"So did you hear the news?"

"What news?" Anna asked, setting her breakfast down on the table and sitting in the empty chair next to Kristoff, "I haven't heard anything since the horrid blaring of my alarm clock at seven. Remind me again why I ever decided to come back?"

"Hilarious," Kristoff said dryly, "But seriously, did you hear about Hans?"

Anna shook her head, "No. What about him?"

"Apparently he transferred."

"No way!" Anna exclaimed, "But seriously, what the hell? He acts like he can take anything, but runs away from punishment, embarrassment, and shame."

Sure, she was glad that she would never have to see his horrible face again, but still, she was angry that he couldn't own up to the punishment and reputation that he had earned.

"It's just rumor that's flying around," Kristoff shrugged, "But...I haven't seen him anywhere, so I guess it's safe to say it's true. Elsa probably knows, though. I'm surprised she didn't say anything to you."

"Well, we did only just get back," Anna said.

"I know, but she didn't mention anything about it at the end of the semester?"

"Nope," Anna said, taking an overly large bite of her double chocolate chip pancake. Even though the dining hall food was slightly…subpar, the staff could at least put out an awesome variety of nearly edible food in the chocolate department, "But I can find out during work tomorrow. I'm not working tonight, thank goodness."

Her legs were so sore from her lesson that she could barely walk up—let alone down—her dorm building's stairs.

"Really?" Kristoff asked, "Never thought I'd hear you say that."

Anna punched him in the arm good naturedly, "It's bad enough I've got Rapunzel on my back about this whole 'crush' thing. You don't need to keep it up, too."

"Hey," Kristoff said, "I'm just happy that you're happy, okay? Things seem to be working out and improving between the two of you, so that's all that really matters to me."

Hearing those words from her best friend, Anna couldn't help but smile, "You really are the best."

"That's what I'm here for," Kristoff said, finishing the last of his breakfast. Carrots, of all things. Who ate vegetables with breakfast, anyway? But it was something that Anna had grown accustomed to—Kristoff had just as much of an affinity for carrots as Sven himself did. And, quite frankly, any other horse as well. But Kristoff spoke once more, dragging Anna out of her thoughts, "And I think that if we don't get moving, we're going to be late to biology, am I right?"

"We're going to be late, anyway," Anna said in all seriousness, "It's going to take me half an hour to climb the stairs."

"On second thought, maybe you should rethink your choice of potential people to date. Pain and agony doesn't really fall under the category of a healthy relationship," Kristoff joked, having heard all about Anna's insane lesson when he had come to pick her up from the barn.

Anna only shook her head incredulously, although slightly amused, "Seriously. You think you're funny, but you're not."

"Why didn't you tell me about Hans!?"

Anna was barely through the office doorway, and had barely caught her breath, before the question that had been nagging at her slipped out of her mouth.

"Well, hello to you, too," Elsa said, ending the statement as more of a question and looking up from her computer with a rather confused look on her face.

Anna offered the senior a sheepish smile, knowing very well that she jumped straight to the point when there was something she needed answered, "Sorry. Hi. It's just that…I really, really want to know what happened."

"With what?"

"Hans. Kristoff told me he transferred, but you never even mentioned the situation after…" Anna trailed off, not knowing exactly how to reference their argument when the senior had blamed her for drugging Legacy. And so lamely, but most importantly vaguely, she settled for, "...everything."

"Oh," Elsa said, "Well, it was kind of confidential since he was a student on campus. Not that I wouldn't have told you because you were involved—" Elsa caught her mistake and fixed it quickly, although it struck Anna funny that she herself was the one who normally didn't think before she spoke, yet it had been Elsa who had mentioned the argument, "Or, no, you weren't involved, that was a bad choice of words. You were only involved because I dragged you into it. Wrongfully. But, regardless, I obviously told my parents what had happened once we found that evidence. And they could make the decision to involve the college or not. Clearly, the college would have been involved either way, because he wouldn't have been allowed to compete with the team, so they decided to involve the school, and he was going to be suspended. But then he transferred. And it's not like it's going to do him any good, he's still got everything on his record."

"Probably couldn't stand the embarrassment," Anna said bitterly, thinking about her discussion with Kristoff from the previous day.

"I'm sure," Elsa said. "He'd have earned himself quite the reputation, although I'm fairly positive that he already had many. But it's not our problem now. We already did what we could."

Anna nodded in agreement, but then a thought struck her, "So what's going to happen with the team, then? He was on the highest level of our competition team."

