The distant rumble of thunder and the white noise of rain filled their ears as Tadashi buried his face in the crook of Elsa's neck, moaning her name. Splaying their arms and clasping their hands together tightly, he shuddered above her before he collapsed, his breath warming her skin. They stayed that way for a few blissful minutes. This was Elsa's favorite part of making love—the aftermath, when the entire length of him was pressed against hers that she felt his heart beating against his, their limbs tangled together, and their bodies still intimately joined even though the act was finished. She reached up to run her fingers through his damp hair because she knew how much he liked it.
Of course, she loved the act itself, which surprised her. Growing up, she never had those urges teenagers were said to feel—she supposed she had been too worried about her powers back then. Even after they had become a couple, the thought of sex never crossed her mind, content with kisses and cuddling with Tadashi. And he had never rushed her or gave any indication that he wanted her that way, at least until about two months ago, while seated on his lap as she kissed him heatedly (she had distantly registered how wanton she was being, but she didn't care because it felt so good to be with him like that), she felt his hand on her breast and his desire against her thigh. She had scrambled away from him in surprise, almost falling off the couch, and he had been embarrassed, but honest—he wanted her.
"H-how long have you...?" Elsa squeaked, gesturing vaguely toward his lower half to express what she couldn't say. Her mind was still awhirl over what happened, but then NATURALLY he would, because he's a guy, and guys think about that sort of thing most of the time, don't they?
"Uh, well...from the start, I guess?" Tadashi's face was beet red, but he met her gaze head on. "Look, you're—God, you're beautiful, and believe me when I say I have the utmost respect for you, but I also want to touch and kiss you in places that I never have. It's..." he blew out a breath before continuing. "It's all love and lust and I don't know where one begins and one ends and I'm confused and terrified by it, okay?"
His words sent a funny flutter low in her belly, but she forced herself to concentrate on the matter at hand. "So...now what?" Elsa asked, hating how uncertain and inane she sounded. This was so awkward, she wished the earth would open up and swallow her whole.
Tadashi shrugged and tried for a little grin. "We take it slow, I guess," he suggested. "Up to you how far you want us to go. I've never really felt this way myself—I'm just as lost as you are."
"Have you...um..."
"Had sex? Yeah. A few times. Wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but I think for me it has to be with the right person. You. But I'm willing to wait. Or if you decide not to, it's okay." He shrugged again, obviously trying to play it cool, but Elsa could see how much it affected him.
"Tadashi..." she reached out then pulled her hand back, placing it over the other on her lap. It hit her just now that she absolutely hated the idea of other girls with her boyfriend, but she was elated to learn that of all the girls he could have picked, he wanted her. Elsa wished she knew what to do or say to get rid of the weird mix of jealousy and euphoria that made her head spin with confusion.
"What about you?"
She shot him a dry look. "No."
"Sorry. I just..." He trailed off then stood up. "I'd better go," he mumbled, wincing and rubbing the back of his neck. Tadashi started to bend down to kiss her but changed his mind. "I'll—I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He straightened up and grabbed his cap from the nearby coffee table, hurrying to the door.
"Sure." She paused, biting her lip then blurted out what she wanted to say. "I love you."
Tadashi stopped to regard her before his mouth turned up in a slow smile. He merely nodded and returned her sentiment with a small salute before he left, closing the door behind him with a soft click.
The next few days after the incident had been uncomfortable for her, to say the least, because her body seemed determined to make up for lost time. Lust, that's what it is, she had thought grimly after she caught herself staring at Tadashi's hands while they studied at the library, wondering how it would feel against her body, touching places he never had before, as he previously mentioned.
She couldn't take it anymore. "Why didn't you say anything?" she whispered at him, leaning forward. Come to think of it, he sat across her instead of beside her. She had also barely seen him for the past three days—he said he was helping out at the café, then helping Hiro, then went home early claiming that he needed to catch up on sleep. Was he avoiding her?
Tadashi frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked warily, as if he sensed where the conversation was going.
"Three days ago. After I said I love you. I thought...I mean..." Damn it, this was NOT going well at all.
He seemed to understand what she was trying to say and reached across the table to cover her hands with his. He licked his lips nervously, glancing around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. "Hey," he soothed her, rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles, "you know I love you, right? It was just..." He cleared his throat, his cheeks turning red. "Sorry. I wanted to get out of there before I did or said something stupid. I needed to clear my head because—" he swallowed—"I might lose control."
"Oh." She stared at their entwined hands, the warmth of his skin sending tingles up her arm. "Well," she raised her eyes toward his, shy but determined blue meeting intense brown, "come home with me later tonight, then," she invited, her pulse pounding in her ears. What the heck was she saying? Was she really ready for this sort of thing? Maybe, maybe not, but she'll never know unless she tried, right? She held her breath, waiting for his response.
A few moments passed before Tadashi spoke. "Are you sure?" he murmured, his voice low and husky. His grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly.
