"Elsa? Are you OK?"
Elsa, who had been looking distractedly at a blackboard covered with strange equations, turned at the voice of her sister.
"Yes, Anna, I'm OK. I think." She glanced at the Doctor, who was running around the console, hitting things here and there and looking at his screen.
"No, you are not" Anna said with certainty. "You have that look again."
"What look?" Elsa attempted to giggle derisively, but stopped as she realised she was not sure how it would turn out.
"That look you have when you are worried about something but don't want to talk to me about it. It's like the one you always wore before, only you look happier when you have it these days. Listen, Elsa I'm not OK either. If the Doctor is right, and if we disappear because we don't do the right things… it will be my fault." Anna took a deep breath. "But at least I can talk to my sister before it happens."
Elsa could not stop a little smile from forming on her lips, while she felt tears at the corner of her eyes.
"Anna… you said I was angry? That I wanted to blast you?"
"That was not you. Something made this Elsa have a nightmare, and we have to wake her up."
"But Anna… what if I really could do this? What if this Elsa is not the one who is having a nightmare, and us who are dreaming? What if I became her?"
"You can't. You are not her."
Elsa looked down, feeling guilty.
"You know, Anna… there were times where I was angry at you." She stopped, then went on as Anna remained silent. "There were a few times where I called you names… I whispered it… and one day I know I said that Papa and Mama liked you more… it was only a few times, I swear, Anna, but I did it..."
"Of course" Anna said soothingly, taking her hand. "And I badmouthed you to the people on the paintings a few times. And one day I threw your doll against a wall. That does not mean I hate you. Except" she added, doing her best to keep a straight face, "for cheating at hide and seek by making this wall of ice transparent and pretending it was never opaque. I just checked it used to be."
Elsa could not stop herself from laughing, and Anna joined in instantly.
"OK, you got me, I owe you one" Elsa finally said. "But if I felt anger at least once…" she went on, her seriousness returning, "maybe I can turn into her. Without any influence."
"You are not her, Elsa."
"But what if I end up thinking like her one day?"
"You can't. She is not the you that you are now. She was always alone, with me knocking on her door every day. That must be annoying!" Anna made a face. Then she went on, more softly. "But she did not live the past year. She was not there on the frozen fjord, where you hugged me, as if you'd never stop. She never taught me to skate, and I never taught her to ride a bicycle. She did not organise this marvellous birthday last month." Anna breathed. Elsa's vision had gone blurry, but she made no attempt to wipe her eyes. "She must be so sad, still feeling so alone and so angry. We have to show her how to become you. She must live this year."
"You do know", the Doctor called from his console, "that if you both disappear this idyllic year of yours will also disappear, right?" He swung a lever. The sound of the TARDIS engines filled the room as the central column began rising and falling rhythmically.
"Are we… moving?" Elsa asked, finally wiping her eyes, as Anna was frowning expressively at the Doctor.
"Yes." The grey haired man answered curtly. He winced suddenly, then went on. "In space, only. We are going to the castle. I want to see if I can find something there."
The sound of the TARDIS died with its usual chord. The Doctor circled around the console.
"Both of you, stay inside. I mean it this time." He pointed at Elsa. "Especially you, Platinum. Your past has already diverged from this one. You were protected before because we were displaced in time, but now we are too close to the divergence." He stopped in front of her. "The TARDIS is protecting you for now. If you go out, your timeline will realign with the one outside. Your memories will merge with your current counterpart, and you will eventually disappear, as she probably never travelled with me in the first time." He paused. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Doctor."
"If you leave the TARDIS, you will cease to exist. The year your sister was talking about will never have happened for you. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Doctor."
"What about me?" Anna asked suspiciously.
"You should be all right for a while" the Doctor said dismissively. "Your counterpart seems close enough to yourself. Your timeline will eventually realign, but not before…"
"Then I'm coming with you" Anna said resolutely.
The Time Lord glared at her in disbelief.
"Do you actually listen to what I just said? I told your sister that, if she goes out, she'll disappear!"
"I listened. You also told me that I should be all right."
"For a while!"
"You'll need me to give you directions inside the castle. And I already interfered a lot, so I can't do some worse interfering, right?"
The Doctor glared at her silently.
"Please, Doctor. If I'm responsible for… stranding us in this timeline, then let me help. I know all the passages in the castle! And I remember what happened today. Well, not at the castle, because I was not there, but… Please, Doctor! I want to do it for my sister!"
