Frozen Hearts

By- An Unknown Foreign Beauty

Chapter 31- Winter's end

Waiting for Hans' final trial quickly took its toll on Elsa in the coming weeks, much as she tried to deny any stress or fears she might have felt as the hours passed ever so slowly. She promised him that she would not do anything to prove him innocent, but her actions told her otherwise.

She spent the next two weeks going back and forth between the court and the hospital, taking care of Anna, listening to advices from Hans' lawyers, discarded most of it, and requested them to investigate harder. She worked out strategies with attorneys from Florida, made plans with Gerda, her personal attorney, tried to figure out a way to find out the truth.

Unfortunately, all investigations led to one conclusion that Hans Westergard killed Duke Weselton to cover his association with the disappearance of Sofia. The caliber of his gun matched the bullet found in Weselton's body, and no one yet knew where Sofia Westergard was after her visit to Hans' flat. It was suspected that she was dead too, and Duke Weselton was the prime witness. Elsa tried to tell them that Hans did not murder Sofia and he shot Weselton only to save her life, but it was all she could tell them. She had no evidence for her claim, nor did Hans agree to speak the truth.

Now it was the day before the final trial, and Hans' lawyers could not show any evidence in his favor. Elsa tried everything, literally everything to prove his motive behind shooting Weselton to make the killing justified, but nothing sounded much believable. As the juries argued among themselves, Elsa's anxious eyes searched for Hans. He was seated at whatever table... and her frantic gaze skidded to a stop, riveting on his beloved face. They had not exchanged a single word since the fateful conversation. His name rose to her lips, and she bit down to stop herself from crying out to him that she was there. At the same time a teary smile touched her lips, because everything about him-even the nonchalant way he was sitting-was so achingly, beautifully familiar. Other accused men must surely have sat at rigid and respectful attention, but not Hans, she realized with a pang of pride and a twinge of alarm. As if he intended to display his utter contempt for the legality, the validity, of the proceedings against him. He looked dispassionate, cold, and in complete control.

She knew this attitude, she knew this face because she was in his place once. It was guilt. She separated herself from Anna for long seven years out of guilt; she almost lost her for it. Guilt left both of them standing here, and Anna almost got herself killed.

But she would not let this happen again. She could not bear loosing another person she loved.

From the court she drove straight to the hospital to visit Anna. She talked with Dr. Peebie about Anna's progress because the good doctor always spoke encouraging words, then she went back to her sister's cabin and asked her about Kristoff. Anna blushed with the mention of his name and bubbled about his foolishness. Elsa listened to her words carefully, because in these few instances, when everything felt so normal, she didn't have to worry about her sister's ill health or about the trial.

"How are you?" Anna asked finishing her endless rant about Kristoff's thick headedness, and Elsa could feel her keen eyes observing her. "I am fine." Elsa smiled back, trying to act normal, but inside she felt exactly the opposite. Her gaze slid to the old newspapers lying on the bedside cabinet, to the headlines featuring the news of Hans Westergard's trial. They remained where they were yesterday, Anna never read any of them. She looked back at Anna and found her watching her closely, like she had read her inner struggle.

"What is troubling you, Elsa?" Anna asked, breaking the silence.

Elsa wondered how Anna would react if she suddenly ask for her favor. Once, one of Hans' lawyers recommended Anna as a witness because she was the only one who saw Sofia's body. Days after days she was thinking about it, but she could not gain courage to bring up the topic. Hans was always a sore topic between them, and none of the sisters wanted to talk about it openly.

Now when she was losing all hopes, she decided to bring it up. But the problem was she loved Anna. And the image of Anna looking on her with hate forever made her stomach go raw. But she loved Hans too. Which did she love more? No, it wasn't a question of that and never would she broach it. This wasn't a choice between them it was a decision for them. She could not let go any of them.

"Anna…it's about Hans…" She finally said quietly.

"What about him?" Anna asked, her voice suddenly turned cold with the mention of the name.

Elsa knew she despised Hans. She loved Anna so much that she hated to ask her to do this, but she loved Hans too much to watch him to be sentenced to a lifelong imprisonment. She loved them both more than she loved herself, and it was for that reason the next words came out of her mouth.

"Anna…would you..." She paused for a few seconds as Anna watched her curiously. No, she could not ask the question openly. She took several deep breaths and finally said, "Anna, what do you think about attending Hans' trial tomorrow?"

Anna's face went blank. Then it furrowed in confusion. And then it dawned as realization hit and then suddenly, oh so suddenly, it curled into something far less friendly, far less inviting, far more awful. It wasn't anger, or hatred, or even a glare. It was betrayal.

