The two sisters were sprawled out on their couch watching TV, Anna with her head sideways on Elsa's lap and legs overhanging the couch's armrest, Elsa herself with her feet resting lazily on the leg rest. Elsa was mindlessly running her fingers through the half-asleep redhead's hair as she explored the cable guide with the remote in her free hand.

"Hundreds of channels and nothing good on…" Anna made a grumbling string of noises that Elsa couldn't decipher. "Huh?"

"I said just throw it on the news or something."

"And listen to how depressing the world is? Pass."

"Whatever… just don't stop." Elsa rolled her eyes and intentionally pulled her other hand free from Anna's hair. "Aww, come on."

"I have a better idea. You want to get something to eat?"

"I guess. What, like sandwiches or something?"

"No. Like actual food. We could go out to a nice restaurant, dress up a little bit, do our hair. It'll be fun. What do you say?"

Anna pulled her head up off of Elsa's lap and stared at her with a mild anticipation. "Can we… make it a date?"

"We go on dates all the time."

"We go out to eat, but never really as a date."

Elsa simply smiled. "If you'd like to, we can make it a date."

"Yes! I'll go get ready."

Anna hopped off the couch, the effects of nearly being asleep just a moment before clearly having no impact on her, and skipped to the bedroom. Elsa smirked at her sister's childishness and followed soon after to get ready.

The restaurant's dim lighting cast a romantic atmosphere over the room of tables and hustling wait staff. Music was quietly wafting in from some corner of the building they couldn't see, no doubt a harpist surrounded by greenery and a water feature. Pure speculation by Elsa of course, but she would be surprised if the cliché didn't hold when she sought out the source later.

A man with a dark complexion and even darker hair stopped in front of the table they were sat at.

"Welcome ladies. My name is Damien; I'll be your waiter for the evening. Might we get the night started with some wine perhaps?"

"I don't think so, but-"

"I'll have a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, please."

"I'll be right out with that." The waiter nodded his head with a smile and disappeared into the back.

Elsa swiveled her head over to Anna in surprise, their eyes locking for a moment before Elsa spoke out. "Since when are you a wine drinker?"

"Since a minute ago."

"Wait, have you never had it before?"

"Nope. Saw it on the menu, liked the name, ordered it."

Elsa stifled a laugh with her hand. "You're so going to hate it. Guarantee it."

"Yeah probably. But! We haven't been on a date in forever. Might as well try something new, right?"

"I'll uh, maybe."

"Oh come on, loosen up. You know what would help with that?"

"I can guess."

"Wine!"

"There it is."

Not long after, the waiter returned with an empty wine glass in one hand and a medium-sized decanter in the other. He sat down the glass in front of Anna and carefully poured in the wine, letting about half empty out before stopping.

He set down the decanter and turned his attention over to the blonde. "And how about you miss? Are you sure you don't want any wine for the evening? Perhaps just some tea or water?"

Elsa snuck a glance over at Anna who was happily watching her carefully, her expression of pure instigation.

"Actually, you know what? Wine does sound good. I'll take whatever the opposite is of what she's having."

"The, uh… opposite?"

"Yeah."

"Um, okay. Perhaps a Pinot Gris? It's a bit less-"

"Yep, that'll work. Thanks."

"Oh, alright… I'll be right back."

As soon as the waiter left the table Anna snickered at the absurdity that just occurred in front of her. "Wow."

"Yes, my dear?"

"You are so weird. The opposite of wine? Really?"

"Oh like you know anything about the stuff."

"True, but… the opposite of a drink is like… what? Food? It doesn't make any sense!"

"You said I should try new things, so I'm trying new things. Opposite-wine is something new for me."

"I think that's new for just about everyone."

"Then it applies."

Elsa finally lost her ability to hold her demeanor and let slip a slight smirk. Anna reciprocated before letting her focus start wander around the room.

"Nice choice by the way, Elsa. This place is pretty swanky."

"Thought you'd like it."

"I do." Anna reached forward and loosely grabbed Elsa's hand in her own. "And you look absolutely beautiful tonight, if I do say so myself. Well, you always do, but, you know."

"Well thank you. And you're as gorgeous as ever. I gotta say I'm loving the matching red dress, it suits you."

"Glad you noticed. Picked it out specifically for-"

They were jerked apart when the waiter returned with an identical decanter as before, but this one filled with a white wine. He again set a glass down carefully and filled it halfway, leaving the rest for Elsa to have at her discretion.

"Have you had a chance to look at the menu, or would you like a few minutes?"

"A few, yes. Thanks."

"Of course. Take your time."

Anna picked up her dark-red glass and lifted it just slightly. "To Elsa. My beautiful sister who I love more than I can put into words… actually I totally could though it probably wouldn't be appropriate for anyone here."

