Author's Note: A quick thanks to the anonymous reviewer who identified themselves only as "Nommy". Your review was really helpful and it hit exactly on the point of why I started writing fanficiton in the first place. Looking back at some old fanfics I never posted I can definitely see that my writing style has gotten better, and it's because of reviews like yours that it has. Another shout-out to another anonymous reviewer who said this story took a "more mature approach to Elsa as a G!p character" and didn't make her a "socially stunted or inept character." This is what I was aiming for in this story and I'm glad you think I'm succeeding. And a final shout-out to all the others who have reviewed, followed, or favorite this story! You guys are the signals that someone actually likes to read the crap I right! To all those who like this story but haven't left a review, please do so, because it makes me all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Here's to hoping you all like this chapter as much (or more) than the last two!
UPDATE: I will not be able to post the fourth chapter of this story until after December 17th due to the fact that I am currently at Basic Training and am cut off from the rest of the world until then. I was able to type out half of the fourth chapter and will complete it as soon as I can once I get home. Sorry to have to keep you waiting until then, but I'm a little busy learning how to be a total badass Infantryman!
Snowstorm
"Attention all customers. Attention all customers. Due to inclement weather conditions the store will be closing immediately. Any customer who is not in line at a register within five minutes will be denied the opportunity to check-out. I repeat, any customer who is not in line at a register within the next five minutes will be denied the opportunity to check-out. All register-trained employees must report to a register. Department Managers must shut down their departments. All other employees are required to clock-out and leave for the day."
"Dammit!" Jack said after hearing the announcement. Anna looked over to the sixteen year old associate and saw his downcast face, immediately knowing what was wrong.
"They got you register-trained, didn't they?" She asked, feeling bad for the boy.
"They did it yesterday." He answered angrily. "And I only just got my provisional so I have no experience whatsoever driving I the snow. How the hell am I supposed to get home in the middle of a fuckin' blizzard!
'No!' Her common sense roared at her. 'Don't you even think about it!'
"Isn't there someone who could give you a ride?" She asked sympathetically.
"No one lives close enough and I'm not going to ask anyone to go out of their way in the middle of a blizzard just to get my sorry ass home."
'Just leave! Wish him luck, close down the department, and LEAVE!'
"Well…" She started.
"What the hell are you doing!?'
"…if that's the case…"
'Don't. You. Dare.'
"…I'll take the register. You go on and get home before it hits.
'FUUUUUCK!
"Really?" Jack asked, his eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and gratitude.
"Yeah." Anna said.
"Are you sure?" He said, his eyes now filling with worry. "I mean, it's not that I'm not grateful. I just don't want you getting stuck in a blizzard because of me."
"You just got trained yesterday. I'll be a lot faster at it than you will. Besides, I've got to close down the department anyway so I'll be stuck in it one way or another. No point in both of us getting caught." She said. She was about to list off another reason why he should go, but she didn't get the chance to as Jack hit her with the force of a line-backer and wrapped her up in a massive bear hug.
"Thank you so much, Anna!" He yelled, releasing her and beginning to turn down the aisle. "I swear I'm gonna' buy you, like, a shit ton of chocolate the next time we have a shift together!"
"Whatever," Anna said. "Now get the hell outta' here while you still have the chance."
"Yes, ma'am." He said, standing at attention and giving her a salute before turning on his heel and running to the backroom as fast as his legs would take him. Anna took a moment to stand there and curse her kind nature before rushing up to the front and finding an open register to man. No sooner had she opened it with her badge and turned the light on that a flood of customers with carts overstuffed with water bottles and canned goods came up the small aisle and began piling shit on the conveyer belt. Even though it had been months since she had had to work a register, her hands automatically flew into autopilot. Muscle memory guided them as they grabbed merchandise, swiped them across the scanner, stuffed them into bags, and repeated; eventually going through the process of totaling the customer's purchase and accepting whatever form of payment they offered.
