Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything. Legit, not a thing. Just writing for fun. But, for real, thanks to lauraknatt for the inspiration, and only-looking for exceptional support.
Kristoff grumbled to himself as Sven jumped over a fallen tree, ducking his head to avoid various branches as the two raced towards the school. He overslept again and his mother decided to wake him up by pouring cold water over his head. Yeah, he was a heavy sleeper, but he'd just started warming up after last night's encounter with The Prince and Ice Queen; she really could've picked a nicer way of informing him he was going to be late for school.
"Whoa!" he flung himself to the side, barely keeping his seat to dodge another branch just before Sven jumped over a barbed wire fence. He barely kept his grip, hauling himself back into the makeshift saddle in time to breathe a sigh of relief. The blond could see the building in the distance and a quick glance at his watch confirmed he still had a good fifteen minutes to make it to class. "Come on, boy, we're almost there!"
Sven threw his head and poured on the speed, dashing across the mostly empty street and along the sidewalk. They nearly crashed into the sub shop owner, Kristoff calling out a hasty apology as Sven continued, cutting across another street and slowing slightly as they neared the entrance of the school. Kristoff braced himself as Sven kicked his back legs up, launching his rider into the air. Kristoff started chruning his legs, somewhat flailing through the air before coming into jarring contact with the concrete. As he recovered from the stumble and continued towards the doors, calling over his shoulder: "Thanks, Sven! See you after school!"
He ignored the answering bray as he threw the main door open, sprinted through the hall, took the corners almost too fast to keep his feet under him, and burst through the door to his first class. He was sweating and dying to catch his breath, but he made it!
A chorus of groans greeted him as Anna pumped her fist in the air. "Sweet! Everyone, pay up!"
Kristoff rolled his eyes as various classmates pulled out their wallets, slinging his backpack off his shoulders and under the desk next to Anna's. "Why does everyone assume I'm going to be late? I've never been late to class!"
"It's bound to happen eventually." Adam grumbled, running a hand through his shoulder length brown hair. He shook his mane out and snorted. "Anna just keeps getting lucky."
"They're right, you know." Anna laughed, plopping into her seat and stuffing the collection of bills into her pocket. "I mean, even I have been late before."
"On the day the teacher was also late." Kristoff pointed out. "So, it's not like it would've counted against you if you hadn't mentioned it."
"Anna's too honest to lie about that, though," Phillip said, leaning forward in his chair. "Supergirl's got a reputation to keep up."
"And to what do we owe your glorious presence, oh pompous one?" The blond frowned at the football captain, who shrugged.
"I have a free period and I never took this class. Why not get a little extra learning while I can?" Phillip smiled. "What's the matter, Your Majesty, have I impeded upon your sacred kingdom? I didn't notice any horse manure when I entered."
"I hardly think someone who grunts like a pig and only knows how to shout out numbers and colors needs to take a Speech class." Kristoff shot back, surprise registering on his face. "Unless you finally decided to make something out of yourself. In which case, congratulations, you've finally caught up to the Freshmen. You should be proud."
"Oh, ha ha," Phillip replied, rolling his eyes. "Like you're set for anything other than mucking out stalls and brushing your reindeers."
"The plural of reindeer is reindeer, Meathead."
"And the synonym of 'useless' is Kristoff."
The blond groaned. "Debating English with a footballer is like mucking a stall- only one thing is going to come out of it."
"Class! Good morning!" Mr. Kronker Papikrankenitz entered the room, adjusting his tie briefly before stepping behind his desk. He was a towering figure but his easy smile- and occasional obliviousness- made him one of the better liked teachers at Arendelle high. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner- faculty meeting, you know how it goes. Looks like we have everyone here..." his eyes landed on Phillip "... plus one... and we've got a short day due to the pep rally, so! Let's get started."
The bell rang out and everyone quieted down, giving Mr. Papikrankenitz their full attention. Kristoff leaned over, whispering to Anna while keeping his eyes on the teacher writing on the board at the front of the class.
"Thanks, I totally forgot about the Phillip thing."
"No big, Kris, I got your back," Anna replied equally quietly, grinning as she sat up in her street.
This class was one of her favorites, as well as one of her personal weaknesses; arguing with Aurora or bantering with Kristoff was easy but when she had to talk to someone new or different or... really unnervingly attractive, trying to speak without making an idiot out of herself was incredibly hard. She tended to babble like a silly schoolgirl which, while understandable, was really annoying and more than moderately embarrassing.
Oddly enough, that was Kristoff's original reason for going with her on her missions. She wasn't shy or anything- far from it- but her tendency to allow her mouth to run away from her coupled with a non-existent filter led to some... awkward situations. His initial pitch to join her included the words 'I'm not going to watch the news one day and find out you said something deemed culturally insensitive to some guy in some country I can't pronounce and are rotting in some jail cell for a few decades' and reminders of the times her mouth had gotten her into a bit of trouble to rebut her assertions to the contrary.
It worked out pretty well, in her opinion; she really didn't address the people they helped, unless directly questioned, and Kristoff got a crash course in dealing with people outside of Arendelle. He also dealt with whoever they were fighting or catching or stopping- depending on the situation- which Anna couldn't help but thank her lucky stars for, given her initial reaction to meeting The Prince and Ice Queen.
The first time the trio had swooped in to save the day- all thanks to a really vague request delivered to Mr. Oaken, which she still wasn't sure how he received or from who- was awkward all around. The Prince apparently had not thought his plan all the way through and was surprised someone actually tried to stop him, Ice Queen regarded them with a very cold, very bored expression, and Kristoff and Anna were convinced they were in way over their heads.
