It was Christmastime in Tokyo, and the shop windows were lit with festivity until late in the night. Magnificent Christmas trees had been set up in many of the public places, and carols in many languages could be heard wherever you went.
Yumehara Nozomi pressed her nose against the window of a bakery, where Gingerbread men, Christmas cake, German 'Stollen', marzipan and many other delicious things were on display.
"Wow, they look great!" she enthused, turning to her friend Natsuki Rin, who was standing a way apart with her arms folded. "Just look at those cakes, Rin-chan! Aren't they absolutely scrumptious?"
"Yes, they are," said Rin, with exaggerated patience. "And so was every other cake you've stared at today. At this rate, we'll never find any presents for the others."
Nozomi pouted. "Aw, you're right...but you know, too much common sense isn't healthy. You, Rin-chan, are growing up before your time."
"And you, Nozomi-chan, are still acting like a kindergartener," Rin retorted, grinning affectionately as she said so. They turned away from the tempting bakery and walked on.
A block or so later, Nozomi became rooted to the spot once again. This time it was at a toy shop. She smiled to herself as her eye fell on a certain stuffed animal – in the bargain bin of all places.
"What is it now?" muttered Rin. Wordlessly, Nozomi picked up the toy and held it close to her, blushing fiercely. Rin's eyes began to twinkle with mischief.
"A-ha, I get it! It's Coco, only without the orange curl, right? You buying it for him or for you?"
"For me," she confessed. "Because...since he moved out to live at Nuts' place, I kinda miss him. You know how it is."
"But then, what are you giving Coco?" inquired Rin.
Embarrassment began to roll off Nozomi in palpable waves. "I – I tried to knit him a scarf, but it turned into a real mess..."
Rin rolled her eyes.
"And I tried to bake those coconut macaroons he loves, but the oven almost caught fire, so I'd better not try it again."
"Typical," sighed Rin.
"And I tried to sew an herb pillow for him, you know, with lavender, but then I found out he's allergic."
"Sheesh, Nozomi...!"
Nozomi flared up into furious determination, pointing her finger in the air and drawing stares from fellow shoppers. "But I will find the perfect Christmas present, Rin-chan! Just you watch – it's decided!"
On Christmas morning, Nozomi woke up to see a dainty crystalline pattern on her window-sill. She could see a bit of the apartment building across the street from theirs, and – unless her eyes were deceiving her – the roof was completely covered with snow.
Snow! She jumped up out of her bed and ran to her parents' room, unable to contain her excitement.
"Mom, Dad, wake up, it's Christmas! There's snow outside, can you believe it? Wake up, wake up!" She bounced into the room, hopping up and down like a rabbit, still holding the stuffed toy she had bought the day before.
Nozomi's mother picked up the alarm clock on her nightstand and smiled wryly. "Seven o'clock," she remarked. "I do believe that's a record for you at Christmas. However did you manage to sleep so long?"
Nozomi shrugged. "No idea. Hey look, there's ice flowers on your window too! Can I make breakfast?"
"No, I'll do that," said her mother, sitting up and feeling about for her slippers with bare toes. "But thank you for the offer. What do you say to waffles?"
"Did someone say waffles?" Nozomi's father poked out a tousled head from under the blanket.
"Now he wakes up. Yes, my dear sleepy husband, I said waffles. Do you want coffee or tea with them?"
"Tea, please, honey." He closed his eyes and lay back down, without a care in the world.
Nozomi's mother stood up, flattened her topsy-turvy hair in the vanity table mirror, and went to the bathroom. Nozomi herself went to her own room to put on some clothes, then whisked in and out of the living-room to leave her presents. Her mother looked aside; it was a household tradition to pretend that the presents were left by Santa Claus overnight, and when Nozomi was in the right mood, she could still truly believe it.
It was during breakfast that the distress signal came. Just as she was about to pick up her teacup, her Pinky Catch began to vibrate. She almost dropped the cup, barely managing to steady it with her hands.
"Is something wrong?" asked her mother. "You look pale."
"Um, could you excuse me for just a minute?" she asked nervously. "I need to go to the bathroom." She jumped out of her chair, ran down the hall into the bathroom, and closed the door for privacy. Then she held the magical wristwatch in front of her and pressed a button.
Immediately the lean, handsome, shaggy-haired face of Nuts, Coco's counterpart, appeared. The lines of his face stood out even sharper due to tension and fear, disguised as anger.
