This didn't have to end like this.

The idea was to sneak out while Olaf and Sven slept curled up in the hammock, Maren and Elsa got to know each other a little more deeply in Elsa's room, and Kristoff showered and got ready to go to the police station. I'd take the car, park on the shoulder, slip into the woods, find his trail of things and follow it like Hansel and Grettel crumbs, get back in the car, and be there before he left. It would be a 'blink-and-you-miss-it'.

The plan didn't include tripping over his pants and falling right in front of the bear's face; it didn't include panicking and throwing my pants too in her face; and, most of all, it didn't include ending up completely naked lost in who knows what corner of the forest, surrounded by a lot of strange noises and not knowing if the bear even started following me… At least, I hadn't brought my wallet…

It's amazing how cold it can be in the middle of summer in the deep of the woods when the sun starts to go down… Shit… Kristoff would have already gone to the police station, and that guy would have ridiculed him, and he would have held his tongue and I hadn't been able to do anything to prevent it…

If only I could find my way back to the house or to the car before it got dark… I had never felt so lonely, never so lost… never so longing to see a particular someone again…

"Anna?!"

Once again, Kristoff appeared in answer to my prayers.

"Oh, my God, Anna!"

His face was sweaty, his breathing heavy, his hair disheveled. His lips waited apart for my response and, his gaze wildly looked me up and down.

"Kristoff?!"

Didn't he go to the police station? How did he know where I had gone? Why was he risking his skin coming after me? Had he gone looking for me so desperately that he hadn't even asked for help? He seemed exhausted… It was clear that he had not arrived by car.

I should have felt ridiculous, guilty, exposed, or embarrassed to see myself completely naked and muddy in front of him, but all I could feel was relief and joy. I threw myself into his arms and cried hard enough to calm my nerves as his trembling hands carefully covered my back.

"Are you okay?" he asked carefully pulling me off his chest right after that.

"Kiss me!"

"What…?"

"No! Better than that! Take me with you!"

"Anna, what are you saying?"

"To the valley! I want to go with you!"

"Are you being serious? Have you hit your head? Have you fallen?"

His face was like a poem. The intense emotions that covered it until a few seconds ago were quickly being replaced by an expression of disbelief and concern.

"Yeah, I did fall, but I didn't get hurt… It's not that…"

"Anna… what were you doing here?"

"Don't ask," I said catching strongly my head in my hands out of sheer shame.

And he smiled. He could have scolded me for venturing alone into a dangerous part of the forest; he could have complained about all the complications I had put him through; he could have blamed me for the fear that still flowed through his system; he could have branded me crazy for my absurd outburst; but he didn't: he gave me a warm smile, took off his shirt and put it on me without saying a word until I was completely covered by that warm fabric.

"Thank you, Anna," he whispered then tenderly caressing my cheek.

"I didn't make it…"

"You have done much more than you intended."

"What do you mean?" I asked, not wanting to get my hopes of the improbable up.

"I mean… do you really want the grandson of a troll to kiss you?"

He was being serious. It wasn't a delirium nor a dream. And, for me, in every possible scenario that included him, there was only one possible answer to that question.

"Only if he's going to take me with him."

A grin from ear to ear spread across his face just before he lunged against my body and drank from my lips. His arms wrapped around me again, but with strength and passion this time, with the grip of one who clings to life. My lips devoured his also with fierceness and longing, and his hot breath on my face raised my soul to the seventh heaven.

I no longer cared about the noises, the cold, or the bears. I just wanted my hands to be able to continue to run over every inch of his broad back and strong chest, travel down those amazing abs I'd have a lifetime to explore, pull those pesky pants off of him, and make him mine right there and then. I no longer doubted that I was his and that he was mine. It would be our first time, and it would be the strangest and most magical of all.

Or so I thought until a real bear interrupted our novel exchange of fluids. Was the world laughing at us?

I did it again. I took the pants that I had just taken off from him in that kind of trance and threw them at that bear that I didn't even know if was the same one from before.

"Anna! What the…?!"

"Ruuuun!"

And we both started running, desperately and without looking back, agitated, scared, excited... almost crying and almost laughing at the same time, fearing what might happen and eager for the future that might lie ahead of us.

"What the hell are you two doing?!"

Maren, Olaf, and Elsa appeared before us in the middle of a clearing on some sort of quad.

"I told you it was a good idea to bring extra clothes," Olaf laughed before we could find a reasonable way to answer puzzled Maren's question.

"I still think it would have been better if you had brought his clothes," Elsa opined.

"And rummage through his things without his permission? Who do you take me for?"

"You just want to see him in your T-shirt again, don't you?"

"Of course not! What I want is his manly scent back on my clothes…"

"Olaf!" we all exclaimed at once.

"Fewer complaints, I've rescued your keys and wallet on the way."

"Are you serious?!" Kristoff answered running toward Olaf excited with the news. "And my clothes?"

"Sorry… I didn't have that many hands…"

"Olaf…"

He tried, but he couldn't get mad at him. He got into my shameless friend's clothes, retrieved his belongings, took my hand, and we all left with the firm intention of never seeing a bear again.

No one was surprised when I dragged him into my room that night without looking back.

The next morning, a beam of light that mercilessly decided to illuminate my face, brought me out of my dreams. For the first time in forever, I woke up feeling warm and protected; for the first time, my body woke up dressed only and exclusively by the welcoming body of another person; for the first time, the day began with his naughty smile; for the first time, I knew that I was in the place where I had always belonged; and, for the first time in my whole life, that insufferable chirp through my window made me laugh.

'I love the fucking birds.'