Kristoff hurried quickly to the Arendelle Loft after receiving an urgent phone call from Elsa. "I think she's had a relapse. She woke up asking for Mama and Papa… She doesn't remember." Anna had then begun to panic, refusing Elsa's offer to take her to the hospital. She didn't want to be touched, she was so overcome with grief, and Elsa decided it was time to call for Kristoff. She figured he would be the only kind of help Anna would accept right now. He had such a big impact on her when she woke, and Elsa knew he was going to be an extremely important part of her life from now on. And Kristoff didn't have to be told twice to come right away.
He was calm as he knocked on the door. He knew that Anna wasn't hurt, so there was no need for him, too, to get worked up. It would only panic Anna more. Elsa opened the door, a look of utter relief flooding her face. "Kristoff, thank God!"
"Where is she?" he asked, leaning his body to the side to look passed her.
"She went up to the roof. Said she wanted to be alone." It was clear from Elsa's red eyes that she, too, had been crying. Kristoff could only imagine how hard it was for Elsa, knowing that not even she, Anna's big sister, could comfort her this time.
Kristoff squeezed his friend's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Elsa. You know she doesn't mean to upset you. We'll get her through this, I promise." The blonde only nodded as tears fell down her cheeks again. She shook her head, embarrassed by her waterworks and pointed up, gesturing for him to go on ahead.
He opened the door to the roof slowly, though his entrance was anything but subtle due to the loud screeching the door made as it swung open. There she was, looking so tiny and fragile at the center of the roof, on her wooden swing. Her back was to him, even though there was no way didn't hear the door open. The swing was stationary, and she was leaning over, her face in her hands. Just the sight alone broke his heart. He walked carefully over to her, not wanting to alarm her.
"Anna?" He kept his voice soft and quiet, moving around the swing to kneel before her. "Anna, sweetheart?" He placed one of his large hands over both her tiny ones sitting on her lap. A tear hit his hand, and he could feel now that she was trembling. He wanted to pull her down into his arms, hold her tight, keep her warm, and assure her that he was going to do everything in his power to make everything okay again. But again, startling her during a relapse wasn't an option.
He watched her as she bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut as more tears fell down her cheeks. She moved her hands underneath his, so he lifted his hand to see her holding a snowflake pendant. "I don't remember losing them, Kristoff…" she whispered shakily. "They're gone… I loved them so much!"
And she made it there, all on her own, into his lap, curling up in his arms, gripping his jacket as she wept into him. He let himself slide the rest of the way onto the ground, pulling her close, kissing her hair as he let her cry. He would sit there with her for as long as she wanted, as long as she needed. He couldn't imagine how she felt; it was like she lost her parents twice. He remembered well the first time it had happened, and it wasn't any easier.
They sat that way for a long time, Anna's sobbing digressing to sniffles, and then to nothing. For a moment, he thought she had fallen asleep, but then she looked up at him, her eyes flooded with sadness. "Hey…" he whispered softly.
"Hey…" She sighed and nuzzled her face into his neck. He thought he felt her lips brush meaningfully against his skin, but he wasn't sure. "I don't want to be here… will you take me somewhere?" she asked, looking up at him again.
"Of course I will. Anything for you, Anna." He slid his arm under her legs and held her bridal style as he got up with her, effortlessly. He settled her back down to her feet, and she wound her arms around his middle. He couldn't help but grin. "Why don't we go to my place? You still haven't seen Sven. I know he'd love to see you," he said softly into her hair.
He felt her nod into his jacket. "I'd like that…" she whispered.
"Come on, Feistypants." He gently pulled his life-sized koala away from his middle and took her hand securely in his before bringing it to his lips, kissing it softly. He then realized she was without a jacket and freezing cold. He removed his own jacket, momentarily letting go of her hand, and draped it over her shoulders. She happily slipped her arms into the too-big sleeves and zipped it up before snuggling into it, pressing the soft, cotton fabric up to her nose. It smelled like Kristoff. It smelled like home. She slipped her arm into his and let him lead her down and out of the apartment building and to his truck.
