Note: Okayyy so first of all, sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Second of all- for those of you who read the original nineteenth chapter 'The Promised Child', FORGET YOU EVER READ IT. It was taking the story in a direction that I never wanted to take, and I admit that I was getting a little stressed out at the time it was taking me to post chapters so I rushed into something that I didn't like, and you didn't like either. So here is the nineteenth chapter, and I admit I like it muuuuch better. Please, please review, it's what's keeping this story going. Thank you to all of you for reading this far, and have a great day!

Chapter 19: Fear's Imposter

Jack looked around him, barely taking in the ruins of the village. It was a horrifying sight. In three hundred years, he hadn't ever witnessed such a thing.

Elsa was in shock, her gaze empty of any emotion as she walked past the corpse of a small boy, and the ruin of a small cottage. Long gone were the days when the Queen had screamed on seeing the corpse of a small girl. Now, steely determination led her.

"Elsa-" he tried, but his voice came out as a whisper. He cleared his throat, feeling as if he would no longer be able to breathe normally, after seeing this.

"Elsa," he called again, and she turned. She was still covered in mud, and rain had started to fall around them again. Her blonde hair, usually shining and neatly braided, spilled over her shoulders, and stuck to her face. She was beautiful in a sad, terrible way.

He walked over to her, but didn't dare touch her. He could see her already shrinking back behind her walls that he had taken so long to get beyond.

"Is this my fault?" she whispered, and he barely heard her above the pounding of the rain. Her voice cracked, and he saw her eyes fall to the body of a woman, laying with a baby in her arms.

Instinctively, he strode to her, and pulled her to him, burying his face in her hair.

"No, baby, never. This could never be your fault."

Her arms intertwined around him, and she held him close. He kissed her hair, closing his eyes, trying to block out the horror of the scene around them.

"Let's go," he murmured, and she nodded, shaking. His hand on her waist, they walked towards Aztec, waiting for them at the edge of the village.

Then, Elsa stopped in her tracks, and disentangled herself from Jack.

"What is it?" he asked, turning to look in the direction she was staring at. He gripped his staff tighter.

Was it possible that a Nightmare was still around?

"Elsa?" he asked again.

"Can you hear that?" she said, and Jack narrowed his eyes, listening intently. At first, he could hear nothing but the pounding of the rain… then, he heard it.

Someone was crying.

Elsa had already begun running towards the sound.

"Elsa!" he called, setting out at a run behind her. "Be careful! It could be a trap!"

She didn't seem to hear him, and he caught up with her just as she rounded the corner of another ruined cottage.

There, underneath a half-fallen roof, was a small girl. She had dirty blonde hair that was matted with blood, and eyes that looked like wide, blue pools. She was dressed in a dark dress that was torn to near-shreds.

"Hello," said Jack softly, approaching her and kneeling down, so that their eyes were at the same level. "What's your name?"

The girl had stopped crying, but she whimpered as Jack came closer to her, tucking her knees away from him. At least that meant she could see him. He couldn't imagine what she'd seen, how much she'd lost… and she was six years old, at most.

"I'm Jack Frost," he said in a soothing voice. He twirled his hand slowly, and an icy bunny appeared out of thin air, and bounded around the girl's head. "What's your name?" he repeated.

She was staring at the ice bunny, and she looked calmer. Finally, she turned around to look at him.

"Lucinda," she said.

"Hello, Lucinda," he said, smiling. "This is my friend, Elsa."

Elsa bent down on her knees as well, smiling kindly.

"We're not here to hurt you, Lucinda," she said softly, and Jack saw that at once, the girl seemed to relax a little. "We've come to bring you somewhere safe."

Slowly, she extended a hand towards Lucinda, but the girl didn't take it at once.

"Come on, Lucinda," she urged urgently, and Jack knew that she was trying to sound comforting at the same time. He saw her glance up, and he followed her gaze. It looked like the roof was about to crumble down on them.

"Hey, Lucinda," he called, and the girl's dark blue eyes fixed on him. "We're going to play a little game, okay?"

The girl nodded at the same time a terrifying noise sounded around them. Little rocks fell on their heads. For now, they were harmless, but Jack had a feeling that the next rocks that would fall from the roof would be much heavier.

"The bunny is going to go outside, okay? Because he doesn't like the indoors," said Jack, returning his gaze to Lucinda. "You're going to have to catch him, Lucinda, can you do that?"

