A freshly changed Anna stepped out of Oaken's Trading Post (And Sauna). The previous dress had been completely frozen by her fall into the river, and she was glad that she no longer wore it. Not to mention it had been terrible at keeping her warm in the first place.
Initially she had wondered where the big guy that had fought with Oaken had gone, but the tracks in the snow that lead to a small, snow covered barn and the faint singing from inside had given her the answer quite easily. She gave herself a pat on the back for being such a good tracker.
Anna approached the snow-covered Hobbit hole near the end of the small ditty the man had sung, and opened the door at the last note.
"Nice duet," she said, startling the man inside.
The guy looked at her impatiently. "What do you want?"
"I want you to take me up the north mountain." She hoped her voice contained the authority that she didn't feel.
"I don't take people places." He settled into the straw and tipped his cap over his eyes. Anna threw a bag with some supplies that she had bought while inside the store. The man grunted, pulled his hat back, and found the bag. Questioningly, he opened it and pulled out an icepick and a rope; the items he had been been trying to buy while in the store.
"I don't think you understood what I said," Anna said, again hoping her voice contained authority. "You will take me up the north mountain." She hesitated before adding a small, "Please."
The man sighed. "We leave at dawn."
He tilted his cap over his eyes. "And you forgot the carrots for Sven."
Anna threw another bag that she had been hiding from him, wincing when it hit him in the face. Again, he pulled his cap away and pulled carrots from the bag.
"We leave now," Anna faked again. Unsure if he understood, she added, "Right now."
She walked behind the door to hide herself from view, then sighed with relief. She had never needed to tell someone what to do, so that entire exchange had been foreign. But, she felt that she did a good job, and that she would be able to see her sister soon.
Sure enough, the man, who at second glance looked about her age, reluctantly left the small shack with his reindeer in tow. He hooked up the sled that had been next to the snow-covered hut, then but his lip to keep a tear back as he pushed the ice from the back into the snow behind it. He looked at her and gestured to the sled with his head.
"Well, come on."
Anna obeyed, and soon they were flying through the trees of the dark forest. Dawn would be approaching soon, letting them see more, but for now, a lantern on a hook guided them.
Could Anna have waited for day break? Sure. It was only a few hours away. But the people in Arendelle were depending on her to return summer and its warmth. And, the sooner she got to Elsa, the sooner she could marry Hans. She smiled, remembering his handsome face and charming manners.
"Not like I care," the man beside her said, "but what's with you and your fascination with the north mountain?"
Anna snorted. The man seemed to have read her mind. Well, no, if he did that, he would know why she wanted to get there. "Well, see...I know how to stop this winter."
His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "You do? What, is there some kind of winter-starting-summer-ending machine up there?"
"Not exactly," she said, not picking up on his sarcasm. "Do you remember what you said at Oaken's?"
He leaned back, hands still on the reins, but with a very loose grip. "I said a lot at Oaken's. What part are you talking about?"
"You said that the snow was coming from the north mountain. And then I asked you if it seemed magical. You said yes."
"And so that means...?"
"Well, it's not a machine, per se...it's actually my sister."
The man pulled on the reins, stopping the animal pulling them. "You're crazy."
Anna put her hands up in defense. "No, I swear it's true!"
The man started to push her out. "Go on, I'm not helping a loon in this cold weather."
She resisted. "No, come on! You gotta listen to me!" She struggled to find something that would help her cause. "Just...just hear me out. Hear my story." He stopped pushing. She looked up at him. "Please."
He looked at his reindeer, who nodded, then turned back to her. "Fine," he said, defeated. "Go on."
Anna just barely kept her shiver of excitement under control before she related her story.
"Well, see, it was my sister's coronation yesterday, and I asked her to bless the marriage and she said no! She refused to give us permission because I had only met him that day, and so I grabbed her glove-"
"Wait a minute," the guy said. "You tried to marry a man you just met?"
Anna frowned. "...Yeah."
"Didn't your parents warn you about strangers?"
Anna looked the guy over and scooted back a little bit. "Y-es they did. But Hans is no stranger."
The man smiled slyly and challenged that. "Okay, so what's his last name?"
Anna rolled her eyes. EASY! "Of-The-Southern-Isles."
