Frozen Hidden Strength

The hall was quiet and filled with refreshing sunlight as Anna some what waddled her way down the long stretch of carpet and painted portraits. For the first time in what seemed like months, Anna was finally able to have some peace and quiet without the twins. It was probably going to be maybe just an hour or so, possibly less depending on Elsa's patience with them.

The twins loved their Aunt Elsa and especially loved the magic their aunt would create with a twist of her wrist. It captivated them; Beata standing in silence with her thumb for once not held within her teeth and Kristoff giggling and jumping up at the falling snowflakes. They would end up running around in the white fluff, kicking and throwing the powder in the air much to their enjoyment and amusement. They would spend hours if they could playing within it, coming up with games or making snow angels within the snow and sometimes attempting little snowmen when they had the patience for it (which wasn't often).

Most times Elsa and Anna would watch them, smiling to themselves, giggling at the children as they played, both enjoying their happiness. Anna would enjoy the site of Elsa beaming at her niece and nephew, absorbing their happiness and letting it fill her. She enjoyed seeing Elsa love her children; it was a beautiful site to behold seeing her smile so wide and laugh so loud.

But today, Anna had wanted some rest. She was 7 months along, her belly swelling to nearly waddling size. She was, thankfully, not near as large as she had been with the twins. The symptoms, however, had not changed, including the swelling of her feet, which ached terribly as she made it to her bedroom door. She was all too excited to fall on her bed and let her feet rest.

When she opened the door, she caught a glimpse of a figure sitting on the bed. Looking up, she finds Kristoff, head down, staring intently at the floor from the foot of their bed. Anna stands at the door for a moment confused.

The last time she had seen her husband, he had headed to work that morning. He didn't have to work, he knew this and she had reminded him of such, but as he had said, to just stop doing something you had known your whole life all at once, was hard. Old habits died hard, especially life long ones. He was expected to be gone majority of the day. But sometimes, the other harvesters would acknowledge the fact that he had a family and respected such, giving him the afternoon. Seemed today had been one of those days.

Standing there, watching his face, she feels a sudden uneasiness come over her. Whether it was the baby or something else, she wasn't sure at the moment. But the look on his face, the look of deep concentration, that reassured her that the feeling in her stomach had nothing to do with their unborn child.

Closing the door softly, she kept her eyes on him, waiting for Kristoff to look up at her. It took for her to step on the ever-squeaky floorboard panel five steps from the door for him to finally change his gaze. Anna froze immediately. The look Kristoff had was familiar. She had seen that look so many times in her dreams, so many times in her head as she had roamed the halls, as she had thought of him. But she had only really seen that look once, on one sunny afternoon four years ago; on a bright, warm day that would turn into a day of cold heartbreak and tears. Anna could feel her heart ramming against her chest, fear slowly creeping into her veins.

_He's not leaving you. _Anna thought to herself, _He's not. He's told you every day, every night, every moment he can. He's not leaving, never again. He's here to stay. _

Kristoff closed his eyes, looking back to the floor.

If he wasn't leaving, then why did he look like this? Why did he look so somber?

Taking a deep breath to steady her still quick heart, she slowly makes her way to him, stopping when she was standing in front of him. Her belly meets him at eye level and normally Anna would find this funny for some odd reason, but the mood is anything but cheerful at the moment. She has to bend to grab his large hands, squeezing them softly as she does so. She is scared to ask and more scared to know the answer, but she has to know. She has to soothe the curiosity and worry in her mind. So gently, ever so gently, she whispers,

"What's wrong?" The question echoes that night so long ago, though this time things are different. This time she is not in tears, already knowing the answer in her head. This time she isn't already thinking and praying that the answer is not what she believes it to be only to have her prayers ignored. This time there are no last moments, there are no last kisses, last hugs, last touches of calloused hands.

This time he is staying. This time he is here for good. This time he was home.

There is silence for a moment; only the sound of her heart beat echoing in her ears. She goes to ask again, thinking maybe he did not hear, but he takes a deep breath,

"You're so strong." His voice is quiet, something Anna is not really used to. She blinks,

"What?" She asks in a whisper of confusion for that was really the last thing she had expected to hear.

He looks up at her, Anna losing herself in his large, sad brown eyes before he moves his gaze to her belly. He looks at it for a moment as though he is contemplating something, and then removes his hands from her grip to place on her stomach. His hands are gently, slowly moving around across the stretched skin. He speaks,

"It's been seven months." He begins, still looking and caressing her belly, "It's been seven months and you have struggled so much."

