A/N: Welcome to my new little side-project. This was something that came to me randomly and suddenly. It's also something I have never done before. Romance and drama are not genres I've ever dipped into before, but I figured the only way to progress as a writer is to move out of my comfort zone and try. So here it is.

I want to preface this with something important. This is going to start off with a cute surface. Eventually, when the characters are older, it won't be so cute. Life has a funny way of making things miserable, and there will be plenty of that later. For now, this is rated T. I will adjust that as the story progresses if necessary. Unlike my other stories, I will include author's notes on chapters that it seems pertinent to. Trigger warnings will be included in later chapters, which is why the rating is likely to change.

This story is going to be driven by the demand of you fine people. If there is a desire for it to continue, then I will continue with it. If not, then it may die prematurely. I haven't decided yet. You also may notice that I am going against everything I believe in and giving Elsa a love interest for the first time. Yes, she is straight(sorry Elsanna lovers). I'm not going to spoil the plot at all, and I can't guarantee a happy ending. It really depends on how well-received this story is.

Anyway, enough gibberish. This experiment is about to start, so enjoy this innocent first chapter. Please leave a review when you finish so I know where this is going to go. Thanks!

Chapter 1

Playdate

September 6th, 2004. The start of a new school year, and all the fresh new faces in Mrs. Allen's kindergarten class were wide-eyed and brimming with excitement. They were filled with a dazzling energy, a fuel coursing through their adolescent veins that pumped into their roaring engines at dizzying speeds. It was difficult to keep them focused for more than a couple minutes. They were awestruck, and most had found toys of various types to occupy their tiny minds. All but one.

In a quiet corner of the classroom, sitting by herself, was a small girl with big sapphire-blue eyes and snowy blonde hair. While the other kids were running about making noise, playing in groups, and making friends, the little blonde girl kept to herself. She had found an old, beat up princess doll buried deep inside one of the toy boxes, and just sat and stared at her. The doll was dirtied from years of use, one of the eyes was missing, and the string making up her thin smile was coming undone. It was in sad shape, but the girl didn't care. To her, the doll was imperfect but beautiful.

After watching the little girl play by herself, Mrs. Allen grew somewhat concerned. The child wasn't remotely as energetic as the others, and seemed to be slightly depressed. She firmly believed that no child at that age should be that way. It typically meant there was more going on in the child's life than what was readily apparent.

She decided to approach the little blonde girl and talk to her, just to try and learn something about her. Putting on a bright smile, she knelt down beside her. "Elsa, sweetie, why aren't you playing with the others?"

Elsa didn't bother to look up from the doll sitting in her lap. Instead, she shrugged. "I don't want to."

"I'm sure they would love to have you join them," Mrs. Allen said sweetly.

"I tried. They made fun of me."

"Who did?" the teacher asked.

"I don't know their names. It was some girls."

"Well, why don't we find you someone else to play with?" Mrs. Allen urged.

"I don't want to. I want to be alone."

"Okay. Come play with the others when you feel better."

She didn't like how Elsa responded, but she wasn't going to force her to interact with the others. There was always one kid that didn't enjoy bonding with the other children for whatever reason. A lot of the time it was because they were shy. Other times it was due to any lack of socialization at home. But sometimes there were far deeper issues involved. Things that Mrs. Allen preferred not to think about if possible.

Soon the bell rang for recess, and the kids flooded the classroom door and poured out like ants in an anthill. Elsa waited silently and patiently until the others had left before making her way to the playground. As she slowly wandered around, trying to look everywhere all at once for the quietest corner she could find, she noticed a lone oak tree in the corner of the large grassy field that the kids usually used to play kickball. It's branches sprawled out in every direction, casting a great shadow across much of the field.

This was where she decided to spend her time. Sitting down, leaning back, and watching the other kids play, Elsa was content with where she was. She preferred to be alone. Always has. Other kids usually picked on her when she played at the park by her house, and the two boys that lived next door to her taunted and teased her at every opportunity. It was enough to drive her away from any real interaction with others.

