The snow glows white on the mountains tonight. But there is darkness in the air. Queen Elsa flees from her own kingdom, leaving an expanding winter storm in her wake. The encroaching blizzard belighs the Heartless invasion. Elsa makes her way through the forest after being approached by a boy, a duck and a dog. That boy tried to help her, but she could tell he didn't understand her plight. As she trekked up the mountain, she stopped inside a cave to rest. Alone with her thoughts; she pondered aloud who that young boy was.
"I can't go back. I know he probably means well, but he has no idea." Suddenly, she heard a similar sounding boy's voice. "I know, right. He's always gotta try to 'fix' everything. It's annoying." Elsa looked around the cave to find the boy in question dressed in a black coat and wearing a mask, sitting near the back of the cave as if he was waiting for her. She backed away on reflex. "Who are you?" He used Dark Firaga on the ground in front of him to make a campfire. "Me? Well, I'm just like you. ...Worthless."
She scowled at him. "...Where do you get off saying that to me?" He leans over his fire casually. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were in the mood for unwarranted self deprecation. It's hard to take you seriously with that pity medal you wear around your neck so flagrantly." She looks appalled, but doesn't have a response. "I-I...you...that's not...ugh." She sighs in defeat. "...You didn't answer my question though." He chuckled. "But I did, actually. My name means 'Worthless'. Buuuut...I guess people are most comfortable calling me Vanitas."
She cautiously approaches the fire. "Why are you here? Are you trying to get me to go home too?" He pokes the fire with his Keyblade and unleashes his sarcasm. "Wow. It's always gotta be about YOU. Did you ever stop to consider that maybe I came to this frozen wasteland for the views and to admire the…'beauty' of nature?" He knocks some embers at her dress as she flinches. "...Idiot. I couldn't care less about your family squabbles or your kingdom's hierarchy. What I do care about is you making a mess of our plan with The Seven Hearts."
She freezes the fire in anger as she stands over him. "I don't know who you think you are. But you don't know me! So, don't act like you can belittle me like this!" He calmly stands up and removes his helmet to look her in the eye. "Stop me if this sounds familiar. You were born with a power you don't want; the nature of which makes it difficult to make friends or even be around your sibling. Your emotions make your power difficult to control...especially fear, pain and anger. Everyone rejects you because of it. And to top it all off; you gave up on trying to make people understand and are trying to run away from who you are."
She stares at him; speechless as he suddenly gets a very vicious tone under his breath and gets right up in her face. "...Don't think you're special because you've been SUFFERING!" He whispers in her ear. "...You don't know the meaning of the word." He steps back and sits down again to restart the fire. Elsa didn't know what to say. He just waved her off. "Go on. You just keep running. Someone will always be there to bring you back...whether you like it or not." She looks toward the cave exit as she considers just leaving.
As she slowly walks back outside, she turns back to Vanitas. "I'm sorry. Can I ask you a question?" He doesn't even lift his head to look at her. "You CAN. Doesn't mean I'm going to answer it." She mulls over the words a bit. "How did YOU just let it go?" He paused. "...I didn't. I couldn't. I'll never let it go. These feelings...this life I've been settled with...it's going to stay with me...forever. The difference between you and me is that I've accepted it and… I just. Don't. Care. Anymore."
She does a 180 and walks back to him and leans over to him. "...Teach me!" He's taken aback by her request. "W-what?" She gets on her knees. "Teach me how to be like you!" He couldn't contain his laughter as he nearly falls to floor. "BWAHAHAHA! Are you serious?!" She looks him in eyes as she begs. "...Dead serious." His smile slowly disappears as he realizes how badly she wants his help. "...Fine. But you have do everything I say." She nods furiously. "That means when I say to do something; I want it done right then and there!" She continues to nod.
He sighs and starts to leave the cave as she follows behind him, leaving the fire going. Elsa looks back at the fire. "Does the cold bother you?" He breathes into his hands. "No. It reminds me that I can feel cold. And by extension...I can feel warmth. In the same way; pain reminds you that things can be better. Being content breeds weakness, suffering opens the door for salvation." Elsa begins to kick herself mentally for not bringing something to take notes with. "Wow. Where did you learn that?" He almost wants to bite his own tongue for giving him the credit, but… "...My Master." Vanitas notices Sora and company riding down the mountain on a shield as he changes direction to avoid being seen. "First lesson is free, Ice Queen."
*This is sort of a sequel to Mysterious Onyx. I guess like I'm making my own Cinematic Universe? ...Written Universe? Whatever.*