Author's Note: This is officially the last of the flashbacks. It brings us back up to chapter 1, and now we can resume the previously scheduled story.

Elsa and Anna boarded a bus with all of their worldly possessions. Neither had said a word to the other since their parents had confronted them. They didn't regret their decisions, they wouldn't change a thing, but the pain crippled them nonetheless. Once they collapsed into their seats, Anna leaned against her sister – brother – fiancee – whatever Elsa or Thomas was to her, and the tears finally fell. Her beloved only held her as she sobbed, her own tears silently joining her sister's.

The city they had known their whole lives fell behind them as the bus carried them away. They saw every memory of the childhood they were throwing away pass before them. Once Philadelphia was no longer visible in the rear window, their tears finally began to stop. Anna let out a final sob and looked up at Elsa's face. "Are we doing the right thing?" she asked. She knew the answer, but she needed to hear it.

The only answer Elsa could give was a kiss. It was enough for her sister.

"I had sent off for the apartment listings in Durham," Anna informed the older girl, handing her a paper, trying to focus on planning, instead of on the loss of the rest of their family. "I circled a few that sounded nice. Want to take a look at them when we get to town?"

"I had thought that we might just stay in a hotel for a few nights while we looked around, looked into apartments, and explored the campus and the town. What's the rush?" Elsa asked as she looked through the listings. There were a few listings that sounded promising, but without actually seeing them, there was only so much she could say.

"I want to have a home with you," Anna admitted. "I know I have you wherever we are, but owning a place with you, sharing a home with you, it's all I've ever wanted."

"We shared a home for the last sixteen years," Elsa laughed.

Anna glared at her. "That's not the same. That was our parents' home, not ours. I want someplace that's just ours."

Elsa planted a gentle kiss on the younger girl's lips. "I want that too. Fine, but if we don't end up with one of the first couple of apartments we go to, then we're checking in to a hotel for the night, deal?"

Anna smiled and hugged her sister tight. "Deal!"

The first two apartments had both been absolute nightmares. There were cockroaches, mold, easily audible neighbors, and assorted unpleasantnesses, that neither Thomas nor Anna had been willing to tolerate. The third apartment however, was perfect. It was a spacious one bedroom for forty dollars a month, with hardwood floors. Thomas could see Anna mentally decorating it as they toured the settled it, they had to buy that apartment.

As Anna was underage, Thomas handled all of the paperwork. Anna only grumbled a little about it not being in her name too, but she was too excited about their new home for the whining to last. Once the salesman had left them alone, she all but tackled her sister onto the kitchen floor. "I love it!" She screamed.

"I love it too," Elsa sighed from beneath Anna, her voice back to its natural pitch now that they were alone. "Now either get up so we can unpack and buy some furniture, or if you're going to stay there then let me get out of these clothes." Anna flushed, but didn't move.

During his first class, Thomas noticed something rather unusual. The class itself was easy enough, it was basic medical terminology, and he'd been familiarizing himself with the terms since he was a teenage girl. What was peculiar was the way other women seemed to be studying him. At first he thought perhaps they had seen through his disguise, but they didn't seem to be showing any suspicion, and they certainly hadn't tried to report him to anyone.

Instead they seemed to be looking at him almost hungrily. It was almost like the way Anna looked at him. Realization dawned on the blond as he finally understood what was happening. Apparently Anna wasn't the only girl who liked lean, fair, muscular platinum blonds. He stared down at his notes, trying to avoid the looks.

After class, he ducked out and hurried to the next classroom. He'd spent the last week familiarizing himself with the campus. He assumed the next class would be better, as it was only pre-med students, while the previous one was also shared with nursing students. His assumption was correct. Being in a class of all boys, he was only an intelligent, barely below-average-sized member of the group. Other than occasionally being referred to as "pretty boy," his classes that didn't involve women seemed to involve far less predatory behavior than he had to endure when the other girls were eyeing him like a piece of meat.

By the end of his freshman year, Thomas was consistently one of the top students in his classes. He'd avoided forming any real friendships due to the obvious issues that could lead to, but he was cordial with a number of his classmates.

