Explaining everything to her parents had been awkward at best. Afterwards, it still did not seem like they completely understood it all. Really, the concept that your daughter could conjure ice at the snap of a finger or cause a city-wide blizzard with a wave of the hand should not be all that hard to grasp. However, since they had seen her powers with their own eyes, it seemed that the problem they were running into was not so much that they couldn't believe it, but that they did not want to believe it. They kept asking Elsa questions along the lines of how the "situation" could be "remedied", as if she had some disease that needed to be cured.

As for their reactions to Sora the Keyblade Master and Axel the human flamethrower? There were none. Just blank stares and gaping mouths. Elsa's best guess was it was all too much for them. Information overload had shut down their brains. Poor things.

She had not gotten long to discuss the matter with her parents however, for shortly after everything had settled down, a cop car had shown up on the scene. Apparently, what had gone down in the gym had caused quite a lot of noise that could be heard at nearby houses, and the police had been alerted to it. Once the officer found out her father was injured, she had radioed an ambulance for him and it was currently en route to their location. The gym had been investigated as well, but all that was found was the wreckage left over in the aftermath. Hans was nowhere to be seen.

It had been a long night. Elsa had not truly realized how long until she was told that the wee-hours of pre-dawn were upon them. She now sat on a bench outside the gym, watching her frazzled parents and Olaf from several yards away as they spoke to the officer. Elsa had no idea what story they were giving the cop, but she imagined they could get away with telling her practically anything at this point. After all, it was not such a stretch to believe the police department had been dealing with an awful lot tonight, what with an unexpected snowstorm in the middle of Summer most likely causing car crashes and other such accidents, plus probably several accounts of strange shadow creatures running amuck through the streets. Whatever slight bending of the truth her parents were giving the cop would probably just get lost in the PD's ever growing pile of other reports from the past twelve hours.

She looked to her left where Sora sat quietly beside her. "So that's it?" she asked. "With the Keyhole sealed, Arendelle is safe from the Heartless?"

"For the most part," he nodded. "The heart of the city was mainly what they were after, so now there's nothing to draw any new ones here. There might be a few stragglers, but they took such a hit in their numbers thanks to us that they probably won't be confident enough to attack anymore people. They'll probably just flee, regroup and move on to search for the next open Keyhole."

"And you?"

"I'll be doing the same. That, and continuing the search for my friends."

Elsa hesitated before opening her mouth to ask a question. "...how have you been getting around?"

That hadn't been the question she had intended to ask him.

"I've just been hopping random trains and riding until the Cricket tells me I'm close to a Keyhole." He laughed. "I'm not really one for planning ahead, but this way seems to have been working out okay so far."

She nodded and was silent as she chewed on her lower lip.

"You want to come with me, don't you?" Sora asked.

Her eyes drifted up to glance at him again. "...am I that obvious?"

"Well, I'd be happy if you decided to tag along. If you and Axel hadn't been around tonight, I'm not sure if all this would have had such a happy ending." He grinned at her. "And it'd be nice to have friends around again."

A tiny flutter rippled through her heart. She had made a new friend. How long had it been since she could say that? She smiled, but it faded quickly into a frown. "I'd love to be able to help. And I think that… I really need to get away… to be anywhere but home right now." Her gaze returned to her parents. "But I just don't know…"

Sora stood and stretched. "I get it. It's not an easy decision. Just know you're more than welcome to come along. I'll be hanging out here a bit longer, so just let me know."

Her head bobbed at his words as he walked over to join the rest of the teenagers, who were chatting in a group off to one side. Anna looked up as Sora appeared beside her, then turned to Elsa. Elsa rose to her feet and watched as her sister approached her with a small grin that crinkled her eyes.

Elsa returned it before worrying her fingers through her braid. How to explain to Anna what she was considering? She did not even know if she was actually going to go with Sora. But it did sound really tempting...

"You're thinking of leaving," Anna broke the silence abruptly.

She rocked back on her heels a bit. "How did you…?" She shook her head with a sigh. "Yeah, kinda…" Crossing her arms, Elsa looked away, waiting for her sister to berate her for even contemplating such a stupid idea.

"You should do it."

She blinked in surprise. Well, she had not been expecting that. "What?"

Anna giggled at her reaction then raised her chin smugly. "You heard me."

"But... after all these years, I just got you back. And after all you've done tonight, how you fought and struggled to get to me, to help me. How can I just… leave?"

