Chapter 9: The Sky's Awake
"Anyway, that's all I have to tell you." Turning around, he noticed again the same sun tattoo design that was etched on the inmates back. It had the same rosemaling design as another he saw. "Say, another inmate has a tattoo in the same place as you do, only that it's a moon. Thought you should know."
No response.
"Heh. Guess being frozen is the new black." Chuckling to himself, Hans looked at the inmate on last time before before turning around. He still had an entire day of work to do. Walking up the stair that led to the ground floors of Arendelle Penitentiary, he glanced back one last look at the Solitary Housing Units before turning the doorway.
...
It's a funny thing what prison could do to you. All throughout pop culture it had been portrayed in various ways, yet it's different experiencing it compared to watching it from the comfort of your living room. In many ways, it's the ultimate test ones character: to see how far you'll fall, you'll truly lose yourself before you get right back up.
Anna had steeled herself within a few days of being here in prison. Within a few short days, she accepted her condition and her plight within these walls. That's what prison does to you: shove a cold, cracked mirror in front of your face to make you look at the cold heart truth. Most wouldn't dare stare back, for fear of seeing what they don't like.
Then again, Anna is not like most people.
So here she lies: in Arendelle Penitentiary. But what happens when she gets out of here? What will she become? How will she change? The world will inevitability look different from her eyes, but will it treat her any differently? And in this recession, how will she find a job?
All valid questions.
All valid points.
But for now, Anna had to put that all in the back of her head. She had to make the most of her time right here and now.
Because it's been a week, and visiting hours have been opened.
Kristoff was here, sitting before her in the visiting lounge of the prison. Her Other inmates around them were being visited by their loved ones as well. The scent of stale coffee and peeling concrete surrounded the two, but it might as well be chocolate and roses towards them.
"Wow." he muttered, brown warm eyes glued to Anna's. His arms were held together in front of his lips.
Anna adjusted her position on her chair. "Wow can mean a lot of different things, Kristoff."
Kristoff gulped. "I mean, you look..." He quickly scanned his eyes on Anna. "...different. It's a good different." He rubbed his cheekbones. "Your cheekbones are really sharp. And who knew you could rock orange."
Anna smiled at that compliment. The best thing about Kristoff was that he always manage to find and say something positive in a negative situation. "Yeah, I think it really brings out my hair and freckles." she said, playfully throwing her braids in the air.
"Hey, what's up with your hair?"
"What do you mean?"
"A streak of it is white." Anna looked at one of her braids. Sure enough, a streak of platinum blonde hair was on the right side of her braid. Kristoff kept asking. "Is it the shampoo? Are the guards treating you well?"
Anna continued to look at her new hair accessory. How did it get there? "It's nothing. Probably just stress from being here."
"How is it here? How are the people? It must be awful living in here."
"Tell me about it." Anna begun telling Kristoff about her entire week in Arendelle Peninteniary. Kristoff nodded and smiled as she told him about the showers, about Jasmine, Rapunzel, and Pocahontas. She told him about random checks on the bunks, and the work stations each prison had to attend to, and the story of the ever elusive chicken. She told him about the food here, and about the sleazy things officers do when they think nobody's around watching them (in hushed tones, of course). Talking to Kristoff about her new experiences felt therapeutic, as if she had connect with someone from the outside world.
"And what else?" he asked patiently.
"Well - " Anna bit her lip. She considered talking about the sexual abuse she faced with Hans, but after a while, she relented. Anna didn't want to give Kristoff any more concerns to worry about, especially when it's hers to deal with since she was the one that committed the crime. This was already hard on the both of them.
"How are you? How's Sven?" asked Anna, curious about the little dog and determined to change the subject.
Kristoff sighed. A twinge of guilt struck Anna. She could feel how hard it was on Kristoff, with his ice business not going very well and him sleeping alone without her. "Good, good. He misses you. I can tell. I hear him whimper by the bed...when I sleep..." Kristoff looked up for a moment, closing his eyes. "...alone. Without you."
