The taste of blood filled her mouth. She couldn't move, as if she had been broken in two. She couldn't feel her legs. An excruciating pain came from her back.

Her vision was blurry. Everything was going black, but there were two green eyes she recognized way too well. That was the last thing she saw as she felt one last hit against her spine, this time fully shattering it.

A choked sound came from her mouth as she gasped, all her energy gone, and, after a quiet exhale, so was her life.

.

Astro sat up with wide eyes, her mind still trapped in that nightmare for a few seconds, before it slowly adjusted to reality. She was panting, and glanced around the room, slowly recalling the day prior.

Nightmares had always plagued her sleep, ever since she was a baby, but this one was one of the worst, as it was way too vivid, way too real.

The woman sighed, one hand on her face as she shook her head, strands of pitch black hair dangling with that motion.

"Am I truly home now?" She whispered to herself. "Will things be okay now?"

She opened the chest where she had kept what little clothes she owned and picked a clean outfit, deciding she'd find Gerda and ask her where she could have a bath.

As she opened the curtains to make sure what time it was, the first rays of sunrise filtered into the room, and Astro noted how the color reminded her of Elsa's hair.

After watching it for a few moments she turned to leave the room and look for that servant.

.

The kitchens were functioning from early on, as Olina had made it sure. The chubby woman, dressed in the same dark mossy green as every other member of the palace staff, her cheeks red from their constant exposure to the stoves. Her sister, Brunhilde, was quite similar, yet she was now giggling sheepishly as she recalled how attentive Kai had been to her the day prior when she had been about to stumble.

The two women were startled by Olaf, who had walked into the kitchen, loudly cackling out of pure joy.

"What is it, Olaf?" Asked Olina, as Brunhilde resumed preparing breakfast.

"I think I laid an egg!" Resting on the snowman's wooden palm was indeed an egg. "I sat down to watch the sunrise, and when I stood there was this underneath!"

Both women giggled. Olaf was too much.

"Couldn't it be that it already happened to be there before you sat down?" Said the older of the two sisters gently.

At this, the snowman gasped, hugging the egg close to him. "Don't tell her she's adopted! It'll give her a complex!"

"Oh, so it's a she? Does she have a name?" Asked Brunhilde, as her older sister motioned for the rest of the kitchen staff to continue working.

"Her name is Samantha." Replied Olaf, smiling goofily, looking down at the egg with loving eyes.

"Well, Samantha needs to be kept warm if you want her to be born." Noted Olina. After all, Olaf was made of snow. They would be lucky if the baby bird within the egg was still alive, having been deprived of heat for who knows how long.

The snowman realized as well, and his face contorted into one of panic. He ran away, screaming for help.

The maids watched in an odd mixture between concern and amusement, and once Olaf was out of sight, they resumed working.

.

Elsa entered her sister's room, and smiled in amusement at the familiar sight. Like every morning, Anna remained asleep regardless of the sun brightening her surroundings, her hair so messed it looked like a sad attempt at a bird's nest, drool coming from her mouth as she snored. Silly as it was, the queen found that endearing, as it brought her memories of their childhood, since the princess would always wake up like that.

Then, a small pang of guilt reminded her of how many mornings she had missed that sight, for she had spent most of her life locked within her room, isolated as she had been pushing her family away, along with the rest of the world.

A snore brought her attention back, and she giggled softly and gently shook Anna awake.

"Mmmmh... Five more minutes..."

Elsa giggled again, and her shaking became the slightest bit more intense. "Anna, it's getting late. Breakfast might get cold."

Slowly, the princess sat up, almost like a zombie, wiping the drool from her cheek, the pillow imprinted on her face. "...Elsa?"

"Good morning, Anna." Said the pale-haired woman, a hand still on her younger sister's shoulder. "Get ready for today, we have a lot to show our guest."

Clearly more awake after rubbing her eyes, anna tilted her head. "You look excited." She said, starting to smile. "That makes me happy."

"Ah, well-" Elsa was clearly embarrassed at having been caught like that. Anna knew her better than anyone did. "It's the first time I meet someone who has powers too." She justified, trying to keep herself collected and make it sound like it wasn't that big of a deal.

Anna smiled wider, and Elsa sighed, unable to help herself from smiling back. "Get ready, okay? I will be waiting outside."

As the monarch stepped out of her sister's room, she sighed, crossing her arms. She wasn't entirely comfortable with her emotions showing like that, without her filtering them, but it was true that she was excited to know Astro more, see how much they had in common, learn from each other what they didn't.

Yes, she had hope.

.

Steam came out from behind the door as it opened, having been trapped behind it for a long while. The ravenette had managed to take a bath, and Gerda stared with her mouth as wide as her eyes at the hot air emerging from the bathroom.

"Sorry." Astro said, despites her proud, standoffish attitude. "I like to boil the water I bathe in."

The maid slowly closed her mouth. The more she interacted with Astro, the more this felt like a fever dream. Everytime she thought she understood that woman, she became more confused right after.

Just then, a screaming snowman ran towards them, not really paying attention to where he was going. Surprisingly and with astounding reflexes, the foreigner stood in front of the servant to protect her from the collision, and caught Olaf just in time.

"Astro!" The latter quickly said. "Perfect timing! I need you to use your powers!"

"What?" Astro seemed pretty dumbfounded. Did that snowman have a death wish or something?

"Samantha is cold!" He exclaimed, showing off the egg he was holding. "I need you to warm her up so she doesn't die!"

