Masquerades in Anna's opinion, was the perfect time to be different; to dress a way that you usually did not and trick people it to thinking you are someone else. It was exciting. She loved seeing all the masks, the beautiful designed dresses, the gloriously decorated ballroom and the dances; oh the dances were her favorite.
They were so different from all the other ones they performed at the balls. These were choreographed with simple hand touches, bows and curtsies, turns, steps, jumps; making the two lines of women and men intertwine and move in sync. It was exciting to watch but more fun to participate in.
The night itself was always filled with laughter, beautiful music, glasses upon glasses of champagne and so many plates of desserts that Anna never got a chance to try them all. It was an exciting, fun filled night, and for once Anna was going to share with Kristoff.
The past few times, he had some how missed out on the night; a sudden ice shipment was needed, a man unexpectedly became ill the night before and he had to step in, an avalanche blocked their path on their way back and Anna's personal favorite, his family kept him longer than expected when he had visited them.
Three weeks before the event, Anna had decided that she was going to have him there whether he liked it or not. She knew he hated balls, hated the judgmental eyes he would receive from some of the guests, his lack of ability to dance, having to watch Anna be with other men on the floor; but if he loved her, he would go just to be with her. Plus, Anna would love to see what outfit they would have for him.
It had taken Anna a lot of persuasion (that involved kisses, tender touches and a severe amount of teasing) for him to finally agree to go, promising to be there for the first dance. The very next day, she began to search for the perfect dress.
Anna had chosen a dark blue dress. Black laced lined the top, flowed down the middle of the bodice, down the front of her large skirt and lined her quartered length sleeves. Hidden within the lace was sliver. Some how, the seamstress had filled the black material with hints of silver that when hit with the light, sparkled along with the silver jewels that filled the lining of her top and the silver ribbon that lined the lace as it flowed down her dress. It was different, and Anna had loved it.
Her mask matched it perfectly. It had taken a week to finally decide on what she wanted. She had decided against feathers, seeing as the last time feathers were involved she had nearly sneezed the entire night and had fought to keep the thing standing up. Lace was also a big no. The last lace mask hadn't made it through half the night much to Anna's disappointment.
But finally, after trying several different masks, she had designed the perfect one. She had chosen a solid black masked with black and silver ribbon that twisted together to hold the mask steady. Silver covered the mask itself; thin lines of silver growing and spreading across it like an un-gardened vine; creating designs upon the black mask. It wove and curved its way across the mask, spreading off the mask at certain points with intricate curls. It was gorgeous, it brought out the silver and black within the dress and Anna could not stop staring it at it as she looked at her reflection in the window. Her hair fell perfectly in the large curls that Gerda had perfected that night, the curls falling just to the top of the dress.
She could see the line of lamps in front of the gate, watching the dark figures make their way to the entrance of the castle. The night was cloudless, the stars shining brightly as though to add to the theme. The half moon's light helped shed light on the figures, letting Anna see glimpses of golds, reds, greens, purples and blues.
"You look beautiful." Anna jumped at her sister's voice.
"God, I hate it when you do that." She turned to see her sister laughing. Elsa had gone with simpler attire. Her dress had a much smaller skirt compared to Anna's, and the colors were a mix of light purples and soft pinks. White ribbon and lace rand down the front of her dress and down the skirt. She had created snowflakes to line the top of her bodice. Her signature braid came across her shoulder and was filled with little snowflake trinkets that shown in the firelight. She had created her own mask. It was made up of a layer of snowflakes, each balancing on the other to create the simple yet beautiful appearance. There was no need for ribbon, seeing as Elsa could simple ice the fixture in place.
Elsa walked towards her, smiling brightly.
"Not my fault you can't hear."
"I can hear!" Anna said, Elsa's smile turning into a smirk. "I just—"
"Get distracted?" Elsa finished, turning her gaze to the window. "You always do."
