This one-shot is due to be published in Chapter 27 of Adýnama Tha Kerdísei: Weak Shall Win by Chidsengan, as part of a Christmas prompt challenge. If you haven't read that, don't worry – this is not based on her story. However, I would strongly suggest heading over to read it if you like stories with medieval settings, lots of great adventures, lots of characters and really interesting interactions and relationships springing up between the unlikeliest of people...

Or just go and read it anyway, because it's good.

I'm not sure when Chapter 27 will be updated, and as Christmas is fast vanishing into the past I thought it prudent to upload this (well, it was a Christmas challenge) before everyone forgot about it...

Anyway, my prompt was "ice-skating", so without further ado, I present Frost.

Frost

Ryo leaned on the barrier, watching his son and his friends from Gan Gan Galaxy, Wild Fang and the newly-reformed Team Dungeon laughing and yelling as they slid across the otherwise deserted ice-rink. It was very late in the evening; most of the shops were shut and the few people who were still wandering around weren't exactly paying attention to the small group of people having the time of their lives on the ice.

There had been considerable worry on the faces of that same small group earlier in the day when Ryo had suggested this trip as a reward for not only their World Championship title, but also for the successful defeat of Hades Inc. The ice-rink had been booked out just for them, allowing the still-weary bladers a chance to step out of the limelight for a while and simply be the boys and girls that Ryo knew they all still were.

The reason for the trepidation on their faces, it had turned out, had been because none of them had ever been skating before, except Toby. This had led to much giggling and shrieking as each of them slid out onto the ice for the first time, stumbling and tripping like the amateurs they were.

Some had taken to it rather faster than others. Much to everyone's surprise, Benkei had proved to be a pretty good skater, not even bothering to hold on to the side after skating about ten yards around the edge. Masamune and Gingka were also managing well, though they were considerably outstripped by Kenta, who ran rings around them as soon as he worked out how not to overbalance and fall.

Of course, there were those who were not so keen on this particular activity. Kyouya, of all people, was the one who was proving most of all that being a good blader did not mean you were good at anything else, and was clinging to the edge like a lifeline. Zeo had also fallen over more than once, but with help from Toby and a laughing Kenta was quick to regain his feet.

But some of them – and one in particular – had taken to it as if they were born for it. Blades very different to those he usually wielded flashed in the wheeling light of the stars as Tsubasa all but danced across the middle of the rink, his natural grace and elegance giving him the edge over the rest of them. His eyes shone with exhilaration as he swept up alongside Yuu and mischievously reached out to tug his tag-team partner away from the edge and into the centre. There was no hint of darkness in his movements; just a playfulness that blazed through his smile.

Toby, one of those who had also proved that being sure-footed on land meant absolutely nothing on ice despite his experience, slid clumsily to a halt in front of Ryo, gasping.

"Enjoying yourself?" Ryo asked, smiling.

"Oh yes," Toby laughed. "This is the most fun I've had in ages!" And off he skated again, only to crash into the immovable bulk of Benkei, who was trying – as he had most of the evening – to coax a wild-eyed Kyouya away from the edge. "Oops! Sorry, Benkei!"

Toby was not the first to have expressed such delight in the activity Ryo had chosen. Only a few minutes before, Gingka had clattered to a stop and grabbed his father around the neck in a fierce hug that might have been to prevent him falling over but was still full of warmth, and whispered "Thanks, Dad!" before darting off after Masamune, who had been attempting to speed-skate around the rink. Ryo allowed himself to smile. After all, as long as his boys – and girls – were happy, Ryo was more than prepared to stand out in the cold night for hours and watch his charges relaxing for once. Being children, for once.

Silver hair messy with exertion, smiling more broadly than Ryo could ever remember, Tsubasa skated backwards past him, pulling Yuu along with him. The younger blader shrieked with laughter as he kept his green eyes fixed on the death-grip he had on Tsubasa's wrists, trusting him absolutely to keep him safe.

"Kyouya, buddy, come ON!" Benkei was pleading on the other side of the rink. "I promise I won't let you won't fall over."

"I said no, Benkei!" Kyouya's voice rang clear over the ice. "I'm quite happy where I am! Humans aren't made for sliding about on surfaces with no friction – cold surfaces at that."

Kenta shot past, an alarmed expression taking over his face. "Gingka, d'you hear that?" he called. "Kyouya's admitted he's human!"

However, Gingka wasn't really listening. Instead, he had just started some strange sort of conga line that was working its way down the ice, made up of Gingka himself, Madoka, Zeo and Masamune. Hikaru was attempting to convince a hesitant Hyoma to slide towards the middle and join in by refusing to let him break eye-contact with her, whilst Toby was just speeding up to pass Tsubasa and Yuu.

The interactions were unusual and yet painfully familiar. It seemed that, no matter what the world threw at them, the bladers in Ryo's care would stick together.

.

Skating was a lot like blading, Ryo mused to himself as the exhausted bladers left the ice several hours later, happy but cold. For many it was a long, slow process of building strength and confidence, though there were always the ones who found an instinctive knack for it, and gloried in the freedom it gave them. Even after that, there were those who saw it as a battle of strength, attacking the ice with all their power to avoid falling, whilst others played defensively and clung to the edge with caution to prevent a tumble.

And then there were those who didn't worry about falling, but only about the joy of flying over the ice in the present moment, trusting absolutely in their friends to not only prevent them from falling but – should they fall – to pick them up afterwards and move beside them until their confidence was enough to let them fly on alone.

Ryo tilted his head back to stare at the stars that twinkled overhead; at the great Pegasus and the Lion eternally dancing around each other across the sky; at the Bull that called out to the Ram; at the Eagle racing over the Centaur, and at the Dragon that arched over all of it, somewhat threatening and yet holding them all together at the same time.

"Dear Father Christmas," he whispered as he listened to the laughter of his son's friends in the building behind him. "All I want for Christmas...is this."