Having spent so many nights out on the unforgiving ice, Kristoff never imagined he would ever find his greatest comfort by the glow of a fire inside a picturesque castle. It was during those unforgiving nights that a younger Kristoff imagined what his future had in store for him. In his mind, the future was parallel with the present. He imagined himself still working on the ice, still trying to convince Sven to share his carrots and still reassuring his ma that he was fine and well fed every time he came home. He imagined maybe being promoted in the years to come or given more difficult tasks to handle on the ice. Never once though, did he imagine a fire, a castle, or a girl for that matter, in his future.
The fire was nice, warm and inviting. He enjoyed the heat after a long day on the ice. He was still not used to the privilege of sitting by one every night. And, the castle was nice as well, spacious with many people wandering its halls. There were a countless number of bedrooms and he had even been occupying one for the better part of a year. But it was the people he spent time with by those fires and in those rooms that made them so special. And one person in particular was the greatest comfort of all. Anna.
Anna was feisty, spunky, and hard headed, the exact opposite of what her title 'princess' would suggest. She was tiny in frame, but large in personality. And loving, she was oh so loving, always being there for Elsa or himself. And he was so undeserving of her love that he found it hard to believe that she was his.
Younger Kristoff would have laughed if someone had told him that one-day he would fall for the princess. One day he would care for someone else so much that it hurt. Younger Kristoff never saw himself worthy of such love, so he never let himself imagine what it would be like. Kristoff laughs to himself now about the thought of this. He laughs at how naïve he was back then.
The rhythmic motions his chest made when he laughed were just enough to wake the lightly sleeping Anna in his arms.
" What's so funny?" Anna questioned, her voice still bogged down from sleep.
Kristoff kissed her warm temple and threaded his fingers through hers, twisting the ring on her third finger as it caught the warm light off of the fire.
"Nothing dear, just thinking about how much I love you and how I never thought I would be.." he trailed off as he heard her snores pick up again. He laughed once more ad kissed her hair tenderly.
Yes, he was home.