Our First Annual New Year's Party

Happy 2017! This year Bell and the nutcracker brothers wanted to do something besides our usual, which is sitting around, emitting a small "woo-hoo" when She's alarm clock flipped to midnight, and going to bed like nothing had changed. This year they wanted to have a New Year's bash, and it was my job to go around and see what everyone was doing before the party and writing about it on my blog. (Note: This is not an actual job. I just wanted to see what was going on myself.) So, equipped with a voice recorder and a bundle of question, I set off to see what my friends were doing on New Year's Eve night.

***

The first stop was Anna, Olaf, and Idina's corner.

Elsa (Me): Hey guys. I'm going around to see what everyone's doing before our New Years party. And I thought this would be a good first stop because I wanted to know what all of this was about. *gestures to the pile of fluff under Olaf's arm*
Anna: Hey, Elsa. I'm teaching Olaf and Idina how to build a snowman. I thought it would be a fun New Year's Eve activity.
Me: It is- but a snowman out of cotton balls? You know that I can make actual snow and ice, right?
Olaf: But Anna hasn't seen you do it yet.
Anna: And if you make a snowman for us, there's no guarantee that it won't come to life, Elsa!
Idina: Yes. No offense, Olav, but ve don't need any more snowmen in dis house.
Olaf: Aw, why not?
Idina: Because dere is only one snowman for me.
Me: Aw, you guys are too sweet. *turns to Anna* Will I see you guys at our New Year's bash Bell and the nutcrackers have planned for tonight?
Anna: I wasn't really aware that there was going to be a New Year's bash.
Me: No, it will be our first ever... so I guess you can call it new news. But hopefully we will have more of these in the future.
Olaf: What will we be doing at the party?
Me: I don't know. It will probably be a lot quieter than the humans' for sure.
Idina: Dat is good to know. I don't like noise.
Anna: I wouldn't worry about that, Idina. What I would worry about is fixing our snowman's scarf!
Me: *checks She's alarm clock behind me* I guess I better go see what the others are doing before we ring in the new year. We've only got a few hours before midnight. Your snowman looks adorable, by the way.
Olaf: *waves as I walk away* Bye, Elsa! See you tonight!

Me: *now on She's bed* Loki? Magneto? What are you two doing up here?
Magneto: Loki wanted to hang She's calendar for her.
Me: *teasing* Really? Because I remember a certain someone saying that we'd blow our cover if we interfered too much in the humans' lives.
Loki: But this is important. She needs to have a calendar for 2017.
Magneto: We found it downstairs. We're pretty sure it was purchased for She beforehand.
Me: Another Avengers calendar? Didn't She already have one of those for last... er... this year?
Loki: Yes, but that one had the live action characters from Age of Ultron. This one has the originally drawn characters instead.
Me: Right. Total difference.
Magneto: It's upsetting to see that I don't appear anywhere in the calendar pictures.
Loki: You're X-Men, that's why. And neither do I, but no matter. I still think it's a nice idea to put up She's calendar for her.
Magneto: *sighs* He insisted.
Me: Um, do you want some help with that? I am taller than either of you, so maybe I could reach that hook on the wall.
Loki: *acting all protective of the calendar* No, no, we can do it.
Me: Uh... okay. Good luck to the both of you. *leaves the bed*

Me: *to Benny and Napoleon* How are the preparations coming for the New Year's bash?
Benny: *grumbling* Fairly well... until now.
Napoleon: We're trying to think of a what to do with the New Year's ball.
Me: You actually found a ball? Like, the ones the humans see on TV?
Napoleon: Yes, we found quite a suitable replica in one of the coffee table drawers downstairs. It's got flat sides like a prism and there's something inside that's supposed to flash different colors.
Me: That sounds perfect. Does it work?
Benny: It does. We've already tried it.
Me: Then what's wrong?
Benny: We're not sure where to put it.
Napoleon: We've already been told to wrap this string around it and tape the end to the ball, but once we've done that, we don't know where Bell wants it. She's running the whole gig, but she never gave us directions on what to do with the ball afterwards.
Me: Anything I can do?
Napoleon: No, no. We wouldn't want to bother you. You look busy.
Me: Oh, please. I'm just interviewing everyone for my blog. I have time.
Benny: Could you go find Nessa and Elphaba for us? The two of them are working on decorations also. Maybe they've got an idea.
Me: Sure thing. I'll see what they think. *goes off to find Nessa and Elphie*

