"No, no…Elsa, there has to be a mistake. His parents froze to death when he was just a kid!" Anna tried desperately to make Elsa understand but the ice Queen was still shaking her head.

"Anna, I'm telling you, the man I saw today had Kristoff's smile! His eyes, his nose…the man I saw today was…was hard and cold but looked exactly like Kristoff."

"Kristoff is not hard nor is he cold." Anna said in a quiet anger.

"I know that, Anna, I just-"

A maid came into the room, laughing to herself but then suddenly stopping in her tracks as she entered into the ball room where Anna and Elsa were having their private talk.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna," The maid bowed to both women. "I'm sorry to disturb-"

"You're not disturbing anything, Millie." Anna said coldly. "As far as I'm concerned, this conversation is over." Anna stared at her sister for a long couple seconds, and then stormed out of the room.

Elsa threw ice that flew from the tips of her fingers at the wall, making it shatter into thousands of sparkling fractals. She muttered under her breath how unreasonable her sister really was. The floor beneath her began to freeze, until she rolled her eyes and turned it to water.

There the ice Queen stood, alone in the ball room and wondering why on earth she even brought up Hugo to Anna in the first place. She had known deep down it would probably cause a fight anyhow, but Elsa couldn't bring herself to keep that kind of information from her sister; her best friend. Elsa frowned slightly as her stomach turned into an icy knot. She hated fighting with Anna.

"Hello,"

Elsa jumped in fright and turned around, only to find one of her councilmen. "Peter," She said, relieved. "What are you doing here? I thought you would have been on your way home by now." What little Elsa knew about the man was that he lived a mile or two outside of Arendelle, and so his travels were usually extensive.

"I'm staying with my Grandfather the next few days."

"Oh." Elsa suddenly felt uneasy as Peter approached her slowly.

"You're not the confident woman I seen in the meeting the other day. You seem…nervous." He smiled his dimpled grin.

"I-I'm not nervous." She stuttered, trying to be confident but failing.

"I'm sorry, Elsa, if I make you uneasy." He stopped a good few feet away. What would look like an uncomfortable amount of distance between two people talking was actually in Elsa's comfort zone. She didn't mind hugging and speaking with familiar faces, but when it came to strangers, she still struggled on controlling her freezing abilities. Every Queen has a flaw, she supposed.

"I'm not uneasy." She said angrily.

Peter pointed with a small grin on his face, gesturing for the Queen to glance behind her. And so she did.

That was when she saw the thousands of little crystals of ice that went up the wall behind her, forming the smallest and the most detailed sharp shards of clear water that were frozen where they sat.

She blushed furiously and then covered her face in embarrassment. "No, no, it's ok-" Peter tried to comfort her, coming within just a couple feet of her.

"Peter, please." Elsa begged him, moving a couple feet back.

"Elsa…"

The Queen knew what was coming next. "Peter, I…I've told you no before and I'll tell you again. You put yourself in danger every single time you get me all riled up!"

Peter smiled and Elsa couldn't help but grin herself. "One date, that's all I'm asking." Peter was desperate. It wasn't even the throne he was after, or the wealth or the goods…it was the beautiful Queen that he found to be so exquisite. He wanted to get to know her; he wanted to see the other side to her that not many others have seen.

Elsa closed her eyes and tried to think of a new and much more gentler way of telling this man no, but she could not bring herself to do it. They had talked as friends for some time now, and Elsa felt that Peter was the only friend she had outside of Kristoff and Anna. After Peter had begun calling her Elsa instead of Queen Elsa, it confirmed her feelings all the more. She felt almost giddy when he called out to her, but then again, she also felt scared; and that was her reasoning for not furthering her feelings with him.

"Elsa…" Peter approached her very slowly, her back now to him.

"Where would we go?" Elsa asked helplessly and tiredly. "What kind of a date would it be, Peter? I can't come within two feet of you-"

Peter circled around the Queen; a large enough circle so as she wouldn't feel uncomfortable. "But that's the thing…I don't care. I just want to talk."

"What will the Kingdom say?" Elsa asked him, crossing her arms in defeat as she spoke quietly. "What will they say about you? They'll think you're just after the wealth."

"Who cares what they think." Peter brushed it off as though it were nothing.

He then smiled the dimpled grin that got Elsa every single time. She couldn't help but let a grin creep onto her face as she looked up from her long lashes into the eyes of the tall man that stood in front of her.

He was about Kristoff's height, perhaps a little shorter, and was much thinner. He wore dark brown hair with large hazel eyes that Elsa felt could read her soul. He was a handsome man, Elsa thought. Too handsome to waste on a Queen that could show no affection. But she figured it was his mistake and she was just going to have to let him make it.

"Fine." She breathed. "Fine." She said again, shaking her head. "Just…meet me at the front door of the castle tonight at 8." She said, and then saying no more, she walked away.

Peter screamed out, making whooping noises as Elsa covered her ears from the echoes that went throughout the ball room; but making her laugh nonetheless. "Shh!" She told him.

She turned around to the find the very man she knew as Peter, glowing with happiness. "And by the way," Elsa added. "I don't appreciate the smart tone you used with me in the meeting the other day."

"Someone has to challenge you." He said coolly, and then winking at her before walking briskly to the doors on the opposite side of the ball room.

Elsa breathed out heavily, unbelieving of what she had just done.

Later on that day, Elsa was frantically searching for her sister throughout the castle. She found out from Kristoff that Anna had taken a long walk around the Kingdom in hopes of cooling off.

"There you are." Elsa said, relieved, as Anna entered the castle.

Elsa took her place by Anna on the bench where her younger sister was kicking off her snow-soaked boots.

"I'm sorry about earlier." Elsa said after a long awkward silence.

