Night unfolded quickly, overpowering the little light that remained with ease. Soon the moon rose overhead, an enormous glowing sphere in the sky. Elsa was able to see it well with no trees hindering her view as she sat on the beach tucked between a cluster of cold boulders.

She was all alone, and that was fine with her.

She'd come to that spot right after Anna left her and hunkered down. For hours she sat with her legs bent, arms hugging them close to her until she became so stiff that she had to stretch, and then she resumed the same position. Sleep threatened to take over but she didn't dare let herself slip and give in. She wanted to remain vigilant and aware of what was going on around her, so to take her mind off sleep she tried to distract herself by thinking of other things.

Her mind was a complete blank. She felt frozen, which made thinking hard for her. It was windy, and though the rocks helped block the chilly wind from blowing her hair around her face and into her mouth, it didn't keep the cold away. The rocks were not that good of a shelter, but it was better than nothing. She'd rather have rocks protecting her from the wind than haunted caves filled with dead people...

Don't think about that, Elsa chided herself, suppressing a shiver and drawing her mind away from the thought of caves and anything that could spark the waterworks behind her eyes. If she so much as thought about what went on in the cave while she had been gone she wouldn't be able to function right. After all, wasn't it her fault that Hans was dead? If she'd returned a lot earlier than she had she could have prevented the entire thing from happening.

That's what she wanted to think, but could she really have stopped it? Or would it have happened regardless? Or... would she be dead now instead of Hans? She had no answers for any of her questions. Not even the most important question that was stuck in her brain: What am I going to do now?

The only thing she could think to do was stay in one place and wait for morning to return so the rescue team she expected to come would find her and take her away from there, take her back home where she'd once again see her beloved brother. All she desperately wanted was to return to her dear Olaf again.

Something told Elsa she'd never get that chance.

"Life is complicated and fragile," she concluded wearily, lowering her head to rest on her arms positioned on top of her knees, tucked close to her chest.

After a few minutes of listening to the waves crash onto the beach, Elsa sighed heavily and unfurled her arms, moving into a horizontal position and watching the beautiful stars twinkle above in the dark night sky...

And without meaning to, she fell asleep.

Tiny plops of water rained down on her from above, causing her to scrunch her face in annoyance. Brushing her arm against her face to get rid of the drops that stuck to her, mumbling gibberish, Elsa turned on her side and shivered as the ice-like mattress beneath her chilled her bare skin, making her restless and irritable.

Wanting to be enveloped in warmth, eyes still closed shut, she felt around for her blanket to cover herself with. Her hand blindly searched the area around her and came up empty, touching nothing but air and the cold thing she lay upon.

It's a rock, she recalled hazily, not a mattress. I'm not in a bed.

Frowning, wishing she were in a plushy bed like in the pleasant dream she just woke up from, Elsa turned again before finally retracting her eyelids. What she saw bewildered her. She found herself looking up at a lightening sky, the sort of sky one would see when morning was approaching. The stars were fading and the moon was no longer in sight. Peeking just over the ocean line, the sun was beginning to rise.

That's impossible, she thought. How could it be morning already? The sun had gone down not too long ago! Unless...

She shot up quickly, suddenly realizing that she'd stupidly fallen asleep. She moved too fast and her momentum carried her forward, causing her to tumble off the rocks and into the sand head first, landing awkwardly as her ankle got caught between a wide crack between the boulders. Immediate pain shot up her leg as her ankle twisted before it popped loose from the hole.

Seconds crawled by and Elsa didn't move from where she'd fallen, at least not right away. Only when she felt more droplets fall on her did she push herself up so she was on her hands and knees. That was when she noticed the pair of feet in front of her. And just as she raised her head to see who the feet belonged to— though it wasn't hard to figure out since there was only one other living person on the island with her — a downpour splashed onto her head, soaking her.

