"Thank you!" Elsa called over her shoulder as she left the train station's souvenir shop.

She hummed happily to herself as she eyed her purchase. In her hands she held a brand new pair of leather gloves. She was not about to go gallivanting off on some adventure with her bare hands, that was just asking for trouble. Her addiction sated for the time being, she looked up. Sora was still at the station's ticket booth, in the middle of buying them passage onto the train. As for her other traveling companion-

"Whatcha got there?" a voice came from behind her.

Her gloves were suddenly snatched from her hands, flying up and over her head. She spun around to find Axel holding her gloves up to his narrowed eyes as he inspected them.

"Hey, give those back," she demanded, moving to retrieve them.

He raised them up and out of her grasp, which was not hard to do given how much he towered over her. "No. These have been confiscated."

Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "It's not confiscating, it's stealing."

"Call it what you want, you're not getting them back," he said as dangled them in front her. Her fingers darted for them, but he was faster, once again raising them above his head. She tried to leap for them, but his long arms easily kept them well out of her reach.

"You're too freakishly tall," she grumbled.

"Or maybe you're just the right amount of conveniently short," he countered, patting her on the head as she crossed her arms and huffed. "I thought you didn't need to wear these anymore. Didn't you have some great epiphany just an hour or so ago? Love conquers all, including your powers, or whatever?"

"It's not like I mastered my powers just like that," she snapped her fingers. "Yes, I understand my powers a little better now, but I'm still an emotional basket case. I can't just turn that on and off whenever I like. I'm going to need time, and in the meantime, those will make sure I don't accidentally turn any innocent bystanders into ice cubes. So hand them over."

Axel shook his head and opened his mouth to respond when Elsa abruptly lunged for the gloves. Not even remotely caught off guard, he stumbled back with a smirk and threw his free hand up, catching her forehead in his palm and holding her at bay. She froze, arms stretched out in front of her, as the absurdity of the situation hit her. Letting her arms fall to her side, Elsa stepped back and stared at him, her face clearly unamused.

"You just have to learn to trust yourself," he told her. "You'll never be able to do that if you keep these around as your security blanket. You don't need them."

"But I do, I… you wouldn't understand," she argued, looking down.

"Try me."

She chewed her lower lip for a minute before her eyes shifted back up to him once more. "Can I just have them back? ...please?"

"Hmmm. Well… you did use the magic word," he said as he turned his head to the side. He scratched his cheek in thought for a few seconds, then his face lit up. Holding the gloves behind his back, he bent forward so he was face to face with her. Noses nearly touching, he tilted his head to the side and peered at her through half-lidded eyes, his shocking green irises gleaming mischievously. "How badly do you want them?" he practically purred.

"I- uh…" she stammered. Feeling her face heat up, she quickly turned away and snapped, "Forget it. Keep the damn gloves, see if I care."

She did her best to storm off, but the effect was somewhat ruined by Axel's peals of laughter.

One would think Elsa would have passed out the minute she had the chance to, given that she had not slept in over twenty-four hours. That's what she had expected when taking her seat on the train. That's what had happened to Axel, who sat next to her on her left, as well as to Sora, who was currently snoring in the seat across from her. But four hours into the train ride now, and she was still painfully wide awake, watching the landscape blur by outside her window in the noonday sunlight.

As she had rested her head back and shut her eyes, thoughts of Hans had entered her mind uninvited. How had he vanished from the gym? Where was he now? Would they see him again? What were his plans? It surprised her a little that thinking of him did not hurt all that much. Yes, the thoughts were unwelcome and brought a dull ache to her chest, but it was not as devastating as she would have imagined. Maybe she hadn't been in love with him after all. Perhaps… she had just been very lonely and had craved his attention and had merely confused it for love. Now that she acknowledged that possibility, she had to wonder what would happen... if she would be able to fight or if she would freeze up again when she inevitably faced him once more, out there in the big world that she was now heading out into...

That's when it had all suddenly sunk in. Here she was, running away from home with two guys she had just met to go chasing after shadow monsters and magic keyholes. Her parents must be flipping out right about now. Sure, she was eighteen, but she doubted that fact would do anything to ease their worries or fears. What must they be thinking? One minute, she was their well behaved daughter who got good grades, never hung out with the wrong crowd - or with anyone for that matter - never caused any trouble, just stayed in her room all the time, studying and generally keeping to herself… the next, she was some monstrosity with ice powers who had cursed their city with a snowstorm in Summer and then skipped town the second she got the chance. Her parent's perfect girl was gone.

She could only imagine what her sister must be going through to keep them calm. Would Anna even be able to calm them down? Or, even now as she fretted over it, were they calling the police to track her down? Or the government, the FBI, whoever you called to hunt down your mutant daughter able to call up a blizzard with a wave of the hand?