A few months into summer classes, Anna had her seventeenth birthday. Now that Elsa was no longer working, she didn't have the same disposable income to spend on her sister, but she tried to go all out. The two sat on their couch in front of their black and white TV set and their coffee table. The presents were laid out on the table as Anna opened them one by one. Elsa had bought her a new dress, as she did almost every year, as well as a diamond necklace. Anna loved them, but she appeared troubled. Elsa thought that it was likely due to Anna missing their parents. She knew she certainly did.

"I know this is your first birthday since we..." She trailed off, fearful that saying the words would only make it hurt more. "I'm sure today isn't exactly your favorite day."

"No, I actually hadn't thought of that at all. Now that you've mentioned it, I'm a little sad about it, but I've been so happy. I love you and every day with you is my favorite day," Anna insisted.

"Then what's on your mind, honey?" Elsa asked.

She looked wistfully at the box the necklace had come in. "I was sort of expecting... Some different kind of jewelry."

Elsa stared at her. "I thought you liked necklaces."

"I love it. I just, um, I mean next year we can finally get married, if you still want to, but you still haven't gotten me an engagement ring," Anna muttered. "Sorry, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I really do love everything you bought me."

Elsa tried to hide a slight smile. "What makes you think I haven't gotten you an engagement ring?" she asked coyly.

Anna blinked. She gaped at her sister. "Wait, what?"

Elsa burst out laughing. "I didn't want it to compete with your birthday, and as you said we can't get married for another year anyway. I bought it about a month ago, I was trying to wait for the right time."

"Now's a great time! Now's the perfect time. Do it now!" Anna pleaded.

Elsa went back to their bedroom, her face covered in a massive grin. A few minutes later, she returned, with a small box in her hand. Anna gasped. Elsa knelt down on one knee, and proffered the ring to her sister. "Anna, you are all I want in this life, I love you with all of my heart, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Of course, Elsa, you know I will. It's all I've ever wanted," Anna screamed, pulling the older girl up into a deep kiss. "Oh, it's beautiful," she added once the kiss broke, as Elsa slid the ring onto her finger. "Thank you."

Elsa answered with another kiss. "I suppose we have a wedding to plan."

Anna beamed. "And here I was thinking we should head off to the bedroom. You're right, we need to plan." Elsa faltered and reconsidered her suggestion. She took her blushing sister by the hand, as they left the presents on the table.

Two weeks before Elsa's birthday, the end of the world finally came. That was how it felt when the bombers hit Pearl Harbor. The war was here, the US couldn't ignore it anymore, and if the Japanese didn't get them, then the draft would certainly tear their family apart. Elsa gulped as she and Anna stared at the TV screen. Anna sobbed, watching the horrors that had happened, but Elsa could only think about what this meant for her. She held her sister as she cried, trying to shield her from the horrors of the world, as well as the the thoughts that raced through her mind. She would let Anna mourn the attack on their country before she burdened her with what it meant for them.

"It's really here," Anna cried. "I didn't think anything like this could really happen."

Elsa stroked the younger girl's hair. "I know," she sighed, not sure what she could possibly say in this situation.

"What are we going to do?" Anna asked, looking up at Elsa through tear-filled teal eyes. "I'm so scared."

After kissing the top of her head, Elsa admitted, "I'm scared too."

"You had to sign up for the draft, didn't you?" Anna asked, wiping away her tears. She had always been much better at thinking ahead, Elsa realized that there was no way she could have managed to keep it from her.

Elsa let out a heaving sob. She'd been holding back her own tears while she tended to Anna, but now that she'd been confronted with her fears she couldn't hold it back anymore. "Yes."

"We have to do something! We have to run, or maybe we could start building the case for you to be a conscientious objector. Just start espousing pacifism. Maybe we could become Mennonites!"Anna suggested.

A faint smile lit up Elsa's face. She was the planner."You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?"

Anna nodded slowly. "I was worried it would happen, but not enough that I figured anything out, I let myself believe that we'd really be able to stay out of the war, that we just wouldn't touch this one, and that it would never touch us. I was naive."

"If we did any of your ideas except for run, I'd still have to go through a medical examination. You can't just not be drafted, they just use you for different roles as long as you're fit for service. As soon as I get that exam, I'll be arrested for fraud. I'm sorry I dragged you into this, it was a terrible idea." She rose from the couch, pacing towards the kitchen, desperate for anything that could distract her from her fears.

