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NOTE: Thanks for all your reviews! We’re winding up with the final few chapters of Part 1 now, and we hope you enjoy them!

The next day dawned bright and ridiculously early. They had managed to get most people to start leaving by about 2am, and fortunately for Anna, she had no curfew to speak of. One of the few freeing things about this whole insane journey.

Elsa had managed to convince her parents that she was staying at Doc’s for the night to make sure they had enough time to get ready for the dance (Anna was sure that her grandfather had tuned out long before that point, but he’d definitely let out a grumble when Elsa had said that). Somehow, Anna had enlisted Doc in the ruse, even to the point of ringing the Baines’ to reassure them. Anna wasn’t sure what they thought might happen over there, but his words seemed to help.

The aftermath of the party wasn’t even that bad, either. Al’s crew took the leftover grog home – much to Anna’s relief – and most of the kids had been polite enough to actually use the bins, most of the time. Elsa had stolen her family’s Dustbuster to clean up the crumbs. Compared to the nightmarish idea of college parties perpetuated by the movies, this was wonderful.

Glancing over at her friend, she caught Elsa already looking her way, a small smile on her face. It vanished, a blush replacing it when she realised Anna was looking back. Neither spoke about the confessions the previous night. It was as though the daylight had chased away their nerves, sapping whatever courage they had. They did speak, but it only seemed to get more and more awkward the more they tried, so eventually they gave it up as a bad job and worked in relative silence.

Anna was dreading that night. Even though she knew she wasn’t the kind of person to take advantage of someone, there was the undeniable end result of Plan B – which was now their only plan. If they went through with it, Elsa would have to feel attacked, even if only for an instant. It wasn’t spectacularly comforting, and felt like undoing all her hard work to make her accepting of her own sexuality, but what choice did they have? If she didn’t do it… she would disappear.

And possibly destroy the world via paradox. No pressure, though.

“So… I’ll pick you up around eight?” Elsa asked once they had finished cleaning the model home. If Anna were honest with herself, it probably looked even cleaner than before the party. But then it clicked that Elsa had asked her a question, so she paused in her cleaning to do a few mental calculations. She needed enough time to put her plan into action, and then for Kristoff to ‘just so happen’ to see struggling in the Gremlin.

“Hmm…” One of the bags was chucked into the back of Al’s 4x4, the only half-decent means of getting everything to the dump. “Make it 8:15. I’m gonna try a thing with my hair.”

“But it’s agony to wait,” Elsa teased very softly, and Anna couldn’t help grinning. Even if she was trying her best not to find her mother “cute” during moments like that, sometimes it just wasn’t possible.

“Well, you’ll have to wait if you want perfection. If you’re going to the dance with me, I want to look my best, right? Not all… 'grody’.”

Elsa giggled; maybe she had used that slang term wrong, or maybe it was just that she found the thought of Anna looking anything less than beautiful to be a ridiculous thought. She had no way of knowing, because after that, Ariel brought out the final bag of trash and she didn’t have the chance to finish.

Then they drove back to her house. They had mostly just talked about party details and excitement for the dance on the way over, but now that they were there, Elsa seemed to have switched gears.

“So… the… last night.”

Anna froze in mid-movement, hand so close to the door handle. So close… "Right. The kissing?“

Elsa nodded, not looking her way. "Yeah, that. And… everything else… I’m sorry it got so out of hand; I kept meaning to stop, but you were so…”

“Elsa, I think we both know why you found it so easy to release your inhibitions. And it wasn’t just that I was 'so’ anything, was it?”

The blonde’s porcelain cheeks darkened, and this time she could tell Elsa was a little ashamed of herself. “Maybe you’re right. I would have really wanted to do it, anyway! But, um, you’re probably tired of hearing me act so gay about this.”

Anna winced. That was the first time in a long while that she had heard that word used as an insult, and it was Elsa insulting herself. So she reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re okay, you know. I mean… maybe we both need to learn some self-control; clearly it’s a real problem. And I’m not super thrilled you were drunk, but nobody died, and… and we’ll both get over it.” Maybe. Anna wasn’t sure she’d ever be over this, but her mother didn’t need to hear that right now. “So stop beating yourself up, okay? It was a little bump-and-grind, not a train crash.”

That seemed to do the trick, however. Elsa lifted her head and shot a grateful smile. “Thanks, Tori,” she breathed. “I’ll um, I’ll see you tonight! It’s gonna be the raddest and baddest!”

Opening the door, Anna finally escaped into the cool morning air. Though that wasn’t really fair. It wasn’t Elsa she was trying to escape from – it was her own feelings. Which was really messed up.

