Broken Mirror

By- An Unknown Foreign Beauty

(Based on the original 'The Snow Queen' by Hans Christian Andersen)

Their first meeting could be the perfect starting of this fairytale. She was five and he was seven.

It was their first diplomatic visit to the Southern Isles, and her parents were engaged into some long boring political meeting with the king and queen of the kingdom. Her two year old sister Anna slept in Gerda's lap, while Elsa sneaked into the balcony. The night air was chilly, and she pulled her wool shawl tighter around her. She waved her hand in the air, conjuring some snowflakes.

"How do you do that?" She spun around to find an auburn haired boy watching her from the other side of the balcony. He looked a few years older than her, and even in the dark she didn't miss the hint of mischief in his dark green eyes.

"I can always do that." Elsa giggled, waving her hand in the air again, conjuring more snowflakes. "Wow…" The older boy giggled, as few of the snowflakes landed on his dark red hair, "It is so cool. "

"Thank you." She said, turning a deep shade of pink.

"I'm Prince Hans of the Southern Isles." The boy introduced himself, and gazed at her curiously, "Can you do that again? I mean, it is so beautiful…"

"I'm Princess Elsa of Arendelle." Elsa introduced herself. "And yes, I can do it again."

Elsa really began to like this young prince. No one ever complimented her like this before. Her parents told her to conceal her power in public. She never had any friends for this reason. Giggling she waved her hand in the air innocently as her fingers made swirls and patterns around the sky. "Wow…" Elsa felt the older boy scooting closer to her, as the snow began falling all over them.

Her parents were busy in the ballroom, so were his twelve older brothers. None of them came to search these two socially awkward children cheering over a very unusual play.

"Can I show you something too?" Hans said when the snow stopped falling.

"Yeah!" Elsa was more than happy to get out of the boundary of the castle. After being stuck with grim-faced adults all day long, his offer sounded really interesting. He took her hand and led her to his tree house. It was dimly lit with a single candle in the middle, decorated with an old table, chair, and a large, flat wooden box. She looked out of the window, and breathed in the splendor of the valley and hills, decked out in bright hawthorn, cherry, and bluebells, then she turned back to inspect the little room. Her gaze slid to the white-painted box, and she gazed back at the young prince who was watching her worriedly from the corner of the room.

"Can I see that?" Elsa pointed at the white painted box.

"Do you like it?" Hans asked her shyly.

"Yes," Elsa crossed her tiny arms over her chest, and threw him a stern glare, "Any problem?"

"No, no problem." Hans rolled his eyes. It was surely new for the young prince. For years none of his twelve big brothers asked him to play with any of them. He always played alone. He always liked to have friends, new ones, and of course having one like her- untamed, curious, and insane, nothing delicate and fragile. She was a lot like him, he realized. So he led her to his treasure chest and reached down to brush the grime and dust off the lid. It was heavy, so Elsa came to help, and together they pushed it open, revealing the treasures inside. There were two wooden swords, three pirate hats, and a white seashell.

"Listen to it." Hans picked up the seashell and held it near Elsa's ear. Elsa took it from him and listened to the muted roaring of the sea. Placing it aside she looked into the emerald orbs of her new friend, and grinned, "I like it."

"Really?" She saw him blushing furiously as he caught her eyes.

"Yes!" She giggled, of course childishly, conjuring a snowball, and throwing towards him. Hans picked up his wooden sword and chased after her. Elsa froze the wooden floor behind her, making him slip over the ice. She walked near him, ready to throw another snowball in his face, but he slipped his feet behind her, making her fall beside him. Two children collapsed on the frozen floor together, laughing until their ribs hurt. She caught him blushing when their eyes met, of course in a very childish way. And it was too innocent.

They promised to keep in touch. Each and every month a white pigeon journeyed to the Southern Isles carrying a letter from the oldest princess of Arendelle, and brown pigeon reached Arendelle with a letter from the youngest prince of the Southern Isles. With each letter he sent the first bloom of their royal garden- a red rose, and she frosted them, kept them in a safe place. She marked her letters with a tiny snowflake. His letters smelt or roses, hers of fresh snow of the winter.

