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Thanks to my beta Fi (isthismagic on Tumblr) and to my bb Ele (thejollyswann) for encouraging me to go on writing this story.
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Chapter Two
Having begrudgingly accepted to help the Charmings, Regina followed them to their apartment. She hadn't the smallest clue of what the issue was; but someone had shown up asking for help, so she conceded even though it wasn't something she wanted to be doing at the time.
Regina sighed inwardly, she would give everything to return back to her house and have a long soak in the bathtub before going to bed. She didn't even know why she had accepted to help them instead of minding her own business; probably because the unCharmings would have gladly camped on her front porch if she hadn't.
A part of her knew that deep down she couldn't deny anything to Snow's doe eyed expression, while the other part violently refused to consider that her step daughter would cause even an inch of compassion or, God forbid, affection in her. She told herself she would only check what all of that fuss was about and then return home as quickly as she could. Who knew, maybe it could be something really important.
As soon as Snow opened the door of her house, a startled cry came from behind the counter of the kitchen. Regina saw a short, thin girl, with auburn hair braided in two long tresses and scared, piercing blue eyes. She couldn't have been more than twenty years old.
David closed the door behind him gently, trying his best not to startle the girl. The redhead was now biting her lip, eyeing everyone suspiciously, especially Regina. Emma appeared behind her after a few seconds, followed by Hook.
"Where's Henry?" Regina asked, irritated and slightly concerned. The instinct to throttle Emma on the spot had passed now, however her stomach churned at the sight of her. She pushed her memories to the back of her mind and straightened her back.
"He's fine, Regina. He's in the other room, I just tucked him into bed," Emma kept herself from rolling her eyes at the other woman, but still felt a pang of guilt about her recent trip to the past and how the consequence had caused Regina so much pain.
Regina didn't reply. She just stood there, jaw set, her upper lip curled. Emma wasn't sure in what: disgust? Hatred? Annoyance? That woman was so hard to read sometimes.
Mary Margaret cleared her throat, "Why don't we all sit down?" she suggested in a lively, practical tone, attempting to break the tense atmosphere.
She pulled out a chair for the girl and encouraged her to sit. The young woman hesitated, looking expectantly to her left.
"Kristoff?" she called hesitantly in a weak voice.
A tall, broad shouldered man entered from the sitting room. Square jawed and strong, his hair so blond it almost looked like gold, he wore a grim but determined expression on his face.
He neared the girl and put his arm around her shoulders, gently guiding her to the table. She looked so tiny compared to him.
Once all of them were settled around the table, David took the floor.
"Why don't you tell us what happened to you both and how we might be able to help you?"
Snow stepped in, "I just ask you to keep your voices down, my son and grandson are sleeping in the next room."
Emma smiled knowingly. There was every chance that Henry was probably listening to every word they were saying right now instead of sleeping.
"We would like to know who she is first," Kristoff mumbled, nodding towards Regina.
She cleared her throat, unblinking.
"I'm Regina Mills, mayor of this town, who has no idea why she's been called here at this hour," she concluded rather icily.
Kristoff seemed satisfied with her answer.
"I'm Anna and he's Kristoff," the girl commenced. "We're from Arendelle."
Emma and the Charmings seemed confused, only Hook and Regina spluttered an astonished: "Arendelle?"
Anna lowered her eyes. "It's a rather long story..."
"Make it short then," Regina said, more sharply than she had intended, earning a glare from Mary Margaret.
"What?" she replied rudely. "I want to go home as soon as possible".
"As do we!" Kristoff exclaimed, failing to keep the outrage from his voice.
"Yes," Anna nodded eagerly, "We lived in Arendelle but our kingdom was taken over by prince Hans of the Southern Isles and he -"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down, girl!" Emma implored.
Anna straightened her back and looked the blonde in the eye. "I'm no girl, I'm the princess of Arendelle," she spoke in a composed, regal and more mature tone.
"And I am queen here in Storybrooke. Sorry to inform you, but titles don't really apply here," Regina replied sassily.
Anna looked at her wide-eyed, before pleading, "We just want you to help us defeat Hans and help us get back to our kingdom, we -"
"Oh, is that all, anything else? Do you want to go on a trip over the moon as well?" Regina asked.
"Regina, love, let her finish," Hook prompted, ignoring her heated glare.
Anna glanced thankfully at the pirate before continuing. "My sister Elsa started ruling the kingdom once she became of age, however we had a few troubles with Hans, my ex-fiancé, who tried to have me and her killed and took over the kingdom."
