Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "Skylynn, you need to stop blaming yourself. Hans was trying to protect you. He didn't want you to worry about him" I told her, reassuringly.

  "We did that same thing, Elsa" she said "We both were aiming to show the world that we're worth something. I wanted to be a successful general or admiral, Hans wanted to become king. I never wanted to be queen, I never felt suitable for such a responsibility and I still don't. It wasn't in my plans but… I fell in love, and if I had to take over all these responsibilities to be with Landon then, screw the plan and my fears of being inadequate, I'm going to marry him" she paused again "Still, we did the same thing, but how come Hans is the master and he's the one who took the wrong path? Why did he listen to those monsters when he was the first to tell me not to? How come-"

  "How come you managed to follow the path he showed you and he didn't?" I said. Skylynn held her head low.

  "When I left the Southern Isles, Hans was like he has always been: affectionate, caring, kind, playful. Now, two years later, I find him guilty of treason and attempted regicide, in a dungeon, shutting me out and trying to push me away, wishing to be dead"

  "And all because of them" I finished. Skylynn didn't dare to look at me in the eyes and took a deep breath.

  "I guess we just… lost track of each other" she said looking at her necklace. There was a moment of silence. After all this confession, I looked at Skylynn differently. Under that cynical, arrogant mask there is a woman with a hard past where her only family was her mother and her half-brother. Under that mask, there was a woman who literally fought her way to freedom through blood and fire and is doing the same to grant her older brother that possibility because she feels responsible of his actions. Skylynn feels the need to make it up to him. Maybe Skylynn was no threat. Maybe she wasn't here for Arendelle, but indeed, was here just for Hans. It reminded me of what happened between Anna and I.

  You reach a point when you just crack! And when that happens you don't lose just track of what's right and wrong, but more importantly of who you are because you start believing that if who you are doesn't take you anywhere, then acting like who others want you to be will solve everything, those were the words that hit me like a ton of iron bricks. When Skylynn spoke those words it had been like someone had just blasted me with lighting. I knew what she was talking about. I knew it very well because I lived most of my life that way. I was the perfect little princess everyone wanted me to be because I thought that it would make things better. I was psychologically pressured myself. I too have found myself facing an inner darkness… and like Skylynn I had an anchor who held me on the right path. But that wasn't all.

  Listening to Skylynn's word I now really understood how Anna must have felt for all those years and all because of me. Anna came looking for me when I left because she felt responsible and guilty. For years she believed I shut her out because of something she did, when I was just trying to protect her. Anna sacrificed herself for me when I was the one who froze her heart. She is the only one who has always believed in me; Anna had never once doubted me and my magic and I never thanked her. Skylynn and Hans were going through the same thing, but this is not Anna and I we're talking about, it's Hans and Skylynn, two people that are far from different. None of them is going to let go until they get what they want. If someone doesn't do something, they are never going to reach up to one another. In that moment I made up my mind: first, I'm letting them talk; second, as soon as I'm done here I'm going to thank Anna.

  "I'm going to check on him" I told Skylynn, she just looked at me and nodded "If he's awake I'll let you see him" that got her attention, as she immediately looked up at me.

  "Are you?" she asked unsure.

  "I am" I answered.

  "Thank you, Elsa" I didn't say anything but simply patted her shoulder and got inside the room. The doctor wasn't there and Hans was laying on his bed asleep. I walked to the bed and sat next to him putting a hand on his forehead to see if he had a temperature. He did, but it wasn't that bad anymore. I couldn't help myself but look at his sleeping face. He was handsome, indeed, and without those ridiculous sideburns he looked much better. He was still skinny, but the bruises on his face were now gone, his hand wasn't bandaged anymore and his leg was probably healed. His back was the problem. I moved my hand from his forehead to his cheek trying to cool him down.

  "As much as I hate to admit I'm enjoying this, I suggest you to take those queenly hands away from my face" he said with his eyes closed. I jumped back to my feet in surprise taking my hand away from his face as Hans opened his eyes.

  "You're awake!" I exclaimed.

