A huge grin spread over Coach Kai's face as I sprinted out onto the field to join my team. Some members of the opposing team did double takes - to them I had shrunk a foot and had a different haircut. Here's hoping that everyone in the stands was far enough away to not notice the change…

"Ready?" Coach Kai asked when I reached them. I looked around at the strained faces - they obviously were wondering why I hadn't been much help the first quarter.

"Born ready, coach!" I said with a grin to match his. "Sorry, guys. It's been a weird day but don't worry! My head's in the game now."

They looked unconvinced but all the same, we put in our hands for a quick chant and then we were spreading across the field in a wave. I glanced up at the scoreboard - we were down 3-0. No problem - I could change that before halftime.

It was the opposing team's ball. I rolled out my ankle one more time before the whistle was blown, praying that it wouldn't give up on me. And then I went off, right on the offense. I took possession of the ball easily and was making my way up the field. I could hear the crowd screaming as I dribbled - I could just make out Kristoff chanting "LA-DIES-MAN! LA-DIES-MAN!" over the din. It felt so good to run and play that for a few moments I could forget about the stress of the day and just let go. I was so much smaller and faster than the hulking guys on the opposing team that I could skirt around them without much effort. As usual, I was being a ball hog but at the moment it was the only chance we had. I figured Coach Kai wouldn't mind.

I scored easily. The stands exploded again. I let myself fist pump toward the spectators while Sven came over and slapped me on the back in congratulations.

"Nice to have you back, Hans!" he shouted, and I grinned at him.

The game continued like this for almost the rest of the quarter. A minute before halftime and we were tied. So far, so good. No one had seemed to have noticed the switcheroo I'd had with my brother, or if anyone had, no one thought it was worth stopping the game to interrogate me about it.

But because life is hard, everything went south (WAY south) right after the goal that had tied us with the other team. I was running along the stands as they cheered, bolstering them on, when I passed Kristoff and Gerda and saw that Elsa had moved from her seat up at the back of the stands and had chosen to sit front and center with them. This, of course, made sense as they were all friends now but it was unexpected to have Elsa so close, merely a few yards away. I felt that familiar pang near my solar plexus as our gazes locked yet again. Not knowing what else to do, I turned as I passed them in order to run backward and waved at the trio, as though nothing were amiss.

All three of their eyes went suddenly wide. Kristoff stood hurriedly, cupping his hands to his mouth and yelling, "Hans, look out!"

But it was too late. Before I could stop or turn, the ball caught me underfoot and I hit the ground, hard, flat on my back. For a few terrifying seconds I couldn't catch my breath and was dizzy, dizzy, everything was spinning….

The whistle blew, what sounded like from a distance. Then Coach Kai and Sven were there with odd expressions on their faces. As I struggled to get them in focus, I saw that Kai's mouth was set in a straight line as though he were resigned for the worst. Sven, on the other hand, looked like he was stuck halfway between shock and humor. His mouth was open wide but his teeth showed as if he were about to laugh.

"Can you stand up?" Coach Kai asked, gripping my upper arm.

"I think so," I said hesitantly, and let him pull me to my feet.

I don't know how long I'd been down for, but it was apparently long enough to let the trio come onto the field from the front row. I could see Olaf, Rapunzel, Ingrid and my mother descending the steps and Headmaster Westleton pushing his way through all the soccer players, Milton or otherwise, to get over to me. I'd only fallen over, what was the big deal?

That's when I realized that no one really looked concerned; the soccer players - Milton or otherwise - were all gaping in confusion and craning their necks for a better look at me.

"The jig is up, kid," Coach Kai muttered in my ear and that's when I realized my auburn hair hanging around my shoulders. A glance at the ground told me that my wig had come completely dislodged during my fall. I looked back at the faces around me and gulped.

See, Anna? This is what happens when you rush into things without thinking.

