A/N: Only four more chapters to go… I know I say this every chapter, but thank you so much for being a part of this experience with me. This chapter will answer a question that I have been so ready to answer for over a year now. Oh, and this chapter is for you my lovely Shelbie, (Shelbow Baggins!) Because I miss your lovely face.

Two days later...

Kristoff woke up on his last day off in his favorite way, with Anna in his arms. Her bare back pressed to his chest was the most comforting feeling. He nuzzled his nose into her neck. Anna grumbled awake. "Mmmmm good morning Kristoff." Turning her body ever so lightly she peck his lips. As she went to pull away he decided he hadn't had quite enough yet, and he pulled her closer, kissing his princess deeper. The past day had been so refreshing for him. He and Anna had spent all the prior day just cuddling and talking about life. They went and took care of Sven. The palace staff tried to urge them to work on plans for the wedding, but they politely rejected this. Kristoff wanted to use his first days off in months devoted to loving his angel.

They spent the earliest hours of their morning loving one another, and it was the perfect wake up call. It was roughly nine in the morning when Kristoff decided he needed to get up and feed Sven. Anna decided to come with him, so the couple got dressed and went outside to the stable.

Sven was wide awake, and somewhat impatiently waiting for his breakfast, when they arrived. He sniffed as they entered his stall. Anna chuckled and did her best to speak for him. "Well it's about time you guys got here!" Sven seemed to almost smile, as Anna cracked up at her own falsetto.

Kristoff cringed, "I love you, but don't try to talk for him. Ever."

Sticking out her tongue, Anna recuperated, "You're just jealous because he likes me more."

"Okay, yeah sure." Kristoff smirked as he scoffed in a laughing manner. He approached his companion and gave him his breakfast. Watching as Sven munched away, he turned to Anna and asked, "What do you want to do today?"

"Well, we haven't seen your family in a while." Anna perked up and tugged on his sleeve, jumping up and down rapidly she exclaimed, "We haven't told them about the engagement yet!"

Kristoff chuckled, "Okay, calm down. We'll go see them today."

"Yay!" Anna bounced up and down. Kristoff loved how much Anna had grown to like his family; it really did warm his heart. Anna suddenly stopped jumping and grabbed his arm again, "Elsa's never met your family, and it doesn't only make sense that my older sister meet the family of the man I'm marrying? And she hasn't gone out in almost two months. She needs to get out."

"So, what are you asking?"

"Can I see if Elsa wants to come?"

"I don't see why not." Kristoff wrapped his arms around Anna and kissed her cheek.

Smiling at the feel of his kiss, Anna gently pushed away, "Okay, so I'm gonna go ask Elsa if she wants to join us." She got on her tiptoes, gave him a quick pecking kiss on the cheek, and scampered out of the barn.

Sven spoke through Kristoff, "You love her energy."

He ruffled Sven's mane, "If I didn't I wouldn't be marrying her." He started clearing out his sled to make room for Elsa.

...

Anna sprinted into the dining hall, where she knew her sister would be getting a mid-morning cup of tea. Elsa was sitting at her usual spot at the dining table with a steaming cup of tea in her hands. Aksel Sorrenson, the Grand Vizier to the Queen and had a notorious crush on her, was siting beside her. From the discomforted look on Elsa's face, he was a little too close. Aksel held a piece of paper, but didn't once look at it. He kept his eyes firmly on Elsa, who tried desperately to avoid eye contact.

"You should probably meet with the head of Foreign Trade Affairs by next week." Aksel's voice was professional, but had a clear underlying tone of infatuation

Sucking in her diaphragm, Elsa peered over at the schedule in his hand. "Mark that meeting down for next Thursday at ten in the morning, and I'd appreciate if you could verify with him if that meeting time is applicable with him."

"Anything you wish, Queen Elsa."

Anna chuckled a little as she saw her sister cringe to his tone and the look in his eyes. She felt bad that her sister had to regularly put up with him, but Elsa had chose him for the position because he was well versed in politics, efficient, charismatic, and loyal. Anna stepped into the room. "Good morning Aksel." The Princess kept her tone pleasant.

"Oh! Good morning my darling Princess Anna!"

