AN: I'm back again with another Frozen story. This one will be a "Canon-compliant" story with some time-travel abiet handled slightly differently than usual but the question here is: Can the past be truly changed or is it always set in stone? I might expand on this idea further if the ideas are there for an expansion. Frozen isn't owned by me.
After the Thaw, life returned to normal for the royal sisters of Arendelle. Well, as normal as can be with a queen with ice powers and a royalty actually dating a commoner. However, a question that had been knawing Elsa for a while was the typical "What If?" question: What If the accident not happened, how would everything have turned out? Would Anna have not met Kristoff and if she did, would it be under different circumstances? Would she have not fallen for Hans? What if she didn't freeze the kingdom & most importantly, what if she was allowed to see Anna? Again, after everything, Elsa had put more effort into researching her powers and how they truly worked as they were more emotionally based which, in hindsight, was what they actually should have done in the first place. One of the books she read about magic that was emotionally based mentioned a person who keeps the powers in check called a rock and if the rock was taken out of the picture, everything goes south. Elsa was aware that her issues developed only after the accident and her seperation from Anna but if Anna was her rock, she should have been stable during the escapade at the ice palace but that was another question that she already answered: Anna's duty as Elsa's rock was to only feed Elsa's powers postive stuff to give her control but on that day, Anna, not knowing how her duty as Elsa's rock worked, was feeding Elsa's powers NEGATIVELY instead of postively and trying to do a combo was what caused the scenarios down the road but the fact was, according to Elsa, what happened in the past stays in the past, right? Well, not exactly.
The story starts with the first real conversation the two sisters had since everything went down and one that sparked the whole shebang. "Anna?" Elsa asked.
"Yes, Elsa?"
"Why did you accept Hans' marriage proposal?"
"Elsa, we talked about this. What was in the past stays in the past. Besides, Hans was a traitor who was only using me to get what he wanted. He took advantage of our broken bond and everyone else's fear of you to further his own plans", Anna said.
"I know that but when the two of you approached me to ask my blessing for the marriage, I thought to myself: Was it because of me? Am I the reason she's doing this? But I quickly put it out of my head", Elsa admitted. Anna gulped. She didn't want to do this but it had to be done.
"Well, yes. It came from me being emotionally isolated and being starved for both attention and affection. I barely got any attention from Mama & Papa and the servants and you never gave me any attention after you were shut away. Also, I was afraid that your coronation would be the only time I could meet someone", Anna admitted. Elsa gasped and she knew that she mostly was the reason why Anna was so desperate to marry Hans. She now wished she at least spoke with Anna through the door or something, to let her know that she was still loved but the problem with that was she didn't want to disobey their father, even if what he was doing ultimately did more harm than good in the longrun. While the sisters agreed that they would only focus on the here and now, that conversation still played in Elsa's mind a couple days after and led her to wonder: Could the past actually be changed or was it already set in stone? Was Elsa actually destined to hurt Anna both those times, regardless of whether or not they were accidental both times they occurred & accidently curse the kingdom? There's only one someone who could answer that and that someone was not a human. It was a troll. Elsa went to the barns, where Kristoff was probably at. He knew the area better than anyone and seeing as how he helped Anna before, he could be of some help now.
"Kristoff?" she asked, shaking the mountain man.
"What?" he grunted, not amused at being woken up. His reindeer showed the same thing.
"I need you to take me to the Valley of The Living Rock", Elsa said.
"What for?"
"I have some questions for him", she admitted.
"Sure. I've been overdue for a visit anyway. But your stuff needs to come first", he said. He hooked up Sven to the sled and they headed off towards the valley lickety-split and the ride to the valley felt like deja vu for Elsa. She remembered the first time they rode there and it was under different circumstances as they were going to rescue Anna from an accident that she caused. She shivered at the thought and was so deep in the memory that she didn't hear Kristoff's voice. "Elsa? ELSA! We're here", he said. He had stopped the sleigh at the enterance to the valley.
"Okay, thanks for the ride", she said and entered into the valley. Kristoff waited in the sled.
"Pabbie? Pabbie?" she called. On the second call, a rock rolled up and uncurled itself.
