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(A/N: For those of you who don't know, Thord is actually a character in the Frozen comics. The story was called 'The Lur Thief'. I feel like I summarize the plot of it pretty well throughout this story, but we'll see.

In response to a guest reviewer: I'm so glad this series is so special to you and helped you, and I'm really flattered you're recommending it to others. As to Hans and Elsa's ages, I have it pretty generalized right now and don't really address exact ages. I'd say Hans is probably pushing his thirties or breachiing them and Elsa is late twenties, but I don't really have their specific ages set in stone.

To all: For anyone who may be interested, my story ideas are open source. If you want to draw pictures or write fanfics set in the same setting/timeline, or using the ideas, or even using any of the characters and events, feel free to. I don't possessively guard my ideas at all. I'd just be happy to see them spread. It would be interesting to see what anyone comes up with.)

The Lur Thief's Return

In which everyone dances on eggshells.

"Queen Elsa, we have urgent news," Matthias said, presenting to Elsa looking deeply concerned.

"What is it?" she questioned, frowning a bit worriedly.

"There have been reports of Thord sightings in the last week. He's very close, majesty," the guard said. Elsa tensed up, looking like she'd just been caught red-handed with something. She glanced nervously over at her now suspicious and frowning husband, who was giving her 'the look'.

"Thord? Who the hell is Thord?" he demanded, crossing his arms with eyes narrowed at her.

Elsa grimaced and sighed. "A relation of mine and Anna's," she replied. "He tried to obtain the throne of Arendelle once by means of a Lur horn."

"The one in the gallery?" Hans asked. "The gift from your whatever number of great's grandmother to her sister? Why did he think that horn was going to help him?"

"He thought it was the source of our family's power. His plan was to get the same powers I had and use them to try and take over," Elsa said. "I never told you because it wasn't a big deal. He was never much of a threat and I banished him after the fact. I didn't think he'd be foolish enough to return. It was banishment or imprisonment, and he chose freedom over capture. If he's caught back here, he knows what awaits him," Elsa said. "I know the law states that would-be usurpers should be put to death, but he's family, Hans. A distant cousin, maybe, but family nonetheless."

"A distant cousin you could have married without anyone seeing it as incest or even close," Hans deadpanned.

"Stop it. We can't be sure of that," she warned. Her parents had never talked much about the family outside the immediate circle. She looked at Matthias, who looked puzzled and a bit disturbed. "Do whatever it takes to find him and bring him in to face me," she ordered. Matthias bowed and left. She turned to Hans. "I spared the life of a usurper before and had no regrets. What's another to add to the ranks?"

"I don't like this," he replied. "But if you're determined to do it, fine. Don't think I'll be taking my eyes off of him though."

"What can he do from prison?" Elsa replied.

"Plenty," Hans said. "I should know. Allow me to go out and search for him too."

"I can't trust you not to kill him on sight," she answered in brutal honesty. That he didn't even flinch at the words or deny them, that he just stayed looking annoyed at this whole situation, spoke volumes and told her how right she was not to trust him with this. "And I can't trust him not to kill you and rob our baby of its father before it's even born," she added. "He'll fight for his life if you go after him with your sword, and gods know how lucky or skilled he might be."

"I'm going to help search for him," Hans said. This time it wasn't a question.

"If you go out there, I'll follow you," she threatened.

He shifted uncomfortably. "If I swear to let him live and bring him here alive, will you abandon that plan?" he asked.

"I you swear I can trust you to keep your word, yes," she replied. "Highly reluctantly. I'll be sending Sir Kay with you. And Kai the Butler."

Hans grimaced. "Why Kai the Butler?" he dryly asked.

"To make sure you two don't start conspiring together. I'm well aware of Sir Kay's nature in the legends," she said.

"So why send him at all with me then?" Hans demanded in annoyance. "Wait, don't answer. You trust the honor of a Knight of the Round Table over the honor of a Westergaard."

"I never said…!" she immediately began to protest, angry that he would assume such a thing.

