Chance Meeting

Hi stranger (or friend) who decided to drop by and give this story a shot. Thank you for reading this~ I hope you enjoy~

Note: This one shot is dedicated to my dear friends (slash virtual sisters), Lia-nee and Sunny, cheer up you two! Stop being so sullen~ And Sunny my dear, live up to your nickname. Stop being so angsty. You make me wanna write fluffeh to balance your angsteh~

Disclaimer: I waive all rights of claiming the characters as my own. They were not, are not and will not be owned by me (unfortunately). Besides, if I had owned RoTG and Frozen, I'll be hella rich and wouldn't be living in a hermit life. (Speaking of which, *sniffs myself* I need a bath)

~May the fortress be with you~

Soft jazz music played within the bookstore as the faint scent of brewed coffee wafted in the air thereby creating the perfect relaxing ambience for a bookworm like Elsa.

She sighed contentedly before she calmly took a sip of her freshly brewed cappuccino as she looked around, peering ever-so-discretely behind her huge thick-rimmed glasses. She was overlooking the view outside the huge glass wall of the said store, watching people as they rushed through the holiday galore doing last minute shopping in frantic paces, carrying paper bags with indented brands and plastics bearing the name of the mall. She hummed as she absentmindedly tugged on the loose end of her scarf that was threatening to fall off her bare shoulder. A small smile crept on her lips as a fleeting thought drifted through her mind. The scene, although mundane, was quite a jovial sight and she wished at the deepest part of her heart, as a family of four passed by with euphoric smiles on their faces, that she could enjoy the scene along with her younger sister and late parents as well.

She shook her head, she's nonetheless grateful for her temporary solitude. She needed a quiet day like this.

Shifting her gaze, she let it fall on the printed text of her book, feeling rather bored from merely observing, she idly skimmed through the page to humor herself, letting the words swirl and enter her brain like a bunch of jumbled pieces forming no coherent thought. Frowning slightly, she ultimately decided that she's in no mood to read and deftly placed the book back on the coffee table.

Picking up her cup, she blew away the smoke that swirled on the surface of her drink only stopping short when she suddenly heard the chime bells ring successively disrupting her from her mindless activity. As if on instinct, her sight followed the source of the tune and saw, to her intrigue, a man about the same age as her, perhaps older or maybe younger, she really couldn't tell. There was this air around him that made him seem childish and approachable although his demeanor didn't give way to any sort of hidden mischief. His lips, a pale pink, almost white, were neither smiling nor frowning and there was this troubled, semi-frustrated look on his face. He was a stranger, that's for sure, but a little nagging feeling within her gut told her that this wasn't the first time she saw him.

She watched him close the door before making his way up through the carpeted stairs and into the lobby of neatly arranged shelves that were securely holding books, magazines and comics that are for sale. She continued to watch with keen interest, even when he turned his back on her, as he browsed over the hobby section and watched still as he ruffled his snow white hair, flattening them against his scalp only to bounce back to their original place. She secretly wondered if they would feel as soft underneath her fingertips the way it does just by looking at them. He grunted, she didn't hear, but she knew he grunted just by looking at the way his lips parted and, again, she wondered if the sound of his voice would trigger the memory back in her head. It came to her as a pleasant surprise when she thought him handsome despite that scowl that deeply etched itself on his face.

Interesting

She never thought herself capable of feeling any sort of attraction to the opposite sex, let alone; think like a hormone-crazed girl. Although the thought appalled her, it made her relax to some extent since it unanimously proves that she could be normal at some point. Anna wouldn't let her hear the end of this if she knew. Her lips curled into a secretive smile.

She put her coffee down with neither a sip nor a care in favor of picking up her book, resuming to the page she left off, and pretended to read, all the while, her sight never leaving him. She straightened her back, craned her neck and tilted her chin in such an elegant manner, people wouldn't notice that she did that for the sake of…observing someone.

Where had she met him? She distinctly wondered, her thoughts flying through the shabby remnants of time of which people call a memory. Where was it? When was it? Why couldn't she recall any of it?

Perhaps it's just sheer atrocity, a ludicrous thought, her mind jesting on her, playing tricks on her.

