Anna had become a shell of her former self since Kristoff had disappeared. Elsa noticed her sister wasn't her usual, peppy self and instead had become more reserved, independent, moody and feisty, if that was even possible. However, she only knew Anna was acting this way because she wanted desperately to find Kristoff, as did Elsa. Oddly enough, Elsa wasn't sure about Kristoff at first. Granted, the first time she had seen him wasn't the best situation. She had just had a falling out with her sister and preceded to set a giant snowman after them and the next time, it was when Anna froze to solid ice. She had finally officially met the young man after the thaw, on the ship. Anna had brought her over to introduce her.

"Oh! Elsa! I have to introduce you to somebody!" she had said, dragging her sister by her hand over to Kristoff and Sven, who looked just as genuinely surprised as Elsa had. Anna cleared her throat. "Queen Elsa of Arendelle, meet Mr. Kristoff... er... Kristoff... Kris... um..." she said, tapping her chin as she tried to remember his last name. "Kristoff, did you ever give me your last name?"

"Um... no. No I didn't." Kristoff mumbled. Anna swatted him in the chest playfully, "Ow! What was that for?"

"Not giving me your full name you stinker now what is it so I can introduce you to my sister properly."

Kristoff sighed and couldn't help but smirk at her, glad she hadn't frozen forever. He couldn't have lived with himself if she had frozen and he hadn't had the chance to at least tell her goodbye...

"Bjorgman. Kristoff Bjorgman. Or..." he said, trailing off into incoherent mumbles.

"What was that, Mr. Mumbles?" Anna asked, tapping her ear, "I didn't catch the rest of it."

Kristoff sighed. Here it goes...

"...it's actually Kristoffer Bjorgman..." he said sheepishly, his cheeks turning bright red.

"So your name was Kristoffer this whole time!" Anna cried, slapping him on the arm, "And you said it wasn't!"

"No... I just said it was 'Kristoff', which is just what everyone's called me for years and years. I only get called Kristoffer when..."

Anna raised an eyebrow and elbowed him a little. "When what?" she asked in a sing-songy voice. Kristoff tried not to smile as his face turned even redder.

"When I get in trouble with my mother..." he admitted.

"Aw! That's adorable!" Anna gushed as Kristoff wished he had his hat back to pull down over his blushing face.

"Oh, oh, oh, sorry Elsa! Got distracted." Anna said, looking back to Elsa, who was smiling the slightest bit. Anna cleared her throat, "Um... Queen Elsa of Arendelle, meet Mr. Kristoffer Bjorgman. Otherwise known as Kristoff." she said finally. Elsa smiled a little as she extended a hand.

"Hi." she said, her voice quiet, almost like a whisper. Kristoff looked over at her, his brown eyes peeking out from his bangs.

"Hi there." he said, taking her hand. It wasn't quite as small as Anna's, but was almost just as slender. It felt awkward with his mittens still on plus his hands had begun to sweat in the summer heat.

"Um... hold on." he said, letting go of Elsa's hand and taking off his mitten, holding it between his teeth as he extended his hand and shook again. Elsa looked at his hands. They were longer than hers, his long fingers red from the cold she guessed, his knuckles dry and calloused from being dry and cold. She also felt a few callouses on his palms. Regardless of the callouses, his hand was sweating. A lot.

"So you're the one who's been helping my sister out?" Elsa asked, letting go of his hand. Kristoff slipped his mitten back on before rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Um... yeah. Sven and me have been helping her out." he said.

Elsa raised her eyebrows. "Pardon me for asking but... who is Sven?" she asked. Kristoff jutted a thumb over at Sven, who was lying down on the floor of the ship on his back as Olaf scratched his belly, trying to bite Olaf's carrot nose.

"Er... that's Sven." he said, "Normally he'd be over here saying hello but... I guess he's a little busy at the moment. But it's okay I guess, you can meet him later... er... I mean, that is... if you want to meet him later. If we're still welcome to stay here in Arendelle-"

Elsa cut him off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said you wouldn't be welcome to stay in Arendelle?" she asked. Kristoff shifted his eyes nervously.

"Um... n-nobody in particular but-"

"Listen, you probably saved my sister's life so you can stay here in Arendelle for as long as you like. As a matter of fact, you can stay in the castle for as long as you like." Elsa said.

Kristoff's already huge brown eyes grew two sizes. "Are you serious?" he asked. He heard Anna gasp and let out a squeal of delight as she hugged Elsa, who simply smiled at them both.

