AN: Ok, originally this was supposed to a 12 days of chapters, but since I missed a day and then messed up the order of the chapters, I did the two finale chapters at once. I have added one more chapter as an epilogue, which hopefully I'll post tomorrow. I'm still writing it though, so unfortunately no promises.

Jack couldn't see a thing. For the first time, the storm seemed to be working against him. He slipped and fell to his knees. Peering through the ice, he could make out the deck of a ship, but it was snowing so hard he couldn't even find the mast. He had to get off the fjord. If he didn't, he'd wander out to see and be lost forever.

But maybe that would be best.

"Jack!" a voice screamed through the wind.

He turned, expecting to see Rapunzel, but it was Astrid instead.

"Don't come any closer!" he warned.

"Distance doesn't matter now," she said. "The whole kingdom is freezing."

"I know. But I have to get as far away as possible. I'll go to the mountains, I'll head north where no one can find me. Just…take care of my brother," he finished, voice cracking.

Astrid's face fell and Jack's stomach dropped.

No, no, no, he thought desperately. Don't say it, don't say it.

"Hiccup returned an hour ago," she said. "His hair was as white as yours and his skin was turning blue. He could barely move, and by the time I got there…I'm sorry, but it was too late." Jack tried to gasp for air but he didn't think he could breathe. "Hiccup is dead," Astrid finished.

Jack's knees gave way and he collapsed on the ice, unable to scream as he was engulfed by grief. Instantly, the wind stopped and every snowflake hung suspended in the air. But it didn't melt. Astrid looked on him with pity. She really, really did not want to do this.

There's no other choice, she thought miserably as she pulled out her axe.

Toothless plowed on through the snow, constantly shooting small blasts of fire in front of them to clear the way. It was slow going, and Rapunzel knew they were running out of time. Although she had been singing continuously to keep Hiccup warm, it was clear that nothing would work.

"Hiccup!" she yelled into his ear. "I'm going to jump off so it's easier for Toothless! I'll follow you on foot if I can."

He nodded numbly without answering. Rapunzel gave him a final hug and jumped off just as they reached the fjord. Toothless tried to fly, but even without the extra weight the wind made it impossible. He could sense the boy growing colder and motionless on his back, and started to run as fast as a dragon could. Suddenly his foot cracked through the ice. Toothless roared and tried to pull it out, but the water had already refrozen. Hiccup slid off his back and tried to pull it loose, but it wasn't working. Gently, Toothless nudged him away and tried to melt the thick ice. Hiccup stood to his feet and peered into the storm. At this point, he couldn't feel a thing, but he could hear the ice cracking and new he was about to die.

If I'm going to die, don't let me die alone, he thought desperately. If I'm going to die, I want to die with my brother. He started walking, unsure of the directions, and ignoring Toothless' roars of warning. Ironic, he thought mirthlessly, that I'm going to die in the fjord thanks to Jack's powers after all.

Abruptly, the storm froze, literally. Rapunzel started running, trying to catch up but they were so far away and she could see Hiccup was nearly completely blue even from this distance. Stunned, Hiccup stared at the snowflake hanging in the air inches from his nose. Then his vision shifted and he saw Jack straight ahead of him…and Astrid. Jack was crumpled on the ice, eyes squeezed shut and hand over his mouth in horror. Astrid stood above him, holding an axe.

"N-no," he whispered faintly, shuffling forward.

He was only a dozen feet away, he could make it. He had to make it. Hiccup tried to call out a warning but his tongue stuck in his throat, probably frozen. Gritting his teeth, he forced his feet to move, faster and farther apart. Astrid raised the axe above her head and somehow he broke out into a full out sprint.

"No!" he yelled finally.

Then he slipped and fell, sliding on the ice the last few feet. Miraculously, he stopped between Jack and Astrid, and as he looked up and raised his hands, he saw the shock on his ex-fiancé's face as the axe swung towards him.

"No!"

Clang!

Jack heard the cry and the sharp sound of metal on ice almost simultaneously, then the thud of a body. He looked up and released a strangled cry. Hiccup was kneeling in front of him, arms raised to where Astrid had been moments earlier. She was now lying unconscious next to a shattered axe a few feet away, and Hiccup was made of solid ice. Jack scrambled around to the front so he could see Hiccup's face.

"No," Jack croaked. "Hiccup, no, please no!"

He cupped his hand around Hiccup's brave face, which looked determined and optimistic as ever. His messy hair almost hung down over his eyes, and it was frozen to his skin. Rapunzel stopped abruptly, feeling like she had been punched in the gut. Tears streamed down her face as she heard Jack start to sing.

