~ Chapter Twenty-One ~

Dinner was all Elsa had promised, despite Anna's reluctance. They went a little further out of their way than they had for the club — nearly half an hour's drive — but were rewarded with fine dining outside a restaurant that had been set up inside an ancient converted monastery. Elsa asked to see the wine list, and they were nibbling on the complimentary bread as they awaited it.

"So… feels like full circle, huh?"

Elsa's eyebrow went up. "Hmm? How so?"

"You, me, an old church…" She saw the recognition spark in Elsa's eyes, and they both smiled. "This is the kinda place you'd take your date to pop the question."

"Is it?" Elsa patted the low-cut chest of her blue evening gown a couple of times, then snapped her fingers. "Damn, I knew I forgot something."

Giggling, Anna kept looking through her menu as Elsa received the wine list. Everything looked both too good, and too expensive; she wanted to just keep eating bread and hope Elsa didn't notice. However, she knew her friend couldn't stand for it, so she simply waited.

"…yes, I think that works," she was saying to the waiter in the white uniform with the red sash, who nodded as he took mental note. "Oh, and Hierbas for afterward, of course." Then she turned to Anna. "Have you decided?"

"Ummm… no?" Pouting, she whispered, "Could you order for me? I'm up to my gills in all these frills."

"Poetry will get you everywhere," she chuckled. "Meat or fish?"

"Meat, I guess. I think we had fish last time we ate out, right?"

Nodding for a moment, the pop star held up a finger as she gazed down at the menu, then said, "Carpaccio for the apéritif, and then… I'll have this tuna, and my companion will have the solomillo - al punto, por favor." Her fingertip tapped the menu where the dishes were indicated, and the waiter bowed at the waist as he took their menus. "Gracias."

"Wow," Anna said with a smile. "You really knew your way around that menu. And Spanish, apparently."

"Oh, this is a great place; I always try to make it here at least once per visit. I mean, look at this!" Her eyes flicked up at the ancient stone and the iron chandeliers, which gave it an almost medieval look from head-height up. Below that, everything was a semi-modern display of elegance and refinement. "Couldn't you die?"

"Yeah, sure. Or be dragged off to the dungeon, at least." When Elsa quirked an eyebrow, Anna laughed and assured her, "Kidding. It's a great place. I already like the bread!"

Before Elsa could reply, a bottle came and Elsa inspected the label. As she reached to open it, the waiter asked, "Are we celebrating a… happy occasion, miss?"

"We are," she said obliquely - then fired the cork off, cringing. "Ah! I can never get the hang of that!"

"Very good, miss." He took the bottle from her and poured for the both of them, then left it to go tend their other clientele.

"Why did he ask if we were celebrating?" Anna asked as she reached for her glass.

"Because this is champagne." When the redhead's eyebrows went up, Elsa smiled. "And we are celebrating. I mean, I won't get to see you for a whole day; we have to send this one off right, don't we?"

Anna shrugged with a single shoulder, still gazing at the glass and resistant to trying a sip when she thought about how expensive its contents must be. "You gonna buy me diamonds for when we leave the island? It's only one day…"

"And it's only a Moët and Chandon. Not a Pérignon or anything that crazy." When Anna just fixed her with a dead fish look, Elsa ducked her head. "I'm… doing that thing with my money again."

"Yep."

"Okay. I, um… well, I can't exactly put this back in the bottle, but I can promise, no more frivolous spending. I mean, we can get small souvenirs, and food, and things like that, but I won't…"

"You won't… spoil me?" When Elsa nodded, Anna rolled her eyes and took a sip. Then her eyes widened. "Okay, but this is really good, right?"

Grinning, Elsa sipped at her own. Obviously, she was pleased, but she didn't want to brag about her wise decision.

It wasn't until after the carpaccio — which turned out to be thiny-sliced raw meat, and it took Elsa at least ten minutes of cajoling to get her to try — that Anna got the text. At first, she just ignored it. However, when Elsa got one of her own, she reached for her phone.

And her jaw nearly dropped clean off her face.

Sorry this took so long, I'm rly nervous, trying to man up and ask. You're just v cute! U wanna get lunch tomorrow?

Then she received another while still rereading the first: This is Mulan btw

However, her excitement and dizziness faded slightly when she looked up to see Elsa looking at her phone in disgust as she stuffed it back in her bag.

"What's up?"

"Oh… Snow wants to renegotiate her contract. Now they're trying to decide if she's got a valid point or not; we should be getting more royalties from album sales." Then she shrugged and waved a hand. "You don't want to hear about this."

"Sure I do! I mean, if you wanna talk about it. Or we could not."

Smiling softly, she said, "You're so thoughtful. Anyway, what was yours about?"

