Second Chances
On a warm July afternoon, Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff were taking a stroll through the marketplace. The trio were planning to go on a picnic tomorrow, and needed to get some supplies before they left. They came to a fruit stand, where a vendor had a variety of fruits and vegetables on display. As Anna asked the vendor if he had any strawberries for sale, Elsa herself was admiring all that was available. She picked up an apple, examining it carefully to see if there were any bruises on it. If it looked good, she put it in the bag that she had brought along. When they had purchased all the fruit and vegetables that they needed, the trio headed back towards the castle, eager to have their picnic. Along the way, a young boy came running towards them. He ran at such a speed that he didn't have time to stop before he ran straight into Elsa. The two fell down onto the pavement, causing Elsa to drop the bag, and spill the fruits and vegetables.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Queen Elsa," the boy said. "Let me help you up."
"It's alright, I've got it," Elsa said, standing up. Meanwhile, Anna and Kristoff gathered the fruits and vegetables that had come out of the bag.
"Don't worry about it," Anna said. "We'll wash them when we get back home."
"Yeah, accidents happen," Kristoff agreed.
The boy shook his head. "Ok. I'm sorry for running into you, Queen Elsa."
Elsa smiled. "It's Ok. Just try to be more careful next time."
"Yes, ma'am."
The boy took off running again, before Elsa had the chance to say goodbye. The three then continued back to the castle. Elsa felt one of the pockets on her dress, immediately noticing that something was wrong. She stopped, checking both pockets.
"What's wrong, Elsa?"
"My wallet is gone," she cried.
"It must have fallen out of your pocket when you ran into that boy," Kristoff suggested.
"No. There was nothing on the ground when I stood up. If there was, I would have seen it," Elsa said.
Suddenly, it came to her: the boy that she ran into, could he have taken her wallet? Elsa had heard about pickpockets often bumping into people on purpose, and in the haze of confusion, they steal their things. Could that have happen to her?
"You guys head on back to the palace. I'm going to look around here for a while, maybe I can find it."
"Ok. We'll start preparing things for the picnic!" Anna said.
Elsa returned to the last placed that she knew the wallet was in her in pocket. Just as she had told Anna and Kristoff, there was nothing on the ground where she had fallen. Although someone could have come by since then, and taken it.
She looked over the crowds of people, seeing if she could spot the boy from earlier. Shockingly, she found him standing by one of the shops, looking through her wallet. Well, that solves one problem, she thought. Now to solve the other.
Elsa calmly walked towards the boy, ready for him to hand over her wallet. When the boy turned around, and saw her coming, he immediately started running in the opposite direction. Elsa could have called for help at this point, but she knew that she could handle it. She followed the boy down an alleyway, sealing off both entrances with a wall of ice. The boy panicked, starting to run back and forth, tyring to figure out which way to go. Elsa calmly walked towards him.
"Don't try to run, young man," she warned.
The young boy stopped, standing his ground. "What is it, Queen Elsa?"
"You have something that belongs to me, and I want it back," Elsa said, sternly.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I don't know what you're talking about," the boy said, feigning ignorance.
"Ah! Don't even try it," Elsa warned. "I believe you took something from me a while ago back at the marketplace."
The boy continued to protest his innocence, hoping that Elsa would fall for it. But the Snow Queen was much too smart for him.
"Fine. Let's just see what your parents have to say about it," Elsa said.
The boy's eyes widened. He knew that she had him caught.
"Ok. Here," he said, handing Elsa the wallet.
Elsa took the wallet from the boy, giving him a stern, but fair look.
"Don't you know that it's wrong to steal things from people?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," the boy said.
"Then why are you doing it?"
"There was this really neat toy on sale, and my parents wouldn't give me the money to buy it, so I had to get it another way," the boy confessed.
"Well, stealing is not the way to do it," Elsa instructed. "If you really want the toy, you should work for your money. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am. Are you going to throw me in the dungeons now?" the boy asked, terrified.
Elsa chuckled. "No. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to let you off with a warning this time. As long as you promise me that you'll never steal from anyone again. Promise?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm so sorry. I should have known better. I hope you can forgive me."
Elsa smiled. "Of course I can. Everybody makes mistakes. I just hope you learn from all this."
"I will. I'm going to go home, and ask my dad if I can get a job," the boy said, excitedly.
"That's a good boy. Well, I must be going now. You have a nice day, and remember what we talked about."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you! I'm sorry again!"
"Don't worry about it. You take care now!"
As the boy ran away, Elsa watched him, thinking of how sometimes some people just need a push in the right direction. When she returned to the castle, she told Anna and Kristoff what happened.
"You just let him go?" Anna cried. "He stole from you, the queen, how could you do that?"
"As I told him, everybody makes mistakes. I just hope this was a learning lesson for him. I think he's a good kid, deep down."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. I hope he learned his lesson too.
"I think he did. Sometimes all people need is a second chance," Elsa said.
A/N: This idea randomly came into my head. I wanted to write it to show how compassionate, and forgiving a ruler Elsa could be. Plus, I really wanted to stress the concept of learning from your mistakes.