The giants nodded at Anna. They gave the signal to her to go ahead. Anna removed her vest to cover Elsa up as she hit the boat to take them back to the dam. Disembarking, Anna and Bruni made their way to the dam to lure the giants, but their way was blocked by Mattias and his soldiers. "Lieutenant Mattias!" she said.

"Princess Anna! What are you doing?"

"The dam must fall! It's the only way to fully break the curse!" Anna reasoned.

"We are sworn to protect Arendelle at all costs!" Mattias argued.

"Arendelle has no future until we make this right! King Runeard betrayed EVERYONE with that dam!" Mattias and his men looked back at the dam in thought, realizing that maybe, JUST maybe, they were complicit in everything.

"What?!"

"He lured the Northuldra into a false sense of security with the promise of the dam, but what he really wanted was to make them submit to him! And the only way to do that was disrupt the balance of nature! That's why the spirits betrayed everyone and when the previous leader raised one too many objections, he was isolated and stabbed to death! Mattias, please, trust me on this!" Anna pleaded. Mattias nodded.

"I trust you. If you truly believe this dam was behind everything, then do what you must. We'll help you at any step of the way. Right, guys?" he turned to his troops.

"RIGHT!" Using her powers, Anna lured the giants over, which was aided by Mattias and his troops hitting their swords and armor. Once she got the giants into position, they needed to get to safety.

"JUMP!"

"ARE YOU INSANE!"

"Trust me!" They jumped and Anna used her powers to summon the boat, which caught her, Mattias and his troops. Suddenly, under Anna's vest, came a low moan. "Elsa?" Anna asked hopefully. Elsa roused herself.

"Anna? What's going on?"

"I did it, Elsa. I destroyed the dam," Anna said. Suddenly, they felt the water wave rising. "HOLD ON EVERYBODY! HERE IT COMES!" Anna shouted. As the wave carried their boat across the river, Anna looked up and saw she could see the Enchanted Forest again, with no mist to show for it. She and Elsa succeeded in fully freeing everybody from the curse. The tidal wave eventually merged into the familiar fjord of Arendelle, surprising Mattias and his remaining troops.

"We're back", they muttered. Suddenly, the boat began to rise up as a new tidal wave formed.

"THIS IS IT!" Anna yelled. Just then, Elsa got a strange look in her eyes and she tossed Anna's vest off her and stood on top of the edge of the boat. This action surprised Anna. "Elsa! What are you doing?!"

"NO! THIS IS NOT IT!" Elsa then launched herself off the boat's edge, aiming her powers at the wave. "HERE!" she shouted as she froze the tidal wave. Arendelle was safe and sound.

After fishing Elsa out of the water and getting her back onto the boat, Anna directed the boat back to the Enchanted Forest where everyone was marveling at the sky and scenery that had been fully kept away from them. "34 years," Yelena said. "We've been trapped for 34 years and now, you both saved us all and for that, we are forever grateful". Anna and Elsa shook hands with all the Northuldra. Just then, Mattias stepped forward to Yelena, extending his hand.

"I would like to personally extend my apologies for whatever role I may have played in getting us trapped and for accusing you of starting the war," he said and to his surprise, Yelena took it.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Consider this a clean slate", she said. Mattias nodded. Meanwhile, Anna found Elsa sitting in a glade, talking to the spirits. Bruni hopped off Anna's shoulder to join them, almost as if they were waiting Elsa's decision to accept her true fate and join them or stay with Anna and lead a life she may have not been met to live in the first place.

"They said they would ensure Arendelle's protection", Elsa said when she saw Anna join and sit beside her.

"I sense a but coming," Anna half-jokingly said.

"If you agree to serve as its' queen in my stead, Anna", Anna nodded, but then her face fell as she realized the implications of this: Elsa may not be returning.

"Then, I guess, you're not coming back with me?"

