I am soooo tiiiiired. And gotta go to work! But I wanted to get this done before work so... I may have rushed it a bit. XD But it's still the longest chapter, I think. And just a friendly reminder, don't look at the sun today! 8D Or any day. XD But really not today.

Beware the Frozen Heart
Chapter 16: What Is Love?

"Hurry up!"

"It's frozen shut!"

"Put your backs into it, lads."

"Be careful, she's dangerous!"

Claire listened to the voices at the door. She pulled on her cuffs and looked out the window behind her. She had to get out. Now. Before she hurt anyone else. She turned back around and looked down at the cuffs. She paused for a moment. Then took a deep breath and yanked back as hard as she could. She did it a second and third time. And then finally, the metal cracked and split.

She smiled weakly and turned towards the window.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

He opened his eyes slowly. His head was pounding and his vision was blurry for a moment. He blinked a few times and several things game to him at once. His hands were bound behind his back. His feet were likewise bound and unmovable. His mouth was covered, some fabric tied tight behind his head. Some of his too-long curls were tangled in the tight fabric and hurt. And he was on a ship. One who's interior he didn't recognize. He knew it wasn't a Jurendelle ship. He tried to push himself up but it was useless. He was bound too tightly. He closed his eyes as tears came.

"Oh no! Don't cry, Gray!"

The voice was soft and sweet. And extremely close. He turned and looked back. The... thing was standing over him. Smiling widely. Gray couldn't even fathom what he was seeing. It was a talking snowman. There was a talking snowman smiling at him. Gray's eyes widened and he tried to scream. But the sound just came out muffled.

The snowthing shook it's head and held up it's stick arms. "Hey, hey! It's okay!" It said quickly. "My name is Zara." She bent down and quickly untied him.

Gray pulled off the ropes and threw them aside. He rubbed at the back of his head. "Zara." He repeated her name. Something about the name was familiar.

Zara nodded her head. "I like warm hugs and paperwork."

"Paperwork."

She nodded again and quickly pulled out her notebook and pen. She flipped it open and pointed to a page of scribbles. "I'm an assistant. I take notes."

Gray blinked at the page. He tilted his head to the side. "Uh... I can't read this."

Zara tilted her head to the side as well. "Neither can I."

Gray smiled. "You can't read your own writing?"

Zara shook her head. "I can't read at all. Or write."

Gray let out a laugh. "You're not a very good assistant there, are you?"

Zara snatched back her notebook and shoved it back in her side. "Don't tell Claire!" She begged.

Gray's eyes widened. "Claire?"

Zara nodded. "I love her and I don't wanna disappoint her. But I swear! I'll learn!"

"You... you know... aunt Claire?"

Zara smiled widely and nodded. "I love her! She's so great!"

Gray looked at the ground and wiped at his eyes as he felt tears again. "No. She's not."

"She is!" Zara insisted.

"She killed my brother." Gray mumbled out.

Zara shook her head quickly. "No she didn't. It was an accident but Just Zach is fine."

Gray looked over at her quickly. "He's fine?"

Zara nodded her head again. Then paused and held up her stick arms. "Well... he's sorta fine. Maybe."

"Maybe?" Gray repeated. "What's wrong with him?"

"Claire froze his heart." Zara answered. "Accidently. And the old troll, he said only love can thaw him or else he'll turn to ice forever."

Gray's mouth fell open. "Ice?"

Zara nodded her head.

"Troll..."

She nodded again.

Gray breathed in deeply. It certainly was a wild tale. But then again, Gray was sitting in a ship that was frozen in place by his sorceress aunt and talking to a snowman. Snowgirl... whatever. He breathed out and shook his head. "So... Claire didn't... attack him then?"

"Well..." Zara tilted her head. "Not on purpose, I'm pretty sure. O and I didn't see. Just Zach wanted to talk to her alone."

"O?"

She nodded. "He lives with the trolls and talks to reindeer."

"Is he a troll, too?"

She shook her head. "No. He's a one of you."

Gray nodded slowly. Sure. That all made sense. If he didn't think about it too much.

"So we have to get you to Just Zach right away!"

"Me?"

"You love him, right?"

Gray nodded his head. "I do. He's my brother. He... he's my best friend!"

Zara grabbed Gray's hand and pulled him up. "Come on. Before Echo wanders off."

"Who's Echo?"

"One of O's reindeers."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Owen's head hung as he walked. His eyes were turned towards the ground. But he hardly saw the cobblestone road beneath his boots. Blue walked beside him closely. But they moved in silence. Owen's mind was blank. The pair made their silent way through the village. No one stopped them or gave them a second look. Not that Owen would have even realized. He just kept walking. They left the village behind and were starting up the mountain.

