NOTE: I'm really, REALLY pleased all of you have liked a fic that came from a single prompt as much as you have. I got really attached to this AU as it went along; it's going to stay with me for a while. Honestly, I know that it's hard for some of you (with good reason) to see me as anything other than The Cake Fic Writer, and for this fic to have NO smut might have disappointed some of you. So thank you to those of you who went out on a limb and read it anyway, especially if you ended up enjoying it!
As for those of you who wanted a sequel and/or spinoff… it's being given serious consideration. It won't be fully focused on Elsanna, and WILL have smut, so I'll understand if most of you give it a miss. You'll have my friend Matey (just in case she doesn't want to be named, that's a nickname) to thank if it sees the light of day; a great deal of it was her idea in the first place.
Anyway, for the time being, I hope you enjoy the grand finale.
Until We Meet Again,
Jessex
~ Chapter Thirty-Eight : Epilogue ~
The month that drifted by after her adventures overseas almost seemed like it wasn't happening. Of course, the week spent in the Mediterranean had been equally dreamlike and bizarre, but this was a different kind of surreality.
Kristoff and Rapunzel had grilled Anna for all manner of details. At some point, as much as she resisted, she had to show them that somewhat-suggestive selfie as evidence that she wasn't delirious. Then she had to swat Rapunzel's phone out of her hands because she whipped it out the moment she saw, desperate to Tweet about what she had just found out — which absolutely could not be allowed. Once they had the "coming out is not something you can do for someone else or it makes you a really crappy person" conversation, Rapunzel ultimately relented and said she would keep Elsa's secret.
What didn't help was the way Elsa kept behaving. At the Madison Square Garden show, she played a stirring rendition of Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" on the piano, singing lead vocals with the other three SEEK girls singing the backup and chorus parts. She dedicated it to "My good friend, Anna." Seemed for now, that was the best she could manage in a public setting — and it was enough to set the named redhead blushing and squealing into a throw pillow.
That wasn't all. She mentioned Anna on the Late Show, and again during the final concert of their tour in LA. Media slowly began to wonder who "Anna" was, but there was no mention of them being in a relationship other than platonic. Nothing well-founded, anyway. In the absence of anything juicier about the elusive "friend", the subject floundered and faded in the face of gushing about Elsa's previously-unknown skill with the piano.
There was one less-than-pleasant surprise: Anna's phone bill. It wasn't something she had thought about when making sure her phone was able to function while overseas, but apparently, she ran up several hundred dollars in charges that she hadn't realised would incur. After a day of worrying herself sick about how she was going to pay it, Elsa was able to assure her she would cover the cost, claiming she should have known better than to let Anna use her phone willy-nilly on Ibiza without warning her about the consequences, and it was therefore her responsibility. Her parents didn't quite agree, but neither did they forbid the star from covering the obscenely high fees.
That was balanced out by her mother answering the door one afternoon to find none other than Esmé standing on their fuzzy green doormat, a scarf covering most of her hair and those large sunglasses in place. It didn't take long for Anna to bowl Mom over and hug her, inviting her in. Turned out that she had asked Elsa for the address when she knew she was going to be in Toronto for a small guest spot in a movie being filmed there. She declined their offers to let her spend the night, saying the studio was footing the hotel bill for her and it would be a waste not to take advantage.
And, as it turned out, she also wanted to meet Rapunzel — not so much for the girl's own sake, but more because she considered Anna a good friend and wanted to do her a favour. The poor fan nearly fainted again, but Anna was able to swoop in through the door and catch her just in time. She continued to mainly stare at Esmé all through the visit, barely speaking, and only when they were about to leave did she manage to squeal out that she loved her. Just that: "I love you!"without the qualifiers of why, such as her singing or her fashion sense. Anna knew that's probably what she meant… or had it been a slip of the tongue, revealing her true feelings? Either way, Esmé told her she was sweet and kissed her cheek, which made Rapunzel finally lose consciousness, after all.
