Chapter 23.

By the time they arrived to Rapunzel's house, the sun was already high in the sky. After getting to Liset's bus terminal, they'd flagged down a taxi that took them to Anna's friend's place and now here they were, ready to meet the girl and her husband.

"A-Anna… are you sure about this?" Elsa asked, fidgeting nervously at the entrance. "W-what if they discover my powers and want to hurt me?"

"Don't be ridiculous Elsa, they may freak out a little if they witness your magic, but I know them. They'd never hurt you, okay?" Elsa nodded and tried to relax, but a concerned expression remained on her face. Anna sighed. She guessed Elsa wouldn't be truly at ease until she'd meet them.

The redhead then gently squeezed Elsa's hand to reassure her and proceeded to ring the doorbell. They waited a few seconds and, just when Elsa had started to tremble because of her anxiety, the door opened and Anna suddenly found herself crushed by a rather enthusiastic squealing girl.

"Anna!" She shouted in her ear. "It's sooooo nice to see you again!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Punz." Anna was barely able to answer. "But… please… release… me."

"Oh, what a killjoy." Rapunzel pouted as she separated herself from Anna, who was finally able to breathe… not for long though. In that moment, another pair of arms embraced Anna's waist from behind, possessively pulling her away from the brunette. "Hey, you must be Elsa!" She said cheerfully as she noticed her. "It's nice to meet you." She extended her hand to the girl, but was just met by Elsa's hostile gaze.

"Mine." She whispered as she tightened her hold around Anna even more.

"Uhm… Elsa?" Anna said, a little worried. Possessive Elsa was a little scary. Cute, but scary.

"Uh?" Rapunzel seemed taken aback for a moment, but then a look of understanding appeared on her face. "Oh! I see! Anna, when you said you've found a girl prisoner in your uncle's house I never thought you'd make a move on her!" Anna blushed and she giggled. "I can't blame you though, she's pretty gorgeous." She gave her a wink and Anna mentally face-palmed herself.

"It's not like that, Punz." Anna tried to explain. "We're not together."

"Yes, we are." Elsa contradicted her as she pressed her breasts fully against Anna's back, which of course made the redhead blush even more. Rapunzel only smirked knowingly.

"We're just…" The feeling of Elsa's perfect mounds of flesh pressed against her was giving Anna's brain a hard time concentrating on the conversation. "…uh… we are… friends?" Rapunzel was clearly about to disagree, but in that moment a male voice came from behind her.

"Hey, what's taking you so long?" Said Eugene as he walked through the door. "Oh Anna, what a nice surprise." He smiled as soon as he saw the redhead.

"Surprise?" Anna giggled and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Punz tell you we were coming?"

"I didn't think he could've handled living with three beautiful women." Rapunzel teased him as he approached her and, taking her by the waist, gave her a small peck on the lips. At this, Elsa relaxed and Anna was able to separate herself from the blonde a little.

"I only have eyes for you, babe." He said with an adoring gaze, which quickly changed into a mischievous one. "Though I wouldn't oppose to having a foursome." He winked in the direction of Anna and Elsa, to which both remained unfazed.

"In your dreams, Ryder." Anna laughed.

"Oh, come on, don't start that again. That was in high school!" He complained.

"Yeah, when you pretended that your name was Flynn Ryder in order to conquer me." Rapunzel said rolling her eyes.

"It worked."

"Riiiiight… Anyways" She turned to Elsa. "Sorry for that, this is my husband, Eugene."

"The most handsome man you can find." He said winking and extending her his hand, which Elsa of course didn't take.

"This is Elsa." Anna answered for her once it was obvious she wasn't going to talk. "She doesn't talk much."

"That's fine. I don't think I could've bear three rambling girls."

"Hey!" Anna and Rapunzel yelled at the same time as the latter promptly punched his arm.

"Ouch." he pouted.

"You are such a baby." Rapunzel said giving him yet another punch. "Well, whatever, come in. We better get you settled."

The couple helped the girls with their bags and they moved into the house. It was a nice house and big enough for someone who planned on having a family soon, but still small compared to Anna and Elsa's mansion. It did have however a certain homey atmosphere, with all the pictures of the smiling couple, before and after their wedding. It gave Elsa a sense of security and comfort that was enough to let go of Anna and only hold her hand instead.

"I'll lead you to your rooms." Eugene said as he started walking upstairs, but Anna stopped him.

"Uhm, actually…" She rubbed her neck. "We're staying in the same room." As soon as she said this, Anna blushed madly and could feel her heart accelerating.

Damn, control yourself! It's not like you're going to have sex, right? Oh, stop imagining it for god's sake!

"But Anna, there are enough rooms for you two." Eugene said, believing Anna didn't want to impose or something.

