AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is where the plot begins to diverge a lot more from that of the films. Part I followed the movie very closely, but the many little differences made it impossible to stick that close to the Part II script – or close to it at all. So we went where the writing took us. Hopefully you continue to enjoy the ride regardless! And thank you so much for all your reviews, we read all of them!

CHAPTER 7

"Punz?!"

The former-blonde seemed to spot Anna in the same moment, a forkful of salad halfway to her mouth. At first, she looked away, biting her lips. Then she sighed, picked up her tray, and approached their table.

"…could still hit a Payless on our way home," Elsa was saying; Anna hadn't even realised that she had started talking again. "If you didn't want to wait for… oh, hello, Jennifer."

"Hello," she echoed as she sat down across from them. As far away as possible. Anna had to suppress a sigh. "I, um, I didn't see you in school today."

"Y-yeah. I needed a mental health day. Y'know, just to… kinda meet my mom again." Her shoulders shrugged as if that was a normal thing to say; she knew it wasn't. Every word sounded stupid now.

"I don't really understand, but, um…" Clearing her throat, she glanced at Elsa. "Anna told me. About, um… well, it sounds crazy to say it… like, it's science fiction stuff, right?"

As calmly as possible, her mother shrugged and uncapped the bottle of Coke Anna had brought them. "You're talking about the time travel incident?"

"Yeah," she breathed, eyes round. "So… it's all true?"

"Don't you trust my daughter?"

"Of course! I mean… I did, before this. It's not that it was her, though; like, anybody could have told me they went back in time and I'd think they forgot to take their risperidone."

Elsa looked between them, taking in their clearly uncomfortable posture, but pleased that Jennifer was at least talking. Plus she had come over entirely of her own accord and that was a positive sign. The lull in the conversation started to stretch slightly.

"It wasn't her fault." Elsa started, her voice low and, she hoped, reassuring. Punz's neck almost snapped as she looked straight at her. Anna's mind was working overdrive at this point, listening to her mother start to gush in her defence. Undeterred, Elsa continued.

"We called her 'Tori' back then." She reached out and briefly laid her hand across Punz's before retreating; a simple gesture of reassurance, but enough to remind her that yes, she was awake, and yes, this was happening. "Imagine; into my life sweeps this incredible, mysterious young woman who was just so confident, and so painfully, effortlessly cool. I had no idea who I was, and I had some really negative and unhealthy views about my sexuality, and Tori just blew all that away in one evening. Being around her for that week was like being next to a source of pure oxygen; I just couldn't help myself, it made me feel delightfully giddy. And that's the whole story, plus or minus some trivial details."

Jennifer looked almost guilty, and Elsa smiled. At the same time, though, she still looked vaguely ill. "And… and w-what a story it is! Wow..."

Elsa looked between her and Anna before saying, "But this is not the place to talk about things like this. Anna, I just need to duck to the bathroom."

It would have been impossible to miss the way Anna's eyes widened, but Elsa still managed to make her ignorance look natural. She left her stuff on her seat and made a show of looking for directions to the toilet: Anna didn't think that she'd be returning for a few minutes, at least.

"So…"

Punz looked incredibly uncomfortable, but that wasn't really anything new. Anna kept her head down, unable to maintain eye-contact with her girlfriend. Former girlfriend? She didn't know what to say, so the best thing to do would be to say nothing. Jennifer wasn't okay with that, though.

"So. You look… happy." The words were said, not with resentment, but with something else. Anna wasn't sure what to make of that. She couldn't exactly return the compliment because Punz… didn't look happy. She looked miserable. There were bags under her eyes, and her hair, normally so bright and soft, was drab and dull. So, Anna didn't say that. Instead, she asked a question.

"How… how are you?"

For a second, Punz remained silent. Then, her mouth dropped open and she stuttered, "What, you care?"

Anna's heart dropped – not at the words, as such, but the utter disbelief in which she said it. "Of course. God, Punz, I miss you so much! But… but I didn't think I had any right to, y'know…" Again, she ran out of words.

"Oh. Well… I mean, I didn't want to come between you and…" She trailed off. They both knew the next words were going to be 'your mother', and it would have hurt them both for them to be said aloud. "And to be honest, I've been trying to figure out how I feel about everything."

"And?"

Jennifer shrugged, looking down at her plastic box of lettuce. "No idea. I want to say I don't care, but the truth is, I just don't think it's… healthy. What happened, how you feel about it. Which I know, seems a little hypocritical coming from a queer girl, but this is… different. She's your blood relation."

"I know," Anna groaned, pushing her hands into her forehead. "But I mean, have you seen her? Did you see how good she looked just now?"

"Yeah, so? Portia de Rossi looks good, too, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be able to go out with her. For a billion reasons."

