The Sunset
A/N: AU. I've always wondered what would have happened if Anna didn't make it in time to save Elsa, so here's my take on it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen.
'You must learn to control it, Elsa!'
'What did I ever do to you?!'
'Fear will be your enemy.'
'The gloves will help.'
'M-Monster! Witchcraft! Sorcery!'
'Remember, Elsa. Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show.'
'Elsa! Do you wanna build a snooowman?'
Elsa isn't able control her thoughts. Her memories are all tangled together and they overrun her mind. They come in swarm after swarm and they threaten to tear her apart from the inside. They are sharp and jagged, and it hurts to remember all this.
She's lost track of how long she's been stuck in this storm and she continues to stumble through, trying in vain to find her way through the harsh winds.
She freezes as a dark shape begins to lumber towards her through the white. Her breath catches in her throat as her feet automatically begin to move backwards, but they stop once a familiar voice calls out to her.
"Elsa!" Hans struggles to get closer, his arm raised against the vicious winds. "You can't run away from this!"
You can't run. But it's what she's been doing her whole life. Running away. And she's good at it.
Elsa squeezes her eyes shut, she knows it's time that she stopped running away. But today she can't. Especially not today.
"I can't stay here! So just...please...take care of my sister!" She begs him, her voice catching at the end.
"Your sister?" Hans sounds incredulous. "She returned from the mountain, weak and cold, she told me that you had frozen her heart!"
Elsa stops breathing. She can feel her pulse rapidly increasing. What little control she has left, is fading fast.
She needs to get away. Now. Before she causes anymore damage.
She gasps. "N-No...that's enough! Stop!" Anymore, and she is going to shatter.
Hans continues to plow right through, "Her skin was ice!"
"Stop!" She shouts, putting both her hands over her ears. The storm grows louder, and the snowflakes are turning into little shards of ice.
Hans lets out a shout of pain, and raises both his arms to protect himself against the fierce weather. He winces as a few shards form red marks across his face.
"Her hair turned white! She slowly froze from the inside out! Your sister is dead...because of you!" Hans angrily shouts at her over the screeching wind.
The raging weather calms within a second, and Hans drops his arms, stunned, drops of blood trickling from his scratches.
Her arms drop to her side limply. Elsa stares at him in shock. "...What?" And her voice is just barely audible. Dead?
Hans's head snaps back to look at her. His eyes boring into hers. And she thinks that there's something that looks vaguely like victory, looking back at her, but she is unsure, because it is behind a veil of anger.
"Anna...is dead."
She blinks, her breaths coming to an entire halt, the entire world slowing.
She looks down at her hands. Her hands stained with her sister's blood.
Because of you. You did this. Years and years of protecting her from you, have been a waste.
The calm disappears and the weather starts to build up again, and for the first time ever, her powers are actually beginning to harm her as well. The small bits and pieces of ice that are falling from the skies, begins to form bright red streaks on her exposed shoulders, legs and face.
"No..." Elsa stumbles backwards. No no no no no no no no no NO. She tried, she tried so hard to keep her safe. To keep Anna safe and alive.
"You killed Anna!" Hans steps closer, "This is all your fault, Elsa!" He growls viciously.
"Please…" She gasps, her chest heaving, "stop...please." She knows it's her fault. She just can't stand to hear this. Hear that it was actually her, who killed Anna.
Oh, how she wished that this was a dream. A nightmare, at the very least.
Now she has no reason to live. And the realization hits her hard. The sole reason, of her life, is gone.
And she is gone. She is crumbling, falling, breaking, ripping to pieces. She collapses on the ice, and this time, the storm that turned on her, finally falls with her.
Anna is fighting against the storm again, and with each passing second, it gets worse, the falling snow is now turning into dangerous little shards of ice.
A sudden wave of fear crashes into her. If the storm was getting worse...did that mean that something bad was happening to Elsa…?
Oh no oh no oh no.
The storm suddenly stops raging, and literally freezes instead. Each snowflake is suspended in the air, all the details suddenly visible before the naked eye.
Anna looks around in alarm, it froze now? She didn't know if that was better than before. Then she notices a lumbering shape from the other side of the fjord, racing towards her. It slips and stumbles for a second, then resumes running towards her.
"Kristoff..." She whispers, relief washing over her fear.
Anna trudges forward, willing her half frozen legs to take her faster. She is nearly there. He is getting closer. She can just feel the warmth from being in his arms once again, and that is enough to keep her going...Until the harsh sound of a sword unsheathing cuts through the air and stops her. Anna turns to look to her side...and she nearly trips from the shock.
"...Elsa?" Her voice is barely above a whisper.
Her sister is broken on the ground, paying no heed to the threat hovering behind her. She can see Elsa's shoulders shaking, and tears are falling from her face, turning to frozen droplets just before they hit the ice and shattering. Now she knows that the storm freezing, is definitely worse. Much worse.
'MOVE, ELSA!' Her mouth forms the words, but her voice is completely gone.
Could she make it in time? She turns to look at Kristoff, he is almost there...but not close enough.
She doesn't even stop to think and begins to walk as fast as she can to her sister.