This went on for weeks. Everyday, Elsa would go to class, sit quietly at her desk when they were doing basic lessons, was always neat and tidy during arts and crafts, and sat away from the other kids when it was story time. When the others would try and get her to play, she would sit there and withdraw into herself, confusing the other kids and forcing them to abandon her. She was happier that way.

It was nearly a month into the school year, and Elsa was once again sitting in her favorite spot beneath the large oak. The leaves had started to turn to orange and brown, the colors of autumn. She had brought a picture book from class to sit down and try learning some of the words inside when an unfamiliar voice brought her out of her secret little world. When she looked up to see who it was, there was a caramel brown haired boy with emerald-green eyes looking at her with a smile on his face.

"What'cha reading?" the boy asked.

At first, Elsa didn't respond. She looked back down at her book and shrugged dismissively. "A book with cats in it."

"Cool. Can I look at it with you?" the boy asked eagerly.

Looking back up at the boy, Elsa furrowed her tiny brow and considered him. "Why?"

It was the boy's turn to shrug, but he still had a goofy smile on his face. "Because you're pretty and you need a friend."

Even at six years old, Elsa had no idea how to respond to that. It didn't make sense. None of the other kids had ever been nice to her before, or said anything even remotely close to that. But, before she could think of something to say, the boy was already sitting down beside her and looking over her shoulder.

"I'm Micah," the boy suddenly said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Elsa," she found herself saying before she could think.

"I like that name."

There they sat, beneath the ancient oak, naming the various pictures in the book that laid in Elsa's lap. It felt strange to her, having someone just push their way into becoming her friend. It didn't make sense to her. How someone could choose to be her friend was mind-boggling. This sort of thing never happened, especially so abruptly. The boy had just helped himself, and there was nothing Elsa could do to stop it. What she didn't understand was why she didn't want to.

00000

The days soon turned into weeks, which then turned into months. It was nearing Christmas, and school would be out for the holiday. Elsa and Micah had become fast friends, which the little blonde still didn't understand. She did, however, stop questioning it after about a week of them spending recess together everyday. The craziest part was when he had finally coaxed her into playing a game of tag with him. They ran for the full half hour they had to play, and she had never had so much fun.

That itself was a new sensation. Elsa was actually having fun. This concept had been foreign to her for so long that she never dreamed she could actually play with someone else her age and enjoy it. Her new favorite pastime activity was climbing the monkey bars while Micah chased after her. The boy was relentless, but she was faster and more agile. The times he did finally catch up to her, the bell usually rang shortly after.

Unfortunately, the time they got to spend together was short lived. Once that bell rang to end recess, they had to slowly trudge their way back to their separate classrooms. This always depressed Elsa, as she knew she'd have to wait until the next day to see her friend. The weekends were torture for her. On those days she was stuck with her three year old sister, Anna. Though she was very protective and fond of her sister, Anna was still too little to do much. So her weekends, while often busy, were brutally long. With the holidays fast approaching, Elsa was beginning to think that Christmas and her birthday would be boring. Without her friend to play with, she didn't think she could enjoy the break much at all.

It was the second to last day before holiday break, and the weather had already begun to turn dreadfully cold. The sky was overcast with a light gray blanket of clouds, and there were snow warnings in effect on every news broadcast. Elsa's parents watched that sort of thing every morning before her mother took her to school. She never paid much attention to it because of how dull it was, but she heard the word snow and got excited. Then she remembered Micah, and how she wouldn't see him over the holiday.

"Momma, can my friend Micah come over?" Elsa asked as she slipped on her heavy coat.

"Is that that boy you've been playing with?" her mother wondered.

"Yeah. Please?"

"Maybe tomorrow, sweetie. I have to meet his mother first."

Her mother's answer saddened her just a little. "Okay," she said as she looked down at her feet.

The ride to school was as uneventful as ever. Just like always, they were stuck behind a slow-moving school bus that stopped at nearly every block. It always felt like it took an eternity to get there, and they had to stop so often that it made Elsa impatient. Sometimes in the mornings she would get a chance to see Micah before the classrooms opened up, and they would stand and talk. For some reason, his mother was never there in the mornings. But she always picked him up in the afternoons when it was time to go home. Elsa never got a chance after class was let out to see him, but this particular morning she was more determined than ever to catch him before they left.

