A/N: Thanks to everyone who's followed/favorited and/or is reading but not reviewing:)
Elsa Tomago-Yep, Elsa is already lots better! I figure once she has a chance to not be trying to hold all that magic in all the time, it wouldn't be so hard for her to control it anyways, since there won't be this big "overload" of sorts. So by the end of this chapter, she's still not comfortable with her magic, but it doesn't feel so awful to try to hold it in all the time. And yes, she can feel temperatures again!:) ^_^
IndyGirl89-Agreed. In Corona, Elsa has multiple people that love and care about her for who she is, and they actually tell her so:)
ElsaLuver & Constellations of Neverland-I PMed you, so I won't make you reread the same thing here:)
Elsa's the best-You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it.:) She will figure it out completely soon!
(Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than usual; I hope you still like it. :)
"Gerda, I want to go back to the castle," Elsa whispered. She had rather reluctantly followed Gerda out of the perceived safety behind the castle walls, but now she just wanted to go back to her new room and hide. Everything seemed too bright and too noisy. And now that she could actually feel the temperature, she was hot. She hated that feeling, although somehow it was nice to know that she was able to do so. Elsa had the uncomfortable sensation that everyone around her was staring at her and Gerda, even though she knew that wasn't true and nobody was paying them any more mind than they would any of the other people on the street. "I'm gonna mess up," she added hesitantly, nervous ice tingling in her fingers.
Elsa balled her bare hands into fists. Knowing that the gloves did nothing at all had made her adamantly decide that she was never, ever wearing them again, but now she regretted that decision. At least they would hide any mistakes if they were just frost. Conceal, don't feel. No, wait…Anna. Think about Anna. And Gerda holding me and making me feel better.
The frost on her palms disappeared, but the uncomfortable tingling sensation that her magic wanted out remained, and she dearly wanted to get somewhere quiet. Now she wasn't even terrified of hurting anyone; she just felt completely overstimulated and wanted to put her hands over her ears and disappear. The little girl spotted a small alley between two buildings, and she darted into the shadows without thinking. Finally. Quiet, she thought, relieved. Then Elsa jumped back when someone ran into the alley, nearly knocking her over. I should go back and find Gerda. This isn't safe.
"Hey, who are you, little girl?" the person asked. The voice didn't sound threatening, just curious.
Elsa figuratively froze and just stood stock still. She wasn't supposed to be Princess Elsa, just a random little kid. "El…Ella," she answered hesitantly, thinking of the way Anna had mispronounced her name sometimes when Anna was a toddler. Elsa rather wished she had thought of something more different from her real name than 'Ella', but she'd already said it, and the boy didn't seem suspicious.
"You look kinda like the mural thing of the lost princess when she was a baby. Just…paler. And you have blue eyes instead of green."
That's 'cause she's my cousin, Elsa thought, biting her lip. She narrowed her eyes when the boy took an apple and a whole loaf of bread from his shirt sleeve. "You swiped that food, didn't you? That's wrong!"
"Well hey, aren't you the little killjoy."
Elsa instinctively put her arms up when the boy reached toward her, and magic burst from her hands, tossing him to the ground. What have I done?! I knew I shouldn't have gone anywhere outside the castle. And…and what if he's hurt? And if he's not, he'll tell somebody! Elsa's thoughts raced as she slowly backed away, her arms crossed protectively around her middle. "I'm sorry, I…I'm…are you okay? I-" I hurt someone again. Just like I did Anna. Conceal, don't feel.
To Elsa's surprise, the boy scrambled to his feet, none the worse for wear except for a few scrapes and a patch of frostbite on his arm. He didn't look scared, either, still just curious. "What I was saying, was that I think you must've lifted that necklace, because the way you're dressed there's no way you or whoever else you might live with have money for jewelry like that."
Elsa's hand flew to her neck. It was true; she was still wearing the silver necklace from her aunt and uncle. She quickly tucked it inside her dress. Elsa cringed when she heard the boy's next words; then just stared in surprise.
"So you're, like, a mini ice witch? Can you do more magic? Just, like, not aim it at me this time?" The boy began poking curiously at the ice and frost on the ground. "Name's Flynn, by the way."
"I…I didn't do that," Elsa blurted, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"Oh, come on, yes, you did! You're acting weird and standoffish. Why would you say 'I'm sorry' if you didn't do it? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Flynn grabbed her by the arm and tugged her over to the other boy that had just entered the little alley. "Hey, Red, we've got a new friend to our posse! She'll be great for playing pranks!" To Elsa he added, "That's Frederic. I call him Red for short."
