a/n: hi! ok so this one is going to be a fairly long note but... if you follow me or my other stories i'm sure you've noticed how inactive i have been lately. just check my profile for the info. though my other stories are held into an indefinite hiatus for the time being, i have been working on this piece of story for the past few weeks. i couldn't get the idea of it out of my head, and i love these two dorks too much not to write it so here; a new short series! i plan to keep it in less than six chapters or so, so prepare for evenhandedly longer chapters than usual and such. i hope you like it, and though i haven't written for a long time... i hope it will meet your expectations or pique your interests. thank you!

ps, do not fear of angst and such because i don't like that either, haha. i'm just such a sucker for au's... (this was supposed to be based on a game but it's not anymore, just the same title ok haha)

also, special thank you to EveBelle18! my lovely beta and i honestly couldn't have written this without her. thank you, eve, for not giving up on me.

Chapter I: New doors open

"You look beautiful today, Anna."

"Thank you."

Anna's fake smile couldn't have stretched into a more pathetic line of grim plastic. Her smile was wary, worn with tired eyes dying to roll into the back of her head. It was the same line, same routine, same practiced words. Even if her hair looked like a hives nest and the bags on her eyes an inch deep, it was always the same compliments she heard from her sister's lips. She had wished she hadn't gotten out of bed or at least try to pathetically stage her antic sleeping, but no, her sister just had to see right through her uneven breaths while she "slept". Her stomach was just starting to flip over in disgust when she piped up again.

"How are you then?" Elsa asked, beginning to replace the wilting flowers on her bedside table, delicately pouring out the black licorice water once crystal clear into the trash bin near her bed. Anna was trying very hard not to stop her midway, because she liked the flowers this time. Even if their once pink lively petals began to crumble into dry charcoal, she still liked them.

Too bad she's replacing it. Again.

"I'm good," she shrugged, acting nonchalant as usual, knots formed on her shoulder overnight popping as she did.

"That's good."

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh. So, anything new with your stat?"

"No. Everything's fine. Haven't had an attack since… then."

"Good."

Anna doesn't know how, but it seemed like every week, every day, her conversations with her sister seemed to diminish into nothing as their time spent together went by. The topics dwindled; talking seemed too much work… But Anna's thankful, really. If it wasn't for her godforsaken sickness, maybe she wouldn't have even been noticed by her older sister. It was Elsa's excuse to hangout with her now, knowing depression could jeopardize her well-being.

And it wasn't like Anna to become so mute and reserved. Despite her crestfallen state, she had always found the smallest reasons to laugh and smile (like chocolate, puppies), and even look on the bright side of every blotched darkened one. An eternal summer, that's what she was, her father had told her countless times to date. But just recently, her demons were coming to play with her more often than they usually did, searing words of displeasure and dying hope into the uneven beats of her forlorn heart. It's just that—with her illness worsening, she couldn't seem to find the right inspiration to move on or ignore it, more or less.

And with everyone around her moving so animatedly and placidly, with sugarcoated words and false hope given from time to time, there was no better person she could trust other than herself, she knew.

"So," Anna's head pivoted back to her sister, blinking a few not noticing she had lost herself in her own thoughts and in the new vibrant colors of the flowers her sister replaced on her bedside, drastic colors bringing a warm feeling to her chest. Elsa grabbed a stool next to her bed, crossing her legs, leaning forward to her with a hopeful smile she was battering down if it was plastic too. "What plans do you have for today?"

Anna pursed her lips, squaring her shoulders emphasizing in what she means to say. "I don't know, really. I'm sick of support group and I already finished my term paper. I'm too lazy to get my butt off my bed today to grab a film downtown so… I don't really know."

"I see."

"Yeah."

Elsa watched as Anna twiddled with her fingers on her lap, blanket still spread down her waists to her legs, her pajamas complementing the color of the pink walls she's requested to countlessly change paint for the past few months (since she's specifically said that white walls should be illegal in any room), though starting to find it mundane. Her older sister nodded slowly to everything she had said, eyes transfixed on her hands.

