The Frozen Hearts

By Michael Weyer

Ideas hit you out of the blue without you expecting it. This one came to me out of the more fully-formed than other story nuggets to the point I had to get it out. So figured I'd get the first chapter out to see if more interest out there for more. I don't own either "Once Upon a Time" or "Frozen."

THEN

A benefit of being absolute ruler of your land was you rarely had to worry about those annoying things like diplomacy. Sadly, people elsewhere failed to take such a message. Thus, Regina, the Queen of her kingdom, was forced to handle a party at the dismal backwater called Arendelle. Oh, it had some rustic charm but for the most part, far from the glamour Regina was used to. She'd rather let some minion handle this but decided at the last minute that opening up trade with a country so long isolationist was worth checking out herself. Annoying as that may be.

At least she was the best dressed woman here, as always. Her black and red dress flowed behind her with its cape and high collar, crown settled in her black hair, makeup impeccable as ever with blood red lips. As she sauntered about the room, she knew all eyes were on her and enjoyed how more were in fear than actual admiration. She sipped at her wine as she took in the other woman at the center of attention.

It took a lot to surprise the Queen but the realization of the magical power of Elsa was something. The girl was standing there meeting guests in an nice dark blue dress with black sleeves and a long dark cape. Regina had taken notice of how the girl kept flexing her fingers within the dark gloves she wore, as if trying to keep something in. Regina knew that reaction, she'd had it far too often in the past. She could also feel the waves of energy off Elsa, screaming out to her, raw and unfocused but incredibly strong. This young lady was still dealing with her own magic, in ways she couldn't quite control. That…was something worth investigating further.

At least this young queen had some royal bearing, which was more than could be said about her sister. Anna's perky attitude had grated Regina from the moment they met, the dark-blonde haired girl so bright and chipper that it made that damnable Snow White seem tolerable. The green dress she wore wasn't helping, nor her pining over Hans, a man who might as well have been wearing a sign proclaiming "selfish cad" yet the girl was too blind to see it.

True love. Has there ever been a more wasteful thing in the world?

She was watching as Anna came up to Elsa, Hans in tow, the younger girl with a big smile on her face. Regina couldn't hear all that was being said but she saw Elsa's eyes widen with shock and her jaw drop open before she screeched out "Married?!"

Regina smiled. Well, well, it looked like this party was getting more interesting.

Anna's smile kept up. "Well, yes, I mean…That's good, right?"

"Anna…You just met him! Literally five minutes ago!"

"More like fifteen…and actually ran into him earlier today…"

"That doesn't matter!" Elsa snapped, getting the attention of more party-goers. "You are far too young to get married!"

"It's my life!" Anna snapped. "Unlike you, I want to get out of this palace, see the world, not be locked in."

"That's not…" Elsa clenched her hands again and Regina could actually feel something building in her that she was trying to hold back. "I'm trying to protect you."

"Or control me?"

"Anna, I don't want to control you. I want what's best for you."

"And how do you know what that is?" Anna screamed back. "You haven't said two words to me since Mother and Father died! You locked yourself in that room and would never come out! I had to grow up without my sister, Elsa!"

"That was for your own good," Elsa pressed. "And so is this. Please, Anna…."

It was at that moment that the doors to the ballroom burst wide open. A blast of cold wind blew across the room as people leapt back. Sliding in as if on a trolley was a man of medium height, his skin resembling golden scales with a sharp nose and beady eyes, a mop of unruly dark hair framing his face. His hands ended in long fingernails and the dark leather suit he wore fit his skin well with a short cape about his shoulders. He stopped in place, his mouth in a huge grin that showed fanged teeth. "Sorry to interrupt," he said in a high-pitched voice. "But I thought it best to arrive now rather than later."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Regina scowled. "Are you following me?"

The figure let out a long cackle. "Contrary to what you think, your Majesty, the world does not revolve around you. No, I am here…" He extended a long finger toward Elsa. "For her."

The girl blinked, confused by all of this. "Wha….who are you?"

"Oh, forgive me, where are my manners?" The man let out an exaggerated bow, spreading out his arms with a flourish. "Rumplestiltskin. Or, as I might be better known…" He looked up, the smile fading. "The Dark One."

Except for Regina, every person in the ballroom immediately took at least three steps back. The temperature in the room seemed to plunge as terror overtook the faces of all present, even the soldiers holding back. Looking about, Rumplestiltskin giggled at the reaction. "I see my reputation has spread to here. Excellent, that saves us all a lot of time."

Elsa licked her suddenly dry lips, trying to quash her fears. Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel. "Why…Why are you here?"

