"Only an act of true love can save me." Anna said, looking up at Hans hopefully. An act of true love? What did she mean by that? He thought before his eyes widened with understanding.

"A true love's kiss." He replied. He looked over her face. She wanted him to kiss her? She really thought that he was her true love? She smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat. He slowly reached out and rested his hand on her cheek. Could he do this? Should he do this? If he let this curse take her over, he would be one step closer to the throne. He could get up, walk out that door and lock it behind him. He could say that they exchanged vows before she died, leaving him in line for the throne. Then he could charge Elsa with treason and the whole thing would be over. He could.

His hand moved under her chin and brought her face closer to his own, and her eyes fluttered shut. Scenes of the night of the Coronation Ball flashed through his memory. Shoving chocolate and krumkake in their faces, laughing and telling each other stories, running and playing around the castle grounds, feeling free with her. He would be lying if he said he didn't like her. In the short night they had spent together, he really had felt like he had found a place with her. She brought out the best in him. She understood how it felt to be left alone.

But what about the throne? A sinister voice echoed in his mind. Even if you did kiss her, it wouldn't work anyways. She's not your true love. You don't deserve a true love.

He hesitated, his eyes inspecting her open features as she waited. It was true, he didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve to find love at all, let alone with her. But maybe she could help him fix that.

Ignoring the angry voice in his mind telling him he was stupid and cowardly for giving up his one chance for the throne, He leaned the rest of the way down, his lips softly meeting hers.

At first nothing had happened, and he feared the worst, but then there was a blast of light around them, and Anna gasped, the white in her hair slowly melting away and returning to its regular strawberry blonde as her heart thawed. And maybe, he thought, his own heart was thawing too.

Anna flung her arms around him, taking him by surprise. He sat there stunned for a second, then wrapped his own arms around her waist, tightening the embrace. She was shaking a little, and he didn't blame her. She had just been through an incredible ordeal, and the room was freezing cold from the winter air seeping through the walls. The fire didn't do very much to keep it at bay.

"Oh Hans." Anna whispered. He hugged her tighter.

"It's alright Anna. You're okay now." He reassured, trying his best to comfort her. She pulled back from the hug.

"No- it's not that. It's Elsa. She wouldn't listen to me, she said she didn't know how to end the winter."

"I'm sure we'll think of something." Hans said, rubbing her back. "There's got to be a solution in this mess somewhere."

She gave him a watery smile. "Hans, I-"

She was interrupted by a loud crash coming from somewhere in the castle, the sound of angry guards quickly following.

"What was that?" Anna said, getting up from the couch. Hans paled.

"Elsa." Hans muttered, dread settling deep in his core.

"Elsa? She's here?" Anna gasped, her hand covering her mouth. He grabbed her hand and quickly led her out the door. "Me and a group of other men went looking for you and Elsa attacked a couple of our men-"

"Elsa attacked them?" Anna asked skeptically. Hans pulled her down the hallway, towards where the prisoners were kept.

"I wasn't there to see most of it, but I'm almost positive she was provoked. We took her back to Arendelle with us and I had to put her in a cell-"

Anna stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at him accusingly. "You put my sister in a cell?"

"Anna, you have to believe me, it's the only thing I could have done! Many saw her as a threat to the kingdom and it was the safest place to keep her." He said, pleading for her to understand.

Anna opened her mouth to retort that there had to be something he could have done other than put her sister in a cell of all places, but their conversation was cut short when they heard the loud cracking of wood splintering. Anna looked up. Ice was breaking through the walls and the ceiling around them, and it was closing in fast.

"We don't have time to talk about this right now, Anna. I'll explain it later. Right now we have to get out of here."

In one swift move, Hans swept her off her feet and held her tightly in his arms. Her hands came up around his neck automatically as he started running again, dodging ice as he went. One of the spikes tore through his jacket, narrowly missing him. He ducked as another spike grew down from the ceiling.

They weren't going to make it to the door. His eyes darted around as he looked for an escape and found one in the form of a window in the next room. He kicked it open with his foot and helped Anna out, holding her hand to make sure she didn't slip.

"Slide down. I'll meet you at the bottom!" He urged her, and she nodded, giving his hand a squeeze before disappearing down the side of the roof.

With one more look at the destroyed room behind him, he jumped out the window, sliding his way to safety.

He met her at the bottom where she was brushing the snow off her skirt and shivering a little. She had lost her cloak somewhere in their escape. Hans took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders with a worried smile.

"Well, that was fun." He laughed half-heartedly. She smiled at him before looking over the Fjord, searching for any sign of her sister, but the storm getting worse by the second. She couldn't even see any of the many ships that were frozen into the ice.

"I don't see her anywhere!" She said. "I have to go after her!"

"Anna, it's not safe!" Hans protested. There was no way he was losing her now.

"Hans, she's my sister. I can't just let her go like this- I can't have her shut me out again! If we're going to figure out how to bring summer back, we have to work together!"

Hans wanted to argue, but he knew she was right. "Fine, but I'm coming with you!"

Anna nodded. She began to make her way into the storm, going as fast as she could through the thick snow, with Hans right beside her.