She stepped forward to take Elsa's hands in her own. "Well, for starters, you're eighteen now, so you can do whatever you want. Plus, what you most certainly do not need right now is to be cooped up under the scrutiny of Mom and Dad. What you need is an adventure. I think it'll be good for you. You're wound so tightly, maybe this'll loosen you up a bit."

She stared down at their hands. "What about you?" Her head shot up suddenly. "You could come with me!"

Shaking her head, Anna said gently, "No. This should be your journey. Now that I know you're okay, I don't need to chase after you anymore. Besides, someone needs to stay behind and pacify the parental units when you disappear. They don't need two daughters going missing on them at the same time. Plus… I think Kristoff and I might have a thing going on…" She turned to look at the boy in question. As if sensing eyes on him, he turned his head and waved awkwardly. Anna snorted before continuing, "So don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Elsa's lips formed an "O" shape. Well, look at the two of them, already having girl talk about boys. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. So she just smiled and said, "Okay then, I guess. As long as you're sure."

"I am," she chirped, then reached inside the jacket she wore - still the one Kristoff had given her earlier that night - to pull something out and place it in her sister's hand. It was Elsa's smartphone. "You left this at the dance, by the way. Since you'll be on the lam, I'll understand if you leave it turned off most of the time. But if you ever need anything - anything at all - call me. I mean it."

Elsa ran her fingers along the edges of the phone fondly. It was her link back to home. Placing it in her pocket, she said, "Thank you. And I didn't say it before, but I hope you know that I love you too."

"I know," Anna responded cheekily before wrapping her arms tightly around Elsa in a hug. "We'll be waiting for you, whenever you decide it's time to come home."

Unable to find words, she just hugged her sister back. They stayed that way for a couple minutes before separating. Anna then pat Elsa on top of the head and skipped off to rejoin the group. She poked an unsuspecting Kristoff in the side, who quite visibly jumped.

Hiding a smirk behind her hand, Elsa scanned the faces in the group and saw that Axel was no longer among them. Glancing around, she spotted him leaning against a wall a few yards away, arms crossed. They had not really spoken to each other yet. Sure, a word had been exchanged here or there in the heat of battle, but they had not really talked yet, not since she had yelled at him and told him to go away. It seemed that now was her chance. She started to walk towards him, hesitating a second and almost losing her nerve, before stubbornly pushing forward. "Look who's being antisocial," she teased when she got close enough, trying to sound nonchalant but failing miserably.

"You're not much better," he responded as he pushed himself away from the wall. "Though you do seem to be less antsy about the whole skin contact thing. Good for you."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you and your sister getting all handsy," he said with a wink. "Just now, and earlier."

Her eyebrows knit together in thought before she let out a soft gasp. She had been holding Anna's hands without gloves! How could she be so careless?

Her distress must have been apparent on her face, for Axel was hasty to add, "Hey, it wasn't a criticism. In fact, it's a good thing. Shows you're starting to get more comfortable with your powers."

"But it was irresponsible, I could have hurt her. I wasn't thinking of her safety."

"Actually, I think that's all you were thinking of. It may not of been in the form of stressing over giving her hypothermia, but during our encounter with Hans, you clearly wanted to protect her. Once you stop worrying about harming others with your powers, you'll… well, stop harming others with your powers."

"But with Anna… that was a special case, what with everything going on and her being my sister. I don't know if I can do it again… not think about how damaging my touch can be, that is." Elsa sighed. "I've been this way so long, I don't know how to be otherwise."

He gave her a half grin. "Baby steps, Snowflake. What you've managed so far is a start. The rest will come with time."

"I guess…" she mumbled, not seeming to share his confidence. Regardless, that was not the reason she had come over here. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth.

Axel beat her to the punch. "You're going with Sora."

She gaped at him. "...what, is everyone a mind reader now?"

"No. But it's written all over your face as plainly as if you had said it."

"I wish people would stop reading my face. It's not a book," she grumbled, to which he just shrugged. "Anyway, I don't know if I-"

She cut herself off as she was struck with the realization that she actually did know. At some point, possibly leaving with Sora had changed into definitely leaving with Sora. Apparently, Anna had told her all the things she needed to hear to make up her mind. "Actually, yes. I am going with him. Do you want to come along?"

Both his eyebrows raised as if in shock, even though she knew it wasn't possible for him to feel such an emotion. "Does that mean you trust me again?"

Elsa scuffed the heel of her shoe against the ground. This had been what she wanted to talk to him about, but she was not sure even she really knew the answer to that question yet. She took a second to gather her thoughts, then said, "I'm grateful for what you did earlier. Saving my family, helping fight off the Heartless and Hans… and after all the awful things I said to you. I didn't mean any of them, I was just angry and worried and was lashing out. I'm sorry I said those things to you."