"Yes I wanna build a snowman…

I'm sorry that it took so long…

I didn't know I needed you…I really do…

and now you're gone…

please…just ask me once more…

just one more time…I promise I'll open the door

…yes I wanna build a snowman…"

Jack broke for the first time in years, sobbing as he threw his arms around his brother. Rapunzel stumbled forward slowly. Lying on the ground, Astrid blinked and came to. She saw Jack hugging Hiccup's frozen body and was instantly crushed by guilt and remained where she was. Merida broke open the frozen doors and stood on the balcony with the other diplomats.

"The girl has failed," the prince from the Southern Isles said solemnly.

"That monster must have attacked her!" the Duke of Wesselton said savagely.

Eugene stepped between them. "Shut up! He's just a boy and he's just lost his brother…"

"Wait!" Merida yelled, waving her hands frantically. "Look!"

Rapunzel watched with mouth open as color returned to Hiccup, starting at his chest and gradually spreading through his whole body. A moment later, Hiccup blinked a little dizzily and took a gasping breath of air, falling onto Jack for support. Jack pulled back in surprise, gaping. Hiccup blinked at him.

"You're alive!" they both gasped at the same time.

Relieved, Jack reached forward and pulled him into a crushing hug, suddenly realizing how much he'd missed physical contact in the past few years. Merida and the others cheered from the balcony, and Rapunzel joined them, squealing in delight. Then the trio was knocked over as Toothless came bounding for Hiccup, overjoyed that he was alright. Jack rolled away, laughing as he managed to avoid Toothless' enthusiastic licking. He stood and helped Hiccup to his feet.

"How did you survive?" he asked. "I mean, you were dead."

"I'm not sure," Hiccup admitted, petting Toothless' head to keep him at bay. "I just knew I had to stop Astrid."

"But you sacrificed yourself for me…why?"

"You're my brother," Hiccup shrugged as if it were obvious. "And, despite everything, I do love you."

"Oh!" Rapunzel gasped. "That's it! True love thaws a frozen heart. It wasn't true love's kiss, it was just love of any kind!"

"That's what the "sword sacrifice" meant in the prophecy," Hiccup realized.

"But the land is still frozen," Jack realized looking around in concern.

The ice beneath Toothless cracked again and they all froze, not daring to move a muscle. Rapunzel looked at Jack urgently.

"We can't wait on a magic prophecy to thaw everything. Jack, you have to melt it."

"I don't know how!"

"You did when we were kids!" she exclaimed, surprised and...scared.

"Jack, I'm scared."

"Don't be. It'll be fun!"

"You can't act on your fear, Jack," Elsa said.

"Oh," he breathed. Suddenly a hundred memories flooded back from his childhood and all the fun they had had together. He paused, looking down through the ice, then he grinned. "Hang on, everybody."

He raised his hands and the ice cracked beneath their feet, freeing the ship beneath them. Once they were standing on the dry deck, he ran to the bow that overlooked the entire fjord. Focusing on the fun memories when he and Hiccup and Rapunzel would play around the castle, he raised his hands over the fjord. Ice cracked and sped towards the open sea in a loud and impressive wave. Then he jumped down to join the others, raising them all on a platform of ice and snow so they could overlook the city. Jack waved his hands again and the snow floated up off the streets, swirling together in the now cloudless sky to form a giant snowball. From their vantage point, they could see the citizens looking on in amazement and concern.

"Now what?" Hiccup asked breathlessly.

Jack smirked. "Watch this."

He pretended like he was throwing a normal sized snowball, and the massive mound went flying over the fjord and landed in the sea with a ginormous splash, sinking safely below the waves. The cheer that went up from Arendelle was so loud, that Merida found out later that even the trolls heard it. Jack dusted off his hands like it was nothing and smugly lowered the ice platform back to the ship.

that's what mother meant."

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked.

"She told me the only way she controlled her powers was her love for Anna. I thought I was doing the same thing, but I was focused on the fear of hurting you. But if I focus on the love instead of the fear…"

"That was incredible," Hiccup admitted, nodding.

"I knew you had it in you all along," Rapunzel smiled. "Just took you awhile to get it back."

"Thanks," Jack said.

"Oh!" Rapunzel said suddenly. "I just remembered! My parents are in a dungeon!"

"What?" both brothers asked.

"Astrid put them there so she could control of the kingdom," Rapunzel groaned. "I have to go rescue them!"

