The tabletops at Café Winter were made of glass so that customers could admire the small aquariums built within while dining. Anna watched two goldfish; the larger of the two was nearly red while the smaller was bright orange with a pale belly. The fish chased each other from left to right and back, across a miniature bridge and through water ferns. As she followed their endless pursuit, she tried to feel excitement while her companion spoke of the coming holidays.

"Oh, and Sven should be home for Christmas Day!" Kristoff exclaimed, his warm eyes lighting up at the mention of his younger brother. "We'll have to get him something obnoxious from the Christmas market. It's tradition."

His eyes are kind, Anna thought when she finally looked up and listened. She made an effort to smile as she cupped her hand around her steaming cup's handle and sipped from her tea.

The truth was, it was taking her a lot of effort to feel a thing. It wasn't fair to Kristoff, she knew. But she tried anyway.

"My family's so excited to meet you," he said softly, his excitement toned down a little.

Anna merely nodded and glanced back down at the two goldfish. They had found each other and were swimming side by side in a circle now, seemingly content until Kristoff set his soda glass down and startled them into swimming in opposite directions.

"You're not here today," he noted. "Where's your head at?"

His concern bore into her, wringing her heart until her guilt pooled into a heavy puddle in her stomach. Anna tried a little harder when she smiled this time.

"Of course I'm here, silly."

He looked doubtful. Then, hope crept over his face as he tried to change the subject. "I bumped into Rapunzel this morning."

Anna tensed up.

"I know you're still not on speaking terms, but she asked about how you are... the baby should be coming soon—"

"Just stop, okay? I'm never going to talk to her again. Never mind the fact that she should be arrested."

"She's your cousin," Kristoff argued. "...your pregnant cousin."

"Then Eugene should go to prison. He probably did all the work anyway, knowing Rapunzel."

"Don't you think you're being harsh?"

Anna was grateful that the waiter returned at that particular moment to serve them. But then her eyes fell upon the neatly de-crusted, quartered sandwiches spread across the tray put between her and Kristoff. She knew then it was time to leave. She grabbed her coat off the back of her chair.

"I'm really sorry. I have to go."

She stood as she excused herself and briskly left the café before he could stop her. Truthfully, it wasn't his fault. The sandwiches had made her appetite disappear. They made her think of the idiot who lived in her house now.

A YEAR AGO, CHRISTMAS EVE

Someone snored as loudly as a train passing. Then, she realized it was herself. When had she fallen asleep? The blaring white screen in front of her hurt her eyes. She looked away, searching for the red numbers of her digital clock back on her nightstand across the room. The motion felt like knives to her poor neck and shoulders. It was twelve after seven, meaning she'd been asleep at her desk at least a few hours.

Anna groaned as she let her weary eyes adjust to the menacing light of the word document staring back at her. She'd barely gotten a thousand words throughout the night. She knew why, too. There'd be no use in pushing herself.

Resolved to taking a break, she set her computer to sleep mode and stood up to stretch. It turned out sleeping at her desk wasn't terribly good for her back or knees either. Being able to fall asleep easily was both a blessing and a curse.

She turned on her task lamp and tilted it down toward her desk so she'd be able to see without being blinded. Then she turned around and looked around the mess in her room, clucking her tongue as she debated whether to clean first or shower first. Elsa would have been aghast at the piles of dirty laundry, notebooks, chocolate boxes, miscellaneous mail, plates and tea cups sitting everywhere.

The thought of her older sister stung. Ultimately, it was what drove her to take a shower first. She hoped the hot water would relieve both the aches in her body and heart.

About an hour later, the sun was up, the mess in her room was forgotten and Anna was nearly done with a batch of pancakes for herself. The sweet and meaty scent of the bacon piled upon a plate already on her breakfast table had her rush the last two hotcakes, and so they didn't come out as nicely as the other six. Her mouth watered all the same as she sat down with the butter, syrup, bacon and pancakes before her. She paused to bask in the bright warmth of the kitchen, remembering when her parents used to surprise Elsa and herself with pancake breakfasts some Sunday mornings.

The fjord outside was frozen and covered in snow. She used to love white mornings like that when she and Elsa could go out and play in that winter wonderland.

She was just about to eat her first bite when the doorbell rang. She quickly popped the fluffy, sweet, buttery cake into her mouth before she got up. A month ago, she still wasn't answering the door or telephone. Her sister's passing had hit her so hard that she'd barely gotten by over the past few months. She'd been lucky the house was paid off, that she had a roof over her head and some money left to her. But those things had also allowed her to lock herself away in her house after Elsa's death. Work had tried calling every day that first month. Someone even tried stopping by to see her.

At some point, she doubted whether her old job would even welcome her back. An account manager was not exactly irreplaceable.

