Chapter Ten

The festival grounds were buzzing with activity, even this early in the morning, yet Elsa still found a moment of solitude. The makeshift stage at the edge of the park provided bands and spokespeople room to set up and breathe. She pulled up a folding chair and tuned out the noise around her, in mere moments she was in a trance as she threw her rubber ball up and down.

Up and down.

In a few short minutes, she would have to go up on stage and give the opening speech for the festival. It was simple: walk on stage, thank everyone for coming, verbalize her support for the businesses assembled, and then send them off. The closing statement that she and Hannah decided on was "Thank you all for coming out, and I hope you have an amazing time."

She wasn't anxious about the speech, more like the people she could see while she was giving it. Anna, not her speech, was the reason she was trying to calm her nerves right now.

Up and down, up and down, she told herself everything would be okay. Up and down, up and down, she told herself that Anna didn't control her anymore. Up and down, up and down, she told herself that she didn't care about Anna anymore…of course she didn't. Up and down, up and...it didn't come down this time.

She looked up and saw Hannah with the ball in her hands. "Elsa, the opening festivities are almost over. You ready?"

"Of course I am." She got up from the chair and went to take her ball back, but Hannah pulled it away and put it in her purse before she could grab it. "Seriously?"

"You have to be focused today, you'll get it back once the festival's over.", Hannah said like a kindergarten teacher lecturing one of her students. Sometimes Elsa wondered why she kept putting up with her. "Now you remember what to say right?"

Elsa straightened out her modest, ocean blue slip dress and tugged at the white belt around her midsection. "Of course," she said whilst trying not to roll her eyes.

Hannah frowned, "And you're sure you don't want me up there with you?"

She shook her head, "Having my assistant up there would look like I have no confidence in my own abilities. You're much more useful back here."

"Aww, you're so thoughtful," Hannah replied with scathing sarcasm.

Elsa said nothing else and walked toward the stage. She passed musicians pushed their instruments to who knows where, stagehands discussed how to keep the stage from falling on everyone and finally the head stage manager who motioned her to wait one moment before getting on. A couple of seconds later, he nodded and gave Elsa a thumbs up. It was all on her now.

She squared up her shoulders, let out a breath, and pushed away the curtain. As her vision adjusted, she took in the scenery.

West Arendelle hosted the festival every year in a large, grassy park. Usually quiet, today it was covered with eateries, clothing boutiques, fairground games, and so much more. An immaculate white picket fence created a border for the festivities, and each post had a plastic flag, alternating the Arendelle purple and green.

Aside from a full band setup, the only thing on stage was a black podium set up specifically for Elsa; on the front of it was the ArenCorp logo. They built it a couple of decades ago for the past CEO to come up and do his speech, and now it was all hers. All of this was hers.

A large crowd had gathered, store owners and the general public alike, to hear what she had to say. The flashing lights and obnoxious remarks told her that the paparazzi were here as well. This was the most amount of people she had seen come to see her talk since the press conference about her promotion.

It barely fazed her.

Anna, however, was nowhere to be seen amidst the crowd. She tried to not let that faze her either.

Elsa put on her best professional smile and began to speak, "Welcome everyone once again to the Arendelle Festival…"

"Hey boss, where do you want us to put the rest of the food?"

"Just put it down, I'll sort through it in a bit," Anna replied to the volunteer. "And I'm not your boss so you don't have to call me that."

The volunteer shrugged, "Hey, Oaken told us to listen to every word you said today. By my account, that kind of makes you our boss."

Truth be told, she actually liked being called "boss". Of course, it also gave her a bit of a big head, but she grounded herself by remembering the title was only temporary.

Their booth felt like it was specifically catered to the bakery. The front side had tables set under a gazebo with makeshift cooling racks, display cases, and a cash register. The tented backside had a fridge, standard baking equipment, and a stove for last-minute baking purposes. The plan was for Rapunzel to stay upfront while Anna commanded their volunteers, making periodic appearances outside to show that this was a team effort.

It was thanks to Oaken that they had volunteers and could carry this plan out in the first place. As if Anna needed another reason to love this benevolent giant even more.

They got to the festival a bit late, but early enough that it hadn't technically started yet. But because they were setting up so late, they had to miss the opening speech.

