Buckle up, kids. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

WARNINGS: Domestic abuse, violence, some language, a morally questionable pregnancy, and character death.

"It's so c-cold." Anna couldn't stop shaking, her lips blue and her breath coming in shaky rattles out of her chest.

Kristoff frowned, worried. That rattling couldn't be good. He'd heard it before, as a child. The princess had had her skirt frozen when he'd found her at the trading post…the ice, and the cold of the snow, and she'd been wearing summer clothing. Even someone born and bred in the icy Arrendale winters could catch their death like that.

"Do you feel alright?" He pulled off his glove with his teeth, reaching a hand to touch her forehead. She looked flushed, more than she should with the cold wind battering them, and her face looked damp with sweat. Her skin felt like fire. "Come here." Anna squeaked as the burly man pulled her closer and laid his ear against her chest.

"U-um, this isn't-"

"Quiet. Just breathe."

She stilled, face flaming, and worried her lower lip with her teeth. What in the world had gotten into him? Sven looked back at them, and Anna could swear the reindeer was winking at her, making her go even redder.

"Hey, he gets a warm hug? I want one too!" Olaf almost looked pouty, stick arms reaching for the princess.

"No!" Kristoff snapped, pulling away. "Don't touch her!"

The snowman's pout deepened. "Well, someone's grumpy!"

"Kristoff, what's the matter?" Anna asked, staring up at him. Her eyes were already glassy.

'Definitely a fever.' The older boy thought. 'And her lungs are crackling already. She needs medicine, and a fire, and she needs it fast before the cold-sickness sets in.'

"I'm taking you back to the castle."

Anna's eyes widened with indignation as she stiffened, shoving away from him. "No! I have to find my sister! Elsa needs me!"

"Yeah, she needs you. She needs you alive! You're sick, you've been out in the cold and wet and it's moved into your chest. If you don't get somewhere warm soon, it could kill you!"

"What? I-I don't think I'm sick! I'm just a little woozy, and cold, that's all!"

"Either you agree to come back to the castle, or I'm knocking you out and carrying you back. I've seen people die of the cold-sick." People like his grandfather and his father, back when he was young, before the trolls had found him. "I won't let you die of it too. As soon as you're well, I swear, I'll take you straight to the North Mountain and you can talk some sense into her."

Her lower lip trembled and he froze, praying that the stubborn, independent girl he had met only two days ago wouldn't start crying. Kristoff wasn't sure if he could handle that. "You promise?" She whispered, staring up at him. He felt his heart gallop in his chest.

"I promise."

Twelve hours later, after a breakneck pace on the back of Sven, found them at the gates of the Arrendale castle. As Kristoff watched the tall prince of the Southern Isles and assorted servants hustle the girl inside, he wondered whether he had made the right decision.

Anna stayed in bed for almost two weeks, too weak to move. Hans rarely left her side, reading her books, holding her hand, fetching her water, doing anything he could to make her more comfortable. During those two weeks, the snow finally let up, leaving Arrendale under a thick blanket of white powder and the fjord still frozen solid, but at least no more was adding to it.

Anna hadn't given up on her sister, but Elsa was making things very difficult to fix. Hans had suggested they send out scouts to find the easiest way to get to her castle in the North Mountain, but something about them had spooked the young queen. Now, their scouts reported that she had turned the entire mountain into a suicide gauntlet, full of deep ravines and wickedly sharp ice spikes. They had no way of getting to her, and no way to stop the winter.

They were at least able to send messages to the ships that had been anchored outside the fjord, asking them to go to trade partners and buy food, and more blankets and winter clothing. They'd lost the entire season's crop, and even if the snow did melt, even in the next few days, their stores would be empty this winter.

"This is going to beggar Arrendale." Hans told the princess, barely able to look her in the eyes. "I don't know what else to do but buy food to last us the year, but we'll have no crops, nothing to sell to replenish the Crown coffers."

"But we can't let the people starve." Anna looked at her hands, now thin and pale after her bout of illness. "We have no choice."

"The people are scared, Anna." He told her, face fierce and determined. "Their queen is gone, their food is gone, Arrendale is hanging by a thread, and we're still locked in this God-forsaken winter. We need to do something to give them hope."

"But what? We have no way to talk to Elsa, she's fortified the whole mountain. Nothing can get through."

"We need to get married."

