The armory? How in the bloody hell did I get here?
Aaron had woken up on a bench, fully clothed and surrounded by nothing but armor and shields and pikes. He didn't remember coming here after speaking to Elsa. He didn't remember going to sleep either, and he realized he didn't even know how much time had passed or what time of day it was. Had he even fallen asleep, or was that something else entirely?
Utterly confused, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. His left shoulder was tingling and he rolled up his sleeve to inspect it. There was a tiny scar there from all those years ago where Alexander had burned him. One little mark, almost unnoticeable. That was all he had been given where his mother had lost her life.
And his uncle had never touched him again after that night.
Aaron sat there for a long time reflecting deep into the recesses of his mind. All he wanted right now was to speak to his mother, his father, his sister; but they were all but lost to him. Even Elsa he had turned his back on, and now he was truly alone in this castle that was not his, in this kingdom he did not call home.
He even missed his uncle. Not the Fire Lord of Astor, but Alexander Sinclair, the man he had been before, only existing in Aaron's childhood memories like a dream that went on for years. He had been so quiet and sincere with no malice in his eyes besides that which might have been suppressed deep down inside of him. But any anger had always come second to Aaron and Sophie.
Alexander had raised the twins as if they were his own. Until that night that threw him down his current path, Aaron truly believed that he had loved them.
I've failed all of them, thought Aaron. What am I supposed to do now?
The door to the armory swung open with a clank and Aaron jumped. He expected to see Captain Holdt and just as he was preparing to explain why he was hanging out in the armory at whatever hour it must be, Kristoff appeared, dragging behind him a large cart carrying a metal box about the height of a person.
The mountain man didn't notice Aaron as he hauled the cart to a wall with a grunt. When he turned around, he yelped in surprise. "Son of a bitch, you scared me! What are you doing in here?"
Aaron had no real answer. "I, uh… was inspecting the blades for the Captain. They… look good." He made no effort to move, still slightly in a daze.
Kristoff clearly didn't believe him and did not look too pleased to see him. No doubt he spoke to Elsa. I wonder what she told him…?
"Uh huh. Well enough sneaking around, alright? One of these days I might actually slug you in the face." With that, Kristoff turned to untie the giant box from the cart, uninterested in conversation.
"You too, then?" Aaron asked with a sigh. "I don't even know why I'm here."
"As in, here here?" Kristoff asked as he untied the final rope with a grunt.
"No, nevermind. I have to go," said Aaron as he stood to leave.
Kristoff stopped what he was doing and turned around, finally giving Aaron his full attention. "Hang on fancy-pants. You want to talk, so let's talk. Sit down." Kristoff gestured to the bench and folded his arms. Aaron was slightly intimidated by the bigger man despite the fact that he could probably throw the mountain man across the room if he tried.
"I know something happened with you and Elsa. I don't know details, but I just know. Or at least Anna does. Elsa's been trying to act all business, but she's clearly upset. So am I going to have to teach you a lesson here or what?" He said it with a smile, as both men knew that a fight between them could only go one way.
Aaron plopped back down. "If Elsa is upset, it's no fault of mine. Or maybe it is, I don't know anymore. Ever since I've come here, I've been confused about everything."
"Seems to me we've got a pretty clear objective. Save Arendelle, beat your crazy uncle, live happily ever after. What's confusing you?"
"You really don't know the half of it, Kristoff. Nobody does." Kristoff simply stared at him as if waiting for him to say more. Aaron conceded. "I'm not the same person I used to be, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I've changed so much and I'm trying to do the right thing here, but for me, there doesn't seem to be a right thing. Nobody seems to want me to be here, nobody seems to want my help. And with all the pressure on me and how I feel for Elsa, it's just way too much…"
Kristoff raised an eyebrow. "So this does have to do with how you and Elsa feel for each other. I had a feeling."
Aaron could never begin to explain all the rest that came with it, so he didn't bother trying. "In part, yes. Elsa told me she loved me, and I had no idea what to do or say to that, so I just…left."
To Aaron's surprise, Kristoff burst into a hearty laughter. "You're serious? That is really not what I expected to hear. The great Aaron Sinclair, scared of a woman. Hahahaha!"
Aaron rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the advice, Baron Bjorgman." He slipped in the title simply because he knew the blonde man hated it.
Kristoff did not seem to mind. He came closer and clapped a hand on Aaron's shoulder. "No, you don't get it! Here I was thinking something really bad happened. I thought that you had been informing on us or worse. I mean, how could mister perfect cause any trouble otherwise?"
