“My future husband,” Anna declared. “Of course, he doesn’t know it. Yet.”

  The ice harvester burped loudly, causing several people to stop and stare. Elsa raised an eyebrow and Anna giggled. “So, he’s a bit of a fixer-upper,” she said with an impish shrug, then pranced over to Kristoff and his reindeer.

  Elsa frowned. Kristoff. Wait, had Anna told her the guy’s name was Kristoff?

  She caught her mother walking by and grabbed her arm. “How did Anna meet that guy?” she asked, pointing to the ice harvester.

  Iduna glanced over at Anna, who was currently trying to impress Kristoff—if that really was his name—by standing on one foot and tapping her nose with her finger. Her mother rolled her eyes.

  “Only Ahtohallan knows with that girl,” she replied with a laugh. She started to walk away.

  Elsa grabbed her arm, her heart suddenly beating madly in her chest. She knew her mother had been making a joke. But that phrase. That word…

  “Ahtohallan?” she whispered.

  Her mother looked at her strangely. “You know. The river of memories?”

  Elsa swallowed hard. Something niggled at the back of her brain.

  River of memories…

  Cave of memories…

  The party seemed to slip away, a sudden vision taking over her senses. She saw herself in the cave, dressed in a shimmery white dress. She was making her way down a small, tight passage, stepping carefully so as not to slip on the ice. She was searching for something—she could tell. But what was it? The farther she went, the tighter the passage became. Until she could barely squeeze herself through.

  “Stop,” Elsa told herself, suddenly frightened.

  But she didn’t stop. She kept going, deeper.

  And deeper…

  “Sweetheart, are you all right?”

  She jerked back to the present. Her mother was peering at her with worried eyes. She swallowed hard, trying to will the vision to fade.

  The vision… or the memory?

  Ahtohallan. The cave of memories.

  What was it she had been searching for there?

  And why couldn’t she remember?

  “Ow!”

  Anna grunted in pain as Gale dropped her unceremoniously onto the rocky beach at the edge of the Dark Sea. The Water Nokk was standing there, neighing loudly. Anna scrambled to her feet, looking out over the rough water, the waves churning angrily. It had grown dark on their journey, and she could barely see anything beyond the shore.

  “She’s out there, isn’t she?” she asked the Water Nokk, her voice trembling.

  The Water Spirit nickered, throwing back its watery head toward the sea. Gale swirled around her with anxious gusts. Bruni seemed to appear out of nowhere, climbing up the Water Nokk’s back and lighting up the night with a steady purple flame. It was obvious what they wanted her to do.

  But could she? Could she cross the Dark Sea and survive?

  She drew in a shaky breath. “Whatever it takes to help Elsa,” she told them. She stepped toward the water.

  “Anna, no!”

  She whirled around just in time to see Kristoff, on Sven’s back, burst out of the forest, galloping in her direction. Her heart sank. Oh no. They must have followed her.

  “What are you doing?” he cried, reaching her and sliding off the reindeer’s back. “This has gone too far!”

  “Not far enough, unfortunately,” Anna said, staring out into the Dark Sea. She knew Ahtohallan was out there, somewhere. But all she could see was black rushing water.

  “You can’t go out there. You’re not some magical spirit like your sister. It’ll drown you like it drowned your parents.”

  “Maybe.” Anna swallowed hard. “But what choice do I have?”

  Kristoff bit his lower lip. The anguish on his face was hard to see. “Please, Anna, I can’t lose you,” he whispered, taking her hands in his and squeezing them tight. An ache rose in her chest.

  “Trust me, I don’t want to be lost,” she assured him with a tight laugh. She reached up, tracing his rough cheek with her fingers. “But Elsa is my sister. I can’t lose her, either.”

  Kristoff nodded, bowing his head. “I know,” he said. He dropped her hands, and Anna felt a terrifying emptiness at the loss of his touch. “And I would never try to stop you from doing what you feel you need to do. Just… promise me you’ll be careful, okay?”

