A/N: I'll mainly answer to reviews here, with some occasional exceptions.
Guest 1: Thanks, here is the update, : )
Guest 2: Thank you and you'll get some answers next, = D
Guest 3: Yes, of course there is! And I thought it would be more in character than how he suddenly flipped 180º from being calculating to completely reckless and cartoonish villainous. But it is a Disney movie, this idea would never even be considered, and they had to make a villain pop out in the end to create a challenge to overcome.
Mrotrax: I hope this fic keeps you interested and that you find it enjoyable, : )
Guest 4: Thank you, here is the update, : )
Guest 5: Here is your requested update, thank you for your support, : )
Obeliskx: Thank you, I hope you continue to enjoy this fic, : )
Regarding the user NamelessSaint I believe I've already said what I wanted to her, I won't repeat myself, but I do think it's necessary to add a warning: If it's a pairing you don't like you're not obliged to read it. If you liked the concept and want to use it with a different pairing, feel free to, I won't be mad at you. I've especially marked the Hans/Elsa pairing BECAUSE in the search mechanism you can exclude stories with pairings you're not interested/actually don't want anything to do with them, I just don't understand why someone would get so much out of their own way just to gratuitously bash someone else's work.
Also, to everyone that has appreciated this fiction, please leave a review. It doesn't take much time and it's an important and inspiring to keep up bringing what I believe is an interesting story.
Happy Valentines, = * (it's the end of the day here, but I think it counts)
Chapter 2
Kristoff, Anna and Sven had just separated from Olaf and were almost reaching Arendelle Palace's bridge when a shockwave of magical energy hit them, unfreezing the surroundings of the building, returning the warmth to a part of the city.
"Woah, what?!" Kristoff exclaimed, while Sven kept galloping at full speed towards the gate.
"Elsa! She must be here." Anna whispered, her voice lower and weaker as the coldness inside her heart spread through her body.
"Kristoff … there's hope! Elsa … Elsa must have found a way to control her powers. Maybe, maybe she can break my curse!" The Princess spoke, holding the man's shirt as tightly as she could, hope ignited in her eyes.
"Ok, calm down, feisty pants. Look around, it's partly defrosted. I guess she must have worked something out, let's find her too, but you must get to Hans!"
In the background the guards paced around the castle's walls, passing the news Princess Anna had returned, while the servants rushed to open the gate to let her through.
"Kristoff, st– stay with me." Anna plead when the blond man stopped Sven and unmounted him with her in his arms.
"You're gonna be ok, Anna. You don't need me by your side anymore."
"No, stay." She said weakly, the frost in her veins making it harder and harder to speak.
Once the servants opened the gates, one of the lady-in-waiting called the princess's name, the other said they were worried sick and the male attendant spoke a "My Lady", all at the same time, to which Kristoff replied, instead, while trying to put Anna down, without much success:
"Get her warm!" He told the women, adding to the man: "And find Prince Hans, immediately!"
"Come, Princess Anna, let go of the young man." The tallest woman said.
"No … Kristoff, come with me to speak with Elsa."
"The Queen is also inside. Prince Hans is talking to her." The male attendant informed.
"Just come inside, both of you! Princess Anna's health is at stake!" The smaller woman retorted, impatiently.
Kristoff whistled to Sven and the reindeer also entered the castle. One of the stable boys conducted him to some food and water, while Kristoff and Anna were guided by the castle's staff to where Elsa and Hans were at that time. Another servant came rushing with blankets to warm the princess in the meantime.
While they were pacing through the castle's corridors, the ice harvester inquired:
"Why did you ask for Elsa if the one who can give you a true love's kiss is Hans?"
Anna raised her head in order to whisper into his ears, and he wasn't sure if it was to be discreet or if she feared her voice wasn't strong enough to be clearly heard:
"I'm … I'm starting to question if Hans is my true love, Kristoff. I'm … I'm having doubts."
Kristoff's heart raced with hope that she had begun looking at him in a different way and summed up his courage to ask in a murmur:
"What doubts, Anna?"
"I … I think that I'm … that I'm starting to fall for you." She took another deep breath before continuing: "And if there's room for this in my heart than what I feel for Hans isn't that strong … so it mustn't be … it mustn't be true love."
The ice harvester blushed with her words and nodded, while they reached the castle's prison swiftly. It didn't take much longer to get to the doors of the room where Hans and Elsa were expecting them. The guards promptly rushed them to the inner cells, opening the last door that separated them.
