Chapter 19: The Girl In The Photo

"What?" Anna wasn't sure if she heard correctly. What on earth did she say? Did she really say what she thought she said? She thought she heard Merida say that Elsa had been abused growing up? That wasn't all; she was accusing her father to be the responsible party. She couldn't think of a more absurd statement. As if her father could hurt a fly. She had no idea where Merida was getting this work of fiction. The whole thing seemed so ridiculous to Anna. It didn't fit at all with what she knew of her family.

Suddenly a rage built up inside of her. How dare she make such an accusation - and such a horrible one! This felt like a smear campaign and Merida was her father's political opponent. Either Merida was trying to be cruel – presumably on purpose – or this was some sick joke as if Merida was suddenly going to start laughing and say it was a mean joke. Anna did wait for Merida to announce that she was joking or something along those lines but it never came. Merida just kept giving Anna a serious look. Instead, Anna just gawked at her sister's friend. Surely this was a joke – a mean and cruel one, yes but a joke nonetheless – hasn't it? Silence fell between them as they locked eyes with each other. It was a while before either one of them spoke.

"Anna, I think –"

"Get out," Anna said simply but each word had anger pulsed through it.

"Anna, please, this is important!"

"Get out!" Anna basically yelled the words. Her anger was now getting the best of her. "That is a lie! My father isn't an abuser. My sister did not get abused growing up! This is just something you're making up! It's sick that you are."

"If you would just look at the file I gave you," Merida words were drowned out by Anna's words.

"Stop," she shouted. "Leave now and never come back, do you hear me?!"

Merida tried to protest – she even tried to force Anna to look at the papers in the folder. Merida shoved them towards Anna and forced them into her arms. In response, Anna walked over to her kitchen and threw the folders the rubbish bin to send a message to Merida. Merida simply gaped at Anna as she did this.

"Anna!" Merida exclaimed.

"Anna," Kristoff said softly.

Anna ignored them both. Instead she stood by the door and pointed at the hallway as if to signal Merida to leave. Merida stood her ground. It appeared that she was not going to leave without a fight and by god, she looked ready to give a war.

"Anna," Merida spoke firmly. Anna looked ready to tell her to stop but Merida forced her voice to overshadow Anna's. "Your response to this is to bury your head in the sand and to ignore everything. When is that ever a good thing? You can throw away the evidence. You can ignore what I say. You can even force me out of your apartment but it won't change a thing. Adgar Winters was a cruel, cruel man and if you don't want to believe that fine. However, it's like I said; you can't change it."

With that, Merida turned on her heel and marched out of the apartment. Good, Anna thought as she slammed her door shut. As Anna turned around, she saw that Kristoff was giving her a kind look. Anna looked at her boyfriend questionably.

"Anna, are you okay?" he asked her in a kind and gentle tone.

Anna was silent for a moment. "No, would you after hearing your father's name dragged through the mud?"

"Well, no," Kristoff said.

It looked like Kristoff wanted to continue the conversation but Anna just stormed straight back to bed. Kristoff sighed and followed his girlfriend. Anna headed directly to her bed and hopped into it. A sigh came from Kristoff but he didn't say anything. Anna knew what he wanted to say. Words like "are you sure" or "we need to discuss this" came to her mind when she thought about possible discussions she would have with him. She most definitely didn't want to discuss this. There was nothing to discuss anyway. The facts were clear.

Merida had come up with an ugly lie. Her father wasn't an abuser….wasn't he? Anna's mind started to spin. No, she was being ridiculous. Merida had obviously planted something in her head to think like that. He was an honourable gentleman who ran one of the most respected companies and families in the world. He was a kind and gentle soul. What Merida was saying about her sister, it was a pack of lies. It wasn't true…was it? Anna started to wrestle with herself.

Surely she would know if Elsa had been in trouble. Although, would she? She hardly spoke to her sister over the many years. She didn't even see her that often as she was away from boarding school. So perhaps it could be possible for something to go on in their house that she wasn't aware of. Stop being stupid Anna, she told herself when these thoughts crossed her mind. Elsa wasn't a stupid girl. If she was being abused, surely Anna would know and if not her, then their grandmother Ingrid Winters. Elsa would have said something to either of them. She wouldn't have willingly let it continue. Wouldn't she?

Anna twisted and turned in her bed while snores echoed from Kristoff. She couldn't rest. Her mind wouldn't let her. It kept pulling memories after memories – memories that Anna didn't realise she had – into her mind's eye. They all contained Elsa; Elsa having a broken leg, arm, Elsa crying and Anna walking in, Elsa being evasive and secretive. Then one particular memory came into view.

"Look Elsa! There's one left!"

Anna had noticed that there was one cookie left. Elsa smiled as Anna took the cookie out and started to nibble on it.

"So there is!" Elsa said in a cheerful manner.

Anna didn't get too far in eating the cookie as they were interrupted by their father storming in. He didn't notice his two daughters at first but then he gave them a small pat on their heads. He then went over the pantry and opened it. A small pause and then he turned around to face his daughters.

"You took the last cookie!" that was what he screamed and he screamed it at Anna.

Anna felt frightened. She didn't know what to do or think. All she did was eat a cookie. Was that really a capital offense? Apparently so. Still, why was making a big deal out this? The cookie was lying just in front of her. Anna had put it on the table when her father had walked into the room. If he wanted it so badly, he can have it. Anna hadn't had a lot of it – just a few tiny nibbles.

Her father advanced on her. Anna could feel herself trembling. She didn't know what he was going to do. Suddenly Elsa piped up. Suddenly it was her who was confessing that she had eaten the cookie. Their father changed his course. He was now advancing on Elsa. A hand smacked across her face. Elsa fell down onto the ground. Anna was shocked at her father's behaviour but she didn't say a thing. He didn't even give Elsa a second glance. Their father then left the room leaving Elsa on the floor and Anna in a state of shock.

Anna quickly sat up but she didn't stir Kristoff. Did she remember what she thought she was remembering? Surely not. This was just her mind playing tricks on her. A thought had been planted in her mind and that inspired her dream. That was all. Anna laid her head back on her pillow. However it was of no use. She still couldn't rest. This was starting to get more and more ridiculous. Anna carefully pulled back the sheets and headed into the kitchen.

