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“Columbina! Good morning! How are you?”
“Paimon. I’m doing well. The kuuhenki just painted this portrait of me.”
The Moon Maiden, who sat on the ground surrounded by kuuhenki, gestured to the easel to her left. Paimon floated over to it as Aether sat down in front of her.
“The Knights of Favonius sent over sugar cookies as a Christmas gift, but now Varka has too many of them,” he started, pulling out a red metal tin from his bag. “Want one?”
“Sure,” Columbina nodded, gingerly taking one shaped and decorated like a snowflake. “Is Christmas a Mondstadt holiday? And what character is depicted on the lid?”
Aether paused, a candy-cane shaped cookie halfway to his mouth. “You’ve never heard of Christmas before?”
Columbina shook her head.
“Not even in Snezhnaya?” Paimon piped in, sneaking two cookies from the tin.
Columbina shook her head.
Aether and Paimon looked at each other before giving Columbina a crash course on what Christmas is and how it was celebrated. By the end of their explanation Columbina looked thoughtful, if a little melancholic.
“Now that I think about it, at the end of the year the Tsaritsa gave us time off to be with our families. Childe went home and Arlecchino spent her time with the House of the Hearth children, but I believe the rest of us stayed in the Palace. Those two were probably celebrating Christmas.”
“You’ve really never celebrated Christmas before? Not even with the other Harbingers?”
Columbina shook her head. “Sometimes Sandrone would invite some of us for tea, but those weren’t any different than the other tea parties.”
Paimon looked at Columbina sadly.
Aether suddenly stood up. “Shoot! I just remembered we have a commission to complete!”
“We do?” Paimon looked at him, but shut up at the glare Aether sent her way. Paimon huffed, crossing her arms. He so owed her an explanation when they got out of here.
“Yes. We gotta go, but keep the cookies!”
Columbina nodded, her gaze faraway. “Thank you.”
~
“Care to explain why the Moonchanter and my soon to be fired employee are dragging me here?” Nefer grumbled. Jahoda yelped, letting go of her boss as if she were burned.
They were gathered in the Northern Intelligence Network’s secret base—the same place they strategized to fight Rerir not that long ago.
“I have gathered you all today for an important mission,” Varka began, getting straight down to business. “The Traveler has come upon some disturbing information about the Moon Maiden that needs to be rectified. Traveler, if you will?”
“Thank you, Grand Master Varka,” Aether nodded, stepping forward to address everyone. “Today I found out that Columbina doesn’t know what Christmas is, nor has she celebrated.
“Now, Christmas Eve is in two days, so we don’t have a lot of time, but I think with all of us combined we can put together a beautiful Christmas celebration for her.”
“I volunteer to host at the Clink-Clank Krumkake Craftshop!” Aino shouted, jumping up and raising her hand.
“Perfect! That was the one part of the plan the Traveler and I hadn’t figured out,” Varka stated, smiling as he pulled out a scroll.
“Now, we’ve already assigned everyone their tasks” he began, unfurling it. He looked at each person when giving them their assignments. “Aino and I will be responsible for getting a Christmas tree.
“Flins and Ineffa, you’ll clean up the craftshop and set up things like tables and chairs. Nefer and Jahoda will be in charge of getting the decorations.
“Lauma, Albedo, and Durin will be in charge of cooking. Don’t worry about sugar cookies, we have plenty of those.
“Traveler and Paimon, you need to invite Sandrone. You seem to be on the best terms with us, so you’re our only hope at getting who seems to be Columbina’s oldest friend to join us. You’ll also be the one bringing Columbina here, and maybe you guys can pick up some party games too.
“Once we have everything and everyone here, we’ll all decorate the craftshop and tree. Sound good?”
Everyone nodded.
“Good! Let’s make sure Columbina’s first Christmas is the best Christmas Teyvat has ever seen!”
At Varka’s command, everyone broke off into their groups, already planning out how they would complete their assignment.
~
“Who knew that of all the trees in Nod-Krai, you guys don’t have pine trees,” Varka grumbled.