Me: Those are some lovely purple lights you have there, Nessa.
Nessa: I thought so, too! That's why I came up with the idea of using them for our New Year's bash. The box said they were purple but they look sort of pink to me... *frowns* Whatever, they're purple, because the box is always right. Of course, I may be strong, but I couldn't carry the box all by myself. Elphie had to help me.
Me: Speaking of which, where exactly is Elphaba?
*a hand bursts out from the bundle of lights, and a groan follows*
Elphaba: Here.
Me: Nessa buried you in the lights?
Nessa: Not intentionally! They just kind of fell on her.
Me: Right. *helps Elphie out* Any other plans besides decorating?
Elphie: Not really. We have all these glittery things that Nessa liked but nothing to do with them.
Me: These look like costume necklaces. Maybe if the larger dolls wrapped them around their necks three times, they could work for doll necklaces.
Elphie: Hey, great idea! Bell said that she had one of her own ideas for them earlier, but we haven't seen her yet.
Me: As far as we know, she might be stuck under another pile of lights.
Nessa: *pouting, with her hands on her hips* It was an accident!
Me: Maybe I could go find Bell for you and bring her here.
Elphie: That would be great, Elsa. In the meantime Nessa and I can try to untangle these lights.
Nessa: Ooh, maybe I should follow Elsa-
Elphie *pulling her back* Nope. You're staying here.
Nessa: Aw, man.
Me: Don't worry, I'll be back. But before I go, Benny and Napoleon said they weren't sure were to put the New Year's ball. Do you know anything about that?
Elphie: *looks up from sorting the lights, waving a hand at the windowsill* Just tell them to hang it up by the left curtain over there, the one closest to the lamp. That's where everything else will be.
Me: Great. Thanks. *visits the nutcrackers to tell them the news before going over to Dorothy and Bell's station.*

Dorothy: *muttering to herself and scratching a pen on paper* 

Bell: Could you at least get me some scissors to cut this ribbon? You can be so rude sometimes, Dor.

Me: Hey, what's going on?

Bell: *tugs at her bangs* Dorothy's being mean. Or a little more than mean. Savage, I should say.

Dorothy: *turns up her nose* I'm not savage. I'm trying to be honest, for once, instead of hiding how I feel all the time.

Bell: *sighs* I'm trying to get things ready for the New Year's bash tonight, Elsa. I found this sparkly pink ribbon that I thought we could use on the windowsill, but Dorothy here refuses to help.

Me: Why is that, Dorothy?

Dorothy: I'm writing a list of New Year's resolutions.

Me: What's wrong with that, Bell?

Bell: She's writing a list of New Year's resolutions, alright. But she's making it for me. Because I need to work on improving myself.

Me: What kinds of things has she written?

Bell: *offendedly* Mostly that I talk too much.

Me: I don't think I talk too much...

Bell: See, Dor? Elsa agrees with me.

Me: ...Then again, I'm not around you as much as Dorothy is. Sorry. But you're right too, Bell. That doesn't sound very nice at all.

Dorothy: *quietly* I was just trying to express my feelings.

Me: Well, maybe you could do that in a better, nicer way. Like coming out and speaking to Bell face-to-face about what she might need to change instead of writing a list about it.

Bell: Does that mean I get to do the same thing, too?

Me: Um... I don't really see why not. As long as you girls realize that you've been friends for as long as I've known the both of you, and probably for more time than that. You don't want to damage your friendship by being mean to each-other.

Bell: Elsa's got a point. I'm sorry if I can get annoying at times.

Dorothy: Yes, and I apologize for writing this mean list about you. *tears the paper out of the notebook and rips it up, then goes to hug Bell.* Do you still need help with the decorating?

Bell: I could always use help. Can you go find me some scissors?

Dorothy: Anything for you, Bell. *walks to She's craft drawer*

Me: Oh, and, Bell? I think Elphaba and Nessa might need you for something. Just for a little bit.

Bell: *groans* Okay... *flies away*

With the friendship problem resolved, my last stop was to find Moana. I went looking for her everywhere, until I came to the staircase leading down to the main floor in the humans' house.
Me: Moana? Is that you out there?
Moana: *hiding behind the railing* Yeah, it's me. And Sven. And Pua and HeiHei.
Me: What are you doing by yourself?
Moana: I'm not alone. I have the animals.
Me: *sighs* What are you doing with the animals, then?
Moana: Waiting by the staircase. We're going to see the ball drop on the human's TV from up here.
Me: But we have our own in She's room, and it's a better size. The dolls are setting up for our New Year's bash right now. Why don't you come and join us? You'll get a better view of the ball drop.
Moana: A New Year's bash? I didn't think I was invited.
Me: Why wouldn't you be?
Moana: *grips a banister* I don't know.
Me: Maybe you just have the winter blues.
Moana: That could be it.
Me: In that case, I have just the thing to cheer you up. Come on.

And with that I took Moana into the guest room (since that was closest to were she currently stood) and carefully shut the door. I had just the perfect thing to get Moana in the holiday spirit. This past summer, Dorothy and Bell had gone out to pick flowers, but since it was raining, they were only able to come back with these fake ones. Each green plastic stem had four flowers each, and four different colors of petals: dark purple, purple and white, yellow, and dark orange. I knew I could use these to dress up Moana's hair for the party.
"Hey, what do you have in your hands?" she demanded, once I made her stand on a box so I could get a better view of her head.
"Nothing!" I lied, clasping my hands to my chest to hide my surprise. "Just turn around. Trust me, you'll like it after I'm done."
Moana squinted her eyes, but gave in and faced the bed. I snipped the stems off of my chosen flowers and began lacing them into Moana's curls like a crown.
"So, about your finding day..." I began, biting my lip in concentration.
"My finding day?" Moana asked.
"The day She found you. It doesn't necessarily mean the day you were bought. Yours is December 25th. Unfortunately, you also share finding days with Elphaba and Idina. And I think Nessa, too, but she's mostly decided to have hers on the 24th."
"You can just decide to change finding days like that?"
"Yeah," I giggled lightly. "It's surprising to think just how much we can change about ourselves sometimes, even as dolls. But that's what I'm getting at. I wasn't sure if you wanted to keep your finding day how it was with two other people sharing it with you. Olaf, Loki, and I all have our finding days consecutively, but we've been around a little more than two years, so we didn't bother to change that. You can pick a different day if you like, or keep it the same. I was just curious to see what you wanted."
"Um, well..." Moana tugged at a stray hair, and I brushed it back with my hand. "I never really thought about that. But if I had to pick a different day-"
"You don't have to. It was only a suggestion."
"No, I want to. How about... January first?"
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Nessa told me that my mere existence brought a new kind of princess to Disney, and you've taught me something new. that I actually like writing, so a new year makes just as much sense as everything else."
"I think that's a wonderful idea," I cooed. "I was thinking of something similar to that, actually."
"It was meant to be, then. My finding day is January first from now on."
"We can tell everyone when we get to the party. And speaking of party, we can go now. You're finished."

