The air in Selphia steadily grew colder as fall shifted to winter and with it, it brought an end to the colorful golden leaves that used to decorate the trees scattered around the town. Now they were barren and leafless as their previous leaves littered the ground beneath their gnarled roots. The sky above was grey, filled to the brim with oddly shaped fluffy clouds as they waited to spill whatever lay inside upon the town below.

From the confines of a warm, well lit room two children gazed out through an ornate window decorated with gold and marble, their tiny hands pressed against the cold glass in anticipation. The younger sibling, a boy around five with green hair and green eyes, shot a smile to the older girl beside him. The girl smiled with him, holding back a barrage of giggles so their parents in the other room wouldn't hear them. The boy pressed his tiny red nose against the glass, his stubby green tail wagging behind him like a dog. His sister turned to look at him when she heard something banging against the desk they were currently sitting on. Bright blue eyes widened for a split second, the sound of laughter soon followed and filled the otherwise silent room with unnecessary noise.

The younger sibling stuck out his tongue at her, his ears flat against his head in annoyance. This only caused the girl to laugh even harder, the sound now disturbing their parents in the other room. The two children could faintly hear their bed creak and their mother mumble something in her half-awake state. They also heard their father grumble, though it was more of an angry growl more than anything. He wasn't much of a morning person, unlike their mother who tended to the fields at six in the morning.

And surprisingly, their mother decided to sleep in today with their father. Something the girl said was 'alone time'. What alone time meant the younger brother didn't know, but it did make both his parents turn red whenever his sister mentioned it to them.

Both children perked up their ears when they heard the door creak open minutes later. They snapped their heads towards the noise, spying their mother walking out of the room wearing a long pale blue nightie.

Upon seeing their mother, the boy leapt off the desk and ran over towards her, surprising her when he embraced her out of the blue. "Morning mommy!" The boy chirped, his tail wagging back and forth like a propeller.

A warm smile spread out across their mother's face as she patted the boy on the head.

"Morning Noel." There was a pause as she looked up to see her older daughter sitting upon a desk, the curtains pulled back so the window was fully visible. "What are you two doing so early in the morning?" She asked, mindlessly ruffling up Noel's messy green hair. The boy wrinkled his nose and swatted his mother's hand away before she decided to mess with his ears like she did with their father.

"We are waiting for it to snow!" Noel huffed, beating his sister who had just opened her mouth to answer their mother. The smile on their mother's face grew larger. It was no secret the children loved winter. But the reason they loved it so much was the snow winter brought with it when the season's changed.

An audible yawn echoed from the other room, drawing everyone's attention to a man dressed in a reddish brown robe tied together with a sash across the waist. Two fluffy Jackal ears twitched atop his mass of long blue hair, the very same ears Noel and Luna had inherited when they were born. A fluffy blue tail lazily moved behind him, the very same tail Noel had but Luna did not.

"What about snow, hmm?" Their father asked, rubbing one eye with the palm of his hand to wake himself up.

"Daddy!" Noel pounced on his half-asleep father, who looked like he hadn't slept at all last night. Frey and Luna watched from the sidelines as Leon toppled over, his back slamming against the floor with a loud thud. Noel was unharmed as he laid against his father's chest, his tail wagging behind him in triumph. "I got daddy mommy!" The boy shouted, throwing up his arms in the air.

It took Leon a few seconds to catch his breath and when he did, a mischievous look glittered in his bright blue eyes. "Oh you think so?" He grabbed his son, holding him so he couldn't escape as he tickled his sides relentlessly. Noel squirmed in his father's arms desperate to stop his tickle torture, hiccuping between every word he said.

It was then their six year old daughter decided to intervene. Without warning she shouted, "Dog pile!" and jumped on her father, purposely landing on her father's stomach rather than on her younger brother. The impact, however small, startled their father and he loosened his grip on Noel just enough for the tiny boy to slip out.

Frey burst out laughing as she watched the scene unfold. Their two children ran when their father growled. Noel and Luna dove behind their mother, praying she would keep their father away until they could find a better place to seek shelter.

Frey wiped away a few stray tears lingering in her eyes as her husband rose from the floor. Luna and Noel made faces at their father from behind their mother, their tiny tongues sticking out of their mouths as they awaited their father to make the first move. Instead of chasing after them further, their father burst out laughing.

