Beginning Note: I absolutely loved Frozen. I have a thing for Disney films and I especially enjoyed how it was more about the love of two sisters rather than the typical fairy tale. The elements of love are there, but it's more about fixing the rift that has built up between the sisters. I also think Anna and Kristoff are beyond adorable, especially Kristoff. I wouldn't mind someone like him around! Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or any dialogue that comes directly from the movie. They are owned by writer Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck, Shane Morris, Dean Wellins, Disney, and Hans Christian Anderson, who inspired it all.
Impossible To Let Go
He gripped her frozen body tighter with one arm, hoping to transfer some of his warmth to her. With the other arm, he gripped Sven's fur tighter. He dug his knees into the reindeer's heaving sides, urging him closer to the castle and a way to save her.
"C'mon, faster, buddy," Kristoff urged his best friend, who surged forward in a burst of speed.
The orphan felt the girl curled against his chest shiver violently and his heart squeezed painfully. He pulled off his fur cap and placed it snuggly over Anna's hair, which was more snow white than auburn now.
He had liked the white stripe that was in her hair. It seemed as if it was part of her personality, quirky, and vibrant. Seeing the beautiful color bleached out of Anna's hair froze his own heart. He had to get the princess to Hans to undo the damage caused by Elsa.
As Sven sped across the frozen expanse towards the castle, Kristoff felt as if he was breaking into a million tiny pieces, like ice shattering on stone. He would lose Anna no matter what happened. She would freeze to solid ice if she didn't kiss Hans in an act of true love. But he would lose her forever if he let her go to the prince. When Grand Pabbie had said only an act of true love could unfreeze Anna's heart, the blonde man had been tempted to sweep the girl up in his arms, tangle his fingers in her hair, and kiss her until there was no air left in her lungs. But Kristoff knew that was foolish. Anna didn't love him.
While Grand Pabbie, Bulda, and the rest of his adoptive family were love experts, he understood what love was too. Part of him had been secretly pleased when his family became enamored with the sweet-natured, yet fiery red-head. Anna was a lot of things: headstrong, opinionated, bossy, talkative, demanding, and a bit of a spaz. But he loved every little thing about her. He may have been incredulous about Anna's confession about getting engaged to a man she didn't even know, but he fell in love with her in only a matter of a day. He had to smile a little. Perhaps scaling a mountain, getting chased by wolves and falling off the same mountain brought two seemingly different people together.
Kristoff leaned his blonde head closer to Anna, a single tear dropping from his eyes to freeze instantly on her cheek. He didn't want to lose her.
"It's going to be okay," he whispered, a mixture of elation and sadness filling him as the castle loomed before him.
Sven thundered up the cobblestone street until he reached the front gates, Kristoff leapt off the reindeer, carrying Anna in his arms. Reaching out while still holding onto the princess, he gripped the heavy doorknocker tightly in his fist and pounded the door.
"Open up!" he shouted. "Please!"
The enormous wooden doors flew open with a groan to reveal three servants. One was a tall, thin maid, one was a short plump maid, and the last looked to be an elderly male steward. All had looks of relief and concern for their princess. He lowered Anna to her feet, where she swayed unsteadily. The servants rushed forward, enveloping her in a thick wool blanket.
"Oh, we were so worried about you, Your Highness," one of the maids twittered. "Your skin is like ice!"
"You must take her to Prince Hans immediately," Kristoff said, voice thick with emotion.
This was it. The moment where she would slip out of his life forever. He would fade back into the background, out of memory, while Anna was granted her happy ever after with the prince.
"We will," the steward said over his shoulder and the trio ushered Anna away.
Kristoff stared after her, helpless. Fighting back tears, he felt his throat close up; the girl he had come to love glanced back at him as she was led towards the castle. Her glass green eyes were the last thing he saw before the heavy doors slammed shut.
Swallowing down the pain that was blossoming in his chest at his loss, the orphaned ice harvester gazed at the closed gates sadly and turned away.
"Come on, buddy, let's go home," he said to Sven, leaving behind his loss.