"Anna." Elsa whispered strongly at her and shot a few quick glances around at the surrounding table. Once satisfied with the relative disinterest of those around them she turned her attention back to the redhead who was still waiting with her glass over the table. Elsa rolled her eyes for the second time of the night, something she's grown used to doing around Anna, and extended her own white-glazed glass over the table.

"To Anna. My slightly annoying brat of a sister who clearly doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut-" She was interrupted by an obvious throat clearing but quickly continued. "But who has been my best friend my whole life and is now something wonderfully more."

Anna's playfulness faded away, replaced by genuine happiness and a content smile. They clinked their glasses together and took a sip of their wines. Almost immediately Anna contorted her face as she forced the red liquid down her throat followed by a shallow cough.

"Oh my god. Is that what wine is? Why do people drink this stuff?"

"No idea."

They enjoyed each other's company as the night quickly progressed, their overpriced Italian food soon eaten and their second wine glasses emptied. After finishing they gracefully stumbled their way out of the restaurant, Elsa finding delight in the fact that the harpist was, in fact, playing next to a small fountain, though no greenery.

They hooked onto each other tightly as they unsteadily walked back towards the apartment through the downtown streets under the moon-lit sky. Upon reaching its door Anna pulled out the keys and began jabbing the sides of the deadbolt, each strike forcing louder giggling out of the two of them. She finally managed to ease it into the keyhole and twist it open, nearly tripping once the resistance of the door vanished.

They dropped their purses and keys straight onto the wooden floor after closing the door behind them. After shedding the weight Anna pushed against Elsa against the wall and clumsily attacked at the blonde's lips with her own. Elsa moaned from the contact but interrupted the mood with a hiccup which sent both girls into another giggling fit.

"Come on."

Elsa grinned as she grabbed Anna's hand and led her toward the bedroom door. Anna gleefully submitted and let herself be pulled through the doorframe and pushed onto the bed where she gracefully fell face first into the bed covers.

She quickly rolled over and found her sister's eyes. "I meant to do that."

"Sure you did, Cleuseau."

"Huh?"

"Just kiss me."

Anna happily threw her arms around Elsa's neck and pulled her down onto herself.

The sun forced its rays through the slits in the window's blinds early the next morning and landed squarely on Elsa's eyes. The noise of construction from somewhere downtown pierced its way through her ears, painfully bringing her back to consciousness. She inched her eyes opened slowly, protecting her vision from the fiery ball of horridness and more importantly the instant pain it wrought somewhere deep in her brain. Through the slits in her eyelids she could see only red hair in a disheveled mess resting on the pillow in front of her. She blindly felt for a shoulder and then lazily slid a finger down the figure, ending at the pale girl's bare hip. She pulled her hand away and rolled onto her back while throwing an arm over her eyes.

"Hey. You up?" With no response she leaned herself up and had to immediately rest her head against her palm. The splitting pain, almost like electrical shock, was almost too much to handle at that moment. "…fuck."

"Hmm?" The girl beside her slowly groaned out and began to slightly shift some limbs around.

"Morning."

"Morning… what time is it?"

"No idea."

Anna managed to roll herself over to escape the same light that Elsa escaped from a minute earlier. She opened her eyes and sobered up almost instantaneously from the sight alone. The blonde was sitting up, unclothed, the bed's sheets resting over her bottom half.

"Oh wow."

Elsa was still recoiling from the splitting headache, unable to comprehend the comment for a few moments. "What?"

Anna simply tilted her head up and down which prompted Elsa to look down at herself. She tried to smirk as a response but the expression was quickly wiped away from another streak of electricity.

Anna shook her head. "You're so hot it's ridiculous."

"I feel so gross. How are you not in pain?"

"Pain? From what?"

"You don't have a hangover? Seriously, are you not human?"

"Oh… right. Weird. I guess I just handle my alcohol better."

"Fantastic. What even happened last night?"

"Well…" Anna looked down at herself and then back at her sister. "We're completely naked and it smells like sweat in here. I think you can put two and two together."

Elsa groaned. "It's fuzzy, and I can only remember things here and there, but I suppose you're right."

"Bet it was amazing too."

"Probably sloppy as hell since we were both so shit-faced."

"Sloppy is good."

"Gross."

"Hey, you said it." Anna chuckled and leaned forward to give a quick kiss to Elsa. "I know I tell you it a lot, but I love you."

"Love you too. Now go make us some coffee would you?"

"Sure."

