A/N: So, I've actually had this chapter finished for awhile now. I just felt like I needed to add something more to it, both to lengthen the chapter and add more adorable Elsanna cuteness. But, I've just had no real inspiration on what else to add. Therefore I'll just post it as is before I end up going several weeks without updating again.
As of 11/27/14, this story has 98 favorites and 179 follows. Not too bad for my first fic, eh?
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Enjoy!
Anna sat in one of the cloth chairs in front of the desk in the dean's office, nonchalantly swinging her legs back and forth. The large window behind the desk allowed the sunlight to pierce right through the glass and into her eyes, so she tried her best to direct her eyesight anywhere but. It was much earlier than she was used to waking up, and her mind was still a little groggy from having to wake up so early. On one hand, it was worth it though. Normally when she awoke, Elsa was already long gone to her classes. This morning she was able to see her off before getting dressed. How the blonde manages to be such a morning person was a mystery to Anna, but it was one of the curiosities about Elsa that intrigued her so much. She began to toy with the ends of one of her braids as the door behind her opened.
"Such a lovely morning, isn't it Ms. Aren?" Mr. Oaken cheerfully asked as he rounded his way around Anna's chair. When the large man sat down, Anna greeted him with a small smile. She was able to look towards his direction seeing as he blocked most of if not all of the sunlight through the window. Oaken was still wearing one of those awful, ugly sweaters that he was seemingly known for around the school. Autumn was just around the corner though, so as sweater weather started to descend upon campus, he didn't look as silly as normal. He opened up one of the drawers on the desk and pulled out a tin box, which he gingerly placed on the table. Opening the box revealed a large assortment of different kind of candies, from peppermints to chocolate. He picked out a piece of chocolate and threw it into his mouth before pushing the small container towards Anna, offering her a piece.
"Ooh! Thank you!" Anna exclaimed as she reached towards the container and picked out a similar piece of chocolate. If Oaken was trying to woo her over to help him with world domination, he would have succeeded. Biting on the chocolate, she was delightfully surprised to find the inside filled with caramel.
"I made them myself with my family just last night; I think they turned out pretty well." He mentioned as he finished his bite and logged on to the computer situated on the desk.
Anna nodded in agreement before swallowing, enjoying every bit of the sweet chocolate aftertaste in her mouth. "So, what would did you want to see me for?" She adjusted in her seat and crossed her legs. "If it was to offer me chocolate, I'd gladly wake up this early every morning."
Oaken chuckled to himself, eyes never moving from the computer screen. "Ms. Aren, its ten thirty."
"Don't remind me." Anna groaned. Not having classes until noon was one of the smartest decisions she had ever made in her opinion. Looking back, she had no idea how she woke up at six am for high school.
"Wondering why you're here, I'm assuming, ya?" He asked with a large grin which accentuated his rosy cheeks. He scratched the side of his face as he turned from the computer and crossed his arms over for the desk. "An opportunity has arisen and you were one of the perfect candidates for it, and I'd greatly appreciate if you gave it some thought."
Anna's first thought was some survey, but she quickly dismissed that seeing how it would make little sense for Mr. Oaken to call her to his office for something so trivial. "What is it?" She asked, unsure.
"Well, the university has many connections." He started, his normally cheery disposition growing slightly more serious. "Of these connections, some of them allow us to send our students to other countries for study."
If there was any haze left in her mind after waking up, it was immediately dissipated as her eyes shot open and she immediately straightened in her seat. "What do you mean?"
"You were chosen to finish the semester overseas in one of our foreign exchange programs, Ms. Aren." His gleeful disposition returning. He smiled again and drummed his fingers on the desk.
"Wait, what?" Her response was involuntary as she shot up from her chair and planted her palms on the desk in front of her. Finishing the semester overseas? She had just gotten used to the semester in her native country.
"If you agree, you'll spend the rest of the semester in London." He pulled out a peppermint from the tin box and offered it to Anna, who quickly had it in her mouth before he could pull his hand back. "Doing this, the university is prepared to offer you a full ride scholarship for the rest of your time here, including if you have any post-graduate plans." He nodded to himself with another large grin. "Very exciting, ya?"
