"Is that… the wonderful machine you told me about? It looks like a wardrobe."
"Yes it does" Anna answered Osmine's question with a twinkle in her eye. "Can we show her inside, Doctor?"
"Yes, of course" the Doctor said absent-mindedly. He was still clutching at his chest and had been pausing from time to time. He looked at the TARDIS and frowned.
"What the heck does 'Police public call box' mean?" Osmine asked.
The Doctor ignored them and rushed to the door, shaking the handle.
"I still have the key, Doctor" Anna said timidly.
The Doctor snatched the key from her hands and unlocked it.
"Elsa! We're back! We destroyed the ice man!" Anna shouted happily as the Doctor yanked the door open.
"But… it's bigger on the…" Osmine whispered incredulously.
The Doctor strode inside, looking at his sonic screwdriver. Anna followed him, smiling.
"Elsa?"
"Hello Anna." Anna jumped as she saw the transparent Elsa suddenly appear near the console, looking in the distance.
"I hope this works. I don't know if I'm still around…"
"Oh no, no, no, you did not do that…" the Doctor jumped to the platform, before doubling over, clutching at his chest. "Argh, I don't need that now! When are you going to be repaired?" he asked, thumping his chest. He turned to the console. "Why did you let her do that?" he shouted.
Anna walked up slowly to the shimmering Elsa.
"Maybe I'm with you just now and I'm feeling silly… But if I'm not there, if you did not see me… I went trying to tell the other Elsa about our past together. Before the accident."
"Doctor?" Anna asked quietly, standing in front of the transparent image so that it appeared to be looking right at her.
"Is that… Queen Elsa?" Osmine asked incredulously.
The Doctor was muttering under his breath, jumping from one side of the console to the other.
"The voice in the ice did not change those memories, it wanted me to forget them… That's how I could stop being angry with you. If I'm not there, I probably disappeared…"
"Doctor, what is she saying? Did Elsa leave the TARDIS?"
"Yes, she did! The TARDIS let her out!" He flicked more switches. "Ooh, brilliant" he shouted at the console, "so not only you let her out, but you also took her there! Why did you think I locked the door?"
"Someone has to tell her that. Not you, she's too dangerous, really dangerous for you, much more than I ever was. And the Doctor. Maybe this other woman who was with you? She must not know her. I'm… I'm going now. Maybe see you again, as myself. I hope."
The shimmering Elsa disappeared. The Doctor hit the console violently.
"What is wrong with you!" he shouted. "Did you really think it was the time to go all sentimental?"
"Doctor! What is happening? Tell me!"
The Doctor sighed and leaned on the console.
"Platinum has managed to coerce the TARDIS into letting her out. I had locked her in, you know, to prevent just that. It even took her to the ice palace when we had been before. Activated the fast return switch all by itself."
"But… you said she was going to disappear if she left the TARDIS…"
"Yes. Well obviously it did not happen right away, or the TARDIS would not have left her leave. I hope" he added severely, looking at the room around them. He turned back to Anna. "What was she saying anyway? Oh and by the way" he added sarcastically, turning to the console, "feel free to let anyone use you as an answering machine. Why do you have to make it so hard to program you to deliver a message to the right person if you are ready to do it for anyone who asks nicely?"
"She… said she wanted to talk with… herself… about… our past" Anna said hesitantly. "I think. Is it possible to hear her again, Madame TARDIS? I did not listen very well..."
"No" the Doctor said firmly, flicking a switch. "The TARDIS is not an answering machine. When you hear something, you have to remember it on the first go. You never know if you are going to get a second chance or not."
"Anna is right" Osmine said. "Queen Elsa said that there was something in their memories that the ice man did not change, but wanted her to forget. How did that work, anyway?"
The Doctor looked in the distance, furrowing his brow. "Oh. So this is why."
"Why what, Doctor?"
He smiled suddenly.
"Well, why Simeon said that Platinum was rejecting him, of course. Your sister must have been able to reach out to herself. Well done. Of course" he went on, in almost the same tone of voice, "this does not change the fact that she may have disappeared."
Anna frowned, doing her best to understand.
"But… if the ice man is… has stopped to make her angry… the line of time can become normal again, right? So Elsa should stop disappearing?"
