If possible, the wind has gotten colder over the past few days since the holidays started. Xanthy tucked her arms close to her, grateful for the mass of cloth shielding her legs in the form of a huge skirt. Well, at least these buggers still have their uses.

The lights around her formed a montage of bright, multi-colored spots going against the night sky beginning to rise when the sun went down an hour ago. Xanthy had been neglecting her star charts for a good while to not know which moons were going to grace the sky today. Who in Umazure even cared about that?

Excited chatters and boots slapping against the cobblestones filled the noise that reached Xanthy's ears. There were the occasional dagrine bray and the hollers of merchants joining them from time to time. Right now, though, a single spectacle had her attention.

She craned her neck up to stare at the tall tree void of leaves. Its thin, light-blue trunk made it look like it was glowing on its own. Well, maybe it was and Xanthy has no way of knowing for sure. On its webbing branches, several wooden plaques the size of Xanthy's palm hung, swaying with the occasional breeze passing by and rattling the branches.

Xanthy tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ear, her own fingers clutched around the same type of plaque. The stylus that came with it when she bought it from the merchant was still poised atop its soft surface. The plaque remained empty.

The mechanics were simple enough. One was supposed to write a wish on the plaque and hang it on the tree for the rest of the holiday. There was a belief that said if one's plaque was able to stay on the tree without falling or being blown away by the wind, then the wish written on them would have higher chances of coming true. Even more so if, at the end of the holiday season, once the plaques were planted, the tree that sprouts from it thrives.

Xanthy had no qualms about the tree-planting drive that came with this practice—it's a good way to give back to the island after a full year of taking its lumber—but what about the people who couldn't afford these plaques? Wouldn't their wishes come true as well?

She looked down at her still empty plaque. That's part of the reason she was so clueless about these practices as a Disfavored for many years. Should she make a decree to make these plaques free for all? Perhaps, Master Quinxus would hear her out.

She shook her head. That's next year's problem. There were a lot of things about the island that had to come first.

"Hey, a wish couldn't be that hard," Nyxis nudged her with his elbow.

Xanthy flinched. "What? Oh," she dug the tip of her stylus against the plaque's surface. There wasn't a thing coming to mind. What should she wish for? Island-wide peace sounds a bit presumptuous. She blew a breath. "I just...have a lot of things on my mind lately."

Nyxis pursed his lips. He clasped his hands behind him as he eyed a group of young fairies giggling as they hung their plaques on the nearest branch they could find. "What could those things be?" he said. "Indulge me, Your Highness."

"Tsk. Don't you start with me with that formal talk, princess," Xanthy rolled her eyes before setting her plaque against the tip of her cane. She had been leaning against it for quite a while now. "Do you really have no idea where June could be? There might be something going on with him. I don't want to be the last to know."

Nyxis cleared his throat and turned back to the wish tree in front of them. Past the haze of thin branches and tinkling plaques, the view of the Nanveran streets loomed like an impending rain cloud. The lights decorating the balconies, awnings, and some passing merchant carts contributed to the outer glow of the wish trees.

"No, I don't have an idea," Nyxis said without looking at Xanthy. What was he looking at over there? She craned her neck to match his stance. There's nothing interesting there. "He hasn't told me anything."

"For real, though?" Xanthy glanced at Nyxis to see him purse his lips again. "I thought you both made up after your...disagreement."

Nyxis winced. Oh, Xanthy has heard about it alright. Her friend could throw a deadly punch if need be. "That doesn't mean he should tell me everything that's going on in his life," he said. "I still haven't forgiven him for what he did to your...form before he entered the Ice Capital."

Xanthy snorted and backhanded Nyxis lightly on the chest. "Well, Jered Hyngtis is a season of forgiveness and starting over," she started scrawling on her plaque with her best imitation of the Keiju koset. "Perhaps it's high time you do so."

"Yeah, whatever," Nyxis waved his hand in the air. "Have you finished your wish?"

She held her plaque to her eyes. I wish to spend the holidays with June, were the words blinking back at her. "Yeah," she answered Nyxis's question. She curled her fingers around it the moment Nyxis leaned over to look. She clicked her tongue as she shoved him away. "Don't look!" she trudged towards the nearest branch she could reach. "You might jinx it."

Nyxis chuckled as he followed her. "I'm not that much of a curse-bearer, I swear!"

He laughed some more when Xanthy glared at him. Soon, she joined him in his amusement. "I never said you are," she said. She ran a hand against her face. "I have to go back to work on my closing speech."

"Do you want to stop over at my house?" Nyxis asked.

Xanthy raised an eyebrow. "You've got a house in Nanvera?"

Nyxis's smile was enough of an answer.