Sunset
"I've seen sunsets before," Anna said.
"Yeah but not with me," Kristoff responded.
He was pulling her out onto the balcony. He demanded to know the highest part of the castle and then dragged Anna up to the balcony of the said guest room with the best view. If he had some sort of romantic night planned he wasn't starting off well with his tattered work clothes on, covered in dirt, and he smelled a bit like he'd been sweating all day in the woods.
"So your presence somehow fundamentally changes my sunset experience," she said.
"It might," he said.
She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of the balcony and leaned back into Kristoff's chest where he stood behind her, hands on either side of her hips to keep her from falling.
"Elsa used to get so mad at me when she caught me sitting on the balcony ledges," she said, "Actually she'd probably still get mad at me."
"Where is she?"
"Writing some letter of congratulations to one of the lords out in the countryside. He had a baby or a wedding or a new puppy or something. And by writing I mean she's talking while someone writes it down for her," Anna said.
"You mean Her Majesty Queen Elsa the Most Graceful Ever doesn't have perfect enough penmanship?" Kristoff laughed.
"'It is not the queen's obligation to handwrite anything'," Anna said, mimicking Elsa's silky voice almost too perfectly
"That's scary. You two are too alike sometimes," Kristoff said.
"We are sisters."
"Really? It's not like I heard that same phrase twenty times on our way to her fortress up on the North Mountain," he teased.
"Listen ice boy, you want me to watch this sunset or not?"
He lightly elbowed her in the ribs and she let out a giggle before she settled back into his arms.
"Point is, Elsa is off telling people to write things for her because she gets that luxury. What about Sven?" she asked.
"Sven can't write Anna…"
"No! I meant where is he you dork," Anna giggled, "In fact where's Olaf?"
"Probably following your sister around like a puppy dog," Kristoff said, "But Sven is down in the stables eating his weight in carrots. It's a special reservation up here just for us."
The sun hung above the horizon's edge and lit the water of the fjord gold in all directions. The clouds flanking the sun began to glow orange and yellow and red all at once. The sun began to pass began to move lower and lower and the mountains in the west turned to sharp silhouettes, hiding portions of the sun from view until at last only a sliver remained and the world seemed to get unimaginably quiet for only a few minutes.
"Well Your Royal Highness Princess Anna of Arendelle," Kristoff began wrapping his arms around her waist, "I brought you up here to tell you you're the most beautiful, kindest, funniest, stupidest, most caring woman in the world and that I love you."
Anna snapped her neck to look at him. She knew he loved her, Olaf had spilled those beans long ago. And she was fairly certain she loved him too. But she never heard him say it before. And now she had. She could replay it in her head as many times as she wanted, the sound of his voice telling her he loved her. It could never be taken away from her. This moment would always exist.
That's why he brought her up here. And she kissed him.
She launched toward him and he laughed against her lips as he pulled her to safety on the balcony where he held her tight and lifted her off the floor and she pulled closer into his body with her arms hooked around his neck and one hand burrowing in his hair, their bodies flush. She could smell the forest on him and the sweat that dried around his neck as he could smell the perfumes of the castle on her.
When she pulled away to catch her breath she felt as flushed as he looked. She was still in his arms with her feet hanging above the ground. She brushed a few strands of his messy blonde hair from his brow. Stars began to appear sporadic in the sky as the sun slowly dropped off the edge of the world.
"I love you too," she said, "If you didn't get that from the…kissing…and stuff. Just so we're clear."
"Oh we're clear."
And he kissed her again.
