Chapter 3 - Anna's New Friends
The next morning, Anna woke up quite late, even by her standards. But since she didn't have to get up for school or work, she didn't see the point in getting up early.
As she rubbed her eyes and got out of her bed, she walked down to the living room, finding Elsa had gone. Anna would have been worried, but she knew there was something about her new friend that meant she wouldn't leave her side.
As she set about making a sandwich for herself, she heard her phone buzz on the table. She picked up her phone and saw she had a text.
Rapunzel: So… how was the late night stroll?
Anna felt worried about what to say. She knew she couldn't tell Rapunzel about Elsa, but she had to tell her something. After several seconds, she typed out a message.
Anna: It was okay, I guess. No sea monster or anything like that. I almost got in trouble, but I managed to talk my way out of it.
Rapunzel: Just okay?
Anna: Yeah, that's what I just said.
Rapunzel: Don't believe you :P
Anna: Well, believe it.
Rapunzel: Alright, alright, I'm taking your word for it. Just wanted to ask, would you like to come over to mine and Cass's? I mean, I kinda wanna see you again.
Anna: Sure. I'm gonna be staying here a lot longer than a couple of weeks anyway.
Rapunzel: How come?
Agh! Anna thought.
Anna: Just because.
Rapunzel: Anna, is there someone else involved here? Someone you like? ;)
Anna: No…maybe.
Rapunzel: Haha! Knew it! You had a secret date last night!
A lightbulb went off in Anna's head.
Anna: Fine, I admit it. When I went out to the beach, there was someone else out there. A girl named Elsa.
Rapunzel: Sounds European. I can't wait to meet her.
Anna: She's probably not coming with me.
Rapunzel: Aww, why not? :(
Anna: Because she works here at the resort, and she's busy tonight.
Rapunzel: Oh, I see how it is ;)
Anna: IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! I ONLY JUST MET HER!
Rapunzel: Calm down, Red, I was joking.
Anna: Red?
Rapunzel: Yeah. Because of your hair, you know?
Anna: It's technically not red.
Rapunzel: Well it's red-ish, so I'm calling you Red.
Anna: Whatever. What time do you want me to come over?
Rapunzel: Maybe this afternoon, if you're okay with that.
Anna: Sure, no problem. Question: How am I gonna get there? I don't have a car.
Rapunzel: Doesn't the resort have a car hire thingy?
Anna: Yeah, you're right. I'll see if I can rent myself a car.
Rapunzel: Great, see ya later!
As Anna closed her phone, she cast a glance out towards the beach outside the rear window of her condo. She hoped that if Elsa was out there, she was safe.
xXx
That afternoon, after getting a quick lunch at the hotel's restaurant, Anna drove along the short highway across the island in a little hired Fiat, heading for the place where Rapunzel was now residing. The island was just as beautiful as she remembered, full of exotic plant life and beautiful flowers, as well as impressive buildings and homes.
Eventually, Anna turned off the highway and onto a coastal road, arriving at the address Rapunzel had texted her. Cass's home was a small but somewhat impressive villa, with a clear view of the ocean.
Anna got out of her car and whistled. "Wow...Cass must have a very well paying job."
She walked up to the front door and rang the bell, smoothing out the front of her T-shirt.
Rapunzel then opened the door, grinning at her. "Anna!"
"Hey, Rapunzel," Anna replied cheerily. "Cass has a really nice setup here."
"You're telling me!" Rapunzel agreed. "This place is so big! You wanna come inside?"
"Hell yeah!"
"Right this way," Rapunzel offered, standing aside.
Anna stepped inside the villa, mouth agape in awe. "Wow," she said simply. The interior of the villa was just as impressive as the exterior, filled with all sorts of books, art, and assorted expensive-looking odds and ends.
"You like my house?" a rather kindly voice asked her.
Anna looked up and saw a young woman slightly older than her and Rapunzel walk into the entrance hall, wearing a burgundy top and brown pants. She had very short black hair, in a pixie cut.
Anna nodded. "Yeah, it's really nice."
The young woman smiled. "Thanks. I worked hard on it. I'm Cass, by the way."
"Anna, Anna Baker," Anna replied, introducing herself.
"Raps told me about you," Cass stated. "Although, I figured you'd be a bit taller."
Anna shrugged. "Well, I'm just under six feet, so I'm not THAT short."
