Chapter Two

It's a short and uneventful walk back to Anna's apartment. The whole time, she was concerned that her new friend would leave or stop following her at anytime, but no Elsa follows closely behind the entire way.

And while a part of her was glad she had a temporary companion, another part of her was concerned about what to do now that Elsa had stayed with her. It wasn't as if this was some fairytale ending where things would fade to black and you'd assume things were okay, she had to actually make sure things could be okay.

She made it to her front door. After a deep breath, she turned around to face the puppy, who was staring up at her expectantly. "Well here we are," Anna said. "Make sure to wipe off your paws before you come inside."

Elsa tilted her head in response.

With a turn of her key, Anna stepped inside her apartment, immediately being blasted by the cold, emptiness of it all. Though her parents paid for it, she had to pay for everything else including furniture and food. With a lack of job prospects, it left the place pretty barebones.

Some might call the design minimalistic, Anna called it being poor and lonely.

She set her folder down on her tiny, kitchen table and poured a glass of water for herself from the sink. Realizing her selfishness, she also grabbed one of her cereal bowls and filled it with water, setting it on the floor. "Sorry about that, you're probably pretty thir…"

Anna looked up, and noticed that Elsa hadn't stepped a single paw inside the apartment yet.

"...sty."

The timid husky was looking at the bottom of the door frame as if it was a fifty feet gap. She moved one paw forward, and then took a couple of steps back. And that's when she let out the cutest noise Anna had ever heard: soft yet high-pitched whining, directed right at her.

She wanted to come in, but she was afraid. Of what? Anna didn't know, but she knew that she had to help.

"Heyyy, it's okay," Anna cooed while walking to Elsa with the bowl in hand. "I promise, my place is completely cat free. Unless that bums you out, in which case there's a whole lot of cats here."

More whining as a response, but it felt like Elsa was settling down the closer she got.

She set the bowl down a couple of feet from the weary husky, who dipped her nose towards it. She's hesitant, obviously, but the thirst she must have overrides that and she began lapping up the water quickly.

Elsa continues licking even after the water is all gone. Anna chuckles and takes the bowl, "Alright alright, lemme get you some more."

This time, Elsa follows her inside.

Anna's next challenge she needed to tackle was Elsa's fur.

As pristine and white as it probably was, it was currently muddled up by dirt and grime from being out on the street for who knows how long. While Elsa was busy exploring her tiny, one-bedroom apartment, she began filling up her bathtub. Hopefully, a quick rinse and lather would get her nice and clean again.

That is, unless, she runs away the second she sees the tub. Or if she scatters out of the tub the second her paw hits the water.

But Elsa had proven to be a well-behaved, if shy, puppy so far, which made Anna faithful that this would turn out just fine.

As if on cue, curiosity brought Elsa to the bathroom just as Anna turned off the faucet. "Come on in, the water's fine," she said as she swirled it around with her hand, "I can't believe I'm wasting all my best jokes on someone who can't even laugh."

Elsa walked towards her but, obviously, had no idea what she wanted her to do. Those piercing, curious blue eyes stared at the tub, back at Anna, and then back at the tub. There's no way this tiny ball of fluff could jump three feet in the air, she'd have to be carried in.

"So, uh...please don't freak out but I'm about to lift you up in the air. And put you in water that's up to your belly. And it's for your own good." She reached for Elsa with both her hands. The husky eyed them but didn't back away, and she looked at Anna as if to say that this was fine.

Anna picked her up, and the first thing she noticed was that Elsa's fur...was smooth. She was expecting soft and fluffy, like a bunny, but it was more like her hair. Which was fine, just unexpected, hopefully that meant she wouldn't shed so much while she had her.

The way Elsa rested limply in her arms reminded her of The Lion King, which made her chuckle, and putting her in the water proved to be an easier feat than expected.

Elsa walked around, curious to her new surroundings, and even started to lap up the water before realizing there'd be too much of it for her to drink. After waiting a little bit longer, Anna scooped some water into her hands and poured it on the puppy's back.

She flinched but didn't panic, so Anna continued to pour more water onto her and smiled seeing some patches of dirt come off effortlessly.

In fact, the whole bathing process went much easier than expected. Elsa walked around curiously as Anna gently scrubbed her clean. When she was done, she drained the bathtub and wiped the puppy down with a towel as best as she could.

