Chapter Four

He had a bad feeling about this.

Skaters trained for years to get comfortable enough doing these moves with their partner. And he had never skated with someone this close to him, unless defensive maneuvers counted.

Anna was trying to explain to him where he was going to go and do but all he could picture was her falling and breaking something. Her coach would not be too please when he found out some hockey lug threw his star skater onto the ice.

"Ok so we start skating forward. I'm in front of you. Then we switch positions to the left and skate backwards. Then we're on our left edge and you throw me this way, from the left side. I'll turn three times and land on my right skate. But you don't have to worry about that part." She mimicked his supposed movements as she explained.

"Do you think you've got it?" Anna asked hopefully.

"Are you 100% sure you want to do this? I cannot stress this enough: I have no idea what I'm doing." Kristoff shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to convince her to change her mind.

"You will be fine, I promise it's not that difficult!"

She was optimistic, he had to give her that.

She skated towards him and stopped, his stomach leapt as she smiled her small coral lips up at him, the proximity making him uneasy. Azure orbs were hopeful and excited but he chose to avoid staring into them. She turned her back to him and lifted her arms in anticipation…of something. But he didn't know what that something was.

When he didn't move his hands to her waist she looked back over her shoulder, "Kristoff…"

He just stared back at her, "…Yeah?"

"Your hands, they have to go here." Delicate hands pointing to her hips.

"Oh. Right." God he was so awkward. A flush was creeping up his neck as he felt the heat of embarrassment.

His large hands seemed foreign on her petite waist, his fingers almost touching in the middle. Kristoff tried not to think of how her abdomen muscles flexed under his grasp but the heat of his face was getting to him.

Without warning, Anna started to skate. Catching Kristoff off guard. Staggering, he tried to regain his balance, but then she turned without saying and his skate caught hers. Within the breath they were both flat on the ice. His rear was a little bruised, but not as much as his ego.

Leaning up on his elbows, the blonde surveyed the damage done to his companion. She was lying on her side, arm propping up her head, silently mocking him.

"I thought you were supposed to be a good skater?" The caramel haired girl teased.

"The way I skate involves body checking men into the glass, not synchronizing my movement with theirs." He was now sitting up, holding his knees with his forearms.

"Well let's try again. This time I'll tell you when to turn."

"Left, right, left, right. And turn. Perfect! See you've got it down now." They had been practicing matching their skates for almost a half of an hour now. Kristoff could now perform the movements without staring down at his feet the whole time.

"I think you are ready for the throw."

A hiss escaped through the bulky man's teeth but he tried to cover it with a skeptical smile. He had started to get the hang of skating with her but the idea of launching her into the air still terrified him.

"Just as we turn, you take my waist and use the momentum to throw up and out." She repeated the motion for him a few time so he could visualize where to move his arms.

"Ok, ok I've got it. Let's just try it before I change my mind."

For what seemed like the millionth time, Anna positioned herself in front of Kristoff, his rough hands firmly around her small figure, her soft palms atop his. Still his stomach annoyingly jumped each time they started in this pose.

With practiced ease they began to skate in time with each other. Right and then left and then right again. Then, at the precise moment, they turned; Kristoff's grip tightening as they did. Just as he lifted her in the air, he pulled her back down. Not allowing her to leave his hold. As he placed her back down on the ice, he released and let her momentum distance her from him.

"Come on man! We had it!" Anna whined as she skated back towards him.

Racking his bare hands down his tired face, Kristoff mumbled, "I am not cut out for this shit."

Without permission, Anna placed herself in front of her makeshift partner and forcefully put his hands on her hips, "Man up Bjorgman, let's go."

He was taken back by her assertiveness but impressed nonetheless, she was never one to give up.

Again they started to move forward. Then the turn.

This time she pushed off of the ice and felt herself fly through the air and out of his clutch. She was half expecting him to hold onto her again. So much so that she started her turns late and couldn't make the full three rotations.

