Chapter 18 - Secrets Between Us Part 2
Elsa stared in shock, her mind trying to respond in some way to Anna's words. Just what was the girl thinking?! They were the only ones in Elsa's time who knew Anna was from the future.
But Anna knew that by taking Rapunzel to her time, it was the only way that they could help her. She knew it was a long shot, she admitted that, but at the same time, they were very low on options.
Like it or not, Anna's idea was the only sound one they had right now, even if it did mean revealing their biggest secret to Cass and Rapunzel.
Holding her hands to herself, Elsa sighed. "Anna... What good would bringing Rapunzel to the future do?"
"Medicine is a lot more advanced in my time," Anna told Elsa. "If there's even a slim chance of saving Rapunzel, it's better we take that chance in my time. For all we know, Rapunzel could die."
"But we agreed to only let a few people know of where you come from," Elsa reminded her. "Anna, it's too risky."
"Look, Cass and Punzie pretty much live alone anyway," Anna replied. "And they're friendly to us. We can trust them Elsa, and you need to trust me to save your cousin's life." She held her hands to her chest, pleading to Elsa.
Thinking for a moment, Elsa started to consider Anna's plan. Regardless of what she and Anna had agreed upon, it was their best chance.
"Alright," Elsa accepted. "Supposing we do go through with this plan of yours, how do we get Rapunzel to your time anyway?"
"We'll take her to my house and get her comfortable. Cass should come as well. Once we're there, I'll call for an ambulance that will get Rapunzel to the nearest hospital."
"And you're just going to assume Cass will be fine with this?" Elsa remarked. "Us dragging her wife to what is essentially a foreign land to her so she can be treated by medical sciences she would barely understand?"
"Look, we don't have much of a choice," Anna stated. "Elsa, we have to do this."
Finally agreeing, Elsa nodded. She trusted Anna with her heart. She knew she would save Rapunzel. "Alright, but we come clean to Cass about all of this right now. I don't want it to be a shock for them."
"It's gonna be pretty much a shock for them anyway," Anna remarked. "But fine, we'll tell her... And Elsa?"
"Yes?"
Anna kissed her fiancée's cheek. "Thank you for trusting me."
Looking to their left, they opened the door again, walking inside to break the news to Cass. The short-haired woman was still sat on the bed, drying her eyes from the tears she had just started to shed. When she saw Elsa and Anna arrive, she sniffled a little, but remained hopeful.
"Sorry," she confessed. "This is just... the first time I've had to just cry over it all."
"Well cry no longer, Cassandra," Elsa spoke. "My beloved wife-to-be has come up with a plan to help your wife. Tell her Anna."
"Thank you, Elsa," Anna replied, before clearing her throat. "Okay, Cass? I'm going to say some stuff that is probably going to sound super duper crazy, like crazier than anything you can imagine. I want you to trust me to not reveal what I'm about to say to anyone."
Cass nodded. "You can trust me, Anna. I'm good at keeping secrets."
"Okay..." Anna inhaled through her nose and began her confession. "See, I'm not actually from Arendelle. I'm from... the future."
"The future? As in, the future future?" Cass raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Yes the future future," Anna insisted. "I'm a time traveller basically. You see, in my time, which is around 200 years from now, I bought a house that had a... door if you will to Elsa's time. That's how we met and how we've been seeing each other these past few months."
"We want to bring Rapunzel to Anna's time, Cassandra," Elsa stated. "Anna's time has much more advanced medicine than we do. If we're lucky, we might just be able to save her life. You have to trust us, Cass."
Sighing, Cass thought for a few seconds. She knew what Elsa and Anna were talking about was completely and utterly crazy, but the wellbeing of her wife was more important than anything right now. She had to belive Elsa and Anna and hope that Rapunzel would indeed be okay.
With a nod, Cass accepted. "Okay... We'll take Rapunzel to wherever Anna is from... but I'm coming with her. I'm not going to let Rapunzel out of my sight."
"We figured you might say that," Elsa stated. "Thank you for believing in us Cass."
"Okay, so now that's all settled," Anna then said, putting her hands together. "Let's go bag us a Punzie!"
xXx
And so the plan to save Punzie (as Anna referred to it as) was soon underway. The first phase of the plan was to get ahold of Rapunzel herself. Thankfully, Elsa had ordered her servants to move Rapunzel to one of the guest bedrooms of the castle.
But in order to keep their little scheme a secret, Elsa would need to deal with the servants. Changing into her blue dress, Elsa headed down the corridor that Rapunzel's room was connected to.
