The snow covered everything.
The streets. The cars. The tops of buildings. A thin layer of colourless faerie dust blanketing the entirety of Tokyo and its residents. Like a mini winter wonderland. Beautifully pristine in the way it rested upon the unconscious ground and among the boughs of bare, hibernating trees… almost as if it was slowly restoring them… as if winter was compensating for what it had temporarily taken.
Though, of course, such beauty also wrought such fated contempt. Bitter air kissed the cheeks of Usagi Tsukino as she marched up the many snowy steps of Hikawa Shrine, one by one. She wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered in her garments -– a pink button-up coat and earmuffs, with sky-blue mittens and matching sweatpants tucked into white snow boots and a wrap-around scarf. Soft and cozy enough for longtevity of warmth, yet somehow penetrable enough for small, icy stabs of cold to bite through.
Everyone was supposed to meet at Rei-chan's, as usual, and, as usual, the Rabbit was running late. Her friendly feline, Luna, had somehow skipped out ahead of her earlier that morning to do something - probably go on a lovey-dovey date, the blonde assumed - with Artemis, and Chibiusa had long since returned to the future and no longer could walk with, or bug, the blonde senshi to places. It had been six months since Galaxia. Since the Starlights. There was no one to accompany her anymore.
So, she had walked down the streets and was trudging up the temple hill stairs all on her own. And, it was below freezing temperature. Just you wait, Rei-chan, she thought begrudgingly, when I get up there, I'm going to throw a snowball at you for making me do this!
Though, it was true that the blonde intended to be in a snowball fight sometime during the day, regardless. Hitting Rei-chan with one was merely a decoy. A decoy to grab her attention, even if she would be irritaed at Usagi for doing it afterward. The blonde considered it fun to tease the shrine miko, just as the raven-haired girl considered it fun to tease the lazy odango. Plus... it was snowing. And, that was what snow was for, right? Snowball fights. Snowmen. Snow creame.
And, in all honesty, Rei wasn't making her come to the temple. It had been scheduled before, agreed by all of her friends and herself. She just felt obliged to come, knew it was her duty to, and wanted to see her friends and have fun with them in this wintery weather more than anything else.
Her second boot finally met the top of the steps, the grounds of the temple, and the Rabbit bent over in exhaustion, panting as if she had just run up them with all her might. She sighed dramatically in relief. "That took more effort in the snow than it does on a regular basis!" she exclaimed in surprise, not having realised it before.
"Of course, it takes more effort, Odango-atama. It's snow."
Usagi recognised the silky lavender of her voice instantly, and turned around. Her face took on a mix of reactions at seeing those exotic features - those familiar amethyst eyes and ravened locks, this time naturally sprinkled with snow flurries. She wore her usual haori and hakama, albeit with a large black woolen robe overtop. Happiness came first. Then, relief. Delight. But, all of them were lost in the dominance of being offended and self-rightous, of course. "So?" She questioned back, with one eyebrow propped.
The miko's expression grew slightly irritated. "So," she began, "Snow is harder to step in and walk through than a normal dry area. It's common sense, Usagi."
"Oh, yeah?" The Princess urged on, still defiant. "Says who?"
The fire senshi sighed. "Usagi... why are you here?" She stared at her best friend, her arms crossed.
Usagi blinked and relaxed, now understanding that Rei was being serious. She took a moment to gather herself before replying. "I came.. for the meeting..." She answered simlply. The blonde vaguely wondered what could have put her friend in such a business-y mood. Had something happened? The Rabbit glanced around her, suddenly noticing and now realising that the rest of the group wasn't there. "Where is everyone?" Slight worry began to simmer in her chest when she turned back to Rei-chan for answers, cerulean eyes wide and wondering.
"They all cancelled."
"Cancelled?" Why would they cancel? Weren't they excited? They'd been planning this fun meeting of girl time and hang-out for weeks!
"Ami's in bed with a cold. Mako said she had forgotten about it and had already scheduled something with a friend. And.. Mina is grounded."
Disappointment and sympathy claimed the odango's face. "Oh..." What a misforunate circumstance! And, now she felt bad for Ami and Mina, too.
"Yeah..." Rei looked down, her usual hardened facial expression softening and sympathising, looking somewhat puzzled. "I wish we could do something for them. But, the weather's just too bad to maneuver through and they already had other things going on."
So... in other words, no one would be coming afterall. All that trudging up the steps had been for nothing! They would have to scheduele it for another day. And, until then, everyone would have to wait even longer.
But... wait... if no one else was coming... then... that meant.. "Then, it's just you and me..." Usagi concluded. Just them two. There. Alone. Together.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt slightly nervous. Uncomfortable. Angsty. The world seemed to be frozen in place, even if for one second in time. All Usagi could recognise was her and Rei standing there. At the top of the hill. Beside the steps. In front of the shrine. She began to feel light-headed, dizzy.
"Usagi?"
The miko's voice allowed the blonde to focus on her, on her words. On her amethyst eyes that was beginning to fill with such concern.
"Your cheeks are turning pink. Are you feeling okay?" She repeated anticipatedly, stepping closer to place a hand on Usagi's forehead. The amethyst shone deeper as her eyes widened in worry, her eyebrows creased.
Then, the odangoed girl was losing her balance as grogginess fogged her mind. A wave of heat overcame her, and she gave into exhaustion. She crumpled.
"Usagi!"
She dove into dreams and unconciousness without hesitation. Her last thought a sense of firmness, and the sweet sound of Rei-chan's voice calling her name.