There was some resistance from the troll hunter about taking the princess to a stranger's cabin in the woods when, "She should be given to the care of the royal physician!" and, "We can just fly her there with her magic reindeer". When Hans did not jump in to be the voice of reason, Anna had been forced to. She was tired, bewildered and cranky, frankly wanting nothing more than to collapse in a deep sleep on the ground at her feet. But given the ground was covered in snow and Judet's home was just on the other side of a fence mere steps away, she fell to her more reasonable judgment and explained to Hansel that King Olaf might not react well to his daughter's ill state. Aside from the trolls, Judet seemed to be the next best person to consult about Kirsten's condition, be it of magical or natural causes.

Besides, Anna was not about to risk the ill princess falling off a flying reindeer when shelter was to be had.

Light glowed from the cabin windows. Anna let out a relieved sigh as they finally approached the door.

Hans knocked.

They waited only a few seconds, and then the door opened. Judet was as hospitable as before, stepping aside to shuffle them all in once she eyed Kirsten leaning on Hansel behind Hans and Anna.

"Bring her this way, near the fire," he said, instructing the troll hunter to lead the others. "Anna, the door. Would you please?"

Anna closed the door behind her, already relishing in the warmth of Judet's home. She heard the scrape of a chair across floor boards and looked over to find Judet sitting Kirsten down in the lone chair. The girl was awake now.

"How long?" Judet asked. The others all looked perplexed. "How long has she been this way?"

Hansel answered, "We had an encounter with the trolls—"

"Stallos," Anna explained to Judet. She glanced at Hans who stood before the brimming fireplace, his arm resting on the mantel as he gazed quietly into the flames.

"—not far from here," Hansel continued without pause. "Her Highness was knocked to the ground in the middle of it. That must have been an hour ago?"

Judet's reaction was peculiar. She seemed not to react to Hansel's words, but to the princess's white hair, which she moved as if to touch. But she pulled her hand away at the last second, looking puzzled.

"She is the princess?"

Although she asked, it did not sound like a question, Anna thought.

Kirsten groaned, weakly looking up at the old woman who felt at her forehead.

"Headache throbbing? Dizziness?" Judet asked, addressing Kirsten directly this time. "Like your head is too heavy for your neck when you stand?"

Kirsten nodded in affirmation while she tried to sit up straight. "How do you know? And how did you know I'm the princess?"

Judet gave her a kind smile before she plucked an iron kettle off of the mantelpiece and startled Hans out of his brooding reverie. "Let us make a deal, Your Highness. You feel better, and then I will tell you. For now, you should all get some rest. I'll make you all a hot drink, and then off to bed."

Hours later, still well before dawn, Anna woke up in the room with the box-bed. Princess Kirsten slept soundly behind her. Judet had insisted that they take the bed while everyone else could find a comfortable space on the floor.

The faint glow of moonlight and snowfall drew her gaze towards the low lone window, where Hans sat with his side along the wall as he peered out at the falling snow. The room was dark, but Anna could make out something turning in the prince's idle hands. It glinted whenever the light from the window hit it.

Anna slowly leaned up on her arms to try and see what it was. But the creaking of the old bed frame alerted Hans. He hid the thing, whatever it was, much to Anna's annoyance.

"You're awake," he said quietly enough not to disturb the third party in the room.

"Where's Hansel?"

"Asleep in the other room," he answered. "Judet doesn't sleep."

Anna recalled that the old woman had told her as much.

"Not since her husband died, I think," Anna thought out loud.

"Hmm."

He didn't sound particularly interested as he traced shapes in the frost on the window.

They stayed silent for a moment. Anna, startled by his trancelike behavior, watched his finger on the window. He did not draw anything in particular, just odd zigzags.

"So..." Anna said, never one to sit quietly for long. She had spent so much of her life struggling with this: the silence of a closed door. "Tomorrow's the big day, hey?"

Hans stopped and looked at her.

"We go to the king, announce Volco's death. Kirsten and Hansel can defend the remaining trolls and petition for peace. King Olaf will hear out our role in all of this, and hopefully, we can be on our way!"

She didn't realize until she said it just then, but she hadn't a clue as to where they should be 'on their way' to. Nor was she so certain there was any 'they'.

Realizing that he hadn't commented, Anna looked down and found Hans resumed playing with the frost on the window. Miffed, she grumbled, "You may not be excited, but I am."

"Please, tell me what I should be so excited about," Hans snapped, though he still managed to keep his voice only a fraction above a whisper. "You act as though you have a plan for after all of this."

"Well..." she started, but trailed off. There were options, weren't there? "With Volco gone, we can go back to the trolls and see if they can send us home."

"Home?" He scoffed. "You expect me to willingly go back to a place where I'll be tried and jailed for something out of my control?"

Anna sat up in alarm. "Something out of—what?"

