The trio began their trip down the mountain side. Kristoff rode in the front of the sled with Elsa, and Tomas sat in back. Sven trotted ahead casually, and Elsa eventually turned around to face Tomas and linked a finger around one of his.

"She made me think that I couldn't like you...When I think that I might be able to…" She whispered, glancing over at Kristoff. Tomas gulped nervously and looked down at their hands.

"I think you could too...I think I could. I mean, uh, I do. Like you, that is." He ran his free hand through his hair and groaned. "I can't talk…" Up front, Kristoff shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes with a smile, while continuing to look forward. Elsa giggled slightly and let go of Tomas's finger.

"Well, I guess it's been a pretty good day overall then, huh?" She asked.

"It has indeed. I can't wait until-...tomorrow." Tomas sighed and his lips curled downward, making Elsa frown as well.

"Perhaps you could come visit again soon?" She offered.

"I'd like to; if I can get away. I'd need a good excuse."

"Well, you could always stay and work on your abilities with me. We could work on controlling them together…" Tomas's head snapped up suddenly.

"You know, that's just crazy enough to work!"

"You really think so?"

"The majority of my family is sympathetic to my situation-"

"-and your crew is competent enough to bring Hans back! With my kingdom mellowed out and Anna busy with-..." Elsa tilted her head towards Kristoff slightly. Tomas's eyes lit up even more as he grinned.

"We could be together all the time! I can control it! I can be free!" He smiled even wider, and Kristoff opened his mouth to say something. Tomas cleared his throat.

"I'll have to write a letter to send home tonight though."

"I'm sure they will understand." Elsa said.

"Ah, but the king might, my father might-" Tomas started to say before Kristoff interrupted him.

"Alright, I'm pretty sure I've heard this story before. Elsa, is this really a good idea?"

"What's wrong with it?" She asked defensively, reeling her head back to the front of the sleigh.

"We barely even know this guy" Kristoff said, tipping his head back to Tomas, "And no offense, but I would expect you of all people to be a little more-"

"I know him!" Elsa snapped.

"Okay, okay!" He grumbled, leaning away from her, "I'm just saying, be careful. If you and Anna aren't going to be wary, I'll have to be, and that's hardly my job."

Elsa smiled as Kristoff accepted defeat, "I don't think you will have anything to worry about," she glanced over her shoulder.

Tomas smiled nervously while glancing at Kristoff, who was mumbling to Sven as the sleigh as it pulled into the barn. They briskly walked back to the castle gates, aware of how much time had gone by since their departure. Tomas pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw his advisor pacing madly a few feet in front of them. John looked up and grimaced when he made eye contact with Tomas.

"I'm really, really sorry, John. We were having an important discussion and just lost track of time." He looked over at Kristoff who nodded in agreement and nudged Elsa to follow him inside. She bit her lip at Tomas who smiled slightly before he looked back to John.

"I'm sure it was of utmost importance, Sir." He growled lowly.

"I hope you weren't too worried," He replied curtly. "I'm deeply sorry, but I do have wonderful news to discuss with you." He rocked on the balls of his feet, and sighed. "Are you angry?"

"Do you have any idea how disgraceful your actions are, Prince Tomas?" John grabbed Tomas's collar and pulled him down to his level. "Mixing fire and ice?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't done a single thing wrong, John." He shoved his hands against the man's shoulders and staggered back. "Queen Elsa has offered to help me, if not simply help me study on how to better control my abilities." Tomas wiped his forehead and sighed. "So I'll be staying here."

"Wait, what?!" John sputtered and shook his head, "Never mind that. You expect me to believe I haven't been watching all of your little "sparks"? And the way you both behaved during dinner?" John groaned and eyed him over carefully. "Whatever. You just keep your brother in mind, Tomas. The last thing our kingdom needs is to switch one son out of prison for another one."

"John! I didn't-"

"And you better come up with something good for me to tell your family about this little vacation you're planning; I will not be blamed for any of this!" John turned his back to the gates and headed inside, steaming.