"We've never had something like this happen before, but I believe they'll just take one of the reserves to fill in for the rest of the season," Elsa explained, "It's what they're selected for."

"That makes sense. But I guess it'll kind of be a big change," Anna mused aloud, "And we've got a show coming up in less than three weeks."

"I'm sure you'll all be fine," Elsa said, "That is, if you can move again now that it's been almost forty eight hours."

"What, since my no-stirrup torture?" Anna shot back.

"Maybe," Elsa grinned, a small gleam in her eye.

"So I can blame you if I lose in my division," Anna said cheerily, "Excellent."

"More like, you're going to blame me for winning."

"Conceited, now, aren't we?" Anna chided jokingly.

"I do believe I was a wonderful instructor," Elsa continued.

"Have you instructed anyone before my lesson?" Anna asked.

And, being a more legitimate question, the bantering died down and Elsa answered in a more serious tone, "On occasion. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't feel capable. Sometimes I fill in and teach the beginner or intermediate lessons. Although I'd consider yours borderline advanced. I'd teach the advanced lessons, too, but they obviously do more jumping than beginners."

"Have you…ever jumped before?" Anna asked, wondering if the senior would answer, "I mean, I know you don't jump now. Dressage is your thing…." Anna trailed off.

Elsa sighed, looking off to the side, where Anna followed the senior's gaze—right to that photo that Anna had seen the first time she was in the office, with the snow-white Fjord pony trotting across a winter scene.

"I used to," Elsa answered, her focus on the picture now rather than Anna, "But not anymore."

"Oh," was all Anna said, not wanting to pry further, although she was almost positive that the Fjord pony had everything to do with Elsa's confession.

"But you're right. Dressage is my thing. It is now, and it always will be," Elsa declared, almost as if she needed to remind herself that it was the truth.

Anna was silent for a few moments before saying, "Well, I guess I'd better get to work. Although, it might take me twice as long to get everything done."

"You're not serious, I hope," Elsa replied, looking at Anna expectantly.

"Who knows?" Anna shrugged, "I can just barely manage to drag myself around—how do you expect me to push a wheelbarrow?"

"I think you can manage," Elsa said.

"But what if I can't," Anna whined, not entirely sure what she was accomplishing by doing so.

"You don't strike me as someone who gives up before trying."

Anna considered Elsa's comment for a brief moment before saying, "Fine. I'll try. But don't kill me if I'm here till midnight, okay?"

"You can make yourself right at home in Lance's old stall. I'm sure it's nicer than the freshman dorms."

"Gladly," Anna answered, signing herself in and then walking back out the door.

Although I'd prefer to spend another night on the floor of your room instead of on the floor of a stall…

True to her word, it had taken Anna longer to complete her job than usual, dragging it out to nine fifteen, even though on a good day she could normally accomplish everything by eight thirty. And surprisingly, Elsa was still in the office when she went to sign out.

"What are you still doing here?" Anna asked, "I thought you'd be long gone by now."

"Same here," Elsa shot back, but her tone was teasing.

Anna rolled her eyes, "Really, though. You're never down here this late."

Elsa shrugged, "I kind of spend as much time at the barn as I can when my parents are home. It's better than spending the whole length of dinner discussing the sales prices of horses and training and the brand new designer pony worth thousands of dollars that they want shipped in from France."

Although Anna's thoughts momentarily began racing about said 'designer pony', what came out of her mouth was, "You mean you haven't even eaten dinner yet?"

"Haven't been up to the house since lunch," Elsa said, "And I don't plan on heading back until ten thirty. By then my parents will have finally made their way upstairs. And then I can eat a lovely combination of leftovers or whatever frozen meal is in the freezer in peace."

"But that's in an hour," Anna argued, "Come on, you've got to be hungry."

"Only a little."

"I was going to have Kristoff drop me off at the café on campus, considering I barely ate anything before I came down here. It's open literally all night—extra incentive for all those last minute cramming hours…." Anna trailed off here, not knowing where she was going with this little tangent when all she wanted to say was one simple suggestion, "Anyway, you could come, if you want,"

But as soon as the offer came out of her mouth, she suddenly grew more nervous—the sudden pounding of her heart increasing insanely quickly by the second—about what the invitation may or may not have implied.

Elsa's eyes locked on her own for a moment before the senior said, "Well, I wouldn't want Kristoff to have to drive me back."

"Oh," Anna said the second the senior finished her statement, trying not to sound disappointed.

"I wasn't finished talking, Anna."

"Oh," Anna repeated, but this time she couldn't keep the hopeful tone from accompanying it.

