“A true love’s kiss, perhaps?” a troll responds. Trolls all around kiss each other, but I shiver. Out of a corner of my eye, I see more of my hair turn white.
“Anna, we’ve got to get you back to Hans,” Kristoff says.
Kristoff helps me onto Sven, then waves goodbye to his family. They seem disappointed to see us go—especially unmarried.
Sven takes off, Olaf holding on to his tail. “Let’s go kiss Hans!” shouts Olaf.
Sven runs as fast as he can, but it takes hours to return to Arendelle. I’m not doing well. I’m still so cold, but I realize it’s a different cold from anything I’ve ever felt. I’m cold on the inside. It takes all of my strength to stay awake. If Kristoff weren’t holding on to me, I think I’d fall off Sven’s back.
I’m amazed when we arrive at the kingdom. It was icy and snowing when we left. Now it’s completely frozen over and snow blankets everything. I believe Hans’s kiss will thaw me, but who will thaw Arendelle?
Olaf peels off in a separate direction. The people of Arendelle are frightened enough. They don’t need to see a living snowman.
Kristoff, meanwhile, rides Sven up to the castle gate, then helps me dismount. Before he can knock, the doors fly open and two of our servants pull me inside.
I want to say goodbye to Kristoff, but I’m too weak. I hear him tell the servants to get me to Hans right away, and to keep me safe. Then the doors slam and he’s gone.
It shouldn’t matter. I’m about to see my true love. That’s what I should be thinking about. Instead I wonder if I’ll ever see Kristoff again.
The servants lead me to the library, where Hans is waiting. He races to me, and I fall into his arms. He can feel how cold I am, but there’s no time to explain.
“Hans, you have to kiss me,” I say. “Now.”
I try to stand on my tiptoes and meet his lips, but he doesn’t let me.
“What happened out there?” he asks.
Okay, I guess there is time to explain.
As quickly as I can, I tell him what Elsa did, and that only an act of true love can save me. I reach for him again, but he still won’t kiss me. He scoops me up and carries me to the couch. Then he puts a blanket over me.
The blanket doesn’t help. I’m shivering, and it feels like my insides are turning to ice.
Why won’t he kiss me?
Hans leans down. Finally, it seems as if he’s going to kiss me…but then he stops. “Oh, Anna,” he says. “If only somebody loved you.”
The ice must be getting to my ears, because that made no sense at all. “What do you mean?” I ask.
“As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn’t stand a chance,” he explains. “I knew I’d have to marry into the throne somewhere. As heir, Elsa was preferable, but no one was getting anywhere with her. You, though, you were so desperate for love, you were willing to marry me just like that.”
No. No-no-no-no-no. He can’t be saying what I think he’s saying. He can’t.
“I figured after we married, I’d have to stage a little accident for Elsa,” he continues, “but then she doomed herself and you were dumb enough to go after her. All that’s left now is to kill Elsa, and bring back summer.”
Ice fills my veins, but it’s because of his words, not just Elsa’s blast. I want to scream, but I can hardly move.
This is all my fault. What was I thinking, getting engaged to someone I didn’t even know? How could I have been so foolish?
Hans closes the drapes and pours water on the fire, turning the room dark and cold. I don’t think I’ll make it much longer.
“You won’t get away with this,” I whisper.
“Oh, I already have,” Hans sneers.
I gather my remaining strength and lunge at him, but I only fall off the couch. Hans laughs and leaves the room, locking me inside. I crawl to the door and call for help, but my voice is so soft, I can barely hear it myself.
It’s over. I blew it.
At least I know Elsa’s stronger than I am. She’ll stop Hans, even if I can’t.
She has to.
I lie on the floor for what seems like ages, and then I hear something.
It’s hard to even move my head, but when I look up, I see the library door handle jiggle.
Is it Hans? Has he decided he can’t wait for me to freeze to death, so he’ll do the deed himself? Or worse, is he here to tell me that he has killed Elsa?
The door swings open and I brace myself for the worst. Instead I see the face of the snowman I’ve known since I was little. Is it a delusion?
“Olaf?” I ask.
It’s no delusion, but judging by the shock on his face, I look even worse than I feel. He races to the fireplace, strikes a match to light a fire, then helps me move close to it.
“Where’s Hans?” he asks. “What happened to your kiss?”
“I was wrong about him,” I admit. “It wasn’t true love. Please, Olaf, you can’t stay here. You’ll melt.”
He refuses to leave until we have come up with another act of true love, but I shake my head. I say I don’t even know what love is anymore.
“I do,” Olaf says. “Love is putting someone else’s needs before yours, like, you know, how Kristoff brought you back here to Hans and left you forever.”
“Kristoff loves me?” I ask.
Olaf smiles. “You really don’t know anything about love, do you?”
I notice a small puddle at Olaf’s feet. “You’re melting,” I warn him.
“Some people are worth melting for,” he says.
Suddenly, a gust of wind pushes the window open, and freezing air washes into the room. Olaf goes to close the window, but something outside catches his eye. He breaks off an icicle and uses it as a telescope.
“Huh,” he says. “I guess Kristoff doesn’t love you enough to leave you behind. Wow, he’s really moving fast! Oh, hey—there’s your act of true love, right there, riding across the fjords!”
To tell the truth, I’m a little fed up with love at the moment. Still, it’s what I need to survive. If Olaf is right, I have to get to Kristoff. Olaf helps me stand. Then I stagger out the door.
