***Day 7 of coronation week***
The mayor was as helpful as he could be, really, but there was still so much about being queen that I did not understand. Today, the final full day Hans and his party would be spending, the mayor's lesson had been incredibly dull. I needed air before I could go sit in a stuffy dining hall and probably have to make a queenly speech about how lovely it was to have entertained such wonderful guests for so long. Kristoff had escaped much earlier. If I was having a hard time adjusting to my new duties, he was having an even harder time adjusting to the strain they put on our friendship. He was used to the woods, to coming and going as he pleased, to being able to bring his reindeer into the castle and sleep on the floor. Now, everything had to change. I knew he'd be able to deal with it eventually, but it would take time, and I was terribly lonely while he was gone.
"Elsa!" I heard someone call. The tone reminded me eerily of Anna, although the voice that spoke was male. I turned to see Hans striding quickly towards me, a genial smile of greeting on his face.
"Queen Elsa," I corrected. Friendly as he was, it wasn't his place to forget who was in charge of this castle.
"Of course, your majesty," he said, bowing low. "Of course. Could I trouble you for a walk?"
The prince made small talk as we wandered through the gardens, farther and farther away from the castle. At first, I didn't notice that something was off. His speech was not the refined speech of a prince. It degraded into more childish mannerisms with each step away from the castle, like a façade that fell as he lost interest in keeping it up. I couldn't help but pay more attention to this than the actual content of his words as my unease grew. This speech pattern was so familiar to me… but why? We were out of sight of even the highest window in the highest turret. Prince Hans was still speaking.
"See, Elsa? I never really wanted to just visit. From the start, I wanted to take over your throne. My plan wasn't very good though. I probably would have messed it up, but luckily your sister came to help."
My palms broke out in a sweat. "My sister?"
"Anna."
"Anna's dead."
"Exactly, that's why she thought she could help me. But," he continued, lowering his voice conspiratorially and whispering in my ear. "I don't think she really wanted me to be the king. So I decided to stop listening to her. That's why…" he stopped walking, and I turned to face him. "I'm here. I don't think she can come out in the daytime, so she can't stop me. I'll kill you right here, and Arendelle will be all mine. I won't have to share." I had a brief mental flash of an ice-covered lake and a little girl's screams with the daylight shining down a reindeer, a boy, and me. Hans didn't know everything about Anna.
There was murder in his eyes as he reached for the ceremonial sword that was part of his princely costume. My palms twitched, tingling with unused powers, but I never wanted to freeze another heart. I couldn't bear to. I turned and ran.
Ironically, fleeing from Anna all those times helped me stay ahead of him for very short while. I was grateful for that run, for the air that I gulped greedily into my lungs as I ran faster than I thought I could. For all I knew, those strangled gasps would be my last breaths. I savored the ache in my legs; it could have been the last earthly sensation I felt. But Hans had longer legs, and he was catching up. Then I tripped. I couldn't get to my feet in time, and I watched Hans getting closer and closer.
"Anna!" I screamed. "Help me, Anna! I need you!" Hans stopped running, coming to stand over me where I lay crumpled. I was going to die. I'd have to use my powers. "Please step back," I begged Hans, raising my hands in front of my face. "I'll freeze you."
I looked into his eyes and prepared myself. His eyes, eyes that told a story, even if it was a sad, sick story. As I looked at him, my resolve faltered. I remembered what Anna's eyes had looked like as the life faded from them. Would Hans' look the same?
I had no more right to freeze his heart than he had to slice through my neck; no more right to take his life than I had to take Anna's all those years ago. But this time, it wouldn't be an accident. The cold building in my palms died before it reached my fingertips.
He seemed satisfied that I was defenseless, that he would be able to kill me whenever he wanted. No need to rush.
"Oh, Elsa, give it up," he said. "Maybe your sister would hear you if she were here. Maybe she'd come to your rescue. But she isn't here, is she, Elsa? Your sister is dead because of you. You froze her heart, Elsa. Your own sister's heart."
"I never meant to. It was an accident. We were just playing; we were so little."
"Well I guess that doesn't matter, does it," said Hans. He positioned the blade over my throat, ready to thrust down and end my life. I squeezed my eyes shut. Anna, I love you. I'll see you soon, and we can be sisters again.
