A quick word before you begin:
The author's notes at the end will contain not only notes on the chapter but information about my writing process, future storylines, and the future usage of characters such as Emily and Haley.
-Enjoy!
The fight aside, both Zelda and Leah had enjoyed spending a few days cooped up together. Leah still felt guilty about how she had made Zelda cry and kept trying to make it up to the blonde, no matter how many time Zelda had said she didn't have to. The rest of the time Leah had spent at Zelda's she wouldn't let her girlfriend lift a finger and treated her like a queen. Zelda protested at first but Leah wouldn't let up so the blonde reluctantly accepted Leah's (almost overwhelming) care.
A few weeks had passed since the blizzard and the town had more than recovered. It was good that their was no major damages caused because the town began to focus on the Feast of the Winter Star. It must have been Lewis' favourite time of year because he made sure the town really went all out. Decorations hung from all around in the town and a giant christmas tree was erected in the middle of town square. The tree was beautifully decorated with ornaments and tin foil. The tree was so massive and beautiful that Zelda had a suspicion that a familiar wizard was the one who set it up, remembering a small tree that he had been growing in his kitchen.
Twas the night before christmas and it was a tradition for the whole town to come together and celebrate in town. Families could book tables to eat a meal together and single people were welcome to help themselves to the feast and mingle around. There were a bunch of small standing tables for thoughts who didn't book a family table. The Feast of the Winter Star was a special festival only held in Stardew Valley, people from all over used to travel to feast and see a special star that only appeared on christmas eve and could only be seen in the Valley.
Zelda was entranced by the atmosphere in the night time air, the town had a magical glow thanks to the lights strung up around town. The Feast was set out on a long table, a buffet of food and desserts were spread as far as the eye could see. The weather was also perfect for the occasion, it wasn't as cold as usual making celebrating outside much more enjoyable. Zelda nervously clutched the present in her hands to her chest. Lewis had explained that it was a tradition for everyone in town to be assigned a random person they had to give a gift to. Zelda had received in a letter that her she had was Emily's secret gifter. The blonde was really worried about being Emily's secret because other than a the basics she didn't really know much about the blue haired girl. Zelda spoke to her most at the saloon when she was manning the bar for Gus, the blonde remembered Emily mentioning something about her wanting become a fashion designer someday so she had gotten her a book about famous fashion designers and designs that had been used throughout history.
Looking around Zelda noticed Emily and her younger sister Haley standing on one side of the large tree, looking up at the large star placed on top.
"Hey Emily, hey Haley." Zelda greeted shyly.
"Hi Zelda!" Emily said merrily. "Merry christmas."
"Let me guess you're one of our secret gifters?" Haley said eyeing the present clutched in Zelda's arms.
"Ya I'm Emily's." Zelda said nervously. "Here I hope you like it." She said handing it over.
Emily began to unwrap the gift and the blonde was relieved to see a look of delight on the young woman's face as she saw what it was.
"Thanks Zelda this is really interesting." Emily said flipping open the book to take a few quick glances of the book.
"Hmmp" Haley said with a eyeroll. "At least It's better than what Sam gave me."
"What's that?" Zelda asked.
"He got lazy this year and gave me some christmas decorations made of holly, pretty sure he pinched these from around town." Haley said sighing in annoyance.
"Well I don't know about that…" Zelda chuckled trying to defend her friend, although the blonde knew fully well that this was just the type of prank the boy would pull. Lewis was probably too busy to notice a few decorations missing.
"I just hope that a new camera lens is waiting for me under the tree." Haley said hopefully
"Camera lens? You like photography?"
"Yea, I post all my photos online and I have a large following on social media." Haley said confidently.
"Really? That's really cool!"
"Well I thought if I was going to be stuck here in this small town I might as well make some use out of the scenery."
"I wish you'd see more to this place as more than just a way to farm 'likes' on your social media platform." Emily said shaking her head. "There's a whole lot more to this place you'd see if you weren't so focused on-"
"Don't even start this, Emily!" Haley interrupted, causing Emily to huff.
