Heyy! Spoilers for Frozen ahead. Anyhoodle, I love Kristoff/Anna as much as anyone else, but every time I listen to Love is an Open Door, I wonder if Hans was really faking everything. He seemed so genuine in every moment up to the reveal. And basically a plot bunny came that would not leave me alone of Anna visiting him in the dungeon. (I know he was brought back to his own kingdom but shhhhh~, we're ignoring that!)
Hope you enjoy!
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Anna twisted an apricot curl behind her ear, listening to the drip of dirty water from the ceiling. Her company rolled his eyes, reclined in the dusty cot and tapping a knuckle against the wall.
Gathering up her courage, she started, "Hans-"
"Princess Anna." He replied forcefully.
Anna crossed her arms. "Alright, I thought I'd be polite but I think I'll just cut straight to the point."
Hans turned to her with as sarcastic a smirk as he could muster. "No, please, I'm flattered to be visited in my humble hovel by the princess. I only wish I could be a proper host."
Anna grabbed the hem of her dress, slowly losing her nerve. She looked into the face that once looked so loving and sweet to her. She saw only scorn and coldness in his expression.
Just as she felt like backtracking- hurrying up the stairs to the loving arms of her sister and Kristoff- the prisoner spoke.
"Thanks, by the way, for notifying my brothers. The ones that cared to come, all five of them, gave me a sensible beating." Anna noticed, not for the first time, Han's busted-up lip, bruised face, and torn clothing. She had to stop herself from smiling- that wasn't the kind of person she wanted to be.
Without even preparing herself first, it just spilled from her lips. The true purpose for her visit. "At the coronation party. When we talked all night, and danced, and swapped stories of our families... when you proposed-" She hated how her voice started shaking as she recalled the memories. "Was it really all fake? It couldn't have been... could it?" She sounded about as confident as she felt.
She stared into his eyes, which were narrowed in amused confusion. Anger made her clench her fists as she recalled that night, feeling loved, feeling in love, and finally feeling... not alone. And this guy- she had so believed that he felt the same as her! She had been willing to pledge her life to him- she just had to know. If it had really all been a lie.
"What's this for?" He smiled, but Anna flinched from the biting tone of his voice. "So you can feel likable and admired knowing I fancied you and then go back up to Mr. Lumberjack?" Anna stepped back. "Or so you can hear that I felt nothing and feel secure that you locked away a monster?"
"No! I just-"
"Well, you can rest assured, princess. You were just an easy mark. A way to the throne. Nothing more than a walking crown with a meddlesome sister."
With each word, Anna could only feel her feet getting heavier. She thought this would help her move on, but it was only rooting her more deeply to the chaos of her fleeting first love.
"That's quite enough. Thank you, Hans of the Southern Isles." She spat out.
"Don't forget to visit, Princess Anna," he called after her with an easy wave. After watching her ascend, he sat up and leaned his head in his hand. He looked back where she had been standing and saw an image of her there. In her green dress from the ball, chocolate in her hand, an optimistic tune on her lips.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit caught up in her naive enthusiasm. Or the way she looked at him and really heard him, looked at him as if he was someone important.
Another part of him contested fiercely, and he slammed a fist onto his leg. The apparition of Anna vanished, leaving only a dimly lit corridor. He knew he couldn't be attached to her. That wasn't the plan. And if it had been, he never would have been able to threaten her precious sister, and to see those big innocent eyes turn on him in hate.
He might've let it get to that point. 'Stupid...' Thought he wound up here anyway. In Arendelle's dungeon- in other words, about as close as he was to the throne in his own kingdom. He would laugh if he wasn't constantly replaying his scheme in his mind- every moment, every decision... every smile, every glare...
Hans fell back onto the bed with a scowl and turned toward the cracked wall. Maybe there had been something... something important that night, something real that he could've latched onto... but there was no point thinking on it now. He pressed the pillow against his ear and fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of horses and sandwiches and open doors.