Everyone was staring. This wasn't what I thought it would be like. No, I thought the big reveal would be... funny. Like… Ta-da! Here I am! This is me! But this was not funny. This was the opposite of funny. This… this was hostile. And it wasn't just the glare that Kristoff was giving me, although that was pretty scary too. What made it worse was the fact that she was there, right behind Kristoff. I could see her blue eyes glinting at me from under her bangs. That glare, the Death Glare that she usually reserved for the stupid guys in chem who try to purposely set things on fire was now trained on me.

This was bad. This was really bad. How did it get this bad?

How did I let it?

"Anna?" Mom had pushed past even Kristoff and taken ahold of my shoulders, peering intrusively into my face as though I were deranged. "What is the meaning of this? Why are you playing in the game? And why were you wearing a wig? Where's your brother?"

"If you stop asking me questions, I can explain…" I started but was shortly cut off.

"What is going on here?" Weaseltown had arrived. "Coach Kai, what sort of game are you playing?"

"Soccer," Kai said, tight-lipped. He had my back, just like he had promised. "But no one seems to want to let me use my star player here. You and some other nameless administrators refuse me a co-ed team. So I took matters into my own hands."

"Why, that is very bold!" cried the tiny Headmaster, shocked and angry. "Coach Kai, are you telling me that this young man is actually a young woman?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. I recruited this young lady to join my team as we obviously need her, though she is not a boy. She took her brother's name and played for us, simple as that."

"I don't understand…" Westleton began but was cut off.

"How did you even find my daughter?" My mother was finally piping up. "She doesn't even go to Milton!"

"Maybe she should," Kai countered, raising his eyebrows at my mom. "But I'll tell you, I first saw her at-"

"No, Coach Kai," I finally interrupted the adults, refusing to let him lie for me. "I'll tell them the truth."

All eyes were back on me. Elsa was lost in the crowd, but Kristoff was still right there, still looking hurt and betrayed.

"Well?" asked Westleton impatiently.

"Rapunzel," I said, first and foremost. "Will you go and retrieve Hans from the locker rooms?" If I was going to tell this story I was going to do it properly and start from where it all began - my brother's scheme.

"He's my boyfriend, I'll retrieve him!" Ingrid said, lunging after Rapunzel, who was skipping dutifully away. I was not concerned in the slightest; I knew full well that Punz could take any sort of shenanigans Ingrid had to offer.

"If Hans is in the locker room, who are you?" Kristoff piped up, hands in fists, looking like he was about to punch me out.

It was my mother who answered. "This is my daughter, Anna. Hans is my son and her brother. Were you pretending to be him this whole time?"

"Yes," I sighed, defeated.

"And you weren't staying at your dad's?

"No."

"I knew I should have called over there… Where has Hans been, then?" asked mom, absolutely befuddled.

"I'll let him answer that." The boy in question had appeared, Ingrid latched to his side like a leech. Rapunzel tromped behind looking extremely ruffled.

"Hiya, mom!" Hans said, kissing mom on the cheek, entirely composed despite all of the people around staring like hawks. All eyes were now on him.

Before he could speak, however, Westleton broke in. "This is the real young man I was supposed to give an induction to last week? Why, you don't even look alike…"

"We're not twins," I said in annoyance. "And if you'd all stay quiet for ONE SECOND we could tell you what was going on!"

This shut everyone up.

"Hans," I said, gesturing at my brother to begin.

He looked at mom guiltily - in this crowd of people, she was the only one he owed any explanation to. The rest was all up to me.

"So… I may or may not have gone to London for two weeks for a gig with the South Aisles…" he began, flinching at the impending maelstrom of fury.

Ingrid beat my mom on that count: "You did WHAT?"

Hans ignored her and continued in a rush. "And I may or may not have also asked Anna to call Milton and tell them that I have appendicitis and wouldn't be coming when planned. But look, I'm back and I'm safe and the South Aisles signed! We have a tour starting in June, isn't that exciting?"

