By the time night arrived, Henry and Elsa sat around a bonfire he made by gathering sticks and flame magic.
While Elsa was staring at the dancing snow she was manipulating to twirl around her hand and fingers, casually playing with her powers without any fear.
On the other hand, Henry also kept himself busy. Writing a letter on a parchment, using a quill and an ink jar he brought with him.
He's currently writing a letter for Ariel. He's not sure if she'll be waiting for him at the beach, since the last time he was there, she wasn't, but he doesn't want to take any chances of misunderstanding.
Beside him, Elsa noticed what he was doing and she couldn't help but pry a little bit, "Can I ask what you're writing?"
"A letter for someone," Henry answered without as much as lifting his head.
Elsa tilted her head, "For who?"
"Ariel."
For some reason, Henry failed to notice a strange glint flashing in her eyes before disappearing, "And…who is this Ariel?"
Henry raised his head and looked straight into her bright blue eyes. Just then he felt a shiver run down his spine, "She's a friend. A mermaid friend who saved my life."
Elsa perked up at those words, this is her first time being outside the castle, not to mention Arendelle. So her curiosity towards the unknown is at its all-time peak.
"Can you tell me more about her?" Elsa eagerly asked, no longer maintaining the cold facade when they first met.
She seemed to realize this when she noticed the funny look on Henry's face. Flustered, she cleared her throat and backed away, straightening her back while pretending she wasn't acting like a stimulated kitten a few seconds ago.
Unfortunately, as much as Henry wants to tease her just to see more of her cute side, he's not that cruel, "I was on a shipwreck. That day, I managed to save everyone but myself. I remember drowning and falling into the depths of the sea, only for a red hair to appear in front of me just as I lost consciousness."
Elsa gasped at the start of the story. Clearly not expecting Henry to bear a tragedy behind him.
So he continued, "When I woke up, I was stranded here in Arendelle. That's when I saw her, she was singing and I was immediately mesmerized by her voice. Since then, we've been seeing each other a lot." Henry didn't want to prolong the story too much by going into teeny tiny details, so he summarized it into a few sentences.
Too bad, since this is Elsa's first time hearing a story after years of being a shut-in. She's hungry for more.
"…Can you tell me more about yourself? What were you doing before the shipwreck?" Elsa was a little bit hesitant, hoping that she was not asking about a sensitive subject about Henry's past.
Unbeknownst to her, Henry was having a dilemma in his mind, 'Should I tell her that I'm actually a prince and not a magician?'
Seeing him silent, Elsa assumed the worst and she bowed her head in apology.
This act made Henry sigh in defeat and came to a decision, 'Fuck it. Trust is all that matters. How would I be able to make her trust me to help her in the future if I don't reveal a little bit of myself?'
"I'm not…actually a magician. At least, not who I truly am." His sudden words caught Elsa's attention back to him again, "I'm a Crown Prince. The heir to the throne of the Lioncrest Kingdom."
As soon as the bomb was dropped, Elsa's mouth gaped open, "You're a prince? An heir?" Obviously, as a princess and the oldest one at that, she's aware of what being an heir meant.
Although she hasn't heard of the Lioncrest Kingdom, definitely due to her years of isolation, she could still understand the gravity of Henry's status.
"Wait. If you're a prince and an heir? Does that mean you won't stay here that long? They should be looking for you by now, right?" Elsa's voice contained a hint of melancholy, hidden but obvious to someone like Henry with a keen sense of reading people.
He shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure yet but knowing my father, he'll definitely find the perpetrators first before sending someone to find me." A confident smile crept up to his face, "Besides, he knows I'm not that easy to take down."
"How about you? Tell me more about you." Unlike Elsa, Henry is actually more eager to ask about her past. He wanted to know what kind of things Elsa had that weren't shown in the film.
Elsa seemed to freeze up from the question, unsure what to reply—eventually she just slightly bowed her head, "I don't think there's anything interesting in my life. When I was a child, when I first awakened these magical powers, Mom thought I was blessed by Ahtohallan, the mother of spirits. That is until I grew careless with them and accidentally hurt my sister, Anna."
Elsa pulled herself closer, hugging her knees as she continued, "Since then, our views changed. We started to see it more as a burden rather than a blessing. And that I'm destined to carry it forever and suffer…"
Henry remained as a listener. Offering neither a hug nor anything else. They're aren't that close for that stage yet, so he could only comfort her through words, "There's nothing in this world that is always set in stone. With enough determination and will, no amount of fate can shackle you. Besides, I don't believe in things like fate or destiny."
Henry raised his head until their eyes met, "So chin up and start seeing your magical powers more positively. Do you know why?"
Elsa shook her head and Henry pointed to himself with a wide and confident grin, "Because I'm here. With me around, you no longer need to see yourself as someone carrying a burden. If you want, I'll carry it with you."
After that, there was silence aside from the constant crackle of the bonfire—Elsa didn't reply to his words nor did Henry press further on the matter. Though deep inside he couldn't help but cringe at what he just said. He never imagined himself saying those kinds of words someday.
Just as Henry resumed writing his letter for Ariel, he heard a soft spoken word from Elsa, "Thanks." before shifting and facing the other way, probably embarrassed.
Henry allowed a warm smile to plaster on his face before focusing back on the letter.
