Ch. 3: Home Again
It took Elsa a considerable amount of time to find clothes she would wear. She was embarrassed by just the sight of some of the articles of clothing. Tank tops? Miniskirts? Short shorts? And don't get her started on the swimsuits. At least she wasn't left without a wide variety to choose from since the wardrobe was enormous. Finally, though, after a lot of searching and some help from Elena, the queen was finally dressed and not too late as I had wrapped up my investigation and returned to Government Hall a few minutes later. She left the wardrobe to find me talking with Elena, Anna and Kristoff.
"Well Coit Tower is a must see, the view from the top is amazing," explained Elena.
"I agree, I can't wait for you to see it. And the Ferry building is great as well; I thought we'd have lunch there at a place called La Mar. No, wait, I know where we have to have lunch, it's great! Don't ask, I'm keeping it a surprise."
"Wherever you go, don't forget Fisherman's Wharf or the Exploritorium."
"We are going to be strapped for time to do all of this," I laughed. "Actually, what I'm sure Elsa would like is a visit to the DeYoung art museum."
"What are you talking about?" asked Elsa as she walked up to us.
"Elsa…" I trailed off when I saw her. "You look… fantastic."
"Thank you," she blushed.
Elsa had her hair in its customary braid and had opted for jeans, a turquoise blouse, a silver jacket, one inch white heels, and snowflake earrings. She had applied a bit of makeup which she honestly didn't need but did accentuate her beauty. The overall effect was one wizard who was suddenly struggling slightly to remember how to speak.
Anna and Kristoff also looked good, with the princess sporting purple Converse trainers, green cargo pants, a black t-shirt, and a velvet purple jacket. Kristoff had donned boots, black jeans, an army green shirt, and brown jacket.
"We were talking about what we were going to do during our day in San Francisco and what Daniel has in mind sounds fantastic!" exclaimed Anna.
"She can hardly wait to start," added Kristoff.
"Yes, she really wants to start but as it is our anniversary, I'll let you pick our first destination," I smiled to Elsa as I entwined our fingers.
"There is one place I want to see while we're here," she grinned back up at me.
Letting Anna have chocolate covered coffee beans was a mistake.
They are a favorite treat of mine and I kept a stash of them in my home. Elsa had wanted to see the place I had lived in before I moved to the nineteenth century and loved what she saw. My place was small, just two bedrooms, a small bathroom, a small living room and a kitchen but it was comfortable and homey. In fact, Andrew was living here now and the place still looked almost exactly as I remembered. The few changes made included replacing furniture, updating the kitchen appliances, and repainting the living room. But what remained, and I was particularly happy about this, was the bird feeders in the front and back yards. Both the queen and the princess loved the hummingbird and finch feeders. The finches, of course, had scattered at the first sign of movement in the house. The hummingbirds, in contrast, took a slight interest in what was going on inside but went back to their feeding when they saw it just more humans.
"Oh wow, those birds are lovely!" said Anna as she got up close.
"You like them?" I asked.
"I think they're gorgeous! Look at this Elsa! What kind of birds are they?"
"Those are hummingbirds. When I lived with my parents we put feeders out to attract them. They were skittish at first, flying away if we moved just slightly but got used to us over time. Now I can go out there and those birds are so used to me that they won't fly away. In fact, some of them land on my shoulder."
"Really?" asked Elsa, clearly surprised.
"Really, they are that used to me. I think being a wizard helps as well, they sense my magic and through that that I'm not a threat. In fact, wizards in general have an easier time with animals than non-wizards. The finches, however, will never get used to me. They still fly away at the first sign of movement."
"Still, they must be lovely to watch."
"They are, believe me. When the feeder is full they all attack it at once, pecking away while others try to shoo away some of the other to get a spot, it's great. And the hummers are almost always feeding, also occasionally fighting over a spot. I have to refill their feeder almost every other day."
I walked to the garage and opened the door, wondering if one of my most prized possessions was still here. I turned the light on a huge grin broke onto my face.
"Thank you, Andrew," I muttered.
"What's got you looking so happy?" Elsa inquired as she walked up behind me.
"Andrew kept my car. Take a look."
We stepped inside and Elsa saw a beautiful ruby red car.
"It's a 2005 Thunderbird, my most prized possession when I lived here," I informed as I opened the passenger door for the queen and then went around to the driver side. "You know, I still have my time jumper. We could convince Anna and Kristoff to go back to Arendelle ahead of us and then we could drive out to this point I know and just be alone. Just you, me, the stars, and the lights of the city. What do you think?"
"That sounds like an irresistible offer," she smiled at me.
"Then it's a date."
I glanced down at my watch and saw the time. "As nice as it is to be here with just you, we have a schedule to keep and we are going to be late if we don't leave soon."
