Bringing in the New Year
“Hurry up, Anon!”
”Yeah, yeah I’m coming”
”The ice is gonna melt by the time you’re ready!”
Kronii’s waiting for you right at the door doing small jumps
You finish packing your knapsack and go to her
You put on your jacket and grab another scarf
”Hey, White Rabbit, you forgot something”
You wrap the scarf around her neck, she’s pouting
”Really? Alice in Wonderland?”
”You’re in as much of a hurry as he is”
”Well, excuuuuuse me for being excited…”
She hides her blush with the scarf
”Sorry, sorry let’s go”
You pat her head and go outside with her
You chat while walking and holding hands
”What possessed you to do this now?”
Kronii noticed a few days ago the lake in the park had frozen over
”No reason”
”No reason right at the end of the year?”
”…I just wanted to go; you know?”
She was definitely jealous of the people ice skating there
”It’s fine, I was planning to bring you here anyways”
”Suuuure you were”
She lightly nudges you
”Okay, I was considering it in case you actually wanted to go outside more than usual”
”Hey!”
And now she pushes you
”But you asked!”
”Hmpf!”
She walks ahead to the entrance of the park
Maybe that was a bit too much
She stops and turns to you
Her blue hair and eyes pop out even more with all the snow falling
”You comin’ or not?”
”Just mentally preparing myself for falling over and over”
She smirks
”Do you not know how to ice skate?”
You go back to walking together
”It’s been a while, so it’ll take a bit to get the hang of it again”
You turn to her, she’s looking smug
”Do you know, Kronii?”
”Of course I do, you’re talking to perfection here”
”I’ll ask you to give me a quick reminder, then”
”S-Sure! I’ll show you all there is to know…”
You can clearly hear her voice wavering
This’ll be fun
When you arrive, there aren’t that many people around
Probably because most people are doing other things for the end of the year
Since the lake always freezes over, the town arranged to have ice skate rentals
You get pairs for you and Kronii
You put them on and try to get on the ice
You fall immediately
”PFFT”
Kronii’s dying of laughter already
You grunt and try to get back up
You manage to stand still
”Alright, I’ll just… chill here”
”You have to move if you wanna keep up, Anon”
Meanwhile, Kronii’s skating just fine
So fine she sometimes slips and kicks the air then suddenly she’s back to skating
You can see some ice flying every now and then
You can also see Kronii’s clothes slowly getting wet
Interrupted GWAKS ring in your ears
Let’s not mention that
”So, what are some pointers Her Highness can give her lowly servant?”
”Ummmm… Uhhh…”
It seems she’s too focused on not falling to tell you
”J-just don’t fall!”
”…Yeah, I guess you’re right”
You trip a few more times, but you get the hang of it again eventually
You’re able to skate without issues after a few more minutes
You can still see some ice fly around Kronii
It looks like she’s getting tired
You skate towards her and hold out your hands
”I don’t need your help”
”I need yours though”
She reluctantly takes your hands, and you begin to skate together
You help her find her balance and slowly show her the ropes
It takes a while, but you stop seeing ice splash around
”Can you finally take a break from stopping time?”
”…I don’t know what you’re talking about”
She looks away from you, but doesn’t let go of your hand
You ruffle her hair
”Let’s skate around the lake now”
You do just that, taking in the snowy scenery around the lake
Once Kronii is used to it enough, you try to race
You give up on the third lap after another fall
This one was particularly funny, you somehow managed to almost do a perfect twirl after tripping
You can’t help but laugh while continuing to roll
You make it to the edge of the lake and Kronii follows you
”Are you okay?”
She seems genuinely worried
”Ow, yeah, haha… I’m just peachy”
You’re in more pain from the laughter than from the fall
She can’t help but laugh as well, but she still tries to pull you into the snow
She sits down next to you
She twirls her finger while grabbing your shoulder and suddenly all the pain is gone
Your and her clothes are back to normal too
”I think that’s enough skating for today”
”You sure? I kinda want to see if I can land that trick”
She lightly slaps your head
”Don’t push it”
You chuckle a little more and stand up
”Alriiiight, let’s just skate back to get our shoes”
You help her up and go back holding hands
The owner of the place congratulates you for almost landing that
This motivates you to go try again, but Kronii pushes you away
You put on your shoes and go on your way
”Just make that your goal for next year”
”Only if you join me”
”Sigh… I know you’ll get hurt so I’ll be watching”
You bring her close for a quick hug
She reciprocates and hugs you tighter
”At least don’t get hurt too bad, please”
”I do know how to fall, don’t worry”
You walk around the park since you’re already outside
It’s still emptier than usual, but you do start to hear music from houses nearby
It’s afternoon, so some parties have started
Kronii recognizes some of the songs and hums along with them
Walking a bit further away, the music is drowned out by the snow
Kronii continues to hum, probably not noticing the music is gone
After a bit, she even starts to sing whatever song comes up in her head
You enjoy your personal concert while walking with her
She give you a few nudges when she finally realizes she’s singing by herself
No one’s around at least, so she calms down quickly
”Thanks for the concert, Kronii”
You give her a kiss on the cheek as payment
She blushes and squeezes your hand tighter
”I should be making the entry fee more expensive”
”I’ll pay as much as you want”
”Then isn’t it about time we took a break?”
She gestures to some benches and tables
”Sure, I hope the chocolate’s still fine”
You clean up and sit down together
After setting everything up, you drink some hot chocolate with Kronii
”Is it good enough?”