Class was actually becoming more fun, especially with all the neat projects Mrs. Allen had the kids working on. From construction paper snowmen to advent calendars, there was always something for them to do. Today, however, the teacher had the kids making Christmas cards for their parents. Elsa's was an ice blue, and the inside had a set of stick figures representing her family. Her handwriting was some of the neatest in the class, something that Mrs. Allen complimented her on everyday. She had even cut out a paper Christmas tree, complete with a shining star on top, and pasted it right on the inside of her card. Elsa was rather pleased with herself, and showed it to her teacher when she was finished. Mrs. Allen had that warm smile on her face that told her she had done a fantastic job, which in turn made Elsa smile as brightly as she could.

It wasn't long until the recess bell rang out across the schoolyard, and the kids rushed out to play. As always, Elsa took her time and waited for the other kids to leave first before heading out. Then she made a beeline for the oak tree and sat, waiting for Micah to finally arrive. When he did, he was walking with something behind his back and a toothy grin plastered onto his face.

"Hi Elsa! I have something for you!" he exclaimed joyously.

Elsa's face split with a grin of her own, and she stood up excitedly. "What is it?"

"A card I made," he said as he presented her a messy, multicolored piece of paper he had crafted together.

Taking it from his hands, Elsa looked it over and couldn't wipe the grin from her face. Her eyes were wide as she tried to read the words on the front. After several moments of pronouncing each letter, she finally guessed it.

To Elsa, it read.

Inside was a picture of two little stick figures holding hands with the names Elsa and Micah written above them. There were a couple pink paper hearts pasted next to them, though they were out of proportion and looked more like arrowheads. Both stick figures had big smiles that were a little too large, and for some reason there was a cat drawn next to them.

The whole thing made Elsa incredibly happy, and she threw her arms around Micah and hugged him as tight as her tiny arms would allow. Then, after she let him go, she started to tear up a little and she had no idea why.

"Do you want to come to my house tomorrow?" she asked him as she wiped her eyes dry.

"Sure! I have to ask my mom first," he said, his smile somehow even bigger than before.

For the rest of recess they sat and talked about what they were doing in class until the earsplitting ring of the bell summoned them back to class. Slowly they made their way back, going their separate ways when they reached the building their classes were in. Elsa wasn't upset or down about having to return to class like she normally would be. She had the card Micah had given her, and she showed it off to Mrs. Allen as soon as they were back in the room. Her teacher was very happy that Elsa had finally found a friend, and she was rather surprised by the card. It was cute, and she congratulated Elsa on making a friend finally.

At the end of class, Elsa raced out of the room to her mother and started pulling on her hand and dragging her to where Micah would inevitably be. They had to zigzag through the crowd of people, and she had to look everywhere to make sure she didn't miss him. When she did finally spot him, he was walking off towards the parking lot with his mother. It looked like they were talking.

Elsa urged her mother on as fast as she could, and once she was in earshot of him, she shouted. "Micah! Wait!"

Luckily he heard her, and turned around in time to be nearly tackled to the ground by the little blonde. "Elsa! Hi!" he laughed as he tried his best to keep his feet on the ground.

The two women were watching, rather amused, and laughed as the kids stood back up. "Micah, hon, is this the girl you keep talking about?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! She's Elsa!"

"Well it's good to finally meet you Elsa, sweetie," the woman said. Then she turned to Elsa's mother and smiled. "I'm Jenny by the way. Micah absolutely adores your daughter."

"I'm Melissa, and Elsa is the same way," her mother replied. "She doesn't shut up about him. I mean that in a good way, of course."

"Momma, can Micah come over now?" Elsa asked earnestly.

"Sweatheart, we have to do some shopping once we leave. How about tomorrow, if that's okay with you?" The last part was directed to Jenny.

"I see nothing wrong with that," Jenny replied, looking down at her son. "How does that sound? Want to see Elsa after school tomorrow?"