Anna slid her legs over the edge of the bed with a groan and gently slid herself off until her feet took her full weight. She shuffled over to the dresser and opened the top shelf, pulling out a pair of underwear and a loose t-shirt. She shimmied herself into both of them and headed out into the kitchen. She threw coffee grounds into the machine, filled the water tank, and flipped it on. Once it buzzed at her she laid two filled cups onto the counter and started sipping at one.

"Come get it!"

Not a minute later a half-asleep Elsa carefully wandered her way out next to her and grabbed at the remaining mug.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

They stood in silence for a while next to the countertop, the noise from the construction still making itself the primary sound in their apartment.

Anna was the first to break the dialogue silence and shifted her focus toward her sister. "Hey, so… I wanted to talk to you about something."

"That… doesn't sound good."

"Depends who you ask." Anna ignored the sudden eyebrow raise. "Anyway, you remember that night when I went to your work with Naya?"

Elsa scoffed. "How could I not?"

"And do you remember what we talked about right outside?"

"I'm not-" Though her mind was slow to remember it suddenly clicked. "I do."

"I still want to. Last night was amazing and just reinforced how madly in love with you I am, and how much I want to share that."

"Good to know I have that effect on you."

"Elsa, I'm serious here."

"I know you are, Anna. And I remember what I said. And… for some reason, I'm still moderately okay with that."

"Really?"

"I am. Though I'm still not particularly thrilled with the idea, I understand. And should you still want to-" Elsa was interrupted by a squeal from the redhead. "Which it appears you do, I'll support you. Though, again, only to Naya."

"Oh my god, you're the best sister ever." Anna pulled Elsa into a bear hug and squeezed her until she was positive she heard her back crack. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. But now I'd like to breathe again."

"Right…" Anna eased up on her grip and took a step back. "Sorry."

Elsa chuckled. "It's okay. So, any idea how you're going to do it?"

"Oh, uh… no. Not really."

"Also, I would like to remind you that she still doesn't even know I exist."

"Shit, she doesn't, does she? That's gonna make things complicated."

Elsa scoffed at the understatement. "Yeah, maybe just a little bit. How about telling her here?"

"That's… not a bad idea actually. I could invite her over for fun or food or something, then announce our… whole thing. Would have to explain the sister part though too." Anna groaned and dropped onto the sofa. "Why is this so hard? I just want to be a normal couple and not have to go through all this."

Elsa casually walked over toward Anna's area of frustration and sat against the couch's arm. "You know, normal couples go through stuff too. Granted, our relationship is a bit… unique, but we'll get through this. And once it's over you'll be relieved and can carry on being your happy self."

"Yeah?"

"Promise." She leaned over the still apprehensive sister and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Want to go give her a call?"

"What? So soon?"

"Sure. I'm assuming that since you now have permission, you'll procrastinate as much as possible in actually going through with it."

"I take offense to that."

"Sweetheart, you put everything off as much as possible. I'm surprised you didn't put off being offended until next week."

"I… but-"

"Shut up and go call her."

Anna groaned as she rolled onto her feet and begrudgingly walked over to the kitchen counter. "I hate you."

"Love you too."

Anna just rolled her eyes as she unplugged her cellphone, turned it on, and dialed in Naya's number. Though she knew she wanted to, she couldn't force her thumb to do anything more than just hover over the 'call' button. The room faded away as she stared at the glowing screen, a slight compression slowly building in her head causing her focus to waver. The sudden feeling of a hand on her shoulder violently pulled her from her daze and she jerked to the side.

"Hey... it's okay. Relax."

"Sorry. I'm just- I just thought this would be a lot easier, you know?"

"I think you were just excited by the idea of telling someone, but you never really thought about how much you're putting yourself out there. How vulnerable you'd be making yourself. Especially with Naya."

"Yeah. Maybe." Anna shifted her focus to a mile beyond her phone, her eyes unblinking. She took an inhale then a deep exhale and spoke again, though with a more solemn infliction. "If she doesn't… you know, after I tell her, I don't- I don't think I could handle that."

"Anna, no matter what happens, I'm here for you. You know that. But, if you really are that worried, then maybe you should put it off for a while."

"But if I do, then I worry that I'll just keep putting it off."

"It's possible."

"…yeah."

Anna resettled her gaze onto the phone lying flatly in her hand. Again she stared at it, reading the name of her friend along the top and her phone number in big numbers below that. She sighed and let her thumb fall onto the call button and raised the phone to her ear. She looked nervously toward Elsa for a moment then focused onto the floor while listening to the ringing through the earpiece. Just before she the voicemail kicked in, something Anna secretly wanted to happen, a click interrupted the repetitive sound and a voice took over.

"Hey, Anna. How's it going?"

"Oh, hey Naya. Going… good. How're you?"

"Doing alright. Just lying on my couch watching my show. What's up?"

