Expanded Summary: Elsa must travel to the Southern Isles for Hans' trial and sentencing. The last thing she expects after her arrival is for one of his brothers to ask the unthinkable of her: to grant Hans her pardon and spare him his life. What will it take to convince Elsa to push past the pain and hurt Hans caused and grant him a second chance?

The killer in me is the killer in you.

I send this smile over to you.

-The Smashing Pumpkins, Disarm

ONE

Raindrops from the fresh shower that had just fallen rested lightly on the crimson petals of roses past which they had just ridden. Momentarily crystallized, they reflected the white moonlight and twinkled like tiny diamonds, as if each one had been sewn onto a perfect place on each petal by a most delicate and careful hand.

This was what had first triggered the memory.

It had snuck up on her, like the wisp of a scent that had not been detected in years, and Elsa was startled. She blinked and sat up straight, for a moment uncertain as to whether the image had, in fact, been a memory and not some trick of her imagination.

Anna and Kristoff slept on the seat across from her, unaware of her silent unease. Anna's head rolled and jerked on his shoulder with every stone the carriage trotted over; Kristoff's was cocked back, nose pointing to the carriage ceiling. Both mouths hung open, each dripping drool just off the side.

Elsa leaned out the window, watching the roses with hungry curiosity, as if scribbled upon one she could somehow find an explanation. Something to further expand the knowledge of her vision.

A shadow fell across her face and she looked up. One of the guards riding alongside the carriage on his horse leaned over. "Is everything all right, Your Majesty?"

It took her a few seconds to gather her thoughts and reply that yes, everything was just fine. He assured her that the castle gates would be just past the bridge up ahead, perhaps suspecting that she was impatient to arrive. Elsa didn't bother correcting him, no matter how wrong his assumptions might be; she thanked him and retreated into the carriage, gaze still fixed on the landscape outside the window.

She was exhausted. And yet, as much as every muscle in her body begged for rest, her stomach twisted at the thought of where she'd be sleeping tonight.

She was certain that the bed would be comfortable, that she would be provided with the softest, warmest sheets. Dinner would be a feast fit to feed whole towns. There would be servants at her beck and call—people ready to drop what they were doing at a moment's notice to satisfy her every whim.

Yes, as Queen, she could expect to be lavished with the best of everything. But this was no luxury vacation. Elsa would have quickly traded all the comfort and extravagance that awaited her for a hard, damp spot under the bridge just to avoid spending time with the Southern Isles' royal family. She would swim her way back to Arendelle if it meant not having to come face-to-face once more with the man who had, hardly a month ago, attempted to murder her and her sister.

But that was a futile wish. Even if she could manage to avoid him in real life, he would surely continue to appear in her dreams.

Up ahead, the castle spires loomed in the distance, reaching up to pierce black skies.

What an odd time, she thought, to be remembering a fair-haired girl kneeling in a shadowed garden, holding a rose made of ice while an auburn haired boy peered on from behind a row of iron bars.

A/N: Just swooping in real quick to give my beta fluggerbutter a shout out and a MASSIVE thank you for helping out with this fic! *round of applause* :)