Emma had felt her heart tear itself in two before. Had seen people she loved die right before her eyes. It never stopped hurting, never stopped her from screaming herself raw with grief. And sometimes, in certain situations, never stopped her from seeing red.
So when she saw Elsa's broken body laying atop another cliff, at least fifty feet down, a small puddle of blood forming at the base of her head, she felt her heart break in half and heard herself scream in pure agony. When she heard Hans' triumphant laugh from behind her, she saw red.
Hans was up against the face of the cliff in a flash. The laughter died in his throat and so did his next breath. He gasped, clutching at his throat, at the invisible force that was holding him five feet above the ground. He nearly wet his pants at the sight before him.
Emma stood before him, shaking in fury, magic pulsing around her, her eyes glowing a bright gold. The other hand inched towards his chest.
"You killed her" The voice was calm. Eerily calm and it scared the crap out of him. "You killed her and now you will pay dearly for it" Her hand lingered for a few seconds above his chest before she plunged her hand in.
He gasped in agony.
She found his heart quickly and encased her hand around it. She pulled it out roughly. Looking down at it, she was unsurprised to see it covered in blackness.
"I could squeeze it right now" She whispered. "But that would be too quick. I want to see you suffer, cause you the pain you just caused me" She tightened her grip on the heart to prove her point. He gave a strangled cry of pain. She released him from his grip and he fell to the floor, panting. When he caught his breath, he looked up at her. Tears shown in his eyes and he whimpered pitifully. "Please"
She curled her lip in disgust. "These are the types of villains I hate the most. The cowardly ones" Once more, she tightened her grip. Harder then last time but not hard enough to crush it.
"Emma, stop!" She turned at the sound of the voice.
"Anna" She growled. "Stay out of this"
Anna, tears streaming down her face shook her head.
"Anna, this doesn't concern me!"
A flash of anger. "Doesn't concern me?! I just watched my sister die! It sure as hell concerns me!" She strode over until she was inches from Emma. "I will not let the love of my sister darken her heart because of him!" She pointed in disgust at Hans. "He is not worth it! Don't you dare let my sister's sacrifice be in vain!"
"He killed her" Emma repeated with a growl.
"Yes he did and he will be punished. Just not by your hands"
"How are you so calm about this?" Emma protested.
"I'm not. Inside I'm dying but this is not the way to let it out. Do not kill another in revenge. It won't help anything. It won't bring her back. The only thing it will do is darken your heart and cause my sister's sacrifice to be in vain. She will never forgive you and neither will I if you crush his heart right now"
"But he killed her" It was weaker this time. Anna knew she was winning. She took her hands holding the heart and said gently, "I promise he will be punished. Just don't crush his heart"
Emma's hands trembled. Tears cascaded down her face. She collapsed on the ground, her frame shaking but with grief.
"She's dead! She's dead!" She wailed over and over. The words stabbed at her heart again and again and if she were to plunge her hand in her chest right now, she would expect to see the shattered remains of her heart.
Anna had no words of comfort for her. When her parents died, she was alone to mourn. So she just held her close, stroking her hair.
A few minutes past before the tears stopped. She took a shuddering breath and stood up. Looking down at Hans, she said in the firmest voice she could muster, "You got what you came for. I don't want you to ever come for Anna or for Arendelle ever again. If you do, I will not hesitate next time to crush your heart. For that, I am keeping it. Forever. Now get out of here" With a wave of her hand, she awoke the brothers from their slumber and they stood up groggily.
"Men, let's get out of here" Hans said with a tremble to his voice. The glare in Emma's eyes sent them all scurrying. Once they were gone, Emma looked down at his heart and sighed, suddenly exhausted.
"Come on. Let's go down to get Elsa" In other words, let's go down to retrieve the body in order to do a proper burial.
Emma nodded mutely.
They walked down, Emma in a numb sort of state. She felt so many emotions at once it was becoming quickly too much.
When they reached the cliff where Elsa had fallen, Emma let out a broken sound at the sight of the body. Anna intertwined their fingers.
"I can do this if you want" She offered.
Emma shook her head. "No. I can do this"
Slowly, they walked up to her. The blood was too much for Emma to bear and with a flick of her wrist, it was gone.
Anna kneeled at her side and Emma stood back.