"Oh, I…" She shrugged, reaching for the carpaccio again, despite still being unsure if she liked it. "Nothing, really."

"Doesn't seem like nothing. Everything okay back home?"

"Well…" She couldn't lie to Elsa. The lie was so tempting, just to say "yeah" and have done with it, but she literally could not force herself to do that. Not when their friendship was barely starting. "That wasn't from, um… anyone back home, exactly."

"Mm?" she asked around a mouthful of champagne, which was almost gone by now. "Then who…" Her eyes lit up like twin Christmas stars. "OhhhHHHHhh."

"Now you listen-"

"Your little lovebird from Illustrious has come home to roost," she chuckled. "That took longer than I expected."

Blazing in both of her cheeks, Anna furiously gulped the rest of her glass — so fast she choked. "Hnngkk!"

"Careful!" Elsa half-laughed, half-gasped. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Anna grunted, throat a little more raw than the carpaccio now. "You're so mean!"

Smiling gently, Elsa laid both hands on the table, staring evenly at her. "I'm sorry, I was teasing. I thought we did that. You know, friends tease, right?" Then she pulled another bite of carpaccio toward herself. "Are you going to get to see her before she leaves?"

"Well… she asked, but I haven't… I don't know what to do. Come on, I already told you that I've never dated, I don't even know how to start! Like, what do people do on dates? Is it gross or low-class if I just say I wanna hit the beach, or is that normal when you're literally on an island?"

"Wow, you must really like this girl," Elsa said, her smile warm, yet subdued.

"I, um… she's the only girl that's ever shown an interest in me. So what's not to like? I'll never know if we have any potential if I don't go… put myself out there, or whatever! Right?"

"Suppose that's true."

After a few more seconds, Anna asked, "Elsa, what is it?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Guess I was just thinking about how nice it is somebody asked you, and that you'll be enjoying yourself tomorrow. Which you had better do, okay? Just… have fun with it."

Before Anna could demand to know whether or not that was really what had been bothering Elsa, their main courses arrived, and they dug into them with gusto.

~ o ~

"Wow, that was incredible!"

Elsa's laugh was soft as they walked along the sparsely-wooded, sand-covered roadway. They weren't close enough to the beach, but also weren't quite sober enough to drive home just yet. So they enjoyed the breeze in their hair, heels dangling from their fingers as they walked.

"It was," she finally answered. "For the food and the company."

"Again with this buttering me up, Elsa. Either propose already or quit that!"

Nodding with a chagrined little smile, Elsa stared down at the trail as they walked. "Can I ask you something stupid?"

"You can. I might tell you if it's stupid, though."

"That's fair," she snorted. "It's… well, I just want to make sure you're really having fun. And not just trying to make sure I know you are, but really, honestly enjoying…"

"Time with you?"

"NO!" she burst out, blinking in surprise. "That isn't- I meant the vacation, not me specifically, I… wh-what I said-"

"It's okay, Elsa. I'm enjoying it all. Ibiza, and you." There was no second-guessing or uncertainty in her tone. "This… I never could have imagined it, even. But you made it possible. I don't even know how this can be my life right now!"

Grinning from ear to ear, Elsa whispered, "Neither do I. But… I'm grateful to you for coming, too."

"Why? I'm just mooching off your generosity. Some friend I am."

"You are," she said firmly, staggering to one side just enough that their hips collided, making Anna laugh and stumble. "And I can do what I want with my money; spend it, don't spend it, let my friend make use of it so that we can have a great time on this island… anything." Then she made a vague gesture with the blue heels in her hand. "Now, if you were to, say, burn down SEEK House…"

Anna scoffed. "Yeah, 'cause it's me who almost left her hair dryer on."

"Don't be- I left it on for you!"

"But I was already done!" They both laughed at the ridiculous tone they had risen to in such a short time. "Sorry. But yeah, it's… I'd never want to do anything that would hurt you. Not ever, Elsa."

"When you say that… I almost believe it, Anna."

"Almost?"

Glossing over that, Elsa pointed at her friend's bag. "You should reply to that text. Make sure you snap her up for tomorrow to entertain you while I can't. It's a lot easier for me to go off to Cannes if I know you're going to have Lesbian Hotness hanging off you, keeping you busy."

After a few seconds, Anna did take the phone out. "I don't even know what to say, or how to say it. Or if I like her for sure."

"Just say 'yes' for now and worry about details later," Elsa sighed, staring out over the brush at the smallish town nearby, at the tiny sliver of pink that still held back the purple of night. "You're so perfect, I doubt there's much you could do to screw this up."

Despite that ominous phrasing, Anna did just as Elsa recommended.

~ To Be Continued ~