"But I did almost bang her. Elsa, I mean – not Portia de Rossi. Which, even with Elsa being who she is to me, I think Portia would be much bigger news." Despite the situation, Punz did manage a small, halfhearted smile. "But I want you to know, it was never… I never made the moves. I never said 'hey, you know what I want to do right now?' and just jumped on her; it wasn't… even after all that happened, the thought of that is still scary to me."

But something about what she'd said sobered Punz up. "Anna… even if you didn't make the moves, you didn't stop it. If this is all the way you've told me, then she had no idea who you were. It was your responsibility to stop her and you didn't." Sighing, she looked away. "What… what if I were really drunk and came onto you? Like, really drunk. And I wanted you but you knew that I'd regret it later on? Would you still have sex with me if that happened?"

"It wasn't like that, Punz," Anna cried. But Punz shook her head.

"No, it's exactly like that," came the angry retort. "You have to see that. How could- how could she consent to what happened if you kept that a secret? You took advantage of- of that girl's love, when she had no idea it was with her future child! It's the same. And I don't know how to be okay with that."

Chastised, Anna looked away. Punz stood up – just as Elsa returned. "Oh, were you just leaving? You don't have to on my account, you're welcome to stay!"

Swallowing, Punz shook her head. "N-no thank you, Mrs McFly," she said. "I had better be going." And with that, she was off. She didn't look back.

Elsa sat back in her own chair. She looked at Anna for a moment, and then said softly, "Sweetheart…?"

With watery eyes, Anna looked up. "I just um- Punz… mentioned something I hadn't really thought of," she said softly. "I uh… I know you wanted shoes but uh… could we just go home instead?"

"Of course. Let me just…" For a moment, she was indecisive. Then she ate a few bites of the food and pushed it back toward Anna. "You should have some before we go."

"I'm not hungry."

So they left, without eating any more of the honey chicken. Once back in the car, Elsa asked, "I take it things didn't go so well?"

"They went… how I figured they would. Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Did, um… did I really mess up?" Her voice already sounded like she was going to cry, so she cleared her throat. "I knew you were my mother, and I l-let you eat me out, anyway."

The car nearly swerved into a lamppost, but Elsa corrected in time. "ANNA!"

"AAH! I'm sorry! I should have, like, used some kind of euphemism or whatever!"

"Yes, I'd appreciate that, at least! GOD! I'm driving!" But her cheeks were a little warm. "Anyway… you were asking if it's your fault, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

Sighing, Elsa guided the car over to the curb and put it in park. Then she turned and took up Anna's hand, even though Anna couldn't look at her right then. She felt too guilty, too disgusting.

"Yes. It was."

"Oh. Wow, I… thought you were going to make me feel better. My bad for assuming."

"That doesn't make you some kind of monster," Elsa said with a light chuckle. "We were the same ages, and I was coming on as strong as I ever have to anyone in my entire life. We both felt the connection, and… we were both young. You still are! So it would be silly for me to expect you to act like a fully-matured, responsible adult when you aren't one quite yet, wouldn't it?"

"But I still knew," Anna said hopelessly. "I knew it was wrong and I knew who you were and I still let you. I knew I had someone waiting for me here and I still let you!" She was crying in earnest now. "I took advantage of you…"

"Anna." The car shut off fully now as Elsa turned to look at her daughter. "You didn't take advantage of me. Everything I did, I did because I wanted to. While some… important details were left out, I don't honestly think they would have made much difference. I would have written you off as crazy, and you probably wouldn't even exist today."

"But-"

"Anna, I trust you. And with that trust comes the belief that you did what you thought was right in the moment. So yes, it was your fault. But I don't want you to think you did anything that hurt me."

Biting her lip, Anna nodded. She wasn't expecting Elsa to lean across the center console and pull her close; even more surprising was when she pressed her lips against a freckled temple, holding them there.

"I cared about you then and I care about you now. And I think perhaps Jennifer doesn't fully understand what happened."

Anna snorted; a wet, mucousy sound. "Yeah, sure. I didn't even get a chance to finish telling her before she was puking into the garden."

And perhaps that was another reason for Anna's unease. The fact that Punz believed her capable of taking advantage of someone like that. Anna believed she never would; hoped that she was a decent person. But now she wasn't sure. Punz seemed to have already made up her mind, and it didn't seem likely that Anna would be able to change that. But at the very least, the one opinion that mattered the most, the one that belonged to the 'wronged party' herself, believed that Anna was not to blame. And that meant the world in a moment such as this, when she was questioning her own motives and resolve. She would probably still beat herself up over it for a while yet, but maybe not quite as cruelly.

