pairing: Jihyo x Tzuyu

summary: By the time Tzuyu realized her grandma’s story was all true, it was already too late.

That morning Tzuyu and her three cousins woke up to a white world. During the night, a great snow storm had passed over the land and covered everything in a dazzling blanket as thoroughly as a baker icing a cake. The youngest cousin, Yiting, stared out of the window for a long moment, unable to move from her amazement.

"Snow! Snow! Snow!" she repeated once she woke up from her daze, and nothing in the whole world could have been more fascinating to her. She could barely sit still enough to eat a hasty breakfast before bouncing out of the door and into the small garden.

"Your gloves!" grandma reminded the small one and reluctantly she came back to retrieve them before setting off again.

Tzuyu smiled at the girl's excitement and couldn't help but catch some of it herself. It had been years since she had seen snow and even then it had been a fragile coating, easily melted by the sun and rain, made dirty by traffic and other things in the city. Here, in the countryside, it looked like an entirely different thing, surrounding them thickly from each side. She had only seen this much snow in movies.

She dressed up and followed Yiting as quickly as she could, hastening her steps so that the girl wouldn't manage to do anything reckless alone. Her older cousins were slower to follow, slouching on their chairs and eating breakfast in grumpy silence. She wouldn't have minded if the boys didn't follow them at all - as much as she loved them, they could be a nuisance.

"Let's make something out of snow!" Yiting said as soon as Tzuyu got out. The little girl had already gotten snow on her gloves and was staring at it, feeling the texture between the fabric, her eyes glittering in the cold sunshine.

"What would you like to make?"

The girl furrowed her brow and looked around, eyeing the material critically. Tzuyu expected her to come to the usual conclusion and suggest a snowman but instead she got a surprise.

"Let's make a horse. A big one!"

"In that case, we're just the people you need," a voice came from behind and Tzuyu rolled her eyes at the pale blue sky.

"You better help and not start a snowball fight," she said and turned around, piercing the boys with her fierce eyes. She liked the effect she had on them, even as they were now much taller than she was, she could still make them cower under her gaze.

"Promise," the oldest said and lifted his palms up as a sign of trustworthiness. Still, she didn't feel much more confident in their ability to behave.

However, as they began to work on the horse the boys got so into it that soon they seemed to be more eager to make it than the little girl. The boys rolled the heaviest balls in the snow while Tzuyu carved smaller details. Yiting worked as an instructor, giving advice (mostly useless) while rolling small balls of snow between her tiny hands.

Luckily, the snow was just perfect for building. It wasn't too cold and dry, or too melted and wet, but something in between: sticky as a glue and hard as a dried-up clay.

Tzuyu only realized how big the horse had gotten when Yiting walked from under its stomach, only crouching a little to prevent from hitting her head on it. She wondered whether it could stand on its legs for very long, as it was so heavy on the top, but clearly the boys knew what they were doing.

"It's time for a dinner, builders," grandma said suddenly from the doorway, after what felt like an hour but must have been at least two. Tzuyu glanced at the white figure in front of them and felt proud of their work. It had been fun, but after hours in the snow she could feel how stiff she had gotten from the cold and how terribly hungry she was.

"The horse still needs eyes and a tail," Yiting said desperately, afraid that their hard work would be left unfinished.

"We'll come to finish it after dinner," she answered and patted the girl on the back. Luckily, she needed no more reassurance and they headed inside.

"I'll be right back, Silverbell," Yiting said and kissed the horse's muzzle gently as if not to melt it.

"It's as big as a real thing," grandma said as they went inside and stared at the snow horse for a long time.

That evening Tzuyu sat in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea. The boys had gone to their room to play games while Yiting watched cartoons in the living room. The house felt oddly quiet against a dark world, as if it was waiting for something. On the windows, delicate flowers made by frost adorned the glass and she wondered how nature could be such a mighty artist.

"It's going to be cold tonight," grandma said from her own chair and they both looked instinctively at the snow horse that stood proudly in the garden, appearing to be looking at somewhere far off, ears erect and the whole body ready to bolt. They had placed rocks for its eyes and a broomstick for a tail. From the garden, they had found long frozen grass that they used to create a mane. During the day it had looked slightly comical, but in the subtle starlight it seemed a lot more realistic and beautiful. Tzuyu could almost see its breathing coming out in white clouds.

"When I was younger, my mother used to tell me tales about the Queen of Winter," the old woman began, eyes gazing the horizon.

"They say that she comes during the winter nights, when the stars shine brightly and the sky is clear, and all have gone to their homes and nests to hide away from the cold."

Tzuyu could almost see the Ice Queen riding down from the mountains, beautiful and terrible, her very lips coated in frost.

"She is looking for those who have wandered off, or those who don't take the dangers of winter seriously. They say that if you see her you should flee as fast as you can and never look her in the eye, because she will freeze you on the spot. She is as cruel as a midwinter storm, leaving behind frozen animals and dead plants."

She shivered, unable to explain to herself why.

