Anna knelt at the sun-filled center of the temple and placed her hands just inside of the circle. Then she raised her face to the sun and Ahtohallan lovingly caressed her cheeks. She felt invigorated by the cool shadow tickling her back while the sun warmed her face.

As she leaned into Ahtohallan's love, a tranquil smile fell across her lips as just a slight reflection of light from the concrete floor graced her cheeks and warmth enveloped her outstretched hands. She bowed her head, cradled in the familiarity of her mother's sun scarf, low to the ground, and softly chanted the prayer her mother taught her. It was so long ago, but she'd never forget it. She asked Ahtohallan to show her what she couldn't see in her own heart, and Ahtohallan answered her prayer by filling her heart with light that would guide her to the next right thing. Though they did not tell her what that was, she could already feel how close she was to the answer.

Then a man's hand caught hers, and she squeezed her eyes tighter in panic. Her heart pounded as she rationalized what was happening. The hand felt rough but gentle, and familiar, as though it had held hers like this before. He didn't squeeze her hand, but simply let hers sit on top of his. She didn't need to see him to know who now knew her biggest secret, but she slowly peeled her eyes open to make the moment last a little longer.

"Kristoff?" She had already known that it was his hand, but she was still pleasantly surprised to see his face. She tried to take in every detail.

His hair dripped and clung to the side of his face and he smelled like rain and sweat and something sweet. She could see Ahtohallan's love in his smile, and their reflection in his bright eyes, eyes which were filled with quiet fervor. He was made more remarkable now lit up by a couple of rays of light coming through the dome. Despite the constant dry sunlight beaming on the center of the temple through the open dome, the rain came down harder than before, encasing them in a waterfall. It felt like they were the only two people on the planet. Nothing outside of the temple mattered anymore, not Anna's closet, not her boxes.

Anna didn't have to lie to Kristoff anymore, and she wouldn't have to tell him either because he already knew. She didn't have to pretend with Kristoff, and she didn't have to hide from him. She could finally, for the first time in forever, actually be herself. With Kristoff, she was free.

But then her relief faded to confusion and betrayal.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in Arendellian.

"So, this is where you pray to Ahtohallan?"

"What are you doing here, Kristoff? Did you follow me?"

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this place," he said with an elfin grin. She refused to be charmed by him now, though she struggled with it.

"Kristoff! Answer the question." She stamped her foot and crossed her arms.

"I…um…um…"

Then he said something to her in Northuldran, but all she could understand was "Ahtohallan… to you."

Anna sat on one of the stone benches and slumped in annoyance. After everything, he needed to embarrass her, too? "I already told you! I don't speak Northuldran!" she said as a rush of blood filled her cheeks. Then she sat down and covered her face. It was so much worse now that he actually knew she was Northuldran.

"I saw that you headed home so quickly," he said in Coronan as he sat next to her. He gently pulled her hands away from her face, and held them between his thumbs and forefingers, rubbing small circles on her palms. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

He said it so tenderly that Anna finally looked at him. She was embarrassed by the depth of feeling in his eyes and she had to look away when she saw that Ahtohallan kissed them gold. She tugged her hands away and crossed her arms as she moved farther down the bench.

"So, you're Northuldran?" Kristoff asked in Arendellian.

"My mom is. Was ."

"Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry." Kristoff moved closer to comfort her but she flinched and turned from him just slightly more. She wanted to see all of the detail Ahtohallan added to his eyes since she last saw them, but the guilt she felt in complaining about the mother she lost, knowing he lost his whole family, overpowered her attraction for him.

"Could you please not tell anyone you saw me here?"

"Are you ashamed?"

"Wait, what? No! Of course not!" She turned back towards him in incredulity, raising her chin to finally meet his eyes. "I'm proud to be Northuldran."