The Doctor sighed.
"Fine" he said eventually. "But listen to me, Freckles. You will do exactly what I say. If you don't, it's back to the TARDIS until either you disappear or I come back. Is that understood?" He winced.
"Of course Doctor. And my name is Anna, by the way" she added, with a hint of reproach.
"I guess you are not supposed to be at the castle right now" the Doctor went on, ignoring her, "because you were in the mountains a few minutes ago. When do you come back?"
Anna thought for a few seconds. "The next day!" she exclaimed eventually. "That's when Kristoff brought me back to the castle. And by now Hans must be sending a… rescue party. But actually he wanted to capture Elsa and the duke's guards wanted to kill her."
"Fine. That leaves us with a whole night, as long as we are sneaky", the Doctor said, marking his words while looking at Anna.
"What will we be looking for, Doctor?"
"I don't know. Anything that can explains why your sister became angry with you, or did not become angry."
"And when we have found it?"
"We'll see by then." The Doctor breathed deeply, grimacing. "You may want to find something more concealing" he resumed to Anna. "We don't want people to recognise you when you are walking around the castle. Try the wardrobe."
"Ooh, good idea! I'll see if you have masks!" Anna chirped, disappearing down the corridors.
"Are you all right, Doctor?" Elsa asked with concern.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be all right?"
"You looked as if you were in pain once or twice and…" Elsa stopped. She slowly stepped up to the Doctor, her palm raised. "Doctor? Did something happen in the ice palace?"
"Other than your sister interfering while I specifically told her not to? Or your past self apparently lacking your concerns about harming people?"
Elsa was slowly approaching her hand from the Doctor's chest, looking transfixed.
"There is… something…" she muttered thoughtfully.
She slowly placed her hand on the Doctor's chest.
"I can feel…"
She jumped back, blushing, as she realised what she was doing.
"I'm sorry! I did not want to… Ice!"
"What?"
"There is… ice. In your chest. In your heart." She looked up, her face a mask of horror. "She… I struck you?"
"I recall a shard of ice going through my chest. It was not pleasant."
Elsa backed up, covering her mouth with her hand.
"You were struck in the heart! Like I struck Anna before!"
"Is that bad?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You will turn to ice!"
"It's lucky I've got a spare, then" the Doctor answered enigmatically.
Elsa blinked uncomprehendingly.
"Maybe I can remove it… Can I try?"
The Doctor nodded. The young woman gingerly laid her hand on his chest and concentrated.
"I'm sorry" Elsa muttered eventually. "I can't… I can feel it as if this was mine but… I can't control it. It's like in the future… I can't do anything" she said desperately. "Are you hurting a lot? Your heartbeat sounded… strange."
"Oh, so you're an expert in heartbeats, now?" the Doctor asked haughtily. "My heartbeat is quite normal for someone with two hearts. I'm making sure of that."
"Two hearts?"
"Yes. Time Lord. Two hearts. Normal functioning brain. Time sense, along with many other senses you would not understand. Control of my heartbeats, body temperature and breathing, and many others functions that you don't even know exist. Although your powers are something I definitely lack. I could look into your mind to see how they work, but that would be cheating."
"How did you… gain a second heart?"
"I always had it."
"Is that a… power? Like me and my magic?"
"No. That's me being a Time Lord. From the planet Gallifrey."
"You… are not from Earth?" Elsa asked in wonder.
"Hello! Can you recognise me?"
Anna jumped into the console room, grinning broadly behind a magenta domino mask. Elsa could not suppress a giggle at the sight of her sister.
"Oh please" the Doctor sighed, glaring at Anna. "Do you think we are going to attend a masquerade? I said to find something concealing, not to dress like a comedian."
"Then I've got this" Anna answered in stride.
She removed her mask and pulled back a cowl she had tied above her cape. It flopped on her head, dropping above most of her face.
"Can you recognise me?" she asked from under the cowl.
"Can you actually see something under this?" the Doctor asked.
"Of course!" Anna chirped, raising her head, which meant that only her chin was visible from under the cowl. "I simply have to keep my head down a bit like that. And now we can go!"
Anna strode forward resolutely and collided with the console.