"But… I guess I'm in the mood for something to drink?" Anna shrugged again, a hopeful smile suddenly surfacing her tired face. Maybe she could actually get out of this cell, it was better than staying in her room for another dragging day. "Coffee or chocolate, maybe."

Elsa looked back to catch her blues, a touch of remorse swirling in her own and she slowly grabbed forward to take Anna's hands in her paler ones, thumb rolling at the back of her hand.

"Anna… I'm sorry, but I can't take you anywhere today." She said, head dipping a bit. "Remember the defense I was telling you about weeks ago? Well, per se our professor scheduled it for today. I'm still working on some parts of it, and there still are lots of loopholes. And if I want to graduate this year, I—"

"Have to prioritize school first," Anna finished for her, head bobbing whilst she imitated her sister's queenly tone in practiced manner. She rolled her eyes, Elsa laughed, finding it rather silly.

"No, Anna. You're more important than some stupid defense, okay? But I still have to finish this," she shook her head, a small smile unwavering from her face. "But I promise, we can hangout once I secure I'd bring home a cap and gown this year, okay? But for now, I'll just drop you off at Starbucks or Tiana's. Sounds good?"

Anna would be lying if she said that a little piece of her heart didn't chip when Elsa turned down another chance, another weekend, another day they could get to know each other more other than in her boring room after her anathematized fate. She just wanted to know her better, under her title of the heir, the brimming to-be-lawyer, the hope of the family, and her sister. But maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have some time to herself, a door, a chance finally opening right in her face. Still, she forced her lips into a tight smile, hoping it would mask whatever grief her very own sister left in her heart.

"Sounds good," she agreed, sadly.

Kristoff doesn't remember how on earth he ended up in the quiet town of Arendelle of all places, but it must've been a pull or a call or just an escape from the last cheap hotel he stayed at, getting bat in the head by a mop by the crazy almost psycho manager once Sven's putrid pee started to whirl around the lobby, and the suspect was clear.

He made a quick glance to the back mirrors, seeing Sven looking right back at him with his brown innocent chestnut eyes, huge tongue flopping out of his mouth.

How could a ball of fuzzy ears and bristled tail be so deceiving?

He sighed, eyes focusing back on the wide lanes. It didn't matter now anyway. He'd still choose his fuzzy mutt over a soft bed and warm nightlight. And now, like every other day, it was just the two of them on the road again, finding a place they'd both call home with content.

Or maybe, find them.

Kristoff drove the truck into a small town that came into clear view, marking their arrival with a bump on his trucks beat down tires from provincial lanes to cobblestone roads. He squints his eyes as they press forward, the entire town looked too sunny, too generic, too fabricated for his taste. It was a good change from towering buildings to one identical house to another, but the place seemed too dull. There was a dead ambiance in the air, and Kristoff was sure of himself that he wouldn't want to find a house in a place like this, thinking of immediately passing by the small city to a larger one, taking a detour from traffic on its almost deserted route.

Just as he made amends with himself that they'd just make a quick drive around the place, his stomach growled beneath his gray flannel shirt. Kristoff grimaced.

"Well," he said, mumbling almost to himself but loud enough for Sven's ears to perk up with what he says next. "Sorry 'bout that, want to grab something to eat?" he asked, eyes flicking up to the rear view mirrors. Sven wagged his tail approvingly, scattering his unlikable brown and black fur on his couch, head bobbing to the side with a growl.

"Guess that's a yes," Kristoff nodded.

The town really wasn't that bad after taking a few rounds around the place. It was actually complete with every other structure in every city he had driven into; Theaters, movie houses, a local mall, coffee shops. Kristoff began to wonder if there was a small inn they could stay in for the night, and the quiet ambiance was just his cup of tea, he finally agreed. He could only hope that whoever kept the inn they'd stay for the night would allow pets, and he shot Sven a wry look after the thought.

Finally, a few more laps and sightseeing, Kristoff found an inviting coffee shop called Tiana's just a block away from the theater. As he neared the place, he leaned back on his seat, thinking of the uncountable gifts and advantages living in a provincial life once more had to offer.

