A/N: Here we are, guys. The very last installment.

I can't tell you what an amazing experience this has been. I was so sure I'd never be able to pull this off. That it was beyond what I could do, that it was too strange to make believable, that no one would want to read something so dark and painful.

I don't know if I've proven myself wrong. But I think I just might have.

I don't have the words to thank all of you for coming along on this journey with me. For reviewing, for enjoying it, even when it hurt, for drawing such beautiful things to accompany it, for supporting me… I thank you, from the bottom of my heart. This is yours as much as it's mine.

Dark as Snow

Epilogue

…and they all lived happily ever after.

The wind was cold as it twined through Anna's hair, the first turning days of spring still not bearing off the lingering chill of winter, and she smiled wanly as she stared out to the valley winding out before her in the morning sun.

Happily ever after had always seemed a casual afterthought in the fairytales of her youth, little more than a logical, uncontested solution, flowing easy and uninterrupted from the last moment of triumph, the dragon defeated, true love rising high over hardship and struggle.

She wasn't sure she'd ever read a tale where happily ever after shied off to the distance, bleeding thick and wounded into freshly-fallen snow, where a fair maiden had clung close to her true love as he paled and stilled in her arms.

But then… those weren't the fairytales worth having. The ones she'd bled through, fought through, lived through.

Real fairytales were true love waking, staring into her eyes even as his grew dark with the last embers of determination, holding her hand as his noble steed bore him up onto his back.

Real fairytales were his head against her chest, his solid form awkwardly held in the circle of her arms as they rode down the mountainside.

Real fairytales were the promise of strength, of love, of his hand tightly in hers, not letting go.

Anna's head had still pounded, her body still aching as Sven bore them down towards the valley, thick beads of sweat breaking along his neck even in the cold mountain air. Elsa's shoulders were trembling as she rode beside them, looking from the path to Anna at every other heartbeat, and even through the snow, through the darkness, Anna could see the exhaustion and fear tight along her sister's shoulders.

She wasn't sure which of them had collapsed first when they finally reached the hospital.

Anna closed her eyes, breathing slowly, curving one hand around the base of her skull. The thick knot had subsided after only a few days, but the doctors had insisted she stay for observation for days afterwards, just to be sure.

(They'd tried to hold Elsa as well after one look at her haggard appearance, but Elsa's breath had gone short and sharp, eyes wide, cheeks chalk-pale as she'd stared around the hospital. Anna's heart had broken and mended all at once as Elsa had let her draw her into her arms, stroke her hair, and wordlessly comfort her after so many years of wishing she could.)

But it was Kristoff they'd rushed to a bed, all hushed voices and worried glances. Anna had tried to push through them, to his bedside, but they'd barred the door, gathered her up and slipped a syringe into her arm that left her floating and weightless, the darkness pushing at the corners of her vision finally overtaking her.

In happily ever after, no one was ever worse for wear from the battles they'd fought.

But this was a real fairytale.

A real fairytale in which Anna woke screaming, mind and memory swimming with images of bloodied blades, of bruising hands reaching for her beneath cruel eyes and a mocking smile.

She'd started, breath freezing in her throat as a large hand stroked gently over her brow, and she'd blinked into the darkness of the cold, sterile room just in time to see Kristoff gather her to his chest, one arm wrapped warmly around her shoulders, her head tucked beneath his chin.

"Aren't you hurt?" she'd whispered, even as she nuzzled in close to him.

"I don't care," he'd said, and she closed her eyes and counted his heartbeats with hers.

They'd settled into a routine then – each night she dreamed, dark and uneasy, and each night Kristoff came to her bedside, drew her into his arms and held her until she drifted off to sleep.

One night the nurses had come into her room, all purposeful eyes and disapproving mouths.

But at one sharp, meaningful look from Kristoff, they hadn't drawn them apart.

Anna wasn't sure if anything could.

Not anymore.

There was a soft footfall behind her, a pair of hands curving warmly over her hips, and Anna smiled as she leaned back against his the broad expanse of his chest.

"Took you long enough," she said, resting her head against his shoulder as his arms came around her waist.

"Funny thing about getting stabbed," Kristoff said, and Anna could hear the note of faint amusement in his voice. "Tends to make mountain climbing just a little slower for awhile afterwards. Who'dve thought that almost dying could take so much out of a guy?"

