They Will Walk Through The Fire-Anna &Elsa's Song
(With apologies to Joss Whedon)
Elsa:
I touch the fire and it freezes me
I look into it and it's black
Why can't I feel?
My skin should crack and peel
I want the fire back
And one by one, they turned from me
I guess my friends can't face the cold
But why I froze, not one among them knows
And never can be told
So, I will walk through the fire
Cause where else can I turn?
I will walk through the fire
And let it—
Elsa had been a happy child -warm, loving, playful. She delighted in using her magic to entertain her baby sister. The joy in Anna's eyes whenever Elsa made snow in the throne room for them to play in filled her with joy, too - and pride, knowing that her gift of snow and ice made Anna so happy. Her control was delicate, precise; she could make the most exquisite little snowflakes that would dance in the air and make Anna squeal with giggles. Elsa could never resist Anna when she danced and begged, "Do the magic! Do the magic!"
Had been. Until The Accident.
Anna was an exuberant child, with only one speed: full on. She was five years old, for heaven's sake! No one expects a five year old to understand restraint. So she jumped from snow pile to snow pile, faster and higher. Elsa couldn't keep up, and when Anna leapt off the highest snow pile, headed for a bruising fall to the floor, Elsa tried to cushion that fall with her magic. But Elsa was only eight, and slipped, and hit Anna in the head with a bolt of magic, knocking her unconscious. Suddenly, instead of joy, there was fear - fear that she had seriously injured, or even killed, her baby sister.
Their parents carried them to the trolls, who could help. The eldest troll had cured Anna, but the cure wiped any knowledge of Elsa's powers from Anna's memories. And their parents decided that the only way to maintain that innocence was to separate the two sisters. In retrospect, this was a terrible decision, even though it was driven by love and concern for their children.
Elsa, who had been playful and loving, became fearful and reserved. Burdened by guilt, she became overly focused on being responsible and serious. Her powers became a source of anxiety and isolation. She withdrew from everyone, even her parents, afraid that she would hurt them just by touching them. Every time she heard Anna outside her door, asking her to come out and play, it was like a knife twisted in her gut, driving her deeper into her feelings of revulsion for her magic.
Her father tried to help her control her magic, with the motto "Conceal it; don't feel it. Don't let it show," and using gloves to keep her hands from accidently creating ice or snow. Unfortunately, Elsa shortened this to "Conceal, don't feel," and drove herself to hide any feelings she had. She felt that the only way to avoid hurting people with her magic was to tightly lock down any emotion, good or bad. Like a spring wound tighter and tighter, Elsa became dangerously close to the edge of a break down should any event penetrate her self-imposed emotional shields.
When her parents were lost in a storm at sea, Elsa was devastated. If ever there was a reason to reconnect with her sister, this should have been it. Sadly, the event caused Elsa to lose control of her powers, icing over her room completely. She didn't dare join her sister for her parents' memorial service. When Anna returned to the castle, and begged Elsa to let her in, as they only had each other, it was just another dagger into Elsa's soul. The grief of the two girls was a perfect mirror, as each of them longed for the other. But Elsa couldn't reach out to Anna. And Anna could never know why her sister refused to be there for her. She could never be told that Elsa had isolated herself out of fear; fear of hurting Anna; fear of hurting anyone. Fear of her own magic.
Anna:
Now, through the storm she calls to me
To make my way across the flame
To save the day or maybe melt away
I guess it's all the same
Will this do a thing to change her?
Am I leaving her in danger?
Is my sister too far gone to care?
I'll see it through
It's what I'm always here to do
Cause I am drawn to the fire
Some people never learn
And I will walk through the fire
And let it—
Anna had been confused and hurt when her sister was taken from her. She didn't know why Elsa wouldn't play with her any more. With the death of their parents, and Elsa's refusal to even share her grief at the memorial service, the hurt became saturated with anger. It was this anger that had finally caused an outburst of furious challenges to Elsa at her coronation ball, when Elsa refused to bless a marriage to a man Anna had just met that day. It was this outburst that completely broke Elsa's emotionless pretense, causing her to lose control of her ice magic in front of the crowd of guests and dignitaries, and then in front of the people of Arendelle. Ashamed and frightened, Elsa fled the castle, seeking refuge in the mountains, unwittingly creating a howling winter in July that would destroy Arendelle if not checked.
