Kristoff was walking through the castle as he nervously talked to himself about proposing to Anna. He was going to ask to her come with him on a sled ride with Sven, followed by a picnic dinner to the safe area of the woods. It was while there that Kristoff was going to ask Anna to marry him. He already had the picnic basket with food, drinks, and a blanket all prepared (with some help from Elsa and the castle chef), and Sven was neatly groomed as their animal lead.
While it had been three days since he had gotten Elsa's permission, he was still trying to work up the right words and courage to ask Anna herself. He didn't want to just come right out and ask, "Will you marry me?" He wanted to tell Anna and let her know firsthand how much he loved her, thinking saying things like that would be a good lead before he got to the final question.
Kristoff came across Kai as he was walking, so he asked, "Kai, have you seen Anna recently?"
"Yes, sir," Kai answered. "I came across Princess Anna a few moments ago and she informed me that she was going out to the gardens."
"Thank you," Kristoff said.
"You are quite welcome, Master Kristoff," the name title to which Kai addressed Kristoff occasionally, due to him being the Ice Master and Deliverer.
Kristoff headed outside to the gardens. Since they weren't very big, Kristoff found her shortly after he entered.
Anna didn't notice Kristoff when he did, so he decided to sneak up on her and surprise her, trying to make sure she always had her back to him. Once he was in her reach, she was still turned around, so he jumped in front of her, then picked her up and spun her around.
"Kristoff" Anna exclaimed happily, laughing as he spun her in his arms.
"Hello, Anna," Kristoff said as he laughed in return. When he set her down, he didn't hesitate to kiss her, and Anna was only happy to reciprocate the kiss.
"So," Anna said after she and Kristoff broke their kiss apart, "what's going on, Kristoff?"
Kristoff tried to act more excited than nervous, which was hard for him to do. "Well, Anna, I was looking for you because I wanted to ask you something?"
"Ask me what?"
Here goes, Kristoff thought to himself and exhaled. "Anna, will you come with me on a sled ride with Sven and to a picnic dinner in the woods near the castle gates? Tonight, I mean."
Anna smiled widely and kissed Kristoff's lips again. They hugged as he returned the kiss, and they continued to hold each other when they stopped. "I would love to, Kristoff."
"Terrific!" Kristoff exclaimed, which made Anna giggle. "You don't need to wear a formal dress or anything. Just…be yourself."
Anna smiled again and touched his nose with her finger. "And you be yourself."
Outside the gates in the village square, Kristoff waited for Anna as he stood next to his sled, with the picnic basket inside and Sven all hitched up. Although he was excited to be spending time with Anna, he was also very anxious about asking her to marry him, not just in hoping that she would accept, but also because he was trying to put together a coherent sentence to ask her. This was especially very important to him, as was Anna, so he didn't want to take a chance on messing up at all.
While reflecting all of this, Kristoff took a moment to take a small box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing the diamond ring he was going to offer Anna when he proposed. Although he wasn't offering her such a ring to buy her love, he truly loved her and wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, and he was sure she felt the same way.
Finally, he saw Anna's figure coming out of the castle doors. "Anna!" he called to her, hoping she heard and saw him. Luckily, she did, and she raced towards him with a look of excitement on her face.
Once she reached him, Anna quickly threw her arms around Kristoff and he hugged her in return. "You ready to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Anna answered.
"Shall we go, then?"
"We shall." Kristoff smiled, then offered to take Anna's hand to help her step into the sled. As she sat down, he walked to the other side, stepped in, then sat down, too. "Ready, Sven?" Anna asked. Then she remembered what Kristoff once told her: You don't tell him what to do. I do! "Oh, I'm sorry, Kristoff."
"Sorry for what?"
"You told me before that only you tell Sven what to do, so I thought I shouldn't have just now."
"Anna, that was two years ago, and I didn't even know you then. Whenever we're together, depending on the circumstances, from now on, we both can tell Sven what to do."
"When did you decide that?" Anna asked.
Kristoff held Sven's reins with his right hand, then put his left one on Anna's shoulder as he pulled her in for a hug. Smiling, he replied, "Not long after I fell in love with you and started going out with you," then he pulled her closer to kiss her.
"Well, thank you, Kristoff," Anna said after they kissed.
