Clang.

Dozens of picks struck the ice in harmony. Pause.

Clang.

And again.

Clang.

It made a nice rhythm. A hypnotic one, even. The kind of rhythm one could sing a song to.

Clang.

It was also extremely boring. Now, using the tongs to yank the freshly cut cube out of the ice was the exciting part. And operating those pulleys was pretty fun, too. At least more fun than striking the ground endlessly to chip away at a frozen lake until there was something resembling a cube shape in the ground.

Clang.

But this particular ice-cutter wasn't thinking that at all.

Clang.

He was a big one, alright. Big shoulders, big muscles, big beard. But he was also standing several feet away from the rest of the ice-harvesters. They were off in their own groups, talking and joking amongst each other – anything to stave off the monotony. But not this one. He welcomed it. Frankly, he'd spent the last several hours perfecting the art of whacking the lake with a pickaxe while thinking about absolutely nothing.

Clang.

Especially not thinking about her.

Cla- Clang.

His clang had become dissonant from the rest. Stop thinking, he ordered himself.

Clang.

That was better.

Clang.

The point is, this man really, really wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone today. Or tomorrow. Or ever again.

"Hey, Adrian, you okay?" called out the orphan.

Clang.

"Uh, hello? I'm talking to you."

Reluctantly, Adrian the ice-cutter turned his gaze in the direction of the voice. A distinct head of unmanly blond hair was moving towards him.

Clang.

"What a day, huh?" came his attempt at conversation. "It's sweltering out here. Don't know how much longer this ice is gonna last, huh?" He gave a mischievous grin, as if something about the ice amused him.

Adrian stayed silent.

Clang.

"Uh… Is everything alright?" asked the orphan. Sure, his name was Kristoff, but to Adrian he would always be "the orphan." The little tyke who hung around all the bigger ice harvesters, completely awed by their work.

Definitely not the kind of person Adrian would assign any level of authority to, least of all the status of "ultimate supreme ice-cutter" or whatever position had been invented for him now that he was chummy with the royal sisters. Little orphan kid stomping around the ice like he owned it… Adrian had been harvesting ice long before Kristoff was even an idle thought in his absent parents' minds, and you didn't see Adrian getting any recognition.

"Adrian! Hello?"

"Don't concern yourself with me, boy," Adrian finally replied, moving his eyes away from the kid. "I know what I'm doing."

Clang.

"Oh, really?" Smugness crept into Kristoff's voice. "Is that why you've walked so close to the thin part of the ice? Y'know, the part that's about to break any minute now and send you to the bottom of the lake?"

Adrian's icepick froze mid-swing. "That's odd." He turned to inspect the surface of the ice by his feet, which was indeed beginning to crack and thaw. "It's too early for the ice to melt. Much too early."

"Yeah, well, the weather around here hasn't exactly been normal lately, has it?"

Adrian scowled and marched towards solid land. "Looks like we're done here."

Several other ice-cutters seemed to agree and were beginning to follow suit before Kristoff called out, "Hey, slow down, everyone! Let's not give up on this year's ice crop just yet! We've got one more trick up our sleeve…" There was that mischievous grin again. "Oh, look, here it comes now."

"No." Adrian's scowl deepened.

It was a pale, white palace horse, and atop it was an even paler woman. The queen was draped in a thin dress of some glittering, sky-blue material that showed off a leg. Any other person would've been crazy to go out on the ice dressed like that, even if it was getting warmer. But if the queen shivered, hugged herself, or did any of the other things normal people do when they expose their skin to the freezing cold, Adrian failed to notice.

The queen dismounted, then spoke briefly with Kristoff before giving him a small nod. He'd moved too far away from the gathering crowd of harvesters to hear what was being said, but Adrian had a feeling he could guess what was about to happen.

The queen walked towards the center of the lake, past the crowd of ice-cutters, past even the regions Adrian had judged too thin to walk on even when, going by Kristoff's smart remark, he had generously overestimated the ice's thickness.

Despite his distaste for her, Adrian had to admit Arendelle's newly crowned queen had every bit of authoritative grace the Official Ice Master lacked. With a single, dramatic stomp of her heel, the girl sent a shockwave of frost in all directions, leaving the lake as solid as if it were the dead of winter – or the way it had been yesterday, technically.

"Hey, look at that!" said Kristoff. "I'd say ice-harvesting season's just been extended."

The ice-cutters met the queen with a mixture of applause, cheers, and even catcalls – the culprits safe in the anonymity of the crowd. A nervous smile spread itself over her face.