"The hell do you mean by that?"
Kristoff shrugged. "No offense, but I always thought of you as this do-no-wrong prince who had everything, who was good at everything. You're the best fighter, the best speaker, you seem to know everything and everyone. I was always jealous of you. I mean you should hear the way Anna goes on about you, you're her hero."
Aaron was quite surprised to hear that. Is that really how she sees me?
"So hearing this is kind of refreshing. It just shows me that you're only human, just like the rest of us. And you have no idea how to handle love, either." He folded his arms again. "As for Elsa, I'm not the person to ask for advice. She's always been difficult for me to figure out, even though I consider her family. Let's just say she's a lot more… complicated than Anna. I also can't say whether or not I support you two getting involved with each other with all that's going on. That's a tough situation."
Aaron silently agreed, although he felt a bit better about it now that he knew his thoughts were mirrored by Kristoff. "I blew up on her, and it wasn't fair," he said. "Either way I need to speak to her. Elsa is our only chance, and time is running out."
"Good to hear you're still with us," Kristoff said, looking noticeably relieved. "We do need you. And we want you here, despite whatever has you thinking otherwise. As for all of this stuff about you changing, I will say this: I didn't know you before you showed up on that sad little boat and warned us about the war. So to me, this Aaron is the only Aaron. Whatever you were before, I don't give a damn about. I know you worked for you uncle and I realize you probably did some pretty bad things. But it doesn't matter to me now since you're here, trying to do good, helping us. Understand?"
Aaron nodded. "Thank you, Kristoff. That means a lot." The blonde man turned back to the large metal box and began working on sliding it off of the cart. Aaron jumped in and helped and in a matter of minutes, they had lowered it to the floor. "What's in this thing, anyway?"
Kristoff patted the box proudly. "I'll show you!" He produced a large key from his trousers and took the lock off from the side of the case, swinging open the top.
Inside was the most beautiful set of armor Aaron had ever seen. It was shimmering gold in color with a faint hint of light blue that reflected off the emeralds encrusted deep in the metal. The set was simple and light, with an open faced helm that was designed more like a crown visor, a large blue gem decorating the front face. The arm and leg guards were silvery mail and the front plate was embroidered with the symbol of Arendelle, a blue flower surrounded by snowflakes. It looked to be built for maneuverability, with the absence of boots, shin plates, or gauntlets, and the only heavy plating guarded the neck and chest.
"Elsa had it made, courtesy of the trolls," Kristoff stated proudly. "It's made from a special metal only they can mine. The emeralds were Elsa's touch. They're actually made from Queensice."
Aaron marveled at the work of art, surprised Elsa had made no mention of this to him. "When Arendelle sees their Queen fighting in that, no man will be without a weapon," he said. Looking at the armor gave Aaron a renewed sense of hope. Elsa was taking this seriously and she was going to fight, with or without him. Suddenly the thought of her going into battle without him at her side was unthinkable. His mind was made up.
"We had to fit it right, so I've actually already seen her wearing it." Kristoff let out a whistle. "She sure is a beauty." He suddenly went red. "The armor, that is. It's my masterpiece."
Aaron smirked. "You should be proud. Now, I need to go find Elsa. There's a lot I need to say." He turned to leave but paused to ask one more thing.
"Kristoff, you do trust me in this war, right?"
Kristoff leaned against the metal box. "Of course I do. Now don't make me regret saying that."
Aaron found that Elsa was not in any of her usual spots. Only after some interrogation of a particularly difficult magical snowman did he find out that the Queen was at work in her father's study.
Aaron made his way through the castle hallways, a tight knot lodged solidly in his stomach. He came upon the door and realized that this was the very room he had first met the Queen of Arendelle. That only made him more anxious for some reason.
When he peeked through the open door of Agdar's study, he caught a glimpse of Elsa at the former king's old desk, scribbling away with a quill, her face scrunched in concentration. I don't know what I expected. Elsa is not the type to sit and cry over anything, let alone me.
It took him a full ten minutes to gather the courage to finally enter, playing what he would say over and over again in his head. When he finally did open the door, all that he had planned turned to mush in his head as Elsa glanced up and saw him.
"What is it, Aaron? I'm just about to head to bed for the night." Her voice was full of forced apathy.
"No… you aren't," Aaron said flatly.
Elsa put her quill down and glared at him with daggers in her eyes as if she could not believe he was telling her what to do. "Excuse me?"
"You're going to listen to me and I'm going to tell you everything. About Alexander. About me. About my mother. And when it's all over, you may think much differently about all of it, but you deserve to know it anyway. So will you listen?"