The next question was immediate. "Best friend's name?"
"Probably John."
"Eye color."
"Dreamy."
"Foot size?"
Anna looked the man in the eyes and shook her head disapprovingly. "Foot size doesn't matter!"
The man persisted. "What if you don't like the way he eats? What if you don't like the way he picks his nose?"
Anna frowned in disgust, but the driver wasn't done.
"And eats it."
Anna nearly gagged. "Ew!" she exclaimed.
He just shrugged and gave a knowing smile. "All men do it."
Anna was all too aware of the look of disgust and anger that she was giving this man. "Excuse me, sir, but he is a prince."
"Whatever. And by the way, my name's Kristoff. I haven't told you that, have I?"
Anna was confused at the sudden change of direction but was also glad it came. "No, you haven't." She realized she hadn't finished her tale, and continued.
"Anyway, so I pulled off one of her gloves and when I pressed her about it, she shot ice at me! Well, I didn't know that she had these ice powers, I just thought that, since she wore the gloves all the time, she had this thing about dirt...which would have been very odd, since the servants keep everything pretty clean. So, I figure that if I go to the north mountain, which is where you say the snow is coming from, I'll just have her put on the glove and everything will just go back to normal."
Kristoff chewed on his lip. "I see."
"So, will you take me there?"
He looked at her, then at the reindeer. The reindeer nodded and he looked down at the sled's footrest.
Finally he lifted his head and looked Anna in the eyes. "Okay, yeah."
He lifted the reins and snapped them. "Go Sven," he called to the animal.
It had been light for a couple hours when they finally reached Elsa's castle. Kristoff looked at the castle like a reindeer looks at carrots.
"This is beautiful," he gaped. "I think I might cry."
Anna got off the sled. "Go ahead, I won't judge."
The steps to the castle were flawless; no bubbles, dents, or cracks anywhere. Anna was impressed, and she knew nothing about ice except that she wasn't too fond of it in her drinks.
She approached the door and held her hand up to knock. She froze, the memories of years of knocking, asking her sister if she wanted to come out and play, to chase the boredom away. Would the door open this time?
Her fist wavered in front of her. What if it didn't open? She would have to return to Arendelle alone, and she didn't think she could handle that. She could run away, but the people would think even lesser still. Best to try to get it over with.
She knocked.
The door opened immediately, surprising her. Kristoff walked up behind her. She turned around.
"You'd better stay here."
His face fell, and she was sure she had broken his heart. "Oh come on! It's a palace made of ice!" He wasn't sure if she could understand the importance of that, so he added, "Ice is my life!"
She gave a rueful smile. "Just...give us a minute."
He sat on the top step and pouted. After a minute or so had passed, he looked around at the outside again, taking in the beauty of the palace. Whoever had made it had been skilled, and he was impressed...no, he was in love with whoever the sculptor was.
A loud bang jerked him out of his daydream. He looked up to see white snowballs shoot out from the balcony and land in the forest. Anna. He flung the doors open and rushed inside, taking a minute to admire the even more beautiful interior. Kristoff took the steps two at a time, then saw Anna and a striking older girl clad in an ice dress. Anna was bent over.
He reached her in seconds, the fear on the other girl, Kristoff guessed it was her sister, looked frightened, and Kristoff was scared as to what she had done.
"Elsa," Anna said, a hint of fading strength in her voice. "I know you can do this. Please. Do it for me."
Elsa shook her head. "I'm sorry, Anna. Please, just go."
"Yeah, come on, Anna." Kristoff tugged at her.
"No," Anna took a step towards her sister. "Please, Elsa. Come back." She looked down at the floor and a tear dropped from her eyes. "You don't realize what life will be like for me if I go back without you."
Elsa's face was full of sympathy, but her stubbornness remained. "Leave, Anna. Now."
Seeing no other choice, Kristoff picked the younger girl up and left, taking a sad look at the girl causing the winter. Anna kicked and screamed, but Kristoff kept his grip.
"She wasn't gonna listen anyway," he said softly into her ear. She quieted down.
"I know," she got out before a flood sobs racked her body. Kristoff held back his own.
He put her in the sled and slid in next to her. Something seemed different.