Sven plodded to the tightly shut gates and let out a mournful bellow, calling for Anna. Kristoff looked back at his furry best friend, who gazed back forlornly.
The burly blonde gestured for the reindeer to follow him back to the mountain and their family. The trolls would be disappointed he wasn't returning with Anna in tow. He knew they loved her as much as he did. He saw it in the way they had interacted with her earlier. It broke his heart to walk away. The fiery princess was a perfect fit in his life as much as he'd love to deny it. He had relished the way she had felt in his arms. It felt right. Perfect. He felt, for the first time in his life, complete. But princesses don't marry ice harvesters. They marry men like Hans. Hans could afford to give Anna everything she had ever dreamed of. All Kristoff could offer was his love.
The pain in his chest grew worse as he moved farther out of the main part of Arendelle and up into the mountains. He was pulled out of his reverie when he ran into Sven, who stood in his path. The reindeer seemed to glare at him.
"What?"
Sven snorted and stamped, letting out little frustrated bellows.
"She's with her true love now," Kristoff told the reindeer, the words feeling like ash in his mouth.
The reindeer gave him an exasperated look. The large animal moved towards the iceman and, using his large antlers, dumped him into the light, powdery snow.
"Sven!" Kristoff sputtered, shaking snow from his blonde mop.
The reindeer chattered angrily at him.
"I don't understand you when you use that tone," the man informed his friend.
Right as Kristoff moved to brush past Sven, a great gust of wind whipped through the trees, throwing the man off balance.
"What the-" he began, looking back towards the fjord where the wind had come from.
A perturbed look passed over his features as a swirling black cloud, the starts of a blizzard, engulfed Arendelle.
"Anna!" he whispered, horrified at the sight before him.
Kristoff took off running in the direction of the storm, plunging through the snow and tripping over his own feet in his haste and desperation. His only thought was of getting to Anna. Suddenly Sven appeared, sprinting beside him, grunting at him. Kristoff firmly gripped the reindeer's antlers and swung himself onto the animal's muscular back.
"Yah!" he yelled, spurring Sven forward into the eddying snow storm.
The wind was almost an impenetrable force, pushing back beast and man, who sped determinedly across the frozen fjord. It was a white out, the driving snow making it impossible to see and navigate the treacherous area.
"Faster, buddy," Kristoff urged the reindeer for the second time that day.
To the left, one of the large ships stuck in the ice shifted and shuddered dangerously. With a loud crack, it broke free of its frozen prison and came crashing down, splintering the ice Sven was speeding on. Without warning, Kristoff was flung into the air and landed several feet away, the breath knocked from his lungs. He sat up wheezing and looked around to see a large hole in the ice and no Sven.
"Sven!" the iceman screamed, looking at the bobbing ice floes frantically.
Sven was nowhere in sight. He couldn't lose both Anna and Sven in one day. Suddenly, the reindeer burst through the floes and scrambled on top of one. He gave the blonde man a look and let out a loud bellow, urging his friend forward.
"Good boy," Kristoff told the reindeer before sprinting off into the spiraling snow.
As he blindly made his way towards the castle, he heard Anna's voice, distant and weak, calling for him. His head whipped in the direction of her calls.
"Anna!" he shouted, hoping his cry wouldn't get lost on the wind.
"Kristoff…"
There! He had heard it again. He ran in the direction of Anna's pleading voice. As he stumbled to his salvation, the storm disappeared, as it had never happened. He could see Anna, swaying on her feet, several dozen yards away. He launched himself towards her, his heart singing at the sight of her. Hans hadn't been it. He stopped in confusion as she turned away from him and took off in the opposite direction. Where was she going?
Then he saw it. Elsa huddled on the ground sobbing; her back turned to a young man whom Kristoff assumed was Hans. The iceman looked on in horror as he raced after Anna. Hans had unsheathed his sword and was swinging it at the prostrate queen. Just as the sharp blade swung down to slice the young queen's back, Anna flung herself between the prince and her sister. In the way of the blade.