  "Well… duh!" he said smugly "Now, let's go straight to business, why am I in a guest room?" he said rudely. I glared at him.

  "Why do you think? Maybe because you scared off my servants and got your wounds infected?" I said irritated "You were lucky enough that-"

  "-LUCKY?!" he thundered angrily cutting me off "You call this being 'lucky'?! I was serious when I asked you to kill me! I'd rather be dead! I lost everything, Elsa! Everything! What's the point for me in living now?!"

  "So that's it? You are going to let your brothers win" I snapped, ignoring his lack of addressing me with my title.

  "You don't know anything about me and my brothers, so try to find some other topic to argue on" he said. His green eyes staring angrily in my blue ones. Then I saw it again. The fury he had when he tried to kill me the second time, the one he had when he yelled the only thing he was sorry for was not killing Anna and I, but now I knew that that fury was not directed towards me, but towards his brothers.

  "I think I'm going to stay on the topic since I know more about you and your brothers than you think" I said. Hans scoffed mockingly.

  "Enlighten me, then" he said smugly.

  "You tried to take over Arendelle to prove yourself to your brothers" I stated. His smug look disappeared and was replaced with shock "They have tortured you for years and made you feel like such a nothingness that you felt the need to prove your strength to them"

  "Stop it…" he said menacingly.

  "They filled your head with the idea of you being worthless and a dead weight"

  "Enough, Elsa…" he said raising his voice.

  "You felt so submitted to them that you felt the need to become king no matter what, that you didn't think twice about ending two lives" I continued.

  "Enough"

  "You felt like such a failure that you didn't even realize you wondered why Skylynn did it and you didn't, you were jealous of her yourself!"

  "SHUT UP!" he yelled sitting up but yelped in pain immediately after that. I rushed back to him trying to push him back down, but he pushed my hands away as soon as I was about to touch him. Then he repositioned the pillow and sat up leaning on the headboard. Then he looked back at me glaring.

  "What happened? Did I touch a sore spot?" I said challenging.

  "You know nothing about me…or Skylynn. Get out of here" he said angrily.

  "You know what? Fine. I'm going out and let you and Skylynn talk" I said.

  "No! I don't want to see her. I don't want to talk to her. Just let me be"

  "No, Hans. I am letting Skylynn in and you are going to talk to her because you have a problem, but even if I figured it out too-"

  "- You don't know any-"

  "-quiet! The queen is speaking" I snapped. He looked at me surprised "Even if I figured it out too and had the actual proof right in front of me, this is something you and Skylynn need to sort out"

  "Do whatever the hell you want. I'm not going to talk to her. I don't need her" he said.

  "There it is!" I said sarcastically "The door we both just 'love' to slam in our sibling's face. Run away from your problems, shut her out! You seemed to be doing a pretty good job in the dungeons. Once she's in here, you can kick her out if you want, but know that Skylynn's the only one who's not 100% convinced that you are the monster here"

  "Oh, that's rich! You can think whatever you want, I honestly don't care! You'
re just a coward scaredy-cat who froze her own sister to death" he barked. That felt like a knife being mercilessly plunged into my heart "Anna has always believed in you, and how did you repay her? By shutting her out and freezing her heart! Three years ago, my parents came to King Adgar and Queen Idun's funeral, and you know what? Rumor said that Anna buried her parents- your parents- alone. Face it Elsa, you and I aren't that much different"

  "We are nothing alike. I shut Anna out because I wanted to protect her and I didn't mean to freeze her heart, it was an accident. You are shutting out Skylynn when she voluntarily attached her chariot to yours to save you. Anna didn't have to. You know what's the other difference between me and you? I never wanted to kill anybody"

  "I wouldn't be too sure on that one, your Majesty" he snapped "Those two men… in your ice palace… you didn't just try to defend yourself, no… having them pinned down wasn't enough for you. You wanted to destroy them. You wanted them dead.Yes,I didwant to kill you, but that wasn't the original plan. No" he smirked "I never came here for Anna. When I first came here, I came here for you"

  "What?" that caught me off guard

  "You heard me. The original plan was to woo you" he said "As thirteenth in line to the throne I didn't stand a chance. I had to marry into the throne and at the time, you were the only best option available: young, beautiful and soon-to-be queen. My original plan was much more peaceful. Thing is Anna accidentally made my plans change since, well… no one was getting anywhere with you and since I couldn't get the heir, I went for the spare. I simply would have had to marry Anna and stage a little accident for you afterwards"

  "You are despicable" I said harshly.

