(A/N: Yay! Chapter 4 is here. Hope you guys had a fun Christmas – if you celebrate it, of course – and if you don't celebrate it, then I still hope you enjoyed your day :D

Lord Destroyer (Guest): Don't worry, I don't like him that much either. I'm already trying to hint at his real intentions in the previous chapter and the chapters to come.

Shadow390: I know! When I watched it, they seemed like a pair that was going to happen. Just think about it; the ice harvester and the ice queen. :P

Also, I just thought I'd like to thank:

Guest

The Legend of Rune Factory

Teenaged Author

twominutes

Guest 2

disneyfan390

Shadow390

Guest 3

godbob111

lmarielondon (Guest)

TheCoreConundrum

byinj (Guest)

Lord Destroyer (Guest)

skylerchili

AlicornSalad11

Guest 4

BlueStar'sFire

MAD- The Awesomeman

PotatoTCreations

lolli-dragon12

lmncake

Anon (Guest)

Pica Britanica

Frat (Guest)

Thank you to everyone above, who left reviews for this story. I hope I didn't forget anyone. You don't know how much your feedback means to me. Thank you ALL!)

Disclaimer: I don't own the best movie ever. That'd be Frozen.

Chapter 4: An Odd Way of Seeking Refuge

Kristoff shivered as he scanned the trees around him. A strong wind had arrived out of nowhere and was swaying them back and forth, each and every branch dancing in the afternoon air. Grabbing two coats, he threw one on and moved to hand one to Elsa, who was not at all…shivering?

Oh, right. She has magical powers that let her control snow; why don't you throw in an immunity to the cold as well! No big deal.

He put the coat back onto the back of the sled and inspected the woman as she gazed out contently.

The sudden cold was freezing the hell out of him; he was a tough guy who was used to this weather, and yet it still bothered him in a way it had never bothered him before.

Then there was Elsa – she didn't move at all, for God's sake – who was completely unbothered by the unexpected change of weather.

Something else seemed to be bothering her, however.

Occasionally, she would twitch or cringe, then shake herself out of it. Before long, Kristoff began to notice something; whenever she made an abrupt movement, the wind around them would accelerate.

No, he had to be imagining things.

The storm grew rapidly, and it reached a point when it simply became too harsh to travel through, causing Sven to pull up under a large tree.

"We have to stop; the storm is too strong!" Kristoff yelled.

"What?!"

"We have to stop! The storm is too goddamn strong!"

Elsa winced.

"That may be because of me…"

"Wait, what?!"

Three hours away, the weather was not any better.

Hans grunted as he signaled his men and Anna to pull up under a short hill for shelter.

"First things first, we need to survive this blizzard!" he shouted at them.

Anna looked around cautiously, before slowly shaking her head.

"That's…that's no blizzard," she stated with a fierce look in her eyes. "That's my sister!"

Hans turned away and snarled. Maybe this would be harder than he hoped.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Conceal, conceal, conceal…"

"E-Elsa?"

"Conceal…ah, shit!" The queen swore before grasping her hair in panic.

"The weather; it's…it's all my fault!"

"W-what?!"

"I was…I was thinking about everything again, I-I know, I shouldn't have been, but it was just too…the outcome seems so scary right now, and…and I worry so much about her and I just don't want to – "

"Elsa!" Kristoff firmly placed his hands on her shoulders, shutting her up instantly. "Control it," he spoke slowly. "Take deep breaths, think happy thoughts…remember the things you care about!" He massaged her shoulders slowly in an attempt to calm her down more.

Thankfully, it worked.

Elsa began to breath slowly, and Kristoff could feel her muscles grow less tense. She glanced up at him, and he winked and nodded. "Keep it up; you're doing great!"

The storm began to slow down rapidly, until it was no more than a light breeze in the air.

The trees had calmed down, and light snowflakes were falling from the sky.

Elsa breathed heavily and leaned back in the sleigh, exhausted.

She felt a weight next to her move back as well, and she glanced over to her right to see Kristoff, also exhausted, breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she told him slowly. The man turned and nodded. "Anything for her Majesty," he teased, chuckling as she punched him lightly.

Elsa felt a slight blush creep onto her cheeks, and she glanced up – he wasn't looking – and sighed. It was too soon; she had just met him days ago. When he had told her to think about what she cared for, he was the first one to pop into her mind.

Elsa shook her head and rested her head in her hands. I am such a hypocrite…sorry, Anna.

The memory of her neglecting to give her sister's marriage a blessing materialized, and she had to fight it back before another storm decided it wanted to start.

Kristoff looked around for a bit, then nodded. "The North Mountain isn't too far from here; do you want to keep going?"

Elsa thought for a second. The faster I get away from the people, the better.

She nodded. "Okay."

30 minutes later

Kristoff was right; as dusk began to settle, they found themselves at the base of the tall peak.

"Ah, here we are!" Kristoff extended his arms dramatically and turned to look around him. "The North Mountain."

Elsa glanced around her briskly before nodding. "We're climbing it," she said immediately, nearly jumping out of the sled. Kristoff blinked. "Wait, what?"

But the queen was already moving up the slope, completely lost in her thoughts. "Hey, your M – Elsa, wait up!"

Quickly dragging the sled along, he and Sven quickly followed Elsa.

"Elsa, do you…do you know exactly what you're doing?"

She stopped, then glanced behind her with a frown. "No idea," was the reply. Then she continued upward.

