A Snow Queen's Tale- a Frozen Fanfiction

Chapter 25: Broken Snow Hare

🌨Elsa's Pov🌨
For me, it felt like time had stopped. I picked up the two pieces of the plate and thought about how it had looked just seconds before. The snow hare had been hopping without a care in the world, and now he was split in half. How had things gone so wrong so fast? The plate was ruined, and it could never be fixed.
Or could it? Could my magic solve this problem? If only I could freeze the pieces back together . . . I tried to use my magic, imagining ice that would connect the two broken sides. But it was as difficult as if I'd never had magic in the first place. Was my power as broken as the plate?
As I stared at the broken plate in my hands, I felt a warm stream of tears pouring down my face. Anna, who noticed I had been crying, wrapped her arms around me and said, "It's okay. It's going to be okay."
Ignoring Anna's words, I shook myself free of my sister's embrace and burst out of the fort. Anna meant well, but she didn't understand. The plates were part of the kingdom's history, of the knowledge I was supposed to gain to become queen. How would I ever explain this to my parents?
I wiped away my tears, a look of determination coming over my features. I would have to face the consequences. The sooner I admitted my mistake, the better.
Somehow, I pulled myself together. I changed out of my nightgown and went down the stairs and into the garden. I would own up to what I had done and accept any punishment. I would be as cold as ice.
But my courage melted away as soon as I stepped outside and saw my parents sitting in the shade of an elm tree. "Oh, Mama," I cried, running toward her. "I am so sorry!" I crumpled to the ground by mother.
Anna was right behind me, and she explained what happened. "Elsa borrowed the special plates for a tea party. And then we had a snowball fight . . . and one of them got broken."
      Father's eyes grew wide. "A snowball fight?" he asked.
"I started it with my magic," I said. "It's all my fault! I borrowed the plates, I made the snowballs, and I ruined the snow hare." I still had the pieces of the plate in my hand, and I put them together to show my parents. "He'll never be the same again."
Mother pulled both of us into her lap. "Shhh...shhh." She soothed me, stroking my hair. "Everything will be all right."
"But it won't!" I wailed. "A little piece of the kingdom has been broken. By someone who is supposed to be the queen!" That was the worst part of it all. How could I be entrusted with such a huge responsibility when I couldn't even take care of a plate? Maybe I would never be ready to rule a kingdom.
      Mother turned my face toward her and wiped away my tears. "It will be many years before you are expected to take the throne," she reassured me. "Nobody expects you to be perfect now. You are only learning. And one of the ways we learn is by making mistakes."
      I sniffled. I did not like making mistakes, and no matter what mother said, I knew this was a big one. I took a deep breath.
      "But now no one will know the legend of the snow hare," I said. I swallowed hard and willed myself not to cry anymore.
"Only the plate is broken,"father reassured me. "Not the story! The legend is much more important than the plate itself. And it will live in Arendelle forever."
From the other side of the queen's lap, Anna piped up. "What's the legend of the snow hare?"
Mother leaned back and paused, as if summoning a precious memory. "The snow hare lives in the woods and field of Arendelle, blending in with his surroundings all winter long," she said.
      "And he is magic?" Anna asked.
      I smiled, though my eyes still felt a little puffy. Of course Anna wanted to know about the magic.
"Some say," added father, "that the snow hare can bring a person good luck for a lifetime."
Anna's eyes widened. "How does he do that?" she asked.
"All you have to do is hold the snow hare in your arms," mama explained. "But that is easier said than done, because he is almost impossible to catch. He lives in the open, so people may spot him in the woods or fields in summertime. He may even come close, daring us to catch him. In the end, though, the snow hare darts away. He always manages to keep his good luck to himself."
"That's no fair," Anna said. "The snow hare should share his magic with everyone.
But I saw the story differently. Magic could work wonders, but I knew why the snow hare would guard his carefully. Because magic could also be too powerful to control. And when it slipped out of your hands, it could even be a little dangerous.