~ Chapter Thirteen ~

"Now you kids be good," her mother told her the next morning. Dad had seen them off at home so he could take their car in to work, and she had driven Anna and Elsa in Anna's old Volvo. It technically belonged to the girl now, even though it had been her mother's before. They were already discussing what new car Mom would get once she had gone off to college.

"Yeah, yeah," Anna grumbled under her breath. "Good as Girl Scouts."

"No hanky panky! I mean it!"

Elsa straightened from where she had been setting down one of Anna's suitcases, eyes wide. "NO! Don't worry, I- there won't be ANY of that! No WAY!" When both of the other women blinked at her, she laughed and scratched the back of her neck. "J-just, um, I promised you I would look out for Anna, and I'm definitely going to keep that promise! Okay? Okay."

"Silly Elsa," Anna snorted, even though she looked like she was enjoying every minute. Once she had lowered her second suitcase to the curb, one a lot lighter than the one Elsa had helped with, she turned back to throw her arms around her mother. "I am gonna miss you, though."

"Ohhh, my little Anna Jo-jo," she grunted, squeezing her harder than was strictly necessary.

"And this," Elsa sighed, dropping Anna's backpack onto the top of the two bags. "Ready?"

The redhead's head dipped. "I… was hoping you'd forget about that."

"Of course not! I expect you to create some truly brilliant work - at the very least, while I'm off the island for Cannes. How are you supposed to do that without your materials?"

Her mother smirked. "Your famous friend thinks you're talented. How about that - so do I."

"Stoooooppp!" she whined, and they both laughed as they gathered for their final goodbyes.

Within ten or twenty minutes, they were in the terminal, going through security and getting their tickets, all of the usual things. Elsa mostly waited around with Anna, since her precheck meant she could zip right through with minimal holdups or pat-downs. So while Anna was tossing her sneakers into a plastic bin behind her olive-green jacket, her backpack, and her dignity, Elsa was waiting on the other side with a smoothie, incognito in her hoodie and sunglasses again and smiling to herself.

"All of these people have no idea," Anna whispered as they walked along, Elsa slurping through her straw - that is to say, making zero noise as she drank. Like the proper lady she was. "Elsa's in the house. Have they ever mobbed you before?"

"Oh, it happens," she sighed. "TMZ is the worst, but you never know who'll pop up and happen to shove a camera in your face. NBC, CBS, CNN… Perez Hilton."

"Are they, like… mean to you?"

"Oh, no, never! Well, the more reputable ones tend to be nicer. A few random paparazzi have tried to block me from leaving places, and you probably heard about the one-"

"Yeah, yeah," she assured Elsa, saving them both from having to go into detail about "Handsy Hank". "Well that's good, at least…"

A little further along, they reached a bunch of food kiosks, one of which had likely provided Elsa with her beverage. She gestured with the cup and asked, "Anything you want? If you don't buy it now, you'll be at the mercy of the plane food until very late tonight."

"Hmm… for now, maybe a hot dog?"

"Good."

"And for you?" Elsa scowled, which made Anna scowl. "Come on, we agreed-"

"Yes, Anna, fine, but not a hot dog. There has to be sushi here somewhere… or perhaps a sit-down restaurant. Oh - we could do the VIP Lounge."

Smirking, Anna said, "You're forgetting something: I'm no VIP."

"You are to me." Anna's smile was so mollified that they both ended up grinning. "My VIF: 'very important friend'. Anyway, I could get you in."

"You know what? If it's not gonna be a hassle for you… let's do it."

With hardly a moment's hesitation, Elsa grasped Anna's hand and dragged her through the airport, her backpack bouncing up and down as they jogged along. Both of their cackling combined turned a few heads, but most people paid them no mind; just two teenage girls who were enjoying themselves in an airport.

"God," she sighed once she had managed to convince them to let Anna in; the man at the door obviously didn't think she looked like she could afford membership, but Elsa flashing her card meant she was in as a guest right away. "Those shower suites sound divine… but all my clothes are in checked baggage."

"I told you that you could use some of mine."

"I couldn't do that! Those are yours. Besides, I can survive one day without a shower." Then she grimaced, flapping the front of her hoodie. "Not that I'd want to hug anybody right now, for fear of their health and safety…"

Almost on cue, Anna threw her arms around Elsa and squeezed. "Awww, you're fresh as a daisy, don't worry. And I know, because you sprayed all that 'Daisy Mist' body spray on your hoodie before you pulled it on."

Whether or not Elsa was blushing from the hug or from the comment was unclear. "Y-you knew about that? I did it while you were in the bathroom!"

"Yeah, and smells linger, Elsa. It's MY body spray, I know what it smells like!"

The two of them made use of the complimentary food bar, Elsa building herself a modest salad and Anna plucking a few small sandwiches to devour. Then she added another one, which, once they were seated, she innocently slid into Elsa's bowl.

"You little…" Mouth a thin line, she picked it up and resolutely plopped it back on Anna's plate.

"Come on, one sandwich won't kill you."

"What if it's a rat poison sandwich? Wouldn't that kill me?"

Anna looked nonplussed. "You really think they serve rat poison sandwiches in the VIP Lounge?!"

"No, but you said 'one sandwich'; it wasn't specific to these."

"Just… come on, please? Eat this one and I'll leave you alone about food for the rest of the day."

Elsa's shoulders slumped. "I… don't want you looking at me like I'm broken and need you to glue me back together, okay?" But as she said it, she took the sandwich back. "You have to stop doing that."

"No. Well… I'll try to stop looking at you that way, I guess, but I'm not going to stop making sure you eat."

"Good; that's what I meant, anyway," Elsa said with a fond little smile. Once she bit into the sandwich, she winced. "American cheese. I… didn't I leave this behind when I came to Canada?!"

"Oh - I thought they weren't…" She peeled open one of hers, then offered it to Elsa. "Chicken salad, no cheese. Better?"

"Yes," she sighed gratefully, trading them. When Anna hesitated with Elsa's sandwich in her hand, staring at the teethmarks in the bread, Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

Anna hurriedly shook her head and downed the sandwich as fast as possible.

~ o ~

By the time Anna and Elsa were settled into their seats, the redhead was bouncing up and down with excitement. She didn't even have anything to entertain herself except for her phone, her sketchpads, and Elsa - and she knew Elsa would probably prefer to read most of the flight.

And then Elsa leaned over and whispered, "Have you ever flown first class before?"

"No, no I haven't," Anna said, trying not to grin. The seat was so roomy, and she had actually groaned in contentment as if she were sinking into a hot bath when she sat down. Any fool could have been able to tell.

"Good. I'm glad I get to be there for this historic event. Once you go first class, you never go back."

Grinning, she elbowed her and whispered, "What do you do in first class, anyway? Is there like, live entertainment? Do we get balloon animals?"

The snort of laughter was so loud and mortifying that Elsa ducked her head, slapping her hands over her face in shame. Partly, this was due to the diva having a glass of wine in the lounge, which she had made quite a show of refusing to give Anna a single drop - even though she never asked. The plane hadn't even taken to the air yet and it was already shaping up to be a very different vacation, indeed.

"Now then," Elsa sighed as she tapped the screen on the seat in front of them, bringing up a list of movies as she dug in her pocket for her earbuds. "Didn't you say something about… what was it? Avengers?"

~ To Be Continued ~