Author's Note - So I had this little idea for a Christmas one shot. It was inspired by the Snow Queen and a novel by Alice Hoffman whose title escapes me. It's kind of a mixture of the two with LP flair and my own imagination. It's kind of a fairy tale about Peyton and Lucas.
I hope you like it. Let me know what you think
A Christmas Wish
Once upon a time there lived a beautiful girl with golden curls, ruby lips, intense emerald green eyes and skin as white as snow. She lived in a small friendly village called Tree Hill that was nestled upon the mountains.
To look at her you would think she was just an ordinary girl. However she was no ordinary girl. She was a girl who hated Christmas and hated winter. There was a reason behind this. When she was just seven years old she had lost her mother. She still remembers the sound of the search hounds as they and the villagers woke her in the early hours of the morning on Christmas day. She could still hear the sound of howling barking dogs even now when the night is silent.
Curiosity had got hold of the spirited young girl on that fateful night. She had climbed out of her bed and slipped her long black cloak over her nightgown and snuck out into the snow.
Despite the frosty air biting at her cheeks and hands and the grounds being so difficult for her small feet to navigate through the little girl tracked the search parties. She wanted to see what they were searching so intently for.
The girl walked for what seemed like forever but eventually she saw them. The men and the dogs had stopped at their final destination. She crept to where her father was standing, head bowed as he talked with the village's priest.
"Daddy," she said, her little voice sounded startling the men as they turned. She had been so quiet they hadn't realised that she was there. She moved to him. She never saw him cry and she was frightened then.
"No Princess," he said scoping her into his arms. "You don't want to see this."
It was too late though. She had seen her mother sleeping in the snow. Her face and lips were so blue.
"Daddy," she tried again. "Why won't she wake up?"
Her father carried her away as she watched over his shoulder as the villagers gathered her mother from the snow and took her back. Her mother had been taken by the harsh cold of winter.
The girl was now sixteen and growing more beautiful with each passing day. All the village boys wanted to be the one to melt her heart and be the one that she fell in love with. She however was not interested in falling in love. She promised herself that she would never fall in love. She would never give her heart as to give her heart would mean that she could get hurt.
She lay on her bed that cold winter morning, her fingers running over her mother's bronze rose broach. The snow had returned again that night.
"Sweetheart," her father called as he entered into her room. "We're getting ready to cut down the tree. Would you like to join us?"
She shook her head and her father sat at her side stroking back her tousled curls. "I know you miss her Peyton. I miss her too. Especially at this time of year. But your mother loved Christmas and she loved to go out and help pick and decorate the tree for the town centre. I think that she would like it if you would carry on that tradition."
She sat up then. "Ok. I will come." She wrapped herself in her long coat and boots. She fastened the broach to the collar; she would never let it out of her sight.
"You look more and more like her every day," he said then. "She'd be so proud of the young woman you're becoming."
The village men and women trekked out then to the forest in search of the perfect tree for the village square. Peyton felt the cold stinging her face, and freezing her breath and she became a little afraid. She would rarely venture out from the safety of the village during these months. She stayed close to her father's side.
They finally decided upon a large tree in the centre of the forest, and then set about the task of cutting it down. She watched them work and her eyes caught sight of a young man she could never recall seeing before.
He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. She couldn't help but stare at his crystal blue eyes, his dark blonde hair and beautiful face. He saw her watching and smiled. His smile warmed her from the insides. His smile was absolutely stunning. She instantly felt drawn to him.
Once back at the heart of their town, everyone set themselves to the task of decorating the tree. She searched for the mysterious man. She asked everyone if they had seen him, enquired as to who he was but no one know. She did not see him again that afternoon; it was as if he disappeared.
The night she lay by the fire, staring at the flames and all she could do was think of the boy that had melted her heart for those few moments out amongst those trees. She fell asleep thinking of him, she dreamt of him.
The next day she left to buy her father's gift. He wanted some ice skating boots so he could skate on the frozen pounds. Peyton purchased the skates and on the way out of the store she bumped into him.
His strong muscular frame caught her as she almost fell. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared up him.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," she managed to stammer.
"I think I can forgive the most beautiful girl in the village." He realised his hold on her then. "You know for a girl who hates the winter I am surprised to see that you have skates."
