Hello :) So, yes, the Frozen fandom has efficiently kidnapped me for a while- to those of you reading my other stories, I'm so sorry for the slow updates! I'm trying to get new chapters up, I swear, but life has been a little crazier than usual. I promise I'm writing as fast as I can :) In the meantime, enjoy this little one-shot!
Disclaimer: Uh, no. I don't own anything.
There were many things little Kristoff didn't want to know. His 'rithmatic, for example, was unimportant to the eight-year-old (unluckily for him, it still held some value with the Trolls). Unlike many children, he'd never given much thought to where babies "came from", and he didn't understand the big deal about taking baths. For all the things Kristoff didn't know (or didn't want to), however, there was one thing that he- and every child before and after him- would always wonder; what would his future be?
So, when the child learned about one troll's magic stone that "must not be touched in any circumstance, least the future be revealed"… well, how could he possibly resist?
"Shh! Sven! Do you want us to get caught?" The blonde boy whispered as his best buddy stepped on yet another twig.
"But Kristoff," the reindeer seemed to say mournfully, "The trolls said not to touch the stone!"
"Dontcha you want to see if there's any carrots in your future?" Kristoff wheedled, still walking toward the cave he knew the artifact was hidden in. A moment later, Sven began to follow him again- this time much more quietly- and Kristoff knew he'd won the argument.
"In here," the eight-year-old whispered, coming to a stop in front of the rocky cave entrance, moonlight glinting off moist stone and mud around the cavern. Behind him, Kristoff heard Sven balk at the smell of wet earth and creeping mold, and knew there was about to be another problem. Turning to look at his friend, the boy quickly read the reindeer's expression and identified the problem.
"You never said it was underground," Sven's expression said, his animal instincts kicking in and making him hesitant to venture below the earth's surface, even though the cavern was shallow and wide.
"I said it was a cave," Kristoff argued, turning back around to face said cave. "Me first!" On that note, the child planted one foot bravely on the edge of the dip, and-
-slipped.
"AHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, his high eight-year-old voice echoing around the cave as he slid through mud and mold, leaves and twigs sticking in his unruly blonde hair and making him look almost like a troll himself.
"Umph," he grunted as he finally rolled to a stop. The child paused for a moment, wiggling his fingers and toes and making sure everything still worked, before deeming himself unhurt. He was just standing up and beginning to brush himself off when something heavy slammed into his side and knocked him back over.
"Sven," Kristoff gasped, rolling onto his back to avoid getting crushed by the larger animal. "You came down after all!"
"Are you okay?" Sven asked, ignoring the boy's surprised delight and instead nuzzling him to properly check for injuries.
"I'm fine," Kristoff insisted, jumping to his feet and trying to rub the mud off his face unsuccessfully. When he was convinced he'd removed the wet dirt from his face (even though in actuality he'd only smeared it across his cheeks and forehead and made it worse), he looked around for the magical stone.
He didn't have to look very hard. On a small pedestal only a few feet away, there lay a blue crystal that pulsed faintly with magic. Just before he could go touch it, however, a new voice stopped him in his tracks.
"What do you think you're doing, Kristoff?"
The child froze and turned, looking much like he'd been caught with one hand in the cookie jar.
"Hi, Grandpabbie," the boy said sheepishly as Sven tried unsuccessfully to hide behind his smaller friend. "What're you doin' up?"
"I heard shouting from over here," the troll said, walking into the cave with a surprising amount of balance and grace, especially compared to Kristoff and Sven's undignified slide down the muddy slope. "Are you okay, Kristoff?"
"I'm fine," the blonde child muttered, ducking his head as if in preparation for the scolding he knew he was about to get. When the troll didn't say anything else, Kristoff risked a quick peep up through his shaggy hair, confused.
Across from him, Grandpabbie wasn't even looking at the child. Instead, the troll was staring at the stone, a resigned look on his gray face.
"I knew this would be a problem," the wise troll muttered under his breath, finally turning to look at his charge. "Kristoff, I'd scold you and send you back to bed, but something tells me you'd just keep sneaking back."
Kristoff shuffled his feet mutely, which Grandpabbie seemed to take as an agreement.
"So I'm going to make you a deal."
Immediately both boy and reindeer snapped their heads up to gape at the troll.
"So… I'm not in trouble?" Kristoff asked, brown eyes wide in disbelief.
"I'll let you look in the stone," Grandpabbie continued, as if Kristoff hadn't spoken, "But I'll have to erase what you've seen afterwards."
If the boy had been older, he might have argued with that logic; why look, only to forget? However, at eight years old, Kristoff dismissed the thought eagerly, his curiosity taking control.
"Okay!" He agreed readily, taking an eager step toward the stone. Grandpabbie moved out of his way with a sigh, motioning (much to Sven's disappointment) for the reindeer to wait.
But I wanted to know if there're any carrots in my future! The reindeer complained, looking cheated.
"I'm sure there are, Sven," the troll promised. "But only one person can touch the stone at a time, and then it takes a full moon cycle to recharge."
