"You told him he slipped...on ice?" Elsa's face was incredulous, her meal instantly forgotten.

"Your ice." Anna said. She poked the fish on her plate with her fork. "Oh wow, this catch sure is flaky."

The queen sighed in exasperation. "Anna..."

"What was I supposed to say?" Anna reasoned in a whine, "I punched you in the face after you betrayed me and tried to kill my sister?"

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "Well he believed my having ice powers, so why not?"

"Doctor's orders remember?"

"Well you still lied."

Anna threw her hands up in annoyance. She had been looking forward to dinner as repose from today's events. Gerda would even be serving her famous baked meringue for dessert. So much for that. "Well I was asked on the spot, so I went with something more harmless than douchebaggery and attempted regicide."

Elsa frowned, annoyed but could see the princess' point. "Okay fine," she conceded, "But you did not have to go see him."

Anna did not like her sister's tone. "You asked me to! This morning!"

"That was when he was still unconscious! And even then, you still went to him a second time."

"He can't remember anything," reminded Anna (though personally she did not really believe that), her tone heightening slightly, "I was only checking up on him."

"Well from now on, you keep your distance." Elsa commanded, "I can't trust you with him."

"Wait, what? You can't trust me? I didn't try to take over a kingdom!"

"Need I remind you..." Oh no. Anna could already predict Elsa's words in her head before they even got out. "...You wanted to marry him! After one day."

Anna gritted her teeth. She knew it had been coming, but it did not fail to strike a nerve. The princess scraped back her chair, which almost toppled from her force as she stood. She glared at her sister.

"That was then, this is now! Why bring that up?"

"Then?" The queen rose, slamming her hands palms-down on the table. The silverware clanged. "Then was very recent! If he could seduce you then, what makes you think he won't try it again? How can we be sure he truly forgot everything and that it's not another ploy?"

"Wow Elsa." Anna muttered, hands balling up at her sides, "thanks for having so much faith in me."

Without another word, the princess spun around and stormed out the dining hall. It was only when she reached her room did she notice the visible puffs of her own breath. Anna groaned. Dinner had been a cold affair to say the least.

"You're fighting. Over a guy."

"Kristoff!" Anna slapped his arm, earning a scowl. "Don't say it like that!

"Okay, lemme try again." He passed the pail of carrots he had sneaked from the kitchen to Sven. The reindeer eagerly grabbed the handle with his mouth. The carrots would be gone in seconds flat. "You're fighting over your villainous ex-fiance possibly feigning to be an innocent lamb. That right?"

The princess flopped down on a bale of hay with a huff. "Something like that."

Kristoff sighed and leaned against a stable post, eyeing her with a thin smile. "Wanna talk about it?"

Anna grabbed a fistful of hay and tossed it at her feet. "I mean...look, I get it." she grumbled, "Elsa is only looking out for me."

He nodded.

"But I hate how she paints me to be so...so..."

"...Reckless, irresponsible, impulsive and-HAY!" He glared at her, brushing off the thrown wads of hay from his tunic.

Anna met his eyes with a haughty smile as she dusted her hands clean, "You deserved that. You're supposed to hear me out and offer suggestions."

Sven, ever the glutton, started sniffing Kristoff's shirt, curious if the princess had thrown some kind of straw-y snack at him. Kristoff playfully pushed him away. "I'll listen but as far as suggestions go..." He whistled a sigh. "I know you'll hate me for saying this but Elsa's right."

"Ugh!" Anna wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Trust you to take her side. You're a biased opinion anyway."

"What? Just because she makes ice and ice is my life? I'm not that easy."

Anna would have believed him if she had not witnessed him engaging her sister in a heated conversation about the perfect temperature to store ice.

"Wait," Kristoff continued, realization dawning in his brown eyes, "are you implying you don't agree with Elsa about not seeing him again? That you will see him again?"

Anna crossed her arms and raised her chin. "Look! Hans is crafty. He's a manipulative bastard. No one knows that better than me. He can't be left alone with just anyone, he'll take advantage of that especially with his," she air-quoted, "condition."

Kristoff folded his arms as well, "So you're saying you want to keep an eye on him?"

"Exactly."

"Anna. You're a princess! In a castle. With guards. Let them do their jobs please?"

Anna dug her heel into the dirt. "What part of manipulative bastard do you not get? He convinced esteemed dignitaries that I was dead! He fooled an entire kingdom! His memory loss could be another crazy scheme. He deceived everyone!" He fooled me.

Kristoff, at first, was at a loss for words, but her stubbornness eventually got to him. "Fine, I get it. Someone needs to watch him. But it can't be you, no, wait," He held his hands up, stopping her protests early, "let me finish. I can't believe I'm saying this..." his words were heavy with regret, "but why not let me handle it?"

Anna's eyes widened.

"Really? You would do that?"