She had calmed down greatly in the car, sitting close to Kristoff, holding his hand and absent-mindedly drawing little shapes into the palm of his hand as she lost herself to the music on the radio. It was raining now, just like the day he had found her on his doorstep, and he couldn't help but smile and squeeze her hand affectionately. She noticed and glanced over at him, catching his smile. "What?" He could see the grin trying to tug at her lips.
"Nothing. Today just reminds me of the day we met."
It was hopeless. She had knocked on every door for five blocks on both the north and south side of the street she found the abandoned puppy on. It had begun to rain halfway through. No one would claim the poor thing, and she was beginning to think someone had purposely left him considering the fact that she could see his ribs under his fur.
The last door she knocked on, she got no response. And that was when the tears began to fall. There was no way she could leave this poor thing on the street to be hit by a car or a bus. New York City streets were horribly dangerous! She would rather drop dead than to take him to a shelter where there was a good chance he'd be put down. And taking him home to Elsa? That wasn't even an option. Now what was she to do!
She cradled the weak, whimpering puppy in her arms, her jacket pulled over them as she hunched over the puppy, both hopeless and cold. It wasn't until she heard an obnoxiously loud truck cut its ignition off right in front of where she sat that she looked up. A tall, broad-shouldered young man slid out of the cab, head bowed to the rain as he ran for his door. The door she was sitting right in front of. He was no more than six feet away when honey-brown met deep cerulean, and he froze on the spot. Anna stood, wiping the tears from her eyes in vain as the rain continued to pour.
"Can I help you?" the young man asked, shifting awkwardly. He had just finished a long, strenuous job for the construction company he worked for, and he really wasn't in the mood to deal with some pouty kid.
"Is this your puppy?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.
"Uh. No. It's not." He side stepped around her to get to his door, and as he reached for the handle, the girl let out a great big sob, and he felt his heart clench guiltily in his chest. He sighed and turned back around. "You, uh… you really shouldn't be sitting out here in this cold rain, kid…" The redhead turned to look at him, eyes big and wide. "Do… you want to come in and dry off? Take a look at the little guy and make sure he isn't injured or anything?"
"Yes! Thank you!"
He led her up to his apartment, holding the door open as he let her walk in first. "I'm Kristoff, by the way."
She turned around, a timid smile on her lips. "Anna."
He gave her an old t-shirt of his to change into while he put the kettle on for some hot chocolate. He sat down on the kitchen floor and pulled the puppy to him, gently, drying him off with a towel. He couldn't help but notice that the german shepherd pup never took his big eyes off of him, and his tail was wagging happily, though the rest of him remained still as he was dried off. "You sure are a cute little fella…" he thought out load as he checked for injuries. The puppy made a sweet little noise and nudged Kristoff's hand with his nose. He smiled and scratched behind his ear.
"Is he okay?"
Kristoff jerked his head up to see the redhead leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, her braids redone and back in place. He gave her a warm smile. "Yeah. Everything checks out alright. I think the little guy is just hungry." He got up and headed for the fridge while Anna moved toward the dog. Kristoff pulled out a ziplock bag of leftover ham and handed it to Anna to give the dog. "So you've had no luck finding the owner?" he asked her as he got a couple of mugs out of his cabinet. "Want some hot chocolate to warm you up?"
Anna shook her head. "No… I'm beginning to think he doesn't have one. That he was just abandoned." Her ears perked up at the sound of chocolate. "Ooo, yes, please! Thank you!" He was an older boy, probably around 18 or 19, but he sure was cute. Sure, she was only 15, but she was allowed to admire him, was she not?
"Why not take him to one of the shelters here in the city?" he offered, handing her a mug and sitting back down on the floor on the other side of the puppy who was practically inhaling the ham.
"Are you serious?! No way! Surely you've seen how many stray animals roam the city! They pick animals up all the time! And you *know* what they do with extra dogs and cats they can't get rid of!"
"Take them to China Town?" he teased. He was surprised when he received a powerful little smack in the arm. "Hey!"
"That's not funny, Kris…" she pouted. "I don't want him to be euthanized…"
He was caught off-guard at her shortening of his name. His adopted mother and siblings had only ever called him anything other than 'Kristoff,' and it was usually 'Krissy.' "Awfully big word for such a tiny little kid," he mused. She was fun to tease, he discovered.
