Chapter 9:

"W-what's going on?" I ask, confused, alternating my gaze between Bulda and the soldiers, who are pushing us towards the center of the town (that is, if these dozens of poorly constructed ramshackle huts can be called a town). However, no one answers my question; Bulda just looks at me, eyes colored with sadness and compassion, while Olaf appears to be just as confused as I am. Marshmallow, a towering figure half a step behind Olaf, just keeps looking to the front with a mixture of anger and helpless frustration.

This is just so weird! I don't understand why the soldiers woke us all up in the middle of the night, or why everyone is so sad about it. I mean, I get the weary looks, and the anger, but… why are they sad?

We come to a stop where the soldiers indicate, and at first I can't see anything but the whipping pole in the distance. But then the soldiers start searching for children, and they take us to the front. I try to resist, holding Bulda's hand as hard as I can, but she doesn't hold me back, and only whispers a small "It's okay" before I'm taken away.

They put me with the other children and push us forward, forcing our group to form a circle around the pole. Now only a few paces away from it we can see… five human figures; three adults and two children, their faces covered by sacs, and their hands tied behind their backs.

I know what this is, even though I've never seen it with my own eyes. And I know why they brought the children to the front; they want us to see.

"I am sure you're all wondering why we brought you here in the middle of the night." A man starts talking. He's tall and muscular, and his voice is powerful, carrying the iron weight of authority. He's dressed with the uniform of Arendelle's soldiers, but has multiple medals on his chest and a ornate sable on his hip, so he's obviously a high ranking commander of some sort.

"Well, it is with great displeasure that I inform you tonight that these Northerners tried to escape from the Northern Lands." He points to the people beside him, and chills run down my spine. I know his next words before he pronounces them. "As you may know, the punishment for such a crime is death."

No one dares utter a word, so silence reins for a few seconds. I look around nervously and note most people have disapproving looks in their faces, but I don't know if they're directed to the ones who tried to escape or to the commander.

"We deemed them too dangerous to be kept alive any longer, and so the execution will have to take place now, despite the late hour." He continues explaining. "I don't need to remind you that your presence is mandatory, and anyone who tries to leave before this ends will be punished accordingly." He adds with a threatening voice and a scowl on his face. I can't help wondering what such a punishment would imply.

"I just hope their deaths will serve as an example of what happens to the ones that go against the law." He concludes before turning around and giving the soldiers a signal, to which they promptly proceed to remove the bags from the prisoners' heads.

As I noticed before, three of them are adults; two women and one man. The woman who is farther away from me has white hair and blue eyes, and is relatively young. The man beside her has grey hair and a long equally grey beard, though I don't know if that's because of his age or because he is an ice-wielder. The other woman, however, looks remarkably different from the other two; she has red hair, freckles and green, scared eyes. She looks pretty young too, and so helpless I feel the urge to liberate her. More so, considering she's trying to calm down the two kids, presumably her children.

The girl right next to her has to be around my age, but her body is frail and I can clearly see her bones through the thin fabric of her ragged dress. She looks like she's never had a good meal in her life. Her scared eyes have a greenish color, her hair is brown, and she seems to have inherited the freckles from her mother. She looks just so vulnerable, so scared, crying and asking her mother what's going on.

Her brother is more composed, but his eyes betray his outwardly calm appearance, showing the true fear and despair he feels at the situation. He has the red hair and green eyes of his mother, and is just as thin as his sister. But his height betrays his age, and it looks like he's on the cusp of manhood.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts, however, when Olaf, who's next to me, suddenly talks.

"They look like they all need a warm hug, don't you think so Marshmallow?" He asks his older brother, who just looks down at him and shakes his head with a grave expression, indicating to Olaf that his words aren't appropriate in this situation.

Sometimes it's easy to forget he's only a couple of years younger than me, given how naively he acts. And though his commentaries are usually endearing, funny and well-intentioned, I have to agree with Marshall this time; he needs to keep his mouth shut. His silly smiles and positive attitude are utterly out of place here.

"Well, let's proceed with the execution." The commander speaks once more before turning to look at the prisoners. "Northerners, by the order of King Agdar of Arendelle, you are hereby charged with trying to escape from the Northern Lands, even after having been exiled. As such, your punishment is death, to be carried out immediately." He pauses, stepping forward and drawing out his sword. "Any last words?" He then asks, but no one dares speak; two of the adults just glare at him with despise and anger, but the family looks more scared and hopeless than anything. "Very well." He nods, his eyes darkening before he steps towards the white-haired woman.

