I'm not going to lie - this chapter was a struggle, that's why it took me basically 8 hours to write/edit/proofread it. The ending was especially hard to manage and still keep at a T rating - you'll see why when you get there.

Also, a fair warning - from here on out, this story will become a more mature: for example, alcohol use, violence, moderate emotional turmoil/abuse, and mild language, but without crossing into dangerous territory. So if you are sensitive to anything mentioned above, please leave this fic now - it only gets worse from here. When I said "dark" Iceburns AU, I wasn't kidding!

Anywho, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)

~1 month later~

Elsa awoke in her bed to an autumn-chilled room, a plethora of blankets snuggled around her, a few rays of sunlight streaming in the window, and her fiancée's warm bare chest at her side. The queen breathed out slowly, pulling up her nightshift to her collarbone and pulling down her blankets in two fluid motions. Her eyes gazed at the glittering engagement band on her left ring finger as she did so, and she smiled – finally realizing that the last month, from the proposal to the final wedding preparations, had not been the product of some fantasy or dream.

She was getting married tomorrow…

And she still hadn't told Anna.

With a groan, Elsa realized she would have to tell her today, no matter how afraid she was of what Anna might say. That was the reason, really, she had kept the news from Anna for so long – she was terrified of what her sister's reaction would be to the agreed matrimony between the two regents. And it was no easy task, keeping the youngest princess out of the castle and away from Arendelle for a whole four weeks as a way to silence her nerves.

Elsa had only done so at Hans' suggesting. She wouldn't want to keep such a big secret from Anna, but since she was so nervous, Hans had stepped right up to the plate and thrown out the idea that maybe, just maybe, Elsa could send Anna away for a while if she really was that worried?, and she had replied, yes, yes, my love, that's a wonderful idea. And a mere few hours later, Anna was on a boat, against her will and asking questions, to a trade conference in the Eastern Kingdom, just as the bells announcing the queen's engagement rang throughout Arendelle.

And here it was, the morning before she tied the knot, the morning when Anna returned from her fifth trip that month, an emissary mission to the Southern Isles, and the morning where Elsa slightly regretted her decision.

A little bit. Not much. Anna would be mad, but she couldn't afford to worry about that now.

"…mmmm…'lsa, love, ya awake?" Hans murmured sleepily from beside her, shifting his position so that he lay on his side.

Elsa turned as well, her eyes tracing over the myriad cross-shaped burns across his chest before meeting his sleepy green eyes. She absentmindedly ran her finger over the shapes as she replied, "Yes, very much so. Ready to go meet Anna down at the dock? I don't want to keep her waiting too long."

"Are you finally going to tell her?" Hans asked with a grin, grabbing her moving hand as they traveled across his chest together. "You really don't have much choice, do you; tomorrow we'll be wed."

"Of course I'll tell her today. She won't be too happy about it though. I… you know, sometimes I don't even understand why we sent her away. Her reaction would have been the same whether we had told her the following morning or two hours before I walk down the isle. Hurt, confused, and left out."

"We didn't tell her right away, Elsie, because the longer we waited, the less time it would give her to talk you and the servants out of it." He grunted as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling on his brown casual shirt from the floor and slipping it on as he talked. "Anna's got a way with words, I've noticed. She would've convinced you into something you truly didn't believe…" Leaning over the bed, he stole a kiss from his future wife with a goofy smile. "…And we definitely don't want that."

As he drew back, Elsa felt her lips turn up into a smile much like his own. "No, no we don't, dear."

She bounded from the bed and went over to her closet, pulling out a simple royal blue gown with golden accents around the collar and waist from among the many others, as she heard Hans open the door to go to his own chambers.

"Think about it," he said quietly, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "By tomorrow night we will be sharing a room... and we can truly be together…"

With a happy sigh, she turned, the dress tight in her arms, as she looked over her love one last time before he left. He looked so cheerful, a small smile on his face as he stood in the threshold of her room, his eyes alight with the sunlight from the hallway, his thick ginger locks framing his chiseled face. She wondered, ever so briefly, if their marriage would be the happiest day of his life, after such an enduring childhood. She hoped it would be. He deserved it.

"Yes… tomorrow is the beginning of forever."

The couple sauntered down to the dock arm in arm just as the small ship came into port. Elsa nervously watched the ship arrive – she could feel ice crystals forming under her black gloves and she clung to Hans tighter, her hand snaking down her side to grab his. His hand grew warmer in reaction to her feelings as they laced fingers, and the queen exhaled calmly, her heartbeat slowing as she watched her breath mingle with the cold air. Hans always knew how to placate her, and, right now, she really needed it.

