Sorry I took so long to get this chapter out there - I've had a lot of drama to do with school work so that shall be my excuse. I hope this one was worth the wait!

Hans woke the next morning in a sitting position with his back against the stone wall. He looked down to see Elsa nestled in between his chest and his right arm, which was draped protectively around her shoulders. Her platinum blonde hair fell free out of its usual braid, and the slightly wavy locks framed her face perfectly. He moved a stray strand of hair that was covering her face and he smiled slightly at her beautiful features. He turned towards the bars that confined them, and a pang of intense sadness reminded him of the event of the night before. He cringed slightly at the painfully fresh memory. His sister's corpse was gone – and he gathered it had been removed some time during the night – but the drying pool of blood remained, assuring that the scarring image of her dead body remained imbedded in his mind.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help her," Elsa whispered sadly as Hans turned his head to face her, "I did try… but… my powers still weren't strong enough… I did try."

"I know, Elsa," he sighed, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, "I felt the chill in the air." She stayed silent for a long time, processing his reassuring words.

"She didn't deserve to die so young… I didn't even know her very well but–"

"She was a lot like Anna," Hans interrupted, his emerald green eyes glazing over in thought, "I only really realized it after I was sent back here after the Great Thaw. After she had found out what I did… she didn't give up on me like I thought she would. She still saw the person I was…"

"The person you are. You have changed Hans. I can tell." Her words meant more to him than he ever thought words could. He was taken aback by the kindness in her eyes and honestly wondered what he did to earn her devotion. It was easy, he decided, to fall in love with her – even when she was as stubborn and abrasive as hell, the purity of her heart always shone through.

It was a few hours later, when Sierra came to the dungeon with the day overdue food. She strode over to the cell quickly, averting her eyes away from the drying blood staining the floor. Hans walked over to the bars and looked at the short brunette with a sympathetic glance. She met him with a deathly glare. She opened the door and set the food down on the floor, before she turned to face Hans properly.

"She trusted you. She believed you would come through for her and take her back to Arendelle with you!" anger rose in her voice, as her stoic façade crumbled, "She died trying to save you! I hope this haunts you my Prince," she gestured to Elsa, before continuing her grief stricken rant, "You better stay away from her after this is over, because every decent person around you ends up dead!"

He didn't defend himself because he knew he deserved it. He had known the second Heidi died that it was solely his fault. Elsa had noticed the broken look on his face as he swallowed Sierra's words.

"Sierra, I think that's quite enough. The only person responsible for Heidi's death is Viktor. He deserves the blame – not Hans," her tone was slightly scolding but her eyes were kind. She knew Heidi was Sierra's friend and the way she cared for the young princess was a sisterly fashion. But instead of the young palace maid backing down, Elsa only fueled her rage.

"My God…" her voice low with realization, "you care about him, don't you? He's gotten under your skin, spun you some lies… and you believed him," she frowned patronizingly at Elsa, "Honestly your majesty, I thought you were a better judge of character." Elsa was at a loss for words. She wanted – more than anything – to believe Hans loved her, but what Sierra said was true. She had allowed him to convince her, with no proof whatsoever that he was telling the truth. What if he was just lying to her? And she was foolish enough to believe him.

"I…" the queen stammered and she felt Hans rubbing her shoulders gently. She felt the need to shove him off, but she was too conflicted to actually go through with it.

"I suppose it doesn't matter. As long as you two escape this hell of a kingdom, Heidi will not have died for nothing. Remember the boat waits for no one and if you miss it, you're as good as dead." Sierra left without another word, leaving Elsa rethinking everything. She turned to face Hans, confusion evident in her eyes.

"Did you mean it?" she asked desperately searching his entrancing green eyes for an answer, "Anything you said about me… did you mean it?"

"Elsa, I would never lie about something like that," Elsa pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow at the sheer irony of his statement, "Okay, okay, I get it. I phrased that wrong. But saying 'I would never lie to you about something like that' would ring true. I do love you Elsa, you have to know that."

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry for doubting you… I just don't know what to believe anymore. I mean, I do believe you but what Sierra said had a very valid point. I've never done anything this rash before!" Now it was Hans turn smirking at her as she let out an embarrassed laugh, "Well maybe not as rash as freezing my entire kingdom but it is up there! I mean, this time last year, the only man I ever loved was my father – who I have endlessly disappointed no doubt. I've frozen his kingdom, ran away from it, endangered his youngest daughter more time than I can count, been kidnapped for my powers which he tried so hard to protect and now I'm falling in love with the man who tried to overthrow his kingdom! Is there anything else I am forgetting? No? I'm barely fit to be a good daughter, let alone a queen."

"Elsa, calm down," Hans soothed, tucking a platinum blonde lock of hair behind her ear. She looked so young with her hair down.

"And I want to believe you, I really do but I've never actually known what romantic 'love' is, so it would be so very easy to lie to me because I honestly wouldn't know!" He knew he had to stop her endless ramble before it blew up into a fully grown panic attack. So he did the one thing he knew would shut her up. He kissed her. It was only short, but it still stole the breath from her lungs and she stared at him doe-eyed trying to speak.

"… I…"

"What did you feel Elsa?"

"I felt… warm… and safe. I'm sorry; this is just too embarrassing, I've never been this unsure of myself. Even when I was dooming Arendelle to an endless winter, I still knew what I was feeling."

"It's okay to be unsure. That's the point of love. That's the risk. It's a completely unwarranted need to be around someone forever that takes everything you thought you knew and contradicts it entirely," he pulled to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head, "Whatever you decide, just remember that I will always protect you. No matter what."

At first, she thought the buzzing in her ears was just adrenaline caused by her uncertainty, but as it started getting louder she began to panic. But the buzz kept getting louder and harsher until she had to press her palms against her ears to try to ease the throbbing. She could tell that Hans was concerned by the look in his eyes. She saw him mouth something but she couldn't make it out for the life of her. Her legs gave out underneath her as the buzz turned into agonizing pain. Her eyes glazed over with tears and she felt herself scream, but she couldn't hear it. She felt Hans grip her arms, as she squeezed her eyes shut. She started to lose herself to unconsciousness when she faintly made out a voice. It echoed through her mind easing the pounding until she heard the words the voice was saying.

The spirit of Winter cannot die.

Then all went black.

Oooooh! Cliffhanger! What be happening to Elsa? :D :D :D Pl0x review!