It became a habit for both of them. She never stopped writing even after the when she was shut out from the rest of the world after Anna's accident, or after she started wearing gloves. He never forgot to reply even after when his brothers began to pretend him as invisible after his father's death.

They continued to write to each other even after when their worlds fell apart.

Their second meeting was like one of the classic love stories. She was thirteen and he was fifteen.

It was the coronation party of King Magnus of the Southern Isles, and the royal family of Arendelle was invited to the party. Anna was in Corona, visiting their uncle and aunt, so Elsa was chosen to go with her parents. It was her first journey to the outside world since the accident.

It was very embarrassing when Hans asked her for a dance. She had been turning down everyone through the party, and she didn't want to make a scene by accepting his invitation. "I don't dance." She replied politely, tucking her gloved hands firmly into her lap, carefully hiding from the hunting eyes of the princes. Her answer made his eyebrow arch. Elsa felt a chill running down her spine when she finally heard his husky adolescent voice. "It's a lovely evening, Elsa." He ginned mischievously eying the princes in the ballroom trying hard to impress the crown princess of Arendelle. "If you want to escape from those princes, would you like to go for a walk with me?"

"Walk?" she repeated, stunned by the discovery that he was evidently as aware of what she was doing as she had been aware of him, sitting at the table. "It's dark outside," she said mindlessly, searching his impressive features as he arose and walked over to- her chair. He stood there, towering over her, and his handsome face indicated that he was ready to go anywhere with her.

Finally Elsa excused herself from Gerda and joined Hans in the garden. In the middle of the summer, the royal garden of full of the vivid bloom of roses, even he smelt of roses, she thought. The night air was chilly as they walked outside, and she moved closer to him for warmth. Unconsciously, he tucked his gloved hand into hers, she didn't pull away, and he felt startlingly warm against her cold skin. She tilted her head to have a clear look of him. He had grown taller in the last few years, and his shoulders became broader, his face lost its baby fat, and there was a slight hint of facial hair along his smooth jaw. He didn't look like a boy anymore, Elsa realized suddenly and shyly, instead he looked like a man.

"You've grown up a lot," she said after several minutes, looking up at his green eyes. When he didn't reply, she cast about for something else to say and inadvertently voiced her own thoughts: "You've grown a beard."

Her words made him throw back his head in laughter. "This is not a beard, Elsa. This is called sideburns."

"Oh," Elsa replied shyly, a blush creeping to her cheeks, "Are you going to grow mustaches too? I mean that will make you look a bit older."

"Do you like mustaches?" Hans gazed down at the petite girl with much amusement. She had grown up a lot in these years. She had hair the color of silver and the texture of heavy silk, and soft, dewy skin. Every time he had seen her during this past year, she seemed to have grown prettier, her skin fairer, her eyes bluer. She was no more than five feet tall, barely reaching his shoulder, but in a pretty blue skirt and a matching high necked blouse, she had the figure of a petite goddess, with a sweet hint of growing breasts, and a tiny waist. She also had a way of looking at him that made him feel mesmerized by her eyes. His gaze slid from her thick eyelashes to the gentle swell of her small breasts, pausing to compliment the smoothness of her rosy cheek and the softness of her lips…

"You've grown a lot too, Elsa." He whispered, "You've grown really beautiful."

Elsa realized his eyes fell to her breasts, and she felt a strange urge to cover them, so she crossed her arms over her chest, and threw him a stern look, "I don't believe it. I wish I've more freckles like Anna. I'm like a colorless lily beside her." She pouted.

"You don't!" Hans looked stung, but the next time he caught her arm, and began leading her to the castle, "Let me show you, princess."

He dragged her along the secret passages of the castle Isles, along the secret doors, until they reached an old dusty room. Hans pushed open the door and led her inside. The room was dimly lit with a single candle at a corner, and there was a full length mirror in the middle of the room.

"This is my grandmother's mirror. This is called the Mirror of Erased." Hans whispered, taking her near the mirror, and told her to look into it, "This mirror makes you forget your sorrows."

