Chapter 1
Move in day
"Arendelle Oaks" Anna muttered to herself as she looked up at the apartment complex signage.
She had decided to move closer to her new job, a tour guide at Disneyland in Anaheim. Her parents had decided it was best for her to move closer to the park, as they resided in a small, heavily Norwegian neighborhood, just south of Los Angeles. They had moved to L.A. for her fathers job, a mechanical engineer, and her mother welcomed the closeness to the beach.
She had already met with her landlord, a large barrel chested man, who's beard resembled that of his Viking ancestors, by the name of Oaken. He was an old family friend, from Norway as well. A man of a jolly demeanor that never seemed to fade. Anna had referred to him as "Uncle Oaken" since childhood. Had she not known him to be the gentle giant he was, he would be a terrifying sight to see.
"Uncle Oakie, thank you so much for letting me stay here, I really must find some way to repay you." Anna said, staring upwards to the tall man.
"Nonsense my Anna, "its the least I can do. You are like a little daughter to me, ja'?" He chuckled, his large chest bounded up and down with his laughter.
"I shall help you with your bags, up to your new home, yes?"
"Thank you uncle" Anna said lovingly, "I really appreciate..."
"Nonsense!" Oaken said, grabbing Anna's bags out of her small white civic's trunk. "A white as the Norwegian snow" her father said when he gave it to her for her 16th birthday
"Having you carry all these bags all by your little self, it would take forever!"
He laughed to himself as he grabbed a bag in each hand and under each arm, weighting a total of (Anna could only assume) close to a hundred pounds. Yet he seemed un-phased by the weight.
He lead Anna through the parking lot, and past the pool that was situated in the center of the U shaped apartment complex. Up the stairs to the 2nd floor, and to the center of the U shaped building.
"This is you, apartment #34" Oaken said, setting down Anna's bags, containing all of her possessions.
"Your mother said you would leave your furniture at your home, so I furnished this one myself!" Oaken said proudly as he flourished open the apartment door.
"Oh my.." Anna gasped, as she stared into the apartment. The living room was large, and furnished with an L shaped sectional couch, and a long wooden coffee table. Small end tables on either side of the couch paired with tall lamps. There was an entertainment center which already had a large flat screen tv.
"Your mother said you loved movies and playing those game-videos, so I made sure I got you a television fitting for many nights to viewing!" Oaken said proudly, happy at his little niece's stunned silence.
"Oh uncle, it's perfect!" Anna screamed out as she flung her arms around his neck, having to jump to do so. He towered at least a foot and a half above her.
"Ah Anna you are happy, so I am happy!" He said hugging her tightly. 'Any tighter' she thought, 'and he'll snap me in half!'
"Yes uncle Oakie, very happy." She said with a wide loving smile.
"Well I shall let you get settled, yes? If you are in need of me, I shall be in the front office. And if you ever need me late night for anything, be sure you call me, or come to my apartment, apartment #1. My door is always open for my family." He said with a smile that seemed to never leave his face.
"Thank you again uncle, this place is amazing. I'll be sure to look around at all the rooms when I've unpacked"
Anna said, quite sheepishly, amazed at how lucky she was to have such a loving family.
"Ja, get settled and relax, you have had a long day packing, make yourself at home. I shall see you tomorrow, for lunch maybe? I know a good place for sandwiches." Oaken asked.
"That sounds wonderful" Anna said, "For tonight though, I think I'll order a pizza, seems traditional to have pizza the first night in a new home."
"Dat sounds good my Anna" Oaken said with a chuckle, "I shall leave you to your new home then! Goodnight little princess Anna"
"Goodnight uncle Oakie" she said as he closed the door behind him, and she heard his loud footsteps walk down the balcony walkway. Ever step he took was like thunder, his large body making the earth vibrate.
Anna looked around her new abode, stunned at how beautiful it all was. The walls were a coat of eggshell white, which complimented the light gray shag carpet throughout the entire apartment. The kitchen had brand new appliances, but it's cabinets looked to be handmade.
