~ Chapter Thirty-Seven ~
"Think I got it," Elsa told the Mayberry family, shifting awkwardly where she stood next to the table. "That, um, thing in my teeth. I, um…"
"You what?" Anna asked when she didn't finish her sentence.
"I think I'll catch a cab back to the airport. Sorry… I have…" She began to rummage through her purse for her wallet. She really meant to leave; that she was going to let herself be chased off by the family.
"No, you'll sit down and finish dinner," Anna ordered.
"I will?" But when she saw how serious Anna's face was, she sat down right away. Meekly, like a cowed puppy. Anna caught her father looking a little surprised at that, but he made no comment.
"Good. Now, I think my mother has something to say to you."
The woman grimaced, but the sheer intensity of Anna's glare made her relent in the end. "Alright. You're right, Anna. I should have been more patient and let Elsa say what she wanted to say… in her own time. I'm sorry for not doing that."
A little sigh issued from the pop star. She took a moment to absorb that before responding, "I just wish I was better at this, but… I mean, two days ago I thought I was a heterosexual trying to be a good friend. And then to find out-"
"Wait," Ron interjected, for once. "What do you mean, you thought you were heterosexual?"
"Hm? Oh, exactly that; I had no idea that I could fall for a woman, let alone that I may already have. It just… was one of those things I always presumed was true. But as much as I tried to pretend it was only a byproduct of hanging out with a lesbian, that was such a cop out; Anna couldn't 'turn me gay' if I wasn't at least a little bit there already."
"See, Mom?" Anna interjected. "This is why she looked so nervous. It's not just me that's new, it's all of it. Don't you remember how I was when I came out to you?"
The woman nodded, a hand clutching her chin. "You weren't this nervous and high-strung, but… then again, you weren't a pop star with a reputation to protect. And you were much younger." Glancing between them, she shook her head. "I still have reservations about this whole thing, but I guess they're my problem, not yours. I'm… not sure what else to say."
"Thank you for being so up front with us," her husband put in, and she nodded when she heard that. "Pretty decent of you. Especially since this whole dinner was your idea, wasn't it?"
"It was," Elsa said.
"Yeah. Pretty sure when Mary invited me to meet her parents, I asked if I really had to do it." The other three smiled in bemusement. "So that already puts you ahead of me, there."
"I remember that," his wife muttered with a small, private smile. But he pointed at her cheeks, prompting her to laugh and ask, "What?"
"That's how those two were smiling at each other a little while ago, y'know."
After a stunned moment, one in which she glanced between Elsa and Anna, then back to him, she had to nod. "Alright, I see your point; I'm over-mothering. Even if I think they're not ready for something like this, it's not up to me. Reading you loud and clear, cap'n."
Both the girls slumped in relief against the back of the booth bench. After a moment or two, Anna said, "Geeze, that was intense."
"Nothing worth having ever comes that easy. Just be glad you have such an open-minded mother!"
"Oh, I am, I am," Anna sighed. "Even if she wasn't all chill a few minutes ago."
Elsa glanced between both parents, brow furrowed. "Seems like I missed quite a bit while I was removing invisible substances from between my teeth."
Before anyone could answer, however, there was a tap on her shoulder. Elsa looked up to see a woman with brown hair and glasses, dressed almost as plainly as a teenager could get in a frumpy blue dress and a dark grey cardigan, buttoned up to her chin. She had a notebook and pen in her hands, and Anna felt almost positive she was going to ask her some kind of survey question.
"Yes?"
"Sorry for being rude," she offered immediately. "But… are you really… are you Elsa?"
The blonde's face transformed immediately into one of pleased surprise, like a conditioned response. Which it probably was. "Oh! Yes, yes I am."
"Wow," she breathed, elated now that she had confirmed. "I'm r-really sorry, but I'm just a huge fan of SEEK's work, both the music and the political stances you've taken."
"Oh, we haven't taken all that many political stances," Elsa said with a chuckle. "But I'm glad. Did you want an autograph?" Her hands were already raising.
"Y-yeah." The girl did seem ashamed of herself, but she still put the pen and paper into the star's hands. "God, I can't believe- I mean, in this random restaurant!"
"We eat just like you do," Elsa laughed. "Who can I make it out to?"
"Belle."
"Belle," she said slowly while writing out the name. "There you go."
"Thank you so much! This is really-"
"Wait!" Anna reached over and took the notebook with a smile. "I have something to add."