"Look.' He whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder. She followed him, and looked into the mirror. But she couldn't see herself. Instead she saw a dark shadow, a snow-covered land, and a frozen statue which strangely resembled Anna. She felt frost gathering around her fingers inside her gloves. Frightened, she tilted her head gazing into his gorgeous green eyes. He was so close. His breath brushed her cool skin, and she could almost count every freckle on his cheeks even in the dim light. "Do you know what I see there?" His voice was intense.

A kiss! He was going to kiss her, Elsa realized, and all her joy and anticipation collapsed beneath the weight of her fear. She lifted her gaze from his lips to his gleaming green eyes. "No, Hans…" She tried to protest, taking a step back.

"Why not, Elsa?" His looked hurt.

"Because…" She felt frost spreading from her feet, freezing the ground beneath her. "Go away, Hans." Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes, she choked as she tried to resist herself from crying, "I'll hurt you."

"You won't." He took another step closer, "I trust you."

"No…" Elsa took another step back, tripping over the mirror. The mirror landed on the ground, crumbling into thousands of pieces. The broken mirror shreds flew everywhere around her, on the ground, on the wall. She let out a scream when she saw a broken mirror shred flying towards Hans. He let out a gasp of pain, and collapsed on the floor, holding his chest.

Elsa rushed beside him and caught him before he hit the ground. She cupped his chin and asked if he was alright. But when she looked into his eyes, she gasped. There was no sign of recognition in his eyes, except a strange hollow vacant look.

"Hans…" She cried in concern, but he simply pushed her away and rose from the ground. He left the room, leaving her alone, without looking back.

After her return to Arendelle, she sent a letter after letter asking for his forgiveness. She wrote to him when her parents died, she wrote to him when Anna knocked her door. He never wrote back, not anymore. Month after month she waited and waited, but none of her messenger pigeons returned from the Southern Isles, except one- the one with broken wings. But this time there was no rose with the letter, instead, there was an arrow, bearing the name of Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.

That night she frosted all the roses in the garden and ordered Kai to cut down all of them. Because roses reminded her of him.

The third time she saw him she was twenty-one and he was twenty-three, and it was not at all a fairytale meeting.

It was Queen Elsa's coronation day, and Prince Hans came to her kingdom as the representative of the Southern Isles. He changed so much that, she barely even recognized him and truth to be told, and she was a little hurt by his change. He danced all night with her sister, while the queen engaged herself in boring conversations with the dignitaries. From the corner of her eyes she followed him, his every move, wondering how much he had changed over the years. His smile became measured, his voice became calculated, and even when he laughed with Anna, his attitude seemed too feigned. He looked like entirely a different person from the awkward boy whom she knew. She couldn't wrap the thing around her head when Anna came to her, giggling, dragging her new found prince with her.

"This is Prince Hans of the Southern Isles." Anna chirped joyously, unaware about their previous encounters, "And we are going to be married."

Queen Elsa was taken aback with the announcement. Her eyes met his when he bowed respectfully, "Your majesty!" His tone was prince-like, his clothes were prince-like. But his eyes glinted like the devil. He didn't show any sign of recognition when their eyes met. She wondered if he was hiding it all intentionally.

She tried to talk but Anna continued bubbling about their future plans. Elsa watched the way Hans cooperated with her, and it felt so sickeningly unrealistic. So fake.

"So we can invite all of your brothers." Anna giggled, "They can stay with us."

"Absolutely." Hans agreed, and his eyes caught hers, she saw his cold glare behind his sweet grin. "What do you think your majesty?" He grinned. His smile was too royal, as if he was wearing a mask. She figured it was just some ploy to make her agree with Anna's request. Elsa saw right through him, from the start.

She didn't know this man.

"You can't marry the man you've just met." So, Queen Elsa declared finally, disappointing Anna.

"Why not?" Anna screamed angrily, being refused by her sister once again. "Why do you shut the world out?" She reached for her, taking one of her gloves in the process.

"Give me my gloves." She reached for her gloves, but Anna refused. It triggered another angry shouting between the sisters, unleashing her ice power in a way she never imagined before. Icicle grew all around her, as she waved her hand in the air.

"Monster." The duke of Weselton whispered. Anna gasped, others staggered back in shock. So did he. She could only see burning hatred in his green eyes instead of admiration.

