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: Another 'jump' forward of a couple of years, as significant moments are taking place back in California…

AN 2: In advance, I'll be mentioning a couple of other fandoms, but there are no plans for them to become part of a more elaborate crossover; it's just to provide context for the beliefs Alejandro will express here regarding Zorro's role.

The Frozen Fox

Watching as Joachim donned the cape, suit and mask of Zorro for the first time, the more practical part of Anna wondered if there was really any actual need for this particular ceremony even as the rest of her just enjoyed how cool it was.

She was still slightly surprised that Alejandro had chosen now to retire, but he had made a convincing argument for it over the last few months. He was still in excellent shape for his age and could keep up with Joachim during their training duels, but he was well aware that he wasn't quite as fast or as capable as he had been in his prime. In a profession like this (as much as being a hero like Zorro could be called a 'profession'), Alejandro had reasoned that if you started to feel as though you couldn't keep up the pace it was a good time to stop doing it. Alejandro's horse was also going into 'retirement' while his colt became Joachim's horse, and tonight would mark Joachim's first outing as Zorro. There was nothing particularly significant about his potential targets beyond investigating rumours of plans to steal cattle from outlying farms, but it would be enough to establish that Zorro continued despite his age.

It was a significant moment in the de la Vega household, but for the most part Anna couldn't see her life changing much after these events. Her own responsibilities around the household had subtly increased as her mother had been feeling more withdrawn lately, but she had assured Anna that it was nothing she should worry about. To her credit, Iduna still did her best to keep up with her established routine of public appearances, helping out where she could around the village, but when compared to what Elena de la Vega was still capable of at her age, it was clear to Anna in particular that her mother was no longer as active as she had been.

As Joachim placed his hat on his head and stood up, he flourished his sword and looked at his parents with a smile.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"Excellent," Alejandro nodded in approval at his son. "You wear it well, my son."

"Never as well as you did, father," Anna's childhood friend said, the smile faltering as he looked solemnly at his father.

"You do not have to," Alejandro responded. "Just as I would never have been exactly the Zorro your grandfather was, you do not have to be the Zorro I have been; simply be the best you can be, and that will be enough."

"Simply by choosing to follow his legacy, you are already everything your grandfather would have ever wanted you to be," Elena said, smiling at the young man before she indicated the lair's exterior exit. "Now then, I believe you have a mission?"

"It's who we are," Joachim said, smiling at his parents before he turned to Iduna and Anna with a more solemn expression. "It has been a pleasure to have such beautiful women present for my ascension, senioritas."

"The pleasure was all ours, Zorro," Iduna grinned back at the young man before she followed Elena's example and indicated the exterior door. "Good luck."

With one last flourish of his hat, Joachim turned and leapt onto the back of his horse, the new Zorro and his black stead riding dramatically out of the cave and down the passage into the night, ready to bring justice to those who needed it. For a moment the other four simply stood in silence, looking after their son and friend as he departed to continue his family legacy, before Alejandro turned to look at Anna with a thoughtful smile.

"So," the now-former Zorro said as he looked at the young redhead, "now that my son's training is complete, would you be willing to make your own official?"

Anna was so surprised she almost fell off her seat.

"M-my training?"

"Did you think that nobody knew why you were watching those two down here?" Elena grinned at the young woman. "Zorro might be renowned for his skill in combat, but the identity did not survive this long purely because my husband is good at beating people in fights."

"You are an intelligent and passionate young woman, Anna Menzela, and we are all proud of who you have become since you started living with us, but we all know that you have the potential for more than to be another philanthropist and land-owner here."

Even as a part of Anna thought she knew what they were implying, she didn't dare to think it.

Just the idea that she could actually be considered to become a fourth-!

"But… where would I go?" she asked, trying not to explicitly say what she was thinking in case she was wrong; the last thing she wanted was to embarrass everyone else if she was wrong. "And… why would you… I mean, I'm not-"

"Not what?" Elena grinned at Anna in that affectionately teasing manner she was so used to. "Part of the de la Vega family? A man? The first is not a requirement or Alejandro here would never have been chosen as my father's successor, and as for the second, I feel that I have shown my husband what women can do enough times that he would not object."