"Alright. You two win." Leon admitted defeat with a smirk on his face; blue eyes watching the two children shoot him suspicious glances.

"Ok that's enough you three." Frey interrupted. Her voice sounded hoarse from laughing too hard moments before. "Noel and Luna you two need to get dressed." The green haired woman twisted around to push the two children towards their room. Luna and Noel puffed out their cheeks and reluctantly obeyed. Lazily the children walked towards their room and shut the door behind them as they went to get changed, choosing their warmer clothes since it looked like it would snow today.

Once the children were in their room Frey shot Leon an amused smile. "So… tagged teamed?" She teased, poking Leon in the side just like always. The ears atop his head twitched. "I was half asleep." Leon turned to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. But despite losing to Noel and Luna, Frey could see Leon smiling to himself.

"Awe you-" Frey stopped mid-sentence when she spotted a flurry of snowflakes falling from the sky just outside their window. Leon gazed at Frey then towards the window. In seconds both parents smiled at one another before promptly getting dressed themselves. They were well aware that Noel and Luna would drag them outside to play the moment they saw the snow.

And right they were. The moment they finished getting dressed they heard Luna's excited squeals from the other room. Noel called for them, practically jumping up and down where he stood due to excitement and glee.

Faced with two overexcited children Leon and Frey ushered the two outside as the snow began to pile up just outside. Luna held onto her father's hand as Noel let go of his mother's hand and pranced around in the snow without a care in the world. Luna looked at her father who smiled and squeezed her hand, silently encouraging her to join her younger brother. The girl released his hand and raced after her brother, calling his name as he trampled in the pure white snow.

"They act like you." Leon said, watching Luna throw a snowball at her brother. Frey turned her head to look at him. "Do you hate it?" She asked, hearing him sound a bit distant all of a sudden.

A warm chuckle filled Frey's ears. "No. I don't hate it at all. I'd prefer it if they took after you since you're so cute." Frey's face turned red when Leon placed a kiss on her cheek, pulling back almost immediately to look at her flustered face. Frey puffed out her red cheeks and poked him in the arm in retaliation.

"Leon!" Her husband laughed when she grew angry. "See! It's so hard not to tease you when you look like that!" Leon continued to poke fun at his wife, enjoying every second when her face became as red as lamp grass.

The relentless teasing didn't last long before something cold and wet hit the back of Leon's head, causing the man's fur to stand on end as he shivered like a dog. The jackal spun around, spying Noel and Luna grinning ear to ear as they stood beside a pile of snowballs.

Frey laughed when she saw Noel holding a snowball in his hand. It was no doubt Noel who threw it since he hated it when the two of them got all mushy. "You sure they're cute now, Leon?" Frey said, holding back her laughter when Leon frowned.

He snapped his fan shut. "Not now, no" He said just before a devious idea popped into his head. "Maybe after I cover them in a few feet of snow I might." The two children snickered and readied themselves to throw more snowballs at their father.

Leon smiled and turned his head towards his wife. "You're with me." He didn't even allow her to argue. He just scooped up some snow from the ground, molded it into a ball, and threw it back at the children. Noel was showered with freezing cold snow. Luna was smart enough to stay clear of her brother, knowing her father would target him first.

The strange family threw snowballs at one another in town square as the snow tried to bury them. A few villagers passed them by, mentioning how cute it was all four of them were playing in snow. Even Ventuswill poked her head out from the castle's main entrance to see what was going on. Leon took this opportunity to fling a snowball at her massive head, startling the great wind dragon. Not wanting to get wet, the great dragon retreated, mumbling something about a lazy dragon priest.

Two hours passed before everyone stopped, soaking wet and cold from the winter weather. The children ran inside first, shedding layers of soggy wet clothing on the floor the moment they entered the door. Frey headed towards the kitchen and made everyone hot chocolate, making Leon's with water instead of milk since she knew he'd refuse to drink it otherwise. Covered in blankets and towels, Frey and Leon sat on the couch, drinking their hot chocolate in mugs decorated with four leaf clovers. Noel and Luna scrambled up next to them, Luna sitting beside Leon and Noel beside Frey. In silence the two children downed their sweet drink beside their parents, covered in blankets and dry clothes. With red noses they gave their parents the biggest smiles they could before falling asleep on their laps in exhaustion. Both parents rubbed their children's backs, helping them drift off to dreamland as the snow kept falling outside the window.