"You seem troubled. What's the matter?" he asked.
"I had a conversation with my sister earlier today about her engagement with Hans and she told me it was mostly because of how I treated her & what our parents did that fueled it", she said.
"Ah, this is one of those What If? scenarios, I assume?" Pabbie asked.
"Yes, it is"
"Well, to start with, you want to know the reason why I doctored your sister's memories of your magic?" he asked.
"Yes, I do", Elsa said, firmly.
"While it WAS to speed up the healing process, Elsa, you must remember that there were people out there who will fear you and I was worried that if Anna retained her original unaltered memories, she would become one of those people who would fear you as she got older, regardless of whether or not it was an accident", Pabbie said.
"I experienced that", Elsa said.
"By whom?"
"This duke of Weaselton, going so far as to send his thugs to try and kill me", Elsa admitted.
"Again, like I said, that prejudice is a VERY serious threat and that's why doctoring Anna's memories was needed. However, the spell I had used could be reversed if she had been told what intially happened. It was never permanent", Pabbie said.
"It wasn't?"
"No. See, when I cast the spell, I was under the impression that your parents would eventually tell Anna what happened at some point in time when she was older and thus had a more mature grasp on the situation. They did tell her, did they not?" he inquired.
"No. She found out for herself at the coronation. It was only after she froze that the streak she gained disappeared", Elsa admitted. Pabbie nodded to show he understood but now it was time to move to the presnet point.
"Can the past actually be doctored?" Elsa inquired.
"By human actions, yes, you see, what your parents did was not what I intended for them to do. The vision of the people jumping on you, that was just me collapsing the illusion but your father saw it as something else because of his own fears. Like I said before, there are prejudiced people out there like whom you encountered", Pabbie said.
"So, I can't go back and fix the past?"
"You can alter it, yes, but only when it originally occurred because once the past occurs, it can't be altered in anyway. Why would you want to alter it though?"
"Anna said that one of the reasons why she was marrying Hans was because I wasn't giving her the attention and affection she needed after I was shut away", Elsa said.
"Ah, you see, that was a mistake. You didn't want to disobey your father but you still needed to acknowledge Anna, even when you were shut away. That would have proved to her that she was still loved and since she had no proof that she was loved, she thought you betrayed her. This Hans, what was he like?" Pabbie inquired.
"He seemed nice at first but what Anna told me before we arrested him for his treachery was that he was trying to usurp the kingdom all along and use our broken bond in order to get there", Elsa said.
"The actions we take in the past generally set the course for what happens in the future. While your parents had good intentions, it was their actions that led to everything that happened in the presnet. Sure, everything's okay now, but it's obvious that those scars are still there", Pabbie stated. "Do you still want to see how we can alter the past and have that What If? Scenario?" he then asked the kicker question. Elsa gulped and she knew what this entailed: Did she legitmately want to see this scenario or was it one of those 'in hindsight, I should have done this' phrases. She knew all this could have easily been avoided if she let Anna in emotionally and her parents telling her what really happened when she was older.
"Yes", Elsa said.
"Very good. Now, then, I need you to think back to everything that happened and we'll choose a memory to work the magic from. Remember, your soul will be transferred to the memory of your choice but your physical body will remain here as if asleep. However, any actions you undertake in the memory will create an alternate timeline", Pabbie warned.
"Will this new timeline I create interfere with the presnet timeline?" Elsa inquired before she began the process.
"No. I can ensure that the new timeline will not interfere with the current passage of time. This is, like you said, a What If?" Pabbie said. He had Elsa scan her memories to see which one needed doctoring the most and a lot of Elsa's problems began AFTER their parents seperated them. Sure, Elsa could have chosen to try and doctor her & Anna's coronation argument and the argument at the castle which led to Anna's frozen heart but again, everything was tied to the seperation so Elsa decided to focus more on the childhood memories instead of the stuff as an adult. After scanning her childhood memories, Elsa finally made her selection.
"I choose this one", she said.