Every night, without fail, Elsa would at the absolute least text Anna and let her know that she was exhausted but thinking of her. Despite her mother's misgivings, her warnings that she would go back to her "real life" and forget all about the random ginger she picked up in Canada, the pop star never missed a single day. Most days, they would text back and forth many times, and would have a few minutes to call or Skype at the end of the night when things were less hectic.
And they got closer. Still those three little words — so easy for a nervous Punzie to blurt out — eluded them, but they showed they cared in other ways. Anna did sketch an album cover for SEEK, which Elsa said she wanted to run by the studio; they would probably throw all kinds of fits about her bothering them with untested talent, but she was determined. At first, Anna refused to do such a thing, stating the skill level of her illustration wasn't worth that kind of attention… until a random art mailer showed up at her front door unannounced. There could be no denying her ability to be stubborn.
Throughout all of that, Anna had a more typical summer, all things concerned. She went swimming with Kristoff and Rapunzel, finally introducing the two who seemed to get along pretty well. Once she got over the shock of Kristoff being gay, her budding crush evaporated easily enough. They began to hang out on a regular basis — or as regularly as the homeschooled girl's strict mother would allow, at any rate.
There was a tense argument one afternoon about whether or not Punzie was only hanging out with Anna because of her connections with Elsa and SEEK. It ended with Rapunzel in tears, and the other two wound up comforting her and springing for ice cream to make up for the misunderstanding. The poor friendless girl was just really happy to have people to associate with besides a couple of weird neighbour boys who were also homeschooled, and was sorry she hadn't shown it properly.
When Anna and her mother went down to the university's enrolment services to inquire about financial aid, they happened to run into Belle, who was trying to work out some kind of discrepancy in her bill from her recently-finished freshman year. After chatting in the line for a while, they exchanged numbers so Anna could ask about any textbooks Belle might have that would make the prohibative costs a little easier on her and her family. Privately, she thought it was nice to be going into her college experience with a new friend already made.
Then, of course, came the day the envelope arrived.
A lot of discussion was made about said envelope. Her parents weren't thrilled, but her mother was more vocal about her concerns. Kristoff and Rapunzel were all for it, of course, but Kristoff also cautioned her to be careful about how different it would probably be from the idyllic week on the Balearic Island. Rapunzel just wanted to see all the photos.
Her parents were unable to dissuade her, so in the end, Anna Mayberry found herself heading to the airport once again, bags packed and heart beating wildly. This time, there wasn't even a trace of fear.
~ o ~
Until she arrived.
"Who in the fuck are you?"
"I get that a lot," Anna breathed in Kida's direction, ducking her head slightly as her heart rate spiked. "Um… I'm Anna, Elsa should be expecting me?"
"What? Oh… yes, it seems like she said something about you coming. Sorry to have been so cold to you; we get a lot of fans sniffing around outside."
The tall, well-toned woman offered her hand, which was an oddly formal introduction but it worked. Anna shook it, then whispered, "You're fine. Can… I come in, or should I wait for her to come get me?"
"No, no; you got past security, so your ID must check out. Follow me."
Anna was more than happy to follow. Privately, she was admiring how Kida looked in her sports bra and gym shorts, but she didn't let herself focus on it; she was a taken woman now. A happily taken woman! Still, a little window-shopping never hurt anyone.
"I'm… actually surprised you didn't have security answer the door," Anna babbled as they walked down the long hallway, glancing at the closed-off doors and the red lights over them. Most were turned off, but she did spot one gently glowing. "I mean, with all the sensitive stuff going on in here, the potential leaks…"
"We did. You know I have black belts in taekwondo, judo, and aikido, right? Plus karate, though I only tested up through red before I moved on."
"Yeah, of course. Kick my ass." Before that comment could linger too long, Anna followed up, "B-but I knew that, I just didn't… you know. You're the talent, you shouldn't have to be security, too."
"That's why we have the front desk guys. I'm just the second line of defense." They walked a few more paces, Anna's eyes wandering down to toned, tattooed calves again, before Kida finally asked, "Do you always check out your girlfriend's coworkers when you're on your way to see her?"