Anna was ashamed of so many things, but not this, and she didn't need to hide from Kristoff of all people. In fact, it was one of the most important things she'd ever said to him. And it felt right that he finally knew. The way Kristoff's eyes flickered when she told him stirred something in her, a warm feeling in her belly like she'd never felt before, followed by chills of pleasure pulsing through her fingers, and other places. It was a strong enough feeling to overtake the guilt from a few moments ago. She wanted Kristoff's hands back to see how much more her fingers would pulsate when they came in contact with his skin.

"Why keep it a secret, then?"

Anna hesitated to speak, but Ahtohallan whispered in her ear that it was ok to surrender to Kristoff. She already knew that, but it didn't make it any less scary, and she was careful how much she gave away. It wasn't that she couldn't trust him, exactly, but she was worried about her boxes falling.

"My dad told me never to speak Northuldran, never to talk about our lives in the Northern Mountains, never to let anyone know I was Northuldran in case the trouble in Arendelle ever bled south. At least no one would be able to come after me and Alex here."

She stood with her back to Kristoff and covered her face again so she could share her burden of shame over something small, and maybe Kristoff would make it better. "Alex doesn't even know he's Northuldran…"

Kristoff reached from behind her to hold her hands. Then he tickled her neck with his breath, alternating between warmth and sharp cold, and he was so close that she could hear his skin rub against the fabric of her scarf. "Anna," he whispered into her ear, "you can trust me never to betray you."

Anna almost forgot about her shame when Kristoff spoke again. "Alex is lucky to have such a fierce big sister that will do anything to keep him safe." Then he lifted one of her hands to spin her so she was facing him again.

"You really are Northuldran," he said with a wink.

Her face softened into an affectionate smile. He made her shame over Alex disappear, and she completely forgot that she had even been upset with him.

Then he held onto the ends of her scarf that were still knotted together under her chin, and rubbed his fingers back and forth to feel the embroidery and admire the fabric.

"B'you'teeful," he said in his heavily accented Coronan, and her smile grew. She didn't mind the way Kristoff said that at all. "It was your mom's?"

She nodded and a couple of tears streamed down her cheeks. Her mom's box was teetering precariously on the edge of the shelf and she wasn't quite ready to open it yet, though it felt like it would be easier if Kristoff helped her. It just wasn't the right time.

Kristoff looked confused, and then apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's fine. It's just been a really emotional day, I guess." Kristoff rubbed his thumbs along her cheekbones to dry the tears.

"It's ok to cry, you know, if you need to. You don't need to hold back from me. I don't want you to hide from me anymore."

Kristoff being there, as though he was the answer to her prayers, was too good to be true. Kristoff, himself, was too good to be true. Even if she hadn't done what she did with Hans, she still wasn't good enough for him.

Even so, she so easily slid into his hug and let his hands circle her back. He was so much thinner than she thought he'd be, but her head fit just perfectly in the divet of his chest like she imagined it would. His heartbeat was a lot faster than she expected, but it slowed down after a while. Then he rested his face on top of her head, and it felt like every single part of her was under his protection. There wasn't anywhere safer than in this temple with Kristoff.

She fell into a quiet trance, lulled by the feel of Kristoff's breath on her hair and the slight sway that made it easier to hold on to each other.

"Anna," Kristoff asked after a while, "Why did you speak to me in Northuldran when you didn't have to? When it's such a big secret?"

Suddenly Anna remembered about Hans and realized how wrong it was for her to be there with Kristoff like that and pulled away from him.

"Wait, Anna…Anna, I'm sorry," he said in Northuldran.

"I'm so sorry, Kristoff. I can't do this right now." She was overcome by guilt and she couldn't bear for Kristoff to see her that way.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. You don't have to tell me anything. I shouldn't have even asked. I'll take it back! Wait!"

Anna paused when she got to the pillars and cringed when she looked back at Kristoff's face, twisted with confusion and guilt. She couldn't leave Kristoff like that, thinking he did something wrong. She shouldn't have told him, but he needed to know, and he needed to know that she wasn't leaving because of him, so she told him.

