The hug that wrapped me gave me back the warmth and the life.
"Kristoff! Oh, my God! You are alive! We are alive! I can't believe it!"
I pressed him even tighter against my body. I was afraid of parting with him and finding out that none of that was real. However, he gently pulled me away and locked his eyes with mine.
"Are you alright?"
"I think so, yeah. And you?"
"I'm fine."
We both sighed in relief.
"You have risked your life for me." It was all I could think of. I saw him jump desperately after me, I felt him fight against the sea to keep me afloat. I felt him give his last breaths for me. "Why?"
Kristoff lowered his gaze for a brief moment, then stared back at me, this time, filled with fear and hope.
"I couldn't let you go," he answered with a soft and sweet thread of voice making my whole body shudder and feel completely exposed to him.
"It wasn't your duty, you know that."
"I know."
"I… don't love him."
"I know."
"I love you."
Kristoff filled his lungs widely and pursed his lips before answering.
"I know."
Then, raising his hand to my face and gently brushing a lock of hair from my forehead, he let out a whisper that swelled and also strangled my soul.
"Tell me, am I allowed to love you?"
I took a breath too and closed my eyes trying to think clearly. He was telling me that he loved me, right? But… actually, could he do it? Would he end up hanged like Elsa said could happen? Would there even be gallows in the vicinity? Where the heck were we?!
I looked around slowly looking for something that would give me some clue of what that place was, but it was useless. I looked back at him, who was waiting anxiously but impassively for my answer, and fearfully placed my hand on his.
"I don't know."
His expression turned gloomy. I had just broken his heart and, with his, mine. I burst into tears. That wasn't what I wanted, I just wanted to take his hand forever and disappear in some place abandoned by the hand of God where I was not the princess, where no one knew me, where I could love him without hindrance, but… Wait! Wasn't that what just happened?
Kristoff began cautiously hugging me and rubbing my back trying to restore to me a spirit that he did not have.
"Kristoff…"
"Hm?"
"Do you have any idea where we are?"
"Not even a hint."
"You think we could disappear together?"
His hands tightened against my back.
"I'd say we've already done that," he replied with a soft chuckle.
"But we don't know where we are… Maybe Arendelle is behind those mountains. Or worse, we could be in the Southern Islands."
"And what do you have in mind?"
"Hide in the mountains forever?"
"As tempting as it sounds," he said undoing the hug and looking at me with a sad smile. "I won't let you starve or prey to any animal. If there is some kind of civilization nearby, we must find it."
"And what if there isn't? What if we are far from everywhere? What if they never find us?"
"Then… Then I'll tell you what I'm not allowed now."
I gulped at the depth of his gaze and the decision in his words. He wanted me for himself too. Who would have thought that a shipwreck could be a gift? Well, if we survived and stuff. But could it be our chance to live the life we wanted? Together?
"There is no time to lose! We're going to check under every rock, and, if we are alone… you are going to be mine. Do you hear me?"
Kristoff straightened his back and flushed adorably causing what was the first sincere laugh that had risen from me since the last day he came to wake me up.
"Where we head off?" I asked impatiently taking his hand.
"What…?" he started to say looking up as his face turned into total concentration one. "How about going up the mountain? From the heights, we will be able to see better where we are and it is possible that we will find a stream or something like that. We should get hydrated."
There he was, my mountain man!
"That seems perfect to me. I follow you!"
"But first we have to take off our shoes. Wet shoes will damage our feet if we don't. In fact, mine are already ruined. I knew I should have come with my boots and not the official ones… What makes them think this is good footwear?"
"You are going to complain?! I've been wearing heels for days!"
"You could have worn something else, couldn't you?"
"Yeah… my maids don't seem to agree with you."
"Too bad you're not the princess somewhere so you can decide what shoes to wear," he teased me as he threw our shoes a few meters from us.
"I'd like to see how you would manage to tell them you're wearing flat shoes for a prince's party. They get like hungry piranhas!"
He laughed shaking his head and took my hand.
"For now, let's pray that there are no piranhas here."
"Neither of the two types."
A common wish.
Kristoff and I walked, and walked, and walked further to the top, but the summit didn't seem willing to be crowned in any way and we weren't on our best day.
"Kristoff, I can't go on any longer."
"Sorry, I'm pushing you too hard, aren't I?"
"It's just that the sun is starting to go down, we haven't found any water yet, and I've been shipwrecked a bit recently. I would appreciate a break."
"It's okay. Let's rest a while," he replied with a frank laugh. "Wait here. I saw some brambles back there. If they have blackberries, we'll have something to eat for now."
I nodded and flopped down at the foot of a tree, a little unsure watching him go down the mountain, but exhausted enough that I didn't care so much about being eaten by some kind of beast in the middle of the mountain as I did about relieve the punctures that riddled my feet.
After a while, a shirtless Kristoff appeared back taking my breath away. In one hand he wore his shirt like a who-knows-what-of stuffed bag, and, in the other hand, his sash in the same way. With which I found the man I loved, displaying his worked torso and with his pants sagging enough that I began to glimpse his hip bone.
'So it turns out that it is hot in heaven…'
"I've found a few more things than I expected," he said unloading his makeshift bags with a smile from ear to ear.
"Water?" I asked hopefully.
"Not a drop, but I have found medlars, prickly pears, mushrooms, and acorns."
"There are only blackberries and medlars here…" I commented rummaging through the food.
"The medlars will hydrate us enough for now. Eat. We'll take the rest when we go down. There is no need to carry extra weight."
"And, what if we don't find water…" I asked filling my mouth a bit anxiously.
"If we can't find fresh water, there are always tricks to get it from the sea. Maybe it was the first thing I should have done…" he grumbled with a frown.
"Hey… we're in this together, okay? Don't take all on you."
"I am the one who has some idea of how to live in the wild; I should have thought about it before."
"Well, there will be time for that. For now, eat and hydrate yourself. These medlars are tremendous."
"That's hunger."
"Well, it was worth starving, then."
We continued eating and resting in the shade of that tree for a while longer and then we continued walking until, finally, we reached the top.
We gaped looking around us and instinctively held hands. An island. We were on a wild, wooded island with no sign of human life and not a single boulder of land in sight. We were alone; very, very alone.
"Kristoff… we're gonna die, aren't we?"
"It seems so," he answered without taking his eyes off the horizon.
"Together, okay?"
"Together."
"It's a deal."
"Anna…"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
