The snow queen stood alone in the throne room. It was a cold, snowy night, and Anna was out with Kristoff - Elsa was, for lack of a better term, all alone. She walked over to her mirror and decided to change into something suitable for the outdoors. After all, Anna was having a night to herself; why couldn't she? All her chocolate had been eaten hours ago, and her book had started to bore her to death. So, she decided she would eat out in the most famous Irish pub in town, Finn McCool's.

Perfect, Elsa thought to herself, as she settled into a beautiful, dark blue snow dress. She fixed her ponytail into a loose braid - she wanted to look fashionable, but real - not like she was trying too hard. Unfortunately, she'd been having a bad hair day, and after five minutes, she figured it would have to do.

She trekked down the stairs of the castle at a comfortable, leisurely pace. Not too fast, not too slow. She had formed a smile on her face at the thought of possibly bumping into Olaf or Sven - she simply adored Olaf, and she'd come to bond with Sven. There was a possibility of Kristoff marrying Anna, after all, so why not bond with Kristoff's best friend?

As she sat down at a booth, something caught her eye - or, rather, someone. He had naturally tri-colored, spiky hair and a thick, full beard. But that wasn't the main attention-grabber. It was his eyes. The color of deep hazel pulled her in. She couldn t stop herself as she envisioned herself holding hands with the gentleman, possibly locking lips. Not too unladylike, but still not suitable for a queen. Wait, what am I doing? I can't think about things like this, Elsa thought to herself, still staring, when the waiter came over.

"How may I take your order, Your Majesty?" was the phrase that snapped her back to reality, "will you start with a drink?"

"Oh, um . . . Yes, I'll have gin and tonic," the snow queen stated.

"Very well. That'll be around five minutes," replied the waiter.

Little did Elsa know that she had captivated the stranger's attention: "Excuse me, Your Highness, is this seat taken?" indicating to the seat across from her, "my legs are beginning to cause me trouble."

"Oh, um . . . Hi . . . Um, no, that seat's not taken. Please, have a seat!"

"Thank you very much. I may not have been able to stand much longer!"

The stranger was kind, and with such kindness came a deep, comforting voice. His name was Sir James, prince of Wales. He, however, didn't take well to being royalty. There was a time when he got along well with his family - as time would have it, though, they grew further and further apart.

"Oh, forgive me, Your Majesty, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself! My name is James. Formerly the Prince of Wales."

"Very nice to meet you, James. What brings you to Arendelle?"

"I needed to escape my family. Well, my father, to be specific."

"Oh . . . ?" Elsa asked with concern.

"Heh, we don't have the best relationship. It got worse and worse as time went along, but currently, I don't want anything to do with that . . . Selfish little mouth-breather."

"That sounds rough. Just make sure you give him a little bit of credit . . . You'll only ever have one dad," the memories of her father's death, years ago, flashing through her mind.

"Oh, yes . . . I heard about that, um . . . Incident? It's horrible, awful. No kid should have to go through that, especially in their late teens."

Elsa smiled at James, the kind stranger. "Yeah, it was awful. You know who really got the blunt end, though? My sister, Anna. She needed me, and I kept her shut out. It was all I'd ever known, so I kept doing it. There was a time when we were so close, but I accidentally hurt her," Elsa explained, "so I had to keep her shut out," she'd started getting emotional at this point.

James smiled back and gave her a comforting gaze. "Your Majesty, the worst things happen to the best of us. I ve heard tell from many commoners here that you re the most kind-hearted ruler in Arendellian history. I must agree; no monarch has taken so well to me," James began to stand. "Well, I must be off now. I'm afraid that our maid is on leave; I have much to do."

"Oh, um . . . Thank you for your company. You're very kind. Until next time . . . Maybe?"

"Perhaps, Your Majesty . . . Perhaps."

"Oh, please . . . Call me Elsa!" She offered a smile to the gentleman.

**************************************************************************************************************
THREE HOURS LATER

Elsa stood in her room. She had no clue what was going on through her mind. Was she sad? Angry? Frightened? Happy? All she felt since meeting James was a rush of emotion. Did she want to meet him again or not?

Ugh, why does this have to be so difficult? Do I like him? Do I not? Do I want to meet with him again . . . Like a date?!

Elsa's mind was a rush of emotion. Her ice powers had begun to activate; the floor beneath her was freezing. Oops, thought Elsa as she thawed the ice.

Maybe I should meet with him again . . . See where it goes!