Chapter 26: The last hope.

Elsa was worried sick. She knew that what Percival had said before dying was true; Anna would die unless she did something. She had done some experiments with her powers in the past, both in animals and in humans, and every single time, when she froze their heart, they would freeze to death in a matter of either hours or days, depending on their size. With Anna… it would probably be two days; three, at most. And one had passed already.

She wasn't one hundred percent sure about the act of true love being the solution though, since she had never tried to save any of her victims. She had just read it in one of the books about magic that Percival had brought from his kingdom. But as far as either of them knew, those books were extremely old and no one knew for sure if everything they contained was true. Still, if there was any hope to save Anna, she was going to grasp it and never let go of it.

The problem now was… she needed to find her sister an act of true love. And of course, kissing her or doing anything of the sort was out of the question. She didn't love Anna. She simply was a monster that lusted after her own sister and raped her when she couldn't get what she wanted. But even if she tried to search in the deepest places of her soul the little bit of pure sisterly love she still had for her… would Anna reciprocate? After all Elsa had done? Truth be told, the older girl suspected Anna stopped loving her a long time ago; ever since she got her suitors and forgot about her imperfect and rebellious older sister. And now… well, now she probably hated her.

So what could she do? Take her to her husband? As much as Elsa would like to deny that Hans had any romantic interest in her sister, she had to admit she didn't know much about the prince. Sure, he was a dick to her, and he wanted to use her as a weapon to dominate the world, but… she had never seen him treating Anna badly. And there was a time when the younger sister would swoon over him when Hans as much as flipped his hair. If it wasn't for Kristoff, Hans would have been number one option for Anna, so when she ended up marrying him… maybe she did end up falling in love with her husband? And maybe he loved her in return. If that was the case, he was the only hope to save Anna.

But no. How could Elsa ever allow her near him again? To return to her home, far away from her? How could she submit herself to such pain? Was it even worth it saving Anna if she couldn't have her for herself?

What was she saying? Of course it was! But… then again, she wasn't even sure there was any chance to save her. If only the books explained things more clearly! Maybe there was something else she could do.

These were the sort of thoughts Elsa had been having on her head, going on in an infinite cycle that led her nowhere and didn't allow her to take any actions. This had been going on for more than 24 hours already; ever since she fled from her chambers and ran off to the forest… leaving a very injured Anna behind. She wanted to go back to her palace and check on her, but at the same time, she was afraid of what she may find there. She was afraid her sister had run away and died as a victim of a pack of wolves. Afraid that Anna had frozen to death already, and that she was too late. And… she was afraid of finding her sister still in her room, looking just as she left her; clothes torn, skin marked with clear signs of manhandling, and… eyes full of hate. Hate that seemed to penetrate all the way into Elsa's own heart and crush it into a million pieces.

She didn't want to go back to her palace. But she knew she'd have to, eventually.

And so, her steps unconsciously started guiding her to her home, until she found herself staring at the front door of the palace. For a brief moment she considered turning back and running off again, making all sorts of excuses in her head, like that the storm that had been surrounding her all day long wouldn't do any good to Anna's condition, but… she figured that, since the storm was enveloping all the extent of Arendelle, going into the palace wouldn't make any difference. And so, she gathered her resolve and walked in.

The main hall was just as she'd left it; a wrecked mess. Her statues had turned into spiky and deformed versions of themselves, and a great portion of the floor was covered in blood. In fact, the smell was kinda overwhelming; it made her want to kill something again… but she controlled herself and made her way upstairs. She was here for Anna, not to see the stupid corpse of Percival.

Upon arriving to her room, she hesitated before opening the door. She didn't want to know what was (or wasn't) waiting for her in there but she knew that, if Anna was on the other side of the door, it was unfair to just let her spend her last days of her life alone and with no hope of finding a cure. No. She would save her. She needed to do at least one good thing in her life. But… maybe she should knock; allow her sister the chance to deny her entrance if she so desired.

She hit the door three times with her fist, making sure she was loud enough to wake up her sister if she was asleep, but still she had no answer. Sighing and thinking she was being ignored, Elsa knocked again, louder, and waited for a few moments to try and catch any sound at all coming from the other side of the door, but silence reigned. Losing all hope, she was about to knock once again when she heard a small sound, almost too quiet to be perceived over the raging storm outside, but still clearly distinguishable.

A pained moan. Then a grunt and heavy breathing. Elsa didn't need to hear any more to make the door crumble into a million pieces and burst inside the room.

There, laying on the bed, was Anna. She was curled up under three heavy blankets, trembling because of the cold despite this fact, and her hair was even whiter than before; now, more than a half of it had lost its natural red color.