Shaking off the water, Elsa sputtered out snappishly as Anna dropped the empty canteen in the sand, "Why did you do that?"

"Elsa... I've been up all night thinking..." Anna said, ignoring her question. She pawed the sand with her foot and stepped on the canteen, pushing it deeper into the sand until it wouldn't go down any further.

"What?" Elsa smacked the sand off of her and limped to her feet. She was careful not to put too much pressure on her right foot.

Anna's eyes were dull and red-rimmed, and it was obvious she hadn't gotten any sleep. "Like... we're about to leave this place in a few hours... probably." She gestured towards the rapidly rising sun and then limply let her arm fall back to her side. "That means we'll return to civilization... we'll go back to living with other people... and following laws." She put much emphasis on the last word and sharply cast an uneasy glance Elsa's way.

Elsa didn't quite understand what Anna was getting at. "That's the plan… Yeah."

"Yeah," repeated Anna. "You know how when you don't follow laws you get arrested and sent to jail?" Elsa nodded slowly. Anna forced a tight smile. "When someone murders someone else, regardless of where the murder took place, the murderer usually goes to jail. Isn't that right? And sometimes, depending on how bad the killing actually was, the murderer just might get the death penalty."

Finally Elsa understood what Anna was getting at. She's afraid of being sent to jail. She's afraid I'm going to tell on her. "You want me to act as if it never happened, am I right? You want me to lie about what you did to Hans."

"Technically it's not lying if you don't mention it..." Anna hinted.

"They'll search the island, Anna. They'll find Hans and they'll ask a lot of questions!" Elsa said, her voice rising. "Look, you did it and now you have to face what you've done. That's how the world works! Yes, you'll probably go to jail but I doubt you'll be put to death. And they might go easy on you if you plead insanity... I mean, it wouldn't be a complete li—"

"Excuse me?" Anna said enraged, the words shooting out of her mouth like angry bullets, killing the rest of what Elsa was planning to say. "Are you saying I'm mentally unstable?"

Elsa's mouth moved but no sound came out.

It didn't matter. Anna was ticked and wouldn't give her room to speak. "I just wanted to survive and I came up with the only possible solution I could think of. It was either I found something to eat or I dropped dead, and the latter wasn't an option for me. I wouldn't have done it if I knew there was a chance we'd get out of here. How was I supposed to know some stupid plane was going to decide to fly on by? We're not even sure we're going to be rescued!" she retorted. "You see one plane and immediately think we're out of here! We'll we're not in the clear yet, sister! We're still here on this cursed, bloody island. And if we do so happen to leave this place, I will not"— she jabbed a finger into her own chest— "I will NOT spend the rest of my life stuck in a fucking jail cell or mental institution!"

Panting heavily, Anna wiped perspire dampened hair away from the front of her face and stated oddly calmly, "I talked to Hans about this."

Elsa stiffened. "You… what? Talked… to Hans?" She inched a step backwards, disbelief written all over her paling face.

"Yep." Anna bobbed her head expeditiously. "We talked it over, but he wasn't really much help. I think he was on your side, actually, but what else is new? So after a while I just ignored him and decided that something had to be done. Because I knew you were going to tell. I bet even if I tried to talk you out of it and had you promise me you wouldn't say a word of it you'd still tell. That's just the kind of person you are: a goody-two shoes," she said loathingly.

Depression descended down on Anna and she slumped her shoulders. "It's a pity, really. I had such high hopes for the two of us. I thought once we were out of here we could really form a great relationship, you know? I envisioned us building a life together," she sadly revealed. "And I thought that I'd finally get to be happy. Really happy." She sighed and shrugged helplessly. "Now that doesn't seem likely."

Anna swiveled her head from side to side as if searching for something and bent down to pick up an object that was half buried in the sand. At first it appeared to be nothing more than a long stick, but as she lifted it up Elsa caught sight of the steel blade specked with dried blood at one end. The sight of it instantly froze her in place and if she had a full bladder she would have dribbled in her pants.