Hump, the reindeer muttered, sitting down with a heavy thump, looking very much like a child sulking after getting his favorite toy taken away. While Sven sulked, Grandpabbie turned his aged eyes to Kristoff, who's hand hovered just above the blue surface of the crystal.
"Go ahead, Kristoff," the troll encouraged. "Hurry up so you can get back to bed."
"I'm going," the child insisted, finally laying his hand on the stone and staring into its crystalized heart. The troll could only watch as Kristoff's eyes glassed over and slid shut, living his future many years ahead of his time.
"Hello?" Kristoff called, confused. He was supposed to be seeing his future, right? So why was he in a trading post? For that's where he was; in a small, wooden cabin with worn shelves holding various nick-knacks and supplies. Outside, through the room's solitary window, the sight of thick, powdery snow made the boy think it had to be mid-winter, which would explain the lack of customers. Only two people were in the small store- a large man in a multi-colored sweater sitting behind the counter, and a pretty ginger lady in an expensive-looking dress.
"'Scuse me?" Kristoff asked, trying to be polite like the Trolls had taught him to. "Hello?" He called again, walking up to the lady. His head just reached her petite waist, his blonde tuffs of hair just brushing the edge of the counter.
"Scuse me, missus. Do you know where I am?" He pressed when the woman didn't reply. Once again, she was unresponsive, frozen as she watched the man behind the counter. Actually, now that Kristoff thought about it, everything was still.
The man behind the counter had one hand in the air, mouth half-open as if he'd been halfway through a sentence. Looking up at the woman's face, Kristoff saw she was looking at the salesman quizzically, but no words escaped her mouth, either. As far as the boy could tell, neither one was breathing.
"Missus? You okay?" Kristoff asked, starting to panic. Reaching out one hand to tug on the lady's skirts, he stumbled forward when his little hand went right through her. Her image rippled like disturbed water as he hurriedly retracted his hand, her form stilling again after a moment. Before Kristoff could panic completely, something caught the corner of his eye. On one of the isle, a bottle of- was that sunscreen? In winter?- had been knocked off the shelf. The bottle, instead of falling to the ground and shattering, was suspended in mid-air, like something out of a painting.
Oddly enough, it was that that made the child realize what was going on. This had to be an image from his future. None of this was real. Immediately Kristoff relaxed, looking around again. If this was his future, where was he? He couldn't be that large man behind the counter, could he?
Almost as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, the door to the trading post swung open, slamming violently against the wooden wall. In an instant, the room animated, springing to action like an actor who'd finally received his cue. Behind him, unnoticed, the sunscreen bottle completed its journey to the floor and shattered.
"-You and this fellow," the large man said, finishing his sentence as if nothing had happened. "Yoo-hoo! Big summer blow out!" The man accompanied the statement by setting a large bottle of sunscreen on the counter. Turning, Kristoff eyed the man who'd entered the trading post and stumbled back in fear.
The newcomer was huge and muscular, bundled up and coated in a thick dusting of snow that covered everything except his eyes. The man stomped across the room, brushing off excess snow as Kristoff scrambled to get out of his way, even though he had no doubt he could've gone through him the way he had earlier with the woman by the counter.
"Carrots," the man said gruffly, and Kristoff froze as he eyed a strand of blonde hair that had escaped the newcomer's cap.
Blonde hair. Carrots. Could it be…?
As if on cue, the man's voice broke through Kristoff's thoughts:
"…supply and demand problem? I sell ice for a living."
An ice-selling blonde mountain man who wanted to buy carrots. As little Kristoff looked up at the tall man, he put two and two together- he was looking at himself. The mountain man was him.
As he watched, the man behind the counter stood up, towering over Older Kristoff, a look on genuine offense on the salesman's face.
"Vat did you call me?"
Before anything else could happen, though, the scene froze again and gradually melted away, the colors smearing together and separating again to paint a new image before young Kristoff. This time, he was standing on frozen water just outside the kingdom, snow frozen in a thick flurry around him. Through the suspended puffs, the eight year old could just make out the ginger woman's form, hunched over from the cold. It could've just been his imagination, but her hands looked blue.
In the distance, a tall form with a head of unruly blonde hair could be seen, frozen mid-stride in his rush to reach the freezing girl. Little Kristoff frowned, confused. How did older me get from a trading post to here?! He wondered, baffled.
Just like last time, the scene snapped into action, the thick snow blowing right through young Kristoff as he watched older him run desperately toward the small woman, panic written across his face. This time, that was all the little boy saw before the scene slipped away, a different one replacing it.
He was by a small lake high in the mountains, a place he recognized as a favorite hangout of his and Sven's over the warm summers. By one side of the lake, older Kristoff and the ginger lady were walking hand in hand, frozen mid-laugh. The moment captured the happiness and joy perfectly, both looking like there was nowhere else they'd rather be.
This time little Kristoff was prepared for the scene to start- he was not prepared for what he saw. As the two walked slowly by the edge of the crystal clear water, swinging their joined hands together, older Kristoff suddenly stopped. He said something little Kristoff didn't catch, and the ginger lady started laughing again. Then, to the surprise of both the pretty woman and little Kristoff, older Kristoff got down on one knee.
