Mikoto didn't have to go far. She found Haruhime standing in the snow, peering up at the roof of Hearth Manor.

Haruhime's ears twitched as Mikoto approached and she spun, swaying. Mikoto tensed as Haruhime nearly lost her balance.

"Eh? Mikoto?"

"Are you alright, Lady Haruhime? What are you doing out here?"

Haruhime averted her eyes. "I just wanted some time to myself."

"Can't you do that inside? You must be freezing out here."

Haruhime glanced up at the roof and buried her hands in her tail. "I will be fine, Mikoto. You can go inside and I will be along shortly."

A small gust of wind caused Haruhime's hair and sleeves to billow, and they both shivered. Then, almost as suddenly, it was quiet again.

"Are you trying to see something, Lady Haruhime?

There was a long pause before Haruhime answered. "Reindeer."

"Reindeer?"

"Yes."

"You mean Santa's reindeer?"

The renard nodded. "He visited us."

Mikoto forced herself to smile. "That's wonderful, isn't it? It means he thought you were a good girl."

The renard grimaced and said nothing.

"Do you not agree?"

"I agree, but…" Haruhime let go of her tail, clasped her hands together and faced Mikoto directly. "If it's because I was a good girl, why didn't he take care of you?"

Mikoto tensed. "What do you mean, Lady Haruhime?"

"Did he ever bring you gifts, Mikoto?"

"Of cour-" Mikoto stopped under intensity of Haruhime's gaze. Her shoulders slumped. "No. We were aware of a foreign holiday called Christmas, but it wasn't as big a deal as it is here."

"Could you not have used good food? Warm clothes?"

"Takemikazuchi would gather what he could and organize a modest feast. We had enough."

Haruhime looked as if she was holding back tears. "It's not fair, Mikoto. You took such good care of me when we were children. Why didn't he take care of you?"

Mikoto's gaze wandered as she tried to hide her nervousness. "Like I said, Christmas isn't a big deal in the far east. And I could be a real handful as a child. I wasn't nice and polite like you-"

"I don't want his gifts if he wouldn't take care of my best friend!" Haruhime's tail twitched in agitation. Then, just as suddenly, she calmed down. "Though, I must be thankful he helped you find me…" She trailed off.

Mikoto bit her lip. She watched Haruhime intently.

The moment seemed to drag on forever, until the renard began to calm down. Then, suddenly, she stood bolt upright, her ears straightening as if alarmed. Just as suddenly, she flattened her ears.

Mikoto waited a moment before inquiring. "Haruhime?"

"Eh? Oh, yes, Mikoto?" Haruhime's ears returned to normal and she fidgeted.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh… no, of course not." Haruhime took a step forward. "Let's go back inside-"

"You don't sound like nothing's wrong."

The renard stopped dead in her tracks. She looked at Mikoto sheepishly.

"Haruhime?"

"Promise me you won't get mad, Mikoto?"

"Of course not." Mikoto tilted her head to one side. "Why would I?"

"Well…" Haruhime's ears went flat again. "I could hear them, Mikoto."

Mikoto winced for a moment before she caught herself and stood upright. "By them, you mean…"

"Master Welf and Master Bell. Yes." Haruhime fidgeted.

The two looked at each other. A moment passed, and Haruhime lowered her eyes.

"It's… quite alright, Mikoto. Did you plan this all for me?"

Mikoto stiffly shuffled her feet. "I did, but I got the idea after talking to Lady Aisha. I asked her what Christmas was like for you in the Pleasure District and she told me you were always upset Santa didn't come for you."

Haruhime nodded. "I was, but she would always make sure I didn't spend the day alone, so it was quite alright." She gave a small smile. "And now, I can celebrate with you and my new familia."

Mikoto bit her lip. "When did you figure it out?" Hoarseness crept into her voice.

Haruhime tilted her head to the side. "I did notice that Santa bore a striking resemblance to Master Welf, but I thought surely it was a coincident. Until he couldn't give me a satisfactory answer about you. Only then did I wonder and decide to come outside and see." She gave a little laugh. "I'm not very observant, am I?"