"First Degree Of Seperation? Ah, this was the one after you guys came back from us", Pabbie said. "Excellent choice. Because this is the one that started everything", he added. He dosed something on Elsa that seperated her soul from her body and like he promised, Elsa's soul entered the memory while Elsa's body fell into a sleep.
After she landed into the memory, Elsa found that she was invisible and that her parents couldn't hear her, only her younger self could. She had decided to let the memory play out like it did intially and then doctor it later on through her actions. In the intial memory, the king and queen had put their seperation plans for the sisters in place almost immediately. Elsa watched as her younger self was moved out of her and Anna's shared bedroom into her new bedroom and was conditioned to stunt her emotional growth and empathy and to ignore Anna whenever she was let out of her room and if Anna was in the same vicnity. She noted she was moved out while Anna was still knocked out. However, when Anna recovered, her first action, obviously, was to go to Elsa's door and ask her to play, unaware of what was really going on. Hearing that "Go Away, Anna!" again was more than enough incentive for Elsa to begin her doctoring. Since Elsa's younger self was the only one who could hear her, she told herself this would be a pinch. Than again, she thought, maybe not.
The younger Elsa was crying on her bed, obviously angry at herself for turning Anna away. She felt a cool hand on her shoulder. "Please don't cry, Elsa", a soft voice pleaded. Little Elsa stopped and turned around and the figure materialized into the person she would grow up to be.
"Who are you?" she asked. The adult Elsa gulped. Informing the younger Elsa of her true identity could cause a rupture of some sort.
"Let's just say I'm someone who knows you very well", Elsa the older said.
"Are you here to help me with my powers?" asked Elsa the younger.
"Somewhat. If this continues onward, you and your sister will be in a dark place down the road", Elsa the older said, subtlely referencing what was to happen if she kept pushing Anna away. "You are the only one to keep it from going down that path", she said.
"How? I'm a monster! I hurt my sister!" Elsa the younger cried again.
"Let her in", Elsa the older said. "Remember. I did the same mistakes with my own sister and I paid the price for them heavily. Talk to her, show her she's still loved because if you don't, bad things will happen to both you and your sister if you don't let her in and master your abilities. It's a gift, not a curse", she warned that last bit onmiously before fading back to invisibility again as the younger Anna came knocking again, asking the same question. This time, she wasn't turned away again and had a rather nice conversation which only ended when the king and queen came in for a power checkup.
"Did you speak to Anna at all?" the king asked.
"Yes, through the door", the younger Elsa said.
"Did you tell her?" he inquired again.
"No"
"Good. She's not old enough yet to know what's really happening", the king said and began their lessons in suppression. Only problem was that his charge wasn't suppressing, she was letting it go. "Elsa, what are you doing?" he asked in surprise.
"Doing what I'm supposed to be doing! This invisible fairy visited & told me if I kept suppressing my powers and pushing Anna away, bad things would happen to the two of us later on", the younger Elsa said. The king and queen looked at each other and nodded to themselves. If what the younger Elsa said was true and that they were actually hurting the both of them instead of actually helping them, it could spell some sort of doom that the fairy (ie: Elsa's adult self) warned about. They decided to bend a little bit and let Anna see Elsa with the understanding that Elsa would still wear her gloves to prevent further accidents and would work with her powers to gain better control. Sasitified with her work, Elsa exited the now fixed memory and returned to her body in the Valley of the Living Rock.
"So, how did it go?" Pabbie inquired.
"It went rather well. I think the first sign of my work was when Papa didn't yell or spank me for speaking with Anna through the door. In the original memory he did which was why I had quit speaking with her through the door so that was nice to know they saw the point", Elsa said.
"Now, let's venture into this alternate timeline you created", Pabbie said and sent both himself and Elsa into a new memory, manufactored by Elsa's actions in her previous memory visit. "In this timeline, aka the What If, everyone is happy and adjusted. The gates were still closed but it was more for the public. You don't conceal your powers or hide them from your family members. When Anna became of age at 15, she was eventually told what really happened, restoring her original memories to normal. Your parents go on a voyage, only to die in a storm and you, as heir, are coronated in their stead. Anna will meet Hans at the coronation like in the original timeline and hit it off with him but in this timeline, she will feel some sort of uneasiness about him", Pabbie narrated as they traveled the What If, visiting events that were doctored thanks to Elsa convincing her younger self to let Anna in emotionally and actually study and practice her powers. "You don't cast a winter upon Arendelle and actually explain your abilities to the visiting officials and subjects, among others", he added. Elsa sighed with contentment, however she had a horrifying realization seconds later.
