Chapter Text
The Prince of Summer and the Winter Queen, forced apart by the distance of seasons, never to touch. He burned with the fire of high noon, hot and forever shining like the unending sun. She, though frozen, was like the snowflake, delicate and shy, but for all she was solitary as the moon, she was lonely in her frigid palace. He kept life going, tried its strength and tempered its mettle, plying it with food and stage for combat. She protected the sleepers, a blanket of heavy snow insulating their homes from the outside. Then, after many eons of circling each other, Summer to Winter, Winter to Summer, he caught glimpse of something unique and special—a dusting of front across his vibrant plants. So enthralled was he by the delicate crystals that he reached out to touch the frozen blades, but before his fingertips could brush them the heat of his body chased them away, the pale blue skirting down the deep green as he gasped in disappointment. His light dimmed then, as a sadness over took his heart. He had to give her something in return, but what? He went to his trees, spoke with each of their souls, begging one of them to resist the pull of sleep when the cold set in. One small prickly bush piped up when all others refused. He bent over the little plant with a proud smile, and blessed her head with a crown of berries as red as the blood in his veins. When the Winter Queen came again, the little bush took her breath away. For years she had been in love from a distance, always watching but never touching, for her own frozen hands withered and blackened his beautiful flowers. So, when she reached out and the only thing that happened to the little bush was a shiver, she laughed bright and happily. To respond, the Winter Queen gave the Prince of Summer another layer of sparkling diamonds over the bush’s berry-crown. This proposal they both accepted, and between them came two seasons where Summer’s Heat and Winter’s Cold could co-exist. All thanks to the bravery of a little, thorny-leafed bush named Holly.