Disclaimer: I don't own any parts of the moves and franchises referenced in this story.

Chapter 15

Olaf's Question

Anna sat at the dinner table, uneasy. The conversation had been lively, with Kristoff and Sven talking and sharing carrots. Nothing wrong with those two.

The unease couldn't be Jack or Elsa either. Jack had been a lot more active in the last two days. If he wasn't doing a light-hearted prank, like slipping some of Kristoff's mud-stew into Anna's drink, or laughing at his own expense, he seemed to be helping out in the village. He would go out with Kristoff to deliver some extra ice or supplies to the villagers, and usually give away some ice toys he had built for the children. And his friendship with Elsa had grown stronger. Gone was the somewhat frosty reception Elsa had been giving Jack. One training session, and Elsa seemed to trust Jack completely. They even seemed to be copying moves from each other now, strengthening their powers, and getting better and better. Anna smiled as she watched Jack show Elsa how to bring an image on a frost window to temporary life. She didn't feel threatened by this new friendship, Anna was just glad her sister had a new friend.

So why was Anna feeling concerned? She turned to Olaf to ask him, then stopped. Olaf was unusually quiet this evening, a thought-provoking expression on his face. Ordinarily, he would be giving fun facts or making naïve, funny comments. Tonight though, he was very quiet, his hands on his chin and his eyes furrowed, thinking. Anna frowned. This was so unlike Olaf.

"Olaf, are you alright?"

Olaf turned to Anna. "Hmm? Oh, I'm alright, Anna. I'm just thinking about something."

Anna nodded, concerned. She turned to Elsa, trying to get her attention. When Elsa turned to her, Anna leaned her head towards Olaf. Elsa looked over to Olaf and grew a concerned look herself. She turned back to Anna, shrugging her shoulders. Apparently, neither of them knew what was going on.

Elsa turned to Olaf. "Penny for your thoughts, Olaf?"

Olaf turned to Elsa. "I don't know how I can give you my thoughts for a penny, Elsa."

Elsa shook her head, chuckling. "No, Olaf. It just means, 'could you please tell me what's on your mind?'"

Olaf nodded. "Ok. That makes more sense. Sure, I'd be happy to tell you.

After thinking a few seconds, Olaf began:

"Ok. So I was thinking the other day about Christmas. It's coming up in a few days, and I was thinking of some of the exciting holiday stuff, like the decorations, the traditions, and the gifts. There's so much that's exciting about Christmas.

"Then I got to thinking about gifts. I realized that while you all had your ideas about what you wanted, I had not figured mine out yet. I had been so wrapped up in finding traditions last year that I didn't have time to think about what I wanted for Christmas.

"This fact made me concerned and worried. After all, Christmas Eve is only three days away. I needed to figure out what I wanted to get soon. I realized that I didn't really want anything, as I don't think there is anything I really want.

"Then it hit me hard. Why are gifts important at Christmas? What is the deeper meaning? If I could figure that out, then perhaps that could help me determine what I want for a gift. So I've gotten to pondering, and I don't think I've figured out the answer. Then you all asked me what's on my mind and I gave you this speech for an answer."

Olaf then turned and looked around. "Maybe you all know the answer. Why is gift giving so important to Christmas? Why Christmas specifically and not another holiday?"

This was a tough question. Anna had never really thought about it before. As Anna looked around the room, she realized that everyone else seemed to be in the same boat. The question had never come up before, and nobody had ever thought about it.

Kristoff then cleared his throat. "Olaf, buddy. I don't think any of us here have really considered this question. I don't know about Elsa or Anna, but me and Sven didn't really ask about that."

Sven nodded, adding, "The trolls had their own holidays, so we joined in with them. It was more of a tradition than an acutal reason for Christmas. There might have been a deeper reason, but we don't really remember the celebrations on Christmas Day aside from gifts. Didn't really do much of the human holidays, so couldn't tell you their thoughts."

Anna nodded. "I'm afraid to say there wasn't much on our end, either. After the gates closed, Christmas never felt the same. We usually celebated by ourselves. Nobody every brought up the reason for the gifts, we just opened them and celebrated that."

Olaf looked around, smiling. "Okay, maybe that's all there is to Christmas. Seems like the kind of thing we should investigate, but maybe we don't need to."

Jack looked around at the group. "You know, Olaf makes a good point here. I've never really thought about it before, but gifts and trees being the main aspect of Christmas feels kinda shallow. And I don't know about you all, but I do feel like there should be a deeper reason for Christmas. Is there any way we can find this out?"

Olaf raised a hand. "Well, we could always go into the village, asking around to see if anyone has any ideas about the correlation between Christmas and gift-giving," he said with a big smile.

Anna looked over. "You mean, like last year with traditions, Olaf? Where you got lost in the woods and chased by wolves?"

Olaf nodded. "Yeah, why? Is that a bad thing?"

Jack eyes brightened. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. Not the wolves part, of course. That's dangerous. But the asking around. Maybe somebody will have a good answer and we just don't know it yet."

Anna nodded. She liked this idea. Perfect chance to get out, say hi, and greet new people and old friends. And if they found out about a good reason why gift giving was so important, that was an added bonus.

She stood up. "I'm with Jack. We could go out tomorrow and ask around. People wouldn't be busy with their traditions and it's the day before we begin preparing for the Christmas party. It's the perfect time."

Olaf was bouncing up and down, clearly excited with that proposal. Jack and Anna looked over at Elsa. Elsa pondered the proposal for a moment, then nodded her head. "Alright, that works for me. I'll admit, I'm a little curious about Olaf's question myself. Besides, we also need to get some last supplies for the Christmas party. And tomorrow is the perfect time to do it. Shall we meet up in the morning to head out?"

Kristoff nodded. "Sounds good to me. I've got a meeting with the ice harvesters to go to, so Sven and I can drop you off in the morning and pick you up in the evening."

Everyone agreed to the proposal and dinner proceeded. Anna noticed that everyone seemed a little excited for tomorrow. She couldn't blame them. Meeting villagers, learning new things, and traveling throughout the kingdom. It would be a very exciting time.

And that is the end of another excellent part. It is also a part when I need to bring up another point. The events in this chapter are going to start another sub-plot. There are many aspects of Christmas that are great. The songs, the trees, the gifts, the stockings, etc. One other important aspect is the meaning of Christmas. This is an element that I think is rather important. As a result, this aspect and certain fields related to it will come up in future chapters here and there. I only want to bring this up to let you know ahead of time. I hope that you will continue to read if you are as curious as Olaf about the answer to his question, or want to see what happens to Jack Frost (or both). Thank you again for reading this. As always, please rate and review.