Chapter 54

Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.

"Kristoff?" Anna calls out, looking amongst the crowd of people near the docks. "Kristoff? Olaf? Marie? Sven?" She frowns, not finding anybody.

Since she's heard about Weselton attacking, Anna has only seen Brandr and his sister, Laila. (Alexandra? Alexandria? Nevermind. Not important right now.) She's only seen those two, and she's worried about the others.

She sighs when she sees a familiar head of dark red hair. "Marie!" she shouts, drawing the attention of her friend.

"Anna!" Marie notices and begins to make her way towards the princess. She turns her head around. "Olaf, I found Anna!"

"Really?" Olaf shouts, bumbling up towards Marie, his head held under one arm. He gasps in delight as he sees the princess, fixing his head. "Anna!" he yells again, both running to greet her.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Anna tells them, pulling each one into a hug. "I still can't find Kristoff though. He was out on a short ice run this morning, but he should be back now. Have either of you seen him or Sven?"

Marie shakes her head. "I'm afraid not. Ingrid only found Olaf."

"Actually," Olaf begins to speak, "I was with Kristoff at first, but he told me to stay with Ingrid because Sven was still in the stables and he didn't know where you were, Anna. So he went to find you two."

"Are you alright?" Marie asks Anna. "Where is your sister, Queen Elsa? I heard a rumor she's not in Arendelle."

"That... isn't a rumor, exactly," Anna tells them sheepishly.

"What?" Marie and Olaf gasp. "What happened?" the maid asks.

"I'd tell you, but I still need to find Kristoff and it's really long and complicated," Anna says, "Like, if I had to write it all down in a book or something, it would take at least 53 chapters. Sorry." She shrugs, and adjusts her braid.

Marie nods. "I understand now isn't a good time. I just wanted to make sure Olaf got back to you safely," she says, looking around at the people almost suspiciously. "I still don't trust these Weaseltown folks. Not even Hans."

"You shouldn't. And, thanks, Marie." Anna smiles. "You're a good friend."

"It's just what was decent. I need to go home, however." Marie waves, and begins to rush away. "Good luck!" she shouts.

"Thank you!" Anna waves back to her as she retreats away.

"Okay let's go check the stables!" Olaf begins to stumble in that direction.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, Olaf!" Anna stops him from continuing. "I already checked there. You said Kristoff was looking for me?" she asks.

Olaf nods. "Yeah, why?"

"Because then Kristoff might be at the castle!" Anna concludes. She grabs Olaf's arm. "Come on! Let's go back! I told Brandr and... Lai- Alex-... Brandr and his sister! That works. I told Brandr and his sister to stay there. Maybe they've seen him. And if not, that would be a good place to wait. Otherwise we might be chasing each other in circles!"

"Oh yeah, that would be smart." Olaf nods. Hand in hand, they hurry back to castle.


Kristoff's not here. They searched high and low, but Kristoff didn't get to the castle, yet. So they (Anna) decided it would be best for them to stay put.

"Wait," Alexandra/Laila speaks. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hans started a war, just so he could stop it and look like a hero to everyone involved?"

Anna nods. "Yep. That's kind of exactly what happened."

"That's... actually clever," Alexandra/Laila admits.

"But you said you didn't trust him," Brandr adds. He and his sister spent the time they had while Anna was gone talking. Although the princess can't say about what exactly.

"Right," Anna says. "I don't trust him. Even if I didn't know about all that was going on with him, I still remember how twisted and charming he can be from the last time he came by."

"That's good at least." Brandr nods. "Then he probably won't be able to convince you to marry him or something."

"Actually, in the summer Anna did alm-" Olaf starts to inform everyone of previous events.

"Okay, Olaf!" Anna quickly moves him to the side, leaning down to speak to him. "That's besides the point right now, okay?"

"Well, I just thought that they would want to know that you and Hans were engag-"

"Okay?" Anna presses.

"Okay, but-"

"Okay!" The princess interrupts, jumping back to her feet. She folds her arms together, thinking for a minute. "You know, I'm not so sure that me being suspicious is a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Brandr wonders.

