Dinner was tense. Ashley was silent for the entire meal. Elsa glowered at the twins from across the table. Anna and Kristoff finished each other's sandwiches. Jack tried to lighten the mood by discussing recent fashion trends, but this only caused Ashley to sink into her chair and be even more closed to conversation.
"Hey Ashley! Why are you being so quiet today?" Allie questioned.
"Maybe she sat on one of our ice bombs," Jasper snickered.
"Leave your sister alone," Elsa scolded. She turned to Ashley. "How are you doing today?"
"Oh me? Fine. I'm fine."
Elsa raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure? You have been awfully closed off."
"What? I'm always this way. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Okay, but let me know if anything is bothering you." Elsa tried to reach over and hug Ashley, but she backed away.
"I'm done!" Ashley said as she stood up. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight!" She hastily left the room, trying to control the rising heat she felt in her hands. There had to be some way to control her new powers!
In her room, Ashley looked through her closet. After a few minutes she found them, her mother's gloves! Ashley slipped them on, remembering a phrase she sometimes caught her mother muttering when she was particularly upset.
"Conceal it. Don't feel it." With the words, the heat seemed to recede. She continued to recite the phrase until the heat disappeared completely. But she could still feel it lurking below the surface, ready to burst forth.
Years passed. Ashley shut herself in her room, barely coming out at all. Everyone tried to get her to open the door, but no one succeeded.
One day, Ashley heard a soft knock on her door.
"Do you want to build a snow castle? Allie called.
"Go away Allie! I'm eighteen. I don't have time for snow castles." Instead of going away, Allie froze the lock on the door and barged in.
"But Ash! You love building- woah your room is different."
"Allie! I said go away!" Ashley yelled, fighting to control the fire.
"Are those mom's gloves? Why are you wearing those?"
"No reason," Ashley said. "Now get out of my room,"
"Why do you even have these?" Allie took Ashley's hand and started to pull the glove off. No longer able to control it, Ashley released a tiny flame that barely glowed through the thick gloves, but still created a small burn on Allie's arm.
"Ouch, what was that?" Allie yelped.
"Enough! Get out!"
Allie turned and fled the room, running straight to Elsa with her tears. When Elsa saw Allie's injury, she rolled her eyes. Allie probably deserved it, Elsa thought. She's always pestering her older sister.
"Luckily for you, young lady, Aunt Re's ship just got in from Corona and she and your cousin Rosalynn are on their way to the castle now. Rosalynn can heal that right up," she told Allie.
Ashley was sitting on her bed when she heard another faint knock on the door.
"I said go away, Allie!" she yelled.
"Hey, no need to be so fired up!" retorted a familiar voice. "I was just coming to say hello."
"Rosalynn?" Ashley exclaimed. She hadn't seen her childhood friend in years. She rushed to open the door. Behind it was a girl the same age as Ashley with light blond hair in a long braid down her back. Her ever-present flower hair band glowed purple in the faint light.
"The one and only," Rosalynn tossed her hair and smiled as she saw Ashley. Then she looked confused as she peeked into the room.
"Don't ask," Ashley said.
"Whatever. So how's my favorite cousin these days?" Rosalynn asked, perching on the edge of a burnt chair. Ashley contemplated how she would answer. If there was anyone she could tell about her new developments, it would be Rosalynn, but she worried that her dearest friend would pull away from her if she knew the truth.
"Oh um, I'm good."
"Really?" Rosalynn asked sceptically. "You don't seem good." Rosalynn looked pointedly at Ashley's gloved hands. "I know what those mean."
"Wait- you do?" Ashley stammered.
"Well, those are Aunt Elsa's right? The ones she used to hide her powers with? This room is basically on fire now while we are sitting here. I'm not stupid Ash. You're obviously trying to suppress some sort of ability, and given the condition of your furniture, I would assume it involves fire."
"Oh that, well-"
"Spill it." Ashley started to cry, but her tears burned up as soon as she shed them.
"Oh Rose! All I wanted was to fit in! I was so lonely being the only one without powers! When this strange man offered, I knew it was too good to be true but I took it anyway! Now I have fire powers that I can't control! This is so much worse than being the only ordinary one! Now I'm a fire bomb in a family of icicles!"
"Hey, it's okay." Rosalynn put her hand on Ashley's shoulder. Ashley immediately pulled back.
"Don't! See, I hurt you!" A small burn started to form on Rosalynn's hand. Flames began to creep up the walls.
"Woah, take it easy," Rosalynn soothed. She started to hum a familiar tune and a few streaks of her hair glowed as the burn healed. "See," she held up her hand. "No more burn. I'm fine."
"Sorry," Ashley murmured. The flames around her room died down. "But Rose, not everyone has your power. Not everyone can heal themselves every time I burn them." She dropped her head into her hands. "What am I going to do?"
"Just tell your parents, I'm sure they'll understand." When Ashley looked up in surprise Rosalynn took her hands and pointed to the gloves, "And take these things off. If I do recall, they didn't help your mom all that much either."
"I can't do that!"
"If you don't, I will."
"You wouldn't dare!"
Rosalynn narrowed her eyes. "Watch me." Immediately, Rosalynn sprinted out of the room towards Elsa's study.
"Rose, wait!" Ashley called, dashing after her.
Ashley stopped to catch her breath in front of the royal conference room. She could hear muffled voices inside. She thought she recognized her mother and father. Pausing to listen to their conversation, Ashley leaned her ear against the door, flinching at the light sizzle as the door burned at her touch.
"I feel that an arranged marriage between our prince and your princess would only serve to solidify relations between our kingdoms," said a voice Ashley didn't recognize. She heard a muffled response from her mother, but couldn't make out the words. She did, however, understand her father's reply.
"Yes, I completely agree."
What!? Ashley thought. They're going to force me into an arranged marriage? No. No! I won't let them! Ashley got so worked up about the prospect of being married off to some stranger for political gain that the heat around her increased. The door cracked with the heat, and she heard someone inside the room exclaim something. She didn't understand what it was, she didn't understand anything that was said after. All she knew was the heat building around her, the fire building within her. Ashley turned and ran down the hall back to her room. Once there, she let the fire rage around her, searing what was left of her furniture into piles of ash.