Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the elements taken from Frozen are obvious, and while this version of Zorro is taken mainly from Mask and Legend, I've incorporated elements of his history from other adaptations. Even the original idea for this fic was inspired by the artwork of shishyoukai on DeviantArt, although I have created my own narrative for it; the artwork only inspired the idea of a certain sister becoming Zorro.

Feedback: Always appreciated

AN: In terms of dating this story, I'll get one detail out of the way first; I've done some background research, and the dates given for Mask of Zorro and Legend of Zorro just don't match up with actual historical events (we obviously don't have any exact dates for the Frozen films beyond that photography was a new development as of Frozen II). While I will confirm that the actual plots of those films are basically unchanged, I've adjusted the dates around to better fit both real-world history and my current storyline. A more exact timeline will be established as events unfold, but for now, all you need to know is that it's the early 1870s, as we open in a very particular mansion in California.

The Frozen Fox

For the first few years of her life in America, the girl who grew up as Anna Menzela had never been too concerned about the ways in which she stood out from the people around her.

She was aware that her mother in particular was far less tanned than the rest of her close friends in California, and she had never seen anyone with hair like hers, but Anna had never felt as though she didn't fit into her home country. Her mother had always been close to the de la Vegas as long as Anna could remember, and while the two of them only lived in the other family's guest house it was a rare day when she didn't end up playing with their son Joachim while her mother met and worked with Joachim's parents. The de la Vegas' only child was at least twice Anna's age at the moment, but she and Joachim always enjoyed playing together, even after Joachim became old enough that the rest of his classmates dismissed Anna as a 'little kid' when they went into town, either just the two of them or with their families. Alejandro and Elena de la Vega were as close to Anna as her own mother, and had never made her feel like an unwanted tag-along but always been happy to offer her help or support if for some reason Anna's mother wasn't available.

The only question Anna had about her life was what had happened to her father. She appreciated that there had to be a reason why her mother never discussed her life before she had arrived in California before Anna was born, but it was hard to grow up knowing that she was missing something so fundamental to the life of everyone else around her. Don de la Vega was always good to her, and the monks in the town were friendly enough when Anna came to assist her mother in their various charity work, but from what her mother had told her she had never called any of them 'Dada' or something similar even when she was little. By the time she was old enough to ask questions, Anna understood that her mother wasn't ready to answer any she might have about her father, and had accepted that she'd just have to wait until her mother decided to tell her on her own.

Putting aside Anna's personal curiosity about her past, she was generally content with her life. Some people in the town questioned the relationship between Anna, her mother, and the de la Vegas, but Anna had never understood what the problem was; her mother was a friend of the family who had been given a place to stay when she first came to California, and everyone had liked the arrangement so much that nobody had ever bothered to try and move somewhere else. Anna had overheard a couple of people refer to her mother as Don Alejandro's 'mistress' when they were all out in town, but every time one of the adults heard it they had made it clear that Anna's mother was a close friend of the family but that was all there was to the relationship. Any time Anna had asked what the term meant, she had been assured that it was just people not understanding their families' friendship, and been advised to leave the matter alone.

Getting past her personal life, Anna had always enjoyed living in America as far as she could remember. She had vague memories of her skin itching in the hot sun when she was little, but it hadn't taken long for her to adjust to that and now she just enjoyed playing in the sun. Her mother still preferred staying in the shade when it was possible to do so, which gave her a strangely pale look compared to everyone else, but the de la Vegas just commented that it reinforced just how good her mother was when everything around her could be so troubled, as though her pale skin reflected her own purity.

The comment about how the city was troubled had surprised Anna when the topic first came up. The little girl understood on an academic level that there had been a war in America only a few years ago, but as far as she could tell it hadn't impacted this part of California that much. True, there was the occasional dramatic dispute, but such problems had always been solved by the mysterious Zorro, and the de la Vegas were well-known among the area for doing their best to help with more conventional problems.

When Anna had spoken with her hosts about America's civil war, the de la Vegas had always made it clear when talking about that time that they'd opposed slavery even before the war ended the whole idea, and even now Don Alejandro did his best to provide support for former slaves in the territories he controlled. His wife Elena often worked with Anna's mother to find former slaves paid positions in the town, and had even set some of them up on farms or other new businesses depending on their interests. Her mother didn't have much money of her own, but she did her best to contribute to Elena's own plans, whether by helping her find new land and resources or just providing a friendly face to talk to. As far as Anna could remember, her mother had always seemed to be good at quickly picking up languages, and while Anna didn't have the same skill, she had picked up enough over the years to at least understand her mother even if she couldn't always imitate the words. She was old enough to recognise that she didn't have much of an impact on what her mother and their friends did with their money, but she enjoyed the chance to help out when she could, whether it was accompanying her mother on her charity outings to helping families establish themselves on their new homes by carrying tools or planting a few crops.