  "So I've been told" he said "Too bad you were such a recluse. Everything could have been much easier if you were a tad bit more open to socialization. If it weren't for the 'Prince Charming' character I had to keep up, even when your powers were revealed, I still would have been willing to marry you"

  "I don't fall so easily to a man's charms" I replied coldly.

  "Perhaps, but you will eventually have to marry. Arendelle needs an heir. Tell me Elsa, how many suitors do you receive now that news of your powers is going around the world?" there was that dagger again "Who else would want to marry to the Snow Queen?" another stab "Face it, Elsa, if I were free right now, I would be the only one around to be willing to marry you" I glared at him "You know, royal gossip goes by really fast among servants, I heard Storm is courting you. Well, I'm sorry to inform you, that as much as Storm might be welcoming and charming he too will back away, because in the end, eventually everyone is scared of your powers" another stab "Storm will leave you, just like that" he added mercilessly, with a snap of his fingers "Face it, who would be crazy enough to marry a monster?" That was the biggest stab. Part of me believed him, part of me was screaming 'screw him!'. But he had made all valid points and as usual, he had hit sore spots. How did he know they were my weak spots? By observing, just like Skylynn does. It took all my strength not to freeze the whole room and keep up an emotionless face. I was not going to give him this satisfaction. Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show, just like Skylynn said. But as I met his gaze, I knew I could mask all I wanted, but he knew he had hit me where it hurt most.

  "I didn't come here to talk about me and my personal life, I came here to speak about you" I said sternly, trying to keep my face emotionless.

  "What do you want me to tell you, hu?" Hans snapped "You want an apology? You want me to beg for your forgiveness? Well, that's never going to happen. I'd rather have you leave me to rot in the dungeons, freeze me, kill me and make it easier for everyone around. I have nothing to lose. I am-"

  "-a selfish coward that talks too much! That's what you are!" I cut him off "That's easy right? Well, you better start liking the idea that that is never going to happen because getting yourself killed and not face the consequences of your actions and your inner demons is too easy!"

  "This is my life and if I want to be over with it. I will" he said glaring at me

  "Skylynn is your sister, Hans Westerguard. I may not know her much but I know just enough about her" I stated "You two grew up together. She says that she owes everything to you, that she has learnt a lot from you, but is possible that you haven't learnt anything from her?! You should know better than I do that when she was a kid, even if you two were on the same boat, her side of the boat was the one that would always sink first. You lived in a castle, while she was kicked out and her mother, your tutor, lost her job and was put out on the streets with a child to raise. She is the one who had nothing! But you saw what happened, Skylynn showed you all. She made it! She fights for what she believes in, she won't let anything stop her from reaching her goal. And you know why? Because Skylynn is one of those women that never gives up. Never! She'd rather erase everything and start over from zero. Which is what I did! Which is what Anna did! Which is what you should be doing right now!" I paused "Work your guts out, for once in your life, Hans! For once, you too, work your guts out! Skylynn has done all she could for you. Heck- she put her neck on the line for you!-"

  "-Don't you think I know that?!"

