Elise wasn't exactly a spoiled child, but she had her moments. Nevertheless, Elsa was quite proud at how she had raised her. Her daughter was kind, courteous and polite (they were still working on that detail), but she was as headstrong and as spunky as a four year old can be. When Elise would ask for something, may it be an extra serving of fruit and cream or a new doll, she would say please and thank you, her smile genuine and gracious. But given Elsa's status, she couldn't help but give her daughter only the best of the best.
"Mama?" Elise asked by the door, her little head peeking in. "Can we play?"
Elsa looked composed from where Elise was standing because her back was facing her. In reality, she was dealing with a huge amount of stress from the mountains of paperwork in front of her, filled with trade negotiations, contracts that need authorization, court documents, even proposals, both project and suitor.
"Not now, Elise." Elsa tried hiding the frustration that was forcing its way out. "After I'm done with this."
Not sensing her slightly pointed tone, she carried on. "But mama,"
"I said not now." Elsa cut her off, her tone sharper. Elise was taken aback since she had never heard her mother ever raise her voice at her, but she tried not to let that affect her that much.
"Okay," Elise said dejectedly, removing her head from the slit before closing the door. Elsa haven't played with her for a week now. They only met during the mornings, mealtimes and night times, and that's usually when Elise is too drowsy to appreciate her mother's presence.
Eager to find something to do, she went inside her room, not bothering to close the door and sat down on a small chair, her usual seat when she was having her tea parties. It was usually just her and her dolls, but sometimes Anna or Olaf would join in. Elsa joined in once, and she thought that it was the best one because not only was her mama present, but instead of plastic food and pretend tea, they had real tea cakes, scones, pastries and hot chocolate (they both never really liked tea anyways).
Elsa never came back for another tea party because of her duties, but Elise said that a chair was always empty just in case. She didn't mind that she had to bite into plastic macarons; she liked playing pretend, but sometimes, she liked the real thing better. Her imagination in overdrive, she thought that she had heard a faint but distinct little whimper from among her dolls. She zoned in on Christine, thinking that her beaded eyes looked slightly glazed.
She took her favorite rag doll from the chair opposite to her and held her doll just like how Elsa held her. She rocked from side to side, humming a little lullaby as she did, trying to copy her mama's soothing techniques.
"It's okay, little love." Elise whispered to Christine, stroking her threaded hair and clearing away her 'tears' with a finger. When she thought that Christine was finally appeased, she put her back on her seat with a little kiss in the doll's forehead.
"Hmm, what to do..." Elise wondered out loud, her chubby finger tapping on her chin. She surveyed the room until she came across a box filled with brushes and colored tubes. It was gift to her from Elsa and Anna's cousin from Corona, saying that 'a little girl should always have a paint set' and even told her that she used to paint murals on the wall all the time.
With an excited smile, she took the box of brushes and paints and went out, sitting before the wall that was in front of her room. Without another thought, she started on her first masterpiece.
With a relieved sigh, Elsa signed the last document that needed her approval. She segregated the project proposals from the suitor proposals, instantly disposing of the latter pile. Her hand was aching from having it hooked on the quill for so long, but at least she had nothing to worry about for the next few days.
Once she stood up, she stretched her hands high above her head, hearing her joints pop. She walked and opened the door to her daughter sitting a few feet away from her, painting a slightly large mural on wallpaper that hasn't been touched for generations.
She was extremely surprised; Elise knew better than to do this. Elsa wasn't exactly angry, but she wasn't too thrilled either.
"Elise, what do you think you're doing?" Elsa asked sternly, marching right up to Elise. She didn't pick her up. Elise looked up at her mother, the small smile plastered on her face fading when she saw her cold expression.
"Painting," Elise answered simply, dipping her brush in a small cylinder filled with white paint. Before she could make another stroke, Elsa caught her wrist, making Elise look up at her.
"Stop what you're doing this instant. You're not supposed to vandalize on these walls," Elsa lectured, her eyes staring straight at Elise's. "See that? You destroyed the wall paper!"
Elise suddenly yelped, tears starting to stream down her face. She tried to tug her wrist free but it was to no avail. When Elsa looked down, she saw that frost had circled around her little wrist, the skin underneath turning blue and purple. Panicking, Elsa immediately released her hand from her wrist and defrosted it, trying to absorb as much cold as possible. The harsh colors were still there.
"I'm so sorry, Elise," Elsa started, trying to rub away the soreness, but Elise snatched her hand back, whimpering as she did. "Let me help you-,"
Sobbing, Elise ran back inside her room, opening the door with her good hand before slamming it shut. Elsa just stood there, both in shock and in fear. She had reprimanded her daughter for the first time. She went out and tried to be a good parent, but in the end, she ended up hurting her.
She hurt her.
She didn't know what to do; she promised herself that no harm would ever come to her, and yet, it turned out that she was the one who brought it to her. She looked down at her hands, silently cursing them. She didn't have as much control over them as she thought. She then looked at Elise's mural, and she tried not to let the tears spill over.
It had a two figures, the small one with brown strokes for hair and wore a purple dress, a shaky black line in between the two figures. Elsa presumed they were holding hands. The larger figure was far more detailed; it had blue eyes and red lips, off white strokes criss-crossing each other to form a braid. The figure was wearing a light blue dress with her unconnected hand in the air, little white and blue dots shooting out from it.
Elsa realized that Elise painted the two of them. A sob caught in her throat, swallowing to force it back down. She looked longingly at Elise's room before retreating back to her room, clicking the lock in place.
Elise carefully took her old suitcase from under the bed, trying not to further strain her wrist. She packed it with three dresses, two pairs of shoes, underwear, and all of her dolls and toys. She had difficulty in zipping it up with just one hand, but she was able to manage. She trudged towards her door, her heavy suitcase dragging behind her, and went out to the hallway. While she was walking down the long hall, she passed by Anna.
