Frozen belongs to Disney

Chapter 22

The repeated electronic chimes from her desk dragged Anna from the depths of slumber. She rolled over and waited for it to stop, but it just kept gooooing. After they'd won their semi-final match last week, Coach Westergard had pushed them hard all week. Combined with exams and rehearsals for the performances next weekend, Anna's schedule had been completely packed. Today was supposed to be their last chance to rest up before the final against Boston University tomorrow, and she was determined to sleep in for a change.

Mercifully, the ringtone ended, only to be followed by the chirp of a text message.

"Ugh, really?" she said as she rolled out of bed. Elsa. Immediately, Anna's mood lifted.

She blinked her eyes a few times in an attempt to get the tiny glowing letters to resolve into words: "I'm coming over. Get dressed, we're going out."

A small war took place within Anna, her bed calling her back to sleep, and the shower and the promise of a morning, and maybe an afternoon with Elsa. She tossed her sheet across the mattress, threw on a robe, and collected her basket to head down the deserted hallway. She had just finished putting her hair back into her favorite twin braids when a knock sounded at the door. Anna threw it open to see her girlfriend, dark sunglasses perched in her hair, broad smile on her face.

"Road trip, let's go," Elsa said.

"Sweet, where are we going?" Anna asked as she bounced on the balls of her feet and pulled Elsa in for a tight hug.

"Oof. Since we have the day off, I packed a cooler. The weather is perfect; we can have a picnic," Elsa replied. Anna's eyes widened in disbelief and moved to throw open the window curtains. Spring sunshine flooded the room, and she leaned forward to stare up at the brilliant blue sky, not a cloud in sight.

"All right!" she said. Anna bustled about, picked up her sunglasses and shoved her feet into her shoes, then decided she didn't really need anything else. The air was still cool as they exited into the parking lot, but the sun beamed down and warmed her head and shoulders. Anna flipped her sunglasses down and ducked into the passenger seat of Elsa's sports car.

"Are you ready?" Elsa asked.

"I was born ready," Anna replied.

Elsa smirked, pressed a button, and with a whirring, thunking sound, the roof of the car folded back, leaving them exposed to the air and the sun.

"Whoa. I've never ridden in a convertible before," Anna said.

"Me either, this should be fun," Elsa said.

They exited the campus and avoided the highway. The trees had sprouted green shoots, and Anna couldn't help but smile as she always did as the world came back to life after a frigid New England winter. With Elsa's eyes focused on the road, Anna fiddled with the dashboard and settled on a station playing upbeat pop music. They drove up and down hilly, winding country roads, and Anna let her hand float in the wind as they wound around the forested foothills of New Hampshire.

"Where are we going?" Anna asked.

"Nowhere in particular. I'm keeping my eyes open for a decent field," Elsa replied.

They drove through small towns and back into the country; Anna's hand found Elsa's, and they clasped one across the center console. Eventually, Elsa pulled into a public park. Gravel crunched under their tires, and Elsa hit the switch to replace the roof. After the roar of the wind, the park seemed oddly silent. The blonde pushed her seat down to reach into the back and pull out a cooler, which she passed to Anna, and then she pulled up a large white comforter from the floor of the back seat.

"Is that… a hotel blanket?" Anna asked.

"They won't mind," Elsa replied as she did her best to get it into a position she could carry. "Let's go this way."

Several trails branched off from the parking lot, and Elsa, with the folded blanket more or less held on her back, followed one off to the right. The sun dappled trail descended slightly as it twisted and turned, until it passed a meadow with a large tree on the far side. As they approached, the sound of moving water reached Anna's ears, and the trees in the distance cleared a little bit to reveal a small river beyond. She looked around… they weren't far from Arendelle.

"I've never been to this park… but isn't this the river we skated up?" Anna asked.

"Hmm. I think it is," Elsa replied. "What are the odds?"

Anna gave her a sly look. What were the odds indeed. Something told her that Elsa had scoped this place out just to bring her here, but decided not to say anything, even though her heart ached with the apparent effort Elsa had made to do something special together. They spread out the king-sized comforter on the grass, in the shade beneath the large tree. Elsa took her shoes off and left them next to the blanket, and Anna followed suit. She lay back and put her hands behind her head.

"This was an amazing idea, even if I can't stop thinking about tomorrow's game," Anna said.

Her thoughts turned to TD Garden, where they would play against heavily favored Boston University for the NCAA championship title.

"We've done everything we can, just need to rest today," Elsa said.

