Anna had been on some trips--usually to save her kingdom from supernatural forces--but none quite as awkward or slow as this one.

Clem put a bag over Kristoff's already tied hands and then tied over those and let Kristoff ride on his white stallion. Clem walked beside the horse with a rope connected to Kristoff's wrists and waist. You might call it overkill, but Anna knew how strong Kristoff was and how difficult it was for Clem--a 260 Ib. man--to keep him down.

Anna and Aleksander rode on their horses; Anna in front of the group with the prince in the back. It was silent; hence the awkwardness. Not even Olaf, who rode along with Anna in front of her saddle, tried to break it.

They took a different trail back to the castle as the road they came from was crowded with Bodi citizens that were trying to figure out what the noise had been all about. Clem strapped Kristoff in and they all got a fast move on, but Anna felt like she was moving in slow motion. She tried to think about the sky; it was darkening, past sunset and Anna remembered her telling Mattias to send a search party after them if they didn't return before dark. She cursed herself for that promise, but with the detour that led mostly uphill, and Clem having to walk beside them, they couldn't really go any faster. 

She thought about Elsa and wished she had never left Arendelle. She wanted to hug her sister and cry into her arms, just to know she had someone she could count on.

She thought about the kitchen staff and their missing members. She thought about the dusty Inn and the muddy paths. Anna even tried to braid her hair as they rode on, but she couldn't focus and left it down.

She thought about the trail they were on, with the leafless trees aligning the frosted path. The air up here was drier and the wind blew harder. Anna had to nuzzle her cloak to her neck to avoid the chill that blew up from the bottom of her horse. 

"Hey, Anna?" Olaf didn't meet her eyes but kept turning his head around them.

"Yeah, Olaf?" Anna's voice was taut like she was going to cry. She tried to breathe in and caught a swift of decaying leaves and wet stone. Moss and towering boulders surrounded the path, almost encasing Anna and the others. This place was familiar to her.

"I know I'm still learning," Olaf said. "But does everyone have to learn things like this?"

"What things?"

Olaf's voice turned as shallow as a small pond. "Things like...duplicity. Realizing people aren't who you thought they were?"

He said it.

"Olaf, Kristoff..." Anna was whispering now but didn't know what to say next. "I think everyone feels this way at some points in their lives, and it's something--"

"That we have to live with?" Olaf finally met Anna's eyes, turning fully around on the horse to see her. 

Anna hesitated to respond, knowing that she didn't know what she was talking about. She was betrayed by Hans, but that was different. She barely knew him and didn't know what love was. This time, she really did love the person who broke her heart, and it was a feeling she never could have imagined. An insistent part of her wanted to crawl away into her bed, as far away from Kristoff as she could get. Maybe it would've been best if she never fell in love with Kristoff at all.

"It is," Anna finally responded, but she wasn't sure if Olaf heard her. He was leaning over her shoulder in a warm hug.

"What's his problem?" Olaf said.

Anna turned her head to see what he was looking at and saw Kristoff, still tied up on top of Clem's horse. He was turning his head from side to side, sniffing the air. His face was twitching like bugs were crawling beneath his skin and Anna felt the sudden urge to vomit.

"What's wrong?" Olaf asked Kristoff who looked at the talking snowman like he wasn't even there.

"I-I know this place." Kristoff was surveying the trail, memorizing every detail like his life depended on it. 

With a start, Anna realized where they were. "Hold on guys." She took her reins and ordered her horse to the right, into a branched off path.

"What are you doing?" Aleksander asked.

"I have to do something." Anna didn't stop or wait for them to catch up, but they followed suit. Soon they were in a circular clearing, blanketed in moss and some dead leaves. Anna descended off of her horse and walked into the middle of the space.

Olaf was by her side. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not sure."

Aleksander came forward peering around them and exhaling every slow breath he took. The air was visible, like steam from a hot cup of tea. His dark red hair was lighter under the reflective cloudy sky.

Clem took Kristoff off his horse and tied his ankles together so that he could only take small steps at a time. Anna took a moment to wonder where he kept getting so much rope and where he kept it, but she had a feeling that answer would be awkward.

With his hands still bound, Clem ushered Kristoff near to the prince and queen. "What's this all about, then?"

