Chapter 8:Trousers
A/N: Oh, yes, Hans is back-ish and it should be interesting, where this story leads us. I have a little surprise in store for the next chapter but I haven't finished it yet. Anyways~I hope this'll do! I tried my best, but like you're probably seen, Kristanna is not my favorite to write. :( Reviews are encouraged! Oh, and, Westergard is Hans' last name(it was confirmed by Jen Lee, the director on her Twitter. (Just trust me.)
-Dee
Pushing the door open, Anna greeted, "Hey."
Kristoff rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, "Hey."
"It's noon, and you're still in bed, Mr. Bjorgman." She sat down on the side of his bed, wrinkling her nose when she noticed the wrinkles at the bottom of her dress.
"I was out making some extra deliveries last night," he squealed out a huge yawn.
"I can tell."
Kristoff's hand found hers, and with little force he had in him, he weakly pulled her towards him. "Nuh-uh. No way. I'm not-HEY!" Anna was taken aback by the surprising strength he possessed. Yanking her under the sheets, he attacked her with a fit of kisses and humming on her skin.
"You tricked me."
He hummed, "I did."
Letting out of fragile yawn, "I wish things could be like this all the time, don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You…me…early morning hellos and kiss attacks." Anna's fingers traced over Kristoff's lips in an effort to find his nose under the dark sheets.
"Oh," Kristoff let out a soft chuckle and grabbed her hands. The word stayed there for a minute or so, Anna's heart sinking. Doesn't he want to be with me?
"Meet you out there!" Kristoff shoved Anna off the bed. She went sailing, although she was like a feather, the redhead landed on the ground with a groan. Great, now he dislikes me so much that he pushed me off the bed.
"Kristoff," Anna shouted while getting up off the floor, "that hu-"
"Anna." He had a pouch in his hand. Crawling across the mattress, he hopped off and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Yes?"
He swallowed stiffly, and then began to lower himself to the ground. Anna's blood went to her stomach, making her feel dizzy in the head.
When he had finished lowering himself to kneel, he undid the strings on the pouch. He turned it upside down, Anna's breathing slowing, and out dropped a ring.
It was small. A round cut white diamond the size of a pupil shined. The band was yellow gold and had two perfectly straight small cuts on either side of the band.
"Oh, Kristoff…" her eyes filled with tears. She felt all of her collapsing, all of her crying. Laughing, and crying, and dancing and singing.
"Will you marry me, Anna?" his voice shook, and she could see his eyes spilling waterfalls.
"Yes."
"Yes?" he happily asked in disbelief.
"Yes!"
He grabbed her tightly in a hug, tears rolling down his cheeks. Anna's hands pressed against his shoulders, her nails almost digging into his skin. When he pulled away, she held out her shaky left hand, and began to feel warm tears wander down her face. The ring slid on with perfect ease.
She waited for him to look at her, and when he did, she took a mental photo of his messy blonde hair and chocolate eyes. Her lips placed a sweet kiss on his nose, and then met his.
"On our way here we saw black flags with a gold crown on it."
"Gustav told me that was their symbol. I don't know if that's true or not. Could be a trap." Elsa's eyes were glued to the map.
"Well, we won't know unless we find out." One of Hans' brothers sighed.
"It had to be Daloma…" sighed Hans, "That's a 30-mile walk."
"On the bright side, Hans can see if they have any single princesses there." Christian joked.
Laughter erupted within the throne room. Even Elsa stifled a silent giggle.
Hans' face went red with fury.
"Looking a bit warm there, Hans. Hope you don't mind if I," Elsa waved her hands, and a cloud appeared above his head, snow flurries dripping down, "…cool you down?"
This made the men lose their balance, the laughter probably being heard through the thick walls all the way to the stables. Elsa rose out of her throne, and made her way over the the map they'd spread on the table. Enjoying the attention and the devilish looks Christian was shooting her in between his eruptions of hysterical laughter, she held her hand under the cloud, and a snowflake fell into her palm. With a snide smile, she balled her fist, crushing the snowflake. Elsa raised her hand again and wiggled her fingers, pulling her arm back towards her ear. The cloud disappeared and the soldiers' hands clapped together. Face pink, she dusted her hands off, almost like she'd just finished cleaning.
She felt Christian's eyes admiring her once again, and she fixed her gaze upon his face. He quickly looked away but smiled. After the snorts had died down, they returned to the plan.
