"Fairy godmother!"

Elsa could hear the tremor in her Anna's voice and immediately dismissed the ice crystals she had been using to mend the chip in Beskytter's paw.

"I'm here," she called, moving into the clearing just as Anna burst from the line of trees. Elsa took in the girl's red eyes, trembling bottom lip, and torn clothing - most likely a result of her sprint through the Wood - and her heart sank.

"When were you going to tell me I'm cursed?" Anna demanded.

Elsa went still and the Wood grew a little colder. The winter fairy could do nothing but stare unmoving at the girl, tongue heavy in her mouth, and swallowed thickly.

"Is it true?" Anna asked eyes turning glassy with unshed tears.

Elsa felt hot tears of her own spring up to blur her vision as the guilt she carried with her always tightened its grip on her throat. "It is."

Elsa wanted to weep at the sound of Anna's hitched breath and the sight of the despair that marred her bright blue eyes. The temperature sank lower.

"My aunts," Anna sniffed, "my aunts said it was an evil fairy…" the princess looked away, wiping at her eyes and furrowing her brow in thought. "I… I can't remember her name… they said… said it was…"

"Elsa."

Anna's head snapped up and she nodded slowly. As they gazed at one another, Anna's expression went from sudden realization to unbearable pain.

"Is… is that you, are you Elsa?" Anna whimpered.

The fairy couldn't move, couldn't speak as her world ground to a sudden and jarring halt. The person she loved most in this world was now watching her with a look of such utter betrayal that it felt as though someone had reached inside her icy chest and crushed her heart into dust. Her happiness was over; it had only been a matter of time. She had been a fool to believe that she could be anything other than the monster Hans has turned her into. Elsa took a step forward and reached out to the girl, she needed to make Anna understand, but just as the woman opened her mouth Anna jumped back.

"No, don't touch me!" she snapped. "You're the evil that's in the world, it's you!"

Any remaining pieces of Elsa's damaged heart shattered in that moment.

I tried! Elsa wanted to scream as she watched Anna vanish into the trees. Elsa had wanted to take it back, but when she'd commanded the shard to leave the princess' heart and undo the curse, it wouldn't listen. She'd spent hours standing over Anna's sleeping form, desperately willing the ice to come back to her as her own voice, a voice from long ago, whispered cruel truths in her ear. This curse will last until the end of time, no power on earth can change it. For only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart.

An act of true love… true love…

A spark of hope, small and wavering, bloomed in Elsa's chest as the image of a boy with a mop of blond hair and soft brown eyes, flashed through the winter fairy's mind.

"Find the boy!" Elsa yelled, triggering Beskytter to bolt into the undergrowth.

Taking a deep breath and waving away the sharp spines of ice that had risen along her shoulders and under her feet in response to her furious command, Elsa pushed back a memory that made the spark falter. The memory of her revealing to Beskytter the reason she had chosen true love as the key to undoing her curse.

"No," Elsa snarled under her breath. If Anna had taught her anything it would be that anyone could be saved… she had to try.

xxx

Anna buried her heels into her horse's flanks as the castle finally came into sight. The beast snorted in response and galloped faster towards the gate, towards her family.

Anna looked around as the palace guard led her to the king and couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of this strange world she'd been denied. Heavy tapestries and paintings decorated the walls while thick rugs covered the stones underfoot. The fireplaces they passed were all lit, a blazing fire burning tall in each of them despite it being the middle of summer, it was almost as if the king was afraid of the cold. Anna couldn't help but notice that it didn't seem to be working, the castle didn't feel any warmer than a night in spring. However, when she looked back up at her escort she was alarmed to see sweat dotting his brow just under his helm. The girl however, didn't have time to ponder this anomaly as they had arrived at the throne room.

"… there should be no guards at the gate. I want her to walk…"

The knight cleared his throat. "Sorry to disturb, your majesty," he called to a group of men who stood hunched over a large piece of parchment, all dressed as if ready to fight in a battle. "We found this urchin at the gate," he paused, "she claims to be the princess."

He was the last to turn and look at her, but when he did Anna immediately knew it was him. It wasn't his disheveled copper hair that so closely resembled her own that gave him away or even the golden coat of arms on his tunic that marked him as king. Instead it was his eyes, the emerald green of his irises stirred a long forgotten part of her memory and she just… knew.

