WARNING: This story contains mature themes, sexually explicit content, strong language and content that may offend.
This chapter contains mature themes, strong language and content that may offend.
We do not own any rights to Frozen nor Tangled.
"You got this. You got this. You got this." She continued to anxiously mumble the mantra to herself as she struggled to brush her copper hair in the mirror with her trembling hands. Finally, with a sigh and her hair done, she shakily placed the brush down on the marble counter before leaving the bathroom, entering her bedroom which she would see for the last time in a while. She took a moment to look at the light green walls, dark green sheets and boxes of personal belongings packed up and set on or near the door; looking at the room she had called home for the past 12 years of her life. The thought of finally leaving her house caused tears to well up in her turquoise eyes, threatening to spill out.
Suddenly, the door swung open, slammed in by her mother,who immediately wrapped her arms around Anna in a crushing, jerking bear hug. Anna pulled back after a moment and studied her mother, holding her mother's arms. Her mother had long grey hair framing her slight figure, which occasionally jerked around. Meeting her mother's tear-filled turquoise eyes, the same colour as Anna's, caused her own tears to spill forth. Anna's mother visibly struggled to swallow, a sign of her ever-worsening condition of Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease. The doctors told Anna that her mother had 6 months left, at most. Anna offered to stay at home to help her mother, who now struggled with everyday tasks, but her mother firmly refused, encouraging Anna to live her life and start a new family without her. Anna knew that this was the last time she would probably see her mother, and these would be the last few moments she would have with what was left of her family.
"G-g-g-good luck, Annabelle," Her mother stuttered out with great difficulty. "D-d-d-don't w-worry about m-me."
Seeing her mother barely able to even coherently form a single sentence broke Anna. She hated seeing her mother like this. But most of all, she hated her thoughts of death. This was her mother, her last living family member since the passing of her father, and it tore at Anna.
"I-I could always stay with you. I can go to college a-after you get bet...bet-" Anna began, but once again the idea of losing her mother was too much for her and she couldn't even finish her sentence before collapsing to the floor in tears. "I-I-I can't mom. You're all I have l-left and I just can't stand leaving you a-alone."
Anna's mother clutched at her own chest with sorrow when she saw how distraught and upset Anna was. It felt like her heart was shattering, seeing her only daughter being forced to try to build a life after both her parents have died. It was unfair to her. So, in an effort to try and comfort her daughter, she sat down on the ground with her daughter before pulling her into another hug, but this one wasn't as strongly gripped or jerky, it was soft and tender. But mostly, there were no sudden jerks in movement. The hug was one given by caring mothers who are trying to soothe their child, just like how Anna's mother used to hold Anna when she was younger.
"Anna…" Idunna began, taking a deep breath in order to try and fight off both tears and any difficulty in speaking. "I know it will be...hard. But...I can't ever ask you to...stay with me. Especially since my...condition will only get worse as time...moves forward. I l-...love you Anna. I always will. But my...time is over. It is now time for you to build a life for yours-s-self. Get m-married. Build a f-family. But never look back and think you could have done something. Y-you will only make yourself...miserable. And I would never be able to forgive mys-self if you saw me, n-near d-dead and j-just grasping for l-life. So please, go to the college, find someone who makes you happy and b-build something for yourself."
When Idunna was finished, her turquoise eyes had relinquished the tears she had been saving for after Anna left. Idunna looked at her daughter for what could possibly be the final time in her life, and she tucked a stray strand of copper hair behind Anna's ear as she cried into her mother's shoulder.
Anna and her mother stayed in that position for several minutes, Idunna quietly shushing her daughter's sobs before they broke apart in order to make sure Anna arrived at the campus on time. After standing up and wiping any excess tears away, Anna began to walk towards the boxes in order to start moving them into her vehicle, but Idunna carefully grabbed her arm and turned her back towards her mother.
"Annabelle…" Idunna reached behind her neck, unclasping the necklace she was wearing and held it out to her daughter. "Take this. Y-y-your father b-bought me this n-n-n-necklace j-just after you w-w-w-were born. H-h-he had our n-names carved o-o-onto it alongside p-putting a f-f-f-few family p-p-photos in t-there." Anna was shocked at the gesture. She opened her mouth, but her mother did not give her the chance to speak. She placed the necklace, silver etched with a snowflake design, on Anna's palm and closed her fingers around it. "Keep it, Alexandra. It won't be useful in my hands anymore."
