They are not going to let me leave. Anna and Jack keep their distance, but they fill the silence with reassuring words.

"Listen to me." I scream. "I want you all to hear this." I look from my sister to my subjects.

Once again, the weight of countless gazes lands on my shoulders.

"I made you a promise. I promised to do my best as your queen." My eyes drop to Jack. Pain wrings my heart. "And a queen always keeps her promises."

Jack clenches his jaw. His blue eyes slice through me and I wonder if he knows that I am trying to say goodbye.

"I love this country and I love my sister. But in order to keep my promise, I have to leave."

Silence bristles in the crowded garden. I can almost hear the thoughts and emotions swirling around me.

Anger. Fear. Disappointment.

I have failed them once again. But the only way to save my kingdom is to leave. It is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

Rapunzel said that I was selfless, but my entire life I have felt selfish. This time I am going to try to live up to her opinion of me.

I am going to do the right thing even though no one understands.

"Anna is good and kind. She is wiser than she knows. You can trust her." I stretch my hands out to them. "She will be the queen that I wish I could be."

Anna jerks forward, as if the shock of my words has finally worn off. "Elsa, you can't leave!"

"I'm sorry." I hold up my hands again. She is not the only one that I will have to leave. My love will forever remain here, in my beautiful home. But I must go on. I will not condemn my people to the fate of the prophecy.

The tears in my eyes dry. I stand, tall and alone before everyone who matters to me.

I selfishly stare at them a second longer, trying to burn the image into my mind. I don't want to forget Anna's sweet face or Kristoff's red cheeks or Jack's soulful blue eyes.

"Goodbye." My whisper hangs in the air. Shouts break through the silence, noise filling the garden as my motive becomes clear. Anna reaches for me.

Steadily ice flows from my fingertips. I am in complete control this time.

Ice laces from one end of the garden to another, stretching between us. Like always, it is my power that separates us.

I don't run this time.

Instead I turn my back on the garden and barrier of ice and walk out of the garden and castle.

I have a nightmare to destroy.

**

The large door swings open at the mere brush of my fingers.

I pull my shoulders back and stride into my ice castle. It has the same elegant chandelier and curving staircase as before, but shadows darken the beauty of the ice.

If only nightmares were confined to dreams and not a part of everyday life. I may not be brave, but I must pretend that I am.

I need to find Gothel and the tower. But first...

A shadow separates from the darkest corner. "Greetings, Queen of Arendelle."

My back stiffens at the dark, familiar voice. "I am no longer queen."

Pitch Black steps out of the darkness. His long, black robe whips around his imposing figure. "I heard your little speech. I was at the party. No one saw me, as usual. Not even you."

He was there? Why didn't he attack me then? "You weren't invited."

"Does it matter? I don't recall inviting you to my castle?" Pitch holds up one of his hands. He studies the back of his hand, flexing his slender fingers. "At least not without Jack Frost."

The gray pallor of his skin repulses me. He doesn't even look human. I wonder who he was before he came Pitch Black. Or has he always been this way?

I shake off the thought. His past doesn't matter, not while the future of my kingdom is at stake.

"This is my castle." I grit my teeth.

His yellow eyes burn beneath his coarse black hair. "How can it be your castle, if you are no longer a queen?" Pitch lowers his hand to his side. His shadowy form disappears.

Fear works its way into my heart. The only thing worse than facing your enemy, is knowing that he is there, but not being able to see him.

"You may not be Queen of Arendelle anymore." His raspy voice echoes through the corridor of my ice castle. Pitch materializes behind me. "But you are still the Snow Queen."

I spin around. I study his protruding cheek bones and narrow face. I only pray that Anna never has to see his hideous face.

Pitch's rough fingers curl around my chin. He tilts my face toward him. "You came here because of an ancient prophecy. So did I."