"Wait, what's happening to your hair?"
She stopped sobbing, tears still escaping, but they were more under control, and looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"It's...turning white."
Anna's eyes got wide. "She struck me with her magic..." she muttered.
Kristoff wasn't sure how to handle that. "I don't suppose you know of a cure...?"
Anna smiled sorrowfully, her tears finally dammed up. "Nope, sorry."
"Damn." He thought for a second, then remembered something he had seen a long time ago. "Wait a minute...I've seen you two before!"
"Well, sure. We're the princesses of Arendelle. Well, Elsa's now the queen, but you understand what I'm saying."
"That's not what I meant," Kristoff muttered, but didn't bother explaining. Anna shivered, but didn't say anything.
They rode in silence all the way to wherever Kristoff had wanted to take her. At one point, she thought he had wanted to say something, but was glad he stayed silent. Finally they entered a miniature coliseum filled with boulders. He slid off of Sven and helped Anna down too.
"And this is how we'll fix you," he said, waving his hand at the rocks that littered about.
He didn't see the skeptical look she was giving him. "What, you're gonna take a rock core and grind it into powder and make me drink it? Maybe throw in an eye of newt or a nose of snowman?"
He turned around, confused. "W-what? No, this is my family, not just a bunch of rocks!"
She looked around at the rocks again, then refocused her gaze back onto Kristoff. "Crazy bastard," she whispered, before stumbling towards the exit. A violent shiver coursed through her and she tripped. A hand caught her before she sprawled out onto the ground, and once she had gotten back to her feet, she turned to thank Kristoff.
But it hadn't been Kristoff. Anna was looking into the eyes of a troll, roughly just taller than her knees, and covered in a robe of moss.
Kristoff passed his hands over the rocks-turned-trolls again. "Like I said, this is my family."
Anna just stood there, keeping her silence.
"Heya, Kristoff," one behind him called in a loud, gruff voice, giving the tall human a hug.
Kristoff gave him a pat on the back. "Hey, have you lost weight? You look smaller than the last time I saw you."
The troll shook his head and pulled out a pebble. "No, but I passed a kidney stone."
Kristoff gave a chuckle. "I wasn't aware that you trolls even HAD kidneys."
A smaller troll, probably a child, hobbled over to him. "Hi Kristoff!"
"You're getting bigger," he replied, picking the youngster up. He grunted, "And heavier." He set the troll-child down. "Where's Grand Pabbie? I have to see him right away."
An older troll pushed his way through the crowd and looked up at Kristoff. "Yes? What is it?"
Kristoff grabbed Anna and pulled her over to the experienced troll. "Do you remember her from a long time ago?"
The elder nodded.
"Well, she's been hit again."
The trolls gasped and looked around at their neighbors. Grand Pabbie closed his eyes and nodded. "Ah, yes, I see it." He stepped forward and touched Anna's hand. After a second, he stepped back. "Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do. Her head was hit last time, but this time, her heart was the target. Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart."
"Are you sure?" Kristoff asked. "I mean-"
"There is nothing I can do," Grand Pabbie said, interrupting. "I'm sorry."
Kristoff shrugged. "I-it's alright," he muttered. He looked at Anna. "I'm sorry, there isn't much that I can do about this."
Anna looked down, then lifted her eyes back to Kristoff's with sudden clarity. "Kristoff, please take me back to the castle. I think I know what I have to do."
Kristoff bit his lip, thinking it over. He had nothing to gain by taking her back, but the gazes from the trolls and his chivalry finally pushed him over the edge. He picked Anna up and placed her in the sled.
"This had better be worth it," he moaned.
They arrived at the castle and by that time, Kristoff had coaxed Anna to tell him what her plan was. She was going to kiss Hans; an act of true love between two people who were fiercely in love after one meeting.
She had seen that he hadn't quite agreed with her logic, but didn't care. She knew it would work. And when they had finally reached the gates, he helped her hobble inside until a servant took over.
"Get her to Hans," he instructed, before turning back to the sled. He turned back, remembering something else. "And keep her warm!"
"Thanks for everything," Anna wheezed, but Kristoff either didn't hear her, or ignored her.