When faced with everything her mother and her friends did for the people, the only thing Anna disliked about all the time they spent helping others was that she didn't know what to do about her future. She had faith that the de la Vegas wouldn't kick her or her mother out if she couldn't find something she wanted to do, but she didn't want to just be some freeloader living on the generosity of others; she wanted to feel like she was actually making a difference in the world. She knew that this was probably just her thinking too far ahead compared to most children her age, but when she had three such incredible people to look up to, surely it was only natural to be worried about her own future?

The day that would shape the course of Anna's future began like any other day, when she was eight years old. Joachim was off with Anna's mother on a trip into town, and the de la Vega adults were working on assorted paperwork, which left Anna to explore the mansion on her own. The de la Vegas didn't keep many servants and they trusted Anna to be careful when playing on their property, so Anna did her best to keep her usual enthusiasm under control while she ran around the mansion, always going back to make sure she hadn't knocked something over or left any furniture out of place (Elena de la Vega wasn't a picky housekeeper but she liked things to be a certain way).

After spending time wandering around the upper levels, Anna had gone down to the living area, only to jump back in shock at the sight of a large hole in the room where the fireplace should have been. She was just in time to escape being seen by Don Alejandro as he walked out of the fireplace, adjusting his shirt-cuffs and with a sense of dampness about his body as though he'd just been sweating a lot. Anna hid behind a corner as Don Alejandro pressed something on the right side of the fireplace, and then walked off up the stairs as the fire slid back into place and the door at the back closed.

Once she was sure that the Don hadn't seen her, Anna ran for the fireplace herself, quickly running her hands over the right-hand column until she felt something give under her fingers. Not stopping to think about what she might find, Anna walked briskly down the stairs on the other side, but was left staring in awe when the staircase opened up to reveal what was underneath.

At the bottom of the staircase was a large chamber, with rough rocky walls around a smooth floor with various dark circles on it, as well as various small lanterns hanging from the ceiling. To the right of the staircase was what looked like a dining area on a raised wooden platform, a small table and a pair of chairs standing in the middle of the platform along with a set of bookshelves at the back. There was a small ladder at the end of this platform that led to a strange complex formation of ropes tangled together in a corner of the cave, and a couple of passages on the other side seemed to be full of water. Anna was briefly distracted at the question of what those flooded tunnels were for, but when she saw the distinctive black horse in the small stable at the edge of the cave, Anna realised the full implications of her current location.

Like many people, she had only briefly glimpsed that particular horse on those rare occasions when its rider went out in daylight rather than his usual stealth missions, but the black horse with its silver saddle and riding-gear was such a distinctive presence that it was hard to imagine anyone else going to the trouble of 'dressing up' a horse like that, particularly not one that was kept in a secret stable on a property Anna had known all her life.

No way… she thought, frozen in incredulous awe as she looked at the distinctive black horse on the other side of this underground cave. It's impossible… that can't be…

"Anna Menzela?" a familiar voice asked, prompting Anna to turn around and smile apologetically at the stern-faced woman standing further up the staircase.

"S-Senora Elena?" Anna said, taking care to keep her tone suitably cowed as she looked at the older woman. "I-I was just… I was playing around and… and then Don Alejandro walked out of the fireplace-"

The horse let out a neigh and Anna couldn't stop herself asking the question she'd been trying to convince herself not to voice directly.

"Is that Tornado?"

"…The second Tornado, but yes," Elena said, smiling briefly at the girl. "His colt is being trained elsewhere for Joachim."

"Then…?" Anna looked at Elena, no longer bothering to hide her growing grin. "Don Alejandro is…?"

"Yes," Elena nodded with a warmer smile. "My husband is Zorro, and our son is being trained to take his place once the time comes when Alejandro must retire."

Anna had to press her hands to her mouth to hold back a joyful squeal.

Like most Californians in this area, she had always admired what Zorro had done for the people over the years, but at best she had only ever seen him from a distance when he was riding away from his latest triumph; the idea that she had basically been living in his house all her life…

Anna still couldn't verbally define what she wanted to do when she grew up, but in that moment, without even consciously acknowledging it herself, she had found the goal that she would commit to for the rest of her life.