The wind blew softly as the boat let down its ramp and Hans and Elsa stood at the wooden plank that was the dock. Looking up, Elsa saw Anna, with two guards carrying suitcases, appear over the hull of the ship. Her sister looked tired and frustrated, her ginger hair done in one messy braid instead of two, like she had not had the time to do her hair properly before arriving, and the dark circles under her eyes prominent. Elsa sighed lamentably, as a little more regret chilled her bones.

"Princess Anna of Arendelle," the shipmaster, who had been standing near the dock in preparation, announced as the trio landed. He, the guards, and the crew still on the ship all bowed at this proclamation, whilst Anna only huffed, grabbed her bags and stormed off away from the attention.

"Anna—" Elsa began as her sister passed, but Anna only spat at a terse "We need to talk. Now." before continuing on her way, down the dock, across the landing, and up the stairs into the village that led to the castle.

"Oh, Anna. Will she never learn to control her anger?" Hans remarked, as Elsa gazed after her sister sadly, making no comment in return.

I'm so sorry, Anna…

Without even knowing why, Elsa broke away from Hans and started to run.

Elsa found Anna, not surprisingly, in her room. It felt strange, being in her sister's room after having not entered it for so long, but here she was, among her sister's pink canopy bed, her myriad books, and – most alarming at the moment – her anger.

As the door slammed behind them, Anna's voice pounced on Elsa like a wild jungle cat as the ginger stood with her hands balled in fists. "Alright, Elsa, no more games. I'm so sick and tired of you sending me off places without telling me why! And for a whole month too…" Anna shut her eyes tightly, and her next words came out in barely a whisper. "I want the truth, and I want it now."

"Well…" Elsa cleared her throat, wringing her hands in her lap nervously. "It's a bit hard to explain—"

"Now, Elsa!"

The queen jumped at the change in Anna's tone, and, shocked out of her wits, she blurted, "I'm getting married."

Silence fell between the two sisters for what seemed like hours to Elsa. Her nerves spiked almost immediately and she felt the frost begin to appear on her gloves and boots, heard her heart ramming into her chest like a hammer, saw her vision blur as Anna exhaled very, very slowly, her hands clenching and unclenching like a killer preparing to strike.

And it was more terrifying than if Anna had yelled at her.

"…When?"

"Tomorrow..."

"Oh my god," Anna cried, her voice sounding much like a roar. A dainty hand ran down her face as a rougher exhale came, the youngest princess still scarily calm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I was afraid." Elsa admitted, her voice beginning to shake." I was afraid of how you w-would react, c-considering you don't like H-Hans all that much…"

"Elsa, you know I would have accepted your decision, no matter how crazy it is. I'm your younger sister, for crying out loud! I have no choice but to accept! What did you think I would do, tell you no?" The placid façade was fading away as Anna gave a sharp laugh, but Elsa's ears were ringing with the sound of one word Anna had uttered, every sentence after that not settling in her mind at all.

No matter how crazy it is.

Crazy?

My decision isn't crazy—

"It's not crazy. It's not. I love him." Elsa was shaking, trembling all over with newfound anger, her gloves fully covered with chilling frost, her teeth gritted, her brow furrowed. She glared down at her feet, unwilling to look Anna in the eye. How dare Anna insult me like that, how dare she! "You just don't understand. You can never understand."

How dare she, how dare she, HOW DARE SHE! The little runt, she's so close-minded and she never liked him anyway, now she goes and calls my decision CRAZY? I won't have it; I won't have ANY of it!

"Are you listening to me at all, Elsa? I'm perfectly okay with you marrying… Hans… well, maybe not perfectly okay, but I completely understand why…" Anna trailed off, leaving only the angry pounding of Elsa's own heart in her ears. "Brr… Is it getting colder in here…?"

Only then did Elsa break free of the spell of her own emotions, noticing the jagged ice curling around her feet and the pointy frosted spikes jutting out from Anna's walls. She gasped, taken aback by her own power, her heart pounding a million miles a minute at the realization that she had taken her feelings too far – again. Her eyes snapped up to Anna, who had her arms wrapped around herself, and, to her surprise, wasn't looking at the ice contortions that had taken over her room; she was looking at Elsa. And smiling.

"Look, sis." Anna sighed, taking a few steps forward. "I… I'm sorry for making such a big deal over this, okay? I mean… yes, you probably should have told me earlier, but I understand why you didn't… because of Hans. I mean, I don't like him..." She shrugged with a chuckle. "… But maybe I should just loosen up a little, huh? You're in love; I bet you don't want to deal with an annoying little sister at the moment."