"Not much. I was just, uh, wondering if you wanted to, um…" She peered over at Elsa who gave her a gesture indicating to keep going. Anna nodded hesitantly and looked back at the floor. "To come over for dinner. At my place."

"Dinner? Yeah, sure. Sounds good."

"Okay. Cool."

"You want me to bring anything?"

"I, uh-"

The voice on the other end of the line waited a few seconds after the silence suddenly began before interjecting. "…Anna?"

Anna shook her head and squeezed her eyes closed. "Oh, uh, no. I'll handle it."

"…you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. What time did you want me to head over?"

"How about, um, seven? –ish?"

"Sevenish works. Sure you don't want me to bring anything?"

"No, really. It's fine."

"Well, I'm still going to bring some wine or something. I can't show up emptyhanded."

"Actually, yeah. That'd be good… we'll probably need it."

"Well of course, everyone needs wine."

"True... anyway, I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"

"Yep, see you then."

"Bye."

Anna quickly let her hand fall from her ear and used it to rest against the kitchen counter, the phone now pinned between the two. She stared at granite surface a moment longer, realizing now that there existed a countdown that didn't just a moment before.

"Shit."

"What? What is it?"

"What do you think? Naya's coming over tonight."

"…yeah. That was the point of that call."

"No, but see, Naya is coming over. Tonight."

"I understand that, Anna."

"Do you?"

"Of course. This is what you wanted. I also understand that you're freaking out because the time is nigh." Elsa smirked as she couldn't help but play with her sister's emotions just slightly.

"Oh my god, don't go all Poe on me. And yes, obviously I'm freaking out. There's a lot riding on this and I'm just a tad bit nervous. So sue me."

"Alright, alright. Relax, I get it. I'm just poking fun."

"Well don't."

"Okay. Sorry." She gently pressed her hand under the side of Anna's chin and tilted her head toward herself, forcing a moment of concentration. "Tonight will probably be a bit hard for you, but you yourself told me before that coming out to Naya was a huge relief. So will this, even if just a bit different. And if you recall I helped you through that one, just like I will for this one. You got this."

Anna let the words sink in as she stared into Elsa's blue eyes, her head unconsciously beginning to nod up and down in agreeance. "I do, don't I?"

"Absolutely."

"Yeah… alright. I can. It's just like before, just a thousand times harder. That's all."

"Anna."

"Just kidding… sort of. Not really. But I know you're right, you always are. I'm just gonna have to do this whether I like it or not."

Elsa simply smiled before leaning in to kiss the obviously nervous redhead hoping to reassure her. Anna returned the caress, almost desperately, and then pulled Elsa into a hug.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I guess I kinda pulled a one-eighty with this whole thing, huh?"

"It's okay. I would've been surprised if you hadn't." Elsa raised her head from the nook in Anna's neck to look toward the kitchen. "You know, Naya is going to be expecting dinner."

"Can't we just order some takeout or something?"

"No we can't do takeout. Come on, let's get some prepping started."

As the day quickly progressed and the sun began to set Anna's pacing began to hasten, her focus obviously not solely in the kitchen. The two managed throw together an Italian chicken recipe as the primary meal along with oven chips and green beans nearly already cooked. They had discarded the remnants of chopped vegetables and were in the process of cleaning off the counters when a knock on the door practically stopped Anna's heart.

Anna shot a death-glance at the clock that displayed a bit before seven. "She's early! What the hell?"

"Whoa there, calm down. She was going to show up soon anyway."

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts."

"Yes buts! All the buts!"

"Anna, you don't want to be a rude host and keep your guest waiting now, do you?"

Anna rolled her eyes and grumbled as she slunk towards the foreboding door and began undoing its locks. "I'd rather slap some more locks on it instead of having to… Hey!"

Naya stepped forward through the now open door and gave Anna a side hug, her other hand occupied with a bottle of wine. "Hi, love."

For a moment, if not just a split second, Anna's pulse slowed. "Glad you could make it."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it." She let loose her arm and pulled it back around in front of her. "Hopefully this'll suffice."

"No idea, but looks good."

"Oh right, forgot you're not much of a drinker. Well I'd be happy to-" Naya's focus suddenly shifted away from Anna and onto a blonde that had just stepped from around the corner. "Well who's this?"

Anna twisted around and then back toward Naya. "Oh, uh… this, is, Elsa. Elsa this is Naya."

"Pleased to meet you." Elsa stood proper and held out a hand toward the guest.

"You too." Naya shook the outstretched hand. She then narrowed her eyes at the girl for a moment, setting Anna needlessly on edge. "You look really familiar…"

"As I should. I believe we sort of met a couple weeks ago."

"Did we? I don't- oh shit! You're the hostess Anna couldn't stop gushing over."