"But…!" Tomas shouted, "I didn't-!...Agh!" He stomped his foot onto the cool ground and stormed in after John. Inside the main entrance to the castle, Tomas paced around the main floor. "How does one act in this situation? I don't want to cause her anymore trouble, but...she likes me, and I like her too. I think." He raked his hands through his messy red hair, and let out a long breath of steam through his nose. "I have to get over this steam thing too," He grumbled, puffing another gust through his nostrils. Tomas looked over to a familiar form waddling towards him. Olaf? When did he get here?

"Steam? Steam is a good thing for warming up!" He piped in happily.

"Uhm...steam isn't a good thing; at least in my case. When I want to be close to someone, it gets in the way." Tomas rubbed his eyes.

"But steam makes you all cozy and fuzzy and melty. Good summer feelings!" Olaf exclaimed as he plopped down on the ground next to Tomas, who eventually sat down beside the snowman. "At least you have steam and not sticks." Olaf waved his little wooden arms around. "Nope, nope, nope. Sticks are no good." Tomas laughed softly and looked down at his bare hands.

"I suppose that's true; I'm glad that I don't have sticks." Tomas chuckled.

"Say, are you the person that Elsa was talking about earlier?"

"Uh, that depends, what did she say?" Tomas asked the snow creature, tilting his head.

"Hmm, I'm not sure if I should tell you..I don't even know your name!"

"A-ah, well, my name is Tomas," he stood and bowed to Olaf as he spoke, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi Tomas! I'm Olaf! And between you and me-" The little snowman motioned for Tomas to get closer to him. Tomas immediately followed his lead and leaned down towards him.

"Yes?"

"Closer."

"Uh.." Tomas kneeled down next to Olaf.

"Closer."

"Um.." Tomas slouched his shoulders and leaned his head towards the snowman's mouth."

"Closer."

"Olaf!"

"Well, between you and me," Olaf cautiously looked around the area before whispering in Tomas's ear, "I think she likes someone."

Tomas furrowed his brow, "I see."

"But it's a secret," Olaf said, pressing one of his stick-arms to Tomas's mouth.

"Alright, alright! I get it. Thanks Olaf."

"You can't tell anyone."

"I know."

"Ever."

"I know, Olaf."

"I'm trusting you."

"Olaf!"

"Hi!" The snowman smiled at him.

Tomas rubbed his hands over his face in irritation. "I- I should find my way to my room so that I can take care of that letter, huh?" He climbed up off his knees.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds important! Go do it!" Olaf said happily. Tomas started heading up the stairs, when he saw a light blue piece of fabric whip around the corner. Elsa?

As he walked down the hallway, he passed what he assumed to be Anna's room. He could hear her and Kristoff giggling to each other, and he was careful to tiptoe past. He saw Elsa head into a room at the end of the hallway, and he remembered John saying something about how his room was next to the queen's. He opened his door slightly, before glancing over at the blue door painted with white snowflakes, and stepping over to it. Lightly rapping on the door, he cleared his throat quietly.

"Ahem...Queen Elsa?" The door opened under his knuckles, and Elsa was standing before a dresser in a short white nightgown; brushing out her long hair. She looked up and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Tomas! What are you doing?" She asked in a high voice.

"Ah!" His face flushed, and he bowed his head apologetically. "Well...for one, I didn't get to say goodnight properly. B-but I also was wondering if you were up for helping me write my letters home. I'm not exactly sure of what to say," He admitted softly.

"Oh, of course!" Elsa walked over and stepped aside to let him in, before closing her door behind him. She walked over to a wooden desk and grabbed a pen. "What were you looking to say?"

"Well, I have to explain what your intentions are, my intentions, and mostly, I have to find a way to tell my brothers that I won't be around to pick up the slack. Oh! And I need to prevent my entire family from coming here," Tomas groaned.

"Hmm…" Elsa tapped her chin in thought, "My studies are for the research on your magical capabilities; for the benefits and possible drawbacks. There are 11 of them there to watch over Hans and your kingdom, and if they can't manage it without you, they need to learn to grow or you'll be next in line before them."