"Yes," she replied with a slight smile and an exhale of relief. "If it's you, then I'm sure."
She was brought out of her musings by Tadashi getting out of bed. "Where are you going?" she asked, sitting upright. She didn't bother pulling up the sheet to cover herself—what's the use, it's not as if this was the first time they've been intimate. It was actually the sixth time. Their first two times took some getting used to—Elsa wasn't a complete innocent, having had The Talk with her mother when she was thirteen, but the process had turned out to have been more complicated than she thought. Tadashi had been patient, letting her take her time with him and indulging her curiosity, asking her if she was okay and what she wanted from him.
Their third time, as the saying went, was the charm.
He looked back at her and grinned. "Gotta get rid of the condom, then shower. Join me?" He tilted his head toward the direction of her bathroom. Elsa nodded and got out of bed, but not without picking up the clothes that littered the floor.
"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You are such a neat freak," he replied affectionately, taking the bundle of clothes from her and throwing it into the hamper nearby. "Only you would think of tidying up after what we just did." He looked down at himself, raising an eyebrow. "Huh, would you look at that."
"And you are such a perv," she rolled her eyes, marching past him and into the bathroom. She could feel his gaze burning into her, causing a pleasant shiver to run down her spine. "Well? Are you coming or not?" she prompted, shooting a sultry glance at him over her shoulder.
"Right behind you," he replied with a slow, wolfish smirk as he closed the door behind him.
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Anna's morning routine usually started off with going online to check on her social media accounts. Kristoff, when he had learned of this, only shook his head and shuffled off to prepare breakfast. "But you still love me despite my social media addiction, right?" she had called out after him, not taking her eyes off her tablet.
Today was no different—at least, until she logged on Facebook, in which an invitation from Elsa to be her contact caught her eye. After blinking a few times in slight disbelief, she accepted then proceeded to go over her older sister's Facebook page.
She expected it to be sparse—probably just some pictures or a couple of mundane status updates. Elsa had never been one to share her thoughts. As Anna would playfully complain to Gerda, getting Elsa to talk was like squeezing blood from a stone.
As her eyes traveled down the page, her eyes bugged out. Of all the things she expected Elsa's Facebook page to have, she did not expect this.
"In a relationship with Tadashi Hamada?" she gabbled out after a minute of dropped-jawed incredulity. "Who the heck is Tadashi Hamada?" She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her text messages as she racked her memories if Elsa had ever mentioned him. "Her project partner at SFIT," she muttered, remembering a Skype call that got cut short when Elsa had to hurry to a meeting with him. "Now he's her boyfriend?"
Anna leaned back on her chair, mulling on whether or not she should call Elsa and demand and explanation. I think this calls for a face-to-face meeting—gotta check this Hamada guy out and have a little chat with him, she thought, glancing at her calendar. Holidays were coming up.
The plane has not yet even landed, but Gerda already felt antsy. Or perhaps unproductive was the right word. She could not remember the last time she had gone on a day without doing any housework—then again, this was her first vacation longer than four days in thirty years.
She had allowed herself to be dragged along by Elsa because her boyfriend Kristoff had been unable to get two weeks off from his job. Boyfriend. How time flies. It seems only yesterday that I was changing their diapers. Then again, they had gone through so much, she brooded. Gerda supposed that was why she had never gone on a long vacation—she couldn't leave them then, but now she could probably rest easy for a little now, since Elsa's of age and Anna can mostly take care of herself.
Even if she forgets to do her laundry sometimes.
Gerda looked out the window to peer at the view below. The plane had just passed San Fransokyo's famous landmark—what was it called again?
"The Golden Torii Bridge," Anna's voice broke into her woolgathering—apparently, she had spoken out loud. She blinked and turned toward her charge. Since Anna was only eighteen, she and Kai were her legal guardians until she turns twenty-one.
"Hmm? What was that, dear?"
"The name of the bridge," Anna clarified, flipping through her guidebook. "Says here the design was inspired by Japanese Shinto archways."
"That's nice," Gerda replied, wondering how long before the plane landed. She wasn't afraid of flying, but there was a slight flutter in stomach that flared up as soon as she had seen the bridge, because it meant she was closer to seeing Elsa once more.
"What time are we landing again?"
"We should be out of the airport by 8AM." Anna grinned. "Oh, I can't wait to see Elsa again! She's gonna flip!"
Gerda frowned. If memory served her right, that meant Elsa was going to be surprised by their arrival, doesn't it? "She knows we're coming, correct?"
"Well..." Anna turned coy and scratched her cheek with her finger. "She does, but I told her to expect us tomorrow. What?" she asked after a beat of disapproving silence, feigning innocence. "It'll be fun to surprise her! She's more than likely to be home today—I asked her what her plans for the week were, and she said that besides studying she'll stay home and clean up—I'm like, 90% sure she won't be changing her plans, you know how much of a stickler she is about schedules. I bet she's been ready for us yesterday, probably checking for dust right now," Anna rolled her eyes affectionately, snickering. "Besides, it's been so long. Way too long," she finished, her voice tapering into a whisper. Gerda reached out and patted her hand to reassure her.
