Eternity

But he sat as still as before -- cold, silent, motionless. Gerda began to cry, shedding warm tears that fell on Kay and found their way to his heart. They thawed the ice and dissolved the tiny fragment of glass within it. He looked at her, and she sang their song.

Kay burst into tears. He wept till the glass splinter floated in his eye and fell with his tears. He knew his old companion immediately and exclaimed with joy, "Gerda, my dear Gerda, where have you been all this time? And where have I been?"

He looked around him. "How cold it is here! How wide and empty!" Then he hugged Gerda, while she laughed and wept. Even the pieces of ice took part in their joy. They danced about merrily, and when they were weary they lay down forming of their own accord the word Eternity, which made Kay his own master.

Excerpt from the Snow Queen