Throughout the mayhem of it all, Anna's mind still found time to curse whoever thought it was a good idea to open the store today. Seriously! Who the hell wakes up in the morning, looks at the weather channel, sees evidence of one the worst blizzards to hit the area, and thinks 'Gee, today sure would be a great day to make the employees come into work so everybody and their mother can shop for a grand total of TWO HOURS before we'd be forced to close!? A nutjob, that's who! And Anna was ninety-nine percent sure she knew who that nutjob was. Fortunately, her mind didn't get far enough to actually think of said blue-eyed, platinum blonde person as a fight erupted in her aisle over a wayward can of lima beans.
People immediately scrambled away from the scuffling pair and relocated to other lines as fast as they could, wanting nothing other than to get out of the store. Anna was almost about to throw herself over the counter to get between the two customers before one of their security team members, Marsh, stepped in. Despite being Olaf's twin brother, he was a great deal larger and had no problem pulling them apart and escorting them out of the store without any of their merchandise. Meanwhile, Anna was left to clean up the mess in her aisle; the two men making sure to tip over their carts as they fought and make her day that much more shitty. Knowing no none would care, she hastily threw the items that had scattered across the floor into the two carts as fast as she could. Once she had managed to gather all the items into the two carts, she pushed them over to the closed-down customer service area all the way on the other side of the store. She grunted as she gave them one last push before leaving them there and turning around to return to her register.
To her relief, she glimpsed the last two customers leaving through the main exit and the two remaining registers lights going out; this meant that the only thing she had left to do was close down her department before being able to finally leave! She rushed through the now-empty store as quick as she could, envisioning what she was going to do when she got home, only to come to a halt about half-way through it as something strange began occurring within the store. Ever so slowly, it seemed as if the store was beginning to grow darker around her. Brows furrowing in confusion, she rubbed her eyes as if to clear them, but the store still kept growing darker. Thinking the lights were going out, she looked up, only to have a bolt of pure dread shoot down her spine. Above her, one of the skylights that were supposed to let in some of the sun's natural ambiance was becoming clouded over by a pure white substance.
"Shit!" Anna exclaimed, realizing the blizzard had begun. Taking off at an even greater speed than before, she reached her department in no time and hurriedly began shutting down the various displays stationed around it. As the last one's screen faded to black, she took one last look around to make sure everything was as it should be. She was almost ready bolt to the time-punch and clock out when she noticed one of the glass cabinets had been left half-open. Glad she had noticed it when she did, she rushed over to it and grabbed the handle to push it closed. Expecting to slide smoothly as it normally did, she was surprised when she was met with resistance. Looking at it in pure disbelief, she tried to push it again to only be met with the same stubborn resistance.
"No." She said softly, moving around to its front and checking the tracks it ran on for any obstructions. Not finding any, she tried pulling it closed with no avail. "No. No! NO!" She shouted as she viciously began tugging on it in an attempt to force it closed. Truthfully, she could just leave the cabinet open, but if some looters took advantage of the storm to break into the store and successfully stole the items in it then it would be her fault. Management would find out about how she had left it open, about how she had taken up Jack's responsibility on the register when it was none of her concern. They would link that with her inability to close to panel, saying that if she hadn't worked the register she would've had the time to figure out the problem and close it properly. At that point her termination with the store would be nothing short of certain, which was why she was struggling so hard to get the panel to close; hard enough that she could feel tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes as she began to realize that she couldn't do it. Just as she was about to give up though, and leave her future employment up to chance, a ray of hope burst through to her in the form of a voice.
"Anna?" Called a familiar voice at the end of the aisle.
"Elsa!?" She exclaimed, eyes falling upon the woman in complete shock. "What are you still doing here!?"
"I was just about to leave when I saw your Beetle was still parked outside." She explained, confusion evident in her voice. "What are you still doing here?"
"The damned panel won't close!" She answered, emotion filling her voice. Elsa took one look at the panel before recognizing Anna's problem instantly and rushing over to help her, taking up position behind the handle to push as Anna pulled.
