She tore through the hallways, passing servants, dodging maids, all while trying to keep her composure even though it was clear to everyone just how upset she was.
A kingdom doesn't see their queen cry. Crying was a sign of weakness, a symbol of a ruler unfit for the crown.
It was a good thing then that she wasn't the queen yet. She'd be strong when she was older, but for now the heir of Arendelle allowed the tears to flow as she stumbled into the gardens and collapsed beneath the shade of a tree. She covered her mouth in an attempt to quiet her sobs, but try as she might she couldn't calm herself enough to stop crying.
She didn't mean any harm by what she had done. She had simply frozen over the floor of the parlor for a bit of fun while she was waiting for her etiquette instructor to arrive for their daily lessons. Of course, the instructor didn't notice the sheen of the ice when she stepped in and she slipped, falling straight to the floor and spilling the kettle of piping hot tea she had been carrying all over herself. It resulted in an uncharacteristic outburst of insults from the instructor aimed at the child. As though she didn't feel bad enough, once her father heard of what she had done he chewed her out for being so irresponsible and warned her that playing with her magic would no longer be tolerated inside the castle.
The princess was rightfully upset at herself for what had happened and she felt the already chill autumn air around her grow bitingly cold, though little else resulted from her rising emotions save for a patch of frost coating the grass she was kneeling on.
"-sa! Elsaaaa!"
The princess looked up, angrily wiping away her tears as a girl younger than her ran towards her. Her teal eyes were wide as she approached, short red pigtails barely brushing her shoulders with each step she took. "Elsa, are you okay?"
"N-No," the blonde stuttered, still trying to stop her crying. "She's hurt because of me."
"It was an accident! You didn't mean it!"
"I know Anna, but…" Elsa looked down at her hands and clenched them into fists. "Papa doesn't want me to use my magic anymore."
"That's not fair!" little Anna pouted, stomping her foot. "Your magic is so pretty and you make neat stuff with it, and when my soup's too hot you make it colder… I don't wanna start burning my tongue on it again!"
"I'm sorry." Blue eyes wandered, looking at the little pond just a short distance away, using the stillness of the water to try to calm herself even though she felt so hurt and lost. "I guess we can't play like we used to anymore."
The look of shock on Anna's face was unmistakable and she reached out for her big sister. "No! Don't say that! We can still play with your magic; we just gotta do it when Papa and Mama aren't looking!"
Elsa shied away from Anna's grasp, standing up and tucking her arms against her center in worry. "Don't touch me; it's cold out here and I'm freezing," she said, ever aware of her constantly chilled body temperature. Anna shrugged, walked right up to her and wrapped her arms around her, forcing the hug anyway.
"Well then if you're frozen, I'm frozen too!" she declared. "We're sisters forever and we're gonna get through this together."
The eldest sibling blinked, looking down at the younger as she returned the hug. "We're forever frozen," she smiled.
Why now of all times was that memory coming back to her?
Elsa shook her head, trying to clear away the vision of her youth as she nervously stumbled down the stairs of her apartment. She told Kristoff to meet her at the sheriff's station to help her locate her amnesic sister, but her own hopeful thoughts had driven her to search the neighborhood for her while the former ice harvester made his way to the meeting spot. A wish that Nina had returned home had sent her back to the apartment, only to leave it now disappointed and scared for her whereabouts with a villain apparently on the loose.
She glanced at the bike rack, noticing that Nina's main mode of transportation had gone along with her. With Nina's physical condition and love for speed, she could be anywhere in town by now or even halfway to Boston.
That thought alone terrified her because it was something reckless that both Nina and Anna were perfectly capable of doing.
On her way to the sheriff's station she stopped by the diner, hoping that Ruby or Granny would have an idea of where to search for the redhead but Nina surprisingly didn't have too many places where she frequented aside from work and the apartment they shared. Out of options, Elsa resigned herself to waiting for Kristoff at the station and texting everyone she knew to be on the lookout for her sister and to contact her if they spotted her.
She put her hands in her pockets as she impatiently waited, trying to keep her nerves down and her powers hidden by slipping back into her old mantra of"Conceal, don't feel," although she felt similar to a ticking time bomb ready to explode from all the stress and tension. It didn't help that after nearly ten minutes of waiting, the only one who came to aid her was Sven, the reindeer-friend of the man she was relying on to help her find her sister.
They looked at each other awkwardly, Elsa unsure of how to even start communicating with the animal without a carrot to offer to him.
"Did… uhm, did Kristoff send you?"
Sven nodded his antlered head to her surprise. Encouraged, she pressed him with another question in hopes of another useful response.
"Where is he right now?"
The reindeer's eyes lit up, likely enthused that Elsa was actually talking to him and he turned, motioning in the direction he came from and grunted, clopping his hooves against the pavement. It sounded like he was making a true effort to communicate with her, but after a while he noticed the blank look on her face and he stopped and just bowed his head.
…How the hell does Kristoff understand any of that…?
They waited in silence a few more minutes, eagerly watching the road until Elsa's phone buzzed with a text message from Emma. She took a step back to read it, temporarily ignoring a car that pulled into the lot as she did so.
"Pan switched bodies with Henry before we used Pandora's box on him," the message read. "Gold is switching them back now. Don't know if Neal trapped the Shadow yet; watch your back."
"Bad news?"
Elsa blinked, looking up to see Kristoff climbing out of his jeep along with Olaf and Marshmallow. She just stared at him, her mouth partially hanging open and he shrugged as he walked towards her. "What? You just kind of had that "I got a bad text message" look on your face so-"
"What took you so long?!" Elsa interrupted, quickly putting her phone back in her pocket before she froze it again.
Kristoff took a step back, holding his hands up in defense. "Hey, you told me to pick up Olaf and Marshmallow so I did," he said, motioning to the boys. "I sent Sven ahead because you sounded like something terrible happened and I had to drive from my cabin all the way to the other side of Storybrooke to Kai and Gerda's house, so excuse me for being a little late." He crossed his arms, pressing Elsa with a snarky look and a smirk until he noticed the way she placed a hand against her forehead, looking more than just a little stressed. "Okay, what's going on? You wouldn't just call me like that for a visit."
"I screwed up," she sighed, not even flinching when Marshmallow tackled her waist in a hug. "Nina found the diary and she got confused over everything Anna wrote in it. I tried giving her the potion but she got upset and ran out on me."
