"Marriage?!" Anna shrieked at her parents, "How could you agree to this?!"
The throne room was silent as the princess boiled with fury. The Queen had tears in her eyes, her expression screaming of guilt and despair. Hans could barely contain a smug smirk. The King finally stepped forward. "Now, Anna. Your mother and I were worried sick…we were helpless to do anything else." He explained carefully, "And we thought that you were fond of Prince Hans?"
No more charades! "Actually, I'm not!" Anna growled, her eyes narrowing, "I can't stand that man! He's a monster!"
The royal couple looked at the prince as if to ask 'is this true?', but Hans merely chuckled. "Regardless of what she thinks, our agreement is still binding." He stated, fully allowing the smirk to show now, "If Anna and I are not wed, then it is a declaration of war between our kingdoms."
"You can't do that!" Rapunzel burst into the room, followed by her husband, Merida, Belle, and Mulan. "That man is a scheming snake who is after your crown!" They all chimed in with agreement.
Anna smiled widely at her friends. "Long time no see, how is-" her jaw dropped, "Is Punzie pregnant?!"
The short haired brunette waved a hand dismissively. "We'll discuss it later," she narrowed her eyes at Hans, "Right now we have to stop him."
Merida cracked her knuckles. "My favorite part." She grinned wickedly.
Belle rolled her eyes. "You can't beat up a prince, Merida. That would also be considered a declaration of war."
The huntress pouted. "Not even a wee little knock upside his noggin?"
"If she gets to fight him, then I call the first strike." The Chinese warrior stated, nodding at her wild haired friend.
Belle sighed in exasperation. "Not Mulan too…"
The King cleared his throat, bringing silence and focus back to the room. He turned to Hans. "Prince Hans, is there really no other way to settle this?" he asked tentatively.
Hans crossed his arms smugly, and Belle had to hold Merida back from punching him in the gob. "Your Majesty, you and I both know that Arendelle is not ready for war," he said, "My country, on the other hand, is. We are waiting just outside your sea borders. So if you break our royal agreement, then we have a valid reason for war. Do you understand your position?"
Anna's eyes widened as she looked back and forth between Hans and her father. Surely, the King wasn't considering giving his only daughter away to this evil man…but Anna had remembered her lessons from her childhood; Rule Number One: A monarch's duty is to their kingdom. The safety of their people shall always come first.
"Papa…?" her voice sounded small, and she hated how desperate she seemed, "You won't make me marry him…right?"
Tears streamed down the Queen's cheeks and she buried her face in the King's shoulder. A quiet sob shook her small frame.
"Anna…" the King's voice was pained.
Suddenly the giant doors to the throne room slammed open, a howling icy wind throwing tiny chunks of snow everywhere. Elsa glided into the room, eyes glowing as frost coated the walls.
"Ah yes," Hans mused, "You arrive just in time for the final act, right on cue."
"Elsa!" Anna rushed into the blonde's arms, tears spilling onto her pale shoulders as she buried herself into her slender frame. "Elsa…"
The blonde's face softens and she holds the shorter girl closer to her, protectively, possessively. "I'm here, Anna. I won't ever let you go."
"And who are you?" the King questioned.
The older girl straightened. "I am known as the Ice Witch, your highness, and Anna is mine."
For emphasis, she pulled the redhead closer and pressed a kiss to the tip of her ear, nipping it lightly. Anna shivered pleasantly, a dark blush spanning her cheeks.
"W-What?" the King looked completely flabbergasted, "What is the meaning of this?"
Anna turned in Elsa's arms to face her parents. "I love Elsa, papa. I don't want to marry Hans!"
The King's eyes narrowed slightly. His gaze was focused on Elsa. "How do we know that the witch hasn't cursed you? You disappear for nearly three days and you return claiming to be in love? That sounds like-" his wife stopped him midsentence by placing a gentle hand on his arm.
The Queen, who had been strangely silent since Elsa's arrival, stepped forward. Her eyes were haunted as she gazed at the blonde woman, almost as if she were seeing a ghost from the distant past. "Elsa, was it?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, your majesty."
The Queen drew closer, her eyes never leaving Elsa's face. Several moments passed in that heavy silence. The Queen finally looked down and released a shaky sigh. "The resemblance is…haunting, I must say. You look just like her…" She murmured in awe, her eyes traveling somewhere far away in the distant past.
The King drew closer, concerned for his wife's sudden change in demeanor. "What do you mean, dear?"
