Disclaimer: I own nothing related to any Disney universe including, but not limited to, characters, names of places, lyrics, dialogue, or any other piece of product. Disney retains all the rights to their universes. I am making no money or receiving any kind of compensation, material or non-material, for this fiction. It's all for fun. Please don't sue me. I do claim the writing, the idea behind this particular narrative, and any peripheral characters or locations created to augment Disney's work
A/N: I only edited once (instead of my normal 20 billion times) so apologies if anything is too sloppy. You have been warned.
cover art by the incomparable MitsouParker: mitsouparker DOT deviantart DOT com/
o000o
The first time he sees her, all he sees is red. Her hair, his anger - it all blends together. The details about her fuzz in his mind, his eyes still frost burned, but he remembers her freckles.
He always liked freckles.
o000o
The second time he sees her - he sees pink. The flush of her cheeks, the twist of her lips, the length of her cape - and he is intrigued. There is a flash in her eyes so bright he thinks that maybe, just maybe, they won't need a lantern to light their path.
He also thinks that maybe, just maybe, he may come to like the color pink.
o000o
For one minute, she is blue. Shimmering, iridescent, and as beautiful a shade as he has ever seen, but there is no beauty in this moment. He'd always thought that black meant death - a charred forest or a funeral procession - but never blue.
Blue is the sky that he works under. Blue is the color of the fjords and lakes that feeds his spirit. Blue is beautiful. Blue is ice and ice is his life.
It turns out ice is her death.
o000o
The world is green and so is she. It isn't just the clothes that she wears; it is how she approaches life. She is untried and vibrant. There is nothing hard in her. She is soft as a sapling, bowing into his body, and blossoming in his arms.
He's heard all things come in seasons and everything in its time. He's not quite sure this season of life is called - but he sure likes it.
o000o
The ballroom is draped in purple and she is dressed to match. In a ball gown that hints at hidden virtues he longs to explore, she stands in front of the crowd next to her sister. She is not quite as effortless as the queen at her side, but she is all he can see. He catches her eye and smiles. She smiles back and they can both breathe again.
Neither of them are quite comfortable here among the diplomats and dignitaries. It makes their skin feel a little too tight despite the endless supply of chocolate and carrots. So they sneak out on balconies and make up stories about the stars. They visit Sven in the stables and try their best to not get dirty, but somehow (they will never tell how) they both end up with straw in their hair.
When they make it back to the ball, the room is dizzy with spinning skirts. A young man in white coat tails offers his gloved hand to Anna and asks for a dance. It is all Kristoff can do to hold back a growl, but Anna slips her hand into his elbow and smiles at the young man.
"Thank you, but my dance card is full." She says and pulls Kristoff out onto the dance floor before the suitor can object.
"But I don't know how to dance." Kristoff tries not to look like he is dragging his feet, but he is.
"I know." She smiles and suddenly he can do anything.
Anna leads the entire night.
o000o
It is an indian summer afternoon when he sweeps her away to one of his favorite heaths. It is bright with the season's last flowers and she makes them both crowns of bright yellow stars.
"All hail Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna!" She laughs to the sky and flops back onto the ground.
He doesn't laugh with her because he is not a prince, and there is never a moment where that is not an ache in his gut.
"Does it ever bother you?" He plucks at the grass beside where he sits.
She rolls to one side and props her head up on an elbow. "Does what bother me?"
"That I'm not royalty." He doesn't look at her.
"No. Why would it?"
He shrugs.
She reaches out and puts a hand over his to still him. "Kristoff."
Her looks up at her from under his eyebrows. Her crown is crooked and the way the sun shines down on them makes her have a yellow halo all around her head. She is an angel. She is his angel.
"I just wonder if it bothers you. That's all." And it is all, it is everything.
"One time a prince asked me to marry him and then he tried to kill me and my sister." She says. "Just because you have a pedigree doesn't mean you are a good man, and that is what I want. I want a good man." She laces her fingers through his. "You are a good man, Kristoff, and that is all that I will ever need."
He cannot take his eyes off of her now. Bathed in the sun's light - she is golden. She is light. She is life. She is yellow and he feels any nagging doubt melt away in her radiance.
"I love you." It isn't difficult for those words to slip out. They don't choke him like he thought they might because she burns the fear out of him with that smile she saves just for him.
"I love you, too."
He pulls her close and kisses her.
Neither of them notice when their crowns get lost in a sea of yellow.
o000o
The world is going to sleep and all Kristoff can see is brown. As if by silent signal, the sleep of the trees and the wildlife bring the rains.
They're walking through the woods outside of Arendelle one day when that rain finds them. They huddle down under a tree but the bare branches do little to shelter them. They are soaked through in seconds.
