Mina couldn't remember reading this much in her entire life.

Of course, half the town knew how much of a bookworm she was. It wasn't too hard to guess, what with a book always tucked under Mina's arm wherever she went. She'd get books as gifts, she'd borrow them and always remind Jihyo to bring her new ones across the kingdom when the woman prepared for another adventure.

The books Jihyo brought usually were a lot different than what she could find in her town, much too foreign in her rough farmer hands. But that was a big reason why she loved them so dearly, she supposed, because they told her stories of completely different lives, lives she would never see here in a simple town like this.

So yes, Mina loved to read. With a candle at night when the moonlight wasn't enough and in daytime, sitting on her big chair in her little house or outside, under a tree. Like she was doing at this very moment.

In the shade of the big willow tree, Mina held a book of romance. A romance, telling her of a love so great she couldn't quite understand. She always found it hard to believe how one could devote themselves to another so passionately, shape their future with them in mind. She tried hard to empathize nonetheless, as she'd patiently done many times with other books.

"So he took his hands, lacking the confidence he tried, perhaps, too hard to muster and whispered the words, his voice trembling, 'You and me. We'll go, wherever your heart desires. I will wait for your word, and only yours.' He was painfully impatient–"

Mina sighed, suddenly shutting the book. The fairy who was resting her head against her shoulder shifted, and Mina threw her head back until it softly hit the tree.

Tzuyu hummed, eyes closed. "Why'd you stop?"

Mina decided to answer with a question of her own. "Why am I always the one reading?" 

"Because I like your voice."

That earned pink cheeks and a small smile but Mina knew there was something else. "And?"

"I'm..." Tzuyu hesitated, her hands fumbling with the laces of her dress. "I'm not quite sure I remember." She paused for a few seconds. After noticing Mina couldn't understand what she was trying to say, she slowly started to explain, feeling awkward. "To read, that is. I'm not sure I... remember how to read."

Mina's heart ached at the sadness in Tzuyu's tone, and she leaned her head against hers. "That's okay."

"It is?"

"Of course."

They both watched as Ray slowly neared them, nuzzling his face to Tzuyu's side as if to comfort her. They both chuckled fondly at the attempt. Tzuyu stopped fidgeting with her dress and started petting Ray when he lied down next to her. 

"But you know," Mina started, moving her head a bit, her cheek rubbing against Tzuyu's voluminous hair. "I like your voice too. Wouldn't mind hearing it more."

There was silence as Tzuyu considered Mina's words. Then very carefully, she reached for the book in Mina's hands. She adjusted herself until she was leaning back against the tree, straightening her spine. Mina gratefully took the opportunity to rest her head on Tzuyu's shoulder this time, as if they were taking turns, making the fairy smile a bit through her nervousness.

She took in a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. "Where –"

Mina quickly scanned the page. "Here." She pointed at the sentence she left off.

The texture of the books pages felt odd, but at the same time Tzuyu found comfort in it. It reminded her of when she was little, she and her mother taking turns reading before bed time.

She slowly started reading. Mina didn't comment on how much she stuttered and paused nor did she tried to correct her, simply giving her time to remember the letters. Tzuyu appreciated that.

A few moments passed, and Tzuyu looked down after finishing the chapter to find Mina asleep. Smiling softly, she brushed Mina's waves out of her face, still holding the book in her other hand. It was still early in the morning, the sun peeking out behind the distant mountains against the azure blue sky. Mina usually came to visit her around the afternoon so it had been a pleasant surprise to see her this early. When Tzuyu asked her about it, Mina blushed but didn't answer.

"When I first met you,"

Tzuyu jerked her head, a little startled by Mina's voice.

"You were always singing."

The fairy hummed.

"Why'd you stop? After I started to visit." There was genuine curiosity in Mina's voice.

"I'm... not lonely anymore, I suppose."

"That's why you sang?"

Tzuyu sighed. "To be honest, I didn't even realize I was doing it. It just... happened one day. But it helped. So... I kept singing."

"I'm glad you did." Mina confessed, eyes still closed, her hand blindly finding Tzuyu's on the fairy's lap. "It's how I found you." She lightly hummed the tune of the song that never left her dreams, and smiled when Tzuyu joined her. Soon after, Tzuyu started singing softly, her voice but a whisper as Mina stopped humming and admired the old foreign language. Maybe someday, she'd ask what the lyrics meant, or if the language was Tzuyu's native one. But for now, Mina felt content, melting into Tzuyu's side. And as she listened to Tzuyu's lovely voice, a fleeting thought, some realization and finally being able to decipher the meaning of the strong beats of her heart, made Mina's breath hitch in . And she thought that maybe, just maybe, she could understand how people shaped their future with another person in mind.

