35

(i)

Despite Hans's mild protests, Anna arranged for three crewmen from her ship to sail back Arendelle with him on the Queen Elsa. She was so happy to be reunited with Kristoff and that the Hans dilemma had been happily resolved for both sides. She told Kristoff about the images she saw of Hans's mother's death and how that had affected his brothers and also about how her mother had revealed to her father that she was Northuldra.

Kristoff surprisingly found himself quite sympathetic towards Hans, something he thought he would never do and remarked how easily things can change. There ship turned around for the trip back to Arendelle and they both settled in for the trip home with the Queen Elsa sailing next to them. Luckily, Elsa had also instructed Gale to give them a nice steady wind home to ensure they got home before Hans's brother arrived in Arendelle to follow up the ultimatum he had sent.

The trip home was uneventful and they arrived back in Arendelle some thirteen hours later. Hans managed to dock the Queen Elsa first only to be confronted by Janus Norstrum.

"How dare you steal my boat!" he yelled, "this is my life's work!"

Hans was a little stunned at first, but did understand "I am sorry, Janus, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," he replied angrily

"Again," started Hans again, "I am very sorry, but, if I may say, it is a beautiful boat."

"I know it is," he replied with pride, "I designed and built her."

By this time Anna's ship had docked and she heard the two men arguing so she immediately made her way to them.

"Janus," she started.

"Yes, your Majesty," he responded.

"Hans took good care of the Queen Elsa and sailed her magnificently," she said, "in all honesty, you should ask him to crew with you when you take her racing."

Janus looked at Anna a little dumfounded, "I should? Your Majesty, he stole my boat"

"I know, but we have more pertinent matters to deal with right now" replied Anna, "and yes you should ask him to crew with you, Prince Hans will help you win."

"But?" he replied, but saw Anna's face "If you say so your Majesty, Prince Hans?"

Before he could finish the sentence Hans spoke up, "I would love to."

They shook hands and he turned to Anna and said "Thank you."

Anna smiled but then got serious, "Hans, if I'm not wrong, your brother will be here tomorrow, I want you and General Mattias to join me in the main dining room so we can discuss what our options are."

"I'll be there your Majesty," he started and then looked around, "where's Elsa? I thought she would have beat us back here?"

"She went straight to the Enchanted Forest to see the Northuldra leader Yelena to see if she would be willing to accept you as she promised to you at Ahtohallan," she answered.

"Elsa is doing that now for me," said Hans with gratitude, "I thought she would have come back here first to help us confront Klaus. I am touched and don't worry; I will take care of my brother when he gets here."

"We'll confront him together Hans," replied Anna, "and you are welcome to stay in Arendelle if you want if it doesn't work out with the Northuldra. Look I don't know what sort of relationship we will have, but it will be better, which, let's be frank, would be easy, than what it was."

"I perfectly understand" he answered, "but if I do stay here, I want to be useful."

"Well," began Anna in reply, "you can help Janus beat your brothers in the upcoming sailing competition, well, providing we don't have a major incident tomorrow."

"That I can do and as I said, don't worry about my brother," he replied with a smile.

They made their way to the dining room where they discussed their plans for dealing with Hans's brother some more. It wasn't a terribly long discussion with Hans consistently saying he would confront him and tell him that he had decided not to return to the Southern Isles, just as he had told him when he left to come to Arendelle in the first place. They definitely didn't want an incident that could get out of hand between the two kingdoms. Hans even suggested that Anna could proceed with the trade agreement if she wanted to in order to help bring about a positive outcome to tomorrow's confrontation.

They then enjoyed lunch and discussed further their plans for the next day. After they had eaten Hans asked. "Your Highness, if I may be excused, I would like to return to my room for a bit. Should I wait for my guard?"

"Hans, as of right now," replied Anna, "your free to explore as much of Arendelle as you please. No guards required, plus, it's Anna, no need for formality here."

Hans smiled and simply said, "thank you, Anna."

He set off to enjoy his freedom, not just for being able to wander around but from his obsession as well and it felt so good, like the biggest weight had been lifted off his shoulders and his heart. He hadn't gone far when he saw Olaf.

"Olaf," he cried out.

