AN: This one's a little over 1,000 words, but the limit was 1,500 this time, so I still made it. I wrote this for the December writing contest on The Galaxy Cauldron Forums. And yes, this is just plot-less fun in the snow.
Ami walked through the park, bundled up in a thick light blue jacket, a scarf, and a pair of gloves. Her boots sank into the light layer of snow obscuring the ground. Winter had swept into Tokyo quickly, blanketing the city in a coating of white powder as the temperature dropped. This kind of weather never really bothered her, something Ami suspected was mostly because she was Sailor Mercury, but she had always loved winter. Seeing the cold air turn to steam when she breathed out brought a smile to her face. There was just something about seeing iced over rooftops and water fountains that-Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft, wet impact of packed snow hitting the back of her head. A snowball.
She shivered as bits of it dripped down her coat, and turned to see who threw it. But there was no one she could make out. Ami heard a familiar laugh, and then frantic shushing. Her eyes narrowed with understanding. Minako was here, probably hiding behind a tree or wall. She had forgotten that Minako and Usagi had made plans to come to the park too, just to hang out. Apparently they had decided to start a game… Well, if she ignored the snowball, maybe they would lose interest and stop- Ami yelped and dodged as a second one hit the ground right where she had been standing. The laughing grew louder, and Ami figured it was too late to just walk away now. Instead, she started sprinting towards the cover of the park's forest area. A wave of snowballs fell behind her, and a few caught her in the back. When she could no longer see the clearing, Ami slowed down to a walk again, glancing behind her to see if she had been chased after. Right until she walked into something solid.
"Ami?" the solid object asked. At first, she thought she had run into a post or tree, but a pair of arms caught her when she stumbled backwards, and Ami could now see that she had just collided with Makoto. She was wearing a heavier green jacket and a pair of gloves, along with a hat that covered her ears and heavy duty boots. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying home today?" she asked, brushing the snow off Ami's coat. "You look like you fell into a snowdrift!"
"I was taking a break from studying to stretch my legs, but I somehow ran into the crossfire of a snowball battle," Ami said. Despite herself, Mako cracked a smile at the thought.
"Oh, so they got you?" she asked. "I knew they were around here somewhere…"
"And what are you doing here, Mako?" She looked away at the question, scratching the back of her head.
"I, uh...may have been roped into a game with them." Mako admitted. They were interrupted by sounds of shouting, and Ami was suddenly dragged off in a new direction by Makoto. "Sorry about this, but Minako and Usagi aren't going to let you go that easy. Just stick with us until this is over…." Ami nodded and started running again, following her until they reached a small ledge in the woods. Makoto ducked behind it, and Ami turned the corner to see that Rei was here as well, grumbling to herself and she added to a pile of snowballs and crouched down next to them. Her red jacket and hat were stained with white bits from the times she had been hit.
"Rei, why are"-
"Usagi kept whining and throwing snow at me at the shrine until I chased her over here, and then I got sucked into this mess," Rei said, glaring at the packed snow in her hands. "After I get revenge on those two ice-for-brained blondes, I'm going back home…"
"I'm helping Rei out to even the odds," Makoto explained further, kneeling down to grab more ammo from the pile.
"You can't hide forever!" Ami heard Usagi yell. Rei rolled her eyes.
"Let's just get this over with…" Rei stood up and ran around the wall, to the surprise of their pursuers. Makoto shrugged and followed after.
"No fair, Rei! We were ambushing you!" Ami smiled at the accusation.
"Well, do it faster next time!"
"Don't put one down my jacket, it's cold!"
"Stop squirming around, Minako, this was your idea in the first place!" She heard the snowball fight escalate further until a bright orange light flared up.
"Venus Crystal Power!" Ami took a risk and looked over the barrier. Minako had actually turned into Sailor Venus, and was currently threatening to knock down a tree's worth of snow on top of Rei and Mako with a blast of her Crescent Beam.
"What the- You can't transform, are you crazy? Turn back right now!"
"I will defeat you both in the name of Venus!" Ami sighed. She needed to end this right now before they were seen. Reluctantly, she reached for her own transformation item.
"Stop right there, Venus." Venus looked over to see Sailor Mercury, hands already in the right position to attack. Venus gulped.
"We can talk this over, right?" she asked. The other girls paled as well, realizing the kind of damage Mercury could do in the snow.
"This is for your own good…Shine Snow Illusion!"
"Wait, don't!" Moments later, all four of them were buried, Mercury's self made blizzard catching them all full force.
"Sorry, it's a little hard to aim in this weather…" A faded burst of pink energy could be seen from somewhere under the pile, and Sailor Moon's head popped out, carrying a knocked out Venus. She spat the snow out of her mouth and groaned.
"I think Ami wins…" she said, shivering. Nearby, the snow was melted by a small fireball,
"Venus, I'm going to kill you!" Mars said, brushing herself off as she stood up. A burst of green next to Mars came before she was restrained by Jupiter.
"How about we dry off first before we start punishing out leaders?" she said. Mercury sighed again. Well, at least the snowball fight was over.