Anna awoke from a dreamless sleep to find herself in bed. Her bed. She knew now that it was her bed, in her room, in the palace.

She remembered.

Gray light filtered in through the window, casting everything in a hazy glow. Whether it was dusk or dawn, she couldn't be sure; she had no idea how long she had been asleep.

She was suddenly aware of a presence beside her, and the princess turned her head to see a mess of shaggy, blonde hair splayed across her arm.

Kristoff was seated beside her bed; his torso leaned forward and lying flat on the mattress, his arms crossed beneath his head, her hand clasped loosely in his. He was asleep.

His soft breaths ghosted across her skin with each exhale, raising the hairs there, and she felt her love for him swell within her. Love, with a touch of sadness… but love, most of all.

Scooting closer, she snuggled herself against him, securing her hand in his palm and nestling her head against his until they were nearly face-to-face, and fell back into a dreamworld.

–

Anna awoke sometime later to a darkened room illuminated only by dim candlelight. Kristoff was gone, and Elsa had taken his spot, sitting beside Anna's bed as she thumbed through the pages of a novel. When the Ice Queen realized her sister was awake, she tossed the book aside as though it were nothing more than a piece of refuse and hugged her sister tightly.

When she pulled away, she held her younger sister's hands in her own on the bed, and asked the question: "Anna, what do you remember?"

It was a loaded question. Where to even begin? She remembered everything, after all.

"Well, I know you've had your powers for… for forever, I guess," Anna answered softly in the darkness of the room, after taking a few moments to think. "I remember you striking me with ice as a child."

"Yes," Elsa said, surprised but guilty; it seemed that, when Anna regained her memories, she had regained all of the memories that she had ever lost in her lifetime. The queen tented her trembling fingers beneath her chin, creating a steeple. "This wasn't the first time you lost your memories."

"I remember…" Anna's voice trailed off as her hand travelled to her side; Elsa's gaze followed the motion. She remembered the cold-hot sting of Hans' blade as it penetrated her flesh and she flinched at the phantom pain she felt there.

When she carefully pulled the blanket aside, opened her robe, and rolled the fabric of her nightshift up to her ribs, she gasped at what she saw.

The spot on her side where she had been stabbed– where she remembered being stabbed– was completely healed. The white, frostbitten skin was made up of what looked like a bunch of diamond-shaped fractals, creating a scar that was the shape of a snowflake no larger than her fist.

"Whoa," Anna mused as she poked and prodded at the shiny flesh beside her navel with a finger; it felt numb, and slightly cold. "Wicked."

"I had to freeze the wound shut to stop the bleeding. It's not pretty, but it's the best I could do," Elsa murmured with a grimace. And then, her tone sombering even further: "You saved Kristoff's life."

"Well, I guess I sort of owed him since he saved mine." Anna shrugged. As though tackling an armed villain off of the side of a mountain was no big deal (to Anna, it kind of wasn't).

"I remember Hans' poisoning me… the first time– and Kristoff saving me…"

Elsa nodded, confirming the accuracy of her memory. "You're lucky it was Kristoff who found you. Even Sven is still faster than the fastest horse in Arendelle. Another hour and who knows what would have became of you."

A macabre silence passed between them; they knew all too well what would have become of the Crown Princess if Kristoff hadn't stripped her naked and shared his body warmth with her in his cabin that night. Only an ice harvester would have had the wisdom to know that hypothermia would kill long before the poison could have.

"I was poisoned again," Anna spoke suddenly, biting at her lip. "The second time…"

"Yes, Kristoff told me about that." Elsa seemed uneasy. "I was going to ask you about it. The doctor found nearly no trace of poison in your blood this time. But Kristoff said that Hans had given you some. Right before..."

Right before Lars betrayed me, the Queen thought bitterly. He betrayed all of Arendelle.

After interrogating the Stabbington Brothers prior to their deportation back to Corona, the royal detectives had learned some of the details of Lars' treason. Whether or not he was coerced against his will or was a Hans Westergaard sympathizer to begin with, Elsa would never know; he was dead now, and so was Hans. There was no point dwelling on it any longer, despite the guilt she felt.