A light breeze stirred the new leaves, and Anna blinked as the sun intermittently filtered through and left glowing marks on her retina. Elsa sidled up next to her, and Anna lifted her head so she could use Elsa's thigh as a pillow. Anna closed her eyes and smiled as delicate fingers ran through her hair, over her cheek, across her neck... They'd come such a long way, and given how afraid she'd been earlier, Anna relished every second Elsa used her hands or fingers to touch her. She might have dozed slightly, because the next thing she knew, Elsa was shaking her by the shoulder and whispering.

"Look," she said.

Reluctantly, Anna opened her eyes to see a doe, not more than ten feet away. It carefully stepped through the meadow on its way to the river. Then Anna caught sight of two tiny spotted fauns trailing in her wake. She froze, as if any sudden movement might scare them off, but the doe ignored them and continued on into the trees, and the two baby deer followed along, until all three had vanished from view.

"That was amazing," Anna whispered.

"I know, I've never seen anything like it," Elsa said.

Anna's stomach chose that moment to growl, and she put both hands over her abdomen.

"Oops, I guess I'm hungry," she said. The cracked open the cooler, where Elsa had packed sandwiches and brought some chilled bottles of iced lemon tea. They ate and lay on the blanket for another hour or so, hoping to see the deer again, but there was no luck. As the sun dipped below the treetops, Anna shivered; it was early spring after all, and still very chilly at night.

"Maybe we should head back… big game tomorrow," Elsa said.

Anna nodded and helped her pack up, then they hiked up to the car. They held hands again on the return drive, and as they passed the lower parking lot, Anna pointed to the left.

"Can we stop by Fraternity Row? I want to check on Chloe," she said.

"Chloe?" Elsa asked. "Is she okay?"

The question remained unasked: "Is Hans still bothering her?"

"She's doing a lot better," Anna replied. "Hans made her give up her dorm over Christmas, so she had no place to stay. Luckily, Alice had a spare bedroom."

Elsa nodded.

"But I still felt bad she got kicked off the team, and you know, everything with Hans," Anna said as she made a face," so… when I found out we're supposed to bring a timekeeper with us, even though it's technically an away game, I asked Coach if it could be Chloe."

"What did he say?" Elsa asked.

"He said he'd talk to her," Anna said. They pulled to a stop outside of the former Triangle house. Anna pulled her seatbelt off and walked up to ring the doorbell as Elsa locked the car with a chirp. Alice, their goalie, answered the door.

"Uh oh. Please tell me it's not bad news," she said.

Anna shook her head.

"Is Chloe here?" she asked. Alice let out a sigh of relief.

"She's in her room. Come in, I'll go get her," she said.

Anna and Elsa stepped into the pot-smoke infused beanbag room while Alice ran upstairs. Chloe descended the wooden steps a moment later. Though still thin, her cheeks no longer sank in, and she looked healthier, more rested, like a crushing weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She stopped three steps from the bottom.

"Hi. Umm… how are you?" Anna asked.

"I'm okay… kind of in the middle of studying," Chloe replied.

"That's right.. academic probation," Anna thought.

"Okay, this won't take long. Just wanted to know if Coach… asked you anything?" Anna asked.

Chloe gave her an odd look.

"Yeah, he wanted to know if I could work timekeeper for tomorrow's game… wait a minute, did you ask him to?" she asked.

Anna nodded. "So… you're going, right?"

Chloe nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm going I just…" Chloe said, but she seemed to be at a loss for words. "I don't know how I can pay you back."

Her eyes misted over, and she sniffled, but Anna wasn't in any kind of mood to deal with tears.

"It's okay. Just… I don't know, do something nice for someone else," Anna said.

"Has Hans stayed away?" Elsa asked. Anna glanced to her.

Chloe sniffled and wiped at her nose.

"Uh huh.. Completely. He hasn't said a single word to me since we broke up. He won't even look at me anymore," she replied, and Elsa nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay we'll umm.. let you get back to studying," Anna said. Chloe raised a hand to wave, and Anna and Elsa left her to return to the car.

"You didn't have to do that for her," Elsa said.

"I know. I just… after what Hans did, I figure she could use all the help she can get," Anna said. Elsa nodded and smiled, then started the engine to head up the hill to Castle One dorm. When they reached the upper parking lot, Elsa switched the engine off and walked Anna to the back door of the building.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Elsa said.

"You'd better," Anna said. She leaned forward and their lips met. They kissed for a moment, and Anna let her hands come up Elsa's back, above her waist, then stepped back.

