Fairy Tales From Around the World

The Snow King

Once upon a time, the kingdom of Orb was a happy place. The king and queen had two young fraternal twins named Kira Yamato and Cagalli Yula Athha. The kids were their pride and joy. But the family had a secret. Kira could create ice and snow out of thin air!

One night, Cagalli convinced Kira to turn the ballroom into a winter wonderland. As the siblings happily played together, Kira accidentally lost control of his magic. An icy blast hit Cagalli in the head, and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

The king and queen rushed the twins to the trolls, mysterious healers who knew about magic. A wise troll named King Peppy saved Cagalli by removing her memories of Kira's magic. He explained that she was lucky to have been hit in the head, not in the heart. The troll told the king and queen that Kira's powers would only grow stronger. "Fear will be his enemy," he warned.

The king and queen knew they had to protect their son. To keep his magic a secret, they closed the castle gates. The king gave Kira gloves to contain his powers, but he was still afraid he might hurt someone. He even avoided Cagalli to keep her safe. Then, when Cagalli and Kira were teenagers, their parents were lost at sea. The siblings had never felt more alone.

Kira stayed inside, where he could hide his magic. But he could not keep the gates closed forever. On the day of his coronation, his subjects were invited inside to celebrate. Cagalli was thrilled at the chance to meet new people! She had barely stepped outside when she met Prince Yuna Roma Seiran of Dardanelles. The two instantly fell in love. At the coronation ball, Prince Yuna asked Cagalli to marry him. Cagalli said yes, and the couple went to ask Kira for his blessing.

Kira refused to bless the marriage. He couldn't let Cagalli marry a man she had just met!

Cagalli couldn't believe her brother. "Why do you shut me out?! What are you so afraid of?!" she cried.

As Kira fought with his sister, he lost control of his magic. Ice seemed to shoot out of his hands. Now all of Orb knew his secret. Panicked, Kira fled into the mountains.

With his secret out, Kira let his powers loose. A storm raged around him as he created an ice palace and even changed the way he looked. Below him, ice and snow covered Orb. Cagalli felt awful! Leaving Yuna in charge, she went after her brother.

As Cagalli trekked through the forest, she lost her horse. Luckily, she met an ice harvester named Athrun Zala and his reindeer, Haro. The two agreed to help her find Kira.

High in the mountains, Cagalli and Athrun came across a dazzling winter wonderland, where they met a living snow pony! "I'm Stygian," he said.

Cagalli realized that Kira must have created him. She asked Stygian to lead them to Kira so he could bring back summer. Stygian loved the idea of summer and happily led them to Kira's palace.

Inside, Cagalli told Kira about the terrible winter storm in Orb. "It's okay. You can just unfreeze it," she said.

But Kira didn't know how to stop the snow. Frustrated, he cried, "I can't!!" An icy blast shot across the room and hit Cagalli in the heart!

Athrun rushed to help Cagalli. "I think we should go," he said.

"No, I'm not leaving without him," said Cagalli.

"Yes, you are!!" shouted Kira as he conjured up a huge snowman, which chased them all off the mountain.

Athrun pulled out a rope to help them climb down.

"What if we fall?"

"There's twenty feet of fresh powder down there. It will be like landing on a pillow...hopefully."

At the base of the mountain, Athrun noticed that Cagalli's hair was turning white. He knew his friends the trolls could help.

King Peppy saw at once that Cagalli was hurt. "There is ice in your heart, put there by your brother," he said. "If not removed, you will freeze to solid ice forever."

King Peppy explained that only an act of true love could thaw a frozen heart. Cagalli knew Yuna was her true love. Maybe a kiss from him would save her. Cagalli, Athrun, Haro, and Stygian raced back to Orb to find him.

But Yuna was not in Orb. He had set out to look for Cagalli when her horse returned without her. Yuna and the search party arrived at Kira's palace. The men attacked Kira, and he defended himself. Suddenly, one of the men aimed a crossbow at Kira! Yuna pushed it aside, and the bolt hit a chandelier. It crashed to the ground, knocking Kira out. Yuna and his men took him back to Orb and locked him in the dungeon.

Outside the kingdom, Cagalli, Athrun, Stygian, and Haro hurried down the mountain. Cagalli was getting weaker by the minute. Athrun was worried about her. At the castle gates, he passed her to the royal servants. He started to realize that he cared deeply about Cagalli, but he knew that her true love, Yuna, could make her well again.

Cagalli found Yuna in the library. She asked him to save her life with a kiss, but he refused! Yuna had only been pretending to love Cagalli so that he could take over Orb. Putting out the room's fire, he left Cagalli to freeze.

In the dungeon, all Kira could think about was getting away from Orb. It was the only way to protect everyone from his powers! Kira became so upset that he froze the whole dungeon and escaped!

Alone in the library, Cagalli realized how reckless she had been. In trying to find love, she had doomed herself, her kingdom, and her brother. Just when Cagalli had given up all hope, Stygian arrived. The snow pony lit a fire, even though Cagalli worried that he might melt.

"Some people are worth melting for," he said.

Stygian looked out the window and saw Athrun returning. The snow pony realized that Athrun was the true love who could save Cagalli!

Stygian helped Cagalli outside, where she spotted Athrun across the frozen sea. If she could reach him in time, she would be saved! But then she saw something else: Yuna was about to strike Kira with his sword! With her remaining strength, Cagalli threw herself in front of Kira. Yuna's sword came down just as Cagalli's body froze to solid ice.

Heartbroken, Kira wrapped his arms around his frozen sister. "Oh Cagalli!!" he sobbed.

Then something amazing happened: Cagalli began to thaw!

"An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart," Stygian said, realizing what had happened.

"Love!" Kira cried, looking at Cagalli. "That's it!" Realizing that love was the key to his magic, he ended the winter and brought back summer. Kira even made Stygian a little snow cloud to keep him from melting.

Cagalli replaced Athrun's sleigh and his supplies. But he wasn't anxious to leave - especially when Cagalli surprised him with a kiss.

Yuna was astonished to see Cagalli alive. "Cagalli?" he said. "But Kira froze your heart."

"The only frozen heart around here is yours!" Cagalli said and sent him reeling with one punch.

With summer restored, Orb returned to normal - but from then on, the castle gates were open for good. For the first time in a long while, Orb was a happy place again. And King Kira Yamato and Princess Cagalli Yula Athha were the happiest of all, for they had found their way back to each other. And they all lived happily ever after.