Kristoff's one-liners are getting out of hand.
He teaches Anna evasive footwork. Rolling and weaving and ducking. Throwing strikes at her human eyes can't catch. The movements are too blistering quick for her clumsy feet to adjust to and she finds herself eating Kristoff's shots on the guard rather than moving out of the way.
"You can't keep blocking the punches," Kristoff goads her as she rubs her forearm's ache like it's broken, "sometimes in life you gotta let things slide pass."
Anna stares at him like he's just found the cure for cancer.
"Ooh," Kristoff teases, "that hit the spot, didn't it?"
"Says you!" Anna sniggers, before hurling a limp-wristed hook. Despite his height, the coach ducks the attempt like a drifting feather. Catching Anna when she inevitably stumbles.
"Damn-" she wriggles out of his grasp.
"Throw from the hips," Kristoff motions towards a heavy bag, "you've skinny arms, they aren't gonna get you anywhere."
"You get zero points for encouragement - Mr Smooth-Talker," Anna snarks back at him, before throwing the best hook she can muster. The bag barely shifts. And the tap of her punch is drowned out by the rest of the gym's huffing and grunting. It doesn't help that Elsa's new gloves feel like concrete pillows.
"Turn into the shot," Kristoff mimes it for her, "every bit of power you have comes from inside, you have to use what you have in there."
Anna lets the thought sink in for moment, before she follows the exact motion. Putting her hips and shoulders into the hook and blasting it with an audible crack. The bag swings so hard it collides back into her.
"Yea, work on that balance," Kristoff sniggers, "tomorrow, maybe - but for now. It's sparring time."
"Again?" Anna groans.
Immediately, Esmeralda's sweat-soaked body drifts right before her. Throwing the best side-eye she can muster.
"What's the matter?" she sneers, "Afraid of me kicking your ass again?"
"Dream on, missy-"
"Wait," Kristoff cuts them off, before shifting Anna by the shoulders away from the woman, "I think you need a step up in competition."
Anna swallows. She resists the urge to shut her eyes. Looking around the gym for someone to save her. Elsa's already sparring with Zangief again. Esmeralda's paired off with that asian guy, Shang, and she's nearly the same height as him. Her worst fears are confirmed when Rusev stands in front of her, already extending a fist to touch gloves.
"Wait, wait, wait," Anna steps back from the towering shadow over her, "he's so much taller than me, how is this possible-"
"We go light, da?" Rusev's accent drawls in her ear.
Kristoff gives one last straight-lipped stare, before he turns away and starts the timer. Leaving her lurched in the deep-end of a pool she can't wade out of. Facing the worst fear she never thought could come back and haunt her.
The first jab lands directly on her nose and she staggers back. It's hard, but at the same time it feels like he hadn't even used a single percentage point of power.
"Ooh, sorry, was that too-"
"No," Anna grits her teeth, rubbing the flaring pain on her face, "it wasn't."
Unlike Zangief, Rusev's size proves to be a pitfall. Clumsy and slow, he mistimes his punches more often than her. It's plain to see how far apart the skill levels are. Still, he catches Anna more than once, sending her staggering each time and apologising profusely in thick-accented English. Anna takes full advantage of his bulk, ducking under his clumsy shots and avoiding them more than anything.
"Hit him back!" Kristoff's voice floats through the noise of her pounding heart.
The distraction proves fatal. Rusev catches her on the temple. Her hearing gets shot to pieces. There's no apology, just a follow-up series of punches that blur her vision. In the fog of her imagination she imagines a tattooed man bearing down on her with alcohol on his breath and darkness in his voice. Anna swallows back the pulsing, throbbing fear that threatens to freeze her solid. Ducking under another hook and landing a shot on his chin.
He straightens up and smiles.
The timer beeps.
"Good one," Rusev bumps gloves with her, "you pushed through that last attack."
Anna looks up at him with breaths wheezing out her lungs in sputtery threads. It's never this exhausting. Facing down the exact, throbbing nightmare that'd woken her up in a crying fit.
"You ok?" Rusev pats her back.
"Yes," Anna looks up, before she brightens with a smile at the realisation of what she's achieved, "Or at least I think I will be."
None of the heady endorphins flushing through her veins stop her from dropping to a knee. She yanks the gloves off, cradling those dark pink cushions from Elsa like they were the lifeboat that carried her through this bout. Faint outline of a lion reminding her of the courage she never thought she had. The first hand she feels on her shoulder is Esmeralda's.
"Hey, Nena, are you alright?"
"More than alright," Anna beams at her, "are we using names for each other now?"
"Only if you want to-"
A flush of heat bursts through Anna's face when she looks up and notices Elsa staring straight at them. Hands on her hips. The blonde darts her gaze away - and before Anna can discern if that look on her face read: concern, curiosity, or jealousy. Kristoff blots out her view.
"Aright champs - huge shout out to everyone who stuck around for the whole of this semester," Kristoff's voice fills the gym, "and congratulations to the fighters who joined their first round of competitions last week in New York. You're all champions, each one of you. For daring to step into the ring."