The Queen smiled up at Elsa. "She is Idunn's daughter."
The King's eyes widened, eyes darting between the blonde woman and his wife. "How is that possible? The royal family of Erigisen was…"
"Look at her, darling, and tell me you do not see it." The Queen urged, "She is the spitting image of Queen Idunn! Her name even matches that of their only daughter," she studied the blonde's face once more, "I could never forget Idunn's eyes…and she has them."
"Then…" the King paused for several moments, "You're saying the last living heir to the throne of Erigisen is standing before us, and claiming our daughter?"
Anna and Elsa both blushed at that last part. The blonde woman cleared her throat. "Your Majesties," Elsa began, "While I am technically the reigning Queen of Erigisen, I am not here for such formalities. I love Princess Anna, and I can assure you that whatever feelings she may have for me are completely of her own volition," she said, earning a loving smile from Anna, "That being said, I refuse to let her marry Hans."
Hans, who had been watching on with amusement, clapped his hands slowly. "That was a brilliant show," his tone mocking, "But it doesn't matter what you 'refuse', because it has already been decided. Mine and Anna's engagement was declared this morning. So, you see? You've lost, and I win once more."
There was a heavy moment of silence where the weight of his words, and how tragically correct they were, set in. To refuse their validity at this point would be the same as declaring war.
"You're wrong, Hans."
The prince narrowed his eyes at Elsa. "What do you mean?"
The blonde pulled Anna closer. "Anna cannot be yours, because she already chose me a long time ago."
Anna blushed when Elsa drew closer to her and lifted the silver snowflake pendant off her collarbone to show the room. "This is proof," She stated proudly, "Of our engagement."
The entire room gasped at her words. Hans looked angry. "You expect me to believe that? She wears the stupid thing all the time, and it isn't even a ring!"
Elsa shook her head. "In Erigisen, we do not give our chosen a ring. It is customary to present our beloved with an engagement pendant, so that it may sit closer to their heart, representing our promise to honor and shelter their love," she explained, "That pendant was my late mother's, and I gave it to Anna three years ago on her 15th birthday."
"But," Hans backpedaled, "Then that means…"
"Yes," Elsa stated, "Anna and I have been engaged for three years. Therefore, she cannot accept your engagement because she is already my fiancé."
Anna, who had been unaware of the true significance of the necklace, had tears in her eyes as she gazed upon Elsa with nothing but pure love. "Oh, Elsa…"
She pulled the taller girl down for a tender kiss that quickly rose in passion. Delicate hands slid over freckled shoulders as fingers threaded through platinum hair. A quiet whimper fell from the blonde's lips as Anna parted them with her tongue. Soon it became quite obvious that they had forgotten where they were entirely.
The King quietly coughed and stared awkwardly at the ceiling while the Queen observed the two with a dark blush on her dainty cheeks. It was obvious who Anna received her mannerisms from.
"Get a room, yeh two!" Merida shouted, only half-annoyed. Her broad grin betrayed her tone.
"That was actually really hot." Eugene commented, which earned him a smack from Rapunzel.
Anna and Elsa both blushed as they pulled away, breathing heavily. "S-Sorry…" Anna breathed, "I hadn't meant to get so carried away…"
Elsa shushed her with a quick peck to her forehead. "I love you, Anna."
"I love you too," Anna whispered, "So much…"
"Well, this has been fun…" the room's attention was drawn back to Hans, who had removed his gloves. A red glowing ring rested on his finger. "But I think it is time to move on to plan B: taking Arendelle by force."
"You can't do that!" the Queen declared, "Queen Elsa's engagement to our daughter precedes yours, which makes our agreement null. We cannot promise the hand of an engaged woman, after all."
"I don't care about the stupid agreement anymore." Hans growled, "I care about burning you all to the ground!" he laughed maniacally after this.
"I'd like to see you try!" Mulan challenged, drawing her sword.
"By the wisps, I've been waitin' for this!" Merida declared eagerly, knocking an arrow in her bow.
Suddenly fire poured forth from Hans' fingertips. He grinned wickedly as the flames melted the surrounding stone into magma and quickly took shape, forming hideous molten creatures. They were enormous, varying from ten to twelve feet tall.
"Destroy them!" Hans commanded.
The lava monsters sprang forth, spewing embers from their gaping mouths. Mulan and Merida fearlessly charged forth, brandishing their weapons. They fought in tandem to take down one monster, Mulan crippling it with her sword while Merida loosed a barrage of arrows.