Silence reigns for a few tense seconds. I can hear my heart beating fast inside my chest. I clench my fists, almost hurting myself with my nails, if not for the gloves I'm wearing.

I wish mom was here. She'd stop all this, I'm sure.

But mom isn't here. No one stops the man when he presses the sword against the woman's neck and quickly slices it wide open.

Blood. So much blood. Blood like rivers flows to the ground, before the woman drops dead.

It's such a gruesome sight. I want to look away, or close my eyes or something… But I can't. I can't do anything except hyperventilate when the same blood-stained sword cuts open the man's neck.

The magic inside my veins fights to come out, agitated by the horrors in front of me. But I know it'd only make everything worse. I can't let it out.

Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel. I repeat inside my head my old mantra, but not even that can placate my magic; not when the one to be murdered next is the kids' mother. They're going to kill her in front of them, not caring that they look to be in the verge of crying, no doubt already knowing what's about to happen.

I try to force myself not to look at them, but I can't, and I soon find myself staring into the green eyes of the girl. Innocent eyes of an innocent girl just like me. A girl who is just seconds away from becoming an orphan, and minutes away from dying.

I can't allow that, I just can't! It's unfair, it's monstrous. What kind of person would I be if I do nothing? I know no one else will step up because it'd be suicide, but I… I have the power. I can save them. I will save them.

Before I can think better of it, I find myself running to where the commander is (ignoring Marshall's cry of "wait, Elsa!"), just as he's about to strike the woman, and place myself between the two of them, yelling at him to stop.

He appears disconcerted for a moment, but then he quickly recovers, realizing what's going on, and glares at me.

"Back off, kid." He says in a warning tone. "Unless you want to join them." He points with his head to the two corpses laying behind him, but I force myself not to look or be intimidated.

"Please, don't kill them." I decide to ask nicely first; the last thing I want is to use my powers. "The children are innocent, and they would never survive without their mother. Can't you just let them go for now?"

"You know the law." He answers, not caring about what I just said. "So now, back off or I'll be forced to kill you as well."

I glare at him, determined to stay my ground, and ready to release my powers if he were to attack me. But before either of us have a chance to act, someone takes my hand and pulls me towards them. I look up to see it's Bulda.

"I'm sorry, commander." She says bowing her head. "Please forgive her; this is her first time seeing an execution."

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again; trying to save criminals is punished harshly." He warns her.

"Of course, thank you, sir. You're very generous." She answers, again bowing her head before starting to drag me back with the others. I quickly look at her, wanting to be mad at her for stopping me, but… I know she's just trying to save me. She loves me very much, and doesn't want to lose me, so it's logical she'd do something like this. And I wouldn't want to make her sad, since she's been so nice with me, so maybe I can… I can let them die… right? I mean, why would I risk my own life for a bunch of strangers?

But as I look back to them, I feel the need to pull away from Bulda. The mother has her head bowed, jaw tense in anticipation of her destiny, but she's not trying to escape. The boy has an air of resignation or sadness, as if he'd already expected someone to stop me from saving them. But the girl… gosh, the girl is looking straight at me, and in her eyes shines a combination of desperate hope and a silent plea of help. She has faith in me. She thinks I can save her even though she doesn't know what I can do. She's practically begging for help with her eyes! And she's not looking at Bulda, or Marshall, or some other bigger person. No, she's looking at me. I'm her only hope.

Silently asking Bulda to forgive me, I pull away from her grip as strongly as I can, which causes her to be left with my glove on her hand, but that's okay; I won't need it.

Before she can try and stop me again, I turn around and release a blast of magic at the commander, just as he's about to thrust his sword forward and end the woman's life. And though my magic hits it's its target (his chest), his armor protects him, and so the blast sends him flying a few meters but doesn't kill him. Instantly, the other soldiers point their weapons at me, ready to attack.

I don't want to kill them, but I don't have full control of my magic, so I can't say I won't.

They first try to attack me with their crossbows, but my powers automatically raise a thick wall of ice around me, so the arrows don't hit me. Soon, realizing it isn't working, some come at me with their unsheathed swords. But before they can even get close, icicles sprout from the ground, lethally wounding some of them and leaving others with deep cuts on their limbs.

I didn't mean to do that. I only wanted to freeze the floor and make them slip, but… my powers just won't obey me.

