Elsa was quiet for a long time after his revelation, attempting to collect the warring thoughts and feelings that had erupted at the knowledge that there likely wasn't a definitive, though unknown, end date to the time they would have together. By now, the fear that accompanied any hope and joy she might feel at any new possibility didn't surprise her - she'd simply learned to accept that surrounding herself with walls would always be much more comfortable to her than partaking in any sort of freedom. It was an odd, sad truth, but she saw no point in fighting it.
What did surprise her, though, was the level of overwhelming uncertainty that had begun to consume her. It wasn't the type that reared its head during council meetings, when a complex situation reminded her just how young and inexperienced she was. No, this was the kind that held an open sort of possibilty; the potential for something to turn out better than she'd ever imagined. She recognized it, because it was the same feeling that overcame her just a few weeks after her coronation, when her subjects had gathered in the courtyard to see the first (voluntary) public demonstration of her abilities: the feeling of being entirely too full of excited, confused anticipation to focus entirely on the details. Like being carried away by the wind, but too caught up in the ride to wonder if you were getting too close to the sun.
Suddenly realizing that she was squeezing what was left of her sandwich into oblivion, Elsa put it down beside her, resting her hands gently on her lap as she figured out what to do from here.
"There is no 'us,'" she finally repeated, slowly lifting her gaze to match his once again, "and to say that my life in Arendelle would make it difficult for that to change would be an understatement. But I cannot-" She squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a moment, remembering her dinner with Anna and Isaac, and just how incomprehensible it had been for her sister to understand why anyone would focus on the life they'd left when they had one that needed living right here. It had seem shortsighted, then. But now... Oh, she was quite the hypocrite, wasn't she?
"I cannot go on pretending that what I feel for you is mere friendship. It's not." She smiled at him sheepishly, feeling like a child. "But besides that, I...I don't know what I can give you."