"Are you not going to work today?"
"No. As these days ago we sold so much, yesterday it was so difficult to end stocks. I'll take a few days off while the ice of the people is consumed and there's a more conducive time for the sale."
"Perfect! We'll take the opportunity to wash your work clothes!"
"Not a bad idea. I haven't done it in a long time."
"You can say it."
"Yeah… sorry."
"Come on, take it off, I'll wash it!"
"I see you very excited about the idea. Do you know how cold the river water is?"
"It is exciting! This is going to be my first time doing laundry!"
"If it makes you so excited, I won't be the one to take it away from you."

He pulled his daily clothes out of a drawer (too cool to be there) and pulled off the top of his working clothes, making me choke on my own saliva.

"Great, now give me the bottom one and I'll go to the river. With those clothes, you are in no condition to go out there."
"I'm not going to give you my bottom clothes."
"Come on, if not, the smell will never go away."
"Then wait outside."
"Don't worry! It's not like you're not wearing underwear."

I yanked his pants towards me and he pulled my hand away growling.

"Be careful, princess: I don't want to sully you."

I stopped in my tracks and he turned with a smile that pretended to be mocking but had a great tinge of sadness. Then, I remembered Hans's awful words and my blood boiled.

"Kristoff?"
"Wait outside. I take it all out right away."

I wasn't very clear what that was, but I did know that his tone made my soul ache.

"Kristoff!"

He looked at me quickly, surely puzzled by the serious tone with which I addressed him.

"I don't know what weird ideas you have gotten into your head, but if you and I were in love and right now we'll wallow like two hungry wolves on the ground and have wild sex," 'But what am I saying?!' "there would be no taint. There's no taint in true love."

He stood there stunned and almost as red as I was.

"Kristoff, you can't sully me."

I couldn't believe what I'd blurted out, nor was I sure he really understood it, but what if he had understood it? What would come then? Love? Pain? A tremendous awkwardness?

I didn't have time to ask myself any more questions, as his body language answered them all by itself in a sec.

Progressively, his face became serious and serene. His eyes pierced my soul and his feet walked firmly and slowly towards me. He took my waist with his hands and slowly brought my body closer to his. Was what I was thinking really happening?

Without losing eye contact for a second, he brought his hand up to my head and gently stroked my cheek with his thumb. Then, I closed my eyes confirming that I wanted that and I prayed that it wasn't just a nice dream. With my eyes closed, I could feel his warmth approaching, his bangs playing with mine, his breath on my lips and his nose brushing mine, and there, immersed in the silence of the cold mountains, with only the crackling of the fire as company… there was a knock on the door.

We both jumped with a start and Kristoff quickly pulled his hands, face, and bare torso away from me.

"What? No! No way! Keep going!"

A beaming smile lit up his face and a slight laugh escaped his nose.

"Hurry up, hide," he said putting on the clean clothes that he had prepared before. "Get in here."
"In the closet? Are you hiding a lover?"

The confident and calm face of a moment ago suddenly disappeared, leaving in its place a flushed and insecure Kristoff.

"Erhm… No, of course, I guess not."

His hesitant response brought a smile to my face and, enjoying his reaction, I ducked into the very narrow closet. 'What would have happened if we hadn't been interrupted?' Sweltering heat washed over me just thinking about it, but it was quickly neutralized by the icy draft that came in when Kristoff opened the door.

"What the…?"
"Your name."

Elsa's serious, threatening voice was the last I could hear clearly before Kristoff closed the door behind him. At that moment, distressed by not being able to see or hear anything from inside the closet, I got out of it and peeked through one of the cracks of the wooden wall; cracks that were quickly being invaded by a layer of frost.

'What's this?'

As my eyes adjusted to the tremendous light outside, I saw Elsa in front of me, my coronation day gown tattered on her arms and tears running down her cheeks as she pierced Kristoff with her gaze. The forest, usually snowy, was covered by a thorny layer of ice that looked like it was emanating from my sister.

'Elsa…? So that's what they were trying to hide… So that's why thirteen years of solitude… That's why she couldn't open the doors, and that's why she let me go. Was herself whom she was hiding from the world! Why didn't she tell me? We could have found a solution together!'