She had to know.

"So, what do you think?" Elsa asked Jack.

They were both standing in front of one of their walls of their apartment. They were both in work clothes which were splattered with paint from the time they helped Caroline paint her garden fence. Jack's clothes were also quite grubbing from the number of DYI jobs over the years. The wall had several squares of different colours – some were blue, some were green and some were grey. They were both trying to decide which one would be the lucky winner and the prize was the main colour of their apartment.

"I have no idea," Jack said, shrugging.

"As usual, you are useless," Elsa laughed.

"Hey! I resent that remark!"

"You know it's true."

Jack let out a small laugh just as a knock was on the door. Both of them looked up and saw three figures standing in the doorway. They had left the door open so these three new guests were hovering awkwardly in the doorway. There was a man and women – obviously married – with what looked like a sixteen year old girl. The girl was carrying a dish of some kind. Jack and Elsa grinned at them.

"Hello," Jack said as he walked over and he shook the hand of the man and woman.

"Hello," the man said. "I am Tui Waialiki, this is my wife Sina and our daughter Moana. We are renting the place next door and we thought we would come and introduce ourselves as it looks like we will be your neighbours for a while."

"How nice," Elsa said. "I am Elsa and this is my husband Jack Frost. It is nice for you to come and say hello. We don't know anyone so it is nice to finally meet someone."

"Well we only just came up here ourselves," Sina said. "We've only been here for a few months and probably won't be for more than a few more."

"Oh why?" Elsa asked.

"Moana is on an exchange," Sina said giving her daughter a proud smile. "It is a quite a change from what we are used to. You see we are from a small Polynesia country."

"Like Samoa or the Cook Islands?" Jack asked. "I am afraid I don't know Polynesia quite well although I do know they are one amazing culture."

"Indeed it is," Tui grinned. "We are from a small island called Motunui. You ever hear if it?"

"No, sorry," Elsa said. "I know a few Polynesia countries but I have never heard of that one I am afraid."

"It's a beautiful island," Moana said. "Although I am quite taken by the sea that surrounds it."

"Moana is a sailor and a pretty amazing one too," Tui said. "Part of her exchange up here is doing courses on seafaring and several competitions that are coming up."

"How intriguing," Elsa grinned. "That sounds amazing."

"In honour of our visit," Moana handed over a plate. "It's Īnanga, whitebait," she added seeing the look on Elsa and Jack's face. "It's a Maori fish dish."

"How nice," Elsa popped the fish in the fridge. "How kind of you."

"Oh it's no problem," Tui said. "We have quite a good recipe for it. Some of Sina's relatives are from New Zealand."

"So, would you like to stay for dinner?" Elsa asked.

Anna walked through her darken living room. She must be mad to do this. If she does, she practically admits that there is some chance her father did what Merida claimed he did and there wasn't a single chance, not to Anna anyway. The likelihood of this being true is as likely as Jurassic Park happening in real life rather than a story on the big screen. Anna almost turned back to bed. This was – like it always has been – ridiculous, simply ridiculous.

However, Anna couldn't turn back. It was like some force was keeping her feet moving away from her bedroom. This mysterious force willed her towards the trash bin. It was like she had no control over her own body, mind. Anna's hand reached into the bin and pulled out the folder that she had thrown out only an hour before on its own. The folder was placed on the table while Anna sat down on the chair in front of it. She must be mad. She must be mad. By doing this, she feels like she is betraying her father. It was like she had taken a knife and shoved it into his back.

No, Anna almost pushed her chair away. This wasn't right. Even though her brain was saying to leave it alone, her heart was saying otherwise. The dream she had unsettled her in a way she never thought she could be. It kept playing in her mind. It made her unsettled, uneasy. Her fingers reached for the folder and before she knew it, they had opened it. Her eyes darted away from the papers inside. If she looked, she would be a horrible daughter. In her eyes, he had done nothing wrong – he was a good father, a bit unfair but isn't that the job of a parent? However, a nasty thought did occur to her. He was that in her eyes. Would her sister think the same? Well it was no secret that she didn't like him. That drew another question; why though? Was the answer hidden away in this folder? Was the answer to everything about her father's shooting in here too?

She drummed her fingers on the table. Her eyes still danced all around the room, never landing on what was in front of her. Well, she was either going to look and discover the truth or she could go back to bed and never know the truth. Anna continued to drum her fingers on the table as she thought about this – hard. Well, it wasn't like was going back to bed, not with this on her mind. That mysterious force from before was still in control of her. Perhaps the force that is controlling her was being led by that dream she had. That dream was very odd. She was sure it was a memory. If she accepted that, then perhaps there was something to what Merida was saying. Anna shook her head. That was absurd. Her father wouldn't do something like that.

Her father couldn't do that and the dream being a memory can't both be true. She sighed. It was finally time to find out the truth.

Anna looked at the folder. She wished that she would find what she thought she would find – maybe some half-baked story about some disgruntled employee who is trying to make out that her father was an abuser and that had serious flaws in it. However, a small part of her thought she knew what she would find.

Kristoff awoke in the very early hours of the morning. He yawned a little and his arm stretched over to pull Anna into a cuddle. However his arm hit the bed instead and he quickly realised that Anna wasn't in their bed. Where was she? He looked over to the clock. It showed that it was only five past five in the morning. By all accounts, she should be in their bed fast asleep. It was only then did he hear the sound of someone crying. That sounded a like Anna. What was she up for? Also, why was she crying? What had made her so upset? He quickly sat up, threw on his dressing gown and walked out of the bedroom.

He found his girlfriend sitting at the table with her hands running through her hair. Papers were strewn about the table and some were on the floor. She looked positively distressed and tears were leaking out of her eyes, staining her face which only made Kristoff upset. What had befallen her? Had this all to do with Merida's visit?

"Anna?" Kristoff strode straight to her. "What's wrong?"

"It's all true," Anna was in hysterics. It looked like nothing would calm her down. "It's all true."

"What is?" Kristoff knelt down in front of her and took her hand. "What is sweetie?"

