Anna rushed around the castle's kitchen nervously. It had been a year since she had first met Kristoff and had fallen for him, hard. However unlike her unfortunate misstep with Hans, she had been taking the whole relationship with Kristoff far slower. It didn't feel slow, however. It felt like she had just met him yesterday, everything with them was still so new and exciting, and yet it was as if she had known him her whole life. Despite this however she had learned her lesson, and as such even after a year she still wasn't rushing into anything. She was rather planning, thinking and learning day by day what it felt like to truly and completely be in love.
This feeling had led her to want to do something special for Kristoff, he hadn't been around much lately, and despite the fact that he didn't harvest in the summer he had been very busy. She wasn't sure why, but what she did know was that he was going to be back in less than an hour and she had planned to make him dinner.
That was easier said than done however. She had never cooked before and had insisted on doing everything herself. Though this was a romantic idea, making him dinner, it was losing its charm not that she had burned or otherwise destroyed everything she had planned to cook. Her eternal optimism was beginning to wane, and frankly she felt like a failure. She should have asked one of the cooks for help hours ago, but unfortunately it was too late now and the only thing she could do was walk away with her tail between her legs.
"Miss!" A young woman called after Anna as she walked towards the kitchen door in defeat.
Anna sighed and turned around, she really didn't need anyone's pity at the moment. She just wanted to return to her room and the unfinished surprise she had laid for Kristoff there.
"Miss, you left your cake and a casserole in the oven, so I removed them." She looked worried, obviously she was new to the staff. No one that had ever actually served the sisters before was ever nervous around them. After all she and Elsa tried to treat the palace staff like family the best they could. "Would you like me to frost the cake and bring them into the dining room with the casserole or would you like them thrown out?"
Anna's mouth fell open, she had completely forgotten about the casserole and chocolate cake she had been making. She had been so flustered by burning the beef she had been cooking to realize that there was still hope for her meal. "They're not burnt?"
The girl, seeing how surprised Anna was, and noting that it was pleasantly so nodded, "Yes miss I took them out before they were overcooked. You looked busy and I didn't want to bother you."
Anna was awestruck. "I'll take care of the rest, but thank you so much." She was absolutely beaming, her anniversary dinner with Kristoff was not lost, but rather would still go on somewhat as planned. "What's your name?" She danced a little with excitement as she asked, she would have to remember to do something nice for her later.
The girl looked shocked, obviously she had never worked for anyone like Anna before, though no one had truly ever worked for someone like Anna because there simply was no one who was quite like Anna. "Uh it's Penelope miss, Penelope Olsen."
"Well Penelope," Anna said, grinning with the brightest smile she could muster, "you've earned yourself a night off, and if you ever need anything let me know." She opened her arms to the girl, around her own age, and she, though tentatively opened hers too, which Anna took as the okay to go in for a hug. She was a Princess by right and birth, but it was her actions towards those on a social scale below hers that made her truly royal. She never really treated anyone differently based on rank, only on their actions. "Just tell the head cook that the Princess insisted that you get a good night's rest and that you will return in the morning."
The girl looked shocked, but honestly grateful. Never before in her life had she served anyone who was so kindly and generous. It had been a great honor to her family when she was selected to work as a scullery maid for the palace, but she had never imagined it to be such a lovely job to do. The Princess had given her blessing to do as she wished for the rest of the evening, which was still supremely young, and she supposed that she would spend it writing a letter to her mother, father and younger siblings about her new life in the castle and the very friendly Princess of Arendelle.
Leaving Penelope to her own devices Anna ran back into the kitchen to discover the cake set out on a lovely tray with the casserole and two plates beside it with a bowl of frosting not too far off, likely left there by one of the pastry chefs who had watched her first make the cake. Anna beamed with pleasure, the staff all knew what she was doing, she hadn't said a word to them about it, simply asked them to open their kitchen to her, but they had all wanted to help her in their own way while of course keeping their distance. Many of those in the palace had watched her grow up and knew that she liked to do things her own way, and just so in that way. They knew her and she thanked them for it. She thought ahead to the upcoming solstice festival and decided that if Elsa agreed, they would give the entire staff of the palace the night off, after all they were more than capable of cooking, cleaning, dressing, and undressing themselves for one night, especially Kristoff who Anna knew well was a far better cook than she was.
