One Week Later

"Can you at least promise me that she's alright? If she's not ready to see anybody that's fine, but I'd sleep easier at night knowing she's okay."

"She's… coming around," Rapunzel sighed into the phone. "All we can really do is take it slow and hope for the best. He still hasn't woken up."

"Damn… and the hospital they have absolutely no idea what happened? Shouldn't they have security cameras, or nurse patrols or something?"

Rapunzel brushed aside a stray lock of brown hair and wondered how many times she must have asked those questions already. She could sadly only repeat what her father had told her, "They're still trying to piece together what happened. Apparently Hans had one of the nurse's key rings… but we're not sure why Elsa of all people would have been involved with this. According to the orderlies, the two never interacted. They think that maybe Hans was trying to get to Adam, the boy he got into a fight with all those weeks ago. Maybe Elsa was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Anna hasn't said anything yet but… she must know something." Rapunzel sighed, casting a forlorn glance towards her bedroom. "But until she wants to tell us or until Hans wakes up we're all in the dark."

"Yeah… well, I guess just tell her I called? Again? And that Sven says hello?" Kristoff's voice sounded meek and subdued. Rapunzel could tell that he was terrified for his friend, worrying himself silly about her wellbeing. Not that she could blame him; apparently Anna had yet to explain what was really going on. Kristoff told her that they'd spoken briefly, and he'd even come by earlier that week to bring her homework. That had been days ago however, and he hadn't heard anything from Anna since.

Rapunzel smiled, but it was half-hearted. What a dedicated guy. "Sure thing, Kristoff… I'll call you if anything changes."

The two said their goodbyes and Rapunzel returned to the couch and her boyfriend's embrace. One thing she loved about Eugene was how calming his energy was. His feathers were incredibly hard to ruffle, and in a family with a ridiculously long history of sadness and hardship he was a welcome addition. That's not to say he was unfeeling, for he cared very deeply about her and anything having to do with her, but he was always her rock. No matter what was happening in her life, Rapunzel knew she could snuggle right into his chest and instantly know that things were going to be alright.

Maybe not right away, but eventually they would be.

Eugene's arm came up to wrap around her shoulders and pull her in close, but besides the quiet grin that tugged up the corner of his mouth he made no move to bother her for information.

Obviously he knew that things were tense, and he was just as eager as anyone to figure out what had happened, but he knew that now was not the time to push. They couldn't push Anna, they couldn't talk to Hans, and if waiting was all they could do then that was that. "Y'know, I haven't seen the Reindeer King in a while. We should have him over for monopoly or something. He's awful at it; it's pretty fun to watch."

His girlfriend hummed into his collarbone and pressed herself tighter against him. He was silent for a moment, looking down at her with affection and understanding in his eyes before turning back to the television. "Maybe some other time, I guess."

Anna watched the two, snuggled up together, and couldn't help the stab of envy that pierced her down to the core. Her eyes were rimmed with red, burning, watery and dry all at the same time. The results of days of crying, of being terrified by the innumerable futures her mind envisioned.

Anna was sick of crying. She was sick of seeing Hans, broken and bloody, in her mind's eye. She was sick of feeling helpless, of being hurt, and she was sick of…

Anna sighed and turned away, heading back into Rapunzel's bedroom, the room she was guilty of stealing. She owed her cousin at least a coffee after the way she'd swooped in and scooped Anna up after they'd all gotten the news. Anna flopped down onto the bed, face down, and pulled the covers up over her head. It was easier to be curled up in a ball than it was to not be curled up in a ball.

She hadn't even found out Hans had been hurt until her Uncle had called her… her Uncle that she hadn't seen since last Christmas.

"Anna, are you alright?"

"Uncle? Yeah, I just walked in the door. What's up?"

The down comforter and pillows were soft, but still scratched at Anna's tired eyelids as she buried her face deeper in a desperate attempt to find security. She'd been right there, right there in the hospital and Hans had just been wandering around. The nurses had no idea why, thought that maybe he was off looking for another fight.

When her Uncle made a passing comment about a young blonde being found in the same stairwell, scared out of her wits, not saying a word… a horrible sinking feeling had hooked its claws between her ribs and clung on. Every day that passed without a word from the hospital made the feeling worse, made it feel like the hooks were digging in and trying to get to her heart.

Elsa being in the same stairwell where Hans had cracked his skull open was too awful to be a coincidence.

"They think he might have fallen, tripped… but you and I both know that your brother isn't the type to just lose his balance like that. It's… more likely that he was pushed."

Anna hadn't fully understood what had happened until her Uncle showed up at the apartment with her Aunt in tow, the most dour of expressions on both their faces.

"He's been moved to Arendelle General. It's… better if you're not alone right now."

