Time passes much more quickly in Rohandor and many long and happy years have gone by since the characters retired to enjoy their respective 'happily ever afters,' their greatest foes were imprisoned in the Forever Stone, bound in an eternal sleep. Until Now.
Happily Ever Afters takes place in Rohandor, a mystical realm on another plane of existence from our own. Here our favorite Disney heroes and villains live in a world all their own; Alive, but far from well. Heroes and heroines fight to keep peace while newly freed villains seek their revenge. Come join us in an epic adventure as the characters you love clash in a struggle that will determine the fate of Rohandor!
HEA is an AU canon-only animated crossover Disney Play-By-Post Role Play with minimal word count.
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4/24/21: We've been on hiatus for a number of years now. I don't know that I'm entirely ready to return BUT I have been cleaning up the site and working to update everything since a number of movies have released. There is still A LOT of work to do but if you see this update and were an active member of the site prior to the hiatus, please send the Yen Sid account a DM to let me know you're still interested in playing and if you wish to retain your current roster. I hope you've all been doing well and staying safe!
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For the first time in his life, Kristoff was lost. After the sky changed and the avalanche thundered down, the mountains he called home were like faces in a dream. Paths he once could walk with his eyes closed were destroyed by rock falls. Passageways were blocked with ice and snow. The North Mountain wasn't quite as north as it had been. Even the stars were deceptive. They would make progress one way, find it blocked, and have to turn back. It was maddening.
For three days he and Sven wandered the mountains, trying to find a way through. With each passing hour, Kristoff felt the dread build inside him, filling his chest and pressing on his lungs. If THIS had happened to the mountains, what had become of Arendelle? Were his friends ok? Was Anna safe? At night he and Sven huddled together for warmth, but Kristoff did not sleep. Instead he watched as one possible catastrophe after another played out in his mind's eye. A wizard, a dragon, a plague, a tsunami-- Anything could be happening back home. And Anna was probably right in the middle of it, knowing her.
Just when exhaustion was starting to make him hallucinate (Oaken dressed as a viking singing opera) and hunger was gnawing at his insides, Kristoff finally came to an unfamiliar path that steadily brought them down from the mountains. He began to recognize different landmarks more and more and soon knew exactly where he was. Heart pounding, he urged Sven to run until they finally reached the treeline and ran out onto the summit of a hill overlooking the ocean.
Down below was Arendelle, looking just as it always had.
Letting out the breath he'd been holding, Kristoff broke into a fit of laughter until he coughed and gasped. Sven cast a wary look over his shoulder at his human friend. Kristoff gave Sven's shoulder a reassuring pat. “Come on, buddy. Lets go home.”
Last Edit: Jan 29, 2015 21:19:54 GMT -5 by Deleted
Patience wasn't something that Princess Anna was generally known for, granted. The sheer amount and weight of what had been happening helped to distract her somewhat. She, Elsa and Kristoff were all called upon in Arendelle's mysterious plight. Elsa stayed to oversee the court and the people as a figurehead and source of calm. Anna had sped to the Valley of the Living Rock for answers in the face of the strange, misty barrier encompassing the kingdom. Meanwhile, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf had taken on the responsibility of collecting those citizens who were otherwise unable to seek refuge in the city.
The Trolls were about as helpful as usual, but that didn't matter. Even while Anna was there, trying to coax understandable answers from Grand Pabbie, the barrier lifted, leaving chimes and kaleidoscopic stardust in its wake. When Anna arrived at the palace shortly thereafter, she had greeted by a talking mouse named Basil and his overanxious dog companion. Basil had explained a great many things that Anna was still trying to wrap her head around. That first day had ended with the queen and princess armed with knowledge that they would need in the future. But where was Kristoff?
Basil's explanation that Arendelle had been mystically transplanted into a new world, Rohandor, was remarkable. Anna hadn't thought of the repercussions such a transition could have until the following morning. Reports came in of rock slides, avalanches and upheaval at the fringes of Arendelle, where its former borders had been magically changed into now-neighboring realms of Rohandor. That was when Anna's anxiety of Kristoff, Sven and Olaf's absence became justified in her mind. Any number of things might have happened, and it was only with the still myriad issues she had before her as a princess, and the injection of level-headed council provided by Elsa that she didn't saddle her horse and go searching for him.