"Prince Hans," replied Olaf, "you're back."

"Yes," said Hans, "and I have to give you the biggest thank you."

"You do?" answered Olaf, "but you stole things."

"I know, I know," interrupted Hans, "I did and I am sorry, but I got to Ahtohallan, I found my memory and I no longer want revenge and it was all possible because, when no one else really did, you believed I could change. I can't thank you enough."

Olaf looked at Hans and that big smile appeared on his face, "warm hugs."

"Warm hugs?" replied Hans inquisitively, "Oh yes, of course, warm hugs."

He then embraced his little snowman friend with great affection.

The rest of the day was uneventful, Hans enjoyed his freedom to stroll around Arendelle but eventually ended up back at the Queen Elsa and this time enjoyed a friendly chat with Janus Norstrum about his boat. Hans described how well it sailed and how it handled the Dark Sea. Janus could not have been more impressed with Hans's sailing skills and was now very happy that he would be joining the crew for the upcoming sailing competitions.

Hans decided to eat out that evening at one of the local restaurants instead of in the palace, he did find a restaurant that served fish soup which he thoroughly enjoyed. Fortunately, Anna had spread the word about Hans and he found the locals a little warmer towards him than before, though there still was a little undertow of distrust there, which he perfectly understood. It would take time to win over their trust after you tried to kill the Queen and the Princess in order to usurp the throne of the country. He knew that if he was in their shoes, he would feel the same way.

As evening fell, he returned to the castle and exchanged pleasantries with Anna and Kristoff before heading to his room for the night in order to contemplate what had happened to him at Ahtohallan. It actually made him smile and he found himself once again picking up the book Olaf had brought him in order to read up some more on the Northuldra and wondering if Elsa could persuade their leader to allow him to join them in the Enchanted Forest. It wasn't long before the excitement and emotion of the last couple days caught up with him and retired for the night falling into one of the deepest and most restful sleeps he could ever remember.

The following morning came quickly and to everyone's surprise, Elsa had arrived back from the Enchanted Forest and made her way into the castle. She wanted to find Hans as quickly as possible so she could tell him of Yelena's decision. She actually found him in his room as he was getting ready for breakfast.

"Hans," she began, "can I come in."

"Elsa," he replied surprised, "of course, you're back early."

"Yes," she replied, "that is because it didn't take Yelena long to make a decision regarding your wish to join the Northuldra."

"It didn't" responded Hans as if it sounded like it may be bad news, "what was their decision?"

"Yelena has agreed to allow you to join the Northuldra if you so wish," she said, "but you must fully commit to them and their lifestyle. They will give you six months to adjust and If you find it isn't to your liking, or they think it isn't working, well naturally you will be free to leave."

"That's great," he replied ecstatically, "I will do my best and thank you Elsa, thank you very much."

"You're welcome," she replied with a small smile.

It was then that Anna came into the room, "Oh good Elsa, you're here, Hans, your brother's ship from the Southern Isles is approaching the docks."

"Well then," replied Elsa, "let's go meet Hans's brother."

"Elsa, Anna," started Hans, "don't worry, I will handle my brother."

They made their way to the dock, and were joined by Kristoff and General Mattias with a squad of soldiers as well as Olaf. They arrived at the dock and set themselves up in the manner they would use to welcome any high-ranking dignitary arriving in Arendelle and watched the ship come into the dock. Two Arendellian soldiers helped with the boat ramp and on the deck a platoon of Southern Isles soldiers formed up on the deck as King Klaus appeared from his cabin and made his way to the ramp.

"King Klaus," spoke Anna in her best diplomatic voice, "it's an honour to have you in Arendelle."

"Queen Anna," replied Klaus in a condescending tone, "I wish it was in better circumstances, now I demand to know where my brother is?"

"Excuse me King Klaus," said Anna defiantly, "but I do not care to be spoken to in that manner in my kingdom."

Klaus looked around and saw the soldiers on the dock, but he also saw Elsa and was aware of her reputation.

"My apologies," he said a little more conciliatory, "but, please understand, I only have concern for the treatment of my brother? May I disembark?"

"Most certainly," smiled Anna as she held out her hand in friendship.

