Translator's Note:
I OWE NOTHING OF THIS STORY, IT WAS NOT WRITTEN BY ME.
This story belongs to Ranyare, an Italian FanFiction writer who published this story of EFP and asked me to translate it in English and publish it here.
Unfortunately I can't give the links to her profile and page here, but I will put them up on my DeviantArt account and on my Tumbelog. You will find all the links to those in my profile!
Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.
The way her powers worked held no secrets for her anymore: all the time she had spent in that magic jar first and then in Storybrooke had given her the opportunity to study and analyze it to its very core. Finally, after all the years she had wasted trying to suppress that special part of herself, she was sure that she had all the knowledge and understanding that she needed to live peacefully with the ice. And she knew that the ice was never going to betray her.
Exactly the opposite of what had happened to Ingrid.
Power, loneliness and madness had prayed upon her aunt, her mother's sister: nobody had ever showed her the kindness to accept her for who she was, nobody had ever given her the chance to break free from the fear of being called "monster", "witch"… nobody had ever loved her enough.
Elsa smiled, feeling her own heart swell with sadness and compassion for that woman who had never found her place, unable to accept her own sisters' and kingdom's support.
On the contrary, she had a home: its name was Anna.
Suddenly doubt and fear seized her heart once more, even though she had thought her decision over and over again: what if what she had in mind endangered Anna? What if an act that she deemed generous and sympathetic lead to a lethal outcome? After all, so many people would have considered entirely insane what she was going to do…
She inhaled and exhaled deeply, shooing away for good the cold terror that threatened to make her backtrack: she was doing the right thing and she wasn't about to change her mind, in spite of all her fears.
She raised her hands and untangled her fingers – she hadn't realized she had clenched her fists during the brief carriage ride that had taken her to that isolated cave she had discovered long ago with Kristoff. In front of her stood the proof of the horrible deed that had been done: a patch of ice that held captive what could have been mistaken for a weird ice statue.
Only it was not a statue.
Elsa fixed her deep blue eyes on the cold, familiar surface of the sculpture: as a daughter of snow and ice, she was able to recognize a faint sparkle of life in those big frozen eyes, which she remembered as green as the sly skin of a viper. They were eyes that had tried to break her, more than once.
But now all she was able to see was pain, excruciating pain trapped in those frozen eyelids – the pain of a soul who was never given the chance to be good.
She forced herself to breathe in and out once more, retrieving the calmness and the determination she had steeled herself with once she had made up her mind. She caressed the clear, smooth surface of the ice that held the body and the life of Prince Hans Westergård of the Southern Isles in its firm grasp.
At her soft touch Ingrid's ice quickly began to retreat from the Prince's flesh, releasing its hold on his hair and his shoulders, wrapped in the jacket he worn the day he had tried to take the life of the Queen of Arendelle…
No. She couldn't let such thoughts roam freely across that mind, not in that moment. She couldn't let fear destroy her determination.
Elsa observed calmly his stiff muscles tremble, retrieving the warmth that had been taken away from them for so long. His whole body shook violently and Hans closed his eyes briefly and gave into an unpleasant moment of weakness that would have forced anyone down to his knees… but, clearly, he wasn't anyone.
Ignoring the fear and the tension that coiled within her, Elsa admitted to herself that he was quite resilient: refusing to bow, even out of pain, he stood quiet and endured the pain. Nothing but a quick grimace revealed how much he was suffering. He quickly composed himself and put his mask of confidence back on as he turned slowly – hesitantly – towards Elsa.
«I'm alive.» he stated simply, his voice deep and fatigued, staring at her so insistently he made her even more uncomfortable that she already was – wait, was it fury what glowed in those green depths?
«Yes.» she nodded slightly.
Hans gritted his teeth, finally showing something other than his desperate need to keep control: fury.
So she had got that one right.
«You…» he looked just about ready to be overthrown by surprise.
Elsa watched him as he strived not to stutter, not to drown as the knowledge that he had been freed from the woman that he had tried to kill twice – it had to be terrible for him –washed over him.
She gave him time to regain control over himself, to swallow the mad, cold wrath that had enveloped him as soon as he had grasped the sticky situation he suddenly found himself into.