Anna wasn't too sure how to register any of that. As her mind was running on overdrive, she wasn't sure whether or not Oaken was serious. Spending the rest of the semester in London? That would mean leaving behind everything and everyone she knew behind for the time being. She suddenly found it difficult to breathe as she slowly lowered herself back down onto the chair, playing with the peppermint in her mouth as she moved it from cheek to cheek. She looked up towards the large man in the ugly sweater in front of her, who was still grinning from cheek to cheek. "When would I leave?" She asked, voice shaking slightly.
Oaken shrugged as he placed another chocolate in his mouth. "It's kind of short notice, unfortunately. You'll leave next Thursday if you choose to go."
Next Thursday? Seeing as it was currently Tuesday, that would give her a little over a week to prepare to start a new, albeit temporary, life in a whole new country. Elsa! I can't leave Elsa here! Not after everything she's been through as of late… She remembered the night before, and the tension of trying to pull the blonde out of the shell she had made. If Anna never found her and calmed her down, what would she have done? The thought made Anna uneasy as her stomach churned. The thought of Elsa going through what she did last night completely alone while Anna was in a whole new country caused her to feel like her heart became heavier and sink in her chest. "When would I return?" She muttered, breaking the silence as she thought.
"If all goes as planned, you'll be back sometime in December." Oaken picked up the container of candy off of his desk and placed it back into the drawer. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, Ms. Aren. You'll be working with some world class professors and chefs."
Oaken raised a very good point. Anna had never been chosen for anything important like this, and she seriously doubted she'd get another chance. A couple months in a different country, gaining invaluable knowledge of her trade made the idea a little more palatable. But no matter how many times she ran it through her mind, there was no way she'd be able to grow comfortable with leaving Elsa. Full-ride scholarship or not.
"You don't have a lot of time to th-"
"I'll do it." Anna finally stated with a faux confidence. Even though she may spend the next week regretting it, she knew it was better than spending the rest of her life regretting it. As she said her goodbyes to Mr. Oaken, she strode out of the office and towards the staircase. Elsa needs to know. Rapunzel, too.
Elsa stood outside of her sister's dorm, nervously rubbing her hands together. It took her awhile just to work up the confidence to step into the elevator, but now that she was outside of her door, it was a whole new challenge. It was only ten in the morning; she had to still be in there. Elsa had decided to skip calculus just for this reason. She had taken the liberty of memorizing her sister's schedule in order to avoid her, but now she used it for the very opposite. Many times she nearly knocked on the door before pulling her arm back and questioning why she even bothered. But, seeing her arguing with Jasmine the other day left a hole in her chest that she just couldn't ignore. She took the ends of her braid and started to play with the ends to distract herself, but to no avail. She pulled her phone out of her hoodie pocket just to check the time for what seemed like the twentieth time just in the past five minutes. Just as she took a breath to steel herself, she was startled when she heard a voice down the hall.
"Elsa?"
Elsa whipped her head around to find a tall figure making their way towards her. It took every ounce of willpower she had to not turn around and run, even more so to not tear up. She didn't recognize the figure making their way towards her, how did they know her name?
"Are you here for Aleks?" The figure asked when they finally arrived at the door. She looked expectant as Elsa continued to stare at her with wide eyes and a heart beating quicker than what had to be healthy. "Oh! My apologies!" She brought her hand up to her chest and nodded her head. "Pocahontas."
Elsa recognized that name. "I-I'm sorry?" She nervously asked, backing up towards the wall. "Do I know you?"
"No, but I'm acquainted with both Anna and your sister." She nodded her head again before gesturing towards the door. "You're in luck. I don't think she's left the dorm yet."
Clutching at her phone in her pocket, she pushed herself off of the wall and slowly stepped toward the door. Her heartbeat managed to slow down slightly, but she still found it a little hard to breathe. "Do you know what happened between us?" She asked meekly, quiet enough as to not alert anyone in the dorm to her presence.
"She hasn't said much, but I find it imperative that you speak with her." Pocahontas replied in a hushed tone as she gazed towards the door, then back at Elsa. "She hasn't been herself as of late."
"What do you mean?" Elsa asked unsurely, creeping a little closer towards the door.