"Anna, that's—"

"I know," Anna retorted, "'That's not true,' you'll say. But it is. And you have every right to believe as such." She stepped a little closer, but Elsa was rooted to her spot, enraptured by the outcome of this conversation. Anna was actually accepting this – it proved that years of separation had made the sisters total strangers to each others' true personalities. Anna? She was docile as a baby deer, so much so that it was making Elsa feel as if she was in a dream.

She and Hans were getting married, and Anna was okay with it.

"I'm being selfish, an attention seeker… and I'm sorry. I'll let you and Hans have your happiness. And I won't worry about bothering you anymore, even after the wedding. If that's what you want. I get it." The smile Anna wore turned sad, as tears ran down her face. "Things can never go back to how they used to be."

Elsa was stunned into silence. No, that wasn't what she wanted – Elsa wanted them to be sisters, really and truly she did! She looked at her trembling hands as the ice below her feet started to slowly melt. Everything in her life revolved around her icy powers. When she got up in the morning, she put on the gloves. She could never get upset; her powers would spiral out of control, as they had just done. And worst of all – these powers were destroying her relationship with Anna, tearing them apart on the secrets Elsa kept and the false memories Anna remembered.

She wanted to scream the truth at Anna. She wanted to tell her, "Anna, I want to be sisters again, but we can't because of my powers that hurt you so long ago," and she would reveal to her the snow the lay in her veins and they would build snowmen again and there would be no more secrets between them, no more lies, and they'd open the gates permanently, and with Anna and Hans by her side, who would be afraid of the snow queen and her dangerous magic? No one. Everything would be just like it used to.

All she had to do was tell Anna the real story behind their separation.

But her heart seized up, looking at Anna's defeated, saddened posture. The girl stood hunched over, crying, staring at her feet.

She could make her sister stop crying. She could.

But Elsa was a coward, her mind caught in a dangerous spiral of counterfactual reasoning and paranoia.

What if Anna thinks I'm a freak? What if, after I tell her this she doesn't believe me? What if she thinks I'm crazy, and I get put in the dungeons, and she kills Hans to become queen? What if what if what if what if—

Elsa made a noise like a scared animal, her mind spinning and her veins burning and everything was so cold—

She ran. Out of Anna's room, down the hallway, past her room, and into Hans', where she nearly knocked him over as she crossed the threshold where he was standing, barreling her way into his chest and sobbing a full on ugly cry, staining her dress and his coat with her tears.

"Love, what's wrong, what's –"

"I can't!" She screamed, clinging to him like an angry child, sending wild streaks of frost up his back as she dug her hands into his coat. "I'm so scared, Hans, so scared, I want to tell Anna about my powers, because she doesn't remember them, and it hurts me every time I have to shut her out because I'm terrified of hurting her, and just now she said that she knew that things couldn't go back to normal and she accepted it like it was nothing, and I just couldn't take it because I knew she was hurting, I knew she just wanted to be sisters again but I'm such a coward and I could say a word to make her feel better and –" She broke off, her voice catching in her own sobs. She could feel the frost screaming from her body and turning the room into a frozen wasteland, but she didn't care. She had, finally, lost the trust and love of the only family she had left. Anna had given up on her. Who could she turn to other than the love of her life? "I hate this damned curse, I hate it! I wish I was just normal…"

But Hans was shushing her soothingly and picking her up, carrying her over to his bed and lying down with her, throwing the blankets over them so that they made a little cave. Elsa, still shaking and crying, curled up and put her head against his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. It calmed her, but only a little. She still felt like the most despicable person in the world.

"Elsa, sweetheart," Hans began, resting his chin on top of the queen's white locks. "I'm sorry, but you are not normal, and no amount of wishing can change that. And… no amount of wishing can change Anna either. Really, I'm glad you didn't reveal your powers to her. Siblings can be dangerous, love, and I'm sure, once she knows of the real you, Anna will become no different than my brothers. She will treat you like a monster."

"Anna's different," Elsa pleaded weakly, Hans' words already starting to mold themselves into her brain. Maybe he was right…

"You may think that. But I don't want you to try and find out. Let's keep our fire and ice between the two of us, okay?"

Sniffling, Elsa nodded and didn't try to argue. Anna was a sweet girl; but Hans had some truth to his speculation. Things could all change if Anna discovered the real power behind the cold-hearted queen. She snuggled closer to him, and Hans pulled her tighter in response, the heat radiating off his body making her feel drowsy and warm. It was nice, to feel as if she was floating away, no responsibilities, no pressures. "Okay… and tomorrow we'll be married…"

"Just think about that. Don't let Anna get in the way of your happiness."