"Who are you?" I heard Kristoff ask cautiously out of my visual range.
"It is certainly him, Queen Elsa," I heard Hans's voice that time.

'C'mon, is he not going to leave us alone?'

"Queen?" Kristoff asked probably tying up the dots as well.
"Is it true that you were taking care of my sister?"

Kristoff hesitated for a few seconds, then answered honestly.

"That's how it is."
"I knew it! You lied!" Hans exclaimed incriminating him in front of my sister.
"That's true, I lied. She didn't trust you."
"She trusted you and now she's dead…" Elsa whispered as the ice grew threateningly around her.

'What is she talking about?! What string of lies has that bastard told her?!' Realizing that it was getting dangerous, I decided to come out of my hiding place and show my face. I couldn't let Elsa think I was dead, and most of all, I couldn't let Kristoff get hurt.

"Anna is not…" I heard Kristoff trying to say.

But he couldn't finish. The moment I started to peek through the door, I heard Elsa's scream.

"Why did you let her die?!"

And, shooting out of her, a barrage of sharp ice beams stroke through my chest. I fell to the ground before I even managed to open my mouth and heard how Kristoff and Elsa called out my name.

Surprisingly alive, I sat up with the help of Kristoff who had miraculously escaped the attack and, from the corner of my eye, I saw Hans flee down the mountain.

"It's okay, I'm fine."

Kristoff sighed in relief and Elsa's terrified gaze softened slightly as her lips parted to address me while keeping her distance.

"You're alive…"

"And healthy."
"So was it all a trap?" Elsa fell heavily to her knees.
"What did Hans tell you?"
"He showed up at the castle gates with your torn and bloody dress and, when I received him, he told me that he could find nothing but the unrecognizable remains of your body and that he knew the last person you had been with was someone called Kristoff who sells ice."

Her hands were trembling unstoppably, but she stood up again, trying to maintain her composure.

"That son of a…" I mumbled thinking of my revenge.
"But what did he want? If he brought you with me, you would realize he's lying," Kristoff asked, still somewhat disconcerted.
"Probably wanted me to order your execution." He gulped and my blood boiled again. "But my power went out of control in front of him with the report and it seems that, bringing me here with the idea that I myself would get rid of you in an outburst of anger before verifying the truth, seemed to him a better idea."
"So he could accuse you of murdering an innocent villager with your powers and make everyone consider you a threat and… get rid of you."

There was a thick silence and Elsa took a few steps back.

"Well, he made it," she said.
"What?! Why?!" I asked fearing what was to come.
"Now the whole kingdom has discovered my powers. I've covered everything in ice! I can't go back to Arendelle."
"Come on, Elsa, come in and let's talk calmly. Sure we'll find a solution for all this."
"No! I never will get close to you again!" she said keeping her guard up. "I already hurt you once and I was just about to kill you. You don't understand? I don't know how to control it!"
"We'll find a way! There has to be!"
"No, Anna. Sorry but, this is over."

Elsa ran through the forest and I tried to follow her, but an icy stab in my chest sent me falling in my footsteps.

"Anna! What's happening?!"
"It's nothing, it has already passed."
"I don't think so: look at your hair."
"What's up with my hair?"

I looked intrigued at my braids and discovered with surprise how a thick snow-white lock invaded a good part of one of them.

"It's like the one I already had…"
"She said she hurt you once, is it possible that the lock from earlier was because of that?"
"I... don't remember. I believed it was from birth. Although one day I dreamed that it appeared when a troll kissed me."
"A troll?"
"You don't need to be so surprised. It was just a dream…"

Without deigning to answer me, he entered the hut and put on his stinking, hot work clothes, and got out my cape and my hat.

"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to introduce you to my family," he said as he led Sven out of the tiny stable.
"Er… Kristoff… I'm flattered and really looking forward to meeting them, but I have a feeling that we have a more pressing matter on our hands right now."
"Nothing is more urgent than your health. You need help and they can give it to you."
"Really? And how do you know?"
"Because I've seen them do it before."
"Okay…" I answered without understanding well the situation but trusting his words.

He helped me up onto Sven's back and he climbed too.

"Sorry, bud, but we're going to need your help."

The weird reindeer returned what I could have sworn was a smile and Kristoff stroked him in gratitude.

"Okay, Sven, let's go home."