  "I said: quiet. I'm not done" I snapped, shocking him again "You don't deserve a sister like Skylynn and you should be thankful to have her. I spoke to her before coming in here and of all the things she said there was one thing that struck me: you reach a point when you just crack. And when that happens you don't lose just track of what's right and wrong, but more importantly of who you are because you start believing that if who you are doesn't take you anywhere, then acting like who others want you to be will solve everything. I hope she's right when she says that this is what happened to you. You have been the anchor that kept her from losing herself and, unfortunately for me, you have been that for me too in the ice palace! Now she feels like she has failed you when it was her turn to be that anchor. Skylynn has showed you a path, like you did once for her, now it's your turn to follow it!" Hans looked away from me, not daring to meet my eyes. I paused for a moment as I felt myself calm down, from what I had just admitted to him

  "Reach up to her, Hans" I continued "Erase everything from your old life and start again from zero. Skylynn gave you the opportunity of a second chance to start over. You may deny it all you want, but I know you care about her, so if you don't want to do this for yourself, do it for your sister" I said with my voice softer. Hans didn't say a word. He only turned his head to face the other side and not look at me. Then, silently, I walked towards the door, but as I was about to turn the doorknob, I turned around to face him again "I'm not asking you to open up to me, I'm asking you to open up to Skylynn, because the next time you shut her out, I may not be there to save her and you are going to regret it" I said. That got his attention as he snapped his head towards me.

  "What are you talking about?" he asked, finally with what seemed to be worry.

  "Skylynn was the first to figure out the reason behind your actions,-well- four days ago she went to confront your brothers, Herbert and Gordon, alone" I started "They tried to kill her, Hans. They tried to kill her because of you" he looked at me with wide eyes, with… fear and worry. Now, I was the one who was hitting sore spots. If he was going to play this game, then so was I. Now he knew what I was feeling when he had told me I had killed Anna. Part of me wanted to inflict more pain, but the other part was the one that won the battle: I'm not like him "She had them both to the ground though, but once she had put her sword back Gordon tried to hit her from behind. He failed because I got him trapped in a block of ice and did the same with Herbert"

  "H-how is she?" Hans asked not looking at me in the eyes.

  "She's fine. She's right out of the door" There was a moment of silence "Skylynn would go on the top of the world for you, Hans… just don't ask her to" I said locking my gaze with his. Silence once again. Hans swallowed and then looked up to me.

  "May I see her?... please?" he asked with a fragile voice. I twisted the doorknob and opened the door poking my head o
ut, to see Skylynn pacing back and forth.

  "Skylynn" I called. Her head turned around, her bright grey eyes meeting with mine. I motioned her to come inside with my hand and she immediately obliged "I'll leave you two to talk" I said.

  "Thank you, Elsa" she said. I put a reassuring hand on her arm with a small smile, then I glanced back at Hans and left the room, closing the door behind me. Then I turned towards the guards.

  "Queen Skylynn is allowed to enter this room whenever she pleases. Tell her once she's done" I said.

  "Yes, your Majesty" they answered. I nodded my head and walked away. Now I had to go and thank Anna. It didn't take too long for me to find her, since I had asked her if she could take care of some queenly stuff for me. I found her in my study as she was just standing up from her seat. She saw me and smiled proudly as I stepped into the room, I rushed to her with a wide smile.

  "Hey, Elsa! I just finished all the paperwork you gave me and- " she didn't finish her sentence as I took her face in my hands squishing her soft cheeks, making her look like a fish.

  "-Anna! Don't say anything and listen to me very carefully" I said smiling widely at her.

  "Awe wu okay?" she asked looking at me surprised.

  "I just wanted to say: thank you" I said smiling "Thank you for everything, Anna! Thank you for always being there for me, for supporting me and believing in me and never losing faith in me even when I shut you out" I said in a rush "I just wanted to say: thank you for being the best little sister I could ever ask for and that I love you sososo much!" I said quickly as wrapped my arms around her shoulders and planting kisses on her cheek and hugging her tight. Anna hugged me back just as tightly, giggling at my affection outburst, mumbling an 'I love you, too' in my shoulder as I hugged her and kissed her cheek.

  "I could get used to these surprise 'cuddle-attacks' from you" Anna said as I stopped smooching her cheek. I laughed and let her go.

  "Okay, that's enough" I said with a smile as I theatrically moved my already-in-place bangs back in place "So did you do your homework?" I said smiling. Anna smiled back and showed me her work, but I as listened to her one thought came to my mind: Hans was right. I will eventually have to marry, but who would be willing to marry an ice freak?