A/N: It's 1am and this is a little late because I had to stay back at work because we were shortstaffed, but here, I hope you like it. Two things: First, I wanna wish a Happy Birthday to AD Lewis. I hope it's still your birthday wherever you are, because the date ticked over here :P and number two: the ending to this is mostly because of a comment I received on AO3 in which the commenter said that the previous chapter was the first that Anna isn't a complete jerk to Elsa, and I was like, "well, can't have that". So... sorry. You just have to trust me when I say that this /is an Elsanna story. Enjoy!

In the five minutes she had taken to run to the nifty (read: fucking weird) vegan café down the road to buy a carrot and stop by the edge of the park to find suitable twigs and stones on the way back, Elsa seemed to have become a master snowman-builder. To be fair to her poor head, Anna conceded that snowmen weren't really all that difficult to make if the snow was right. And Elsa certainly had a lot of energy.

That being said, she hadn't expected Elsa to know what a snowman was, let alone have the ability to build one—but lo and behold, when she stumbled back towards the centre of the park, where the snow was at its best, Elsa was happily patting a suspiciously quivering lump of snow, packed into a rough approximation of a snowman. It was six feet tall and if Anna hadn't known better, she'd have said that it looked just the tiniest bit like Kristoff.

A quick glance around revealed no sign of the burly blond, and Anna realised that, no, she didn't actually know any better.

Her dog had all but buried her friend in a stunning likeness of himself made out of snow. How she'd even managed to get him to stay still long enough was beyond her comprehension, so she chose not to thing about it at all, really.

And besides, Elsa looked so happy. Her tongue poked out a little, trapped between her teeth as her mouth propped open a little. Her eyebrows weren't furrowed in concentration, but there was a powerful—honestly, it was more like an intelligent look—in her eye that showed just how focused she was on her task.

Anna almost laughed at the way her face fell, giddy expression dripping from her features like a melting wax candle, when Kristoff blew out a lour puff of air and snow sprayed her face. The rest of the powder around his head dropped off in small clumps, and when he shook out his shaggy hair, thick cracks began to appear across his body.

When Sven, bouncing around Kristoff's legs (just because he could), ran into his owner's backside, it really only made everything worse (well, to Elsa, at least, judging by her expression) because the rest of the snow began crumbling, leaving gaps and making Kristoff's clothing visible.

It didn't take him long to shake the rest of it off, grumbling under his breath. This time, Anna really did laugh at thee scowl that appeared on Elsa's face, and she took a step towards the girl.

"Kristoff bad snowman," the blonde muttered under her breath, eyebrows still drawn over narrowed eyes. Anna didn't have the heart to tell her that she got snowman-building completely wrong in the first place.

So, she didn't. Instead, she slung her arm over Elsa's shoulder, ignoring Kristoff (who had, after muttering something about freezing wet clothes) as he marched off, Sven tagging loyally behind him.

"Come on, Elsa. We'll make another snowman-"

She was cut off by a rather loud gurgling noise coming from the blonde, and found her gaze flitting to Elsa's stomach. The noise came again, and Elsa reached out a tentative finger, poking herself. Her stomach grumbled again, and she promptly threw her arms around herself, trying to block out the noise.

"How about some food first?" Anna asked. "Then we can build a snowman."

A smile graced Elsa's face, and she nodded. And her stomach still wouldn't shut up, which began to sow small seeds of guilt. How much food had she actually given Elsa? There was the spaghetti yesterday morning, and a bit of a pop-tart today.

It was okay when it was just herself, but now she had someone else actually relying on her. Ugh what kind of pet owner was she?

Waving her hand, she beckoned to Elsa to follow her. She had a feeling that Kristoff wouldn't return, and even if he did, he had her number. He definitely wouldn't begrudge her leaving to get Elsa food. Well, maybe he would, if he knew they were just going to slip down to the local McDonald's. It was either that or go and eat the almost-full bag of puppy food that was sitting in the bottom of the pantry.

... Anna really had to go shopping.

She barely noticed when Elsa wrapped herself around her left arm, holding on gently. Every other time (or so it seemed), she had made it her mission to squeeze the daylights out of Anna's limb. This was much nicer. She didn't say anything, more focused on her surroundings and the people they were passing; now that they were getting closer to the shopping district, there were more people around. The sun was high in the sky, and Anna wondered briefly what the time was (but she was too lazy and didn't care enough to actually check). It didn't matter, anyway. It was Sunday. No school, no work (though she wasn't looking forward to both the next day. She'd have to get a babysitter to watch Elsa overnight).

The very idea wasn't one she was willing to entertain at that moment, and so she chose, once again, to ignore it.

Dear Lord, she was irresponsible.

Shaking her head, she glanced down at Elsa, who was in the middle of a giant, silent, yawn. When she finished, she realised Anna was looking at her, and smiled. She didn't say anything.

Suddenly, Anna didn't want to buy a cheap take-out meal. Sure, it wouldn't be Elsa's technical first, and definitely not her last, but she still wanted it to mean something. The day had already been good.

Leading Elsa further down the street, Anna came to a stop outside one of the many cafés that littered the area. "What do you want for lunch?" she asked, smiling. If she wanted to make this memorable, it would be easier if Elsa chose what she wanted. She might not like something, and that would just be a waste of money.

Anna wasn't expecting Elsa's enthusiastic response of, "Biscetti!"

What the hell is 'biscetti?' It sounds like something you'd name a fish...

Of course, there was really only one thing Elsa could actually mean, though. "...You mean 'spaghetti'?" Anna asked cautiously. Elsa nodded her head emphatically, grinning.

"Biscetti!"

"All right, then," Anna said. "We'll get that."