  His words sent fresh tears to Anna’s eyes. She loved him so much. And she was so grateful that he was willing to trust her in this—and would not try to dissuade her from what she had to do. She threw her arms around him, pulling him close. For a moment, they just held each other, as if they were the only two people in the world. Then Anna forced herself to step away.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she promised. She turned to the spirits, drawing in a breath. “Let’s do this,” she declared.

  The Water Nokk, with Bruni perched on its head, charged into the water, leaping over the waves. Gale swept Anna up into its windy embrace and followed close behind. Anna gave one last look to the shore. At Kristoff standing forlornly on the sand. Emotions rolled over her like another wave. But she forced herself to turn back to the sea.

  “Hang on, Elsa!” she cried. “I’m coming!”

  “Elsa… I’m coming.…”

  Elsa startled awake at the sound of the voice. She looked around, at first unsure where she was again. Last she remembered she had been at her Coronation Ball. But now she seemed to be in her nightclothes, curled up on the couch in the castle library, her sister by her side. Across from her, her mother sat sleepily in a cushioned chair, and her father appeared in the doorway, carrying a plate of leftover kransekake.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted,” he declared, setting the cake down on the table in front of the couch. “Who’s up for closing the gates for the next thirteen years so we can get some rest?”

  “Don’t even joke about that!” Anna protested, reaching over to grab some cake. She grinned at her father. “Besides, you’re not king anymore. You don’t get to make the rules.” She turned to Elsa. “Which reminds me, Your Majesty, what will be your first act as queen?” Her green eyes twinkled. “Will it be putting an ice-skating rink in the town square?”

  Elsa opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by the voice again.

  “ELSSSA! Where are you?”

  She frowned. “Did you hear that?” she asked. It was soft, muted, sounding far away. But also familiar at the same time. In fact, if she hadn’t known any better, she’d have said it sounded like Anna herself. But Anna was right here, shoving a slice of cake in her mouth.

  “Hear what?” her sister asked, licking her sugary fingers. “Hey, anyone up for charades?”

  “Elsssssa. Can you hear me?”

  Elsa rubbed her head with her hand. Her mother frowned. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

  “You don’t hear it?” Elsa asked. “None of you do?”

  “Hear what, honey?” her father queried.

  Suddenly the pungent scent of the sea rose to Elsa’s nose again, as it had earlier that day when she was hugging her mother. She wrinkled her brow, feeling goose bumps appear on her arm. She felt cold. The kind of cold you feel when you’re soaking wet.

  “Elsa, please! Listen to me!”

  The voice was louder now, more desperate. Elsa could hear the fear in the words. She rose to her feet. “Maybe I’m just tired…” she started to say, then trailed off as her gaze fell on her sister.

  “Anna!” she cried. “Your hair!”

  “I know, it’s probably a mess. But whatever. You’ve seen worse,” Anna joked. “At least there’s no drool in it, like when I first wake up.”

  “But it’s…” Elsa bit her lower lip. She was going to say white. Her sister’s hair had turned completely white. But had it, really? Or were her eyes playing tricks on her again, as they had earlier?

  Her heart beat fast in her chest. The smell of seaweed was growing more intense by the minute, and she fought the urge to block her nose. She glanced at her parents and sister, who were laughing and joking with one another as if nothing was wrong. But something was wrong. Their skin was growing paler. Her mother’s hair, which she was positive had been dry a moment before, now looked soaking wet.

  I dreamed you died in a shipwreck.…

  Elsa’s knees wobbled, threatening to collapse out from her under her. “What’s going on?” she murmured.

  Anna rushed to her side, grabbing her before she collapsed. “Why don’t you go to bed?” she suggested worriedly. “You have a big day tomorrow. You need your rest.”

  Elsa squinted at her in horror. Spiderwebs of ice seemed to be crawling down her sister’s face. “What’s tomorrow?” she managed to ask in a hoarse voice.

  Anna grinned. The ice crackled on her cheek. “It’s coronation day, obviously.”

  “But… today was coronation day.”

  “And so is tomorrow,” Anna explained. “And the next day.” She shrugged. “It’s always coronation day here.”

  “ELSA! Please! I think you’re in trouble!”

  In trouble.