Anna's tears began anew as she folded into herself on the couch. Elsa looked back at her, she had expected Anna to follow her, to convince her to not be afraid, anything but this. "Anna..." She sighed.

"Do you really think this was a terrible idea?" Anna asked, her voice barely audible.

Elsa let out a low breath. "I don't know. I've never been happier than I have been this past year with you, but we're going to be arrested, there's no avoiding that now." She took a step back towards her sister, trying to decide if Anna was better off with her there or as far away as she could manage.

"We don't know that!" Anna screamed, looking up at her sister, as she brought her crying back under control. "There are options. Why can't we just run?"

"That would get me arrested just as surely, and then they find out I'm a girl and everything goes to Hell in a handbasket." Elsa gave in and took the rest of the steps back to the couch. She sat down next to her sister and was immediately pulled into an embrace. "I'm sorry."

"Don't ever be sorry."

"What?"

"Don't ever be sorry for giving me the life I've always wanted. I love you, Elsa, I knew this could happen, it's still worth it. I have no regrets, and I hope you don't either. I just hope we can manage to get married before we're arrested," she smiled, fiddling with her engagement ring on her finger.

Elsa choked on her words. "Anna –" She held the woman she loved while she considered what she was going to say. "Okay. We'll just go ahead as planned. I love our life, this is what I want too. When they draft me..." Her voice trailed off as her body was racked with sobs. "I'm sorry for whatever happens after that."

On June 28, 1942, a week after Anna's eighteenth birthday, the two were wed. They had a small ceremony in the local church. Thomas rented a tuxedo for the occasion, while he had bought Anna an elaborate white dress. A few of his classmates came, as did a couple women she knew from their apartment complex. His most recent lab partner served as his best man, while one of their neighbors was her maid of honor.

Thomas's eyes were on Anna the entire ceremony. She looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her that day. She was utterly finally accepted that he had no regrets whatsoever for the way their life had turned out. "I love you," he whispered in her ear as 'Here Comes the Bride' came to its conclusion. She smiled back, the picture of a blushing bride.

The preacher began the ceremony. Thomas barely heard a word of it, so smitten was he with his bride. Eventually, he realized he'd been asked a question to which he nervously replied "I do." Anna did the same. Then he was finally allowed to kiss her again. He had never wanted anything so badly in his life, and it was all he could do to keep the kiss chaste enough for the church.

Then they were wed. It had happened. After the ceremony, they gathered with the guests for a brief party, where they had a meal followed by a chocolate wedding cake. It wasn't traditional, but it was worth the minor faux pas. The cake was delicious.

After they had opened their gifts, danced, mingled with the guests, and tolerated keeping their hands off of each other for as long as they could, the newly-wed couple returned home. For tradition's sake, Thomas carried Anna over the threshold into their apartment. As soon as the door was closed, Anna immediately ripped away the tuxedo and the binding beneath it, and fell into bed with her sister.

The two spent hours in each other's embrace, tasting, feeling, and loving each other to completion time and again. After their coupling, Elsa ran to the kitchen to fetch them some water. After they both drained the glasses in a matter of seconds, they fell back into each other's arms and into a deep sleep. They dreamed of their life together, with neither one's fantasies touched by the horror that had eclipsed their lives and the country for the last six months.

One by one, Elsa's classmates had vanished. The war effort was picking up pace. Before long she knew it would be her turn, and then her life would be over. Every day she expected her draft letter, and the lack of it each day did nothing to diminish her dread. She threw herself into her studies to try to escape from the fear, but it followed her everywhere. Some students had managed limited deployments that allowed them to continue with their classes, but these were hard to come by, and they would still require the medical examination that would seal her fate. All she could do was wait, all but paralyzed by fear, knowing that any day the letter that spelled her doom would arrive, and she would have to either run and live her life as a fugitive, or report to the exam and throw away everything that she and Anna had built together over the last few years.

Thomas continued to attend his classes, and even with all of the extra stress, he was still managing to succeed. He was no longer at the top of his class, but he was still receiving consistent A's and B's. Anna made her pride in her sister abundantly clear whenever they were alone.

