Partially based on my previous fic Snow, Cold and Ice that I wrote prior to seeing Frozen. Basically, just understand that in this version of the story, Elsa used the cuffs in the dungeon as a method of keeping herself under control before her powers were revealed.

That special room

I woke slowly, my head pounding. The surface under me was cold but it was not my ice. There was a thick blanket thrown over me. Had someone actually taken pity on me or had they just thought I might be cold? There was no need. I didn't deserve their pity, I couldn't feel the cold.

I sat up slowly, the blanket falling to the floor. What had happened? I gazed dimly around the dark room, trying to piece my memory back together. They had come to my palace as the sun was setting. A few hours after I had struck my sister.

Eventually they had overpowered my guard snowman and stormed my castle. The men from Weselton had come after me with crossbows. Crossbows! I'd quickly learned just how powerless they were against me. I'd been ready to kill them…to push them to an icy death or impale them on an icicle.

But then Hans had reminded me. I was not a monster. I had stopped.

And then…

The arrow…

The chandelier…

Running…

Falling…

Light…?

There was light coming in from the window…a familiar window.

I leapt to my feet and ran towards the window. Halfway there, the chains pulled me to a halt.

It was then I realized: I know this room.

This was my dungeon, my secret room.

I glanced around at the all too familiar walls, the cold, unforgiving stone, the iron piling chaining me to the center of the floor, the cuffs that had held me so many times.

Hello again old friends…

How had they even found this room? No one but me had known of it.

The answer hit me as I stared down at the cuffs again. The door, of course. The morning of my coronation I'd been so nervous about what was to come that I hadn't concealed the door with its usual mirror-like coat of ice. They'd seen it right away and probably figured the cuffs were just a lucky find. Or a precaution put in place by my parents.

How convenient there was something to hold me back. Not that it was helping the ice.

My heart heavy with anticipation, I climbed over the chain holding me to the floor and stumbled to the window, stretching my arms out as far as I could.

"No." I gasped.

It was a scene from my childhood nightmares. Ships were frozen in the fjord, their masts and rigging coated in ice. Snow was everywhere. The houses of the village in the distance were buried in snowdrifts. The sky, which should have been clear and unbelievably blue was gray and crowded with clouds. My own reflection stared back at me, super-imposed on the horror I had created.

"What…What have I done?"

Anna was right. Never before had there been such a winter in Arendelle.

I whirled as there was a noise at the door.

Hans entered, carrying a lantern which he set down on the other bench. He walked slowly and approached me with his arms folded tightly.

"Why did you bring me here?" I demanded of him, my arms weighed down by the cuffs.

Hans stopped several feet from me, his arms still folded. "I couldn't just let them kill you." He said. He was shivering but he did not seem to be afraid. Then again, why should he be? I was a prisoner again. Trapped in my own hell.

"But I'm a danger to Arendelle." Even in the cuffs, the winter would go on. My kingdom, my people would suffer. The longer I was here the stronger the winter would rage. "Get Anna." I had to make sure she was alright, I had to apologize for hurting her again and try to fix this. If I could just talk to her, maybe, maybe it would settle me down enough to stop chilling the air around me. She would help me escape if I could just convince her it was for the best.

Maybe once I got far enough away the winter would fade…

Hans was staring at me, as if contemplating his next statement.

"Anna has not returned."

I whirled back to the window. No. No. No. My baby sister was still out there in the snow? With a piece of my ice in her? No. NO. NO. NO! Why hadn't she come back home? Why hadn't she stayed? Why had she come after me?

Hans was speaking again but I was not looking at him. "If you would just stop the winter…bring back summer." He begged me as I searched the window, desperately hoping to see my little Anna crossing the frozen fjord. "Please."

If only it were that easy.

Under that simple request, my resolve broke. Tears gathered in my eyes, freezing instantly.

"Don't you see?" I choked out, turning to face him. "I can't." I wasn't some evil witch holding the realm hostage with my powers. The powers were holding me hostage, destroying everything I held dear as they made my heart suffer.

Hans clearly had not anticipated or even considered that. He broke eye contact with me.

"You have to tell them to let me go…" I pleaded with him. If I could only get away, maybe then my people would be safe. Safe from me.

Hans was silent for a moment. "I will do what I can." He promised me.

Then he left, taking the lantern with him.

I breathed heavily into the darkness and silence. At least Arendelle had Hans right now. He seemed like he was taking care of things, or at least trying to. I didn't know him well, nor did I trust him. But Anna had found something in him worth loving I suppose.

Hans…he had caused all this. Trying to take Anna away…no!

No. I had done this. I was the one who couldn't bear to be alone when it was so necessary. If Anna left me, I would die.

A sudden shudder tore through my hands.

I watched in horror as the cuffs iced over. That had never happened before.

I tried to breathe, tried to conceal. Block out all feelings. Nothing was working. The cuffs gained a new layer of hard ice, delicately patterned as only snow could be.

I sank to the floor as helplessness crashed over me.

My power was still growing. It was only going to get worse the longer I was here. I turned back to the window where the wind was starting to blow.

This winter had only just begun.

I don't know how long I stood there, staring out the window, trying to get it under control. The winds had picked up until they had reached blizzard strength. Snow was whirled around outside. Arendelle was suffering more because of me. I needed to get away.

What was taking Hans so long?

A familiar sound finally broke my concentration. My ice was spreading throughout the room, shooting from the cracks between stones, building icicles on the support beams. It had never done this before. Then again, I'd never been this desperate to get out. Usually I was desperate to stay in, to hide it all away.

Fear quickly turned to determination. The longer I stayed here, the more ice would spread through the castle, through the town…If Hans couldn't get me out…

I tugged on the chains binding me as the ice around me continued to grow. They did not budge. My muscles quit after a few seconds, screaming in protest as I panted. I'd never been strong enough to break the cuffs before. But maybe this time, maybe…

There were voices at the door. I paused, listening.

"Hurry up!" Quick footsteps, growing louder.

A hushed whisper right outside. "She's dangerous… quickly!"

They weren't coming to let me out.

The ice had crawled to the door by this point, spreading thickly over the wood. So much for that escape.

I pulled harder, ignoring the pain. I'd built an entire palace from nothing! I'd walked on water! I'd created life! Could I really not break a damn pair of iron cuffs?!

Someone hammered on the door.

"It wont open!"

"It's frozen shut!"

My terror grew. I tugged on the chains again, throwing all my weight backwards, pulling until my arms were on fire. Nothing.

The voices were getting louder, the thumping on the door was increasing. Any second now they were going to burst through that door.

Anna was out there, slowly freezing to death. Because of me.

I stopped pulling and stood absolutely still, focusing. Inside the cuffs, I clenched my hands tightly.

Let it go.

The power rippled from me, icicles freezing their way in between every crack and cranny in the stones and wood behind me, diving into the metal around my hands repeatedly, freezing and expanding, tearing them apart…faster…faster!

The metal finally burst open, shattering under the force of my ice. At the same time, the stones around me crumbled and split open. The ruined cuffs that had held me back for so long clanged to the floor. But there was no room for triumph, for the door had just given way.

I scampered through the destroyed wall, the howling winds outside calming around me as I ran. I was the eye of the storm, the epicenter.

An epicenter that could move away. An epicenter that was vulnerable.

I stumbled across the ice, trying blindly to find my way away from the castle. I had to find my sister. Find her, get her to safety and then make a very big icicle. There was only one way to stop this winter.

I had to stop my heart.

A.N.: So this became more of a stream of consciousness thing, sorry about that. Reviews are appreciated and held in very high regard!