"Is that why you are visiting me?" she sounded hurt.

"No!"

Well…it was happening again, wasn't it? Once her fancy for him almost cost her Anna's life, and now Anna's denial was costing her Hans' life. It seemed like a vicious cycle repeating again and again.

"You're still in love with him. You cannot get over him."

Anna looked disappointed, she looked hurt, she looked like Jesus might have looked when Judas kissed him.

"Why should I do this?"

"What?"

"How do you know that he shot Weselton to save your life? Not to impress you again? How can you know that he is not deceiving you again?" Anna was sounding like one of the juries from the court.

"Anna…I…." Elsa stopped in the middle of the explanation. After all he did to Anna, she could not just expect her to forgive him so easily.

Well…wasn't it obvious? She remembered Hans' warning during their last meeting. Your sister will never forgive you... It was true. Nothing could change the past.

Anna probably read her mind because she sat up in the bed, and took her hands in hers, "You know Elsa, I can never forgive him for his actions towards me. But I got over him. Hans is no more a part of my life." She suddenly sounded so warm. Elsa looked at their entwined hands. She never expected her sister sounding so wise. "I have nothing to do with him. All I care about you. I'd speak for Hans in the court for your sake if not I saw Sofia's body in my car the night he tried to kill me too. I'd not hold any grudge against him if not I knew that he murdered Sofia for real." She sounded so guilty.

But he did not murder Sofia, Elsa wanted to say. She knew he did not. She had seen in his eyes, she had seen his regrets. She knew he was really sorry for his past. But how could she explain that to Anna? Like everyone out there she also saw him as a murderer, a fraud.

I know what I have done, I will always know, and even to you, and even to Anna, I am a murderer.

Elsa had been expecting anger and a hatred for taking side of the man who ruined her life…what she hadn't anticipated was Anna not caring at all about Hans and more about Elsa's wellbeing.

And she was going to pay for her lack of preparation.

She hated this, hated herself for trying to lay her loyalties with both her Hans and her sister when really that was just tearing her apart even more. Hated that things were getting more and more complicated, and she was fighting a lost battle.

Hated that she had such little faith in Anna and in herself.

Her inner turmoil might have reflected in her face, because Anna moved closer and looked into her eyes. "Elsa, are you alright?" Her voice was suddenly full of concern.

Elsa closed her eyes. She was so much torn between her love for Anna and Hans. She did not know whom to choose. She tried to steady her breathing through her nose. She clenched her hands and then clasped them together. She opened her eyes and gazed back at the pale face of her sister. She looked so sick, so weak. She had suffered a lot for her. No, she could not burden her little sister with her personal problem anymore.

If only she could go back to old days and make everything right. If only she could stop stressing about it, because Elsa was literally torn between Anna and Hans, she could not let go any of them, which always made things worse. Suffocated, repressed… Elsa had to do something to get rid of this situation. She could not stand this tension anymore.

So, she let go Anna's hand and walked outside.

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Anna watched her go.

She knew her sister was trying not to hurt her feelings. She was literally torn between her loyalty for her and Hans and it was hurting her more. Still she tried to keep an appearance only to save Anna from guilt.

And it made Anna suffer more and more.

Anna was feeling guilty for refusing Elsa, but she did not know how to forgive Hans. She knew he was really changed. He risked his freedom to save her sister's life. He was regretting for his past. She knew he loved Elsa for real. Again doubts crept into her mind. The name Hans constantly reminded her of his betrayal to her, to her sister, his attempts to ruin their lives. Anna could not forget his attempts to murder her or his plan to take advantage of Elsa's vulnerability, the tears Elsa had shed for him, or the pain she felt when she lost her babies. And whenever she thought about those horrible memories, she felt a sense of over protectiveness towards Elsa. So she remained cold and dispassionate when Elsa asked for her help.

And then she hurt her again.

But she hated hurting her.

She untangled herself for the wires and tubes, and leaned against the pillow. She had been here for almost a month, in this hospital, being treated like an invalid. She hated to be here. It was true that her wound was almost fatal, she was at the verge of death, and it took her a long time to heal. Even the doctors gave up hope when she was shot for the second time. But now she was stronger, and she hated to see Elsa dealing with all the troubles while she had nothing to do except struggling with her feelings. She stared at the ceiling, bright and white. She stared at it as her emotions swirled and consumed her.

She hated to see her sister torn between her and the man they both once loved. She hated that she could not let go the past. She hated that her sister could not find her happiness while she had secured her own.

Oh, she hated herself so much that she wanted to cry her heart out.