Anna moaned as she covered her face with her hands, massaging her temples and pulling her twin braids. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry this happened to you. To us. I'm so sorry that my stupid mistakes made this situation."
"Hey, hey, don't worry. It's alright. It's O.K. Everything is going to be okay. You got the check I sent you, right?"
"Yes, yes I did. $1000 to get me through prison. Thank you so much, Kristoff." She couldn't wait to purchase all the necessary hygiene products from commissary. Not to mention that she couldn't wait to stuff her food with cheap junk food and microwavable ramen noodles. True they hold no nutritional value, but Anna suspect that Tiana's cooking doesn't either. If she was going to suffer here, she might as well do so with her taste buds satisfied.
Eyes almost watering with gratitude, Anna accepted Kristoff's extended warm hand. Kristoff, who was always there for her, even after she broke up with Elsa and had no where to go to. Kristoff, who even until now, is providing for her while she rots in prison. Kristoff, who is -
"No touching!"
Kristoff turned around to look at Hans, who was eyeing the two with hawk green eyes. Kristoff shot him a filthy look and turned around to face Anna, who retracted her hand. "What's with sideburns? Is he going through his man period?"
"Don't know anything about that, but I'd say that that's a possibility, given his temperament." Anna still vividly remembered him sexually assaulting her in one of the closets. "I saw him get scolded a few days ago from the Warden about him losing some sensitive papers."
"I missed you, Anna. I missed you so much."
"I missed you, too. I hate the fact that you get to see me like this." Anna pouted.
"At least I get to see you." Kristoff gave her one long look, brows furrowed with concern. "Anna, look. I - "
" - I know what you're going to say." Anna interrupted, her tone somewhat unnecessary harsher. As much as she appreciated Kristoff's concern, it was getting a tad bit irksome. She herself had already accepted the consequences of her action. Why couldn't Kristoff?
Kristoff leaned back at his chair, arms crossed with a neutral expression. "What was I going to say?"
"That I don't belong here." Anna waved her arm around her. "That I'm different from all of these girls. That it was just one mistake that I can brush off my shoulder."
Kristoff looked around the room. Around him, several inmates were sobbing, some rather hysterically. Another one had to be restrained from attacking her visitor. He then turned to face Anna with a satisfied smirk on his face. "That's pretty much it."
"Listen, Krstoff." Anna leaned inward so that she could see her reflection on Kristoff's eyes. "I made bad choices. I committed a crime and being in here is no ones fault but my own."
...
It's a funny thing how just simply life throws stuff at you.
One moment you're having daily arguments with your mother and father. Then next you're moving out of your house for good and into college. Then you're graduating from college early with honors in a degree in journalism at 21. The cold punch in your heart soon magnifies when you realize that your parents haven't came for your graduation, and that you're essentially alone in a big stadium, surrounded by cheering undergraduates with their loved ones.
Then the recession came.
Any aspiring journalism in the field was quickly shot down . Waitressing was going to be her only option for a while. Anna was hoping to travel to far and exotic places so that she may report on any newsworthy topic. She was hoping to broaden her horizons, to see a whole new world out there. As a journalist, she was expected to capture new and exiting things.
What she did not expect was...her.
Tall, fair, and blonde. The picture perfect definition of a Scandinavian goddess. Anna couldn't believe her ears when Elsa asked her out on a date. He had never went out with someone during high school and university. It was always with a group of friends at someones house or a movie theater. Her eyes nearly doubled in size when she saw where they were going to have dinner.
"Wow...La Ratatouille." she gasped, looking at french bistro before them. Predictable, a line was before them. Anna groaned as she saw how long it was. She didn't want to spend another 20 minutes shivering outside in the snow. Underneath her purple trench coat, she already made the poor choice of wearing an olive green off-the-shoulder dress that showed of her warm, freckled legs.
"Watch and learn." Elsa confidently strutted past them (to the chagrin of their faces) and whispered something to the waiting staff. He quickly straightened himself and escorted the two into the bistro.