"One shift at a time," Elsa said.

Anna nodded, then she stepped in to give Elsa another peck on the lips.

"For luck," Anna said. Her heart lifted with Elsa's smile, and she turned to head inside. As the door swung closed, she turned back to wave to see Elsa still standing, watching her go. Anna shooed her away and then she headed into the stairwell to climb up to her room.

The crowd roared, forcing Anna to have to shout to be heard above the capacity crowd at TD Garden, the same rink the Boston Bruins played in. The game would be televised nationally, complete with cameras and reporting crew, but Anna did her best to put all that out of her mind. She tapped Rapunzel on the shoulder and pointed up to the mezannine level, where half the men's team, along with several members of the Drama Club, had hung a banner for Arendelle, the flag of green and purple outnumbered 5 to 1 by Boston's red and white. She spotted Kristoff and Flynn yelling their lungs out, and next to them Olaf and Marshall. The introduction of the local team's starting lineup completed, they stood for the national anthems, and then, her heart racing, Anna glided over to take her spot to Elsa's right, while Punzie lined up on her left. Coach Westergard's words in the locker room came back to her as they waited for the puck drop: "They're beatable. We only lost by a fraction of an inch in December. Nobody gave us a chance against Northeastern, and we won, and we've kept on winning, against the odds. This is it, last game of the season. Make clean passes, skate hard on defense, don't give them any time or space, and the opportunities will be there. One shift at a time."

The crowd reached a fever pitch as the ref tensed, puck in hand, then the black bit of rubber hit the ice, and Anna charged ahead to help Elsa win it back. A quick pass from the defense and Rapunzel chipped the puck into the offensive zone. Anna took off and raced half the length of the ice to arrive just as Boston's defense reached the puck. With only a cursory attempt at playing it, Anna set her feet, tucked her elbow in to her side, dropped her shoulder, and laid a booming check right into the center of the defenseman's jersey, knocking her flat. That set the tone for the game, and the hastily passed puck squirted up the side boards to Elsa's stick. She shifted to the side and blasted a slap shot which deflected just wide of the net.

"Come on!" Anna thought as she jostled with two Boston players in the corner and used her skate to pin the rebound to the boards. Elsa joined her and they dueled two-on-two against Boston, trying to secure possession for another shot. Pushing with all her might, Anna knew the defense must be getting tired too. With a twist of her body, she came away with the puck and fired a poor angle wrist shot which was gobbled up by the goalie. The whistle blew, and Elsa's line skated off for a change.

"Good first shift, keep it up," Coach said as Anna huffed on the bench.

Boston tried to play their usual grinding possession game, but for some reason, whether it was due to her improvement over the past six months, the intense training over the past few eeks, or her bond with Elsa, Anna felt like she had extra jump and could anticipate plays far better than ever before. Despite Boston's tight defensive style, she twice gained a step on her defender and received a pass to fire off a near-perfect shot, only to be stymied by Boston's goalie and her ultra-fast glove.

"Damn," she said as she again sat on the bench to recover.

"We're going to have to get something ugly," Elsa said. Anna, still panting, nodded in agreement.

Their opportunity came in the middle of the second, when the teams switched sides and the distance to their respective benches was extra-long. Pinned on an extended shift in their own end, Boston hooked down Merida and the ref's hand went up to call a penalty.

"Let's do this," Rapunzel said as the first power play unit hopped over the boards. With Boston short a skater for two minutes, Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel had a golden opportunity to take the lead. Elsa won the faceoff cleanly, and the defense set up near the point. Boston played a diamond formation for their penalty kill, which Coach had forced them to study extensively in the lead up to the final despite it being one of the most popular PK formations. Anna accepted a pass near the side boards, and when the defender came in to challenge her, she sent it back to the point. They went back and forth a few times with Anna nudging deeper into the zone, both to force the defenders to cover more ice and tire faster. Eventually, they would get so tired they would either fall out of position, or over commit to one of the Arendelle players… in theory. Rapunzel had set up in front of the net, her legs and stick forming a sort of tripod which made her very difficult to dislodge despite the heavy shoves she absorbed. Anna took another pass from the point and spied Elsa cutting towards the center out of the corner of her eye. In an instant of clarity, she spotted the seam where two defenders had come apart just a foot too far, the seam where Elsa now glided, and she fired a pass straight to Elsa's stick. The blonde one-timed a weak slapshot towards the net, and even though Rapunzel was tied up, she still managed to get the blade of her stick on the puck and deflect it out of mid-air and down, below the goalie's outstretched glove. The horn sounded, and Anna screamed in exultation as the goal light went on.