Rapunzel poked her head through the tent flap, "Anna we're just about ready out here, how's it looking in the back?"

"Almost done…", Anna replied as she continued to stack donut boxes on a table. "Are you gonna need me out there first thing, or can I stay back here to fix things up?"

"You don't have to be out here, but…", Rapunzel walked into the tent and picked up a box to help her, "Look, you don't have to be out here, but I want you to. This is your bakery too; I want people to see that. Plus, Oaken gave us these extra pair of hands so you wouldn't have to stress out too much, might as well put them to work."

"But we had an agreement."

"I know we had an agreement, and now I'm changing my mind about the agreement. At least for an hour?", Rapunzel's stubbornness would be annoying if she didn't always have the best intentions. She stacked the last box and patted Anna on the back. "Besides, you need to work on your people skills anyway."

"People skills? I have the best…I have decent…I know how to talk to people," Anna rebutted.

"You know what I mean," Rapunzel said as she stepped back outside.

She did, unfortunately. Anna didn't know when or how, but at some point in the day Elsa would make it to their booth. And she had to decide whether she would be professional or pick up where they left off.

So that meant Anna was going to be anxiously waiting and wondering whether the next customer to go by their booth would be the woman she scorned years ago and wasn't still in love with, not in a million years.

It was going to be a long day.

Regardless, Anna knew that the bakery was in good hands today, and with nothing else to do in the back yet, she decided that it was time for her to move to the front.

She squared up her shoulders, let out a breath, and pushed away the curtain. As her vision adjusted, she immediately took in the scenery.

Businesses lined the booths around them like a merchant armada. They were painted the trademark Arendelle purple and green but differentiated themselves with unique decorations and logos. She noticed, for example, a toy booth with small, ceramic replicas of Arendelle landmarks laid out on the front table.

Anna and Rapunzel made sure that Warm Hearts Bakery would be a cut above the rest today. They had purple and green cardboard hearts taped everywhere and dedicated one of the tables for samples. At the very front of the gazebo was the sign that they had spent the week designing: their bakery's name written in gold font with black borders. Anna called it "fancy yet casual"- Rapunzel called it "those two cancel each other out, Anna". Behind the bakery name was a simple, purple heart with silhouettes of two hands reaching out for each other in the middle. On the bottom corners of the sign were cutesy, cartoon drawings of Anna and Rapunzel with dorky smiles on their ridiculously round faces. They paid to get this design on a large, white vinyl banner.

Surprisingly, Elsa wasn't at the forefront of Anna's mind today; or she wouldn't let her be, at least. She knew that this was their last big opportunity of the month to meet their quota. They needed to bring in a lot of customers and a lot of money at this festival just to keep their doors open. Even though she was gonna keep an eye out, she was not gonna make her search for Elsa her top priority.

"Alright I'm here, you ready to do this thing?", Anna asked.

Rapunzel, checking over the contents of the cash register for the hundredth time, turned around and smiled at Anna. "Ready as I'll ever be.", she replied.

She walked over to the excited blonde and stood right in front of the samples table. She could already see and hear the people begin to pour in and scatter; the festival was gradually coming alive, some were already heading their way. The anxiousness was already starting to settle in. "We're going to be okay, right?"

Rapunzel let out a breath and rubbed her hands together, "Of course we are." There was an unwavering amount of confidence in her voice, it reassured Anna for the time being.

Elsa ran her fingers through a necklace that caught her eye. It had small, silver hoops that formed the chain and every other hoop had a different snowflake in the middle, and the chain met at the middle with a larger snowflake pendant. Its silver etching was a lighter hue than the rest of the necklace, and it housed a sapphire orb, the same color as her eyes. It filled her with content, but also an all-too-familiar sadness. She and Anna planned on taking a trip to see the snow after they graduated...

"You have quite an eye for accessories, Ms. Andersen."

Elsa snapped out of her trance and let go of the necklace. She turned to see an old woman fitted from head to toe with bejeweled accessories. The countless necklaces, bracelets, and rings clinked together with every step she took. Maybe it was because she was still in awe, or blocking out the memory of a trip that never happened, but Elsa was at a loss for words.