  Elsa struggled to free herself from her sister’s grasp. Or the girl who looked like her sister, anyway. But this wasn’t Anna.

  The real Anna was older.

  The real Anna was… queen. Like in her dream.

  Had it been a dream at all?

  Or was this the dream? Everything around her. Right here. Right now.

  “Elsa, please! Listen to my voice.”

  Her mind flashed back to the cave again. She was deep now. Deeper than she’d ever gone before. She’d been reaching for something. Just out of her grasp. And then…

  “No,” Elsa whispered. “Oh no.”

  Suddenly it all came rushing back to her. Her trip to Ahtohallan. Her desire to find a special memory to share with Arendelle at her parents’ memorial. She’d searched through so many memories, but none had seemed good enough for such an important occasion. So she’d gone deeper. And deeper…

  …and found something else instead.

  Not a memory… but a dream.

  A perfect dream of a perfect day, dreamed, once upon a time, by a sad little princess trapped in her bedroom. A princess who desperately wanted a better life. A life where she hadn’t almost killed her sister. A life where no one feared her magic. A life where she could be accepted for who she was. A life filled with laughter and love and always feeling safe.

  Dreams can become memories, too, she realized. If you held them close to your heart.

  She forced herself to look back at her parents and her sister now. Iduna and Agnarr, cuddling together on the chair, feeding each other cake. Anna dancing over to the bookcase to get the fishbowl they used to play charades. She caught Elsa watching her and waved.

  “Did you want to go first?” she asked with an easy grin.

  Elsa found herself unable to speak. Her thoughts were whirling through her head too hard and fast to catalog. I could stay here, she thought wildly. In this perfect dream. I could stay here forever.

  For a moment it actually seemed like a good idea. The best idea, really. To have everything she ever wanted and so much more. To have her family back. Her father. Her mother. Her sister.

  Her sister…

  The voice came again. Desperate. Pleading.

  “ELSSSSSA, CAN YOU HEAR ME? I NEED YOU.”

  “Anna…” she whispered.

  “That’s my name! Don’t wear it out!” joked the auburn-haired girl in front of her. Anna. But, at the same time, not Anna.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Elsa found herself saying.

  Her family looked up at her in surprise. “Do you?” Iduna asked worriedly, her blue eyes locking on her daughter. “Do you really?” She sounded sad. So sad. And for a moment, Elsa felt as if her heart would shatter into a million pieces if her mother spoke another word.

  But then she heard her sister again. Her real sister.

  She swallowed hard, taking one last look at her mother. Her father. “Yes,” she said, nodding her head. “I’m sorry, but I do.” She paused, then added, “But thank you. Thank you for giving me this day. I… won’t forget it. Ever.”

  Suddenly she didn’t know if she was talking to her parents anymore—or to Ahtohallan itself. Maybe it was all one and the same. She’d wanted a special memory. And she’d been given one. But now it was time to say—

  “Goodbye,” she murmured.

  Her vision blurred. The world seemed to shift before her eyes. Her family, once warm and alive, began to crystallize, freezing into place. A moment later, they were nothing more than ice sculptures, crafted by a master hand. And Elsa found herself alone, no longer in a familiar firelit library but in the middle of an icy cave.

  An icy cave of memories… and dreams.

  A tear slipped down her cheek. For a moment she just stood there, as if she, too, had frozen in place. A wave of exhaustion weighed her down, and a frosty coldness crawled up her spine.

  But then she heard the voice again. “Elsa! Please help me!”

  And she began to run.

  “I’m coming, Anna!” she called. “Hang on.”

  “Elsa!”

  Anna croaked her sister’s name, her mouth filled with seawater. The salt was making her throat burn and yelling was making her voice hoarse. Still, she kept at it, best she could, as she and Gale worked to follow the Water Nokk across the Dark Sea.

  Her eyes scanned the horizon for some sign of land—some hint of the mythical glacier Ahtohallan. But everything remained dark. And she was beginning to despair. What if she couldn’t get to Ahtohallan herself? What if it only revealed itself to her sister?

  What if she was doomed to meet the same fate as their parents?

  “Elsa!”