Look at her. Proud of her curse. Adrian found himself scowling. His eyes stayed fixed on Queen Elsa until she'd mounted her horse and vanished over the horizon.

"Ummm, Adrian?" Kristoff cautiously approached him from behind. "Everything alright? You've seemed a little, err, touchy lately."

Adrian's reply was to spit in the queen's direction and hurl his icepick to the ground.

Clang.

"As long as she's here, I won't be."

"Adrian, hold up! What are you doing?" Kristoff called after him. "You said so yourself, you've been at this longer than me! You can't quit! Ice is your life!"

But Adrian ignored the boy. He stormed off towards the city, disappearing into a nearby thicket of trees.

"Ooooookay," said Kristoff. "That just happened."

When Anna had said she didn't skate, Elsa had assumed it was because she was scared.

Thud. "Oof!"

But as it turned out, Anna wasn't afraid of anything.

"No, no, I got this! Just lemme-" Thud.

She was just cringe-inducingly terrible at it.

"I'm okay!"

Of course, watching her little sister's head smack into the skating rink made Elsa's heart pump faster. But frankly, if bruising Anna was the worst her ice was threatening to do, Elsa didn't really have much to worry about.

Elsa had long since grown tired of skating, and now she was content to merely stand at the edge of the courtyard and watch Anna narrowly avoid high-speed collisions with snowmen and reindeer. Elsa shut her eyes. She was having a little trouble convincing herself that when she re-opened them, this would all still be here.

Every instinct in Elsa's body was telling her this was impossible. There was an entire crowd of villagers skating on the rink and marveling at the nearby frozen fountain, every last one of them taking in Elsa's magic like it was some quaint party trick. If you dialed the clock back a week, Elsa would have assured them there was nothing cute about her powers, and she would've proceeded to point out there was nothing but some small scraps of cloth over her hands stopping said powers from extinguishing the lives of every last one of them in a heartbeat.

But that had been before Elsa was aware her powers could build castles, turn courtyards into skating rinks, and bring snowmen to life. Elsa opened her eyes and glanced at a nearby glide-and-pivoting Olaf. Elsa could bring snowmen to life. Elsa could bring snowmen to life. She'd made that discovery days ago, and thinking about it still made her dizzy.

Not as dizzy as her sister looked, though. Anna somehow managed to skate her way to the edge of the rink, where Elsa readily caught her before her head could sustain further damage.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked a bemused Elsa.

"Yeah, never been better." Anna transformed the act of catching into a hug. Elsa didn't think the two of them had even gone ten minutes without hugging since the winter thawed. Just watching Anna put her arms around her without shivering was enough to make Elsa's stomach swell with joy.

Anna finally removed her ice-skates and stood by her sister on the solid, non-ice-covered cobblestone. "Phew, looks like the skating's winding down." She gestured to the throngs of citizens making their way back out the gates, probably to avoid the summer sun. There may have been ice everywhere, but that didn't make it any less scorching out. "Hmm... What else was on our itinerary?"

She counted on her fingers. "We shipped Hans off to get spanked by his brothers, re-opened the gates, replaced Kristoff's sled..."

"Oh, that reminds me," spoke up Elsa. "I refroze one of the ice harvesters' lakes. It's so much hotter out than usual, they're going to start melting fast. I thought I could help."

Anna nodded her approval. "Good idea. I mean, we don't really need ice harvesters anymore seeing as you're a walking lifetime supply, but, y'know, might as well give Kristoff something to do, right? Just so he can keep telling himself he's special." She smirked to herself. "You should've seen him, Elsa. He really believed me about an official Ice Master and Deliverer being a thing. It was so cute!" She started to laugh... until she caught sight of Elsa's face. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

Elsa gave a slow nod.

"I was just kidding!" Anna spun around to find a big, blonde mountain man staring her down. "What I meant was, uh, an official Ice Master isn't a thing yet, uh... because Elsa hasn't signed the paperwork."

"You don't think I'm special?" smirked Kristoff, giving his accompanying reindeer a scratch behind the ears.

"What? No, you're plenty special! I mean, you do goofy voices for your reindeer. Can't get much more special than that."

"Thanks, Anna, you always know just how to boost my self-esteem."

Elsa sighed and shook her head, letting herself hang back from the two of them. If she was being honest with herself, Elsa wasn't entirely sure why this man was still around. Yes, his help had probably saved Anna's life when she'd been running around in the freezing cold without the slightest clue what she was doing, but the palace had already rewarded him handsomely for that. In fact, maybe it was Elsa's imagination, but she could swear this not-unattractive young man was spending the vast majority of his time exclusively with her sister...