She did not exactly how long she stayed like that. And finally she began to feel sleepy. No, she could not sleep now. Not when Elsa was out there crying and suffering because of her.

She reached for the laptop on the bedside cabinet. It did not belong to her, it was Hans'. Eugene brought it to her a week ago. He tried to tell her something about Hans, they had a long discussion. Eugene tried to give his friend's action a justifiable version. But Anna remained silent throughout the conversation.

"People make mistakes when they are mad or scared or stressed. People are not born evil." He told her before leaving, "You can give it a second thought, at least for your sister's sake."

But Anna paid no attention to him. And the laptop remained on the cabinet gathering dust.

She knew Eugene did nothing without a purpose, and by delivering Hans' old laptop he certainly wanted to give her some message. And now when she was torn between her own anger and her sister's sufferings, she hoped it could give her some solution. She turned on the laptop, there were not much things in it, except some photo albums. Most of them contained pictures taken for various exhibitions. Then she hit a folder named 'Confidential' which contained only two pictures- one of his mom, and other of…

It was a picture of three of them, smiling and making faces at the camera. It was dated almost seven years ago, during the yearly riding competition. They won a ride with Hans, the winner, when Elsa caught his jersey. Anna wondered why Hans kept this particular photo as his laptop wallpaper. She studied the photo closely. They looked so young- she was in her early teen, and Elsa was fourteen, and Hans was sixteen, looking so innocent and cheerful.

Why did he keep that particular photo as his wallpaper? Did he love to remember three of them like that?

People make mistakes when they are mad or scared or stressed. Eugene told her once. But what mistake had he made? He seemed perfectly contained when he planned her accident. She was about to turn off the laptop, when she noticed a document file named 'Anna'. She frowned. Why would Hans write a confidential document named Anna?

With no expectation of pleasure, but with the strongest curiosity, Anna opened the file, and, to her still increasing wonder, perceived a letter addressed to her. There were some other attachments with it. Leaning back against the pillows, she began to read it. It was dated almost a month ago, a day before the fateful night when all of their lives almost came to an end, at eight o'clock in the morning, and was as follows:—

Dearest Anna,

You are probably wondering why I am writing this letter to you after everything happened between us. But don't be alarmed, I am not writing it to beg your forgiveness or your sister's. I am writing it without any intention of paining you or your sister by repetition of that cliché word.

At first I want to say sorry for everything I have done. And I admit, I have done it willingly. I planned to kill you and take advantage of Elsa's vulnerability. I never deny that I am a devil, a heartless villain. I am not worthy for your forgiveness.

At first I want to tell you about a bit about my background. You probably know most of it like- my mother is the second wife of my dad, I am the thirteenth heir of The Southern Isles Group of Companies, the most popular boy in the class, the boy who haunts every girl's dream, etc. What you don't know is that I am the most unwanted one too. My brothers despised my mom because dad divorced their mother because of her. I grew up ignored by them. That was not the problem. I fell in love with your sister when I met her in the fifth grade. But I was not brave enough to approach her. She was always so reserved. So I began dating other girls to gain courage. Sofia was one of them. You met me and fell head over heels for me. That was not a problem either.

The real problem began when my parents got divorced, and mom decided to go back to Denmark, her country. There was a custody battle between my parents, and mom won. So I was forced to go with her. A few years later dad died, and my brothers cut my mom off the small allowance he sent to her. She became a drug addict, while I struggled to stay alive. I will not bore you with the details.

That's when I learned that money was everything, the most needed thing in one's life.

You may think why I am telling you this when you never asked for it. But after years of lying, I think someone deserves to know the truth.

I was so mad when Sofia broke our engagement and ran away with my brother only because he held a greater share of papa's business than me. Then I realized the importance of money more and more. It holds the key to happiness, to success. I dreamt of becoming billionaire overnight. I wanted to show my brothers that I am not a loser at all. And that night I really grew up. I let go my old self, and morphed into someone still I don't know. I became an emotionless, stone hearted devil. I was so full of myself, that I forgot who I was.

And then Duke Weselton came into the picture. He helped me to seek you out, and I planned to take advantage of your old feelings for me.

And it worked, I almost succeeded. And I proposed you. (But I never loved you.) Then worst thing happened. Elsa reappeared in the picture, igniting my old feelings for her. It took a bad shape when Weselton informed me that she was the real heir.

I knew Elsa would never express her feeling for me while you were alive. I had seen it in her eyes, the moment you introduced me to her. She loves you so much that she can sacrifice everything for you. Do you know that she rejected me first time because you were planning to ask me out on the Valentines' day? Yes, she loves you that much, Anna. So don't hurt her. Ever.