"Love you, Mom," she finally whispered, making sure to be as familial as possible. Keeping their hug warm and gentle, not making any weird moves or noises. Treating her mother like a mother.

"Of course. I love you, too. We both knew that part." Then Elsa drew back and cupped her cheek. "Even if you are trying to get me to wear booty shorts for you, I know that it's not because you don't love me. Just… that you're confused about what kind of love we should have."

Feeling a guilty little flutter, Anna looked away. "Maybe, but they really did look good on you. Like, it wasn't ONLY that I was into what I was seeing. You're a total-"

"Nope. Don't say it. That word is dumb, and I really don't want my daughter calling me that!"

"How do you even know what word I was going to say?"

"Well, if it's not 'MILF' I will be completely shocked." Elsa shivered, and Anna laughed.

"Okay, you got me. It just… is way worse between you and me, right?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Elsa said, "I think we're doing a lot better than you or Punz think we are right now. We had fun today, despite how it began and how upset we both could be instead. Try to trust that how much we care for each other will win out over awkwardness, alright?"

"Mkay. I wish she could see that…"

Pulling away, Elsa's hand moved to Anna's, squeezing before she turned the car back on. "We'll all get over this, Anna. Don't worry about it."

Anna did her best to put it from her mind. Distractions helped: when they got home, they picked out another movie – and even though there was more room on the couch now that Kristoff was gone, Anna still snuggled up close. Elsa had a hand wrapped around Anna's waist as the younger girl leaned into her. She was warm, and soft, and Anna found herself concentrating more on the way Elsa felt next to her instead of on the film. She wasn't alone.

Even if this is as close as we ever get anymore, she thought to herself as they sat there, that's okay. I just want her in my life. Doesn't have to be in a gay way.

Though she didn't know for sure that she could truly stop making random passes at Elsa. But she would try.

~ o ~

The next day, Anna went to class as usual. She avoided Jennifer, because she didn't expect that either one of them felt much like talking after their last conversation. And she did a lot of thinking.

Both Punz and her mother were right. Sure, Anna wasn't some kind of terrible sex fiend who had preyed on an innocent victim; she and Elsa had shared a very special, very important moment between them. But she had been the one who understood the situation best, and though she put up resistance at first, at some point that resistance faded away. She should have fought harder against the gravitational pull of the high school version of her mom. Maybe that conclusion didn't solve all of her problems, but it assuaged a small percentage of her guilt. Made it bearable.

When she got home, her mother was waiting for them to go shoe-shopping. That went even easier than the clothes-shopping, given that Elsa could select a somewhat conservative outfit and keep it on the whole time. Though Anna did get her to buy a few really fun pairs of heels and sandals, Elsa also got her to do the same. Anna was mostly a Vans girl in both timelines, so she could see the gleam in her mother's eye at getting her to buy more 'feminine' footwear.

That evening, Wendy was supposed to drop by for dinner, so they put on their best behaviour. Not that Elsa ever really flirted with Anna on purpose, but she would occasionally respond to Anna's flirting, whether or not it was intentional. Tonight, they kept all that on lockdown. It resulted in a nice meal with the McFly women, chatting about their days.

Anna was having a great time. She had never really got along with Wendy before, and it wasn't like they had many things in common this time around. But Wendy's personality was different. She was less sarcastic and more open; didn't hide herself behind the same pretentious snark that she had in Anna's old life. She also seemed to realise that something was a little bit different about her baby sister, but didn't really comment on that. Anna was grateful at the time, but when Wendy asked a different question, she thought she may not have minded so much.

"So, how was the night at the lake?" she asked. Elsa had gone to dish up dessert – waffles they bought from the supermarket, topped with ice cream and maple syrup – and so Anna was left alone with her sister. "I didn't want to push it with the boys around."

There was an easy smile on her face, but Anna couldn't match it. Still… despite all the shit that had happened afterwards, they still had shared a magical night. Swallowing drily, Anna realised that perhaps that was why Punz had been so hurt.

"It was uh… it was nice."

"Hmm? Nice? Anything else?" When Anna blushed red but didn't answer, Wendy grinned. "C'mon, gimme the deets! I remember when Peter and I–"

"Not at the table, girls." Elsa appeared around the corner, carrying three bowls of warm waffles, vanilla ice cream already beginning to melt. Between her fingers was the cutlery, and the maple syrup tucked under her arm.

Glancing at her mom, Anna dipped her head and accepted her bowl. "Thanks." Then she cleared her throat and smiled slightly at Wendy. "It went pretty well. But we kind of got in a fight after that, so less great since then."

"Really?" Wendy's eyebrows knitted together. "God… I can't remember you two ever fighting. That's sad to hear, I'm sorry."

"Yeah. I mean, it happens."

"What was the fight about?"

