Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shining time was a small, yet busy town in the middle of a quiet valley. Nobody knew how it became to be..one day, there were endless plains of soft grass and hills..the next, Shining time appeared in its place like It had always been there. Oh, but the mysterious little town didn't come alone..

The first person that people saw at the newly planted train station was a woman. Her name was giselle and she worked there as a station master, making sure everything stays on time and without delay. Giselle was sweet, but a mystery. Nobody knew where she had come from before shining time "I just came here from Britain to start a new life." She would always say, most believed her, but others were skeptical because of her shifty eyes..could there possibly be more to Giselle's story than whats at the surface? Or maybe something that is best left in the dark?

Nevertheless, Giselle treated everybody fairly and always took time out of her day when she's not working to help others and make sure the quiet little town stays in good condition. Occasionally, she would have her run in with the bad apples of the town..catching those vandalizing the local shops and causing a ruckus around the station. Sure, it was a pain to wash the crude words and pictures off the walls and windows. But with the community there to help, it made her smile just a little brighter.

Though, Giselle wasn't all smiles and sunshine. Sometimes, passengers would catch a glimpse of her, looking sad and lonely. "Whats wrong?" The people would ask, hints of concern present in their eyes before the saddened giselle was quick to put on a small smile and waved them off, "its nothing, really." she would say, "Im just having one of those days, i'll be okay." Were her favorite go-to lines to tell the concerned patrons. She hated to fib, but she told herself white lies wouldn't hurt as much..

At least that part was true.

Whenever giselle would end her work for the night, she would always return to her quiet home. No partner waiting for her return to ask how her day was..no child gleefully running up to her and showing the newest rock they found in the backyard, nothing. Not even a nice home cooked dinner was enough to fill that empty hole within her.

The only companion she had is a yellow canary she decided to name Goldie, Goldie was a quite the chatty bird, peeping in response to what giselle would tell them about all the things that happened at the station. Giselle loved goldie, she really did. But there are times where the woman envied the little bird, the way it's friends would invite them to fly together with them, how they would eat up all the flower seeds in Giselle's garden...

"Lucky duck.." She would mumble under her breath

She would see couples walking about at the park some days, holding hands, chatting, and enjoying the spring breeze blowing by while they pass a group of friends from the local school playing a round of soccer. "I wish I had that..." She would think to herself when she would see this. She knew she shouldn't be staring, but it's sometimes hard to pull your eyes away from something you desired so desperately. It made her heart ache.

But, even with all this, Giselle refused to give up. Every time she felt hopeless, she always told herself "there's someone out there for you."

"I just know it.."

"I just have to believe."

With those words of encouragement in mind, she would set off for another day at shining time Station with her head held high and a smile as bright as a star, who knows? Maybe something new will come around..

Only time will tell.

Chapter Text

The rainbow sun can be heard in the distance, slowly chuffing and chugging along towards the station."Right on time.." Giselle thought to herself, a small smile appearing on her face. Once it stopped at the platform, the passengers slowly trickled in, with some waving and greeting her 'good morning', while others just continued on their way to the platform. Everything appeared to be business as usual at shining time..

"Oh! You're up early." Exclaimed station master Stacy Jones as Giselle made her way into the building. "You know what they say, stacy: early bird gets the worm!" She chuckled "Well, I guess that's true..say, what's got you in such a good mood this morning?" The young station master inquired, her curiosity peaking as Giselle gave her a soft smile "Just something about today that's tempting me to make the most of it." Stacy Jones gave her a smile back as she averted her gaze to look out the windows that were coated with a thin layer of snow.

"...golly, everything looks so..magical out there" she gasped in awe.

"Mhm..." hummed Giselle. "This is why i love December.." she said whilst helping the buzzing patrons In the station, handing them their tickets with quick efficiency.

Stacy Jones watched Giselle interact with the passengers with a smile warm enough to melt the snow, seeing Giselle so cheerful was a nice change...

She couldn't deny that Giselle looked happy in these moments, chatting and laughing softly, her eyes gleaming with a certain spark...but there were other times where she noticed the cheerful mask would slip off, replaced with something more melancholic. Stacy knew all too well the feeling of loneliness that Giselle tried to hide, people like her were masters of their own mask- making sure it stays up no matter what.

"Stacy?"

The sudden sound of Giselle's voice snapped Stacy out of her thoughts, "Hm? What is it?"

"The children from the local church wanted us to help them pass out flyers for a Christmas fundraising event, and since there's an abundance of people coming to shining time...I was wondering if you would like help me out?" She asked, while in the middle of passing out said flyers to the patrons. "Why of course, Christmas is the season of giving after all." Replied stacy, taking a small stack from Giselle as she neatly placed them on the counter for others to take.

The papers were flying off the counter like hotcakes as curies patrons and passers-by curiously looked at it, which created a buzz about the event in the packed station. And even after all of them were gone, word of mouth of the upcoming event acting as a small, yet effective, catalyst.

"Looks like people are quite thrilled about this fundraiser, stacy!" Giselle remarked, a twinkle in her eye. She couldn't help but find the whole situation rather endearing, her heart warming at the sight of everyone being so enthusiastic about the upcoming occasion.

"How about you and me head to town square after work ro see them set up the Christmas tree?" She asked, the young station master giving a encouraging smile back.

"I don't see why not."

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The final chuff wheeshed as the train makes a smooth stop to platform, and out poured the dozens of people waiting to visit the town, including someone new..

"So this is shining time..." a man in blonde said in awe, stepping onto the platform of the station. Looking around his surroundings and watching the stringed lights under the heap of snow on the building still twinkling brightly.

'pretty festive for a small town..' he thought, watching people walk to and from, carolers in front of the station singing their off-key songs..

'Perhaps they should practice their singing a bit more before attempting to entertain the masses…' the man chuckled to himself, carrying his luggage as he walked around the festive town for a little.

There would always something interesting to be found when he ventured out —be it a quaint little shop or an unexpected conversation with someone new, and with that, the man set off to explore the small town that laid before him.

He strutted around the town square, visiting small shops and joining a group to watch and amateur play at the park. The humbleness of shining time is what made it stand out to him the most and he loved it.

The man made a final stop to admire the Christmas tree in the middle of town, tall as a building and glowing like a lightshow with all the different ornaments the townspeople helped put up. A feeling of awe washed over him, The sheer size of the tree and the fact that the whole town chipped in to decorate it only added to the holiday spirit that this quaint town emitted.

"Admiring the Christmas tree too, aren't you?" A woman said, looking over her shoulder as she added small ornaments to the bottom branches. "It's a sight to behold." Nodded the man in response, "I've never seen you around here before, are you new?" The lady asked, now turned to face the blonde man.

"I am actually..i just moved here. The name's Edward, and you?"

The woman smiled "It's Giselle, nice to meet you edward."

A moment of silence passed between them before Edward suddenly straightened up, checking the time on his watch.

"Oh dear! I didn't realize how late it was getting. I should probably head back to my lodgings for tonight."

He hesitated briefly before turning to leave - but not without first giving Giselle another warm smile and a small folded piece of paper with his number on it, "It was lovely meeting you today, Giselle... take care now!" He waved before taking off.

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Giselle returns home, exhausted, but happy as she flops down on the couch. Listening to Goldie chirping in her cage, as if asking how Giselle's day was.

"It's was wonderful Goldie. Really it was." She smiled, tucking the folded paper and placing it on the desk nearby

Is it possible things are changing in her favorite this time around?

Maybe..