"Look," Anna pushed papers of what appeared to be x-rays in front of him. Kristoff looked at them with a puzzle expression. The one that Anna had shoved in front of him looked like a broken arm – not that he could really tell. "They're all like this," Anna practically screamed the words. Her voice had gone very high pitch. Kristoff soon realised what she was saying to him. She shoved x-ray after x-ray into his face. Kristoff did notice that they all contained some injury or another. He quickly saw what Anna was saying now. He had finally caught on.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Kristoff asked, his voice shaking. "That your sister was abused by your father?"

"I guess," Anna said wildly. It looked like she didn't know what to say or do. She looked right at Kristoff. "You were closer to her than I ever was. Did you see or suspect anything? Was there anything at all?"

Kristoff thought hard. Had there been something that he overlooked? Well, he did know Elsa more than Anna but it wasn't much more. He hardly interacted with her. Well, maybe there was that one time when he studied at her place but he didn't notice much between Elsa and her father. Maybe this was a conversation better suited for Rapunzel or Merida. So Kristoff had failed to notice that Elsa had been in trouble this entire time. Well, that didn't make him feel any better. It gave him a horrible feeling in his stomach.

"No," Kristoff said after several long moments of silence. "All I knew that Elsa didn't much like going against your father. To be honest, now that I think about it, I think she avoided him as much as possible. Well, that is just speculation. I think you better talk to someone who knew her better – Merida or…or….or Rapunzel. They were closest to her after all."

"True," Anna said. She seemed to have calmed down a little but she still looked highly distressed. "I think I will give Merida a talk to and may chat to a doctor at the hospital. I want to have some weapons in my arsenal."

"Arsenal? Are you planning a war?"

"Yes," Anna looked determined. "If this was all happening, Elsa would have to see a doctor. These medical documents prove it."

"And?" Kristoff was a little lost but he allowed Anna to continue.

"Don't you see?" Anna looked more distressed. "If Elsa was seeing a doctor about her numerus injuries then someone must have allowed this to continue – not report it I mean which is the law in cases like this. That's why I want to see a doctor. To confirm that this wasn't some injury that could be passed off as something else. That it was just an honest mistake"

"I think that's a good idea."

Kristoff still couldn't get his head around what Anna was saying. If it was all true – and judging by what was in Elsa's medical files (it didn't take a genius to figure out that was Merida had brought) and the look in Anna's eyes – that a girl he knew reasonably well (it was hard to get close to her) was being horribly assaulted. It was hard to wrap his head around it all. Kristoff then quickly realised something. All this was bringing up the past and it had brought a thought as well.

"Do you reckon she shot your father to protect herself?" he said.

"What?" Anna said sharply. Then it looked like she was doing some serious thinking. "That never occurred to me. Did she? Oh my god, she did. He must have been angry that night. Oh my fucking god. He had tried to kill her didn't he? I knew there wasn't an intruder but the fact that it was him…"

Anna was in hysterics again and she couldn't continue. More tears came out of her face, staining her face even more than it was before.

"I think," Kristoff spoke his words carefully, "I think Elsa thought her life was in danger that night and took the shot."

Anna ran her fingers through her hair. "He was trying to kill her."

She kept repeating those words. It seemed like nothing would calm her down. Kristoff took her in his arms and she started to cry on his shoulder. Kristoff held her close and tightly. He started to cry too.

This had been an interesting night – well that was certainly one way to look at it.

"Are you okay Anna?" Zoë asked her.

They were eating lunch. After Anna's hysterical outburst in her kitchen, she had gone back to bed with Kristoff but she didn't get to sleep. Her mind wouldn't let her. Tears hadn't stopped coming down her cheeks all day. She had to hide them when she got to work but she did suspect that Zoë and some other co-workers have suspected that she was upset about something. Of course she was. Her mind wouldn't let her forget what Merida had told her or what she had seen. Elsa, poor Elsa, how could she not have seen it? How could she not have realised it?

Well, to be honest, she didn't see her very often. Anna was usually at boarding school and she didn't spend every holiday in Arendelle. She often journeyed to other places with a variety of friends. God, it was like she was trying to make up excuses for behaviour. Fact was, she had been a horrid sister to Elsa. She had bullied and yelled at her. She had accused Elsa of hating her, of killing their father to get at her. Anna hadn't been a sister to her at all. The truth was very obvious. Elsa had spent her life trying to protect her – why else would Elsa have gotten their father to send her away? In Anna's dream, she could remember so vividly their father advancing on her before Elsa protected her. Elsa must have realised what was going on so she arranged for Anna to get out.

There was no doubt in her mind now that Elsa shot their father in self-defence. She had been right about there being no intruders except she had been wrong in everything else. That night must have been Elsa's darkest night. What exactly had gone down, Anna may never know but she could guess. Elsa must have been attacked by their father – what caused it, Anna could only speculate – and she must have grabbed the gun and shot their father.

"What?" Anna suddenly looked at her friend.

She and Zoë were sitting alone in the busy hospital cafeteria. All their usual sitting mates were currently running about the hospital due to a bus crash. Some drunken idiot had crashed into a bus, injuring dozens and killing himself. Zoë and Anna were lucky in the sense that they were allowed to have lunch. They might normally not been allowed to – the others certainly wouldn't have.

"Anna, are you sure nothing is wrong?" Zoë asked her.

Anna had a nasty feeling that Zoë could read minds. She was giving her a stare that made it look like she was staring into her soul. Maybe Zoë had figured things out. Anna certainly hadn't been herself all day.
"Why ask such a question?"

Zoë sighed and put down her knife and fork. "Okay, first off you have been in a daze all day – you haven't been yourself all day. Second, you look like the weight of the world has come down on you – something is obviously bothering you. Thirdly, you haven't touched your food. You just been sitting there – poking at it. It's not like you to not eat. Lastly, you look like you have been crying all day and that you haven't slept a wink. I saw it the moment you stepped into work. So please, what happened? You know you can tell me anything."

Anna sighed. Should she tell her? She wrestled with the decision to tell her friend but something prevented her from telling her the truth. Her mouth opened to tell her but no sound came out. Why? She told Zoë practically everything such as her feelings for both Hans and Kristoff. Anna soon realised what it was that was stopping her. It was her own shame. Anna couldn't admit to anyone (other than Kristoff) about how she hated her own sister, called her a liar and practically stomped on her whenever she could only to find out that her sister was going through hell and protecting her at the same time. Anna felt foolish and wretched for her behaviour. She felt like she could die.