"So just give her time!" Kristoff smiled, seeing the situation as no big deal. "You know how she is. Let her work out how she feels and then try talking to her again."
"Kristoff, Peter Pan is in Storybrooke!"
"What? No. No, you gotta be kidding. There's no way that… you're not kidding," he realized when Elsa stayed firm in her statement. "What? How…? I thought you said he was trapped in that box!"
She pulled out her cell phone and navigated to the message she received just a minute ago. "According to Emma he switched bodies with Henry right before he was trapped. Henry was trapped instead…"
"And Pan's been here for an entire day," Kristoff realized. His wide eyes narrowed at Elsa and his lips tightened into a deep frown. "Why didn't you go after Nina?!"
Offended, Elsa snatched her phone back and put her hands on her hips. "I did go after her! Only this shadow creature that Pan controls showed up and attacked me. I nearly died just trying to leave the apartment."
Kristoff backed off, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed that he had lashed out at her with his anger but he was nervous. As much as he trusted Nina and Anna, the warnings Elsa had been given about Peter Pan had him worried for the safety of the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. "She's not answering your calls, is she?" he asked, not surprised when Elsa shook her head to the side. He took his phone from his pocket, quickly typing out a text message to Nina's phone and sending it in hopes that she'd answer, but with as upset as she seemed to be, he and Elsa knew that it was futile.
Marshmallow clung to Elsa's side, sharing a look with Olaf before he looked up at the two adults in their group. "Auntie Anna is scared," he said, his eyes distant as he recognized the emotions of a heart that was some distance away. "Confused too… angry."
"I really messed this up," Elsa admitted, closing her eyes and hugging Marshmallow close when he tightened his grip on her. "I should have told Nina the truth from the beginning instead of hiding it from her. If I did then I could have saved her from all this trouble, but instead I just shut her out like I always do."
"Hey, don't say that! You did what you thought was right for her," Kristoff calmly argued. He crossed his arms, knowing how bad she felt because he had agreed that her plan to hide the truth from Nina was a good one. "Besides, we don't know what would have happened if you let her know about the Dark Curse after she fell over the line. She could have reacted like Belle did and wound up in the hospital for mental evaluation." He watched as she closed her eyes against the possible outcome of the other decision she could have made, knowing just how torn up she had been to go through the original plan of keeping secrets. He looked down at Olaf's hopeful eyes, almost seeming to know what the boy wanted to ask because he shared the same question. "What do we do now? How do we fix this?"
She was so worked up and nervous that she just wanted to crumble to the floor, let the world turn and hope the situation could solve itself without steamrolling over the remnants of her fragile heart, but she knew she couldn't. Slowly, she straightened her back and took a calming breath, opening her eyes to the loved ones who stayed by her side even when things got too dangerous or confusing for them. "We're going to find her," she said strongly, her fear being pushed back by the love she had for her family. "She can't be out alone with Peter Pan somewhere in town, so when we find her, we'll bring her back here and find someplace safe where we can protect her until he's taken care of."
"Alright. Everyone, get in the car, we're-" Kristoff stopped when a fragile hand was placed lightly on his arm and he looked at Elsa, saw the way she frowned and how her eyes begged him to understand without her needing to say any more. "…You're going alone, aren't you?"
"I have to, Kristoff," Elsa smiled sadly. "This is all my fault. Anna lost her memories and is in danger because of me."
"That doesn't mean you have to go by yourself!"
"Think about this!" she pleaded. "If we all go, what is the likelihood of the Shadow ambushing us on the way there? I can use my magic against it but if it subdues me, then who's going to save you?"
"Well… I-"
"You can't punch it," Elsa interrupted before he could even make the suggestion. "I don't even know how else to get rid of it aside from magic." She put her hands on her hips, taking a moment of silence to think through the situation and plan accordingly. "Olaf, is Nina close?"
The young brunette squinted his dark eyes, looking off in the distance to see the glow of a heart that was invisible to everyone but him. "Yeah, real close. Over that way," he said, pointing in the direction of his missing friend.
"She's towards the harbor…" Elsa mused, tapping a finger on the side of her leg as she thought, only turning back to Kristoff when her ramshackle plan had come together. "I'll take Olaf with me. It's about a five minute walk to get over there… give me fifteen minutes to find her and if you don't get a phone call or text from me, go get some backup and come after us."
He looked at her seriously before he broke out into a small chuckle and she glared at him. "What?"
Kristoff shook his head to the side. "This is almost exactly the same plan Anna made when we went to go get your heart out of Regina's crypt: Split up and call if something goes right or wrong. You two are a lot more alike than you think."
"Yes, well… if the situation were different I'd have you come wi- wait, what are you… PUT ME DOWN!"
He barely ducked under a swipe of Elsa's arm as he picked her up by the waist and set her down on Sven's back, laughing at her as she immediately clung to the animal's shaggy fur despite the lack of forward motion. "Kristoff, what are you doing?!"
"I let Anna ride Sven last time so I'll let you do the same," he smiled as he picked up Olaf and set him down in front of Elsa, earning an irritated glare as he did so.
"It's a five minute walk."
"So? Now it's a two minute ride. You're welcome."
"I can use my magic-"
"To make one of your ice slides through town and Olaf knows how to skate on it and yeah, yeah, I get it," Kristoff drawled, playfully mocking her. "But do you seriously expect him to keep up? Let Sven do all the running so you two can focus on navigating. And stop eyeing the jeep; you're not driving it," he deadpanned as he caught her in the act and sent a deep blush of embarrassment across the faint freckles on her nose.
He took a step back, grinning to himself as he took hold of Marshmallow's hand, practically reigning the boy back as he seemed to want to go along as well. Marshmallow settled on waving at his mother and sibling instead, staring at them with pride and confidence. "Good luck Mama and big brother!" he said, locking hopeful stares with Olaf that they'd see each other again.
Elsa nervously readjusted her position on Sven's back and leaned over for a better grip on his fur, locking Olaf protectively between her arms as she got ready for the ride. A faint touch on her elbow had her swallowing her fear again and she looked down at Kristoff; his smile was small and his eyes were wide and for as confident as he seemed to be, she could tell that he was scared too.
"Just come back," he said, voice quiet.
