Warning: brief nudity, again. Plus another cliffhanger, I'm sorry!

~ Chapter Twenty-Nine ~

Elsa wasn't in the SEEK House. Not that Anna was expecting things to be that easy, given that half an hour had passed between letting her go and chasing after her, but she had held out hope before checking all the rooms — including the upstairs deck, just in case history was going to repeat itself. No luck.

However, from up there she could just barely spot the well-tanned ankles of Esmé sticking out from the end of a chaise lounge by the pool. Rushing downstairs, she dashed out the back door.

"Esmé! Have you seen… ass."

The end of that was something of a Freudian slip, being that she had stumbled out there to discover the pop star sunbathing in the nude. While it was lucky that she was lying face-down, it still presented quite the appealing sight, she had to admit.

"I have," Esmé said in a sleepy-yet-amused tone. "Lots of ass. Have you?"

"Uhh… yeah, I'm, um… seeing it now." She felt as if she should look away, but she couldn't; it was right out there, two round hemispheres of bronzed flesh catching the sunlight due to the sheen of sunblock coating them. Round, and full, and perfect.

"That a problem?" When Anna didn't answer right away, she chuckled. "You're a little too gay for me to do this while we're both in the same house, huh?"

After a few seconds of indecision, Anna grunted, "Yeah," having no real way to refute the claim.

"Oh?" Though she didn't react much, she did turn her head and raise her sunglasses up to look at the poor, conflicted girl. "Wow, I didn't expect you to admit it so easily. Good for you; Pride forever. But I still need my tan, so we'll have to work out some kind of warning system. Maybe I'll hang my bathing suit on the doorknob…"

"On the… wait, you don't mind me looking?"

"Why should I? My booty is incredible. And it's not like you're some 'bro' or rabid fan, feeling all entitled to see it. Grope it without my permission."

Not entitled, per se, Anna thought guiltily. Just tempted… But she shook her head out, ridding herself of a few ridiculous fantasies that had begun to play themselves out mentally. She was going to be as bad as Rapunzel if she kept that up!

"Never. Y-your body is your body, period."

"Glad we have that settled." Then she flexed it, and Anna let out a tiny yip. "But you're invited to cop a feel if you want. First one's free."

"Really? Wow, thanks…" She had taken a step forward, hand outstretched, when she shook herself again, standing ramrod-straight. "NO! No, w-we have to find Elsa; butt-grabbing can wait!"

Esmé was still chuckling with a wide grin as she said, "Aww, no fun. Just wanted to see what you'd do. Anyway, why do we have to find Elsa? Is she lost?"

"Not exactly; I just have no idea where she is." When Esmé only blinked at her, she sighed. "Yeah, she's lost."

"Well, I heard the car drive away, so she's somewhere there's roads, I'm sure." When she began to roll over, Anna whipped her head around to stare determinedly into the blue pool water. The generous glimpse of her back had been too much already! "Did she say anything about where she might go?"

"N-no, she didn't. Just that she had to go." She could hear rustling but refused to let her curiosity get the best of her. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Well, one or two. First, you should probably text her; at least see if she answers. If not, we can get a cab and look around some places. It's a big island, but it's still only an island."

Then Anna heard her walking closer, felt her presence loom, saw it out of the corner of her eye. Finally, she couldn't resist any longer; she felt rude for not looking at her while they were talking, felt an involuntary urge to turn-

And she saw Esmé was in a swimsuit of a royal purple; a somewhat conservative one-piece, at that. It was such a turnaround from total nudity that Anna started, eyebrows knitting and lips pressing into each other.

"What?" she asked with a smirk. "I'm not a literal Nudist; of course I brought something to throw on just in case I had random company. God, I'm not a complete animal."

Anna's sigh of sheer relief had her laughing.

~ o ~

"So, um, I never did thank you for the voicemail."

"What's that?"

Anna looked back and forth out the taxi window, glimpsing flashes of blue between the rocks and brush and dirt roads. They had already been about five other places Esmé guessed that their mutual acquaintance might have run off to, poking their heads out for a quick look around. No luck, not even a mention of the face being familiar when they asked people. The whole thing was beginning to wear on Anna's nerves. How were they supposed to find a blonde who couldn't text back and went into hiding so far away from the city centre?

"The voicemail. You know, Elsa asked you to send one?"

"Was that for you?!" Laughing, Esmé nudged her with her wrist as she said, "I thought you were her biggest fan, not mine."

"No, no," Anna laughed. "For my friend, Rapunzel. She's the one with a huge ladyboner for you."