"Because you needed me to." She lifted her eyes to him so demurely, afraid that she'd be drawn back into their hidden world, but she was unable to leave without seeing the expression on his face as she revealed what her true feelings had been from the very beginning. She didn't even know until that moment how long she'd felt this way, or how strong her feelings were, and she was so grateful to Ahtohallan for helping her see the truth.

Kristoff's jaw dropped and Anna turned to run away from him. If she hadn't left when she did, she might not have, and she really couldn't stay.

Anna turned around when he apologized, and several tears had already fallen against her freckled pillows. Then she gave Kristoff the answer he needed, "Because… you needed me to," and sobbed loudly before sprinting away from him.

He walked up to the pillars and watched Anna run away. She was still wearing her sun scarf and he called out to her to remind her, but she wouldn't stop. Then he rubbed his chin and laced his fingers over his hat, letting out a deep breath.

"Because you needed me to."

He'd never forget those words.

He kept forgetting about Hans, though. It was hard to remember when every conversation with Anna, every look, every expression felt so intimate. It was hard to remember anyone else was there when she brought a little piece of home to him every time she looked at him.

Kristoff turned back to the circle of sun in the center of the temple and sat on his heels so he could lean forward like Anna had. He began with the prayer for thanks, but he didn't make it all the way through because he couldn't hold back the tears. He cried for gratitude that Ahtohallan chose Anna for him, of all people, the most wonderful, warm, and caring person he had ever met, but mostly because Anna felt the same.

"Because you needed me to."

She might as well have said, "Because I love you."

It made him feel special and loved. But the more he thought about it, the more it started to bother him. She gave up her secret identity just so she could help him. She jeopardized her relationship with Hans (as far as Kristoff was concerned that was only a good thing, but it mattered to her), went against a promise to her father, and sacrificed her own safety just so she could help him. He didn't want to have the kind of relationship where Anna was always doing nice things for him at her own expense. He wanted to protect and cherish her, and he didn't want her to lose herself to him.

Anna looked back every once in a while to make sure Kristoff wasn't following her as she ran away from the temple. She didn't want to run away from him like that, but this didn't have anything to do with him. This was something she needed to do for herself, whether Kristoff was there or not. It wasn't because of him, but if it weren't for him, it might have taken a little longer and hurt a lot more.

By the time she got to Hans' house, she was bawling. She collapsed in front of some bushes and waited for the catharsis to come. Then she realized she was still wearing her sun scarf. She only just barely fit it into her bag when Hans' mother Gothel opened the front door.

"Oh, there, dear! What's wrong? Come in, come in! I've just finished making some special tea to relax the nerves. My own creation, haha!" Gothel thought everything she did was spectacular and a work of art. In truth, Anna got sick any time she ate or drank something Gothel made. She would have thought she was trying to poison her except that Hans and the rest of his family seemed to be ok.

"I need to talk to Hans!" Anna didn't like the way Gothel was touching her. She didn't mean anything by it, but it was just uncomfortable. Gothel's hands were long and skinny, and so cold. It was like ice cubes on the back of her neck and arm, and she was already shivering from the rain.

Then Gothel tried to peer inside her bag, so Anna grasped it tighter, hoping she didn't see anything. Not that she'd even know what a sun scarf was. But she didn't trust her.

"Hey, baby!" Hans said and kissed her cheek, excited for the surprise visit. Then his tone changed when he realized how upset she was. "Oh, it's ok. What's wrong?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Can we go to your room?"

Anna felt so much worse when he held her like that, but she let his hug swallow her because it didn't feel right to hug him back now. She didn't deserve his soft words. His quiet strength and soothing voice meant to pacify her only prolonged her exhaustion from justifying their relationship to herself. She loved him once, in a way, and maybe she still did a little, despite his bulging box.

