"Here you go, Yamato!" Yuuhime held out a small box.

"What's this?" Yamato asked, taking it.

"It's a gift, open it!"

He did, and smiled upon seeing the earring she got him.

"They're the ones you wanted," Yuuhime said, "I remembered you talking about them."

"Thank you, I've also gotten you a gift, Yuuhime." Yamato said, holding out a wrapped gift.

"You shouldn't have!" Yuuhime said, hugging her brother. "But thank you."

"Of course." He said, smiling.

Yuuhime unwrapped her gift to find a nutcracker, his suit red to match his braided hair.

"It's the one from that store you wanted." Yamato explained.

"You're so thoughtful!" She cried, pulling him out and admiring him.

Yamato smiled proudly.

"Kokozan wants me tonight," Yamato said quickly as he put on a dark purple cape, top hat, and an eyepatch, "something about intercepting a magician."

"You look like a magician yourself." Yuuhime giggled. Yamato shrugged and waved as he left.

Yuuhime looked back down at her nutcracker and smiled.

"You'd make a very pretty boy." She murmured as she placed him on her nightstand. She suddenly get something scurry across her feet. Jumping she looked down and saw mice. The largest one had a lavender purple coat.

"Ew! Ew!" She yelped, grabbing a book. "Get out of here!"

She swatted at the mice, that started to scatter. She almost got one, but hit her nightstand instead. Her nutcracker wobbled before falling onto the ground, his head falling off his body because of the impact.

"No! My nutcracker!" She gasped as she picked it up. The mice successfully escaped, and she cursed after them as she cradled the broken nutcracker.

She opened her drawer and pulled out a silky green ribbon and tied it around his head and body.

"I'll have to get some wood glue next time I'm out," She said aloud, "but this will do for now."

The nutcracker stared at her, his shiny glass eyes showing her reflection.

She suddenly felt very tired. Yawning, she placed the nutcracker on her nightstand again and laid down. Closing her eyes, she was quickly asleep.

...

"Psst!" She heard someone hiss. She laid completely still, listening.

"Shh, shut up!" She heard another voice hiss. "Don't wake the lady up!"

"Heh, after we get the king's revenge on her, what if we take a few of her treasures?" A third voice giggled.

"Of course, that's what we always do!" She felt a cold and furry hand grab her shoulder. She shot up and yelled, attacking.

Three glowing teal mouse-people yelped and ran around.

"How did you get in here?!" Yuuhime yelled.

One mouse-person squeaked, biting her arm. Another one grabbed her hair and pulled her down. Finally, the last one kicked her.

"Help! Help!" She screamed. She wasn't used to getting ganged up on by mice!

Suddenly, a quick flash of red sliced one mouse's tails clean off! He squeaked and ran around, holding where his tail once was.

The other two mice let go of her and ran around, squeaking and screaming.

A red figure poked the mice out of her room. She gasped when she saw who it was.

"You're-you're my nutcracker!" She cried. The nutcracker nodded, smiling at her.

"But how? You're so big now!"

The nutcracker shrugged.

"But thank you! You saved me from those...mice people?"

The nutcracker nodded.

"Can you speak?"

He shook his head.

"Why?"

He thought for a minute, then pointed the the rat tail that still laid there, then to his mouth, and acted like he was pulling something out of it.

"The mice took it? Why?"

He nodded and shrugged. She could tell he was fierce about getting his voice back, because his eyes shone brightly.

He pointed to his neck. She peered at it, and saw her green ribbon was around his neck. He smiled thankfully and kissed her hand.

"Oh! Y-you're welcome." She replied, blushing at the kiss.

He nodded then went to her window, opening it up. The cold air of the night blew in, blowing his hair and clothes. He looked at her and held his hand out.

"You want me to come?" Yuuhime guessed.

He nodded.

"W-wait, I don't even know your name!"

He breathed on the window then wrote something. When she looked, she saw a name.

'Tang Xuan'

He pointed at it, then pointed at himself.

"Your name is Tang Xuan?"

He nodded, but then circled 'Xuan.'

"Just Xuan?"

He nodded, smiling a satisfied smile.

"Nice to meet you, Xuan. My name is Yuuhime."

He bowed, tipping his hat. She smiled, bowing back.

He once again held out his hand, waiting for her to take it.

"Still want me to go?" She said. "Well, I'll go, but it's quite high up..."

He raised his eyebrows, peering down out her window, then shook his head.