She nodded and sat up for a moment, keeping her grip on Sven as she reached out and placed a hand on Kristoff's strong shoulder. "For Anna," she said, reminding him of the promise they made to bring back her sister's memories and keep her safe… no matter what.
He copied the motion, squeezing her shoulder. "For Anna," he repeated, putting all of his faith into those two words. He let go, leaving Elsa to brace herself once more as he put an arm around Sven's neck. "Okay buddy, it's on you now to get them there safe and fast. Listen to Olaf."
Sven snorted and nodded, his eyes narrowing as he took a stance.
"All right; go, go, go!" Kristoff yelled, hitting Sven in the side to get him moving. He stood back, watching as the reindeer's hooves clopped against the pavement, evolving into a thundering roar as he whisked Elsa and Olaf down the street and disappeared around a corner en route to get back the missing member of their family.
"Go get her, Elsa."
"C'mon Sven, faster! She's over this way!"
Elsa cringed and braced herself as the reindeer practically skidded around the intersection they almost sped past.
What was supposed to only be a two minute ride felt much longer. She made it no secret that she was uncomfortable riding horses, or reindeer in this case, and the constant movement combined with the loud clopping of Sven's hooves had given her a headache in the short sprint through town. Her hands were getting sore from gripping his fur so tightly to ensure that she and Olaf wouldn't fall off and without a proper saddle, she was sure that she had instant chafing from the moment they started moving.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The sudden question brought her out of her mental complaints and she looked down at Olaf, who was currently staring at her over his shoulder with a raised brow. "I'm fine…"
"You sure? You're heart's blinking really fast," he noticed, seeing the blue glow of Elsa's heart brightening and fading rapidly. She relaxed her pose a little and just smirked.
"You can see my pulse, can't you?" she realized, and Olaf just shrugged, not knowing exactly what it was. Still, his ability forced a question out of Elsa that she wasn't sure she wanted to be asking. "…Can you see Nina's pulse? Is she okay?"
The young boy hardly squinted, so close to the glow now that it just wasn't necessary. "Yeah, she's fine. Maybe a little nervous, but not like yours. Yours looks like what happens when you flick the light switch on and off really fast."
She couldn't deny that was how she felt. She wasn't just scared; she was downright terrified that she would find Nina in a terrible situation or that if she didn't, she'd just reject her and the potion again. More than anything, Elsa just wanted to be by Nina's side and keep her safe, and the more time they spent apart, the more worried she became about the potential danger.
"You're gonna get her memories back, don't worry!" Olaf smiled as they arrived at the harbor. "Then we can all go back home together and be a family again."
Elsa smiled warmly, thankful for the encouragement and she ruffled his hair. "You're right. I have nothing to be nervous about, do I?" she said, her heart beating faster as Sven walked them past the very same warehouse where she, David and Mary-Margaret went to rescue Regina nearly two weeks ago. She was scared then too, but just the thought of Anna had given her the confidence she needed to keep a level head and get through the confrontation with Greg, though a later bout of over-confidence caught her off guard and rendered her useless once he took advantage of her slip-up. It couldn't happen again.
She kept quiet as Sven slowed to a trot, carefully navigating the warehouse alleys and boardwalk with Olaf calmly navigating. She kept her eyes peeled for anything and everything: strangers, odd shadows, signs of magic, any sort of indication that evil was lurking but the lack of signs had her hopeful that there was none.
She almost didn't hear when Olaf asked Sven to stop. Her heart was beating so loudly in her chest that it drowned out everything else as she set her eyes upon the warehouse where she and Anna had been working with her magic. Could… could Nina be here? Did she remember that this place meant something to her and went there to be alone?"
"Elsa! She's over there!"
Olaf caught her attention again and she tore her eyes away from the warehouse to follow his direction towards a boathouse just across from it. "You're sure?"
"Yeah, positive. So how are we gonna do this? I can talk to her first and- hey, wait! Elsa, hold on!" he called, reaching for the blonde woman as she dismounted. "Don't we have to come up with a strategy first?"
"The strategy is that I go in alone," Elsa told him, patting him on the arm as he stayed seated upon Sven's back. "She's going to wonder why you're not in the orphanage and we'll just confuse her even more if we try to explain it, so let me take it from here, okay?"
He looked disappointed, but he nodded regardless even though his eyes were filled with worry. "Okay…"
"You did a great job and I'm very proud of you," she said, trying to leave him with a brave face but her lips trembled as she smiled up at her boy. She moved, hesitating to pat the reindeer on the head but the low rumble of the animal's acceptance let her know that he wasn't nearly as afraid of her chilled touch as she was apprehensive about riding him. "You too, Sven. Now hurry and get back to Kristoff. I'll call him as soon as everything is resolved, okay?"
With a sad wave of goodbye, Olaf rode off with Sven back the way they came, looking over his shoulder just once only to see his mother staring back at him with bold blue eyes. She was alone, but she was strong; she'd do as she said she would and fix all of this.
Elsa put her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she watched the boy and reindeer disappear between a pair of warehouses. She grasped the vial of potion in her right hand as the fingers of her left brushed the cool metal of her crown, thumbing over the regal design that served as her protection. Slowly she turned towards the boathouse and crept towards the door, her heart beating faster and louder with each and every step she took.
Bringing back the skills of her mischievous youth that were now refined with David's guidance, she quieted her steps on her approach and pressed herself against the wall next to the door, trying to hear any signs of movement on the other side but the sound of waves lapping against the dock's support beams made it difficult to hear anything at all. Quickly she knelt down and grabbed the door handle, turning it slowly to avoid making too much noise and pushed the door open only slightly so she could get a better look at the situation inside.
The Shadow wasn't looming as she was expecting, nor was there a sign of anyone else in the building but the person she was looking for. Nina stood alone, facing away from her at the opposite side of the house, just beyond where a speedboat was docked in the bay. Elsa cringed at the sight of her: her hair was streaked with more blonde on the right side of her head, her conflicted memories between two curses changing the color to a shade not much different than Elsa's own.
"Oh God… what have I done?"