The truth was that he couldn't have really loved her anyway, not all of her, not the real her, not the part Kristoff knew. Hans had never really known her, because she could never tell him who she really was. She couldn't even tell the guy she slept with the truth. She might have thought that upsetting on its own, but sleeping with Hans wasn't actually the most intimate thing she had done with a guy in the past week. The most intimate thing she had done was pray to Ahtohallan in front of another person. And she'd done that with Kristoff, not Hans. Her mind and body were filled with Kristoff. And as close as Hans had been to her physically, it wasn't nearly as close as Kristoff had been without even touching her. She felt like she had cheated on Hans all over again.

Guilt threatened to rip her from the inside. And the chasm grew even more vast when she pretended it wasn't Hans' arms around her at all. And it hurt even worse when she realized that Hans was still there. She did cheat on him, and in the cruelest way. She cheated on him with her heart. And she'd have to live with that shame for the rest of her life.

But there was one thing she could do about the guilt right now. The pain would linger a little longer, but it would be better than doing nothing.

"Hans, I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry, but I have to break up with you." Anna's face burned in shame and she couldn't look in Hans' eyes. It would have been like looking in the mirror, seeing herself for the ugly monster she really was.

"What?" Anna forced herself to look at him and she could feel their shared vision tunnel as his reality skewed. He thought they'd grown closer and he had no idea this was coming.

"I'm sorry, Hans. I just… it doesn't feel right."

"I don't understand. Are you gay?"

"No…"

"Then what? What did I do?"

"I don't know! You didn't do anything. It just didn't feel right to me. And I'm so, so sorry." She wished she could hold his cheeks and kiss away his frown, like she'd done for him so many times before, but not this time.

"But you… you said you liked it. You liked it, right?"

"Hans, it just didn't feel right. I don't know how else to describe it."

"But you said you wanted it!"

"I did, Hans, I did. It's not that. It's… everything."

"Is it him ?"

"Him?"

"Don't play fucking stupid with me, Anna. You know who I'm talking about."

Anna sighed and told him the real truth about why she was breaking up with him. "Something hasn't felt right between us for a long time. Since before Kristoff-er came here. And I thought I could fix it by sleeping with you. I wanted to fix it. I wanted to fix it so badly, but I just couldn't."

Hans dried his tears on his sleeve and started laughing.

"Oh, Anna. Did you think I actually loved you?"

"What?"

"I only ever wanted you for sex. I was actually about to break up with you cause I didn't think it would ever happen. But then we had sex so I didn't."

Anna couldn't believe she was hearing this. It had to be something he was just saying because he was hurt. He didn't really mean it. But it made her huge mistake feel like a monumental mistake.

She felt her feelings about to explode, so she started a new box for the greatest mistake of her life and quickly separated everything about sex into its own box so it could fit neatly in her closet, along with Hans' regular box, and forgot about them. She shut the door to her closet, grabbed her bag, and ran out of Hans' room.

Gothel lurked in the hallway, and she stirred as soon as Anna opened the door, pretending she wasn't listening. Her sharp features, large round eyes and forehead, tiny chin, and mess of long, curly grayish-brown hair created a cartoonish but sinister profile.

"Oh, Anna, going so soon?" she asked in mock sympathy.

Anna sobbed a little instead of answering and tried to push past her to the door.

"I always knew you weren't good enough for my son. And Mother always knows best. Bye-bye, dear!" she said cheerily as she swept Anna out of the house and slammed the door on her.

She ran home and laid down on her bed, hugging her mom's sun scarf to her chest, until Alex shook her awake. The day had been long and bleak, like rain on pavement, except for the temple lit up with Ahtohallan's love, and Kristoff's heart against her cheek. And now it had grown dark outside, except for the moon, which cast a soft glow on the mirror where the sun had pointed her to her mother's scarf earlier that day.

Anna stuffed the scarf under the covers and walked to the kitchen to say 'hi' to her father.

"Princess, what's wrong?"