Confused as she was, the ravenette thought it was quite tender that the snowman cared so much about a literal egg, like a child. She slowly brought her hands around Samantha, and warmth began to be emitted, forming some sort of halo around it, like a portable incubator, serving the same function as the cloud that kept Olaf from melting.

"Samantha will be okay." Said Astro, looking very serious.

Olaf found it funny the way the fire user pronounced the name with her unique accent.

On the other hand, Gerda felt it was... Endearing? To see that big, tough woman aid the snowman in something so apparently meaningless, yet she had been able to see how much that mattered to him.

"Thank you! You will officially be Samantha's godmother now!" And before Astro could answer he was already walking away, rambling at the egg about how amazing Summer was.

Both woman were left standing, each perplexed for different reasons.

.

It was a nice, sunny day, with a gentle breeze that slowly pushed clouds over Arendelle. Anna and Elsa had taken Astro on a walk, showing her around the kingdom, every remarkable place, formally introducing her to some people...

The foreigner knew they were still quite wary of her. The ways they stared told her everything she needed to know about their thoughts on her.

At least the adults were more discrete than the kids. Some would run away, screaming for their mothers, others would point at her as if they were seeing an exotic animal.

Yes, she was big, eerie, wore strange clothes and was covered in scars. The way she seemed unfazed clearly showed that she was used to be treated like a freak. If they were scared of her, at least they would mind their distance.

"It's okay, Astro." Elsa said. "People usually have trouble adjusting to that which they don't understand. I'm sure they will get used to you in no time."

"Yeah!" Anna beamed. "Everyone loves Elsa and her magic, so I'm sure they will get to like you as well!"

Astro looked down, then forward. "Maybe if my skin was nice and dainty, and I was pretty like the two of you." She didn't seem self-pitying, speaking matter-of-factly with a leveled tone of voice, like when someone noted how the sky was blue and the grass was green.

That made the queen and princess look at their guest with wide eyes and mixed feelings. Astro had both complimented them and degraded herself in the same sentence, and all so casually.

"I don't mind it." Astro added. "I'm used to it."

Before anyone could say anything else, Kristoff walked to them with a big smile, followed by Sven.

"Showing the new girl around?" He asked.

"You bet we are!" Anna said before hugging him and kissing him in the lips.

"Good morning." Elsa greeted with a calm smile.

Astro walked to the reindeer, who seemed a bit intimidated. She slowly reached out for him to smell her, then scratched between his horns. Sven seemed to like that.

"Astro has very good hands~" Mouthed Kristoff in a lower voice. "Really, buddy?" He then asked in his own. "It's not often that you get a woman to pet you."

The queen watched happily as Astro seemed to be getting along with Sven. Maybe what the foreigner lacked in social skills was balanced by how she seemed to connect with animals.

"You are a loyal reindeer aren't you." Astro whispered. "Kristoff is lucky to have you."

Sven made a happy noise.

"You're welcome." Astro let go of him and returned to Elsa's side, whose smile widdened the slightest bit.

After a quick goodbye, the blond and the reindeer left for their daily tasks, which basically entailed gathering ice and then selling it. Being Anna's boyfriend, Kristoff could have chosen to live like a king, but he loved his job too much to just quit, although he had relaxed significantly.

As they continued to walk, Elsa looked at Astro.

"I don't think scars make people any less pretty." She said, trying to give her guest some self-esteem.

"I know." Replied the ravenette. "I was never pretty."

The monarch's lips pressed into a thin line. She disagreed. Astro had an enigmatic beauty to her features, but she didn't know if saying it out loud would sound weird.

"I think beauty is on the inside." Chirped the ginger. "This morning Olaf told me you had helped him keep his egg warm. That was very pretty of you."

Clearly not used to being complimented, Astro looked away. "I didn't want Samantha to die. He would have gotten very sad."

The two sisters smiled. Turns out, under such a rough exterior, there might be a heart of gold. That was the most beautiful thing in the world: genuine kindness.

"Mama, is that a monster?"

Astro tensed, eyes wide, as she noticed the child pointing at her.

Monster.

Monster.

She knew that word all too well.

"That's rude, Erik." The woman the kid was talking to pulled him out of Astro's way. "Just don't look at her too much, it's not her fault she looks like that."

The sisters realized how their guest had stopped walking.

Monster.

Monster.

The word was deeply ingrained in her brain.

Even in her nightmare, people would chant that around her.

And then she was killed.

"Astro-"

Elsa's voice had no effect in stopping what was going to happen. Fire came from the foreigner's feet, elevating her in the air, her wide, bloodshot eyes focused on the kid.

She looked like she was going to kill him.

As the mother hugged her child and prepared for the worse, Astro flew away and towards the castle.

Anna and Elsa watched as their hearts dropped.

Those hadn't been the eyes of a murderer, but rather, those of a terrified and badly hurt animal.

"She is not a monster." Said the queen, looking at the child with a stern, but calm look. "And if she is, so am I."

Anna remembered Elsa's coronation, how people had called her sister a monster after her powers had been discovered. It still weighed heavily on the paler girl.

"Your grace, you are no monster-" Blurted the woman apologetically. "Erik was just referring to her face, it's a little scary, is all."

"Her face is like this because someone probably hurt her." Said the queen. "Where do you think scars come from? She is no monster. She is a survivor."

Even the kid seemed to understand. He remembered how he had fallen last year and scraped his knee. There was now a small scar on it.

"Do you think she cried when she got hurt? Like I did when I fell?" Erik asked as he looked up at his mom.

The woman was at a loss for words.

At least they now understood.