Anna cleared her mouth before answering the door. When she first saw her visitors, she was tempted to shut the door in their faces. But Eugene and Rapunzel were too swift. They tugged her into a hug buffered by their winter coats. Then they let themselves in, already chattering away about the snow outside, how great she looked and how she must be getting better sleep.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not bothering to mask her annoyance. "Can't you call beforehand?"

Rapunzel whirled on her cousin with a wide-eyed, babyish pout that made Anna crack a half-smile for her.

"We thought we'd surprise you!" the blonde explained, throwing her hands up and twirling in a circle that was far too animated for Anna so early in the morning. "Wow, this place is a mess, Anna!"

Instantly, her smile vanished. "Well, that's why you call a person before you show up at their home! Give them a chance to clean!" She crossed her arms in disapproval.

"Buh mmmf, ten we'dduh missed awll thih tasty, tasty bacon!" Eugene sang out from the kitchen.

With a little squeak, Anna stormed back out to her breakfast table with Rapunzel a hair's breadth behind her. She found her cousin's roguish boyfriend sitting in her seat, dangling the last piece of bacon over his open mouth. He paused when he noticed the two women staring at him. Sensing he had crossed a certain boundary, he slowly placed the lonely strip of delicious, crispy meat back on the plate from whence it came.

"Please tell me you have a good reason for barging in on me and eating my breakfast," Anna snapped, her patience dropping from low to none.

"H-h-hey!" Rapunzel laughed nervously, patting Anna's shoulder in a useless effort to calm her down before she pummeled Eugene. "The truth is, we have a surprise for you!"

At that, Anna relaxed a little, though she still wasn't going to forgive Eugene for pilfering nearly all her bacon. She pulled out another chair for herself and sat so she could hear what the so-called surprise was.

"Good or bad surprise?" She figured she'd asked. Rapunzel seemed... nervous.

Then, Anna felt guilty. She used to be more like Rapunzel—carefree and bright. Elsa's death had crushed the light out of her. It was still in there somewhere, she knew. But there was a lot of healing needed for her to find that part of herself again. Her eyes softened as she looked at her cousin.

"Of course it's good!" Rapunzel looked indignant as she took a seat for herself across from Eugene. She then dug into the purple purse on her shoulder and withdrew an envelope, which she slowly pushed toward Anna.

The redhead raised her eyebrow as she pulled out the contents of the envelope. "You're both being weird... what is this?" She stared at the glossy silver wallet-sized folder in her hand with the logo for Star Airlines. When she looked up at her cousin, she found both Rapunzel and Eugene silently but wildly gesturing for her to keep looking. "A plane ticket... to Osaka, Japan?"

Rapunzel slammed her hands upon the breakfast table. Both Anna and Eugene jumped six inches out of their seats and stared at her as she squealed and threw her arms around Eugene in her overwhelming excitement. "It's a trip! A trip for you!"

"But..." Anna trailed off, wordlessly eyeing the kitchen around her. "I can't afford a trip to Japan."

Rapunzel grew a little solemn at that, but Eugene quickly jumped in. "It's all-inclusive, don't worry!"

That would be amazing, Anna thought. She'd always wanted to go to another country. Elsa was always traveling because of work. She'd bring back all sorts of stories from Europe, America and Asia. Anna had been so envious. Now, she'd finally have a chance to go somewhere different herself... but it seemed too good to be true.

"Wait a minute... you guys couldn't afford a trip like this. What's going on here?" She thought she saw Eugene squirm a little, but Rapunzel waved away Anna's suspicion.

"Eugene won it."

"You won it?" Anna asked carefully.

Eugene nodded.

"So why aren't you two going?"

Eugene nodded again. Then, seeming to realize he'd been asked a question, he left the answer up to his girlfriend.

"Anna, come on... you've barely left this house in four months. You need this way more than we do," Rapunzel said. She reached out to squeeze Anna's hand in her own. Anna frowned, unable to refute the remark. While she'd cooped herself up to deal with her grief, she hadn't been 'dealing' well at all. Elsa's room was exactly as it was before Elsa died. Anna had only been in there once in the past few months. She couldn't bear to get rid of anything. It was like losing her parents all over again, and that had taken years to cope with.

Maybe Rapunzel was right. Maybe she needed this. She glanced at Eugene and smiled. He probably would prefer to take the trip with his girlfriend. It was good of him to let Rapunzel do this.

Suddenly, Rapunzel cleared her throat and released Anna's hand. "But the flight's this afternoon," she said meekly.

"What?!"

Anna tried to steady her breathing after running to the security checkpoint at the airport. She glanced once over her shoulder and waved back to her cousin and Eugene near a kiosk some feet away. She had a single white carry-on suitcase which Rapunzel had helped her pack in less than an hour so that Eugene could drive them all to the airport.