"What are my sister's plans for today." She flashed him a smile then looked at Elsa, who stared back at her with blank, confused, yet extremely thankful eyes.

"Ah yes!" the slender tall man flipped through his forms, "Oh my! It appears Your Majesties that we got so caught up on planning the future that we don't have anything slated for today. But I suppose we could easily fix tha-"

"Perfect!" Anna cut him off, much to Elsa's delight. She grinned slightly as she watched her older sister stifle her laughs. "Elsa, how would you like to go meet Kristoff's parents today?"

Elsa's lips parted to speak, "I wou-"

Aksel interjected, "No no no. The Queen's duties must come first and foremost."

Standing up and placing a hand on his shoulder Elsa spoke, "Oh, but I don't have anything planned for today, and don't you think I should meet the family of the man my sister is set to marry?" She glanced at Anna who was now trying to hold back her own laughs.

Aksel gave in easily, just like they knew he would, "Yes of course, I mean sisterly duties should definitely come first."

"Really!" Elsa's tone was laced with sarcasm that he was oblivious to, "Thank you Aksel. What would I do without you." She did honestly mean the last sentence. She walked to Anna and hooked her own arm around hers, "So when do we leave?"

"Actually right about now!" Anna exclaimed excitedly.

"Perfect!" Elsa replied, "Oh, and Aksel, please watch over things while I'm gone, it shouldn't be too long."

Aksel stood up and draped his arms over their shoulders, "Absolutely My Lady! Now, alright my two lovely Royals, you take care, and have an absolutely splendid time!"

"We will!" The sisters answered in unison.

They quickly exited the dining hall and took cover in a nearby room. Once they knew he was out of ear shot they broke apart and busted with laughter. Leaning against the wall and grabbing their sides, they laughed harder than they had in a while.

"I- I feel awful for laughing" Elsa contradicted herself by saying this while laughing, "But he's just so clueless!"

Anna wiped her eyes, "I know right! And he's so creepy!" She stood on her tiptoes to mock his giraffe-like height. She imitated his pinched voice, "Anything for you Queen Elsa!" Both girls fell into hysterics again.

It felt good to laugh with her sister once more; Anna couldn't immediately recall the last time they had done something like this. And it felt so good to see her big sister purely happy once more.

Elsa grabbed her hand and exclaimed, "Come on! Let's go!" The sisters quickly walked out of the room and out of the castle.

Sven and Kristoff were already outside the stables by the time Elsa and Anna got there.

Kristoff smiled, "Took you guys long enough!" He remarked with sarcasm.

Anna smirked slyly and her eyes looked up at Elsa then down at her fiance, "We were just doing sister stuff, and that means no fiance's or reindeer allowed!"

"Fine." Kristoff retorted. "Be like that. I can just leave you here."

"You know you wouldn't do that." Elsa intervened.

"Yeah, you're right I wouldn't, but come on you two let's head out." Kristoff and Anna took the front of the sled, and Elsa rode in the back.

The way there was a path Kristoff knew by heart. It didn't take long for Anna to see familiar way points. Elsa thought she had never met Kristoff's family, she didn't think she'd recognize the way there, and for most of the journey she didn't. However, somewhere deep within the woods, far along the trail, Elsa started to see things that she recognized. And soon enough the entire forest looked familiar to her. It was like she had been there before, but she could hardly remember it. The way the memory of this particular route recessed in her mind was like she and the memory were sentient beings underwater and she was trying to swim to the memory, but it was always just too far to touch and the water too murky for her to fully see it.

"Kristoff" Elsa turned her head over behind her shoulder and watched where they had been, and then looked forward towards her sister and Kristoff. Her thick braid trailing in the air behind her.

"Yeah?" They had to speak loudly due to the volume of the sled itself.

"This all looks really familiar to me. I think... I think I've been here before."

"Huh? I don't know what to tell you." Kristoff shrugged. "Brace yourself for the halt, Elsa!"

Approaching on a large circular clearing in the woods, Elsa grasped the rail in front of her. She curled forward a bit and closed her eyes. Once the sled had come to a complete stop she looked up, but didn't loosen her grip on the rail. Her eyes were drawn open with wide intensity. Surrounding them in the clearing was hundreds upon hundreds of smooth round rocks of varying sizes. She let in the slightest breath. This place...

