Meiko sighed as she looked at Haku. They'd spent a day in this cottage, confused out of their mind about their current predicament. Haku, having been left to survive without any alcohol, was in hysterics, scared out of her mind. Meiko, on the other hand, had taken surprisingly well to the situation and took care of Haku as best she could. They quickly understood that they lived alone in a little cottage in the woods and weren't excessively scared considering nothing in particular had happened.

"Do you think we could get some berries?" Haku asked, her pale ivory skin looking vibrant in the candle-light.

Outside, a violent snow storm was swirling avidly and it had caused quite some trouble. They had plenty of food to survive upon, but it was mostly jarred and none of it was like fresh fruit. Haku had taken a fondness to the cherries and now that they'd ran out of jarred cherries, she found herself hungry for the delicious taste they gave out. With a frown, Meiko shook her head and continued reading a book about a pair of twin princes who lived in the nearby city.

"Not really." Meiko said, looking sad. She hated keeping Haku so cooped up. Though they were twins, they didn't look the same at all. Meiko was loud and cheerful with a longing to feel the sun on her face again. She had her normal, short-brown hair cut but she now donned a pleasant red dress that made her full chest look even fuller. Haku's silver hair had faded to white and it was still kept in that ribbon. She wore a dress that was the mirror of Meiko's, though Haku wore a white version. The biggest difference was that Haku was quiet and calm, now that her drunken behavior had disappeared.

"I guess the snow hasn't stopped yet?" Haku asked, looking at the locked shutters.

"No." Meiko sighed. "Perhaps we ought go to sleep and then, when we wake up, the snow might've stopped."

Nodding, Haku went into her bedroom whilst Meiko left for hers. She extinguished the fire, gave her book one final look, then wandered off to bed. She highly doubted the snow would slow. In fact, it was bound to get even worse. However, she felt the little ray of hope in her soul.

However, Haku couldn't sleep. She knew that back when the world had been itself, she'd been an alcoholic and unable to cope without the drink. Now, her addiction had turned to cherries and she needed them. Her futile attempt to abstain from alcohol before had been... well, futile. And she knew there was no way she could abstain from cherries now that she knew they were out there.

As quietly as she could, Haku crept out of bed and pulled her white fur coat off the coat peg. Then, she pulled her hat onto her head and put on the boots that were lined with fur. Finally, she stepped out of her room and closed the door quietly behind her. The snowfall had slowed immensely to just a steady but slow falling of snowflakes.

Smiling, Haku thought of how easy it was going to be now. After all, she wasn't going to be battling a snowstorm now, was she? Instead, she was just battling the gentle snowfall and that was hardly a battle at all. Not even a fight. Barely even bothered, she skipped into the snow and wandered out to the cherry bush that was in their front garden. Grinning, she picked a frozen berry and gently placed it in her mouth before grinning. Frozen like ice-cream but the taste exploded in her mouth.

She'd just about filled her pockets with the berries when she heard a grunt come from behind her. Startled, she turned slowly before seeing a great black bear standing on it's hind legs. The thing was beastly but beautiful and it's eyes were filled with sadness. In fact, they surprised her with their resemblance to that of human eyes. The sorrow, the sadness, the resent.

A scream worked it's way up Haku's throat and she was about to voice it when the bear shivered. The scream quickly faded for a gasp and Haku soon found her body filled to the brim with curiosity. Quickly, she walked to the creature and placed her hand before him, a sign that she was peaceful and was about to touch him. And strangely enough, the beast lowered it's head and bowed, giving her place to actually reach him. She stroked his wet fur and smiled at the calm feeling that overcame her. However, the smile sharply faded to a frown when she saw how cold he was.

As though she'd seen it before, Haku knew what to do. She reached into her pocket and offered the bear a cherry before wiping the snow off of his back. The bear gave a sound that was almost speech, but it came out as a grunt. Startled, Haku lead the creature inside, batting snow off it's dark fur before starting a fire up.

"Haku, what on earth-" Meiko said as she wandered in, before gasping, her brown eyes wide. She gulped, as though the sight brought silence to her ever-going mouth and she just gave a small whimper.

"Meiko! Please, get him some blankets." Haku said, knocking her close friend out of her stupor. Stunned, Meiko jumped, then ran to her bedroom. Seconds later, she returned with a bundle of blankets in her arms. Quickly, she thrust them into Haku's arms before running to the side of the room, curious but terrified at the same time.

Sighing in frustration with her sister, Haku began to cover the regal bear with blankets of soft sheepskin, glad when the bear stopped shaking from the cold. That night, Haku slept beside the bear, feeling sorry for how lonesome his eyes looked. It wasn't pity, something more like longing to live the life of a bear, no real worries that were so trivial to a human. And when she dreampt that night, it was peaceful and about a handsome prince who was offering her a ring around a bunch of cherries.

When Haku woke up, there were a pair of arms wrapped around her, as though she were being hugged in her sleep. Gasping, she rolled over to see herself sleeping on a bed of black, bear fur and in the arms of the handsome man from her dreams. Meiko, who was sat in the chair, looked terrified and just stared at Haku in the man's arms.

"The bear! Where is he?!" Haku gasped, eyes wide as she roused the man from his slumber.

The man blinked, his big blue eyes mirroring the bear's original eyes. He looked down, then yelped before jumping to his naked feet and hugging Haku. Feeling somewhat awkward by the naked man hugging her, Haku stood there and blushed. Then, to her surprise, the man kissed her cheeks, forehead and lips, showering her in kisses.

"Thank you so much! Gosh, if it weren't for you..." The man's voice was thick with a regal accent and sounded oddly regal. "My name is Prince Masaaki and I want you to be my wife."

Aria chuckled, closing the book as she went along. She smiled, recalling the story of Schneeweißen und Rosenrot from her memory, though this story had played out quite differently. In fact, this story contained no irritated dwarf or killing of that mythical creature. Instead, it was a story of friendship. However, in Aria's eyes, it lacked detail. Well, that was what she got for picking two drunks for the main characters. She was pretty sure the story could continue, but grew weary of the book. Sighing, she clambered back to the bookshelf and pulled out a new book. This one was gold-painted leather and was covered in detail that looked like sweets.

Smiling, Aria sat down and prepared to read a new story.

Sorry if you don't know this story but it was my favourite as a kid and my mother read it to me every night. Considering I spent seven years of my life in germany, I thought I should incorporate my own knowledge of fairytales in and decided this is my favourite. In english, it's called "Snow White and Rose Red" and it's possibly the best fairytale of all by Brothers Grimm.

If you have any suggestions for vocaloids and stories you want them to be in, comment and I'll read and decide.

Enjoy! ^.^