Until Blue had finally had enough of his sulking. The reindeer snorted loudly and rounded on him, suddenly blocked his way. Owen frowned for a moment, then slowly smiled. "Hey." He reached out to touch her muzzle but she pulled away and lowered her antlers. Owen frowned again and stepped back. "Watch it, Blue."

She advanced on him again and growled loudly. Owen tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes. "What's wrong with you? I can't understand you when you talk like that."

Blue growled again and dipped her antlers forward again. Then looked around Owen and pointed her nose back down at Jurendelle.

Owen shook his head. "No Blue! We're not going back!" He let out a sigh and shook his head. "Blue... I can't go back. That place... isn't my place. I don't belong down in the Kingdom. I... I belong up in the mountains."

Blue snorted loudly and stamped a hoof.

"No! Blue... just... no! I can't! I..." Owen stopped. He frowned and tilted his head as he looked beyond Blue. Two shapes broke through the line of snow covered trees. Owen squinted and Blue turned around beside him, watching as well. The two reindeer slowed and Owen saw the trolls on their backs. Barry was riding on Delta. Ellie was riding on Charlie. And when they stopped, Timmy and Lex popped out from behind Ellie and waved wildly.

Owen straightened up and waved awkwardly at them. "Uh... hey guys.. what are you doing here?"

"Mostly looking for Echo." Ellie said.

"Mostly." Lex repeated, smiling as she peeked around Ellie.

"Mostly?" Owen asked.

"Yes!" Barry said with a laugh. "We were also sent to be nosey."

"Yeah!" Timmy bounced up and started climbing up Charlie's antlers. "How's your boyfriend?"

Owen sighed and shook his head. "So Echo escaped?" He asked, evading the other question.

Barry nodded. "The moment you left, brother. Like the second."

Lex bounced over onto Delta's back, just behind Barry. She laughed loudly and nodded. "Yeah. We all turned around and she was just gone. We looked everywhere but she was gone."

"So... you all came looking for her?" Owen asked.

"No." Barry shook his head. "I did."

"I came to be nosey." Ellie said with a smile.

"We did, too!" Timmy and Lex said together.

"So you haven't seen Echo, huh?" Barry asked.

Owen shook his head. "I'm sure she's fine. She's around here somewhere."

"What about your boyfriend?" Lex asked.

Owen narrowed his eyes. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Is he okay?" Ellie asked softly.

Owen shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well..." Timmy pointed down towards the Kingdom. "Go back and find out."

Owen shook his head. "No, he's find. He's with his brother."

"Go and find out yourself!" Ellie said. "You can save him, too."

Owen rolled his eyes and shook his head. "He's with his brother!" He repeated. "Grandpappie said that would work."

"But true love..." Ellie started.

"We just met!" Owen snapped.

Barry rolled his eyes. "We saw the way you looked at him, brother."

"I didn't look at him!"

"We saw the way he looked at you."

Owen stopped and glanced over at Ellie. "He... he looked at me?"

She smiled and nodded her head. "He did."

Owen turned away slightly. Could the trolls really be so perceptive? As he had said a million times already, it seemed, they'd just met. "We just met..." Owen said softly.

"Sometimes that's all it takes." Ellie said with a wistful voice. "A look and you know. Love is love."

Barry suddenly stood up on Delta's back. He sprang forward and knocked Owen down on the ground. "Brother!"

"Damnit, Barry!" Owen swore.

Barry bounced slightly on Owen's chest. "It's so clear and obvious, brother. Just embrace it!"

Were they right? Owen looked. Of course he looked. He knew he did. Every chance he got, he watched the King during their adventure. But... did Zach as well? Maybe. Had Owen missed it? Or had he just chosen to miss it? Owen swallowed and laid his head back in the snow. It was cold. And his hair was wet. And cold. He shivered and thought about how cold Zach had felt against him. And idly, he wondered how warm Zach could feel against him.

A gust of colder air suddenly swept over them. Barry stood up on Owen's chest and pointed. "What's that?"

The rest turned to look and Owen finally pushed Barry off. He scrambled up and turned to look. His eyes widened. Jurendelle was completely blocked from view. A large blizzard swirled around the whole Kingdom. "Zach!" Owen gasped loudly and raced forward.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Zach leaned heavily on the door as he listened to the voices on the other side. A voice he knew and two he didn't. But he could guess the two he didn't. He'd glimpsed the two men at the coronation. Treason, mutiny, treachery, betrayal and other such words ran rampant through his head. They were just going to leave him in his room until he froze solid!