"No, it's just that…" Anna started.

"Eugene." Rapunzel interrupted him. "Let them stay at the same room, if they want." She smirked. "Actually, let's give them the one with the king-sized bed. They are gonna need it." Eugene stared at her for a second before understanding settled into his features.

"Oh! Okay. Of course." He said, blushing and turning to grab the bags and disappear upstairs as soon as possible.

"It's not like that!" Anna screamed, blushing furiously.

"If you say so." The look in Rapunzel's eyes clearly said she didn't believe her one bit.

"She has nightmares! She has to sleep with me." Anna's skin tone, now as red as her hair, wasn't helping her convincing Rapunzel.

"I never said otherwise. Now, lets go." She smiled cheerfully as she ran upstairs.

"You're bright red." Elsa pointed out.

"Oh, really?" Anna asked sarcastically as she pulled her to their new room.

Just after they had unpacked some of their belongings (Only the ones they'd be needing soon) and Eugene and Rapunzel had left them alone, both girls collapsed in bed, wanting to take a little break before thinking about what they had to do next.

"So, what did you think about Punz and Eugene?" Anna asked.

"They are… strange." Elsa answered unsure. "But… they seem nice." She admitted, remembering how they were always smiling and trying to get on her good side, even if they sometimes seemed to be insinuating something she couldn't quite understand. "Rapunzel reminds me of you."

"Yeah, people often assume we're sisters." Anna said smiling. "I hope that helps you getting along with her."

"Maybe." Elsa shrugged. "But, even if I get to know her, I know I'll still like you more." She said turning to stare lovingly at Anna's eyes.

"How are you so sure? She's so perfect you may even end up forgetting about me." Anna half-teased, but she still was a little worried that she might end up feeling jealous if those two really became close.

2Never. You are my world." She answered with such sincerity it took Anna's breath away, and thousands of little butterflies fluttered in her stomach. It was the first time someone said something like that to her without doubt, and the redhead wasn't able to process it immediately, or act on it for that matter. So she just stared at Elsa, until she put an uneasy expression. "Anna?" She asked worried that she might have said something wrong. This finally got the younger girl's mouth working.

"Elsa I…"

*Riiiing. Riiiiing.*

Anna's cellphone interrupted whatever she was going to say and both girls sighed, disappointed. The magic of the moment had been broken.

"Hello?" Anna answered.

"Anna?" Kristoff's worried voice sounded trough the speaker. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're at a friend's house. We'll be staying here for a while." Anna decided not to say where she was exactly in case someone was spying her or something. "What about you? How went Hans' arrest?" Kristoff sighed.

"Not well." He admitted. "He arrived at the hour he was supposed to, but… as soon as he saw us, he ran off. We followed him of course, but his car was faster and we lost him." Anna's stomach twisted at his words. Hans' escape was no good news, even if he didn't know where they had gone, she had mentioned Rapunzel a couple of times during their conversations, and it was only a matter of time before he found them. "I'm sorry, Anna." He seemed to be defeated and ashamed, not to say tired, and it pained her to hear him like that.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. I'm sure you did your best." She assured him, but her voice still sounded kind of disappointed, even if she didn't mean it.

"Right." He sighed. "We'll keep looking. I'll keep you informed, okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Alright. Goodbye then."

"Bye."

Anna hung up the phone and closed her eyes, already feeling the stress taking a toll on her. She rubbed her temples wanting to get rid of the slight headache she was suddenly having, but it was no use.

"Anna? Are you okay?" Elsa asked concerned as she gently touched her shoulder. Anna got her hand off her head and turned to look at her. Seeing those innocent eyes that adored her like no one else ever had, she knew she couldn't let this defeat her; she had promised she would protect Elsa, and she intended to keep that promise. With a look of determination in her eyes, she stood up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said. "I just remembered I have to do something." She then grabbed a pair of pants and stepped into the bathroom, only to emerge a few minutes later with clothes fit to do some exercise, kick some butt. "I gotta go. Can you stay here with Rapunzel?"

"Do I have any option?" Elsa sighed with a resigned look.

"No." Anna said as she approached her and took her face with her hands. "But it's not as bad as you make it sound. She is a nice girl, and I'm sure you'll like her in no time. Trust me." Elsa leaned on her touch, closing her eyes for a moment before looking up.

"I trust you." She answered and Anna smiled at this.

"Good, come downstairs, that way you won't be alone while I'm out." She took the blonde's hand and led her out of their room.

One hour had passed since Anna had left with Eugene, who was going to take her to some 'Kung-fu school', whatever that was. Ever since their departure, Rapunzel had been trying to get Elsa to open up to her, but she always ended up getting short answers, barely whispered, if she got one at all. She was starting to get desperate.