I gave him a thumbs up; that was exciting! No one else seemed to share my sentiment.

"You went to London and you didn't TELL ME?" Ingrid spat again. She was even more furious than my mother, which was saying something, as a glance at mom told me that she was beyond grounding Hans - he was headed straight for oblivion.

"We need to talk," said Ingrid, taking him by the hand and pulling him away. "NOW."

As he was dragged behind the marching Ingrid, Hans threw a pitiful glance of helplessness at me over his shoulder but I could do nothing; I had my own pack of wolves to face.

"That answers that question," said mom, obviously trying to keep her anger under control. "Now, Anna. Why are you here pretending to be your brother?"

"And it better be a good reason!" started Westleton again. "You have flouted the excellence of this fine institution and thrown abysmal-"

"Headmaster Westleton, with all due respect," said Coach Kai, "let the girl talk."

"Thanks," I said and took a deep breath, looking at all the faces. There was Kristoff, still hurt and confused. Sven, eyes wide and trying not to laugh. Gerda, looking quite calm despite the events and Elsa, of course, whose expression was imperceptible, like a predator waiting for her moment to strike. I couldn't help the tug at my heart at her beauty. Would she ever speak to or see me again after this? I would miss her laugh so much…

"I'm not smart," I began.

"That much is obvious," sniffed Headmaster Westleton. I restrained a glare.

"...not smart like Hans, not book-smart. But I have many wonderful friends and I love playing soccer! It is my whole world. Everything makes sense when I'm kicking that old ball around. And my family has gone to Milton for generations. Mom was so happy when Hans got in, even though he could care less about school - he just wants to be a musician! I knew that she didn't think I was smart enough to get in too."

"Oh, honey..." said mom, suddenly frowning.

I pressed on. "I guess at the beginning I just wanted to show everyone, especially mom, that I did have what it takes to be a Milton student and continue to be my soccer-playing self. And the only way I could think to do that was to be a Milton student, even if it was under false pretenses…"

Westleton sniffed again and crossed his arms.

"And then I got here and found out that they didn't even have a girl's soccer team! But Coach Kai saw right through my disguise immediately and still wanted me to play on his team-"

"You knew this girl's true identity this whole time and didn't report these shenanigans?" cried Westleton, infuriated.

I continued without missing a beat. "He wanted to show you and the rest of administration that it would be worthwhile to have a girl's team, or at least one that's co-ed! It's supposed to be fun and games, after all. And look, I'm the one who has scored all of the goals so far this game! And I've worked really hard at chemistry and English - I should get my grade back for my essay today! And I've made friends who are amazing... but I wonder if they'll still want to be my friends after all of this..."

I surveyed the trio again. At once, Gerda stepped forward and took one of my hands. "I'll be your friend, Anna."

I gave her a brief hug in which I inhaled a lot of bushy hair. I extracted myself delicately and turned to that tall roommate of mine.

"Kristoff?" I prompted.

Kristoff shook his head, staring at the ground and my heart sank. After a moment he said, "you're such a dummy, Ladies' Man." And then he looked up, grinning at me.

I ran over to hug him around the waist. He huffed out a breath at the force of my embrace but wrapped his arms around me all the same. "Not gonna lie, I'm weirded out by the fact that I've been rooming with a girl this whole time but I guess now everything makes sense - the tampons, especially."

I laughed and pulled away from him. This was going much better than I'd anticipated. Then, I felt a cold hand on my arm and knew who it belonged to. But before either Elsa or I could say anything, the entire powwow was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"So… I'm not sure what's going on, but we came to play soccer, and this is an awfully long time-out." The opposing team's coach had finally come over to see what all the commotion was about.

"Yes, we could put this on hold until after the game, Headmaster," said Coach Kai. "If you would like to continue to allow Anna to play."

"That is something that I certainly cannot condone. This young lady is not even a student at this school!"