I sighed happily at my work, marveling at how nice the oranges and yellows worked with Moana's dark hair, and the small parts of the stems I had on the flowers stuck nicely, but wouldn't tangle.
"I'm finished?"
"Yep. You can turn around now. I have a mirror so you can see my surprise for you."
Moana cautiously spun around to face me again, and her eyes met with herself in the mirror I was holding, and when they did, she smiled.
"You look gorgeous. Seriously, I'm getting jealous."
"It's wonderful," she commented. "Just like the flower crowns on Motunui."

Since the blue in Moana's necklace didn't match the oranges and yellows of her new look, she made sure it was put safely away before we showed up at the party. I wish I had the ability to see her movie so I could learn why she is so protective of it, but I kept those thoughts in my head. We all have our secrets, and I thought it would be too bold if I asked. 

"Here we are." I said, pushing She's door open soundlessly and letting Moana lead the way inside the Room She Lives In. I was very certain that's where our New Year's bash would be, but since the air was dead silent as soon as I entered, I was starting to have doubts. Unless... with my height I was able to peek around the corner of She's bed. I saw Anna, who stood in the center of the group, and she pressed a finger to her lips in a signal to be quiet. I nodded and jumped down again, telling Moana it was nothing to worry about.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, pacing around slowly.

"We're probably the first ones to arrive," I lied. "Give them time. How about we go over here and wait for them?"

I directed Moana to the foot of She's bed, then nudged her forward for encouragement. She took a breath inwards, pushed in a flower, and stepped forward out of her hiding place to face the crowd.

"Happy New Year!" Everyone hollered. The entire group was waiting for the opportune moment to shout their welcome to us, just as I had suspected. Anna waved our way, with Sven, Magneto, Idina, Olaf, Nessa, Elphaba, Benny, Napoleon, Loki, Steve, Toto, Dorothy and Bell surrounding her. Moana's lips broke into a smile and she ran forward, bathing in the jubilee of the other dolls. I took first to Steve and Anna, and prepared She's camera to take a lot of pictures. I wanted to capture every moment of this fantastic night.

After we were fully immersed in the party, I was able to drink in the chosen decorations. The floor under She's window had been covered in a soft purple blanket to simulate a different-colored carpet, and Bell had used the glittery pink ribbon to drape up and down the windowsill. Of course, tiny bell ornaments had been placed in each trough to ring in the new year.

Our doll-sized New Year's ball had been hung just where Elphie said it should be, and the tape actually worked pretty well to keep the string attached. I couldn't wait to see it light up later that night!

My favorite part was probably the snack station. Bell had been able to fly downstairs and get some chocolate sea salt caramels and popcorn as human food, and the nutcrackers used doll foods like cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and tea sandwiches for other goodies. The usual porcelain tea set was filled with raspberry lime sparkling water to give it an extra New Year's flair. Our Christmas tree had been brought down to the floor to tie everything together.

Immediately Napoleon started offering me something from the platter of treats that had been prepared. They were even sprayed each with a scented perfume to make it smell like vanilla or chocolate. It was very thoughtful on the dolls' parts since our real human food was limited.

I was happy to see that Moana was already receiving compliments on her hair, mostly from Idina, who had changed her own hair that night by sporting a doll-sized purple gift bow.

Nessa was spending her New Year's Eve night with her two favorite things: Loki and chocolate.

Our Cap's shield, Liberty, was given a bright red gift bow to replace the white center star for decoration. I try to cover a laugh with a cough as Steve unhappily shows me what Bell had done to his precious Liberty.

Pua and HeiHei had run off to have a play date with Toto and Dorothy as soon as the party began. Dorothy didn't mind, seeing as now she had even more animal friends to play with.

Benny and Bell spent their time making sure our New Year's ball was set just perfect. Here, Benny directs Bell on where to fly with the ball since her eyesight isn't that great. (Yes, even Benny was given a gift bow to wear.)

It's a strange sight to see Steve and Magneto having tea (it was actually sparkling water), but it's even a stranger sight to see Magneto relaxing in a tin of putty She had gotten for Christmas!

Unfortunately, Magneto's relaxing session did not last long when he found that he was stuck. Bell, Idina, Benny, Sven, Loki, and Elphaba all had to help pull him out.

Nessa and Elphaba present Anna with a chocolate cupcake, and Anna took their gift happily, seeing that chocolate is her favorite scent.

