated with the entrance of Ariel, who had decided to take pity on the pair and relieve the stifling air surrounding them. "Well, Elsa? She does look rather dashing, not to toot my own horn or anything."
You! Elsa accused with a glare. You brought her that dress! Do you live to torture me?
Ariel only grinned cheekily back at her. She lifted an eyebrow loftily, an unspoken challenge.
Realizing that Anna was curiously watching the exchanged expressions between her two elders, Elsa cleared her throat. "You better get going, Ariel, if you want to make it back before the party starts. You still need to get ready."
Ariel smirked at her shrewdly as if to say you wanna be alone with her that badly, huh?
Elsa gasped again as she felt her cheeks get warmer (if it were even possible).
"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you guys in an a few hours," Ariel declared, trying to hide her amusement at Elsa's expense. "Oh, and Elsa," she slyly threw over her shoulder, "You'll need to do Anna's lipstick for her before the party. You know, the pink one."
Elsa gaped after her, mind overflowing with profane words unfit for a lady that she was ready to expel at Ariel's parting statement.
She allowed herself a quick glance at Anna. "Y-you get something to eat, and I'll meet you in a bit." Elsa caught movement of Anna nodding in her peripheral vision as she dashed off to find something she could pretend to occupy herself with, so she could distract her mind from the perverted thoughts it was currently entertaining.
Anna stumbled to the kitchen, mind still spinning from the unparalleled splendor of Elsa's magnificent body. Her mouth went dry at the mere recollection of the way the glittering blue bodice of Elsa's gown had hugged the swell of her breasts, the cyan fabric kissing soft curve of her hips, and how the powder blue translucent off-the-shoulder sleeves praised the milky white of her sister's collarbone. She had been even more surprised to see Elsa's hair in a single, loose braid, with her rebellious bangs slicked back, as opposed to the more reserved French bun that Anna was much more used to seeing.
"Oh, my dear! Anna, your face is all red, are you feeling peaky?" Gerda fixed her with a concerned glance when Anna wobbled through the doors of the kitchen.
"H-hi, Gerda! N-no! I'm fine! Totally fine! Couldn't be finer!" Anna laughed nervously, trying to calm her fluttering heartbeat. "Is there chocolate? I need some chocolate."
"I'm sure we can spare a bar or two for you, dear. And for heaven's sake, eat something healthier, too! It's going to be a long night," Gerda quickly fixed her a hearty sandwich, along with a couple bars of Hershey's.
The last time Elsa had applied lipstick to Anna's lips, she had a girlfriend, and Anna had had a boyfriend. This time, Elsa realized with a sinking dread, will be even harder to get through, because there was nothing barring her from kissing her sister save for the very vocal part of her conscience that was warning her not to cause any more damage.
She somehow had Anna seated on her bed, which, she realized, was a horrible idea, because it was her bed. Trembling, she uncapped the tube of pink lipstick and gave the bottom a twist. She had half a mind to just give the tube to Anna and leave the room, but another part of her was aching to stay, and the luster of her younger sister's beauty had demolished the rest of her logic.
As she lifted the lipstick to apply it, she leaned closer, index finger of one hand tipping Anna's head back slightly. She made the mistake of stealing a glance at the younger girl's eyes, and almost lost her grip on reality when she found them hooded and dark with barely concealed desire. Her chest thumped, almost painfully.
Control. Control yourself. Conceal, don't feel. Conceal—
Her semi-stable frame of mind was completely obliterated when Anna's lips parted for her.
Before reason could catch up with her, Elsa leaned in even further, as if some magnetic force was pulling on her, and brushed her lips tenderly against Anna's own. In an instant, she felt Anna's warm hands on her shoulders—
What are you doing?
Elsa recoiled with a gasp as she realized what she was doing, fear chasing away the desire that had consumed her. She stood, tossed the tube of lipstick onto the bed, and quickly backed up against the door. "I-I'm sorry, Anna, I didn't mean—"
"No, Elsa, it's okay. Just—just talk to me," Anna pleaded, but Elsa had already turned the handle and fled the room. "Why won't you just talk to me?" She whispered, to no one.
Guests had already begun to arrive in the grand foyer by the time Anna had composed herself enough to step outside of Elsa's room. From the top of the stairs, she watched the various corporate leaders and their families striding through the doors and being ushered toward the ballroom, where Elsa and their mother would be greeting them.
She spotted President del Rey and Ariel arriving; Ariel was in an elegant pink-and-white ballroom gown, and suddenly Anna understood Elsa's comment about Ariel's wicked sense of fashion. Ariel hadn't even done anything special to her hair and she still looked dazzling under the glow of the crystal chandelier.
Ariel looped their arms together when Anna skipped down the stairs to join her. "You look… confused," the older girl muttered, for lack of a better word. "What's wrong?"