"Hans saw me and noticed that I wasn't all that happy with what happened," Anna explains. "And when he did, he gave me a pretty mean look."

"He might do something to you," Alexandra/Laila realizes.

"That, plus we have no idea where Kristoff was at," Anna continues. "Although I don't even think Hans know what Kristoff even looks like, so he's probably okay. Still... I'm going to be worried until I know where he is. But I spoke with a few citizens and they seem okay despite everything, so at least there's that. In the meantime, I will be waiting here."

"And we'll wait here and make sure nothing happens," Brandr tells her. "We both are good are fighting. Right, Laila?"

His sister nods, reinforcing his statement. "If Brandr stays, so will I."

"Me too," Olaf says, standing next to the two siblings.

"Thanks, you guys," Anna tells them. "We just have to stick together until Hans and the rest of them leave."

"I wouldn't let my guard down until then. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts and all," Alexandra/Laila advises. "Weselton still has a gigantic navy that could easily wipe you guys out, should you happen to rub them the wrong way."

"Don't worry," Anna assures her. "We won't. Well, I won't."

They each give a small, almost grimace-like smile. Even Olaf knows that things are serious right now, but he still manages to keep a bright face despite that. Now, they need to sit and be patient, because they won't stop stressing unless Hans is gone.

"So." Brandr claps his hands together, rocking back and forth on his toes. "Olaf, I remember Elsa telling me a little about Anna's engagement, but not very much. You, however, seem to quite a bit, and my interest has been peaked."

"Oh yeah!" Olaf nods. "I definitely do. I mean, I wasn't there. Anna was, but Anna doesn't really want to talk about it herself, so I will."

Anna sighs. "Oh boy..."

They hear a low chuckle. "And here I thought you and I had such a romantic time, Princess Anna." All eyes turn to see Hans enter the room, the sword in his hand as visible as the soft, kind smile on his face, which is to say, pretty visible. To be honest, if she knew he weren't here to be nefarious, Anna would have guessed he was looking for blankets for a puppy orphanage, or something else adorable, based on his facial expression alone.

Brandr and Alexandra/Laila step in front of the princess, blocking her from Hans direct attack line. She leans over slightly, just for a better view.

"Why don't you just get out?" Brandr says, a sword made from fire already in his hand.

"Let's see, we have the little monster, Brandr, but what's this? Alexandra, you're here too?" Hans wonders. He shakes his head, looking more like he was scolding a child, instead of being betrayed. "I expected better from you. But, why? Oh, wait- don't tell me. Hmm..." He studies them both. "Dark hair, brown eyes, pointed nose. Oh." Hans laughs, coming to a conclusion. "I understand. You're related! Oh, I should have known."

"Just go back to your boat, Hans," Brandr continues to warn him.

"You don't happen to have some sort of magic, do you, Alex?" the man asks. Alexandra/Laila remains silent, glaring. "No, I didn't think so. You're ordinary. Just like Anna here."

"Hans." Anna pushes her way past the siblings. "What do you want?" she asks.

"Finally, a little civilized conversation," the man praises, still maintaining distance by the door. He raises his weapon, causing everyone else to hold theirs up as well. "Surrender," he commands.

"You want to surrender to us?" Brandr asks, feigning surprise.

"Alright, we accept. Drop your sword," Alexandra/ Laila finishes speaking for him.

Hans chuckles dryly before stepping forward and lunging at them. Brandr quickly uses his sword to block it, but quickly learns that Hans is no amateur.

"I got this!" Anna shouts, picking up a fire poker.

"Stay back!" Alexandra/Laila orders. "We'll handle it!"

The man immediately swings his sword in the other direction, causing need for Alexandra/Laila to deflect it with the flat of her knife. But she isn't very successful with her smaller blade.

She hisses with pain and jumps back as Hans's sword slices a small part of her hand.

Hans turns to Anna again, raising his weapon up her way, but Brandr once again stops it, and Alexandra/Laila attacks Hans's exposed torso.

