NOTE: Sorry about the wait for this chapter! I had to do more rewriting than I planned. On the upside, the fic is a full chapter longer now! Updates should arrive a little faster from this point forward.

Also, thank you again to The Chronicle for their in-depth review! And to Obsessive Imaginings for their... random... spinoff fanfiction? Haha I enjoyed reading it, made me laugh!

~ CHAPTER FOUR ~

The chime of the door was as quaint as the rest of the establishment when they walked inside Tiana's. Anna grasped Elsa's hand and began dragging her toward the old Wurlitzer jukebox immediately, as if that had been the only reason they went.

"Wow, look at this selection: Huey Lewis, The Cars, Madonna, Prince… there's nothing in here since the early Nineties."

Elsa's eyes had been casually scanning for Janet Jackson, but she refrained from mentioning that since she hadn't noticed any. Rummaging in her purse, she announced, "Hmm… well, I do have a few quarters. You pick."

"Really? You bestow this honour upon me?" When Elsa rolled her eyes, Anna giggled and took the handful of change, plunking every quarter into the slot. Then she paged back and forth in the selector a few times before settling on something, hitting the appropriate buttons, and turning to grin up at Elsa.

An enthusiastic guitar lick rolled out of the overhead speakers, followed by upbeat drums and synthesizer in a minor key. Again, Elsa believed she would have no idea what the song was, but a moment later she was snorting in recognition.

"'Venus'? Wow, it's been a while."

"Can't beat Bananarama, even if it is a cover." Then she hit a couple more buttons for their next songs before turning back to Elsa. "Okay, where's your usual seat?"

Elsa led her to a booth in the corner, tucked a little out of the way from the rest of the crowd. Not that the crowd was all that large, but there were always a handful of regulars, maybe a family that had decided to stop in for a change of pace. Once back there, they looked through the menu for a few minutes.

"She'll take our order in a minute," Elsa promised as they laid the menus aside, having settled on what they wanted.

"Good," Anna said, taking up one of the sweetener packets and playing with it to distract herself. "I've been hoping to see more of your life, find out where your path lies. That was why I dropped by your work, really; the food was an excuse. But, um, I kinda felt like I crossed a line somewhere. Sorry about that, if I did."

"You did." Elsa saw Anna's fingers freeze, so she knew her tone had been harsher than she meant. "But don't worry about it. Obviously, you weren't trying to hurt me."

Nodding, Anna took a moment to think before trying something else. "So… how'd things go with the rest of your day? I don't think you said why you got held up on the way home."

That instantly upped Elsa's pulse, but she tried her best to ignore her reaction — and not to think about Edna's shop. "No good reason, boring things. What did you do while I was at work?"

"My laundry," she giggled. "I figured you'd be mad if all my clothes were still nasty by the time you got home, so I jumped on that. Took me a while to find your washer and dryer, though. How long have they made them stackable like that?!"

Elsa couldn't help snorting. "A long time, you hippie. Sorry we don't have a running stream nearby and rocks to beat your clothes against."

"Yeah, geeze, me too. You capitalist." After a second, she sighed and set the packet aside. "I know, I'm kind of a pain in the ass with all my new worldviews and the habits I picked up during my travels. I swear I believe in all this stuff, I really do! But your eyes glazing over when I start going into detail tells me I'm turning into some kind of… Alternative Lifestyles Jehovah's Witness, trying to get my foot in your front door and shove my philosophies down your throat. Totally didn't mean to act like how I live is 'better', it's just… better for me. That's all. You didn't think I meant you were somehow lesser than me, did you?"

"A little." When Anna wilted, she reached across the table and grasped Anna's wrist to stop her fidgeting. "It doesn't mean I don't care for you anymore. I can love my sister without being interested in making underwear out of hemp, or whatever."