As she arrived at the room, she saw two maids posted on duty outside the room, preventing anyone from entering. Elsa knew just what to do to deal with them. Walking up to the two maids she saw them standing to attention.
"Good evening ladies," Elsa greeted them. "I would like to enter lady Rapunzel's room. Would you please make way for me?"
"Sorry, your majesty," one of the maids, a young girl with short red hair stated. "But Steward Kai ordered us to not let anyone into her room. He told us not to disturb her rest."
"Yes, but I am your queen," Elsa insisted. She had a feeling this was going to be difficult. Damn Kai and his high authority. "By the power vested in me, I order you to move away from this room."
"I'm sorry, your majesty," The maid replied. "But I cannot disobey Steward Kai, even for you."
Elsa then moved closer, realising she would have to take a different approach to get rid of the maids. "Your name is... Lily, isn't it?"
"Yes, my Queen," the maid confirmed. "I've only been in your staff for a few months."
"Well..." Elsa twiddled her fingers together. "If you and your companion here would care to leave your post for a while, I promise that you will not be reported and I'll even make sure you get a bonus for your salary,"
Lily's eyes widened with surprise. "Y-you'll do that for us?"
"Mmmhmm," Elsa hummed in confirmation. "So... Do we have a deal?"
The red-headed maid and her associate nodded. "Yes, we do, my Queen. We never saw you, and you never saw us."
"Just what I wanted to hear," Elsa accepted.
As the two maids left their post, Anna and Cass crept out from behind one of the many suits of armour that lined the halls of the castle. As she approached her fiancée, Anna rolled her eyes.
"Did you have to bribe them?!" She asked in frustration. "We're supposed to be saving your cousin, not robbing a damn bank."
"Look, I didn't much of a choice," Elsa excused her rather uncharacteristic behaviour. "I'll keep watch here while you and Cass grab Punzie."
Anna and Cass both nodded and headed to the door of Rapunzel's room, Anna turning the knob gently and heading inside with Cass. The room was dark, the only light being the faint glow from the moon outside.
Rapunzel was lying on the bed, her face a lifeless, but content smile. If she was truly asleep, she must have been dreaming of something beautiful. Cass couldn't help smiling as she saw her sleeping princess.
She leaned down, kissing Rapunzel's forehead before smiling softly. "You'll be back to me soon, Raps."
"Enough necrophilia," Anna remarked. "You can kiss her once she wakes up from all this." She then pulled off Rapunzel's bed covers and slid her arm under the blondes back. She then lifted her up, carrying Rapunzel on her shoulder.
"Oof," Anna groaned. "Cass, when your wife wakes up, tell her to lose a few pounds."
Cass rolled her eyes. "Just come on, so we can get this stupid plan of yours over with."
The two of them headed outside of the room, Anna dragging Rapunzel on her arm. She was clearly straining from the weight of the other woman.
Elsa noticed this and headed to Anna's side, resting Rapunzel on her shoulder as well, both of them supporting the unconscious princess.
Heading on ahead, Cass made her way to Elsa's bedroom, while Anna and Elsa hobbled on behind with the unconscious Rapunzel on their shoulders. It was a bit less of a pain to carry her now that she had help, but Anna knew her shoulder was going to be in agony by the end of this.
Eventually, the two of them made it to the room in peace, Cass shutting the door behind them. Finally alone at last, Anna dropped Rapunzel onto the bed and quickly checked her pulse, Thankfully, the blonde princess was still stable for now.
Looking around, Cass frowned. "Okay, so where's this time portal of yours?" she asked them, wanting to get Rapunzel to safety as quickly as possible.
"It's my shower room," Elsa told her. "Or at least it was." She then pointed to the door in the corner of the room. "That one there."
"Got it," Cass responded. She then walked to the door and opened it up, gesturing for Elsa and Anna to enter it and travel to Anna's time. One more step to go and Rapunzel would be on her way to safety.
Elsa stood up, lifting up Rapunzel onto her arm. "Anna, it's time to go again."
Groaning, Anna raised herself up, balancing Rapunzel's other arm on her shoulder. "I'm seriously starting to regret this plan," she grumbled. "Next time we try something like this, I'm having Cass carry me. She's beefy as hell."
"Oh stop groaning," Elsa remarked. "This was your plan." The two of them then dragged Rapunzel to the door, both women trying their best not to drop their friend. "I still have my doubts about this, Anna," Elsa then spoke. "What if we somehow damage the timeline doing this?"
"Like we haven't been damaging the timeline by our constant abuse of time travel?" Anna joked. "Relax queenie, I know what I'm doing." Finally, the two of them had brought Rapunzel into the modern world, Anna laying Rapunzel next to a wall. "Okay, you watch over her, while I grab her an ice pack and call the ambulance."
