The Sea Cave

(A/N: Only this chapter and one more left before the end of this story. I'm really not happy with this chapter either... Didn't have a lot of time to edit it, internet is being buggy, but hopefully I did a fair job. This marks the last conflict and challenge in this story, and takes a large step towards repair and forgiveness between Hans and Anna. Enjoy.)

Hans leaned against the railing of a balcony. With him were Harald, Carl, and Kristoff. Edvard was otherwise preoccupied with Elsa, busy battling it out with Iscawin for her time. "Why did you do it?" Harald soon asked. After Hans had told them what had happened, and of sending for Edvard, there had been silence a long moment.

"Because he means something to her, and she means something to him, and just... I don't know... It seemed like the honorable thing to do, to back off," Hans answered. "I mean, it wasn't like I was going to be her choice anyway. I could have taken the opportunity to further the interests of the Southern Isles, but I didn't and it's done and that's all there is to say."

"But you do mean something to her," Kristoff said.

"Maybe... But that something isn't the same as what Edvard means to her," Hans answered. Kristoff was quiet. He was actually of the opinion it was more, but it was probably best not to say that now. After all, he couldn't be certain and who was to say Hans would even want to hear that? It might not even be love anyway, just... It was there. It was something. It was... greater, maybe? He didn't know how to describe it.

"You are so quick to believe she could never love you... And so quick to tell yourself you could never love her," Carl murmured, half to himself and half to Hans.

"You heard the stories. You know what happened between us," Hans said. "Why would she ever love a man like that? She may forgive me for all I did to her, but for what I did to Anna? Her sister is the most important thing in her life, and even if there was love, for Anna's sake she would bury it away. She will never love anyone more than she loves her family."

"And should you marry her you would become her family," Carl pointed out.

"Blood and water," Hans answered flatly.

"You and her would be as one together," Carl said.

"Blood and water," Hans repeated. "I can't love anyway... I long ago forgot what that even meant."

"You're running from it, Hans. You haven't forgotten, you're just blinding yourself because in your family love was something to be scorned and hated, and only brought pain and suffering... But that isn't what it is," Carl said.

"Just stop," Hans replied. He didn't want to hear it. "There is no love. There will never be love." Not unless Anna forgave him, but she'd never totally forgive him, he knew, and he wouldn't want her to either.

"And even now you're shutting yourself down from it!" Carl shot, vaguely annoyed now. Hans was determined to block the notion off totally and completely, it seemed. He was running... Running because he didn't understand what he was feeling or if he was feeling anything.

"Will you drop it already?! There is no love!" Hans shot, turning and walking away.

The other three watched after him. "Stupid boy," Carl scoffed.

"Hey, back off!" Harald defended. "He's just... like that." Carl gave Harald an incredulous look. That was the best he could come up with? Harald cringed and cleared his throat, focusing on looking out over the view again.

"I'll go after him," Kristoff said, heading after Hans again. And maybe he would talk to Anna as well...

Frozen

"Carl Alexander is out of this game. He has become close to Prince Hans, these past weeks. He will be no use to us anymore. It's up to us to be rid of the competition for the queen's hand. With or without him," one of the five suitors who had been conspiring with Carl stated. They had watched from another balcony far above while the four men talked, and they saw clearly enough Carl was no longer in this little game.

"Kelin-Sel?" a second asked.

"No. He isn't a threat. I wonder if he ever was," the first answered. "Our priorities are Edvard, Hans, and Iscawin. They are the ones who pose the biggest challenge for Queen Elsa's hand."

"Then what do we do?" a third asked.

"We remove them one by one," a fourth replied. "The brothers Westergaard, of course, will be hardest to dispose of, but we will manage. If we're careful."

"The ones easiest to be rid of will be Edvard and Carl; and if we can get Harald with them, him as well," the fifth stated. "Clan Westergaard will take more careful planning, so we will start with the three outsiders. They have no relation to the princes and are more trusting of all of us than they are. It won't be difficult."

