In this moment, the world felt heavier, time felt slower, and the ache she felt in her soul, overpowered the sharp pain radiating from her ribcage.
"BENJI!" Hannah shrieked out into the night, hot tears mixing with frigid rain.
Garth, clearly weakened by the event, cursed, spearing his sword into the ground to assist his shaking legs.
Jess shook her head, clearly out of some dissociative episode, and glanced up at Hannah from the ground.
For the time being, Hannah was engulfed by shock that rendered her disconnected from the present moment.
The sight of Benji being run through had plunged her into a thick haze, where not even the pelting rain drops could be felt as they soaked her dress.
"Hannah, come on, we have to finish this," Jess begged through sobs, "I can't do this alone, if I go down, we all go down—remember!?" She shook Hannah to try and snap her out it.
"I-I ca- I don't..." Hannah shuddered, fumbling her words.
Over Jess's shoulder, Hannah caught a glimpse of deep purple eyes trudging toward them through the blackness.
"J-JESS!" She managed to spit out, pointing a trembling finger at Garth.
Jess turned sharply, as Garth took a limp swing at her. It seemed to be all he could muster now.
He took a misstep, losing his footing, and promptly fell forward onto Jess.
Gravity toppled them over face first into the slushy mud, water splashing up around them, soaking them.
Hannah winced against the cold, feeling coming back to her limbs.
"GET OFF HER!" Hannah slipped off the wagon, feeling the cracked rib smash against her.
She grabbed fist fulls of his collar and yanked him backward with every ounce of strength that remained.
Jess grunted, pushing herself up, spitting out dirty snow.
"This is why I hate winter." She muttered dryly.
Jess spun around quickly, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. Shooting forward quickly, she ripped the sword right out of Garth's hand.
His face flashed one of bewilderment, almost amusement, in his madness. As if the sight of his power being torn from him was a humorous notion.
Jess licked the rain off her lips, clutching the sword's handle with white knuckles.
As the sharpened blade tore through Garth's chest, he still had that same look on his face; one of bewilderment, and amusement.
His head fell backwards awkwardly onto Hannah's knee.
Sir Garth of Cattarri, at last, was DEAD.
Hannah stared mesmerized into his eyes. They had a fading purple tinge to them, as if they were fires being extinguished. To Hannah, they were nothing, but hollow.
The rain began to intensify as the moment of alignment drew nearer.
"JESS! HANNAH!" Worried voices echoed off the valley walls.
Hannah lifted her head to see Elsa shaping an ice walkway across the ravine, connecting the two sides, so the others could cross.
"Woah..." Anna gawked as she, Kristoff, and Elsa, arrived, taking in everything they saw before them.
"Where are the other wielders?" Jess wondered aloud, scanning the opposite side of the gorge.
"Gone, don't worry." Elsa whispered, exhaustedly, having been the one to take most of them out.
They were all frozen in place, looking at each other, feeling a wave of emotions; grief, pain, but most importantly, relief.
It was all over. No more running. No more fear. This was it. They had succeeded.
A dry cough from a few feet away caught them off guard immediately.
Benji barely opened his eyes as he groaned in pain.
"WHAT THE—?" Kristoff exclaimed.
"BENJI?!" Hannah cried, rushing over to be by his side.
"I-I thought..." Tears streamed down her face.
He placed a hand on her cheek, while the other tenderly held his stab wound. "It's alright, it's over now," His voice croaked, "The alignment is almost upon us, you must wish soon, not grieve, p-please."
"I'm sorry this happened," Hannah sobbed. Jess knelt next to Hannah, her eyes watering too.
"Don't be sorry, darlin', I'll get see my dear Caroline again, and my unborn child." He smiled, his eyes starting to roll backward.
"No... don't go..." Hannah laid her head down, his blood soaking her brow.
"Don't be afraid, wish with your whole heart, you'll get home... I-I swear it—" Benji's voice trailed off as his heart pumped its last beat.
Hannah turned abruptly into Jess's shoulder as the two cried out.
Kristoff took Elsa and Anna's hands as they shed tears of their own. They knelt behind the girls pulling them into a group hug.
"I'm very sorry for this loss, but the alignment is upon us." A grave voice spoke from behind.
"Grand Pabbie." Kristoff acknowledged.
"Now, if the girls succeed in crossing over, the rift between the universes will be healed by the wishing star's alignment with the moon," The wise troll explained.
"If I am correct, I am to believe everything in this world will reset, as it was. Which means, the damage caused by the disasters should be reversed. Everything will become as it was before Jess and Hannah arrived." Grand Pabbie said.
"That's good news," Anna exclaimed. "Arendelle and the fjords will be restored with no harm done to our lands and people."
An obnoxious chuckle sounded from behind the group. "There you guys are!"
"Oh my goodness, Olaf!" Elsa said, her eyes wide with realization.
"I wandered off into the woods when we set up our first camp, and when I found my way back, everyone was gone already." Olaf said, waddling over to Elsa and Anna.
"So what did I miss?" Olaf inquired cheerfully.
The silence that rose up as everyone surveyed the valley littered with dead bodies, blood, snow, weapons, and a ravine was quite starling to say the least.
Suddenly, the sky above exploded with an elaborate color spectrum of light. The northern lights lit the moon up as it glowed a valiant white hue.
"THE STAR HAS ALIGNED, YOU MUST WISH GIRLS!" Grand Pabbie instructed hastily.
Hannah ripped her head away from Jess, looking right into the eyes of Elsa and Anna.
It all felt too soon. She knew this moment would come crashing down on her no matter what path she took to get here, but now that it was, it was so real. There was so much she wanted to tell them still. So much of her life she wanted to share with them.
After everything they'd been through, Hannah knew the worst thing she could do to herself would be to let her heart ache over missing them. She wouldn't let herself. Elsa's words would forever stay with her: 'A part of me will always be with you, no matter what universe you reside in.'
She felt more at peace with it, and herself, than ever before.
"Will we ever see you guys again?" Hannah asked aloud, her voice cracking. Although, she knew the answer.
"I don't think so, sweetheart."
Elsa said softly, comfortingly, her sad eyes reflecting the glowing moonlight.
Hannah nodded, and found the strength within her to smile. "Thank you. Thank you for everything you are, Elsa and Anna."
"I'm gonna tell everybody back home we met you guys, even though they won't believe us." Jess snickered.
She turned to Hannah, and the two fell into an embrace.
"I think we have to wish now, or we'll all die and everything we just said won't matter mate..."
Jess whispered into Hannah's ear.
Hannah giggled through her tears. "Okay, well, here goes nothing..."
Hannah squeezed her eyes closed, blocking out the last real glimpse of her friends she would ever get.
'I wish to go home.'
HOME. It sounded so sweet to her now. The thought of her family, and friends. Her room and the lemon tree in her backyard. The smell of freshly washed sheets and the creaks of the floorboards in the hallway. Disney world and her childhood memories.
Hannah felt herself longing to go back, after all the pain she had been through, she for the first time, sought the familiarity in the midst of all the chaos.
HOME.
Hannah felt nothing physically, except perhaps a small tingling sensation on her nose. Somehow, the feeling of Jess fading away, and the easing of the rain drops, escaped her notice.
Her mind began to go foggy as she slipped away into darkness.
As she slipped away from the universe.