A cold wind blew through my hair as I leant on to the balcony of Elsa's room inside her Ice Palace. I smirked to myself recalling all the times I've leaped over the icy railing during some hasty escapes. I watched the sunrise in hues of pinks and reds over the city I vowed to protect. Although an uneasy feeling formed in my gut told me I had failed Arendelle. I'm sure the news of my betrayal to save the only person I cared about, who just so happens is the scorn of the city has no doubt been reported. Gripping the railing tighter the sunrise also meant one more dire thing. Our time is almost up, tomorrow everything will change. Either we win and Hans falls, or-

The creaking of a door cut off my train of thought. I didn't even need to see who it is for an immediate icy tension filled the room. "I made some hot chocolate," she whispered.

Even through the cold of my own body a biting cold nipped at my insides. However, somehow I knew her anger wasn't aimed at me, but herself. As if this ice slowly freezing me connected us. Seeing Elsa sad is one thing I simply couldn't allow for more than one reason. Plastering on my best optimistic smile, I turned to my wife, "Sounds good, I could go for something warm."

A half amused smirked formed giving me a sense of hope that things will turn out better for the both of us. I'm not expecting a happy ending where we ride off into the sunset on my motorcycle, but just surviving will do me fine. She approached with light, cautious footfalls. Her eyes darted to my hair, she frowned, "It's worse than I thought."

I ran a hand over my mess of hair, I could no longer tell if it's cold or not, and this scared me a little. Yet, I couldn't show her my fear. After she struck me, I've learned a few things, and one of them is if Elsa shows any kind of raw emotion the ice chills me more. Glancing to my left, I noticed my reflection in the clear icy wall, luckily a few places were still red amongst the white. "It could be worse," I pointed out.

I chuckled hearing an aspirated sigh from Elsa. Apprehensively, she handed me a mug, "Here you should drink this."

Taking the mug graciously, I sipped feeling a small amount heat from the warm liquid. "Thanks."

Silence filled the air for some time, I slowly began to grow worried what might come out of her mouth. In the corner of my vision, she nursed her drink. I watched ice form on the edges of the mug. Her eyes became fixated on the sky. "I must admit there were times where I thought were the Phoenix. I told myself that it wasn't true during our shared nights of passion. I told myself there is no way the woman I love is my arch nemesis." Elsa paused taking a shallow and shaky breath. Her gaze met mine, then once again darted to my hair. She reached out to touch it, "I never meant for this to happen. I never dreamt of casting an icy spell so terrible that it would slowly kill my enemy. I allowed myself to be swept by my emotions it's happened before, but never did I want to harm the one person in the world I care about. Phoenix or not, I didn't want this to happen." She withdrew her hand and started to wring them a sure sign of her nerves."The worst part is, I don't know if this is reversible."

An intense shiver ran through my body, chilling me down to the bone. I fought back the urge to shake in response. I've got to keep her happy or at least indifferent. If I tell her about what I've learned, she'll probably freak out. I laughed lightly, "Do you know what was the hardest part became after I learned you are the Ice Queen?" She gave me a puzzled look. "Reminding myself to call you Ice Queen or your majesty. There have been a few times where I nearly slipped up. Especially while you teased the hell out me."

"That would have been quite the inconvenience," her tone turned serious. "Well, at least I can't feel guilty anymore for all the taunting now that I know it was always you," she added, a jubilant tone overtaking the previous edge.

"Though that never stopped you from getting all predatory afterwards," I playfully nudged her.

"I had to find someway to channel all energy somehow, and you didn't seem to mind, she replied coyly. I noted the seductive smile.

Her teasing tone caught me off guard. I hoped I was reading situation right, I noted her hand on the railing. Gently, I reached taking it into mine, when she didn't put away, I it took as a good sign. "Don't worry Elsa, somehow, someway we'll get through this. No matter what I'm going to do my duty to protect you."

"Ever the optimist. I will never understand how I became so lucky." Her smile fell, "However, you can't save everyone. Perhaps . . ." I feel a sting of cold pass through me. Harsh, chilly and lonely. Her hands falls from mine, "Perhaps, it might be best for this monster to die."

"No," I shouted, anger flooded my thoughts. I reached out forcing her to look at. "You are not a monster. Have bad things happened to you? Yes. Is your father a bastard for what he did to you? Yes. However, none of matters to me. Not your ice powers, not you being the Ice Queen. I love you for who you are. I will gladly hang my cape up and sacrifice myself, so you, my wife can have a future." In the heat of the moment, I wrapped my arms around her not caring if she pushed me away.

To my surprise, I felt Elsa return the embrace. "Anna, I would never ask that of you. Even after everything, I don't think I could live with myself knowing I caused you more harm." A small ping of cold sent a shiver down my spine.

Meeting her icy blue eyes, my own flickered to hers. Should I test the boundaries? I gently planted my lips on hers to which she returned. I'll never get over how soft, warm, and simply amazing they are against mine. I wanted so badly to deepen it, hold her as close as could. Let the world fade away from my mind. Yet, forcing the situation in such a melancholy atmosphere could make it worse.

