"What's wrong?" Kristoff asked at Elsa's shock. Elsa blinked out of her trance, and pursed her lips. "Nothing." She said in a tone that something was very wrong.
"You hesitated." Ashley's little voice popped between them.
"I did not! It's just that-" Elsa stopped at Kristoff's face, the blonde looking at her, desperate for some kind of conformation. "Kristoff, I'm not quite sure how to say this, so I'm going to whisper it to Ashley so she can get it out into the open." She took a laboured breath, and leaned down to Ashley, whispering something in her ear. The ashgirls eyes opened wide.
"Your hair's grey?!" Ashley shrieked and pointed at Kristoff in fear. In truth, it was dark out, and the little ashgirl had no way of telling the difference at such a late time of night. Kristoff brought a hand to his locks of blonde hair, running his fingers through it. The one gray streak in his bangs had become far more prominent, and had spread. "What?!" He shouted in shock and looked around desperately for a mirror to see if it was true.
"Here." Elsa handed him her hatchet, the blade still a silver chrome as it was when she had purchased it. Kristoff grabbed it and stared at his reflection. What was happening to him?
"We need to get you to my family." Elsa said after a moment of horrific silence. Kristoff handed her the hatchet, and started sweating. "The love experts?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Elsa started walking. "Yeah, that. They'll be able to fix this." She nodded with Kristoff, Olaf, and Ashley following behind.
Elsa looked ahead in fear as she followed a well worn path to the trolls home, knowing the route practically by heart. She had seen them perform healing magic hundreds of times before, Bulda and Cliff educating her in the ways of magic the trolls possessed. It was interesting to watch Grand Pabbie easing an arrow or dagger from a person like a child pulling a silver dollar from the sand, watching a number of colored hazes appearing in their rocky hands as they healed great wounds in ten seconds flat. But one she had yet to actually witness was something of this magnitude. And although Bulda had told her about it like an old legend, it sounded perfectly feasible based on what she knew the trolls could do. Flipping her braid over her shoulder, they walked on into the night.
Elsa, as she had matured, still saw the trolls at least every week, if not every five days. Bulda had been correct. She was without a guardian, and she was definitely right in the fact that they would do as parents. The two trolls cared for her far better than she had expected, giving her clothes, food, and all the love she or Olaf could ask for. Bulda had soothed every fever, Cliff had taught her how and where to find the best herbs and mushrooms for remedies that required nature's hand. The four of them lived very happily, advice being given when needed. By the time she was twelve, they were giving her ways to beat puberty and the inevitable changes that came with growing up. At thirteen, they assured her she would find love in an unexpected form, and by age fifteen, they gave her a cart they had received as payment for healing a wealthy nobleman.
After her first failed relationship, Elsa came back to her adoptive parents to reveal just what had happened to her. She had met a huntsman for a neighboring kingdom named Pedar. The man was tall, had a short mane of dark brown hair the same shade as her own, striking green eyes that matched the shade of the conifer trees. He had a kind heart, goodwill, everything she could've asked for in a man. After courting for seven months, he agreed to take her on one of his hunting expeditions. The trip had started out well enough, Elsa setting traps and Pedar putting his bow and arrows to good use. But everything went to pieces after Olaf escaped and ran into the forest, Elsa unable to follow.
It took two hours of wandering before they found him sleeping with a female reindeer, and because Elsa was behind him, the hunter saw the pair as simply another kill. Elsa only just managed to shove him out of the way, sending the arrow high into a neighboring tree. It did alert the sleeping pair, who popped one eye open before the female fled and Olaf glowered at Elsa and Pedar. She ended the relationship after five minutes of fighting.
Of course, she didn't think much fighting was needed. He had wanted to shoot the one thing that had mattered most to her.
One of the few things Olaf never expressed was if he had any illegitimate calves he didn't want to talk about. Elsa understood that, and refrained from bringing up the ordeal around him. Still, the idea interested her.
Now, the odd group walked through the forest to the familiar clearing that held the trolls, the stars shining clear on the beautiful night, with ominous dark clouds barely forming on the horizon. Ashley laid on top of Olafs soft back, keeping warm and staring up at the beautiful constellations. "Look Olaf," She pointed at one bright star and stretched her twig arms. "The sky's awake!" She yawned.