Loki scolds Sven for trying to eat the small amount of the humans' popcorn we brought upstairs. Sven still hasn't figured out that dolls can't eat.

Olaf likes to admire the beauty of our Christmas tree. I think he's as festive as the tree itself, what with his holiday hat and shiny gold necklace.

Anna and I shared a chocolate sea salt caramel together, sitting side by side with matching necklaces. I was elated to finally have a sister like me to share this new year with.

Nessa watches her crush, Loki, from afar as he talks with Magneto. Elphaba comes up and interrupts her daydreaming a second later and says,
"Are you going to do it this year?"
"Maybe," Nessa replies wistfully. "But I don't know if he wants to kiss me at midnight."
"It's worth a try. Just ask him when the time comes."
"You're right. I've just got to ask him."
"That's the spirit. Hey, Idina said she'd finally join in on a game of Truth or Dare. Want to come see?"
"Yeah, I'll go. It'll help pass the time until midnight."
As I watched the girls leave, I laughed to myself, internally wishing Nessa the best of luck if she was actually going to kiss Loki at midnight. We'd have to see when the time came.

And speaking of "when the time came"... things went along normally like that for a while, with some dolls playing Truth or Dare, others sharing their New Year's wishes and resolutions, and even some still talked and pretended to eat. But then we heard Napoleon shout, "Three minutes to midnight!" Every doll stopped immediately and followed Benny's arm as he pointed to the New Year's ball. "Ready the ball drop!" he commanded.
Bell, who had flown up to stand by the hanging string, tugged at her bangs in a frustrated way. "Funny story, actually. I'm not sure how we're going to get the ball to drop at all. I know we could just cut the string, but that would mean I'd have to do it since I can fly, and I want to be on the ground watching with everyone else."
That was a good point. Everyone seemed to agree that Bell should be able to watch the ball drop, too. But with only three minutes until midnight, we didn't have a lot of time to think of a good plan.

"I can do it," I heard Moana say, as all eyes turned towards her. "My paddle's pointed end has one side that is sharper than the other. If I throw it just right, then it might be able to cut the string and let the ball drop with everyone still able to see it."
"Excellent idea!" Napoleon professed. Moana beamed, pulling her box out from under She's bed and taking up her paddle proudly.
"Ready when the time comes." she affirmed, her right hand pulled back in line with the middle of the pink string.

"It's 11:59." Dorothy's somber voice spoke up.
"Ready, Moana?" Bell asked, flying off the ball and into a circle all the dolls had formed around the drop site.
"Ready." the princess replied.
And so was everyone else. Nessa inched slowly closer to Loki, the nutcrackers watched with their eyes wide, both on the clock and the ball, and I felt Anna grab my right hand and Steve take my left. It was a minute 'till midnight, and already I could feel it was going to be a magical new year.

"12:00 p.m.!" Someone cried. Moana heaved her paddle and it launched into the air, the sharper part running across the thread holding the ball to the windowsill, just as Moana had said it would.

All of us held our breaths as we waited to see if Moana's trick would actually work.

Success! The group cheered as the thread snapped and the sheer plastic ball fell onto the purple carpet below. Benny and Napoleon were right about the glowing thing, and to us it looked just like the ones the humans watch on TV. First, it pulsed blue.

Then it turned pink, although it looks more red in this picture that I took of it.
Once the ball fell, there were hugs and shouts of glee all around. Anna broke away from me to go congratulate Moana, leaving Steve and I to ourselves. The two of us watched as everyone else participated in their New Year's celebrations.

Olaf and Idina were the first victims of the New Year's kiss tradition. Idina was the one who made the move, which took Olaf by surprise.

Bell practically bounced on Dorothy to give her a kiss on the forehead.

"Now's your chance! Go!" Elphaba hissed as she shoved a reluctant Nessa towards Loki, who was conveniently all by himself at the time. We saw her mouth move, tripping over each word, but we unfortunately couldn't hear any of it. When Loki hesitantly nodded, I expected Nessa to get her first kiss, but he just took off his helmet and placed it on her head. It fit surprisingly well, despite the ornament hook on the top her her head.

"What? I thought you were going to kiss him!" Elphie muttered angrily at her new helmet-adorned sister.

"I thought so, too," Nessa said dreamily, her cheeks pink with ecstasy. "But I'll take his helmet over a forced kiss any day."

"Well, Steve," I sighed, tearing my eyes from the two. "Guess that leaves just you and me now."

"I guess it does," Steve agreed, pressing his forehead against mine, so that our noses and eyelashes brushed together. "Happy New Year, Elsa."

I giggled to myself. "You, too, Steve. Aren't you gonna kiss me now? Or at least before it becomes 12:01?"

"I'm considering it." he teased, but when his head titled to one side and his eyelashes fluttered, I knew that he would.

My arm laced under the one he already had around me like instinct, and I geared myself up for some New Years magic as my eyelids closed delicately.

My "wonderful" sister, take that word sarcastically or thankfully, had the tact and grace to cover us with Steve's shield, though I didn't really see the point after we had already gotten couples and kissing on She's camera that night. Oh well. It was more romantic that way anyhow.
After that, it was time for us dolls to get back to our places before our drowsy humans came back upstairs for much-needed rest. I made sure to pull Moana aside during cleanup to pick all the flowers out of her hair and give her necklace back.

