Dedicated to: Annabelle Rae, for reminding me about this aesthetically pleasing and beautiful ship which we talked about a while ago and the fact that I had to get off my butt and write one. And also for writing a fic with this pairing too, which I really cannot wait for.

Crystalline

by Autumn Win-Dow

(AoGA House Cup. Words: 1676)

Usually, winter was Nobara's favourite season. She adored the pureness of the snow as it thickly covered the sides of the road and atop once green hills, and the slow drifting of snowflakes as they descended from the sky – only to settle on the ground. She liked to watch her warm breath turn into vapour as it emerged from her mouth and into the air, and the sight of young children building men in the shape of stacked spheres, with their parents watching in bemusement.

It was her idyllic scene. Unlike the life which she had experienced for the last twenty years, things didn't look black. The air – although chilly – was dense of youth, enjoyment, and beauty. She never joined in with these children, even when she was a child herself, but all she needed in order to enjoy the sight was to watch from afar. The laughs of children were infectious, and Nobara had quite a weak nervous system.

She would usually, when in a dim mood, go to the park when it was a winter evening. She adored the contrast between the blinding snow and the darkest night – although they were complete binary opposites, she found them immensely beautiful as a pair. The sight was even more enhanced by the fusion of the warm, golden lights of the nearby cafes and the green and red LEDs, celebrating the long-awaited festive season. Together, they were able to provoke the glimmering of the small flakes of ice on the ground, and turn the snow into a vibrant surface of crystals. It was only there when she was able to observe the childhood moments which she was never able to experience for herself.

But at that moment, even the snow and its beauty couldn't do anything to brighten her mood.

Nobara sat at the usual spot – an unoccupied park chair located approximately ten metres from the main playground – and watched the same scene of happy children and amused parents. However, she didn't feel the usual smile approaching anytime soon, nor the relaxed feeling in her heart and mind.

It just didn't feel the same.

All she did as she sat at the same park bench was shift the snow in different directions along the ground with her boots, and make marks in the moist wood of the seat with her nail thoughtlessly.

Even when she had waited months for December to arrive, so that she would finally have a reason to be happy, she sadly realised that it was a waste of time in waiting. The navy haired woman, feeling the moisture in her eyes – which was certainly not from the snowflakes – immediately blinked the tears away. She had cried to herself too many times during her wait, and she strictly told herself that it wasn't going to do anything.

She unconsciously grabbed the scarf around her thin, pale neck – it was a purple cashmere knit, thick and cosy enough to maintain the heat in her body. Nobara stroked the soft article of clothing with her thumb, and she let out a long-held breath.

Nobara could recall as clear as crystal the time when she had received the scarf as a gift. Like now, she was a sensitive girl who didn't have the confidence in speaking out – or even making conversation, at that matter. She was also the type of girl who got sick easily – but somehow, she never became sick in the winter, the coldest season of the year. She felt accustomed to the freezing air around her, and how it cooled her face and fingertips, as well as the feeling of multiple thick layers insulating the heat in her body.

And one of the major reasons why she loved winter was because she had met him, when she was sitting on the exact same seat and watching children roam the exact same park.

He was Kaname Sono.

Nobara had never talked to him before – she hadn't really talked to anyone, as a matter of fact – but he instantly recognised her as soon as their eyes met. He was considerably popular, so she didn't know what to say.

Not that she had to say anything, because their first direct encounter was on one of his most unfortunate days.

Nobara could remember clearly the sound of his voice murmuring her name, before he collapsed onto her, unconscious. She felt his entire weight fall onto her shoulders as she hastily reached for him and caught him in her weak arms. The girl had seen a glimpse of his skin, even paler than her normal skin tone, as well as the shadows etched underneath his golden eyes. She even saw the quick bursts of vapour emerging from his hanging mouth and the gleaming sweat on his forehead before he lost consciousness.

After waiting until he awoke from unconsciousness in a hospital bed, he started to talk to her more often. He was – unlike her expectations – a really friendly person who managed to create a closer relationship between her and her classmates.

Along with her finally getting along with her class after many years of self-isolation, Nobara started to fall in love with the blonde boy who 'repaid' her for saving him that dark, winter day. She found herself smiling more often each day, whenever she talked to him, and slowly, she felt her heart of ice starting to melt into a warm puddle.

But along with this newfound affection growing within her, she – for the first time in which she could remember – felt bittersweet. As she continued to sink into this foreign feeling, the more she didn't want to pull out. But she was sure that Kaname would never be attracted to her – even though they did share some similarities, they also had their defined differences. He was the only one who completely understood her – they had both spent half their lives strapped into a hospital bed, and being tended to by sugar-coating nurses and prying doctors – but Kaname had managed to come out as a cheerful person, unaffected by it all, while Nobara was traumatised and scared of people who were in the same species as her.

Kaname was the first who saw her as not a test subject or a bothersome patient, but a person.

But didn't he see everyone as a person?

Nobara had decided that she was simply like everyone else in his life – a friend, with no further advancements in terms of their relationship.

She was proven wrong, one day, when he presented her with the cashmere scarf – which she continued to wear ever since she started to wait for him.

Early autumn had already turned into an extremely windy season. Kaname had led her around the stores in the neighbour in celebration of her final dismissal from hospital.

It was a typical scene from a movie. Nobara had seen many movies in her lifetime, as she lay in her uncomfortable hospital bed with a heartbeat monitor plugged into her, and a good majority of them were romances, with the heart clenching factor of sentimental objects.

She never expected to receive her own sentimental object from a male her age.

Nobara felt her fingers tingle as Kaname came out of the store with the scarf in his hands, and wrapped it gently around her neck himself. The sudden warmth of her neck was nothing compared to the heat which came with the sudden proximity. Despite the comfort which came with the scarf, she felt more comfortable with the sweet smile which Kaname gave her as he pulled back and adjusted the sides of her scarf to appear more even. As they walked together down a path decorated with the golden brown leaves from the high trees, the exchanged no words.

The only communication between them occurred when she felt his hand hold onto her own, in a way which hinted something more than friendship.

It was one of the most defined similarities between the two. Neither of them were particularly good in expressing their feelings into words.

Unfortunately, it was the last time she had ever seen him, up to this day.

His friend Tsubasa had explained that his disease was worsening due to the wind, and he had to be immediately transferred to another hospital to get the necessary treatment. It was supposed to last only a month of rehabilitation, but Kaname had disappeared for three months.

Nobara looked down at the melting crystals of ice underneath her soles as she scraped them along the concrete. She inhaled the warmth of the scarf near her nose as she held the garment closer to her neck.

It was then when she heard the snow crunch underneath approaching footsteps. Nobara continued to play with the snow at her feet thoughtlessly when she heard an all too familiar voice speak out and say her name.

"Nobara? I knew you'd be here."

What happened right after he spoke was a blur to Nobara. No one else she knew had hair as blonde as his, nor the warm honey coloured eyes which effectively melted her frozen heart when nothing else could.

She could no longer refuse the pleas of her salty tears. Nobara finally let them spill as she pushed herself off the park chair – which she had etched his name in the moist wood unknowingly with her nail – without a second thought, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

And she was one hundred per cent sure that it wasn't a dream, when she felt his arms tightly wrap around her in response.

Even though she knew that their relationship wasn't particularly clear, Nobara was sure that her feelings were as clear as crystal, on a snowy day.

Winter was her favourite season for many reasons – one being the day when she first talked to him, and another being the very day when he finally returned.