"Huh? This is the fourth story, surly-"

He took her hand and pulled her out. She screamed, but found her feet touching the ground. She blinked, looking down to find powdery snow instead of a long drop.

"Woah..." she looked around, eyes wide. A beautiful forest lay out in front of her, the scent of pine lingering.

Xuan gave her a grin and tugged at her sleeve. He started to walk, and she quickly followed.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

Xuan pointed to his belt, which had a sword on it. Then, he fingered '100' and pretended to sword fight.

"100 knights? Warriors?" She guessed.

He shook his head.

"Assassins? Jousters?"

He shook his head more.

"Uhm...oh, an army!"

He nodded, clapping his hands. He made triangles with his hands.

"An army camp?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

He pinched his fingers by his nose, pulling them out as if he were pulling whiskers. Then, he pretended to sword fight again.

"You're fighting the mice."

He nodded.

"I guess I already knew that. Are you just fighting for your voice?"

He shook his head, then pointed to the snow, the dark sky, and ice.

"Did the mice make it so cold and snowy?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

He shrugged, but gave a confident smile, walking with the same confidence and pointing at himself.

"You think you're gonna be the one to fix this? Oh, I know you will!"

He put his hands on his hips and smiled pridefully at her encouragement. She giggled.

Soon, she saw a camp with many fires and tents.

"Captain Tang! There you are, where did you go?" A solider in a blue uniform ran over, giving him a salute.

Xuan pointed to his neck, then made the mouse signal.

"Ah, I see." He nodded, then looked at Yuuhime. "And why might this be?"

"I'm Yuuhime," She said, bowing, "Xuan brought me here."

"I'm Li Ling, nice to meet you." He responded.

Xuan pointed to Yuuhime than the ribbon.

"She fixed you?" He smiled and bowed back to Yuuhime. "You're in our debt, Miss Yuuhime."

"It was just the right thing to do." She responded, smiling. "But, can you tell me more about the mice?"

"Of course," the solider said, "come in, get warmed up while we're at it."

She nodded and walked in. Every solider wore blue uniforms, and all had their own unique weapons.

She and Xuan sat next to a fire, and Ling rubbed his hands together.

"So, the mice?" He said, racking his brain.

"Yes, why did they do this? What do they want?"

"We're not entirely sure why they did this, but they have taken Captain Xuan and other's voices. We think the king is trying to create more mice soldiers."

"Mouse soldiers? Like the ones in my room tonight?" Yuuhime asked. Xuan nodded.

"He can only create one's that look like himself," Ling explained, "but if he gets someone else's voice, he can make them different."

"But why would he want to do that? The ones from my room were glowing and all teal."

"We don't really know," Ling shrugged, "but we do know that we have to stop him."

Xuan stood up with that same confident smile.  Ling rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yes, and then Miss Yuuhime will give you a kiss." Ling joked. Xuan's cheeks turned red, and he looked at Yuuhime, as if he were asking her if she'd really do that.

"Don't get your hopes up!" Ling laughed. Yuuhime giggled, too.

Suddenly, another solider came running in, panicked and panting.

"Mona?" Ling quickly got up. "Are you ok?"

"The mice are coming!" She yelled, pointing her bow out. "Get ready!"

Xuan pulled out his sword and went in front of Yuuhime.

The squeaking of the many mice soldiers could be heard. She could see their teal bodies rushing forward, swords in their hands.

All hell went loose. Bodies were all over the ground, both Mice and Blue soldiers, some alive, others not so lucky.

Xuan squinted and then started running off.

"Wait!" Yuuhime yelled and trialed after him.

Far in the back, a colorful mouse-man stood in await.

"I was wondering where you were." He said, smiling. Xuan held out his hand and made a grabbing motion. The mouse-man scoffed, pulling out a bag with something in it.

"What is that? Who even are you?" Yuuhime asked.

"I'm Tang Yun, the Mouse king," He said, "this is Tang Xuan's voice."

"What do you want with his voice!" Yuuhime shouted, folding her arms. Yun didn't answer, instead pulling out his sword and charging forward.

Xuan quickly in front of Yuuhime, shielding her from the attack. He pulled out his own sword, their swords clashing together to create a loud crash.

Their swords glinted in the dark forest. When they hit the other, sparks flashed out.

Yun slashed quickly from all directions, causing Xuan to have to move backwards. Despite this, the red head skillfully blocked the mouse king's blade. Yuuhime watched, amazed.