"You're right," he cut off. She stopped mid-sentence, her mouth still open like she was about to speak. "You're right to trust his honor over mine," Hans stated with little more than a casual shrug. "But Sir Kay wasn't exactly a saint in the legends, and he wasn't exactly one for honor. Sending Kai as a babysitter—don't try to protest, you and I both know that's exactly what's happening here—is probably a good idea. I'll keep Kai alive, Sir Kay will keep me alive, your 'cousin' gets to live another day and face you in, ugh, 'honorable' court."

"Thank you," Elsa said with a sigh. It was best not to get into it with him right now over his disdainful and haughty tone. Hans rolled his eyes and began to walk away without a 'you're welcome' or a 'goodbye', which hurt more than a little. "Don't take that attitude. Please. King Arthur gained more from showing mercy than he lost, the rewards far outweighing the curses."

Hans paused and looked back at her. "Maybe, but when Arthur was cursed for a bad judgement call, wow was he ever cursed. It ended him and his kingdom. How about we not make the same mistake?"

"How can we? 'Mordred' is my husband and I have a leash on him," she replied with a teasing smirk pulling at her lips.

Caught off guard, he smirked in amusement. He turned and went back to her, taking her into his arms and pulling her close. He looked down on her, fondness in his eyes, then bent his head and sealed her lips with a soft kiss. After a moment he withdrew from her. "I'm not of the opinion Mordred was the mistake that cost Arthur Camelot," he ruefully replied. "It was a snowball effect, I believe, though I could be wrong. And I'd rather not have us snowball in the same direction. Not with a baby on the way."

"The Snow Queen and the Fire King. Somehow I don't think a takeover would be a very viable option for Thord. Or anyone," she said.

"Powerful as we may be, we can still die," he answered seriously. "It would only take one moment of inattention."

"So make sure you don't let your guard down for one moment while you're out searching," she warned.

He smiled at her again and kissed her once more. "I'll be back before dinner," he promised. "Hopefully with him in hand, but if not, well, he can't run forever." Not with him pursuing the creep.

"You have yet to make your promise," she said.

"I promise that you can trust my promise to you to bring him back alive," Hans said with a sigh. She nodded, satisfied. He drew away from her, bowed, and left the room to fetch Sir Kay. Elsa sighed and sent for Kai the Butler to give him his task.

Frozen

"What do you think he wants, coming back here?" Anna asked in concern, changing Gerda in the nursery while Elsa sat nearby, a hand resting on her very large belly. Anna was so excited for the due date!

"Who knows? Maybe a second chance? Maybe to ask forgiveness? Maybe to try and take the kingdom again? We don't know him well enough to be able to predict him," Elsa replied.

"Just like we didn't know Hans well enough to predict him. Look where that got us," Anna dryly said.

"Happily married living a fulfilling, rich, adventurous life; you with a child all your own and me with one on the way? Yes. That really backfired, didn't it? I didn't get to be single! What horror," Elsa said with a laugh. Anna giggled too, finishing changing Gerda. She began to dress her precious daughter up in a pretty little outfit. Elsa's smile slowly fell. She hadn't told Anna, yet, the full details of the faerie bargain… That little Gerda might… Elsa shuddered and violently shoved that thought out of her mind. They wouldn't be cruel as that, surely! Her sister would never survive that tragedy… But then wouldn't that be just in line with a fae bargain? Gaining nothing but a bit more time and losing something even greater than would have been lost in the first place, if she hadn't tampered or made deals? She tried desperately not to think about that.

"Something bothering you, Elsa?" Anna asked with a concerned frown, holding Gerda over her shoulder and lightly bouncing her while burping the babe.

"Just… hoping Hans keeps his word and brings our cousin back alive," she semi-lied. "You want to be there for it?"

"Maybe introducing him to his family will help him to reform?" Anna said with a shrug. "Wishful thinking maybe, but hey, Hans is building up a little Round Table all his own. He has a long way to go before he hits one-hundred-fifty, so the more the merrier," she joked.

