Krista didn't notice the clop of footsteps approaching her.
Didn't notice the reindeer nuzzling her arm.
Didn't notice much of anything.
Anything.
All she had eyes for were the two brothers in front of her.
Cold wasn't the word that came to mind when she lay eyes on the King, who was embracing Andy's... Andy's solid ice body like it was his lifeline. It was warm all over, she'd never seen anything like it— she'd seen husbands come home from war, children at their mother's deathbed, all sorts of embraces— but never a hug quite like that.
She did not dare break the somber silence that settled like a blanket over the fjord, the only sounds came from the King himself, sounds that made her want to weep with despair. But she steeled herself, let the cold keep her numb—stay that way, keep the pain at bay.
It was both heartbreaking and beautiful, and for a fleeting second she envied that— the kind of love they had for each other, despite everything that had happened, Andy had still— Andy—
She closed her eyes, and the picture came easily to her, as if she'd lived it herself— the accident, where everything had changed, where Elliott had had to shut the world out. She imagined a young Elliott holding Andy much like he was right now, to save and protect, while his brother's head had been inflicted with icy magic.
During their journey, Prince Andy had never once doubted his brother. He'd had this unwavering faith until the end, until the icy blast to his chest, but even then— Andy had not hated his brother. He'd wanted to stay in that cold mountain.
And that was the thing.
Andy loved too much, and it had cost him the ultimate price.
Suri licked her cheek with a low whimper, licking away the first tear before it could roll down.
• • •
Andy was floating.
He felt light, detached, like a string had been cut— but not completely severed, if that made any sort of sense. It felt more like he was hanging by maybe the thinnest of threads.
He was dreaming. It didn't feel like a dream, but it certainly looked like it.
And it was a good dream.
He was not eighteen, but around seven years old. A little plump boy with freckled cheeks and missing a couple of his teeth. No streak of white in his hair, no trace of it, just thick strawberry blonde sticking up in all directions. He walked along a lit up path, the air was cold and made his breath fog up in front of him. Snow crunched beneath his feet, and he shivered. Only the path ahead of him existed, to the left and right was only darkness.
When he reached the end of this path, two tall figures were watching him, their arms around each other, small smiles on their faces. It looked like they were enveloped in light, the only warm area in this cold place around them.
Mama. Papa.
"Andy." His father called softly.
He knew they couldn't be alive, and did not know if he was seeing them now because his addled brain was dreaming or because he was gone and was about to join them in the afterlife. Or maybe they're there in some other way.
They looked just like the last time he'd seen them, like they looked every day on the portraits on the walls of the castle. Young and beautiful and full of life. Not like in his nightmares the years after their death, with bloated skin and purple lips and with algae for hair; with their lungs full of sea water and death in their eyes.
Here they were lovely and standing, his father tall and proud in a navy uniform and his mother in an elegant purple dress, frozen in time, eternal.
His mother knelt in front of him, placing a cool hand to his cheek.
"Hello, Anders," she said, with the same crooked smile Elliott had inherited from her.
"Am I dead?" he asked bluntly, and he's not sure if he actually said it or she just read his mind. "Am I done?"
"Where are you going, Andy? You can't be here." His mother replied instead.
"I want to be here with you," little Andy whined, he placed his little hand over hers. It was cold. He shivered again.
"It's not your time." His father said, gesturing at the path where Andy had come from in the first place. "You need to go back."
"Back?"
"Back to Elliott."
"Elliott?"
"He needs you, my son. Just as you need him."
Andy frowned and glanced behind him, "But he's so far away..."
"He'll never be too far away," his mother's eyes were bright with tears, but she was smiling. A little fiery—like ball of light floated up from behind his father, bright and impossibly warm. It moved around like a bird, it did a little airborne dance around his father and floated towards his mother, it seemed to be glowing brighter each second.
"Touch it, Andy. You must go home," his mother said, running her thumb over some hair that had fallen over his eyes. The little ball of light hovered near her shoulder, but did not touch her.
"But—"
"We'll be fine, Andy. Care for your brother, and he'll do the same for you." Her smile broke his heart. "That's what brothers do."
Andy nodded, cupping his hands to trap the small ball of light, "When will I see you again?"