She wasn't even sure how to approach Nina again, not with the way the redhead had run out on her, upset by a name she didn't understand and a past that Elsa had been hiding from her and only tried to fix with magic. Elsa bit her lip, contemplating just what to say to her when the door suddenly flew open with her grip still on the handle. She cried out in surprise as she stumbled inside the boathouse, barely getting her feet beneath her and stopping before she fell in the bay. The door slammed shut behind her and she darted back towards it; the plan was to get Nina and get out, and if they were trapped in here-
"Leaving so soon?"
The young voice chilled her already cold blood and before she could even reach the door handle she found herself hurtling backwards through the air, crossing the distance of the boathouse and landing hard on her back. She gritted her teeth against the pain, opening her eyes slowly only to look up at the playful smirk of a teenage boy whose eyes glinted in the shadows and revealed a darker intent.
She never saw him before that moment, but even so she didn't have to guess to know who he was. "Peter Pan…!" she gasped, only widening the smirk on the boy's face.
"I knew you'd show up sooner or later. It's about time, Snow Queen; I was getting worried."
He held out a hand at Elsa and she felt herself levitating off the floor of the wooden dock for just a moment before her back was slamming against another surface. She blinked, trying to clear her head from the collision and calm down enough to assess the situation, but there wasn't much more to discover aside from the fact that she was now pinned against the wall several feet off the ground, unable to move anything from her shoulders down. Below and to her left, Nina stood there, holding onto her golden pendant as she looked up at her in fear and backed up against a steel support beam. Peter Pan was right in front of her, casually holding her still with magic as someone walked in on the right.
It was the Duke of Weselton. Of course it was him, that weasel.
"Don't know why you were so eager to leave," Peter Pan wondered out loud as he looked up at her. "Thought you might want to stick around to chat for a bit."
"Whatever you want from her, you can't have it!" Elsa declared, blue eyes blazing at the sight of the person who had been haunting her and her family for the past two weeks since the trigger nearly destroyed their town. "Let me down from this wall and-"
She gasped, forcing out a harsh cough before she reared her head back, struggling to breathe properly as a force closed around her neck and choked her. She glanced down at Peter Pan, whose once amused smile turned into a dark frown.
"Sorry, I don't take orders from adults," he sneered, relaxing his tensed fingers and releasing Elsa from the hold he had on her neck, turning towards the Duke as he listened with some kind of amusement as the Snow Queen quickly tried to regain her breath. "Thank you for bringing her here," he said, nodding over to Nina. "The plan worked perfectly."
The Duke responded by placing a hand over his heart and bowing at the waist. "You never fail, Sire."
Nina witnessed everything with a gasp held in her throat and she took a step away from the wall, afraid to get too close to this strange magic that didn't seem nearly as delicate as the snow that her roommate was capable of conjuring. "Alison, what are you doing here?" she asked, looking up at the blonde stuck to the wall before quickly turning her sights to the boy in green. "What are you doing to her, Peter?!"
"Keeping her out of the way. She's dangerous, Nina," Peter Pan said calmly, not even flinching as Elsa struggled uselessly against the force of his magic. "I told you I'd reveal the truth to you about your missing memories and it seems fitting that the person who's been lying to you this entire time was here to help. I just want to make sure she cooperates, that's all."
"Just… please, don't hurt her," Nina said quietly as she locked eyes with Elsa, reminding the latter that even though she was upset with her, she still cared for her well-being. Resigning to the fact that the situation was out of her control, Elsa stopped fighting against the restraining magic and lightly hit her head against the wall in frustration, looking down at Peter Pan and waiting for his next move.
He paced slowly, hand still raised to control the magic that kept Elsa still and the other one clenched tightly as he stared her down before turning his head to look at Nina. "That story you were telling me about, the one that Henry told you about this entire town being cursed fables," he said, bringing back a topic that the two were discussing before Elsa's arrival, "it's all true."
Nina shook her head, glancing between him, Elsa and the Duke, completely skeptical of his words. "It can't be true. It's just a story, just some make-believe stuff."
"It's real," Peter Pan countered. "All of it. How else could you explain our magic?" he asked, nodding up at Elsa. "Or how I even have knowledge of the story to begin with when you've never seen me before?"
"I… no, you gotta be playing some kind of game, all of you," she smiled weakly. "I mean, if the story was real, then we'd all still be cursed. How come all you guys remember everything but I don't?"
"Because the curse was broken!" Peter Pan explained, further adding to the confusion that he was willing to clear up. "The Savior, Emma, came and freed the town, restoring everyone's memories of their past selves, but something happened to you that made you forget again."
"You're lying."
"Am I? We've only just met today; unlike the people closest to you, I don't have a reason to keep secrets from you," he said kindly as he smirked up at Elsa, striking her in the heart with his words alone. "Tell me, Snow Queen," he addressed her, "am I lying about this at all?"
Elsa pressed her lips together, glaring at Pan before turning softer eyes to Nina. Sadly, she shook her head to the side, feeling her heart beginning to race again now that the truth she had been unable to tell had come out. "No. It's all true."
Teal eyes went wide and freckled cheeks flushed in anger. The look of utter disappointment on Nina's face made Elsa cringe and she had to stop herself from crying out as the redhead backed into the support beam, hugging herself around the waist. Nina looked down, shaking her head as trembling lips fell into a deep frown. "Who am I?" she asked quietly, afraid, barely looking up and staring at Peter Pan for the answer instead of her best friend.
The boy's smirk widened and he felt some kind of sadistic glee that Elsa writhed against the wall when he pressed his stare at her. "I'm sure you can answer this one for us: What is Nina's true name?"
Elsa opened her mouth to speak but the name caught in her throat. She couldn't… she just couldn't. She spent so long keeping it from her, trying to make the strange town and all its magic make sense.
Nina watched her struggle and she gripped her sides harder, wondering why it was so difficult for her just to reveal the name to her. "Alison…?"
"What is her name, Snow Queen?!" Peter Pan yelled impatiently, drawing Elsa's sights for just a moment before she closed her eyes.
She deserves to know.
She opened her blue eyes, looking at Nina, the poor cursed girl who was so much like the sibling she lost but simply wasn't.
"Anna," she said, voice cracking over the name. Her heart clenched painfully as Nina reeled from the revelation. "It's Anna."
Peter Pan approached Nina slowly and cautiously to avoid startling her as she seemed ready to collapse. "It's the truth," he said when she looked at him to confirm if Elsa's word was real or just another lie.