"There is a sea cave. It was once a smugglers den," the first stated. "Edvard is always on the search for adventure. Carl often goes with him to ensure he stays out of trouble. Harald is young and curious enough to be intrigued by that sort of excitement and sucked into it with the other two. Alas, when the tide rises the cave floods out. If one hasn't gotten out of it by then, drowning is imminent."

"How do you know of it?" the second asked.

"I got into a conversation with Prince Mael about the history of Arendelle. He likes to share tidbits of knowledge. He was all too glad to share that one. He found it fascinating," the first answered.

"So we send them on an adventure and hope and pray they get careless?" a third incredulously asked.

"We make certain they do," a fourth said. "Edvard would jump at the chance to play hero, after all, and gain Elsa's favor even more."

"Live bait?" the fifth disgustedly asked. "I draw the line there, my friend. I won't sink that low."

"Then leave," the fourth said.

"Who even would be the bait?" the fifth man demanded.

The first looked over into the garden and smirked. "A little snowman named Olaf," he said.

The fifth looked incredulous but visibly relaxed on realizing it wouldn't be a real human they were using as bait. "Very well," he relented. That was a line he would cross.

Frozen

"Ooh, spooky dark cave… Cool!" Olaf exclaimed, clapping his twig hands together. "Why are we here again?"

"We want to show you a treasure, little snowman," the first suitor said.

"A treasure? Cool!" Olaf cheered. "What kind? Chocolates and ribbons and crinkly paper?!"

"Something like that," the man answered. "But you have to search very deep."

"I don't have a lantern," Olaf said, frowning.

"We have one for you," the second said, producing one and giving it over to the snowman.

"Awesome!" Olaf cheered. "Aren't you guys coming?"

"No. We'll wait here for you and keep guard to make sure nothing bad goes in after you," the third said.

"But what if something bad is already in there?" Olaf asked.

"There isn't, we promise," the fourth said.

"Call for help if you need it," the fifth added. "Good luck to you, Olaf." Olaf smiled brightly and waved, entering the cave.

"Go after him," the first commanded of the fourth and third. Swiftly the two pursued quietly.

Frozen

"Has anyone seen Olaf around?" Anna asked at the next mealtime with the suitors, all of which were present.

"Perhaps he went treasure hunting," the first conspiring suitor said.

"Why would a snowman go treasure hunting?" Anna asked.

"Perhaps he was bored," the second said.

"Mael told me of a smugglers cave, not far off, that was abandoned years ago and may yet have some treasure within its depths," the first said. "He could have gone there."

Mael frowned. "If he did, he's in grave danger," the prince seriously remarked.

"What? What do you mean?" Anna worriedly asked.

"Come high tide that cave is a deathtrap for any unwary fool wandering it," Mael stated, already starting out. The triplets, Kelin-Sel, and Iscawin were on his heels immediately. "It is a sea cave. If he is too low, the tide will annihilate him."

"Oh no. Olaf!" Anna gasped. Elsa looked fearful as well, already standing.

"Don't worry, Elsa, Anna. We'll bring him back," Edvard promised, hurrying after the brothers. Carl followed with a frown to make sure Edvard didn't get into something he couldn't get out of.

"I can go too!" Harald said, rising and pursuing them quickly.

"Whoa now, hold on!" Hans began to protest.

"I'm going Hans. Bye," Harald said, waving his friend off in annoyance.

"You could get hurt!" Hans argued.

"Don't worry for me, dad," Harald teased.

Hans frowned, unimpressed with the term. "Fine, get yourselves killed!" he called after them. He wasn't going anywhere. The suitors, meanwhile, exchanged looks. This was shaping up better than they'd ever expected it to.

"We have to help them find him!" Anna said.

"Oh great. Why don't we all walk out and leave the palace completely to its own devices?" Hans said.

"He's our friend, Hans!" Anna protested.

"Hold up, feisty pants. Snowman's got a whole army going after him now. We can afford to wait a bit," Kristoff said.

"He is right, my dear. If they're not back in half an hour, you can go after them," the Duke of Weselton said. "Sort of a search party number two."

"Don't worry, Anna. Edvard will bring them back safe," Elsa said. Honestly, though, she was as eager as her sister to go after Olaf. However, her position as queen kept her back from just leaving like that. She had duties in the castle to attend to. Her Kingdom and people were the priority. At least now they were, given Olaf had a rescue party after him.

