An Act of True Love
A/N
The first time we saw "Frozen," we all assumed, along with the movie cast, that the saying "only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart" meant someone who loved Anna had to do something for her. We all rejoiced when we realized that it was Anna's act of true love that thawed her own heart. But the troll chief's words could be taken a third way. What if that third way was what the Grand Pabbie really meant? Rated K-plus. One-off.
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"Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you."
"What...?" Anna burst out. "Y-you said you did."
Hans closed the curtains and turned to face her. "As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I'd have to marry into the throne somewhere..."
"What-what are you talking about?" Anna shivered.
He snuffed out the candle with his fingertips and picked up a pitcher of water. "As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course, but no one was getting anywhere with her. But you... you were so desperate for love, you were willing to marry me, just like that!" He poured the water into the fireplace; the fire went out with a ghastly hissing and clouds of smoke. "I figured, after we married, I'd have to stage a little accident for Elsa. But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her." He chuckled at how easy it all was. "All that's left now is to kill Elsa and bring back summer."
He glanced at her, surprised that she hadn't said anything during his monologue. He was expecting to see her shivering and slumping in the couch, getting weaker and turning whiter with each passing second. He saw something else entirely. She had risen from the couch, wobbling slightly but seemingly getting stronger. Her skin was returning to its normal hue, her hair was changing from white back to red… and her face was getting even redder.
"You lied to me!" she nearly screamed. "You're using me! You're ready to let me die, just so you can wear a stupid crown! You LIED to me!"
Hans was stunned. "I thought… I thought she froze your heart!"
"The only frozen heart around here is yours!" Anna shot back. "Liar! Deceiver! There isn't a noble bone in your whole body, you coward!"
"I would not say such things if I were you," he growled.
"I'm just getting warmed up!" she exclaimed. "And my sister! What were you going to do to Elsa – kill her with your bare hands?"
"If I had to," he snarled, all pretense of civility gone. "I'd hoped that she would take herself out of the picture, but unfortunately for her, she came back. So I suppose I will have to deal with her myself. But I never killed a princess before." He drew his sword. "Maybe I need to practice first!"
Now Anna went pale. She gasped and shrank away from him; he advanced, confident and cruel. He swung at her; she jumped back, and his blade hit the iron candlestick and knocked it over with a crash. He swung again, and missed again, but not by much. "If you stop dodging me, I promise I'll be quick and merciful. I don't want you to suffer – I just want you dead." He drew his blade back for a killing thrust…
…and that was when the doors flew open. The visiting nobles from Ireland, France, Spain, and Weselton had heard the crash of the candlestick and felt like they should check on the situation. They stared in shock at the sight of the prince of the Southern Isles on the verge of murdering the princess of Arendelle.
"Uhh… would you believe she started it?" he stammered. No, they would not believe it.
The French count grabbed a sword from off the wall and, after a quick duel, compelled Hans to drop his blade and surrender. The Spanish and Irish nobles held him until the palace guard could come and take him away. Then they turned their attention to Anna.
"It is with great relief that we see you feeling better," the Irish earl exclaimed.
"True love's kiss did ze job?" the Frenchman asked.
"That did not look like true love to me," the Spaniard retorted.
"I think I found my own cure," Anna said. "Now, where's my coat? I need to find Elsa and stop this winter."
"You mean the monster?" the Duke of Weselton gasped.
"No, I mean my sister," Anna snapped, "and if you call her that name one more time, I'll have you locked in the same cell as Prince Hans!" The shocked Duke held his peace. Anna was soon dressed for foul weather and left the palace in search of her sister. She couldn't see very far in the horrific storm that Elsa had created, so she went downwind, figuring that's the way Elsa would most likely have gone. After a few minutes, she thought she saw someone ahead of her.
"Elsa!" she shouted. "Please wait!"
"No! Stay back!" Elsa cried. "Just let me go! I don't want to hurt you again!"
"You can't hurt me again!" Anna called as she got close enough to see her sister's face. "Your power took its best shot at me, and I fought it off. There's nothing else you can do to me. I think I'm safe from you now."
Elsa stopped running and stared at her sister. "You're... you're all right?"
"I've never been better! See? Even that white streak in my hair is gone!" Elsa stared; Anna was right. She didn't move as her sister slowly closed the distance between them, until Anna was close enough to take Elsa's hands.
"Elsa, all I ever wanted was to love you like a sister. Accidents happen, but I forgive you. Please don't be afraid anymore." Elsa stared into her sister's loving eyes for a few seconds. She looked at her hands, then in Anna's eyes again. Then she flung her arms around her sister and they embraced tightly. They held that pose for nearly a minute. When they finally opened their eyes, they were both surprised to see that the storm had faded and the snowfall had tapered away to nearly nothing. They also saw that Kristoff, Sven and Olaf had joined them, but the sisters' attention was on the change in the weather.
Anna held out her hand to catch one of the few remaining snowflakes. "Did you do that?" she wondered.
"No... I think we did that," Elsa stammered. "By myself, all I could do was make things worse. Maybe... maybe love is the answer." She gazed into Anna's eyes again, and raised her hands. The snow began to rise along with them. "Yes! That's it!" Elsa exclaimed. She looked all around her and let her power flow. It was as though she was using Anna's love as a magnifier. Clouds of snowflakes flew upwards; the ice began to crack and break up; the temperature rose noticeably. They all found safety on a ship that rose up from the bottom of the fjord, and stared, open-mouthed, as Elsa undid everything that her earlier panic had done.
At last, all the snow and ice were gone, and Arendelle looked like it was supposed to look in summer. Olaf turned to Anna. "But where's your prince? Where's the guy who kissed you and made you all better?"
"Don't talk to me about princes for a while," Anna replied heatedly. "He lied to me! He was just using me so he could become the King of Arendelle! And when I think of what he wanted to do to my sister... grrr!" She clenched her fists and turned a bit red, which wasn't very becoming.
"Then how did you get better?" Kristoff asked, confused. "I thought you needed an act of true love."
"I think he made me so angry, I thawed my own heart," Anna scowled. "I'm getting hot under the collar all over again, just thinking about it! He said he loved me... he asked me to marry him... and it was all just an act!"
"That's it!" Olaf shouted, lifting his head up with his hands. "He was acting! An 'act' of true love will thaw a frozen heart!"
"I guess that makes sense, in a weird sort of a way," Kristoff nodded. "If it's true, then I'm glad he didn't really love you, or you'd still be freezing from the inside out."
"I'm glad too," Anna smiled, "because I learned a few things from him about what love isn't. Maybe now, I can find out what it is." She took Kristoff's hand and turned to face Elsa. "Your Majesty, may we have your royal permission to... to..."
"To get to know each other?" Kristoff finished her sentence.
Elsa had begun to tense up, but now she relaxed and smiled. "You may," she nodded. "You aren't planning to get married this week, are you?"
"No!" they both burst out. "We're not ready for that yet," Kristoff added.
"We'd have to pretend we were ready," Anna concluded, "and one 'act' of true love is enough for me, thank you very much!" It wasn't that funny, but they all laughed. They needed it.
The End