A Frozen Heart

by Elizabeth Rudnick

  …stop?

  The snow, he realized suddenly, had stopped. Hans corrected himself. It hadn’t stopped—it had frozen.

  All around him, the snow hung suspended in midair. The wind had ceased to blow. Elsa, the epicenter of it all, sat motionless. If Hans hadn’t known better, he would have thought he was looking at a still life. Despite himself, Hans was awed by the beauty and power of the moment, and he took his hand off his sword.

  He was witnessing something as foreign and unbelievable to him as magic—the grief that came from the loss of true love. Does she regret it all? Does she wish she had the chance to say good-bye?

  Shaking his head, Hans pulled out his sword and stepped toward Elsa. There was no point in trying to get inside Elsa’s head. Love was an emotion for the weak, and he needed to strike while Elsa was at her weakest. Raising his sword, he took a step closer. It was time to put an end to this winter, and to Elsa, once and for all.

  WHITE AND BLUE. That’s all Anna could see and all she could feel. The world around her was blindingly white, snow blasting at her from every direction. Looking down, she saw that her hands were now an icy blue.

  Grand Pabbie had been right. She was turning to ice.

  Bowing her head, Anna struggled to take another step forward. But the howling wind pushed back against her like a brick wall. Even in her healthiest state, Anna would not have been able to make it far in these conditions. Now, weakened by the ice in her heart, it was almost impossible. When she breathed, it felt like she was inhaling sharp knives that ripped at her lungs. Her eyes stung and teared, leaving trails of ice on her reddened cheeks. Her toes had gone numb long ago, and she was sure that even her hair was frozen by now. Still, she knew she needed to reach Kristoff.

  “Kristoff!” she shouted as loudly as she could. But the wind whipped her words away almost before they left her mouth. “Kristoff!”

  The pit in her stomach grew. She wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to be able to hold out. It felt as though she were pulling her legs through quicksand, the limbs heavy and cumbersome. Still, she would not give up. She was going to find Kristoff. She had to find Kristoff. If for nothing else than to see him one last time. To tell him that she cared for him, too.

  Pain seared through Anna. Pain worse than any she had felt yet and pain that seemed to now linger in her heart. Clutching her chest, she closed her eyes. Spots flashed behind her eyelids, pulsing in time to her slowing heart. With her eyes squeezed shut, she felt rather than saw a ray of sun break through the clouds above and then, to her surprise and relief, the wind faded.

  Anna opened her eyes.

  The storm had stopped—completely. Snowflakes hung in midair, their unique patterns twinkling in the weak light. The wind was gone and with it the persistent howling and biting chill. It was as if they were suspended in some sort of giant snow globe.

  Slowly, things that had been rendered invisible by the storm began to take shape. The ships that had been trapped in the frozen fjord began to reappear, their snow-covered decks warped and their sails torn and beaten. Turning her head, Anna could see the walls of Arendelle and the castle beyond. She could just make out the silhouettes of people clustered together atop the wall, their tiny arms waving.

  In the silence of the stilled storm, new noises were amplified. The creaking of the ice under her feet sounded like gunshots and the wooden hulls let out loud moans. Even Anna’s own body sounded loud to her ears. Her jagged, sharp breaths rattled, and her bones seemed to crack with the slightest of movements. The horrifying sounds of her failing body were too much for Anna and, with effort, she started to lift her hands to her ears to block it all out when she heard a noise that was anything but horrifying.

  “Anna!” Kristoff’s warm, booming voice echoed across the fjord.

  Looking up, Anna saw him running toward her. His hair was falling in his eyes and his cheeks were bright red. He was breathing hard, but he showed no signs of slowing. In fact, when he saw Anna, his pace increased.

  “Kristoff!” she tried to shout back to him. But her voice was nearly gone, and all that came out was a whisper. It didn’t matter, though. Because Kristoff had found her! He was going to be able to save her! All she had to do was make it a few more—

  Before she could finish that thought, the unmistakable sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard came from somewhere close by. As if in slow motion, Anna turned around. Elsa sat on the ground not ten feet away. Her sister’s head was bowed and her shoulders hunched, as though she were carrying the weight of the world. A sob of relief started to form in Anna’s throat. Elsa was here! Right here! And so was Kristoff! Everything was going to work out. Kristoff would save her with his kiss, and Anna could tell Elsa how sorry she was for everything.