"Fulfilling a contract, dearie," Rumplestiltskin said in a calm voice. "Ten years ago, your parents came to me for aid with a certain…issue. I fulfilled my part of the bargain. Now it's time for my payment."

"Our…our parents are dead," Anna managed to squeak out.

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Sorry but that's enough to get out of a contract with me. I lived up to my end, time to live up to yours." With a wave of his hand, a parchment formed out thin air that he offered to Elsa. "I've taken the liberty of highlighting the important parts."

Carefully taking the parchment, Elsa scanned it over seeing the letters glowing with gold light. It took her a moment for them to sink in as she re-read to make sure she hand't made a mistake. She looked up with her jaw open. "You…you can't be serious!"

Rumplestiltskin raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like a man known for his sense of humor?"

"You…want me to marry you?" Elsa screeched, Anna's own jaw dropping open at that.

"Want?" Rumplestiltskin laughed wildly. "Good heavens, no, I don't want it! I've been that way before, led to a lot of pain. No, I don't want a wife but at the time of the contract, I was a bit more in the market. It doesn't matter, a deal is a deal."

Elsa shook her head hard. "There is no way I am agreeing to this!"

"And if you had anything close to a choice, that might matter. But it doesn't. I don't take well to those who break my deals, dearie. Ask her Majesty here." He flicked a finger toward Regina.

Elsa whirled on the older woman, who simply shrugged. "As much as I detest this man to my core, I have to acknowledge that you're better off putting up with whatever he wants rather than cross him."

"So, I'm supposed to marry him?!"

"For what it's worth, you have my sympathies." To her surprise, Regina realized she actually meant that. "Talk about a fate worse than death…"

"Now, now, I'm hardly the most terrible catch." Rumplestiltskin made a show of brushing at his coat. "Certainly better than this oaf." He nodded to Hans. "Who's only after your sister to enhance his own reputation."

"What?" Anna blurted.

Rumplestiltskin smirked at her. "He's the last of thirteen brothers, dearie. The only way he's going to get ahead is to marry a princess and you do qualify."

Anna looked to Hans with horror in her eyes. He swallowed and stammered. "He…I mean, it's not like…"

"Oh, let's just skip it." Rumplestiltskin waved his hand and Hans suddenly transformed into a toad. Anna yelped as she leapt back from him. "Don't worry, it wears off in an hour but perhaps the lad can learn some manners."

"Still no patience…" Regina sighed.

"Patience is a virtue, dearie, which is something neither of us has ever been accused of having experience in." He turned back to Elsa. "Now, then, where to go for our honeymoon?"

Elsa backed up. "I am not going with you."

"Dearie, please don't mistake my demeanor of a gentlemen for a kind heart," Rumplestiltskin stated, his voice colder. "I made a deal. If not for me, your dear sister here would have been in a cold grave a very long time ago."

Anna blinked in confusion. "Elsa? What is he talking about?'

Elsa was as thrown but for different reasons. "But…They told me…the trolls…" Her eyes darted back and forth to her confused sister.

Rumplestiltskin giggled. "Trolls? Really? Oh, they're good for a fun night of drinking but fixing such a wound, not to mention memory alteration? No, your parents knew it required someone of a…different caliber to handle such a task. It's thanks to me that your dear sister is alive and well, your Highness. So now…if I may use one of my least favorite but applicable sayings…it's time to pay the piper."

He extended a hand but Elsa pulled back. "I'm not going anywhere with you!" She gripped the contract and tried to tear it in half but the paper refused to budge in the slightest.

That evil giggle echoed through the ballroom once more. "Sorry, dearie, but when I say those are ironclad, I'm not talking out of my hat." He moved closer. "Let's not make this messy, dearie, neither of us wants that."

"Leave her alone!" Anna yelled as she ran forward. With a wave of his hand, Rumplestiltskin unleashed a blast of gold light that knocked her across the room and onto a table.

"Anna!" Elsa yelled as she thrust out her hands. From thin air, a wave of ice and snow formed to strike out at the Dark One. He leapt back as daggers of ice formed at the ground, pointing right up at him.

Gasps of shock went about the audience present. "Sorcery!" the Duke of Weston cried out. "That witch! Get her! Get-" The rest of his tirade was cut off by a bolt from Regina that literally sealed his mouth shut. "Don't. Knock. Magic users," the Evil Queen hissed out.

Elsa barely noticed Regina's action, realizing what was happening and what she'd done. She heard a moan and turned her head to see Anna trying to rise up, staring in shock at Elsa. "Elsa…how…?"