"The past is in the past, Anna," she said firmly. "You and your sister have fixed things, yes? And while I did not approve of what your father did, it was the best he could do at the time."
"I know, I know. Still, it wasn't fair, especially to Elsa. At least now she's happy. Tadashi seems like a good guy, but we'll see. I haven't had the chance to meet him yet, but he seems okay from what Elsa told me."
"That Tadashi fellow—a good...guy?" Gerda echoed, confused. Anna nodded.
"Yeah," she confirmed, drawing the word out uncertainly. "Didn't I tell you? He's her boyfriend."
Gerda's eyes widened. "She never told me that," she said slowly. "How—when did that happen?"
"That is exactly why we're on this trip," Anna replied with a firm bob of her head. "You know Elsa—she never gives the juicy details! When I asked her how she and Tadashi got together, she just said they were friends then he confessed, then they're now together!" She threw up her hands in exasperation. "There has to be more than that, which is why I asked you for Elsa's baby pictures—blackmail material. And I plan on having a little chat with Mr. Hamada," she cackled, rubbing her hands with glee.
"I'm sure he has an interesting story to tell, and if he truly is an honorable young man, he will do so without Elsa's pictures," Gerda remarked with a sage nod.
"Huh. Good point."
"He must be special indeed to have won her heart."
"Oh, Gerda," Anna sighed. "Check this out." She got her tablet out and fiddled with it before handing it to the older woman. "She looks so happy."
She does indeed, Gerda observed. The pictures Anna showed her were of Elsa and a tall, handsome young man with black hair, warm brown eyes, and a winning smile. He stood behind her with an arm around her waist and the other outstretched forward—she guessed he was holding a selfie stick. Elsa, on the other hand, was absolutely radiant—she had always been beautiful, but sadness hung about her, giving her a melancholy aura. Her smile in this picture reminded Gerda of Elsa's carefree days, the child she had been before she struggled with her unusual abilities.
Love had gilded her with its special magic. Perhaps not just romantic love, as one might think, but love of family and friends. Gerda swiped her finger across the screen to look at more pictures, and she saw one Elsa surrounded by people she assumed to be her friends at school, and another taken on Elsa's last visit to Norway, in which the sisters' arms were wrapped around each other's shoulders.
Gerda nodded to respond to Anna's earlier statement, smiling. Be happy, Elsa, she wished for her former charge, looking out the window once more. That is all I want for you.
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Tadashi planted a trail of kisses down Elsa's graceful, swan-like neck, then along her delicate collarbones, intending for his lips to reach the rosy tips of her breasts. He stopped short of his goal, however, despite her moans of encouragement. He raised himself up to rest his weight on his forearms and gazed down at her, whose platinum blonde hair was spread out over her pillow, her cheeks flushed with desire. He still couldn't believe he was there right now with her—he never thought he had a chance, considering how standoffish she had been, and how leery she was of touching. For him to be with her like this, to let his hands and lips wander so that the feel of her was seared into his memories has got to be the most—the most—
"Hey," Elsa whispered. "What's wrong?" Her eyebrows slightly creased with worry, she ran her fingers through his hair before cradling his jaw, her thumb caressing his cheek. Tadashi leaned into her touch before kissing her palm.
"Nothing. Well—just that that, you know, tell me to stop, and I will," he vowed, looking deep into her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, and I haven't done this enough to—"
"Okay, stop." Elsa placed a finger over his lips. "First, don't talk about other girls. At all. I don't like it. Second, shut up and continue what you were doing. It's you, Tadashi, so I'm sure."
He smiled—it's weird, but hearing her stake her claim over him warmed his heart. Who would have guessed she had such a jealous streak? And knowing that he was her first, well—it was such a rush, too. Mine, he thought before opening his mouth to respond. But instead of his voice, a harsh trill filled the room.
What the—?
Tadashi crashed back to reality and found himself being jostled awake by his girlfriend. "Wha—? Elsa, what's—"
"Quick, get dressed, they're here!" Elsa hissed, yanking at his arm to attempt to pull him up. He frowned at the urgency in her voice.
"Who's here?" he grunted, sitting up and scrubbing a hand through his face to wake himself up. Sunlight poured through the nearby window, telling him it was midmorning already.
"Anna and Gerda! They just called to say they're coming up! Herregud, of all the times for Anna to surprise me," Elsa groaned, scrambling to get out of bed to make a beeline to the hamper. She dug his green long-sleeved v-necked t-shirt and jeans out, tossing them at him. "They were supposed to arrive tomorrow! She knows I hate surprises! I swear I'm going to strangle that little—"
His stomach dropped. "Wait—your sister and your nanny?" he asked, dumbfounded and fully awake. Holy crap. This was no way to meet his girlfriend's family!