"I would advise that you retain the traditional clothes, but that is purely for the psychological advantage it gives us," Alejandro smiled. "Even after so many years, I still have people who knew of Diego de la Vega asking how I remain so young for so long; there is something to be said for encouraging the idea of Zorro as a symbol more than a man."

"Or woman," Elena and Anna's mother put in with a grin.

"Quite," Alejandro conceded with a smile, his expression thoughtful for a moment before he turned back to Anna. "I will admit that I would not have considered this in the past, and I doubt that Diego de la Vega would have considered it either, but the world has changed since those days."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"To answer that question, I feel that you need more context," Alejandro explained, his manner becoming more solemn as he looked between the three women. "Some years ago, before the civil war, I was confronted and temporarily arrested by two Pinkerton agents."

"Pinkertons?" Iduna looked at Alejandro in surprise. "Isn't that… a detective agency of some sort?"

"Correct," Alejandro smiled at her before his expression became solemn once again. "To cut a long story short, I had been unintentionally interfering in their own investigations into my current enemy. They put me in prison with the goal of keeping me out of the way until they were done, and informed me that Zorro was a relic of the past and their methods alone would keep people safe in the future. At the time I was simply angry with them for what they had done to my life, and I ultimately proved them wrong by defeating the problem they were investigating after they were killed by that same foe, but as time has gone on, I have come to realise that they were wrong for more reasons than they knew."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked with an eager smile, always willing to hear more stories about Zorro.

"As we have discussed, the purpose of Zorro has always been to defend the people from threats that conventional forces cannot deal with themselves," Alejandro explained. "When Diego de la Vega began his campaign, he was needed because many of the rich and powerful in this country were corrupt and benefited from abusing the poor, but even as the corrupt lost their old power the general population often lacked the ability to properly face their remaining oppressors. My family and I do what we can to help improve things outside of simply fighting the worst of men, but we have come to conclude that a world that can create the likes of Zorro will always need the likes of Zorro."

"Outside of California itself, we have heard… interesting tales about events where we all feel that another like Zorro would have been able to make a difference," Elena put in, a thoughtful expression on her face as she sat back in her chair, reminding Anna of the days when the older woman would tell her stories when she was little. "In the town of Rose Creek just a few years ago, a brutal businessman sought to completely take control and force the people out so that he could mine its resources for his own ends, and was only defeated by a collection of seven exceptional men banding together to lead the townspeople against him. Some years before that, the town of Absolution is rumoured to have been attacked by what people have described as demons, and the townspeople only ended their threat through the knowledge provided by a mysterious woman and a man armed with a unique weapon."

"And you think that a Zorro could have helped those people?"

"At the very least, such threats sound like exactly the kind of thing Diego de la Vega created the identity of Zorro to assist against," Alejandro nodded in response to Anna's question. "What tales we have heard about those cases makes it clear that the men and women who dealt with those enemies would only come together for that specific instance, but the fact remains that such threats are out there. Just as Zorro began by fighting for justice for those who could not get it themselves, we must evolve our role to fight dangers that no normal force could stand against."

"Yes…" Anna said, her voice low as she considered the scale of what Alejandro was suggesting before reality set in. "But if Joachim's already-?"

"Anna," Alejandro looked at her with the calm certainty that she had always admired in him, "since the day you have learnt the family secret, you have proven that you are a brave and noble young woman. You have not only kept your knowledge of Zorro secret, but you have done your best to follow our example simply because you share our beliefs in justice. We have seen your own attempts to train yourself as you follow my lessons to Joachim, and are satisfied that you will respond well to further instruction, but while our part of the world itself is protected…"

"Our original home is not."

"Original home?" Anna looked at her mother in surprise at this new direction for the conversation.

"I have never kept it secret from you that I was not born in America, but I have never told you where I was actually from," Iduna explained, her current pale condition somehow reinforcing what she was saying as she looked at her daughter. "I was born in the land of Northuldra, but I spent much of my teens and my early adult life as a resident of the kingdom of Arendelle, close to Norway."

"Norway?" Anna repeated in shock. "You mean- we're from Europe?"

