NOTE: Sorry for the delay yesterday; I had to watch a dinosaur dance. I'll try not to let that come between us again!

~ Chapter Nineteen ~

The waffles turned out to be not quite edible until the third batch. Of course, Elsa and Anna had a lot of fun messing them up over and over, and even more throwing the burnt offerings back and forth, leaving the kitchen an utter disaster area. Still, it didn't end up making the final product any less delicious.

They had needed that after what happened in the shopping district.

While they were in one of the stores, a SEEK song came on over the radio - "Love Hostage" again - and Elsa cringed so badly Anna couldn't help but laugh. That caught the attention of a few patrons, who very quickly recognised who she was and began to ask her questions and for autographs. She gladly obliged, until the crowd became so large that she had to make a hasty retreat.

Unfortunately, they persisted outside. It was a lucky thing they had already picked up most of what they needed, since it looked like their shopping trip was going to be cut short. Elsa hailed a cab, and they circled a few blocks until they lost the rabid fans.

Presently, Elsa was sipping some of the coffee she'd made with her French press and gazing out the window at the sky and the rippling water of the swimming pool. Anna was seated across the dining table from her, busy at work on her sketchpad. Elsa had asked what she was drawing ten minutes earlier, but she had told her "a thing, you'll see it later."

"Well?"

"Well what?" Anna muttered, distracted as she laid down her inking pen reached for her eraser.

"Well… how does it look?"

Shrugging, she scrubbed the grey rubber over the surface of the page, careful to hold it in place at the bottom so it didn't tear or wrinkle. "Good so far."

Elsa took in a steadying, calming breath so she didn't burst out in annoyance at how unhelpful Anna was being.

"Okay," she said another two minutes later. "Um… it's not as good as I was hoping, but it's not totally shit." Closing the sketchpad, she slid it across the smooth glass surface of the table to come to a stop inches from Elsa's elbow.

"Cool," she said with a smile as she flipped the cover open, going past several other images she had seen already. "So what is… oh."

When Elsa didn't comment further, Anna spoke up after a few seconds. "You just kinda… I dunno. Looked really peaceful and sweet, sitting there with your coffee. I thought about taking out my phone, and then decided… well, to do that instead."

"I look so majestic," Elsa commented, again touching the page, almost as if she could reach in and caress the work if she believed hard enough. "Way more than I really do."

"As much as you really do," Anna corrected her stubbornly. "And… it's not quite good enough, doesn't do you justice, but I think it worked better than a phone picture would have. That's all."

The dark, bold lines of ink seemed to capture her attention, the shading and contours that went into making her come to life on the page. "I seem… realer than real. Surreal, maybe, but…" Smiling, she looked up at Anna and pressed her lips together, unable to speak more.

"Sh-shut up," Anna stuttered, averting her own gaze.

"I wasn't saying anything."

"Well, now you are, so shut up, okay?" When Elsa giggled, she smiled a little herself. "Anyway, maybe someday I can do one worth giving to you."

"You already have. I just won't accept them. One day, you'll either sell those for millions, or you'll just keep them in your private collection to show everyone how talented you are."

Definitely have red ears, Anna thought at herself. Definitely can feel them being as red as they get.

"You look so cute when you blush," Elsa laughed easily, sliding the sketchbook back over to bump into her scattered art supplies. "Anyway, it's beautiful, and I won't hear you say anything else bad about it. Maybe someday, we can provide you with a better subject."

In a mocking tone of voice, Anna said, "You're beautiful, and I won't hear you say anything else bad about you."

"Touché." With a wry grin, Elsa stood and drained the rest of her now-cold coffee. "Anyway, I think I'll go for a swim before we decide what we're off to do tonight."

"Alright. I'm gonna call people and check in, then I'll join you."

"Tell your parents I said 'hi'."

