Author's Note:
Hello everyone and welcome to a Frozen AU. This comes from a plot idea I recently had and since I don't think something like it has really appeared here yet, I decided to go for it. As I said this is AU but it goes off canon after the Great Thaw scene, so most of the movie remains unchanged. It'll be an on-going series so there's room for people's suggestions once I've finished with setting up the AU in the first few chapters so don't be afraid to give some. I hope you all enjoy the story.
I do not own any aspect of Disney's 'Frozen'.
Chapter 1
Gerda hastened through the corridors of the castle, feeling unusually tentative.
As a senior member of the serving staff, and one of the longest serving and most dedicated to the royal family, she had long since become confident in her duties. It was rare for her to ever feel nervous or tentative about serving the family and she'd been one of the late Queen's closest confidants. Her husband, Kai, held a similar position to her and this was the reason they'd been trusted with the secret of Elsa's powers and been kept on when the palace staff had been reduced.
Now though, she felt cold dread fill her as she strode down the castle corridors.
She'd only felt like this a couple of times before, when Anna was brought home ice cold and freezing from her sister's magic, when Elsa's powers were revealed in front the whole kingdom and when she'd taken on the sad duty of informing the princesses of their parents' deaths. It was the dread of bringing difficult news with no knowledge of how the recipient would react and it was a duty a servant of her position would inevitably encounter.
Her strides brought her to one of the smaller lounges of the castle, one that sat close to the guest quarters to give them somewhere private to relax, and her eyes fell upon the young man sprawled carelessly over one of the large couches.
Kristoff Bjorgman.
Other, more particular servants or nobles might've found the rather informal position rude and disgraceful but Gerda had spent years working at the castle and this was exactly the sort of undignified thing Princess Anna would do. Also, the poor lad looked completely exhausted and she could entirely understand why.
Since the Great Thaw (referring to Elsa finally gaining control of her powers), the last two or three days had been filled with meetings, discussions and more as they dealt with the aftermath. Ships need repairing, homes needed fixed, crops needed attention and a thousand and one other things that had to be handled after such an unnatural event. On top of that they had to get the entire story organised and straightened out so they could make progress on dealing with it, a lot of foreign dignitaries had been present for the coronation and something like this would certainly affect Arendelle's foreign relations. As a major part of Anna's side of the story, Kristoff had needed to be at many of the meetings both to confirm Anna's tale and to tell his own experience. Though he was an ice harvester and mountaineer by trade and thus used to hardship, such meetings were long and arduous, requiring a certain strength you couldn't acquire out in the wilds.
Gerda gave a small cough and the boy tumbled out off the couch in shock, he glanced around frantically before settling his gazed upon her, looking bewildered.
"Um…er…yeah?"
She momentarily considered making an excuse and leaving the matter she wanted to address with the young man but she steeled her resolve and shoved the thought aside.
"Master Bjorgman, there is a matter Kai and I wish to discuss with you."
"Um…okay."
Though she smiled, the cold knot in her chest tightened. If she and Kai were correct in what they believed, then this young man was about to have his world entirely blown apart along with the worlds of the two princesses.
It could end so very badly.
Following along behind Gerda, Kristoff ambled along in a state of bemusement.
In all honesty, he'd been in that state ever since Elsa thawed the kingdom, it had been followed by a rush of emotions, explanations and introductions that resulted in him somehow being a guest in the castle in a room that was bigger than Oaken's Trading Post (or so it seemed to him). How, he still wasn't entirely sure but ever since then he'd been in meeting after meeting, discussion after discussion explaining what had happened from when he'd met Anna, right up to when Elsa undid her winter. They'd managed to keep some facts from most (like his troll family) but the discussions had still dragged on and had left him with a mental fatigue like he'd never had.
He also had difficulty coping with living in the castle.
There were expectations here that he'd never had to deal with in the mountains (how to dress, how to speak, how to do anything!) and it had been a major shock, bordering on traumatic in some cases (like when Kai had the servants literally throw him into a bath fully clothed with the declaration that they'd get him clean and un-smelly or die trying). In short, it had been a series of bewildering events for him that he'd just managed to deal with.
In comparison, Gerda suddenly appearing and telling him that she and Kai needed to have a 'discussion' was relatively normal. Unusual, yes, but easily explained as probably them wanting to put him in yet another fancy outfit for whatever thing he was supposed to be at next.
It became more mysterious when she led him to a section of the castle he was pretty sure was near the royal bedrooms. Despite officially being Anna's guest, he'd not actually been anywhere near this area for obvious reasons and he was curious as to why the two heads of the serving staff wanted to speak with him here.