Sighing to herself, she trudged up towards the door. As she got closer, she could hear strange sounds coming from inside. A few muttered expletives (that were about as vulgar as “Dante’s Inferno!”) joined in the cacophony, and Anna was almost scared to open the door.

Then there was a scream of “Fire!”, giving her no choice but to burst in.

A smoke-filled garage greeted her, including a very flustered Doc stamping out the last remains of a pile of laundry. Not that Anna had any idea why it had been burning in the first place. Her heart did beat a little faster but she didn’t truly panic since he seemed to have it under control.

“Hey, Doc! What the hell is all this?!”

“An experiment!” What other answer had she expected? As she helped him put away the fire extinguisher, he went on, “I’ve been trying to work out the calculations in my head, but sometimes a practical test is in order!”

It was then that Anna noticed the model of Dell Valley. Every detail was represented, even if crudely. For a second, she merely walked around the table, coughing into her fist and marvelling at the handiwork.

Doc moved to stand next to her. “Apologies. I was pressed for time so it’s not as accurate as it could have been.”

Anna goggled him for a moment. “It’s uh… it does the job,” she said, voice disbelieving. Geez. She wondered when he could do if he actually did have time.

“That it does,” he agreed. “Now, from my tests I’ve been able to determine where you need to start driving from, taking into account the time, acceleration speed, and the weight of the car.”

“Cool. Basic physics. How are we going to channel the lightning into the car?”

Doc picked up the little model he was using as the DeLorean. There was a wire jutting up from the rear; it looked like a bumper car. “This.” Putting the car on the model road, he began 'driving’ it towards the clock tower. There was a wire hanging across the road, connected to the tower, that Anna had missed earlier. “If my calculations are correct – and they are – the moment the lightning strikes the tower, it will channel through this cable suspended between these lampposts. The car will make contact and, presto, you get sent back to 2015.”

“Nice!” Anna couldn’t stop a little grin from forming on her lips or the little thrill of excitement. Not many people boast about being struck by lightning. But then pretty much no one could really boast about being in Anna’s position right now, either, since she was actually the first human to ever time travel.

Nodding his agreement, Doc returned back to stand at her side. The gleam in his eyes was unmistakable, and she thought he looked like a kid who finally figured out how to tie their shoes. “This is our best and only shot. Otherwise, I’ll probably have to find some terrorist group willing to part with plutonium, and trust me… that is not going to go quite so easily in 1985 as it will in 2015.”

His chuckle at the end was distinctly derisive. But his mention of a terrorist group brought something back to Anna’s mind that she couldn’t ignore any longer.

“Right. Yeah, um… about that.” Clearing her throat, she glanced down at the fake street on the scale model, then back up at Doc’s face. “There’s something I need to tell you. That night-”

“Nope,” he forestalled her, holding up his hand and closing his eyes. “Not a word, not a word. The consequences for the future could be disastrous. I won’t hear another syllable.”

At that, Anna frowned. “Come on, this isn’t just me telling you what the hot phone apps are gonna be! It’s really-”

“You can’t tell me!” This time, he set the model DeLorean down and grasped her shoulders. “Listen… whatever it is, I’ll find out through the natural course of history. Look at the damage we’ve already done through ignorance. What if I began doing things deliberately to work toward a certain end? I could sabotage myself irreparably! Make things even worse for us, create another paradox!”

“Paradox? You mean that universe-destroying thing like me never being born?” Sighing, she wilted. “Fine. You’re the doc, Doc.”

“Good. Now, what do you say we try another experiment? Only hours left to go!”

Anna assisted him, though her heart felt heavy thinking about what had become of the Doc she knew. There was no way she could let that happen. But clearly, she was going to have to think of another way to warn him. Telling him straight out was going to be met with opposition no matter how she approached it.

And as Doc reset the model city to do another test run, Anna thought she knew exactly how.

~ o ~

After seeing to her plan, the rest of her day was spent working on her hair and nails. Normally, Anna didn’t care much about that, but she knew as much as any girl and muddled through on her own. The only thing left to do was to put on her dress – though she didn’t want to until the last second, however, given her own experience with nice clothes and toothpaste.

When she was done, even she was rather proud of the result. Her twin braids had been lost – instead, she’d wrangled her hair into a somewhat elaborate bun. Nails that would match the colour of her dress, once she put it on. A work in progress but everything was shaping up pretty well.

And good thing, too. She and Doc had a reasonably tight schedule, but Anna was also reasonably confident that everything would go okay. She refused to get too cocky, however; that was how she normally handled things, and she had to be better than she was normally.

