So.

Thanks so much for your input regarding putting a sneak peek at the end of the each chapter! I really appreciate it! I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes.

Hope life is treating you well! Take good care of yourself!

ssg.x.

CHAPTER 13
PREVIOUSLY ENGAGED

"There we are. Now be careful, okay? I'm running out of bandage and extra blades."

Kristoff held his spare whittling knife out to Anna. She reached for it but he pulled it away before she could grab it.

"Anna?"

Anna scowled at him, but he waited patiently for her to say the words he wanted to hear. She'd already somehow managed to nick three fingers on her right hand more than once. She wouldn't have any fingers left if he let her continue to carry on the way she had been.

"Fine. I'll be careful," she finally said, but still he hesitated. Her expression softened. "I will. Promise."

Kristoff gave her back the knife. Anna looked down at the wooden spoon she'd been whittling to get her mind off of Elsa's absence. She and Kristoff had packed a light lunch and gone to the docks. It sounded like a lovely idea when he had suggested it. Once they were at the docks, though, and Kristoff handed her a sandwich, she felt like he might as well have handed her a black cloud to hang over her head. She gazed down past the legs she dangled over the side of the dock at her sullen reflection in the clear waters.

Stupid sandwiches. Stupid docks. Stupid Hansicidal McManiac.

Elsa had only been gone for four days, but it was still four days. It was the longest Elsa and Anna been apart since the eternal winter. Once Anna had Elsa back in her life permanently, all day and every day, she thought they'd never be apart again. Realistically, Anna understood that, as ruler of Arendelle, Elsa would have to go on the occasional trip, but she had just gotten her back. Why did she have to go away again so soon, and to visit that man's kingdom, of all places?

Come on, Anna. It's only been four days.

Four days…and sixteen hours.

The clock in the square chimed and Anna sighed heavily. She picked up the spoon and started working on it again, continuing to use the pull stroke Kristoff taught her. Keeping her promise, she kept her paring methodical and measured.

"Seventeen hours," she mumbled to herself. Kristoff rolled his eyes and smiled. He turned his attention back to his own project. He was much quicker than she was, but still managed to look relaxed as he worked, as if he hadn't a care in the world. He kept his knife sharp, and it would slice through the wood like it was moving through butter. If it was anyone else in the world, Anna would have mistaken their calmness for indifference, but she knew Kristoff. She knew that he loved her, and that he respected and admired her relationship with Elsa. What he was doing just then was being her rock. A regular rock. The kind that didn't turn into a troll.

"Thanks for trying to take my mind off of things," she offered. "I know I've kind of been unbearable since Elsa left."

"I wouldn't say unbearable," he said. "You're worried about your sister. I get it."

"Because you're a love expert now?"

Kristoff chuckled. "No. Because I have eyes."

Anna smiled. She held her wooden spoon up, eyeing it carefully.

"What do you think?" she asked. Kristoff looked up. He nodded.

"It looks great. You're pretty good at this. Think you're ready to try making a bowl?"

"Maybe. I'd like to try carving some sort of design into the handle of this thing first. Would that be hard to do?"

"I'd wait until my fingers healed if I were you. All those bandages will get in the way."

Anna laughed. "I don't know how you can carve anything with those giant paws of yours."

Kristoff smiled. "You'd be surprised what I can get done with these giant paws of mine."

Anna arched her eyebrow at him. "Pardon me, sir! You're addressing a princess of Arendelle! That's hardly appropri-"

Kristoff put his knife down and took one of Anna's hands.

"Here," he said quietly, insistently, pressing something into the palm of her hand.

It was a ring with an astoundingly detailed rose sitting on top of it, the entire thing carved from a single piece of blonde wood. Anna stared at it, eyes wide, mouth agape – not exactly the picture of sophistication.

"Say something," Kristoff said uneasily. Anna blinked wordlessly at the ring still in her hand.

"It's…it's really beautiful, but…"

Is he proposing to me? Is this an engagement ring?

We've only been courting for a couple of months. And Elsa would go through the roof if I got engaged twice in less than a year.

"But what?" Kristoff asked. "You don't like it, do you? Geez, I should have gone with the butterfly idea."

"No, Kristoff. It's beautiful. It's perfect. I just…Are you asking me to…?"