"Anna?" Zoë said,

"Uh, nothing's the matter," Anna quickly said. "Excuse me."

Anna got up from the table, leaving her meal uneaten behind her and a confused Zoë. She dashed towards her lockers. The lockers were on the other side of the hospital, so it was a bit of a distance to run. She passed several of her fellow nurses who she overheard saying things had calmed down in the ER which was good news for her – it would mean that she might not get paged by her boss. Once Anna was at her locker, she unlocked it and took out Elsa's medical files. She knew a fellow doctor here who could tell her what she wanted to know – if a doctor could mistake these injuries for accidental ones. When Anna first saw them, she knew they were bad but how bad, she didn't know. Hopefully this little meeting would answer everything.

Anna's feet soon led her up fifth floor which was the children's floor. She had a friend up here who was a paediatric surgeon. Anna had done been a nurse in a lot of her surgeries and she soon became a favourite. She soon came to the door which she was looking for and knocked. A woman in her early thirties with long raven coloured hair and a bright smile answered.

"Anna," she said. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Doctor Anker," Anna replied. "I have a question for you."

"Dare me," she said. "Sounds important." She checked her watch. "I have a surgery in an hour, so you got me until then." Doctor Anker stood back and allowed Anna to enter her office. Anna sat in front a magnificent desk and Doctor Anker sat in her chair. Behind the desk was a series of book cases and her accolades and degrees in nice frames. "Like the desk? It was a present from my husband."

"It's nice," Anna smiled.

Doctor Anker leaned back in her chair and stared at Anna with an inquisitive look. "So Miss Winters, what can I do for you?"

"Could you take a look at this?" Anna opened the folder and placed it on Doctor Anker's desk. "I need a professional opinion."

Dr Anker picked it up and carefully looked at each page, each x-ray. Her face darkened with every x-ray she examined. When Doctor Anker had finished, she closed the folder and placed in neatly on her desk and rested her hands on them.

"Whose file is this?" Doctor Anker asked. Her voice didn't show any emotion but had a worried underlying sound.

"A patient of a friend," Anna lied. "She wasn't sure on what was being shown."

"Ah," Doctor Anker raised an eyebrow at Anna but continued on. "Anna, please tell your friend that I am."

"It's not an accident?" Anna asked. "Like from say falling off a bike or a tree?"

"No," Doctor Anker said very firmly. She picked up one of the x-rays and showed it to Anna. It was an x-ray of Elsa's lower arm, wrist and hand. She placed it in front of Anna and pulled out a pen which she drew circles on fractures on the arm. "These are spiral fractures. They indicate a twisting force. These should at once raise suspicion of child abuse but that's not all." Doctor Anker then pulled out one of the x-rays of Elsa's femurs. "See this? It's called a Metaphyseal fracture." Doctor Anker traced the fractures with her pen. "These are known to be specific to child abuse cases. This is just the beginning of it."

"So any doctor should realise this is an abuse case?" Anna was tense for the answer.

"Yes," Doctor Anker said sternly. "If any doctor saw these and didn't inform the police, then they wouldn't just be helping a child abuser get away and allowing this to continue, they would be breaking their oath as a doctor."

So it was true. It was all true. She didn't want to believe it but it was all true. A part of her had been hoping that Doctor Anker would tell her that it was all in her head but alas, it was not to be. It was confirmed now. She couldn't ignore it anymore. That wasn't all. It should have been seen by a doctor but no police was ever called to their house. Not a single one over the many years had one turned up at her family's doorstep. This meant only one thing; whoever was treating Elsa must have known that she had been abused and didn't say anything. Could that mean that this particular doctor was being paid off not to say anything? Well, they could have been blackmailed but to Anna, a nice little sum of money here and there was more likely.

"Are you okay Anna?" Doctor Anker looked concerned. "Is this someone you know?"

"No," Anna said very quickly – maybe a bit too quickly.

Doctor Anker gave Anna a look that made Anna feel like Doctor Anker was looking directly into her soul. It was rather uncomfortable. Did Doctor Anker know that Anna was lying? Well, when had Anna been a good liar?

"Okay," Doctor Anker looked like she didn't believe it. She then checked her watch. "Oh I got to go surgery soon, is there anything else you would like to know before I head off?"

"Yes," Anna said. She knew that Doctor Anker did know that Anna knew the person they were talking about. It didn't take a genius to know and Doctor Anker was good with people. It's what made her such an excellent paediatric surgeon. "What would you do?"

"Well hypothetically if this is someone you know, then hypothetically I would talk to the doctor who treated this person as it's obviously been allowed to happen for many years. Judging by the dates on these files, it's been happening for about fifteen years. So the doctor must have known – and pretty early on based upon these files. I would talk to him and then call the police. This is all hypothetical of course."

"Of course," Anna said at a speedy pace. "What if, hypothetically, you were horrid to the person and feel awful but didn't know about what was really going on?"

"Well if it was me, I would try to apologise to this person. It's never too soon to rebuild bridges that have been burned."

"Thank you," Anna said. "I am really grateful for this advice."

"No problem," Doctor Anker got up from her desk. "Now I really got to run. Pity you haven't been assigned to my surgery today but alas, we all have to make sacrifices."

Both she and Anna gave a laugh. Dr Anker then handed back the folder and walked over to the door and held it for Anna. They walked together down the hallway for a few moments. Only a few small words were spoken between them as they walked towards the surgery wing. Anna's paged then suddenly went off.

"I'm wanted in the ER," she said as she read the page.

"You must go," Doctor Anker said. Anna started to set off in the opposite direction. "Oh and I hope you manage to sort things out with your sister."

"How do you…" Anna managed to splutter out.

"Trade secret," Doctor Anker tapped her nose. "Also if you are trying to hide who you are talking about, maybe check your files if there are the name of the patient anywhere."

"Oh," Anna said and watched Doctor Anker's retreating back.