Anna effortlessly held the axe at her side and leaned it against her leg to rub her hands together before she gripped the handle again. "It saddens me to say this, but there's really no other way. Elsa... I'm going to have to kill you."

"Kill me?" squeaked Elsa, cringing at the image that developed in her mind of the axe plunging into a part of her body, slicing through her skin and bones as if they were nothing but flimsy, brittle paper. "Ha ha, you're so funny," she said in a faked lighthearted tone, trying to play it off, badly wanting to believe that Anna was pulling a very sick, cruel joke on her. Surely she wasn't serious about killing her? She wasn't THAT crazy…

Was she…?

The resigned but determined expression the redhead wore was answer enough.

Anna was not fooling around.

"I cannot risk you turning me in. I won't spend the rest of my life locked behind bars!" Anna declared vehemently. Then in a disturbingly tender tone she said, "Please don't fight me or try to run, Elsa. Let's just... get this over with. I promise I won't let you suffer like Hans. You don't deserve that. You may feel some pain, for it'll take at least two well-placed chops on your neck before it snaps and separates. But look on the bright side, once it's done you won't remember feeling anything at all."

Anna advanced towards her and Elsa retreated away from her, maintaining the distance between them. The evasive move didn't make Anna happy and she clinched her jaw, warning sharply, "Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Elsa. Stay still."

Elsa's eyes darted wildly in every direction. Anna once again took a step towards her and she backed up even more. Her heel bumped against a solid object as she continued to back away— the boulder she'd slept on— and she stumbled and fell back onto it, her legs flying up into the air, delivering an unintentional kick that connected solidly with Anna's jaw, smashing her teeth together.

The insane girl was just about to swing the axe vertically down on Elsa, aiming it in no particular spot, when her feet struck her. The blow made Anna release the handle, her hands flying up to grasp her jaw, and the axe dropped, the blade striking the boulder with a metallic clang, sending sparks flying.

The blade just barely missed Elsa's shoulder.

The axe bounced off to the left side and settled quietly into the sand, and Elsa unthinkingly threw herself in the opposite direction, rolling off the rock and into the sand before getting to her shaky feet and running like hell— or trying to. Her sprained ankle gave out on her and she collapsed but she continued moving, scurrying forward on her hands and knees before lurching to her feet once again.

Behind her, Anna swore, furious about her slipping out of her grasp. She snatched the axe up and shoved her dirty, scraggly copper hair behind her ears and charged after the fleeing girl.

Elsa forced herself to run on her hurt ankle, slipping and stumbling across the sandy ground, doing her best to block out the pain that accompanied each footstep she made with her right foot. Each step she took made her want to just quit and stop to ease the pain, however, it was a life or death situation. She had to deal with her ankle or else she would become confetti, chopped to bits and pieces.

To her right, the sun continued its ascent, flying above the horizon line and shedding light on the beach, the beams given off sending shards of light across the sea and onto the shore, making the sand almost golden. The view looked absolutely breathtaking, like something she'd see only in movies or magazine photos. Never once had she been up early enough to see the sun rise since being on the island. It was too bad she was unable to properly enjoy the sight.

Limping at a fast pace —and although she wasn't running as fast as she would have liked, she was moving, and that was what mattered— she chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw the other girl pursuing her with the axe in hand. She received some comfort because the axe would surely slow her down due to its weight, giving Elsa a slight advantage. Not much of one since her injury was making her awfully slow, but it helped somewhat.

Where am I going to go? Elsa frantically thought as she hustled her way down the beach, her feet kicking up sand behind her as she went. No matter where she went, Anna would eventually catch her. If she ducked into the forest she might be able to lose her, but she refrained from doing so. The tree roots and weeds that would undoubtedly be in her path would hamper her progress, and she didn't want to get tangled in another vine and end up a sitting duck.

