Dark VI

Anna walked for hours. Kristoff found her wandering the forest.

"Anna! Anna, are you okay?"

She nodded dumbly.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned. She shook her head, "Do you need Elsa?" She finally met his gaze, simultaneously confused and terrified. Kristoff moved over, making room for her on the sled. She numbly nodded, climbing on. He just gave her room, and rushed Sven on.

The ride home was a quiet one. Kristoff wanted to talk to his girlfriend, but she was kind of out of it. He rushed back to the Arrendelle capital double-speed. He stopped only once to tell his family about the lonely man who needed love advice.

From there, it was a straight-shot to the capital. The sun was going down by the time they reached the capital. Kristoff noticed Anna wasn't moving. He leaned over and brushed her face softly.

"Go ahead, Elsa can help…"

Kristoff brought her back to the present. Anna smiled sadly, stroked her boyfriend's chin softly before getting out of the sleight.

"…thank you."

Elsa was not doing much better in her study. Her ministers had guessed (accurately) that she would need time alone. They thought she would be preoccupied with Hans, but instead, she was thinking of someone else, "Prince…"

It had been so long since she'd had real company. Yes, she had Anna and Kristoff and a million other people, but (despite how many times the dog had changed ownership) Prince was hers. And no one else's. She could see it in his eyes; nothing else was like her. She was unique, special. Like a snowflake, one of a kind.

The queen, oddly, would give almost anything to feel that way again. She heard the soft recognizable knock of her sister.

"Anna!" She hid the collar and opened the door. Immediately she knew something was wrong, "What? Is it Hans?"

Anna opened her mouth, but only ghostly echoes came out. Elsa forcefully pulled her sister in, stripped her of her traveling gear, and checked her out. No physical wounds were evident, but then again, this was Hans. He always aimed for the heart.

"Sit!" She commanded, "What happened? Please, Anna, I'm your sister, and I will always be there for you, but I can't be there for you if you're not there to be there for!"

…it made more sense in her head.

"Hans… is dead."

Elsa felt a huge burden roll off her shoulder. A burden she did not even realize she was trying to carry, actually.

"What? I mean… how do you know? He didn't try to-" She was cut off.

"I killed him."

Elsa huffed, puzzled, "How could you?"

"I… surprised him," The more she spoke, the more she came alive, "He was just standing there staring off a cliff and I just… took all the pain and the rage and pushed him. I thought I could," She started speaking too rapidly, with tears starting to form, "I… I… I could stop him, for you, for me, for Kristoff, for everyone he ever lied to, or ever would lie to. I could see all the pain he caused everyone, and I had this horrible thought," She leaned in closely, and whispered, "Everyone would be better off… if he were dead."

Elsa suppressed a small gasp. This was not her sister talking. Anna wouldn't think that about anyone. That was Hans' way of seeing people.

"And… I pushed him. It was great. He was so scared, and I felt so powerful. His eyes filled with fear, and I could see him realize that I had him. And…"

Elsa nudged her sister. The narrative had stopped and she wasn't sure why.

"And he said something… I don't understand. Then he fell."

Elsa searched for some hidden knowledge. Why was this so horrible?

"He said…" Anna mouthed the word.

Elsa rose away from her sister. It was a lie, a trick, a trap. That's all Hans was made up of. Yet…

"I'm a murderer. I checked his route. Nobody there had been hurt. He was just looking for information. He was really just running an errand. I killed somebody… who was just trying to run an errand! Oh, Elsa! I'M MONSTER!"

Elsa turned and hugged her sister tightly, "You… are not… a monster…"

"I killed him! Why would I do that? He wasn't trying to hurt anybody! I looked for him! I attacked him! He didn't even fight back!"

Anna had lost it by now, looking for emotion support from her elder sister. Once she had calmed down, the two took some time in silence.

Elsa spoke up first, "…do you forgive Hans for what he did to you?"

"He almost-"

"I didn't ask what he almost did. I asked if you forgave him."

"…yeah, I guess."

"I forgave him a long time ago, too. I think," Elsa said softly, then more firmly, "I think we deserve forgiveness then. Maybe we did the wrong thing. Maybe we did the right thing. Either way, we deserve that forgiveness."

Anna chuckled, feeling better, "Besides, it would be just like him to come back from the dead, again."

Both sisters laughed hardily. Then stopped; it was just like him to do that. Neither of them said that part out-loud though.

After a few more minutes of comfort, the sisters separated. Elsa had stately affairs to tend to, and Anna had to check on Sophia.

Kristoff knocked after opening the door, "Is... she okay?"

Elsa put on a brave face, but decided against lying. She shook her head.

"Did Hans...? What did he do?"

Elsa opened her mouth, "He... died."

Kristoff stood there, shocked, "He's dead? Does that mean Sophia is safe?"

Elsa buried her head in her hands, like she used to when she was a child, "Yes, no, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe she's in worse shape than before. Maybe I've doomed her to..."

A warm hand found it's way to the back of her head.

"Hey... you're doing a great job."

"Thanks Kristoff."

He smiled.

She sighed tiredly, "I wish Prince were here."

He nodded, "Yeah, I wonder what happened to him."

Elsa turned to the window, eyes far, far away, "I'm not sure... but I hope he didn't suffer...

Past the city, to the fjord, was a dam, going up the stream behind the dam was a swamp fed by a river flowing through the mountains. About three hours by sled was a group of rocks clustered in the stream. These isolated rocks, about the size of a garden gnome, were about to gain more from the river than wood debris.

A broken body collided with the rocks.

Hans groaned in agony. Although he was no doctor, he knew immediately that his right leg was broken. He also knew that, for some reason, he could not move the left side of his body without burning agony. Had he been able to check, he would have found about half of his ribs were broken. He coughed up bloody in a fit.

Hans was alive, but he was dying quickly.

Oddly, his life did not flash before his eyes. Not that he wanted it to. It was not a life he took a great deal of pride in. Murder, deceit, betrayal. And for what? Nothing.

"E-e-e-el..." He coughed again. He had one last thing to do, "Else..."

Shock took over his body, and he trembled violently. Not long now. His vibrations knocked the rocks loose. His head dipped under the water as he finished his short, miserable life.

"uuuuh..."

The world went black.