A/N: This chapter has a decidedly more adult tone to it, just a head's up. It features one darker dream scene where a minor character is so overcome by grief that he has suicidal thoughts and intentions. I thought I should put this warning here. Read on at your own risk. If you want to skip that section, it's the second scene. Also, one scene with nudity; it won't get gratuitous, don't worry (or possibly sorry to anyone expecting otherwise!).

Thank you for reading! If you're enjoying this, please leave a review. :)

The spare room had once been a guest suite like the others in its wing. Elsa and Anna's grandparents had been the ones to convert it to an extra storage space of sorts. Elsa could not bear the thought of Kai being kept in the actual storage spaces outside of the main castle. She didn't want him kept in the open either; that was both for his own safety and for fear that his current state could cause a panic.

The queen added reinforcements to her spell to ensure the ice sculpture would not melt; it was mid-summer after all, and Elsa had no idea whether the Ice Maiden had the forethought to include such protection from heat in her curse.

As Elsa left the room, she grimaced at herself for thinking of the Ice Maiden yet again. Again, the troll leader's words came to her.

Someone cursed with power, however, is indeed cursed. The longer the curse remains, the more their power feeds on them until nothing is left of the original person.

The queen shut the spare room door. Since she did not have the key—and did not want to bother Gerda this evening—she quickly crafted one from ice and locked the door behind her.

"Your Majesty?" Lord Harald called from up the corridor. Elsa dropped the key in being startled.

"Lord Harald," she greeted him, masking her surprise. It was late in the evening. She thought for sure Lord Harald would have retired to his room by now.

"My apologies," he said. He bowed as he approached. "I can see now that I've startled you."

"Not at all," Elsa lied. Although she was still grateful for his assistance in composing the response to the Southern Isles, something about him still made her uneasy. She studied him as he stood up straight before her. The fact that he met her gaze so easily unnerved her, for all she wanted to do was avert her eyes.

"I made sure the letter got out this morning," Lord Harald said.

Her forehead wrinkled. "To the Southern Isles? I thought I had given that to Kai," Elsa answered.

Lord Harald let out a short chuckle. "The poor man forgot to get it out in the post this morning. He was so wrapped up in…research, I believe he said. I went down to the docks myself to make sure it made it on the correct ship."

Elsa felt herself grow pale. She had forgotten that Lord Harald was not aware of the Ice Maiden. "Thank you," she said carefully. It was a good thing he got the letter out, she thought to herself. The attack on the castle had been quite the distraction.

Why would Lord Harald have gone to deliver the message to the docks himself? He could have easily given it to one of the servants. She supposed that it being as important and time-sensitive as it was, he just wanted to make sure it went to the right place.

"About this evening's attack," Lord Harald changed the subject. Elsa vaguely wondered if he could read her mind. She shuddered at the thought. "I can oversee the repairs if you would prefer to focus on finding Princess Anna."

Repairs, Elsa thought, recalling the broken windows everywhere. The Ice Maiden really had done quite some damage. She'd been so focused on Kai, she hadn't even thought about the castle.

"That would be most obliging," she answered. Unable to help herself, she glanced over her shoulder and then beyond Lord Harald. They were the only two in the corridor for the moment. If she wanted to, she could tell him about the Ice Maiden. She could have him swear not to breathe a word of it to anyone. But then, she wasn't sure who in the castle had seen the attack. Perhaps for now she would just keep it to herself unless he said something.

"There's also this matter with the Southern Isles…" Lord Harald continued.

"Well, the reply is on its way, is it not?" Elsa asked.

"This is maybe not the place for me to be saying this," he said. "But I can see that you have so much weighing on you right now. I just wanted to offer myself in your time of need."

The queen raised her eyebrow. He was offering himself? What?

"I mean only that if you start to feel you aren't…up to the task of managing every single crisis, please know that I'm here. You can delegate. I have the experience, as we both well know."

Although he paused for her to respond, Elsa had no idea what to say.

So the noble continued on. "I'm particularly concerned about the attack on the castle. I can look into it if you like."

