(Author's note: Thanks for clicking! In this AU, Kristoff and Anna have switched places, and Elsa has been changed into Elliot. This chapter turned out much longer than I would've liked. There's much, much more action and dialogue to come in the next chapter! Reviews and favorites are very much appreciated.)
"Come on, Sylvie, stop eating them, I'm trying to make us match."
The baby reindeer ignored the young red-headed girl, who was trying in vain to braid flowers into her mane; The buds were simply too delicious to go to waste as decoration, and Anna had no choice but to give up when every single flower she raised was snapped up in an instant. The younger troll women had really gone to town on the little girl's hair today, braiding various toadstools and small woodland flowers into it until it looked like a carpet of autumn vegetation. She wore brown wool overalls over her long white undershirt, though at this point it had turned more of a light brown after the girl had rolled down a few hills in a fit of glee. As usual, Anna had spent most of her day collecting a wide array of flowers and weeds to make into "potions"- A common troll pastime, but one that she hadn't quite gotten the hang of yet. Her potions were essentially just bottles of mud and crushed flowers, but nobody had the heart to tell the adopted troll princess that she still had much to learn.
Young Anna had been living with the trolls for two years now, and had grown accustomed to the lack of human faces. The closest she got to interaction with her own kind was when she would sometimes follow behind apothecaries who were dispatched from nearby Arendelle, watching with interest as they collected roots and berries to bring back to their pharmacies in the town. She learned her trade through them.
As dusk descended and dark, suspicious clouds began to roll in, Anna made her way back to her home with her reindeer companion at her side, sifting through her satchel to count the day's spoils. As she walked, an unseasonably icy wind blew through the forest and nearly blew Anna off her path, rattling the trees and blowing some bundles of grass out of the girl's bag. Instinctually, Anna and Sylvie both scrambled behind a rock as the ground shook with the sound of powerful hoofbeats. Two enormous, dark horses galloped past her, and Anna watched with shock as one of the horses left behind a trail of ice that withered the grass beneath it.
"Ice?" She murmured, emerging from her hiding spot. Sylvie whimpered. "Come on, let's go! They're heading toward the circle!"
Anna knew better than to go barging into the trolls' circle when she saw her entire extended family gathered around two tall, cloaked figures. Instead of the usual sound of the trolls' merriment, the area was filled with a quiet tension that made Anna go stiff with discomfort. The two humans looked vaguely familiar, and bore the royal crest of Arendelle on their clothes and crowns; The king and queen. A small, pale boy was lying limply in the king's arms, a full head of blonde hair obscuring much of his face. A bright streak of silver ran through his bangs, reflecting the moonlight and catching the girl's eye. No matter how close she tried to get while remaining hidden, the voices of those in the conversation were muffled. She could see her Grandpabi raise a stony hand to the small boy's head and pull out some kind of bright blue aura, swirl it above his head until it turned a sunset orange color, and deposit it back into the boy's head. As the king crouched, only then could Anna see a slightly taller, white-blonde child dressed in blue who shook like a leaf and clung to his mother's cape.
"We need to get closer." Anna whispered.
"Here." Spoke a voice next to the tree. Anna's cousin withdrew from her ball and took Anna by the hand, cautiously leading her closer.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. We'll keep him safe." The king spoke with quiet intensity, but his voice trembled with distress.
"It is the least I can do. But your majesty, there is a storm coming. I wouldn't advise traveling until morning. You're safe with us in our catacombs, should you choose to stay the night. We will keep watch and make sure your son is well." Grandpabi requested.
"Thank you." The king sighed, taking his eldest son up in his arms.
"Please, come with me."
The royal family vanished into one of the larger tunnels, led by the troll elders, and Anna finally felt free to bound into the circle to speak with her family. But everyone only shuffled about anxiously without saying much of anything, and even her adopted mother seemed to have her mind elsewhere.
"Ma, I found-"
"Anna, come on." The girl's cousin called, taking her hand again and leading her to one of the tunnels that was hidden under a moss cover.