The old woman walked clinked towards her and placed a bejeweled hand on the necklace that Elsa was eyeing. "This sapphire was mined from the caves in Corona, largest one in the bunch; it has been passed down from pendant to pendant for hundreds of years. There's an old legend surrounding this gem, would you like to hear it?"

Elsa nodded, yet such a simple act felt like it was being done by another person.

The old woman smiled and held the necklace up to her eyes, "They say that anyone who holds it will find their true love within the hour."

Elsa couldn't help but scoff. However, when she spoke, there was uncertainty in her voice. "That…can't be right."

That had to be a legend, a tall tale, something passed down to give people false hope. There were too many variables to consider, it couldn't be possible to find your true love within an hour of holding this gem. And besides, it wasn't like Elsa believed in true love anyway.

The old woman simply kept the smile on her face and put the necklace back on its display. "It is as true as you want it to be. After all…", she put up one ring-filled hand, a silver one with a small diamond shone brighter than the rest, "…the gem is how I met my husband."

Elsa stared wordless once more, wondering whether she should believe anything she was saying. Her eyes then fell back towards the necklace, the sun reflected it at just the right angle to make it shimmer. Each individual snowflake reflected a different facet of herself, and in the center of it, all the sapphire orb stared right back at her. Instinctively she once again held the pendant and ran her fingers along the gems.

She opened her mouth to speak, even though she had no idea what to say, but before she could say anything a familiar voice interrupted them.

"Elsa, isn't it about time we saw to the other booths?", Hannah said rhetorically. She almost forgot that she was behind her this whole time.

Elsa turned her head toward Hannah, "Right, of course, we should get moving." She let go of the necklace and nodded in expected gratitude towards the old woman, "Thank you for your time, you have a lovely shop."

"No no, Ms. Andersen, the pleasure is all mine," the old woman replied with a nod of her own.

Elsa followed Hannah towards another booth, trying to shake the events that just transpired out of her head- even questioning whether they actually happened at all. Magic love necklaces didn't exist, they couldn't exist.

"I've actually been to her shop before, Shimmer, she's really nice and has like all these stories she tells everyone. You looked like you were really enjoying yourself back there," Hannah quipped with an amused grin on her face. "What was that all about anyway?"

"Nothing, it was nothing."

Hannah looked at Elsa, Elsa refused to look at her. "Hmm…sure it was. Anyway, we're still right on schedule, we've got about 25 more booths to cover with four hours to do it. I want to say that we can take our time now, but who knows what we're going to see next."

Elsa bit her lip to keep from saying anything about the bakery.

"According to the map, our next stop is…a butcher? Now that doesn't sound sanitary, how did that get approved?"

They continued their walk across the festival, dodging people with souvenir cups, flags, hats from the souvenir booths. It was nice seeing the citizens of Arendelle having a good time, Elsa smiled politely at a few of them as they passed each other. Events such as these gave Elsa a feeling of joy she rarely felt these days, she loved her city and everyone in it.

Almost everyone.

And as they rounded the corner, towards a butcher shop apparently, she saw one of those people. A lot sooner than she expected to see her again.

An hour into the festival and Anna had been to the back of the booth at most three times, two of those times were to help out the volunteers and that took like two minutes total. She actually liked being up at the front with Rapunzel, it reminded her of fifty percent of the reason she wanted to be a baker: the people. Every pastry, every baked good, that they sold to a small child or a couple or anyone in between was usually accompanied by a genuine smile and thank you. It made her heart, well, warm.

Right now, she was actually in the middle of helping out a family who couldn't afford to buy their daughter a muffin.

"Pleeeease mom, it looks so good!", the little girl said as she loomed over the chocolate chip muffin. If she wasn't wearing a frilly pink dress, had short red hair, and freckles all across her adorable little face, Anna probably would have found that kinda creepy.

The mother and father looked at each other as if they were having a private conversation, Anna looked at them as if she could hear them.

The mother wanted so badly to get the muffin for their little girl, the father wanted to make sure they had enough money for the rest of the festival seeing as their tote bags were already filled with caps, clothes, and for some reason a slab of uncooked steak. The mother understood that but also knew that it would make their little girl so happy, the father reasoned that there were other places here where they could also get things that would make their little girl so happy.