Gerda brought him past several doors until they met Kai standing outside one that seemed somehow lonely and forgotten. The butler gave him short bow, "Master Bjorgman."
While some of the visiting dignitaries had given him the cold shoulder, all the servants had treated Kristoff with great respect and warmth. He assumed it had to do with the fact he'd done everything he could to save Anna and while it warmed him inside, he still wasn't used to it.
He looked between the two, "Why did you bring me here?"
Husband and wife shared a long look and fear fluttered inside him, he couldn't say why but he suddenly felt that something huge was about to happen, something that would make everything he'd experienced so far look like child's play.
Kai gently inserted a key into the door and slowly unlocked it, it creaked open, as if unused for some time, and he gestured inside. With trepidation, Kristoff took a step towards it, his feelings of fear had grown exponentially and he inexplicably wanted to both enter the room and run as far away from it as possible. He glanced at the two servants trying to work out what was going on. Their expressions were filled with emotion but he couldn't work out what that emotion was. Hope? Joy? Sympathy? It defied his explanation and he looked back at the door.
With great effort, he stepped inside.
It was a bedroom, and going by what he saw, it hadn't been used in a very long time. A layer of dust coated everything inside and his steps left footprints within it. In the centre of one wall sat a four-poster bed, just like the one in his own room though it seemed smaller. Across from it was a neat desk complete with matching chair, both had been intricately made, likely from the best materials available. Large wardrobes graced either side of the desk, probably each holding more clothes than he'd owned in his entire life, and they also bore matching designs. Directly across from the door was a large bay window and before it sat a large wooden chest, carved with a pattern that contained prancing reindeer.
However, it was the portrait by the bed that caught his attention.
It was of the late king and queen and Kristoff recognised them immediately, there were several pictures of them scattered around the castle so it was hard to not know what they looked like. In the picture with them were two other figures, one was undoubtedly a young Elsa, her platinum blonde hair a stark contrast to the more reserved tones of her parents. She was being held by her mother, her blue eyes gazing out of the painting with childlike innocence. Her father held another child but instead of it being a younger Anna, it was another smiling face.
His face.
From within the doorway, Gerda watched as Kristoff approached the painting as if in a trance, slowly reaching out with his hand to touch the painted face of the boy who appeared nowhere else in the castle.
Seeing his adult features compared against those of the painted boy, she knew that she and Kai had been absolutely right, that the impossible had happened. It had taken them time to notice but looking back it had been so obvious, they'd etched that child's face into their memories and hearts, hoping to see him again. She should've realised when he'd brought Anna to the castle but she'd been so focused on the princess' condition she'd barely spared the man a second glance. It was only when he returned alongside her after the Great Thaw that the memories had stirred, she'd initially dismissed them, it was impossible after all, but when Kai had voiced similar things to her, they'd begun to watch more carefully. They'd studied his features, listened to his background when a concerned Elsa had asked about it and the pieces started to fit together. His developing relationship with Anna had further increased their suspicions and they'd decided to take action before a massive, horribly detrimental misunderstanding could occur.
Bringing Kristoff to this room had been the final test, to try and confirm their theory once and for all and he'd responded in the way they'd both feared and hoped he would.
Kristoff stared at the boy beneath his hand.
His features were so familiar, so natural and well-known to him that he had no difficulty recognising them but they didn't belong there. They didn't belong in a painting in the castle, they belonged to someone who'd been orphaned young, who'd spent his life in the wilds, who had trolls for family and reindeer for a best friend. This picture shouldn't exist.
Little voices echoed at the edge of his mind, fleeting memories from a corner of his consciousness that he'd not touched for a long time.
"C'mon, do the magic!"
"Mama, papa!"
"Slow down son!"
"Look Elsa!"
As they tugged at his mind, he felt a dampness on his cheeks and he realised he'd started crying. A blurred image emerged in his mind, one of the king and queen though not frozen in paint but real and alive, their voices softly sounding through his thoughts.
"Of course, we'll still love you."
A hand was laid gently on his shoulder and he heard Kai speak gently, "Though we always hoped, we thought this day would never actually come. Where this room would once again be unlocked and the impossible happened."
Kristoff sat heavily upon the bed and gave way to his turbulent emotion, he felt Kai pull him into a hug and he buried his face into the man's chest as the butler spoke four words that he never thought would ever be said to him.
"Welcome home young prince."
PS-Yes, yes, I did just do that. For obvious reasons, there will be no romance between the three main characters but there will still be a lot of fluff and family feels. Please let me know what you all thought and I'll hopefully update soon.