"Here's your reservations, Mademoiselles. Your waiter will be with you shortly." he said, before returning to his post outside.
"Thank you, Mustafa" Elsa's black halter top dress (complete with a leg slit) made her fair skin practically glow in the bistro light, as well as accentuate her marvelous back and shoulder blades. Despite showing no cleavage, Anna was having a hard time maintaining eye contact with her date, as that particular area of the chest seem to pop out even more than usual.
"How did you do that?." asked Anna as she sat down, placing her coat on her chair. "Aren't these fancy restaurants usually booked in advance for several months?"
"Yes, but with my connections, I am able to procure an appointment in a relative short time." Elsa explained.
A waiter with auburn curly hair was soon at their table. "Hello, I am Linguini, and I will be your waiter for this evening. Can I get you two ladies anything?" he said, handing out the menus.
Elsa quickly scanned her menu, then handed it to the waiter. "I'll have the usual: a special order and a bottle of your best red wine" She then turned to face Anna. "You?"
"Um...I'll have what she's having as well, but with white wine."
"Excellent choices, Mademoiselles." the waiter said "I'll have it with you in a few minutes." And with that, he roller-skated away to the kitchen.
Anna looked around, taking in the scenery. Bathed in a warm glow, the bistro was packed with people chattering about on tiny tables. Vines swirled the walls and ceiling, giving off a very natural feel. Anna whistling out loud. "If this is your attempt in impressing me, it's working."
"Well, good. Now I know it's working." Elsa said with her signature husky finish.
"So, is what you said at Tiana's true?" Anna asked, hoping to get to know the woman before her more. Shamefully, she practically did all the talking at the bar. She wanted to get to know more about Elsa. She had never felt this way before while at school.
Elsa looked around. Leaning in quite heavily with wide blue eyes, she whispered quite dramatically, "That I was an international drug smuggler?"
Anna giggled at her. "Uh-huh."
Elsa leaned back at her chair, letting out a satisfied smirk. "I meant what I said. What's not to lie about it?"
"And if I were a cop?" Anna inquired playgully.
Elsa gave Anna one hard look with one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised. "You certainly don't look like a cop."
"Appearances can be deceiving." Anna simply stated.
"Your orders have arrived, Mademoiselles." he said, placing their orders before the two and pouring their wines before them with speed and precision. The "special order" Elsa was referring to was a warm, exotic smelling sauce Anna couldn't quite put her finger on over sweet bread with rice and sausages.
Elsa said, raising her glass with red wine. "To good times."
"Too good times." Anna repeated, mimicking Elsa with her white one as their clinked their drinks together.
"Hm. This is absolutely amazing." Anna said after trying a few cautious bites. Closing her eyes to savor every flavor in her mouth, she sqealed in absolute delight. She never had French food before, and was glad that this was her first time.
"It's like having an entire galaxy of flavor explode in your mouth." said Elsa. Silence fell upon them for a few minutes as they dined.
"So how come you're staying in Arendelle?" asked Anna.
"I'm on standby for my next orders regarding shipment." Elsa explained as she drank her wine. "Oh, and sight seeing. The skyline is absolutely brilliant, like glowing fireflies attached to slabs of concrete."
"I take it that you're not from here originally, are you?" Anna asked, finishing another savoring bite of bread.
"Born and raised in Oslo, Norway." Elsa said, swirling her drink with one hand. "You?"
"Born and raised in Arendelle."
"Why journalism, of all degrees?" "You could've gone into medicine, or engineering, or - "
" - drug smuggling?" interrupted Anna. Elsa nodded with a smile, flashing impeccable dental hygiene. "I always fancied myself as a bit of a writer. I always liked meeting new people and experiencing new things. Put those two together and you get - voila!"
"And how's that working out?"
Anna let out a loud snort, attracting a fair amount of lookers. Quickly noticed the attention, Anna slightly withdrew in her chair. "Not very well in this damn economy. What about you?" she asked, then added with a whisper, "Ms.-I-am-a-drug-smuggler."
