Title: The Girl with the Frozen Heart

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: None

Summary: Elsa is almost free. After this year, she will not have to worry about being chosen to fight in the Hunger Games. However, she still fears for her sister Anna and her only friend, Kristoff. When the worst happens, they vow to protect Anna any way they can. Facing brutal tributes, a horribly corrupt system, and still trying to conceal her powers, can Elsa come out victorious?

Chapter Six

Elsa sat on Kristoff's bed, legs crossed and fingers sore from being squeezed as part of her nervous habit. On the normally grey wall adjacent to them was a projection of a green and seemingly active forest, which was a much more comforting and familiar view than the gaudy 'chic' design of the holding cell. Kristoff stared at the scene as he leaned against the headboard of the bed. The two of them had been silent for a long time. Elsa had needed quite a bit of time to stop crying. Kristoff didn't, and couldn't, blame her; she had held back her emotions for too long, and everything must have been hitting her at once. In the quiet, he thought mostly about Anna and prayed that she was doing alright. Clutching the crystal in his hand, he somehow felt reassured that she was. He could almost picture her keeping busy in the house with his parents. He imagined them doing everything from tying flowers together in elaborate strings to actually cleaning up her side of the room, something Anna never seemed to have the time for. Or at least that was her excuse. He almost chuckled while thinking she might like having the room to herself for once. Even though he knew for a fact that wasn't true. Though, he could think of a couple times when they'd wanted privacy and Elsa had insisted she stay, as the room was half her's and she had the right to. Sure, he would have been a lot more comfortable with Elsa out of the room, but seeing Anna get frustrated then had just made him laugh.

Now, Elsa had significantly calmed herself. She sniffed and looked up at her best friend.

"Sorry," was the first thing out of her mouth. Kristoff shrugged it off.

"I'm not judging. This is new for both of us. It's hard to know what to do. How to react."

"You've got that right," Elsa agreed. "But that doesn't mean we can ignore the problem. I think I've done enough ignoring."

"That's true. I want to explain myself."

"The whole 'neither of us should win' thing? Because that isn't your best plan. One of us needs to go home to Anna."

"I said that none of us should win because I think we both should."

"Maybe we both should, Kristoff," she replied, glancing forlornly towards the forest scene. "But both of us can't."

"Hear me out on this," he continued quickly. "If we're still standing in the end, what will happen? If it's you and me and we refuse to hurt each other?"

Elsa imagined it, as she often imagined what the Games would end up being like. She was most worried about being thrown into a dessert environment. She feared her powers wouldn't work if she was dying of dehydration, and then that didn't sound like a great way to go either. Her mind filled in an image of her and Kristoff lying in the sand and staring at vultures ready to pick whatever meat they had left on their bones. She shuddered.

"I don't think that scenario is very hopeful. There's never been two winners, Kristoff. And I don't want to make it none, for Anna's sake."

"But what would they do? There's no way I'm going to attack you. There's no way you're going to attack me. So we hide, wait it out. Then we win."

Elsa laughed wryly.

"Gee, when you put it that way, the Games are really just a walk in the park, aren't they? Why hasn't everyone just won this thing?"

"Your sarcasm isn't helpful."

"Look who's talking. Mr. Cynical himself."

Kristoff smiled and shoved her lightly with his foot.

"Smart ass. I'm trying to be serious."

"Hm." Elsa looked away again, letting herself entertain the idea. Hiding was a decent plan. Other victors had actually won that way. Though Kristoff wasn't exactly an easy-to-hide guy. He was big, for one, and as much as Elsa loved him, he had a distinctly pungent smell that might not only give them away but make hiding with him very unpleasant. Well, it would be more pleasant than seeing him die, Elsa supposed, but it still made things difficult. They certainly weren't skilled camouflage experts.

"I do think you have something here," she said at last. "But I have something I want to add."

"Of course," Kristoff said, glad to see her agreeing.

"I think Merida should be our ally."

Kristoff frowned immediately.

"No. Definitely not."

"But she could help us."

"Or she could get us killed! Or, hey, more likely, kill us herself. Elsa, we don't know anything about her besides the fact that she's deadly with a bow and arrow and she seems prone to quick mood swings."

"She's looking for her mother, Kristoff-,"

"And I'll bet she'd do anything to win so she could do that. She practically admitted it herself. She doesn't like you. She doesn't like me. She isn't going to be our ally."

