”The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded.”
---------
“-She froze my heart and only an act of true love can save me.”
“A true love's kiss...” Hans said, his horror turning to realization. Anna could see it spread over his features, turning them gentler and optimistic. He must've known what this meant as well.
He reached for her cheek, his fingers stroking downwards to her chin and tilting her head backwards. She closed her eyes, and from the smell of his aftershave, she could tell he was leaning in closer. Any second now, she would be saved. Any second now, she would share her first kiss with Hans and it would prove to everyone who doubted it that this was true love. Continuing on to save Elsa was the top priority, of course, but with Hans by her side she was certain there was no obstacle she couldn't face.
But the kiss never came. Hans paused mere inches from her own face and the oddest words of condescension were spoken.
“Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you.”
Anna hadn't thought it possible to feel colder until now. Her chest, already frozen by Elsa's magic, had just received some sort of double dosage solely through Hans's words. Had she misunderstood what he was saying? … No, the problem was with her heart, not her ears.
“What? Y-You said that you did...” she managed to say through the chattering of her teeth. Even as the words left her, Hans had already gotten up from the couch she was lying on and was now wandering towards the window to close the curtains.
“As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance,” he replied calmly, removing the glove from his right hand. “I knew I'd have to marry into the throne somewhere.”
“But... What are you talking about?”
“As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course, but no one was getting anywhere with her. But you...”
“Hans?”
“You were so desperate for love, you were willing to marry me just like that. I figured, after we married, I'd have to stage a little accident for Elsa.”
The fire, the one remaining source of warmth in the room, was doused with a pitcher of water. Now, it seemed, there was nothing left to save Anna from her fate. But she just couldn't believe that her fiancé, the man who had laughed alongside her only yesterday, could be so cold and cruel. Had all those tender glances and shy remarks been nothing but a lie? Or was she looking at an evil twin brother, perhaps? Hans did have twelve of them, so it wasn't impossible.
… Or maybe Kristoff had been right about marrying someone she'd only just met.
Desperate to take control of a situation that was turning more chaotic by the second, she reached for him with one arm and fell to the floor. “Hans... No, stop!” she called, her voice no more than a whimper.
“But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her. All that's left now is to kill Elsa and bring back summer.”
He was crouching down before her now, cradling her face with one hand. This was the first time she had ever come into contact with Hans's bare palm, she realized with a start. What was it with royalty and gloves? What was it with them and hiding their true feelings? Just as she'd never understood the storm raging inside Elsa's mind, she hadn't understood Hans at all. If it'd all been about marrying into the throne...
-No. No, this couldn't be right. If Elsa had pushed her away all those years for reasons she couldn't understand, maybe Hans was doing the same thing. And there was no way the time she'd spent with him was a lie. They must've connected on some level. After all they'd been through, after being shunned by their own family, there was no way Hans would treat her this way.
There was no way this wasn't love. It had to be love, because if it wasn't, who even would love her? And she loved him, didn't she?
Overcome by the oddest mixture of hope and desperation, she used her remaining strength to throw herself at Hans. Her arms wrapped themselves around the back of his neck, both for support and to ensure he wouldn't be rid of her too easily. He was evidently startled, recoiling backwards with a brief sound of confusion. Weak as she was, she knew she had to act fast. Eyes scrunched shut, she pressed her lips against his own, following through on the kiss she'd been denied less than a minute ago.
Her first thought was that she was being foolish. That this couldn't possibly work if Hans didn't love her in turn. True love wasn't called true for nothing. Her second thought was that her first thought had been wrong, as warmth was spreading through her face. Originating from her mouth, it moved up towards her scalp and down her neck, towards her chest. Her fingers were growing less numb.
And that was about it. She was feeling better, but she wasn't cured. At most, the kiss had moved her back to an earlier state of being frozen.
Now she was in deep trouble, she was sure, because stealing a kiss from royalty- especially one who had shown himself to be dangerous, was not an act to be taken lightly. But if the kiss had such an effect on her frozen body, Hans must've been lying about not loving her, right?