Lucinda nodded again, and Jack twitched his fingers. At once, the bunny leapt out towards the rain, Lucinda standing up on trembling legs to follow him- but Jack saw, from the edge of his vision, a wooden beam slide to the side, and with a huge crash, the roof began to fall on them.

With the crook of his staff, Jack pulled Lucinda towards him, grabbing her and Elsa and jumped out of the way just in time.

Elsa wrapped her arms around Lucinda as the small girl screamed, Jack covering them with his body as everything crumbled around them. He expected a stone to crash down towards them, but when he looked up, he saw that they were under a solid, ice shelter. He looked down at Elsa. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

"We'll be alright," she was murmuring in Lucinda's ear, "We'll be alright."

Finally, the deafening sound around them stopped, and Jack looked around them. Everything was destroyed, a thin coat of dust flying in the air. He got up, and helped Elsa up, who scooped Lucinda in her arms. Instantly, the icy shield above them disappeared.

"We should go," he said. She nodded, and they stepped over a pile of rocks. Lucinda's face was pressed against Elsa's chest, as the Queen tried to shield her from the sight of the fallen. If Lucinda had looked, she would have seen the corpses of her family and friends.

Finally, they reached Aztec, and Elsa handed over the small girl to Jack while she mounted. The snowflake necklace he'd given her glinted around her neck as she stretched her arms towards him again, taking back the little girl in her arms and carefully placing her in front of her. She bent to grab the reins.

"Jack, fly back to the castle, and warn-"

She stopped, biting her lip. She looked back at the destroyed village. He knew that she'd been about to say 'Anna'. He reached to grab her hand.

"I'll find Eugene," he whispered. She raised her eyes to meet his, and nodded. His feet floated of the ground, and he kissed her cheek.

He looked down at the small girl who had lost everything.

And he couldn't help but turn around one last time, watching the destroyed village.

He had been so naïve. All this time, he hadn't really understood what war would mean.

He'd thought that this was going to be a battle between him and Pitch, all along, for the girl born of ice and snow. But now, as he remembered the way she'd fought yesterday- as he saw how she looked with an icy rage at her fallen people…

This war wasn't just going to impact him and the people he loved. Everyone was in danger, even this small blonde girl, whose only wrong was to live in a village that had been in the way.

And they were all an audience, all watching a looming battle that was getting ever nearer; all watching as Pitch was coming for a Queen that needed no-one to defend her.

He looked back at Elsa's face, tear and raindrops becoming one on her cheeks. He didn't know if what he felt in that instant was love; but he felt linked to her in a way he'd never felt for anyone before.

He smiled at her, a sorry, loving smile, and she looked at him as if she understood all that he couldn't say.

He patted Aztec's mane. The wind came for him, swirling around them, his clothes flapping around him as he threw himself in the air, towards the castle.

…

Anna woke up drenched in sweat. She bolted upright, looking around her.

The last rays of the sun filled her room with an orange light, and it took a second for her eyes to adapt to the brightness.

"Hello, you," said a soft voice, and she turned her head. Kristoff, in a wheelchair, was looking at her intently.

"Kristoff! You should be in bed!" she said, pulling the covers off herself- but before she could make another movement, Kristoff had pressed her back onto the bed.

"In your dreams, Princess. You scared the shit out of me, and you're not going anywhere yet."

"What happened?" she asked, looking around nervously.

"You fainted in the Council Room," Kristoff explained, seizing her hand. "The baby-"

"Did something happen to it?" she asked, panicked, and sat up again, pushing the covers off her again and looking down at her stomach. There was still the bump that had become more familiar in the past weeks, but that didn't mean anything.

"Kristoff, did I lose our baby?" she said, her voice strangled as her eyes didn't leave her stomach.

"No, Anna, it's fine. The doctor said that everything was normal, but you're going to have to be careful from now on. Turns out battling dark forces isn't the best thing for a smooth pregnancy."

She smiled weakly at his attempt to comfort her, and she squeezed his hand as she stroked her pregnant belly absent-mindedly. He raised it to his lips and kissed her palm.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Sorry for what?" he asked, completely bewildered.

"If I lose the baby- it's my fault, all my fault, I would've killed our-"

"Stop it." Kristoff's voice was so firm that she looked up, surprised. "If you lose the baby- I would be devastated, Anna, I really would. But it wouldn't be your fault. If anything, it would be that- that Pitch's fault."