During Thomas's junior year of college, he found out through a mutual acquaintance that the man who had served as the best man at their wedding had died in the war. It was common news at that point, and the two had only been moderately close, but it still stung. Elsa had cried in her wife's arms that night, while Anna tried to comfort her. She was unsure if she was more sad because of the loss of someone who had come close to being a friend, or because the knowledge that it had happened to him only reminded her of how imminent the draft was, and how certain she was of her own demise, literal or otherwise, at its hands.

However the letter never came, not during her entire time as an undergraduate. Thomas had applied to a number of med schools, even though he had been convinced that he would never make it that far. He was accepted into Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the sisters jumped at the opportunity. Mere days after graduation, they moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and began the next chapter in their life.

Two months into Elsa's first semester at the school however, the day they had been waiting for the last three years finally came. A letter from the U.S. Army addressed to Thomas Henriksen was waiting on the table when he returned from classes. Anna was sitting on the couch crying. Elsa couldn't even bring herself to go to her sister, she was too transfixed by the object of her worst fears having finally materialized in her life. She slowly opened the letter to find that it wasn't sealed. Anna had already read it. She extracted the papers from the envelope and attempted to read them. By the fourth attempt, her heart slowed its pounding enough that she could actually comprehend the words on the page.

Thomas Henriksen was to report to the nearest recruitment center on the following Monday. He had been drafted. Elsa collapsed on the floor, bawling. She was doomed.

Once they had both cried out all the tears they thought their bodies could hold, Anna approached Elsa. She helped her to the couch and tried to offer her conciliatory words, but none would leave her mouth. She forced herself to breathe and to swallow and then she tried yet again to talk. The words that left her mouth were anything but conciliatory however. "Can't we just run?" she asked. It wasn't what she'd meant to say. She could scarcely believe she'd said it. They had discussed it time and time again, and she knew Elsa wasn't willing to do it. She had told her that if they didn't run, then maybe Anna could stay out of trouble, that only Elsa would go down for this. Anna had never bought it, but she knew that she couldn't change the stubborn blonde's mind, so she was surprised at her own question. Nevertheless, she asked again, when her sister still hadn't answered. "Can't we just run?"

Elsa stared into her eyes; the icy blue orbs looked wild and desperate. Anna began to believe that she would really take her up on her suggestion. Her heart broke when she heard the answer. "No. I can't do that to you, I've done more than enough damage to your life."

"This was my choice, Elsa!" Anna screamed. "You know that. Stop blaming yourself. We both said we don't have any regrets. I just want to be with you."

"I'm going, I'll try to see if maybe I can fail the exam before they see anything, or if I can manage to bribe my way out of it, but I'm going. I'm no coward," she insisted, though her voice was still shaking. "We have the next five days together, and if that's all then let's treasure them, let's not waste them arguing about this when I made up my mind almost three years ago."

Anna relented. The two spent five of the most magical days that they had ever spent together. They went to the nicest restaurants in town, they saw plays, and they spent an inordinate amount of time in bed. It felt almost like a wake, but at least it was a pleasant one.

When the fated Monday finally came, Thomas donned a shirt and slacks and kissed his sleeping wife. He hadn't had the heart to say goodbye, but he couldn't leave her with nothing. He found a sheet of paper and wrote a not for her sister. It read "I'm sorry I didn't wake you, I wasn't strong enough for that. I love you more than you could ever know, and I only wish I could have provided you a better life. I will likely never see you again, and the thought breaks my heart, it is all I can do to keep my tears from staining the paper. I will do everything in my power to keep any blame from falling on you.

Eternally yours,

Elsa Arendelle."

She left the note on her pillow and walked out the door, certain that she was doing so for the last time.

Thomas arrived at the office early, and immediately realized how selfish it was to take the car on this one way trip. There was no looking back now, Anna would find it. When it was his turn, he followed a nurse to a back room and sat with a doctor. The doctor told him to strip down to his boxers. He did so, revealing the tight bandages that flattened his chest and helped to hide his curves.

The doctor glanced at the bandages curiously. "What happened?" he asked, sounding skeptical, like he'd seen a dozen other men come covered in bandages in an attempt to avoid being drafted. Perhaps he had.

He had never thought to come up with a lie for this question, it never occurred to him that he would have to. He had assumed that any doctor would see right through it to the truth, and that anyone else that wasn't his wife had no business seeing his chest in the first place. So he said the first thing that came to mind. "It was an automobile accident. It took chunks from my chest and" he hesitated, gesturing downward to the boxers that clung to him with no noticeable bulge, "my manhood."

