AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, so based on quite a few reviews we have read, Fruipit and I would like to clear up a few things real quick! No one is "in trouble" and we aren't upset or anything like that; it just seems like it might be wise to cover this in one go rather than reply individually to loads of people.

1. Time travel works in a very specific way in Back To The Future, and that's how it works in this fic. If you change the past, it "ripples" into the future over time; eventually, it will be too late to change it back or course-recorrect. That's why Anna is still alive despite having damaged her own past. However, the future wasn't "always like that" for the person time-travelling. Anna's future is going to be different when she gets there: HOW it's going to be different won't be revealed until she gets the DeLorean nyooming into 2015, but it will not be how she remembers it. To everyone else, they will notice nothing because they have not seen the previous timeline with their own eyes before time-travelling.

2. To that end… no, Elsa was not an alcoholic because of what Anna did in 1985. In that original timeline, Anna had never changed the past, so she had nothing to do with it. This is precisely like Lorraine being an alcoholic purely because she started drinking as a teen in the original movie.

3. Yes, we know you all have a lot of little things you want to point out about how the original movies worked. They were beloved movies for a reason! But we have actually seen them ourselves and understand more than you might presume. Chances are, if you've thought of some tiny discrepancy to comment on, we have already thought of said discrepancy and either disagree on whether or not it's an issue, or have disregarded it for the sake of our fic (or you might be incorrect). While it might be interesting for you to notice these details, that kind of falls under the category of "nitpicking". And just… it's a fun little story, so lay off, will you?

That's it! Thanks for taking the time to read if you did, and I hope you enjoy the chap!

CHAPTER EIGHT

As Anna wandered around Dell Valley, doing as Doc said and trying not to look too conspicuous or influence anything else, she thought about her situation. And there was so much to think about.

Elsa was her MOM. How could she be attracted to her?! Sure, she was doing nothing on purpose to make her interested but it was still happening. The whole idea made her feel gross.

On the other hand, it also didn't. Sure, the weird flirty component was confusing, but seeing her mother so happy and hopeful, saying sweet things, looking shy… it fulfilled a need in her of which she had only been partly aware. Of course she knew she wanted more love from her mother! But she hadn't realised just how badly she wanted to see her happy until she did, and it was so striking compared with how she normally saw her – miserable, alone, unfulfilled, depressed. Empty. This Elsa was so full of life and love and hope for the future, and at some point, she had lost that.

And it might have been her father's fault. Not on purpose, he clearly also had dreams; he liked to write. Was it really only that they were so mismatched for each other that killed their happiness? It broke her heart.

At last, the time came for school to let out. Deciding to keep up her pretense that she was a student, she made her way back to the campus and hung around by Elsa's locker.

"Hey!" she almost shouted when she saw Anna leaning against it, hands in her pockets and thoughts swirling around in her skull. "How's it hanging?"

"Not bad, just, uh, chillaxing." Elsa cocked her head. "Chilling and relaxing," she added as explanation.

At that, Elsa grinned and snorted. "People talk funny where you're from. What was it that you called Hans earlier? A duck?"

"Douche," Anna corrected. And then winced because this wasn't the point. "Nevermind him! You ready to hit the road?"

"Sure, sure, just lemme put my crud away. We're gonna meet up at the mall about 4-ish?"

Anna found herself nodding. "Cool, cool, cool," she said, She wasn't looking at Elsa, which was possibly why the other girl ultimately leaned forward, grasping her hand. Most of the students had already left, getting out of school as fast as they possibly could.

"Hey, everything okay?" When Anna didn't answer immediately, she took another step closer. "Tori, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I won't judge you, I swear."

There was nothing Anna wanted more than to open her mouth and spill everything. How was the 17-year-old version of her mother so much better than the adult version? It wasn't fair! But she couldn't. As much as she had already changed in the past, if Elsa knew she would stop being her friend, and being friends seemed key to getting her family back together.

So instead she just wound up saying, "Can- can I have a hug?"

"Ooh, look who's making all the right moves now, Tom Cruise." But when Anna didn't respond to the light teasing, Elsa's smile slipped a notch. "Um… you're serious? You want me to hug you?"

"Yeah. Just…" What could she say that would make sense to Elsa? "Just feeling kinda homesick, I guess. Sorry, it's dumb."