Anna immediately blushed and involuntarily started rubbing the back of her neck after stealing a glance toward Elsa. "I don't know if I gushed."

"Oh please, don't be modest." She pointed a finger at Anna and looked straight at Elsa. "This one wouldn't stop talking about you the entire time we were having breakfast. You pretty much turned her back into a school girl. It was adorable."

"Alright alright, enough already."

Naya chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "Just sayin'. Anyway, nice to meet you again. Are you going to be having dinner with us?"

"Yes. I hope that's okay."

"Absolutely. Though I am upset that Anna didn't tell me you two were together… which I assume you are. I knew you guys went on a date but never heard anything after that."

"I, uh- I just didn't want to go blab on about us really."

"Anna not wanting to blab? Really? That doesn't sound like the Anna I know."

Anna cleared her throat and quickly looked around at nothing and everything. "So, uh, should we pour some wine? Dinner should be done in a bit."

"Yes!"

Elsa went to retrieve the wine glasses while Naya toiled away at trying to uncork the bottle. With some effort the cork was finally freed and the smell of fermented grapes and hints of other fruits saturated the air between the three girls. Naya raised her glass and signaled for the other two to do the same.

"To Anna and Elsa. For hosting this lovely dinner party and being just cool people in general."

"Thank you. And to being cool." Elsa grinned and pushed her glass against the other two, Anna still nervously joining in.

Over the course of the night, meat was devoured, vegetables were shred, and wine was imbibed rather freely. They chatted mostly about pop culture and the occasional mention of fashion, the mood getting steadily cheerier as the alcohol invaded their bloodstreams. The white fluff ball they called a cat even made an appearance which instantly elicited sounds of toddler talk from all three.

Once the table had been full of empty plates and glasses for some time and the chatter had begun to slow, Elsa softly kicked Anna underneath the table. Anna shot a glare at the blonde who responded with a throat clear and a head tilt toward Naya.

Anna's demeanor flipped, like a light switch, to something particularly gloomy and especially timid. She nodded minutely and turned her attention over to Naya with her heart in her throat.

"So, Naya, how'd you like the dinner?"

"Oh man, the food was amazing. Never thought I'd say it, but goat cheese is fantastic. As was everything else of course."

"Good, glad you liked it."

"Absolutely. And thank you again for putting this on. It was nice to get out of the house for a while."

"No problem. But… there may have been a slight ulterior motive for this."

"Uh oh." Naya was still on the verge from giggling from the conversation just prior. "Is this like a timeshare thing or something?"

"Yeah, 'cause we're totally into that stuff. Truthfully though... I'm not really sure how to- to bring this up, but I need to tell you something."

"Okay… that doesn't sound good. What's up?"

"It's nothing bad really, just something I'm going to have to bring up eventually."

"Anna, I know you're gay. We've been through this." Naya chuckled stupidly.

"Yeah, yeah. It's not that. Well, actually, it sort of is. Maybe."

"…you're very confusing. Is this something to do with your lady friend here?"

Anna was slightly taken aback by the guess. "It does actually."

"So what is it?"

"Well… when we saw Elsa the other week at the restaurant-"

"When you gushed like mad."

"Yes, whatever. Anyway, that wasn't actually the first time I've seen her. We've actually known each other for quite a while."

"Oh. Really? Then was that whole charade about?"

"Just fun and games. I like to mess with her when she's at work sometimes."

"Okay, so what? Is she like an old friend or something? You're beating around the bush here an awful lot."

"Sorry. It's just that… Elsa and I have been dating for quite a while actually."

Naya scrunched up her face in surprise. "What? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"…okay. Well I had zero idea."

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"It's fine. Really. But how long is 'quite a while'?"

"A little over two years."

"Hoooooly. Didn't expect that. Wait, that doesn't make sense though. I've known you for two years. How come I've never seen her before? Like, ever?"

Anna glanced over at Elsa, dropped her head for a moment, and then looked back up at the third girl. "There's a second part to this."

"…this is sounding ominous again."

"I know. Look, you've never met Elsa before because- because we didn't want anyone finding out about our relationship."

"And again, I know you're into girls. I honestly truly don't care."

"It's not that."

Naya stayed quiet in hope of an explanation.

By this point Anna's heart was beating loudly in her ears, her breath almost matching the same rhythmic speed as her pulse. Her stomach was in knots and her entire being was telling her to run, to stay hidden, to just shut her mouth and never say a word.

"I've known Elsa for a very long time… my entire life actually."

"Like childhood friends?"

"Not quite." Anna took a deep breath and exhaled just as strongly. "Alright, I'm going to tell you something that's very important to me. It's also a very sensitive topic, and I just- I don't want you to freak out. Please."

