The Girl Who Learned to Shiver

Sally Acorn did not like winter.

It was normally freezing cold and very rarely has snow. Even when it does, it refuses to last longer than a day. Sally sat in her room next to the fire that she had started moments earlier. While she didn't particularly enjoy this time of year, one of her favorites pastimes happened to be sitting by a fire, an event that she is unable to do during warmer weather without overheating. She sighed as she wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling them close to her.

"Every year I forget how cold it gets and every year I feel like I'm freezing my tail off." She muttered, her breath coming out to look like a cold steam. She watched the fire, enjoying seeing the dance of the reds, oranges, and yellows. Occasionally she could catch a quick glimpse of a blue flame near the bottom. Sally sighed, wanting to get to work at her desk, but not wanting to move from her warm spot.

Her blue eyes drifted towards the window widening with shock at what she saw outside it. "Nicole!" She quickly exclaimed, stumbling upwards to grab ahold of her handheld friend. "What is it Sally?" The device asked, beeping awake. "Can you come out? There's something you need to see!" The princess bounced as she asked, barely able to contain her excitement.

Sally placed the device on her bed, stepping back to give room for her friend to form. Nicole appeared soon after, with her brows furrowed in confusion. "What is it? Is something wrong?" She asked, stepping towards the seemingly restless princess.

"Wrong? Oh, no! Nothing's wrong! Just... look out the window!" Sally told her, grabbing the lynx by her arm and pulling her towards the simply framed window. The holo lynx scanned outside, her eyes searching and scanning for whatever it could be that had made Sally so excited.

After a while, she had finally decided to ask, "is it the... snow?" A wide grin crossed Sally's face, making her eyes crinkle slightly. "Snow! Do you know how rarely we get it?" Nicole placed her fingers on her chin, calculating the answer to Sally's query. "Normally you get snow every-" "Rhetorical question." Sally interrupted, shaking her head slightly. Nicole's face went slack, her expression going back to neutral.

Nicole examined her friends face, knowing that there was a reason for her dragging her out from sleep. "Did you perhaps" Nicole asked "want to go outside?" Sally nodded her head enthusiastically, grabbing Nicole's hands, "Will you come with?" Nicole felt her heart beat quicken a little as Sally grabbed her hands. She tried to speak but didn't have any words come out and decided to just nod her head instead.

Sally made a little bounce and proceeded to grab her scarf and coat. "Do you want a scarf or something?" She asked as she put on her warming layers. "No thank you, I will be fine." Nicole declined, staring out the window to watch the falling snow. "Are you sure?" The princess asked, turning around to face her holographic friend, "you''ll probably get cold." Nicole shook her head, her dark hair waving below her shoulders, "No thank you, Sally. I appreciate the sentiment though." Sally shrugged, pulling the ends of her scarf through a loop, "well, if you're sure."

The both of them headed down the stoney corridors of Castle Acorn, knowing where to go to get to their destination. When they got outside, Sally breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of the falling snow. Despite it having only started snowing less than ten minutes before, the courtyard was already covered in the falling white, transforming it to a winter wonderland.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Sally asked, spinning around as the falling snow decorated her hair. Nicole sat on a nearby bench, enjoying the sight of the princess enjoying herself. "Yeah, gorgeous."

Nicole felt a little... weird. Her heart was beating quicker and she felt a smile growing on her face. She enjoyed this feeling, but also wished it would go away as her stomach felt like it was doing somersaults.

"Are you okay?" Sally noticed that Nicole seemed to be thinking seriously about something. And she was shaking. "Hm? Oh yes, I'm fine." The lynx dismissed her friends worries, standing up next to the princess.

"Are you sure? You look... cold." Sally stated, wondering if an AI could get cold. "Is that what this feeling is? I upgraded myself so that I'd be able to actually feel the weather." Nicole explained, adding a little sheepishly "I want to be as like you as I can."

"Well if that's all, then let me give you my scarf." Sally said. Nicole was about to decline but stopped since Sally was already unwrapping her scarf. "Does that feel better?" She asked, wrapping the scarf around her friends neck, draping it over her shoulders. "Y-yes, it does." Nicole didn't notice that she stuttered.

"Are you still cold?" Sally asked, concern showing through her voice. Nicole debated whether or not to answer truthfully, her arms were really cold, but she didn't want Sally to worry. The princess recognized her friends internal debate, as she has had a similar look on her face before. Sally grabbed the ends of the scarf, one in each hand, and pulled Nicole closer to her.

Nicole's eyes widened in shock as Sally's lips touched her own. She didn't know how to respond and felt as if her systems were going to shut down. Sally pulled back and Nicole couldn't tell whther or not she wanted to pull the princess close again.

"I bet you're feeling pretty warm now." Sally guessed, a teasing smirk crossing her lips. "You just... kissed... um yeah, I'm warm now." Nicole stuttered, pulling the scarf up to hide the redness on her face. Sally quickly put a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh.

"Wh-what?" Nicole asked, feeling a little hurt that she was being laughed at. "You just look... so cute!" Sally exclaimed, amused at Nicole's embarrassed expression. Nicole pushed her face deeper into scarf, wishing she could go back inside her handheld home.

Sally furrowed her brows, suddenly becoming very worried at what she had done. "I'm sorry," she apologized "should I not have done that?" "No... it's fine. I'm just... it was sudden and I didn't have time to prepare myself." Nicole replied, forcing herself to face the princess.

"Does that mean... you liked it?" Sally asked, a flicker of hope growing inside her. Nicole breathed in deeply, preparing herself for her next sentence. "Yes, I did. And I would like to do it again." She stated. She watched as the corners of Sally's mouth curled up into a smile. Sally didn't say anything as she wrapped her arms around the lynxs neck, giving her new girlfriend another kiss.

Winter was now Sally Acorns favorite season.