SEEK And Find

Chapter 3

The wondering came to a halt another ten minutes after that. Which, brief as that may have been in the overall scheme of life, was a long time when waiting in a line of sweaty fans, all anxious and worried about the fate of one of their favourite stars.

"Elsa will be coming out now," the same suited-up man announced. "Please don't ask her any questions or ask for selfies, she's very exhausted from the touring schedule, but she still wants to meet and give autographs. Respect her and you will be respected!"

"Damn right, respect her," Anna breathed, eyes wide. So it was going to happen, after all! By that point, she had begun to worry she would go home with everyone's autograph except her crush, her idol... which still would have been incredible, but she couldn't help but feel a little sad at the prospect.

Even though the idea of Elsa being "exhausted" worried her. Personally, she'd rather have her just get on the bus and take a nap if she was that tired, but if she was already going to be signing autographs, she might as well stay and get one.

The minute the door creaked open, Rapunzel gripped her forearm and whispered, "Are you excited?!"

"Do you have to ask?!"

There she was, wearing the exact same outfit as before. That was a marked difference; all the other divas had changed out of their stage costumes and into more comfortable clothing, but Elsa was still rocking her ice-blue dress and heels, hair and make-up even fresher than during their second encore - which was an a capella Taylor Swift medley. She did have a cardigan over her shoulders and Jackie O. sunglasses on, but otherwise looked like she just walked out on stage for the second time that night.

The minutes seemed to drag by, but Anna passed the time by watching Elsa work the crowd. Except she wasn't; not like the other three had been. It wasn't that she was being rude or cold, exactly, but more that she simply was being more efficient, like Kida, coupled with rushed for time. The "exhaustion", maybe?

"Thank you," Elsa was saying to the tall girl next to her. Then she turned to Anna and said a simple, "Hi."

"Hi, me? O-oh, um..." Then she handed over the vinyl, not sure what else to say. She didn't want to start babbling and say the wrong thing, not like she had to Snow! That would be a living nightmare!

Elsa took it, smiled at her, and raised her Sharpie. Then she paused, taking a deep, slow breath in through her nose, and releasing it as she began to sign. It wasn't very long, but something about it made Anna's heart tinge.

"Erhm..." As she took back the record, she forced herself to ask, "Are you okay, Elsa?"

The pop star froze, sunglasses pointed directly at Anna. For a long moment, she worried that she had gone a step too far, that she was going to be removed forcibly from the premises. She could see Rapunzel flinching away from her and waiting for impact.

"Yeah," Elsa eventually responded with a small smile. "I'm fine. Thank you." Then she reached for Rapunzel's CD.

It was all over so fast. Rapunzel was grabbing her shoulder and shaking her, other fans were drifting away. There was no reason for her to linger, but all she could do was stare after Elsa's back, watch how stiffly she moved.

Eventually, she heard, "Come on, let's go," from Rapunzel very distantly, but she couldn't budge. She had to keep watching until Elsa climbed onto her bus. From the door, she turned around to wave... and again hesitated when she saw Anna looking at her, one of the half-dozen fans who were still there. Her wave started up again and she smiled, then turned and vanished from her life.

"Good," Rapunzel half-laughed. "Now we can get out of here! What a freaking night!"

Anna allowed herself to be steered away, but she couldn't get the thought out of her mind. "Elsa looked so tired..."