"They are a present for my father. And anyway how do you know that I hate the winter?"
"I can just see it in you. You don't leave the house unless you have to. You were afraid yesterday when you were in the middle of the forest."
"You've been watching me?" As he nodded his head shyly she said, "but I've never seen you before. I don't know who you are and yet you seem to know who I am."
"Then it must be fate," he stated.
"I don't believe in fate or destiny," she countered. "I believe life is what you make of it. That you have one chance to live your life and what you do with it is up to you."
"Which is why you hide yourself away in your home? You should be out living life."
"Who are you?" she called after him. She couldn't let this stunning man leave her life like this.
He stopped flashing her that beautiful smile again. "You'll have to meet me on the lake tonight to find out."
She faltered then. She wanted to know who he was but she was afraid. "I can't."
"Tonight. Bring the skates. Think about it."
She couldn't stop thinking about him again that afternoon. An invisible force drew her to him. She felt happier since he had come into her life but she wasn't too sure why. She just was. She hummed as she did the chores around the house. She kept smiling in spite of herself.
"If I didn't know any better," her father said as he watched her, "I would think you were falling in love."
Peyton stopped then turning to look at her father. "I met someone," she confessed. "But I don't want to fall in love. I don't want to lose anyone else like we lost mom."
"Sweetheart, bad things happen in life. And we can't predict them. We can't stop them. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth the risk to take a chance. Your mother would have wanted you to be happy. She wouldn't have wanted you to shield yourself in her memory like this."
She thought about what her father said that night as she warmed herself in front of the log fire. As the sun set and day turned to night she took the skates and pulled her cloak over her shoulders.
She set off into the darkness, feeling a mixture of fear and excitement. Her heart fluttered though as she saw him there already standing on the ice and she knew she had made the right decision.
"I was hoping you'd come," he said skating over to her. After she had put on her own skates he led her into the centre of the frozen lake. "See it's not so scary. There's nothing to be afraid of Peyton."
"Perhaps not," she conceded then. The night was still, the stars glittered the dark skies. "So don't you think it's fair for me to know your name since you know mine."
He smiled, "Lucas. My name is Lucas."
"And where did you come from Lucas? Because I've grown up in this village and I know everyone who lives here. And up until two days ago you never existed."
"Except I did. Do you remember the last time you stood at that very spot where the village men cut down your tree?"
She bit her lip, trying to think but she couldn't remember.
"You were there the winter a year after your mother passed away. You got lost in the forest trying to find her after you'd had a nightmare. You almost died that night Peyton. Your father found you just in time though."
"I don't understand."
"You wished for love that night. You wished to open your heart again. To feel alive again. You wished for me."
Peyton looked at him really seeing him for the first time. He was everything she had wanted in a man. "I forgot I even made that wish."
"Come on. Skate with me."
"I don't know how," she had begun to protest but he had taken hold of her body guiding her over the ice.
They glided over the surface together, he held her protectively. Then as she grew more confident he held her just by the hand. They spun around now expertly. She even let go of him at one point. She fell hard then, her complacency had got the better of her. But she just laughed.
"Are you ok? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," she said dusting herself off.
He helped her back to her feet. Their eyes met then, the crystal blue and the emerald green.
"So if you were my wish does that mean you're here for good or do you disappear?"
"No I'm here forever now."
She reached up on the points of her skates. She kissed him softly, "I like the sound of forever."
"So do I."
She couldn't believe this perfect boy had come to her because of a wish she had made so many years ago. This boy who had managed to melt and mend her heart that she had believed was beyond repair. He was truly a Christmas miracle.
"So do you believe in fate and destiny now?" he asked lightly stroking her cheek.
"I could maybe come around to believing in them."
"Well that's a start. And maybe you'll start to love winter a little. Stop hiding away."
"And start falling in love," she finished and he smiled.
It started in that moment, as the snow began to fall on Christmas morning. She leaned into Lucas as they watched the large flakes cover the grounds and trees. The village was soon recovered in it's white blanket. Peyton felt for once she would be able to start a new life. That this blank canvas was something she could do whatever she liked with. She could finally be whatever she wanted to be and she felt a freedom in that knowledge. She could even find herself loving the Christmas season as it brought her Lucas.
They walked hand in hand as a new day dawned.