"Together." She said simply, determination filling her eyes. Anna nodded once to show she understood before pulling on the handle. At the same time Elsa pushed against it, both of the two females letting out grunts of frustration as the panel still refused to budge. Eventually the both stopped, letting out the breaths they had been holding.
"Again." Anna said, Elsa being the one to nod this time before setting her feet in an attempt to get better leverage. Anna did the same, making sure she had a good grip on the floor with her sneakers before giving Elsa another nod. Once again, the two pushed and pulled with all their might, their faces slowly turning red as blood rushed to their heads from the effort they were putting out. Small grunts began once again began to escape from their lips at their strain, but both refused to quit. It was only until their strength was about to run out that the panel gave, the sudden movement almost sending the both of them to the ground. Their grip on the door saved them though, and they managed to avoid tumbling together in a larger heap.
"MOTHERFUCKER, YES!" Anna yelled, not caring that Elsa was standing right next to her. Elsa didn't seem to care either, not saying anything about her choice in language as she closed the panel fully and shoved her key in to lock it. "Now let's get the hell outta' here!"
Elsa only nodded, turning to run with her as they wove through the aisles and into the backroom. She could see the exit that led out to the employee parking lot when Anna's footsteps, which had been close behind her the entire time, stopped suddenly. Coming to a halt, Elsa looked be to see Anna swiping her badge through the time-punch.
"What are you doing!?" She yelled to her in an exasperated tone, running back to her.
"I haven't punched out yet!" Anna yelled back as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"This is no time to be following the rules to the letter!" She said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down the hall at break-neck speed. Anna could barely keep herself from tripping over her own feet, surprised by such an assertive move from her store manager.
"Wait, my purse!" Anna yelled as they flew by the lockers. "I have to get my purse! My keys are in it!"
"No time!" Elsa yelled back, almost at the door now. "I'll give you a ride myself! My car will handle the snow a lot better than yours will!"
Anna really didn't want to leave her stuff here, especially her precious VW, but Elsa's logic made too much sense and she knew she'd have a better chance of getting home in Elsa's Allroad than in her small Beetle. Instead, she focused on not crashing to the ground as Elsa dragged her down the final sixty feet to the door. When they reached it, Elsa stopped to give Anna a chance to regain her footing and catch their breaths. Refilling their lungs with air, they both looked at each other in determination.
"Ready?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah." Anna replied, giving her a nod and bracing her shoulder against the metal door, knowing it was going to be tough to push open. Elsa nodded back, putting her own shoulder against the door and shouting "Now!" Simultaneously, the both put their full weight against the door and feeling a frigid blast of wind hit them as it came open. The sudden cold shocked their systems but they both kept pushing, the door resisting as it tried to move through the snow that had piled up in front of it. Heaving with all their might, enough space eventually opened up for the two women to fit through; Anna going through first with Elsa close on her heels. The second they got through though, they were both immediately hit by even colder gusts of wind and enough flying snow to immediately make them look like they had taken a rough tumble down a ski slope.
"Jesus!" Anna yelled, barely hearing her own voice over the wind as she used her arm to block her face. "Was it this bad when you came back in for me!?"
"No!" Elsa yelled back, her voice sounding like it was a mile away as she locked the door. "It's gotten worse! We need to get to my car now!"
"No shit, Sherlock!" Anna replied, squinting her eyes against the wind and barely finding the flash of red that signaled Elsa's Audi though the massive amount of snow in the air. "C'mon!" She yelled, waving her had in the direction of the car. Both woman began fighting their way against the wind, each step becoming harder than the last one as they struggled to pull their feet out of the steadily-increasing amount of snow on the ground. It was when the two were halfway to their destination that a powerful gust of wind swept in. Elsa was able to brace herself against it by bringing both of her arms up in front of her and leaning into the wind as far as she could, Anna was not so lucky though. She had been in the middle of wrenching her foot out of the snow and had only been standing on one leg when the gust came in. Caught in such an unforgivable position, she could do nothing but scream as the wind pushed her to the ground.