"He won't," Elsa said with a laugh. He wasn't social enough. "But his boy's club does amuse me. We should get on making a girl's one for ourselves just because we can."

"We have girlfriends all over the place if we stop to think about all the people we know or are acquainted with and would like to get to know," Anna said with a giggle. "At least enough to match, if not surpass, Hans' little gang in number, surely. All joking aside, I'm not sure how Hans and Thord would hit it off. They're both personalities that will go one extreme or the other when they clash. Either they'll end up the best of friends or they'll end up each others' worst enemy."

"Maybe they'll start enemy and go friend," Elsa suggested with a shrug. "Of course, if Hans can't keep his sword sheathed, we might never know."

"Elsa, you know you're the only one he un-sheaths his…" Anna began.

"Make that joke. I dare you," Elsa flatly said, eyes narrowed in an unimpressed fashion. Anna winced and grinned innocently at her sister. "Kristoff's brash humor is rubbing off on you," Elsa said with an affectionate sigh, smiling and rolling her eyes. "Maybe you should come back to the castle for a bit and have the dirty humor knocked out of you."

"Gerda would tan my hide for sure," Anna said, grimacing. "Kai would probably have a go too."

"So would the Duke of Weselton. He's due to arrive with Erik and Francis in the next couple days," Elsa said. "Anyway, whether you come or not I have to head back home now. Duties and all that. Plus, I want to be there when Thord is brought in. If he is."

"I'll come. I want to be there too. We'll bring Kristoff," Anna said. "Show Thord what life can be like when you don't waste it seeking revenge or pursuing greed."

"Or he'll see the crying, pooping, eating, puking little creature slobbering on your shoulder and think he's dodging a bullet," Elsa said with a laugh. Anna laughed too. She could just picture it now, Gerda throwing a fit and being a terror while Thord gawked on in horror thanking his lucky stars he was neither married nor a father.

"Maybe he's found someone and wants your blessing," Anna teased when she recovered herself.

"That would be the day. He doesn't know me well enough for that," Elsa said, rolling her eyes with a smirk.

Frozen

"It's nice being back here," Anna said, smiling around at the palace affectionately.

"Move back," Elsa replied. "You and Kristoff are welcome to."

"Nice place to visit, not to live," Anna teased. "I kind of like the lower-class life. Fewer expectations, less rules to follow, etc."

"Opposite for me," Elsa replied. "It's nice to get away sometimes, but I like life in the palace. Sometimes the rules can feel a bit overwhelming, but they're for the best in the end. I never regret biting my tongue when an allied ruler rubs me the wrong way. It works out a thousand times better, in the end, than being rude and confrontational. Hungry?"

"A little," Anna replied.

"I'll get the cook to make something up," Elsa said.

"Make sure there's extra in case Hans comes back with Thord," Anna teased.

"The King has returned!" a voice called out from below. Anna and Elsa frowned in concern, turning to the window.

"King?" Anna asked Elsa, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Let's not go into it right now, sis," Elsa said with a sigh.

"That's a bad idea," Anna said.

"Is it really though?" Elsa asked. "I'm still the ruling monarch. Nothing can change that. Trust me, okay?" Anna let it go and went to the window, peering out. She winced. "He has Thord, and he's being more than a little rough with him," she seriously warned.

Elsa frowned and went to the window, peering out of it. She grimaced. "I'm not intervening in it. Hans is going to probably throw him in prison. It'll work to our advantage when I have him brought out, washed, clothed, and escorted to dinner. A good contrast between Hans and us. Might help drive home the whole family angle."

"That seems devious, but I see the benefit in it," Anna said. "Contrast can really work to make a statement."

"Exactly. Besides, it's probably safer for everyone if both Hans and Thord take some time to cool off. I'm going to guess they didn't exactly hit it off," Elsa said. Anna nodded in agreement.