He wiped away a tear that had escaped her lashes.

"Where's Elsa?" Anna asked, suddenly realizing that it was very strange that her sister wasn't at her bedside.

"She went out with Jack," explained Kristoff, "Gone out riding. She wanted to check something, but she didn't say what. Eugene is… a little out of it, if I'm being honest."

There was a knock on the door, and Eugene opened it. His hair, usually neat, was a mess. Underneath his eyes were purple pockets that seemed to be permanently etched there.

"Hey Anna," he said, sounding exhausted. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said quickly.

"Where have you been?" asked Kristoff.

"Helping with the injured. The ballroom is still a mess," he said, as he sat down on the other side of Anna's bed.

"That's too bad, Elsa was planning on throwing a ball," she said sarcastically.

The corner of Eugene's lips quirked up, and she studied him closely. The helpless anguish he'd shown after Rapunzel's kidnapping had been replaced by steely determination. His elbows were on his knees as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. She found herself stretching an arm towards him, and stroking his arm with her thumb. His eyes lifted to meet hers, but before she could say anything, the window burst open. Eugene jumped on his feet spinning towards the sound- to find a wind-blown Jack behind him.

"Anna!" said Jack, when he saw her. "You're awake! Are you okay?"

"Where's Elsa?" she asked anxiously, not bothering to answer him.

"She's fine, she's- well, it's a long story but- the Southern Isles have attacked villages. I think that they didn't want any witnesses to tell the Queen that they were planning-"

"Villages?" said Anna weakly. "Whole villages?"

Before Jack could say anything more, Kristoff coughed sharply.

"Jack. Anna. No stress. Remember?"

"What do you mean no stress?" snapped Anna, "Do you intend on just keeping me in the dark?"

"That's not what I said-"

"Oh so what, Jack just barges in here to tell us that our people are being massacred so that there would be no witnesses to warn us about a bloodbath that occurred in my home, and I'm supposed to what? Meditate?"

"The doctor did say that meditation would be a good idea-"

"Guys? Elsa?" interrupted Eugene, and Anna stopped talking, though she was still glaring at her husband. Jack, looking back and forth between the both of them with a very entertained expression on his face seemed to snap back to reality.

"Uh- right. There was a survivor, a little girl. Her name's Lucinda."

"That poor girl," whispered Anna, instinctively raising a hand to the bump of her stomach.

"They'll be back soon, Elsa told me to tell Eugene to make preparations for their arrival-"

"On it," said Eugene quickly, raising from his chair and nearly sprinting out of the room. Anna's eyes followed him worriedly.

"He needs to rest," she said. "I'm worried about him."

"I'll go with him," muttered Kristoff. "I'll come back soon. Love you," he added before rolling the wheels of his wheelchair backwards with his hands, and bumping into the wall. Muttering something about how he could perfectly walk and this whole thing was absolutely ridiculous, he wheeled himself out of the room. Anna brought her gaze back to Jack.

"When was the last time that you slept?" she questioned suspiciously.

"I don't need as much sleep as you guys," he said quickly. She frowned.

"How come?"

He looked quizzically at her before a horrified expression flashed on his face.

"Um- well- I'm- dead?" he squeaked out the last word.

"What?" Anna repeated, half-laughing. There was an embarrassed pause, as Jack looked at her sheepishly.

"You know what, I don't even want to know," she said, and Jack sagged with relief.

That wasn't exactly true; she was burning with curiosity, but Jack really didn't seem to want to discuss the topic further. She made a mental note to ask Elsa later.

"So, I know that this is going to sound weird with everything going but- how's it going with my sister?" she raised her eyebrows, and waited expectantly.

"How's it going with your sister?" he repeated slowly. "I don't know what you mean."

"Really? Tall, blonde, blue eyes. Really pretty. Like really pretty."

"Doesn't ring a bell," he said, an amused twinkle in his eyes as he sat down where Eugene had been minutes before.

"Snow powers? Queen? Did I mention she was pretty?"

Jack laughed, and she smiled.

"Yeah, it does bring someone to mind."

She smiled at him, brushing a strand of red hair from her face.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So how's it going with my sister?"

"It's going- am I even supposed to be having this conversation with you?"

Anna curled her lips sadly, looking at him from underneath her lashes.