Kristoff and Elsa trekked ahead. "Okay, we're almost there." She said casting a quick glance at her companion, who looked like he had a faint red glow. "What's wrong?" She asked placing a hand on his cheek. "What do you think?" Kristoff asked as Elsa tugged away, blowing on her hand like she had just touched a burning iron skillet. "Ouch." She exclaimed and looked at the tall man curiously. The lumberjack considered her options.
"Hang on," She took the satchel and opened it up, taking out her paring knife and stuck her other hand out to stop him. "Hold still." She muttered and got down on her knees, cutting the long breeches to knee-length. Kristoff breathed a comfortable sigh as the fabric fell to his ankles before kicking the two tubes of black fabric away. "There we go." Elsa dusted her hands on her own pants, perfectly content at the length they were at.
"Also," She took Kristoff's shirt and sliced the length of the v-neck down to his chiseled abs, practically rendering the fabric a jacket. "You know," Kristoff held his arms up. "If you wanted me shirtless you just had to ask."
Elsa stared up at Kristoff from her bent back position. She shivered in the hot air. "Ugh. No thanks." She rolled her eyes and walked ahead as Kristoff stared at her with his brown eyes.
"Okay, so, about my family…" Elsa started after a long awkward silence.
"When I was a little girl, I had seen them all over the forest. It was just me and Olaf, and then… I found one one day when I was chopping down a tree," She looked at the ground sadly. "And I followed it when it ran off." She began looking around at the tall rocks around them. "When me and Olaf got there, they just appeared, and took us in." She smiled at the memory.
"Really?" Kristoff asked. "Yeah. They were the best family a girl could ask for." She chuckled lightly. "Of course, they're a bit overbearing, loud," She trailed off. "And really heavy, I mean like really heavy and-"
"Elsa, they sound fine." Kristoff stopped her babbling with a large hand.
"Well, it's just that they're not, well… average." She shrugged her shoulders. "What family is?" Kristoff snorted. "Good point." Elsa frowned.
"Here we are!" The four of them reached a clearing, Ashley now choosing to walk on her own. In front of Kristoff was a vaguely familiar place. Tall rocks sat around the edge of a large amphitheater that looked like remnants of some lost society. Moss and tree roots encroached the stony ground with hundreds of moss covered rocks that laid scattered around it, some big, others small, all looking nearly exactly alike. "Meet my family!" Elsa laughed and walked into the canyon, Olaf bounding around and sniffing the rocks like a puppy.
"Hey guys! Long time, huh?" She smiled and waved like some celebrity.
Ashley and Kristoff stared at the pair. "Um, Elsa?" He looked at the giddy brunette with an unfortunate look on his face. "She's crazy!" Ashley let out a stage whisper to the mountain man.
In that moment, Kristoff wondered if Elsa's isolation left her to talk to rocks. She did talk to a reindeer…
"You know, this has been fun, but I'm gonna go…" Kristoff flashed a hopeful smile when Elsa broke her stride. "No, Kristoff, wait-" But before she could finish, a low rumble came from the area. The hundreds of rocks rolled and tumbled towards the center, forming a perfect circle all around Elsa and Olaf. The trees and smaller pebbles vibrated as the stones came to a stop, Elsa indicating the whole ordeal like a magic act.
The hundreds of mossy rocks opened like pill bugs to reveal stubby legs and arms, bulbous noses, large eyes, toothy grins, and tufts of green grass growing from their heads. They all wore woven grass outfits, many with flowers and lengths of crystal hanging from their necks. One of the women shouted: "Elsa's home!" And another one of them rolled right to Elsa and pulled her down to the ground, picking bits of grass and ash from her hair, fussing and muttering.
"Baby, you're hair! Hang on, let me undo this-" Her rocky fingers reached for her braid and tried to undo it when Elsa chortled and held up her hands in defence. "Mom, stop! I'm not a baby anymore!" She tried to stop her mother but just started laughing.
"Nonsense. In fact, this outfit is filthy! Here, take off your clothes, I'll wash them." But here Elsa stopped her. "No, no, I'm gonna keep my clothes on." She brushed the motherly troll off. "Listen, I appreciate the welcome back, but I need to see Grand Pabbie." She looked around for what sounded like an elderly troll. Ashley ran up to the group, giggling and forgetting her initial shock. "Hi Elsa's family!" She said to one of the smaller rock children and it stared at her blankly.
"He's napping." One of the younger ones said, apparently eager for attention from the lumberjack. "But look! I grew a mushroom!" It turned it's back and pointed to a small whitecap growing from its mossy back.
"I earned my ice crystal!" One of the other ones said, confidently holding up a glowing blue crystal the size of a pinkie finger.