"So what did you think of the party? Glad you came?" I asked her.
"Definitely. It was great that I was able to help out, too. I'm the kind of doll that has to be constantly doing something, moving around, or else I tend to isolate myself."
"I know the feeling," I agreed. "And I don't think Bell would have gotten to see the ball drop had you not used your paddle to cut the line."
"Yeah. I didn't think that would actually work, but it did."
"Yep. Okay, you're done. Want me to put the flowers away in your box in case you want to use them later?"
"Here, I can do it. You should get back to the shelf with Anna."
"Thanks. Oh. And, Moana?"
The newbie turned around once more, her hair missing flowers but her eyes still containing holiday cheer. "Yeah?"
"Happy finding day."
She smiled, turning around and jumping off the bed. "I almost forgot. Thank you, Elsa."
Shortly after Moana's flowers and box was put away and all the dolls were back in their proper places, She came upstairs and went right to bed.

But you're probably wondering why I got updates on most of my friends for what they were doing for New Years, but I never mentioned myself. Steve and I have another stargazing session planned tonight by the windowsill when She goes to sleep. It's become sort of a habit with us to do that, but that doesn't make it any less special.

***

All in all, I would say that our first annual New Year's bash was a successful one. Not much went wrong, except the last-minute plan on how to make the ball drop and Magneto getting stuck in the putty tin. But that was partially our own fault anyways. But we were able to fix it, and think that should be the theme of 2017 for all of us. We could make a mistake, small or disastrous, but as long as we commit ourselves to fixing the problem, then even if things are not completely okay, we'll at least know that we did our best. That's my resolution for this upcoming year, but you can use it, (and I'll actually be impressed if you do!) for one of your resolutions. And as long as we keep that in mind, 2017 will not be so bad after all.

Introducing a new sign-out picture,

Queen Elsa

Meeting Moana: Christmas Day 2016

Happy Holidays! We hope yours has been peaceful and full of joy. Up to a point, it had been a pretty standard winter around here. The weather was surprisingly mild, and while She studied for finals (why must they happen every year?!) I continued to work on new things for my blog. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I got back on. And with the ongoing flood of posts been published on this blog, I wanted to keep the ball rolling. Every day I hoped something big would happen, until one day it finally did. And that day was Christmas Day.

***

"Do you think She will get any new dolls this year?" Olaf asked, almost too fast for anyone to understand.

The dolls on She's dresser had been awake since 5:00 am, chattering in hushed voices and silently urging She to come back. Our human hadn't stirred until seven, when her little sister shook her awake and pulled her out of bed, calling her downstairs to the big tree, exaggerating just how many presents were under the tree that year. The older humans followed closely behind, camera in tow and smiles on their faces. It was already a wonderful day, and it was barely sunrise yet. 

But I didn't have the same questions Olaf did. She rarely ever received many dolls compared to other collections that some people have. Besides, we already had Anna for December. I couldn't imagine getting any new additions to the family.

"I don't know, Olaf. We'll have to wait and see." I replied.

That's when I felt a hand tug on my skirt. "Come on, Elsa! Elphaba found a way to get She's iPod to play Christmas music! Come and join us for karaoke on the floor!" Nessa then darted away, leaping to the floor and joining a small circle that surrounded Elphie and the iPod. I thought that was a good idea to pass the time, so I took Anna and Olaf down with me and we whisper-shouted tunes like "Santa Baby" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

And that was pretty much our whole morning while the humans were downstairs, drifting from the party on the floor to talking together on the dresser. I hadn't really expected anything to happen.

But this morning, Nessa was restless for some reason. During a break from the singing, she and Elphie came were up on the dresser, not saying much but moving constantly, their attention always on the door, as if they were waiting for something important to arrive.

"Is something wrong, Nessa?" Anna had to ask.

"Something's not right," the ornament muttered. "These are not all of She's presents. We're missing a few more." 

"Well, of course we are. But She's not going to bring them all up right human-sized tree is downstairs, so that's where everything else should be." I replied.

"Downstairs, you say?" said Elphaba, perking up at my words. "I have to agree with my sister. Something is not right about She's presents. We have to go find out, don't we, Nessa?"

Nessarose nearly jumped at the opportunity, and as did I. Since when did Elphie like to leave the Room She Lives In? For as long as I've known her she never really liked to travel far. This had to be something really important for her to react that way. "That's exactly what I was thinking, Elphie! Can we go, Elsa?"
 Anna and I, exchanging glances, only shrugged. They didn't need my permission to explore. And why not let them go downstairs for a little while? They were small and the humans were distracted. And it didn't hurt to take a peek at presents on Christmas Day.
"Go ahead, girls," said Anna, shooing them away with her hands. "Just be back up here before this afternoon, okay?"
"Yay!" Nessa jumped down from the dresser, skirts flying and legs splaying once she hit the ground, but she didn't seem to care about either. "Loki, can we borrow Sven for a few minutes? Or maybe a few hours?"
Elphie climbed down slowly after her, and they boarded Sven, who was just happy to be getting out for a walk. The rest of us left in the Room She Lives In waved goodbye and wished them luck, then Anna and I turned to look at each other and shrugged again. Let Nessa and Elphaba have their fun.

