Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Disney's Frozen and all the rights of the characters, dialogue, etc belong to the Disney Company!
Anna didn't know if this was a stupid idea or not, but it felt right.
Of course, she'd done a lot of stupid things in her life, and she'd never paused to think about what the consequences were. It was different this time. Whenever something fun and exciting happened her knee-jerk reaction was to get on that and satisfy that high.
But for once, this stupid idea wasn't for her. It was for Kristoff.
And what was so scary about this stupid idea was that it meant something to her. Anna wasn't usually one for sentiment, nostalgia took an unwanted toll on her. Sharing something so close to home, and so ridiculous from a third party perspective, to the guy she'd only met just last week was terrifying to her.
But it felt right.
"Christmas in July?" Kristoff repeated, sounding utterly confused. Anna already felt her cheeks reddening. He made confused look so endearing, oh gods, she couldn't look at him.
"Yeah, it's kinda... weird." Anna mumbled, tucking an invisible strand of hair behind her ear. Great, now she was resorting to nervous habits. She held her knees a little closer to her chest.
It was the evening of July 31st, the sun had long since disappeared beyond the horizon, and billions of stars lit up the sky in its place. They sat in the long grass of the palace gardens, right in front of the oak tree the castle had built itself around. It was a grand thing, as tall as the castle walls, with thick and sturdy trunks that danced their way through the space above them to create a natural canopy that shaded the entire garden. Moonlight fell through the space between its leaves, bathing them in something similar to candlelight.
The intimacy of their current spot hadn't gone unnoticed by Anna. With nothing but the moonlight to make out each others features, the sound of gentle fjord waves rising and falling against the castle's outer walls, the warm summer breeze against their skin...
It got Anna's heart racing for sure, and that was without the notion of this absurd tradition she was about to share with him.
"Fits you perfectly then." Kristoff jested, his kind but teasing grin soothing the constant fluttering that had been occupying her belly since she'd sat down. She laughed in a ha-ha-very-funny fashion.
He was sitting close, but not too close. Just close enough for a man she'd spent a whole two days of the last week trekking up and down the largest mountain in the land searching for the kingdom's estranged queen (who'd also, to Anna's surprise, acquired ice powers from gods knows where). She'd died, come back to life, reunited with her sister, and had dragged him along for the ride practically against his will.
Didn't have to be too bright to understand why she was anxious. She'd only just met him last week! Sure, they'd been through a huge ordeal, but after Hans... was this too fast? Would he feel creeped out?
What were they, even?
Like sure, they'd kissed. It was a great kiss. But a kiss could mean so many things, left so many questions unanswered. What Anna took most from that kiss was that she desperately didn't want it to be the last. She was determined to take things slow, do things differently. A little bit of ambiguity kept things fun, just how she liked it, and if the sheer fact of him agreeing to meet her in the garden tonight was anything to go by, he wasn't running off anytime soon.
Anna was trying her best to pick her words carefully. She wasn't going to put her foot in her mouth tonight, nope, no way. Of course if she wanted to abide by that rule she had to think awful hard about what she was going to say before even attempting to open her mouth. That meant a lot of awkward silence. Frustrated, Anna began furiously picking at a patch of grass beside her, making sure not to get any dirt on the crisp white box (she'd even tied a red ribbon around it) that sat nearby.
"Christmas in July is kind of this tradition my family have." Anna told him, stealing a quick glance. He had turned towards her, offering his full attention. He was all ears, and she didn't know whether that made her feel better or worse. "Ever since I was a little kid they'd take me and Elsa out to these gardens, sit us down in front of this tree, and we'd spend time with each other and celebrate all we'd done in the first half of the year."
They'd done it as long as Anna could remember. Of course, there had been many July's where Elsa's spot in the grass remained untouched, but this tradition was so engraved in her heart that Anna couldn't imagine a July without a late night trip to the gardens. Mama would spend the entire day with the groundsmen setting up for their celebration. Strands of glass marbles were threaded through to leaves of the huge oak, wrapped loosely around each branch to tie together at the base. Silver ornaments hung from above, curtains of hanging ribbon tickled their necks, and when it came time to celebrate they'd light up the lanterns and the tree would be brought to life. It was Anna's favourite summer oasis.
"Of course, I haven't really celebrated in the past couple of years, you know, since they..." Anna trailed off, offering him a shrug. This was the time of the year she used to enjoyed most, and she wasn't going to let the loss of her parents keep her from that anymore. Mama and Papa would've wanted her to keep the tradition alive. "Now that Elsa and I have clicked again I thought, hey! What better time than to start things up again?"
Kristoff smile was contagious, and the longer he looked at her the forgot what she was talking about. So when he asked, "So why start with me?" she could only look at him dumbfounded.
"What?" She squeaked, yanking herself back into reality. How embarrassing.
"If this was a family tradition, you know, with your sister, why bring me here?" He clarified, turning to run his gaze up the height of the great tree in front of them. "Don't get me wrong, this place is amazing, but..."