She pulled away first much to my disappointment. "There's something I've been wondering about. I had my suspensions about you being the Phoenix. There was even one point where I considered finding out the identity of the Phoenix using those feathers you left. However, how and when did you find out about my alter ego?"

"Honestly, it's rather anticlimactic. The first month after I had donned on the mask, I was cocky and arrogant. Desperate to take down the wicked Ice Queen to prove myself as the ultimate hero. One day after one of our fights, I went back to the warehouse, despite my body still wore out, and not used to suit. Yet, my reckless personality kept burning moving me forward. Sneaking around the damage from a few hours afterwards, I climbed the through the ceilings to gain an advantage. Just before I attacked, I watched as you removed the mask, your signature dress faded, and I froze up at the sight. It's not as if I had known you long, we had only just started dating, and you were slowly opening up to me. Discovering your secret alter ego devastated me at first, I left after that in a mixture of emotions. They ranged from confusion, anger, sorrow, and plenty of denial." Meeting her gaze, I saw only curiosity. "I thought about it over the course of a few days. After another date and fight, I decided to continue on and march forward. Away from my duty, I wanted nothing more than to protect you. During, I knew one day we would have to come to a head, and only one of us would come out of the dust."

Still inches apart, she nodded thoughtfully, "Do you still think that now?"

"Yes, and no. The first part will always remain the same. The second had definitely changed, I would be filled with eternally regret if we did have our last fight, and only I came out on top."

A beat passed before she spoke. She took a reluct step back and looked at her hands. "Though our battles did inflict some injuries on us both. I never intended to really maim anyone. Becoming a villain was just a means to end, a cry for help after being pushed aside. After my feeble attempts use these powers for good. However, I also knew that once The Phoenix came in play things might take a turn for the worse."

A question formed on my tongue, "Do you think things will be the same after we defeat Hans."

She looked away, I waited for a cold spike to hit, but it didn't come. "Perhaps, but we can't be certain. I doubt once this is over I'll be let off hook that easily. The Ice Queen may have to face the consequences of her- I mean my actions."

"If this works out though, I'll be in good standings with the city, and I can vouch for you. Meaning you might have to do-"

She touched a finger to my lips. "Even without the mask, you're still playing hero."

"Damn right," I smiled gleefully. "So, long as we're together nothing seems out of reach. It doesn't matter who is a hero or villain. We need each other now more than ever. I made a promise and I vow to fulfil it." I take her left hand running a finger over the gold ring.

"Then, I guess tomorrow is when we will find out what's next for us."

With things winding down the adrenaline from our adventure last night had long since faded. I yawned, and admitted, "It's been a long week." I wanted to fight off the urge to sleep. However, I knew facing Hans on the battlefield have out of it would be terrible idea.

Elsa calmy smiled, "Indeed, it has been."

"However, the fights not over yet," I responded striking a heroic pose.

"No, but you can't possibly save the city nearly falling over yourself."

I fought off another yawn. "I know. I think you should also get some too. We don't know what that jackass has in store."

"Yes, he does like to cheat just the other low life thugs I've dealt with in the past." She grabbed the half empty mugs from the railing. With a wave of her hand a small icy table formed, she set them down to be dealt with later.

I headed to the bed in the middle of the room. Feeling the softness of a real mattress made somehow more tried. A faint blush coated my cheeks recalling times where I've been pinned to this bed and the night after our marriage. "So, I hate to ask, but what will happen once you step down from your title?"

"I don't want to think about the chaos it will cause right now. I believe it would be best to just take this one day at a time."

"Alright." I wanted to say something along the lines of don't worry about it for the Phoenix will take care of it, but I knew better. Stepping on eggshells to keep the atmosphere as calm as possible is hard for someone like me. Settling under the covers, Elsa did the same, facing away from me, I hesitantly scooted over draping an arm over her waist. Taking her not moving away as a good sign, I muttered soothingly, "Sleep tight, Elsa."

"You to, Anna."

Feeling my eyelids grow heavy with sleep one last thought lingering in my mind. Tomorrow Hans is either defeated or we fall.

I woke up at some point the next night, blinking a few times, I pulled up the covers and rolled over. Blindly, I reached over to feel for my wife. Not feeling her, I quickly opened my eyes to find the other side of the bed empty. Scanning the room, I didn't see her anywhere. Not wasting anymore time, I raced down the icy staircase. During my descent every terrible thought crossed mind. Reaching the bottom, I burst through front doors finding nothing, but snow. Grabbing my bike, a frustrated growl left my throat discovering a large icicle protruding out the back tire. This shouldn't have happened. I should have known something was wrong when she said, she couldn't live with herself knowing she caused me more harm." She was planning this. To sacrifice herself for me. Probably in hopes of fixing this chilly plague killing me. In my distress I yelled into the wind, "Elsa."

A/N: Well here it is a new chapter. Finally! The inspiration may have returned, but I didn't realize how hard it is to get into something that hasn't been looked at in forever. Hoping to get the next chapter out over the course of a couple weeks. Until next time!