"Huh? What's this?"

As we made our way through the grasslands, dark clouds covered the entire sky.
"Is it about to rain?"

No. Rather than rain, snow started falling over our heads! "What is going on? Snow? At a time like this?" Hotaru said out.

I raised my hand over my head, shielding myself. The cold snowflakes that touched my skin sent a shiver throughout my body. "It's getting cold. I think we should find a shelter..."
"Yeah, you're right."

We started searching for a place where we could stay till the snow stopped.

"Look, over there!" Asuka pointed. It was a small cottage that was built right over the path. We rushed towards the cottage.

When we went closer, we found that the cottage was decorated with lights and bells.

"Cool decorations!" Asuka joked.
"Hush..." Hotaru bumped her with her arm.
I moved forward and knocked on the door. "Excuse me? Is anyone home?" We stood there for a while before the door opened by itself.

"Huh?"

The door creaked open, revealing a small room. But it wasn't like any other normal room. It was decorated as if it were...Christmas? A large Christmas tree stood there in the middle of the room which was adorned with bells, streamers and stars. Under the tree, many gifts were kept.

"With the Santa Claus coming
and gifting us joy,
We will behold the light
that we receive..."

We heard a sweet melody coming from somewhere in the room.

We entered. At the corner of the room, a girl stood with a Santa hat on her head.

She had pointed ears and her attire perfectly suited the occasion.

But wait, was it really Christmas?

"Umm, excuse me?" I called out.
Her eyes landed on us. "Yes?"
"Sorry to disturb you. But can we stay here till the snows stops?"
The girl looked outside the window.

"Yes, you are right...Okay, you can stay," she said.

We thanked the girl and made ourselves comfortable at her house. The girl continued singing.

"Over the tree top
the moonlight seeps
The everlasting happiness...
That we spread everywhere..."

We intently listened to her singing. Then a sudden thought crossed my mind. "Umm...excuse me?"
"Can I help you with something?" she smiled.
"Yes...actually we were wondering why have you taken out the Christmas tree? Is it really Christmas?"

The girl stared at me as if I were some wierd creature for asking that question. Then she laughed.

"Of course it's Christmas! In fact, everyday is Christmas for me!" the girl said.

She was wierder than Asuka.

The pointed-eared girl understood what was going on in our minds and tried to clear our confusions.
"I am the Christmas elf. My work is to sing the Christmas requiem."

"The Christmas requiem?"

"Yeah. Here, Christmas is an event where we guide the soul of the dead to the afterworld with our songs. The souls follow our melody and enter the next life. The song that I was singing was the Christmas Requiem."

"W-Wow, that's amazing," Hotaru said. "Yeah," I agreed. I never knew that the meaning of Christmas here could be that deep.

A smile crept on my lips. I took a deep breath and...

"With the Santa Claus coming
and gifting us joy..."

"Natsu?" My friends wondered why I started singing all of a sudden. The elf smiled and joined me.

"...we will behold the light
that we receive..."

Hotaru sighed. Asuka tugged her arm,"We can't be left behind, right?"
She smiled. "Yeah."

Thus, all four of us sang in sync:

"With the Santa Claus coming
and gifting us joy,
We will behold the light
that we receive...

Over the tree top
the moonlight seeps
The everlasting happiness...
That we spread everywhere..."

I clasped my hands together and concentrated on my palms. An azure light came out of my hands. As I opened them, musical notes came out of my palms followed by a beautiful instrumental.

The candles in the room seemed to burn brighter. A mysterious happiness surrounded us. We continued...

"Never fear the darkness anymore
for we believe,
In the light of
Our dreams...we believe..."

I let out a deep breath. That was fun!

The girl came up to us. "Thank you. Now the souls would definitely find their way."
"You're welcome," I smiled.
"Sorry, I never told you my name. It's Midori."
"Nice to meet you, Midori."

The snow finally stopped.

We went outside and looked at the snow-covered landscape. "Wow! It's so white!" Asuka shrieked.

"Thank you for letting us stay till the snow stopped..."
"No, thank you for joining me in my song," Midori hugged us.

We said our goodbyes and finally went on our way.