Zelda could tell that this was something that the two siblings were better of dealing with themselves and quickly said her goodbyes. Zelda headed towards the bouffay to help herself to some food. As she was helping herself to some turkey she felt a tap on the shoulder, turning around she was surprised to see it was Shane.
"Hi Shane!" Zelda said happily with her trade mark smile.
"Hey Zelda." Shane said with a roll of his eyes and a smirk. "Here this is for you." He said handing her a small package wrapped in yellow paper.
Zelda eagerly took the package and began tearing the wrapping paper off excitedly. Inside was a plastic container with a home cooked meal inside. They were hot peppers with melted cheese stuffed inside.
"It's not much but I hope you enjoy it." Shane said with a shrug.
Zelda smiled at scruffy man and wrapped him in an unexpected hug.
"Thanks Shane, I'm sure I'll love it." The blonde said.
Shane tried to hide his small smile but he couldn't do it and walked off to rejoin his family after helping himself to some of the bouffay. Zelda had helped herself to her own portion of food finding that almost all of it was delicious, the blonde noticed that the punch had a strange taste to it but decided to ignore it thinking it must have been some new invention from Gus. Grabbing another glass of punch, she looked around for her girlfriend finally spotting her and heading over happily. Leah was at a standing table with Gus and Elliot. Walking over she greeted everyone.
"Merry christmas everyone." Zelda said joining the table, and placing herself next to Leah.
"Hi." Leah said looking extremely happy to see the blonde.
"Evening Zelda." Elliot said giving the blonde a smile. "What's that in your hand?"
"Shane gave this to me, he was my secret gifted this year." Zelda explained. "Did you guys get your gifts yet?"
"Yep." Leah said with a nod. "Robin gave me some new carving tools, the good stuff."
"Pam gave me a coupon for joja mart." Elliot said with a sigh.
"Penny gave me a new cookbook full of new recipes." Gus chuckled. "Looks like it's not the best year for you." Gus laughed patting Elliott on the back.
"Anything special anyone's thankful for?" Leah asked the group.
"I'm thankful for the busy year I've had at the saloon and I hope for even more in the future." Gus said with a hearty laugh.
"I'm thankful for all the inspiration nature provided for my writing, all of it was truly a gift." Elliott said not noticing Leah's eye roll.
"Well I'm thankful for everyone making me feel welcome this year and for all the friends I've made who make me feel loved." Zelda said reaching under the table and giving Leah's hand a squeeze.
Leah smiled at zelda and squeezed back letting her now that she was thankful for her as well.
Leah never knew it was possible but she thought she might actually die of boredom. Her eyes were half open and it was a struggle to stay upright as she fought off the urge to fall asleep. Gus had been telling her and Elliott about how he made candy canes for the past fifteen minutes strate. She was impressed with Elliott's composure even though she knew he must be struggling just as much as she was. Gus was usually a lot of fun to talk to but when it came to him talking about candy cane making he was just so… boring. He droned on and on and on, with no end in sight. Leah wished her girlfriend would come back and rescue her from her prison, but the blonde had disappeared to get more punch and must have stopped to talk to someone on the way. Leah let out a sigh before she noticed Zelda practically bouncing back, with a huge smile on her face.
"Hey!" Zelda greeted wrapping Leah in an unexpected hug.
"Hey yourself." Leah chuckled, thanking Yoba for hearing her prayers. "What's got you so happy?"
"I don't know!" The blonde giggled.
Leah suddenly had to grab hold of the blonde to help her keep her balance which she seemed to be having trouble keeping.
"Woah, Zelda are you ok?" Leah said worriedly.
"Mhmm I feel great!" Zelda said still swaying slightly.
Leah noticed she had another glass of punch and watched her drink it quickly. The sight strangely reminded Leah, the blonde had drank quite a lot of the punch that evening.
"How much punch have you had?" Leah said laughing a little nervously.