"Seems like she'll be on the move tonight," Tzuyu said lightly and got up, finding her grandma's story interesting if not a little amusing. Surely, it would have had a better effect on Yiting than her. Or maybe the bit about animals freezing to death would have upset her too much.

"I'm sure of it."

During the night when the temperature outside dropped further, Tzuyu woke up to a sound. At first she didn't know what it was, but as she lay there listening she could soon here it again. It had gotten so cold outside that the walls were making a cracking sound as the cold pushed on them like a powerful mass pressing on all sides. She had never experienced anything like this and as she lay there, the moonlight on her face, the sleep completely escaped her.

She felt cold even as the heating in the house was at its maximum, she was wearing thick pajamas and her little cousin slept next to her, breathing steadily like a little hamster.

Tzuyu got up and made sure that the blankets covered Yiting properly as she left for the kitchen to get a glass of water. The kitchen window was now almost completely frozen, but still a small round hole gave a view to outside where the snow horse still stood, gazing at some frozen and forgotten pastures.

Tzuyu filled the glass and lifted it to her lips when something moved in the corner of her eye. She turned and gasped, forgetting the water, forgetting everything. Leaving the glass on the table, she rushed to the window and peeked through the small unfrozen hole.

There, outside the gate was a woman. It was surprising that someone would be on the move at this hour but that wasn't what made her to walk to the window and stare out in amazement. The woman was wearing a dress - the most beautiful dress Tzuyu had ever seen. It looked like it had been made of snow, feathers, pearls and diamonds. Maybe stardust and some type of magic. A long skirt fluttered in the air like thousands of snowflakes and the corset glittered in the moonlight so brightly that it made the whole woman glow.

Her shoulders were bare except for a long cloak that was kept from falling by a large silver brooch. Her arms were bare too and when Tzuyu looked at them she felt cold to the bone. What was the point of wearing a cloak when it covered almost nothing and surely didn't make the user any warmer?

But it was the face of the woman that made her heart stop. Large eyes, plump lips and soft features. She looked gentle yet somewhere underneath a great danger was lurking - Tzuyu could feel it even in the tips of her hair, some great power that wasn't on the good or the bad side, just on her side.

She forgot to breathe and didn't realize it until the woman pushed the gate open and looked her way – straight into her wide eyes.

Somewhere in the back of her mind Tzuyu could hear her grandma's words on a broken loop - never look her in the eye, never look her in the eye but it was only a faint echo of a warning.

She could feel an irresistible pull from deep within and even as the moment lasted only a fraction of a second, it stretched in all directions. Even time stopped having a meaning.

The woman had moved in the garden and was now looking at the snow horse with keen interest and made no sign of having noticed Tzuyu or that she knew that she was being stared at. But even as it didn't show, Tzuyu knew deep down that it was only made up play. How could she feel something so strongly if the woman wasn't causing it on purpose? How could she not feel it, too?

Dazed, she scrambled out of the kitchen and into the foyer where she put on her boots and slipped into a winter jacket. It could have been hers or her cousins'. It was too dark and she didn't care in the slightest, only moving on automatic, feeling a desperate terror of not being able to catch the woman before she'd be gone.

A hand on the door knob she turned around once more and picked up a scarf, haphazardly placing it around her neck and shoulders.

Once she was outside she could hear the snow crunching under her feet like small rocks and the stars loomed closer as if they had travelled across the galaxy just to see her there.

The woman was now near the horse's head and she caressed the icy surface with a hand that seemed to know no cold. Tzuyu got closer but stopped as she was a few meters from the woman, suddenly needing to give her a little space. It was like being around a royal and being afraid of doing wrong at every turn.

Even if the stranger didn't feel the cold, Tzuyu did and she realized that she had forgotten to put on any gloves. She stuffed her hands deep into her jacket pockets and waited, not even sure for what.

The woman only concentrated on the horse and seemed to be deep in thought, pursing her lips before mouthing some words that Tzuyu could not hear. Then, she placed a kiss on the horse's head, blowing air through her red lips. A small wavering could be felt in the air and then in front of her eyes, Tzuyu could see something happening to the lifeless snow horse. At once it seemed to happen so slow and yet so fast that she could neither look closely enough, nor see it happening by the time that it had already happened.

Life seemed to spread in the frozen body of the horse and what had been lumps of snow and ice was beginning to show muscles and more intricate details. Where the broomstick had been now flowed a glowing tail, where the black rocks had been now were a pair of deep, dark eyes. The horse lifted one hoof, then another, testing its own shapely legs for the first time and breaking its ties to the frozen ground.

The horse stepped closer to the woman and pressed its head to her front and the woman laughed - it was like tingling of bells and something deeper at the same time - a murmur of an avalanche on a faraway mountain range.

After she had patted the horse lovingly a couple of times the woman turned and finally acknowledged Tzuyu's presence. Tzuyu didn't know whether she was pleased or terrified, quite possibly both.

"Did you make the horse?" the woman asked, cool and authoritative, yet gentle and tempting.

