The wind was cold, excitable, and the gusts threw themselves back and forth like children chasing a runaway ball. My hair whipped violently across my eyes, giving a whole new meaning to the term "seeing red." I was thankful that it was now cropped short, remembering how high-maintenance long hair could be.

I sighed, hands in my pockets, boots buried an inch into the snow. The evening had descended quickly into night, and my solitary walk had taken several hours without my realization. I found the chilly brightness of this town endearing, and everyone seemed friendly and gracious, despite their introversion into their coats and scarves. I leaned now against the wall of the inn, watching the young night and the people who scurried through it.

Snow was falling only lightly, and I didn't mind it. I couldn't remember when I had last minded anything; my constant complaints now fizzled out before they reached the forefront of my brain. I wanted to enjoy everything, because the end seemed suddenly too close at hand.

The door creaked open, then closed, and a shock of blonde hair in my peripheral vision identified my new companion. "What are you doing out in the cold?" He rubbed his arms, squinting unnecessarily up into the dark sky from which white flakes fell, poking holes in the night.

My shoulder lifted in a shrug. "It's not that cold." The statement was almost murmured, lacking the bravado that usual soaked my voice. I sounded hollow even to myself without it.

His back pressed against the wall, his head tilted to meet the brick. His arms crossed over his chest, hands shoved into his underarms for warmth. "Nah, I guess not."

We were quiet for a long time, our eyes trailing over the black sky and white ground, our breaths misting warm into the cold air like cigarette smoke.

"Do you think it'll be worth it?" The silence melted into non-existence with the hesitant question. "When it's all said and done, will we be glad we did it?" My eyes turned to rest on his face, hair flashing into and out of my sight like windows in an elevator.

"Who knows?" His mouth quirked in a grim smile, and his arm nudged against mine. "We won't get an answer until we get there, to the end." A second nudge was more deliberate, and we remained huddled close. "Personally, I think it's been worth it just to see you learn to care about something other than yourself." He grinned quickly, a flash of white teeth in the darkness. "But of all this, I'm glad most that we became friends. I knew you had a good heart in you somewhere, even if everyone else doubted it."

My chuckle was muted, and I shook my head. "I'm glad we're friends too." My voice was soft. "You're the only one who believes in me."

"Not true," his tone bordered condescension. "It took 'em a while, but we're all looking up to you now. You've changed. You're grown stronger, in more ways than one."

The night had stilled, the wind dying out to leave the cold city poised in time, like a photograph. The snow had vanished, and through the dissipating clouds were stars peeking shyly. Two pairs of eyes turned to them, like small children waiting to make a wish. "We'll always be together, right?" My voice was a whisper, a timid breeze skating experimentally across us.

His nod was almost imperceptible, face serious, "Probably. You've given me a lot of reasons to leave you, but I never went anywhere. You'll have to try damned hard to get rid of me now."