"Don't be so eager," his father chuckled, "We will all be together again, but I should hope not anytime soon."
"Okay," Andy said quietly, he held the warm ball of light in his hands and brought it close to his heart, "I love you."
The little ball was ablaze with light now, and it shook slightly in his hands, but he did not release it.
"And we love you," his mother said, stepping back into the light, to his father's embrace. "And Elliott, too. Be good."
Andy closed his eyes just as the light got unbearably bright and very hot.
"I will." He promised.
The light took him away.
• • •
Elliott had pretty much expected to feel numb for the rest of his life, so when he started to feel hot, he was utterly confused.
It started a little warm, but then it got hot— like, really hot. Like hot—iron—pressed—against—your—chest hot. But he did not let go of Andy.
He could not, and did not want to let go. Ever.
Andy was dead because of him. He was torn between feeling completely miserable and completely shocked— who would willingly give up their life for him? If Andy hadn't frozen solid at that very moment, Elliott could not bear to imagine what the alternative would have been. Sliced in half by that lying, wretched girl...
Still, Andy had jumped in front of the sword. The first thing Elliott should have done is go after his attempted—murderer, but wasn't he a murderer too? Wasn't it his ice that completely covered his brother, frozen forever like a statue? Didn't he deserve punishment?
"Yes, I want to build a snowman." Those simple words could have changed the course of his sad, terrible life. If only he hadn't been so afraid, if only...
Elliott let out a shaky sigh, Please just ask me once more. Just one more time.
I promise I'll open the door.
The hot feeling in his chest soon expanded and became unbearable, like he was burning, burning from the inside out.
He jumped away and glared down, expecting to see a hole burned right through. But there was nothing.
General Winter gasped from behind Andy. Elliott's bloodshot eyes snapped up to see the ice—
— the ice that was Andy's body thawing, from his chest and outwards, his shoulders, his arms, even his cloak that had been frozen while flapping in the wind— all of him, thawing. Slowly the color returned to his cheeks, his hands, everything. His brother gasped as his limbs regained mobility and he lowered his outstretched arm, the arm that had shielded Elliott from the sword.
Just as fast as it had appeared, the burning feeling in his chest changed; it cooled down until it was good, and warm.
He'd never felt something quite like it.
"...Andy."
He almost burst into tears again when Andy's green, oh very green and very alive eyes blinked confusedly and locked on his. "Elliott?"
"ANDY," the King of Arendelle lunged at his brother and pulled him into a bear hug, almost lifting him off his feet. The first proper hug they'd had in thirteen years. Thank the gods, oh, thank you thank you thank you
"Elliott—! Ribs—I need—air—"
"Sorry, sorry!" Elliott released him, but not completely. He placed both hands on his breathing lovely breathing brother's shoulders. He swallowed back the creeping insecurity in his gut, and stared at his brother as if it were the first time that he was properly seeing him, "You... you sacrificed yourself for me?" He was half asking it, half stating it. Because maybe it had been a mistake, maybe Andy hadn't intended to—
"It was my turn, I guess," Andy placed a tanned and not blue, not ice, thank the gods hand on Elliott's arm and grinned, "I, um...I... I love you," his grin widened, "I wanted you to know..."
The newfound warm feeling in Elliott's chest soared and his jaw fell open.
"An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!" General Winter said, picking at where his mustache—and half of his face— used to be. "M'boy, it appears your act of true love thawed not your own heart, but Elliott's."
"My heart... was frozen?" he voiced it out loud as a question, but deep down he knew; all those years of solitude and self-hatred may have indeed caused his heart to go cold. Is that what the new warm feeling in his chest mean? Had his frozen heart been mined?
"I think so. And by thawing your heart, you, in turn, thawed Andy's," the General smiled.
The ending to Queen Adela's story jumped to the front of his mind; She felt free and loved, there was beauty to be had in a magic so like hers. The people adored her, and so love thawed in the end.
Love thawed in the end.
"Love... will thaw..." Elliott smiled his crooked smile, the warm feeling in his chest was tingling, "Love...of course!"
Andy smiled back, but his eyes were quizzical "Elliott?"
"The secret to my magic the— the center of it—," Elliott was too excited to even process what he was saying, "Love!"