Cass stepped through the door, entering Anna's time for the first time. She felt a little strange, walking into this pretty alien landscape. Looking through the doorway to one room, she saw Anna's phone and laptop laying on her bed, objects of witchcraft to her.
Seeing Cass walk onto the landing of her home, Anna smiled. "Oh, welcome to the future Cass, make yourself at home and all that," she chirped. "This is my humble abode. Don't worry we won't be here for long."
"This place..." Cass spoke. "It's so strange."
"You should have seen Elsa the first time she came here," Anna remarked. "She practically had a panic attack."
Elsa rolled her eyes at Anna's light-hearted interpretation of their first meeting.
Anna then looked at the outfits of herself, Elsa, Cass and the sleeping Rapunzel. They couldn't exactly go out in public looking like this. They needed a change of clothes, all of them. Thankfully, Anna happened to be one of those women who owned tons of clothes, but only really wore one outfit.
"Okay girls, slight change of plan," Anna then said. "We're playing dress-up, all of us."
"Wait what?" Cass asked, very confused.
"Anna's right," Elsa accepted. "Her time has a very different sense of fashion to Arendelle. We'd look like complete dorks in these dresses. Don't worry about Rapunzel, I'll take care of her and make sure she's in different clothes."
Cass sighed. "I hope they at least have decent pants in this time then."
Once Cass and Anna had gone to change and Elsa had brought Rapunzel into another bedroom, Anna pulled out her phone. She'd never dialled the number before, but this was an emergency after all. After typing in 911, Anna held the receiver up to her ear.
"Hello, Operator? I would like to call for an ambulance please."
xXx
Some hours later, Anna and Elsa were following an ambulance through the streets of Newbury in Anna's car, with a very confused Cass stuck in the back seats, still trying to put on the hoodie she had borrowed from Anna.
Once her head finally popped out from the top, she panted heavily. "God these things are a death trap. How do you wear these Anna?!"
"I put mine on gently," Anna informed her. "Don't worry, you'll be back to your old clothes soon."
"I hope so," Cass stated. "Do you really think these doctors can figure out what's wrong with Raps and help her?"
Elsa turned her head, smiling reassuringly at Cass. "Cassandra, I have no doubt in my mind that the wonders of Anna's time will save Rapunzel. I give you my word. Anna knows what she's doing."
Anna merely kept her eyes on the road, not wanting to lose track of the ambulance. She herself wasn't entirely sure where the hospital was, but she knew that they would there soon.
And by luck, within the next few minutes, they had pulled up outside of the entrance to Newbury University Hospital, along with the ambulance that was carrying Rapunzel.
"Guys, we're here!" Anna called out as she parked the car. All three women got out and headed to the ambulance, seeing the stretcher that was carrying the sleeping Rapunzel being wheeled through the large double doors.
Determined to not leave her beloved wife, Cass ran alongside the stretcher, watching as several doctors and nurses looked over Rapunzel. Cass was very nervous, not entirely sure what was going on.
Suddenly, Cass could no longer follow the doctors, as Anna pulled Cass back as Rapunzel was led through another set of double doors.
"Raps!" She cried, before Anna held her back.
"Cass, wait," Anna insisted. "Punzie is gonna be fine, but you've got to let the doctors and nurses do their jobs now."
Sighing, Cass walked back into the reception area with Anna. The redhead was right. She had done all she could. All she had to do now was wait and pray that the woman she loved would be alright.
The waiting lasted for god knows how many hours. Since Cass didn't have a watch on her and was actually a little unnerved by Elsa and Anna's phones, she didn't want to check the time. She would wait as long as she had to. As the hours rolled by, she started to become bored as well as worried.
Anna noticed this, and passed Cass something to read while she was bored. "Hey, Cass, this might help you pass the time. It's called a magazine. They're what we read in the future instead of books."
Taking the magazine, Cass raised an eyebrow at the woman who was on the front cover, who was posing on the beach in a bikini. "What is this about?"
"Magazines can be about many things," Anna informed her. "This one happens to be about fashion and stuff. As you can see, this lady is in some new beachwear."
Cass chuckled a little. "And people read these things?"
"Yeah, mostly to pass the time," Anna stated. "Honestly, they're boring, but there are usually some gossip columns that you can laugh and cringe at."
"I'll pass thanks," Cass admitted, putting down the magazine. "I may be bored, but I'm not desperate." She sighed. "I could use a coffee. Do they have coffee in this time?"
"They do indeed," Elsa informed her, standing up. "Anna, would you mind if I showed her how to order a coffee here?"
