Chapter 22:

As Anna entered the room, she noticed a thick layer of frost covering everything inside, as well as a freezing cold wind swirling around the bed, where Elsa was lying unconsciously. This was worse than the redhead had originally imagined.

Worried, she turned on the lights and rushed to the blonde, tossing her purse to the floor in her way. When she got at her side, she noticed she was trembling, and so she checked her temperature for any signs of fever, but just found the usual coldness that characterized Elsa's skin. However, her relief didn't last long. She heard a soft whimper and saw a few tears coming out of Elsa's eyes, and she instantly knew her discomfort wasn't physical; she was having a nightmare.

"Elsa, wake up." She said shaking her. "Wake up, I'm here." She said a little louder, which finally gave results.

Elsa bolted awake with a start and, seeing Anna, she sighed in relief and hugged her for dear life, still whining and trembling because of whatever horror she was living in her dreams. Anna held her with equal strength trying to give her all the comfort she could while whispering soothing things to her ear. However, what Elsa said in response surprised her a little.

"A-Anna… P-please… don't leave me." She somehow managed to tighten her embrace even more, as if fearing that Anna would run away if she released her.

"Elsa what…? What is this all about?" Anna asked confused as to why Elsa would suddenly start thinking about that. "Of course I'll never leave you, but…"

"N-not even for Hans?" Elsa asked, her sobs intensifying a little more for a moment.

"No, Elsa, you… you are special. I love you way too much to let you go." Anna assured her while softly caressing her hair. "But I'd appreciate it if you let go of me. I can't breathe." She added with a strangled voice, which made Elsa promptly release her and stare at her concerned. Anna fought not to make a face because of the pain; her ribs would probably get some bruises.

"S-sorry." She said wiping her nose with one hand, something that Anna didn't know if she should find cute or gross. Probably both.

"It's fine. I take it you were having a nightmare about me leaving you?" She asked. Elsa only nodded, deviating her gaze, before taking a deep breath to gather the courage to speak.

"I-I'm just afraid that one day you'll see that I'm not good enough for you and you'll…" As a few more tears fell from her eyes, Elsa sniffed and tried to say the next word. "And you'll just… go." Pained broken sobs erupted from Elsa's throat and her body started shaking again, which made Anna quickly hug her, inhaling her scent while thinking on a way to reassure her.

"Oh, Elsa. I know it may be hard for you. Trusting in people. But please, just know that I can't even imagine a life without you. I love you."

"I know. You've already said it." Elsa answered, calming down a little and looking up at her. "It's just… you love Hans too, right? And I fear that…" Whatever she was going to say was silenced when Anna pressed a finger on her lips.

"I like Hans, yes, and I do care about him very much." A despaired look appeared on Elsa's eyes, but Anna quickly continued, knowing she should speak the truth, even if it could somewhat reveal her true feelings; Elsa needed reassurance (if the cold temperature was any indication) and Anna was the only one that could give it to her. "But the way I feel about you is different and, no matter who else I love, I know I'll never stop loving you. Alright?" They looked each other at the eyes with such intensity that there was no room let for doubts. Not even Elsa's fears and insecurities could deny the affection and care expressed through a single stare, and she felt really safe for the first time since Anna had started dating Hans.

"Thanks." She said after a while, letting a small grin appear on her lips.

"No problem." Anna answered and then looked around the room. "But we better get out of here. I'm really not immune to cold." Her body shivered in that moment as if to prove her point.

"Oh, right." Elsa quickly made a gesture with her hand and suddenly the room returned to its original temperature. Anna's eyes widened; she'd never seen Elsa control her powers with such ease, as if she'd been doing it her entire life.

"How did you do that?" Anna exclaimed perplexed. Elsa turned to look at her, confused, before getting what she was referring to and blushing.

"Oh… well." She deviated her gaze. "I actually have been practicing while you're out with Hans." She paused and blushed even more. "Plus, today I tried something called mas… uh… mastur… masturition?" She made a confused look. "I don't remember the name, but it helped." She gave Anna a little smile, but she just stared at her not getting what she had said.

"Masturition?" The redhead asked. "Is it some kind of magic or…?"

"No, nothing magic." Elsa assured her. "It's like…" She gestured to her lower parts, imitating the movements she'd made and, as Anna finally got it, she blushed as she'd never had in her life, not only because she imagined it, but because she was literally above Elsa (very close to her, as if that wasn't enough torture) and, if she didn't get off the bed quickly, things could get a little heated.

"… Right." Anna chocked after a moment as she tried unsuccessfully to avert her gaze from Elsa's crotch. "Uh… could you…? I mean… uh…" She stammered as she tried to form a coherent sentence that'd could get her away from Elsa, but in that moment her brain was full of sexual images that she couldn't suppress as much as she tried to.