"No," Elsa said too quickly. Lord Harald looked taken aback. "I mean… I would like to handle that. I can handle everything. It isn't that I don't appreciate what you're offering. But I can do this, I assure you." She frowned at him. Mostly, she had no doubt that he had the best of intentions. But some part of her was not so sure.

Lord Harald paused. He looked at first somewhat stricken by her answer, but his features quickly folded into compliance. He bowed to her as if to prove his respect for her decision. "Of course," he said.

The queen was at a loss for words, so she quietly excused herself and bid him a good evening before rushing to return to her own quarters. She went not directly to her room but to her private study. There it hit her when she saw piles of trade authorization requests, appeals, letters and invitations. It did not seem so unreasonable to her now that Lord Harald suggested she needed assistance. Perhaps someone else had urged him for his intervention.

Elsa sighed, suddenly experiencing something akin to homesickness. But the feeling was for her sister. How she missed having bright, goofy Anna around.

She stepped up to her desk with the piles of work to be done and frowned at it all. How could she focus on any of it when her little sister wasn't safe at home?

"Anna, where are you?"

The fisherman dragged his boat upon the shore and went the long way around the beach to climb up the chalk cliffs. He wept with every step over the loss of his lady love. No more would they meet at their sacred cove. No more would she sing to him. No more would he swim the waters with her and run his fingers through her golden hair. Never again would her gentle eyes fix upon him under the stars, her face glowing brighter than anything he'd ever seen. They would never exchange tender words ever again. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing left to live for.

His had never been an easy life. His mother died giving birth to him. His father, a fisherman before him, died at sea. His uncle had raised him, but his uncle was a rough, abusive man.

All that was left was fishing. How could he fish without thinking about her?

He reached the top and walked to an edge that jutted out far enough to touch the water. There he looked down into the sea. Yes, he would jump here. There were enough rocks below to assure a quick end. How fitting it would be that his life should end in the sea.

A salty breeze hit his face; it was not the least bit comforting, though it seemed to ask him if he had any last qualms or words. He had pretty much decided he would do this the moment his love told him they could never meet again. As for last words… what was there to say?

He wanted to turn and fall back because he was afraid. But he also wanted the ocean to be the last thing he saw. Decisions, decisions.

Would she come to learn of his death, he wondered. Would she blame herself? He didn't blame her, even now. She was right; they could never truly be together. What was the point in dragging out such painful circumstances?

He stretched his arms out. Maybe it would be like flying… for a moment.

No. He turned around after all. He closed his eyes and imagined her catching him.

Then he took a step back off the edge of the cliff. Down and down he fell. It seemed more like someone had dropped him than that he had done this. The cool salt water hit him seconds later and he faded into darkness.

Time passed. But something happened later that was not supposed to happen. A kiss pulled him out of the dark.

What's this? He thought he was dead. But as he opened his eyes…

Anna felt soft lips touch her own, tearing her out of the dream. Her eyes shot open and she immediately knew three things: she was lying on her back on the ground, she was about to cough and Hans's mouth was on hers.

"Ahhhh!" she shrieked, shoving him off and jolting upright. She immediately hacked and trembled in a fit of coughs, pounding her chest and spitting out water. Her nose stung too as if water had gone up it. "What in the hammery heck do you think you're doing?!" She turned on him. He sat with her on a riverbank, his clothes completely muddied and damp. At some point while she was out, he had built a small fire with kindling from the forest behind them.

Hans stood up and brushed himself off, composed as well as a cat. Anna watched the firelight dance off of him. "I thought you needed resuscitation."

"Do you even have any kind of experience with that sort of thing?!" she snapped, fighting off the urge to touch her lips. His had been there just a minute ago… Shut up, shut up, shut UP, she thought, glaring. She inched closer to the fire, feeling chilly.

"I've had some training," he answered with a smile. Then he held out a hand to help her up. She grudgingly accepted and let him pull her to her feet. "But it was more just to rouse you. You weren't waking up."