  But Anna had forgotten the sound of the sword. And now, instantly, she saw exactly where it had come from. Standing behind the despondent Elsa was Hans. His sword was drawn, and he was poised to strike.

  This couldn’t be happening. Elsa wasn’t even supposed to be here. She was supposed to be up in her castle, and Hans was supposed to be back in Arendelle pretending to be a good guy. Yet here they were, both out on the fjord, and from the murderous look in Hans’s eye, he was eager to put an end to Elsa once and for all.

  Some people, Anna thought, remembering Olaf’s sweet words, are worth melting for. That was true love. Anna loved her sister. And, she realized now as Hans raised his sword for the final blow, she needed to keep Elsa safe.

  Looking back over her shoulder, she saw that Kristoff, unaware of what was unfolding in front of him, was still racing across the fjord. She gave him a small, sad smile, and his gait slowed, confusion flickering across his face followed by fear as he caught sight of Hans. I’m sorry, Kristoff, she said silently. With the last of her remaining strength, she turned around. Then, letting out a cry, she flung herself in front of her sister. She had only a moment to raise her arm in a feeble attempt to protect Elsa and then, with a whoosh, she felt Hans’s sword swing down at her…

  Am I dead? Anna wondered. Is this what it feels like?

  In the moment before she had flung herself in front of Elsa, her body had felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Her limbs had finally gone completely numb with cold, and she had been unable to draw a breath. Yet her mind had been alert, and she found herself observing everything as though from a great distance. In slow motion, she had seen Hans’s sword swing through the air and registered the look of shock on his face as the sword collided with her hand and he was thrown back into the air.

  She had heard Elsa’s frightened shout and sensed Kristoff as, too late, he reached her side. In the distance, she thought she had even heard the collective gasps of those watching from the walls of Arendelle.

  Then everything had gone silent.

  For one long moment, Anna felt as though she were wrapped in a cocoon. The light grew dim, and it seemed like her body was suspended in midair. She seemed to be neither here nor there, but trapped somewhere in between.

  She struggled, trying to surface as though coming up for air after a long dive. But she kept getting sucked back down into the murky depths.

  Suddenly, the pressure in her lungs began to relax, and her body was infused with a warmth that made her toes and fingers tingle. She felt her sister’s arms wrap around her and squeeze tightly. Shadowy figures began to appear in the periphery of her vision, and the muffled voices became clearer. Her heart began to pound against her chest and, finally, she felt movement return to her limbs. Opening her eyes, the first thing Anna saw was the top of her sister’s head, nestled against her shoulder. Elsa’s body shook with violent sobs.

  For a moment, Anna didn’t move. She knew she could, but she wanted to make this hug last. She had waited for so long to feel her sister’s arms around her, and she wasn’t going to waste a minute of it. Finally, ever so slowly, she lowered her own arm, wrapping it around Elsa.

  “Oh, Elsa.”

  In her arms, Anna felt Elsa stiffen i
n shock and then, with a cry of joy, Elsa hugged her tighter. The sisters stood there, clinging to each other.

  “You sacrificed yourself for me?” Elsa said, finally pulling back.

  “I love you,” Anna replied simply. She wanted to tell her sister what she had learned about love, but she was still weak, and she found herself unable to go on.

  Luckily, Olaf didn’t have the same problem. The little snowman was dancing excitedly back and forth in front of the sisters, his twig hands clasped together. Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he popped his head off his body and raised it so his face was level to the sisters’. “An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!” he announced happily.