"I didn't have a formal education, though I did manage to acquire a great deal of skills and knowledge."
"Really?" Anna placed her fork and knife neatly on one side of the plate, the folded her arms together and crossed her legs together. "Well, then. Educate me."
"Skills that would make me a nightmare to people who'd get in my way." Elsa said, adding a flare of dramatic whispering.
"Go on..."
"I speak 5 languages: Norwegian, English, Chinese, French, and German. I have an intimate knowledge on other people's cultures. I know the ins and outs of multiple security systems, which allows me to forge various amounts of documents. Oh, and I have dual degrees in Computer Science and Chemistry. All while under the age of 24." Elsa said with one fluid breath. She tilted her head. "Did that also impress you?"
"Speechless." Anna said with bulged eyes. Beauty and brains, all rolled up into one seductive little package. She nearly choked on her wine as she grabbed hold of her napkin. Elsa continued to stare at her with a slight smile. Another round of silent dining ensured.
"Family?" Elsa inquired, breaking the silence. Anna stopped eating, letting out a gulp. Elsa gazed at her with patient, understanding eyes. "Let me guess: you're not the type to divulged anyone about your personal past? Am I right?"
"How did you - "
"When you spent as much as I do traveling and picking up on people, you can read them like an open book."
"Really?" Anna leaned in forward, pouting her most adorable pout she can muster. "What am I thinking right now?"
Elsa was at a lost for words for a few seconds, awestruck at how cute her date is trying (and clearly succeeding) to be. "Well...I'm think that you...um..." Elsa looked around, then saw the nearly empty glass on Anna's left. "...need more wine." Elsa snapped her fingers, and Linguini quickly came rolling by with more wine. Anna kept her eye on Elsa the entire time as her wine refilled.
Anna paused for a while. She never met this type of person before. Thinking back her journalism classes, it was stated that the interviewer was suppose to make the interviewee comfortable. This would allow questions to be answered more quickly, and conversation to flow more smoothly. But Elsa is a whole different beast entirely. She didn't fall into any parameters of human interaction, eager to adapt to any subject and . She was graceful, honest, and tactile. In short, the opposite Anna was during school: energetic, awkward, and bumbling.
"I understand if you don't want to continue." Elsa said softly, placing a cool hand onto Anna's.
Anna closed her eyes. "Oh, I'm not in speaking terms with her. We had..." she slowly said after a a while. She paused for a moment. She still wasn't comfortable explaining all the details. "...a difficult past. And a falling out of some sort."
"And your father?" Elsa asked gently.
"Away..." whispered Anna.
Elsa nodded slowly, swirling her wine once more. "I see." she said, eyes warm with understanding.
"And you? What about your parents?" Anna asked, hoping to get to know more about Elsa's background.
"I was in an orphanage. Never knew either my mom and my dad." Elsa simply stated.
"Oh, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. Nothing anyone could have done."
The rest of the dinner was filled with silent eating and drinking.
Anna was just about finish her white wine when she noticed something odd about Elsa's seat. "Aren't you cold?" she asked, confused by the fact that she didn't bring a coat to hand on her seat. She wasn't shivering outside. Anna was beginning to wonder if the woman before even had a normal human temperature.
"Growing up in Norway, you get use to such freezing weather. Cold never really bothered me as much." Elsa beckoned Linguini over as she explained that she was finished. Linguini quickly nodded and went back to get the check. "You?"
"Arendelle is not as cold over there, and the erratic weather over here often means that sunshine would come out of nowhere, warming the snow away." Anna explained. "That's when Arendelle is the most beautiful."
"Really?" Elsa said, suddenly intrigued by this phenomenon.
"Yep. Beams of light illuminating the whiteness away, revealing summer. It's really quite marvelous."
Elsa gazed outside the window. Snow was gracefully falling, illuminated only by the flash of traffic and car lights passing by. "Huh. I'd love to see it." she said, sloshing her wine once more as she drank the remaining liquid.
...
"You know, this sort of reminds me of our first date."