First thing Elsa realized was that in her anxiety, she had forgotten to breathe. As she inhaled slowly, the second thing she realized was that beneath her palms, the armrests she had been using were now coated in a thick layer of frost. Her hands jerked away. Her eyes shifted from the coating of ice to her surroundings. The train car was big and for the most part empty - no one had seen her mishap, at least not yet. Taking another deep breath, she lightly placed her fingers to the cool surface, closed her eyes and concentrated. She focused on trying to remember the warm feelings and memories of her family, especially of her sister. It was difficult in her frazzled and tired state of mind, and she was almost certain it had not worked. But when she cracked open one eye a moment later, the ice was gone.

She reclined back into her chair, breathing a sigh of relief. Then she scowled out of the corner of her eyes at Axel's sleeping form beside her.

She needed those gloves. So what if they were a security blanket? Who was he to tell her what she could and could not do? She frowned as his cackling from earlier still rung in her ears. Why had he even been laughing? He was a Nobody, he didn't have emotions, so he was not supposed to find things funny. So what had been the deal with that?

Looking down, she spotted her leather gloves peeping out from the pocket of his hoodie. For a few seconds she just stared at them, body completely still. Then she began to cautiously reach a hand out. About an inch away from them, she heard Axel make a noise and she froze. She slowly dragged her eyes up to his face only to find him still fast asleep. She hesitated for a few more heartbeats, then grabbed the gloves and quickly pulled back. Thankfully, he still did not wake.

Triumphant, Elsa broke the gloves out of their packaging as quickly as she could without making too much noise and slipped them on. They were slightly too big and the leather chafed a bit, but she did not care. They were wonderful.

She smiled as she rubbed her hands contentedly together. Then she practically jumped out of her skin as something fell on her shoulder. Stifling a squeal, she grit her teeth and haltingly turned her head. She blinked as she found that Axel had shifted in his sleep and was now resting his head on her shoulder.

Well, this was an odd development.

Careful not to disturb him, she slowly turned her head back towards the window, his crimson hair tickling her neck and cheek as she did so. She then rested her head back and began to relax. Maybe it was the comforting feel of the gloves hugging her fingers. Maybe it was the soothing, steady sound of Axel's breathing so close to her ear. Whatever it was, her eyelids began to feel heavier and it was not long before Elsa finally found sleep as well.

It seemed like she had just started to dream when she felt a hand on her wrist nudging her.

"...sa? Elsa, wake up."

"Nreh?" she so eloquently articulated, sluggishly opening her eyes.

The blurred shapes and colors soon came into focus and she saw Sora smiling at her. He leaned back into his chair as he said, "We're here. Come on, Axel's waiting for us outside."

"Here? Where's here?" she mumbled, but Sora had already risen from his seat and was walking towards the exit. She realized the train had stopped moving. With a yawn, she stood up as well and stumbled after him. As she stepped off the train, she winced at the bright sunlight.

"Well well. Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up."

She turned towards the voice, seeing Axel stretching his arms over his head. "I couldn't have been asleep that long," she said, covering her mouth as she yawned again. "It's still light out. I was probably only out for an hour or two."

"Try twenty," he chirped.

Elsa raised both eyebrows. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope," Sora said from the other side of her. "We woke up around dinner time last night, but you were still out cold. You looked so beat, we did not want to wake you."

"Ol' Sora here started getting worried when you were still hibernating this morning. Thought you were in a coma or something."

"Did not," he muttered with a hint of a whine.

Shaking her head, Elsa boggled at the fact that she had been asleep for nearly a day. I guess bringing the North Pole to Arendelle and then sending it packing really took it out of me, she mused. It certainly had not felt like that long. But now that she had shaken most of her grogginess, she had to admit she did feel much more rested.

"So where are we?" she asked as she took in the unfamiliar station for the first time. It bustled with activity as people dashed about, surging on and off trains that noisily arrived and departed.

"Some city called Corona, according to a sign I saw," Sora said.

"And this is where we'll find another Keyhole?"

He nodded, tapping a finger to the device in his ear. "That's what the Cricket says, yup."

"Alright then. What first, Keyblade Master?" Elsa asked, eager to get the adventure truly started.

"Oh, that's easy: breakfast!" Sora flashed the two of them a goofy grin. Elsa gave him a blank look. Of all the answers she had expected, it was not that. He continued, "I see a city map over there. I'll go find out what's nearby."

And before she could do or say anything, he ran off. She reached a hand out after him, but he was long gone. Frowning, she looked from his retreating form to her outstretched hand. With a start, she remembered she was still wearing the gloves she had stolen back from Axel. She hastily shoved her hands into her pockets, casting a sidelong glance at the redhead. His eyes had also followed Sora and luckily he had not seemed to notice.

"Don't we have more, uh… pressing matters than food?" Elsa said.

Axel turned to look at her. "Hey, heroes gotta eat too, ya know. Besides, you must be hungry. When's the last time you had a meal?"

She opened her mouth to protest, but her stomach spoke up first, gurgling quite loudly. She winced and hung her head. "Maybe you're right."

"Aren't I always?" he smirked. She did not respond right away, and he noticed she was just looking at him with her head tilted to one side. "What?"