"So," one of Christian's brothers rubbed his hands together, "the plan."
Hans clapped, starling nearly everyone, "I think-"
"ELSA!" Anna burst through the door.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Hans sighed deeply with a roll of his eyes.
"Elsa!" Her flats swiftly patted the floor, "He proposed!"
"Kristoff?" Elsa grinned.
"Yes!"
"Excuse me," She tugged Anna's arm. Quickly deciding it was best for her not to leave the room to avoid the maids in the hallway, they hurried behind the throne.
"He proposed!" Anna loudly whispered.
She bounced up and down, feet barely leaving the ground but her sunshine nearly spread to the size of the room. Anna's left hand was held out and her fingers were wiggling from excitement, nerves, or just because she was Anna. Probably all three.
"Oh my-" Elsa gaped at the jewel, "That's great, Anna. I'm so happy for you!" Elsa threw her arms around her sister, capturing Anna in a gentle hug since it was difficult to hug Anna, because she was still springing up and down.
"Thanks Elsa." Anna ceased jumping and placed her hand on Elsa's face. "I get that you're busy, so we can talk about the wedding later."
"Alright." Elsa let her sister escape her arms.
"Bye!" Anna exited the room with a grin and a giggle.
Elsa rolled her eyes at Anna's silliness, letting out a chuckle of her own.
Returning to the table, Elsa caught the end of a short debate, "…no, Daloma can be pretty dangerous either way."
"We'll walk all day and set up camp at sunset."
With her hands on her hips Elsa wondered, "When will we head out?"
"We? Queen Elsa, you won't be going anywhere." Hans crossed his arms, a smirk on his face.
"I-I thought I made it perfectly clear that I'm going..?"
"You need to rule Arendelle here," Christian agreed, "from your throne room."
"Christian… I've been cooped up my whole life, and I went out once, but… only for a few days. I need to do this. Anna will be in charge while we're away."
A Westergard brother chimed in, "Are you sure, you want to do that, Queen Elsa? The castle is not exactly the safest place at this moment."
"Kristoff will protect her. He's more than capable. Besides, I may not be here to protect her, but I'll be out there fighting for her. We will," she corrected, "Either way, we're still protecting her."
"Welcome aboard, Queen Elsa. We look forward," a hint of impatience in his voice, "to you accompanying us."
Hans held out a hand, and nodded weakly as if to influence her to shake it.
"I'll be doing more than just accompanying you." Elsa spat. Glaring at Hans' extended right hand she stated, "And I'm left-handed."
"I need you to stay here and rule Arendelle while I'm away. Kristoff will stay here, and a few of Hans' brothers will stay behind. They're not thrilled, but in case an attack happens they can use that to channel their anger."
"Okay." Anna sighed, obviously not thrilled. Her face drooped and her eyes lost light.
Elsa placed a hand on Anna's arm, "Hey, you'll be fine. I promise."
Anna chuckled without humor, "Oh, it's not me I'm worried about. What about you?"
"Anna," Elsa shook her head and stifled a low giggle, "sometimes you forget what I'm capable of."
Her sister threw her arms around her, braids pressing against her neck. "I'll miss you."
The Queen softly smiled, "I'll miss you too. We leave tonight. I have to go pack."
"Please wake me before you leave." The Princess pleaded.
"I will." Elsa promised as they retreated from their tight hug.
Her hands shook like ripples on water as she folded the cotton clothing. Nightgowns, dresses, bodices, ribbons, shawls, flats, heels, bloomers, and even gloves are sprawled out on her bed. Realizing most of them were blue, she laughed to herself. Her own echo scared her, and she forgot how large her bedroom was. She had wanted so badly to move into Anna's room, but the counsel insisted, and her bedroom now was her parents' previous one.
She recalled the night she climbed into their beds when she was five, tugging the sheets, begging her father to let her sleep in their grandeur bed. And giggling when she saw a small face peeking out behind a large door. Finding out that Anna had followed her. She smell of the sheets, the scented soap the King and Queen had reserved just for their sheets. The lilac, so potent but sweet, filling their nostrils as their parents hugged them goodnight. And then awakening the next morning to a note on their parents' pillows.
Of course Elsa had to get Gerda to read them, but they always ended the same way.
Mama and Papa love you, always and forever.
