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Crystal flakes drift slowly down from the clouds, falling onto the white ocean that spreads out below it. The branches of the trees have icicles replacing their leaves, the light of the day catching off them in different ways causing them to sparkle like there is an ambient magic lingering in the area. Small paths have been dug into the snow from the many footprints that have walked through the park.
Two girls walk together underneath the hanging crystals of ice. The taller of the two of them has long flowing blue hair falling down her back over the top of a warm grey coat. Her green eyes are watching where the two of them are walking, a neutral expression on her face. The shorter of the two has shoulder length brown hair with matching eyes that seem to also be looking ahead, but with the occasional glance to her companion.
“Do you mind if we hold hands, Sayo?” Tsugumi’s fingers nervously tap against each other as she looks to the floor, feeling her cheeks start to tingle a little at her words. “I think it’d be nicer if we did.”
“I um… I don’t mind.” Sayo’s eyes dart around the area as if trying to find something amongst the white of the scenery. “I don’t think anyone’s around to see.”
Tsugumi feels her lips curl into a smile. “Thank you.” She takes a small breath in before reaching her hand towards Sayo, waiting in anticipation for what’s to come. It only takes a second of waiting, but it feels like much longer. However, she soon feels soft fingers intertwining with her own. At just the simple contact, she feels her smile widening. “It’s really beautiful out here, isn’t it.”
“It certainly is for this time of year.” Sayo looks up at the evening sky. “Although, it does feel a little different than usual.”
“What do you mean?” Tsugumi looks over at the other girl, her head tilting slightly.
“Well… there’s something a little nicer about the snow today.” She looks down at the field of white. “It has never felt this…” She halts her walk as she tries to find the right words.
“Pretty?” Tsugumi suggests.
Sayo nods in response. “That’s about right.” She looks over at Tsugumi, meeting the shorter girl’s gaze. “I can’t place what’s actually different though.”
“It does feel a little different.” Tsugumi’s eyes break the eye contact to look around at the snowy planes that surround them. “It feels a little less cold now as well.” As she says this, she feels the source of the warmth in her body coming from the hand that’s holding Sayo’s, the contact of their palms seemingly causing her body to heat up.
“It’s still a little cold though, we should probably continue walking.” Sayo looks ahead of them. “We don’t want to be stuck out here when it gets to night time. It is Christmas Day tomorrow.”
“You’re probably right.” Tsugumi takes a deep breath before the two of them start walking again. “Although I think it would be nice if we got to see the lights while it’s dark outside.”
Sayo looks over at her as they walk. “You think so?”
Tsugumi meets her gaze and nods. “It’s our first Christmas together. I want to make it as memorable as possible.”
“Okay, we can head that way.” She takes her phone out, powering it on for a second before putting it back away. “We’ll have to wait around a little bit though.”
“Thank you.” Tsugumi’s fingers tighten slightly around Sayo’s in an affectionate way as they continue to walk, changing direction slightly towards the centre of the park. “What do you usually do on Christmas?”
“Mostly, it’s just spent at home. Hina and I haven’t really been into Christmas.” Sayo’s head stays looking forward as she answers.
“Ah… then I’ll try and make it the best Christmas you’ve ever had.” Tsugumi looks over at her girlfriend with a determined look on her face.
“You don’t have to.” Sayo meets the other girl’s gaze and they find themselves coming to a stop once more. “I…” Her voice trails off as she sees the look on Tsugumi’s face. “Thank you, Tsugumi.”
The shorter girl squeezes Sayo’s hand again as she catches something above them out of the corner of her eye. She slowly looks up to find that someone has hung some mistletoe from the branch of the tree. Tsugumi feels her cheeks start to burn up and she quickly looks over at Sayo to see that she’s seen it as well. “I um…”
Sayo’s eyes dart around the surrounding area as if checking that no one is around to see them, her cheeks immediately darkening as she does. “Should we…”
“Do you want to…”
“Maybe…”
With every word that leaves the two of their lips, they find themselves moving slightly closer. “I’m going to…” Tsugumi feels her cheeks glowing bright red as she watches Sayo’s eyes close slowly. She takes a deep breath before doing the same and moving slightly closer, pressing their lips together.
As soon as she does, a spark of electricity flows throughout her entire body, causing it to fill with a warm feeling. She feels Sayo’s hand tighten slightly around her own, while her other hand moves to cup Tsugumi’s cheek.