Anna and Kristoff had already been out of the sled, and Kristoff was unhitching Sven, as slowly, one by one, the rocks began to roll and quiver. They accelerated towards Anna and Kristoff. He grinned as his family popped alive.

"Kristoff and Anna are home!" they cheered. The trolls began crowding the couple, asking them questions, touching them, and talking over each other.

Elsa stood wide-eyed in the back of the sled. Her legs solid below her. The last time she had been here was years and years ago, when everything had started. This was the place where her years of isolation began. This was where she had started to feel like a monster. Gritting her teeth, she instantly regretted not bringing gloves. She tried to calm her breathing. This kept the frost creeping from palms, away from the sled or anything else. Instead, it crawled up her own arms and traveled up to her elbows. Though the trolls were known to invade one's privacy, they could sense the terrified anxietal aura coming from Elsa, so they stayed away from her.

"Come on out Elsa. They don't bite!" Anna said, holding a younger troll in her arms.

"No, I'm fine!"

"Suit yourself." Anna went back over to a group of troll children.

Kristoff was feeling a pang of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. Elsa hadn't left the sled yet, and he wondered why. He knew his family was trolls, and they could be a little... much. Looking over his shoulder, he looked back at Elsa. She was sitting back down with her fists clenched tight. Her breathing was slow, and she was mumbling something to herself. She's never met anything magical but herself. This is probably a little overwhelming for her. She'll come around.

She had been isolating herself for a near half hour, when she heard the deep grinding noise of a troll rolling in her direction. With solemn eyes, she turned to look at the creature. The troll before her was a little taller than the rest; he had a large nose and large ears, and he wore dozens of green crystals and a cape of soft moss. Grand Pabbie. Though she knew not his name she instantly recognized him.

He spoke in his deep elderly voice, "Hello again, Elsa."

"You..." her voice apprehensive and tense.

"I know you're afraid, and you have honest reasoning to be wary of me." He and Elsa made eye contact.

She could feel presence of sincerity radiating from the elderly troll. Cocking her head she asked softly, "W-who are you?"

"My name is Pebblerius Sofos, but you can call me Grand Pabbie, or simply Pabbie."

Sighing, Elsa starting to attempt to calm herself. The ice on the sled slowly began to fade away, she didn't know exactly how she knew this troll, but he stood out very clear in her mind. "How do you know my name?"

Pabbie gave the slightest smile, "You were maybe eight years of age when your parents brought you to me. You and your sister."

The memory of that night, as crucial to her life as it was, had been traumatic for the young princess. Her mind had made every effort possible to repress that terrifying night from her memory, and had done a great job. Somethings, however, are far too powerful not to trigger our darkest memories, and this place and his voice was slowly pulling the memory of that night back to Elsa. "That was the night I froze Anna's head?"

"Indeed it was."

Her body locked up and got stiff, she clenched her fists, and suddenly the air seemed colder. "I... I'm sor...rry, but wh..hy did you..ou tell them to is...so..late me?"

"Elsa, I never told your parents to isolate you. I told them fear would be your enemy if you didn't learn to control your magic. I told them to make sure you weren't living in fear of yourself. I guess I didn't explain it clearly enough, and for that I apologize. I never wanted you to be so afraid. I only wanted what was best for you."

Elsa took a shaky breath and loosened her fists. "I'm sorry..." She didn't completely understand why she was apologizing, but she felt it needed to be said.

"You needn't apologize Elsa; I was unclear in what direction the rest of you upbringing should have went"

"Well, for what it's worth, I don't think my father would have listened to you no matter how obvious you made it, and my mother would have been to submissive of him to enforce it."

The troll remained silent at this remark, but eventually spoke, "I am proud of you. You have learned on your own how to control your powers marvelously, and your progress is showing everyday. I think you are truly learning how to be at peace with who you are." Pabbie smiled at Elsa, and she smiled back.

"Thank you." she breathed with uneasy air. The Queen held her hand out to the leader of the trolls, and the pair shook hands. The handshake was kind and powerful.

