Chapter 3:

Dance Lesson

A/N: Enjoy!

For the next few days, the council continued to hound Elsa about choosing a suitor. They offered her a list of eligible princes from various kingdoms—hoping that she might be interested in one or more. But truthfully, Elsa wasn't interested. For starters, she didn't even know these men. Having spent most of her life in isolation, she wasn't exactly the most sociable person around. Even a year after the Great Thaw she was still getting used to people being around her constantly. Not that she didn't enjoy it of course, just that it was still foreign to her. Finally, after much coaxing, Elsa decided to throw a ball, and invite the princes from the various kingdoms to attend.

In all honesty, she wasn't doing it to actually find someone to possibly marry; she was just did it to get the council off her back for a while. She quickly set plans in motion for the ball, which was to occur in a few days' time. There was much to do: food to cook, decorations to hang up, invitations to mail, and most importantly, Elsa needed to learn how to dance. The idea of a man actually touching her in a close way was kind of scary to her. A year ago she wouldn't even attempt it, but now that she had control of her powers, she was confident she could dance with a man without freezing his arms off. But now she had to actually learn how to dance, which she believed would a challenge. She knew that Anna was quite the accomplished dancer (She'd seen that for herself) so naturally Elsa thought it was fitting for Anna to teach her the basics. Anna agreed at once, and told Elsa to meet her in the ballroom one afternoon for lessons.

That afternoon, Elsa went to the ballroom as scheduled for her dance lesson. However, when she arrived, she was surprised to see that Anna was not there. She must have gotten caught up in something, Elsa thought. Knowing Anna, it could be anything. The minutes rolled by, and Anna still hadn't shown up. Elsa was beginning to wonder if she had forgotten about the whole thing to begin with. She was just about to leave when the door to the ballroom opened, and Kristoff entered.

"Hi Kristoff, you wouldn't happen to know where Anna is by any chance would you?" she asked.

"I have no idea. She and I were planning on going shopping for clothes for the upcoming ball. She said that there is no way I'm showing up in an ice harvesting outfit."

Elsa laughed. "Yeah, you'd probably stand out like a sore thumb if you did."

"I know. Still, I hate dressing up fancy."

"It's only for one night, Kristoff. You can handle that," Elsa assured.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So why are you here anyway?"

"Well, Anna was supposed to meet me here to give me a dance lesson, but it seems that she has either forgotten or gotten distracted by something else."

"With Anna, there's no telling," Kristoff said, laughing. "But on another note, are you saying that you don't know how to dance?"

Elsa looked embarrassed. "No. I'm afraid not. I don't even know where to begin. That's why I was hoping to have Anna teach me before the ball."

"I see. Well, I could show you a few things If you want," Kristoff offered.

Elsa looked surprised. "You would show me how to dance?"

"Sure. No problem. It's really not that hard. We can start right now if you like."

"Very well," Elsa agreed.

"Ok. Let's do this." Kristoff stepped closer to Elsa. He wasn't afraid that she was going to freeze him if he touched her, he just felt awkward putting his hands on the queen in such an intimate way.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Elsa nodded.

"All right, first you put your hand here on my shoulder. Then I put my hand here. He gently put his hand on her waist, causing Elsa to flinch in the process.

"Is something wrong?" Kristoff asked, immediately taking his hand off her waist.

"No, you're fine. I'm just not used to it, that's all," Elsa replied honestly."

"Ok. Then you put your other hand here," he said, taking her hand in his own. "Now. Just follow my lead," he instructed. He then slowly started to waltz with her across the floor.

"It's a lot easier with music, but you should be able to feel the rhythm," he said.

Kristoff danced with Elsa across the room, being ever careful so as to not step on her feet. It didn't take long until she caught on, and was following his movements with ease.

"Wow. You're a fast learner," he said.

Elsa smiled. "Thank you. This is not as hard as I thought it would be."

"That's good. Now you should have no problem dancing with all those princes during the ball," Kristoff said, hoping to encourage her.

Elsa gave a small smile. "Yes, but I'm really not looking forward to it."

"Why not?

"I'm just really not interested in a romantic relationship right now. I only agreed to this ball so the council would be stop pasturing me about finding someone to marry. Plus, I'm really not a people person."

"That makes two of us," Kristoff said.

"Really?"

"For most of my life is was just me and Sven. I tried to avoid people as much as possible. Mainly because I just didn't feel comfortable around them. I much prefer being alone."

"I understand the feeling," Elsa said, sincerely. "For years I thought that being alone was the best solution for me and for everyone, but now I see that people aren't so bad. In fact, some people bring out the best in you."

"I can see that now too. Anna has showed me just how capable I am of being loved. I never once pictured myself with anyone, let alone a princess."

"She's very lucky to have you," Elsa said.

"I'd like to think I'm the lucky one," Kristoff said.

Suddenly the door to the ballroom opened, and Anna came running in. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I went into town with Olaf to get some things for the ball, and then a bunch of kids came up to us, and wanted us to play a game with them. Looks like it took longer than I thought it would."

"That's alright, Anna. Kristoff was just showing me a thing or two about dancing," Elsa reassured.

"Really? Wow, Kristoff! I didn't know you could dance. I'm going to have a lot of fun with you at the ball," she said, patting him on the back.

"We'll see," Kristoff laughed.

"Well, would you like me to show you some more, Elsa? Or are you good?"

"You can if you like. I'm free for the rest of the afternnon."

"Great. Now let me show you an old dance move called the polka. Kristoff, you can wait outside if you want. Once I'm through here, we'll go shopping for clothes."

Kristoff said goodbye to the sisters, and left the ballroom. He exited the palace, and walked towards the stables to get Sven. Along the way, he thought about the dance he had just had with Elsa. In all honesty, that was the first waltz he'd ever done with a woman. He was surprised at how natural it came to the Snow Queen, how easily she picked up the concepts. He thought about the many men she would dance with at the ball in a few days. It bothered him that Elsa was going through with it, even when she really didn't want too. If you didn't want to do something, then don't do it, is what he always thought. Moreover, he doubted that Elsa would find her true love in one night. Elsa was a unique girl, just like Anna. Therefore, she needed someone who was a lot like her.

Except unlike Anna, Elsa was more introverted. She didn't come out of her shell as much. He could relate to this a lot, having spent most of his life alone. Even though it had been a year since he met her, Kristoff still didn't know Elsa that well. There were still many things about her that he wondered, but never bothered to ask. This mysteriousness that she surrounded herself in was very interesting.

As he petted Sven on the head in the stables, he looked back at the palace and thought about the upcoming ball. "Who knows," he said to Sven. "I might enjoy it."

A/N: Sorry it's short, I just wanted to post something since I probably won't for a few days. School is back in session. Thank you for the reviews so far! I greatly appreciate them. If you have any suggestions or things you would like to see in this story, just let me know. I can't guarantee it, but I'll see what I can do.