Thanks to silverheartlugia2000 and Luckenhaft for taking the time to review!
People who I appreciate: Rose Starre (I immensely, obtusely, obsessively, appreciate you for fixing my 'ly' ish) and Faulty Paragon (you right. cutting those scenes remains among the better choices I've made in killing my children), my betas.
Chapter 3: many uses
Elsa's companions have an interesting dynamic.
Donald and Goofy assume a strange role of parent, sibling, and friend with Sora; treating him with genuine concern while also never hesitating to lob a joke his way. Sora responds childishly, sometimes in such an extreme manner, she knows he must ham it up. She enjoys it anyway and he does too, judging from his smiles. Yes, while the precise label of their dynamic escapes her, she does appreciate it.
With Donald and Sora being such accomplished magic users, she feels as though she can loosen her guard, a little. Most of her magic can be undone by fire, a potion, or one of Sora's impressive cure spells.
She never knew magic could heal. It's a new thought she turns over in her mind. She's still not willing to risk being completely loose with her powers. Sora's magic heals a lot of external hurts, but she knows the way her ice hurts people is a different, altering damage. She tells herself things will be okay as long as she doesn't hit their internal organs. She's still careful to avoid casting too close to and to keep aware of their locations at all times.
Between the four of them, the Heartless don't stand a chance. If she thought Sora's magic was impressive, she's blown away by Donald's repertoire. The court magician preens when she praises his skill after a scuffle.
"You're really good yourself, Queen Elsa," Goofy says as they enter a field of frozen willow trees.
"Just Elsa is fine, please," she hastens to say. "That's kind of you to say, but I don't have a fraction of the control."
"That's right!" Sora's fist lands on his hand. "Donald, do you think we can help train Elsa to control her magic?"
Donald eyes her, his gaze appraising but not unkind before he looks back at Sora. "We, no. But I can. You're way too young to train someone else."
"What?! Am not!" he says.
"Are too," Donald shoots back. "Your control is terrible."
"I've had to reacquire my skill and control three times, thank you very much. I'm an expert!" Sora says.
"At losing your skills, definitely," Donald snorts.
"You've lost your magic three times?" Elsa smirks. "That's almost as impressive as falling off a mountain three times." Donald and Goofy chuckle.
"The last time doesn't count!" Sora says. "We jumped."
"He's working on his magic skills now," Donald says. "But I would be happy to help." She smiles at Donald over Sora's head.
They reach a clearing with a frozen lake. The willow trees and falling snow make a picturesque moment.
Elsa breathes it in. She remembers a summer trip here with her parents when she was younger and Anna was beginning to talk. Her mother had yet to inherit the crown and she sang legends to them over the cracking fire until the smoke made her hoarse. They always meant to come back but with the crown came changes…
Elsa shakes her head. She's never seen it in winter.
Click. She glances over and sees Sora holding a square device.
"Sorry. Just thought it was cool." He shows her the front and Elsa sees herself moments ago, willow trees arching over with pearls of ice dragging down the tips. Her dress looks even better than she thought.
"What an amazing portrait!" she says. "Is it magic?" She reaches for the device.
"Why don't we take a break and you can show us the extent of your powers? Donald might be able to give ya' some advice," Goofy suggests.
"Oh, yes, I suppose we are on a schedule." A shame. She'd love to examine the portrait-taker. Donald hits Sora on the head again.
They walk a little way onto the lake. Elsa stops.
"Please back up," she says and the three take a few steps back. "Farther." They move farther. "Farther," she says.
The three exchange glances and obey.
"I'll tell you when to stop," she decides at length.
Five minutes later and a transparent ice-wall for good measure, she shouts back, "Are you ready?! Be sure not to move from the wall!"
"What?" Sora's voice floats up a good sixty feet away.
Perfect. She stretches hands and ice races to fill her palms. Alone like before, she can let the full extent rise within her.
A raise of hands and structures fill the space around her, walls and little towers. She jumps and ice spears drive up from the frozen earth in elegant peaks. The ice never recedes from her hands, instead fitting there like a glove, like it's meant to linger instead of disappearing. It reminds her how good it feels not to limit herself.
She spins and the snow rushes in the air and it fans out through the dim leak of snow behind the clouds.
"Oh wow."
She whips around, her hands flying to the side on instinct.
Sora ducks the ice with a spin. "That's really something!" he says, watching as the remaining kicked up snow settles down. "Can you do that for me?" He stretches his hands out, making himself an easy target.
Elsa has already backed up, fear clutching her heart in a vise grip. She almost…
"I told you to stay behind the barrier!" She shies away from his easy approach. "And don't scare me again! There's no telling what might happen."
"I couldn't see anything from there," Sora complains. "Come on, just a little snow storm for me."
Casting at him?!