"Power play goal for the lead! We're winning!" Anna thought. The crowd roared, so loud Anna couldn't even hear her own voice as she celebrated with the others. The goal held up through the end of the second, and in the locker room, Anna's hands shook.

"One more period, and the championship is ours," she thought.

"They're going to pour it on. Stay tight defensively, and take your chances when they come, and they will come," Westergard said.

Boston came out flying in the third, peppering Alice with shots, but the blonde goalie threw up a brick wall and allowed nothing through. The defense helped as well, blocking as many shots as they could, which worked until about eight minutes into the final frame, when one of Anna's teammates went to the locker room after taking a puck off the ankle, and didn't return. Boston continued to cycle the puck deep against Arendelle's short-handed defense corps, punishing them with heavy hits whenever they could, until finally one of them lost an edge and fell to the ice, giving up a two-on-one deep in their territory which Alice was helpless to stop.

"Fuck," Anna said from the bench as Boston celebrated, and the scoreboard switched to 1-1.

"It's okay, we'll just have to score another one," Elsa said.

Anna smirked as she threw her leg over the board to start another shift. Despite Elsa's assurances, neither of them touched the puck while they were on the ice, except when Anna shot it deep into Boston's zone to go off for a change.

"Damn," she said between pants.

The clock continued to tick down, past five minutes, then four, and Anna worried that she might only get one or two more shifts in regulation. She glanced to her right to the Arendelle defense, hunched over on the bench, flexing hands and wrists, pained winces on their faces. "We're in trouble."

Merida dumped the puck in deep and went off for a change, as did Jasmine. Elsa and Punzie leapt onto the ice to replace them as Boston picked up the puck. They sent it up the far side of the rink before Elsa or Rapunzel could get there, and Lily, Merida's other winger, reversed direction to pick up an attacker, leaving Anna stranded on the bench. As Boston cycled the puck again, exhaustion took hold and Lily's steps slowed, while Anna could do nothing but grit her teeth. Finally, in desperation, Lily dove at the puck and chipped it out of the zone.

"Come on!" Anna said as she waved her teammate to the bench. The poor girl had to get up and force her fatigued legs to move. Elsa retrieved the puck and, with a skater already harassing her, passed it back to the defense to buy a few seconds, but Boston were right back into the zone on the forecheck. Time seemed to slow down, and Anna saw the play developing as the defense passed it back up to Rapunzel. A Boston player slammed into her just as she released the puck, and it skittered up the boards off-target. Elsa and a Boston player raced for it as Lily approached the bench, close enough for Anna to jump onto the ice. With Boston caught deep, Anna had a clear line straight to their net, if Elsa could get the puck to her. Her eyes widened as she realized the Boston defense wasn't intending to play the puck.

"Look out!" she yelled, but Elsa was focused on the puck, and reached it just before the Boston player, her eyes flicked up to the reflection in the glass, to Anna. She chipped the puck ahead to lead her, just before the Boston player laid a crushing shoulder check. Elsa's lithe form nearly folded in half, and Anna panicked. For a split-second, her thoughts were all about Elsa as the small center slid on her back on the ice. Was she injured? Was she injured seriously? Then the black puck bounced onto Anna's stick, and she looked up to nothing but open white ice between her and the goalie. She shoveled the puck ahead and drove her legs as the Boston defense, caught by her late change and the hit on Elsa, raced to catch up.

"Visualize," Anna thought as the roar of the crowd faded, and time seemed to slow down. She looked up to stare the goalie, one of the best in the world, willing her to commit first. Hazel eyes stared right back at her. Deep down, Anna knew her elite opponent would not make an unforced error like that.

"Forehand, backhand, elevate," Anna thought, but as she started to make her move, her skates flew out from under her, and she landed heavily on her side. She lost sight of the puck as her sliding form took out the goalie's legs, and they both slid heavily into the net, followed by the Boston player who had tripped her from behind. Pandemonium erupted. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the ref pointing towards center ice, but a scrum broke out around the net, and it took a full minute and a half for Anna to extricate herself from the tangle of limbs. With a final shove from one of the Boston players, she skated out to collect herself, then looked around.

"Where's Elsa?" she thought. Not on the ice, not on the bench. She skated over to where the rest of the team and Coach Westergard still stood.