"Really?" The woman nodded, crossing her legs under the sarong she had put around her waist. In the interest of beginning their search early, she had only thrown that and a light peasant top on over her swimsuit, grabbed her sandals and purse and followed Anna out the door. "And… what's this Rapunzel like? Besides having almost as weird a name as me."

"She's a really sweet girl, even if she's… kind of intense with her hero-worship. And awkward with people, since she spends a lot of time indoors; I get the feeling her mom's pretty strict. Doesn't want her falling in with the 'wrong crowd', whatever that is."

"A shut-in superfan? I guess there are worse things to be in life."

Anna turned away from the window for once to look at her. "What did you mean, her name's almost as weird as yours? I think it's super pretty."

"Oh, you mean 'Esmé'? Yeah, sure - it's fabulous. That's why I picked it; my stage name when I was an exotic dancer was Esmeralda. Thought it sounded French and exotic, which fit my Romani background. So yeah, I just kinda trimmed it down when I got scouted for SEEK and knew my life was gonna change. Get better."

"But that's… not your real name?" When she shook her long, voluminous black hair, cryptically smiling at her with her sparkling green eyes, Anna pressed, "Then… what is it, and how do I not know this already?!"

Still grinning like a hungry carrion crow, she answered, "If you promise not to tell… it's Agnes."

"AGNES?!"

"Shhh!" Esmé-née-Agnes whispered, glancing anxiously at the cabbie. He was paying them absolutely no mind, listening to a fútbol match on the radio. "Don't need that getting out; really ugly name for a performer. Kinda cool history to it, but… yeah, pretty old school."

"Why, of all names…" Anna decided not to say it aloud again, expecting the SEEK girl to catch on to what she meant.

"My mother was very religious. Since we lived in a Latino neighbourhood, she ended up very Catholic; thought the name would help guide me." When Anna just stared with a lack of understanding written across her face, she went on, "Agnes is the patron saint of little virgin girls. The chaste and the pure."

Nodding, she sat back against the seat. "Ohhh. So she thought it would keep you humble, I guess. Protect you or whatever."

"Pretty much. Guess she turned out to be way off, right?"

Anna looked over, prepared to simply tell her to stop putting herself down. However, the minute she noticed that Esmé really did look… for lack of a better phrase, "dead inside", she reached over and laid a hand on her forearm.

"Hey. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. But either way, I think you turned out pretty great."

Her lips pulled into a quiet smile. "I'm still a glorified pole dancer. Kind of a slut, not all that smart. My singing voice and my body are all I have going for me, but… I'm grateful. At least I have that; some people have nothing."

"You have more than that. You have a great career, hair I'd kill for, and can make perfect crepes. Plus there's that whole part where you're coming with me to help track down our friend who ran off; I think that says a lot about a person."

"That I'm bored? And on Ibiza, even!"

"That you're beautiful, inside and out."

Esmé smirked over at her. "Well, thank you, Hallmark. But honestly, I'm fine being who I am; you don't have to keep buttering me up, I'm already helping you with the search-and-rescue. You both obviously care for each other a fucktonne."

The words stung Anna. She knew they weren't meant to be cruel, but the insinuation that she couldn't have been genuine in her praise of Esmé, or was being deceptive, didn't sit right with her. But there wasn't opportunity to sit her down and explain any of that, not in the middle of their conversation.

"I do care about her. So much… but I don't get why she cares about me."

"Can't help you there. I can only confirm she does. God, the way she yelled at me that morning I showed up…"

"I know," Anna sighed. "She was out of line."

"No, you don't understand." Taking a brief breath, Esmé paused to consider her words. "The only other time I've heard her that angry was the time the reporters were swarming Snow, asking her all those questions about her parents dying. I don't know if you saw the video of it…"

Eyes round, Anna whispered, "Yeah. I… forgot about that. She was like a force of nature. I guess I just forgot because, I mean, it seemed like she was doing the right thing, and most of the focus was on how the reporters were assholes and Snow being upset."

"Yeah, very true. But I haven't heard her like that since then, until I interrupted her chance to hang out one-on-one with you. That says a lot. Maybe more than either of you realise."

"It says… wait, what are you trying to say?"

But Anna wasn't going to find out. "Hey, is that our car?" Esmé asked, nodding out the window.

"Where?!"

But by the time she spotted it, Esmé was already patting the back of the seat. "Driver? Driver, stop here, please? Keep the meter running!" When he only glanced over his shoulder, she said, "Detener, por favor — immediamente!"