"Anna?" Elsa called as she carefully approached her, noticing how she kept shivering and shifting her position in order to gain more warmth. She also kept uttering weak pained sounds and looking very distressed despite being asleep. "Anna, can you hear me?" She asked, reaching out to shake her awake. Still, Anna remained in the land of dreams, probably too weak to wake up.

This worried Elsa greatly; in her experience, once her victims reached this state they… only had a few hours left. A day tops. Once Anna's skin started freezing over, she would be doomed. And being inside a palace made of ice probably wasn't helping her.

Seeing her like this… so vulnerable, her usually cheerful and energetic self gone, hurt because of Elsa's own magic… it made something snap inside the older sister. A realization clear as day came to her mind: she couldn't let her die. She didn't care if she had to give up any hopes of living a happy life alongside Anna; she'd sacrifice her own happiness, or even her own life, if that meant her sister could have a second chance to live.

Anna had been the only source of happiness she'd ever known. The only one who had ever loved her, and had seen her as more than just the witch of the prophecy. For so long they were more than just best friends; they were the world for each other. Elsa knew that, if not for Anna, she would have either died or turn evil long before she did. Sure, they had also fought, and some of the things Anna had done had hurt her deeply, but… she still loved her. More than she could ever love herself.

And so, even knowing this was a suicidal plan with no warranty of working, Elsa made a hole on one of the walls of her room and whistled loudly to call for her eagle. Anna grunted and tried to curl over herself even more when the cold wind of the mountain entered the room, but Elsa soon rushed to her and picked her up in her arms, careful to keep the blankets wrapped tightly around her.

Not even a second later Jairah appeared, apparently sensing the urgency of her owner, and bowed her head so Elsa could climb on top. She didn't have her saddle on though, but there was no time for that; Anna needed to be with her husband in front of a warm fire and drinking hot chocolate as soon as possible. Sure, it was difficult to get on the eagle while carrying Anna, and then to find a comfortable position to ride on, but she managed. And soon, they were racing at maximum speed towards Arendelle's castle, hoping they could find a solution to a problem that was impossible to solve.

Elsa knew she wouldn't exactly be welcomed with open arms at Arendelle's castle, so as soon as they started shooting arrows at her eagle and soldiers came out to the courtyard in a hurry, no doubt wanting to kill her, she did the only logical thing she could; show them she had their Queen.

"Hold your fire!" Elsa shouted, still hovering a few feet over the soldiers' head. "You wouldn't want to kill your Queen, would you?" She smirked when she saw their stunned faces as she removed the blankets from Anna's head just enough to let them see her face.

"Stop!" The captain yelled to the rest of his soldiers. "Lower your weapons." They seemed hesitant at first, but one by one they reluctantly put their weapons on the ground, allowing Elsa to descend into the courtyard wearing a self-sufficient smirk. If she would have known that taking control over Arendelle would be that easy, she would have done so the moment Anna showed up at her door. "What do you want in this late hour, Ice Queen?" The captain spat, clear disdain on his voice, but also worry for his captured Queen.

"I wish to speak with Hans." Elsa simply said, descending from her eagle, still carrying Anna in her arms. The princess twitched, probably wanting to know what was happening around her, but still unable to wake up.

"Here I am, Elsa." Sounded a voice from the castle's main door, and all heads turned to look at the king, still in his royal garments, descending proudly the few steps that separated the castle from the courtyard. "Ah… I see you brought my beloved wife with you." He said, stopping in his tracks when he saw who Elsa was carrying. "Truth to be told, I was starting to miss her a bit. You wish to make a deal? Her life in exchange of what?"

Elsa didn't like the way he spoke, but she decided that, if she had already come so far, she should at least carry through with her plan.

"Anna is injured, and only an act of true love can save her. I will give her to you, but you'll have to promise me you'll do anything in your power to stop the curse." She said, sounding cold, but… there was a verily noticeable waver on her voice that revealed just how scared she really was, and Hans noticed it immediately.

"So… you don't want me to hand you over the kingdom? Or even to let you go?" He chuckled. The soldiers mumbled, obviously thinking their king had lose his mind to tell such things to the number one enemy of the kingdom.

"You and I both know you wouldn't agree to such a deal." Elsa stated, rolling her eyes.

"You know me well enough." He hummed in agreement. "Alright. I promise, by my honor as king, that I'll do everything in my power to save Anna's life. You have my word." He said this placing his only hand on his chest, and Elsa could see his eyes were honest for once. He didn't tried to hide a smirk; he didn't have an evil glint. He really meant what he'd said.

"Alright. Take her inside the castle then." She said, and Hans gestured a guard to go and grab the Queen in his stead, given he couldn't carry her having just one arm. "Make sure she's warmed up by the fire and drinks something hot, and... show her love."