Merida was sitting at the local Arendelle bar drinking. She felt quite depressed over the whole affair with Elsa and Anna. First off, she found out that her friend was being beaten and abused and then when she tried to tell Anna, she got her head bitten off. She may have been quite tactless and not sensitive but still, if Merida had been told that any of her brothers had been abused, she would have tried to find out as much as possible. Maybe Anna didn't think her father had been a horrible man. To be fair to her, she would react the same way about her own father.

Merida sighed and ordered another drink. When it arrived, Merida took a long sip. What was to be her next move? Merida started to think. Should she continue down this path? Well, if she gave up now, she felt like she was betraying Elsa if she didn't fight for her. So yes, she should even if it meant another round with Anna. So, yes, she should continue, but how? Maybe if she got more proof, Anna would have to listen then. The more proof she stacked up, it would be hard for her to knock them down. Well she practically had the smoking gun and Anna said not guilty as the verdict. So what should she do? An idea did end up coming to her. She could go see the doctor who treated Elsa. Perhaps he could shed some light on this whole mess. Yes, that would be a good idea. If he admitted it, then Anna would have listen… well wouldn't she? Surely Elsa's doctor would be a well-respected man, so maybe that could work in her favour. However, would she be able to find him? He could still be practicing and Merida knew where Elsa went to get her medical care, so that was something. First thing tomorrow, she would head there and see if she could find this Doctor Lewis.

"Merida?" Merida got a shock at the mention of her name. It brought her back to reality. She turned around and to her shock and surprise, she saw Anna standing right next to her. What was she doing here? Last time they had met, Anna had been yelling at her and throwing her out of her apartment. So what did Anna have in store for her now? Maybe a threat to force her to lay off this topic forever? Well that was very unlike Anna. Probably more like an argument that supported her father. That was more like her.

"Can we talk?" Anna's voice was soft and sincere which was very different to the tone that she had been using for. It didn't sound like Anna was getting ready for a battle. It sounded like she was ready to negotiate a peace treaty rather than dividing battle lines.

"Sure," Merida said. Merida wondered what was going through Anna's head or what she was going to say or do next.

Anna took a deep breath. "Firstly, I would like to apologise for my behaviour earlier. It was uncouth, immature and I would like your forgiveness."

"You've changed your tune," Merida said, "but I do understand where you were coming from. I made a horrible accusation against your father. I was insensitive to the whole thing. I should have come at it from a different angle. I do accept your apology but I doubt you need that. However, what has brought this on?"

Anna looked like she could cry right then and there but she stopped herself in time. "I have realised you are right."

"What?" that was the last thing Merida expected from her. "You have? How?"

"I did look at the medical files you gave me," Anna admitted. "Once I saw what they contain…" Anna's voice trailed off and Merida thought she saw tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Merida quickly said.

"Don't apologise," Anna said. "It wasn't your fault that I was such an idiot."

"You didn't know," Merida said simply.

"Still no excuse, I should have seen the signs," Anna looked extremely bitter. Anna sat down next to Merida and buried her head in her hands. Merida didn't quite know what to do. She patted Anna on the shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Look," Merida said and Anna looked up at her, "none of us knew. I didn't. Rapunzel didn't. Kristoff didn't. Even your family didn't know. So why go blaming yourself for something that no one saw?"

"Yeah but you didn't treat your sister like shit," Anna said. "I was an ass to her. If I had known…"

"You would have throttled your father?" Merida finished for her. Anna just shrugged and laid her head on the table.

"What should I do?" Anna said. "I feel so lost and confused."

"What about talking to Elsa's doctor?" Merida suggested. "I was thinking about chatting to him to help convince you. He may have something of interest to say."

"Yeah, a co-worker suggested that same thing," Anna seemed to improve at this, "besides, someone has to pay for what happened to Elsa. If it can't be my father and then maybe the next best thing."

"I agree," Merida nodded.

"However it still begs the question on what I do about Elsa," Anna became demoralised again.

"You could apologise," Merida shrugged.

Anna looked at Merida with a weird expression. "Apologise? Well I certainly want to but how?" I mean, where is she? It's like she's disappeared into thin air! It would be easier to find Amelia Earhart than her."

"This is true," Merida said. "So none of your family has mentioned that they were in contact with her?"

Anna shook her head. "The only person in my family she would probably contact is our grandmother but I doubt she would. I would have put money on her contacting you or Rapunzel which obviously hasn't happened."

"I think we need to figure out where she's gone."

"And also talk to that doctor," Anna added. "If I'm going to kill anyone, it will be him."

"What's wrong?' Kristoff asked Anna when she let out a sigh.

It was the next day and thankfully for Anna, it was a day off for her. Anna was currently on her laptop scrolling through the website of the local private doctor office that Anna and Elsa was always taken to whenever they got sick when they were growing up. She was looking at the list of the current medical staff at the doctor office however she couldn't find Doctor Lewis – the doctor that had been treating Elsa for her life in Arendelle.

"I can't find Doctor Lewis," Anna said to Kristoff. "I thought for sure that he would be on this site but he's not listed as one of the current doctors."

"Maybe just Google him," Kristoff suggested as he took a seat next to his girlfriend. "He could have retired or changed practices."

"True," Anna said as she opened up Google and typed his name in the search bar. Once the search results came up, she gaped at her laptop. She thought she would find stuff about his research or maybe something about him relocating to another job but not this. Instead, she discovered something very different.

"Doctor arrested for fraud," Kristoff read the top search result. "What the fuck?"

"I know," Anna clicked on the newspaper article. The article was from some years ago but it still proved interesting. "Doctor Samuel Lewis, an Australian born doctor who has been practicing in Arendelle, Norway for the last couple of decades, has been arrested today on charges related to fraud. According to investigators, Lewis has been accepting bribes from patients to alter their medical records. 'Lewis has been cooking the books for some time,' says the leading investigator Jakob van der Valen." Anna continued to gap at the article. This was the man who was treated her sister? He was a nasty piece of work it seemed. It wasn't just her sister; many other people must have faced his poor treatment skills and the repercussions that came with it. Well at least the doctor that had allowed her father to treat her sister so poorly was behind bars. Well, at least there was some justice in that.

"It says here that he has also lost his medical license," Kristoff said as he read over Anna's shoulder.