"ANNA!" Elsa yelled as she watched the redhead fall over and disappear under the thick layer of snow. Rushing over as fast as she could, which was no more than a crawl at this point, she arrived to find her almost completely curled up into a ball and feebly using her hands to try and push herself up off the ground. Wrapping her arms around the girl, Elsa could immediately feel how soaked Anna's clothes had become in the time they had been out there and how violently the girl was beginning to shiver. Dread began to hover over her like a rain cloud, only to solidify into a stone in the pit of her stomach as she turned the girl over in her arms to see the bluish hue her lips had become. Anna was falling into hypothermia. Elsa looked up and frantically searched for her car, dismay filling her entire being as she found it and saw that they had only made it about halfway there despite the fact that it felt like they had been struggling for an eternity.
'We're not going to make it.' Elsa thought, the realization hitting her like a punch in the gut. She wanted to cry. All she wanted to do was lay down on the ground and let the tears flow. But the feeling of Anna shivering and helpless in her arms was stopping her. She couldn't be weak now. Not when someone else needed her to be strong. Now when Anna needed to her to be strong. Steeling herself, she wrapped her arms under Anna's and pulled the limp girl up. Taking one last look at her car, she set her mouth in a grim line and began dragging Anna back towards the store. The trip was a little easier due to the fact that she was no longer fighting the wind and she was now walking through the path her and Anna had made, but not by much. Anna's extra weight made it difficult and by the time she reached the door she was exhausted, her breathing ragged and her own body beginning to shiver.
Keeping ahold of Anna with one arm, she dug the other into her jacket pocket and pulled out her master key. It took her a few attempts to get the key into the hole with her numb and shaking fingers, but she was eventually able to. As soon as she unlocked the door she put the keys back in her pocket and grabbed the handle, grunting with the effort of trying to force it back open. Last time it had taken both of their combined efforts to get the door to open enough to get through. Now it was just her and she had less than half the strength that she had before. Regardless, she refused to give in; almost screaming in exertion as she pulled the door open inch by inch. Once it was open enough, she dragged Anna through and let the wind blow the door shut with a loud BANG!
Now that they were both out of the raging storm, all Elsa wanted to do was collapse and enjoy the feeling of not being assaulted on every side by wind and ice. Instead, she stayed on her feet and continued dragging Anna to the nearest office she could find. Fishing the keys out once again, she unlocked the door and stumbled in. Not bothering to retrieve the keys, she hauled Anna up and sat the shivering girl down in one of the high-backed rollers.
"Anna." She said softly, kneeling down in front of her and tapping her lightly on the cheek. Fear began to rise in her when she didn't answer. "Anna, can you hear me?"
"C-c-c-c-c-c-cold" The redhead said, causing Elsa's fear to dissipate slightly.
"I know it is." She replied. "But I need you to listen to me. You've gone into hypothermia. We need to get you dry and into some warm clothes or your body temperature is going to continue to drop and it's going to get even worse. Do you understand?"
"Y-y-y-y-y-y-yes." Anna replied, managing to nod despite how hard she was shivering.
"Good." Elsa said, happy that Anna was actually coherent enough to understand what she was saying. "Now, I'm going to leave to go get you a towel and some dry clothes. While I'm doing that, I need you to try and get as much of your clothes off as you can. Can you do that?"
"S-s-s-s-s-sure." Anna said, giving her a small and shaky thumbs up before grabbing the sleeve of her shirt and beginning to pull at it. Elsa gave her an encouraging smile before standing up and rushing out to grab the items she needed. As she ran, she pulled her phone out and opened it to dial 911 and try to get them to send some EMTs to the store and get Anna the proper help she needed. She had dialed the first two numbers and was about to hit the final one when she saw the small "X" over the phone signal icon. Almost throwing the now useless object in frustration, she sighed and resigned herself to the fact she was going to have to do this on her own.