"No!" Kristoff screamed.
With a deafening and metallic crash, the sword shattered and Hans was thrown to the ice by the force, giving Kristoff a perfect view of Anna. The princess stood there, blue and unmoving and solid ice. The blonde man skidded to a stop, letting out an agonized cry. Elsa released an anguished sob and threw herself on Anna's frozen form. Kristoff felt a butt from behind and turned to see Sven, who had finally caught up. The iceman exchanged sad looks with the reindeer and then averted his gaze, unable to witness the queen's sorrow.
After what felt like an eternity, Sven nudged his arm and Kristoff looked up in time to see Anna slowly regain color and hug her sister.
"You sacrificed yourself for me?" Elsa asked in awe.
"Of course, I love you," Anna replied like it was the simplest thing in the world.
"An act of true love!" whispered Olaf.
With the snowman's utterance, it was over. Elsa restored summer to Arendelle. In the weeks that followed, there was slight chaos as Elsa dissolved the trade agreement with Weselton, Hans being detained for his bid for power, and the diplomats who had come for the coronation set sail for home. Kristoff was pleased that he was able to spend time with Anna despite the mess that needed to be cleaned up thanks to Hans's schemes.
Two weeks later, Anna excitedly dragged him from the inn he had been staying at since coming back to rescue her, saying she had a surprise for him. Both the queen and the princess had offered him a room at the palace, but he had declined. The likes of him didn't belong in a palace. Anna blindfolded him with one of her handkerchiefs and pulled him through the town. She was so lost in her enthusiasm, she led him straight into a lamppost.
"Oh! Sorry!" she exclaimed, gingerly touching his now sore cheek when they stopped. "Ta da!"
"Ummm…" Kristoff intoned, amused.
Anna had forgotten to remove the blindfold. He felt her deft fingers slide through his hair to untie the handkerchief. His jaw dropped as a beautiful lacquered sled sat in the cobblestone square with Sven standing next to it smugly.
"I can't accept this, Anna," he said awestruck, even though he had been promised a new sled after his other one had been destroyed.
That wasn't important anymore anyway.
"No refunds," she told him cheerfully. "It's the latest model. Do you like it?"
Anna also informed him Elsa had made him the Royal Ice Master and Deliverer for the kingdom. Kristoff smiled, knowing that wasn't a real position the queen had made it up specifically for him.
"Like it? I love it!" Kristoff cried.
Overwhelmed, he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, deliriously happy and unabashedly enjoying the feel of his hands splayed across her sides. Her laugh was like the peal of bells and he could listen to it for the rest of his life. He would give up everything for the chance to spend forever with Anna.
He set the princess back on her feet, but didn't relinquish his hold on her waist.
"I could kiss you!" Kristoff said to her, then froze at his boldness. "I could. I mean, I'd like to. I- may I? I mean, may we? Wait, what?"
Anna giggled as he stumbled over his words. He felt his face flush hotly as she stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him sweetly on the cheek.
"We may."
Kristoff caressed Anna's rosy cheek with careful fingers before cradling her head with his hand. He rested his forehead on hers and captured Anna's lips with his own, letting his tongue part her lips and sweep inside her mouth. He relished the taste of her and knew there was nothing he wanted more than her. He deepened the kiss, pulling her tightly against his muscular frame. She fit perfectly against him.
As he pulled back from the kiss, a big grin split his face. Anna gazed up at him shyly and Kristoff entwined their fingers. While he isn't going to be asking the queen for her blessing just yet, he knew his life wouldn't be complete without this girl beside him. While he did not have much to offer, he would fetch the sun and the moon and the stars if she desired it. He laughed, squeezing Anna's hand lovingly.
Besides, he had a distinct feeling Queen Elsa liked him much better than Anna's previous fiancé. But until then, they would take it day by day and he would cherish the girl that was impossible to let go.
Author's Note: Kudos to anyone who gets the Anastasia reference. It's just one line, but one of my favorites! I hope you enjoyed this one-shot. It was clamoring to get out of my head! Thanks for reading and please review!