"The sky's awake!" Anna said to herself as she peered up at the northern lights through the tiny barred window of the brig of the Valkyrie. The colors in the night sky made Anna think of her sister. For a moment, Anna found herself wondering what Elsa was thinking about in that moment, but somehow, she felt certain that Elsa was thinking about her.
"What did you say?" Kristoff asked.
"Oh, nothing," Anna replied.
Kristoff shrugged and returned to his current task at hand, straining against the iron bars that confined them in the hopes of discovering a weakness that would allow him and Anna to escape. Kristoff had already tried without success to remove the bars from the tiny window. Even if he had been successful, it was unlikely even Anna could have squeezed through it, let alone himself. He had then scoured the walls, floor and ceiling for any board that was slightest bit loose or rotten and might provide a means of escape, but again had found nothing. Now he desperately struggled with the solid iron gate in what he was finally beginning to realize was a futile effort. The Valkyrie's brig was so secure that Prince Anton hadn't even bothered to assign any guards to watch them.
"It's no use," Kristoff finally admitted as he sat down next to Anna, exhausted. "There's no way to break out of here."
"That's okay," Anna said, continuing to look out the window. "Elsa will save us."
"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," Kristoff said.
"What do you mean?" Anna asked. "You don't think she'll come?"
"Oh, no, I'm sure she'll come to save us," Kristoff replied. "She'll just turn Arendelle over to Prince Anton in order to do it."
"Elsa's not going to do that!" Anna insisted.
"Are you sure?" Kristoff asked. "Do you really think there's a deal Elsa wouldn't be willing to make to save you?"
Anna thought for a moment about what Kristoff said. She had never even considered the possibility that Elsa would simply give Anton everything he wanted. Now that Kristoff had mentioned the idea, however, Anna began to realize that he might be right. Anna always knew that Elsa would do anything for her, but she hadn't really thought about what that meant to their current situation. Now, the more Anna thought about it, the more she became convinced that Kristoff was probably right. Elsa would give up Arendelle to save her. Anna couldn't let that happen. She turned to Kristoff and looked him right in the eyes.
"We have to get out of here!" Anna exclaimed.
"Well, I'm not sure we can," Kristoff replied. "This ship is solidly built. I can't find any way out of this cell."
Anna sighed. She couldn't leave Elsa in a position where she would choose to surrender Arendelle to save them. She had to find a way for them to escape and get back to the palace before it was too late. But as she looked around the small cell, she found herself at a loss for ideas. There was very little to work with inside the cell, and Kristoff had already made a thorough search of it. It seemed to Anna that it should be simple. They weren't even being watched. All they had to do was get past the gate of iron bars that confined them, and they would be free. Anna focused her gaze at the lock on the gate. She stared intently at the lock, as if she believed that if she simply stared at it long enough, it would suddenly pop open on its own. Anna knew that was ridiculous, though. Locks didn't open on their own. They needed a key.
Anna's mind drifted and she was reminded of something she had read in a book a long time ago. She couldn't remember what the book was; she had read a lot of books to while away the lonely days of her youth, but over time all but the most memorable of the stories had blended together in her mind. Still, something about her current predicament recalled a plot point from a tale she had otherwise forgotten, and she suddenly had an idea about how to escape the cell.
Anna ran the fingers of her right hand through her hair and produced a hairpin from above her right ear that had been helping to keep her hair out of her eyes. She excitedly stood up and rushed over to the gate.
"What are you doing?" Kristoff asked.
"I'm going to try to pick the lock with a hairpin," Anna replied. "I read about it once in a book."
"And you know how to do it?" Kristoff asked.
"Well, no," Anna admitted. "But, maybe I can figure it out."
Kristoff replied with only a silent look of skepticism.
"Look, I know it might not work, but it can't hurt to try," Anna said. "It's better than just sitting here doing nothing."
"You're right," Kristoff said. "I hope it works. Good luck!"
As Anna started to work on the lock, Kristoff found that he had nothing to do but sit and watch her. He had a feeling that if anyone could figure out how to pick a lock with a hairpin, all on their own, it would be Anna. He loved Anna's optimism and determination. It was part of what attracted him to her in the first place. He was reminded of the night they met. It was those same qualities that had convinced him to take her up the North Mountain that night. No matter how bad things seemed, Anna always believed she could do just about anything, and Kristoff couldn't help but believe it too. And yet, Kristoff couldn't help but think that Anna didn't deserve to end up in situations where she needed her optimism and determination just to maintain hope. Kristoff felt like he had let Anna down. They had only been married for one day, and now they were prisoners in a cell. He should have been able to protect Anna, or at the very least given her a chance to get away and back to Elsa instead of being held as a hostage to be used as leverage against her sister, and now he couldn't even get her out of this cell. He just felt so useless.
Kristoff kept this all to himself. He had hope that Anna might be able to pick the lock, and he didn't want to interrupt her. He tried to watch her for as long as he could, but it had been a long day, and he was very tired. Soon, he was fighting to keep his eyes open against the seemingly ever-increasing weight of his eyelids, and eventually, despite his best efforts, Kristoff drifted off to sleep.