  Anna cocked her head. Did Olaf mean what she thought he meant? Whose heart had been thawed? Hers or Elsa’s? She hadn’t jumped in front of the sword to save herself. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. She had done it because she wanted to save her sister. She had done it because…And then it hit her. What the trolls had said, what Olaf had known all along, what she had been too blind to see. She did know how to love. She loved Elsa. More than anything in the world. And she would have done anything to protect her. Climbed a mountain, faced off against Hans, even jumped in front of a sword being swung by her evil ex-fiancé. Her act of love toward Elsa had broken through the magic. Smiling, she turned and looked at her sister.

  “Love…will thaw,” Elsa said softly. Then, meeting her gaze, louder. “Love…of course!”

  “Elsa?” Anna asked. Had her sister figured out what she herself had discovered only a moment before—that Anna’s was not the only heart that needed thawing?

  As if she could hear Anna’s thoughts, Elsa nodded. “Love,” she repeated.

  And then she raised her hands into the air. In one glorious, elated swoop of her fingers, she shot magic up high into the sky.

  As the torrent shot into the air, the clouds above Arendelle seemed to burst apart, revealing a brilliant blue sky. The air began to warm, and the snow all over the kingdom started to melt and disappear. Just like Anna and Elsa, Arendelle was getting a fresh start. Flowers and plants snapped to life, more beautiful and fragrant than before, eager to soak up the sun. Squinting, Anna could make out children running around the docks of the kingdom, playing in the small puddles that had only moments before been snowbanks.

  Love. All along that had been the key. Love for Anna had kept Elsa isolated and alone, scared to hurt the person she cared the most about. Frightened to live a life absent of love, Anna had flung herself into the arms of the first man she met. Consequently, seeing the power of true love in the eyes of Olaf and Kristoff had pulled her free and opened her eyes to Hans’s real nature. And ultimately, love, it seemed now as Anna watched her sister put an end to winter, had proven more powerful than even the greatest magic. The bond of sisterhood and the sacrifices they had both made had been able to thaw everything that day. Now, Anna thought, Elsa and I can begin again. We can have the life we were denied for so long.

  Out on the fjord, the ground beneath Anna’s feet began to shake. The ice started to crack and, for one terrifying moment, she wondered if they would all find themselves swimming. But then, to her delight, the ice gave way completely, and she felt herself lifted into the air. Looking down, she saw they were standing on the deck of a ship that had been obscured beneath snow. Now the wood glistened and gleamed in the returning sun, making everything sparkle.

  With one last wave of her hands, Elsa drew all the remaining snow together. Anna watched in disbelief as the snow rose into the air, its shape shifting and changing until it formed the most beautiful, perfect snowflake she had ever seen—and then, with a burst, it exploded like a firework. As it faded from view, all that was left was a perfect, sunny, warm July day.

  “I knew you could do it,” Anna said, looking over at her sister and smiling proudly.

  Elsa smiled back and opened her mouth to say something. But she was stopped by Olaf’s happy-go-lucky voice.

  “Hands down,” he said, “this is the best day of my life…and quite possibly the last.”

  Looking over at the little snowman, Anna let out a gasp. In the warm sunshine, he had begun to melt. But he didn’t seem to care. A blissful smile was spread wide across his face, and he had his head raised toward the sun, feeling, for the first time, what he had always dreamed about—summer.

  Anna swung her gaze back at her sister. Do something, she implored silently. She was glad that the winter was over, but she couldn’t imagine Arendelle without her new friend. Elsa seemed to feel the same way. “Hang on, little guy,” she said gently.

  Once more, Elsa waved her hands. A swirl of cold air shot out of her fingertips and wrapped itself around Olaf, instantly refreezing him. Then, just to be safe, she created a small cloud from which a soft snow fell constantly.

  “Hey!” Olaf shouted happily, wobbling this way and that and laughing as the cloud followed him. “My own personal flurry!’

  Anna laughed joyously. I have a feeling having a sister with ice powers is going to be amazing, she thought. We’ll be able to go skiing in August if we want. We will never need to hire an ice sculptor for events. We could throw a skating party every summer! And, she thought, once again amazed by the turn of events, we can do it all together. Everything really has turned out perfectly.

  Then she heard a groan.

  Well, almost everything.

  There was still the teeny tiny issue of Prince Hans.

