A/N: Hey Everyone! As we are about halfway through the story, I just wanted to say thanks to all of the fabulous people that have reviewed, followed and favorited. All of you guys are awesome. I also wanted to encourage people to review if they wanted to. It has been a long time since I attempted a full-length story, and if you have any criticism (good or bad), I would love to hear it. And in other news, the one character that is my own shows up in this chapter. Anyway, thanks for reading. :)
Chapter 6 – Seditious Philosophers
Anna trudged down the path from the Plebian dorms to the Library. Tonight was Philosophy Club, and normally she would have been excited to be seeing her friends for their weekly meeting. But, it had been six days since the IRB had come to question her and her Master, and those six days had taken their toll on her usual optimism. Anna knew she was in love with Elsa; hell, the entire Philosophy Club, Elsa and even probably Olaf had known weeks before she had figured it out, but she never expected to be taking their separation this hard. She had thought that the time at work would be enough, that seeing Elsa eight hours a day would be sufficient, but it wasn't. Elsa was a different person at work; she wasn't even really Elsa at all, she was the Master Architect. There had been a few times when the façade had slipped; there had been looks and gentle, subtle caresses, but then one or the both of them would remember the cameras had finally been repaired and they were being watched, and Elsa would disappear again.
Anna sighed as she put her cuff to the panel that kept the Philosophy Club's meeting room locked to all but its members. The door slid open obediently and Anna walked in, keeping her eyes downcast as she went straight for her favorite wing-backed chair, chucked out its decorative pillow, plopped down into it and swung her legs over one of the arms as she always did. The other members already present looked at her in concern; there was a melancholy surrounding Ginger that most of them didn't think it was possible for her to have. Finally, a concerned Blondie spoke up. "What's wrong, Ginger?" she asked gently.
Anna glanced up and looked around, spotting the one Club member that she was none too happy with at the moment. "I don't know; why don't you ask Hua Ping?" she replied in a bitter tone that was very uncharacteristic for their usually-happy Ginger.
The Thinker Detective sighed as everyone turned to her. "That's not fair, Ginger," she protested quietly. "I had no idea that was what your Master was being investigated for. You know I would have warned you had I known."
The room stopped as everyone turned to look at either Ginger or Hua Ping. "The uber-Plebe was being investigated?" a tall, unmanly blond man, codenamed Troll in this particular company, asked incredulously. "For what?"
Anna glared at Hua Ping, but remained silent. Hua Ping sighed. "An unsanctioned relationship," she answered.
Eyebrows rose around the room and most cracked wry smiles in spite of the seriousness of being investigated by the IRB. Troll let out a small whistle. "Nice, Ginger," he complimented her. "So what's she like under that Architecture uniform?" he said with a suggestive smile.
Anna fixed him with a look and sighed when the smile didn't go away. Troll was one of her best friends and she knew he was only teasing her to make her feel better. "We're not lovers, you perv," Anna said, picking up and throwing the decorative pillow that lay discarded by her chair. Troll grinned as he ducked.
"Then why, Miss Ginger, was she at your place really early in the morning cooking you breakfast?" Debutante inquired sweetly from the back of the room. "As I recall, you were in the bedroom and she was the one answering the door."
"Don't forget the good morning kiss in the kitchen, sugar," Voodoo Queen reminded her lover with a smirk.
"Ah, yes. The kiss. Mostly sweet with just a little bit of zing behind it, if I recall correctly," Debutante said, with a matching smirk.
Anna blushed. She had forgotten about them coming to check on her the morning after her date with the Ice Queen. "Yes, she spent the night," she admitted. "But we didn't do anything. We talked and then we fell asleep on the couch." Wryly dubious looks met her statement. "I don't care if you don't believe me," she told everyone. "We fell asleep on the couch. Trust me, if I had known that the IRB was going to be in our office the next day, and that was the last time I was going to see her out of the office until the Pillars know when, then yes, something would have happened. But I didn't know, and nothing happened and now I can't touch her or kiss her or even be near her without the threat of arrest and it is really starting to piss me off. So will everyone please back off?" she finished loudly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
Everyone instantly felt bad, and Blondie glared at them all as she knelt to comfort Ginger. "It's okay, Ginger," she said, hugging her.