Meanwhile inside the prison cell
They heard the commotion outside and one of the guards speaking:
"Prince Hans! Princess Anna has returned! She demands to see you and Queen Elsa! She is very sick!"
Elsa felt utterly horrified that her sister had arrived precisely at her most shameful state, having done horrible things with Anna's fiancé. She was also extremely worried with her sickness, and her emotions were vividly apparent on her face as dread took over her, already making the room colder.
Hans immediately used one of his gloves to wipe Elsa's intimate parts, dropping it on the ground in order to lower her dress's skirt with the same hand, while using the other one to dry his mouth. Right after, in a quick motion, he picked up the fallen glove and stuffed it with the other pair in his jacket's inner pocket just as the door opened.
Hans was fast to regain his composure, putting his hands in his pants pockets in order to hide his already receding hard on as Anna and Kristoff entered the cell.
"Anna!" Hans and Elsa exclaimed at the same time, both rushing to the Princess's side, but Elsa's chains stopped her in middle of the way. Seeing this, Hans halted, retrieving the keys of her manacles from his pocket and unlocked them, freeing her hands. Elsa certainly jumped when he touched her wrists, but soon ignored him completely, focusing her attention on her sister:
"Anna! No, no, no, no! I hurt you again! I didn't meant to! That was why I run away! To protect you! I just hurt you whenever we're close!" The queen spoke, distressed and with tears falling down her eyes. When the manacles hit the ground, Elsa hurried to her sister, extending her hands to touch her face, but stopping them middle air, worried she'd worsen the situation. Seeing her sister next to her, the princess expression softened and she looked at her with compassion.
"It was an accident, Elsa … I know … I know you wanted to protect me." Anna told her sister with understanding eyes and continued: "Your ice hit my heart, Elsa –"
"NO! The heart –"
"Only an act of true love can thwart a frozen heart. That's what my family – the trolls – said." Kristoff interrupted, concerned that they were wasting time and that Anna could freeze completely at any moment now. Elsa's distress made the room colder and she was about to tell the blond man off for cutting her speech short, but the mention of trolls and an actual answer on how to save Anna pulled her attention and she started thinking.
"Wait, you have trolls for a family? And an act of true love, like true love's kiss?" Hans inquired, acting concerned and intrigued at the same time. For sure strange things happened in Arendelle.
"Yes … but …" Anna said weakly, her gaze going from Hans to Kristoff. The prince noticed her hesitancy and thought how naughty of the little princess, mere hours after their engagement and she was already fooling around with the peasantry, not even waited for a year or two of misery in their marriage. And the peasant was clearly head over heels for her judging by the way he looked at her. Of course he had to use those facts in his favor, knowing he wouldn't kiss her and ruin his chances with both women. He had fully compromised to his initial target again, with ice powers in the set, so he'd just manipulate the others around to win the big prize.
"But you're not sure what we have is true love … if a kiss would work." Hans finished for her and added shifting his eyes to Kristoff: "Because it seems you love someone else and he loves you back."
He got closer and incased her cold hands with his own, while she was still being securely carried by the ice harvester, and said:
"Anna, you hold a dear place in my heart and when we spoke about love being an open door I really wanted to believe in it, I really wanted to belong, to someone, somewhere, and maybe because of this I think … maybe we … rushed things." He paused a little, for dramatic effect, and continued:
"Anna, you're such a wonderful and pure-hearted person, eager to fill everything in your life with love and maybe, because of that, you thought that you loved me when it wasn't exactly the case."
"Hans … I'm sorry …" She pleaded weakly.
"It's ok, Anna. To be honest what I feel isn't precisely love yet, but I was sure we could cultivate our affections and a big and wonderful love would certainly flourish out of it." He said, his face saddening, and continued: "I wish only for your happiness, Anna, being with or without me. So I take off my marriage proposal, you must be free to choose who you truly love"
"You're so … understanding, Hans." The princess replied and added: "I'm … I'm sorry."
"Anna …" It was Elsa's turn to have a heartfelt conversation with the younger girl, continuing after she had grasped her attention: "They said an act of true love, right? Not just true love's kiss. Do you believe that me opening up to you would be such an act? I'll answer any questions you may have, all the questions. I'll never shut you out again." The queen sniffled, extending her arms to her sister, inviting her to an embrace. Kristoff gently put Anna down, allowing her to be on her own two feet again and she promptly hugged Elsa with all the strength she had left.