Elsa glanced from one boy to the other uncertainly. Flynn was probably a couple of years older than she was, and she guessed 'Red' was maybe eleven or so. What will Gerda and Uncle Thomas and Aunt Primrose say if they find out who I've been talking to? Don't I have to tell somebody they were stealing things? "I…I've got to go," she said finally. "My…mother will be looking for me. We have to take some…some food for the castle kitchens back…"
The boys exchanged glances and just shrugged. "You meet us in front of the royal family mural tomorrow afternoon at around three then. If you can."
"Okay," Elsa replied without thinking. Why did I just say that?!
Elsa ended up walking back to the castle by herself since Gerda wasn't where she'd left her. To her surprise, there were about twenty-five guards about to leave the castle…to look for her. Gerda instantly picked her up and hugged her close the second she saw her. "I thought someone had kidnapped you! You were missing, and I couldn't find you anywhere," Gerda whispered.
Elsa didn't understand the tears in Gerda's eyes at first. "You're…crying? Because you couldn't find me?" she asked incredulously. She instinctively flinched when Gerda gently stroked her hair, but she didn't run off, either.
"Princess, you have people here that love you very much, including me. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Elsa wasn't able to meet her new acquaintances 'in front of the royal family mural tomorrow at around three', but she did see them right outside the castle walls the next day as she carried one of the trash cans out to the trash wagon to be carried away. Dressed in her simple servant girl's dress again, she felt safer because she could blend in without anyone watching her because she was a princess. Although Uncle Thomas had been slightly perturbed that she wanted some simple chore to do so she could go do something on her own, he had given her the simple job of dumping two of the trash cans. At least she was willing to go outside.
"Hey, psst, Ella," Flynn hissed when he saw her. "Want to come with us?"
Elsa nodded but then shook her head, and just dumped the trash and trotted away with her empty can.
"Well, what's with her?" Frederic, aka 'Red', asked beside him.
Flynn narrowed his eyes as he watched Elsa reappear with a second can. The girl said a shy thank-you to the garbage man and then dropped a slightly too proper and formal curtsy for a little servant girl. "She's not just a servant's kid. And I shoulda noticed before, she's got a different accent. I don't think Ella's from Corona at all," he proclaimed. "You distract the garbage dude. I'm getting Ella. I want to talk to her. Meet us around the side."
Elsa instantly realized what was going on, but since she figured the boys wouldn't steal garbage-or if they did, who cared?-she didn't say anything. "I can't come, I…" Elsa had no idea what excuse to make up, and she didn't really want to lie anyways. Although she knew her parents would be mortified if they knew she went to play with a couple of commoner kids who had been stealing food to boot, part of her was dying for the chance to have friends near her own age, and they had already seen her stupid powers and hadn't cared, too. If Aunt Primrose or Uncle Thomas finds out, they might be mad too. What if they decided they didn't want me here anymore?
"You want to come but think your mom or whoever will say no?" Flynn supplied. "Well, then come now and ask forgiveness later. Want to come hang out for awhile, ice girl?"
Elsa stiffened. The nickname had been casually dropped in jest and she could tell Flynn wasn't trying to make fun of her, but she still felt frightened that a stranger knew her secret, and it was difficult for her to believe that someone would see her magic and be immediately okay with it. "Don't call me that," she ordered, mustering up her best authoritative voice.
Flynn grinned at her. "All right, ice girl."
"El…Ella!"
"Ice girl Ella. Hey, I like nicknames."
Elsa huffed in annoyance and ran back inside.
"So where's Ella?" Frederic asked a few minutes later.
Flynn sighed. "Guess I chased her away. I called her ice girl and she got mad and ran off. I didn't want to drag her if she didn't want to come. That's mean. I'll steal food and money. Not a new friend." He shrugged. "Now I just want to know her secret! It's not every day you see magic like that. Then there's the weird resemblance to that mural of the Lost Princess as a baby and her accent. I like mysteries. And I want to solve this one!"
"So F&F is on the case again?" Frederic grinned. "Oh, the garbage guy gave me some discards from the castle kitchens. We'll be stuffed tonight." He handed his friend several slightly burnt rolls wrapped up in a bit of paper and a bag of half-eaten sandwiches and some vegetables that quite honestly looked perfectly fine.
