AN: I know the troll theory has probably been done before and passed around a few times, but I wanted to do a take on it as well. The trolls' powers were never explained well, so I'm running with it. Their powers can only work within a distance (I'm assuming they are "the trolls of Arendelle") and once a person that has been put under a spell by them leaves the country, the spell breaks. So when Hans leaves Arendelle, he realizes what he's done but doesn't understand why.

"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Blank Spaces in Our Tragedy

I.

"We are now leaving Arendelle territory."

Hearing the guard speak nonchalantly yet fairly loudly, Hans slowly opened his eyes to stare at the small ceiling of his little ten-by-ten prison. He had been dreaming. Dreaming about sitting on a high throne, a polished gold crown resting on his head, and no one standing in the way of his reign over Arendelle.

Waking up in a hard cot with nothing more than a piss bucket beside him was a hard and bitter pill to swallow. And dreaming about how he was so close—if only he had acted five seconds sooner—only made him snare. His fists clenched behind his head and he slammed his boot against the wall.

How did Anna even get there? She was seconds away from death in the room I left her in, so how did she manage to get all the way out on the fjord?

Hans closed his eyes again as he tried to piece everything together. If he knew Anna would be that determined, he would have just kissed her and watched true love's kiss fail. She may have been even more heartbroken after that which would have sped up her death.

"We are now clear of Arendelle."

Why was the guard telling him this? Like he cared where he was anymore. By now, all the surrounding kingdoms probably knew him as the one that tried to kill Queen Elsa of Arendelle.

And, of course, he was also known as the one that fooled Princess Anna. He was left with a sore jaw to remind him of that one. Thinking of it, he touched the left side of his face. Who knew such a small girl could pack such a punch.

He smirked despite himself. He had grown up with his brothers always pushing him around (and there were times it got pretty brutal) and he always wondered what he did to deserve such treatment from his family members. It wasn't until he was well into his teenage years that he was able to start winning fights. But by then, all his brothers were out of the physical aggression stage and threw the power of words at him instead.

"The only frozen heart around here is yours."

Hans narrowed his eyes as Anna's last words to him rang through his memory. He had that one coming; yet he found himself questioning why.

Why was his heart frozen? Was it his heart or…something else?

"…but lucky you, it's just me."

"Just…you?"

His heart began pounding against his chest as he remembered the first time meeting her. She was so happy and full of life and quirky and not at all what he would have expected from a princess who was out walking around among the town's people. There was a freshness about her, a kindred spirit within her that reminded him of what he always wanted in a companion but never had.

"Say goodbye to the pain of the past. We don't have to feel it anymore."

Hans sat up on his cot. What was going on? Why was he thinking about this stuff again? This stuff that…meant nothing to him? It was supposed to be a lie. His words to her only mirrored her own obvious feelings toward him and there was no truth in them.

Right?

"Princess Anna is in trouble. I need volunteers to go with me to find her!"

The panic and horror he felt in that moment washed over him. Her horse was rattled which could only mean that Anna needed his help and the regret of having not gone with her to the mountains punched and weakened his frightened heart.

But then…

Then Anna was cold and desperate in his arms, and—

He covered his face with his hands, his palms pressing heavily into his eyes to try to block out the monster he became during her moment of weakness.

"Oh Anna…if only there was someone out there who loved you."

His heart tightened.

"Y-you said you did…"

He gritted his teeth. I did. I do…

He groaned lowly and slid off the cot to his knees.

What the…what the hell?!

"Sir, are you getting sea sick?" The guard asked but the voice was distant and practically nonexistent.

Everything he did to Anna after that—the lies he told about their marriage vows…the blame he laid at Elsa's feet—how did that happen? What was I thinking?!

He couldn't even begin explaining his actions to himself and it made his stomach clench. His very being seemed so set on killing the princess and the queen and ruling Arendelle as his own, so why was he all of a sudden regretting it? Was that his true intension all along?

"Okay, can I just say something crazy?" Her eyes, so full of joy and relief at finding him.

"You'll never get away with this!" Her eyes, so full of anger and betrayal at discovering the real him.

"No…that's not me…" Hans hissed between grinding teeth, but just when he felt like he was gaining control of himself again, his body lurched forward as he emptied his stomach into the corner of the cell, Anna's despondent eyes seared in his brain.

6 months later

"Wow, can you believe it?" Anna held up her left hand as she laid in Elsa's bed, the ring on her finger catching the low light of the room when she turned her hand the right way, "I'm engaged…for real this time!"

Elsa watched her sister's reflection from her mirror. She was sitting at her vanity busily taking out the clips in her hair, "I'm happy for you, Anna."

Anna pushed herself up on her elbows, "I'm happy you're happy. Because seriously, I didn't know what I was going to do if you didn't give me your blessing this time."

"How couldn't I?" Elsa joked softly, "You've been all over each other for months."