Anna sighed deeply and hugged Blondie back, calming down as the tears stayed unshed. "I'm sorry, everyone," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to yell at everyone. I don't know what came over me."
"You're in love, dumbass," Troll advised her wryly. "And you can't be with her. It's not rocket science."
"I think it's the why I can't be with her that is depressing me and pissing me off the most," Anna confessed, ignoring the "dumbass" for now. "We weren't doing anything wrong! We were friends, sure, but nothing more, and the day after we finally figure stuff out, the IRB comes knocking. Those two…" she paused, pointing at Voodoo Queen and Debutante, "…have lived together since they got here, which was six years ago, and they have never, ever been questioned. How is that fair!?"
"It's not," Leader replied, and the group turned to face the brown-haired, brown-eyed beauty that had entered the room. "But the State is rarely fair. And, no offense to Voodoo Queen or Debutante, they are just Thinkers, fairly low-level ones at that, and Chef and Actor are not powerful Occupations. Your Master, on the other hand, is a Master in Architecture who has received her fair share of attention from the Patricians and has a Plebian identification number of 256. Only 255 people in this Pillar-forsaken Government are ranked more highly than she is, and the IRB would love to take down anyone with that kind of power. Her power has made her a target for a long time, but she was clever and made sure to always be in compliance. Then you came along and the IRB found enough evidence to pounce."
"So you're saying my problems are all my fault," Anna concluded irritably. "How is it my fault when you are the one who assigned me to her?"
"You were supposed to gather technical data for our cause, Ginger. You weren't supposed to fall in love with her," Leader stated. "And you really weren't supposed to make her fall in love with you," she finished, fixing Anna with a wryly chiding glare.
"From what I've seen, everyone falls in love with her eventually. Even my cat likes her better," an unfamiliar voice informed them with the tiniest touch of humor. Everyone froze, not expecting a visitor when the door was locked.
Anna, however, knew that voice and she jumped up in her chair. "Master?" she questioned, peeking over the chair back. When she saw the person belonging to the voice, she inelegantly scrambled out of the chair and went to greet her. "Master!" she said happily, wrapping Elsa in a hug that was fervently returned.
While most of the room smiled at Ginger's happiness, one of the gentlemen could not resist making a witty comment. "Don't they see each other every day?" he muttered under his breath.
"Shut up, Rider," the black-haired, green-eyed woman beside him ordered. "You're just jealous that Blondie doesn't do that when you come into a room."
"At least I have a girl, Goshen," he retorted. "Where's yours?"
"I dunno," Goshen shrugged. "Where did Blondie get herself to?" she asked with a smirk. Rider glared at her but didn't say anything else.
The couple at the other end of the room didn't hear this conversation seeing as they were far too wrapped up in each other. "Is it okay if I crash your meeting, Apprentice?" Elsa murmured close to Anna's ear. "With so many people here, the IRB can't use it against us."
"That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard you ask," Anna mumbled back. "Of course it's okay. I don't care if it's not okay, it's okay."
Elsa smiled and tightened her grip. They stayed like that for a few moments until Elsa noticed that every eye in the room was on them. A little embarrassed, she pulled back, only to have Anna pull her back in. "You have to let go, Apprentice," she whispered. "Everyone is looking at us."
"Let them look; I so don't care," Anna responded. Elsa sighed and compromised by turning Anna around so that they faced the crowd together while still keeping her arms firmly around her Apprentice. "Wow, they are all staring at us," Anna confirmed with a grin. "Um, hey guys. As if you couldn't tell, this is my Master."
"I think we all managed to figure that one out, Ginger," Leader said, rolling her eyes. "My question is how she got in here when the door was locked."
"I came in when you did," Elsa replied with a shrug. "I waited for you to unlock the door and slipped in when everyone was paying attention to you."
"And why are you here, besides the obvious?" Leader inquired.
"Oh, it's mostly for her," Elsa easily admitted. "I wanted to spend time with her without the IRB breathing down our necks. But, if I'm here, I thought I might be of service to the Philosophy Club and I wanted to join."
Anna turned to look at her. "Really? You'll join us?" she asked happily.
