I know, a bit of a short chapter, but I hope it's not a huge disappointment otherwise.
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I held Anna close with one arm, trying to keep her as warm as possible, and held onto Sven with the other as he raced back towards Arendelle. Olaf slid on his belly beside us. Anna seemed to be getting weaker and colder as time went on. I grew more worried with each second. There had to be something I could do.
I tried to keep my mind preoccupied with something else other than her present condition. Because I might actually go crazy with worry. Something. Anything! Something pleasant. Umm... ice? But ice was what was causing the problem in the first place. Ice was what was freezing Anna's heart and why she was trembling in my arms at that very moment. Somehow ice was not very diverting at the time.
So what else was there? Sven and my sled. But my sled had crashed and burned back at the beginning of this crazy journey. Back when I had first met Anna.
Anna... When I first saw her standing there in Oaken's, dressed in that froofy gown, completely inappropriate for the mountain conditions, I just knew she was different. And when she took out that wolf with my lute, or when she tried climbing the mountain with her bare hands. I almost smiled at the memory. She was such a determined and feisty one for someone so small.
She really was quite small, especially compared to me. She barely came up to my shoulder and I had absolutely no trouble carrying her. Like lifting a feather. I glanced at her cradled in my arms. I could clearly see the freckles splattered across her nose and cheeks. It kind of gave a child-like sweetness to her complexion. Her eyes were closed, but I remembered how big and beautifully blue they were. Like a light blue... like the sky during a spring afternoon. They always had a brightness shining out of them, radiating her bubbly personality. She was always so happy and positive. I just did not understand how she managed to see something good in everything and could always hope for the best even when the odds were against her. But that's what made her so likable. No one likes a pessimist or a grump... like me.
She was crazy, and loud, and beautiful, and caring, and all around wonderful... and now her life was fading away. She needed to be saved! I could not let any of that go.
I felt her shiver again and huddle closer into my chest. I removed my cap and put it on her head to help her keep at least a little warmer.
"Just hang in there," I told her.
We charged on. We were almost there. "Come on, buddy. Faster!" I encouraged Sven.
We finally reached the outskirts of Arendelle. Olaf slid past us, going in a different direction. "I'll meet you guys at the castle!" he called.
"Stay out of sight, Olaf!" I told him. Who knew how people would react to a living snowman. Anna and I had handled it pretty well, considering (after the initial shock of first seeing him had worn off). But other people? Who knows how they might take it.
"I will!" he said.
We finally approached the castle gates. Sven pulled to a halt in front of them. I hopped off, carrying Anna and walked towards the gates. She looked up at me, shivering fiercely. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked.
I smiled as reassuringly as I could. This was why I lo- liked her. Here she was, basically freezing from the inside out, and she was worried about how I was faring. "Don't worry about me," I told her.
Of course, if I were to answer her question, I was not entirely sure what it would be. I mean, I knew that bringing her back was the only way to save her, and I should be feeling happy that she would live. So why was there this feeling of hopelessness and gloom rising up in my gut?
The gates suddenly opened and some servants came rushing out. They immediately began fussing over Anna and I let them take her.
"Get her warm," I instructed, "And find Prince Hans immediately."
"We will, thank you," one of them said.
I watched as they began to lead her away. Suddenly, everything began to hit me. The worry, the uncertainty. "Make sure she's safe!" I called.
Anna turned to look at me just as she was led away. I got one last look at her beautiful face before the gates closed, and I watched her until they finally shut in my face. I stood there, frozen, staring at the closed gates, everything crashing down on me like an avalanche. I was never going to see her again, I didn't know what was going to happen to her. I could only hope that her kiss would work. I sighed, there was nothing left for me to do now except to go back to where I came from. I turned and began to walk away. Sven soon followed.
Yes, if you must know, I did forget about our deal about her replacing my sled. What was a sled to Anna and her radiant personality? The fact that I had absolutely nothing except for the clothes on my back never even crossed my mind as I headed back towards the mountains.
I was completely numb to everything around me as I walked. My legs were moving, but I was unaware of it. I just stared blankly ahead as I moved forward. All I could think about was Anna.
Eventually, Sven and I made it all the way out of Arendelle. So far the trip had been in complete silence while I marched ahead, worried, and Sven lagged behind, moping. However, just as we were about to head into the forest and out of sight of Arendelle, Sven ran to the front and firmly planted himself in my path. He grunted at me.
"What is it, buddy?" I asked dully.
He began to push me backwards slightly with his antlers. I need not tell you that those things can be rather hazardous. "Hey watch it," I said, "What's wrong with you?"
Sven glared at me and began to snort and grunt loudly at me. I knew what he was trying to tell me. I told you, I am an expert on all things Sven. However, at the time, I did not want to confront it, so I pretended not to understand.
"I don't understand you when you talk like that," I told him flatly. I tried to move past him.
Sven had had enough. He used his antlers to lift me off the ground and began to walk back towards Arendelle.
"Ah! Stop it! Put me down!" I shouted.
Sven dropped me, hard, back on the ground and then proceeded to grunt and growl at me extremely loudly once more. This time, I answered him, upset. "No, Sven!" I told him, standing up, "We're not going back!"
Sven brayed at me angrily.
"She's with her true love!" I shouted.
Sven looked at me, giving me a "who are you kidding?" look. I sighed heavily. So now it all came it out. I was in love with Anna. There was no denying it anymore... And whether she actually was with her true love at that moment or not, she thought she was and I was not going to get in the way of that. I had done my job of getting her home to be saved and now I was no longer needed. I wasn't even supposed to fall in love with her in the first place. It was my fault I was having these feelings, not hers. Why should I go back and ruin someone else's happiness just because I had to go and fall for someone who was already engaged?
At that moment, the wind suddenly began to pick up. I looked around for the source. It was coming from the kingdom. "What the...?"
I saw a huge swirling cloud of violent, blizzarding snow forming over the castle and spreading over the rest of the kingdom. It began to engulf everything. My eyes widened in alarm. Anna was down there! Unconsciously, I whispered her name fearfully, "Anna..."
Without a second thought, I began to charge back down the mountain towards the kingdom as fast as I could. Sven soon caught up to me and I hopped onto his back. We both raced back towards Arendelle.
