Chapter 4 - The Princess and the Pauper
"You're quiet."
Kristoff's words jarred Anna out of her trance. The two of them were riding along on Sven's back as he carried them through the forested foothills of Arendelle. Anna looked back at her Ice Master and shrugged as she leaned back against him.
"I was just looking at the leaves," she lied, glancing up at the greenery that was just beginning to take on crimson, orange, and golden hues.
"Yeah, I love leaves too," Olaf piped up, walking beside Sven as he often did. Anna swore that Elsa sent him as a chaperone sometimes. "I love how they're green but then they turn red, or yellow, or sometimes orange… and I think I like orange the most because it's the best of both worlds. What do you think, Sven?"
"Mruuunh!"
"Yeah, that's true. You know what? I think fall is my new favorite season!"
Kristoff smirked. "Summer was your favorite a season ago."
"I know, but I hadn't seen fall yet."
"Gee, I wonder what he'll say when spring comes around," Kristoff whispered into her ear.
"What was that?" the snowman asked innocently.
"Huh? Oh, I didn't say anything," Kristoff lied. He didn't have to keep it up for long; the snowman had spotted a chipmunk.
"Hey, little guy!" Olaf piped up, ambling as he did. Anna smiled at his antics, but as she felt Kristoff's arm worm around her waist, she got the feeling that her performance today wasn't all that convincing.
"As I said before, you're quiet," he said. "What's wrong?"
Anna sighed. "It's Elsa. I just wish she could come with us one of these days. I want her to meet you."
"Hey, don't worry about that. I've met her."
"She nodded to you once and said your name. That doesn't count."
"Actually, she did it twice."
"Oh shut up."
She felt him chuckle, and she even smiled. A little. She couldn't stand the silence for long, however. "But it's not like she can't come. Except for today. And maybe yesterday, if she needed to prepare."
"Actually, the day before that she was hearing public petitions."
She looked back at him, turning as much as was humanly possible while straddling a reindeer. "She was? Why do you know that and I don't?"
"Because I went to ask her to make me some ice."
"Kristoff!"
"Kidding!" He raised his hands innocently. "Not that I haven't been tempted. I mean, I wouldn't have to go into the mountains anymore. Not to mention it wouldn't have any impurities."
Anna laughed softly to herself, nuzzling into him even more. "I do like the thought of you being in town more."
He chuckled again, which didn't exactly bother her; she liked feeling the rhythm of his chest against her back. "Yeah, so we can be the subject of even more gossip."
"Tch, it's not that bad." Seconds after completing her sentence, however, she found herself suddenly uncertain. She turned back to him again. "Is it?"
"All I know is that I get way too many looks on the street."
"Are they bad looks? You did just become the Ice Master of Arendelle, after all."
"That's still not a thing, no matter how many times you say it is."
"It's totally a thing."
He looked about, as if checking the weather. "Hm… nope. Still not."
"Kristoff-"
"Still not. Just checked."
"Kristoff…"
He smiled softly, looking down into her eyes. Her parents would always talk about how beautiful her eyes were, but she felt that Kristoff's eyes were highly underrated. They were a deep, dark brown, and there was this cuddly lovingness to them that made her feel all warm and bubbly to know that he was hers.
He bent down to kiss her on the forehead, but she angled herself to meet his lips with her own. He didn't seem displeased by the change.
"Maybe you should talk with your sister about the whole ice-making thing."
As soon as Elsa came back into the conversation, Anna felt her good mood slip away. She sighed. "It's not like anything else I ask her to do gets done."
"Oh come on, you big baby. I bet it's not as bad as you…" He trailed off as she fixed him in the most serious gaze he'd gotten in a long time. "Wow, this is really bothering you, huh?"
She sighed. "It's just that… for thirteen years, she shut me out. After everything that happened this summer, I knew things would be different. I just thought different might be… more different."
"Hey…" He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure Elsa wants to be with you, meet me, all that stuff. But being a queen can't be easy. I bet she just needs to get things sorted out."
Anna snorted. "She's been getting things sorted out for two months."
"Hey, you've been waiting this long."
She glared at him. "Don't go there."
He held his hands up again. "Just trying to help here. No offense meant."
After a brief pause, she sighed and fell back into him. "I'm sorry. It's just… the way she talks to me, it's like I'm just another one of her subjects. I get all the nods and curtsies and smiles that everyone else gets. And I feel like… I know that… it should be more than that."
Kristoff sighed, wrapping her in a full embrace. He smelled like Sven very rarely now; his scent reminded her much more of pine and earth than sweat and fur. It made melting into his arms practically irresistible. Just as she started to drop into some semblance of relaxation, however, he said something that caught her attention like a hook.
"Maybe she just doesn't know how to act any other way."
"Wait, what?" she asked, despite having heard him perfectly.
"Yeah, I think they're really cute together too," Olaf's voice cut in. Anna and Kristoff practically jumped apart; Kristoff wobbled, nearly falling off Sven's behind. Olaf laughed in his usual gargle.
"Olaf - ahem - how long were you, um, standing there?" Anna asked, feeling the fire in her face. She wasn't sure what she had expected, honestly - awkward interruptions by Olaf were becoming an important part of this relationship.
"Not too long," he replied cheerily. "It took awhile to catch up to my new friend here." He patted the small chipmunk that was perched between the twigs that passed for his hair. She had been so surprised by the snowman's arrival that she hadn't noticed the little guy. "I'm thinking of calling him Chip. He doesn't seem to mind it, though for some reason I also thought Dale was a pretty good name."
Kristoff arched an eyebrow. "Dale? Why Dale?"
Olaf frowned, as if he himself could not recall. "Huh, dunno. Yeah, you're probably right; Chip is a much better name." He chuckled. "Now that I think about it, Dale seems like a pretty dumb name for a chipmunk. Why would anyone name a chipmunk Dale? Hehe!"
With Kristoff, the main cast is all set up. He's not a POV character yet, but that will come as it does. I still need to get a feel for his character - I had to edit out some lines in which his and Anna's relationship seemed too advanced. I like the whole royalty-commoner aspect and all that, but let's be honest, writing decent relationships in fan fiction can be... treacherous. Let me know how I did, if there was too much cuddling, not enough, etc.
Got some new faces to my reviewers! Thank you to the guest reviewers that took the time, and the "veterans" (not that this is exactly an old tale) that have been reviewing as we go. I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the others, and as always, see you tomorrow!