Anna gasped, eyes wide. "But Hans, I'm still sick! And with the winter, and everything, how could we have a wedding?"

He reached out, grasping her hand and squeezing it. "I know. It doesn't have to be a big wedding, we can do that later after we figure this all out. Just a few people, quickly, as soon as we can, to solidify the alliance of Arrendale and the Southern Isles. And then," He paused, weighing his words carefully. "And then, we need to crown you as Queen."

"No!" Anna shouted, shooting up from her seat, even though the sudden movement made her sway. "Absolutely not! Elsa is Queen, and I will not abandon-"

"Elsa is gone! She's abandoned the throne, the people of Arrendale, and YOU!" Hans boomed back. Anna sat down, hard, fear written all over her features. Hans' face softened. "I'm sorry, but it's the truth. You're the Princess of Arrendale, Anna. You have to do what's best for your people. And that means making hard decisions."

He left then, leaving the girl to cry in her room, weeping for her country, her dreams, and her broken family.

The wedding took place two days later, and Anna was crowned Queen of Arrendale a few hours after.

"So, Queen Anna now, huh?" Kristoff didn't look at the girl as he scratched Sven's head, checking his bridle. She didn't answer, just staring off into the corner of the stables, legs swinging from her perch on one of the stall walls. "What's got you so torn up?"

"Hans wants to have children." Her blank statement and numb voice made the blonde look up in shock.

"What? You just got married a week ago! Isn't that a little, I don't know, quick?" 'Though,' he thought, 'This was the girl who got engaged to a guy she met that night.'

"I don't know, maybe? He says we need to show the people that the royal line is secure, now that it's just me." She was twisting her hands together, almost nervously.

"And you don't want to?" Kristoff pressed, staring at her over Sven's back. She looked so small, so far from the fiery redhead that he had met. Her sickness had left her thin, pale, and drained, so much so that even her hair looked lackluster.

"It's just, I'm only seventeen. I don't think I'm ready to have children. And-" Her lip trembled. "I want to find Elsa, I can't do that if I'm- If I'm pregnant." It almost sounded as if she choked on the word.

Kristoff had to bite his tongue to hold in his anger. How dare Hans force Anna into this. It wasn't his right! 'But he's her husband.' A tiny voice inside him argued. 'It's not your right to interfere.'

"I have to do what's best for Arrendale." She whispered, in a small, broken voice.

"Anna." The blonde man walked over to her, wrapping her in his arms.

He chose not to comment on the growing wet patch on his shoulder. He just held her until she stopped shaking, wiped at her eyes, and pulled away. He watched her as she made her way back toward the castle, back to her husband and her responsibilities. He watched her and wondered why it felt like his heart was breaking right alongside of hers.

He left that afternoon.

Elsa really wished that she'd thought this whole 'Run Away to the Mountains' plan through a little bit better.

Okay, so yes, she had shelter, thank you, magic. She could make her own clothes, so that wasn't a problem. Cold, no big deal, her powers didn't let her get cold. But food? That was something that her abilities didn't let her make. And, after the assassins came, it wasn't like she could pop into the nearest village to pick up some supplies.

It had been so nice at first, in her new castle. The fear that she'd grown up with, the fear of hurting others, had no hold on her up here, where there was no one else for miles and miles. Except then, that first group of soldiers had come. At first, they had pleaded with her to come back from the other side of the ice bridge, too frightened to come closer, or so she thought.

That was until she had turned around just in time to throw up a wall of ice, blocking a crossbow bolt mere centimeters from her throat. She'd lost control then, spearing the two men. They were dead before she'd realized what she'd done.

After that, the scouts left. Elsa broke her ice bridge, so no one else could come in. She had her ways of leaving, but she didn't think anyone else could find them. At least, until the second, larger group of assassins. They came with fire and nets and crossbows, trying to keep her from using her powers long enough to shoot her.

Their bodies now littered the canyon below.

Elsa was not stupid. She knew they would not stop coming, not as long as they could get close to her, and one day, she wouldn't be as lucky as she had been. It had been a long and tedious process, making her ice castle into a frozen fortress, but she'd had little choice.

The problem remained, that she could only live for so long off of snow and a few, scarce birds that she had gotten good at shooting down from her balcony with well-aimed icicles. She needed more if she was going to survive up here.