With gritted teeth and heat rising back into her cheeks, Nina snapped her focus on Elsa, ignoring the other two men who watched her curiously. "Why?!" she cried as Elsa practically collapsed against the force of her frustration and anger. "Why did you keep it from me?!"
"Because you wouldn't understand!"
"Understand what?!" Tears shimmered in Nina's eyes, stubbornly refusing to fall as she clutched onto her pendant for strength. "I found the diary and saw the name, but you couldn't tell me?!"
"Nina…"
"Why were you hiding this from me?!"
Fighting back her own tears, Elsa swallowed hard, unsure how to even begin to explain herself but she had to try. "Because-"
"Because she's a coward!"
Both women turned to the boy at the declaration and Elsa in particular was pressed with an overwhelming sense of dread. "What…?" she asked hopelessly, unable to understand what it was that Peter Pan was trying to do as he stood there smugly with a hidden agenda glinting in his eyes.
"She was too afraid to tell you the truth of your past because she knew you'd shun her after you found out what she did to you," he told Nina, pointing his accusations at Elsa.
Nina gripped the pendant tighter, still staring at Elsa, afraid but still in need of the truth. "What she did to me…?" Her question was quiet, her fingers were trembling, and her wide eyes looked up at Elsa with so much fear that the blonde could hardly stand to look at her.
Peter Pan took a step towards Nina, looking to her with a sense of urgency and warning. "She took your memories, Nina!" he explained, driving the redhead back against the wall. "The Snow Queen wanted you to forget what had happened between you before the curse brought you here."
"No!"
Peter Pan whirled, startled only slightly when an outburst of blue frost exploded on the wall behind Elsa. She struggled against the magic that kept her there, pulling and straining against it and with each forceful tug, the frost behind her crackled and spread further. She stopped just for a moment to catch her breath and dispel the lie that was being told. "Nina, I would never-"
"Then why would you hide the truth?" Peter Pan interrupted, casting his glare at her, challenging her daringly to resolve the situation he had complete control over. "Why would you keep her past from her? Nina," he called, looking over to the poor girl who seemed so lost, "have you ever wondered why you have that streak in your hair?"
She ran trembling fingers through her hair, tucking stray platinum strands behind her right ear, completely unaware that the color was encroaching on the rest of her locks. "W-Well…"
"She did that to you," he seethed, motioning at Elsa and tightening his grip on her to deter her from making any more escape attempts. "She struck you with her magic and gave you false memories to forget it so you wouldn't turn on her like everyone else in this town."
Nina's mouth dropped open in shock and she tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come. What he was telling her made sense; a past life as a girl named Anna had been completely wiped from her memory, even the apparent short amount of time from when the curse was broken to when Anna got sick… and she was sick because of Alison's magic. That had to be it. It made sense, too, that the other townsfolk kept their distance when she and Alison were in town together, how many who approached them did so cautiously and even fewer stopped to have conversations with them. They all seemed to be wary of Alison and now she was certain it was because of the powers she wielded. She didn't just discover them like she said she did; she had them the whole time.
She looked up at the blonde, noticing the way her face was flushed and how the frost was starting to coat her clothes; her hands looked as though they were frozen solid. "Alison, is that all true?"
"No!" Elsa practically cried, frustrated at herself for keeping secrets during this past week and a half and at Pan for taking advantage of it. It was obvious to her, however, that Nina wasn't quite ready to accept her word.
"How do I know that you're not still lying to me?!"
"Because… Nina, please, just listen," she begged, only earning a stern, cold teal glare. She stared it in the face adamantly, looking at the cursed girl but hoping that her words would reach the other who slept within. "You probably don't remember this, but I know that the other part of you, the part of you that's Anna does. Not long ago I had given up on myself… I didn't have any confidence in myself or my magic or any decisions I was making, but then you told me something that helped me. Do you remember what it was?"
Nina's hard stare softened slightly and she closed her eyes, missing Peter Pan's curious glance. "Believe in me," she said, opening her eyes, both confused by the words and bewildered by Elsa's smile.
"That's right," Elsa grinned with pride, letting the tears she was holding back fall down her cheeks. "You told me to let you be my confidence, and I did. I feel stronger when I'm with you and even when we aren't together, just thinking about your bravery inspires me to be brave, too. I'm so sorry for lying to you, Nina," she said, practically choking on her regret, "but you know why I did it."
"I do?"
"I know you do. Believe in me," she pleaded, ignoring the way Pan seemed to be growing irritated with the exchange. She thought instead of the story Anna had written for her, the one she had read dozens of times by now, the one that had been sitting on her bedside nightstand during this terrible time she had to be without her sister. "Let me help you find the way. You know I'd never hurt you like this on purpose."
A silence fell over the boathouse. No one moved, no one said anything. Only the sound of rapidly beating hearts could fill the void until a memory came back to the cursed girl who moments ago seemed so hopeless.
"You were trying to protect me," Nina sighed, almost as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Tense shoulders dropping, Elsa's graceful smile tugged at her trembling lips. "That's right. That's exactly right. And I've never stopped trying," she said through her tears. Nina seemed to be just as happy, knowing now that all of this turmoil and lies weren't a cause of her friend hiding some terrible secret from her, but because she wanted to keep her safe from something. She realized now in her present state that an evil person from fairytale land or wherever they were from could have taken advantage of her confusion and manipulated her to go against her friend.
But still, Nina found herself distressed. "I still don't remember anything," she admitted, looking up at Elsa for help and growing concerned when she saw her face falter.
"I can help with that."
Nina snapped her focus now on Peter Pan as he walked up to her, taking her sights off of Elsa who was making attempts to warn her. She shrunk away from him though she had nowhere to go; her back was against the support beam and the Duke was blocking any routes to escape. "Why should I trust you?!" she spat at him. "You told me that Ali was the one who took my memories, but she didn't, did she?"
"I'm honestly not sure. I only believed the rumors that my friend here told me," he smiled, pointing back at the Duke who was visibly startled by the accusation. "I can help you get your memories back, though. Just like the Snow Queen has her own special magic, mine can restore the true memories that are hiding within you. Give me your hand, Nina." He reached out, offering his own, and when she hesitated he grew irritated that Elsa's attempt to regain her trust with the cursed redhead actually worked. "You believed in your friend, now believe in me. We want to see you return to your true self; that's why we're all here."
"…You're sure this will work?"