«Who was she? The woman who froze me?» the Prince eventually asked as he composed himself.
«My aunt.»
He didn't react to that: his self-control was truly remarkable.
«Why have you thawed me?» he asked a split-second after her answer.
Elsa, who had already understood how men like him reasoned, saw right through his attempt to make her nervous by pressing her with questions, desperately trying to gain some kind of advantage over her – since he had none, and they both knew it. She fought back a smile and sighed as she answered.
«I have been somewhere very far from here for some time.» she explained, as poised as she always was, trying not to laugh at his stubbornness: he had nothing to fear from her… and that scared him. «I have learned many things.» she added in reply to his skeptical look.
«And you have learned to thaw the man who has tried to murder you?» he remarked sourly. «It doesn't sound like a smart thing to bother learning, Queen Elsa.»
She didn't miss his choice to address her formally, just like she didn't miss the surprise he could not conceal: he was clearly wondering if she had lost her mind or, more likely, what she could have been plotting against him…
She decided not to snap back, since it would have caused more problems rather than solving some – but she did feel the urge to aim an icy blast at his butt!
«I have learned that evil is not born, Prince Hans, but made.» she went on staring at him in order to pick up any sign of confusion, anger or fear that could have flashed through his eyes. «I have learned that someone's cruelty has its reasons.» something trembled uncomfortably in those green depths. «And I have learned to recognize my own despair into the eyes of others.»
He understood: Elsa saw it the very moment she distinguished an angry, startled expression crossing his features… but that was a mere moment: the Prince quickly hid behind his gentle mask once more, making himself as cold and impenetrable as any ice sculpture she could have summoned.
«This is all very interesting, Queen Elsa, but I cannot see how_»
«I have recognized it in you.» she interrupted his clever blabbering right from the start. «I have seen the way you looked at your brothers. I have seen them run and leave you behind without even trying to protect you nor looking back.» she went on, knowing that only such bluntness could get her point across: and she saw something crack in his façade – though only for a moment: even instants were crucial when dealing with him. She caught the quick, elusive glimpse of the devastated man who had confronted her years before.
«Not all of us are lucky enough to have relatives like Anna.» he growled quietly, sounding like a beast who refused to give up even when wounded to death: he kept his fists closed, his brows knitted; his lips were so tight they were turning white. He was furious, and Elsa knew it perfectly.
«Precisely.» she nodded, then took the time to watch him for a moment before adding: «I have thawed you because I decided to offer you a second chance.»
A silent disbelief followed her words – words that anyone else would have considered foolish: who in the world would have given a second chance to him? His expression clearly showed that he was asking himself the same question but could find no answer: he was at a loss for words for the first time ever since they met.
«What for? So that I can try to kill you and overthrow you again, Queen Elsa?» he breathed after a full minute of startled silence, staring at her with aguish and surprise.
Annoyed, Elsa waved her hand to cut him off.
«Enough.» she reproached him, hoping to bother him with her air of superiority. «I want to believe you were not born with the thirst for innocents' blood. I want to believe that the kind man who took care of my dear Arendelle when it was needed still exists under all those layers of despair.» she explained, maybe more to remind herself of the reasons that had taken there alone at night rather than to allow him to understand he had been given an opportunity he didn't really feel like accepting.
Almost confirming her impressions, Hans crossed his arms and stared at her skeptically.
«You are being optimistic.» he remarked as he arched an eyebrow.
Elsa nodded. «I can make you do whatever I want. Your brothers won't come looking for someone they believe dead so, from now on, you belong to Arendelle… and to me.» she stated as she straightened her back and showed off her best snobby expression.
Yet… why was she acting like that? She didn't need to play the evil queen to scare him, he knew what she was capable of.
For a moment Hans seemed to be falling for her trick: did she really mean to free him just to abuse him and punish him as much as she wanted? What if…
Then, unable to help himself, the Prince curved his lips into a slight smile – immediately mirrored by Elsa's as soon as she understood that her little game of play pretend had been unveiled.
She would have never done something so cruel. She was better than that… she was better than him.