"Oh," the doctor blinked, jotting down a few notes in Thomas's file. "Well, I suppose I don't really need to do any more work to see that you're rather clearly lacking," he gestured, "congratulations, you can't be drafted. You've been 4-F'ed." He stamped the file, marking Thomas as mentally, physically, or morally unfit for duty. Thomas admitted to himself that the third was likely true. Then he was ushered out, so the next recruit could be examined. That was it, he didn't have to go through anything more. His worst fear had come and went, and he had emerged untouched.

His mind still racing with all of the possibilities he had just escaped, he began the journey home. They had purchased a car for the move to Baltimore, so the trip was an easy one. Before he had time to sort out of any of his thoughts, he was already back home. He hoped that Anna was still asleep, otherwise she would likely be up worried sick about him.

When Elsa walked in the door, she could hear the faint sounds of sobbing. She hadn't been so lucky; Anna was awake, and she had almost certainly read her farewell letter. Hesitantly, she approached the bedroom, pushing the door open gently, she peered in at the weeping form of her sister, clad only in their sheets. She had woken up in bed without her, likely terrified by the prospect that she would never return. Elsa approached the small bed carefully, and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "It's okay," she cooed. "I'm here. Everything is okay."

Anna looked up at her through tear-filled eyes. "I thought – I thought I'd never see you again," she cried. "What happened?"

Elsa handed her the form saying that she was disqualified for service. "When he saw my bandages and my, erm, lack of a penis," she coughed. "He thought that I was really injured, and stamped the form. Or hell, maybe he knew what I really was and just didn't care enough to do anything. I have no idea. All I know is that I am officially now marked as 'physically, mentally, or morally unfit for duty.'"

"So, you're not going to be arrested? You're not being shipped off to war? Nothing happened? We worried these past three years for nothing?" Anna breathed and wiped away her tears, then threw herself at her sister, clinging to her for dear life. "I was so scared!"

"I was too. I didn't believe this was possible. I still can't believe it. We're finally free." They held each other for a long while, just enjoying the first stress-free moment they had felt in years.

Elsa was wrong. She was not free. She was the one exception to the draft, and rumors about her ran wild. Classmates who had served their time accused Thomas of being a coward. Women whispered that he was a draft dodger, or that he was deranged. There was nothing that he could say in his defense. He couldn't reveal himself as a woman, and he certainly couldn't claim that he was too injured to fight in the war, that would only solidify their opinion of him as a coward. So he accepted his label as a pariah. He was hated in all of his classes, no one would work with him, and no one, besides Anna, showed him an ounce of care or compassion. His fears had not come true, but the war was still doing its best to ruin his life.

Elsa would cry herself to sleep in Anna's arms most nights. Even her teachers treated her with disdain. She had to try harder than she'd ever tried before to succeed in classes. Every assignment was looked at as critically as possible. An answer that was mostly correct was marked wrong, an answer that was completely correct had to not have even the slightest variation. She had to be the best there was, or else she wouldn't even be viewed as average. She was managing, barely. Anna suggested that they try going to another school and that she could claim that she already served her term. Elsa didn't view it as an option; she wouldn't run, despite what they said, she wasn't a coward, and she would complete her degree there.

She tolerated the oppressive treatment that her being spared the draft caused, and she served out her sentence at John Hopkins. When it came time to apply for her internship, she finally gave in to Anna's demands, and only tried for hospitals that were as far away as they could manage. She was giving up a lot, abandoning her chance at one of the most reputable hospitals in the world, with one of the first residency programs, but she had spent four years there, and couldn't take any more. She didn't need to form a new identity all over again, but she needed enough distance that she could shed the status that rumors had perpetuated. She needed a new chance.

She found the answer in Denver. Dr. Thomas Henriksen was approved for a medical internship at the University of Colorado Hospital. They packed up what they could and sold off the bigger items, then drove across the country from Baltimore to Denver.

