6

The Stories

Anna woke in Elsa's lap with a small drip of drool running down her face. Her eyes fluttered open. The sunlight wafted through the room. Anna was wrapped in a blanket. She didn't want to move. She was comfortable, more than comfortable actually. Something about the past few days had filled a hole in her heart. She didn't want that feeling to leave. Although the room was warm, she felt like she was getting up on a cold morning. If she moved she'd feel the cold air rush back into her life. Just like a cold morning, she didn't want the warmth in her heart to ever leave again. She turned to look up at Elsa. The woman was looking down at her. Her blue piercing eyes startled Anna. She could feel them analyzing every inch of her. She felt so exposed. But at the same time she felt so… free. If Elsa asked her anything right now, she'd answer it, without holding anything back. No secrets, just pure honesty.

"You're awake." Elsa said.
"Unfortunately."

"You moved a lot. How did you sleep?"

"Like a baby. Your lap is very comfy."

"So I've heard." Elsa looked at her watch. "We have a long day today." Anna groaned as all the responsibilities rushed back into her head. Anna grabbed the blanket and pulled it over her head.
"I don't wanna." She teased. Elsa stood up, sending Anna careening onto the floor.
"Hey!" Anna said, now a jumbled heap of clothes and blanket. Elsa let out a short chuckle.

The next few days passed by rather uneventfully. Anna began to fall into a routine. She'd wake up to the noises of the tropics, usually in Elsa's lap. She'd make breakfast, get dressed, shower and the like. Then she'd make the trek back to the city. Once there she'd bear through the meetings, negotiate the acquisition of the Tropical Cruise and Tourist Company, Torres Corp, she had come there for in the first place.

Elsa stood by her side the entire time, like a brick wall. Although not reflective like the other guards, but protective. She made Anna feel safe, not alone. Elsa was like a stable base in her life that she never realized she lacked, something to reminder her that everything was okay. When Anna would become irritated or frustrated from meetings, she'd turn to Elsa to calm her. All she needed to do was look and she'd be grounded. Although, with Elsa around so much she did have to grit her teeth through Elsa's terrible puns.

She had a list of her favorites though. One day after a meeting with a particularly lengthy and boring discussion that kept circling around the market for snorkeling, Elsa said "Well that meeting went swimmingly." Anna couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile. Another time they were at the movie theater and Anna spilled pop on Elsa's skirt. "Good thing it was a soft drink." Once again, Anna just rolled her eyes and smiled. Elsa didn't know the joy that those little puns gave Anna, even though she pretended not to like them.

After the meetings, she was free to do what she wanted, with Elsa by her side of course. But Anna wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, she almost thought it was better this way, although she knew she only thought that out of greed. As much as she hated to admit, she liked Elsa, and if Elsa wasn't in a position to run away, then Anna was okay with it. She liked being able to talk to someone new who would actually talk back. Elsa was funny too, in her own sort of way. Every night after the meetings they would go back to the Movie Theater and watch some old movies, whatever the theater was showing. So far they'd seen E.T., The Lion King, Mulan, The Karate Kid, and The Goonies.

Well, at least Elsa had. Anna only half payed attention. She focused more on watching Elsa than anything else. She loved waiting to see Elsa react to her favorite parts. Even after 6 movies, Anna still didn't know why movies disarmed Elsa. Anna's theory changed every time. Her most recent theory was Elsa had a heightened sense of sympathy that she kept hidden away from the world. Anna still wasn't sure she was right or if she'd ever know. Instead she preferred to just observe Elsa rather than "look a gift horse in the mouth" so to speak.

After the movie they'd always go back to the cabin. The car ride home was always silent. Elsa said it helped her process the movie, but Anna didn't mind. A comfortable silence was as rare to Anna as showing emotion was to Elsa and during the car ride home, Anna could watch Elsa without Elsa noticing. Then they'd cook and eat pancakes together. Usually Anna would fall asleep talking to Elsa, Anna's head in her lap.

