Very Important Person

Chapter 15

NOTE: Lyrics copyrighted to Lisa Loeb, of course. (I cry every time.)

~ o ~

"Elsa, hey!" Honey laughed as they got close enough. "Check this out - there's a little bonfire thing! And it's sanctioned, so we won't get ticketed for starting a fire."

"I think it's the corpse of a luau," Kristoff remarked. "So who's our new buddy?"

"Ah. Zis is Anna," she began, eyes pleading so hard with Honey - though the woman's dark eyebrows still shot up in surprise at the accent anyway. "Anna, zese are my friends, Kristoff and Honey."

"Hey!" the firecracker herself piped up with a little wave. "Oh man, this looks awesome - is there gonna be hula dancers and a roast pig and all that junk? I wish I could stay..."

"You, uh... can't?" Elsa asked.

"Not without a room," she snorted. "But I can grab one on the way back - when I'm like twenty miles away from Resortapalooza and can afford it."

Kristoff started them walking toward the fire, even though he was still looking at Elsa in bewilderment. Inwardly, Elsa was prepared to throw herself into it when they arrived. "Uhhhhh, on your way back where?"

"Arizona. I'm studying in Tempe but I live in Phoenix."

While Elsa mentally filed that away, he answered, "Oof... that's a drive. Say, don't I know you from someplace?"

Honey rolled her eyes as she sipped at the fruity beverage she had ordered. "Arizona? You do much work there, Kris?"

"No... that's not it..."

Elsa suddenly let out a long sigh. "Ahhh, it is a lovely fire. I vould love to stay by it, but perhaps I vill take a valk, ja?"

"Hey, hang on a sec," Anna stalled her with a smile. "There's a couple abandoned guitars over there, let's just... hang? Maybe my friend will show up out here - she knows I play."

"Your friend?" Honey asked suspiciously. Oh no.

"Yeah. Like, it's this whole crazy-"

"Zat sounds VUNDERBAR!" Elsa burst out nervously, probably grinning too much - or too manically, take your pick. "Please, you vill go get guitar!"

Kristoff bounced like a little kid in a candy store. "Oh - me, too! We can two-man it!"

"Yeah, you play, bro?" Anna asked excitedly as they skipped off. And Elsa tried to enjoy a moment to relax - until she was grabbed by Honey in a vice-like grip.

"It's her."

"What?" Elsa squeaked. "I mean... nej, you are crazy! I'm..." In a lower voice, she hissed at her, "Just shut up! Okay?!"

"She drove all the way here to meet you! And you said your movie wasn't coming out for a couple more weeks - this is a movie, girl!"

"It is not! It's an impulsive college girl who... is arguing with her boyfriend too much, and thinks I'm her way out! And I'm not going to take advantage of her! So please, just... play along, and we will part ways, and that will be that!"

While Elsa was breathing hard, warily watching for Anna and Kristoff's return, Honey fixed her with an expression that was almost... wounded. She only had just enough time to register it as sympathy before it was too late to respond.

"Got 'em! You know any Tegan and Sara?"

"Not that well," Kristoff laughed as he shouldered the strap. "You know any Dave Matthews?"

"I'm not drunk enough to sound like Dave," she giggled. Elsa couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Um... oh - anyway..."

What else? She began to strum the easy chords to "Wonderwall." Kristoff lost it laughing, and Anna giggled but didn't break the rhythm, so he joined in with extra-whiny vocals. As it turned out, her little strawberry-haired strumpet could do fantastic harmony.

"Vunderbar!" Elsa cried as she and Honey clapped. "I did not know ve vere in the presence of greatness!"

"Yeah, maybe you should draft her into your band," Honey laughed.

Anna began to take the guitar strap from around her neck with a big, sheepish grin. "Nah, I gotta finish school. Buuuut I guess I could transfer to UCLA or something..."

"Aww, you done?" Kristoff moped.

"Yes! Vun more!" Elsa joined in - anything to keep her there. Anything at all.

"Weeeeeellllll... I have a long drive ahead of me, but..." Squirming, she put the strap back around her shoulders. "I've been thinking about this one a lot. You can jump in with backup if you feel it but I can ride solo."

Something about the way Anna took a breath, sinking down into another mood entirely, gave Elsa the exact same tingle she had when she first heard her by the front desk. Then solitary notes pierced her soul. And then...

"You say... I only hear what I want to..."

By that point, her crystalline blue eyes were already wrapped in tears. She knew the song; everyone knew the song. But the more she thought about the lyrics Anna was singing, the more she watched ill-suppressed agony flicker across her face... she understood why it had been on her mind so often.

"You say I only hear what I want to, I don't listen hard, I don't pay attention to the distance that you're running or to anyone, anywhere... I don't understand if you really care, I'm only hearing negative, no no no, bad..."

"Elsa?" Honey whispered quietly when she saw how distraught her friend was. But she couldn't even form a response; her entire focus was on Anna.

"And you said that I was naive and I thought that I was strong... I thought, 'hey, I can leave, I can leave', oh but now I know that I was wrong... 'Cause I missed you. Yeah, I missed you..."

By the time Anna reached the end of the song, the woman she was searching for had seated herself next to her, gazing straight into her eyes. And when she sang, "And you say..."

Elsa provided, "Stay."

The firecracker was stunned for just a second. But then she kept playing, and they both harmonised for the final line: "You say I only hear what I want to..."

By the time the final notes of her guitar faded completely, all was silent other than the crackle of the fire in the pit by their side. Anna recovered first, clearing her throat to ask, "Where'd your friends go?"

Good question. Everybody was gone. Elsa whispered, "I don't know. But I know why they left."

"I think... I do, too. Definitely wasn't Lisa Loeb hatred. But I don't... want to say anything in case I'm wrong again. Felt dumb enough for one day."

"Say it. If you want."

But instead of a blurted accusation, a hand came to rest on Elsa's wrist as a soft, cautious smile pulled at Anna's lips. "Nah. Now I don't have to, Mountie."

To Be Continued...