"Well it's no wonder," Anna said. "I think we need to pay the good ex-doctor a little visit."

"This looks good Mrs Frost," Sina commented on Elsa's cooking.

Tui, Sina and Moana were sitting around Caroline's dining room table. Elsa and Jack had invited them over to Caroline's as their apartment was nowhere near ready to have guests. It was only the five of them. Caroline had gone out to dinner with a friend so that meant they had the house to themselves.

"Oh please call me Elsa," Elsa said as she sat down opposite Jack.

"So how is the sailing going?" Jack asked Moana when they all started to eat.

"Great," she replied with a large grin on her face. "I have a competition in a couple of weeks in Hawaii. I am really looking forward to that. It's a race from Hawaii and up the coast of California. So have to keep practicing and practicing."

"Sounds fun," Elsa smiled.

"You guys should come out on the boat," Moana said. "Sailing just gives you a sense of freedom like no other."

"I'm not much of a sailor," Jack said with a nervous laugh.

"Aw, come on," Moana said. "You'll have fun. What about you Elsa? How are you on the open waters?"

"Not too bad actually," Elsa said. "My dad had a boat and he used to take me and my family out on it."
Elsa almost did a double take on the mention of her father. It had been the first time in nearly seven years that he had been mentioned. The memory of her family having a fun time on the Winter's yacht nearly brought tears to her eyes. That was one of the few happy times she could actually remember having with her father. She didn't let any of this show. She didn't want to explain herself to people she just met and these people were her new neighbours. It would be nice if they could just see her as the friendly neighbour.

Elsa sighed as painful memories started to surface.

"Is there nothing like the sea air?" Anna said with her arms thrown out. She took a long deep breath and closed her eyes. She was up at the bow of the boat. Elsa, meanwhile, was leaning against the railing on the starboard side, near where Anna was. Elsa was gazing out at a school of fish that was swimming near the surface.

"Yeah I suppose," Elsa said with a small smile at her sister.

Elsa looked back towards the sea. Some of her happiest moments were when they on their dad's yacht. It was quite a big boat and with just the three of board with a Captain and a few deckhands. The boat was two levels; there was the main deck (which was the level of the ship that you boarded onto) that a series of rooms on it which overlooked the water – these were rooms like the gym, command centre and a room to sit down and eat, then there was the lower deck which had all the bathrooms, pool, sauna and cabins.

"You two ready for a picnic?" their father had come out from the lower decks. He was rubbing his hands and smiling – actually smiling – at them. That was a sight not often witnessed by Elsa.

"Yes dad," Anna said.

"First up, a dive though," their father said as he gestured towards some scuba gear.

They were sailing around some of the islands that surrounded Arendelle. Some of them were occupied but today, they were heading to one of the unoccupied ones. They soon weighed anchor a little off shore. Elsa and Anna grabbed some of the scuba gear and popped it on over the top of their togs. Below them was a series of reefs that had numerous aquatic life. It was quite a lovely sight to behold. Elsa and Anna fell backwards off the boat and dived headfirst into the water.

Elsa used hand signals to ask if Anna was okay and she used hand signals to reply that she was. They swam down towards the reef which was a truly remarkable sight. Elsa and Anna spent a good deal of time examining the fish and the coral. Elsa liked these moments. She did enjoy spending time with Anna and these were some of her favourite moments. However, things always got in the way but here, under the sea, that all seemed to drift away. The water seemed to wash everything clean.

Eventually they had to surface. Elsa wished that sometimes she could just stay beneath the waves but alas, she couldn't. However, instead of a growl from their father, Elsa got a grin and some kind words.

"It's a great dive isn't it?" he asked.

"It is," Elsa nodded.

After they got changed, they headed onto one of the islands for a picnic lunch. It was one of the few times Elsa felt like a member of the family. She knew it was all to end soon but she decided to enjoy the moment.

"Elsa?" Moana's voice suddenly snapped Elsa back to reality.

"Oh sorry," Elsa faked a smile. "Just remembering the good ol' times on the water."

"Ah, I see," Moana grinned and she launched into another one of her sailing stories.

Jack seemed to be the only one who understood Elsa's sudden descent into silence. He kept nervously glancing sideways at his wife and Elsa did the same to Jack. They lock eyes and Elsa gave him a small nod to signal that she was fine. Moana and her parents didn't notice this exchange at all. They were too busy caught up in Moana's talk of a sailing trip.

"So you know your way on a boat huh?" Moana looked impressed. "So how 'bout it? A day on the waters?"

Elsa looked at Jack who shrugged. Elsa looked back at Moana.

"Okay, why not?"

Anna was waiting in a private visitor's room at the Arendelle Correctional Facility For Men. The room was small and nothing impressive could be said about it. Her fingers were drumming against the bench. Saying that she was nervous was an understated. Anna had to take some deep breaths to calm her nerves. She looked around the room for something to do. Thankfully her uncle was an old friend of the warden so that was how she managed to get a meeting with a certain inmate. In front of her was Elsa's medical file. She was going to get answers no matter the cost.

The door then opened, rather expectantly and Doctor Lewis walked in. He was no longer the suave doctor that she remembered from her childhood. Whenever she went to see him as a little girl, she always thought he was so put together. A handsome man and a private practice, Doctor Lewis seemed to have to all. Those days were far over it seemed. His dark brown hair was now cropped and it looked like the life had been drained from him. Well two years in prison could do that to a person. He looked quite thin as well – maybe he wasn't eating properly.

His hands were bounded by handcuffs but that was all. He wasn't a violent prisoner so it was no wonder that he wasn't heavily chained. The guards offered to handcuff him to the bench but Anna dismissed this idea. Well he wasn't dangerous and wasn't a threat. Doctor – well Anna supposed he was no longer a doctor – looked very surprised to see Anna sitting and waiting for him. Maybe he hadn't been told why she was there. Once he was sitting down, the guards left the room as per Anna's request. There was a small moment of silence before he broke it.

"Anna Winters," he said, "it is a shock to see you."

So he did remember her, good, that would make things so much easier.

"This is not a social visit," Anna said sternly. "I want you to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Keep in mind, I will know if you're lying."

"What is this about?" Lewis looked quite scared and nervous which was what Anna wanted.