Cass giggled. "Mind if I give you the tour of the place?"
"Yes, please!" Anna exclaimed excitedly.
Cass led Anna into the large living room at the rear of the villa, that had a massive window that gave a good view of the ocean.
"You must really like the ocean, huh?" Anna remarked.
Cass nodded. "There's something about it that's always fascinated me."
"What might that be?" Anna wondered.
Cass shrugged. "I'd tell you if I knew. But whatever it is, it's held my attention ever since I was young."
"I think it's mermaids!" Rapunzel put in. "Cass has a lot of paintings of them, you see." She then pointed to a large painting of a red-headed mermaid on the wall. "Like that one there."
Anna blushed a bit. "Mermaids, huh?"
Cass nodded. "Another fascination of mine. Guess I'm really into water." She giggled.
"I guess you are. Makes sense you live on an island."
"Yes but even an island can be lonely," Cass stated. "Well, it used to be anyway." She then looked at Rapunzel and gave her a wink.
Rapunzel smiled, kissing Cass's cheek. "You're the best, you know that?"
"Ummmm…." Cass thought for a moment. "Yeah, I know." She then kissed Rapunzel's lips.
At that moment, Anna's phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out, seeing that she'd received a text from a number she didn't recognize.
Unknown Number: Is this Anna?
Anna: Ummm, yes?
Anna: Who's this?
Unknown Number: It's Elsa. Moana gave me this thing called a "phone" so I could send her a message if I got in trouble. I saw you had one too, and I thought maybe I could figure out how to send a message to you.
Anna: A mermaid with a phone. Never thought I'd see the day xD
Unknown Number: I hope I'm not bothering you, Anna. I mostly just wanted to make sure this thing worked.
Anna: It's okay, Elsa. I'll be back soon, after dinner.
Unknown Number: Okay. Have a good day!
As Anna put down her phone, Rapunzel asked her. "Who were you texting?"
"Elsa," Anna answered. "She wanted to know how I was."
"Who's this Elsa?" Cass inquired.
"Anna's girlfriend," Rapunzel informed her.
Cass smiled. "Well, then. Maybe you should bring her along next time you come over here."
"She's not my girlfriend!" Anna argued.
"Are you sure?" Rapunzel teased.
Cass looked at the time. "Hmmm, better put the oven on. Anna, would you like to stay for dinner?"
"I was kinda counting on it, actually. Especially after seeing how pricey the food was at the hotel restaurant"
"Yeah, the prices over in the tourism part of the island are very high," Cass expressed. "But don't worry, I'll cook you up something good for dinner."
"You'll love Cass's cooking," Rapunzel commented. "Whenever she came to visit me back home, she'd always cook a meal that would make even a gourmet chef envious."
"I don't need a hype man, Raps," Cass said.
"I'm looking forward to it," Anna replied with a chuckle.
xXx
After a hearty meal and chat with Cass and Rapunzel, Anna made her way back to her condo, seeing the sun starting to set over the beach.
She went back inside her condo, taking out her phone to send a text to Elsa.
Anna: Hey, Elsa. Let me know when it's safe for me to come and see you, okay?
Suddenly she felt a pair of hands place themselves on her waist, and a warm, slightly wet body embraced her. "Hey, Anna."
Anna gasped and jumped. "Elsa, what the hell?!"
Elsa giggled. "I wanted to surprise you, so I turned human and came back here. Moana gave me a key to this place." She held up the key, which hung from a short brown string around her wrist.
Anna blushed. "Could you let go now? I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable."
Elsa let go and took a couple steps back. "Sorry," she apologized.
Anna then walked into the living room, noticing a collection of seashells on the table. "Hey, what are these doing here?"
"Oh, sorry," Elsa said, moving towards the table. "I like to collect seashells. It's a...what's the word...a hobby of mine."
Anna sat down on the couch opposite the table, picking up one of the shells and examining it. "These are beautiful! Where did you find them?"
"Some I found on the beach, others on the ocean floor," Elsa explained. She then picked up a shell and handed it to Anna. "This one is my personal favourite." It was a nautilus shell, cream-coloured, with brown lines swirling around towards its centre.
"Woah, where did you find this one?"
"It was actually the first shell I ever found here…. It wasn't long before I met you."