Anna's neck was starting to grow numb after endless nodding and agreement with Elsa that she'd do fine on her own. Usually, it was just the two of them on weekends taking on their chocolate escapades to new levels, differentiating mallows from chestnuts, guessing games, the usual sisterly fluff they'd do together.

But today wasn't going to be one of those days. Anna was actually going to get a taste of freedom. Just her on her own in the big mean world about to consume her alive with the heavy aroma of coffee and dark chocolate digesting in her stomach. Elsa had wanted to spoil her this once, but now she was having a fleeting feeling of nervousness that she'd turn around at any moment to bring her back home and keep her cooped up in her room again.

She gave her sister a sideways glance, seeing a hint of concern and worry with her scrunched face and knitted eyebrows. She forced out a light chuckle to lighten up the mood.

"Elsa, I'll be fine," she says, shrugging for good measure. "It's not like this is my first time alone, you know?"

Elsa snapped her head back to her, frustration adding to her fret. When Anna realized her mistake, she immediately shut her mouth.

It wasn't like it had been a long time ago, when Elsa had left her for the briefest second to buy chocolate sundaes across the street from where she's left her. Three years ago, her memory serves her accurately and so precisely detailed; because it was the day she had been diagnosed of her damned sickness.

She remembers swinging her legs on the bench right across the ice cream shop Elsa had disappeared into, remembers the sun bathing her ivory skin and making it glow with a surreal light, like an angel descending from heaven, evenly remembers the pigeons crying overhead and the eccentric swirls of the wooden bench beneath her fingertips, and—

An impossibly strong wrenching pain twisting the knots in her fiber chest, making her hands clammily snake up her satin shirt, clenching, convulsing as she tries to desperately stable herself, will herself to scream and cry in pain. But rather, she collapsed to the uneven cobble street, gasping with wide eyes as her 15 year old self couldn't comprehend and form a logical explanation why it would happen to her at such an unlikely time, why it needed to be so random, why it would happen to her.

Her. Anna. Anna Anderson. The girl that stuffed herself with chocolate and anything creamy at the dead of the night (usually Tuesdays), the girl that claims to have Peter Pan syndrome and keeps her hair in two evenly split braids, the girl that's more adorable than awkward when it comes to meeting new people. The one branded as the spare, the second choice, Plan B if Elsa would fall out of the job of being the heiress to the family company (which was a slim chance, everyone knew).

It happened to her. It just had to be her. Why?

Why? Why did this illness choose her? Of all people? Accidents, failure, death… that happened to other people, people on TV, in movies, people she barely knew, but that does not happen to her. That can't happen to her.

But it did.

Anna doesn't know. She doesn't. The moment she learned it tumbling down her personal doctor's mouth, followed by medical terms and highly probated speech pounding a migraine into her head almost made her faint.

Elsa's skeptical eyes fish her out of her linked memories.

"Elsa, I'll be fine, okay?" she muses, trying to lighten the suddenly heavy ambiance hanging in the tightly packed space of her sister's car. "Just knock em' dead in your defense, and maybe buy take outs for tonight's dinner while you're at it. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Rapunzel's boyfriend works over there, he knows the gig if I get an attack. Or if anything's up, I always got your number on speed dial."

"You'd do anything to get out of my claws these days, huh?" the blonde forces out a dry laugh, her eyes back on the road.

"A little freedom, that's all I ask," Anna rolled her eyes, arms folding in front of her chest, falling back on the seat. She was in no mood to argue with Elsa (mostly because she always won).

"Fine, fine. Just don't get too crazy."

"Elsa, it's a café. Need I say more?"

"A café with evil boiled water stored in teapots and wooden stools you can slip your butt off if you're too reckless yourself."

"I rest my case."

This drew another laugh from her sister's lips, head turning slightly to face her, hoping she got the message. She dragged one hand off the wheel to grab Anna's limp hand on her lap, rubbing circles on the back of her hand.

"Anna, I just worry about you," she says firmly this time.

Well, maybe you worry too much.

She wanted to retort, but held her tongue. Maybe she was just sick of home or the same routine or the practiced words or the false hope given to her every single day of her life, either way, she didn't want to start any drama. Especially now that they were less than four blocks away from Tiana's.