But, against all odds, they managed. Things picked up after that, their trips turning into missions, though the aim to help people always remained the same.
Once it was over, Anna could articulate that, for two people trying to take over the world, both The Prince and Ice Queen were devastatingly attractive. Like, mind boggling attractive, and Kristoff agreed once she worked up the nerve to talk to him about it.
The Prince was all dashing charm, crisp attire, great hair, and so smooth in his actions, the way he carried himself, and the way he spoke. Confident. Ice Queen was fluid grace, unshakable resolve, piercing eyes that vividly stood out against her calm, collected, cool expression, regal and cold. Intimidating.
Anna eventually convinced herself the two were romantic partners of some sort. Sure, she teased Kristoff about having a man crush on The Prince, just as he teased her about Ice Queen, but it wasn't something that could happen, so it was okay to joke about it.
Out of the corner of her eye, the redhead could see Kristoff writing something down on his notebook. Mr. Papikrankenitz was talking about the importance of posture and eye contact when addressing a large group but Anna was tuning him out to focus on her slightly more relevant personal crisis.
Because now... well, maybe it was a possibility. Ice Queen rarely addressed her directly and vice versa; they let their fighting do the talking. Something had changed though... she just wasn't sure what.
Or if it even meant anything.
Kristoff was better at this sort of thing. His parents were self proclaimed love experts, after all, surely he would either have some sage advice or know just how to bring her back down to earth without bruising her ego too much. It just wasn't the time. Today was the football game- which she had to attend with pep squad- and she had her softball game tomorrow. The earliest they could have a serious heart-to-heart would be after her run at the rodeo, provided they didn't get another mission in the meantime.
Crap. That reminded her. "Hey, Kris. What events am I competing in again?"
The blond rolled his eyes. "Barrel racing, cutting, and roping."
"Right." Okay, she definitely needed to be careful about managing her time between the softball game and the rodeo. Saturday promised to be long and exhausting but, if she ate right and caught a quick power nap between the two, she'd be fine.
As Mr. P continued his lecture, Anna found her mind wandering back to the night before. She should've been paying attention but they'd already covered the material earlier; today was just a recap in preparation for their presentations next week. Thank goodness for game days. Shorter classes meant her sometimes barely-there attention span wasn't such a hassle to wrangle under control. She could even doodle, pretend she was paying attention, and no one would call her out on it!
Anna looked down at her notebook, pencil poised above the paper, when a sudden thought occurred to her: talking to Kristoff about the whole... thing was silly. Regardless of how she felt about Ice Queen's... curious behavior, or how drop dead gorgeous the woman was, or, well, any of that, there were a few really big things she had to consider.
One being that this woman was constantly trying to take over the world. Another being that this woman probably had a name other than Ice Queen and Anna had no clue what it might be. Those were pretty big indicators that whatever attraction she felt for the stunning blonde was probably unreasonable. And silly. And childish.
Which was another thing- Ice Queen saw her as a kid and she had no clue what the age difference might be, so... yeah. She was being silly.
Anna sighed and sat back in her chair. Then again, so what? While she might not be as... vocal about it as some of her classmates, she still believed in love at first sight and true love and all those silly, childish, fairytale stories regarding the subject. Her parents were high school sweethearts for crying out loud! So it wasn't completely impossible, finding real, true, enduring love at her age...
Except, in this particular case, it probably was.
Anna lowered her head to rest against the cool notebook paper and groaned. Maybe if she didn't bring it up, Kristoff wouldn't either.
"Uh..." Mr. Papikrankenitz raised a brow, looking to Kristoff while motioning towards Anna. "Is she-"
"Crazy mission last night, got back late, you know the deal." Kristoff lightly jabbed the redhead's arm, bringing her back to reality. "Right, Anna?"
"Uh, yeah, sorry Mr. P."
"Riiiiight." The teacher drawled with a shrug. "Anyway, as I was saying..."
Hans crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair. He was back in his lab, trying to brainstorm something really good and really involved this time. Involved in the sense of technology and science rather than Elsa's powers; after returning to the Palace, Elsa promptly locked herself in her rooms, sending Olaf or Marshmallow to retrieve anything she needed. She was obviously still angry with him and it would take a while before she completely forgave him- which he completely understood! Really!
It just made the pressure to come up with a really good plan all the heavier.
Sighing, he tilted his head back, propping his feet up on a spare chair and staring, unfocused, at the ceiling above. He started tapping out an unspecified rhythm on his arm with one finger, running through every plot and ploy and every failure.
Elsa said he either needed something feasible or to switch his aim. She couldn't have meant give up on dominating the world; it meant for too much to him to be discarded due to a few failures and one slightly horrible situation.
Maybe he needed to look at things from a different angle. As a scientist, there was a method for dealing with things such as this. First, identify the problem: his plans never reached fruition. Next, identify the cause. Where did all his plans go wrong?
Well that was easy: whenever those kids showed up, everything went straight down the toilet. It didn't matter at which stage of his plan they interfered; the moment those three- but one can't ignore the stupid reindeer- were in the picture, it was all doom and gloom for him and Elsa. Well, mostly for him.
Logically, it would follow that if he got rid of the kids and their pet, then he'd be golden. No one else even tried challenging him; there was literally just one hurdle he had to overcome.
But it wouldn't be that easy. It could be- because if there was one thing Hans excelled at above all else it was building highly dangerous and very effective explosives- but Elsa was pretty committed to her 'no killing' policy. He couldn't complain. She had her reasons and he couldn't afford to lose her support. It was a rather negligible concession on his part.