"I passed a kidney stone." An older troll held up a yellow, round, kidney shaped stone.
"Catch me Elsa!" Another jumped into Elsa's arms, and she caught it with ease. "You're getting big!" She pretended to grunt.
"Trolls." Kristoff breathed. "Trolls!" He smiled, realizing what they were as his memory returned to him. Suddenly, every pair of eyes turned to him, mouths a gape. They blinked twice in unison, Elsa rolling her eyes and smirked at him.
"She's brought a man!" The motherly troll shouted out to the crowd. The next thing he knew, Kristoff was being picked up and rolled over to the opening where Elsa and Olaf stood. "This is that huntsman you were telling us about, isn't he?" The female winked at her adopted daughter. "What was his name, dear?" A male troll appeared next to the mother. "Pedar, but-"
"He'll do nicely for our little girl, eh, Cliff?" The mother nudged her husband. "That he will, Bulda." Cliff nodded. "Let's have a look." Bulda grabbed Kristoff's head and tugged him down to her height. "Bright eyes!" She looked into his brown eyes. "A nice nose," Cliff pulled the large nose up a bit to view up the iceman's nostrils. "And strong teeth!" The female opened his jaw and viewed the white teeth like a horse.
They both let him go and began blabbering away about a wedding to plan like Kristoff had done with Hans, only now realizing just how irritating it was. "Elsa, what's going on here?" He looked over at his companion, who was now being pulled down by a group a female trolls. "I've learned to just roll with it." She managed to say before she was drowned out by the group of females congratulating her on the non existent wedding to a man she'd dumped.
They both managed to pull away from the group and Elsa spoke up. "Alright, that's enough. Mom, we need to see Grand Pabbie. There's a serious problem going on here!" Kristoff began to speak. "Yeah, I'm not-" But Bulda just hushed her daughter and Kristoff and added her own input.
"I'll say. Tell me dear, what's keeping you from such a girl?" She was now on top of a few trolls in a balancing act, and at both their heights. "Is it the bouncy way she walks?" She sang to Kristoff.
"Or the spitty way she talks?" Cliff piped up from below Bulda.
"Or the paleness that goes red as a ripe beet?" One of the females pointed at Elsa's face, which was quickly following that last line perfectly. "Amber!" Elsa said in a way that sounded like she wanted to kick the troll far, far away.
Three more appeared from the crowd in a totem pole-like fashion and the top one sang: "And though we know she washes well, you can't get past the reindeer smell!" He pretended to faint after sniffing Elsa's arm.
"But you'll never meet a gal that is so sensitive and sweet!" The two parent trolls got up on their own piles and held Elsa's mouth in a smile. "That's nice, but-" They didn't let him finish before starting another chorus.
Bulda and Cliff dropped Elsa, then went into rock form right where she put her feet. This sent her into a chaotic balancing act as the rocks rolled beneath her. But her stumbling grunts and cries could barely be heard above the chorus of voices. "So she's a bit of a fixer upper," Elsa finally lost her balance, sending her careening into the arms of three other trolls like a stage dive. "So she's got a few flaws!" The chorus continued as Elsa dropped the little troll, unable to hold on to it at the same time.
"Like her strange little mind dear," One of the females grabbed onto Olaf's left antler in a playful manner. "Her thing for the reindeer," A male jumped up to grab the right one. "It's a little outside of nature's laws!" They sung together. "This isn't about me!" Elsa intervened.
But her pleas fell on deaf ears. "So she's a bit of a fixer upper, but this we're certain of!" Bulda propped her daughter up like a log and pushed her right back to where she had been standing. "You can fix this fixer upper with a little bit of love!" The group sang.
"Look, you've got the wrong-" Kristoff tried to say but Elsa stopped him. "Mom, we have a real problem here!" She tried to reason with the stone faced matchmakers. "Yes, we do!" Bulda joked.
"So tell me honey, Is it the way that she runs scared?" She gave her a push and Elsa uttered a scream before landing in the arms of another pole of trolls with Cliff atop it. He caught her and covered her ears. "Or that she's 'socially impaired'?" He left air quotes.
A tiny troll hopped into her arms. "Or that she only wants to bathe inside the woods?" It sang and Elsa flushed white. "Rocky!" She hissed and dropped the little rock troll as Kristoff looked creeped out. "I didn't need to know that." He stared awkwardly.