Kristoff's eyes widened. "What? N-no! Oh, my God! No!"

Anna frowned, looking at him sulkily. "Okay, Doctor Love. Calm down. I get it."

Kristoff sighed and reached up to scratch the back of his blonde head. "That totally came out wrong. I'm sorry. I just…I wanted to give you something to cheer you up. Something you can look at always to remember how much I…"

"Yes?" she smiled expectantly.

There was no doubt in Anna's mind that Kristoff loved her. He hadn't said it out loud yet, but she knew. How could she not after all they'd been through together? Still, it would be nice to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, as it were, instead of a reindeer and a talking snowman.

Kristoff swallowed audibly. He blushed, and it was just about the most adorable thing Anna thought she'd ever seen.

"…how much I…enjoy your company."

Damn.

"I enjoy your company, too," she said, reciprocating the sentiment, albeit a little flatly.

To be fair, Anna hadn't told Kristoff she loved him either. After what happened with Hans, she was reluctant to. She did love Kristoff, quite desperately. She couldn't imagine a life going forward without him. But that look on Hans' face, eyes cold and narrow, lips twisted into a sneer, as he broke her heart, and revelling in it, no less…No. Anna wasn't going to say it first. Never again.

Kristoff took Anna's hand back. He slipped the ring on her finger, brown eyes focused on the task and determined to do it right. He brought her fingers to his lips and lightly blew his warm breath across the petals to remove any remaining bits of wood that might still be clinging to them. Anna shivered.

"I love you," she said dreamily. They both looked up at the same time, eyes locking through Kristoff's blonde bangs. She covered her mouth with both hands, ears starting to burn red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she blurted. "I shouldn't have said that."

Kristoff looked at her apprehensively. "You shouldn't have?"

Anna took a deep breath. "I love you, Kristoff. I do. I love you so very much. But how could you take anything I say seriously after everything that's happened?"

"'After everything that's happened' is exactly why I take everything you say seriously, Anna. You made a mistake. Hans had everyone fooled – all of Arendelle."

"I thought I was in love with him the second I laid eyes on him, Kristoff. I agreed to marry him after only a couple of hours. I was willing to throw my relationship with Elsa away when all she was trying to do was save me from myself. Elsa never would have made such stupid mistakes –"

Kristoff took both her shoulders in his hands and leaned over to look her in the eye. She turned her head, too ashamed to look back at him, but he gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"Come on, Anna. You aren't Elsa, okay? Maybe she wouldn't make the same mistakes, but so what? You love with your whole heart. You're trusting and warm, loyal, passionate and brave. That's why I love you, Anna," he said, smiling shyly. Anna's eyes lit up. Her heart skipped a beat, then two more.

"You do, don't you?" she said, cupping his cheek with her small hand, overwhelmed by the sincerity in his eyes. Kristoff nodded.

"I've been afraid to say it. I thought it might scare you away."

Anna threw her arms around Kristoff. "Not a chance," she whispered. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. "I wish I'd never met him. He's gone but not gone. You know what I mean? He's like chickenpox. You manage to survive the chickenpox, but all the scratching's left you covered with oozing, pus-crusted scabs and ugly, lumpy scars."

"Well, it's safe to say that lunch is officially over now," he said, nose crinkling in disgust. "Listen, I don't want to shake the guy's hand or anything, but if it wasn't for him, your sister would still be walking on –"

"Thin ice?" Anna offered.

"Walking on eggshells trying to keep her powers a secret. She'd still be shutting herself up in her room at the end of the day, suffering in silence. You wouldn't know how much she loves you, and she'd never know how much you love her. Olaf would be a puddle under a tree somewhere. And, of course," Kristoff wagged his eyebrows at her and grinned, "if it wasn't for Prince Chickenpox of the Oozing Scabs, our paths would probably have never crossed."

"So we owe him a debt of gratitude, is what you're saying?" Anna scoffed.

"I wouldn't worry. I'm sure he's out there somewhere getting just what he deserves as we speak," Kristoff replied, putting his arm around her and pulling her closer to him along the dock. Anna leaned her head against his broad chest and laughed.

"Good." she said, blue eyes twinkling wickedly.


Next Chapter: Hans takes a stab at getting what he deserves. Elsa goes through the roof. Anna develops her own superpower – woman's intuition.