He sighed. "Well...if it puts your mind at ease, as well as fix your quarrel with Elsa, I don't see why I can't babysit a narcissistic egomaniac. It would be a dream come true..." He trailed off sarcastically.

Anna bounced to her feet in both joy and relief. "Thank you, Kristoff. That means a lot. I owe you another sled."

She was truly lucky to have a friend like Kristoff. Neither of them ever really brought it up but...had things been different, maybe, just maybe, this blond mountain man would have proven to be her true love? If she had reached him in time for that kiss across the frozen fjord...

Maybe he still was? Hard to test that theory unless she asked Elsa to freeze her heart again. She frowned. On second thought, no rush. Friendship first. After all, the last time she almost received a kiss; she got an evil monologue instead. Anna shook that thought away. She and Kristoff would be fine. Both of them were content with their present situation anyway (wretched prince excluded).

The ice master grinned, "I want that in paper then." Sven happily grunted in approval as well, nearly knocking his human's head with his antlers.

"Oh and since Sven isn't allowed inside the palace. Maybe you could take Olaf with you tomorrow."

Kristoff shared a look with Sven. "A talking snowman in place of a reindeer and a man who can't remember anything. All in the same room, yeah, makes perfect sense."

"Don't forget a smelly man too," added Sven, who was really just voiced by the blond man.

"Just be careful." Anna cautioned, "If he's really faking it, you'll have to be on guard. At all times. Don't let anything he say get to you."

Kristoff made an indignant noise in his throat. He actually looked offended.

"Anna. I appreciate your concern. But you forget, I'm Kristoff reindeer-are-better-than people Bjorgman. I will not let my guard down."

"What do you call a reindeer wearing earmuffs?"

"What?"

"Anything you want, he can't hear you!"

The inside of the room erupted in laughter.

Anna did a double-take around the hallway. She eyed the door in front of her again, blinked a number of times before accepting the reality that, yes, she was in fact in the right place. But something was definitely wrong.

Another bad reindeer joke. Then, more laughter.

Are you kidding me?

Forgoing her plans at attempted espionage, the princess burst through the door and could not believe her eyes.

Kristoff, Hans and Olaf...were having a card game.

Kristoff, whom she used to have a very high opinion of until now, shifted uncomfortably in his chair next to Hans' bed. He slowly lowered his cards to the pile atop the bedcovers. Hans, who sat cross-legged against the headboard, regarded Anna with mild confusion.

Olaf, the only innocent party plopped near the foot of the bed, waved his limbs in excitement, cards flying. "ANNA! Kristoff just told this funny joke. What do you call a reindeer with three eyes?"

"Dead."

Olaf frowned. "No that's not right...it's a reiiindeer! With three 'i's. Letters, not eyes. I didn't get it at first either and called it a freak, because what's more freaky than a reindeer with three eyes." The sentient talking snowman chuckled in his own amusement, before turning back to his card-playing companions, "whose turn is it?"

Kristoff, taller than most average men, felt particularly small in front of Anna, who had pulled him out to the far end of the hallway to discuss certain matters. He could not even look her in the eye, which worked just as well for Anna because she did not enjoy looking at traitors.

"What was that?" Anna hissed.

Kristoff flinched at her question. "Well, I...you see. It wasn't what it looked like?"

"A fun card game and friendly banter? That's what it didn't look like? You better have a perfectly good excuse!"

Kristoff sighed in defeat as he squeezed his eyes shut, most likely to come up with something justifiable in his head. Anna waited for his explanation, the tapping of her foot resonating under the wooden floor.

"It's like this..." he finally started. "I went in there ready to take on that jerk...but..."

"But what?!"

"The thing is...that guy back there," he directed a thumb to the other end of the hall, "is nice, like really, really super nice."

Anna almost choked in disbelief.

"Nice...that's your excuse. He's nice?!"

"He's like totally a different person from what I expected. I actually felt guilty trying to play the bad guard. He's really friendly, he even laughed at my jokes."

"That should have been your clue!" Anna yelled, "Why would anyone laugh at those lame jokes if not to pretend!"

Kristoff stepped a few inches back, "Whoa whoa feisty-pants. Don't get upset, let's get back on the same page."

"Ooh!" Anna huffed, face turning red. "I warned you! He's sly! He's only acting this way to avoid his punishments in the Southern Isles!"

"Well if he's acting..." Kristoff dared to even sound skeptical. "He deserves every acting guild award in all the land. Anna, I hate to say it but maybe...and I'm only saying this because I got to spend the whole day with him, maybe the doctor is right? I mean you can never rule out the possibility."

Anna narrowed her eyes, "You don't know him the way I do." Her memory echoed back to his betrayal. "That's why it's impossible for you to see through him. You're off the case, Kristoff."

"W-what?"

She marched past him, eyes forward.

"I'm in charge now."