"Do I still accidently freeze Anna's heart in this new timeline & does Anna meet Kristoff in this timeline as well?" Elsa asked because since she doesn't accidently freeze Arendelle in the What If?, there would be no reason for Anna to journey to find her and meet Kristoff and fall in love with him and realize Hans' treachery.
"Yes, but it would both be under different circumstances. Anna meets Kristoff when he visits the castle and somewhat becomes infatuated with him after spending time with him but she's still with Hans. However, when you accidently freeze Anna's heart during an argument about you somehow neglecting her, she begs Hans to kiss her and he'll betray her trust like in the original timeline. However, you save her from his treachery and with Kristoff's help, Hans' plan is foiled", Pabbie said.
"And what about the accident that started all this?" Elsa asked. That was the kicker. Since Elsa doctored the memory after the troll visit, she wasn't sure if that erased the accident as well.
"No, it doesn't erase the accident. It's the steps that were taken AFTER I healed Anna that could be changed", Pabbie elaborated. Elsa sighed but it was a combination happy/sad sigh. In both the original and the What If?, she was to hurt Anna accidently twice both times. "This new timeline could have occurred if you did the sensibile thing of just letting Anna in", he further said. Elsa had to admit that Pabbie was right in that everything could have been avoided if she and their parents hadn't been so frightened that it erased their sense of judgment. Pabbie also forced Elsa to realize that her own sanity, thanks to the constant isolation, also took a hit as well as she eventually became so accustomed to it that after the coronation in the original timeline after the powers were exposed, she just ran, even if it opened the gate for Hans to execute his schemes. Pabbie proceeded to bottle the What If timeline and give it to Elsa, who thanked him for his help and despite not being able to fix the past, she did get a glimpse as to what the past might have been had she let Anna in emotionally and their parents didn't keep them apart.
"Elsa, you through? You want a ride back?" Kristoff offered.
"Spend time with your family, Kristoff. I'll walk", Elsa said. Kristoff agreed. It was a long walk and it was around 10:30pm by the time she made it back to the castle and consequently, her and Anna's shared bedroom. Anna insisted that Elsa move back into the room as the first step towards mending their bond. Fortunately for her, Anna was asleep so she could watch the what if in silence. She poured the liquid form into a bowl, also provided by Pabbie, and watched the life they could have led if Elsa hadn't let her own fears take hold. Filled with remorse, she started crying, knowing that her own fears robbed her and Anna the life they could have led. She was so engrossed in the what if and her own sobbing she didn't hear a gasp and a pitter patter of feet rushing towards her bed. It was only after the weight shifted that Elsa took notice that Anna was already on her bed.
"Elsa, you're crying! Why?" Anna inquired. Elsa merely gestured to the memory that she had been viewing. "What's this?" she asked again.
"It's the what if. I visited the trolls and they showed me what life we would have had if our judgments weren't clouded by fear", Elsa explained through some excess tears.
"Whose judgments?"
"Mine & our parents. Anna, I never told you this but the reason why I stopped speaking to you through the door those years ago was because Papa punished me for it before. He wanted me to distance myself emotionally from you and that included not maintaining contact with you through any means", Elsa said.
"Elsa, I'm not mad at you for what you did. You were just afraid. I'm more mad at our parents for doing what they did", Anna said.
"Pabbie agrees. So, Anna, wanna see the what if?" Elsa asked.
"Sure", Anna said and snuggled into Elsa as she restarted the memory so that Anna could have a taste of the life they could have led, one without fear but one with magic and fun, just like before.
AN: That's It! That's It! Of course everyone has those moments where they question whether what would have happened if something else happened in the past. Sequel might occur pending ideas on how to incorporate the what if into the old timeline. R&R!