After searching far and wide, Aino and Varka could not find a pine tree. In a last desperate attempt to get Columbina a traditional Christmas tree, the two began a journey to the border of Snezhnaya—a secret that would be kept from Ineffa if Varka valises his life.
“If only Mondstadt were closer. Then we could get a tree from that mountain you mentioned! What was it… Dragon’s Pine! It even has pine in the name!”
Varka laughed. “It’s ’dragon-spine’ as in the spine of a dragon, but I think I like your interpretation better.”
Aino giggled, kicking her feet against her bench. The two were on a boat to Snezhnaya—a favor Varka was cashing in on with the Lightkeepers. After a few hours, they arrived at the border.
“Thank you. Hopefully we’ll find what we’re looking for quickly, so you won’t have to wait long.”
“Of course, sir,” the captain shook Varka’s hand. “After all you’ve done for Nod-Krai and my crew, this is the least I could do.
Varka let out a deep laugh. “I appreciate the flattery, but I know you hate this sheer cold as much as we do, so we’ll try not to spend anymore time here.”
With that Varka and Aino hopped off the boat, sticking close together and tightening their coats to try and stave off the cold.
“Good thing I brought my portable heaters. If we’re this cold now, I don’t wanna imagine how cold we’d be without them.”
“Thank Barbatos you did,” Varka agreed, squinting against the snowstorm they’d walked into, looking for anything resembling a tree.
“There!” Aino shouted, pointing ahead of them. Walking as fast as they could through the thick layers of snow, the two stumbled upon a pine tree forest.
“Good eye kid!” Varka cheered, clapping her on the back and bringing out the Wolf’s Gravestone to chop it down.
Aino jumped back as the tree fell. It was huge! Much taller than Varka, and much taller than she anticipated when she first saw it!
“How are we going to bring this back?” Aino wondered. While she stowed plenty of tools and materials on the ship in case they needed them, she wasn’t sure she had enough to build a pulley system for a tree this large.
“Easy,” Varka declared, hoisting the tree over his shoulder. Aino blinked, watching Varka make his way back to the ship.
“Hey, wait for me!”
~
“Tables and chairs will be provided by the Flagship. Nefer and Jahoda will provide table cloths and decorations. While we wait for these items to arrive, let’s focus on tidying up the spare parts.”
Flins nodded along as Ineffa listed out their itinerary. “Good idea. I shall take the north side.”
“Last one to finish is a rotten egg?” Ineffa asked.
Flins blinked. The robot almost looked hopeful. “Excuse me?”
“Humans often turn un-fun tasks such as cleaning into competitions to make them more engaged. I believe the appropriate phrase is ‘last one to finish is a rotten egg.’ Am I wrong?”
“No…” Flins started. “But I believe I am at an unfair disadvantage. I am but a human, while I’m sure Miss Aino has upgraded you to be incredibly efficient at cleaning.”
“I can ban the usage of any upgrades that humans do not possess,” Ineffa amended.
Flins chuckled, seeing that this was a hill Ineffa would die on. “Alright, then let us compete.”
Ineffa nodded, seeming to buzz with excitement. “Shall we count down to three and start on go?”
Flins nodded.
“Three…
“Two…
“One…
“Go!”
~
“The Flagship is getting the tables and chairs ready,” Nefer muttered, crossing that off her list. Jahoda stood next to her, petting Ashru.
“So we need ornaments, lights for the area, lights for the tree, garland for both too, plates and cutlery and napkins… a star for the tree… fake snow?”
“Sounds about right. We can probably get the other table stuff from the Flagship too,” Jahoda added.
“Maybe, but it might not be festive. And Lauma and the others are already getting drinks and ingredients from them. There’s a limit to how much this favor gets us before we’re the ones in debt.”
“But we’re still paying!” Jahoda squeaked.
“Correct, but this is all very last minute, hence the favor,” Nefer explained before nodding. “Someone who can help us get fake snow owes me a favor, so I’ll go take care of that now.”
“Sounds good boss! What about me?”
