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There is an almost unnatural stillness that settles over the neighborhood in the middle of December after a fresh layer of snow has fallen and the sun has dipped below the horizon. It’s almost as if the world is wrapped in the safety of a thick cotton blanket.
The moon is above the trees now, bathing Zhaoyun in its familiar glow as she works in the front yard of her and A-Ze’s house. She has spent the better part of an hour hanging decorations from the handful of trees scattered on their property, or from the edges of the roof. Some of the larger festive ornaments were planted in the ground. A string of multicolored lights she added earlier along the low slope of the roof paints her body and the snow on the ground in a twinkling kaleidoscope of washed-out colors.
Cars driving down the wet road are one of the few breaks in the silence at this time of night. Accompanying the cars are muffled crunches of snow under thick, treaded outsoles. People walk hurriedly along the shoveled sidewalk, pulling their scarves tighter or collars higher, and shove chilled hands into their warm pockets to shield themselves against the chilly breeze and steadily decreasing temperature.
The tips of Zhaoyun’s fingers are almost completely numb. She briefly pauses decorating to make a fist and stretches out her fingers in an attempt to bring the circulation back. A cold gust of wind whistles around the house and causes her to shiver.
Deciding now is as good a time as any to take a quick break, she heads inside, first taking a moment to knock off the snow on her boots before opening the front door. Her long, red cloak is hanging by a hook inside the entryway, almost within her arm’s reach. She takes a step inside to grab it before throwing it over her back and patting down the pockets on either side to see if her mittens are there. The familiar lump on either side confirms it, so she ties the ribbons dangling over her shoulders in a firm bow at her neckline before reaching inside the pockets to grab her wool mittens and put them on. She rubs her hands together to warm them before stepping back outside and closing the door behind her.
Once Zhaoyun is far enough into the yard, she stops and turns to look up at the second-floor window. The warm glow of the reading lamp is on in their bedroom, and she smiles fondly knowing that when she last left A-Ze, she curled up under a blanket on her favorite reclining chair with a new book and half of a steaming mug of rich cocoa on the side table.
Snowflakes begin to slowly fall around her, and she reluctantly tears her eyes away from the window. Smaller flakes collect along her eyelashes and the faux fur trim of the cloak. The temperature is low enough now that they don’t melt from her body heat.
She turns back to the house and walks to the front door before opening it.
“A-Ze!” she calls into the house. “You should come down!”
A few moments later, A-Ze’s, “I’ll be right there!” floats down the stairs.
True to her word, the soft thumps of A-Ze’s feet are heard on the carpeted floor above within moments. She rounds the corner where Zhaoyun can see her before quickly jogging down the stairs. When she stops at the bottom, Zhaoyun can see the book she was reading held firmly in her hand.
Zhaoyun steps back out the door to give A-Ze room to see outside. A-Ze’s eyes widen and sparkle when she sees the snow gently falling. She had missed the first snowfall last night while they both slept and had adorably pouted to Zhaoyun about it over breakfast that morning. Zhaoyun had assured her with a soft kiss on her temple that there would be another one soon.
A-Ze suddenly springs into action, releasing a squeal of delight as she rushes over to the entryway. The book she was holding ends up on the low wooden bench they have in the corner as she hastily toes off her slippers. Her boots go on just as quickly, and she tucks her pajama bottoms in them. She rushes out the door in no more than that and her printed holiday sweater for warmth, which Zhaoyun knows isn’t sufficient enough for this time of year.
A-Ze’s boots sink slightly into the untrodden snow as she makes her way into the yard. Zhaoyun watches her fondly and releases a quiet, long-suffering sigh before closing the front door once again so she can join her.
Zhaoyun can see A-Ze trembling in the cold already. Her bare hands are absentmindedly rubbing up and down her arms in an attempt to stay warm. Despite the chill, A-Ze’s smile is wide and bright as she slowly turns in a circle to watch the snowfall. Her long ponytail sways back and forth as she moves. Zhaoyun notices that some snowflakes have already accumulated there.
When A-Ze stops and faces away from Zhaoyun, she steps in. She loosens the knot at the hollow of her throat with one hand and uses the other to grab her cloak before it falls to the ground. A-Ze startles slightly when Zhaoyun walks up behind her and drapes the cloak around her shoulders, letting it fall over her back. She reaches around A-Ze to tie both ends of the ribbon into a bow.