"You mean now?" Anna asked. "Or...when we were kids?"
"When we were kids... I showed it to you back then." Elsa giggled. "You thought it was a big piece of…what's that sweet thing you humans eat?"
"Candy?" Anna suggested.
"Yes, that's it."
Anna laughed. "Oh, I was such a troublemaker when I was small. Dad would call me Feisty-pants because I was so full of energy."
Elsa smiled. "I remember. I heard him call you that once. I always wondered what it meant, though. I knew what 'feisty' meant, but back then, I'd never heard of 'pants.'"
Anna then looked down at Elsa's legs, seeing she wasn't wearing any underwear at all. She blushed again. "Ummm, speaking of pants, maybe you should put some on."
"Why? We're the only ones here."
Anna sighed. "Because...because I'm not comfortable with a half-naked fish girl in my condo."
Elsa nodded. "I understand." She went and got the beach towel that she'd had the previous night, wrapping it around her waist. "Is that better?"
"Much."
Elsa sat back down. "I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable," she said. "I'm not used to being human."
"Well, I'm not used to being buddies with a fish girl," Anna responded.
Elsa looked out of the window. "It's a beautiful evening. Would you like to sit outside with... what's the word for that drink you humans like, the one that's orange?"
"Orange juice, and sure, that sounds like a plan."
Anna poured a glass of orange juice for Elsa, and the two girls walked down to the beach, sitting down on the sand.
Elsa smiled, gazing up at the stars. "They're so beautiful," she said. "When I was younger, I used to come up to our secret spot every night just to look at the stars. I liked to pretend that wherever you were, you were looking at them too."
"Nah, I wasn't much of an astronomy girl," Anna pointed out. "Sci-fi, space, stars, that wasn't my kinda thing."
The mermaid shrugged. "Like I said, I pretended you were looking at them."
Anna sighed. "I wish I hadn't forgotten you, Elsa. I would've loved to have had a friend like you growing up."
"I thought Moana mentioned you had a friend. Someone named Kristoff."
"Yeah, he's a friend, but I meant like a girl friend. You know, someone that I can talk to about girl stuff?"
Elsa nodded. "I know what you mean. It's not exactly easy trying to explain mermaid problems to Moana. Actually, they're more like siren problems."
"What sort of problems might those be?" Anna inquired.
"Well..." Elsa blushed. "It's...sort of like...um..." She was clearly trying to think of a way to get her point across as delicately as possible. "Moana calls it my...time of the month."
Anna's eyebrows raised. "Ohhhhh."
Elsa nodded. "Once every month, for about a day or two, my, um…my…." She gestured to her breasts. "These. They swell up, and they produce this liquid…."
Anna covered her mouth. "Please stop," she said. "You're making me feel queasy."
Elsa immediately stopped talking, her face flushed in embarrassment. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. My mother told me that it was just a natural part of growing up, so…I didn't think it was that big of a deal to talk about."
Anna nodded. "I understand. Just forget about it."
Elsa then changed the subject. "So... you were interested in my underwater grotto yesterday."
"Yeah," Anna replied. "Do you live down there all the time, or do you stay up here with Moana sometimes?"
"It depends," Elsa explained. "I usually stay down there, but sometimes Moana lets me stay with her. I have a big collection of things down there, from the surface world. Would you like to see it sometime?"
Anna's eyes lit up. "Yes, please!"
Elsa smiled. "We'll go in the morning. You'll love it down there."
Anna couldn't help giggling a bit. "Will I float?"
"Of course," Elsa said. "And don't worry about breathing. I know a few siren tricks that can help with that."
Anna smiled. "You know, now that I'm spending more time with you," she remarked, "some of the haze is starting to clear. I'm starting to remember some things."
"What have you remembered so far?"
"Not much. I'm only remembering little details so far. The way your hair looked, the sound of your laugh."
Elsa blushed. "What about the sound of my laugh?"
Anna smiled. "How it sounded so cheerful and free."
Elsa looked away, going a bit red at Anna's statement.
"You okay, Elsa?" Anna asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied. "Just...happy."
"Well," Anna added, looking up at the moon, "I'm happy too, being with you."
xXx
Author's note: Well that ended nicely and cutely. By the way, I'm loving how much support I've gotten for this fic :D. I haven't had this many reviews in such a short time in ages :D. Thank you all so much!