"My god, she's going to kill herself – hey, slow down!" Elsa disappeared from sight, forcing Kristoff to break out into a run. He nearly tripped on the white powder twice as he bolted upward.

"Elsa?"

Kristoff stopped suddenly and stared at the sight before him.

"What the hell…?"

Let it go, let it go

I am one with the wind and sky

Let it go, let it go

You'll never see me cry

The queen was moving at a ridiculous speed, effortlessly creating a flawless ice staircase as she went. A small figure moving away from him caught his attention briefly. Was that…a snowman?

Kristoff stood and stared in awe as he slowly moved onto the staircase, testing out the steps with his left foot.

It was immaculate.

He was absolutely lost in his thoughts when he heard a loud crack ahead of him. Looking up, he saw a heap of snow fall off the cliff.

"E-Elsa?!"

He ran up the stairs and nearly crashed into the queen herself, who was biting her lip in concentration as she formed an upward motion with her arms. The mountain man yelped as he felt the ground underneath him slowly rise up into the sky.

Nearly falling over, he steadied himself against the wall as he – wait, wall?

Impeccable ice barriers rose up and over him faster than he could've ever imagined. He shot a panicked look at Elsa, who paid no attention to him. She only urged the walls to move up faster, creating huge columns to support what was now a multiple-story building.

My power flurries through the air into the ground

My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around

And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast

I'm never going back; the past is in the past

Kristoff couldn't believe his eyes; a beautiful ice chandelier had formed in no time at all, hanging from the high ceiling of what was now a large ice castle.

So this is why Elsa wanted a place like the North Mountain.

Speaking of Elsa…

"Els – " Kristoff made a strange choking noise which led to a coughing fit. Glancing up, he still denied his vision completely.

The queen's clothes had morphed right before his eyes, instantly becoming a gorgeous icy dress, heels and all included.

Unbelievable.

Kristoff couldn't help but blush madly at the sight. Elsa had made the most amazing transformation in only seconds; it was hard to take in.

That perfect girl is gone

Here I stand in the light of day

Let the storm rage on,

The cold never bothered me anyway

Elsa slammed the balcony door, turning back with a smug grin on her face.

She was face to face with a very red ice harvester.

"S-so," he stammered. "You, uh…you built a castle."

Elsa nodded, blushing suddenly. "Y-yes."

"In practically ten seconds," he added.

She nodded again, shrugging sheepishly as a small smile re-appeared onto her face. "I-I honestly never knew what I was capable of," she told him.

"Right, well." Kristoff shivered as he pulled his jacket around him. "It's…it's amazing!" he exclaimed, laughing. "I never thought I'd ever see ice so flawless." He looked Elsa in the eye. "Your powers are a gift; never let anyone make you think otherwise."

She smiled genuinely at him. "Thank you – but I think it's too late for any of that." She gestured out the door behind her. "They…they don't think it's a gift at all, which is why I've been trying to get away from them."

Kristoff frowned. "Well, there's got to be someone to rule Arendelle; you'll need to return –"

"No!" she shouted instantly. Then she winced and sighed. "N-no, I can't return," she repeated, more quietly. "I can't risk hurting anyone else; not after what has already happened."

"But what happens if you stay here? Surely there will be people out looking for you, and I think a large ice castle would attractive attention." Elsa grimaced. "Sorry…"

Kristoff raised a hand and laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, no need to apologize," he assured her. "It looks incredible, really…but, what I'm saying is, I – we don't know their intentions. What if they don't mean well? They – they'll try to kill you, Elsa."

Elsa gasped. "You…you really think so?"

He groaned, frustrated. "I honestly don't know, I'm just…" he sighed. "I'm just really, really worried about you, Elsa. I care about you a lot, and I don't want anything to happen to you," the man blurted out quickly.

…I just said that.

Coming to realization a second later, he blushed. "I, uh…well, you know what I mean, I just…yeah, I –"

A pair of cold lips pressed against his cheek numbed his thoughts. "I get what you mean," Elsa said softly. "Thank you."

Kristoff's brain refused to work as he stared into the distance like an idiot.

Elsa's smirk and laughing eyes knocked him out of it. "Right, well." Shaking his head quickly, he pushed his current thoughts out of his mind.

"I – I'm staying here," he declared.

Elsa did not want him there – or maybe she did – because she was still slightly afraid of hurting him.

"Elsa, you're not going to hurt me; you haven't hurt me this whole trip – okay, well, that one ball of snow wasn't pleasant – you have to let me stay. And besides," he added, "I refuse to let you be attacked if anyone decides to show up."

Elsa couldn't help but smile slightly at his overprotective nature.

That's sweet of him; he really doesn't – Elsa, get it together.

She finally nodded, which planted a smile onto Kristoff's face.

Realizing she was still in her new dress, she pointed to it with an apologetic grin on her face. "Sorry; I, uh…I should probably change out of this."

"Right! Well, uh, I'll just be…out this way."

Kristoff attempted to steal one discreet look – she noticed – before moving out of the room.

The queen instantly dropped her smile, cringing at a thought.

Elsa, he's just an ice harvester; you can't fall for him! You know the rules; he's not a royal, and he's not currently courting with you.

But something told Elsa it was too late.

I'm not super pleased with this chapter, but I wanted to get it out because I'm pretty sure I'll be adding fluff next chapter, and I was excited about writing that. I might even make changes to this chapter later on; who knows. Anyway, thanks for reading! :D