Work Text:
Since moving to the Southern Coast, author Yukari Kotobuki had not experienced a snowy winter in many years. She sometimes wondered what her life would be like if she chose the secluded cabin life over the sea, yet she never regretted where she landed. Her life became full of sun-kissed skin, sand in between her toes, and endless pages of writing. Breaking into the writing world was more difficult than she had expected, the past few years were spent sending hundreds of manuscripts to publishers across the country, but no miracle of discovery had been granted to her. Even with the few minor publications she was able to accomplish, they were met with very little attention. However, Yukari was not the type of person to give up so easily; she was desperate to share with the world everything she wished to, and she would not stop until she physically could hold a pen no longer. She wanted her moment to come naturally, not wishing to use any external influence to help her land a deal. Finally, on one mid-December morning, she got a response from a major publishing house in Tokyo on a novel manuscript she’d been working on. This was the first time a company as large as this decided to meet with her since her writing journey began. Her heart swelled with hope.
---
The city was lit up with streetlights and strings of colorful Christmas bulbs. Something about Christmas made Yukari deeply nostalgic. Her father had been raised by a Western fanatic who had instilled the magic of Christmas into all of his children. Their house was always decorated to the nines; lights, ribbons, garlands, paper snowflakes, stockings, and a large Fraser Fir in the center of the living room, which her father would then place her on his shoulders so she could place a star on the top of the tree. Even her older brother would come visit, and they’d play games and drink hot chocolate by the fire. The memories of all of this made her heart swell. The hustle of the city on Christmas Eve in the city made even as cold of a night as it was warm. After a long day of traveling, Yukari decided to rest on a park bench and take in the Christmas spirit. When she sat, she noticed a small black cat brush against her leg. She reached down to pet the soft animal, but as she did, it darted away to the other side of the street. Watching the cat run off, it led Yukari’s eyes to become fixed on a new scene, a group of energetic teenaged girls on a shopping spree.
One of the girls collapsed onto the sidewalk, multiple shopping bags in hand.
“My legs cannot go onnnnn,” complained the redhead.
“Ange, you can’t just sit on the floor, we have so many more stores to stop by! We have to get gifts for all of my sisters!” the brunette exclaimed excitedly.
“You say that, but every store we’ve entered, you’ve only bought things for yourself.”
“Stop making fun of me! You know I can’t help myself when it comes to shopping.”
The third girl walked up to the redhead and patted her head, “There, there, Ange. We can always stop if you’re tired. It is already so dark outside, anyway.”
“Mariaaaaa, you should be on my side! We were going to the candy shop next!”
The short-haired brunette perked up at the idea of candy. “Ange…” Both girls looked at the exhausted redhead with pleading eyes, like two puppies begging for treats.
“Ugh! Fine, we can get some candy, but then I need to sleep. Dad is going to wake me up super early tomorrow for presents, he still takes this Christmas thing as seriously as he did when I was a child.”
The three girls continued their walk down the street toward a small candy stand with buckets full of colorful konpeito, taffy, and chocolate covered everything. Mamo began to fill her bag with candies of all kinds, with no regard for how much she was grabbing, being greeted back with a look it seemed Mamo knew all too well.
“It’s for Belze, I promise!” she cried out. The other two girls just laughed knowingly at her, as if this was what they knew and loved about their eccentrically greedy friend. Maria was more careful in picking out what candy to fill her bag with. She grabbed caramels, which she mentioned were her mother’s favorite, and a couple cute Santa-shaped lollipops for herself. She picked up a red-nosed reindeer-shaped one and held it up in the air.
“I will give this one to Uncle Rudo- ah!”
As she was speaking, Mamo dragged both Maria and Ange back behind the stand.
“Mammon, what are you doing!?” Ange exclaimed.
“Shhhhh,” Mammon responded while placing a finger to her lips, “Look over there.”
Following the now pointed finger, the three girls watched as two figures moved closer to them along the pavement. A tall redheaded man who was a spitting image of Ange was giggling while a woman with long and lustrous golden hair seemed to be telling him some sort of story.
“What are the chances?” Ange complained as she buried her face in her hands.
“I guess they’re just as last minute as us when it comes to gift shopping,” Maria whispered to her two friends.
“How do I hide the special box of chocolates I got for Beato if she sees us?” Maria asked.
“Caught!” a voice yelled. All three girls jumped up as the blonde woman seemingly magically appeared right in front of them. She picked up the box of chocolates from Maria’s hand and investigated them with a cackle.
“Hoh! Maria, what an impressive choice. You have grown up to have quite the refined taste.”
“Beatooo, give those back, they were supposed to be a surprise for tomorrow!"
“Nothing can surprise me, my dear. I have eyes everywhere.” She made a gesture with her fingers toward all the girls.
“Beatrice, as boisterous as ever.” Ange greeted the woman.
“Ange-chan, as gloomy and depressive as ever,” Beatrice responded.
“Witch,” Ange scoffed.
“But of course!” Beatrice pulled Ange into a soft embrace as the two giggled at their banter.
“Soooo what’s all this in your hand, Battler?” Mamo reeled up close to him.