When Dr. Henriksen started his internship at the hospital, it was the first time he'd been treated with respect in years. As an intern, he was certainly the last in the pecking order, but he was no longer seen as a leper. He was learning everything he could from the other doctors. He had already made up his mind that he didn't want to stay here, that he wanted his own private practice, but he relished the opportunity to finally learn his trade in the field, instead of the books and classrooms that he had been confined to until then.

He learned everything he could over the next year, while he and Anna pinched every penny they had. When his internship was over, they had enough in their savings to place sizable down-payments on a house and an office in Durango, Colorado.

They built a life there. Thomas was able to start his practice, working as a small town doctor with Anna as his doting housewife. It was everything that the sisters had dreamed ever since they dared to dream of a life together. There was no dark cloud hanging over their head, no one around who knew their secret; they were completely and utterly free, and they were happy.

For the first time since they were children, they both felt safe enough to make actual friends, people who were more than mere acquaintances they could use to help maintain their cover. Anna was the first to find one. Elsa was terrified. Her entire first interaction with the woman, all Elsa could think was that the more people they interacted with and invited into their home, the more likely their secret was to be uncovered.

Anna's friend was named Rapunzel. She was a brunette, with her hair in a bob, who eventually convinced Anna to copy her hairstyle. They had met at the record store when they were both looking for the new Sinatra album, 'Frankly Sentimental.' They had gotten to talking and quickly became friends. They found that they were a lot alike. Sometimes the two-fer of bubbly optimism was too much for Elsa. She had tried to become friends with Eugene, Rapunzel's husband, but they never meshed and stayed strictly acquaintances who tolerated each other due to their wives' unwavering mutual affection.

In February of 1950, when they'd lived in Durango for most of a year, a new neighbor moved in next door. Elsa quickly grew suspicious when he saw how closely the neighbor seemed to always be watching her, as if probing her for her deepest secret, but at Anna's insistence, they visited them with an apple pie to welcome them to the neighborhood.

The neighbors introduced themselves as Hans and Caroline Sutton. Hans's eyes seemed never to leave Thomas's. Something about the gaze reminded Thomas of his old medical terminology class, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. The Suttons were both very friendly, and against his better judgment, Hans and Thomas became fast friends.

One evening, a year into their friendship, Hans invited Thomas to join him and one of his coworkers to celebrate his new promotion within The First National Bank of Durango. The exact specifics of his job eluded the doctor, but he was happy to cheer on his friend.

The celebration was also somewhat of a farewell. With the promotion, Hans was buying a new house and would be moving to another part of the small town. It would be a strange change no longer having his friend right next door, but part of Thomas was relieved by the loss of the increasingly curious redhead. Hans had seemed to have been attempting to spend more time alone with Thomas the last few months, and appeared to have a burning question that he wanted to ask the doctor. Thomas had never been quite able to shake the feeling that he had been found out, but the question never came.

The two blonds sat with the redhead at a quiet bar in town. Thomas was introduced to Kristoff, the man who would be taking Hans' previous position with the bank. He was very jovial and reminded Thomas a good deal of Rapunzel. "I'm going to miss you, you know," Hans remarked somberly.

"You act like you're never going to see me again," Thomas retorted. "You're only going to be a few miles away."

"I know, but it won't be the same," Hans insisted as he tried to attract the bartender's attention.

"It's not like you had to move," Kristoff laughed. "Just because you'll have more money doesn't mean you have to spend it."

"I'm afraid Caroline insisted," he sighed. "She doesn't like our neighborhood, Thomas, I'm not quite sure why. It's always seemed more than nice enough to me, and having a doctor right next door seems like it would be worth it either way." His eyes studied the face of said doctor, seemingly searching for something.

"Well, how about we make a plan then?" Thomas proposed. "Let's say, once a month we can all get together. We could go golfing or just come here for drinks."

"All of us?" Hans asked, looking somewhat saddened by Kristoff's inclusion.

"I can't exactly not invite Kristoff, he paid for the last round."

"That sounds great," Kristoff grinned.

"I suppose it's settled then," Hans sighed. "At least we won't be completely out of each other's lives."

The table outside of Thomas's office was never safe again.

Elsa and Anna's lives continued in this fashion, in their new home, with the life they had built for themselves. They had finally made it. They had friends, they had each other, and none were the wiser to the deceptions they had needed to perform to achieve it all. Their lives were absolutely perfect. Until the fated party ruined everything.