Hiro found himself wrapped in a long navy peacoat on the wintery night. His horns glistened in the dimming natural light that leaked through the clouds above, and the gentle falling of snow mixed with the serenity of the empty street. Hitching a ride on his shoulders was his rascal girl, Iris, dressed in a red winter coat, long grey sweats, and a black beanie that concealed her growing navy horns but allowed her long white hair to flow. She matched with her mother, who wore a similar heavy coat but opted out of any headwear since her large crimson horns would inevitably ruin it. Instead, Zero Two wore a thick purple scarf patterned with white snowflakes in which she occasionally burrowed her head, attempting warm up the icy sensation that was biting at her ears and nose. Her face had become more regal over the years but Hiro could still discern the energetic younger girl she hid under the mask of maturity.
Their small town had quieted down for the holidays, wooden "Closed" signs hung early in what was usually a busy hub for the small population. Hiro noted the streetlamps coming on in a cascading fashion as they continued down the sidewalk; two sets of boots crunching in the thin layer of snow that powdered the ground.
Every storefront was decorated in some way, with reefs or red bows and plenty of little orbs of red and green that hummed with the spirit of the season. Smaller displays in shop windows served as amusement to Hiro as they sprung to life one-by-one. An array of tiny, wooden elves sitting on a desk drawer here, a conglomeration of Christmas themed lighting fixtures there, it all mixed into a sentiment of wonder.
"Papa, I'm tired!" The youngling's voice interrupted his sightseeing.
"Tired?" Hiro teased. "I thought you wanted to stay up all night?"
A soft thud on the crown of his head followed as the 5-year-old's mittened hand crashed into his skull.
"Let's go home…" She whined.
Another thud.
Hiro sensed the weight ease off his shoulders and turned to watch Zero Two settling the little girl onto her own back. He gave an appreciative smile.
"Come on then, leave your dad alone," Zero Two spoke.
"Mom is so warm!" Iris exclaimed, excited about the change of scenery as she rested her chin on Zero Two's head and glared in Hiro's direction.
Hiro gave a defeated glance toward Zero Two.
Holding onto Iris's thigh with one hand, Zero Two slipped her palm into Hiro's.
"That's no way to be at this time of the year, darling," she chided.
"Yeah! Don't make mom unhappy!"
"That goes to you too, Iris," Zero Two chided, tilting her head upward to meet the wide maroon eyes of the child who was now using the older females horns as handlebars.
Hiro's grin caught the attention of said child, who then puffed out her cheeks, turning away in frustration.
"Hmph!"
"Well," Hiro negotiated, "I think they still have that tree set up in the shop window down this way, you wanted to see it again before the big day right?"
Iris fiddled with her mother's hair with a pouting face before responding.
"I guess…" She mumbled
Hiro laughed.
"Then we'll go see that and head home, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan!" Zero Two affirmed.
Zero Two squeezed his hand before her grip loosened and her pace quickened into a skip. She was a natural athlete, and he found himself awestruck at the ease with which she glided through the snow, Iris now giggling uncontrollably on her back.
He had been so enamored, he almost didn't notice the questioning and probing orbs of the younger couple walking by.
Between having two lives of the nonsense, Zero Two and Hiro could easily ignore the pestering looks. They had moved to a small town to avoid the sheer quantity of ignorant glances, but Hiro understood they wouldn't ever go away entirely. That was how humans were, and it drove him crazy thinking about how soon Iris might be subjected to those looks of scrutiny for something completely out of her control.
Zero Two would call him a worrywart, and maybe in some ways he was, but he couldn't help it.
Hiro found it almost absurd that he could say with all honesty that raising Iris was the most stressful thing he had ever experienced. Not that he hated it, quite the opposite really, but sometimes the burden felt like too much to handle.
Lucky for Hiro, he wasn't ever alone in carrying it.
"Are you done daydreaming, darling?"
Two pairs of jeweled eyes glowed under the hum of light cascading down from above. Rosey cheeks, fogged breath, and a mess of disheveled pink hair accompanied the mischevious smirks plastered across their faces.
"I suppose," he worded with caution, careful to avoid walking into one of Zero Two's many traps.
Little did he know he'd literally done just that. Her fingers guided his gaze up to the insignificant-looking piece of greenery tied to the lamppost above with a red ribbon.
"Gotcha!" Iris exclaimed in triumph.
"You didn't think I'd pass on a yearly tradition did you, darling?"
Hiro chuckled.
Surely enough, Zero Two was sixteen for sixteen in catching him under the mistletoe, not that he avoided it, he enjoyed his tie to the parasitic plant.
"I guess not…" He replied, feigning exasperation.
Hiro closed the gap between them, Zero Two's breath tickled his cheeks. The pink-haired woman closed her eyes and waited… and waited… And, sensing the pressure on her head increase, she looked up to find her husbands lips planted on the nose of the pale little girl who was beaming at the attention in stark contrast to the dismay of her mother.
"Hey, you trai-" Covering her lips with his own, Hiro hushed the protests of his betrayal.
She melted into the warm embrace that wrapped around her, thawing out the prickling of the frigid cold gnawing at her visage.
"Happy?" Hiro whispered.
"Maybe…" She cooed.
"Noooo! Mom is mine!" Iris threw her fists again in a weak attempt to separate the two love-birds.
Hiro and Zero Two burst out laughing.
Just then, the storefront behind them lit up. Its display of a winter wonderland would have seemed obsolete if it weren't the magnificent multitude of decorations that littered the large window frame. A tree three times as tall as Hiro topped with a 5-pointed star sat as the centerpiece, wrapped in lights that alternated between red, green and white illuminating the numerous trinkets that littered the sea of pine needles. To the side sat a fake snowman that glowed through its blow-up frame, sitting on top of the confetti "snow" that sprinkled the ground. Presents tied with neat bows and colorful ribbons found themselves stacked in a disorderly array underneath the Christmas tree. And hidden amidst it all sat a certain red-nosed reindeer.
Iris calmed, her look of bewilderment reminded Hiro of a certain other little girl.
"Pretty."
"Betcha don't regret sticking along now, do you?" Zero Two beamed.
Hiro placed an arm around Zero Two's waist, pulling her closer.
"Incredible isn't it?" He whispered into her ear.
"Never thought I'd ever see a day quite like this, darling…" she replied.
Hiro felt the same, and a part of him wished the world would just freeze on this moment forever. Time wouldn't stop for him though, he knew that. Maybe he even found some comfort in it.
"It's getting a bit too cold to be out here you know…" Zero Two sniffled.
"Ah, you're right," Hiro said, a particularly large gust of wind serving as an unkind reminder of deteriorating conditions.
"Home!" Iris cheered.
"Yup, let's go home."
AN: Sorry this isn't a new chapter of WTSB for those who were expecting it, but I really couldn't turn down writing something Christmas themed and it fits fairly well as on extra in this story. As for how WTSB is coming, it'll probably be out before the holiday, maybe sometime this weekend if I really just sit down and grind it out. I'm finally on break so I've been winding down over the past few days and writing this little blurb was part of that, I'm looking forward to putting a lot more focus on my other story in the coming weeks.
Probably missed some errors like I usually do, if you see anything particularly bothersome feel free to let me know.
As always all feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading and happy holidays.