"Have I given you any reason not to trust me?"
Nina bit her lip, cautious of the magic Peter claimed to have but still so desperate to have her memories back. She kept one hand clasped on her necklace as she reached out for the hand that was offered to her, barely touching the boy's palm before he grasped her wrist and imbued her hand with a spell that hand her fingers glowing with a soft golden light. She stared at it in an equal mix of wonder and horror. "What is this?" she asked, holding her hand out as Peter Pan let go of it.
"It's magic, Nina. Special magic that will help me restore your memories. What I need you to do is to put that hand right here," he motioned, reaching over to the left side of his chest, "and reach inside. I need you to give me your heart so I can return it to the way it's supposed to be."
"…Isn't that kind of deadly?" she asked quickly. "Like, if I rip out my heart then how am I going to, y'know, live?"
"There's an enchantment-"
"Yeah, but it seems kind of dangerous just casually ripping my heart out and then handing it over. What about germs?"
Peter Pan rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Do you want your memories back or not?"
"I do! I do, it's just…" She blinked, still unsure, and she looked up at Elsa, wondering why she wasn't voicing her opinion on any of this when she seemed so against everything Peter was saying before.
What she didn't know was that Elsa couldn't say anything. Her entire body was rigid and the frost continued to creep across her skin as she looked up to the roof of the boathouse, just trying to focus on breathing as Peter Pan's magic quietly choked her. She tried looking at Nina from the corner of her eyes, only barely able to see as the redhead brought that glowing hand close to her chest.
No…! No!
Nina took Elsa's silence as a sign that she approved of Peter's plan and she took a deep breath, hoped she was doing the right thing, and plunged her hand into her chest. Peter Pan grinned widely and the force that was choking Elsa was released. She gasped sharply, trying to regain her breath as she saw the situation fully now. "Anna, no!" she cried, her voice weak and strained from the magic and she had no choice but to watch as Nina pulled her heart out.
She stared at it with wide teal eyes, amazed that there was no blood involved but, hey, magic prevented all of that. The soft golden glow it gave off transfixed her, taking her mind away from the odd way it felt resting there in her palm though she couldn't quite ignore how suddenly frail and exhausted she felt. "You… you've done this before, right?" she asked as Peter Pan eagerly took the heart.
He held it up, admiring the light it gave off and he smirked. "Of course I have. Now, just wait here while I go and get what I need for the spell."
Nina nodded tiredly, closing her eyes and leaning against the support beam as Peter Pan turned his back on her, heart in hand, and walked away. He stopped, glancing up at Elsa before addressing the Duke. "Get rid of them," he ordered.
The Duke blinked in surprise. "Both of them?"
"I have what I need," Pan said, holding up the shining heart. "They've both served their purpose and no one will miss that menace of a Snow Queen or her miserable spare of a sister. Get your revenge at meet me outside the pawnshop for the next stage."
"Yes. At once." The Duke bowed, pulling a handgun from his coat as Peter Pan disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. As he vanished, so too did the effects of his restraining magic and Elsa fell from where she was previously being held, landing hard enough on her feet that it sent her to her hands and knees.
She wasn't sure if Peter Pan had meant for her to hear his last set of instructions to the Duke, but she had and she glanced at him, watching briefly as he prepared the weapon, nervously loading a round into a chamber of the gun before he set his sights on his first target and started to take aim at the other girl across the room.
Elsa wasn't thinking as she scrambled to her feet; she was just reacting, strengthened and encouraged by the smile and bravery of her little sister.
And so she ran at Nina, the poor girl who struggled to stay on her two feet, who looked so weak and helpless and had no chance at defending herself. There was a moment of regret that Elsa hadn't been able to get her true memories to return, but if Nina had more time… if she had just a chance…
She stepped right in front of Nina, pivoted and held her arms out to block her, facing the threat head on and staring down the barrel of the weapon that shook in the Duke's hand. "Stop! You can't-!"
BANG!
The boathouse nearly seemed to quake as the sound of the gunshot reverberated into every surface, deafening everyone with ringing ears.
The bullet struck her in the chest, jerking her body back against Nina's and the back of her head struck solidly against the support beam. Her eyes rolled back into her head as her body fell limp, sinking against the support of her friend who caught her before she fell to the unforgiving floor.
"…Elsa?"
"Wish me luck, Joan!"
The young redheaded girl ran out of the portrait gallery, braided pigtails flying behind her as she tore through the halls and bounded up the central staircase, taking the steps two at a time even though she was still a little short to do so easily. She tripped when she got to the first landing but that didn't stop her at all; she just brushed it off as if she had meant to do it, just like her etiquette instructor had told her to treat her bouts of clumsiness, and she zipped up the final flight with a piece of parchment clutched tightly to her chest.
Today was the day, she thought to herself as she headed down the hallway that was opposite of the one where her bedroom was. Today she was finally going to get Elsa to come out and play with her, or at the very least just stay in her company long enough to have a conversation.
When Anna was five, she thought that Elsa was in permanent time-out because of the tricks they'd play on the castle staff during the wintertime. When she was six, she believed that Elsa was sickly and too fragile to come out of her room. At seven she was fully convinced that Elsa had a life-threatening disease until her father told her otherwise, and at eight years old she made the excuse that Elsa was too busy with her studies to even see her anymore. She was the heir, after all.
But still, just because Elsa was the heir, that didn't mean she didn't have a sister. Dinners were starting to grow awkward now, especially after Anna turned nine. Elsa used to say little, but now she hardly said anything at all. She would rush through the meal as elegantly as she could, bid her farewells for the evening and immediately return to her room. Anna knew; she followed her one night.
She refused to give up on her, though. One way or another, Anna was going to get her sister back and she thought that maybe, just maybe, something from their younger childhood would coax Elsa out of her room for once. She stopped at the white door painted with blue geometrical shapes and flowers that could be mistaken for snowflakes… or was it the other way around? It didn't matter. Anna looked at the parchment she held, read what she had written one last time before she slipped it halfway beneath the door. She rapped a rhythm into the wood with her knuckles and then moved away, faking that she had gone off somewhere else but she instead stood against the wall to wait and watch.
She knew her sister by now: Elsa wouldn't open up the door if she thought Anna was outside, and if Anna called out to her she'd tell her to go away… but she would take any notes Anna slipped beneath her door. She just wouldn't write one back.