Elsa quickly extinguished one of them with an icy blast, while Rapunzel and Eugene smacked the hell out of another one with…were those frying pans?
Hans just kept creating more, his power seemingly limitless. Soon the battle was getting out of hand and several gaping holes were smashed through the castle wall to the outside.
"Please, stop this!" Anna shouted at him, "Just give up this madness before you hurt everyone!"
Hans scoffed, "Give up? Hah! This kingdom will be mine. All mine! Even if I have to kill every last one of you to get it!"
He shot a stream of fire into the sky outside, and a resounding signal horn could be heard. He smirked at everyone present. "Consider this my declaration of war."
He left towards the town square, spilling more fire creatures behind him as he went.
"Oh dear…" The Queen murmured, looking at the approaching fleet of ships, "Arendelle is…"
"Under siege." The King finished solemnly. He sighed heavily. "What to do…our army is too scattered and too small. We'll have to surrender and hope-"
"No," Elsa interrupted, "I lost my country to war, and I refuse to let Anna's be lost as well."
"So we fight?" Mulan asked with an approving smile.
"Count me in!" Merida cheered.
"Us too," Rapunzel agreed, Eugene nodding along, "I may be pregnant, but that just means I hit harder."
Her husband nodded. "She's right. Girl packs a real wallop when she's steamed." This earned him another smack.
"You all realize this is insane, right?" Belle deadpanned, "There's like seven of us and, oh I don't know…two-thousand of them—plus Hans' fire things…." She trailed off at the looks she was getting, "Oh fine! This is ridiculous and foolhardy, but count me in too! It's not like I had a book I wanted to read, anyway!"
"Looks like everyone's on board." Anna said with a nod. She turned to her parents. "Mama, Papa…I believe that we can win this fight. Between Elsa's powers and our army reserves…the matchup looks pretty even."
The King smiled at his daughter, genuinely proud of her strong will. "I shall announce the call to arms, then." He promptly rushed off.
The Queen embraced her daughter. She too, was proud of the lovely young woman Anna had become.
"Be safe, dear," she told her quietly, "And please, don't ever stop fighting for your love…Giving up only leads to regret." Anna wondered if there was some hidden truth behind her mother's words. Some kind of past secret that no one would ever know.
The Queen's eyes fell to the snowflake pendant (engagement necklace?) that rested on Anna's color bone. "Elsa's a very kind person," the Queen murmured wistfully, "Just like her mother…"
"Mama?"
"Oh, right!" The Queen pulled away as if she'd been electrocuted. "I shall go help your father gather the troops." She said quickly, scurrying away.
When Anna turned back to the others, they seemed to be going over some kind of plan.
"Okay, was everyone paying attention to the plan?" Belle asked, "I'm looking at you, Merida."
The huntress grumbled. "Yeah, I was payin' attention. We just need teh provide a path for Elsa to beat the stuffin' outta Hans, right?"
Mulan nodded. "Basically. Though I wish I could get a few hits on him too."
"I second that." Merida huffed, "Just one good crack at 'em would be nice." She made a show of punching the air.
"We need you two to help us clear out the fire monsters." Rapunzel said.
"What can I do to help?" Anna asked.
Belle patted her shoulder. "You're on evacuation duty with me. We'll leave the beating up parts to the magicians and the muscle heads."
"That's right, baby," Eugene flexed like a dork and kissed his biceps, "It's alllll muscle." Needless to say he was smacked again.
"Alright, beefcake," Rapunzel chided him, "We need to get going if we want to finish this before the Southern Isles troops dock in the harbor."
"To battle!" Mulan declared.
"Let's go knock some heads!" Merida cheered.
As promised, here's another chapter! I hope you like it. Also, I'm really happy to see that you all like the Mulan/Aurora subplot! I'm always a little wary of putting side couples into my stories because, let's face it, we came here for the Elsanna. But you like it! So that's good. Right? Right. Next chapter is the final showdown between fire and ice! *cue dramatic music*
Will Elsa be victorious? Or will Hans and his army of soldiers and flame beasts seize the kingdom? Will true love prevail? Will Merida get to beat the "stuffin'" out of Hans like she's always wanted to? And will Eugene suffer any permanent bruising from his wife's merciless smacking? Only time, and another chapter, will tell!
(Wow, I am so corny...I'm sorry you had to read that!)