CHAPTER TWO

"What's the matter, Anna? Don't you like mashed potatoes and green beans?"

Anna twirled her fork idly in her food, staring down at the mix of vegetables but not feeling hungry enough to even attempt to eat them. Ever since Elsa left the cabin after their little 'fight', she felt like a lead ball had settled in her stomach.

"It's not that, Rapunzel," she muttered, scooping up some of the beans onto her fork before letting them drop back onto her plate. "Just… something happened, that's all, and it kind of sucked."

"What kind of a 'something'?" the short-haired brunette asked before raising her juice cup to her lips.

"It turns out I'm rooming with my sister who I haven't seen in years," Anna answered. She finally pushed her plate away with a heavy sigh. "We talked, but it… didn't go very well."

For a second, Rapunzel had been nodding along as if that were a perfectly normal thing. Then her chewing slowed, and she put down her fork. "Hang on… your sister? She's one of the counselors here?"

"Guess so." Anna nodded and started playing with the straw of her drink. "I knew she wasn't going to be the same as I remember… I knew that, but I just didn't expect Elsa to be so cold now." She sighed again. "It's frustrating. We were so close before, we were like best friends! And now…"

"Your sister's one of the counselors, and you ended up in the same room as her?!" Rapunzel hissed under her breath. Apparently, she was still stuck at the beginning of their discussion. "But wait, what do you mean you haven't seen her in years? How can you not see your own sister in years?!"

Anna rolled her eyes at the brunette but a slight smile graced her lips. "Yes, my sister is a counselor, pay attention!" She gave Rapunzel a playful swat. "We live with different parents in separate provinces. I live with my Dad in Winnipeg and we just haven't been able to visit." However, that reminded Anna of the fight and the smile was wiped off her face and she went back to playing with her straw.

"Oh wow… oh man, you hope divorce doesn't happen in the church, but it still does, huh?" She sighed, looking down at her tray. "That sucks. What's her name, again?"

"Her name is Elsa," Anna repeated with a little snort at how spacey her new friend was. She looked up from her drink and chuckled bitterly. "It's the church that made my parents split up in the first place. Dad didn't like how strict my mom was about her faith and how she kept forcing it on me and Elsa, and my Mom didn't like how lax he was about it. They dealt with it for the most part until I was five… Mom and Dad got into a huge fight over something, Dad and I packed our things, and we left."

But even though Anna was pouring out her life story to the girl, something that must have been painful, Rapunzel was clearly still slow on the uptake. This time, she would reveal that the reason was not as one-dimensional as simple disbelief.

"Not… Elsa Tremblay. You can't be serious."

Anna frowned. "Yes, my sister is Elsa Tremblay, what's the deal?" Her words were laced with irritation but it had less to do with Rapunzel's distraction and more to do with the tone she said Elsa's name. "You have a problem with my sister?"

Her round green eyes stayed just as round. "Oh… well… um… how can I put this in an, um, Christian way?" Lowering her voice even more, she whispered, "Elsa's pretty well known around here for being kind of a… well, she's just not very nice. To the other counselors, I mean; she's good with the kids, but with us, she acts like we're all beneath her. We're stupid, she's smart; like that. I was kind of hoping you wouldn't have a run-in with her so soon, and now…"

"I'm sure she has her reasons," Anna said, though her brow furrowed slightly. She let her gaze wander the cafeteria until she caught sight of a platinum blonde sitting alone at one of the tables near the back of the room. Her breath hitched softly. "H-Hey Punzie, I- I think I'm going to take a walk okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, she stood up and gave her sister one last longing glance before walking out of the room.

~ o ~

The day was nearing its end, the sky bathed in striking orange and yellows as the sun started its slow descent. A cool breeze caressed Anna's cheeks and the redhead stopped to take a deep breath. Admittedly, despite the sour turn of her day, Anna found herself smiling. Sights like this in a relatively big city like Winnipeg were few and far between, and she soaked up the view as long as she could before taking out her cellphone and dialing a familiar number.