Elsa continued, "What I was going to say was that I can just drive you back to campus. And sure, I'll come with you."

"Okay," Anna said, brightening instantaneously, "Sounds great."

Elsa didn't even bother putting away any of the papers on her desk, getting up from her chair and stretching—do not be a creep and stare like you did last time, Anna. Control yourself for once—before swiping her keys off of the desk and saying, "Let's go."

Whether Elsa had remembered the incident that now had Anna's face turning the shade of a tomato, or whether the senior had done it because she remembered how Anna had reacted the last time was now beside the point as the blonde brushed past where she stood in the doorway, leaving Anna to rush to sign out and follow Elsa out of the barn.

The air was cool when they stepped outside—cold enough to keep the snow on the ground from melting, but warm enough that Anna could tell that maybe spring was almost on the way…

Oh, who was she kidding? Spring was nowhere close to the current late January month, but a little wishful thinking never hurt anyone. Maybe by next month the temperatures would rise a little, and then Anna wouldn't have to worry about wearing two jackets to work.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Huh?" Anna asked, the senior's odd question drawing her out of her own thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?" Elsa repeated, "You're always so talkative but you seem….I don't know. Kind of distant."

You're one to talk, Anna wanted to say, but she held it back, instead answering, "The weather."

Elsa laughed, "The weather? That's random."

"Yeah, well it's currently freezing my poor, suffering body, so it seems relevant to me."

"Oh my God, Anna! You seriously can't still be in pain," and although Elsa's tone was primarily joking, Anna swore she heard a hint of concern.

So sighing, she figured that she might as well stop complaining about it, because really, her legs didn't hurt that much anymore, "Don't worry, I'm not. I just enjoy taking every opportune moment to remind you that it's your fault."

Elsa only shook her head as she got into the car, only speaking again once she had the silver car in drive, "You're doing a fairly good job of it."

"Sorry," Anna said, feeling slightly guilty, "But actually, I would definitely take another one of your lessons over Weselton's."

"I don't think that would go over to well with the team captains," Elsa said.

Since it was so late, there was barely any traffic at all, and by the time Anna got around to devising a plan of how she could "accidentally" come earlier for all of her lessons (to which Elsa only laughed and replied, "Good luck with that, but I don't think that'll work, either."), Elsa had parked the car in the lot closest to the café.

"Are you sure they're open all night?" Elsa asked when they stepped into the main campus building that was vacant except for the bright lights in the hallways.

"Positive," Anna said, "Their hot chocolate was the only thing that kept me from falling asleep at two a.m. during finals week."

When they reached the café, they found that it was also empty, apart from a student at a corner table with her laptop plugged into the wall, and a student worker at the counter who was busying himself with his phone. He looked up only when the two of them ordered—Anna a sandwich, and Elsa a salad, although Anna had caved, taking one look at the chocolate cake and adding a slice to her order.

They then made their way to a table by the window, even though looking out there was only the view of the parking lot filled with student cars.

"So," Anna said once they had started eating, "Tell me about this 'designer pony' that you mentioned."

"Did I mention that?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah," Anna said as she took another rather large bite of her sandwich, "When you were listing all of the things you didn't want to talk about with your parents."

"Oh," Elsa said, sounding a little surprised (funny she must have just let it slip without even thinking. That's a first, as far as telling me things), "Well, there's nothing much to say, really. Just a fancy horse. I don't know her name—something elaborate and French probably. She's got a prestigious bloodline, from two world class jumpers. Hence the term 'designer'. And my parents think that with some dressage training, she'd make a valuable eventing horse."

"How old?" Anna asked.

"Three years. So clearly she doesn't have any training with jumping yet. That's not something that I would do, obviously. But if I started her in dressage, they could still sell her as an eventing prospect because of her bloodlines. Lord only knows they have the money to fool around with whatever they want…" Elsa trailed off.

"Is she a definite purchase?" Anna asked.

"No. But she'll be the most expensive endeavor yet," Elsa said, "It makes me a little nervous, actually. If they're really talking about trusting me with a freaking multiple thousand dollar horse, I don't want to screw it up, which is why I really need to get through this problem with Legacy."

"Oh," Anna said, realizing now that there was possibly a lot more riding on her ability to help Elsa than just to train Legacy and help Elsa keep the Arabian mare, "Did they give you an option?"

Elsa shook her head, "They never do. Whatever project they decide to embark on gets thrown at me by default. They're willing to spend their money on expensive horses with possible potential, but not expensive, well-known trainers with way more potential than I have."