Which was why now, five weeks after her flight from her kingdom, the former Queen of Arrendale found herself perched in a tree, with a hastily made crystal bow and icicle arrow, wearing a thick, concealing cloak made of frost and waiting for a deer, a wolf, anything that she could eat. It had been hours, and it seemed like the animals had taken Arrendale's initiative, and hunkered down for the winter.

"Come on, please. Something has to still be out here." She pleaded with the sky. Elsa hadn't been able to get a bird in days, prompting this hunting expedition. If she had to wait much longer, she would need to get out of the tree or risk fainting and falling to the ground below.

Three hours later, with the sun setting in the west, Elsa descended the tree, hungry, in pain from her long watch, and out of options, when a movement caught her eye. A reindeer! It was huge, with a large rack of antlers, and it was well fed. It could feed the slight young woman for several weeks, if she rationed it out well. Shaking slightly, she slid an arrow into her bow, and pulled the ice string back to her ear, praying that her magic would make the arrow fly straight and true. She loosed the arrow-

"NO!" An arm shoved her out of the way, making the bolt go wide. The reindeer startled, snorted, and charged towards her, antler's lowered, as she fell to the ground, something large and blonde on top of her.

The young queen curled up into a ball, a blast of icy wind slamming both the weight on top of her and the charging reindeer away from her. The man, which was what, she realized, had run into her, slammed into a spruce ten feet away, the reindeer landing in a snow drift not far from him.

Elsa picked herself up from the ground, grabbing her bow and aiming it at the man. "Who are you and what are you doing up here?" She snapped, all regally demanding to hide her fear. Was he another assassin? A scout? Were there more people up here, looking for her?

"Owww…" He raised brown eyes to meet hers, and startled as he recognized her. "Queen Elsa?"

She pulled the string back further. "I asked you a question."

"I'm-" He groaned, shifting away from the tree and trying to stand. "I'm Kristoff, I'm a friend of your sister's-"

"Anna?"

"Well, do you have another sister?" He snapped, eyebrows furrowing. "And you almost shot my reindeer."

She kept the bow trained on him, backing away. He didn't seem like a killer, but Elsa wasn't going to take the chance. "Leave here and never come back, and I will let you live. If I see you again, you won't be so lucky."

The boy stared up at her, confused. "You don't look well, your majesty." He glanced between her and the reindeer, who was struggling out of the snowdrift, snorting angrily. Pieces fell into place. "You're hungry?"

Elsa's eyes widened. "I said leave and never come back!" She screamed. The girl dropped her bow and ran, another gust of wind blasting towards the two, kicking up snow. When it cleared, she was gone.

When Elsa snuck out of her fortress the next morning, after another long and hungry night, she found a large package wrapped in waterproof cloth. She almost cried when she opened it and realized it was full of jerky and bread.

"Well, someone's put on weight since the last time I saw them." Kristoff smirked, expertly hiding his worry behind a mask of playfulness. He'd gotten too good at that in the last few months.

"Ha-ha, Mister Funny Man." Anna grumbled, rolling her eyes as she walked toward him, her thick cloak no longer capable of hiding the large bump in her front. It had been nearly eight months since Elsa had left and winter had set in, and it showed no signs of stopping.

It had been a hard, cold time for Arrendale. Kristoff's ice business didn't exist anymore. He tried not to let it bother him too much. Supply and demand, after all. Didn't make it hurt any less. He'd taken up woodcutting instead, chopping down trees in the mountains and bringing the firewood down to the town to sell.

Things hadn't been any easier for Anna. She was now six months pregnant, and very weak. She, technically, shouldn't have been out of bed, let alone out in the cold, but she always came out on the days that Kristoff came in to peddle his wares. The illness from months ago, and the ongoing cold had stripped all fat off her bones, leaving her thin and tired. With anything she had left going to the baby, she could barely move these days. The blonde watched her with keen eyes, trying to see if today would be a good day or a bad day.

She was smiling, so that at least was a good sign. "How's the ice business going?" She teased, eyes dancing despite the dark circles under them.

He rolled his own eyes, and started unloading the cords of wood from his sleigh. He had had to replace the one that had gone over the cliff. Anna had wanted to get him a new one, but Hans had told her the treasury was too low. He had shrugged it off at the time, but added it to the mental tally of all the things the man would need to answer for if they all made it through this.

"How're you doing?" Kristoff asked, avoiding looking at her. "How's the brat?"

