I do not own the rights to Disney. Contains spoilers for Frozen.

Say Something, I'm Giving Up On You

Hansel didn't know it was possible for a person to go from being ecstatic, to terrified, back to ecstatic, and back to terrified in such a short period of time. First Gretel had accepted his proposal, then his brother and Elsa revealed who he really was, then the king and queen had declared he could stay in Corona, and then he saw Gretel was gone. It appeared that she had taken Teddy with her due to his brother's pants still being intact.

He spent several minutes scanning the crowd for her face, her braid, or that distinct yellow dress while ignoring Marten's badgering. Hansel had more important things on his mind than the family reunion which had just happened. While the reunion was unexpected and sudden, Hansel didn't have time to stop and chat with his brother when he could be finding Gretel.

Rueben saw the frantic look on Hansel's face and sighed. "I'm sorry Hansel, but she ran off before anybody could stop her."

Ran off to where though? The answer came to Hansel easily, and he felt like an idiot for not thinking of it immediately. Gretel had most likely ran home to the bakery. She had a key with her, and where else would she go?

Hansel ignored Marten's demands for an answer as to what was going on, along with the claps on the back and congratulations from the towns people. He didn't know why Gretel had run off because he didn't know when she had ran and how much she had heard. Which is why the sooner he got to her to explain what had happened and why he hadn't told her, the better.

Sure enough, he found her in the bakery. The back door was unlocked and she was in the room she shared with her sisters. She was sitting on her bed fingering the ring he had given her earlier. Teddy was by her side and she was petting him absentmindedly while she was lost in thought. So lost that she didn't even notice he had entered the room. It wasn't until Teddy leaped off of the bed to run to Hansel and her hand met an empty space did she even bother to look up.

A surprise look crossed her face, but she didn't say anything. She simply turned her head away. Teddy looked from Gretel to Hansel confused, and pawed Hansel as if to say, 'Do something!' Hansel shot him a look of his own, 'I'm working on it!'

Hansel sat down next to Gretel on the bed. Beneath them was a worn quilt, no doubt some of Tilly's work. "Look, I can explain-"

"Explain?" she asked, finally speaking to him but cutting him off at the same time. "Explain what? The fact that you lied to me and my family about who you were for three years?!"

The anger in her voice made Hansel pause. In all the years he had known her, he couldn't remember a time when she was so mad. Irritated, impatient, upset, sad, but never mad. He had seen her parents and her sisters angry plenty of times, but never Gretel. He didn't even know it was possible.

"I thought you were going to explain," said Gretel after an uncomfortable silence. Hansel ran his fingers through his hair nervously. He was a fool for thinking that simply because the king and queen had allowed him to stay in the kingdom and all the villagers had been accepting of his past that everything was okay. It wasn't. Life had never been kind to him before, so why should it now?

"How much did you hear before you left?" In order for him to explain, he needed to know where to begin.

"Enough," she answered quietly. Her voice, while at a lower volume was still on edge. She was still angry, just no longer shouting. "Enough to know your name isn't Hans. Enough to know why your last engagement didn't work out."

Hansel now had a place to start. "Yes, well after you left, their majesties decided that as long as I remained on my best behavior I could stay in Corona."

"That's not an explanation," replied Gretel coldly. "I assumed as much seeing as you're here and not in a dungeon in chains or on a boat out of Corona."

Right. That was kind of obvious now that he thought about it. What was it about Gretel that caused his brain to freeze and overlook the obvious?

Gretel was still waiting for an explanation. "Look, I'm not that.. I'm not that person anymore. I haven't been Prince Hans of the Southern Isles for a long time. I am Hansel Anders of Corona. I didn't want to lie to you and your family, but I was just so grateful for a new start and thought it didn't matter."

Gretel scoffed at him. "Didn't matter? You thought concealing your identity and not doing what you were supposed to didn't matter?! What if the truth had come out in a few years when we were married and had children? What if their majesties weren't so understanding then? You know how important my family is to me Hansel, or whatever your name is. Would you really have made me choose between being banished from Corona with my husband or staying with my family? Or worse, made them choose between losing their daughter or losing the bakery?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to trust me. I trusted you with my biggest fear and my father trusted you with the Burg bread secret ingredient. Did it never occur to you that you could trust us in return? We would have gone to their majesties to make things right and supported you."