"Hey, don't sweat it. It's not like you crushed my heart. Don't got one, ya know?" She just stared at him. He scratched the back of his head as he said, "Still too soon for joking about it, huh? Anyway, all I'm saying is if you need an emotional punching bag, I'm your best bet, so always feel free to go for it."

Tilting her head to one side, she said, "Thanks, but I think I'll just try to keep a cooler head on my shoulders in the future."

"That works too. Just remember, offer's always on the table."

She grinned and shook her head. "Anyway, as for what you did… well, I'm glad you decided not to go through with handing me over to this Organization XIII and I forgive you for keeping the whole truth from me. But as for trust… no, I don't trust you yet." He remained silent and she had to quickly look away from his penetrating gaze.

"But," she said pointedly before continuing in a softer, almost shy tone, still not looking at him, "I am willing to give you the chance to earn my trust again, if you're so inclined."

Rubbing his chin, Axel said, "I can live with that. Deal." He offered his hand to her. "Shake on it?"

She pursed her lips and did not move right away. But a second later, she placed her hand in his for the handshake, her fingers tingling with the warmth from his. When he released her hand, she may have pulled it back just a bit too quickly, clasping it protectively in her other hand.

"So what about Hans?" Axel asked. "He already kidnapped your family once. What's to stop him from doing it again if you leave?"

"What'll stop him is he's not stupid. He thought he could get away with it because he thought I couldn't hurt him. To be fair, I thought so too, but I guess even I have my limits. No, he experienced the consequences from trying it once, he won't try it again. It's me he's after, so he'll probably just follow me while he comes up with a new plan of attack. If he even still cares. He may have just decided I'm more trouble than I'm worth and moved on."

"I doubt it. He'll pop up again sooner or later," he said.

She frowned. Was that a good thing or not? Honestly, she'd be happy if she never saw him again, but it was probably a bad idea leaving him running loose, all juiced up on dark powers. However, they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. There was no use worrying about it now. Besides, something else was troubling her. "... he mentioned that my Heartless would be magnificent. What was that supposed to mean?"

He tapped a finger to his head in thought. "Well... you know how Heartless come in all different shapes and sizes? That's based on the amount of darkness in a person's heart when it's stolen. The more darkness, the nastier the Heartless that is created can be. For example, the little Heartless that are basically canon fodder came from people who didn't have enough darkness in their heart to fill a thimble. But that bearzilla we fought earlier? Probably came from one evil son of a bitch."

Her face fell as one of her hands flew to her chest. "So he was saying if the Heartless ever got me, I'd make something like that? Because I have a lot of darkness in my heart? That I'm evil?"

"No, not evil. Definitely not," he shook his head rapidly. "But... you do probably carry a lot of darkness within you because of all the fear and loneliness that's been building up inside you over the years. But we can work on that."

Work on it, huh? He made it sound so easy. She was not so sure it would be. Instead of arguing however, she asked, "What about that name Hans mentioned... Maleficent? Who's that?"

"Probably that precious 'Ladyship' he kept going on about," he said with finger quotes. "His boss."

"Yeah, but who is she? What does she want? Why did she want me to help her? How did she do what she did to Hans? And Hans mentioned something about Anna not being one of the seven... seven what? How-"

"Woah, woah, slow down there," he interrupted her, raising his hands. "Do I look like I have all the answers?"

She frowned and sighed. "Well, no..."

"Then what are you asking me for? Your guess is as good as mine."

Smirking, she said, "Fine then, here's one you probably can help with. What's that Organization of yours going to do now? I'm guessing they won't exactly be thrilled when they realize you're not coming back, if they haven't figured it out already."

"Oh yah, they'll be positively tickled that I bailed. We can probably expect gift baskets from them at some point," he said sarcastically. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he added, "But don't worry about it."

"Well that's comforting," Elsa mumbled.

Footsteps could be heard and she turned to see Sora joining them. "So. Who's in?"

Axel raised his hand eagerly. "Me!"

Elsa glanced over her shoulder at her parents and Olaf one last time. They were still engrossed in their conversation with the police officer and completely oblivious to the rest of their surroundings. Her gaze traveled to Anna, who met her eyes immediately and offered her a reassuring smile. Elsa grinned and bowed her head slightly, before turning back to Sora as she took a deep breath. "Me too."