I want to throw up at the sight of blood, of soldiers screaming and trying in vain to escape from me. But that's impossible; the more agitated I become because of what I'm seeing, the more powerful my magic becomes… which of course leads to more gruesome sights around me. It's a vicious circle I can't escape. But at least I'm not dying, nor are the Northerner kids behind me.

I still try to get my magic in control though; try to stop it from killing everyone, and instead focus solely on incapacitating them, and for a moment it seems like I'm succeeding. I hit one in the knee, leaving him crying in pain on the ground. I freeze another in place. I blast away the weapons of a third one, and I'm about to drop a giant ice cube on the head of another, when in the midst of the confusing battle, I hear a piercing scream resonating behind me.

I halt my attacks for a second, turning around to see what happened, only to find… the captain standing above the woman's corpse. The girl had been the one to scream, and now she was crying and struggling with her binds as she sees her mother's body lying on the ground.

The captain. I forgot about the captain.

My guts twist as a sudden anger invades my body. I'm angry at the captain for killing her. Angry at myself for forgetting about him. Angry that I wasn't powerful enough to penetrate his armor. Angry at the world for putting me in this situation.

I should have killed him before he killed her. It's the disturbing thought that causes revulsion in me, yet… it makes sense. If I had killed him, if I had aimed for his head instead of his chest, then maybe the woman would be alive, and her kids wouldn't be orphans now.

And why should I care for their lives anyway? These soldiers sure as hell don't care for our lives. They'd happily kill me if given the chance. They'd kill Olaf, Marshall or Bulda without hesitation. They keep oppressing us, abusing their power and protecting themselves behind the fact that they're under the crown's orders. So why should they live? How would that make this world a better one?

Before I have time to come to a conclusion though, the captain takes the little girl by her hair and pulls her up, holding on despite her screaming and desperate attempts to get away. He presses his sword against her thin neck and looks at me with a defiant expression. He wants me to see that all my efforts were for nothing, but I won't let him take another life. Even if I have to take one myself.

Resolved, I raise my gloveless hand and point it towards him. I'm shaking. My whole body is shaking. I feel the magic pulsating in my veins, begging to be released. Due to my agitated state, more icicles form around me, wounding and killing the soldiers unfortunate enough to be in the range of my magic.

A knot forms on my throat and tears fall down my eyes. I don't want this. I don't want to kill anyone. I don't want to be a monster… But I have to. It's the only way.

Hardening my resolution, I take one final breath in before releasing a powerful blast of magic, this one perfectly aimed to his head.

As I see blood flying, painting the newly-fell snow of red, my magic comes loose, and I can no longer control it. I can't do anything when it starts killing each and every one of the soldiers around me. I can just scream, and cry and fall to the ground yelling for it to stop. But it won't, because even if it's a part of myself, it's linked to my emotions, not my thoughts.

I end up curling up in the ground, grasping at the snow and waiting for this carnage to be over.

I wake up gasping, crying and struggling against whoever is holding me. I try to pull away from him, but he's too strong. He's holding my hands, and so even if I were to release my powers, they probably wouldn't hurt him right away… though it may give me an opportunity to escape.

I'm just about to release my magic, when I hear his yell, so strong it pulls me out of my rage, more so considering I know that voice.

"Elsa! Stop!" Kristoff says, and I force myself to focus on his face, clearly distinguishable even though it's still dark.

Realizing I'm apparently safe, I stop struggling and look around, trying to make sense of where I am. And of course, I can see I'm in my room, in my bed. It was a dream.

"Elsa?" He asks, now sounding more concerned than angry, and I force myself to look at him, but it's hard to focus because of how fast my heart is racing inside my chest, or how my magic doesn't seem to want to stay inside. "Are you okay?" His voice helps me concentrate a little, but when I try to answer, I realize my throat is sore and only a little pathetic whimper is able to escape my mouth.

I'm crying. Tears are falling down my cheeks. Tears that freeze almost as soon as they reach my chin. I realize, startled, that my nightgown, bed, and entire room are also frozen solid. How Kristoff escaped the rage of my powers is beyond me.

"Elsa?" He asks again, now appearing even more concerned. Which is weird, because I'm pretty sure he hated me not so long ago. Only because of this, I force myself to swallow, try to get rid of the knot on my throat and say something.

"N-n-nightmare." I finally manage after a few seconds, but even as I say this, tears keep falling from my eyes in rapid succession.