Anna sees Hans grip his sword tightly and slowly approach the Queen from behind, with a malicious grin on his twisted face. She can't even remember the feeling of being in love with him anymore. What was it that she had fallen in love with in the first place?
She slips and stumbles for a mere second. FasterfasterfasterfasterfasterfasterGOFASTER Anna is too slow. Much too slow. And Elsa's magic in her is doing it's job too well. She can't feel anything.
Kristoff is too far…And Elsa is right there…But she can't make it. She knows she can't, because by the time she is almost there…scarlet stains the pure, white snow. And it seems almost foreign to Anna, because all she's seen for the entire day, is white. Unblemished, unstained, beautiful, and innocent. This new colour is too bright against the white, too sharp, and it begs for attention.
But what looks far more strange to her, is that she has just seen Hans slice her sister right across the back.
The cut is long and deep, and a deep sunset that Elsa once saw with Anna long ago, is painted on the surface of the ice. Her body jerks forward in response and there is a dazed look on her face as tears are still falling from her eyes, exploding into thousands of minuscule pieces on the ice. But strangely enough, she doesn't even feel the pain.
Then, just to be safe, Hans takes his sword and runs it straight through her without a second thought. Simply by instinct.
The tip of the sword blossoms out from Elsa's chest and this time she feels it-burning and ice cold, ripping, tearing-but holds her cries of pain back. For this is her punishment. And she will gladly take it.
She watches as her blood spills from the wound and onto the front of her dress, where it sizzles immediately from the heat of her blood, and she is relieved. So relieved because this is the blood of a monster who killed her own sister.
All of a sudden, Anna is surprised by a heart-wrenching noise tearing through the silence. It sounds ragged, so torn, and so ugly. It takes her a moment to realize that the noise is coming from her. Somehow erupting and ripping it's way out from her frozen throat.
It's that slip she thinks. It was that stumble she knows.
She ignores Hans's look of absolute surprise and continues to move towards her sister, as fast as she can possibly move, her heart shattering and pouring out from her fingertips.
Elsa is snapped out of her dazed state by the scream. The scream of absolute pain that echoed her own. And she slowly lifts her head to find Anna-Anna alive and breathing and moving-running towards her, tears streaming from her eyes. Her eyes widen in shock, disbelief and immediately fill with tears, for this can't be Anna, Anna who is dead.
Time stops. Anna sees glimpses of relief, sorrow, pain, love and thirteen years worth of apologies all flash by in her sister's eyes.
She pours it all into her eyes, hoping that at least this mirage of Anna will know how sorry she is. How sorry she is to have failed as a big sister long ago, and even now, as she dies, having failed to protect the only thing that mattered to her most.
The darkness grows and grows and the ghost of Anna's crying face is slowly swallowed up.
We only have each other…
Elsa's body slumps to the bloodied ice, all the while still graceful even in death. And not even a moment passes before Hans places a boot on her shoulder and cruelly removes his sword from the Queen's body, dying the ice around them an even darker shade of red.
It's just you and me…
Anna still hasn't gotten used to the colour.
But she's certain that she hates sunsets and princes now.
What are we gonna do?
After what seems like hours, she pushes past Hans wordlessly and reaches Elsa.
Despite her frozen body, she kneels beside her sister, ignoring the loud crack coming from her body, and cradles Elsa in her arms. She notices that her sister's body is warm. Really, really warm. And she hasn't felt warmth in a while now and she's glad that it's Elsa who provides it for her.
The ice groans beneath them, and there are cracks appearing throughout the fjord.
But before Elsa's magic leaves the world for good, it performs one last act - it begins to turn Elsa's body into ice, preserving it.
Anna stares at her sister's body, feeling the warmth rapidly leave Elsa and the cold come in creeping once again.
She closes her eyes, and kisses her sister's forehead tenderly for the first time in forever.
"We'll leave together, Elsa. You and I. You won't ever be alone again. I promise." She whispers against Elsa's brow.
Finally, her lips freeze, and all that's left are her eyes, and she watches as Elsa's body completely freezes as well.
But she's not scared anymore. She won't be alone again. They won't ever be alone. By the time they meet again, death will just be a memory, and their pain and tears will be no more.
A final tear drops from her eyes as she closes them.
...Do you wanna build a snowman?
From across the frozen fjord, he sees it all. He started to run the moment Hans's sword caught it's target, but he knew, he knew that he wouldn't make it.
"Anna!"
Kristoff slows down as he nears the bodies. His breaths coming out rapidly. He is burning, he is angry, he could kill-
He grabs the auburn haired man by the throat, and throws him onto the ground harshly, "Don't you dare move." He roars. He should deal with him now-but Anna-he would deal with him later.
He turns to stands in front of the two sisters. He was so close. He falls to his knees. So close.
It was that slip he thinks. That stumble on the ice he knows.
His throat is raw from screaming her name. His head is throbbing. His fingers and toes feel frostbitten. He can't breathe properly. He is afraid to touch her. He can't even look at her. He is sorry. So so sorry.
Reindeers are better than people.
Hans slowly rises and massages his throat, glaring at the man who appeared out of nowhere. He still has a tight grip on his sword. His sword still dripping with the Queen's life. A gleeful grin makes it's way onto his face when he realizes that the man had not noticed his sword.