"Father!" Anna exclaimed skipping forward and throwing her arms around the man's waist. Anna was so happy that she hardly noticed that he did not return her embrace. "I didn't think I would be able to recognize you because it's been so long and you're a lot older than you were when you sent me away. Not that you're old, I didn't mean that you look old, you actually look pretty young, for a father."

When she pulled away, rubbing her eyes, the king was looking at her with an intense look of longing, and something else Anna couldn't put a name to.

"You look just like your mother," he said softly, and for a moment they simply gazed at each other, as father and daughter. But in an instant the king's expression turned dark and Anna shivered.

"They brought you back a day too soon. I told those three idiots!" he turned back to the guard who had brought Anna to him. "Lock her up, in her room. Go!"

Anna felt a hand on her arm just before she was pulled away.

"Prepare the men... Elsa is coming."

Her mouth went dry.

"Here you are, dear," said the matron - Gerda, she'd said her name was - who had shown Anna to her living quarters. "We just finished putting it together this morning, and a good thing too. We hadn't been expecting you until tomorrow," the woman said cheerfully.

Anna did her best to return the portly woman's smile but she was too busy admiring just how lovely her new bedroom was. The bed alone took up half the chamber with its many plush cushions and velvet curtains hanging from the four posts resting in its corners. There were two bookcases filled with enough books to last Anna a lifetime and a small writing table next to the large bay window that overlooked the castle's courtyard. It was so beautiful, and hers.

Anna rubbed her arms absentmindedly.

"Are you cold, princess?" Gerda asked rushing forward to the ornate fireplace resting in the corner. "Let me just get this lit."

"Thank you, but you don't need to-"

"Nonsense," Gerda interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. "It's no trouble at all."

As Gerda hurried to coax the fire back to life, Anna began to walk around. The redhead smiled when she noticed the many vases that dotted the room, all of which housing a different type of flower. Anna walked over to the nearest arrangement and reached out to pick up one bloom in particular.

"Snowdrops," Anna whispered sadly.

"Yes they are quite beautiful aren't they?" Gerda said walking up behind her. "Did they grow around where you were living?"

"You could say that. They were her favourite…" Anna said swallowing past the lump in her throat.

"Whose favourite, dear?" the older woman prompted gently.

Anna rubbed her eyes again. "A friend of mine… or at least someone I thought was my friend."

The two women were silent for a few moments, each lost in her own thoughts.

"Why was my father talking about Elsa?" Anna asked suddenly. "Why did he say that Elsa was coming? Why would he think she'd come here?"

Gerda quickly turned anxious at the girl's questions and began fiddling with her apron. "I'm sorry, princess but I don't think… I shouldn't…"

"He isn't… he isn't going to hurt her is he?" Anna said clasping her hands together in front of her chest, as if praying for Gerda to give her the answer she wanted.

When the maid did not respond Anna felt a lead weight settle in her stomach.

"I have to talk to him," Anna said moving towards the door but Gerda stepped in her path.

"I'm sorry, princess but the king has given strict instructions to keep you here until morning, when the curse is broken," Gerda said backing up until she'd found the door's handle. "I will have something sent up later for your dinner, in the meantime you should rest. You've had a long day."

The second Gerda had shut the bedroom door behind her Anna ran forward to pull it back open but it wouldn't budge. She was trapped.

Anna began to pace furiously around the room that was beginning to feel more and more like a cage and scrubbed at her face. "Stupid eyes," she muttered. The girl had been trying to rid herself of the awful itching in her eyes since the moment she'd risen from bed. She had tried to get a look at them in the stream by her aunt's cottage but she hadn't been able to see them properly in the shifting water, and washing them didn't help either. She desperately wished she had something that would let her see if she'd gotten anything in them... but that could wait.

"I have to talk to father. Maybe when Gerda comes back with my food I can distract her and sneak out or…"

Anna felt something brush against her ear like the caress of a lover's lips right before the itching in her eyes amplified ten fold so that it bordered on pain. Groaning in discomfort Anna pushed the heels of her palms against her eyelids that had snapped firmly shut. "There has to be something in them," Anna growled to no one in particular. "I need to look at myself. I need… I need a..."

A looking glass. Anna started and looked around the bedroom in confusion when a voice that sounded so familiar, and yet so unfamiliar, filled her head. She had never heard the word before but she was suddenly overcome with the unyielding need to find one, but first she needed to get out of this room.

