~ Chapter Nine ~

"Well, that was a thing."

This time, it was Elsa who had declared it, and Anna had to agree as they drove away. "I… wow, she actually did the fainting thing. I thought that was a myth!"

"So did I!" Now that the shock had warn off, they both found themselves laughing. Once Anna pulled up to a stop sign, they laughed more, tears coming to their eyes. By the time they recovered slightly, their sides ached, and Elsa was pressing her half-hoodie-covered palms into her face.

"OHhhhh," Anna sighed at last, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "God, what a riot! I wish it could be like this all the time."

"Me, too." They exchanged a warm grin. Then it slowly faded as realisation set in.

"But it can't," Anna breathed for them. She turned, gripped the steering wheel. "W-well, that's okay; it was still cool to hang out with you for a day. I mean, wow, even Rapunzel won't believe us; she'll just think she had a weird dream."

Elsa's smile was close to its previous brilliance. Close, but not quite there. "You will tell Kristoff, I assume."

"Well, yeah," she snorted as they pulled away again. "I tell him everything, though, so that's not really even a question."

A mischievous glint came into the blonde's eyes. Leaning back a little further in the seat, she asked, "What if I asked you not to tell him? Would you keep this a secret?"

"Oh…" Anna gulped, forcing her eyes to stay on the road instead of turning. "Right, shit, of course - you got it."

"I'm kidding," Elsa giggled. "Just wanted to see if you'd do it. Of course I don't mind."

There was a great sigh of relief from the driver. "Good! Ugh, you had me going, you jerk!"

"How dare you call me, the great Elsa, a 'jerk'!" she cried in a falsely-pompous voice. "This is an outrage! I'm calling your mother! I'm calling my lawyer!"

"You are?!" The grin was too delighted for Anna's words to be believable. "You'll never take me alive!"

Elsa cocked a fingergun at her and said, "Pew, pew!" in a voice so full of laughter that it got both of them going again, and Anna pulled into a spot on the kerb between two other cars, opting not to take any more chances with Elsa's life that day.

"DAMN it!" she finally gasped out, wiping her eyes and stomping against the foot rest. "I'm gonna pass out, and then you'll have to stick me in with Rapunzel!"

"AAAHHH!" Elsa laughed out loud, her shoe landing on the dashboard as one of her legs came up, as if bracing against it that way would somehow ward off the giggle fits. "We just left her there! Are we the worst?!"

Snickering as she clutched her sides, Anna told her, "Nahhh. She'll be fine; we didn't even let her hit the floor. But oh man, wait until she finds out it really happened! Not that I know how we're gonna prove it to her."

"I do." Elsa dug Anna's phone out of her purse; given that it was sticking out of the top already, this wasn't even as much of an invasion as the backpack. "Two selfies; one regular, and one with the worst duckface we can manage."

"Ughhhh, not duckface! Well, if it's for science…"

The deed was done in seconds. This more than made up for Elsa not posting their first selfie anywhere online — not believing she was the proud owner of not one, but two selfies with THE Elsa, Anna tried not to think too deeply about it. Or about how only one of them had her eyes shielded by sunglasses. Or about how close they had to press in to make the picture happen. All bad thoughts.

"You're crazy good at selfies, even though none of them are on your Insta," Anna laughed as she flipped between both of them, trying to decide which she liked better.

"I like to post other things," Elsa agreed as they settled back into their seats. "Nature, and views of sunsets. Things I find pleasing, which definitely doesn't include spamming people with my own face."

"Yeah, I can respect that. You don't see a self-portrait in my sketchpad, that's for sure."

"Why not? You're cute as a button."

Anna blinked over at her. "I am? Oh… wow, thank you! I m-mean, people don't usually bother to call me 'cute'. Well, unless they're trying to hook up with me, like that exchange student Kuzco spent all his time doing." Then her eyes went round. "N-not that I'm accusing you of that, of course! No way!"

"Glad to hear that," she laughed easily, leaning back again. "Ohhh… too much fun. If there is such a thing, I have had it today."

Nodding, Anna finally sat up. "Guess I better get you back to the airport. I mean, it's the least I can do, since… seriously, we're already in a car, it'd be weird to kick you out so you can get in another one."

"Yeah," Elsa sighed, lapsing into a quiet that didn't seem like her. Except it did; it seemed like the Elsa she had first met. Not the one she was getting to know now.

As they eased up to a red light, she decided to attempt some further conversation. Hoping to lighten the mood. "So… where are you headed, anyway?"

