Chapter 6

With lunch finished, it was time for everyone to get back to work. Elsa had gone to her office to go through a pile of royal requests that needed to be reviewed and approved. Victor returned to the engineers shop to resume his repair work. And Kristoff made his way back to the ice center, but this time he brought Anna with him. She welcomed the chance to watch her future husband at work. He was well respected by the ice harvesters, having been one of them himself. And though he was now in a command position over them, he never let it go to his head. He was the picture of authority here, and seeing this made Anna's heart flutter.

It didn't take long for Kristoff to get the ice center running smoothly again, leaving him the rest of the day to do as he pleased. The Pierside Café wasn't far away, so he and Anna decided that a nice hot drink would go well right now. As they sipped their drinks, they discussed their upcoming wedding. But Kristoff could see that Anna's mind was elsewhere.

"Ok, dear. What's eating you?" he asked

Anna popped up and replied, "Oh! What?"

Kristoff giggled. "I just asked what was on your mind. It doesn't seem to be our wedding."

"I'm sorry, love." She replied. "I'm just concerned about Elsa. Did you see how she's been eyeing Victor?"

Kristoff gave her an odd look. "Eyeing Victor? You mean like 'THE' eyeing?"

"That's exactly what I mean. She's got feelings for him. Real deep ones too."

Kristoff smiled. "What's so bad about that? We wanted her to find someone special for herself. What are you worried about?"

Anna explained. "Elsa told me yesterday that she couldn't be involved with Vic because, even though he is of royal blood, he doesn't live as a royal. Our father told her that a queen can only couple with a nobleman. And Vic is definitely not a nobleman."

"Now that's a crock!" Kristoff commented firmly.

"I know." Anna continued. "But there's more. While I was helping Vic this morning, he told me he didn't want to be connected to royalty. His own family shuns him for his behavior, and because of it he doesn't even like to acknowledge his royal heritage."

"Now that could be a problem." Kristoff stated. "I know how it feels to like someone you can't have."

Anna asked, "You do? How?"

"It's how I felt, "he replied, "when I was bringing you back to Hans."

Anna blushed lightly and took Kristoffs hand. "But that all worked out well in the end."

"I think it did." He smiled back. "And there's one other point to keep in mind."

"And that is?"

"That Elsa," he added, "is an adult, and the queen. We can advise her, but we can't stop her from liking who she chooses. All we can do is be there for her when she needs us."

Anna slumped. "You're right. I just don't want to see her get her heart broken."

"Are you sure they both told you everything?" Kristoff asked. "People don't always tell the whole story. Maybe there's some detail you don't know yet."

Anna smiled. "I hope you're right. There's nothing more I'd love to see than my sister as happy as I am with you."

Evening fell on Arendelle. And as the last rays of the sun peeked over the western horizon, Queen Elsa signed the last of a stack of royal requests that she had been reviewing all afternoon. She had had dinner brought to her office so she wouldn't have to stop reading while she ate. Now she stood at the window, looking out over the kingdom. Below her, light shined from windows everywhere. But one window caught her attention. Normally the engineering shop was dark now, the workers having returned home for the day. But now it was brightly lit. Perhaps Victor was putting in some extra time on his flyer, she thought. She hadn't seen his flyer yet, and now seemed like as good a time as any.

As Elsa walked into Victors work area, the first thing she noticed was the flyer, suspended from the ceiling and looking much more like a dragon in flight. Even from this viewpoint she could see that Anna was right. It was an amazing machine. Looking around the shop Elsa searched for Victor, who didn't seem to be here. She came across a table covered with strange metal items. Picking up a small item, she examined it closely. So closely, that she didn't hear Victor come in.

"Oil vaporizer." Victor commented.

Startled, Elsa dropped the item and spun around. "WHAT?!"

"You were checking out the oil vaporizer." He replied. "It turns the whale oil into a fine mist that burns inside the engine."

Elsa composed herself, retrieving the dropped part. "I'm sorry Vic. I hope I didn't break it."

"Not likely" he giggled. "It survived being slammed into the ice at high speed. A 3 foot drop is nothing."

Elsa handed the part to Victor, then gestured to the flyer. "So this is your flyer?"

"Queen Elsa," he smiled, "I present, The Wooden Dragon. The finest, and as far as I know, the only flying machine in existence."

"Very impressive!" Elsa commented. "It looks very much like a Night Fury. Is that where you got the inspiration for the design?"

Victor looked at Elsa oddly. "What's a Night Fury?"

Elsa giggled. "It's the species of dragon that the leader of the Dragon Riders of Berk uses."

"Ah!" Victor replied, pulling a drawing from his shirt pocket. "Does it look like this?"

Elsa studied the image. "Yes. That's definitely a Night Fury."

"I got this from a trader." Victor explained. "He claimed he had seen this flying past him with someone riding on its back. It sounded crazy at first, but after staring at it for a while, I realized I could build one myself. It took a lot of fails, but I final made one that works." He gesture to the flyer. "And there it is."

"And it's beautiful!" Elsa commented.

Victor replied. "Thanks. But it's nothing compared to your beauty."

Realizing what he'd said, his face blushed. He turned to Elsa to explain, only to find her looking at him with an expression that made it clear he had no need to explain. For a few moments they both stood silent, gazing into each other's eyes. Slowly the space between them got smaller and smaller, until their lips made contact. A strong feeling of energy passed between them, and suddenly nothing else mattered. Elsa then pulled away gently, her eyes still locked on his, and quickly undid her braid, letting her hair fall down her back.

"Wow!" Victor stated in amazement.

Elsa however said nothing, and instead resumed their kiss. For Victor and Elsa, nothing more needed to be said. What they felt right now was very clear to both of them.

Elsewhere in the palace was a room. In that room was a telescope. Normally telescopes point towards the stars. But this one pointed down on the village. And on the small end of the telescope was Princess Anna's eye.

"Why are you doing that, Anna?" Kristoff asked, clearly annoyed.

"I love people watching, babe." She replied. "You can learn so much just by watching others. Here. Look at this."

Kristoff begrudgingly peered through the eyepiece.

"Ok. I see an older couple having a fight."

"That's the Cormanans. They've been married nearly 30 years. Every night they fight like this. And yet they always make up. I'm trying to learn their secret to a long marriage."

"I can see your point." Kristoff conceded as he turned the scope. "Now I see an old man. He seems to be pouring water in barrels."

"He's at it again." Anna grumbled. "That's probably old man Richten, the pub owner. He's always watering down the ale."

Kristoff stood. "Really? I'll have to have a few words with him about that."

"Look some more!" Anna encouraged.

Kristoff complied, scanning over the village until something caught his attention.

"Oh! THIS looks interesting."

"Tell me! Tell me!" Anna pleaded.

"A young couple, I think. And it looks like they are very much in love. Wonder who they are?"

"Here." Anna stated as she switched the telescopes lens. "Can you see closer now?'

"Much closer." He replied. "They're both very good looking. She just dropped her dress to the floor."

"I learned a lot like this too." Anna giggled.

"Whoa! Now they're….AAAAHH!"

Kristoff pulled away from the telescope, jumping around the room with his hands over his eyes. "NO NO NO NO NO!"

Anna asked. "What? What did you see?"

She peered through the scope. "What's wrong? They aren't doing any….."

Anna suddenly stood up poker straight, eyes wide as dinner plates, and stammered, "I DID NOT NEED TO SEE THAT!"

Anna and Kristoff had discovered too late that the window they were peering into was the royal engineers shop. And the young couple they had caught in more than a passionate embrace…

were Victor and Elsa.