"You're forgetting temporal inertia." The Doctor jumped behind the console and began flicking switches. "Just as you did not disappear instantly, she may still disappear before time resets itself. If it resets itself." The sound of the TARDIS taking off echoed in the room.
"What's happening?" Osmine asked curiously, looking around her.
"Oh, the TARDIS is moving. We will appear somewhere else" Anna answered excitedly. "Why should not time become normal again, Doctor?"
"Your sister rejected the Great Intelligence, but if she disappeared, she may not be back to how you know her."
Elsa felt as if she was falling. There was no ground below her. Come to think of it, there was nothing above her either.
Her mind spun, echoing with strange thoughts that seemed to come from all directions around her.
Memories and events flashed past her, twisting, shifting, disappearing into the void, as her timeline unravelled, flickering between the alternatives, trying to latch onto a coherent chain of events.
Her mind now a tiny dot of consciousness, stripped of past and future, floated between the alternatives.
And for a split second, she could hear the thoughts of thousands of other Elsas across the universe. Elsas that she could have been, that she would never be, or Elsas that were simply echoes of herself, living in different universes that she would never be able to visit, not even with the TARDIS.
For the briefest of instants, she became one with these other Elsas. Voices and thoughts vibrated in her mind, as she became the one speaking and thinking them.
"I consent, Anna. Marry Hans, be happy."
"Nice to meet you, Anna. I'm the Snow Queen. Now run for your life."
"Oh my dear Hans… If only there was someone out there who loved you…"
"My mutation gave me cold powers. Can you help me to control them, Professor?"
"Please let me come with you, Father. I'd stay in the hold while the ship is at sea."
"No, Anna… I am your sister."
The thoughts whirled and disappeared almost as soon as they came, their memories leaving Elsa's mind instantly.
Time shifted. Elsa's timeline snapped back.
A cavalcade of remembrances poured in her mind, some of them feeling right and natural, others dissonant like a wrong note in a symphony.
Anna in her crib. Herself freezing the ballroom. Anna sliding lifelessly down a slope of snow. Children singing for Anna's birthday. Kristoff stepping in front of Anna as she prepared to shoot ice at her. The bishop asking her to remove her gloves. Anna hugging her on the frozen fjord. Herself throwing a doll under a wardrobe in anger. Olaf eating Anna's birthday cake. Herself crying in her frozen room. Anna smiling as she showed her a doll, safely locked in her jewellery box.
The whirling of memories slowed down, as they reorganised themselves into something that looked like a coherent life, although some of them still emerged from the mess like a badly adjusted piece in a puzzle.
A memory rose. For a few seconds, Elsa lived or relived it.
There were guards, firing at her, cornering her. They had invaded her own home, her palace, her sanctuary. She had begged them to go, but they did not want to obey.
There had been… something… from the ice, that had made her angry, making her feel as if she was the one others should be afraid of. She could not remember what it was and she never would. It had disappeared now. Or maybe it had never been there and she had only dreamed it.
Maybe this otherworldly hunch had been right. Maybe it was the others who had to huddle in the corners, whimpering in fear. She could dispose of these guards. She was in her home, after all, her domain.
She unleashed the fury of her powers, pushing one guard on the balcony over the precipice, aiming at the throat of the other with her ice spikes. It was so easy. Maybe this really was the way to go.
"Don't be the monster they fear you are."
Anna. Anna feared her. She had done something to Anna that would make her fear she was a monster. Or maybe she had dreamed it as well?
Elsa stopped, feeling lost. The memory of the strange feeling from the ice and its teachings faded forever into oblivion. She turned around...
The memory slowly receded in the distance with the sound of ice crashing.
Elsa opened her eyes.
"Hello Elsa! How are you feeling?"
"Don't rush her" the Doctor scolded as he ran the sonic screwdriver over Elsa's body. "Her temporal cohesion seems to be back to normal, but her mind needs some time to recover. She came very close from being removed from the timeline. This is not a pleasant experience, I assure you, even if you come back from it."
"Did it happen to you?" Anna asked curiously, cradling her sister's head as Elsa blinked, looking dreamily around her.
"A lot of things happen to me" the Doctor said non-committally. "Hello, Platinum? Can you hear me?"
Elsa nodded drowsily.
"What is the last thing you remember?"