Scattered applause breaks out. Anna peers at Elsa through the corner of her eye. The blonde crosses her arms and stares at the floor.
"We'll be heading down to Oaken's Fold tonight to celebrate, please join us if you can. And I don't get paid enough, so drinks are all on you!"
The applause makes a 180 degree turn into booing and massed laughter. Anna's silly grinning rapidly fades when she notices Elsa; already with a bag on her shoulder and striding out the gym. Welp, someone's not having drinks tonight. Her heart sinks a little. Before the sudden tug of Esmeralda's arms around her shoulder forces her to reconsider. By the time they make it out of the building, Anna's already forgotten why she even bothered caring.
Oaken's Fold possesses a strange knack for carrying one of several personas. College bar. Night club. Raunchy underground disco playing techno. Tonight, it's mellowed down into a redneck country pub. Playing Southern cowboy music and sporting more than a few patrons dressed like they'd just come off the ranch. Still, the usual NCAA football games are on TV, and you're-shitting-me are those people line dancing to Shania Twain?
The boxing team lets out a roar of cheering when they clink their drinks together. As the first rush of cold beer trickles down her throat. Anna finally feels part of something. Like the last vestiges of her hometown has finally shed its ugly past. And yet -
She finds herself looking over her shoulder more than once. Trying to pick out a blonde crop of hair entering the room. She's not coming, get over it.
"Looking for someone?" Esmeralda teases, sneaking an onion ring from Anna's bowl.
Anna shakes her head. She looks again. Instead of Elsa, a red-headed man enters the venue. Oh god, not again. Hans's eyes lock onto hers at once, and a grin creeps onto his face. Perhaps if I entertain him for just five minutes he'll leave me alone.
Esmeralda senses her unease, "Just wave at me if you need your ass saved again, alright?"
Or maybe should I start saving myself?
Regardless, she groans and gets off her butt. Walking over to Hans's table before he can get any closer. He's here with a bunch of dudes, presumably from classes. Hi Todd, hi Rob, hi Bob. Each one of them looking exactly like the other. Close-shorn brown hair and blue eyes, khaki berms and Abercrombie polo t-shirts. Bros. Just like Hans.
"Hi Sweetie," Hans drawls, "I knew you missed me."
Anna rolls her eyes and tells it to his face, "I came over to see if you could leave me alone for the rest of the night."
"You're with friends?"
She points a thumb at the team cheering Kristoff on as he chugs a beer, "Yes."
"Aren't I a friend?" Hans winks at her.
"Oh god, shut up-"
"You know how I am."
"An incorrigible flirt?"
Her comment makes Todd, Rob and Bob guffaw in laughter. The effect isn't lost on Hans. He flicks a head at them, and watches them leave to get a shoe-in at the empty pool table.
"Is that really what you think of me?" Hans asks.
"Your reputation precedes you," she downs the rest of the cherry-flavoured vodka he bought for her. Hans drums the table in silent apprehension.
"This is about Katie isn't it? I know your mom's close to her-"
Heat bristles beneath Anna's skin. She simmers down at the thought of Katie. Bawling her eyes out on her doorstep.
"Katie," Anna looks him straight in the eye, "Jessica, Nicole, Megan-"
Hans scoffs.
"I could name more names if you want," Anna glares at him, "the problem is - I don't even know all of them."
"How'd you like to add yours to the list?"
Anna grimaces, before a chortle breaks from the pit of her lungs. She laughs so hard that she feels a deluge of rainbow coloured vomit threatening to spill from her insides.
"Very smooth, mister, but no," Anna looks down at her hand, eyes shot wide open at the realisation Hans's hand is on hers. How did I not miss this? She rechecks her surroundings. The faint buzz of alcohol already stirs in her head. That country music has switched to some crappy Jay-Z song. The earlier throb and sway of the crowd now fills with energy. It's more packed than before. Her eyes search for Esmeralda's. Trepidation stirs in her soul when she sees those glossy lips lost in conversation with-
Elsa.
She's smiling. Wearing jeans and a plaid shirt and looking so far removed from anything resembling boxing. Looking like a normal college girl for once.
Anna gulps.
"I gotta go," Anna thumbs at her friends, "Maybe you can join your clone friends at pool and see if they kick your ass."
"So soon?"
His hand snags her wrist as she gets up. Before she can react, his entire body's pressed against hers.
"What're you doing?" Anna scowls at him. The sudden standing motion, combined with the exertion from earlier; leaves her lightheaded as fuck.
"Trying to add your name to my list," Hans coos in her ear, "or has the move here turned you into a dyke-"
The sudden grasp of his hand on her waist squashes Anna's heart into a pea-sized lump. She flicks her head at Esmeralda, already on her feet and forcing her way through the crowd. Hans misinterprets the gesture and kisses the side of her face. Heat bursts through her skin with the fury of a volcano.
"You don't get hints, do you?" Anna scowls.
"I don't," Hans growls, "I can be more obvious, if it suits you."
