IDUNA
"Thank you." I said shyly, staring at my feet and fiddling with my hands.
When I'd bought Agnarr his present a few days ago, I'd never imagined he might actually do the same for me - but now that he had, I didn't really know how to react.
It seemed I didn't need to though; because I suddenly felt an odd sensation in the small of my back - almost like the wind spirit, but that was impossible - and I stepped impulsively towards him.
Everything fell into slow motion and my breath caught in my throat.
I was so close to him that I could see there was a hint of green in the hazel of his eyes.
There was really no turning back now and I did it - I kissed his cheek.
It was so surreal and I felt a bit lightheaded as I pulled back. My cheeks were burning ten times worse than every other time something like this happened between us, and I tried to play it off casually by brushing the fringe from my eyes. I planned to even say something, but nothing interesting came to mind and I sort of sidled away sheepishly.
Once I was back with Halima, I mentally kicked myself and rubbed the heels of my hands into my eyes, questioning my existence.
Glancing back at Agnarr, I saw he was frozen in place - unmoving.
Had I broken him?
Arianna and Nuru-Baako hurried down the stairs and they both shook him violently. If I wasn't so embarrassed I might have laughed, but I buried my head on Halima's shoulder, wishing I had a plank of wood I could smack over my head repeatedly.
I had done that all the time in the Forest. It was my thing and had become this massive joke amongst the tribe.
"What's gotten into you, honey?" Halima chuckled, stroking my hair.
"Nothing." I mumbled into her jumper.
She laughed a little more heartily and pecked my forehead. It reminded me of what had just unfolded and as my face was already so red, my ears had to turn pink instead.
"OK." she said gently, "We can go home now if you'd like."
I lifted my head and went to march straight out of the courtyard, but Halima took my hand and held me back as she waved to the young Royals dragging Agnarr up the stairs.
"Goodbye my dears!" she called.
Arianna turned around, looking almost tipsy as she was giggling so much, "Goodbye Halima! Happy holidays!"
"Goodbye." Nuru-Baako returned too, waving as if nothing had happened.
Then they shoved the young King through the doors and were gone.
"Huh," Halima began, as we walked out of the gates and onto the street, finally on our way home. Cricket bounded ahead of us and I tried to focus on him instead of Agnarr.
Easy enough in theory - but impossible when put to the test.
"I wonder what's gotten into Agnarr." she finished thoughtfully.
I pulled at a loose strand on my shawl and gave a nervous laugh, "Who knows?"
Halima shrugged, "Must be all the excitement. He often can't deal with it very well."
"Brilliant quality for a King." I replied absently and sarcastically. Not so bad for me.
Wait, what?
I rubbed my eyes again and moaned quietly enough so Halima wouldn't hear.
The journey home seemed longer than usual, and I can't say I wasn't relieved when, at long last, we stumbled through the front door.
I went through to the living room and got the fire burning, while Halima went into the kitchen and put the meat in the oven for our Christmas Dinner. Apparently it was a big ordeal in Arendelle, to have a special feast with the whole family on this particular day.
Only, this was rather ironic considering we wouldn't be having this meal with our 'entire family's'.
Halima knew mine was still alive and not dead like I'd previously led her to believe. But they were trapped in the Forest, so obviously wouldn't be able to come; no matter how hard I'd been praying that somehow they might be able to escape the Forest for at least one day.
And Halima was the only member of her living family still in Arendelle. She'd been an only child and both her parents had passed away. Some Aunts and Uncles had moved away to raise their families. And she'd never married, so didn't have any children of her own; unless you count those Royals and myself.
So it would be a quiet Christmas, but we'd grown extremely fond of each other's company. Halima no longer felt alone, and I was becoming used to the idea of not being surrounded day in day out by Northuldran people, my family, and my friends.
My heart still ached whenever I suddenly remembered that fact, though. Some things will never change.
Once I had the fire going, I barely had time to ruffle Cricket's fur as I was in such a rush to get to the washroom upstairs.
My face mustn't have been as red as it was a few minutes ago, but I still splashed it several times with the cool water from the tap. I felt a lot refreshed for it anyway, and made my way back downstairs; my breathing evening out and I no longer felt so jumpy.
Halima was still busy in the mistletoe-covered kitchen, so I went back into the living room where I spotted the paperbag I'd discarded on my armchair.
I picked it up and knelt in front of the tall Christmas tree which stood in the corner of the room. It was decked out with red and white berries, had a pile of presents beneath it, and was usually glowing with lots of little candles, but we hadn't lit them just yet.
