They drew shouts when they initially flew out of the forest and over the town of Arendelle. Far below, small townspeople craned their necks back and pointed. Anna glanced across at Princess Kirsten, who seemed to be taking all the attention rather well as she pointed back and waved to her people below. How different this was from the revelation of Elsa's powers. Were the folks below frightened or just surprised?

All the yelling drew more people out of shops and homes. Gradually, the streets of old Arendelle grew crowded.

"Almost home, Your Majesty!" the troll hunter cried, raising his voice to speak over the wind.

For just a moment, Anna forgot that he was not talking to her. She'd almost forgotten that this Arendelle was not her home.

"Are you ready?" Hans asked, turning slightly to look at her. His hand had not left hers since they left Judet's. It was a comfort that warmed her even as they flew against the winter winds toward a fate unknown.

"Are you?" she said, trying to be lighthearted.

King Olaf wouldn't like that Anna had led the princess into danger. There was also the fact that a dozen of his men had been slain by a troll. It would be up to Kirsten to placate and persuade him not to blame all trolls. How would the king react to Kirsten's blatant display of power or news of his brother's widow? Anna couldn't imagine. She almost wished that she and Hans could turn back and just stay with the trolls until they could figure out a way back to their own time. But she owed it to her great-great grandmother to see things through.

Kirsten guided them over the bridge to the castle and down into the courtyard, where guards ran amok in a panic, some calling for archers until one recognized Hans, of all people.

"It's the impostor!" the guard yelled in amazement.

Anna sniggered to herself as she felt Hans cringe at the term. To be fair, it was well-chosen.

"And the princess! With the troll hunter!"

No one announced Anna's presence as the four of them descended. It seemed no matter where she went, she was someone of little importance. But as she spotted King Olaf and Queen Elsebet rushing forth from the castle, Anna decided that being invisible might not be a horrible thing for the moment.

Both king and queen looked about ten years older than when she'd last seen them. She quickly realized it was because they hadn't slept and neither were wearing their usual powdery makeup. They both had dark circles under their puffy, wide eyes.

Before Kirsten could dismount after Hansel, her father stepped up and pulled her from her enchanted snowmount, enclosing her in a fierce hug. The queen joined them, holding them both as she wept and weakly pet her daughter's hair.

Anna froze as she watched the scene, unable to move as she saw the princess's face wrinkle up in deeply moved tears. It made her think of her own family, when it was long ago complete. Had she almost destroyed Kirsten's?

"Anna."

Hans gently nudged her, snapping her back to attention. She hopped down so he could join her.

Kirsten sniffled as her father kissed her forehead. She looked from one to the other. "I'm all right."

"You went missing... and when we heard what happened to the men in the forest..." The queen explained, covering her own mouth to silence another sob as she obviously could not continue to speak of Volco's violence.

"There were survivors?" Kirsten asked hopefully.

Her father nodded, staring into the space between them as his thoughts took him over. Then, he turned toward Hans, Anna and Hansel. For the first time, he smiled at Anna.

"Thank you for bringing our child back to us."

The three bowed to the king before they exchanged looks with one another.

"Actually," Hansel said, "The princess is the one you should be thanking."

The king's brow wrinkled in confusion as he turned toward his daughter again. "What happened out there?"

"I'll explain everything," Kirsten said, gently resting her hand upon the king's shoulder.

King Olaf nodded, putting an arm each around his wife and daughter. "We'll talk in the council chamber." Then, turning to one of the guards, he ordered him to make sure no one disrupted them.

"Father," the princess interrupted. King Olaf paused. "I'd like the troll hunter to give his account as well."

King Olaf turned to look at the two men standing beside Anna as though he'd forgotten which one was the true troll hunter. Then, Hansel stepped up.

"Your Highness?" Anna called, anxious about being left out of the discussion. She trusted the princess, but what if they left out some important detail?

"You and Hans should rest. You can wait in the library," the princess said. Anna thought there was a mischievous lilt in Kirsten's voice, but she knew it could have been tiredness playing tricks on her.

Not wanting to appear impertinent by arguing, Anna bowed her head and watched them go.

Hans had taken one end of the sofa with Anna taking the other. A servant came in to start up the fireplace and then left them in silence, closing the door behind her. It was just the four of them now: Hans, herself, the fire and the quiet.

She cleared her throat in discomfort as she recalled the last time they'd sat like that together in the library. It was a different time now, though. Maybe it was a different Hans too.

Could she believe that? She wanted to.

"You look like you—"

"Do you think—"

They both stopped and looked at each other. His chuckle made her smile.

"I was going to say, you look like you want to say something," he said, speaking gently.

Her stomach flopped. True, there was plenty she wanted to say. But as she had told him, it was difficult to open up when he was warm one moment and closed off the next.