Shaking her head, she said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. It's just something I've been wondering… why do you smile? Or laugh, or frown, or express any sort of emotion? I know it was all part of the act before when we didn't know you were a Nobody, but now that we do… why do you still do stuff like that?"

He seemed taken aback by the question. Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, he said, "Well... for one thing, it would probably creep the hell out of you if I didn't react at all to anything and just gave you a slack jawed, dead eyed, zombie look. But also… when we become Nobodies, we may not be able to feel things anymore, but we still remember what it was like.

"When you join Organization XIII, they want you to be able to blend in with everyone else and not draw attention to yourself. So they train us to put our memories to use. If someone tells a joke, we're unable to find it funny, but we know it's supposed to be, so we laugh. Same with sadness or anger, you get the picture. It's not long before us Nobodies don't even have to think about it anymore… I've found myself smiling at something, but I didn't consciously think about making myself smile, and I sure as hell wasn't happy. It just becomes a reflex after a while. Automatic."

She nodded slowly as she took in his words. "So, it's like the Organization… programs you to act a certain way? Like robots?"

"Hm, sorta… yeah, I guess that's one way of putting it."

Knitting her brow, Elsa said, "That actually sounds kind of sad."

"Does it?" He shrugged. "I hadn't noticed. Guess being an unfeeling zombie has its perks."

"...that's not how you really see yourself, is it? As a zombie?"

"Hey, if the shoe fits. Plus it would explain my powerful cravings for grey matter."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Is that so?"

"Brains…" he dragged the word out in a moan.

Elsa laughed. "Well, for what it's worth, I don't see you that way. You're more than just some reanimated corpse. You have thoughts and opinions and… well, you just do what you want, and I admire that. You're more than a mere shell. You're a person."

"Aw, shucks. If I had a heart, you'd be making me blush."

Hiding a smile behind her hand, Elsa shook her head. "Come on, be serious."

"Or maybe you," he said, lightly flicking her nose, "should learn to be less serious."

"So there's a hamburger place right down the block from here, that sound good?" Sora asked as he jogged back over to them.

"Burgers? For breakfast?" Elsa crinkled her nose.

Axel grinned at her. "Ya know, I hardly know a thing about him, but I'm actually not the least bit surprised Sora suggested that."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he demanded with a glare.

"Nothing," he replied innocently as he shrugged and began to head towards the train station's exit.

Narrowing his eyes, Sora sighed. "Well, it wasn't our only option. Let's see, what else was there…"

Sora began to name some alternatives as he followed Axel. Elsa started to walk after them as well, but came to a halt when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She spun around, but was only met with the sight of a still crowded train depot. She quirked an eyebrow as her eyes scanned the vicinity, but saw nothing that was cause for alarm. Frowning, she slowly turned back around and moved to catch up with the others.

A teenager peeked around the corner and watched as the girl with the platinum blond braid hurried to rejoin her friends. "That was close. I don't think she saw me, though," he murmured.

"This is stupid. Why'd we even get on the train and follow her here? What's the point?" his companion asked with a scowl, kicking a pebble. The two boys were mirror images of one another.

"What's the point?" the first repeated the question, shooting him an annoyed look. "The point is that our brother went missing last night and it's obviously her fault."

"So? What good is following her gonna do?"

"You saw how he reacted when we told him we yelled at her and chased her off. Idiot's probably still in love with her. I bet they're running away together or some other bullshit. So if we keep shadowing her, we'll find him."

"Come on, Hans isn't that dumb," the other grumbled. "Maybe he did run away, but only to get away from that ice freak."

The first teenager sneered. "Then maybe she's lovesick and trying to track him down. Either way, she'll lead us right to him."

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Really? So then, what's up with those other two guys she's with?"

"I don't know… muscle? Doesn't matter. Quick, let's go before we lose them."

His face pinched. "This is so stupid," he muttered again, before slipping into the crowd with his brother.

Author's Note: And so it begins! Dun dun dun, Hans' older twin brothers are back! Mayhaps you remember them from Prom night? What mischief are they going to cause? Maybe you've already figured it out... xD If not, you'll find out soon enough!

And there will definitely be more Rapunzel coming up (next chapter, in fact!). She and the rest of the Tangled crew are just going to be in basically every other chapter (ish) for a while until I can bring everyone together AND THAT'S WHEN THE REAL FUN CAN TRULY BEGIN!

Alright, some good news: I have several chapters pre-written, yay! So I'll be updating weekly, double yay! Some bad news: those chapters are gonna run out before I am able to finish writing this book :( I just wanted to warn y'all now so you can revel in the weekly updates while they last.

And I think it's worth reiterating my note in Book 1: please keep in mind that this is an AU, which goes for KH, Frozen, and Tangled, and thus while some things will be the same, other things will be very, very different. You'll know what I'm talking about when it comes up... several chapters from now :P

Special thanks and much love to everyone who have shown support for my quirky little series! Thank you all for reading, hoped you liked it, please leave a review and let me know what you think! Be back for the update next week :D