That second evening she couldn't sleep. Didn't even try, really. Anna set herself up on the front balcony with some hot tea and way too much chocolate, staring at the long bridge that extended from the town's main square to the castle's gates. Kristoff didn't arrive. Impending daybreak of the third day had Anna's mind made up to the point that nothing would discourage her. She sent a note to Elsa (her older sister had a way of making Anna see "reason", and she didn't really want to, just then, for fear that "reason" would make her stay put) and sent for her horse.
An armed escort was probably called for, but it would have taken the queen's approval, or wasted too much time. Anna instead distracted the stable master in time for her to set her steed into a gallop, and then a surge. She was slipping through streets of the city just as the sun broke over the horizon, and the earliest risers of the kingdom were starting about their business (or what business could still be started, with Arendelle's current state of metamorphosis). Anna charged around the forested edge of the fjord and fixed the North Mountain as her starting point. She graciously slowed her horse to a trot as he worked to climb increasingly steep folds in the land as they rose to meet the mountain's feet.
She hoped that Elsa wouldn't be too mad. She really hoped she found Kristoff. Not only to put her heart at ease, but if he arrived at the castle and had to go out of find her, she would never hear the end of it; from Kristoff or her sister.
(OOC: I hope it's all right that I jumped into this thread! If it isn't, or if you'd like anything in my post altered, just shoot me a PM! xP)
As Sven carried him onward toward Arendelle, Kristoff pulled off his mittens and scrubbed at his face, trying to wake himself up. Three day's worth of beard had grown while he was wandering around the mountains and the prickly blond fuzz on his cheeks and chin were a reminder of how much time he'd been away. While he could count the days on one hand, it felt like weeks. The agony of not knowing what had happened, the fear that they'd die on the mountain never knowing, the regret of things left unsaid… these feelings had snapped at Kristoff's heels like wolves, driving him to keep going.
Only a few days before the strange mist had appeared, Grand Pabbie had given Kristoff a pair of stones. "Should you need them," the wise old troll had said. Up on the mountain, Kristoff had held the two glowing crystals in his palm and cursed himself for waiting to give one to Anna. If he had, finding her again would have been much easier. No matter what the stones symbolized to the Trolls, Kristoff promised himself-- and any gods who happened to be listening-- that if he got home again he wouldn't wait.
Kristoff gradually became aware that Sven had stopped moving and struggled to clear the fog around his thoughts. "What's wrong?"
The reindeer looked over his shoulder at Kristoff and snorted, expressive eyes full of concern and questioning, and then turned forward again, gazing down the path.
There was a rider coming up the hill toward them. From their vantage point, Kristoff doubted the rider had seen them standing there yet. He slid from Sven's back and brought a hand up to shade his eyes from the sun. The color of Anna's hair stood out against the landscape and Kristoff felt his breath catch when he recognized her. He started walking forward, knowing if she continued at that pace their paths would cross in a matter of moments.
He put his hands up to his mouth and called out. "Anna!"
Sven came up behind him and Kristoff gave the Reindeer and tired smile. "If this is another mirage, I'll take it."
Anna focused on the pounding of her horse's hooves beneath her. She let the rhythm drown out any thoughts that would weigh her down or prod at the positive attitude she was desperately trying to maintain. Few really understood that more often times than not, Anna's unimpeachable optimism was a product of her own stubbornness rather than a natural disposition. There were so many reasons why Kristoff could be missing, and Anna consciously clung to the least nightmarish of them while mulishly fending off the legion of less cheerful scenarios.
The pounding of hooves and the strength of her eyes. That was what Anna encouraged to take up the entirety of her awareness. Her gaze was peeled, glancing this way and that along the higher ridges of foothills that approached the North Mountain. Kristoff wasn't exactly difficult to miss, and he would likely be on or accompanied by Sven, which improved her odds. Still, Anna was painstakingly thorough in her search. Her head swiveled without stop, glancing before, around, behind, above and beneath her.
