Hans just kept swimming. The fight between the ships got extremely violent, extremely quickly. A huge chuck of wood was blasted into the water near enough for him to swim to. It was still smoking when he climbed aboard and started making his way to shore.
Kill Anna, kill Anna... Kill Anna...
Kill Elsa?
He tired quickly. Hans gripped the board hard. It was hard to admit, but, he didn't want the queen to be dead. Sure, he'd often dreamt of it, and had an opportunity handed to him a couple dozen times but something always stopped him.
And the thought of never seeing her again bothered Hans.
Kiiiiiill...
Kill?
It was over; everything. Baragor had Arrendelle, Kristoff had Anna, Elsa was dead, and the dreaded Black Spot pirates were dealt with once and for all. Really, Hans should be rejoicing, but for some reason, all he felt was intense sadness.
His legs and arms stopped kicking as he tried to find the motivation to keep moving. In his cell, he had plenty of it. Killing the sisters, taking over Arrendelle, killing pirates- all the things he had devoted his life to. And now?
Now he just felt empty.
It was a peculiar feeling, emptiness. All his life, Hans had burned for one thing or another; power, a throne, someplace to belong, basically anything. Now that he had it all, he realized; it wasn't enough.
The death of the queen had shaken him. He owed her: for saving his life, for freeing him from his cell, for treating him like a human being. After all the grief he'd poured on her, she had still shown him compassion and decency. And now she was dead. In the past, he would have shrugged that off in his quest for power. But now, that emptiness inside he had carried his whole life... it swallowed him whole.
Hans, for the first time ever, truly hated himself.
He could hate no one else. The prince was the only enemy he really had left. Kristoff had let him live. Anna was no longer a factor. Even Baragor would think him dead.
So Hans started a new chant.
Kill Hans, kill Hans, kill Hans...
It was a simple enough goal, really. The salty mist of the ocean brought tears to his eyes. Something was happening to him. All that emptiness, pain, rage, terror-
blood, ash, smoke, death, decay...
it was burned out of him.
"Elsa," He rasped. She was dead, hopefully. If not, the pirates had her. And that was worse. They would do things to her, horrible things. And that... bothered him?
Huh.
Sure, he had tried to kill her, and yes, he was inclined to inflict suffering on others, but for some reason the vision of her being nailed down to a deck while filthy pirates-
Hans shook his head. He was going to die out here. He had no more reason to live. He stopped kicking and just floated for a moment. Rolling onto his back, the veteran sailor just watched the sky light up with a sunrise.
Beautiful.
It moved him.
Oh, he had seen sunrises before. Certainly during his military career he had seen it come up while hunting pirates. But the knowledge that today would be his last day on earth made this a very special one. It also occurred to him that he had missed the sunrise of Elsa's last day on earth. They'd both passed out.
Something beautiful had passed him by, and he hadn't even been aware of it being there. He cursed himself.
"Why...?"
Soldiers didn't ask questions, they followed orders. But that question stuck with him.
Why? Why had he been so sure that killing the sisters was a good idea? Why had he gone to Arrendelle in the first place? Why... did he want Elsa to be alive?
"Forgive..." He whispered, swearing. He wanted her forgiveness. Compassion was not enough. Respect was not enough. She saw right through him. His tough act hadn't fooled her for a moment. She saw the brokenness in him, and made him... better.
"For..." He had to give something back. Something to remember the queen... something she would have to recognize.
Anna.
"Anna..." He started kicking again, making his way back to Arrendelle. Again.
"Forgive. Elsa."
He kept kicking, praying to go back, praying that if today was his last day, he could settle his debts.
Sadly, life is rarely that simple.