He raised his arms.
• • •
It had been such a good dream.
Well, besides the fact that he'd been dead for a few minutes, but he'd got to see his parents again. And when Andy saw them, he couldn't think of them as anything but loving. Maybe he would never completely forgive them for all the things they had done, but he still loved them very much. They had dealt with the unknown situation of their son having ice powers as best as they knew; which wasn't a lot, they didn't have anyone else to compare notes with. They'd handled it poorly, but they had tried.
And the best part? He remembered.
He finally remembered the things the trolls had taken away. He wasn't sure if it was that little ball of light, or if it was his own doing or Elliott's, but he remembered now. All those memories of playing outside on the fjord with Elliott— some of them were real, others had been indoors, thanks to Elliott's powers. He had known about the magic when he was young— heck, he'd loved it.
Until the accident, of course. Which he now remembered as well. The icy blast to his head. But that was a bridge to cross another day, talk about another day, because Elliott was currently a little busy.
His brother was smiling like crazy with both arms raised, like he knew a secret that nobody else did. Andy didn't understand why, but it must have been a good thing because—
The ground beneath his feet started to shake— and it began to thaw.
For a split second he got worried that Elliott hadn't thought this through and they'd just plunge into the cold water, but soon the ice they were standing on got replaced by nice planks of wood. The floor of a ship. They'd been standing on a ship!
All around them, the frozen fjord thawed and the clear water resurfaced, glittering and very blue. Wood creaked, canvas cracked and water splashed, so loudly it must've reached the castle as ships were released from being locked in place. He heard popping noises, probably the fountains in the courtyard being let go from their icy prison. The crack of the thick snow surrounding the castle and village also swirled away, towards Elliott in an elegant swish and went up into the air to join the other snow and ice his brother was staring to gather above them.
It floated like that for a few seconds, and then finally formed a shape: a snowflake. The snow and ice that had cursed Arendelle was all compacted into a grand snowflake that Elliott was holding up with his magic. His brother waved his hands away and the snowflake burst— little lovely glittery snowflakes fell and disappeared, leaving a warm, sunny day behind.
Andy grinned, already imagining what this would be called in history books: The Great Thaw.
"I knew you could do it," Andy elbowed his brother's side with a small smile, "I totally called it."
"Ah, summer at long last," the General's dreamy sigh made him look at the dripping snowman, "Too bad it actually sucks and I am dying."
What was left of him was melting like ice-cream in a sauna, his feet were already a pool of water. Andy shot a panicked glance at Elliott, but his brother was already on it.
"You're not going to die, I won't allow it," Elliott waved his hand and the General got reassembled, the missing part of his face grew back mustache and all. His arm grew back as well, and the snowman wiggled his fingers, looking very pleased. And then, above his new hat, a little storm cloud that was perpetually—snowing appeared, keeping him nice and frozen.
The General gasped and grinned like a madman, "My own personal flurry!"
Andy's lip curled into a smile and he hooked his arm through Elliott's, happy that he was not being pushed away. Things had changed, alright. For the better—
A low moan made his whole body tense.
He'd forgot.
Helena.
• • •
The Princess of the Southern Isles had got to her feet, grabbing onto the railing of the ship to keep her balance. Elliott stiffened up, and his face turned into one of not you again. Andy squeezed his brother's arm, a silent I'll handle this.
Was Andy ready to face the Princess? Hell no.
But he was going to. He had to. Even though he'd released some of his rage on her Meltling counterpart, the real girl was a whole different matter.
Andy took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.
He stood tall in front of her, arms folded, what hopefully was a mask of calm on his face, but inside his head he was screaming.
It took her a couple of seconds to notice him. She was rubbing her jaw and— and in her hand she was still holding the hilt of her sword, her broken sword, the one he broke with his icy hand. Now the end of the blade was jagged, about the size of a knife. Finally, though, her eyes found his.
"What the... Andy?" Helena stared at him as if he were a ghost. He almost got unnerved when those eyes- those green eyes flecked with brown stared at him with horror. He forced himself to stay still, when really all he wanted to do was run. "But—but he froze your heart!"
