Lemongrass summer
This is set after the game (Perfect Ending, mind you! ), so there is much speculation on my part as to how things turned out. The title is taken from the 31 Days prompt for February 3, 2006.
The Spring Solstice was the most important celebration for the survivors of Ragnarok… it was an opportunity to not only hail the beginning of another harvest but the dawn of hope in lieu of the battle that nearly ruined the world. Cities, villages and towns alike brought out the ribbons, set up the stalls and gathered the flowers; they opened their gates to roads and the travelers that walked them, and welcomed weary strangers into their homes. Life had not gotten any easier for the Vanir and the Aesir alike, but determination prevailed over any hardship they could face, now that each one of them had stared into the eyes of the World Dragon and lived to tell the tale. At night, around a thousand different campfires in a thousand different places, Vanir and Aesir would gather and retell the legend of the Five Warriors who had saved them all.
In a small village on the outskirts of the Forest of Elrit, the Silver Maiden came to the festival every year on wings of blue, bearing gifts from her castle in the forests. Her skin was flawless, and her hair was pale and shimmered like moonlight on the surface of a lake; her eyes were deep and fathomless, but warmth lurked within their depths. She always came wearing a dress white as clouds and smoothed down by her own feathers; she spoke to all who approached her, and often let herself get led away by the children to the fountain, where they would play games for hours on end. Sometimes, she came to the village in order to meet the Red Witch and her guardian, the Crownless Prince, but she usually came there to be alone with the world, to give her time and love to just a small number from the vast masses she had saved with her spear and her valor.
Since the real festivities began in the evening, the villagers would always invite the Silver Maiden to stay and be among them for just one night, but she would always smile and politely refuse. She would leave them by sunset, venturing out to the small, rocky little road that crossed the corn fields of the village; it was the only path civilization had into the labyrinthine depths of Elrit. She would find the Black Knight standing in the middle of the road, between the villages and their home, haloed in the brilliant oranges, fiery reds and soft pinks of the setting sun. He would turn to her just as she approached, and smile as he welcomed her into his arms. She would hold him close, breathe in his scent, and whisper a prayer to the deaf ones in the vague, not entirely misplaced hope that it would all go on forever.