She shivers and scoots closer to him. He wraps an arm around her shoulder.
"We could walk back." She says. "No sense in waiting or the rain to stop and we are already drenched."
"We could." He agrees, because they could. It isn't a long walk, but then he looks down at her. Droplets catch in her hair, her eyelashes, and shine like diamonds. She is so close, and he has a better idea.
He takes her mouth - doesn't ask for it. One hand catches her cheek to steady her. The arm around her shoulder slips low to the cradle of the spine. Her skin is slick with rain, but it warms under his touch.
He eases her back onto the ground and spreads himself over her. She whimpers as his weight settles over her and digs her fingers into his shoulders. She pulls on him like she needs him closer, like she wants him to crawl under her skin and never leave her.
He grabs the wrists of her bruising hands and pins them back by her head. She arches against him and he loves how she is just wild like this. He loves how she fills every crack inside his chest. He loves her happiness, her anguish, and every shade in between. He loves her - all of her - and he never wants a day to go by where they do not have each other.
He pulls back, gasping. His rain soaked hair drips on her matted bangs. He lifts a hand to brush them back from those blinding eyes when he realizes his hand is covered in mud. She sees it too and he knows the mischief that comes with the crinkle at the corner of her eye all too well.
The first handful of mud is still a surprise. It lands on the side of his head and oozes into his ear. She laughs and he smiles and it is only moments before the mud fight is in full swing.
He loses track of everything in attempts to dodge and deliver muddy swipes. He gives as well as he gets - so aware he could break her without trying - which is probably how she ends up straddling his hips.
Kristoff looks up and all he sees is brown. Aside from her gleaming eyes and crescent smile - she is all streaks and smears. He knows he looks no better, but here in the pouring rain she is the single most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
He clutches her hips and sits up. She laughs at his closeness and tries to wriggle out of his reach. He holds on tighter, keeping her on his lap, needing her close for this.
She freezes, breathless and annoyed at him stopping their game: "What?"
He is sorry too, but he can't wait.
"Marry me?" His chest pulls tight as the question slips out. This wasn't how he meant for this to happen. He was going to plan a day with chocolate and a sleigh ride because she deserves better but he looks at her and he cannot wait for one more instant.
He needs her to be his forever.
"What?" Her eyes are bigger than he's ever seen them.
"I would - I mean, would you - could we -" He shakes his head and takes a deep breath before meeting those shining eyes again. "Marry me."
It isn't a question this time. For a moment that stretched for eons all he heard was the falling rain and his riot heartbeat. Then she squeaks and tackles him back into the mud. Ten million kisses cover his face until he can grab her long enough to still her.
"Is that a yes?" he needs to hear it.
"Yes! Of course, you dummy. Yes. Yes!"
She is all mud and rain, but he kisses her anyway because he is unable to breathe if he doesn't. She pulls back, panting, and rolls off of him.
"We have to tell Elsa!" She jumps up and he follows.
They run the entire way back to the palace, stumbling for kisses, but make it in once piece. They find Elsa in her library. This time when she breaks the news of her engagement, not a single snowflake falls.
Elsa even ignores the mud.
o000o
The mountains share their eternal winter with the valley a few months later. The snow makes Kristoff remember the first time he saw Anna. He remembers the flashes of red, of pink, blue, green, purple, yellow, and brown. Now, as he looks down the aisle, all he sees is white.
He is only aware of the tears in his eyes when he hears Sven sniffle behind him, but he is beyond caring. This is the day he never knew he's been waiting for his entire life.
The moment Anna is within his reach, he hooks a hand around her waist and pulls her close. He catches her gasp with his mouth before anyone can object. He loves the way she melts into him.
He pulls back. The world fades except for her breathless face. She smiles that smile that is just for him and that is all he needs forever. She is all he needs forever.
A throat clears.
"If you do not mind, we should get on with the ceremony." It is the priest.
Kristoff smiles, Anna blushes, and the audience chuckles.
"I love you." Kristoff whispers in her ear before he releases her.
"I love you, too." She mouths as she steps back to where she belongs a few steps away.
He does.
She does.
They do - and Kristoff and Anna begin a life full of color - together.
o000o
A/N: Maybe the fluffiest thing I have written? Ever? Maybe?
Not a masterpiece, but hopefully enough of a peace offering to prove my unshakeable Kristanna love after chapter 12 of Inevitable.
Chapter 13 drafts started today too and believe me, chapter 12 was the worst of it. I may be a cruel, cruel authoress, but even I am not that cruel.
Hope you enjoyed.
(Also I know that traditional Norwegian wedding garb is NOT white like modern western culture, but I sacrificed historical accuracy for fluff. So leave me alone.)
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cover art by the incomparable MitsouParker: mitsouparker DOT deviantart DOT com/