«You are free.» she promised him as she caressed absentmindedly the braid on her shoulder. «To leave, should you so desire, and I will make sure that you shall have whatever you need to lead a decent life. But you are free to stay as well: Arendelle would become your new home.»
«Nobody will want the man who tried to kill their Queen as a neighbor.» he objected sourly, dropping his gaze for a moment.
The Queen of Arendelle and of the Ice and Snow smiled kindly.
«Nobody should have wanted the woman who had covered her own kingdom in eternal ice as Queen either.» she murmured softly, not expecting to see a surprised expression on his face when he looked at her as she spoke. «People can forgive. Arendelle forgave me, and it might be able to forgive you as well.»
The Prince closed his hands into fists and drew a long breath that Elsa saw as an attempt to calm down as she destroyed, one by one, all the objections he was coming up with.
«I do not think that Anna will be pleased with your decision.»
That was his last resort: believing that the shadow of the hatred that, according to his blind vision, Anna had to feel towards him was his best chance to keep Elsa from helping him, from showing him the compassion he had never had, nor believed he deserved and that – heavens' sake! – he didn't even want.
«Actually… she is.»
Flashback
«You wanna thaw Hans?!»
Anna's bewildered expression is exactly what Elsa had anticipated when she had come up with that plan. The Queen nods, keeping her usual poised demeanor even if she can feel her heart racing.
«He's tried to kill you! Twice!» Anna remarks, entirely taken by surprise by that utter lack of judgement that is so unlike Elsa.
The blond woman sighs patiently.
«Anna…» she whispers as she reaches for her sister's hand. «If there is one thing I've learned in Storybrooke is that everyone deserves the chance to do the right thing.»
Anna shakes her head but – much to Elsa's relief – she doesn't recoil from her sister's touch.
«But he's mad! He'll try to kill you again! I don't want him to hurt you, Elsa!» she exclaims, twisting her lips into a threatening snarl that makes her sister laugh the way only Anna can make her laugh.
«I don't want him to hurt you nor anyone either.» she explains after regaining her composure. «It's just that… it could have been me, Anna. I have seen his brothers turn their back on him and leave him there to die without even a hint of hesitation.»
They both shudder in disbelief at those words: none of them can understand such a thing.
«He looked so… desperate, Anna.» she breathes weakly, her voice muffled from the compassion that such memory stirred within her. «If I hadn't had you… that could have been me. I could have become that monster everyone was so afraid of.»
Anna keeps quiet for a while after that, watching her as she thinks things over.
«Do you really believe there is any good left in him? That he can change?»
«I want to find out.»
One last silence follows her statement and it's broken just a couple of minutes later by Anna's laughter as she jumps to her feet and throws her hands up in the air, excited for the new adventure that awaits her.
«Alright then, let's go unfreeze Hans!»
End of flashback
«It seems I have… underestimated Anna.» Hans admits, trying to control the wavering of his voice. «Just as I have underestimated you.» he adds, articulating every word slowly, as if it admitting such things was costing him greatly. «With your permission, Your Majesty… I would like to stay in Arendelle.» he went on as he removed his gloves and stored them into a pocket of his jacket. His actions were slow, careful, as if thinking about every movement he made helped him keep calm. «I would like to see, I would like to… understand.»
He growled that last word. Elsa didn't pry. She nodded instead and clapped her hands together.
«Very well. You will be escorted everywhere by the commander of my own personal guard. His name is Torbjörn.» she told him as she invited him to follow her on the rocky path that would have lead them back to Arendelle.
«You want to keep me from hurting your sister.» he guessed, almost running after her on stiff legs not to lose sight of her as she swiftly – incredibly swiftly, considering she was walking on a mountain trails in heels – lead him out of the cave, where the majestic, stunning royal carriage was waiting for them. It was guarded by a tall, muscular man who was probably that Torbjörn she had just mentioned.
«Torbjörn is a very smart man, a valiant soldier and a most faithful and loyal subject.» she said before bowing gracefully towards the guard as she reached him and thanking him again when he helped her climb on the carriage.
Hans followed her and exchanged a hostile glance with the blond, incredibly tall man – anyone would have felt uncomfortable around that guy!