"Sorry!" she said, pulling back her cowl. "Sorry Madame TARDIS" she added, looking up. "OK, I think I get the hang of this now, I have to look down and slightly up so that I…"
"Anna" Elsa interrupted, "I struck the Doctor with my powers."
"Wait, what?"
"The… other me. In the castle. She struck him. Did you not see it?"
"What? No! Oh, this was when she blasted those shards the second time? You pushed me away…"
"I struck you twice?"
"No… No, the first time, you… she struck only me, when she began shouting at me. The other me. Then, she wanted to strike me, the other me, and I pushed Kristoff and me away, and the Doctor and I began running away, that is, the I that is me, and she blasted all those shards… But I thought no one was hurt this time!"
The Doctor loudly smacked his head.
"Stupid! I knew I was forgetting something… Maybe it's my brain that was frozen, instead… Thank you for reminding me, Freckles. Do you also remember what happened when Angry Platinum sent those shards flying around the second time?"
"You pushed me away?" Anna blinked. "So you saved me? I must thank…"
"Yes, yes, not my point. What happened just before?"
"We were leaving… And Elsa shouted something… I think that was… Doctor?"
"Your memory, at least, works correctly." He whirled round toward Elsa. "Platinum! Do you know what makes you send all those ice blasts around?"
"Her name is Elsa, you know…" Anna said in a small voice.
"I… I never did it on purpose" Elsa stammered, backing from the frantic Doctor. "The one time I did it… I was upset. Very upset. I had learned about the winter I caused on Arendelle and..."
"Upset. You send those when you are upset."
The Time Lord looked at Elsa intently.
"How would react to my name?" he asked eventually.
"Your name? I don't know your…"
"Doctor. That's my name. How would you have reacted upon hearing my name when these events happened to you?"
"I… don't know. I'm not even sure I would have recognised it at the time. I remembered the box, and… you… having a bow tie, but I really was not thinking about it that day…"
The Doctor smiled, but his eyes remained serious.
"And now you reacted to it… There may be something…" He winced again. Looking up, Elsa wondered if his hair was not slightly whiter than before.
"I'm sorry…" she muttered. The Doctor waved his hand dismissively.
"Do you think this would help you find why Elsa became angry?" Anna asked hopefully.
"Maybe. Now, let's go. We have not got all night."
"Doctor!"
"What?" The Doctor stopped on his way to the door and turned to Elsa.
"If… I can't remove the ice… The only way to thaw your heart is… an act of true love."
"True love?" The Doctor nearly guffawed.
"Don't you have a true love?" Anna asked gently.
"No. People don't love me. They fear me, need me, mistake me for their boyfriend, or are psychopaths brainwashed to be obsessed about me, but they don't really love me. And I don't love them. It's better that way. Now, can we go?"
The Doctor strolled to the door and turned when he realised Anna had not followed him. The strawberry blond girl with the oversized cowl was holding her sister's hands.
"Oh, for…"
The Doctor walked back to the console and rummaged around, then extracted a little metallic object that he tossed to Anna.
"Here. It's called a radio. This will allow you to stay in touch and wish you good luck any time you want." He fiddled with some controls on the console.
Anna looked at the little object perplexedly. Its main feature was a small sort of knob extruding from it. She pressed it.
"What does it…" Anna stopped as she heard her voice suddenly echoing in the console room. "What is…" Her voice boomed again around them.
"And if you let go of this switch, you can hear what people say in the TARDIS" the Doctor said, his voice suddenly erupting from the little metal object as Anna moved her finger from the knob. She nearly dropped it in surprise.
"That is great!" she said, her face lighting with one of her childish smiles. "I wish I had this when Kristoff goes ice harvesting!" She grimaced. "I still hate how my voice sounds when I'm hearing it."
The Doctor smirked as he adjusted more controls on the console, then walked to the door. Elsa cast a concerned glance at his hair, now sure that there were far more white strands than before.
Her sister's arms suddenly closed around her.
"I'll fix this, Elsa. I'll be all right. I promise. And we'll find an act of true love to do for the Doctor!" Anna said, hugging her tightly. She turned at the sound of the doors opening. "I'm coming!" she shouted, before turning back to the console. "See you, Madame TARDIS. Take care of my sister and please keep repeating everything I say to her in this little device."
The magenta clad princess jumped toward the door, turned one last time to wave at her sister, and stepped out.
The doors of the TARDIS slammed shut on Elsa.
And opened a few seconds later to let the Doctor's face poke through.