Apprehensive, she moved herself backwards. She'd expected Hans to look either disgusted or remorseful, depending on just how much of a manipulative jerk he was. Oddly enough, the expression on his face was neither. His green eyes were wide open and his mouth still slightly agape. It was as if he wasn't even seeing her.
“... Hans?” she asked quietly.
He blinked. Then he blinked again. Next, he cringed and clutched at his head with both hands as if he was in pain, groaning under his breath. “What...? When did I...?”
Unable to grasp just what was going on, all Anna knew for sure was that she had to turn the tables in her own favor. Elsa was still out there, the storm growing fiercer by the minute. She could deal with Hans later. Now that her legs were once again willing to support her weight, she pushed herself to her feet, towering over his crouching figure.
“I have to go find Elsa. You stay here,” she said, willing her voice to be as fierce as possible. She still didn't know whether she was facing a selfish villain or someone who had played a mean trick at the worst of times.
He looked up at her as if only now realizing she was even in the room, eyebrows furrowing. He was still holding onto his head with one hand too, fingers tousling his hair in a graceless manner. “Anna? You're safe...?”
“Of course I'm safe, no thanks to you.”
“What? I don't...”
“Stay here. That's... That's an order! If you move, I'll have you arrested for treason! I... I mean it!”
“Hah?”
Unable to look at his pained face any longer, she whirled around. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror and noted that her hair was now once again more brown than it was white. She was almost back to normal. Almost being a word of importance, as it was clear from both her reflection and the feeling in her chest that Elsa's magic was still a part of her.
Aware that Hans's eyes were on her, she stomped towards the door. Still, she made sure to take the key and lock it behind herself. A man as fit as him could probably make an easy escape out the window, she thought as she slipped the key into her pocket, but she couldn't bear to have the guards restrain him by force.
“Anna!” she heard from down the hall and a second later, Olaf came wadding into view. “Hey, look at yooou! You're looking better already! True love's kiss, you magnificent fiend, you've done it again!”
“Olaf! Do you know where Elsa is?”
“Yeees... But also nooo... I heard some guards saying she's in a cell, but I don't know what a cell is or where to find one.”
“Wait, what? A cell? Elsa's in prison here in Arendelle?”
“Apparently! They said Hans put her in there. Is it a nice place only queens get to be in?”
“Oh no no no... This can't be happening...!” Anna looked towards the door she'd just closed, then back to Olaf. This was no time to panic. If Elsa was here in Arendelle, it would be easy enough to get to her. “C'mon, we have to go-”
Whatever 'ease' Anna had hoped for was nothing more than a pipe dream. The castle shuddered and audibly groaned as ice began to clamber its way up the walls. The windows were covered in crystals and the paintings Anna had always adored turned white. This was bad.
“Is this Elsa's doing?” Olaf asked her.
“Who else would be responsible? But I'm sure she doesn't mean to cause so much damage. The sooner we find her, the sooner everything can go back to normal. Follow me!”
Anna began to sprint down the hall and while Olaf had difficulty keeping up, it didn't stop him from talking. “Wait! What about this Hans fellow? Doesn't he want to be by his true love's side?”
“... I don't... I'm not sure I even know what love is, Olaf,” she admitted. “It wasn't what I always thought it was, and I don't think it is what the trolls said, either.”
“That's okay! I know what love is!” Olaf proclaimed. As they rounded a corner, Anna looked back to see that his legs were literally getting ahead of him. He was forced to hold them close with both hands so they wouldn't smack right into a wall.
“Really? You do?”
“Sure! Love is putting someone else's needs before yours. Like, you know, how Kristoff brought you back here to Hans and left you forever!”
The realization was so abrupt that Anna stopped in her tracks. For a split second, she stood perfectly still. Then she felt Olaf collide with her legs and stumbled forward.
“Whoah whoah whoah! I thought we were in a hurry!” the snowman called, picking a fallen rock up from the ground and sticking it back on his belly where it belonged.
“... Kristoff loves me?”
“Wow, you really don't know anything about love, do you?”
Dazed, Anna's gaze strayed out the window, where she was met with the same pristine landscape she'd witnessed for days already. The bright white hurt her eyes to the point where she could feel tears prickling them. How could Kristoff love her? Wasn't Hans the one who loved her? Even with all he'd said, his kiss had thawed her heart and body enough to give her a few more precious hours.