"Broken leg wouldn't kill anyone though," Hans said, his voice filling the otherwise pristine silence in his lab. "Broken arm... a short jaunt to the ICU, they'd be fine in a few weeks, and I'd already be the ruler of the world." He frowned. "Elsa might not like that... but maybe..." He blinked, suddenly sitting up. "Wait, that might work. That might work!"
Jumping up, he raced to the doors of his lab but stopped with his hand on the handle. He hesitated, pulling on the door before releasing it and turning back, reclaiming his chair.
He was getting ahead of himself, as usual. Elsa would come talk to him once she was calm enough to consider forgiving him. If he tried pounding on her door before then, he was likely to get a face full of frost for his troubles.
He resumed his former position and latched onto the plan he'd formed, deciding it couldn't hurt to continue developing it while he waited for the blonde to come for him. He needed to be patient.
"I'll need to do a little research, a little snooping..." He mused, smiling to himself. This would be fool proof by the time he was ready to set things in motion!
Students filed into the blue and white shrouded Arendelle High gymnasium, the noise level rising steadily as each student melded into the stands. The football team was already standing by in the hallway, wearing their jerseys and hyping each other up, and the band was in position, individual bursts of noise adding to the overall growing chaos as various members tuned their instruments.
Belle- the band's drum major- stood with Anna, Phillip, and the rest of the Student Council, quickly going over the order of the rally. The basic format was always the same but there were certain traditions and skits- performed by the pep squad- that varied in length and sometimes required the assistance of the other major groups, depending on the opponent.
"So, after the football team enters, the cheerleader are going to do their dance routine, right?"
Aurora nodded, light catching the glitter around her eyes. "Belle, will you need any time to set up?"
The brunette shook her head, barely jostling the silver whistle around her neck. "We're ready to go. Standard count off."
Phillip smiled. "Great! I think I've got the opening comments. Is Ms. Mode-"
"Dahling, I'm right here," the Principal said, approaching the students with her long, thin black pointing stick loosely held in between her fingers. She scanned the members of the Student Council. "You all look so lovely, dahlings, absolutely stunning. Very good application of glitter, Briar, complimenting eye shadow, yes, and French, my girl, very very professional, though I hate polos, you pull it off well, can't wait for the show at halftime to see you really dazzle. Prince, I say it again because it's true, the new uniforms are breath-taking, very good you listened to me dahling, very good, you should be proud. Andersen." Ms. Mode's lips quirked into a smirk. "You like the new mascot uniform, yes?"
"Heck yeah!" Anna giggled, smiling brightly with her 'head' tucked under one arm. The old mascot uniform was hot, really shaggy, and baggy to the point of discomfort. The new outfit was sleeker, a lot more breathable, and the head fit like a motorcycle helmet, locking firmly in place once she put it on. True, the head looked more like a snarling wolf with blue streaks along the muzzle, but being a Mountain Dog meant digging deep to unleash the animal inside! "I'm ready to take a bite outta Lowerton!"
"Easy, girl, easy, save that energy for later dahling, there will be time." Ms. Mode laughed. "Is everyone ready? Places, people, places!"
The Council split apart, each taking their designated positions. Anna jogged over to the rest of the pep squad, boys and girls wearing white coveralls with blue shirts, their faces painted to match the blue streaks on the mascot's head.
"You guys ready?" The group howled together, throwing their arms around each other's shoulders to form a circle around Anna. "Okay, first pep rally of the year, who's ready?" Another howl. "We're gonna pump up the crowd!" Another howl. "We're gonna keep the energy up!" Another howl. "We're the pep squad! Let's make some noise!"
Anna slammed her head on, snapping the helmet in place and raising her voice with the others. This time, the howl was echoed by the student body, the cry dying down as Belle raised her hands and launched the band into the school fight song. The football team burst into the gym as the third note began, charging through the lines formed by the cheerleaders and barking, jumping and throwing their arms as the rest of the student body shouted the fight song.
Anna and the pep squad charged into the center of the gym floor as the football team settled into their designated seats, doing flips and jumps to keep the energy up as the fight song continued. Aladdin and Peter were each doing front flips and cart wheels, pausing only to entice the students in the stands to be louder. Meanwhile, Jessie laced her hands together and held them low, bracing herself as Anna jumped into her hold, was lifted up, and executed a double back flip before landing, letting out a howl with the rest of the students as the fight song drew to a close.
With applause thundering in the enclosed space, the pep squad left the floor, making way for Phillip as he raised his hand to call for relative silence.
As the football captain addressed the assembled students, Anna brought the pep squad together, voice only slightly muffled through the head. "Great job guys! Okay, ready for the next break?"
"We're going to tear it up!" Peter grinned, high fiving Aladdin. "Sick flips, bro!"
Aladdin laughed and messed up the shorter boy's hair. "Stop trying to sound like some city kid, Peter. It doesn't suit you."
"Aw, I really put some thought into that," Peter jokingly replied.
Anna rolled her eyes and turned to the others. "Everyone's doing great! Thanks for the lift, Jessie!"
The ginger grinned widely. "Welcome! Let's keep it goin'!"
"Heck yeah!" Anna punched the air, catching Phillip's introduction of Ms. Mode. "Keep the spirits high!"
The pep squad howled together, joined by the student body as Ms. Mode strode to the middle of the floor, activating a microphone as the howl died down. Her address to the student body was relatively short and sweet, praising the school's show of (fashionable) pride and wishing luck to the football team- who answered with long, deep howls- the rodeo team- considerably quieter but with a higher timbre with the addition of the girl members- and the softball team- a much higher timbre. She also wished the marching band luck in preparing for their upcoming competition, encouraging the students to attend and witness the new uniforms in action.