Oaken was a woodworker by trade back in Norway, and he still loved to spend is free time working with his hands any way he could. Carrying huge trees with his own back, how could he not be as large as he was!
Anna walked down the hallway to inspect the rest of her new home. The first door on her left was a small bathroom, with only a small sink and toilet, and a modest sized shower. Later down the hall on the right, was an office space which Oaken had already supplied with a large wooden desk. Handcarved with beautiful detail, small scenes of rabbits being chased by foxes and deer running through the woods. Oaken really put love into everything he made.
And at the end of the hall was the master bedroom. When Anna first stepped inside, her jaw dropped nearly to the floor.
In the center of the room sat a king size 4 post bed with sheer curtains flowing from its top all the way to the floor. Nightstands in either side, made from the same dark wood as the bed. Each of the 3 walls was decorated with a picture, Anna recognized them all. A fjord, rolling hills, and the city center of Olso.
Across from the bed was a long wooden dresser, with another vanity mirror atop it.
"Oaken must think I look at myself often." Anna chuckled to herself.
To the right was a small walk in closet. To huge, but plenty of room for Anna to hang the few dresses she owned, along with her work uniforms.
"Costumes, not uniforms, costumes" she reminded herself. At Disneyland, all workers, or "cast members", refer to their uniforms as "costumes".
Disneyland is one big show, Walt Disney used to say. And Anna was excited to be a part of the show.
Moving into the master bath, Anna flipped on the light switch. Her jaw, as if it hadn't already dropped enough, seemed to fall right through the floor.
The bathroom was painted a soft robins egg blue. A large sink and vanity mirror with lights all around sat to her right, and to her left was the toilet, and small basket already stocked with toilet paper.
But at the end of bathroom, straight ahead of Anna, as the largest bathtub she had ever seen. As large as a small hot tub she thought. As she peered inside, she noticed small nozzles and jets around the tub.
"It is a hot tub..." she whispered to herself, no able to believe what she was seeing.
She called Oaken immediately, unsure if this was really her home or that of a millionaire!
"Hallo, Anna, are you hurt?!" Oaken shouted into his phone, worried something was wrong.
"No dear uncle" Anna reassures him, "Nothing is the matter. I just wanted to say thank you again for such a beautiful apartment. I've just seen the bathtub, it's amazing!" She was the one shouting into her phone now.
"Only the best for you deary. Think of it as a late 20th birthday present." chuckled Oaken. "I'm glad you find everything to your liking! I shall see you for lunch tomorrow, say 12 o'clock?"
Anna chuckled "Sounds good uncle Oakie, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight"
"Right" Anna said aloud, as she pulled her long red hair into a ponytail. "time to get to work."
Anna spent the next few hours unpacking her bags, hooking up her PlayStation 4 to the television, and placing all her clothes in her dresser in the bedroom. Before she knew it, it was already dark outside. With everything unpacked, and "the next great british Baker" playing on her Netflix, she couldn't help but notice the rumbling coming from her stomach.
"Now" she thought, "time for that pizza."
The pizza had arrived quickly, as Anna had ordered from a local pizza parlor from just down the street. Yelp reviews looked promising, so she thought she would give it a go.
As she sat, watching Paul Hollywood review someone's attempt at making some obscure French pastry, there was a knock at her door.
"Coming!" She said, excited at the idea of digging into her first meal all day. Watching a show about baking only made the waiting even more agonizing, but she could never resist anything that had to do with chocolate!
She opened to door to find a tall, well built, blonde haired man, standing in the doorway. He seemed to be a little older than her. She saw his name tag read "Kristoph".
"Hello Kristoph" She said happily, "I see you're the man who is delivering my much needed nourishment to me?"
"Yes fair maiden" he chuckled, playing along. "From The Pizza Palace, I have one large pepperoni pizza, small order of garlic knots, for her highness" he handed the items to Anna, who was licking her lips, mouth watering from the smell.