"Well, I have been somewhat successful on my own, but a large, organized group might have more efficient uses for my talents," Elsa explained. "Mainly, though, joining means I get to spend more time with you, and I'd be willing to do most anything for that." Anna smiled and reached over to kiss her, only to be stopped by a pointed clearing of someone's throat. She turned back around to see Leader still scrutinizing Elsa carefully.
"Why do you want to join?" she asked finally. "Besides this club giving you the opportunity to be with Ginger."
"Well, I have always been drawn to the individualist and existentialist view espoused by Kierkegaard and his contemporaries. I am compelled to agree with their assessment that one's destiny is determined by the individual rather than the world in which they find themselves, and I was hoping to argue such a point during your philosophical debates," Elsa said evenly. When Leader didn't respond right away, she put her lips to the ear of the woman she was still holding onto. "This room is secure, correct?" she whispered to Anna. "No cameras or recording devices or anything?"
Anna shivered involuntarily at the contact and the low, sultry whisper, but she got herself to focus and answer the question. "No one from the State knows anything about what happens in this room," she assured her, also in a whisper.
Leader let them finish their conversation before speaking again, still suspicious of Elsa and still studying her. "We already have an Existentialist," she lied, just to see how Elsa would react.
"That's unfortunate," Elsa said, politely regretful. "But I do have other interests. Perhaps this would be of some use to your organization?" she asked as she removed her right hand from where it was wrapped around Anna and flicked her wrist upwards. A streak of white shot to the top of the room and exploded, causing millions of delicate white snowflakes to start their gentle trip downward that ended with them falling on the stunned heads of the Philosophy Club.
Leader looked up and then ran a hand through her dark-brown hair, shaking the strands to dislodge the snowflakes that had been trapped there. As they tumbled down into her face, she sighed and looked at Ginger in amused exasperation. "So this how you managed to find the Ice Queen," she said, shaking her head. "It also explains why the Ice Queen would be cooking you breakfast."
Across the room, two other Club members were celebrating their own cleverness. "I told you she was the Ice Queen, sugar," Voodoo Queen said, as she tenderly brushed snowflakes from blond hair, eyebrows and eyelashes.
"Now let's see if those hallelujahs are forthcoming," Debutante said with her usual smirk. She looked at the snow falling around her wife's face and smiled. They didn't have much experience with snow; it hardly ever snowed back home and it rarely snowed around here, so it was a rarity to see the white flakes contrasting with the smooth ebony of her beloved's skin. Debutante decided she liked it. "You are so beautiful in the snow, Tia," she said lovingly, forgetting where they were and what title she should be using. She reached up and kissed her lover, feeling the other woman smile as Tiana kissed her back.
"Hey you two! Get a room!" Troll commanded from across the room as he flung an ill-advised snowball at the back of Leader's head. At the last second, a chivalrous Club member stepped between her and the missile, calmly allowing the snowball to bounce off his broad chest.
In spite of her irritation at Troll, Leader smiled at him. "Thank you, Beast," she said gratefully.
"Anything for my Beauty," he said debonairly before picking up a handful of snow to retaliate.
Leader sighed as she looked around their book-lined Club headquarters. Her people were supposed to be a finely-tuned network of rebels and spies, but they were all gleefully playing in the snow like children. Blondie had dragged Rider over to start building a snowman; Voodoo Queen and Debutante were still kissing in the snow; Beastie, Beast's twin sister, had teamed up with Hua Ping and her brother to take on Bear-Scotty, Goshen and Troll in an epic snowball fight; and even timid, nerdy Hacker, his spiky blond hair pointing straight up as usual, had gotten into the action by designing an effective snowball catapult, which he shyly offered to Goshen. Goshen had repaid him with one of her rare genuine smiles, and he had blushed before he had positioned himself behind a chair to stay out of the fray.
Anna looked at everyone with a smile on her face until she came to Troll. She still owed him for the "dumbass" comment, and now she had someone wrapped around her that could help. "Master?" she asked, leaning back.
"Yes, Apprentice?" Elsa inquired, enjoying Leader's chagrin at the chaos the Ice Queen had created as she kept Anna securely in her arms.
