A/N This chapter has been updated from the original publication. Mostly minor fixes of typos on the sentence level.
Anna sat waiting on the stone railing just outside the castle gates. Though the area was usually bustling with activity a chilly breeze was keeping it mostly empty.
Despite the cooling temperature the last few months had been some of the best Anna could remember. Elsa had come out of her shell and Anna could be with her again. With the gates open she could explore and meet new people. She hadn't seen Kristoff as much as she'd have liked but he was never far away. He had taken her to see the trolls a few weeks ago and they had had a fun time then. Excepting of course, the times when the Trolls imposed awkward questions or jumped to conclusions (she and Kristoff had quickly brushed past a question on baby names). But Anna was learning to roll with it.
The only real concern of late had been a few days ago when Arendelle's emissary had sent word of a group that were heading north, towards Arendelle. But he had reported the threat to be minimal and that he and his troops could stop them.
Anna jumped down as she saw a sled coming towards her. It was pulled by a reindeer and clattered against the road that lacked the snow for proper use.
"Hey!" Anna called waving.
"Hey yourself!" Kristoff called back around his grin. He leaned forward in the sled. "Faster Sven!"
Sven obligingly sped up, tongue dangling from his mouth. Anna jumped onto the sled as it skidded by. Kristoff grabbed her arm as she did to help her up.
"You've been away so long I almost thought you'd forgotten about me." Anna nudged Kristoff with her shoulder. "I missed you."
"So long? I was only gone for a week." He nudged her back before adding, "I missed you to." He jerked a thumb back to point at the rectangular bundle in the back of the sled as Sven ran into the courtyard. "I got the ice you ordered that you don't need."
"Don't belittle yourself," Anna said as Sven slowed to a stop.
Kristoff stepped out of the sled. "Why would you need ice in late autumn when you're living with Elsa?"
Anna jumped down after him and patted Sven. "Ice is always a good thing to have."
Kristoff unloaded the ice and walked over to Anna who was trying her best to support Sven as he leaned into her. "I don't see how it could be on high demand. Elsa could just conjure some. If you even needed it."
Anna pushed Sven into a fully upright position and withdrew her hands. "You say that but I know you'd hate it if you lost your job. Besides, Elsa swore she'd never use her powers like that."
Kristoff unstrapped the reins from Sven. "Use them like what? Is my job really that important?"
"It's not just your job. Elsa swore to never use her powers for monetary reasons. It's the same reason she doesn't use her powers to make an army of snowmen to do all of our work for us."
Kristoff mussed the fur on Sven's head. "I don't think those two things are exactly on the same level as each other."
"Exploitation leads to temptation. If you want to discuss it, take it up with Elsa."
"What about the ice rinks or snow flurries she makes?"
"Those are just for fun. She doesn't want to give up her powers, just use them fairly."
"If you say so." Kristoff pulled a few more items from the sled. "By the way, I stopped by the trolls on while I was up north. The said that they missed you."
Anna giggled and took a step closer to him. "You should hear some of the things they said about you."
Kristoff laughed nervously."Did I ever mention that trolls are pathological liars?"
Anna poked him. "Don't say things like that about your family."
"Family? Well, they are like a family to me but legally they're just friends," Kristoff said.
"That's no excuse," Anna teased.
"Sure it is. Under troll law anyway." Kristoff stumbled over his words.
"So trolls have their own law then, do they?"
Kristoff regained his composure. "Of course. They even have their own government. You met Tony didn't you?"
"Tony?" Anna said with some surprise. "So Tony actually is heir to the throne and all those things?"
"Yep, it's just a lot less glamorous than that. The other trolls don't take the government that seriously. Except Grand Pabbie of course."
"So they have laws, they just don't really care about them?"
"More or less."
Sven nudged Kristoff with his nose. "I'm hungry!" Kristoff said, voicing Sven's words. Kristoff laughed. "Aren't you always?" he pulled out a carrot and handed it to Sven who eagerly bit off half. Kristoff took a bite out of the other half and patted Sven.
"You know," Anna said crossing her arms, "since you aren't exactly poverty-stricken you could just each have a whole carrot."
"Sharing helps remind him to be polite," Kristoff said. Sven shook his head and snorted.
"Why couldn't you take the first bite and give the rest to Sven? It would amount to the same thing."
"If it amounts to the same thing what difference does it make?" Kristoff took another bite of the carrot.
Anna held up a finger and recited. "Lips that touch reindeer spit shall never touch mine."
Sven looked indignant. "Hey, don't insult Sven's oral hygiene," Kristoff said.
"I just can't trust you two alone together can I?"Elsa called from the balcony above them.
"Hey!" Anna called back. "It's not nice to eavesdrop on people!"
"I wasn't eavesdropping," Elsa said with a laugh, "Olaf sent me to get you. Unless you don't want any of his ginger snaps." She heaved a dramatic sigh. "I guess I'll have to try my best to eat them all myself." She turned to walk back inside the castle.
"Don't you dare!" Anna shouted and dashed towards the castle. Kristoff laughed and ran after her. Sven pranced off the opposite direction.
-x-X-x-
In spite of, of perhaps because, of the fact that he himself could not eat, Olaf enjoyed cooking immensely. Ever since he had learned how, and how to make it palatable, the kitchen had been a wreck and the scent of ginger and cinnamon lingered everywhere. (They had recently taught him what cinnamon doesn't go with. Stews, for instance.)
Olaf, at present, was removing a pan of ginger snaps from the oven, using blacksmith's tongs for safety's sake, and scooped them onto a plate. The small flurry that surrounded him sprinkled the snaps with snowflakes that dwindled for a moment before melting.
-x-X-x-
Anna skidded around a corner, racing towards the kitchen.
-x-X-x-
Kristoff ran full tilt down a hall.
-x-X-x-
Elsa glided quickly down a staircase.
-x-X-x-
Olaf started to feed Sven a plate of the cookies through the window.
-x-X-x-
Anna and Kristoff ran into each other as the rounded on the kitchen door.
"Sorry," they said simultaneously.
Anna opened the door to see Elsa already taking a bite of one of the ginger snaps.
"I know you're cheating. I don't know how, but you are. Not even my new shortcut worked," Anna said.
Elsa swallowed. "They really are terrific. Had you taken much longer I'd have had to eat them all myself."
Anna snatched up one of the ginger snaps. "Then we'd have to tailor all of you clothes to fit the extra thirty inches," she said innocently.
Elsa choked on a bite. "That's it, you asked for it!" She threw a flurry at Anna. The cloud darted around her head and sprinkled her with snow.
"No fair," Anna said swiping at the cloud.
"Hey, if you two are going to kill each other at least do it when I won't be caught in the crossfire," Kristoff said. He gave Sven a bite of a ginger snap and popped the rest into his own mouth.
"You're doing it again," Anna said.
"Doing what?"
"You're going to be doomed to air kisses from now on."
Olaf sidled up next to the window where Sven's head leaned through. "Aren't they cute?" Olaf said as he gazed at the others.
The door swung open and a lady-in-waiting stepped in. She wore a green dress with an apron and a worried expression. "Queen Elsa," she addressed nervously.
Elsa finished her snap with a giggle. "Yes, what is it?"
"Kai sent me. He said that the emissary has returned," the lady-in-waiting said with a slight curtsy.
Elsa straitened, suddenly serious. "The soldiers are back?"
"No." The lady-in-waiting shook her head. "The soldiers aren't back. Just the emissary."