"Are you holding back your blondeness due to her unwavering fondness?" Cliff gave Kristoff a noogie on his blonde locks as Elsa rolled her eyes and groaned before being thrown back into a pile of fourteen females shaped in a heart formation. "Or the way she covers up that she's the honest goods?" They threw Elsa up so she landed next of Olaf before folding back into rocks.
So she's a bit of a fixer upper," Another chorus started. "she's got a couple of bugs!" Elsa started scratching her brunette hair like she was combing for ticks, but stopped after hearing this. "No I don't!" She protested as four columns of trolls came onto her.
"Her isolation is confirmation of her desperation for human hugs!" They sang and wrapped around her to hug her, and Kristoff smiled sweetly at her. "So she''s a bit of a fixer upper, but we know what to do!" Eight of them lassoed vines around Kristoff and Elsa, the latter struggling greatly to avoid the embarrassment of the fact that they were marrying her to what they thought was an ex boyfriend. "The only fixer for this fixer upper is to fix her up with you!" The trolls unspun the vines, sending the two of them twirling around in opposite directions.
"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Elsa shouted. "He's not only engaged to someone else, but he's-" The trolls blinked and formed a huddle, to which she groaned.
"So he's a bit of a fixer upper," One of of them whispered. "That's a minor thing." One of the others nodded. "This said engagement is a 'flex arrangement'," The third one abbreviated the term 'flex arrangement.' "And by the way," One of the child trolls piped up from on top of her father. "I don't see no ring!" She held up her ring finger.
They broke the tiny huddle. "So he's a bit of a fixer upper, his brain's a bit betwixt," The crowd of male trolls sang and began piling up like a tsunami, grass capes and flowers in their hands as Elsa tried to back away, but was swallowed and dressed by the crowd of trolls. "Get the fiance out of the way, and the whole thing will be fixed!" They finished the verse as Elsa emerged in a grassy cape embroidered with bluebells and a tall grass crown, and groaned at the fact that they had ignored every word she'd just managed to say, burying her head in her hands.
Kristoff on the other hand, was being dressed by the females with Bulda helping him through it. "We're not saying we can change her, 'cause people can't truly change." She looked into his deep brown eyes as he wondered just how many times Elsa had gone through this. "We're only saying that love's a force, that's powerful and strange!" A grassy cape was locked around his shoulders, sweat dripping down his face.
"People make bad choices when they're lost or scared or stressed," Kristoff's mind flashed back to the coronation ball. Was that really what pushed Hans over the edge?
"But throw a little love their way," Bulda cast a pink glow over them as twenty flowers flew through the air as Kristoff looked up in awe at the magic materializing in front of him. The other females joined in with her. "And you'll bring out their best," The columns of rock trolls turned him around and he felt a crown of sticks being lowered onto his head. He caught a full view of Elsa and his jaw dropped open.
Whoever this 'Pedar' was, he was sure a lucky man.
In the light of the full moon, Elsa's pale skin shined. Her braid undone, wavy lengths of chocolate brown hair fell to her shoulders, snow drops hanging off a few strands. A green grass cape woven with waves of dark bluegrass embroidered on the edges and collar with bluebell flowers was draped around her thin shoulders. And on top of her head, there rested a crown of tall reds with matching blue flowers positioned on the band. She was, to say the least, breathtaking.
"Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper," Elsa's thin mouth opened in a 'Woah' motion. "That's what it's all about!" The entire clan sang, Ashley dancing around with the child trolls. "Sister," A little troll hopped on top of her older brother. "Brother!" He sang with her. "We need each other to fix up and round us out!" They sang together.
"Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper, but when push comes to shove," The trolls sang when Ashley interjected. "The only fixer upper fixer that can fix a fixer upper is:"
"True," The trolls began digging a large hole, and decorating it with a wavy arch sculpted from rocks, and throwing Kristoff and Elsa into it so that they were at eye level for the crowd or irritating relatives. An older male trolls appeared right at the lip of the hole with a book in hand.
"Do you, Pedar, take Elsa to be your trollfully wedded-" He started the wedding vows.
"Me?" Kristoff interjected. "You're getting married." The troll said as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "Love!" The trolls finished the song right as a burning pain entered Kristoff's chest and he couldn't stand, falling back into Elsa's arms with the crown and cape falling off the both of them.
The fire was spreading…
A/N: This may be hard to follow, but the trolls aren't pairing Elsa & Kristoff, they're pairing up Elsa & Pedar, her ex, because that's who they think she belongs with.