Elsa gazed out the palace window at the Kingdom of Arendelle. She had always wanted to go there, to see the hustle and bustle of the townspeople with her own eyes. But sadly all she could do was to observe it from afar. Anna's home looks so beautiful and warm…just like she is.

Her inner musings immediately halted when she felt a disturbance in the blizzard she'd created. The force that was attacking her magic was extremely powerful, an energy so destructive it felt purely evil. Something was happening, something really bad.

She jolted up. "Anna!" she gasped aloud. She's out there right now! I have to-

Again, her thoughts halted as she caught sight of a familiar reindeer cantering towards her castle at a breakneck speed. She waited until Kristoff came barreling through the door, his boots skidding across the ice.

"Elsa!" he wheezed, hands on his knees to steady his heaving body, "Ha…Hans has…*wheeze*…r-ring…*cough*…whew, I should not…*gasp*…should not have run up all those stairs."

Elsa gave him a moment to catch his breath, glancing out the window once more. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of an eerily familiar fleet of ships approaching the entrance to the fjord. She turned back to Kristoff. "What happened?" she demanded urgently, "Where's Anna?"

The blonde man straightened. "She went back with Hans. The guy's really dangerous!" Kristoff proceeded to quickly explain all that had happened since they last spoke. He told her how Hans had gotten ahold of a very powerful magical artifact, had imprisoned him in the dungeons, and then the subsequent rescue afterwards.

Elsa said nothing, her eyes gazing blankly at the floor.

"Look, Elsa-"

She raised her head, cutting him off. The intense look in her eyes nearly froze his lungs. It was not sadness, or the look of hurt he had expected to see. No. Elsa was completely determined, her eyes were cold and sharp like the ice she crafted. "Kristoff," her voice was firm, "I need you to do something for me. I trust you still have the vambrace I gave you?"

The blonde man nodded uncertainly. "Y-Yeah, why?"

"I need you to go to Erigisen and unfreeze my people. Tell them that I am deeply sorry, and answer any questions they may have to the best of your ability."

Kristoff nodded absently. "Okay, yeah sure I—wait, what?" his thick brows furrowed, "What do you mean, and how am I going to do that? And what about Hans?"

Elsa held a hand up to stop him. "It was an accident that happened a long time ago, I froze the people of Erigisen, and I regret it every day. Now, the vambrace I gave you should be able to thaw the ice encasing them. As for Hans…" her eyes practically glowed with energy, "I'm going to get Anna back. He will not take her away from me again." The venom in her words was enough to strike fear into the most stalwart of hearts.

Kristoff still worried about Hans' elemental advantage, however. "Why can't I go with you? Like I said before, Hans has fire magic. You know, the 'melts ice' variety? What if you…" his eyes darkened as he trailed of for a moment, "What if you don't win?"

Elsa's expression softened into a sad smile. "That is why I need you to free Erigisen, in case something happens and I am unable."

"No Elsa! I'm not going to let you die! I can't just leave you to go and-"

"Please, Kristoff."

There was long pause. "Fine, I'll do it." He acquiesced, "But if you die, I won't ever forgive you."

"Don't worry," she said, "I told you before...I won't allow anyone to take Anna away from me."

Every step away from the ice palace, from Elsa, was pure agony for Anna. But she trudged on through the snow anyway, because it was the only way she could think of to save her beloved. I won't let Hans harm her, no matter what!

She caught sight of Hans atop his horse galloping her way. She steeled herself, going over her act in her head. He doesn't know that I remember everything, so I have to play the part and use that to my advantage.

"Princess Anna!" he greeted with a wide smile, "The kingdom has been searching far and wide for you. I am so happy that you are alright!" He's so fake.

Anna forced a smile and approached him. "Hello, Prince Hans," she forced out with false cheer, "You won't believe what happened to me. I fell asleep, and when I woke up I was at the top of the North Mountain," she lied, hoping against hope that she was convincing enough. She was always a terrible liar.

"I have no idea how I got up there, but I finally made it down as you can see." She finished with a helpless shrug of naivety.

