Lucky

"It's lucky we found you," the king said to him the morning after they returned to the castle. "Who knows what might have happened getting lost in the woods like that."

"I've been on my own before," Kristoff insisted.

The king sighed. "Well, we will take good care of you here. However, it is very important that you not speak of anything that you saw right before we found you."

"Yes, you told me that."

"And you shouldn't speak to my younger daughter about any of this, of course."

"Of course," Kristoff nodded.

"Good. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Breakfast?"


Picnic

The younger princess and her mother were having a picnic today. The king was busy inside meeting with people, and the older princess… Well, Kristoff knew better than to ask about her.

The older princess, the Crown Princess, as they called her, would come out for her riding lessons when the younger one was having her French lessons. He was allowed to do work around the stable then. She took her riding lesson, then went back inside.

Sometimes she would come and pet Sven, very cautiously. She didn't want to talk to anyone, though, and Sven never talked to her.


First Hint of Spring

Kristoff walked around the castle courtyard with Sven. It wasn't a particularly warm day, but it was sunny, and the first hint of spring showed through the patches of dirt in between the piles of snow, where a few shoots were pushing their way up.

There might be more snow in the coming weeks, but today that didn't matter.

A rustling came from one of the alcoves near the stables. "Hey, Sven!" It was Anna.

"Oh, hello Anna!" Kristoff wasn't supposed to talk to her, but no one had ever said anything about Sven.

Anna hugged the reindeer. "Let's play!"


Fluff

Anna sat in the middle of the castle gardens, in a patch of dandelions. Some of them were still in full yellow bloom, but a few had already turned into balls of fluff, and she was blowing at each one, making a wish. If she could get every last seed to fly away, her wish would come true. She kept trying.

Looking around, she realized she had used up every last dandelion in this spot, so she got up and began walking to the other side of the garden.

She saw the reindeer, jumping around trying to catch the fluff.


Gardening

Anna sat next to the wall along the castle gardens with a little shovel, digging a hole. The groundskeeper had given her a handful of seeds from a previous year. He wanted to humor her interest in gardening, but he didn't want to waste any of his good supplies.

"No! Sven! Not the garden!" came the voice of the stable boy. What was his name?

"Hello, Sven!" she said as the reindeer nuzzled her. "Do you see what I'm planting?"

"What is it?" came the silly voice.

"They're going to be carrots," she announced.

"Carrots?"

"They will be," she promised.


Green

The princess wore a green dress again. Several of them were green, he had noticed. She was out walking with her mother and father now, so Kristoff needed to stay away, and more importantly, keep Sven inside the stables.

When she had her riding lessons, he and Sven were sent out. They could usually find some little errands for the two of them to run in town, especially now that they trusted Kristoff not to say anything about what went on behind the castle gates.

"Boy," the groomsman called out, "I need you to run into town now."

"What, now?"


Flower Shop

Kristoff walked along the market stalls. Everyone knew him, but everyone knew he didn't like to talk. He was the boy who ran errands for the castle, so they were nice to him. He always paid up front, and never tried to bargain for anything.

He had bought everything the royal groom had asked him to today, and he had a little time and money left over. He had no idea what he might actually need.

Then he noticed the flower shop. There was a display of sunflowers outside. She had told him- no, Sven- that they were her favorite.


Fresh Start

Kristoff patted Sven. The crown princess was now the queen, if not officially crowned yet, and she hadn't stopped him when she saw that he was leaving.

This was a fresh start. He was too old to be a stable boy, and he needed to make a life for himself, and a life away from the temptation here. He wasn't sure what he would do, but he had a little bit of money the queen had given him.

He looked up at the mountains. He would go back to the last place he had been before he had met them.


New Beginnings

"Where are you going?" Elsa asked him.

"I'm leaving," was all that Kristoff replied.

"Just like that?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm almost eighteen now, and I think I should try to make my own way in the world."

"Wait, how old are you?"

"I just told you?"

"But when?"

He stopped. No one had ever asked him that before.

"I… I don't know."

"Wait…" She looked at him, then looked somewhere vaguely in the distance before looking at him again. "You don't actually know when your birthday is?"

"Of course not," he replied. "How would I even know that?"