"Ibiza for a few days. Then to the Cannes Film Festival, because 'Love Hostage' was in one of the movies and I'm supposed to go with the lead actor when he walks the carpet for the screening."

Anna nodded. "Oh yeah, same."

"You dork," she snorted. "The island will be nice, though. It can be either fun or relaxing, anytime you want."

"Kinda like the internet. I mean, that's the closest comparison I have; I've never even been off this continent."

For a long moment, Elsa didn't say anything. So long that Anna had forgotten the thread of their conversation, and everything other than wondering what else she could say to a forlorn pop star who happened to be in her Volvo when she heard an odd question, tossed out from nowhere.

"Do you have… a current passport?"

"What?" She glanced over to see Elsa still looking out the window thoughtfully. "Um… yeah, actually I got one when we jumped over the border to visit my great aunt a couple years ago. I… think it's still good. Why?"

"Can you stop the car?" When Anna didn't respond right away, she followed up with, "Somewhere, when possible. I don't want you driving into a bush."

Anna Mayberry's excitement levels were shooting through the roof already anyway, because she knew something was coming that would change her life. She just didn't know in what way. Regardless, she gently brought the car to a stop in front of an insurance adjuster's building.

"What?" she whispered. But the minute she put the car in park, Elsa's hands were latching onto her closest arm. "Huh?!"

"Come with me."

"Wait, what? Come w… come with you to IBIZA?!"

"Yes! Aren't you on summer vacation?" Her eye twitched the tiniest bit, a miniature wince. "Or you've graduated - you know what I mean! If you can get packed as fast as you can, we can make it to the airport with just enough time for you to grind through security and join me on the flight over there!"

Anna laughed weakly, suddenly light-headed. "Are you crazy? I don't have that kind of money! And besides, where would I stay? What would I do - I mean, I can't go to Cannes, can I?"

"You couldn't without an invitation, it's true - and it's not even on Ibiza, anyway. But that's one night; the rest of the week other than that night, we'll do whatever you want; see the sights, hit the beach! Or none of it, we could just hang out and watch Netflix the whole time! And…" One of her hands slid down and gripped Anna's wrist. "I'll pay for the flight, and you can stay with me."

"Oh, SURE!" Another laugh, this one even more weak before. "Pinch me."

"Is… I mean, you seem to not be believing me," Elsa half-laughed, voice uncertain. "Or else… you don't want to go, and if that's the case, I'll understand. Really! It's such a sudden request from a stranger, but… but I feel like…"

They both stopped. Anna's heart beat faster. Something was different, but it couldn't be different in the way a small part of her desperately hoped it was. It just couldn't.

"Feel like what?"

Elsa swallowed. "Feel like… if I don't do something to keep this day going, to avoid losing a good friend that I was lucky enough to find, then I… it's going to be the biggest mistake of my life. And no, I don't know why I feel that way, but I've learned to trust my instincts."

That at least kept her from meeting Rapunzel's fate. Even so, she was barely able to remain conscious; Elsa liked her that much? "Slumming" with a fan for a few hours was one thing, but dragging her along on vacation? This kind of thing just didn't happen to people like her.

"I… oh, Elsa, I'm so flattered, and it sounds like a blast, but I don't know if my parents will go for that. I mean, like I told you, I've never been out of the country, I… and it's only a few HOURS' notice!"

"Well, let's go ask - we have to get your luggage, anyway! Are they home?"

"Mom is," Anna said numbly. "Dad's at work right now… you're serious. You are actually serious, you want me to fly off to Europe with you."

Elsa's smile slipped a notch. "Is that weird? I mean, I'm sorry if it is, I just…" Her eyes closed, and she took a deep breath in through her nose, then let it out slowly through her lips. "You're right. I shouldn't have presumed your schedule is free, or that you'd be willing or able to suddenly go abroad. That's… I was impulsive. I'm sorry."

"WHAT?! Holy shit, don't apologise! I really wanna go!"

"It's okay." Finally, her eyes opened again, and she hitched a smile back into place. "Maybe some other time? When it's not… well, when you have at least a full day to plan, right? God, I can't even invite people to normal things anymore."

The last statement shot straight through Anna's heart. Before that, she had been thinking that it was such a "celebrity" thing to do, asking a random person to pick up everything and disappear overseas for a week, with money being no object. But Elsa recognising it herself was somehow worse. Sad.

"Let's go ask Mom. If she says no, at least we tried."

The smile that bloomed across Elsa's face this time made it quite clear the one from moments before was fake, a defense mechanism. This one was pure and radiant, full of life. Full of hope.

"If you don't try, you can't succeed," she whispered with building excitement.

~ To Be Continued ~