Thinketh No Evil

Anna watched troops march into Arrendelle. Soon, they would be shipped to the front and butchered like sheep.

The princess sighed deeply. Her servants were in a bad mood as well. For a wedding, this was a depressing atmosphere.

"Done," Muttered Gerta.

Anna turned to look at herself in the mirror, "Oooooh…!"

If Kristoff were at the end of the aisle, and not Hans, she might feel something akin to joy.

"Oh… Anna you're beautiful! Why, I remember your mother. I told her that every bride in the world would be angry at her. But now you… oh…"

Anna sniffed away a tear, "I look good, don't I!"

The noise of the soldiers died down in time for a knock at the door.
"Enter."

Anna braced herself for just about anyone, but then…

"Minister Victor!" She ran over and hugged him.

"Oh, my…" He took her in, "I remember when you were born. And that baby girl grew up and became a woman! Where did the time go?"

She laughed, "Well, same place as your hair!"

The ladies all laughed.

"Any last bit of advice?" She asked nervously.

"Think no evil," He said.

"Huh?" Anna was surprised when the answer came, not from the minister, but from Gerta.

"People naturally like to think the worst of others," She smoothed the ruffles of Anna's dress, "Keep all evil from here," she pointed to her ruler's head, "And it's easier to keep it out of here," the finger descended to her heart.

"But, I'm pretty sure Hans is evil!" Anna exclaimed honestly.

"Every person is evil. But how you think about someone will determine how you act towards them. If that sham of a marriage is going to work, you have to want it to. People are filled with surprises. You never know who has a secret soft side hidden away."

Anna thought back to what Hans was like after dark, in so much pain, weak and afraid. It wasn't the kind of man she'd thought he was.

Were all men like that? Constantly surprising? Keeping hidden sides from everyone else?

"Think no evil," She repeated happily. The music started for her procession, "no evil," She repeated for her own benefit.

Minister Victor stood at the end of the aisle with a calm look on his face. But of everyone in the church, he was virtually the only one who was not completely dumbfounded. It took Anna a second to figure out what was wrong. Then she saw what was missing from the picture.

Hans.

"Seriously!" She screeched. The entire audience bulked. The bride giggled before quickly striding down the aisle. Once she reached Minister Victor, she whispered out of the side of her mouth, "Where's you-know-who?"

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered to witness a momentous occasion…" An explosion rocked the church, "Everyone! Get out!"

The entire congregation fled. Minister Victor grabbed Anna and took her out the side door, only pausing long enough to go, "Is that Rapunzel?"

They fled to the castle.

Anna went directly to her room. There, sitting on her bed, was a note from Hans. She opened and read it immediately. Her face filled with shock.

"What?"

As it turns out, it was not Arrendelle under fire, nor Beaskaulg. After long hours, messages from the front drifted in. The Bloodyface had been blown up. It was overloaded with material, and, coincidentally, created a surprisingly sturdy bridge.

The detonation turned to tide. Troops ceased their assault and returned to camp. Over the next few days, merchants approached the bridge that had started the war, only to find that Southern Isles troopers had withdrawn to guard the Bloodyface's.

Within a week, commerce had started up again. It had been almost impossible to continue fighting now that the region had international financial interests on the rise. Money flooded Meridian and Arrendelle as the region now had double the necessary access to the outside world.

Some of Hans' superiors questioned how convenient it had been that a so-called 'accident' managed to create such a structure, but were too embarrassed to admit that they had gone into all-out war to get something that would have been relatively simple to maintain.

Anna procured ownership of the bridge, as was her right as an almost-widow of a war general/prince.

Within a month, Elsa returned.

Anna ran to the docks, sweeping her big sister in a rib-crushing hug, "Don't ever leave again."

Elsa just laughed. Minister Victor appeared. He was happy to see the family reunited, and raved about how well Anna had done.

"I admit," Said Elsa hesitantly, "About leaving Anna in charge…"

"Tut-tut!" Admonished Minister Victor, "Think no evil of this young lady!"

The war had ended, Arrendelle flourished, and Anna got to remain single. Everyone got their happy endings.

Elsa resumed ruling Arrendelle, which took some adjustment due to the sudden influx of immigrants, plus the trading markets had doubled at the end of the war.

Kristoff was in town to bid Anna farewell at her wedding. Once he learned Hans' fate, he got ushered in instead and Anna got to marry the man she loved.

And Hans died, and was finally at peace.

Epilogue

The tour guide sighed in frustration, "Now, before we go to the supposed 'ice-queen palace' I want to point out something of Arrendelle's actual history."

The children in the group groaned. The guide ignored them. Ever since 'Freezing' had come out, every little girl and boy on the planet wanted to go to Arrendelle and retrace the actual path of the supposed Ice Queen.

Of course, there wasn't much proof she had actually existed. A single summer with low temperatures had supposed hit around the supposed time she had existed. However, not only did she have no heirs, but there was proof that she wasn't even reigning at the time of her botched coronation.

"What you're looking at is called the bridge of peace," Some of the older patrons wandered over to listen, "Around the time the supposed Ice Queen reigned, we have record of an 'Admiral Westerguard' who married into the royal family. Their engagement was put off for some reason, and restarted when the war began. He found himself dragged into a war with Meridian, which makes little sense because there's never been anything but peace between these two countries."

The guide paused as orange-scented wind rolled across the hills.

"He destroyed himself and his ship creating this 'bridge to peace'. Ever since his sacrifice, Arrendelle has not seen a single armed conflict. During WWII, Nazis, looking for fleeing illegals, landed in the area. Their leader so respected this place, he refused to continue his hunt. It was a good thing too, because just over that ridge there was an entire battleship of British troops. Not only would they have been destroyed, the evidence of Allied strength in the area would have dragged Arrendelle into the war," The guide pointed out some markers, before wrapping up, "The bridge itself is maintained by weapons of war. People brought their swords at the signing of a peace treaty and welded them in, swearing never again to fight in Bearskaulg. The tradition has remained to this day. There are weapons from every major European war, and even some from near-east conflicts. You're free to make use of the bridge, no need to worry about red tape, but there is one unbreakable rule; no weapons. No one, regardless of the reason, may ever cross this bridge with a weapon."

"Whatever happened to the bride?"

"She married some local peasant. And their children assumed the throne, so we're pretty sure this 'Ice Queen' didn't exist. Or she never had kids."

Some of the older couples took shots of the bridge, getting the orchard of orange trees lined up behind it. A little boy made a whining sound, "Bo-ring! When're we gonna get to the violent part?"

The guide sighed again, but it was the tourist's grandfather who interfered.

"You don't understand, do you, Eric? This… is a place of peace." The old man had a question, "Do you know how such a thing can exist?"

For once, the guide didn't just roll his eyes. He just asked, "How?"

Looking over to his wife, the grandfather answered, "Love."