Mikoto shook her head. "You're not a fool, Lady Haruhime. We went to some lengths to deceive you."

"Yes." A faint smile crossed Haruhime's face and she bowed her head. "It was a wonderful present, Mikoto."

Try as she might, Mikoto couldn't help her eyes watering.

"Is something wrong?" The renard inquired.

"It's nothing. I… I just wanted you to think you had been good." Mikoto tried to discreetly wipe her tears, but it didn't go unnoticed.

A hint of sadness crept into Haruhime's smile. "It's quite alright, Mikoto. If Santa wouldn't bring you presents when you were so poor, then I'm quite alright with him hating me because I was a harlot."

Mikoto gritted her teeth as she listened, he tears growing larger.

"Mikoto?"

Mikoto's head snapped up and she looked Haruhime directly in the eye. "He doesn't hate you."

Haruhime blinked, then her eyes narrowed. "I don't understand, Mikoto. How would you know?"

Mikoto hesitated. Her gaze fell for a moment, then she straightened and once again looked Haruhime in the eye. "Because… Santa isn't real, Lady Haruhime. He's an Orarian legend to make Christmas more fun for children and give them a reason to behave."

Haruhime blinked. Her tail swished, and she raised her hands until her sleeves partially covered her face. "I… I see."

Mikoto averted her gaze. "Lady Aisha and I thought that rather than just tell you, you should feel you had been a good girl for once."

Haruhime fidgeted nervously. "How old are most children when they find out, Mikoto?

"I'm not sure…" Mikoto hesitated. "But..."

"Younger than me, I gather." Haruhime's tail twitched and she laughed nervously. "Lady Aisha and the other prostitutes must have thought I was very childish." She was smiling, but a tear ran down one of her cheeks."

Mikoto grimaced again. "In any event, you weren't being punished. It wasn't because of something you did, or because you were forced to be a harlot."

Haruhime nodded. "I understand." She wiped away the tear with one of her sleeves.

Mikoto looked down. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That you never got to believe Santa thought you were a good girl."

"It's quite alright, Mikoto."

"You don't understand." Mikoto gritted her teeth. "I wanted to make you happy."

Haruhime closed her eyes for a moment before replying. "Then you need not worry, Mikoto."

Mikoto squinted. "What do you mean?"

Haruhime fixed her green eyes on Mikoto. "Because you have always made me happy."

"No." Mikoto took a step back. "No. This was supposed to be something more than that. But I failed." Her voice became hoarse. "Just like I failed to protect you. Everything I do for you is too little and too late."

"That's not true, Mikoto."

Mikoto looked at Haruhime. "Why not?"

Haruhime blinked, then spoke slowly. "Because no one has ever done more for me than you."

Mikoto paused, then shook her head. "That cannot be, Lady Haruhime. Sir Bell-"

"Risked his life for me, yes. But so did you."

"He saved you when I couldn't."

"He couldn't have done it alone. And you were willing to risk your life for me, even sacrifice it." Haruhime lowered her eyes. "Even after the way I treated you. Even after I denied remembering you and tried to push you away."

Mikoto fell silent.

The renard took a deep breath and smiled weakly. "I used to be such a timid, lonely girl. How could I ever forget the one who took my loneliness away?"

Mikoto felt her chest tighten. "But… I was just paying a debt. Your father would never have helped us of his own accord. Sharing a little of our freedom with you was the least I could do."

Haruhime gave a little laugh. She leaned towards Mikoto. "You were my knight, my protector. You saved me from a wild boar. And most of all, you made me happy."

Mikoto spoke quietly. The sobs threatened to come back. "Only for a little while, and then you were gone. All those years I wondered what had happened to you. And then I learned… that you had suffered so-" She broke off with a sob.

Haruhime stood upright and looked straight at Mikoto. "Aye. It hurt to be separated from you."

Mikoto meet Haruhime's gaze. Her voice quivered. "You went through so much more than that."

"And it made the rest of it so much harder to bare. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened, Mikoto. You were a child. Others ought to have protected me."

The wind picked up again for a moment and Mikoto shivered a little. She nodded.