"Wait, who was Grandpabi talking to?" Anna questioned as she flipped up the carpet of vegetation to reveal the tunnel that lead to the children's quarters.
"It's… the king and queen. With their children. The youngest son's been hurt. They're staying with us for the night."
"They look like me." Anna said.
"Yeah, they're human. But don't get any ideas, we shouldn't disturb them."
"Right..."
'Shouldn't disturb them. Shouldn't disturb them.'
Anna tossed and turned on her bed of moss, restless at the thought of a real, bonafide human family sleeping just a few tunnels over. Sylvie slept soundly beside her, but Anna had too many questions, too many answers that she needed to hear from somebody who wasn't made of stone. In her head, she imagined the queen taking her into her arms, telling her stories of her ancestors, perhaps taking her back into town to meet the people she had longed to see for so many years. She saw herself rolling down grassy hills with the royal sons, skating across frozen ponds, and… eating tarts. Whatever else humans did. She couldn't be sure what exactly that entailed anymore.
After nearly half an hour of silent distress, Anna finally cast aside her blanket and poked her head out of her tunnel, using the light of the moon and the aurora borealis to guide her to the royal family's tunnel. Thunder sounded in the distance, but her bare feet moved soundlessly through the catacombs until she came along the large air pocket where the family slept, huddled together. Lucky for her, the young boy of the same age was placed at the edge of the huddle, where she could easily reach him.
"Hey. Hey, you." She whispered. No answer.
Sucking in a deep breath and puffing her chest out, she placed a hand on her hip and poked the blonde boy in the side. He grumbled and stretched before he was finally awake and blinking back at her, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He didn't seem to register what was in front of him.
"Hm…? Who are you?" He muttered.
"I'm Anna, princess of the trolls." She did her best to sound regal, puffing out her chest. "But, uh. You can just call me Anna."
The boy wrinkled his nose at her. "You're not a troll."
"Sure I am."
"You look like me, and I'm not a troll." The boy argued.
"Well, I am a troll. Kind of. Are you gonna tell me your name?"
"Kristoff." He answered. He wriggled out from underneath the mass of blankets, standing just an inch or two taller than Anna.
Anna couldn't help but smile. "Kristoff. Wow. And you're human?"
He hesitated. "I think…?"
"Wow." She sighed.
Anna eagerly grabbed the boy's hand, mischief brewing in her eyes. "Let's go and play."
"Now?" He asked incredulously.
"Yeah, now! The sky's awake, so I'm awake! Let's go!"
Before Kristoff could protest, Anna had grabbed his hand and dragged him out from the tunnel and into the nearby woods. Anna had truly made these woods her own over the years, built swingsets out of planks and rope, created small mazes, and marked which trees were best for climbing. The two children played and frolicked for what felt like days, oblivious to the events of the previous day.
"I wanna show you something." Anna said with excitement as she began to see the sky lighten.
Anna led Kristoff to a nearby tree and scampered up the trunk, but she soon found that Kristoff didn't have much tree-climbing experience. She hoisted the boy up onto one of the taller branches, knowing that this was the spot where the true magic happened, magic that her family could never hope to emulate. Not even Grandpabi.
"Look. The sunrise." She said, pointing out to the horizon.
The two children sat next to each other in silence for a few minutes, and by the time the sun began to peak out from behind the mountains, Kristoff was starstruck.
"Anna, that's amazing!" He squealed in delight.
"Right? I've always wanted to share it with somebody."
"Where are all your other friends?" Kristoff asked.
"I don't have any. Just my cousins." She admitted.
"I don't have lots of friends either. Just my brother Elliot. … But, now I can be your friend." He offered with a smile.
The suggestion made Anna's hair stand on end. She had never had a friend outside of her family and Sylvie, much less a human friend. "... Really?"
"Really."
"Okay. You'll have to come back and visit, then. We'll meet right here in this tree."
"How will I know which tree it is, though?"
Anna had to sit and think for a moment. "Okay, I have an idea."