Today was Friday. Tomorrow would start the weekend, but more importantly, tomorrow the itinerary was clear. Elsa felt butterflies in her stomach as she thought about what she and Anna would do together. More movies? More pancakes? It didn't matter, as long as Anna was there. Elsa looked down at Anna. Elsa stood next to her in the last meeting of the day.
"Well then, do we have a deal?" The woman across the Anna said. Anna wasn't paying attention. Her hands were pressed against her temples. These meeting stress her out so much. Elsa wished she could be more of a help. Anna looked up at Elsa and her face relaxed. She turned towards the woman.
"It's a deal." Anna offered a hand. The woman took it, shaking it.
"You've made a good decision today Miss Arendelle." They stood up together. "I think this is the start of something great."
"I think so too. Which reminds me," Anna grabbed a note from a small bag she had next to her. "To start our success off properly, I'll be having a party on Monday. You and a guest are welcome to attend." The woman took the card.
"Don't worry Miss Arendelle, I'll be there."
"Please, call me Anna. We're co-workers now, no need for the formalities."
"I'll be there Anna." And with that, the woman turned and rushed out the door, taking a few security guards and an assistant with her. As soon as the door shut, Anna let out a sigh of relief.
"Well that negation was a cruise." Elsa said. Although Anna wasn't looking at her, Elsa could picture Anna rolling her eyes and smiling.
"It was." Anna said. Elsa heard the smile in her voice. Anna shook her fingers in the air, releasing any nerves she still had from the meeting.
"Pancakes?" Elsa said. Anna laughed.
"Pancakes."

Together they rushed home and made the quick meal before collapsing on the couch. Anna was laying in Elsa's lap like usual. Elsa was petting Anna's hair with her gloved hands and everything else was still. The sun was setting through open glass door.
"Tell me something about yourself." Anna said. Elsa thought for a moment.
"I really like chocolate."
"Is that why you got me chocolates when we first got here?"
"Yes."
"Well, I love chocolate too so it was perfect." Anna said. "Where did you get that chocolate anyways?"
"I once did a job in Sweden. It was a small military contract. While I was there I had time to explore the country. I found the best chocolate shop in the world. Now I only buy chocolate from there. Everywhere else chocolate seems so… bland."
"You've been to Sweden?"
"Yes. I've been all over the place." Anna smiled at the thought. She imagined a younger Elsa traveling the world, protecting people.
"That reminds me, how many of your stories are true?" Anna let out a small laugh. "I can't imagine someone who loves chocolate so…" Anna felt Elsa's hand pull away and her body stiffen. "What's wrong?" Anna looked up at Elsa's face. Elsa's features, despite glowing in the warm light, were cold. Anna sat up, she played with her fingers. "We don't have to talk about it." Anna said. Elsa was still frozen in place.

Thoughts raced through Elsa's mind. Should she tell her? She had a right to know, they had been inseparable for the past week, although, she was Anna's body guard so she should be by Anna's side at all times.
"Elsa. I said, we don't have to talk about it. Its fine."
"More than I'd like to admit." She confessed. "It's a part of the job."

Elsa winced as she waited for Anna to run off. She waited for a gasp and a not so subtle shift to another seat. Just thinking about it made Elsa shift in her seat.

"Can I," Anna started to say, "can I ask more questions?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. For a few moments she didn't respond. No one had ever asked her that. Mentally she weighed pros and cons of the possible conversations following her answer before talking again.

"Yes." She whispered. She decided it was worth talking to the one person who showed more than an ounce of interest in her.
"I heard that you um…" Anna played with her hands. "Killed, 5 guys and an attack dog, unarmed, all at once." Should I be talking about this? Elsa thought, almost immediately regretting her decision.
"Yes. 3 years ago, Afghanistan. There was a sandstorm. We were ambushed. I was on patrol. I reacted to the situation." Anna nodded, her face revealing that was probably not the answer she was looking for? Elsa was unsure. She wasn't exactly the best at reading people.
"I also heard you, uh, got a guy to," Anna tentatively drew her thumb across her neck "by staring at him."

Elsa sighed. This was why she didn't like telling these stories. Why she liked answers that swept them under the rug. They brought back memories and scared people. Elsa could see fear creeping into Anna's innocent eyes. Anna had never seen war, how could she? She had grown up in the loving embrace of the high life. Her mind didn't deserve to be tainted with these stories. Elsa's body screamed at her to walk away. To stop talking now before things got worse, before Anna's warm blue eyes turned cold, before Anna would run away, before Anna realized what she was, but the girl was asking and Elsa said she would deliver.

She remembered back to the man in the story. He was behind a reinforced steel door. They stared at each other though double paned glass in the door. He was a prisoner of war. Somehow he had managed to get a sharp piece of glass in the room with him. Elsa must have overlooked it. She didn't check his pockets and allowed him to enter the room alone. Why didn't I check his pockets? Elsa had to watch as he stared her right in the eye and dragged the glass across his throat, spilling his blood onto the floor.

"That's not entirely true. He stared at me. I didn't do anything, I couldn't... react fast enough." She said. Anna nodded in the same fashion as before.
"What about the one with the doctor?"
"Doctor?"
"Yeah, I heard a story that you killed a doctor with a pen, when you were really little. I never liked doctors growing up but…" Anna stopped herself. Doctor? Elsa thought. I've never killed any doctors. Then it clicked.