The boy's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and clapped his hands together excitedly. "Really!? Yes!"

"Well I guess that settles it," Melissa said as she laughed at the boy. "We can pick him up tomorrow after school lets out and take him to our place. Maybe go for ice cream or something. But we should definitely exchange numbers."

As the adults were chatting, Elsa and Micah hugged one last time as they giggled together. Their mothers thought it was absolutely adorable to watch, but they eventually had to say their goodbyes and parted ways. Elsa was pumped, though, at the very idea of Micah coming to her house. She had never had a friend visit before, and she wanted to show him all the things she had. Although, he was a boy and boys didn't like girl stuff. But she didn't care. She was going to show him anyway. They'd probably end up watching a movie or something. She didn't know or care. All she knew was her best friend was coming to her home and spending the day with her.

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The next day couldn't come soon enough. Usually Elsa was quiet and calm in the morning, but this morning was entirely different. She was practically bouncing off the walls as she ran around gathering her things for school and making sure her toys were where they were supposed to be so she could show Micah when they got back. Everything had to be perfect. Why, she didn't know. She had never thought about those sort of things before. But today was different. Today she wanted to impress him so badly that it hurt, and she didn't understand why.

On the way to school, Elsa kept thinking about all the things they would do together. They could draw and color, they could run around in the backyard until they were too cold to be outside anymore, they could watch a movie and eat popcorn... The list went on. Every prospect made her bubble with excitement. She had no idea what they were actually going to do, but she knew it was going to be the best day ever. That much she could count on.

At school, the day dragged on as if time had the consistency of slime. They mostly just had a free day where they got to do whatever they wanted. When recess came, Elsa bolted out the door before the other kids could even respond to the bell, and she ran all the way to the oak tree that she shared with her best friend. It took no time at all for him to show up, running nearly as fast as she did.

"Hi Elsa!" he said cheerfully as he dragged her into a bear hug.

After he set her back down, Elsa giggled hysterically and found her spot on the ground to sit. "Are you ready to come over?"

"Yeah! Oh, I have something for you," he replied as he dug around in the pocket of his jeans. "Here you go."

It was a piece of chocolate that was in some gold wrapping. Elsa's blue eyes widened with delight as she tore into the thing and crammed the chocolate into her mouth. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned over and gave Micah a quick peck on the cheek. As soon as she realized what she had done, her face turned beet red and she fell quiet. Micah's face was a similar shade of red. Neither knew why they were embarrassed. It wasn't something they felt very often.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Elsa looked back up at her friend with a shy smile. "What do you want to do at my house?"

Micah simply shrugged at her. "I don't know. What about you?"

"I don't know. Watch Harry Potter?" Elsa asked.

"Harry Potter is cool!" Micah replied excitedly.

They talked for a bit about their favorite superheroes, and then the bell rang. Back in class, Elsa noticed that there was a big TV set up at the front of the room, and a bunch of the kids were seated on the floor where Mrs. Allen usually did story time. Her teacher was standing beside it, trying to get her class' attention.

Holding up her hand to silence everyone, Mrs. Allen hushed the kids into listening to her. "Okay everybody, we're going to invite Mrs. Callum's class over to watch a movie together. Who here likes Finding Nemo?"

Nearly every hand in the room shot up, and several of the kids got overexcited and jumped up. Elsa was excited as well, but not for the same reason as the others. Mrs. Callum was Micah's teacher, which meant he was going to be watching the movie with her. This made her extremely giddy and she couldn't wait for them to arrive.

Soon enough the other class arrived, and Micah made a beeline for Elsa. They chose to sit at one of the tables rather than on the carpeted floor. They were the only ones to do so, and Elsa couldn't care less. She was happy, excited to take Micah to her house and play, and school was almost over. It was going to end up being the perfect day... Hopefully. There were no signs that it could end poorly, and she was bound and determined to keep it that way. Nothing was allowed to go wrong.

Eventually class let out and the two rushed out to meet with Elsa's mother. They made their way to a white, four-door SUV, tossed their bags in the back, and hopped in. It smelled like a brand new car, and it was, and it had a picture of Elsa and Anna hanging from the rear view mirror. Moments later, the car roared to life and they were on the road.