Flynn spotted a couple guards heading toward them and shoved the rolls back into Frederic's hands before heaving his friend up on his back and running off as fast as he could. "Figures! Red, we gotta figure out a…faster way…to get away from…places!" he panted between breaths. "You're worse than…a sack of…potatoes!"
"Hey, I can beat you up a tree any day!" Frederic thumped Flynn good-naturedly on the head but just held on otherwise. Soon the boys had lost the guards, and they slowed down.
Flynn put Red down, and the two of them mutually decided without saying a word that they'd head out on the bridge leading out to the countryside. Whenever they ended up with enough food for more than a day or so, they liked to go sleep in the countryside. The grass was far more comfortable than staying in an alley somewhere, and they both liked climbing trees. Also they were experimenting catching and cooking fish and rabbits and the like.
"You know I don't really think you're a sack of potatoes," Flynn deadpanned rather than actually apologizing.
Frederic just poked him with his crutch and grinned. "I'll bet. I get us all the good stuff!" He had had a lame leg as long as he could remember, well…almost. He had a vague memory of a wagon or something running him over and then a slightly older child-that must have been Flynn-tugging him to safety. Frederic assumed that he must have injured his leg somehow and it hadn't healed right or something, he wasn't sure. In any event, he and Flynn had been inseparable friends ever since. "I'm not sure I like the idea of you inviting a girl to join our group," he said after a minute or two of walking in silence. "She might be a chicken."
"Maybe, but how chicken can she be? She's got magic!"
BACK AT THE CASTLE…
"You look darling, Elsa," Primrose assured her self-conscious niece several days later. "There's no reason you can't wear short sleeves. It's summertime!"
Elsa didn't like her arms showing. She was still kind of worried someone might touch her, and even if fabric wouldn't stop her magic and her magic usually came out from her hands or feet anyways, it still made her feel a little better. And she thought her pale skin looked funny. Even the seamstress that had brought the dresses had commented on that. Aunt Primrose had shushed her indignantly, but the little girl had still heard it all the same. "That lady asked you why I looked so pallid," she mumbled, hugging herself and looking down at the floor. "I know what that means. Means I look abnormal and sick 'cause I'm so pale."
"Honey, you're just naturally very fair. It doesn't mean you look abnormal or sick," Primrose said firmly, fastening the light cloak she'd had made for Elsa around the little girl's shoulders. "See, I know you like having that bulky blanket of Gerda's around you. You can have a cape instead. It's soft. If there is anything here you absolutely hate, we will have something else made for you. Is there anything else you'd like?" She frowned when little Elsa just shook her head and whispered a thank-you but didn't smile. "Is it all right to hug you?"
Elsa would not return the gesture, but she nodded and buried her face in her aunt's dress. Although her mother never hugged her anymore and really hadn't since Anna had come along, Elsa still missed her, and she felt bad for treating Aunt Primrose like a surrogate mother, along with Gerda. But mostly she missed Anna. Anna had loved when they got new clothes, although she would be careful for all of five minutes and the new clothes would get wrecked and Gerda would have to fix them. And Elsa felt ridiculous for thinking it, but something was different about her Corona dresses. She felt out of place in them. They weren't the same. She wanted her old ones with the snowflake-flower rosemaling designs on them that didn't have all the fancy smocking and lacing on the bodice.
Primrose bit her lip as she watched Elsa fiddling with the bodice on her dress. The little girl just looked uncomfortable, and Primrose was quite certain that this time it was not because she was scared. She knelt down to Elsa's height and looked her right in the eyes. "Elsa, please tell me what's wrong. It's all right if you hate the dresses. We can alter them or get different ones." She suddenly thought of something and went to pull out a different dress, this one more similar to Elsa's winter dresses, just a summer one with short sleeves and lighter fabric. "Do you like this one?"
Immediately Elsa's big blue eyes lit up. That dress looked almost exactly like the favorite dress she'd had when she was eight that didn't fit anymore.
"And how about this one?" Primrose held up a green dress more like the style of the one Elsa had on right that second.
"Anna would like it."
"Ah. But it's for you, not your sister. You have to like your dresses, not anyone else," Primrose said firmly. "It seems like you're just used to your 'Arendelle style' dresses, that's all. So we'll have some of both for you. You might not like to stand out so much here in Corona sometimes. And I'll not have any more clothes made for you without you helping choose. Would you like that?"