"Her brother is," said my mom, that steely glint in her eye she usually reserved for scolding me about homework. "And so was her grandfather, and his father, and even his father. I seem to recall the alumni association has a bit more merit than its headmaster. I can - and will - write to them and the board of governors if you do not let my daughter play in this game."

I gazed at my mother in awe. I can't remember the last time she had fought for me like this - usually, it was Hans she was defending. Despite myself, tears sprang to my eyes. She does care!

Westleton sputtered, speechless. He was fuming so hard that his weird little toupee was peeling off.

"Fine!" he shouted, his voice breaking like a prepubescent boy's. "Game on!"

And he stalked away.

"All right, let's do this!" Coach Kai said, clapping his hands together, unable to stop himself from beaming at my mother's grit. "Assemble, team!"

The audience to my story at the edge of the field began to dissipate. Olaf and Rapunzel, who had been flanking me during the confession session (see what I did there?) went to work immediately on braiding my hair into twin plaits - the better to play soccer, my dear. Mom gave me a quick squeeze before hurrying off to find Hans to scold him. When they had finished the braids, Punz and Olaf smacked my butt before ascending the stairs of the stands. Kristoff and Gerda patted my shoulders as they passed to also return to their seats, but Elsa didn't move from my side. I finally turned to her, longing for her. Her attention, her touch, her voice. The whistle blew, signaling that play had resumed.

"Anna, get on the field!" I heard Coach Kai call to me. I didn't move - Elsa was like a magnet. We hadn't been this close since the night of the drag show.

"Can we talk after the game?" I said quickly, not wanting to lose her again. "I have so much to explain and apologize for."

"So do I," she said. "Go play. And don't worry, you'll be able to find me later."

"Thank you." And we hugged. I never wanted to let go. I breathed in deeply, wanting her aroma to carry me through the rest of the game. Oh, please let this end happily!

"Anna!" Kai called again, impatient this time.

"I have to go, but I'll talk to you later!" I said, pulling away reluctantly.

"Good luck," she said and kissed me on the cheek.

It was with a dopey grin that I joined the rest of the team on the field. I was here. And I was here to win. As I sprinted at full speed after the ball, I decided it didn't matter that I had a crush on Elsa, as long as she still liked me enough to be my friend. All I wanted was proximity and the rest of the world fell away.

The second half of the game was a blur. I funneled all of my energy and concentration into showing all those people that I'd just faced off with that Anna was cool too, not just cocky, laid-back, fake Hans. That I was a badass lady who deserved a bedroom ceiling poster!

And so when time ran out and I set up Sven to score in the last seconds of the game, it was to great applause. We had won, hands down: 7-4.

I watched Sven kick it in, the whistle blew and I collapsed in a heap of exhaustion - What a week! And it was finally over. Sven and several other members of my team descended upon me like hawks and I was borne into the air and onto their shoulders. I laughed as they chanted, "AN-NA! AN-NA! AN-NA!"

From the stands still rang Kristoff's "LA-DIES-MAN!" I wondered vaguely if he'd ever stop calling me that… But sincerely hope he wouldn't.

Coach Kai was jogging over, his smile huge.

"Way to go, kid. I owe you." I gave him a high-five before I was marched past him and into the crowd that had spilled onto the field from the stands. Even Oaken came over to congratulate me. Even though I was floating on the shoulders of the team, the English teacher still towered over me. He wore an expression as though he wanted a word with me - perhaps to reprimand me for ditching two of his classes this week. I waved at the boys beneath me, indicating that I wanted to be put down.

"I couldn't help but overhear your plight, ya?" he said when I landed back on the ground. I shrugged; I wouldn't have noticed or minded if he had been right up in the action of the confession session. "I guess I now have no one else to give my balding ointment to. You were wearing a wig, but not for the reason I thought!"

He gave a hearty guffaw.

"And since you are no genuine student, I don't mind telling you... you got an A on your Macbeth paper!"