Suddenly, she felt herself get grabbed up. She yelled, seeing the teal hands of the mouse soldiers around her.

"Hah! Hah! If you keep resisting, she'll be thrown down that cliff!" Yun laughed. Xuan was alarmed, and scowled at the king.

Yuuhime was not having none of this. She elbowed one mouse, then kicked the other, and ran far away. Xuan smiled in relief, but was caught off guard when Yun swiftly got a hit on his arm.

Yuuhime tried to sprint to him but Xuan waved her off, looking at her to leave.

"What do I do...!" She whispered, leaning on a tree.

"Well?" The tree responded. She jumped back. A hole was in the tree, and Yamato peered out at her in his magician's outfit.

"Yamato!" She cried. "It's horrible, he's-"

"I know!" Yamato smiled. "But give me a minute, I'll make something magical happen. I'm a magician tonight, after all."

She silently watched him grow a glowing ball in his hands, its size growing double every second until she couldn't see.

She yelled, but she felt Yamato patting her shoulder before disappearing back into the tree.

She covered her eyes. She could tell the two fighters also stopped, for the clashing of swords ceased. Then, she heard a scream of pain.

Once the light was gone, a mid was in its place. She looked around and saw the mouse king on the ground, a wound in his stomach. No blood came from it, but instead a glowing teal liquid.

Xuan ran to Yuuhime and made sure she was ok. The other mice around started to mourn, their high squeals making her ears ring.

Xuan pointed to a hill.

"What about it?" She asked.

He pointed to his mouth.

"Did your voice roll down the hill?"

He nodded, pulling on her sleeve.

"Ok, let's go!"

He smiled and led her.

She noticed that the world warmed up. The sky was brighter, and the animals came back. But the snow stayed.

"Didn't you say the mice made the snow?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Then why is it so snowy still?"

He pointed forward. She looked, and saw a giant ice palace.

"Oh my goodness!" She cried, her mouth gaping. Xuan smiled and picked her up, sliding down a frozen river.

She saw some small elves dancing around, their blue dresses flowing. When they saw Xuan, they all waved and smiled.

"Mr. Captain! Welcome back!" They sang.

He waved, putting Yuuhime down, and points to the castle.

"The queen? She'll be out shortly." One small elf said. As she said this, a beautiful woman came out. Her hair was white as snow, and her dress was blue and white with snowflakes all over it. Perhaps the most beautiful woman Yuuhime had ever seen.

"Hello, Captain Tang." She bowed. "Who is this with you?"

"I'm Yuuhime, ma'am." Yuuhime bowed back.

"It's very nice to meet you," She said, "my name is Snow Queen."

Yuuhime smiled. Xuan pointed to his mouth.

"Have I seen your voice?" Snow Queen asked. "No, I'm very sorry."

"I have!" An elf said. "But it got trapped under the ice. You'll have to dance for it!"

Xuan nodded quickly, then turned to Yuuhime, holding out his hand. She looked at his face, and saw him grinning. She grinned back and took his hand.

He led her to the center of the ice and started to dance. She knew all the moves as if she had done this dance her whole life. Xuan, too, seemed surprised at her knowledge of the dance, but he smiled.

He slid across the ice, his hand on her waist. She gracefully slid along with him, smiling from ear to ear.

The ice beneath them slowly opened. Xuan took her other hand and smiled sweetly. Her cheeks flushed at his very handsome smile, his dimples complimenting his freckles and his eyes shining brightly.

Their dance intensified, but it made Yuuhime feel even better. She didn't want this moment to end.

Finally, his voice floated up from the ice back into his mouth. He blinked and smiled happily.

He lightly placed his hand on her cheek.

"Thank you, Yuuhime." His kind and confident voice said, before giving her a kiss right on her lips.

***

Yuuhime's eyes fluttered open.

"Tang Xuan?" She called, sitting up. She saw she was back in her room. The window was closed, no mice were anywhere to be seen, no elves, no soldiers.

Her heart fell. It was all a dream? She looked over to see her nutcracker, the green ribbon still holding his head in place. She picked him up and caressed his face, lightly kissing his forehead.

"Yuuhime! Are you awake?" She heard Yamato knocking on the door.

"Yes! Let me get dressed!" She said, and she quickly did. She left her room, without a second glance at the window.

But on the window, fingerprints still remained. When the wind blew at the right moment, words could be made out.

'Tang Xuan.'