The Snow Maiden (Part 6)
by BLZBub
As spring drew nearer, Natasha felt a mixture of
both worry and excitement. She was certain she had won Lel’s heart by
now, but she couldn’t tell if she had officially won her trial yet. She
hadn’t received any word from any supernatural
being about whether she’s won or lost. So as winter came to an end,
Natasha was filled up with anticipation.
Finally, as the last of winter was fading away,
Natasha received a message. A tall flower had inexplicably sprung up
outside her door and there was a message inscribed on the leaves,
telling her to go a certain part of town. Filled with
hope and dread, Natasha got into her car and drove to the place.
As Natasha drew nearer, she noticed an odd absence
of activity in the area. It’s as if all the humans here were compelled
to go somewhere else or stay out of the way. This made Natasha all the
more certain she was going to the right place.
Eventually, she came to the place her message indicated, a large
fountain in the middle of a square. Natasha got out of her car and
looked around for who she was supposed to meet.
“You’ve done well, child,” said a voice which made
Natasha jumped. She turned around to see a beautiful woman dressed in a
green dress. The leaves along her hemline and the flowers in her hair
made it obvious who she was. This was Mother
Spring, the embodiment of all the life that came forth after the end of
winter. “There is no reason for you to be alarmed, my dear. Your trial
has been completed quite a while ago. I could only appear on the last
day of winter to tell you so.”
“She did pretty well, I admit. Wasn’t sure if she’d get the spine to talk me down at first, but she pulled through.”
Natasha turned and was a bit surprised to see
Vasilisa. “What are you doing here? And shouldn’t you be back to Baba
Yaga by now?” asked Natasha.
Natasha gave a rueful smile and said, “Well, I did
want to see how this little trial would actually end. You’ve won the
trial and I lost a bet. Now I’ll have to stay in this form for a few
years.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that would happen,” said Natasha.
“Don’t be sorry. You would have lost if I won.
Besides, this body isn’t so bad. I’ve forgotten how much fun youth is.
I’ll have to change my routine to scare bad children straight though,”
said Vasilisa.
“You’ve succeeded beyond expectations.” Natasha
turned and saw both Father Frost and Father Christmas, wearing identical
outfits. “I have given life to many beings of snow, but none of them
have ever gotten as far as you have,” said Father
Frost.
“You are quite the special girl,” said Santa Claus
with a chuckle, “You were all but human in spirit when we first met and
now there’s nothing to tell you apart from a normal woman.”
“Except that I didn’t grow up as one,” said Natasha.
Santa waved his hand dismissively and said, “Easily
fixed. Between the four of us, we can give everyone the memories
necessary for thinking you were always human. In fact, my brother and I
have a gift for you regarding that.” He reached
into his bag and pulled out a snow globe with a tiny figure of
Natasha’s snow child form painted to resemble snow in it. “If ever you
have a question regarding your new past, just ask the snow globe, shake
it, and it’ll reveal the answer.”
Natasha took the snow globe with trepidation and said, “So, everything’s done? I can go on living like a normal woman now?”
“Yes, you needn’t worry about melting now or ever.
You’re completely human now,” said Father Frost, “Though you’ll
understand that you will not have as magic in your life as you used to.”
Natasha nodded, it was a heavy price, but one she
was willing to pay. “Still, I don’t see why I can’t visit you during
the winter.”
Natasha smiled and said, “Thank you, Godfather Frost.”
As spring progressed, Natasha and Lel became closer
than ever. Now Lel was able to recall a lot more of their childhood and
he could remember Natasha being around as he grew up. Natasha had
memorized a lot of new memories from the snow
globe so she was able to keep up pretty well with Lel’s recollection.
But their memories weren’t as important as what was going on in the
present. Natasha and Lel have been going steady for quite a few months
and Natasha was enjoying their dates more now that
there was actually romance involved.
During one such date, Lel gave her a big surprise.
It was a more casual date, riding rented mopeds around the town. They
had stopped for lunch at a restaurant and Natasha wasn’t expecting
anything other than the usual mealtime conversation.
But then when dessert was ordered, Natasha was surprised when a ring
was placed on the top of her cake. She hadn’t been expecting Lel to
propose like this but Natasha was not going to turn him down.
Natasha had been dreaming about what her wedding
would be like since she knew she was in love with Lel. She had been
mainly imagining it would be a winter wedding, but they were being
married in midsummer. Natasha hoped that she would Father
Frost and the other magical beings, though she didn’t have her hopes
high. She had severed herself from magic by choosing to be human and
Father Frost was not likely to appear in midsummer.
But as Natasha was walking up the aisle, she was
able to spot a lot of faces in the crowd that she knew. She could spot
Father Frost, Santa Clause, Mother Nature, (all wearing mortal clothes
of course), and even Vasilisa among the people
attending. Magic may no longer be an active part of Natasha’s life, but
that clearly didn’t mean those who were magic wouldn’t leave her. That
gave Natasha more encouragement to walk up to the alter.
It turns out that Father Frost and the others
wanted to do more than just see Natasha’s wedding. They had wedding
gifts to give and Mother Spring offered one that was particularly
exciting: a honeymoon vacation to a place far different
than Natasha and Lel have ever been to before.
Lel wasn’t sure how Natasha could have won a
vacation to Costa Rica, but he wasn’t about to complain. It was about as
far from Russia as one could imagine. Natasha was experiencing so many
new things she wasn’t sure how to handle them all.
The sun, the sand, the surf, the trees, it was nothing like her home
country. If she had been a snow child, she probably would have melted
within the first hour of coming here. But a snow maiden certainly
couldn’t be lying on a beach and wearing a bikini for
her new husband.
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