Anna was quiet as she folded her hands over his, gently stroking the backs with her thumbs. "But you didn't die," she said, very softly.

Kristoff pressed a firm, lingering kiss to her temple. "Promised you I wouldn't, didn't I," he murmured against her skin.

Together, they looked out to the valley, to familiar trees, the slowly-thawing curve of the river in the distance.

"Remember when you took me up here for the first time?" Anna asked quietly.

Kristoff kissed her again, and she felt the curve of his smile against her temple. "Nope," he said. "Not at all."

Anna grinned and lightly pinched the back of his hand. "Liar."

Kristoff laughed, the noise turning into a short, sharp cough, and Anna pressed closer to him, eyes widened and brow furrowed in concern. "…it's all right," he said, wincing as he coughed again. "It'll… it'll just take time."

Anna was quiet as she drew his arms more tightly around her, bit her lip against a frown and stared ahead.

"…have you been to the estate?" she asked, very quietly, eyes distant.

She felt Kristoff nod, and she closed her eyes on a slow exhale.

"…it's warm enough for the work to start," he said after a moment. "Just barely."

Anna nodded, a strangely empty coldness settling into her chest as the memories washed over her.

It had been Elsa who had unwittingly set it all in motion, when a red-faced man had appeared at the hospital, policemen in tow, gesturing wildly and raging about a stolen horse.

Anna had stared at her sister with wide, disbelieving eyes as Elsa paled and averted her gaze. "…you stole a horse?" she'd asked.

Elsa had shrugged helplessly, the barest hint of a smile tilting at her lips, and Anna nearly cried to see it. "Well," Elsa said delicately, "it was an emergency."

But then one of the policemen had uttered the name Lord Westergard, and everything around Anna seemed to fade, darken, her knees going weak even as Elsa's arm came tight and supporting around her shoulders.

They'd been grim and skeptical as Elsa took her to a nearby chair, as Anna wrapped her arms tightly around herself, voice numb and distant even to her own ears as she told them about the locked room, about Hans… about Christabel.

They'd left without a word, glancing skeptically to the sisters, then to each other.

When they returned, hours later, their faces were pale, eyes dark and haunted.

Elsa had held her close as they rode together in the coach provided for them, and Anna trembled violently as they passed through the arch that signaled the boundary of the Westergard estate.

When they reached the house, they found the policemen standing awkwardly by a middle-aged woman, her hair grayed, lines etched deeply into her face as she clutched her hands to her mouth and wept over the shrouded figure lying wrapped and still on the ground before her, dark curls just visible beneath the thick fabric.

Anna swallowed against the sob that rose to her throat at the memory, and Kristoff turned her in his arms and pulled her into a tight embrace, resting his cheek against the top of her head.

The story had raced down the mountain even faster than they had, of bloodied brides kept in dungeons, of torture and depravity, of missing women, missing daughters and sisters, and a worrying number of unclaimed bones.

They bore Hans's body away and buried it in an unmarked grave.

No one questioned when his widow chose not to pay her respects.

As soon as the weather warmed, just enough, they began to dismantle the locked rooms, setting their contents to the pyre they'd assembled.

Anna took the news only secondhand. There was some small part of her that distantly wished for closure, to set eyes on the manor house that had become a place of waking nightmares just one last time…

…but it was just a small part, one easily overruled by the weariness of the rest of her.

"The house is yours, you know," Kristoff said quietly. "They… asked me to remind you. That you inherited it when…"

His words trailed off, arms tightening a fraction around her, and Anna sighed and pressed closer to him.

"It's all right for now," she murmured. "I've been thinking about it. Thinking about maybe having them convert it to a school. Or a hospital. Something…" She paused, staring out to the forest. "…something to erase the memory of what it was," she finished in a quiet voice. "What it saw."

Kristoff nodded, laying a soft kiss against the crown of her head. "Pretty big house just for you, anyway."

Anna pulled back far enough to look at him, eyes appraising. "…well," she said after a moment, "you and Elsa would be there, too."

Kristoff smiled at her and lightly tugged on one of her braids. "That sure I'm sticking around, huh?" he asked, very softly.

Anna returned his smile, eyes softening.

"Yeah," she said, smile widening a fraction. "Pretty sure."

She leaned up on tiptoe to press a gentle, lingering kiss to his lips, melting into him as his hand came round to cradle the back of her head, as he pulled her close and deepened the kiss.

