Hello! Nice to see you all again! So sorry to keep you all waiting like I had. After a month of preparation, I am proud to present to everyone Frozen Judgement. Everyone seemed to like that title, though I do give special thanks to ThatPatheticFanficReader for suggesting a potential title sequel to collision, I just couldn't find one that worked.
To anyone that is new to my work, read Frozen Collision first. now then without further ado, read on!
It was a warm summers night, with the moon high in the sky. Ranger, sitting on the roof of the castle as he always did whenever he wanted to think stared into the fjord, having come here to ponder his roll in life now. He was just so lost. He was supposed to be the Queens consort. Her lover. And he did love her. It was just that he felt so lost. He felt so afraid. As he always did whenever life was going so well. In an instant, everything could just snap and his life could be thrown into chaos.
He wasn't expecting a fight of any sort. He shouldn't really. Other than running off several months ago, he really hadn't incurred the wrath of anyone close to him (not that he would really want to anyway) but he was always like this. It was an unfortunate side effect of the events that had made up his life.
How things were much different then. It had almost been a full year since he first arrived in Arendelle, full of anger and fear. He had arrived with the intention of simply gaining a few coins over the course of a few months and leaving to go to the next place that he could run to. But then, something amazing happened. He met Elsa and Anna, the two reigning monarchs of the Kingdom that he was glad to call his home.
Home. Such a strange word. By definition, Ranger had never had a home before, having been abandoned by his parents at a young age and later killed his adopted family in a fit of rage. It had been a dark time in his life and he hated every second of it. The past was not something he liked as it was full of the pain and suffering he had endured, even though there were a few moments he did treasure.
But Arendelle wasn't his home. Not by a long shot. No his home was a lot more personal than that. His home was currently lying in their bed sleeping after a very long day. Elsa always did work too hard, but lately Ranger was wondering if she was working just a little too hard. Elsa took her duties seriously, but just because she was used to the day to day duties of being the Queen of a kingdom, didn't mean that their child was ready. The little midget was taking up more and more of her energy every day and despite Elsa noticing as such, she almost always refused to take a break from her duties to deal with the child kicking up a storm in her belly.
Their child. Their child. It was almost too good to be true. when he had first met Elsa, he never would have dreamed that he would create a child with her. he never thought that he would be happy to be a father. He never thought that he would find a wife or even a family that he could call his own. His own parents… he feared them. He hated them. They had left him to rot in an insane asylum for several years before they dragged him out to exile him from his village for a crime that he had committed. He had killed several others in a moment of uncontrolled rage, revealing his fiery abilities to his village. That had been the one rule that he had unfortunately broken. it was unrecoverable, unfortunately and he had paid a price much worse than death.
His life had been pain and suffering, a life of constant movement. He was a nomad, a monster, desperately trying to find his place in the world. that's how he found his way to Arendelle. To Elsa. the woman who had stolen his heart. And to all of them Anna… Kristoff… Olaf… Sven…. Kai….. Gerda…. With the exception of Elsa, who was carrying his child they were his family in all but blood.
Anna. his sweet (almost) sister. the bubbly energetic princess of Arendelle. Optimistic to a fault, and quite possibly the happiest person known to man. Ranger had never seen such a person; it was like there was no stopping her once she set her mind to it. Sure she was quite childish, but she was still young; she had a lot of maturing to do.
Kristoff. Annas gruff boyfriend. The two never really talked to much (then again they spent time with their respective female counterpart so that was probably the reason, not to mention Kristoff was usually working, regardless of the season. It was odd really; the royal ice master and deliver had a strange job, considering that ice would melt in any season other than winter. Then There was the thing with Sven, his reindeer. Ranger didnt want to know why he talked as his reindeer. It was the weirdest thing he had scene anyone do.
Olaf. The little adorable snowman who had all the innocence of a child. Ranger had to admit, he would have liked to have that innocence when he was that small. But then again Olaf was just a little to happy and innocent, so maybe that wasn't the best course of action.
Elsa… she was an angel, a pure soul. Like him, she had spent many years in pain and suffering; unlike him Elsa lived a life of complete happiness until the age of eight when she hurt her sister. after that she spent years alone in her room. the difference? Ranger was alone on the run with no help, Elsa had her friends and family. Ranger never resented her for it, but it was the difference between them that made them so unlike each other; Elsa never knew what it was like to be unloved.
