Chapter 7 - My Heart Is Yours

The next morning, Anna was pacing back and forth in her bedroom, arguing with herself. After last night's double date, Anna's mind had been thrown for a huge loop, and now she was second-guessing everything. "What am I gonna do?" she muttered. "How am I gonna tell Elsa how I feel? How do I even know if what I'm feeling is real?"

Every thought she had about the beautiful mermaid would always be argued with by another thought. To say she was in conflict was an understatement.

"Guuughhh!" Anna growled in frustration as she buried herself on her bed. She had been on the island for just over nine days now.

She sighed, rolling over and staring at the ceiling. All of the conflicts in her mind boiled down to one simple question. "Am I...in love with her?" she wondered aloud.

She thought she had answered this question yesterday with Kristoff, but the text conversation she had with Elsa, as well as their hand-holding at dinner, had blurred things a lot for the young girl. She didn't know what she was going to do anymore. "God, I hate this."

Just then, Anna smelled something coming from her kitchen, and heard Elsa humming. She sighed, getting out of bed. "She must be cooking for me again."

Anna poked her head out of the bedroom door, seeing Elsa downstairs singing to herself in her native mermaid tongue as she cooked up something on the grill.

"Elsa?" she called. "What are you doing?"

Elsa looked up and smiled. "Oh, Anna! I'm making lunch for us. Grilled eel wrapped in kelp, with a side of krill."

Anna walked downstairs. "Sounds delicious as ever." She sniffed again. "And smells delicious too."

"You really seem to appreciate my cooking," the mermaid remarked.

"Well, I've always been a fan of food," Anna remarked. "I like to try new foods from different places. By the way, random question: have you ever had chocolate?"

Elsa nodded, a nostalgic smile on her face. "Yes. You once brought me some, when we were young. It was delicious."

"What kind?" Anna asked.

"I think it was called white chocolate," Elsa replied. "You said it looked like the colour of my hair."

Anna thought for a few moments. "Oh yeah, I think I remember that now."

Elsa giggled. "You ate so much of it, you made the strangest noise...and then this weird gunk came out of your mouth."

Anna blushed furiously. "Oh, God. I threw up in front of you?!"

"It's alright," Elsa told her. "I helped clean you up."

Anna sighed. "Well, I'm glad for that."

Elsa smiled at her young friend. "By the way, Anna, there's something I want us to do today, if that's alright with you."

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"Well, do you remember how I wanted to take you to that coral reef yesterday?"

Anna nodded. "What about it?"

"I was hoping maybe we could go there today."

"Well, I don't really fancy another night with Punzie, so alright. I'll go there with you."

Elsa's face beamed happily. "Great! We'll go straight after your food goes down."

Anna smiled. "Thanks for cooking again, by the way."

Elsa grinned. "I hope to do it for you every day when you're here."

xXx

After Anna's food had gone down, Elsa led her out of the condo in a very excited manner. She had clearly been wanting to take Anna to this coral reef for some time. "Come on, Anna!" she called, running rather clumsily to the water.

Anna followed behind her, wearing the bikini she had worn when Elsa had taken her to the grotto. "I'm coming, Elsa."

Elsa descended into the water, changing her legs back to fins. She closed her eyes and made a little quiet squee from her mouth. I can't believe I'm going to do this with her.

Anna couldn't help giggling. "Well, don't leave me high and dry here."

Elsa quickly turned around, composing herself. "Oh sorry. I was just a bit lost in the moment." She held out her hands. "Come here, Anna. I'll put your gills on you and we'll get going."

Anna swam closer to Elsa. "Do your thing."

Elsa cupped the sides of Anna's neck, forming gills on her skin with her siren magic.

Anna smiled, diving under the water. She still couldn't get over how amazing it was that she could breathe underwater.

Elsa dove under and held her hand. "Follow me, but...close your eyes when we get there. I have something to show you."

"If you say so," Anna replied. "You lead, I'll follow."

As they approached the reef, Anna's eyes widened in awe. The reef was enormous, with all sorts of plants growing on it. There were starfish clinging to the rocks, and the occasional hermit crab could be seen scuttling along. There were fish as well, but they all darted away as Anna and Elsa got closer.