"I'm afraid to trust her too; hell, trusting isn't exactly easy for me! But we still have two days. We can get to know her a bit more. Look at it this way: It's the two of us against her or it's the two of us with her."

Kristoff was still looking far from convinced.

"I can protect us," Elsa said. "But not from every angle all at once. With Merida, we could stand a better chance. Three against twenty-one is an improvement in the odds."

Kristoff sighed.

"Alright, you do have a point. I'm not great with anything ranged, either, so I have to get close to hurt anyone."

They were quiet again. Yet another dilemma had been breached.

"When the time comes, do you think it'll be easy?" Elsa asked, her voice barely reaching a whisper.

"No." Kristoff said at first. Then, "Maybe."

"I keep trying to tell myself that I won't have to do it. But twenty other people, that's a lot. The chances of having to hit someone..." She trailed off, knowing Kristoff would understand what she meant. Elsa couldn't imagine actually killing another person. Animals were one thing, but people? Even when most of the other tributes looked mean and deadly it didn't mean it would be simple. And then she thought about that tiny girl she had seen earlier. What would happen to her? Who would be the one to kill her? Elsa brought her knees to her chest and let her head rest on top of them, feeling defeated.

"We'll run and hide," she mumbled. Kristoff nodded, feeling similarly disturbed. He wished he had his lute so they could at least listen to some music to break the tension. Unfortunately, he was instead answered by the soft chiming that signaled Rapunzel's song was beginning. Both of them groaned audibly.

"Doesn't she ever take a break?"

"At very least," Kristoff said, "she could learn a new tune!"

Elsa sat up properly.

"I wonder if there's anywhere you can't hear it."

"I doubt it," Kristoff replied, getting to his feet. "But let's find out."

The two of them walked through the suite, but the music seemed to be flooding out of every open door and through each hallway. Seeing the last unopened door, Elsa suddenly got an idea.

"What about the roof?"

They hurried up and out to the very top of the building. Here the sound only multiplied as it echoed through every city street. But the two of them paused by the low wall around the perimeter to take in the expansive, glowing city. Elsa noted that the combined planning of the buildings and streets was quite gorgeous, and the way the lights illuminated the dark grey night made it impossible not to stare.

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine

The final notes of the song faded. Kristoff rolled his shoulders. Elsa leaned against the wall comfortably and took in the sights.

"It's funny," she said at length. "Do you feel calmer?"

"Yeah," Kristoff answered. "Sort of. You feel it too?"

She nodded.

Kristoff grew tired of looking at the lights quickly. He turned his back and leaned against the wall beside his friend, choosing to stare at the door to their suite instead as they spoke.

"Maybe you're right," he said after awhile. "Merida could help us. I just don't know how to keep her becoming a traitor."

"We have to guarantee her safety if she works with us."

"And threaten her if she doesn't?"

"Well, I'm still figuring out a plan. I just have a good feeling about her. There's something about her..."

"Hm." Kristoff folded his arms, glancing at Elsa and then focusing once more on the door. "I guess it's good that she's one of the only people who don't give me the creeps. But I'm going to keep my eye on her. If there's any sign of doubt, she's out."

"Trust me, I'm going to be watching her closely too." Elsa finally pried her gaze away from the neon lighting. "We'll talk with her about our plans tomorrow. We'll have to be discreet. For now, let's get some rest."

Kristoff agreed. He lay awake in his bed for some time, clutching the little, supposedly magic, crystal in his palm and wishing for dreams about Anna. Instead, he had visions of a young girl with flaming curls sitting on the lap of an older woman and singing songs on a rainy evening. In the morning, he would forget the dreams in his head, but something lingered; the strange sensation that something was lost.

Rapunzel's heart was pounding in the small, quiet library. Mother Gothel had strictly forbidden Rapunzel from entering the room, which was mostly used as a private study. But this was for very important and secret research, so she felt justified in bending the rules just a little bit. She tiptoed up a short step ladder and held her breath as she tried to slide the heavy book from the shelf without making any noise. After an agonizing moment, she managed to place the book on the floor, and she began to flip through it. Page after page was filled with gems in different shapes and varying colors. Each color had numerous shades, cuts, and blends that signified what they were and what powers they held. She'd managed to get a clear picture of what Kristoff's looked like in her head, so she turned quickly to the section of the book that covered every purple from lilac to eggplant. A grin broke across her face as she found an image that was an exact match. She was practically giggling with excitement as she read:

A magenta crystal is easily identifiable from its distinct pink-tinged interior and deeply colored surface. They are especially difficult to chip, which results in their irregular or even messy appearance, due to their being one of the hardest magic minerals. This is fitting, as it represents the unbreakable passage of time and reality. Its ability is to give the one that holds it pleasant memories of the past, even ones forgotten or otherwise unknown to the holder.