"Edvard won't do crap," Hans replied, frowning. Elsa gave him a glare. Hans rolled his eyes and looked away, ignoring the look. The Queen sighed hopelessly. Anna looked forlorn, and Elsa appeared distracted and bothered.

The Duke, seeing this, sighed. "My dears, if you wish to go after them you may," the Duke said. "I can hold things down here for a bit with the rest of the suitors, Francis, and Erik." The ten innocent suitors were open enough to this idea. The five conspiring suitors, however, looked shocked and about ready to protest, but they held their tongues. Hans, though, spotted their discomfort and frowned suspiciously. Something wasn't ringing true here.

"Can you? Thank you, papa," Elsa said, hugging the Duke quickly, along with Anna. Swiftly the two young women ran after the others. Kristoff and Hans exchanged looks then quickly rose, pursuing them. This just didn't feel right. At all.

Frozen

The search party carefully entered the depths of the cave holding lanterns and torches, keeping a wary eye out. "This is just eerie," Kelin-Sel remarked. "I'm getting chills. Literally. This place isn't okay with me."

"Is isn't okay for any of us," Mael answered in a murmur.

"Olaf?!" Iscawin called out. "Olaf, are you in here?!" His voice echoed and there was silence.

"The tide is already starting to come in. We have to get him out," Duke Carl seriously stated. "If he hasn't been lost already."

"Don't say that!" Harald insisted.

"We can't be in here more than an hour or two, that's the truth of it," Carl flatly said. "If we haven't found him by then, he is gone and we can't deny that."

"Olaf!" Edvard shouted.

"Help!" a faint voice called back. They stopped in their tracks.

"Olaf, is that you?!" Calcas shouted.

"Help me!" Olaf's voice cried out in response. They began moving through the cave quickly, albeit still cautiously.

"Keep shouting, Olaf! We can follow your voice!" Coth called.

"I'm over here!" he called again, sounding nearer. They sped up. "Be careful, there's a sudden drop!" Olaf called, voice suddenly right there!

Edvard cried out in terror, feeling the ground disappear beneath him. "Edvard!" Carl shouted as the rest of them slid to a stop barely in time. They heard a shriek of pain and a crack.

"Edvard!" Olaf exclaimed in dismay.

"What happened?!" Carl shouted down.

"I think he broke his leg!" Olaf cried out fearfully.

"Dammit!" Carl cursed. "We have to go back and…" Suddenly the whole cave shook as the sound of rushing water reached their ears. Carl cried out as he lost his balance on the ledge. The whole ground heaved, suddenly, and seemed to fall in on itself, swallowing most of the search party and sending them plummeting into black nothingness with their lanterns! Thankfully, one stayed lit as they crashed at the bottom. The ones who had fallen looked up at the ones who hadn't. Of that number, there was only Harald, Iscawin, and Calcas.

"Kelin-Sel, Connyn, Coth, Mael!" Calcas cried out.

"We're fine!" Connyn called up. "Carl may have sprained his arm and Mael's unconscious, but not bleeding or anything. Other than that we're okay! Run back and get a rope or help or something! Hurry! The water will be coming in within an hour!"

"We're on it!" Harald called down. Quickly he, Iscawin, and Calcas turned and raced back through the cave.

Frozen

"No sooner were the three escapees reaching the mouth of the tunnel, when Elsa, Anna, Hans, and Kristoff stepped into sight. The three slid to a stop. "Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Hans!" Iscawin exclaimed in relief. "Thank god! Maybe with you all here, we can save them. Hurry, there's not much time!"

"Wait, what? Save who?" Kristoff demanded. "What even happened?"

"We'll fill you in. It was like this…" Harald began, before proceeding to fill them all in. By the end, they were running faster than before, frantic to reach their friends before the water rushed in.

They reached the area where the hole was and looked down. They gasped. "You three, run back to the castle and bring help!" Hans ordered Iscawin, Calcas, and Harald. "Run as fast as you can. Go. Now!" Immediately they obeyed, not even bothering to question or argue. Hans turned back to the situation. How were they doing this, now?