Within three minutes she had acquired one of the plushest towels the bath department had to offer, a hoodie, and a pair of fluffy sweat pants for Anna to wear; she had even managed to replace her own damp clothes for some dry ones before returning. As she rushed back, a thought hit her and she quickly detoured thorough the Homelines department to grab a blanket and small pillow. With those now in hand, she ran back to the office and was happy to see Anna had successfully managed to remove most of her clothing; the only articles left being her bra and panties. Fighting off the flush that was rising in her cheeks at seeing Anna like this, Elsa dropped everything she had in her hands except the towel and quickly threw it over her. She began to run it up and down Anna's body as fast as she could, both to get the girl dry and to generate as much heat as she could for the redhead. Once she was sure she had gotten her as dry and she possibly could, she inevitably came to the part of this procedure that she had been avoiding.
"Anna…" She started slowly, nervous about how the girl was going to take this. "I-I know this is indecent to ask, but I'm going to have to ask you to take your underwear off. They're still wet and your recovery will be much slower if you don't take them off too."
She waited for the incredulous look. The refusal to be fully undressed while she was in the same room as her. Instead, surprise filled her as she saw Anna begin to reach behind herself to unclasp her bra. As she did, the towel came dangerously close to falling open and Elsa quickly grabbed it so that Anna would remain covered. It took a few moments, but Elsa finally heard the last snap become undone and a slight 'splat' sound as the damp undergarment hit the floor. Her panties followed soon after that, Anna stepping out of them and kicking them away. Elsa sighed, glad that Anna was being so obedient and hoping that she would remain so.
"Okay." She said, holding the shivering girl at arm's length and looking her in the eyes. "I need you to grab the towel and hold it yourself. Got it?"
"Y-y-y-yeah." Anna said, her arms moving under the towel before her fingers appeared over the edges and grasped the fabric.
"Good." Elsa said, holding onto her shoulders. "Now, I'm going to need you to do your best not to freak out on me."
Anna's face twisted in confusion and she was about to try to ask Elsa what she meant, but before she could Elsa forced her arms open and stepped right up to her; their bodies pressing closely against each other as Elsa wrapped her up in a tight hug. Anna's mind immediately went in a million different directions at the sensation, the most prominent out of all of them though was the indescribable amount of heat she now felt. The amount of pleasure she was receiving from all the heat was definitely far too much to be called innocent, and she almost let herself fall into the haze that was building in her mind before she realized that Elsa had begun talking again.
"I know this is weird." She said. "But my body heat is the fastest way to warm you up safely. If we tried anything else, your body temperature might rise too quickly and you could go into shock. If that happens you would be in serious danger of losing your life, so I'm going to need you to bear with me on this, okay?"
Anna could hear the nervousness in Elsa's voice and realized that she was going through the same things as her. Well, maybe not the pleasurable heat part, but that was something she shouldn't be going through either. The thought calmed her down and she slowly wrapped her own arms around Elsa, the hug being a sign that she fully understood. Elsa sighed in relief at this, knowing they had just taken a big step in averting what could've ended up being a major crisis. They stayed like that for a while in silence, both trying to keep improper thoughts from entering their minds; and as the minutes passed by, Anna's shivering began dying down as her body temperature climbed back to normal levels. Eventually, it got the point where Anna finally felt like she had enough control to form complete sentences.
"E-Elsa?" She tried, happy that she only stuttered once.
"Yeah?" She replied, just as happy at Anna's progress.
"I-I'm really t-tired."
"I bet you are." Elsa said as she unlatched her arms and pulled away from Anna, who quickly closed the towel so as not to be seen naked. "But you're going to have to put some clothes on first."
"D-definitely." Anna said, grinning before looking around as finding the clothes Elsa had dropped. Moving over to them, she gave Elsa a look that clearly said something along the lines of 'Turn around'. Elsa smiled before appeasing her and turning around. She tried to keep the wrong thoughts away as she heard Anna drop the towel behind her and begin to put on the clothes. She only turned around when Anna told her she was decent and saw that she had also grabbed the blanket and pillow from the floor and was moving to other chair in the room that wasn't damp.
