Chapter Text
This time, Furina did not wake up with a sore neck despite sleeping on the floor. Her head rested comfortably on Neuvillette's chest, who was still sound asleep. After their hot chocolates and blankets, she and Neuvillette both fell dead asleep in front of the fireplace. She got up as quietly as she could, added another log into the fire, and got up to find Mother Adelinde in the kitchen, who was making quite a racket with some pots and pans.
“Good morning,” greeted Furina.
“Good morning,” Mother Adelinde replied. “Could you help an old woman out here? These bones aren't what they used to be.”
Furina and Mother Adelinde made pancakes and scrambled eggs. She checked on Neuvillette, who was still sleeping peacefully in the living room.
“Your dragon friend there,” Mother Adelinde began as she waited for the eggs to cook, “he’s not very discreet, at least to me.” Furina gave her a questioning look. “Dragons have long been revered and feared in equal measure. There's many children's stories and folktales about dragons, inspiring fear or awe. But I'm a very old woman, and I've seen your dragon several times before. A glimpse of him when I was just a child, his shadow on the field when I was your age, and if I listened closely at night, a roar that chilled me to my old and creaking bones. Even my mother's mother whispered stories to me of a beautiful dragon that lived in the highest of mountains when I was just a girl. But all this time, fear has kept us away. And it goes both ways. But really, just what is there to fear? Some silly old rumors from generations ago. The possibility that we could kill each other if we crossed paths? That may very well be. But there is also the possibility that we could help each other. The world is different now. Some people cling to old fears, others don’t. But many are just curious and cautious, waiting for what the other will do first.
“Ha, you must excuse an old, senile lady’s ramblings.” She coughed into her sleeve and flipped the egg in the pan.
Furina pondered her words as she broke another egg into the pancake mixture.
After the food was ready, Furina woke Neuvillette and the three of them ate breakfast together. Furina spoke of their journey in the mountains, of activating the monuments to protect the people of the mountains. Mother Adelinde listened attentively, and Neuvillette stared at Furina recounting their story in between bites of pancake.
After breakfast, the three of them emerged from the house. Some villagers had already started to clear away snow from the streets and roofs of houses, but when they heard the creak of the door opening, they paused their work to stare and gawk at them.
“Everybody,” Mother Adelinde raised her voice so that the whole village could hear, “Our heroes of the mountain have saved us and our hunters from the blizzard!”
The villagers were silent. Neuvillette and Furina stood awkwardly side by side and hand in hand. Then, a small voice pipes up, “Can you really turn into a dragon?” and a father's voice chided him for asking such a thing.
To Furina's surprise, Neuvillette let's go of her hand and steps forward. Again, a curtain of water envelops him, transforming him back into a dragon. The villagers gasp, afraid of what he might do next. And then, he just swiped the snow off of Mother's Adelinde’s house, sending a wave of snow down to the ground.
Neuvillette helps the villagers clean up their village, and Furina closely watches to make sure the villagers don't try anything. A few brave children ask if they can touch him, and Furina looks to Neuvillette for his answer. He kneels down and allows them to gently touch his face. Some braver adults come up to express their gratitude, the baker even giving loaves of bread.
“My son, Pierre, he's a hard-headed one,” he said, rubbing his chin, “Don't worry, I'll straighten him out.” Furina didn’t really know how to respond to that, and the baker belly-laughed and sauntered back to his bakery.
After the work cleaning the village is done, nobody remembers who threw the first snowball. Nevertheless, the children and the knights are caught up in a snowball fight, dodging and laughing as snow pelts their friends in the back. The children dive behind Neuvillette’s large body, and Neuvillette even swipes his tail at the ground, sending a pile of snow up into the air.
After a few hours, Furina goes back inside to warm up by the fire. As she sits, she unpins the gold Fontaine pin on her cloak, rubbing her thumb over the insignia.
Are you proud of me, Master Egeria? I've finally found something to protect, a reason to fight.
The door creaks open. “Furina?” She turns to see Neuvillette closing the door behind him.
“Oh, I just wanted to warm up a little.”
“I see,” he responds, and sits next to her.
They sit for a while in a comfortable silence, enjoying the fire and each other's presence.
“Thank you for helping me,” Furina says, “I don't know what I would have done without you.”
“Of course I would have helped you.” He turns his beautiful eyes towards hers. “You saved me first.”
Furina is brought back to the day they first met. In the whirlwind of the past few days, she had totally forgotten of their first meeting there in the clearing. Her impulsive act of kindness of protecting him had been the catalyst of their adventure.
Furina reached out and hugged him, her hands around his neck. Neuvillette hugged her back.
“Maybe I'll visit you in the summer, when there are no snow storms approaching,” she said with a laugh.
“Or I can visit you in the city,” Neuvillette suggested. “See a play, or see you in a play.”
“You really want to visit the city?” Furina asked, overjoyed by his offer. “If you do, I must show you all my favorite restaurants and patisseries! Oh, and we also should see some plays while you’re there. There is this new opera that opens next month I believe, it’s about–”
Furina chatted excitedly about all the things she wanted Neuvillette to see in Fontaine. He gazed at her fondly as she did.
They sat by the fire and talked about whatever came to mind: stories from the mountain, folktales, Fontaine’s history, recipes for macarons. They didn’t mind the topic as long as they could stay by each other’s side for just a little longer, keeping warm all the while.