She sighs as his words.

It hasn't been easy; she knows that as well as he does. It's been much harder to keep food down with this one, nothing ever really sitting well with her. There had been multiple nights and mornings where she had found herself on the cold floor in the bathroom. Her feet swell much easier this time, making her duties and life much more complicated when she couldn't find the inner nerve to endure the pain and annoyance. Though this time she feels she only carries one, her back aches more; hardly any relief coming to her on some days, even when she would lie in bed. The doctor had said it was usual for her body to go through something like this, the stress increasing more because it is her second time.

Anna had hoped maybe that it would be easier since she had been through it all before. But she had hoped wrong. She was used to the pain, the annoyances, the sickness; she had dealt with it before. But seeing the look on Kristoff's face, the concern written all over it, she realized that he hadn't seen this before. He didn't know that this was usual, that this happened. To him, this was his first pregnancy, his first child so to speak.

"You're standing here," Kristoff continues, still focusing on her stomach, "going through all this pain, this anguish…and…you're just so…strong." His voice breaks,

"Kristoff…" She whispers, but he isn't done.

"For three years, you had to care for the twins by yourself." She wants to interrupt but he doesn't let her, "I know you had Elsa, and the entire castle staff. But Elsa had her own duties; she had her own time consumed by things, not leaving much time to help you and the twins. Then I know how you are, stubborn as a mule, wanting to do things on your own." Anna wants to chuckle, hoping he would too, but he remains still so she bites her cheek. "So, really the staff did probably hardly anything. It was just you, just you and the babies. So for three years, for three long years, you were here taking care of the babies by yourself while I was up in the mountains being a selfish bastard working on the ice. Not taking care of you like I should have been, like I was supposed to, like I needed to be…I should have been here. I should have been here to rub ointment on your belly, to massage your swollen feet, to hold you after you got sick, rubbing your back—I should have been here for you. I wasn't here for you because I was weak, so weak and—."

His voice breaks again, his hands holding still on her belly. Anna stands in silence, words slowly forming in her head as she fights back tears because she remembers. She remembers how hard it was. There had been so many days when she had hated having to do this alone. How some nights, crying into her pillow, she had regretted doing anything with him; meeting him, loving him, being with him. She had just wanted it all to go away, to disappear like a bad dream.

But there was always something that would make her think twice on her thoughts, regret thinking them all together. One little thought that always made her realize that maybe, it would be worth it, and she had been right. She placed her hands on his face, bringing his gaze up towards her and she could see his eyes holding unshed tears.

"I was strong because of you." Kristoff gaped at her. "Every time I felt weak, every time I felt hurt, every time I felt broken, every time I was reminded that yes, I would be doing this by myself; I won't lie, it hurt. It hurt a lot actually." She said with a shrug. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it,

"But," He stops, "Every time I thought about why I was pregnant, because some man out there loved me, because some man in the mountains had loved me so much he had given me this gift that sometimes, quite honestly, didn't exactly feel like a gift," She said jokingly, feeling a slight smile twitching at her lips. "But a gift all the same. That right there, knowing that, realizing that, was enough to make me stronger; to make me fight through the day, to make me face the people, to make me face the judgmental eyes at the meetings, to make me get up in the mornings and to fight the sickness. It made me want to have these children. You are the reason I am so strong, because you love me and even though you weren't here, I never, ever doubted that you did. Never. Not once. I was strong because of you, Kristoff."

Silence fills the room, it echoes against the walls. She's looking at him, and him at her, lost once again in his eyes. Then he raises a hand, places it gently on the back of her neck and brings her down. He kisses her, soft and slow and passionate. She can taste the salt from his now falling tears. He pulls back, his forehead resting against hers. Her eyes closed, savoring the moment between them, she hears him,

"Funny," He says, and she can hear his smirk; his beautiful, troublesome smirk. "I'm only strong because of you."

Anna smiles, opening her eyes to meet his. She feels a tear make its way down and then does she realize that she is crying.

For the rest of the free hour, Kristoff holds her in his arms, rubbing circles across her aching back, massaging the more painful places that need release.

Slowly, gently, he begins to make up for the years he wasn't there. Together, hand in hand, they being to get stronger because of the other.


End file.