"Could you make me a really big snowball?" Anna queried.
"Why?" Elsa prompted.
"Do you see that tall guy with the unmanly blond hair?" she pointed, before realizing that both Troll and Beast qualified. "The one with the redhead and the black-haired girl manically wielding the catapult," she clarified. Elsa nodded. "Well, before you got here, I was pining a bit for you and he called me a name," she explained. "I would like to exact my revenge for that."
Elsa frowned, immediately disliking anyone who would mess with her Apprentice. "Of course I could make you a snowball, but I would be more than happy to deal with him for you," she offered.
"No, I can fight my own battles, so I just need the ammo," Anna said with a grin. "But I thank you for looking out for me."
"No one messes with my family," Elsa said with a smile, leaning closer to Anna to make her point. With Elsa that close, Anna couldn't resist reaching over and finally kissing Elsa like she had wanted to since Elsa got here. Elsa was surprised, but she didn't mind, so she returned the kiss with a sweetness that caused Anna to practically go limp in her arms. Elsa chuckled at the reaction before slowly ending the kiss and unraveling herself from her Apprentice. She put her hands in front of her in the shape of a large-sized orb, and within seconds, she had created a large-sized snowball that she presented to Anna. "Your ammo, Feisty-pants," she said with a good-natured flourish.
"You are amazing," Anna said giddily as she snatched the snowball and kissed Elsa all in one motion. Breaking off the kiss, she waited until just the right moment to launch the snowball at Troll…only to have it sail harmlessly over his head. Anna sighed.
Troll chuckled derisively. "You couldn't hit the broadside of the Library, Gin-" he began, stopping when a much larger snowball than the one Anna had launched at him hit him square in the face, knocking him to the ground right on his well-shaped backside.
All of the combatants plus Anna looked at Elsa, who stood there with no noticeable expression and her arms crossed. Even Leader, who had been halfway looking at Elsa, had failed to see her move. "That was snow," she reminded everyone mildly. "I can do the same thing with ice. Sharp, pointy ice," she emphasized, glowering pointedly at Troll who was picking himself off the floor with his teammates' help.
"Yes, Ma'am," Troll said respectfully, honestly impressed and the tiniest bit scared. Coming back to himself, though, he grinned. "You have much better aim than Ginger," he complimented her.
"Yes, I do," Elsa agreed. Troll laughed and turned back to his snowball fight while Elsa turned back to Anna, only to find her expressive face wearing an annoyed, almost angry expression. Elsa sighed, knowing that she should be in trouble for interfering because Anna had specifically asked to handle the situation herself. If the situation was reversed and Anna had interfered when asked not to, Elsa knew that she would have been infuriated, so it was unfair to expect less of her Apprentice. "I know you asked me to handle it yourself, but you still have the aim of an Apprentice Architect and I just couldn't help it when he started taunting you. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not, and I never apologize anyway, so I will just promise that I will try to keep my protectiveness under better control in the future," Elsa said in an apologetic tone.
"Just because you have powers and I don't doesn't mean I'm helpless, Elsa," Anna said firmly, using Elsa's proper name to make her point.
"I know," Elsa replied quietly, looking down.
"But," Anna continued, using her hand to gently lift Elsa's chin back up so they could look at one another, "I know you are only doing it because you love me and want to protect me, and that makes me love you even more. Just don't make it a habit," she warned mock sternly.
Elsa smiled. "I always learn from my mistakes," she promised.
"I know you do, because that's the type of person you are," Anna assured her and then decided to change the subject in a typically-Anna fashion. "Now, how did you do that without anyone seeing?" she demanded.
"Very carefully," Elsa said, with a teasing grin.
"Okay, just for that, I'm still mad at you," Anna decided. Elsa chuckled and swept her up for a kiss. "Okay, maybe not that mad," Anna murmured when Elsa let her go.
Leader, who had been quietly observing them since before Troll had been flattened by a snowball, decided that she had seen and heard enough. "Ginger, could I meet with your Master in private, please?" she requested. "I would like to talk to her about her admission to the Philosophy Club."
"Um, sure, Leader," Anna said, a little confused but agreeable. She smiled at Elsa and went to help Blondie and Rider with their snowman.
