Life in the Key of Elsa Chapter 1: I Stand, a frozen fanfic

A/N: For some time, I've been thinking about what songs Elsa might find inspiring or meaningful or just fun to sing. Well, this will be a compilation of the songs I imagine Elsa would enjoy. Spoiler: there will be a lot of Idina in this collection!

The settings will be a mix of contemporary and in-universe, depending on how I feel about a particular song. I'll try to provide some context for each one.

Lyrics will be italicized or set apart from the backstory.

For this chapter, I imagined Elsa walking through Central Park in Manhattan. The idea is she retains her in-movie characteristics and resides in our world. Also, I usually don't write from her perspective, so this one is going to feel a little different.

I walk alone. It's quiet in the park, away from the noise of the city. Away from the crowds, all the people. Deafening. Close. Contact.

Here, it's all different. The quiet is immense. Serene. Peaceful. Solitude.

It reminds me of the North Mountain. Sometimes I wish to go back there, just to escape the pressure and rush of life. Things were never easy for me. I never had the luxury of an easy life.

Strange, isn't it? A queen cannot have an easy life. No, there is too much at stake. Duties and responsibilities. Protocols and expectations. Then there are the people who look up to you. Or down upon you. They can criticize you for every little thing. They can treat you like you are a child who does not deserve to be wielding so much power. Or they can be blinded by the aura and the pageantry. They constantly see you as some sort of inspiration, like the answer to all of life's problems.

What am I to do about those who look up to me? What about those who cannot make sense of who I am or what I have become? Sometimes, it's just too much. There's so much pressure being a queen as it is. Add to that all the fans who can never seem to get enough of me. The noise is just…

Relax. Just relax.

I try to clear my head. Breath in deeply. Take in the scent of the air. The feel of a breeze blowing across my face. I run a hand through my hair, the thick and wild mess it is, yet somehow perfectly in place. And that's when it happens.

The music starts. Softly, in my head. Only I can hear it. This is my element. My moment. I begin to sing, without a care who may hear me.

When you ask me, who I am:
What is my vision? And do I have a plan?
Where is my strength? Have I nothing to say?
I hear the words in my head, but I push them away.

'Cause I stand for the power to change,
I live for the perfect day.
I love till it hurts like crazy,
I hope for a hero to save me.
I stand for the strange and lonely,
I believe there's a better place.
I don't know if the sky is heaven,
But I pray anyway.

And I don't know
What tomorrow brings
The road less traveled
Will it set us free?
Cause we are taking it slow,
These tiny legacies.
I don't try and change the world;
But what will you make of me?

With the slightest of breezes
We fall just like leaves
As the rain washes us from the ground
We forget who we are
We can't see in the dark
And we quickly get lost in the crowd

'Cause I stand for the power to change,
I live for the perfect day.
I love till it hurts like crazy,
I hope for a hero to save me.
'Cause I stand for the power to change,
I live for the perfect day.
I love till it hurts like crazy,
I hope for a hero to save me.
I stand for the strange and lonely,
I believe there's a better place.
I don't know if the sky is heaven,
But I pray anyway.

I open my eyes, the weight of the world suddenly lifted off my shoulders. I sense someone is nearby watching me. I turn to look.

And there she is.

My hero. My salvation. My best friend. My dear little sister. Anna.

She takes my hands and looks me in the eye. She smiles slightly, as if trying to hold back the tears that I can see threatening to leak out. She speaks quietly but resolutely:

"And I will always stand beside you."

Lyrics from "I Stand" by Idina Menzel

Stay tuned for more!