The princess and her steed slipped down a decently manicured trail that wound into an arm of the forests that arranged themselves on the mountains that encompassed Arendelle. Up ahead, Anna could see that the pathway forked, the right plunging deeper into the wood while the left ascended steeply, likely toward a higher ledge in the terrain. Anna was trying to decide which way she should go when a voice carried just enough over the pound of hooves to prick her ear. Anna pulled on her reins, her horse whinnied and rose up on its hind legs, kicking with its front two limbs.
Anna maneuvered in her saddle to stay seated. She felt guilt at her abrupt stop, but just then her attention was bent on the path before her instead. Her brow furrowed, desperate to hope but nearly too fearful to do so. Then she saw him. Kristoff was marching down to and toward her from the left trail. Anna's heart swelled. She felt light-headed with relief. It was almost painful to look at Kristoff in that moment as tears stung eyes already stinging from the beat of wind on horseback. "Kristoff!" She was smiling so wide it hurt as she urged her mount into a forward trot. It took all of her willpower not to force the poor thing into a sprint.
The distance was closed, Anna turned her steed to the right, putting its side toward Kristoff even as she slid from her saddle. The last few steps were taken at a full run by Anna, and at the last she flung herself at Kristoff.
Kristoff's eyes widened when the horse reared, fearful that she would fall, but she handled it like a skilled rider and was soon pounding up the path toward him. He was so thankful to see her in one piece he let out a deep sigh, finally feeling that he could relax. She reached him in no time and he, fully expecting to be tackled in some way, spread his arms to catch her.
Sven, thankfully, also expected this customary greeting and moved quickly to stand behind Kristoff. This kept the couple from falling over completely when Kristoff stumbled backwards slightly from Anna's high-speed embrace.
Leaning back against the reindeer, Kristoff hugged Anna tightly for a long moment. He could have given her a hard time for tearing all over the country without an escort, but he could guess what she was doing out by the woods. ...And selfishly he was glad she had come, if only to be reunited sooner. He could also see that she was unhurt, which had been his primary nightmare since the whole ordeal began. She was just the same-- all energy, constant motion, color and laughter-- and Kristoff felt that he had finally found the path he'd been looking for.
He pulled away enough to see her face and grinned. "I missed you."
Sven huffed loudly, looking at the two of them expectantly.
"Sven missed you too." He laughed softly. "Is everything ok back in Arendelle? You won't believe what happened out there in the mountains."
Seeing Kristoff was one thing, but actually touching him was quite another. When his arms enfolded around her, Anna knew that this had to be her Kristoff; that he was real, and there, and safe. The princess buried her head against the mountain man's chest, trying to loop her arms around his torso and failing utterly in the attempt. Through Anna's exuberance she noticed how Kristoff teetered, almost woozily backward against Sven; how his arms were sturdy and stoic as always, but somehow less strong than she was used to.
With these fretful points in the back of her mind, somehow miraculously surviving the happiness that filled her nearly from top to bottom, Anna obligingly leaned back when Kristoff did. She grinned up at him as he confessed he missed her. For some reason, hearing that made her even more heartened. "I was so worried about you!" she said, brows knitting together in a frown. After Sven's huff, Anna's expression softened as she reached a hand out to scratch the reindeer's chin. "Both of you."
Now as Anna turned her eyes back on Kristoff, she had calmed down just enough to acknowledge things about him she'd not noticed before. The dark rings around his eyes, the pure exhaustion in his gaze, straining to be energetic in the light of their reunion, the blond stubble that covered his face. Anna's scrutinizing air turned worrisome. "Arendelle can wait. You look like you can barely stand. You must be exhausted. When's the last time you ate anything? Oh! Just a sec." Anna unfastened her arms from Kristoff and moved to her saddlebags, full with a few meals' worth of food in case her trip lasted longer than she expected. Admittedly, Anna had done the packing (and pillaging of the kitchens) herself - which is probably why there was much more food than made sense.