The renard looked up at the falling snow. When her gaze returned to Mikoto, her eyes had begun to water. "For the longest time I thought you and your familia were the only people in the world who cared about me, Mikoto."

"You are very modest, Lady Haruhime. You're such a kind and gentle girl, I'm sure that-"

"Who?"

Mikoto bit her lip and looked to the ground. She didn't answer.

"My father, who I had dishonoured? The bandits who wanted to sell me for a quick profit? My familia, who only carried about my magic?" Haruhime's gaze fell and her voice became quiet. "All those men who had me once and then never came to see me again? I even wondered if Lady Aisha was only kind to me out of pity." Then, Haruhime began to shake as well. Her voice, while still quiet, became forceful. "I couldn't be what anyone expected of me. By the end I felt like a little girl trapped in a woman's body."

Mikoto bit her lip harder and nodded. "I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you."

Haruhime calmed a little. She fidgeted with her hands. "When Lady Ishtar told me that if they lost even one fragment of the stone I would end up with the mind of a young child, I… decided to go along with it. Because it felt like that was the only way I could be happy. All of my troubles would just…" She swallowed. "...go away."

Mikoto swallowed too. "If only I had found you earlier, I could have helped."

Haruhime looked up. "Could you have, Mikoto?"

Mikoto blinked. "What do you mean, Lady Haruhime?"

"You weren't even a level two when I had my first customer. I appreciate the thought, but what would you have done?"

"I could have…" Mikoto trailed off.

Haruhime gritted her teeth and lowered her ears. Her tail twitched. "I already thought I'd lost you. Not once, but twice. First when you fell, and then when you blew yourself up." The rawness crept back into her voice. "Do you have any idea how much that hurt, Mikoto?"

"I thought I had lost you too."

"Not like that." Haruhime lowered her head, shaking. Tears were flowing now. "And I'd treated you so poorly too."

"It's okay, Lady Haruhime, I was fine with-"

"You came for me." Haruhime' head shot up again. Her voice was tinged with anger. "Against impossible odds, all those years and all that distance, you came for me. And how did I react?"

Mikoto looked at Haruhime but didn't answer.

"I rejected your kindness and I pretended I didn't know you." Her voice was ragged. "I ought to have been overwhelmed with joy, but I let my fear and shame overcome me."

"I have never held that against you, Lady Haruhime. I too would have been embarrassed if a friend suddenly found me in a situation like yours. I knew that deep down you were the same beautiful person I knew as a child. You just couldn't flourish in that cage."

"I… I can only be that person because of all the times you were there for me, Mikoto." The renard's voice was quiet now. "Please be satisfied. You've done more than enough."

Mikoto blinked in surprise. She opened her mouth, but no words came.

After a few moments, Haruhime continued. "If anyone should be apologizing, it is me. If I hadn't hesitated to take your hand on that roof, maybe you wouldn't have been hurt."

"It's quite alright, Lady Haruhime. I understood you were hurt and suffering from a broken heart because you believed you weren't worthy of the man you loved."

Haruhime flinched and then became still.

"Lady Haruhime?"

Haruhime spoke, her voice barely more than a whisper. "That wasn't why, Mikoto."

This time, it was Mikoto who tilted her head. "Wasn't it? You love Sir Bell, do you not?"

"I wanted him. But even more than that, I wanted to be with you." More tears began to appear on Haruhime's cheeks. "I would have been happy with just you." She sobbed.

"Eh? But you said…" Mikoto trailed off.

The renard forced her words out. "Would you have accepted it if I said I wasn't worthy of being saved by you, Mikoto?"

Mikoto paused. "No. I wouldn't have."

"What would you have said?"

Mikoto thought for a moment before answering, and spoke slowly. "I would have taken your hand, and told you that to me, you were a wonderful person and I wanted to save you."

Haruhime gave a little laugh and a weak smile. "I thought as much. You always made me feel wanted, Mikoto." She was trying to hold back more tears. "But… if I heard you say that, my heart would have broken."

Another gust of wind caught the renard's hair.