  A huge wave rose in front of them. Gale tried to lift her over it but misjudged its height, and the wave crashed over Anna’s head instead, soaking her to the bone. The water was freezing. Her whole body was racked with shivers.

  “Please,” Anna begged, croaking out the words. “We need to stop for a second.”

  But there was no place to stop. The Water Nokk and Bruni were far ahead now—only visible by a small purple dot on the horizon. And Gale was clearly getting tired, fighting the waves. What was Anna going to do if the Wind Spirit dropped her into the water? There was no way she could last even a second in the rough sea.

  And Elsa… what would happen to Elsa if she failed to reach in her time?

  And so she did the only thing she could. She kept struggling to stay above water, calling her sister’s name. Not only with her voice, but with everything she had inside of her. Her soul. Her heart. Pushing all her love for Elsa out into the unknown, praying it would be enough.

  “Elsa!” she pleaded. “I need you!”

  “Elssssa. I neeeed you.…”

  Elsa collapsed onto the icy ground just outside of the mouth of Ahtohallan, heaving in huge breaths. She raised her head, looking out into the Dark Sea, her eyes bleary and her body aching. But her exhaustion was mixed with relief. She was back in the real world again.

  “Elsa…”

  Her head snapped to attention at the sound of the voice. “Anna!” she cried. “Where are you?”

  She heard a nicker and looked up. The Water Nokk had appeared out of nowhere—Bruni perched on its head—and was now standing on the shore, as if waiting for her.

  Elsa’s heart fluttered in her chest. “Is Anna all right?” she asked.

  Not waiting for an answer, she scrambled to her feet, throwing herself onto the spirit’s back. The water horse took off running, galloping straight into the Dark Sea. Elsa held on to its neck as tightly as she could, her mind racing with worry.

  “Anna!” she cried out. “Where are you?”

  Suddenly she caught a glimpse of a dark shape, struggling in the sea. Heart in her throat, she urged the Water Nokk forward. As they drew closer, she realized Gale was trying to keep an unconscious Anna afloat, but the Wind Spirit was faltering. Horrified, Elsa reached down, grabbing Anna’s icy hand in her own, yanking her up onto the Water Nokk’s back.

  “Get us to shore,” she commanded the spirit.

  The Water Nokk obeyed, setting off across the sea. Elsa cradled Anna in her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. “What were you thinking?” she demanded. “Why would you do this?”

  But in her heart, she knew exactly why Anna would do this.

  And without her, Elsa would have never broken free of her dream.

  Eventually they reached the shore. There Elsa found a desperate Kristoff, standing on the beach. When he saw them, he ran over and helped Elsa get Anna off the horse.

  “Oh no!” he cried. “She’s… not… ?”

  “She’s alive,” Elsa assured him. “But I think she’s swallowed a lot of water.”

  Kristoff dropped to his knees, putting his mouth over Anna’s, giving her his breath. As he worked, Elsa paced the beach, feeling helpless. Despite all her magic, she could not help her sister.

  Please be okay, she begged. Please…

  Suddenly Anna coughed violently. Kristoff turned her over, just in time for her to spit out what seemed to be half of the sea. Elsa ran to her sister, her heart racing in her chest.

  “Elsa!” Anna cried, looking up at her, her eyes growing wide. “You’re okay.”

  “Yes!” Elsa choked on the word. “Thanks to you, I am.”

  Anna’s mouth quirked in a small, weak smile. She turned to Kristoff. “See? Sometimes she does need me.”

  Kristoff rolled his eyes, but Elsa could see the sheer relief on his face. “Yeah, yeah,” he said. He kissed Anna on the top of her head, then hugged her close before rising to his feet. He turned to Elsa.

  “I’m going to get the wagon and the others. There are blankets—they’ll help her keep warm. At least until we get her back to Arendelle.”

  “Thank you, Kristoff,” Elsa said gratefully.

  Once he had left, she turned back to her sister, thankful to see the color was returning to her cheeks. She was going to be all right.

  Anna sat up and rubbed her eyes. “I knew something had to be wrong when you didn’t show up for the memorial party,” she said. “What happened?”