NOTE: Okay, so this is the first of the chapters with less Elsa. I promise she's not disappearing for very long at a time, and DEFINITELY never gone for good; I'm just hoping you'll bear with me through them and we'll all get to the other side together.

~ Chapter Twenty-Two ~

A dread unlike any other welled up in the pit of Anna's stomach as she laid there, staring at the random sitcom from Netflix playing on her laptop. She knew she would have to get up soon for her date with Mulan. It was coming, it had already been established. But if she lay there just a little longer, she could pretend she didn't have to go.

Almost as if by clockwork, she got a text from Kristoff that said: I hope ur not thinking abt bailing on that hot dyke! Her lip curled at the semi-offensive term, but she couldn't deny that he had her dead to rights. Groaning, she ignored the text and got up.

Within an hour, she was strolling down the beach behind the house, a bag on her shoulder and a towel rolled under the other arm. Elsa had helped her get all this gear together for her date once it had been confirmed, not wishing to leave anything to chance before she boarded the plane to Cannes. So far, so good; Anna was totally prepared in every way but one.

Confidence. Even though she had nothing to base the feeling on, she just knew it was going to be a disaster. Why did Mulan pick her out of the entire crowd? Just because of Elsa's lipstick? Or was there more to it than that? It wasn't that she didn't want to go, just that she dreaded the possibility of everything going epically, heinously wrong.

Then there was Elsa. Ludicrous as it was, she had the distinct feeling that she was "cheating" on their friendship by hanging out with anyone other than her while on Ibiza. As if the island was a world in which only the two of them were supposed to enjoy each other's company. Such a strange thing to think, wasn't it? She knew, without a doubt, that Elsa would have laughed at her for saying anything like that. Shaking it off, she plodded further down.

Mulan found her in record time. Waving from over the sand dunes, she jogged toward where Anna had set up her blanket, just near the lifeguard station as they had discussed.

"Hey!" she panted, slowing down a little ways away. Her swimsuit was underneath trunks and a white tank top, but her fair features and short, black hair were still beautiful. "Sorry, I… thought I had more time!"

"It's okay," Anna laughed. "You want a seat? This is a pretty big blanket."

"Thanks." Grateful, she sank down onto it, taking out a water bottle from her own bag. "Man, I'm so… glad we did this!"

Breathe, breathe! I'll still be here when you catch your breath! God, how far did you run here from?"

"From… my hotel."

"WHAT?!"

About half an hour later, they had exchanged their names, brief histories. Anna had told her as much as she felt comfortable. In return, she learned that Mulan Fa - or Fa Mulan, in her homeland's naming order - was trying to make it into the Olympics. She had been a gymnast when she was younger, competing one year, but now she was gearing toward the triathlon.

"But not just the women's," Mulan went on as they lie out under the sun, slowly darkening their skin. "I want to compete in the men's, as well."

"Wait, is that even allowed? I mean… cool if it is, but…"

Mulan shrugged. "I've always sorta felt like… I didn't fit in with much else women did, anyway. I don't wanna do volleyball, or gymnastics anymore. All that ribbon-dancing shit. Just not my style."

"Hey, who am I to argue?" Anna laughed.

"I just want to do it for my grandfather. Before he passes. He's… he was already proud of me for making it to the Olympics at all, but that's not good enough, you know? I want to win. I want to show him what his 'little granddaughter' can do."

Out of the side of her mouth, Anna muttered, "Well, you look like you could bench press me, so that's good enough to start with."

"What's that?"

"N-nothing."

The day seemed to fly by. Though hanging out with Mulan wasn't like hanging out with Elsa, they enjoyed a nice swim, tossing around a blow-up beach ball Mulan had brought along. Then they laid out on the blanket for an hour or so, mostly just soaking up rays and chatting here and there, eyes closed and sighing in contentment so often that the sound was competing with the waves and wind.

Anna found herself wondering if this girl was going to make a move. Obviously, that wasn't required on the first date - or was it? She'd never even gotten to this stage before; all she had to go off was movies and books, which were unreliable because they were fictional. Kristoff was too intimidated by Grindr to try that yet, so he didn't have a shred of advice. Being that Mulan was just barely an inch taller than her, she felt like it was supposed to be up to her to make the first move. But was it?

Sometime close to five, they packed up and began to walk along the boardwalk, seeking out food. They settled on pizza; it was a safe bet, and they both ate their way through a couple of slices, having worked up some hunger from swimming earlier.

"No way," Anna laughed as they headed back toward where they met up. "She broke the lamp? With her thong?!"

"I shit you not!" Mulan laughed heartily, shouldering her messenger bag. "And she thought it was gonna be cute. Not so cute when I'm paying for it outta my savings and my mom is demanding to know how it happened - God, it's so hard to come up with a lie that fast!"

