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The snowflakes fell like they were dancing across the sky. Weaving this way and that through the air and always swaying with little bobs and dips in their path. Marianne smiled, the small flurry making her feel nostalgic. She remembered making a clumsy snow village in the yard with her mother long ago.
Marianne’s daughter reached out with pudgy, tiny hands, grabbing at the snowflakes, only to be confused and dismayed when they melted in her hand. Lalita looked at her mother with a lost expression in her brown eyes.
“Oh no,” Marianne murmured, still smiling. “It melted! Snow does that, sweetling.”
Lalita opened and closed her little fingers, looking down at her hand then back at her mother. She didn’t understand, but whatever tragedy she had felt at the loss of one snowflake was quickly forgotten as she reached out, trying to catch another.
Marianne sighed happily, cradling her curious little girl in her arms. Ahead, her son cried out-- “Mama look! Look!”
She looked up and saw Etienne had finished stacking large snowballs on top of each other, with Khalid’s help, and the young prince now stood proudly on either side of his snowman.
“Mama come say hi!” Etienne begged eagerly. He was only four and dreadfully excited to see snow for the first time. Lalita would never remember this trip to Fodlan, to visit the friends who had become aunties and uncles to both of Marianne’s children. But Etienne would, of course. He had stars in his big, green eyes.
Marianne heard the familiar crunch of snow compacting beneath her feet with each step. Lalita began to chirp and babble in her arms, still reaching out for dancing snowflakes. As she got closer, she realized that Etienne had given his snowman a special accessory.
“Khalid, why did you give it your scarf?” she asked.
Etienne giggled and Khalid turned to his wife with an apologetic smile. “I think it makes him a rather dashing fellow, don’t you? He’s like a second, smaller me.”
Marianne couldn’t help but smile too, even as she worried that her husband might catch a chill. “Well… I think I prefer the original you.”
Khalid smirked and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I know, I’m much warmer.”
Lalita chirped at him, ”Ah! Aah!”
“Little love doesn’t like to be left out, does she?” he chuckled, bending to kiss his daughter’s forehead. The baby was well bundled in wool wraps and a quilted blanket to keep warm, but he still squeezed a kiss into the small gap between her felted wool bonnet and her tiny eyebrows.
“”Mama, can we take Snow-Papa in for tea?” Etienne asked.
“I’m sorry, darling, but he would melt if we brought him in.”
Etienne gasped, looking at his snow creation and frowning. “Why?”
“Remember how in the summer, we use ice to make the water cooler?” Khalid asked. Etienne thought a moment then nodded his head. “But the ice always melts over time, right? Because the air is warmer. Well… snow is just a lot of teeny tiny pieces of ice. So if you take him inside, where Auntie Hilda has all those lovely fireplaces lit to keep us warm, he will melt.”
“Oh,” Etienne pursed his little lips together, thinking this over. He was such a contemplative boy. He reminded Marianne so much of Khalid, it made her wonder if her husband was like this when he was little. Always asking questions and romping through his own adventures.
“How about we leave him here,” Mariane offered. “And then after tea, you can show him to all your cousins?”
Etienne looked up excitedly. “Yeah! They’ll see he’s a’best snowman!”
Khalid ruffled his son’s thick black hair affectionately. “That he is. Now let’s hurry inside before Uncle Raphael eats all the best tea snacks, hm?”
Etienne squealed excitedly before he bolted, immediately running towards the door. Marianne and Khalid took their time, instead walking. Khalid scooped an arm around his wife’s waist and sighed, glancing down at Lalita, who had gone back to being hypnotized by the snow.
“I wish we did these more often,” he admitted.
“I know,” Marianne murmured. “But its hard to get everyone together at the same time. And its hard for us to get away.”
“Oh, reunions like this are practically diplomatic meetings with Fodlan’s finest. I could convince the council to let us leave more often,” he insisted. Marianne knew that he could, if he wanted to, but Khalid took his role as king far too seriously to disappear for too long. He always felt guilty if he stayed away more than a week, and traveling to and from Fodlan always took at least a fortnight, if not longer.
But it was worth it, to see all their friends again. Hilda and Lorenz had a sprawling mansion that could easily house all of their old classmates plus their children. It hadn’t been since Etienne was born that they’d all been able to gather at the same time. But the stars had aligned this year. Raphael’s inn was doing well enough that he could slip away for a while, bringing Ignatz in tow. Leonie’s traveling had brought her to Alliance territory for the winter. Lysithea’s treatments were concluded and she was much more relaxed now, without any crests to weigh her down.