"Yeah!" Anna cheers, clapping and raising her fist. "Get him you guys! Oh! ... But not like that!" Hans slashes at Alexandra/Laila, making her jump back, nearly cutting her right across the middle of her stomach.

"Hey!" Brandr shouts, drawing his attention. Hans doesn't turn, still attacking the girl. The boy runs right up to him with his own sword, jabbing his arm with fire.

"Ah!" Hans yells, grabbing at the burn on his shoulder. Brandr conjures up a fireball and flings it at Hans, with bursts right on the man's stomach. When the fire clears, Hans charges Brandr, and before he can react, Hans knocks him against his head, causing the boy to stagger and struggle to stay upright.

"Brandr!" Alexandra/ Laila gasps.

Hans swings again, successfully slicing her leg and again at her stomach, causing her fall. He hits her on the head as well, using the butt of the sword. Unlike Brandr however, the girl immediately collapses to the ground, and doesn't move.

"Laila!" Brandr shouts, staring at the girl. He runs over and drops by her side. "No, no, no! No, not again!"

"Hey! Um, Hans?" Olaf approaches the man.

"Olaf get back!" Anna calls out.

"So, I was wondering, can you stop waving your sword around? You could really hurt som- whaaa!" Olaf runs towards the man and tries to ask before being kicked away.

"That's it!" Anna shouts, holding her poker ready and preparing to rush the man. Hans pauses, and faces her way."Stop hurting my friends!" she continues. Hans smiles maliciously, not looking adorable at all, waiting for her to try to attack him. Anna finally charges at the man, who calmly raises his sword.

Slam!

Suddenly, the door swings open and an icy blast erupts from the doorway, hitting Hans in his back and pulsing through his chest. Hans falls to his knees as Elsa stands there, poised to strike again. Anna backs away towards Brandr and his sister as Elsa circles Hans, him never leaving the queen's sight.

"You will never touch my family again," Elsa says in a fierce voice. Hans's head rests, his gaze pointed towards the ground and his breath heavy. Anna hasn't seen a person look so defeated, but something's not quite right.

Hans is chuckling. He slowly lifts his head up to look at Elsa. "You are a monster, aren't you?" he says.

Elsa furrows her eyebrows. "What? No. You are," she says, raising her hands up in an attacking position, but she doesn't shoot.

"You shot Anna through her heart. You shot mine. With ice. I couldn't do that. You're to blame for that, not me." He laughs again at both of the sisters. "I think it's obvious who the monster is here."

"Don't listen to him Elsa!" Anna shouts. "He's trying to twist your thoughts!" But either Elsa can't hear her, or Elsa doesn't want to.

"It wasn't on purpose, hurting Anna," Elsa explains. "I love her."

"Well then, you seem to give love a bad name," Hans replies, oddly calm for a person who's rapidly being frozen from the inside out.

Elsa has no answer for him as she thinks in a stunned silence. The man slowly struggles to his feet and hobbles to the door.

Hans leans against the doorframe. "And let's not forget that you also were the one who nearly froze hundreds of people to death, while I was trying to save them," he continues, his words slow and almost forced, but still steady. "And I saved them again today from a war, while you were missing."

Elsa's eyes widen when she realizes his plan. "No." She shakes her head. "Nobody actually died because of me."

Hans laughs again, gesturing to himself. "You say that, not even five minutes after you tried to kill me. In fact, as long as this ice is here, you're still trying," he tells her, pointing to his heart. "That is what makes you a murderer. You are the monster." With that, he limps from the room, leaving those remaining in silence.

"Elsa?" Anna approaches her sister warily, holding her hand out. "Elsa, what he said wasn't true." She tentatively holds her sister's shoulder.

"No!" Elsa recoils. "Don't touch me! I could hurt someone!"

"But you won't, not on purpose!" Anna counters.

Elsa begins to walk back and forth past Anna, her hands covering her mouth. "Hans is right," she mumbles through her fingers, pacing. "I'm dangerous."

