The only thing left was for Bram to work up the courage to take the first step. First, though, she had to figure out where that courage would come from. If she had a present of her own to give Myuke, it would likely be enough to give her that final push.
“I was super mean to Myuke, m’kay? I destroyed her snowman, then got stubborn and said really bad stuff to her...”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself; everyone says mean things when they’re in an argument. Besides, it’s not like you intended to destroy her snowman.”
“That doesn’t matter, m’kay? I destroyed it and that’s that.”
“Then why don’t we build a snowman together?” Anima cheerfully proposed to try to drag her out of her slump.
“You think she’ll forgive me if we do? M’kay...”
“I’m sure she will if we build a nice snowman and give her a really good apology.”
Anima’s confidence had clearly rubbed off on Bram, as she immediately made a snowball and began rolling it along the ground.
“I’ll make the body. You focus on the head, m’kay?”
“Leave it to me! I’ll make the best snowman head this world has ever seen!”
Anima started working on his portion of the snowman, all the while keeping an eye on Bram’s so that the head wouldn’t end up being bigger than the body.
“This should do it, m’kay? Daddy, can you bring the head over here?”
Anima picked up his snowball, around the size of his own head, and put it on the body Bram had made. In doing so, he had completed their snowman—which was situated right next to the cute little snowman Marie had made the day before.
“I wanted to put them next to each other so they’re not lonely, m’kay?” Bram explained.
“They look like siblings.”
“Marie’s is the little sister and mine is the big sister. And a big sister has to look just as good as her younger siblings, m’kay?!”
Bram started rubbing the snowman with her palms. She was going to polish it until it was just as shiny as the one Myuke had made.
“Your hands are going to get cold.”
“It’s nothing, m’kay? While I finish this, could you find some pebbles and sticks for me?”
Agreeing to help her, Anima headed through the front gate and wandered into the forest. He quickly scavenged a couple pebbles, a leaf, and two sticks, then made his way back to the garden. When he returned, he saw Bram’s snowman proudly twinkling under the shining sun.
“That’s beautiful; well done. And look, here’s everything you need.”
“Thanks, m’kay?”
Bram used the pebbles as its eyes, made its mouth out of the leaf, and stuck a stick into each side for its arms. With those features added, her snowman was finally complete. It radiated with the energy of a reliable older sister.
“Wow! It turned out great!”
“It’s a masterpiece, m’kay?”
“Did you make that?” a voice asked from behind, marveling at their creation.
Bram turned around and tensed up as she faced the source of the voice: Myuke. She must’ve been nervous, but she couldn’t afford to lose this chance. She took a step forward as Anima lightly pushed on her back.
“I’m sorry about your snowman, m’kay?!”
“I’m really sorry about yesterday!”
The two of them shouted at each other simultaneously. Myuke then held out a drawing, offering it to the utterly confused Bram.
“I-Is this...”
“I drew us having a snowball fight. I didn’t play with you yesterday, so I figured I could at least draw myself playing with you. I’d be really happy to have a snowball fight with you... If you’re okay with it after all that happened.”
“Of course I am! I totally wanna have a snowball fight with you, m’kay?!”
Seeing Bram happily bob her head up and down put a big smile on Myuke’s face. She then looked at the newly created snowman.
“So, did you build this?”
“Daddy and I built it together. I destroyed the one you made yesterday, and this one’s probably not as good as that one was, but... we tried, m’kay?”
“No way; yours is super cute! Much cuter than mine was!”
“Really?! Th-Then, umm... Please say you forgive me, m’kay?”
“Yes, of course I do! I honestly don’t know what was wrong with me yesterday. No, not just yesterday; I was super rude to you this morning too. And I’m supposed to be the mature one... What a joke.”
“D-Don’t say that! You’re an amazing sister, m’kay?!”
“Bram... Thank you. I’m so happy you became my sister.”
A radiant smile spread across Bram’s face as those words left Myuke’s mouth. Watching on from the sidelines, a powerful sense of relief washed over Anima.
Thank goodness!
It had taken him a hundred years of grueling training and battles to be named the Demon Lord, yet never in his life had he felt such a strong sense of danger as he had watching his daughters fight. At one point he had no idea how it would end which filled him with a primal dread, but luckily, his carefree family life was about to return.
While Anima was enjoying his moment of pure bliss, Myuke seemed to have come up with an idea.
“Since there’s already two of them here, why don’t we make a third snowman? Three sisters, just like the three of us!”
“That’s a great idea, m’kay?! We still have pebbles and sticks, so we can start right now! Daddy, can you hold this for me?”
“I’ll protect it with my life.”
He took Myuke’s drawing from Bram and held on to it, watching the girls work on the third snowman. With the both of them working on it, it didn’t take long for them to finish.
“It’s done! This is the biggest one yet, so it’s you, Myuke, m’kay?”
“Yep, that’s me. Now all three of us are snowmen!”
“They all look very impressive; well done. Would you like to make ones for me and Mommy too?”
“That’d be awesome, m’kay?!”
“Yeah, let’s do it!”
They immediately jumped into building yet another snowman, enjoying every moment of working together. While they were busy doing that, Marie came running out of the house.
“Daddy! Myukey! Brum! Lesseat cakes!”
“Oh, right! You got us cakes! I almost forgot about them, m’kay?”
“I picked your favorites!”
“You got me Mont Blanc?! M’kay!”
“You bet I did! I got you a cheesecake too.”
“You know me like the back of your hand, m’kay?!” Bram tightly hugged Myuke. “I love you so much!”
“Me too! I love Myukey too!”
Marie hugged the both of them. She didn’t know what had transpired while she was inside, but seeing her sisters share a hug, she couldn’t help but to join in.
✦ ✦ ✦
When they eventually stopped hugging, they made their way through the back door, where a sweet scent welcomed them in from the bitter cold. Luina was standing in front of a pot, warming something.
“You’re just in time for some delicious warm milk.”
“I helped!” Marie exclaimed.
Bram and Myuke pet the proud little girl.
“You’re a very good girl, m’kay?”
“Yep, she sure is! But she wasn’t the only one helping out around the house today, was she? You’re a very good girl too, Bram.”
“Oh, knock it off. I’ve got nothing on you, m’kay?”
Luina watched with a soft smile as her eldest two daughters complimented each other. She had never shown a single sign of worry during the two days they’d fought, and had probably known all along how it would end.
I’ll have to become a calm and collected parent like she is, Anima thought to himself while carrying glasses of warm milk to the dining room. The girls had sat down, but their excitement hadn’t settled in the slightest.
“Let’s drink this milk, eat our cakes, and get back to building snowmen, m’kay?!”
“We’re making you and Daddy!”
“I help too!”
“I’d like to help too.”
Luina wanted to play with the girls. It was freezing cold outside, but that didn’t matter to her; she had been cooped up in the house for the past several weeks. Getting some fresh air was sure to be good for her, and playing in the snow with the girls would be a wonderful memory for her.
“We’ll have to make Luina’s snowman incredibly beautiful,” Anima said.
“And we’ll have to make Anima’s incredibly cool,” Luina added.
“Just leave it to us! There’s nothing we can’t do when we work together! Isn’t that right, girls?”
Marie and Bram happily nodded. All three sisters were looking forward to taking on the challenge as a team.