Prologue

It was the smell of smoke that first awoke the small child.

It was only then she heard the screams tearing through the air.

Shrieks filled the night as her room became awash with orange, and she could only press herself deeper into her pillow—what was happening? The fires from the city burned bright, lighting up her room like it was a lightning storm, and she couldn't stop the invasive thoughts that pervaded her young mind.

"Mama!" she cried out softly, legs tucked up beneath her chin, blankets cocooned around her. She couldn't help but shake, desperately wishing for the her mother to hold her close and make everything bad go away.

That single wish materialised by the opening of her door, and she held out her arms for the woman who stood below the open frame. Warm arms encircled her and she looked up with tear-stained eyes into the face of her mother.

"Mama—"

"My Queen!" A cry came from the open door, and the little girl curled up even further and into the side of her mother. The woman whipped her head around to glower at the intruder. She didn't even need to say anything; the man gave a stout nod and rushed off.

"Mama? What's happening?"

The Queen placed a gentle kiss on her daughter's cheek. "Nothing, sweetheart," she murmured. "Nothing that will hurt you, okay, my little princess?" The little girl nodded, and suddenly the Queen found her lap full of precocious six-year-old.

"I'm afraid," she said, voice muffled by her mother's stomach. A soft hand pressed down on red locks and following the path set by a light blonde streak from her right temple. Smiling to herself, the Queen reached inside the breast pocket of her nightgown. The princess watched in slight confusion as a thick slip of paper was pressed into her hand.

"This," the Queen began, "is your guardian angel. She had to go away, but she's still out there, looking after you."

The little girl turned over the paper to find an image burned onto the back of it. She'd never seen anything like it before.

"It's an old-timey photograph," the Queen explained. "Your angel has the other half—see where it's ripped?" She pointed to the side of the photograph. "She has a picture of you so she never forgets what you look like."

The little princess didn't take her eyes from the image of the girl in her hands. Pure blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes. Her smile reached out to the little red-head, and she found a hand tracing one cheek.

"She's mine?"

The Queen nodded. "She's yours. Your very own guardian angel, Anna. Her name is Elsa."

-- Elsewhere --

Amidst the fire and chaos, a lone figure walked. She didn't fear the smoke nor the burning building crashing down around her. Everyone else had long since vacated, and that thought brought a small smile to her face. She could still—and did—save others.

The sound of sirens rang through the night, the sound strange after the silence that had followed the initial cries.

She knew she couldn't linger. Taking a breath, the figure moved her gaze from the menacing sight of Castle Arendelle, hovering in the distance. Biting her lip, casting her eyes once more across the devastation she had wreaked, the girl paused only for a moment. The sound of the sirens drew even closer and she knew that she couldn't stay any longer.

Turning away, she ran, hands clenched around a small slip of paper. She could pretend the smoke finally got to her if asked about her red eyes, and the tears that slipped from them. Her mind, free of the adrenaline that had coursed through her earlier, latched onto the only thought that could save her of the crushing guilt at the thought of all the people she didn't save—had refused to save.

''I'm coming for you, Anna. Your little sister is coming.''