"Yes," Iduna smiled. "I actually came to America while I was pregnant with you."

"You crossed an entire ocean and- hold on, Europe's basically on the other side of the country- why would you come all that way while pregnant?"

"Because Arendelle was no longer safe."

"It wasn't?" Anna wasn't sure if she should feel eager or anxious at the new turn of this conversation as she looked at her mother. Iduna's expression was controlled, but there was an edge of pain in her eyes that made it clear that this was a difficult conversation. "Why not?"

"Because it is now the territory of the Knights of Aragorn."

"The who?" Anna's attention was swiftly turned to Elena, surprised at the other woman's sudden involvement in this conversation.

"They are an ancient brotherhood who are said to have ruled Europe in secret for centuries since the time of the Crusades," the beautiful dark-haired woman explained. "Some stories claim that they are the masters behind many of Europe's kings to this day, but we know for a fact that they came to America shortly before the Civil War."

"Why would they come here?"

"They sought to escalate the imminent conflict by providing the Southern states with advanced weaponry," Alejandro took up the story. "Apparently, based on a prophecy made almost a century ago, they believed that America would rise up against the Knights, and could only be defeated by being forced to turn on itself. The Pinkertons attempted to force Elena to help investigate an old friend who was the Knights' primary agent in their plan, which led to Zorro uncovering a plot to provide new explosives to the Confederacy for the upcoming war. We were able to destroy the Knights' forces in America at that time, but they maintain a presence in Europe."

"And in Arendelle?" Anna asked.

"Arendelle's current king is an agent of the Knights of Aragorn who is determined to bring the entire kingdom under his control, suppressing the freedoms of all who disagree with him and working to eliminate those who he regards as 'wrong' in some way," Iduna explained, taking up the explanation to her daughter. "I was aware of the king's corruption, but I had no way to oppose him myself, and when I learned that I was pregnant with you, I decided that it would be best to remove myself from his influence. A local priest was aware of how the de la Vegas had foiled the Knights' efforts in America, and helped me make plans to come here for my safety."

"You were in danger?"

"The king was aware that I did not approve of his policies and was… concerned about how I might influence those close to him to turn against his agenda in future," Iduna explained.

"Why?"

"That is… a difficult story I am not ready to share," Iduna said, a pained expression on her face that made it clear she wasn't going to answer that question, even as she gave Anna a warm smile moments later. "What matters is that the Knights of Aragorn continue to oppress the people of Arendelle in particular, which means that they need… shall we say, a suitable symbol of liberty?"

"Such as a certain black fox?" Anna grinned at her mother.

"Quite," the older woman nodded back at her. "I left Arendelle because one woman could do nothing significant enough against the power of the Knights of Aragorn, but with time and training… I believe that you will be able to do what I couldn't."

"As Zorro?"

The reassuring smile from the three adults was all the answer Anna needed.

"Obviously Joachim will still need refreshers as he adjusts to his role himself," Alejandro said as he walked to the edge of the training circle and took out a pair of swords, "but if you are ready-?"

Anna didn't even bother to answer him with words, instead walking forward to take one of the swords and hold it out in front of herself, working to mimic the style that she had seen the de la Vegas demonstrate so many times before.

Training for the sake of training had been fun on its own, but now that Anna knew that she would be protecting people, she was really going to dedicate herself to this. As soon as Alejandro de la Vega approved of her skill, she was going to Arendelle to show those 'Knights of Aragorn' just what Zorro stood for.

If they want to control Europe, it's up to Zorro to show them when the people don't want to be controlled…

If Anna had known the real reason why her mother had been so withdrawn recently, it's possible that her immediate future would have been very different. As it was, as she watched Anna throw herself into her new lessons, Iduna took great care to never let her child see what was happening to her as the months went by, helping her child make plans for a future that Iduna knew she would never see come to pass…

AN 3: To those who want to know, the incidents in Rose Creek and Absolution are references to the events of the 2016 version of The Magnificent Seven and the 2011 film Cowboys and Aliens respectively. There are no plans for characters from those films to appear here any time soon, but I felt they served as good evidence that the world requires more than conventional law enforcement to confront the kind of problems it will face when the likes of Zorro already exist.