"I can't say that!" Tomas gulped, his amber eyes widening like dinner plates, "They'd kill me! They'd sail all the way here and kill me. I should probably sound passive. Um...maybe I should mention how it may prevent future problems from happening?" He offered.

"The research would prevent occurrences such as what happened here in Arendelle?" Elsa chewed on the tip of the pen.

"Ah-...No, I wouldn't mention that. You have control of your powers far more than I do, and they need to get a sense of that." Tomas scratched his head. "More like, I would be staying here to prevent any further embarrassment.." Elsa continued chewing on the pen.

"Your studies here will prevent the family name from further being embarrassed? If connections can be made between Arenelle and the Southern Isles, it would re-open kingdom expansion and trade possibilities, as well as set respect and awe for both kingdoms?" She said.

"That...that's better than what I could say," He nodded in approval. "Let's write it down-ah...paper. Do you have more paper?" He laughed sheepishly. "It sounds very convincing." Elsa walked over to her desk and motioned for Tomas to follow, and she pulled a few fresh pieces of parchment out of one of the oak drawers. "I need to write slowly so that it looks really thought out. I mean, it's only been a day," he mumbled to himself. As he began, Elsa switched from pacing around the room to watching over his shoulder. He underlined words here and there, and scribbled on with a concentrated expression. He glanced up after reaching the bottom. "Should we include a letter from you as well? To my mother at least?" He asked.

"If you wish, or rather, I can sign my approval at the bottom." She rested her chin on top of Tomas's head, and his neck muscles stiffened to keep his head steady.

"A signature works, it may seem more…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully, "It may convince them that I played a larger role in creating the idea." Elsa nodded slightly in agreement and moved back to pacing her bedroom. I hope they don't get mad...or get the wrong idea, Tomas thought to himself. He slapped on a signature at the end, and tilted his head for Elsa to come do the same. She swirled out her name in elegant, looping letters, and reached in a smaller drawer for a rubber stamp and wad of wax.

"With my seal, it shouldn't be denied." She grinned as she tilted the wax towards Tomas, who rolled his eyes as he heated it with a flaming finger. With dark blue wax dripping down, she folded the paper and it was sealed with a small snowflake design.

"Great, only 11 more to write." Elsa chuckled and grabbed some more paper.

"John didn't seem overly excited about it, but I think he's just worried about me making our kingdom's image even worse." Tomas frowned.

"I won't let it happen," Elsa said confidently. She ruffled up his hair with a childish smile and headed out her door. Tomas slumped down in the chair.

Elsa jogged down the hall to her own advisor's room, and knocked on the door quietly. A creaky old woman shuffled out in her long nightgown, squinting out at the queen.

"Your majesty?" Her voice groaned like the old floorboards under her feet.

"Tarin, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have important news that needs to be sent out promptly." Elsa tugged on her braid. "It involves Prince Tomas and his kingdom."

"Oh...of course, I understand. Let me just get dressed, and I'll take it." Tarin smiled and her wrinkles lifted to the crease in her eyes. "I'm assuming you want it sent faster than by ship?"

"If at all possible." Elsa shifted from one foot to the other. "With all my respect, Tarin."

"I can take it to the cages and have it sent by air. I would send a separate message back with the ship, however, just in case." Tarin chuckled and patted Elsa's head. "You don't have to worry about it, my dear." Elsa thanked her curtly and headed back to her room, where Tomas was curled over the desk scrawling out another letter.

"Tomas? The letter will be sent out soon." Elsa rubbed her eyes and walked over to her bed, flopping down onto her stomach.

"Hm? Yeah, thank you. I'll be out of here in a second. I'm writing the last letter to send back with John. I also made a duplicate of the first letter to go to my mother and my oldest brother. They're not very long, but they get the point across." Elsa mumbled incoherently into a pillow, and he laughed softly. "I'm done, don't worry. I'll get out of here so you can sleep," He smiled and pushed the chair back to stand. He flinched when Elsa threw a pillow at him.

"I don't wanna be alone," She grumbled sleepily.

