In the princess' bedroom, two bodies slept on a large four poster bed, draped with white lace curtains and heaped with fluffy pillows, soft blankets and pink and purple cushions. The couple snored, loud and content.
As the sky awakened, weak sun rays filtered through the east facing window and spilt a small puddle of light on the floor of the bedroom.
Anna's breathing hitched and as she turned over her eyes slowly opened. She blinked a few times to adjust her blurred vision. With consciousness returning to her, she then realised the significance of the day she had just woken up to.
"It's Christmas," she exhaled excitedly. The thrill in her chest reached to her hands and feet so that her fingers and toes were lightly buzzing.
She turned to the man next to her who still lay in a blissfully deep sleep. Disregarding the possibility that he was happier sleeping for a while longer, she shook his broad shoulder firmly.
"Kristoff!" she exclaimed; she decided imprudent behaviour was better than using a kinder alternative to wake him from his slumber.
She pushed his shoulder again with an increased impatience. "Kristoff!"
The blonde haired, chief ice harvester scrunched up his face and groaned. "Anna, please." He rolled onto his front and crossed his thick arms over his head. "Just let me sleep," he mumbled into the pillow.
Anna huffed dramatically and hopped off the bed; there was once a time she thought she was Arendelle's worst morning person. She danced over to the window, her delicate nightgown flowing behind her, and flung the curtains open, letting in more light which flooded onto the bed. Discovering the scene before her, she gasped: the whole kingdom, or at least as far as Anna could see, was white. The lower turrets of the palace and the entrance gate were layered in ice and sparkled like diamonds, so much so that they looked to have been constructed from the crystalline form of pure carbon itself. Below, the castle courtyard was blanketed in snow that appeared softer than her mattress. In the center of this she saw Olaf, asleep in the snow, where he was most comfortable. Due to the large snowfall, his body had gained weight; his stick limbs were sprawled out like a starfish.
"You've really outdone yourself this time, Elsa," Anna murmured breathlessly to herself. Swivelling around, she called to Kristoff again, this time to show him the view.
With another groan, Kristoff rolled back onto his front and squinted sleepily at Anna, unwilling to let his eyes adjust to the light. "Anna," he croaked. "You know I don't do mornings on my days off."
Anna leaped back over to the bed and bounced onto it, perching herself on Kristoff's abdomen. She held his face between her hands and used her thumb and forefinger to slowly separate his eye lids.
Kristoff swatted her hands away and squashed a pillow to his face. "Anna, go back to sleep."
Exasperated, Anna threw her hands into the air. "But the sky's awake so-"
"Yes, okay." Kristoff threw the pillow off his face and rolled his eyes teasingly. "The sky's awake, so you're awake." He then smiled warmly. "I get it."
Mildly insulted, Anna picked the pillow back up and hit him around the face with it.
"Ow," Kristoff said in a surprised tone. He tenderly rubbed the side of his face that had been targeted, his eyebrows raised in shock, and slowly moved his jaw around. "Now that was uncalled for."
Showing no mercy, Anna threateningly lifted the pillow up again.
"Okay, okay!" Kristoff cried hurriedly. "We're even." He carefully took the soft weapon from Anna's grip. As she placed her hands confidently on get hips, she nodded satisfactorily and her messy locks of auburn hair tumbled in front of her eyes. Chuckling, Kristoff reached up to her face to push the tangled mass of knotted curls from her face. He caressed her cheek gently before letting his hand fall back down to his side. The calloused hand felt warm on her cheek and she longed for its touch again after he withdrew it. His face blushed, so Anna swiftly moved in to allow their lips to meet. They sighed into each other's mouths; Anna lived for those small moments.
As they parted, she murmured, "Ready for Christmas?"
Kristoff sucked in breath between his teeth. "Can Christmas wait for an hour?"
A tuneful rap on the door interrupted their conversation. Hopping off the bed – and anticipating only one particular person to be at the door - Anna hurried over and threw it open.
"Elsa!" she cried, hugging her older sister tightly.
"Hello to you too," the Queen said, laughing melodiously and embracing her sister with equal affection.
"What you did outside…" Anna's awe of Elsa's power prevented her from finishing her sentence.
Elsa shrugged and shared the same awe on her face. "I can't take credit for a masterpiece I didn't create; this time it was a gift from Mother Nature." Turning her attention to Kristoff she waved politely at him "Hello, Kristoff."
He pulled the blankets further up his naked torso. "Uh, good morning… Your Highness."
She released another tinkling laugh. "Please," she said kindly. "I've told you before - you may call me Elsa. You're part of the family now."
Beaming, Anna looked over at her boyfriend, who stared awkwardly back at them both. Although Elsa's approving words filled her with joy, they embarrassed Kristoff.
He nodded. "Got it," he replied, holding up a awkward hand in acknowledgement.
In that brief moment, Anna thought back to the first time Kristoff had been able to stay for the night. He had been incredibly nervous and muddled a lot of his words during conversation. When he had thought that knocking over a row of statues was bad enough, the wooden slats of Anna's bed had cracked the moment he sat on her mattress. Despite Anna's attempts to reassure him that it wasn't his fault (she had already caused damage to the bed frame by jumping on her bed with Olaf the day before) he couldn't stop apologising. It took a lot of persuasion to convince him to stay again. That said, it wasn't often that he could - and when he did there were strict guidelines they had to follow. Sneaking Seven into the castle, for example, was against the rules. One that Anna - and Kristoff, she believed also - would never forget.
"Now, Anna," Elsa began, touching her gently on the arm. "Breakfast is being prepared and I've asked them to make us something extra special."
Anna grinned. "We'll be ready in five minutes!"
Before she could close the door, Elsa stopped her. "Merry Christmas," she said warmly.
"Merry Christmas, Elsa!" Anna replied, giving her sister another hug.
On closing the door, Kristoff groaned. "Did you have to say five minutes?"
"We can get ready in five minutes," Anna claimed in distraction. Thoughts of the busy day ahead were whirring in her mind. She hastily began to unbutton the front of her gown. After the third button she suddenly stopped and looked up at Kristoff, who was staring wide-eyed at her. Conscious that it wasn't her face he was staring at, she slowly walked back in order to hide behind her floral folding screen.
"I'm just gonna..." she said slowly, pointing to the screen beside her.
Behind the decorative wall, Anna laughed nervously to herself and hoped there would soon be the time when they no longer felt nervous around each other at all.