"Ohhh. Awww, come here. It's okay."

Elsa's arms were warm and firm, having readily accepted her new friend's reasoning for needing a quick fix of creature comfort. Anna leaned into the sensation, knowing this was weird, and wrong somehow, but also that it was the most natural thing in the world. Why shouldn't she stop and take a moment to just hug her own mother?

Because it didn't feel like hugging her mother. This Elsa was hugging her like Anna would hug Merida, or Jane. Or… Punz. Especially the latter, with the slightly shaky sound of her exhalation. They were both a little nervous, since they had barely done this once when sitting next to each other in the diner. And against her will…

"You smell nice," she found herself breathing. Stupid. It was a STUPID thing to say! Wasn't she trying to convince her mom not to flirt with her?!

"Oh, you like it?" Elsa chuckled, self-conscious again. "Um… it's just Love's Baby Soft. I really want to try 'Obsession', that Calvin Klein fragrance? But my mom saw the X-rated ads, so… yeah, I'm gonna have to buy that on my own."

But Anna hadn't been talking about the perfume. Of course she could smell it, but it was one of the more subtle scents and had mostly worn off by this point in the day. It was only now that her head was buried in Elsa's neck that she could detect it at all.

No, what Anna had been complimenting was the smell of Elsa. Between now and the 2000s, it hadn't changed much – the only difference was that it was, more often than not, covered by the smell of rum or vodka. This scent, the smell of a person, was familiar, from way back when she was a tiny child. Before her mother started drinking and her family stopped caring about each other.

But there was another layer to it, too – one Anna was not very familiar with. The skin between Elsa's neck and shoulder felt warm against her face, and Anna let herself relax further. Her arms slipped from below Elsa's armpits to somewhere closer to her waist, squeezing softly. Her eyelids mimicked the action.

Her mother felt so good in her arms. The very thought made her want to cry.

"…Tori?"

Finally, Elsa's tentative voice broke through. Anna had no idea how long they'd been standing there, and she didn't care, either. She threw herself backwards, rubbing at her eyes. This was too much.

"Hey, sorry," she said, obstinately not looking at Elsa. Her eyes burned, and she was blinking too much to be natural. "How- how about I meet you at the mall? Got- gotta make sure Kristoff knows when and where."

"Oh… Kristoff?" But Elsa didn't seem to be thinking much about that at the moment; she was watching Anna's face intently, clearly worried. Anna couldn't hold her gaze, and her eyes fell to the floor. "Hey… like, sorry if this is way out of line, but am I doing something wrong? You keep wigging out on me."

Anna dragged her eyes back up, widening them minutely. "No! N-not at all. Like I said, I'm just going through withdrawals. You're… fine."

"Fine as in 'fine bod', or just fine?" Elsa pressed. When Anna only raised both eyebrows, she laughed; it was a laugh meant to protect both of them, to shrug off the deeper questions and try to push through. "Sorry, I know, I need a chill pill. See you at the mall?"

Only able to nod, Anna swallowed hard and tried to turn toward the exit. When she realised Elsa was following her, she nearly stumbled.

"I'm also leaving school, you know," she giggled.

"Oh, right." Slapping her head, she grumbled, "Brain fart."

"What?" Her laughter only got louder. "Did you just say that… your BRAIN had a FART?!"

"Y-yeah! I meant, um… 'no duh'?!" But it was too late: her mother was already losing it, cackling so hard that she was actually snorting with laughter. She had never heard her find anything that funny! And it was the phrase "brain fart", of all things!

So Anna started laughing with her, and they were both clutching their sides by the time they jogged down the front steps of the high school. Only then did she see Doc's car idling at the curb.

"That's me. I, um, I gotta go."

She had just turned to leave when she felt something stopping her. Looking back at Elsa, at the hand that had reached out to hold hers, she found herself completely mute. And then Elsa's arms wrapped around her once more, with such strength that Anna stumbled back a few steps.

"Els…" she murmured, hands coming to rest on slim, denim-covered hips. She heard her mother swallow hard, the little gasp afterward. But she didn't linger – it wasn't like before. Within a few seconds she'd released Anna, a small smile on her face.

"For the ride home. So you don't feel as homesick."

