"What do you know about love?" Kristoff asked with a chuckle as he raised a single eyebrow at the red head across from him. She was leaning on a tree across from the one he was currently resting his weight on. "You tried to marry a man the day you met him."
Anna's face was almost as red as her hair as she turned her face away. He always picked on her but this time it hurt. She didn't like to think about Hans, their unofficial engagement and how he had left her for dead. She knew it was her own fault for opening her own heart so recklessly to him. She had learned from her mistake the hard way and though she knew Kristoff was only bringing it up in jest, she felt hurt. "That was over a year ago. I've grown up a lot since then."
Her tone was flat and Kristoff knew he had struck a nerve. He silently bemoaned his insensitivity, hating to see the hurt in her eyes as she turned away from him. He hadn't thought about what he was saying up until after the phrase was past his lips. He knew better than to bring up the past, after all he had heard in hushed whispers that she still woke up screaming from her nightmares about the cold. It was all that he and Elsa could do to get her to leave her chamber in the winter. Slowly but surely she was getting better about it, but a cold and bitter wind or a locked door still terrified her. He stood up straight and marched over to her in silence. He grabbed her hand and held it as tightly as he dared as he spoke to her.
"Anna… I'm sorry I didn't think…" He sighed and ran his thumb over her knuckles absentmindedly. After the first kiss they had shared he often did such things without thought. They had become very close in the time since the summer's winter's end. He sighed lightly, "Tell me more about him."
Anna turned her head and looked to the man who currently occupied the space beside her. She knew he hadn't meant to hurt her feelings and now that he was grasping her hand she felt some of the pain in her heart melt away. She slid down the tree and onto the ground suddenly, she wanted to sit in the rich, natural pine needle mulch beneath the tree.
Kristoff followed her down a moment later never releasing her hand from his. His focus was on her and her only. He would be careful now. He would not hurt her again.
"Well…" Anna began as she leaned off the tree and into him, "He's kind and strong, but he has a soft side. I won't tell you his last name, but I know he wears size twelve boots, his favorite food is carrots and his best friend's name certainly isn't John." She blushed recalling a slightly more pleasant past experience.
"Sounds like you've got a crush on Sven." He joked pointing to a not so far off clearing where the reindeer in question was playing with Olaf.
Anna laughed and smiled. She liked it when he teased her the way he was currently. He made her happy. "Close, but not quite." She joked back sticking her tongue out at him. "Plus Sven doesn't wear boots."
"He wears mine sometimes." Kristoff interjected returning the favor by sticking his own tongue out at her.
Unable to help herself Anna pictured such an event taking place and laughed again. "Regardless it's not Sven, he's sweet, but the guy I like has feet not hooves." She was being brutally obvious with her clues at the moment. She had been secretive before, but now she was simply telling him the truth. She had a feeling he already knew, but she wanted him to. The truth made her feel light and yet at the same time she was terrified. Her hands were shaking slightly and she kept shifting around in order to become more comfortable.
Kristoff wasn't blind, he knew Anna had feelings for him, and he in return had feelings for her. He was fairly reserved, secretive, and unforthcoming with his emotion. He wasn't sure of how deep her feelings for him ran, but he knew that she didn't know how he felt for her. "Well other than feet, what does he look like?"
Anna's blush was evident as they proceeded to discuss her love. She tucked herself into him further in hopes that he would not see how scarlet her face was. "He's tall, twice my size, with big arms and broad shoulders."
Kristoff smiled lightly, she was looking away from him so she did not see. He wrapped his arms around her and all but pulled her into his lap. If she was going to let him know her feelings, the very least he could do was make her comfortable.
Anna was shocked by Kristoff's sudden action. Lying in his lap was comfortable; he was warm against the cool fall air. She took a deep breath and continued. "He has an amazing smile, even his eyes smile when he's really happy. He has soft hair and rough hands." Tentatively she turned her head so that her face nuzzled into his chest. She moved slightly so that her voice would not be muffled by his shirt. "He smells like the forest and he's always working hard all the time."
Kristoff loved the way it felt to have Anna tucked up and into him. Unable to help himself he moved his head so that his face was up in her hair. She had no idea of the devastating effect that she had on him. Of course he had never told her or shown her, but regardless it was true. She drove him crazy and he loved every minute of it. "So you think it's love?" He asked gently, trying not to get his hopes up.
Anna sighed in contentment. It were as if her whole body was encompassed by Kristoff. She felt like he wasn't just holding her but as if he were in her blood and in the air around her. Her life had never been so much about someone other than herself before meeting him, but now she knew that she could never again live without him. "I think so." She said in a voice no louder than a whisper.
"You think so?" He asked confused by her unsure reply when earlier she had said it openly, proudly, and with great sweetness.