Love was so confusing. Why couldn't Elsa's magic be broken by a jigsaw puzzle? She was good at those.
Ultimately, it mattered very little. The wind was still picking up outside the castle and inside it, the ceiling was beginning to creak under the pressure of the spreading ice. They had to get out and find Elsa.
---------
“O-Ow! Help...! Someone help me!”
“Prince Hans? What the...? Whatever are you doing in the pigsty, young sir?”
“I-I was... I didn't mean...”
“Come here, out you get. Goodness me, your clothes look as if they've been dragged through the mud.”
“Rudi and Runo... They said this is where I belong...”
“Of course it would be the twins. Those two have gone too far this time. And on your sixth birthday, no less... Would you like me to speak to the king about this?”
“N-No! No, please! If Father finds out...”
“Hmm... Alright. Then, let's get you cleaned up.”
Memories were ringing through Hans's head like something very loud and invasive. Over and over they replayed, for no reason other than to enforce how horrible his life had been. He didn't quite know what was going on anymore. He didn't even know for certain where he was. He'd tried to follow Anna out the door, only to find it locked. Thanks to his brothers, he was no stranger to being locked inside rooms- or worse- against his will. He knew the best thing to do was to stay put and wait for someone to find him.
Now he was sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to his chest and his back resting against the wall. Whenever he released too grand a breath, it would rise before him in the form of thick mist. His body wouldn't stop shaking either, though it was hard to say whether that was because of the cold.
Had he really tried to kill Anna, just now? He must've, as that was also part of his memories, but it just didn't seem to fit. … Or did it? Didn't it make perfect sense?
His fingernails dug into his scalp as a migraine dawned, along with another memory.
“Hey! Hey, look at me!”
“Do you hear something, Caleb?”
“I believe I do... A soft, squeaky voice, desperate for attention, wouldn't you say? Wherever could it be coming from?”
“Franz! Caleb! You're not funny!”
“See, there it is again. What a mystery. We are, after all, the only ones in the room.”
“Come, let's be on our way. We have more important matters to tend to than such delusions. One might even accuse us of going mad if we indulge this voice for too long.”
“What are you saying? I'm your brother, Hans, and I'm standing right here!”
“Hans? Did we have a brother by the name of Hans? I don't recall...”
“Surely not. The King of the Southern Isles only has need for twelve sons.”
He hated his brothers. All his life, his family had done nothing but mistreat him. They had either bullied him, outright hurt him or stood by and done nothing. How could he have become anything else but a manipulative villain himself? He was a monster of their construction and they deserved to suffer for it. He absolutely wanted to become the King of Arendelle and rub their noses in it. He wanted to be free of the Southern Isles. Marrying one of the princesses to achieve that goal was just common sense. Lars, the only brother who'd been even remotely on his side, was the one who'd suggested that plan to him in the first place.
But then, where did killing anyone fit in? How could he have thought that would've worked? He wasn't related to Arendelle's royal family by blood and so, even if he'd fooled everyone into believing they'd said their marriage vows before Anna's death, he still wouldn't have been king. Arendelle would've had to find some distant cousin to take the throne instead. And didn't he actually really enjoy being with Anna?
No, wait, wasn't he only mirroring Anna's personality in order to win her over? Hadn't he come to Arendelle solely for the sake of usurping it? He must've, for he'd initially mistaken Anna for her sister and bumped into her on purpose, all part of a delicately calculated plan. … Or wait, was that why they'd first met?
It didn't make sense at all and the worst part was that the more he tried to grasp it, the worse his headache became. His ears were ringing, his vision grew black and his heart hammered in his chest, almost as if it were objecting to the violent thoughts whirling inside his mind.
The last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness were some of his father's words.
“Oh, and, Hans? Don't disappoint me again.”