Oh crap. This is getting out of hand. One day I might just start fucking her without previous warning, what the hell am I supposed to do?

"Anna?" Elsa asked, making her finally look up and stare intensely at her face to avoid returning her gaze to inappropriate parts.

"Yeah… ugh…" She quickly thought of something to get out of the bed. "I'm gonna… change." She stated and quickly climbed off the bed to then walk to her wardrobe. Meanwhile, Elsa glanced down to see Anna's purse lying on the floor, her belongings scattered around it, so she decided to make Anna a favor and get them up. However, as she picked up a piece of paper, the words written on it caught her attention: "Boarding school for special people". She opened it and started reading, and her eyes widened as she not only understood what it was about, but also why it was on Anna's purse.

Anna was just finishing putting on her night gown when she noticed a sudden drop of temperature, which made her turn around worried that something may had happened to Elsa, only to find her, for the second time in less than an hour, being the center of a snowstorm… this one way stronger than the previous one. She wasted no time on getting to her, despite the strong wind that surrounded her, and kneel at her side to see what was wrong.

"Elsa? Elsa, are you okay?" She shouted so she could be heard over the howling storm. To her surprise, Elsa turned to look at her with anger and shoved a pamphlet on her face.

"You lied!" She screamed as tears fell from her eyes. "You said you'd never leave me! You said you would protect me! And now you want to send me to Weaseltown's 'boarding school'." She broke down sobbing. "I trusted you." She whimpered softly as the stormed stilled into a frozen-in-time-scenery that was truly unnerving.

Anna remained in shock for a second or two before turning her gaze to the pamphlet that Hans had given her and, more specifically, to something that she hadn't noticed before: It said, in a section, that it was founded by Dr. Wiel Hahnssen, the same man Elsa had identified as the Duke of Weselton earlier that day.

A sudden chill ran through Anna, making her shiver, and not precisely from the cold. This could be no coincidence; that damn man was still after her, but then… did that mean that Hans worked for him and had been using her to get Elsa for the "doctor"? Probably. His charming attitude, so obvious since the very beginning, wasn't because he loved her. She should have noticed it before; no man could be that perfect without being pretending… and what Elsa had told her a weak prior suddenly made complete sense!

I'm such an idiot! Why did I ever doubt of her?

Anna felt a sting of pain on her chest as she thought about Hans never even liking her.

Oh, yeah, that's why. Too painful.

However, hearing Elsa's pained sobs brought her out of her own suffering; there'd be time to mourn latter, right now, her priority was calming Elsa first and figure out what to do about Weselton next.

"Hey, Elsa." She said softly while taking her head with her hands. "Look at me." She did for a moment (enough for Anna to see her puffed red eyes) but deviated her gaze to the floor a second latter. "Come one, look at me." She repeated caressing softly her cheeks, which finally got the girl's attention. "I'd never betray you like that. I said it already, but I'll repeat it again, ten thousand times if necessary: I. Love. You. I would never hurt you intentionally. Okay?" Elsa nodded as she noticed the sincerity on Anna's expression, finally calming down.

"But then why…?" She started asking, gesturing to the pamphlet.

Here comes the difficult part. I hope she doesn't freak out.

"Hans gave it to me." She took a deep breath. "I'm afraid he'd been working for Weselton all this time. He… used me to get to you." She admitted feeling the pain in her heart intensify to the point that even two tears fell from her eyes… only to be quickly wipe by Elsa's caring hands. "I-I'm sorry. I had no idea. I should have believed you." Anna sobbed.

"It's okay." Elsa reassured her. "I'm just glad that you're not giving me up to him." She smiled.

"I would never." She chocked out, her sobs finally stopping thanks to Elsa's soothing hands on her skin.

"I know. I may have over reacted earlier." She chuckled. Her face, inadvertently got closer to Anna's.

"You did." Anna admitted, a tiny smile forming on her lips as she also leaned in unconsciously.

"I'm sorry, but Weaseltown always makes me freak out." Again, she moved a little closer, her eyes deviating to Anna's delicious looking lips.

"I think it's understandable." Anna assured her, moving even closer, so close that they could clearly feel each other's breath on their mouths.

They were about to kiss… they were so close… Elsa knew that, if she moved just a little more forward, their lips would be touching, and she desired that more than anything. However, just as she was about to do it, Anna pulled back, blinking, trying to figure out what had just happened and to get rid of the undying desire she felt for the blonde.