"He is doing just fine, thank you very much." She retorted primly, nose in the air, before nearly bouncing up and down with a grin on her face. "He's kicking now!"

Kristoff looked up, wide eyed. "Kicking? Doesn't that hurt?"

"Well, a little. Mostly, it just feels weird." She started, one hand going to her belly. "He just did it! Quick, come here!"

Before the blonde man knew what had happened, the Queen of Arrendale had grabbed his hand, placing it on her stomach. For a split second, he marveled at how it spanned her entire body. She was so little these days, despite the thick clothes and swollen stomach. And then his mind went blank as he felt a little flutter across his hand.

"What-?" He looked up at Anna, who was grinning at the look of confusion on his face. "That was the baby?"

"Yep! He's saying 'hi' to his Uncle Kristoff!"

The former ice peddler felt his face go warm at that, and opened his mouth to tell her that he didn't want to be Uncle Anyone, when someone grabbed the back of his coat and yanked him backwards, throwing him into the wall of the stable.

"Unhand my wife!" King Hans of Arrendale barked at him, hand around his throat and one arm cocked back for a punch. Kristoff could see a small squad of soldiers at the stable entrance.

"Hans, no!" Anna yelled, grabbing his arm. "It wasn't Kristoff's fault, I just wanted him to feel-"

"You shouldn't be out here, Anna." Hans' face was like a thundercloud as he shook her off. She staggered, her stomach putting her off balance, as her turned towards her. "And I thought I told you that I didn't want you talking to this cur anymore."

"But Hans, he's my friend, I-"

"It's not proper for a married woman to be cavorting with men that are not their husbands. Now get inside." He gestured to the captain of the soldiers. "Get someone to take her inside. By order of the King, she is not allowed outside of her chambers until the baby is born."

"That's not fair, I'm fine-" She wasn't allowed to finish as Hans grabbed her arm, shoving her toward the captain. She gasped as she lost her balance and fell into the man's arms, staring at her husband with tears in her eyes. "Hans…"

"That's an order, Captain."

Anna was being tugged away, crying, and Kristoff couldn't stand it anymore. "Leave her alone!" He yelled, trying to get to the girl. A backhand across his face made stars dance in front of his eyes as he fell to his knees. He looked up just in time to see a screaming Anna be pulled into the castle before a swift kick in the ribs had him laid out on the ground. Sven, in his stall, was going insane, kicking at the door and trying to get to his friend.

"And as for this piece of trash, see that he is not allowed in the city proper again, on pain of death." The hard, cold eyes of the king stared down at him for a moment, before the man turned away. "Queen Anna is not to have contact with him again."

Two months later, Kristoff couldn't stand it anymore. He had to see Anna. The whispers through the smaller villages that he could still go to spoke of her being little more than a prisoner in her own rooms. One woman had told him that when her daughter, a maid in the castle, had seen the queen last, she was little more than skin and bones. But what had made Kristoff see red was when she had leaned in close and said in a worried whisper that the Queen had had an odd bruise on her face.

'Maybe she fell.' The little voice that said it was none of his business murmured. 'Maybe it was an accident. Maybe, maybe, maybe.'

It didn't matter. He was going to see with his own two eyes. And so, in the dead of night, he snuck into the town. Getting to the castle was not a problem. All he had to do was make it across the thick ice of the fjord to the outer wall. From there, it was all timing the guard shifts, and staying out of sight as he climbed.

Kristoff had long ago marked in his mind which window was Anna's. Many a night, he'd sat at the window of the stables, staring up toward the light of her window, longing in a way that he hadn't admitted, even to himself. After climbing up cliffs and ravines for the majority of his life, getting to that window was child's play.

He slid along the wall next to it, cautiously. If Hans was in there, this would all be for naught. A swift peek into the room showed a four poster bed with thick blue curtains and an occupied rocking chair by the roaring fireplace. Anna.

The blonde man knocked quietly on the window, causing the girl to startle, looking up. Her whole face lit when she saw him, and then flashed with fear, looking around. He watched her stand up, and walk to the door, opening it a crack and saying something to someone on the other side, and then closing and locking it before she nearly ran to the window.

"Kristoff!" She sobbed, throwing her arms around him as he climbed into the room. "Kristoff!"

"Anna, what's going on?" He whispered, looking at her as she cried into his shoulder. Her stomach was now massive. The blonde man was sure that if it got any bigger, it would pop.

