"Please, take my jacket. It's cold out."

Anna felt another shiver jump down her spine as she looked up pathetically towards the mountain man and whimpered as he draped his thick coat over her shoulders. She pouted. "What about you? Won't you be cold?"

"Nah, not me," he laughed, shrugging. "I'm used to it."

Nodding and turning her head forward again, Anna began to hum a jubilant little tune as they made their way back towards the castle, her hand quickly seeking his out. She was practically skipping, but failed to take notice of the deep sniffling coming from Kristoff, who was starting to trail just a little bit behind her.

But after a couple hours in the castle, when his sniffling turned into a cough, Anna was far more aware. She sat down beside him, rubbing at his back, and laying her head on his shoulder. She knew in his line of work, where he would spend full days out in the cold, that sickness was common… but he always seemed invincible to her.

He was Kristoff… her rugged and fearless mountain man. The one who could always protect her when she needed extra help. Her rock when she started floating away. Kristoff, who would always be there for her.

So when he didn't stop coughing, it worried her beyond what she was able to express without sounding like a child.

Kristoff told her it was nothing, his lungs were probably just a little dry from the cold. He told her that he would be fine tomorrow, and begged her not to worry. Anna nodded and dropped the subject, figuring that after twenty-five years, he probably knew exactly how his body reacted to everything.

But she still made sure he drank a good, large cup of tea before bed. She still slept beside him, waking up every time he coughed through the night, and ran her fingers through his hair in an attempt to soothe him. She still woke with a start when he got up, coughing so badly it sounded like he might lose a lung.

"Please," Anna begged that morning, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and placing a kiss against the back of his neck. "Go to the infirmary…"

Shaking his head and patting at her hands, Kristoff laughed through another cough. "Seriously, Anna. It's fine. It's just a cough. It'll be gone by tonight." He stood up slowly, swallowing yet another hem, and smiled down at her. "I have to go take care of some business with my men today."

"Kristo -"

He cut her off with one warm kiss, squeezing her into a quick, tight hug, before pulling away and moving towards the dresser. "I'm fine, I promise." After dressing quickly, Kristoff gave her one final kiss, long and slow, leaving her completely dreamy eyed and sighing, before heading out to the hallway and waving goodbye.

He practically held his breath until he was sure he was out of earshot.

As soon as he was able he paused for a moment, leaning against the wall and allowing himself to cough again. They were getting worse, and he knew it, but he had always been able to fight through illness. It was probably just a cold. It couldn't be anything serious.

He took a deep breath before continuing down the hall and to work, confident that if he just worked through it, like he always did, things would turn out just fine.

The day went on as normal.

He filled out ledgers, gave harvesters their assigned quadrants, took in new orders for what was necessary - there was a communal organization to the ice merchants now, and they had a steadier pay thanks to the generosity of the queen. Kristoff managed them, kept everything in line, and had more time to stay home with his fiancée.

But for a few days every week, Kristoff traveled to the cutting sites to make sure that everything was going according to schedule. Today was one of those days. It was fine at first, and he made sure to drink plenty of the tea that Anna always forced him to bring, but his coughing got progressively worse, and soon he was sweating through his clothing.

Kristoff did his best to ignore it, to work through the pain and the growing fever, but his vision was getting blurry, his head was dizzy… He could hear someone asking if he was okay, but it sounded so far away.

The world around him went black.

xxx

"Kristoff?"

The first thing he felt was a cool cloth pressed against his forehead, and the faint trickles of beads of water slipping down his skin. The next thing was a small hand running through his hair, petting it back away from his face. He let out a little groan, and did his best to open his eyes.

He was met with wet and worried blue eyes, that widened as he looked at her.

"Oh thank god." Anna ran her free hand down his cheek, her other hand still gripping the damp cloth that she was wiping against his clammy skin. "Thank god…"

Kristoff did his best to smile up at her, but still felt lightheaded and weak. "What… what happened?"

"Well…" Reaching over to dump the cloth back into her cold water bucket, Anna tucked her hair back behind her ear. "Your fever spiked while you were out in the mountains… You passed out." She wrung it out before moving back to press it against his forehead.

He furrowed his brow, sighing with relief as the cold towel hit his skin, and shifted under the blanket, noticing he was suddenly in just a pair of loose fitting linen sleeping pants. It was a little strange, but it was honestly the least of his worries.

"Andrej brought you back on Sven." Anna ran the towel down to his neck, running it slowly over his shoulders and collarbone. "He was using snow to keep your body temperature down…"

Kristoff shrugged, frowning deeply. "How long was I out?"

"About eight hours."

A silence fell between them as he nodded, and Anna continued the cycle of wiping his brow, soaking the cloth, wringing it out, and wiping his skin again.

"What happened while I was out?"

Anna frowned, not letting her eyes meet his, and held the cloth firm against his neck. "You just had a high fever and were having trouble breathing. The doctor gave you a shot… helped your fever break… I don't know…"

Kristoff smiled, reaching up to pat her knee, and mumbled "I feel much better now."

Slapping at his hand, Anna's gaze turned into a glare. "Well maybe next time you should listen to me, and go to the doctor when you start feeling sick."

He tried not to laugh at her, knowing that would only make her more upset… but when her nose scrunched up because she was irritated, she looked so cute, and Kristoff almost always had to fight the urge to kiss her or laugh. So he bit his tongue, and nodded. "You're right."

Anna nodded firmly and dropped the cloth into the bucket. "Sit up," she mumbled, reaching behind him and fluffing at his pillows. "I made you tea. It has honey for your throat."

"All right…" He smiled when her hands touched his shoulders and helped him up, and chuckled lightly as she removed her hands to lift the pillows up behind him. "Thank you."

"Mhmmm." Anna hummed softly under her breath as he settled back, reaching over to the nightstand to grab the still warm mug. "Drink slowly."

As she tipped the mug up against his mouth, Kristoff's eyes turned up to her, taking in her obviously frantic appearance, and felt the overwhelming need to apologize. He could only imagine how she must have felt seeing him come in, out cold and pale, with Andrej carrying him however he had managed. How she must have panicked when the doctors forced her out of the room in order to care for him. He knew she had probably glued herself to that chair the minute they let her back in, and…

He caught a glimpse of her hand, which was pruny, and realized she had probably been running a damp cloth over his head for hours.

The mug left his lips, and he coughed again, shifting in the bed as Anna put the mug back down on the table. "I'm sorry, Anna."

Freezing and tensing, she rolled her shoulders and turned back to face him. "For what?"

"For not listening. For making you worry." Kristoff felt a smile pulling at his lips, and reached over to pat a hand on her thigh. "I know you've probably been sitting here all night…"

Anna leaped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, and burying her nose into the space behind his ear, and Kristoff felt her warmth permeating through his skin. No matter what happened to him, she was always there for him. She always cared.

He wasn't used to that.

Kristoff held her for as long as he could manage, breathing back any hems that were trying to get out. He loved her more than anything, and it was clear that Anna felt the same about him.

There were no words spoken, just a silent understanding.