"Elsa" Anna began with a tremor in her voice. She gave a sad laugh. "Your selflessness never ceases to amaze me. I will tell Arendelle what happened here, everything. I will tell them the truth. That their queen sacrificed herself for her sister, for her love and for her people. I will make sure they never forget. Our parents would be so proud of you right now. So proud. Say hi for me, will you? When you see them" She sniffled and then stood up.
Emma was next.
She knelt down and brushed some loose hair from Elsa's braid out of her face. "I...I am never good with these types of things which is surprising considering how many people I have lost in my life. So I guess I just want to say I love you. So very much. I will miss your beauty, your bravery, the bright shine in your eyes whenever I see you, the beautiful sound you make when you laugh at my corny jokes. Most of all, I will miss the goodness of your heart. You may have the power of snow and ice but you have one of the warmest hearts I have ever met. And I promise I will see you again. Just wait for me"
She leaned down and placed the gentlest of kisses on her still cooling lips. Bending her head down, she placed it over her chest, where her once beating heart lay.
Suddenly a thought struck her and her eyes widened.
She sat up, looking back and forth between the beating heart of Hans and Elsa. Was it possible...She thought back to the conversation she had with her mother a few weeks ago.
"I thought once someone was dead, they were dead" Emma said, dipping her finger in the whipped cream of her heart chocolate.
"So did I" Snow said. "But I had faith"
"So as long as you have faith, you can just rip your heart in half and give one half to another person?"
Snow chuckled. "I don't think it's that easy. I believe the person you are giving it to has to be your true love"
"Are you sure?"
Snow nodded. "Yes. I believe true love never fails"
"Oh god" Emma breathed, placing Hans heart to the side. She placed her hand over her chest and plunged it in. She gasped in pain as she tore it out.
The sound alerted Anna who rushed forward. "What are you doing?"
"No time to explain" Emma groaned. Grasping her heart with both hands, she twisted and it broke in half. Pain erupted in her chest and she fought to keep consciousness. Quickly she plunged one half back in her chest and gasped in relief. She leaned over Elsa and thrust her hand in her chest. She pulled out her dead heart and placed it to the side. She paused in her movements to take a deep breath and pray that this would work. Then she thrust her hand back in to release the other part of her heart.
She waited.
Nothing happened.
She kept waiting, the smile slipping from her face but her heart not yet connecting with her mind. She waited long after she knew it was pointless.
It wasn't until Anna placed her hand on her shoulder and whispered, "I'm sorry Emma" that she broke down all over again.
Throwing herself over Elsa's body, she wept. "If I knew this was how it was going to end, I wish I never would have met you in that ice cave!"
Then there was a breath, a whisper against her ear belonging to the person she cherished.
"I'm glad I met you"
Emma stilled. It couldn't be.
She looked up. Her ears had to be playing a cruel trick on her.
Red lips smiled up at her and warm eyes glowed softly.
Words died in Emma's throat. All she could let loose were high pitched sounds of disbelief and delight.
Elsa gave a lopsided smile. "You happy to see me?"
Emma threw herself at her and she found her voice. "Yes! Oh god, yes!"
"Elsa!"
Emma and Elsa groaned as another body landed on top of them.
Anna squealed in delight, throwing her arms around Elsa's neck and burrowing her face in the soft skin below her jaw. "Emma did it!"
"I know" Elsa chuckled. "I can feel it" The smile turned gentle, warm. "You gave half of your heart just to save me"
"I would give half my body to save you if necessary" Emma whispered.
Elsa swallowed down tears. "I love you"
Emma felt her heart swell, all the broken pieces mending themselves back together. "I love you too"
With Anna in the middle, they both leaned in and softly kissed. Emma didn't think she would ever get tired of the softness of Elsa's lip.
"Okay! I am going home now!" Anna exclaimed, scrabbling to get out of the love fest.
Emma and Elsa broke apart laughing. Then Elsa sighed sadly.
"I guess it is time to go home, isn't it?" She looked sideways at Emma.
However Emma was smiling. "I believe that I will find you again somehow"
Elsa cocked her head. "And how do you know that?"
"As my parents say, I will always find you"
Author's Note: Of course I wouldn't kill Elsa off! I'm not that heartless. Hope you all are enjoying it so far! One more chapter to go! I actually was going to end this chapter with Elsa waking up but I thought that would be too cruel to make you guys wait so I continued writing.