"This is a very special place for us merpeople," Elsa informed her. "Legend has it that Poseidon himself created the first mermaid here. My father called it The Joining Reef."

"It's very beautiful," Anna commented. "and feels so...pure. Like pollution hasn't tainted it, and this is just how nature meant this place to be."

Elsa nodded. "You know...this place holds an even more special meaning to me. This is where my parents first met."

"Mine met on a train," Anna replied. "Not so glamorous."

"What's a 'trayne'?" Elsa inquired.

"I'll tell you later," Anna promised. She had begun to enjoy teaching Elsa about the world beyond the waters she called home.

Elsa smiled. "Anyway, close your eyes. I have a surprise for you."

Anna nodded, floating to the centre of the reef and shutting her eyes. "Alright, Elsie. Whenever you're ready."

After a few seconds, Elsa said, "You can look now."

Anna opened her eyes to see Elsa holding out a beautiful pink flower to her. "Anna Baker," she said, "I love you. I've loved you for as long as I can remember. You're more precious to me than the most valuable treasure in the sea, and...and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Anna's eyes widened. "E-Elsa?!" she exclaimed, hiding her face as it went bright red. Elsa... loved her.

"This flower is the same kind that my father gave to my mother," the mermaid went on. "I thought it'd be fitting if I gave one to you too."

"B-but...this is...I don't...Elsa..." Anna tried to find the words.

Elsa looked saddened. "Anna, what's wrong?"

"Elsa…." Anna sighed. "I…I'm sorry. This is just too sudden for me."

"What are you talking about?" Elsa asked, confused. "Don't you love me?"

"I...I don't know," Anna said.

"But you said…." Elsa started to tear up. "You said you would be there for me. You promised me that we'd be together forever. You said you loved me the other day, and you let me hold your hand when we went out last night."

Anna sighed, turning and swimming away. "I'm sorry."

"Anna..." Elsa reached out with her hand. "Please don't go."

Anna stopped. "I need some time alone, Elsa," she said. "I...I need to think."

Elsa let go of the flower, watching Anna swim back to the surface. "I'm so sorry…."

xXx

Kristoff Bjorgman was sat up in his apartment at the end of another long day, the day having been particularly difficult due to him having to deal with a rather rowdy Australian couple. He sighed, lying down on the couch. "God, what a day," he muttered.

Suddenly, the door to his apartment burst open and Anna strode inside, a rather upset look on her face.

"Anna?" Kristoff asked. "What are you doing here?"

She sat down next to him, her head in her hands. "She loves me, Kristoff," she murmured. "Elsa loves me."

Kristoff smiled. "Well, that's good news. You were pretty worried about that earlier."

"No...I just…." She sighed. "I screwed it up, Kristoff."

"What do you mean?" Kristoff's expression fell. "What exactly happened?"

Anna sighed. "We went swimming together," she said. "She took me out to this coral reef. Then she held out this flower to me...and basically asked me to be her girlfriend."

"That's...really cute, actually," Kristoff admitted.

"It was sweet...so goddamn romantic...and I just freaked out like a complete dork."

Kristoff put his arm around her. "Then just go back and explain it to her. Just tell her that your nerves got the best of you."

"I CAN'T!" Anna argued. "I just can't face her...I probably broke her heart."

He sighed. "It's okay, Anna."

Anna buried her face in his chest. "No, it's not...I ruined everything..."

Kristoff embraced her, holding her. "Hey, hey, it'll work out."

"No, it won't," Anna denied. "God, I was such an idiot. I should have just told her how I felt when I first got here. The signs were so damn obvious."

"Wait what?" Kristoff wondered.

"The way she talked to me...the way she looked at me...and I didn't notice. I'm so fucking stupid!"

Kristoff sighed. "I wish I could help you, Anna. But this is one mess even my love guru skills can't fix."

"Then what am I still doing here?!" Anna growled, getting off the couch. "I'm stupid."

"No, you're just confused," Kristoff corrected.

Anna sighed. "I should just go back home. I can't face her after that."

Just then, there was a polite knock on the door.

"Who the hell...?" Kristoff muttered, getting up from the couch.

"Did you order a pizza or something?" Anna theorised.