Leader studied the Ice Queen, noting that with Ginger gone, that was exactly whom the Architect had back turned into. "She knows your real name," Leader said, not as a question but as a statement of fact.
"She does," Elsa confirmed, no emotion showing.
"I would never have thought that the masterful Ice Queen would reveal so much of herself," Leader added. "It seems like a risk to open yourself up like that."
"Love makes you do stupid things," Elsa replied.
"Like joining the rebellion?" Leader asked wryly.
That got a small smile to form on the icy exterior of the Architect. "Perhaps," Elsa allowed.
Leader looked at her, intrigued at the many different sides of the Ice Queen she had seen tonight. "You are nothing like I expected the Ice Queen to be," she admitted. "Granted, I can see that you are the Ice Queen and you have some of the traits that I thought she would have, but really, you are so much more complicated than I would have ever have suspected."
"And is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Elsa inquired.
"I haven't decided yet," Leader stated candidly. "But truthfully, if it weren't for Ginger, I probably wouldn't let you join. I don't know if I can trust you."
"If it weren't for my Apprentice, I wouldn't be here," Elsa countered. "And you have every right not to trust me because I am only here for her." Elsa looked Leader in the eye, capturing the rebel leader's gaze to make sure she understood. "If you let me join, I will be loyal to you and the group. I abhor the State as much or more than you do, and I will gladly fight for any cause that wishes to end it. But, if there ever comes a point where I have to choose between the rebellion and my Apprentice, there will be no choice. I will do anything I can to save her even if it means I die and I have to take the rest of you with me," Elsa finished, her face again devoid of any emotion.
To her surprise, Leader smiled. "That is a statement worthy of an Ice Queen," she said in subtle admiration. "And I thank you for your honesty. But just remember, I care for my rebel family far more than I care for you, and that family includes Ginger. If you hurt her or if you put her in danger in any way, I will not hesitate to have you arrested. If you do anything that gets any of us arrested or executed, I'll kill you myself."
"Seems only fair," Elsa replied, happy that they understood one another.
"Then welcome to the Philosophy Club," Leader congratulated her.
"Thank you, Leader," Elsa said with a wry nod. "Any first orders?"
"Since you have managed to turn all of my Unit Leaders into little children playing in the snow, could you please take it away so that we might actually get some work done?" Leader queried. Elsa smirked, nodded and raised her hands, willing the snow to rise. There were loud squawks of protest as games were interrupted and creations were destroyed, but the snow obeyed Elsa's will and gathered itself back up at the ceiling before disappearing completely. Seeing all of the grumpy faces now turned her way, Leader glowered at them all. "Quit pouting and sit," she ordered, irritated. "It's time to start the meeting." Everyone sighed and went to their usual chairs and couches, excepting Anna who went over to Elsa. Still a little uneasy surrounded by this many people, Elsa was standing off to the side quietly observing until Anna grabbed her hand and led her to her favorite chair.
"You can have my chair, Master," Anna offered, indicating the wingback in front of them.
"And where are you going to sit?" Elsa asked, as she settled into it.
"On you," Anna replied simply and plopped down into Elsa's lap.
"Ooof," Elsa wheezed before Anna settled herself sideways so that her legs were over the chair arms as they always were. Shaking her head, Elsa slipped her arms around Anna's waist and they waited for the meeting to start.
"As Leader I call this meeting to order," Leader stated. "When you hear your codename, please raise your hand. Beast?" A hand went up. "Beastie?" followed. Another hand was held aloft. "Bear-Scotty?" Leader questioned, and at this codename, Elsa leaned closer to Anna to ask her something.
"Biscotti, like the cookie?" she whispered quizzically.
"No, Bear-Scotty," Anna corrected. At Elsa's confused face, she tried to explain. "Um, it makes sense in context?" she offered. "Codenames are assigned based on personal characteristics or preferences. Bear-Scotty's family is from Scotland and bears are a huge part of their family history."
Before Elsa could reply, Leader called out another name. "Blondie?" she called, which caused a hand to rise and brought up another question for Elsa. "Why is her codename Blondie when she's a brunette?" she whispered wryly.