Frozen

Hans came into the throne room fuming. Kay was on his heels also looking to be in something of a foul temper. At least they were getting along, Elsa dryly noted to herself from her throne. Hans looked up at her and stopped, frown deepening on noticing her unimpressed expression. "What?" he almost sneered in a testy tone.

"Did you have fun?" she asked coolly.

"Oh it was a blast," Hans replied, a cruel smirk crossing his lips. Her frowned deepened, eyes narrowing.

"Really?" she said, tone like ice.

"Calm down. I didn't burn him. Though I was tempted," Hans replied. "Just… smoked him out of his hiding hole."

"Burned his hideout to the ground," Kay corrected, grinning meanly. Hans grinned wickedly back at him.

"If you two are going to be bad influences on one another, I'm separating you," Elsa warned. Both of them frowned at her. Kay rolled his eyes. Hans managed to keep it back. "Was he harmed?"

"Smoke in the lungs at worst," Hans replied. "He was coughing a lot. It helped us capture him. You realize he was camped pretty well in your back yard? With clear lines of sight through more than one window you regularly pass by?"

"Was assassination on his mind, Hans, or was it on yours?" Elsa bit.

"What?" Hans asked, tone frigid and eyes narrowing.

"That came out wrong," she said with a sigh. "I'm not accusing you of anything like that. I meant that you were looking at it with an assassin's eye, but he probably wasn't. He's a thief, Hans, not a murderer!"

"And I am?" Hans sharply replied.

"Yes," Kay put in so Elsa didn't have to answer that. Hans' anger turned to him, the prince giving the knight an ugly, ugly scowl, eyes dark and flaming. "Well you were, and so you have the tendency to look at things with the eye of a murderer even though you aren't one anymore. It was part of your upbringing, to learn those tricks. It wasn't part of everyone else's. The eye of a thief and the eye of an assassin see two different things when looking at the same spot. You see sight lines, he may just see entry points. You see an easy way to a target, he might see an easy way to get really close to very likely valuable treasures."

Kay was pleased with his intervention, frankly. Hans knew full well that the only answer Elsa could have truthfully given was a resounding 'yes' or a 'you were'. The prince had been trapping her. Not willfully, but subconsciously. It was probably an old, deeply ingrained trick inside of him that once upon a time had caused the unsuspecting to say something that gave him legal justification, however flimsy, to put them in the ground. However Elsa might have answered, she would have lost. If she'd replied with a 'no, Hans could have easily jumped on the lie and flustered her to the point she made a mistake in her speech, which would have led to a hell of an ugly argument. Elsa was aware of the close call too, Kay knew, because she gave him an extremely grateful look. He nodded subtly back at her. They both realized that Hans was by nature a manipulator, even when he didn't mean to be. An argument could easily be warped into emotional abuse on his part, and the prince probably wouldn't even know that that was what he was doing given he'd been raised with it. The king seemed to seriously be considering turning on his knight before Hans' better nature, the one that had blossomed since his relationship with Elsa, seemed to overcome his ingrained one.

"Fine," Hans relented. He looked back at Elsa. "He's stewing in the dungeon," he said.

"Good. It'll give him and you both time to cool off. I'm going to guess he wasn't impressed when you captured him," Elsa said. Hans snorted in derision. Understatement of the century. She smirked a bit. "That bad, huh?" she half-teased.

"I pointedly avoided telling him I was your husband," Hans replied. He smirked a bit. "I told him I was your knight instead, a borrowed term from Kay." He frowned again. "Then he got lewd and insulting. The guy made a crack about Lancelot and Sir Kay flipped. Like totally lost it. I actually ended up protecting your dipstick cousin from being murdered by him. Kay almost got to him too. He had no qualms about fighting passed another warrior and I lost that battle, but fortunately for everyone you sending Kai as a babysitter turned out to be a brilliant lifesaver. Kai is a civilian and a servant at that, so when he got between Sir Kay and Thord, Sir Kay drew the line and backed off. If Kai hadn't been present, Thord would have come back to the palace in way, way rougher shape than he did. Your relative is now absolutely pants-wettingly terrified of Kay though, so that should keep him in line from here on in."