"Oh Elsa, thank you!" Anna exclaimed as she turned back to Kristoff, grabbing his hand, "Come on! I gotta show you around!" she squealed, dragging Kristoff towards the dock. Elsa smiled as she looked after her sister and her new friend.

Things would be all right for them now.

Little did Elsa know that a few months later, the same, shy, sweet boy she had met on that boat and his adorable pet would be missing. It ate her up inside.

As Elsa sat at the breakfast table that morning, she looked over at Kristoff's usual spot. It felt so empty here without him… she heard the sound of Anna's tiny feet shuffling across the floor in her bedroom slippers and looked over to see her sister, still in her nightgown, her hair not quite its usual mess but still unbrushed.

"Morning, Anna." she said.

"Hi." Anna mumbled as she sat down to breakfast. Elsa looked over to see Olaf shuffle in as well, taking a seat in a small chair beside Anna at the table, opposite Kristoff's usual spot.

"Morning, girls!" Olaf said happily. Elsa smiled a little and waved over at him.

"Hi there, Olaf."

"Is there room for one more?" Elsa heard a familiar voice ask. She and Anna turned to see Henrik, fully dressed and groomed, enter the dining hall. Without even taking anything into consideration, he pulled out Kristoff's chair and took a seat. Elsa gazed over at Anna and watched as her ears burned a dark red.

"So, what's for breakfast, ladies? How are you two this morning?" Henrik asked.

"You get out of that chair." Anna growled. Elsa's eyes widened as she looked back and forth from Anna to Henrik.

"Pardon me, Anna?"

"You heard me now get up from that chair before I make you get up." Anna ordered. Henrik scoffed, hardly believing what he was hearing.

"What's wrong with me sitting here, Anna?"

"I'm not gonna tell you again. Now, get. Up." Anna said. Henrik looked just as confused as anything.

"Henrik, just get up from the seat. Please." Elsa said, wanting to avoid a blow up. As Henrik hesitated, Elsa felt something burn inside her as she pushed back from the table and rose to her feet, glaring over at Henrik.

"Did you not hear me?! I said get up from that damned chair and do it now!" Elsa roared over at him, a corner of the table frosting over. Henrik anxiously pushed back from the table and got up, pushing in Kristoff's chair.

"All right… I'm sorry, Elsa. I… I didn't mean to upset you two." Henrik apologized. Elsa turned away and sighed.

"No, it wasn't you. I overreacted… I apologize. It's just that…"

"What?" she heard him ask, hearing his footsteps grow closer. She felt his warm hand touch her shoulder.

"It's just that that's Kristoff's seat." Anna interjected. Henrik gasped in realization.

"Oh… it's his seat… oh my… I'm so sorry, I had no idea. If I knew, I would've-"

"It's okay, Henrik." Elsa said as she took his hand, gently pushing it down from her shoulder and turning back to look at him. "You didn't know and I reacted badly. Can we… just forget about it and try to have a nice breakfast?"

Henrik took her hand and kissed it. Anna felt her stomach turn, but she knew she had to keep her thoughts to herself or risk upsetting Elsa and she didn't want to do that. They both had enough to deal with as it was.

"Sure. I'll pick another chair." Henrik said before going over to another chair at the table and having a seat. Before Anna could say anything, the cooks brought in their food. Anna pushed hers around her plate before eventually eating it unconsciously while glaring over at Henrik. There was just… something about him that bothered her.

Maybe it was just because his brother looked so much like him except without the beard and with sideburns.

Maybe it was the fact that he came from the Southern Isles.

Maybe it was just because she missed Kristoff.

Kristoff felt light on his face as he stirred a little, his eyes slowly opening. To his surprise, he wasn't in the dark. He saw the sunlight... finally. He looked around the room he was in. It was a bright room, and clean. It was far better than where he'd been for the last few days. As Kristoff tried to sit up, he felt a sharp pain in his ribs and winced, looking down and noticing his shirt and sweater were gone, bandages over his abdomen. He looked at his wrists to see bandages covering most of his forearms as well. As a matter of fact, the only other thing on him was a pair of pants that didn't belong to him.

Where are my clothes? Where am I? What's going on? He thought.

Then he remembered. Being beaten in the cell of the ship. Sven stabbing the bearded thug with his antlers to protect him. The other thug dragging him to the water. The lead ball attached to his ankle.

The words.

"See you in hell, ice boy."