"Sit down on that rock," Anna shot over her shoulder sternly as she held up her skirts to act as an impromptu basket. "No arguing." She waddled over, trying to keep the food in her "basket", as well as a loaf of bread tucked beneath one arm and a skin of water beneath the other. Anna dropped a few things on her waddle-walk over, but paid them no heed. When she made it to Kristoff, she wiggled and bounced and cast off a good amount of her bounty onto his lap. "Eat, and you can tell me what happened." Anna neatly dropped her handfuls of skirts, allowing the small bundle of carrots left in them to fall in front of Sven.
Anna dusted off her dress and turned to look at Kristoff. It was then that she remembered she'd forgotten something. The princess bent down, ran one hand through his shaggy bangs, and pressed a soft kiss on his jaw. "And I missed you, too."
Kristoff obediently went to the rock and sat. One, he was indeed very tired and hungry, and two-- it would do no good to argue with her. He scratched at his hairy chin and rolled his eyes upwards, considering. "When did I last eat… Breakfast with you the day the fog showed up… and yesterday Sven dug around in the snow and found a patch of grass." It had been quite some time since he had been hungry enough to eat grass.
He watched her go to the horse and begin unloading her saddle bags, eyebrows raising at the sheer amount of food she brought to him. How deep was that saddle bag? He could imagine how it had gone… Anna decides to go, Anna goes to kitchen, Anna empties a random shelf of food into a bag, Anna leaves. These suspicions were confirmed when she deposited her hoard onto his lap. A jar of pickled fish rolled off the top of the heap and down the hill into the bushes.
Sven gave a delighted snort when the carrots landed at his feet and quickly started munching away, tail wagging.
Kristoff was sorting through the food on his lap, his mouth already full with a large bite of bread. He looked at her, talking with his mouth full, "You are--"
Then she kissed him, her soft fingers at his hair, and for a moment Kristoff couldn't remember exactly what it was he was going to say. How many kisses would it take for his brain to improve its recovery time? Honestly, he was willing to find out.
He swallowed his bite of bread and continued "… amazing." He grinned, then seemed to realize what he had said. But rather than get flustered and try to elaborate or back track, he shook his head and laughed. "But I need to give you a few pointers on what to pack for wilderness survival… is this chocolate?" He opened a box and found candy inside.
Sven looked between the two humans, crunching loudly on carrots.
Anna smiled. She thought that she would never grow tired of seeing the moment of astonishment that tended to come upon Kristoff whenever she kissed him. When he finished the sentence that had been cleft in two by Anna's act, she smirked a little more playfully and tried (and failed) not to look smug. "I try," she said, shrugging just dramatically enough to undermine her attempted air of nonchalance.
Anna was still curious about what had befallen Kristoff and Sven in their three day absence, and worried that he confessed he'd eaten nothing - except maybe grass - in that time. But he was there. Right there, sitting beside her. Safe, more or less. He was eating, too, which quieted Anna's related concerns for the moment. "Hey, now," Anna said in mock seriousness, "there's not a single situation that chocolate doesn't make better."
The princess could see that her brand of "packing" was amusing Kristoff, and she was grateful. That she could even unintentionally lighten the weight so blatantly on his shoulders. Anna could sense a transformation in every passing moment, though. From the tired, grim edges that she'd seen in Kristoff during her scrutiny before. He was still exhausted - and Anna was familiar enough with Kristoff's strength and vitality to know it took a great deal to make him so - but he was smiling.
"Besides, I don't think you have room to complain." Anna poked Kristoff in the ribs to illustrate her point. With that settled, she moved in front of the mountain man and propped her hands on her hips. "So, what happened?" Now she looked fretful and more earnest, rather than joyous. Even if Kristoff was safe with her currently, she wanted to know what had kept them apart for three whole days. She could go about trying to explain Arendelle's predicament after Kristoff had a full stomach.
...Maybe. She was still pretty confused on a good number of points, herself.
Kristoff transferred the pile of food from his lap to the ground at his feet. Pulling a small knife from his belt, he cut open the loaf of bread, picked a chunk of cheese out of the pile, and started slicing it. While he cut up the cheese and arranged slices on the bread, he paused to look Anna over as she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. He could see the look of concern on her face, the stubborn pout of her lips, and knew that as much as he had worried for her while he was alone in the mountains, Anna had worried about him.