"The only frozen heart around here is yours," he shot back coolly. Helena sneered at his words. It took all his willpower to stay composed, keep his cool, leave it at that—
He'd also forgot, or more like, hadn't noticed, Krista standing right there with Suri by her side. She'd been watching the whole exchange, not saying anything until now.
Krista pounced ahead and shoved the princess overboard.
Helena shrieked, and the satisfying sound of splashing water was music to his ears.
"That's what you get!" Krista yelled, hands gripping the railing. Andy felt a surge of immense affection for the ice harvester girl at that very moment. Krista did not know exactly what Helena had done in the study, she'd just ran down the mountain when she saw the storm getting bad, and apparently drawn her own conclusions just now. She probably saw Helena with the sword, the way Elliott looked so tense now, the look on his own face and she just kinda knew.
"Andy," Elliott said, an uncertain smile on his face. Andy noticed his brother's eyes looked different— they looked serene. They had been stormy for so long, the color now was quite a few shades lighter... more alive. The way they had been before the accident. Andy smiled back. Like the General had put it, their love for each other had thawed one another's frozen hearts, even if Andy's had been literally frozen, Andy wondered for how long his older brother had been hurting, wondered how long his had been frozen.
Elliott opened his arms, looking a little hesitant. Andy hugged him again, glad the invisible barrier between them was finally gone.
Over his shoulder, he caught Krista smiling at them, with her arm around Suri's neck, her other hand on General Winter's hat. Small flakes from the snowman's personal cloud landed on it, but the ice harvester did not seem to mind.
He sighed happily.
• • •
As the cruel fates would have it, only three ships suffered damage so massive by Elliott's storm that they could not leave; one of them, the Southern Isles.
The damage was irreparable and the ship would not sail ever again, the dock master said with one look at what remained of the vessel.
They couldn't exactly lock up the Princess in a dungeon— though Andy would have loved to, and he knew Elliott shared the feeling, having been locked up himself. Instead, he played the diplomat, kept a guard on her at all times, she was not allowed to leave the palace etc etc. His brother sent an urgent message to the Southern Isles asking them to retrieve their crazy little sister, and to settle down the misunderstanding.
When Helena was told of the compromise that one of her sisters would come and get her to answer for her crimes, she stabbed the deliverer of the message with a fork and verbally assaulted him; he needed stitches but he'd live. After the incident the Princess was sentenced to temporary solitary confinement. Which was just fine, because Andy had absolutely no desire to see her ever.
Luckily, the Sandlane ship was good and ready to sail.
"This is an outrage! I have been traumatized, my poor heart cannot take this!" the old woman shrieked, as she was escorted by Arendelle guards across the dock. She dug her heels in and jabbed a finger at Kai who was overseeing the guests leaving, "I demand to speak to the King!"
"Ah, yes, I have a message from the King," Kai said calmly, pulling out a slip of official—looking scroll from his vest pocket. He cleared his throat smugly and declared, "Arendelle will henceforth and forever no longer do business of any sort with Sandlame."
"Sandlane, it's Sandlane!" spittle flew out of the woman's mouth as she was dragged away by the guards. Two burly mustachioed men went along with her quietly, one of them had a cast on their foot.
The sun was shining and it was a warm, sweet summer day in Arendelle once more. The village was a whole different story when the windows and doors weren't frozen shut, no Meltlings roaming about. Everyone had ditched the heavy wool coats and exchanged them for looser clothes.
Krista giggled after they passed the seething woman, they ran along hand-in-hand. They pushed through the crowd, to the market square where Andy had a little surprise.
Krista had changed from ice harvesting clothes to a nice yellow summer dress. Without the heavy winter gear he could properly appreciate how tiny her frame actually was, but he knew better — she could probably throw him across the fjord if she wanted to. Her hair was in a French braid, with blonde wisps framing her face— he was one hundred percent sure it was General Winter's work. She was more beautiful than this summer day— and that was huge, because after all, they had just endured the beginning of an eternal winter.
"Whose voice was that?" she said breathlessly as they dodged through the crowd. He'd tied a thin blindfold around her eyes so she didn't immediately see the surprise, so it was up to him to navigate them through all the people milling around.
"You remember the Ice Duchess? Well, that was Elliott's muse back there," Andy narrowly managed to avoid crashing into a pole, Krista stumbled but he gripped her hand tighter, not letting her fall, "Not a sight you wanna see, trust me."