“Patience, Mammon, patience.”
“So your wife is allowed to snoop on her gifts, but we can’t get a little teaser for ours!” Mamo and Maria both protested against Battler’s stinginess.
“I get special treatment because I am The Golden Witch, you know. Mammon, why don’t you show some respect to your master?” Beatrice chimed in.
“I only answer to Ange now!”
“Please don’t lump me in with you lunatics,” Ange sighed.
As the two converging groups of people conversed with excitement, it felt as if the whole world existed just for them. Large golden flakes began to drift from the sky and surround them, coating the entire land in a dazzling gold. The sight was so picturesque it felt like it belonged in a storybook or a dream. The entire world around them became extravagantly dazzling.
“Hey, Yukari!” Yukari felt someone tapping on her shoulder, jolting her back to reality. Standing over her shoulder was her bodyguard, Amakusa. He was the only person close to her who knew the scope of her past and knew her beyond, “Yukari Kotobuki, struggling author.”
“Hey girl, how long have you been sitting here daydreaming? Look at you!”
Yukari looked down and could see a layer of snow growing upon the grass and her clothing. She must have been sitting there for a while. She looked around and saw the city slowly turning white as soft light snowflakes drifted from the sky. She hadn't seen snow like this in many years, let alone on the night of Christmas Eve. The scene she had just been observing had faded out and was now replaced with a hurried parent and a small child trying to capture snowflakes on his tongue.
Snowflakes are typically praised for their uniqueness, each flake being different from the last, but there is something more beautiful about them than that. Snow is as delicate as a memory, the second it meets the warmth of human skin, it melts back into water. Flakes dance in the sky for a momentary second, making the air sprinkled with glitter, and in that moment, they are just themselves. But once they land, they become one with all the other snow, changing the world they have been birthed upon into a world covered in shimmering white. Everything under it is laid to rest under the blanket they create. This blanket now becomes bound to one fate, to be melted into water once again. Snow cannot last forever in this place, once summer comes, it will give everything that rested beneath it a second in the sun. Yet, every winter, when the temperature is at its most frigid, they come back and do their dance all over again. That fragility is what makes snow special; it must remain untouched for it to have its effect of reimagining the world. The figures that had enraptured Yukari’s mind just moments earlier had become one with this snow, melting away from sight. One may say that they were just illusions born from the shifted visibility, but to Yukari, this was a peek into another layer of the world, granted to her through the magic contained in every flake.
The small black cat from earlier seemed to have come back around to the bench and brushed against Amakusa’s leg.
“Augh! I hate those things. Bad luck all around! On Christmas Eve, too!” Juza jumped up. “C’mon, Yukari! We gotta get you somewhere warm. You’re gonna freeze your ass off if you stay here one more second.” Yukari nodded and brushed herself off. She knew it was time to go, she was helpless against the wrath of this winter storm. But, as she began to walk away, she turned back at the cat that lay under the bench, cleaning itself, and gave it a soft smile.
“Thank you,” she whispered. The whisper was so quiet, not even Amakusa could hear it over the rising wind and ringing of bells. However, the cat looked right at Yukari and gave her a meow. Yukari turned her head forward and felt a soft comfort deep inside her body. It had been quite a while since a black cat had toyed with her life. Quite a while indeed.
---
“Yukari, I heard note from the publishing house after your meeting,” Amakusa stated as they entered their hotel room.
“Yeah, what about it?” Yukari could feel a slight twinge of anxiety in her chest. She should have been used to this conversation by now, but every rejection still stung.
“That Adventures of Sakutarou thing you showed them, they think it’s really good. Really, really good. They wanna give you a chance with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whaddya mean, ‘what do you mean?’ Yukari, they wanna publish your novel.”
Yukari stopped in her steps and turned to her close friend, trying to find any traces that this may be some sort of sick joke, while being unable to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. They liked her manuscript. They wanted to publish her novel.
“We’ll have to do some contract signing tomorrow and of course find an editor, I’m sure they got alla that lined right on up for you!” Amakusa began to trail on about logistics and whatnot, but Yukari couldn't hear it. Her head was clouded with insurmountable joy. Adventures of Sakutarou was her heart and joy, a story that was not just hers, but of someone she once knew and loved. This wasn't just her moment, but everybody’s. The scared little girl who hid deep inside her heart wiped away her tears. That voice, the one found in a deep cavern, called out.
“And Onii-chan, if you’re still out there, I hope you read this one too.”
A voice began to ring inside her ears. It was a voice she had known so well, a voice that she always held close to her.
“Merry Christmas, Ange. I hope all your dreams come true,” Her brother beckoned to her.
“Merry Christmas, Battler,” she whispered.
“Didya say something, Ms. Kotobuki?” Amakusa rolled over and asked.
Yukari shook her head and smiled softly to herself. She lay down for sleep and thought to herself, what a miracle it was to be alive, and how happy she was to feel the cold against her skin and the soft wool of her blanket. She was the witch ANGE of the future, and through every hardship and every dull moment, her heart continued to beat on, for everyone.