By the time she sat waiting at her gate, she was stunned to even be there. The entire morning had felt like a whirlwind. She stared down at her passport and ticket, her thumb running over the word 'Osaka'.

Japan! To think, everything was arranged! But she'd never been to Japan. Why did the trip have to be so far away? Couldn't she just go to Denmark?

Relax, Anna.

She tried. Rapunzel had sworn that she and Eugene would look after the house while Anna was away. She looked down in her lap and frowned, realizing it would be the first Christmas she spent away from home.

Then again, home hadn't felt the same once Elsa was gone.

Anna fell into a daze as she waited. When the time came to board, she was startled to just notice that her ticket was for first-class. She had to grin at that.

Even as she showed her ticket to the airline staff member at the gate, a part of her felt like there'd been some mistake. She expected someone to show up and take the ticket away or to drag her off to boarding group five, where she belonged. She even kept checking to make sure her name was on the ticket.

"Have a nice flight, miss!" The woman who scanned her ticket smiled and handed it back to her. Almost trembling with excitement, Anna smiled and followed the couple ahead of her down the boarding bridge.

She checked her ticket as the staff on board greeted her, all smiles. Her seat was 2B on the aisle. An older gentleman helped her get her carryon bag up in the overhead compartment, though he looked as brittle as a stick. Anna apologized and thanked him profusely before taking her seat and glancing all around her.

"Can I offer you something to drink?"

She blinked and looked up at a beautiful young woman in the Star Airline uniform. Dumbfounded by the service, Anna only nodded at first.

"What would you like?" the woman asked, still smiling.

"O-oh! I'll have water," she answered, looking unsure. "Are the drinks complimentary?"

The flight attendant nodded.

"I see... I'll still have water... for now. Thank you!"

The woman looked on the verge of giggling, but she was polite enough not to as she turned away.

Anna smiled to herself and looked to her right to stare out the window. There wasn't much of a view yet, just runways, jet bridges and parts of the airport. She immediately took a sip from her water when the flight attendant came back and handed it to her. As she sat and pondered what she might order later on, she wondered if Elsa always traveled first class when she flew. Her modeling agent probably saw to it.

The first class section filled up except for the seat next to hers. Anna had kind of hoped to have a flight companion. After all, it was a long flight, and her first flight! It would have been nice to have someone to talk to. But as the minutes ticked by and the other boarding groups trailed past her, she began to doubt that anyone would be in the seat next to her. On the plus side, maybe she'd be able to switch seats so she could look out the window.

Some time later, that idea fell through when Anna heard someone to her left clear his throat. She started, looking up and meeting the deep green eyes of an auburn haired prince.

Man, not prince. 'Prince' was her writing brain speaking.

"Sorry!" she said as she stood and shimmied out into the aisle so that he could reach his seat. He nodded wordlessly and took his seat at the window. "It's my first time flying, you know." She swallowed. She'd wanted a flight companion, but one this gorgeous was intimidating to speak to. Hopefully he was as kind as he was gorgeous. She eyed the expensive logo on his shirt jacket with a popped collar over a dark cardigan and lighter shirt underneath.

But the auburn man merely nodded at her before he looked out the window again. She leaned close to peer out with him, trying to see what it was that had caught his attention. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, looking uncomfortable as he asked, "Did you want the window seat?"

"Oh!" She beamed, taken by surprise that he'd asked. "Yes, that'd be awesome!"

Apparently a man of few words, he undid his seatbelt and stood to switch places with her. Anna plopped down in the window seat, smiling from ear to ear as she fastened her seat buckle and gazed out at other planes outside. She turned toward her companion to thank him once again and paused as she studied his profile.

"I know you!" she yelled, making him jump in his seat. "You're um... that actor! No... singer! Ah, what's your name, what's your name... sounds made up... err, sorry, no offense. I'm a writer, so I think of these things. Hans... Eastsomething..."

"...Westergaard," Hans corrected her, both his face and his tone void of amusement.

"That's it! Wow, ha! What are the odds?"

He looked away without answering. In fact, he slumped down a little in his seat. Anna rolled her eyes as she finally understood that he did not want to be bothered. How disappointingly expected of a celebrity! But she didn't let that ruin her flight. She sat back and stretched her legs out, enjoying the space provided to first class passengers.

She was a little nervous at takeoff, but once they were well in the air, Anna could not take her eyes away from the window. It wasn't until the flight attendant came back for drink orders that Anna looked away. She noticed the singer next to her had fallen asleep, and so she could unabashedly order a couple glasses of red wine. Not much of a drinker herself, Anna was perplexed when the flight attendant listed off all the options. In the end, she asked the nice woman to give her whatever she'd have herself.

Part of her felt odd about drinking alone, drinking at all. But she was supposed to be having fun. So why not?