Kristoff laughed softly and reached out for her hand. "Easy, feisty-pants." He pulled her forward and sat her on the rock at his side. He pulled a tomato out of the pile and sliced that up too to complete his sandwich. While he did this, he started telling her what had happened.
"Sven and I were up in the mountains when the mist changed. It was like… magic, rainbow fireworks, only instead of booms there were bells ringing." He shook his head, still perplexed by it. "I've never seen anything like it. Then the ground started to shake…" He hesitated, glancing at her, and then continued, "And we were buried in an avalanche. I don't know if the shaking ground started the avalanche or it was shaking *because* of the avalanche, but it took me a while to dig us out. When I finally did, it was like the mountains had rearranged themselves. I couldn't find a way back… until this morning, anyway."
Kristoff looked at Anna now. "I'm fine, really. Sven and I just walked up and down the mountains for three days, that's all. I'm sorry it took so long."
At that, Kristoff seemed to remember something. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out the crystal necklaces Grand Pabbie had given him. He took Anna's hand and lay one of the glowing white crystals in her palm. "This is for you."
Anna found it nearly impossible to maintain a serious composure around Kristoff. The fact that she was naturally inclined to not be serious aside; he simply knew how to make her heart soar. It was pretty darned difficult to look imposing when your chest felt like it was fluttering. Anna tried to sustain her sobriety, but couldn't help a note of smug teasing from entering her voice, or one corner of her careful mouth from plucking up as she said, "I'm not even wearing pants- Oof!" Because, naturally, Anna couldn't let him joke at her without rising to the occasion, even passingly.
The princess' rebuttal was interrupted as Kristoff swept her up. She found herself seated on the boulder beside him without really being certain of how she'd arrived there. Anna's wide-eyed confusion at this was blinked away while Kristoff started getting to the point. She brought her knees beneath her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, heedless of the creases and wrinkles that were being created in her skirts.
Staying quiet while Kristoff spoke wasn't as hard as it could have been. Anna had a habit of interjecting... often. That was in casual conversation, though. She liked to believe that when things were important she could hold her tongue. When Kristoff and Elsa were the ones talking, too, Anna found it was naturally easier to be considerate of what they had to say; listening to it, that is. Kristoff spoke of the mist changing, and Anna bobbed her chin slightly in agreement, because she - and the whole of Arendelle, in fact - had experienced the same thing.
Kristoff spoke of the ground beginning to shake, and he stopped. His eyes flicked quickly to Anna, and hers narrowed. Her forehead crinkled gently in worry, both of Kristoff's safety, and the suspicion that he would gloss over details he didn't want to bother her with. Anna's breath hitched at mention of Kristoff and Sven being buried by an avalanche. For a moment, she scorned herself up and down. Kristoff had been buried beneath a mountain of snow, off on the fringes of Arendelle, and where had Anna been?
Reason (unsurprisingly sounding a lot like Elsa in her head) pointed out that Anna had duties to attend to, and her sister to support. That was important. She knew it, Kristoff knew it. Besides, the kind of fretting for Kristoff's safety that the previous line of thought tried to justify was just... crazy. Anna knew that if Kristoff worried about her that intensely (not that he didn't, but he was pretty good about disguising it) she would take offense. Kristoff could stand on his own two feet, particularly when it came to survival; as his presence, and relative well-being was a testament to.
Through the haze of her thoughts, Anna realized that Kristoff had turned to look at her directly. Her eyes refocused and she smiled tenderly up at him, hoping to convey in such a simple way her love for him, and relief at his safety. "I'm just glad you're all right."
Kristoff's expression of remembrance wasn't lost on Anna. She tilted her head, wondering what it was about as the mountain man began rummaging in his pocket. "What's-?" she started to ask, when he produced a pair of what looked like necklaces; fashioned of brown thongs woven about beautiful crystal. Kristoff took her hand in his and neatly lay one of them in her palm, saying it was for her. Anna looked at it intently, eyes sparkling. "Kristoff, it's beautiful!" She cupped it between both of her hands gingerly and turned it over with a thumb to see it from all angles.
