Chapter 2

It was only a few years later that a stranger arrived at the palace. Well, he couldn't exactly be called a stranger. That implied danger and he was only a child, the age of perhaps fifteen. The princesses had grown, both physically and mentally. Elsa left her room no longer, even taking meals there. The palace was closed off. Anna had only her parents, and the door that was once Elsa's smiling face.

It was horrid and lonely, and Anna's feet dragged more and more each day, until she barely got out of bed. What was the point of it anymore.

But then this boy appeared, this boy who wanted to get to know her. He didn't lock himself in his room, or make excuses not to see her. He was almost always around, and almost always willing to play with her, or, if she felt like it, even just talk to her. She felt like she could tell him anything, because he actually listened. And he actually cared.

She felt no qualms telling him the story of how she got frostbite in two of the fingers of her right hand and how they had to be removed. She had adjusted easily, and the only time she was bothered by it was when she discovered she couldn't stick olives on all ten fingers any longer.

This insipid girl, the stranger thought.

Prince Hans of the Southern Isles was not amused by this foolish girl, who seemed to constantly blabber about one thing or another. Did she not have friends to talk to? Ones that she could bother with her long, rambling tales? Or had she already scared them off.

He smiled to himself at the thought, believing it most likely. The girl, who was indeed Anna, took this a sign that he did enjoy her company and blathered at a faster pace, as if she had not already been talking enough. The false cheer he draped around himself stayed, though underneath the cloak of lies his mind puzzled around the annoyance that this girl posed. However, it was in his best interest to stay pleasant, else wise he be shipped back to his home, something he would avoid at all costs. From under twelve elder brothers, he was chosen to grace these halls with his presence. It would be he who would be the intermediary between the two kingdoms, and it was a great honour that Hans was not eager to pass up.

Being born the thirteenth son in a common family was utterly distasteful, as why would any wish fortune upon them? As the thirteenth son in a noble family, Hans would not consider himself any better, as ashamed as he felt to compare himself to lessers. But it was true that he should be shamed; the ladies wanted the first born, second born, third born to the most desperate. The first born (or in extreme cases, second) would inherit near all belonging to the estate, including titles. This begs the question, where it was that the others should go; naturally away from the home that was no longer theirs. For each son fewer materials are left until Hans was reached, leaving him with a pocketful of coins and a chestnut pipe- an heirloom, they claimed. And returning to the lessers, the sons would be required to find another job among them, perhaps a woodsman, a blacksmith, or a butcher.

Here was his chance, shining in bright gold and silver to escape that fate; the continued drudgery of a common life. And while it true that this opportunity was not handed to him on a platter of such colours, he would fight tooth and nail for it, as he had every day of his life for recognition of any kind.

If it was his curse to listen to the ramblings of the auburn-haired child sitting across the table from him, gesturing widely at something-or-other, then by his rank, he would listen until his ears fell off.

Very infrequently was he honest with anyone, "thirteenth sons were meant to be seen and not heard", but at this precise moment, if he chose to listen to his deepest thoughts, he would realize them not quite so dreary as he felt in his detached shell.

While the girl still continued on in her words, Hans would not compare her to a fly or mosquito as his cloak would, rather a welcome change from high society. The fear of missing even a tiny hint of what was to come, a veiled insult, compliment, or something else entirely very prominent, and to him very tiring. There were some who enjoyed such wordplay, battling verbally as all others in the room felt the tension and became uncomfortable themselves. But to fight in this way, one had to listen and always be alert. Naturally intuitive, this was of no difficulty to Hans, but he was relieved to just, for once in his young life, not have to listen. Just as he was now drifting away into thoughts of his own, Anna never paused, always having something to talk about, never asking pointed questions, being contented with his silence.

More than he would admit did this please him. Perhaps noticing his stare, Anna met Hans's eyes and broadly smiled, wider than what the boy would have ever thought possible from the only society he was exposed to prior; everything in moderation.

While loud and rambunctious, she still had her charm, like the way her chestnut hair bobbed around her head in a crazed mane, turning golden in the light streaming in from the tall windows. Usually the curtains were drawn tightly together, as if the castle itself feared allowing the light inside- something Hans had noticed immediately, only serving to make him anxious- but to Anna this was perhaps the greatest sin that could be committed. She had made it her personal mission to let the light in, and it did indeed suit her, the light was her domain, as easily sculpted as how darkness was the only direction Hans knew to follow.

He had been born into a tall tower and he knew naught which end led him out to the sun, but more and more lately Hans had felt that with every decision he made, his feet led him to a step. He feared that his treacherous feet led him not to the light, but deeper into the darkness, but never would he prove such a thing until he found himself stepping right into the dungeon of his thoughts, or finally leaving and for the first time walking through long green grass with no thoughts of being dragged back down to what he already thought of as his prison.

These feet that belonged to him, and yet somehow did not had moved again. While Hans stared at Anna, not truly listening, he was being dragged in a direction that brought great terror to him. In his mind's eye he could see how each step brought him what appeared to be downwards, until… silence. No footsteps. Nothing.