"Papa? We need to talk."

"What's the matter, Anna Banana?" he asked in his usual cheerful tone. "Not enough woodsiness for your wild young heart?"

Anna clung to the phone even as her shoulders relaxed. Her father's voice was like a balm, soothing her with its cheerful warmth. "It's definitely woodsy out here." She smiled shakily before taking a deep breath. "Papa, did you know Elsa was going to be here? Was that the 'special surprise' you told me about?"

There was a brief pause, then a chuckle. "Guess you caught me, eh? Sorry, girly girl. I just couldn't think of any other way to get you two talking again." His voice became hesitant, worried. "How… is my little Elsie doing? Does she look okay?"

Anna trembled. Lying wouldn't get them anywhere. "S-She hates us, Papa," she said sadly, tears burning her eyes. "S-She thinks we stopped trying to contact her, she thinks we abandoned her and Mama…" She swallowed thickly. "Mama… sh-she never passed on any of my messages, Papa, why would she do that?"

"Oh, Anna… geeze, I'm sorry." He sighed, and she could practically hear him running his hand through his short red mop. "I had a pretty good idea she was the holdup, but by this point… well, it's just all so nasty between us, and I got tired of tilting at windmills. I'm not a 'good enough Christian' for Idunn, or whatever — even though you and me still go to church, still try to be good people." His tone took on a familiar bitterness as he went on, "But I don't read all the right commentaries, or own enough translations, do the right devotionals or go on the retreats, and it's just… God is everywhere, right? If he's everywhere and always listening, why does there have to be so much frickin' paperwork and bullshit?"

"So… she's not telling Elsa because she's trying to hurt you?" Anna asked. The iron in her stomach grew heavier. "Papa, I'm bunking with Elsa! I have to watch the kids with Elsa, too! How can I do that if s-she wants nothing to do with me?! It's already tricky enough since I… don't feel as devoted as everyone else here, I can't deal with a sister who h-hates me, too!"

"Hey," he told her firmly. "Remember what we said? You're no more or less Christian than the ones with sticks up their asses. Not because you're a first-time counselor, not because you're bi, and not because you have red hair and have no soul. God loves gingers, too, Banana."

Anna smiled at the old joke, even letting a giggle pass her lips. "I love you, Papa. I- If things don't improve, will you come and get me? Please?"

"Of course I will, but… you have to give it a real chance, alright? Five days. If you really can't stand being there with her after five days, we'll call it quits, and we'll spend the rest of the summer calling Idunn and Elsa every name that definitely isn't in God's Word. Deal?"

This time Anna laughed softly, smiling at the phone in her hand and giving it a squeeze as though she were giving her father a hug. "Okay, Papa, Deal." She giggled, "I'll call you soon, Papa."

"Good. And if I don't hear from you, then… well, I guess that means God really can work miracles, eh? Love you, Banana."

"Love you, too… bye."

Once she got the warm, standard response, she hung up. Feeling far better now that she knew she had her father's support, she made her way back to the sisters' shared cabin.

She knocked first, waiting patiently for an all clear but after several seconds of silence, she unlocked the door and entered.

Elsa was already seated on her bed, getting out her pyjamas and her toiletry kit. Her eyes barely glanced over at Anna before looking back into her suitcase for something else… even though she already seemed to have all she would need before retreating to the washroom.

Anna let out a sigh before moving over to her own bag, taking out her nightgown and shedding her shirt carelessly over her shoulder onto her bed as Elsa stepped out. We're just sisters, Anna thought, even if the mental image from earlier of her sister's naked back still made her cheeks burn like a fire. Elsa can deal with me being half-naked for a moment.

With a slight nod, her bra was next to go. She glanced down at her average sized breasts, sprinkled with a generous amount of freckles and her thoughts were once again unwillingly dragged to the image of Elsa's large, supple, perfect mounds straining against her bra. The blush darkened and she shook her head madly to rid of the images.