What is he doing? The little boy wondered, baffled. Older Kristoff started talking to the lady, but he was still too far away for his younger doppelganger to hear much of what he said. Bits and pieces drifted through the warm air to him, the soft words echoing slightly around the clearing.
"Anna… you know I… do me the honor…?"
The little fragments of whatever older Kristoff had said made no sense to the eight-year-old. Do him the honor of what? And why did older Kristoff look so nervous? He should get up off the ground, little Kristoff finally decided with a sage nod. Maybe he's nervous that he's going to get his knees dirty.
It was then that little Kristoff noticed another peculiar thing; the woman (Anna, he'd called her?) was crying. Why is she crying? The boy thought, confused beyond belief. Adults were so strange.
Anna was nodding rapidly now, one hand over her mouth like she was too choked up to speak. Tears still ran down her face, but her eyes crinkled at the corners with joy, which only deepened Kristoff's bewilderment. Older Kristoff suddenly stood up, sweeping Anna into a huge hug, a look of undisguised happiness on his face, like a man whose dreams had just come true.
When he finally put her down, Anna said something and older Kristoff blushed, struggling to get something little Kristoff couldn't see onto her hand. His hands seemed to be shaking too hard to do it, though, and Anna took it from him, sliding it on to her finger herself. When she held up her hand to admire it, the wide smile still on her face, little Kristoff realized it was a ring.
And then they were- oh, gross! Kristoff gagged, spinning around so he didn't have to look. They were kissing! Ew! Girls were yucky! Even if Anna was pretty, why would he kiss her?! And right there out in the open, too!
Folding his arms, the small boy waited stubbornly until the rippling water and expanse of green grass around him melted away before turning back around to see where he was now. He was in a chapel, older him standing at the front of the room, dressed in a suit that pulled tight against his broad chest and wide shoulders. The chapel was packed with people, and in the first row- was that the Queen?! He couldn't see her face, but that crown… it had to be the queen. How did older him know the Queen?!
Just like last time, the scene suddenly snapped into action, the doors on the far side of the room swinging open to reveal Anna again. Man, this lady just never went away! This time, though, she wasn't dressed in her customary green dress. Instead, she was in a long… white… gown…
Holy mountain trolls, little Kristoff gaped. She's getting married! To- his eyes swept back to older him, at the front of the chapel. –To ME.
His first reaction quickly faded to a shudder. Why was he getting married? Being married meant baths and living in a house with no Sven and did he mention he'd have to take baths? Why would older Kristoff do something like that?!
Once again, the scene melted away. More scenes came, each faster than the last, and little Kristoff's head spun as he tried to keep up with them all. Older him cradling a baby- a baby?!- older him coming home to the castle- the castle?!- and more kissing (Yuck!)
And then finally, finally, the images stopped and disappeared. Kristoff was left staring at an
ordinary blue crystal, the magic pulse gone from it as it recharged.
Grandpabbie and Sven watched as Kristoff stumbled away from the crystal looking like he'd seen a ghost.
"I feared as much," the troll muttered to Sven, a look of grave concern on his face. "The stone shows events that will become important to Kristoff. What if he saw his own death, or a life changing injury, or-"
"Grandpabbie! I got married!" Kristoff yelled, horror written across his young face.
"-or that," the troll said, his expression one of mingling relief and surprise.
"There was this girl with red hair and she was always in this green dress," Kristoff rushed, his brown eyes wide, "and I married her and we had a kid! And I was living in the castle, and I knew the Queen!"
"Time to take those memories, I think," the troll muttered, walking over to Kristoff with a sigh.
"I never even thought about it… I had a family," Kristoff said, calming somewhat, although not much. "Grandpabbie, where do kids even come from?"
If it was possible for a troll to go pale, this one did.
"Definitely time to remove the memories," he said quickly. "And time to get rid of that stone!"
The next morning, Gradpabbie acted on what he'd said and got rid of the stone by sending it to the castle for safe keeping. (And when he was called to erase Anna's memories just a month later, after she'd found said stone… well, he honestly didn't know the child would be bored enough to develop a way to sneak into the vaults, so he was innocent, really.) Kristoff never mentioned it again, efficiently having forgotten the entire experience, but Grandpabbie knew Sven never forgot. Every time they bumped into a young girl with strawberry blonde or ginger hair, Grandpabbie would catch the reindeer sizing the girl up, as if deciding if that particular girl was good enough for his best friend.
And, if he was being honest, Granpabbie knew he did the same thing. When Kristoff brought Anna to the glade for help, the troll knew. And both he and Sven approved.
Ta-da, the end! :) Hope you enjoyed it! Please drop me a review on your way out- and, by the way, I've had a lot of trouble finding good, in character Frozen Kristoff/Anna fanfics. I've found a few, but not many. If any of you know of any good ones, please leave me the title/author in a review so I can check it out! Thanks guys :) Until next time!