She nodded again, struggling to keep her eyes open. Crying had taken all the energy out of her and all she wanted to do was go back to bed. "I'm sleepy, Hans…"

"Then sleep, darling. Dream about the bells that will ring tomorrow, and the sweet kisses I'll give you when we are wed. Everything will be alright."

As he kissed her on the head, Elsa fell into an equally peaceful and fitful sleep, feeling truly comfortable for the first time in another's arms.

Most of the wedding day had passed like a dream for Elsa. She awoke drowsily, having slept most of the previous day after her tiff with Anna, and was barely alert as her maidservants rushed and flittered around her, dressing her in a gorgeous yet simple silver long-sleeved wedding dress with a ruffled train, her hair done up in a milkmaid braid. She barely ate any breakfast before the procession, leaving her not only tired but also slightly hungry when she walked down the isle in the castle's church, the royal tailor at her side in place of her father. Vows and rings were exchanged brightly, but only when Hans, clad in a white suit and bowtie, removed the veil from its place over her face did the spell held over her break, as her soon-to-be husband's face became laden with tears of joy.

"You may kiss the bride," said the priest solemnly, and Hans wasted no time taking Elsa into his arms and kissing her deeply, just like he had on the night of his proposal. And Elsa felt happy again, felt normal again, felt at peace with the world in the arms of her beloved; and as cries of "Long Live the Queen and King of Arendelle!" along with the singing of the national anthem followed the newly married couple out of the chapel doors, her heart soared with the excitement of their first night in the same sleeping chambers.

She barely noticed that Anna wasn't even there.

The reception came and went. Wine was drunk, food was eaten, goodbyes were said and by eleven that night the young couple was left alone in their new master suite, originally belonging to Elsa's parents, but the room had been renovated especially for this evening – when they would consummate their marriage.

The bed was huge, taking up most of the space of the immaculate room, covered with many thick blankets, and sheltered by a canopy of netted silk. An empty painting frame hung above the bed, waiting for the painting of Elsa and Hans as the new rulers to be placed inside it. A small fire roared in the fireplace, warming the room with a romantic air.

Elsa entered the chamber first, giggling like a madwoman and spinning herself around and around until she flopped on the bed, which immediately became frosty with her unchecked powers. She would admit, she had drunk a few more glasses than she normally would at a party, thanks to her husband.

And who else would saunter in next than the new king himself, who was practically tripping over his own feet as he flopped next to Elsa, the fire roaring higher at the presence of the man. He had drank at least one or two bottles, and it certainly was showing – not a second passed from when he landed on the bed until he was on Elsa, kissing her like crazy and breathing heavily, the room soon filled with the smell of alcohol from Hans' breath.

"This, this day righ' here, this day was the besssssst," he slurred against her lips, kissing her deeply again. "Yer gonna get me everythin' I want an' more, 'cuz you're the besssst, Elsaaaaaa."

Elsa fell into giggles again between kisses, drinking him in, only stopping to talk. "You're the best too, Hans. The besty-est." This sent her into another fit of giggles, and then Hans started roaring with laughter, finally rolling off of her while Elsa giggled herself to a tomato red face.

"I'm- I'm- I'm- I'm gonna be a king, the best king in alllllllll of Air-en-dell…" He continued, trailing off as his wife's giggle fit subsided. Elsa looked at her love through drunken, yet loving eyes. This was the man she had chosen to love for the rest of her life. And, even though now his hair was mussed from inebriation and his face was sweaty as a dog's, she knew he would be an excellent ruler.

And she wanted him. Wanted all of him, right that moment.

Elsa, taking the lead, flung herself on Hans, dragging him backwards to the edge of the bed while kissing him madly. She helped him remove his coat and shirt, and their clothing was thrown to the floor, long forgotten; all layers were cast aside and truly loved each other for the first time.

The fire roared in the grate and the ice sprang up the walls in celebration, rejoicing in the passions of the two lovers, becoming one at last, while the autumn moon shone bright upon the jubilating kingdom that they could now, finally, call their own.

See why the ending was hard? *sighs* I even had to get help from a friend on editing it. Really, the pre-edit version of the ending paragraphs wasn't that far of a cry from what you see here (it was nothing detailed, I promise! :D), but I just felt a need to tone it down a smidge.

Anyway, reviews are appreciated!

~Anais