Anna looked around at the ballroom full of guests as they walked under the archway and shook her head. "I'll tell you later."
Alana Arendelle took the stage, and suddenly the chattering of the vast room died down as she held the microphone. "Welcome, revered guests of Arendelle Corporation. I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming to celebrate with us the hundredth year of our company's success. This success is not only ours; it is the result of all the support that we have graciously received from all of you. So I would like to propose a toast, and from the bottom of my heart, my deepest thanks to all of you."
"To Arendelle Corporation!" The room cheered in unison as they raised their champagne glasses.
Anna noticed not all of the guests seemed happy about the celebration as she raised her own glass of water for the toast. Some were downing their champagne with an undertone of bitterness and resentment, or so it seemed. She sat down at the head table beside Elsa, where her nameplate was, and exchanged a glance with Ariel, who was seated with her father further down the table.
Elsa was rigid beside her as Hans Falk and his father Walter Falk seated themselves across from them. She stole at glance Elsa, whose expression was perfectly neutral, despite the clenched fists in her lap.
Alana took her position at the head of the table and smiled courteously at the patrons of the table as the servers began bringing out the appetizers. "So, Hans, Elsa tells me that she had a lovely time talking over dinner with you."
When Elsa flinched beside her, Anna's head shot up, and she watched Hans smiled back politely at their mother. He chuckled, "President Arendelle, I had a wonderful night as well," he winked at Elsa, who smiled stiffly back at him.
"Elsa, how's the contract coming along?" Alana questioned.
Walter Falk laughed, "Let's not talk business tonight, folks. We should let the young ones enjoy themselves." He looked pointedly at Alana.
Alana sipped her glass of wine. "An excellent point, Walter. And where is Henry? I haven't seen him tonight. I trust he is well?" She waved her hand at the empty seat beside Hans.
Both Hans and Walter's expressions darkened for a split second, and then Hans sported another charming smile. "He was extremely disappointed he couldn't make it, but he sends his regards."
Anna hadn't seen Henry Falk at school for a long time now, but she hadn't paid much attention to that. They weren't friends, not really, and they just left each other alone after Elsa and Hans had graduated. Although there was something in Hans and Walter's countenances that made her want to shiver. She brushed it off, and focused on the soup in front of her.
"So, President, you have a beautiful home," Hans stated, nodding at the mosaic ceiling and polished walls. "Speaks to me about the amazing sense of style you and your ancestors must have. Is it based on seventeenth century architecture?"
"Why, thank you, Hans. You have a keen eye for detail," Alana replied with ever-perfect civility. "My late husband's ancestors, actually. One of them was very into stone buildings."
Anna was getting bored of the conversation, and fast. She absentmindedly spooned her soup and dribbled it back into the bowl. Ariel was looking equally bored, but too far down the table to be able to hold a proper conversation with Anna without yelling.
Elsa abruptly nudged her with a knee, and Anna, surprised by the sudden contact, dropped the spoon with a clatter. She muttered a quick 'sorry' before picking it up and wiping the spilled soup with her napkin. She didn't notice her mother's watchful gaze, but Elsa did.
The servers arrived with steaming plates of steak, chicken, and salmon, and mutters of thanks fluttered throughout the table as empty soup dishes were retrieved and replaced with mouth-watering entrees.
"R-remember that time I beat you in a drinking competition, Hans?" Anna blurted, the suffocating air hovering over the table ruining her attempts to keep her mouth shut.
"Anna, I don't think this is the best time to bring that up right now," Elsa mumbled under her breath, after a glance at their mother.
Hans only smiled and leaned forward onto his elbows. "I still haven't lived it down," he joked.
Alana gave Elsa a look.
Elsa leaned over to Anna as the server replaced their dishes. "Just sit still and stop talking." Her voice was cold and her expression didn't betray a sliver of emotion.
Initially confused by Elsa's kiss in the bedroom, and then frustrated by the dinner conversation, Anna replied irritably, and a little too loudly, "Am I embarrassing you, Elsa? Is that what this is?"
Elsa shot a sideway glance at the Falks, who were watching them curiously. "Anna, don't make me do this right now."
"Excuse me," Anna muttered, and got up from her seat, storming off.
"I'm sorry, she's still a little kid sometimes," Elsa murmured, smiling apologetically at the patrons who had taken interest in their little spat. "I'll go talk to her."
"No, you will stay," said Alana, before Elsa could take off. "She will take responsibility for her own actions."
"Yes, children do need to grow up and be responsible for themselves," Walter Falk nodded. "She seems like an intelligent child. She will learn quickly." He exchanged a strange look with Hans, and the gesture sent a wave of unease over Elsa.
Her hands fidgeted restlessly under the table, mind churning as she contemplated ways to remedy her mother's disapproval of Anna's behaviour so that Alana will not deem any disciplinary action to be necessary. Elsa passively accommodated the rest of the dinner conversation.