---------
The fjord was now so very frozen, it was difficult to tell this had ever been anything other than a rockhard surface. What with all the stranded ships sticking out the ice in unnatural angles, it looked almost like a graveyard. Not that it was easy for Anna to see anything at all; the flurry of snowflakes obscured her vision something fierce and the wind whipping her moist hair into her eyes didn't help either. In fact, the wind was such a dreadful opponent that it had already swept Olaf away. Anna had been unable to grab a hold of him in time and the last words to reach her ears were the snowman's pleas to “just keep going”. He'd be fine, wouldn't he?
Elsa was out here somewhere. The guards had confirmed her escape and the fjord was right beside her cell. She couldn't have gotten that far, could she? Augh, why couldn't her new dress be a bright red?! That would've been so much easier for Anna to spot!
The cold was once again spreading through her body, numbing not only her cheeks but her arms and legs as well. At this rate, she'd collapse soon enough.
Why couldn't Elsa have just told her about those powers in the first place? All those times they'd spent playing in the snow when they were children... Had Elsa already been hiding her powers back then? That seemed weird. Anna would've noticed if her sister could manipulate the very snow and ice they'd been playing with. Or maybe the sledding incident which led to Elsa moving out of the nursery hadn't been a sledding accident after all? Maybe something had happened with Elsa's powers and Anna had never noticed it.
Why hadn't their parents ever told Anna about this? They'd known, hadn't they?
Anna couldn't stand the amount of questions surging through her head. She had to find the truth. She had to find Elsa. Right on cue, she spotted a flutter of blue and white straight ahead, beside the bow of an overturned ship. Elsa's dress. Squinting her eyes against the snowflakes, she could just barely make out the expression of horror on her sister's face. Elsa was in a panic, it seemed, taking in the storm of her own creation and unable to stop it.
A loud creak vibrated through the air. Though the ruined ship was giving Elsa some shelter against the whipping wind, it would not stay that way for long. The whole thing was slowly rolling over and Elsa seemed to be unaware. If she didn't move soon, she was sure to be crushed by it.
“Elsa!” Anna cried out, hoping her voice would carry far enough. Unfortunately, her lungs were weak from the cold and her warning didn't seem to reach its destination.
Just as she attempted to try again, she heard a different cry behind her. Turning her head with difficulty, she saw Kristoff racing across the fjord on Sven. He hadn't left her behind after all! For the briefest of moments, she considered that if Kristoff truly did love her, he might have more luck ridding her of Elsa's magic. If she were to run to him now, there was a chance he could save her body and her heart with just one kiss. Then she thought of Hans, who was hopefully still locked away inside the castle and ready to explain himself to her.
The ship's noises turned from mere groans of protest to outright cracking. It had rolled over so far that some of the masts were breaking and splintered wood slid itself along the icy surface of the fjord. Elsa had looked up by now, but seemed unable to move out of the way. Perhaps out of reflex, she used her powers to create some gigantic icicles, using them to support the ship. The tips of jagged ice shot straight through the ship's sides and deck with a loud crash. Broken boards rained down on Elsa, the larger ones narrowly avoiding her head.
Looking back towards Kristoff one last time, Anna noted that he was having some trouble as well. Sven was now standing alone on a separate 'island' of ice, surrounded from all sides by water. Kristoff had made it across just fine, but was unable to help his reindeer friend. They'd never get to Anna in time and if she were to run to them, what would happen to Elsa?
Determination setting in her chest, she abandoned all hope of true love's kiss and instead began to sprint towards her sister. “Elsa! Move!” she hollered as she ran.
At last, her voice was heard. Elsa glanced her way with wide eyes, then held up both hands as a gesture for Anna to stay away. Whatever it was that she was saying, it couldn't be heard over the roaring of the wind.
“I said move, Elsa!” Anna tried again, the shadow of the ship overtaking her as she ran beneath it. The creaking noises became all too clear now; this thing was about to come apart like the porcelain vase Anna had once broken and attempted to piece back together.
“Anna! Stay away!” Elsa was shouting at her.
“No!”
More and more wood began to fall, but Anna was close now. So close. She could see that the terror on Elsa's face was not just that; it was worry. Worry not for herself, but for Anna, and that was selfish in the most roundabout way. Right on cue, there was a snap above them, signifying that something had come loose from the ship above them.
