Elsa sat at her desk, frustrated, trying to get some work done when there came a knock.

"Who is it?"

"It's Henrik. May I come in?"

"Come in."

Elsa didn't look up from her work as Henrik crossed over to the chair in front of her desk.

"May I sit?"

"Be my guest."

Henrik sat down and looked over at Elsa. He saw small, frozen patches of water on her cheeks. She'd been crying. He thought it best not to mention it.

"How did it go with your sister?" he asked delicately.

"You don't want to know." Elsa answered. Henrik frowned.

"Was it really that bad?"

"Have you seen the hallway?"

Henrik looked back through the doorway to notice the hallway completely covered in ice.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"What happened? If you don't mind my asking."

Elsa sat down her quill and took a deep breath. "She accused me of being to preoccupied with the status of our kingdom instead of doing anything about finding Kristoff and Sven. It's as if she thinks I don't care about them." she explained, "And I do! I adore Kristoff and Sven! Any man who risks his life to come all the way back here in a blizzard just to see if my sister was okay automatically has my approval. And not to mention Sven. Without him, Kristoff would have never got all the way back here."

Henrik raised his eyebrows. "He did that? The ice boy did?" he asked. Elsa nodded. "Wow. He must truly care a lot about Anna."

"He does... I- I think he might be in love with her."

"And how's that make you feel?"

Elsa thought for a moment. "Happy. Very, very happy."

Henrik shifted in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. "But... what about you? Wouldn't you like to find someone one day?" he asked.

"Well... I suppose... maybe one day..." Elsa mumbled, looking over at Henrik as she spoke. His eyes were beautiful... "But not now... too many things to sort out." she said, turning back to her work. She heard Henrik get up and cross over to her. She felt his warm, smooth hand on her shoulder.

"You shouldn't work so hard. It isn't good for you. Believe me. Too much work can make a person... crazy." Elsa looked over at his hand. Part of her wanted to return to work, but the other part...

She brought her hand up to his. She didn't know why but... it felt right. Maybe because he was comforting her... she didn't know. She got up and looked at him.

"I... I don't know what to..." she began as Henrik ran a hand down her braid.

"It's all right, Elsa. We'll find Kristoff and Sven."

Elsa looked at him and inhaled. He might look a lot like his brother, but then again, his brother may have been crazy, but there was no denying he was very handsome.

"May I kiss you?" she heard him ask. Elsa didn't know what to say. She had never been kissed by anyone before... nor had anyone asked to kiss her. Not like this anyway. Her icy blue eyes met his green as her voice swept out,

"Yes."

She closed her eyes as she felt him move closer, embracing her delicately as his lips met hers. Elsa felt a fire inside her, something she hadn't felt since she let her powers go.

She felt exhilarated.

She brought a hand up to his head and ran her fingers through his hair and down his beard as they continued their kiss. She felt him run a hand down her back, making her tremble. Suddenly, they stopped their kiss, both of them opening their eyes.

"Elsa... you're trembling. Are you all right?" he asked. Elsa took a few deep breaths and looked over at Henrik.

"Kiss me again." she said. Henrik smiled and stroked her braid.

"As you wish."

She closed her eyes as her lips touched his and felt as she began to let go... as the pair kissed, none of them noticed that snow had begun to fall in the study.

She was letting go all over again.

As Rapunzel and Eugene returned to the castle that evening, the courier came running to Rapunzel's side, waving a letter in his hand.

"Princess! Important letter for you." he called as he stopped, out of breath and handed Rapunzel the letter. Rapunzel looked on the back to see the snowflake imprinted on the wax seal. It was from Arendelle.

"This is from Arendelle. It must be Anna's letter." she guessed. Over the past few months, Rapunzel had kept in contact with Anna through letters. She had told her all about growing up with Mother Gothel and how she left her tower with Eugene and fell in love with him as they watched the lanterns light up the sky. Anna had told her about how she went to find Elsa after she froze everything and met up with her new friends, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf and how they'd been cheated by Prince Hans. She also often talked about Kristoff in her letters, describing him as "grumpy but sweet as can be" and also wrote about his "big, brown adorable puppy dog eyes" and how he often flashed them at Anna whenever she made him do something he didn't want to do. Rapunzel thought he sounded like a good person and planned on meeting him the next time she went to visit Arendelle. Or, if Anna came to Corona, she could bring him with her. How much fun would that be?