Everyone looked surprised at the picturing of her former fiancé but Anna ignored them. "We managed to stop him but he didn't let it go and he joined forces with my aunt Freya to take Elsa's throne. I don't know how, but they succeeded. They enlisted one thousand men and two thousand trolls, we were hopeless against them -"
"They probably made a deal with that imp," Kristoff interjected, "You know, the gold skinned man with magic..."
"Rumplestiltskin," the others chorused.
"That's it. I'm sure they made a deal with him."
"They probably have, otherwise they couldn't raise an army from nowhere," Regina commented.
"Anyway, Elsa was still learning to gain control of her magic, so we -"
"Wait," Emma interrupted. "Your sister has magic?"
"Yes, she can conjure ice and snow."
"No way, like in -" the Emma started, astonished.
"Like in Frozen!" came Henry's excited voice from the doorway. "It took you long enough to figure it out, mom."
"I haven't watched that movie yet, kid, you went to see it with your friends in New York."
"Yeah, because you had a romantic dinner with Walsh," he blurted out.
"Oh yes, the monkey guy," Hook commented nonchalantly.
Emma just stared at him with her mouth hanging open, at a loss for words.
Regina ended the embarrassing silence, sighing. "Henry, sweetheart, shouldn't you be in bed?"
"But you guys need my help, you didn't even know what they were talking about! At least I saw Frozen! Besides I could hear all you were saying, so I couldn't sleep anyway."
"Well then, come and sit," David said, resigned.
Henry smiled when they made room for him to sit between Charming and Hook.
"Who is he?" asked Kristoff suspiciously.
"My son," both Regina and Emma answered at the same time.
"Never mind that now," Regina said shortly when she saw Anna and Kristoff's bewildered expressions. "Henry, do you remember something else from Frozen?" she asked him.
"Anna and her sister lost their parents when they were barely teenagers. Elsa was confined to her room since she was a child. This was because she could harm other people by accident because of her powers."
"Yes," Anna confirmed. "She hurt me when I was around three and she was six. The trolls managed to heal me and -"
"Wait, trolls healed you?" Snow exclaimed in shock.
"The mountain trolls are good trolls, they'd never hurt a fly!" Kristoff said defensively.
"That's right," Anna piped in. "My sister always had problems controlling her powers. I didn't see her for several years until she was twenty one and was ready to take over as ruler of the kingdom. During the coronation party I managed to upset her and she lost control of her powers. She fled from the castle and froze our entire realm. I set off to look for her, leaving my fiancé Hans in charge. During my quest I met Kristoff, who helped me find Elsa and rescued me many times," she paused to put her hands on Kristoff's and he smiled for the first time since he arrived.
"Elsa froze my heart accidentally and only an act of true love could save me."
"I brought her back to the castle for Hans to kiss her, but she discovered he only wanted the kingdom and he left her alone to die."
Anna squeezed Kristoff's hand. "But I didn't die."
"No, but you very well could have!"
"It was the thought of you that kept me alive," Anna smile tenderly at him.
The Charmings instantly looked at each other and Hook leaned closer to Emma, who seemed uneasy. Regina bit her lip to stop it from quivering. It wouldn't do for her to tear up, not now.
She inhaled deeply, wishing she could erase the memories of Robin's face and cheeky smile from her mind. "What happened then?" she managed to ask, trying to keep the underlying emotions in check.
"I froze completely, but not before saving my sister from death by Hans' hands. That is what saved me".
"An act of true love," Henry commented excitedly.
"That's right, Henry," the girl confirmed, smiling at him. "Elsa eventually thawed the entire realm; however she still had lots to learn on how to control her magic. That's when Hans and my aunt Freya started to cause trouble."
Henry looked confused. "I thought you had banished Hans from Arendelle."
"We did, but he came back, stronger than ever. Elsa and I fled through a portal, Kristoff however was held back and captured by Hans."
"How did you manage to break free?"
"I made a deal with Rumplestiltskin," came Kristoff's voice in a flat, serious tone.
They all heard Anna's sharp intake of breath. "You did what?!"
"I needed to get to you, alright?!" he scoffed.
"You didn't tell me!"
"I would have, in time! You had lost your memories when I found you, I couldn't very well say 'hey there I'm your long lost husband who has made a deal with an imp to find you'!"
Anna was still looking at him with her mouth hanging open. She swallowed asking, "What have you promised him in exchange for freedom?"
Kristoff hesitated. Before he could reply, the door burst open and a thick British accent reached their ears. "You guys have found Regina? I looked for her everywhere and gods, it's freezing out there."
Kristoff looked at the man who had just entered the room and his face broke into a wide smile. "Robin?"
The archer raised his head and his eyes widened in surprise. "Kristoff!"
Regina gulped. The last person she wanted to see at that moment had just entered the Charmings' apartment.
And this is where I start having fun.
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