The man clad in fur-lined winter clothes has his back turned on him. He is facing the Queen and Princess. His head is bowed, and he is trembling.
Hans raises his sword and touches the man's back with the point.
"I would advise that you stay down." Hans growls as the man tenses, but does not move at his words.
Hans smiles. He is getting used to power. And it's truly a wonderful feeling.
"Who are you?"
The fjord remains silent.
He presses his sword into the man's back a bit more firmly. "I said, who are you?"
"...An ice harvester." Comes the hoarse reply.
"And how does a mere ice harvester, come to know the Princess of Arendelle?" He pushes the tip in just a bit more.
"Who doesn't know the Princess in this kingdom? "
Hans narrows his eyes. "Does everyone around here address her as Anna, mountain man?"
The ice harvester stays quiet.
Hans sighs. "After that little...scene. I'm afraid I can't le-"
"Who are you?"
He frowns. He does not like getting interrupted. "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. But I'll soon be taking over as King of Arendelle."
That sounds so nice to hear, he muses. King Hans of Arendelle.
A sharp intake of a breath. The man clenches his hands tightly.
"...Hans?" His voice is unsteady and trembling.
The sword digs into his back. He flinches.
"That's Prince Hans, to you." Hans growls.
'It's true love!' Her voice rings through Kristoff's head. Clear and loud. And it's almost as if she was beside him. Alive and well. Breathing. Moving. Away from him. Engaged to this monster. Anything but dead.
"True love." Kristoff spits and turns his head to look at Hans, rising to his feet. "True love does not exist."
Hans raises a brow. "What are you talking ab-"
Kristoff spins around fully-Hans does not have time to react-and grabs Hans's throat once more and lifts him off the ground easily.
Hans struggles, his eyes wide, mouth gaping, trying to pry the mountain man's fingers off with his one hand.
"She loved you." Kristoff tries to keep his voice steady and emotionless, but his eyes betray him.
And there is now a knowing look on Hans's face and the hand holding his sword immediately tightens.
Then Kristoff's abdomen is suddenly on fire. He looks down and is surprised by the sword buried up to the hilt there.
As Kristoff's grip loosens, Hans drops to the ground and reaches up to immediately pull the sword out. He delivers a strong kick to the harvester's chest, causing Kristoff to stumble backwards, blood now flowing freely from the wound.
"Wha-"
Hans swings his sword down in a vicious arc that cuts Kristoff off. The sword does it's work smoothly and cuts through the thick fur-lined clothes, shattering Kristoff's ribcage.
His mouth opens, but blood gushes out instead of words.
Hans does this all without a moment's hesitation. When did he get so good at this?
He sees the way the mountain man's eyes flicker over to Anna as he begins to crumple to the ground, and he smirks. "I know she loved me." He enjoys the pain he sees in the man's eyes. Immensely.
"Please, do give my regards to the Queen and Princess." Hans smiles, watching the man fall. Like he watched Elsa and Anna fall.
Kristoff collapses on the ground, mouth opening and closing in a vain effort to get air into his now useless lungs. He reaches. He struggles. He tries to touch her hand. Steal one more glance at her face. But it's hard to see. Everything is white. It's blinding, and it consumes him.
Reindeer are so much better than people.
Hans watches as the ice harvester's arm drops an inch away from Anna's body and his body ceases to move. He stares at the three bodies. All dyed in red. And he feels nothing. He's gotten all that he's ever wanted now, he's finally succeeded. So why does he feel nothing?
There are small cracks beginning to form on the ice, and he knows that the Queen's cursed powers are finally vanishing from this world. Never again will he ever look at winter the same.
Hans looks back at the bodies one last time, and at last, he feels something this time. But it's a sharp pang. It's unpleasant. And it's stabbing him in the heart.
This feeling. This is a feeling he will always be too familiar with. He's always been associated with it in his childhood. His face wrinkles in disgust as he realizes what it is.
Jealously.
But why on earth would he be jealous? It made sense for these emotions to be around during his sad tale of a childhood, but why now?
And then he knows why. It hits him at once, making him scoff. They have something that he's never had. Love. And each other. They had each other. To depend and lean on.
Hans shakes his head to rid the thought of such a foolish and useless emotion, and walks back towards the castle. His castle.
No one needed love to rule. Especially not him. One who has lived without love for so long.
The citizens look upon the fjord at the three figures and they all bow their heads in silence. Winter came in the dead of summer and left just as swiftly, taking with them the last two members of the Arendelle bloodline.
They stood oblivious to their bleak and long and dark future that was to come with Hans's reign.
Their deaths all continuously play at the same time through Hans's head as he steps onto solid ground. But especially Anna's. "She loved you." The mountain man's words ring through his head.
'She loved you.'
'She loved you.'
'She LOVED you.'
He growls fiercely and grabs his sword from his waist-stained forever with the sunset-and flings it into the dying ice. The voice stops to his relief.
At that moment, the ice beneath the three bodies finally gives away, and then they are lost to the sea.
But they are together. And Hans is still alone.
Edited: December 25, 2015