"Yes," she muttered and forgot to mention all the others who had helped her. Somehow, she didn't want to share the glory now that she was here.

"Well done," the woman said and glanced at the horse once more, caressing it with her eyes. Tzuyu trembled, from cold or something else, she could not tell.

"Does it have a name?"

"Silverbell," Tzuyu said and faintly remembered her little cousin, still asleep in their shared bed and how her small hands had been clutching a teddy bear and how the air whizzed in her nose. She felt an echo of some sorrow that was yet to come but forgot to feel it.

"Fitting," the woman said and then turned, cocking her head to one side. "How about you?" she asked, and stepped forward, so that she was only a step away from Tzuyu. Even as she was shorter, Tzuyu felt incredibly small in front of her. Like a school girl in front of a favorite teacher, ever so eager to please.

As she made no sign of replying the stranger asked again.

"What is your name?"

"Tzuyu," she said, oddly sure in her voice. It was like someone was using to speak for her and she just stood by, listening.

The woman smiled and it made Tzuyu's chest ache. All these feelings were so strong that they felt altogether someone else's.

"You're very beautiful," the woman said and she could have laughed, finally realizing that she had picked her cousin's jacket that was hanging oversized on her narrow shoulders and the colorful pants that she was wearing underneath. The lady looked at her up and down with razor sharp eyes and Tzuyu felt the cold closing in on her.

Then the woman stepped closer one last time so that now they were face to face. Tzuyu shook from head to toe and felt like a lowly creature in front of this beautiful woman, dressed like an angel of death - cold, lonely death under uncaring stars.

"Don't be afraid," she said and Tzuyu would have smiled at the ridiculousness of the words, but her face seemed to have frozen.

The woman raised her hand and brought it up to caress Tzuyu's cheek. The touch was ice and silk, pain and fulfillment.

The woman was like a doll collector.

"Come with me."

"I will freeze," Tzuyu said, finding a small part in herself still aware enough to make a feeble protest even as she could see those eyes and red lips - red like the blood of her enemies - up so close.

"No, you won't," she said and slowly pressed their lips together.

Tzuyu could feel something like cold liquid spreading in her whole body but at the same time she felt like burning. It only lasted for a moment and when the woman pulled away, Tzuyu swayed, falling into expectant arms.

"What are you?" Tzuyu whispered into the lady's hair, limbs immobile and burning from a fire within. The lady smelled like frozen flowers and snow storms.

"I am many things," she said, sounding very pleased with the way things were going. The voice was of a person who was used to getting her way.

I already know, Tzuyu thought as the woman made no sign of answering any further. Finally, Tzuyu felt her strength reappearing and reluctantly she pulled away, standing on her own two feet again. She didn't feel the cold anymore even as she could still tell that the weather had not changed in the slightest. In fact, it had gotten even colder and the kitchen window had completely frozen over.

The Ice Queen walked to Silverbell that was waiting eagerly for its new master to start her journey. With magical ease, she lifted herself on the white horse and the dress cascaded perfectly down the horses glittering flanks.

"Will you come?" the lady said and gazed at her in a way that made it look like she would not care either way, but Tzuyu knew it was a false impression.

"Yes," she answered, knowing that any moment apart from the Queen would be misery and that never again would she feel something like she was feeling now.

The Queen beamed, extended her hand and Tzuyu took it, finding herself being lifted to sit behind the Queen on a horse that seemed larger now than what it had been. It was feeding of the cold around it, like a flower soaking up in the sunlight.

The horse stepped forward and they passed through the open gate, all the while Tzuyu held on tight to the Queen's waist. No more did she care about the clothes she was wearing because if it didn't matter to the Queen, it wouldn't matter to her either.

At the gate, Tzuyu turned her head for one last time and gazed at the sleeping house, with its creaking walls and frozen windows. She felt sorrow at the parting, but it was numb like a memory of pain and not the real, present one.

Silverbell walked to the road that was completely empty except for the skinny lampposts reflecting lights on the snow. Everyone else had gone to their homes safely and Tzuyu felt relieved. Tonight, all the small creatures would be safe from the wrath of the Ice Queen.

"Hold on tight," the Queen said and Tzuyu did as she was told, clutching the corset in her bare hands that didn't feel the surrounding cold. The horse picked up speed and soon they were moving as fast as any vehicle on the deserted roads.

Tzuyu grew tired and closed her eyes from the passing scenery and pressed her face to the woman's back, inhaling in the scent of all things frozen and lovely.

The woman began to hum a strange tune and Tzuyu knew that she was happy, for tonight she wasn't lonely like she usually was, walking around the lands with snow and wind as her only company.

Tzuyu slipped into a land of dreams, not knowing whether she would wake up in some faraway citadel at the edge of the world or in her own bed, having dreamed the whole thing.

My winter storm holding me awake

It's never gone

The Queen sang, cold spreading around her like fire.

A/N: My hand slipped after I saw Elsa!Jihyo in TT. This is some sort of a lame homage to different ice queen stories that I've read, seen and heard. Don't catch a cold, folks. xo