Chapter 7:

A Planted Seed Will Grow

The Southern Isles was throwing a ball one evening, celebrating the anniversary of King Daniel and Queen Aubrey's marriage. The king and queen went out of their way to make sure that this was one party no one would ever forget. Hans was especially looking forward to the event; his loved parties, and at this particular one someone special would be there. Princess Ruby of Labraza would be in attendance, and Hans couldn't be happier.he twelve year old had known Ruby for two years now, after his father opened up a trading agreement with the kingdom of Labraza. Princess Ruby was an amazing girl, beautiful as well as intelligent. She was two years older than Hans, but that didn't matter. The two shared a passion for reading, and often exchanged letters recommending various novels to read.

Hans kept every one of these letters. He had read them numerous times, falling more in love each time he did so. Tonight, he was going to confess how he felt about her. He had the evening all planned out in his head. He was going to dance a little with her (He was quite the dancer) get her drink, go out on the balcony and talk for a while, and then once the moment arrived, he would profess his love for her. Hans was sure that Ruby felt the same way about him. The way she acted whenever she was around him, the things she wrote in her letters, all heavily implied that Ruby loved Hans in return. That evening, as Hans was finishing getting dressed for the party, his older brother Edward came into his room unannounced. He saw Hans smiling at himself in the mirror, with a red rose in his suit pocket.

"Well, someone must be feeling good tonight," he said.

Hans gave him a quick smile, before turning back to look in the mirror. "I sure am. Princess Ruby is coming tonight, and I'm excited. I'm going to do it. I'm going to finally tell her how I feel."

Edward was well aware of the crush Hans had on Princess Ruby, and quite frankly, he thought it was ridiculous. Why should someone as beautiful as Ruby settle for someone like Hans when there were much better men out there. Men such as himself. After all, he was more of a man than Hans ever would be.

"Well, best of luck to you, little bro," Edward said, giving Hans a pat on the back. "I'll see you downstairs."

When Hans arrived at the ballroom, the party was already in full swing. He looked around the room for Ruby, politely passing through many nobles in the process. He finally spotted her talking to a nobleman from the Northern Isles. He smiled, and walked over to her.

"Hello, Ruby!" he said cheerfully.

Ruby's eyes lit up when she who it was that greeted her. "Hans! It's so good to see you," she said, giving the young prince a hug.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked.

"I would love too!"

Hans gently took Ruby by the hand and led her to the center of the dancefloor. The band had just started playing a slow song when they arrived. Hans placed one hand on Ruby's waist, and the other in one of her hands. The two moved swiftly to the beat, following the one, two, three rhythm.

As they danced, the crowd looked on, admiring the two. "They make a cute couple," said one woman. However, not all were transfixed by their tango. In the background, Edward looked on with contempt as the two crisscrossed over the dance floor. "What a waste," he muttered to himself. When the song ended, Hans and Ruby went off to the corner to talk for a while. The two discussed the latest books they had read, and the possibility of the two taking a trip to the village tomorrow before she left for home. They were so caught up in their discussions, that Hans almost forgot his plan to get Ruby a drink. He excused himself and went over the table, and poured a glass of punch for her. When he returned to where they had been sitting together, Ruby was gone. "Ruby!" he called, but no one answered. Hans walked up to several noblemen and asked if they had seen her, but none had. He looked around some more, finally finding a person who had seen Ruby. "She went out on the balcony," a woman from the Northern Isles told him.

"Thank you," Hans said, before quickly heading towards the balcony. When he opened the doors, and stepped out onto the balcony, he saw something that horrified him.

Princess Ruby and his brother Edward were kissing each other. Hans didn't want to believe what he was seeing, but it was all too real. Ruby and Edward's lips were pressed against one another, both of them moaning with pleasure

Tears filled Hans' eyes as he dropped the glass from his hand. The shattering sound it made after hitting the concrete, quickly alerted Ruby and Edward of his presence.

Both of them turned and faced him. Ruby was smiling, obviously still savoring what had just occurred.

"Hans! We were just wondering where you were?" she said, leaning her head against Edward's shoulder.

"Yeah, where were you, little bro?" Edward asked, flashing him a wicked smile.

Hans couldn't answer. He just stood and stared at Ruby, the girl he loved, cuddle up on his brother. How could his own brother do this to him? They've done many unpleasant things before, but this…this was a new low.

"Hans, are you OK?" Ruby asked.

Hans didn't answer. Instead he turned around, ran back inside, and headed upstairs. Once he was in his room, he locked the door behind him, and collapsed to the floor, crying his eyes out.

After Hans brought the boar back to the cave, he got back to work on trying to start a fire for Anna and him. He had been rubbing two sticks together for several hours, and still had no results. Anna watched as her former captor cussed out the pieces of wood in front of him, furious that they refused to light.

"Goddammit! Light you stupid wood!" he yelled.

"Sure, why not shout at it, maybe that will start a fire," Anna teased.

Hans glared angrily at Anna. "I hope you know that I'm doing this for you!"

"Oh really? Because I specifically remember telling you not to kill that boar," Anna retorted.

"Whatever. If you're not going to help, at least be quiet."

Anna laid back on one of the rocks, watching as Hans continued to rub the sticks together. Eventually, after another series of failed attempts, Hans managed to cause smoke to billow out of the wood. He blew on it gently, causing the smoke to grow bigger, and a spark to form. "Yes, yes, yes!" he cried. The flame grew bigger and started to cover the entire piece of wood.

"Anna, go get more pieces of wood!" he cried.

When the princess returned with several large pieces of wood, she tossed them down near the fire that Hans had created. Hans added each piece to the fire, causing the flames to grow higher and higher, making Hans very happy.

