#terryfing

Aunt Cass shoved him to the top of the staircase by the kitchen. Deciding the Emergency Department would not be the best place to spend his 21st, he continued down the stairs unaided and walked out into the café that encompassed the ground floor of his home.

Sat at their usual seats were his friends from college, GoGo, Honey, Wasabi and Fred. A raucous cheer went up when they spotted Tadashi and they met him halfway, hugging him and wishing him a happy birthday.

It was only when Honey hugged him that he realised it wasn't just Fred wearing a bizarre choice in summer outfit. He pulled back from the hug and looked her up and down, taking in the ridiculous number of layers she was wearing and frowning. “Honey... why are you dressed like it's the middle of Winter?”

“Your surprise! Well... okay, this is not your surprise, but we need to wear this for your surprise.”

“My surprise? Wh-” He looked past them and saw a rather large pile of bags and the snowboard that normally graced his bedroom wall, “.... wait a second...”

Hiro appeared at his side, wearing a toothy grin and a snow suit that was far too big for him. “We're going skiing!”

“I overheard you talking with Hiro a few weeks ago,” Aunt Cass began, coming to a stop behind Hiro, her hands on his shoulders, a back pack by her side, “saying how much you enjoyed the family skiing trips when you were younger, and I thought it might be nice if you spent some time on the slope with Hiro now he's old enough to remember. You were a good snowboarder!”

“'Were'?” Tadashi chuckled, “Gee, thanks Aunt Cass.” He got a light slap on the arm and raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Prove me wrong then!” His Aunt picked up his pack and passed it to him. “Come on, you're booked in from 10am, I want to get going sooner rather than later.”

Pop. “Can we take this stuff off now? He's filled in, I'm melting.” After groans of agreement from the others, they divested themselves of the snow gear and bundled it into their bags. After feeding the group a light breakfast and loading them down with snacks for later, Aunt Cass brought a small minibus to the front of the shop and once Wasabi and Fred (who had refused to remove his gear, which included the head of one of his mascot outfits) had loaded the gear into the back, they all piled in and headed off.

“Check this place out! It looks like real snow!” Hiro plastered his face to the window separating the entrance lobby to the side of the slope, watching as people flew past him. “This is awesome.”

“Agreed, little man. Agreed.” Fred clapped him on the shoulder, “This is going to be a good day.”

By the reception desk, Aunt Cass was talking over details with the receptionist, who directed them to a one of the small waiting areas just next to what appeared to be a room filled with snow gear, snowboards, skis, and various other things related to winter sports. Aunt Cass gave the two brothers a hug and left to get back to the café, with promise of retrieval when they had finished for the day.

“Hey guys, come on over!” A blond man, his shoulders broad enough to rival Wasabi's, was stood near the entrance to the kit area, and he wandered over to them with a grin on his face. “I'm Kristoff, I'm going to make sure you all kitted up and cosy before you hit the slope.” They followed him to the waiting area, Tadashi and Hiro both lingering near the entrance to the kit area, gawking at the sheer variety of gear within.

“Now, I can see some of you already have your own gear which is great. Those of you that don't, we've got a huge variety of stuff to suit you, and whatever sport you'd like to try out while you're here.”

Immediately, GoGo, Fred and Hiro blurted out, “Snowboarding,” with various degrees of excitement. Kristoff chuckled, “Noted. And the rest of you? You'll all be together as a group, regardless of what you choose.”

It took a few minutes and a bit of careful consideration, but Wasabi and Honey both decided that they would snowboard as well, to try and make things easier. It didn't take long before Kristoff discovered that the snowboard was Tadashi's, and that they were there because of him.

“Well, happy birthday. Don't worry; we won't announce it to the rest of the slope. We find it can be a little distracting when everyone looks your way at the same time. Not to mention all the more embarrassing if you fall.” Kristoff cringed – there were clearly a few tales behind this particular policy.