"That… must have been a very bad nightmare." He comments, looking at me with a mixture of worry, confusion and awkwardness. He doesn't know what to do with me, or my freakish powers that are currently out of control, which is probably the most worrying matter.

"It was." I answer snakingly, trying to make the ice disappear and failing miserably. My powers seem to be just as erratic as in my dream.

"Do you think you can get this under control?" He asks, pointing at my ice. And though I know I can't, I nod, not wanting him to do anything drastic.

"Okay." He sighs, slowly letting go of my shoulders and getting out of my bed. "Do you need anything?"

Anna. Is my first thought, but I know I can't request something like that, much less in the middle of the night, so I settle for the next best thing.

"W-water would be nice." I say, and he nods before turning around and getting out of my room, not before locking it and taking the key with him. It's perhaps a little rude and inconsiderate, but I can't really blame him; in my current state I'm a danger to everyone in the castle, including Anna, and his duty is to protect her, so…

I just wish he comes back soon. I'm feeling uneasy, being surrounded by all this ice I can't seem to control.

I try willing it away again, but it's for naught. I try to think of happy things, like the amazing time I had with Anna at the festival the day before yesterday, but I can't concentrate, not with the dream fresh in my mind. More so considering I'm not sure it was a dream.

There have now been two "nightmares", too real to be just that. Too familiar for me to have never seen those images before. Too similar to what it must have been like at the Northern Lands before the Ice Queen appeared.

I think… I think they're memories. And my now slightly diminished headache supports this theory. But the disturbing thing is… if they are memories, then… I did kill those soldiers. Both times. I saw them murder Northerners. I stole food because they wouldn't feed us. And who knows how many more horrors I experienced throughout my life? I don't think I want my memories back anymore.

Suddenly, the door opens, interrupting my thoughts. I look up, relieved to have a distraction again, but then I find… Anna. Yes, Anna came with Kristoff. She's dressed only with a thin green nightgown that shows her perfect legs and allows me to have a better look at the soft-looking mounds on her chest.

I gulp. I know if I wasn't in such a shaken state I'd be a blushing mess. Anna is really beautiful, even if her hair looks like a bird's nest.

"Leave us alone." She tells Kristoff, who looks like he's about to protest for a moment, before sighing and handing Anna a glass of water.

"I'll be outside." He says before casting a warning glare at me and exiting the room, leaving me alone with the Queen of Arendelle, which is… good and bad at the same time.

"Kristoff told me you had a nightmare." She says as she starts walking towards me.

"I-It was nothing." I answer, looking down in shame and almost cringing at how weak and swollen my voice sounded. "He shouldn't have w-woken you up for s-something so m-minor." I add as I search for a handkerchief in my night table, so I can erase any trace of my crying, even when I know Anna's already seen me.

"Kristoff didn't wake me; he found me in the kitchen when I sneaked in to get chocolate." She giggles, but when she notices I don't even smile she frowns concerned, becoming serious once more. "Besides, if it was truly nothing… why did you freeze your room?" She asks with a soft and calming voice, sitting on the bed next to me, searching for my gaze, which is currently glued to the frozen mattress.

"Why, even as we speak, is there ice crawling out of your room and towards the hallway?" She insists when I don't answer, but the tone she uses isn't accusatory, as one would expect in this situation. Nor is it angry or even demanding. She sounds truly concerned and curious. She wants to help me, but I'm not making this any easier to her.

"I-It was horrible." I admit, trying to hold back my tears, but failing as images of blood and death fill my mind once more. "Truly horrible." I add, drawing in a shaky breath. "But it was just a dream nonetheless."

"You know?" She starts before taking the handkerchief out of my hands and giving me the glass of water instead. It freezes almost instantly though, so I put it on my bedside table without even bothering to try and thaw it. "When I was young I used to have nightmares too." She continues, bringing the handkerchief to my face and wiping the tears. "I don't remember what they were about anymore, just that I woke up crying and couldn't sleep afterwards. However, father once told me that, if you tell someone your nightmare, it won't come true. So I always told him or mom about them, and I learned to stop fearing them because I knew they were just dreams." She gives me a sweet little smile, probably trying to calm me down, but it's not working as much as I'd want it to. "So, why don't you share your nightmare with me? It may help you." She suggests, and though I know she has the best of intentions, I'm pretty sure telling her about my dream won't help me at all.

"That wouldn't be of any use." I say, trying to control the little sobs that escape from my mouth.