"I have created fire!" he yelled triumphantly. "I made fire, I made fire, I made fire!"

Anna rolled her eyes. "You act like you just discovered the damn thing."

Hans ignored her, and sat down to begin skinning the boar with his knife. Before too long, the prince was roasting pieces of meat over the fire.

Anna had to admit it; she was pleased that Hans managed to get a fire going. And as much as she disagreed with him killing the boar, she couldn't wait to eat some meat.

The two dined on a steady meal of pork, fruit, and coconut water. It was by far the biggest meal either of them had had in days. While they ate, Hans thought of other animals he could hunt on the island. He had seen a few crabs scurrying along the shore earlier, those would be great to eat. However, he didn't want to waste the remaining bullets in his gun on them. He had to find a new way to hunt them. After finishing his meal, Hans retrieved one of the sticks Anna had gathered to use as firewood, and began to whittle it.

Anna noticed what he was doing and asked about it. "Are you making something?"

"I'm going to make a spear out of this stick," Hans said, peeling away the bark with his knife.

"I honestly don't think that's going to kill another boar for us," she said.

"I know, which is why I plan on using it to hunt other things like crab and fish."

"Pretty resourceful," Anna commented. "Well, while you work on your new weapon, I'm going down to the beach for a while."

Anna left Hans alone in the cave, going back down to the beach where she said she was going. She took a seat in the sand, and looked out over the horizon. It had been days since they landed on the island, and they were still here! Anna was beginning to wonder if anyone was coming to rescue them. What if Elsa and Kristoff think I'm dead? She thought. What if they've given up searching for me? The mere thought of it all brought tears to Anna's eyes. If that were the truth, then she would be stuck on this island forever with Hans of all people. Looking out over the horizon, she noticed a large, strange looking object in the water, brushed up against the rocks.

Anna walked over to see what it was, and nearly screamed when she found out. It was a dead body…a human body. Without thinking twice, she raced back to the cave and told Hans what she had found.

"Hans, I found someone in the water!" she cried.

Hans turned to face her. "Who?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it's some dead man," Anna said, still traumatized by what she had just seen.

"Show me!"

Anna led Hans back to where she had found the dead man. Upon seeing it, Hans knew instantly who it was.

"Captain Ulric," he said softly.

"You knew him?"

"Yes, he was the captain of my ship when I captured you. From the looks of it, he's been dead for quite some time now. Oh well."

Hans turned around and started to walk back towards the cave, when Anna called for him to stop.

"Hans, we can't just leave him here," she said.

"Why not? He's dead, Anna," Hans retorted.

"That doesn't matter. We should give him a proper burial."

Hans started to laugh. He couldn't believe what the princess was actually suggesting.

"You want to bury him? The man who is partially responsible for your current predicament? Oh that's rich, Anna. That really is."

Anna's face grew stern; she wasn't going to let him off that easy. "He was under YOUR orders, Hans, in case you don't remember. Because of you, he lost his life. You owe it to him to at least give him a proper burial."

Hans knew that Anna was steadfast in her belief, and nothing he could say would change that.

"Alright, let's bring his body over to the beach," Hans said reluctantly. Hans grabbed Captain Ulric's head, while Anna grabbed his feet, and the two hauled his body back to the upper part of the beach. Using the empty coconut shells as makeshift shovels, the two dug a shallow grave for the captain. Looking through his coat pocket, Anna found a pocket watch, which contained a photograph of Captain Ulric and what she assumed were his wife and son. Once he was buried, Anna took out a piece of wood and carved his name in it using Hans' knife. She put the piece of wood on top of his grave, and stood back to look at their finished work.

"Well, that's that," Hans said. "I'm going back to the cave."

"Wait, Hans," Anna said, grabbing his arm. "Shouldn't we say something on his behalf?"

"I barely knew the guy," Hans said.

"That doesn't matter. We should pay our respects. Here, I'll go first," Anna said, taking a step forward.

"Captain Ulric, words cannot begin to express the sorrow I feel for your loss. Even though I didn't know you, you seemed like you were a good man, someone who always looked out for his crew, and loved his family deeply. If we ever get off this island, I promise I will return this pocket watch to your wife and son, and let them know of the tragic fate that has befallen you. Once again, I am so sorry that this happened. You didn't need to die just to fulfill a man's twisted request." Anna flashed Hans an angry glare, showing him that she was talking about him. The prince shrugged it off, and then gave his words of respect.

"Captain Ulric, I didn't know you too well, but you seemed like a good captain. I too am sorry that this happened to you, and I'm even sorrier that all that gold I paid you went to waste. Wherever you are now, I hope you are happy."

It wasn't the best eulogy Anna had ever heard, but it would do. After paying their respects, the two walked back to the cave together. Along the way, Anna looked at the photograph of Captain Ulric and his family.

"I hope to have a family like this with Kristoff someday," she said.

"What, the ice harvester?" Hans asked. "That lonely peasant? You're a princess, you deserve someone far better than that."

"Kristoff is a wonderful man," Anna said in defense. "He's kind, funny, brave, and he cares about me. He's my true love."

Hans laughed. "Oh here we go again," he said. "Anna, you wouldn't know what true love is if it hit you on the head."

Anna stopped walking and faced Hans: her eyes gleamed with anger and hate. "I know more about true love than you ever will, Hans. You don't care about anyone but yourself, and that's the first rule about loving someone. You put their needs before your own. That's what Kristoff does for me. He's more of a man than you'll ever be!"

The princess stormed off back into the cave, leaving Hans alone on the beach. Anna's words were sharp, and bitter, but they were very true, and that was most painful. For the first time in many years, Hans started to cry.

A much more vulnerable side to Hans is revealed in this chapter, and that vulnerability will continue to grow. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!