Westergard read the question on her face, "She was shaken up pretty bad, they're doing an x-ray now."

"X-ray?" she thought.

"Is it her arm, or her leg, or…?" Anna asked.

"Don't know. Probably not her leg, she walked off," Coach replied. "The doctors here are the best, and she's in good hands. Focus. Penalty shot."

Anna glanced towards center ice, where the puck already sat in the middle of the red dot, then up at the scoreboard: 1-1, 0:32.

"Penalty shot," she thought. Anna glanced down at her skates. With Elsa likely out of the lineup, and their defense on their last legs, they wouldn't survive overtime. This was it, the championship on her stick. The ref blew the whistle, and Anna nodded to him, then removed a glove to unstrap her helmet. She picked up her water bottle and sprayed it over her face, wiped it down with a towel, then scraped the excess snow and ice off the blade of her stick. She took a deep breath and tried to put everything except the upcoming penalty shot out of her mind.

"Oi," Merida said. "She's okay. I mean she's going to be okay, but the doctor won't let her back onto the ice. It's up to you."

"How many times did you imagine this exact scenario playing street hockey with Punzie and Kristoff?" Anna thought as she replaced her helmet, strapped it on, and drifted over to center ice. "What are you going to do? She's too quick with the glove, can't go top shelf… got to get her moving side to side. Not too close, watch out for the poke-check…"

Anna took one last look at the bench, hoping to see Elsa, but instead she spotted Chloe at the timekeeper's table. Her former rival gave her a thumbs up from behind the glass. Anna nodded. She started at her own blue line, skated a few strides, and picked up the puck at center. With nobody chasing her, she kept her speed on the slow side as she angled to the right, then curled back to the left as she crossed the top of the faceoff circles. The Boston goalie tracked her movement all the way. As Anna drifted towards the middle of the ice, she timed her move as the goalie shuffled her feet. Along with a head and shoulder fake, she twitched her stick, then pulled the puck all the way to her left.

"There!" Anna thought. With her pump fake having frozen the goalie for a fraction of a second, she'd overcompensated to Anna's left. Anna pulled the puck back around to the right, and despite the goalie's split, her pads lying flush against the ice, her glove outstretched, she couldn't get her skate back to the post, and Anna barely managed to tuck the puck around and into the net. The crowd exploded as Anna curled and raced around the ice, arms raised, all traces of fatigue suddenly gone. Her teammates mobbed her, but Anna only had eyes for the bench, absent of Elsa. Coach Westergard leaned over and repeatedly banged one of their sticks against the boards, his voice completely drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

"Off the ice, everyone off the ice, we still have to play!" Anna shouted. The ref blew his whistle, and Anna feared the worst, a delay of game penalty, but instead, the ref gave the signal for time-out.

"Coach called it to avoid the penalty," she thought. He motioned the team over, and they huddled around.

"It's not over," he said. "They're going to give it everything they've got now; we only have to hold them off for thirty seconds. Watch your positioning and keep them to the outside. We don't need to make a great play, and don't take any defensive risks for the empty net, but if you have a clear shot, send it down; even an icing will take five or six seconds off the clock. Dunbroch, you're in with Christianson and LaFleur. Let's finish this off."

Merida squared up for the ensuing faceoff, and Boston tied her up of the puck drop, but Anna fished it out and sent it back to her defense, who skated deep into their own zone to kill a few seconds off, then angled it up the boards away from the attacking Boston players.

"Here they come," Anna thought as she moved in to put pressure on the puck carrier. The Boston goalie charged up the ice with her team and headed to the bench, and even though they brought an extra attacker on, Arendelle, fully recharged with Anna's goal and the championship mere seconds away, skated as if their blades were lightning. Steel flashed, checks thrown, a pass intercepted, and another clear to center ice, forced Boston to regroup. Another broken up play, and then one final shot from the blue line which Alice easily blockered into the corner, and the final buzzer sounded. Anna ripped off her helmet and threw it into the air. She celebrated in the middle of a mob of teammates for about ten seconds, then her thoughts again turned to Elsa. When she looked to the bench, she spotted her, jersey on but overly large without her pads, and her arm in a sling. Anna skated over.

"Nice goal," Elsa said.

Anna smiled for a second.

"Your arm…" she said.

"It's just a hairline. I'll be fine," Elsa replied as she wiggled fingers in the sling.

"It's broken?" Anna asked.

Elsa nodded. "Only a little."

Anna looked up into her eyes.