"Also, I would like to bring to the attention of everyone that this year, thanks to some very intense lobbying by your fellow students-" Ms. Mode said, eyeing Merida as she sat next to Kristoff with the rest of the rodeo team "-Arendelle High will be forming an Archery Team to compete in state-wide competition. It will take some time, dahlings, there is much work to be done, but if you are interested, please see Miss Merida DunBroch, the team's interim captain."
"Interim?" Merida shouted, trying to stand up but held firmly in place by Kristoff.
Ms. Mode smoothly ignored the outburst. "Now! We have our wonderful Arendelle Mountain Dog Cheer Squad and Dance Team! Round of applause, dahlings, they look marvelous, yes?"
As Aurora and her team took the floor, Anna's pep squad pranced in front of the stands, keeping the way clear while encouraging the howls and cheers welcoming the cheerleaders to get louder. Anna was at the head of it, calling to one side of the stands, then to the other, pitting them against each other while keeping an eye on the cheerleaders. Once they were in position, Anna called for silence, nodding towards Belle before motioning for the pep squad to retreat.
The pep squad beamed as they gathered in their corner, Anna mirroring the expression beneath the mascot's head. "Good job, guys! Next up is the skit!" She turned to one particular member. "Aladdin, I just want to make sure-"
"Anna, I promise, it's fine." Aladdin laughed. "Abu doesn't mind, he's happy to help!"
Anna nodded, releasing him and Peter to get started on setting up for the skit. As the remainder of the pep squad caught their breath, they watched the cheerleader/dance team performance. It was one of the few downsides to living in such a small town; some teams had to share members or outright combine in order to meet the minimum requirements. It did lead to some pretty awesome creativity though. Once Aurora conceded to incorporate some of Esmerelda's dance moves into the cheer routine, and vice versa, the group really hit their stride. Anna was certain Arendelle had never seen such an excellent performance group.
The redheaded mascot nonchalantly leaned over, slowly assisting Peter's jaw closed as he watched the performance.
Ah, freshmen. Regardless of orientation, Esmerelda and Aurora were master choreographers, art was art, hips don't lie and they were amazing, bottom line! If she hadn't spent the better part of two years fighting Ice Queen, she might've been just as zoned out as the majority of the school.
In the relative privacy afforded her by the Mountain Dog head obscuring her face, Anna winced. She could not get the woman off her mind!
Belle looked over her shoulder briefly, a signal to Anna that the song was about to end, and the redhead quickly brought her squad together.
"Okay, every one remembers the signal?" The squad nodded. "Good. Let's have some fun with it!" Everyone smiled brightly, rocking on the balls of their feet as the last note began to fade and was swallowed by the cheers and howls of the students. Everyone moved away as Jessie came up and clipped a long blue leash to the mascot's collar.
Anna was so ridiculously excited for this!
Phillip was calling for everyone's attention, Anna dropped to the floor on all fours, and the cheerleaders exited the floor, retaking their positions by the football team; the stage was nearly set!
"One more round for our Mountain Dog dancers!" Phillip said, his voice rising above the low thrum of excited chatter before being swallowed by another chorus of cheers and howls. When they settled, he continued. "Now, we all know how tonight is going to go, but our hard working Mountain Dog squad has put together a little preview of tonight's game against the Lowerton Lemurs."
A mixture of cheers and jeers resounded as the pep squad took the floor, Anna acting the part of the Mountain Dog trying to drag her owner forward, pretending to strain against the leash. Jessie was leaning back as far as she could without losing her balance, keeping the leash taunt to complete the illusion.
"In this corner-" the football captain pointed to Anna "- we have the pride of the pack, the vicious defender, the tried and true, your very own, Mountaaaaaaaaaaaain Dooooooooooooog!" Cheers and howls filled the gym, encouraged by Anna's straining at the leash and the pep squad's flips and tricks that accompanied the announcement. Phillip turned, pointing to the other side of the gym where Aladdin had appeared, a green blanket thrown over a moving shape on his arm. "And in this corner, we have the wimpy, the uncoordinated, the soon-to-be-losing-tonight's-game, THE Lowerton Lemur!"
Aladdin pulled the blanket away to reveal his pet monkey, Abu, painted up to resemble a lemur, complete with a green shirt inscribed with the Lowerton Lemur logo. From across the gym Anna could see Abu was less than pleased about the whole ordeal but was playing along regardless, raising his arms and screeching at the jeering crowds.
"So, Mountain Dogs, I have one question!" That was the cue. Jessie dropped to a knee beside an eager Anna, unclipping the leash and pretending to hold the Mountain Dog back by the collar alone. The rest of the pep squad rushed to pass out various obstacles retrieved from under the bleachers, representations of the other school teams and their support of the night's game. "What are we going to do tonight?"
Howls and cheers erupted, Anna struggling harder against Jessie while Abu cowered on Aladdin's arm.
Phillip laughed. "That's right! We're going to destroy them!"
"Get 'im!" Jessie hollered, releasing Anna and allowing the Mountain Dog to charge across the gym. Either in genuine terror or to get a little due revenge on his master, Abu jumped onto Aladdin's head once Anna began her charge. Unfortunately, he didn't know the number one rule for pep squad: you're going to get hurt at some point, so when it happens, make sure it's epically!
Without a shred of hesitation, Anna tackled Aladdin to the ground, completely disregarding him as Abu scampered towards the middle of the gym. She felt bad about it but someone would see to it he wasn't hurt too bad; he controlled the fall pretty well, so aside from a sore back, he shouldn't be too bad off. That's what she told herself, anyway, and focused instead on running after the faux lemur.