"No, Sora." Her curt tone makes his arms fall to his sides and a furrowing in his brow. She'll be darned if he doesn't look the spitting image of Anna through the gap of a closing door.
Her hand runs over her thick braid. She hates finding Anna's echo, confusion and sadness. With everything out in the open, she doesn't have to shut people out to protect her secret. She can explain why she is worried. Always keeping it inside is a hard habit to break through. Sora stares, quiet, intent, and the same feeling rises in her. Trustworthy, she thinks.
Peaking back, she sees Donald and Goofy behind the barrier discussing something. She wonders if Sora mentioned her hope to put an end to the everlasting winter.
Turning back to the boy, she gives a little sigh. "I once… hurt Anna that way. Just playing around when we were girls. She almost died," Elsa explains. "I hit her directly with my magic and it nearly froze her heart, you see? I almost hit you the same way."
Sora looks at her, emotion welling in his eyes, but all he asks is what happened and how Anna recovered. Elsa fills in the details of the event, in short, succinct phrases that grow longer the more she speaks and the more feelings come unbottled.
"I mean, I never wanted to hurt her! I didn't want for her to forget about my magic but— it was the only way to save her life." She slumps onto a snow bank.
"So that's why you locked yourself inside for all those years," Sora went on.
"Ah, you did say you met my sister," Elsa smiles, bitter. Her sister's confusion and hurt are still easy to picture in her mind. Her shoulders curve inward, remembering the state of their relationship and what happened earlier. She lashed out again. If it wasn't for the trolls cure…
"Now that it's all out, you don't need to hide it, right?" Sora says.
"I don't need to hide it, but I need to hide. I'm too dangerous to be around still. I hurt Hans and Anna without trying…"
"So, we just gotta work on your control!" Sora says, coming full circle.
"If we can. I tried to conceal my powers for years, but it never worked," Elsa says.
Sora tilts his head in thought. "Donald isn't wrong, I don't have the best control, but if you want my opinion, I don't think keeping it in is the best strategy." His pensive expression turns into a smile "I really liked what you were saying earlier instead."
She wracks her brain for a few moments but can't think of anything particularly thoughtful she's said.
"Let it go, let it go!" he sings, an octave down. "I am one with the wind and snow!"
She feels anger and embarrassment swell up. In the shower she used to sing to herself, quiet songs her parents taught her, her own songs sometimes. The mountain was the first time she ever belted anything. It was loud, it echoed, and she danced around the mountain with the sound. That someone else was privy to that is…. embarrassing.
She hasn't been embarrassed by anything but her powers in a while.
"No one was supposed to hear that," Elsa says, hands leaking with ice.
Sora smiles. "Why? It was great! I do a fair bit of singing myself. In fact, me and a friend, sometimes that's all we do when we get together." He startles. "You know, she's actually a sorceress too! Maybe it's a magic thing."
Another sorceress like her and Sora? He is the strangest boy. "And where does this friend live?"
"Far away… in the sea. She's a water sorceress," Sora says.
Like Elsa then, controlling just one element instead of… whatever it is that Sora embodies. "She's an Islander," Elsa surmises, thinking of her local area.
"Something like that."
"Is it an island near here?" She eyes Sora, well aware of his fondness for vague geography.
Sora pauses, then smiles. "You know, it's possible. I always thought the water was cold where she lived. How amazing would it be if the two of you share the same sea?"
Elsa doesn't get how Sora wouldn't know, but in the face of his bright smile, she can only offer a small one of her own. "Well, I'd love to meet her one day," Elsa says.
"Yeah!" He gives her an encouraging look. "But first things first, we need to get you comfortable using your magic closer to people. Donald! Goofy!" The two perk up and begin heading over.
"No, I think I need more time still," she says, backpedaling. "I'm still way too—"
"Dangerous, yeah, yeah," Sora says. "But you're good, too."
And Elsa does know that, deep in her heart. She is good— a good monster who doesn't want to hurt others. It's just been a while since she's believed anyone but her sister has thought so too. Sora has the whole story too, has seen her lash out at someone on unintentional instinct. His eyes are still trusting, still bright and open.
Her hands unclench little by little. Yeah, okay. Maybe she can try.
"What happened, Sora?" Goofy asks.
"We're gonna let Elsa practice using her magic close to people!" Sora says.
She looks at them with the same look of certainty she practiced in the mirror to become queen. Even though inside she feels the breadth between her false confidence and what she believes like a canyon. Faking it is half the battle, the rest will come in time, a tutor told her that once, and she's clung to it like a rabbit's foot.
"If you're willing to assist. It might be dangerous," she warns.
"Aw, we'll be safe. I think that's a great idea!" Goofy says.
"Yeah, are you sure you thought of it, Sora?" Donald asks.
"Whatever." Sora brushes past Donald and throws his arms out. "I saw what you did with your shoes and I want some too!"