Ranger frowned slightly, remembering the portrait of Elsa's parents. They had raised her well. they had imbued within her compassion intelligence wisdom. Everything she would ever need. He wished he could have met them, but they had died almost fives years ago, during a terrible storm, or so Elsa had told him. such a shame too. Elsa had told him that they would have liked him, even though his power had caused a fair amount of trouble when he had first met Elsa. he shuddered. Compassionate or not, happiness was something that never came about when his powers were involved. The only reason Elsa hadn't flipped out was because she had experienced the same thing. She had tried to help him with less than likeable results
But even then… Elsa. She had taken him in when no one else would. He had met her quite by accident when he had first arrived in Arendelle. They had gotten off to a very rocky start. He had been extremely cocky to her and she hadn't really taken a shine to that attitude of his. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even them that started the relationship in the first. Anna had not so subtly been the one to push them into a relationship partly due to the fact she was worried that Elsa would never be able to find a suitor that matched her in every way possible. Ranger himself had been a dream come true for Anna. He was smart cocky, bit of temper; the perfect foil for Elsa, or so Anna believed. Little did she know, Ranger was much more than that. it had been near Christmas time the previous year. Things had been going well. Ranger had a steady job as a blacksmith (though he did cleaning, rather that forging) before becoming Elsa's personal guard (which Anna had manipulated him into doing as per her usual scheming mind) and was having an ok time at a Christmas party that Elsa had been hosting.
Elias… that name still left a bad taste in his mouth. Elias was a guard that would have liked to think of himself as Ranger rival, or even superior. He had, during a training match, injured Ranger, hoping to win favor and become Elsa's personal guard (hoping just to win Elsa, in a manner of speaking) but Elsa would have none of it and relieved Elias as captain, leaving him to rot in a cell deep in the castle dungeons. However he escaped and attempted to win Elsa by force. He killed Erhard and Kayla, two friends of Rangers, in an effort to demoralize him and force Elsa to marry him. instead he had unleashed a demon on them all.
Ranger had spent seven long years on the run hiding his powers; seeing the world itself as a threat. Given his treatment it wasn't much of a surprise, but he hadn't exactly wanted to show off his powers. Too bad whenever he was sent into an uncontrollable rage, his powers always flared up.
Ranger had killed Elias and all his followers. And that had been the highlight of his day. the low point? He fled, leaving the only woman he loved behind. Leaving seemed like the best option at the time; it was the only way he knew how to escape. He left the only woman he ever loved pregnant (not that he knew that at the time, he didn't know about his child until after he had returned to her; according to Anna, she hadn't even known until just before that) and heartbroken. He hated himself for it, but he felt that was the best course of action at the time.
After that day, he didn't see Elsa for months, not until he heard that the prince of the nation he had fled too, Ridgefall, was marrying Elsa. Naturally pissed off, Ranger against all hope returned to Arendelle and managed to stop the wedding; Elsa was pregnant with his child and the prince left upon figuring it out.
After that he and Elsa had been together waiting for the birth of the child they had created together. He blushed. That night. it hadn't really been the best of circumstances; he was certain that Elsa wouldn't even have been pregnant if things hadn't happened the way that they had. Not that he was complaining. It was probably one of the happiest times of his life.
He was happy. It was an odd feeling. For the first time (or maybe the second) he was in a loving home with a family who cared about him. things couldn't be any better even if Ranger wanted it to be.
Ranger turned his head to look through the window that he had crawled out of. On the bed nearby with a swollen belly, her hands tenderly folded across the bloated abdomen carrying a life within, was Elsa still sleeping. Her hair was free of any sort of style; her hair cascading down her back like a waterfall. Her pale face showed a content smile, her cheeks glowing softly. Motherhood would suit her, despite her young age.
How could she be so calm, even in the depths of sleep? He was terrified of his impending fatherhood; he didn't want to turn into the monster his own father had been. Granted, Ranger could never think of harming someone so innocent; it wasn't in his nature. He had killed unrestrained before but he had a reason to. The bandits; they had murdered his master; Elias had killed his friends. Even then, he always felt that he was slowly turning into a monster; he hated killing; at least without a reason behind it. it made him feel that he was the monster, the demon his parents had always feared him to be.