"To r-r-to what?!" she growled, throwing her shivering fist at him. He slid out of range and chuckled. "W-w-where a-are w-w-we?!" She looked around, hugging herself when she realized just how cold she was in spite of the fire. She was soaked and chilled to the bone. She looked upstream but couldn't see any sign of the caves. It was dusk now, much too difficult to see through all the trees.

"The current carried us a ways. My guess is we're not far from the saw mill. This c-c-could b-be the s-s-same creek-k they used-d for p-p-power," Hans answered, now shivering as well.

"W-w-what d-do we d-do n-now?" Anna asked, her teeth chattering. She noticed for the first time that Hans's weapons were gone. "Y-y-our s-sword! Y-you—"

"The weapons-s-s were w-w-weighing me d-down in the w-w-water," he answered. "A-a-nna, we have to get w-w-warm o-or w-we'll fr-freeze out h-here."

She looked at him helplessly, her fingers actually starting to burn from the cold. She'd lost her satchel and the map with it. He'd lost his weapons. They had not a clue where they were or how far it was to the mill or to Arendelle. They couldn't go back to the valley now that Volco had returned. And somewhere in the forest were hungry wolves.

She suddenly noticed he was staring at her strangely. "W-what is it-t-t?!" she asked.

"W-we n-n-need t-to get out o-of the-these w-w-wet cl-clothes," he answered.

Anna's jaw dropped. "Exc-c-cuse m-me?!" Of all the nerve…

"Do y-y-you want to fr-freeze to d-death?" he asked, his voice now sharp. "W-we're b-b-both sh-shivering-ing r-r-right n-now. Th-that m-means th-there's still t-t-time. W-we n-need to sh-share h-h-eat while w-w-we b-both still ha-have b-bodyh-h-heat to sh-share."

Anna shook her head. "I-I… c-c-ouldn't p-possibly…"

But Hans was already throwing his cloak off and undoing the buttons of the shirt underneath. Anna squeaked and turned away, the warmth in her cheeks creating an odd sensation under her chilly skin.

"Anna."

She started to turn, realized what she would see and stopped herself.

"I w-won't f-force you. But you c-can't s-stand ar-round like th-that."

"Y-you're r-right," she admitted, clenching her teeth to lessen the chattering, little good that it did. She undid the clasp on her cloak and let it fall. Then, after much hesitation, she started slipping out of her clothing, starting with her bodice. Not once did she turn to face Hans, not even after her dress dropped to her ankles.

She wasn't quite sure how her brain had the time to dwell on it, but it struck her now that it was odd for her to be standing in her undergarments in front of him, her would-be fiancé and would-be murderer.

"If th-those are w-wet t-too, th-they'll have t-to go…" he said, his voice sounding closer. "I s-swear t-to be a g-gen-gentleman."

A gentleman? Him?

"C-could…" she stopped, closing her eyes. It's just for survival. It's just for survival. Stop acting like a child. "Could you h-help m-me with…?" She glanced over her shoulder to indicate the knotted string at her back. She turned her head back to look in front of her as soon as she sensed him move toward her.

Anna felt Hans stop behind her. She held her breath as his fingers undid the tied knot. Then he reached through the crisscrossed string over her back and tugged one section to loosen it, his fingertips brushing against her skin. Anna shuddered and jerked away from him with a gasp.

"Th-thank y-you, th-that'll do it!" she whispered, hugging the corset in place as if it would otherwise completely fall off of her.

"All right," he answered. "I'll be by the fire."

As Anna peeled away the rest of her remaining layers, she realized Hans had stopped shivering.

Anna woke up alone and covered in branches with dry, dead leaves. When she moved to rise, one of the twigs scratched her arm. She groaned and tossed the branches off of her one by one until she was free. She looked around, unable to spot Hans anywhere. The fire was nearly out. He had made a kind of makeshift clothes line with more dead branches sticking up out of the sand; her clothes hung from this, looking significantly dryer than the day previous. Anna supposed he had placed them near enough to the fire to dry overnight without catching flames. Hans's clothes were missing, so he was likely up and about already. She darkly wondered for a moment if he'd just left her alone in the forest. Not that it would surprise her!