"Elsa," Anna said simply.

"Oh," Lewis stopped dead at the sound of Elsa's name. He looked a little petrified. Good, Anna had unnerved him. Lewis knew immediately what she was talking about.

"You knew, didn't you?" Anna had to stop herself from raising her voice. That was a real challenge.

"Knew what?" Lewis said trying to keep his cool but Anna didn't think he was succeeding very well.

"Don't play dumb with me," it was getting harder and harder for her to keep her cool. "I know you let my sister's abuse slide and that is unforgiveable."

"Your sister wasn't abused," Lewis brushed it aside as if it was nothing. "I would have seen signs of it."

"So she was just clumsy?" Anna said this in the same throwaway manner that Lewis was talking in.

"That is one way to put it," Lewis said.

"Uh-ah," Anna said rather unbelievably. She then opened the file and took out an x-ray of Elsa's wrist. "This is an x-ray of my sister's wrist. You're a doctor – well you were one," Anna gave a short laugh but continued. "So you should notice the spiral fractures which indicate a twisting force as if someone grabbed her arm and twisted it. I've been informed that these should raise suspicions but then again, they could be easy to miss." Anna made sure to give him a look that clearly told him that she didn't believe that for a second. Lewis started to look a little shaky. Anna had him right where she wanted him. It was time to go in for the kill. Anna then pushed an x-ray of Elsa's femur. "See this? Well you should know it's a femur but it's what it shows that interests me. There are Metaphyseal fractures which to any professional would know that they are specific to child abuse cases." Anna watched Lewis started to sweat. She could have smiled but she decided against it. "Now my question is, were you lazy? Incompetent? Or just stupid to miss such obvious signs?"

"I am none of those things," Lewis's voice flared up. He was angry now. Anna knew that his pride would be his downfall. Lewis was a proud man and being in jail with his medical license being taken away would have severely damaged that. That was why Anna was poking at it with a rather large stick. It was fun to see Lewis unravelling.

"Then why didn't you speak up?" Anna thought she knew the answer but she wanted to remain in ignorance bliss for now.

"I think that is my cue to leave," Lewis said and he stood up and turned to leave.

"Okay but know this," Anna stood up too and her voice was no longer calm. Rage fuelled every single word. "I know the truth. I know that you let an innocent girl's life be destroyed and I want to know why. What was more important than that?"

There was a long silence. Too long of a silence. What was going to happen next? Was he going to walk out that door without another word or was he going to do the proper thing and tell her the truth?

"It was simple greed," Lewis said in a small voice. His back was turned towards Anna but she could hear his sadness in his voice. "Your father promised to fund my research and everything, provide a wealthy income if I kept quiet."

"So you sacrificed an innocent life in exchange for greed," Anna gave him a disgusted look. "That's the lowest of the low."

"Yes," Lewis said.

Anna couldn't speak. She was too angry to. She walked for the door but stopped when she came face to face with Lewis.

"Oh, just so you know this conversation was recorded," Anna said. "I'm sure the cops would love a recording of it."

"You…you," Lewis puffed up with anger. "You tricked me."

"In a way yes," Anna said. "You deserve it, you slimly piece of filth."

Anna left the prison feeling lower than she has ever felt in her life. So it was true, her father had bribed her doctor ad allowed her sister to face the wrath of their father. So what was she to do now? Both Merida and Doctor Anker suggested she face her sister. Well maybe it was finally time to do that.

Merida was waiting for Anna back at her apartment. She was currently pacing up and down the apartment, eagerly awaiting the moment Anna walked through the door. Anna had gone to the prison and Merida wished she could have gone with her but Anna had asked to go alone.

"Could you stop?" Kristoff asked in an irritated tone.

He was sitting at the table going over his books for his business. Since Kristoff owned his own business, he had to make sure all his ducks were in a row. It wasn't easy. Kristoff wasn't exactly the best in accounting. So sometimes he did make a few mistakes but thankfully Anna's family accountant was one of the best in Norway and could help out from time to time.

"No," Merida said. "Aren't you nervous?"

"Yes but I have my books to distract me."

Merida opened her mouth to do a snappy reply but the door opened instead. Merida and Kristoff looked over to see a demoralised Anna walk through the door. She looked as if the weight of the world was bearing down on her shoulders. Nobody said or did anything. They all just looked at each other. Anna soon collapsed into the seat next to Kristoff. He put his arm around her and she started to cry into his shoulder.

"That bad huh?" Merida said as she slid into the remaining chair.

"He admitted that it was all for greed," Anna managed to say through her tears. "He sacrificed my sister's life for a bit of money."

"So what do you wanna do?" Kristoff asked her.

"I want to kill him," Anna said.

"I'm sure you'll have to get in line to do that," Merida said. "I read in an article that he 'misdiagnosed'," Merida produced air quotes with her fingers when she said the word, "a woman when she came in to see him. Apparently her husband was poisoning her with arsenic and somehow this went unnoticed. This is only scratching the surface apparently."

"That fucking jerk!" Anna exclaimed. "Oh there is a place reserved for him in hell."

"So now what?" Kristoff asked.

"We find Elsa," Merida said, simply. "I want to get to know my best friend again. It's been eight years since I saw or talked to her. I don't want to make it nine."

"But do we have any clue on where she is?" Anna said. "For all we know, she could be on Mars."

"Well no," admitted Merida. "However we do know a few things."

"Like what?" Kristoff said.

"Like the fact Elsa wanted to be a lawyer. I bet she went to a decent law school so that narrows it down."

"Not really," Anna said. "That's assuming she managed to get into a law school but that's not the issue here. There are thousands and thousands of law schools around the world. What are we going to do? Call every single one of them and ask if they have an Elsa Winters as a past student?"

"True," Merida said biting her lip.

"There is one more thing that we have overlooked," Kristoff said. "What if Elsa changed her name? The Winters family are quite well known. She could have tried to get away from that."

"I doubt it," Merida said. "But Elsa could have gotten married and changed her name that way."

Anna looked a little odd at this. "Elsa….married? Well possibly but I never pictured her as the marrying type."

"There's a lot we don't know about her," Merida replied. "Maybe she is, maybe she isn't."
"Back to finding Elsa, what are we going to do?" Kristoff asked.