"Guardian," she bit out, shimmying into a pair of tapered ankle-length black pants. "I mean, former guardian, so..." she trailed off as she pulled on a purple cowl-necked top over her head. "Tadashi! What are you waiting for? Get dressed!" she barked.
"Okay, okay! Where are my boxers?"
The doorbell rang, causing Elsa's pale complexion to turn ashen.
"Pokker," she cursed, wringing her hands.
"You know what, I'll just go commando," Tadashi attempted to joke as he pulled his pants on and carefully zipped up his fly—he remembered watching a comedy that had the main character getting stuck and he didn't want the same thing to happen to him. Just my luck, he thought ruefully as he pulled his shirt on then finger combed his hair, attempting to flatten it to submission.
Why, why, WHY had he dumped his clothes in Elsa's hamper? In hindsight, he should have draped it over the back of a chair or something, but then again he had been quite distracted. Mental note: girlfriend is a neat freak, so make sure to clean up next time, knucklehead.
Hopefully, there would be a next time. Because if her family finds them like this, there might not be.
The doorbell rang again. "Elsa? Go get the door, I'm decent," Tadashi prompted, pushing her out of her bedroom. She seemed to have blanked out. "It'll be okay, we're good," he soothed her as they walked toward the door. "They won't suspect a thing."
Right. His shirt was a dead giveaway, if the wrinkles were of any indication.
Elsa blinked out of her stupor and gave him a critical once-over. "I hope so," she muttered, picking at an imaginary lint on the right sleeve.
The doorbell rang for the third time. "Ready?" he asked, squeezing her shoulders.
"As I'll ever be. This isn't exactly how I pictured you'd meet my family, I'm sorry. I had been hoping for a dinner. Or something. Anna's going to ask you a lot of questions, just so you'll know." She was mortified, prompting Tadashi to lean his forehead against hers. He cradled her jaw carefully, smoothing his thumbs over her cheeks.
"Hey. You got this. We got this. I have your back." Elsa closed her eyes and breathed in and out before breaking away from him, pasting a welcoming grin on her face. She opened the door.
"Surprise!"
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Considering how things were going swimmingly for her—rebuilding the bond she and Anna had, having a better handle on her powers and anxieties, and getting into a relationship with Tadashi—she could not overcome a lifetime of pessimism. A small voice at the back of her mind kept whispering that it was only a matter of time before things go awry.
The time has come, it seemed.
It had started out innocuously enough. A day after Anna's surprise arrival—she and Gerda had taken a red-eye flight and both were exhausted after the initial excitement had died down—Elsa wanted treat them to dinner when she got home from class. "Oh, no need for that, my dear," Gerda waved her off. "I'm sure you have missed my cooking, have you not? Surely it has been a while since you had a proper Kjøttboller or Fårikål. Invite your young man as well, so we can get to know him better."
There was an undercurrent of steel in former guardian's voice that brooked no disagreement, which left Elsa no choice but to obey, warning bells jangling in her head. She bared a stiff grin and gulped.
"I have a bad feeling about this," she fretted later after she told Tadashi as they headed to their next class.
"Well, I expect to be grilled, especially by your sister," he answered, rubbing his thumb reassuringly against her hand. "I mean, they did almost catch us," he pointed out with a grin.
Elsa grimaced. "Ugh, don't remind me."
"Hey." Tadashi stopped and pulled her aside so they would not obstruct people hurrying to their classes. "Whatever happens, I've got your back. I'm—"
"—not giving up on you," Elsa interrupted, smiling. "I know. Thanks."
He ran a finger down her cheek to tilt her chin up and kissed the tip of her nose. "Better?"
"Yeah."
She really did feel better. What could possibly go wrong? It was nearly impossible that they wouldn't approve of him, since Tadashi was the closest thing to a perfect human being she knew—he was kind, thoughtful, patient, encouraging...
Even if he hogged the blankets sometimes. Good thing the cold never bothered her, anyway.
In hindsight, Elsa wished she hadn't asked that rhetorical question.
What could possibly go wrong, indeed?
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As it turned out, a bored former nanny protective of her former charge can cause quite a situation. For while Elsa was at her classes, Gerda brooded at Elsa's flat as she waited for Anna to get back from grocery shopping. She had wanted to come but Anna demurred, saying she intended to explore the neighborhood before she shopped for ingredients at the supermarket around the corner. "I'll be back by three, I promise. That should give you enough time to prepare and cook dinner. I'll help," she had said.
I should have gone with her, Gerda thought, flipping through the channels on the TV. We could have gone shopping first, then let Anna do her exploring while I head back here. Ah, you old woman, you are getting soft with age. She glanced at the clock on the wall, a whimsical-looking one of a cartoonish snowman, reminding her of Elsa's happier days as a child.
But she is happy now, isn't she?
