"Come on Kian, show me what you've got!" Bryan’s shouts for action were the only noise that could be heard on this winter afternoon. It was the day after Christmas and the boys decided to enjoy the snow that had fallen while they could.

"Watch out!" A snowball passed Esther close by. They had all teamed up for a massive snowball fight. Shane’s meadow was for the occasion redecorated as a battlefield. First they had put up large snow mountains to hide themselves, and now the two teams were divided. One team was Shane, Bryan and Mark, the other Nicky, Kian and Esther.

"Come on guys, let's start!!" Soon the snowballs were thrown from one side of the field to the other. "KIAN!! I'm on your team remember!" "Sozness Nicky!" "Hey Bry, catch!" "HA! Missed me!" "NO I HAVEN'T!"

They spent all afternoon out on the large field, and by the end it all finished everyone was just plain white. "We should have brought a camera along with us." Esther and Mark were both freezing. "Can we go in? It's getting cold." Shane all invited them to come in for a cup of tea before they went back home, an invitation that caused a cheer of joy among the warriors.

While they all brushed the snow from their clothes they went inside. Kian stayed outside a little longer, looking out over the now empty battlefield. Esther put her arms around him. "Hey, won't you come in? Tea's ready!" He turned round to look at her. She saw he was crying.

"Ki, what is it?" "Nothing really, I was just thinking about... I grew up here you could say." He took her hand in his. "You ARE freezing." "Why were you crying?" "you know me too well. Can't fool ya can I?" She laughed at him. "Nope." He let out a sigh before answering her. "I just wish that everything could stay like this forever. Like today..."

She didn't really understand what he meant, but she knew asking any further wouldn't help. "Kian will you marry me?" "What?" "I said will you marry me?" He smiled at her and took her hand. It started snowing again. "Yes I will." He lifted her high above his head and started swinging her around... and fell. Laughing they both fell in the soft snow.

Kian tried to get up but Es pulled him down again. "Hey, thought you were cold. Don't you want to go in?" "You know what I want to do now?" She smiled at him. "What?" She picked up a handful of snow and started rubbing it in Kian’s hair. "Have a snow fight with you!" He started laughing and the next minute they were both in a snow combat, while the sound of their laughter filled the cold evening sky.

Afterwards they sat together in front of the fireplace, warming up from the cold. "Essie, did you mean that, will you marry me?" She looked at him in surprise. "Yeah, I meant it. Will you?" "Yeah... as soon as possible." She wanted to ask him why but he stopped her by pushing his lips on hers. The kiss tasted like tears, Esther thought afterwards...