As she predicted, the parchment disappeared beneath the crack between the floor and the door and Anna rushed to it, bending down to see any signs of movement on the other side. There was a dark shadow very close to the door; Elsa had stopped to read the note.
"We used to say it all the time, remember?" Anna nervously called from the outside, tucking a strand of platinum colored hair behind her ear to join the other copper colored ones. "Especially when it was cold outside, because we used to play so long that we were-"
She was stopped mid-sentence by the unmistakable sound of parchment tearing through the other side of the door. It happened quickly, but to young Anna it lasted a lifetime. She balled up her fists, tears springing to her eyes and falling immediately as she stomped her foot. "Fine!" she shouted, loud enough for that entire wing of the castle to hear. She grasped at the golden crocus pin she wore on her shirt for some kind of comfort though it offered very little. "If you don't want to be sisters anymore, then I don't want to either!"
Heartbroken, Anna bolted away from that door she was learning to hate, her young legs carrying her quickly to the other side of the castle where she didn't have to be constantly reminded that her sister just did not want to see her.
Elsa, meanwhile, couldn't stand herself. She dropped both halves of the parchment and collapsed against her door, sinking down until she rested in a small bundle on the floor. She cried into her white satin gloves, staining the material with her tears but she didn't care. She hated them just as much as she hated herself for the accident that happened years ago and for continuously hurting her sister even though she was trying so hard just to keep her away and safe from her magic.
It burst out beneath her in a pattern of frost shaped into a distinct snowflake, one that she used to love but was growing to hate as well. Just the sight of it spelled disaster and proved that she wasn't any closer to controlling this power or seeing her sister again.
"Conceal, don't feel," she whispered, hugging her knees. She looked up at the parchment pieces and hugged herself tighter, trying to stop her tears. "Conceal, don't feel."
Anna's note at one time had read "forever frozen."
BANG!
Nina didn't see everything that had happened; she just heard the gunshot and looked up in time to see the blonde stumble into her and fall. She caught her just in time and lowered her to the floor, supporting her back with her knee once she got her there. Gently, she shook her shoulders, trying desperately to get her to open her eyes again but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get her to wake up.
"…Elsa?"
Her question went unanswered, not even a twitch of a muscle at the sound of the name. The redhead tried shaking her shoulder again, not even caring how the frost on the blonde's jacket numbed her fingers. "Elsa? Elsa! Hey come on, wake up! I-It's me, Anna! I remember now and… Elsa, this isn't funny," Anna said, a small smile from her broken curse fading immediately into a tense frown. With a shaking hand, she pressed two fingers against her sister's neck, feeling a strong but slow pulse that was weakening by the second. "No…"
The shuffle of someone's feet triggered an instinctive need to hold her sister closer to protect her and she snapped her scared-yet-furious teal sights to the man who had done this to her. The Duke of Weselton stood there in apparent shock at what had happened. The gun he held was still raised, pointed at where Elsa had been just moments ago although he stared at Anna as though he didn't know what he did or why the woman he shot was now laying on the floor.
"Stay away from us," she ordered weakly, unwilling to give into her fears that the worst had happened, but the person she cradled in her arms wasn't giving her much hope. The Duke lowered his weapon and took a step backwards, hesitating at Elsa's still form.
"Your Highness-"
"Go away!" Anna cried this time, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Haven't you done enough already?! Just leave us alone!"
It wasn't long before reality set in and the Duke hastily backed away, staring at the gun in his hand afraid and ashamed of what he had done. To rid himself of the weapon and, perhaps in his mind, the reality of his actions, he tossed the gun into the bay before running out of the boathouse, slamming the door shut behind him. The sound echoed in Anna's chest, briefly filling the void where her heart should have been.
She gasped, wracked by a sudden violent sob and she reached for Elsa's frigid hand, grasping fingers coated in a thin layer of ice in a final attempt to get through to the blonde. "…I'm so sorry," Anna whispered, her grief rendering her incapable of much more. "I should have listened to you and let you come with me to the orphanage but instead I had to be stupid and brave and go alone and I got us both in trouble and you had to deal with me not being me and I yelled at you and now you're… Elsa, please wake up," she begged.
Her sister looked peaceful for the first time in days. There was no fear on her features, no anger, no grief, just a look of pure contentedness… and yet Anna hated to see her that way. Unsure of what else to do, she got down on both knees and pulled Elsa into her lap, still keeping a firm grip on her hand as she watched her breathing slow.
"I wanted things to be different here," she said quietly, recalling Nina's wishes on the fire escape of the old apartment, back before the clock tower started working. "I wanted us to have adventures and awesome jobs and find our true loves, but…"
Her face scrunched up and she fought back a sob as she doubled over in pain and pressed her forehead to Elsa's.
"None of that matters if you're not here with me."
Resolve broken and her last hopes dwindling away, Anna closed her eyes and mourned, wishing there were some way for her to turn back time and reverse all of this, to bring her sister back, or to even go back to those hard days during the curse when they were both broke and miserable but they were together. She had spent so much of her youth in Arendelle trying to get her sister to just open up the door that she was almost thankful for the curse that brought them to Storybrooke, but the time she had spent with Elsa was short in comparison to the years she spent with Alison. It was almost as though fate was determined to drive them apart.
She sat up a little, looking down at Elsa's closed eyes and she desperately wiped her tears off of her face. Panic settled in, a subdued feeling without her heart, but it had her mind racing.
Oh God… what am I going to do?
What was she going to tell Olaf and Marshmallow? And Kristoff? Not only that, but Peter Pan was out in town somewhere about to unleash hell on Storybrooke because she literally gave her heart to him. She was in no condition to even try to stop him but she had to do something because her sister sacrificed herself to give her a chance to live and fix all of this because just what Anna did. If Elsa were still here then she would… Elsa would…
Anna's nervous thoughts halted at the sight of something white that drifted into her view and settled in her sister's pale blonde hair.
It was a snowflake.
"…What?"
Slowly, she lifted her head, letting her mouth part slightly in fearful awe as delicate flakes danced and dipped and fluttered gracefully in the air. She followed their path in the opposite direction, looking up towards the arched ceiling where they appeared to be falling from, forming from out of nowhere almost like… almost like magic.
