Elsa awoke to find (one of her) worst nightmares come true; Sophia was gone. She immediately bolted up.

"Sophia?"

She ran out the door and down the hall opening the doors. Finally she went up on deck. It was dusk. The queen was more of a night person. The opposite of Anna, really.

Sophia was on the deck.

Elsa let out a breath of relief. She watched the princess with... him.

Oh, lovely.

To his credit, Hans was behaving himself. He was talking to the girl and listening to her reply excitedly. Instead of his usual white coat, he was wearing a dark blue one with medals. Sophia leapt into his arms. Elsa watched as he picked her up and spun her around and around in his arms. Sohia laughed happily, "Faster daddy, faster."

Anna and Kristoff were there too, watching the sun rise. Sven was happily playing a game of checkers against himself. Hans spun Sophia higher and higher, to the approval of Anna.

Then he slipped. A spike of ice flew out and hit Anna's head. Suddenly the sky grew dark, and the sun went down. Hans set Sophia down and went to the side of the ship.

"Wait!" Cried Elsa. But her voice didn't carry. She tried to move, but found herself stuck to the deck by her own power, "Wait! Don't leave me!"

Suddenly, she was Sophia, running to the side of the ship, totally powerless.

"Daddy, no!"

She watched her father, now dressed as Hans, wave goodbye sadly.

"I'll be right back."

"Noooo!"

"It'll just be for blub blub blu-blub..."

He sunk beneath the waves, watching his daughter sob her heart out.

"NO! NO! NO!" Elsa rocketed up in her bed, "NOOOOOO!"

Silence. It was totally quiet. Elsa sighed into her hands. A dream... nightmare. Whatever. Where had that even come from. A small nagging voice in the back of her head had an explanation, but she ignored it. Had been for years.

"I said goodbye, didn't I?" She thought that was enough. She didn't go to the funeral for very good reasons. Yet now she was getting married.

Her father promised her someone. Someone to take away the biting loneliness. For a minute, Elsa let herself relapse into the memory from when she was little; her father spun her around and around and around, getting her higher and higher.

And he never slipped, never made a mistake. He'd never let her down. When she was losing control, he got her gloves. When Anna almost died, he came up with a solution. When she became extremely lonely he scoured the globe for someone for her. In a way, he was just as controlling as Hans was.

Elsa's feelings towards her father were... complicated. He had been a sailor like Hans, a military man, like Hans, and, like Hans, was not afraid of her, he just sought to understand her.

...he never failed her. So why didn't he come back?

Elsa shook her head. Analyzing things that happened so long ago were pointless. She knew without checking that Sophia had snuck out to be with her uncle. Sure enough, the queen found her on deck. Hans wasn't in a very good mood. Apparently someone (cough Anna cough) had given Sophia enough sugar to keep her awake all night, and if she was going to be awake all night, so was dear uncle Hans.

He was falling asleep at the wheel. A sharp, shiny black shoe to the shin woke him right back up.

"Uncle Hans, are you listening?!" Sophia yelled at the top of her lungs. The prince bolted upright, scrambling to collect his thoughts.

"Unicorns, roses, rainbows, check," He shook his head clear, "But you're going to have to clear all that with Miss Elsa."

Sophia's face pouted adorably. Elsa smiled. Hans was clearly in no mood to deal with any of this, but he could keep his cool around children.

Elsa swallowed uncomfortably. Did he want kids? Did she have to-

...ew. Ew. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew...! No, not Hans. Well... he was actually really good looking. But no. Ew. She didn't like him like that. She just... had to marry him.

"Elsa!" Sophia was overjoyed to see her. Even Hans visibly showed relief that she had arrived to take over parenting. Seeing his pain, she couldn't help but poke a bit of fun. What? The guy tried to kill her. The least she could do was tease him.

"I'll take care of the roses and the rainbows, you," She said pointedly, "Can take care of the unicorns."

Hans visibly shuddered. Between his exhaustion and dealing with Sophia, he didn't even want to try and figure out how to find a unicorn.

"Yay!" Chimed in Sophia. Then she blushed really red, "Aaaaw...! True love! Uncle Hans! Your girlfriend needs a kiss!"

Elsa's eyes got really wide, "I'm not that great at- oh! Okay!"

Sophia dragged her adoptive mom to her uncle. She bounced excitedly, waiting for them to- you know.

"Good evening," Said the prince.

"'... evening," She replied.

Sophia bounced and bounced, and slowly her energy petered off.

"Wha-aaaat?! That's it?! Where's the love?!"

Hans sighed tiredly, "Sophia, our relationship," He glanced at his fiancée, "Is...?"

"Complicated?" She completed.

"Ha! You're finishing each others-!"

"Sandwiches," they both intoned. Hans turned back to the wheel.

"Besides, I'm busy steering the ship back to Arrendelle."

"But she just woke up! Elsie needs a true love's kiss to..." She paused thinking, "You know, do stuff! That's what princesses run on, ya know!"

"I know," Hans replied, stooping to kiss her on her head, "But Elsa is a queen. They run on..." He paused, trying to think of something that wasn't insulting, "other stuff, I guess."

Sophia pouted for a minute before figuring out that she wasn't going to get a true love's kiss.

"'Kaaaaay... but she needs a hug!" Sophia pouted, "She wasn't sleeping well last night, and look how tired she is! Don't you remember how bad your dreams were?!"

Elsa saw that Hans stood totally still for a moment. Interesting. Westerguard wasn't the bastion of mental fortitude he usually passed himself off as.

Elsa stored this away for later. She also realized that Sophia herself was quite observant; noticing the actions of those around her and understanding what it indicated about them.

"I told you for the last hour, Sophia, I'm at the wheel, so I- whoa!"

Sophia jerked the control away, sending Elsa reeling as the little girl tried to correct the craft,

"'KAY! I got it!"

She tried to correct the course. Elsa was stable now, but it was Hans who was thrown off guard, or, rather, thrown onto Elsa. The two stood awkwardly, extremely close to one another. Elsa kept her hands between the two of them.

"Hi."

"...hello Hans."

"HUG HER!" Demanded Sophia. Sighing, Hans parted his arms, allowing her closer. Elsa, figuring she should obey before something extremely cruel happen, allowed herself to lean into him. Sophia pushed them uncomfortably close, rendering a sense of intimacy to their all-too public affections.

Elsa kept her hands up, keeping him at least that far away. Until she felt his heart. Strangely, it reminded her of Shadow...

She leaned closer.

thump-thump. thump-thump.

Hans' frozen heart beat just like anyone else's.

Before she knew it, the queen found herself molding into him perfectly; behind his neck was a crook for her nose, her cheekbone rested comfortably on his collar. His pectorals were perfect to rest her hands on. For just a moment, the lonely royal allowed herself to be held.

Then her hip bumped his belt, and she remembered; he's a murderer.

He killed before, he'd kill again. He couldn't be trusted. Without explaining, Elsa went back below decks, listening to Sophia insist that she could steer 'right' and 'left' and Hans yell about 'starboard' and 'port'.

Maybe she could get some sleep after all.