Klaus descended the onto the dock and finally noticed Hans standing there with them.

"I'm right here Klaus," spoke up Hans, "there was no reason for you to come here. I'm not under any restraint as you can see"

"Yes, there was," his brother replied, "you were being held against your will."

"No brother," answered Hans, "I am here of my own free will," he sighed, "look let's go talk alone over there I have a few things to say. With your permission Queen Anna?"

"No permission needed." Responded Anna.

The two men then walked off to about fifty metres from the group and Hans turned to his brother.

"Klaus," he started, "I told you when I left, I wouldn't be coming back, there was no need for you to come here."

"Yes, there was Hans," he replied, "we had no idea how they were treating you here, as far as we knew they were holding you against your will and keeping you in their dungeon, not the sort of place fitting for a prince of the Southern Isles."

"Oh Klaus," answered Hans, "they invited me here, I actually had a nice corner room on the top the floor, hell, it was better than my room at home. Yes, there were some restrictions on my movements, which is understandable considering what I tried to do last time I was here."

"So," began Klaus, "why did they invite you here in the first place?"

"They simply wanted answers," replied Hans, "answers to why I attempted to steal the throne and I told them about how badly all of you treated me."

"Why would you tell them that?" asked his brother, "they had no reason to know."

"Yes, they did," answered Hans firmly, "they deserved the truth, plus I learned a lot more about why you and all my other brothers hated and bullied me."

"What are you talking about Hans?" said Klaus rolling his eyes.

"I saw what happened in our parents' room when mother died, I know now I was the last one she spent time with."

"How would you know that?" spoke a disbelieving Klaus, "you were only nine months old when it happened."

"I was at Ahtohallan with Elsa and Anna," responded Hans, "Ahtohallan stores all the memories of the world and it had this one."

"Oh, come on Hans," chuckled Klaus, "you expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, you believe Elsa has powers, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course," answered Klaus, "but people saw them and recorded them."

"Well," started Hans, "I have seen these memories at Ahtohallan as has Elsa and Anna and I saw our mother died and I saw after she passed that the rest of you were called in by Ivan, the head of the palace staff. You were all crying but then you saw me, crying, on mothers' left side with her left arm wrapped around me. At that moment the faces of Tuomas, Eric, Carl and a few others went from sadness to hate, hatred towards me."

"Wait, how could you possibly know that?" asked Klaus again in disbelief.

"Because," started Hans, "I saw the memory at Ahtohallan and it's alright Klaus, I understand, I understand that you and the others thought I stole mother's last minutes from you. Or that you thought I had killed her and because of that I forgive you for treating me so badly over the years because I now understand why. You will also be pleased to know that since I saw this memory, I have no desire now to take revenge out on any of you anymore."

"Hans," said his brother, but before he could say anything else.

"However, I won't be coming home Klaus," continued Hans, "while I can forgive, I can't forget, not for now."

Hans paused then took in a big breath.

"So, thanks to Elsa, I am going to be living with the Northuldra from now on."

"But Hans," replied his brother, "you're a prince, you can't go live with people who live in Lavvus? Come on, you won't last a week, your use to palace life."

"There you go," said Hans, "underestimating me again, what makes you think I enjoyed palace life? I was miserable, I had no official title, no responsibilities, no sense of worth, I was nothing as you kept reminding me. With the Northuldra I can be something, I can be part of a community, I can have responsibilities and I can have a sense of self. I am really looking forward to it."

Klaus looked at his brother and realised that Hans was serious. He could see a sense of purpose in his eyes and he began to understand and felt proud of his brother.

"Hans," he started with a small smile, "good for you, I am actually happy that you think that way and that you think you will find purpose. Plus, I know Hans, I know you weren't responsible for mother's death and I do remember that day well, too well. I should have been a better big brother to you and I should have put a stop to the invisibility, the teasing and the bullying, but I didn't I went along with it and I am sorry and ashamed of that."

The two brothers looked at each other and a tear and smile appeared as they both warmly embraced.

"How about we re-join the group Klaus?" said Hans

"Yes" replied his brother.

They then returned to the group.