Anna broke down in tears for the fourth time that day and easily fell into her father's arms.

"There, there. It's gonna be ok. I've got you. What happened?"

"I broke up with Hans!"

Her father paused before responding, trying unsuccessfully to hide his relief from her.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I know you really liked him." He brushed her braids behind her shoulders and adjusted his hands on her back.

Anna looked at Alex, who quickly hid his smile, too.

"I know it's for the best, but it still hurts," she said into her father's chest.

Agnarr hugged her even tighter until Anna had no choice but to feel loved. He'd probably feel ashamed of her if he knew what she did with Hans, so she squeezed him tighter, too, hoping he'd never find out.

Then Alex hugged her from behind and tickled her, then Agnarr tickled Alex and Alex and Anna both tickled Agnarr. All three ended up on their backs, laughing until it hurt. Anna was left with relief that she'd finally done the right thing. It hurt, but she didn't feel ashamed of it.

Anna caught a bit of a cold from being out in the rain so much - a runny nose, sneezes, and a sore throat to prove it - but the real reason she stayed home from school the next day was because she didn't want to see Hans and Kristoff in gym class. She wouldn't have been able to stop smiling and looking at Kristoff, and Hans would have noticed, and something bad would have happened.

Anna felt a little guilty that Agnarr stayed home with her that day, but he told her there were some things he needed to get done around the house anyway, things he'd been neglecting, and it gave him a good excuse to finally take care of them. Anna tried to help but he insisted that she stay in bed and relax, except when they ate chocolate ice cream for lunch and watched Midsommar. Anna didn't think her red-headed ex-boyfriend deserved to burn in a bear suit until she opened the 'Sex with Hans Box' and remembered how much he made her insides burn and how he never loved her, and then she allowed herself to indulge the fantasy.

Except when she was sneezing or blowing her nose, Anna spent the rest of the afternoon having guilt-free dreams about Kristoff and the Northuldran temple until she was awakened by a loud knock on the front door. She panicked. What if it was Hans? Now she was so grateful her father stayed home with her.

Her bedroom was located at the front of the house, and her door opened to the right side of the foyer and across from the kitchen. So if she walked over to the door she could hear the whole conversation. It was muffled, but she knew who it was. She moved a little closer, trying to see him through the tiny crack between the closed door and the door frame.

"Hi, Agnarr, um, is Anna here?" he asked in Arendellian.

Anna gasped and put her back to the wall, as if to hide. She caught a glimpse of herself in the dresser mirror, and she looked even worse than usual. She considered changing out of her pajamas and brushing her hair, which was completely knotted since she hadn't washed or brushed it since the rain, and fell asleep on it after taking out her braids while it was still wet… and just hadn't bothered to do anything to make it better. She also wasn't wearing a bra, and there was an ice cream stain on her shirt, and she hadn't even brushed her teeth since the previous morning…

"Anna's not feeling well."

"Yeah, Rapunzel told me. Can I see her, though?"

She didn't have to see her father to know that he had just folded his arms in annoyance at Kristoff's audacity. But she also knew he was probably pleased that Kristoff made such a gesture, and didn't back down from it, especially when Hans hadn't ever done anything like it.

"I'll ask if she feels up to it. Take a seat."

He politely knocked on her door, and Anna quickly dove under the covers. "Anna? Can I come in?"

"Yes, Papa."

"So, Christopher has come by to see you since you're not feeling well. Are you up to it? Or should I tell him to go home?"

She held the sheet up to her chin and shook her head. While she never wanted anyone to think she went to any extra effort, she couldn't bear the thought of Kristoff seeing her at her worst, having done way below the threshold of acceptable. As soon as Agnarr shut the door, the guilt set in. Kristoff came all that way to see her and she wouldn't let him. And she didn't deserve that kind of attention from anyone, especially him. But her curiosity stopped the spiral of shame and guilt long enough so she could slowly turn the handle to crack the door and listen to their conversation better.