"I know," she bit the inside of her cheek, dainty fingers squeezing back.

"Just—whatever happens, always have your phone, okay?"

The café finally came into view, and Anna couldn't wait to jump out of the car. Breathing seemed to be a little harder inside the tight space or maybe it was because she just wasn't good while under pressure.

"Okay."

"Awesome."

"Yeah, great," withdrawing her hands to round her things and hike her shoulder bag to her shoulder, Elsa parked the car on the far end, with Anna hoping she wouldn't kill the engine even before she could step out of it. "I'll see you later. Five sharp?"

"Five sharp," her sister nodded back just as her shoes hit graveled streets, the sun beating down harshly, giving her red hair a surreal glow. "Do you want me to walk you out?"

"I'm sure I'll do fine on my own, Elsa. But thank you, really," she forced another tight-lipped smile, chanting for her sister to finally go away, door shutting in her face.

The windows rolled down to show a very concerned Elsa. "Okay, okay. I'll be off then. Have fun."

Turning on her heel, Anna waved goodbye as she took measured steps with the other hand tucked with her shoulder under her arms, a suddenly wide grin spreading over her face just as Elsa's car is nothing more than a dot across the road.

Freedom, chocolates, real life people—it hits her that she hasn't been out in so long. A wave of excitement washes over her, jumping on her feet as she turns and laughs and—

She hits a brick like wall, that's oddly warm and sturdy at the same time. The impact makes her stagger a bit, yet she finds her footing with a still shocked face. The warm figure elicits something between a groan and a growl, and she looks up to it with a confused look on her face.

It wasn't an it, it was a him. A tall, blotch skinned, handsome blonde stood before her, rocking a flannel shirt and tight jeans. She might've fallen for him at love at first sight with those honey glazed eyes and romantic 80's song playing inside the café, if only he wasn't wearing that very angry scowl on his face and hands clenched tightly on his coffee with white knuckles…

"Ah! Hey! Will you watch where you're going?!" he angrily glowers at her, and it makes Anna cringe and wonders if looks could kill, she's probably be dead under his nasty glare.

Her eyes fly wider, blinking a few when her mind comprehends what she's actually done.

Hands slapping to her mouth, she stifles a gasp before apologizing profusely. "Oh—gosh! Did I just do that? I'm sorry I didn't see you I was walking, you know, well, technically not walking straight forward because I was kind of looking back at my sister when I might've bumped into you and—oh my gosh, is that shirt new? I didn't mean to and I'm—"

"You're crazy, you know that?" he says after her, throwing the crumpled plastic coffee cup to the ground, obviously not caring if he was littering. He unsticks his now adherent shirt from his chest, wet and sticky from his black coffee. He was sort of glad he'd let the drink cool of a few minutes ago while inside before he decided to finish it inside his truck. "If maybe you could have just walked like a normal person, that'd would be great. And sure you're sorry. I know you are. Everybody always is."

Seven seconds.

Maybe if he didn't come out seven seconds earlier he wouldn't bump into this weird stranger. Maybe if she didn't take so long to walk and wave away her sister seven seconds earlier she could've avoided this mess. Maybe seven seconds earlier, their worlds would never have clashed.

But they do.

Shocked with his words suspended in the air, Anna's gaze melts on him, and so does a piece of her heart. The smallest of smiles slowly surfaces her tired face with eyes turning glassy by the second he rambles on some more.

"Sheesh, I wonder how your sister even puts up with you. You must be some klutz to put up with, huh?" Kristoff produces a piece of napkin from the café and repeatedly wipes it over his soaking shirt, with caffeine smelling better than his natural odor. "I mean, if I get this much trouble by just bumping to you on the streets, how much more could a sister bear with—"

A sniffle. A laugh. Those two small things escape her cherry lips, but it's enough to grab his attention.

His head snaps back to her, eyes growing wide and unbelieving. Did he seriously just make a stranger cry?

His mouth runs dry "H-hey," his voice is suddenly shaky, taking one uncertain step closer to her, scared he'd make her runaway. "Are you… crying? Look, don't cry… I, I didn't mean anything I've said. I meant it as a joke, it's my fault, really. I should've—"

"Thank you."

