It had been little over a week since the incident with Madam Gothel and Anna was slowly getting over it. Her mother, or more rather the woman who had played the part of her mother, had abandoned her and that was something that would take time for the little redhead to recover from. Oaken and Sven were very accepting of this and she was grateful for that. She was starting to settle into her new life with the two men who cared for her.
Anna sat on the floor of her bedroom with Stitch held out in front of her as she made him walk. In her mind the strange little blue dog was trying to escape from some intergalactic prison, an image brought up by a night of watching Star Wars with Sven. She made the toy jump and dodge over and around obstacles that Elsa was all too willing to bring into reality from the girls mind bringing a bright smile to Anna's face.
She heard the door open but ignores the new comer in her room entirely as she lifts Stitch above her head "He's stolen a spaceship Elsa! Now he can escape and fly off into space!" she cheered. There were stars in space, and while Elsa could give the little runaway space dog stars to soar through, she could make something that looked like them. Snowflakes filled the air above Anna as Stitch made his escape and the joyous little seven year old ran face first into Sven's leg and stumbled back, falling on her rear.
Sven laughed and helped hoist the little girl to her feet before carefully swinging her in a circle, drawing an explosion of giggles from Anna before setting her on her feet "What adventures has Stitch gone on today?" he asked in a whisper as he kneeled before her, like the adventures of the blue dog were a secret meant for only him and Anna.
She smiled, hugging the stuffed dog close "He was a smuggler" she started "But he isn't a very good one 'cause he got caught by the space police and got locked up!"
Sven smiled "But our hero's story can't end there can it?"
Anna shook her head "No prison can hold Stitch! He's super strong and brave, like I wanna be. He broke out and was chased." She nodded excitedly as she spoke "And he stole a spaceship so that he could get away! Elsa made him stars to fly through!" she motioned to the now fallen and melting snow "Elsa's really good at making things now" she smiled brightly "But he didn't get very far, because his ship crashed into a planet"
Sven tilted his head to one side "What planet?"
The girl giggled "You!"
Sven laughed and ruffled her hair "Well it turns out that this planet isn't really a planet at all, but a giant that takes ships"
Anna made a mock gasp before laughing. When her laughter died down she looked back at Sven "Do I have to go? I was having fun with Elsa" she pouted.
"Sorry Snowflake. Bosses orders. It's time now. You can play when you're done"
Anna pouted more as she went into her room to put Stitch on her bed before returning to Sven "Okay, let's go"
Sven took her hand in his and lead her out into the hallway.
People in lab coats greeted them cheerily as they walked down the hall that lead to the room that Anna had become so familiar with, room A130. It was the room where all of Anna's testing took place, some of it aimed at her, but mostly aimed at learning about Elsa, her powers and their link.
"Here we are, Anna. Oaken is waiting inside for us" Sven said as he opened the door for Anna.
Oaken smiled down at the girl as kindly as always "Good day little Anna, how are you today?" he asked.
"I'm good Oaken." Anna smiled back "Me and Elsa were playing a game about space!"
"Space, ya? I'd love to hear about your adventures" He placed a hand on her shoulder and lead her to the table in the center of the room and Anna sat down in the chair at it.
The room itself wasn't much to look at. Just a plain white room with plain white floor tiles and bright florescent lights. Hanging from the ceiling was a ring of cameras, all trained at Anna, all there to record every little thing that happened around her during Dr. Oaken's tests. They made her nervous, the cameras, but not as nervous as the mirrors. Two way mirrors, Sven had called them. There was one in front of her and one to her right, set into the wall so that the people in the next rooms over could watch and observe her while keeping her blind to their presence.
She shifted uneasily in her chair as Sven placed the sensor device on her head. Like a crown, he had said the first time to help her be a little less nervous of it. It was heavy, not to the point where it hurt to wear, but just heavy enough her it never to be comfortable.
As Sven left the room, leaving only Anna and Oaken, and Anna found her thoughts flickering back to the incident with her mother. They hadn't done a test since then, and Anna was only now regaining her comfort with Elsa's powers (though you wouldn't know it from how they played). She knew that on the other side of the mirror before her was a person. a person whom Elsa would have to go near. A person whom, whether she meant to or not, Elsa could hurt. Anna's teal eyes widened at the fear that filled her from that thought. She didn't want Elsa to hurt anyone, she didn't want to be afraid again. Looking to Oaken, Anna voiced her fear with a simple question "Do I have to do this?" her voice shook slightly as she spoke.
As impossible as it seemed, Oaken's face softened even more "You'll be fine, Anna" he said as she walked to the door "Sven and I will be in the next room watching, ya?" the door closes and Anna is alone.
"Testing, Anna can you hear me?" Sven's voice echoes from the speakers in the room.
Anna nods in response and smiles.
"Good, that good. Now Anna, today we are going to be testing your connection to Elsa." The man begins to explain "We want to see just how deep it runs. See if you can see what she sees, know what she knows. Is that okay with you?"
Anna nods again. She already knows the answers to this test. Elsa had ventured around the house she had lived in with Madam Gothel and shown her hiding spots and allowed her to hear the neighbours chatting away with her mother. She smiled more as her fear lessened. An easy test, one that had nothing to do with Elsa's powers.