Around that time, Elsa returned to their room, moving with quick, efficient steps — and suddenly yelped, dropping everything to the floor. "Wh- ANNA! What are you doing?!"

"Changing," Anna retorted dryly. "You were in the bathroom so I just decided to do it out here. What's the big deal, anyway?" Her traitorous mind flashed another image of Elsa's marvellous chest and she gave her head another firm shake. "We're sisters and it's not like I have something you don't."

Luckily for the poor, flustered bisexual, her sister had slapped a hand over her eyes and was currently feeling along the floor for her day-clothes and toiletries. "W-well, I'm not that comfortable with… come on, you have to remember how I've always been about such things. It's improper to go around showing off your body like that!"

"Papa said that we shouldn't have shame in our bodies," Anna pointed out. "If a guy can flaunt his chest around in public, a girl should have no shame in having hers exposed in the same way if she feels like it." However, to spare her sister from further embarrassment, she slipped the silk gown on. The fabric going down almost to her ankles before she shimmied out of her jeans and socks and started to take out her braids.

Catching sight of the hem and toes beneath her hand, Elsa finally removed said hand from over her eyes. "Fine. You're a hedonist, that's fine; just don't be one in our cabin." Straightening with her things, she began stuffing them into her suitcase with needless anger as she grunted, "Perhaps we should set some ground rules."

"Ground rules?" Anna scrunched up her nose for a brief moment before she let out a little defeated sigh. If she was going to get along with Elsa, she might as well humour the older girl. "Alright. Lay 'em down."

"Really?" Shaking herself, Elsa straightened, standing like a soldier at attention. Alas, her old, faded baseball tee she was wearing as half of her pyjamas showed a couple of other things were "at attention", as well. "Right. Well… I guess 'no nudity' is a good place to start. And that we should always knock before coming in. I did appreciate that before, by the way."

Anna smiled at how adorable her sister looked in that moment but purposely kept her eyes off the small peaks in Elsa's shirt. "You're welcome," she said softly, bowing her head with a faint blush. "Okay, so no nudity and always knock when coming in; anything else?"

Evidently, Anna's complete willingness to comply was throwing her off her game. So then she shrugged and said, "I don't know. Um… I don't like to sleep with any lights on. I know it's been a while, but I remember you had a night light. That would probably bother me, if you still do."

"Elsa, I haven't needed a night light since I was nine," Anna pointed out. "You won't have to worry about that." She still remembered the days back when she needed one, and how she had run to her sister in a crying panic one night when it had burnt out. The memory sent a wave of nostalgia through the ginger and her gaze softened. "Is that everything, Your Majesty?" She used her old nickname for Elsa with a smile gracing her features.

"I… yes, for now." Elsa didn't seem to know what to do with herself for a moment. The grin on Anna's face was making her fidget and look away from it, glance back up at her and away again. "Um… so I guess now we ought to go to bed. They'll be expecting us to be up bright and early, before the campers are up. So… so yeah."

Anna was mildly disappointed that her attempt to break the ice failed, but she simply nodded at Elsa. "Yeah, okay," she said softly. She was just about to slip into bed when she hesitated, glancing over at the blonde before sucking up her courage and striding over to pull her sister into a loose hug, one that Elsa could easily escape from if she so desired.

"I love you, sis… I really did miss you."

"Please," Elsa whispered. She didn't move, didn't push Anna away this time. "I… I can't yet, I don't…" After a moment, she found her voice again. "I can't believe you. Because believing you means not believing Mama. I… did miss you, but how am I supposed to…"

Only then did she retreat, end the almost-embrace. "We really should get some sleep."

Anna knew that it was a vast improvement from earlier, that Elsa didn't completely reject her again. However, it didn't stop her from flinching, nor did it stop the knot from forming in her gut as she turned her back on Elsa, made her way slowly back to her bed and crawled into a tight ball.

"Goodnight," she called softly, letting her eyes close even though she knew sleep would take a long time to claim her.

It took a few seconds, but there was an answer; it came just as the light overhead went out. "Goodnight, Anna."

To Be Continued...

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