Kristoff's hand caught air instead of Anna's hand, and his palm fell on the stone of the dam. Empty.

He didn't catch her.

And now she was gone. Forever.

"ANNA!" Yelled Kristoff, looking down.

No, no no no… This couldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening.

"ANNA!" Screamed the mountaineer, his voice breaking in panic, sadness and anger at himself.

Why wasn't he faster? Why couldn't he have run earlier when he saw her running along the dam?

"ANNAAAAA!"

His panicked eyes searched for a red mane in the violent current underneath them. He slammed his body down right before the end of the cliff, laying on his stomach, inspecting every drop of water, every particle of dust that was created after the dam got broken apart.

Broken apart. His heart felt exactly like that.

Kristoff's gaze looked for any sign of Anna in the loud and scary mess that was the last act of bravery from the feisty princess who made his life. He forgot to breathe for a long minute, desperately waiting for her to appear on the top of the water, like the miracle she was.

But the long minute became two. And then three. And a terrible silence paired the deafening sound of crumble. He yelled from the top of his lungs.

"NOOOOOOO!"

"Kristoff."

He kept yelling. Now he could hear her voice, but knew it wasn't real, like old echoes of the past, like far echoes that would forever ring in his ears and never be her actual voice…

"Kristoff!"

The broken stones of the dam were blurry now, surely due to how much he was crying. Would he become crazy, imagining Anna's voice in his mind for the rest of his life, haunting him for not being fast enough to catch her in time?

"KRISTOFF!"

The call was so powerful that it shook his entire soul before everything else. He opened his eyes wide. Wait, weren't they open before?

Kristoff blinked in panic, screaming, panting, his breathing heavy.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Said a close voice in a familiar tone, soft and insisting at the same time.

As he recovered his sight, his environment sharpened, and Kristoff understood he was in their bedroom in the castle. He looked around with shaken and fast moves, his breathing still fast.

"Calm down. Everything's fine. I'm here."

He finally turned to the voice, and saw a very worried pair of teal blue eyes staring right into his. He gulped, and looked down. Both of Anna's hands were on his chest, which was weaving with panic.

Kristoff slowed his heartbeat, trying his best to take longer inspirations, and looked at the love of his life.

Her untied hair, auburn with fiery orange fragments in the moonlight passing by the window, surrounded her worried round face dotted with freckles. It moved up and down with her heavy breathing as she stared down at him, and the sight made his heart squeeze. He briskly lifted his arms to hold her close in a hug.

She gasped a bit in surprise, but let him embrace her. He could hear her slow her own breathing down in his neck as they both had gone through such a fright.

"You're here." Finally said Kristoff, in a whisper, closing his eyes.

He exhaled, and she nodded against him.

After a while, once they both retrieved a regular breathing, she stared at him.

"Are you okay?"

He was about to open his mouth to reply.

"No, don't answer this question. Let's just… Let's just stay awake for a while."

He closed his mouth, and surprisingly, it turned into a soft smile.

Anna lifted an eyebrow. She wanted to calm him down and take care of him, but didn't expect him to switch his mood so fast.

"What?"

"I'm just glad this was a nightmare." Kristoff said, his voice barely a whisper, soft and still recovering from the shock.

She looked down at him, and smiled with a sigh. A strand of hair had fallen in front of her face, and she passed it behind her ear. She sighed more heavily, and let her forehead fall on his chest.

"You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry." He muttered, passing a hand on her head.

"You were yelling, and I couldn't wake you up, and…" She blabbered, her voice masked by his shirt.

"Did you try the true love kiss? That's what knights in armor do to save the sleeping prince." He joked to light her up.

Anna chuckled. "I'm not sure that the romantic trope works the other way."

"Sure it does."

She laughed against his chest, and lifted her head, putting her chin on him.

"What was it?"

"Uh?"

"The nightmare. What was it about?"

He looked elsewhere, but she could see his gaze in the moonlight.

"Anna…"

"Please tell me. You always ask for mine. Let me ask for yours."

He gulped. She was right. And communication truly was something they needed to daily work on. Even at 3 in the morning, noticed Kristoff when he saw the clock at the other end of the room.

"The dam." He whispered. "I... I thought that I lost you there. And... Being lost truly is the feeling. It was horrible."

He looked at her with emotional eyes. "A life without you... It would feel... I would feel... Empty."

Anna had a sad pout, and cuddled against him reassuringly. A silence passed, and Kristoff breathed out in emotion and relief.

The Queen then smiled and lifted her hand to reach for the one he had put on her head, then intertwined her fingers with his. She indicated him to look down at it.

"You see this?"

In the soft light, her engagement ring shone with a deep orange and gold radiance.

"We'll never be apart."

He gulped, looking at it for a while, then at her caring eyes. A bump formed in his throat.

His other hand was about to get to her face, and then emotion roamed him entirely, so he instead sat up all of a sudden, and Anna yelped as she fell backwards.

Kristoff caught her however, and more than that, held her close for another hug. It was stronger and longer than the previous one. Anna's arms wrapped around him, and she let him cry silently. She felt her own eyes stinging a bit, and soon tears rolled down her own cheeks.

After a moment, they parted and rubbed their faces. They looked at each other with nervous chuckles, and kissed.

"Together forever." Smiled Kristoff.

The redhead grinned with a nod.