Gerda's gaze rested on a picture frame that sat on a low cabinet nearby. She stood up from the sofa to pick it up. In the picture were four people—Elsa, Tadashi, a boy of around fourteen, and a woman in her late thirties to early forties. The Golden Torii Bridge loomed behind them. Tadashi's family? she guessed. That must be his brother and mother.
The woman and Elsa had their arms around each other's waists while Tadashi and the boy flanked them. All of them sported grins, but it was Elsa's that captivated her.
Family. Elsa found a second family to love her, Gerda realized, her eyes welling with glad tears.
Once she was finished staring at the photograph, she decided to soften herself toward Elsa's young man. Admittedly, she didn't know what to think when she first met him. After all, she and Anna had arrived unexpectedly, and it was obvious from the rumpled state of his clothes that he had spent the night at her place—she carefully avoided thinking 'with her'.
Gerda hoped they were studying. It was hard to come to grips that Elsa could be...intimate with Tadashi. She was only starting to get used to Anna having a boyfriend and PERHAPS engaging in acts of that nature. She cringed, remember how awkward her talk with Anna had been. She was no prude, of course—if anything, she had been quite frank. But it was hard, nonetheless, because it meant her girls were grown up.
She had been with them for many years but it was so hard to let them go. She had held them in her arms when they were babies, and enfolded them against her chest as they sobbed their loneliness. They had found each other once more, but they now had someone else to hold and comfort them besides each other and her.
There you go, being sentimental again, she upbraided herself. You knew this time would come, at least for Anna. You had been worried for Elsa that it would never come for her. But it did, and it brought her more than what you had hoped for her. Be glad for them.
Shaking off her sudden melancholy, Gerda decided to be productive and do the laundry. She used to do it for the sisters, at least until Elsa left for San Fransokyo and Anna decided to do her own, even if she tended to let it pile up sometimes. Like clockwork, Elsa's hamper sat outside her room on laundry day while Anna's had to be retrieved from her room.
Gerda paused outside Elsa's door, overcome with a sudden hesitation. Was she invading Elsa's privacy, entering her bedroom without permission? Nonsense, she told herself. I won't be touching anything. I'll only get her laundry. Nodding to herself, she twisted the doorknob and entered the room.
The room was much smaller than the one Elsa occupied back in Arendelle, of course. Gerda saw that she did not repaint the walls, which were the same beige as in the photo the real estate broker had shown them several months ago. A reprint of Van Gogh's Starry Night adorned the space near the window, which was on the east side of the room. A chair and ottoman sat by the window—Gerda guessed that was where Elsa did her reading. Turning her head, she observed the seven books that rested on the low drawer near her right, titles that Elsa brought from home. A Collection of Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Gerda read from the book's spine, smiling faintly in remembrance. Running a finger against the book's spine, she saw in her mind's eye Elsa curled up by the window that dominated Elsa's room back in Arendelle.
Gerda forced herself back to the present and swept her gaze to the bed. Neat as a pin, she noted with pride—even though the sisters were born to wealth, she had made sure to drill them in making their beds when they woke up. Anna did not do so sometimes due to waking up late for school, but Elsa, because of her 'condition' as their parents had put it, had her privately tutored.
A small bedside table with a lamp and alarm clock was on the left side of the bed. Aha, Gerda thought triumphantly, spying Elsa's hamper pushed up against the corner across the door, which was a good spot since it was near the adjacent bathroom. She strode toward the hamper and bent to gather Elsa's laundry.
As she was straightening up, she spotted something black and wadded up underneath Elsa's bed. She dumped the clothes back into the hamper and crouched down to grab it. Her jaw dropped in shock as she held up the thing before her eyes.
It was a pair of lacy black panties.
Gerda's mind spun. Since when does Elsa wear lingerie? she wondered, dumbfounded, staring at the lacy underwear in her hand. She's never owned such things.
She should know. She has done Elsa's laundry for almost twenty years, until she moved to San Fransokyo as an exchange student. Sinking down onto her former charge's bed, she tried to regroup her thoughts. If she's now wearing this sort of underwear, then it must mean...
Gerda tossed the panties aside and sprang back to her feet to dig through the hamper, squelching the thought that she was invading Elsa's privacy—after all, she was bound to find something sooner or later, right? And if she did—
She fished out something gray and unfurled a pair of boxer briefs.
Gerda blinked and released a breath. So. It seems she must fulfill her duty as an older female presence in Elsa's life and impress upon her the importance of protection.
In other words, give her The Talk.
Oh, she was sure that Idun, the girls' mother, had done her duty and spoke to Elsa about the birds and the bees. However, considering how Elsa had grown up, perhaps it was time to revisit that particular topic. Gerda trusted Elsa's judgment—her former charge had a good head on her shoulders, but she didn't know anything about that Tadashi fellow apart from her first impression of him (a nice-looking young man, but that can be deceiving, as Hans had proven). What if—
"Hey Gerda, are you—what the heck!" Anna exclaimed, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The older woman gave a little shriek and clutched a hand to her heart.