"Soooo, you like… uh… purple?" Rapunzel had been trying to guess Elsa's favorite color for a few minutes now, but it was like pulling teeth; the girl just kept playing with her braid as she made every effort to ignore the persistent brunette… which seemed to be getting harder as time passed.

"Purple is… pretty." She said emotionlessly, looking everywhere except towards the smiling girl at her side.

"Ugh! Really, why is it so difficult to know something as simple as your favorite color?!2 Rapunzel screamed and Elsa flinched, backing away from the girl.

"Sorry." She just said. At this, Rapunzel finally realized she was making her uncomfortable and scared, so she sighed and tried to calm herself down.

"Uh… I… I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm just not used to be ignored." She apologized. "And I won't keep prying answers out of you, if you want. Just… tell me what you want to do and we'll see if it's possible."

Elsa thought for a moment, eager to get the noisy girl off her shoulders. It's not as if she particularly disliked her, but she still didn't feel at ease with strangers (Plus, without Anna her powers were more uncontrollable, and the possibility of the brunette finding out about her magic scared her). She would've liked to keep reading the book she had started, but of course she hadn't taken it with her. Her second option would've been practicing with her powers, but she couldn't do it as long as Rapunzel was around. That only left one thing.

"I'd like to draw." She finally answered.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" Rapunzel shouted, happily surprised. Elsa had to cover her ears. "You like drawing?!" Elsa eyed at her with a look that clearly said 'Do you have to be that noisy?'. "Right. Sorry." She said more quietly, but then she smiled excitedly and started making little jumps in her place. "It's just… I can't believe it! This is perfect! Come on, I have a surprise for you!" Without warning, she took Elsa's gloved hand and pulled her up, leading her out of the living room before she could utter a word of protest. They arrived to a door covered with paintings of birds and flowers, mostly made of yellow and purple tones, and Rapunzel finally released her. "You have to close your eyes, OK?" She said smiling mischievously, which didn't help much calming Elsa's nervous state.

"W-what for?" She asked, not completely trusting her.

"So that it surprises you more when you see it." The brunette answered rolling her eyes. Elsa gulped and backed away one step; she wasn't sure a surprise was a good idea, what if it got her powers out of control? "Relax, you'll like it. Trust me." She gave her a warm smile and Elsa found herself relaxing slightly at this. When she wasn't so hyper, the girl actually resembled Anna a lot, and this may have been what made Elsa decide she would take a little risk and close her eyes.

Rapunzel waved her hand in front of Elsa's face to make sure she wasn't cheating and, once she was satisfied with the results, she opened the door and carefully took her hands (Elsa flinched briefly at this), before guiding her into the room. Then, she went to open the curtains and uncover some of the canvas before finally saying:

"Okay, you can open your eyes now."

When Elsa opened her eyes, she found herself in a big well-lit room with lots of murals painted on the walls (There wasn't a single bare spot, not even at the roof), again mainly of yellow and purple-pink tones, and placed inside said room there was a table, a couple of chairs and lots of paintings resting on wooden supports, the larger and more notorious one being of a girl with long (Like very, very long) blonde hair sitting on the top of a tree watching yellow lights float on the nocturne sky. It was all truly gorgeous.

"Do you like it?" Rapunzel squealed exited, waiting for her approval.

"It's really nice." A smile appeared on her lips for the first time since Anna had left. "All these paintings are very pretty."

"Thank you!" Rapunzel's smile widen even more, if possible. "I made them all by myself." She stated proudly.

"That's truly impressive." Elsa said as she turned to look at everything with an awed expression, but, in that moment, she felt something landing on her shoulder and, as she turned around to see it, she found a tiny green creature eyeing at her with distrust. Her eyes showed panic for a second before the brunette took notice of it and took the little thing off her shoulder.

"Sorry about that." She gave her a nervous smile as the scaly little monster climbed off her hand and on top pf her head. "Pascal likes being in here, but he doesn't like strangers."

"What's… Pascal?" Elsa asked confused, looking at the girl's pet with curiosity.

"He's a chameleon, haven't you ever seen one?" Elsa just shook her head and, at this, Rapunzel promptly removed him from her head, handing him over to Elsa. "Here, he's friendly once he gets to know you."

"A-are you sure?" Rapunzel nodded and, taking a deep breath, Elsa decided she would hold the creature, just for a moment, to look at it better. "H-hi, Pascal." She greeted him with a nervous smile. She could feel her hands trembling. Pascal just eyed at her for a moment, then turned around and jumped back into Rapunzel's hands. Elsa couldn't help feeling hurt.