"What?" I said, shocked. "No way!"

"Well done, Hans- I mean Anna," said Gerda, who was right behind me to startle me as usual. "Sorry. That's going to take some getting used to."

Then I was being pulled into a hug from Kristoff. "Knew you could do it, punk. I forgive you for lying to me for two weeks."

"Yeah, sorry," I said sheepishly. "I'll make it up to you! If you let me. I'll buy you all the pizza you want."

"You'd better! I doubt your brother is as fun as you are to room with. You keep me on my toes."

"Don't worry, I'll visit a lot," I said, grinning. I looked from Kristoff to Gerda, thinking fast. "Hey, I've got a lot to sort out here. You two go on and get some dinner and I'll catch up with you, okay?"

Kristoff seemed vaguely surprised but I ushered him along and gave Gerda a sneaky wink that she returned with a magnified blink.

Turning my back on them, I saw that Mom had found Hans - Ingrid was nowhere in sight. They were talking with Coach Kai, of all people. I started for them, Olaf and Rapunzel following.

"Guess what?" I said on my approach, not caring if I was interrupting. "I got an A on my Macbeth paper! I AM SMART."

"I never thought you weren't smart, honey," piped up mom immediately.

"You're dastardly, like a genius supervillain," said Hans, wriggling his eyebrows at me. I punched his arm playfully. It was good to have him back.

"Where's Ingrid?" I asked, glancing around as though expecting her to pop out of thin air next to us.

"She, uh…" Hans shifted his weight foot to foot, hand on the back of his head. "She broke up with me."

"She what?" I said, feeling as though my jaw was going to drop off.

"Finally," sniffed Olaf, returning his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose and winking over them at Rapunzel.

"After all the strife that crazy girl put me through…" I said, rolling my eyes. "Remind me to tell you all about the restaurant fiasco sometime, Hans."

My attention returned to Coach Kai and mom, who were still deep in conversation.

"Please, call me Idunn," mom was saying, who was giggling like a schoolgirl. Don't tell me - were they... flirting?

"Gag me," I muttered to Hans, who rolled his eyes and laughed.

Rapunzel tapped me on the shoulder and nodded to indicate something behind me. "I think someone wants to talk to you."

Elsa was standing outside the edges of the crowd on the sidelines, patiently waiting for her turn to talk with me, her arms twisted together in front of her. She had waited for me; I didn't deserve her. Her face was once more impassive. I walked over, dreading what sort of conversation this was going to be.

"See you guys later," I called over my shoulder.

Upon my approach, Elsa untwisted her arms and squared up her shoulders, exhaling sharply. My stomach churned. I don't remember the last time I'd ever felt so nervous.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello," she said.

"I'm Anna," I said.

"Hi, Anna." The sound of my name coming from her mouth made me feel like Christmas had come early. She made me love, love, love my name!

Elsa was looking at me, eyebrows furrowed. Much different than yesterday in the chemistry classroom. The predator fire had been extinguished and what was left was exhaustion. She looked exactly like I felt.

"I don't know where to start," I said, sighing. As much as I liked her, I couldn't deny that I had dealt her the most grievances.

"I'll start," she said, saving me and cutting to the chase. "I've known the whole time, Anna. I've known since that first day in chem. But I didn't say anything because I thought, maybe she's transgender. I didn't want to offend you, so I let it go. But then I got to know you. You would run from situations that would give you away but face other situations head-on. One of you seemed like the real you and the other seemed like a character. As the days went on, it became more and more obvious that you were just play acting, and doing a poor job I might add."

I flinched, embarrassed. Someone as smart as Elsa would have seen right through me. How could I have underestimated her? How could she ever forgive me? I've been nothing but an idiot! But when I looked up at her, she was smiling.

"I'm so sorry," I said, defeated. "I could have trusted you with my secret but I panicked."