They echoed in his mind as he remembered being thrown into the water, even colder now in the autumn weather. The water invading his nostrils... gasping for air through his covered mouth, sucking in only more water...

Blacking out...

Then the girl.

He only remembered her face... it was beautiful. She was young, younger than Anna maybe. He remembered her looking down at him, her blue eyes staring as if she'd never seen a human being before. Her hair had been red, even redder than Anna's and fell down her shoulders.

He had to find her. He had to tell her thank you. If Anna heard about this and learned he hadn't thanked the girl, she would smack him in the head so hard his head would spin around.

The sound of the door creaking open interrupted his thoughts as he jumped, curling up in the corner of the bed, knowing he was too weak to fight anyone off at the moment when a sharp pain shot through his ribs.

"Hey, you're awake." he heard a familiar voice say. He watched as a slender, dark haired blue eyed man stepped inside. His memory flooded back to the beach, after the girl had left. This same man had helped him up... and into wherever this place was? His memory was fuzzy, but he could've sworn it was the same man.

"Where the hell am I?" Kristoff barked, eying the man up and down, trying to figure out if he was a friend or foe.

"Hey, don't worry, it's all right, trust me." the man said, throwing up his hands defensively, "I'm Eric and you're in my castle. My dog and I found you on the beach yesterday and brought you back here. You were in mighty bad shape, but we helped you out."

Kristoff's defensive expression began to melt away as he slowly realized that this man was telling the truth... he began to ease back down onto the bed, not taking his eyes off of Eric, who pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

"So... what's your name? What happened to you out in the water?" he asked.

Should I tell him? Kristoff thought. His mind said no, but his gut said yes. Surely, if this man had had the heart to bring him back here, fix him up and let him sleep in a warm bed, he must not be trying to hurt him.

"...Kristoff... my... my name's K-Kristoff..." he mumbled.

Eric extended a hand to him. "Well, Kristoff, it's an honor to finally meet you."

Kristoff eyed his hand suspiciously but reached out a wary hand and shook hands with Eric.

"So... what happened out in the water? Do you remember?" he asked, retracting his hand. Kristoff downcast his eyes, remembering the long days and nights he'd spent as Hans' prisoner.

"Well... I got snatched by a prince who really doesn't like my frie-... family." Kristoff explained, "And he kept me prisoner and was taking me... somewhere when one of his thugs shackled me to a lead ball and pushed me in the water..."

Eric's eyes went wide with surprise as he eyed Kristoff's forearms. Some parts had been stained red from where his scabs had split open and bled. "Is that why your..." Eric asked, tapping his wrist. Kristoff looked down at the bandages and fiddled with them sheepishly.

"Well... yeah... they were tied together for... for..." he said before letting out a discouraged sigh, running both hands through his messy hair, "I... I don't even know how long..."

"Hey, it's all right now. You're safe here, I promise." Eric said, "And as soon as you get to feeling up to it, we'll get you on a ship back home. Where did you say you were from?"

"I... didn't..." Kristoff realized, "I'm from Arendelle."

"Arendelle? Okay." Eric said, nodding, "Well, Carlotta left you some clothes in the washroom if you'd like to clean yourself up. She left some antiseptic and bandages in there too, if you want to change out your bandages."

Kristoff looked over at a slightly open door to see the washroom. After being held prisoner for so long, it looked very inviting.

"Okay... and... who's that?" he asked, referring to Carlotta.

"Oh, she pretty much runs the castle's staff. She cooks, sews, helps with the laundry... almost everything. If you need any help, all you need to do is ask." Eric said, getting up from his seat, "I'll leave you to it. I'll have Louis fix you something to eat."

Food. Kristoff's stomach rumbled loudly, causing him to look down at his stomach, his cheeks reddening.

"Sounds like you're starving." Eric laughed. Kristoff smiled a little.

"Yeah... I... am, actually."

"Not a problem. I'll have him fix something good for you. Just do what you need to do and come on downstairs. I'll see you soon." Eric said, leaving and shutting the door behind him.

Kristoff slowly made his way off the bed, wincing in pain as pain shot through his bruised ribs. He went into the washroom and found a shirt to go with the pants he was wearing as well as a new pair of socks. He turned around and found a bathtub filled with water that was still warm. They must have just filled the tub before he woke up.

Awkwardly shimmying his way out of the pants, Kristoff then unwrapped the bandages from around his torso, sucking air in sharply through his nose as the bandages came off. He then went to his wrists and slowly unwrapped the bandages, finally getting a look at his wrists.