Next year she wanted to invite them all to Almyra. While some of their friends had already come to visit, not all of them had been able to make the journey yet. With peace now more secure between the nations, though, there were plenty of ferries and ships that traveled between the narrow sea that lie between Fodlan and Almyra. It would be much easier to get everyone over now.
As they approached the glass doors which separated the snowy gardens from the warm manse, Etienne ran by, chasing on the heels of a lavender-haired girl and a red-head, freckled boy. All three of them laughed.
“Think they’re playing tag?” Khalid asked, opening the door for his wife and daughter.
Marianne laughed under her breath. “I think it’s hide-and-seek. Alice is missing, I bet she’s counting somewhere.”
Khalid shook his head and chuckled, beginning to brush some snowflakes from his wife’s hair and shoulders. He tapped his boots on the door steps before closing the doors again, tucking them into the warm inside air.
“We tell them tea is at three, and they start a game at 2:50,” he rolled his eyes in pretend begrudgement at the children. “Rowdy little terrors, aren’t they?”
Marianne propped Lalita up further in her arms. “Not this one,” she mentioned softly. “She’s still just a little angel.”
Lalita, as if she knew her parents were admiring her, let out another chirruping babble.
Khalid grinned ear-to-ear and tapped her tiny nose with his index finger. “That she is~”
“Oh, Khalid--” Ignatz called as he trotted up to them. Marianne smiled warmly in greeting. Their friend looked down and smiled at Lalita as he approached, he was always so consider to greet all the children of their merry lot, especially the babies. “Hello there, little princess,” he cooed.
Lalita babbled back, “Bah!”
“What did you need, Ig?” Khalid asked.
“Well, I wanted to see what you thought about the conservatory for a good backdrop for the portra--” Ignatz began.
But Khalid shushed him with a wave of his hand. “Sh sh sh! Ig, that’s a surprise.”
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry--”
Marianne frowned slightly at her husband. “What surprise? What portrait?”
Khalid rubbed the back of his neck. Despite his notorious reputation as a sneak when they were students, ever since they’d gotten married, Khalid had become horrible at keeping things from Marianne. He lost his ability to tell a lie, even if he was just trying to make a special surprise for their anniversary.
“Well… I figured while we’re all here,” he sighed. “We could all post for a portrait. The whole class, kids too. The new and improved Golden Deer house. Ignatz is the best painted we know, and he says he can paint himself into the frame as long as we leave a gap for him, so…”
Ignatz chimed in,” I don’t mind, Marianne, really. I thought it sounded fun. I haven’t had the chance to paint many children, it would be a new exercise in expressions.”
Marianne smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. Do Hilda and Lorenz know yet?”
“Gods, no, are you kidding?” Khalid snorted. “Lorenz would hijack my whole vision. I was going to spring it on them tomorrow, after the baptism. Everyone will be a good mood and too distracted by the ceremony to notice Ig setting up.”
“It’s the perfect plan,” Ignatz confirmed. “And the conservatory is the perfect place because its all closed off right now. No one’s in there, it has plenty of space, and I can get the canvas arranged tonight.”
“You’re a genius, Ig,” Khalid chuckled. “You’re getting better at schemes than I am.”
“Well, only the artistic ones,” he laughed as well.
Marianne smiled from her husband to her dear friend. “I think it’s wonderful. Can I do anything to help?”
“Think you can keep our wonderful hosts distracted after dinner?” Khalid asked. “Then Ig and I can slip away to set everything up.”
Marianne nodded. “I’ll just ask them about the preparations for tomorrow.” Lorenz and Hilda were a pair of peacocks, and with their third child being baptized, they had gone all out. Each ceremony had to be just as big as the first, Hilda insisted, which meant flower arrangements, a custom sewn baptismal gown for their new son, and all kinds of talk about whether to have Mercedes or Byleth or both of them perform the ceremony.
It would keep them talking for a while.
Khalid kissed Marianne’s temple. “You’re a treasure,” he told her. “Thank you, love.”
“This is going to be fun,” Ignatz said with a smile. “The new face of the Golden Deer…”
A vision of that bright new future we all fought for, Marianne thought, looking down at her daughter and smiling. She felt Khalid’s hand squeeze briefly around her waist and she lifted her gaze to meet his.
She knew he’d been thinking the same thing.