Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the elements taken from Frozen are obvious, and while this version of Zorro is taken mainly from Mask and Legend, I've incorporated elements of his history from other adaptations. Even the original idea for this fic was inspired by the artwork of shishyoukai on DeviantArt, although I have created my own narrative for it; the artwork only inspired the idea of a certain sister becoming Zorro.

Feedback: Always appreciated

AN: Back to Arendelle, and this time it's Elsa's POV of life in her kingdom; hope you like it.

The Frozen Fox

Standing discreetly at her window, Princess Elsa looked out at the crowd of people trying to arrange meetings with the royal family and wondered what it said about her life that she felt so uncomfortable with these days even though she had basically nothing to do on them.

She appreciated that her grandfather had kept the kingdom in order for basically her entire life, but that left her with the sense that there was little chance for her to be in a position to take power herself. She had made the occasional public appearance when circumstances demanded, but there was a difference between giving people a pretty face to look at and actually making a decision for the good of her people.

Thinking of that brought on a new wave of regret at the loneliness of her life. With no siblings of her own, Elsa had very little experience with people her own age. Her grandfather kept a very limited social circle even among those who helped him run the kingdom, and while he always said that this was intended to keep them safe, Elsa wished that he could relax his authority enough to accept that some people had earned more trust than he seemed willing to give them.

Frankly, she wasn't sure if her grandfather even trusted her and her father that much. King Runeard always assured her that he was doing all this for the good of their kingdom so that she wouldn't have any concerns when she did take the throne, but there was a part of Elsa that resented how she had nothing to contribute to her people. She did her best to make some personal public appearances and offer support where she could, affirming that everyone in the kingdom could rely on the royal family if they had some urgent appeal for help, but she was never sure how much weight her word would carry if she passed such a thing on to her grandfather. He knew about her personal excursions and permitted them so long as she went out with a group of bodyguards, but again, there was always an edge to these visits that left Elsa wondering if her grandfather had a greater role in such trips than she knew.

He had never disagreed with her father's lessons that a princess should listen to others and only speak when something needed to be said, but Elsa often wondered what her grandfather would do if she spoke up more. Would he appreciate that she was taking an interest in running the kingdom, or object to the idea that anyone else would think to speak up on such a matter? She had been allowed to sit in on more negotiations as time went on, but so often it was hard to know what she could contribute to such varied topics when the policy always seemed to be to go along with what her grandfather wanted and leave it at that.

She didn't like to think ill of the man who had done so much to protect Arendelle, but she often found herself wondering if her grandfather even recognised that other people could have something to contribute to running their kingdom…

"Elsa?"

"Father?" Elsa looked behind herself, smiling thankfully at her father as he walked into her rooms. "How are things?"

"Well enough," Prince Agnarr said, returning his daughter's smile with his own warm grin as he came to join her at the window, the two looking out at their kingdom. "Your grandfather is still going over the latest requests, and he asked me to look over the latest letters from the Southern Isles."

"The Southern Isles?" Elsa shook her head in frustration. "It always comes back to them…"

"They are a prosperous kingdom with a strong history-"

"And I doubt I am the only one who speculates that some day they will have so many heirs that each prince will rule one of their islands?"

"…That is fair," her father conceded with a teasing smile. For all that her grandfather had been king for as long as Elsa could remember, her father was always the one she aspired to be like when she had to appear in public. Her grandfather and father both always managed to appear powerful and in control, but her father gave a sense of security and comfort when he spoke with others, as though assuring them without words that he would listen to their pleas. Her grandfather was a strong figure, but he always gave Elsa the impression that his only goal was to ensure that everyone take his side and basically argue until they gave in.

"But… all is well here?" she asked, deciding to focus on more immediate concerns.

"Everything is fine," her father smiled. "Trade agreements are still stable, and Arendelle is as prosperous as ever. Your grandfather even observed that it may be time for us to visit the people again."

"'May be time'?" Elsa looked at her father, her initial joy at this news marred by the reminder of what she had been thinking earlier. "Will he ever let me just… go out rather than keep such a firm grip?"