"And what if it had gone all wrong? What if they decided that I couldn't stay in Corona?"

"We would have dealt with it, if you only had given us the chance. We knew you had a past, but we still welcomed you into our home and family. It's a shame you didn't trust us in return."

"I tried to kill my fiancee and her sister and was banished from my kingdom. That's hardly appropriate conversation for the dinner table."

"No, but it is an appropriate conversation to have before you ask somebody to marry you!"

By this point in the heated discussion both of them were standing up and in each other's faces. Teddy was circling around them and pawed at them occasionally in hopes it'd get them to calm down. It wasn't working.

"Gretel I'm sorry. I-"

"Stop. Just stop. I need to be alone so please leave."

"Gretel-"

"Leave. Now."

Before Hansel could protest further he pushed out of the room with the door slammed in his face. On the floor was the chain with ring on it. No doubt it had fallen from Gretel's fingers when she had thrown him out of the room. Hansel picked it up and raised a hand to knock on the door. But what was the point? She had said she wanted to be alone. Instead he placed it around the doorknob. Perhaps once she realized it was missing she would come out and look for it in which case it'd be on the doorknob waiting for her.

Several hours later, Gretel had still refused to see Hansel. She had seen her sisters and parents, but refused to talk to him. Apparently when she said she wanted to be alone what she really meant was she didn't want to be with Hansel. By now, the majority of the Corona and the Burg household were in bed. Except for Hansel who was in the kitchen at the fireplace. The same one three years earlier he had thrown the letter his father had given him into. Now though, instead of watching his past go up in flames he was watching his future.

Reuben came down the back staircase and stood next to Hansel at the fireplace. "You should go to bed Hansel. Gretel just needs some time to process everything."

"You and Gretchen processed everything just fine," muttered Hansel. "Nobody else got angry at me, except her."

"Hansel," said Reuben gently, "just because we stood up for you, doesn't mean we're not angry at you for deceiving us. We are, but we understand you had your reasons and dwelling on it won't change anything."

"Why can't Gretel understand that?"

"It is one thing to deceive your employer, but it is another to deceive your wife. Spouses should not keep such secrets from each other, not ones that could put themselves or children at risk. Trust me Hansel, I speak from experience."

"Oh really?" asked Hansel, not really caring about what Reuben was saying. Reuben and the others had managed to get over him lying about his past, why couldn't Gretel? Why was she still angry at him? Sure she had some valid points, but everything had worked out though.

"The summer I discovered the Rapunzel for the Burg bread. Gretchen was expecting Tilly at the time, and Lisa and Becca were both small and getting over colds. Gretel had gotten over hers and was tired of staying in bed. I wanted to go looking for new ingredient so I told Gretchen I'd take Gretel with me to go for a picnic and let her see fields full of flowers. Well, we saw the flowers for a few minutes but then continued our way into the woods. I had never ventured into that part of the forest, mostly due to the stories about the witch. But I figured since they were just stories, everything would be okay."

Hansel, who had started to pay a bit more of attention to what Reuben was saying, knew where he was going. "But it wasn't. Gretel wandered off."

Reuben nodded. "One minute she was next to me, the next she was gone. I don't know how long I searched, but I was never more afraid in my life. I found her along with the Rapunzel. She was a bit dazed and confused, but safe. At least, that's what I thought. I didn't tell Gretchen what had happened, just that I had found the plant near the woods. I was so happy that I had the ingredient at last, but Gretel... poor Gretel started having nightmares."

"Of the witch," murmured Hansel.

"Indeed. Well Gretchen found out what really happened that day and yelled at me for putting Gretel at risk for a plant. She was right of course. With time though she forgave me, but made me promise I would only take Gretel with me to get the plant in the future and that neither of us would ever go to get the plant alone. Eventually Gretel's nightmares went away. I think going back each summer and having nothing happen helped her get over her fear."

The nightmares may be gone, but the fear was very much still there, though Hansel didn't say anything. "Look, the point I'm trying to make is when you're married and have a family you can't be putting yourself first. I wanted my plant so badly I nearly lost Gretel for good and could have lost Gretchen and the others as well. That's why Gretel is still angry with you. By concealing your true identity and past you put her and us at risk."