And then she was skipping away, turning back only once to offer a wave and a smile. Anna lifted a hand to say goodbye, but she couldn't quite force that word out. A different one spilled from her lips instead.

"Fuck."

So of course, the moment she slid into the seat next to Doc, he was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Dare I ask how things went?"

"You dare," she sighed while flopping back, hitting the headrest and closing her eyes. "They went bad. You were right, and I was right, and we were right. She's too into me to care about my dad."

"This is, indeed, heavy." Putting the car into gear, he started to pull away from the school and off toward home. "Well, I presume that you have begun to construct a further plan of attack?"

"We're meeting up at the mall later. I, um… I invited Kristoff along, and made it clear he's coming. Maybe if I nudge them enough, I can get them to stop thinking each other is a space alien."

Nodding as he focused his eyes on the road, Doc redoubled his grip on the wheel. Thinking. Then he said, "I know this isn't easy for you, Future Girl. Can't even begin to imagine what you must be feeling. Though can I say, as a casual observer, that you could probably be putting a little more effort into discouraging her advances?"

"The hug? I…" Swallowing hard, she whispered, "It's my mom, Doc. How am I supposed to tell her not to hug me when…"

The rest of the thought wouldn't come out. How could she tell Elsa not to hug her when the feeling was so foreign to begin with? When she never wanted, never tried, to listen to her youngest daughter, or comfort her? On some level, it was probably a little sick that she could – and willingly chose to – accept this form of affection in place of another, but she couldn't help it. The craving was so desperate that any and all ways it could be sated were welcomed by her heart.

"Alright, alright. My words aren't intended to pass any judgment. Just keep that in mind; if you want your father to seem more appealing to her, then you yourself must seem less appealing. That part is simple mathematics."

He was right, of course. She privately thought that Kristoff McFly was about the lamest candidate for a husband, period, let alone for the incredible creature that was Elsa Baines… but if she didn't want to destroy the universe, or at least herself, she had to send them down the aisle to the altar.

"Guess I got my work cut out for me, huh?"

Doc didn't bother to grace that question with an answer. After having seen Kristoff, he was probably thinking something along those very same lines.

~ o ~

But his words did give her an idea. Obviously Elsa was pretty much infatuated with Anna, completely insane as that was, so there had to be something to make her seem less… awesome. Less captivating compared to Kristoff. She briefly went through a list in her head as Doc drove them back to his place. She didn't want to do anything drastic to change her personality – and really, Elsa would probably see right through that. But Doc was right. She had to put her foot down. No more moments of weakness.

They weren't meeting up until after four, which gave Anna some extra time to prepare. She had to start with improving Kristoff's look – probably beginning with his oily hair. No matter the decade, it didn't look good. The only consolation was that at least he didn't have a mullet.

Making sure to don her era-appropriate clothing, Anna got Doc to drop her off. Seeing as her license wouldn't be valid for another thirty years, she didn't want to risk it.

Kristoff must have come straight from school because he hadn't even bothered to change. Good grief. Glancing at her wallet, she had a sneaky fifty hidden there that Doc had given her for emergencies. Well, this was life and death – hers, if she couldn't get her parents swapping DNA. Without even greeting him, she leaned up and flicked him in the forehead.

"Do you really think Elsa's gonna be impressed when you're still wearing your shirt from lunch?"

He looked down at his chest. "There's only one stain on it!" he protested – and at least he said it with some conviction.

"Beside. The point. Kris." She pointed in the direction of the JCPenney's – still exactly where she remembered it from 2015. "I have fifty bucks to waste on you. Don't make me regret it."

Luckily, JCPenney seemed to be where Elsa and her friends were not, so they could do this part without them hanging around and chiding his choices too much. Anna took a good, long look around the clothing department, getting a feel for what was in fashion… even though some of it made her want to laugh. She had to adapt to the environment.

"Start with this," she said, pushing a T-shirt at him.

"With wh-" When he got a good look at the front of it, he gasped and whispered, "I can't wear that! It has profanity on it!"

Glancing down at the white words on the black fabric that asked, 'What Are You Looking At Dicknose', she shrugged. "I mean, you do want Elsa to notice you, right? She doesn't like guys who act like they own her, but she doesn't want some wimp with a stained shirt, either. This is, like…" What was the word that would mean it was an acceptable middle-road? She went for it: "Rad."