"It's Hans! I don't know what happened, I- Ah!" She gasped as his hand touched her arm. He grabbed her wrist, pulling up the sleeve to reveal a bruise- a bruise distinctly shaped like a hand print.

"I'm going to kill him."

"No, Kristoff don't, please! It was my fault, I shouldn't have asked to go outside-"

"He hurt you, Anna! That's- that's-" The blonde tried to find the right words. "He hurt you and that's not okay." He whispered finally, reaching up to cup her face with his hand. Her cheekbones were standing out, showing the toll the pregnancy and lean months had taken, and her stomach swelled hugely, contrasting with the thinness of the rest of her. Dark bags were smudged under her eyes, and she just looked unwell. His heart clenched. If she looked this bad now, would she even make it through the birth? His own mother hadn't made it through his. 'No. I can't lose her. She has to make it!"

"We have to get you out of here."

"I can't." Anna whispered, pulling away from him. There are guards at the door, and at the castle exits. And the way I am," She looked down at her stomach, lower lip trembling. "The way I am, there's no way I could make it over the roof."

"You're not arguing that you should stay."

She looked up at him, heartbreak in her eyes. "He isn't the man I married. I don't know what happened, what I did wrong-" She choked on a sob. "But something happened and it's like I don't know him anymore."

'Maybe you didn't know him in the first place.' That traitorous little voice replied. Kristoff didn't let it out. "I will get you out of here. You and the brat. I promise."

Anna gave him a watery smile, cut off by a noise in the hall. "You have to go. Now!"

"Anna-"

"Now, Kristoff!" She shoved him toward the window. He climbed out reluctantly, looking back up at her as he climbed down the roof. "Kristoff!" She called after him quietly.

"Yeah?"

She gave him a serious, sad look. "Please. Please find my sister." And with that, she closed the windows.

If he had waited a moment, if he had looked back in the window, he would have seen her eyes go wide, both arms going around her belly as she staggered and gasped in pain.

It was Wednesday, and Elsa was making her usual trek out of the castle and through the fortifications, just like she had every Wednesday for months. And just like every other Wednesday, the girl found a thick package in water proof cloth waiting for her by the west wall, filled with enough food to get her through the week, as long as she was careful. What was unlike every other Wednesday was that there was someone there, sitting next to the bag of food.

"What are you doing here?" She glared, raising her bow. She'd gotten much better at it, and at hunting in the time she'd been in the mountains, but she still relied on that food. If he was going to start asking for something in return, she didn't know if she'd be able to afford to turn him down.

"Elsa, Anna needs your help." The boy said bluntly, turning to look at her. His eyes looked red, as though he'd been crying.

"My sister doesn't need me anywhere near her." The former queen nearly snarled, reaching for the bag. The boy grabbed the other side, preventing her from taking it and running.

"She's in trouble!"

"She's better off where she is!"

"Don't you dare!" To her surprise, the boy growled, face morphing into rage. Elsa felt her magic twist, ready to defend her if needed. "Don't you dare say that she's better off there, sick and pregnant and beaten up-"

"What?" Blue eyes widened. "Anna is what?"

"That bastard married her, got her pregnant, and then locked her up, and she has bruises, and I need to get her out!" It tumbled out of the blonde boy, each word hitting Elsa like a knife. Anna was supposed to be safe. She was supposed to be happily married, and taking care of Arrendale, and, above all, safe-

"You're lying." She whispered. He had to be lying. Anna had to be okay. She had left so that Anna would never be in danger from her again. She'd left to protect her!

"I wish." He choked out, sounding just as heartbroken as Elsa felt. "I wish I was." He looked at her, determination on his face. "You have to help me. You have to help me save her."

Elsa could only nod.

Anna screamed in her bed, body nearly seizing from the pain. "Make it stop!" She sobbed, panting from the contractions wracking her body. "Please make it stop!"

"She's too weak." The midwife whispered to maid, who was helping with the birth. "The winter's wreaked havoc on all of us, the Queen included. And the baby is too early, nearly three weeks too early."

"Can we save them?" The maid whispered, fearfully.

"I don't know. I really don't. Now get more hot water, silly child. We must do what we can."

