Don't tell me this is already the last chapter! Sadly yes it is (perhaps it's happily for the readers who have been waiting way too long for me to update, lol!).
"Ladies and gentlemen of Arendelle, I apologize for intruding on the festivities of this evening," began Hans. "However, I have something to say that cannot wait a day longer. Anna…" Hans spun around to face Anna and took hold of her hands. "When I first met you, I was amazed by your beauty and your spirit. Every moment after, I have been more and more fascinated with you, and if you say yes to this very important question, I hope that that will continue for the rest of our lives."
When Hans bent down on one knee, everyone in the ball room gasped and began whispering excitedly to each other. Elsa looked up at Kristoff, whose brown eyes were dilated with astonishment and with hurt; his expression too painful to watch, Elsa rerouted her cerulean gaze to the paralyzed Anna, who could't take her eyes off of Hans.
"Dearest Anna… will you marry me?" asked Hans earnestly.
A couple of catcalls rang out from the younger men in the crowd (even though Anna hadn't even responded yet), and Elsa's shoulders sank. When she turned to look at Kristoff again, she realized that he had started heading for the doorway and was already halfway through it.
"Oh, Kristoff," muttered Elsa sadly.
Anna didn't know why she wasn't saying anything, why she wasn't doing anything except gawking at Hans. This was her Prince Charming, wanting to spend the rest of his life with her, and yet when he popped the question she just stood there, thinking about a certain blond-headed man. When she finally regained control of her faculties, she turned her head to look for him, but Elsa stood alone amongst the onlookers.
"Anna?" called Hans' uncertain voice. "You haven't answered me yet."
Anna returned her gaze to her beau and flushed red with embarrassment. "Hans, can we talk in private?"
Hans blinked, clearly not expecting that response, and replied gravely, "All right."
Anna led Hans by the hand out the doorway closer to their side of the ball room, leaving behind a very confused group of party guests. As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Anna tapped her fingers against each other nervously.
"Oh gosh, how do say this?" Anna asked herself, waiting for a few moments before continuing, "Hans, I can't marry you."
Hans lowered his eyes sadly and massaged the back of his neck. "Why not?"
"I'm… I think I might… I kinda have feelings for…"
"Kristoff?" guessed Hans forlornly.
"H-how did you know?"
"It was a feeling. Honestly, it was part of the reason I asked you to marry me. I was afraid of losing you, and I didn't want to waste a moment."
"I'm so sorry, Hans," apologized Anna. "You must hate me."
To Anna's astonishment, she felt the sensation of Hans pressing his lips to the top right corner of her forehead.
"I can't hate you for following your heart," Hans said simply, to which Anna responded with a weak smile. "Now the only trouble will be my brother. He came with me here, and now he'll never let me hear the end of it."
"Oh," Anna drawled sympathetically. "You know, my sister Elsa is single - "
"Don't even go there," interrupted Hans in a serious tone, though a grin pulled on the end of his mouth.
"Okay then, I guess we should just get back out there," sighed Anna.
Everyone was watching the closed door eagerly until Hans and Anna reemerged with small, awkward smiles on their faces. They raised their eyebrows at the staring crowd, until someone cried, "So are you getting married or what?"
"What," answered Hans and Anna simultaneously, who laughed as soon as they said it; they may not have been meant to be as a couple, but their mental synchronization was still astounding.
Elsa made a fist pump of victory, but composed herself abruptly when she realized people were staring.
Hans looked at Anna strangely and said, "Shouldn't you be going after someone right now?"
"Oh, right!" gasped Anna, who threaded through the crowd while an amused Hans chuckled to himself.
"Go get him, Anna!" cried Elsa, unable to control her enthusiasm.
Anna flung a grateful smile at Elsa, and ran off without another word. She sprinted down the corridors in the direction of the stables, which she figured would be Kristoff's most likely spot of refuge. When she finally got there, Anna gasped when she perceived that both the lovable Sven and Kristoff were gone. She threw herself towards the window, caught a glimpse of two familiarly shaped dots in the distance, and darted out to try to catch them. Meanwhile, Kristoff was dragging his feet along the icy ground, emitting long breaths that billowed out into small clouds, and ultimately heading toward the fjord. It was an especially cold night, winter's one final blow to the land before spring marched in, but Kristoff hardly minded it. He couldn't stand to be in Arendelle another minute, not with the thought of Hans and Anna's engagement scraping the back of his head. He just wanted to be home with his family, where no one could break his heart and stamp it into even smaller pieces. Though he followed his friend faithfully, Sven moaned and groaned the whole way, trying but failing to convince Kristoff to turn back. Finally Sven stepped in front of Kristoff and snorted loudly at him.
"What is it, buddy?" Kristoff asked miserably.
Sven grunted and made all other sorts of sounds that not even Kristoff knew a reindeer could make.
"You know I can't understand you when you talk like that," dismissed Kristoff, walking again towards the distant mountains.
Sven charged forward and picked up Kristoff with his antlers, with Kristoff kicking and shouting "Put me down!"
When Sven finally put him back down, Kristoff asserted "No, Sven, we're not going back."
Sven grunted again, with vigor.
"She's with her true love," insisted Kristoff, half-heartedly this time.
Sven's face dropped into an expression that said "Are you serious?"
Kristoff opened his mouth to respond, when he heard something odd. Someone was calling his name, and the voice sounded a lot like - but no, it couldn't be her. She was back at the castle, deliriously happy with -
"Kristoff!" called the voice more loudly.
Finally Kristoff swiveled around, and his mouth hung ajar when he realized it was indeed Anna yelling out his name. Snowflakes began to fall from the midnight sky, and Kristoff stood there, frozen in time while he watched what he was certain was a hallucination of Anna running towards him. She slipped several times on the icy ground, but she didn't let that slow her momentum or her zeal - until, unfortunately, she tripped on a stone and fell face-first into a pile of snow. Kristoff's senses finally jerked awake, and although he still thought it was a dream, he couldn't let even an illusionary Anna freeze in a mountain of snow. He slid towards Anna (Sven was not far behind him), yanked her out of the snow, and quickly began brushing it off her shivering shoulders.
"Are you crazy?" demanded Kristoff.
"A-a-a little," stammered Anna.
"You're not even wearing the hat I gave you!" scolded Kristoff angrily. "You could have frozen to death! Why did you do this?"
Without even realizing it, Kristoff had gripped Anna by the arms with his mittened hands and was leaning his face so closely that their noses brushed against each other. He and Anna hung in that moment, staring into one another's eyes as if for the first time, and shivering in the bitter cold.
At last, Anna smiled and answered, "Because I love you."
Kristoff's heart wanted to soar, but his brain wouldn't let it, out of fear that he had somehow misheard, somehow misunderstood the words that had come from Anna's lips. Yet, when Anna continued beaming at him with loving, sparkling blue eyes and rosy red mouth, and Kristoff couldn't help but believe it. She really did love him.
Kristoff exhaled a breath of surprise. "I love you, too."
Anna bit her bottom lip and laughed softly. Steadily, yet uncertainly, Kristoff bent his head down even closer towards hers, but he didn't press his lips to hers until she nodded reassuringly. Finally, oh finally, his lips were on hers and her lips were on his, and all the world melted into that one sweet kiss. Kristoff pressed her closer, so that her body was flush against his, and her arms slowly traveled up his chest and around his neck. His arms were wrapped securely around her waist, and both sighed with pleasure as heat took over their bodies, despite the winter cold sprinkling its icy dust around them.
*sigh* I've read this chapter a thousand times, and now that I'm publishing it I actually kind of hate it. But it's too late to change it now, so… if you like, review to request an epilogue.