It was the first time he'd spoken about his actions in Arendelle with any kind of transparency. Her knuckles whitened as she clutched her blanket, watching him struggle for an explanation. His eyes met hers for an instant in utter clarity, but the moment passed a breath later. A cloudy daze settled over him once more as he looked out the window, again intrigued by frost and snow. Anna slumped against her pillow.

"I'm glad I didn't kiss you then," she heard. She popped her head back up to look down at him, her brow furrowed. "My first kiss didn't have any meaning... If I'd kissed you when you begged me to, it wouldn't have had any meaning either."

Anna recoiled at that, moving as if to jump out of bed but frightened of what she might do if she actually went to him. The confusion hurt so much, it made her tremble.

"Leaving me to die was not better than a kiss you wouldn't have meant," she hissed. It took every ounce of self-control she could summon not to shout at him.

She gave a little startled cry when he shot up from the floor and stalked up to the edge of the box-bed. He gazed down at her fiercely, desperation flickering through his face as he leaned over her, close enough to touch. Then, the intensity just evaporated, melting into sadness.

"I'll go sleep by the fire," he muttered. He turned his back to her and quickly left the room.

Anna shivered under her blanket, unsure now that she was not dreaming. She'd thought her sister was difficult to understand, but Hans?

Seething, she shut her eyes against her pillow. She had to accept that she might never understand him... while also accepting that she truly wanted to.

The following morning found Princess Kirsten completely recovered and greedily gobbling down the ember flatbread and smoked reindeer meat Judet had prepared for their breakfast. Her companions watched in silent awe as she gulped water from her wooden cup to wash down the food.

"She may have lost her royal manners, but she looks much better," Hansel noted in amusement as he chewed a piece of flatbread himself. Anna, still basking in the buttery scent wafting through the cabin, giggled as Kirsten paused in embarrassment.

Judet smiled at them while scrubbing at the pan she'd used to bake their breakfast. "That is usually the way of magic sickness," she said. "One just needs to sleep it off."

Everyone stopped chewing, drinking and giggling to turn toward her in surprise.

"You've seen it before, then?"

Kirsten was the one brave enough to ask.

Judet froze mid-scrub as though she'd let something unintended slip. Slowly, carefully, she put the pan down on a cloth-covered trivet so it could dry. Then she turned to face them all.

"I guess the jig is up, as they say," she answered, patting her skirts to dry off her hands. "Well, Princess, we did make a deal. You're better now, so I can tell you..."

Everyone in the room tensed, listening.

"I recognized the illness because I dealt with it for forty years, whenever my husband used more magic than he was accustomed to," Judet explained. "I recognized you because you look a lot like him with your snow white hair... which should be no surprise, since you seem to have inherited the same wintry powers he had."

Kirsten's mouth dropped open in amazement as she put together what Judet was telling her. But Anna, ever impulsive, was the one to voice the conclusion.

"You were the woman... the one Crown Prince Nils ran off with?!"

Judet's sigh made Anna regret the question. "Well, that's not entirely true. We did marry without the royal blessing, but we didn't run off... the King and Queen stripped Nils of his title so that he'd be a commoner. Which he did not mind so much, except that they banned him from the castle..." She looked at Kirsten, smiling sadly. "He missed his younger brother dearly, but there was not much he could do. The argument with his parents got out of hand and... they were terrified of him after the accident, so we kept to ourselves."

"What accident?" Anna asked.

Judet frowned, looking at her husband's niece. Kirsten pushed her plate away, apparently having lost her appetite. She turned toward Anna.

"The servants said the queen, my grandmother, was injured during the argument. She hit her head in the explosion of ice. Slept for weeks after that. Fortunately, she survived... but my father had a deep-seated hatred and fear of sorcery after that."

Anna nodded, understanding King Olaf a little better now.

"But you weren't afraid of him," Kirsten said, addressing Judet once again.

"No. He was afraid of himself sometimes... he didn't need one more person to be scared of him, so I decided a long time ago to accept him. Always. No matter what." Judet looked away, her gaze dreamy as she seemed to recall faraway memories. "It took many years, but he did eventually learn to control his magic even when he was upset."

Kirsten guessed, "With your help."

Judet nodded.

After a moment, Anna felt something unspoken between the two. She worried over what would happen if it wasn't said, so she took it upon herself to speak up.

"So... I guess Judet is your aunt by marriage, Your Highness," she said, smiling back and forth between the two.

Kirsten smiled back. Clearly, she had been thinking the same thing. Then, the smile faded as she glanced down at the table. "When did my uncle die? How did he die?"

Anna was vaguely aware of Hansel inching out of the room when she felt Hans's hand at her shoulder.

"We should give them a moment," he whispered.

Anna was still furious with him for his strange behavior, and part of her felt the conversation pertained to her since she was technically family. She shrugged him off at first only to have him tug her away. Hans walked her to the front door where Hansel stood waiting.