"Hey, you're doing well with Legacy so far. Even small steps are improvements," Anna argued, earning a small smile from the senior, "And besides, maybe they'll decide against it."

"Part of me really hopes so," Elsa sighed, "Not only is it more pressure, but…I really like working with Legacy. And so that part of me also irrationally hopes that my parents will never buy another project horse so that I can continue to work with just Legacy."

"But…if you can convince them to let you keep her, then it wouldn't matter if they got another training project," Anna said, "Legacy would be here to stay, and you could work with her whenever you wanted."

"Right, but I actually have to get them to agree to that, first," Elsa reminded her.

Anna nodded, "I know. When do you think they'd have the new horse shipped if they got her?"

"Probably sometime around the end of the semester. Or, well…after graduation. When I can focus more on my riding than schoolwork," Elsa figured.

"So why bother worrying about it now?" Anna said, "We'll just take it one step at a time, and focus on improving Legacy's training and keeping her here."

Anna was fully aware that she had said 'we', already identifying Legacy's training as a combined effort although they hadn't quite begun yet. And Elsa didn't seem to mind at all.

"You're right," she said, "Legacy is the main priority. Not a potential project horse that's half way across the world. Literally."

Elsa's comment made Anna laugh, although she couldn't help but notice the way the senior seemed to stare at her even though she was practically doubled over—it was late; of course the silliest little things were going to set her into a fit of laughter.

"Are you going to keep laughing, or are you going to finish that?" Elsa asked a minute or so later, an amused little smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth as she pointed in the direction of Anna's half-finished slice of chocolate cake.

"Of course, I'm going to finish it!" Anna exclaimed, snapping out of it immediately.

Because no one—no one—messed with Anna Summers' chocolate.

"So there's no hope of you sharing it, huh?" Elsa continued on, as Anna pointedly shoved another forkful of the cake into her mouth.

"Nope," Anna said, smiling smugly.

Elsa just leaned back in her chair, arms folded, watching that piece of cake slowly dwindle down to almost nothing until…

In one swift motion, one pale arm reached out and the plate was snatched from Anna's reach, and Elsa placed her own fork in it as if she were placing down a flag to establish a territory as her own.

"You're so mean," Anna whined, "It's my cake."

"You owe me, anyway."

"For what!?" Anna exclaimed.

"I drove you back to campus," Elsa said pointedly.

"I invited you," Anna argued.

"But I drove."

"Okay, okay. Fine," Anna held up her hands in defeat, "It's a fair point."

Looking very pleased with herself, the blonde finished the last of the cake, saying, "That was totally worth it."

"What, fighting me for it?" Anna grumbled.

Elsa only nodded, tongue darting out to lick the last of the chocolate off of the fork before placing it down on the now empty plate.

Would it be really, really, weird if I just took that fork and did the same thing? Anna thought.

Because it was late, and apparently, the silliest little things were making her do more than just laugh.

But she grounded herself once she realized that if she continued to let thoughts like those infiltrate her mind, one may very well come out of her mouth by accident. And that information was enough to startle her back into reality.

"So…uh…thanks for driving me back here," Anna said, once she found a coherent sentence to say, "Although that cake should have been enough thanks."

"I had to work for it, so I wouldn't necessarily call it a 'thank you'," Elsa teased.

Anna rolled her eyes, "So ungrateful. If you were anyone else I would have literally wrestled you for it."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not just 'anyone else'," Elsa shot back, making Anna's face burn.

That really didn't come out the way I necessarily wanted it to come out…

"Really, though," Elsa said, "It was a much better dinner than leftovers or frostbitten pizza from the freezer. So I appreciate you letting me tag along."

"You're welcome any time," Anna said, meaning every word.

The senior took her keys from the table and stood, her answer bringing a hopeful smile to Anna's face, "Until my parents leave, taking a trip to this café every once in a while doesn't seem like such a bad idea."

A/n: Hey all. How's life? Mine's been so busy that 5 hours of sleep has been the norm, so I'm extremely happy that I managed to get this chapter out :p

Once this semester is over, I'll be able to get back into the schedule that I had for this story. But as for now, I'll do the best I can to get these chapters out as soon as I can.

A horse term for your dictionary: Eventing—a discipline in the equestrian sport where three 'phases' are performed: dressage, cross-country (a course of natural jumps in the open like a field/woods), and show jumping (jumping in the arena). The total of the scores of all three phases determines the rider's final placement.

As always, thanks for reading :)