~ Chapter Two ~

Anna was outfitted for battle. Clad in her sturdy jeans and Vans, wearing the shirt of her people - the SEEKers - and carrying the limited edition vinyl of their first album like a shield, she waded through the throng of fans, fighting for a spot near the door behind the large venue where it had been rumoured the four famous women would be emerging, despite the low white metal fence that kept her back from the path they would walk.

"You want me to keep the car warm for you?!" Kristoff was shouting from several feet behind her.

"YES!" she shouted back - wincing when she saw a girl right next to her cover her ear. "Sorry!" she told her, then to Kristoff again, "I'LL WAIT FOR AN HOUR AND IF THEY DON'T COME OUT BY THEN WE'LL GO HOME!"

"OKAY!" he shouted back, hands cupped around his mouth as more and more people divided them from each other. "Just... don't get trampled!"

Turning back around, she muttered, "Who gets trampled?" under her breath.

Minutes drifted by. After ten or more, she started chattering with some girl named Rapunzel, who was all about Esmé and her dark, smouldering looks. She claimed she was straight, but the way she talked about her favourite diva made Anna more than a little suspicious... then again, Kristoff was always accusing her of needing her "gaydar" recalibrated.

"So you're all about Elsa," Rapunzel finally gushed, once she had finished gushing about Esmé. "Totally get that; I mean, she's my second-fave, her voice is amazing! Ohh, can you imagine what it would be like to sing that way?"

"No, I can't," Anna laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear that had escaped in all the struggle. "But it doesn't stop me from rocking out with my hairbrush in front of a mirror."

"Same! God, I'd give my left tit to be one of them!"

"I'd give my left tit to be THEIR left tit!" Then Anna blinked. "Well... then I'd be all tit, I guess. Huh."

Giggling, Rapunzel tried to crane her neck to better see the door. "That'd be incredible, right up against all those custom-designed dresses, going to all those parties. Good enough for me!"

"Ohh, but if only I could spend five minutes with Elsa. She could just spit on me and walk away and I'd be set."

"That's gross," Rapunzel snorted. "But... well, yeah. Spit on me, step on me, breathe the same air as me..."

"Slap me, kick me, throw me off a cliff..." She caught Rapunzel nodding, and whispered, "We're pretty ridiculous."

"God, yeah. My boyfriend keeps telling me to 'grow up,' to quit devoting so much of my life to this one thing, but he doesn't get it! He doesn't have any heroes that he looks up to this much!"

Anna pursed her lips, trying her best not to say something. She failed. "Boyfriend, huh? He's probably jealous that you like Esmé better."

"Oh, I do not, don't be dumb!" Her smile was wicked. "I like them about the same, just in different ways."

"Right, right. So if Esmé came out here and grabbed your hand and said, 'Come with me, I need you right now,' you'd still choose your boyfriend over her?"

Finally, Rapunzel blinked in realisation of what they were talking about. Ten minutes later than she should have, but still earlier than Anna thought she might. "W-what? No, I... come on, I don't like her THAT way."

"You don't?"

"No! Why, do you like Elsa that way?"

Anna sighed wistfully. "Doesn't matter if I do or not; she has no idea I exist. Probably better off that way."

The conversation stalled out, Rapunzel turning away from her and trying to look interested in the rest of the crowd. So Anna had pinged her properly; totally a closet case. Locked herself in there with every passing homophobic thought.

But that all changed fifteen minutes later, when the door slammed open and a security official came out. As she hadn't bothered to try talking to anyone else before that moment, the long-haired bottle-blonde grabbed for Anna's hand and hissed, "It's happening!"

"Shit," was all Anna had to say, until another guard came out. "SHIT, it is - no way would they bother with this many guards if they weren't coming!"

"I can't believe it!" When their eyes met, Rapunzel twitched in mild uncertainty, then said in an awkward rush, "Um, I h-hope Elsa notices you!"

"Yeah! You too, with Esmé - I mean, you know, the platonic way!"

"Yeah! Of course!" Then they released, turning the focus of their entire beings on that door.

