The first snow brought me out of hibernation. Can you remember? Back when snowmen were our only worries? When every day in winter was ushered in and ended with snow angels and snowball fights? Time passed and our habits were forgotten. Before I knew it, we'd grown up. Every time our eyes met, the childhood snow seemed to melt away. It was like betraying our last snowman. I still have the picture of what we shot of him. Do you still remember? I am desperate every year. I stumbled across these simple phrases like they were my open shoelaces. It was like my tongue would go dry like sandpaper if I even thought of the words you were saying. It was hard. It was long. I often had to cry, but today the day has come when your Sleeping Beauty woke up from her hundred years of hibernation.

I can no longer banish the gentle smile from my face. How the snowflakes got into my hair depends on me. It seems as if I am floating over the innocent white landscape - as if I have been equipped with two invisible wings of the same color. It should happen today. I am determined. Today I want to be your angel.

You call my name I can see it in your half-open mouth. Then you open it again. You want to say something else, but nothing comes. The unspoken words have cloaks that make them invisible and let them melt into the night. It's okay, the main thing is that you stay here.
"Naruto," I breath. It feels good to let your name slip over your lips without blushing. It feels liberating, the letters melt on my lips as if they were syrup.
You look at me in silence and surprise. Your face is so even and flawless. A rosy glow has settled on the cheeks. Not out of embarrassment - I guess it's the snow of childhood that whirls and welcomes us with roaring cheers. "Hina ... ta ..." The last syllable is so infinitely delicate, as fleeting as the reflected sunbeam on the surface of the water.
"Home is where my loved ones are ..." I say, take one more step towards you and look you straight in the eye. "Wherever you are, I want to be there too, because a place without you would make me homeless in an instant."
A hesitant, broad smile spreads across your lips. It's so wide that it goes smoothly from one ear to the other. "Hinata ..." you sigh. I wonder what you are thinking. As suddenly as your gaze shifted into the distance, it came back to me. You put your hand on my cheek.
I had to kicker. You still had your gloves on and I just felt the melted snow turn to water and my cheek slowly run down. "Did you get him back?" I asked softly.
Your smile was answer enough for me and I had to stand on tiptoe to look over your shoulder.Tears of joy welled up in my eyes. A snowman - a huge snowman stood there - with a mortar nose, tangerine eyes, a cap on his head, a scarf around his neck and a broom woven from twigs, time, skill and love. Your hands had shaped it. The hands that now gently framed my face.
"I missed you, Hina-chan ..." you whispered close to my ear.
I smiled at you and opened my present. "For you, Naru ..." With that I put on the scarf that I had been working on for years. Every year when I cut my fingers because of him, I let him go. But every time a new year began, new hope tumbled into my heart and I dared to do it again. This time I cut my fingers again - more than once - but didn't give up and finished the scarf that night.

When the fresh snow blinded me on the morning of the second Advent and daylight shone brightly on the knitted scarf, I knew it was time. I knew that we would find each other again today. Now I'll never let go of you, no matter how many times I stab my finger for it.

A / N: I wish you a merry, second Advent - enjoy the Christmas season. <3