"Yes… I think I love him. I just don't know if he'll feel the same. I'm terrified of losing him." She paused for a moment teary eyed and upset but not crying "He's my best friend."
Kristoff, still comfortable with his nose tucked into her hair began to gently play with a few loose strands that had fallen out of her braids. "Must be love then." He said, kissing gently at the part of her hair. "Love strikes fear into the hearts of even the bravest men. If you're afraid of losing someone, you must love them."
"What would you know about love?" Anna asked softly, returning his original question.
"I was raised by love experts." He said in reply just as softly as she had asked. "Plus I'm terrified of losing someone too."
"Tell me about her." Anna said as she began to trace small circles on his wrist with her thumb. She was embarrassed and nervous, but still with him she felt completely natural.
Kristoff lifted his head from her hair and leaned back against the pine tree behind them. He sighed still playing with her hair. "She stubborn, even more than me, she's brave to a fault and even when she's scared she tries to act tough. She loves life, she keeps her promises, and she is always kind to everyone."
"She sounds like the perfect match for you."
"I think so too." Kristoff replied with a light chuckle. "She's just perfect in general."
Anna smiled praying that he was speaking of her as she had been speaking of him moments before. "What does she look like?" She turned so that she was facing him but was still being held by him.
Kristoff smiled and release her hair as she turned in his lap. "Beautiful."
Anna laughed, "That's not much of a description. There are plenty of beautiful women in Arendelle."
Kristoff knew what she wanted, he had known, but he would never pass by the chance to tease her a bit. "She's not your common beauty Anna. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met. She's slight and small, but it suits her well. Her hair is sunny as her personality, and her smile gets me into trouble."
"That's strangely romantic of you." Anna teased. There was a light in his eyes, his features were soft and he was looking at only her. "What do you mean trouble?"
"I'd move the world for her if she asked me with that smile on her face. When she's smiling I'll do anything that she asks."
Anna's blush was back and in full view. Kristoff was looking at her lovingly in such a way that she had never been looked at before. She felt hot all over and there was a feeling in her chest that willed her to tell him flat out that she loved him. After all they had already all but confessed to one another. Instead, being unsure of what to do, she smiled at him.
"That's the one." Kristoff said absent mindedly as Anna smiled at him broadly. It took him a moment to realize what he had done, but he was happy to have it out in the open.
Anna could see all his feelings now and she was fairly sure that she was reading his reactions correctly. However it never hurt to be sure, "Do you love her?"
Kristoff returned her glowing smile and took a moment to think. "She's the best thing that ever happened to me. The only friend I've ever had except for of course Sven, and my family knew that I loved her before I even did. So yes, I do love you Anna."
Anna felt her heart race. The words had tumbled from his mouth so simply and naturally, it was as if it were something that he said every day. She stared at him awestruck but with a broad smile on her face. He was usually so silent and reserve, playful of course, but he rarely showed his emotions so outwardly. "I love you too Kristoff."
It was a simple sentence, four simple words and a name, but it made Kristoff happier than he had ever been before. To hear his name come from her lips with a profession of love was almost too much to ever hope for, yet it had happened and he was grinning like an idiot over it.
Anna blushed even deeper than she had been moments before as she added to her admission. "I wish I would have told you sooner, but I was scared you wouldn't feel the same. Other than Elsa you're the only family that I have and even though we're not really family yet I've thought of you as family for a really long time and…"
Kristoff pulled Anna up onto him so that she rested bridal style in his arms. He stood quickly and kissed her hard on the mouth. It was a moment of passion that also had the added effect of silencing her babbling. He had noticed before that she talked quickly when she was nervous or flustered and he knew that this would be the most effective manner by which he could quiet her. Pulling away from the kiss after a moment he smiled down at the young woman in his arms. "You're my family too Anna." He kissed her again softly, "Never forget that."
Anna felt like she was floating. In just a few minutes everything she had been worried about for months had fallen into place. She relaxed completely into Kristoff's arms. "I won't."
"Good." He replied with a soft chuckle as he set her down onto her own two feet. "Now let's get you back home, Elsa is probably worried about you, and I want to get you back before it gets dark." He pointed up at the sky as he added softly, "I don't want you to be out in the cold, I know it scares you."
Anna appreciated his consideration and once again grabbed his hand. "I'm not afraid when I'm with you." She turned to face him and stood up on her tiptoes. Her lips just caught his as she kissed him due to their difference in height. His free arm fell around her waist naturally as he leaned down and into her stolen kiss.
When the kiss finally broke the two walked off to find Olaf and Sven. Both were a little closer to each other and each a little more relieved than they had been upon entering the forest for a day out. They still had a way to go in the aspect of showing their true feelings, but today's progress left them both breathless and full of hope for the future.