The emotions she felt were too overwhelming and the situation too confusing. Had Elsa really tried to kiss her or was she the one who leaned in first? And, even in the case Elsa were the one who tried initiate the kiss, did she really know what kissing her on the lips would meant? Not only for their relationship, but for herself? After all, Anna was very conscious that that could had been Elsa's first kiss.

So, even if Elsa may had wanted to kiss her, there were many things that Anna needed to clarify first… but that wasn't the time.

"Uhm… I should call Kristoff… to see what we should do about…" She signaled the pamphlet, not having enough concentration to form any more words. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

And Anna got up, running out of the room without turning to look at Elsa, who remained on the ground with a disappointed look on her face. She didn't complain though; she knew they had to make a plan to deal with Weaseltown, or else bad things would happen. To both.

Anna told Kristoff everything, starting with Elsa's reaction towards Wiel's picture to what Hans had said and the discovering of who was behind the pamphlet. At the end, the cop answered:

"Okay, listen Anna: I don't think it was a coincidence either. What you have to do is take Elsa and leave as far as you can. Take enough money and all your documents with you, since you don't know how much time you'd have to hide. Tell Kai and Gerda not to show for work anymore because you're going on vacation, and don't tell them where you're going; it could put them in a dangerous situation."

"Alright, but what about Wiel?"

"He's very important and has lots of influences, so it'd be impossible to bring him to jail only because something a girl, who's mental health isn't obviously in great condition, said.

"Hey!" Anna protested, but Kristoff ignored her.

"We have to obtain something better, so we'll be capturing Hans tomorrow, when he goes to your house, and try to make him talk."

"Okay. Something else?" Anna asked.

"Leave. Now. And make sure of giving a false name at the airport."

"Alright. Thanks Kristoff, I'll make it up for you somehow."

"You better do."

"Goodbye."

"Bye."

After hanging up the phone Anna called Kai and Gerda to tell them what Kristoff had suggested and, even if they were a little suspicious and didn't believe her at first, she managed to convince them that everything was fine and that she'd just spontaneously decided to take a well needed vacation.

Then, Anna made another call, this time to her best friend Rapunzel, with who she'd talked very little the past month because she had been on her honeymoon, but at least she knew about Elsa (Not about her powers though). She briefly explained her the situation and, after a rather exaggerated show of concern from the brunette's part, Anna had managed to ask her to let them stay at her house until she could find someone to make some fake documents for Elsa and herself so they could leave the country. It wasn't that difficult to get Rapunzel to say yes, since she was good for nature and was happy to help anyone in need (Plus, her house was rather large for only two people).

After dealing with all that, Anna packed all her documents and then went to tell Elsa that they were leaving, so they could start packing. Of course, Elsa was a little reluctant, since she didn't know anything about the outside world and it scared her that her powers may get out of control and hurt someone, but Anna did her best to calm her and assured her that the outside world wasn't all that different than their mansion.

Once everything was ready, Anna called for a taxi and both girls waited outside the house until said car arrived. The redhead was anxious at first that Elsa may be too unstable with all this situation to go trough the long ride to the bus terminal without her fears showing up in the worst moment, but fortunately she fell asleep as soon as they got in and didn't wake up even when Anna went to the bank to retrieve some money.

It was difficult to deal with a half-asleep Elsa and three suitcases, even more when Elsa woke up just to freak out about the large amount of people, but fortunately the previous experiences with the hospital and the mall had served to get her used to people and so the temperature didn't drop even a grade.

Buying tickets to the state of Lyset, where Rapunzel's home was, was quite easy, since it was night and almost no one wanted to travel at that time, so they had the bus almost entirely to themselves. But, even if Elsa managed to sleep comfortable, Anna had some problems with shutting down her mind, after all, there was too much that had happened that day and the time too short to digest everything. After all, the one who, she had thought, loved her, or at least liked her, had turned out to be Weselton's accomplice, meaning that the old man still wanted to harm Elsa, and that they were both in great danger. Anna wanted to protect her loved ice wielder, but she knew she wasn't omnipotent, and that errors could happen. She could never forgive herself if something happened to Elsa because of her weakness; she wasn't just an important part of her life, she was her life now, she loved her way too much, so much that it was painful and it took her breath away, and the prospect of losing her in that damn man hands, of never seen her again and knowing she was suffering, scared her to no end.

Finally, Anna came to a resolution; she'd learn to fight. She'd take martial arts class and she'd be strong enough to keep Elsa safe, even if she didn't like the idea of hurting people, because the alternative was way too horrible to even be taken into consideration. Yes, as soon as she arrived to Rapunzel's place, she'd find someone to teach her karate or something like that and then everything would be fine.

Finally, with that hopeful thought in mind, Anna fell asleep.