A snowflake fell from the heavens, landing on Gourry's nose. He blinked, staring at the tiny, six-pointed flake with a childlike awe as it melted away into nothingness. Others soon followed this first, and the swordsman called to his friends inside the inn. "Hey guys, it's snowing! It's finally snowing!"
Amelia's eyes lit up at his words, flying off from the fireplace and to him, barely remembering to grab her heavy winter cloak as she did so. The two began prancing around, trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
Inside, Lina and Zelgadis stayed sitting by the fireplace, the former because she hated snow, the latter because snow simply didn't make him want to go out and act like an idiot. As the chimera thought along those lines, the two snow catchers ran into each other, neither looking anywhere but at the sky. Zel shook his head and turned back to the fire, smirking slightly at them.
"What?" the sorceress asked him.
"Nothing. Just Gourry and Amelia."
"Oh," she decided to look out and saw the two, trying to pick themselves off and shaking their heads from the collision. Lina giggled softly. "Yep, just Gourry and Amelia, all right."
She picked up her mug of hot cocoa and moved over to the other couch, next to Zel as he took another sip of his coffee. "Those clouds look about ready to drop a lot of snow on this poor little inn here."
"Mm-hmm."
"We might get snowed in for a while."
"Mm-hmm."
"You know, the Winter Solstice Festival is coming up soon in Seyruun. I wanted to go and see the lights and everything."
"Mm-hmm." sip
"You're rather shut off tonight. Any reason?"
Zel set down his coffee and sighed, turning his eyes towards her. "The solstice is coming."
"Yes, so?"
"That's...never really a good time for me."
"Why not?"
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"Aw, c'mon, Zel. Talking does help sometimes, ya know."
"Do you want to talk about your sister and why you're so scared of her?"
"Erk. Uh, not really."
"My point exactly."
Lina got one of those pouty 'tell me pweeze?' looks on her face. "Ze-el!"
He gave her an exasperated look on his own face, withdrawing his gaze back to the fire. It crackled loudly in the otherwise empty common room. The foursome was the only group currently occupying the abandoned inn. "You know I don't like discussing my personal life, Lina."
"We're part of your personal life, aren't we?"
"Well, yes..."
"So why can't you tell me this? Whatever it is, it can't be that horrible. It wasn't on the winter solstice that Rezo...ya know...is it?"
The chimera flinched slightly at the utterance of his grandfather's name. "No," he sternly replied. "It was close, but that's not what bothers me about this time of year. Not directly, at least."
"Then what's so bad about the solstice?"
"..."
"Zel?"
A soft mumbling came from his direction.
"What was that?"
"Our secret, okay?" he asked, turning back to her on the couch.
How bad can this be that he's so anxious about it? she wondered silently. Lina gave her one of her reassuring smiles. "Sure, our secret."
Head bowed, eyes looking again towards the fire, he gave her a soft answer. "The winter solstice is the time when...well..."
"Yes?"
"I was born on the winter solstice all right!" he spun away, his voice a semi-angry huff.
Lina just blinked, both at his sudden anger spike and his words. "Oh. Your birthday, huh? What's so bad about that? Shouldn't that be a good thing?"
"No."
"And why not?" Now she was getting frustrated. Birthdays were supposed to be fun. Why was Zelgadis being so unhappy about this? If they'd known, they could've thrown him a birthday party when they'd been together at the palace last year.
"I lost my family on my birthday, almost eight years ago. I hardly call that a 'good thing.'"
Ah. Her arms quickly found their way around his waist. He stiffened before slumping back down again. "You could've said that first, ya know. Then I wouldn't have sounded like such an ass. I'm guessing you want to keep things quiet on the solstice, ne?"
He nodded.
"Well, if I let that happen, what are you going to do with all that time? No, don't respond. I'll tell you. You'll wind up sitting in front of this fireplace, ignoring everybody and being your cold, shut off self, just like you are every time another cure doesn't work. It's been eight years, you said, right?"