Something twitched in her hand and she looked back down, her breath hitching as she thought she saw her sister wince.
No… she did wince. Her dark brows drew together and she grunted softly as she briefly opened her eyes and struggled to keep them open. She tried again, blinking as the blurry world came back to her and slowly refocused as she fought off the daze.
"Elsa?"
The mentioned girl thought she had imagined the voice, but as she came to she realized that she was being held by someone and she looked up, tilting her head back slowly to avoid dizzying herself. "Anna…?" she asked, her voice weak. The redhead smiled and nodded, covering her mouth as she cried and suddenly Elsa realized that this wasn't some kind of dream. Her blue eyes widened, filling with tears and a smile tugged at her lips. "Anna!"
Without another word, Anna leaned down and wrapped her sister in a hug, burying her face in her shoulder as she cried and she felt Elsa doing the same, her cold fingers gripping the back of her shirt for extra support. Finally, after days of confusion and torment, the two sisters of Arendelle were reunited once more.
"Anna, how did…? You remember everything, right?" Elsa asked weakly, feeling her sister nod against her shoulder. She looked at her as best as she could from where she was and noticed that the blonde that had colored most of Anna's red hair was gone save for the single streak from her youth that had returned from her previous bout of illness. "But you didn't drink the potion?"
"I didn't have to," Anna smiled through her tears. "You saved me with an act of true love, remember?"
Elsa closed her eyes, clinging to Anna tighter. She didn't even think when she stepped in front of that gun, she just knew that she couldn't bear it if her sister got hurt anymore. If it had meant sacrificing her own safety then so be it, but she hadn't thought that doing something like that would have broken the curse that sealed away Anna's memories of Arendelle.
Just the thought of it had Anna hugging her sister tighter. "I thought I lost you!" she cried, her voice shaking. "You fell and you weren't waking up and I thought you were… I really thought you… oh my God Elsa, you got shot!" She suddenly broke away from the hug, tearing out of her sister's grasp as she set her back in her lap. "I'll call the hospital-"
"Anna…"
"-and you just stay right here and don't move. Just look at me and keep breathing while I put pressure on the wound and try to stop the… bleeding." She blinked. "You're not bleeding."
"No, I'm n-"
"Why are you not bleeding? Elsa, you were shot. I mean I'm happy you're not bleeding, but-"
Slowly, Elsa moved her hands up, grabbed the collar of her track jacket with one hand and pulled on the zipper with the other, smirking as she revealed the vest of Kevlar that had been gifted to her over a week ago.
Anna sat back, wiping away her tears as she laughed, completely relieved that her sister had made the decision to protect herself before coming and attempting the rescue mission. "And I thought you'd never have to wear that again after you brought it home."
"I thought the same thing, but people have been pointing guns and crossbows at me for nearly two weeks now and after you ran out on me, I got attacked by Peter Pan's shadow. I thought the worst was going to happen so I decided to put it back on."
The smile on Anna's face dropped just a little and she narrowed her eyes as she helped Elsa sit up on her own. "I really thought you were gone," she said seriously, looking Elsa in the eyes. "You weren't moving and you were hardly breathing. I could barely feel your pulse."
Elsa looked down at her hands in her lap, surprised that they were still covered in ice and that her clothes still had frost on them, but as she soon realized that for as much love as she felt, her fear over what had just happened was still overwhelming her. "When I fell back, I hit my head on something. Everything was dark until just now." She reached up and winced when she barely brushed her fingers against the back of her skull. "I didn't mean to scare you, Anna."
"No! No. Elsa, I'm just glad that you're still here," Anna smiled, relieved that she was with her sister again… and actually remember her real name this time.
Elsa felt the same, and for as much as she wanted to apologize for all the things that happened between the day that the trigger nearly destroyed Storybrooke until now, she knew that there were more pressing matters they had to attend to. "Peter Pan still has your heart, doesn't he?"
Anna nodded heavily with regret. "I don't know what he wants it for or where he is, but-"
"He's at Gold's shop. I heard him whisper something about it to the Duke before he left."
"Well okay then! Let's go get it back!" Anna cheered, jumping to her feet and offering a hand to help up her sibling. "Are you okay, though?"
"I'll be fine," Elsa smiled, graciously taking her sister's aid and standing, wincing at the way her knees burned from the scrapes she got when she fell from the wall. Anna kept hold on her hand, guiding her towards the door in a light trot, but Elsa pulled her back, struck still by the sight of the blonde streak that still weaved through her braid. "Anna, wait…"
"Uh, I thought we had to go?" The younger sibling turned back and tugged on the elder's hand to urge her along. "This is kind of important, like, the-world-might-blow-up-because-this-kid-has-my-heart kind of important."
"But I need to tell you something!" Elsa begged, wanting so badly to tell the secret she had been hiding from her sister for years now, the truth about why she had locked herself away during their youth. "If something goes wrong, I might not have another chance to-"
"Don't say that! Don't you dare say that, Elsa!" Anna snapped, a blazing fury lighting her eyes where there had previously been grief. It shocked her sister into standing still and Anna calmed herself, softening her sights against the scared look she was given. "We almost lost each other once today, and it's not gonna happen again," she said softly, gripping Elsa's hand tighter. "That Peter guy is up to something and I don't want this conversation to be the last thing we do together before he… I dunno, turns us into a bunch of flying monkeys or something."
Elsa laughed a little at the humor, finding Anna's strength and warmth comforting enough that the ice that covered her fingers and the frost on her clothes started to melt. She nodded with a small grin, gaining a bit of confidence from her words and just from being in her presence again. "Okay. When this is over, though, there's something that I need to talk with you about." She paused, looking her sister up and down, noticing the way she seemed strong but with the way she held her hand, her muscles felt weak. "Are you sure you're okay to do this?"
"Do what?"
"Go against Peter Pan? I know how weak I felt when Regina stole my heart… maybe you should leave this to-"
"Nope! Nuh-uh, I'm not going to sit by and let you deal with him alone. Forever frozen, remember?" she smiled, grinning wider at Elsa's wide-eyed reaction to the old words. "The longer we stand here, the more time he has to complete whatever it is he's planning and if he realizes that we're not dead, he could use my heart to control me and I do not want that kid to use me against you. Peter Pan needs to know that he's not getting away with what he did to us without a fight, so let's go get him!"