"It's hard to explain." Pocahontas muttered as she unlocked the door and pushed the handle down, but not opening the door nor removing her hand. She gestured toward the handle, and finally moved her hand once Elsa had a grip on it. "I'll wait out here so you don't get interrupted and won't enter until you leave."
"T-thank you." Elsa said, barely managing to get the words out as she felt her palms begin to sweat the longer she held onto the handle. Taking a deep breath, she managed to open the door just enough to snake herself into the door. The dorm was set up fairly similar to her own, save a few personal touches that gave the dorm its own feel. When she heard the door click behind her, she debated saying something before deciding not to. She opened and closed her palms at her sides as she shifted her eyes throughout the dorm as she slowly and gingerly made her way through the dorm. There were several Native American dream catchers hung up on the walls, and even a few beautifully crafted, wooden animal carvings on the table. Homage to Pocahontas' culture, she decided. The sight of them did have a strange calming effect as she continued her way through the dorm. She was studying a blanket laid over the couch when her attention was immediately shifted towards the opening of a door and an all too familiar voice.
"Hey, I was just about to lea-"
For the first time in weeks, Elsa was looking at her sister right in the eyes. The last time she saw them they were red and full of tears, a layer of frost over her eyelids. Elsa felt the room immediately grow a few degrees cooler, and to no fault of her own. She slowly turned her body towards her twin and crossed her arms across her stomach, which decided to twist itself into several complicated knots. She swallowed the growling lump in her throat as her felt like her heart was about to launch out of her chest at breakneck speeds. "Hey." She quietly muttered as she finally broke the eye contact and looked straight down at her shoes.
"I'm so fucking sorry!" Aleks nearly screamed as she dashed towards her sister, leaving a very distinct path of frost in her wake.
Elsa nearly had the wind knocked out of her when her sister made it to her and wrapped her arms tightly around her, threatening to squeeze the little air she still had left in her lungs out. With shaking hands, Elsa slowly raised her own arms before lightly placing her hands on her sister's heaving back. "It's… It's okay." She said as Aleks began to cry on her shoulder. Gradually, the path of frost began to dissipate as Elsa felt the room warm back up.
"No, no it isn't." Aleks replied as she took a step back and placed her hands on her sister's shoulders. "I shouldn't have kept that from you, and it was wrong of me." She admitted as she looked Elsa up and down with a large grin on her face as another wave of tears made her way down the sides of her face.
She didn't realize it, but Elsa had her own stream of tears running down her face and collecting at her chin. "I know it was only to protect me. But, Aleks…" Elsa began as she took a step back and sat down on the arm of the couch. "I don't need you over my shoulder all the time. Since our fight, I've made friends!" She wiped the side of her face with the heel of her palm and grew a slight smile through a small chuckle. "And you were right, I even have a girlfriend."
Aleks laughed before wiping away her own tears. "I knew it! I knew you were gay as shit!" She ran her hands through her hair as she took a deep breath and sighed. "But, I know that now, Elsa." She said as she made her way towards the chair adjacent to the couch and sat down in it. "I saw you at the fair on Friday, and I actually thought about coming up to you and speaking to you, but…" She shrugged and turned her head towards the kitchen. "I decided it wouldn't be best."
"Probably not, not everyone in my group of friends has had a real good first impression of you." Elsa admitted with her own shrug in return.
"You mean they pretty much hate me."
"Well, I wouldn't put it that bluntly." Elsa stood up and shrugged again. "You punched Rapunzel's cousin, Anna, in the face. You nearly gave Merida a concussion, and you threatened to deport Jasmine back to India."
"Well, when you put it that way… I can see why" Aleks admitted as she looked back towards her sister and smiled. "Is she even Indian?"
"Does she even have the slightest accent, Aleks?"
"Ah, no."
"They're all really nice people." Elsa mentioned with a small chuckle. Now, she wasn't so sure why she was so nervous about speaking to her sister. At this point, it seemed like their little fallout never even happened and she was talking to her as if she never stopped. It felt completely natural, and it made her happy in a way she couldn't describe. "Why were you even at the fair? Those types of things aren't your style."
Aleks shrugged and adjusted herself in the chair. "You're not the only one who knows how to put the moves on someone." She brushed her knuckles on her shirt and gave a smug grin.