"Knock yourself out," Anna said. "There was a machine just around the corner. I think it's either a Starbucks or a Costa one."
"Thank you, Anna," Elsa accepted, before taking Cass's hand. Cass was led down the hall nearby to a coffee machine, another device that seemed to unnerve her. As they approached the cabinet, Cass shuddered a little at the sight of it.
She had never seen such a strange device. With its many buttons and lights. Clearly, it was the work of witchcraft, much all the other new technology she had seen during her time in the modern world. As Elsa reached into her pocket, Cass twiddled her fingers.
"Can you really get coffee from this?" Cass wondered, as Elsa pulled out her purse.
Elsa nodded, taking out a few pennies. "Yes. This is probably one of the most ingenious inventions you'll ever see, Cass." She then slid her pennies into the slot on the side of the machine and pressed a few button combinations. Within seconds the machine started to whirr and wizz.
Looking down, Cass saw a foam cup pop out from one hatch on the frame of the machine, where two tubes poured the amount of coffee and milk into the cup that Elsa had specified. Once the drink was finished, Elsa picked it up and took a sip.
The blonde queen hummed, sighing as she pulled her lips away. "Coffee has never tasted so good," she gave her opinion. "Would you like to try?"
"Um... sure, what have I got to lose," Cass remarked.
After buying her coffee without any problems, Cass and Elsa returned to the sitting area with cups of coffee in hand. Elsa knew that Cass was feeling a little better, but they still had to wait for the doctors to see to Rapunzel. It was still dark outside thankfully.
Sitting down, Cass sipped her coffee, sighing. "God, that's the good stuff. Better than beer any day."
Anna giggled. "I see someone likes the great taste of Starbucks," she remarked. She then smiled and watched as Cass took another sip of her sublime drink.
"Mmmm..." Cass sighed. "Anna, when Raps gets out of all this, can we take some of this modern coffee back to Arendelle with us? It's just so delicious."
Smiling, Anna nodded. "Sure thing. I'll make sure it's in some pouches or something, so no one will get suspicious."
"Wise choice, beloved," Elsa said with a smile.
And so they played the waiting game once again, for what seemed to be another two hours at that rate. Cass had gotten herself another coffee in that time, and Anna had started to pass the time by explaining the future more to Cass.
While the three women were enjoying a break of chocolate bought at the hospital gift shop, they were then approached by one of the hospital staff. She was a young woman with short blonde hair the same shade as Elsa's with bright blue eyes.
The strange woman adjusted her glasses, before smiling at Elsa, Anna and Cass. "Anna Penrose and friends I presume?"
"That's us, ladies," Elsa chimed in, as Anna looked up with a mouthful of chocolate.
"Yes?" Anna said, after she swallowed her chocolate. "And who might you be?"
"My name is Dr Valeria Zimmerman," The woman introduced herself. "I've come to inform you about the condition of the patient you brought in with you."
Cass's eyes widened. "Raps?" She quickly rushed over to the doctor, staring her directly in the eyes. "Is she going to be okay? Please, I need to know. She's my wife and I've been worried sick about her."
"Well worry no longer, dear," Dr Zimmerman stated. "Your wife is going to be just fine. In fact, she's going to be more than fine."
"S-she is?" Cass stuttered, her eyes momentarily filling with tears. Anna then gave her a handkerchief to dry her eyes, which Cass did so before speaking again. "May... May we go and see her?"
"Of course, I'll take you there right away," the doctor agreed, leading the three women down the hallway. They were all brought to one of the many private rooms in the hospital ward, where Rapunzel had been moved after being treated by the doctors.
Looking through the window, Cass was ecstatic to see Rapunzel sleeping soundly in a hospital bed, without a care in the world. She looked very peaceful, which only made Cass feel more relaxed, more than any cup of coffee would do for her.
Dr Zimmerman led the women into Rapunzel's room, smiling as she looked at the blonde in bed. She stroked Rapunzel's cheek, before looking at her notepad.
Cass rushed to Rapunzel's side, sitting on a chair by the bed. She took Rapunzel's hand in her own and began to cry. Her wife, the woman who was her very heart and soul was going to be a-okay.
Elsa then looked at the doctor, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Doctor? You said Rapunzel was going to be more than okay. What exactly did you mean by that?"
The doctor smiled. "Well, I suppose there's only one way to answer that question. My dear, your friend here is going to have a baby."
Anna's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. The information was very much a complete surprise to Elsa and Anna. "She's pregnant?!" The redhead exclaimed.