Elsa and Kristoff rushed down the mountain, riding a sleigh of ice atop an avalanche. The former queen concentrated fiercely on controlling the sleigh, putting up ice banks next to trees and keeping them upright, keeping her from thinking too much about the situation at hand. Her sister, hurt and alone, married to a monster. Herself, venturing into civilization for the first time in nearly a year. And, she thought, with side long glance at the determined look on the blonde boy's face, Kristoff, risking death for treason to try to protect the girl he obviously loved.

'Why couldn't Anna have chosen him?' She wondered, throwing up a wall of ice to push them slightly west, so they were heading straight for the fjord, where her avalanche would die harmlessly on the ice rather than crash over the village. 'Maybe they'll have a chance. We just have to save her first.'

And onward they went.

"King Hans!" One servant cried, running up to him as his hunting party rode through the gates. "Queen Anna is having the baby! The midwife say you must come, she's not sure if the Queen will make it through the night!"

"King Hans!" A guard called from the wall, pointing into the distance. "An avalanche, your majesty, an avalanche!"

Hans ran up the nearest flight of stairs to the top of the perimeter wall, taking a spyglass from a lieutenant as he climbed. "But King Hans-" The servant that had told him of his wife's condition protested.

"Tell the midwife I will be there in a moment! There is a threat to Arrendale, and Arrendale is my first priority!" He snapped back, cresting the stairs and putting the spyglass to his eye.

"There's something on the avalanche." The guard who had first spotted it whispered. "What in the world-"

"A sleigh." Hans murmured. "A sleigh of ice." He spun around, voice booming out. "I want every guard and soldier in Arrendale armed and ready to fight! The Ice Witch of the Mountains is here to destroy us!"

The avalanche and its burden crashed onto the frozen fjord, sending the sleigh skittering over the ice. Elsa quickly froze it in place, climbing out and shedding her gossamer-fine cape. She marched across the ice, unstoppable as a glacier.

"You find my sister. I'll deal with the rest."

And then winter erupted.

Kristoff dashed through the halls of the castle that had once again become Anna's prison, pickaxe in hand, searching desperately for her room. 'I should have just climbed the outside again.' He grumbled to himself. 'At least then I could have found her window.'

"Anna!" He called, throwing open another door, and then spinning around as it too proved to be an empty room. "Anna!"

A scream pierced the air, a scream that was far too recognizable. 'No!'

He tore away toward the scream. Anna was hurt, she was in pain, and his brain stuttered away from the possibility that she could be dead. He sprinted past a door decorated with blue snowflakes, and nearly ran into a young woman, rushing out of a room carrying a bowl of pinkish water and bloody rags.

He grabbed her, shaking her shoulders. "Where is she? Where is the Queen?" The woman pointed toward the room she'd just come from, trembling like a leaf.

Kristoff released her, throwing open the door just as a thin, thready cry rang out through the silence.

Elsa twisted through the soldiers, freezing her heart as she threw spears of ice through men that she knew were her own people, people who, in another life, would have died defending her, just as they were dying now in defense of their King and Queen. She saved who she could, but in the end, the ice was running red with blood.

"I demand to see my sister!" She screamed into the crowd, held at bay by a field of wickedly sharp icicles. "Stand aside and you won't be harmed!"

"Never! Be on your way, Ice Witch! We will defend Arrendale from your treachery!" The captain of the guard followed it with a crossbow bolt. Elsa just barely moved aside in time, so that it scraped against her cheek instead of going through her skull. A trickle of red coursed down her skin to drip onto the already crimson ice.

"So be it."

"Anna!" Kristoff stumbled over to her bedside, trying desperately to ignore the mass of red towels that covered her lower half.

"Kris-" She whispered, barely audible. "Kristoff?"

"I'm here! I'm here, Anna!" Something wet was running down his face. He swiped at it, then reached forward, grabbing her hand and squeezing. She squeezed back, weakly.

"Anna, Anna, you have to hold on, Elsa's coming, she's coming and it's going to be okay-" Kristoff was well aware that he was babbling, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Kristoff," Anna murmured, blinking slowly. "Did you see her, Kristoff? Eira? She's beautiful…"

The blonde man looked around, noticing, for the first time, that they were not alone in the room. The midwife huddled in the corner, eyes wide and frightened, clutching a tiny bundle of blankets to her chest. "Her-?"

"You'll…you'll take care of her, won't you? Kristoff?" Anna's eyes were closing again, slowly, slowly. Her breathing was stuttering, starting and stopping. "Tell Elsa…tell Elsa…love her."