The two sisters held one another tightly, both sobbing. The elder one kissed her little sister's face wherever she could reach, her cheeks, her forehead, he nose and they spoke:
"I love you, Anna."
"I love you too, Elsa."
That was the cue for the ice in Anna's heart to recede and completely disappear, making her hair regain its original strawberry-blonde color and her body return to its original temperature.
They both beamed with happiness and exclaimed: "It worked!"
"Love is the answer!" Elsa shouted out and the Snow Queen shifted to the window and raised her arms, turning all the ice, snow and frost into small glistering snowflakes that danced in torrents of ice, upwards, forming a beautiful patterned single snow crystal when she closed her palms that dissipated as she opened her hands again.
"I knew you could do it." Anna said, touching her sister's arm.
Suddenly they heard someone tap at the window and they saw Olaf just outside, melting. Elsa hastily opened the window, Anna and Kristoff followed her swiftly, and she cast her powers on the snowman, creating a snow cloud on top of his head. Their small friend asked, with a toothy smile:
"What did I miss?"
"Olaf!" They called out and then laughed in relief while Hans watched the whole scene, keeping tabs of the strangeness in Arendelle, smiling too.
Right after they had managed the main crisis, all of them moved to the castle's library to discuss how to address the waiting dignitaries and the people, as Hans proposed they should, in order to present a united front and deal properly with hostile guests, like the Duke of Weselton.
The prince purposely took out his personal notebook to write down the topics they had to discuss and let a piece of paper fall along the way (when no one was looking) where he wrote (in a very different handwriting) 'Prince Hans deflowered Queen Elsa'. That, associated with the certainty that Weselton's man had heard Elsa moaning (and maybe even the palace's guards), as their cells were close and the queen practically sung a loud symphony of moans, should be enough to spark a rumor that would certainly press her into marrying him. Also, the Spanish envoy certainly would catch wind of the gossip as he was famous for accumulating information about the other kingdoms (and spreading it too).
Once each one had taken a seat, the princess was the first to speak:
"How did you thwart part of the ice, Elsa, before knowing the part about an act of true love?" Anna asked while bouncing in her chair, much like an overexcited child.
Hans and Elsa looked at each other. The queen blushed and raised her hand, gesturing for him to answer. The prince looked around, to Kristoff and Olaf, then back to Anna and said:
"It's a delicate matter, Anna. I think it would be better if the three of us could discuss this … alone … in another time."
"Uh-hmm, no secrets! Everyone here must be open about everything."
Hans searched for Elsa's eyes, she nodded, in confirmation and started to speak, turning her gaze to her sister:
"Hans theorized that if I felt warm inside then I could control my magic –"
"With warm hugs!" Olaf completed, excitedly.
"No, Olaf, with another kind of warmth, something that could heat my entire body –"
"A whole body warm hug?"
Kristoff's eyes widened with realization and he rose from his chair, saying:
"Woah, woah, you two had relations?"
"No, that wasn't it." Hans replied letting slip a little bit of annoyance in his voice.
"Relations?" Anna asked, confused.
"Just wait for the whole explanation." Elsa retorted, trying to regain her composure and gesturing again for Hans to continue, making use of his promise to take full responsibility.
"So I … we … I heated her! With my tongue." Probably the last piece of information he shared because he kinda panicked, trying to defuse the idea he had fucked her (not that he didn't plan to do it) and save some face.
"Oh, he melted her with his tongue, like a popsicle!" Olaf said, unware of the double meaning with his ingenuity.
"You went down on your then future sister-in-law?!" Kristoff inquired, inflamed.
"What do you all mean?" Anna asked, still very much confused. Kristoff whispered into her ear an explanation, while Elsa grew restless in her seat, gripping the table viciously, calling her sister's name. Hans took a deep breath and started planning what he was going to say next.
"My idea was that her emotions fueled her powers, so in order to fight cold, heat was necessary. But there was no one nor nothing in the meantime that could cause such warm feelings in her, except by this other way. I … we had to try everything that was in our power to end the eternal winter. But it was my idea, Elsa went along reluctantly and I take full responsibility for all of the consequences." Hans said louder, muffling the others' voices and gaining their attention.