Elsa looked down for a moment as if she was thinking about it, but Aaron knew what her answer would be.
"It's about time," she finally said. She stood and came to sit on the armchair near the center of the room, crossing her legs as if this were a formal meeting. Aaron sat on the couch across from her, slowly sinking in and steeling himself, wondering where to start.
"My mother was born Alma Sung, Princess of the Salikwood, and yes, she was a Highborn," he began. "She was born with the power of life and healing, and like you, she kept her powers hidden during her childhood. Her parents feared for her safety, they feared she would be shunned as a witch. The Salikwood kingdom is in the Eastern Domain and magic is considered evil there. So my mother grew up tentative about using her powers at all. Luckily she had good control over them and she had a fairly normal life threw her childhood and teenage years."
Elsa listened intently, her deep blue eyes never leaving Aaron for a second.
"Now, where my family comes in… The Sung family was very traditional and believed in arranging marriages that would create an alliance beneficial to the kingdom. Alma's parents looked to the Sinclair family, my grandparents, who had two suitable heirs at just the right age for marriage – my father and uncle, Harold and Alexander Sinclair. Astor was a prospering kingdom at the time and would make a strong ally for the Salikwood.
"The marriage made perfect sense, and both families were agreeable to it. However, the trouble came because my grandfather, being quite fond of Alma, decided it would be a kindness to allow her to choose which of his sons she would marry. With all three of them being hormonal teenagers at the time, you can imagine how that turned out.
"It wouldn't have been so bad if both my father and Alexander hadn't fallen madly in love with Alma when she first came to visit Astor. It quickly devolved into a pissing contest between the two brothers to see who could win over their beautiful princess as a prize.
"Alexander was known to have his fire powers that he was unable to control. Because of that, he was self-conscious and scared of hurting Alma. Harold was much more confident, he was charismatic and bold and much more… normal." Aaron looked up sheepishly, realizing who he was speaking to, but Elsa seemed to take no offense to the word.
"Since I wasn't born yet, I don't know much other than that Alma eventually chose Harold, the older brother, and the matter was settled. Or it should have been.
"From every account I've heard about my parents' marriage, Alexander was surprisingly agreeable to it, and did his duty as a prince. He even played a part in their wedding, accepting that Alma had made her choice fairly and his older brother would take her hand. But he never fell out of love with Alma and he quietly bottled up a new resentment for his brother that he could never shake. One that still exists today, I suppose.
"The night my mother died, I brought her a flower that I had neglected, one from her home kingdom. I wanted her to bring it back to life. I always loved seeing her use her powers and… well it all went wrong." Aaron took a deep breath, reaching the point in the story that was the most painful for him to talk about.
"If I had just watered that god damn flower. Maybe my uncle would never have found out. He had never been able to control his fire, it was well known. People in Calidae were afraid of him even though at the time, he meant no one harm. He was a good-hearted man who was just victim to circumstance. I'm sure you can relate."
Elsa nodded. By now, she had abandoned her poise and was looking at Aaron with a gaze that made him want to go over and hug her tight.
"Alexander saw my mother use her magic. He tried to tell her it was fate and she rejected him again. Through my own arrogance and by provoking him, he accidentally burned me and then… We pushed him too far. It just kind of happened."
Elsa interjected, "You mean Alexander's murder of your mother was an accident?"
"I strongly believe it was not his intent. The man was not a murderer. But something happened. Veles' magic went haywire and it destroyed his mind when it flowed into him. He began to… burn himself, like some kind of sick punishment for what he had done. I thought he wanted to die, right there. But Alma's magic kept him alive and the magic made him insane. Fi showed up and we ran off…
"When we returned to the castle, we found that he was not the same. He was so fierce, so strict, so commanding. We didn't know what to do, we had no choice but to obey him as he became the Fire Lord, completely obliterating the control my father had over the kingdom.
"Fi and I talked and agreed that maybe deep down, somewhere in him, our uncle was still there. We thought it might be temporary. We actually thought we'd be able to get him back. So we played our part as his Panther and Swan. We bided our time. And before we knew it, we had changed ourselves.
"I looked in the mirror one day and realized I was no better than him. I am by no means blameless for how everything went in Astor. And neither is Fi. I was a brat to my uncle when he was sane and then became his minion once he went mad. It was never our intent, but it was all so gradual.