Life was never a fairytale, she realized. But it was too late.

Their fourth meeting was like a broken symphony repeating over and over.

She was no more Queen Elsa. She turned into the snow queen, changed her clothes, reeking of Arendelle, replacing with snow and frost. She built an ice palace, isolated herself from the rest of the world. But things went wrong all over again. She set off an eternal winter, froze Anna's heart accidentally, and was at the verge of murdering one of the duke's men.

And then he came. Her prince. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.

"Don't be the monster they fear you are," He told her, his voice almost too close to the boy she knew. He held his hand out, for a moment she hoped he would take her in, and wipe away all of her tears, for a moment she saw a glimpse of the young boy who played pirates with her. Still, she knew it was not real when he shot an ice chandelier overhead. She lost her consciousness.

And yet, he was the one who decided to look after her. He took her rescued from the murderous guards, and carried her back to her kingdom. He locked her in the dungeon and spreading a blanket over her to keep her warm. Elsa wondered why he did that when his heart was full of hatred for her.

So upon his visit, she asked him the reason.

"I can't just let them kill you." His voice was soft. For a moment, Elsa looked into his green eyes, looking for the boy she once played with, once laughed with. She searched for the mischievous teenager who led her into underground passageways only to kiss her. But she found none, instead, she met a stranger. Her hope shuttered when he said his next words, "Stop the winter, bring back summer."

Once again she saw the cold prince, with a mask. Still clinging to the naivety she didn't know she possessed, she asked for Anna, "Then please get Anna."

The rest of her hope vanished when he declared in his cold, calculated voice, "Anna has not returned." There was no sadness or grief for his lost fiancée in his voice, and Elsa began to wonder if he actually loved her sister. Her heart yearned to save her sister from the clutch of this monster, but she had turned into the monster herself.

But yet she asked him for the sake of her people. "Then please let me go. I'm a danger to Arendelle."

His lips twisted into the evilest grin she had ever seen. "I'll see what I can." He left without looking back, shutting the prison door behind him.

The fifth time she saw him, it was the end of the world.

He was swinging a sword above her head, ready to separate her head from her neck. She never believed in fairytales, but this one just went wrong. In some stories, heroes die but never had she heard a story where a hero turns villain and sisters frozen in ice.

Somehow she finished her own story and thawed Anna's frozen heart. The traitor was to be returned for judgement. But still, she couldn't believe he was the same man who once led her to his tree house, showed his treasure chest, told her that she was beautiful and then tried to kill her.

Not even when he was taken to the deepest dungeon where she was once locked by him. Her eyes met his when the guards chained him and dragged him to the prison. Memories still burned in her mind, and she still searched for the love she lost.

Their last meeting could be their happily ever after.

Queen Elsa visited the prisoner in the dungeon, carried all the feelings locked inside her heart. She stood in an appropriate distance from him and gazed at the man who once belonged to the royalty. His clothes were worn, his hair was dirty. When she looked into his green eyes, searching for any sign of remorse, but to her disappointment, she didn't find any.

"Your majesty." Prince Hans greeted her with a wry smile in his face, "What brings you here?" He lurked into the shadows, like the creature where he really belonged. "To show me mercy?" His voice dripped sarcasm, "I never beg for mercy."

She was taken aback by the lack of guilt in his tone, even when he was about to sent back to home for trial. Didn't this man have any heart? But she maintained her queenly composure, and said, "I'm here to tell you your sentence, Prince Hans. You are going to be sent back to your brothers for trial."

"I know." He shook his head aimlessly, his gaze was vacant. The vacancy in his eyes sent a chill through the queen's spine. It reminded of the vacant stare he gave the night she refused him. For a moment she continued gazing at his face, searching for the boy she lost. For a moment she forgot all the grudges she held against him, forgot that she was a queen and he was a traitor and took a step close to him.

"Why did you want to kill me?" She whispered.

"Because I hate you." He replied curtly. His tone made her cringe, but she didn't step back. Her head was full of memory when he offered his hand to save her when she was about to kill a man. Her head was still full of questions. So, she gazed deep into his vacant eyes, and whispered, "Do you really want to kill me?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and the snow queen was practically desperate to find the reason for losing the love of the man she once admired. "Why Hans, why do you hate me? Give me a reason. I know you from when we were children. You're not like this."