"Do you kids want some ice cream before we head home?" Melissa asked over her shoulder.

In unison, both kids chimed their approval and made her laugh and shake her head. Off they went to the store to grab whatever it was the kids wanted, then headed home. Traffic wasn't too bad for the Friday before Christmas, which was a Godsend in Melissa's eyes. Normally it was hell trying to get home, but she figured a lot of people were already out of town so things went smoother than expected.

When the car pulled up to the house, Micah stared up at it in awe. The split-level home was painted an eggshell white, had large sectional windows, and an arched awning above the porch. The front yard wasn't very big, but it had lots of flowers and was very pretty. It even had a chimney, which mean they had a fireplace. He found that to be exceptionally cool.

It wasn't long before the kids were inside and running up the stairs to Elsa's room. Throwing open the door, Elsa spread her arms out in a grandiose fashion to display all the things that lined her walls and shelves. She had a plethora of stuffed animals smothering the top of her bed, a toy box overflowing with things that she had already outgrown but kept anyway, a small bookcase with things from when she was slightly younger. Her parents hadn't quite yet upgraded her to the more advanced books.

"This is my room. I know boys don't like girl things, but I wanted to show you anyway," Elsa said shyly.

"Whoa," Micah exclaimed. "You have lots of stuff. I wish I had this much stuff to play with."

"You don't have toys?" she asked, curiously.

"I do, but not a lot."

"Oh. What do you wanna do first?"

Micah spent a moment looking around the room, trying to decide where to begin. "I don't know. How about a movie?"

"Okay. Let's go ask my momma."

Off they ran, racing across the house to the downstairs family room where the large screen TV was nestled into the corner. Melissa had an office across the hall and was busy with something on the computer when the little girl knocked.

"Momma, can we watch a movie?" she asked quietly. She always had to be quiet in the office.

"Of course sweetie. Do you want Harry Potter again?" her mother asked.

Gleefully Elsa nodded, grabbed Micah's hand, and dragged him into the family room and plopped herself down on the large couch. They sat next to each other rather closely, and it was something Melissa noticed but said nothing about. She smiled to herself as she set up the movie for the kids. She couldn't help but think of how adorable their little relationship was. It was definitely a good thing that Elsa had a friend, and it was even better that they got along so well. Elsa needed this.

"Do you guys want some popcorn?" she asked as she headed out of the room.

"Yes please!" Elsa chimed as the movie started, magically drawing them in.

The hours passed by quickly, and it was nearly time for Micah to head home. After the movie ended, they resorted to playing with some of Elsa's dolls in her bedroom. She was rather surprised when he told her he would play with her. So, they set off to create a pretend city of oversized dolls and the rare action figure that Elsa had begged her parents for. They were having great time, marrying off dolls with one another regardless of the intended genders, and didn't notice that the clock had struck 6 o'clock.

The familiar sound of the doorbell brought their play to a halt. Moments later they could hear Micah's mother talking with Melissa, and they trudged their way down the stairs so he could leave. They both looked rather defeated, but not entirely so. They still had fun, which was the most important part. That and they both knew that it would happen again soon.

"You ready to go, bud?" Jenny asked as Micah pulled on his coat and backpack.

"Yeah," he said rather lamely.

"Don't worry, you guys will get plenty of chances to play again. Maybe next week before Christmas, unless you guys are busy?" she asked Melissa.

"We have family flying in, but we might be able to squeeze in some time for these two. It's Elsa's birthday just before Christmas," Elsa's mother replied with a smile.

"That sounds good. Okay, kiddo, say bye to Elsa."

"Bye Elsa," he said as he gave her a hug.

Elsa watched as they walked back to their car and drove off, happy that she got to spend the day with her friend. She was a little sad that he had to leave, but her mother did say they might get another chance soon. That was what she held onto, and that occupied her mind all through dinner. When it was time for bed, she was still anxiously waiting for her next playdate with Micah. She was thinking up all the things that they would do together as her eyelids became heavier by the second and she drifted off to sleep.