Barn

        Sven's tongue tickled the boy's cheek. Barn chuckled, his hair slung around his head as a gloved hand ruffled it. The nine year old's first block of ice sat in the back of the sleigh waiting to be tied down and brought to market.

         The snow beneath him crunched under a pair of worn brown boots. Barn's mentor, an introverted twenty two year old with hair the color of sand, knelt down to the boy's height. It was he that had lent Barn the tools and placed the product into the sled.

"I did it, Mr. Bjorgman! My first ice block!" the brunet boy cheered.

         He placed his hands upon his hips, really upon the three layers of clothing he wore to keep warm in such conditions. A breath turned to fog before his face. A hat far too large for him drooped over his eyes.

        Barn moved the fabric just in time to catch his friend's face. His fellow ice harvester smiled at him, arousing a flood of butterflies in his stomach.

"You did that like a real ice harvester." Mr. Bjorgman tapped the boy's shoulder with the back of his hand. "I'm proud of you."

         Barn's eyes filled with warm water, and he flung his arms around his teacher. He felt like a sandwich as Bjorgman squeezed him closer. Despite his attempts to dry them, Barn's stained the grey tunic that was pressed against his face. In the silence, he heard sniffling that wasn't his own.

         There was no time to find its source before another set of feet approached them. The harvesters and reindeer looked up to see a man roughly five foot nine was dark hair and cloud colored eyes. He, Barn's father, huffed at them, an angry scowl fixed on his son.

"Yer' going home with me!" he ordered tugging the child by his shirt collar, not caring to notice he drug him across the frozen lake.

"Dad, no! Please! I wanna stay! Dad! Please!"

"That's enuff out of you! Yer' just a load a trouble! That's all you are!"

"Let him stay." Barn's mentor barked.

"You stay outta this! He's my son and I know what's good for im!"

"And here he's learning something. He's here with me."

"Huh. What makes ya think you know what's best for im?"

"At least he likes my company and enjoy his."

         Barn escaped his father's grasp. "I wanna stay here with him!"

"He don't want you! You'll be on yer own before a week goes by!"

"I'll keep him." Bjorgman stepped between the boy and the man.

"Yeah. Take im home and see what yer princess thinks of im! Pssh! He's..."

         A leg knocked his feet from under him. The father hit snow and stared up at the blond towering over him. "I said I'll keep him," Barn's mentor snapped. The dark haired man stood and snarled at them before vanishing across the ice.

"Mr. Bjorgman?" Barn quavered, "You...you didn't have to..."

"You can call me Kristoff, Barn. And I meant it... I'm gonna keep you."

Author: This is inspired by the ending of Matilda. I thought since Kristoff's adopted, he could tell when someone else is in need of a better home. He also didn't have anyone to really support him other than Sven before he met the trolls, so Kristoff is the trolls (so to speak) for Barn.