I’ve spent almost every day of my life in the castle, but I don’t recognize it anymore. The hallway is frozen solid, and even as we walk, giant blocks of ice burst from nowhere. They push up through the floor like glaciers and block our path. We’re trapped.
At least, until I smash through a window and we climb out onto the roof.
The storm outside is worse than ever. The wind is so fierce the snow pelts us sideways. The entire castle is covered in snow. I can hear the crunch and groan of ships trapped in the frozen fjord.
I see Kristoff and Sven reach the castle gate. I have to get to them. I slide down the snow-covered roof and stagger in their direction.
I have so little strength it’s almost impossible to push against the wind. My hands feel strange. I look at them and see that they’ve frosted over.
I don’t have a lot of time left. I have to move faster. I have to try.
“Kristoff,” I call, but my voice is very quiet. Can he possibly hear me over the howling wind?
“Anna!”
It’s Kristoff! He heard me! He sees me! He slides off Sven’s back and struggles toward me.
I want to run to him. If he saves me, I can protect Elsa from Hans.
Then something strange happens. The wind stops blowing. Snowflakes hang still in the air. It’s as if the storm has frozen solid.
In the sudden silence I hear a sword being drawn. It’s a huge effort, but I slowly turn and see Hans. He raises his sword high above his head and moves closer to a figure huddled on the ground. It’s a girl, and her face is buried in her hands.
I gasp when I realize who it is.
Elsa!
I thought she never wanted to come back to Arendelle, but here she is. For a fleeting second I wonder why she came back, but I quickly banish the thought from my mind. With her face turned away, she can’t see Hans.
She has no idea his sword is drawn. She doesn’t know he wants to kill her!
“Anna!” Kristoff calls.
His voice is so close now, but I can’t wait for him to reach me. I summon every last bit of my strength and race to Elsa.
The last thing I remember is lunging between her and Hans.
I feel Elsa’s arms around me.
I can hear her crying.
That’s weird for a lot of reasons. Elsa doesn’t cry, and she never puts her arms around me.
Here’s what’s weirder, though: I’m pretty sure I died. So how can I feel her hugging me?
Then I realize I can wiggle my fingers!
Warmth surges through my body. I’m thawing out!
The minute my arms loosen up, I wrap them around Elsa and hug her back. She’s pretty shocked. She pulls away to look me in the eye. “What? Anna?” she says. “You sacrificed yourself for me?”
“I love you,” I say weakly.
Olaf gasps. “An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart,” he says.
A smile of understanding spreads across Elsa’s face, and I know what she’s thinking: if love stopped me from freezing, maybe it will help Arendelle, too!
Elsa raises her hands to the sky, and sure enough, the snow and ice that covers our kingdom drifts back up to the sky. Summer is here again! The sun is warm, and the fjord runs freely. A giant mast raises up right next to us. We’ve been standing on the deck of a boat the whole time.
“I knew you could do it!” I say.
“Hands down, this is the best day of my life,” Olaf says as he begins to drip into a puddle, “and quite possibly the last.”
“Hang on, little guy,” Elsa assures him. She waves a hand and makes a cloud of cold air that sits above Olaf, keeping him perfectly frozen.
Hans, meanwhile, is a few feet away. He gets up and I walk over to him.
“Anna?” he asks. “She froze your heart.”
“The only frozen heart around here is yours,” I say. Then I punch him in the face, and he falls overboard.
That’s my way of breaking our engagement.
I see Kristoff smile. I guess I surprised him. He probably had no idea I have a strong right hook. I meet his eyes and smile back.
After the guards take Hans away, Elsa and I gather the citizens of Arendelle and do what our parents probably should have done a long time ago: we tell them about Elsa’s gift. She even shows them how it works. She introduces Olaf, then creates a very small snow pile so a bunch of happy kids can make snowmen and snow angels.
Once the townspeople understand how Elsa is unique, they’re not afraid anymore. They love their new queen. For the first time since her coronation, they cheer her name. I cheer right along with them, and when Elsa takes my hand and raises it high, I know everything will be different from now on. Better.
As for Kristoff, well, maybe Olaf was right. Maybe Kristoff does truly love me. I think I truly love him. At least, I think I could truly love him. We only met a couple of days ago. I don’t want to think about true love yet.
I am excited to pay off my debt. The next day, I lead him blindfolded through Arendelle.
“Here we are!” I announce, whipping off his blindfold.
Kristoff’s jaw drops when he sees the brand-new sled. It’s the latest model, complete with a cup holder! “Do you like it?” I ask him.
“I love it!” Kristoff says. “I could kiss you!”
Suddenly, he turns red and stammers. “I mean, I’d like to. I’d… May I? I mean, we may…I mean, may we? Wait, what?”
I lean in quickly and kiss him. “We may,” I say.
He pulls me close and kisses me again.
Did I say I wasn’t ready to think about true love? Maybe I’ll take that back.
A loud squeal from children snaps me out of my spell. Elsa has opened the castle gates wide. I know what’s coming, and I pull Kristoff over so we can join in. Elsa swirls her magic to make an ice rink in the courtyard, and children scramble onto the ice to skate.
“I like the open gates,” I say to Elsa.
“We are never closing them again,” she says.
And we won’t. We’re not afraid of anything anymore. Elsa and I know who we really are. Life will be different now.
Except I’ll probably always be clumsy. I try to skate, but I’m really bad at it. Thanks to Elsa, I know I’ll get a lot of practice. And when I do fall, I know the people who love me will always help me up.
Anna's Icy Adventure Page 3