"Your grandfather only seeks to keep you safe-"

"Which I appreciate in principle, but in practice… how are the people meant to trust us if we do not show that we trust them?" Elsa asked, indicating the people walking around in front of the palace. "Northuldra is controlled by our appointed regents, guards patrol our streets so often I can always see one out there whenever I look, and the last true threat was months ago…"

"And as your grandfather would remind you, our enemies are difficult to find," her father replied, although Elsa liked to think that the listlessness of his words affirmed that he was just as uncomfortable with what he was saying as she would have been. "The kingdom and our rule may be secure, but a good ruler must always be prepared to face any threat that may emerge."

"Of course," Elsa said, once again wondering why she tried to ask such questions when she always received such formulaic answers. "But still… do you ever wonder why we have these enemies grandfather speaks of?"

"Power and success can encourage opposition of all kinds, even if we do not seek to prosecute others with it," her father observed. "Our subjects are good people for the most part, but there are always reasons to be cautious."

"I know," Elsa said, fighting down her frustration at these vague answers. Everything always sounded reasonable enough when she asked about it, but she always knew that her grandfather would be far harsher about these issues if she ever dared to bring them to his attention.

And then there is the real question…

"Do you… ever think about…"

As her father looked curiously at her, Elsa was briefly unsure if she should finish the question, but the reminder that her grandfather would be busy for a while gave her the nerve to get on with it.

"Isn't it the anniversary of Mother's disappearance soon?"

Her father's silence left Elsa wishing that she could take that question back as soon as she'd said it, but it was so rare that she had the chance to bring the matter up herself. It was as though there had been an unspoken rule not to bring up the matter of Elsa's missing parent in public for as long as she could remember, but at the same time she couldn't stop herself trying to learn more about the issue…

"…I will always wonder what drove her to leave," her father said at last, looking solemnly at Elsa, simultaneously answering her question and anticipating her next one. "But whatever happened to drive your mother to leave us… I have never doubted that she truly loved you."

Elsa found herself lost for what she should say to that particular declaration. The part of her that was training to be the future queen knew that it was basically just a way to avoid facing the deeper issues caused by her mother's absence, but Elsa was never able to shake off the part of her that wondered why her mother had left her life when she was so young. She wanted to believe her father's words, but at the same time it was hard to accept his assurances of her mother's love when the woman had left Elsa when she was barely five years old. Were his words an honest expression of what she had been like, or had he essentially grown used to lying to himself over the decade since her departure?

A call from the door summoned her father back to the royal chambers to assist the king with the latest round of negotiations, but that just stopped Elsa asking further questions rather than giving her any sense of closure about this issue. Suddenly feeling a need to be alone, Elsa closed her window and turned her attention back to her room, trying to remember any moments she might have shared with her mother before the loss even as the memories seemed to become ever more maddeningly elusive.

When it came to her mother's disappearance, the one thing her father and grandfather had always agreed on was that she had left of her own free will, but that was only because everyone agreed that anyone who had abducted the crown prince's wife out of hostile intent would have made contact at some point since then. The lack of information didn't outright confirm that Elsa's mother had left on her own accord, but it supported the idea that nobody had taken her for a specific reason.

Once Elsa had been old enough to think about it, she had begun to wonder what theories her father and grandfather had formed on the topic, but she had never found the nerve to explicitly ask either man what they believed. She had always been sure that she didn't want to know what opinions her grandfather might have formed about her mother's actions, and as for her father…

Whenever she looked back on those rare moments when her father was willing to talk about her mother, Elsa always ended up wondering just how much he had kept back. She didn't believe that her father would lie to her if he truly knew anything about her mother's fate, but when he already gave so many roundabout answers to so many of her other questions, she both didn't want to give him a reason to avoid this one and was afraid of what she might hear.

The part of Elsa that was still young enough to want a child's solutions wished that she could just believe in her mother and leave it at that, while the rest of her had to wonder how a 'good woman' could justify leaving her daughter in the first place.

She was a princess who was never allowed to speak to her people, an heir who felt like she would never be trusted with the throne, a granddaughter to a grandfather who barely seemed to acknowledge her existence, and a daughter to a mother she felt as though she had never truly known or would ever be able to understand.

She had a good life on paper, but in practice there were so many things about her life that she wasn't sure she would ever find the answers to. Her mother was the most obvious missing piece of her life, but she had never been able to shake the idea that there were more metaphorical holes in her life than the most obvious one…