A Wish Upon a Star

Ch. 1: A Wish is Made

Arendelle, Norway, 1837.

It was the fifteenth birthday of Elsa, the crown princess of Arendelle. For most people, a birthday is a big occasion with presents, cake, and friends coming to spend the day with you. But for Elsa birthdays were hardly any different from any other days. Sure, she did have a celebration but it was a small affair with only her parents and the rest of it was spent in isolation as every other day was. The one person she longed to see on that day more than any other though was her sister, Anna. But for her safety, Elsa could not see her.

It pained her every time her exceedingly exuberant and optimistic sister knocked on her door, asking her to come out and play only to have to send her away. How she wished that she could open that door and say that she wanted to play. But it could never happen. Not until she could control her curse. For almost seven years she had limited her interactions with other people, saw her parents only when absolutely necessary and completely shut out Anna.

That was the action that hurt most of all.

But as Elsa continued to tell herself, it was for her safety and the safety of others that she be locked away. If anyone else ever found out about her ability to control ice and snow she feared that she would be perceived as a monster, despite her desire to not harm anyone. It didn't help her situation that she was not in control of her powers. That's why she always wore a pair of gloves, to help conceal her powers from others, to keep them from being harmed. As her father always told her, conceal, don't feel.

That phrase had become Elsa's motto in the past six plus years but it never seemed to do any real good. When her powers acted up and she muttered the words to herself, trying to calm down, the ice only seemed to spread which caused further panic in the crown princess. How was she to one day rule a kingdom when she could not control her own abilities? She had to learn to control it.

So to that end, she shut herself away from the rest of the world until such a time as she could control the curse. Despite the personal pain it caused her, Elsa knew that if she ever hurt anyone she would never forgive herself, especially if that someone was her sister. And after nearly being responsible for Anna's death over six years ago, Elsa would do anything to ensure it never happened again. She was worth the pain and loneliness, even if all she wanted to do was throw open the door and embrace her once more.

The door. For the past six plus years that innocuous white door with blue snowflakes on the outside had been guarding the rest of the world from her, keeping her inside where it was safe. But Elsa had grown to hate her room over the years. It was a prison, even though the decision to stay in there was her own. The room may have been more lavishly furnished than the actual prison cells and there were no bars on the window but that didn't change the fact that she spent her days in a simply nicer version on one of the cells. A jail is a jail, no matter its shape or contents.

But again, it was for the good of everyone that she stay away from them. It didn't matter that she was lonely or that she hurt inside every time she told Anna to go away. What mattered was that her sister and the rest of the world was safe from her and her curse.

Elsa sighed in loneliness as she watched the stars from the window of her bedchambers. She was fifteen now but hardly any closer to controlling her curse and as Pabbie had told her, her powers were only continuing to grow. It was getting to the point that Elsa was beginning to fear that she might never be able to control it. Ice started to appear on the walls of her room and the temperature dropped despite the fire in the fireplace. But she paid it no heed. At least here, alone in her bedchambers, no one could be hurt.

But how she longed to be free of this curse, to be able to run and play with Anna again. She wished it more than anything else in the world. To be able to break her isolation, to be able to converse with other people without fear of hurting them, that was the birthday gift she wished for every year. And as Elsa stared out at the stars, one shining more brightly than all the others in the sky caught her eye that night.

She was sure it was no ordinary star. And as she continued to stare at it, trying to remember where she might have heard of it before, it came to her.

It was a wishing star.

A rare smile found its way onto Elsa's lips as she tried to recall the words that were to be spoken when wishing on the star. Finally they came to her and she whispered them fervently as she kneeled down as though praying.

"Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight…" Elsa paused for a second, as though expecting something to happen but nothing did. Still she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and made her wish. "I wish for a way to control my powers so that I can see my sister again."

Elsa opened her eyes and looked up at the wishing star again and could have sworn that for a second it glowed even brighter. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. She must have been more tired than she thought. Then she realized what she had done. She had just made a wish on a star for something that was impossible. Elsa chided herself mentally for being so childish and retreated to the comfort of her bed. Another birthday was over and as on every birthday before for the past six years her wish had not come true.

But young Elsa had not been seeing things. The wishing star had indeed glowed brighter in the sky for a second and continued to shine down brighter on Arendelle and the platinum blonde princess. Unknown to the heir to the throne as she laid herself to bed, certain events had been set into motion. Certain events that were about to take her world and turn it upside down.

Just outside the kingdom, on the other side of the fjord, a lone figure limped out of the woods and stopped, staring at the lights of the town. He was wearing a long coat and leaned heavily on the staff in his right hand, indicating either weariness, injury, or both. The stranger looked behind him and whistled. A four legged shadow ran out of the woods a second later and stopped by him.

"So this is Arendelle," the stranger breathed. "Come on, Shadow, let's hope there's an inn open somewhere. I think we might be here a while."

The stranger trudged down the slope into Arendelle, his companion trotting along beside him.

Maybe… just maybe… this year Elsa would finally get her wish.

A/N: ARGH! I wasn't going to publish this for a few more months! I was going to wait until I was done with Waking Nightmares but alas, my imagination had other ideas. Anyway, hope you all like this chapter, it sadly isn't up to my usual length standards (1800 words minimum excluding Author's Notes) but I couldn't draw it out any longer and what I have in mind for the next scene is better off as it's own chapter. As far as plot goes, this is kind of an AU to Fire and Ice and while Elsa will, eventually, learn to control her 'curse' I plan on taking my time with it. After almost seven years of her fears being allowed to grow I imagine that there are a lot of knots in her psyche that will have to be undone before any progress will be made. Not easy to do when you're a very young wizard who finished his apprenticeship a little over a year ago. And I have a few twists to throw in a long the way. As always, please leave a review, they really make my day.

And now it's time for everyone's favorite part of a fanfic... the disclaimer. I do not own the animated masterpiece that is Frozen. All rights belong to Disney. There, I said it. NOW ALL YOU MICKEY MOUSE EAR WEARING LAWYERS GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!