Anna's only response to that was an "Ow," followed by both of them giggling. Just about that time, a woman in an old-fashioned "diner waitress" uniform approached, complete with ruffled apron and headpiece perched just in front of the bun her black hair had been arranged into. A nametag that said "Hi! I'm Tiana" rested on her checkered lapel, which, as it turned out, was a bit redundant.

"Hi! I'm Tiana," she told Anna. "Nice to meet you. What can I get you two?"

"I'll have my usual," Elsa said easily, though Tiana was already writing it down before she spoke. "How's everything been tonight?"

"Slow," Tiana laughed as she tapped her eraser on the pad. "You know that, though; we stay afloat, get by. Just doin' what I do. What's your name, honey?"

"Anna," she replied with a pleasant smile. "Elsa was telling me she's been here pretty often."

A little shrug from their waitress. "Only every week for a year or two. Must be doing something right!" They all chuckled for a second before she asked, "So what'll it be? Do you need a minute?"

"I'll just have the blueberry pancakes. Oh, and um, tea? If you have it."

"We got Lipton and that's about it." Anna nodded her approval, and she jotted it down. "Bacon or sausage?"

"Oh, can I just leave that off? I'm trying to stay away from meat." When Tiana merely raised an eyebrow, she hurried to add, "You don't have to substitute anything, I don't care."

"Tiana Maldonia makes sure everybody gets fed," she said in a firm voice. Anna couldn't suppress a huge grin. "How about… applesauce? Since you're ordering off the breakfast menu."

Anna nodded contemplatively for a few seconds, then a little more. "Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks!" Tiana saluted with her pencil before sweeping off toward the kitchen.

"Won't eat meat," Elsa scoffed. "Since when? You used to love spaghetti and meatballs."

"Since a few years. Seriously, I am Vegan, but I'm a little less hardline about it now that I've been in situations where meat was the only food available. Like, it's not my religion or anything." When Elsa only rolled her eyes, Anna leaned forward on her elbows. "Okay, so I'm a hippie. Tell me about you, then."

"What?"

"You know. Why is this your favourite diner? What else do you do at work besides get smoothies? Do you really read all those romance novels in the boxes in your hall closet?"

Elsa blinked a few times, then heard herself begin to stutter as she hissed, "Y-you've been snooping around my closet?!"

"Not 'snooping', I just checked it to see if I could shove my bags in there. But it was full of trashy kissy-kiss books!" When her sister only tutted in irritation and looked away, she giggled and said, "There's nothing wrong with reading romance novels, I'm not saying there is! C'mon, I'm teasing."

"D-doesn't feel like 'teasing'. Feels like an invasion of p-privacy, and you making fun of me again."

"Elsa…" With a sigh of frustration, Anna fell silent, looking down at her hands on the tabletop. Tiana brought along Anna's tea and Elsa's coffee, and blinked a few times at the quiet table before bustling off again to wait on a newer customer.

"Anna… I wish you wouldn't do things like that, but I'm sorry for overreacting."

"It's okay. I was being kind of a bitch."

"Not a bitch, but… nevermind."

"I just thought-" Catching herself, she took a sip of her tea. "Not bad."

"Just thought what?" No answer. "Anna, please, I really want to hear what you're thinking."

"I just thought maybe I could talk to you about your books, and you'd get flustered and defend them, and we could… do the sister-bickering thing, I don't know. I'm trying to perceive your aura, figure out what wavelength you're on now. But I keep missing it by just a teensy bit."

"Maybe you'd know if you ever stuck around for more than a few days at a time." They both flinched. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so bitter. But it's true; you can't expect to 'get me' in a week when so much time has passed. That's just unrealistic."

Anna looked down at the table for a moment. Her fingers took up the sweetener packet again and fiddled with it until it burst, then she started at the sight of white granules spilling out onto the table in front of her.

"Anna?"

"I'm sorry," she breathed as droplets of moisture fell into the pile of chemical grains. "I'm s-so- I wanted to s-see you again, and you… no. N-no, this is my fault; I w-want it to be yours, so I won't feel so guilty, b-but it's mine. I should have come back sooner, should have stopped m-making excuses."