"T-thank you mom. I will always wear it and cherish it." Anna replied, wrapping the necklace around her neck, smiling shakily before she rose, helping her mother stand as well. She faced her mother and pulled her into a gentle embrace, whispering to her. "Be strong, mother. You will get better."
Idunna didn't have the heart to tell Anna that it was very likely she wasn't going to survive her disease. As a result, she resorted to smiling into the hug before pulling away, ushering Anna to begin moving her belongings into the vehicle in order to head to the college.
Anna followed as she was silently instructed, taking box after box towards her snow white Honda Accord, settling them in the trunk. During the process, no words were exchanged and Anna knew why. There was less than a 15 percent chance that her mother would actually make it through this trying point in time. But she had to be strong, for both herself and her mother, so she only turned to her mother to give her one final hug before she would leave her.
"I promise I will visit whenever I can." Anna stated as her mother only nodded and gently kissed her forehead before releasing her.
Anna's mind dashed through terrifying thoughts on what might happen to her mother. Will she really be okay? What if she gets really hurt? Should I go back? All types of scenarios played out in her mind and forced her to question herself and the world, the only comfort she had at this time was the small, snowflake engraved pendant which she rubbed the pad of her thumb over. More questions rang through her head like The Press at a major event. She didn't realize how deep she was in thought until she was jarred by the sound of the car behind her honking.
As she drove, she kept the pendant in her hand, her fingers running over it frequently in order to try and prevent any breakdowns that would occur. Unfortunately, it couldn't stop all of them and with the incessant barrage of questions her mind procured, she broke. She forced herself to pull to the side of the road as a method of making sure she didn't create an accident as she was driving. By the time she had stopped the car, she was sobbing heavily and she had no one to hold her or show her love and sympathy. The only sympathy she received was the wind as cars sped by.
She continued to cry, clutching the steering wheel and the necklace, both to keep her steady and as a method of comfort. Both ended up failing her and she sat in her car for what seemed like forever, crying to no avail.
"I-I'm so sorry mom." She whispered to herself through the tears, hoping that maybe her mother would hear and forgive her. The phrase was uttered multiple times, to great extent, as her sobbing continued.
It wasn't until her seemingly unending fountain of tears began to dry up that she realized how long she had sat on the side of the road. Shakily, she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself to begin driving again. While at first, her thoughts had seemed hazy and it took her a small amount of time in order to get the car started again, she finally managed to get back on the road and finish her trip to the college.
No words came from Anna during the first half of the drive, only the sounds of slight hiccups and sharp inhales. But as she neared Arendelle University, she finally spoke again, whispering to herself and giving a small, make-do 'pep talk'.
"Come on Anna. You are better than this. You are so much stronger and so is your mother, yet you have so little faith that she will recover from this. Where is the belief in your mother? Because, if you aren't strong, then how can she be strong? So no more crying. Save your tears for her recovery. And smile. Don't lose your cheerful and candid attitude just because of some percentage. So you've got this Anna. Just be strong."
As she finished her 'speech' to herself, she had arrived at the campus and began to drive to the student and open parking so that she could start the process of moving into her dorm room, and mentally kicked herself for the delay as she observed the seemingly endless streams of cars entering and leaving the university. It took about ten minutes but she finally found a parking spot that wasn't too far from her dormitory but still not close enough that it was going to be easy to move all of her belongings. The University of Arendelle campus was beautiful, but Anna was too distracted to look at the scenery.
As she parked the car, she sat in silence for a while, contemplating everything that had happened recently. Her mind flitted through thoughts, both good and bad, but she always focused the most on the worst thoughts and how she blamed herself for her mother's condition. She began to cry again, her brain seemingly enforcing the idea that what was happening to her mother was her fault and that she was to blame, but she had cried most of the day and no tears fell from her face. More time passed and she had finished crying dry tears, now thinking that she had no place at the college and should leave. But before she could turn the key in the ignition, a soft knock rapped against her window, causing her to jump and turn to see who was knocking.