An hour later, Elsa left for a brief moment to sightsee or so she said even though Henry felt like she just wanted to take a leak but was too shy to say it.
Just then, there was a flap of wings from the sky before a dark-feathered owl landed and perched on his left shoulder, it was Too-Too the owl.
"I can't believe I went from managing our finances to delivering letters and messages." The owl grumbled under his breath while presenting his feet towards Henry. Where a small barrel-shaped leather container is attached.
Henry opened the leather container, grabbed the letter inside before replacing it with his own.
"Here, take it to Ariel. Remember, she has red hair, a fish tail, and beautiful." Once everything is settled, Henry reminded the owl.
"Oh please, Henry. You think I can't distinguish beauty? I ALWAYS look at myself in front of the mirror every morning, capisce?" Henry rolled his eyes at those words, "I'm off now."
By the time he soared back to the skies, Elsa trudged back to her place, sitting on the piece of log Henry grabbed earlier to serve as their chair.
"Done sightseeing? " Henry couldn't help but smirk as he asked. The white-haired princess blushed while nodding her head.
"Tomorrow, we'll start with your real training. I'll help you find your Inner Peace." Henry informed her, prompting a curious gaze from the other party.
"Inner Peace? What's that?"
Henry took his time contemplating, rubbing his chin as he tried to find the best words to formulate a proper explanation.
"Think of your mind as a raging sea with heavy weather and constant thunder strikes. Do you think a single boat can survive in it?" She shook her head and he continued, "Exactly, think of that raging sea as your mind and the boat as your control over your powers."
"If you don't calm the sea, your control will continue being a total chaos, and if that boat breaks, so is your control, you will lose control over your magical powers." Henry demonstrated by letting a fireball float at the top of his palm, "By finding and mastering your Inner Peace, you'll unleash the full potential of what you can truly do. Look at this flame. Without Inner Peace, I wouldn't be able to adjust the temperature or make it big or small. Not to mention, I wouldn't be able to cast this as easily as breathing."
By the end of his explanation, the fireball dispersed into tiny motes of flames, still floating and being manipulated by him, "This is what it means to achieve Inner Peace, without it I wouldn't be able to do this kind of thing. It requires extreme focus to do this. And to have extreme focus, you need tranquility in the mind."
The light of the tiny flames casts a shadow over Elsa's face, highlighting her beauty.
Henry cleared his throat and the tiny motes of flames disappeared. Gone for good, "Now do you understand?"
Elsa nodded her head before thinking for a few seconds and then asking, "But I can cast my magical powers just fine. I can also control it to form shapes." To prove it, she even formed countless snow pattern shapes out of her palm.
Henry's lips puckered, yelling in his mind, 'That's because for some reason, you have achieved Absolute Manipulation over the element of ice for god knows how!'
The Lioncrest Prince crossed his arms and replied, "You're right. But do you think forming shapes and patterns is the most powerful thing you can do with your powers? No, it's more than that and whatever it is, I'll be here to help you."
"I see." A look of understanding flickered in Elsa's face and she nodded her head.
"It's time for you to rest now, Princess Elsa. I'll—" Before Henry could finish his words, he was interrupted.
"Elsa. Just call me Elsa. You're a prince, part of the royal family like me. Or do you want me to start calling you Prince Henry?" Elsa covered her mouth with a giggle. Not gonna lie, she kind of liked how it rolls in her tongue.
Henry chuckled, agreeing with her, "Alright, Elsa. Go to sleep and take your most needed beauty rest. You exhausted yourself from releasing earlier. I'll keep watch for the night."
Elsa nodded her head before grabbing the bedroll from her horse, Snow, and properly laying it down on the stony ground, followed by a portable blanket and pillow, Elsa proceeded to lie on it.
Meanwhile, Henry kept himself busy by reading the letter that Too-Too delivered earlier. It was from Polynesia.
It just contains a report of how they distributed their earnings from earlier, Dr. Dolittle accidentally stumbled upon them on their way back to the clinic whereas Polynesia had to explain everything to the old man, and finally, Kristoff got back while crying over a new scratch made on his beloved sled.
'A scratch on his sled? It's not even snowing yet, how the hell did it get a scratch?' Henry chuckled to himself, already imagining what Kristoff must have looked like when he first discovered the scratch.
Even the film shows how much Kristoff cares for his sled, going as far as disrespecting the Kingdom's princess for putting her feet on top of it.
'I should've written to Polynesia too. Too late now, I'll just do it tomorrow.' Henry shook his head and rolled the paper back and hid it in his pocket.
Speaking of tomorrow, Henry is quite excited to see just how far Elsa can go in her magical powers. If she can bring someone to life and create megastructures like in the film all by herself—he's curious what difference it would make if he helped her achieve Inner Peace that will enhance her control over her powers?
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[The semester break is nearing its end and so is the start of the dreaded 2nd sem college. This is what I've been hinting to you guys about on my synopsis where I might shift my publishing schedule to M/W/F if the week gets hectic for me. But not now at least. I'll tell you guys in advance if ever that happens. Just pray for me that I won't be buried with daunting tasks and the professors would be kind this 2026 lol.]
[Oh and before I forget. Since I don't publish on Saturdays and Sundays, you might as well as give your power stones to those who deserve them on those days. There are other works out there that publishes on weekends and they'd appreciate the power stones more!]