Ordinary Christmas - Side: Sophie

I sit alone as the Christmas parade passes by. The hot chocolate should taste delicious, but for some reason, I can't actually taste anything. Sapinish Christmas music sounds from the streets, but I feel so, utterly defeated.

It's been a week since we landed in Sapin. They've decided to keep me in custody for the time being. A part of me is glad they aren't making a big fuss about me being a princess or anything. But Alex...

I'm all alone in a foreign country. Even though the music is bright, there's a crushing feeling in my soul that's slowly killing me from the inside. I sit down and curl up into a ball. I'm scared. I'm unsure. And I'm lonely.

"I wouldn't have expected the princess to be crying alone this great holiday." I look up as Alex steps into the alleyway.
"Alex?" Wait, what? "What...what are you doing here? Weren't you sent down to interrogation for-"
"My imprisonment was...greatly exaggerated." Alex grins. "Alright, fine. I snuck out. They didn't put me into anything too high security. A school has more security. Besides, missing out on a festival isn't the Alex way." He gets on one knee and grabs my hand with a wink. "Leaving behind a girl crying isn't the Alex way."
"Alex..."
"You know, I ran around a ton looking for you." He looks down. "I'm pretty sure no one has noticed yet, so I figure, we may as well make the most of our festival day. Well, your highness?" He flashes me a grin, and in that moment, the dam finally breaks. It's embarrassing, but I finally burst into tears. I bury my face in my hands.

"Uh, Sophie? Sophie? Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" His face contorts into pure horror as he tries to get a glimpse of my face.
"No." I laugh. "I was really lonely, you know? I was really lonely." As he gets up, I jump into him, listening to the beating of his heartbeat. "I missed you." We linger. And in moments later, he wraps his arms around me as well.

"I missed you too."

The streets are jam packed full of people. I've always been afraid of crowds, but having Alex next to me helps calm my frayed nerves. And I realize a big advantage to having the streets be so crowded - it's easy to get lost in here. No one asks if I'm a princess, or if Alex is an ace pilot. Here, we're just allowed to be ourselves.

"Alex, Alex!" I say, as I tug on his sleeve. I now notice he's dressed quite fashionable to be honest. I don't know how he got it. "Look!" There's a giant Christmas tree in the town square. There's a choir singing in front of it.

"Want to look?" Alex asks.

"Sure." We sit on the chairs set in front of the tree. It's the first time I've ever sat in a chair like this, and the first time seeing it from such a bad angle. The other chairs are full and we are all the way to the back, so we can barely see, but for some reason, it's not so bad.

***

"Hey Sophie!" We are running along the streets now again, and Alex has spotted an arcade up ahead. A few kids are playing an old 90's game where pixellated figures are beating each other up. I know this game. "Wanna try?" A smile creeps onto my face.

"Of course." The children's eyes widen when they see us. 

"Hey, aren't you two the people on TV-"

"Shh, shh!" Alex says, and then gives them a wink. "This is a little secret between us, okay?"

The children excitedly watch as Alex and I sit down on the machines.

"I'm not that good at fighting games myself," Alex says. "But if you want me to go easy, I can."

"That won't be necessary." This game is all about three things, strategy, reflexes, and knowing the intricacies of the way the controller works. Master all three, and you're unstoppable. As the game begins, it's clear Alex doesn't actually know how the controller works. His reflexes are decent. And his tactics are good, but he's not a strategic thinker.

"Whoa hey, you're good!" The kids say as we play.

"You...kidding me?" Alex says as I mercilessly beat up his character. "I'm a goddamn ace pilot, this should be second nature..." He struggles more with the controller, but it's not enough. Victory is mine. "God...da..." Alex looks over at the kids. "Uh, god dang it?"

I laugh as Alex offers me a sheepish grin.

***

"Alex, Alex!" I say, tugging on his sleeve again. "Look!" There's a stall selling foreign sweets. Some kind of weird sweet noodle.

"Hey, I've seen those on TV. Wanna try?"

We head on over to the stall and share a cup together. The sweet broth is messy, and it practically requires all four hands to maintain the thing.

"Whoa, hey!" We almost spill some onto the pavement. It's gooey, sticky, and the noodles are awfully tangled. The fact that it's a pair of flimsy wooden skewers and not a fork makes things worse.

"We could try using them as chopsticks..." I grab one, and try to use them as such. Feeling confident, I go for a massive cluster of noodles, but the skewers snaps under the weight, and it splatters onto the floor.

***

"Hey Sophie." I see Alex eyeing another event stall. "You want anything from there?" He looks over and gives me a teasing grin. "I could get you a present."
"Sure..." I say, as I reach into my pocket and reach for the little 'handkerchief'. Alex's first gift to me.

Alex confidently marches up to the stall, where there's a little shooting game set up. The stallkeeper's eyes widen up in surprise as he sees us, but Alex is already approaching the man with a finger on his lips, so the man nods and offers us up a rifle.
"Looking to impress your lady?"
"Of course." Alex says, as confident as the sun. "Anything for her."
"Good luck young man!" The man says. "Don't embarrass yourself!"
"Don't you worry sir." He says as he aims down the sights. "I'm a natural at this."

He hits every shot.

"What can I say?" Alex says as he grins proudly. I turn slightly red as the stallkeeper hands Alex the stuffed animal, who proceeds to hand it to me. It's like I'm a kid or something...

"Whoa, you kidding me?" Alex attaches himself to a window and starts staring at a toy. "Man, I didn't know they still had these. I thought no one cared anymore..."

I chuckle. If I'm a kid, Alex is a baby. He's a little kid. It's actually endearing. He talks to me excitedly about the some robot from some anime he enjoys watching. 

"I...wish I could say. I've never seen that show before."

"Aww, really? It's a fairly obscure one, so I guess that's fair." Alex grumbles. "Well, I guess you wouldn't know everything..." I laugh.

"Is it similar to Space Kanata?" I ask. It's a show Alex and I have both watched, despite it's equal obscurity.

"Uh, sort of? They're both sci-fi and optimistic, I guess."

"Optimistic, huh?" I stare at the window again. "You like the optimistic ones..."

"I guess it depends. I guess I like...bittersweet? Like that movie-"

"The Name of Life." It's based around the WW1 period, and it's my favorite. Alex's favorite too, funnily enough, which I learned a few weeks back. It's just a beautiful movie.

"Yeah! Or, I guess I also really liked Starcross. I played the younger brother of Marie there, but honestly, when I go back and look at it, it's a really lovely story." I see a smile on his face, as if he's reminiscing deeply. "You said you liked it sometime ago, right? Well, I'm glad I was a part of that. Like, maybe I'm biased, but I really like it." 

"Do you?" Something's building inside of me. I can't take this anymore.

"Uh, I guess. I mean, you like it too, right?" Alex continues on, oblivious. "I really think it's a beautiful tale. I've always liked the star-crossed lovers trope. And it's kinda cozy. Well, if you discount the scenes towards the end-" Alex looks over, finally realizing. "Sophie? Sophie!"

"Maybe it's fun for us to watch. But I don't want to be a part of a story like that." Alex is silent. "Hey, Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I want you to listen to me, okay? I...you can stop me if it's boring or if you don't want to hear it but...please, I just need to tell someone." I look up at him. The Alex standing in front of me feels different from a moment ago. He's more mature, more understanding.

I'm not sure which Alex I prefer more.

"It's okay." He says. "I'll listen to anything you say." We sit down on a bench by the river. It feels familiar to when we first properly met, by that stream months ago.

"Okay." I take a deep breath. "Alex..."