"Now, where were we?" Kristoff said as he winked at Anna, who nodded and turned in Sven's direction. "Ready to go, Sven?" she repeated.
Sven happily grunted, which Anna took to mean "yes." "Let's go, then!" she shouted excitedly, and Sven obediently began racing away from Arendelle and to the woods as fast as he could pull the sled.
An hour later, Kristoff and Anna had finished their dinner, which had consisted of a few different sandwiches, slices of ham, strawberries, grapes, champagne to drink, and their dessert included a small chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a decoration that said, "I love you, Anna." Kristoff had surprised her with the cake by telling her to close her eyes before he revealed it to her. Anna had even begun to get teary upon seeing it, then tenderly kissed Kristoff as she started to cry some.
Now the couple was taking a small walk through the forest, though not too far so they wouldn't get lost or leave Sven far behind. They held hands and laced their fingers together as they walked, though they weren't exchanging many words. Kristoff decided to break the silence and felt it truly was now or never in proposing to Anna.
"So Anna…did you enjoy our dinner?"
"It was wonderful, Kristoff. Thank you so much." She looked right into his eyes as she added, "This is by far…the most wonderful time I've ever had with you."
Now's my chance! Kristoff thought and stopped walking. Anna continued, but feeling that Kristoff was not moving anymore, she stopped walking as well.
"Um, Anna," Kristoff began, gazing into her eyes and taking her left hand in both of his hands, "I love you."
Anna, who was feeling curious about Kristoff holding her hand in his two hands, answered, "I love you, too, Kristoff."
Trying to overcome his nervousness, Kristoff continued, "Well, I-I…you know that you're my first and only love, right?"
"You're my first and only love, too. My first real love, anyway."
Hearing the word real made Kristoff panic slightly, as he wondered if Anna still had any sort of feelings for Hans, especially since when he first met her, she claimed Hans was her true love. "But Anna, I love you. I really, truly love you, more than words can describe, even." Before Anna could say anything, Kristoff continued, "And you know I'm not Hans. I never was like him and I never will be or want to be! I love you for who you are and I love you more than anyone else in this entire world…!"
Kristoff was getting so worked up in his explanation that Anna jumped in with, "Kristoff, calm down!"
Kristoff did just that and started panting to catch his breath. "I'm sorry, I just, just…"
Anna put her finger over his lips. "You don't have to explain anything like that to me, Kristoff. I have learned my lesson about love since the whole fiasco with Hans. I'll admit that the bad experience with him made me a little afraid to experience romance with someone again, or even to understand just what love is. But after being with you for over two years now, I'm not afraid anymore. Please don't ever deny it when you have a problem. Please don't shut me out or hesitate to tell me what's wrong, ever."
Kristoff looked at the serious expression Anna wore on her face, and it made him smile widely. "You are so bold and fearless, Anna…and that's just why I love you so much. You're the greatest person I've ever known…and I can't imagine my life without you."
Feeling that the moment was just right, Kristoff kneeled down, took Anna's left hand in his right one, then pulled out the box from his pocket. Upon opening it up, he offered it to Anna, who gasped and brought her other hand to her mouth.
"Anna…will you marry me?"
Anna brought both of her hands to her mouth and began to cry silently. Kristoff began to panic, thinking her reaction meant "no." But he was pleasantly surprised when she took the box from him and answered, "Yes! YES, Kristoff! Of course I will!"
Kristoff stood up, took the ring out of the box, then slid into Anna's third finger, left hand. Anna let the tears fall from her eyes and tried to laugh through her tears. She pressed her lips onto Kristoff's, giving him a forceful kiss, but he was only too happy to reciprocate it.
At last! Kristoff happily thought to himself as he continued kissing Anna. This is the first completed chapter of the rest of our lives together.
At the same time nearby, Sven grunted in a way that showed he was only too happy with what he had just witnessed between two of his closest friends.
Second and final chapter for this story! I hope you all love it (even though it was a little bit rushed, so I hope it was still good), and I hope you'll look forward to the planned stories that will follow this one. The only request I have here for this is that, if you read my multiple-chaptered stories, including this one, once they are finally completed, I like having individual reviews for each chapter, rather than one at the end for the whole story.
Anyway, thanks again, and until the next story for this awesome fairy tale! :D