"Finally steal Phillip from Aurora?" Elsa joked, effectively wiping the grin right off of her face.
"Oh, you're a bitch." Aleks retorted with a small giggle. "Actually, I told him his sideburns looked like shit and asked him if he was fighting over the iron throne. He asked me if I could troubleshoot his computer, and now we're kind of dating." She shrugged. "Strange how those things work out, huh?"
Elsa found it somewhat hard to believe that Aleks found a guy considering how abrasive she could be. But then again, there's someone out there for everyone and it made her happy knowing that she wasn't alone while they weren't talking. "So, what's he like?"
The question hit Aleks as surprise as her demeanor grew a little more solemn. Her eyes shot back towards some distant object in the middle of nowhere as she appeared deep in thought. Eventually, she gave a quick shrug. "He's kind of an ass." She said bluntly. "But, he always seems to have a fairly good intention for it."
Elsa kind of felt like there was more there that Aleks wasn't telling her, but she didn't really want to get into it considering how they just started talking. "Kind of like you, huh?" She teased, which brought Aleks back to reality as another smug grin grew on her face.
"Pretty much. Hey, hate to cut this short." She pulled out her phone and checked the time before sticking it back into her pocket. "But, class and shit. We'll talk later okay?" She hopped up off of the couch and threw her bag over her shoulder.
"Yeah, sure thing." Elsa responded as she made her way towards the door.
Aleks beat her there, and as she opened the door she was nearly taken back to find Pocahontas standing in the hallway. She looked her up and down before shaking her head. "Smell you later, Pokemon." She teased as she looked back towards Elsa and smiled again before making her way down the hall.
When Elsa made her way into the hallway, she shut the door behind her and smiled at Pocahontas. "Again, thank you."
Pocahontas returned the smile and nodded her head. "Not an issue."
As Elsa began to make her own way down the hallway, she was stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Pocahontas' voice behind her.
"By the way, you and Anna are so cute together!"
A blush quickly came over Elsa's face as she put a little more pep in her step. She had to find Anna to share the good news.
"Rapunzel!" Anna nearly screamed as her cousin exited her class through the double doors. She had been waiting there for the past fifteen minutes or so after not finding Elsa at her usual table in the study hall.
Rapunzel jumped and nearly head-butted the poor bystander behind her. "Shit! Anna! What!?" She responded when she gained her composure and pulled Anna off to the side away from the students leaving the classroom.
"Where's Elsa? I just got back from Mr. Oaken's office around the same time her calculus class normally gets out, so I waited outside of the door for her. But, after she didn't come out I thought that was totally strange! I thought maybe she left a little early to go to the bathroom or something, so, I checked the bathroom and had a pretty interesting conversation with somebody passed out in one of the stalls. I think her name was Alice? Anyway, she wasn't in the study hall either and I-"
"Anna, I love you, but take a breath." Rapunzel stated, trying her best to calm down her ecstatic cousin. "Why didn't you just text her? Or me, for that matter, instead of giving me a heart attack?"
"I don't have my phone."
Rapunzel turned her head towards her cousin. "Where is it?"
The redhead shrugged. "On my nightstand, probably. I don't really take it with me if I don't plan on leaving the campus." Although the more she thought about it, it would probably be a good idea to start carrying it around. Especially for situations like this.
"I don't know where Elsa is." Her cousin replied as she gestured towards the hall, inviting Anna to join her in walking to her next class. "She wasn't in class this morning. And speaking of class, shouldn't you be in one?"
Anna waved Rapunzel off as they turned a corner. "It's just economics. I could probably pass it with both hands tied behind my back and two eye patches." In this case, she was confident in that. Although she was never really good with academics, she found that many of the social sciences were fairly easy for her. To her, it was little more than thinking outside of the box a little bit. Therefore, if she had the opportunity to hardly attend class and still make a passing grade, she'll jump on it.
The brunette sat down on one of the benches against the wall and patted the empty spot next to her, inviting Anna to sit down. "I've noticed that she's a creature of habit. You know she's around here somewhere." She mentioned as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. "I'll text her for you and find out. But, what's so important that had you all worked up over?"
Anna joined her on the bench and crossed her legs. "Would you believe if I told you I was chosen for some fancy foreign exchange thing to study in London?"