"So how's school going?"

"Ok. It's hard keeping up, but I'm doing my best."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Anna covered her mouth to giggle. She was getting pretty good at understanding his accent in Arendellian and Coronan, and she hardly had to ask him to repeat himself anymore. She could understand him from the other side of the wall, but her father was sitting across the table from him and couldn't understand!

"It's hard, but I'm doing my best," he repeated slowly so Agnarr could hear every syllable.

"It's all about the effort in my book! Just keep at it, and you'll get there. Then again, if I had to speak in Coronan all day, I'm not sure I'd be able to do it. I rely on Anna too much sometimes."

Anna frowned a little. She had no idea how difficult Coronan still was for him after all these years.

"I'm sure Anna is happy to help."

"She's a good girl." Anna felt a fever coming on now, and she wished he hadn't said that to Kristoff, who didn't have anything to say, which made it so much worse… Anna blacked out for a second and touched the door in an effort to ground herself, and it creaked just a little. Her dad didn't seem to notice, which mean Kristoff probably didn't notice either.

"And how's Oaken? Do you like living with him?"

"Oh, he's well. He's a good host. It's nice to be around family again."

"Good, say 'hi' for me, will you?"

"Of course."

"So, what did you bring my daughter?"

Anna stood straighter, though her stomach sank. Kristoff brought her something?

"I was told you bring soup and flowers and tissues when someone is sick." Then a bag rustled.

"Oh, well that's very thoughtful of you! I'll make sure Anna gets these."

He brought her flowers? She felt so uncomfortable. She was faking being sick, really, and it was one thing for her dad to go along with it, but it was another thing to have duped Kristoff into bringing her flowers!

Her bedroom door was still open enough for her to make out Kristoff's entire head as he walked towards the front door. He had shaved since yesterday, but she preferred him a little scruffy so she could feel it against her skin, like she had when he kissed her hand, but this way she could see more of him.

She let out an audible sigh and covered her mouth with her hand. Kristoff turned his head towards her and winked!

Her dad was right there, and he winked at her! Anna ran back to bed because she knew there was going to be a talk about this and she didn't want to make it worse.

As predicted, her father called her to the kitchen. Maybe he didn't notice?

"Yes, Papa?"

"Christopher brought you some gifts to make you feel better." Anna blushed as her father lifted his eyes just slightly. He was holding back a smile, which piqued Anna's curiosity.

"Some soup…"

Anna's eyes widened as she took in the can of chicken noodle soup, which Kristoff must have taken from Oaken's pantry. The label was almost peeling off and it had a neon yellow sale sticker advertising 50% off. Anna swooned just as she had when Kristoff twirled her at the dance. He hadn't spent any money on his gifts, which meant she could actually enjoy them. This was more gesture than gift and it endeared him even more to Anna. She couldn't wait to see what else he brought.

Then her father lifted a roll of toilet paper from the bag. "I think the word for tissues and toilet paper must be the same in Northuldran," Agnarr said with a smile.

Anna's smile grew as she leaned over the counter to inspect the roll, which was ruffled on the edges and one of the plies had come unattached, though the other was still intact. Agnarr chuckled and reached into the bag for the last gift.

"And flowers," he said, as he gathered a small bunch of yellow flowers that Kristoff must have picked from the grassy area in the center of town. Anna held them close to her chest, and enjoyed the feeling of Kristoff pampering her for a moment.

Then she raced to the cupboard to get a bowl, poured the soup in and microwaved it before her father had a chance to say another word.

"I guess you're feeling better now?" he finally spoke. "You're going to school tomorrow then?"

Anna didn't want to see Hans, but she wanted to see Kristoff more. "Yes, Papa."

Anna took one more look at the flowers before she sandwiched them between the pages of her Coronan literature textbook that night. She picked the page with a painting that reminded her of the temple. Then she fell into a peaceful sleep, hugging the toilet paper roll close to her chest.