Sorry, I have been carried away. Anyway, I planned to drive you out of the way, and win Elsa's heart by taking advantage of her vulnerability. Because I found out that her real weakness was you.

It was my biggest mistake.

Somehow Sofia knew my plan, and came to threaten me. I threatened her with my gun, but then someone else shot her. I was so afraid that I made a secret deal with Duke to give him a share of your property in the exchange of my secrecy. So I went along with my plan. Duke helped me to arrange the accident for you, while I played with Elsa's heart, taking advantage of her grief.

That was another mistake.

I thought I could win Elsa easily. Yes, I did. I made her to fall in love with me, madly. My biggest success. But like all other successes, this one came with a huge cost. And in this case it cost me.

I never knew when I became the sixteen years old love-struck boy again. But when I realized it was too late, you had disillusioned Elsa, and I was threatened by Duke's evil plans.

Now I want to warn you that Duke is planning to kill both of you. At first I thought it was only Elsa, because she is the true heir, but he also plans to kill you too. You may think I am trying to have your attention with a false alarm, but believe me I would have planned a better thing. He cares nothing but your money.

I know it is my fault that you are standing here, and nothing can repair the damage. When I realized my mistake I began transferring money to Elsa's account, but when I got arrested I lost all of my access to them. Now the auction is drawing closer. I know you will not accept money directly from anyone. So, I begged Eugene for help. He accessed my accounts and bought a property in The Valley of Living Rocks. I heard that it belongs to one of your friends. I guess he is planning to help you or maybe you'll accept the money from him. Well, I don't know the details, but I guess you will succeed retrieving Arendelle.

I know you will never believe any of my words, you must not. I am not begging for your favor. I only regret for my own crimes, and is searching for a way to undo it. Maybe it is not my greatest plan, and maybe it will cost me dearly. But it is worth doing it.

Be safe. And tell Elsa that I loved her even before I knew myself.

Yours truly,

Hans Westergard

P.S: I am meeting Elsa tonight with the false copy of the documents necessary to retrieve Arendelle just to distract Duke. The main copy is sent to your attorney Gerda, so that she can deal with the legal side of the procedure. I've transferred Kristoff's house (I just found out the name of your friend) to his name. (Consider it as an early wedding gift *wink* wink* ) Eugene has finished the transferring process. And the money is near Kristoff. So the house had technically never been sold. (LOL!)

P.S. 2: Oh, I forgot to tell, here is my will. I am giving all of my properties (including the share of The Southern Isles I hold) and other things to Elsa and her children after my death. Don't tell her about it. I feel so grateful to be loved by her that I can hardly pay for it.

P.S. 3: I am personally regretting for all the bad things I did to you. I don't expect you to forgive me, not even for Elsa's sake.

Her feelings as she read the letter were scarcely to be defined. With amazement she first understood that he did not begged for her forgiveness; and steadfastly she realized that he had worked out everything to retrieve Arendelle. Even he dared to insert those stupid emoticons in the darkest parts of the letter. She read with an eagerness which hardly left her power of comprehension, and from impatience of knowing what the next sentence might bring, was incapable of attending to the sense of the one before her eyes. There was an account number at the end of the letter with the attachments of the copies of the original documents necessary to retrieve the company from the bank. Anna could not believe it. It was actually Hans who bought Kristoff's childhood home so that he could help her. Oh, how tricky! For once she wanted to forgive him, then his tendency of making Elsa suffer in this way, made her too angry to wish him to give another chance.

So Elsa had seen the truth long before she did. She always blamed her for being so soft, but now she realized that she was the wise one among two of them.

Now she was feeling so guilty.

Anna didn't even register that she was crying at this point, she let her tears fall. She needed to get rid of this tension. She did not know how to do it.

So she cried.

She cried for Elsa.

Cried for herself.

She wished Kristoff was here with her. Her emotions were so jumbled. He was the only one who understood her completely. She could look upon him, depend on him, and ask for his guidance when she was unable to take any decision. Now she did not know what to do.

"Anna," She was startled by a voice behind her. She raised her tear stricken face to find Kristoff standing at the door. "What's wrong?" He hurried inside, and took his place beside her bed.

Nothing, Anna wanted to say, but instead she took his hand and stroked his oversized thumb with her own. "Elsa visited me an hour ago." She replied bluntly, "And I hurt her."

Kristoff could immediately guess the reason behind her agony. But he decided not to speak it aloud. "It will be okay, Anna." He said softly, "Elsa will understand."

"No," she admitted, shaking her head. No, all Anna was really wanted to do find her sister and beg for her forgiveness. "I was so rude with her. I never paid attention to any of her words. I never tried to understand her feelings. Now she is suffering because of me."