Nefer smirked, handing Jahoda the list. “Everything else.”
“You got it— huh?!”
Nefer was already out the door.
~
For the menu, Lauma’s group decided to go for a mix of Nod-Krai and Mondstadt classics.
For drinks, they had basic coffee and hot chocolate, but also drink roulette, cocktails from the Flagship, and apple cider.
For Nod-Krai dinner dishes, they prepared Smoked Fish Steak and Whisper in the Woods—Lauma’s special version of Today’s Boon.
For Mondstadt’s dinner dishes, they prepared Sweet Madame, Woodland Dream—Albedo’s take on Sunshrine Sprat—Goulash, and Sticky Honey Roast.
For dessert, they ordered custom sugar sculptures for everyone attending—including Sandrone if the traveler was successful—from Hunajatta. They also got a few servings of Mint Jelly, Lakkaberry Pie, and Ineffa’s recipe for Lakkaberry Krumkakes.
And of course the sugar cookies the Knights of Favonius baked for Varka and his company in Nod-Krai.
They were going to also include Northern Apple Stew, but…
“Is it supposed to be green?” Lauma asked.
“No,” Albedo confirmed. “It’s also not supposed to bubble like this.”
“At least this time it’s not burnt,” Durin sighed, looking at his other four attempts.
“Yes,” Lauma agreed. “I suppose we are making progress.”
“Perhaps you can give Columbina an I.O.U.,” Albedo suggested. “Then she can look forward to your perfect version.”
Durin signed. Albedo smirked. Lauma giggled.
~
“You two are really pushing the limit of tentative allies,” Sandrone grumbled.
“Sorry!” Paimon squeaked, waving her hands out in front of her. “But we had a favor to ask…”
“It’s about Columbina,” Aether finished.
Sandrone sat up straighter. “Oh?”
Paimon nodded. “She told us that she’s never celebrated Christmas before! We wanted to plan a party for her, and we thought you should be there.”
“She does consider you a friend,” Aether added. “She’d be really happy if you came.”
“Maybe she should’ve thought of that before she left the Fatui,” Sandrone grumped. Before Aether could jump in, Sandrone sighed. “But I do understand why she left. Fine, I’ll join you.”
“Great!” Paimon cheered, her shoulders sagging in relief. She thought this would be hard.
“Alright, I imagine the others are almost done setting everything up, so if we go to the Clink-Clank Krumkake Craftshop now we can help decorate.”
“I’ll meet up with you,” Sandrone declared, standing up and going to leave the room.
“Huh?” Paimon asked.
Sandrone scoffed. “I’ll bet you don’t know what gift to give her. Luckily for you, I’m a longtime former coworker of hers and invited her to many tea parties, so I know the perfect gift.”
“Do you need any help?” Aether offered.
“No, I’ll be fine. And decorating for the holidays is beneath me. Go join your friends, I’ll be there later with the gift.”
“Okay,” Paimon said. “Thanks a bunch Sandrone!”
Sandrone left without a word, but both Aether and Paimon could see a slight pep in her step at the praise.
~
Sandrone knew what would be the perfect gift for Columbina. The problem? It was a near impossible task to complete on such a short notice.
Columbina sampled many teas at her tea parties. Sandrone wouldn’t be able to get all of the teas she knew Columbina liked, but thankfully she already had most of them imported from Snezhnaya when she came to Nod-Krai.
The real struggle was a pot and kettle. Columbina lived in a cave—the Silvermoon Hall if she recalled correctly—and most likely didn’t have anything to make tea with. And Sandrone would only settle for the best portable stove, kettle, and mug for her former coworker.
The stove was easy, she could make that in her sleep. But the pot and mug? She wanted those to be special, and that meant finding a craftsman in Nod-Krai who would be willing to do a custom order for the Fatui on such a short notice.
And normally Sandrone wouldn’t care about something as sentimental as the people’s feelings, but she didn’t want this to somehow negatively impact Columbina.
So Sandrone swallowed her pride, did her best to hide her appearance under a dark cloak and hood, and put on her politest smile.