Well, Elsa supposed dealing with strangers was just a consequence of opening the gates. In fact, speak of the devil, here came one now.

Elsa spun her head to find a man making a wide arc around the ice-covered regions of the courtyard. He was tall and heavyset, and he would've looked younger if not for his gray hair. Despite the blazing summer heat, the man was draped in thick furs, not unlike Kristoff's ice harvesting outfit. Judging by his wild hair and overall smell, Elsa would venture to say he hadn't changed his clothes in days. The stranger came to a halt before her. From his snarling face, Elsa had a feeling he wasn't about to treat his monarch with complete reverence.

"Adrian?" Kristoff turned towards him, frowning. "What's up?"

The man ignored him, his glare fixed squarely on Elsa. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Hey, pal, use your indoor voice!" Anna immediately placed herself between them. "Well, actually we're outdoors, but use it anyways! That's the queen you're talking t-" But the her retort was cut off by a pale hand on her shoulder.

"I can handle this, Anna," Elsa said softly. Though she was visibly restraining herself, Anna managed to keep quiet.

"What seems to be the problem?" Elsa asked.

"The problem?" said Adrian. "You froze the whole country, and now you expect it to all be forgiven? You actually have the nerve to use your sorcery for- for decoration and trivial amusement?"

"Yes. I do." Elsa's face hardened. "What I use my magic for isn't your decision."

Adrian let loose an incredulous laugh. "And whose decision is it? Yours? You dropped in unannounced and tampered with our lake! What right do you have? Who's holding you accountable if you make things worse? "

Elsa's eyes narrowed. "I can control my powers now-"

"Can you?" cut in Adrian. "How do you know your ice isn't poison to the lake? And when it melts, how will you stop it from flooding with all the added water? Or are you going to leave it frozen forever so we always have plenty to harvest? Why not go ahead and hand your own ice directly to citizens, cut out the middle man? Completely throw out the way we've been doing it the last forty years instead of mostly-?"

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Anna's restraint had been in vain. "Elsa's ice is not poisonous!"

"Is that a fact?" spat Adrian.

There was a tense silence.

"Y'know what you need? A warm hug!"

"Agh!"

Whatever Adrian had been expecting by coming over here to complain, it hadn't been for an animate snowman to suddenly wrap its stick-arms around him. Adrian did what anyone would do when confronted with a pile of sentient snow – He screamed and punted it as hard as he could. Olaf went sailing through the air, but fortunately the sisters and Kristoff had the reflexes to catch all three segments before they could collide with the cold, hard ground.

"So that's a 'no' on the hug, then?" said Olaf's disembodied head.

"What is that thing?" Adrian stared at Olaf like he was some vicious beast.

"'That thing' is my snowman." Elsa knelt down to reattach Olaf's segments so she could cradle him in her arms like an oversized baby. "My magic brought him to life." Elsa gave Adrian a stiff glare. "I'm not concealing my powers anymore. If that's a problem for you, the gates are right over there." She pointed behind him.

"I was just leaving." Adrian snorted, then trudged off.

Elsa pursed her lips, watching him until he was through the gates and out of sight. For a minute, the sisters, boy, snowman, and reindeer all stood in stone cold silence.

"Well, someone's got an ice-pick up their butt," said Anna. "Can't we have him arrested for disrespecting the monarchy or something?"

"No, no, just… just leave him alone." Elsa's head drooped. "I don't think he was entirely wrong."

"Hey, don't go around thinking like that!" Anna spun towards her. "You did nothing but help the ice harvesters. That guy's just a stuck-up old fart."

Elsa stayed silent.

"Besides," Anna added, "I didn't go through that big huge adventure just to see you go right back to being all mopey every time some jerk's mean to you."

Elsa gave a small smile. "You're right, Anna. I just hope there's not more where he came from, that's all."

"I swear none of the other harvesters are like that," said Kristoff. "Me and Sven usually go it alone, but the older guys are cool. I practically learned everything I know from them."

"Any idea why this one had such a low opinion of me?" Elsa asked, folding her arms.

"Beats me," shrugged Kristoff. "Actually, he used to be one of the most level-headed guys on the team, but ever since the eternal winter, he's been kind of an- Well, you saw..."

"He sounded prejudiced against magic," said Elsa.

"Probably not hugged enough as a child," said Anna.