"You're welcome, Your Highness." With an unspoken mutual agreement that the loose ends had been tied, Grand Pabbie rolled off to watch over his people.

She stood up and stepped out of the sled. The trolls slowly approached her, as if she was icy waters that they were testing.

"Look it's Queen Elsa!" One little troll whispered to an older troll.

Elsa looked down and around her, politely smiling and making what was for her uncomfortable, eye contact with them. In her stomach there was a twisted feeling, like a sickness. Her legs felt prickly cold with heavy weakness, yet somehow her soul felt lighter. She stopped by behind Anna, who was sitting beside Kristoff. The pair was playing with a few baby trolls and talking with their mothers.

"Hi." Elsa said bashfully.

Anna turned around and grinned, "I knew you couldn't stay in that sled all day!"

"Yeah, sorry about that it was just a bit of motion sickness." Her voice still quivering from her conversation with Pabbie.

"Oh I could understand that with the way Kristoff drives a sled." Anna smirked just within her fiance's earshot.

Kristoff retaliated quickly with, "You don't like the way I drive than I guess you can walk home."

Anna lovingly swatted his shoulder, "I'm only kidding!"

"Uh huh sure." Kristoff gave her a quick kiss and turned back to the troll he was holding.

"Can I join you two?" Elsa smiled with a slight strain, that she would happier.

"Of course." She waited for her sister to sit beside her. She leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "We're actually getting ready to tell them about the e-n-g-a-g-e-m-e-n-t." The last T trailed with an excited hiss.

"You mean you haven't even told his family yet?" Elsa kept her tone hushed.

"Nope! But we really are excited to tell them."

"That's great then!" Elsa felt like she was slowly coming into herself again.

Anna nodded and twisted her head and craned her neck to whisper in Kristoff's ear, "Are we ready yet?"

"Soon." Kristoff replied in a hushed voice, slightly cocking his head closer to her. He looked up at the trolls in front of him, "Uh, hey guys, Anna and I have something we need to say, so, uh, if we could get everyone together."

The group of mother trolls glanced and blinked between one another, and then back up at Kristoff. One women called out loudly, "Hey everyone Kristoff and Anna have an announcement, so get over here!" Trolls began rumbling and chattering and waddling over to the couple. They all stood quietly for a few moments and then they started getting loud.

"Tell us! tell us!"

"What is it!?"

"We want to know!"

"Tell us your news kids!"

Kristoff chuckled, "Okay, okay! Settle down." He cleared his throat. "So, Anna and I recently took a huge step in our relationship, and since you guys are my family it's only right that I tell you." He nervously giggled. It was odd to him that he could confidently discuss official business with fellow workers, but casually discussing a very important life decision with his family was turning out to be rather nerve wracking. "I know that this may seem a little sudden, but Anna and I..." He felt nervousness rising within him. "Anna and I are..." Kristoff felt the love of his life give his arm a reassuring squeeze. He looked up into Anna's beautiful turquoise blue eyes. In those eyes, those big gorgeous eyes he saw all the confidence and love he'd ever need. Anna gave him a small encouraging smile. That gave Kristoff all the bravery he'd need to finish this announcement. He faced his family once more, "Well, guys, I proposed to Anna!"

Before anything else could be said, Kristoff's family erupted with cheering and excitement.

"And I said yes!" Anna exclaimed leaning in closer to Kristoff.

Kristoff and Anna knelt down to start answering all the questions they were sure his family would have.

"I knew it! I totally saw this coming!" A little girl troll said with a bit of proud sass.

"Oh, you did, did you?" Anna arched an eyebrow suspiciously at her.

"Uh huh!" she went to Anna and hugged her.

Kristoff's family was congratulating them, and asking all the typical questions. "When's the wedding?" "How did you purpose?" and "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Anna and Kristoff were just about to tell the story of the proposal, when Bulda, a older woman troll wearing a green moss dress and a tiered necklace of glowing pink crystals rolled out of the group. Another woman grabbed her arm, "Don't you want to listen?"

