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Aarika and Reyan walked into Cinnamon Wishes Café.
Inside, a fireplace crackled warmly, people laughed, and a Christmas tree glowed softly.
Aarika quietly observed Reyan.
He looked real.
Warm.
Alive.
Not like a dream or illusion.
"Aarika?" Reyan asked gently,
"Why are you so quiet?"
She swallowed.
"Because I'm scared.
Last Christmas… you—"
Reyan reached across the table and held her hand.
Warm. Real.
"Maybe I was never meant to leave you," he whispered.
"Maybe… Christmas gave me a second chance."
Tears welled up in Aarika's eyes.
She wasn't someone who cried easily.
Reyan wiped her tear with his thumb and said softly,
"Don't cry. Don't make Christmas magic fragile."
Aarika laughed through her tears.
"You're still the same… annoying and sweet."
"Good," Reyan smiled.
"How else would you recognize me?"
But a faint tension lingered in the air.
Her heart said Reyan was real.
Her mind said this was impossible.
Near the café door stood an old woman—white hair, silver shawl—smiling at Aarika.
She was well-known in town:
Grandma Elysia, Everpine's unofficial Christmas guardian.
She walked up to their table and said gently:
"Some miracles arrive with snowflakes, child. Don't push them away."
Without another word, she left.
Aarika felt even more confused.
Reyan simply said,
"I think Everpine wants us to have one more Christmas together."
That night, Reyan showed Aarika the town square.
Lights, music, cocoa stalls, children running—
everything felt alive again.
"What was your wish?" Reyan asked as they walked.
Aarika looked at him.
"I always wish… that my Christmas never feels lonely."
Reyan stopped.
Warmth filled his eyes.
"Then I'm here for that."
She looked down.
"But are you… real?" she whispered.
"Your heartbeat is racing," Reyan teased softly.
"You tell me—does a dream make your heart beat like this?"
Aarika blushed.
"Shut up…"
Reyan leaned closer.
"Then don't ask if I'm real. Just feel."
Under the Christmas lights…
Aarika's world slowed down.
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