Kristoff choked. "Tell her yourself, Anna, she's on her way-"

The girl opened her eyes, staring straight at Kristoff. "Never told you…" Her words were so quiet, almost no more than a breath.

"T-told me what?"

She smiled, a shadow of the bright, vibrant grin that he loved so much. "Love…you…"

She breathed out, and out, and out. She never breathed back in.

Elsa strode through the halls, batting guards away as if they were flies. Her blue dress streaked with red, blood still coursing down her face, she looked like an avenging, feral angel, wild as a blizzard and unrelenting as the ice itself.

'I need to find that bastard of a brother in law of mine. He will pay for what he's done.'

All her thoughts froze as a scream rang through the halls, Kristoff's scream. A scream of absolute heartbreak.

Elsa ran.

Kristoff sobbed, burying his face in Anna's hair, murmuring, begging her to come back. She couldn't be gone, couldn't. Anna was supposed to be okay. She was supposed to be fine, and to run away, and they could all be happy, Anna, and Elsa, and the baby, and him. This broken little human family that he had come to care about just as much as his troll family. They were supposed to be okay.

Another cry pulled him from his grief, making him focus again on the frozen midwife in the corner. She was trying unsuccessfully to shush the tiny bundle of life in her arms, which squirmed and threw its- her?- arms around out of the blanket. As if in a dream, he stood, laying Anna carefully on the bed and pressing his lips to her forehead, and walked toward the shrinking woman.

"Can-" He choked out. "Can I see her?" He didn't wait for a reply, taking the baby from her arms.

She was so tiny, her bright red face scrunched up in protest of the cold and the movement. A small shock of white-yellow hair curled around her head. One chubby, squashed little hand reached out resting on top of his so much bigger one, as her milky, baby-blue eyes looked unfocusedly up at him.

"Hi, little one." Kristoff whispered, careful as if he were handling a piece of blown glass. She really was beautiful. "I'm your Uncle Kristoff."

A tiny, gummy yawn was his only response.

Hans stalked towards his wife's room, naked sword in his hand. He would kill that mangy mutt of an ice harvester. He would kill him, and the Ice Bitch, and Arrendale would hail him as a hero. He was King here. He would not be cowed by rabble.

The door to her room was open, and he took a moment to determine the situation inside.

Anna's body was lying on the bed. Her eyes were closed, and she could almost be sleeping, if it weren't for the puddle of blood she was lying in. Just past the foot of the bed, the filthy ice harvester held Hans' child, one of its hands wrapped around his finger.

"Get your hands off of my son." He snarled, raising his sword. The midwife ran toward her King, relief in her face. It morphed into surprise as he ran her through. The blonde man yelled, wrapping the baby tighter in his arms as he backed away from the King and the midwife's body, which slumped to the ground.

"What're you doing!"

"Such a tragedy." The former Prince of the Southern Isles mused, smirking at the shocked man. "That the former Queen and her lackey broke into the castle upon hearing about the birth of an heir to the throne of Arrendale, rendering the Ice Witch out of inheritance. So sad, that I wasn't able to stop you from killing poor Anna."

He could watch the other man's thought process, as his eyes darted to the side of the bed, where he'd left his pickaxe, judging his ability to get to it with the baby in his arms. He could see the man's realization that there was no way that he could defend himself and the baby. "Monster." He whispered, fresh tears running down his face. "Just tell me one thing."

Hans raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Did you ever love her?" The younger man's pain was clear in his eyes.

"Hmmm. No. But I won't lie," He sneered a little, knowing exactly how his words would affect the other man. "She was convenient."

"She was convenient." Hans' voice came from the room. Elsa froze, red flashing through her vision.

"You." Her hiss echoed, carried on the unnatural, arctic wind. "You used my family. You used.my sister."

The dark haired man turned, surprise on his face, as she growled.

"I'm going to kill you."

Eira started screaming as the wind picked up. The windows of the room slammed open, snow swirling into the room. Kristoff, curled around the tiny creature, taking the brunt of the icy cold on himself, shielding her from the fury of the storm.

Hans raised his sword, swinging it with speed honed against his twelve older brothers, throwing it, not toward the queen, but toward the ice harvester and his own infant daughter.

Elsa raised one hand. Winter's fury obeyed her every command. Ice shot up from the King's feet, twining around his legs his torso, his arms, wrapping him tight. It grew over his panicked face.