It took about half an hour to make sure everyone was toasty enough to brave the cold – Hiro was given something to wear that didn't make him look like an under-inflated marshmallow. Fred's dinosaur head was given the all clear, the fact that he couldn't pull it over his head didn't dull his enthusiasm in the slightest, especially after he was given a green helmet to match. After checking Tadashi's board to make sure it was safe to use, Kristoff fetched boards for everyone else, including a bright pink one for Honey. After she'd taken a selfie with the group and they had squared their belongings away, Kristoff tugged his beanie down over his ears and lead them to the entrance to the slope, trudging through the snow at the base of the slope.

“Elsa!”

About halfway along, two people, one dressed in blue gear, the other in green, were sat on the barrier separating spectators from the people bombing towards them. Kristoff called again, and both their heads turned in their direction, blonde and red braids flying over shoulders. The blonde woman hopped down from the wall into the snow, the red head turned and slid down into the spectator area.

“Elsa, I have your next victims!”

"Kristoff, you can't say stuff like that! At least not in earshot.” She flashed a grin at the group, punching Kristoff lightly in the arm when she reached them. “Hi, everyone. Don't listen to him. Social skills of a reindeer.”

Tadashi buried his head slightly into the high neck of his jacket to try and hide his dropped jaw. The woman's hair was almost as white as the snow itself, and the blue of her snow gear seemed a dull grey compared with the blue of her eyes. She had a lopsided grin on her face and Tadashi wondered how all the snow was still intact given how warm he was getting.

“Everyone, this is Elsa, our resident Snow Queen.”

“Oh my god, one time.” There was an odd noise from the back of the group as Wasabi tried to smother his outburst with a coughing fit.

“Elsa, this is birthday boy Tadashi and brother Hiro, then... Fred, GoGo, Wasabi and Honey. Did I get that all right?” There was a chorus of positive responses from the group. “I've already told Tadashi about our birthday wishes policy.”

She chuckled, “Thank you, Kristoff. And happy birthday, Tadashi.” He popped his head up to say thank you, before delving back into the sanctuary his jacket provided.

“I'll leave you to it. I have Anna's kiddie group turning up any minute now.”

“It's been an honour serving with you, Kristoff.” She rested a hand on his shoulder and he gave a solemn nod, looked down at the floor with a sigh... before he stood up straight with a grin, waved his goodbyes to the group and walked back to his store room.

Elsa grinned and turned her attention to the group in front of her. “So! All snowboarding, by the looks of it, so... let's find out what you're all capable of, shall we? Anyone snowboarded before?”

They stood talking at the base of the slope for a short while, Elsa finding out their levels of experience and discussing what the day would have in store for them. Given that the levels of experience were fairly low, and that Tadashi hadn't snowboarded since he was little, they started out easy, working their way up the slope a few metres at a time. Disregarding the first hour, in which everyone spent more time sat down on the snow rather than stood up on their boards, the group made steady progress. Tadashi found that his childhood boarding skills were slowly coming back to him, and Hiro was picking things up quickly, getting the occasional feeling of déjà vu.

GoGo was eager to make her way further up the slope, but Elsa managed to keep her at a safe height until she'd mastered stopping to Elsa's satisfaction. Fred was doing his best, sticking with Hiro and pulling the younger boy back onto his feet as often as he was pushing himself back up.

Not comfortable on snowboards at all, both Wasabi and Honey traded in their boards for skis at Elsa's suggestion, much happier when they were able to move their feet independently. When Kristoff had returned them to the snow, Elsa let the other four practice what they had been taught so far, whilst coaching Wasabi and Honey in the basics of skiing, before the whole group broke for lunch.

“Can we come here again for my birthday? Please, Tadashi?”

Tadashi pulled off his helmet and grinned down at his younger brother, “You'll have to ask Aunt Cass, buddy. But I don't see why not.” Taking off his jacket, he sat down around a table with the others, breaking out the various treats that Aunt Cass had packed for them.

He listened to the group talking about the morning's entertainment: GoGo was talking with Hiro about how far up the slope they could make it before the day was out, but also reluctantly agreeing that they probably weren't ready for the ominous looking red slope just yet. Fred was debating with Wasabi and Honey whether snowboard or skis were best. Tadashi was wondering just how long he could keep up his amateur act before Elsa saw through his attempts to have her coach him more than was necessary.