The orphanage.

How did she know? She got the basic details right, but mixed a few facts around. She had never told anyone about that day. It brought such feelings of guilt back into her life. Just thinking about it now wrenched the guilt back up from the inner depths of herself.

She had only ever killed 4 innocent people in her life and that woman was the first one. She remembered her face, it haunted her dreams at night and she'd wake up to it in the morning. She couldn't forget the look of surprise just before her eyes rolled back into her head. She remembered the feeling of the warm blood on her hands that had dripped from the pen. Why did she kill her? Why? WHY? It wasn't her. It couldn't have been her that must've been something else, some sort of monster. But that that made sense to Elsa, I am a monster.

If only she could've controlled herself. How would her life be different now? Her body filled with guilt, remorse, grief, too many emotions for her to handle. She wasn't used to feeling, especially not this much at once. Her eyes misted over with tears. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth. At this point Anna must have noticed because she began to panic.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean too… I should've stopped there, I was just so pushy, I…"
"It's okay Anna."
"No. It's not okay." Anna said with determination. She turned towards Anna. She couldn't help but smile. Anna could do that, make her smile. No one else had been able to before, ever. She looked down at her hands, they were trembling. She'd been in gunfights, hand to hand combat, she's stared death down, and nothing felt like the way she felt now. "You know, I don't talk very much." Elsa began, "Except when I'm around you. But…" She paused. "This past week, I've been thinking a lot lately about a lot of topics. I think I don't talk because I'm afraid. If people see me. If people see the real me, they'll be horrified." Elsa looked down at her own hands. "And they should be. I am a monster. I'm an Ice Queen."
"No you're not." Anna said. There was a short silence.
"You're attempt to console me is not working."
"Elsa. You are not a monster. I know the real you. I've seen the real you, alright? The real Elsa likes to watch movies. She likes to protect people and she goes out of her way to make sure they are truly happy. She likes to make terrible puns that aren't even funny." Anna smiled warmly. The smiled seemed to penetrate Elsa's soul. "And she likes to stay up late and eat pancakes. She talks to me at night when no one else wants to. She has the most comfortable lap in the world. She loves chocolate but hates crowds. She doesn't like to let people down. And she does this thing where she touches her hair when she's nervous and…" Anna was cut off by a hug from Elsa. Caught off guard, Anna was stiff at first but after a short moment they melted together. "You're good." Anna whispered in Elsa's ear. "You. Are. Good." Anna's voice sent shivers down Elsa's spine. She pulled Anna closer.

And for a while, they just held each other. Nothing existed outside of them. They weren't in a cabin, they weren't on a couch, instead they were being with each other, and nothing else. Every time Anna began to hint at pulling away, Elsa's grip would tighten again.
"Elsa. You're… Crushing… me." Anna managed to say. Elsa shifted backwards, away from Anna, but not by much. Her arms rested on Anna's shoulders, Anna mirrored her. Their foreheads pressed together.
"Sorry." Elsa whispered. "I don't want you to leave."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"If you do, I will always be close behind." Elsa looked into Anna's eyes. "That's a promise."

From there, somehow they ended up lying on the couch together. It just felt natural, Anna fitting into Elsa's arms. Anna was fast asleep. Elsa just held her, one arm underneath her cradling her, the other on top, petting her hair. She liked the warmth of Anna's body. She ran her fingers through the girl's hair. She loved the way it bounced in curls. Anna moved in closer to Elsa. There was something about the way that they fit together. It was perfect. Like two puzzle pieces that had been separated for years had finally found each other. They just fit together. She felt Anna shiver. Elsa looked around the room for a blanket. She found one resting on the back of the couch. Elsa grabbed a blanket and pulled it over the two of them. Anna stirred.
"Elsa?" Anna asked her eyes still closed.
"Yes?"
"I know how I'm going to make it up to you." Elsa smiled
"How?" She asked.
"Tomorrow, we don't have to do anything right?"
"No."
"Well, tomorrow is going to be Elsa day. We can do whatever you want."
"As you wish." Elsa said, quoting The Princess Bride. Anna smiled.
"So, what do you want to do?" Anna asked. There was a short pause and Elsa sat, deep in thought. Her nose scrunched and her brows furrowed together in thought. When Elsa came too, she saw Anna looking up at her with warm eyes.
"The beach." Elsa said. "I want to go to the beach."
"The beach it is." Anna said and together they drifted off to sleep.

A/N: It's valentines day, what the hell. Might as well upload 2 sappy chapters.