Anna lay on the floor next to her makeshift bed, staring up at the dim tent ceiling, her cheeks flushed and breathing hard. She had gone to bed alone, as she normally did. She had slept pretty well, all things considered, as she normally did. She had woken early, as she normally did. What was very definitely not normal was waking up to someone else in her bed, their face inches from hers. The years on the run, trusting no one, had entrenched in her a paranoia so deep that it was hard to talk to anyone anymore without a hand on a weapon and at least two exit routes. So when she woke up to see someone else not only in her tent, but in her bed, the jolt of fear and panic that shot through her was indescribable. She cried out and jerked back, tumbling off the low mattress and landing on the floor, grabbing for her weapon.

Her hand closed around the hilt of her dagger she kept near her bed, then her sleepy brain finally caught up. It was not a really incompetent assassin, it was Kristoff, and not only had he managed to sleep through her panicked reaction, he hadn't even seemed to move, snoring on without a care. How on earth had he survived this long if he was this dead to the world?

Anna's heart rate had just begun to slow down when it skyrocketed once more, as Cari burst through the flap in her tent, her sword bared, her eyes darting around for whatever had made Anna cry out. She froze and her eyes widened as she took in the sight- a man sprawled out on Anna's bed, snoring, and Anna on the floor, wearing just a very thin white nightshirt, much more exposed than was decent, grabbing at the sheets to cover herself up, only succeeding in revealing more of Kristoff's bare torso. She felt her cheeks burn as Cari's eyes went back and forth between them several times, her mouth open in surprise. Then she winked, gave Anna a big thumbs up and a smile, and ducked back out of the tent.

This was how Anna now found herself, out of breath and blushing crimson, laying on her back, trying in vain to slow her heart before it pumped right out of her chest. But as she lay there, she tried to sort out her thoughts. She had gotten back the only man she ever truly loved, and she had been able to express so much that had plagued her, rather than keeping it bottled up. So why didn't she feel better?

She was happy, in a sense. She felt a little better than she had in a while, a little more optimistic. But whenever she tried to embrace that feeling, it seemed to evade her, never letting her catch hold of it or nurture it. It was like yesterday had lit a match in her heart, but without any kindling, it had flickered out. But why?

She had always thought that her emptiness would be filled by returning to those she loved. But she had them back, against all odds. What she had thought more unlikely still was that, despite all they had done to one another and the vast distance that had grown between them, they could still love each other. But they did. So why did she still feel so hollow? And why did she feel further away from Kristoff than ever before? She was so immersed in this frustrating question that she didn't notice right away that Kristoff had woken up, and was looking at her with his head propped up on his hand.

"Are you okay?"

Anna wanted to answer truthfully. To tell him "No, I'm not okay, I'm still empty, I think whatever's wrong with me can't be fixed, something in me is broken forever." To beg him to run before whatever emptiness had consumed her destroyed him. But she didn't. She just said, "Yeah, I'm fine. You just startled me is all."

Kristoff gave an apologetic grin. "Sorry. You said to join you after I talked to Heins…"

"No, I know. It was just…"

"It's alright, I get it." He looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "You've been alone a long time."

She wanted to tell him how alone she had truly felt. How much it hurt, but also how much she had gotten used to it. How afraid she was that she wanted to go back to being alone. But she didn't. She just said, "Yeah." She got to her feet and pulled her clothes on, starting with her shirt and pants, then her traveling armor, nothing more than hardened leather bracers and a chestplate, then some comfortable boots. Through it, she could see Kristoff still looking at her, an odd look on his face, as though he were sizing her up.

"What is it?" she asked as she strapped on her weapon.

"You've changed," he said.

She wanted to tell him of course she had. That she had changed in ways that scared her, that she hated about herself, that she was terrified would push him away. But she didn't. She just said, "I suppose so." Then she left the tent.

"Morning, Anna!" Cari said with a grin, but she faltered at Anna's stormy expression. "You okay? I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine!" Anna said, plastering a smile on her face. Cari smiled back. Anna hated how good she was at lying now.

"Good. God, it's so nice to be back all together, isn't it?"

"So nice!" Anna said. And it was. It just wasn't as nice as it ought to be. Anna saw Elsie approaching them from the direction of Heins and a now-awake Elsa, looking downcast. It looked like Elsa was drinking some sort of red liquid. "Elsie, what's wrong?"

"The Queen. I think there's a piece of the arrow still lodged in the bone of her leg."

"Ouch," Cari said sympathetically.

"Will it heal like that?" Anna asked.

"Ordinarily, yes. But the arrows were poisoned. I'm not even sure with what- I think it's magical. It's still leaching into her bloodstream. If it's not removed, she will die."