This couldn't be real. Elsa goggled at the sight of Anna literally crying in the middle of the diner. She was doing what Elsa would do, trying to keep her voice low and minimise how obvious it was, but she was still letting a few tears slip past her guard.

"Elsa, I love you. So m-much! And maybe I haven't… d-didn't show it very well, or at all, but…" All at once, she seemed to snap herself out of it, scrubbing at her eyes with the heel of one hand, loosing a self-deprecating laugh. "What a baby I am. Not very zen of me to push all my emotional bullshit on you. It's not your responsibility."

"Oh, Anna…" Sighing, she reached forward to take one of her shaking hands. "Why are you so stubborn? Guess that's one of the few traits we do share."

Shrugging, Anna said, "Yeah. Think we both got it from Mom." Taking a deep breath, she began to slowly let it out as she said, "Sorry about that. Um… can we start over?"

"How so?"

"Why do you like those books? Genuine question, and I meant it last time but… didn't ask the right way. Not in a very nice way, I guess."

"Why does it matter to you, though? I mean, they're just books." But Anna's face was very serious, despite the occasional sniffle. Finally, Elsa shrugged and whispered, "I don't… know, exactly. I used to read more cerebral fare, and I still do from time to time. But these books are easily-digestible. Like most people watch soap operas, but I find these novels are more engaging, more… I don't know, sorry."

Beginning to smile faintly, her sister leaned in more, took up Elsa's hands and squeezed them. "That's fine. What do you like about them? What parts bring you the most satisfaction? I mean, you don't have to answer, but I want to know what you like. I'm really sorry for making it sound like I just wanted to poke fun at you."

"You really did. But… I guess I can see how you'd think we were playing around." She chewed on her bottom lip, and Anna just rubbed her thumbs over the backs of Elsa's hands. The action was a lot more soothing than she cared to admit. "Something about… meeting a man so suddenly who's everything you've ever wanted. Then, um… then him s-sweeping the leading lady off her feet, and…" By now, her face was hot. "I can't. I can't keep going, I'm sorry."

"You're fine. Completely fine; that's nothing to be embarrassed about! It's a totally normal thing to want, right? To have somebody embrace you, make you feel a sense of belonging." After a few seconds, she added, "Do you like the kissing parts, the steamy parts? Or do you only read for the romantic plots?"

"I like all of it." Then she laughed weakly. "Well… alright, if the steamy parts are badly written, I do end up skimming down the page. Or if they're too racy and I'm at work reading them, I'll skip ahead."

Anna's smile was more genuine than she had been expecting. "Cool, I get you. Weird to read that kind of thing with other people around. But… I do think there's nothing wrong with liking those books. Sorry about teasing you, it was like, how you used to tease me about collecting Barbies. I knew you didn't really think I was stupid for liking them; you were messing around."

"Oh… the Barbies." At that, Elsa smiled very briefly, in a secret, completely enchanted kind of way. Then the smile fell off entirely. "Oh. The Barbies."

"What? What is it?"

"I… I've done something very bad, Anna," she confessed quietly, unintentionally squeezing her hands more tightly. "Your Barbies are gone."

"Gone? Like… what do you mean, what happened?"

"I sold them. When Mom and Dad… well, taking care of all that stuff at the house while you were abroad. I came across them, and you weren't there to ask, so…"

For a moment, Anna looked a little put out. But she quickly shrugged and hitched a smile onto her face. "No biggie. I mean, honestly, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to play with them ever again, anyway. Who cares?"

"But they were yours! I should have just stored them, but I was trying to get rid of everything so I wouldn't have to rent a storage facility. Seems so cold to have done that now."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't even have any collectable ones, just ones I thought were 'cute' back then." After a heartbeat, she did ask, "Um… any of my other stuff make it?"