"Wait..." Anna faced Kristoff. "Do you..." Her voice cracked as the golden-brown eyes staring back at her weren't recognizing her face. "D-do you remember this place?"

Kristoff didn't say anything and his face hardened like the stone trolls that Anna was waiting for.

"Answer her," Clem said forcefully. 

Kristoff took a deep breath and shifted his eyes around. "No." But his eyes fluttered.

"You remember something." Anna turned to step further into the clearing, but no one came. Not a single rolling boulder troll.

"Your majesty," Aleksander said. "Can we get back to the castle now? It'd be better to back before it gets too dark."

"Grand-Pabbie?" Anna called out and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Bulda?"

Silence.

Why weren't they there?

"Anna we should go--WHOA!" Aleksander started but yelped as a rock plowed between his legs and rolled over to Anna. Aleksander waivered in his balance but managed to stand upright as the boulder unfolded into Pabbie.

"Anna," he smiled. "It's wonderful to see you.

Anna leaned down to take his hands. "I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" His graveled face had no lines or signs of aging, but Pabbie's eyes seemed to have aged decades since she'd last seen him.

"Pabbie--"

"Can I say something?" Aleksander interrupted. He stepped forward to get closer to Anna and Pabbie. "Who is this?"

"Aleksander..." Anna stood and gestured to Pabbie with the faintest smile. "This is Pabbie. He's the leader of the trolls that live here."

Aleksander's face lit up brighter than the hidden sun behind the clouds. "Awesome." His voice was airy and Anna could see his eyes turn red and his hands quiver before he clutched them into fists.

"Yes," Pabbie laughed, but it was half-hearted. "Who are you?"

"Uhhhh..." Aleksander sucked in some air. "I'm Prince Aleksander of the Southern Isles." He bowed. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Pabbie said and faced Anna. "What's this all about?"

"Pabbie," Anna looked up to see Kristoff's face and stopped herself. 

He was pure white and his eyelids were shaking. He didn't move at all, and for a split-second, Anna wondered if he was frozen as she had once been.

Pabbie turned towards Kristoff and Clem, and choked on air.

"What's..." Aleksander, looked between Pabbie and Kristoff and left his question in the air. 

Pabbie walked towards Kristoff, rubbing his stone hands together. "Kristoff..."

Anna didn't know if trolls cried, but if Pabbie could, she knew he would have. His voice was shaking worse than his trembling lips and crinkled grass hairs that decorated his head. The jewels around his neck were no longer glowing. Where were the other trolls?

"Pabbie is part of Kristoff's adopted family," Olaf whispered to Aleksander.

"How did that happen?" Aleksander didn't take his eyes off of the troll. 

Before Olaf could answer, Pabbie sucked in a heart-breaking gasp and tried for his best smile, but Kristoff returned nothing.

"Kristoff," Pabbie said. "You came back."

"Wh...who are you?" Kristoff stepped back a smidge and Clem held tight to the rope connected to the prisoner's hands and waist. Kristoff shook his head, but refused to break eye contact with the troll.

"No, you came by earlier. We talked to you." Pabbie tried to reach up and take Kristoff's hand, but the ladder pulled back. "Kristoff...?"

Anna knew it was a long shot and couldn't believe she was able to do it, but she trudged forward and stepped in between Pabbie and Kristoff.

"Who are you?" she asked Kristoff, getting in his face. Kristoff's face imploded in a series of raised eyebrows and squinted eyes, but then his face softened and he said nothing.

She asked him again as he repeated his silence. "I said: Who are you?" She didn't know how she looked now; certainly not regal and intimidating. No striking beauty that would shock people, no magical powers or weapons, but Kristoff pursed his lips and gulped.

"My name is Heinrich--"

"No, it's not!" Anna knew he was lying because she knew when Kristoff was lying. This man looked exactly like him, but this wasn't him and yet...she knew they had the same name and face.

Kristoff narrowed his eyes and his gaze fell to Pabbie who stared hauntingly at him. "Kristoff. Kristoff Bjorgman."

"Kristoff, who is Heinrich?" Pabbie asked.

"Stop acting like you know me." Kristoff addressed Anna and Pabbie. "I'm sorry if you've got me confused, but I'm not your friend."