"Fi and I were learning to fight to protect people, but Alexander made us his weapons. We were his niece and nephew, we were only thirteen, not mentally equipped to handle the situation, and our father was content to cower under his brother's control. Besides, we noticed quite early on that we were special. Both of us were stronger and faster than men twice our age. We were too good at what we did to do anything else. And although we tried to keep our hearts and intentions in the right place, I'm not so sure we did so.
"I've killed men, Elsa. My first when I was sixteen. A simple no-name soldier, in single combat with a training sword. It was an accident, but I'm sure it did not look that way. I misjudged a blow, just swung too high on a counter-attack, and we weren't wearing helmets. I shattered his skull in front of the rest of the men. I was never challenged again. That was the day I truly earned my reputation.
"When we were seventeen, the royal guards staged a coup. They planned to kill both my father and uncle in their sleep, but Fi caught wind of their plans and we met them on the castle steps the night of the attempt. We were all armed. I tried to talk them down, I really did. But they were stupid enough to try to fight through us. There were ten of them in total and we slaughtered them all.
"I remember being torn apart by it when the fighting was done, but Fi talked me down. 'They would've killed our family,' she told me. 'You would feel a thousand times worse if you had just let it happen.' And I suppose she was right, but it didn't change the fact that the next morning there were ten less good men in the ranks, and the White Panther and Black Swan were to blame. I do not blame them for their fear.
"Because of us, our people suffered. Our family suffered. And now here we are. I'm not a good man, Elsa. I have this darkness inside of me that I've been fighting every single day since I was thirteen. Sometimes, I'm not sure I'm winning that fight."
Elsa blinked as she processed all she had just been told. Finally she stood and sat beside Aaron on the sofa, placing a tentative hand on his back. "Everything you've done has been for a reason, Aaron. I know that. Maybe you aren't perfect. But look where you are. Look what you're trying to do. All that matters to me is that you're trying."
Aaron couldn't even begin to explain how relieved he was to hear that she still believed in him and that she could see the good in him. "I promise to keep trying. And I'm going to make all of this right by helping you."
Elsa nodded as he met her eyes. "I have to ask, though. Why did you keep all of this from me?"
Aaron shook his head. "I guess it's complicated. Besides the fact that it's hard to speak about my mother, I just never wanted to own up to the role I played in everything that's happened to you. I didn't want to be known as the son of a Highborn. I didn't want you to think less of me. And I felt that you were better off not knowing any of it. My uncle is a lost cause. I know that you might take pity on him if you knew that he was not always this monster, and that will only hold you back. Any semblance of my uncle's humanity has been obliterated or is so far buried that he will never come back to it."
"But if Alexander went mad, will killing him do the same to me?" Elsa asked with concern. "If I go mad with all of our magic together, there is no hope for the rest of you."
"That I don't know," Aaron replied. "But I do think that Veles was to blame for what happened to my uncle. Besides, I believe that you are strong-minded enough to handle it. And you'll be prepared. Alexander was not. It's a risk we have to take either way."
Elsa paused and nodded slowly, adding a new thing to the list of her worries. She suddenly buried her face in Aaron's side, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you, Aaron. I finally feel like I truly know you. The real you. And I…" she choked on the word, not able to bring herself to say it.
Aaron put his arm around her and ran a hand through her soft hair. "I know. I love you too."
Elsa made no response besides to squeeze him a bit tighter. When she looked up at him, there was a moment when their eyes locked and it was like they were seeing each other for the first time. They leaned toward each other and kissed, a fleeting, tender moment where nothing else mattered but each other, and when they pulled away they felt as though they were floating in a sea of soft snow.
But sadness overtook them both simultaneously and reality set in. "We can't," they both said at the exact same time. A moment of relief was plain on both of their faces, and they would have laughed if they weren't both so close to crying.
"Arendelle needs us both right now," Elsa said, pulling gingerly away.
Aaron wanted nothing more than to say, To hell with Arendelle, and Astor, and everyone who's not us, let's just leave it all behind together.
Instead, he nodded.
"You told me you had some plan before," said Elsa. "What was it?"
Aaron remembered his conversation with Lorne Blackwater. "I was thinking. During the Great Freeze, it was said that the entire harbor or Arendelle was frozen solid. Do you think you could recreate that?"
Elsa nodded confidently. "I think at this point, absolutely."
Aaron smiled slyly. "Then how high do you think you could build a wall of ice?"
A/N: Split this one into two parts. Hope you enjoyed. Also WE'VE HIT 100,000 WORDS. I can't believe how large this gotten, and I really am glad to see it's still being read. Every once in a while I get a new person sending me a message giving me their thoughts, and I really do appreciate that. Happy reading!