Chapter 10
Anna was frustrated to say the least. Elsa was growing ever silent, and she could not help but wonder why. They had spent their usual Saturday in each other's presence, but something was pestering the Queen's mind that Anna was dying to discover.
She was absolutely convinced it was a result of the man lurking around the castle's rooms. She had tried (and failed) many times at getting a glimpse of the stranger. She was currently sneaking along the walls to the corridor that belonged to the Queen. She had tried nearly every other place the man could be hiding, but she came up empty handed. She burst through the first room to find it unsurprisingly barren.
Elsa left her room just in time to view Anna entering the guest room adjacent to Nikolas's. She hadn't seen him yet that day and was fearful that he was residing in the room.
Anna slowly crept to the next door, unaware of her sister's presence. She took a deep breath and reached her hand for the remaining door knob. She squealed slightly when her cover was blown by her sister's hand grasping her shoulder.
"ELSA. Hey, hi. Hello there. What, uh, brings you to the castle this morning?" Anna said chuckling, whilst never releasing her grip on the door. She had to gauge her sister's reaction closely to confirm that her heat sensing skills were indeed real.
"Anna. What are you doing?" Elsa asked while raising her eyebrow slightly. Her voice was louder than the former at a last discrete attempt to alert the man of the possible princess sighting.
Anna found no change in her sister emotions from the normal and relinquished her grip. Her shoulders fell, and she looped her arm into the Queen's. She made note to reaffirm her findings later that evening, but Elsa knew better than to let the girl return to the corridor. They continued their usual Saturday ritual of consuming chocolate and other glorious bonding activities.
"Goodnight, Anna." Elsa said as she crossed the room and left the doorway. Anna almost spoke to ask her to return to her side and they could continue their talking, but Anna's words did not leave her mouth. The evidence was minuscule, but not nonexistent. It was rare when her sister's shoulder rode lower than the highest level they could possibly achieve. Her smiles were present, but they did not reach her eyes.
"Goodnight, Elsa."
She called out then held her breath. She listened closely for the soft footsteps exiting the hallway and counted to thirty before removing herself from her bed. She stuck her head out and checked both directions (and up) to make sure that no one was watching her. She flew through the castle, only stopping her strides when she reached the stable doors.
Though Kristoff had a specific room in the castle, he chose to spend most of his time along with Sven. Anna chose correctly in her locating of the man, and pondered again the actuality of heat sensing capabilities.
Anna entered the room in her normal 'graceful' fashion and flopped face first into a pile of hay. Kristoff walked to her side and sat on the ground next to her body piled in a heap of bones, flesh, and dress fabric.
"Did everything go okay?" He asked softy. His response came with the shuffling of hay and a shaking head. Kristoff reached his hand out and gently rubbed circles onto Anna's back just as he does when Sven is aching from a long night's haul.
"Do you want me to cheer you up?" Kristoff suggested. Anna rolled over in the hay in exasperation and groaned aloud.
"What could you possibly have in mind?" She said before being lifted to her feet by the mountain man. He grabbed her hand and led her to the reindeer. Though she was fully capable of placing herself onto the animal's back, he insisted on hoisting her into the air unto Sven. He knew that Anna secretly reveled in his strength, so he took the small opportunities to make her proud.
They rode in the hillside for a couple of hours. Anna quickly drifting into slumber and almost fell onto the ground multiple times if it went for almost all of Kristoff's attention being directed towards the human residing in his embrace. When they reached the destination, he roused Anna awake. He grabbed her hand and led her along to the overturned ground directly above a small lake. The water was almost as still as glass, save for the occasional waves breaking the surface. Kristoff's timing was impeccable, as the dawn was breaking over the horizon. Anna had underestimated how early into the morning their adventure was.
Anna draped her legs over the ledge and watched the reflection dance as she swung her legs. Kristoff was fascinated with the times she resorted back to the mentality of a child. He loved those moments with a passion. After being abandoned by his parents, Kristoff was forced to progress into a man before truly setting into his childlike mindset. Though the trolls tried desperately to provide everything possible for the young boy, a guy could only live off mushrooms and rain water for so long. It was a full year with living with the trolls before he returned to the ice trade. Sven was ever growing and his capacity increased with Kristoff's skills. The ice harvesting began as a way of making ends meet and quiet his stomach howling in hunger. He had the trolls convinced that it was something he truly enjoyed participating in, in an attempt to appease their minds. He did not like it when they worried over him. It wasn't until one fateful day that he saw the true beauty in ice.
Kristoff had been frightened to say the least when he caught wind of a misplaced strike on a glacier taking one man's life. Kristoff had never been more cautious, but that didn't stop him from working late into the night when the wind howled as it swayed through the ridges of the mountain side and the cold took over the feeling left in his appendages. He was setting his own personal record of ice harvested in a day's work, and he was anxious to get new supplies. If he managed to continue working on, he might have acquired enough ice to purchase a new pickaxe. Any boy like him was dying to strive to be the best, even if it did cost them their pinky toe.
It was an unusual circumstance that he found his love appearing from. It would be assumed that he found his love through the light caught a certain way off the frozen liquid's surface, but instead he came face to face with his passion when he plunged deep into the waters.
His head was swimming as his hands roamed the underbelly of the ice sheet searching for an entry point. When his fingers reached the opening, he sprung forth from the water. He realized at that moment that ice was everything he could never be. It was unforgiving, impervious, invulnerable, and in every aspect beautiful. His new found respect led him to find the beauty in the way the ice appeared and disappeared, just like the people in his life. But unlike his parents, it always returned when the time was right. He could not tell you why that that encounter had resulted in his passion, it was just what occurred, and he couldn't forget it.
Anna slipped her hand into Kristoff's much larger one. Her soft palm contrasted greatly to the withered skin of his. She enjoyed it. Just like Elsa and Anna, sometimes two opposite things can create a love unlike any other.
Anna let her head fall into the soft material covering Kristoff's shoulder. His eyes grazed the landscape in front of them. Spring was arriving and the ice was receding to the shorelines. Only a few sheets danced upon the surface of the lake. The sun began the process of rising over the mountain ranged overlooking the water. Anna clutched Kristoff's hand tighter as her eyes locked onto the North Mountain. Her eyes skimmed the mountain searching for smallest hint. It came when the sun rose behind the mountain, and a slight shimmer was seen. Anna could happily inform Elsa that her monumental structure still stood proudly, or at least she hoped.
Anna fell asleep against Kristoff, so he scooped her into his arms, princess style and carted her off on his trusty steed's back to the castle. Anna drifted in and out of consciousness, her dreams differing from the usual and into the realm of riding upon a dragon's skin the ocean. Anna's last memory of her bouts with consciousness was when they finally arrived at Anna's quarters. Kristoff gently removed her shoes and laid her upon the bed. He placed a blanket on her body, and without the knowledge of her current awareness of the situation, he placed a kiss on her foreword and for the first time muttered the words, "I am completely in love with you." Anna let her eyes open slightly as she watched her mountain man exit the room. She closed her eyes as a smile graced her features. She nestled her head further against the blanket and drifted off until the afternoon.
Hello again. I got a request for more Anna and Kristoff, so I caved. I started with a small idea of this, and kind of ran with it. I did not originally intend for this portion to be so much longer than the others, but it just happened. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. Please tell me what you think.