Eleven days earlier:
I swear. I swear I swear I swear...I'll never fingerpaint again.
Curled up in her purple Hot Wheels racecar bed, Anna dared not move. With the sweet tingles of her release long since faded, each minute dragged on in one interminable cloud of regret. Eyes falling shut again, Anna gritted her teeth and rolled back onto her stomach...with care. Face mashed against a pillow emblazoned with Danica Patrick's face.
I...I think I need help.
Shuffle. Shuffle. Fidget.
Right hand clenching the underside of the pillow...and squeezing. Extra tense squeezes every time Anna so much as wiggled her left hand.
Distinctly uncomfortable tugging, and her mind raced with cold dread.
I'll tear something. I'll...I'll injure myself.
Tears pricked the corners of Anna's eyes, and she let out a muffled grumble as she rubbed her face firmly against her pillow.
There's nobody else in the world like me. So I don't know...I just don't. Is that...is that how it's always going to happen for me, now?
Another gingerly tug. A sharp sting, followed by a dull ache creeping up along Anna's groin made her freeze yet again. Struggling to steady her shallow breaths, Anna reached out for any possible distraction...and suddenly, there it was.
A sad, half-smile. Still-frame images of Elsa sporting a mop of cooked spaghetti on her head. Rapunzel, rosy cheeks and scrunched nose slathered in tomato sauce. Anna shivered, gritted her teeth, and squeezed her thighs around her trapped hand.
This is what I get. My...bad karma pile-up. It's not that I pictured...butts…
Hushed farewells trickled upstairs, and they stole Anna's breath...but not her guilt.
It was their butts. I'm bad. I'm...bad...and this is what I get.
"Call me over lunch...and stay safe."
"You should be asleep by the time I'm sitting down to my midnight...lunch."
"Uh-huh."
Unintelligible murmurs.
"Is Anna getting sick again? She went up to bed so early tonight. It...it wasn't anything I…"
"She's fine. It's taking her a little while to, you know...get used to your reassignment. Me, too. Seriously...be safe, Elsa."
"I will. Always am. Um...walk me to my car, please?"
"Score."
"Hmm…"
The dull click of the front door falling shut. Seconds. Minutes. Hours.
Petrified teal eyes flicked down, peering underneath a black and red Hot Wheels comforter. Anna grimaced, tried to shuffle her bare legs, and stared dumbly as her grey underwear wiggled down to her knees.
Warmth flooded her face again as fresh tears threatened to spring forth.
I don't know my own body any more...but I need help.
Another few minutes spent wriggling carefully, and only when Anna felt her underwear slip down off of her bare feet did she find anything resembling confidence. Confidence to roll onto her opposite side, draw the comforter around her waist with her free right hand, and gingerly sit up.
First. First, I need a better look at this disaster.
Curled fingers on Anna's left hand flexed experimentally, but the sticky webbing between her thighs held fast, and she bit down hard on her bottom lip in order to stifle a frightened whimper.
Punzie's a nurse. My school nurse. If I can't figure out what the hell…
Standing up was a piece of cake in comparison to the awkward waddle-shuffle Anna found herself employing in order to avoid uncomfortable tugs and pinches below. She arrived at her ajar bedroom door, rested her forehead against it for a full minute, and finally screwed up her courage.
If I'm stumped, I'll ask Punzie. I'll just...tell her...some truth.
With that, Anna bonked her forehead against the door, thrusting it open, and she shuffled into the brightly lit hallway.
Having just climbed the staircase with a basket of clean, folded laundry in her arms, Rapunzel heard a dull thud...and glanced down the hall. Eyes widened, and a tiny smile grew as she watched Anna shuffle out of her bedroom...all wrapped up her comforter.
A slow turn. Not releasing the fistful of comforter even as Anna drew her bedroom door shut again. She turned...
...and Rapunzel spoke up with a warm, curiosity-tinged grin. "NaNa?"
Face ashen, Anna let out a hoarse shriek and fumbled towards the far wall. Puffy, red eyes slammed shut, and she threw out her right arm even as she smacked against the wall and crumpled to the floor. The comforter fell away.
Eyes wide with fright, Rapunzel flung the laundry basket back over her head and downstairs as though it had burned her. "Anna?! What's wrong?" She raced down the hall and flopped down by Anna's side, lips trembling as she swept one shaky hand against Anna's cheek and the other gliding over her knees with a comforting squeeze. "Anna. Anna. NaNa, I'm here, baby."
Dizzy and with tears streaming down her face, Anna stammered hotly...but still leaned into the touch.
I'm bad. I'm gross. Everything's wrong with me and and and and and…
A deep, shuddering gulp of air. Red-rimmed eyes and trembling legs and desperate, loving trust.
"I'm sorry. Something's just...wrong...with me. And...I'm sorry, Rapunzel."
Present-day:
Lying in bed, Anna stared up into the dark...and at her splayed-out hands. Turning them over and over, bending one finger at a time.
So I told her. I wanted to...needed to...tell someone.
Zip. Zip. Small globs of webbing shot from Anna's left wrist, into her right hand...and vice versa. Zip.
Zip.
Zip.
Anna stared on, her cold dread from days prior a distant memory as each shot filled her with a new understanding...and curiosity.
And...nothing changed. Rapunzel, she's still the same Rapunzel. With me the whole way, always listening and understanding and...and...so patient.
Cheeks pinking, Anna flipped her ball of used webbing into the wastecan across her room...and shuffled her thighs together under her Hot Wheels comforter.
My fear...my being scared...that made it stronger. I couldn't calm down until she showed me that. Until she…
Fingers slid down, beneath the waistband. Curious...and unafraid.
Wanting.
Moments later, though, Anna licked her lips and let out a petulant growl. She rolled onto her stomach, flipped her pillow over with her free right hand, and mashed her face against the cool fabric.
She did her nurse-thing. Her...her love-thing. It wasn't...it's not...like that for her. She just…
Letting out a ragged, exhausted exhale, Anna let her eyes fall shut...but kept her left hand right where it was. No motion, just cupped...at the memory of another hand.
She just...helped me get off.
Frustrated heat rolled up through Anna's body, and she rattled off a string of fierce curses as she yanked her left hand free and smacked both against the mattress over and over again.
I MEAN SHE HELPED ME TO GET IT OFF GOD DAMNIT I FUCKING DESERVED EVERY SECOND OF THAT COOCHIE-WEB-HELL!
Just then, there came a knock at Anna's door, and Rapunzel's sweetly concerned voice carried through.
"NaNa? Sorry...are you okay in there?"
Anna let out a mortified exhale, turned to reply...and promptly yelped as the wheel-stilts holding up her bed all snapped simultaneously. The bed frame crashed to the floor and Anna took one great bounce, before smacking against the floor in a flail of limbs and squeals.
She loves me. I absolutely positively don't deserve it...but she loves me.
A miserable groan as Anna heard her bedroom door creak open.
"Sorry, Punzie."
A moment later, Anna froze and went limp on the bedroom floor. Rapunzel's fingers combing through her mussed-up hair scattered the fear and disgust...until only the love remained. An affectionate smile as Rapunzel clicked her tongue and surveyed the busted bed.
"My strong-lady."