Chapter Text
The snow, a cluster of purified crystals that fell softly and slowly. Permeating and whitening everything around the place: the trees, the grass, even the very air that one breathed did not escape the enveloping cold.
All that snow produced a rather unique atmosphere: except for the always omnipresent mints, the flora consisted of trees whose leaves had adopted a more melancholic color or, rather, leaves that did not exist at all; while the little fauna that was around consisted of snow foxes moving from here to there with stealth, weasels that occasionally poked their heads out of the snow... or strange wild boars sealed in ice, huh...
All this made up a comfortable and tranquil scenery for a certain blond diver, it was certainly a little different from being surrounded by bioluminescent tidalga or all those fontemer aberrants, but despite the contrasts, he couldn't help but feel in his element. And to be honest, how could he not? It was like bringing Penguin Town into reality. A snowy, cold and peaceful place…
He sighed, it was a pity that this place, “Dragonspine”, as Collei had called it, was so far from the Court of Fontaine. It would be a more than decent alternative if the deep sea was out of reach.
Tap, tap, tap…
A few taps on the helmet he was wearing pulled him out of his thoughts, followed by a call…
“Freminet…? Helloooooo… a-are you there?”
Freminet looked up and immediately met the worried face of his… erm, friend?
…
No, after that meeting they had had months ago and all those words they had exchanged through letters since then, using that term to describe their relationship felt somewhat… wrong.
Whatever it was, he had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't realized when Collei had stepped in front of him, so those little touches startled him slightly.
“I-I'm sorry, did something happen?” The blond took off his helmet, making the ranger sigh with relief.
“Sorry if I scared you, but you’ve been sitting here for a while, and I thought you had fallen asleep or something!”
Freminet blinked, just how long exactly had it been since they got here in the first place?
“Sorry, I… got a little distracted.” Freminet scratched the back of his neck somewhat shyly, embarrassed for having worried the green-haired girl.
“Ah! I can't really blame you…” Collei tilted her head and smiled sympathetically, her gaze drifting to the snowy landscape in front of her “It's a pretty sight…”
Freminet nodded in agreement with Collei. Leaving aside the fact its atmosphere could get a little eerie at times, Dragonspine was quite the mesmerizing view generally speaking…
"Oh well! At least I’m done collecting all the samples Sucrose asked me to get!” Collei then held up a bag full of strange, white-colored mints, smiling with satisfaction, and then looked at the boy curiously. “How are you doing? Are you done with yours?”
“Um…”
Freminet’s eyes widened slightly, Right… the reason they had come here in the first place was to collect materials at the request of the Collei’s alchemist friend. He chided himself internally for becoming so absorbed in his fantasies and forgetting about it…
Of course his expression did not go unnoticed by Collei…
“D-Don't tell me that you…”
Freminet tried to smile, but his nervousness, combined with the fact his face lacked expressiveness in general, ended up giving rise to a somewhat strange and awkward gesture... At the sight, the shoulders and head of the trainee hanged and she was surrounded by a heavy blue aura.
Upon seeing Collei’s drop in spirit, Freminet started feeling guilty. He was barely about to apologize when Collei looked up and spoke, brushing it all off.
“W-Well! No need to worry! Uhhhh…” The green-haired girl looked to the sides, trying to come up with something to say. Once she did, she extended her hand to the blond to get up. “I-If you want, I'll accompany you! Shouldn’t take us long to get a few more mints, don’t you think?"
Freminet sighed internally, not only because Collei had taken a weight off his shoulders before it could worsen, but also because that smile of hers never failed to lift his spirits.
He took her hand, and they both headed down the mountain together. It was great that after all these months Collei had already progressed up to the point where they could at least hold hands without her fear of physical contact producing any undesired effect.
…The problem was that, as soon as they became self-aware, this contact was enough to have both of them blushing and stuttering when speaking, and this was not the exception.
“S-So… I-If you weren’t asleep, would you like to talk to me about the stuff you were thinking about back there?” Collei inquired. Since she was already familiar with the particular habit the diver had of just letting his imagination run wild at times like these, she figured some small talk about it would be great for the both of them…
“W-Well… I-I was thinking that t-this is just t-the place where Pers would live very happily…”
“Like Penguin Town?” Collei asked, remembering that fairytale the diver had told her about in a letter.
“Like Penguin Town.” Freminet confirmed and then extended his hand, as if demonstrating the scenery in front of them. “A place full of snow where he can slide down hills at his leisure and fish peacefully all day…” He turned to look at Collei. No matter how expressionless he could be at times, that shine in his eyes was unmistakable for the ranger.
"Sounds wonderful!" Collei giggled, delighted at the sight. “Is there room for Cuilein-Anbar?” She manifested the doll at her side and showed it to the diver.