"Elsa?" Anna tries to talk to her sister.

"I killed him! I'm a monster!" Elsa says, raising her voice at herself.

"Elsa!" Anna yells. "Calm down!"

"Anna? Is that you?" Kristoff bursts into the room. The princess watches the relief flow to his face. "Anna! I was looking everywhere for you!" He wraps his arms around her.

"Kristoff!" Anna hugs him back. It's good to see him.

"I saw Hans. He seemed pretty distraught," Kristoff says. "What happened?" he asks.

"Hans attacked us," Anna begins.

"Attacked you?!" Kristoff raises his eyebrows, looking surprised.

"Yes. Don't interrupt. Hans attacked us and Elsa stopped him. But then he somehow convinced Elsa that everything was her fault," the princess explains, looking at her still panicking sister.

Kristoff nods. "Oh. And, who's that?" He gestures to the unconscious Alexandra/Laila.

"This is my sister," Brandr tells him, slowly stepping away. "Laila."

"Or Alexandra," Olaf slips in.

The blond knits together his brows for a second, and then shrugs. "She looks hurt. Is there a doctor in the castle?" Kristoff wonders.

Anna nods. "There should be at least one in the town. I'm the only one here who knows what he looks like, I think. Brandr, you and I can go find him before your sister gets any worse."

Brandr nods, rising from his kneeling position. "Okay. L-let's hurry," he says, his voice shaky. "And after, we better find Hans."

"Don't worry," Anna assures him. "We won't let him get away. Kristoff, I need someone to stay here and keep an eye on Alexa- on Lai- ... Brandr's sister and Elsa. Olaf can help."

"I'll make sure she doesn't bleed out," Kristoff says. He looks over at the queen, who was still pacing in small circles. "And I'll see if I can talk some sense into Elsa.

Anna smiles. "Thanks Kristoff." She hugs the larger man. "Wish us luck! Oh, and how is Sven?" she remembers to ask, Brandr already pulling her into the hallway.

"He's fine. He's in the stables," Kristoff smiles slightly, despite the unfortunate circumstances. "Good luck!" Anna hears him say from down the hall.

"Where's the doctor at, Anna?" Brandr asks, holding onto her arm and dragging her through the castle.

"Whoa, there!" Anna says, trying not to trip over her own feet. "Just calm down and let me go!" She finally is able to pull his hand from her arm.

"I can't calm down!" Brandr says, his voice almost hysterical. "I just got my sister back and now I'm gonna lose her again! And now Elsa's going crazy and she's in trouble too!" He begins to run again.

"Listen, I know," Anna tells him, matching his speed as they sprint away. "So let's hurry and find a doctor. Maybe he can help Elsa too."

"And then we find Hans."

"Brandr? Just what are you planning?"

"I won't give him the satisfaction of knowing it was Elsa that killed him," the boy explains. "That's what he wants. That, or saving himself. I want him to suffer with his life. So you and me, we're gonna unfreeze that heart of his and we're gonna put him in prison."

"But, only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart," Anna reminds him, a quizzical look on her face.

"Yeah, but magic ice and magic fire, they cancel each other out, wouldn't they?" He shrugs.

"Well, it's worth a shot."


Hans shakily walks through the town, trying to keep his teeth from chattering too hard. He kept very calm during the freezing, and while talking to Elsa, but honestly, he is scared.

But he still won, even if he's dying for it. There will be no mistake in who caused his death. Elsa. The people will never be on her side either. They will only see that the queen who abandoned them just murdered a hero using unnatural magic. It almost makes him laugh.

Nevertheless, it's hard to come to terms with dying, and to be honest, Hans wants to live. He has been in many life-threatening situations before. But with those he could escape using his wits, or charm, or strength. This, however, is killing him from the inside out, and the only way to save himself is "true love."

The man snarls at the idea. He doesn't have any faith in love, if it even exists. Who could he love? More importantly, who could love him?

Wait, he thinks, a glimmer of hope appearing in his mind. "Nora," he whispers.