The lightning was going to strike the clock tower at exactly four minutes past ten. To get there from the school, Anna had make sure Kristoff came out to save Elsa at nine at the absolute latest. There would be enough time for Anna to give a heartfelt apology and for Elsa to decide she was better with Kris. Then a last goodbye and she was off, sailing into the future that wouldn’t have ceased to exist.

She hoped. But she had to try. Giving up would accomplish nothing.

When the front doorbell rang, Anna ran down the stairs in a bit of a daze. Elsa was early! Anna wasn’t in her dress, but not her clothes from the party, either – instead, she had on one of Doc’s old polos. Terribly underdressed but hoping Elsa would understand, since she was early, she opened the door–

And felt her pulse flatline.

Elsa Baines was decked out in a stunning blue dress, made of satin or lamé or something. A white cardigan covered her shoulders and chest, and the exposed part of her neck showed off an elegant pearl necklace – one with a small sapphire pendant that was not nearly gaudy enough for the era. Probably her grandmother’s, though Anna couldn’t remember having seen her wear it before, nor the matching bracelet on her left wrist. The dress hung down just past the knees, a little longer on one side, and the look was finished off with a silvery strap heel. Now she noticed that Elsa’s toes were blue to match, like her fingernails were as they nervously hung onto the sequinned handbag. Even her hair was tamer than usual, the wild locks sweeping backwards from her temples. It wasn’t a perm, and Anna realised that Elsa looked… completely different to how she expected.

And that she would look completely terrible in comparison. How was this gorgeous queen supposed to show up standing next to an actual trash bag?

“Tori? What is- are you wearing that to the dance?”

“Like it matters,” she sighed in utter defeat. “Next to you, I’m gonna look like a square anyway. But I do have a dress. I just… couldn’t quite get it on by myself.”

“Ahh, and I suppose your uncle isn’t much help?” Anna shook her head, eyes still stuck on Elsa. It didn’t seem to make the other girl uncomfortable. “Did you want- I mean, I could… help?”

“Yeah, please,” she laughed. “I mean, without you I’ll be struggling into it and asking Doc- I m-mean, my uncle, to zip me up, but… you doing it is better.”

That certainly got her young mother smiling as she nervously shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “Rad. I mean, um, I’m glad to help. Want to show me to your room?”

That was exactly what Anna did. She couldn’t help but think how silly this would be if she was living in Doc’s tiny shack in the future; showing Elsa to a living room couch. Still, the cozy little corner of the house was nice, even if there were no real personal touches other than her clothes for the prom and a pair of sneakers near the foot of the bed.

“Cute room,” Elsa breathed nervously, tossing her handbag next to the door so she wouldn’t forget it. “So um…”

“Yeah, let me just… get started.” However, she didn’t move a muscle. “Yep, here I go.” Nothing. She knew the reason she was so nervous, and the reason was standing a couple of feet away from her, but knowing it didn’t seem to help her overcome the anxiety.

At least Elsa also seemed to understand. Ears burning red, she turned around without a word. And maybe that made it worse. Ripping her shirt off, although still trying not to mess up her hair, Anna tossed it to the side. She heard Elsa inhale sharply behind her. Pushing past that, Anna quickly stepped into the dress. The longer it took, the tenser the space between them became. Finally she had the cup sleeves up over her shoulders, the ruffles of the hem bobbing about mid-thigh. It wasn’t a terrible shade of green, but the shoulder pads made it impossible to forget the era. Who put shoulder pads with cup sleeves?!

Either way, by the time Anna was able to manage a soft, “R-ready,” she found that she didn’t feel ready at all. Not for any of it. She wasn’t ready for the dance. She wasn’t ready for Elsa to step close.

She wasn’t ready to go home.

Then she felt soft hands sliding up the exposed middle of her back. “It’s a nice dress,” Elsa whispered softly, the air caressing over her skin.

“Y-yeah? You like it?” When Elsa only continued to tease her, she managed a weak chuckle. “Or… do you like what’s in it a little more, maybe?”

“Sorry.” Except she didn’t seem sorry; not if the little kiss she left on the back of Anna’s neck was any indication. “You’re just so… irresistible.”

Then she did it again, ending the little kiss with a sigh against Anna’s skin. With the zipper done up, her arms came to circle around Anna, holding her there. Perhaps Elsa had remembered their time together was fast coming to an end. Just as she was blinking back tears, she felt Elsa step away.

“Els-?”

“I um, I got a camera for my birthday. I haven’t used it much because I haven’t really had anything that I wanted to take a picture of. And I guess… now I do.”