"Rad, huh?" Taking up the shirt, he shrugged. "Alright. Um… I'll try it on, but no promises about buying it."

"Good. That's all I ask."

When he exited the dressing room, still wearing the same jeans and shoes, Anna couldn't believe it. Maybe it was no Cinderella transformation, but he looked leagues better with such a small change.

"We're taking it. Plus, um… this one." Her hand snatched up a Purple Rain t-shirt; she knew Prince was huge back then, he couldn't go wrong there. "And…" Another light pink one with a cartoonish outline of a person on it, lines of interest radiating outward from the little dude.

"All these? Why? I have my own clothes."

"Your own clothes suck. Trust me on this, broseph."

"That's not my name."

Right – the slang thing. She needed some kind of dictionary. For the time being, she just shook her head and steered him toward the front. Anna was pleasantly surprised that the total came to just over twenty-five dollars. Kristoff looked aghast.

"I can't afford that!" he hissed. Anna just scrunched her nose up.

"Dude, I said I got this," she replied. Even better, she had enough money left over for food. "But this is the only time. You don't want your first impression – well, second first impression – to tell her you're some pig who can't even keep himself tidy. What woman is going to respect you if you can't even respect normal rituals of hygiene?"

The words seemed to be enough, and he shut his mouth. So they went to the checkout, Kristoff still slouching. Anna hoped it was because he was embarrassed about the stain on his shirt. They'd almost made it through when something else caught her eye. It was a CD, advertised as being on sale for $15. The name, a day of the week, was somehow familiar…

Suddenly, it connected in her brain. "This, too," she said. grabbing one and giving it to the cashier. They finally looked a little more interested, and gave a grin.

"Gnarly, man," he chuckled. "'Til Tuesday is really pumping out the hits lately!"

Anna smiled at him. "Oh yeah. Real uh, sick." Kristoff gave her a funny look, but she ignored him until they had paid for the stuff and were threading their way back through the crowd.

"What was that?" he asked. Anna ignored him for a second, looking for a sign for the public toilets. She kept walking as she answered, relying on him to follow her.

"It's a CD, dude," she said. "And you're gonna give it to Elsa."

"What? No! It's- you paid for it, you should give it to her. I don't have that kind of cash."

"Do you like this girl or not?" she demanded, turning around to face him. He stopped immediately, wilting under her stern gaze. When he didn't answer, she softened. "Trust me when I say that I don't mind. That I want to help."

Biting his lip, he looked at her. "Are you sure?" Anna nodded, giving him a smile. He still didn't seem particularly happy about it, but Anna had figured that he'd let it go. He didn't seem keen on arguing with her – at least, not about that.

He had plenty more to say when Anna was shepherding him into the bathroom to get redressed – and once more, it was to splutter at her, "You can't be in here!"

Frowning, Anna looked around. The men's room was undeniably empty. Ignoring him, she locked the door.

"Take your shirt off," she said. He didn't. If anything, he clutched it tighter to his skin.

"Why can't I just go into a stall and change?"

"Because we gotta wash that crap outta your hair first," Anna sighed. "And a wet shirt is not a good look. C'mon, work with me, man."

Still hesitant, he finally lowered his hand. Placing the shopping bag on the counter, he ripped his shirt off. 'Like a bandaid,' Anna thought; getting it over and done with. When the stained shirt joined the new ones, Anna couldn't help but glance.

Her father wasn't bad looking. Not at all. Strong jaw and soft eyes, for starters, but once the shirt was removed, it was plain to see that his physique was actually rather decent; a little pudgy, but that wasn't a bad thing. Apparently he kept in shape to some degree. If he could stand up for himself, he probably could get noticed – in the good way. If she had any remote interest in boys… 'Nope, still wouldn't,' she thought as she shook her head.

"Okay, wet your hair and uh, wash it. No offense but I don't really wanna touch that grease trap." She pulled a face, and Kristoff actually looked quite offended. Shrugging, she didn't take it back. "Sorry, dude, but it's true. Now, hurry up. Elsa's probably already waiting."

"But- how am I gonna dry it?" he asked. "Wet hair is probably just as bad as oily!"