Apparently sensing that Anna had about all she could take of the interrogation, Elsa swooped in to whisper, "Don't pester her. What about you and this Craig? Or was it Greg?"

"I told you, he's just a work associate," Wendy sighed at her. Anna had a suspicion that their mother already knew this part, and was only needling her about it to distract from the topic of Punz and their fight. "I'm with Peter and I'm staying with Peter."

"Really? Then why do you and Craig-Greg keep having so many lunches? Surely you could cover all your 'work associate' topics at, you know, work?"

While the two of them squabbled good-naturedly about this, laughing at each other for being stubborn, Anna began to relax again. That had been a relief; she really didn't feel like thinking too deeply about Punz at that moment. Too much of a sore spot. Besides, there was ice cream to be eaten.

The night ended well, as if the brief tension had never occurred. Wendy hung around for another hour, though she mostly chatted with Elsa. It was actually a really good way for Anna to get close to her sister without making it obvious that many of the things they were talking about were completely foreign.

It was also a really good way to just watch how this version of Elsa interacted with other people. There was definitely a difference between her interactions with Wendy, and those she had with Anna. It was subtle, but still noticeable if one knew what to look for. She was less guarded with Wendy – more open with her words and gestures, even if the topics tended to be shallower. She also guided the conversation more, and Anna had a feeling she'd be very good at redirecting away from topics she didn't want to entertain.

Eventually, though, it got too late. Wendy politely excused herself, making sure to tell them that she'd be back before long. The best surprise came when Anna was pulled into a goodbye hug; the first in probably a decade that she'd had from her sister.

And as she watched her driving off, Anna was struck with a single thought: it really was amazing how much one person could change the future.

~ o ~

Friday dawned bright and cool – it truly was coming into winter. This time, Anna was running very close to late, even with having a vehicle of her own. A guilty thought that she was glad she didn't have to pick up Jennifer went through her head as she made it into her first class just in time for the bell.

Not that the painful pang lasted. She spent most of her morning thinking about Elsa. For once, she was actually just thinking about their relationship, how well they were getting along now. Much as she had been against it, as she had wanted to pick up where they left off in 1985, she had to admit her mother had been right all along; it was a lot more important that they figure out how to just be mother-and-daughter again. To be a family.

This thought carried her all the way out into the parking lot after school. She was so tired of being in school, and focused on getting home to hang out with her new-and-improved family that she almost didn't notice Jennifer leaning against her truck until she was stumbling into her.

"OH! I- shit. Um… hey. What- what's up?"

"Hey." Nipping her messy brown bangs out of her eyes, Punz cleared her throat. Very seldom had she seen her friend look this nervous. The only other time had been when she was trying to work up the courage to ask Anna to the lake. "Can… we go somewhere?"

"There are a lot of somewheres." She felt a little bad about being so hostile, and she didn't mean it to sound that way, but she felt a little lingering annoyance at how she passed judgment on her in the food court, along with a heaping dose of guilt that she really didn't want to analyse.

"Like, the café, or… I don't know. Just park somewhere." Punz's eyes looked a little shinier than usual, as if she were just starting to get close to crying. "Please?"

Melting completely, Anna said, "Yeah, of course. Hop in. You don't have to ride in the front with me if you don't want to."

"C'mon, don't be like that. Just… let's go somewhere else. Not this dumb parking lot."

The drive was made in silence. Punz seemed unwilling to begin discussing whatever she had on her mind until they were in more neutral territory. Anna just didn't know what to say. She could very easily just drop Jennifer off home. Or she could very easily just keep driving until Punz got sick of it or she ran out of gas.

But she did neither. It seemed like Punz probably wanted some privacy, and the only place that could truly afford that was in the car. Sighing, she turned into the parking lot of an old Blockbuster Video, out of business for a good half-decade and mostly abandoned. The roof had caved in at some point so it was condemned; something about a weather satellite crashing.

On the plus side, if either of them had to get out and found themselves walking home, at least it was a much closer location than the school.

"Go ahead," Anna sighed. "Tell me more about how I'm a terrible person."

"That's not fair. You really dropped a ton of stuff on my shoulders, Anna."

"I know… but it still doesn't feel particularly good to be accused of 'tricking' my mom. But I know you probably have other stuff to say, so go ahead. I just… want to hear it all at once."

Clearing her throat, Punz looked down at her knees. "So… maybe that was a little far. You're right. Thing is… I'm trying my hardest not to be disgusted by, like, this whole situation. I really am. But she's your mother! How is that ever supposed to be okay?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping that you'd understand, but I knew it was a long shot."