Now only a few feet away, she lunged forward, both hands outstretched. She heard Elsa screaming her name and immediately after, collided with her chest. They fell and slid across the ice, even as the surface itself shuddered and cracked. Something quite heavy had fallen where Elsa had been standing a mere second ago.
Unwilling to open her eyes and survey the damage, Anna remained where she was atop her sister. She felt two hands grabbing her shoulders, shaking her.
“Anna! Anna, are you alright? Speak to me!”
“I told you... we could do this together...” Anna said quietly, her teeth once again chattering in the cold. Her chest was aching and her fingers had begun to frost over. Still, there was an eerie silence in the air now.
Cracking one eye open, she noted that the wind had stopped. Not only that; the snowflakes were no longer falling. They hung in the air, perfectly, well, frozen in their tracks. Behind them, most of the ship had collapsed and circling around the damage was Kristoff. Olaf was rolling towards them as well.
Everything was going to be okay, wasn't it? She sniffed and as she did so, Elsa's arms wrapped themselves around her, pulling her into a tight embrace.
“Oh Anna... I'm so sorry, I...”
Anna didn't reply. The oddest thing was happening. Just as before, when she'd kissed Hans, warmth was spreading throughout her body. Warmth that originated from her chest and pulsated all the way to the tips of her toes. Her fingers began to feel again, grasping at the fabric of Elsa's dress.
“Anna! Your body!” she heard Kristoff gasp. He didn't seem to be standing too far away now.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Elsa began to scramble to her feet, pulling Anna into a standing position as she went. They stood side by side, surveying their surroundings. Everything was still white and cold, but at the very least, the storm had died down. That was something, right? Anna glanced down at her own body, from her limbs to her hair, noting everything was as ordinary-looking as could be. Ordinary was good. She was freed. Somehow, against all odds, she was cured.
Elsa pulled her into one more embrace and then backed away, her hands holding onto Anna's own. They were surprisingly warm.
“What were you thinking? Why would you risk your life for me?” Elsa asked in a way that was almost insulting. What was with that disbelief all over her face?
“I love you,” Anna insisted.
There was a loud, delighted gasp by their side. Anna hadn't noticed that Olaf had caught up with them again, and the moment she turned, she saw him lifting his own head with both hands. “An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!” he cried.
“Love will thaw...” Elsa repeated. She released Anna and stood back, looking at her hands. “Love! Of course!”
Within seconds, the ground beneath them was lighting up in a bright blue. The glow spread further and further, snowflakes rising upwards and disappearing into the sky. The fjord began to thaw and for a moment, Anna feared they would all fall into the water. As luck would have it, they'd been standing right above another ship and now that it was being freed, it rose to the surface to offer them a safe, floating haven. Arendelle was unfreezing as well, its cheerful colors returning along with distant, cheerful faces.
Summer had returned to Arendelle. Their home was safe. Their friends were safe. Even Olaf, who had begun to melt, was saved by Elsa's magic when he received his own personal snow flurry. For the longest time, the two sisters stood aboard the ship, hugging and laughing. When at last they broke free of one another, Anna caught a quick glimpse of Kristoff's smiling face and looked away with a blush. Olaf's words were still ringing in the back of her head and the notion that Kristoff might, for some weird reason, love her was something she couldn't deal with right now.
There was another man who needed her attention.
---------
In a way, Hans was still right where Anna had left him. In a way, he wasn't. As soon as she shuffled into the room, she verified that her fiancé had followed orders to stay put it in the worst of ways by tripping over his legs. She hit the ground with a loud thud and Kristoff was by her side immediately, holding out a hand to help her. Embarrassed and stubborn, she ignored that hand and instead scrambled back to her feet on her own strength.
“Whoahhh, so this is Hans?” Olaf asked, waddling into the room behind them. “He must've been really tuckered out.”
Anna peered down at Hans as well, noting the awkward positioning in which he was lying on the ground. He was curled up on his side right next to the door, his hands mere inches from his face. How could anyone be sleeping at a time like this? Why hadn't Anna's tripping woken him up? Something was wrong.
“Hans?”