"I don't know? A lot I think." Zelda said laughing. "It's got a really strange taste this time though."
"Gus did you do something different with the punch?" Leah asked holding Zelda up to stop her from falling over.
"No, just the usual." He replied confused.
"Now that you mention it I remember Pam telling me she had put something 'special' in the punch." Elliott said remembering his conversation from earlier. "She might have spiked it for fun."
"That's not good." Gus said laughing. "Zelda doesn't drink!"
Leah looked back at her girlfriend who seemed oblivious to the conversation they were having, instead she seemed entertained by the Christmas lights strung up around the town square. The artist noticed her cheeks had reddened and the blonde's overly happy expression confirmed what Leah's fear. Zelda was drunk.
Elliott and Gus shared a laugh as Leah struggled to keep Zelda upright. Leah glared at the two thinking that this was a much more serious situation than the two were making it out to be.
"I better get her home." Leah said directing the blonde in the direction of her farm.
"Good luck." Elliott chuckled, waving the two goodbye.
Leah found that getting Zelda home was a lot more tricky than she thought it would be. It was a lot like dealing with a five year old. Zelda was being extremely clingy and when she wasn't trying to wrap herself around the artist she was running around pretending she was flying.
"Look I'm an airplane!" Zelda said laughing.
"You're a very good airplane sweetie." Leah said with a sigh, she probably would have found the whole situation funnier if she wasn't so worried.
Leah was glad that the path to Zelda's had snow piles on the edge because the blonde would often land in the soft snow when she lost her balance. When she finally got the blonde to the porch of her house Leah felt a small bit of relief hit her.
"Ok sweetie I need your keys." Leah said to Zelda who was currently sitting on the floor.
"Why?" Zelda asked with a large smile.
"Because I need it to unlock the door." Leah explained gently as if she was talking to a child.
"Oh right!" Zelda said excitedly, fishing out her keys from her pocket clumsily.
After unlocking the door Leah helped the blonde inside, careful not to let her fall over. Zelda flopped onto the couch with a large jump. Leah noticed the blonde unsuccessfully trying to kick her boots off and helped her. After putting away the girls shoes Leah went to Zelda's bedroom and found her pajamas for her. When she came back into the living room she saw her girlfriend on the floor playing with a confused looking Dex. The cat turned to look at Leah as if he was looking for an answer.
"She's drunk." She said to the cat who meowed back in response.
"Who's drunk?" Zelda asked confused.
"You are, silly." Leah said smirking.
"Nice try Leah, but I don't drink." Zelda said with huge smile on her face.
"Let's get you in your pajamas." Leah said trying not to laugh.
"Are you going to help me." The blonde said with a sly wink.
Leah suddenly blushed heavily at what the blonde was implying but shook of her embarrassment.
"You're not that drunk." Leah said helping the blonde up and handing over the pajamas.
"Fine." Zelda pouted before starting to take off her pants.
"No! No!" Leah shouted Turning red and covering her eyes. "Not in here!"
"It's my house and I can change where I want!" Leah heard the blonde whine.
"Fine, just tell me when you're done." Leah said with a sigh, keeping her eyes covered.
The artist couldn't deny that she was extremely tempted to take a peek but her morals wouldn't allow for it. Zelda wasn't in her right mind and Leah would never be able to forgive herself if she took advantage of the blonde in her vulnerable state.
"Done." Zelda chimed after a while.
Leah slowly opened her eyes and was relieved to find that the blonde wasn't lying. Pulling her by the hand she led her girlfriend to the bedroom and tucked her in.
"But I'm not tired!" Zelda whined.
"Well I am, so I'll be on the couch if you need me." Leah said, but before she could move away from the bed the blonde grabbed her arm forcing her to stay.
"Wait!" Zelda whined. "Will you stay with me till I fall asleep?"
"Ok." Leah said with a small sigh, as she sat on the edge of the bed.
Leah placed her hand on the blonde's head and gentle stroked her forehead with her thumb lovingly.