"Long story. A very long story," Anna replied, also whispering. Leader looked at them pointedly as they whispered, and Elsa decided to be quiet for the rest of roll call.
"Debutante?" Leader said, and the blonde's hand rose. "Ginger?" she said. Anna's hand went up. "Goshen? Hacker? Hua Ping? Rider? Troll? Voodoo Queen?" she asked in rapid succession and six hands went up to finish the process. "All right, as I am sure all of you are aware, we have a visitor tonight, Ginger's Master, the Architect," she said, and heads nodded in agreement. "After some discussion, I offered her a place in the Philosophy Club, and she has accepted." Anna looked at her with a wide smile, and Elsa shrugged, while the rest of the member started clapping. "So now you all know the drill," she continued. "She needs a codename, and while there would be one obvious selection, 'Ice Queen' is already associated with a known saboteur and using that in our communications would result in unwanted attention from the State. What are some other suggestions?"
"For her to pick it herself," came the loud suggestion from the woman with flaming red curls cascading down her back. "Otherwise she'll get stuck with some Pillars-awful codename like 'Bear-Scotty'," she finished in disgust.
"I like Spiky," Troll cut in, ignoring Bear-Scotty's pointed remark. "You know, like ice spikes."
"Marshmallow?" Beastie suggested. At everyone's puzzled looks, she shrugged. "What? She's got white hair and it made me think of marshmallows."
"I've got a couple," Anna piped up, and Elsa looked at her apprehensively.
"Apprentice, please, you'll only make it worse," she pleaded softly, already very embarrassed by this unexpected conversation.
"Trust me," Anna replied with a small kiss. "Knowing what her interests are, I think that Morgan or Sulley would be best," she announced. The others looked at each other questioningly, having no idea of what the significance might be. Elsa smiled, knowing exactly why Anna had picked them. Apparently Anna had actually been paying attention to at least some of her Architecture lessons over the last months.
Leader, being a Master Librarian with a vast knowledge base, also knew why Anna had suggested them. "I think either of those would be perfect," she agreed. "They speak to her profession, not to her powers, and that will allow us to be more discreet. So, which one, Architect?" she asked, giving her fellow Master final say.
Elsa debated the merits of each and then finally decided. "Morgan," she said.
"Then Morgan it is," Leader replied. "Okay, that's done, so now on to our agenda."
As Leader started the meeting, Anna reached down to whisper once more to Elsa. "I offered those because I knew you would be okay with either of them, but I'm never going to call you that," she told Elsa. "It just doesn't feel right."
"Yeah, don't expect me to start calling you Ginger, either, Apprentice," Elsa replied with a small smile.
In spite of the distraction of Anna perched in her lap, Elsa did her best to pay attention to the rest of the meeting. Most of the particulars they discussed were beyond Elsa; Anna, for obvious reasons, had only ever mentioned the people of the Philosophy Club, not the specifics of their plans, and Elsa had no idea what all of the various codenames were. One thing she did figure out, however, was that the people located in the room were not the sum total of the seditious network. They were the leaders of their respective Units, and they had hundreds of people under their command branching out into their respective Pillars and even into the Proletariat.
"You are a Unit Leader?" Elsa couldn't help asking as this fact came to light.
"Of course. Do you have to ask? I am totally and utterly the commanding type," Anna insisted. At Elsa's eyebrow, she relented and grinned sheepishly. "I'm the only one in the Architecture Thread. I'm in charge of myself," she admitted.
Elsa chuckled and then thought of something. "I'm in Architecture, and I'm a part of this now," she pointed out. "Does that make you my Unit Leader?"
Anna pondered that and then shook her head. "No," she decided quickly. "We're not a Unit. We're a team, so we don't need a leader."
"Agreed," Elsa murmured, shutting up as Leader sent yet another chiding look their way.
The meeting continued and the minutes ticked away until at last the time ran out. Leader gave her last few orders and everyone made note of them, standing up and stretching as the meeting was adjourned and they put away their notebooks. Anna reluctantly removed herself from Elsa's lap and helped Elsa to stand. People began to trickle out, and most of them shook Elsa's hand, welcomed her to Philosophy Club and said goodnight to her as they left. Debutante, ever genteel and friendly, thanked Elsa for the snow as she said good night, adding a friendly squeeze and wink before finding her Voodoo Queen to take her home.