It was the complete opposite of the Christmas tree in the Castle ballroom. That was simply massive and it looked as though every single branch had a piece of ribbon tied around it and a flaming candle. None of the humble decorations in our house had anything on those that were royal, but I preferred them anyway:
Mistletoe and bunting was strung in every room, even winding up the staircase banister; wreaths of berries, holly, pinecones and fir-tree needles were hanging from the doors; and curiously scented candles sent their smells wafting through the house.
But my favourite ornament by far was definitely the funny, mismatching pair of stockings hanging on either side of the fireplace. They were the socks Halima and I had knitted at the beginning of this festive season and I loved them.
Carefully, I reached into the bag and pulled out Arianna's present. It felt strange - the top part was soft but the bottom half was hard. I was certainly intrigued and placed it beside the other gifts.
Then I took out the gift from Nuru-Baako. He'd given it to me once the two of us were outside and before I went into the crowd to find Halima. I didn't know what to make of the shape and was excited to open it.
And finally I picked up the present from Agnarr. It was small and boxy, and I found I could laugh at the sloppy wrapping; but it was the thought that counted.
"Who's that from?"
I jumped violently and the gift flew into the air. I rushed to catch it and it bounced between my palms like the fire spirit before it cooled down. When I finally had it in my clutches, I pulled it to my chest and sighed in relief.
Halima sat down next to me and inspected the box.
"Who's it from?" she repeated.
I looked at her innocently, "Agnarr." then I added quickly, pointing to the other presents, "And these are from Arianna and Nuru-Baako."
Her eyes twinkled, "Ah. That was nice of them."
"Yes it was rather." I agreed, a smile trying to claim my lips.
Halima stood again, "Well. I think it's time we light these candles, and then we can open our presents! My word, there really are quite a few."
As she crossed to the cupboard to pull out some matches for the candles, I stared at the pile of gifts and realised she was right! There was a generous amount of them underneath the tree.
Halima had many friends within the Kingdom of Arendelle and some of them had even gotten me a few things, if they'd gotten to know me from visits to see us; like Mr Henriksir, who'd given us both a little something before we returned home from the ringing of the Jule Bell.
We'd also both received something from Erik, which was pretty sweet of him. I'd gotten him something too - he often said he really liked impressive and unique wood carvings (which was why he sold them), so I'd sacfriced one from the Forest; it was a reindeer, but I'd salvaged a couple of those so I didn't really mind parting with it. Plus, as long as he liked it, I wouldn't have minded if I didn't have any others.
And then, before I knew it, all the candles were lit and we were sitting in our armchairs with a pile of presents each. I had Agnarr's on the arm of the chair, planning to save it for last; though I couldn't quite fathom why.
It was apparently tradition for one person to open one present and then the other to open one and so on, so that's what we did. It was quite fun, actually, wripping open packages to see the thoughtful contents people had gotten me.
We never really did anything like this in the forest. I mean, sure, we received tokens of love on our special day, but they were never wrapped. We usually focused on the events which happened during the day, not the passing of presents.
In any case, Halima received some lovely things like candles, cakes, shawls, perfume, embroidered pillows and so on. And I was delighted with what I got too. They mostly consisted of sweets, a dress or two, some books, and a beautiful fountain pen.
From Erik I got a glass figure; also like the ones he sold. It was very nice and of an odd looking bird with a long, feathery tail.
From Halima I got a few things - a batch of delicious-smelling, ginger cookies (my favourites!), a homemade blanket in multi-coloured wool, and my very own wood carving set. My eyes widened in delight when they fell upon that particular gift. It was almost identical to the set of tools my father had used.
"I know you've said that you used to carve wood in the Forest." Halima told me, "So I thought you might like the proper tools to continue that hobby."
"Thank you so much Halima!" I burst in pure joy, almost wanting to cry I was so happy. They would never be the same chisels and knives my father had used, they wouldn't be stained and scarred and softened - so to speak - but they were still a reminder of who I was. "I can't believe you thought of something so amazing!"
Halima just continued to smile at me, a tear glistening in her own eyes.
The happiness didn't fade, but we did continue to open presents; from Nuru-Baako I got a bottle of purple perfume which smelt simply divine, and from Arianna I got a new book and a spectacularly embroidered scarf, which came with a note saying she'd had it specially made for me!
And then, all too soon, it was time to open the gift from Agnarr.
My hand was shaking as I picked it up, and I was very conscious of Halima's eyes on me. This felt like a momentous occasion or something, and I didn't know why.