"You could have avoided that check," she said.

"Psh. It was the best scoring chance we had the entire game. What kind of hockey player would I be if I ducked a check rather than make a play?" she asked. She looked down at her forearm, "though… I didn't know it would be this bad. Good thing it was the last game of the season."

"Honestly… don't you ever do that again," Anna said.

Elsa rolled her eyes and tsked at her despite her smirk.

"You would have done the same thing. Go shake hands so you can take a shower. I want to kiss you," she said, and Anna grinned. She couldn't argue with that, any of it. The handshake passed in a blur, then she was hoisting the trophy for television cameras and photographers, giving a quick interview about her game winning goal with an ESPN commentator, followed by a group photo on the ice, which both Elsa and Chloe joined the team for. Then they were on the bus back home, surrounded by cheers and excited phone calls, but as soon as Anna turned to ask Elsa if her arm hurt, their lips met instead, and Anna forgot the rest of the world even existed.

Back on campus, the team split up to drop off their equipment, then reconvened at Alice's house at the end of Fraternity Row for an afterparty. The glittering trophy occupied a place of honor at the center of the dining room table, and Anna took the obligatory photo with it, and with some of the other girls. Even though she drank and posed for selfies, she remained hyper aware of where Elsa was at all times.

"It's getting rowdy, and she doesn't even have a cast on," she thought as she stared at the light brace which protected Elsa's injured forearm. Her usually fair skin had swelled somewhat and turned a light purplish color, and Elsa herself seemed to be content with sitting at the end of the couch to watch the shenanigans of a championship team cutting loose. It was around the twentieth photo with the trophy that Anna spotted Elsa heading out the back door, onto the deck. She followed in her wake, outside, where Merida worked the grill.

"Christiansen, hot dog," the redhead said as she held out a plate. "Bread will keep it all down."

"I'm… not drinking that much, but thanks," Anna said. She drifted over to the railing where Elsa leaned and stared out at the soccer fields.

"Where we sort-of-made-out for the first time … even though I was high as a kite," Anna thought as she set her plate down next to Elsa's brace.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked.

Elsa nodded.

"A bit tired. Happy, but tired," she replied. She stuck her good hand into her jeans pocket, and produced a hockey puck.

"Is that-"

"Your championship winning penalty shot. Good thing someone remembered… Merida is actually the one who went over to get it," Elsa said.

"And don't you forget it!" Merdia called from the grill. Anna grinned at her, but the Scot had already turned away.

"Yeah," Anna said as Elsa placed it in her hand. How could she have forgotten? "Thank you."

Elsa nodded and blinked a few times, uncharacteristically quiet, even for her.

"Do you want to go?" Anna asked.

Elsa shook her head, "I don't want to ruin your night."

"You could never ruin my night," Anna said, and Elsa leaned into her. "Honestly… I don't know. I think I'm over it. The whole partying scene."

Elsa chuckled.

"Already?" she asked.

"What do you mean already… it's been an insane year," Anna said.

Elsa nodded, and she put her good arm around Anna's waist to pull her tight against her side.

"It certainly has. Do you mind if I stay in your room tonight? I don't know if I'm up to driving all the way back," Elsa said.

"Of course… did you want to go now?" Anna asked. Elsa nodded, and Anna could see the exhaustion in her eyes. They said their goodbyes amidst well wishes for Elsa's quick recovery, and thanks for joining the team, and then Anna ushered them out the door. Away from the drinks and a few hours removed from the game, Anna's body had grown stiff and sore from the punishing match, and Elsa must have felt even worse. They both moved gingerly as they slowly hiked up the hill, with Elsa seeming more fragile than ever.

"Next week is the play, and then it's finals, and then…" Anna thought, and she squeezed Elsa's hand.

"A whole summer without Elsa," she thought.

"I love you," Elsa said, and Anna looked over and smiled; it was almost as if Elsa read her mind. "I can't express… I mean… you've done so much-"

"I've done so much?" Anna said. "What about you? You've-"

A dozen memories, their unlikely journey from strangers to lovers and underdogs to champions, went through Anna's head, just as Elsa's face went through about a dozen expressions of her own.

"I promise we'll see each other over the summer," Elsa said.

"Yeah? Is that a super ultra special Elsa Anderson promise?" Anna asked.

Elsa nodded seriously. "Totally."