She sighed and wiped a rather heavy tear that had made its way down to her chin. The blonde gripped the cloth she used to wipe her crown each morning, and mopped up her nose.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" A far away voice from her door asked.
Elsa furiously blinked, cleared her throat, and placed the dirty cloth back on her bureau. Turning around, she said, "No. No, nothing at all."
Christian half-frowned and his eyebrows curled downwards, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just packing."
Ignoring the obvious tear-stained cheeks, Christian continued, "I was told to come and check your luggage, to make sure you got everything you needed."
"Oh. Well here it is." Elsa sighed and stepped aside, revealing her clothing. Careful to hide the bloomers, she stiffened.
The prince swiftly made his way across the room and paused to eyeball Elsa-which she ignored-before he examined her clothing.
"You can't bring dresses." He said, blandly.
Glancing down at her own dress, "Well you can't stop me from making them."
"You sew?" He was taken aback.
She laughed, "No. I made this with my own magic."
His eyes searched her arms, chest, waist, hips, the slit that came up on the right leg. "May I..?" his hand hovered over her shoulder. Elsa's eyebrows lifted and dropped quickly, as if to say, Give it a shot. At once his hand plopped on her shoulder. Elsa's breath froze her her lungs.
"Why doesn't it melt?" Elsa watched a flame of curiosity ignite in his eyes.
"I'm cold." Elsa blinked.
His stare focused on her arm, "Cold-blooded?"
"No, I'm not dead."
Turning his head back to admire her face his voice lowered in minor frustration, "Then what?"
"I have ice water running through my veins. The body is mostly water, right? Well, mine is mostly ice water." Christian's hand remained there awkwardly before his fingers traced patterns down her arm.
"But wouldn't my fingers be melting your dress? Heat spreads."
"They should. But that's where the magic comes in."
"I see." His face scrunched up, trying to process the information.
"I found out when I hugged Anna. She's nothing but warmth. I'm so glad my dress didn't melt off." Elsa laughed softly.
Christian's fingers left Elsa's arm before he stepped closer to her. Lips floating inches above hers, he smiled, "And wouldn't that be a shame?"
She cleared her throat and crossed her arms in front of her, "So, what will I need instead of dresses?"
"Trousers."
She let out a clear sigh. "Alright. I'll see what I can do."
"We leave in two hours."
Elsa stared at the dark sky with shy, narrow eyes. "And you'll come with me?"
From the corner of her eye she caught a smile form on his lips, "Yes. In fact I look forward to traveling with you."
"Good." she spun around, thick braided hair slicing the thin air, "And same to you."
Centimeters apart, Elsa blinked when she realized he was grinning. Not his arrogant, smug smile. A bright grin, with teeth moon tinted teeth gleamed back at her. His ocean eyes had changed to a soft aquamarine. A cloud of warmth emitted from his chest, covering them in a veil of sun.
"What?" he quietly asked, noticing her gaze fixed upon his face.
"You said you loved me. Is that true?"
Christian's head bent down, and his eyes fixed upon the floor. A muttered, "Yes." escaped his lips.
Her icy fingers crept up to his chin and raised his face, "Then don't leave my side."
The grin was back, and Elsa was sure her heart melted thirty times over.
"Never."
"Anna," Elsa shook her sister with longing hands, "we're leaving."
Anna stirred in her sheets and sat up as soon as she heard the word leave.
"I'll miss you. Please be safe." Anna's thin arms wrapped around her sister's torso.
"I will, I promise. I love you." Elsa gulped, holding back tears.
"Love you too." She pulled back, and rested her palm against the Queen's cheek.
Seeing Anna's tears only made it harder, but she continued to stare at her sister, unable to fathom leaving. She'd done it before, but to protect her. Elsa had to be sure that's what she was doing this time around, too.
"I'll be fine. Go." Anna's eyes shifted to the door, where Christian stood.
"Elsa," he said.
"Coming." Elsa glued her gaze to Anna's face, feeling a hot drop roll down her pale cheek.
Her sister smiled, her eyes stained with sadness.
"I'll be back soon." Queen promised.
"I know." Anna shifted in her bed, crossing her legs.
Christian's hand crept to the small of her back, nudging her forward.
With one last look between the sisters, a mutual look of I'll miss you. was exchanged.
Before the redhead knew it, her presence had sneaked out the door. And her sister was gone.