"Yeah. Yeah, it was." Pushing a hand into her face, she shrugged and said, "But I had a little more time to think now, and I guess… it's not really fair for me to say that you did anything wrong when I wasn't there. And clearly, your mom doesn't agree with me, and her opinion matters most in terms of… well…"

"Whether or not I hurt her by letting this happen?" she breathed, fists flexing around the grips of the steering wheel.

"Y-yeah. I mean, like you said, she was the one coming onto you. It should have been up to you to stop her, but I mean… I've never had a teenaged version of my mom crawl all over me." The idea made her lip curl, but she pushed on ahead. "Just… can I get some time with this? The whole time travel thing keeps feeling like a dream, and…"

"How do you think I feel?" she asked, though there was no venom in her tone. It was an honest question. Anna was angry. At herself, at Punz… but mostly at herself. "Do you… do you think I wanted this? To do all that, to fall in-"

She cut herself off, but it was too late; anybody could tell what she had been about to say. Shit. That was the last thing she wanted to slip out! There was a soft "oh" from the passenger seat, more out of reflex than anything. Anna looked away, out her side window so she wouldn't have to see the recognition in her almost-girlfriend's features.

"I love you," she said, clenching her eyes shut. "So much. For the last however long we've known each other, I've loved and admired you. And at first it was as a friend, but then I started seeing you differently. A good different. But now…"

"Now it's happened again," came the dull reply. Anna nodded her head. She couldn't speak. "Anna… you can see how this is wrong, can't you?" Punz's voice was timid, and soft. Perhaps that was what made Anna angriest, and she whirled around.

"Of course I do!" she cried, tears both sad and angry streaming down her cheeks. "You think I wanted to get stuck in 1985 with my horny, repressed mother? You think I wanted her to fall for me, or 'Tori' or whoever?" Sucking in a breath, she continued, not giving Jennifer a chance to interrupt – if indeed she was planning on trying. Her face had paled and her eyes had widened. But she wasn't running. "You think I don't hate myself after what I did – what I let Elsa do to me? Because yes, Jennifer. I knew who she was and I let her and I enjoyed it. And now every time I look at my mom, I can't stop seeing that seventeen-year-old, terrified of her sexuality, a-and… and needing my help. Needing me."

The second half of her sentence dropped barely to a whisper as the fire left her. Anna crossed her arms over the steering wheel, letting them cushion her as her head fell forward. She waited for the sound of the door opening; for Punz to get out and not look back.

Not this time. She had fled before, but apparently she was now determined to stick around and wade through the muck.

"You really… you let her…"

When she heard sniffling, she raised her head to gape at Jennifer. "Why are you crying? Like, it didn't happen to you. So for you, it's… just a weird thing."

"I don't know, okay? It's like… I wanna say… that I'm upset because my friend got abused by her parent, because that how it feels and how it sounds, even if it's not really what happened, a-and I'm just really mixed up, Anna, I…"

The word 'abused' made Anna's heart constrict, and she turned to press in close to Jennifer. Making them both flinch at the sudden change in spatial relation to each other. "It's not. A-and after what you said… I asked her, and she definitely convinced me that she didn't think I hurt her. That I messed up by not pushing her away enough, but that it was just, like… a mistake, y'know? A regular human one, not a 'you deserve the electric chair' kind."

"They don't use the electric chair anymore, do they?" When Anna didn't answer, she drew her legs up into the seat, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Sorry. But… yeah, I kinda get what you mean, I guess. It's not exactly a good thing, but to her, it was just something that happened. Like when Merida knocked over the mailbox."

"Yeah, exactly like that. Nobody pressed charges because they knew she wasn't pranking anybody, or vandalising or whatever. Just a dumb accident."

"Accident." A weak laugh crept out of her throat. "Accidentally slept with your own mother. Man, that is one HUGE slip-up."

Anna couldn't bring herself to laugh, but a half-hearted smile curled at the edges of her lips. "I really fucked up," she said. "And- and I don't know how to make it better but I want to. I get if… if this is just too big, and you never wanna see me again. But if there's even a chance that we can move past this, I want to take it. I-" She bit her lip. "This is going to sound weird, but I've loved you longer than my mother – even in a motherly sense. I've cared about you longer. In the other version of history, she was a… a drunk. Just some old asshole. You cared about me more than she ever did. I…"

There was so much more she wanted to say. Punz had been so integral to her life for so long. But she didn't want to say that – she didn't want Jennifer to feel like she had to stay friends with Anna. It wasn't like it wouldn't sting for a while – a really long while. But if Punz decided she were better off without Anna, then… Anna would accept that.

"Anna…" Punz began before stopping. She paused a moment, getting her thoughts in order. When she started speaking again, she didn't look at Anna. "Anna, I love you. I can't… condone what you did. I don't even want to think about it. And I wanted to give you that but the thought of doing to you what your mother has done makes me sick."