The mother sighed, conceding defeat, and she placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Honey, maybe…"

But Anna, the perceptive and nosy person she was, interrupted her before she could say anything else. She took the chocolate chip muffin, put it into a small white box with their bakery's logo stamped on it, and held it out towards the mother. "Why don't you take this muffin for free? Your daughter looks so excited and I'd hate to disappoint her…not, I mean, not that I'm saying that you would disappoint her if you didn't buy this- and not that this is like any ploy for you to buy a muffin from us, especially since I'm actually giving you to this for free and…anyway uh yeah, have a muffin, on the house."

The mother was speechless, mostly because she couldn't comprehend why this strange woman was talking to her and why she knew exactly what she was going to say. She gave Anna a gracious nod, however, and Anna assumed everything was okay. "Th-thank you for your offer but we couldn't possibly-"

"Mom, please?"

The mother looked back at her child, and so did Anna. She had these big puppy-dog eyes that she must have rehearsed in front of a mirror every day, and it worked. The mother sighed and took the boxed offering from Anna. "Thank you,", she said with a smile.

"It's no problem at all," Anna replied. She looked down at the little girl and gave a smile of her own, "Enjoy!"

The family walked away, leaving Anna feeling so accomplished. Giving away one muffin probably wouldn't hurt them. Besides, it was all worth it just to make people happy.

"My, you two seem to be doing a wonderful job."

Anna's ears perked up. She knew that voice, and she knew it could only belong to the most generous person she ever had the privilege of working with. She turned to her right and there he was: Oaken, in his barrel-chested, multicolor-sweater-donning glory. "Oaken! I didn't think you would show up!"

Oaken laughed, "But you invited me, remember?"

"Well yeah, but I assumed that you would be too busy at the school to come. I hope you didn't have to leave on account of me inviting you to see us."

"No you are most certainly fine, in fact I did not leave a single one of them behind." Oaken turned his body and stretched out his hand to show the masses of school children being corralled by teachers and volunteers alike, roaming the fairgrounds with matching light blue t-shirts with the name of the school and its cherub mascot printed on them. "Oh the children always love coming to the festival. It brings good spirits for all!"

"Oh, well that's nice!"

"And how are the volunteers? They have been vigilant in their work, I hope?"

Anna nodded and gestured towards the back tent, "Yes actually, they've been a great help. It's just that aside from keeping the back of the booth organized and keeping the food coming, I'm not sure what else I can tell them to do. That's- I mean I'm not saying that they don't have any use other than that, it's just…like...I really don't know of any other ways they can help us out."

"Anna it is okay; they were the first few to raise their hands when I asked who wanted to help your bakery at the festival. They will gladly help with anything you ask of them, be it a task you give them now or two hours from now."

"Really? Wow that's…that's actually really kind of them. I have to remember to give them something after this thing is over."

"Now now, do not worry about paying them, I have that covered."

"Oh no I didn't mean like with money, I meant like giving them something to show that I really do appreciate their help. Honestly, I…I don't want to let them go. That doesn't sound selfish, does it? It's just that it's only me and Rapunzel, and having all this help feels like a breath of fresh air." Anna laughed nervously, but she didn't know why.

Oaken smiled and his eyes shifted as if he just thought of something, "Not selfish at all. But…I have a proposition for you, Anna, if you are willing to listen to it of course."

"Of course I am!", Anna replied with wide eyes. She didn't think there was anything else that Oaken could do for them.

"Now this is not set in stone, but I was thinking…Rapunzel told me of the financial situation that you two were in. I would hate to see the two of you and this wonderful bakery to be gone, so I will be rooting for you that you can make it. But if you can make it, well, I did notice how understaffed you are."

Anna ran her hands through her hair, trying to hide the built-up tiredness from this first month, "Just a little."

"Would you mind a little help at your bakery?"

"What do you mean?" Anna could see where this was going, but she didn't want to assume anything.

"Would you like the volunteers you have today to start working for the both of you? I would still pay their salaries, of course, but they would be working for you and only you!"

Anna couldn't say anything at first, too overjoyed by the fact that she was right.