«He attends to all the reunions of Arendelle's Council, the meetings with foreign ambassadors, the hearings and all to the other public events that Anna and I have take part to.» Elsa went on, chiming happily as she gestured to seat in front of her.
She smiled openly – and he could have sworn she had just blinked – and he suddenly realized that the woman in front of him was not the terrified young Queen he had met on her coronation day so long ago: she believed in herself now, she was happy and strong… and beautiful.
«If you truly want to understand, Prince Hans, you'll have to spend quite some time with us.» she concluded.
A thick silence fell as the carriage began to climb up the bumpy road. Elsa seemed calm, at ease, as distant and glowing as the sky that almost shone with beauty as it mirrored itself in the waters of the rivers and the sea that surrounded fair Arendelle.
«Queen Elsa… I…» whispered the young Prince at last, feeling uncomfortable in front of the beauty of that woman who was showing him – not even for the first time, actually – just how kind and generous and pure the soul of the Snow Queen was.
He would have never been able to voice the words that he had in mind and that were stuck right in his throat… but Elsa knew so very well. She had proven she understood him better than anyone else and therefore she had also understood that expecting even a simple "thank you" would have been expecting too much.
«Could I call you just Elsa?» he asked in the end, unclenching his hands as he relaxed in his seat.
Elsa smiled. «Only if I can call you just Hans.»
Hans flashed her that charming grin that had captivated so many girls but that drew nothing but an amused smile from the Queen in front of him.
«Very well… Elsa.»
She looked away, satisfied, turning her gaze towards the blue sky, her eyes sparkling with hope.
«Welcome to Arendelle, Hans.»
Author's Note:
Hello, everyone!
This is the first time I post something in the Frozen fandom… and I do believe it'll be the first of few if not the only one because, to me, it's really hard. I mean, I love the movie and everything that revolves around it and I love Once Upon A Time (my one true TV series… right after Merlin, which was my love at first streaming). So, when Frozen and OUAT merged in the fourth season I started squealing – actually, I started squealing right after the third season finale…
Seeing Hans frozen to death split my heart in two. Really.
Seeing him striving to look better at his brothers' eyes (brothers who had abused him all their lives), seeing him freezing and above all seeing the brother flee without even try to stand up for him… it was so heartbreaking. Hans is my favorite character from Frozen: he's cunning, he's complicated, he's ambiguous. He shows perfectly how the line between good and bad isn't that clear after all.
And I'm a Helsa shipper. Like, a big one. Like, one of those who link and almost advertise their favorite FanFictions to bring everyone on the Helsa ship. And I'm as cunning as Hans. But I would definitely make sure that my targets were actually dead before moving on.
So, I set my FF in a future in which Elsa and Anna have found themselves in Storybrooke, have taken care of Ingrid [the Dairy Queen] and have returned to Arendelle (by the way, what the hell happened to Arendelle while they were gone?! Guesses, anyone?). They start discussing the "Hans problem" since they have him lying around as a popsicle thanks to their lovely aunt. (by the way, I'm writing this BEFORE we find out what actually happened on the series, so please forgive any contradictions).
Elsa, who is one of the best characters Disney ever created when talking about psychological background, is very kind and she knows what being utterly alone means. Her choice to free Hans is hers and she will take full responsibility.
Oh, by the way, do note that she went to him alone, without her faithful commander (whose names means "son of Thor") because… well, she can take care of herself, can't she? I picture her finally in control of herself, of her anxiety and of her powers. She's all grown up, to put it shortly, and she can stand up for herself.
Anna does support her: she trusts Elsa and… well, she's Anna! She believes in those who surround her and she always shows that selflessness that makes me love her more every time. [LET'S GO UNFREEZE HANS!]
Last but not least: the title is terribly long, I know. It's a quote of Anthony Burgess that I found on the internet and I liked it too much to shorten it.
Aaaaaand that's it. I hope you like the story more than our dear Prince Hans [who is a total bitch and can't stand having to be grateful to Elsa, and that my dear ones is the perfect background for me to ship them MORE].
So do leave a comment of appreciation – or of insults, if you disliked this story so much XD
B.