Anna was shocked once she fully understood what had transpired between her ex-fiancé and her sister.
Elsa got up and touched Anna's hand, saying:
"Anna, can you forgive me? At the time I didn't see another way. The hunger, the suffering that would be inflicted on the people, it was too much, something needed to be done, regardless of our personal desires."
"She's right. It was an act of desperation from our part, Anna, with the best intentions at heart. Please, forgive me, Anna." Hans did his best to act ashamed and bowed at the final request.
"Oh, so you did it out of love? Love for the people? Like a self-sacrifice for the wellbeing of everyone?" The princess questioned, her mind working on understanding this new information, and she added: "So that was why you were so understanding about me and Kristoff? And why you took off the marriage proposal? Because you felt you were dishonest towards me?"
"Anna … I'm sorry. That's exactly it. I don't think it would be honest to either you or Elsa to go on with the marriage without sorting everything out first."
"Awwww, does it mean you have feelings for each other?" Anna shifted between her sister, who had pretty much frozen in place, and Hans, then continued: "It's like a forbidden romance! So exciting!" Anna stood up, dragging Elsa to where Hans was seated. He rose up in turn and she held each one with an arm and then joined the two, adding:
"There's no problem now! This love is no longer forbidden, I give you two my blessing! Oh, oh, oh, we can go on double dates, Kristoff and I, you two –"
"What about me? Can I go on a double date too?"
"Of course, Olaf! And it'll be a triple date with you and Sven too!"
"Anna …" Kristoff tried in vain to catch the princess attention, but she kept blabbering about all the fun they'd have (and maybe about double marriages, double pregnancies, double christenings and other doubles).
Blessed airheaded Anna and her pink-colored perception of the world, Hans thought as he looked at Elsa's face and didn't know what to make of her expression. It was as if she wasn't present at all, like when something so surreal happens that your brain enters a denial state. Well, at least she wasn't freezing the room, so it was a good start.
By the time they finally left the library and had addressed all of the dignitaries, the gossip that Prince Hans had deflowered Queen Elsa had spread. Apparently the guards found the queen's undergarment (and smelled it) in the prison cell, which only matched with the account of the other prisoners and some guards that the queen had been moaning during most of the time she was alone with the prince. Someone even put together that the first defrosting had something to do the queen's climax.
Anna and Kristoff had already left the palace to do God knows what, Hans hadn't paid attention to her chatter now that he wasn't trying to win her over (and keep her). No, instead he was at the queen's study, with her majesty herself, discussing the latest rumors.
"Tell me the truth, Hans. You knew this could happen." Elsa said so from where she sat, on the main chair, behind the desk, while she massaged her eyebrows with her finger, her eyes shut. The stress of being the sole reigning monarch was already taking its toll on her and he wondered if she continued with this she might lose all of the hair of her brows. Well, at least this kept her occupied and she wasn't freezing anything.
"I certainly couldn't foresee you'd vocalize so loudly. If you remember, in the beginning you were muffling your voice, using your shoulder." Hans answered while sat in an opposite chair, crossing his fingers on top of the desk and doing his best impersonation of an innocent man.
"Ugh!" She slid down her head, her closed eyes resting against her palms for a brief moment. Then, she took a deep breath, lifted her head, looking at him, and continued: "But … but you knew Weselton's men were close by … and my guards too."
"I did tell your guards to wait outside. I thought it would be enough. Regarding the prisoners, I didn't give them much thought, but I could never imagine people would take their words seriously – well, they did try to murder you, whatever they could say should only be considered hatred and ill-intentions towards you, nothing more."
"Ok, ok." She complied, pausing briefly before adding: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have accused you."
"Of what, exactly, Queen Elsa?"
"I don't know … using the situation to cement a high position on Arendelle's court, maybe the highest?"
He straightened himself on the chair and did his best offended face, retorting:
"Elsa, all I did was for the people's wellbeing! You yourself didn't know any other way to control your powers! Tell me, was that what you thought of me when I asked your blessing to marry Anna?"
"No … maybe … I didn't know you at all back then!" She threw her hands in the air and then recoiled them, placing her palms at her cheeks "Up until now I don't understand why you have done so much for Arendelle. Why do you keep being so interested in helping us? Anna rejected you and tried to pass you over to me … like an object … more like leftovers … even. Didn't it hurt?" She asked, frowning.