"Sir Kay beat you?" Elsa asked in obvious shock.

"He's farther out of my league than I thought," Hans admitted, grimacing. "To my own shame. Started out thinking I was at least on par with him. I have never been so wrong."

"If I hadn't been working on adrenaline and rage, you might have stood, so you weren't that wrong," Kay replied, shrugging. "You and your brothers are exceptionally skilled."

"Yeah? I could have gone toe-to-toe with a Knight of the Round Table who had all his lifetime plus one-thousand or more years in Avalon to hone his skill? Let's not get ridiculous here," Hans said. "If you hadn't had all that extra practice time, maybe. But you did, so no."

"My lifetime wasn't a long one," Kay said, grimacing a bit.

"I'm guessing Thord figured out you were my husband when they called out that the king had returned?" Elsa said.

"I've never seen anyone go so ghost white so quickly," Hans replied with a laugh. "It was so satisfying. He had no words to speak until we put him in the dungeon, and even then there were none."

She smiled. "Take a well-deserved rest, all of you. Kai, thank you for keeping Sir Kay and Hans in check," she said, turning to her servant.

"It was my pleasure, Elsa," Kai replied with a smirk.

Elsa turned to Hans. "I'll see you at dinner. Maybe before, depending on how court goes."

"My lady," he replied, bowing to her with a smile and leaving with Kay.

Frozen

Kai remained, watching after them as his lips turned down into a concerned frown. "That boy worries me," he said. "He's very self-sabotaging."

"Hmm?" Elsa asked, frowning a bit in concern.

"You saw the trap he was leading you into, didn't you?" Kai asked.

"I did," Elsa said with a sigh, looking down. "He doesn't mean to."

"No. But he does it anyway," Kai replied. "Keep him in check, Elsa. Don't let him get away with emotional blackmail or get even close, and don't let yourself sink to his level to counter it. Don't be afraid to call him on such things, and of course he'll get upset and try to argue but at that point it's best to say you aren't talking about it anymore and take your leave of him, no matter what he says or tries to pull to get you to stay caught in argument or confrontation. It'll help train the tendency out of him and even if it doesn't, it'll give him time to cool down and think on your words and attempt to find ways to change the behavior. He wants so desperately to be worthy of you… He will do whatever it takes to bring himself in line. He actively seeks to, but he can't attempt to fix himself if he doesn't see where he's broken. It will be painful of course, but it will help in the long-run. Sometimes tough love is the best option. Like Sir Kay's immediately answering his question with the answer that hurt and angered him most, but the answer that nonetheless still caused him to face the truth instead of hiding from it or burying it. Of course, it's hard to see a line with tough love sometimes. It can on occasion go one of two ways, sometimes ending in tragedy, but take note of how the knight countered the harsh answer with an explanation of why it was true that assured Hans he wasn't that villain anymore."

"I did," Elsa replied. She was quiet, thinking the words over. "He's worthy of me," she said.

"In your eyes yes, but not in his own. He needs to become worthy in his own," Kai replied. "Even if only in some very small way."

Elsa nodded slowly, considering this. "I married a project," she said with a rueful sigh.

Kai chuckled, smiling a bit. "Fortunately, you're the rare sort of person who can tackle a project and also succeed. Many can't tackle a project at all and so give up, seeing only a lost cause. Even those who can tackle one can't always succeed and so give up also, seeing a problem that's simply too far above their ability to handle."

Elsa smiled a bit then hesitated. "Kai, I'm… I want Thord to join us for dinner. To be bathed and clothed and brought in as our guest… Do you think I should tell Hans as much or surprise him with it?"

"You're husband and wife, Elsa, not Queen and Prince. He needs to be involve in big decisions like this. Those are the sorts of decisions you can't make on your own like that," Kai said, frowning. "Talk to him. Try to swing him to your way of thinking, but don't go to him now. Maybe during lunch. Have it just you two, try to get him in a good mood—wine, flirting, sweet nothings, whatever it may take—then tactfully bring it up."