The servant took her to the conference room, where Hans and some diplomats from other countries had gathered. They gasped and stood at the sight of the princess. Anna threw herself at her attempted-fiance.
"Hans, you have to kiss me!"
The silence that followed only amplified the surprise of the others. The servant that had transported Anna was the first to react.
"Well...we'll just leave you two alone." She escorted the diplomats out.
Hans led her to the couch, which was by a roaring fire. "What happened?"
Anna spoke so fast that she tripped over her words."I went to see Elsa, and she struck me with her powers, and we went to visit the trolls, and they said that the only fix was an act of true love."
Hans took a second to decode before realizing what she meant. "An act of true love...a true love's kiss!"
"Yes!" shouted Anna. "Now kiss me!"
Hans took a deep breath, then got up from his place beside Anna.
"I'm sorry, Anna," he said, blowing out the candle that lit the room. "But that wouldn't do anything."
Anna gaped at him. "Wh-what do you mean?"
Hans picked up a pitcher of water and poured it over the fire. "What I'm saying is, I don't love you." He put the pitcher down and walked over to her, towering over her. "See, I'm thirteenth in line. There's no way that I would ever become any kind of ruler. That is, unless I married in. So, I decided to do just that. As first in line, of course Elsa would be the first choice, but no one could even see her, let alone talk to her, so you were our only chance.
"And after so many years of being alone, you jumped on the first chance you got! You were almost too easy. Anyway, I planned that after we got married, I'd have to stage a little 'accident' for you and Elsa. But Elsa has now doomed herself, and she's taking you along with her."
Anna closed her mouth. "What?"
Hans, who had turned to face the door, turned back to Anna. "Oh, didn't I tell you?"
"A few volunteers and I went on a rescue party for you and captured Elsa in the process. Now that you're going to die here, all I have to do is kill her."
"You're no match for her," Anna growled.
Hans smiled. "No, you're no match for her." He opened the door and stepped outside into the hallway. "I've heard that the last few minutes of your life is really cool. I'm kind of jealous." He went to close the door, but stopped when only a small gap remained. "On second thought, I'm not."
The door closed the rest of the way, and Anna heard the key in the lock. She tumbled off of the couch and stumbled to the door. When she finally made it, she gave a weak pound with her fist before cuddling up after another violent shiver tore through her.
Kristoff walked through town, eyes locked onto the frozen fjord. The ice was a nice color of blue, and he felt jealousy bubble from within him. That girl made wonderful ice. He turned back to look where he was going when a massive stalagmite of ice shot out from a small metal box near where he was standing.
The metal shattered, and Anna's sister flew out, running meters within seconds, despite wearing high heels on ice. He jolted, jumping onto the icy fjord, and sprinting towards her.
"Hey-hey wait!" He called.
She kept running. He whistled, and a few seconds later, Sven appeared beside him. He jumped on and Sven sped up, gaining on the new queen.
They finally strode up next to her and Kristoff offered his hand.
"Climb on," he yelled.
Elsa took his hand and he pulled her up.
She wasn't on for a minute before she asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, when you hit your sister, a chunk of your ice hit her heart. We went to see the trolls, but Grand Pabbie couldn't do anything. He said that only an act of true love to thaw a frozen heart."
Elsa gasped. "And she thought that Hans would be the one to give her something like that?"
"Bingo."
"That's not good; I don't trust him," Elsa muttered to herself. She tapped Kristoff, signifying she was talking to him again. "Where did you take Anna?"
"I took her to the gate. A servant took her from there."
"Then they're probably in the conference room," Elsa thought a moment. "It would take too long to go through the castle. Maybe we can climb up. I don't suppose you have a rope or something."
Kristoff smiled and pulled the rope from his belt. "You mean something like this?"
"Eh, I suppose that'll do. Now, head over that way." Elsa pointed to a window behind the castle's outer wall, and Kristoff steered Sven towards it.
Anna heard a voice, followed by a thump. It was followed by another thump, and finally a splintering sound from the window. She hobbled on all fours, taking frequent breaks from the tiresome work. Finally she made it.
A familiar axe blade stuck through the boards just below the window. She flung it open and looked down, seeing Elsa and Kristoff climbing up the rope. She smiled for the first time, but it only lasted for a second.