Rapunzel touched her fingers to her heart. How sweet, she thought, Kristoff's parents wanted him to have pleasant memories while he was away. Though she knew he'd never be able to hold onto it during the Games. He'd be inspected beforehand, and surely whomever was in charge of that inspection would snatch his magic away before he could go on.

"Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel jumped, scrambling to close the book as her mother's voice interrupted the silence. She could hear the shout clearly despite her Mother being a good distance away from the room.

"Where are you?" Gothel called out.

"Coming, Mother!" she shouted back, nearly tripping over herself as she rushed to return the book to its place and leave the room before anyone could see her in there. She jogged down the hall to her Mother's room, where the woman lounged in a comfortable chair by an enormous glass window overlooking their well-lit gardens. Slightly out of breath, Rapunzel stood straight in the doorway and tried to think calming thoughts to get her heart to slow down.

"Oh, dear, there you are," Gothel said, waving her over with her hand. "Don't think that just because you've finished your singing for the night you can just run off. We have important matters to discuss."

"Matters, Mother?"

"Yes. Of course. Now don't interrupt." She sighed glumly. "Honestly, you leave me for two days and the first thing you want to do is run off again. Always running away from your poor, lonely mother who loves you so much."

Rapunzel shifted on her heels, feeling guilty, until Gothel nodded to the chair in front of her so she would sit.

"Mother, I don't want to leave you," Rapunzel insisted. "I just like being outside the house sometimes, that's all."

"Out in the big world. There is great danger out there. I shouldn't be letting you go at all, but because I'm so kind I give you the chance each year."

"Yes. Thank you for that, Mother."

Gothel smiled, then reached out to take a strand of Rapunzel's hair in her hand and run her fingers through it.

"You're normally a good girl, Rapunzel. But now you are spending a lot of time with the tributes and that Flynn Rider. Are they putting bad thoughts in your head?"

Rapunzel was quick to shake the very head Gothel was afraid was being corrupted.

"No, Mother. Everything is fine."

"Well, not everything." Rapunzel felt herself growing cold. Her Mother was using that frighteningly sweet voice again. "You have a tribute using magic, remember?"

"I remember." She swallowed, trying to wet her mouth again when she realized it felt dry. "But Elsa could win, and she also could not. She isn't doing so well. She's scared."

"Oh, the poor thing." Gothel tsked. "Unfortunately, magic alone cannot protect anyone. That's why everyone who has magic is here in the Capitol. Because I wanted them to be safe, just like you."

Gothel took Rapunzel's chin in her hand and guided her forward so she could leave a kiss atop Rapunzel's head. The girl smiled easily, but her expression changed entirely when Gothel added,

"So promise mommy you'll spend the next few days in your tower. Hm?"

Rapunzel gaped slightly.

"But, but mother," she said, stumbling over her words despite trying her hardest not to, "I have to be with Flynn. And with my tributes. The Games are in two days! I can't-,"

"Ah, ah, ah," Gothel cut in, holding up a hand. "They can do just fine on their own. Your place is here. With me. Where you are safe."

"I'll still be safe. I'll be here in the Capitol. Please, mother!" Rapunzel was begging now with her eyes wide and hands laced together in front of her. But Gothel remained firm in her decision, and grew even more stern.

"Enough, Rapunzel. You are going to go upstairs to your tower." She scoffed, scrubbing her temple with the tips of her fingers. "Your disobedience is shameful."

Rapunzel's shoulders sank towards the floor. She bit back sudden tears and nodded, getting to her feet.

"Yes, Mother. Whatever you say."

Gothel lifted her head and watched her leave with satisfaction.

"That's much better."

Author's Note: I'm sorry this is such a short update. Between school, work, and helping my family, I haven't had much time. But I am still developing this story every day! I finally got a chance to sit down and write today, so here is a tease. Thank you everyone for reading and sticking with me through this. Hopefully the pay off is worth it in the end! Questions and comments are always welcome.