"What's with the suitcase?" Anna asked with a smile, and then widened her eyes in excitement. "Ooh, are you and Elsa going to have a sleepover in the ice castle?"
Elise shook her head, hiding her bruised wrist from Anna. "I'm running away."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "Really, now?"
Elise nodded her head. "Mama doesn't love me anymore."
Anna shook her head, kneeling down to meet her level. "And what makes you think that?"
"She's always busy and doesn't play with me or talk to me anymore." Elise said defiantly, focusing on the negatives. Anna wanted to fight with the child. She wanted to tell her how Elsa would sneak into Elise's room in the middle of the night just to make sure that she was sleeping alright. She wanted to tell her how many times Elsa had to cut or excuse herself from meetings just to kiss her scraped knee or to tuck her in bed. She wanted to tell her how ready Elsa was to sacrifice herself for her daughter.
"I see," Anna mused. She was gonna have to talk to Elsa. Anna kissed Elise on the cheek before hugging her. "Well, make sure to write to us if ever you miss us, alright?"
Elise nodded, slightly shocked and hurt that Anna was actually letting her go. Elise put her hand on the suitcase's handle and proceeded to drag it behind her. She walked slowly, trying to absorb everything.
Anna walked towards her sister's chamber, knocking her signature knock. She tried jiggling the handle, but when it didn't open, she felt anxiety creep through her body, but given the circumstances, she immediately shook that feeling away.
"Elsa! Haven't we talked about locking doors?" Anna yelled from outside Elsa's door. She smiled triumphantly when she heard footsteps coming closer, removing the lock and opening the door.
"Sorry, habit." Elsa mumbled, trudging towards her bed and falling back with a thud, curling back into a fetal position. The whole room was encased in ice, snowflakes suspended in the air.
"I'm assuming it's about Elise," Anna said, sitting on the edge of Elsa's bed. When Elsa winced at the sound of her daughter's name, Anna knew that whatever happened hit her really hard. "Tell me."
"I-I," Elsa started, her voice trembling. Spikes of ice appeared from the wall. "I hurt her. I h-hurt my baby."
"She looked fine when I saw her out in the hallway," Anna mused. Maybe she didn't notice it. Elsa carried on her ode to self-loathing.
"Not only have I been neglecting her, but I frosted her wrist earlier. If I kept my hand there for a few more seconds I could've given her a frostbite!" Elsa raged, her voice weak and words chopped up by hiccups.
"You're the Queen, Elsa. You don't control your schedule unless it's really, really urgent. And the wrist thing, you know it was an accident." Anna said, rubbing circles on her sister's back.
"I know that, but-,"
"No buts." Anna cut her off. "And speaking of buts, you have to get yours out of that bed and go after your daughter. She has a suitcase and is 'running away'." Anna said, putting air quotes on the words 'running away'. Elsa looked panicked, sitting up from her position on the bed.
"What?!" Elsa cried out, hastily putting on her shoes. Anna giggled.
"I don't think she'll be able to go too far, though. She loves you too much." Anna reassured, but it didn't calm Elsa's nerves. Rushing down the stairs and out of the gates, she saw Elise sitting by the fountains, holding her injured wrist.
Right at that moment, a carriage holding tons of supplies was passing by in front of Elise, the load shaking and moving to the side. Before the large load toppled over and crushed her, Elsa ran over to her, covering her small body with hers and created a thick shield of ice to protect them both.
Elsa opened her eyes after a little while, looking around and saw that the carriage had already went on its way, leaving the two alone. She looked down and saw that Elise still had her eyes closed.
"Are you alright, little love?" Elsa asked, sitting down against the fountain with Elise on her lap. Elise slowly opened her eyes and nodded before standing up. "I heard you were running away."
Elise looked ashamed for a little while, but when her wrist started to throb, she nodded her head.
"And where are you going to go?" Elsa challenged. Elise shrugged, propping up her heavy suitcase.
"Back to headmistress." Elise answered, her voice void of any emotion. "I'm not your real baby anyway. And you're not my real mama."
Elsa's heart was torn from her chest by the words Elise had said. She tried to stop the tears from spilling over, but it was to no use. "Elise, please look at me."
Elise complied. Her eyes were staring into Elsa's, waiting for her to say something. "Are there false mamas?" Elsa started. Elise shook her head, then Elsa carried on. "Then how am I not your real Mama, Elise? Don't all real mamas tuck their babies into bed and kiss them goodnight? Don't they teach them how to read and write, how to fix their hair and tie their shoes? Don't all real mamas love their babies?"
Elise nodded at every one of her questions, urging her to go on.
"Don't I do that to you?" Elsa asked, her voice cracking slightly. The took one of Elise's hands in hers, being very careful to keep her powers under control. "I may not be your mama by birth, Elise, but I am your mama by heart."
Elise, guilty of her fault, threw herself into her real mama's arms and cried loudly, her sobs making her heave. Elsa held her tightly, crying a good deal as well.
"I'm sorry, Mama! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Elise chanted, crying into Elsa's shoulder. She was sorry for the mural, for misunderstanding, for offending her by saying she wasn't her real mama. Elsa smiled through her tears, kissing her daughter's head.
"I'm sorry as well, little love." Elsa said, apologizing for not giving her much attention the past weeks and for hurting her most of all. "Especially for your wrist."
Elise nodded, too shaken up to speak. Elsa shifted Elise to one arm and picked up her relatively light suitcase, walking back inside the castle.
This one was requested by lifelessgal! I had a little trouble with it, but once I started, things got a little too emotional that originally planned. I hope this one's up to your expectations!
By the way, keep those requests coming! I enjoy looking through them.
Please do tell me what you think. Wishing you all the best!