She giggled as she sipped down the first glass and watched the clouds outside glow pink with the sunset as they crossed countries and time zones. Or was it sunrise? Anna laughed out loud as she tried to figure it out. Then, bored with the window, she pulled up the flight map on the screen in the seat in front of hers. She started fiddling around with the different channels to listen to music and watch movies, though she had to plug in her earphones for that. Much to her delight, the airline had some classic holiday movies available to see. She finished her second glass of wine to one of her and Elsa's favorites, an animation about Santa's reindeer.

As she switched between movies and music, the flight attendant came back several times. Once, she brought a meal of Japanese style noodles which had Anna's eyes grow wide. It was a kind of soup dish with vegetables, meat and seafood in it. She'd never tasted anything like it.

She had some more wine to go with her meal, and another after that. It wasn't until her fourth glass that her head began to spin a little. Anna was grateful when her meal tray was taken away from her so she could put up her table and rest her head on the seat in front of her. Only, that wasn't comfortable at all. She switched to leaning her head against the window. But that was too cold. Leaning back made her want to throw up. With a wistful groan, she started to lean to her left, vaguely recalling the stranger next to her might not appreciate such close contact. She felt, rather than saw, him twist in his seat and stare at her in disbelief as she groaned some more and shook her head.

"I think... I think I'm gonna be sick..." she admitted weakly. She thought of Elsa's soothingly cool hands on her forehead the time she'd come back wasted from a friend's party during college spring break.

"Please don't. Or, wait, turn the other way," Hans said, sounding hopeful. He even reached out to gently turn her by her shoulders so she would face her window.

"Ack, no! That's worse!" she whined, instantly turning back toward him. Even with everything feeling spinny, she could see him scowl. It made her want to cry. She didn't even know him. Why was he so rude? Were all celebrities so haughty? Then, she couldn't think any more of that as she gagged and lurched forward. She was able to stop herself.

Hans stared wide-eyed in horror, gesturing like a madman. She squinted in confusion as he moved his pointing finger from his mouth to his throat over and over again. Before she could even process what his gesturing meant, Anna retched and puked on his shirt jacket.

Five seconds later, she felt worlds better. Some part of her felt guilty as she could hear the singer mutter in disgust. She watched him stand to remove the jacket. She meant to apologize, but her eyes were getting so heavy. They started closing on their own. Pretty soon, she felt herself drifting as the alcohol carried her to slumber. In an effort to give poor Hans some of his much beloved space, she did manage to turn her head back toward the window.

She felt compelled to say something to him before sleep claimed her. An apology, wasn't it? She couldn't think clearly. She should say something.

But all she could think to murmur was, "Merry Christmas, honey..."

Anna woke to a splitting headache and cursed herself for drinking too much. There was a fine line between having fun and being stupid, and she had certainly crossed it. She blinked at a steady movement to her left and saw a line of people exiting the plane. This made her jump up and look at the empty seat next to her. The jerk didn't wake her when they landed?!

"Unbelievable," she mumbled. Then, she noticed the singer's shirt jacket sitting on his empty seat. "Oh... crap, he left this." She picked it up and excused herself as she jumped into the aisle in front of a disgruntled old man who looked like he could have been her grandfather's grandfather. She apologized as it took her a moment to jump up and retrieve her carryon bag. Once she had it, she scurried off the plane and into the terminal, looking left and right and pretty much everywhere for a sign of auburn hair. She bumped her way through thick crowds to get to the Kansai International customs. But Hans Westergaard was nowhere to be seen.

She sighed, looking down at the puke-stained jacket in her hand as she was directed to the line for foreign travelers. Again, the fancy brand logo made her eyebrows twitch. How could someone leave behind such an expensive article of clothing? Hans Westergaard must live in a world vastly different from her own. Chances were, their worlds would never collide again.

But if nothing else, she'd be able to tell people she sat next to a celebrity on her first flight.

A/N: I was having a really hard time with NaNoWriMo, so I needed to just write something fun. This is a story I had in store for the new year. I'm pregnant now... and the holidays are coming up. So there's no way I'll be able to update as frequently as I did for Frozen in Time. But this is an ongoing story.

The first few chapters will closely follow the story this is based on. But this will have some Frozen and crossover Disney elements that will require me to make certain changes... and hey, that's not bad, because I don't want to copy the entire show. But I thought the concept of Hans and Anna being thrown together in this way would be fun to write. I hope you enjoy this! I'm sharing this rather late in the evening, so I'll go over this and polish it later. Thanks for reading!

*Edit to respond to guest review: lmao, no the story is not for Elsa haters. Just because she's not in the story does not mean I hate her. Go read my other fic, "Frozen in Time" if you want more Elsa. She just needed to be dead in this particular story for me to tell it the way I wanted to.