"Olaf needs to come out first. He can't swim. The water would just wash him away," Anna said.

"Right," Elsa agreed.

"Hold on. I can climb down there and get him," Kristoff said. "I've handled worse climbs before."

"What? Are you crazy?!" Anna demanded.

"I'll be fine, feisty pants. I promise," Kristoff affectionately said, smiling at her.

"Elsa, tell him no!" Anna insisted.

"It's the only way, Anna. We have no rope and there are injured down there. He's the best we have." And hopefully that would be enough, and they'd manage to rescue everyone without having to wait for help. "My ice might be too slippery," Elsa reasoned. Anna bit her lower lip and looked worriedly at her fiancé.

"I'll be okay," Kristoff promised again. Gently he kissed her forehead and began the decent down.

Frozen

Olaf, Mael, Carl, Connyn. Those were the trips Kristoff made before he couldn't make another climb without passing out. "I-I tried," he gasped. "I'm sorry. Coth, Kelin-Sel, and Edvard are all still down there. I didn't want to risk moving Edvard. He's unconscious now. I hoped to find a better way of getting him up that wouldn't hurt him so much. I overestimated my own stamina." He'd thought he could make the last trips down and up. He'd been wrong, obviously.

"We'll manage to get them up somehow," Elsa replied. "You and Anna help the rescued ones to the surface then come back. Hans and I will deal with the last three." Kristoff and Anna nodded and began to help the injured and the freed out of the cave quickly. They were too low down to be completely comfortable with the rising tide anyway. Who knew how fast this cavern filled up? Kristoff was wet to his knees already, which told them the water was about to start gushing. They had to move quickly.

"We have a very, very limited window of time," Hans stated. "What's the plan?"

"They aren't injured. We don't have a good rope, but I can make one of ice," Elsa replied. It wasn't ideal, it wasn't something she'd wanted to even try, but it was all they had now. Quickly she conjured the rope of ice and lowered it down. "Don't try to hold onto it! It's too slippery. Tie it around your waists and we'll pull you up one by one!" If they tied the rope around a rock, and looped the slack around their wrists, they might be able to manage it. Hans had gloves with good grip, and her ice powers meant that the rope wasn't overly slippery for her to hold.

"You first, little brother," Coth said seriously to Kelin-Sel, holding it out to him as he took the full weight of the slowly reviving Edvard, who was returning to consciousness now.

"What? No, I won't…" Kelin-Sel began.

"Don't argue me, bro. Just go," Coth ordered. Kelin-Sel was less than enthusiastic about the deal, but nonetheless he relented, tying the rope around his waist. He tugged it twice and quickly Hans and Elsa began pulling him up. The water was up to their waists and starting to rush down a chasm that went god only knew where. A watery grave, probably, way further back in the tunnel. Of course this whole place was a watery grave.

Kelin-Sel quickly clambered out, but just them screams of horror were heard. The three gasped, looking down sharply with eyes wide. A wall of water was pouring down into the pit and was sweeping Coth and Edvard away! "No!" Elsa screamed.

"Coth!" Hans and Kelin-Sel shouted in a panic.

"Elsa, use your ice!" Hans cried out.

Elsa gasped, dropping the rope, and immediately erected an ice barrier to stop them from being washed deeper into the cave. With the plug in place, though, the water was rising much faster now than it had been before. "We can't make it!" Coth shouted.

"You'd better!" Hans called back. He seized Elsa's ice rope and tied it around his waist.

"What are you doing?!" Elsa exclaimed.

"Something moronic. Just don't let go. When I have them both, you and Kelin-Sel pull us in as fast as you can!" Hans said.

"Hans, this is…" Elsa began.

"Crazy? I know," he replied with a smirk. Immediately he dove down into the hole and into the water.

"We have to do this fast. Soon this whole place will become part of that river, and we'll be swept away too!" Kelin-Sel said. Elsa held her breath, watching Hans.