"Do I- WHAT?! Oh, I- how did you-" But Kida was merely smirking over her shoulder, eyes flinty and fierce. "W-wait, seriously, could you tell I was or did you just guess?"
"You were too quiet. But… I could also see you ogling in the reflections of the platinum albums hanging along these walls, the glass in the frames."
"You gotta be shitting me."
"Nope. My dad was a marine; taught me to always keep my eyes open." Without turning around fully, she held up a hand and wagged a finger back and forth. "Careful with your flirting, or you'll upset my Milo. Not that you have much to fear from him; he's a pussycat. It's just not nice, is all."
"I promise I wasn't going to! God, you just have nice legs!"
Laughing, she came to a stop in front of a door, bleached locks swirling gently. "Well, thank you, I think. Anyway, you're welcome to come in; we were listening to the playback and making notations. Nothing very fun, but better than standing around out here."
"Sure," Anna responded immediately. "I mean, if you don't think it'll be a problem — and it won't! Not from me!"
Rolling her eyes, Kida merely pushed open the door.
"-and that's two seconds longer than it needs to be!" a shrill voice was exclaiming. Anna noticed Kida wince. "I don't see why we can't just cut it down! You know radio stations love shorter songs, anyway!"
"Because it ties the entire song together." That was her girlfriend. Anna could never, ever forget her voice, no matter how upset or angry it happened to be. "Without that moment, it's just like every other Taylor-Rihanna-Beyoncé hit on the radio!"
"It's unnecessary! Maybe on the album version, but on the single-"
"Stop splitting hairs like this," Esmé sighed as they rounded the corner into the recording booth. Anna took in the sight of three superstars — one of whom she had kissed, another whom she had groped very briefly and WHAT on EARTH was her LIFE — arguing while standing around a table with four coffee cups, all of which had tags from teabags hanging over the sides. Nearby were microphones on boom stands, snaking out from the glass panes that led to mixing boards. Elsa, as she had expected, was in blue yoga pants and a baggy grey t-shirt that hung off one shoulder, and Esmé in jean shorts and a red tank. Snow, however, was wearing a flouncy blue skirt and a crop top with lace, hose and heels; she looked ready to go out afterward.
That is, if she didn't shout herself hoarse first.
"How is it splitting hairs?" the petite woman half-squealed. "This is our livelihood! You really think I wanna go back to my old life, scrubbing floors, living with my seven foster-uncles?! SEEK is a success, and it will continue to be a success if I have to fight for it every step of the way!"
"Wow," Anna breathed out the side of her mouth to Kida. "Is she always like this?"
"The Snow the world doesn't see," she muttered back.
However, the mutterings brought Esmé around, and when she spotted Anna her face transformed from one of annoyed boredom to a broad grin. Slipping away from her two friends with the scheming face of a child trying to sneak an extra cookie, she was able to cross the room before either of them could figure out what was going on. Pretty easily due to her stature, she swept Anna into a crushing hug.
"Hey there, gorgeous," she giggled softly, pecking her on the cheek. When Anna sputtered and blinked, trying to draw back to gape at her, she laughed more. "Sorry, had to pay you back for that butt-pinch somehow."
"A-and you have! Now put me down, I… I have other kisses to collect."
When Esmé immediately stepped to one side, she saw Elsa gazing across at her. Expression completely transported, uplifted, just from having heard Anna's voice — and it only got more enthusiastic when she saw her. Her hands came up and vibrated in pure joy for a moment before she dashed forward, plastering Anna against the nearest wall and locking lips with her, fingertips gouging into her shoulders.
"Can't let anybody outdo her," Esmé griped jokingly, arms folded but face still bemused. But Elsa and Anna were still going. Kida shifted uncomfortably, scratching the back of her neck. "Okay, okay, let her come up for air!"
"No," was all Elsa said before attacking again. Anna found herself melting completely; she didn't have the energy or desire to stop her girlfriend now. All she could do was press her forearms into her back, fingers splaying slightly.