We were content to stay upstairs and hum along to Christmas carols with everyone else. Besides, one of the few presents She had brought up that morning was a container of sea salt chocolate caramels. And we weren't about to pass up the chance to feast on a few of those ourselves.
When the girls left, the rest of us settled into a comfortable routine. The group had dwindled to Olaf, Idina, Steve, Magneto, Anna and I. The nutcracker brothers were guarding their Christmas trees with Dorothy and Bell somewhere downstairs. Someone, I think it was Loki, broke out a pack of cards, and those who weren't interested in the game chatted excitedly about Christmas and waited for Nessa and Elphie to come back- so we could do more of what we were already doing. Sven returned a while later, but he wasn't panicked, so we didn't worry about the state of our friends downstairs. I think he just wanted to see what other kinds of foods we had upstairs.
Suddenly, Nessa burst into the room, making all of us jump.
"Guys-" she was breathless. "We found her. The person we've all been waiting for!" Nessa blew her bangs away from her face.
"Who's her?" Magneto wanted to know, happy to look up from a poor hand of cards.
"She's, uh... she's here outside the... oh forget it! I'll just bring her in!" Nessa stomped out the door again and we heard her little footsteps jog away.
Each of our eyes wandered around the room, connecting with a friend and making sure the other was just as confused.
"Wonder what dat was about." Idina murmured.
"You never can tell with Nessa." I responded, as if that let to any clarification at all. I had to make my face look calm like a good leader would, but I felt my hands start to glow blue with worry.
"You're not nervous, are you, Elsa?" Anna teased beside me.
"Maybe a little. I get fearful really easy," I started to wring my hands to keep the shine away. "What do you think it could be? Nessa said she was the person we'd all been waiting for. But I can't remember looking forward to anyone's arrival. Anyone but you, I mean."
"True," said Anna. "But I think Nessa's just a little confused."
"I hope so. Have you heard anything about a special someone everyone's been waiting for? Any clues from your previous home?"

Anna just shook her head. She didn't know any more than I did. I'm not sure if that made me feel better or just increase my nerves.
What felt like a sudden eternity of waiting, Nessa marched back through the door to She's room, looking very proud of herself.
"Elphie and I found her. Though it was mostly me," then she looked around at our bored expressions. "Do you not who I'm talking about?"
"We would if you would have told us what was going on!" Magneto snapped.
Nessa prepared herself for a rambling moment. "Elphie and I knew something was off about Christmas this year so we both went downstairs to see what was going on and we spied on the humans from the stairs as She was unwrapping presents that were under the tree and then we saw her face light up when she got to one of them that looked really special and She took the paper off completely and then we saw her! The one we've been waiting for!"
"Can you bring her in now?" Steve asked.
"Um, yeah. Yeah. I can get her." Nessa vanished into the hallway for the third round, but this time she actually brought something- or rather someone- back for proof.
"Everyone- meet Moana!" the ornament announced, as a new doll stepped confidently, yet warily, into the room, and stood obliviously right on She's iPod, which we had been using to stream Christmas music. At least Moana wasn't alone. Nessa stood on She's tin of colored pencils, which had actually been a present from earlier that morning.
The first thing I noticed about Moana, that was her name, is how she looked. Moana had a unique appearance to me, especially among all the rest of us, who were mostly blonde and Caucasian. She was shorter than an average Disney store doll, eleven inches if I had to guess, and she was a little stockier, too, but not at all in a bad way. Her skin was a medium tan color and she had dark curly hair that traveled down to her waist and looked soft to the touch. Moana's outfit (which I was later told were called pandana and tapa) consisted of a crimson red tube top with white v-shaped sleeves. Her midriff separated the top from the skirt, which was red and detailed to match, with a printed dry grass overlay. Something I had never seen before, cuffs crafted from feathers and shells, looped themselves around Moana's arms before the bend at her elbow. She was certainly different, but it dawned on me what Nessa had meant by "the one we'd been waiting for".
Moana was the next Disney princess.

Anna took action first and hurried to close the door behind Nessa and the new princess. Steve had known something was going on and appeared somewhat magically at my side for help, had I needed it. But I didn't think I would. Flocks of dolls from all around the room came over, and sat on top of She's bed to get a better view of our friend.
"She's here, she's here!" Nessa squealed, dancing about on She's pencil tin. "Welcome to the ohana, Moana!"
When I chortle, Nessa frowns my way. "What? I love Lilo and Stitch! At least the few parts of it that I've seen when they advertise the DVD... oh whatever. You're no fun."
Moana finished waving at each of us and decided to speak. "Um, hello. My name is Moana of Motunui. Nessarose here told me that most of you may not know who I am?"