"I'm booooored, and Elsa's too busy running around saving Arendelle to tell me any details anymore. Come on! Pleaaaaase," she said in a whiny voice, and Jack grinned, amused.

"I'll probably going to get into trouble for this," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, more than probably sweetheart," she said, her eyebrows lifting.

"And there's no way I can get out of this?"

"None."

"I could fly out of the window, you know."

"If you do, I'll run after you, and you'll have to explain to everyone how you forced me out of bed arrest."

"You are evil," he gasped dramatically, and she grinned.

"Glad you caught on. Now, spill."

"Elsa is going to butcher me," he groaned. She hoisted herself into a sitting position and watched him, waiting.

"So- I came back," he said. "Because I had to try to convince her again."

She nodded.

"And I think I was pretty convincing," Jack muttered. "Seeing as we kissed and everything."

"And everything, huh?" teased Anna.

"Not in that way, Jesus, Anna. Isn't this grossing you out?"

"Absolutely not, I'm having the time of my life here," she grinned.

"No, really?" he said ironically, rolling his eyes.

"Seriously though. Did you do it?"

"Anna! Boundaries!"

She groaned. "You sound more and more like Elsa with every day that passes."

"I do not," he frowned. "I'm just sure I'm not supposed to be giving out details of our sex life to my girlfriend's little sister!"

"Girlfriend! You said girlfriend!" she squealed.

"I- I did?"

"Yes you did!"

"I'm sure I didn't."

"I'm really sure you did."

"I'm really sure I didn't."

"I'm really extra-sure you did!"

"You are exasperating," laughed Jack. "Okay, fine, maybe we did say we'd give this relationship thing a try (he was interrupted by Anna squealing excitedly before biting down on her palm) but we said we'd wait for the- body to body part."

"You can say sex, you know," interrupted Anna. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm pregnant. I'm familiar with the concept."

"I'm so relieved," said Jack sarcastically, fidgeting with his staff.

"Wait-" said Anna. "Are you familiar with the concept?"

"I feel as if I'm really losing control of this situation," groaned Jack.

"You're a virgin?!" exclaimed Anna.

"No, I'm not!" protested Jack.

"Okay, how many times have you done it before?"

"I am done with this conversation," he said, standing up, at the precise moment the door opened again. Elsa, looking drenched to the bone was standing in the entryway. Anna noticed how Jack seemed to instantly light up, as he grinned towards her sister.

"Anna! Kristoff and Eugene told me you were awake! How are you?" she said, striding quickly to her bedside and grabbing her hand, leaving a trail of mud behind her.

"I'm fine, don't worry," said Anna, feeling herself return back to seriousness. "Is- is that little girl alright?"

"Pretty traumatized, I think. I'm going to give her a title. A lot of nobles died last night without leaving heirs, so I can do that- she'll have a comfortable life that way, even if I can't give her back what she lost."

She sounded breathless, and Anna noticed how her eyes skipped to Jack for a second, giving him a dazzling smile.

"You know what, I should get some sleep," said Anna. "You two go help the others."

"Are you sure?" Elsa said worriedly. Anna nodded, and with another worried look, she left the room, quickly followed by Jack.

The door clicked shut behind them, and Anna turned her head to face the window. The sun had nearly disappeared, the stars and the moon already present in a dark blue sky.

"We're going to have to find you a name, aren't we?" she whispered tenderly, stroking her stomach.

…

The second the door clicked shut behind them, Elsa turned towards Jack to say something- she wasn't sure what exactly, but she wanted to make sure he was okay. He'd had such a peculiar look in his eyes before flying away. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Jack's lips had smashed into hers. Her body responded automatically, her hands lifting to cup his face as he held her tight to him by the waist.

After a few seconds, he let go of her.

"What was that about?" she laughed, feeling her flushed skin.

"I told Anna you were my girlfriend," he breathed. He looked flustered suddenly, the confidence he'd had a second before vanishing. She felt herself soften, and a wide smile rise to her face. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, throwing her a look from beneath his eyelashes. She came closer to him, and swung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his sweatshirt. He smelled of freshly fallen slow and cold winds.

"You're not mad?" he said, breaking the spell, and she pulled back to look at his face.

"Why would I be mad?" she laughed.

"I don't know just- not going too fast and all that. And I didn't ask you first."

"Ask me now then," she said, stepping back, smiling. He grinned, and her heart skipped a beat.