"No." Rapunzel teased with a slight grin. After sending her text, she set her phone down in her lap and looked back towards Anna, who had a fairly serious look on her face. "You're serious?"
"Yes!" Anna squealed, smile returning to her face as she nearly jumped in her seat. The more she thought about the whole thing, the more she grew towards it. It was a new and exciting adventure for her, and she couldn't wait to tell everybody about it.
Rapunzel gasped in slight shock as her eyes widened, it wasn't long before she soon had her own large grin painted across her face. "Tell me about it!"
"Oaken is going to give me a full ride scholarship for spending the rest of the semester in London, which is extended if I want to come back for a master's." Anna explained, shrugging and suppressing her excitement long enough to fake a smug look. "No big deal, really." Except it's probably the biggest deal in my life to date.
"Uh-huh, sure." Her cousin chuckled. "When will you be back?"
"Before Christmas and all of the holidays, I leave next Thursday. It's pretty short notice, and at first I was pretty on the fence about it." Anna regurgitated the information the best she could, she still didn't understand a lot of the specifics about it. "But hey, Punzpunz?" She asked, with a lower, more serious tone. She was still concerned about leaving Elsa on her own for that long. Therefore, she was going to do her very best to make sure she's still taken care of. I'd like to see Merida's definition of 'take care of'. Maybe she'll be nice enough to make sure Elsa does her laundry. Is that ironic? It should be ironic.
"Yes, Anna-banana?" Rapunzel responded, hands on her knees and grin on her face.
Anna adjusted herself so that she was looking her cousin directly in her large green eyes. "Look after Elsa for me, okay?" She shrugged, casting her gaze onto the floor beside her and went to open her mouth to further explain herself, but was cut off when her cousin began.
"I promise."
Anna looked up back towards her cousin, forming the same eye contact. "I'm seriou-"
"Anna, you know me." Rapunzel's eyebrows stitched together as her voice grew much more intense and she leaned in until there was hardly a hair width between their faces. Anna could nearly see her reflection in her cousin's eyes. "You know I don't ever, ever break a promise." She leaned back, but not lessening in her serious stature and tone. "I'll get Merida and Jasmine on it too. Elsa will be fine while you're gone for a couple months."
She still wasn't exactly thrilled about leaving her girlfriend behind, but there was a certain level of calmness that came over her knowing that her cousin would watch over her. "Tha-"
"I'm here, Rapunzel, sorry." Elsa explained as she turned the corner, placing her phone into her hoodie pocket as she was preoccupied searching in her purse.
Anna quickly glanced over to Rapunzel and the pair smiled at each other. Anna leaned back on the bench and nodded towards the blonde. "Sup, babe."
Elsa immediately froze in her tracks as she slowly pulled her hand out of her purse and looked towards the bench. When she realized who was talking to her, it seemed as if all life was put back into her body and then some. "Anna!" She quickly sat down on the bench next to her girlfriend, and nodded towards Rapunzel with a smile.
Rapunzel checked her phone once more before standing up and dusting off her legs. "I'll leave you two; I have to get to class anyway." She nodded towards the pair before departing around a corner and into a large mass of students.
Anna felt Elsa wiggle her fingers through her own, and as she looked over she was greeted by her girlfriend's large blue eyes looking right back at her. Almost immediately, the most adorable blush grew over Elsa's face and she smiled. Damn you're cute. At that point, Anna was sure that Elsa wasn't the only one blushing. "So-"
"I went to see Aleks. After I left the dorm this morning and stepped into the elevator, it was almost entirely on impulse. Instead of hitting the ground floor, I hit her floor and before I knew it I was standing at her door." Elsa confessed, her grip tightening slightly around Anna's fingers. "It went really well, and I can't tell you how happy I am knowing I can have my sister back in my life." She smiled at herself and nearly squealed. "Also, Pocahontas sends her regards."
Pocahontas? Wait, what? She has a real knack for randomly appearing in places where she seems to be needed. Like some kind of freaky ninja hero. Anna returned the smile. "I'm glad to hear that, Elsa." Does that mean Aleks is going to be in my life now? Probably. Great. She snapped back to reality for a moment to see the exuberant energy that seemed to be radiating off of Elsa's entire being. Worth it.