Elsa looked around the room at the expressions of the people, her people, now staring at her in horror and fear. She ran forward, a trail of ice following as she burst out the doors. The people gathered there erupted into cheers and applause for their new Queen but Elsa was too busy fighting her fear to notice. She stumbled down the steps, running into the fountain in the courtyard, her hands touching it. The cheers turned into yells as the water froze solid into an ice sculpture, the same ice flowing around the area. Snow began to fall as Elsa ran past the onlookers and down the stairs leading to the water.

"Elsa! Elsa!" Anna yelled as she ran after her sister. Regina watched them go as she looked up to see the increasing snow falling and noted the sudden icy chill cutting through the air. She bundled her arms around her as she glanced to Rumplestiltskin. "Looks like you're out a bride."

He shrugged. "For the best, I suppose. Dowries are such a bore to deal with."

Regina smiled. "So it seems it was worth turning out for this. I finally got to see you fail to get a contract concluded."

Rumplestiltskin turned to her and his lips pulled into that twisted grin that she knew well. "My dear Majesty…I got exactly what I wanted."

He vanished in a puff of purple smoke. Regina's head slowly turned as she peered through the snow at the figure running across a newly icing lake. And she felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the growing chill in the air.

NOW

Today was not what Emma Swan had expected getting up this morning.

She had been preparing to leave Storybrooke, to take her son and go and try to live a good life at last. She hadn't expected Henry to fall into a coma. To realize that his tales of everyone in town being fairy tale characters under a curse was real. That magic was real. That Mayor Mills was the Evil Queen of legend. She hadn't expected to fight a dragon (a freaking dragon) to try and save the day only to get double-crossed by Rumplestiltskin, of all people.

Emma hadn't expected her kiss goodbye to her son to be the act of true love to break this curse. One wave of magic, followed by a strange purple cloud later and Emma was now handling the fact her parents were Prince Charming and Snow White. Having them be the same age she was physically was something else to take in altogether.

Now, here she was with her parents, a few of the Seven Dwarves (who were all normal-sized) and others trying to stop a mob out to string Regina up from the nearest tree. Heaven knew there were plenty of times in the last year Emma had wanted to do the same thing but she was the sheriff (and that was still strange as hell to think of), she had to try and maintain order.

"Look!" she called out, holding up her hands. "I get it! You're upset, you're angry but you can't just kill her in cold blood!'

"I'm certain half of them want to burn me first…"

"Not helping, Regina," Emma bit at her. The Mayor appeared cocky as ever, despite the fact her attempt to use magic had failed miserably. Maybe when someone was a supreme ruler for decades, they just assumed nothing bad could ever happen to them which Emma found idiotic for such a smart woman.

She cleared her throat as she addressed the mob. "Again, I get you're all pissed as hell but killing her isn't going to help things. This is not your…kingdom anymore. In this world, we do have some laws and we're going to play by them!"

Dr. Whale glared hard at Emma. "What she did to us is beyond any law of this world."

"Yeah?" Emma put a hand to the gun at her hip. "Well, murder is still murder, however you slice it with justice. I don't want this to get any messier than it already is so maybe it's time you all calmed down…"

She stopped as something wet hit her face. She blinked as another drop fell and another. At first, she thought it was rain but…no, it was something else. Emma looked up and blinked in confusion at the flakes of snow that began falling from the previously clear spring sky.

She automatically glanced at Regina but the mayor appeared as baffled as she was. A chill wind cut through the area, the mob's anger giving way to the sudden cold. Eyes and heads began to turn to face the figure striding forward down the sidewalk.

It was a young woman in her early twenties but seemed far older from her posture. She was clad in a lovely blue and white outfit, her hair blonde to the point of being white and cut short to her shoulders. Her hands were flexing as she walked on, every step of her heels forming a small patch of ice on the pavement.

"Ellen?" Emma frowned, staring at the young woman marching forward. She had met the proprietor of the local dress shop numerous times but saw none of Ellen's usual flighty tone and appearance here. Instead, she saw pools of ice in the other woman's eyes that stared daggers at Regina.

For her part, the mayor looked afraid for the first time Emma could remember, backing up toward her home. Ellen suddenly waved a hand and solid clumps of ice formed around Regina's feet, locking her to the front steps of her home. Regina struggled but was unable to move from the cold grip as she gazed at the eyes of the woman heading toward her.

Gold, you son of a bitch.

Ellen…or rather, Elsa…glared hard before biting out her words. "Usually, I despise clichés. You know that full well. But in this case, I'm going to indulge." She raised a hand as whispers of ice and snow formed around her fingers. "Revenge is a dish best served cold. And it's dinner time."

So, interest in continuing? Be sure to let me know via comments of more of how well Regina and Elsa know each other in both worlds.