Her breath fogged up the icy carriage window as she watched her hometown slip farther and farther away.

It had been a little over a year since she had been coronated, and the young queen had been working nonstop. Papers, the queen thought to herself. I have to get through the papers. The ruler could usually be found tense, signing document after document, and attending dozens of meetings with foreign delegates who she would most likely never meet again. Her sister was constantly going on about how she was working too hard, and that she deserved a much-needed break.

"There's still so much to be done, Anna," the ruler sighed, shuffling the various contracts and letters on her polished, oak desk. This was only partially true. The queen was always at least five steps ahead of her schedule, but with her sister's upcoming wedding, there was still some planning to be done.

"Elsa, you need to get some rest. The wedding is not until the spring-"

"That's only three months-

"So take a couple weeks off-"

"A couple of weeks? Oh no," she muttered, "I couldn't possibly. No." Seeing her younger sister's hopeful look, she repeated herself. "No, Anna. No, I- no. There's so much to be done, and such little time…" Elsa wrung her hands, as she always did when she was upset.

Her sister laughed, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Honestly, I'm the one getting married. I should be the one who is stressed out. You need a break, Elsa." Before her older sister could sigh, Anna hugged her snugly around the neck. "Don't worry, Elsa. I'll setup everything."

Five days later, Elsa was promptly suffocated with a quick, tight hug, shoved into a carriage by her much eager sister, and bid farewell as the horses started to trot, and the carriage slowly began to make its way to its mystery destination.

Elsa leaned out the carriage window and raised her voice. "Anna! Where are you sending me?"

"Don't worry! You'll be fine!"

"Anna!"

The queen's sister was now jogging alongside the carriage. "Some place near France!" she shouted. The carriage wheels clattered loudly against the dusty stone ground, and the horses snorted in sync. "Or was it Switzerland? Hmm…" Seeing her older sister's worry etched on to her face, Anna reassured her. "You'll be fine, Elsa! Everything's been arranged. You'll be safe! Send someone if you need anything! I lov-"

Finally the carriage picked up its pace, send whirls of dust up behind it. Elsa reached a hand out toward Anna, who bounced excitedly in front of the gates waving farewell.

"'Love you too," sighed the young queen, and gazed at her kingdom, which appeared smaller and smaller as the carriage whisked her away.

The trip was seven days long.

Elsa was a week away from Arendelle.

And she had absolutely no idea where she was.

They had arrived to an estate practically drowning in trees on a bright, chilly morning. A pine-lined avenue led the way to a charming stone castle, with tall towers and rose bushes surrounding the entrance.

Perhaps this trip will not be so bad, thought Elsa. The queen stepped gracefully out of the carriage as soon as it came to a halt, and marveled at the beautiful architecture.

"Welcome, Your Majesty," said a kindly voice.

Elsa turned to see an old woman, with laugh lines as numerous as the scales on a fish, and brown eyes as warm and inviting as fresh milk chocolate. She could tell that the aged lady was beautiful in her youth.

"Call me Elsa, please," the queen gave a quick curtsy. "Thank you so much for allowing me to say here, Miss…"

"Agatha," the woman chuckled. "Did your sister really not tell you anything about where you would be staying?" Seeing the young ruler glancing shyly at the ground, Agatha did her best to try and make her feel comfortable. "Don't worry, dear. I promise you'll have a lovely time. There are quite a few activities that can be done on the grounds, so you will have plenty of things to keep you occupied. I'm afraid there are only a few of us here on the estate, but I am having a small ball in a couple days from now, so that is something to look forward to, isn't it-"

Agatha watched Elsa standing by the flowers, nervously wringing her hands. With a small smile, the old lady walked over to the girl, and took the young, cool hands into her own wrinkled ones.

"My dear, I have heard your story, and it seems to me that you have had a rather tough year. Your sister also explained to me- quite thoroughly, in fact- about how hard you work. And if you don't believe a young sibling when she says this, let an old woman tell you. You deserve a little break. You have shown the people of Arendelle that you are fit to rule. Ask them, and they will tell you that you are doing incredibly amazing as a queen. Everything is being taken care of back at your home, and I'm told you are always ahead in your work," the lady finished with a wink. "See these eight weeks here as a time to relax." With that, Agatha began walking through the front doors.

Elsa, who was calmed by the woman's words, immediately tensed and quickly rushed after Agatha as she recalled her revealing the amount of time the ruler would be staying here. "Eight weeks, Agatha?" she practically squeaked.

The lady of the castle only laughed, and looped her arm through Elsa's. "Come along, dear. Let me show you to your rooms."

Finally, when night fell, and the birds ceased to chirp, the few maids, butlers, and Agatha had retired to bed. Elsa however sat at her window dressed in a floor-length nightgown, gazing longingly at the stars. Lazily creating swirls of ice against the window, unable to sleep, the queen decided that some fresh air would be helpful to her buzzing nerves. Grabbing her purple cloak and hastily shoving on a pair of slippers, Elsa quietly made her way out of the castle, which she knew very well now, thanks to a thorough tour with Agatha.

Once outside, Elsa immediately made her way to the nearby wood. Eight weeks without any work? Elsa worried herself with thoughts of everything that could go wrong in Arendelle in her absence. What if Anna doesn't know how to handle something? What if the Prime Minister needs my assistance? In eight weeks, I could finish planning Anna's wedding, or finish all my winter papers, maybe write that letter I was planning to send to the Queen of Corona, the one about business trades-"

Crack. Elsa looked down, and saw that she had stepped on a frozen branch. A moment later, she noticed that she had also made her way on to pond, which was completely frozen as well. The pond was surrounded by ivory bare-branched trees, which seemed to wave back at her as the swayed in the soft wind.

Above her was a bright, full moon. Glistening and round like a new silver coin. How lovely, she thought. How peaceful. She had never really taken the time to appreciate nature. No, there never seemed to be a moment she could spare... She was always sitting at her desk, hunched over stacks and stacks of work that Anna always told her could wait another day. But this pond, practically glowing blue was so beautiful, and and the moon shone so vibrantly. Elsa swayed, and realized how tired she was from all her daily work. Maybe I should return back to the castle now. Maybe get some rest… Elsa was about to turn around and return to her rooms, when she heard another snap.

The young queen looked to see someone across the pond from her, and as she looked closer, she saw that it was a boy.

A barefoot boy.

A boy with a tall, wooden staff, which curled into an unfamiliar shape at the top

A boy with well-worn brown pants, and a deep blue sweater that looked drizzled in frost.

Someone with hair as white as snow, something she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Blue eyes met blue.

A/N: This started out as a prompt from my friend. What do you think? I feel like this has some potential to become a good fic. Should I continue?

edit: please not that the next chapter is much much longer than this one. :) Hope you enjoyed!