Once they break apart, both girls immediately look around them to double check that no one else is around. A few figures can be seen in the distance, but, as the darkness of night seems to be slowly setting in, it doesn’t seem like anyone has noticed them. Their gazes meet again shortly after and both girls find their cheeks darkening.
“L-Let’s get going.” Sayo looks towards the flashing lights that are ahead of them bringing her hand up to brush a strand of hair from her face, still only a mess of colours at this distance. “We don’t want people to see us standing under the mistletoe.”
“Okay.” Tsugumi nods and starts to rub her thumb against the back of Sayo’s palm as they begin to walk. Her free hand touches her lips, savouring the experience that she just experienced. Does Sayo experience the same feelings that I do when we kiss? She lets her hand fall to her side. Maybe I’m not doing it right and she doesn’t enjoy it as much. I should try and do some resea-
“Tsugumi?” Sayo’s voice interrupts her thoughts and shakes her back to reality. “Are you okay?”
“Of course I am.” She looks over at the blue-haired girl to see that Sayo’s eyes have a hint of worry in them.
“You just looked deep in thought.” Sayo stops walking, placing her free hand back on Tsugumi’s cheek. “If you have something on your mind, I’m always here to help.”
“I…” Tsugumi looks to the side. What do I say?
“You don’t have to.”
“Am I… do you like kissing?” Tsugumi’s eyes dart towards the floor as the words leave her lips, her cheeks numbing at the sound of the words.
“Of course I do.” The hand on Tsugumi’s cheek slides down to the girl’s chin, lifting her gaze to meet Sayo’s. “I… always want to kiss you. I just feel awkward about doing it in public places, especially if we could get recognised.”
As if to emphasise her point, her eyes dart around slightly, before she leans forward and presses her lips briefly against Tsugumi’s. “I… I do love you Tsugumi. Please don’t forget that.”
“Th-Thank you…” Tsugumi’s hand reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small package. “I wanted to wait till we were under the tree… but here’s your Christmas present.”
Sayo takes the small but intricately wrapped item. “Are you sure?”
Tsugumi nods. “It’s not much… but I wanted to get you something.”
Sayo drops the other girl’s hand before slowly undoing the small ribbon that it’s wrapped with. When she finally gets the wrapping paper off, she’s left with a small velvet bag. She reaches inside and takes out a small phone charm, with a keyboard at the end of it.
“It’s not much… but I wanted us to have a matching pair.” Tsugumi takes out her phone and shows off a similar charm attached to her own phone in the shape of a small guitar. “This way we’ll always have something with us to remember each other by.”
Sayo takes out her phone and immediately attaches the new charm to her device. “Thank you, Tsugumi… you clearly put a lot of thought into it.” She holds it up at eye level, watching the metal dance as it hangs. After a few seconds, she lowers it. “Can you close your eyes for a moment.”
Tsugumi’s eyes slowly close and she starts to feel Sayo’s playing with her hair. What is she doing? She focuses on the movement of the hands trying to figure out what’s happening, but to no avail. After a few seconds, she hears a click and the fingers retreat, followed shortly by the sound of a camera.
“You can open your eyes now.”
Tsugumi opens them to see a picture of her on Sayo’s screen. At first, she doesn’t notice anything special, but then she looks to where the other girl’s hands had been just earlier and she sees a small hairpin, decorated with a blue rose. “That’s beautiful.” She reaches up to feel the pin. “Thank you so much.”
“Merry Christmas, Tsugumi.” Without even looking around, Sayo leans forward and presses a kiss to Tsugumi’s lips.
She doesn’t know if it’s the feeling of just been given an amazing gift or just the atmosphere that they’d made for themselves, but Tsugumi finds herself melting away at the simple gesture. The sensations that she’d felt from their kiss before being amplified causing her to forget that they’re in the middle of a park, and that anyone could see them. She can only focus on Sayo and nothing else. Their lips glide over each other, both of them soft, despite the cold of the outside. Their eyes naturally drift shut as they kiss, enhancing the feelings even further.
After they finally break apart, their eyes finally open, both of them staring into each other’s eyes as they slowly regain their lost breath. “I love you Tsugumi.”
“I love you too Sayo.” They connect their lips again briefly before pulling away fully. “Shall we go see the lights now?”
“Yes, let’s.” They take each other by the hand and slowly start to walk towards the giant Christmas tree in the distance.