***

Mina didn't expect to find Tzuyu in someone else's company when she visited her one bright afternoon. Berries, mushrooms and a few apples rested inside her basket that hang heavily from the crook of her elbow, a few pretty flowers she picked up for her peeking out of it as she hid behind a tree and watched.

She caught the end of their goodbyes, a nobleman, probably younger than Mina, planting a kiss on Tzuyu's hand that deliberately lingered before hopping up on his white horse with a smirk, promising to be back soon to visit the fairy again before riding away.

Mina searched Tzuyu's eyes for excitement at the promise, but she found nothing of the sort. Relief washed over her for a moment because of how uninterested Tzuyu seemed, before a realization hit her and she noticed was getting dry, her eyes stinging. 

There were others. Others that fell for the fairy in the woods as Mina had, also visiting her. Mina wasn't special. Did she annoy Tzuyu, she wondered. How many others came to see her in a day? Was Tzuyu only being polite, with no intention of being her friend, nevermind more?

Mina's insecurities felt heavier than the completely full basket in her hands as she came out of hiding, trying to appear as if she just arrived.

"Hi."

"Mina." Tzuyu smiled as she turned around to face her, and some of Mina's insecurities disappeared into thin air at how sincerely happy the fairy was to see her. "I wasn't expecting you until the evening. You seem to be full of surprises these days."

A sigh escaped Mina's parted lips, her eyes tracing Tzuyu's delicate features like it was the first time. She blinked, closing as she gathered herself and shyly held up the basket. "I was foraging. Figured it wouldn't hurt to pay an early visit."

Tzuyu pushed her red hair behind her ear, waves stubbornly escaping and falling anyways.  She neared Mina, her wonderful smell overwhelming Mina's senses and causing her stomach to flutter. When she was more than close enough, their noses almost touching, the fairy in the woods leaned down and grabbed the wildflowers from the basket.

"Come then," Tzuyu whispered, the fondness in her voice making Mina feel like she was swimming in the warm waters of a lake on a chilly night. Tzuyu tucked a few flowers behind Mina's ear, gazing into her eyes the whole time, even when Mina couldn't take it anymore and averted her eyes. "Sit with me, my lovely wildflower."

Being pulled towards the shade of the big willow tree, Mina forgot all about the young nobleman, the other visitors...

There was only Tzuyu. Nothing else.

Nothing else mattered.

***

Wind howled early in the morning as Mina pulled her old coat tighter around herself, stepping outside to grab more firewood for the fireplace. Gathering a few logs in her arms, a huff of white air escaping , Mina lifted her eyes briefly to glance at the woods. 

The weather was getting colder with each passing day. Winter was without a doubt going to be ruthless this year, perhaps was even going to cost Mina and the other villagers more than just their crops.

Mina wondered how Tzuyu handled the cold. Her dress left so much of her skin bare and Mina couldn't  remember her ever wearing something on her feet either. Mina considered at that moment to run out and bring her a blanket or something to keep the fairy warm besides her long hair. She would've invited her to her house, but the farmer knew Tzuyu would refuse. Just as she had done a few times before.

Setting her worries aside and reminding herself that since Tzuyu probably spent more than a few winters in the woods, has survived even in harsher conditions, Mina entered her house and threw a thick log on the fire.

*** 

"Don't you ever get cold?"

"I used to. At first." Tzuyu answered as her eyes took in the sight of Mina curled up beside her in a blanket. "But the tree keeps me warm."

Mina nodded, averting her eyes to think about what that meant. She looked up again, frowning in confusion and asked when she couldn't make sense of it. "How?"

Tzuyu just smiled, holding her gaze. White air escaped from Mina's open mouth, searching for an answer in the fairy's emotional eyes that told her things Tzuyu couldn't bring herself to say with words.  "Some things," Tzuyu started, her fingers ghosting over Mina's hand like she wanted to touch her, but there was a barrier preventing her. It confused Mina, and she frowned at the fairy, but Tzuyu kept her gaze down. "keep us warmer than the blankets we wrap ourselves with." She chuckled. "And some things... are warmer than fire," she finally let her fingers gently touch Mina's knuckles. "The sun even."

"Like what?" Mina asked, breathless and just so so so deeply lost in Tzuyu's emerald eyes.

"Souls," Tzuyu answered, her digits drifting down and sneaking between the gaps of Mina's fingers, loosely interlocking them. "Souls are warmer, but sometimes....sometimes they're also colder." Tzuyu pulled her hand back to her own lap. "Much much colder than anything you can think of."

