Chapter 10: Aftermath

Elsa's heart felt it would burst with misery for just a moment at the look on Anna's face. But she took a deep breath and stepped forward, willing the feelings of disgrace that Anna seemed to compel upon her to flee. They weren't warranted.

"Anna, we can explain," Elsa began as calmly as possible.

"I doubt that," Anna retorted.

"What she said," Kristoff seconded.

"Anna, Kristoff, this isn't what you think it is," Hans tried to put in. "I truly love Elsa."

"Hans!" Elsa whisper-screamed, elbowing him lightly. Those feelings were still so fresh from their first confession. She needed time to curl up in a ball in her bed later and whisper them to herself before she could believe what was happening to her. To feel the warm tendrils of happiness continue to spread from within her heart at the sound of them.

Now word would spread far and wide of her romance with Hans, and the people of Arendelle were not going to be pleased. All before she could enjoy this little wisp of contentment, this excitement of forbidden possibility.

Anna marched forward and seized Elsa lightly by the arm, pulling her away from Hans.

"You do realize he told me the same thing, right?" Anna asked fiercely, "And you also remember that time he planned to marry you so he could rule Arendelle? Then marry me when you seemed unapproachable? And let's not forget that he tried to murder you. That's the part I always find interesting." Anna was an inferno of rage with an unflappable determination to dissuade Elsa from trusting Hans.

"He's changed, Anna. He isn't that person anymore." Elsa said the words simply and quietly, and wasn't too distracted to notice the small smile of gratitude Hans shot at her. His eyes looked exhausted with the burden of his past wrongs.

"Look, why don't we just cut to the chase and let me lift this creep up by the shoulders and throw him out the front door?" Kristoff asked irritably. Hans' past conduct towards Anna had guaranteed that Kristoff would do anything necessary to protect her and Elsa from someone he considered an irredeemable villain.

"That won't be necessary," Hans announced, "I'm going."

"I'll come and find you later," Elsa promised, the words springing from her heart instinctively.

"No you won't!" Anna scolded.

"Yes," Elsa said, turning back to her sister and crossing her arms. "I will, Anna. I'm sorry you had to find out about it this way, and I'm sorry for how…scary and messy this all is. But I also don't know what it's going to take to get you to trust me enough that you believe what I say about Hans."

Anna blinked at Elsa in confusion. "Elsa, it's not that I don't trust you…"

"Alright then," Elsa replied, smoothing her hair back from her face and squaring her shoulders against this latest challenge. "If that's true, then in spite of the past, I'm asking you to show me that you do. Think about it, please."

Her voice trembled despite her attempt at a more confident stature. The last thing Elsa wanted to do was show the least bit of shame or fear about her feelings for Hans. That would merely serve to prove that Anna's worst worries held water. Still, the whirlwind of conflicting emotions she was going through was more than she could bear without showing her rarely-glimpsed vulnerability.

Anna didn't reply, but stood regarding her sister with sad, searching eyes, a look that pleaded for Elsa to use her common sense and wake up to Hans' evil nature, while regretting that this was driving a wedge between them.

Elsa shook her head, overcome by the impossibility of the situation, and left the room.

She left the castle as soon as the ball was ended and made for Hans' humble cottage dwelling in the village.

"I'm sorry," Hans said as soon as he let her in. Elsa descended to the warm, softly shaggy rug before the vividly burning fireplace, the flames reflecting the mixture of happiness and sadness warring in her eyes.

"We both knew this was coming, if we were going to keep on…" Hans' voice drifted off as he sat down beside her, their fingers automatically interlacing. "But still, it was even worse than I expected. I'm—"

"Don't say it again," Elsa entreated, lying down and stretching her arms out, feeling the tension draining from her muscles. "I'm not sorry." She gazed up at Hans' perplexed, serious face as he hovered over her in intense concern. "I feel what I feel for you, what I've never felt for anyone before…and I can't regret that. We'll find a way to deal with the consequences."

Hans lowered himself so that he was even closer, stroking her cheek tenderly. "But Elsa, there shouldn't have to be consequences for you, just because you care for someone. You deserve so much better than that. Better than me," he amended bitterly and sounding certain, averting his eyes.

Elsa tilted his chin back towards her. "That's not for you to decide," she reminded him.

Something about her affectionately bossy gesture put the sparkle back in his eyes. "Well, don't I get a say about anything?"

"When you're loved by a queen, getting to make your own life decisions is a rare privilege," Elsa replied with a wink, noticing how he was taken aback by her honest confession of love, cloaked but not obscured by her nervous joke. "But there's one thing you can decide," she added.

"And what is that?" Hans inquired softly, huskily, still amazed by what she had said.

She pressed her hands against his strong chest, running her hand over it to feel his rapid heartbeat.