Unfortunately for him, he clearly wasn't doing a good enough job.

“Tadashi, I thought you said you knew how to snowboard?” Wasabi's curious gaze turned towards him, followed by everyone else's. Fred piped up next, “Yeah, I thought you'd done this loads of times!”

“I... well, y'know, I just... I'm out of practice is all.”

“Uh huh. And the hot instructor has nothing to do with your lapse in memory.” Fred smirked, popping some sushi into his mouth.

Pop. “My god, boys are so predictable.”

“Hey, I don't blame you, she's damn cute.” Fred nudged Tadashi in the ribs, causing his sushi to fall from his chopsticks.

“I don't have a crush on the instructor.”

“He didn't say you did...” Honey grinned, sipping innocently at her drink. Tadashi's face turned a deeper shade of red as he ate his lunch.

“You totally have a crush on her! Wait until Aunt Cass fin-”

“Noo, no. You do not say anything to Aunt Cass, she'll want to drag her back to the café.”

“Aww, look at you getting all protecti- ow! Hey, I need that leg to ride the slopes!”

“Shut up then, Fre-”

“Hey guys, ready to get back out?”

“Sure, Elsa! Say, Tadashi here was wondering if he could maybe head up the slope a little? He's ready for it.” Fred flashed a cheesy grin at the blonde instructor, expertly masking the pain of Tadashi kicking him in the leg, which stopped immediately when Elsa looked down at him.

“I don't see why not, you seemed to have remembered most of your childhood skills. Shall we give it a go?” She grinned that lopsided grin again, and Tadashi couldn't say no.

“Okay, so just like before, we'll go down together. Just keep a hold of my hands, and you'll be fine, okay?”

Hold her hands and you'll be fine. Physically, anyway. That's the important one, right? Tadashi just nodded, looking down at the intermediate slope. At the bottom, Wasabi and Honey were slowly but surely side stepping their way up the slope to have another go at the beginner's run, and the other snowboarding amateurs were watching Tadashi's run from the side of the slope.

“Are you ready?”

Tadashi swallowed, taking her proffered hands, “As I'll ever be.”

“On three. One... two... three!” Elsa kicked off, pulling Tadashi over the incline. It didn't take too long to build up speed; the snow was perfect, the run was smooth and clear and Tadashi was suddenly reminded of the first time he'd been down a yellow slope as a kid. With a whoop, he let go of one of Elsa's hand and fist pumped the air as he zipped past their spectators, and his momentary loss of balance would have sent him flying had Elsa not been keeping a tight hold of his other hand. When he reached the bottom (and apologised profusely to Wasabi for spraying him with snow) he grinned at his instructor.

“Can we do that again?”

She chuckled, and waved a hand to the ski lift, following him over and up the slope again. They picked up the others on the way up, and Elsa carefully and methodically explained how to transfer the skills they'd learnt lower down the slope to the higher speed. She demonstrated with Tadashi's help a couple of times, before Tadashi went it alone. After a long while practising, GoGo and Hiro were chasing each other down the slope, Fred providing commentary as he followed them at a slightly slower pace. Towards the end of the day, Kristoff leading the way, Honey and Wasabi ventured towards the yellow slope as well, both of them making the descent whilst holding onto Kristoff's waist, their skis interlocked with his own. He took Hiro right up to the top of the slope just as the slope was beginning to close for the evening, the young boy standing on the back of his skis, and cheering the entire way down.

Elsa slid over to Tadashi once his brother had made it to the bottom, his shouts of joy echoing around the large hall. “Want to try?”

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, wincing, “Ooh, I dunno. Not sure I could stand on the back of that guy's skis without wiping out the both of us.”

“You can stick to your board if you like. Come on, I'll take you up.” He opened his mouth to decline... but promptly closed it again. You've been holding hands for most of the afternoon. She's just teaching you. Get a grip, man.