"Do you want something better to sleep on?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Nah." Anna said breathily, a yawn almost escaping her lips as she placed the pillow and curled herself up into the chair. "I could use some help with the blanket though."
"Of course." Elsa said, grabbing it and placing it snugly over her.
"Thanks." She yawned, looking up at her as her eyes began to close.
"No problem." Elsa replied. That was the last thing Anna heard before falling asleep, the last thing she saw being Elsa's smile and her ice-blue eyes.
The feelings of the world slowly began to return to Anna as she began to awaken from her dreamless slumber. Opening her eyes, she let out a loud yawn and stretched both her arms and her legs out. All the feelings of being cold had disappeared and she was now thoroughly enjoying the sensation of being warm, silently promising to never take that feeling for granted again. Looking around, saw that Elsa had taken the liberty of grabbing her a complete set of clothes including a new shirt, jeans, thick wool socks, and (most importantly) a new set of underwear. Smiling at the gesture, Anna quickly got up and changed into the new clothes; discarding the hoodie and sweats on the chair that had previously been her bed. Stretching out once again, she slowly began to feel as if something were off. Looking around, she realized that the room was somehow brighter than when she had fallen asleep. Confused, she looked up to see that the overhead lights were on.
'So we still have electricity, huh?' Anna thought, remembering that the store got its electricity though underground power lines rather than overhead ones. 'Well, at least one thing doesn't totally suck.' With that thought she left the office, looking both ways for any sign of where Elsa had gone. The lights weren't on in the hallway, but that played to her advantage as she saw a pillar of light streaking out of the employee lounge across the floor. Deciding that was the best place to start, she quickly made her way to it. Poking her head in, she was met with the sight of Elsa standing in front of the stove and two paper plates set on the table with plastic cups and cutlery. She was also met with the sound and smell of meat cooking on the stove. It was only then that Anna realized her stomach felt sinfully empty, a loud gurgle emphasizing the point. Eager for food, she bounded into the lounge and quickly took a seat in front of one of the plates.
"Hey, Elsa!" She said happily.
"Hello." Elsa said in a neutral tone, barely glancing back at her.
'Well…that's weird.' Anna thought. "So what's cooking?" She asked in the same happy manner.
"Sausage." Elsa said succinctly. "You need to eat something warm."
'Oh, no.' Anna thought, slowly beginning to realize what was happening. 'No, not this crap again.' She was about to say something else in the hopes of delaying the inevitable, but Elsa was already putting the sausages on a plate and walking over to the table with them and a jug of water in hand. Placing both of them in the center of table, she sat down and grabbed one of the sausages without saying a word. Anna sighed sadly in defeat before grabbing the other sausage and beginning to cut into forlornly. 'Looks like Elsa's back to her normal, Ice Queen self.'
They sat there as they ate in silence for a while, the occasional sound of a cup being refilled with water being the only thing that broke it. Anna tried to enjoy the sausage as she chewed. It really was quite delicious, but she couldn't come to appreciate it as her mind was too busy thinking of possible reasons why Elsa would've reverted back to her old self. Taking her last bite of sausage, she put her utensils down and gulped down the last of her water in her cup before crossing her arms and waiting for Elsa to finish. She really was a slow eater, Anna observed, her approach almost surgical in the way she cut into the piece of meat in exact distances and producing the equally-sized portions each time. Finally, after watching Elsa go through the same routine over and over again, Anna had enough. She had been thinking of multiple different watch to approach topic before deciding the best way to do it was to dive directly in.
"Elsa?" She said softy, looking straight at the woman across from her.
"Yes." Elsa said in the same neutral tone, taking a drink of water from her cup.
"Why do you dislike me?" She asked. As soon as the words left her mouth Elsa's eyes widened and she almost spit out the water that was in her throat. Forcing herself to swallow the liquid, she coughed a few times before looking at her.
"What do you mean?" She asked, confusion filling her features.