Freminet chuckled at the sheer obviousness of that question.
“Yes, there is always room for Cuilein-Anbar… a-and you, of course…”
A blush soon appeared on the green-haired girl's face when she heard that slight addition that the blond had made.
“R-Really?'” Collei leaned a little closer to him, her eyes shining in excitement, this instantly sent the diver into a nervous fit.
“A-A-Ah, w-well… I… what I meant to say is that… y-you…I mean, h-how could i… not… i mean… you and… ”
Without much of an escape, the diver resorted to that one flawless technique that helped him in embarrassing situations.
“H-Hey! Wait! D-Don't put on the-”
Pop!
His helmet, of course he put on his helmet.
“Ehm… As I was saying, b-because of your bravery and strength, you and Cuilein-Anbar will always be welcome in Penguin Town as guests of honor.”
Collei puffed her cheeks at the way Freminet had evaded the embarrassment, but still couldn’t hold back her giggles after a few seconds, the absurdity of it all being funny to her.
“Hey, come on! I-It was just a question! You don’t have to put on your helmet so soon!” Collei laughed, tugging at his sleeve in a slightly pleading manner.
“I think I'll leave it on for a few minutes, it's... p-pretty cold outside.”
Collei shook her head, slightly disappointed in her inability to take him out of the shell. “Okay, you win…” Collei laughed some more and sighed in resignation. If Freminet wanted to keep his privacy for now then she wouldn't deny him it… but to say she wasn't super curious to see the blond's embarrassed face would be a lie.
“Thank you…”
With that out of the way, they both walked a little further, climbing the slope that took them to the second floor of the ruins where the Statue of the Seven was located, mints they collected along the way in hand.
“Please watch your step.” Freminet warned, as he helped Collei up the slippery snowy surface. The green-haired girl replied with an enthusiastic “Mhm!”
As they climbed and moved forward, Collei couldn't think of how strangely endearing the whole situation was. Ever since she and Freminet had confessed to eachother, they had entered this strange “phase” where being in the same room made them nervous and prevented them from speaking clearly; but simultaneously, they also did whatever it took to keep in touch as frequently as possible. Be it letters or by actually finding an excuse to travel to eachother’s nations. There had even been this occasion where she ran into Master Tighnari at an obscenely early time just so she could intercept the postman before anyone else.
For this reason, she had gotten more than one raised eyebrow when the very Christmas time in which Collei had claimed that she wanted to visit her friends in Mondstadt was very coincidentally the same one when Lyney and Lynette had happened to organize a show in the City of Freedom.
Ultimately, it all played out to perfection thanks to the schemes of the twins and a little help from her dear alchemist friend. Though she was certain she would be subjected to an interrogation as soon as she returned to the city; not to mention the way the diver would probably be the victim of Lyney’s teasing for the next few days.
But… just turning to see the boy next to her and seeing his hand intertwined with hers… Oh it was all absolutely worth it, all of it.
“Look, there's another one over there.” Freminet pointed to a mint sticking out of a mound, then bent down to pick it up while Collei watched…
The green-haired girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously. In her years as a forest ranger trainee, she had occasionally come across and been taught about certain variety of odd plants that looked normal to the naked eye. But a more trained eye would be able to perceive the differences in color and vigor…
Along with its meaning.
“W-Wait Freminet! That's a-!”
BAMF!
A whopperflower suddenly emerged from the snow, and although Freminet's reaction time was enough to summon his claymore and use it to shield himself of the frosty shockwave, it still sent him backwards with enough force to crash into Collei and cause them to end up slipping down the slope.
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
“AHHHHHHHHH-”
PAF!
The screams ceased in unison as both diver and ranger crashed into a mound of snow at the bottom of the slope. The force of their crash caused an additional pile from the branches of a nearby pine tree to fall on them. Almost as a little courtesy gift from irony itself.
At least they got far enough for the whopperflower to lose its interest in them.
…
After a few seconds, Freminet wriggled his way out of the snow. Instantly becoming alarmed when he spotted the motionless arm sticking out of the snowdrift.
“Collei! A-Are you okay?! Hang in there! I-I’ll save you! ” The blond then pulled hard on the arm, bringing Collei up with him in a single pull. However, he didn't measure his strength very well and ended up slipping again, his back against the cold snow white Collei ended up face down.
“Mphhh…” The trainee’s words were muffled by the snow, until she settled on her back. “T-Thank you…”
Freminet, still lying down, shook his head and took off his helmet, wearing a regretful expression.
“No need to thank me, I… I should have looked more carefully, I'm sorry…”
Collei sat up in the snow and shook her head to try to dismiss his concern.