The voices stopped and Zach waited a moment. When it was all silent, he tried the knob. But it was locked. Of course it was locked. He pushed off the door and turned away from it. He took a few steps and collapsed on the floor in the middle of his room. He shivered and curled in on himself. He closed his eyes and he absently thought of Owen. The man laughing and smiling and never shutting up. Zach actually missed him and his crazy reindeer.

A few moments later, the door handle jiggled slightly. Zach blinked and looked at it. It could be someone to help him. But it just as easily could be that vile King coming back to finish him off. Zach glanced around the room. If he could just reach his bed, he could try to hide under it.

The door handle jiggled again, louder this time. Zach took a deep breath and reached out. His arms shook violently as he scraped himself along the floor. But finally, after what felt like forever, he reached the edge of his bed. He rolled under it and collapsed again.

The door eased open slowly and there was a carrot stuck in the key hole. Zara let out a soft laugh as she pulled the carrot free and stuck it back on her face. "Can't believe that worked!"

"Zara?" Zach practically chocked on her name, his voice barely audible.

Zara stepped into the room quickly and shut the door. Then she turned around and searched the room. "Just Zach?" She called out. "You in here?"

Zach held his hand out and waved from under the bed. "Here."

Zara rushed over and grabbed his arm. She pulled with all her might and managed to pulled him out. "What're ya doing under there?"

Zach pushed up slowly, trying to sit up. Zara helped and he managed to lean against the bedpost. "Hiding." He breathed out heavily. "Didn't... know... it was you..."

Zara reached up to ruffle Zach's hair. It had turned completely white. And his skin was almost just as white. "You look awful!"

Zach smiled weakly at her. "I'm not gonna make it, Zara." He said softly.

Zara frowned and shook her head. "Stop it. You'll be fine." She looked around quickly and frowned. "Just Zach... where's O?"

"I... I don't know." Zach said, dropping his gaze to the floor. "I woke up here... alone... with the voices."

"Voices? You're hearing voices?"

Zach shook his head. "No, Vic Hoskins and his men. They kidnapped me. They're trying to kill me. Owen left me."

Zara frowned and shook her head. "O wouldn't have left you!"

Zach looked away again and didn't say anything.

"He wouldn't!" Zara insisted. "He loves you."

Zach's eyes widened and he looked at Zara. "He... he can't..."

"He does."

Zach looked away again. "You heard him..." He said softly, his voice barely a whisper. "What he said to his dad and his family..."

Zara let out a sigh and shook her head. "You really don't know, do you?"

Zach didn't answer.

Zara huffed and shook her head. "Fine. No O. Let's get you to Gray."

Zach looked back at her. "Gray?"

She nodded. "I left Echo with him."

"Echo?"

Zara nodded again. "She must have snuck off. But we saved Gray! She led me right to him!"

Zach's eyes widened. "Saved Gray?"

She nodded again. "He was on a ship. He was kidnapped."

Zach leaned forward slightly and grabbed Zara's stick arm. "Zara, you have to get him away!" He said loudly. "They'll kill him!"

"Just Zach, we have to get you to him! Now!"

Zach shook his head. " Just make sure Gray is safe! Tell him... to tell the Kingdom... what the King from Fotten tried to do it him... and me... and Claire... save aunt Claire... tell Gray to go to Claire! He can convince her to come back and freeze those awful men."

"Just Zach! No!" Zara pried his fingers off and shook her head. "You're gonna come with me! You can do it!"

Zach blinked at her. The snowgirl had said it with such conviction. For a moment, he felt a flutter in his chest. "You... you really think I can?" He asked softly.

She nodded her head. "I know you can!"

Zach wasn't so convinced. But for Gray, he'd try. For Zara and Claire and the Kingdom... and Owen, he'd give it one last try. He nodded his head.

But before he could do anything, the window suddenly blasted open. A gust of snow, ice, and cold air swarm in. The whole room began to freeze. Zara darted towards the door. She pulled on the handle but it held fast. "It's frozen shut, Just Zach!"

Zach lifted his arm and pointed feebly at the open window.

Zara nodded and darted back to Zach. She tried to help him up. "Come on, Just Zach. Try hard!"

Zach gritted his teeth and pulled himself up with her help.

"That's it!" Zara cheered. "Keep moving!" Together, they slowly ambled towards the window.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's Notes: Just 2 more chapters left. 8D