The soldier who was going to carry Anna inside hesitantly reached for her, and Elsa's gaze shifted between him and her sister, struggling to let go of her beloved. At least she wanted to say goodbye, but… in front of all these people? What would they say of the Ice Queen lowering her guard like that?

But then again, did it even matter? After leaving Anna she would escape to the North Mountain to live in isolation just like before. The winter she had set would continue to cover the entirety of the kingdom, and her snow monsters would still attack whoever was foolish enough to try and kill her. She would continue being feared and despised, no matter what she did now.

"Anna…" She started, looking down at the frail figure sleeping on her arms. "I'm sorry for… well, you know." She sighed. "I wished I could have been a better sister to you, but now… now I'll let you go. If you live, I hope you're happy here."

She wanted to give her a goodbye kiss, but… she didn't feel like she deserved to even touch her after what she'd done, and she figured Anna wouldn't appreciate it if she were conscious, so she just handed her sister over to the soldier and backed up, looking up at Hans.

"I warn you, if my sister dies, I'll kill you." She snarled, putting up her best intimidating glare.

"That's why I'm not taking any chances." Hans answered with a smirk, and instantly the soldiers started attacking Elsa.

Caught by surprise, she was unable to evade an arrow that gave her a cut on the side of her neck, thankfully not hitting anything important. The other attacks she either blocked with her ice or blasted away with magic; still, she found herself struggling quite a bit.

It's not like she wasn't expecting this from Hans; she knew she was an enemy to the kingdom and the king held a personal grudge against her for freezing his arm, so she knew he wouldn't let her go without a fight. But she wasn't in the best condition to defend herself, neither physically nor mentally. She was still tired and wounded by her fight with Percival the previous day, and the wound Anna had inflicted on her had made her loose quite a bit of blood, not to mention she had spent a whole day walking at the mountains and stressing over her sister, which had worn her out. Also, she felt like the shittiest shit in the world for what she'd done to Anna; both for freezing her heart and… well, every moment after, and a part of her thought that she deserved to die. No. That she needed to die. Maybe then Anna would be saved. So she put less effort on fighting back than usual and as result, got hit.

She still killed a few soldiers though; maybe more than a dozen in a matter of minutes. The moment they got too close to her, they would be killed like flies. Her objective was getting back to Jairah and escaping flying on her back, but when she finally got near her eagle she saw she was also being attacked by Hans' soldiers, but was doing quite an effort to defend herself.

This angered Elsa, since she never saw Jairah the same way she did her snow monsters. She could kill, sure, but that wasn't the purpose she was designed for. She was a manifestation of the beauty in Elsa's magic, untarnished by the murderous brutality she had put in all her other living creations. She was intimidating, but gentle. She was big but sometimes acted like a little chick, starved for Elsa's attention and love. She was created as a means for Elsa to escape her past life of oppression and abuse, and as such, she was a symbol of hope and happiness in Elsa's eyes.

Now, she was being bombarded with arrows and spears, fighting to avoid the sharp swords and failing miserably. Elsa had always wondered if her creations could feel any pain at all, and now, hearing Jairah's horrendous shrieks… now she had no doubt.

She wanted to go save her; just create a huge snowstorm and kill everyone in sight but… there was just one problem with that. Hans was still there, watching the battle from the castle's door, and the soldier carrying Anna was at his side. If she were to release all her power, she'd risk injuring her sister further; perhaps even killing her. And that was a risk she was not going to take, so she kept holding herself back, slowly pushing through the soldiers to get in order to her eagle.

Suddenly, just when she was in the middle of piercing a man's heart with a big icicle, a thunderous bang was heard, and she instinctively covered her ears and raised an ice shield around herself. The explosion that followed made the whole courtyard resonate and vibrate with its force, but once it was over, Elsa immediately opened her eyes and looked for its source, her heart beating with enough force that she could feel it in her whole body, and her ears barely able to pick any sound.

Once she realized what was happening, however, it was already too late.

A mortar had been fired, and the big metal bomb had hit Jairah's head, blowing it up. The magnificent ice beast then fell to the ground, motionless, before disintegrating into millions of tiny snowflakes. Instantly, Elsa felt a pang inside her chest, and her eyes filled with tears that she refused to let out. Jairah had been her only friend the last few years; the only one she ever talked to about how much she missed Anna, or how she sometimes wished she could be good instead of evil, and now she was gone for good.

Sure, she could create another eagle, but it wouldn't be the same. She felt empty, lifeless; like she had nothing to fight for anymore. And so, she didn't try to defend herself when a soldier hit her head with the pommel of his sword, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

A/N: Ha! Cliffhanger! You may have already noticed, but I just absolutely love cliffhangers XD. Though rest assured; next chapter should come out sooner than usual, since I plan to finish this fic before April ends. Anyways, thanks for reading I hope you leave a review if you liked it (or if you cried when Jairah died), and see you soon :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.