As the students cheered for their Mountain Dog, Anna dove for Abu repeatedly, nearly catching the monkey three times while jumping over a hay bale, dodging a soccer ball, a basketball, a baseball, and a softball bat, ducking beneath giant treble and bass clefs, and clearing a kiddie pool filled with water. She also had to weave between the cheerleaders, some of whom joined the pep squad in pumping up the crowd now that their routine was finished. Abu was barely a jump ahead of her and, despite his small stature, Anna found she had to put in some serious work to keep the chase close.
Good thing all her missions involved intense cardio and keeping her balance in less than ideal conditions. Scrambling around on all fours was not easy, even with the enhanced pads built into the uniform's gloves and boots to help her on the slick hardwood floor.
Finally, Peter opened one of the gym doors, motioning for Abu to sprint to safety with Anna hot on his heels. The moment she was in the hallway, Rapunzel- the pep squad member who also played a heavy part in the arts department- was placing a ruined plush lemur in the Mountain Dog's waiting mouth, a little bit of red food coloring liberally applied to the lifeless doll.
Here was the tricky part: keeping the plush in the costume's mouth while loping back to the center of the gym. The students howled and cheered as Anna shot up, ripping the lemur up and spiking it in the center of the gym, thrusting her fists in the air and howling her victory.
This- this was the moment she lived for. It wasn't about being the center of the attention; it was all about the emotions rolling off her classmates, the unified front, the complete and utter abandon, living in the moment as one entity, free from the divides that would bring pause at any other time.
She could live in this moment forever.
From the stands, Kristoff watched his friend soak it all in, waving her arms to encourage the throng of students to yell louder as she danced around the supposedly destroyed Lowerton Lemur. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that the girl in the dog costume who just chased a monkey around the school gym was the same girl who once came to him, bawling her eyes out because she believed no one could ever love someone who snored as loud as she did every night.
It reminded him of something he'd determined long, long ago: Anna Andersen was a silly, silly girl and he absolutely loved her for it.
Platonically, of course.
Sven brayed loudly, trying to contain his excitement as he watched the festivities from one of the gym's high windows. He enjoyed watching the pep rallies, especially whenever he could see his master and his master's best friend. Last year, neither teen was very involved in the events, though Anna always bounced on the balls of her feet and cheered with the others. Kristoff found somewhere to hide half the time, unless Anna drug in him with her when they arrived.
This year would be different though and he was so excited! Kristoff didn't make friends as easily as Anna. He was a nice guy, absolutely! No one was nicer, in the reindeer's opinion. However, being nice and being friendly weren't the same thing. The blond had a tendency to regard people who got too close to him like snakes ready to bite.
Sven couldn't imagine where he picked up that habit from but he could tell the blond got lonely sometimes. Maybe he just needed a mate. Or, maybe he just needed to be shoved out of his comfort zone. Anna was good at that. She'd probably help him!
The rally was beginning to wind down with the presentation of the spirit stick and Sven, albeit reluctantly, swung his head over the side of the contraption holding him up and called down to the nice security guard standing at the device's controls. With practiced care, the platform lowered until Sven could hop out. He shook himself, then pranced around the guard while gently shaking his head. While he would've been far more enthusiastic around Kristoff or Anna, past experience taught him most humans weren't very mindful of his antlers and he didn't want to hurt the woman.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome, Sven." The security guard replied with a little half smile. "Now get along before Principal Mode smells you or something. I like you but I ain't about to lose my job over it."
Sven snorted and lolled his tongue out.
"No, I don't think she'll find you adorable. She's been pretty adamant in the past about 'no reindeer on campus' and I don't think you want to get Kristoff in trouble."
The reindeer scrunched up his nose and rolled his eyes. The guard laid a hand on his neck and pet him, shaking her head as she did so.
"Just go home for now; I'm sure you can come back once school lets out."
With a last, grateful nuzzle into the security guard's shoulder, Sven set off, eager for the school day to end. It was still early in the autumn, which meant there would be a rodeo tonight! Kristoff was always happier after rodeos!
From beside the Genie, the security officer sighed, passing a hand over her face. "I swear he can understand me better than some of the students. Or maybe I've finally lost my marbles."
Kristoff eyed the redhead from across the lunch table. Something was up and he had a hunch what it was but- when it came to matters like this- sometimes it was better to just let Anna work things out on her own.
To determine his level of involvement, he had to test the waters. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"It's silly," Anna replied, picking at her personal pizza.
With that reply, this, officially, was not one of those times.
Kristoff had to tread carefully here. One wrong move could send the redhead off on the wrong tangent and then it would be a nightmare wrangling her back to the subject at hand. "It's been on your mind all day."
"My comment stands." She was being intentionally stubborn. Awesome.
"Are you really going to invite me to dig through our combined history to point out all the 'silly' conversations we've had?" Kristoff raised a brow. "And exactly how not silly they were?"
Anna groaned in defeat. Of course, once she'd decided not to talk to Kristoff about it, he'd bring it up anyway. She swore he could read her like a book. After a few more pathetic attempts at stalling, the verbal hemorrhage began and she ran through every thought to cross her mind since she woke up that morning regarding Ice Queen.
By the time she was done, lunch was almost over.
The blond scratched his cheek and sighed, leaning forward slightly. "You wanna know how to make this whole thing super easy?"
She eagerly leaned forward, eyes wide as her attention focused on the boy across from her.
