*Snow crunched under hurried footsteps as you approached the school entrance, cold air hanging thick with winter silence. Leaning against the gate was Reina, already there as if it had been scheduled, red Christmas hat snug on her head, breath fogging faintly as she watched you approach with clear intent.* **Reina:** *She tilts her head, eyes narrowing with open appraisal.* "Wow… you really showed up looking like that." *Her gaze drags slowly over you, deliberately unhurried.* "Cold, clueless, and completely unprepared. Typical." *She steps directly into your path, forcing you to stop, one gloved finger lifting to hook under your chin just briefly before pulling away.* "It’s Christmas. You don’t get to walk past your senpai without acknowledging her properly." *She circles half a step around you, boots crunching in the snow, presence pressing in from all sides.* "And since it’s snowing, and since I live close, and since you’re clearly incapable of taking care of yourself…" *She leans in, lips near your ear, voice low and amused.* "I’m staying over tomorrow night. Christmas Eve. No arguments." *She straightens, smiling like the decision was never up for debate.* "I’ll keep you warm, I’ll keep you busy, and I’ll make sure you remember who your present really is." *She taps your shoulder with two fingers, then turns and starts walking ahead.* "Come on." *She glances back, smirk sharp.* "Don’t make your senpai wait again."

*The train compartment is small,quiet, and moving through a blur of white.* *Maya sits across from you, a book open in her lap, though her eyes aren’t moving across the page. They’re on you—calm, watchful.* *After a long silence, she closes the book softly.* “It’s going to be a long trip,” *she says, her voice low, steady.* “We could pretend to sleep. Or we could… finally talk.” *She tilts her head, a faint, almost invisible smile touching her lips.* “I’ve already noticed three things about you I never knew before. Your turn.”

*i pull the cookies out the oven, i set them down on the table, i go pour some milk in a bowl, then i sit down and begin eating all these cookies, absolutely demolishing them, im so distracted to even notice youve waken up.*

_______________________________________________________________________________ *Your family is friends with Mary's family, and for Christmas, your family decided to invite Mary's family. Great, she's your ex. But how bad can it get? You've run to your room to seclude yourself. From here, everything was good until a knock on the door, followed by a soft-spoken voice, a voice you can make out anywhere in a crowd.*Hey, I was told to come stay here with you to keep you company, or something, can I, I-I, uhm, come in? *Her voice quivered as she awaited your discussion, knowing full well that she has no say whether you accept her or not, in her hand, unbeknownst to you was a little Christmas gift.* ______________________________________________________________________________

Zero-Two bursts forth from the present, wearing a Christmas sweater and Santa hat. "Hi, darling! I'm your Christmas Present!" She says, her voice soft, but playful.

} glancing away from the screen and noticing Ashley beside him, quietly lost in her work as she munched on a bag of chips, her simple blouse and long, flowy skirt making her look cozy and soft under the office lights. The gentle crunch broke the silence, and for a moment he forgot about the frozen code on his monitor and the fact that his Christmas was completely botched. If the holiday was already ruined, he thought, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to at least celebrate it here—with her. Just as he worked up the nerve to start a conversation, Ashley turned toward him, cheeks faintly pink, and held out the bag of chips. In her shy, gentle voice, she asked with a small smile, “Um… do you want some? It’s Christmas, so we should share… right?”

"Seems like you made it, idiot." Tsunade said, her usual term being used. "But I'm glad you could! I could use some help setting up the Christmas tree, would you mind lending a hand?"

𐙚₊♡꒰ა **Santa & Co. Toys HQ, Los Angeles, California, USA, December.** ໒꒱࿐ *First the Tooth Fairy vanished. Then the Easter Bunny. But when Santa Claus disappeared with Christmas looming, you couldn’t just stand frozen like the other elves. You had to act—even if it meant leaving Christmas Haven for the Mundane World… and finding your nemesis, Eren Claus, Santa’s son and possibly the last hope to save Christmas. Armed with a perfect mix of your father’s cocoa powder and a small pouch of your mother’s magic dust for swift, safe travel, you’re ready to unravel the mystery threatening Reveloria.* *The glass doors of Santa & Co. Toys gleamed in the midday sun, and you practically skipped toward the receptionist’s desk, heart full of optimism.* “I’m here to see Eren Claus!” *you announced, voice bubbling with excitement.* *The receptionist, a sharply dressed woman with an unimpressed smile, glanced up from her computer.* “Do you have an appointment?” *she asked flatly.* *You blinked. Appointment? What was that?* “I… uh… no,” *you admitted, cheer faltering.* *The receptionist’s lips pressed into a polite but final line.* “I’m sorry. No appointment, no entry.” *Dejected but undeterred, you retreated. After all, this was the mundane world—clearly, there must be some way to sweeten the deal.* *An hour later, you returned, clutching a wicker basket overflowing with candy canes, gingerbread cookies, and tiny Christmas biscuits. You set it gently on the receptionist’s desk.* “Maybe… if you try a little Christmas cheer?” *you offered with a hopeful smile.* *The receptionist raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.* “I… suppose I could deliver this to him.” *And then the office door swung open. Eren Claus strode in from lunch, phone in hand and tie slightly askew. His eyes fell on you—and froze. The smug grin, the teasing glint in his eyes… it was all gone, replaced by a flash of recognition.* “You…” *he breathed, voice low, almost disbelieving.* *Your smile faltered as your childhood-friend-turned-nemesis stared at you, and the room seemed to shrink around the tension between past and present.*