"Oh my goodness, Anna! Do NOT do that!" she admonished her with a glare.
"Yeah, well, can you explain why you're holding a guy's underpants to your chest?" Anna demanded before her gaze was drawn toward the hamper nearby. "Oh my God, are you going through Elsa's literal dirty laundry?"
"What—no!" Gerda defended herself, dropping the incriminating garment back into the hamper. "I was bored and decided to do the laundry, and I just happened to find the thing. It was the last thing I would have expected to find in your sister's laundry, so you can imagine how shocked I was!"
Anna gawked at her guardian, her jaw hanging open. She took in the rest of the scene, stepping closer to the bed and grabbing the panties Gerda had tossed aside earlier. She watched several emotions dance across Anna's face—mostly variations of confusion and disbelief.
"Is this...Elsa's?"
Gerda nodded.
"So, uh...does this mean...?
She nodded again.
"Oh, come on, let's not jump to conclusions, this is, like, circumstantial evidence. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this." Anna blinked and shook her head. "Right?"
"Like what? And speaking of which, I trust you, Anna. I'd better not find Mr. Bjorgman's unmentionables in your laundry, is that clear?"
"E-excuse me?" Anna sputtered. "I can't believe you busted out the 'Mister' bit! Kristoff wouldn't—"
"You heard me. What you do with Mr. Bjorgman is none of my business, but it does when it involves your parents' roof, is that understood?" At the back of her mind, Gerda was aware of how the situation had taken a turn for the absurd. She had only wanted to do the laundry—how did it end up on her girls' sex lives?
This vacation is not turning out to be what I expected. Gerda rubbed her suddenly throbbing temples with a quiet sigh. She tried for a more conciliatory tone toward her charge. "Anna," she began, "just remember to protect yourself, alright? I don't want anything to happen to you."
"And if something does, Kristoff will be there for me," Anna declared staunchly. "He won't leave me."
"Of that, I am sure, but indulge this old nanny of yours and promise me that you will do what you can to protect yourself from...unforeseen circumstances, please?"
Anna visibly relaxed. "You know I will Gerda," she assured her. "You know me, I want the whole shebang—courtship, romance, a wedding with the works, a family of my own. So I'm going to do things right and proper." She frowned. "Well, maybe not too proper, it's a bit late for that," she amended then caught sight of Gerda's raised eyebrow. "Ooh, too much info, huh?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's just about the most info I'll share with you about my business with Kristoff, anyway. Unless you've got some tips to share?" Anna wiggled her eyebrows suggestively with a wide grin.
Oh, two can play at that game. "Just lie back," Gerda deadpanned, trying not to laugh as Anna's jaw dropped open. "What? You asked, I answered. Besides, I'm not finished," she said with a raised finger, forestalling the younger woman who closed her mouth and waited expectantly.
"Well?" Anna prompted after a few moments. "I await your wisdom with bated breath, my dear old nanny."
"So impatient. As I was saying," Gerda paused for effect, "just lie back. If he loves you, and you trust him, it will be magic. At least, most of the time, so try to switch things up a bit. Experiment and communicate," she remarked with a completely straight face, but her lip twitching almost gave her away as Anna stared at her in bewilderment. She cleared her throat to compose herself. "Love, trust, and honesty—those are the words of wisdom I shall impart to you, my dear little one."
Anna tilted her head pensively in response. "You know, that's what I saw between you and Kai. I mean, it's not like you guys were 'lovey-dovey'," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "but you two can communicate with a look. And that's something I want for me and Kristoff, too."
Gerda coughed into her fist, abashed that Anna had seen as much. "You're quite welcome. Now," she pluked Elsa's lingerie still clutched in Anna's hand and threw it into the hamper. "Excuse me while I do the laundry. I think the two of us need to talk to Elsa."
"Talk to me about what?" a voice spoke from the doorway, causing Anna to spin around in surprise.
"Elsa! You're back!"
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By the time it occurred to her, Elsa had already entered her apartment and was slipping her new brown loafers off. Mental note: remind Anna to lock up from the inside. San Fransokyo was by and large a safe place, but being a little extra cautious wouldn't hurt anyone.
She heard the sound of Gerda and Anna's voices coming from her bedroom and frowned—she couldn't make out what they were saying, but then why were they there in the first place?
"I think the two of us need to talk to Elsa," Gerda was saying as she approached her open bedroom door.
Those were never good words to hear.
"Talk to me about what?" Elsa asked, keeping her features smooth even as she felt the familiar yet unwelcome tide of anxiety slowly starting to rise within her. Her sudden appearance made her sister start and spin around toward her in surprise.
"Elsa, you're back!" Anna exclaimed squeakily. Her tone raised Elsa's suspicions that something was amiss. Scanning her surroundings, Elsa noticed the hamper before Gerda, who sat on her bed and whose features were unreadable. In a flash, Elsa understood what happened.