Then Elsa was sliding open the glass doors and walking outside, tossing the thin plaid shirt off of her arms and onto one of the chaise lounges. Anna watched her for a second, fighting the feelings of longing off and basking in the ones of genuine affection. Elsa was beautiful, but she was also just Elsa. Thinking of her bikini-covered body as anything other than the frame that held her good friend was… unwise.

~ o ~

"Hey!" Kristoff said with a huge grin when his face appeared on her phone screen. "So how's island life?! Tell me everything!"

Grinning back at him, she leaned back against the cushions of the couch as she said, "Oh, you know how it is."

"The hell I do! Seriously, are you drinking nothing but coconut juice and spending all day on the beach, or what?"

"Actually, we haven't even been to the beach yet. But…"

From there, Anna went into the story of them clubbing, which was probably the one that would be the most interesting to him. At first, he had been merely nodding along with a huge grin, living vicariously through her. Then, when she got to the part about Mulan…

"Oh my GOD. You actually have a date?! That fast?"

Blushing to the gills - again, and so soon - Anna muttered, "She hasn't called me yet, so no, not really. But I mean, it hasn't even been a full day yet, so… it could still happen. Who knows? Not me, I mean, I've never done this before!"

"Holy fucking SHIT!" he was crowing, laughing his ass off with glee. She watched his image disappear as the phone fell over, or was dropped or something, and then he returned a few seconds later. "God, things just happen around Elsa, don't they?"

"They really do." She smiled as she glanced out the window again, at where the blonde was applying sunblock to her neck and shoulders. She felt bad, like she should have been out there to assist her.

For purely friendship-based reasons, of course. Not because she wanted to rub all that slick cocoa butter all over those trim, toned arms…

"So, what else has been going on?"

Brought slamming back to reality, Anna cleared her throat and said, "O-oh, um, actually that's most of the exciting part. Well, unless you count waking up next to Elsa, and fighting off a mob when we bought the waffle iron…"

"Whoa, you woke up in bed with Elsa?" His eyebrows waggled.

"Stoooop," she commanded, rolling her eyes even though her blush was still lingering. "Just because we passed out after clubbing. I guess we were still talking and she just couldn't make it back to her room."

Kristoff gave her a funny look. "You guess? Damn, how much did you have to drink?"

"A lot. I mean, don't tell Mom and Dad, but we definitely broke the hell outta that rule. But we didn't drive, and it was completely legal, so we haven't done anything wrong," she added airily.

He nodded slowly, a cunning little smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Then he drawled in his best Southern American accent, "Anna Mayberry, as I live and breathe. You're gonna turn into one of those big city girls I hear tell about!"

"When I get back there, you are getting the biggest purple nurple there ever was."

"Hey, we agreed," he said, holding up a finger. "It's not fair you get to do that to mine just because they're slightly less sensitive than yours. You break the rule, you pay the price."

"And we agreed that under no circumstances are you ever to grope my boobs again, White Gay Male. This rack is not at your disposal just because you don't think it's sexy!"

Pouting like a scolded child, he muttered, "That was one time…"

~ o ~

Once she had padded outside, Elsa looked up from where she was flicking through her phone. When she saw her, she smiled and asked, "Everything good on the home front?"

"Yep. Weren't you going to swim?"

"I was waiting for you."

Anna looked down shyly. "You didn't have to do that. I mean, the water would still be here whether or not you swam a few minutes early."

"I know. But I wanted to swim with you, not just paddle around by myself." Then she stood from the chair, taking off her sunglasses. "Ready to take the plunge?"

Perhaps that was more of a question that Elsa should have asked her before they began the entire trip. Or a question she shouldn't ask at all while she was standing there, looking so incredibly alluring in her swimsuit…

Anna shook her head. Elsa laughed and asked, "You aren't?"

"What? N-no, that wasn't- I'm ready. Let's swim." Without waiting any longer, she tossed her things into a chair and jumped into the water, t-shirt and all.

"You goof," Elsa snorted as she joined her.

~ To Be Continued ~