"What's your problem?!" Anna snapped. She quieted when Hansel raised his eyebrow at the two of them. Hans took her aside so that Hansel wouldn't have to stand there awkwardly, listening.

"You have Elsa waiting for you back at home. Let the princess have this for herself."

Anna's face scrunched up in confusion. "I wasn't trying to take it away from her."

The prince sighed and shook his head. "Maybe not consciously."

Now, Anna was the one to raise her eyebrow. Whatever Hans was talking about, she didn't get it.

Exasperated, Hans ran a hand through his auburn hair and sighed at her. "Oh, Anna..."

She cringed at the phrase, but did not interrupt.

"You're constantly trying to connect with someone. Whether it's your sister, myself, that princess or the old woman... you didn't have much of that growing up, so you're forever trying to make up for it."

Anna glared at him, rejecting his analysis. "If you know me so well, why did you butt in?"

"Because I also know you care for that girl... and if you want her to have someone here, in her own time, to work through her magic and troubles with, you can't be in there sharing the spotlight. Especially not if you intend to go back to your own time. That's not being fair to the princess."

She bristled at the way he referred to it as 'her' time.

"Since when does Hans Westergaard care about fairness?"

For a split-second, he looked genuinely hurt. Then a creaking floorboard drew both their faces back toward the door. Kirsten and Judet had come out to join them. Kirsten looked at the two of them with concern as she slid into her fur coat.

"Are you ready?" Judet asked, looking from them to Kirsten and Hansel. Everyone nodded and followed Hansel outside as he opened the door, leading the way.

Outside, Anna was surprised to find the two snowmounts waiting for them at the fence. Kirsten must have conjured them at some point, once she was feeling better.

Hans claimed the reindeer on the left, climbing up on its back. Upon seeing this, Anna automatically moved toward the one on the right. But Kirsten was already on the mount with Hansel climbing up behind her.

Cursing under her breath as she strode up to him, Anna heaved herself up behind Hans. She glared daggers into the steel blue coat over his back. Just because they had to share transportation did not mean she had to cling to him. So, she'd keep her hands at her side.

Much to her chagrin, Hans noticed and glanced back at her over his shoulder. "Aren't you going to hold on?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"Anna..."

"What?"

He turned his head to face the front again, emitting a sigh. "You don't want to fall off."

"I won't, thank you." She shifted around and sat up straight, quite proud of herself.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked. He glanced off at Kirsten and Hansel ascending already.

Anna growled inwardly and jabbed him in the back with her finger. "What's gotten into me? What's gotten into you?! You're the one playing hot and cold and hot and cold and hot again! I can't keep up!" Tears pricked her eyes and startled her. With a sniffle she tried very hard to keep quiet, she wiped them away from her face.

"You're being ridiculous."

"Your face is ridiculous!" she snapped at him, her voice not as even as she meant it to be. She sniffed again, embarrassed because she was, in fact, being a little bit ridiculous, if she was being honest with herself. She didn't have to admit it to Hans, though.

Hans reached back for her wrists and pulled her arms around him before giving their reindeer a gentle kick. The creature leaped up into the air, startling Anna so much that she squawked and clutched Hans for dear life. She glared at his back again, wanting to punch his stupid coat, but not wanting to let go as the snowmount lifted them on a steep path toward the sky.

Anna sighed, her anger peeling away as she focused on what was to come. The meeting with King Olaf would go well. It just had to. Then, she could see about figuring out a way back to her sister, regardless of whether Hans wanted to go with her or not.

It's not like she needed him.

It was light, so soft on her skin that at first, she thought she imagined it. But she felt Hans close one of his hands over her own.

That one gesture shattered all thoughts of her not needing him.

A/N: D'awwww. Thanks so much for following and reviewing! I've answered some of your questions below...

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Yes, Volco's gone. Hans is not Volco in disguise. But he did take something from the body, which you've probably guessed already while reading this chapter.

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Hans is definitely trying to keep his cool, but it's a little more complicated than that. He can't fully control the way he's acting.

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As for Kirsten's illness, Judet pretty much explained it this chapter. This was something Anna mused on previously—does the magic take its toll? It absolutely does. In the present timeline, Elsa's blizzard was sort of a violent reaction to her keeping her feelings and powers hidden away, so she didn't really suffer the effects of it, especially since she was able to go off to her own ice palace and kind of recoup herself there. Since then, she hasn't done anything major with her magic, so she's had time to recover naturally. I guess you could look at her cold from Frozen Fever as a delayed magic sickness. :P

In the past, Kirsten hadn't done anything huge with her powers until Anna asks for her help. Much like Elsa, she'd been encouraged to keep her powers hidden... so she didn't get to exercise her magic like Elsa did as a kid with Anna. I hope that's not too confusing... I just didn't like the idea of magic not coming with a price (lol, I can hear all the "Once Upon a Time" characters in my head right now).