"What?" Anna gasped. "Let's go then, you can do it, right?"

"It's not that simple, Your Highness. In order to get the fragment out, I will need to make the wound bigger. Much bigger. There is a high chance she will bleed to death if we're not careful."

"Shit," Cari muttered.

"What do you need?" Anna demanded.

Ten minutes later, everyone in the camp was gathered around Elsa. A bottle of wine, three-quarters empty, lay at her side, and Elsa's cheeks were flushed. It would have been funny if not for the way she was shaking in fear, the way her lips were pulled back in terror. Heins knelt at Elsa's head, stroking her hair and whispering reassurances to her. She had a pillow under her head, a leather wrapped stick in her mouth, and two more in her hands. A belt was wrapped around her right thigh, near her pelvis, ready to be tightened to act as a tourniquet.

Alan and Baldur knelt down near Elsa's sides, one hand at her wrists, the other on her shoulder. Kristoff and Silas were next to them, doing the same on Elsa's knee and ankle. Elsie was squeezed between Baldur and Silas on Elsa's right side. Elsa's leg lay bare before her. Cari, Leila, and Ciri were behind Elsie, Cari with various medical tools Elsie would need, Ciri with a stack of freshly boiled bandages, and Leila waiting for her part, which came later. Anna had asked for something to do, but Elsie told her she just needed to be nearby and that Elsie would tell her if she needed anything. Anna was left to hover around the periphery, pacing back and forth, chewing on her lip, her hands clasped around the blue ribbon in front of her chest.

"Are you ready, Your Majesty?" Elsie asked in a low voice. Despite the fear plain on her face, Elsa's eyes were full of an angry determination as she nodded.

"Okay." Elsie's face was grim as she nodded to Kristoff, who tightened the belt as much as he could, Elsa wincing with every motion, before putting his hands back on her lower leg to hold her still. "Remember, don't let her move." Elsie placed her scalpel about an inch above the wound, drove the blade into Elsa's flesh hard and fast, then tore downward, splitting the pale skin and opening a gash about five inches long in her thigh. Blood welled up at once, spilling onto the ground. Elsa's eyes went wide and she bucked, screaming around the stick in her mouth, but the hands on her limbs pressed down, holding her still. Alan, Baldur, Silas, and Kristoff all looked like they hated themselves right now, but none of them let up.

"Retractor," Elsie ordered, holding her hand out. Cari slapped what looked like a pair of tongs, but that opened the wrong way, into Elsie's hand. Elsie drove it into the new wound and squeezed the handle, splitting Elsa's thigh muscles apart, then ran the scalpel along the wound a second time. Elsa threw her head back and arched her spine, screaming through the gag like a wounded animal. The two at her arms had to switch around, putting their knees on Elsa's shoulders and their hands on her chest, trying to avoid the wound there, pushing her back down. Anna could see white bone through the opening, as well as a small black piece embedded in it.

"I see it! Forceps." Cari passed the instrument to Elsie's free hand. "Leila, hold this." Leila reached around and grabbed the handle of the retractor, keeping the muscle spread. Elsie grabbed hold of the black piece with the forceps and tugged, but couldn't get enough leverage. She repositioned the forceps and used the tip as a lever against Elsa's bone, wrenching the piece out. Elsa thrashed harder than ever, tears leaking from behind clenched eyelids. "Got it!" She threw the forceps and the piece to the side, then pushed Leila's hand aside to take the retractor. She paused for just a moment, then shook her head.

"There's too much bleeding. Your Highness, burn it."

"Wh-what?" Anna stammered, freezing mid stride.

"Anna, burn it, now! It will stop the bleeding. Just for a second. We're sealing the blood vessels."

"I can't do that!"

"Do it, now! She's going to die if you don't!"

"Anna, just do it!" Heins screamed. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to set fire to her sister's flesh, to burn her sister alive- she couldn't do this!

"NOW!" Elsie barked, and Anna moved. She shoved Cari aside, who went with the movement without protest, and dropped to her knees beside Elsa.

"I'm so sorry, Elsa," Anna gasped. Then she burned. She summoned the ball of flame she often played with, then ran her hand along the wound. Elsa screamed again, louder this time, and Anna could smell the sickening smell of burnt human flesh. Bile rose in her throat but she forced it back down. Elsie inspected the sides of the cut, then shook her head.

"Not enough. Do it again."

"I can't-" Anna protested.

"DO IT!"

"I'm so sorry!" She ran her hand along the wound again, and Elsa's leg was shaking and contorting with more force than ever. Kristoff and Silas both threw their entire weight on her legs to keep her from hurting herself further.