"Just one last thing" he said, pointing to a lump of snow a few feet from the TARDIS. "Could you try thawing this?"
"Elsa? Do you hear me now?" Anna whispered loudly into the little device.
The Doctor sighed as Elsa's voice, strangely distorted, erupted from the radio.
"Yes Anna, I'm still hearing you."
"As she did 5 minutes ago" the Doctor said dryly. He winced.
"Stop being such a killjoy, Doctor" Anna said petulantly. "I've never seen a thing like this! It's wonderful! Is it magic?"
"For the twelfth time, no, it's only technology. And not a very advanced one anyway. Are we still in the right direction?"
"Yes don't worry, this corridor was never used by many people, and with this winter there should be even less of them." Anna looked thoughtfully at the little radio in her hand. "It would have been so great to have this when we were little, we could have talked without Elsa fearing to hurt me! Elsa, do you still hear me?" she added, pressing the little knob.
"Yes Anna, I'm still here" came the answer. "Tell the Doctor I'm sorry I could not thaw the snow outside the TARDIS."
"Does my voice sound funny when you hear me?"
"It has some kind of metallic echo, but it really sounds like your voice otherwise."
Anna stopped as she noticed the Doctor had stopped following her. Turning round, she saw him a few feet back pointing his sonic screwdriver at a lump of ice that was protruding from the wall.
"Doctor? Is something wrong with the ice?"
He turned his head sharply toward her.
"Was there so much ice inside the castle during the winter your sister created?"
"I don't remember well but… well, there was a lot of ice everywhere when they brought Elsa inside, but I think there was not a lot of it inside before… But I've not been for a long time inside the castle and not in this corridor anyway."
The Doctor grunted, looking at his screwdriver before resuming his brisk walk.
"Why do you want to see her room?" Anna asked, hurrying to keep up with him.
"You told me she spent most of her time locked in there. If there is something that affected her, it has good chances of being there. How did this happen exactly?" the Doctor added, with a broad gesture encompassing the frozen corridor around them.
"I… made Elsa upset. When she's upset, she freezes things around her, like she did in the TARDIS… She's in much better control now, but at the time she could not control it at all."
"And when she regains her calm, she can thaw any ice she created?"
"Yes, now she can always do it. Except when you asked her to thaw this snow, but it was not hers... But she could do it when we were in the TARDIS and she froze the console..."
"I know, I was there. Have you ever seen her not being able to thaw some ice? When she's calm and composed."
"After she thawed the kingdom? Well, there was this time when she tried to thaw some snow during winter, and when she was sick…"
"Ice that she created."
Anna thought a little.
"I don't think so. Why?"
The Doctor grunted again before answering. Anna thought she saw him briefly wince in pain again.
"In the future, she tried to stop the winter, and failed. She may have been weaker than her future self. But now, she should be able to thaw this ice. There is no reason to believe she's less powerful than her current self."
"She said it was not her ice…"
"Ice should not know anything about timelines. If your sister created it, no matter the timeline, she should thaw it. Unless there is something else..."
They walked in silence for a few seconds, as Anna tried to understand what the Doctor was saying. She turned to look at him, and realised he was clutching at his chest.
"Doctor, if Elsa can't remove the ice from your chest, you'll have to find an act of true love before you turn to ice" she said with concern.
"I told you, I don't love anyone. I'm not the boyfriend type."
"It... does not have to be… that sort of love" Anna said hesitantly. "I was saved because I love my sister and… I don't love her that way at all." She grimaced. "I don't know what happened in the timeline of that Anna I saw on your screen, but she was weird to… Eww." She turned to look intently at the Doctor. "Don't you have a family?"
"Not any more" the Doctor answered dryly.
"And friends? Maybe it works with close friends?"
"Stop bothering about me. I have… ways to stave this off. And if it comes to that, I also have a way out." Anna thought she saw a faint orange glow appear for a few seconds under the skin of the Doctor's hand. "Just not right now" he added, as the glow disappeared.
"Can you do… magic?"
"No. Not magic. Not this kind of magic anyway. But I can… control my body. In more ways than you can control yours. I can… slow down the ice for a while."
Anna looked thoughtfully at the enigmatic man. He was looking straight in front of him, and she got the impression that this was all he was ready to share for now. Looking around her to get her bearings, she pressed the knob on the radio.