Elsa snuck a second furtive look at her pursuer and felt an electric jolt of fear shoot up her spine when she realized Anna was gaining on her. It wouldn't be long before she'd be able to take a good swing and implant the blade into her side.

She couldn't let that happen!

Thinking quickly, Elsa veered off to the right, limping towards the salt water, plunging into it fully clothed. What exactly was she doing, jumping into the ocean when she was being chased by an axe murderer? It seemed like a crazy thing to do but it was the only idea Elsa could come up with at the moment. If she swam out far enough, and if Anna followed her, it would be impossible for her to use the axe. She couldn't possibly swim and keep possession of the axe at the same time, and swinging it while her body was partially under water would slow the momentum and make the axe virtually useless and easy to dodge. For the moment, the water was her only hope.

The problem was Elsa was not a very good swimmer.

This was evident as she doggy paddled sloppily away from shore, splashing noisily and making very little progress. She knew how ridiculous she looked swimming the way she was, and at a snail's pace too, but as embarrassing as it was, she was too afraid to try anything else for fear of drowning. Ever since the time she drowned in an above ground pool at a family friend's house when she was eight-years-old, Elsa became deathly afraid of deep pools of water. For the longest time she refused to take baths, choosing the shower instead, and she would stay far away from the ocean if her family went to the beach.

It was years later now and she was older and a little less afraid of large bodies of water, though her fear of drowning was still strong. She was almost certain that if she leaned too far forward trying to swim more efficiently her face would fall into the water and she'd panic and take a lot of it into her mouth, breathing it in, sucking it into her lungs.

A small wave of water created by her so-called swimming leapt into her mouth. Choking and spitting the salty fluid out, it dawned on her that jumping into the ocean was probably not such a good idea after all. If Anna chose to come after her right then she'd catch her in a heartbeat, and that's if she let go of the axe. At least on land she would have a good chance of running away— and tripping and losing her limbs painfully, one by one once Anna caught up with her. Truth was, if she had a choice between dying from drowning or dying by being chopped into pieces, Elsa would choose drowning. There'd be pain either way, but at least she wouldn't be hacked into bloody pieces while she was still alive. Drowning seemed to be the more peaceful option.

Decision made, Elsa paddled onward. It was too late to change her mind and turn back, anyway. Anna was waiting for her back on land and she'd never get out and away in time.

Anna stopped where the water reached the shore and shouted for her to come back. "Don't make me chase after you!" she hollered shrilly. She entered the water, allowing it to reach up to her ankles, lapping at her skin and the worn bottoms of the jeans she wore, and she stared at Elsa as she swam farther out in an attempt to escape. Her gaze falling to the axe in her hand, Anna took a moment to think about what she was going to do next. If she decided to go after Elsa she would have to ditch the axe—or she could wait till Elsa swam back to shore.

How long could she stay out there? Anna wondered. She noticed Elsa had stopped swimming, her body bobbing in place from the waves that lightly pushed into her. Apparently she had gone out as far as the sand beneath her was reachable. Which meant she could be out there for hours...

Too long, Anna decided. "That water will be your grave," she said darkly, hurling the axe aside and diving into the salty water. No more wasting time. She had to take action now. There was no telling how much time they had left before rescue arrived— if it even was coming. She had to get rid of Elsa before they did or else there would be problems she didn't want to think about.

Unlike Elsa, Anna was an excellent swimmer. She learned how to swim at a very young age after being thrown numerous times into a smelly old pond in her backyard by her mother when she was in one of her drunken fits. Gradually, as the years went by her swimming skill increased greatly as she practiced often at a friend's house. She was speedy and had great stamina and could swim for a long time without tiring. She plowed through the water like a torpedo, her powerful arms slicing rhythmically into the water as she sped straight for Elsa, who immediately panicked as she saw the girl approaching, lost her footing on the last inch of floor she could stand on, and went under the surface for a split second before resurfacing with a big splash.