Then she stopped and reflected on the night she just spent as she removed her undergarments, dress and bodice from the line. True to his word, Hans had been a gentleman. He had kept his eyes averted from her the entire time, refrained from making crass remarks and simply nuzzled into her throughout the entire night. Anna grew pink just thinking about it; she had just spent an entire night cuddling Hans!

"That's…one detail no one necessarily needs to know," she mumbled to herself as she squeezed back into her clothing. The corset was tricky, but easier to manage now that her fingers weren't numb little icicles. She tried taming her hair with her fingers as she noticed something on the ground.

Anna bent to pick it up, looking it over with some confusion. She recognized it as a page torn from the hunter's log, which she assumed Hans had lost or ruined on their escape from Volco. The page in her hand was completely dry though. She wasn't sure what to make of the contents.

"The Ice Maiden…" she read, studying the sketch of a beautiful, aloof looking woman on the page. Her hair was white as snow, her eyes and lips blue. Her fingernails looked more like weapon-like icicles. Anna noticed instantly that there were no weaknesses listed for this entry; just strengths such as power over winter elements, ability to create ice creatures and immunity against weapons and magic. This entry had neither a date discovered nor a date slain. "Sounds like an impossible opponent even for a troll hunter." She mused over whether this 'Ice Maiden's' powers were related to Elsa's, since Elsa too could wield ice and snow.

"What are you doing?" Hans asked, coming out of the woods. Anna looked up and showed him the piece of paper.

"I found this! Looks like the lone survivor from the hunter's log," she said with a smile. The smile fell off her face when Hans came charging at her, yelling like a madman. "Whoa! Whoa, Hans, what the—" He knocked into her with full-force, sending them both rolling into a heap on the bank. Anna shrieked, knocking the heel of her palm into Hans's face as she tried to push him off of her. He struggled and reached for the piece of paper, trying to tear it away from her. "What is wrong with you?! Is this what you want?!" She yelled and threw the paper at him, gaping in horror as he snatched it up in the blink of an eye and turned away, leaning over the paper like it was some kind of precious gem.

"Don't touch this!" he snarled back at her over his shoulder.

Anna's eyes widened. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, terrified by the reaction. Even when he was a smug murderer, he had not been that frightening. It was like he'd been possessed by a wild animal. When he didn't answer, she got up, shook the dirt off of her skirt and headed toward the woods. "That's it. I'm done. I didn't sign up for this. I'm going back to the castle."

"Anna, wait!" Hans called after her. Surprising herself, she did stop and turn. It was something about the way he'd called her name. He sounded…desperate.

"What?!" she snapped when he didn't say any more.

Hans stuffed the parchment into a pocket and looked at the ground until he spoke to her again. "I don't know what just came over me. Honestly. Let's go back together."

"And do what?!" she asked.

"We have to report to King Olaf and Queen Elsebet, right?"

Anna thought carefully before responding. "What are we reporting, Hans?" This entire adventure with him was finally getting old. His bizarre reaction to the page from the hunter's log was just about the last straw. Why should she have to accompany a man who scorned her and tried to take over Arendelle?

"Whatever you want," he answered.

Anna was stunned. "Why should I believe that? You know I want peace between Arendelle and the trolls."

"I know," Hans answered, cringing and covering one of his eyes and turning aside.

"Do you? You're prepared to come with me to persuade the king?"

"I don't… know that it'll work. But if we can persuade him, a treaty might be the best option… ahh," Hans trailed off, rubbing at his right eye.

"What's wrong with your eye?!" Anna yelled, irritated that he was getting distracted.

"Nothing," he answered, blinking rapidly until he appeared to recover. Then he shook his head. "Felt like something got in it. Anyway, where were we?"

"We're going back to Arendelle to convince them to make peace with the trolls."

"You think that will work?" Hans asked.

Anna shrugged. "We have to try. I can't see you taking on an entire community of trolls as the supposed troll hunter."

Hans snorted. "No… I suppose not. Well, then… after you."

Anna stole one last agitated glance at him before she resumed tromping ahead into the forest. There was something fishy about him, but she would just have to keep an eye on him once they got back to Arendelle.