Anna put the necklace on, then rested a hand over the crystal that lay on her chest for a moment.
Kristoff couldn't help but smile at her reaction. "I'm glad you-- woah wait! BeforeyouputitonIshouldreally---"
Too late. Anna had already slipped the necklace over her head. Kristoff pressed his lips closed, looking at her hand as it covered the glowing stone, and swallowed hard.
"… explain." He finished. Ever since Grand Pabbie had given him the Pairing Stones, Kristoff had thought about how and when to give them to Anna and how to explain this particular aspect of his family's culture. For a moment he felt himself begin to panic. No, I won't tell her, he thought. Its just a necklace to people. It doesn't have to mean anything else. But if she goes to the Valley of Living Stone everyone will jump to conclusions and she'll find out anyway.
It really wasn't in Kristoff to keep a secret from Anna… and it felt like a lie to not tell her what the necklaces meant.
"So… before you decide if you want to keep that or not…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "I need you to know that they're not just crystals. They're magic. If we ever get separated again, they will help us find each other. That's why I didn't want to wait to give it to you."
Kristoff looked down at the other crystal, the one he still held.
"They're a set. They fit together... and in my family, stones like these are… well…"
Sven looked back and forth between Kristoff and Anna, his eyes wide. Was the human really going to say it?
Kristoff looked back at the girl sitting beside him and sighed softly. Who was he kidding? He loved her. What mattered most to him was her safety and happiness. This wasn't exactly how he'd pictured bringing up the topic, but after three agonizing nights worrying about her, fearing the worst, he told himself again that he was through waiting.
"They're worn by married couples." the blonde mountain man finally said. Then he took a deep breath and continued, a slow blush spreading across his cheeks, "I mean, WE'RE not married. That's not what I meant. I just, Grand Pabbie gave them to me so I could ask-- BUT I'M NOT ASKING. I mean, I WANT to, but with a ring, not with these. --In the mountains I was so mad at myself for not giving this to you sooner that I had to give it to you now. --If you want it. It doesn't have to mean what it means if you don't want it to, but my family will probably go nuts if they see you wearing it."
He was rambling, and saying way too much, much more than he intended. But she had that affect on him, and he desperately hoped that somehow she would understand what he was trying to say.
Last Edit: Feb 20, 2015 18:50:54 GMT -5 by Deleted
Kristoff grew very loud as Anna dropped the necklace over her head. When he paused after his rushed first statement and pressed his lips together, Anna looked slowly over to him. Her eyes were wide, her lips pursed just slightly. Obviously something was wrong about her putting on the necklace, only that was silly because why would Kristoff give it to her if he didn't expect the princess to wear it? Anna didn't think that he was mad at her, but she remained looking hesitant and the teensiest bit guilty, shoulders stiff and slightly raised, as Kristoff said he needed to explain.
Then Anna realized just how uncomfortable Kristoff was, and her demeanor changed to wryly amused. She quirked one brow at him and folded her arms over her chest in mock skepticism. That lopsided grin that only Kristoff could truly engender in the princess came upon her unbidden. "Magic?" Anna questioned, when he revealed that the necklaces were such. She turned more thoughtful, reaching up with one of her hands to carefully caress the crystal where it lay against her chest. When Kristoff explained that they could locate one another with them, she blurted, "That's wonderful!"
Kristoff said that they were a set. They fit perfectly together. Anna smiled dazedly, stricken by just how much she liked the idea of her and his crystals being one half of a whole. Kristoff stalled in his explanation, which had been apprehensively delivered so far at best. Anna looked up to him, whose eyes were bent upon the crystal still in his hand. She reached up and draped her fingers lightly over Kristoff's crystal in reassurance, urging him that whatever he was having trouble saying, he could.
He looked back to her, sighed, and finished his previous statement. Stunned was arguably a good way to describe Anna's reaction. She blinked rapidly a few times, and as a blush began creeping up in Kristoff, it was mirrored in a reddening of Anna's cheeks; albeit due to a distinctly different reason.