"Whether or not I can stay here tonight," Elsa replied quietly, trembling slightly at the temptation his nearness suggested.

"Elsa," Hans answered in a bit of a fluster, clearly shocked, "I would never expect…I mean, don't you think it's too…"

"Too soon? Too scandalous? Too forbidden? Too insane?" Elsa winked again, standing up and making her way to his bed, where she turned down the blankets and sat down, patting the pillows with a smile. "The cat's already out of the bag, Hans."

"But Elsa, when we…I want it to be under different circumstances…I was hoping that…" Hans seemed to keep running into brick walls that prevented him from finishing his sentences.

"When we what, Hans? I'm only talking about sleeping. But if your arms happen to end up around me, you won't hear me complaining. I'm incredibly tired, aren't you?" She kicked her shoes off and snuggled down under the covers, savoring the sensation of Hans' surprise, piqued interest, confused insistence on honor, and slightly irritated amusement that practically crackled in the air.

A short, annoyed laugh was all that Hans let out as he slid into bed beside her. "I give up," he muttered, closing his eyes and sighing in irresistible contentment as their warm embrace instantly promised to sweep them away into a deep slumber.

"Good," Elsa answered with a smile.

She woke with a contented sigh the next morning, fully aware of how comfortable warm, plain sheets could be compared with the cold silk ones she slept on alone at the palace. Hans was no longer beside her, but she could hear muttering and smelled smoke coming from his tiny kitchen, so she got up to investigate.

Elsa pulled her cloak around her like a bathrobe and did her best to suppress a giggle at the sight of Hans' very labored attempt to make eggs and toast, which were causing him to curse and wave his singed fingers around grumpily.

"I heard that giggle," Hans accused, scowling down at the blackened mess in the pan before him.

"It was very sweet of you to try to make breakfast," Elsa grinned, turning off the stove and taking the glass of orange juice he offered glumly. She sipped the fresh-squeezed drink, trying not to choke on it when she saw the dilapidated pile of orange peels he'd left strewn all over the place.

"Delicious," she murmured happily, leaning in for a kiss.

"That makes it all worthwhile," Hans admitted, "Even if you did call me sweet."

"That was a little strange, wasn't it?" Elsa winked. "I have an idea."

She slid her feet back into her shoes and told Hans to wait for her. Venturing out into the bright, sunny morning, Elsa found what she was looking for soon enough, and went practically dancing back into the cottage. Hans sat at the table, staring at a steaming mug of terrible-smelling coffee when she came in with a basket filled with splendidly fresh rolls and berries.

"A good idea," Hans affirmed, "and let's remember that the next time I try to cook."

Halfway through their meal, their blissful haze of togetherness was interrupted by a loud knock on the door, after which one of the palace guards came charging into Hans' cottage.

"Really," Elsa sighed, shaking her head, "You can go back to the castle and tell Princess Anna that I'm perfectly safe and capable of making my own decisions."

The guard didn't look judgmental or even confused, but rather, overcome by dread and worry. "Your highness, I cannot do any such thing, for your sister was kidnapped last night."

Blades of ice flew from Elsa's fingers and shattered violently against the wooden floor. "What?" she demanded. "If this happened last night, why am I only hearing of it now?"

"The princess' consort only learned of the fact himself this morning. It seems that your sister spent the late night hours pacing the castle, and her husband fell asleep eventually. It was during this time that she was taken."

Elsa stared searchingly at Hans, seeing her own desperation for answers reflected in his intelligent expression, the questions and answers he pondered glittering in his eyes.

"There's every chance this has something to do with my family," Hans determined, snatching up his coat. He turned to the guard as if he had never stopped being a Prince, as if he had never been branded a criminal and banished from his own land to become an indentured worker in another. With the utmost confidence and seriousness, Hans ordered the solider, "Prepare horses and everything else we will need for a day's travel. We must leave for the Southern Isles at once."

"Are you that sure?" Elsa asked, nodding to the guard to confirm her agreement with Hans' orders.

"This is so thoroughly evil and cruel, so manipulative, that it smacks of no one more than my father and Anders. I don't know how they managed to overcome Marit as well as Nils, but…I'm almost certain. The chance is too likely not to investigate."

Elsa nodded, choking back a sob at the thought of her argument with Anna and how it had kept sister her up all night, restless and unhappy. While she herself had indulged in her love for Hans…

"Don't do that," Hans said, quickly understanding everything Elsa felt. "Anna's kidnapping is no one's fault but my family's. Let's go get her back — you have to stop blaming yourself and steel yourself instead for a battle, and to have your wits and powers at their sharpest."

Elsa took strength from Hans' iron will, his uncanny ability to know everything in her heart with a single glance. "You're right," she decided, bolstering her courage. "Let's go."