With a nod and a smirk, Sora motioned for them to follow him. The trio slipped silently off into the fading night just as the sun began to rise over the horizon.

Author's Note: And thus Book 1 comes to a close! Woo, Frozen arc over, on to the next adventure! But before that, we have a lot of things to discuss guys! Sorry for the incoming wall of text! Alright, here goes:

UPDATE 1/20/2017: BOOK 2 HAS BEGUN! You can find it on my profile, title The Heart of All Worlds: Split Ends. The rest of this AN beneath this paragraph is old, but I decided to leave it (mostly) as is - if any new readers happen upon this, I'd still love to hear the answers to my questions! However note there is mention in the old AN of a preview of Book 2 coming up next chapter - I DID have it posted, but I have removed it as it is now chapter 1 of Book 2 - no need to have it in two places! Also, my other new story I referred to in this AN is called 31 Days and has already been posted, please go check it (and my other stories) out if you haven't yet :) Thanks! Now we return to the old AN previously in progress…

First off, I will be taking a bit of a break from writing. I figured here, between "worlds", seemed to be a good place for a brief stopping point. Why the break? Because I'm getting married next month xD So I will understandably be very busy putting all my focus on finalizing the wedding preparations (oh gosh, it's all so stressful!) and can't let myself get distracted by fanfiction ;_; But don't worry, this story is FAR from over and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. I've already started writing Book 2 and for those of you who are curious, I will be posting a "preview" chapter for it (sort of a short little prologue) next week so you guys can find out what "world" our heroes will be visiting next :) So keep an eye out for that update!

Also, I have a lot of plans for the other "worlds" our heroes will be going to in future books, but it's not all 100% mapped out nor set in stone yet. So if you guys have any votes for Disney movie worlds you'd like to see in my story, let me know! Don't be shy! You might remind me of a movie I've forgotten and would love to include!

And I'm not sure exactly when my time will free up again so that I can get back into this, but hopefully it shouldn't be more than about 2 months. I know, it's a bit long, but it'll fly by in no time, you'll see!

Now onto the other bit of news: when I do inevitably return, I actually won't be starting with Book 2 of this series right away. Why? Let's start by saying that as much of a ridiculous crack pairing as it is, I love AxelxElsa. It may not show a whole lot in this story (oh is it coming tho, just you wait), but I'm an obsessed weirdo, you'll learn soon enough xD Because of my obsession, I have billions of ideas for different stories for these two, and new ones keep popping into my brain every day. Let me know if you want me to list them out sometime, haha.

But anyway, while I've been working on Book 2 of this series, I've also been writing two other AU AxelxElsa stories (oops my cray-cray is showing, haha). One of them is almost done - a lot closer to being done than Book 2 of this series. So, when I return, I will start by posting that new story :) It's very different from this series, both in plot and writing style, but I hope you guys will still like it! It's about a thousand times more shippy than this series is (I know, this series is hardly shippy at all, but it'll get there - I mean, Elsa just got out of relationship with a dude who wanted to hand her over to the Heartless, while Axel is a Nobody, ie has the emotional capacity of a toaster. Meaning, neither of them really have romance on the mind... not yet, at least xD hehehe) And worry not, Book 2 of this series will go up sooner or later as well! At the latest, by the time I'm done posting my new story, but maybe sooner if I get enough of it written out first to feel comfortable to start posting it early!

Side note: do you guys think its okay for me to keep posting my stories in the KH section of FFN, as opposed to the KH-Frozen crossover section? I mean, Frozen in KH3 is most likely going to be a given, and even if it weren't, I'm still of the opinion that when it comes to KH, anything Disney is fair game and so my AxelxElsa stories don't need to be crossovers. But that doesn't stop me from being nervous about receiving lash back from diehard KH fans about not flagging my stories as crossovers (of which I've gotten none so far, thankfully! I'm probably just paranoid) or being curious what others' thoughts on this are, so let me know!

Whew! I think that covers everything, sorry for the short essay, guys, but I wanted you all to know what to expect coming up! By the way, none of my questions were rhetorical. I really want to hear from all of you, so if you have any thoughts at all that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them so please let me know!

Special thanks to SoraKairiRikuNamine, Spiderfan626, and Juuromaru for posting their reviews! Thanks to the rest of you who favorited, followed, PMed me about this story, or even have just only read it while remaining silent so far! If you haven't already, now would be a great time to leave a review ;) They will sustain me while I am gone! Hundreds of billions of thanks for everyone's support, keep being heartwarmingly happy! Be back with a new story in a few months!