Frozen

Hans reached Coth and Edvard. Coth held onto Hans tightly and Hans held onto Edvard. "Pull us back!" Hans shouted. Immediately they were being drawn back towads Elsa and Kelin-Sel painfully slowly. Hans held tighter to Edvard. All at once they were moving faster. Hans looked up and his eyes widened hopefully. Kristoff and Anna had returned and were now helping! With them were Francis, Erik, Calcas, and Connyn. With that added help, the three men were lifted upwards. As soon as they were near, Elsa and Anna let the rope go, reaching out and seizing Coth's hands. They pulled him up then went for the other two, but suddenly there was the sound of shattering. The icy rope had broken! Hans and Edvard cried out in fear. Elsa quickly froze the rope again. The two men cried out in pain as they were caught. They looked down fearfully. The water was getting higher and higher, and that wasn't even the worst part of it. As the water slammed against Elsa's ice plug with more and more speed and force, the current began to go back on itself and had started swirling into something of a massive whirlpool! It was more than a little terrifying, for the dangling Hans and Edvard, both of which gawked at it in shock and horror. What was this monstrosity?! Of course they both knew what it was, but that wasn't what they meant.

The felt themselves being pulled up again. They were within grabbing range! Again Elsa and Anna let go of the rope and leaned over the edge, reaching down for them. Edvard reached up, taking Elsa's hand, and Hans released him. Elsa gasped, nearly going over, but Anna seized Edvard's other hand, giving Elsa time to recover. With Hans pushing and the sisters pulling, they managed to get Edvard back onto solid ground. Elsa hugged him briefly the moment he was safe, then swiftly went back to Hans, reaching down for the prince. He reached up his hand for hers and clasped it firmly. As soon as Anna had seized his other hand, Elsa made the ice rope vanish.

"Get Edvard to the surface!" Elsa called to the others. Immediately the triplets, Kelin-Sel, Francis, and Erik did so, helping the badly injured young man away from this pit of death. Elsa let her ice wall dissipate, leaving the tidal river to roar through and setting the whole cavern rumbling.

"I see why smugglers left this place," Kristoff said as Elsa and Anna pulled Hans up. With a final tug, they fell back onto the ground, Hans over top of Elsa. They hardly seemed aware of their awkward position, laying still and panting for breath.

"No time for laying around. Let's move! Soon this will be flooded out too," Iscawin said, jealously watching. Now wasn't the time for pettiness, though. Quickly he followed the others.

Kristoff helped Anna up. She hugged him tightly. Hans and Elsa shakily rose, after catching their breath, and looked down into the pit in shocked disbelief. "We did it," Elsa numbly said in shock. "Hans, we did it!" she cheered, beaming at him.

"We did?" Hans numbly asked, still not quite believing it.

"Yes!" Elsa exclaimed. "We saved them all!"

His eyes widened. "We did it," he realized numbly. His face broke into a beaming grin. "We did! You're right, we did it! Elsa, we rescued them all!"

"I know!" she cheered, taking his arms as he took hers. "They're safe! They're okay!" She squealed in delight as he laughed, spinning her around excitedly. Suddenly she pulled herself up and kissed him full on the mouth! He returned the favor in full before they drew away from each other and continued giddily admiring their victory over nature.

Anna and Kristoff, meanwhile, gaped in shock at the little display. To say they were flabbergasted was putting it mildly. Their jaws were dropped so low they were almost unhinged. Shaking out of it, Anna said, "Elsa, did you just…?!"

"Don't say it!" Kristoff insisted. "Don't. She doesn't seem to even know she did it and neither does he so don't say it."

"She needs to know!" Anna protested.

"She needs to know her first kiss, a kiss that's supposed to be one of the most special and intimate and sacred and memorable moments of a woman's life, was shared with Hans Westergaard?" Kristoff deadpanned.

Anna blinked then cringed, looking over. Kristoff may have a point. "But she…" Anna began. She trailed off and sighed, looking down. "Maybe you're right," she relented.

"Trust me. I am. Let's let this one go," Kristoff said. Anna nodded.