Oaken was telling her that if they survived this month that they would be getting a few extra workers to help them. That was by far the greatest news she had heard in weeks. A few more moments passed, and she still couldn't say anything; there weren't any words she could think of to describe how grateful she was to have this selfless man in their lives. Instead, all she could do was duck under the table, crawl out, stand right back up, and give Oaken the biggest hug she could muster.

Oaken laughed that belly rattling laugh of his and hugged Anna back. "I will take that as a yes."

"My my my, what a surprise. The great Elsa Andersen here in the flesh."

Elsa did her best to transfer all the anger and hatred she had into clenched fists she held behind her back, forcing a smile on her lips. "Ms. De Vil, it's a pleasure to see you again. How have you been?"

"Oh, I have been terribly busy crushing my foes underneath my hot-pink heels. Why just last week I was forced to buy out a competing fabric shop who, for some inexplicable reason, couldn't conjure up a single penny all month long. I'm sure you know how that feels."

"I…can't say that I do." Elsa could see the game this woman was playing and knew that she didn't want any part in it.

"Well, not now but I'm sure you will. After all, being the boss means making the tough choices once in a while. Or in my case once every week!", Cruella cackled, making the family walking past them shy away.

Elsa herself let out a small, unamused chuckle. "You do make a good point, being a CEO means making some tough calls. But I'm sure I can manage it when the time comes."

Cruella raised an eyebrow, "When the time comes?" Elsa could honestly say she had no idea what was going on in this vile woman's mind, and that was discouraging. The older woman hadn't played a single one of her cards, so Elsa stayed on the defensive. But that was all about to change, in fact, Cruella was about to show her whole hand. "I noticed that your 'little bakery that could' is at the festival. I guess they made it on the short list? How bold."

"Warm Hearts Bakery is one of our newest business prospects, them being here helps both the bakery and ArenCorp gain some good publicity. And you can never have enough of that," Elsa replied, even though she hated any kind of publicity.

Cruella looked at Elsa amused and predatory in a way. As if the blonde had fallen right into her trap. "I wouldn't say that's entirely true. Good publicity all the time keeps every journalist from here to Agrabah nipping at the bud to get that one juicy bit of gossip to show the world that you aren't the perfect angel you think you are."

Elsa dug her fingernails further into the palm of her hands. "I wouldn't say that I'm a perfect angel…"

"Oh but I never said I was talking about you, darling." The raven-haired opportunist looked proud of herself for winning this round of the mental game these two were playing, the one Elsa found herself sucked into no matter how much she resisted. "In any case, I do hope that quaint little place succeeds to make a profit today, especially since…well…"

Elsa really didn't want to bite, she really wanted to walk away and pretend this conversation never happened, but she had already taken the bait. If she wanted answers, she had to keep biting. "Since what?", she asked, suppressing the growl forming in her throat.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard of the Southern Isles Baking Company right? Why of course you have, they're only one of the five largest baking companies in the world. Now I haven't seen them yet, but I heard from a reputable source that they would be here."

"Really?" Elsa didn't know how, but she was sure that Cruella had a major hand in them being here. She did in fact know what the SIBC was and knew that you didn't become the baking conglomerate that they were with crappy bread. Warm Hearts Bakery was in trouble, which meant so was she.

Before she could say anything else, Cruella walked towards her and placed a bony hand on her shoulder. She smelled like cigar smoke and perfume, an intoxicating and nauseating combination. In a hushed voice so that only Elsa could hear, she spoke menacingly, "Best of luck getting out of this mess, darling."

Cruella walked away, leaving Elsa to stir in her own thoughts and emotions. She knew she had to compose herself, keep up appearances and show her city that she wasn't this overemotional mess all the time. But when her enemies were literally right at her doorstep and old ghosts from the past were working right under her nose…it's a miracle she had been keeping it together this whole time.

"Elsa? You alright?"

Hannah appeared right beside her, looking deeply concerned. It was then that Elsa remembered where she was. She unclenched her fist and let out a calming breath, the realization of what she needed to do hit her hard. She had to find Anna, find her bakery and…and warn her. The irony of this situation didn't escape her.

"I'm fine.", she lied. "But there's something I have to do. Alone."