"Get over here, Dream," he snapped, calling her by her Pretty Cure title as always. "The shop's under attack. We can't hold them off much longer."
"They've attacked at Christmas?" Nozomi was appalled.
"Obviously. Now come – please." He broke the connection.
Nozomi shook herself out of an oncoming trance of amazement, telling herself that this unprecedented 'please' from him had to mean that the situation was especially dire.
"You guys," she said to her parents, "I'm sorry, but I really have to leave. It's – my friends – I got a call. It's an emergency. Bye!"
Before her parents could ask what kind of emergency, she was out the door.
She transformed right in front of the house, so she could use her supernatural speed to run to NutsHouse as quickly as possible. She bounded along fences and rooftops like a rubber ball; it would have been fun except for the seriousness of the situation.
The windows of the little jewelry store had been smashed; the door hung off its hinges like a broken wing. She could hear the piercing wail of a Kowaina, followed by a scream.
She burst through the doors and a terrible scene met her eyes: the Kowaina, possessing an ornamental potted plant, had tied up Cure Rouge, Mint, Aqua and Lemonade with its branches. They hung in the air, completely immobile.
Nuts, in squirrel form, was glowering up at Girinma, who was covered in armor and holding Coco by the neck with one hand.
"Tell me where the Dream Collet is," he rasped, "Or I'll choke the life out of your little friend."
"Let him go, you monster!" Nozomi shouted. Her friends' faces lit up; they renewed their struggle to get free from Kowaina. Nuts sighed and muttered to himself 'About time'.
"How are you going to stop me?" sneered Girinma. His hands tightened; Coco gasped for air and clawed frantically at the green armor.
"Like this!" Nozomi launched herself into the air and aimed a spinning kick right into Girinma's face. He squawked with surprise and pain, but, contrary to her expectations, did not drop Coco.
His face twisted with hate as he advanced upon her, step by step. She took a step back.
What happened next was a matter of seconds.
"Behind you!" called Cure Aqua.
Nozomi turned around and saw a lightning-fast, thorny vine from the Kowaina-plant whipping towards her.
Coco's tail became a bottle-brush of fear; with one titanian effort, he transformed into a human, wrenched himself free of Girinma, wrapped his arms around Nozomi's waist and pulled her out of the way just in time.
The vine lashed past them, spending its strength uselessly, and was pulled back in.
"Thank you..." she whispered.
He smiled and let go so that she could release her attack.
"The great potential of a young girl's dreams – take this! Pretty Cure Dream Attack!" she called, and slammed her magical energy towards the Kowaina. It fled immediately, releasing the other Cures.
Rin cracked her knuckles and fixed Girinma with a vengeful glare. "Pretty Cure Rouge Fire!"
The other girls followed suit. "Pretty Cure Lemonade Flash!"
"Pretty Cure Mint Protection!"
"Pretty Cure Aqua Stream!"
Girinma cowered in a corner. "I have to talk to my boss about this," he whimpered...and disappeared.
The girls de-transformed; so did Nuts. Coco still had a bruise on his neck.
"Are you okay?" asked Nozomi.
"Yes, I'm fine. Your physical combat technique has improved a lot," he added, grinning. "Er, Coco..." She dove into her Pinky Catch Purse to stow the device, hide her blush, and also take out the object she had been carrying in it for so long.
"Yes?"
"Here. This is for you." She handed him a small package, wrapped in pink paper and tied with a yellow ribbon.
He tucked it carefully into his pocket. "Thank you. Merry Christmas, Nozomi...is that how you say it?"
His English pronunciation was much better than hers. She nodded, too overcome to say anything, and left very soon afterwards.
Butterflies in her stomach would be an understatement. She felt that the suspense would rip her into a million pieces before she reached home. She prayed to whichever deity was listening: "Please, please let him like it...and not make fun of me..."
Later, in the privacy of his room, Coco opened the package and found a picture frame, shaped like two hearts joined together. On the left was a picture of Nozomi, smiling radiantly at the camera; on the right was he himself making a victory sign. He remembered that day, when they had dispatched a Kowaina near a shopping district and the girls had insisted on going window-shopping afterwards. Nozomi had taken pictures of everything and everyone with her little digital camera, driving Karen and Nuts to distraction. He chuckled at the memory.
