Winter Blossoms

There was a flower, the last flower of that year, a frail plant with pale white blossoms growing amidst a sea of dead leaves. Its leaves drooped and it looked as if it might wither any second now, and yet it stood defiantly against the harsh November winds.

A hand, delicate and nearly as pale as the blossom reached out to it. One slight touch, and the fragile flower wilted. A layer of frost began spreading over it, starting from the point of impact, until all water in the plant had been transformed into ice.

Letty broke the flower's stem close to the ground with an audible snap and brought the frozen flower to her eye level, twirling it slowly in her fingers to examine it at all angles. She dared not touch the tiny petals, fearing they would snap away from the slightest pressure. Then, she gingerly placed it on the ground, close to where she had first taken it. She adjusted the long, heavy white mantle on her shoulders and continued onwards towards her destination, leaving the ground and brown leaves she walked on covered in rime in her wake.

She walked slowly through the dead and deserted forest, savouring her first few moments awake after the eight-month hibernation, only stopping occasionally to touch the trees she brushed by to give their dark barks a frost coating and to take a deep breath of the chilly air surrounding her. It felt good to be alive again.

Despite her leisurely pace, it didn't take her long to reach the steps to the Hakurei shrine. She took the tails of her mantle in her hands and began ascending the steps, slowly and quietly, like a ghost.

She walked into the courtyard and stood tall in the middle of it, letting go of her mantle. As she had expected, Reimu was there, still wearing her summer clothes save for a long yellow scarf wrapped around her neck. She sat on the porch, calmly sipping steaming tea from the mug in her hands. She didn't acknowledge Letty's presence in any way.

Letty placed her hands casually on her hips and waited. As minutes kept ticking by, she looked up at the sky to see the the fluffy clouds lazily making their way through the light blue sky. Letty smiled and savoured the beauty of nature.

Finally, Reimu put the mug next to her on the porch and folded her arms inside her sleeves, looking straight at Letty.

"You're late," she said, her tone as bland as humanly possible.

"Winter was late," Letty retorted, matching her tone with Reimu's.

Reimu gave no indication that she either accepted or disapproved of the excuse. She leaned backwards and took a look at the sky as well.

"Did you sleep well?" she suddenly asked.

Letty shrugged. "I suppose so. I did stay asleep for longer than I would have liked, but it wasn't too bad otherwise. How was your summer?"

"Same old, same old. There was an incident during spring, but nothing since." She pulled a face. "It's been boring, really."

Letty nodded. She knew that as much Reimu grumbled about having to sort out incidents all the time, the only thing she disliked more than being busy all the time was not being busy all the time.

There was a brief silence. Letty took another glimpse at the sky, and when she returned her glance to the ground level Reimu was staring at her.

"Is something wrong?" Letty asked.

"What happened to your old cape? That one's new."

"Oh, this?" Letty touched her shoulder and the mantle on it. "This is just snow." And with that, she cast it off. As the mantle flew into the air, it lost its shape and became snow once again, landing softly on the courtyard, covering it like a pure white sheet of paper.

Reimu stared silently at the snow. "You do realise that I have to clean that up, right?"

Letty looked behind her. "I probably should have thought about that beforehand."

Reimu shrugged and grabbed the mug again, turning it around in her hands. "It doesn't matter. At least it gives me something to do." She smiled wryly. "Sweeping the courtyard when there's actually something to sweep is far more rewarding than my usual routine."

Letty nodded at her, but didn't feel certain enough about her position to smile back at her.

"I saw a flower in the woods today," she said.

Reimu's eyebrows rose. "This far into November? That's pretty rare."

"Yes. Unfortunately, it died when I touched it."

"That's just how it goes," Reimu said, her eyes fixed on the mug. "Flowers are fragile. They can't stand cold."

Letty sighed. Then, she tilted her head. "Surely there must be some flowers that tolerate it a little better?"

Again, a ghost of a smile appeared on Reimu's lips. It was gone as soon as Letty noticed it, but now, for the first time since her arrival, Reimu was looking her in the eye.

"It's possible," she said matter-of-factly, "Surely there must be at least one."