Sweet, funny, adorable, little Nora. She is the only person that he would care about getting hurt. She is the one who would back away shyly from his compliments, instead of embracing them. The one who has a sassy attitude underneath her quiet exterior. She might be a simple servant, and Hans may never know exactly why he cares about her and not a princess, but that doesn't matter. He may not know if he loves her, but he's certainly willing to try.

And Hans knows that she loves him. All the signs are there. He can be saved, because of her. Hans has to find her.

"Ah!" Hans holds back a shout, feeling a stab in his heart. He stumbles, nearly falling. The ice is spreading quickly. He doesn't have much time.

"E-excuse me, my good man," Hans politely addresses one of the Weselton soldiers.

"Sir Hans, I- are you alright?" the man asks.

Hans nods. "F-f-fine," he replies with difficulty. "However, on that sh-ship over there, the largest one, there's a g-girl named Nora, and I urgently need to s-speak with her."

"Hmm... I can see that you're in no condition to get on a life boat," the soldier observes. "I'll find her and send her back here. I was on my way back to my own ship, wouldn't ya know?"

"Thank you. Your assistance is ap-p-preciated," Hans stutters out. He tries to run the warmth back into his arms, watching the man head to the docks.

Hans knows it takes roughly ten minutes to sail to the ship, and ten minutes back. So including the time it will take for this man to find Nora, it will be a little less than thirty minutes.

He suddenly shivers very violently, feeling another hurtful pang in his chest. He makes a strangled sound, clutching at his shirt. It will be the longest half-hour of his life.

Will it work? he thinks, falling down on a crate. He watches the ocean. He does care, but does he love her? After almost a lifetime of believing that there is no such thing as love, he doesn't know. Hans wants to live, and he knows that Nora could help that, so he will leave it there.

Hans slowly shuts his eyes, still waiting. He can feel each crystal of ice spread through him, freezing his blood more with every passing second. His thoughts feel clouded and slow, almost like they aren't his own.

"Hans?" He hears a muffled voice call him. What a nice voice too. The voice suddenly gets clearer. "Hans, wake up!"

Hans opens his eyes and blinks. "Nora," he says through a smile. "H-Hello."

"Hans, what happened? Is this ice?" the girl asks, looking at his arms.

"Yes, it is," Hans answers. "Nora we need to t-talk."

"Let's go inside," she offers, twisting her head and looking around at the other people near them.

"Out of the cold," Hans says, nodding. "Very thoughtful of you." He climbs to his feet, fighting to keep balance. They slowly walk to one of the nearby buildings. It's a little store, however, it's mostly empty.

Hans leans back against one of the walls, still trying to create friction on his arms. "Nora," he begins to speak. "I need to tell you something v-very important."

"Yes, Hans," the girl wonders. "What is it?"

"I haven't been c-completely honest with you," he says. He raises his hand, not allowing her to speak yet. "Wait, this is serious. Let me begin by saying just how w-wonderful you have been, and I have not been nearly as gracious. I simply didn't care. But now, I realize that I do care. I care more than I have in a l-long, long time," he confesses. "I'm dying now Nora. There's ice in my heart, and if I don't melt it, it's g-going to kill me."

"...Queen Elsa did this?" she asks, staring at the place on his chest where his heart is.

Hans nods. "Yes. But there's a way to melt it. True love, preferably a kiss," he says. Nora looks up at his eyes, seeing that for once in his life, he's being honest. "At first I didn't know w-what to do. I didn't know who I loved. I didn't know who l-loved me. But then I remembered something. You. Yes, you, Nora, I'm in love with you, and I know that you l-love me too. You are the only one who c-can save me right now. I've always been able to depend on you; I trust you," he finishes.

Nora has a wide, almost triumphant smile on her face, bigger than Hans has ever seen on her before. "Finally," she whispers to herself. Hans smiles too. He moves towards her, struggling to approach her for his life-saving kiss.

But she steps away from him. Hans gives her a confused stare. "Oh, Hans." She shakes her head. "If only there was someone you could trust," she tells him.