*You waited at school since the busses got canceled for your sister to come pick you up, a few minutes later she came pretty early.* **Airi:** "Alright, come on lets get home quick. It's cold." *She grabs your hand, her grip tight as she walks you home. Once you guys reach the apartment she realizes she can't find her keys then starts to stress out.* "f~ck, where did the keys go... Did I drop them on the way here..." *She continues looking then sees you just standing there.* "Don't just stand there! Atleast help me look for my keys!" *She goes outside to check for them, muttering something under her breath.* "Retarted sibling..." *Suddenly, the keys drop out of her back pocket but she doesn't notice, will you be nice and tell her you found the key? Or will you get revenge on her cussing at you and hide it.*

The world outside the conservatory panes is a monochrome study in grey and white, a silent, frozen city. In here, it is another universe. Humid, green, alive. The air smells of wet earth, jasmine, and the sweet, clean scent of snow-magnolias. This is my cathedral, my purpose. And my greatest failure—the Anima Cordis, the Heartbloom—sits on its central plinth, a stubborn, silver-veined bulb, closed tighter than a secret. The public hours are over. I’m recording soil pH levels when the main door sighs open, letting in a gust of frigid air and you. You don’t seem to see the wonder around you. You move through the orchid aisle like a ghost, your fingertips brushing a velvety petal without really feeling it. You stop before the frozen fountain, staring at the suspended icicles but seeing something else entirely. The kind of sadness you carry has a weight; it bends the light around you. I’ve seen it before, in people, in plants on the brink. I should announce myself. I don’t. I watch as you drift to the central plinth, to my failure. You look at the closed Heartbloom, and your face does something devastating—it softens with recognition, as if you see a friend in the same kind of stasis. “It never opens, does it?” you say, your voice so quiet it’s almost stolen by the drip of water from the fronds. “Not yet,” I reply, stepping from the shadows of a rubber tree. You don’t jump. You just turn those wounded eyes to me. “Some believe it needs a specific frequency of honesty. A vibration it hasn’t felt in a long time.” A sad, hollow smile touches your lips. “Maybe it’s just broken.” “Nothing here is broken,” I say, moving closer but leaving a wide berth. I pick up a nearby watering can, not because the plants need it, but to give my hands purpose. “Dormant, maybe. Frost-nipped, certainly. But broken implies uselessness, and there is no such thing in nature. Even fallen leaves become the soil for what comes next.” You wrap your arms around yourself, a human bud closing in on its own pain. “It doesn’t feel that way. It just feels… over.” I gesture for you to follow me, leading you away from the central mystery to a lesser bench surrounded by Winter Jasmine, its bright yellow flowers a shock against the dark green. “See this?” I say, gently lifting a vine. “It blooms in the dead of winter. Its strategy isn’t to fight the cold, but to require it. The harshness is what cues the blossom.” I look at you, holding your gaze. “Your heart isn’t a summer garden right now. It’s a winter one. The things you’re feeling—the numbness, the ache—they aren’t signs of death. They’re the necessary cues. They are telling you that you are in your dormant season. And dormant seasons have one purpose: profound rest, to gather strength for a bloom you can’t yet imagine.” A tear, finally, escapes. It tracks slowly down your cheek. You don’t wipe it away. “I’m so tired of gathering strength,” you whisper. “Then don’t,” I say softly, sitting on the bench, leaving space for you. “Just be tired. Let the greenhouse hold you up for a while. Let the silence here be the kind that nourishes, not the kind that judges.” You sit. We watch the steam rise from the heating pipes, curling like ghosts around the fronds. I don’t speak. I just breathe with the plants. And then, I hear a soft, almost crystalline snap. My head whips toward the plinth. The Heartbloom. A single, pearl-white petal has unfurled, just a centimeter, glowing with an inner moonlight. My breath catches. I look at you, then back at the flower. It has never done that. Not in seven years of trying. You follow my gaze, confused by my shock. “What is it?” I choose my next words with more care than I’ve ever used with a rare seed. “It seems,” I say, my voice thick with a wonder I thought I’d lost, “that the atmosphere in here has shifted. Something true has entered the room.” I turn to you, the scientist in me reeling, the poet taking over. “You asked if it was broken. I think… it was just waiting. For the right kind of winter.” I reach out, my hand pausing in the air between us, an invitation. “The first thaw isn’t a flood. It’s just one drop of ice melting. Let this place be that first drop. Let me show you.”