"Not really. Some photos, and a few softball trophies, I think. Don't know where they are now. But the rest of your things… I'm so sorry, Anna, I wasn't thinking straight."

"You were upset. We both were." Squeezing her hands right back, she urged her sister, "Forget it, okay? I haven't thought about any of that stuff in years. Probably wouldn't have again if we didn't bring it up today, so… so what's the point in missing any of it?"

Elsa wanted to demand to know why Anna wasn't there to sort through it herself. Why she always had to disappear on her. But all she could do was feel guilty for selling or throwing away nearly everything Anna had owned as a child. Her innermost heart knew she had done it partly out of spite, as a vindictive gesture… but she took comfort in knowing she hadn't thrown out every last thing. Even when she was angriest with Anna, she still couldn't hate her. Couldn't throw out her old trophies, or even the stupid Post-It.

"It's okay," she was consoling Elsa when she began to shiver, almost at the point of crying herself. "Old junk isn't as important as my sister. And most of what I had was pretty junky."

"But it was yours!"

"Look, I just don't care about material possessions as much anymore. I'm living minimalist." When Elsa just blinked at her, she laughed and said, "It just means I'm not trying to drag a bunch of stuff around the world with me. What am I going to do in Qatar with a suitcase full of Barbie clothes? I can't wear them!"

Finding herself laughing at that, Elsa said, "Oh, why not? You're so much skinnier than me, it wouldn't surprise me if you can fit into Skipper's clothes."

That brought about an honest grin. "You always did say I didn't get to be Barbie and had to be Skipper, since I'm the little sister. Funny how that used to piss me off, and now it's hilarious to me instead."

"Well, it only seemed natural that I be Barbie and you be Skipper, given our ages."

"What if I want to be your Barbie sometimes?" When Elsa merely raised both eyebrows, totally confused, she giggled, "You know… be the big sister. Help you instead of you helping me. I know we're definitely not in those positions right now with me crashing at your place, but… it doesn't mean I don't want to help you."

"Yeah. You said, about 'sensing' I was upset. But I'm not, just so you know; my life was fine before you showed up, I wasn't drowning in debt, I wasn't sobbing into my pillow every night. Perfectly adequate life."

Anna pursed her lips for a moment, thinking. Then she said, "That's not good enough. I mean, 'good enough', but I want more than that for you! I want…" Shrugging, she waved off her own words with her hand. "Nevermind. I'm starting to hear how I sound. Pushy, again."

"No, I get it. You see me with a pretty dull office job and a derriere the size of Kansas, and you think I'm unhappy, or unfulfilled."

"How many times?!" Anna burst out in sheer exasperation. "How may times do I have to tell you I like that ass of yours?"

"Anna, that isn't the point right n-"

"If I were a guy, I'd wanna fuck it! Right here, right now!"

Immediately, she fell silent, mouth moving to make words but failing epically. Anna was just beginning to look triumphant when she leaned in and hissed, "Are you insane, saying things like that?! Honestly!"

"Well, I can't think of any better way to let you know how completely wrong you are about your figure, okay?! Seriously! I bet there are a thousand guys in the Cove who'd wanna spread your cheeks and-"

"SHHH!" By that point, Elsa could feel said cheeks tingling oddly from all the attention Anna was giving them, and she tried to hide her face from the diner crowd. Not that anyone was truly looking.

By that point, however, her sister was laughing a little. "Okay, okay, but you get me, right? Seriously, it's a quality ass. So quit with the self-deprecating comments."

"F-fine. I'll try not to say anything like that, if you don't talk about- about spreading anything anymore!" Anna held out her hand formally, so Elsa shook it, even as she was curling her lip and muttering, "You're impossible."

"Well, thank you. Better impossible than a jerk who doesn't care about her sister's self-image."

"I guess," she snorted, and they both exchanged a smile.

"Be right out," Tiana told them as she breezed past their table. Almost offhandedly, she said, "Elsa, can I see you for a minute? Over here."