"And I bet his mom cut his sandwiches into rectangles instead of triangles!" spoke up Olaf. "That can really mess up a guy…"

"Oh, Olaf, I almost forgot about you." Elsa gently deposited him onto the cobblestone. "Are you alright now, little guy? Why don't you find something to do without Anna and me for a while?"

"You bet!" Olaf gave a confident salute and then bounced away out the gates, his personal flurry cloud following in place above his head.

"Why, where are you two going?" asked Kristoff.

"This Adrian person was at least right about one thing," said Elsa. "I shouldn't have used my powers unannounced like that. I couldn't have known how people would react, and I ended up upsetting somebody. I'm not repeating that mistake." She turned for the gates. "Let's get something else crossed off that itinerary, Anna. I haven't explored the town yet."

That was a depressing thought, Elsa realized. She hadn't set foot in her own hometown for thirteen years.

"Yeah, sure," said Anna. "What did you want to do, exactly?"

"I want to see how many citizens agree with Adrian."

"Well, everyone's gonna be on their best behavior if they see the royal sisters running around with a legion of guards," Anna frowned. "Hmm... Ooh! Ooh!" That spark in her eyes meant she'd had one of her infamous ideas. "Let's disguise ourselves as commoners! Then we can eavesdrop on people and get their honest opinions."

Elsa shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I still don't think this is a good idea..."

Elsa somehow found herself slinking into a dank, stinky tavern, her face concealed by a dull brown hood.

"Oh, come on," said Anna, tugging her own hood lower over her eyes. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Of course, they still stood out from the crowd on account of wearing such thick cloaks when it was sweltering out, but most people seemed to assume they were just homeless and promptly ignored them.

"Try to keep a low profile," Elsa whispered. "It's only been a day. The eternal winter's bound to be a popular topic of discussion. All we have to do is introduce the idea subtly."

"Yeah, sure, got it." Anna's eyes were practically glazed over with thrill. She immediately marched to the front of the crowded bar and slammed some coins on the counter. "I'd like to buy some drinks for my friend and me," Anna announced, not even bothering to disguise her voice. "And on a completely unrelated topic, what's your opinion of the queen?"

At the back of the bar, Elsa brought her palm to her face.

"Vhat a funny question." The bartender turned around, revealing himself to be a huge, blond, broad-shouldered man with facial hair that wrapped itself directly around the edges of his clean-shaven chin.

"I know you!" gasped Anna, stumbling backwards. "You're that sauna guy!"

"Oh no no no," the huge man chuckled. "That vould be my brother, Oaken. Totally unique individual."

"Ah. Of course." Anna sighed in relief. She'd nearly blown their cover in the most embarrassing, shoot-yourself-in-the-foot manner possible. "Now what were you going to say about my sister- the queen. I meant 'the queen.'"

"Vell, she seems like a nice lady." As he spoke, the bartender set to work preparing the girls' drinks – a murky brown liquid of dubious origin. "And she does have fancy ice powers. But on the other hand, she did nearly bring the whole country to ruin vith an uncontrollable vinter storm, so overall, the ratio of good to bad's not in her favor." He gave an apologetic shrug.

"I see." Elsa took a seat on a bar stool next to Anna's and pulled her hood tighter over her face. "And it doesn't bother you that the queen has sorcery?"

"Eh, my sister has magic, too," said the bartender. "Turned me into a salamander for three days once. True story." He handed the girls their drinks and then moved on to other customers.

"…Right." Elsa leaned in to whisper to her sister, "Maybe we should talk to someone else. Something about this man doesn't strike me as 'typical Arendelle citizen.'"

"Yeah, did you get a load of that accent?" scoffed Anna. "He must be from, like, the other side of the earth."

Unfortunately, the more "typical" citizens failed to paint a better picture of their new queen. Some complained of the sudden loss of their crops, gardens, and livestock from the cold, and even the people mostly unaffected by it still managed to find something to dislike about the "Snow Queen," as they called her. One particularly prudish customer even made a remark about how Queen Elsa was allowing her sister to run around the kingdom unchecked, become a party girl, and date a wild man.

"Oh yeah? Well maybe the princess doesn't care what you think of her!"

(Elsa had had to drag Anna away from that one.)

In the end, the girls were left seated back at the bar, staring into their drinks and fuming internally.

"Adrian was right about something else, too," said Elsa. "I don't know what exactly my powers are capable of. I spent so long hiding from them that I never experimented at all until I made the Ice Palace."

"He was still an idiot, though," said Anna. "I mean, your ice is not poisonous. That's just dumb!" She paused. "Um, it's not, right?"