"Elsa? We will leave the old gallery now. I will talk less because we may run into people now."
"OK" Elsa's composed voice came from the little device.
"Doctor?" Anna asked after a few paces.
"What now?"
"If we fix this… What we saw happening in the ice palace… It will still have happened?"
"Yes."
"So… I will remember it instead of what really happened? I will always remember Elsa shouting at me?"
"Time is still in flux. You are part of the events and you travelled in the TARDIS, so you may be able to remember part of your old timeline. You may want to lower your cowl now" the Doctor added, as the corridor where they were walking branched into a larger gallery. People could be heard talking in the distance.
"What if we meet people?"
"You will pass by them without looking, as if you were busy with something. Can you actually see something with this cowl on your face?"
"Of course! I can see my feet and… a little after them."
The Doctor looked at her curiously as they walked. A pair of servants passed them by, carrying trays full of steaming bowls.
"How do you manage to know where you are going?" he asked after a few minutes. "That's the third time you avoid a piece of furniture with feet to spare."
"I told you I knew the castle well! I played blind man's bluff here a lot of times! It was a bit complicated to play it alone but… Wait, we have to take the gallery on the left."
Anna turned sharply, right in the middle of the branching gallery. The Doctor gently pushed her aside to avoid a lanky man with a goatee and a young woman with short brown hair coming from the opposite direction, shivering in their thin party clothes. They gave the pair a curious look.
"Sorry!" Anna said cheerfully from below her cowl. "Of course these galleries were emptier when I was playing there" she whispered conspiratorially to the Doctor as the couple of guests disappeared around the corner. "It will be the next door on the right."
The Doctor cast an appraising glance at the gallery.
"Ah yes" he said approvingly. "The TARDIS materialised there every time I visited you." He looked left and right across the corridor, then turned to the door, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. "Oh. New lock" he commented over the whistling of the device.
The door clicked open.
"Is this technology or magic?" Anna asked, pulling back her cowl and following the Doctor inside the room.
"Basic sonic technology. But somewhat more advanced than the radio."
Anna looked around. She had visited Elsa's room countless times in the past year, but she now looked at it with the strange mixture of familiarity and strangeness she had felt when exploring the frozen Arendelle in the future. The walls were covered in frost, and there were lumps of ice and snow in the corners. She glanced over the various pieces of furniture adorning the room, noticing the single chair near the desk. The chair she was now used to sit in when visiting her sister was missing.
"Is there anything here that looks strange to you?" the Doctor asked, his sonic screwdriver whistling as he slowly passed it over the room.
"Well… there is frost everywhere" Anna said hesitantly. "But I'd never entered in Elsa's room before… before tomorrow, actually. After she thawed everything." She slowly raised the little radio, pressing the button. "Elsa?"
"Yes Anna?" came her sister's voice from the device.
"Was your room all covered with frost on coronation day?"
There was a pause before Elsa answered.
"I… don't think so" she said eventually. "I was very upset that day, but I remember concentrating on concealing as I was getting dressed. And besides, I was wearing my gloves most of the time…"
"There are even lumps of snow…"
"What?" For a second, Elsa's voice sounded as alarmed as she had been when her powers were revealed. "That is not possible! I would have done anything to prevent that. The maids were helping me putting on the ceremonial cape, they could have noticed… Maybe this is the winter?"
"Hello? Is there someone here? Your Majesty?"
The door opened slightly. A young woman with dark hair, a round head and big, brown eyes, inched into the room.
"I'm sorry, I heard voices and… Your Highness? Did you came back?"
The Doctor slowly turned toward the intruder, and started visibly.
"Your Highness? Everyone thought you were still in the mountains…" The woman stopped and cast a suspicious glance at the Doctor, who was still staring at her fixedly. "Are you all right, your Highness? Who is this man?"
"Oh, that's OK, he's with me" said Anna cheerfully, casting a concerned glance at the transfixed Doctor. "I simply wanted to… check… some stuff… in my sister's room… before I go to the mountains."
"But Prince Hans just left the castle looking for you, with a rescue party! They should be warned that you are back!"
"Please don't do this!" the Doctor spoke suddenly.
The woman crossed her arms and cocked her head to one side.
"Why not? Do you find it funny to have people go into the cold looking for Her Highness while she is all safe and warm in the castle?"