Swallowing around the painful lump in her throat, Anna nodded. "I under-"

"BUT," Punz interrupted. She turned her head, and though Anna expected to see tears, her eyes were clear. "But you're my best friend and the last thing I want to do is lose you. The last thing I want to do is push you away. It's just… going to be hard for a while."

"I'm so sorry," Anna told her immediately. "For this happening, for what it did to you… I tried to tell her I wasn't interested, that I wasn't available, but I just…" Suddenly, she couldn't help confessing something that had been burdening her more than she could say. "Sh-she was so sweet – and so scared! I kept seeing how scared she was of her feelings, of b-being outed and loving a woman, gays couldn't be out back then! And sh-she seemed like… like if I crushed her then, if she thought I didn't like her, that she would be crushed forever, and I c-couldn't- I didn't w-want to hurt my mom!"

By the end of it, she was sobbing, eyes streaming and vision swimming, and Punz's arms were around her, gripping hard and letting her get all the feelings out on her shoulder. Giving her that. The entire time, all Anna could think was that she didn't deserve that kind of consideration, but she was out of energy to protest. This would just have to be another thing she apologised for later.

When the tears finally stemmed, Jennifer petted down along her neck and whispered, "I got you. I got you, Anna… I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"Why am I such a fuckup?! Principal Weselton is right!"

"Okay, now I KNOW you're upset." When all Anna did was sob louder, she squeezed her more. "Oh God… I'm sorry, Anna. I knew this was really messing with you, but just… hadn't fully… thought about it from your perspective. Or about Elsa growing up in the 80s; it could have been worse, I guess, but being queer was rough back then."

"I know it wasn't like, my job to make her feel okay about it," she blubbered, "but I c-couldn't help feeling like… ugh, I'm just repeating myself now. Sorry."

Punz didn't say a word. She just kept her arms around Anna's shoulders, shushing her softly. Finally, Anna's sobs subsided and her eyes stopped leaking. Her face was a red, swollen mess, the skin sticky and shiny. Carefully, Punz ran a thumb over Anna's cheeks.

"I can't even imagine how you felt…" she began. "But… I guess I could try…" Anna's head jerked up, but Punz wasn't looking at her. She was staring at her lap, and kept staring down even as she continued in a hushed murmur, "Don't we deserve more than just pulling the plug?"

"I guess… yeah. Yeah, we do. I just didn't know how to say… how to ask…" Realising that she had no idea what else to say, she reached over and gripped Punz's free hand as tightly as she could. "You… I'm really… yeah."

"Good talk," she said with a smile, albeit one perhaps a little smaller than Anna was used to. "Now… could we maybe get out of here?"

Anna nodded. Her hand left Punz's to rest on the keys, still in the ignition. Before she turned the car on, she paused to say, without looking over at Punz, "Thank you. For getting what I mean, even when I don't have any idea what that is."

"No problem. This… is bigger than anything I've ever had to deal with before, and it's even worse for you. I think it's fair to cut both of us a little slack." Her eyes were a little sad when she glanced over at her. "But, um… this thing with your mom…"

Anna slumped. "Yeah?"

"It was only in the past, right?"

"Wish I could say 'yes'," Anna sighed wearily. "But… that's what I'm hoping. Despite the other morning."

"The other morning?"

That was an unfortunate thing to bring up. Anna was very careful in her explanation, making sure Punz knew up front that Elsa wasn't fully conscious, and Anna was trying to get her to wake up and either stop or make an informed decision. It helped that she had begun driving, and didn't have to look at the distressed eyes in the passenger seat. Then she gave more details, which got Punz groaning freshly – and looking a little green.

"I know," Anna finally lamented as they pulled up in front of her house. "Just when I was starting to feel like, daughterly again! But it's been better since then. No more weird near-misses."

Punz still looked a little uneasy, but she smiled anyway. "Come on, let's get you inside," she said, unbuckling the seatbelt. It struck Anna then that she'd have no way to get home – either Anna would have to drop her off, or Punz's parents would have to pick her up. The latter wasn't a particularly welcoming solution, so Anna just kept her mouth shut. When Punz was ready to leave, she'd let her know.

It had been so easy to lose track of time. Until she walked through the door, Anna hadn't realised how late it had become; the sight of Elsa, relaxing on the couch with a cup of tea, was a pleasant, if unexpected, surprise.

"Oh! You girls are back um… late? Early?" Elsa seemed a little bit flustered. Anna had to make an effort not to grin at the sight of the reading glasses, slipping down her mother's slender nose.

"Hello, Mrs McFly," Punz said, meek but steady.

"Hello, Jennifer," Elsa responded, a small smile on her lips. "How is school treating you?"

