Frozen Advent Calendar December 25th- A Very Merry Arendelle Christmas

Kristoff held the small box in his palm for the last time. It had been with him since his birth and it had always been the most important thing in his life, until somewhat recently that was. Something had recently fallen into his life which filled his heart with more joy and love than any box ever could, even when one considered what was inside it. He had fallen in love, deeply, entirely, and desperately with a beautiful little red head.

She was the most sought after woman in all of Arendelle. Men would grovel at her feet for just a moment of her attention, and many would put their lives on the line just to see her smile. She was the song all men sang, the unrequited lover’s dream, and the unattainable. Kristoff would willingly die for her, but he would never have to. Some called her “your majesty”, others “miss” or Princess, however he called her by much more familiar and sweet names. He called her beautiful. He called her funny, smart, and amazing. Most importantly of all he called her Anna, and she called him hers.

He remembered the first day that they had met, then he hadn’t entirely realized who she was, and hadn’t cared. Frankly he still didn’t care that his fiancé was the crown princess of his home country. He never felt like she was anyone but herself, and as such he had never expressed much concern over her title, or what being with her would mean for him and the rest of his life. He only cared that they were together, as the last time they were not, she nearly died. Also on that day for a moment, seeing her frozen solid before him in the act of saving her sister, something within him had died as well only to be brought back moments later with her thawing.

“Kristoff!” Anna shouted, running at him excitedly as he walked down the stairs slowly with measured steps. Quickly he put one hand, the one holding the box itself, behind his back. He had just gotten dressed and for once in the months that he had known her she had been awake before him. Anna was not a morning person, but apparently she made an exception for Christmas Morning. Kristoff wondered whether or not she had slept the night before at all.

“Merry Christmas!” She was absolutely beaming, and seeing him dressed in a well fitted green shirt, black pants with a red sash didn’t hurt her spirit in any respect. “You’re wearing the clothes I got you!”

Kristoff blushed over the fact that the focus of her attention was solely upon him but responded despite his momentary embarrassment, “Yeah, I really like them.” His smile and words were genuine, “Thank you Anna.” Frankly he was just pleased to have clothes which counted as at least semiformal wear which were also comfortable.

Anna smiled but waved a hand, “It was no big deal.” She stepped forward to embrace him, but he held out his hand before she could get too close.

“In a minute.” He said as Anna stopped before his extended hand. “We’ll hug after you open your gift.”

He moved his other hand from the position behind his back to extend it and its contents out to Anna, his other arm falling back to his side as he did so. Kristoff wasn’t quite as proud of his wrapping as he would have liked to have been. The box was hidden from sight in crinkled brown paper which had been secured to the box with twine. Though he was usually quite handy he seemed to be unable to wrap and tie the small palm sized box without crinkling and mussing up the paper itself.

Anna smiled as Kristoff extended a small brown package out to her. She blushed red with thoughts of he shouldn’t have, mind racing with thoughts of what it may be. She had wanted a new pin for her hair, but that didn’t seem like something he would purchase. She wondered at the package for a moment before accepting it gingerly from his hands. She was unsure of what the box could contain even as she held it in her own hands, and despite her usual rush and excitement she took a few moments, beside herself to just stare at the object and weigh it in her hands. Something about the way Kristoff was looking at the box itself and the way he was looking at her told her that whatever was within was of some extreme importance.

She already wore an engagement ring on her finger and a wedding band would not come until later. She wondered at what could possibly mean so much to him beside that, but did not waste any more time just hovering in thought. Curiosity was overwhelming and though it was said to have killed the cat it only encouraged Anna to act.

Very carefully and gently, to Kristoff’s satisfied smile, Anna tugged on the twine to untie it. She was honestly surprised with the wellness of Kristoff’s wrapping, though it was imperfect it was well intended and not the worst she had ever seen.

The twine fell away leaving the paper free to be moved. It crinkled under her fingers as she shifted it away from the small wooden box below. Gazing upon it the wood looked old but shone as if it had been freshly varnished. Something which Anna had no doubt was true as Kristoff consistently cared after everything wooden with varnish and wax just as he did his sleigh, new or old.

The wood was darkly stained and despite the small size it was quite intricately carved with lilies of the valley on its top surface. Anna ran her thumb over the carving, it was smooth and worn but she could feel the design just as well as she could see it. It was exquisite and had obviously taken the artisan quite a fair amount of time. She was in awe of the craftsmanship but was unaware of the artist.

“Open it.” Kristoff insisted gently as he watched her take in the beauty of the box. If she was already awed, she would be even more so when she opened it up to reveal the beauty within. Silently he prayed that she would like the gift being that it had been with him so long. To give her something which he cared for so greatly was like giving her a piece of his heart and he hoped she could see that doing so was his intention.

Anna nodded quietly as she looked to the box’s clasp in order to open it. It was old dark metal, lacking luster and very simplistic. It was a very run of the mill box clasp, like the one she had found on many of her jewelry and keepsake boxes. However this simply added to the charm of the wooden container and she truly appreciated its beauty. She did as she was asked and as soon as her hand opened the box it flew to her mouth in shock.