She closes her eyes and takes another sip
”Hmmm”
She looks at you and gives you a smile
”I guess it is”
”How hard is it to say yes…”
”Well maybe your cup is better”
She takes it away and drinks from it
”It’s okay”
She gives it back to you and returns to her own
”Man…”
Her non-stop teasing is one of the many reasons you fell in love with her anyways
You stay silent for some time, enjoying the stillness of the scenery
You can almost hear her breathing thanks to the snow removing every other sound
You can sometimes see animals running in the snow, but they disappear just as fast as you see them
Kronii leans on you, you put your arm around her
”This is nice”
”…Yeah”
You finish up your chocolate
You don’t talk much, you don’t really need to
Keeping each other company, feeling the other's warmth at your side
That's more than enough
It’s already evening when you go back home
You take a quick hot bath with Kronii to get rid of some of the cold
”Man, I could just go to sleep already”
”Babe, at least wait until the year starts”
”Fiiine”
At least you managed to prepare things to eat before going out
Some of your favorite meals, and whatever Kronii said she wanted to eat before the year ends
”…You know I think I made too much”
Kronii looks at you, cheeks full of food
”Hmm hmhmhmmmhmhm”
”Yeah, that’s true”
She blushes and covers her face
”Even better, now you don’t have to cook”
”Oh wow, I actually understood that”
She slaps your head again
You both start laughing
You keep talking about your experience at the park
”I think I liked the walk after skating the most”
”Yeah, your singing was great”
She lightly kicks you from under the table
You let her continue talking
”I enjoyed watching the snow… the stillness of it all was nice…”
”…Kinda felt like it could last forever, you know”
You notice Kronii’s voice wavering a little
”Something wrong?”
”Oh! No, no, don’t worry”
”Well, if you say so”
”Moving on, what are your new year’s resolutions, Anon?”
”…Huh”
”Haven’t thought of them?”
”Not really, they’d just be the usual ones after all”
”Like what?”
”Staying healthy… Keep going to the gym… Make it to next year”
She laughs at the last one
”…Oh!”
”What?”
”Keep making you happy!”
You give her a smile
She blushes and grows silent
”…How do you keep saying those things with a straight face?”
”Not that hard considering who I’m telling them to—OW”
And that was a real kick in the shin
”Yeah, I deserved that”
She ignores you and keeps eating, the blush doesn’t go away until later
You don’t get to ask her about her resolutions, but it’s fine
You’ll see them through together
Just as you’re thinking that; she turns to you
”Hey, Anon?”
”What’s up”
”…I kinda wanna… watch the first sunrise”
”Now that’s unexpected”
”New year new me, haha…”
You indulge her, and set things up on the roof
You finish up just as the year is ending and sit down next to her
You look at the sky; it’s completely clear now
”And here I thought it would snow all night, too”
”Hey at least now we can stay”
The moon and the stars are shining
You look at her, adding moonlight to her face is perfect
She looks just a little more beautiful than usual
You look at your phone to check the hour
”It’s almost time”
”You think there’ll be fireworks, babe?”
”I know there will be”
She leans on you
You countdown together
Just as the new year starts; so does the fireworks show
The sky is illuminated by so many different colors
”…Happy New Year, Kronii”
”Happy New Year, Anon”
You kiss each other to celebrate
You admire the sky for a little bit
Both of your phone’s start ringing
Calls and messages from friends, you’ve been slowly responding to them all because of different time zones
You send your own well wishes to everyone and keep looking at the fireworks
When they’re done, it starts to feel kind of empty, the snow drowns everything again
Kronii decides this is the perfect time to teach you about more memes she learned last year
”We’re not doing anything else, right?”
”Sleeping was an option”
She pouts
”You already know I’m kidding”
It’s impressive how many she tells you about
You’re 90% sure you’re going to forget most of them by tomorrow
Still, she looks happy teaching you, so it’s fine
You keep talking to spend more time
It starts to get colder, Kronii leans in even more
”Time for the blankets”
You wrap them around the both of you, she slowly feels more comfortable
”Better?”
”Mm-hmm…”
She has the same look as when she talked about the park
”What’s wrong, Kronii?”
”…I don’t know”
”I remember you liked the stillness of the snow, does this have something to do with that?”
She slowly nods
”…I just… I know you won’t be around someday”
You let her talk
”I know I can make you stay, but…”
She hugs you, tightly
”…I just want this to last forever”
You can feel her trying to hold back her tears
Even the passing of time can get to the Warden every now and then
You hug her back and stroke her head
When she calms down a little, she talks again
”…Wanna do good on your resolution?”
”Tell me”
”…Then, at least until the sun rises… Please stay with me a little while longer”
”You don’t even have to ask”
You kiss her forehead
”I’ll be with you for as long as you let me”
She lightens her hug, that’s the answer she was looking for
Doesn’t stop her from crying a little, though
You keep pampering her until she calms down completely
Not much later, the sun begins to rise
You watch it together, covered in blankets and with her sitting in front of you
You hug her once more from behind
The sky slowly turns orange and red, it’s mesmerizing
”…How’s the first sunrise, Anon?”
”Hmm… Not as beautiful as you”
She looks at you, her eyes are red from crying, but she manages to give you a smile
”Right answer”
You lean on her shoulder; she gives you a kiss on the cheek
While watching the sunrise, you think about what she said
Although you’ll part someday, it’s not yet time for her to mourn
You’ll be with her for as long as you can, hoping she’ll look back on your days together with a smile on her face
You silently make a promise to make as many memories as possible
That’s just how much she means to you
t. Nameronii
Source for the art used: https://twitter.com/Nazaiiz_art/status/1476903006926827520