(/having purposely paced herself ahead of him, she hides in the branches of the trees. a pile of snow in her arms and a bit more upon the green pine foliage she watches him. when he comes close to her tree, she begins to gently sprinkle snow upon the ground to give the illusion of it to be snowing but only around him. he likes the snow, she remembers that much and so she waits to see how long it would take for him to notice an anomaly and glance up to see her. he remembers her – she believes it)
(. there is the whisper of wind through trees that are covered with snow blankets, certainly cold to the touch but enough to warm his heart. the purity of something untouched and whole instills a sense of peace somewhere in the pockets of his ribs, it is quiet and he is quiet with it just to take in the scene. the flapping of a winter bird’s wings shakes a pine’s branches, snow falls slowly from its perch and his lips turn up in the slightest. the chill of winter’s touch has surely settled in his bones, but he still wears nothing more than his sweater. winter was always his favourite season.
and it’s because of moments like this, where the snow drifts slowly down from someplace up above — catching on his nose and making him close his eyes; he stops, he waits for it to touch him and freeze the parts of him that cause unrest. it takes him half a moment to realize though, that this scene is strange — only just around him are the snowflakes falling from up above and gifting him with the beauty only winter can. his brow furrows a bit in his confusion, but he looks upward — to see a familiar face; a face not seen in the longest of years.
“ mai …” (. it is the whisper that rides on sleighs that reaches her and it’s disbelief — but he knows the truth of this situation. it would be unlike him not to; she is really here and he can feel a christmas miracle warming the cold set in his bones as if he were in front of a blazing fire. he smiles, and the feeling in his heart turns to molten chocolate. he reaches out a hand for her to take [ so he can pull her down and catch her as she falls ]; his fingers are a bitter cold but he has the warmest heart. there is nothing more he wants than to just hold her close. *) “ i’ve been waiting for you to come back home.”