Alarm bells immediately began ringing in Anna’s head. She head Doc’s voice, warning her about how it might change the future. Confronted with Elsa, looking so vulnerable, and her own small understanding that she’s already fucked herself over regarding time travel… it made it so easy to break and give a shaky nod.

“Great!” Elsa breathed, her entire face lighting up with glee. “Hang on, let me get it - this is gonna be so awesome!” She turned and crouched down, beginning to rummage through her sequined handbag for the camera…

And poor Anna had to suppress a flicker of heat as she watched an appealing rump shift back and forth with the effort of locating the device. Did she have to find every part of this teenage version of her mom attractive?! She was still gazing stupidly in that direction when Elsa straightened up and turned back around.

“Okay, so it does have a timer, so I think if I set it on… the… what?”

“Huh?”

Elsa blinked a few more times before the mischievous smirk began to pull at her lips, passing the ancient camera idly between her hands. “I think somebody was just checking out the goods while I was bent over.”

“I think… someone’s a little… full of themselves,” Anna managed to retort. Incredibly unbelievably. She felt puffed, even though she’d done nothing to cause it. Elsa’s smile only widened.

“I think someone was checking out the goods,” she repeated, “and I think someone liked it.” She bit her lip and took a few steps closer. The way she was looking at Anna could only be described as “sultry”, and Anna felt her whole mouth go dry. When Elsa finally came to a stop, just in front of her, Anna felt her pulse thrumming fast enough to bring on a heart attack. She could hear the blood in her ears, and actually missed it when Elsa asked her a question.

“Wh-what?”

The smirk was back – it actually seemed wider than before, too! “I asked if you’re ready for this picture?” Elsa repeated. Anna’s face burned.

“Sure. Sure, yeah, um… yeah let’s do it let’s go let’s picture.”

“You don’t sound ready,” she teased as she moved to set the camera on the dresser. And this time, Anna could very much tell that Elsa was moving her ass around on purpose as she attempted to aim the camera lens properly.

“That donk,” she couldn’t help breathing.

“What’s a donk?”

“N-nothing.”

Giggling, Elsa turned back to smile at her. “I’m gonna give you a pass for being a total dweeb, because… I think you’re really hot, too.” Then she bit her lip for a second before adding, “Oh, can you put your heels on? So we’re closer to the same height and all that?”

Anna was so nervous that it took her more than a few tries to get the first bright pink plastic high heel on. By then, Elsa was kneeling in front of her with the other one, slipping it on as if she were Prince Charming. Her heart certainly didn’t feel like it would slow down anytime soon. Then Elsa was looking up at her, smiling all soft. Her thumb, whether she was aware of it or not, was stroking the skin on the top of Anna’s foot. It was such a delicate gesture, and Anna felt her bottom lip tremble again. She tried for a smile, and Elsa released her foot so she could stand up.

She was really in trouble.

“P-picture time?” she asked. Elsa took her hands, and for the first time since arriving in the past, Anna felt herself looking at a glimpse of the woman who would one day be Elsa McFly. That sweet spot between Anna’s birth and the alcoholism that was in full swing by the time her youngest daughter was twelve. The eyes of someone who cared with all her heart. It only lasted a moment – less than a second, really – but it was enough to sober her up.

“Ready?” Elsa asked, and all Anna could manage was a nod. There was a quick movement while Elsa set the timer before she had returned. This time she stood next to Anna, who tucked her head into Elsa’s shoulder. Whether it was instinct or insight, Anna couldn’t say.

Flash.

“Got it!” she cried out as she dashed over to the camera, snatching the Polaroid and waving it back and forth gently to help it develop faster. All smiles. This was a woman who was truly full of joy to be where she was then and there.

Anna came up and stood behind her, stomach tying itself into knots. How bad was it? How recognisable would she be? Her deepest hope was that she could get back to her own present day and her mom wouldn’t remember having the hots for her, which was going to be a lot more difficult if there was photographic evidence laying around…

“Awww, why did you do that?” Elsa half-laughed as they gazed at the two of them on the celluloid. You could see the top half of Anna’s face very clearly - and could tell by the bunching of her cheeks that she was grinning - but the lower half was shrouded behind her mother’s shoulder.

“Sorry! I’m just… I was blushing, b-because you, with the shoe thing, and…”

“It’s okay,” she giggled. “It’s really cute. Thanks, Tori; you let me be a lame geek, and I appreciate it.”

Anna smiled at her. She was still smiling even as Elsa began packing up the camera, and it only broke when Elsa, stood in front of her, tried to give her the picture.

“W-what? No, Els. You- you should have it…”

“Huh? Oh… well, I mean, we could both have one. Here, let’s do this again.”