I felt the cool steel tip against the pulse in my neck, very gently. It was over. Then there was a scream. Hans was thrown backward.
"You can't hurt her!" Anna screamed. "I won't let you!" Hans scrambled up and looked around in fear for the source of the voice. A deafening boom split the air, and then Anna continued, much more quietly. "You can't hurt her. I'm sorry Elsa, I never meant for you to get killed." The voice was soft, as if Anna were standing very near. "It's so pretty out here," she said. "All these flowers and butterflies… spring is so beautiful. I forgot."
Then Anna stepped out from behind a tall patch of heather. "It's been so long since we played in the garden, hasn't it, Elsa?" Her green dress was clean; her tiny hand was warm and solid as she pressed it against my cheek, wiping away a tear there. Hans stepped back in surprise as the little girl knelt at my side.
"Anna?" I asked.
Hans stared on in disbelief.
"Go back to the castle, Elsa." Anna said. She tugged gently on my hand, and I stood up.
"No!" Hans yelled, stepping forward. "I don't know what's going on, but it doesn't change anything. Arendelle is mine." He faced Anna, spit flying out of his mouth as he spoke in a dangerously harsh voice. "You betrayed me. I knew it, you little brat! I'm going to make you pay first. Then I'll get to your sister."
Hans stabbed forward wildly, but missed as I pulled Anna out of the way. While he gathered his bearings again, I grabbed her hand and ran off into the garden. I wasn't sure which way led back to the castle, so we ran blindly, crashing through flower beds and topiary walls, trying to find some place to hide.
"I'm sorry, Elsa," Anna sobbed as she ran. "All the badness I had is in Hans now. He's never going to stop until he's killed you. I never wanted you to get killed! I wanted to scare you and I wanted to make you pay… but not to get killed! I thought maybe you'd be even more scared if Hans took over." I tried to tell her to be quiet, fearing her voice would lead Hans to us, but she wouldn't. "It's a curse I guess," she continued. "I didn't realize how bad I'd gotten until I saw Hans trying to kill you. I thought I didn't want to kill you but maybe… maybe I did." Anna tripped and fell. I scooped her up into my arms and kept running. "I'm so sorry now. But there's still a curse. I'll just go back to being as bad as I was, unless an act of true love prevents it. That's how they said the curse can break. But no one loves me."
There was no time to ask who 'they' were. "I lo – " I was cut off. I'd stumbled onto another path, and I could see Hans some ways down. He turned; he saw us. It was over; we were now so close to the castle, within view of the windows, but we'd never make it. I couldn't run anymore. I held tight to Anna and waited for death.
"Put me down, Elsa," Anna said. I did, thinking she wanted to distance herself from the sister that had killed her or to run some more. To my surprise, she walked forward to meet Hans.
"You can't kill my sister."
Hans crouched down in front of her. "You really want to save her? You can't. And with the curse you told me about, no one can save you either. Oh, Anna," he said, cradling her chin in his hand. "If only there was someone who loved you."
Her small face puckered. "It doesn't matter if someone does. I love Elsa."
"That won't be enough to save her." He grabbed Anna roughly by the collar of her dress and dragged her over. He threw her to the ground at my feet. "Watch your sister die, just the way she watched you die," he said to her, kicking her in the side so that she gave a little moan. I crumpled to my knees. He raised the sword, and as Anna sat up a little I tried to move her aside. I didn't want her to see this.
"Goodbye, Anna," I said. "I love you."
He thrust the sword forward, a blow that would have struck my neck, but Anna had stood up, raising her tiny hand. The sword touched it, but met with resistance, shattering to the hilt into a thousand shards. Hans was thrown backward by the impact, and he lay on the ground with blood seeping from his mouth. His eyes were closed.
Anna's hand turned to ice where she'd been struck. She was frozen in her defensive posture as the ice crept down her arm to her fingertips, wrapping around her shoulders and down her waist, up her neck and climbing in tendrils over her cheeks. Within moments, a statue of ice stood where Anna had been.
She had sacrificed what was left of herself to save what was left of me. It was an act of true love.
She was free.