Both of them stared at her as she took the pen, as well. "What are you doing?" Elsa hissed. "Don't mess up the autograph, getting one from me is obviously important to her!"
"I won't, I swear," she whispered back as she began to sketch. Within seconds, Elsa's wariness melted away and she smiled, even while Belle stood there in complete confusion.
"So… do you live around here?"
Blinking, the girl pushed up her glasses. Things had been pretty quiet for nearly a minute, even Mr. and Mrs. Mayberry holding their peace rather than encroach on a moment that had little to do with them. "Me? Oh, y-yes. I'm from Quebec, but going to U of T."
"That's where I'm heading in the Fall," Anna said absentmindedly.
"Yes. Um… I really don't mean to be rude, but… what are you doing with my notebook?"
"Just… finishing… this." Turning the book around, she showed the girl a doodle she had done on the opposite page of Elsa smiling gently. The diva herself looked down shyly, but her own smile said she was obviously humbled in the best of ways.
"Wow… I can't believe you did something this good, this quickly!" Her nervous hands took it, glancing between the signature on one page and the sketch on the other. "What's- I mean, are you going to do SEEK's new album art? Is that what this meeting's about?"
"Meeting?" Elsa asked. Then she seemed to catch on, and nodded with a light laugh. "Ahhh, no, no, this is just a lunch with friends! Nothing business-related like that."
"Oh. Then, um, how did you meet?"
Anna smiled at Elsa for just a second before she said, "I force-fed her waffles."
"YOU WHAT?!"
~ o ~
The airport terminal had never seemed so bleak and desolate as it did that evening. All Anna wanted to do was climb onto whatever plane Elsa was about to board and take off into the sunset, be her little "kept girl" and never have to leave her side. But that wasn't in the cards.
"I'll see you soon," Elsa kept repeating, even as fat tears slid down Anna's cheeks. But they weren't the same distraught, panicked, or burning-with-rage ones that she had been experiencing so often lately. They were almost a comfort in the face of the loss she was about to feel.
"I know. But I…" Her shoulders rose and fell. "What can I say? I'm a selfish brat."
Elsa shook her head from side to side, clinging to her for a moment. "If… you really want me to sta-"
"STOP. No. Don't give me that power; you have a job to do, and it's a job in Madison Square Garden in front of a bajillion fans, and… and I'm gonna be watching you, okay? Somehow, some way, I'm gonna watch that show. And even if I can't, I'll be sitting at home, being so proud of you, and wishing I was screaming my lungs out for you again."
"Alright," she whispered with a sad little smile. "I was lowkey hoping you would talk me into staying, but… if you did, knowing how many fans it would disappoint, you wouldn't be my Anna." Then she blinked. "Did… I say that last part out loud?"
"You did, you did. And I loved it."
They both stopped to look at each other. Elsa opened her mouth, but Anna laid an index finger across her lips.
"Not yet."
"Not yet," the pop star agreed quietly. "When we're ready. I… I do, though."
"Yeah. Me too. But… until we know how…"
"Right, yes. It's better not to jump the gun."
Embracing Elsa again, she breathed into her shoulder in a voice so strained it sounded like she had a half-tonne weight resting on her back, "God, do I wanna jump the gun…"
"I know." Drawing back, Elsa grasped her hands, squeezing them hard. "But we'll always have Ibiza. And… I'll-"
"See you soon," they both said in unison. Then Anna whispered, "I need that."
"Me, too. Keep drawing for me."
"Keep singing for me. And playing; don't get rusty again."
"I won't. Call you tonight?"
"Yeah! Safe flight!"
As they had discussed during their flight back to Anna's homeland, their goodbye was going to take place in a public airport. No matter how close they appeared, it was all excusable so far; a kiss would be too much. No matter how much they yearned to push the limits and expose themselves, they would let their lips have only met on the island. For now.
But there was an image on Anna's phone that Elsa had taken that would help her weather the months and years to come before they could truly be together. One she cherished in her mind as she waved to Elsa, watching her pass through security with the greatest of ease and approach her gate. Watched her turn back to wave again, to blow a kiss. As she reached up to catch it like the goofy romantic she was apparently turning into.
A selfie of Elsa cuddling her in a way that was clearly more than platonic, both their faces flushed and the blankets up to their chins, smiles full of possibilities for the future. And Elsa was crazy good at selfies.
~ To Be CONCLUDED ~