"You don't know how much of a relief it is to have that off of my chest." She stated, which was clearly obvious seeing her complete change in character from the night before. "But, enough about that. How did your meeting go?"
The halls had practically cleared by now, classes had started and the only people left in the halls were a few sleep deprived, malnourished students in random corners with their nose buried in a book. Wherever Anna looked, it was just simply empty. But whenever she found herself looking at the smiling woman in front of her, she felt a warmth and comfort which she could quickly grow addicted to. "It went great." Anna started slowly, unsure of what to say and how to say it. "He uh, he offered be an amazing opportunity."
Elsa scuttled a little closer and pursed her lips with a slow nod. And at that moment, Anna was fairly certain Elsa was going to kill her in the cutest way possible with those blue eyes staring at her.
"A full ride scholarship, actually." She unknowingly found herself rubbing her thumb against the side of Elsa's hand as she rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "Even if I decide to come back for a post-grad." Anna looked off into the distance and tried to look anywhere but at Elsa. She wasn't sure how she would react, and if worst comes to worst, she didn't want to see. As she grew more distant, she saw Elsa's disposition shift as she placed her hand on the side of Anna's face and directed her towards her.
"What's wrong?" Elsa asked, as innocent and kindhearted as could be. She let her hand fall until Anna caught it in her own.
Steeling herself, Anna did her best to slow her growing heartbeat and took a deep breath. "I've been chosen to spend the rest of the semester in London. I leave next Thursday and will be back by Christmas."
"You leave next Thursday? Does that mea-"
"Yes, I accepted it." Anna looked up towards her girlfriend, but wasn't exactly sure how to gauge her reaction. She was looking down at her hands with scrunched eyebrows. Anna had no clue what she was thinking, if she was a moment from a total breakdown or not.
Finally, she looked up and a small grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You made the right decision."
"Are you sure? I kind of feel like an asshole for not asking your opinion, because it means a lot to me. I like you, Elsa. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. And I really don't want to leave you behind for that long, well, anyone really, but especially you. I'm not sure wha-" Elsa cut her off when she pulled her forward for a kiss and suddenly, Anna's senses returned to her. When she was able to register what was going on again, she realized the previous blush had returned to the blonde's face, possibly even deeper than before.
"You're sweet, Anna." She started softly before she pulled her hand back and twiddled with the end of her braid. "And I like you too." Looking down at her hands, the grin on her face became obvious from her cheeks. "A lot." She mumbled to herself, just audible enough for Anna to hear it. "But-" She raised her head back up. "It's the right decision. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity that you can't afford to pass up!"
Anna was pleasantly surprised to see her taking it as well as she is. Maybe she was hiding her true emotions, but Anna liked to think that she knew her well enough to know she wasn't. "Are you sure? I'm still really uncomfortable about leaving you alone for that long."
"I'll be fine." Elsa reassured. "Not only do I have my sister back, but I'm on good terms with Rapunzel, Jasmine, and Merida." She shrugged and readjusted herself in her seat, crossing her legs at the ankles. "And besides, you won't be gone for that long. And we still have a little over a week."
"You're right. You're totally right." Anna reassured herself out loud. Elsa wouldn't be completely alone. She smiled to herself and looked over towards the blonde, who returned the smile.
"We just have to enjoy the time we have left until then." Elsa commented as she looked over her shoulder towards the empty halls. "I've already skipped one class; I can probably skip the rest of them for the day." She muttered to herself.
"Well, I was going to go to chemistry." Anna mumbled to herself.
Elsa waved her off with a small scoff. "I'll help you study later tonight. It's a good day! Let's get out and do something!" She quickly stood up in her excitement, grabbed Anna's hands and pulled her off of the bench. After stumbling to find her balance, Anna giggled before pulling Elsa towards her and into a hug.
"Thank you." She whispered into the crook of Elsa's neck. Her sweet perfume tingled in her nose, and it didn't take Anna very long to recognize the scent as vanilla. She took a deep inhale before tightening the hug. Finally, she pulled herself away before growing drunk on the aroma. She swept a strand of hair behind her ear before gesturing towards the hall. "So, where are we going?"