Freya reflected on the conversation as she looked up at the sky. She had always assumed this woman Hans had duped would be a bit dim and someone she could mess with if she got bored enough. After talking to her she came across as an entirely different entity. She was intense to say the least and at times the conversation felt like walking on a tight-rope, one misstep and you're over the edge. Despite this Freya had actually enjoyed her company; it was a fresh perspective and someone new. The strategy to help others but avoid fighting was stagnating the resistance; she had tried to get her point across to them before but it would fall on deaf ears. Now Anna was here that might change.
Hans had never really explained why he refused so adamantly to bring her along on his search for Anna. It suggested just how important she was to their cause. Even if she was wrong about her overall importance Anna's sheer presence could be enough to shake things up enough to start seeing a difference in attitude. The sister of the empress herself was amongst their ranks after all. Freya thought about what she really knew about her, she had a grudge against Hans, was a reclusive royal in Arendelle and had been working as a mercenary. Also her best friend was a shield and she once had a showdown with a cat. Whatever she went through must have been pretty drastic, even by Freya's own standards Anna was a bit odd. She was nowhere near Nat's level though; there was no helping that one.
Getting Anna to fit in would be tricky and was a puzzle that merited some thought. The more she knew about her, the easier it would be to think of something. There was hardly much else going on at the moment so she figured there was no harm in getting straight to it. She sprang up, threw her cloak over her shoulder and strolled back to Sigmund's abode. She preferred walking about at night as it was quieter and felt less exposing. The light was yet to completely fade but she felt more comfortable than when she first stepped outside.
She ignored the usual hostile reception from Sigmund and slid the panel aside herself, he hated it when people did that which only encouraged her to do it more. This staircase was shorter than most of the other hideouts dotted around the land, being so close to Arendelle probably gave them less time to put it together and not digging as deep was a simple corner to cut down the project's completion. As with all staircases she came across she wondered if she could jump down the whole thing in one leap, Hans had always insisted on keeping that question theoretical. The ever familiar door was in front of her; Nat would either be hiding somewhere near it or would ask for a password. Nat's door-quirks were getting increasingly creative so she had to be weary. The time she had jumped down from above the door-frame had nearly given Freya a heart attack. When knocking provided no answer it was now a matter of a cautious approach, she could just walk straight on through but Nat liked these little games and Freya was one of the few that indulged her, to the chagrin of the others. Jasper was okay with her antics but most did their best not to encourage Nat. She stepped through to find a suspiciously thick pile of coats to the left of the entrance. There was a chance it could be a fake-out as Nat got increasingly wily, she watched the pile in her periphery as she walked past. When the pile shifted position Freya knew she had her.
"I know you're in the coats Nat" she said. A coat moved aside and Nat's head emerged from the pile. No-one knew when her birthday was but she was most likely in her early twenties which made her the closest in age to Freya, it was enough of a reason for them to get along.
"Next time," Nat said, coats dropped everywhere as she got out of the pile. She enjoyed the clutter that Nat had just helpfully added to, though soon Hans or Jasper would want it cleared out and organised. She was normally good at judging from Hans' demeanour when boring orders like cleaning up were coming and could make herself scarce before they were spoken.
Hans was nowhere in the big room, he must have still been in the command room with Jasper. She strolled over, knowing she was not supposed to interrupt meetings between the two of them. She usually respected this but it being so long since the last time she saw Hans and Anna being around provided some wiggle-room with them. She noticed Anna had found a corner to skulk in, Anna was inspecting her armour. It looked fancy and the minimal damage suggested Anna could handle herself in a fight, the extensive battle-damage of her shield showed she had been in plenty of them in her time. As for the facial features; when Freya had travelled through war-torn areas with Hans only the dead possessed such markings. It was either a testament to Anna's resilience or something much darker. She did not want to think about it.
When she flung the door open she saw a concerned Jasper, Hans was there but of course his face gave nothing away. He always made the effort to hide his worries from her unless it benefitted him. He knew how she hated it when he would get overprotective, over time the overprotectiveness had not let up. He had, however, gotten a lot better at hiding it.
"What part of don't interrupt meetings with Jasper doesn't apply here?" Hans asked.
"Everyone sitting around idle with a princess in the room isn't exactly the best time to keep us waiting," she said.
"She's not wrong you know," Jasper said.
"Fine, fine. Just let me talk to her okay?" Hans said.
"Alright, I need to check up on Anna anyway," Jasper said.
"What's all this about?" Freya asked once Jasper had left the room.
"I'm guessing you spoke to Anna," Hans said.
"Well I…" she said, before she could finish Hans carried on.
"Don't worry, I'm not annoyed. What do you think of her?" he said.
"I like her, needs to relax a bit though," she said.