"Next time we jet off to stop those two..." Kristoff took a deep breath and spread his hands between them. "Just ask her what her name is." Anna scowled, ready to nearly bite his head off, but he beat her to the punch. "Think about it: if she has even a little bitty crush on you, she's going to tell you. I'm certain of it."
Anna sighed. "Women don't have crushes, Kris. Girls do."
"One, not true. Two, semantics." Kristoff crossed his arms over his chest. "She's interested in you. I can tell."
Narrowing her eyes, the redhead mirrored his position. "I don't believe you."
"And who's parents are love experts?" The blond chuckled, getting up from the table. "Seriously though, just consider it. What's the worst that can happen?"
"She freezes me solid," Anna replied, following suit.
"She hasn't done it yet." Kristoff pointed out. "And not for lack of opportunity either."
Biting her lip, Anna threw out her trash and started for her locker. "I guess that's true."
"Just give it a shot!" Kristoff gently encouraged, nudging her with his shoulder. "You've had crushes before, right? And you confronted all of them. This crush isn't any different."
"Oh, the lass has a crush?" Merida suddenly appeared on Anna's other side, Rapunzel following close behind, excitement plain on their faces.
"Anyone we know?" The blonde leaned closer, nearly draping herself across Merida's shoulder in the process. Despite several attempts, Rapunzel hadn't quite grasped the concept of 'personal space' yet. "What grade? Boy or girl? Have you kissed yet? Come on, give us a hint!"
"Oy! Girl! Get offa me!" Merida grumbled, rolling her eyes when her request fell on deaf ears, returning her attention to the redhead. "Oh, wha'ever, answer the questions, lass. We want details!"
"Guys, come on, it's, uh, not really that big a deal. I just, uh..." See, here was where Kristoff would usually sweep in and stop her before she said something stupid. Usually.
"So, there's this woman, and I mean woman, filled out, amazing body, just drop-dead-super-model-gorgeous, you guys have no idea, and I mean, when she's in the zone, it's like nothing can stop her, and her voice is amazing, it's like chocolate, seriously addictive, and I don't even know if she's into girls, or if she likes me, but she's just really pretty and focused and so sexy, geez, when she's using her powers-"
"Powers?" The two girls chorused, drawing back slightly in surprise.
That Anna, Kristoff, and Sven traveled around the world: common knowledge. That their most regular opponents included a woman with an otherworldly command over ice and snow? Yeah, not so much.
"Yeah, she can, like, shoot ice beams and stuff from her hands." Anna noted her friends' contemplative looks. "What?"
"It doesn't strike ya as a bit strange she has, ya know, magic powers." Merida raised a brow. "Doesn't... bug ya, a wee bit?"
"It's just part of who she is." Anna shrugged. "I don't know if she gained the powers or was born with them but, to me, it's just... I dunno, like eye color, something that's part of who she is and, ya know, really hard to miss, but it doesn't really define her to me. I mean, the way she keeps a cool head even when the self destruct warning is going off, like she's so fearless, that's a lot more attractive than her powers. Not that her powers aren't attractive because, wow, she's so in her element when she's summoning up ice, seriously guys, it's something you just have to see." She scrunched her nose up. "Also, I'm still not sure if it's magic. For all I know, she fell into a vat of radioactive slurpie mix! But her skin is really pale, like she doesn't spend much time outside, but oh! She has freckles- I just noticed that last night- that're really pale and you don't notice them unless you're super close and they're super adorable. Besides, I don't think magic exists-"
"Oh, it exists," Rapunzel said, not a hint of anything other than utter sincerity in her tone.
If Merida was at all surprised by the blonde's words, she recovered quickly and agreed. "Oh, yeah, she's rightcha know. Magic is a thing. That exists."
Anna blinked, a little curious about their assertions but accepting it with a shrug. "Maybe it is magic, then, 'cause she's always wearing these gloves, but she might have a thing about dirt or something, or maybe they help her cast spells like some sorta cloth wands or something-"
Kristoff smacked a hand to his forehead and groaned; he'd let this run a little too long. "I think you're missing the point, Anna."
"What point?"
The bell rung out, prompting the four to glance up out of habit.
"We'll talk later, Anna," Rapunzel said, a tad of mischief glinting in her eyes. "Promise!"
Merida lightly punched her shoulder. "Just don't go gettin' distracted durin' tha game, Andersen. Can't have our star pitcher mentally checked out 'cause ah some pretty girl."
Anna shook her head, quickly opening her locker to grab books for her class. She almost missed Kristoff's words as she turned to leave.
She turned back, a brow raised in question. "What was that, Kris?"
He laid a hand on her shoulder with a smirk. "I said, I want to make a bet with you, Fiesty Pants."
He was pulling out the childhood nicknames.
This was about to get real.
"If you can go from now until the end of the school day without thinking about Ice Queen more than five times, I'll lay off about your crush. If you can't, you have to ask her for her name on the next mission."
Anna laughed. That was a stupid bet; she hadn't thought about Ice Queen during the pep rally... much... so a few more classes? "Okay, you're on!"
Elsa put her book aside, massaging her temples as the sun began to set. She'd spent the day barricaded in her room, with Marshmallow guarding the door and Olaf running to grab her snacks or books. Between the runs, the smaller snowman had sat with her, patiently waiting for another request until she'd decided to read aloud from an old storybook, one she'd salvaged from her home before leaving for good.
He'd fallen asleep about midway through and Marshmallow was dozing in the corner despite neither requiring sleep to continue functioning. It was more of a learned habit than anything and it brought a smile to her lips. They looked so peaceful, it was almost heartbreaking. She created them; she was their mother in some respects.
