(a lone road at the bottom of the mountain, a mysterious woman stops a kindly stranger...)

"You're a long way from home to be making another trip tonight," She said coyly.

By power of the prince's, the enchantress swore to herself, I cannot believe how much I'm interfering in this story. I mean, yeah, sure, I'll whip up a dramatic storm, or leave a magic mirror, or a glass slipper, but this? This is getting out of hand.

Kristoff, being thicker than an evergreen tree, didn't think much of it, "Oh ma'am, I work for my money. Doesn't matter to me if I get home at sundown or sunrise. I believe in hard work and sacrifice."

She suppressed her groan. Hans was dying. Anna was in criminal hands. But for this to work, the people had to choose their own path, and then pay the consequences of their actions. What if she'd simply killed Hans as a baby? Or removed Elsa's powers? She wasn't one to play God to the mortals; no point to living if she decided for people who's good, who's evil, and what path they should take.

Even if she knew the correct path far, far, far better than they.

"I-I-I-I..." She was loosing steam, "May need some help getting down this mountain is all...!"

By the power of the prince's did she hate playing the weak female. It wasn't so bad around evil men; they revealed their wickedness and she turned the tables on them. But people like Kristoff often overcompensated by-

"Here," he said, picking her up, "I'll take you down."

Then, ignorantly ignoring the perfectly good sled, he proceeded to carry her down, slamming her face into every pine tree on the way.

It wasn't very pleasant.

The things I do for others... she thought wryly. Still, she asked to be put down when they were in sight of his home.

"I'll get you in a sec, just gotta check on a coupla animals!" Kristoff puffed, out of breath. The enchantress smirked. Anna certainly qualified as an animal... The man called to the house for his girlfriend, then his dog, but received no answer. He went closer and tried again.

She almost felt bad when he slumped in shock.

"Oh no... noooo!"

She did not miss the droplets of tears soaking into the snow. This, this was one of the worst parts of all her stories; when there was a tragedy, some kind of misunderstanding.

"ANNA! SHADOW! PLEASE!"

No doubt, Prince Hans would be blamed. The enchantress disappeared, allowing the young man his privacy to mourn.

Her heart stung. Yes... she had a heart. After all those happy endings, how could she not? Still, it was hard to watch moments like this. What if her interference had been too late? What if Busby-

She stopped herself. It was not her job to fix every 'ouchie' or 'boo-boo' in the universe, heck, she created some of 'em. But it still hurt her to see others in pain. Hans was suffering. He had been (reluctantly) holding onto life for hours, in agony. She could have healed him, or killed him out of mercy. But the story wouldn't have meant very much if she took control of his destiny.

He had to learn what it was like to have people attack your home, take Anna from you. Leave you to die. He had to understand the sin of brutishness. He had to grow.

Still, it was times like this it would have been nice to be mortal. To simply put an arm around someone, and tell them why bad things happened to good people. But she couldn't. That was out of her territory. All she could do was point them in the right direction.

Sven came running to the cottage at his master's call. He screeched to a halt and Kristoff loaded a furry body onto the vehicle.

Good, now show him how a man should act in the face of evil. The enchantress relaxed her shoulders. Maybe one or two more pushes, and Hans would understand how to love others. Especially...

She sighed.

It would be so much easier if he would just admit that everything he'd done was to get to Queen Elsa, but, like a lot of men before him, he refused to listen to his heart. It was a useful trait at times, but more often than not, men simply shut themselves off from the world, and tried to control it without a sense of compassion or love.

But there was hope; Hans was alive.

For now, anyways.

A.N. Please read and review. Want him to die yet?