"I demand to speak to the King," Krista mimicked in a nasal, scarily accurate voice of the Duchess. "Who does she think she is—"
Andy stopped, Krista almost crashed into him. The Prince was jumping on the balls of his feet, wringing his hands together, "Okay, okay, we're here!"
"That's great, can I take this off now—?"
"Oh— yes, right, obviously," with his cheeks burning, Andy pulled the blindfold off, anxious to see her reaction.
• • •
She'd let clumsy Andy drag her across the packed village— and he'd done a fine job, only almost getting her killed three or four times. She should have felt a little worried when Andy came up to her with his whole "I've got to show you something, it's really important, come with me. C-Can I put this on?" and she'd stared at the blindfold with amusement, but trusted him to wrap it around her eyes. She hadn't felt worried, only giddy, his excitement over the 'surprise' was contagious.
The weird sort of bubbly sensation she had now was a new, completely strange feeling to anything she'd ever felt before, but a good one. When Andy had thawed, she'd felt the same thing she had when Suri had surfaced from the cold water. And then poor Andy had had to confront that Helena with his brave face threatening to shatter any second, and she'd just— snapped. Shoved that wicked girl right off the boat. The look of relief on Andy's face had made it worth it.
Andy pulled the silky material away from her eyes and she blinked.
Her eyes adjusted to the light.
She almost choked.
"Ta-dah!" Andy finally burst like an excited kid, gesturing wildly, "I owe you a sled!"
A sled fit for, well, a king was parked right in front of her eyes. Or Santa Claus, the nice size was perfect for what she needed to harvest ice. Or to crush her enemies, either was fine. The upholstery on the front seat was red and gorgeous, a beautiful contrast to the sled's black wood. All of it looked perfectly varnished and Krista felt like crying.
"Is you—are you—" Krista swallowed, trying to get her silly little brain to connect to her tongue and form a coherent sentence. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah!" Andy punched at the air in victory, the excited buzz about him making her blush, "It's the latest model! Really neat, yeah?"
To add to her mortification, Suri strutted out from gods—know—where, a silver medal hanging around her neck, sporting the colors of Arendelle. She pawed happily at the ground, like look what a nice sled we just got!
"No...no, I can't accept this," Krista was sure she was blushing furiously now, she couldn't even meet his eyes, "I really can't."
"You have to! King's orders!" he said back immediately, he'd probably anticipated her refusal. "No returns, no exchanges! He's named you the official Arendelle Ice Deliverer."
Krista smirked, "That's so not a thing."
"Of course it's a thing. It is now. I say so. Anyway," Andy was still bouncing around anxiously as if waiting for her approval. He turned to look at her with his eyes adorable and green and so so perfect, "Do you like it?"
"I don't like it."
His face fell.
She grinned, "I love it!"
Andy let out a huge sigh of relief and a teasing smile, and before he could properly process it, she'd thrown her arms around his neck.
"I love it, I love it, I love it!" she was laughing, and he was too, he hastily placed his hands around her waist so they didn't fall after almost tackling him down. "I could kiss you!"
She jumped back like she'd been burned. As always, she felt the tip of her ears grow hot with embarrassment. She darted her eyes away, fumbling for words and getting more flustered than ever before, "I—uh, I mean, I would.. Like it I would— I would like to—" stupid stupid stupid
He placed a hand on her cheek, an adoring smile on his freckled face, "I'd like to, too."
Krista all but melted right there and then.
Andy leaned forward and captured her face between his hands, kissing her hard on the lips. She squeaked a little in surprise, before leaning into him and pressing her hands to his chest. Gods...
After forever, he pulled away and studied her face, "I don't— don't want to go too fast..." His eyes looked a little guarded, and he didn't have to say it. Krista understood.
"It's fine, Andy. You may court me with expensive gifts and luxurious trips until then," she laughed and placed a hand on Suri's head, rubbing the reindeer between the ears.
"Yeah. Yeah, you know what, I'll do just that," Andy said, his tone serious. "We're doing this proper."
Her eyes widened, "Wait— no, no, I was joking, you don't have to—"
"In fact! Let's start right now," he offered his arm with a small smile, "Elliott's also got a little surprise for everyone. Let's go to the palace."
