The Kindest of All

You scoot over to Anna’s side. She’s sleeping on her back, eyes shut lightly even as she’s far away in dreamland. You suppress a chuckle as you see drool sliding lazily from her slightly parted lip down her chin. You nudge her gently, attempting to get her to stir from her nap. But instead, her hand subconsciously reaches for you, tugging at your arm. Before you know it, you’ve acquiesced to whatever she’s dreaming about and find yourself lying down beside her, staring at the back of her red tresses and black jacket.

“Don’t… go. Stay,” moans Anna, turning to her side to face you. Her eyelids flutter slightly. She whispers not Elsa’s name, but yours. It must be the gentle spring breeze, the generous food from the picnic, and the fact that she hasn’t done this with someone she trusts for so long. Kristoff is always there for her, but this is different. It means something else. You take a deep breath and draw closer, taking the initiative to respectfully keep her warm and comforted. It lasts for a while since you don’t end up waking her. When she finally stirs in your arms, she doesn’t even make a sound or an attempt to pull away, to get back up. She simply remains in your embrace, staring at you with shining, loving eyes.

“Don’t ever leave my side,” she whispers, her voice at once commanding and begging.

She smells of wild flowers, and you make this observation to her gently. She laughs, saying that she put on this perfume for you.

She’ll be waiting for your answer, as you continue to lie together on the picnic blanket under the woodland canopy, until the sun begins to dip down the fjord’s horizon. You then finally pack everything into the hamper and head back down, dropping Anna off at Arendelle Castle. There’s a weird sense of reluctance as you part ways. Anna herself looks a bit disoriented.

In the next few days, since you see each other often, neither of you mention what happened under the tree. Perhaps Anna’s waiting for you to say something. Or perhaps she’s already dismissed her holiday from her mind, launching right back into her work as our sovereign head of state. The matters of the heart shouldn’t be forced into verbal expression. One thing is for sure: it’ll be a memory that both of you treasure for a very, very long time.