"Leave her alone! I thought we were not supposed to rush her!"
"You are not. I am. Please, Elsa" he asked, placing his hands on Elsa's temples, "it is important. What do you remember?"
Elsa swallowed a few times before answering in a slurred voice.
"Anna in her crib."
The Doctor turned his head sharply toward Anna.
"Were you in a crib recently?" he asked insistently.
"Err… no? Well, there was this time Kristoff and I were visiting the Trolls and they absolutely wanted to offer us one..." Anna blushed. "Anyway Elsa was not with us that day" she added quickly.
"Had to speak with myself" Elsa volunteered, trying to focus on Anna. "Don't want you to think I'm a monster." She glanced at the Doctor, blinking. "The TARDIS helped me. I'm sorry I called her a machine, she's very nice…" Her gaze fell on Osmine. "Do I know you?" she asked drowsily. "I think I've seen you before". Her eyes slowly closed. "'m tired" she mumbled. "Oh, that's it, you're Clara, nice to see you again" she muttered once more. Her eyes blinked open suddenly. "Hey, Doctor, you don't have ice in your heart any more!" she exclaimed happily, before slumping back on the couch, smiling faintly as her eyes closed. "I l'v'you lil' sistrr" she mumbled one last time.
"She's all right", the Doctor exclaimed, jumping on his feet. "Just let her rest and she will be back to her own cold-making self. Now, Osmine" he said, grabbing the young woman by the shoulder, "I heard you wanted to travel. Where do you want to go?"
The Doctor flicked switches on the console.
"Is your heart OK, Doctor?" Anna asked. She was crouching near the chair where Elsa was sleeping, holding her sister's hand.
"Yes, it just restarted. I really don't know how you humans can cope with only one of those."
Anna looked at him curiously.
"Who is Osmine, Doctor?"
"What? You should know that better than me. She's from your time period, after all."
Anna smiled sweetly.
"You know, Doctor, I am certainly less smart than Elsa and probably than you as well, but I'm not stupid."
She carefully placed Elsa's hand back in her sister's lap, then stood up and walked to the console, counting on her fingers.
"You acted very strange with her. For one, you never called her with a funny name. And you told her you trusted her." Anna leaned on the console, smiling impishly. "And you sacrificed yourself for her when you stepped in front of the ice blade instead of her. That's what I did for Elsa" she added, suddenly serious, "and that's what thawed my heart. Do you love Osmine, Doctor?"
The Doctor guffawed.
"I had never seen her before in my life! Do you actually believe in, what do they call it, love at first sight?"
"Not any more" Anna said, her smile disappearing for a second. "Was it really the first time you met her anyway?"
"I already told you I don't love people, Freckles. And my heart was thawed simply because I was able to remove the ice inside it while I was linked to Simeon. If you will remember, this gave me a minor control over ice, and removing this particular sliver was among one of my priorities."
Anna looked at him dubiously for a few seconds. The Doctor punched more buttons, concentrating on the console.
"Elsa called her Clara…" she mused. "But you called her like that as well!" she exclaimed.
"I did not" the Doctor said, jumping to another side of the console and very meticulously turning a small handle.
"Yes you did. It was after we fell out of the window… And Clara… Oh! That was the name of the woman who visited Elsa when we were little, when you built snowmen with me… The you who had a bow tie and was nicer." Anna looked in the distance, her brow furrowing. "But she can't be the same woman because she should have been younger then… Wait, you can travel in time… So she can be the Osmine from now… But that was the other you, you said it was from before…" Anna drew lines with her fingers on the console. "So… she travelled with the you from before, but after now… And that's how you know her! You already know her, but she does not know you yet!" She carefully wiped the console. "Whew! Time travel is complicated."
The Doctor was suddenly standing by her side. Anna looked up to discover him smiling faintly.
"Not bad for a pudding-brain" he said. "Completely wrong, of course, but you get points for trying. I did meet someone in this fashion once…" His voice trailed off as he looked in the distance. "Anyway, Osmine is not Clara. She's… an echo. Like Simeon split into different individuals who appear along my timeline to try killing me, Clara did the same to help me. Osmine is one of these echoes."
"I'm not sure I understand, Doctor."
"I don't expect you to. Few people do anyway."
