Welcome to Gaia! ::

The day is December 25th, Christmas. A small town in France is ending the day, hiding from the harsh winter weather of snow and hail. The townspeople are struggling to keep warm, huddled about in front of the fireplace that is already running out of wood. The evening is a lot colder and darker than usual; it's as if the moon has covered itself with the surrounding clouds to stay warm. The lights begin to go out in each home, one by one. Occasionally, there are small glimmers of a dying fire escaping through the window.

One home at the end of the town is more lively in comparison to the rest of the awkward, quiet town. This small building is actually a Catholic church large enough to fit the small number of people living in the town, which still has a few nuns preparing for the night and the continuation of the frozen winter ahead. All the beautiful and transparent stained glass decorating the church looks lifeless and blue, and the one metal cross that stands on the rooftop like a star on a Christmas tree blends in with the dark night sky. The environment of the church is like any other winter day, tired and covered in snow. Today, however, one sister is surprised to find a hand-woven basket covered with a soft blanket on the church steps. Inside is a baby girl, whose skin is as pale and transparent as the snow. The child seems to have been left here just momentarily, but the tiny body was quickly becoming lifeless and hard. The one sister rushes inside to show her peers, who decide that the best thing for this Christmas-child is to stay in the church, until one day her mother returns.

The sisters take turns caring for the child like their own in their home next to the church. They each express their love and support for the beautiful girl whom they name Noella, after the cold Christmas day when the sisters found her. They look after Noella as she takes her first steps, speak her first word, and lose her first tooth. Many Decemebers pass as the sisters' love for baby Noella grows, and soon, they even forget that the child is not their own.

Seven years has gone by since that Christmas day, and Noella has grown into a sweet little girl who is adored by the church and the townspeople. The other children come by the church often after school to look through a small space between the curtains on her window to find Noella reading or drawing in her room. She finds indoor activities to enjoy because, as the sister find out after a couple weeks when they find her, that she is allergic to the sun. Come out, the children signal, as they rhythmically tap their fingers on the window and wave their hands outside. Noella turns around, makes a sad face and smirks a little, and shakes her head quickly. She does not move from her area to see the children's faces closer, for the slight rays shining through her windows would hurt her skin. She moves her lips a little and whispers, "Sunday." Then the children, satisfied, scatter about and run home quickly to their cozy homes. That was the daily ritual. Sunday was the day all the children and their fathers and mothers would go to church, when Noella can spend some time with her friends after Sunday school. She then enjoys the activities normally spent alone with her peers. However, during winter when Noella is lucky, she covers every square inch of her skin and run outside with the children under the absent sun. Then, she can finally roam freely and play in the snow, building snowmen and making snow angels. These were the best days for Noella, who can only see the children once a week for a short time at the church, since she is tutored by the sisters at church and cannot even go to school with them. Still, Noella is grateful and happy to live in a family of such wonderful people who give her all the love she needs.

Spring has arrived, as Noella sits in her room alone with a new book. The church and the sisters seem somewhat chaotic this morning, as she could hear the faint but rapid voices of her mothers down the hall. Suddenly, there is a knock, and one of the sisters open the creaking wooden door. Behind her is an old couple, perhaps in their 50s, who are dressed in decorative and flashy clothing and wear a large, warm smile. They are introduced as Monsieur and Madame Chaleur who will be spending a little time with Noella for the next few days. Noella obediently but sweetly nods, as the sister closes the door.

The Chaleurs, after spending quite some time with her, fall in love with the brightness, beauty, and sincerity of Noella, and claim that they would be estatic to have her be a part of their family. The sisters are, fearing this day would come, are shocked. Their child, who has become a family of the church and the daughters of the sisters would be separated from them.. The sisters knew, however, that they are in a difficult financial situation and are struggling more and more to support Noella as she continues to grow.

They saw the Chaleurs hold her hand as their backs disappeared into the fog. "Dear Lord, grant me the sincerity to accept the things that cannot be changed."

The place was hot and muggy and too bright for Noella to see. Madame Chaleur looks down at her and makes an expression which seems to be a smile, but the sun's rays would grab her skin if she looked up to make sure what it was. Some part of Switzerland, this place is. Too far away from home for a little girl like Noella. The Chaleurs walk her to her new house, her new room, her new family.

Noella is greeted by a room full of stuffed bears, treasure chests, and glass dolls, under a large train track that circled the room. The room is a wonderful dream for every little boy and girl. Now, the Chaleurs do not find their expected reaction from their daughter who gently sits down on the beautiful rose carpet. Somehow, they felt the inability to sit next to her and ask her what's wrong or what she's missing. The little girl had everything and nothing.

They offer Noella everything she could ever want as a child, but she is unenthusiastic to receive any of it. They want to help her as much as they can, since she is such a well-behaving and gifted child. The children who live here begin whispering to each other of the little French girl whom they title, the "snow sprite," who has come to the village to steal the souls of the children. The Chaleurs become very worried for little Noella.

A dark and windy winter arrived in the village one December. The sky shows a sea of frozen thunderclouds and chill. Noella, hoping for that same nostalgic winter, opens the curtains and looks out to the world for the first time since her stay at the Chaleur's place. There was not a spec of snow to her disappointment. However, there was a small, sparkling fluff of frost sitting on her window sill. She begins to observe the frost on her window sill everyday day.

A couple of days into the hopeful winter, Noella has a dream about a field full of very white, sparkling snow. She stands there for a while on the hilltop, looking off into the distance and seeing everlasting snow. Her eyes brighten, and she runs down the slope and around in the snow, enthusiastically. Her fantasy is disturbed by a cold chill from her open window that shakes her awake. Noella gets up and rubs her eyes a bit, and tip-toes to the window sill to see her frost like always. To her amazement, the frost crystalized into a hard glass with swirling colors of violets and teals. Fascinated, Noella continues sitting by the window to observe the thing.

When she wakes up, she finds herself leaning on the window sill, blinking rapidly as the cold, winter wind hits her eyes. She rubs her red eyes so she could look at the chrystal again. However, she finds the beautiful gift of nature missing. She anxiously sticks her head out the window and looks around, shaking her head back and forth, when suddenly, something the size of a small fist falls onto the window sill from the rooftop. Noella gasps a bit as the object touches her, as this thing, she discovers, is unbearably cold. In the corner of the room falls a violet and faint-indigo.. lemon, it seems. Noella curiously watches the immobile object a bit and gently touches it with her fingertip. She pushes it a bit, but not with pressure: just gently to roll it to the side. It has markings on it, animating this cold object. It even looks like a face with an expression. Like an animal, a pet.. or a...? She stares at it for a while, and decides to name the strange object "Blanche," like the unbelievably white snow in the image in her mind in her sleep.

Soon after, Noella begins talking to the object, first inanimate, but pretty soon it becomes good enough to label as a "creature." She spends the majority of her time with her Blanche, watching over it and playing with it. This snow-creature slowly even begins making sounds and faint noises, coming from what looks like a small mouth shaped like that of a feline's, exciting Noella. The Chaleurs become even more worried since Noella is in her room talking to herself all day (since Blanche is a frost-spirit thing, it's just in her imagination).

Mrs. Chaleur finds scratches and cuts (from petting Blanche and touching her) on Noella and thinks that the other children are abusing her. The Chaleurs move away at the end of winter to some far away place. D:

Now Blanche is left waiting for Noella in the small town in Switzerland, where the winter gets colder and colder. Pretty soon, it snows all year round, and the sun never came out to melt the snow.