Frozen

The four began heading up, but just then they heard an ominous roar and looked worriedly back. "Um, sis, we've got to move faster!" Anna called. Elsa and Hans turned quickly and their eyes widened. There was an opening above. Suddenly, from the mouth of that opening, burst a wall of water, roaring towards them! "Elsa!" Anna cried out. Elsa gasped and immediately erected ice platforms under each of them to lift them above the water level. The water crashed into the pillars, shaking them! Kristoff cried out and hit the ice, making himself as flat as possible. Hans gasped, nearly falling, but Elsa pulled him back. Just then, though, there was a scream. Elsa sharply looked over and her eyes widened in horror.

"Anna!" Elsa shrieked at the same time as Kristoff.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Hans said. Immediately he dove back into the water to go after Anna.

"Hans!" Elsa cried out.

Hans swam quickly after the floundering princess, swiftly closing the distance between her and him. She was trying to swim against the current which both worked in and against his favor. He reached her quicker, but by the time he did she was exhausted, trying to battle the water. He held her tightly. Elsa and Kristoff leapt onto solid ground and raced along the path, trying to find Anna and Hans.

"Anna! Anna!" Kristoff shouted frantically.

"Anna!" Elsa echoed.

Anna, coughing, clung to Hans for dear life. Hans reached out, finally getting a hold of something, and pulled her close, wrapping himself around her so she wouldn't slip out of his arms. "Hans!" she choked out, spitting out water.

"Just hold on!" Hans ordered. "Hold on and don't panic. They're coming. He looked up. "See that ledge? Can you reach it?" he asked.

"I-I don't know. I'll try," she replied.

"Trying isn't good enough here, Anna," Hans said. "Get onto my back."

"What are you going to do?" Anna demanded.

"Either kill us both, get myself killed, or save us both," Hans replied. "Don't let go." Anna nodded, clinging to his neck. Hans eyed the ledge then made a lunge for it. For a terrible moment he thought he'd miss, but when he felt rock beneath is fingers, he clamped down, catching it! He could have cheered, but now wasn't the time. He pulled himself as far up as he could. "Hurry, climb off and onto it!" he said. Anna nodded and climbed up him, grabbing hold of the ledge and pulling herself onto it. Hans cried out in fear, losing his grip.

"No!" Anna exclaimed, diving and seizing his hands quickly, keeping him from being swept away. She gritted her teeth and pulled with all her strength until he found a firm hold on the ground, panting and gasping. "Hold on! Kristoff and Elsa are coming," she said to him.

Hans looked up hopefully. Sure enough, there they were. "Elsa, Kristoff!" he shouted.

The queen and ice harvester reached a place above them. Quickly Kristoff climbed down. "Get Hans out first. The ledge can hold me, but Hans needs to get out of the water!" Anna said.

"Anna…" Kristoff began.

"Don't argue, just do!" Anna ordered. Kristoff nodded and seized Hans's hand, helping the man up onto him. Grunting, he began the climb back up. Elsa, for her part, wasn't about to leave her sister down there a second longer. She began raising an ice platform beneath Anna, helping her up. Kristoff paused, looking at it, then made a leap with Hans, joining Anna on said platform. Elsa raised all three swiftly up. The second they reached solid ground, they ran for the surface. Bursting out to safety with the others, they looked numbly back down at the torrent of the tide ripping through the cave, hearts pounding.

"Never, ever, ever again," Elsa hollowly said. She had to block this thing off, she decided. Just to be sure no more lives were put at risk in that literal hellhole. The others were in full agreement.

Frozen

Anna looked at Hans in awe. "You... you saved my life," she said in disbelief. All eyes turned, immediately wide and curious.

Hans tensed then sighed, looking down. "Yes... I did..." he answered.

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't... I don't know. You were in trouble. You were going to die. I just... I acted..." Hans replied. "I'm not... I'm trying... Never mind..."

"What are you trying?" Anna prompted, not about to let this go.

Hans sighed. "I'm trying not to be the monster you once saw in me," he answered, looking at her.

"But... Why?" she asked. "I mean, thank you. Thank you so much. But... but why?"

"Because I'm tired of wearing nothing but masks," Hans answered, turning and walking quickly away before he could be questioned further on the matter. Anna watched after him, shocked and unsure how to react. Elsa watched silently. Gratefully. Worriedly.