Elsa's frantic paddling splashed water into her face, eyes and mouth, causing her to flounder and flail about as she coughed, gasped, and sputtered while at the same time trying to stay afloat, which wasn't an easy task for her.

There was much commotion as she tried hard to stay above the water, and several times her head became totally submerged. Each time she went under her panic grew, and she knew if she didn't get a hold of herself, if she didn't get herself under control, things were going to get even worse. So Elsa stopped struggling and kept herself above water by kicking her legs underneath her and moving her arms outward and then back. Spitting out gobs of water, Elsa scanned her surroundings for Anna.

And saw no sign of her.

A stab of fear exploded up her spine and, gasping like a fish, she looked around wildly for her. Where had she gone? She wasn't back on the beach calling out to her, nor did she appear to be in the water. Elsa's eyes drifted downward. The water was clear enough to see the sand at the bottom so if Anna had swam under she would have been able spot her.

So where WAS she?

And then Elsa sensed too late the presence behind her, the feeling of having someone standing uncomfortably close. Her fear of drowning had been so strong that while she was trying to keep above the water, she totally let Anna slip her mind, forgetting for the moment that she was being hunted and focusing solely on her efforts to remain above the surface. If she had paid a bit more attention, she would have noticed Anna dive under and resurface behind her.

She was slow to react, for by the time she ordered her legs to bring her forward to distance herself from Anna, and before she could ready herself to fight her off, two strong hands erupted out of the water behind her with an explosive splash and latched onto her shoulders with a death grip that hurt, the fingers biting into her clothing and flesh. Flinching from the miniscule pain she received from this grip, Elsa tensed her body. Momentarily she felt Anna's warm breath against the side of her neck, and for a second she thought the girl was going to kiss her there.

Anna didn't kiss her. Her lips skipped past her neck and continued up to her right ear, brushing against the small hairs on her earlobe as she coldly hissed, "I won't let you ruin me. It pains me to have to do this, but there's no other choice."

Elsa tried to spin out of the seemingly unbreakable lock-hold she had on her and screamed, "Anna, no! Don't—" before she was immersed underwater with a powerful shove.

Anna straightened her arms and locked her elbows in place as she pushed down, down on her shoulders, pushing her head further below the lukewarm water and keeping her there. It was not an easy task, what with the constant thrashing and kicking as Elsa fought to get back up. Determination left Anna impassive as she struggled to keep her in place. "Don't fight me, Elsa," she chided. "I want to get this done quickly. You're not accomplishing anything by fighting me, only prolonging your impending death."

Salt water clogged Elsa's ears, preventing her from hearing her words. She futilely fought to escape, to get away and breathe in the oxygen her lungs were craving badly. They were starting to burn and her body was telling her to open her mouth to let in air. She wanted to comply badly but knew the very second she did so she would die. But she couldn't hold her breath for much longer.

She felt herself starting to give in and stopped herself in time, focusing all her energy on not breathing. I have to do something, she thought frantically, forcing her eyes open. Her natural reaction upon being submerged was to close her eyes tightly. Now that she had them open she noticed rocks of all shapes and sizes resting at the bottom of the sand. One rock in particular caught her attention. A silver rock with a point similar to a well-sharpened kitchen knife half buried in the sand. Elsa attempted to pick it up using her feet and successfully sliced the arch of her right foot. She squelched the urge to breathe in sharply from the pain, and as her blood mingled with the salty water, the salt stinging her wound, instead of fighting Anna's hold to get to the surface, she went with the push and knelt down. Her fingers grasped the edge, being careful to avoid getting cut by the tip.

And then she had it, and just as she swung the knife-like rock backward, towards Anna, her vision blurred and went black.

AN: Sorry for the delay. I had this chapter done like forever ago but I held off on posting it until I had a general idea of how the story was going to end. There's about one chapter left before this story comes to a close. Fasten your seatbelts!