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

Part 4

"Only of what's happened here before," she said. "I was able to see that my mother saved my father during the battle between Arendelle and the Northuldra. I—even found their lost ship, and learned of their last moments." But her memories, the vast ones that spanned generations and concerned her parents, her sister... those could only be found so quickly in Ahtohallan. Within moments. But she had to take what she could get here.

If this even worked.

"Water has memory," she explained, and again, it wasn't like she could bring up a talking snowman without potentially really weirding Hans out. "So I'm wondering, with you—"

"If I do this little experiment, and test this out, you might see something that will unlock something about my past and why I can't interact properly with the spirits," he finished. "And just dunking me in water isn't going to be enough, so while it's a bit—strange, sweat will have to do?"

"Yes, that." She gave a knowing point. "That doesn't weird you out, does it?"

Hans shrugged. "With all the traveling in cramped quarters with a plethora of different animals and people, nothing really fazes me," he replied. "But none had powers like you did. Nor have I seen magic like this in... my life, I think."

Bruni scurried up to Hans, after whatever little adventure he decided to go on today. It was like Hans expected it now, helping the little guy up to his shoulder. And sometimes it seemed like they had little conversations, too. Like they could understand each other.

Elsa used to have that connection with the little fire spirit. But he seemed to have a new best friend now.

"When's the last time you heard the voice?" she asked, but she looked to Bruni to see if he would pop his head in the right direction.

Hans shrugged. "I don't know—just a few moments ago? I've been ignoring it for now. Not much I can do about it."

"Does it keep you up?" Elsa noticed his face flushing a bit more; just keep up this conversation until she could try it... "It kept me awake, just this voice, singing to me." She sang the notes lowly.

Hans repeated it. Elsa had never really heard him sing, but—damn, if he didn't have a melodic voice. A really nice one, actually. "You can't sing that high, can you?"

"No." Elsa chuckled. "I think I tried once, and I'm glad no one was around to hear it. But the voice... it'll react sometimes if you sing back. That's what I think, anyway."

"Ah. I suppose that's something to look into when, well... when I'm healed," he said.

Elsa realized that would probably lead him right to Ahtohallan. Hopefully by that point, Elsa would have everything she needed to know about Hans, or maybe she'd feel more comfortable bringing him there.

If she could.

She looked up at him. "I think that'll do," she decided, raising her hands. With Gale, she'd interacted with the wind, and on the ship, she knew to gather the water from the planks. With Hans... she would have to touch him.

Hans scooted toward Elsa, but he kept his distance respectable, as per usual. His hands, would that work? No—she honestly didn't think so, if the beads of sweat formed at his temples. Oh, how disgustingly intimate... Swallowing, she started to reach toward his jaw. "Do you mind?" she asked. "I'll try not to freeze you, of course." There wasn't much to work with, but just maybe she could conjure up something small.

Bruni stuck his little tongue out, pacing across Hans's shoulder like he couldn't wait.

But Hans leaned forward, giving a nod. "I said I trusted you," he assured. "Can't be worse than anything I've felt in the past few years."

His skin was warm, certainly from sitting so close to the bonfire. Why was her heart pounding so loud; maybe she still thought Hans might try something nefarious? His eyes were so green—and she could read them, knew that he actually trusted her like he said. Deep breath. Relax. Focus. She could do this. It was just Hans, and she could handle him.

Bruni looked up at her expectantly, dancing on his shoulder. She couldn't focus with that green gaze, so she closed her eyes. The hair beside his ears was so soft. Alright, she could do this.

"Show me," she murmured, but it was more of a command of herself, drawing in all her power to do this. That tingling feeling she'd described to Hans whenever she felt her powers ready to burst. "Show me, show me..." The memory of him helping in Arendelle. Something, no matter how small. Something that wouldn't freeze him.

Her forehead was practically against his. "Show me." It wasn't just conjuring snow and ice for fun. This was to help show her what she could do. Show her more about him.

She opened her eyes, and the power leapt from her hands, gathered what she needed about Hans. A snow memory (albeit, smaller than the ones she'd been able to produce before) appeared beside them. Bruni danced happily on Hans's shoulder, and Elsa gasped, amazed that she'd been able to do it.

It was... Helga, who ran the bakery down by the harbor. Hans handed her a blanket, an assuring hand on her back. The smile on his face was kind, his eyes genuine. He liked doing the work.

"Does anyone need a cloak?" The memory she'd been looking for—conjured right here!

"Arendelle is indebted to you, Your Highness."

It was just a snippet, but exactly what she'd wanted. They both gasped, astonished.

"You... you did it," Hans uttered. "Incredible." He had this little smile, like he couldn't quite believe it, but... there it was. Her powers at their finest.

"I—I did." Elsa almost couldn't believe her little experiment actually worked. When she looked back at Hans, she realized her hands were still cupping his cheeks.

Clearing her throat, she took her hands down and tried to hide the flush that inevitably graced her face—again. Elsa instead flexed her fingers, feeling more powerful than ever. The tingling hadn't gone away just yet.

The power of Ahtohallan... maybe she could harness it without going back there. Keep everyone safe from diving too deep into its river, too deep into following the voice and freezing to death.

Elsa would just have to figure out what the right secret was, within his past.

And she could tell Yelena was probably in the shadows, watching all of this unfold. Probably taking whatever notes she needed to, to tell Elsa about this inevitable destiny or future she thought she had ahead of her.

Now Elsa knew for sure: Hans was telling the truth about helping out Arendelle, about liking it. And she started to see that natural leadership show through, and how the people just lapped it up. But his reaction was genuine. Hans was genuine. She never thought she'd live to see it.

What else was she missing? And how long would it take?

With this surge of power, she wanted to know more. She needed to know more, and eventually would.

But it was getting late. There was only so much energy Hans could exert, so much she could only do in a night. There was time he needed to heal, time she needed to figure out just what else she could do with this. She looked over at the memory, still in awe.

That was, until Bruni leapt off Hans's shoulder, running directly onto the snow memory and setting it ablaze, melting it quickly so he could cool down.

"No!" both Elsa and Hans cried.