She made to take another step closer, but Kristoff blocked her with his arm. He was shooting her a stern look; a warning. She'd had no choice but to tell him why true love's kiss hadn't quite done the trick. Olaf and Sven couldn't not be included in that conversation. Not Elsa, though! She didn't want to worry her sister, who would surely need to focus on assuring the kingdom and confirming a message of peace with the foreign dignitaries, and other such political stuff only a queen could tend to. Elsa didn't need to know that Hans was behaving strangely and it was for the best interest of their engagement that she never found out.
Now it was Kristoff who was leery of Hans's true intentions. As for Anna, she just didn't know and she was determined to find out. Eyes narrowing, she grabbed Kristoff's wrist and pushed his arm aside. After everything she'd been through over the past few days, she was sure she could deal with Hans personally if he decided to trick her again. And after everything he'd been through, it seemed like Kristoff knew better than to defy her.
The both of them crouched down beside Hans, but just as Anna considered grabbing him by the shoulder to shake him, Olaf swooped in to make the first move. He shook his twiggy hands in front of Hans's face and used his shrillest of voices. “Helloooo? Wakey wakey...!”
Hans flinched and curled in on himself further.
“I'm sorry, you seem to be unfamiliar with the term...” Olaf chuckled under his breath, then attempted to explain. “When I say “wakey wakey”, it means you have to wake up. So... Wake up!”
Still nothing. Anna reached out her hand, hesitated for a second, then pressed the backs of her fingers against his cheek. “... He's ice cold.”
“I think you mean out cold,” Olaf said as-a-matter-of-factly.
“No, I mean he's as cold as ice.”
“No kidding. There was a blizzard going on up until half an hour ago. Did you seriously lock him in here without lighting the fireplace?” was Kristoff's blunt response.
“Hey, he's the one who put it out!” Anna huffed at him. “And I didn't exactly have the time to light it again, since I was too busy, you know, saving Arendelle! You're welcome, by the way.”
“Let's move him to the couch for now, see if we can question him once he's warmed up a bit more.”
Kristoff's suggestion wasn't so much a suggestion as a decision, Anna came to find. He leaned forward and scooped Hans into his arms with as much laughable ease as when he'd carried her around. That made sense, she supposed. She couldn't imagine Hans weighing all that much more than her. Once he'd been arranged into a comfortable position, a pillow behind his head and a spare blanket covering his torso, he looked just about as peaceful as Anna had always imagined him to be. ...Well, as she'd imagined for about a day or two, anyway. She noticed that despite having removed one of his gloves earlier, he was still wearing the other, so she slipped that one off as well.
Kristoff lit the fireplace for them, then lingered near the door. “Are you coming?”
“No, I think... I'll wait for him to wake up.”
“I can't let you be here by yourself when that happens.”
“Kristoff...”
“Huh? Wait, what am I, shaved ice?” Olaf asked. Kristoff seemed to act as if he hadn't even heard the remark.
“I still don't see why you won't let the guards take care of this. If he really tried to kill you-”
“He didn't!” was Anna's immediate, reflexive reply. Then the second guesses hit her, throwing her for a loop. “Or, well... Maybe he did? But I don't believe he's a bad person! He can't be!”
“He had Elsa- the queen imprisoned using a vague sense of authority that you left in his hands. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound quite right to me.”
“He was probably just... confused o-or... Oh! You know how people get delusional when they've been in the sun for too long? Maybe it was like that, but with snow!”
“Hnnn...”
“Say what you want, Kristoff, but I'm not leaving his side! There's a perfectly good explanation and I'm sure once he wakes up, he'll tell us what it is.”
To make her point clear, she grabbed an ottoman and slid it closer to the couch. Keeping her eyes locked with Kristoff's proved to be her downfall, as she sat down in such an unbalanced manner that the ottoman almost keeled over sideways. Olaf managed to grab her just in time and sit her back upright. Following that, his twiggy hand remained on her shoulder as a testament of his support. Anna couldn't have asked for a better snowman friend.
Kristoff sighed overdramatically, then stepped away from the door. “If you're so insistent on staying here, then I'm staying here with you. Someone with common sense should be here when he wakes up.”
“Thank you, Kristoff,” Anna said with a smile.
To Be Continued