Personally, she didn't like to see it that way but not for a want to shirk responsibility. They were her friends, her best friends, and they would always be so. To think of them as her sons was strange; she could readily accept them as her brothers though. When the rest of the world was against her, they would never leave her side.
But, on occasion, she had to leave theirs.
Elsa got up from the bed and strode towards the vanity, looking at her reflection. With a wave of her hand, her clothing changed, baggy pants and a hoodie materializing in a darker shade than her signature blue. Another motion covered the mirror in a layer of frost, the ice spreading across the glass to the edges until the entire surface was coated. With one finger, she left a message for her beloved snowmen and turned towards her balcony.
She shut the doors behind her and vaulted over the now pristine railing, forming another ice slide to ferry her away from the Palace. The blonde couldn't walk across the snow even as more fell from the sky above, couldn't risk Olaf or Hans trying to follow her tracks. Trips like these were short enough and frequent enough they wouldn't be too concerned though nothing seemed to satisfy their curiosity as to her whereabouts.
It was better to simply slip out and leave no trail behind. Elsa just needed a little space.
The moon peeked out from behind the clouds as the marching band took the field; halftime was Anna's chance to take a break and check in with Kristoff.
The first half of the football game was exhausting for all the right reasons. Phillip managed to take the offense down the field with every possession and the defense, led by Adam, were holding the Lemurs to a shut out so far. Anna suspected the coach would ease up in the second half- if there were two things Coach Phil Gotes loved, it was comebacks and underdogs, even if they weren't his team- but watching the Mountain Dog footballers take it to the house time and time again was awesome!
And really tiring! She hadn't done so many front flips, back flips, hand stands, and cartwheels, since that incident in the Savannah when she had to fight Ice Queen while dodging mind controlled crocodiles and lions.
The redhead groaned, leaning her head back against the unyielding concrete of the stadium. She was close enough to the locker room to be out of most everyone's sight without slinking off entirely; she would be leading the charge next to Phillip back onto the field once the halftime show ended and it was easier to stay within line-of-sight of the locker room doors.
Needless to say, she lost the stupid bet. Badly. It was just- maybe she hadn't really noticed it before, but this woman had taken up a considerable amount of her time without her even realizing it. How many missions were she and Kristoff called to regarding The Prince and Ice Queen? She lost track! And for every instance she could think of where she spent considerable time and energy dedicated to one person- any person except Kristoff and her parents, that is- she could think of a comparable amount of time and energy spent fighting Ice Queen!
And, well, it was more than that too; Kristoff really struck a nerve about the whole 'not for lack of opportunity' thing. Maybe it was her pride that made it a bigger deal than it was but, well, it was a valid point! Just like the other day, after seeing what Ice Queen did to those soldiers? She'd never used her powers like that on Anna! When the two fought, the ice was meant to focus Anna's attention on the wielder, not actively injure or immobilize her. In fact, that last mission was the first time the ice ever touched her in anything other than a face-meets-floor sort of way.
So, was she just not that good of an opponent and Ice Queen didn't consider her a threat? Or... did Ice Queen genuinely like her and didn't want her to get hurt?
Sometimes, people confused her.
With a shake of her head, Anna checked her buzzing phone, reading the text from Kristoff.
So far, so good. Merida's still refusing to change mounts for the barrel races though.
Anna wasn't surprised; her fellow redhead was fiercely proud of her Scottish homeland and adamantly refused to ride any horse but her Scottish Clydesdale, Angus. It wasn't something Kristoff pressed too hard about, partially due to his own extreme attachment to Sven- though he still couldn't ride a reindeer in the cutting competition, much to his dismay- and partially due to Angus being very quick despite his size. The fiery Scott always came in in the middle of the pack and, unlike, Anna, she'd never so much as nudged a barrel during a run.
Besides all that, Merida competed in barrel racing grudgingly anyway. She preferred the roping events. Barrel racing, as well as cutting, were Mulan's favored events. Though all three competed in every event they could in order to put pressure on their competition, it was pretty clear who excelled at what.
Mulan killed it, didn't she?
There's not a horse alive that can beat Khan on a turn.
Anna giggled, glad the comment was made via text and not aloud. Even if Maximus was still at the stable, the stallion was quite proud and never quite got along well with Khan for that very reason. Such was the way of stallions, though. Speaking of Max, she needed to talk to Rapunzel- or rather, bring it up whenever she decided to continue their talk from earlier- about doing another favor to balance out borrowing the blonde's beloved horse. She was a little surprised Rapunzel hadn't brought it up yet, given their mutual involvement in pep squad, but attributed it to the high tempo of the game. They would talk about it eventually, though she somewhat dreaded the conversation.
Speaking of dread...
Anna snapped her fingers- which was slightly dampened by the gloves of her mascot uniform- and quickly pulled up her conversation with Mulan. She'd meant to ask her something earlier but totally forgot.
She could be such a space case sometimes.
Hey, would it be possible to spar sometime in the near future? I get the feeling my skills aren't up to snuff. :/
She needed to work at improving her hand-to-hand fighting and, given Kristoff's encounter with The Prince, she might even take up weapon fighting too. Mulan was an avid practitioner of martial arts, fencing, and other weapon based fighting styles in her personal time, especially when she helped her father run the Martial Arts Academy in town. If there was anyone who could help her improve before her next battle with Ice Queen, it would be Mulan. If she was willing to have such a klutz as a student. Again.
Thundering applause and howls brought Anna back to the present as the Mountain Dog band exited the field, Belle marching proudly at the head of the formation. The redhead had to admit, when Ms. Mode wanted to make an awesome uniform, there was nothing to equal it.