"Do you have a suggestion on how to be tactful?" Elsa asked.

"Hmm… That's a difficult question to answer. How about you and I practice. I'll be Hans. Assume you've put me in a good mood, and breach the subject with me in the manner you're thinking. I can give you suggestions from there," Kai said.

"Alright. Um… Hans, I've been thinking," she said, feeling a bit awkward and unsure of herself. Wow, that sounded weak to her own ears. She could already tell it might have to be changed up a bit.

"About what, Elsa?" Kai asked.

"About dinner. I would… like to get Thord's thoughts on the menu?" Elsa said. Kai looked blatantly unimpressed. "No?" Elsa asked.

"No," Kai flat out said. "That's springing it on him. Try again."

"I want Thord to be present as a guest," Elsa corrected.

"Want is too commanding," Kai said.

"I would like for Thord to be present as my, no, our, guest," Elsa said.

"Including him. Good," Kai said. "You're a partners now, not separate entities seeking your own gains and wants."

"Do you think the opening was too weak?" Elsa asked.

"No, but it might be better to say to him that you've been thinking of Thord," Kai said.

"Won't that trigger him?" she asked with a sigh. "He's made it obvious he doesn't like the man, and he's a jealous sort. Me claiming I've been thinking about Thord might make him uneasy."

"Try 'I've been thinking about my cousin'," Kai said. "Your cousin is a handsome man, of that there's no doubt, and he indeed isn't your first cousin as far as I'm aware, though surprises seem to keep cropping up with all of you. I doubt he's even a second cousin, so Hans isn't in err when he says that if you ever married the man it wouldn't even be considered incest. So, put Thord firmly on the level of family and give Hans no reason to be feel like perhaps there is potential for rivalry there. Your cousin really gave it with the Lancelot remark, and lately Hans has been reading the Vulgate Cycle and speaking to Kay often of that time, so all those things combined may inadvertently cause Hans a small inkling of suspicion if he's given any reason at all to think Thord isn't firmly in that family-zone. That plus being equated to Arthur by Mordred? I'm not even much a writer and can see how imagination would betray one in such circumstances. Hans' imagination is boundless. The man makes whole stories out of inanimate objects for goodness sakes."

"King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Sir Lancelot," Elsa replied, grimacing. "I suppose I shouldn't make Thord my knight then," she added as a half-tease, smirking slightly.

Kai laughed at the remark and grinned. "Hans equates himself more to Mordred, and not for one moment does he question your loyalty to him I think, but imagination betrays, and Thord seems to be something of a manipulator in his own right," he said. "So yes, make it abundantly clear Thord is family and nothing else. And instead of saying 'my' cousin, bring Anna into it too. Or even simply say 'cousin Thord'."

"I like that," Elsa said. "Open right off with cousin."

"So let's try again," Kai said.

"Hans, I've been thinking," she said.

"About what?" Kai asked.

"About cousin Thord. I want to try and make peace with him…" Elsa said.

Frozen

Hans blinked blankly. "O-kay. You've… suggested it before," he replied to Elsa's remark, finishing off the private luncheon they'd enjoyed together in the den. It had been his favorite, so he'd been pleasantly surprised. Then the kisses and flirting… It had been a good lunch, he wasn't going to hesitate to admit. "I'm still against it. More so now that I've met him."

"I know you are, but it's important to me to try and keep peace in my family," Elsa said.

"I wish I understood that," Hans wryly said. It hadn't been important to him or any of his family. It sort of had just… happened. Maybe Caleb had wanted it, probably Kelin-Sel and maybe even Lars, but the rest of them? They'd basically given it up for lost until, well, it happened. Like he said.

Elsa considered her words, slightly frustrated it couldn't just play out like it had with her and Kai. But of course why would Hans be so predictable? Why would anyone, if you thought about it? People acted in unexpected ways all the time. No amount of rehearsing could be a catchall for everyone. "Can you try to?" she asked.