Kristoff saw Anna’s face of shock and immediately knew that he had made the right decision, not only in giving her the gift, but also for choosing to marry her in the first place. The box held his mother’s necklace, a simple old thing that had belonged to his father’s mother and her mother before that. It was nothing like that glamorous gem and precious metal jewelry that she wore for state affairs, parties and other royal events, but rather it was the jewelry of a commoner, and Anna was in shock of it.

Anna was lost for words for one of the first times in her entire life. The box in her hand contained a small and very old looking necklace made of an old and dark metal identical to the metal which formed the box’s clasp. It was short in length but lovely in quality. It was links of fine, but very sturdy chain intersected with other metal pieces, swirls shaped like hearts. The clasp was equally as lovely as the necklace itself, a fact which Anna saw as she lifted it from the box. It was a twisted swirled rod, smooth to the touch, which when inserted into a larger open heart shape on the other side held the necklace on when worn. Its simplicity was its beauty.

On the lower section of the necklace was a single teardrop shaped gem in an oceanic blue color. It looked as if a drop of water had been taken from the fjord on its most lovely day and was hanging upon the necklace. Perhaps it was a drop of water from the scenic mountain lakes on which Kristoff worked. It was so lovely that Anna could scarcely believe that it was real. In fact she had to touch it to ensure that it was not just a trick of the light or some kind of magic. It felt cool to the touch, but not cold. That alone was enough to tell Anna that Elsa did not have a hand in the lovely necklace, but that answered nothing, only created more questions.

Those questions were queries which Kristoff was quick to answer before they were even voiced. “It belonged to my mother.” He began simply, “When she and my father passed away it was all I had left of them. It was all I had left of my family.”

He walked over to Anna and reached out his hand tentatively, “May I?”

Anna simply nodded, handing him the necklace.

It felt right in his hands as Kristoff lifted the metal and crystal creation from her fingers to his own. He unhooked the clasp and walked behind Anna who thankfully had her hair up in a bun for today’s festivities. It made it far easier to place and clasp on her slender neck than had her hair been down and in the way.

“It was my great grandmother’s necklace originally, a wedding gift given to her by the man she married, he was a blacksmith and made this for her.”

Anna felt the cool metal on her skin but more so felt the heat of Kristoff’s fingertips grazing the exposed skin of her neck. It made her shiver and smile, and even more so as his breath tickled at the unruly few hairs that had defied her and hand fallen out of her bun already. They were unseen, but certainly felt as his speaking made them flutter about and tickle and tease her.

“And she gave it to her daughter when she was wed. As a wedding gift her husband made her the case it was kept in.” He did not move from behind her, and would not until he was done telling his tale. He honestly was unsure of how he would feel seeing Anna wear the necklace. Of course he knew that he would be happy, but he also did not want to feel the loss of something which he had protected so diligently his entire life.

“He was an ice cutter… a Bjorgman, my grandfather though he died before I was born. He was the second in the tradition, the tradition of adding something to the gift.”

Anna listened to the tale entirely enamored not only in its fascinating story, but also in the way Kristoff told it. She heard the pride in his voice, the way he felt so strongly about his traditions. It made Anna’s heart feel warm.

“Then my grandmother gave It to my Father when he planned to marry my mother. My father added to the gift by carving the flowers into the top of the box…” Kristoff choked up a bit then, “From what I can remember from before they died… they died when I was very young… But I remember my father saying my mother’s favorite flower was lily of the valley. He told me when he told me the history of the gift, and when they passed away, well it was all I had left of my family…”

His voice regained its previous heart as he stopped speaking of his parents. “And now, well now it’s yours Anna, if you’d like it that is. I added something too, the crystal on the necklace is a water crystal I earned while living with the trolls.” He then walked around to her front tugging out below the neck of his shirt to reveal a water crystal of his own on a cord necklace.

“I’m not really that good at this sort of thing but I thought you might like it as your Christmas gift. It’s a part of me and I’ve been taking care of it for a really long time and…”

He was cut short when Anna placed the box on a nearby table and rushed over to him for a very sincere heartfelt kiss and hug. Her arms wrapped around him tightly and her lips were on his kissing thank you before he could even begin to react.

He felt her upon him and immediately lost his train of thought. All he knew was that she was happy and that her being happy made him undeniably happy. He returned her kiss with a passion as his hands slipped down to her lower back by nature. She was the best gift he had ever received and he hoped she felt the same way about him.

Breaking the kiss he rested his forehead on hers, noses brushing gently against each other as he caught his breath. “Merry Christmas Anna.” He whispered.

“Merry Christmas Kristoff.”

He kissed her again until they were late for breakfast, and then again after they ate, and more throughout the day at any moment they found possible. When caught they would blame it on the seemingly ever present but somehow invisible mistletoe, but everyone knew that it was just their way of showing the other how grateful they were for the best gift that they had ever gotten.

Well it only took me the entire day after Christmas to realize I had forgotten to post my Christmas fic (whoops). I’m terrible at promptness! Well hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I’ll see if maybe I can get something ready for New Years! Thanks for reading!!!