Bulda looked at her friend as she tipped her head and slightly smiled, "As much as I'd love to, I have a bigger issue of love to deal with." She gestured to Elsa who was now facing away from the entire group. The Queen was sitting with her shoulders slumped over and her head in her hands.

"Hello." Bulda spoke in a friendly voice.

Elsa looked up with tired eyes, but replied in as friendly a tone as she could muster. "Hello." She did not want to talk to this woman or anyone else really. Hearing Anna and Kristoff so happy together placed a pain in her heart. It was a nearly unbearable mix of longing and guilt.

"You're Anna's sister Elsa, aren't you?" She made sure she kept her tone soft; she didn't want to frighten Elsa.

"Yes, I am, and who are you?"

"I'm Bulda, and I'm so happy to finally be meeting you!"

"It's nice to meet you as well. What brings you over here?"

"Well, your younger sister just announced her engagement, and everyone's aura is so full of love... Except yours."

Elsa felt herself tense up again. Her stomach twisted in jangled knots of anxiety. "Wh... what? What are you talking about?"

Bulda could sense the nerve she had hit in her, "The aura around you was much more damaged than anyone else's. I almost get the feeling you're... brokenhearted..."

Digging her nails into her palms, she started to feel violated. Here was this magical creature reading into her emotions and learning things about Elsa that she was most certainly not comfortable with a stranger learning. Her voice steadily increased with an uneasy abrasive edge. "How do you know that?!"

The troll woman made her tone even softer, "I have the ability to see into people's heart's; it's almost like second nature to me, and I do it without even realizing. I'm sorry for invading your privacy."

Elsa didn't know why she wanted to ask this, but every fiber of her being was compelling her forth into this question. With a weary voice she asked, "Cou...could you see why I'm brokenhearted?"

"I couldn't."

A ringing of disappointment waved through Elsa's body. She dropped her head.

Bulda smiled and spoke with hope in her voice, "I said I couldn't, that doesn't mean I can't."

"What do you mean?"

"At a glance, I can only feel the basic aura of one's heart, but given the right conditions, I can read your heart and tell you things about yourself that not even you knew."

"How do you do this?"

"All you have to do is give me your hand."

Elsa looked into her eyes with growing curiosity. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Do you want to try?"

With a shaking terrified breath, Elsa only had one thing to say, "Yes."

Bulda nodded once. "Come with me." Elsa stood and followed her. They didn't go far. She just led her away from the crowd surrounding Anna and Kristoff. "Sit down." she spoke. and Elsa complied. "Now, I need you to give me your hand and close your eyes."

Sighing once with anxiety and excitement, Elsa reached out her palm and closed her eyes. She felt cold rough rocky hands. Bulda's hands. The presence between the two of them grew stronger. There was a feeling of being in the center of a massive huddle that took Elsa over both inside and out.

"There's a very passionate love in your heart, but it's masked by hurt and fear. You, and a man named Hans. Is that correct?"

Elsa throat got dry and tight. Tears were painfully tugging at the corner of her eyes. Curling her lips into her mouth, and then back out again, Elsa sighed. "Yes."

"Are you sure you want to keep going? We can stop."

Her voice wavered and was teetering with fear, "No! Keep going. I... I need to know what you can see. I have to know... what's there... what's in my heart."

"Alright." Bulda squeezed her hand just a fragment tighter. "You and him shared a passionate love, and he was your first love. You were his as well. I also get the feeling this love was forbidden, or at least heavily frowned upon, you and him weren't oblivious to this fact, but your love was fierce and true enough to push through it."

The tears were heavy and painful, and Elsa couldn't leave them in her eyes much longer. Her eyes were rapidly twitching from under her eyelids. The jerking of her eyes made the tears fall down her face. She began to shiver with a nonexistent cold. "Keep going..."

"Something almost tragic happened between the two of you. A near death experience?"

Elsa scavenged her memory for a near death experience, and it hit her suddenly. When Henry stabbed Hans. It felt so long ago. Somewhere in all the commotions of life, and after losing Hans she had placed that memory in the back of her mind. Tightening her diaphragm and relieving a sigh, "Yeah."

Bulda was eerily quiet. "...You saved his life, didn't you?"