He nodded again. "Eight years this solstice."
"So don't you think it's time to move on? Sure, I know it still probably hurts. They're family, and I imagine it'd be horrible to lose them on a day like that, but you can't let it ruin that day for the rest of your life. The solstice might mark another year you've been without them, but it almost marks another year you've been here, alive with family and friends alike. I always wondered why you seemed to go off on your own while we went to the festivals and things. Guess now I know. But it looks like this year, you're gonna be stuck with us, unless you'd like to go through snow. And I think that's a good thing. You need us around to keep you un-depressed." She smiled, craning her neck around to look at him. He looked back, his face a mask of skepticism.
"Move on, huh?"
"Yep. The others don't have to know it's your birthday, but you should at least celebrate the solstice with us. I got you a present," she finished the last sentence in a sing-song voice.
"Lina Inverse, giving things to others? The shock of it all. You sure you don't have cabin fever or something? We have been here for a few days," Zel replied, smirking playfully. Lina just replied with cuff to his jaw and a mock pout.
As predicted, the snow kept falling.
And falling...
And falling...
And...well, you get the picture.
By the arrival of the winter solstice, the inn had been snowed in. Gourry had to use a shovel to make a path out to find kindling wood for the fire.
The princess awoke at sunrise, jumping into her clothes and heading out to the roof to welcome the longest day of the year with a rousing song about justice, truth, and love. Rousing it was indeed. It woke the rest of the group, earning her a fireball to the bum courtesy of a cranky 'it's too damn early' Lina Inverse. The four soon came down for breakfast after that, working together in well-practiced harmony to get the food ready quickly and efficiently for even speedier consumption.
"Oi, Zel?"
"Yeah, Gourry?"
"You know what this place needs? A little decoration. Something green. It is the winter solstice after all, and we've gotta do something. Let's go see if we can find some stuff, ne?"
The chimera sighed. "Fine." He pulled himself out of his chair, and followed the swordsman out the door.
Lina smiled. "Good work, Gourry."
"Huh? What do you mean, Lina-san?"
"I mean, Amelia, that we had a plan going on. Now c'mon, we gotta get things ready before Zel gets back."
The princess continued to look confused. "Ready for what?"
"Our winter solstice party, of course!"
"A party?!?!" she squealed, eyes bright and shining. "Yea! But, why did we need to get Zelgadis-san out of the inn to do this?"
"Because he hates parties. And if he knew we were trying to do something, he'd just hole himself up in his room. There's no way in hell he's getting out of celebrating with us this time! Now, c'mon, we've got a party to set up for!"
"Right!"
Outside, the swordsman and the shaman trudged through the snow banks, in search of some greenery. They made their way to a small grove of evergreens, looking at the group of trees.
"Why don't you pick out a tree, and we'll take it back to the inn, ne? After all, what's the solstice without a tree?"
"It's still the solstice. It's about the longest day of the year, not a tree with decorations on it."
"Just do it, okay, Zel?" Gourry groaned. Jeez; this is harder than I thought. "I'm gonna go look for some other things to decorate the place. Be back in a jiff!"
He trotted off a little further in, finding some berry trees. One particular piece of flora caught his attention, and he plucked a few sprigs off, putting them inside his coat. He grabbed a few others from holly and ivy plants before heading back.
When he arrived, Zelgadis had already cut down the tree with his sword, a well-rounded fir that just barely topped Gourry's height. "Can we go now?" he moaned, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against a tall pine.
"Sure," Gourry smiled. He glanced at the sun, noting that at least an hour had passed since their departure. I hope the girls have had enough time.
Indeed they had. Lina had gone scavenging around the inn a few days prior, searching for blankets. Her search in the attic had revealed two large boxes filled with winter-type decorations, as well as ornaments and a few other boxes containing items the former residents had left behind. The inn was filled with beauty, and a stand waited patiently for the tree in a corner near the fireplace. Amelia was busy in the kitchen, making some refreshments when the guys returned.
