(A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! :D I hope you're all as excited as me for 2014. I hope it'll be full of more amazing people, more memories, and more Frozen fanfiction. Of course.

Welcome to the hall of fame, Eclipsestorm4! Thanks for reviewing. And thanks to all my loyal readers and reviewers as well. You guys are great.

Inspiration: That one scene in Frozen where Marshmallow throws Anna and Kristoff down the long, icy staircase. You'll see why soon. :P)

Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Frozen OR anything affiliated with it.

Chapter 7: Visitors, Again

Kristoff had never been more worried about anything before in his life, even if it did not have anything to do with him.

Okay, well maybe it did. A bit.

Closing the doors on her the other day had been her request, but it still felt like it was his fault entirely.

He kept thinking that it was what she wanted, but at the end of the day, he couldn't convince even himself.

So after a few hours of tossing and turning against Sven, he had the urge to go see her.

Finding his way up the steps, he quickly hurried up the long staircase and into Elsa's room.

She was asleep, humming softly as she placed one palm against the other. There was a small smile on her face, reassuring Kristoff that everything was all right. He bent down, kissed her on the forehead, and began to head back out.

However, as he turned the doorknob… "Kristoff?"

The man whirled around to see Elsa looking at him sleepily. Turning on his heel, he walked back.

"Hey, you," he said softly, sitting her bedside. She sat up, giving him a smile. "How…how are you?"

"I should be asking you that," he said with a chuckle. Then he tilted his head slightly. "But I'm good…better than I was a few seconds ago, now that you're here."

Elsa blushed, smacking him lightly. "You're sweet."

Kristoff grinned, turning slightly red himself. "So, uh, about yesterday…"

Elsa's smile faltered. "Um, yeah…look, about that, I'm sorry for telling you to go away – it's just that, after hurting Anna…I didn't want to hurt you, too." She sighed. "After you left, I…I got my powers under control. I think everything should be okay now."

Kristoff frowned. "You don't need to apologize," he replied, "I understand." He took her hand in his. "I'm honestly just glad that you're okay."

Elsa smirked up at him. "You know…if I ever told anyone I was falling for a particular ice harvester, they'd be shocked beyond belief."

Kristoff laughed. "You ought to try it out, sometime. Tell somebody, I mean." Running a hand through his hair, he shook his head. "I honestly still can't believe it myself; if someone told me I would end up with the queen of Arendelle, I'd die of happiness and shock."

The queen let out a rare giggle. "Well, Kristoff," she responded, caressing his cheek with a smile, "don't go dying of shock when I tell you you're with the queen of Arendelle." With a wink, she added, "And she's all yours."

Elsa's comment alone was enough to provoke Kristoff into fervently kissing her.

So he did.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Kristoff, I don't think this is a very good – hey!"

The man, with a wicked grin on his face, pulled Elsa onto his lap and held her in a tight embrace as they slid down the long staircase outside the ice palace.

"No, no – Kristoff, don't you da – AHHH!"

Elsa screamed the whole way down.

Minutes prior, Elsa was in a bitter mood; although she continued to try and try, she could not eliminate the feeling that she had mortally wounded Anna.

Kristoff had taken the time to calm her down, over and over, but this time, it did not work.

Figuring his typical hands-on-shoulders technique was getting old, he had decided to throw on a smile, and, much to Elsa's dismay, had grabbed her hand and jumped out into the cold morning weather, skimming down the staircase at a dangerously high speed.

So, here they were. Kristoff was laughing heartily, and Elsa was, more or less, screaming her ass off.

"Ack – Kristoff!" The queen huffed as she cleaned herself up. "You better have had a good reason for – put me down!"

Ignoring her pleas, the ice harvester had picked her up in one swift motion, carrying her back up the staircase.

"Aw, come on, Elsa. It was fun and you know it," he said cheekily, and the queen sighed. "Fine. Maybe just a little. But we are not doing that again."

Upon reaching the top of the stairway, Kristoff spoke. "Sorry, I just thought you needed that." Grinning, he added, "I can help get you cleaned up, if you wish."

Elsa face-palmed. "Thank you, good sir. You are ever so kind."

"But…" A smirk graced his features. "I'm a little busy right now, and so is the queen of Arendelle."

"Wait, what? Kristoff, wha – AHHH!"

The man hooted as the two slid down the staircase.

Again.

Still ignoring Elsa's consistent orders and threats, he repeated the activity.

Six times.

Eventually, he had gotten countless laughs and giggles out of Elsa, which satisfied him to no end. His goal was to cheer her up, and he succeeded.

As they entered the castle, he put her down at last. Smiling up at him, Elsa stood on her toes and kissed him softly. "I don't know how you do it," she said, pulling away. "You always know how to cheer me up."

He smirked. "You make my job a lot easier."

"I'm glad."

The two stared dreamily at one another, not caring about what anyone else (Sven, in this case) had to say. He cupped her cheeks with his hands, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The moment was perfect.

"Elsa," Kristoff began slowly. "I think…I think I – "

A large roar shook the building, interrupted the man's comment, and the two released each other almost immediately.

"What on Earth…"

Kristoff glanced outside to see the snow guardian awakening, standing to its full height.

It was facing Prince Hans and his men.

Elsa gasped. "They've…they've come back?" Very quickly, she began retreat back into the castle.

"Elsa – Elsa!" Kristoff held her firmly, but still in a gentle manner. "Calm down, calm down." He stole another glance at the event outside.

Hans had drawn his sword and was attempting to somehow get past the snow giant.

"Elsa," Kristoff told the queen. "I need you to get to safety; please." He looked upwards and made a quick decision. "Go to the top floor; now."

"Kristoff?!" The queen looked at him worriedly. "What about you?"

He shot her a smile. "I'll be fine, just – just get to the top floor, now." He kissed her quickly. "Don't worry, I'm going to protect you no matter what it takes."

Despite everything, she smiled and hugged him tightly. Then, grabbing her heels from the floor, she was gone.

The mountain man turned back and peeked outside once more.

Two men with crossbows had made it past the snow monster, and they were climbing the steps at a rapid speed. Then it dawned on Kristoff…

He didn't have a weapon.

"Ah, shit…"

As the doors burst open, Kristoff retreated to the small room he had hid in before. If I can ambush those two without them noticing…

Kind of a short chapter, but I wanted to post it because I'll be gone for a couple of days. When I return, however, I will start writing immediately. :) As always, be sure to favorite, follow, and review! Thank you all.