Author's Note: Warning, this chapter is another chapter with major feels. It includes deaths, gore, and an attempted suicide. Please don't read if this makes you feel uncomfortable. So, this is the second to last chapter. Well, technically the last as this is the conclusion to the story and the last chapter will be a sort of epilogue I guess.
Elsa, Anna and the stranger finally arrived in Arendelle after a long walk in dread-filled silence and fearful anticipation, Elsa and Anna not knowing what to expect of their kingdom. The two royals gasped in horror as they saw the mountain of partially charred corpses the man had described to them sitting in the town square in plain sight. It made Elsa sick to her stomach to see her fallen people treated like trash, their bodies so mercilessly desecrated. "That bastard," she gasped under her breath in anger. There was no one in the street, everyone locked up tightly in their houses, so the trio made their way to the palace where they were stopped by guards at the door.
"You are not welcome here. This kingdom belongs to Master Amunde now," one of the guards told Elsa coldly.
"Just because you steal something, doesn't mean it belongs to you," the queen snarled back furiously.
Suddenly Amunde himself appeared at the door.
"Stand down, guards. I've been looking forward to talking to these two for a long time now," he addressed his servants. They bowed and allowed him passage so he was standing in front of the two sisters.
"I began to think you two had forgotten about me. Or maybe you were just scared. After all, you did run away like pathetic dogs with your tails between your legs," he chuckled tauntingly.
"We didn't run away! You overthrew us and banished us from our own kingdom!", Anna protested angrily.
"Oh, is that so? Call it what you want, but running away is still running away. And look how much your people have suffered for it. Is that any way for a queen and princess to treat their people, to let them be slaughtered merciless while you sit back in ignorant bliss? Look upon the bodies of your people. This is all your fault, especially yours Queen Elsa. As queen, you should've protected them, but you didn't and now they're all dead, murdered, because of you," he addressed both the queen and princess tauntingly.
Elsa's shoulders shook with a mix of fright and guilt as she tried to hold back a sob. The former prince was right. If she had stay and fought instead of running away like a coward, then maybe her people would be alive instead of lying in a discarded heap like yesterday's garbage. It was all her fault. Everything was all her fault. Tears welled up in her eyes as she cried silently, whispering, "It's all my fault. Everything's my fault."
Anna heard the faint whisper and hugged her sister, holding her sister's crying face against her chest, as she glared at Amunde over Elsa's head. "It's not your fault, Elsa. Amunde is the one who killed our people, not you. Don't let him get to you," she gently soothed her sister, with a hint of anger in her voice which was addressed at the self-proclaimed king. She removed herself from Elsa and drew her ice sword. "Let's finish this!" She shouted, dodging for Amunde. The guards grabbed her, but Amunde halted them.
"I should very much enjoy a fight, but I believe we should have witnesses to see my splendid victory and you and the queen's harsh defeat. I should call out the townspeople," Amunde informed. Anna and Elsa followed him as he grabbed a horn and headed for the town square, blowing it loudly, beckoning the townspeople to come out of hiding. They reluctantly obeyed, coming cautiously out of their houses one by one, afraid of what would happen to them if they didn't. The stranger, who had followed as well, took his place among the crowd, waiting eagerly for Elsa and Anna to avenge his husband.
Amunde turned to Elsa, threatening, "Don't you know you aren't supposed to bring the ones you care about to a fight? The ones we're closest to tend to be the ones that get hurt the most." Elsa ignored his jab and silently shot ice spikes out of her hand at him. He dodged out of the way skillfully.
"Is that the best you can do, Ice Queen?," he taunted. Elsa summoned a snowstorm around her, setting off a small avalanche in Amunde's direction.
"Watch out!", she warned the townspeople. They stepped back as Amunde himself dodged the mini-avalanche.
"How cute! Too afraid to hurt your own townspeople. You're too soft, Elsa. And, that, my dear, is what's going to cost you your victory," he chuckled darkly.
Elsa, who at this point was running out of ideas, conjured up a large muscular snowman, similar to Marshmallow, as a last desperate attempt. As the snowman charged towards him, Amunde grabbed the torch from the side of the corpse mountain and set the creature ablaze. The snowy soldier cried in pain as it stumbled onto the ground, after frantically running around and trying to free itself from the offending fire. It slowly melted into nothingness. Elsa held her breath, trying desperately not to let her fear or despair show through. She had tried everything she knew. What could she do now?
Anna sensed her sister's desperation and grabbed the ice sword in her hands. "It's over Amunde!", she screamed as she lunged at him once again, sword-in-hand. He grabbed the sword forcefully just before it hit him and pulled it out of the princess's hands, flinging it to the side.
"Anna!", Elsa screamed in panic.
"I'm not afraid of you," Anna said to Amunde, trying to stand her ground and appear confident despite being disarmed.
"Oh, is that so? Then I guess you wouldn't mind if I do this," he taunted as he put his hunting knife up to Anna's throat.
"Amunde, don't! Let her go, please! I'll do anything!," Elsa pleaded in despair.
"You already had your chance for that and blew it, Elsa. Now as punishment, you're going to watch your precious little sister die," he laughed hatefully.
"Anna! No!", she screamed as she willed all of her ice magic and shot it into Amunde's back. The force was so powerful that it went through Amunde's back and into his heart, freezing him into an ice statue instantly. Unfortunately, some residual magic also entered Anna's back and heart, freezing her too.
The townspeople cheered the death of Amunde. "All hail Queen Elsa!"