She hooked her arm through his, "Alright, my prince."
They laughed together again, and the day was warm, and good.
• • •
Just like during his coronation, a bunch of people had gathered on the courtyard outside the palace. Maybe even more. This time they did not look terrified of him, their faces shone with genuine curiosity. Men, women, children, old people, young people— they were all there, waiting for their king to "do the magic." The gates were open, and they would stay that way forevermore.
He knew, too much had happened. So many things had gone down in so little time, so many other had changed. But he decided to face those things instead of ignoring them, or worse, running from them. It was time he became his father's son, the King Arendelle deserved Sure, it would be a tough climb to recovery, but he was willing to climb that mountain. He wasn't alone. He wasn't hated— at least not by the people he cared about, the people who truly mattered.
"Are you ready?" his voice wobbled a little, still hesitant as ever, but he was going to get there. Get better.
The wild, happy cheer from the crowd was the only answer he needed. His bare, ungloved hands pulsed with power.
Like he used to do indoors so many years ago, Elliott stomped his foot and the thin ice spread until everyone was standing on a massive ice rink. Elliott held his breath, waiting for their reaction.
Almost immediately the people cried out in delight, there were surprised yelps as some people slipped and fell. Couples began to skate together, going forwards and backwards and doing little spins. He even heard the whoop of some teenage boys and they set a disc on the ground, hockey sticks in hand. An angry mob wasn't after him, so he'd probably done good.
"Excus— oh shi— WHOA!" Elliott turned around just in time to catch Andy before he landed on his face.
"Careful," the King laughed, helping Andy gain some balance on the ice.
"I've never been good at skating," his little brother grumbled, still gripping Elliott's forearms. He looked up with a little smile, "I like the open gates."
"We are never closing them again," Elliott promised. "And— to skate, you need some skates." He waved his hand; skates literally made of ice formed on Andy's boots.
"Skating on ice with ice? Why are you so intent on breaking the laws of physics—"
"Look out! Reindeer coming through!" Krista skated by, barely containing her laughter. Suri was beside her with a terrified expression as she slid backwards and out of control. General Winter skated graciously behind him, swinging a brand new ice sword like it was an old man's cane.
"Glide and pivot, m'boy, glide and pivot," the General gave Andy a little push and he almost slipped, but Elliott was there to catch him. From now on, he always would.
He grabbed Andy's hands and pulled him along, "Come on, you can do it!"
"Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of— nope, no I'm not, I don't got this— crap—"
Elliott laughed, and took a deep breath. He was at peace, the war with himself was contained— for now.
For some reason, he remembered one of the last things his father said to him, just before he got on that damnable ship. The confident way he'd said "You'll be fine, Elliott."
...And maybe Elliott would be fine. Given time, he would be.
The best part, Andy would be beside him. Like the young Prince had said back on the mountain, they would do this together. Even if they were as different as the sun and the moon, fire and ice, those things always went hand in hand. Two sides of the same coin, really. And maybe Andy would be reckless and loud, while Elliott would be quiet and poised, but in the end...
In the end, he was glad he did not have a brother more like him.
THE END
I need a minute jeez, this is the first story i've ever finished in my entire life.
.
.
okay, i'm good, whoa.
++I guess you could count this as the reprise for "do you want to build a snowman," there's a fan version of it in youtube, if you wanna listen to it
Longest chapter — it's only right, since it's the last chapter of this story. Yes, i'm both sad and happy to say, this is the last of a brother more like me!
I'll never be able to thank u guys enough for reading this, this thing i've written in my broken english, but for whatever reason i'm glad you did, and i sincerely hope u enjoyed it. and to me this is huge- i usually leave things midway, i don't finish them, but this... i just had to give this story the finale it deserved.
now, there is the matter of a sequel, a prequel... i've got a few ideas, mostly for a prequel focusing on Helena and her shitty sisters- i think that one would be a good one, but opinions are always welcome. sequel to this may be a little more complicated, but i'd love to write more about these characters tbh. oneshots could also be a thing, short stories about random things idk, u guys let me know!
aaand, as always, thank you for reading, reviewing, all that good stuff!:)