"Hire a private eye?" Anna suggested. "It's probably the only thing we could do."

"But what can a private eye do?" Kristoff said. "We don't have anything to go on. Maybe the three of us do a little digging and see what we can come up with."

"I like that," Anna said. "Let's do it."

"There is one more problem," Merida had suddenly realised something.

"What?" Anna and Kristoff both looked a little terrified.

"What about everyone else. Your aunt, uncle, grandmother, even Rapunzel. Surely they should know?"

"No," Anna said. "Not yet. I think we should keep it to ourselves for now. Besides, I don't know what Elsa would want. Would she want her personal business all over Arendelle? I think we should wait and see what she wants."

"Okay," Merida thought that Anna may be making a mistake. She did think that at least Rapunzel should know but it wasn't her decision.

Anna was on her Facebook page lazily going through her newsfeed. She sighed as she scrolled by some statuses that her work colleges had posted. There wasn't anything too interesting. Anna had been trying to find something she could use to help locate Elsa for the last couple of days but so far, it hadn't yielded anything. So, she was currently at the end of her tether. That was when Anna decided a little break would do her some good. So that was how she came to find herself on her Facebook page but that didn't stop her from hoping that something was going to strike her with inspiration. Come on, she thought to the universe, just give me something, anything.

A noise soon caused Anna to jump. Wild thoughts entered her brain, was something attacking her, was someone breaking in, was aliens trying to control her mind? However, the source of the noise turned out to be quite mundane. Anna looked wildly around for the source of the noise and soon determined it to be her cell phone. The noise was her phone telling her that someone was trying to call her. When Anna looked at it, she discovered it was her Grandmother (her mother's mother) Magdalena Lindstrӧm who Anna and Elsa called Granny growing up (Grandmother Ingrid Winters was called Grandma). Anna hadn't heard from her in a while so it was nice to get a call from her.

"Hi Granny," Anna said when she picked up the phone. "What do I owe this pleasure?"

"Anna, dear, Tyra has put up her photos and she doesn't have any likes on Facebook and somehow this is making her upset," Granny replied. "Could you go through them and give them a like?"

Anna could have rolled her eyes. Tyra, her cousin (the daughter of her mother's sister) who Anna and Elsa didn't have a lot to do with growing up due to their families not being close – as to why, Anna thought maybe it was due to their father distancing himself from his late wife's family. This was a shame because Anna wished she could have known her cousins, aunts and uncles a bit more.

Tyra was a bit (which was putting it mildly) obsessed with being popular especially on social media like Facebook and Twitter (and being a bit of a diva). She was desperate to get followers or likes of any kind – at any cost. Tyra had recently gone over to America and had posted a lot of selfies on her Facebook page. If her Granny was correct and she hasn't got any likes, Tyra would be crawling up the walls waiting for a notification of any sort. She had hundreds of Facebook friends, most of them Tyra had never met (Tyra spent a lot of time online) which only made Anna a bit worried about her internet safety. However, she never said anything because it wasn't her place to.

"Alright," Anna could have laughed. She typed in her cousin's name into the search bar on Facebook and clicked on her page. Tyra's profile picture was one of her many selfies and it was quite trashy which only made Anna roll her eyes again. A few dozen photos of her cousin's trip was the latest post (there were several posts of the trip including a bunch of check ins at restaurants, who she was hanging with, where she was going – that kind of thing). Anna started to scroll through them. Most of them were selfies which Anna grew tired of looking at but true to her word, she went through and liked every single one of them. Thankfully, there were a few pictures of landmarks such as museums or art sculptures that did look interesting.

"What are you looking at?" Kristoff walked through the door with his arms full of paper bags. He had gone shopping for groceries as they had desperately needed. Kristoff placed the paper bags on the kitchen bench and sat down next to his girlfriend.

"Oh Granny asked me to look through a cousin's pictures," Anna said. Her chin was resting on her palm and her elbow was digging into the table. Her words echoed just how bored she was looking through all the countless selfies.

"Who is this cousin?" Kristoff peered at her. "I don't think I've ever set eyes on her."

"Oh Tyra was never a close cousin," Anna said. "Her parents divorced when we were all young and her father returned to the states. Tyra went with him but she does come over from time to time. However, that wasn't all, Dad liked to distance himself from Mum's family, so we didn't see much of Mum's side of the family. In in all, Elsa and I never had much to do with her."

"Ah I see," Kristoff said. "Have fun flicking through the boring photos."

Anna sighed as she flicked through to the next photo which was a selfie on her cousin in a park with a fountain in the background. At least the park was nice. She nearly pressed on the arrow to take her to the next photo but something stopped her. Something had caught her eye. Anna took a closer look at the photo. Something was telling her to. Anna didn't know what but she decided to listen to it. Then, suddenly like wildfire, her eye saw it. Sitting on a bench by the fountain was a girl reading a book. She had her blonde hair done up in a braid that hung over her shoulder. Anna recognised her straight away.

It was Elsa.

A/N: Hey guys, I am back and with a new chapter. Sorry been busy - I am graduating on Monday, yaaaaaaaaay. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter - I did manage do some research so what Dr Anker should say in that scene. So Anna finally knows the truth and is trying to find Elsa. This story may seem to be fast moving but we gotta get on with it, so sorry for that. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please review!

Reviews:

jelsaforever101; I know it takes me a while to update but it takes me a while to get the chapters ready to go.

Zombieslayer; Sorry it takes me a while to update but I do my best.

Guest; The rest is coming!

JackElsaforeve; Aw, what a compliment, yeah it is about time, Merida had the brains to put two and two together to come up with four. Their problems will sort themselves out. Thanks, love ya too.

Blind Red Dragon; What a compliment, thanks for your help again, you are a godsend.

sanaa11; I hope her reaction was to your liking.

Kimchee2222; Of course, I know how much you love my cliff hangers.

FAIRY4LIFE; Giving you more.

start12345; Indeed.

AnthroDragon; Yeah the time skip was a necessary evil at that time. Mine too, glad you liked it. You could say something like that.

Guest; Thanks so much. You're welcome.

williambragg165; Thanks, will try to.

Silent reader; Will try to.