"Ha, that's one way of putting it. I doubt she's given herself a chance too for a long time," he said. He paused contemplatively. Freya looked around, unclear of what they were doing.
"Where are we going with this Hans?" she said.
"Big things are in motion and that woman is central to it all," he said.
"We're finally going to take it to those damn imperials," Freya said excitedly. She knew Anna was here to shake things up.
"Something like that, Jasper and I will go over it with everyone shortly," Hans said.
"At last some action. We can show Arendelle they can't push people around and get away with it," she said. Hans seemed much less enthused than she was, he almost appeared absent.
"I've done right by you haven't I?" he said.
"What makes you ask that?" she asked, this was a peculiar turn in conversation even for Hans.
"Seeing and dealing with Anna again is making me feel, for want of a better word, nostalgic." He said. This was a rare moment where Hans was actually being open, the only other time he had been this serious was when he first told her what he did to Anna.
"You pulled me through the darkest time in my life Hans, whatever regrets you might have, none of them should be about me," she said. She tended to downplay or stay vague about Hans' importance in her life and just how long she had been distraught before Hans had gradually pieced her back together. She would still be a hollow, crying wreck without his help and care. She was sure deep down Hans knew this and neither of them were ones for dwelling on their feelings; she wanted to lighten the mood for both their sakes.
"Besides I'd be totally aimless without all those instructions of yours to ignore," she said.
"Yes, maybe one day I won't be able to predict exactly when you'll disobey me," he said.
"Wait. You can't always know how I'll react to things can you?" she said worriedly. Hans was grinning.
"Uh, how did I believe that one?" she said, hitting him lightly.
"I don't think anyone can predict you," he said.
"I like to keep my fans guessing," she said.
"Fans? I thought you were your only fan," he said.
"You can pretend you and Jasper aren't my biggest fans but I know the truth," she said.
"You think whatever you like to feel good about yourself," he said.
"Oh I will," she said. This is what she had missed most, the times where she and Hans just clicked.
"Give it some time and you could probably add Anna to that fan club of yours. After a conversation with you her vibe has probably gone from "I will murder everyone" down to "I might hurt some of you"," he said.
"I learned my charm from the best," she said.
"I'm sorry I didn't take you with me to find her," he said, part of her wanted to ask why he had left her behind. She refrained as she wanted to keep the happy mood between them. She also did not want to detract from what she had said to him earlier by questioning him now. He would have his reasons, he always acted with her safety in mind, sometimes so much so she felt a bit held back but she knew it was from a good place. She hugged him.
"Come on then, they're probably waiting on us," he said.
The scene they opened the door to was a familiar one, Anna was squaring off with someone. Anna's latest spat was with Anton. He was an older man, his family died due to the famine caused by the initial harsher winters Elsa set in place when Arendelle was first securing its dominance over the land. He was less than happy with their latest guest's presence and would be less easily swayed by anyone else's influence.
"I'm not going to put up with an imperial witch," he said. There was a rabble of agreement from those around him.
"I'm no imperial and I am no witch," Anna said, her nostrils were flaring.
"We're close to doing something very stupid here," Hans said.
"I trust her, stand down," Jasper said.
"Why should you, why should any of us? We all deserve a place here. She's got the blood of thousands on her hands," Anton said.
"I am not my sister," Anna said slowly, it looked like she was about to growl at him. The tension was reaching breaking point. The only person not participating in this conflict was Nat. She was covering her ears and facing the ground, emotional conflict between others was beyond her comprehension. Freya knew if she stood back and did nothing, everything could fall apart. Anna also deserved better treatment than this, they had to be better than the imperials, more tolerant, otherwise the resistance's cause would be tainted.
"I vouch for Anna," Freya said. Her voice carried through the bickering.
"Stay out of this, child," Anton said.
"No. You and me in the ring. If I win you treat Anna like any one of us," she said. Anton was a proud sort and obsessed with honour so would take the bait. However he was also an expert combatant. Freya won more than she lost in the ring but had always managed to avoid Anton, he was undefeated apart from one or two fights with Nat, but she was so wild when she fought that everyone had at least one loss in their column courtesy of Nat. There were only rumours as to where he got his fighting prowess from.
"You challenge me?" Anton was in disbelief. "Very well, I will dispatch you quickly and then deal with Elsa's underling," he said.
She looked over at Anna, who seemed more intrigued than worried or angry now. Hans stepped in front of Freya, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her right in the eyes.
"You don't have to do this," he said quietly.
"I know what I'm doing," she said, this was a lie.
"Let her fight," Jasper said from behind them. Hans closed his eyes.
"Just be careful kid," he said as he stepped out of the way. Freya stepped forward unsure of just what she had gotten herself into.