"It's supposed to be romantic," he said, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.

"Are you saying this corridor isn't an ideal romantic getaway?" she teased, and he chuckled. He came closer to her, and her breathing quickened. He had a look in his eyes that was nearly- predatory. She walked backwards, until she felt the wall against her back. He continued to come closer to her, until he was looking down into her eyes, as his hands imprisoned her to the wall. She didn't dare breathe, as she felt her body tighten.

"Elsa," he breathed, and he raised his thumb to trace her lips. She closed her eyes. There was no sound in the corridor. They were completely alone. Night had fallen, and everything was completely dark around them.

She felt his cold breath tickle her cheek, and she opened her eyes again. She met his blue eyes, and didn't break eye-contact. He knelt forwards, until his lips were touching hers. He didn't kiss her, and she had to refrain from kissing him.

"The way you convinced that little girl to follow you-" he stopped, as if he didn't know what to say. She waited. "I've never been surer of anything in my life. And I've lived for a while."

He leaned in to kiss her slowly, his thumb lifting her chin. He pulled back again.

"I want to be your boyfriend, lover, partner, whatever you want to call me. I want to be with you." He stopped, looking at her hesitantly, and she smiled, biting her lip.

"Do you?"

It was as if those words had snapped an invisible cord that had been holding her back. Their lips crashed together, and she didn't remember having held tighter anything in her life. She felt as if her heart was soaring, and she couldn't help but smile and laugh between kisses, and she could feel his lips shaping into a smile against hers every time.

"Yes," she laughed, and he grinned, pulling her in and kissing her harder but also softer- it was like nothing she had experienced before. Her whole body was tingling, and her toes curled in her mud-covered boots.

A polite cough sounded, and they broke away from each other. Kristoff, in a wheelchair, was looking at the both of them, looking bemused.

"Sorry to interrupt that," he said, grinning, but Elsa found no usual blush rising to her cheeks, no sense of embarrassment creeping on her. She bit her lip, still smiling wider than she'd ever smiled before, grabbing Jack's hand, and curling her other around his arm. He squeezed her hand, looking very amused. "You two don't joke around when you get it on, do you?"

Jack laughed, and Elsa blushed this time.

"I would say get a room, but we don't really have time for that," continued Kristoff, still grinning.

"Right," said Elsa, coughing. There was a war going on.

Get a grip on yourself, she told herself, though the words did nothing to diminish the glowing happiness that seemed to have permanently taken place in her heart.

"What's going on?" she asked him. Kristoff sobered up, his smile disappearing instantly.

"We have news from Rapunzel."

...

Elsa burst into the Council Room, and Jack saw everyone jump to their feet. There was Eugene, a few Council Members, and Eleanor. Kristoff followed them in, the wheels of his chair squeaking as he closed the door. Jack's eyes dropped to Eugene's hands; they were trembling- with relief or distress, Jack couldn't tell. But he barely noticed, concentrating instead on the book Eugene was holding as if his life depended on it.

"What's going on?" Elsa said, and though she seemed confident, he detected the hint of a deep anguish. He stepped forwards, and grabbed her hand.

Eugene looked up, and Jack saw that his eyes were red, as if he'd cried. He saw Elsa tense.

"Is she-" she stopped herself before she could finish her sentence, but Jack saw her lip tremble.

"No," Eugene croaked, and Jack had to prevent Elsa from sinking to the ground. The people who couldn't see Jack frowned, as it now looked as if Elsa was holding herself up in an impossible position.

Elsa seemed to realize this too, so she regained her balance, though she squeezed his arm.

"Well then what? Do they want a ransom?"

"Rapunzel sent us a message," Eugene explained.

"In Corona, we don't use doves to travel, we use owls. They're more efficient."

"But less easily trained," interjected one of the counsellors, and they all threw him a sharp look. He shrunk back in his chair instantly, looking like he deeply regretted having said anything at all.

"They are more intelligent- and the thing with owls is, you can call them from wherever you are."

"What do you mean?" asked Eleanor, which earned her a few dark looks from the counsellors. Manifestly, they still hadn't accepted the beautiful red-head as one of their own.

And she didn't seem to care a bit, as she raised her chin a little higher.

"If you learn how to whistle like an owl- and do a particular hooting sound, that you train your owl to recognize as its call- you just have to make that sound, and owls near to you will repeat the sound. And you'd be surprised how quickly the owl you want to call answers."