Hans paused, staring at her, then sighed, bowing his head. "I can try," he relented with a weak smile. He sipped at the wine he was enjoying and she was of course avoiding for blatantly obvious reasons.

Elsa almost replied with 'that doesn't sound convincing', but that could lead to a little argument that would put him in a not-so-pleasant mood. "Thank you," she settled on. The gratefulness seemed to appeal to his better nature and his smile became a bit more genuine and easier. "I want to try and let bygones be bygones with cousin Thord." Drop the cousin remark again to reiterate the man was just a cousin to her. She'd extended an olive branch to an enemy before and had ended up falling in love with him, so obviously she was the sort that liked challenges and Hans probably saw a lot of similarities he'd rather not admit to between him and Thord, so the less reason for unease the better. "I don't think keeping him locked up is the best way to do that."

Hans was quiet, staring at her. "So… what would you suggest?" he warily asked. Obviously he knew it was going to be an answer he didn't like.

"I… would like to invite him to dinner with me and you, and Anna and Kristoff and little Gerda. Maybe including him in the family will help him to feel like he's part of us, part of something good and wonderful. Help him see what life can be like when you don't waste it seeking revenge or pursuing greed," she said. She needed to use Anna's words here. They'd been presented excellently and might reach Hans.

Hans was dead silent, obviously tossing the words around in his head. It was hard to argue them, she knew, because it had been a part of what ultimately had worked for him. Denying its use would be making himself a hypocrite or just willfully ignorant. "He could shut down instead," Hans finally chose to reply. Elsa looked curious but already felt like she was going to regret it. She was about so hear something, she felt, that might end up turning this right around on her somehow. "Sometimes longing can be mistaken for hatred and disgust," Hans said. Elsa was quiet, shifting a bit. This was going to get into Hans' feelings on something similar and she was probably going to end up crying because baby hormones, and then this was just all going to fall apart. She already felt like crying because she could just anticipate what was coming next. "Sometimes… sometimes people don't dare to believe in good will… To believe that-that something might finally be changing for them for the better… To believe in things like love and forgiveness because… becuase they've never experienced them before… And so when those things are offered, they run away. They run away and turn hope to hate and goodwill to deceit, and they tell themselves they won't be tricked into thinking anything good is going to come to them because goodness like that just doesn't exist. It's not a thing. So there's some ulterior motive, there's some catch, and how dare they even try to lie to m… to them. Then it goes to 'I won't be tricked' and 'You'll suffer for your lies' and instead of reaching his heart, you'll reach his wrath and then there'll be tears and pain and probably death and…"

"Stop it," Elsa cut off, eyes tightly shut as he willed back tears, sure enough. He fell silent, realizing he'd said more than he'd intended to. Dead silence as Elsa collected herself and Hans took the time to feel miserable, staring down at his now empty plate. Finally Elsa opened her eyes, drawing a quiet and shaking breath. She looked across at him then determined to remind him that sometimes, even if that happened, people could be brought back around and see the offer of peace for what it was. Genuine and true. She leaned over the little table, lifting his chin gently, and scanned his face quietly. She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his and moving the tips of her fingers to his cheek gently. He started out not receptive, but soon moved to cup her cheek with his own hand, leaning into it and returning it tenderly. After a moment, Elsa drew away. "Sometimes the risk is worth it," she whispered softly to him, nuzzling his nose with hers.

"I don't want the risk to cost me you," he whispered back. He opened his eyes, drawing a little bit away but not releasing her cheek. "You were brave enough to take that chance. I don't know if I can. Not now. Not when everything for the first time in forever is so right and good. I can barely trust this as is. And if that tentative trust is broken, I don't know if I'll ever be able to get it back…"

"It won't be," she promised. "Trust my trust."

Hans was quiet, head bowed slightly. "Alright," he finally relented.

"Thank you," she said. She kissed him once more then rose to go and make preparations for Thord. Hans watched after her in grief he didn't understand the reasons for.