Mina missed her hand almost instantly, but she decided not to be too obvious about it. "So the tree has a warm soul then?"

Smiling, Tzuyu raised her hand with her palm up as if she was expecting rain, her eyelashes fluttering prettily. Underneath her kind features, Mina could see the sadness and defeat, perhaps permanent because Mina could recall many other times she saw them before, hidden there.

Mina hated it.

Mina hated Tzuyu's small smile. Hated the way her eyes crinkled at the corners as they narrowed into crescents with the said smile, sad but genuine as if she had accepted her defeat a long long long time ago.

Trapped. That was what Tzuyu was. She was trapped. She had been trapped for so long, so long that she gave up in the end. Accepted her fate.

It had something to do with the tree, Mina was sure now. The hows and whys were still a mystery but Tzuyu had given her enough hints about it. Realizing this, her first thought was to cut off the damn tree, burn it. But nothing ever was that simple. Mina somehow knew that would lead to bigger, worse consequences to deal with. The mere thought of hurting the tree sent shivers down her spine and not in a good way.

There had to be another way.

"What about me?"

Tzuyu turned to her, looking startled.

"Is my soul warm or cold? Can you tell?" Mina tentatively grabbed Tzuyu's hand, pressing her palm to her chest where her heart was beating wildly, desperately, asking, begging for something--

"Are you curious?" Not resisting her grip, Tzuyu stared into her eyes, her hand that's covered by hers rising and falling steadily with every breath Mina took. Mina could almost see her smirk.

She didn't back down. "I am."

"I don't know." Tzuyu admitted, shutting her eyes again to focus. "It feels different...with you. Cold...warm... Those words simply fall short. I can't describe you with them. You're...more..."

Under's Tzuyu's hand, Mina's heart beat strongly, like it wanted nothing more to jump and be touched by her.

"More?"

Tzuyu looked conflicted. "I don't know..." she said again, this time whispered softly, blinking at her dumbly before glancing down at their hands. "There's a certain aura around your soul, one I'm sure not many has been as lucky as me to see the beauty of it. Quite rare in its core, despite the familiar, ordinary layers you hide it with."

"I'm not hiding anything," Mina blurted out.

Tzuyu smiled, lips pressed together tightly, eyes still closed. "A possibility. I could be mistaken. Complicated people like you are hard to read."

Mina heard her heart calming down but strangely felt the opposite as silence fell, stretching farther and farther until she couldn't  take it anymore. Her grip on Tzuyu's hand wandered up and caught her wrist, tugging it until the fairy stumbled into her arms, letting out a surprised sound. Mina kept her arms wrapped around Tzuyu's neck, not moving them an inch in fear of the fairy pulling away from their perfect embrace.

"Complicated." Mina felt her own voice shake with excitement, "You see, I think you are mistaken too. I'm, in fact," She moved her lips closer to Tzuyu's ear, grazing accidentally. The impact of her action showed in how the fairy's chest expanded, pressing even more tightly against her as a result and then stood still, air trapped in her lungs. Mina could hear, could feel her heart beating- almost in the same way hers did, like they were synced. "A very simple riddle. One that you might not have the answer to right away, one that gets you frustrated maybe for days. But then, at a random time, when you're not even thinking about it, it will come. The answer. It will make you gasp at how utterly simple it is. And then it will make you groan, feel crushed with waves of disappointment, because you expected the answer to be better, smarter, prettier."

"Oh, my dear wildflower," Tzuyu sighed, her voice filled with fondness and her fingers very gently, barely, grasping at Mina's tunic around her waist, wrinkling it. "Is that you? Or is that other people's awfully inaccurate perceptions of you? I will let you think anything, but on this I must insist, you, Myoui Mina, are not a simple riddle. If anything, you are an endless poem, one I think about all the time. One that makes me feel things, not disappointment but many others like joy, serenity and warmth as the lines get longer and longer the more we have our talks and I know you just a little more. There are many ways to read you, many ways to interpret what you mean, and I do not feel burdened by trying to solve it, I feel excited but also... calm. I feel... happy."

Mina swallowed, her lips parting open as she pulled back and stared into Tzuyu's eyes, finding it hard to contain the sudden growing affection in her heart. She brought her hand up to Tzuyu's cheek. She wanted to say something, anything. But her words failed her so she just smiled, her thumb brushing the fairy's cheekbone.

Tzuyu spoke for the both of them, easily filling the silence. "You make me happy."

***

A/N: Hi :D I'm back (but not really lol). Hope you enjoyed this chapter!