“Oh, don't worry, it happens. Sometimes I can't tell the difference either, hehe…” Collei sighed and sent another one of her understanding smiles his way "Are you okay, by the way? You’re not hurt?"
“I was able to react in time and defend myself from its attack, thankfully…” Freminet shook his head and then turned to look at her with concern. "And you? Are you okay?"
Collei nodded and laughed a little. “Heh, I was more startled than anything, so don't worry! A little slip like that won’t put me down.”
His concern did not disappear completely, but it was greatly reduced by her response. Of course something like that was insignificant to Collei compared to all the things she had already been through.
“A-Although…” The ranger felt something underneath her and pulled it out… It was the bag of mints, all of them completely crushed as a result of the whole accident
“Oh… oh no…” Collei then fell back into the snow, covering her face with her hands, her groans of frustration muffled. Needless to say, she was not excited at the notion of having to collect them all over again.
Guilt started invading the blond’s mind again. All of the efforts Collei had made during the past hour had now been completely laid to waste by his clumsiness.
“I.. am sorry”
Hearing his fearful tone of voice, Collei turned to look at the diver. She felt a knot form in her stomach when she saw his expression, so full of shame and regret…
“Hey… it doesn't matter! Really.” Collei closed her eyes and shook both her arms to the front. “It's just a few mints, if we work we can pick them again in no time!”
Another understanding smile was directed towards the blond, although more than warming his heart, it also increased his guilt and made avert his gaze.
“Y-You have too much patience with me…” The boy remarked with melancholy. These kinds of silly mistakes would have gotten him a harsh scolding from the Old Father, but the green-haired girl not only made light of them, but also always showed him that cute expression that on any other occasion would have made his heart beat faster. It just wasn't fair…
It was then that he felt his hand being taken in hers.
“Hey, don't say that kind of stuff…” Collei's gesture was firm, but warm. “O-Of course i’m patient with you! You’re really important to me, Freminet… ”
Freminet’s gaze returned to Collei, those words had hit him a littel hard and made his cheeks redden. But he said nothing, instead listening to the ranger attentively.
“And… just, don’t go beating yourself over these kinds of mistakes, okay? You’re worth more than just a few mints that we can pick anywhere else on the mountain.”
Freminet grimaced at her words, despite claiming otherwise sometimes, Collei really had such a way with her words sometimes, he figured it was probably the influence of growing surrounded by caring people after… all that.
“Besides! It's not even that late, so who cares if it takes us another hour?” The ranger laughed a little, trying to left up the mood. Her mind produced a thought that made her cheeks a little red, but which she figured she would express anyway.
“Besides… it's more time we can spend together, right?”
This time it was Freminet's turn to blush, he even had to resist the urge to put his helmet back on.
“Heh… I guess that's true…”
This time there was no obstacle for Collei to appreciate the blush on the boy's face, and it was a sight that caused her smile to grow.
"So cute…"
The green-haired girl then laid back down in the snow, an action that the diver imitated, both of them remaining in a pleasant silence, just admiring the winter sky that could only be seen from Dragonspine...
…
After a few minutes, Collei began to move her limbs to the sides in repeated motions.
"What are you doing?" Freminet asked, confused and amused in equal parts by the girl's movements.
“I-I think it was called a snow angel! Klee told me about it once and said it was super fun.” Without stopping the movement of her limbs, Collei turned to look at Freminet, trying to him to join. “Don't you want to try it?”
Freminet looked down at the snow, could something as simple as that really be fun…? In the end, he shrugged and began to imitate Collei’s actions
“I-I see… it’s… kind of relaxing, actually…”
Minutes later, they finally rose from the snow, taking a few seconds to admire the figures they had left. Two “snow angels' besides each other, what a silly little thing…
“See? It was fun! I bet you had fun, just look at your face!”
Freminet chuckled and give a little soft nod at her remark. It was true, making a snow angel with Collei had him smiling like a fool.
“Yeah… It was fun.”
Collei giggled, happy to know she was able to lift his spirits after their little mistake. This was supposed to be the holiday time! There was no way she was gonna let him get stuck in his cycle of guilt.
“So… shall we?” She extended her hand to him, and he promptly took it. They still had a job to do and they didn’t wanna be late for the feast…
As they walked, Freminet couldn’t help but feel endeared about it all, just like when he used to dive into the sea that was his imagination, it was this kind of silly stuff that made him feel a little more alive… and t it all felt even more memorable in the company of a special person like Collei was for Freminet and vice versa.
The kind of silly memories that neither of them had been able to make as children and whose absence they had resented for so long, leaving a gap of loneliness so cold... But it didn't matter anymore. How could it? Now that they had each other, these memories were a thousand times more precious and warm.
And neither of them would trade it for anything in the world.