"What do you mean 'what do I mean'?" Anna said, her voice raising. "Elsa, this morning was the longest interaction you and I have had since you've arrived here and it took a freakin' blizzard and me almost coming close to losing my life for it to happen!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Anna." Elsa said, hoping the girl would calm down.
"Don't know what I'm talking about!?" Anna yelled, becoming anything but calm. "You've had meetings with every department manager in this store! Every one of them except for me! We've only had one real conversation and that was back when you'd only been here for a week!"
"You're taking that the wrong way…" Elsa started, only to be cut off before she could continue.
"How the hell am I supposed to take it then!?" Anna yelled, now stating to stand up from her seat. "This is only the third time we've ever been face-to-face with each other, which leads me to believe that you're trying to avoid having any contact with me! And that's telling me that I've obviously done something to make you dislike me! Am I right!?"
"No." Elsa said, now looking away from Anna. "That's not it."
"Then what is it!?" Anna yelled.
"It's just…" Elsa stared, eyes now closed.
"Just, what!?"
"You, you just…"
"I, what!?"
"You remind me of someone!" Elsa yelled angrily, standing up and staring Anna straight in the face. As soon as she did though, the anger in her eyes faded and she looked away. Anna, on the other hand, felt her own anger being replaced with surprise at finally getting a straight answer out of her.
"I-I remind you of someone?" She asked tentatively.
"Yes. Well, no." Elsa said. "You remind me of both someone and something."
"I remind of someone and something?" Anna parroted, confusion now filling her features. "You're not making any sense here, Elsa."
"I know I'm not. It's just…" Elsa started, sighing as she put her face in her hand and shook her head. She took a deep breath before gathering her thoughts and starting again. "Whenever I see you, you constantly remind me of something I want to forget. And every time I think of that something, it reminds me of someone I'd like to forget. Does that make any sense?"
"Yeah," Anna said after a moment. "I guess it kinda' does. But if that's the case, then let me ask you something."
"Yes?" Elsa said, looking back to her.
"How is that fair to me?" Anna asked, stepping closer. "I mean, I'm not that something or that someone. I'm Anna. A klutzy, rambling, redhead who randomly got promoted to department manager out of the blue at a job she used to hate on the day she was going to resign by a woman she barely knew."
"You hated this job?" Elsa asked, eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes." Anna said. "I hated this job like nothing else when Weselton was running it. I didn't think anything could change this store and was perfectly happy to just leave and watch it crumble from the outside. But then you came along and did the one thing I thought was totally impossible. You not only made this store better by far, you made this job enjoyable for me. You were so strong and smart that I couldn't help but admire you, and when you ignored and avoided me it made me feel like an enigma; like you didn't want me here for some reason I couldn't understand. Like you were shutting the door on me because I did something wrong that I couldn't remember"
Elsa brought her hand up to her mouth, speechless as Anna finished and dropped her arms at her sides. She couldn't believe what Anna had just revealed to her and she felt tears building behind her eyes as she realized what her actions had been doing to the poor girl. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head and drew in a deep breath to dispel them.
"You're right." She started, looking away from her. "It's not fair. You're not someone I want to forget, and I shouldn't have treated you like you were. It was selfish, and rude, and wrong, and I'm so sorry I made you feel like that."
"It's okay." Anna said softly after a moment, stepping up to her and grabbing her shoulder. "I understand. I really do."
"Can you forgive me?" Elsa asked, meeting Anna's teal eyes.
"Under one condition." Anna said, holding up her finger. "You never go back to being the Ice Queen everyone knows you by. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Elsa said after a slight pause, smiling down at her.
"Good." Anna said, letting go of her shoulder and holding her arms open. "Hug?"
"Hug." Elsa said, wrapping her arms around the girl. They both stood there, enjoying the moment in silence before Anna spoke up again.
"Hey, Elsa?" She asked, still keeping her arms wrapped around her.
"Yes." Elsa replied quizzically.
"I'm glad we're friends now." She said, tightening the hug a tiny bit.
'Oh, Anna.' Elsa thought, almost allowing herself to get lost in the warmth of the smaller girl. 'If only you knew.'