"Sorry we missed seeing the star." Zelda said softly. "Please don't hate me."
Leah only chuckled, wishing she had been recording the blonde all night. "I could never hate you, don't be silly. There's always next year."
The blonde slowly closed her eyes, as she felt like the world had suddenly begun spinning around her. Zelda hummed gently as she felt her only saving grace at the moment was Leah sitting with her.
"Does the world normally spin so fast?" Zelda asked keeping her eyes closed.
"Only when you're drunk." Leah sighed. "Sorry Zel, I should have noticed something was off sooner."
"Thanks for taking care of me." Zelda said taking hold of Leah's hand. "I love you." The blonde whispered before going quite.
Leah blushed but smile as she looked over her now slumbering girlfriend. She couldn't help but watch her for the longest time. "I love you too." The artist said before kissing the blonde's forehead.
Leah heard awoke to the sound of a large groan coming from the bedroom. Sleepily climbing off the couch she went to check up on the blonde, letting out a large yawn as she did. Leah had to watched as Zelda slowly turned her head and opened her eyes to see who had walked up to the bed.
"Leah?" She moaned in confusion. "What happened last night? And why do I feel like I'm dying?"
"Someone spiked the punch last night and you had a little too much to drink." Leah explained gently.
Zelda's eyes widened with horror as she realised what had happened.
"Oh no." Zelda said hiding her face in her hands.
"Oh yes." Leah teased with a laugh.
"Did I make a fool of myself?" Zelda asked worriedly.
"Don't worry only Gus and Elliot saw, I got you out pretty fast when I realised."
"Oh man! I bet I looked like a total idiot."
"Don't worry Zelda you're a cute drunk, and an even cuter airplane." Leah said with a laugh.
"What do you mean?" Zelda asked nervously, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer.
Leah began reenacting Zelda's airplane performance much to the blonde's horror.
"Look I'm an airplane." Leah teased as she continued to run around the room in circles.
Zelda pulled the covers over her head to try and hide her embarrassment.
-Notes From Author-
Hey guys so a few things I wanted to say, first off I don't mind revealing that Zelda's 'friend' mentioned in the last chapter was in fact Link and I intend to use him later as well. A quick note on this chapter is that I had a hard time deciding on how christmas works in the world of Stardew Valley. In the game Christmas is never mentioned and only 'The Feast of the Winter Star' is ever spoken about. This is most likely the game creator attempting to make the game as relatable as possible and not alienating anyone with different religions or traditions. Originally I was going to fallow the game and not mention christmas at all, thinking that the entire world called it 'The Feast of the Winter Star'. However when I looked closer into the text and I realised the reason its called that is because of a special star that only appears in the valley which means that the rest of the world must celebrate the holidays normally.
So I wanted to explain how I write so you guys understand my process. I am actually four chapters ahead of whats posted here. The reason for this is because I like to give my self a safety net. The last thing I want to do is find my self in the middle of writing a chapter and realise that I've rewritten my self in a past chapter. I hate being stuck with something I cant change cause its already posted. This way I can just make sure everything is concise. (I know you can edit chapters you post but that might make it confusing to anyone who's already read the chapter)
Now here's what I am sure a lot of you have been waiting for and why many of you are actually reading my boring rant: the inclusion of Haley and Emily. I do read all of my reviews, Thank you guys for writing them by the way it really means a lot to me and I love hearing what you guys have to say about recent chapters (shout out to ShiroPL). Now I know you guys want to see Haley and Emily in the story which is why I extended their brief appearance in this chapter from a small cameo to a full on conversation that hopefully sets something up in the future. I want you guys to know that I have planned for a long time to include them and will be doing so in the future. No doubt they will play a key role during Leah's second art show.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you all are enjoying the story so far, I really enjoy writing it. Its been pretty fluffy so far and as a waring I do plan on having so big drama and dark themes in the (possibly far?) future centred around a certain blonde's past. No spoilers though!
-Matt