"…can I see him?"

"Not yet."

"Why not?!"

"Anna… he hasn't woken up yet."

She'd spent two days pacing, biting at her nails, fidgeting at awkward meals she spent eating less than half of her meal. What remained of her family could only look on, feeling what they knew was only a fraction of the worry that plagued Anna's already fragile state of emotional equilibrium.

When they finally made the drive over to the hospital, no one had been sure how Anna would react. Not even Anna herself. Sure, they all worried that she'd break down, cry hysterically, maybe even shout and refuse to leave his side. But when they were escorted to his room, and Anna finally saw him, what happened next was so out of character for the normally exuberant ginger that her family all left the hospital more worried than they had been beforehand. Rather than any reaction Rapunzel and Eugene might have been ready to deal with, Anna had been utterly silent. The only noises that escaped her were quiet questions for the doctor: how bad was it? Did they have any idea when he'd wake up? Was it too early to tell if there was going to be permanent damage?

Linear skull fracture, broken nose, multiple contusions, multiple bruised ribs… the doctor listed them all off like bullets on a to-do list.

Anna may not have looked like she was paying any attention at all to what the woman in the lab coat was saying, but she absorbed every word. As she sat at Hans' bedside, tracing his injuries with her eyes, she made a list of things she'd have to research when she got home.

Thankfully the most invasive thing they'd have to do was re-set his nose; according to the nurses he "looked" a lot worse than he actually was. The bruises were black and ugly, the handful of stitches at his forehead was grotesque, but he was not broken beyond recognition.

"It's a waiting game for now, but he's in great shape. Young, tough… he'll pull through. What we're worried about is how he'll react when he finally does wake up. If he was handling anger management issues before the injury, worst case scenario is they'll be worse when he comes to. TBIs can cause any number of mental issues: mood swings, depression, and anxiety, to name a few. He could be in for a rough road."

That had not been at all reassuring to hear.

"Thankfully, we have some of the best therapists on call for cases like these… but we can talk about that later. For now, I'll leave you to your visit."

When it had been time to leave, Anna's eyes were glassy of course, but she did not cry. Rapunzel and Eugene cast each other worried glances when all Anna did was sigh tiredly and turn away from her brother's bedside. She didn't say a word the entire ride home, didn't object when her Uncle firmly "suggested," he stay with either them or with Rapunzel and Eugene. She did grin half-heartedly when Rapunzel slung an arm around her shoulder and claim that she would "of course," be staying with her.

For once in her life, it seemed that Anna's brain was finally beginning to analyze a crappy situation from all angles. She wasn't consumed by sadness and grief, her pain was motivating her to be productive and think about how she could make things easier for both herself and her brother. Later that same day she'd called her Uncle and asked him to put their apartment up for sale. She also told him that she planned on moving in with him and her Aunt, after she was able to convince Rapunzel that she'd be okay. There really wasn't enough room for her in their admittedly-precious little one bedroom apartment. After two days she'd already felt like two much of a moocher.

She'd hopped on the computer and spent three hours learning about brain injuries and recovery times, speech therapy, physical therapy… she wanted, needed to feel informed.

She called her school, explained what was going on, and asked that Kristoff be allowed to bring her homework home with him for her to do. The principal had sounded suspicious, and asked if she could speak with her Uncle about this to get his approval. She of course said yes, and the very next day Kristoff had come barging over with a bear hug, a stack of homework and notes from concerned teachers, and an entire pizza.

It had been good to see him, but he'd been asked to leave not long after they'd all split the pizza. He'd of course had questions and concerns, but she'd shrugged them off with a smile and just asked for time. She was trying to handle this on her own as much as she could, and even Kristoff had to admit that she seemed to be doing better than he could have hoped.

Then Elsa's mother had called.

And all the progress she'd made, all the mental cheerleading she'd put herself through was gone in an instant. Why?

Because the second she heard Catrine's voice on the phone, she realized she hadn't thought about Elsa once in the past 72 hours. Beyond immediately understanding that Elsa had been the blonde cowering in the stairwell with Hans' bruised and bleeding body, Anna hadn't spared the poor girl a thought. When Catrine called to ask if Anna had any idea what had happened, and to tell her that Elsa was… not handling the situation well, her heart sank to the floor and panic gripped her heart.

Knowing that her brother would recover gave Anna new room to worry about someone else all over again, and now that person was Elsa.

Catrine's voice had been calm but Anna could hear the frantic, motherly concern beneath the forced politeness. She knew that even as the older woman asked after her brother's welfare, all Catrine really wanted to talk about was her daughter. Why had Elsa been involved in this? Again, someone was asking if it was just coincidence. Again, someone was asking for answers that Anna did not have.