The next moments seemed to last forever in the blonde's mind. He had gathered the courage to let her go through the air and she was just starting her third spin when the ice came rushing at her. Her edge was not prepared for the quick arrival and she quickly tumbled to the ground. Her left side sliding on the ice towards the barrier.

"Shit!" Kristoff cursed loudly as he sprinted towards her. Within a breath she was up and brushing the frost from her leggings, not even phased.

"Are you ok?!" The hockey player asked anxiously.

Anna only smile up at him, "Falling is apart of the process of learning, just got to get back up. You ready to try again?"

She didn't seem to be injured or bleeding, so why not?

Third time's the charm. He was now comfortable with casting her out and she now was prepared for it. Three consecutive turns and a smooth landing on her right skate.

Warm hazel widened as he realized she had landed the triple Salchow. Disbelieving laughter came from the man's mouth as he skated towards his pseudo partner. A wide smile spread across her lips too as she jumped into his arms, the drive spinning them in a circle.

Then realization hit Kristoff at how weird their reaction was and he placed her back on the ice, hand scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Anna slightly furrowed her eyebrows at his response but ignored it nonetheless. She was too excited she had finally got to do the jump!

"That was awesome! I told you we could do it!" she proudly slapped his shoulder.

A warm smile crossed Kristoff's pale lips. She was truly excited. Her high cheeks were flushed a pinky tone and her pale azure eyes sparkled under the dim lighting. This appearance was like déjà vu to him. He saw a glimmer of the six-year-old girl in her eyes but the image was now clouded by this new version of herself. The dream this morning had shown him her face clearly, even after years had past. But now it was just fuzz, replaced with this new twenty year old's expression.

He still didn't understand why she couldn't remember whom he was but he wasn't going to let that bother him. She was back and a whole new person. And he was ok with getting to know her again.

Tiredly flopping down on the ice, Anna stared up at him, "So where are you from Kristoff?"

Following her lead, he put some space between them, "Southern Norway."

"I grew up there too, until I moved to Sweden with my older sister."

"Oh, really? What part?" Even though he knew the answer he wanted to see what she would say.

Anna looked as if she were thinking, "I can never remember the name of the town. Livingston or Rockland or something like that."

The boy tried not to laugh at her lack of memory for their hometown, "So from what I know about your sister she's fairly older than you. How was that growing up?"

That question was unlike any of the others she had received about Elsa. Usually people asked 'How is it living with a celebrity?' or 'Did you travel around a lot with her on her tours?' But Kristoff actually seemed genuinely interested in her childhood with Elsa, not her fame. "Elsa and I were always close. She's twelve years older than me but that never really seemed like an issue. She never treated me like a bratty little sister, which I know I was. But when our parents died the relationship line became blurred. She was now in the parental roll instead of the sibling one. She was supposed to make crucial decisions in my life, discipline me and make sure I was happy and healthy. I know it was a lot for her to take on but she handled it fairly well. I mean I'm pretty normal."

"Pretty normal?" the built man across from her chuckled at her "flattery" of herself.

"So what about you, do you have any siblings?" Anna asked as she loosened the ties of her skates.

"Nope, only child. I had a pretty good friend that was practically family though so it was ok."

"And what do your parents do?" At that question Anna noticed Kristoff's averted eyes.

"They died when I was pretty young too." Bright azure softened at the information, "I'm so sorry."

Kristoff held up his hands telling her to stop, a sad smile gracing his face, "Its ok. Really."

A pregnant pause settled between them as Kristoff feigned a yawn, "It's pretty late. We should really get back to bed." It was now well past 2am and he actually was pretty tired. As he lifted himself from the ice he offered his hand to Anna. "You go, I'm gonna stay here a little longer." She felt as if it were her fault he was leaving and didn't want to continue the awkwardness as they walked out together.

He nodded and turned away from her, skating towards the rink door. Just as he was exiting he heard his name called from the ice. "Same time tomorrow?" He could make out her pearly grin and couldn't help but return the smile, "I'll be here."