"Clothes?"
"Magic, Elsa-clothes!"
She swallows. He said casting closer to people and he meant it. Elsa supposes it isn't at him, but she just doesn't like the idea of her power being that close to his heart…
Sora's gaze is steady, and she sees the trust she invested in him returned in his gaze. She decides to trust herself a little too.
Ice comes to her hand upon a single thought and she looks between Sora and her ice before she slides the magic over the edge of his shoulder. Her magic is soft at first, the barest pressure between him and her as she starts weaving her magic into his now-long sleeves. When her power reaches his chest, her magic snags as she meets a sudden nexus of other sorcery.
She senses a great deal of magic in his clothes, someone else's touch, not Sora nor Donald's. Three bright feminine lights filled with hope, protection, and (oddly) beauty. She finds herself in awe of the intimate sight she has of these other sorceresses and the hope they've placed in Sora. Messing with these enchantments is the last thing Elsa wants, so she tries weaving the magic together. There are three already, and she attempts integrating hers as a fourth, coaxing open the tight triad with her positive emotions towards Sora. Eventually, the other powers allow hers in.
Blue light chases over Sora's form and fills in the gaps for the image in her mind. Men's clothes are different than she's made before, but she tries to think about protection and her care as she crafts patterns of her homeland along the lapels and cuffs of his gloves. When she gets to his shoes she gives him a little smirk before drawing up his shoes and making boots not that dissimilar to hers, with little furry puffs for ties.
The moment she withdraws her hands, Sora is tripping over himself in awe.
"Wow! These look so cool!" He cranes his head over trying to check out the back where a large snowflake twists in rendered fractals. Elsa is more caught by how many of Anna's preferred patterns have ended up in Sora's clothes. Sora reminds her of her sister in good and bad ways; their stubbornness, for one thing.
"Sora! You shouldn't mess with the three fairies' magic!" Donald says. Elsa wonders if fairies is another word for sorceress like wizard, but knows Sora is not the person to ask by this point.
"I didn't mess with the magic I sensed there, it's more like I added to it," she says. Sora sticks his tongue out at Donald.
"Aren't your feet cold in those ice-shoes?" Goofy asks.
"No, it's not cold at all! It's like fur made of ice, but I don't feel it? I'm all warm now!" Sora kicks his furry boots for show and gives Elsa a beaming smile.
"Well gawsh, I think those look awfully nice. Do you think you could give us something too? If you aren't too tired?" Goofy asks.
"After Sora dragged Elsa up and down the mountain, of course she's tired," Donald says, but even his eyes look beseeching. He's cold as well, she figures.
She was nervous with her ice so close to Sora's heart, and that was Sora. Elsa doesn't know Goofy and Donald with the same ease and positivity she knows Sora, but she has seen how much they care for him, how they look after him. That's a familiar feeling. She knows what it is to always think of someone else before yourself and fret and fret endlessly.
She agrees.
Diving into each of their garments, she finds similar magic, with the overwhelming theme being PROTECT HIM.
The weight of kismet surrounding Sora washes over her and she senses, just for a moment, all the lives connecting to his own channeled through Donald and Goofy like the inner ring of a massive snowflake. It's dizzying and not something she can wrap her conscious mind around all the way. Once she withdraws her hands the impression blurs and fades like a half-remembered dream, with the certainty dwelling in her mind that Sora is important. But that's something she's been understanding all on her own.
"Gee, these are really spiffy!" Goofy says, admiring his dark blue clothes with similar stripes to her palace guards. Donald's are aqua with magic spirals and he too looks delighted by the silver strips at the bottom of his feet to help grip the snow. Sora is the most excited by far, falling over himself to awe at the patterns.
"He loves getting new clothes," Goofy confides.
"Well, it doesn't happen every day!" Sora says. "And Elsa made these special for us. Thank you!"
The other two echo the sentiment and Elsa receives the gratitude and smiles with as much grace as she can, even though her head feels too light for her body. "It's no problem, really," she says.
Sora opens and closes his hands, now encased in blue mittens and beams and beams. He looks so happy and warm even as he's wrapped head to toe in her magic.
It's different, she thinks, turning the idea over in her head. The magic is different.
"Now that we're all warm, we can have a snowball fight," Sora cheers.
"No," Donald says.
"That's a terrible idea, Sora," Elsa agrees. "I don't have that much control, yet."
"But there's so much snow!" Sora complains.
"Later," Goofy promises. "We should keep going down the mountain."
"Fine," Sora says. His poor mood flips into a smile. "Where to now?"
.
.
.
.
THINGS FIXED
Donald gets due credit.
Sora gets new special magic clothes without an inch of plaid. And they are warm.
(Also does anyone else remember the theory that Arendelle and Atlantica are near one another?)
Review if you want to.