"Wait, where is Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"She was just here," Rapunzel said, looking around the boat. "Jack, she made it on board before the ice melted, right?"

"She was unconscious, but yeah, she was here."

"What's Toothless looking at?" Rapunzel asked.

The dragon was sitting quite contentedly on the deck, looking back towards the city curiously. Jack formed an icicle in his hands and broke off the tip, turning it into a telescope and following Toothless' gaze. A few seconds later, he evaporated the icicle and sighed.

"He's looking at Astrid," he said simply. "She must have jumped off while I was melting the town and swam to shore."

"Fast swimmer," Hiccup remarked. "But not faster than a dragon. Toothless? I'm going to need another ride."

Astrid's feet slammed on the cobblestones as she raced through the streets. She was thankful she didn't have to fight the snow and ice, in her soaking condition she would have been caught easily. Only now that Arendelle had thawed, Hiccup and Jack would come looking for her. If only she could make it inside, then she might could buy some time...

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled angrily from above.

Astrid risked a glance over her shoulder and spotted the two brothers flying a dragon not far behind.

Where did they get that?

A little stream divided the aristocrats and the peasants, and the bridge that crossed it was flooded with the excess water from melted ice. Astrid leapt over it easily and kept running further into the slums.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jack challenged. "You know, I tried the running away thing and it didn't work."

They were right on top of her now, but Astrid didn't answer. She could see the house now, she had to make it. Toothless landed in front of her and she tripped over his tail. Hiccup immediately jumped off and pinned her arms to the ground.

"Let go of me!" She yelled, struggling to her feet. "FISHLEGS!"

"What? Why would you even...?"

Hiccup stopped abruptly as a scrawny boy about 10 ran out of a house-more like a shack-a few yards ahead. His nose was running, his glasses were broken, and he was still shivering from the cold. Hiccup didn't realize he had released Astrid until he saw her embrace the boy.

"Are the others ok?" she asked urgently, already running inside.

"Yes, but I can't wake Ruff up!" he said in a nasally tone.

Hiccup and Jack exchanged glances and followed them curiously. The little shack was tiny and the fire was dwindling. On one side, an even thinner boy lay on a pallet, his legs twisted and bent. Astrid knelt over him worriedly, ignoring Hiccup and Jack.

"It's about time you showed up!" the boy said. He looked like he was nearly 15. "We're starving, we ran out of food yesterday!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Astrid said. "Where's Ruff?"

"It was warmer in the closet," Fishlegs said, pointing to the other room.

Astrid leapt the length of the room and tore open the door. A young girl slept in an uncomfortable position, covered in blankets and coughing in her sleep. Astrid gently lifted her into the open air and laid her on the only bed in the two room house.

"Ruff, can you hear me?" she called, shaking her gently. "Ruff?!"

Hiccup turned to Jack. "Get Rapunzel. Hurry."

Jack needed no further prompting. He turned and raced back to Toothless while Hiccup tried to keep the girl warm. Astrid tried to stoke the fire back to life.

"What's her name?" he asked.

"Ruffnut, and that's her twin Tuffnut. Oh, and that's Fishlegs."

Hiccup fished a few coins from his pocket and handed them to Fishlegs. "Run to the market and get some bread and maybe some fruit. Whatever you can find."

"I meant what I said, Hiccup, I'm sorry," Astrid said, swallowing. "I really am from Berk. My father was a Viking and he abandoned us, my mother died after we moved here and we've been on our own."

Hiccup carried Ruffnut closer to the fire.

"She's been like that for over a day," Tuffnut said. "She wouldn't wake up even for food, so I ate the last of that."

"I'm sorry, I tried to get away but people were starting to get suspicious." She looked at Hiccup uneasily. "I wasn't trying to take over and I never wanted to hurt you or Jack," she promised. "I was just trying to get a friend in the palace. Not just for money. Your cousin...her powers are the last chance Ruff and Tuff have of walking again."

"What happened?"

"The worlds most awesome sledding accident," Tuff said with a dreamy look in his eyes.

Astrid glared at him. "It was not awesome. You all haven't been able to play tricks since!"

Tuff sighed dramatically. "That was our only downside. And it was completely unplanned."

"Obviously," Hiccup said.

"I'm here!" Rapunzel called out breathlessly. She ran and knelt beside Astrid, examining Ruffnut. "Hiccup, escort everyone else back to the palace. Astrid and I will fly there immediately."

"Can you help her?" Astrid asked worriedly as she scooped Ruff into her arms.

"Yes, but she's going to need more than food, and it's going to be a long road to recovery."