"That's correct," said Steve. "Please, tell us who you are."
"I will. I promise. As soon as I figure that out."
"Why do you carry a paddle with you?" Nessa interrupted.
Nessa held up a brown painted oar, something I hadn't even noticed before, was taken into Moana's arms. "I don't know. I came with this in my feature set, and I carry it with me because you never know when you might need it." she replied. She brandished it over a shoulder like a trusty sword.
"But we live no where near the sea."
Moana looked saddened by this news. "We don't?" The paddle sank off her arm and fell to the floor.
"Nope. We're pretty much landlocked as far I know. Sorry." I admitted.
"That's okay, I expected as much." Moana looked over to the far side of the room, towards the only one of She's four walls with a window. Her gaze was both wistful and disappointed and her eyes were met with flat, expansive lands and no large bodies of water in sight.
"Where's your box?" I asked, just out of curiosity.
"I left it downstairs. Your human, She, wanted to open us immediately."
Steve and I exchanged a knowing glance. When we were first found, She left us to fend for ourselves by abandoning us, in box, on her bed. Even Anna, who was a recent addition on December 11th and a rescue doll, hadn't been given that much care.
"Us?" Steve inquired. I had the same question, too. Was Moana not alone?
"Just me and my animal friends," Moana lifted an adorable pink and gray piglet off the ground. "This is Pua,"

Then she pointed to the crazy-eyed rooster who was scratching about on the carpet by her bare feet. "And that's HeiHei," then, noticing our grimaces as HeiHei started pecking at the dresser, Moana quickly rushed out, "Don't worry about him. He's perfectly capable of fending for himself."

"As are you?"
Moana sighed, stroking Pua's bristly head as she spoke. "I try to be. But I made it out of the way of the humans and got myself up here with Nessa's help, so that's a start."
"Just Nessa?" Anna stepped in.
Moana's light brown eyes squinted as she tried to remember. "No. There was someone else there, too."
"Nessa, where's Elphie?" said Steve.
"Elphaba?" Nessa rubbed her neck and looked behind her shoulder, only to see a closed door. "She was right behind Moana and I on the way up the stairs again. But her cape is too long, so she's pretty slow."
"Could she still be out there?" Anna asked.
Nessa's face drained of color. "Uh-oh. I think she is."
"I'll go rescue her!" Moana volunteered, her out-of-the-blue enthusiasm taking me aback. "That's why you always carry a paddle."
Then she fixes me with her eyes, now fierce and ready for action, as if she knew I was the real leader around here, despite not being around for more than a few minutes at most. "Please let me go save her. I might be able to find myself if I do."
"But Moana- you do realize-" I began, but she was already gone with taking anything but yes for an answer. Moana didn't care at all that the humans were able to be heard right outside, she opened She's bedroom door anyways. as us other dolls darted out of the way just in time.

I remembered being that reckless once, and I could still feel the urge to do the same inside me, but I guess since I've grown older, I've learned to ignore those urges. Right now I only had enough energy in me to peer around the corner of the doorframe.
From outside, I could plainly see our damsel in distress. Elphaba appeared to have flung herself into Benny's tree, her ornament string catching on one of the lower branches. From there, she had stopped into her found position, but her ice blue eyes pleaded helplessness in our direction.
Moana  took this as her cue to move. Fearless and careless, or probably both, Moana gripped her paddle and charged forward, her steps trained for silence and stealth on the well-worn carpet as she sneaked past the humans and dove into a convenient shadow under the Christmas tree. She sat there, crouched in darkness with baited breath, and I could almost see various plans flashing by on her determined face. Finally, when she heard a door closed, Moana flashed those of us watching a smile, then crawled out from under the tree and stood so that her head was level with Elphaba's frozen body.
"My name is Moana," I heard the doll whisper to Elphie from her bough. "I'm new here, and I'm also here to rescue you."

Elphaba does not care much for socialization all of the time, but at the moment, she found that being saved was more important than her introvert time. Moana held her paddle outstretched and flat towards Elphie. With the other hand, Moana reached up and loosened the ornament string from the tree. Elphaba fell like a cat onto Moana's paddle, then held fastly to the handle as Moana checked both ways before running back into the room.
Once they were both safely inside and the door was closed again, Moana lowered her paddle to the ground and let Elphie jump off, almost into Nessa's arms as her sister embraced her in one of Nessa's famous warm hugs.
"Elphaba! Thank goodness you're okay!"
"I'm fine. Or I will be when you stop hurting me."
Nessa quickly pulled away. "Oops, sorry," then she looked up at Elphie's hero. "Thank you, Moana."
"You're a true hero." Elphaba added.

Moana looked happily surprised. "I am?" then, she said quietly to herself, "Maybe that's what I am."
But her moment of self-actualization was ruined as the dolls on the bed began jumping off to get the first chance at meeting our heroine.
Lucky Olaf was the first. And of course he had to have a hug. Moana didn't mind at all. In fact, her smile broadened, if that was even possible after the praise she'd received from Nessa and Elphie. After Olaf, some dolls hugged, others just shook her hand and commented on her bravery, but everyone wanted to know everything about her. Nessa was really the only one who knew anything about a new Disney princess movie, also titled Moana, after the main character, who was now a part of our home.
Moana decided the best option would be to wait until She brought her box upstairs, and that why all of our questions would be answered at once. Until then, she sat with us on the floor and told us the Hawaiian versions of our names, or names very close to our own. (For example, Nessarose had to become Rose instead.) I wrote them down here in my notebook, then took a picture for this blog.