"No, of course not." Elsa allowed herself a small chuckle. Anna had eaten it all the time when they were little. In fact, Elsa was about to say this aloud, but she caught herself.

Elsa had yet to explain to Anna about her altered memories. She was going to tell Anna – Really, she was – but something kept staying her tongue. Ever since the winter ended, Anna had been getting along so well with Elsa, but if she learned her mind had been tampered with... would she see Elsa differently? Would she still feel the same as now?

An old familiar guilt bubbled in Elsa's stomach. Anna, sensing her unease, smiled and placed her hand over Elsa's own. Elsa fought the impulse to jerk away.

"I know things have been hard for us, especially..." Elsa faltered. "...especially these last three years. But we're going to make things right. I'm making three promises to you, Anna." She counted off on her fingers. "The gates will always stay open, we will never do business with the Southern Isles or Weaseltown ever again, and our relationship is never going back to the way it was."

"Sounds like a deal." Anna leaned in for another hug. "And boycotting Hans and his no doubt equally crazy brothers is a nice touch."

"I'll never let anyone like Hans hurt you again," said Elsa. "In fact, I wouldn't hold it against you if you've been put off the idea of romance altogether."

"You, uh, also wouldn't hold it against me if I, totally hypothetical here, got a new boyfriend already, right?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"He's really nice and we went on an adventure together!" Anna hurriedly said. "That means we're bonded for life!"

"Anna..." Elsa failed to stifle a groan. "A couple days ago, you were begging to marry Hans."

"We're gonna take it slow," Anna assured her. "I'm not gonna marry anyone anytime soon, okay? Trust me, I learned my lesson."

"But you haven't known Kristoff that long, either. He's practically still a stranger."

"Yeah, a stranger who ran headfirst into a blizzard to try and save me with a true love's kiss." Anna rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not saying he's definitely my true love, but, c'mon, he's a good guy."

"Well, I wish you the best, then." Elsa found herself staring into her mug. "Sorry if I seem a little gloomy today. I'm happy, Anna. Really, I am. Our lives are so much better now. But... I wish that ice harvester hadn't had to open his mouth." She let out a heavy sigh. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised people are unhappy with me, considering everything I've done."

"Hey, what'd we say about not thinking like that?" said Anna. "Trust me, Elsa, give it some time, and I bet you'll go down as, like, the greatest queen in history. There's nothing to get all angsty about. Everything is fine."

"I know." Elsa smiled, sipped her drink... and immediately spat it back out, shrieking.

Every eye in the tavern fell on her. Screaming and jumping out of her seat had been a good way to draw attention to herself, but what really made people stare was more likely the fact that Elsa's overturned drink was now frozen to the counter.

Elsa made a noise halfway between a moan of pain and a sob, then fled the building.

"Elsa? Elsa, wait!" Anna was quick to follow.

For about a minute, the residents of the tavern stood in stunned silence.

"Heeeeey, that girl has ice powers!" said the bartender. "Funny, our queen has the exact the same thing…"

Anna found her sister just outside the tavern where they'd tied their horses, her back turned.

"Elsa, what's going on?" Anna asked in alarm. "You've been doing so great controlling your ice!"

Elsa slowly turned around to face her sister. Her eyes were red. "It… hurt… me," she spluttered, clearly at a loss for words.

"What did?"

"The drink," Elsa got out. "It hurt my tongue, and then, I- I- I don't know, I just made ice."

Anna blinked, puzzled. You could see the exact moment she connected the dots because she suddenly burst out laughing.

"I don't see what's so funny," Elsa grumbled.

"Oh, Elsa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Anna stifled her giggles. "That was hot chocolate. You just didn't let it cool down long enough. Haven't… Haven't you ever been burned before?"

"No," Elsa said tightly, "I've only recently gotten in the habit of not freezing everything I touch."

"But couldn't you still tell it was hot when you touched the cup?"

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't the handle feel warm?"

Elsa's face remained clueless.

"Wait a minute." Anna's eyes widened. "You have felt warm at some point in your life, haven't you?"

Elsa blinked. "I've felt… not cold?"

A wave of guilt hit Anna's chest. It was like if a deaf person suddenly got their hearing back, and then Anna laughed at them for freaking out at loud noises.

"Sorry," she said sullenly. "I didn't mean to be insensitive or anything…"

Elsa merely sighed and mounted her horse. "Let's go home." She flicked her tongue around inside her mouth. "That was the worst chocolate ever."