Instantly, she regrets the statement. A hand gropes her butt. She lashes a shove at his chest. The slight distance enough for him to venture up her shirt. Every cell in her body screams to be set free from his grasp. She struggles against the thick bulk of his forearm holding her in. The beer-laced breath on her neck. Anna's heart pounds so hard she thinks it'll explode. Save me, she gasps, throwing her eyes at Esmeralda again, still ploughing a path through Friday night revelers.
The words throttle her back to a tiny room. Eyes brimming with tears as they strain so desperately towards Iduna riding off into battle against her father. Waiting for someone to save her. The damsel in distress. No.
Save yourself.
A burst of defiance jerks herself free and butts an elbow against his chin. The sudden blow sends him staggering. She closes her hand around the nearest object. A beer mug.
Every bit of power you have comes from inside.
Grimacing, Anna turns her hips. As hard as she can.
She doesn't hear the shattering glass. Or see it connect. There was a man standing before her and now there isn't. The first thing she notices is a broken glass handle in her right hand. Followed by deafening silence and the stares of a hundred bar patrons burning into her skull. A sharp whine enters her left ear. She thinks the sound's coming from her throat, but it's knotted tight. Plugging off her breath. The harsh glares drop her gaze down to the sticky bar floor and she flinches back and collides with a table. So hard that it upsets another three glasses.
A sharp gasp sends a rush of dank air into her lungs and she sees clearly through the fog of what she'd just done to Hans. Bits of glass stick into his face. Blooded crimson leaks through his fingers as he curls into a ball. Anna jerks her head up and sees Esmeralda with hands over her mouth. The music cuts out. She hadn't even noticed it was still playing. Immediately, Anna's vision tunnels at a bulky, bearded man barreling towards her. She doesn't stick around to figure out who it is.
The crowd parts like the Red Sea for Anna when she walks straight out through the doors. Sucking in a huge lungful of crisp air before her chest can implode from the unmet urge to breathe.
Patrons still stream into the bar, and she wants to stick her hands up. Stop. Don't go in. I left a mess of a human in there. The adrenaline sends her keeling over and gasping for breath. She cuts herself through her jeans and realises that wretched, broken glass handle still clasped within her shaking grasp.
Fuck. Anna shrieks, hurling the jagged lump into the grass like a murder weapon.
She stumbles her way through bodies. Barely noticing the music's started up again. Like nothing ever happened and she didn't glass someone in the face and everything can go back to normal. Back to timid lil' Anna who took shit the way she always did. Lying down. Her feet stumble over one another until she reaches a railing by the edge of a pond. Ostensibly constructed to prevent drunk college kids from staggering into the waters and drowning themselves. The night's gorgeous. Its full moon casts a shimmer of rippling white light into the waters below. All she recognises is shattered glass. Anna shuts her eyes and sees blood.
She opens them in a panic, turns around and flinches at the sight of Hans getting carried out by the Clones. Oaken standing at the entrance with hands on hips. The man with a big red bushy beard stares straight at Anna and every muscle in her body threatens to collapse into itself like a black hole. Before he shakes her head and heads back inside. And she crumbles to the grass in…
Relief?
The sobbing that wracks her face tells her otherwise. Nor is that weird clenching feeling around her lungs like it's trying to wrench them out her ribcage. The salty sting of her tears forces her eyes shut again. And she sees a bloody face. Not Hans's.
Iduna.
Lying on the floor with her hands on her face just like Hans. But instead of a tattooed, alcoholic wreck standing over the woman. It's herself. Glass bottle in hand.
"No, no - what have I done?" the whimpered mewl threads through her fingers and she immediately calls them back. This is what you wanted, didn't you? To save yourself? The thought makes her swallow. She clenches her fists and tries to stop the shaking by sheer force of will alone, only succeeding in making them shake harder. Only a pair of boots standing before her with an outstretched hand and a gentle voice eases her.
"Yo, yo," Esmeralda yanks Anna to her feet, "that was some loca shit girl-"
"What did-"
"Sorry I couldn't get to you fast enough," she dusts off bits of glass from Anna's hands, "looks like you took matters into your own hands."
"Am I," Anna snivels, "am I gonna get into trouble?"
Esmeralda sighs, "Kristoff had a word with Oaken, apparently your friend's been trying that shit with girls now for weeks and it was the last straw. I don't think they're going to let him back in."
Anna shakes her head, "I don't - he's not really a friend."
"Whatever it is," Esmeralda continues, "you might wanna take a break from this place for awhile."
"Yea-" Anna bites back the throbbing wave of tears that threatens to resurface. I'm not like this. I'm never like this. I don't ever want to become anything remotely close to my father.
"Feel good, doesn't it? If he tried to pull this shit back where I'm from, we'd have a few Cholos waiting for him outside to-" Esmeralda mimics a gun blasting at her temple.
Stop, stop.
"Hey," Esmeralda grabs her elbow, "you gonna be ok?"
It takes a moment of soul-searching. Beyond the tears and glass and that foggy blur of alcohol. Way back to when she first arrived here. Anna looks up and sees Kristoff and Elsa standing by the bar's door with folded arms. The blonde gives an imperceptible nod - and it leads her to discover something inside herself after searching for so long. Courage.
"More than ok," Anna smiles.