Both kids scrambled out of the tree, but Kristoff lost his footing and landed in a large pile of leaves. Anna helped him up and then produced a small but thick splinter of wood and used it to carve a shape into the trunk of the tree- a K. Kristoff grabbed Anna's hands and bounced around the trunk of the tree, both friends unable to contain themselves.
"Okay! I'll, I'll come tomorrow night! And I can bring Elliot! And mama and papa!" His voice boomed with excitement.
"Yeah! I'll be waiting right here." Anna promised. Suddenly, she was leaning in for what looked like a kiss.
"W-What're you doing?" Kristoff squeaked.
Anna furrowed her brow, confused. "Troll's promise. When you promise something, you kiss both cheeks, and destiny pulls you back together so you remember to keep the promise. Or something. My family does it all the time."
"Oh. Well, okay."
Anna leaned forward and gave the boy a small peck on both cheeks, and Kristoff's face turned bright red. It was a strange reaction for something that the trolls did all the time, Anna thought. But before she could comment, a voice sounded off from the darkness behind them.
"Anna."
Anna turned to see Grandpabi standing there, looking more angry than she had ever seen him. Kristoff sensed the fear in Anna's body language and hid behind her, afraid of what the stone creature would do.
"Grandpabi, I-"
"This child is not meant to remember being here. You were not supposed to disturb him." Grandpabi spoke not with anger, but with disappointment. "He has been put in great danger."
"I'm sorry, I just… he's human, I never get to play with humans. I just wanted to be friends." Anna admitted, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Kristoff, little prince, please come with me." Grandpabi held out his hand to the boy, "I promise I won't hurt you."
Kristoff hesitated, but obliged. Grandpabi shot Anna a look of pity before leading the child away, back toward the circle. Anna began to cry as she watched the two walk away, fearing she was losing the only friend she had managed to make in six years. It was enough to snap her heart in half.
"Remember, tomorrow night!" She yelled after Kristoff. But he was already gone.
When Kristoff woke, he was surprised to find that his blankets were not made of moss, but rather the same silk that adorned every bed in the Arendelle castle. In a fit of confusion, he threw his blankets off to find that he was wearing the same pajamas he wore every night, and there was no trace of dirt or grass, no evidence of his night with the troll princess. As he threw open the door, he nearly ran headfirst into his mother, who was tailed by a servant carrying a bowl of soup.
"Oh, Kristoff, darling, you're finally awake. You were so tired, you slept all day." His mother cooed, smoothing his hair out of his eyes.
"Where are the trolls?" He demanded to know, turning back and running to the window. Judging by his familiar view of the fjord, he was indeed back in his room, back in Arendelle.
"What trolls?" The queen asked, dismissing the servant after the soup was placed on a nearby table.
"I saw them. We crawled through the tunnels, I climbed a tree with the troll princess, we made a promise to-"
"Oh, Kristoff. Come, sit." She crooned, patting the bed. Kristoff scrambled into her lap, his head spinning with conflicting stories, "You must've had quite the dream after you hit your head. You haven't gone anywhere, you've been in bed all this time."
"I have?" He asked hesitantly.
"Yes."
"Where's Elliot?"
A dark expression descended onto the queen's face. "He's getting his own room now. He doesn't want to see anyone. We… we have to close the gates for a while. It's just to keep all of us safe."
The queen could hardly finish before Kristoff was out of her lap and down the hallway, dashing toward the main gates, hoping he could stop his father from shutting them. But by the time he got there, the king was standing at the head of a long line of guards, watching them seal off the only door to the outside world.
Kristoff could only watch in horror as the guards shut the tall gates with a conclusive thud that resounded in his ribcage.
"Papa…" He whispered tearfully. The king turned, shocked to finally hear the boy's voice. "I… I dreamed…"
"What's wrong, my prince?" His father asked, kneeling in front of his trembling son.
"I… I dreamt I was kissed by a troll."
Miles away, Anna was sitting by herself in a tree. Waiting.
It was thirteen years before the two met for the second time, in a trading post ravaged by a cursed winter.