Somebody - a Kristanna drabble

Kristoff never felt like he needed anyone. He had Sven, he had the trolls. They were all the family he needed. He didn't know how love worked, and no matter how hard the trolls tried to teach him, he was still baffled when he saw how the other ice harvesters reacted to and around women. Sometimes when they were out on the ice the men would complain, but when they were around the women they would act sweet and charming. Sometimes they would wax poetic about a woman, and then one day they would be silent and moody, never wanting to speak of her again. This confused Kristoff to no end, and eventually he decided he was better off. The encounters he had had with women never went past polite conversation. Well, polite on their part. Kristoff was too gruff in his dealings with people in general, not too many people stuck around long enough to get to know him better.

That is, until he met a certain fiery red-haired woman, who turned his world upside down. The unpleasant exterior he had built up over the years as a defense was no match for her. She sent it tumbling down with a simple command: "I want you to take me up the north mountain." From that moment on, whether he knew it or not, he was lost.

He thought that he was a private person, that he didn't need to talk about his feelings, about his memories, about his hopes and fears. He wasn't used to another person being there, scrutinizing his face or his actions. He thought he was a stoic person, but he really wore his emotions on his sleeve. Or so Anna said. She always knew when he needed an ear, even before he could ever admit it to himself.

She was patient with him, when he was gruff with people as was his wont. When he would rant about how people lied and cheated him, and try to make her see how he saw people, she would listen with an open mind. In the end she would gently encourage him to see the world in a different light, and see another side of people he might never have entertained before.

Their differences were more glaring than their similarities, but Anna's enthusiasm was so infectious he almost couldn't resist it. Almost. His reticence and distrust of people was so ingrained it hobbled him, making him socially awkward. But this didn't stop Anna from taking him to balls, inviting him to tea with a visiting dignitary, or taking him along to social events. He would bow out of his fair share of them, but when he did go a small piece of him would lighten, as he watched Anna shine in her element.

He never wanted to be "tied down", the other men constantly bemoaning their state that the entire concept of it left him weary and cautious. When his relationship with Anna got serious this fear reared its ugly head, but when he looked at where they were he realized he was already in too deep. Anna by no means controlled him, it just wasn't in her, but he found himself wanting to be in her presence whenever possible. His thoughts on the ice before her were few and far between, but now she was a constant presence in his mind. When harvesting was done he would waste no time in packing up and heading for Arendelle, the other men laughing and teasing him. If this was what it meant to be "tied down" he would gladly offer up the strings.

He never knew what it was like to have someone care for him, to be so invested in his very being. He never understood how much he meant to Anna until he arrived back at the castle late one night, much later than usual, having detoured for some unexpected errands, and Anna had gripped his shirt, trembling and with wet eyes, clearly overwrought and yet overjoyed that he had returned to her.

It was at night, with the warmth of her body against him, her soft skin brushing his, that he knew. When she would wrap her arms around him, and thinking he was asleep, whisper "I love you" pressing tender lips to his skin. He knew. He knew he had gotten everything he had ever wanted. Even though he never knew he wanted it in the first place.