"Before what?" Anna asked tentatively, gently.

"Before…" Elsa cleared her throat and shook her head to clear her mind. "...Kristoff and I arrived."

Before Kristoff had arrived and watched his beloved kiss another man– the man who had tried to kill both herself and him. Kissing Hans had been even worse than being poisoned or struck or stabbed by the evil prince. But Anna knew, somewhere deep down, that she'd do it all again in a heartbeat to save Kristoff. Her one true love.

She'd do anything for him.

"It wasn't a poison. It was supposed to be a love potion, but it didn't work. I think it didn't work because my body tried to reject it, because I loved… love Kristoff," Anna explained, her brows drawing together as she concentrated, remembering. "I still loved him the first time, but it hurt, so it affected me more– I wasn't able to reject it as well. But I think, the second time, my feelings of love were even stronger, and it didn't work because I was able to fight it off better. Like, a tolerance– or an immunity. If that makes sense."

The Queen nodded and shifted in her seat. She knew they were about to breach the topic that would cause the most pain, for the both of them; she could feel the foreboding in the air between them.

"What else do you remember about Kristoff?" Elsa pressed gently.

Anna's lips flattened into a thin line. "I remember that he and I were supposed to be wed."

Elsa's gaze turned downward, but she said nothing.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Anna's question was a whisper. "All along… why did you both keep me in the dark?"

"You weren't you anymore, Anna," Elsa replied in haste, desperate to explain herself, her voice twinged with an undeniable sadness; she grabbed Anna's hands in hers once more. "It killed me to see you, moping around the castle every day, looking so dejected. So sad. Like you were missing a part of yourself."

She swallowed hard and willed herself to continue speaking. "You had only recently started to get better, after months of no progress, when you… you…"

Anna knew she was talking about the kidnapping and subsequent poisoning.

"I'm so sorry, Anna," Elsa sobbed, and burying her face atop their joined hands. "Please don't be angry with me. I'm sorry I lied. I just didn't want you to get hurt again... forgive me."

"I'm not angry with you, Elsa," Anna said softly and sincerely, smoothing her sister's hair. "I could never be angry with you. There's nothing to forgive. You're my sister– I love you."

Elsa raised her head then, her face streaked with tears.

"I love you, too, Anna. I promise I'll be a better sister to you."

Anna smiled. "You're already the best sister I could ever ask for."

Elsa smiled back, perhaps the widest smile Anna could ever remember seeing on her sister's face, as her dainty fingertips came up to wipe at the wetness on her face.

"Speaking of Kristoff…" Anna's voice trailed off as she gazed around the room, as though he may be lurking in the shadows, waiting to make his appearance. "Where is he?"

Elsa let out an involuntary, indignified snort, and quickly recovered by covering her mouth with a hand. Anna raised a questioning eyebrow at her sister.

"He didn't leave your side– not once– for three whole days." Elsa almost sounded proud. "He wouldn't."

"Three days? How did he eat or bathe or relieve himsel–" Anna blanched. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."

"He refused to leave, even when I threatened to have him beheaded."

The princess gasped and sat up a little straighter. "You threatened what?"

Elsa's eyes flickered with mirth; it was a look eerily reminiscent of Anna's own infamous, mischievous expression.

"Well, I didn't threaten him directly. I told him that he had to leave, under the Queen's orders, and he still refused. He said, and I quote: 'Over my cold, dead body.' I told him that could be arranged. He still didn't budge."

Anna felt her face warm at hearing of his dedication to her– even after all they had been through.

"So, how did you finally get him to leave?" Anna asked, her curiosity piqued. She imagined it probably took at least six or seven guards to drag him out, kicking and screaming all the way. He wasn't a small man by any means.

"I promised him one condition in exchange for his willing departure for the day. He needed to take care of himself, and I needed to take care of you. I figured he could at least acquiesce to that much in exchange for…"

Anna leaned forward. "In exchange for what?"