"Why not?" She titles her head, confused.

"Because what I d-dreamt… it's already happened." I answer honestly with a small voice; there's no use on keeping this secret from Anna, not when she's just trying to help me and she already knows I'm a Northerner. Plus, she cares about me enough to come and talk to me after hearing I had a nightmare, so I think I at least owe her an explanation for my current state.

"Uh… what do you mean?" She asks, now more worried, if possible. "Did you dreamt about that time those men tried to kill you?"

"No." I shake my head as fresh tears, product of me remembering again my nightmare, run down my face, only to be promptly wiped by Anna. "N-no." I repeat, clenching my teeth in an effort to keep myself from sobbing pathetically again. "I-I… it was…" But as I try to explain it, I start crying again, my sobs being so strong they leave me breathless, and I begin to hyperventilate.

I'm barely aware of a pair of arms encircling me, pulling me close until my face is buried in the crook of her neck and my hands are tightly clutching handfuls of her nightgown in a vain attempt to find some comfort, but… something inside me broke after that dream. It was as if something cold buried itself inside my heart, hurting me in a way that left me unable to feel entirely good ever again. Like someone put a veil over my positive feelings, and I will never be able to experience them completely again.

"Shhh, Elsa. It's okay." Anna whispers softly to my ear as she rubs calming circles in my back, which actually helps me somewhat, but only to better control my powers and stop freezing the castle. It does nothing to stop the flood of horrid memories I experienced some time in my childhood.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." She continues soothing me. "It was a memory, wasn't it?" I nod into her shoulder, at the same time trying to keep my sobs as quiet as possible. "Of when you lived in the Northern Lands?" I nod again. "Damn, that must have been awful." She sighs, and for a moment a wonder if she's aware of how Arendelle's soldiers treat us, but then she speaks again. "Did you see the Ice Queen?"

"N-no." I force myself to answer this time, determined to explain to her that the worse thing about the Northern Lands, at least when I was a child, had nothing to do with some powerful ice-wielder. "I-I… I was very young and… t-there was an execution." I whimper, and feel Anna tense at my words.

"An… execution?" She gulps audibly, and I nod.

"F-five Northerners." I choke out. "They… t-hey had tried to escape." I wait for her to say something, but when she just stays silent, apparently waiting for me to continue, I speak again, trying to block the images out of my head and concentrate solely on the facts. "T-two women, a man a-and…" I sob into her shoulder, trying to force out my next words, but a knot has formed on my throat, and when I'm finally able to pronounce them, it sounds like someone is choking me. "A-and… t-two children." After saying it, I burst out crying loudly, recalling the kids' faces, especially the little girl's, when their mother died in front of their eyes. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that.

"H-hang on!" Anna exclaims shakily before pulling away just enough to look into my eyes, and I see in her face an expression of both horror and disbelief. "Are you telling me that Arendellian soldiers killed two children because they tried to escape?"

"No." I shake my head before breathing in deeply, preparing myself for what I'm about to say next. "N-no, they didn't b-because…" A loud sob escapes me as I collapse once again into her shoulder, crying. "Because I killed the soldiers!" I practically shout before I burst out in loud sobs, fighting to control them so I can breathe, but I end up gasping for air. Thankfully, Anna pulls me even tighter and whispers something to my ear. I don't hear her though; I can just hear my own sobs and the blood beating fast on my ears.

"You… killed them?" She asks in shock, but at least she doesn't sound angry or scared at me. "But… how? Didn't you say you were very young?"

"I was so mad, Anna." I sob into her shoulder. "I couldn't let them kill the children, not after they'd already killed their mother." I pause, organizing my thoughts. "I-I… I wanted to… to stop them, and I-I just… I lost control of my powers." I admit as a new wave of tears and sobs start coming out of me.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." She says soothingly, but it makes me angry because it seems she doesn't understand that I killed several men when I was just a child. I'm a murderer. A monster.

"No! It's not okay!" I yell at her, separating just enough to glare at her. "Didn't you hear? I killed them, Anna! I murdered them with my powers! I-I… I'm just as bad as all those Northerners that abuse their powers to do bad things!"

"No, you're not." She answers calmly, placing her hand over my cheek and wiping my tears with her thumb. "You just said it was an accident; you didn't want to kill them. The situation forced your hand."

"But…!" I start to protest once again, but she quickly places her finger over my lips, effectively silencing me.