Stunned by Elsa's display, Anna was determined to find her and bring her back. NOW she knew why Elsa had been avoiding her all these years! It was because she was concealing the fact that she could do ice magic. Anna had a naive faith that if she could only find Elsa, and talk to her, they could go back to the way it had been when they were so close as children. And that Elsa would be able to bring back summer and thaw out the kingdom before it was too late.
Of course, Anna was still missing a key piece of information. She did not realize that Elsa was concealing her power because it was dangerous. She thought it was simply embarrassment, or a concern that people would not accept her as queen if they knew about the magic that caused her to hide it. Anna still did not know that Elsa had once almost killed her, and was still terrified of killing Anna, or anyone else, in another moment of carelessness.
Anna was nothing if not courageous. She would do whatever was necessary to find Elsa. And when she found her, she would call her back to save Arendelle.
But it was not to be. When she confronted Elsa in her magnificent Ice Palace, the encounter did not go well. Elsa refused to return with Anna, even when she was told about the winter disaster she had created. Pressing her, Anna triggered the very event that Elsa had been trying to avoid all those years: a blast of magic to Anna's heart. A blast of magic that would kill Anna if the ice shard it created was not removed from her heart - an ice shard that would freeze her into solid ice, forever.
Unfortunately hearts are not as easily mended as heads. The only thing that would thaw a frozen heart was an act of true love.
Both:
These endless days
Are finally ending in a blaze
And we are caught in the fire
At the point of no return
So we will walk through the fire
And let it
Burn
Let it burn
Let it burn!
LET IT BURN!
So the tale of two sisters reached its climax after all those endless days and years. Both of them thought they knew how to resolve the situation. Both of them were very wrong.
Anna believed that her rescue from an icy death was a kiss from her true love, Hans. She was stunned when he told her that he did not love her, and only courted her to steal Elsa's throne. Left to die, she cursed herself for an oblivious fool. Then, Olaf appeared. Olaf, a living snowman that Elsa had created. Created when she had gone to the mountains and let go her inhibitions about her magic. Created as she (subconsciously?) remembered the happier days when she and Anna had built a snowman in the throne room, before the terrible accident that had separated the sisters for so many years. Olaf, a living embodiment of the love the two women still felt for each other. With Olaf's help, Anna went out into the howling storm, looking for Kristoff, who she now realized DID love her, because he had put Anna's needs ahead of his own. Kristoff's kiss would thaw her frozen heart.
Elsa believed that her only way to save Arendelle was to run away - that removing herself, and her dangerous emotions, would remove the threat. She did not know that she had caused an injury to Anna that would kill her. Elsa ran onto the fjord, trying to get away again, and take the storm with her. Unfortunately, the storm she carried within her was so strong that its reflection in the storm on the fjord overwhelmed even her. Lost and disoriented, she was found by Hans, who Anna had wanted to marry. His betrayal of her sister was unknown to her. Trying to get away, she told him to take care of her sister and keep her safe. But he devastated Elsa when he told her that Anna was dead, because of her, frozen into ice by Elsa's magic. Finally at the point of no return, Elsa fell to her knees and waited for Hans to kill her, indifferent to death, no, actually welcoming the release it would bring from the pain and guilt and fear she could no longer endure.
As Hans raises his sword to end Elsa's life, Anna sees them. She looks across the ice to Kristoff; her hope of saving her life with his kiss is within reach. But Elsa will die. As Kristoff looks on in disbelief, Anna turns away from him and runs to put herself between her beloved sister and Hans' sword. She freezes solid at that moment, and the sword shatters on her upraised hand.
Elsa looks up, shocked and horrified to see Anna's icy countenance. Grief-stricken beyond any hope, she hugs her sister and weeps inconsolably.
But Anna has performed an act of true love with the sacrifice of her life for Elsa's - an act that saves her own life as well as Elsa's. Her heart thaws, and her body melts back into the warmth of living flesh. Elsa feels the fire of Anna's love, and the two sisters embrace, joyfully reunited at last. Love will thaw, indeed. They had walked through the fire, and emerged with their love renewed, never to be separated again.