"…you're right," Kristoff said, breaking the kiss and gently nudging her nose with his. "You're right."

"You sure?" Anna asked, lips still brushing over his. "You're a free man now. You can go anywhere you want."

She felt rather than saw Kristoff crook a smile at her. "I know," he said, very quietly. "Exactly what I'm doing."

There was a warm rush through her chest, and Anna kissed him quickly before pulling away, biting her lip and fisting her hands in her skirts. "In that case…" she said hesitantly, averting her gaze. "I, uh… I have something for you."

She frowned, tilting her head. "Well… I mean, technically it's yours, but… well, I guess it's not yours-yours but it's mostly yours… I guess. I think?"

She shrugged helplessly before reaching into her skirt pocket, extracting one of Kristoff's handkerchiefs, neatly folded into a square, and holding it out to him, eyes soft and hesitant.

Kristoff eyed her in confusion as he gingerly took the handkerchief from her, turning it over in his hand. "…uh…" he began, raising an eyebrow. "…you're… giving me one of my handkerchiefs?"

Anna's lips spread into a slow, soft smile as she moved closer to him, laying her hand over the handkerchief. "Inside."

Kristoff's eyebrows were still raised in confusion as he carefully unfolded the handkerchief.

Anna rocked back on her heels a little, biting her lip. "It…" she started, wringing her hands together. "…I didn't know what you'd done, not until Elsa told me… how you'd… how you'd gotten the message to her. And neither of us knew about… about that until the messenger started ranting after he'd gotten his horse back… I mean, obviously he was going to get it back, Elsa just borrowed it… but he was saying that the payment was nowhere near worth it, and… when we found out what it was…"

Her eyes were damp, breath hitching tight in her throat as Kristoff touched shaky fingertips to the ring in his hand.

"…he was happy to take coins for his trouble instead," Anna continued, blinking back tears even as a watery smile began to spread across her features, "so I… I traded him."

She forced herself to hold steady as Kristoff looked to her then, eyes strangely inscrutable. "I…" she started, "…I thought you should have it. Just… just in case there ever came a time when… you wanted to give it to someone."

Her heart turned over in her chest as she watched him close his hand around the ring and swallow hard.

"…do you want it now?" Kristoff asked, and his voice was rough, eyes closed.

Anna stared at him, heart rising to her throat. "…what?"

He opened his eyes, and she could see the faint shine of tears in them. "Anna," he said, her name a breathless sigh on his lips as he took her hand and set the ring gently in her palm. "Anna, it's yours. Whenever… if you ever want it. It's yours. It'll always be yours."

Anna took a deep breath, raising her free hand to trail her fingertips lightly over his cheekbone. "…looks like you're stuck with me, then," she whispered, lips tilting into a teary smile.

"…looks that way, doesn't it," Kristoff said, eyes soft and bright.

He pressed his forehead to hers, arms coming tight around her even as he raised her off her feet and pulled her into a deep kiss that seemed to warm her, mend her, make her whole.

As she closed her eyes and pressed close to him, Anna remembered, distantly, to the time she had watched him from the windows, heart aching for him as she watched him with the servant girl, everything within her breaking apart as she imagined Kristoff taking her into her arms, their children scrambling to meet him.

A flash then, warm and bright, of their children in her arms, of Kristoff curling close to her in their bed at night, of his arms around her and holding her tight, of trips to the mountains and dizzing horse races, of trust, friendship, warmth, love.

Not a fairytale.

Something far better.

Anna's steps were light as she and Kristoff descended the mountain together, hand in hand.

Elsa stood waiting for them, gently petting Sven's muzzle, and the horse cast adoring gazes between her and Anna.

"Are you ready, Anna?" Elsa asked, eyes soft.

Kristoff came to stand next to her and Sven, and Elsa reached out to gently touch his sleeve.

An understanding smile passed between them, and Anna felt her heart warm as she turned back to the forest, to the towering slope of the mountain behind her.

There were still scars laid into body, heart, and soul, she knew. There were things she could never unsee, never unlearn. Hans's hands still lay burned into her, along her skin, deep within her mind.

Anna glanced back to Kristoff, to Elsa, and closed her eyes on a small smile.

Still there.

But healing.

Stronger than you think you are.

Anna's eyes were clear as she opened them, as she glanced to Elsa, exchanged a soft look with Kristoff.

"…yes," Anna said, voice steady and firm. "I'm ready."

-FIN-