"Woooow," Snow finally said in a low voice, edging very carefully past them. "That's… okay, I think I need a cold bottle of apple juice. We'll save introductions for another time." Anna was just barely able to notice the youngest SEEK member's blush when she slit an eye open, but she couldn't hold it that way very long. The blonde devouring her mouth was doing far too good a job.
Oh, how Anna wanted it. Wanted HER, needed more, but they were in a public space! Not entirely, but public enough that they were already pushing past the usual sense of decency. But with Elsa being so insistent, she was inclined to care a little less.
"Maybe we should, um, go check on the mixing process with our producer," Kida put in with a curl of her lip. It was clear by that point that she wasn't as relaxed around such happenings as Esmé, but whether that was because they were two women or just that it was getting to be a little obscene, Anna couldn't know.
"Go for it," Esmé laughed. "I'm just trying to decide if I should take out my phone or not." When Anna's hand came up and handed over her own phone, she laughed even harder. "Seriously, I'm gonna do the thing."
"Do the thing," Anna panted hotly as she bit down on Elsa's lip, causing her to groan gratefully. They both became entwined again, and she didn't have any idea how long had passed before she became aware of her surroundings again. But by that time, Esmé was the only other person in the room, and the phone was still aimed at them.
"O-ohhh-kay," Elsa panted as she drew back weakly, eyes closed as she quivered. Now her hands were braced against the wall instead of Anna herself, and she took in great, heaving breaths. "Ohhh. Yeah, I needed… that was good."
Nodding, Anna looked over at Esmé with a coy little smirk. "Still going?"
"Yep."
"Good." Her hands moved down to Elsa's behind, squeezing — earning her a gasp and a spinal curve from the pop star. To the camera, she announced, "This? This is my booty. All mine, not yours. Okay?"
"Okay," Esmé answered, as if she were the one really being addressed. "Anything else you have to add, Elsa?"
"Nope!" Elsa laughed breathlessly, looking back down at Anna with eyes full of affections and desires untold. "That… about covers it. She owns me."
Anna's hand came up and made a clipping motion with two fingers. Obediently, Esmé stopped recording. She put her hands on her hips as she watched them continue to make out like horny attendees of junior prom who escaped to a broom closet. "You two can stop now."
"Can we?" Anna breathed. But in the end, Elsa did leave a final kiss on the tip of her nose and pulled backward, reaching down to collect Anna's hands and swing them back and forth.
"We'll put this on pause."
"You do that, Els'," Esmé laughed as she reached over to slide the phone back into Anna's pocket for her. "What are you gonna do with that video, anyway? Post it to Insta?"
"NO!" both of them burst out at once. Elsa laughed, and Anna ducked her head and followed up with, "Are you high?! Everybody will know about us, and that'll make Elsa a walking tabloid article for months!"
"It's going to happen anyway," Elsa responded reasonably, nuzzling her cheek with her nose. "There's no way we can avoid every camera lens in North America forever. Maybe we should post it ourselves; take control of the leak."
When Anna didn't answer right away, Esmé hummed and tapped her cheek with her index finger. Anna finally felt prompted to whisper, "Are you serious? You're ready for everybody to know?"
"I've always been ready. I just wasn't ready for you to be harassed because of it."
"Yeah, you're right, it's only a matter of time. Like they got Esmé helping the farmers."
"They did," Esmé grunted with a roll of her eyes. "And I thought none of them would care enough about SEEK to recognise me…"
Eyes alight with energy, Anna shrugged as she said, "So let's do it. I'll message you the video and you can post it to your Insta or something; that way you can trim it down to the part you want to share, or maybe even just a screencap of one frame."
"Why me?" Elsa asked. "It's on your phone, and you're the one who's going to be more… exposed. Seems that you should have the right and privilege."
"Because if I post it to mine, people will think it's a fake," she snorted. Watching Elsa nod glumly, she pulled her into another embrace as she whispered, "But I'll like it and comment. So people can know it's me."