After taking a moment with the thought she focused on the task at hand. The cake was chocolate, small, round and fairly thick. She had planned on making multiple layers, but it was far too late for such a thing now, and rather than waste time thinking of what she could have done, Anna began to frost the cake with the chocolate frosting that had been kindly left out for her. She may not be a stellar cook, but her sweet tooth had given her plenty of opportunities to bake, and as such she was fairly good at frosting cakes.
Before long she was finished and had grabbed one of the wooden carts which the servants often used to transport food, dishes, linens and other necessities around the castle. Upon it she loaded everything she needed and returned to her bedroom knowing that she only had a short time to prepare before Kristoff returned home.
Kristoff arrived at the stables with Sven, feeling very genial. He had finally done it, he had finally done what he had set out to do. As he dismounted and lead Sven into the stables he reached into his pant pocket to run his fingers over the small box that was within. It had taken him an entire year to save up and frankly work up the courage to do so, but he had bought a ring, specifically the ring which he would use to propose to Anna. He wasn't sure when he would do it, of course the plan was for tonight, but like any man he got nervous. He knew what her answer would be, and he knew that Elsa would not be upset with him or Anna as she had been the last time a man proposed to her sister. He knew this of course because he had spent a year with Anna and their mutual love, and she had gone to Elsa a month ago to ask for her blessing, which she had been surprisingly happy to give. Elsa, now beginning to lose some of her more severe social anxiety, had been surprising a lot of people as of late, but that was another story for another time. However despite everything he knew, he was still just as nervous as any other man proposing to the woman they loved.
As Kristoff left the stable and returned to the castle an older man, one of the palace gardeners, let him know that the Princess was awaiting his arrival in her chambers. He thanked the man kindly and the man almost as if he had known everything smiled and muttered something along the lines of "goes get her champ."
Kristoff hearing this, laughed and taking his direction went straight to the stairs that lead up to the palace's third floor, the location of his and Anna's separate bedrooms. Her room was of course the Princess suite, across the hall from his own room which was similarly royal in title as the Prince's chamber. Of course he was hardly a Prince, but when he had agreed to move in Anna had been insistent that he should take the room befitting a royal. Kristoff honestly may have been more aesthetically pleased by one of the much smaller and plainer servant's rooms, but he had to admit that the room did have its perks when it came to being near to hers. If having a large and luxurious room was the only downside of being close to her, he supposed the benefits far outweighed the negatives.
"Anna." Kristoff called, opening her door without taking a moment to knock. He usually would have, but if she was already expecting him there was hardly a point in it. The long thick curtains of her room had been pulled shut and the room was only warmly lit by candle light. When his eyes adjusted to this he closed the door behind him to find Anna sitting alone at a table wearing something that was hardly appropriate for any royal dinner. Her gown was not the current style, long, but form fitting at the top, deeply cut in the neck and chest, with a bottom that flowed out like rivers of satin. It was green, his favorite color, and he could not help but feel as if he were a very lucky fly who had caught himself in a spider's web.
"You look…" He could not find the words, she stood from the table and approached him, at which point he also realized that there were only small cap sleeves on her dress and that obvious by the dress's mostly bare back, that she was not wearing a corset. He took a deep breath, heart beating out of his chest. "Wow."
Anna giggled, ruining what she had been planning as a somewhat sultry and mature approach. She had still planned on taking things slow with Kristoff, but showing off a little bit of skin to let him know exactly what he had gotten himself into could hardly hurt.