"It's not what you think" the Doctor said. "We need to…"
"Because I completely agree that it would be fun to do this to Prince Hans, but there are some people with him who don't deserve that. I'm sorry Your Highness" she added, smiling mischievously, "but he does look as if he needed some practical jokes played on him. I'm sure he'll do a fine husband", she added half-heartedly.
Anna smirked.
"He needs a lot of that indeed… but not right now, I think. Is that right, Doctor?"
"Yes" the Doctor answered, still looking fixedly at the young woman. "Yes of course." He turned his head sharply toward Anna. "Do you know her?" he asked, pointing at the woman.
"Yes, of course" Anna answered readily. "She's Osmine. Her mother used to work in the kitchens and she was allowed to come to the castle sometimes while it was still closed. She even tutored me a few times, because she is a teacher in the town and..."
"Of course she is" the Doctor muttered.
"It's good to see you, Osmine again" Anna said warmly. "It's been a while..."
The young woman looked puzzled.
"I… saluted you yesterday, after the coronation ceremony, Your Highness. We spoke a little. You don't remember it?"
"Oh yes, of course, of course", Anna said hurriedly. "Silly me, that was yesterday. Feels like a year ago, so much has been happening. I'm not sure I've seen you again since…"
"I came back to the castle to help after the… winter came. I was in the courtyard when… Queen Elsa left… Are you all right?"
"Oh yes, I'm fine. I mean, no, I'm sorry that my sister froze the country, but she thawed it when she... I mean, she will thaw it. Will have thawed it. If we fix the…"
"So you've known… Osmine… for a long time?" the Doctor interrupted.
"Oh yes. She explained me a lot of things about the paintings in the gallery. She's a very good teacher."
"I don't doubt it. Except maybe, when discipline is concerned?"
Osmine looked indignant.
"Do you know him?" she asked, nodding toward the Doctor.
"Oh yes, he's the Doctor. I… met him before. But he was not looking like that. And now we have to fix something in the time…"
"Listen to me." The Doctor walked to the woman, his piercing blue eyes still fixed on her. "It is imperative that you don't speak about anyone about having seen Princess Anna here." He breathed deeply. "I know I can trust you."
"How do you know that? You don't know me!" the woman answered indignantly.
"I know someone very much like you."
Osmine frowned, then looked at Anna.
"Is everything really all right, Your Highness?" she asked, squinting. She slowly backed from the door-frame. "If anything is wrong, I can call for help, the guards should be there really quickly…"
"You won't do that" the Doctor said with a definite tone.
"Oh? And why not?" she asked defiantly.
"Because if you do you will never know what we were doing here" the Doctor said quickly.
"All right. What are you doing here?"
The Doctor hesitated for a split second before answering.
"Why did you come here anyway? The fire has not been lit here" he said, pointing to the empty fireplace, "and everybody has been gathering toward the heated parts of the castle."
Osmine looked at the Doctor severely.
"You did not answer my question!"
"Please, Osmine" Anna said. "The Doctor is helping me to help Elsa. She's in a lot of trouble right now. She is… living a nightmare and we need to wake her up. We are trying to find what… what made her angry."
"She did not look angry when she left" Osmine said thoughtfully. "Frightened, but not angry."
"That's the point. She's becoming angry and she should not be. She never was."
Osmine frowned.
"So, why did you come here?" the Doctor asked.
"I wanted to check if there was something in her Majesty's room that could have helped. I heard she remained locked in her room for the past years. Maybe she had something here that helped her keep her powers in check…"
The Doctor smiled.
"Good thinking" he said dryly. "Completely wrong, of course, but at least you tried." He brandished his sonic screwdriver again over the ice littering the room. "Feel free to keep looking. It's a sonic screwdriver" he added, as Osmine was opening her mouth.
"Actually I was about to ask what it is we should be looking for."
"Anything that looks like it should not be there." The Doctor looked at his screwdriver dubiously. "Now, where did I already see that?"
"There is something under the wardrobe" called Anna, who had been rummaging around the room. "It's… completely frozen… but I… think… I can… get it" she grunted as she reached under the large piece of furniture.
The princess brought back a small bundle of cloth covered in frost. She scratched at the fabric, peeling the ice, to reveal a little cloth doll held by a few very haphazardly sewn stitches.
"That's my doll…" Anna muttered.
"It's a nice doll" Osmine said encouragingly.
"I did it for Elsa when I was four… I wanted to imitate Mama… but…"
On an impulse, Anna pressed the button on the little radio.
