A/N: Some of the dialogue in this chapter comes from a fan comic.
Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven walked up the stairs to the ice palace - all except Sven, who kept sliding down. It was even more amazing up close: crystal clear, sparkling ice.
"It's perfect," Kristoff said. "I'm gonna cry."
"Go ahead," Anna said. "I won't judge."
She approached the door and held up her hand, but hesitated. She had knocked on Elsa's door so many times and it had never opened. Why should this time be any different?
"Why isn't she knocking?" Olaf whispered to Kristoff. "Do you think she knows how to knock?"
Anna finally knocked on the door, and it opened by itself. "That's a first," she muttered.
She turned to Kristoff and Olaf. "You should probably wait here," she said. "The last time I introduced her to a guy, she froze everything."
"Oh, come on," Kristoff said. "It's a palace made of ice. Ice is my LIFE!"
"I'll only be a minute," Anna said.
Olaf sat down on the steps and started counting. "One, two, three, four…"
Anna stepped into the palace's main room. It had a fountain and two spiral staircases. It was grand, but very sparse. Anna couldn't see how Elsa intended to stay alive there.
"Elsa?" she called out. Her voice echoed off the icy walls. "Are you in here?"
Elsa came in from upstairs and stood on the platform between the two staircases. Her hair was down in a braid, and she was wearing a sparkling blue dress with a silvery white train.
"Anna?" she said incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
"I… wow," Anna said. "You look… different. It's a good different. And this place... is amazing."
"Thank you," Elsa said. "I never knew what I was capable of." Her face fell. "But you should probably go."
"Are you serious?" Anna said, taken aback. "You're not even going to talk to me, even though I came all this way? After all these YEARS?"
"Go away, Anna," Elsa said, turning away.
"NO, I am NOT going away!" Anna shouted. "For years you treated me like a piece of garbage! Just because what, you have ICE POWERS? It never once occurred to you in all those years to maybe try TRUSTING ME? To give me ANY IDEA of why I had to live in complete isolation?"
Tears were streaming down her face now. "I BURIED OUR PARENTS ALONE, ELSA!"
"I COULD HAVE KILLED YOU, ANNA!" Elsa shouted back. She was crying now too. "Don't you understand? I could have killed you and everyone else there, just by being there! I froze my whole room when I found out our parents died! Didn't you feel the cold coming from my door? My powers were getting stronger all the time, and I had no idea how to control them! I was just trying to protect you!"
Anna was stunned into silence. For the first time in forever, she actually felt sorry for Elsa.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered finally.
Elsa looked down at the floor. "Mother and Father told me not to," she said, just as quietly.
"Why?" Anna asked. "Didn't they trust me? Didn't you?"
"They were afraid you would tell people my secret," Elsa said. "But once you got older… You're right. I should have told you. You deserved to know the truth."
Damn right, Anna thought. But now that Elsa had calmed down, she sensed her opportunity.
"Elsa," she said gently. "Come back to Arendelle. Please."
"No, Anna," said Elsa. "I belong here. Alone. Where I can be who I am without hurting anybody."
"Um, yeah, about that," Anna said. "I get the feeling you don't know."
"What?" Elsa said, raising her eyebrow in worry. "What do I not know?"
"Well, let's see, how do I put this… you kind of set off an eternal winter… everywhere."
Elsa gaped. "Everywhere?!"
"Well, not everywhere everywhere, but definitely as far as the eye can see. I mean, the fjord's frozen over, and - "
"Oh my God," Elsa whispered, backing away. "What have I done? Wh-what do I do now?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe you could unfreeze it," Anna said, glaring at Elsa.
"I can't!" Elsa said. "I - I don't know how!" Snow began to swirl around them. "It's happening again. Get out of here, Anna, you'll only make it worse!"
"Oh hell no!" Anna shouted. "You don't get off that easy! I'm not leaving here until you end this winter and bring back summer!"
"I can't end it, Anna!" Elsa shouted. "Don't you see? I CAN'T!"
The blast of ice moved so fast that Anna barely saw it before it passed through her body. She felt a sharp, intense cold in her chest, and was almost knocked backward. Kristoff rushed forward to help her up, with Olaf and Sven beside him. Elsa gasped in horror when she saw what she had done.
"Anna!" she said. "A-are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Anna said angrily.
"Who is this?" Elsa asked, looking at Kristoff. "It doesn't matter. You have to go. Now."
"Dammit, Elsa!" Anna shouted. "I did NOT risk my life coming here just so you could slam the door in my face again!"
"I'm sorry, Anna," Elsa said. "But you leave me no choice."
Elsa closed her eyes and used her magic to create a snow monster. Anna, Kristoff and Olaf stared up in horror at the huge, terrifying creature that stood before them. He glared at them with his stony eyes, and Anna finally understood just what Elsa was capable of.
"GO AWAY!"
The monster's booming voice shook the walls of the ice castle. He picked up all three "intruders" in one fell swoop and threw them outside onto the mound of snow on the other side of the staircase. Sven grunted in surprise as Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf landed in the snow around him.
"AND DON'T COME BACK!"
"It is NOT nice to throw people!" Anna shouted.
"Woah there, feisty pants!" said Kristoff. "Calm down."
"I'm calm," Anna said, walking away. Then she turned around and threw a snowball at Marshmallow. Marshmallow roared and began chasing them down the hill towards a cliff. Sven escaped by running sideways and rejoining the group at the bottom, while Anna and Kristoff made a snow anchor and tried to lower themselves down with a rope - but thanks to Marshmallow, they fell anyway. Olaf jumped off the cliff, but since he was a snowman, he could easily put himself back together.
"What am I going to do now?" Anna asked when they were all safely at the bottom. "I can't go back to Arendelle with the weather like this!"
"Don't worry about that," Kristoff said. "Worry about your hair!"
"My hair?" Anna said. "You just fell off a cliff, you should see your hair!"
"No, I mean… it's turning white."
Anna looked at one of her braids and saw, in horror, that a new white streak had appeared.
"It's because she struck you, isn't it?" Kristoff asked.
"I guess so," Anna said.
"Come with me," Kristoff said. "I have friends who can help."
"The love experts?" Anna asked skeptically.
"Yep," said Kristoff. "Well, they're really more like family."
"How do you know they can help me?"
"Because," said Kristoff, "I've seen them do it before."