"Nope," Kristoff replied. He went up to the door and opened it.

Standing at the door was Elsa, wearing some clothes she had borrowed from Anna again. She looked sad, like she had been crying. "Hi," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "Is…is Anna here?"

Kristoff nodded. "Yeah, come in." He moved aside, allowing Elsa to enter.

Elsa then noticed Anna, walking over to the couch and sitting beside her. "Hey, Anna."

Anna looked away, not wanting Elsa to see her this upset.

Elsa sighed. "Anna...I'm not mad at you."

"I'll uh, give you girls some time to yourselves," he stated before leaving the apartment.

Anna still looked away from Elsa. "You should be," she muttered.

Elsa tried to put her hand on Anna's shoulder, but Anna pushed it away. "Stop... please."

"Anna... it's okay."

"No, it's not!" Anna snapped. "I thought I had all this stuff figured out about you and then you go and practically propose to me!"

The mermaid looked down. "Because I thought you wanted me to," she said. "I thought...you felt the same way about me."

"I do," Anna said. "Elsa, I do love you...but I didn't know how much I loved you."

"But I don't understand. You were kind and caring to me, and displayed affection for me. Among my kind, it's an obvious sign of love."

"We humans are a bit different than mermaids in that sense," Anna remarked.

Elsa reached out towards Anna, but stopped. "Anna...if you don't want to be with me, I understand."

"I don't know what I want."

Elsa sighed, standing up. "I understand," she repeated. "I'll...leave you alone, then."

"No..." Anna said. "Don't go. I've already hurt you enough."

Elsa looked at Anna, tears in her eyes. "I went to the surface every night after I lost my parents," she said, her voice trembling. "I went to our secret spot, hoping against hope that when I got there...you'd be waiting for me. You could never hurt me, Anna. You were the only thing that made my loss hurt a little bit less."

"But I forgot about you...Elsa, I never had that connection you had with me," Anna told her. "I'm sorry, but I don't love you as much as you think I do.. but then...I have started to fall for you." She groaned. "You see what my problem is? I'm all confused about my feelings."

Elsa sat back down. "Just answer me one question, Anna," she said, looking into her eyes. "Do you want to be with me? Like, at all?"

"To put it simply..." Anna took a deep breath. "Yes, Elsa. I want to be with you."

Elsa smiled, gently taking Anna's hand. "Then I don't care if you love me. Even if we're only friends...as long as I'm with you, I'm happy."

Anna held Elsa's hand. "No, Elsa...I realise now." She smiled. "Elsa, I love you."

Elsa blushed. "You...you mean it?"

"I'm not sure, but right now, in my heart…" She gulped, a few tears coming out. "Yes, I do."

Elsa leaned in, kissing Anna's cheek. "Thank you, Anna."

Anna blushed at Elsa's touch. "Tell me that wasn't your mind wipe kiss."

Elsa smiled. "Don't worry, I'm in control of my magic. And besides, even if I wanted to wipe your memory, I wouldn't."

Anna then touched foreheads with Elsa. "Elsa, to answer your question from before...yes, I'll gladly spend the rest of my life with you."

Elsa took off her shell necklace, handing it to Anna. "Then...I want you to have this," she said. "It's customary for merpeople to exchange gifts when they profess their love for one another."

Anna giggled. "Is this us getting married?"

"No, no, don't worry," Elsa said.

"Good, because I wanna get to know you a bit more before then," Anna replied. She then held Elsa's hand, gazing into the mermaid's eyes.

Kristoff poked his head in through the front door. "Am I interrupting something?"

Anna and Elsa both blushed and pulled their hands behind their backs. "No, no, nothing," Elsa excused.

"Yeah, we were just...making up and such," Anna added. "In a totally platonic way."

Kristoff smirked. "You never were a good liar, Anna."

Anna sighed. "Kristoff...Elsa and I are in love."

Kristoff smiled. "Well, may I be the first to wish you two congratulations."

Elsa gave Anna a hug. "This is the happiest I've been in a long time."

Anna smiled. "Come on, Elsa." She then picked the mermaid up in her arms. "Let me take you home."

xXx

Author's note: Happy Happy (Gay) Times!