Anna woke up to a tickle on her shoulder, then a kiss, then a series of kisses trailing from her shoulder up to her cheek. A humid "good morning," too loud for being so close to her ear, but followed with a kiss and a hairy leg wrapped over her hip, coaxed her eyes to flutter open. It was so easy to wake up when Kristoff's extremities were poking at her.

At the mere suggestion of Kristoff's fingers, her head lifted so his arm could slide under. And she gladly pressed her body into his and held onto his jaw for a languid kiss.

"It's still dark out," she whined while grinding her cold nose into his fiery neck.

She relaxed on top of him, and said, "Did that just happen? Are you really Kristoff Bjorgman? In my bed? And did we–?"

He chuckled and ran his fingers slowly from her wrist to along her side. "I don't know. If you don't remember, then clearly I didn't do it right. Maybe we should try again."

His fingers ran more quickly along her sides, and she squealed. Anna's smile took up half her face when she said, "I think you better remind me."

Then he pressed his whole face into her chest and took a huge exhale to say, "I can't believe I have to leave."

Anna sat up and pushed off of him. "Wait. What?"

She hadn't really thought about what the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year, would look like, but it it never occur to her that Kristoff wouldn't be in them, and she felt like such a fool. She stared into his face to find a more favorable meaning where his words failed.

He brushed the fallen fringe out of his face, and said, "Come on, Anna, you know I'm under contract. It's not like I want to leave you."

"Ugh, Kristoff!" she said and backed off of the bed. "You just don't get it!"

She quickly put some clothes on and lunged for the door, Kristoff jumping into his pants and chasing after her.

She put her hand to his chest when she got to the door so he couldn't leave the room, and said, "I just need some space, ok?"

Kristoff took a deep breath, and said, "Anna, wait, don't be like that. I mean, you had to know that I wouldn't be able to stay!"

Anna rolled her eyes and two fingers slipped between his very defined abs, almost forgetting why she was upset. Then she snapped her hand away, and said, "Ugh. Just put a shirt on, Kristoff."

"Wait, Anna–" he said as she slammed the door in his face.

Anna sat on the wicker love seat on the covered porch and watched the leaves being carried by the wind. Her legs folded into her chest, and she shifted her sweater to keep them warm. Hans sat with her like that so many times to look at the stars, her head resting on his shoulder with his arm around her hers, keeping her warm. He wouldn't have any harsh words for Kristoff now, though, because Kristoff was doing something really important, and she needed to accept it.

"I brought you some hot chocolate," Kristoff said out of nowhere. The mug clinked against the glass top of the white wicker table in front of them, and Anna smiled at the tall, peaked swirl of whipped cream floating on top.

"How long have I been out here?" she asked.

"About an hour or so. Was that enough space?" He was ready to wake Sven up so they could leave as she told him she changed her mind. But she didn't speak, so he sat next to her, the love seat creaking beneath her from the extra weight. He'd learned his lesson about assuming what Anna was thinking, so he waited patiently.

His eyes drooped so like a puppy, and Anna was at once struck with the grief of not only losing someone she cared for, but from losing him to such a noble cause. It made her want to keep him to herself even more selfish for wanting him to stay.

"Look, Anna," he said as he held onto her hand, rubbing small circles on the back of it with his thumb.

He sighed and held onto her other hand, too, which she retracted to rest on his nervous heart.

"I just wish you didn't have to go, Kristoff."

"But Anna-"

"I know you can't stay, and I don't want to keep you from doing your job. It's just that we've only just found each other, and I wanted a little more time together before you had to leave."

Kristoff sighed and kissed the top of her head. "I know. But it'll go by quickly." He wiggled their hands together until she barely cracked a smile.

Anna snuggled closer to him to stabilize her spinning head, and sighed into his neck. "Can we at least talk on the phone or email or Zoom or something?"

He sighed again, then he frowned and leaned his head back. "There's no reception in the Enchanted Forest, and Internet is spotty at best." He closed his eyes, not able to look at her disappointment.

"Ugh," she said, and leaned away from him with crossed arms. "Well, when will you be back?"

"I should be back by Harvest Day next year, or maybe by the Winter Holidays. Kind of depends on the weather and what's going on over there. Like, the year before last there was a reindeer flu and the vet that was supposed to cover for me got stuck on the other side of the Enchanted Forest because of an avalanche, so I just couldn't leave."

She pushed herself off of him, and scowled. Then she pointed her finger at his chest, as she levied her offenses against him. "So you're telling me that you, Kristoff Bjorgman, came back into my life randomly, and now you're going to leave as though nothing even happened between us? You're just gonna go back to not even talking to me? FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR ! MAYBE!?"

Kristoff leaned back to escape the overwhelming sound waves he didn't even know she was capable of producing, and smiled weakly. "Maybe?"

"Great!" Anna shouted with her hands in the air. Then she said sarcastically, "You don't even know when you'll be back."

Kristoff shrugged, and said, "I'm sorry, Anna. Believe me, if I had known this," he motioned between the two of them, "was going to happen, trust me, I-"

"Well, whose fault is that?" she spat back with a raised eyebrow, then instantly regretted it.

He bit back the retort sitting on his tongue because it would have completely ended things entirely. And besides that, meeting Olaf made him feel like things worked out how they were supposed to anyway. He promised himself it was the last time he'd let such a thought come up, because this wasn't going to work if he couldn't let go of the past. If she still wanted him, that is.

"Wait, I'm sorry, Kristoff," she said, touching her hands to his face. "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair. I know it's not your fault. I just…" she leaned her head against his chest, and his arms held her close. "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," he said, sitting up straighter and holding her shoulders so he could look her in the eye. "Believe me. I might be thousands of miles away, but you'll always be…" He held her hand to his heart and knitted his eyebrows together. Then he said, "... you'll always be right here. You've lived here rent free for more than half of my life, and it's rent controlled, and you're not going anywhere. For me, you're not, anyway."

A tear fell down one of her cheeks, and she turned to wipe it away so he wouldn't see.

"What's another year anyway?" he said full of humility. "That's like nothing for us."

"Olaf really likes you, you know," she said all of a sudden.

"Oh," he said, and his brow furrowed. "Well, I like him, too."

Anna sat on her legs and faced him. Then she kissed him, and crawled onto his lap.

"And I really like you."

Kristoff ran his fingers in her hair, and said, "You like me?" Then through a teasing smile, "I thought you said you loved me."

She smiled, too, then got off his lap and walked behind him. With her hand on the back of the wicker seat, she said, "I did say that, didn't I?" Then she giggled and nestled into his neck from behind.

"You did," he reminded her. "And you can't take it back now."

"I do have to come clean about something, though," she said, completely seriously.

His heart rate shot up and he braced himself for proof that this was really too good to be true.

"Pumpkin isn't actually a vegetable," she said with a cute frown.

Kristoff froze in anticipation of the devastating blow that surely was to follow, but never did. "Wait. What?"

"It's true," she said with a smug shrug. "Our whole relationship is based on a lie."

Then she walked to the door, and stopped when Kristoff smiled, and said, "You know, it doesn't even matter."

The he jumped up and chased after her. "I'm–"

She held her finger to her lips as she turned the door knob. "Olaf's still sleeping. And I'm not ready to say goodby to you just yet."

Kristoff lifted her in his arms, and broke from a painfully luxurious kiss to lay her on the bed. Then he trailed his fingers up from her ankles, and said, "You know, I think we only have another three, maybe four hours to ourselves? And I plan to make ever second count."

She let out a gasp, and pulled him on top of her so he could get started.