"Does everybody know Spanish but me?" Anna whispered under her breath.

They got out and checked the car, seeing that it was abandoned; the doors were locked, but no one was inside. Anna felt her pulse speeding up as she scanned the horizon, looking at the few people standing around and looking out over the water at the lowering sun. No sign of Elsa.

The worst possibilities began to come to her mind, but she pushed them aside, shoved them down and out of sight. She wouldn't go there just yet.

"That black couple over there says they saw a blonde white girl walk that way," Esmé told her a few minutes later, pointing further toward the water. "Let's go."

Picking their way through the winding trails, they eventually ran out of paths and were just walking between bushes, trying to see if they could spot their companion. Then they rounded a bush…

And there she was. Sitting on a rock maybe six steps from the edge of a dropoff, Elsa still looked like a picture of elegance and grace as the sky slowly reddened over the sea. Her white capris and crochet cover-up might have been a little mom-ish, but with her slender, youthful figure and flawless bone structure, plus the blue bikini showing through the top, it didn't matter much. She just looked comfortable, at peace.

Which Anna hated to shatter, but she had little choice. They had come all that way…

"Elsa!"

Her prediction was correct. Serenity was destroyed as Elsa turned around, on edge, tensed. But seeing it was Anna and Esmé did seem to reduce her alarm; Anna now realised she had been worried a fan recognised her, and she was going to have to flee before she got mobbed. Even at such a remote location as that, stardom was never fully at bay.

And all of the worry and fear Anna had been holding back came rushing in, washed away as quickly. Luckily, she had the relief to do the latter part — otherwise, that much fear and regret might have crushed her.

"You… h-how did you find me?" Elsa whispered, staring between them. "Esmé, you led her here, didn't you?"

"Afraid so, Els'. You called this 'the most beautiful view crafted by God for our eyes', right?" After a beat, she added, "Your little groupie was worried about you."

"She's not a groupie." Turning back to Anna, she fixed her with a level gaze. "I wish you hadn't come. This isn't… I wanted to be alone for a while."

Folding her arms, Anna answered, "You have been. God, Elsa, we were looking all over the island for you! Why didn't you just text me back? Let me know you were okay and that you needed time?"

"I just didn't… want to engage. Needed to separate myself from you for a little while, so I could figure some things out. But… here you are, anyway." Her voice lowered. "Can't escape you."

"Escape me? Am… am I bothering you?" Her eyes flicked to Esmé and back. "Wow… I'm just-"

"No, no. That isn't how I meant it."

"Then how did you?"

Elsa squirmed, looking over at Esmé as if she might have some answers to give. But the taller woman held up both hands with a carefully neutral expression on her model-worthy features. "Don't look at me. This seems like it's between you guys." Clearing her throat, she started to backpedal. "In fact, I'm gonna catch the cab back to the house. You guys, uh… just let me know what your plans are, okay?"

"But…" That was all Elsa could make herself say as she watched her coworker and friend disappear between the sparse bushes. Then she turned back to Anna, who immediately began speaking to fill the silence.

"It's okay, Elsa. I know we kind of… things have been weird, a little. But don't you see? Our friendship is, like, brand new. Barely out of the package! So, um, we're gonna mess things up sometimes. You don't throw a brand new phone away just because you can't figure out where all the apps are."

But Elsa wasn't cheered or comforted by any of Anna's words. Instead, she turned again to look at the deepening sunset, sea breeze ruffling her hair.

"You might be right. But… I think my friendship could be dangerous for you. For a lot of reasons I didn't want to think about before; I just… ignored implications."

"If this is about me being mobbed because I'm 'Elsa's unnamed friend', don't worry about that; I don't care! It's worth it to me to-"

"Not just that. But… well, that too, but I was more thinking about how I reacted to Mulan. I was so ready to tear her to shreds, just because she accidentally insulted you. That isn't right! And I didn't even see it until you pointed it out. Just… just thought my anger was entirely justified. That I was being a good friend by interfering. That isn't how good friends are supposed to act. Not…"

A word was on the tip of Elsa's tongue, but she stopped it, closed her mouth tightly. Anna walked closer, laid a hand on her shoulder. She was incredibly tense.

"Elsa, it's okay. And I'm not just saying that, it's…. really okay. You're a lot more important to me than a few mess-ups. Why don't you get that?"

"I do get it. And I also get that you're important to me, as well. Too important. And that's why…" Her voice got a lot more quiet as she finished in a strained hush, "That's why I think we should stop hanging out, Anna. Completely."

~ To Be Continued ~