Over here, the voice whispered again, and before she could register what she was doing Anna reached up and pulled aside the tapestry closest to her - it depicted a woman charging into battle mounted on a white destrier. The fabric wasn't as heavy as Anna had been expecting and peeled away easily, revealing a small wooden door.

Moving of its own accord - as if being manipulated by a puppet master's strings - the princess' hand rose up to grab the handle, and at the same moment she pushed down Anna heard the lock click open.

That way, the familiar-unfamiliar voice cooed as Anna followed her feet through what must have been the servant's quarters, moving between baskets of clothing and fresh linens hanging to dry from the rafters. No one paid her any attention, they didn't know who she was. To them she was just a girl who'd wandered down the wrong hallway, not the hidden princess home a day too early.

As Anna walked quickly through the king's castle, footsteps echoing off the flagstones, the redhead felt the unnatural pull that had led her here grow stronger. She had to be getting close.

xxx

"Faster, Beskytter! Come on!" Elsa shouted over the pounding of the former snow cat's newly forged hooves. Her servant surged forward, leaving a trail of glittering frost in her wake.

Elsa quickly glanced over her shoulder to make sure her unwitting companion was still behind her. The huntsman lay slumped over his steed's withers, face pressed into the shaggy beast's neck and rocking precariously in his saddle with each galloping stride. When she turned back around Elsa watched in despair as the sun steadily sank towards to the horizon.

xxx

Anna... Anna over here…

There were many voices now, each vying for their turn to hiss soft words in her ear. And the itching, god the itching, had grown almost unbearable, driving all other thoughts from her mind until all that remained was 'find the looking glass, make it stop.'

In what felt like the blink of an eye, Anna found herself standing at the top of a winding staircase, and somehow she knew without a doubt that was where she had to go. Slowly she began her descent, deep into the bowels of the castle.

xxx

Elsa scarcely felt the hot tears that ran down her face as a sharp thrill of magic raced up her spine to linger at the base of her skull. Her curse had begun.

xxx

The handle turned without protest when Anna reached the ominous door at the foot of the staircase. It was cold and dark and damp down here but the princess ignored all of that as she pushed the heavy door open, old hinges complaining loudly. A gust of cold air met her when she stepped into the room, pushing her hair back, and the air seemed to be charged with electricity. There were no windows or candles in sight but somehow an ethereal blue glow lit the room enough that she could see. Piles of something that looked like dust, lay scattered around the room, but oddly they seemed to be shimmering in the dim light. In between the glittering mounds sat the charred remains of thousands of wooden frames of all different sizes and fashions, and Anna wondered how they had gotten there.

Her confusion was only momentary as the pain in her eyes flared anew, causing her to cry out and squeeze them shut. A crackling, hissing sound made the girl force, with a great deal of difficulty, them back open and started in surprise when she saw three fingers of ice creeping along the floor from under her feet. She watched in fascination as the ice slowly lifted one of the frames that was still mostly intact and held it level with her face. Anna didn't have to touch it to know how cold it was as small wisps of vapor curled around the now rime coated wood. Frozen fractals spread out from the edges of the frame in geometric patterns to create a thin film of ice in the center.

When the sun sets on her 18th birthday…

Anna took a step forward.

She will touch her reflection in a looking glass…

The face that stared back at her was not her own. The dead-eyed, pale thing before her simply could not be her, and yet had to be. Anna was vaguely aware that itching in her eyes had stopped, but she reached out her hand regardless.

And to solid ice will she freeze…

The moment her fingertips brushed the ice, Anna felt something shift deep inside her chest and gasped when the cold hit. It was as if someone had upturned a bucket full of ice-cold water on her head and when she looked down Anna saw that her hair had turned a pure white.

Forever…

xxx

"No," Elsa whimpered as she felt the telltale pull in her gut just as the last of the sun's light disappeared below the hills, covering the land in twilight. She was too late. "It is done," she said bitterly and slumped forward to rest her head against Beskytter's neck.

Mistress, Beskytter said gently. There is still hope… the human male.

The winter fairy nodded, sitting up straight in her saddle and wiping at her tear-soaked cheeks. Raising her chin in an expression of defiance Elsa locked her gaze on the castle looming in the distance as dark clouds formed overhead.