"Queen Anna," started Klaus, "please once again forgive my impertinence before, but despite how everything seemed, I do care about my baby brother's circumstances and I see now that you have treated him well."

"That's okay King Klaus," replied Anna, "why don't you and your men stay until tomorrow and maybe we can discuss that new trade agreement."

"That sounds like a good idea," replied Klaus as they all made their way back to the castle.

Hans then turned to his brother.

"Klaus," he began, "the one thing you must do before you head home is try their fish soup, it is the best."

Klaus smiled and embraced his brother and responded in the positive as the two brothers walked embraced together towards the castle.

(ii)

It had been a while since Hans had been to Arendelle, nearly fifteen months to be exact and his transformation since joining the Northuldra was complete. He had become a respected and valued member of the community and had developed many friendships in the forest. For the first time in his life, he was completely happy, fulfilled and respected. If you had told him five years ago this was where he would be living, he would have laughed at you.

The last time he was in Arendelle was to help crew of the Queen Elsa successfully win the sailing championship that the surrounding kingdoms competed in each year. Speaking of Elsa, he had of course had regular contact with her during her time in the forest. Their relationship was cordial and slowly warming, but he didn't want to push it. Elsa had fulfilled one of his wishes though by giving him a tour of her Ice Castle and he was able to make his peace with Marshmallow.

He was looking forward to the Arendellian Autumn Harvest Festival, he didn't go previous year, even though he was invited, because he didn't want to push his developing friendship with Arendelle and he just wasn't quite ready, but this year, he happily accepted it. Hans was especially looking forward to catching up with Anna, and Olaf especially who he hadn't seen for over six months. Elsa had told him that it was at this festival two years ago when she first heard the calling of the Fifth Spirit which led her to Ahtohallan to complete her transformation.

Once he arrived at the festival, it didn't take him long to find Anna.

"Queen Anna, your Majesty," he cried out.

Anna turned around to face him and Hans immediately noticed something.

"Queen Anna," he said looking at her baby bump, "I see congratulations are in order."

"Hans," she replied with a smile, "so glad you could make it this time and thanks, Kristoff and I are very happy. How are you, Elsa tells me you are doing really well."

"I'm great your Majesty," he replied, "plus, I would like to introduce to you to somebody as well, my wife Diina."

Anna saw a pretty young Northuldran woman in her early twenties and also noticed that she was in the same condition as her.

"Oh, hi Diina, I see we're twins," she said pointing to her own baby bump, "welcome to Arendelle."

"Thank you, your Majesty,' replied a slightly shy Diina, "it's an honour to meet you."

Anna just went "pfft" while she waved her hand, "please, just call me Anna, no need for this your Majesty bit,"

Diina and Hans just smiled at her and Diina said, "thank you Anna."

"Look," said Anna, "I'll catch up more with you later, official duties you know."

"Before you go Anna," started Hans, "where's Elsa and Olaf? I haven't seen them yet"

"Olaf will be with the kids, just follow the laughter," replied Anna, "Elsa is over there somewhere," she said pointing to her right, "she's been talking a lot to this diplomat who arrived yesterday to establish a relationship with us, actually she's been talking to him a lot since yesterday, never seen her so interested in someone like this before, anyway as I said got to go."

The day drifted into the night and Hans with his wife Diina made their rounds meeting up with people and enjoying the festivities. Elsa of course showed off her powers and her relationship with the spirits. Hans also introduced Diina to Olaf who naturally suggested warm hugs and was delighted that they were going to have a child in the near future. Diina warmed to Olaf immediately, it was hard not to.

Hans took all of this in and just couldn't believe how good his life had become and how bright the future looked with his wife, whom he deeply loved and the thought of becoming a father just filled him with such fulfillment. His past was dissipating away into time and he happily left it behind.

He did plan to take Diina and their child to the Southern Isles to meet his family whom he had kept in touch with he had received apologies from all of his brothers for their actions of the past and their best wishes for the future. As the night was winding down it was appropriate that the Northern Lights would then light up the sky with a brilliant display for all to enjoy.

In the distance he heard Olaf tell the kids, "Look the sky's awake."

He embraced his wife as they both lied on their backs in palace gardens and watched nature's display and thought to himself just how lucky he was now.