They were rubbed entirely raw starting from his hands to halfway down his forearms. He made a pained expression as he looked down at his sores, even angrier with Hans now. He looked up in the mirror to see that a bandage had also been placed on his neck. He felt the back of his neck, under his hair where the gag had been tied for so long. He then pulled off the bandage and threw it in the garbage with the other used bandages before examining his injuries in the mirror. After days of not eating anything but scraps of food and picking meat off of bones, he saw that he looked somewhat skinnier and paler, his pudgy now looking more pitiful, like he was a starving child again. There were awful, ugly bruises on his abdomen that ranged from a sickening yellow color to an hideous, dark purple. He looked at his ribs, which were now slightly visible from the lack of food and carefully ran his fingers over them, sucking in breath quickly as pain shot through them. Either some were broken or they were bruised badly.

The welt and cuts on his face were accented by his offset, paler complexion. After not having a decent meal for days and days, he was surprised he was even still walking around. Anna wasn't going to be happy to see that he'd been starved to death. She'd have weight back on him in two days or less. Knowing her, she'd probably try and stuff his face with chocolate cake, pies and other sweet stuff, but what Kristoff really craved were carrots. He sighed as he looked at his battered self, feeling rotten as he stepped over to the tub, sticking his foot into the water as he stepped inside.

The water felt heavenly on his feet and legs as he eased the rest of his body inside the tub, his sores stinging a little when they touched the water. After he was fully in the tub, he held his breath and went under the water, wetting his hair and face. When he resurfaced, Kristoff brushed his wet hair back out of his face and located the bar of soap and a washcloth. He lathered up the cloth as best he could before standing up carefully and washing his bruised body carefully, making sure not to hurt himself but also making sure to get all of the dried blood off of his wounds.

After he'd effectively scrubbed himself down... twice, he eased back down into the water and rinsed himself off. Kristoff then took the soap and lathered up his hands, running them through his long hair, scrubbing his scalp as best he could. After he'd also washed his hair out... twice, Kristoff went down under the water again to rinse out his hair. After he was finished, he came back up and washed his face. After he'd done that, he grabbed a nearby mirror and looked at himself. He almost looked presentable if had not been for the welt on his face and where his skin had split open from being hit in the face.

After returning the mirror to where he got it, Kristoff sighed and laid back in the tub, actually enjoying the feeling of being clean. He now understood why Anna and Elsa insisted on him bathing so often. After the water had lost it's warmth, Kristoff stood up and let the water drain out, drying himself off and tending to his wounds, carefully wrapping the bandages around his wrists and abdomen before getting dressed. He looked over to see that they had left some lather and a razor on the counter. Kristoff looked in the mirror and saw that his usually cleanly shaven face had grown stubble over the time he'd been gone. He made use of the lather and the razor, effectively giving himself a clean, close shave, being careful around the welt on his face and the cuts.

As he exited the washroom, he looked over at his bed, which had been made. On top of the bed sat his tunic, sweater, pants, sash and socks, all washed and folded for him. He looked down on the floor to see his pointed boots waiting for him. He sat down on the bed and put on his boots. They looked out of place with the clothes he'd been given, but he didn't care.

After he was dressed, Kristoff headed downstairs to find the smell of food. He looked in the dining area to see a huge plate of food waiting for him.

Suddenly, he didn't feel so threatened anymore.

And then he remembered, the small grin fading from his face.

Sven. Where was Sven.

"Good morning, dear. I sure hope you're feeling better." he heard a woman say next to him. He looked over to see a smiling, plump woman. This must have been Carlotta.

"Um... yes. I do. But... did Eric happen to find a reindeer when he found me?" he asked. Carlotta gave him a confused look.

"Er... no, dear. Eric didn't say anything about a reindeer." she said. Kristoff sighed, his breath becoming staggered as his worry for Sven grew. "Dear boy, are you all right?" he heard Carlotta ask as he tried to keep from freaking out.

"Are you... sure?" he asked.

"What's that about a reindeer?" he heard a voice ask. He turned to see a uniformed guard approaching.

"Yes, a reindeer. Have you seen one around here?" Kristoff begged.

"Well, yes. There was this prince that docked here last night that had a reindeer with him. I think they're over at the inn, which means the reindeer must be in the stables." the guard explained.

"Well, there you go-" Carlotta began as she turned back to Kristoff.

But he had already gone, taken off running out the front door of the castle.