"That's it!" Elsie cried. She let go of the retractor and Elsa's leg began to close. Anna fell back as Elsie threw the tool aside, then said, "Sutures!" Cari passed a needle and thread to Elsie. "I'm almost done, Your Majesty!" Her fingers were nothing but a blur as she sewed up the wound with fast and practiced movements. Elsa continued to scream and thrash around, but they had finally gotten her movement under control. Her leg was quite still as Elsie finished the stitches, then wrapped the whole thing with bandages that Ciri handed her.

"Done!" Elsie announced, "But keep holding her for a bit, until she relaxes." Elsa's screams had been replaced with a quiet whimper as the fight drained out of her. She was surely still in unimaginable pain, but now that her leg wasn't literally being ripped apart, it had to have lessened. Anna couldn't imagine how much worse it would have been without the wine. Elsie, Leila, Cari, and Ciri gathered up the supplies to take them back to Elsie's tent, while Anna sat next to Elsa. She had thrown the leather stick in her hand away and clutched Anna's now, so hard that Anna's started to go numb, but she didn't care. White hot fury was bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

Heins was leaning over Elsa, whispering endlessly to her, and she stared up at him with dazed and unfocused eyes. Silas was the first to let go of her, doing so very tentatively, with every muscle tensed to regrip Elsa, but she did not thrash about, or move at all for that matter.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he said, surprising them all as he always did when he chose to speak. She gave no indication of hearing him, but he didn't seem to mind. He just moved away back to the tents.

"Sorry, Elsa," Baldur said, following Silas's lead.

"Sorry, Elsa."

"Sorry, Elsa." Alan and Kristoff moved to help Baldur and Silas.

Her anger rising, Anna relinquished her grip, slipping her fingers out of Elsa's, who did not try to prevent it. She stood up, breathing hard, and stormed over to Elsie's tent, her anger rising with every step. She got there just as Elsie came back out, and she blinked in surprise when she saw Anna's furious expression.

"Your Highness, what-"

"Why didn't you tell me I'd have to do that?" Anna shouted. She saw everyone's heads turn towards her, and Elsie shrank back from Anna's anger.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd have to-" Anna's rage spiked. Elsie's words were cut off by Anna's palm connecting hard with her face. Her head rocked back and her own hand flew up to the spot where Anna had struck her. She stared at her, eyes wide and already brimming with tears. A red mark was already beginning to show on Elsie's cheek. Anna drew back her hand to hit her again, but felt someone catch it from behind. Elsie scurried away, looking hurt, confused, and terrified.

"What are you doing, Anna?" It was Baldur. Anna's vision seemed to go red.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, and a spout of fire erupted between them. Baldur leapt back to avoid the flames, looking shocked. She hadn't even meant to do that. More people were running towards her now.

"Anna, what the hell are you doing?" Alan shouted, and something about the way he said it infuriated Anna still further. Without any effort or direction, a ball of flame coalesced in front of her and launched towards Alan. She felt a savage satisfaction at the fear that shone on his face as he dove out of the way.

"Anna, stop!" She realized she didn't recognize that voice, or rather, couldn't remember who it belonged to. It was unimportant. The anger was filling her. She had lost all control, all conscious thought. All there was was rage. Flames raced across the ground, circling her in an ever increasing spiral. The flames rose higher as her anger grew and grew.

"Take cover!" someone screamed, as flames exploded out of Anna in a burst of twisting fire and whipping wind. Tents were blown aside, and she saw people running for cover behind trees and rocks. The remnants of last night's campfire were thrown into the air, and the pots and pans that made last night's dinner clanged noisily as they were blasted away. Grass twisted and crumbled into dust, trees turned black with burnt bark. Then… there was quiet, and all was still. Quiet except for a single scream, piercing the air like a knife. Heins's scream.

Anna looked toward Elsa. Heins had thrown his body over hers, to protect her, but in doing so, he sacrificed his own body to the flames. His clothing was partially burned away, and the skin beneath was red and shiny. Then, all at once, the realization of what she had just done crashed over Anna, and she fell to her knees. She had lost control so easily. She had given herself over to the rage just to feel something, anything. She had to get away. She finally understood why Elsa had secluded herself all those years. Why she had run away from her coronation. Why she was so afraid to get close to Heins. At any point, she could kill any of them with no effort. But Elsa had always been stronger than Anna. Anna would never be able to control this.

Some people were running towards Elsa. Some people were running towards Anna. It didn't matter who was doing what. She had to leave. She staggered to her feet, then turned and sprinted to one of the horses. Someone was calling her name, but she ignored them. She burned the strap tying it to the tree with a small wave of her hand, then galloped away as fast as she could urge the steed to go.