No he didn't believe he would harm his own child; nor could Elsa. but he was afraid that his powers could… and he didn't want that. Elsa shared his feelings on that, having hurt Anna when they were children; it had been an accident of course. Unlike him, Elsa could never under any circumstance use her powers in good faith to harm anyone even though her powers could be just as dangerous as his were. On the bright side at least hers were capable of great beauty; he had seen her ice castle with his own eyes. His powers were never capable of that. Fire was death and destruction, so much like the life he had lived. Ranger never saw his powers as a blessing of any sort; sure they had saved his life on more than one occasion, but he still never really saw the beauty in his powers. He was hoping that one day he could, but he had yet to be able to find that. Elsa tried to show him that fire was light. Like the sun the stars. Fire warmed everyone during the warmest of nights(Ranger was sure that meant she loved cuddling with him; he was naturally warmer than others because of his powers.) it wasn't that he didn't believe her, it was just that he wasn't sure he would ever be able to see it without her help. He didn't share her optimism with his powers like she did with hers. love with thaw… that's how it worked with ice. But what will help the flames? Ranger didn't know. Besides, Elsa had much more important things to worry about with her life; the mystery behind how his powers worked wasn't exactly a priority as much as say running a kingdom or preparing for the birth of the royal heir to the throne.
If there was one thing Ranger was worried about, it was the councils reaction to the child. Though he and Elsa had talked to them about the child and they had agreed that despite the circumstances leading to the conception of the child (which had been a moment of weakness and passion because of the events of that day, rather than a night of pure love.), it was Elsa's flesh and blood and therefore a legitimate heir to the throne.
The other problem was Ranger himself. As he was the father of Elsa's child, this was a little more of a problem for the royal council. Elsa was of age and therefore should get married; hence why the prince of Ridgefall had come. but due to the fact Elsa was pregnant, she refused and the prince left for home.
Elsa had only wanted to marry Ranger; he had stolen her heart and she had stolen his. They were young in love and expecting a child. It was only natural that Ranger would marry her, something that they both wanted. But to be king? Ranger was not prepared for such a responsibility. He was in all intents and purposes, a commoner; he had spent most of his life on the run making a living for himself. which had been tough as it was. But to be responsible for the welfare of a kingdom? It would be easier to survive a fall from the top of the north mountain. He had informed both Elsa and the council of this. he didn't care about being king; he just wanted to be by Elsa's side for the rest of his life. Which meant that he would have to take the throne. It was a scary thought.
Despite what the council believed, both Elsa and Ranger were adamant in their positions. Ranger had yet to even consider marriage Elsa had been busy with Anna's birthday planning and they hadn't been together that long to begin with; Ranger knew that rushing straight into the marriage wasn't really a solution, plus it would be better to wait until after the baby was born as Elsa probably wouldn't be able to fit in a wedding dress until after she gave birth.
Ranger knew he would have to propose soon; Elsa was seven months pregnant and they had been dating for quite a while now. he didn't think that Elsa would tolerate having a child and not being married to the man she loved. He wanted to marry her too; he just hadn't considered what he was going to do to propose.
Elsa hadn't even let Kristoff propose to Anna yet and they had been dating for much longer. It was safe to say that the only reason Elsa wanted to get married (outside of being in love with Ranger) was to make the family a little more complete, since she was pregnant with their child and they were going to be parents in a matter of weeks. Neither of them wanted to see it as a formality (even though it was) because they wanted the moment, from the proposal to the wedding day, to be a special occasion, as it should be. They didn't want to just get married because they had too.
It had been several days since Anna's (and his unfortunately) birthday and things were really starting to look up for everyone. For one, today Elsa was going to be taking the day off (she was kind of, but not really. She had been working at a reduced capacity due to her impending child birth.) everyone was worried that she would suddenly go into labor while dealing with her duties and so they wanted her to rest for the next few weeks. Kai was handling her work for the most part; even Anna was doing some of her duties, much to everyone shock.
Everyone was taking Elsa's pregnancy rather seriously. Elsa herself was a little annoyed with how everyone was treating her so fragile, despite the fact that she herself recognized the fact that her pregnancy, even though it was going smoothly, was leaving her working at a reduced capacity physically.
Ranger sighed, before turning and jumping through the window. Elsa was still sleeping, completely oblivious to the fact Ranger was staring at her in her sleep. she was so lovely. With a smile, Ranger walked towards the bed and crawled beside Elsa, wrapping his arms as best he could around her body. He gently kissed her cheek, before he closed his eyes, joining the woman he loved in a peaceful slumber.
You know the drill!