She made a face at him and put her hands on her hips, even while sitting cross-legged. "I am fifteen-years-old, I am *not* a kid!"
"Okay, okay, Feistypants! Easy!" he laughed.
Anna narrowed her eyes, but in the end, she couldn't hide her grin. "Anyway…" she sang, "I can't take him home, either. My sister would absolutely have a fit. And I can't exactly risk upsetting her right now…"
"Well, what about your parents? Don't they have a say?" And right away, he wished he hadn't asked. Her face fell, and her chin fell to her chest.
"They're gone…"
He didn't need to know anymore than that. And he knew, just by the look on her face, that it was fairly recent. "I'm so sorry, Anna…" She shrugged, sticking out a finger to softly scratch the puppy's tummy as she studied the floor. "I'm an orphan, too, you know. Have been since I was very little. I don't really remember much about my parents."
Anna lifted her head, eyes wide. "Really?"
He smiled. "Really. You're not alone." He got comfortable on the floor, leaning back against the cabinets. The German Shepherd puppy rested its head on Kristoff's foot. He was growing quite fond of the tiny animal. "Tell me some things about your folks. What were they like?"
"Really?" she repeated eagerly. "You'd like the hear about them?"
"Of course."
And she was off. They talked for a good two hours, Anna about her parents and her sister, and Kristoff about the family he was adopted into. By the time the sky began to darken, Kristoff voiced that it was probably a good time to get Anna home. "And you know what? I think I'd like to keep this little guy," he said, holding the puppy as they walked down the steps of his building. The puppy licked his face as Anna tackled his middle with a big hug.
"FOR REAL?!" she exclaimed, looking up and smiling widely at him.
He laughed and nodded. "Yes, for real, Feisty. I'll name him Sven. And I'll tell you what… You can come over anytime you want to visit."
"KRISTOFF! Thank you!"
"We were inseparable after that day," Kristoff finished after recalling their meeting for Anna.
Anna squeezed his hand, eyes focused somewhere to the right of the road as she pulled the memories back from the depths of her subconscious. "Yes… I think I remember that. The rain I remember. The hot chocolate. The cute blonde," she added with a grin in his direction. "I'm having trouble with dialogue and what we actually talked about, but… it sounds nice…"
"It was," Kristoff assured her as they pulled into his lot.
"OOF!" The door to his apartment hadn't even opened all of the way before Anna was tackled by a huge German Shepherd. She felt like he was going to lick her face off! "SVEN!" she giggled, scratching behind his ears and kissing his head just between his sweet eyes.
"Sven, easy!" The worry was evident in Kristoff's voice, and Anna found it touching, especially as he pulled her up off of the ground as though she were a china doll. "Are you okay?" Deep, honey eyes frantically searched cerulean, holding her close to him, but all he found was a sweet smile in her eyes.
"I'm fine," she said softly, gazing up at him. How in the world had it taken her so long to see what was right in front of her? If it wasn't for the crash, she would have made the biggest mistake of her life. "I swear I'm not made of glass."
Kristoff sighed in relief, combing a hand through her red trusses. "I know, I just… You haven't been out of the hospital for even a month yet, and you've been having dizzy spells, memory lapses…"
He was cut short by soft, tiny fingers pressing against his lips. "Hey, hey… I'm okay, Kris." She leaned up on her tip toes and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips before settling back on her heels.
Kristoff had been so strong, so resolute for eight long, exhausting months, and now she was here, she was okay, and she was in love with *him.* His heart clenched in his chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, pressing little kisses into her hair, eyes closed, breathing her in. "I didn't think I was ever going to get you back, Anna," he whispered in her ear.
"I know…" she breathed, shivering from the chills his whispers created. "Come on. Sven is having a fit. And it's cold." Anna pulled him inside, and once they were out of wet coats, Anna was feeling fatigued. It was the perfect day for a movie, so the three of them snuggled up on the couch, Anna snuggled up to Kristoff's chest, and Sven lying behind her legs that were curled up on the couch, his head resting on her thigh.
It was everything she never knew she needed.
"Hey…" Anna looked up at his voice. "I love you. More than you know." And he kissed her, long and deep. She reciprocated through the kiss, her free hand cupping his face.
"I love you, too, Kris. You're my rock."