"I understand. I struggle with crippling anxiety myself," she said, suddenly small.

A pause as we both struggled for words. I wanted to address the subject that I really cared about. If Elsa had known that I'd been a girl this whole time and she'd still kissed me and flirted with me, then surely…

"Yesterday, after chem…" I started, unable to look at her. I kicked the grass at my feet with my cleats. "You said that you'd really liked me. I thought it was Hans you liked, not the me underneath. But if you've known all along that I wasn't Hans... does that mean you liked... me?"

Elsa studied me for a few seconds, blue eyes scrutinizing. The silence lasted so long that I feared the worst.

"You don't have to lie, I was just asking-"

"I did," she finally said. "It's not a lie. I still like you, actually. But I was very angry about you outting me to Kristoff. I actually haven't told anyone that I'm gay, not even my family."

"I swear to god, I didn't know!" I said quickly, flushing in embarrassment. "I thought I made it up, honest! Kristoff liked you and I was jealous because I did too and wanted to keep him away from you. I'm a jerk and an idiot and I don't know why you like me, I really have no redeeming qualities."

"That's not true, you have many redeeming qualities. You are an idiot," she amended, "but it's endearing."

And she laughed that gorgeous laugh, but I was so emotionally strained that I didn't know what to do, so I just stared at her perfect teeth.

"I always thought I was straight," I said. "And then I met you. You kissed me and now I can't think of anything else. You've made this week very hard and strange for me."

"I'm sorry," she said, furrowing that brow again. "I shouldn't have come on so strongly. I'm not very experienced at flirting..."

"Well, so far, you're better than me!" I said, and we both laughed.

"So what now?" she asked when the laughter abated.

"That is a great question," I said, looking around the field. It had been emptied except for my mom and Coach Kai, who were still talking deeply. I suppressed a shudder at their closeness. Adults are so weird!

"I guess life goes back to usual," I said, sighing. I would miss this crazy Milton life.

"And us?" she asked. I could see a flicker of fear in her eyes. "I have no desire to let you get away that easily."

"Well," I said, a grin spreading slowly across my face. I couldn't even believe my luck. "I've never dated a girl before, but I'm open to anything…"

And to my surprise, a blush flushed across Elsa's pale cheekbones and she giggled.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear, Anna."

I glanced behind me to make sure my mom wasn't watching, then stepped forward and cupped Elsa's cold jaw in my freckled hands.

"Say my name again?"

"Anna," she breathed. I was so close I could detect her aroma; for the first time in twelve days, I felt utter contentment.

And then we kissed, our lips fitting together perfectly like they were always meant to.

Too soon, a whistle blew and we broke apart.

"Hey, get a room!"

It was Coach Kai. I waved him down, annoyed, and he chortled heartily. My mom looked resigned to this last confusing moment - it had not been the weirdest thing she'd seen today.

"I'll be home later!" I called to her. Then to Elsa, I said: "Let's go join Gerda and Kristoff for dinner. Maybe we can make it a Friday night tradition."

She gave me a last, tender peck on the cheek before we walked away hand-in-hand across campus to the dining hall. My heart was full to bursting - I had felt the full range of emotions today and I was ready for some food and some more kissing, maybe. I looked down at our joined hands, her pale slender ones interlaced with mine. Our gazes caught and she smiled, making my heart flutter. I couldn't have asked for a better ending, really.

A/N: And so, in true comedic Shakespeare and Disney fashion, all is well, loose ends tied (hopefully) and everyone paired up. Let the weddings commence! JK, but if we were really being true to Shakespeare, everyone would get married, amirite? Well, lads. This was (almost) it. It only took me three years to finish, but I hope it lived up to expectations. I'll have a brief epilogue up in due time. I hope everyone's hearts will have restarted/healed by then. Until that time, fare thee well, and thank you THANK YOU for reading. I'm so grateful to have had such a faithful readership. I love you all xoxo