"So am I." Anna replied and smiled, putting her hand over Elsa's. "I don't like fighting."

"Neither do I." Elsa smiled her cool, brisk grin and then kissed her sister's cheek. "In fact, I have…plans tonight."

"Plans?" Anna stopped untying her boots. "What kind of plans?"

"With…with Peter." Elsa squeaked out as though she were ashamed.

Anna gasped just as Elsa knew she would. The Queen quickly put her hand over Anna's mouth to sustain her excitement. "But it's a secret and you are the only one to know about this, understood?"

Anna was smiling from ear to ear, and then put her "adult face" as she called it, on. "You have my word, Elsa. No one will know."

"Not including, Kristoff?" Elsa knew her sister couldn't keep a secret, let alone from her man.

"Well…you know Kristoff. Telling him anything is like not telling him at all. He'll take it to the grave."

"Alright, then. I'm meeting him at 8."

Anna squealed, finally letting out her excitement and then dragging her sister through the castle as Elsa let herself become excited as well. The two sisters went to Anna's room where Anna acted as though Elsa was her doll, and she could dress her any way she pleased. The two laughed the rest of the hours leading up until 8, enjoying one another's company.

In the meantime, Mary made her way through the castle, streams of tears working their way down her face as her stomach turned in knots.

I shouldn't tell him. I should leave and never come back.

He's better off without me! He's courting the Queen's sister!

I'm not a good mother. I want him to remember his adopted mother over someone like me. I don't want to hurt him…

Mary could hear Rapunzel's voice down the very long hall, ignoring the small voice in her head, and so she quickened her step when the man of the hour came around the corner with a grin plastered on his face. Hugo's grin, Mary thought silently.

"Hello," Mary choked out to Kristoff, desperately trying to compose herself.

"Hi," Kristoff smiled kindly back.

"Is Rapunzel in that room on the right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Thank you, Kristoff." But she didn't stop there, she felt as though there had to be more to say. "Oh, Kristoff?" She stopped him just as he was passing her. She needed some sort of confirmation, although she was already so sure of the truth, she needed to know for certain if this was her son. "How long ago did you move to Arendelle?"

"When I was very young." He answered simply.

"Do you have…many relatives here?"

"None." He scrunched his eyebrows and wondered silently on why this woman had so many questions for him, when just the other day she had nothing more to say other than hello.

"What about your parents?" Mary asked, suddenly very interested. What of the Beliner family she had left him with? Had they abandoned them? Was it a mistake to leave him with such a family that would leave him to the cattle to raise?

"They died a very long time ago." He quietly answered.

She shook her head and frowned. "No…not the Beliner's…they were such lovely people." Mary was pained by this news and only wished she could have attended their burials.

Kristoff's eyes widened. "You knew them?" He asked, bewildered.

"I…no..." She couldn't get her words out; she was sure she had blown her cover. She wasn't quite ready yet to tell him the truth. She wasn't sure if it was for the best. She wasn't sure of anything anymore!

"I thought I heard you out here." Rapunzel skipped to Mary's side and said her hello to the amazed Kristoff. Kristoff could not move, and instead continued to stare at the frightened Mary. "What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked, playing dumb, but knowing exactly what it was. She had been wondering what Mary was going to do since they got here yesterday. Was it just chance that the very man they were looking for, was named Kristoff as well? Had the Beliners even named the child what Mary had wanted them to? Was this all just one messed up twist of fate?

"Nothing. I was just talking with Kristoff." Mary practically whispered and then coughed.

"Oh." Rapunzel noticed the tense exchange between the young man and the woman, and so to ease the air, she continued on with what she had to say. "Elsa, or mostly Anna, has set the date for the ball. This Sunday evening."

"Wonderful." Mary nodded, acting as though she were truly surprised, but she couldn't shake off the stare that Kristoff continued to give her.

"Um…Kristoff…good day to you." Mary bowed quickly to the still shocked Kristoff and took Rapunzel's arm, pulling her down the hallway and into an empty room. Closing the door behind her, Mary began to breathe very heavily. "He's…he's my son, Rapunzel!" Rapunzel watched with heartbroken eyes as Mary completely lost it. What could she say to console a woman that had just found her only child? How could Rapunzel possibly fathom the depth of sadness and heartbreak Mary was feeling? "I-I-I have to leave. He doesn't need me. I saw him, that's what I wanted, right? I just wanted to see him happy, right? He doesn't have to know who I am. I can leave now-" Mary wiped her face and ran her fingers through her golden hair. "Oh my God." She whimpered and then sobbed into her hands.

Mary hadn't expected it to hit her all at once like this. When she had saw Kristoff for the first time, all she could see was Hugo's face but a much softer version.

"Mary…he has no one. He does need you-" Rapunzel slowly approached her.

"Please…don't touch me." Mary whimpered away, lengthening the distance between the two.

"I'm only trying to help, Mary. He needs you. You have to tell him the truth. He deserves that at the very least!" Rapunzel pleaded with her.

"I-I can't." Her voice was rising; the tension in her shoulder blades strengthening as Rapunzel reached for her once more. "I won't! Can't you see, Rapunzel, it wasn't Hugo I was protecting him from, IT WAS ME!" Mary shot blasts of ice to the corner of the room, just as Anna was entering.

Anna stood at the door in astonishment, her mouth gaping. The floor below Mary froze to solid ice and Rapunzel gripped the wall for support in staying steady.

Mary stared at her hands; anew tears rising as she looked up to find Anna's eyes wide with fear.

The woman fled from the room, leaving ice crystals behind her in the wake of the disaster.

Her coat flew behind her as she entered into the outside world; the cold world that Mary had learned to hate so well. She ran from the castle, from the people, from her son… She deserved to be alone. Forever.