The next time Elsa opened her eyes, she found that she awoke into a sea of white. But it was not the white of the winter wonderland that awaited outside these walls, but a bright, sterile white. It reminded her of the medic's chambers in the castle, but it was not quite the same. These walls were smaller and in a bit of disrepair. But what in the world was she doing here? She attempted to turn over, stiff cotton sheets twisting around her legs, but a sudden burst of pain throughout her whole body made her stop. A half-suppressed squeak of discomfort echoed through the tiny room and it took the queen a moment to realize that the sound had come from her. Almost immediately, the door to the little room swung open, and a short, wiry man stepped in. "Ah, you're up. Good to see. Good to see," he said in a surprisingly deep voice. He shoved his thick glasses up his nose and stepped to her bedside, prodding at the bandages around her head.
"Ow, ow, ah, um, sorry, that kind of hurts," she mumbled, wincing as he worked. "I don't even know who you are or what I'm doing here."
The man gave her a sharp look and the usually regal woman was forced to shrink back into her pillow. "You were brought here. I treated you. And I am a fully capable physician if that's what you were implying, Your Majesty."
The way his voice changed when he referred to her by her title gave her the feeling that he wasn't a fan of hers. He wasn't the only one; there were still some that feared her for what happened this past summer. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest that you weren't fully qualified. That's not what I meant. I'm just a bit hazy on how I even got here; that's keeping me a bit uneasy."
The man seemed to soften his gaze a bit, though he still did not smile. "You seem to be doing all right for the moment. I'll send in your friend. Maybe they can clear up a bit of the fuzz for you." He turned and left, leaving her even more confused. She didn't have many 'friends.' She had Anna, but they were family. Kai and Gerda were both more caretakers than friends. And Olaf, well, she couldn't imagine that anyone would be as calm as the doctor was if a talking snowman was sitting in their office.
Her questions were answered when Kristoff entered the room. She sat up suddenly, immediately regretting it. "AH-" she blurted, and the man in the room immediately looked concerned. "Hey, you okay? Should I get the doctor back in here?"
She shook her head, more vigorously than she should have in her current state. "No. No. That's okay. Just, a bit stiff is all." A lopsided smile grew across his face.
"Tough woman. I'm sure you feel like shit." His eyes widened a bit. "Ah, I'm sorry. Should probably watch my mouth around you. You're a lady after all, and a royal one at that."
The slightest of smiles crossed her lips. "Between you and I, I do feel quite, uh, shitty. Tell anyone I said that and I'll give you frostbite," she warned. He looked a bit worried and she let out a light laugh. "I'm kidding. Why does everyone think I'd actually intentionally freeze anyone? Is that really what I seem like?" Though she was still kind of smiling, he could tell that she really wanted an answer to that.
He shrugged. "People fear what they don't know." He coughed lightly, then decided to add something to his statement. "I know how much you care about Anna and Arendelle, though. No one who works as hard as you do for the sake of others can be all that bad, in my book."
She smiled again, this time wider than he'd ever seen, and as she looked up at him through her light lashes, it dawned on him that she, too, was just a girl. She had so many responsibilities and burdens, between her position and her powers, but she carried it all like a soldier, without complaint and without fanfare. But she wasn't that different than his innocent Anna. She was still vulnerable enough to blush at a compliment from a man, but forced into maturity by circumstance. He was impressed, the more he thought about it. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her voice. "Well, thank you. Thank you Mr.- uh-"
"It's Bjorgman. But I'd prefer if you would call me Kristoff, Your Majesty," he said with an awkward half-bow. She stifled a laugh at his attempt and nodded.
"Kristoff. Well, I'm sure any one of my advisors would be horrified if they heard you but, at least here in a private discussion such as this, you might just call me Elsa. The formalities get a bit tiresome all of the time. And, anyway, I suppose I owe you my life, though all the details are quite fuzzy, honestly," she admitted, rubbing at the bandages around her head.
"Oh. I didn't really do that much," he said casually. "You needed help. I brought you to a doctor I know, just outside Arendelle. I figured there might be a bit of commotion if word of this got into town."
She nodded. "I'm grateful for your quick-thinking. I wouldn't want to-" she stopped, gasping. "Oh my, Anna! She's probably awoken half the town to search for me!"
He shook his head. "Not to worry, Your- uh, Elsa. I told her that there was a minor incident with the weather and so you were staying at Oaken's. I'm sorry to have lied to her, I just didn't want her to worry before we knew how you were doing."
She was a bit taken aback. "That's perfectly all right. Thank you so much. How ever did you think through all of those details?"
He gave her a sly half-grin. "I may just be an ice harvester but I do have a brain, you know."
"Oh! I didn't mean to suggest- I don't doubt that you're very intelligent. It's just that most of my council probably wouldn't even be apt to handle things as competently as you did. Thank you. I'm very indebted to you, not that I wasn't already after all you did for Anna."
"It was my pleasure. All of it. You don't owe me anything." For a moment, they just smiled at each other, neither saying anything. Finally, he broke the silence. "So, uh, the doctor wants to check you out a little more thoroughly. Then, he'll give you something for the pain and we can go, if you feel up to it.
"Yes! I mean, yes, please. That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Christopher."
"It's Kristoff, actually."
She laughed and nodded. "I know. I'm just teasing you." She blushed, looking down. "I forget sometimes that I'm supposed to stay serious all the time."
He smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Fine by me. I like the lighter side of you, actually. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you have a sense of humor," he promised with feigned seriousness, before turning and leaving the room.
The queen, momentarily left alone, smiled to herself. He was a bit rough around the edges but he certainly had a unique charm to him. And she was completely serious when she told him that he had more common sense than most of her councilmen did. She would have to see what she could do about that. The doctor soon re-entered the room, gave her some sort of liquid that she was supposed to take as needed for the pain, and dismissed her. She thanked him fervently and, by the end of it all, he seemed to have warmed up to her a bit. She exited the building and, upon doing so, was met with the sight of Kristoff and his, uh, pet.
"Ready, Els?" She smiled slightly at the nickname. "Sven's all fed and ready to go."
She blinked, confused. "You want me to ride that thing?"
The tall man crossed his arms, seriously. "'That thing' is Sven. And he's very safe, I assure you."
"Oh. Well, all right then. I'm trusting you here." She walked over to where they were standing and patted the creature's nose gently, looking more than a little nervous. "Hi there."
Kristoff watched her with moderate interest. "Have you ever seen a reindeer before?"
She blushed. "Yes! Well, not up close or anything." He laughed but didn't respond, instead pulled himself up onto Sven's back, reaching a hand down to her. She hesitantly took it and he pulled her up powerfully, but more gently than she had expected.
"Let's go, buddy," he said to his animal friend, who started clomping quickly towards their kingdom. His female companion held on to Sven's neck tightly, looking hilariously terrified for someone that normally seemed so strong. He casually wrapped one arm around her waist, ignoring how she jumped in surprise when he did so, in order to keep her steady. Before too long, she relaxed a bit, leaning back into him as they rode, even smiling a bit by the end of the journey. As they neared the castle gates, he removed his arm and pulled a cloak out of his bag. "Here. To cover the bandages. We don't want to alarm anyone." She nodded in agreement, pulling up the hood. Yet another thing he had thought through. He was impressing her more and more by the moment. They got inside the gates and were halfway through the grand foyer before they were caught- by Anna.
"Elsie! I'm so glad you're back!" She jumped her sister for a hug, but stepped back suddenly when she heard her sister moan in pain. "Elsie?" She pulled off her sister's hood and gasped. "What in the world happened?!"