"Elsa?"
"Yes, Anna?" came Elsa's voice from the device. Osmine gasped.
"I don't know if you remember… the little cloth doll that I gave to you once…" Anna said, doing her best to sound nonchalant.
"The cloth doll that you sewed yourself and gave me for my seventh birthday? Of course I remember! I showed you last winter that I still have it, don't you remember?"
"What is… Is that… How does..." Osmine stuttered, looking from Anna to the Doctor.
"Where did you keep it… during all these years?"
"In my jewellery box, just like when I showed it to you! Why?"
"Sooo…. you never threw it under the wardrobe and covered it with frost?"
"What?" came the indignant voice. "I'd never have done that!"
"Is that… Queen Elsa speaking?" Osmine asked suspiciously.
"No" the Doctor answered automatically, examining some ice scratched from the wall.
"Yes" Anna answered simultaneously. "Uh, no, no, actually no."
"Who is that?" Elsa's disembodied voice asked.
"That's Osmine… She's helping us.
"There is something in the ice" the Doctor muttered suddenly, looking at his sonic screwdriver.
"Wait, what?"
Anna looked at him. The now almost entirely white-haired man was looking more distraught than she had ever seen him.
"Oh no. This is not good."
"What is it, Doctor?"
"This looks like something I've already seen… On your parent's ship… but also somewhere else… This ice…" He turned his head sharply toward Anna, his face a mask of concern. "I may be responsible for what is happening here."
"What? You mean, you are the one who made Elsa angry with me?"
"I don't believe it" Elsa's voice said from the radio. Anna realised she had kept her finger on the button that let her sister hear them.
"This may be happening because of something I've done… But that's not possible! Even if something had remained, it could not have spread to your sister…"
The Doctor suddenly stood up, looking alarmed. "Both of you, come here" he intimated.
The Time Lord slowly rotated on himself, looking at the ice covered walls, still muttering to himself. Finally he smacked his head violently.
"Of course!" he shouted. "Stupid, stupid Doctor! Stupid to the power of twelve!" He turned to the two young women gathered around him. "It's in the ice now! It transferred itself to ice when your sister froze it! And then…" the Doctor gestured in the air, looking up and down, as if writing complex equations on an invisible blackboard while muttering to himself.
"Doctor! What is going on? Do you know what is going on here?" Anna asked.
"We leave. Now!" the Time Lord said urgently, pushing her and Osmine toward the door. He stopped and doubled over, clutching his chest. "Go!" he shouted, as his last strands of grey hair turned white.
Osmine gingerly crossed the threshold, looking back dubiously at the Doctor. Anna cast a concerned glance at the Time Lord.
"You are turning to ice because of the curse! You should find an act of true love!"
"Go now!" the Doctor shouted, straightening up and walking toward the door.
Ice cracked loudly.
Anna and the Doctor looked up to see frost forming on the wall and the ceiling near the door, reaching the hinges.
The door slammed violently closed. Anna jumped back with a little yelp of surprise. Behind the door came Osmine's surprised gasp.
"What is happening?" Anna shouted. "Elsa, is that you?" she asked to the radio.
"What? No! Do you need help? Anna?"
"Stay where you are!" the Doctor shouted. He ran his sonic screwdriver over the lock of the door. "Cl… Osmine! Can you hear us?"
"Can't you open it again?" Anna asked.
"It's completely frozen now" the Doctor muttered as frost now extended to cover most of the wall. They could hear Osmine's muffled shouts behind it.
"My dear Doctor" came a distinguished and sarcastic voice behind them. "So glad of you to have come here. I thought you would not make it."
Anna looked over her shoulder and gasped.
Ice in the room had coalesced to form the shape of a man, dressed in formal clothes and wearing a top hat, standing in the room behind them.
The Doctor turned slowly over himself.
"Hello, Doctor Simeon" he said dryly.
Author's Notes: I confess that my initial reason for wanting the Doctor to be struck in the heart was to have him say the "I have a spare" line.
Elsa laying her hand on the Doctor's chest is probably the closest contact I will ever write them to have. I don't like to ship either of these characters.
Osmine is a Scandinavian name and apparently the female form of Osmund. It's the closest that I could find that sounded like Oswin.
It is probably obvious that Osmine is supposed to look as if she was played by Jenna Coleman...