"No I don't." Elsa glared at her, an eyebrow raised. "Ok, maybe I do sometimes but not all the time. I just start thinking about something and everything else just, sorta, gets blocked out."
"Well what exactly was distracting you this time?" Anna turned back to the window, avoiding her sister's gaze.
"Kristoff." She said quietly. "He said, well promised actually, that he would come tonight. But I haven't seen him all day, and neither has Gerda. I've checked everywhere but I just can't find him." Anna felt her sister's cool had grab hold of hers.
"That doesn't mean he won't come." Anna sighed, looking up at her sister's comforting gaze. "You know how he is with promises."
"I know but you would think I would at least see him once today. I didn't even see him at lunch Elsa or in the stables. Have you seen him?" She looked at Elsa with a small flitter of hope, but Elsa shook her head.
"I haven't seen him either Anna, but don't worry." Elsa said quickly, catching the look of disappointment in Anna's face as she looked to the floor. "He'll be here. He promised. I bet he is out there waiting for you right now."
Anna sighed, "Yeah. Probably." Elsa squeezed her hand,
"Well, you shouldn't keep him waiting then. Especially with this outfit, he'll be speechless I'm sure." Anna smiled, looking up.
"Yeah but you beautifuller. I mean, more beautiful." Anna grinned devilishly at her sister, "I bet the princes will be dying to dance with you." Elsa glared at her,
"Don't you dare suggest that to any of them. You know how I am with dancing."
"Yeah, yeah I know." Anna said; releasing their hands, as she stood straighter her hands folded across her chest. "I'm sorry gentlemen but I only dance the waltz and only with men I find suitable for dancing. Which is really no one because I am the pickiest person in the world." She said in her mock interpretation of her sister. Elsa continued to glare, but Anna could see her lips twitching,
"I do not sound like that."
"That's what you think." Anna said with a giggle. Her sister rolled her eyes, hooking arms with her sister.
"You should hear how you sound then." It was then Anna's turn to glare while Elsa giggled as she led the way to the door, Kai standing in waiting.
"Your majesty, your highness," Kai said, "When you are ready."
Elsa looked to Anna, who nodded. Elsa gave the word and Kai opened the doors. Their introductions made, Anna and Elsa made their way down the staircase as the crowd applauded their entrance. The room was decorated with several candle stands, lighting the room with a soft glow. The walls were lined with tables upon tables of desserts and champagne.
Women were dressed in various size dresses with so many designs of lace, ribbons and jewels; their masks matching there beautifully designed attire. The men seemed simpler, but that gave them room to add more details to their masks. From the stairs, she could see large feathers poking out in the crowd, full faced masked men scattered throughout, and the occasional large nosed mask that always made her laugh.
Anna's heart was ramming against her chest, the idea of Kristoff waiting at the end of the staircase filling her mind. But as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the vacant spot to her left.
He wasn't there.
Her smile faltered for a moment as she tried to regain her composer and ignore the disappointment that was growing in her belly. She stepped towards her sister, standing as proudly as she could. The crowd bowed to them, Elsa gave her welcoming speech and all the while Anna scanned the crowd for the familiar blonde.
The disappointment only grew as the crowd applauded the queen, and Anna still had not seen a sign or glimpse of Kristoff. When the crowd began to mingle again, she turned to her sister,
"He isn't here." She whispered, a small lump forming in her throat. Elsa must have heard the small falter in her voice and grabbed hold of her hand, rubbing her knuckles gently.
"He's hear Anna, just be patient. There are twice as many guests this year. He might just be lost in the crowd." Anna nodded, still looking out into the sea of masked people. Then it hit her.
She had no idea what he was wearing, or what his mask even looked like. Sure she could possibly spot him with his broad shoulders, tall, muscular built and blonder hair but as she scanned the roomed again she realized that wasn't going to be enough. There were several blonds here; several tall and muscular and a good number of broad shouldered ones as well.
It was like finding a needle in a haystack.