"What's it say, blondie?" she heard Eugene ask as she broke the seal and began to read the letter, her large, green eyes growing even larger.

"It says that apparently Anna's having a hard time with one of the brothers of that psycho prince visiting their kingdom and that her best friend and his reindeer are missing." she said as she looked at the posters of Kristoff and Sven that Anna had sent.

"Oh God," Eugene mumbled.

"What? What is it?"

He pointed to Kristoff. "I know that guy. I've seen him in the kingdom before. I talked to him actually. He was selling these blocks of ice and talking to his... pet, I guess." he pointed to Sven, "Him. Right there."

"Do you remember anything else about him?" Rapunzel asked. Eugene screwed up his face and raised an eyebrow.

"I think he's about my height, his hair was all long and messy like it is in the picture. He didn't smell too good and he was a tiny bit abrasive. But hey, it was a hectic day that day, I guess I can't really blame the guy."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Well, I think I asked him why he sold ice and he gave me an answer like 'Cause it makes me money' or something like that. Very deadpan. Why?"

Rapunzel looked at the letter. "Because Anna has no idea where he and his reindeer are."

Eugene raised an eyebrow again. "You think they're in Corona?"

"Well, one of those twelve-thousand Westergard brothers is here and there's one in Arendelle too. I'm saying that that's a coincidence, and maybe Kristoff and his reindeer are somewhere around here."

Eugene scoffed. "Hon, I highly doubt they got on a boat and rode over here just for laughs and then didn't tell anyone where they were going. From what Anna says about this guy, he seems pretty up front and honest."

Rapunzel tapped her chin. "Well... I guess that is true. But... just keep an eye out. Just in case."

"Of course. Consider it done, blondie."

As Anna rode through the woods, she caught notice of the neighboring town she had gone to looking for Kristoff and steered her horse in that direction. Once there, she dismounted and approached the square, putting her horse in a stable for the time being. She looked around and still saw the posters of Kristoff and Sven, undisturbed. She walked around a few minutes, checking in stables, vegetable stands, anywhere she thought they may be.

Her eyes suddenly caught notice of a pub. She then suddenly realized, she was parched. A pub wasn't really her style... but she didn't care. And she might find some information in here. She took a deep breath and made her way inside.

Once inside the pub, the men sitting around stopped and stared as if they'd never seen a woman before. Anna chuckled nervously and waved.

"Um... hi. Where could I get a drink?" she asked. Nearly half the men pointed at the bar as the others kept their eyes on Anna. She smiled nervously and made her way up to the bar. "Thanks..." she smiled as she sat down, taking off her hat and running her fingers through her hair. She hadn't braided it in days and she actually sort of liked it being looser.

"What'll it be, miss?" she heard the bartender ask.

"Um... just a water is fine." she said.

"Comin' right up. You new in town?"

Anna shook her head. "No, I'm from one town over. Just passing through today."

"Ah. Lotta people do that round here. Get a lot of drifters and harvesters in here."

Anna shifted her eyes to the bartender. "What did you just say?"

"Said we get a lotta harvesters in here, lookin' for something warm to drink. Or maybe a little somethin' stronger. Just depends on the harvester. Sometimes they even ask for beer for their horses."

"Have you seen this particular harvester?" Anna asked, leaning over the bar and showing him the picture of Kristoff. The bartender studied the paper.

"Oh yeah, I seen him in here a few times. He never gets any beer or nothin', usually just hot chocolate and carrots. He's that one who's got the reindeer instead of the horse, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's him. His name's Kristoff and the reindeer's name is Sven."

"Ah yeah, Kristoff's his name. I been callin' him Kristoffer all the time. Guess that's my fault for not rememberin' people's names."

Anna folded up the paper and put it back in her bag as he served her the water. She took a long gulp, followed by another until eventually, she'd chugged down the whole cup.