"Let's try this again. Based on what we have learned or in our case, deduced, I have a choice to make now. I can join the spirits as the Fifth Spirit or I can stay in Arendelle and live a life that may be lacking in a sense of fulfillment when I could be doing more with my powers instead of just ruling a kingdom. I had warned you at the coast that this would happen if the curse was fully broken, because down the line, we are all met for something bigger. You can't be a princess forever, Anna, just like how I can't be a queen forever. The time is now for you to step up and become who you were meant to be, which is Arendelle's queen, powers or no powers. I know who I am, but maybe I can add a few loopholes of my own, especially since Bruni has made it known he wants to stay with us", Elsa explained. She turned to the Spirits. "Your condition is that Arendelle will be protected if Anna agreed to rule it, will I be correct?" The spirits nodded. "Would I also be correct in assuming Bruni will be returning with Anna?" Bruni nodded. "Okay, here's my condition: I will join you, IF", Elsa wrapped her arm around Anna. "I can stay with my sister. That's my condition." The spirits turned amongst themselves. Elsa did have a point: It wouldn't be fair for the spirits to release Bruni to Anna but then say she can't stay in an area that per the spirits, she had no place in. The Earth Giant picked up a large stone and tossed it in the air, it then collapsed into a bridge leading north. This surprised Anna.

"I had asked them before you came about there being a PHYSICAL bridge to cut down travel time in case I decided to stay or if anyone else wanted to come visit the Forest now that it's fully free. I think that the reason needed for the Fifth Spirit to exist is to ensure what had occured in the past did not happen again because, now that they are fully free, what's there to stop a more diabolical ruler or somebody who's not as accepting of magic from doing the exact same thing that Grandfather once did?" Elsa explained. Anna shivered at the thought, knowing Elsa was right and that her choice could potentially endanger the forest again, because if she stayed in Arendelle, who would be there to protect the Forest if she was right and somebody else would try and do the exact same thing and now that the forest is free, who would be there to stop them?

"Then maybe you should stay here," Anna said. Elsa furrowed her brow.

"Are you sure? Because my loyalty is to Arendelle first and foremost and nothing will take that away. Especially when it comes to you. I made a personal oath to myself when you were born I would ALWAYS be there for you, regardless of what our true roles are", she reasoned.

"But think about what you just said. If you stay in Arendelle, who would protect the forest if somebody decided to attack it again in the future?" Elsa froze at this statement. Maybe she should stay in the forest after all.

"Tell you what. Give us a day here to find out a bit more about The Fifth Spirit and what it entails," Anna offered. Elsa agreed and relayed this information to the Spirits, who accepted the proposal. Bruni then hopped back on Anna's shoulder.

Anna drafted a letter to Kristoff saying that Arendelle's future is secure and it is safe to return, adding that they uncovered the real reason behind Elsa's powers, why she has them, what had happened in the past and she may be assuming the role of queen down the line, because it's the only way the spirits would continue to ensure Arendelle's protection. Needless to say, when Kristoff received the letter, delivered by the Wind spirit, he was surprised at its' contents, but also proud that they saved Arendelle and uncovered the truth. "We leave tomorrow morning!" he announced to the townspeople, who murmured in agreement. Meanwhile, now that the forest was free again, the sisters bartered a treaty with the Northuldra tribe. Yelena was, understandably, hesitant, because the last time a treaty was made, the previous leader was killed and a war broke out, leading to the spirits' betrayal.

"No strings attached. Trust me on this," Anna said. Yelena smiled and agreed to the deal, shaking hands with Anna.

"Congratulations, Anna, you just made your first treaty as queen," Elsa said.

"I'm not officially the queen, and to be fair, I'm not so sure I want to be," Anna admitted. Elsa's face fell.

"So, basically, you're willing to jeopardize Arendelle because you're too insecure about your ability to be an effective ruler? Anna, YOU are the reason why the spirits chose you to rule Arendelle when the curse was fully broken! You're kind, compassionate, and respectful of other cultures and you sure as hell would not trick the Northuldra into a sham peace arrangement and then conspire to murder the leader. In short, you're EVERYTHING that man WAS NOT! So don't you EVER say that about yourself!" Elsa said, gripping Anna's shoulders, taking care to avoid Bruni, who was currently curled up on one of Anna's shoulders.

"I know! But, see, Elsa, you were GROOMED from the beginning to succeed Mama and Papa, I was NOT. I was always told 'Elsa would be queen, you would only succeed her if one or two things happened: 1. You died childless or 2. You stepped down'. Well, you haven't officially submitted your notice of abdication yet, so you should have made that treaty, Elsa, not me, because you're still Queen of Arendelle," Anna said. Elsa released Anna from her grip and Anna took off on a run, leaving Elsa puzzled.

AN: R&R!