After Elsa shook some excess water off herself, of course, and right onto Anna.

She had very limited knowledge of puppies, but knew that they at least needed food, water, shelter, and toys. The first three she'd gotten down so far, but toys were hard to come by. Or rather, they were hard to part from.

The stuffed animals in her room had a lot of sentimental value to her, but she could see Elsa eyeing them and knew that one of them had to be sacrificed to appease the puppy so she wouldn't run around and bonk her head on the table or whatever.

So, Anna chose a stuffed penguin with a button eye. It was a consolation prize she won at the fair because the guy running the coin toss took pity on her. While it would still be hard to part with Sir Jorgenbjorgen, it was kind of nice knowing that he would still be used for a good cause.

Anna sat on the couch, watching Elsa bat the old penguin around and chew on its button eye. It was nice seeing how well the newly-cleaned husky puppy was taking to her apartment. Or...not.

This was supposed to be a temporary thing, just until she found Elsa's owner. The less that the puppy got attached to this place, and to her, the better. But then what if she had run away from a crappy owner? Would she really want to take Elsa back to them?

And how would she even go about finding the owner? Going old school and putting up "FOUND DOG" posters around the neighborhood? There was no identification on her collar aside from the name, but the fact that she had one meant that she had an owner somewhere out there.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Elsa barking and growling at the lifeless penguin on her carpet. It was mighty in its own little way, but still high-pitched and squeaky, lacking any bass at all. Just like Elsa.

Seeing the surprisingly quick transition from timid, dirty stray to energetic, clean...still technically a stray warmed Anna's heart.

"Crap," she muttered, "I'm already falling in love with you, aren't I?"

Elsa paused for a second at the sound of Anna's voice, tilting her head as if waiting to hear anything else. After getting nothing else but a simple smile, she went back to work.

"Either way, I gotta take care of you," she continued. "At least for now, until we can find your owners."

A thought popped into her head, and she pulled out her phone to text the one person who could help her out with this new dilemma.

ANNA: Heyyyy, I got a thing I need your help with. Could you come over tomorrow?

It doesn't take long for her to get a reply.

KRISTOFF: A thing? Like a girl thing?

ANNA: You really think I'd be asking you about a girl thing lol

KRISTOFF: What's up?

ANNA: I'll tell you when you get here. Pleeeeeeassseeeee?

KRISTOFF: Anna

ANNA: Please? I'll buy you ice cream!

KRISTOFF: With what money?

ANNA: ...I'll make you a sandwich?

KRISTOFF: -_- Fine, I'll be there at like 11

ANNA: Yes! Thank youu, love you, you're the best!

KRISTOFF: Mmhmm.

Anna put away her phone, relieved that at least she'd have her older brother for advice and support on this new...thing. It was kinda rude to call Elsa a "thing", but she learned a long time ago that the vaguer her request was, the easier Kristoff would get on board with it.

"I think you'll like Kristoff," she says to Elsa, "He works part-time at an animal shelter, so he'll probably know what to do. Cause I sure as heck don't, heh. Okay, bad joke...that was a bad joke. I'm doing my best here."

Elsa, unfazed by all this, continued chewing on Jorgenbjorgen's eye.

"I...really am. Never had a dog before, or any pets really. I know you won't be sticking around for too long, but you've made this day interesting at least. I'll make sure to get you some actual puppy food tomorrow too, and maybe another toy, and a blanket. While you're here, you're going to get the best care that money can buy. Well...all the best care that my money can buy, which isn't a lot. Unfortunately."

But it was enough, she told herself.

This was something she'd never done before. The relationships she had in the past were all mutually exclusive, give-and-take (usually give, on her end). Puppies had no form of reciprocation other than licking and being cute. And yet she still wanted to do her best when it came to taking care of Elsa. If only temporarily.

After being told constantly, in different ways and forms, that she wasn't good enough...maybe this was what she needed to prove that she was. Maybe Elsa was the sign of her luck finally turning around.

Elsa stopped chewing on the penguin and walked slowly to the other side of her living room/kitchen. Maybe she was finally tuckered out from a long day of doing puppy stuff.

Anna smiled, "I'll do my best. While I have you here, I'll do my best."

Elsa responded by peeing on her carpet.