“Alright. Wait…” A smirk stole over her face. “Let me have the camera. Just for a second.”

Curious now, Elsa indulged her. Anna took the camera, turned it around, and held it at arm’s length as far as it would go, slightly above them. “Okay, purse your lips like you’re gonna kiss somebody.”

“Hm? Oh, sure.” Elsa obeyed, leaning in and pursing her lips, though still looking at the camera. A thrill shot through Anna’s stomach as she repeated the same gesture, and she felt her mother shiver at the closeness. They might as well really have kissed again.

“Okay, now hold it… hold it…” Then she pursed her own lips just before hitting the shutter. “OW!”

“Ow, ow,” Elsa echoed as she rubbed at her eyes from the flash. But once the bright spots stopped dancing in front of their eyes, she nabbed the Polaroid from the front of the camera. “What the hell were we doing? I’ve never taken a picture like that before.”

Anna had to forcibly stop herself from answering “A selfie”; she knew that word wouldn’t exist for another couple of decades, and Doc would kick her butt if she did even more to disrupt the timeline. “It’ll be cute. Just you wait.”

The result was a sepia-toned image, only very slightly out of focus. The whole scene was softer because of it. And yes, they were dressed in 80s attire, but the angle and duckfaces were strictly Millennial. A unique artefact if ever there were one.

“Oh my God, Tori, we look ridiculous!” Elsa cackled. There was a massive smile on her face regardless, complete with a pretty red tinge in her cheeks that wasn’t just the make-up. She passed over the picture anyway. “You’re so unusual, but like… really cool.”

“Thanks. And thanks for this; it’ll remind me how much fun I had with you this week.”

That was a sobering thought, and Elsa’s smile slipped from her face. “Y-yeah,” she said, very quietly.

“Awww, c'mon, turn that frown upside down,” she chirruped with a big grin as she blew on the Polaroid and slipped it into her bag that stood on her dresser - the one Doc would be throwing into the DeLorean soon enough. “I’m just happy we got to hang out so much! And we still have tonight! Let’s rock the Casbah!”

“Well…” Huffing for a moment, Elsa finally seemed resigned and nodded, patting down her hair as she finally smiled again. “I guess you’re right. Come on, let’s get to the dance. I can’t wait to see all those nerds go crazy when they see two girls walking in together!”

The little chuckle was weak, but it was the best Anna could manage. “Yep. Can’t wait.”

“Okay,” Elsa breathed as they moved downstairs, obviously as nervous as Anna was. One of her hands came up to delicately push aside a wisp of her wild hair, tucking it back into one of the wings sweeping backward from her temples. “Do… I still look good?”

“Fuck me.” However, she had to shake herself when she realised that it wasn’t used as frequently as an exclamation of disbelief in the 80s, and that Elsa would probably take her literally. “I m-mean, yes! Yeah, you’re gorgeous!”

Elsa had blushed a deep red at hearing Anna’s expletive, and it only got worse at the follow up comment. “Thanks. Um… so you’re channeling your Cyndi? Though your hair’s not wild enough.”

Immediately, Anna was flooded with ideas that could most certainly result in messy hair. Coughing awkwardly, she held out her arms. “Yep! I bop! Anyway, let’s uh, let’s get to going.”

But Elsa didn’t move. At least, not to the car. She actually took a step forward. Her hands ceased their fidgeting, coming up to hover in the space between them. Anna said nothing, and within moments, Elsa made a decision.

Her hands fell forwards, down to rest briefly – appropriately! – on Anna’s hips. There were mere centimetres between them; so few that Anna could smell the mint on Elsa’s breath; could count the pale freckles dotting her nose. Anna held her breath. She knew what Elsa wanted to do, knew that she should stop her. But, she found that she couldn’t; not after making out, grinding, getting themselves off in mixed company. She was completely helpless by now.

Not that her resignation was needed. Elsa surprised her, yet again, by curling her arms around Anna’s waist and pulling her into a hug.

“Wha-”

“I’m so glad I didn’t screw things up,” she breathed against Anna’s shoulder. “This night is going to be incredible. I… I can’t believe I get to go with you!”

A little droplet of guilt fell into the pit of Anna’s stomach, but she ignored it soundly. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so disappointed that this wasn’t going to be a real date. That Elsa didn’t kiss her. That was stupid… wasn’t it?

“Tori?”

Wasn’t it?!

“I’m glad, too,” she finally forced herself to breathe, pressing her hands into Elsa’s back through her cardigan. “Now… let’s go make everybody jealous that they don’t look as rad as us.”

Finally, Elsa drew back to grin at her. “For sure! Joan Jett, eat your black heart out!”