Agnarr was my friend. Right? Just like the others were. So why was a present from him so ... special?
I lifted a trembling hand and tore back the wrapping. It revealed a velvet-covered box with the Royal Seal set in silver across the top.
"Fancy. My, that boy may not have the best wrapping in the world but he sure knows how to thrill a lady!" Halima chuckled and I felt my cheeks heat again.
Did she know?
What was wrong with me?
I shook my head, slipped the box from the wrapping, and subconsciously rubbed my thumb over the soft material and the smooth embossing of the stamp. Then I opened it to reveal this gorgeous little necklace.
It was so simple and so pretty and so me.
My heart beat a little faster as I took it out to study it closer. There was a sparkling diamond in the middle of the silver chain, and this was surrounded by a four other smaller diamonds in blue, orange, purple and green.
It felt magical in my hands.
"What's that he's got you?" Halima asked.
I stood, a little too abruptly, to show it to her, and she took it in her hand.
"Oh, isn't that lovely." she exclaimed, her face breaking into a smile, "It's really you, isn't it?"
"Yes." I agreed with a stiff nod.
"Would you like to put it on now?" she asked, her hands moving to undo the clasp.
I nodded again and clumsily knelt in front of her, brushing my hair over one shoulder.
"I wonder how much it cost." I speculated, looking down at all the little diamonds again as they appeared around my neck.
"For you," Halima said, fiddling with the clasp to get it shut "I don't think Agnarr minded."
My eyes went wide and for a moment it felt as though I couldn't breathe - what did she mean by that?
"There. Turn around and let's see how you look."
I did so and spread my arms wide, tempted to do a little twirl to loosen my nerves as well as to make her laugh.
"Well Iduna!" she smiled, "It really suits you."
I returned a weak smile, unsure of how else to respond; I don't really know what I'd been expecting as a gift from Agnarr, but it certainly wasn't this.
Halima clapped her hands against her legs, completely oblivious to the fact I was rendered practically dumb. "Well. Last present I think."
"Ah, yes!" I burst out quickly, "The one from me!" in my excitement and relief of a topic change, I almost dropped the present I was passing to her.
She took it and unwrapped it. This revealed a cardboard box which she then proceeded to open, and when she looked inside her face broke into the biggest smile of the day so far.
"Oh, Iduna you shouldn't have!" she reached inside and pulled out one of the several presents.
I grinned, "Anything for you."
It would seem that we'd both had a similar sort of idea - several small gifts to make one big present. Only I'd put all the things for Halima in one box, while Halima had wrapped them all separately.
She pulled out present after present to examine them, letting out a pleasured gasp every time. I'd bought her a small brooch, some of her favourite sweets and a cheese-cutting set (she really liked cheese for some reason), and knitted her a winter scarf.
"Well. This is all very nice Iduna. I fear you've spoilt me."
I just shrugged merrily and held up the woodcarving set, "Is that not what you're supposed to do?"
Halima just laughed, "Touché."
I leaned over my chair to lower the set to the floor, but came face to face with these big, periwinkle, imploring eyes.
Giggling, I put my hands under Cricket's forearms and lifted him into my lap, "Aww. You must be feeling pretty left out, mustn't you."
"Oh of course! We've been opening things, but poor Cricket hasn't had anything." Halima cooed.
That's when I remembered the very last gift I had gotten and, after excusing myself, raced upstairs to grab it.
After thundering back into the living room, I knelt in front of Cricket and got him to sit down before I gave him his present. He was so excited, bless him, that he didn't really want to sit down, but eventually he managed it and I set the wrapped-up gift on the floor for him to open.
He tore at the paper with his teeth for a few minutes until, at last, he'd gotten it off; then he sniffed the contents curiously, and jutted it around the floor with his nose.
"Daft dog." I muttered fondly, patting his soft nose and picking up the present. "It's a collar silly!" I told him, "Your name is written in here." I tapped the heart-shaped locket attached to the leather collar. I hadn't used it since Erik gave it to me, and had almost forgotten all about it until I was thinking of presents for Cricket and realised it would make a perfect little name tag.
I'd then had a neat little collar made form a strip of leather, and asked the man if he could attach the charm - and he'd done a fantastic job.
I fastened the collar around Cricket's neck and after a few moments of shaking his head and scratching his neck, he seemed to get used to it.
"Don't you look so smart now?" I cradled his head in my palms.
"He sure does, my dear." Halima said, sitting beside me as Cricket went up to her, proudly showing off his new collar. "He sure does."