Anna laughed and pulled Elsa close so they could walk side by side the rest of the way up the hill. Safe in her room, Elsa barely got her shoes off before sprawling onto the spare bed, splinted arm elevated on top of a pillow. Anna and Anna threw the blue and purple blanket over her, then lay down in her own bunk. She'd intended to talk more, but her body had other ideas, and she almost immediately passed out into the kind of exhausted, dead-to-the-world, deep sleep that only happens after the high of a close win in a big game.

Elsa set the bouquet by her feet as she found the best spot in the auditorium, three rows back from center stage. She wasn't familiar with 'Roses are Blue', aside from the snippets she had helped Anna rehearse, but the painted canvases set the stage and soft music played over the speakers. The house lights went down, and Elsa sat and soaked it all in. She smiled when Anna arrived on stage the first time, and relished the chance to watch the love of her life in her other passion. Three plotlines intertwined so Anna wasn't on the stage all the time, but Elsa tried to memorize every second regardless.

"Maybe I'm biased, but Anna's clearly the best," Elsa thought. She forced down chagrin at a stage-kiss near the climax, then when the actors came out for bows at the end of the performance, Elsa stood up and banged her good hand against the seat in front of her in lieu of applauding. She picked up the bouquet and, as the audience filed out, she sat down again. With a glance to the right and left to make sure no one could see, she pushed out a little bit of winter to conjure an intricate rose of ice in the center of the mass of flowers. Grinning to herself, she stood up and set out to find the actors. She found Anna in the back, chatting with the two boys they'd helped build sets with…

"Olaf and Marshall, that's right," Elsa thought. Anna, heavy eyeliner still on and cheeks rosy from the excitement of being on stage, locked eyes with her, and a huge grin spread across her face.

"Hey!" she said.

"Congratulations, you were amazing," Elsa said as she handed over the bouquet of roses. Anna smiled and dipped her head to take a long breath of their scent, then paused.

"Oh my- did you…?" Anna said as she looked up at Elsa, who put an impish smile on her face. "It's beautiful."

"So are you," Elsa said. If it was possible, Anna's cheeks grew even redder.

"Anna banana, there you are," a woman said. Elsa turned and spied Anna's parents approaching, with a bouquet of their own. She retreated a few steps as Anna hugged her mother while her father looked on.

"Should I stay, or…" Elsa thought, and she decided to walk the hallway near backstage. She weaved her way through a couple dozen people, Drama Club members chatting with friends and family post-performance. A heavy sense of melancholy washed over her.

"Would Father be happy we won the championship, or only see it as a distraction?" she thought.

"Hey, there you are," Anna said, and Elsa turned around. Gone was her exuberant mood; something was troubling her.

"What happened?" Elsa asked.

"Nothing, it's stupid," Anna said.

Elsa waited, and eventually Anna sighed and rolled her eyes.

"My dad… ugh, promise you won't get angry," Anna said. Elsa almost laughed, but she managed to keep a serious expression and nodded. "My dad wanted me to ask you if it was possible to help repair our roof. I told him no already, but he insisted I ask and like, I really didn't want to but he's still my dad and, dammit, I shouldn't have said anything-"

"Of course," Elsa thought as Anna rambled on and gestured emphatically with her bouquets. "Oh no, she's getting agitated."

"Anna," Elsa said, and Anna stopped mid-sentence with her mouth open. "If you want, I'll buy them an entire mansion… I'm okay with it. If it makes you uncomfortable at all though, I'm more than happy to tell him no. How you feel is worth more to me than a gated property, or even three gated properties."

Anna closed her mouth and nodded, and Elsa smiled.

"Either way, none of that will change anything between us, I promise," Elsa said. "But you know, we don't have to decide anything right now."

Anna paused as if she'd never considered this.

"Yeah, okay. Okay, I'll tell him you're thinking about it, and then… we can figure it out later," she said, then sighed deeply. "Thank you."

Elsa smiled.

"It's nothing," she said, then took a half-step closer. "I'd do anything for you."

Anna nodded seriously. "Me too."

Anna stepped into the brilliant May sunshine with a sense of freedom and relief; her last final was done, and she was pretty sure she aced it. She had to stop herself from skipping across the quad to the cafeteria. As pushed her way into the air-conditioned building with its mixed scents of grilled food and disinfectant, she found Elsa seated near the window, sunglasses perched on top of her head, hair practically glowing in the sunlight, arm no longer in a sling.

"And?" the blonde asked as she approached.

"Might have gotten a hundred," Anna said.

"Woo. Congrats," Elsa said with a brilliant smile. "We should celebrate."