Anna paced restlessly on the patio, irritated with herself and Elsa for the lack of communication between them of late. She was used to not being included in the business topics between her parents and Elsa; after all, Elsa was the heir and she was the spare, but maybe she just especially irritable tonight.
She just felt superfluous to the conversation, like no one really needed nor expected her to be there, and then Elsa prompted her so aloofly to, essentially, not embarrass herself. She knew she had been out of line leaving so abruptly, but she couldn't help herself.
She could tell from the increased volume of piano and violin music flowing from the ballroom that dinner had ended and the dancing had commenced.
Someone opened the double doors to the patio, and Anna did not know who she was expecting, but she definitely was not expecting it to be Hans. He didn't seem surprised to see her, though.
"Oh, hello, Anna," Hans smiled at her, and lit a cigarette. "You look very nice."
Despite her misgivings about him from high school, Anna reflected that her mother and Elsa did not seem to have much of an aversion to the Falk family. She shrugged. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." He was wearing a tuxedo, and the red bow tie complimented his ginger hair.
"So, you having problems with Elsa, huh?" Hans took a drag of his cigarette, blowing out puffs of smoke.
Anna wrinkled her nose at the smell. "We're not having problems. She's my sister. I mean, we have little scuffles now and then, but we trust each other."
Hans stuffed a hand in his pocket and looked to the sky. "Does she really trust you?"
She was about to turn and leave, but his words prodded at her weakness. "O-of course she does."
"That's not what she told me at dinner," he chuckled, gaze still fixed on the stars.
Anna narrowed her eyes, and stepped in front of him, glaring indignantly. "What do you mean?"
He took another drag. "She said you were too much of a little kid to trust with anything."
Anna's heart fell. Did Elsa really think that way about her? She recalled her behaviour at the dinner table as the most recent example, and mentally kicked herself. Even though they were only two years apart, Elsa had always been light-years more responsible and reliable than she was. Was she that childish? Was that why Elsa wouldn't talk to her about her problems? Why Elsa always shut her out? Why Elsa never relied on her for anything?
Was Elsa finally fed up with her immaturity?
Dropping his cigarette butt to the ground, Hans stomped on it, putting out the flame. "She said, sometimes you're nothing but a burden."
Anna glanced uneasily at her sister, who was now greeting the guests, through the glass doors. Elsa would never say that about her. Right?
Hans smiled to himself as he heard the patio doors open and shut.
Elsa was shaking hands with someone whose name currently escaped her, smiling so forcedly that she was afraid her face was going to fall off from the charade. She was searching for Anna, but all these hands kept thrusting in front of her, and she was expected to shake each and every one of them. She was also pretty sure her hands were going to need some serious cleaning after tonight. Her feet were also killing her from standing for so long (her new heels weren't broken in).
She spotted Anna shuffling through the patio doors and her world shifted focus. All the fake smiling, oily hands, and aching feet became worth it as soon as she caught a view of her beautiful sister. She headed in Anna's direction, wanting to apologize for being rude at dinner.
Another hand stretched toward her, and she looked up to recognize a member of the board of directors, Kai Evenstad. She vaguely recognized him from previous social events; he had been a good friend of her father's.
"Elsa, I haven't seen you in years!" Kai exclaimed heartily, other hand patting her on the shoulder. "I trust you've been well?"
"I'm fine, Chairman Evenstad," Elsa replied as patiently as she could. She tried to keep her eyes on the portly man in front of her, but they kept migrating to Anna like magnets. "It's good to see you." She searched for Anna again. "Please excuse me; I'll catch up with you later."
Kai seemed to understand her rush. "I see, Elsa. Take care."
Elsa nodded her thanks and skirted around the sea of corporate associates and leaders to where she last saw Anna. She spotted the redhead, admiring the fountain of chocolate fondue that she secretly had Mark include in the dinner inventory, and smiled in satisfaction. At least that was one thing she'd done right tonight.
Hoping that Anna was in a better mood, she approached cautiously and stopped, catching her mother's gaze from the other side of the ballroom. Alana seemed to be watching them intently.
She cursed and turned, deciding to find another time to speak with Anna, but her sister had already noticed her presence. "Elsa!"
Gritting her teeth, she put on her neutral face and turned again. "Hey."
"Um, hi," Anna mumbled nervously, tucking a stray lock of copper hair behind her ear.
God, there was the nervousness again, Elsa realized, and her protective instinct flared, only to be violently stomped out when she noticed her mother still watching them. Her brain searched for something her mother would approve of her saying. "Anna, tonight is important. We need to make a good impression."
"You know, sometimes you're extremely condescending, Elsa," Anna retorted. "You're not Mom! You might be older than me, but you don't have to act like you're in charge of me."