Elsa fell to the ground, stricken with grief. She had defeated Amunde, but killed her sister in the process and somehow the townspeople were still cheering for her? What about Anna? Didn't they care about Anna? Elsa had murdered her own sister again. And this time she was pretty sure it was permanent since Anna hadn't been performing an act of true love when she froze over. Elsa went over to the frozen statue of Amunde holding the knife to Anna's throat. She threw the knife away and cupped Anna's cheeks gently. "I'm sorry," she whispered sadly as tears rolled down her own cheeks. Then, she leaned in and planted a gentle, sad kiss on her frozen sister's lips.
"Goodbye, Anna. Please forgive me for what I'm about to do, but I can't live without you," she apologized to the statue as she turned away and headed for the discarded ice sword she had made for her sister. Picking up the sword, she knelt down on the ground and slowly brought it down towards her neck as the townspeople gasped in shock.
"Elsa, stop!," a voice shouted in horror.
Elsa looked up, startled. She had every intention of beheading herself, but this voice that pleaded with her seemed so familiar, gentle, and then she realized its source. It can't be. Can it? You froze her, killed her. She's dead because of you. These thoughts haunted Elsa, but her gaze now rested on a slowly thawing Anna. She blinked and rubbed her eyes in disbelief, afraid that her mind might be playing tricks on her. Before she could process whether or not it was real or an illusion, her now fully thawed sister had run up to her, throwing the sword away and embracing her tightly in her arms.
"Elsa, why would you do that?", the princess sobbed into her older sister's shoulder.
"I couldn't live without you. Besides, I don't deserve to live anyway," Elsa answered sadly.
"Why would you say that, my love? Of course you deserve to live," Anna pressed on, alarmed at her sister's response.
"No, I don't, Anna. I committed horrible crimes. I abandoned my kingdom, my people. I also killed you again, for good this time, I was afraid. All of this destruction, all of this pain, it's all my fault. If I had just faced Amunde in the beginning instead of running away, then maybe none of this would've happened. I need to be punished. I deserve to die for my crimes," Elsa explained, her voice full of guilt and pain.
"No, you don't deserve to die, Elsa. You didn't do anything. None of this was your fault. The townspeople suffered because of Amunde, not you. We can never know what might have been if we hadn't ran away and there's no way to change the past, so there's no use on dwelling on it. All that matters is here and now and that you saved all the townspeople and freed your kingdom from Amunde's cruel tyranny. You are a hero, Elsa. You deserve to be praised, not punished," Anna tried to reassure her sister.
"But I am the one who froze you," Elsa argued sadly.
"It was an accident, Elsa, and I'm fine. See? Whatever you did, saved me," Anna continued comforting.
Elsa blushed. "I kissed you," she said barely audible.
"Aw. No fair. I didn't get to kiss back. I wanted to feel my true love's kiss that broke the spell," Anna teased.
Elsa gave a half-hearted smile as Anna chuckled. Her face blushed even brighter as Anna drew her lips in close to hers. They kissed deeply.
"Remember, Elsa, that you promised to stay by my side forever. I don't ever want to catch you trying to pull another stunt like that again," Anna chastised gently.
"Yes, Anna. I promise. I love you."
"I love you too."
The two girls smiled at each other, but they were interrupted by a fit of coughing. They turned around to see that the stranger that had brought them back to Arendelle had keeled over on the ground.
"Sir, are you alright?", Elsa asked worriedly as she and Anna rushed to his side.
"I've never been better. Thank you, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, for everything. Thank you for defeating Amunde and avenging my husband."
"You're welcome. Hang in there," Elsa willed the man to hold on.
"Don't be sad for me. I can die at peace now. My husband and I will finally be together again," he said, smiling up at the queen as he died in her arms. Tears streamed down Elsa's cheeks, hitting the lifeless body of the brave stranger that had brought them back to save Arendelle.
She stood and addressed the crowd, the man still in her arms.
"This man is a hero. It is as much thanks to him as it is to me and Anna that Arendelle was freed from Amunde. As such, he deserves a hero's burial. I should also arrange for a proper burial for all of the fallen that have been previously so disgracefully disrespected under Amunde's rule. I also pardon you all for your treason by overthrowing Anna and I, as I feel you have suffered enough at the hands of Amunde, and that is atleast in part my fault. So, if you'd have me as your queen again, I will gladly work tirelessly to restore Arendelle to her former glory, mending all of her wounds as best I can, mending all of your wounds as best I can," Elsa addressed her people.
They bowed down before her and Anna, shouting, "Hail Queen Elsa! Hail Princess Anna!"
It took a few months but all the destruction was eventually repaired, all the dead given a proper burial, and all of the people finally came to accept Anna and Elsa's relationship with each other, having been grateful that the love between the queen and princess had been what saved them from Amunde in a way. The still frozen ice statue of the former tyrant had been placed in the dungeons just in case although Elsa was pretty sure there was no way he would thaw. Peace had finally been restored to Arendelle and Elsa and Anna were finally able to be together without hiding.
Author's Note: Yep, there's one at the bottom this time too. I didn't want to give away, spoilers, so… Anyways, I thought about giving it a Romeo and Juliet type ending where Elsa succeeded in her suicide, only for Anna to unthaw and find that her sister had killed herself, but I decided I wasn't cruel enough to write that, so thank me for my mercy, oh dear readers. XD Seriously, though, you guys are awesome. When I first started writing this, I didn't expect it to get as many favs and follows as it has now. I'm really flattered. It means a lot to me. I read all the reviews too even if I don't always respond to them. I'm just not that good at responses. Lol. XD