NOTE: Holy crap, 20 parts?! I know they're short but when did I write THIS much of this thing? Anyway, just so you know it's going for at least another 10 parts after this; there's a lot more story. Sorry to any of you who were thinking this would be a quick, brief AU and lost interest by this point… I'm just really, really bad at leaving things as one-shots, haha.

[Warning: brief nudity?]

~ Chapter Twenty ~

After their swim, which turned out to be both fun and relaxing, Elsa told her she wanted to take her out to a really nice restaurant. Anna fought against it, saying she didn't have the money… which of course didn't hold up under Elsa's relentless determination to blow as much of her own as she could on her friend.

"I'm going to be off to France on the red eye later tonight," Elsa sighed, pleading with her so much that Anna was beginning to feel less sorry for her and more irritated. "This could be kind of a cool, special sendoff. All on me, because you definitely don't seem to want to go."

"What? No, it's not that," Anna assured her, wrong-footed all of a sudden.

"Good! Then it's settled."

Anna blinked as Elsa began to walk back to her room, then her eyes narrowed and she called out, "Hey, wait a minute! You tricked me!"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. But here, you can borrow something of mine for the restaurant."

"Something of… you mean like, clothes?" Then Anna deflated slightly as she walked toward Elsa's room. "It's a formal thing, isn't it? Great…"

"You hate formal wear?"

Leaning against the door frame, Anna watched as Elsa pawed through the closet - which actually had a several stunning outfits. No doubt left by each SEEK member at random, deciding they might as well keep some on the island and buy new ones in whatever country they wound up in next.

"I barely went to prom. Kristoff went with me; we were each other's beards."

"Beards?" But Elsa wasn't paying enough attention to care about it at the moment; she was focused on finding just the right dress. "Okay, so… this is a four, it fits me so it will probably fit you, but I think there's one of Snow's twos in here if it doesn't."

Smirking, Anna snapped, "You just wanted me to acknowledge how much bigger your boobs are."

"I did no such thing," Elsa said in a haughty tone, but she was smiling. "Now, start with that one, I'll zip you up if it looks like it's going to work." When Anna turned around, she said, "Hey, don't do anything crazy, like flush it down the toilet!"

"What? Oh… no, I was just going to change."

"Going where?"

Anna blinked and gulped. "Oh, I… oh. Change here? In… front of…"

Elsa's confidence seemed to slip a very slight notch. "Ah. Um, I didn't think that would be a problem for you; I mean, I understand you're gay, but I'm not, so… me seeing you wouldn't be as if you were seeing me. Right? And I wasn't going to belooking, anyway… just, in here."

"That's true, I guess, but it's still…" Her cheeks were getting redder.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Elsa whispered, holding up both hands and laughing — more regretfully than at Anna's reaction. "I didn't mean to… well, I can leave the room, that's fine."

"N-no, don't!" Anna suddenly blurted when Elsa had barely taken a step. Why? Why did she say that? She didn't want to change in front of the biggest pop sensation on the planet; that was not high on her list of desires! But she also didn't want Elsa to feel as if she were screwing everything up. Her heart cried out to protect her, even from something as simple as that.

"You're… sure? Please, it's completely fine by me; I can check to see if I can get us a reserva-"

"I want you to stay. I'm…" She took a deep breath. "You seeing me won't make a damn bit of difference. I know that, in my head. And at some point, well… I'm probably gonna go to the doctor again, right?"

Smiling slightly, Elsa patted her on the shoulder. "I can at least turn around for you, if that helps." When Anna nodded, Elsa did so, turning to face the drawn blinds. "Alright."

"Okay. Um… here goes." There was also no reason for Anna to announce that she had started changing, but it was too late to stop the words from coming out, so she just got on with it. Slipping off the very slightly still-damp one-piece, she crossed to the doorknob and hung it up, hoping it would dry while she tried on the dress.

It was really quite a beautiful thing; silvery and shimmering, and it reached all the way to the floor. For her, anyway; if it had been Kida's or Esmé's, it probably would have been ankle-length. Shrugging, she began to slide it up her body, hitching the straps into place.

And it sagged. Not very much; in fact, if she had nothing else to wear at all, it probably would have done in a pinch. But the dress turned out to be so long once she had it around her body that she was stepping on the hem, even as she tried to pull it up.

"Well?" Elsa asked, worried about the silence.

"It's nice, but yeah, kinda too big. Um… do you have a size smaller in there? Just something to try on."

When Elsa turned around, she graced Anna with a wide grin. "Ohhh, it's a shame; that looks so good on you! I mean, the colour and style, anyway." She reached toward the closet, then hesitated. "When… is your birthday?"

"ELSA!"

"Fine, fine, I won't do it," she grumbled as if deprived of a really juicy reward for something. Her hands flicked the hangers back and forth, and then she pulled one out. "Hmm… I'm not sure if red's your colour, though. But let's do this one."

Nodding, Anna reached out a hand… and took a step forward. She instantly regretted it.

"Let m- AAH!"

"Anna?! Ooff!"

Landing in a pile on the floor, the two of them were so discombobulated that it took at least ten seconds for them to even figure out what had happened. When they did, Elsa reached up and held Anna by the shoulders.

"Are… I mean, did you hurt anything?!"

