~ Chapter Three ~

The wondering came to a halt another ten minutes after that. Which, brief as that may have been in the overall scheme of life, was a long time when waiting in a line of sweaty fans, all anxious and worried about the fate of one of their favourite stars.

"Elsa will be coming out now," the same suited-up man announced. "Please don't ask her any questions or ask for selfies, she's very exhausted from the touring schedule, but she still wants to meet and give autographs. Respect her and you will be respected!"

"Damn right, respect her," Anna breathed, eyes wide. So it was going to happen, after all! By that point, she had begun to worry she would go home with everyone's autograph except her crush, her idol... which still would have been incredible, but she couldn't help but feel a little sad at the prospect.

Even though the idea of Elsa being "exhausted" worried her. Personally, she'd rather have her just get on the bus and take a nap if she was that tired, but if she was already going to be signing autographs, she might as well stay and get one.

The minute the door creaked open, Rapunzel gripped her forearm and whispered, "Are you excited?!"

"Do you have to ask?!"

There she was, wearing the exact same outfit as before. That was a marked difference; all the other divas had changed out of their stage costumes and into more comfortable clothing, but Elsa was still rocking her ice-blue dress and heels, hair and make-up even fresher than during their second encore - which was an a capella Taylor Swift medley. She did have a cardigan over her shoulders and Jackie O. sunglasses on, but otherwise looked like she just walked out on stage for the second time that night.

The minutes seemed to drag by, but Anna passed the time by watching Elsa work the crowd. Except she wasn't; not like the other three had been. It wasn't that she was being rude or cold, exactly, but more that she simply was being more efficient, like Kida, coupled with rushed for time. The "exhaustion", maybe?

"Thank you," Elsa was saying to the tall girl next to her. Then she turned to Anna and said a simple, "Hi."

"Hi, me? O-oh, um..." Then she handed over the vinyl, not sure what else to say. She didn't want to start babbling and say the wrong thing, not like she had to Snow! That would be a living nightmare!

Elsa took it, smiled at her, and raised her Sharpie. Then she paused, taking a deep, slow breath in through her nose, and releasing it as she began to sign. It wasn't very long, but something about it made Anna's heart tinge.

"Erhm..." As she took back the record, she forced herself to ask, "Are you okay, Elsa?"

The pop star froze, sunglasses pointed directly at Anna. For a long moment, she worried that she had gone a step too far, that she was going to be removed forcibly from the premises. She could see Rapunzel flinching away from her and waiting for impact.

"Yeah," Elsa eventually responded with a small smile. "I'm fine. Thank you." Then she reached for Rapunzel's CD.

It was all over so fast. Rapunzel was grabbing her shoulder and shaking her, other fans were drifting away. There was no reason for her to linger, but all she could do was stare after Elsa's back, watch how stiffly she moved.

Eventually, she heard, "Come on, let's go," from Rapunzel very distantly, but she couldn't budge. She had to keep watching until Elsa climbed onto her bus. From the door, she turned around to wave... and again hesitated when she saw Anna looking at her, one of the half-dozen fans who were still there. Her wave started up again and she smiled, then turned and vanished from her life.

"Good," Rapunzel half-laughed. "Now we can get out of here! What a freaking night!"

Anna allowed herself to be steered away, but she couldn't get the thought out of her mind. "Elsa looked so tired..."

"Well, they said she was exhausted, right? Comes with the territory."

"No, I mean... she looked like she was about to drop. She shouldn't have come out for autographs."

The blonde's eyebrows knitted as she turned to look at Anna while they walked to the parking lot. "What? Of course she should have - we got to meet her, we got her to sign our stuff! What do you mean, we shouldn't have? That was the best!"

"No. If she's that tired, I'd rather she be okay than get my little moment with her."

"Oh..." Rapunzel shifted guiltily, glancing down at the CD in her other hand, which had the booklet neatly tucked away behind the plastic once again. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Still, it was her choice, wasn't it? If she was gonna sign all those copies of the album, we might as well get two of those signatures."

Anna chewed her bottom lip for a second, wrestling with her own conscience. "Right, that's what I was thinking, too. Until she was in front of me. I dunno, I'm just dumb... sorry."

"Nah, don't apologise. It's kinda sweet that you're protective of her, even though Elsa needs no protection." Then she sighed, noticing Anna was turning left. "My car's the other way, but I'm super glad I was next to you in line. Text me, okay?"

"Yeah, I got your number, I will." But she was still moving on autopilot, talking numbly. She knew she waved before moivng off toward Kristoff's car.

"So?" he asked, rousing himself from the catnap he had apparently taken while she was gone. "Did you score all four?"

Buckling herself in, Anna set the vinyl down gently in the backseat, then turned back to the front before answering. "I did."

His blonde eyebrows knitted, much like Rapunzel's had. Seemed she was doing that to people a lot lately. "Then... why don't you seem more excited?"

"I... don't know." She told him about how dazed Elsa seemed, how frail. All the while, she tried her best not to get too emotional about it - which didn't make any sense in the first place. Though she definitely thought Elsa was a fabulous woman, a star who had earned her stardom, they were complete strangers to each other. Getting that worked up over her felt silly, even if she couldn't help it.

By the time she was done, he had already started the car and pulled onto the road. Her house was actually less than five minutes from the concert venue; it was Kristoff's that was another ten away from that.

"Damn," he breathed as they waited at a red light. "You got it bad, honey."

"I know," she groaned. "But this is more than that, I swear. She really did look... not okay. But it's none of my business, so why did I bother saying something?"

"Because your heart is too huge, Mayberry. Can't help that."

Another groan. "I know, I know. Just take me home and I'll lay around in bed, having dumb gay feelings until I fall asleep."

"Sounds like a plan," he chuckled softly. "But hey - we made it, right? Great show, and you got to meet Elsa!"

"Yeah," she sighed, a slight smile daunting her gloom. "No matter what... that was still really cool."

~ o ~

The next morning was Saturday. Though Anna was tempted to sleep in, given that she didn't fall asleep until after 3am in the first place, she still forced herself out of bed. There was work to do.

Specifically, work on her project. This was the last project she had for art class, and she wanted to do it justice. If she did, she'd have something in her portfolio forever; a jumpstart for life in college, and life after college. If she even went... but her parents were pretty adamant about her getting a BA, even if she didn't do much with the degree afterward.

By the time Anna got to Tim Horton's, she felt like death, but she still had her backpack with her, still felt like she could get some work done there. For some reason, having people around watching what she did helped pressure her into working faster, not slacking off. It was silly, since they obviously didn't know her from Eve, but when she worked alone in her room, she tended to slack off twice as often. Whatever worked, worked.

However, she also had to pee, and the caffeine line was pretty long at that hour. Sighing, she went into the washroom.

The stalls were all empty except for one, and even that one was freeing up as she walked past it. But she didn't walk past. She stopped, gaping at who had emerged.

"Elsa?!"

~ To Be Continued ~