In the end, all that was left was ice.

Kristoff felt like he was in a daze as he looked down at the baby. There was something crimson dripping on her face. Why was that there?

Elsa gasped, staggering and sliding to the floor, finally taking in the room. One woman, dead on the floor. Elsa didn't know her. Anna-

Anna, on the bed, surrounded by blood. The former queen lurched to her feet, landing on her knees beside her sisters bed.

"Anna, Anna, Anna, no!" She howled. "No, please, no!"

Tears froze to her cheeks, but her sister was dead-

Ragged, harsh breathing, and why was Kristoff on the ground-

"No!" She screamed again, scrambling around what was left of Hans. Kristoff was curled around a bundle of blankets, in a pool of blood, Hans' sword pierced through his shoulder.

"El-sa." He choked out as she rolled him over.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, it looks worse than it is, you'll be okay-"

"Ba-by-" He moved his arms carefully, offering her the bundle. "Take…her."

"I've got her. You'll be okay, just stay still-"

"Trolls…take he-r to the trolls…You kn-ow the w-way."

"I will, Kristoff, just hold on!" Elsa begged. "I can't do this by myself!"

"Be…okay…" His eyes slid closed.

And the storm raged on.

Epilogue

Kristoff opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the sudden sunlight. He was laying on something soft…Moss?

"He's awake! Granpoppy, Kristoff's awake!" One of the little trolls yelled, right in his ear. He winced as his head throbbed in response. He tried to sit up, but something felt strange-

"Don't move, fool boy! You lost way too much blood to just be trying to move willy-nilly!" Granpoppy's voice cut through the haze in his head. He remembered, the fighting, Anna, Hans, Elsa, the sword through his shoulder and blood on Eira's face-

His eyes shot open again as he gasped, rolling to his side, gagging. "Hold his head, hold his head!" Granpoppy yelped as he emptied his stomach on the moss.

"What- what happened? Elsa? The baby!"

"They're fine, Kristoff! Elsa! Come over here!"

Elsa's very blonde head came into his view, eyes creased with worry and red from crying. "I'm here, I'm fine, the baby's fine-"

"E-Eira." He choked out. "Her name's Eira, Anna named her before she died-"

Elsa's face became tighter. "Our mother's name."

Kristoff struggled to sit up, but something was wrong, he was off balance…A sudden feeling of dread shot through his chest as he slowly, slowly looked down at his left side. It looked oddly misshapen, and it took him a moment to realize why.

His arm was gone.

He bit his lip, trying to keep back the rush of emotions. It was suddenly all too much. Far too much.

"The sword damaged your arm so much, we had to take it off. All the blood supply was cut; It was dead." Granpoppy explained, grief twisting his face. "I'm so sorry, Kristoff."

Kristoff shook his head, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. "W-what," He whispered, looking up at the former queen. "What do we do now?"

Elsa looked back at him, blue eyes sad, and for a moment, she looked so much like Anna, his heart ached.

"I don't know. I really don't know.

A/N: Ummm... so I killed Anna. Whoops. Just be grateful, 'cause in the initial draft, Christoff died too, until I decided that I liked his character too much. Also be thankful for my little sister, who was the one that convinced me to leave the epilogue in, so you weren't left hanging about whether he made it or not.

So, yeah. I watched the movie for a second time yesterday, and when she fell into that stream and her skirt froze, all I could think of is "Well, it's a miracle she didn't get pneumonia." And from there, it kinda just spiraled. I spent about six hours writing this when I really should have been studying for my General Veterinary Medicine midterm this week, but oh well. I didn't actually initially mean for it to get as dark as it did, but it just kinda happens with my writing.

About the domestic violence in here: I tried to make it as realistic as possible. Alot of abusers start out as the nicest people in the world. When things happen, and they hurt their significant others, they often apologize, seem to feel terrible, and make the abusee think it was their fault to begin with. And, alot of times, the people closest to the abused person have a hard time deciding if they should step in, whether its their business, at least until it becomes physical, which is what happened with Christoff. I didn't mean for this fic to become a weird, anti-domestic violence thing, it just kinda happened. Hans strikes me as the type.

The name Eira is a Norweigian name meaning 'mercy'. I thought it worked well.

And for anyone who was wondering, yep, Eira has ice powers too.

Peace out, ya'll.