Who: Elsa and Anna What: Reuniting Where: A cafe When: July I think? Status: complete Rating: PG
Anna was sort of nervous about this meeting. And more than ready to leave if Elsa didn’t show, honestly if she didn’t the redhead wouldn’t be surprised and that was the sad part. I must be an idiot for agreeing to this.. How many times had she begged Elsa in the past to join her for tea or coffee or to go on a fishing boat in the middle of nowhere, anything to get a real reaction only to be left wanting.
She sat in the window of said cake shop, not even buying anything yet. If Elsa didn’t show, she didn’t want anything. In fact the adorable cake shop would probably be written off, which was sad considering how cute everything was. She wanted something, but Anna was stubborn too.
So instead she looked down at her phone, watching the time change on the clock and considered just straight up leaving. ---
To say Elsa was nervous would be an understatement. She knew it was mostly her fault (not entirely, she still placed some blame on her parents), and that it probably wouldn’t be easy to mend fences. But she had to try to make up for her actions in this world before she could reassure Anna of that other world.
Stepping out of an uber, Elsa toyed with a curl of her hair; she’d worn it down, wanting to present herself as less closed off than Anna might remember. Different. More confident in herself despite the literal tortures she’d endured.
Pushing that out of her mind, Elsa walked into the bakery, worrying at her lip with her teeth as she looked around and spotted Anna.
She stopped herself as she started to ring her hands, and cautiously approached. “Hey.”
--- “Oh, hey…” Anna looked surprised that Elsa would even show up. She tucked her phone away in her bag for the time being and tried to give a smile, but it probably looked awkward as hell. She was awkward as hell sometimes. Especially when it came to family stuff. She’d been broken too when their parents died, only problem was she ended up dealing with it alone. Had Elsa even shown up maybe things would be different, but maybe not. There were so many missed occasions. Birthdays, her own graduation, no sister in sight. Now they were stuck in the same city.
Of all the ironic things to happen.
“Um, well take a seat.” She had sat at a two person table after all just in case Elsa actually did show. She always did, even when Elsa didn’t. ---
Elsa’s throat bobbed and she again fought the urge to ring her hands. She’d missed so much and she didn’t know how to make up for it. She only hoped Anna would keep talking to her, especially once she started dreaming.
Though maybe she’d be able to remember why they’d separated in their dreams, at least. A much better excuse than the waking world, even if it was all based on the same protective instinct.
Pulling out the chair, Elsa sat smoothly, resting her palms on the table top and entirely unsure where to start.
“It’s uhm. It’s good to see you.” --- Elsa was nervous, even after so many years her tells were obvious. Anna was..unsure what she was really. She just existed. Maybe nerves would settle in later and kick her ass after. Who knew. All she knew was this was what she had right now, an impossibly awkward situation.
“Is it? You don’t have to lie for my sake. And you didn’t even have to come you know.” Elsa always got an invite to things, even after all these years of not seeing eachother. She sighed and her brows furrowed slightly. “Sorry. It isn’t easy. This. Us.” She wasn’t making it easier, she had a firey temper to match her firey hair.
---
She could fix this. She had to fix this. Anna was all she had left of her family, outside a few cousins. It just wasn’t going to be that easy, she realized.
But she was going to try. “I’m not lying. And I’m the one who invited you. I know I wasn’t reliable in the past and… I’m sorry.” She rubbed her palms on the table and took a breath. She’d gone to one of the runways in London, and hidden in the back, unsure if Anna actually wanted to see her and not wanting to get in the way of her job. Though if she was honest with herself she’d just been… afraid of reaching out.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think since I finished University. Think, and regret and go through some things that put … other things in perspective. I don’t want to keep closing doors anymore.”
--- Elsa wasn’t the only one that had a few layers of hurt to deal with thanks to the choices she’d made. There was a time that Anna would have lept at a chance to hang around her sister, but right now? She was a little hesitant. Elsa would have to show her that what she was saying was real before Anna would really open up to her again.
“You weren’t unreliable, you weren’t even there. I sent you so many texts I probably look like a crazy person since you never even replied, Elsa. “ She was getting heated again, but then she took a bit of a breath and looked down at the cake that arrived. “...But I wished you would have.” Even how, she wished Elsa would respond.
“I can’t..do this twice. If you shut me out again, I can’t. If you do this...do it. No half way.” She idly picked at the cake that was placed in front of her by a waiter. “I didn’t even order anything.” The man waved her off, apparently she just looked like she needed chocolate.
---
It had reached a point where even when Elsa had felt a compulsion to reply, she hadn’t. After all, what could she say after leaving things so silent for so long? She knew it had been out of cowardice by that point. “I… wish I had too.”
Elsa rubbed the table again, a thin layer of ice forming on her side of the table before she got her emotions under control. “I don’t want to shut you out. There’s so much that… so much I want to share with you about myself, so much about you I want to know.”
She’s almost died... ---
Anna gave her a flat stare for a moment as Elsa responded that she wished she also had responded to so many of those messages. “I felt like an idiot you know.” Might as well say what she wanted to say, why hold back? Who knew if they would ever get a chance to do this again with Elsa’s track record.
“But I still hoped one day this might happen. So I mean, I guess better late than never?” Anna really didn’t do well with dramatics. She’d spent a few years alone too thanks to being shut out, it’d messed with her until one day she realized she’d need to go find other friends or go insane-but she still didn’t quite know how to deal with certain situations. LIke this one other than head on.
---
“I’m sorry,” Elsa said again, knowing that she was going to be very familiar with those words; especially if Anna started to dream. At least at first. “I don’t blame you for feeling that way.”
Elsa had been a little messed up herself, socially, from pulling away from everyone. Maybe not as bad as her dream-self, but she still had anxiety and related issues.
Since it was easier to get other people to talk (and give her a chance to figure out what she wanted to say), Elsa asked. “How did you get into modeling, anyway? I feel like I should be surprised, but I’m not actually that surprised. You’re.. Outgoing. I dated models so I’ve seen some parts of that so that makes sense to me.”
--- “It’s fine. I mean it sucks but you’re so it’s a start.” Anna picked at her cake, wanting to eat more of it but not wanting to look like a total pig. “I just started taking pictures on instagram and some people liked them.” About a hundred K in responses got you noticed these days. She pulled out her phone, most of them were cute and the tiles were cohesive. “I just did it cause it was fun and I was bored one day. Guess I got lucky.” She gave a little smile as she put the phone down on the table.
There was more she wanted to say but maybe not on initial contact. Probably better to not just demand answers and scare her away ---
“You mean a little bit of luck,” Elsa replied, smiling as she looked down at the phone. “And a lot of your natural charm.” Enthusiasm could go a long way. “And confidence. Ozma and Weiss always acted so confident, so that probably helps.”
Even if much of that confidence was fake, Elsa thought it still helped. Her and confidence were still trying to get along some days, but she was starting to relax just a little and trying to lower her guard and let Anna in.
Of all the people in the world Elsa could let in and had let in, Anna deserved it the most.
--- That comment had caught her off guard. She din’t know what to say, so she just let herself enjoy the moment. Her natural defenses said to get defensive-but there would be no repairing if she did that. So she decided to let Elsa in a little too. Maybe not all the way, but she could at least share an instagram without freaking out. It wasn’t a deep conversation, but neither of them were ready for that.
Instead she just ate cake and chatted Elsa’s ear off for a little while longer, finally not looking like she was ready to just run away from it all at the drop of a hat.