"So Rapunzel called an owl but- how did the message not get stopped?" asked Jack.

"Because she coded it," Eugene explained, though Eleanor looked confused, and Jack realized that to her, Eugene had answered to a question no one had asked. Elsa seemed to have realized it too, because she said:

"Counsellors, find somewhere else to be for a while."

The Counsellors looked at her with surprise.

"With all due respect, your Majesty, as the representatives of the Council, we have a right to say-"

"With all due respect, Counsellor, I'm the one who decides who is to be present for the delivering of sensitive information. I'm afraid I don't trust you enough for you to be present for this."

"But, your Majesty-"

"That is my final decision. Out."

There was a stupefied silence, before the sound of chairs scraping backwards filled the room. One by one, they left the room, muttering under their breaths and closing the doors behind them. Before Eugene could continue, Elsa approached Eleanor.

"You should know something," she said, as Eleanor rose from her chair as the Queen approached her.

"What is it?" asked Eleanor, looking bewildered. Eugene and Kristoff looked at each other, knowing what was coming.

"I think it's time I introduce you to someone," said Elsa, and Jack saw that she was smiling. For a second, his thoughts returned to the dark corridor they'd left behind, and the passionate embrace they'd shared.

Concentrate, he scolded himself.

"Who?" Eleanor asked curiously.

"Jack, could you- uh- do something? Like, now?"

Jack grinned towards Elsa.

"Sure, your Majesty," he winked, and swept his staff. A thin coat of frost appeared on the Council Table. Eleanor gave a little shriek and stumbled backwards into Elsa, who caught her. The frost lifted from the table and rose to the ceiling before exploding into shimmering snowflakes.

"Did you-" started Eleanor, watching, mesmerized as the snowflakes fell around her.

"No. That wasn't me. That was… Jack."

Eleanor lifted her eyebrows, turning back to Elsa.

"Jack?" she repeated. Elsa nodded. She didn't say anything more.

"So there's someone like you- in the room right now? And I can't see him?"

Elsa nodded again.

"And you two can see him too?" Eleanor asked to Kristoff and Eugene, who slowly nodded.

There was an awkward silence, and Jack's heart sank in his chest. Eleanor was turning her back to him, but Elsa looked disheartened.

"She doesn't believe you?" Jack asked quietly.

At the sound of his voice, Eleanor spun towards him, her eyes wide.

"What the-"

"Eleanor, this is Jack," said Elsa, smiling. "He's helping us defeat Pitch and the Southern Isles."

"Really?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two of them, and examining the smile Elsa was offering him. "And that's all that he's here for?"

Elsa blushed as Jack grinned, Eugene and Kristoff chuckling.

"Why couldn't I see you?" she asked curiously, looking at Jack.

"It's a long story," he smiled sheepishly.

"And one for later," announced Elsa. "So- this code?"

"Right," said Eugene. "It's not a complicated code or anything. She just underlines very subtly a few letters in the book, and when you put them together, it's a message."

"How do you know it's her?" asked Elsa. "She could have told someone about that code if she was- you know. Forced."

Jack saw her shiver at the thought of Rapunzel being tortured. Eugene's eyes flashed with an indescribable emotion for a moment.

Jack was thankful that he wasn't the guy holding this guy's wife prisoner.

"Because the book Ghost gave me- Ghost is her owl," Eugene added at their confused looks. "Anyway, the book… its Antony and Cleopatra."

Jack felt as if this was supposed to mean something. He knew Antony and Cleopatra was a Shakespeare play, but he didn't see how that would prove that Rapunzel had indeed sent the message. He looked at Elsa. To his surprise, she was smiling, nearly as much as she'd had in the corridor.

"Clever girl," she breathed. Kristoff was grinning too.

"What's going on with Antony and Cleopatra?" Eleanor asked.

"The celebration for our wedding lasted three days," started explaining Eugene.

"Honestly, I don't remember much of it," laughed Kristoff.

"On the second day, we- Rapunzel and I- played Antony and Cleopatra."

"But isn't it a tragedy?" interjected Jack. "Didn't it put a damper on the wedding?"

Elsa laughed, at the same time Eugene bit back a smile.

"We kind of- twisted it a little."

"Antony and Cleopatra- played by Eugene and Rapunzel, of course- won the battle, and defeated Caesar. And we were all actors- we fought in the battle. There was food everywhere," remembered Elsa, laughing.