A-Ze turns her body marginally and smiles up at Zhaoyun. “Thank you,” she says, slipping her hands into the cloak’s pockets.
Zhaoyun leans down and wraps her arms under A-Ze’s until her hands are pressed firmly against A-Ze’s stomach. She pulls A-Ze against her body and burrows her face into the back of A-Ze’s neck. Her hair smells like the peppermint shampoo she has been using since the beginning of the month, and Zhaoyun breathes it in for a few moments. Then, a mischievous smile brightens her face as she presses her cold nose into the base of A-Ze’s neck. A-Ze jumps slightly, and Zhaoyun grins against her cooling skin before kissing the curve of her neck in an apology.
As Zhaoyun leans back slightly and forward again to rest her chin on A-Ze’s shoulder, a small, unexpected wave of sadness washes over her. She instinctively squeezes A-Ze tighter in response. Having A-Ze back in the circle of her arms is something Zhaoyun never thought she would ever experience again. The wound from losing A-Ze all of those years ago is finally scabbing over—not without some lingering scars—and is becoming nothing more than a distant and unpleasant memory buried under the layers of happier, more recent ones they have made.
The holidays can be a somber time for A-Ze. The incident at the cafe a little over two years ago now resulted in A-Ze and her mother becoming estranged. Zhaoyun has done her best to fill that familial void in A-Ze’s life since then and routinely showers her with love and affection.
“The decorations are beautiful,” A-Ze says, pulling Zhaoyun out of her sentimental thoughts.
“As are you,” Zhaoyun murmurs huskily into her ear.
A-Ze quickly turns her head at the compliment and buries her face into the cloak’s trim. Zhaoyun knows from experience that she’s blushing, and is proven correct less than a minute later when A-Ze brings her head back up with visible rosy-tinted cheeks. She knows A-Ze would only deny it and blame it entirely on the weather.
Zhaoyun takes this moment to gently turn A-Ze around so that they’re facing each other. She slowly leans down, and A-Ze has only enough time to inhale sharply before Zhaoyun grabs the cloak and gently tugs it up, bringing A-Ze’s mouth up to meet hers. A-Ze’s heels leave the ground by an inch or so, and she grabs Zhaoyun’s arms to steady herself. A-Ze’s lips are slightly cool and taste faintly of sweet cocoa and something that is uniquely her. After a few moments, A-Ze smiles into the kiss and hums contentedly before sliding her hands down Zhaoyun’s arms so she can wrap them around her back instead. Their eyes close.
Snow continues to fall around them for the next several minutes, and the rest of the world melts away outside their kiss. They are too caught up in each other to notice anything else. Their barely audible huffs of breath and the snow crunching quietly under their boots as they shuffle from foot to foot are the only sounds in their immediate vicinity. There is nowhere else that Zhaoyun would rather be right now.
A-Ze is the first to break away. "I love you," she breathes against Zhaoyun’s lips. Her eyes slowly open and meet Zhaoyun’s. The lights hanging along the roof reflect back at her.
Zhaoyun gently releases her grip on the cloak so that A-Ze once again has both feet planted firmly on the ground. She reaches up to tuck a stray section of A-Ze’s bangs behind her ear.
"I love you too," she replies, allowing her hand to linger along A-Ze’s jaw for a moment before letting go. She reaches down to take A-Ze’s hand. "We should go back inside."
“What about the last of the decorations?” A-Ze asks her.
“They can wait until tomorrow,” she replies. “Let's warm up.” A-Ze smiles at her in response and leads the way, gently towing Zhaoyun behind her.
Once inside, they shed their outerwear—the cloak returning to its home on the hook inside the door—and leave their wet boots to dry on the rubber mat in the entryway. Both of them head upstairs to have a hot shower and change into warm pajamas. A-Ze grabs the thick blanket she had draped over the reading chair before returning downstairs to settle on the couch with Zhaoyun.
The rest of the evening passes by quietly and uneventfully this way, with the two of them curled in a tangle of limbs where they can watch the snow from inside their living room. They pass the evening exchanging soft, affectionate touches and quiet conversation.
Eventually, they drift off to sleep together like this, wrapped in the comfort of each other’s warmth and love.