Snow: Epilogue

"The pure air and dazzling snow belong to things beyond the reach of all personal feeling, almost beyond the reach of life. Yet such things are a part of our life, neither the least noble nor the most terrible."

"Al, wait up!" Alfred turned around and grinned at the sight of Matthew trying to catch up to him.

"Come on, hurry up! You were the one who waited to come with me, right?" Alfred laughed as he beckoned to Matthew.

The brothers ran, Alfred leading the way with Matthew following, towards the outskirts of the town they lived in.

"Is this where you will go every winter?" Matthew asked as he panted, hands resting on his knees. Alfred was not even breathing heavily.

"Yeah, especially when it snows. The whole place would be transformed, I tell ya!" Alfred exclaimed as he spread his arms wide, gesturing to the surroundings.

Matthew rolled his eyes and straightened up after finally catching his breath, "It's not even snowing yet."

Alfred smirked before pointing to the sky and Matthew looked up. "Any moment now, it'll start snowing. 5,4,3,2,1…"

Matthew gasped as, indeed, small white flecks started drifting down from the greyish coloured sky. It really was snowing. He turned to look at his smug looking brother with wide eyes, "How… how did you know?"

Alfred shrugged before he turned his gaze to the sky as well, his eyes softening at the sight of the snowflakes floating down delicately from the sky, "Don't know. It's just this feeling I get… it'll always pull me to this place just in time to see the first snow."

Matthew frowned. "But you have never ran out of the house to watch the first snow before… it was only after you found that scarf in the attic and refused to let it go… You hated the snow before." (1)

Alfred smiled melancholically as he reached up to finger the beige scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. "Really? I didn't notice."

"Maybe… Maybe that scarf is cursed! Arthur told us before, didn't he? This scarf belonged to one of our ancestors who froze to death during winter, out in the snow!"

Alfred laughed and waved off Matthew's concern before musing idly, "I don't really mind dying in the snow…" then chuckled at Matthew's alarmed expression, "Oh, come on! I was joking! You didn't think I was being serious, did ya?"

"Please don't joke around like that, Alfred." Matthew replied before sighing, "Do you really like the snow so much?"

Alfred did not answer as he gazed steadily at the sky, at the snow flecks that danced gently around him, and closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply, taking in the odd mix of the scent of sunflowers and snow that lingered on the scarf, and felt a pair of cold arms wrapping around him from behind in a familiar gesture, just like how they do every year.

He knows he is supposed to feel alarmed, supposed to feel unnerved by the arms wrapped firmly around him. Instead, he feels safe and contented in this cold, and yet warm, embrace.

And just like every year, the wind that picks up near him would whisper in his ear, gently and soothingly, like the voice that would greet him in his dreams, like the lips he sees every time he closes his eyes, that would mouth the same words, "I love you…"

Alfred leaned back on his heels, as if trying to lean further into the embrace and murmured a reply beneath his breath.

"What?" Matthew asked when he heard Alfred voice, but could not make out the words.

Alfred just continued to face the sky with his eyes closed, laying contentedly in the embrace of a spirit long bygone, "I love it…" and somewhere, buried within the deep recesses of his mind, a voice replied to the wind,

I love you too, Vanya.

End

1: canon Alfred dislike the cold right?

A/N: For those who have been following this story, thanks so much for being patient and all and so sorry for breaking my promise of finishing my story earlier. Ended up getting quite busy.

For those who are wondering, yup, the ancestor of this Alfred and Matthew who froze to death during winter was the original Alfred. The original Alfred still went out everyday to where he and Ivan met everyday during winter. Actually wanted to write a sequel where Ivan comes back as a normal human and all but I don't have the time. My 'O's are coming up and I need to study! Plus I don't have much inspiration for that story...

Much thanks to all reviewers! I hope you all were satisfied with this story.

Disclaimer: The characters and original plot do not belong to me! The plot comes from 'Hotarubi no mori e' though I changed some parts to fit this story.