"Wet hair dries," Anna pointed out. "Anyway, why do you think the hand dryer swivels?"

More bickering, more back-and-forth, and she finally got him to lather a little soap into his hair and rinse out some of the grease. It did the trick, more or less. As it turned out, he actually did have a comb with him… which she also made him wash thoroughly before he used it again. After that…

"Oh my God," she muttered, smiling very slightly. "Not half bad, McFly."

He was staring at himself in the mirror, at the slicked-back damp hair and the Purple Rain tee, the less-shiny face. It was an improvement, but he didn't seem to see that; he only saw the bad posture, the person that he didn't want to be. Anna knew how that could be, even if she had better luck than him in refocusing on the positives.

"You really think this is gonna make any difference?" he sighed, brushing up and down his chest and stomach.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go." Out they went, angling toward the food court and trying to find Elsa and her hangers-on.

They needn't have worried. Seated around a table were the mini-clique, just starting to dig into huge floppy slices of Sbarro's. Anna had to smile a little; at least some things were relative constants.

"We made it!" she said with a smile as she sank into a seat. Her head nodded toward Kristoff's bag. "Caught him picking up some new threads." She felt no reason to explain that the shirt in the very bottom of the bag was the stained one from school. She gave him a meaningful stare, and he jerked.

"Oh, I-" he faltered for a moment, glancing at Elsa's two friends. "I got you something…" His voice became progressively smaller as he continued, until he came to the last word and it was barely more than a whisper. At least it seemed to pique Elsa's interest, and she cocked her head. Plunging a hand into the bag, he brought out the CD. He didn't say anything as Elsa took it. She glanced at him, briefly, before her gaze found Anna.

"I love it," she said, words directed at him but not looking at him at all. Her eyes fell to the cover. "'Til Tuesday is my favourite band."

'Shit. Swing and a miss.' Upon reflection, it was painfully obvious that the CD had come from Anna; Elsa had never told Kristoff of her love of the band, nor were they really at the point of buying presents; he would have no way to know about it at all. Hopefully she thought that perhaps Anna had only helped him pick it out. Still, she felt a little dumb for mishandling this idea of hers.

As if suddenly realising that she was surrounded by people, half of whom were almost complete strangers, Elsa jerked her head up as a light blush coated her cheeks. "W-well, uh, the pizza's nice and fresh. Go on, eat a slice!"

"Oh, it's okay. I'll grab my own." Elsa deflated a little at that, but Anna had to remain strong. "Why don't you share with Kristoff? And next time, he can owe you a slice? Yeah, cool, sounds like a plan. Be right back!"

And then she was gone, not giving Elsa or Kristoff a chance to back out of her hasty arrangement. Hopefully.

She returned five minutes later, a slice of supreme pizza and a root beer in her hands. Everyone else had mostly finished, but Anna was pleased that the girls seemed to at least by trying to engage Kristoff. He was gnawing on a pizza crust, so at least Elsa had shared with him.

"Man, Sbarro's is good, but I do miss Papa John's. Jonesing for their Hawaiian right about now," she said as she sat down. Taking a bite of her pizza, she didn't notice anything was amiss until no one responded. "What?"

"Uh," Elsa began. "I mean. I understood all those words… sort of…"

"Who's Papa John?" one of Elsa's friends asked. Oh god, was was her name? And again, a dictionary would be a really good thing right about now.

However, her savior this time came from an unexpected place. "Is that like, a pizza parlor near your home?" Kristoff asked. "And um, jonesing. That means like… you really want it, right?"

Mouth still full of food, all Anna could do was nod. With great difficulty, she swallowed. "Uh, yeah. The pizza's not the greatest, but it's pretty cheap. They use fresh pineapple, and it makes a difference."

"Your home sounds weird," Elsa's friend spoke again, dabbing her mouth with a napkin.

"Jazz!" Elsa hissed. Oh, so that was her name. Then she turned back with an earnest smile back in place. "It sounds pretty wicked. I don't know why you came to boring ol' Dell Valley."

"Just… y'know, family stuff." Her eyes flicked back to Elsa and Kristoff; she couldn't help it. Then she had to feed into the lie. "Visiting my uncle. But hey, great to meet new people, right?"