He followed, watching his friends get smaller and small as the ski lift took them to the top of the slope. Once they'd reached the limit, Elsa hopped into place, and indicated where Tadashi should stand. “Don't be nervous. You've done great today, you'll be absolutely fine now.” She held out her hands for him to take, and Tadashi almost fell flat on his face when that lopsided grin appeared on her face again.

Woman up, Tadashi.

He hopped into position in front of her, taking her hands, looking down the slope. He'd never been this high up as a child, his mother had never allowed it. He would occasionally sneak further up the slope under his father's watchful eye, but never right to the top.

“Tadashi?”

“Uh huh.”

“Are you ready?”

“... uh huh.”

“Sure?” She gave his hands a reassuring squeeze, the sensation forcing him to look at her.

“... yes.”

“Okay. On three. One...”

You can do this Tadashi.

“Two...”

This is nothing. Just a lil' hill.

“Three!”

She looks really cute when she's excite-

Elsa slid over the edge and started down the incline, Tadashi gripping onto her hands so tight he was sure his knuckles had turned white inside his gloves. The wind rushed through his hair, and as he was staring down the slope he caught sight of Elsa's braid flying behind her in his peripheral vision. The grin on her face was infectious, and Tadashi found himself whooping just as his brother had done, letting go of her forward-most hand, but refraining from fist pumping the air again.

They were already halfway down the slope when he realised that Elsa had let go of his other hand, and he was steering himself down the slope on his own. He grinned harder, all of his previous experience kicking back in, and he reached the bottom of the slope with his arms raised, cheering and came to a graceful stop in front of Wasabi, who he had again covered in snow. Hiro tackled him to the ground mid-apology, yelling about how awesome his brother looked and how they just had to come back here for his birthday and how awesome his brother looked.

Kristoff and Elsa stood to the side of the group, chuckling at the hyperactive teen, who showered them in praise because this was the best birthday ever, even if wasn't his, and did you see how awesome that was!,

Kristoff helped the group remove their various boards and skis, and led them back to the store room, Elsa walking at the back, next to Tadashi. “So, I know your brother enjoyed your birthday present. Did you?”

“This... it's been amazing. Thank you. I think I'd have fallen flat on my face a few dozen times if you hadn't been so patient.”

The blonde chuckled, “You're welcome. But you're better than you give yourself credit for. A couple more days practise and you'd be flying down that slope.”

“Is this where you pull out the membership leaflets?”

“Noo, no, I was being serious. But now you mention it...” She smirked at his slight eye roll, “I'm kidding. I'm just glad you had fun.” They had reached the edge of the small waiting area they had started out in, and Elsa held out an ungloved hand to Tadashi, “So. Hiro's birthday?”

He chuckled, pulled off his glove and shook her hand, “Seems like. Thanks again.”

“You're welcome. Enjoy your evening, Tadashi. Bye everyone!” She let go of the birthday boy's hand and gave the group a parting wave, before leaving the group with Kristoff to come down from their adrenaline highs, but not without a quick passing grin at Tadashi.

They were still buzzing by the time Aunt Cass had arrived to pick them up. She entered the hall to see the group going through the motions they had learn during the day on the carpeted floor, and chuckled as they quickly launched into an explanation of their day to her.

“It sounds like you had an awesome time! I might have to tag along next time.”

“Only if Tadashi doesn't still have a crush on the instructor.”

“Hiro!”

“Oooh, really? Who?” Hiro took her by the hand and dragged her to the viewing window, where they could see various members of the slope staff rearranging the snow for the next morning. Hiro pointed Elsa out as she wandered by, and Aunt Cass tilted her head, “Oh, so this is where she works!”

Six heads turned to face Aunt Cass, but it was Tadashi that broke the stunned silence, “You know her?”

“Sure, she comes into the café every so often. Chocolate doughnut and a vanilla latte. Quite the sweet tooth, that one. Her and her sister.”

“She has a siste- ow!”

Pop.

“Mhmm. Elsa's a lovely young woman. Quite reserved though, very poli- wait, did you say Tadashi has a crush on her?” Hiro grinned toothily, nodding. Tadashi groaned. “Ooh! I'll let you know when she's next in the café!”