Anna blinked, caught of guard by that statement alone. She looked around. "Really? How?" Around them was a penitentiary, perhaps one of the most, if not the most unromantic places in the entire world.
"Oh, come on! Don't you see the resemblance?" Kristoff said. It was one of the most unique and best things about him: seeing and catching new things others couldn't. "It was at that small french cafe with the small tables and seating arrangements that resembles this one."
Anna blinked rapidly. She finally understood what he meant! "Oh, you mean Gusteau's! Yeah, I can somewhat see the resemblance. Soon after we left, we discovered that it was being closed due to rat infestation!"
Kristoff let out a chuckle. "Remember how I was all stuttering and sweating beyond despair?"
"And I had to ask how was your day just to start the conversation ball rolling?"
"Absolutely. You wore that cardigan over that Idina Menzel t-shirt. I can't believe how popular she's risen."
"Ah, Kristoff. You remember!" Another great trait about him: he always remembers the little things. And it's the little things that count.
"I remember all topics we went through. Like - "
" - food. Especially chocolate. And what else? Arendelle - "
" - ice - "
" - travelling - "
" - and family - "
"Speaking of family, tell me: how is your father?" asked Anna.
Kristoff's father was the odd one in his family. The only one to not follow through the families' business on reindeer herding and ice delivery, he graduated at the top of his law class in Arendelle. Now he's represented Anna throughout her trial, appealing for her and making sure her sentence be reduce at the most minimum.
"Fine. He's doing well. Had a bit of a heart attack when his soon-to-be-daughter in law was going to jail due to drug smuggling charges." reminded Kristoff.
"Tell him that I'm truly grateful for his assistance. I'm thankful for all that he's done." said Anna.
"I'll make sure to give him the message." said Kristoff.
Suddenly, an alarm buzzer went of. Inmates around them were standing up, saying their final thoughts and goodbyes before heading back to prison.
"That's it?" said Kristoff, looking around.
"Unfortunately." mumbled Anna, eyes closed with disappointment. However happy she was when Kristoff came in, it was a rather brief visit. Only a few minutes with Kristoff. So sweet, yet so short. He represented everything she was not: stable, goal-oriented, and a symbol outside the walls of this prison.
"That was like only 5 minutes." exclaimed Kristoff, hands running through his blonde locks. "Listen, have you listened to Idina Menzel's new album yet?"
"No. Not while I'm in prison. I want to listen it with you when you get out of here."
"We'll listen to it together. On the sofa. With Sven on our lap as we pig out of Maldonian cuisine."
Anna couldn't wait for that day to come. The day that her sentence would be up and that she would finally be free to be with her future husband. "That would be lovely."
"And then we'll have our wedding." Kristoff reminded to Anna. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the ring which he showed to Anna prior to her imprisonment. Anna's teal eyes began to water slightly.
So he still remembers.
"I haven't forgot the wedding. When you get out of here - "
"NO TOUCHING!" barked Hans from the corner. Kristoff groaned as he begrudgingly released his hug from Anna.
"When we get out of here, we'll have the perfect wedding. Like we always planned." he said, brown eyes brimming with confidence.
"Really?" Anna asked weakly, looking up.
Kristoff let out a smile of utmost sincerity. He was the only visitor left in the room. "Absolutely." he said, turning around to walk out.
"Kristoff?"
Kristoff turned around. "Yes?"
"Thanks for visiting. I'd really appreciate it."
...
"Thanks for paying. I'd really appreciate it."
Anna and Elsa were quietly walking alongside the pond in Arendelle Park. As it was currently in winter, the pond itself was completely frozen. As soon as the pair of them left La Ratatouille, poor Anna had to quickly bundle herself with coat and gloves to keep warm. Elsa, on the other hand, was eerily complacent with freezing temperatures.
"Anytime, Anna."
"I never been on something like it." Anna chattered as they sat down on a nearby bench. Tonight had been one of the best nights of her life: she got to meet someone new and exotic and eat a high-end place for free no less.