"I agree, did you have anything in mind?" Anna asked.

"Well, I was thinking, we could jump in my car, and drive, to my room," Elsa replied.

Anna nodded.

"Let me grab a change of clothes," she said.

"Mmm, no need," Elsa said, a small smile on her face.

"But there's three days until… oh," Anna said.

Anna discarded her clothes within the first ten minute of arriving at Elsa's hotel room, and didn't touch them for the next two and half days except to fold them and put them on top of the dresser. Day blended into night and back again a few times, until it even felt odd to use a towel after showering. As she lay on the bed, completely satiated in every way, Anna let her head fall back and closed her eyes.

"Can we just… do this for the rest of our lives?" she said.

"Mmm," Elsa said as her fingers traced patterns on Anna's stomach and hip, "tempting, but we'll need to put clothes on again if we want to travel."

"Where should we go?" Anna asked. "How about a nudist beach, then we can just like… stay naked with each other all the time."

"Hmm. Maybe. I'll go anywhere," Elsa replied. "Everywhere. As long as it's with you."

Anna smiled, but her phone alarm interrupted her.

"Damn. Is it really time already?" she said. She rolled over and picked up her phone from the night table.

"Time to go?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah…" Anna said. The dorms would be closing soon, and she still needed to pack. Anna walked over to the dresser and picked out her underwear; putting it on seemed symbolic, as if her time with Elsa was over for the foreseeable future, and she hesitated. Soft hands slid around her waist as Elsa came up behind her pulled her close, and Anna closed her eyes at the sensation of breasts pressed against her back, of lips pressed against her shoulder.

"Soon. Promise," Elsa said.

Anna nodded. They dressed and took turns in the bathroom making themselves look presentable, then Elsa drove Anna back to campus, where they worked together to fold and pack all of Anna's remaining clothes, sheets, and other various knick-knacks, until the room was as bare as the day she moved in. They spent the drive back to Anna's house holding hands.

"Your flight's at eight?" Anna asked.

Elsa nodded.

"Give me a week, and then I'll know when you can come. I'll take you to see the fjords," Elsa said.

Anna smiled, but Elsa's mind was on something else. They arrived and Elsa helped Anna carry her bags up to the porch, but more and more, the blonde's expression made Anna think she was worrying about something. Her hands clasped and unclasped as Anna set the last bag down inside the foyer, then returned to the porch.

"If umm, if anything were to happen…" Elsa said as she wrung her hands.

"Her powers… she's worried about having an accident when she's back in Norway," Anna thought.

"It won't," Anna said. "But if it does, you can call me, anytime. Even if it's the middle of the night, I won't care."

Elsa managed a small smile, then threw her arms around Anna.

"Thank you, for everything," she said.

"Thank me? Thank you! I don't know what I would have done-"

Anna's words were cut off as Elsa lips covered her own, and, desperate for one last taste, Anna reciprocated, showering kisses across lips and letting her tongue delve past Elsa's teeth, while simultaneously welcoming her response. They broke apart and Elsa clutched Anna tightly.

"I miss you already," Elsa whispered.

"Call me. As soon as you land," Anna said. Elsa nodded. "Go, you're going to miss your flight."

Elsa pulled back, and they both wiped tears, which caused Anna to sputter into a giggle. She was rewarded with a weepy smile from Elsa, who then attempted to compose herself.

"Okay. I'll call you, I promise," Elsa said. "Then you'll visit me, and then I'll come to the US and we'll take a trip. Before we know it, it'll be fall semester, and the start of hockey season."

"I can't wait," Anna said.

Elsa took a step back, waved one last time before she stepped into her car, then drove off. Anna watched until the sleek Porsche turned the corner, then went inside and plugged in both her phone and laptop to make sure they stayed charged. As she transferred clothes from bags to dresser and returned her toiletries to the bathroom and makeup to their usual spots in her room, she came across the Katy Perry poster and paused. The endless possibilities of the rest of the year, of college, of her life, spread out before her.

"It's funny what a difference a few months makes… This time last year, I didn't even know Elsa Anderson existed," she thought. "Now… I can't imagine life without her."

Even with the mess she had gotten herself into, there was no question whatsoever; she wouldn't trade any of it if it meant never falling in love with Elsa. Anna taped the poster up on its old spot on her wall and smoothed down one of the corners that stubbornly continued to curl up, then stepped back to re-evaluate. The corner sprung up again.

"You know what… it's better this way, even if it isn't perfect," she thought.

~Fin~