Mikoto waited for the wind to die down. "You didn't want to let me see how you really felt about me. To see you break."

The renard nodded. "If I did, you would never leave me to my fate."

Mikoto gave a little smile. "I was never going to leave you anyway, you silly little fox."

"Mmmm." Haruhime nodded. She sniffled and shivered.

Mikoto waited for her friend to calm down. "You were desperate to keep me safe. So you focused my attention elsewhere. You said you weren't worthy of Sir Bell."

Haruhime nodded and fidgeted. "I believed it, so it wasn't a lie, was it?" She said in a small voice. "And then, for good measure I took all of my pain, my shame, my frustration… and I thrust it all at you." She looked down. "Not that it did much good in the end, since you were still hurt… you still fell… and then…"

Mikoto stiffened. "I came back and blew myself up?"

Haruhime nodded. She looked and sounded worn out. "Watching that hurt so much, Mikoto." Another small sob wracked the renard's body. "I… I didn't know if you would live." She took a few deep breaths to calm down. "You had been so gallant up until then too. Like a real knight." She giggled nervously and raised her tear stricken face.

"I appreciate the compliment." Mikoto smiled in return.

Haruhime smiled, then her gaze dropped again. She shuffled her feet.

"Is there something wrong, Lady Haruhime?"

"No, it's just that…" Haruhime straightened. "I could accept help because of you, Mikoto."

Mikoto straightened her back again. "What do you mean, Lady Haruhime?"

"When Master Bell asked me what I wanted, I was still hesitant. I wanted to believe what he was saying. But I didn't want him to get hurt for my sake. I wanted him to escape, and help you. And I'd been through so much that I wondered if I could ever be happy again. But…" Haruhime tapped her fingers together. Her eyes were watering. "Then I thought about you. And realized that you would want me to try. That so long as you lived, you would be there for me even if it was hard for me. And that I really did want to be by your side."

Mikoto swallowed. "So you decided to fight."

The renard gave a little nod. "I had to hope you would survive, and Master Bell would prevail. When it was all over… I was so grateful to both of you." Her voice was shaking, but she forced herself to continue. "And after that too, you were so patient with me, even though I could do so little. You taught me how to help you cook… and now I can even accompany you on expeditions. I… I'm happier than I ever could have imagined, Mikoto."

Mikoto's eyes began to water again and she tried to blink back tears. "Lady Haruhime…"

"Just Haruhime." The renard smiled broadly, but her voice was still shaking. "You've been slipping up all night."

"Sorry, Haruhime."

The two looked at each other for a moment. Haruhime blushed and fidgeted.

"M-Merry Christmas, Mikoto." Her tail twitched.

The two hesitated a moment, then stepped towards each other. Mikoto embraced her friend. "Merry Christmas, Haruhime." Her cheek brushed Haruhime's.

Haruhime's ears twitched.

"Is something wrong, Haruhime?"

"Y-you're freezing, Mikoto."

"Ah… Yes. I am sorry, Haruhime." Mikoto took a step back.

Haruhime looked at Mikoto hesitantly.

"Is something else wrong, Haruhime?"

"We should get you inside where it's warm, Mikoto. D-Do you want to hold hands?"

"Eh?"

"It's very cold, Mikoto."

"I… would love to, Haruhime."

The two reached towards each other. Their fingers touched, and it was hard to tell which of them flinched more.

Haruhime gave a little shiver and smiled. "They'll be even colder on their own, Mikoto."

Mikoto nodded and their fingers intertwined.

After a moment, the two turned and adjusted their grip. Then, they began to slowly make their way back to the entrance, snow falling lightly around them.

Author's note:

This was easily the hardest chapter to write and I wouldn't be surprised if I spent more time revising it than the rest of the fic combined.

For those wondering about Haruhime's reference to Mikoto saving her from a wild boar, that's a reference to an event in chapters 8-10 of the Danmachi II manga. I highly recommend those chapters to Mikoto and Haruhime fans because it expands on their childhood in the far east compared to the novel and anime. Don't assume I've incorporated other changes from the manga though, especially since much of it still hasn't been translated into English at the time of writing.