With a gasp, Elsa started to retreat her hand. She hardly started to slide it out of the troll woman's hand when she stopped, "I think so, or at least he thinks so. I don't know how though."

"Hans is your soul mate." Bulda opened her eyes and released Elsa's hand. Elsa opened her eyes too. "And you are his soul mate."

This surprised Elsa, and didn't surprise her at the same time. On the forefront of herself, she was sheltering herself from him so desperately that hearing he was her match was shocking. However, deep within the purest of crevasses of her heart she knew he was her soul mate. She knew that the two of them were made for one another. Hearing someone say it sounding wonderful in her heart. "But... how did I save him? All my magic is ice."

"My dear, Hans' life was not spared by your icy magic, but from a magic much deeper within you. True love is already a powerful and strange force, but the magic that you were born with only amplifies it, and makes it something much greater. You are lucky Hans is such a fighter and clung onto his life, which, by the way, he did for you. Had he already been dead you couldn't have saved him, but your enduring faithful love for him, mixed with the magic you are blessed with and the little life he had left in him, created a magic just powerful enough to spare his life."

"My love saved him?" Elsa felt a wave of realization crash into her. It didn't matter how hard she tried to push him away, or how hard he tried to keep her away and protect her. They were meant to be together, and if true love was as powerful as Bulda had said, than no force on Earth would be able to keep them away.

"Yes it did, and would I be correct in saying that a misunderstanding has made it to where he's no longer in your life?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"Well, maybe, I might be wrong, but this isn't making either of you happy."

"No."

Bulda took Elsa's hand, "This pain you're feeling isn't irrepairable, you can fix this. For the both of you."

"I know, but I'm scared." Elsa with a tear stained face, feeling lighter and more at ease.

"What's there to be so afraid of?"

"What if he doesn't want me back?"

"Elsa, he's your soul mate. You have nothing to be afraid of. Go, set your love free."

Elsa looked deeply into Bulda's eyes with sheer gratitude. "Thank you." She whispered. She stood up and approached Kristoff and Anna. Kristoff was playing his lute while Anna leaned on his shoulder. "Kristoff, Anna!"

Anna stood up and grabbed her sister's hands, "What is it?"

"I hate to break everything up, but we have to go. There's something I need to do."

Kristoff set his lute gently down and stood beside Anna, "What's going on?"

"I've made a terrible mistake. Possibly the greatest mistake of my life, and I need to go set things right."

Tilting her head in Anna said softly, "With Hans."

Taking in a shaky breath Elsa nodded, "Yes."

Anna's face lit up. "Oh! Elsa! That's wonderful!" She turned to Kristoff, "How soon can we head out?"

"How does now sound?" Kristoff said grinning at the sisters.

"Perfect!" Anna replied.

"Wait!" Kristoff looked at Elsa, "Elsa, are you absolutely sure about this. Are you sure you want him back?"

"I am. Even if I wasn't, there's nothing I could do to stop it. He's my soul mate. It's either find my way to bring our love alive, back from the near dead, or live my life incomplete and miserable."

Anna placed a hand on her heart, "I'm happy for you, and I'll support you every step of the way."

"Thank you Anna."

Kristoff looked into Elsa's eyes, "I'm with you too, but I'm going to get Sven ready to go." With that he ran to his companion to start hitching him to the sled.

Anna took a step back, "And if you'll excuse me for a moment."

"Okay." Elsa replied. She didn't know what to do. Her legs didn't want to move, yet she had so much energy. Her heart was racing at a million miles. She watched as her little sister told the trolls goodbye.

A few minutes later Kristoff asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"I am."

"Let's go then." Kristoff led her to the sled. Anna was already waiting beside where he would be sitting, and with raw anticipation, Elsa took her seat. As they pulled out they waved goodbye to Kristoff's family.

Elsa didn't look back, she kept her head up and her eyes forward. She was going to make this right again.

Everything was going to be okay.

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading. I'm so excited to bring you the last chapters of this story. As we come to a close I'm running out of time to thank you, so I will say it again, as I will say it in every chapter until the end. Thank you for reading my story and for being on this journey with me. It is truly an honor to write for you.
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