Snorting with amusement, her hands came up to rest on the back of her head as they travelled over the dunes, the sun finally beginning to set. "Gotta say, I thought we might be in trouble when you said you like Twilight better than Harry Potter, but… this has been fun."

"What can I say?" Mulan said. "The chicks are hotter."

"It's not even about that!" Anna fired up all over again. "Those series are like apples and oranges - what's the point in even comparing them to each other?! And besides, why is all your entertainment value focused on who's hotter?!"

"I like what I like. I mean, nothing wrong with Harry Potter, though, it just didn't float my boat; bunch of kids waving their wands around. At least the fight scenes in Twilight had a lot more fighting."

Though Anna's eye twitched, she said, "Fair enough, everybody has different tastes, I guess."

"I think I have good taste." Her elbow nudged Anna's bicep, and she couldn't help but flush and look down at her sandals. There were the moves.

A little further along, she turned back while the sun was setting to say, "Okay, um… what next? Like, the beach is gonna get dark, and I'm not sure if you wanted to go… back to the club, or…"

Mulan must have picked up on the lack of enthusiasm in her voice at the tail end. She leaned in and took Anna's free hand, staring straight into her eyes. "Let's call it here. This was a good afternoon, I really liked chilling with you on the beach."

"We could add Netflix into the equation," she attempted, but with none of the smoothness she had imagined in her head. They both ended up laughing at the idea. "Um… you're flying out tomorrow, right?"

"Day after tomorrow. Which brings me to my next proposal…" She leaned in and whispered into Anna's ear for a few seconds, then drew back and planted a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Let me know, girly. Later."

"Um, b-bye!" Anna managed to get out, when Mulan was already a few feet away. She only waved back over her shoulder without turning around. Thoroughly discombobulated again, Anna turned and staggered up to the beach house.

~ o ~

Probably because of her date, she had trouble sleeping that night. Not that she had any specific dreams, at all, but she simply couldn't settle down after the successful date. The first date was a successful one! She texted Elsa to let her know she'd had a great time, and the only response was:

Thats gr8! C U soon!

So of course, Anna passed the rest of the time by popping on the TV to the coverage of Cannes with the volume off, hoping to spot her as she talked to her parents. She felt too vulnerable venturing out into Ibiza all by herself, and Elsa had said she wouldn't judge if she stayed in and lazed around. Besides, it was good to take breaks from all the excitement.

"And I hope she hasn't been running you ragged," her mother complained.

"Don't be silly; all we did was go out to eat a few times, buy some clothes. Seriously, it's been fun! And I even…"

Suspicion drenched Mrs. Mayberry's tone. "You even what?"

Blushing, she made herself say it. After all, if her being gay was ever going to truly be "normal," she had to act the part, didn't she? "I got a phone number. It was the craziest thing, we were getting in a cab and this girl walks up, and just… just asks for my number!"

"O-oh," her mother said, obviously doing that thing parents do where they try their best to sound completely fine while inwardly lamenting that they "don't understand kids these days" and so on. "Well, that's wonderful! But you said you got her number."

"She texted me. Elsa's out of town, so Mulan and I hung out on the beach this afternoon. She was super nice, and bought me pizza, and man, I didn't think I could ever talk to a Twilight fan again, but… I think I could like her."

"You don't like her already?" she laughed, a little more at ease. "Sounds like you do to me!"

"Well, I do, but I meant it could go from friend-like to date-like. Maybe. I dunno, we'd have to go out more!"

Sighing, her mother put down whatever had been clanging around in the background of the call. "Anna… think about where you're meeting her. What are the odds you two can stay in contact when you get back home?"

"Oh… I know. But it's nice to just… try something for once. I'm not a very social person; I mean, I am, but not in this particular… I don't date," she finally finished.

"You will! And… I hope when you start college, you'll find some nice girls in class. I'm not even saying stop talking to this Mulan girl, just… reminding you not to get your hopes up too high, that's all."

Dipping her head, she pulled her legs in under herself tighter as she laid her head down on the arm of the couch. "I know. You're right, Mom, you're right… pisses me off that you are, but I do need to check myself."

"What are mothers for?"

Eventually, Anna did put herself to bed and drifted off into a dreamless slumber. Sometime after breakfast, she went through the motions of checking in with Kristoff and Rapunzel, sending her mom a "good morning!" text. Then she looked through her new clothes, selected some and hopped in the shower to get rid of the last few grains of sand that had decided to stow away in places she really didn't want them the day before.

She had just decided to lie out by the pool with some sunblock and a graphic novel when she heard the front door. Hastily sticking her Sailor Moon bookmark back between the pages, she rolled over and padded back into the house. The adventures between the pages could wait a while.

"Elsa!" she called out. "You'll never believe how… how it… w-went."

As she pulled off her sunglasses, Esmé blinked in mild shock at her. "Who in the fuck are you?"

~ To Be Continued ~