The doctor nodded. "Yes. By about at least four weeks by this point. Normally, most expecting mothers wouldn't faint this early, but miss Corona has a very rare blood condition, which makes her pressure very low. Don't worry, I've already injected some insulin into her body. She should awaken from her sleep soon."
As the doctor left the room, Anna and Elsa were left to process the information.
"How?" Elsa wondered. "Rapunzel couldn't have gotten pregnant. She and Cass are alone all the time in that house."
"Do you think she had another man over at some point?" Anna asked.
"No, she wouldn't do that," Elsa replied, shaking her head. "Rapunzel would never be unfaithful to Cass."
"Then how is she pregnant?!" Anna repeated.
From her seat, Cass had been processing all this information. While she was ecstatic inside to learn that her wife was going to have a baby, she was a little worried about how she would break the news of who the other parent of Rapunzel's child was.
Never before had Cass be so conflicted. But, she remembered the kindness Elsa and Anna had shown her tonight. They wouldn't judge her. She could finally come out with this secret, after holding it between herself and Rapunzel all these years.
"I know how," Cass then interrupted the conversation between Elsa and Anna.
"Wait-you do?" Elsa inquired in confusion.
"Yes. But you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone." She sighed. "Please... this is something very important. It's just as important as your secret."
Elsa nodded. "You can trust us, Cass."
"Yeah, we promise to keep whatever secret you need to confess," Anna assured their friend.
"Okay…" Cass then took a deep breath. "The truth is...it was me. I got her pregnant; I'm the person who's baby is inside of her."
"Wait-YOU knocked her up?" Anna asked incredulously. "But how?"
"Because I...I wasn't...born a girl," Cass confessed, her voice shaking. "You see when I was born, people thought I was actually a boy. But all throughout my childhood, I felt...out of place in my own body. It took me years to understand why. So I...I found a way to make who I am on the outside match who I am on the inside. But I...I didn't get rid of my genitals. I preferred them to be what they were. That's how Raps got pregnant...she and I made love together a few weeks back… that must have been when this all happened."
Understanding Cass's struggle, Anna sat beside Cass and put a hand on her shoulder. "Did she... did she know?"
Cass nodded. "Yes... I came out to her not long after we first met. She was the first I ever trusted with this."
Anna then smiled. "It's okay Cass. There's nothing for you to be afraid of."
"T-There isn't?" Cass wondered.
"No... because there are thousands of women just like you," Anna told her. "It's called being Transgender, Cass. And you aren't alone in this."
Cass started to cry happy tears, smiling widely. "You don't know how long I've wanted to come out and say all that... thank you, both of you for accepting who I am... and for keeping the woman I love safe."
Elsa smiled, sitting beside Cass and hugging her. "It is alright Cassandra. No matter the circumstances of your birth, you are a woman and we will always see you as one."
"Plus, you're gonna be a great mom," Anna insisted.
The raven-haired girl chuckled. "I... I always did kinda think of me and Raps being parents one day... but I never thought it would be so soon."
Just then, the silence was broken by the sound of a woman stirring from her slumber. Rapunzel then weakly groaned, before opening her eyes and looking at the three women crowded around her bed. She smiled at Elsa, the first smile that Elsa had seen from her in quite some time.
"E-Elsa... C-Cass..." She whispered. "W-Where am I?"
"We brought you somewhere safe," Elsa said. "And Cass has some big news for you, Rapunzel."
"She does?" Rapunzel wondered.
Cass took Rapunzel's hand and looked deeply into her eyes. She was so happy now. Her beloved Rapunzel was back in her life and now she got to share the good news with her darling wife. "Raps... we're gonna be moms... I... I got you pregnant."
Rapunzel's eyes widened with surprise and she hugged Cass, crying happy tears. "Oh gosh... Cass... that's wonderful."
Anna and Elsa merely watched the happy scene unfold. They both were very grateful to have helped their friends in this time of need. Now their lives could hopefully get back to some form of normalcy now that the current crisis was over.
xXx
Author's note: Well, that's the end of this two-parter folks. I know at least a few of you were wondering who the Trans character was going to be. Well, wait no longer because Cass here just came out in a rather beautiful and emotional way. I don't know how well she's gonna be received, but I hope it's positive, especially since I had my friend Sam aka Thefingerfuckingfemalefury, who is Trans, helping me with how she was written. If there are any problems with her that we might have missed, please let me know.
Also, special mention goes to regular reader, Sal aka Foxfiles, who's birthday it is the day this fic comes out (or at least, she'll probably read it on her birthday) HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAL!
Yes, Hans, the sideburned bastard himself, is indeed in this fic. You'll have to wait a bit for more on him though.
See ya'll next time!