"Now, I'm not saying it was okay for you to kill them. But I don't think this makes you a bad person, especially since you were just trying to save two children." She gives me a reassuring smile, but I'm still internally fighting against her words.

"That… t-that wasn't the only time I killed someone, you know?" I say through gritted teeth. "The other day, when you woke me up because I was also having a nightmare… it was very similar."

"It was?" Her eyes widen, and I continue explaining to her the painful truth.

"Yes." I nod, looking down to the bed in shame. "It was winter and I wanted food, so I stole some from the guards." I frown, also remembering that dream, and how scared I was. "They found me and took me to the whipping pole, but I was scared, and I killed them all before they had a chance to kill me." I now look up to Anna's eyes, almost expecting to find revulsion in them, or even fear, but she just seems… shocked. "I was even younger then. I-I think that was the first time I ever killed."

"Y-you were just trying to defend yourself, Elsa." She reassures me, even if she sounds a little bit unsure now. "And you were just a little girl, of course you were scared! And your powers are tied to your emotions, are they not? So it's logical they'd get out of control in both situations."

"Why don't you understand that I'm a monster, Anna?!" I scream in frustration. "I murdered people! I attacked them with my powers, I-I…" A sob interrupts me before I have the chance to finish what I was saying, and soon I find myself resting once again against Anna.

"Shhh. You're not a monster." She says with a soft voice. "The fact you feel so bad about what happened proves it. You're just a good person who found herself in terrible situations at a very young age."

"But if I didn't have these freakish powers I wouldn't have killed them!" I protest. "I'm a monster, just like all ice-wielders." I shout, even though I hate when other people misjudge me just because of my magic. I hate myself for saying it, but at the same time, I hate myself for being an ice-wielder. It's a weird and nasty feeling, and I just want to disappear.

"If knowing you has proved something to me, Elsa, is that ice-wielders are no different from regular people, and your powers can be fun and useful. You just have to be careful; you are an adult now, you can control them." She says with conviction, but I still don't believe her.

"I-I can't." I choke out. "Look." I separate from her to allow her to contemplate the mess I made in my room, but to my surprise, she just sighs and gives me a little smile.

"That's because of the nightmare; don't worry, I'll have you moved to another room first thing tomorrow."

"Why?" I say, almost angry at her. "Why are you treating me so nicely even after what I told you? Even after you've seen I can't control myself?"

"Because it was my parents' fault that you had to experience those things." She says, and when I look into her eyes, I can see sadness, regret and a little bit of anger in them. But not at me, no; at her parents. "And also because I believe everyone deserves a second chance, no matter what kinds of things they've done, especially if they did them for a good reason."

"Anna…" I start, but am promptly interrupted by the queen.

"Shhh, come on. It's time to sleep." She says before taking the covers and putting them on me, even if I protest and try to stop her. "You look tired, and creating all this ice must have taken a lot of energy. Please, Elsa, you need to rest."

"Anna…" I say again, but she just gets up and goes for a chair, so she can sit beside my bed.

"I'd take you to another room right now, but I'm afraid that'd only mean you'd freeze it too, so you'll have to sleep here for tonight." She casts me an apologetic smile. "I'll be right here until you fall asleep again, just in case you need anything."

"You don't have to do this." I say, feeling guilty that I'm keeping the Queen, of all people, up half the night just because I had a stupid nightmare and became a crying mess afterwards.

"I do." She contradicts me. "You are my guest, and as such, it's my duty to tend to all your needs. But more importantly, you are my friend, and I'm not letting you suffer alone if I can help it."

I was going to protest again, but when I heard the word "friend" escape her lips, a stupid little smile formed on my face, even if I was still sobbing a bit. That simple word warmed my heart, and helped the ice to start thawing. And thus, I didn't protest anymore, instead focusing on going to sleep so Anna could retire to her room as soon as possible, which of course is simpler than I thought due to how drained all that crying left me.

As I feel slumber taking me though, I see one final image. A memory. A pair of deep green eyes, and a happy little voice that says: "Elsa, you're my best friend. We'll always be together, right?"

However, that little memory is bittersweet for some reason, and I end up having a restless night of sleep because of it.

A/N: Hi again! Thanks for reading. I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did, please leave a review telling me your opinion about it, or theories or anything, really. I just like to read your comments :)

Also, if you want to see some art I drew for this chapter, you should check my Deviant Art or Tumblr, Tania Hylian. I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.