They have been going through her literal dirty laundry.
Her eyes narrowed and her brows drew together ominously. "Why are you going through my laundry?" she asked, her voice low and deceptively calm.
"I—I'm not! But Elsa—"
She cut Anna off with a wave of her hand. "I can't believe this—are you spying on me?" she accused them, her voice rising in anger. Unbelievable, she fumed, struggling to keep the ice within her contained. Were they snooping because of what they saw when they arrived? If so, why couldn't they have just asked? Sure, it would be difficult and embarrassing for her, but she wouldn't lie about her relationship with Tadashi. And if they did not approved, she was prepared to fight tooth and nail for him. For us, she amended silently. She had been bracing herself for some kind of confrontation over Tadashi, but not this—an invasion of her privacy.
"Enough." Gerda pinned Elsa with a glare of her own. Elsa forced herself to tamp down on her anger—losing control was never a good thing, and her old nanny's quelling look was as effective as it was when she was seven. "Anna had nothing to do with this. She found me in her room with your laundry. That's all."
Her admission caused her earlier embarrassment and anger to flare up once more. "What were you thinking, Gerda? Why would you do something like this?" Elsa asked, her anger giving way to feelings of betrayal. How could she think of her like that? And for her to resort to—
"Spying on you was never my intention, Elsa. Surely you know me better than that." Elsa heard the censure behind Gerda's serene tone and expression. "And you know I am a creature of habit—Wednesday is laundry day for me, whether I am in America or Norway. I only thought to do yours since I don't have any of mine or Anna's to do," she explained.
"You didn't have to do that," Elsa muttered, ducking her head and abashed over her outburst. "You're my guests. Guests don't do housework."
"Of course they do. But you're right, I overstepped my bounds. I'm sorry, Elsa." She glanced up in surprise, catching the older woman's wistful gaze. Gerda motioned for the sisters to sit with her on the bed and sighed.
"I keep forgetting you girls are grown up and are starting to live your lives. Just a few years ago my world revolved around you both. But then you moved here and Anna to Oslo—I found myself at odds and ends. And now, both of you each have a special young man." She trailed off, appearing to gather her thoughts. "I suppose that makes me both happy and worried over you two—I'm sure that your young men are both honorable and would cherish and love you, but as I've told Anna, please reassure this old woman that you will do what is necessary and protect yourself from anything...unexpected, Elsa."
Gerda's last few words caused a furious blush to creep up Elsa's neck and suffuse her face. She glared at the grinning Anna.
Well, now they know. Elsa took a deep breath to collect herself and nodded. "I will," she promised.
"Good. Now what I'd like to know from the both of you is, do you use a condom, take pills, or use both?" Gerda asked bluntly.
Oh my God. Elsa wanted to sink to the floor and disappear. Or maybe build an igloo and shut herself up in there until her humiliation goes away. Perhaps Anna would like to join her too, judging from the way her sister's face resembled a tomato.
Gathering the shreds of her dignity, Elsa cleared her throat and answered with her face as straight as possible. "I've actually got an appointment on Friday with my doctor to, uh...discuss further options in...you know." She licked her lips. "That's why I can't take you to the San Fransokyo Aquarium. But Tadashi will. He volunteered, actually. His Aunt Cass will, too. She's eager to meet you both."
"Aunt?" Anna echoed, speaking for the first time since Elsa's outburst.
"Yeah. His parents died in a car accident. Tadashi and his younger brother Hiro live with her." Elsa flicked an assessing glance at Anna, who returned it warily. "You know," she said after a pause, "you haven't answered Gerda's question. Are you trying to weasel your way out of it?"
"Am not," Anna retorted. "If you really want to know, Kristoff and I use both, okay? I mean, he uses a condom, I'm on the Pill. Double protection. Geez," she huffed.
"Good." Gerda stood up. "You have informed Mr. Hamada about dinner later with us, haven't you?"
"Ooh, there she goes with the 'Mister'," Anna muttered under her breath. "This ought to be fun."
Elsa ignored Anna. "He'll be here at seven."
"Excellent. Now come and help me prepare dinner. I'll do the laundry later. We'll talk more as we do."
Call her silly, but Anna never thought she would have the chance to talk about guys with Elsa with the way they had grown up, and her older sister's seeming uninterest in the opposite sex. Things between them were better than ever—they made sure to chat at least ten minutes a day during weekdays, or do a video call on weekends to catch up on what's going on with each other. Elsa knew about Kristoff, of course, and had listened patiently as she nattered on about him—even grinned and nodded in appreciation when she showed her a picture of him shirtless. But Elsa talking about someone she liked? That had never happened, at least until she learned about Tadashi.
Elsa with a boyfriend. Huh.
"What?" Elsa asked, still focused on her task of rolling the ground meat into balls.