"I…" He seethed, but her proximity triggered something in him, because he gave her an aimless stare, paused for a second, and shook his head as if having a second thought, "I don't know."

"Why you don't know?" Elsa stepped close to him, and grabbed his lapels, "I know you never wanted to kill me. I've seen your eyes when you stopped the duke's men from killing me." She knew she wasn't acting like a queen anymore with a prisoner. But she didn't care. She needed to know. Frozen tears welled up from her eyes, and fell on his shirt as she continued shaking him harder and harder, "Why Hans, why? You are not the boy I knew. Why you have changed? Why can you not remember me? Why can you not remember the love we shared? What is wrong with you?"

Her tears were soaking the front of his shirt, and snowflakes gathered over his heart. She didn't know what came over her. Suddenly, she tugged his collars, and pulled him down in a kiss. Memories of the forgotten kiss flooded her brain, as she continued kissing him. She pressed her lips against him forcefully, kissing him with all she had. She cried when she kissed, she held him tight when she cried, desperate to find the love she lost.

But he didn't kiss her back. He didn't hug her when she cried. In her arms, he felt like…wood.

Angrily, she pulled back and shoved him away. "Anna was right. Your heart is frozen." She slapped him hard. He didn't protest, he didn't strike her back. Instead, he continued watching her with the strange emotionless green eyes of his. She stormed out of the prison cell angrily, feeling humiliated for wasting her tears on a traitor like him or kissing him like that. Nothing could thaw the twisted heart of the prince. Her love was lost forever to some power hungry twisted mind.

She ordered the guards to escort the prisoner to the ship waiting for him. Elsa watched them obeying her orders as they entered the cell, and hauled him out of his cell. Their eyes met for once when the guards chained him.

A small sarcastic smile laced his lips when their eyes met. For a moment, Elsa thought she could see the old Hans in his eyes- young and afraid, lovely, and tender. She searched his face and found a strange sadness there. The sadness that only belonged to the young prince she once knew. An overwhelming sadness engulfed her, but she couldn't find what she needed to do.

"I do remember your love, but it is too late." Hans smiled warmly at her for the first time since their meeting, as the guards began leading him towards the port where a ship waited for him to carry him home; it was the warmest smile she had seen in his face in ages. There were no more masks, no more pretenses- only sadness of their parting, only remorse for his evil deeds. It almost reflected the young prince she fell in love with a long time ago. His smile was so broken.

"Farewell, your majesty."

She didn't answer him and simply watched him go. She didn't stop him, she didn't call him back. Why now? Why? All the time she searched for her lost love, but why she had to find him again only when it was time say goodbye? It wasn't the farewell she wished for.

Her gaze slid to the shiny thing lying at her feet. A broken mirror shred, the Mirror of Erased, she recognized- the mirror which had the power to erase all the memories of love from human hearts. It reflected all the good things and twisted human hearts in the worst possible way. He had this mirror inside him for too long…but why now? Why now he suddenly remembered her love for him?

Love will thaw. Maybe Anna was right.

Gingerly she picked up the mirror shred from the floor and gazed at the horizon where the ship sailed away with him- a broken, twisted, lost prince, without any memory of love. Her love. Unconsciously, a sigh escaped from her lips.

It was too late now.

Or maybe it wasn't.

The End

I tried to follow the original storyline of The Snow Queen- like broken mirror shreds which twist minds and erase all good memories, roses that reminds of lost love, and white pigeons that bear the message of love, tears that wash away mirror shreds from frozen hearts, true love's kiss brings back the memory of love. According to the makers of Frozen, the character of Hans is created based on the mirror.

Review? Faves?

I can't believe I spent forty-five minutes writing this one-shot when there is an exam waiting for me tomorrow. I'll be very happy if you leave your reviews and responses for it. It is written in a hurry. So some errors may be left. Besides English isn't my first language, so my writing isn't flawless.

I'd love if someone takes this idea, and turns into a full-length story.

Leave your comment in the lovely box below if you read this, and click to favorite button if you like it more.