“Excuse me. Do you by any chance do custom orders on short notice?”
~
“Okay! You can open your eyes!”
Columbina blinked, then blinked again.
Before her lay a scene straight out of a kuuhenki’s painting. A giant pine tree stood in the middle of the Krumkake Craftshop, decorated with garland, colorful lights, and beautiful glass baubles, topped off with a shining star. Tables and chairs surrounded the tree, plated with drinks, dinner, and desert staples from both Nod-Krai and Mondstadt.
But most importantly, the people who helped her protect Nod-Krai all stood in front of the tree.
“Merry Christmas Columbina!” they all shouted.
“What’s this?” she whispered, barely managing to keep her voice level.
Varka smiled proudly. “When the Traveler found out you never celebrated Christmas, he gathered all of us here to organize a party for you.”
Jahoda nodded. “Yup! We got a tree, food, decorations, the Traveler even found some party games for us to try! And, best of all…”
The crowd in front of the tree parted, revealing the Marionnette, with an angry expression and embarrassed blush, holding a box wrapped in green paper and a red ribbon.
“I knew no one here would know what to give you, so I took the liberty of preparing a gift for you.”
Sandrone passed it on to Columbina, who stared at it. Sandrone rolled her eyes. “You’re supposed to open it.”
“Right,” Columbina said, smiling. Carefully peeling the paper away, she opened the box to reveal a wooden box, adorned with carvings of stars and crescent moons.
Opening this box, Columbina stared in awe. An assortment of her favorite teas from Snezhnaya were arranged in alphabetical order—as to be expected from someone as meticulous and Sandrone—alongside a porcelain pot and mug.
The painted blue, becoming darker at the top and covered in stars, with three moons at the top. The mug was white with blue snowflakes scattered along its surface.
Lastly, a portable stove—clearly the work of Sandrone—sat in the box.
“Sandrone… you remembered my favorite flavors.”
Sandrone scoffed. “Of course. You became so quiet and moody when you didn’t like the flavor. It really ruined the atmosphere at my tea parties.”
“I don’t know what to say… thank you.”
“Don’t say stuff like that!” Sandrone shouted, blushing before she wheeled around. “Who’s ready to suffer a humiliating defeat in Uno!”
“Count me in,” Nefer smirked.
“I’d like to join as well,” Flins smiled, reminiscing on past card games with the Lightkeepers.
Layne raised her hand. “I would also like to try.”
“Great! Let’s get this party started!” Varka shouted, mug of apple cider already sloshing.
With that everyone dispersed. Sandrone, Nefer, Lauma, and Flins played Uno, with Jahoda and Aino cheering them on.
Ineffa, Durin, and Albedo inspected the food, before Varka roped them into a game involving dominos.
Aether and Paimon had disappeared briefly, but when they reappeared, fake snow started falling from the sky, blanketing the ground.
“So,” Paimon ventured, Aether approaching with a tray of personalized sugar sculptures. “How do you like it?”
Columbina had tears in her eyes as she looked at them. “As you know, my power has always been coveted. Nice deeds were done in exchange for my power. This… might be the nicest thing anyone has done for me, without expecting anything in return.
“So… Thank you for organizing this.”
Aether handed Columbina her sugar sculpture. “You deserved a nice Christmas. Now come on! Help me pass these out!”
“Wait!” Paimon shouted, pulling something out of the Traveler’s bag. “We can’t celebrate until everyone has a Santa hat! I bought these when we got the games at the market, I hope everyone likes them!”
Paimon placed one on her head, before putting one on Columbina’s and Aether’s head. Laughing, Aether grabbed Columbina’s hand and dragged her to the others, Paimon following close behind.
Columbina looked around her. The food smelled delectable, and the decorations lit up the party like the brightest star in the sky.
But most importantly, she felt warm. She felt the warmth of being loved without the expectation of a miracle in return. Thanks to these people, for the first time since first stepping foot on Teyvat, Columbina felt like she truly belonged in this world. And that was the greatest gift anyone could have gotten her.