He found that he could move himself, as if taking charge of a piece on a chess board, and though unsure why, Hans turned his head away from the darkness in front of him, and there, sitting harmlessly yet looking terribly out of place was an ornate wooden door. Hans strode over to the door, desperate for any escape from his own spiral down, and flung it wide open. Light, glorious light spread through the entrance, bathing Hans in a new sensation that he had never before felt.

When his eyes adjusted to this new brightness, he found himself looking right at Anna. And for the first time since meeting her, he gave her a genuine smile.

NAW: Thank you to everyone who has read the story so far!

A huge thanks to Shawn Raven and Toa Aerrow for following and favouriting and TeslaTiger for following.. I really appreciate it! :)

Reviewers:

Guest: An excellent question, my friend. I am here, simply because I can be. It's not that I'm writing this simply to criticize the whole story... I actually just want to write more about Hans :) More below in the next replies, since they're pretty much all related.

Shawn Raven: I apologize for the strong words, it is not that I really hate Frozen. I enjoyed the humour, especially with Anna in the beginning. I thought that her social awkwardness (talking with the helper outside the door and her and Hans's first meeting was absolutely hilarious) but after that strong beginning, it really started to go downhill, and the ending seemed thrown together at the last minute, like the writers hadn't planned what they were doing. Since it's Disney, and since Tumblr raved about it, I had my hopes up, and more than hate it, I was just really disappointed. My hatred is unreasonable, since there were many good parts about the movie. I had only seen it once, and focused too much on the bad. I rewatched it after writing the first chapter, and decided that it wasn't as terrible as I had originally thought, now that my hopes had settled down. Once more, I apologize if my harsh word choice upset you.

I think that now the hype has settled down, there's a lot more points being poked at that are trouble spots making no sense. I think it's important to put them out in the open, but that is just me, personally.

Toa Aerrow: Thank you so much for your response! I agree that it shouldn't have been a musical... I don't understand why everyone is so obsessed with Let It Go and Do You Want to Build a Snowman. In my opinion, they are poor excuses for Disney music, and I do apologize to everyone who likes them, this is my opinion, and you can have yours. Rewatching the movie, I did like the song Love is an Open Door, once it got going (the harmony was fun), but while Anna's awkwardness is funny, it just messed with the song and made it less enjoyable for me. Thank you so much, I really appreciate the support, it keeps me going :) I will definitely try to find time because I think that there's so many opportunities to explore the characters more with this story. My favourite thing about movies is the characters, and so I'd like to strengthen them and make their thoughts more logical.

frombehindthekeyboard: That is absolutely fine ;) I love having rants in my reviews, that is the whole point of the section~ First of all, the people, not even just common-people, but the high officials especially, would be really butthurt over the "marriage". Since marrying Anna would make them the king of Arendelle, having some stranger just randomly appear and suddenly say he was married to her would be suspicious. They would initially be really angry (if they even believed it) that they were married without inviting anyone. They would call for witnesses (ex. the one who married them), look for the ring, or other such evidence. The way they held such blind faith, does not show very well crafted characters. He did claim that Anna was dead before she had actually died, and first and foremost, the people would ask to see her body. It would be important to them to give her a proper burial. If they didn't find a body, Hans's plan would be ripped apart right there. Speaking of Hans, what was he even doing in Arendelle? He mentioned having twelve brothers, so why weren't any of them there? I would assume he has parents also, so where were they? I wish there was more mentioned about his home life, since that's really important for a villain especially.

Jafar, everyone knows who that is, needed no backstory, since his entire life revolved around money and being sultan. It would be interesting to have a backstory for him; why he wanted to be sultan, but it isn't necessary. Hans, whose evil is on the inside needs a story. It's strongly implied, if not directly said (I can't remember right now) that the reason he wants the throne is to show his brothers that he doesn't deserve them ignoring him. The line he says to Anna is also very interesting as well as the behavior itself. Where did he pick it up from? For another villain similar to Hans, scheming and malicious: Loki. It shows him growing up, and his feeling of betrayal by Odin and everything he knew as a lifestyle. A backstory is just as important as how a character acts, and Hans doesn't have that, making him a shallow and difficult to understand villain.

Sorry for the tangent, but I just wanted to talk about Hans... quick fact, the original idea for this story started as a first person narrative from Hans's point of view... I like this idea better, teehee ^w^

I take no offense, by the way. I really like hearing other's ideas because it gives me a good idea of what I should specify and often gives me ideas about how to progress the plot. I also apologize for this horribly long ramble. I am embarrassingly bad at controlling myself when it comes to talking ^^' Of course I wouldn't hate you, I love the input so much, I was so happy when I saw that I had a new review.. by the way, rants are my favourite types of reviews ;) Aww byee! Hope to see you again soon~

Special thanks to grrlgeek72 for talking with me for so long :D

I don't own Frozen or any other related products! Please read and review!

Also, apologies for author's notes being as long as the chapter :'|