Elsa looked out the window. It was springtime, the sun was out, and flowers were beginning to bloom.
In the control center, Joy was operating the panel with a huge smile on her face. Despite everything that had happened, Elsa was still able to be happy. Maybe today they could finally go outside the castle, maybe take a walk through the garden…
Frost suddenly shot from Elsa's hands.
"Emergency!" shouted Fear. He pushed joy out of the way and quickly made Elsa's hands recoil.
Disgust crinkled her nose at the image onscreen: a gift from their father, meant to help Elsa's powers from flaring up so often.
"Gloves?" Disgust said. "I don't think those look very good on Elsa."
"Well, I'm sorry," said Fear disdainfully, "the safety of Elsa, her sister, and everybody else takes priority over whether you think she looks good or not."
"Well, what about other people? What if they don't think they look good on her? She's a princess! She has an image to maintain!"
"Somehow, I don't think she'll be seeing a lot of other people," said Sadness quietly.
A couple years went by and the control panel in Elsa' mind was upgraded to one that accommodated all five emotions at once, with Fear in the center position. This was advantageous in situations like the one that was happening now, and with similar ones that happened with more frequency than any of the emotions cared for; Elsa was once again unable to keep her powers under control and had covered a corner of her room with frost.
Her parents were trying to comfort her, to no avail. Fear was too busy making sure that no one would be hurt by Elsa's powers and the other emotions not wanting to challenge him lest somebody did get hurt.
"Getting upset only makes it worse," Elsa's father said. "Calm down…" He reached out as if to hold her.
"No!" Fear shouted. He pulled a lever and made Elsa pull away. "Joy, Sadness, I need you to make sure they know I did that to protect them, not because Else hates them or anything."
"On it," said Joy. She operated her controls to provide love for her parents while Sadness operated hers to provide sorrow over having to avoid them.
"Don't touch me. Please. I don't want to hurt you," said Elsa.
"You know," said Disgust, "I don't hate Elsa's parents, but I hate being stuck in our room."
"That goes double for me," said Anger.
"Hey, buck up, guys," said Joy. "It's not so bad when our powers are under control! I've got a dose of relief all cued up once that happens!"
"Relief? Bah." Anger crossed his arms. "Can we really have true relief when we know that our magic could flare up again at any time without warning?"
"I can't say he's wrong," said Fear.
Elsa was now nineteen and was, in a rare event, outside her room. She wanted to see them before they left on their trip for the wedding of a royal couple in another country. Her parents had left the castle grounds before, but only for a few days at a time; to make this journey, they would have to be gone for over two weeks.
She gave a curtsy. "Do you have to go?" she asked. This question was prompted by a mixture of fear and sadness; thus, it was prompted by Fear and Sadness working as a team.
"You'll be fine, Elsa," her father said.
"Listen to Elsa's father," said Joy, turning to the others. "We'll be fine. Everything will be fine."
Elsa had not attended the funeral. There was too big a risk that her powers might act up, especially if distracted by feelings of grief. So she had instead been in her room, magical frost moving over the walls as she mourned, Sadness providing the emotions for her. This left Fear and the other emotions able to fret about the full implications of the king and queen's deaths.
"Elsa's going to have to be the queen now," Fear said anxiously. "Or at least, she will once she's twenty-one. The entire wellbeing of Arendelle will rest upon us. We'll have to deal with passing laws, negotiating treaties, appropriating funds—"
"And we haven't had any practice appearing in public," Disgust added. "What if we slip up and do something embarrassing?"
"Not to mention constantly having to worry about this." Fear gestured to the icy room on the screen.
There was a knock on the door. Fear jumped.
"Elsa?" It was Anna. "Please, I know you're in there. People at the funeral were asking where you were. They've also been telling me to have courage, and I've been trying to, but… Elsa? I'm right here for you, if you'd just let me. After all, we only have each other now."
"I would be nice to have someone to turn to," said Sadness. "I mean, before, we could have turned to the king and queen, but…"
Fear shook his head. "No, no, no. It's much too dangerous. Look at this room! Our powers are out of control. We can't lose Elsa's sister so soon after losing her parents."
"Lousy powers," said Anger. "They're always making us miss out on things. Playtimes, parties, comforting sessions…"
Anna, through the door, spoke again: "Do you want to build a snowman?
Joy looked at the snow and ice that covered her room. "I kind of do, actually…"
"Me too," said Fear. "But we can't."
"I know." She sighed. "I hope Anna leaves soon."
