Author's note: I'm going on vacation for a few days and I've hit a bit of a block with a chapter I'm working on, so I'm going to see if some time away from writing in the sun will clear out some of the cobwebs for me. I'll be back with more chapters next week. Thanks for reading, and sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger, but I'll be back, I promise!

Chapter 10

Kristoff and Anna trailed behind Olaf as he led them further up the mountain, with Sven taking up the rear behind them.

"So how exactly are you planning to stop this weather?" Kristoff asked Anna.

"Oh, I am going to talk to my sister," Anna said, in a tone implying that this was a solid and fleshed out plan.

"That's your plan?" Kristoff was incredulous. "My ice business is riding on you talking to your sister?" Not to mention, the fate of the entire kingdom, he thought.

"Yup," Anna replied with full confidence. Kristoff did think her optimism was cute, but in this case it seemed almost foolhardy. She really didn't have a plan for how to approach her sister, the very sight of whom struck fear into Kristoff's very heart? Anna was either very foolish or very brave. Or both. Not for the first time, he wondered where her fiancé was. And what he made of Anna putting herself in danger like this.

As he stared down at her, waiting to see if there was any more substance at all to her plan, Kristoff's nose bumped into the end of an icicle. He hadn't realized they had walked into what seemed to be a field of horizontal icicles, all pointed toward them rather menacingly as they continued up the trail. He wondered if the queen had put them there on purpose to deter any visitors. It was working on him – he didn't want to go any further, and he didn't want Anna to go any further either. But he knew enough by now to know it would take a lot of convincing to get her to turn back. He would have to continue to try and make her see reason.

He looked at Anna pointedly as he carefully maneuvered around the icicle that had almost taken his eye out. "So you're not at all afraid of her?" he asked.

"Why would I be?" asked Anna innocently. She was determined to ignore all logic and reason, even when it came to her own safety. It was infuriating.

"Yeah, I bet she's the nicest, gentlest, warmest person ever," said Olaf, and Kristoff couldn't detect a hint of sarcasm in his voice, even as Olaf walked into an icicle that speared him through the middle. "Oh look at that. I've been impaled." Laughing, Olaf put himself back together.

Kristoff put his head in his hands. It was just his luck that their guide was just as crazy, if not more crazy than Anna. These two were going to be the death of him – and themselves.

When he looked up again, he saw that the rest of the group had stopped. The ridge abruptly ended at a steep cliff wall going straight up.

"What now?" Anna asked.

"Hmmm. It's too steep," Kristoff responded. "I've only got one rope and you don't know how to climb mountains." He reached around for his rope anyway, planning to demonstrate that they wouldn't be able to continue. He could hardly pretend he was disappointed, and silently thanked the silly little snowman for leading them to this dead end.

"Says who?" Anna retorted, and Sven bumped Kristoff's arm with his nose, making him look up to see that Anna had already started trying to climb the mountain wall, sans equipment.

"What are you doing?" he asked, resigned.

"I'm going to see my sister," Anna answered, breathless from her efforts to climb the vertical cliff wall.

"You're going to kill yourself," Kristoff warned, although she wasn't high enough off the ground to actually hurt herself yet if she fell. He figured he may as well start trying to convince her to be safe now, before it became a real issue. Although, despite her determination, she didn't seem to have any actual knack for climbing.

"I wouldn't put my foot there," he said, watching her foot slip and moving a little closer just in case she fell.

"You're distracting me," Anna accused.

"Or there," he continued as she slipped again. "How do you know Elsa even wants to see you?" Her shoulders stiffened and he almost regretted asking the question – it probably hurt her feelings.

"All right, I'm… I'm just blocking you out because I've got to concentrate here," Anna said, and, with trepidation, he watched her foot slip yet again.

"You know, most people who disappear into the mountains want to be alone," Kristoff tried again in a last-ditch effort.

"Nobody wants to be alone," Anna countered. "Except maybe you."

"I'm not alone," Kristoff protested. "I have friends, remember?"

"You mean the love experts?" Anna teased.

"Yes, the love experts," Kristoff rolled his eyes, wishing he'd never said that.