Another shiver tore through her body, causing her to lose her balance and fall out the window. She heard a scream as she passed her sister, then nothing as her flesh turned to ice.
Elsa stared at the blue statue that had been her sister moments before, letting a tear escape and drip to the snow below. She would have dropped down, but Kristoff was directly below her, his eyes also on Anna.
He started to let himself down, and Elsa followed, when they heard a door slam open. A few seconds later, Hans' head appeared. He smiled.
"Oh good, looks like I can finish you off quite easily," he hissed as he pulled out his sword. With a fluid motion, he cut the rope that held them several yards above the ground.
Elsa screamed as she and Kristoff fell, but instead of death, like she had expected, she only felt some pain in her back and head. She got up, finding that she had landed on the boy, who was also miraculously alive. He sat up, rubbing his head.
"How are we not dead?" he asked, looking at the snow. "It was packed hard, and we were quite a ways up there."
Elsa didn't care to know; she rushed to Anna and embraced her, feeling the cold of the once-warm skin. "I'm sorry, Anna," she breathed, another tear escaping. "I didn't mean to."
She heard footsteps beside her and turned to face the person who approached. It was Hans.
"You son of a bitch," she snarled at him. Without thinking, she waved her hands, willing ice to freeze him where he stood. Slowly, the ice climbed from his boots up to his knees, and finally to his waist. But it didn't stop there.
He felt the ice under his arms, growing quickly. "No, please don't!" he cried, frightened for his life. "I-I didn't kill you, or your sister!"
Elsa's angry snarl didn't falter. She spoke in a voice that was calm, but had a scary undertone. "You tried to kill both of us, treasonous traitor."
The ice had risen to his neck, and was almost at his chin when Kristoff tackled Elsa. He felt the power that had ran through her body weaken and drain until it was finally gone. Hans gave a small whimper. Elsa got back up and started to approach the almost-frozen boy.
Kristoff grabbed her again. "Calm down," he said, soothingly.
"No!" Her tears and anger were evident, even though Kristoff couldn't see her face. "After what he's done, he has to pay!"
"Elsa, think of your subjects. They'll see a frozen Anna and a frozen Hans. All this after you ran away from...whatever made you run away. That's not going to make them feel better about you being their ruler. In fact, it's only going to scare them even more." He paused to let that sink in. "Do you get what I'm saying?"
Elsa didn't move for about a minute, before finally nodding.
She turned towards Kristoff, seeming to give up, then turned back towards Hans without warning, freezing the rest of him. Kristoff looked at her in horror.
She gave him a sad grin. "It'll thaw soon. Maybe."
He bit his lip. "I don't like the sound of that 'maybe,'" he said, then gave a grin himself. Elsa kept their gaze locked for several seconds, then tore it away, looking at something just behind him. Anna.
She shrugged him off and slowly made her way over to where Anna's icy figure lay in the snow. Elsa knelt by her sister and threw her face into the air.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?!" She begged the sky, which didn't answer her.
"Love will thaw, love will thaw," an unfamiliar voice said. Elsa turned to see something she couldn't believe was real. A snowman sat, scratching at the ice that surrounded Hans, drawing a picture. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kristoff just as confused as she.
Elsa got up and approached the snowman. "What...what are you doing?"
The snowman turned his head without turning his body and said, "I'm just drawing a picture." Up close, Elsa studied him and saw that even though he lacked a nose, he seemed like a normal, yet familiar, snowman.
She turned to his drawing, seeing some odd pattern above two stick figures that Elsa assumed to be girls. She moved closer and saw that it looked like a crude heart containing a crude snowflake. She turned back to the snowman.
"Love will thaw a frozen heart," he repeated.
"But I don't understand," she said to him, frowning. She felt Kristoff grab her and pull her over to her sister.
"Hug her, stupid," he whispered. "And let go of your feelings."
She looked at the ground, then gave the frozen statue another embrace. The tears flowed again as the pain of hurting her sister washed through her. And slowly, oddly, her sister started to feel warmer.
A sudden thought flashed through Elsa's mind. Was she melting her?! She quickly let go and looked, but gasped when she saw that color was returning to her previously blue form.
Anna took a breath and blinked, then looked at her sister. "Elsa, you're alright?"