"For sure, I guess." Clearly trying to be diplomatic, Elsa turned to Kristoff. "I mean, it's not like I don't know Kris here. We just… never spoke much."

At that, he hunched his shoulders, but Anna managed to reach around behind him and poke him gently in the small of the back to make him sit up a little straighter. That was going to have to be a habit they both worked on breaking.

"Oh, you know Kristoff," she chuckled as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Always writing, or reading." The last part was a good guess; her father did still read books during his lunch breaks in the future.

"Writing what?" Jazz asked with detached interest.

"Oh, well… stories… science fiction stories, about aliens. You know, like in Star Wars?"

Jazz and Ariel were clearly about as impressed as if he had said 'poems about bread mould'. They glanced at each other, then over at Elsa as if to ask whether or not they really had to continue tolerating his presence any further.

But Elsa impressed both Kristoff and Anna by smiling and leaning against the table with her elbows. "Really? The Star Wars movies were rad; I like stuff like that. Space age fantasy. Are they any good?"

"Oh. Well… to be honest, I've never let anyone else read them. Kind of afraid of the rejection. I mean… you know, when you create something… it's hard to hand it over to somebody else."

"Yeah," Elsa sighed, her smile vanishing as she looked down at the table. "I can only imagine."

Suddenly, a pang shot through Anna's heart as she realised: that was part of why her mother had always been so disapproving of her relationship with Jennifer. Yes, the gay factor was part of it, but she had also been very critical of Wendy's dates, and to a lesser extent, John's. Maybe she was just being the world's most overprotective mother; "creating something" that she had to give to someone else someday.

"They're pretty good, actually," Anna improvised, talking out of her ass. Technically, she had read a single line of one story, so it wasn't a complete lie. "I think he could go pro if he stops doubting himself."

"Nah," he laughed, cheeks flushing with red as he grinned. Jazz and Ariel giggled, but at least they weren't acting like they wished he didn't exist anymore. "Well… I mean, probably not with these stories. But I have some bigger ideas."

"Spill!" Elsa encouraged him, and the others nodded halfheartedly. If Elsa noticed their relative disinterest, she ignored it.

"Well… alright, picture this: the moons over Alpha Centauri. We start off with humans; I mean, that's who the audience relates to, anyway, right? They're landing when they notice a strange mist rolling in from the north…"

~ o ~

They spent a good hour at the mall, but only ended up moving from the food court in the last ten minutes. Jazz and Ariel left shortly after Kristoff and Elsa began fangasming about fanfic. They didn't use that word, but Anna knew enough to figure out that both her parents were total nerds.

Finally! Something in common. And the best part was they were both really into it. Kristoff wasn't like one of the gatekeeping comic-book dudebros that Anna had come across; he seemed genuinely happy that Elsa understood what he was saying, and even challenged it sometimes. Anna was pretty sure that by the end of that hour, they'd probably planned out an entire Star Trek saga of their own.

The only thing that put a stop to their discussion was when Elsa glanced at her watch. "Oh shit," she said. And then looked up, eyes wide. "I mean- uh…"

She looked like a deer caught between two headlights, staring first at Kristoff and then Anna. Anna just stared at her, surprise written on her face because since when did her mother swear?

Fortunately, Kristoff cleared his throat. "I don't give a shit if you swear or not. I won't tell your mother, either."

And then- and then, the would-be ladykiller winked. Elsa let out a nervous little giggle, glancing between him and Anna. Her cheeks were a little flushed – a good sign, Anna hoped.

"I uh, I appreciate that. Thanks, Kris. I just- I'm really late. I'll see you both tomorrow, right?"

Anna finally found her voice – well, enough of it to say, "Yeah, sure. Tomorrow…" Giving another smile, Elsa waved and left.

And then Kristoff just slumped. "Oh my god."

"Oh my god is right! What was that?" Now that Elsa was gone, Anna couldn't not look at her father. "Where did that swag come from?!"

"I don't know! It just- it seemed like the thing to do!"

Shaking her head, Anna let out a relieved chuckle. "Well, I think it worked. See, I knew you had it in you!"

"Yes, except I don't even know what 'it' was! One minute, we were talking about science fiction, and then she was suddenly just asking me what else I liked to read, and… it got a lot… nicer. Easier talking to her. I have no idea!"