Letty closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Reimu's hair smelled like summer, a strange, unfamiliar scent she could never quite get used to. The same could be said about the warmth, both from the thick covers on top of her, and the one emanating from the body in her arms. The sensation was both uncomfortable and addicting: it was similar to standing in direct sunlight during late winter, letting her catch a glimpse of a world she wasn't normally privy to. A world so different from her domain of snow and ice, a world so unfamiliar and eerie she wasn't sure she even wanted to experience it beyond what she had already seen.

Then again, it was something she wanted to keep experiencing over and over again.

"Did you really have to come back this late?" Reimu asked her drowsily. Letty raised her gaze in surprise, having thought Reimu to be asleep. She couldn't see the look on her face, and couldn't tell Reimu's emotions from the tone of her voice alone, even if she was was willing to show more emotion when alone with Letty. "Been waiting for you for days."

"I can't decide when winter begins," Letty said quietly. She leaned forward and planted a kiss on Reimu's forehead.

"Mmhm." Reimu yawned and curled herself closer to Letty like a cat. "Truth to be told, for a moment I thought you had decided not to come back."

Letty frowned. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know." Reimu fell silent for a moment, before continuing: "Sometimes, I don't know why anyone bothers coming back over here. I have nothing to offer except for extermination services and cold tea."

"You know that that's not really true."

Reimu turned to look at Letty, frowning. "I didn't say that to garner sympathy, you know." She lay down again and sighed. "I don't mind solitude. I'm used to it. Having other people around is way more difficult."

"Well, I hope you don't mind my presence here."

Reimu chuckled. "What do you think? Sometimes, I really don't understand you."

"And sometimes, I really don't understand you." Letty smiled inwardly. "Well, I wish to keep coming back for as long as possible. I hope you're fine with that."

"Shh." Reimu snuggled against Letty and closed her eyes. "Don't spoil the moment."

Letty followed Reimu's example, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms more tightly around Reimu's slender frame. She was right. Why talk about the unforeseeable future when the the present was so safe and serene? Today, the futon and each other's arms were their shield from the world, the same way the Hakurei border protected the fantastic from the mundane. At moments like these, one could even forget how fleeting human lives were in comparison to those of the youkai.

She opened her eyes with a flash. Reimu had began to shiver.

"We should probably get up," Letty said at length, not really ready to let go of Reimu yet. Still, what else could you do in this situation? As difficult it could be to remember at times, prolonged exposure to cold could be a real threat to creatures as frail as humans. To Reimu, being hugged by her must have felt like about the same as being embracing by an icicle.

She moved to leave, but Reimu grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.

"Don't," she said bluntly. "Not just yet."

Letty sighed. She was tempted to ignore Reimu's shivering and do as she asked, but couldn't.

"I don't want you to catch pneumonia because of me," she said. "Look at yourself, your lips are getting blue."

"I won't catch anything from just a few minutes more." She gave Letty's arm a light yank. "Please."

Against her better judgment, swayed by Reimu's pleading eyes and her own desire to stay close to her, Letty pulled Reimu back into her embrace and kissed her bare shoulder.

Still, she felt obliged to ask: "Don't you really feel cold?"

"Oh, I feel like the blood in my veins is freezing," Reimu said airily, turning her head to look Letty in the eye.

"...I don't want to be the one to kill you by freezing you to death," Letty said.

There was a mischievous twinkle in Reimu's eyes that disappeared like a melting snowflake. "That's too bad, because if I had to die, that would be my preferred way to go." She leaned in closer and brought her bluish lips to Letty's.

"I'd rather have you not die at all."

"And I'd rather have it always be winter, but we can't always have what we want."

Letty raised her eyebrows. "You would? I thought you loved summer."

Reimu closed her eyes. "I do," she said sleepily. "It's one of my favourite things."

Letty gently stroked Reimu's cheek. "But not your favourite?"

"No," Reimu whispered, "there is something I love even more."

And with that, still shivering, she fell asleep, the red and white blossom of four seasons, in the loving embrace of the purple and white flower of winter.

Letty got up, tucked Reimu in and walked out to the porch. While they had been inside, the first snow of the year had begun to fall. She sat down to look at the snowflakes as they slowly tumbled towards the ground, some melting, some joining the remains of her mantle.

Letty sighed. First snow always made her wistful. Why, she wasn't sure. There was no real reason to feel sad.

Winter had only just begun, after all.

THE END