The holidays were every reindeer’s favorite time of the year, and Vixen was no exception. She loved the holidays!

Or well, she used to.

Vixen lay in bed one night, quietly sobbing, her chest rising and falling quickly as memories good and bad rushed through her head. Her winter sprites stood by the door, looking at each other, and then back at Vixen, both unsure whether to try and help her feel better, or leave her be. At the very least, Vixen treated them like actual beings and not literal animals, unlike Velvet.

Two years ago around this time, Vixen had made the worst mistake of her life. She had met a tall, handsome buck who she few head-over-hooves for, requiring her to make a sacrifice, a choice that would change their lives for good. She could either remain faithful to Velvet and forget the buck, or break things off with Velvet forever.

She had put a lot of thought into this, believe her, she had. The truth is, although the city never grew tired of giving the two does attention, soon Vixen started to get a little bored with Velvet. They had done everything together, she felt like she was beating a dead horse, that there was no point in pursuing this relationship anymore. She figured Velvet must be figuring the same way, after all, she did get bored of things quickly. And so, despite her better judgment, she decided to end things with Velvet.

What a mistake that had been.

She had shattered Velvet’s heart into a million pieces, and she knew it. Their little fight during the breakup said it all.

Velvet’s eyes were welling up with tears as she glared angrily with utmost hatred, “I thought you LOVED ME!!” She had screamed, scooping some snow off the ground and throwing it at her, “I gave you EVERYTHING and THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! BY LEAVING ME?!”

“Velvet listen, I-“ Her attempts to try and end this on good terms were stopped as Velvet spoke, venom lacing her voice,

“No, you listen, you little… Bitch!”

Vixen gasped, “Little bitch!?”

“YOU HEARD ME, VIXEN!”

Vixen started hyperventilating as she remembered the argument that had ensued after that. They both had said things they knew deep down that they didn’t mean, it was a wonder that the fight didn’t get physical. Vixen closed her eyes, her breath catching in her throat as she remembered what ended it all:

“Get this through your head, Velvet! I don’t love you anymore, you’re spoiled, selfish, and stubborn, and I would rather DIE than be with someone like you!”

And then all the anger disappeared. Velvet gasped, cowering as her soon-to-be ex doefriend shouted at her.

And then she just collapsed, sobbing into her hooves. Vixen didn’t try to say or do anything else, she just… Left.

After that, she entered a relationship with that buck she had met, and it didn’t take her long to forget all about what happened.

But what became of Velvet?

After the loss of her girlfriend of almost two years, Velvet was overwhelmed with despair. She stayed home crying until she couldn’t cry anymore. When she started to feel better, she decided she was done shedding tears for Vixen, and so she moved on with her life, vowing to never love another deer again. It was a hard journey, but eventually, she was able to overcome her sadness and resume her perfect life.

And what of Vixen? Well unfortunately for her, her life didn’t remain glamorous forever. Everything changed when she found her new lover with another doe kissing behind a building. All at once, her new life came to an end as she realized that she had left Velvet for a cheater. Her lover begged for her to forgive him, but she didn’t want to hear it.

And then the realization hit, that she had pushed Velvet away, lost the best thing that ever happened to her, and it was all her fault. She never knew how much she would miss Velvet until she was gone. She was wrong, Velvet wasn’t getting bored of her. She had hurt the doe she loved, and Velvet would never forgive her for it. She ruined everything, and the thought that she caused so much pain to Velvet hurt her just as much as their breakup.

Vixen clutched a pillow tightly, sobbing into it as she tried to think of SOMETHING other than what she had done, but to no avail.

And then suddenly something hit her.

It was her that ruined everything, right? So maybe she could fix it!

No way. She thought she would never forgive me. Not in a million years.

She raised her head. But she had to try. Perhaps if she could, she would finally start feeling better.

Or maybe, she would only make things worse…

Christmas Day.

Vixen stood in front of Velvet’s manor, a little plastic bag holding a gift in her mouth. Nistolga filled her as she recalled countless memories that she had been in this place. Before Velvet gave her free access to come into her manor whenever she liked, she even gave her a key! Now, she wouldn’t dare step foot onto the land.

She began to have second thoughts, so much so that she could hardly even force herself to walk forward towards the door. It felt like she was walking to her death, and in some ways, she was. Velvet might actually kill her, or at the very least, maim her.

Yeah, Velvet wasn’t a very fun reindeer to be around when she was angry.

Stopping in front of the door, Vixen put her little peace offering down, took a breath, knocked on the door, and waited… She stood there for maybe five seconds when she started to worry and have second thoughts, but it was far too late to back down now, the sound of the door unlocking told her plenty. Now was the time. Not like she could simply leave and forget about this plan of hers. She had foolishly thrown away the receipt of the gift she bought.

The door opened, and Velvet, who seemed to be in a very chipper mood, immediately stepped away to close the door again, her expression turning sour in less than a second.