"Nothing. Well—not really. I mean—how—or maybe, um...what did you like about Tadashi? You guys were friends at first, right? Then it just—happened?" Anna rambled as she sliced the mushrooms for the potato mushroom bake. She didn't want to pry too much because Elsa might clam up. While things were so much better between them, Anna knew old habits die hard as proven by how upset Elsa was over Underweargate (as Anna had dubbed the earlier fiasco in her head).
"He's uh..." Elsa bit her lip and continued with her task, rolling up the last bit of meat and handing them over to Gerda to cook before answering Anna. "I'm not exactly sure what he saw in me, but I liked how he accepted me for what I am," she mumbled, washing her hands. "He's patient and kind and he's such a dork—I caught him dancing one time while he was working on our project. He must have thought he was alone," she giggled then paused for a moment. "I tried to stay away like I did with you, but he was relentless. And I guess...it was easier to let him in because I'm far from the things that reminded me about the accident." She shook her head, grimacing. "Wait, that came out wrong, I didn't mean—"
"No, no, I understand!" Anna hastened to reassure her, waving the hand that held the knife. "Sometimes we just have to step back, you know?"
"I didn't just step back from you, Anna. I ran away from you. And will you please watch it with that knife before you maim someone?"
"Sorry. Well, let's just say you needed to step back thousands of miles away from me, but I have you back now, right?"
Elsa let out a quiet chuckle tinged with regret. "Thirteen years and thousands of miles. How can I ever make it up to you, Anna?"
She let out a growl of frustration and put the knife away, grabbing Elsa's hands in hers. "You can start by not wallowing in guilt anymore," she pointed out. "I saw your pictures on Facebook—you looked so happy! You're surrounded by friends and family—yeah, family," Anna repeated. "You're part of Tadashi's family now."
"I am?"
"Ugh, for all your smarts, you can be so obtuse sometimes." Anna rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well...that's another thing bothering me. Should I go back with you to Norway? Because—"
"No."
"But—"
Anna wanted to bang her head against the counter. "We've got the rest of our lives to make up for lost time," she said, mustering all her patience. "So that means we can let other people in, too. And you have, which makes me so happy for you. I also did—Kristoff's family is my family now, and when you go back home, I'd love for you to meet them, okay?"
Elsa regarded her with piercing blue eyes and nodded. "Good," Anna declared. "So uh...do you have any shirtless pictures of Tadashi?" she hedged after a few seconds.
Her sister scowled. "Are you telling me that you want to ogle MY boyfriend?" she glowered.
Anna gaped then guffawed at Elsa's sudden jealous snit. "Oh man, are you jealous? You should have seen your face!" she gasped.
"Girls," Gerda called out. "Are the mushrooms and potatoes done?"
"Oh yeah, just about, hang on." She ignored Elsa's baleful stare as she got back to chopping the rest of the mushrooms, her shoulders still shaking from mirth. "Oh, stop it," she admonished Elsa. "You know how crazy I am over Kristoff. I like 'em big and wide." She shot her sister a sidelong look. "Shoulders, I meant shoulders! Geez, get your mind out of the gutter," she huffed, trying to keep from laughing over Elsa's scandalized face. She wanted to say more, but a snowball to the face quickly shut her up.
"No fair!"
"All's fair in love and war, sis, didn't you know?" Elsa smirked and conjured up another snowball with one hand. Anna could see Gerda behind Elsa shaking her head over the sisters' antics.
"I swear, you two..."
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"That was an excellent meal, Mrs. Solberg," Tadashi remarked with an appreciative grin. "Thank you for inviting me for dinner."
"It was my pleasure, Tadashi," Gerda returned with a nod of her head. "Kjøttboller is one of Elsa's favorites."
"Is it?" He glanced at Elsa. "I'll have to cook it for you when you come over for dinner, then."
Elsa raised a dubious eyebrow at him. "If your toast is any indication of your culinary abilities, I'll have to pass, thanks." She hid a smile behind her wineglass, her eyes dancing with amusement.
Tadashi let out an exaggerated sigh. "See what I have to put up with?" he complained to Anna. "Your sister is such a heartbreaker. It took forever to get her to date me." He pouted at Elsa, giving her a puppy-eyed look.
"But she's worth it, right?" Her sister's boyfriend won her over with his easygoing charm and honesty—she grilled him as best she could, interrogating him over how he felt about Elsa, causing the subject of their conversation to hide her face in her hands. She had watched him intently over dinner, looking for signs of insincerity, but couldn't find any. Actions did speak louder than words—he kept leaning toward Elsa, his entire face lighting up when he smiles at Elsa, his eyes roaming all over Elsa's face as if he couldn't get enough of her. I bet they're holding hands under the table, she mused, leaning over to rest her chin on one hand.
Tadashi's gaze remained locked on Elsa's, fondness replacing his pout when she put her wineglass down on the table and made noises about helping Gerda clean up. His eyes tracked her as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Oh, yeah," he agreed softly. "Totally worth it."