All Anna could picture was Elsa, alone. Scared.

And Anna had hung up. There was a rushed goodbye, a forced promise to call when she could. Catrine had been trying to say something, may have even been trying to reassure her that things would be alright, but now that Anna was reminded of Elsa and all the time she'd spent not thinking of Elsa when their relationship was already at an incredibly fragile state…

The tears had returned, and today had been the first day she'd actually been able to feel something other than sadness.

Anna rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how they'd all gotten here. Her brother was in the hospital, and her best friend was worried sick about her…

And quite frankly, she was sick of feeling powerless.

She stood up suddenly. The need to do something, anything was only partially mitigated by the dizziness that lack of eating caused her. She grabbed her car keys, threw her hair up into a messy bun, and unplugged her phone from its charger. Before she was even out the door her phone was dialing Meg's number, and thankfully Eugene had a habit of turning the TV up way too loud for the pair snuggled on the couch to notice Anna quietly slip out the door.

Twenty minutes later, a very confused, very worried Megara was seated across from Anna in Ralph's ice cream shop. While she still wasn't quite used to the way such a small ginger could put away at least two pounds of ice cream, her demeanor was serious even as she absentmindedly played with the bendy straw stuck in her root beer float. "So… Gingersnap, are we going to talk about why you've once again been missing from school or did you just bring me here to watch you eat your weight in frozen milk?"

Anna shoveled another three spoons of ice cream into her mouth before she sighed contentedly and wiped her mouth on a napkin. "I needed that," she murmured to herself before leaning back in her seat and rubbing at her eyes. "Alright, I've had a really rough week and I'm sick of having rough weeks. I think my body is finally starting to build up immunity to them though, because for the first time in a week I woke up feeling super motivated rather than super depressed."

Confusion pulled down at the corners of Meg's ruby-painted lips. Her voice was gentle though when she asked, "Did something happen with Elsa?"

Anna immediately groaned and tried to wave the question away. "Yes, yes it did but if I talk about it I'm going to get sad again and I'm really trying to stay positive right now."

Meg blinked. "Uh, okay? So, then what do you want to talk about?"

Anna placed her hands down on the tabletop and leaned forward, as though she were about to impart to Meg a great secret. Being Anna though, her voice was nowhere near secret-sharing levels. "First off, I wanted to say thank you for being my friend." She shushed Meg's immediate attempts to deflect the praise and continued on. "I'm not sure how it happened or why you've decided to stick with me despite all of my drama and the missing school and stuff… so thanks. Hanging out with you has been really nice."

The pinkness of Meg's cheeks was incredibly gratifying, and Anna smiled as she reached over to pat Meg's hand. "Well, you're welcome. Thanks to you too, I guess. I know I can be a bit of a crabapple sometimes."

"Try most of the time, sassypants." Anna just grinned when Meg narrowed her eyes, and turned to check her phone. Whatever she saw only increased the intensity of said grin, and she turned back to Meg. "So, the reason I called you here. It's partially for selfish reasons, I'll admit, but I really need a bit of positivity in my life right now and seeing you happy would totally count. So, I called Kristoff and we're about to kill two birds with one stone because a certain someone has been trying to clear their own conscience for your sake and I think it's high time you two just sat down to talk."

All of a sudden Meg felt eyes on her and she paused. "Oh, don't tell me…" The brunette turned and sure enough, Kristoff was standing at the entrance of the ice cream shop, holding the door open for a very uncomfortable-looking football player. "Wonder Boy?"

Hercules had flowers in his hand and for once was not wearing his varsity jacket. He was actually dressed a lot more like the history nerd Meg had first met in the library, University of Olympus sweatshirt and all.

It was clear that Meg's irritation was not lost on him, because he looked to Kristoff for reassurance before fully stepping into the establishment. Anna, for her part, looked incredibly pleased with herself and stood to greet the poor boy. "You made it! Nice sweater." She smiled brightly at his shy utterance of thanks before grabbing her dish and standing. "Well, you know the deal. Get Meg to forgive you and we're cool. Cool?"

While Hercules nodded, Meg's jaw dropped. "Excuse me? I am not a bargaining chip, Gingersnap." Anna and Hercules both turned to look at her and in that moment, Meg froze. All of a sudden she understood exactly why she'd felt so overly protective of a girl she barely knew. She was actually surprised she hadn't realized it before. The same ginger hair, the same bright, oceanic eyes… the same bumbling awkwardness and kind hearts.

Distracted by her own realization that her best friend and ex-boyfriend could have been twins in another life, Anna cut in before Meg could retort. "Meg, I know you miss him. Even when you complained about what a jerk he'd become, no offense Herc, your eyes would get all sad. And I know he misses you, he told me so himself. Practically blubbered like a baby when he did, too."