At the sight of the face of the knocker, Anna's own face went wide with shock before she quickly wiped away her tears and gathered herself to make it seem like nothing had happened. By the time she was finished, the person had walked to the passenger side of the vehicle and had opened the door, sitting down in the seat before closing the door and turning to Anna.
"Anna, what is going on?" The now visibly blonde female questioned, worry interlaced between every word. Anna stared at her, trying to look confused, curious to know what she was talking about. Deep down, Anna knew exactly what the blonde was asking and took a deep breath, unsure of where to begin or even if she should tell her what was going on. Then the blonde continued. "Anna, please tell me. What is going on? You know there is nothing you need to keep secret from me. I mean, we're best friends for fucks sake! We've been together for almost as long as we've been alive" She took a deep breath before continuing. "Anna...I can tell something is going on. Your eyes are red and puffy, you look like you've hardly gotten any sleep, and you look like you are on the verge of doing something you will regret for the rest of your life. It breaks my heart to see you like this. And if anything happens to you, I would never forgive myself for not trying to do something. So, don't you dare say 'I'm fine' because we both know that you are not!"
"Punz...I feel like I am being torn apart. Everything is terrible and going to shit." Anna told Rapunzel after a brief moment, whom she had always called Punz since they became friends. At Anna's comment, Rapunzel's eyes widened and her hands clenched together at her chest. Anna was known to never use profanity and had definitely never used it around her. So, hearing her use even one form of profanity worried her more than anything else in the world. Immediately, she pulled Anna into a tender hug, holding her close to her body as a method to try and comfort her. Anna buried her face into Punz's shoulder, sobs wracking her body as she struggled to find her words. Her mind began to wonder and she recalled a similar scene when she first met Punz.
They were in grade school together, neither one that old, roughly 10 years ago. During their free period, Anna noticed a group of kids, pressuring a shy girl about her hair, making snide comments about its length and unnaturally yellow blonde color. So, due to her inability to let bullying slide, Anna walked over to the group and defended the girl, speaking about how beautiful her hair color was and that it didn't matter how long it was. She proceeded to then raise a fist to show that she wasn't afraid to fight them, leading the group to back down and walk away, leaving Anna with the blonde.
"T-thank you." The girl acknowledged, instantly charging into Anna for a hug as a few tears fell. Anna let her be, partly due to shock, but mostly because she knew what it was like to have a feature of yourself made fun of. Being a redhead with freckles wasn't easy and she got bullied when she was younger. Finally, Anna wrapped her arms around the small girl, holding her close before releasing her as she began to talk again. "I've never had anyone stand up to those meanies before. I don't have any friends because of them so they can get away with anything. So, thank you for helping me."
"No friends?! Impossible! How can you not have any friends? Even with those jerks saying mean things? Well it doesn't matter. Because I will be your best friend. We'll go on adventures and we'll fly spaceships and we'll get to live in a castle!" Anna declared triumphantly, striking a pose which was meant to look like she was raising a sword to the sky, but ended up looking terribly goofy. The sight of Anna's 'victory pose' brought a chuckle out from the girl, instantly lifting her spirits. Anna noticed the smile the girl had formed during her pose and held it for a few seconds longer before turning back to her, sticking out her hand. "I'm Anna by the way. What's your name?"
"Rapunzel." The blonde answered meekly, the smile dissipating from her face.
"That's a cool name! Though I doubt I will be able to remember it. So, how about I call you Punz?" Anna questioned, her enthusiasm bringing life back into Rapunzel's smile.
"Sure thing bestie." Rapunzel stated hesitantly, unsure if she should call Anna 'bestie' yet or not, but her smile never faltered or wavered.
The memory brought a slight smile to Anna's face, only for it to fade when the thoughts of her mother struck her. Finally, she pulled away from Punz's embrace, unable to keep her thoughts to herself.
"Punz, mom is d-dying. She has something called 'CJD' disease or something. But we can't stop it. I can't stop it. And I know it's all my fault! It has to have been...right?" Anna looked at Rapunzel, her eyes blaming and questioning, blaming nothing and no one else except herself and questioning if it's true. "H-how can I...How can I live knowing it was my fault? What if she does blame me, Punz? She...she's my mom and was my rock. She was my su-supporter, my cheerleader, and my guide. She means everything to me. And now she is leaving me! She is my only family Punz. And I've been trying to be strong, but I can't. Once she's gone there will be nothing for me and I will be lost."
