Always You

xxxviii. Honest Help

Anna

As Kristoff rejoined me where I was standing with his family, I could tell already there was something he wasn't sharing with me. It was funny; you grew up watching married women tell their husbands that it's pointless to lie to them because they'll always figure it out, but you never really believe it until you're in their situation. I was, strongly, and I did always know when Kristoff was lying. It was just wife's intuition, I supposed. I resolved to think of it later, knowing we should enjoy this time with his family before we would need to return to the castle. I could already tell Eleanor would be hungry soon, another feminine intuition, I guessed. 

Too soon we were saying goodbye and I was leading the way back to the castle while Kristoff stared off into the woods, no doubt thinking about whatever it was that Grand Pabbie had told him. There was no doubt in my mind that it had something to do with Eleanor, but I couldn't fathom what. I had no clue why he wouldn't want to tell me, his wife, something he had found out about his child, our daughter. It sort of angered me, thinking that he would keep something from me. On that note, I thought to myself, why had he kept Eleanor's ice powers from me? It didn't seem fair to me, that he could know so much more about our child than I did. I tried to stay calm, taking a deep breath in order to do so.

When we got back to the castle, he headed inside while I stayed out in the stables, helpless to do anything but slump down in the hay and watch him walk away. A cool breeze blew through the stable, lifting the ends of my hair off my shoulder. I thought back to this time last year, when I was doing nothing but wondering if Elsa would ever come out of her room. Now, she was gone and everything had changed irreparably. Nothing could ever be the same again. I heard Ginger whinny, her life utterly uncomplicated. I wished something about my life had ever been easy. It was stupid, to wish I could change the past, but it was what I did anyway. I leaned against the wooden wall, sighing deeply as I did so. My eyes flicked to the corner of an empty stall, a slight movement catching my eye. I knew it was nothing, probably just a mouse, but my feet carried me towards the disturbance anyway. I kneeled down, the smell of wood and hay wafting up to my nostrils. There was a catch in the wood, what looked to be a hidden hiding spot. It amazed me that I had been living in the castle and riding in these stables for my whole life and had never noticed this little nook. I pulled off the cover, digging in the small space and trying not to think of the various bugs, critters or worse that could be hidden in there. After a few moments, my fingers closed around a piece of paper. I gasped in shock, wondering what was so important that it had been hidden. Looking at it, it was yellow and old, so thin that I was worried it would rip. It felt fragile and ancient, like there was something so special in it that I might not even be worthy of reading it. I had a feeling that, after I read whatever was on this paper, nothing about my life would never be the same again. 

Taking a deep breath, I unfolded it. It was old and cracked, the writing swirling and almost like calligraphy, someone having taken their time with this writing. I could picture a small woman holding an ink dipped quill, straining her eyes and fingers to write these words so perfectly in the hopes that someone would someday find them and use them the right way. And the words on that piece of paper were, indeed, of great importance. I stared at them in shock, unable to process what I had just read.

Kristoff

I left Anna in the stable as I went back into the castle, in search of the book she had once been so obsessed with. If there really was a curse to be broken, I had nothing but certainty that it would be in that book. It would make perfect sense; whatever that thing in the library had been, it was trying to warn us and that book was the only thing that could help us. Although, I had ordered it hidden when Anna had started to return to normal. I had no idea where to start looking for it, but it seemed that the library would be the most logical start. I took in a deep breath, shaking my head. How had this happened? What would have caused a curse to be put on the castle and the royal family? Why hadn't anyone before Elsa been afflicted, and why was Eleanor? It didn't make any sense and I wished that Grand Pabbie could have been more help. He tried hard and I knew he wanted to be of more help, it was just hard to appreciate it when there was so much more to worry about even with the information he could give. It made no sense.

I felt like a bad parent, left helpless while my daughter struggled with whatever was happening to her. I couldn't do anything to fix this, at least not right now, and I didn't know how this was affecting her. She was nothing more than a little baby, her whole life ahead of her, though maybe not if I couldn't fix this. I just wanted her to be happy, and I knew that if I didn't lift this curse she wouldn't be. I saw the toll Elsa's powers had taken on Anna, causing her to grow up miserable and alone, and I wouldn't stand-by and let the same thing happen to my daughter.

In the library, I stood amongst the hundred of shelves containing thousands of books and blew out my breath. How could I even begin to start looking? MY worry was broken as the doors slammed open and Anna came running in.

"Kristoff! Kristoff, I found an answer!" She cried out, her voice jubilant as she waved a crumbled piece of paper in my face. It was cracked with age, but the joy in her eyes spoke volumes about what the paper contained. "we can save our baby!" She gushed, tears running from her eyes in her joy. I took the paper from her, eyes scanning over the words.

Love will thaw, but hate will burn,

the cycle of the curse will turn,

ashes placed inside an urn, 

the only way to stop the yearn,

Death will end the Curse.

It was obvious how to break the curse, but not so obvious how that would help us. 

"But..." I started, but Anna shook her head. She turned to point behind her, where Jack Frost was once more standing.

"I know how to help," He spoke softly.

A/N: Hi! Sorry that my updates take so long, I just try really hard to make them good and grammatically correct! Hope you guys liked this update, and thanks so much for reaching & exceeding the vote/comment goal on the last chapter! How about for this chapter we try 10 comments and 15 votes? I know you guys can do it! I promise I'll update as soon as the goal is reached. <3