Anna tried biting her lip to keep herself from grinning like a mad woman, "It's just that…he's not a prince, you know? At first I thought you would—."

"A title does not reflect a person's self-worth," Elsa interrupted, "You should know that better than anyone."

"Right…" Anna looked down at her nightgown before dropping her elbows so her back was flush against the cool sheets. Talking to Elsa about what happened on Coronation Day was still a little touchy, mostly because it was her actions and mistakes that caused the whole fiasco to happen in the first place.

"Anna," Elsa stood from her stool and walked over to her bed, "Kristoff is a great guy. A little strange and awkward, but—," the two sisters smirked at each other over her choice of words, "at least he's not crazy."

Anna folded in her lips, the words "but I love crazy" resting on her tongue, ready to slip out without a moment's thought. But she caught herself. Thankfully.

Elsa had told her before that she was thankful Anna found Kristoff and was able to move on so quickly after what Hans did to her. Anna felt the same. The transition was smooth, almost overlapping even. Her adventure with Kristoff made her like him almost right away. Sure, he was a bit obnoxious at first, and it couldn't be described as love at first sight like it was with—

But as Socrates once said: "The hottest love has the coldest ending." And boy, did her and Hans' love end coldly. His sudden change of character still made her mind spin when she thought about that day. What if she didn't find out about him until after they were married? Or worse, what if she never found out about who he truly was and she just went right on loving who she thought he was?

Wait…would that be worse?

"Anna."

Blinking, Anna looked over to see Elsa standing beside her bed with an empathetic gleam in her eyes. Anna rolled across the bed to the other side before standing up, "I think I'm gonna have Kristoff take me to see the trolls in the morning so we can tell them the good news. They've been waiting for us to get engaged since…since forever."

Elsa's eyes relaxed, "Yes, well…hopefully they don't marry you two before I can give you a proper wedding."

"Ah, don't worry about that,' Anna dismissed with a wave of her hand, "If they do, I'll make sure not to tell you so you don't feel bad."

The older sister frowned, "You're cruel sometimes."

Anna giggled before prancing around the bed, swinging herself into Elsa's arms for a hug, "Yeah, but you love me."

Laughing as well, Elsa embraced her younger sister like she'd done nearly every night since she finally let Anna in, "That I do."

Anna soon left Elsa to head to her own room. Walking down the dark and empty hallway caused her to look at her ring finger again though the diamond wasn't catching any light to sparkle. She swung her arms dramatically back and forth as she glanced at all the paintings on the walls.

Kristoff was probably in the barn with Sven and she considered going out there to talk with him about visiting his family in the morning but decided against it in the end. She was feeling too weird (more than usual) and didn't want him noticing and questioning it when she herself had no idea why she felt so off.

The trolls will cheer me up. She thought as she walked into her bedroom. They'll probably sing a song, dress me up in grass and flowers, and brag about how they knew we loved each other all along.

She flopped down on her bed face first. She kind of wished she could convince Elsa to come along to see the trolls. That way, the trolls could marry them and Elsa would be there to see it. It seemed more ideal than waiting another month for the big wedding.

Not that a big wedding didn't appeal to her. She was that little girl that always dreamed big and her dream wedding was not excluded. She knew she shouldn't be so impatient. Spending some time as an engaged couple should be just as exciting.

Maybe she was just too excited to start a family. She wanted lots of (well, maybe five or six) kids that she could run around and be silly with. And she would make sure all their doors stayed open. No one child would ever feel left out. And though she wasn't sure if Elsa's powers would be passed down to any of her children, Anna was positive that they would be able to get through it, especially now that everyone accepted Elsa for who she was.

She might ask the trolls about it though.

She turned her head to stare at her ring again. It was her first night as an engaged woman and the idea still seemed so far out of reach for her to grasp.

"Anna Bjorgman." She said it aloud to see how it filled the air. She crinkled her nose as she smiled against the sheets. It sounded like the name of character in a fictional book. A character that owned a flower or book shop. Maybe both.

Books smell good. Flowers do, too.

Then she parted her lips again, a small breath of air barely escaping.

"Anna…Westerguard."

She squeezed her eyes shut tight and blocked the name from her mind. It was foolish and stupid of her to even wonder about it.

"Anna Bjorgman," she said again, "Anna Bjorgman." She rolled onto her back, "Hello! Nice to meet you, I'm Princess Anna Bjorgman and—," she scrunched her mouth to one side, "Hello! I'm Princess Anna and this is my husband, Prince Kristoff."

She burst out laughing at herself, "Prince Kristoff…" She suddenly imagined him with a crooked crown on his head and a goofy smile on his face as he posed for a portrait.

"He'll get used to it…" Anna told herself with a smile, her eyes closing when good thoughts finally entered her mind, "I should start teaching him how to dance."

Maybe the trolls could help, too.