Tucking her phone away, Anna donned the head of her own uniform and waited for the buzzer the blare, signalling the teams to return to the field. As Phillip and the rest of the team stormed out of the locker room, the redhead fell into step beside him, the rest of the pep squad pumping up the crowd as they surged onto the field.
At the fifty yard line, Aladdin was waving the school flag, a field of blue trimmed in white with the Mountain Dog emblem in the center. Per usual, the band waited at the edge of the field, playing the fight song as the team returned before taking the third quarter to rest after their show.
Anna did a few front flips across the thirty, rolling into a somersault breaking into a little dance at the forty yard line that had the crowd cheering and howling in equal measure, finishing her little routine with a back hand spring to the fifty and a victorious punch at the air, sending the crowd into a frenzy once more.
As she jogged off the field, she gave anyone with a hand up a high five and took the school flag from Aladdin, running up the wall to teeter on the edge of the stands, waving the flag above her head as the announcer, Mr. P, began his speech for the second half. His booming voice could barely be heard over the howling Mountain Dog fans and Anna couldn't possibly smile any wider.
Snow fell earlier than usual this year.
Elsa wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not. On the one hand, it allowed her to travel further south than usual and the distance helped. On the other, she went a little too far.
Curled up on a little outcropping she'd fashioned for herself out of ice, cool blue eyes roamed over the sight before her. Lights dotted the buildings, lined the streets, cars rumbled to and fro on occasion, smoke rose from a few chimneys... in the early autumn, the town looked peaceful covered in patchy white splotches of mostly melted snow. The stars above were dulled slightly by the concentration of light before her but Elsa found herself willing to admit she might not miss their company as much as she once did.
When was the last time she'd actually gone into a town or a city? Not on one of Hans' mad power trips or to gather supplies for the Palace but to just walk down the street? On the outside, there was nothing obviously wrong with her. A little pale, sure, almost unnaturally light hair, but the hoodie could fix that.
No one would know what kind of monster she was at a glance.
The blonde sighed, eyes falling to the base of the mountain she'd claimed as her perch. Trees separated her from the town. Trees and the fear of losing control, of unleashing the monster that lived just beneath her skin.
It was stupid, really. She'd proven- time and time again- that she was in control. She didn't kill people, no, she didn't; she didn't hurt them, really, except to knock them unconscious for their own good-
Elsa bit her lip. Except for Anna, the cute little redhead. She'd hurt her a lot. Too many times to ever be forgiven. The blonde rubbed her side; the bruise had appeared, as she expected, but it would heal quickly. A mere inconvenience than anything; her ice protected her body better than any armor ever could.
How long did Anna suffer the pain of bruises after one of their fights? Was she lying in her bed, groaning in pain, or trying to sleep while she could, before the pain became unbearable again?
Shit, why did say anything to the redhead at all? The rules were simple: follow Hans, watch him screw up, stall until the place started to blow, help Hans escape. Easy! Flirting with the spunky redhead was not part of the plan!
Elsa groaned. How could she be so stupid? The girl comes charging in with her boyfriend every time to stop them; if her heart was going to betray her, couldn't it have picked someone else to dedicate itself to? Preferably someone she had no chance of ever interacting with in person? It would save her a ton of embarrassment!
Oh shit! How was she going to face down the redhead at the next failure of Hans' plan? What, pretend it didn't happen?
Wait...
Actually, that could work. The redhead probably wrote it off as something to get under her skin. If neither of them mentioned it... yeah, okay, that was Plan A. If the redhead did mention it though... pretend it was just something to get under her skin. Then, she could satisfy her desire to say... things to Anna without being taken seriously. She could just 'tease' her.
She'd always believed she was marginally better at forming plans than Hans ever could be. This would work.
Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled. Crap. It was getting late.
Elsa was about to push off from the mountain when she heard voices coming closer. A quick peek down at the treeline confirmed a few figures moving through it, most likely kids trying to be rebellious and sneak around town, causing mischief in the middle of the night. It brought a faint smile to her lips. She remembered what that was like, sneaking out in the dead of night to play in the snow.
It was just a memory now. She didn't have to sneak anywhere; it was her choice because she was free.
Turning away, the blonde formed her ice slide and fled back towards the Palace, leaving the quiet town behind. As the lights of the town receded, the stars became comparatively brighter, accompanying her once more on her flight away from the world she couldn't dare to re-enter.
Freedom... kinda sucked.
By the time she was back home, the redhead was nearly dead on her feet. The last few days were long, tiring, and so, totally, utterly worth it! But they were catching up pretty fast. And she still had one more day to go!
"Welcome home, dear." Her mother came from seemingly nowhere and wrapped her up in a warm hug. Anna could barely return it, her energy spent. "Long week? You've been gone so much..."
"M'yeah," she replied, releasing her mother and trudging up to her room. "Shower in'tha mornin'. Sleep now."
Her mother chuckled. "I'll be sure you're up in time to shower and eat before the game. Get a good night's rest, Sweetheart."
"Kay. Love you, Mom."
"Love you too, Anna."
The redhead could barely make it to her bed. In hindsight, maybe challenging the Lowerton Lemur to a worm competition down the field was a bad idea.
Then again, she won and the home stands erupted in cheers... so, totally worth it.
As soon as she face planted into the soft sheets, calm instantly enveloped her and she was drifting off with one final thought.
Sunday. Sunday was her 'day off' and she was going to love it.
Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who put up with my insanity. Seriously, y'all are awesome. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was going to do NaNoWriMo this year... then I said screw it, I'm gonna write Elsanna instead. Again, thanks for all the reads, reviews, favorites, and follows. See y'all next week!