Elsa nodded and smiled a bit, but the little smile quickly faded. "I miss Anna so much," she whispered, her eyes welling with tears. Conceal, don't feel. Wait, Uncle Thomas said that didn't help. But… "I think I c-could at least be in the same room with her now and not hurt her…" She flinched and backed up when Aunt Primrose tried to give her another hug. She was upset right now. Therefore it wasn't safe.
"Elsa, we figured out you beating yourself up inside makes your magic get upset too. I'll take my chances holding you when you're sad if it helps you feel better," Primrose said gently. "I trust you even if you don't."
You shouldn't do that. Anna trusted me to catch her and I didn't. I tried, but I didn't. Elsa felt herself being picked up and held close, and she folded her hands tight against her chest, but she didn't pull away. Elsa's magic really didn't feel like it would explode out of her right then; she could feel ice tingling in her fingertips, but the days of sessions of purposely using her ice alone in that room next to the shooting range had already helped. She didn't feel like she was about to burst every time she got upset. It still felt uncomfortable to force her powers to stay at bay sometimes, but the feeling was no longer horridly overwhelming like it had been before.
Rather than ask if the little girl was all right, Primrose just held her and stroked her platinum hair until Elsa relaxed and was her naturally cool self again. "We'll be having a ball near the end of summer, similar to your Annual Crocus Festival you have in Arendelle every year. All you children have a separate event away from us boring adults. Would you like your uncle and I to send your parents a special invitation for Anna?" she offered.
Elsa nodded vigorously, but then her little face scrunched up. "I bet they won't let Anna come. And I don't like parties," she admitted. "I didn't like 'em before I hurt Anna!"
"I think they might. I have already written your mother-my sister-this morning saying you are doing much better than when you first arrived," Primrose told her. While it was disturbing to her that her little niece was still frightened of herself and far too quiet for a ten-year-old, she was delighted to see Elsa carrying herself more confidently and her expressive blue eyes not so terrified and sad all the time. The little girl still cried every day because she missed Anna and her home, and Gerda had said she woke up with bad dreams at night more often than not, but overall she seemed much happier.
"You promised not t' say anything about my powers!" Elsa protested. She sounded horrified. If Papa finds out what I've been doing, he'll be so mad. I'll be in all kinds of trouble, and he might get mad at Uncle Thomas and Aunt Primrose, too.
Primrose looked Elsa right in the face. "I wrote nothing about your magic directly, Elsa. I wrote that you were settling in well and that you were doing better than when you arrived. Then I said I was happy to have you here and that they should send Anna for a visit." She didn't add that she'd also said that Elsa was a sweet child and had been no trouble whatsoever, and implied that leaving Elsa isolated in her room since the accident was a mistake.
"Mama will show the letter to Papa, and he'll think I made you say Anna should come!"
"Nonsense. Elsa, I should dearly like to see my other little Arendelle niece, and you have to see your sister. That's no good for you, or Anna, for that matter, to be kept apart from each other like this," Primrose said firmly.
Elsa looked down at her hands and then began chewing a fingernail nervously. "I…I hurt Anna. What if she doesn't want me anymore? A-and what if she thinks I'm a m-monster if she finds out what I did to her? I didn't do it on purpose, but I hurt her! What if she's…scared of me?"
"She won't be like that. Even if she is uncomfortable around your magic at first, which I highly doubt, she'll still love you to death just the way you are." Primrose picked up the doll Anna had given Elsa and handed it to her. "Anna loves you very much. She's not going to treat you like a monster, of all things. She might pounce on you with hugs though. And if she is mad at you for 'ignoring' her before, she'll get over it quickly."
Elsa hugged the Anna doll to her chest but didn't say anything. I hope Aunt Primrose is right. I'd give anything to get to be around her safely again.
A/N: So yes, Elsa's met Flynn aka Eugene (and his friend, if you've read my other stories, you might remember him since Eugene mentioned him in passing, and you also know what will happen with his and Eugene's friendship, too). Little Elsa, however, does not like Flynn's penchant for silly nicknames! XD
And Elsa's accent is making her stick out...and she doesn't quite know how act convincingly in her "disguise", lol. My headcanon is that Corona's language is German, which Elsa does understand and can speak, but I imagine she would still have a little different accent than everyone else, so. Yeah. She sticks out. :P
We'll jump back and visit Anna a bit next chapter, and Elsa will ask about her long-lost cousin.:)
Next chapter coming soon!