"…What?"

"Thank you," she laughs out, her voice a light sound in the air. Her face breaks the most genuine smile he has ever seen in his life, and it makes him more than confused. He just barked at a stranger for making him spill his coffee on his shirt, and now she's laughing and supposedly crying at the same time. She's crazy, he thinks, but there's something about her sincerity that tugs a string in his heart.

Concern still written on his face, he eases a hand on her forehead, like he's taking her temperature. "Are you sick?"

She laughs again, slapping his hand away playfully. "No, silly! I'm just… happy. Yeah, I'm happy."

I think she needs help, Kristoff thinks to himself, lips still in a grim line with his swatted hand back to her shoulder to ease her of her qualms. He shakes his head. "You're crazy."

"No, you are," she teases, jumping on her toes. Was it silly to feel so safe and comfortable with this uneasy stranger? She doesn't know, because it felt right. So right. The smile in her eyes is brighter than he's ever seen, truer than any person he'd encountered and it makes him feel like he's known her in a long time already. He suddenly had a good feeling about her, a very good feeling. "This may sound weird, but I'm sort of glad I bumped into you, Grumpy."

"It's Kristoff," he rolls his eyes at her, and it earns him another resonating laugh from her. "Now tell me, did I do something wrong?"

Her smile softens. "No, no. You've done nothing wrong. You've actually done something I wish my sister and everybody else did a long time ago."

"What, yell at you?" he asks incredulously, yet anticipating for her out of this world answer.

She smiles again, like he's just said the silliest thing in the town of Arendelle. "No, being true."

Anna, you're so sophisticated.

Anna, you're so lovely.

Anna, you're very good.

Anna, your stats are perfectly fine.

Everything will be fine, Anna.

Lies.

People have always been afraid of her getting depressed, oppressed, scared, and with all the feigned words and hope to cover all her faults, it was nice to have something different.

Someone different.

She had too many closed doors slammed right in her face, and now, a new one opens right before her, warm and real this time, with hope fluttering and dusting whatever delicacy she had inside.

It's the sincerity that gets him right in the heart, and he wonders how lucky he is to have even bumped into this crazy stranger. Other than that, he was rather glad. It was slowly making him think twice that Sven's were better than people, despite the craziness in the whole situation.

Anna was the first to notice how closely pressed they were to each other, with both of Kristoff's hands on her shoulders as if to snap her out of herself when he stepped closer earlier to check her temperature, eyes looking down at her, studying her dust freckled face and ocean blue eyes. He finds her attractive, to say the least. She pulls away slowly, smile small and suddenly bashful.

"Would you…" she begins, eyes wandering to Tiana's place. "Would you like to go grab a drink with me? Well, technically, I'll get you a drink since I owe you one. And a shirt."

He notices how she pulls away, and turns to Tiana's place to hide his embarrassment under a cough and a clear of his throat. "You don't have to, I mean, not get me a drink. I can have my own, but I'd love to have a drink with you. Don't worry about buying me a drink or a new shirt, it's nothing much."

She giggles a little at his silliness, finding how awkward and soft he really was. "Fine."

"Black coffee or frap?" he asks, opening the glass door for her and the air conditioned scent of the store greeting them as he does, like the gentleman he never was to anyone else other than her just now. Only now does he notice how beautiful she actually was, the sun giving her crimson hair a halo under the heat, cutoff shorts and satiny shirt she wore just in time with the season.

"Chocolate," she says confidently. And just before she strides inside, she turns to face him. "And oh yeah, I'm Anna. I'm glad to have met you, Kristoff."

And with that, she swaggers right inside and places their orders before he could move his lips to speak.

"Anna," he lets her name scorch his tongue, the silliest of smiles inching over his lips as he keeps his eyes glued on her.

And her alone makes him think that the little town of Arendelle may not be so bad after all.

so, um, uh, how was it? and oh yeah, if you're wondering what anna's illness is, in this au, she has cystic fibrosis. i'm sooo sorry if i don't have the facts straight... but i'm working on it. thank you for reading, feedback is most appreciated.

see you in the next chapter!