Disclaimer: If I owned Frozen or Rise of the Guardians, I'd put myself in the crossover movie. But I'm not, so...
Elsa shut the front door and hung up her coat on the hook.
Gerda poked her head out of the kitchen. "Hi honey, how was school?"
Elsa carried her backpack into the kitchen. "Good. My calculus class is really easy. They're still working on linear function."
"That's great Elsa, but where's Anna?"
Elsa sat down on a stool and watched Gerda mix cookie batter. "Anna wanted to ride with someone else," she replied nonchalantly.
"Oh." Gerda paused, trying to guess Elsa's thoughts. "Elsa, don't think that Anna's abandoning you." Gerda started to separate the dough onto a baking sheet. "She's just more social than you are. You just need to make some friends too, that's all."
Elsa shook her head. "That's not it. I just have a lot on my mind."
She ran up to her bedroom and tossed her backpack onto her bed. Elsa breathed in.
"Conceal, don't feel." She breathed out.
Elsa went to her desk and grabbed a book.
A few hours later, Elsa headed back down to the kitchen, refreshed and calm. She went to the freezer to grab some ice for her water bottle when she was greeted by a hot pink sticky note on the handle.
Elsa-
I hope that you don't mind, but I already planned to have dinner with Kai, this nice man that I met yesterday at work. If I had known that Anna wouldn't be back until late I wouldn't have left you alone. She should be home by six.
If you need anything, I have my cell. There's food in the fridge.
Love, Gerda
Elsa crumpled the note and tossed it in the wastepaper basket. She went to the living room and jumped on the couch.
She was home alone. That meant that there was nothing to stop her thoughts from crushing her. They slammed into her like a train. It had been a tiring day.
Although she tried with all her heart to hate Arendale, it somehow felt more like home than anywhere else ever had. Everything felt brighter and happier.
She sat up and realized that her face was wet. She wiped the tears away and got up to make dinner.
First she boiled the pasta, then she cooked the tomato sauce in a sauce pan.
Elsa was just sitting down to eat when she heard the front door open. "Elsa!" Anna bounced into the room. "You'll never believe what happened today!
"Today I met this guy named Hans, who I think's in your grade, and we were talking and we're going out."
Elsa looked down at her plate. "I know." She had seen them together in halls all day.
Anna obliviously started to fill her own plate with food. "He's so dreamy, and handsome, and today I got to thinking about what our wedding will be like. I mean, he is without a doubt the one, so maybe–"
"No!" Elsa finally looked up at Anna. "Anna, you just met Hans today, how do know he's the one? You haven't had enough time to learn anything about him. Don't you think you're moving a bit fast?" Elsa wasn't really hungry anymore.
"What do you mean?" Anna asked. "It's true love."
"He's your first boyfriend, Anna."
"What do you know about boyfriends? You've never had a boyfriend, you've never even had a date!"
Elsa's cheeks heated up. "Well… I just… It's not…" she stammered.
Anna's voice started to get louder. "So what if he's my first boyfriend! Princesses find their true loves instantly in movies and they don't have people raining on their parade!"
"Well we're not princesses!" Elsa snapped. Something felt wrong about that statement…
Anna's chair screeched against the floor as she stood up. "Elsa, I'm tired of living like this," she pleaded.
"Enough Anna," Elsa rose from her seat and brushed past her sister. "You don't understand." She felt like she'd had this conversation before.
"No, I don't understand. What are you so afraid of?"
"I said enough!"
Elsa's hand swung out as though she could shoot pure anger from her hand, but when nothing happened, for some reason she felt slightly nauseous. The déjà vu dissipated like soda bubbles.
Anna let out a scream and stormed upstairs to her room while Elsa stormed off in the opposite direction out the door.
She grabbed a jacket on her way out and wrapped it around her. She didn't know where she was going until she found herself at an empty park she had passed on her way home from school.
She sat on the swing and watched as the sky slowly began to darken.
A little while later, the sun was starting to dip into the horizon when she heard a noise behind her.
She whirled around to see a guy in a blue hoodie sitting on the bottom of the slide.
"Hey," he said. He sat on the swing next to her.
She stared at him curiously. "Do I know you?"
"Do you?" he replied cryptically. He pushed his hood off his head, revealing shiny white hair.
Elsa was momentarily stunned.
"I'm Jack," he said. "Elsa…" He paused to search for his next words. "It's nice to see you. It's been a while."
Elsa was confused. "Have we met?"
Jack swung back and forth on his swing. He replied slowly. "Errrr… Yes," His eyes went to his feet. "It's been a while."
He looked up again and for the first time in a very long time, their eyes met.
Blood rushed to Elsa's head and she felt like she was falling. His eyes wouldn't release her from their hold.
Suddenly he looked away. He watched the sun slowly sink down.
Elsa felt her face warm. "It's strange. You seem familiar, but I don't remember you."
Jack laughed, but there was sadness in his expression. "I know." He stood up abruptly. "I have to go."
He started to walk away and when he reached the edge of the playground. Then he turned around and grinned.
The wind pulled a curl of Elsa's hair into her face, so she pulled it out of her eyes. But when she looked back, he was gone.
Elsa tip-toed back into the house just after dark. She changed into her PJs, brushed her teeth, and went to bed thinking about her strange encounter.
AN: Sorry it took so long for me to write this. I spent at least 2 weeks wondering what should happen next and the week after that forcing myself to write it. Thanks for being so patient!
-L