"Well, what about your sister? Don't sisters do this kind of thing?" Tomas rubbed the back of his neck. "My brothers and I did when I was younger, but then we got in trouble for breaking things in the castle." Elsa rolled onto her back and exhaled towards the ceiling.

"She's with Kristoff." She frowned and rolled a small snowball in between her fingers and threw it up at the ceiling. A gentle snow began to fall down on their faces and she looked over at Tomas curiously. "I want to see what you can do," She grinned. "I know that you can make wittle baby fire, but I want to see more."

Tomas's smile dropped and he folded his arms.

"I can't. I'd set the room on fire. If I try to make anything too big, it gets out of control. But...I guess I can kind of do one thing," He sighed and shuffled unwillingly to the window and opened it to let in the cool night air. "I need a vent. Also, the snow needs to go, or else everything will be soaking wet afterwards." Without moving from her comfy spot on the bed, Elsa waved her arms up and gathered the snow in a giant ball that grew smaller and smaller until it faded from existence. The room looked as if nothing had been touched. Tomas nodded and puffed out his cheeks. "It's not really much, but…" He let out a constant stream of steam through his pursed lips that spread throughout the entire room. The foggy mist clung to Elsa's face and hair, freezing into little ice crystals. After circling the air, the steam made its way to the window and the room was empty of vapor.

"Oofta!" Elsa grinned and pulled her hair up off of her shoulders. "Do it again!" She begged.

"Are you sure? I don't want to freak anyone out…" He frowned, looking at your door.

"It feels good actually," Elsa smiled more as she tied her hair up into a high ponytail, "Besides, you can't tell me this wouldn't help you relax after a long day."

"I...guess, though I'm always constantly warm." He gave in and blew out a harder breath of air that fogged up the room once more. Elsa hopped off of her bed and placed her cool hand against Tomas's cheek, causing a burst of steam to rise off as he blushed and sucked in a harsh breath.

"Does this feel any better?" She asked, moving her hand to the side of his neck. Her stray bangs hung down and clung to her wet skin, and Tomas gulped, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Y-Yeah," He admitted quietly, and Elsa blew cool air onto his face that created even more steam.

"That's so adorable!" She laughed. Tomas's eyebrows furrowed as he rolled his shoulders.

"What is?"

"You are!" Elsa wiped her glistening forehead and bit her lip innocently. "Can you take your steam back, I wonder?" Tomas just shrugged his broad shoulders. "Well try, then!" She encouraged.

"Eh...if anything, it may just make more steam as it touches my skin," Tomas mumbled.

"Well, try anyways. It's worth a shot, right? It'll give us more insight in our research."

"Eh, alright," He drew in another deep breath and let a stream of steam escape his lips. The wispy moisture circled around the ceiling for a few seconds, and as Tomas held out his hands, he sucked in the moisture, and it evaporated as the beadlets touched his skin. His eyebrows raised and he chuckled to himself. "Well. That shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did."

"So, you really didn't absorb it, you're just so hot that it evaporated." After a brief moment, Elsa's blue eyes widened and her pale skin reddened to that equal to a tomato. "I-I mean, you're not hot...well, temperature; I mean, fire is so hot!" Her voice wavered and she covered her blushing face.

"I don't know how hot-er, warm-how warm I get when I'm actually trying to use my powers." He said.

"We could measure that too," She tapped her chin in thought, "I wonder how warm you can get. Does it cause any physical damage to you?"

"No, it doesn't." He replied curtly, "Unless magma hurts me, nothing I've ever created has hurt my physically. Fire doesn't burn my skin. I can literally set my self on fire, and I can create a flame internally." Tomas grinned, proud of himself. "I at least know a little bit about what I can do, I guess, but controlling the flame is another thing. Once I start a fire, I can't usually stop it, and then other people have to either put the flame out, or put me out." His warm smile faded quickly.

"How does the cool weather and snow bother you? Because if we went up to my ice castle, there would be no one to hurt, and nothing would catch on fire. It would be a controlled environment, and you could practice freely." Elsa smiled encouragingly.

