"Elsa!" Anna called out again.
Elsa and Lars scrambled to their feet, both suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. They barely had time to compose themselves before Anna ran into view, still carrying Anton's antique helmet. Spotting her sister, Anna sprinted to her and nearly knocked Elsa over as they met in a warm hug.
"Elsa, are you alright?" Anna asked.
"I'm fine, Anna," Elsa replied.
"Good," Anna said with relief. "I love you, Elsa."
"I love you, too, Anna."
Meanwhile, Sven had nearly made it back to shore on his own when the ice had started to break up. Fortunately, he knew how to swim and was now crawling out of the water onto the beach, weighed down by his saturated fur. Kristoff saw him and ran to him.
"Sven!" Kristoff shouted. He embraced his beloved reindeer, despite the dampness of Sven's fur. "I missed you, Buddy!"
"Aw, I missed you, too, Kristoff," Kristoff replied in Sven's voice.
As a crowd of villagers, soldiers and trolls began to gather around them on the beach, Elsa and Anna broke off their embrace. Anna seemingly noticed Lars for the first time.
"Hello," Anna said to Lars, eyeing him suspiciously. "I think I remember seeing you at the wedding ball, but I don't believe we've met."
"Oh, of course, Anna," Elsa interrupted. "Allow me to introduce Sir Lars Magnusson of Weselton."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Anna said out of habit before Elsa's introduction had fully registered. When Elsa's words finally sank in, Anna reacted with surprise. "Weselton? Wait, what?"
"It's a long story, Anna," Elsa replied.
A moss-covered boulder rolled out from among the crowd and unfurled to reveal itself as a troll elder.
"Queen Elsa, it is good to see you again," said Grand Pabbie.
"Grand Pabbie," Elsa said, "I am very grateful for all your help, but I must admit I did not expect to see you here. I didn't think trolls ever interfered in human conflicts."
"Indeed, it is true that we generally do not seek out such involvement," Grand Pabbie admitted, "but when we learned that Kristoff was in trouble, we had to do something. Kristoff is family, and now that he is married to your sister, so are you."
"Thank you," Elsa said, clearly touched.
The crowd suddenly parted as Hans came forward with Anton in custody. Elsa instantly took a defensive stance, unsure of what was about to happen and unwilling to be caught off guard. Still, she stood frozen in stunned silence as Hans roughly shoved his brother to the ground at her feet, then knelt himself.
"Elsa, it's okay," Anna said in response to her sister's quizzical expression. "Hans... actually helped us."
"Your Majesty," Hans began, "my brother acted without the knowledge or approval of our kingdom. He forced me to help him, but I couldn't go along with it anymore. I'm sorry I didn't stand up to him sooner."
"Anna?" Elsa asked, unsure of how to proceed.
"I'm sure he had his own self-serving reasons," Anna said, as surprised as anyone to hear herself defending Hans, "but I don't think we could have done it without him."
As Elsa considered the situation, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud low groaning sound that drew everyone's attention, and they turned to see the source. The waves had washed onto the shore the massive body of the dragon, unconscious but still alive. Elsa worried that the dragon might wake up and resume its attack.
"When the dragon wakes, it will kill you," Anton said with a satisfied smile. "You can't stop it."
"Everyone, stay back," Elsa warned.
"Elsa, wait," Anna said. She held up the ancient helmet. "The dragon is cursed to obey whoever has this helmet. That's how Anton was able to control it."
"A curse?" Elsa muttered, remembering the night long ago when Grand Pabbie had asked if her own powers were the result of a curse. "Grand Pabbie, is there anything you can do?"
The elderly troll slowly hobbled up to the dragon. He reached out and touched the creature's scaly head. He closed his eyes as if deep in thought.
"This is powerful magic," Grand Pabbie said. "I can remove the dragon's memories, and with them every order it has ever been given, but the curse itself will remain, and anyone who wears the helmet will be able to command it."
"I understand," Elsa said. "Go ahead."
With a wave of his hand, Grand Pabbie wiped all of the commands from the dragon's memory. As the troll let go of the dragon and started walking away, it began to stir. As the others looked on nervously, Elsa remained strangely calm. Elsa was now confident enough in her powers to know she could stop the dragon if it did try to attack again, but she wasn't thinking about that. She didn't want to have to hurt the dragon again, and somehow she had a feeling she wouldn't have to.
"Anna, give me the helmet," Elsa said.
"What are you going to do?" Anton asked as Anna handed the helmet over.
"I'm going to let it go," Elsa replied.
"You can't do that!" Anton shouted angrily. "If you release it, that monster will destroy us all!"
"It's not a monster," Elsa said to Anton. "That's just all anyone like you can see in it."
As the dragon awoke and rose up to its full height, Elsa walked toward it, carrying the enchanted helmet in her hands. As she looked up at the dragon, it noticed her and looked down at her with curiosity. The dragon bent its long neck down to more closely examine her. Elsa stopped and held out the helmet, and their eyes met.
"Go in peace and be free," Elsa said to the dragon. "I release you."
Elsa knelt down and gently placed the helmet on the ground in front of the dragon. She stood and looked up at the dragon once again before backing away. The dragon watched her suspiciously until she had rejoined the others. The dragon looked down at the helmet. It simply stared blankly at the helmet for what seemed like an eternity. Then, all of a sudden, the dragon took a deep breath and released a cascade of flames down upon the helmet, reducing it to a fine ashy dust that quickly disappeared on the wind.
The dragon looked back at Elsa again as if to thank her for freeing it. Elsa smiled, knowing that the dragon's true nature was peaceful and gentle. The dragon turned toward the harbor and dove into the water with a mighty leap and began swimming. Anna took Elsa's hand and allowed her sister to pull her close as they watched the dragon swim away toward the horizon.