Besides the picture, there was a piece of paper, folded very small and rather crumpled, as if it had been thrown into the trash and fished out again. The writing was messy and uneven, but still legible. Coco smoothed it out on his desk and read:
For Coco
I was chasing a butterfly,
and it led me to you.
I was looking for a dream.
My dream is to be by your side.
You are my greatest joy,
my precious gift from heaven:
I love you with all my heart.
P.S.: I know it's not very good. Komachi is the writer in this outfit, not me. I'm not pressuring you to accept anything, I just had to tell you how I feel.
Seconds later, a white bird-like Pinky came fluttering into Nozomi's room and dropped a neatly folded piece of cream-colored parchment. On it Coco had written in almost equally crooked characters:
Please meet me by the Christmas tree at Shibuya Station tonight at seven o'clock.
Time had never passed in such a torturously slow fashion for Nozomi before. Gift exchanges with her parents, a formal lunch at her grandmother's house, all her doting aunties exclaiming over how tall she'd grown, a real young lady! Even the party with the Pretty Cure team at Karen's house seemed as if it would never end. She did not see Coco, not even a hair from his head, and she couldn't stand it any longer. Had she made a fatal mistake now? Would he hide from her forever? She felt like she had been thrown into a raging whirlpool, and all she had to hold onto to keep from drowning was that note.
Seven o'clock.
Christmas tree.
Her heart was in such an uproar that she forgot to look at the clock, and had to run in order to be on time. There was the tree, almost as tall as the train station itself, with a rainbow of shimmering Christmas lights strung across it. The wild yet homey scent of pine filled the air; it was getting dark, and the sidewalk Nozomi was on was crowded with people. She nearly tripped over a busker sitting on the curb, crooning a Christmas carol accompanied by a battered guitar. She loved that song and almost stopped to listen, but hurried on.
Suddenly she caught sight of Coco just below the tree, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger and looking at the watch. Her courage failed her. How could she face him? If he rejected her, how could she go on?
"Come on, Nozomi," she muttered to herself. "You're Cure Dream, for goodness' sake. What's Coco compared to the Nightmare Company? Come on, feet, move!"
They did not obey.
"What will he think if I don't show up?"
It could not have happened at a better time: her introduction speech popped into her head.
"Great Power of Hope, I am Cure Dream!"
"Hope. That's right. It's my power, and it won't go away even if he does say no. Hope has been keeping me through this all along."
She took one step forward, then another, until she stood face to face with Coco.
Glittering snowflakes began to swirl around them.
"Nozomi," he said quietly, "You should know that in my country, love is a very serious thing. When we truly love someone, it lasts forever. There is no halfway.
I love you, Nozomi. I have loved you since the first time I met you. That is the answer to your question. But before you answer mine, please think carefully." He held out two rings: a silver ring with a pink gemstone, carved with minute precision into the shape of a butterfly, and a golden ring with a blue gemstone surrounded by a golden swirl like a lion's mane. She knew without asking that he had made them himself, and her eyes blurred with tears of joy.
When he spoke, his voice was slow and formal, as if he were reciting an ancient ritual, but his eyes held a depth of emotion so strong it made her feel as if they were the only people in the world.
"I, Coco, Guardian of the Dream Collet, hereby make my Promise to Yumehara Nozomi, Pretty Cure of Hope. I promise to love, support and cherish her until all pebbles turn into mountains."
Nozomi took the butterfly ring. She knew what to say, as she had during her first battle, and she was not afraid.
"I, Yumehara Nozomi, Pretty Cure of Hope, hereby receive my Promise from Coco, Guardian of the Dream Collet. In return, I promise to love, support and cherish him until all the stars turn into butterflies."
They placed the rings onto their fingers in unison and spoke together: "May our Promise bring joy to our hearts, to the Palmier Kingdom, and to all other worlds beyond!"
Coco lifted Nozomi's face to his with one finger and kissed her gently on the lips.
It was still snowing; the tiny white crystals glittered around the streetlamps and the rainbow lights like fairy dust.
"You remembered," she whispered. "My first kiss...it's just like I always dreamed it would be!"
"I'm glad you like it," said Coco, beaming. They were both their everyday selves again, only splendidly, magnificently happy.
"Like it?!" exclaimed Nozomi. "Are you kidding? This is the most beautiful Christmas of my entire life!"
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