"Might want to go through and clean up your online shit first," Esmé sighed from over by the tea mugs; looked like she had grown bored with just standing there. "All social media. The less skeletons lying around, open to the public…"
"I don't have any skeletons!"
"Don't you? Trust me, just make every post friends-only that isn't just a cute selfie. Even then, make sure you're not giving away your address or something sensitive in any of them, either." When Anna still seemed unsure, she lowered her mug after taking a drink. "Trust me."
Shrugging, Elsa whispered, "It's the same advice she gave me, and she turned out to be right; I protected my old Facebook but not Instagram, and someone was able to figure out my license plate number from a couple of different shots. I had to get a new car and plates to avoid crowds of people hanging around my car all the time."
"Then I'll do that tonight. Get to working on deleting old dumb Tweets so we can make the big announcement."
"No, you won't."
"I won't?" Another kiss, slower, more deliberate. Grinding. When it broke, Anna could just barely whisper, "I w-won't."
At that moment, while they were looking deep into each other's eyes and entertaining the deep, profound promises of what was to come once the sun went down, Esmé walked up beside them and said in a low murmur, "Want me to be camerawoman again?"
That got her chased around the room at top speed by a red-flushed Elsa, screaming obscenities that Anna didn't even know she knew. Certainly, this was far and away a contrast to the elegant, sultry Elsa who had first appeared before her on a dazzling throne, or even the one from moments ago that had been promising to deflower her within hours.
And she loved all Elsas. Each facet was part of the dazzling gem she had fallen for, and she wouldn't trade a single trait, a single flaw.
When both SEEK members finally gave up on the chase, panting and laughing at themselves, Elsa looked up to see Anna gazing at her. Still laughing, she asked, "Are you okay?"
The question was familiar. Therefore, Anna gave a familiar answer.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Her cheeks bunched up, eyes watering. "Thank you."
"For what?" Elsa asked, bewildered at Anna's mood. Though Esmé seemed to sense "what", and began to tiptoe out of the room, shooting Anna a wink as she passed. She thought she heard the word "gaylets" murmured, but it could have been her imagination.
"For… finding me on Twitter. And just now, and everything in between. Being you, and being a you that can love me."
Mouth forming a silent "oh" for a moment, Elsa's flush didn't fade as she took a few steps closer. "It's been my pleasure. Honestly, I… I can't believe how close I came to not finding the one. Almost enough to make me return to Catholicism."
"Except for that pesky 'we don't approve of gays' thing?"
"Except for that," she acknowledged with a smirk, drawing Anna in for a warmer, less sexually-charged hug. "I missed you. And I'm happy you're here now."
"Good. Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?"
"I love you, Elsa Valentine."
Elsa blinked, then smiled gently, pushing their noses very gently together. "I was, as it turns out. I love you, too, Anna Mayberry."
"Awesome." When Elsa burst out laughing, Anna shut her up with a kiss that stretched on for several seconds. "Now… I'll let you get back to work."
"Awww, but I don't want to work," she pouted. "Let's sneak out of here to the hotel."
"Work first, hotel later," Anna said in a comically stern voice. "And after we eat dinner. Have you had lunch today? Breakfast?"
"I had a nutrient shake for lunch, and a muffin and coffee for breakfast. I know," she headed her off, "I know it isn't much, but at least I didn't skip entirely. It's hard for me to sing on a very full stomach; comes out sounding odd. But like I said, I didn't skip."
Nodding, she kissed the side of Elsa's neck and whispered, "Better than nothing, yeah. But I still want us to have a huge dinner tonight."
"And you for dessert?" The little gasp made Elsa's grin even wider. "You're so easy."
"Am I? Would explain why you're so confident about tonight, eh?"
"Wow. I meant to tease, and you're trying to make out I'm insulting you! How can you be so cruel when you're Canadian? I thought that wasn't allowed up there."
"Just shut up and kiss me again before you go back to singing your little heart out."
"Yes, ma'am. You do own me."
"I do."
As their lips entwined again, Anna had a feeling that wouldn't be the most important way she would ever speak those last two words. Only time would tell.
~ The Beginning ~