Now that she had an actual destination in mind (namely the little Italian joint tucked away behind the Subway and Dominos Pizza), it didn't take long to get there. Even her own stomach was protesting (albeit not as loudly or angrily as Elsa's), and it was a relief when they slid into one of the few unoccupied tables. It seemed as though Gusteau's (for that was the name of the eatery, it seemed) did a roaring lunch-hour trade. It wasn't a big restaurant by any stretch of the word, but there were a good half-dozen other groups. A family in one corner (the other three taken up by old people on dates), and a rather rowdy group of teenagers who, from the snippets of conversation Anna was unable to ignore, were rather crass people. At least there were no young children around.

Ordering a plate of pasta puttanesca for Elsa, and a fettuccine carbonara as her own meal, Anna found herself looking at Elsa. Really looking at her. It was weird, but she actually seemed sort of... normal.

Elsa was sitting across from Anna, hands clasped in her lap. She'd look down every few minutes or so and poke herself in the stomach, but other than that strange action, there really was nothing that screamed out 'I used to be a dog but now I'm a person! Hah!'.

When she caught Anna looking at her, she ducked her head bashfully, and Anna decided that it was time to go to the bathroom because cold water sounded good right about now. She needed a clear head. She needed to stop thinking the same things over and over again because it was getting her nowhere.

"Stay here, Elsa," she said as she stood up. "The food will be out in a minute. I'm just going to the bathroom—I'll be right back, okay?"

This time, she didn't start nodding first; Elsa just... did it. Anna walked away with a proud smile tugging at the corners of her mouth because hey, Elsa might not be a dog, but she could still be trained!

Anna had only intended on splashing some water on her face, but when she got to the bathroom she realised that she actually did have to go. Which just wasted more time that she... actually had to waste... because she ended up washing her hands twice, either side of actually going to the toilet, and she needed to wait for them to dry both times.

Or, maybe she was just enjoying the solitude of the bathroom. It was the first real breather, real time she'd had away from Elsa all weekend.

She was in for some serious mulling that night.

She had begun to plan exactly what she'd think about that night—the things she needed to get straight in her head—as she stepped out of the bathroom. Any and all thoughts immediately fled her mind when she was only a foot outside the door because Elsa. And not in the good way.

Anna felt the blood drain from her face and her veins fill up with complete and utter mortification, along with heaping doses of embarrassment and 'wants to sink into the floor'. Because Elsa. Because this girl who looked older than Anna herself was up to her elbows in pasta sauce as she happily scooped it into her mouth with her fingers, looking for all intents and purposes like a five-year-old with finger-paint. And here Anna was having such a good day.

"Anna!" Elsa cried out, waving her hand as she noticed the red-head. The action caused most of the sauce to fly off and land on other, suspecting patrons, because everyone had stopped their own food and conversations and were just looking at the apparent adult eating spaghetti with her hands like a toddler. The teenagers were openly laughing at Elsa, and the old fogeys were shooting her looks of either disgust or disdain. Even the employees had no idea what to do, caught between the 'the customer is right' mentality and 'customers also usually have basic table manners'. Why Anna had thought this was a good idea was beyond her now.

And then Elsa said her name again, louder, and everyone shot her a look. And this look wasn't mixed with anything else. Where Elsa herself had garnered several different reactions, the only one people seemed to be able to send Anna was pity.

Swallowing the warmth building in her chest (and this wasn't a good warmth), Anna marched over to Elsa, who was still, stupidly, had spaghetti sauce around her mouth again, the only evidence that she had actually attempted to eat it because it was also through her hair and on the clothes she had borrowed from Anna. It had even found its way into Anna's meal.

She wasn't very hungry anymore.

Grabbing a napkin, she wiped roughly at Elsa's mouth and fingers, trying to get as much of the sticky sauce off as possible. People weren't looking at them anymore, but Anna could still see their expressions in her head, and it was just as bad.

She picked up her food, and what remained of Elsa's, and took them to the counter. "I'd like these to go, please," she said, ignoring the way Elsa crept forward and tugged on her elbow, sending her a curious look. The kid behind the counter completely avoided looking at Elsa (who still had sauce on her left cheek and temple), and only did so to Anna when necessary.

A minute later, she'd paid for everything, and they were on their way. Anna was perfectly content to ignore Elsa for a bit after the stunt she pulled, especially when the girl paused in the doorway and yelled out a cheery "Bye!" to everyone. It made Anna's teeth clench and she just wanted to go and yell at someone. Elsa, preferably, because she was the cause of the red-head's anger.

Anna was halfway down the street by the time Elsa caught up, and even then, the red-head did everything in her power to stay a few steps ahead. At the pace she was walking, the ten minutes it took for them to get to the shop from the park was reduced to three, and then in no time at all, they were home.

And maybe what annoyed Anna the most was just how oblivious Elsa was.

"What was that?!" she cried, slamming the door shut behind Elsa. The girl flinched and didn't say anything, but then, Anna didn't really expect her to, either. "Why did you have to embarrass me like that? Sure, you might be some kind of animal, but jesus, you had to act like it, too, didn't you? You had to ruin a perfectly good day, didn't you?"

Elsa said nothing as Anna shoved the leftover food into the fridge. She hadn't moved from her spot just inside the door, and Anna found herself unable to actually look at her and tell her she could move. Anna shut the fridge door, but didn't turn around. Instead, she leaned forward, forehead coming to rest on the freezer section as she spoke, voice muffled and definitely not shouting. It wasn't even as aggressive as before. She was just sort of... resigned.

"Just... go. Go have a bath and clean yourself up. I have work to do."

Anna didn't move until she heard Elsa's soft footsteps pad across the carpet.