"Alright then Anna. Let's begin. In the next room there is a woman named Caroline" Sven chuckled "She's waving" he said, and Anna waved back "Now, Caroline there has five cards in front of her, same ones that are in front of you kiddo. She will pick a card, and you pick the matching one. Ready? First card"
Anna felt Elsa drift away from her and knew she had to be in the room with Caroline. She blinked as images pf the room filled her mind.
It wasn't much different from the room she herself was in. The lights were dimmed and was the only one camera set up in the corner. Caroline, a woman on the larger side of things with messy brown hair, sat a table like Anna's and was absently twirling her card in the air. She seemed bored with the whole thing. A star. Anna blink, Caroline was holding the star card. She picked up her matching card and was pleased to hear the delighted sound in Sven's voice as he called for the next card.
Anna was determined now, it was like a game. A game that she knew she would win, but a game none the less.
Caroline held up the card with a square on it.
'Why could these cards be coloured, they would be far less boring to stare at' Anna thought as she tapped the matching card.
"Next card" Sven called.
The woman now held a card with three wavy lines.
'Like green? Why couldn't they be green cards?' she pushed the card forward. This had quickly become the most boring test the girl had ever done.
"Good job Kiddo. How about we try something else?"
Anna sat up at this, something else? Like what?
"In the next room there is a flower, why not see if you can frost it over?"
He wanted to let Elsa use her powers. Anna swallowed hard. He wanted her to use her powers near this stranger. Anna was about to refuse when she felt Elsa tug. She wanted to prove herself to Anna again, and this was her chance. Swallowing again, Anna nodded.
Elsa phased into the next room and glanced at the little flower that sat on the corner of the table. It was small and purple, Elsa liked purple, blue was better, but purple was still nice. She circled around it slowly as frost began to creep up the stem and slowly over the flower itself. With one little thought the frost expanded suddenly into full on ice, startling Caroline.
"Good Anna. Is there anything else you can do in there?" Sven's voice sounded in the room.
Anything else? He wanted her to do more? Elsa moved about and her gaze fell upon a small stack of file. Papers, what could she do with papers? The thought struck Elsa so suddenly that she had to reprimand herself for almost losing it. With a great deal of concentration, Elsa sent a blast of icy cold wind at the papers, sending them flying about the room.
If she was capable of it, Elsa would have laughed at the way the woman pushed her chair away from the desk in a mild fright. This was defiantly more then she had bargained for.
She paused a moment. No one had told her to stop, why? She could feel Anna's nervousness but she pressed on. The bottle of water on the desk froze so fast that the cap burst right off of it, sending Caroline for another fright. One more thing, Elsa thought then she would stop. She froze Caroline's bag into a block of ice and sent it sliding across the floor and crashing into the opposite wall. That was when things went wrong. Caroline leapt to her feet and backed away from the table slowly.
Anna knew Caroline was scared, and that scared her. That growing fear flowed through their link and into Elsa causing her to become fearful. She could feel the ice spiraling out of her control. Anna, help me! She cried out through their link.
The temperature in the room began to drop as ice began to spiral across the floor. The lens of the camera cracked from the sheer cold and the thick layer of ice snapped the table.
Caroline was at the door now "I'm sorry, I can't do this! I'm done!"
"Anna, we're done now. The experiment is over" Oaken's voice called through the speakers.
The ice was spreading faster now, prickling into sharp spikes and sealing off the door.
"The door froze" Caroline breathed as she yanked on it "The door froze!" she shrieked this time.
"Get her out of there!" Oaken's voice again "Anna you have to stop!"
"I can't!" Anna cried "I can't if she can't!"
Hearing the girl's voice only seemed to make it worse as the ice curled towards Caroline. I'm so sorry, Anna. Elsa desperately tried to reign in the ice. You're too afraid, I can't stop it! Fear of her own was bubbling up inside of her. What would Anna think of her now? Would she hate her? What would it be like to be trapped with someone who hated you? She didn't want that.
Oaken threw open the door and rushed to Anna, picking her up and pulling her close to his chest in one swift motion. "I've got you Anna" he whispered as he held her tightly "it's okay, you don't have to be scared, everything is alright. Calm down, little Anna"
Anna clung to the massive doctor and hid her face against him, trying to calm herself down. Elsa was scared, she was so scared. Was that her fault? She closed her eyes. 'I'm okay Elsa, it's okay.' She thought 'calm down and everything will be fine' the thought surprised her. When had she become so logical in the face of fear? Maybe it was just the affect that Oaken had. She felt safe.
Anna's thoughts were calming to the distraught Entity and she felt her fear lessening her her control building up again. With an exhausting amount of effort, Elsa defrosted the door, allowing Sven and an orderly to burst into the room, shattering the spikes and sending ice shards flying.
"We got her Oaken!" Sven called as the orderly rushed the woman from the frigid room. "It's okay, Elsa" his voice was low "It's done. Anna needs you. Don't worry about melting the ice" he smiled "I got this"
Elsa sent a small flurry of thanks to Sven and phased back out of the room and returned to Anna.
"It's over now, Little Anna" Oaken whispered as she rocked her.
Anna felt a coldness settling in the pit of her heart and unconsciously brought a hand up to cover it. Elsa had returned to her. She closed her still teary eyes and shook her head. "It'll never be over" she muttered. Elsa and her powers would always be a part of her, Anna knew this, but she was still unsure of what she thought of this fact.