It was Christmas Eve in Unova; Bianca, Cheren, Touya, and I were home in Nuvema for the holidays. There was a booming party wracking Bianca's house. The whole community was there for the annual Christmas party. I, for one, have never liked the Christmas parties, and would've preferred to spend the evening with close friends and family. As of now, that's kind of what I'm attempting to do. As I sit on Bianca's old navy couch I fidget closely towards my mother and Bianca as we chat about the any leads on finding the leader of Team Plasma, and a good friend of Touya's. Cheren was busy trying to suck up to Bianca's overprotective father, and Touya- Touya, my best friend and husband of a year and a half- was making his rounds to making sure he got to see everybody he hadn't seen in what seemed like months; if not all year.
Or so I thought he was.
That is before a felt a hand on my shoulder and a low voice breathe into my ear.
"Hey," he said, as if trying to sweet talk a stranger "you wanna get out of here?" I turned to him and beamed at his beautiful face.
"I am so glad you asked. Let's kick it."
I don't think I was able to get ready any quicker than I did when trying to leave this boring Christmas party. We shouted a collective goodbye to the swarm of people all throughout the house, and were ready to head to my mother's house for Christmas. Touya and I stepped off the rickety porch and walked under lightly falling snow. On our way home we watched the ocean waves lap against the frozen sands already covered in snow. Despite the enormous winter coats, scarves, mittens, and hats, I was freezing. I'd never admit that to Touya, because he's still as childish as he was when we started our journey 4 years ago. Knowing him, he'd give me all of his extra clothes and freeze himself instead. Nevertheless we still walked in silence, holding hands, taking in the breathtaking veiw before us.
"It's beautiful..." I breathed into my scarf for warmth; looking around some more until I noticed our tree, a large hunkering Oran berry tree we used to climb as children, had also been proudly standing tall. Its leaves gone, branches exposed, and covered in a thin layer of snow.
"I know..." Touya replied back with a smile. I ran to the tree and leaned back against it while sighing contently and pulling him with me. My back landed on the monstrous trunk, and I hugged Touya to me, so we were face to face.
"No, I'm serious, Touya. Look," I turned him around and pointed out to the other trees that led the way to my mother's house. "The trees sparkle. It makes me think that snow is like nature's version of Christmas lights!" Touya had looked back and smiled at me as my eyes wandered up into the branches of our tree.
"You're weird, Touko" was all he said turning to face me again. I suddenly snapped out of my stare to glare at him playfully.
"Screw you! I like it! I think it's pretty!" Touya chuckled lightly and looked up at what I was looking at originally. Wasn't anything more than the vast amount of branches our tree held, but it was nostalgic to remember all the years we spent in this tree, and even through playful bickering, it was amazing how much love I could feel between us, even back in our childhoods.
"Well, I guess it is pretty." Touya started caressing my face. "And you're pretty too, but you don't sparkle." I could only shrug with a big smile when I look to him.
"Hah, well, that makes sense." I said. "I'm not snow, and I'm not some kind of vampire. I'm a human and stuff, so I don't really sparkle." I giggled. He seemed to laugh along before saying, "No, no Touko, you shine." I was not expecting this flattery, and I forgot to breathe for a split second. "You shine so bright you can light up the world; like you light up mine." A never-disappearing smile grew on my lips and pink lit up my cheeks.
"Oh, Touya quit it-"
"No. It's true, really." He hummed soothingly and leaned in to my face. Before I could softly touch the lips in front of me I was stopped. "Hold on. I have something for you."
"Ooh, what is it? Wait, but Christmas is tomorrow. I can wait until tomorrow, Touya."
"No no," he quit my sputtering, and I stuttered to a stop, sheepishly shrinking my figure. The now heavy snow flitted down from the clouds and onto the ground. "It's okay. I think this is the most perfect time to give this to you, but first-" Touya ripped off my hood and threw my hat behind him, so that the snow littered our heavy coats, but mostly my hair. I laughed when he ruffled my hair to get the snow out, but I couldn't help scrunching inward to myself and yelping,
"Hey! Youre gonna mess up my hair!" This was a distraction. A distraction that gave Touya enough time for his hand to reach into his pocket before he pulled out a... plant? "What is it?" I asked curiously trying to keep snow out my hair. The sprig of green was tied up with a pretty little red ribbon, and I wondered if it were the medicinal herbs from Lavaridge Town I wanted. Touya pulled me closer by the waist smiling. While tripping over my own feet I began feeling a falling sensation due to the sudden force on my back. I was able to wrap my arms around his neck quickly. To my relief he seem to mind much. Rather, he responded by clutching me closer to his chest. Instead of handing me my herbs, he held the green little plant over our heads far enough away where it was barely above his head and mine. As I noticed the little green plant hover above our heads I realized. "It's... That is-"
"Mistletoe." He finished with a smile.
"I've never seen it for real." Confessing that didn't seem too hard. Touya was the only boy, other than Cheren, to get remotely close to me. He is the only person I traveled with throughout Unova, the chosen one to save the region from Team Plasma, and marry me when he got home. Never before have we seen mistletoe together, and I was surprised to see him have one since the only place you can get mistletoe is deep in Twist Mountain.
"Well," he began, as if teaching me a class. "Usually when you stand together with someone under mistletoe-"
"Hey! I know how it works!" A seductive smirk was slapped onto Touya's face, and it grew while proceeding to leaned into my ear.
"Well, then kiss me, Mrs. Black."
His demand was simple, yet completely out of character for my husband. Usually, when he wants something, he'll just take it without asking. The fact that he wasn't doing just that also caught me off guard. Rather than being able to kiss him excitedly as I'd normally do, I was only able to sheepishly nod and expect what was comming. With his hand full of mistletoe above us in one hand, and my waist in the other he leaned in turning his head; making me do the same before we met each others lips for a kiss. We lingered on our kiss for what seemed like ages, taking our time to savor each other's taste and touch. When we pulled away I was breathless when I stared up into Touya's luxurious brown eyes.
"Wow…" I breathed heavily looking at him, looking at the plant still high above us, and then right back down to him.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Black."
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Black."