There was a pause, as Anna looked at the sleeping Elsa.
"So you love her? Clara?"
"I… care about her. She's someone I rely on."
"Maybe it counts as true love, then."
"Did not you listen? I told you I removed the ice by myself! What is with you humans trying to see love everywhere it is not…" The Doctor strode theatrically to the other side of the console.
Anna looked at him, smiling mischievously.
"What is it with you men not liking to say you love people?" she asked playfully. The Doctor snorted.
"So, is the line of time fixed now, Doctor?" Anna asked after a few seconds, her tone more serious. "Can we go home?"
"Time has been untangled enough that the TARDIS can travel to your original time period again. As for the timeline, there is only one way to check, isn't it? When did Platinum thaw the country?"
"The next morning" Anna answered promptly. "That's also when my heart was thawed."
The door of the TARDIS opened to let in Osmine, carrying a large bag.
"Here I am!" she said. "I'm ready to see the world."
"Where would you like to start?" the Doctor asked theatrically, punching a button.
"Well… I know it's not far from here but… I always dreamed of visiting London. It's such a great city…"
"Good choice" the Doctor said, slamming a lever. The sound of the TARDIS filled the room. "London it is then. Who knows" he added mysteriously, "maybe you'll raise a family there."
"I hope not! I'd love to see more of the world… Maybe the Americas! Or the rest of Europe..."
"But first" the Doctor said, "we have to check something."
"I assure you Anna, I can walk by myself now" Elsa insisted as Anna carefully helped her out of the TARDIS. "My head is much clearer now."
"You were still sleeping five minutes ago. I know you wake up faster than me, but…"
"Where are… Oh."
Both sisters became silent as they looked down the snowy slope on which the TARDIS had landed, to the frozen fjord spreading in the bay.
Snowflakes were suspended in the air. Osmine curiously poked one of them.
A blue-clad figure could be seen huddled on the ice, a grey-clad silhouette towering over it. Dozens of meters apart, a magenta figure was stumbling on the ice.
"That's… that's when you…"
"I yelled at you. In the palace. I was so hurtful…" Elsa whispered. "I remember it… It's what happened, right, Doctor?"
"Yes. You may still remember the old timeline, but the part where you tried to strike your sister did happen."
"If… If Anna fears me… If she's angry with me… she won't try to…" Elsa looked at her sister in horror. "Your heart would not be thawed this time…"
"It would take more than you yelling at me to make me give up on you, Elsa."
Down on the ice, the magenta figure ran to the two other ones. It reached them just in time to step between them, before turning into a clearer shade of blue.
"See? I told you" Anna said, trying to sound matter-of-factly and failing at it. "Hey, I got to… to watch me turn into an ice statue after all" she added in a faltering voice.
They all looked downward as the blue clad figure embraced the icicle. Very long seconds passed before it changed back to its magenta colour.
"Is it over now?" the Doctor asked.
"No, it was only the beginning, Doctor" Elsa whispered, as she turned and embraced her sister as tightly as her counterpart was doing hundredths of meters afar.
The Doctor and Osmine looked as ice disappeared from the fjord and the surrounding city.
"That's amazing" Osmine said finally.
The Doctor smiled at her.
"Let's go. London awaits you." He looked at the still embraced sisters at his side and those on the ship below them. "Hugs" he muttered, shaking his head as he stepped back into the TARDIS.
Author's Note: I considered for a while having Hans' party bring back the wrong Elsa at the castle, but that plot twist was going nowhere interesting (the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver make breaking people out of prison too easy, and I did not want to muddle the Frozen timeline too much).
I also thought of Anna hesitating a second longer before going to protect her sister, but this time I really could not see how to get out of that one.
I'm purposefully leaving unclear the reasons for the Doctor's heart thawing, so you can chose which explanation you like better: did he manage to thaw while he was connected to Simeon, or was it he protecting Osmine that counted as an act of true love? Or maybe it was the TARDIS moving by itself to help Elsa that counted as one? Or simply his Time Lord physiology taking care of the ice…
I love imagining alternate universes or what-ifs, but not enough to write about all of those I think about, so I had some fun with the lines from the alternate Elsas instead (although one of the lines appears in one of my fics and another is close to one I'm working on).
Now, onwards to the epilogue!