Author's Note: Okay, I have an announcement to make. This is Sapphire Winged Angel, and I have changed my pen name. Reason is the fact that I do not really like my pen name anymore. At all. Sapphire Winged Angel had to do with something when I was younger and personally, I don't really wish to associate myself as the Sapphire Winged Angel any longer. For the time being, I will take on various pen names that relate to my character, Legna, until I find a good combination. Until then, know that if you see Legna as a pen name, it's most likely just me, Sapphire Winged Angel.

I would use a more "familiar" name I usually associate myself with but I just didn't really wish to.

Anyway, enjoy the story, and sorry if the change surprises you or something. I promise you it's still just me, Sapphire Winged Angel.

Oh, and this one-shot is a prize for someone for winning second place in a contest hosted on deviantART.


The cold air nipped at my nose, making it feel numb. If I tried to cover my nose with this soft, wool scarf, I would have to struggle to breathe, but I suppose I would be struggling to breathe either way due to this cold. I swear, it gets colder and colder every winter in Bermesiah.

If I could, I would go inside the castle to warm up, but it was only a little bit warmer than out here. Why was the castle so cold as well? Jeez, does the Queen like it cold or something? She was like an Ice Queen or something, I swear. . .

"It's soooo, cold!" someone behind me cried before they walked to my side.

Ronan.

"Then go inside," I muttered as I held my coat closer to me, shivering slightly.

"Too cold inside, too!" Ronan groaned. "And I'd rather not hang around any places that could allow something to be hung from."

"Why?" I asked, looking up. Above us was the cloudy white sky.

"Remember last year?" Ronan asked, his breath coming out in white wisps.

"Oh, you mean the mistletoe thing?" I remembered that.

Ronan had gotten to kiss Elesis underneath a mistletoe, and it would have been pretty nice for the two of them if Lass and Ryan hadn't been watching. Who knows why those two idiots were watching, but I heard that it was those two who set that mistletoe up. I wasn't sure why, though.

"Yep," Ronan answered. "Oh, are you going to the winter party tonight?"

"Party?" No one told me there was going to be a party tonight.

"Yeah, just a small thing between all of us. We're gonna try and get warm."

"Couldn't we just do that now then?" I looked up at the sky again. It looked like it might snow soon.

"Well," Ronan said, "things are still being set up, so it'd be awhile." Ronan turned his head back suddenly.

I took a look back and noticed Ryan with a fishing rod. Attached to the end was a mistletoe.

Wait, that again?

"Not this time, asshole!" Ronan yelled before he ran at Ryan, who yelped, dropped the fishing rod, and ran.

"Idiots, the lot of them," I grumbled before letting out a small chuckle.

I headed back into the castle, kicking the fishing rod along the way, and into my freezing room where I would wait for this party to start.

At least someone called me.

"Hey, Arme!" I heard someone yell through my door. "Party time, coming?"

"Yeah, sure," I answered as I set down the book I was reading. Hopefully it would be warm, and I wouldn't have to waste so much mana keeping the room lukewarm with fireballs.

"Wear some holiday clothes!" they yelled before footsteps were heard.

Hm.

Winter's usually a festive time, despite the cold, and I remembered the reds and greens of decorations in some villages and towns.

In my closet, I found a lovely wool sweater that was colored red and was soft to the touch. I wore that, along with some long pants that partially covered my feet that matched the sweater. The shoes I wore were white with a green band near the toes, and I decided to put on some white gloves and a red-and-green scarf for extra warmth.

Wait, where was the party? How was I going to join the party if I didn't know where it was?

"Great," I grumbled as I exited my room.

Oh.

There was a note across from my door that said, "Party in second ballroom." How helpful.

At least I knew where the party was, so I made my way to the second ballroom; not as big as the first one, but big enough to hold all of us.

In the ballroom, there were snowflakes cut out of paper that hung on white streamers that decorated the upper parts of the walls. Some of the streamers were dotted with white fuzzy dots, maybe cotton, and some large paper snowflakes hung to the walls.

There was a rectangular table, covered with a white tablecloth, that sat in the center of the room. There was a large bowl of punch and a large platter of iced cookies that sat on the table, along with some clear cups and pale-blue napkins.

Small party, but it was only just the Grand Chase that were invited.

I heard some faint, festive music playing in the background, though I wasn't sure where the music came from. Maybe it was some of Amy's musical magic or something. And then I noticed the warm fire that lay in one corner of the room. It was pretty warm now.

"Arme, you're here!" I heard the Starlet cry.

The soft, pink curls of Amy's hair bobbed up and down as she ran over to me and took my hands.

"Now we're all here!" She swung me around a bit, causing me to almost stumble.

"Amy, let go!" I cried, feeling a bit dizzy, and she did.

"Sorry!" Amy gave me a quick hug before she said, "Hope you have fun!" and then ran over to a familiar crimson-haired Rama.

Where was Lass?

I didn't have to look for long when I saw him standing behind the punch bowl.

"Looks like you found the party," Lass said as I came over, and he handed me a cup filled with the red-colored punch.

"Mhm," I replied as I took a sip. Tasted like a mix of cherries and raspberries, along with a slight fizzy texture of something carbonated.

"Warm?" Lass asked as he took a sip from his cup.

I nodded.

"Good."

Walking around the table, Lass stepped up to me and took my free hand.

"What're you doing?" I asked as I set the cup down.

"Let's dance a bit, 'kay?" Lass smiled warmly at me as he placed a hand on my hip, so I set a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't you dare step on my toes," I muttered, pretending to glare harshly at Lass.

"I w-won't," Lass said nervously. Maybe I accidentally glared too harshly, but either way, Lass proceeded to lead me into a slow dance.

The music had changed to something nice and slow, yet still a bit festive. I noticed the others had started dancing, whether due to Lass or not, I wasn't sure.

Elesis was with Ronan, and it seemed she couldn't dance. Ryan had Lire, though it may have been more correct to say that Lire had Ryan. Amy was leading Jin, since it seemed Jin wasn't that good of a dancer. Sieghart was actually looking a bit lonely, until Ronan and Elesis approached, still dancing.

I couldn't hear the words, but Sieghart seemed to brighten as Elesis took his hands and she danced with her father for awhile. How sweet.

"Cute," Lass muttered. "But I don't think either of those two can dance." I just let out a small laugh.

We danced for awhile, and soon I was feeling a bit tired from all this dancing.

"Can we rest?" I asked, so Lass nodded.

But instead of stopping, he kept dancing.

"Lass. . ." I looked up at Lass, wondering what he was planning.

"Wait." He led us over to the table, where Lass momentarily let go to grab something on the table before returning his hand to mine. What was he holding? Then he continued dancing, seeming to lead us to the middle of the room.

"Lass!" Unlike Lass, I didn't have so much stamina!

"One moment." Lass took a look around before he let go, the hand on my hip going to my back.

Lass's other hand went up above our head.

"What. . ." I started before Lass pressed his lips to mine, momentarily surprising me.

He was so warm. . .

And then he pulled away too soon, and looked up.

Following his gaze, I looked up as well to see a mistletoe in Lass's raised hand.

"Hey!" I cried before Lass kissed me again, silencing any protests.

"You know the rules," he said to me softly before kissing me again.

Sometimes the rules weren't worth following. But this rule, I liked, as long as it was Lass I was under the mistletoe with.