"No, just… bumped my knee," she hissed, wincing. "But other than that, I'm fi…"

The word "fine" was interrupted by her figuring out why she was not fine. During the tripping, the unzipped dress had been jerked down so that it only covered her from the waist down. That was, indeed, a small mercy, but one she was somewhat grateful for.

"You're what?" Then Elsa glanced down, and her eyes widened. "Oh. Fine."

"I…" Her hands clapped over her chest as she jerked away. "Well, quit staring!"

"Sorry!" Elsa whispered, raising a hand to cover her eyes. "I didn't mean to stare! I don't even know why I would, b-but- well, j-just try on this red dress and get out of that safety hazard!"

"Gladly!"

Grumbling to herself, Anna did as she was asked, stepping free of the silver dress once Elsa was turned around. The red one, as it turned out, only went just past the knee on one side, and halfway down the calf on the other. Unlike the last, she felt painted into that one - and that was without it being zipped up.

"Are you decent?" Elsa asked, this time in a very formal tone.

"I am. Please zip me up."

"Okay." Turning around, Elsa glanced down Anna's body, and she let out a sigh as she smiled softly. "There you are. It really did suit you, after all - you look… stunning."

Rolling her eyes, Anna scuffed at the floor with her bare foot and said in a deadpan, "Aw, shucks. Will you zip me already so we can know if I can make it through a whole dinner in this, this… body condom of a dress?"

"Yes," she laughed, walking around behind her. "Get your hair for me?" Anna did so, and Elsa's hands slid down the back of her neck…

"Ooh…"

Elsa stilled, waiting a moment as she heard the syllable, watched Anna shiver. Then watched her shoulders hunch a moment later. Her hands didn't go down to the zipper, but only began to pet the skin on either side of the base of her neck.

"Are you alright?"

"Mmm… yeah, that just… felt funny, but nice. Guess I'm all tense for s-some reason." The hands kept going. "What… are you doing?"

"Nothing." What a complete lie; Anna knew that was definitely something. Elsa leaned in very slightly and whispered, "Actually, we have some massage oils here in the house. I could arrange for a masseuse to stop by tomorrow, and help you blow off a little steam."

"This isn't one of those 'happy ending' kinda deals, is it?"

"Not from that company," she giggled. The hands still weren't stopping, but they also weren't straying anywhere else. "Or… I could do it, if you don't want a stranger."

Gulping, Anna tried to look over her shoulder and see her. "You… know how to do that? To massage people?"

"The basics. Not all the really specialised techniques, but I've received enough massages I could fake one, just enough to ease away some of your tension. If you have any, I mean. Perks of being a star is that you get all kinds of special treatment; I could probably put together a not-awful craft services table, as well, after all those music videos."

The prospect was maddeningly tempting. The great Elsa, the one and only, turned into her personal backrub-giver! But at the same time… even just her touching such a small section fondly like that was giving her some pretty incredible stomach flips. It felt incredible. She wanted those warm, slim little fingertips to keep up the good work… or put in a little overtime.

"M-maybe later," Anna finally forced herself to whisper, even though she had been trying for "That won't be necessary, thanks."

"You know… sorry for saying so if it's weird, but for what it's worth, you have nothing to be ashamed of. From what I saw, your body is just as beautiful as your face. So there's no reason to be self-conscious, now, is there?"

"Elsa…" One particular pass brought a fingernail down the center of her back, and she shivered a lot more that time. She felt Elsa's hands continue to tease, so she forced herself to keep talking. "You p-pretty much just said 'nice tits' in a long and polite way. And yeah, I think that's a little… different."

"A good different? Or…" Elsa's hands finally stilled. She was waiting for a reaction, for the knowledge of how it had affected her friend.

"No idea." Then she felt her zipper being closed up; the moment was gone now. "Nnhh… okay, it's a little tight, but I've worn worse bridesmaid dresses."

"Good," Elsa sighed, patting both of her shoulders down. "Now, I know you probably would rather have showered first, but I think you smell great; like a clean girl with a hint of chlorine. So can you stay in the dress until we get back from dinner?"

There had been so much winding-up and cajoling from Elsa that Anna felt justified. She turned around, looking the woman straight in the eyes. "First 'nice tits', then 'you smell great.' Now you're telling me to go without underwear. Hmm, can you tell me again what the purpose of this formal dinner we're having together is?"

Pursing her lips, Elsa reached up and flicked the end of Anna's nose. "Fine. Don't come, stay at home and let me eat all alone. That's a real friend."

"Oh, don't be dumb, of course we'll do whatever we're gonna do together. Like there was ever a choice."

"There really wasn't." She pulled the phone out of her shirt's pocket and said, "I'll get calling, see if I can get us in. You start on your hair, and if you can't get it I'll be there to help you as soon as I'm in my own dress."

"And I'll zip that up for you," Anna offered. When Elsa laughed, she laughed, too. "What's so funny?"

"Well, after all that panic over nudity, I didn't think you'd help me," she confessed. Then, suddenly filled with excitement, she took both of Anna's hands and shook them back and forth, her phone clasped between two hands "Ohhh, this is gonna be great!"

Anna wasn't so sure. Then again, it couldn't be as bad as flashing her former crush and almost flattening her against the floor. The lesser of two evils.

~ To Be Continued ~