Elsa smiled, and a quick sob of happiness escaped her. "Yes. And so are you!" She gave her sister another hug, but released when she heard cracking from behind her.
She whirled around to see Hans breaking free of his ice prison. He shook off the ice that lay on his shoes, then tapped the blade of his sword against his other hand. "Well, I'm glad to see that you two had a wonderful reunion. I'm glad you got to see each other one last time before you died.
Elsa was confused. Yes, the ice could have melted that quickly, but she had just beat him single-handedly with her powers. Why couldn't he just run away and leave them alone?
"I am going to end this winter even it it's the last thing I do!" He started at them, but was knocked over by Kristoff, who apparently had been getting ready to strike. The sword went flying into the air.
"Get off," Hans grunted at Kristoff, but to no avail. The bigger boy wouldn't move.
Elsa was startled at a sudden voice that sounded in her ear. "Love will thaw, love will thaw!" That stupid snowman. She was about to ask him what he meant by that, but had an epiphany before she could.
"I get it!" she shouted.
"You...get what?" Anna asked, confused.
"Love will thaw. At first, I was scared. I was scared of ruling a country with these powers that I didn't know how to control. I was scared of the people I was ruling; if they would hate me or not. And that meant that I subconsciously hated it." She looked at her hands, and then back at Anna. "But now that I've learned to control my powers, and I'm no longer afraid...as much, anyway. And while I can't say that I love it yet, I know that I'll give it my best!"
She raised her hands and closed her eyes. Within seconds, the ice and snow grouped above her in a giant snowflake. Without opening her eyes, she pushed her hands away, sending away the cold that had plagued Arendelle for several days.
Kristoff got up, pulling Hans up with him, keeping his arms behind his back so that he couldn't hurt the two girls.
The snowman started to melt. "Uh, a little help here?"
Anna looked at Elsa, intrigued. Her eyes pleaded to let the snowman stay.
Elsa nodded, then gave the snowman a small cloud that hovered just above him.
"Thanks! Oh, by the way, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!" He held his arms out in a hug gesture.
"You look familiar," Anna said, bending down to look the snowman over. She turned to Elsa. "Didn't we build one just like him as kids?"
Elsa frowned, deep in thought. "Actually, now that you mention it, I think we did."
Anna's gaze went from curious to suspicious within seconds. "Wait...did YOU build him?"
"I...I don't remember building him," Elsa said slowly. She was about to say something, but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They turned to see Kristoff.
"This is great and all, but we've got to do something about this guy. He'll kill you-both of you-or did you forget?"
"Oh, right." Elsa bit her lip. "Well, let's go to the courtyard, maybe someone can do something about him."
The five of them exited the narrow space between the inner and outer castle walls, and proceeded to the courtyard. It was packed with people, many of whom gasped in shock at the appearance of the four youths, and, Elsa supposed, the walking snowman probably helped as well.
"My goodness, what happened?" someone asked.
Elsa stepped forward and pointed to Hans. "Prince Hans," she began, looking at all the people, "tried to murder not only me, but also my sister, and my friend here. He is tried with treason, and his hereby banished back to the Southern Isles to never return here again."
A french man stepped forward. "I will take him there. I can't wait to see what his twelve brothers think about what he's done."
"Thank you," Elsa said, smiling. Kristoff eagerly handed Hans over.
True to his word, the man took Hans back to his country. Anna and Elsa made up for the several years of separation, and Kristoff and Elsa had a small fling for a while. It lasted for a good long while, and they had several babies.
Olaf never really learned the girls' names, nor did he ever get a nose, but that was fine with him as he mainly wandered the town, attempting to sniff the roses. He never met Sven.
Sven was happy, up until Elsa's children. He was never sure what to think of them-they smelled awful and sounded even worse. But, when they finally quieted down, he enjoyed giving them rides across the courtyard on his back.
Oaken was made official merchant of Arendelle and eventually opened a new store in town; a much more convenient location.
Elsa's Ice Palace melted soon after the snow got sent away. It caused a large landslide on the North Mountain, causing it to become the North Valley. Wolves eventually moved in, much to Sven's disappointment.
But they were glad they they still had each other, and that was all that mattered.