Married couple. They were usually worn by married couples. Married couples. Married. There was one on her neck right now. The other was in Kristoff's hand. But was he-?
Anna focused (somehow) on what Kristoff was very quickly saying. He wasn't proposing. But he was planning on proposing. Anna felt her skin tingling all over, and she realized, almost humored, that this was actually hitting her completely out of the blue. It wasn't that Anna didn't think about marriage with Kristoff because she didn't want that to be their future; but she hadn't. Not a lot, at least. Whereas before it had been the solitary goal in her mind regarding relationships, with Kristoff, it was different. Good different. Also, a part of her almost thought that Kristoff would never propose. The news that he had been planning on doing so - was planning on doing so, hit her like a pile of trolls. In a good way.
Anna's smile was consciously defeated by her after a long, distant moment. She picked Kristoff's necklace from his hand and looked up at him tenderly. "I want it," she said calmly. Anna rose up on her knees and put Kristoff's necklace on him. She paused after doing so, resting one hand on each of his shoulders as she looked him in the eye. "I guess they'll just work as placeholders for now."
Kristoff had said too much-- WAY… WAY too much. This was not at all going according to plan. Wait, what plan? He'd just blurted it all out, like a crazy person.
He was starting to really consider the consequences that could come from what he'd said as he watched Anna's expressions change as she processed his words. Then she smiled and Kristoff held his breath, watching her pick up the crystal he held.
Kristoff was head over heels in love with this short, fiery, amazing, complicated, stubborn woman. He'd thought long and hard about asking her to marry him. He'd thought about what it meant for her-- to marry a commoner-- and what it would mean for Arendelle. He had thought about what he would do if she said no. He'd thought about what he would do if she said YES. For a long time he'd considered never asking, just so he would never have to make her choose: marry someone for the better of her kingdom or marry him.
But it had come down to this: Anna would choose for herself. It was her choice, and he wouldn't make that choice for her by never asking.
I want it.
Those three words cast all his doubts aside. She was telling him that, while he wasn't ready to ask now, it was ok for him to ask her in the future. If she was going to let him ask, then he'd make sure he was worthy of her answer. If that meant learning to rub elbows with politicians, sitting through ceremonies, fighting evil dukes or dragons-- he'd do whatever it took.
When she shifted to sit up on her knees, he put out a hand to keep her steady, resting it lightly against her side. A soft smile crept across his face when she put the necklace over his head as he met her gaze. At her words, his smile widened. For all his rambling, she'd summed up what he had wanted to say perfectly.
"That's what I said, isn't it?" He grinned, lifting a hand to loop a finger under the cord of her necklace to pull her closer, placing a kiss on her lips.
Anna could see the tense anxiety in Kristoff evaporate as he met her eyes. For all of their differences, the pair shared so many similarities. Each had a tendency to ramble, although Kristoff's variant was reserved usually for when he was anxious, whereas Anna's applied to a broad array of other emotions. Whenever she witnessed peace settle over this man that was before her, and thought that she had the tiniest part in creating it, Anna's skin tingled.
Moreover, when Anna said that she wanted this, she could see the moment of disbelief in Kristoff. She should have scorned him, honestly, for daring to look like he was worried she'd say otherwise. Anna just couldn't muster the energy to. She was too busy feeling lightheaded and believing that, no matter the uneven ground that Arendelle now stood upon, and the trials they were inevitably to face, the world was a truly perfect place, if this mountain man wanted her to wear the crystal that matched his own.
Disbelief melted into something else. Anna couldn't decide what, but that was likely because it was a great many things all at once. She knew, too, that they were mirroring each other's expressions just then. And, for all her honesty with herself, the princess had no idea what, specifically she was feeling just then. Except undeniably and entirely happy.
Anna grinned a little wider when Kristoff spoke. Then his finger snagged the thong of her necklace and he drew her lips to his own. The kiss was soft, but lingering. When they had broken it, her fingers somehow had found their way into his hair. Anna rested her cheek against Kristoff's and let loose a long, peaceful sigh.
