note: This was written for the lovely NerumiH, because she wrote so many stories already for my sake and I just wanted to thank her. Also this was the last story I drabbled in 2013. This work is inspired by a image I found in "The Art of Frozen".
warning: major character death
"No", she breathed, her voice barely audible.
Quietly the door shut right before her eyes.
"No, no, no."
How could Hans do that to her?
"If only someone loved you, Anna."
That wasn't fair. He was supposed to be her true love. His kiss should thaw her heart. Her life depended on him.
She shivered lying on the ground. Every inch of her body was freezing cold.
"Anna, you can do better than that. I know it" she tried to encourage herself, pulling the cloak closer around her. "One step after another. You need to close the windows first, then get the fire back on. And more blankets. A lot more blankets." Her voice trembled slightly, but she tried not to notice. She wouldn't give in to the cold that easily.
She rubbed her hands, breathed the warm air of her lungs in the palm of them, just to find the strength to get up. "You can do this. I know I can do this..." she mumbled. Her legs were shaking when she finally burdened them with her body's weight.
"Stay strong. Just... a f-few more minutes."
Not being able to see or walk straight, instead she staggered in the direction of the grand windows till she leaned against the patterned wall next to the shelf. She had always loved the windows, seeing them as the only way to connect to outside. Unlike the gates she was allowed to open them, feeling the sun carress her skin in the past.
But now they invited the cold to her death.
Struggling against the wind, she had always appreciated so much because it made her feel alive, she tried to close on of the windows. It was when she tripped and fell against it with her whole weight that it shut close. "One closed, two to go!" she tried to cheer, but her voice got raspier, the cold more and more infecting her system.
While trying to close the next, her fingers went numb while pushing against the glass. Finally she slipped, falling to the cold ground once more taking a small table down with her.
"Ouch!", she cursed, curling herself together. The tears dwelled in her eyes when she realised how hopeless her situation was. Always had been.
Who was she kidding? She was always week, second-rated. How could she believe that a prince would ever fall for a clumsy, awkward girl like her?
Through her blurred vision she saw something beside her. It was small sparkled. Anna wiped the tears away and crawled on the floor to discover that it was a snowglobe. 'Oh, the irony...' she thought as she watched the snow swirling in this perfect winter wonderland. Once again she shivered pulling the globe closer to her. There were children building a snowman, a couple skated on the fake ice and it looked like everyone had fun. Anna's eyes shone with unshed tears, remembering more and more of her happy times with Elsa. "We did that, too. Everything..."
She watched as her hands grew white, a floral pattern graced her fragile skin. She took the snow globe in her hands, to let the snow fall again, when she noticed an engraving.
"To Anna; Love endures even the coldest winter and waits patiently for spring."
The princess giggled at these fake words, which sounded so clichee. Hans knew perfectly well how to deceive her. Only someone like Hans couldn't see that there was love in the cold as well. Her smile turned bitter at the thought of troubling Elsa so much because of him. If she hadn't met Hans nobody would have called Elsa a monster ever. Nobody would've doubt the queen. Nobody would've doubt her sister just like she always believed in her with her whole heart.
"I'm sorry, Elsa. I really thought... this was love. That I found my happily ever after in Hans. But it seems like I don't know anything. Just like you."
A tear rolled down her face, as her body started to turn to ice, when her final words escaped her in a white breath.
"I love you, Elsa."