"Same exact name, same exact face." Olaf came up to Kristoff. "It's a little strange, isn't it. A little coincidental?"

"Yeah," Clem said uneasily. "This is getting weird."

"Oh...oh, Kristoff..." Pabbie fell to his knees but hurriedly got back up. Anna saw a pitiful stone creature standing before her. He was stark and devoid of the vivid color that was also lacking in Bodi.

Pabbie stepped up to Kristoff holding up his hands. "Please, let me..."

Kristoff hesitated and his lips pulled apart to reveal chapped lips. He took a knee and gave the troll his sack-covered hands. He swallowed once more and said, shakily, "I remember this place...but you..."

"I'm so sorry Kristoff. That's all I can say, is that I'm sorry." Pabbie put his forehead into Kristoff's hands and sobbed once. "I'm so sorry." He lifted his head and stared into Kristoff's eyes for longer than Anna cared for. She wanted the truth.

"Pabbie," she said. "What is this?"

"Anna." Pabbie didn't look away from Kristoff, but he seemed to talk to no one particular. "There is a tradition amongst trolls. It's been going on for millennia. We take in lost children and care for them."

"I know," Anna said. "That's what you did for Kristoff--"

"No." Pabbie trembled. "Kristoff was lost, but all lost children have families or at least someone to return too. Kristoff had people. Parents...friends...a family and a home that we took him from." Pabbie let go of Kristoff's hands and stepped back, but held his head up even in his de-energized state.

Anna was stuck in the back of her mind. She wanted to call out, but Pabbie wasn't finished.

"When I was young, I didn't agree with this tradition, so I left my clan with a few others who shared my point of view and went south, here, to Arendelle. We didn't meet any lost children and we didn't try to look for them. And then Kristoff came along. Bulda fell in love with him and Sven, but we couldn't keep them...but I...I allowed it. You see, Bulda--she never told Kristoff this--she had a child once and then lost it. She never recovered, though you'd never know from looking at her. She's strong."

Anna was suffocating in the back of her mind, unable to move her diaphragm.

"She kept Kristoff and we thought we could leave it be, but he did have a family. We tried to ignore that fact, but then they came. Trolls from the North who choose to have nothing to do with humans. They don't heal and certainly don't make themselves known. They found out we had Kristoff and forced us to...to make a changeling. A copy of Kristoff, to send back to his family and replace him."

Anna was shaking her head. No, no, no, no, no...Kristoff was still frozen and loose in a dazed state, but his eyes were dead set upon Pabbie's next words. Anna's chest clasped her heart and she begged Pabbie not to say what she already knew.

"The Northern Trolls left, but we couldn't go back on our actions. We kept Kristoff and sent out his changeling, making sure to modify their memories..." Pabbie paused for a moment to let the others take in the information. But Anna could hardly breathe, much less comprehend what he was saying. The trolls who had helped and guided them for years would never...they couldn't.

"Kristoff wouldn't remember his family and neither would Sven. The changeling wouldn't remember being with us and would think it was the original Kristoff. That changeling," Pabbie faced Kristoff. "Was you, I'm sure. We sent you back to your family, but I don't know what happened after..." I wanted to follow up, but you moved North, and there was nothing we could do. We raised Kristoff as best we could, to make up for our mistakes, but I always knew it would never be enough."

"Kristoff," Anna didn't think before speaking and her voice was completely gone. After a few moments, she pulled herself out of her mind and put her front and center. "He came to talk to you today?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell him?"

"No, Anna--we never wanted to, even though it was inevitable. We are supposed to tell the child only after they are married and back in human the world. That's why we wanted to get you and Kristoff married the first time we met you." His eyes gleamed in amusement, but he couldn't manage a smile. "If he was married here, with us, and chose to stay here, then...we wouldn't ever have to tell him."

Anna wanted to throw up where she stood, but she straightened up and squeezed her eyes to ignore the nausea. This wasn't happening. Kristoff--her Kristoff--was real, but the criminal...he was just a copy. For a moment, Anna was delighted to know they weren't the same person, but then this guy...

"Where are the others?" Anna asked.