"This all smells so amazing, thank you so much. How much do I owe you?" She asked, eager to dive in to her meal.
"No need for money here ma'am" Kristoph said with a small bow, laughingly himself. "Your landlord called earlier and told us his niece be calling, and to put your meal on his tab. He orders from us very often." Kristoph began to chuckle "And boy, can that Oaken eat."
"Oh that was so sweet of him, I'll be sure to thank my uncle tomorrow" she said with a smile.
"Ah, I almost forgot" Kristoph said, reaching behind his back "And one large brownie, with extra fudge on top"
Anna's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. She was now drooling, and didn't care who saw.
"Your uncle told us about your love of chocolate, so I thought you should try our brownies. I made this batch this morning, so they should still be fresh." Kristoph said, looking proud of himself. "Just microwave it for 30 seconds to get a gooey consistency"
Anna was beaming at the treat he held in his hands. Careful not to just snatch it away, she carefully took it from his hand, balancing the pizza box on her other arm.
"Thank you so much Kristoph, this is so sweet of you." She said smiling.
"It's no trouble at all. Any family of Oaken's will be welcomed at my family's restaurant anytime." Kristoph said with a smile.
"Well goodnight miss..." he paused
"Oh, Anna, my name is Anna"
"Have a good night miss Anna. Feel free to call us anything you have another pizza craving"
He paused
"or chocolate" he said with a wink, before he closed the door behind him.
Anna stood by the doorway, stunned.
"Was he flirting with me?" She thought. "No, he was just being polite," she reassured herself "I bet he's that nice to all his customers.
Once she had finished half her pizza and only a few of the garlic knots, she decided that it was finally time to dig into her brownie. As she walked over to the kitchen to the microwave, she opened the box to see there was a small note on top of the chocolatey treat.
"A small treat for the new neighbor." It was signed with a " :) " smiley face.
Anna couldn't help but smile. Did Kristoph also live at Oaken's?
She made her way back to the couch and sat down, ready to indulge in her desert. As she took her first bite, she couldn't help but let out a small moan as her taste buds erupted. The gooey fudge seemed to melt away, chocolate chips crunches against her teeth as she chewed, and the moist brownie seemed to fall apart in her mouth. She let her head fall backwards as the treat slid down her throat.
"Oh I'm going to be getting this every day." She said aloud with a smile on her face.
Soon her treat was, unfortunately, all gone, so she bagged up the remaining pizza and garlic knots, and placed them in the fridge. She turned off the tv and decided to retire to her new oversized bed for the night. Shedding her clothes off as she walked down the hall, leaving her in only a bra and panties by the time she collapsed onto the soft sheets, and was overcome by sleep in a matter of seconds.
Anna awoke abruptly to the sound of an engine roaring. Stunned, and still half asleep, she rolled out of her bed to the window to look down to see where the noise was coming from. She pulled open the blinds and looked down towards the back parking lot, expecting to see a large burley man atop his motorcycle.
But instead, sitting on a blue motorcycle, was a woman. Anna couldn't see her face, but she was clearly quite built, her arms exposed as she was bearing a black leather vest. She had long, platinum blonde hair, sticking out from underneath a black helmet. Her hair was put into a single long braid she let fall across her back.
But before Anna has gotten a better view or her, she rode out of the parking lot and into the back alley, the sound of the exhaust echoing until it had faded.
"Mmmph" Anna grunted, "some way to wake up."
She looked at the clock to see what time it was, and to her surprise, it was only 8:00.
"Well, I'm already awake" she said aloud, "might as well make some breakfast. I wonder if Uncle stocked the cupboard with Cocoa Puffs..."
Hey guys, thank you so much for reading! This is my first attempt at fan fiction, and I am in love with the dynamic created by so many people with these strong female characters. Please send me any comments or suggestions, or even criticisms. I want to make the best story for you guys I can.