Elsa followed, confused, and finding out "over here" was in the alcove where the men's and women's restrooms branched off. Once there, she whispered, "What?"

"Are you and your girlfriend there okay?"

"My what?!"

"Your girl, Anna." Tiana blinked a few times. "Uhhh, is she not your friend? Is this a business lunch thing?"

"Ohhh." Slapping her forehead, Elsa tried to process what was going on with a little less overwhelming anxiety. Tiana hadn't meant "girlfriend" in the dating sense; just in the sense of an acquaintance. "No, sorry, I misunderstood."

That only made Tiana blink more. "Misunderstood what? All I asked…" Then she laughed, covering her mouth. "Ohhh! Well, hey, that's fine; not what I meant, but it's not like I'd have a problem. Just wouldn't expect it from you!"

"Okay." After a deep sigh, she then felt her eyebrows draw together as she asked, "Wait, why not from me?"

"You just don't strike me as the type to play for the other team, that's all. If you do, let me know, girl; I have a few friends I could set you up with."

Curling her lip, the blonde folded her arms over her chest and muttered, "No, thank you. Set them up with each other; I'm not interested."

"If you say so," Tiana giggled easily, patting Elsa's shoulder. "But if that's not what's up, then… what's up? You two looked pretty intense from behind the counter. Like, upset-intense."

"Right. It's just… we haven't seen each other in a while, and there's some weirdness. Old grudges and hurt feelings. We have to work through it, and we're doing our best." Her friend looked dubious, so she smiled and patted the hand still on her shoulder. "Seriously, we're fine. I promise. We just… need to put in the work or we can never be on better terms. But I think it's starting to get better."

"Alright. But you gotta let me know if there's anything I can do, okay? I mean it, girl. I'll be mad if there was and you didn't."

Grinning despite her worries, Elsa brought her in for a close hug. It was still a bit stiff, because Elsa couldn't help how she was wired, but she wanted to show the diner owner that she was appreciated, and more than a little. "Thank you. I know I'm a hard friend to have because I'm so…"

"Independent?"

"Yeah, let's go with that. But I appreciate you pushing me."

Tiana chuckled and patted her back before they broke apart. "You got it, anytime. Sorry if I was sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong, but I don't like seeing you upset. Not used to it, you're usually so chill." In an undertone, she added, "Kinda count on that sometimes, when we have a hectic Friday."

"Knew I was your rock," Elsa laughed as she gave a brief pat to her forearm, then turned to go back to the table. "But thanks for checking in. I mean it."

Tiana merely saluted before she paced off to the counter.

"What was that about?" Anna asked when she got back to their booth, a vague smile on her face.

"Oh… nothing. Just a protective friend. Guess… I didn't realise I had any of those anymore." As Anna nodded, she took up her own coffee and took a sip, smiling gently at the warm feeling. "Ahh… perfect."

"Good," Anna laughed, stirring what was left of her own tea with her spoon. "Now, on the way home, I was thinking we could hit up a Krispy Kreme, so tomorrow morning, we'll- oh, here it is! I was wondering if I put it in wrong or something."

"What?" She noticed her excited sister was cocking her head, listening to the bluesy vocals and pleasant melody the jukebox had moved onto since Bananarama faded out. After a second, she snorted and laughed, "Huey Lewis. Really? You are way too into this Eighties crap."

"Yep!" Reaching out for Elsa's hands, she began to quietly sing, "Do youuu belieeeve in looove? Do youuu belieeeve it's trueee?"

"You dork," Elsa giggled. But at Anna's expectant look, the playful light in her eyes and the healthy flush in her cheeks, she gripped her hands with a contented smile. A lot more earnestly than she expected, she sang, "Oh, you're makin' me belieeeve it, tooooo…"

The grin they shared was genuine, and warm. Maybe she really could believe it.

~ To Be Continued ~