"Please tell me I'm almost there," Anna said. "Does the air seem a bit thin to you up here?"

Kristoff laughed. Her feet were barely more than a meter off the ground.

"Hang on," he relented, and moved to tie his rope so he could climb up the cliff with her. He shook his head at himself – he should have known by now that it was pointless to tryand talk her out of what she wanted. He had a feeling that she usually got her way through charm and determination, and she was so guileless he couldn't even be mad about it. Her fiancé who she had known for just one day probably had no idea what he was in for, and the thought that he might not fully appreciate Anna's quirky, adorable personality filled Kristoff with irrational and uncharacteristic anger for a moment.

Just then, Olaf popped his head around the corner of the cliff. Kristoff hadn't even noticed the little snowman was gone.

"Hey Sven," Olaf said. "Not sure if this is gonna solve the problem, but I found a staircase that leads exactly where you want to go."

"Ha! Thank goodness!" Anna exclaimed. And she launched herself off the wall toward Kristoff, yelling "catch!" Kristoff's heart stopped as he rushed forward just in time for her to fall into his arms. She looked up at him and patted his chest gently.

"Thanks," she said. "That was like, a crazy trust exercise." She hopped down out of his arms, but not before he caught the bright scent of her hair and felt the soft press of her body. He couldn't tell if it was the shock of her throwing herself off the cliff wall, but his heart seemed to be twisting in a strange way in his chest as she chased along after Olaf, and it took Kristoff a moment to come back to himself and follow them around the corner.

"Whoa," Anna breathed as they rounded the corner and she saw the staircase Olaf was talking about. It was a perfect gilded staircase, made of solid ice. It twisted up the mountain toward an enormous ice palace that was built into the side of the rock. The ice was so beautiful – perfectly reflecting the shades of the sky and mountain to create a beautiful array of colors. She was hit with the same feeling as when they had walked into the glen with the waterfall – a sense of awe at the beauty of winter, and at her sister's artistry with her ice.

"Now that's ice," Kristoff said, coming up behind Anna. "I might cry."

"Go ahead," said Anna. "I won't judge." She started up the staircase. Sven tried to follow but his hooves slipped on the ice and he started to scramble.

"All right, take it easy, boy," Kristoff said, helping Sven down gently. "Okay, you stay right here, buddy." Sven sat down in the snow to wait, and Anna heard Kristoff whisper, "flawless" to himself as he admired Elsa's staircase. She couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in her sister for creating all of this beauty.

When Anna reached the top of the staircase, there was a door to enter the castle. Of course it was closed, and Anna went to knock, but suddenly found that she couldn't.

"Knock," said Olaf, from behind her. "Just knock."

Anna couldn't move. All of a sudden she was afraid. All her life, she'd been on the other side of a door from Elsa. All her life, she'd been the annoying little sister who Elsa didn't want to be with. Now it was more important than ever for her to reach her sister, but she'd never been successful before. She'd never been good enough. What had possessed her to think this time would be different?

"Do you think she knows how to knock?" she heard Olaf ask Kristoff.

She had to do it. She had to reach Elsa. She had to show Elsa that she loved her, and help Elsa to fix Arendelle. She'd never been successful at getting to the other side of the door to reach Elsa before, but the stakes had never been this high. She had to succeed.

Anna knocked on the door.

To her surprise, the door immediately opened.

"It opened," she breathed. "That's a first." She was going to take it as a good sign.

Before she stepped in, Anna turned to Olaf and Kristoff.

"You should probably wait out here," she said.

"What?" Kristoff was aghast.

"Last time I introduced her to a guy, she froze everything," Anna said, figuring that was the quickest explanation for why she wanted to do this alone.

"But…but…" Kristoff sputtered. "Oh come on! It's a palace made of ice! Ice is my life!"

"Bye, Sven," Olaf said, stepping around Kristoff and moving toward the open door.

"You too, Olaf," Anna said, as gently as possible.

"Me?" Olaf looked up at her.

"Just give us a minute," Anna said to both of them in a final plea, before she stepped into Elsa's ice palace.