Which opened again. And this time, out stepped Snow. Her outfit was very glamorous, but far less ornate than the one she had worn onstage; a simple blue jacket over a yellow dress, to brace against the light chill. Another two guards came out behind her, along with a trim man in a jet black suit with gel in his blonde hair.

"Alright, everyone, listen up! The girls only have time for one autograph per person, OR one selfie - not both!" There was an eruption of cheers, one that made Anna feel deaf, but the man motioned for silence. "If anyone tries to jump the fence or touch the girls, it's all over and you WILL be held responsible for your actions! Keep it civil!"

"Touch them," Anna managed to mutter, and she felt Rapunzel's elbow in her side.

Further down the line, she could see Snow had already signed a couple of autographs while the man was talking, hugged a fan, taken a selfie. One of them wanted the butt of her white skirt signed, and Snow laughed and obliged. Anna glanced down at her own modest behind and wondered if it would be worth it to do that with Elsa instead of the vinyl... but the thought of having Kristoff fetch it from the car only to discard the whole gameplan didn't seem right. No, she would get the album signed and have it forever.

"Hi!" Snow chirruped at her when she finally arrived. Further down, Kida had started signing people's things already. "Did you like the show?"

"OH GOD!" Anna burst out, then cleared her throat. "I m-mean, we... you were... I-"

Her smile was sweet as apple pie while her black marker flew over the top of her own head. "It's okay, it's okay! Thanks for coming!"

While she was signing Rapunzel's merchandise, Anna nearly let her legs buckle and fell to the ground. She had Snow White's signature. On her album. This was the stuff dreams were made of! Even though that hadn't been her idol and crush, the experience of having that happen alone would have been enough to carry her through the next several years. She knew it was.

Then Kida arrived, her cool bleached hair waving in the light breeze. "What's your name?" she asked when Anna handed the album over.

"Who, me?!"

"I'll write that if you don't change it quick."

"OH! Shit, um- NO! My name isn't 'shit!' It's Anna!"

"With an 'h' or no 'h'?"

"No 'h'." Where would there be an 'h' in Anna? Either way, she watched as Kida wrote "Thanks, Anna!" and then signed her name, eyes wide at seeing such an impossible thing come to life. "Oh wow..."

She hadn't truly recovered from that when Esmé happened along, and she felt Rapunzel vibrating - in a very literal sense - next to her. For her sake, she tried to play it a lot cooler with this singer, hoping the calm would spread and she could speak properly.

"Thanks for coming out," Esmé was saying while she scribbled her name in the corner of Anna's vinyl. "I dig the old church, love it when they turn old churches into venues."

"Thank you!" she told her. Then she was signing Rapunzel's, and she decided to be a little forward. "Oh, um... her name's Rapunzel, and she's a huge fan of yours."

"Really?" They could both tell Rapunzel was freezing up completely. Smiling briefy at Anna, she wrote "Rapunzel, you rock!" above the signature she had already added to the girl's CD booket. "Come here, honey."

And Rapunzel went white as a sheet as her idol drew her in for a very brief hug. She couldn't even do anything more than raise a hand as if she WERE going to pat her on the back; actually doing so was beyond her limits.

"Be good, now, okay?" Esmé laughed as she moved off.

"Whoa," Rapunzel finally breathed, about thirty seconds afterward.

"That was so cool!" Anna agreed, grinning at her. "I can't believe we're meeting them, I-"

"You... are my best friend," Rapunzel sobbed, tears running down her face. "Y-you talked for me, wh-when I couldn't even talk, and you- and then she put my name on- and HUGGING!"

Anna was grinning from ear to ear. "Just trying to help." But that didn't stop Rapunzel from pouncing on her, sobbing into her shoulder. Anna knew it was more just to release all of her boiling emotions in some way, that she was truly happy, but she patted her on the back with a steady "Shhhhh", anyway.

However, when they turned back toward the door expectantly, they noticed the murmur of concern. Where was the second "E"? Where was Elsa?

~ To Be Continued ~