Guilt filled Hansel. Reuben and Gretel were both right. He had never considered what might happen to them if the truth came out, just himself. He was ashamed of who he used to be and was afraid if they found out the truth they would tell him to leave just like his own family had which he wouldn't have been able to bear. He had come to love living in Corona and with the Burgs, especially Gretel.

Yet, if their majesties hadn't been so merciful things could have turned out differently. Hansel could have been banished along with the Burgs for sheltering him. Or imprisoned. Or executed. While it seemed like executions had decreased over the years ever since the lost princess's return, it was still a possibility. Or if the truth had come out later, Gretel would have been forced to decide between leaving her husband or leaving her family. None of those possibilities had ever occurred to Hansel. Just that if he told the truth he would be the one to lose everything, not them.

Reuben patted him on the back and left to go back upstairs, to bed no doubt. Hansel tried dozing in his own, but with the thoughts racing through his mind he didn't manage much sleep. First and foremost was Gretel. Unable to sleep, Hansel quietly tiptoed up the stairs and toward her bedroom. The door was now open and Hansel could see Gretel on the bed surround by her sisters. It looked as if none had bothered to change out of their clothes from the night before. Gretel was sleeping peacefully with Teddy under one arm. Seeing Hansel, Teddy wriggled out of her grip and over to Hansel. His movement jangled the necklace that was still hanging on the doorknob.

Hansel thought that if he left it and Gretel opened the door she would see it and take it. The door was open and had been opened several times for her sisters, but the necklace was still hanging there, unwanted- just like Hansel was.

Everybody else had forgiven him for his past and concealing it. Everybody but the one person who mattered, and it looked like she never would.

Hans really should have known better. His life after all, wasn't a fairy tale.

When Reuben and Gretchen came down in the morning to open the bakery, Reuben was pleased to discover that Hansel was no longer standing in front of the fireplace. His pleasure didn't last long when Gretchen discovered a note on one of the tables. Hansel had left the Burg bakery.

For good.

**Author's Note**

I'd like to thank Celestia's Paladin, XXPay4XtraShippingsXX, The Animanga Girl, alaskanwoman25, HighLevelJinx, GingerGeekGal1796, SayuriEvernight, Demigod At Heart, preciousat, crystalsnowfury, Wise girl16, and Anon A. Mauze. All reviews are appreciated so please keep it up.

I apologize for the wait. I've been watching a lot of anime recently and had to take a week off from writing. Whenever I wrote, I would picture Hansel and the others drawn anime style with anime type reactions. The dialogue would be Japanese, which I didn't understand, and English subtitles in my head. It was really weird and I just couldn't write. It's gone now, so I can go back to writing.

Last chapter several reviewers complained about Elsa being a bitch. Believe it or not, I actually rewrote that scene several times to make her less bitchy. I think her reaction is valid. The last time she saw Hans he tried to kill her and Anna. She doesn't know about his life with the Burgs or the fact that he's changed. She just knows that he's lied about who is and is engaged again. For all she knows Hans plans to hurt Gretel just like he hurt Anna, which she doesn't want to happen. I'm also not done with Elsa, she'll show up in the next chapter.

This chapter was shorter than usual, but was mainly about explaining why Gretel was upset with Hansel and him realizing that he hadn't even considered the consequences for Gretel and the Burgs if their majesties hadn't been so forgiving. The Burgs could have been punished for employing and housing Hans. Or he could have been sent into exile with Gretel forced to choose between her husband and her family, and her family choosing between Gretel and their bakery. The Burgs are a very close family, so it would have been agony for them to choose what to do, all because Hans was too selfish to admit the truth and go to the king and queen of Corona like he was supposed to. Gretel realizes that Hansel has changed from who he used to be and is sorry for what happened in Arendelle, but is angry that he was more worried about himself than what could have happened to the Burgs if/when the truth came out. I hope that makes sense.

Next chapter, titled 'Into the Woods', should be longer. Hansel sends himself away from Corona and the witch finally shows back up. There will also be a reference to a non-animated Disney movie.