"I'm able to keep myself warm just fine; I only wear thick clothes when I'm working with a large flame. Otherwise, normal clothing burns right off." Elsa mentioned being able to put out his clothes with a small blast of snow, and he nodded in approval. "In a way, we are each other's teachers," He added, "But what on Earth can I teach you?" His eyebrows raised and then scrunched in thought, "I mean, you've figured out how to reverse your powers. Maybe you can help me figure out the same thing?"

"Anna was the one to teach me that...after I froze her solid…" Elsa frowned and folded her arms over her chest.

"Well, I certainly didn't learn anything after my fiance-..." Tomas shook his head before continuing on another thought. "Anyway, you needed someone to help you, and right now, I need someone to help me. It's beneficial to me that you'll be able to prevent anything from being damaged." Elsa tugged and fiddled with her braided hair as Tomas began to pace around in small circles. "I would have never even thought about asking you for help. I thought these next couple of days, I was going to have to pretend to be normal while not making my family look even worse."

"Does all of your family know?" Elsa asked, flopping down comfortably onto her bed.

"Of course. I was the cause of an innocent death." Tomas glanced down at his hands. "The only reason I was the one to come here was because no one else wanted to take the shame. Otherwise, I'm not usually allowed anywhere." Elsa raised a hand towards him from the bed and gave a sympathetic smile.

"I trust you. You won't hurt anyone here." She comforted. Tomas sat next to her on the edge of the bed and let out a long sigh. He glanced up when she squeezed his hands. "Come on! It'll be fun! Everything will be okay!"

"That's a word I've never used to describe it, but I suppose you're right." Tomas sighed again and laid his head back on one of the white pillows. After a few long minutes of nightly silence, he rolled onto his stomach. "I...suppose I should get back to my room, huh? He asked weakly. Elsa let out a small whine of protest, followed by one of the most irresistible pouts he'd ever seen. "Well, I can hardly sleep here! I-I guess I can stay a little while longer though," He smiled faintly.

"Tell me a bedtime story?" She asked innocently. Her request was met with a blank stare. "Come on! You have to know a good story! Then I'll let you sleep." Elsa scooted a bit closer to Tomas now, looking on with expectant eyes.

"Um...I don't really know any-" He protested.

"Well, then just stay with me." Elsa yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily, and a small blush covered Tomas's face.

"I feel as though that will be frowned upon," He whispered to her. She pinched the bridge of her nose and shot her hand out towards the door, freezing the frame solid with an icy blast. Tomas gulped hard.

"But...in the morning, if I'm seen coming out of your room-"

"Then go." She interrupted, rolling onto her side, "You can just melt the door then, I just wanted to hear a story." Tomas groaned inwardly and looked over at the sleepy queen. He leaned over on his side, with her curved back almost touching his chest.

"Ah...Once upon a time, there reigned a beautiful queen who was remarkably fond of hearing stories. Unlike the other members of royalty, she had a designated story-teller; one who held a large estate granted by his Majesty, on the condition of telling her a new story every night before she went to sleep. Many indeed were the stories he knew, so that he had already achieved a good old age without failing;even for a single night in his task. Such was the skill he displayed, that whatever cares of state or other annoyances might prey upon the monarch's mind, her story-teller was sure to send her to sleep-..." Tomas's gentle voice carried on through his story, and comforted Elsa so much that when he had finished, she laid there as if she was waiting for another chapter.

She blinked sleepily up at him after a moment,

"Wonderful story, Tomas...I won't bother you for another…"

"I'm no good at storytelling," He laughed softly, "That's a popular one from my home. I've heard it so many times; it's no surprise you liked it." He covered a wide yawn with the back of his hand, and Elsa curled up into his side.

"Go to bed, sleepy." Her snowy hair fell over her face and her eyes closed. Tomas let out another long yawn and relaxed back against the downy.

"But then I have to...unfreeze…" His voice trailed off as Elsa draped a hand lazily over his mouth, and he lightly kissed the tender skin on the underside of her wrist. With her hand still on his cheek, the pair fell into a blissful night of comfy rest.