Elsa's eyes flicked to their mother again, and clucked her tongue in annoyance. "Maybe I wouldn't act like that, if you acted like a grown-up. You're almost eighteen, for god's sake, Anna, and you're still acting like a spoiled little brat!" She knew she was saying all the wrong things, but she could not stop them from spilling forth from her like candy from a broken piñata.
"Well, it's better than acting like you're better than everyone else! Like no one is worthy enough for you to talk equally to!"
By now Alana was moving toward them, her scowl telling Elsa that her patience was wearing thin. They had also attracted quite an audience; Elsa hadn't even noticed how loud their voices had gotten due to the music in the background. She needed to get them out of this situation, and fast, before their mother took it into her own hands. She lowered her voice, "Anna, please, I need you to just listen for once."
Anna spoke again, her face heating up from the warmth of the room and anger. "No, you listen! I'm tired of you hiding everything from me! I'm sick of you playing games with me! I'll stop acting like a child when you stop treating me like—"
Crack!
"Anna," Elsa said in the coldest voice Anna had ever heard, "Go to your room, and stay there."
Anna was clutching her face where Elsa had slapped it, staring in disbelief at the fact that Elsa had just struck her. Biting back the tears that threatened to flow, she ran out of the ballroom as fast as she could.
Elsa dug her nails into her palm. No punishment on earth would ever redeem her for what she had just done to Anna, even if it was to protect her from their mother. Alana stopped beside Elsa, and lightly addressed the crowd, "Now, now, what's a family banquet without a little sibling squabble?" Her words dispelling the tension in the audience. The patrons dissipated, and turned their attention back to socializing and the vast display of desserts. "There was not much else you could have done, Elsa," she whispered, the words sounding suspiciously like comfort, if Elsa hadn't known better, before turning to converse with President del Ray.
Elsa caught the disbelieving glare of Ariel, who looked ready to strike her. Her eyes pleaded with Ariel to go after Anna, and she breathed a sigh of relief when Ariel nodded assent and turned to follow her sister's footsteps.
Anna burst out the front door of the manor, tears streaming down her face, streaked with the black colour of her makeup. Dropping her face in her hands, she sobbed openly into the night. She didn't know a slap could hurt so much. She was pretty sure it wasn't the physical pain—Elsa hadn't actually hit her with much force—but the person who'd given it to her.
A warm arm encircled her shoulders, and she looked up from her hands to see Hans. Quickly wiping her eyes, she sniffled and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I saw what happened," he replied gently. "Elsa is just as cold as your mother, huh?"
"Elsa is not cold," she protested. "It was my fault. I pushed her."
"It's not your fault. Elsa just doesn't understand you," Hans smiled at her. "Why don't you come with me?" He ushered her toward the gate. "Let me show you something."
"What? There's nothing out there." Something felt wrong. Anna fingered the Olaf charm from her necklace; she'd taken it off the silver chain and put it on a bracelet this morning. Ariel had said it didn't match her dress, but she still wanted it with her.
"Oh, there's something."
There was something in his voice that Anna couldn't discern, but it chilled her to the bone in the dark night. She noticed for the first time that the security guards that were supposed to be at the front gate weren't there, and she knew there was something wrong.
Suddenly, someone came up behind her and covered her mouth with a cloth before she could scream. Shocked and scared, she struggled against them, but whatever was on the cloth was making her lose consciousness. She fumbled with the bracelet until it unclasped and fell to the ground, and everything went black.
Elsa.
Elsa had escaped from the party when Alana was preoccupied with President Triton, and she ascended the stairs, making a beeline for Anna's room. She knocked on the door. "Anna?" No answer. She knocked again, and listened for any sign of movement. Was this how Anna felt when Elsa shut her out?
Elsa was on the verge of tears at the thought. Her chest imploded as she remembered how she slapped Anna earlier. She pressed her forehead wearily against the wood. "Anna, please. Let me explain."
She turned the knob, and was surprised to find the door unlocked. She flicked on the light, and discovered that the room was empty. She was stopped from backing out of the room as she noticed the rows of glittering snow globes lining the shelves of Anna's wall. The snow globes were gifts from their father; whenever he returned from a business trip he always brought Anna a snow globe, because she loved the winter. A lump formed in the back of her throat, and she wished she hadn't turned on the light.
She was interrupted by Ariel, who was frantic and out of breath. "Elsa!"
Elsa whirled around almost immediately, "Where's Anna?"
Ariel shook her head rapidly, "I don't know—Elsa—I don't—there was—I found—I found this," she held up a bracelet, "at the gate." She stopped to catch her breath.
Elsa took the bracelet, and her heart fell to her stomach as recognized the charm she'd designed for Anna. "Where is she, Ariel?"
"I think—I think she's been kidnapped."