Hans thankfully didn't question her story and pulled her up onto his horse. She barely contained a cringe when he moved her arms to encircle his waist. "Well," he said, with a charm that made Anna feel internally sick, "All that matters now is that you are safe and sound. Shall we head back?"

Anna nodded, unable to trust herself not to yell at the pompous snake.

Hans grinned and spurred his horse back towards the castle.

Mulan helped Aurora to her feet. The blonde princess appeared to be recovering from her episode with the fire prison, her breathing eventually evening out and her legs appearing steady enough to support her. Mulan would not let Hans get away with this, she would avenge Aurora's honor by making him suffer.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, unable to resist running her fingers through flowing golden locks.

Aurora smiled weakly. "I am fine," she replied, placing a hand over Mulan's, "I simply wish that we could've been more useful in all of this."

Mulan nodded solemnly. "I feel the same," then she took a step back, her hand falling back to her side. "But it is not over yet."

Aurora nodded. "Right, Hans is probably going to take Anna and force her to return so he can claim his crown. We need to gather the others and stall him somehow."

Mulan noticed that the blonde still seemed a little bit wobbly. Aurora was probably more weakened than she let on. "I'll go to the others, you stay here and rest for a while." She urged, guiding the princess to sit on the edge of the bridge.

Aurora was about to protest, but the warrior cut her off. "You can keep a look out for Kristoff and Elsa and inform them of the situation," she bargained, "Just, please, rest so you don't worsen any injuries you have."

The blonde pouted, which Mulan silently found adorable.

"I can take a little pain," Aurora grumbled. "I'm not made of glass, you know."

"I know, princess," Mulan replied back. There was a pause before she continued, her tone quiet, "But I might be when it comes to you. Seeing you hurt like that…" she bowed her head, her voice coming out in a whisper now, "It brings me a pain worse than any sword or magic could ever inflict. You make me feel so fragile inside…so vulnerable, that I…"

"Mulan?"

The warrior shook her head and turned to leave. "Be safe." She called over her shoulder before she took off in a run towards Arendelle Castle. If she'd spared a glance backwards, she would've seen the beautiful rosy blush on the blonde princess' cheeks and the dazed look in her light brown eyes.

Several minutes had passed, and Aurora was just about to stand up and begin making her way back to the castle, when she heard the thundering of hooves.

Seconds later Hans whipped past with Anna on the horse behind him. Well, at least I was right about Hans bringing her back. I hope Elsa's alright though…

Aurora sighed and slowly rose to her feet. There was a particularly nasty burn on her ankle that stung whenever she moved. She winced as she tried to take few steps forward.

"There has to be an easier way to do this," she mumbled, staggering slightly. Her ankle was beginning to swell with the first signs of blistering.

She glanced to the wilderness across the bridge, seeing snow a little bit up the path. Snow would ease the pain and make the swelling go down…

She trudged slowly but surely over the bridge, stumbling a bit over a small stone when she reached the mountain trail. The snow had been worth it though. Aurora practically moaned in relief when the soft ice dust made contact with her searing skin.

She sat like that for a good while, and her ankle no longer hurt afterwards.

Suddenly, the temperature plummeted drastically. Everything around her became coated in a thin layer of frost as a harsh winter wind howled past. Aurora, startled as to where this sudden snow storm was coming from, looked up at the sky.

Soaring past amidst the fierce blizzard gales was Elsa, who looked every bit like the fearsome ice witch the stories told of. Her platinum hair was wild and free; her entire body seemed to thrum with icy power as she glided on the winds like some sort of scorned wintry goddess.

Aurora could not help but think that the sight was frighteningly beautiful.

She was gone within moments, along with the blizzard, as she flew straight for Arendelle.

Aurora sighed. And so the battle begins…

Let me just start by saying I'm really sorry it took me so long to post this. I recently got a second job and it's been kicking my butt. To make it up to you, I'll post the next chapter tomorrow morning. On another note, the story's almost done! At the most, we have 3 chapters to go, plus the epilogue. Yay!