"Hey!"

"Oh come on, you know you did." Anna giggled while Hercules rolled his eyes and continued to grumble that he so did not, and turned back to Meg who was still staring at the two of them in fascination. "At least hear him out? If his story isn't convincing, then I'll never try to get you two back together again. Promise!"

What kind of promise is that? Meg thought to herself. She turned her lavender gaze back onto her ex, who was to her surprise watching her with a gentle look of hope, reminiscent of days gone by. Eventually, she huffed and held up her cup. "Refill first. Then we'll talk. Also," now she turned to Anna. "You and the Reindeer King don't leave this shop. Sit over at the counter where I can keep an eye on you, because I still have questions and noogies to dish out for keeping me in the dark. Got it?"

"Got it!"

Anna gave a salute before scurrying away to join Kristoff, who immediately brought her in for a bear hug and Hercules immediately swapped her half-finished root beer float for the lilies he'd bought for her. Her favorites. The sappy jerk.

Catrine Helland was both at a loss and overjoyed. It was a bitter, selfish sort of overjoyed however.

The incident in the stairwell had done damage to her daughter, which was obvious to anyone with eyes. What was worrying all of them though, especially Catrine, was that none of them could truly know how much damage. Elsa had seemed to retreat into herself once more after the incident, and most of the doctors and nurses assumed that that fear had to do with the young man that was even now lying in a hospital bed.

It made her feel ghastly, but Catrine couldn't say that she didn't think he deserved it. While no one but Hans and Elsa really knew what had happened, motherly instincts told Catrine that there was some modicum of foul play present.

What was worrying her the most however, was the way Elsa reacted whenever Anna's name was brought up.

Instead of the soft warmth and half-hidden smiles that Anna's name always previously brought out of her daughter, Catrine now watched on as her daughter's spine stiffened and her hands trembled. She'd spent quite a fair bit of time crying too, which always made Catrine's heart break.

The only silver lining in this entire horrible situation was the note that Catrine now held in her hands… along with Elsa's release forms.

Their daughter was leaving the institute… by her own wish.

'I want to go home, mom. Please.'

Elsa had written it herself, before Catrine's very eyes, and it had been so long since the two had communicated with words written or otherwise that Catrine had at first been flabbergasted. All of Elsa's previous attempts to actively communicate her own wishes or desires had resulted in failure, in withdrawn bouts of tears and cloying silence that they'd long since lost hope.

And now that hope was alive and well.

Catrine was still worried of course, she wanted to get to the bottom of whatever seemed to be plaguing her daughter, but now they'd be doing it from the comfort of their home. Where she was safe. When Catrine had first gotten the call from the hospital she'd been terrified that her daughter had gotten hurt, and now that was a fear she'd (hopefully) never have to feel again. Dr. Wesselton had apologized profusely, multiple times, and insisted that going home was not in Elsa's best interests. Catrine would not hear it. She had in fact heard enough of Dr. Wesselton for a lifetime. Now she was going to do what she probably should have done a long time ago, and bring her baby home where she was safe. Healing would happen at her daughter's pace, when she was ready for it.

"Elsa dear, your father is outside getting the car. We can go whenever you're ready…" Catrine paused in the doorway to her daughter's room. She'd tasked Elsa with packing her things whilst she dealt with Wesselton, and from the emptiness of the room she surmised that her daughter had nearly finished. Something was wrong though.

Elsa stood with her back to her mother, but Catrine could see her daughter's shoulders shaking. When Catrine glanced towards the bed, she had an idea of what was wrong. All of the paper snowflakes that had previously hung from the ceiling were laid out and carefully arranged. If Catrine's memory served, Anna had helped her daughter make those. Her gaze softened and she stepped forward. "Oh, Elsa… I know you miss Anna," she cooed. "I'm sure she's just worried about her brother right now. I'm sure she'll call us when she's ready." In truth, Catrine was worried about Anna, for multiple reasons.

One of those chief reasons was the possibility of Anna disappearing from Elsa's life.

Elsa was crying. It was obvious now that Catrine was closer. Catrine's heart clenched in her chest and she reached out to lay a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Oh Elsa…"

Elsa turned suddenly, and to Catrine's great surprise stepped forward into her mother's arms. She buried her face against her mother's collarbone and Catrine could hear her sniffling. Hear it. Tears of her own sprang to life and she wrapped her daughter up in her arms, shushing her gently and petting her hair. She heard the crunch of paper between them and understood. Elsa had been taking down the snowflakes and obviously the thought of Anna followed.

My poor baby… Catrine thought to herself. "Hush, my dear. You're going to be fine. You both will be."

Not dead, children. Just busy. Enjoy.

-Cel