"Damn, little lady you was thirsty, weren't ya?"

Anna chuckled as she wiped the water from her lips. "Yeah, guess I was. May I have another?"

"Sure thing. You interested in trying some of our famous beer? Brew it right here in town. It's real tasty."

Anna had never had any alcohol aside from champagne and wine at parties and even then she never had very much of it. She'd wondered why a lot of guys liked beer and always wondered what it tasted like.

"Um... sure. Why not?"

"All right. I like to see a lady who enjoys a good drink." the bartender said as he filled the mug, the foam spilling over the top. "Here ya go, miss."

Anna took the mug in both hands and took a huge gulp, followed by another. And another. Within a few minutes, the mug was empty and she put it down on the counter, wiping the foam from her mouth.

"Damn lady, you drink like a man." the bartender said, bewildered.

"It actually wasn't that bad," Anna admitted, "But I'll only have the one. And I thought you were supposed to drink it fast?"

"Nah, I like to enjoy mine. Only the drunks chug theirs faster than a racehorse so they can get another one."

"Oh." Anna said, a little embarrassed as he handed her the water. She took a long, slow sip.

"Don't worry, I got a feeling it was your first beer, wasn't it?"

"Yes sir, it was."

"Ah, enjoy it any way you can." he said, studying her face, "Say, miss? You look familiar... you said you was from Arendelle? One town over?"

Anna nodded.

"I know this is gonna be a stretch but... you look a lot like their Princess." he said. Anna moved in a little closer and whispered to him,

"That's cause I am the Princess." The bartender looked excited and was about to speak when Anna shushed him, "But you can't tell anyone I'm here."

"All righty, milady." he agreed. Anna shook her head.

"No, no formalities, please." she said then whispered, "I'm not the princess, remember?"

"Right. Sorry about that mila- er... miss."

"It's all right. So, Kristoff was here? How long ago?"

"I reckon... about a week or so ago. Said he was going on this one last trip before it got cold and he couldn't sell much ice no more." the bartender said.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Anna thought. "Did he just come in for a drink or did something happen? He... get in a fight or anything? Have an argument with someone?"

The bartender shook his head. "Nome, he didn't. Just came in, drank his hot chocolate, bought some carrots then left."

"Did you see anything suspicious? Did anybody give him like... I don't know like dirty looks or something? Like maybe they didn't like him?"

The bartender thought for a moment. "Actually miss, come to think of it, there was this one fella who kinda looked surprised when he came in then just kinda stared daggers at him the whole time."

Bingo. "Who was that guy? What did he look like? What did he order? What was his business here?"

"Whoa, whoa, little lady, slow down, lemme think. I think he wanted a beer and then he sat down with a couple of other fellas. Think I overheard they was from Weaseltown or somethin'. Don't know where the other fella was from though, he didn't say."

Anna thought about the Duke of Weselton. Yes, Elsa had made him angry by severing their trade deal, but would that be a reason for him to try and hurt Kristoff? She figured she might as well try.

"Was the man old, really short, like we're talking like four feet tall short with a bad hairpiece and glasses?"

The bartender shook his head. "Nome. He was taller than four feet, I think maybe an inch or two taller than your blond friend. He was clean, wore some nice lookin' clothes. Didn't look like the bar type at all."

"What else?"

"Um... he had some red hair and some real crazy lookin' mutton chop sideburns goin' on." the bartender said, running his hand down his sideburns and cheek to illustrate what it looked like."

Anna's eyes went wide as her hand went limp, spilling her water on the counter as she stared blankly into space. She heard the bartender exclaim and ask if she was all right but she didn't answer. She couldn't answer. The shock of finding out who it was that had been in the bar the same time as Kristoff boiled inside her, transforming her shock into sheer anger as she clenched her free hand into a fist, remembering how much it had hurt when she'd punched him in the mouth.

"I'm sorry, but I really need to go now." she said coolly as she laid out the money on the table. "Keep the change."

How'd you like the chapter? Let me know in the reviews! Thanks so much for reading!