By the time Elsa reached the castle's gate, night had claimed them, so that only a few burning torches were left to light her way. Snow had started to fall gently from the sky just as a icy wind swept over the castle, causing the many raised standards to snap and wave above them. The winter fairy could detect no movement in and around the massive building and the silence was so thick that it felt almost like a physical weight on her shoulders. But despite the apparent emptiness of the castle Elsa knew they were in there, knew he was in there, watching her every movement… waiting.

Beskytter, now back to her proper form, moved to stand as her creator's side. He has moved the human-protectors that wield long metal claws. He acts like you are prey and waits for you to wander into his teeth. Mistress, the Kinghans wishes to hunt you… we will not return if you climb into his den...

Elsa looked down at the snowcat and stroked her head affectionately, savouring the feel of the soft fur she had so lovingly fashioned. This sentient creature was very much a part of her and yet was still a separate being.

"You can stay here if you wish," Elsa said gently, "and live out your life in the Wood. This is not your fight."

The snow leopard regarded her for a few moments, head cocked slightly to one side. This has always been my fight, mistress… Anna is my heart-sister too.

Fighting past the lump in her throat Elsa nodded before turning back towards the huntsman, still unconscious in his seat, and waved her hand. A dervish of arctic air and snow sprang from her palm to slide underneath the boy, lifting him into the air and cradling him so that he hung suspended face down. As the winter fairy and her creation stepped into the castle's shadow, Kristoff drifted dutifully behind them.

xxx

"Look at her," Hans whispered as he looked down at Anna, still dressed in his battle armor. "Look at what you've done."

The three fairies to whom he'd entrusted his daughter's safety looked down in shame. They had come back to him not long after the princess' arrival and had attempted to explain what happened but he hadn't wanted to hear it. 18 years he had been planning his revenge on Elsa, 18 years. But it had all rested on the knowledge that the curse would fail, and now here he was, watching his only child freeze to death.

The princess lay shivering on her bed, wrapped in about a dozen thick blankets and pushed right next to the fireplace. Gerda had found her in the dungeons huddled on the floor, she was alive but her flesh was ice cold to the touch and her hair turned white.

"She's just cold, we need to warm her up," said one of the fairies.

"She's… She's just cold?" he simpered, a dangerous gleam in his eye that made all of the present castle staff wince. Smiling, the king walked towards the three fae hovering in the air next to Anna's bed, his chainmail rattling against his chest plate. "She is just cold." His expression turned to that of barely contained fury. "She is just cold because she's turning to ice from the inside out!" he roared striking one of the pixies hard enough to send her sailing across the room with a cry of pain.

"Hey!" Anna yelped from under her mountain of covers. "Don't hurt my aunts, they're only trying to help," she scolded angrily.

Hans rounded on her, "Your aunts? These imbeciles are not your family, they are perverted creatures that have no place among us! And their stupidity has condemned you to death!"

"What about the act of true love?" piped up one of the fae Hans hadn't assaulted.

"Yes!" cried another. "We just need to find her an act of true love! A true love's kiss perhaps?"

Hans scoffed loudly. "True love? True love does not exist. Don't you get it, that's why Elsa used it as the way to break her curse! It's not real!"

"What?" Anna whimpered, her entire body collapsing in on itself as the tiny glimmer of hope she had been coaxing to stay alive was all but snuffed out. A fear the likes of which the princess had never experienced before swept through her like wildfire… she was going to die. Just as the thought entered her mind, the cold that had pooled in the center of her chest began to crawl slowly outwards and Anna released a small choking sob.

Despite the fact that it was Elsa's curse that was killing her, Anna still found herself longing for her godmother. She loved her aunts dearly and she even loved this wild-eyed stranger that was supposed to be her father, but it was Elsa's arms she ached to curl up in. Sadness and regret filled the princess as she recalled their last meeting, how Anna had accused her godmother of being evil and seen the hurt those words had caused. And now she would never get to see Elsa again, never get the chance to tell the woman who had been almost like an older sister to her, how much she loved her.

Suddenly, one of the palace guards burst through the door, panting heavily. "Your majesty! Sire, the witch has arrived!"

A feral grin painted Hans' face at the knight's announcement and glanced at the window where a winter storm was brewing, angry snowflakes slapping against the glass. "Finally," he chuckled darkly.

Anna shivered again, but this time it had nothing to do with the ice crawling under skin.

"Get me my weapon and helm! It is time I rid the world of that monster and put an end to her vile corruptions!" he snarled pushing past the knight and out into the hall.