The festival was in full swing now, the sun was at its highest and the fairgrounds were completely packed. Oaken left to go be with the children, and Anna and Rapunzel continued to work at the front of their bakery. Business had gotten progressively slower as the hours ticked away, but it wasn't anything to worry about just yet.

During a lull in their responsibilities, Anna stood next to Rapunzel at the cash register looking out at everyone else, an activity she had gotten so used to doing throughout the day. "How much have we made so far?"

"Well it's hard to say but…judging by the amount of food we've already sold, it's gotta be at least somewhere in the thousand range."

Anna lit up, "Thousands?!"

"No, thousand, singular. Which, I mean, that's still a lot but…judging by the number of people here today, you think we'd be making more."

"True, I guess," Anna replied after pondering this for a second. "But we'll still be okay, right?"

Rapunzel let out a breath and smiled, "Right." Anna could see it in her friend's eyes, she wasn't entirely sure of herself.

Doubt and worry weren't about to start creeping in yet, not if Anna had anything to say about it. Things weren't going to end here, not after they made it this far. They would find a way to make the money no matter what happened. Right now, though, she needed to cheer up her friend. And by cheer up, she meant distract. She walked over to one of the display cases and took out two large chocolate chip cookies, tossing one to Rapunzel. "Come on, I think it's about time you and I took our union-mandated break."

Rapunzel snorted, "Anna, we're not part of a union."

Anna tore off a piece of the cookie and popped it into her mouth. "We're our own union," she mumbled. "Now eat up before I eat it for you."

Rapunzel knew better than to argue with Anna any longer, it was a pretty silly argument anyway. She just smiled and tore off a piece of her own. "You're so bossy."

This was the first moment that the two could actually take a break and enjoy themselves. The whole morning they had to be on all the time, making sure everyone was served and that things ran smoothly in the front and the back. Anna slipped away for a second to tell the volunteers to take a break as well, and then she was back sitting on top of the plastic table enjoying this moment. Everyone else at the festival was doing it, so why couldn't they?

Unfortunately, a moment was all it seemed to last. Rapunzel's phone started to ring and the shock on her face when she answered the phone worried Anna. "What's wrong? Who is it?" she asked.

Rapunzel didn't answer her, she stayed focused on the person on the other line. "Wait, you're here? But I thought…no! Of course I'm happy you came, but I thought you had that thing today…okay, okay yeah I'll…be right there." She hung up and looked at Anna with the guiltiest of expressions like she had just killed her non-existent puppy. "Pleeease don't be mad at me?"

Anna raised an eyebrow, "Why would I be mad at you?"

"Uh, so…remember that guy I met at ArenCorp a while back?"

Anna frowned at her.

Rapunzel bit her lip, "Right, sorry I forgot that wasn't something you wanted to talk about."

"It's fine," Anna replied, even though it barely was. "What about him?"

"Well, I-I maybe sorta got his number while I was there, and I've been talking to him for a while now." With her free hand, Rapunzel ran her hands through her ponytail. "I've been wanting to actually go out with him for a while but our schedules just haven't worked out very well. And even though I knew it was a long shot I invited him to come to the festival so he could at least see what I do."

"Still trying to figure out what's the problem here."

"The problem is…", Rapunzel sighed, "…he actually showed up, and I'm supposed to meet him at the gate."

If Anna hadn't already finished her cookie, she would have dropped it straight onto the dirt. "You…what?"

"I'll only be gone for like 15 minutes tops!" Rapunzel sat up and patted Anna's shoulders. "Then I'll come straight back here and I'll work my butt off for the rest of the day. It's just that…you know I really like this guy and this is the first time I've seen him since…you know."

"I…'Zel I can't manage this place by myself!"

"You'll be fine! Plus, you won't be by yourself, we've got Oaken's guys here with us too, remember?", Rapunzel scooted under the table and made her way to the gate. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes!"

"Rapunzel wait!", Anna cried out, but she was already gone. "I don't even know how to open the cash register…"

"It opens automatically when you make a transaction."

And suddenly the next fifteen minutes for Anna went from bad to worse. She lifted her eyes up off the confusing white contraption and saw that her wait was over.

Elsa was here, inches away, and she didn't look happy.

A/N: School is still a valid excuse for lack of updates, right?