Punz looked like a deer in the headlights, obviously not expecting to be drawn into a conversation. She looked like Elsa had just asked her what her favourite brand of lube was: shock, mixed in with some surprise and a very generous dash of "what the fuck". Not that Anna could understand why; they weren't going to discuss anything obscene. Was this really going to be that big of a problem?

And then she smiled. It was small, but genuine. Anna felt a weight leave her chest that she didn't even realise she'd been carrying. Maybe she really was able to set aside the unpleasant events due to their strong friendship and affection, after all. "Very well, thank you. I got a B+ on my lab report."

Elsa fully put her book down now, sitting up straight. "Congratulations," she said. The conversation was a little stilted, and much too formal, but that didn't mean it wasn't nice. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I didn't have any plans, but perhaps takeout is the way to go today. It's been a rough week."

"I'll say," Anna murmured under her breath. Luckily for her, both women ignored it.

"Oh, only if you're sure," Punz deferred, not quite sure how to answer. Elsa stood, still smiling.

"I wouldn't have offered if I weren't," she said. "Come on, let's look at some menus."

So in the end, after much agonising and good-natured arguing about different locations and different toppings, they ordered a couple of pizzas and a side of cheesy bread. Elsa wanted the veggie-laden kind – which was a new one on Anna, as her old mother and the young version had been fine with simple pepperoni – and Anna and Punz got a pepperoni-bacon-mushroom.

And they talked. Waiting for the pizza to arrive, setting the table and pouring glasses of soda, a constant stream of discussion flowed. They didn't delve into anything very difficult, but they did spend all of their time chatting about surface topics. From the energy in the room, Anna could tell this was very normal for them – or rather, it had been. Would still be, if she hadn't jumped the gun and spilled the beans to Punz. Great, even, if she hadn't hurt Elsa and Jennifer's relationship by telling Jennifer everything. But at the same time…

It wouldn't have been possible if she hadn't gone back in time and let certain events unfold. Anna was trying to remind herself of that more and more often: it was very weird and messed up, but it was becoming blatantly obvious that without a specific event – without that moment of intimacy she shared with Elsa in the parking lot – she would still be in the horrible life she had before, with an alcoholic mother and a spineless father, both of them extremely unhappy with the way their lives had turned out. This was better. Overall, this was far better.

They were still picking at the last of their plates when Elsa finally addressed the elephant in the room. "So… I'm happy to see that you're… handling things better than when last we spoke."

Jennifer set down her Pepsi very slowly. "Yeah," she affirmed, not looking at either McFly. "Still kind of… I mean, time travel and all. But I'm working on it. Done a lot of thinking over the last few days…" Here, she looked up at Anna and shot her a brief smile – one that Anna soaked up greedily.

"I don't expect you to say 'oh that's completely fine' right away, Jennifer. Obviously. Working on it is the best that Anna and I could have hoped for in this situation."

At that, she let out a quiet laugh. "Anna and I, huh?"

"What?"

"N-nothing. Just sounds very coupley when you say it like that." Glancing up and seeing that Elsa looked a little shocked – and hearing Anna choke on her own soda – she raised a hand. "Th-that was supposed to be, like, a joke! Or a random observation! I'm not trying to… I wasn't-"

"It's fine," Elsa chuckled at last, though her cheeks were a little pinker. "I certainly didn't mean it that way. Only that we're the ones involved, and the only two who could ever fully understand the weirdness we've been through."

"I'm trying." Jennifer looked earnest, albeit a little panicked around the edges, clearly nervous again. "Anna mentioned… the other morning." Now it was Elsa's turn to look alarmed, but only a tiny amount. Punz continued undeterred. "And I'm trying not to be jealous or like, nauseated here…" She tried to force a smile, and Elsa interjected quickly.

"I'm not going to make a habit out of sleeping with Anna," Elsa said, almost flippant. And then she seemed to realise exactly what had come out of her mouth and she looked around the table, horrified. "No! Not… it wasn't- I mean, Anna was so upset-"

"But it almost was, wasn't it?" Jennifer interrupted quietly. "Because a part of you…" She left the rest unsaid, and stood suddenly. "No. I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" Jennifer spoke a little louder, raising a hand to stop them from following her to their feet – or trying to speak. "I'm going to go use the bathroom. Please, forget I said anything. I didn't want to be… to say… that."

If Anna understood anything, it was that her girlfriend was confused, but she was desperately trying. It was a mild relief, even while she hated the situation as a whole. Once Jennifer was in the bathroom, Elsa slumped downward. "This is exhausting."

"What? Oh… yeah." With a quiet laugh, Anna stood up to get rid of her plate. There were a few bites left on her slice, but her appetite had already been pretty minimal before, and now the rest of it had vanished. "Sorry."