Rapunzel's heart broke at Anna's statement and accusations. "Anna, look at me." Rapunzel said, shaking Anna lightly when she refused to meet her gaze, forcing Anna to meet Rapunzel's eyes. "There is no way that what happened to your mother is your fault. It just happened. It sucks, I know, seeing a loved one suffer or being on death's door and being unable to do anything to help them. But this is not your fault. You are not responsible for your mother's choices, and you are definitely not responsible for your mother getting CJD."
"Only her imminent death." Anna sobbed quietly as she broke her eye contact with Rapunzel, guilt and grief plaguing her heart and mind.
Rapunzel shook Anna again, harder this time. "Hey… HEY!" Rapunzel said, almost shouting angrily. "This feeling of powerlessness and anger is normal, but don't let it weigh you down. Let it be your motivation. You want to honor your mom's memory? Go live a happy life for yourself because she worked incredibly hard and sacrificed so much for it! So stop fucking blaming yourself for things out of your control and start taking control of things you can control!"
Anna met Rapunzel's gaze again, shocked at her outburst. Rapunzel's eyes were red, brimming with tears of her own and her blonde eyebrows were scrunched in anger. Anna looked down, again breaking eye contact. While guilt and grief still plagued her heart, determination emerged in her heart like an ember. She buried her face into her friend's shoulder again, but this time, no more tears spilled from her eyes. You got this. You got this. You got this. Anna mentally thought to herself, and when she finally pulled away, her face hardened into resolve. "Thanks. I needed that." Anna said genuinely, before remembering why she was here. "Oh! Can you help me move my stuff? It's going to be difficult for me to do alone."
"Of course! Where is your residence?" Rapunzel said, smiling.
"Oh… um, let me see." Anna quickly pulled out her phone and opened the email. "Um, unit 21A in… Northuldra Forest?"
"Oh wow, it seems like we are sharing our residence. I'm in unit 21B. It's a really nice place, well, as nice as dorms go."
Anna squinted at the email. "It says that it's a 'premium apartment style'… wait, we get our own separate bedrooms AND a living area AND our own kitchen? For just the two of us?" Anna's jaw dropped in amazement. It was indeed a really nice place.
"Yup. We are lucky to get it. Rumours say that this type of residence always fills up first. Unfortunately, we still have to share a bathroom, but at least it's only between the two of us." Punz said, reflecting Anna's excitement. Then with a mischievous glint, she said, "The kitchen is good for you to impress any pretty ladies you bring back to the dorm."
"Ohmygosh stop it!" Anna said, flustered. "I regret making you those chocolate truffles." Anna said jokingly.
"And I hate you even more for making me addicted to them." Punz teased. "Store-bought truffles taste like shit compared to the ones you made."
With a sigh, Anna realized that they should start moving her stuff. "I hate to bring this up, but we really need to move my stuff."
"Fine, we'll continue this later." Anna and Rapunzel walked to the back of Anna's Civic and popped open the trunk, only for an avalanche of items to fall out. Acting instantaneously, they both caught armfuls of items before they could hit the ground. They gently set down the items and looked around for any stray items, noting that the items that they failed to catch were undamaged, albeit scattered around the rear of her car. Suddenly, Anna realized that her underwear somehow escaped her suitcase and one pair of panties were now stuck to Rapunzel's shirt, on her chest. Anna quickly grabbed the hot pink panties and shoved them into the nearest box. Both of them glanced at each other for a brief moment before bursting into laughter.
A/N:
Someawe45- Hi guys, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of our story. This story is a collab between myself (u/someawe45) and a fellow Elsanna redditor RiasSenpaiBae (u/RiasSenpaiBae). Rias posted an excerpt on r/Elsanna and was looking for someone to help him write the story, and together, we bring this story to you. I strongly suggest checking out the excerpt as well as checking out the r/Elsanna subreddit. As usual, feedback and criticism is appreciated.