"I'll try not to. Really."

"That's… I guess all I can ask for."

Every ounce of her was again screaming at her to just shut up, that this couldn't possibly be worth the risk. She wanted desperately to give in to those voices, nothing else could possibly top that desire at this moment. She stared at Naya, her silence intensifying her nerves and anxiety from the obvious expectations, the same expectations she herself instilled in Naya just a minute ago. She hated that she did that and wanted to rip them back out of her and just pretend this entire thing never happened, that it would never happen.

Anna was torn from her rambling chaotic thoughts and guttural pain when Elsa draped her hand across Anna's waist and pulled her into a mild embrace. Anna jumped a little bit from the unexpected contact but quickly relaxed into Elsa's side. Her mind also managed to slow down and regain some sort of traction back into the world of sanity. She stared into Elsa's eyes, eyes that showed no signs of anything but love and encouragement. She smiled weakly and turned her attention back to her friend who was still waiting silently.

"Naya… Elsa is my sister."

Anna watched helplessly as Naya started undergoing a clearly turbulent series of thoughts and realizations. Her face stiffened but her eyes still darted around at the two sisters, yet miles beyond them. Her mouth was agape and was barely twitching, no doubt the mind controlling it attempting to formulate some sort of response but unable to do so.

"You're freaking out."

"No, I just- it's not like, you know, it's, uh-"

Anna couldn't help but feel discouraged at the response, but was ultimately unsurprised. "You don't have to say anything. It's fine. Really."

"No… it's- it's- it's just a lot to take in is all."

"It is. Sorry. I don't-"

"I didn't even know you had a sister, Anna. That's pretty fucking huge. I've known you for a couple of years now and I never would have guessed. How could I have? And then you just, what, spring that you're dating her too? That's even huger, like holy shit huge. I don't even, it's… I don't-"

"You're right. It is huge. And again, I'm sorry for the way I handled it, but honestly it's not something you can really tell someone lightly."

Naya scoffed. "Yeah."

Any ounce of Anna's optimism that she had left was dashed by her friend's tone. "I just… when I came out to you before, it was the freest I've felt in a long time. Like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. And when I finally convinced Elsa to let me tell someone about us, I knew right away it was going be you."

"Well lucky me."

"Please, I'm trying here. This isn't easy for me either."

"Then why tell me if it's so hard?"

"Because I love her! Because I'm sick of hiding her like she's some sort of dirty secret. Please, Naya, I'm opening myself up here… far more than I'd ever do with anyone else. If you can't-" Anna choked back the building tears to prevent her emotions from cracking her voice. "I need you to be okay with this. If you're not…"

"And what if I'm not?"

"Naya… please."

"This is all so… messed up. I- I need time. At least give me that."

Anna simply nodded her head and held back her tears the best she could. "Okay."

Naya gave the two sisters one last look-over before opening the door and heading out of their small apartment. As soon as the door closed behind her Anna immediately collapsed to her knees and sobbed into her hands. Elsa quickly knelt down and wrapped her arms around her, letting the redhead's tears soak her shoulder.

"I'm so proud of you sweetheart. I'm so proud of you…"

Sleep couldn't come fast enough that night. Anna lied in bed regretting everything she said, the entire situation and Naya's reaction playing in her head over and over again like a broken record player. Elsa tried her best to console her defeated sister, but eventually relinquished that attempt and instead draped an arm across her and pulled her tight. Though a simple gesture, it was enough to calm Anna's racing mind, at least for the night, and allow for some stillness to take over and for her to eventually fall asleep.

"Why won't she text back?"

"You texted her literally an hour ago."

"That's plenty of time."

"Anna, have patience. She needs time to figure out her thoughts. Don't rush her."

"I know, I know." Anna jerked her gaze away from Elsa and focused on her phone again. "But what if it didn't go through or something. It can happen and I'd never know."

"Stop worrying."

"Oh yeah, no, you're right. I mean, I only told her the single most important secret of my life. One that she could easily use as blackmail or something. But no, absolutely, I should just stop worrying. Easy peasy."

"Yeesh, alright. Sorry. Don't let your blood pressure sky rocket."

Anna simply gave her a glare and then noticed the clock on the wall behind Elsa. "Oh shit, I need to get going." She grabbed her backpack off the chair and ran over to pull her sister into a kiss. "Sorry about everything. You know I still love you."

"I know. Love you too. Now go, you're going to be late."

Anna slung the backpack over her shoulders and hurried out the door. She skipped down the stairs, opting out of the potentially slower elevator, unlocked her bike from the cage on the sidewalk just outside the apartment building's front door, and took off toward university.

