Making Today a Perfect Day
Kristoff sat in the driver's seat of his convertible sled/wagon, reins hanging loosely as he watched the Queen of Arendelle powerwalk her way through the marketplace. He sighed so loudly that Sven turned to look at him with that look that said, "Hey, what's your problem? I'M the one pulling this thing, buddy!"
"I know, Sven, I know." Kristoff turned to look behind him at the steadily growing pile of birthday presents in the bed of the wagon.
Elsa was on a mission, and for the first time Kristoff realized that the younger royal couldn't hold a candle to the elder when it came to shopping, a situation he wouldn't have believed possible.
Anna's birthday was tomorrow. Elsa had been planning the event for months, swearing Kristoff to secrecy as part of her team. Literally. She made him put his hand on a huge book in the Royal Archives. He had no idea what the book was, but the look she glared at him as he swore his oath promised an eternity as an icy blue garden statue for the seagulls to … roost on if he failed in his promise to Queen Elsa of Arendelle, sister of Anna, woman bound to create a perfect day for Anna's nineteenth birthday. The Queen had thought of everything, and today was the day she was collecting those 'everythings' she had commissioned as gifts for her sister.
The sister who had spent thirteen birthdays slumped against Elsa's closed bedroom door, listlessly picking at her birthday cake while humming "Happy Birthday to me … "
Elsa had spent those days slumped on the other side of the same door, tears streaming down her cheeks as she wished for the courage to open the damn door and hug her sister and end the grinding loneliness that was killing her.
"She's making up for lost time, Sven. I'm not sure who's gonna enjoy tomorrow more – Anna, following the string to find all the presents, or Elsa, wallowing in the smiles on Anna's face."
Elsa finally returned to the sled, trailed by the clock-maker carrying a gorgeous replica of the castle. It was a cuckoo clock, with a tiny Olaf to come out on the hour and yell "SUMMER!" Kristoff jumped down to help slide the clock carefully into the back of the wagon, and Elsa made just enough magic ice to insure it wouldn't be sliding around to get damaged. The clock was the last item to be picked up. Now they could return to the castle and begin the task of hiding the presents.
Kristoff helped Elsa get into the wagon, then joined her and picked up the reins to get Sven moving.
"How did you get Anna out of the castle so you could do all this, Elsa? Without tickling her paranoid, suspicious mind?" Kristoff asked the Queen. He could tell Elsa was a little tired, and she kept rubbing her nose and sniffling every few minutes.
"It wasn't easy, Kristoff, but Bulda agreed to get her out to the Troll Valley. Some excuse about teaching her to cook your favorite dishes." Elsa looked at him slyly and gave him that lopsided grin she saved for very special occasions. "Apparently your adoptive mother has been hinting about the correct way to a man's heart, and piqued Anna's interest in learning to cook."
Kristoff blushed. It had been almost a year since the Great Thaw as it was known and it was apparent to pretty much everybody in the castle that Anna had finally found her True Love. Lately Elsa had been making subtle hints about the appropriate way to ask for a Princess's hand in marriage. Kristoff was still insecure about the idea of a Princess being willing to marry an ice harvester, and missed every hint.
She continued, smirking at his embarrassment, and said, "She promised she'd get Anna back here by midnight. By then we should have everything hidden, and Anna will be so tired she'll be sure to sleep in and let us finish up the preparations in the morning."
They pulled up to the main door of the castle, where Kai and a few other servants were waiting to help them unload. With that many helpers, it didn't take long before the wagon was empty and Kristoff was ready to take Sven to the stable and bed him down for the night. Elsa gave some last minute instructions to Kai about the cooks baking the cake in the morning.
Kai left and Elsa came over to Kristoff. Before she could say anything though, she sneezed. Actually, she didn't quite sneeze, she clapped her hands over her face and stifled it. It worried Kristoff – Elsa had been working like a madwoman on the party preparations in addition to her regular (heavy) workload as Queen. He wondered how many, or few, hours of sleep she had been getting in the last month.
"Elsa, are you feeling okay?" he asked.
Rubbing her nose again, she waved off his concern. "I'm fine, no problem. Now, you need to finish stabling Sven, then meet me in the laundry room."
Wait, what? He looked at her and asked, "Why?"
Crossing her arms and looking stern, she said, "Because, Kristoff, you are the biggest man in this castle, and that is the only place with a tub large enough to fit you comfortably."
"Tub?"
"Yes, tub. Or did you think I wasn't going to insist on a bath for Anna's birthday?"
"But, but, I took one just yesterday!" He protested, knowing it was a forlorn hope.
"And I know that, but we've had a busy couple of days, and if there is anything a young woman appreciates on her birthday more than chocolate ice cream cake, it is a freshly-bathed, clean-cut boyfriend who smells good!"
The only word that stood out was 'boyfriend'. Elsa had never used that word in the eleven months they had known each other. His jaw hung open as his brain overloaded.
She chuckled at his expression, then walked up to the wagon and laid her hand on his knee. "Kristoff, I want you to know that you are the best thing that ever happened to Anna. You've made her happy. I see how you look at her, how you treat her. You don't take hints very well, so let me spell it out for you: if you came to me and asked me to bless your marriage to Anna, I would be the happiest Queen in this kingdom!"
"Uh, you're the ONLY Queen in this kingdom."
Her eyes twinkling, Elsa smirked and said, "Yes. Yes I am."
Her expression grew serious then, she looked up into his soft brown eyes and said, "And I would be so very proud and happy to have you as a brother-in-law."
He could see that her eyes were a little bright, from some strong emotion perhaps. He was awed to realize that the sovereign Queen of Arendelle was serious. That she wanted him, a lowly ice harvester, a commoner who had never dreamed of the life he was leading now, to be part of her family.
"Uh, Elsa?"
"Yes, Kristoff?"
"Could we at least use the softer sponges this time? Instead of that prickly scrub brush?"
She grinned at him and smacked Sven's rump to get him moving. "If you hurry back, I'll consider that!"