All Kristoff wanted to hold her tight, and tell her everything would be alright. But no, he did not. He did not stop her when Anna spoke of the letter, repeating the whole of its contents. Kristoff 's eyes widened when he knew about the truth behind his childhood house. He held Anna tight as she cried for her prejudice.

"It is not your fault," said Kristoff, "Hans hid his secrets, your sister shut you out for years. You never will be able to make both of them good for anything. They are so alike. Now it is time to take your decision."

For once in his life Kristoff said something really useful. But Anna did not know what to do. Things became so complicated, and she was so confused. Kristoff wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled close to him. Being wrapped in his arms always gave her a feeling of some sort of security.

The television channels were broadcasting the news of the upcoming trial of Hans Westergard. He was charged for the murder of Sofia Westergard and Duke Weselton. Now Anna knew, he was in love with her sister, irrevocably, undeniably. He cared her so much that he didn't hesitate to take an extreme measure to save the woman he loved most.

If her almost suicide counted as an act of true love, then his stupidity could be counted too.

And finally she found a reason to forgive the man she hated most.

But it was too late.

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The gate of the prison was heavily guarded, and Elsa stood there alone in the waiting room. She asked one of the jailors to call a prisoner named Hans Westergard, prisoner no 1313. The guard nodded and immediately disappeared inside. Hans refused to meet her since the fateful conversation in the court, and Elsa wondered if he would agree to meet her tonight. But she had to meet him. She had to see him for the last time. She had to say that she could not save him.

She had to say sorry.

Elsa was disappointed to find the jailor returning alone. Hans refused to talk with her again.

She had heard enough refusal today-first from Anna, now from Hans. Why did everyone she love to refuse her? Was not there anyone to share her pain?

Cold wind blew to her face as she exited the prison gate. Snow of the late winter settled on her platinum hair, blending into its color. She abandoned the car; she did not need it anymore. She shivered, as she made her way through the snow covered landscape by foot. Alone. She was not dressed for cold, but she kept walking anyway. It was like she could not feel the cold.

Not anymore.

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Kristoff did not know when he fell asleep with a crying Anna in his arms. He gazed at the clock on the wall to find it almost half past eight in the morning. Gosh! He slept so long.

He shifted his gaze from the clock to the girl sleeping in his arms. She was supposed to look peaceful in her sleep. But no, it seemed her nightmares were haunting her even in her dreams. After being torn between her anger and her loyalty for her sister, when she finally realized the truth, it was too late. There was no time to undo the damage. Gently and cautiously, Kristoff lowered his head and kissed Anna's forehead. She could probably feel it, because her face began to relax.

Kristoff smiled. At least the poor girl could sleep peacefully for a while. He wished he could solve her problem by a simple kiss. But they seemed to complicated to be solved by a kiss.

Letting a sigh to escape, Kristoff shifted his gaze to the television. Both of them forgot to turn it off last night, and it still was set to the channel 393, The Fox News.

The final trial of Hans Westergard.

The news title moved across the screen, an excited and overdramatic voice accompanied the chaos the station called news visuals. "Now we have gathered in the court to witness Hans Westergard's trial. He was charged for killing his sister-in-law, Sofia Westergard, and the prime witness of the case Duke Weselton."

It showed a police car driving through the mess of journalists, carrying the accused- Hans Westergard. As soon as he got down from the police car, the journalists swarmed around him like insects, they held out their microphones, asking for juicy details. He ignored them calmly as the police led him to the court. But Kristoff knew he was not, because he saw the troubled look in his eyes, whenever the cameras were focused on his face. He used to despise him. But after hearing everything about him from Anna, he developed some sort of respect for this man. He wondered where Elsa was, because he could not see her in the crowd.

He promised Elsa he would be with her in the court today, but he could not leave Anna now. The poor girl looked so troubled last night that he was afraid to leave her alone. While he wondering if it would be wise to wake Anna up now, a photo appeared on the screen showing a very attractive young woman with long blonde hair, thick and long eyebrows, deep blue eyes and perfectly shaped nose. Kristoff was not really paying any attention to the news, but there was something about the woman that caught his attention. Something unusual, something familiar. Like he had met her before…somewhere…very recently….

Kristoff could swear he never met Sofia Westergard, but she resembled someone he knew…..Kristoff tried to match the face with the list of his acquaintances. And…she looked almost like….almost like….Finally Kristoff found the match.

Sofia Westergard looked exactly like Kristina, his almost ex-girlfriend.

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Hopefully the next chapter will be the final one.

Errors are all mine. Consider them nicely.