"They went back North." Pabbie's whole body was turned to 'Kristoff' now. "After Kristoff would be married, he would never be able to see us again. He would forget us, and so would you."

"What?"

"To ensure our secrecy, we would leave the minds of all non-magical beings who had known us." He addressed Kristoff now.

"I'm sorry for everything. Your life and your misfortunes all fall to us. I chose to stay in case Kristoff or anyone else came back, but I can no longer be with my kin. Let me help you understand--"

"I think I understand," Kristoff 2.0 said, and Anna was startled by his calm tone. "You stole a child, who was lost in the woods, and then you made me to replace him so his family wouldn't be sad. No, I get it. I completely get it."

No one moved. No one breathed, and even Clem loosened his grip on the rope.

"I'm not real--"

"Of course you are!" Pabbie exclaimed. "You're just as real as Kristoff. You had the same memories for the first part of your life but then--"

"Shut-up!" Kristoff 2.0 yelled, but there was an emptiness in his words. There was no fire in his anger. "Just stop excusing yourself." Kristoff 2.0 tried to yell, but there was no power left in him.

"Kristoff..." Pabbie didn't move and he locked eyes with Kristoff 2.0. An understanding passed between them, that Anna could never hope to know. "You can find your brother now. You can m-meet him."

"I don't w..." Kristoff 2.0 could barely keep his head up now, and he fell to his knees. The clearing was silent and Anna's brain was petrified. She tried opening her mouth and closing it. The only thing that could be heard was Kristoff 2.0's deep breaths. A shiver vibrated through Anna as she gathered her courage. 

The queen walked up to Kristoff 2.0, knelt down and put her hands on his arm. "I can't imagine..." She said so only he could hear. "I know there's nothing I can say or do, but you should know you're real."

Kristoff 2.0 pulled back and looked at Anna incredulously. "How can you say that? You don't know me."

I know my Kristoff, she wanted to say, but that didn't mean anything.

"But I can feel you." Anna squeezed Kristoff2.0's shoulder. "I can smell you--you smell great!" She added quickly, and his face went skeptical. He almost laughed, bringing happy lines back to his face, and Anna finally recognized the face staring back at her.

"You should go," Pabbie said, and he began to walk to other end of the clearing.

"Wait!" Anna called, reaching out her hand. "Pabbie, why did you stay?"

The troll stared at the ground and moved his iris', reading the cracks on the stone. "I couldn't go back home. Too much history and betrayal. I was also hoping you or...Kristoff might come back. It doesn't matter now, however. I'd like to be alone."

Kristoff 2.0 and Anna stood up and Clem took the rope to guide his prisoner towards the horses, but Kristoff 2.0 persisted for a moment, pulling back.

"Why did you leave home in the first place?" he asked. That's definitely not what Anna thought he was going to say, but simply asking "Why?" probably wouldn't have a satisfying answer.

"I had a curiosity about humans. I thought we should have used our powers to help them and be more involved instead of just taking from them and hiding. My home is no longer a place for me, so here I am."

The prisoner was being pulled by Clem who was saying something to Aleksander that Anna couldn't hear. Kristoff 2.0 bit his lip and arched his brow forehead as his cheeks raised up almost over his eyes.

"You never should have left," Kristoff 2.0 said starkly. He looked at Anna, then turned to walk with Clem. She watched the Southern Islander soldier untie the ankle ropes and help Kristoff 2.0 onto his horse. She felt an aching in her heart as invisible daggers pelted into her soul over fresh scars. She could only think that at least her Kristoff wasn't a criminal, but what did that mean for his brother?... Did being each other's clones, make them brothers? Anna turned around to ask Pabbie, but there was not a single spherical boulder left in the clearing; she was left with a finger raised, her mouth half-open and a question in the air that she realized wasn't even important.

Are they brothers? What did it matter, if Kristoff 2.0 was going to jail? Anna knew convincing the Southern Islanders to let her keep Kristoff 2.0 would be difficult, but she had to try. Kristoff had literally no more family, and she had to hold on to the family he did have--even if he was a wanted, now-captured, con-man, criminal-guy with a rap-sheet longer than Sven's rack. Anna knew better than most, the importance of keeping family close, and she was not about to let the love of her life lose what was most important.