Attending Arendellian birthdays in town was a delight, especially when it was with adorable kids, but Elsa had to admit that their excitement started to grow her tired. She took a break, enjoying Anna's natural energy with them to sit in a corner of the room.
She watched her sister having fun with all the kids in a circle around her who asked her questions, and the blonde helped herself with a piece of cake.
"Excuse me..." asked a very, very shy voice, that Elsa barely heard if the child wasn't also pulling on the ice train of her dress to get her attention.
She turned around and looked down with a smile, seeing a blushing young boy.
She was about to say "What is it, little one?" but the boy suddenly looked down at his fists and noticed that he accidentally ripped off a part of Elsa's train when he pulled it.
"Oh no", he said with an even weaker voice, and his eyes started to glisten with tears. "I... I broke your dress."
Elsa looked at his tiny hand and saw the piece in his fingers.
"It's alright, sweetie. You didn't break anything." reassured Elsa with a soft voice. "It's magical, I can make it again as many times as I want. Look."
She smiled and twirled her fingers, close to his face so he could see the dancing snowflakes. They moved in the air and dropped on the train, healing the part that got ripped by filling the void. The eyes of the boy were so wide of amazement that Elsa chuckled. Once he was done being in awe, she bent to him.
"What is it you wanted to ask me?"
The child gulped. "Please don't judge me."
"Never", smiled Elsa, however a bit intrigued.
"Could you... Could you teach me how to be a princess too? You only explained to the girls. And... The other boys don't pay attention to that, but, I do, and.. I want to know." he murmured. "I want to know how to be a princess."
Elsa felt an emotion that was similar to directly receiving a warm dart into the heart.
She was so stunned and touched by his question that she didn't reply right away.
"I knew you would judge me", murmured the boy with a pout.
"No, no, I don't. Absolutely the opposite", assured Elsa. She looked at him in the eyes. "Listen. You will become an amazing princess."
"Really?" Suddenly beamed the young boy, delighted.
Elsa hadn't even given him any tips yet, but it seemed like it was what he wanted to hear. And needed to hear. Another warm dart planted in Elsa's heart.
"Here's how", she said smiling. "You have to be kind. To everyone and everything. But!" she interrupted herself by raising a warning finger, and the boy was all ears. "You have to be careful that people don't take advantage of your kindness. Do you understand?"
He nodded frankly. "Yes."
"And be curious, and open your mind."
"Open my mind?" repeated the boy, intrigued. "That must hurt so bad."
Elsa chuckled. "Sorry, by that I mean, listen to every opinion, to every point of view, and learn from it. Sometimes, two persons with opposite arguments have good points, you know?"
The boy nodded with a dropped jaw, a bit lost, but he got the general idea. She smiled.
"In a word, be kind." She concluded, simplifying. "The rest will come naturally, trust me."
He thanked her and looked down at his tiny fist.
"Can... Can I keep this?" He asked in his adorable shy voice.
He showed the bit of ice train that was still in his hand.
"Of course you can. But I'm afraid it won't last very long. It's still fresh because I'm nearby, but once I'll be gone..."
She noticed, as he was processing the technical information in his child brain, that it would sound heartbreaking when he'll understand. She quickly took a tissue napkin on the table.
"Here. Put it in there."
He trusted her and did as she advised, and she closed the folds of the napkin on the piece of train like an origami. "There you go!"
She added an ice touch on the top to make it pretty. The whole object looked like a candy wrap.
"If I put it on the windowsill of my bedroom, on the outside, will it stay cold?" asked the boy, half worried and half excited to know he'll keep a memory.
"It will be perfect", smiled Elsa with tenderness.
The boy bounced and ran to join his friends who were now listening to Anna reading a fairy tale book out loud.