“Wait,” Vixen said.

SLAM!

“Or not.” Vixen sighed as the door was shut in her face. Her ears twitched. Trying to stomp out her irritation, she knocked on the door once more.

When Velvet opened the door again, her chipper mood seemed to have vanished. Normally, reindeer would cower before Velvet when she got angry, but fortunately for her, Vixen was used to Velvet. She didn’t frighten her… Much. “Vhat do you vant?” Velvet demanded, her hoof on the door ready to close it again if she heard something she didn’t like.

Almost forgetting what she came here to do, Vixen picked up the bag with a hoof and brought it over to her, “I brought you a little something.” She said.

Velvet took it with distaste, “Vhat is it?” She asked.

“Well, that’s for you to find out,” Vixen said with a note of humor in her voice.

“It’s some sort of gag gift, izn’t it?” Velvet said accusingly, “It’s going to explode and cover my floof in paint or something, I just know it.”

Vixen remained silent as Velvet took a small wrapped box out of the bag and apprehensively began to open it. Once the paper was off, Velvet closed her eyes as she used another hoof to very slowly open the box…

And to her surprise, nothing happened. No explosions, no gag gift, nothing. Just a plain ordinary gift. Opening her eyes, her scowl fell as she finally saw what was inside. It was a silver necklace with a snowflake charm. Allegedly, this piece of jewelry would freeze anyone who attempted to harm the wearer. This has yet to be confirmed. Velvet seemed shocked, surprised even. Vixen could tell that she was wondering why someone like her would ever go out of her way to do something like this for her. She wasn’t sure how to react. She wanted to scream, to yell and curse at her for ruining her life, but she also wanted to thank her, to say something that truthfully, Vixen wanted to say as well.

Instead, she closed the box and said, “T-Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Velvet.” Vixen said, “Merry Christmas.”

And then Velvet shut the door, leaving Vixen outside in the snow. Nothing else happened between them. From then on, they remained neutral towards each other, sharing a few words now and again, but never anything more. They lived two completely separate lives, and apart, they lived the rest of their lives in peace and happiness…

Vixen shook her head. This couldn’t be the end. She knew there was still so much left to be said, absolutely nothing had even happened! Velvet felt the very same way too. She stood there in front of the door, thinking about something she could say or do to resolve everything that they were feeling. At the very same time, Vixen knocked on the door, and Velvet opened the door, prompting them to look at each other awkwardly. It would be the first time they had ever had a peaceful conversation in years.

“You look well.” Vixen started, scratching her neck.

“Thanks.” Velvet responded, “You as well.”

Vixen exhaled, and Velvet looked off to the side. There was so much for them to say, and yet there was nothing to say. Nothing to make up for the pain and betrayal. This wasn’t something you could fix with an: ‘I’m sorry.’

And yet Vixen foolishly tried anyway, it was better than just standing there waiting for one or the other to speak, “I’m sorry, Velvet.” Velvet looked back at her shyly, her eyes filled with sorrow, “I never should have gone with that buck, it was the worst mistake of my life.”

Velvet swallowed a lump in her throat, she had been waiting what felt like forever to hear her ex-lover say those words, yet she remained apprehensive, “You hurt me.” Velvet said.

“I know.” Vixen said, “And there’s probably nothing I can do to fix that.”

“You’re right.” Velvet said, “You have no idea how much it hurt when you left me.”

Although she did. She felt the same thing when she broke up with her new lover and she realized her mistake. In some ways, it was perfect. She knew exactly how Velvet felt. “I know,” Vixen said, “And I understand you’ll never trust me again. I just wanted to make peace with you, Velvet. I’ve never stopped loving you, I was stupid foolish but-“

“I haven’t either.” Velvet said, smiling a little, “Oh the times we had… We were perfect…”

She sighed, “Vixen, I’ll never forget what we had, and I appreciate you doing this, but I’m not ready for this. Not yet.”

Vixen took a breath, “I understand.”

Velvet took her hoof, “But I thank you for doing this. Perhaps sometimes we can talk. About us.”

Vixen smiled a real smile this time and suddenly found she was able to stand tall as she felt weight coming off of her shoulders, and Velvet felt the very same way. For a moment, things felt just like old times, just the two of them, happy as can be. “I would like that.”

Velvet let go of her hoof, gingerly nuzzling her cheek before retreating inside, “Merry Christmas, Vixen.”

“Merry Christmas, Velvet.”

With one last glance, Velvet closed the door, and together they both relished in a feeling they hadn’t felt in a long time: Happiness. Genuine happiness. Perhaps things would be alright for these star-crossed lovers. Only time would tell.

As a gentle snowfall began to pour down onto the city, Vixen turned to leave. With her mission complete, she started making her way towards her next destination - The cafe for a nice, well-earned gingerbread coffee…

Author's Note

Happy holidays from all of Foenum!