"Pascal, be a little friendlier, will you?" Rapunzel reprimanded him. He just scoffed and climbed off her and to a nearby chair. "Sorry, he's not usually this rude. Except with my husband." She giggled trying to make the girl forget about the rejection, but the down casted look on her eyes didn't vanished. "Hey, it's okay. I'm sure he'll warm up to you eventually. Now, let's go paint something." Saying this with a kind smile, Rapunzel took her hand to lead her to the table, but she quickly released her, giving a surprised squeal. "Geez, your hands are freezing! No wonder Pascal didn't like you holding him. Reptiles, like him, prefer warm bodies."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, utterly mortified. Her curse was always scaring people away, in this case animals.

"Hey, it's alright. It not your fault your hands are cold." She tried to assure her, but she seemed even more dejected at her words. "Uhm… why don't we just forget about it and draw some good stuff." She placed a hand on her also freezing shoulder, making her flinch yet again. "You can use anything in my study. It's not every day I give someone that privilege." Elsa just nodded, deciding it was useless to dwell anymore on what had happened, and Rapunzel, smiling brightly again, led her to the table and showed her everything she needed for drawing.

Another hour had passed and Elsa was almost done with her drawing, a simple sketch made with pencil, while Rapunzel was beginning to add color to hers, a painting made mostly out of blues. She had tried several times peaking at Elsa's work, of course, but the girl always covered it and said "It's not finished yet". However, just then, Elsa brought up the paper sheet to admire it and said with a big smile:

"Done!"

"Let me see it!" Rapunzel soon ran to her and looked at the sketch. Elsa seemed a little nervous, unsure, like she wanted her approval really badly.

The first thing Rapunzel noticed about the drawing was that it represented Anna, which wasn't that much of a surprise for her, given how close the girls were, but the way she draw Anna was something else completely. She was in clothes that would be usual for her; a simple tank top covered by an unbuttoned shirt, jeans and tennis, however, for Rapunzel's expert gaze, it wasn't just a simple picture of someone's friend. Her face had an expression of power and confidence, but at the same time it was gentle and caring, giving one a sense of safety, like you could trust her with your life. Until this, you could think that Elsa saw Anna like a very good friend, someone who she could count any time. There was also a hint of admiration, but nothing more. Her body though, was another story; Anna definitely did have a nice body in real life, and it wasn't truly distorted in the drawing, but the shadows did a great job accentuating the right places, making her look sexy as hell and totally appealing. This wasn't how someone would draw a friend, but a lover.

"Wow, Elsa this is…!" Rapunzel found herself at a loss of words, unable to describe accurately what she was seeing. "Just… you are a genius! I don't often get to see someone portrayed with so much accuracy and sentiment, this is… wow."

"So… you liked it?" Elsa asked, still a little nervous, but smiling at Rapunzel's words.

"Yeah, absolutely! It shows just how strongly you feel for Anna. I knew you two were a couple! I wondered why she didn't tell me. That stinker."

"Uh… couple?" She asked, eying at Rapunzel with such genuine confusion that the girl started doubting herself.

"You're a couple, right? Girlfriends or something like that?"

"Girlfriends?" She kept asking. "Like friends… who are… girls?

"No, like… you love each other, don't you? Just as Eugene and I love each other."

"I do love Anna. And she loves me back. But we're not married."

"No, but… you kiss and sleep together and do… stuff. Right?" Getting another confused gaze in response, Rapunzel decided she needed to talk clear. "You kiss on the lips and touch each other's bodies and all those things?"

"Oh." Elsa finally understood Rapunzel was talking about romantic love and sexual activities, and she turned deep red. "No, we don't."

"Really?" Rapunzel leaned in to study her face closely, clearly not believing it. However, when Elsa shook her head in a defeated gesture, sighing, the brunette knew she was telling the truth. 2But you want to." She stated. Elsa just nodded. "Have you told Anna how you feel?"

"Yeah, I asked her to get married, but she said I just love her as a friend." She answered as she hugged herself and looked down. Rapunzel frowned at this.

"Well, you didn't do it the right way." Elsa looked up with a questioning gaze. "You can't just ask her to marry you if you don't tell her you love her romantically first, go on some dates, become girlfriends and all that stuff."

"But… she just loves me as a friend, doesn't she?" The look in Elsa's face was somewhat sad, and Rapunzel wasn't having any of that.

"Of course not! Trust me, I have known Anna for years, and I can tell she's completely, utterly in love with you. She just doesn't have the courage to admit it."

"Really?" Elsa asked hopefully.

"Yes, and I can see you love her very much."

"I do." She answered without doubt.

"Good, then I'll help you conquer… no, conquer is not the right word; she's already head over heels in love with you. Uhm… We'll help Anna admit her true feelings for you. It'll be our secret mission."

"Uhm… okay, how?"

"I'm glad you asked." A mischievous smile appeared on Rapunzel's face and Elsa gulped, wondering if she had made the right choice.