"Elsa, how am I supposed to find him?" She whispered but as she turned, she saw that her sister was now gone. Anna had been so distracted, again, that she had not felt her release her hand and walk away. Looking around, she spotted her sister talking with a large group of masked gentlemen and ladies off to the right.
She was alone in this mission impossible.
Standing alone, eyes still scanning the crowd, she heard the familiar sound of the orchestra warming up.
No! Not yet, he isn't here yet! But her please went unnoticed. The sound of the orchestra had caught the ears of the crowd and it began to part down the middle. Slowly, masked couples began to make their way to the middle, standing in two separate lines facing the other.
Swallowing the lump in her throat and plastering a small smile to her face, Anna made her way to the line. She kept eyeing the crowd, thinking the sound of the orchestra had maybe caught someone else's ears as well. She found her place at the end of the line, scanning and waiting patiently for him to emerge.
The soft tapping of the conductor's baton made its way across the room, but Anna had barely noticed; nor had she noticed the man standing across from her. Sighing deeply with defeat as the violin struck its first cord, Anna turned her gaze from the crowd to the floor.
She curtsied, looking at the man's very shiny, and very obvious new shoes. Keeping her gaze down, she rose and followed the line as they walked towards the other. As she pivoted, their dresses moving with a soft rustle, she looked out into the sea of masks. She walked backwards to where her partner had stood, curtsying once again before rising. The line began to move back to the middle, both now intertwined as one.
The lump was growing, her smile falling and Anna could feel the stinging in her eyes as she raised her hand up to meet her partners. He had promised her, and he had always kept his promise, always. But it seemed that his record was now broken. She glanced quickly at her hand, noting how large the man's hand was as it nearly engulfed her own. As they began to circle the other hand to hand, Anna made one last sweep of the crowd.
Anna sighed deeply as she her eyes came back to the same large, old man dressed in gold; his mask nearly engulfing his face with the large stork like nose protruding from it.
Kristoff would have found it funny; making a comment of some sort that would have made her laugh. He would have complemented her on how beautiful she looked, on how lovely the color looked on her. He would have helped her eat all the chocolate, or at least try to. Kristoff would have been here, would have held her hand, would have been dancing with her; not this random Prince or Duke or whatever he was.
"Looking for someone Feistypants?" Her partner whispered. Anna squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to fight the stinging of the tears. She looked towards her partner, keeping her gaze at his shoes and the bottom of his black pants.
"Yes, actually. I'm trying to—" Then realization hit her on what exactly he had said. Looking up, she found familiar brown eyes looking into her own; the lopsided grin on his face making her heart flutter.
"Kristoff?" She whispered excitedly as they switched hands, turned and began to walk in the other direction. He winked at her,
"You look beautiful." He whispered, gripping her hand softly in his. Anna glanced down at his outfit. He matched her perfectly with his black pants, his white jacket with its' silver buttons and a dark blue shirt peaking out from underneath. His mask was simple; black with silver lining the outer edges and the eyes that seemed to make his eyes glow. He looked, well,
"You look devilishly handsome, if I do say so I myself." Anna said with a giggle. They stopped in line, her gaze fixed on his smiling face. They dropped their hands and faced each other, taking a step closer. His arm wrapped around her waist and hers tried to do the same but her fingers just barely gripped his back. She could feel his light chuckle as her grip lightly tickled him. "For a moment I thought you wouldn't make it."
They began to circle again, their eyes never leaving each other.
"Never. I promised you the first dance. You, of all people should know," He whispered, leaning down to her ear, "I always keep my promises." She felt him turn his face against hers and kiss her cheek, making her blush bright red. But she didn't care. She didn't care if anyone saw, she was happy; so presently happy.
The rest of the night, she let them see her smile, hear her laugh, see her blush, hear her giggles, her snide remarks, her words of love; she let her joy unmask itself in front of them, without one single care in the world.