I'm Afraid of What I'm Risking if I Follow You

Part 2

How infuriating; how had Elsa not heard of such an escape? Then again, Arendelle and the Southern Isles had practically stopped corresponding the moment Hans had tried to kill her. "When was this?"

"About... a year and a half ago?"

The anger had shot through her so sharply her powers reacted, causing ice to form under her legs. He'd been on the run for so long, there had been plenty of time for him to cause damage. It took everything in her not to attack in pure frustration. "And we in Arendelle heard no news whatsoever?"she snarled.

"If that doesn't show you how little I was cared for, I'm sure nothing else will convince you." And he acted so nonchalant about it, like he knew that was how his brothers would react! An attempted murderer, a heartless monster, out on the loose for so long...! Who could have known whom he'd pursued in that time! "My brothers cared far more about their own pursuits than ever keeping tabs on me, that's for certain."

"Quite obviously!" Elsa cried. The ice expanded a bit more beneath her, and Hans raised an eyebrow.

"And you're sure you're in control of your powers?"

He had the audacity to tease! Though heated, her face flushing and enraged, she gathered up enough strength to calm down a bit, to retract the ice. "What I can now do would certainly make you think twice before crossing me again," she threatened.

Hans held up his hands. "I've obviously no intention of doing so, though apparently my word means very little around here."

"It means nothing," she emphasized. "No word of apology would ever change the pure vehemence I feel for you."

"You're sure you want to speak in such absolutes?" he asked.

"Certain. How did you not know you were headed out toward Arendelle?"

"It's... honestly fuzzy," he replied, for once sounding uncertain. "I'd taken so many odd jobs aboard tall ships that neighboring kingdoms began to blur together, after a while, especially since I rarely took the opportunity to explore. In Harmon recently, I asked if there was passage on ground headed north; instead, we apparently headed west."

His vagueness only enraged her further, but she couldn't think of a way to make him elaborate, to confess what countless crimes he'd probably committed in such a time. Before she could ask what had happened to his passage, he opened his mouth again.

"Why the Northuldra?" he asked. "Is it simply because of your powers?"

She shouldn't explain. She didn't need to justify why she was living here now; he just had to accept her new life, her choices. But Elsa could feel the words spilling out of her mouth, like she had no control over them. "My Northuldran mother saved my father in this forest years ago. My powers and I are their gift: the fifth element, the fifth spirit."

Hans bit his lip, like he was trying to hold back a smirk, or worse: laughter. What about her beautiful heritage was funny to him? "You, former Queen Elsa of Arendelle, Northuldran?" he asked in disbelief, scanning her loose hair, her flowing skirts. "Your skin is practically the color of the snow you make, of that dress you're wearing."

"Color has nothing to do with my heritage." Oh, she could kill him for saying such a thing...! "Certainly far better than being the unlucky thirteenth prince of a rotting kingdom. I'm at least trying to learn about this wonderful culture."

"It's not a kingdom I certainly care about anymore," he shot back. "If the damn transport hadn't caught fire, we wouldn't have had to deal with each other ever again."

That still made little sense to her. "How did it catch fire?" she asked.

Again, Hans squinted, as though even though this was only a recent occurrence, it seemed too blurry in his mind. He took a moment to tie his hair back into a high ponytail before answering. "It honestly came out of nowhere," he said slowly, trying to figure out the details as he recounted them. "One moment we were quietly rolling through the wood, and the next, I see the cart up in flames. It's strange; it should have burned me completely, given I must have been closest to the center of it, but nothing hurt until the transport rolled over and I must have fractured a rib, ripped something open after landing on hard rock. Then I saw..." He trailed off.

"Saw what?" Elsa goaded. She hadn't realized she'd been inclining closer toward him.

"I don't know." He shook his head. "Some creature, just staring at me. I must have blacked out right after."

"What did it look like?" she pressed. Her hands balled into fists on her knees; she must have been merely a foot away at this point.

He opened his mouth to answer, and then there was that strange look he got again. Eyes in the distance, probably thinking back on his regrets and issues.

Before she could ask again, she heard a shriek from outside. Given how high-pitched it was, it must have been Ryder. "No, no, not in there, please!"

And then, Honeymaren: "You damn little runner! Get back here before I kill you!"

Yelena burst through, getting Elsa to jump back from Hans. "Elsa, you need to calm him down, he's—"

But Bruni had already scurried into the hut. Elsa had warned him multiple times that the tribe was not the place to play and catch fire, but before she could urge him over to create a flurry, he ran right past her!

"Bruni, what are you—?"

Elsa gasped—he leapt right onto Hans's lap, then climbed his way up his chest to settle on his shoulder. Eyes wide, she waited for his cry, for the inevitable burn that came with touching him (because as much as she enjoyed his adorable presence, he still hurt).

But Hans just stared at the little guy like he was a mere pet, and not the very essence of fire itself—even bringing a finger up to stroke his back. "You're the little thing that's causing such a stir?" he asked, his voice softening. "You don't seem so threatening."

Yelena stood above Elsa, frozen in place, in pure shock. Even Elsa didn't know what to say—Bruni wasn't hurting him? He didn't feel anything?

Hans delicately took Bruni from his shoulder, to hold him in cupped hands. Elsa must have looked like some dumb fish, mouth agape, eyes huge and unmoving.

And then at the same time, Hans and Bruni shared that look—that look Elsa knew, because she'd made it just months prior. That look she'd refused to believe Hans sported whenever he gazed off in the distance, because she was too stubborn to believe it, to even think it might be a possibility.

"Can you hear the singing, too?" Hans asked the little creature, and Bruni tilted his head toward Hans, a quiet understanding passing between the two of them.

Elsa could feel her heart pounding in her ears. "What singing?" she demanded once she found her voice, because not once did she hear it when Hans arrived. "What does it sound like?"

Hans repeated the melody, and Elsa paled.