The time ticked a couple of minutes past ten by the time she reached her first class' room. She quietly pushed her way through the door and tried to make herself invisible as she shuffled pass an entire room's full of students listening carefully to the teacher up front. She took her seat at the far end and pulled out her notebook as well as a pencil and her phone, still anxiously hopeful for the desperately needed response.

The professor proceeded through his day's lecture, every sentence crafted and perfected over years of continuous teaching. The notes he wrote on the board were copied verbatim by Anna into her opened notebook along with therapeutic scribbles within the margins, most of an incoherent nature. It was nearing the end of class when the phone at the corner of her desk vibrated and lit up for just a moment. Anna glanced down at it only to see a notification of a text message with Naya's name alongside it.

"Fuck."

She immediately ducked her head down once she realized she whispered it out loud, scanning around at the nearby students in embarrassment. Her reaction was one of surprise, perhaps excitement, or maybe nervousness. She wasn't sure, but whatever was swirling around in her head forced a hesitation into her movement toward the phone.

She picked it up slowly and opened up the message.

We need to talk. Meet me under the tree by the sundial.

The swirling emotions spiked and held their intensity. She started tapping at the screen to write back an unfettered response that was excessive, even by Anna's standard. Once finished she read it over, erased the entire thing, and responded simply after deciding that less was more.

Okay.

The last fifteen minutes of class were a mess. Her thoughts were everywhere but the teacher's words and an electrical charge was continuously traveling up and down her body, causing her hands to shake mildly and her leg to bounce incessantly. When the teacher finally announced that class was over Anna spastically threw her items back into her bag and headed out the door in a sluggish hurry.

As she walked down the main pathway that cut the campus into two, her mind raced through every possible scenario that could occur in just a few minutes. She shook her head clear of the bothersome intrusions and tried to focus on her feet as she kept shuffling one in front of the other. They eventually led her around the corner of a red-bricked building and to an opening of trees and grass. The wind produced a symphony of sound through the leaves of the canopy which also broke the sun's rays into a flowing pattern not unlike water. Under one especially large tree sat the sundial, rendered useless half of the day due to the overhanging branches, though it was of no concern now as Anna spotted her friend pushing herself to her feet next to it. She took a few heavy breaths and finished the journey up to Naya.

Anna involuntarily let one arm hang lifelessly down her side while the other grabbed onto it. "Hi."

"Hey." Naya appeared just as uncertain. "Okay, so look, let's just get to this. I've been thinking a lot about what you told me the other night."

"Okay…"

"And I'm still not happy with you. Pissed really. How could you hide that you had a sister for so long from me? That's a pretty huge fucking deal."

"I know. And again I am sorry. I really didn't want to do it. It was more out of necessity."

"I disagree, but I get it. I do. It just seems like you could've gone about it better." Naya looked for response out of Anna but received nothing but silence and look of embarrassment so she moved on. "Now… about the other thing."

"…yeah."

"So, and I don't want to be mean here or anything, I really don't. But all of… that, between you two, is just messed up, you know? It's like-"

"No, I don't know. Please tell me."

"Anna…"

"No, I'm serious. I want to know why you think me loving my sister is messed up."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what?"

"Fine, you want me to be honest? You having sex with your sister is what's messed up. Your own sister."

Anna could feel heat rising in her forehead. "We're both adults, we know what we're doing. Why is that messed up again?"

"Because… it just is. She's family, you don't fuck your own family. Inbreeding and all that shit."

"Yeah, because Elsa and I are really gonna have to worry about getting pregnant."

"You know what I mean."

"I honestly cannot see the problem, Naya. You yourself just said it's wrong just 'because it is'. What kind of answer is that? That's not an answer."

"It's… it is. Sort of." Naya pressed the palm of her hand against her eye and pushed hard. "Look, I don't know, alright? Look at this from an outside point of view and you'll get it."

"An outside point of view, huh? Alright. Here's what I see. I see a girl who appears pretty happy on the outside and seems to have her life somewhat on track, but on the inside suffers from an incessant black fog that never seems to dissipate, droning on and on weighing heavier day after day. A girl who wants nothing more than to sit in the corner with her head between her knees at parties or social events, to just stay at home and lie in bed hoping the sun will shine through those clouds someday. Do you know that feeling, Naya? Of having your head under so much pressure some days from that fog that you'd be willing to do anything to make it stop?"

Naya shuffled her feet and glanced away. "No…"

"It's terrible. It hurts. It physically hurts. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But everything I just said I guess I should say isn't actually true. I don't see her anymore. Instead I see a girl who is actually genuinely happy. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too. A girl who can go out now and actually want to be there instead of in another room with the lights off. It's liberating. And do you know what changed, Naya? I'm willing to bet you do."

"I can guess."

