Notes: So, I'm just going to put this chapter here and then hide for a bit... don't hate me.

Elsa sipped her tea and watched the front door of the little bistro where she and Anna had made plans to have lunch after she returned from her vacation. She wasn't in any particular hurry, but she did notice that Anna was running a little late. Absently she stirred her tea and wondered if her little sister had overslept and had been in a rush to make it on time. It would be like her, but somehow she felt like that wasn't the problem. Anna had seemed different when they had chatted on the phone a few nights ago. She had seemed happy in ways that she hadn't been in months. She seemed lighter, more free, than she had in a long time. Elsa figured she must have come to her decision and was finally giving up the stress that had been holding her back. Well, whatever it was, she couldn't possibly know until Anna made her appearance. She just hoped that no matter what Anna chose to do, it was the right choice for her.

As though Elsa's thoughts had summoned her, Anna strolled through the door, looking fresh and pretty in a soft green off the shoulder blouse and matching skirt. Her expression didn't quite match the rest of her though. Her eyes seemed sad, even as her lips smiled at her. "Elsa," Anna said, kissing her cheek as she sat down at their table, "I've missed you. You look wonderful."

"I was going to say the same about you," Elsa admitted, reaching out and squeezing Anna's hands in hers. "Why do you look so down? Are you that upset to be home from your vacation already?"

Anna shook her head, that same forced smile playing on her lips. "No… and yes. Oh Elsa, I wish you had seen the place, it was so beautiful. I painted a picture of it as a souvenir. I want to display it in the upcoming show."

Elsa took a sip of her tea and gave Anna a thorough look over. There was something different about her sister, there was no doubt about that. The sadness in her eyes was only part of it. The deep purple hickey on her neck was definitely another sign. It couldn't be from Hans. Not only because he was out of Anna's life now (through choices entirely his own), but also because he had never been given to grand displays of passion. A hickey was too "low brow" for Hans Westergaard. Anna had obviously met someone new.

"So…" Elsa pressed, setting her tea cup down on the saucer. "What's his name?"

Anna's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but then they softened into a look that was torn between sadness and joy. "How did you guess?" she asked.

"The hickey on your neck," Elsa pointed out, and Anna covered it self-consciously.

"Dammit, he must have done it last night!" she said in horror, her eyes begging for forgiveness. "It really isn't what it looks like."

"Oh, so it wasn't some random vacation fling in order to get over your douche bag of an ex boyfriend?" Elsa asked interestedly, raising one platinum eyebrow and setting her chin in her hand.

Anna let out a giggle, a sound that Elsa hadn't heard from her sister since she had been in high school. "I guess it is what it looks like," she admitted. "I just wish you could have met him. He was exactly what I needed."

The waiter interrupted them then to take their lunch orders, so Elsa couldn't press Anna for details, but she watched with a quiet interest as Anna smiled thoughtfully down at her menu. When the waiter finally left them alone again, Elsa didn't waste any time in getting to the heart of the matter. Her sister had originally taken this vacation to think about her future and make a very important decision about her life. Having a crazy fling with a man she just met didn't seem to fit into that category.

"This man… how did you meet him?" Elsa asked her sister, trying to hold back judgment until Anna had had a chance to explain the situation.

A dreamy smile came over Anna's face. "The cottage was double booked," she said with a light laugh.

"It was what?" Elsa demanded, both eyebrows raising and knitting together in her frustration. "After what I paid for it?"

Anna put her hand on Elsa's wrist to calm her. "It was a misunderstanding, but it's okay, it worked out so much better than being alone for two weeks. The man who was there, Kristoff, he actually helped build the cottage. He was a friend of the owners. They forgot they had promised to let him stay for the holiday. I'm so glad they did though… Elsa, he was a fantastic cook. At least I didn't starve!"

Elsa sighed. "A fantastic cook, huh? Anna, anyone is a fantastic cook compared to you."

"I know that, but he really was! He made marinated steaks and twice baked potatoes!" Anna exclaimed, practically salivating as she said it. "They were even better than Aunt Gerda's twice baked potatoes and I know how much you love them."

"Did they brown on top?" Elsa asked, unable to hide her curiosity. She had found that few people could properly cook twice baked potatoes to her liking.

"A perfect golden brown," Anna said with a grin. "It was slightly crispy on top and then silky smooth under the thin crust. It was the best I've ever had."

"The best you've ever had?" Elsa asked wryly and folded her hands neatly in front of her. "Why do I get the feeling like you aren't talking about the food with that statement?"

Anna flushed a deep pink, the color staining not just her cheeks but her neck and even down her chest. Elsa had definitely hit on a nerve.

"Elsa… he was unlike any guy I've ever met," she admitted softly, her voice growing serious now as the blush subsided. "He seemed so gruff and grumpy on the outside, but once I got to know him he was such a romantic. He looked at me in ways no man has ever looked at me before. I felt cared about and even, well… loved."

"Loved? Anna, you don't even really know him," Elsa reminded her gently, worry gnawing at her gut. Her sister had always been a bit of a romantic and while Elsa was comforted to know that Hans hadn't killed that part of her completely, she wasn't sure that romanticizing this fling was going to help her in the long run.

Anna waved off her concern. "He never said he loved me. It was just a feeling I got when he looked at me," she paused and looked down at her hands in her lap, her smile melting away. "Anyway, it's over now. We went our separate ways this morning and I doubt I'll ever see him again."

Elsa studied her sister's face as she took another sip of tea. Anna looked almost despondent, sad in ways that even breaking up with Hans hadn't done to her. She had actually cared for this stranger, Kristoff, very much. "So, why won't you be seeing him again if your time together was so amazing?" Elsa asked delicately, hoping that she wasn't upsetting Anna with her questions, but still very curious to know the answer.

Anna shrugged, still forcibly focused on her hands in her lap. "A vacation romance is nice, but getting involved with a pregnant girl is something entirely different," she said softly, a mixture of sadness and loss in her voice.

Elsa let out a sigh and placed her tea cup, now empty, back on the saucer. "You didn't tell him that's why you were there?"

"I wanted to," she whispered, "but everything was so perfect and I couldn't ruin it."

Elsa was suddenly unsure of whether going away had helped Anna come to any solutions to her problems. In fact, it seemed to have created more problems than it had solved. Anna's heart was already so fragile… how was she going to handle this loss on top of everything else?