Anna ripped aside the blankets and hurried after him. "Wait! What are you going to do? Please, father, please don't hurt her!" frightened tears clouded her vision as she ran to the door but the guard caught her before she could get past the threshold. "Please, she is my friend!" Anna shouted at her father's retreating back. "Please!"

The king ignored her pleas. "Lock her up! It's too late to save her, but I will have my revenge!"

At his words Anna went still and would have sunk to her knees if the guard hadn't been holding her up. Her father had given up on her and was going to let her die alone so that he could murder the woman who had watched over the princess all her life. How had it come to this?

xxx

Elsa stared at the metal thorns in mute disgust. He was mocking her, toying with her like a cat would with its prey, acting as though this were all just a game. She could feel the iron's heat from where she was standing a few feet away and knew there was a good chance she would only be traveling through them once. Icing them wouldn't do her any good either, iron not only burned fairies but could also repel their magic, meaning her ice would simply dissolve as soon as it made contact with the metal.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what she knew would be an exceedingly painful journey Elsa moved forward, but not before turning Beskytter into her smaller form. The house cat moved nimbly through the maze of thorns, careful not to let any of them touch her, for she was a creature crafted from magic and they had the power to harm her as well.

The going was slow but eventually the trio made it to the other side. Elsa was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat, every muscle screaming at her for twisting and straining them mercilessly. Since she had been so preoccupied with trying not to be flayed by the iron, the winter fairy hadn't been able to protect Kristoff from colliding with anything, and she was sure he'd acquired a few new bruises as a result. However, looking down at the many holes in her clothing where she could see heat blisters forming, the winter fairy couldn't seem to make herself feel sorry for him.

Moving silently through the castle corridors, and clutching the scruff of Beskytter (who was now back to her proper size) to keep her steady, Elsa followed the persistent call of her magic. It was a song meant for her ears only and the fairy knew that she only had to follow it and she would find her Anna. In what state Elsa would find her in, she had no idea.

xxx

Anna threw herself at the bedroom door for a third time, ignoring the pain that flared in her shoulder with each strike. There was no one there to stop her as she was completely alone, her father had ordered everyone to leave the room in case the curse decided to freeze anyone else.

Deciding that her efforts were futile, Anna stopped and simply stood panting in front of the door, resting her forehead against the wood as angry tears ran down her face. "What am I going to do?" she hiccuped. "He… he is going to kill Elsa. I wish she was here..." Anna's head shot up as she realized something. "Elsa is here." Her expression turned to steel. "I have to see her!"

Anna tore around the bedroom looking for something, anything that she could use to force the door open. She had just picked up a heavy candlestick - rime ice running along the steel under her touch - when a voice made her go still.

"Princess?" Gerda's voice called anxiously from the other side of the door. "Princess, I brought you some more blankets and hot cocoa." Anna heard the jingling of keys and ran into position. "Are you still here, Miss? I hop-"

WHAM!

The tray in the maid's hand crashed loudly against the floor, cocoa staining the rug as Gerda collapsed under the candlestick's blow in a shower of ice crystals. Still clutching her weapon tightly in her hand, Anna looked down at the large woman in absolutely shock. She'd never struck anyone before in her life, let alone knocked a full grown woman unconscious. Shaking her head to bring her back to the present, Anna dropped the candlestick, rime breaking from her palm, and quickly checked to make sure Gerda was still breathing. When she was sure the matron was okay Anna stood and placed a blanket under her head. "Sorry, Gerda," she whispered before standing up and stumbling forward, a bloom of frost and thin spines of ice erupting under her feet with each step.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to walk as the ice spreading rapidly through her extremities caused her muscles to spasm violently. Anna could feel her joints growing stiff with cold and her clothing had become coated in a fine layer of frost. It was eerily quiet and Anna wondered where everyone was, the only sound coming from beyond the castle walls. The wind was howling its fury through any cracks or holes it could find between the stone and Anna was sure that if she looked outside she would find her line of sight filled with a blinding white. A painful prickling in her fingers made the girl look down, her eyes widened in alarm as she watched ice crystals form swirling patterns on her skin and turn the tips of her fingers blue. Clutching her hands to her chest Anna took a step forward using the wall as support, then another, then another, she had to find Elsa before her father did.

"Elsa!" The call left her lips before she had time to stop herself, the name echoing down the hall in a cruel mockery. Anna only prayed that its owner would be able to answer.

only one more instalment to go :)