"No, I get it." Anna understood completely, she'd been the one thinking about that all day. Why was she bringing him here when she had a sister to celebrate with? She barely knew him, he barely knew her. "I already spoke to Elsa about tonight and she has her reasons for not being here, but that's more than okay."
Anna had found Elsa that morning in the kitchen, cup of tea in hand and parchment in the other. They were still learning the ropes of how to be sisters again, but the words came so easily, and Elsa's advice came so smoothly.
"You, Anna, are my present for Christmas in July. And we have an endless amount of July's to make up for lost celebrations. I think what you plan on doing is the perfect way to thank Kristoff." Elsa had said kindly. She had even reached over a squeezed her hand, which she shouldn't of done, because like a barrel down a hill Anna reached over the table and embraced her in the most suffocating hug.
This was the part Anna was most nervous about. Like ripping off a bandage, better to get it over with quickly. "I got you something." She told him, gingerly picking up the small box next to her and bringing it to his attention. For maybe the hundredth time in the last fifteen minutes, Kristoff looked confused.
"You see," Anna began, twisting and turning the box in her hands, "we give presents, just like normal Christmas! No surprise there, but just one present. It's supposed to mean something, supposed to represent what you've achieved in the first couple months of the year."
Kristoff nodded, but she could tell he didn't completely follow her. "But I didn't even know you at the beginning of the year." He said, already uncertain of her intentions.
"Yeah, that's true." Anna said, moving until she was sitting cross legged in front of him. "But I guess it doesn't really matter. We can make some adjustments." She offered him a shy smile, which he returned immediately.
"The present I remember most was the one I got when I was six." Anna said, looking once more towards the tree. "There's so many memories in this garden, but that year was hard. Mama had gotten me my first tutor, and the first thing he taught me was how to read a clock. Not very advanced, shouldn't of been a problem, but I hated it. Like it's just numbers, right? Wrong! It was totally different language to me. It took six months for me to finally get to right, and when July rolled around, Mama got me this beautiful copper pocket watch, which I still have on my nightstand. She told me she was so proud of me for sticking with it and not giving up, and it was amazing to watch me grow since I first started."
And with that, Anna held out the box in front of him. Kristoff eyed it cautiously while her heartbeat went into overdrive. Impatient, she reached out and grabbed his hand, forcing him to take the gift. His hands were so much bigger than hers, and so warm too. She lingered there, her hand placed under his, before the embarrassment settled in and brought her hand back into her lap.
"I've never gotten a present before." Kristoff told her, testing the weight of it in his hands.
"Never ever? Jeesh, I can't imagine."
"Well I never thought I could imagine Christmas in July."
"Just open it!"
And so he did. Untying the ribbon and lifting the lid of the box, Kristoff found the polished coil of braided iron Anna had spent her whole afternoon cleaning. It was an arm bracelet, and though the metal was dark and worn it still shone bright under the moonlight. At each end was a iron cast dragon head, jaws wide and roaring.
"That's been passed down through generations." Anna told him. His fingers were running across the metal when she said that - he pulled his hand back as if he'd been burnt. Laughing at his frightened eyes, she reached over and plucked the jewellery from the box.
"The dragons are a symbol from the times of the ancient Vikings." She continued, reaching for his arm. She pushed back his tunic sleeve until it sat just above his elbow. Anna positioned the bracelet over his fingers and pulled the bracelet up until it rested snugly in the middle of his forearm. It was a great fit, she'd been worried about that. She brushed her thumb over one of the dragons, over the skin of his arm. "They represent strength and perseverance, and a token such as this is normally given to someone who's done some pretty brave deeds." She smiled up at him, intrigued when he looked almost upset.
"Anna, I can't. This is way too... I don't deserve this." Kristoff said, unable to hide the strain in his voice.
"You really do, Kristoff. The amount of strength it takes to take on that journey, and on top of that, having to put up with me? It's almost impossible." Anna assured him, her smile warm. "You've done more for me in the last week than I've done for myself in the last three years. Christmas in July is about seeing how far you've come, and I've come a long way since I met you, and that's something I can only thank you for."
She moved her hand down his arm until her hand met his. Kristoff intertwined his fingers with her before she had the chance. "I'm not really good with words." He told her, sparing her a shy but honest glance. "But I can say that I have just as much to thank you for. I don't have a gift to give you, and I don't think I can ever make it up to you, but I'll try."
Anna gave his hand a gentle squeeze and turned to look at the oak tree, the same one that had framed all the memories of her family's bizarre tradition. And now, with Kristoff, she had another person to share the summer custom, another person to add to her small but cosy family. Who knows, maybe they'd make their own traditions.
She cast him one more smile, eyes bright under the summer moon. "We always have next July."
A/N: I pumped this out real quick, sorry if there's any weird structure, but this idea popped into my head and I love the innocence of their early relationship so I just had to bring this to life :)) short and sweet and just how i like it
Thanks for reading, and as always, let me know what you think!