"Elsa!" Anna yelled out, but her voice was swallowed up by with wind. She put her arm up to shield her eyes. Where was she? Was she already back at her ice palace? Are we too late? She thought, worry taking root in her mind more than ever. "Elsa! Where are you? You don't need to be frightened! Let us help you!"

The wind was getting stronger the closer she got to the middle of the Fjord. That has to be where Elsa is. I just know it. Her running had turned into a struggle to just walk, and her foot slipped beneath her on the ice.

"Whoa!"

A strong arm wrapped around her shoulders keeping her upright. She looked over to Hans who was giving her a reassuring smile. She hugged his jacket tighter around herself and smiled back. She could do this.

"Elsa!" She yelled out again, louder than before.

"Anna?" Another voice yelled back.

"Kristoff!" Anna exclaimed, and she squinted to make him out in the large mass of white until he was right in front of them.

"Anna!" He breathed, smiling at her. Then he noticed the handsome man with his arm around her shoulders.

"I-uh, I'm assuming you're Hans." He said, trying not to let the disappointment seep into his voice. He had no right to be jealous. Anna looked like she had been rid of the curse and that should be enough for him.

Hans stood a little taller, looking the blond man up and down, not sure of what to make of him. He had never seen him before. Perhaps he was someone Anna met on her way to talk to her sister?

"Kristoff, what are you doing here? I thought- I thought you left?" Anna said, brushing her hair out of her face.

"I did. But then this storm started and I wanted to make sure you were okay-"

"Well she's fine, now." Hans said, narrowing his eyes. He did know why he didn't like this man, but something about the way he was looking at Anna didn't sit right with him.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Kristoff. But Hans is right, I'm fine." Anna said giving him a smile in hopes of soothing his fears.

"What are you two doing out here, anyways?" Kristoff asked, looking between them.

"We're trying to find Elsa. Have you seen her anywhere?" Anna asked.

"I haven't, sorry. The storm is too thick to see anything that isn't three feet ahead of you."

Anna nodded and sighed. "Well, let's keep looking. We have to find her."

Anna went back to yelling Elsa's name as loud as she could, this time with Hans and Kristoff joining in as they slowly made their way to the center of the storm. They were almost there now, and the snow was so thick and the wind so strong, it was almost like walking into a wall.

"Elsa where are you!" Anna yelled desperately. Elsa must really be scared to be making a storm this strong. She remembered when she was trying to reason with Elsa in her ice palace, the more freaked out Elsa became, the more chaos her powers would cause. If Anna could just figure out how to reverse that, it might bring the summer back. And, more importantly, it would bring her sister back. Everything could be like it used to be. She just had to find Elsa.

"Elsa!" Anna called out once more. Then she noticed a faint outline of blue breaking through the storm. "Elsa!"

She was crumpled on the ice, her head in her hands. She slowly lifted her head to look at her sister as she came closer, and her eyes widened.

"Anna? I- I thought… Hans told me you never made it back and I assumed-" Elsa was cut off when Anna took her into a big bear hug.

"Elsa I thought I'd never find you!" She cried. Elsa hesitantly hugged her back.

"Anna, you have to go... this storm-"

"I know what you're going to say Elsa, and I'm gonna stop you right there. I'm not going anywhere without you. Besides, it's already calming down a bit."

Elsa looked around them and realized Anna was right. When Elsa realized that Anna wasn't dead, it must have helped the storm quiet.

"Elsa, do you have any idea of how to make this storm stop?" Hans asked, crossing his arms over his chest to keep warm.

"I told you already, I don't!" Elsa said, starting to feel the anxiety of having the whole kingdom depend on her controlling her powers. She hadn't been able to figure out how to control them for 13 years, ever since she accidentally hit Anna, what made them think she could figure it out now?

"It'll be okay, Elsa. We can work this out. Together. Before we try to stop the whole curse, why don't we try just stopping this snow storm? Try calming down."

Elsa took a deep breath. Don't feel it. Don't feel it. Don't let it take you over. Don't feel! It wasn't working; she was just getting more panicked. "Anna this isn't working! I can't stop feeling!"

"Then don't stop feeling- Just feel something other than fear!"

Feel something other than fear? Elsa thought. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. What was the opposite of fear? Happiness. She remembered the time before she had hit Anna with her power- when they used to play for hours in the snow. She rememebered sneaking out and playing around the castle without their parents knowing, Anna deciding that they should make a club for just the two of them- The Secret Sister Club, she remembered snowball fights and slurping soup and bedtime stories.

A slow smile crept up on Elsa's lips. Happiness. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around herself. The storm was gone. There was still ice and snow everywhere, but the storm had ended.

Elsa felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"I knew you could do it." Anna said, smiling at her. Elsa smiled back. It was a start.

"Now, why don't we go back to the castle? I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!" Anna laughed, and she linked her arm with her sister's. Elsa smiled warmly and nodded. Hans breathed a sigh of relief and took Anna's free hand, giving it a little squeeze, and Kristoff hesitantly joined the group as they made their way back to the castle.