"Wait. You mean that this was your first date?"
"Yes. Yes it was." Anna embarasingly admitted, freckled cheek burning red and teal eyes boring into Elsa's ocean blue ones. A strange flame suddenly bloomed inside her stomach, and an prickly sensation was beginning to develop in her inner thighs.
"Would you...like to go on more dates?" Elsa asked every so softly as she leaned in slightly forward.
Anna nodded her head."I'd love that." Turning up to look at the sky, she let out a gasp. "Look, the sky's awake." she said, pointing up.
Rays of light were piercing from the cloud, bathing Arendelle with light. The snow before them seem to glow, as shades of yellow and blue light began to dance around them.
Elsa looked at the sky, then at Anna with all the sincerity and desire in the world. Anna looked backed as well, seeing her reflection in blue dilated eyes. Her eyes flickered every know and then between Elsa's blue eyes and her red cherry lips, delicate flowers that were waiting to be plucked with hers at any moment. Looking closer at Elsa's fair complexion, it had just occurred to Anna that she, too, also possessed freckles, though they were much more subtler than hers.
"And so am I." Elsa said calmly. And with that, Elsa leaned forward to lock lips with her date.
It was as time stopped for the two of them. The traffic around them had slowed to a crawl. The snowflakes were suspended in air; its transparent sheen reflecting the sunlight hitting it like frozen fractals. An electric surge jolted Anna's vine, firmly rooting her where she stood. Elsa's had one cool hand on Anna's cheek, porcelain fingers perfectly contoured against freckled, flushed cheeks, and the other in her hair, with fingers twisting and tangling through cinnamon red locks.
Closing her eyes, Anna let her lips do most of the feeling, as Elsa's lips felt incredible towards hers. They felt exquisitely soft, perfectly meshing and contouring with Anna's. She could taste the red wine Elsa and smell a bit of the sweet bread they had earlier. The smell of crisp, icy linen engulfed her nostrils, as Anna inhaled every sweet thing about Elsa.
Did drug smugglers usually taste this good? Smell this good? Is this lust I'm feeling? Or is it...
Bah - it doesn't matter to Anna, because what she was feeling right now obliterates all common sense she had previously.
Every touch felt magnified to the highest degree: incredibly warm, uplifting her to newer and higher grounds of euphoria as it caressed every contour of her hand. There was no tongue slipped between their locked lips; no hungry clawing of the fingers as they attempted to remove each others clothing (they were in public, after all); no loud moans of pleasure and satisfaction.
It was just kiss.
Their first kiss.
Anna's first kiss.
After what seemed like an eternity, Anna finally allowed their lips to separate. Time had resumed once more: snow had begun falling and cars began picking up speed. Anna quickly licked her lips, coating them with saliva as she realized how warm they feel right now in sharp contrast towards Elsa's cherry red ice ones. "Wow...Elsa...that was..." she gasped, staring at Elsa flushed cheeks.
"Your first kiss?" Elsa answered, a little embarrassed at their very first public display of affection. She began rubbing her hands together, as if trying to light a spark of heat between them. Anna nodded very shyly. "I'm glad I get to be your first."
"Well, there's certainly a first time everything." She rose up, padding away snow from her lap and extended her cool, white hand. "Let's take you home."
Anna took her up on that offer.
And there you have it: Elsa and Anna's first date. And their first kiss! And I get to add a dash of Kristoff in there as well.
Just started reading Tempest. Damn is that going to be a good read.
On Jan 21, 2015 I went back to Chapter 8 to clear up a bunch of spelling and grammatical spellings.
Oh, and on Jan 23, 2015 went back to Chapter 1 and edited a good chunk. Some parts didn't feel as good, so I rewrote bits and pieces here and there. Feel free to reread it if you wish, but it's not necessary. Don't worry: if you've just started reading recently, you're not missing out much on the past version of the chapter.
Seriously, nearly 40 followers? You guys rock! Reviews and constructive criticisms are always encouraged and welcomed.
- V