The Ice Queen's eyes glinted. "In exchange for my blessing for your marriage."

Anna's heart slowed down and sped up at the same time; she would've never believed it possible until that moment.

Kristoff still wanted to marry her, despite everything. It made her spirits soar for the first time in a long time– as far as she could remember.

"Oh!" Elsa's smirk widened and she squeezed her hands tighter around her sister's. "And there is one more thing."

–

When Anna stepped out into the hall after breakfast the following day and turned the corner, Kristoff was already there waiting for her, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing his powder-blue shirt with the woollen vest and crimson sash. How she loved and missed that shirt.

She noticed the bandage around the back of his neck and felt an ache in her chest. His strong, handsome nose was swollen, his eye sockets bruised and purple, his cheeks and lips split with tiny red cuts that had begun to scab over. All for her.

All because of her.

"Hi." His voice was soft.

"Hi," Anna replied, anxiously tucking a stray lock of ginger hair behind her ear as she approached, keeping a reasonable distance between them.

Glancing up and down the hall, she gestured with her head for Kristoff to follow as she made her way into a nearby room; it was a small parlor, the walls lined with art and cases of literature. It was a place that would allow them privacy for their impending conversation.

Kristoff spoke before she had even finished closing the door behind them. "I'm sorry, Anna. I should have told you the truth."

His words rang true, for more than he meant them for; he should have always told her the truth. Covering herself with her arms, the same way Elsa so often did, Anna moved over to the window, the dark green velvet of her dress swishing with the motion; she watched the snow outside fall in fat clumps without really watching.

"I'll do it, Anna," Kristoff said with a start, moving to stand in front of her and taking her smaller hand in his larger one, holding their joined hands aloft between them, pressed over the beating of his heart. "I'll be a duke. I'll be anything. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Kristoff," Anna admonished, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "You don't have to be anything except the man who loves me."

Searching his golden eyes with her own, her tone softened. "It's your choice."

Kristoff's brow furrowed. "But… don't you want me to have a title? And an estate? And everything that comes with it?"

"It's called compromise, Kristoff– when you're willing to sacrifice for the one you love. I don't care what you are or what we have or where we live… as long as you're happy with me."

He was silent for a beat. When he spoke again, the guilty tone of his voice pained Anna's heart.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you… I don't–" His voice hitched. "I don't deserve another chance with you. I'll never be worthy of you."

The princess shook her head, her auburn braids swishing from the movement, and let out a breath that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"You've saved me plenty of times, Kristoff." Anna tapped a finger on her chin. "In fact, I distinctly remember you saving my life on at least a half-dozen occasions– give or take. Even so…"

She reached up to caress his jaw and Kristoff's heart leapt at her words; she remembered.

"...you're more worthy than you know yourself to be. You're precious to me, Kristoff."

"So… you don't hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?"

"Because of… what I did..." Kristoff forced himself to spit out the words. "Our wedding."

"Oh." Anna sighed. "I told you already. I could never hate you… I'm just… sad. I wish you would have told me what you were feeling before it was too late."

Kristoff was silent for a moment, staring at his shoes. When he looked back up at her, into her eyes, she could see the hopefulness that resided in his amber irises.

"So, if I asked you again… for real this time… would you still marry me?"

Anna's hand reached up to cup his cheek, the weathered skin there rough with stubble; when she answered, her voice was sincere and full of devotion: "I'd do anything you asked."

"Is that a 'yes'?"

Anna choked on a sob and her blue eyes glistened as they gazed into his– those hopeful amber irises that she had been missing for far too long. "Definitely yes."

In one swift motion, Kristoff stole forward and grasped Anna's face in his hands as he kissed her passionately, the months of frustration and emotion pouring out into the place where their lips met. Anna kissed him back just as desperately, if not more so, as her tears spilled over, fisting her hands in his hair to pull her ice master as close to her as physically possible.

She swore then that she would never lose– or forget– him again.

–

One more chapter!