"Well …" Hans lowered his eyes, seemly disheartened, and continued: "As I told you all before … I wanted to belong …" He lifted his eyes, fixating them in her clear blue ones, adding: "I'm the 13th Prince of a small country. Back at home, nothing was truly expected of me. I didn't have any role, most of my brothers acted like I was invisible and I still feel like this up until today. Here in Arendelle … I felt I could make a difference … I still do. I believe this created … a fondness … in my heart for your kingdom, for your family. Sure, it hurts to be turned down, overlooked in favor of another man. Well, I'm only human after all. But I think that seeing Anna happy makes me happy too, that's why I want her to be with someone she has stronger feelings for, and this desires outshines my pain." He smiled weakly and added: "Also, I don't think she wanted to hand me over like an object. Anna is a very generous and caring person. I'm guessing that she just wanted to see everybody happy, something like 'love being an open door', something that everyone should experience."
Elsa nodded and replied:
"You're right about Anna. Though sometimes she can be a little … discourteous ... she's well-intentioned." This time the queen reached for his hands in reassurance, her touch a little bit cold, but it was a minor thing. What was important was that she was relating to him, being empathetic and opening up, he was playing his cards well, now it was time for a little bit of risk:
"What about you, Elsa? What did you think about Anna trying to put us together? I wasn't even sure you were there at all, you seemed completely out of it, your mind somewhere distant." He questioned, inclining a little bit into her direction.
She blushed a little, taking her hands to her head again, near the ears, and replied, disconcerted:
"Oh! There was so much going in my mind … I was panicking because I deduced you kept Weselton's man inside the prison as well and they heard us … and that a man, Kristoff, I had met mere minutes before knew so much about my … intimacy … and that Olaf knew too … Anna also said it was a forbidden romance and being so … okay … with everything … it disturbed me … deeply!"
"I did say it would be more sensitive to discuss the matter with only the three of us in the same room –" He started, being interrupted by her:
"But Anna said 'no more secrets' and the guilt was just consuming me … I didn't think things through … I acted on an impulse."
"I got nervous too, I admit." He complied, sending her a sympathetic smile.
"Very nervous!" She added, laughing a bit and dropping her hands to the desk's surface. It was a good sign, if she could laugh at the whole ordeal instead of being shamed to death, then he could convince her again to be touched.
"Sure, there was no good answer, but I'm glad everything worked out …" This, right here and there was his opportunity to score with her, so he placed his hands on hers and gave her a long and craving stare, glimpsing at where her legs joined her hips, breaking the pause with his voice: "for the best."
Her mouth gapped, the blood visibly rushed to her cheeks, and he saw her shifting in her chair, pressing her tights together, firmly. She got the innuendo, she was indeed a smart woman and that made everything more challenging and alluring to him.
She tried to withdraw her hands from his and he let her, noticing a little bit of surprise on her face, as if she was expecting a fight for dominance, but for the moment he was still testing the waters, very much aware that his position was precarious.
"Why did you kiss me?"
A/N: Ok, guys, I'm stopping this chapter here because it's already toooo big for my standards. There's no smut here but who knows what can happen. Also, I'm NOT trying to say that Anna is stupid or something like that. Her not knowing about sex was due to her sheltered upbringing. But then how does Elsa knows? Well, she was the heir, she had to know how babies were made, at least, and she read a lot (probably) with the amount of time she spent locked in her room.
Anna shifting the perception of Hans and Elsa doing a sexual act together as a forbidden romance will be addressed in the next chapters, because the sister need to talk, alone! Regarding the act of true love, I guess there were acts of true love: Elsa willing to open up to Anna about everything and keeping said promise later, the various fraternal kisses Elsa gave her sister (if for Once Upon a Time a kiss in the forehead from mother to son counts, why not many sisterly kisses?), the tears that rolled down and being honest to each other about their feelings. I guess it's an act of true love to admit everything and just open up for the other person you love.
Also, about Kristoff, I think he plays a lot in the defensive, that was why he was kind of reluctant to go with Anna to see her find Hans, but as there was proof Elsa was there (the partial thwarting), Anna thought that Elsa could solve everything and she'd buy time to figure out if she liked Hans or Kristoff. But then Hans worked it out for her, obviously because he wanted Elsa now, he had mustered courage to pursue her and even "(kind of) come out as the good guy in this whole situation (with Anna's help, of course!)