Lina greeted the two, and their eyes widened slightly at the sudden change in the small cottage-like building. "Wow" was about all the blond could make out.
"Jeez, don't just stand there! Go put the tree up, jellyfish! Zel, c'mon, come sit down and get warm. That skin of yours is freezing!" she scolded, taking her stone friend by the arm and leading him to the couch before the fireplace. "Amelia, they're back!"
"Coming, Lina-san!" She soon bustled her way into the common room, holding a tray laden with cookies and four mugs of apple cider.
As soon as the tree was set up in the stand, Gourry made his way upstairs, mightily tempted to stay down and eat before Lina devoured all the cookies. But up he went anyway, quickly returning with a few wrapped boxes and catching the redhead as a thought came to him. "Oi, Lina, I got it. Where d'you want them?" he asked, pulling out the few sprigs he'd gathered.
Lina quickly took them, pushing him over to the tray as she scampered off. She returned without the sprigs, assumedly having put them somewhere. "Time for decorating!"
Zel got more and more anxious as the revelries went on. Shortly after they trimmed the tree, nine wrapped boxes of various shapes and sizes appeared under the lowest boughs. Presents from the others. Seeing three addressed to him didn't help. Just as Lina had predicted, the shaman was about ready to find a way to escape to his room and lock the door; anything to get away from their cheerfulness and happiness about this day. He was definitely not happy or cheerful, and he hadn't gotten the others presents. He even doubted he would've had he known about the party.
Mumbling some excuse, he got up and left the room, heading for the staircase, only to be met by a pair of accusing ruby eyes.
"And just where do you think you're going?"
"Upstairs."
Lina shook her head. "I don't think so, not without getting past me. You're going to stay downstairs with us, and you're going to enjoy it."
A smirk graced Zelgadis's lips. "Not without getting past you, huh? Is that a challenge?"
"You wanna get past me?"
He nodded.
"There's just one thing I'll do to stop you, then."
A pebbled eyebrow raised. "Do your worst."
She made a 'come hither' signal with her finger, with which the chimera complied. What the hell, he figured. Just gets me closer to my goal. Pointing up, she drew his eyes and attention to the rafters, from which was hung a sprig of a green plant with white berries. He looked back down when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. He gave her a questioning look.
Lina just smiled. "Mistletoe," she whispered. His eyes widened as she raised on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his lips. He slowly found himself responding, eyes shutting and arms repeating her actions. She smiled against his lips then pulled back, beaming up at him. Her smile, like so many of her other actions of the last few minutes, was infectious. "Happy Birthday, Zel."
"Happy Solstice, Lina."
"I'll take that as my present. You're a damn good kisser," she smirked, foretelling the blush that appeared on his face. "Love you." The redhead placed one more kiss on him, this time on the tip of his nose.
"Love you, too." Zelgadis was just a little more enthusiastic, coming back down for another brief lip lock. "However, I can't kiss the others. What am I supposed to do for them?"
"You mean you're staying down?"
"How am I supposed to go upstairs now? I've just been given a very good birthday present. I'd be a fool to leave it behind."
"Glad you see things my way. Good thing I finally convinced Amelia to give it up. I imagine she'd be rather jealous seeing us cuddling on the couch otherwise."
"Cuddling?"
"You bet!" She accented her statement by swinging over to his right, turning the both of them as she took his arm. "Time for presents! I love the solstice!" For once, Zelgadis was inclined to agree.
The celebrations continued spectacularly. Sure, it was no extravaganza in Seyruun like they'd planned to attend, but just as meaningful. The group exchanged gifts, simply enjoying each other's company and commenting on the presents. Even Zel wound up getting into the mood, playing each person a song on the guitar Lina gave him, found in the attic. And so the winter solstice passed, and everyone was the happier for getting a chance to celebrate it with the people they loved and cared for.