Finally, the princess ran both hands down Kristoff's broad shoulders, and then on down arms thickened from a lifetime of toil, harvesting ice. Her smooth palms found his rough calloused ones as she took each hand in her own. "I think it's about time we got back." Anna glanced at distant, glimmering Arendelle, sitting as ever on its crystalline fjord, in the lap of the fantastical mountains. "I can tell you what's happened on the way."
The princess stood up. She paused for a moment, draping one hand over her own crystal, and the other over Kristoff's. With a last, small smile, Anna's normal energy showed signs of returning. "And boy is there a lot to tell."
(OOC: I thought this may be a good place to end the thread. Your thoughts? :3)
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Welcome to Happily Ever Afters!
Tony Dracon: Responded to your PM, Kat/Ratigan, incidentally.
Jun 27, 2018 20:25:02 GMT -5
David Xanatos: Kat's back. Hope the vacation was fun.
Jul 21, 2018 21:00:05 GMT -5
Professor Ratigan: 'Twas a good trip! I'm sad it's over, but at the same time I'm glad to be back home so I can finish up my cosplays for a con next month and hang out with my cats
Jul 26, 2018 12:34:56 GMT -5
Basil of Baker Street: Hope the cosplay goes well. I'm putting away a little extra for a con in a few weeks. and yay cats, they're always good company. Except for that one who slaps me unprovoked XD. So what cosplays do you have in mind unless they're secret?
Jul 26, 2018 17:07:41 GMT -5
Professor Ratigan: I'm cosplaying Pearl from Steven Universe and Joseph Joestar from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure!
Jul 26, 2018 23:16:41 GMT -5
Professor Ratigan: I'm almost done both of them, I just have to finish styling Pearl's wig and fix up Joseph's gloves and wristbands
Jul 26, 2018 23:17:31 GMT -5
Basil of Baker Street: Awesome. Had to look up Jojo because I'm not hip with the modern pop culture but I hope they turn out well.
Jul 30, 2018 15:33:15 GMT -5
Professor Ratigan: I only just started watching the anime last year and I haven't even touched the manga, so I'm barely hip with it lol. fortunately I have my cosplay buddy guiding me through the whole experience
Jul 30, 2018 22:29:38 GMT -5
Professor Ratigan: also I finally finished the gloves! They were more of a pain to work with than I expected, but they'll hold together... I hope...
Jul 30, 2018 22:30:13 GMT -5
Basil of Baker Street: Niceness. Hoping they hold also. Got the Dublin comic con next Saturday here. Hoping to meet Karl Urban.
Aug 1, 2018 19:05:32 GMT -5
Professor Ratigan: Cool! I think he's coming to my city in the fall, if I remember correctly. Hope you enjoy the con, Daryl!
Aug 2, 2018 19:10:23 GMT -5
Basil of Baker Street: I spoke too soon. Karl Urban had to cancel for schedule conflicts. They got Nick Frost though, I'm gonna ask him if he'll sign my Hot Fuzz.
Aug 3, 2018 18:08:47 GMT -5
Professor Ratigan: Dang! Nick Frost is great though, I love his character in Into the Badlands
Aug 4, 2018 22:54:36 GMT -5
Basil of Baker Street: Enjoy your weekend Kat, hope the costumes came out as you wanted.
Aug 10, 2018 16:49:31 GMT -5
Basil of Baker Street: Met Nick Frost and Michael Dorn at the weekend. Both very nice blokes.
Aug 13, 2018 15:22:59 GMT -5
Dodger: Happy 2019 everyone
Jan 1, 2019 10:54:04 GMT -5
Yen Sid: If anyone is passing by I posted a Hiatus update. Hope everyone is doing well!
Apr 18, 2021 11:31:09 GMT -5
Yen Sid: I've temporarily disabled account creation while I update the site. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience!
May 9, 2021 18:31:45 GMT -5
Owen Burnett/Puck: Checked the site again and saw the update! Here's hoping to a revitalized 2022.
Dec 15, 2021 14:41:27 GMT -5