"No, it's a good exhausting. This is something very much worth doing, it's just… a little taxing, that's all." Then she joined her daughter in cleaning up. "And you shouldn't worry so much; you're doing a great job of putting her at ease, helping her understand."

"Really? Because it feels like I keep fucking things up worse."

"You aren't." Her arm snaked around Anna's shoulders to give her a quick side-hug before she started rinsing off plates to put in the dishwasher.

When Jennifer returned, her eyes were a little bloodshot but otherwise she seemed fine. They all sat around with their sodas for a little while and chatted about small things, and then Elsa gave her an unexpected hug when she said she should be going.

"OH!" she yelped. "Oh, I'm… thanks?"

"No thanks needed. You're a good person, and a sweet girlfriend for my Anna. I'm sorry if it seems like one or both of us are trying to… interfere, or mess with this."

Finally, Jennifer relaxed a little more into the hug, even if she still seemed highly uncomfortable. "I know. God, I've known you for years, Mrs McFly! And this… I never expected it. You and Anna always seemed so close, but not this close."

Elsa broke the hug, smiling. "We weren't. This is only a very recent development – at least for Anna."

Punz flushed red and looked away. She stepped fully back and ran a hand through her short hair. "I should probably… get going. My mom- y'know?"

Frowning, Elsa glanced down at her watch. "Gosh, it is getting quite late. Would you like to spend the night instead of worrying your mother?"

Punz looked a little surprised at being asked. Anna had to wonder whether Mrs Punzel was as horrid to Elsa in this timeline as she was in the other one. Though in the other one, she was less 'mean' and more 'derisive', due to the alcoholism and slovenly appearance.

"Oh, now I would really be imposing," she said. Elsa just kept smiling.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I just wanted to put the offer out there. Why don't I go and have a shower while you girls think it over?"

For some reason, the idea of Punz sleeping over, along with Elsa being nude in a neighbouring room, was too much for Anna. "N-nah, I can drive her home! But we can all meet up tomorrow? Maybe, um, keep this party going?"

"This 'party', huh?" Elsa laughed, genuinely amused by that comparison. "Well that's fine, only offering. It was nice having you here." She gripped Jennifer's shoulder again before the two girls left the house.

"WHEW."

"Yeah," Jennifer agreed, eyes wide as Anna closed the front door. "But it wasn't bad. I mean, it was good! Just… a little bizarre. Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. This is all us! We're the weird ones, and you're just… along for the ride. So if anybody should be-"

"Nah, don't do that," she headed her off, bumping into her lightly as they got to the side of the truck. "I'm starting to get used to it. Probably won't for a really long time, not fully, but it's not, like… shocking anymore? I guess?"

Nodding, Anna patted her back a couple of times. "That's as good as I could ever hope for, I think. Thanks, Punz."

Anna was expecting her ride back to Punz's place to be a quiet affair, mostly silent driving and maybe a couple of tunes on the radio whilst Jennifer stared out of the window. She was still slightly mulling over her feelings from earlier when she was broken out of her silent reverie by Punz asking her a gently probing question.

"Did… did you really want to do something tomorrow…?"

Anna didn't answer for a moment, honestly surprised by the question. She hadn't thought this far ahead; she just knew that they had made some real connections that evening, even if they were tentative, and she didn't want to lose that.

"What about movies, and ice cream?"

Punz seemed pleased with that answer, shooting her a quick smile. "Okay, but I'm sitting between you and Elsa."

That statement caused Anna's stomach to do all sorts of strange contortions. "You don't have to chaperon us, you know."

"I was kidding, dork," she snorted, elbowing her side. "But yeah, sounds like a plan."

"Tubular." When she got a funny look, Anna dipped her head low as she pulled up outside the Punzel house. "Sorry. Leftover slang from my field trip."

"Right." There was a slightly awkward pause before Punz leaned over, very gently, to give Anna a goodnight cheek-kiss. At least they were back to that level of intimacy again. Maybe expecting to worm her hand down Punz's pants anytime soon was way too much to hope for, but Anna could handle it as long as her girlfriend was still a part of her life.

"Love you," Anna whispered.

"Yeah… you, too." The response was said a little softer, and though it hurt Anna that Punz couldn't quite say it back yet, she knew that it would come in time. Unless she fucked it up again. The giddy smile they shared afterwards only verified that thought, and Anna had to bite her lip a little, too. "See you tomorrow?"

"Count on it. Night!"

All the way back to her house, Anna was on cloud nine. Everything was great. Not perfect, but perfect was something that only a fool could expect from real life. This was the best her life had ever been, even with the slight wrinkles. She was going to cherish it for all she was worth.

TO BE CONTINUED…