As the room emptied, Elsa sighed in relief that the welcoming gauntlet was almost over. She appreciated the open friendliness of the group, and she had graciously interacted with everyone as the situation demanded, but Elsa was still wary of people that weren't Anna, and she was glad to see only one person remained, especially since it was the Thinker Detective that she had wanted to talk to. "It is good to see you again, Thinker Detective," she said, carefully polite.
"Thank you, Master, but please, call me Hua Ping," the Detective requested. Elsa nodded, waiting. Hua Ping took a deep breath and looked at Elsa. "I came to apologize, Master. If I had known that you were being investigated for something other than the off-Campus visit, I would have warned Ginger. According to my files, that is all that we were there to investigate. It wasn't until after we left that the Master Detective told me of the real reason for our visit."
"You were only doing your job, Hua Ping, and truthfully, even if you had known, I don't think your warning would have done much good," Elsa stated. "We had been spending too much time together for far too long."
"True, but I can see how much this separation is distressing Ginger, and it troubles me," Hua Ping replied.
"It is unfortunate, but we will work it out," Elsa assured her. "At this point, I don't know if I can live without her, so we will have to work it out."
"Which reminds me –even though I hesitate to bring this up now that this conversation has gone so well– but there was another thing that was troubling me and I wanted to speak with you about, Master," Hua Ping said reluctantly. "I've seen the Master Detective's notes, and you kept claiming that you would never have a relationship with your Apprentice. Yet, you two are obviously together in whatever way you can be. Were you just lying or is this just some fling you don't consider to be a relationship? Because Ginger believes in you and I won't see her hurt."
Elsa's face grew icy and Hua Ping instantly regretted asking. To her surprise, though, after a moment's thought, Elsa's face softened. "It is a legitimate question," she admitted. "And, to ease your concern, I'll answer it. This is not a fling for me. I have destroyed too much of my former life for her for this to be a fling and I will love her for the rest of my life."
"Then you were lying," Hua Ping concluded.
"No, I wasn't," Elsa contradicted. "I think any Master who starts an unequal power-based relationship with an Apprentice is despicable. But…" she trailed off, trying to think of a way to put it so that it was understandable and not crazy-sounding.
"…she showed me she was the Ice Queen before she told me she loved me. She gave me all of the power," Anna finished, wrapping her arms around Elsa, and resting her head in the crook of Elsa's neck. Elsa smiled shyly; apparently Anna's conversation with Blondie had finished and she had been listening.
Hua Ping smiled at them. "Okay, I was being stupid," she acknowledged ruefully. "I apologize for everything, Master; goodnight to the both of you," she said as she turned and walked out the door.
Elsa and Anna looked around, finding themselves alone except for Leader, Blondie and Rider. The three others headed for the door and Elsa and Anna followed, all of them saying goodnight as the door slid shut. "Walk me home, Master?" Anna asked hopefully, as they exited the Library.
"Of course, Apprentice," Elsa said. Anna smiled and grabbed Elsa's hand, knowing that she shouldn't but not caring. Elsa knew that she should pull away, but she didn't, so hand-in-hand they strolled across Campus to Anna's building. Mindful of the cameras, little was said or done as they walked, but they were content to be in each other's company. Anna's building came into view far too soon, and they stood awkwardly at the front door when they arrived. Neither one wanted to say goodbye, but neither wanted to give the IRB any evidence. Finally, Elsa took the initiative and spoke.
"I think Olaf would like you to come visit him tomorrow," she said, having a flash of inspiration.
"And I would love to see him," Anna responded with a smile.
"I'll text you to let you know the time," Elsa said, smiling back. She leaned forward and gave Anna a hug instead of the kiss that she wanted to. "Good night, Apprentice," she whispered, squeezing her.
"Good night, Master," Anna answered, hugging her back. They stayed like that for a few moments before separating. Anna waved goodbye as she entered the building and Elsa waved back. Once her Apprentice was out of sight, Elsa sighed, turned and started walking towards her own building.