Cackling, she pounded him on the back. "Told you, didn't I? All you had to do was get things moving and the rest would just… fall into place, man! You're a natural!"

"I am not. Now you're exaggerating." But the blush and the smile told a very different story. This Kristoff, she could definitely see her mother falling for. The greasy-haired boy hanging from a tree and doing unseemly things, not even a little.

So Anna took a deep breath. "I'm not. But you are gonna have to change a couple of your habits – on top of the 'no birdwatching' thing. Obviously she likes who you are inside, but like, shower every day. Wear clothes that don't look like they came from Salvation Army. Simple things that show you actually care about how you look around other people, and that you're a man, not a little kid who can't remember to wash."

"Okay, okay," he sighed. "God, you nag me worse than my father."

Anna wanted to fall out of her seat at that comment.

~ o ~

When she breezed back in the door at the end of the evening, Doc was up to his elbows in wires, tubes, and engine grease. He had been going back and forth between his own experiments and working on the car.

"Success!" she crowed. And then winced when Doc stood up too fast and hit his head. "Oops… sorry…"

Rubbing his head, the expression of annoyance only lasted a short while. Then he was smiling, saying, "Is love in the air? And I mean between those two, not…"

Anna's good cheer rapidly fell away, and she scowled. It was less about the question and more to cover the hurt that he'd even felt the need to mention it. Did he not trust her to not mess this up? But he did deserve a response to his main question, so she brushed past the other bit.

"So far, so good. Like, today went great! But I need to go back to school tomorrow – Elsa's expecting me and Kris to be there. God, she probably thinks we're some kind of two-headed monster or something…"

Now that they knew each other, things were back on track. Thank goodness. It meant that when the lightning hit that weekend, she could go home, without fear of repercussions.

Idly, she pulled out the photograph of her family. The hug from Elsa had helped, but the desire to see her family again – her family, not these premature versions of them – was still incredibly high. No matter their problems, she still loved them. And now, she had a greater appreciation of her mother and father. Maybe… maybe they didn't hate her. Maybe they just saw too much of themselves in her and were trying to push her to be her best self, regardless of if their pushing was in the right direction. Either way, it was worth it to try teaching them to love themselves again.

Especially her mother. The past days had proved there was a warm, loving person inside her somewhere. Biting back a small smile at the thought, she held the photo up to the light.

And then her breath caught.

"Doc!" she cried out. "Doc, come look!"

There was real fear in her voice; probably the only thing that could have dragged him away from his experiments was an emergency, and this definitely qualified.

"Great Scott!" he whispered, taking the photograph from her. "Your brother has completely disappeared!"

"No shit, Sherlock," she huffed, on the verge of tears. "But- but it's all back on track!" Doc was shaking his head.

"We're missing something. You have introduced them, yes, but there appears to be something more significant. Did your parents ever say anything more about how they met? How they knew they were destined for a romantic entanglement, rather than a more passive friendship?"

Shaking her head, Anna said, "No. Mom didn't talk about it much. When she did, she always made sure to mention Dad had basically been run over. And then they went to the dance, and dated for a while, and then they got married and there was my brother, then my sister, and then lucky me."

His fingers snapped so close to her ear that she jerked her head away. "The dance! That sounds like an important social gathering – perhaps a formative one for their emotional connection vis-à-vis 'dating'. You're saying that your elder brother was conceived not long after this dance of theirs?"

"Right…" Anna tried to summon up the dusty old memories, as unimportant to her as they had been back then. "Well, yeah. They met because of the car thing… then Mom took pity on him and asked him if he wanted to go to the dance with her. Now, I'm pretty sure it was just to keep Hans from being gross at her the whole night, but yeah."

"Yes, of course; Tannen. Always a Tannen somewhere underfoot." Anna wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he was pacing again. "Alright, alright. Stick by your parents while I work on things here. This photograph is a very ominous portent, indeed, but it's not an absolute! We may yet avert disaster if we are vigilant!"

"You're the doc, Doc…" But as she bounced upstairs to the guest room that he had given over for her use, she couldn't help looking back at him with worry. Everything in her life was going wrong, and way too much of it was her own fault. How could he be so confident that they could pull her fat out of the fire?

To Be Continued…