Or maybe she's just nowhere near lucid, the caffeine slowly lulling her to sleep rather than the opposite. Coffee does that to her sometimes but… no.

She knew she had met him somewhere. She just can't pinpoint the specifics. Her gaze hardened with scrutiny as she watched with shameless tenacity the fluidity of his movements…but then, she frowned, not bothering to hide her disappointment when he turned behind the shelf and away from her prying eyes. She huffed, letting the air pass through her nose instead of her lips. Her eyes flickered to her now lukewarm coffee, her upper teeth absentmindedly nipping her lower lip as her brows furrowed into an elegant arch.

He's really familiar.

But where had she seen him?

She looked at him again, nearly panicking when she realized he was no longer where she had last seen him, only to regain her composure when she saw him turn into her line of sight. It's weird how he bugs her like no other.

Their gazes met and her heart thumped wildly in her chest, more fearful at being caught staring rather than allured at how blue his eyes were even at a distance. Then he did something that made her nod meekly and her cheeks to blush the faintest of red.

He smiled, a polite one, and tipped his head slightly to the side.

He saw her.

He saw her staring at him. Openly. Without a sliver of shame whatsoever.

Kill her now.

She wanted to bury herself in a hole.

That was embarrassing.

However, instead of letting her embarrassment get a hold of her, she reciprocated in kind, albeit awkwardly.

After seeing her response, he resumed what he was doing, much to her relief.

And Elsa, embarrassed and humiliated as she was for being caught, finished her drink in one gulp, shoved the book in her bag, grabbed the tissue that was lying by and quickly scribbled her thoughts before fleeing the scene.

"I've met you before, but I can't remember when, where and how.

I'm sorry for staring, but I can't help but find you familiar."

The next time she'll see him, she'll remember and, perhaps, due to this meeting, they'll no longer be mere strangers. She wanted to think they're acquainted—strangers in away, but acquainted to some degree.

And maybe next time, she could apologize for her impolite behavior, but until then, she would like to bury the shame as she took a stroll down the cold snowy path.

~May the fortress be with you~

It seems like I have a slight obsession for chance meetings. That is to say that a person at least had met his/her "soul mate" or fated partner a couple of times before they formally met in some sort of minor or major event that would officially bring them together.

I find this ironic since I am openly and shamelessly an ardent hater of love. Lol. Romantic Love at least, I welcome all the others, while some, I tolerate. Although I must say, it's weird since I have this annoying tendency to romanticize nearly everything. I'm a hopeless romantic at some point, but meh~ If there's one good thing those silly musings brought to me those are ideas. I'm a vowed spinster (I'm not that old yet in case you're wondering) and I think it would be amusing if I'll find someone who'll threaten to change my chosen path in life. Oh what havoc would it wreak? (Ta-ta-ta-ta~ another fanfic on the way, maybe…?) But in my defense, romantic love is an alien concept for me (sort of) but it's not totally unwelcome.

Heh~ Me and my silly musings.

Sooo… did you enjoy it? I hope you did! It's Christmas! Let us all have that holiday cheer!

Wait, no…? Oh… okay. (_ _")

Ehem~ Also, I guess I'll be making this my nook for all my future Modern AU one-shots or short stories. I'm not sure though. Procrastination is one clingy buddy; he just won't leave me alone. But just in case, stay tune for future updates. (But seeing how this one ended and how another idea is bugging me, I suppose there'll be a part two for this…? I dunno, maybeee…?)

And I know, for people out there who read that angsty short-story entitled Moonlit Night, what the heck am I even doing here? I should be finishing that two-shot! I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I'm currently not motivated to finish that. Yes, I know. It's only two chapters and I couldn't even finish that. Sue me! Wait no! That was just a joke (the suing me part). But I'll finish that! I swear! Just give me a chance! The second chapter currently isn't on par with the quality of the first chapter. You don't like half-baked, mediocre stories, do you?

I'll try to make it in premium quality (it makes you think of meat, doesn't it? Ugh, I'm hungry), well, within the range of my expertise anyway. So think of it as premium quality via the standards of an amateur writer. Not a good mix but worth a try *cue salesperson smile*

Rose