Her cheeks were red with a deep blush that Kristoff had already noticed was extending also to her chest. He was a gentleman and as such was trying to maintain eye contact with her at all times, however it seemed that he had lost the custody of his own eyes. They, deciding to no longer be ruled by the blonde mountain man darted along her figure, from her accentuated and one display chest to the curves of her body. He could not keep his eyes off her, which he supposed was her plan.
The candle light only added to her beauty, flickering and glowing to make him see her in shadows and golden light at the same time. She looked like a goddess in every way, and Kristoff simply stood there dumbfounded as she approached and eventually hugged him with all her might.
"I'm so glad you're home." She said excitedly as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I made us dinner to celebrate."
Kristoff couldn't believe what he was hearing, she had cooked? She could bake, but she had proved herself on multiple occasions to be lacking when it came to actually cooking something that was not a sweet treat. However he knew Anna and he knew that she wouldn't say something like that if it were not true. Noticing the lack of burnt smell in the air, he was already tremendously proud of her and whatever was awaiting them upon the table. However before he got there he knew that now was the time, right in that moment when he was in complete and total awe of her splendor and beauty, it was the time to ask her.
Kristoff fell to his knee before Anna could even figure out what was going on. She watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a small box. That, before he even opened his mouth to speak, was when everything came rushing at her. She had read enough romance novels in the palace library to know what was happening. He was proposing, and after telling herself the entire day that she was going to continue to take things slow until they were both ready, she knew that at the very least she was. She was going to say yes before he even got the words out to ask. And this time it was not because she didn't know what love was, and it wasn't because she was lonely. It was simply because after a year of happiness and hours spent trying beyond all things to show how much she loved and adored him, she knew that she didn't ever want to live without him. It had taken her eighteen years to figure it out, nearly nineteen in a few weeks, but she did love him, honestly, truly, and completely. As such, however she did not answer immediately but rather gave him his moment.
"You are the funniest, most brilliant, and beautiful woman I've ever met. You don't need to answer me right now if you don't want to, and I've already talked to your sister, so my question is Anna, Princess of Arendelle, my feistypants, will you marry me?" As he uttered the final four words he opened the box in his hand.
As Anna watched the small case open she truly was speechless for a moment. The ring he had chosen for her simply made everything a bit more real than even hearing him say anything. It was silver with a small diamond, nothing too fancy, but she didn't need fancy, it was him. "Yes." She said, her lips moving without her mind telling them to. Today they didn't need her mind to speak, they only needed the truth that was in her heart. "Yes Kristoff I would love to be your wife."
She teared up a bit then, thinking of the spectacular year they had spent together. The day they met at Oaken's shop, going together to find Elsa, him coming to save her across the fjord, and every loving day after that. She thought of the way he had brought her back up the mountain in summer, bringing her to a hot spring and teaching her the names of the flowers that surrounded it. She smiled thinking of their first Christmas together where he had told her troll stories about Santa Claus and how he really did exist. Everything about him was simply so perfect for her, and she simply couldn't hold herself back from him. She loved the clumpy way he walked and the grumpy way he talked. Frankly she loved his entirely manly blondness and everything else about him from head to toe. More than anything she was thrilled to be the future Mrs. Bjorgman.
Kristoff was speechless himself, taking a few moments to comprehend that she had actually said yes to him before sliding the ring onto her finger and being relieved that it actually did fit. He had gotten her ring size from one of the maids that took care of purchasing the jewelry and dresses that Anna and Elsa wore to formal occasions, however the maid herself had admitted to the fact that she was unsure which size was Elsa's and which size was Anna's.
Once the ring was securely on her finger Kristoff stood and embraced his fiancé. He held her tight to him with one hand on her waist and the other cradling her neck. Her hair was up in a bun, giving him access to touch her neck without tangles of her long sunset hair getting in his way.
She kissed him without warning, as she often did. She was simply so extremely happy that she could hardly think. In fact she had to remind herself to breathe when the kiss broke.
Kristoff, chuckling at the absurdity of his own worriedness kissed her forehead before looking into her eyes and asking, "So, what now?"
Anna laughed, "Well I did make dinner."