"Elsa. Elsa happened. My sister has been the only constantly good thing in my life. She was there to get me through school, to help me deal with bullies…" Anna was trying her best to hold back her tears, though the shimmer in her eyes gave away her true emotions. "She was there to help pick up the pieces when our parents died. I owe her so… so much."

Anna sniffed and rubbed away some escaping drops from her eyes. "She was helping me through a panic attack this one time… a couple of years ago. I was curled up in the bathroom freaking out and she was there by my side, like always, telling me that everything was going to be okay. Once I was finally through it she simply smiled and said, 'See?'. I don't know, it was just the way she said it that made it seem like the entire last half hour was nothing to be embarrassed about. It was right then that I knew I felt more for her than normal. And to be honest it was weird, sure, but I didn't care at that moment. I just leaned in to kiss her. I couldn't help it. And even more weird is that she didn't resist or push me away or anything… instead she kissed me back."

Anna sharply inhaled and let it out slowly as a labored breath. "I never expected to see her as more than my sister, Naya. I really didn't. It just happened. And it's not something you can see or expect to understand from an outsider's perspective. It's impossible. But I at least hope you can see why I don't see it as 'messed up'."

"I…" Naya exhaled. "I don't know what to say."

"Look, you don't have to be okay with it. I honestly don't expect you to be. But I do need you to understand where I'm coming from. And that just because it's not seen as… normal, that it's also bad." Anna softened her voice. "I love my sister, Naya. More than anything. But I'm also in love with her. And I hope you can understand why now."

A silence grew between the two girls as the last words out of Anna's mouth were carried away by the wind. Naya slowly lost her ability to keep eye contact with Anna, her focus gradually shifting off to the side. She eventually nodded her head and looked back center.

"…I do."

"Thank you. That's all I ask."

Naya groaned quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be an asshole, I really didn't. I guess it's just something I never really thought about."

"Most people don't. It's fine."

"It's not… but thanks."

Anna managed to force a small smirk out, its honesty uncertain even by her. She let it fall away and replaced it with scrunched eyebrows. "Are we good?"

"…I think so… I want to be."

"Me too." Another smile appeared, this one she was certain of. "I think we may need a bit of a breather after that though."

"Yeah, definitely." Naya lightly chuckled.

"I think I'm just gonna go home and just sleep the rest of the day, if that's okay."

"Totally fine. I should get working on some homework anyway."

The two inched toward each other unconfidently but eventually threw their arms around the other once close enough. Though it started weakly, their grips became stronger the longer they hugged. Eventually they nestled their head into the other's neck and just froze there, letting the gesture get the better of them.

Anna pulled away with a sniffle and softly laughed at the situation while Naya did the same.

"What a day."

"You're telling me."

"I'll text to you later."

"You better."

They smiled and broke off in their own directions, Naya toward her dorm and Anna toward the parking lot. Anna eventually reached her car and dropped onto its seat, leaving the door open for a moment to let the wind wash over and blow around her hair. The day had a lighter feeling, the proverbial weight being lifted off of her shoulders. She started the car and headed back to the apartment, reaching it not fifteen minutes later. She walked in through its front door and spotted a white head of hair peaking over from the back of the couch, its owner soon vanishing the silence.

"Welcome back."

"Thanks." Anna slid off her backpack onto the floor and then dropped onto the couch next to Elsa. "Good to be back."

Elsa muted the TV and looked deeply into Anna's eyes. "So…did you get a chance to talk to Naya today?"

"I did, actually."

"Yeah? How'd that go?"

"Not… great, at the start at least. But after a pretty intense conversation, I think she came around a little bit. It'll take time but… I think she'll get there."

Elsa's appearance clearly lightened. "That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you sweetheart."

Without thinking, just as with their first time, Anna leaned in and kissed Elsa, her sister, the love of her life. She kept their lips together for as long as her breath would allow and then slowly fell away.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too."

Anna quickly kissed Elsa once more and then laid her head onto her lap facing the TV. Elsa switched the volume back on and instinctively started running her fingers through the redhead's hair.

Thanks so much for reading. Honestly. I truly greatly appreciate it.

a/o (author's opinion): I feel most people have been conditioned from childhood to have a negative reaction whenever they hear the word incest (how did you feel just then?), but never actually think about it in a logical sense. It's an issue of emotion in almost all societies, which, to me, is rather frustrating. So hopefully I made a decent case that this idea of incest being gross or taboo or wrong is actually a non-issue between consenting adults. But since you read this story I'm probably preaching to the choir. Anyway, I just wanted to put that out there.

And for those of you who read my orphans story (if you have I love you!), you might have noticed some similar themes between the two, e.g. some conversations, situations, descriptions, etc. Very intentional.

Thanks again!