Nessa was pleased to know how close her Hawaiian name was to Loki's real one. Steve was less than pleased to know that his name was after a furry green fruit.
It's hard to tell time on Christmas Day, but we know that mid-afternoon, a mostly empty box was delivered to She's room and placed on the bed.
"Perfect!" Moana exclaimed, once She had left again to help prepare for a human party that night. "My box is here! Now all of our questions will be answered!"
She carried Pua and HeiHei over, and was actually the first to arrive over. She held Pua carefully over the box as HeiHei tried fecklessly to crawl inside again and again through a hole in the front.
"What's that for?" I asked once everyone else had formed a circle around the toppled box, pointing to text underneath the hole, "try me".
"Oh yes. I almost forgot to mention that I'm a singing doll."
"Anna and I are, too," I beamed. "Could you show us?"
Moana rolled her eyes, but she didn't mean it in the way Magneto sometimes does. "She owns the soundtrack. Do I have to?"
"Well, no, I guess not, but it would help us learn more about you."
"In that case, I'll do it." Moana's hand moved to the side of her hip and flicked downwards, a familiar gesture for both Anna and I. But instead of being motion-activated by the wave of a human's hand like we were, Moana had to press a flesh-colored button on her left palm to trigger the singing.
Her main song, titled "How Far I'll Go" certainly rang true with warm chords and slight Polynesian flair as Moana told her tale of how much she wanted to see the ocean. And all in a thirty-second soundbite. Her audience loved it so much that we requested to hear it again and then one more time. Nessa vowed to find the Moana movie soundtrack later so we all could listen to it, but Elphie was more hesitant to leave the room again, and rightfully so.
"Let's move on," Moana suggested after her third time. "I barely got to get used to what was in my own box myself!"

Even without the plastic filler piece, everything was organized very neatly inside the teal tattooed box, thanks to She. Moana's feature doll boxed set had come with a red celebration outfit (which she was currently wearing) and arm bands (which she had placed back into the box). Then there was her main outfit in the movie, which featured salmon colors and shiny grass underneath an off-white wraparound skirt and tie belt. Moana said that the blue abalone necklace with the brown cord had a very sentimental meaning in her movie, but seeing as none of us had ever viewed the film, we didn't quite understand. However, there was a life-size version of the necklace, sans the white pearl beads, for humans to wear. But the very elaborate, beautifully painted headdress was my favorite part. It could make any other Disney princess have crown envy. And, of course, there was her loyal paddle and Pua and HeiHei to accompany Moana's set.
After getting to see what was in Moana's box, most everyone's questions had been put to rest. All except one.
"Who is dat?" Idina asked, pointing to a burly Polynesian man on the bottom right corner of her box. "Do you 'ave a boyfriend?"
To our surprise, Moana started laughing. "No, no. That's Maui. He's the demigod that stole the heart of Te Fiti. It's that green stone inside my necklace. We're just friends in the movie. I can't imagine ever falling for someone, but much less him!"
"Oh well," Idina shrugged, feeling disappointed that she didn't yet have Moana figured out. "Ef you insist."
"I think we should bring Dorothy, Bell, Benny, and Napoleon upstairs if we're done with this box," said Loki. "I think they would like to meet our new member of the family."
"I'm family?" Moana whispered, a hand flying to her heart.
"Of course, silly! Why do you think Nessa said 'welcome to the ohana' earlier?" Olaf cried.
"I didn't think you meant it." said Moana with a shrug and a brush of her long black hair.
"Trust me, I meant it," Nessa promised. "But yeah. Let's go fetch everyone else."
"That would be perfect. Then I can get a family picture of all us of around the tree like I wanted."
"Why?"
"My sister Elsa has this blog that keeps people updated with all that happens in our lives. I hope you don't mind that you're going to be a big star, now, Moana."
"A star and a hero all in the same day?" Moana breathed. "I'll take it."
When the humans were distracted, we were able to get Dorothy, Bell, Benny and Napoleon up to She's room to get them introduced to Moana, who later put on her headdress for the picture. Then, after our tree was brought down to the floor for more space, we finally got our family picture. Right now She's collection is at eighteen dolls, counting animals, and fourteen dolls without. Can you believe that?

I liked this photograph so much that I decided to use it as my December header later on. (Though it came a bit late since She was on vacation and I insisted on waiting until after Christmas to make sure we weren't going to be forgetting any new dolls. Luckily, Moana arrived just in time and we didn't.)
Afterwards, it was about time to head back to our regular places. Moana sat herself next her box and waited excitedly until She came back. Once our human came back upstairs, Moana was immediately stood up and was put onto a good spot that was conveniently already empty on She's dresser, between Anna and Idina, with Pua and HeiHei in front of her.

When the humans were having their Christmas party later in the night, I decided that then was the best time to return to my blog and tell everyone about Moana's arrival. Moana, being as curious as I was, came to check on what I was doing and I asked if she wanted to have a go at writing something.
"Me?" Moana asked incredulously.
"Yeah, go ahead. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something you like doing."
"Um... okay."
So she sat down, I gave her the laptop, and she starting typing.

***

Aloha, makamaka! (Hello, friends.) Elsa wanted me to write a few words here, and although I am slow at typing, I think I will get better if I practice. Maybe she was right in saying that this would be something I enjoy. In the meantime, I am settling in nicely and getting to know my new family better each minute. Merry Christmas to everyone!

***

After observing that Moana wrote, I realized that she'd need a sign-out picture like the one I always do. So I snatched up She's camera, commanded "smile" and snapped a photo of Moana that the both of us are very proud of. I will enclose it below to replace my usual sign-out pic. Until next time, this has been a new and wonderful Christmas Day for all of us at A Doll's Life for Me.

Wishing you a happy holiday,

Queen Elsa and Moana of Motunui