Always You

ix. Don't Feel

Elsa

I entwined my hand with Anna's, my sisterly instincts overtaking my own panic. As soon as Jack disappeared to go eavesdrop on Hans, I turned to Anna and Kristoff.

Sighing, I spoke again. "I don't know what that guy's problem is, he's a prince. Why is he so... obsessed with being a king? It's much more work than just being a prince and wanting for nothing!" I complained, getting more and more frustrated with Hans as I spoke. Seriously, there were dozens of kingdoms he could stalk, why did he have to pick mine? I mean, sure Anna was gorgeous and all, but why couldn't he just move on and find another princess? 

Anna and Kristoff exchanged glances, Anna full of anger at him and Kristoff full of confusion. Of course, he didn't realize what he had just said to her, and she should realize that it wouldn't really be that way if it were his own child. Still, they would fight on a huge scale after all of this was over with. Of course it would be taken care of, it had to. All I knew right now was that I had to do what was best for my kingdom and for my sister. As soon as Jack returned, I would have to do something I never wanted to. I would need to use my powers, both as Queen of Arendelle and as the Snow Queen, against Hans in order for him to leave. He wouldn't leave just with my insistence, but what power would he have against mine? 

I always hated using my powers on people. Back in my ice palace, when I had nearly killed the two men who had come after me, I had acted in fear and desperation. I never wanted to do that again, to be the reason behind the terror written on another human being's face. Of course, those men were strangers. I didn't know their stories, didn't know their names, even. With Hans, it was so much more personal. His brothers were supposed to have handled him, why didn't they? Without warning, my thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the double doors. Men stalked over to me, grabbing me by my forearms.

"By order of the King." One of them spoke, and I didn't recognize him as one of Arendelle's guards. Before I could fully process what was happening, I was in a cell in the dungeon, my hands once again encased in unforgiving metal cuffs. It had all happened in a blur, Anna and Kristoff's yells barely registering in my mind. Were they okay? Where was Jack? 

I looked around the damp cement cell, noticing the damage to it from years of going unused. Honestly, Arendelle's dungeons had held their Queen more than any criminal. Ours was not a kingdom that had many disturbances. The ceiling dripped water droplets erratically, adding more and more stress on me as I paced back and forth in the limited area I could. My hands fought at the cuffs, desperation growing in the pit of my stomach. Why was Hans doing this? I felt all the questions and anger piling up in my mind, causing me to tear up because I was so powerless against them. How could I protect my kingdom when I couldn't even protect myself? I felt myself retreating to the place deep inside me where I had spent the last thirteen years, shutting myself off from the world and sinking to the floor. There was nothing I could do, I had to just let things go on their own and eventually a resolution would occur. 

Vaguely, I saw Jack step into the cell, fear in his eyes at the state of me. I was sure I looked a sight; slumped on the floor, eyes red from unshed tears, staring blankly ahead of me as if I was brain dead. Some part of me knew I needed to snap out of it, to reconnect to Jack and think of a game plan, but a much bigger part of me preferred sitting here in silence and letting things work themselves out, for better or for worse. 

"Elsa, Elsa, what's wrong?" Jack asked, the pure kindness in his voice nearly breaking my heart in half. How could I have dragged this poor man into my drama? Why couldn't I have just been born normal, so that he would never have looked twice at me and he would be doing the things he should be right now. Why? 

I had always wondered why I wasn't born normal. I knew, deep down, that Anna was my parent's favorite because of it.

My mother never knew it, and I never told anyone about it, but I had walked in on a conversation I had always wished I hadn't. My mother and father were sitting around the fire, long after I should have been asleep. It was just after the incident with Anna, and I had woken up from yet another of my terrifying nightmares of losing my family because of my powers. My mother was crying, curled up in her chair, and I stopped to listen. 

"My biggest regret," She cried, "is that Elsa was born like this. Why did this happen to her, to us?" My father had looked at her, shaking his head.

"Honey, no. Elsa is going to be fine, we'll get through this." He stated; I knew my father trusted me with Anna more than my mother did, I just never knew to what extent.

"No, it's not! Don't you see? We can't have both of them, not like this. Sooner or later something will happen and it will tear us apart. I... I just hate that she's like this." My mother murmured, the pain in her voice so thick that I vowed then to never leave my room again.

Brushing off the painful memory, I tried to pay attention to Jack.

"Elsa, please, say something," He begged, his eyes wide with panic at my ruined state. I tried to talk, but everything was sucking me under. Every screwed up memory of my life was telling me how awful I was, how Arendelle would be much better off without me. Before I knew it, I was sobbing, tears freezing before they rolled off my icy cheeks. Jack held me close, not saying a word as I wet his shirt.

Jack

I snuck from the parlor to the entryway, finding Hans and his minions easily.

"This will be a piece of cake," He rumbled, "Elsa will give up her crown, Anna will rule by my side, and the ice man... Well, you guys can take care of that." I got the feeling he didn't like to handle his own dirty work, something I had always taken to be a sign of cowardice.

"Let's get this show on the road. You two go in there and put Elsa in the dungeon, I'll go get Anna and we'll meet in the carriage." He clapped his hands together, opening the double doors before I had a chance to warn anyone at all. I was torn between following them to the dungeon to help Elsa and following Hans to help Anna escape. I know helping Anna would be much easier of I had Elsa's help, so I rushed after her. I was stopped in the middle of the hallways by a petite brunette running into me instead of through me.

"Oof!" I cried as I fell to the floor. She covered her flaming cheeks in embarrassment as I stood back up. "Who... Who are you?" I asked, again intrigued by yet another person who believed in me. It was crazy.

"I'm Rapunzel, Princess of Corona." She stated regally, straightening her dress and her choppy hair as she spoke. I could tell she did it unconsciously, as if she had low self-esteem and had had it for a very long time.

"I'm Jack Frost." I introduced. Suddenly, I got an idea. "Follow Hans to the carriage and help Anna. I'll explain later, but please, go help her." She nodded, bare feet slapping the marble floor as she ran to the door to catch Hans. I hoped she would be able to help Anna as I caught up to the men holding Elsa. When I was finally able to get to her in the cell, things were looking bleak. She was slumped on the floor, hiding deep within herself. She was admitting defeat, I knew; I had experienced it firsthand. 

I begged her to wake up, pleaded with her to keep fighting, and suddenly she broke down into tears. I held her close, hoping she would snap out of it when she was done crying. 

"Hans has Anna, a girl named Rapunzel went with to try and help out. I have no idea what their plan for Kristoff is, but I know you don't have a lot of time. We need to get you out of her. I need you to focus all of your powers on the cuffs, and I'm going to do it, too. We'll have you free in no time." I told her, hoping she was aware enough to listen to me. I held my palms against her metal-clad hands, focusing everything I had on her. Finally, the cuffs froze off, shattering into pieces on the floor with a loud, metal clank. Elsa seemed better, but she still wasn't herself. "Elsa, are you ready for this?" I asked her, hoping she would answer.

"Yes. Let's do this." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself, and I knew that her grip on herself wasn't very strong. It was just a matter of time before she fell back into the realm of depression I had found her in. My presence could only help her so much.

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