  Looking over, Anna saw that he was lying on the ground, holding his head and moaning. Oh, right, Anna thought. She vaguely remembered hearing his cry as his sword shattered against her frozen body. He must have been knocked out, she realized. Which was fine by her.

  Unfortunately, Anna was not the only one who had seen him. Kristoff, who up until then had been standing quietly and patiently to the side, took one look at Hans and his fists clenched. Raising his hands, he began to stalk toward Hans.

  Actually, Anna thought, I think I’d like to handle this personally. Reaching out, she put a hand on Kristoff’s arm as he passed by her. Gently, she shook her head. “Uh, uh,” she said, giving him a long look. I can take care of this myself, she told him with her eyes. Then, turning, she made her way over to Hans.

  Seeing his ex-fiancée approaching, Hans struggled to his feet. He looked around, confused by the suddenly warm weather, not to mention a moving, living Anna. “But…but…she froze your heart,” he stuttered.

  “The only frozen heart around here is yours,” she said, her voice ice-cold.

  Turning to leave, Anna paused. She looked over at her sister, who had suffered so much because of Hans. Then she met Kristoff’s eyes and saw the anger he was barely containing. Hans had hurt him, too. Not as deliberately, but he had hurt him nonetheless. And then she looked down at her own two hands. They had returned to their normal color, but she would never forget how cold they had been and how scared she had felt when Hans left her to die. She took a deep breath. She knew she was a princess, and princesses were supposed to be ladylike, but she couldn’t just walk away from him. There was one thing she had to do.

  Swiveling on her heels, she turned so she was once again facing Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. And then she pulled back her arm and punched his smug face with all her might. Her fist landed on his cheek with a resounding thunk, and he fell backward, flipping right over the ship’s railing. A moment later there was a satisfying splash as he landed in the water below.

  Now, Anna thought, as Elsa gave her a hug and Kristoff shot her a proud look, everything is definitely perfect.

  HOW DID EVERYTHING go so terribly wrong? Hans thought miserably. One minute, the crown and all the power it brought with it had been within reach and then, just like that, it had been snatched away from him.

  Sitting inside the same room where he had imprisoned Elsa not even a day ago, Hans stared out at Arendelle. The wall, which had been ripped away by Elsa, was still missing. But it didn’t matter. There was no snow to blow in,
no cold to keep out. Instead, bright beams of sunlight swept across the stone floor, and a gentle breeze carried in the soft scent of salt water. In the distance, he could make out the top of the North Mountain and—closer to the kingdom—he saw the green of the trees and the bright colors of the blooming flowers. From the courtyard below, the sound of children’s laughter filtered up, and Hans could make out the distinct slap of sailcloth as boats in the harbor prepared to depart.

  It was idyllic.

  And it made Hans sick.

  Ever since he had been brought to this room, he had been replaying his last moments of freedom over and over in his head. And no matter how many different ways he looked at it, no matter how many times he tried to see where it all went wrong, he could not wrap his head around any of it. One moment he was standing over Elsa, his sword raised, ready to put an end to her once and for all and take the crown, and then…

  …Anna was there, standing before his falling sword on the frozen fjord. He could still feel her blue eyes on him, judging him silently. He felt the shock that reverberated through his arm as the iron struck not Elsa, but Anna’s frozen body. The instant after, he was thrown to the ground, knocked unconscious.

  When he awoke moments later, everything had changed.

  The snow had stopped. The clouds had disappeared and the temperature had warmed. And it was not just the weather that had thawed, Hans saw instantly. Anna and Elsa had thawed, too. The distance between them had vanished the second Anna had sacrificed herself for her sister. Then they stood, laughing and giving each other spontaneous hugs, making up for the years they had lost.

  That, too, had made Hans sick.

  If only I had acted just a moment sooner, Hans had thought. Then they would never have known forgiveness. Never felt the love of a sibling again. Just like me. Just like my entire life. Elsa would have been dead. Anna would have followed soon after, and I would have taken what I deserve.

  Instead of the crown, all he had gotten was a punch in the face.