The things that matter

Chapter 2

"Anna, do you really think this is necessary?"

"Are you not curious?"

"Yeah, I am, but not enough to come to the Ahtohallan to find out. I can live with the doubt and just be grateful for the way things are."

"Well, now we're here."

"But Sven..."

"He'll be fine. Elsa has told us that she would take care of him and that they will wait for us together on the shore, right?"

"That will be if we return from crossing the Dark Sea."

"Well, once frozen it doesn't seem that dangerous, does it? It's amazing what Elsa is capable of now. Her power is still increasing."

"Someday she will sneeze and freeze the entire planet. You know it, right?"

"Stop messing with my sister!"

"You're laughing..."

"I'll never admit it. And now, stop complaining so much and let's find out why Sven still seems a lad."

"Maybe he's just a different species of reindeer. One much more... long-lived..."

"Kristoff, I know you are scared of what you might find, but Sven is seventeen years old and good as new! Seventeen, Kristoff! Ryder said that reindeers usually live for about ten years and that the luckiest ones barely make it to seventeen. You saw Sven play with Olaf yesterday morning. Did he look like a dying reindeer to you?"

"I know, I know. I understand, but... wouldn't it be easier to wait for nature to take its course without thinking so much about it?"

"And waking up every day worrying if it's the last day we can see him for who knows how many years? Don't you prefer to be prepared for what may come?"

"But the Ahtohallan is not going to prepare us for the future, it can only tell us where he came from."

"And maybe that way we understand why is he so special."

I sighed in resignation and Anna took my hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid."

"Hey, I understand. There is nothing to apologize for."

"No. It's not just because of Sven. Okay, that too, actually; but... is that, if we look in my past to find Sven's, I may find out things that I don't want to know. Do you understand? I... I don't remember my parents; I don't know anything about them. I don't remember having a home or a family. I don't know how I got on until I ran into Sven and I don't even remember meeting him, he's a constant for me."

"You don't remember anything at all?"

"Nope."

"What's your first memory?"

"Hmmm... probably the day the ice harvesters gave me my first sled. Sven and I almost melted the skates of what we used it in a single day."

"And what were you doing with them? How did you get there?"

"I don't remember either."

Anna hugged me tenderly above that frozen sea and I could feel how she shivered from the cold that invaded every corner of our bodies. I held her tightly against me and hastened my step to the entrance of the glacier cave. I had no intention of letting Anna freeze again.

"Kristoff, we don't have to come in if you don't want to."

"We've already come this far, right?"

"It's a nice hike; it doesn't have to be anything more than that."

"It's okay. If you are by my side, I can face anything."

"But..."

"It scares me but, deep down, I also want to know."

"Okay, but remember: nothing about going too far."

"I get it."

We shared another kiss that gave us a bit of courage, pressed our bodies even more, took a couple of deep breaths, and crossed the entrance of the Ahtohallan marveling at the incredible beauty of that place.

We were finally ready to face what the glacier had in store for us.

Well, maybe.