Always You

xii. Bittersweet

Anna

I woke up on a big, plush bed that looked wildly out of place in the dirty building. Thankfully, I was alone in the room, buried under a fluffy comforter that was so warm I almost didn't want to get up. Still, I pushed myself up and walked over to the dirty window. I could see a crumbling shed, the only other building in sight. There was a large hole in one wall of the thing, and I wondered what the building was there for. I turned back to the door, pulling the handle to find it was lock, which wasn't a suprise. Glancing around the room, I saw the only thing in it besides myself and a bed was a note on the small table placed randomly in the middle of the floor.

"Princess,

I'll return in a few hours with some food. Be careful, things here aren't as they seem.

- Hans"

I groaned out loud, feeling tears swimming in my eyes again. Thoughts were running through my mind at impossible speeds; the baby, Kristoff in danger, Elsa in danger, Rapunzel in danger, myself in danger, the kiss with Hans, Jack Frost... It was all enough to drive me crazy. I was suddenly overcome with an immense need to sleep, collapsing back on the bed. My dreams were long and eventful, keeping me tossing and turning.

The king and queen held their newest child, frowns set deep in their faces from years of staying that way. "Well, I guess we now have thirteen heirs," The king spoke, looking at his wife. She looked at the small bundle in her arms, shaking her head. "How could we let this happen?" She wailed, throwing her head back as her twelve other sons entered the room. The eldest, aged sixteen, eyed the small boy in their mother's arms and felt a pang of sadness.

Five years later, the boy's nurse kissed his head as she tucked him in. "Why don't Mommy and Daddy ever tell me goodnight?" He asked, innocence prominent in his large eyes. The woman sighed, looking at the child. "Sometimes people don't realize what they have," She replied, hugging him. He sighed, smiling and drifting to sleep. "Unlucky thirteen," The woman thought, shaking her head sadly as she left the room.

At age ten, the little boy ran after his much older brothers, small legs rushing to keep up with theirs. "Go away, Hans, we don't want you to play with us!" They called to their brother, teasing and taunting him with growing intensity. When he wouldn't leave, their threats turned physical and he finally returned to the castle with a black eye, crying as his nurse held steak to his eye.

At age fifteen, he sat alone in the ballroom as his brother celebrated his marriage to some foreign princess, the whole kingdom dancing in joy and ignoring the forgotten thirteenth son. No girls, royal or otherwise, ever looked his way and he was growing tired of it. Often, he wondered if anyone would notice if he left, since his parents and brothers had barely noticed his arrival into the family.

At age twenty, returning to the castle after a stint in Arendelle, he spoke to his parents for the first time in years. "I'm sorry I was gone, but boy do I have a story for you," His words died as his mother asked, "Oh, you were gone? We didn't even notice." His face fell, eyes hardening as he swore revenge on the only person he could get it; the Queen of Arendelle.

I sat up, chest heaving and tears in my eyes, as I woke from the dream. My heart was aching with the realization that Hans' life was really like that. He had never told me, and I wondered how I had even known it. Then, I noticed him sitting beside me. There was an empty mug next to me.

"How did you..." I trailed off, and he gave me a strange look that I couldn't decipher. The sun was setting outside, casting a red-orange glow into the small room.

"There's this thing about witches... They'll have an elixir for everything, but it doesn't always work. I wasn't sure if the memory one would... That is, the one that enables you to share memories with anyone else who drinks it. I just thought, you know, that you'd want to know." He sounded so fragile, and I could see his walls crumbling with every second we spent together. There was something so different about him now from the day we first met. Maybe it was just that this time he had what he wanted so he was more trusting, and maybe there was something more to that kiss-