It wasn't fair to her. With that in mind, she shook her head and gazed quietly into the fire. She felt his eyes on her and did her best not to squirm under his gaze. He could stare all he liked. But until he decided to stop being a weirdo, there was no need for them to have a heart-to-heart.

"You know..." he started to speak, but he trailed off with a laugh at the end.

"What?" She looked at him, bewildered.

"It's nothing... I just thought of that stupid song you used to scare off the wolves."

She blushed. "It wasn't stupid. It would have worked against a wolf."

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, startling her. She glared but couldn't help softening as she wondered why he apologized.

"For what?"

Now he was the one who looked uncomfortable.

"I just..."

She knew as soon as he hesitated that whatever came next was not what he was sorry about.

"I know it's not easy to sit in here while they're talking about everything that happened. You were a big part of it. The princess should have invited you along too."

Anna scoffed. "Yeah, well it looked like she had other plans for me."

"Huh?"

Again, she blushed. "...nevermind."

They fell back into more silence during which they both shifted around in their seats. Anna crossed her ankles and tapped her fingers on the armrest while Hans crossed his arms and did neck stretches. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye now and again, but he was staring straight ahead. Minutes ticked by with her glancing around the room. Each time she checked on Hans, he appeared deep in thought.

In a way, she felt guilty. The princess had obviously wanted to give her time alone with him. She should have felt irritated about that, given all Hans had done. Not that Kirsten knew any of that.

Before she could help it, she sighed. That made him look at her.

"Hansel was grateful to Pabbie. He'll speak up for the trolls, don't worry."

"I know," she said. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

The truth was, she couldn't get it out of her head—his admission in Judet's cabin—that he was glad he didn't kiss her when she begged him to because it would have held no meaning. Why say that? What did that even mean?

Would it have any meaning if he kissed her now?

Why would you even think about that?!

He behaved strangely that night. As if there were things he wanted to tell her, but couldn't. She wanted to ask him now. But could she bear it if he turned away from her again?

She locked her eyes on his and couldn't find the answer within herself. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words could not come out.

Anna loved Hans. But then, she hated him... only to love him again. They had spent over a week together now. Was that long enough? Was he even capable of love? Would that mean anything, anyway?

No, no. She shouldn't feel a thing. But every time he spoke, every time she saw his face, whether he was being sarcastic or comforting, her heart did little somersaults. All of it was downright infuriating.

"Nothing," she lied. And she could tell he knew it, but she didn't care.

No, that was a lie too. She did care. She looked away from him before she could let herself speak her mind. He didn't deserve that, not with all his mixed signals and manipulation... and... and murder attempt!

God, what is wrong with me?!

"Hans—"

"Anna—"

They stopped themselves, each not wanting to interrupt the other. A painful heartbeat later, the library door opened and a squealing Kirsten dashed into the room. With that, the moment was lost.

The princess, blind to the atmosphere because of her own excitement, ran up to Anna and clasped at her hands.

"My father wants to make peace with the trolls!" she announced.

Anna stood, her face lighting up over the good news. She looked down towards Hans, smiling. "That's wonderful, Your Highness! He... he's not holding the attack against all of the trolls, then?"

At the mention of the fallen guards, Kirsten's face darkened a bit. But she shook her head in reply. "He praised me for my courage... and he is grateful to you, Hans, for defeating the corrupted troll leader. We told him about the other trolls, like the one who healed Hansel... Pabbie, wasn't it?"

Anna nodded without speaking so as to allow the young girl to continue.

"We explained how the trolls are closely connected to nature and were only trying to protect their home. I... I won't lie to you. When my father heard about their magic and crystals, he was suddenly very eager to meet them. He talked of trade arrangements and establishing official borders. I'm hopeful that this will be the start of a peaceful relationship between our lands."

Anna lightly squeezed Kirsten's hands. "I'm sure it will be!"

"Oh! One thing I forgot to mention," Kirsten winked, "is that he wants to host a ball in honor of the 'four heroes', as he keeps calling us. And he'll invite my aunt Judet to stay at the castle! He had no idea where his brother had gone all these years. They'll have a lot to talk about!"

Anna watched the princess ramble on excitedly, briefly reminded of herself for a moment. Then, Kirsten's announcement actually dawned on her.

"A ball?"

Elsa stood on the castle doorstep, staring uneasily at the open doors across the courtyard as she wrung her hands together. She frowned as Lord Harald's carriage rode through. His servant—thankfully, not Liam—arrived before him the previous evening to announce his intended visit.

"His Lordship has something urgent he wishes to discuss with you."

Unfortunately, that was all the servant could tell her.