I got out and walked around to open Elsa's door for her and we walked back into the house to get the other two lovebirds.
Anna was exploring the kitchen and had found a bag that was filled with small ball shaped pieces of chocolate.
"Daniel, what are these?" she asked when she saw us.
"Chocolate covered coffee beans, try one," I said before returning my attention to Elsa. "How are you liking the twenty-first century so far?"
"It's wonderful, terrifying, and exciting. I cannot believe how much is different from my time. You have cars, televisions, radios, mobile phones, all sorts of things I'd never have dreamed possible. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed to be honest."
"That's to be expected and it's why I'm trying to ease you in to this century. If I unloaded it all at once you might go into shock. And that's something I don't… want…" I trailed off as I realized something.
"What is it?" asked Elsa as she turned to face me.
"Anna…"
"What about her?"
"She took some chocolate covered coffee beans out of the red bag… oh boy."
"What happened?"
"Nothing dangerous, but at the same time it was not a good idea for Anna to eat the coffee beans from that bag," I answered as I started to search for Anna. Hopefully she hadn't run outside.
Kristoff was in the backyard, playing with Shadow, so she wasn't out there. That meant she was still in the house.
"Hey Elsa, there's so much neat stuff in Daniel's house. Do you want to go skydiving? I want to go skydiving. Or how about skiing? You could create a rink in the yard or… I don't know… anything!" Anna exclaimed as she appeared in the hallway giggling like a hyena. "I feel all light… and free… and energetic! Let's do something!"
"Anna, give me the bag of coffee beans," I coaxed as I slowly approached her.
"No! You're not getting them back," she squeaked and held the bag closer to her, as much seriousness on her face as could be mustered in the middle of an extreme energy high. "Go buy some more!"
"Daniel, what's happened to my sister?"
"Nothing, really. You're just seeing her when she's on a potion induced energy high."
"What?"
"Those coffee beans were laced with an energy potion. I'd eat them when I worked nights to stay awake. Now we've got to get them back from Anna before she eats too many."
"Why? What happens if she eats too many?" asked Elsa, the worry seeping into her voice.
"Nothing terrible, she won't die, but she will pass out and wake up with a not inconsiderable headache."
"Well what do we do then?"
"We have to restrain her long enough to get her to eat one of these," I replied as I went back to the kitchen and found the blue bag of coffee beans. "These coffee beans have been laced with a calming draught and should do the trick. Of course, the real trick is getting Anna to eat one."
"Eat what?"
Anna had reappeared, still wide eyed, and still giggling.
"Anna," I said gently as I slowly approached her. "You need to put the bag of coffee beans down."
"Never! Go get some more if you want some!"
"If you give me that bag then I will give you this bag," I coaxed and held up the blue bag. "I can assure you these beans are better."
Anna seemed to think about it before acquiescing.
"Alright, I'll give you back this bag."
She tossed the bag towards me and I handed her the blue bag which she snatched from my hand so fast you'd think it was a magic trick. The bag was opened and the wired redhead popped a bean into her mouth. The effect was almost immediate. No sooner had the treat been swallowed than Anna's eyes widened and she went stiff for a second before relaxing and dropping down to the floor.
"Anna?" asked Elsa as she approached her sister. "Are you alright?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine… just feeling a little light headed."
"Just give it a minute, It'll pass," I assured. "Apologies as well, it's my fault you took a bean from the red bag."
"It's fine, I haven't felt that energetic in… forever really. Can I have another?"
"No!" Elsa and I exclaimed at the same time and I promptly pocketed the red bag.
"Come on," I said as we helped Anna back to her feet. "Let's get Kristoff and go. There's still plenty to see before the day is over."
"We're going to be exhausted by the evening, aren't we?"
"Not if we all have those coffee beans!"
"Will you drop the beans? You're not getting anymore!"
"Elsa?"
"Sorry, Anna, I have to agree with the wizard."
"Alright, alright, I won't mention the beans again," Anna sighed rather heavily.
"Where are we going next?"
"I was thinking that we'd start off our day in San Francisco at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf," I answered before leaning out the door to the backyard and getting Kristoff's attention. "Then we'll make our way down to the Presidio and visit the Walt Disney Family Museum,
"What's at Pier 39?" asked Anna.
"Sea lions. Lots and lots of sea lions. They're all laying there, working on their tan, and when they're particularly active, they'll be shoving themselves into the water and barking like nobody's business."
"Sounds like fun," said Elsa hesitantly.
"I believe it will be, and if you don't have fun today, I'll find a way of making it up to you tonight," I smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
Shadow barked and we broke apart.
"Oh be quiet, you're worse than Danica!" I snapped.