"I remember someone throwing quite a lot of snowballs," teased Kristoff, and Elsa grinned.

"I was drunk, how many times do I have to tell you I'm sorry-"

"I was in your team, the point was to hit the opposite team Elsa-"

"Anyway," interrupted Eugene, as Jack had dissolved into hiccups of laughter, "We're pretty sure it's her."

"Yeah, no kidding," said Jack, "That sounded like a wild party."

"So, what does she say?" asked Elsa. Eugene fished a parchment out of his pocket, and gave it to her. She read it a few times, before looking back up at Eugene, her smile gone. She gave it to Kristoff, who seemed to read it through a few times.

Kristoff gave the parchment to him. He looked down. It looked like it had been drenched with teardrops- Eugene's teardrops. His hand had trembled as he'd deciphered Rapunzel's code.

Don't have fun without me.

Rapunzel.

…

Rapunzel looked out of the window. She was curled up on the ledge, a cushion behind her back, savouring the unnaturally warm night air. Another day had passed. Hans hadn't come back to see her, nor had Emile. The only person she'd seen had been the maid who'd she'd first seen when she'd arrived, who had brought her breakfast, lunch and dinner. She'd been silent as a ghost, not answering any of her questions.

Ghost. She wondered if Eugene had gotten her message. If he knew she was safe.

She fiddled with the pendant on her neck, in the shape of a sun. What she would give to be home now. Elsa, Anna, that baby- Eugene and Kristoff, and even Jack, though she hadn't known him long- she'd have given the world to see any of them in that instant.

There was a knock on the door, and Rapunzel's head whipped towards it. She stood up suddenly, painfully aware that the thin white nightgown she was wearing was near-transparent.

The door creaked open, and Rapunzel narrowed her eyes, trying to see in the obscurity who was entering the room.

"Who is this?" she asked warily, grabbing the quill on her desk. "Hans?"

No-one answered.

The window behind her slammed shut behind her and she jumped, and in the second her concentration wavered, there was a cold gust of wind that swept across the room, raising goose-bumps on her arms. She turned back towards the door, realizing that the darkness was too complete. Not even the moonlight offered her any eyesight.

A sound.

A match lighting.

A flame.

A slender hand raising to light a candle.

A thin face, high-cheekbones, and gorgeous black curls.

"Hello, darling."

...

"Was that really necessary?"

Pitch didn't seem to hear him as he continued looking out of Hans' bedroom window.

The Prince decided he really hated those night-time visits.

"I can sense magic, dear Prince," Pitch finally deigned to say. "That girl had to be squashed."

"Don't you get tired? Of scaring people?" asked Hans, getting up from his desk chair. He didn't approach Pitch.

"I assure you, it's very entertaining," said Pitch, turning to face him, his white teeth glinting as he smiled maniacally. Hans refrained from shivering. "She's too scared to try anything now. Fear really has a marvellous effect on people."

"So, you've achieved it?"

"If you mean to ask if I've succeeded in taking another's skin, then yes, I have."

Hans blinked.

"And who did you turn into?"

He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know the answer.

Pitch's eyes had a devilish gleam in them. He didn't give Hans a warning.

When Hans would look back on that precise moment, he would always remember the horror that had taken control of him as Pitch's skin had seemed to melt of him, revealing a pale, thin-faced, breathtakingly beautiful woman, with dark curls that rippled down her back.

"This is Mother Gothel," the woman said in a feminine, near-arrogant voice, though Hans wasn't fooled. He could still see Pitch behind the glamour, but the sight struck fear in his heart all the same. "This is what haunts our sweet little prisoner's darkest nightmares."

"Where is Gothel now?"

"Oh, dead. But she doesn't need to know that."

Then, the skin of Mother Gothel seemed to melt again, and when Pitch's cold eyes met his again they were blue-green.

Freckles covered a face that was surrounded with red hair, and Hans took a step backwards as he beheld the face of Princess Anna of Arendelle.

"I can turn into anyone," breathed Pitch, "Even your dear little princess."

Hans shook his head, closing his eyes and opening them again.

"Stop this," he said, and when Anna's face merely smiled, he gasped out, "Please."

Anna's skin melted off Pitch, revealing the long dark robes and the greyish face.

"Worry not, my Prince. Soon, you will see your Princess."