A dark part of her told her that was what she got for having such a peaceful day with Lord Jorn and his family. She should not have let her guard down. Now, perhaps Lord Harald had gotten wind of her private meetings with individual nobles. He would want to know why she had not visited him. To send the servant home and deny Lord Harald her audience would just arouse his suspicion.

She would just have to face him... she only had to decide whether to call him out or to play innocent herself.

Dare she hope that Lady Cathrine was right that Lord Harald had no interest in ruling? Anything was possible. But that was little comfort when the carriage rolled to a stop and the driver climbed down to open the carriage door for his lord.

Harald stepped down and walked briskly toward her after giving a proper bow. Elsa agonized over the purpose of his visit as he drew nearer. Something dark moved frantically across the courtyard cobblestones. It moved like the shadow of a clumsy bird. Then, a loud cry made both her and Lord Harald look upward.

The queen used her and to shield her eyes from the blaring morning sunlight as she tried to make out the... person? Yes, it was clearly a person flying back and forth in the air. Their red boots caught her eye first and so she didn't notice the rest of him right away. When she realized it was Kristoff in the sky, she nearly fell over from shock.

The ice harvester shouted at the people in the courtyard as he struggled to remove one of his boots. When it was off, he dropped it. It nearly hit one of the stunned guards on the head.

"Sorry!" Kristoff shouted down at the cursing guard who gestured quite rudely up at the 'flying fool'.

Elsa suspected the boots were enchanted when suddenly, Kristoff's body fell downwards so that he was only hanging mid-air by the one boot remaining on his foot. He yelped and flailed his arms, circling just above the courtyard like he was swimming upside down.

"Look ooouuuut!" He shouted as he came dangerously close to knocking into several guards.

"Your Majesty," she heard Harald try to get her attention, but her guards were drawing their weapons.

"Don't hurt him!" She swept past Harald, who desperately jabbered on about a discovery he needed to bring to her attention at once. But Elsa had eyes only for Kristoff as he fought to remove the other boot.

The guards hung back as the queen flew towards Kristoff to help steady him. With her assistance, he was able to remove the other boot. Before he could fall head-first to the courtyard ground, Elsa helped right him so that he could land on his two feet.

Kristoff let out a relieved sigh, though he was still flushed from hanging upside down. Before he could catch his breath, the queen threw her arms around him in a grip that sucked the air out of him. He felt cold and hot all at once in her arms... and he was sure that the contact did nothing to help the redness of his face.

"Y-Y-Your Majesty!" he said, unsure of whether to hug back or just stay as still as possible. He'd thought she would be furious that he had set off on his own.

He hadn't expected...this.

Elsa released him when she heard his teeth chatter. She forced herself to calm down.

"Where have you been?! You're alone? Where's Sven?"

The ice harvester struggled with where to begin. But before he could figure out an answer, Lord Harald was upon them.

"Your Majesty. I must insist that we speak privately... now would be best."

It took all her father's training for Elsa not to roll her eyes at the man. That was when she realized that she felt braver now that Kristoff had returned.

"I found her, Elsa," Kristoff said, apparently forgetting formalities even as Lord Harald shot him a nasty glare. "I found the Ice Maiden."

Lord Harald tried to interject yet again. "Your Majesty, please."

"Enough!" Elsa snapped, although she appeared calm and collected. "Lord Harald, this man's return takes precedence for the moment. You may wait in the library."

The noble turned down his mouth, but he had the decency not to argue. He left them, shaking his head as he retreated toward the castle.

With everyone else keeping a respectful distance, Elsa was free from distraction enough now to notice how weak the ice harvester looked.

"I can see you've had a rough journey," she said. "And... forgive me for saying so, but you look dirtier than usual."

Kristoff turned pink. He could only imagine how wretchedly he must smell too. Yet the queen had hugged him! Nevertheless, he mumbled his apology.

"You said you found the Ice Maiden? Was Anna with her?"

Kristoff hated to disappoint her as he shook his head. "No. But it's a good thing. The Ice Maiden's much worse than we thought. I... saw things that she did."

The way he spoke drew Elsa's careful attention. She could see in his eyes the look of someone who'd been imprisoned. She knew that look well enough from her own experience, even if she'd been the one to lock herself away. At least she'd had the power to free herself. She could tell that Kristoff had not been so sure he would escape.

"I want to hear everything. But you need to eat and wash first." He started to object, of course. "That's an order. Besides... you owe me for running off without a word."

At that, Kristoff's mouth shut and he looked at her in exasperation.

"I'll eat," he relented. "But the bath can wait until after I've told you everything."

A/N: My apologies for the wait! :D This was a lot of fun to write what with the Hansanna and Kristelsa moments. A special thank you to all who are following and reviewing. I'll try to update sooner next time.