The storefront windows were hazy with condensation as Ami walked through the fading light of day. She had accompanied Minako to London for a visit with Katarina, an Interpol officer who had worked with Minako in her days as Sailor V. Ami had been grateful for the opportunity and free accommodations in Katarina’s flat, but had decided to take a walk this first evening to allow Minako and Katarina some time to catch up. Normally she would have sat with a book, but the desire to explore a foreign city gave her butterflies.

A gust of cold winter wind exploded through the streets. Ami watched as people covered their noses with scarves and hurried inside their destination a bit quicker. She did not mind the cold and pondered whether being the Senshi of Water had anything to do with it as she continued down the street.

A wheezing chuckle pulled her out of her thoughts once more.
“Better cover your frost or get inside, young lady. Else Jack Frost will nip at your nose!” cackled an old homeless man in a door frame.

“Jack Frost?” questioned Ami in English with a thick Japanese accent. But the old man just continued to laugh and shift around in his spot, causing Ami’s pace to quicken to put distance between her and the old man. After another block or so she looked back to where the old man had been sitting. He appeared to be gone, but the angle was bad and Ami couldn’t tell for sure. In any case, she was glad to be away from his disturbing laughter and strange warning. One detail that did strike her were light traces of ice across the windows, in beautiful geometric patterns. She walked closer to the nearest building to take a closer look.

Suddenly a cold breeze started up and blew the snowflakes around Ami’s head. The breeze escalated into a gale that seemed to only grow worse in speed and temperature. Ami put her forearm above her eyebrows, trying to make her way for a door or an alleyway. However the wind suddenly blew itself so hard that Ami was knocked off balance and fell face first into a snowdrift.

As she pushed herself up and dusted off her face, she swore she heard laughter though it may have just been a trick of the wind. Ami tried walking to what appeared to be a small pub but the wind picked up again, making it difficult to move in the direction she wanted. She settled for squeezing into an alleyway to at least block most of the wind.

There couldn’t be a monster of some kind here, she thought, but her experience as a Senshi left her with the feeling that something more than a snowstorm was happening, especially for how suddenly it began. The weather forecast was never usually this unpredictable. If I transform I could have even better resistance to the cold and use my Mercury visor to see, she mused to herself. I can also confirm if this storm has supernatural origin. If nothing else, I can use the enhanced speed to return to Katarina’s flat quickly. Ami reached into the interior pocket of her coat and felt the shape of her transformation rod. “Mercury Crystal Power, Make-Up!” she called out as best she could over the howling wind.

In a flash of blue light she transformed into Super Sailor Mercury. She instinctively activated her visor and materialized her super-computer. Peeking out around the corner of the alley, she could see through the snow once more, but her computer was in a bad positioning to scan for any strange disturbances. Determined to valid her intuition, Sailor Mercury scaled the building next to her, securing a good vantage point from the roof. Her computer began to pick up slight anomalies from the direction she had walked down the street. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop to better continue scanning.

When the signal seemed stronger, she carefully jumped down into the alley between buildings and began looking for anything strange. The signal was strongest in the direction of the main street, so she cautiously moved toward the front of the buildings.

“I warned you about Jack Frost,” said the old homeless man suddenly from behind her. Mercury jumped away in surprise, spinning into the wall. The old man chuckled menacingly as he slowly moved toward her, one hand behind his back. Sailor Mercury’s mind raced with panicked thoughts. How had he recognized her in her transformed state? She had made sure no one was around and the transformation caused a glamor effect to hide their identities. She acted without waiting a moment long.
“Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!” she shouted, directing a flood of the hottest water she could muster at the menacing man.

When her torrent stopped, the man was no more. In the exact spot he had been, lay a being that looked like a boy but was much too pale and not quite human in appearance. He coughed and sputtered, throwing the slushy remains of a melted snowball away from the hand that had been behind his back.

“What...what are you??” he sputtered. Then he began to cry. “You ruined my fun!!! I was only trying to play with you.”

“Play?!?” shouted Sailor Mercury. “You scared me half to death! I thought you were trying to kill me, or worse! I am the Pretty Guardian of Love and Justice, Sailor Mercury! And I am here to protect innocent people from being hurt or frightened by your menace. Douse yourself in hot water and repent.”

“I…I’m sorry,” he said, throwing himself at her feet. “I’m Jack Frost. I just like to nip peoples noses with the cold and make pictures in ice. But it’s been so long since anyone had stayed outside when I’ve made the weather so wild.”

Sailor Mercury softened a little at this but remained defiant on the outside. She sensed that he was a being quite older than he looked but still child-like in his own way. It occurred in the back of her mind that she wasn’t sure in which language they were communicating, but they seemed to understand each other nonetheless.

“Next time,” she said, “be a bit more direct and respectful when you want to play with someone. Games are wonderful but if the other players aren’t aware of what’s happening, they may think the danger is real.” In her head, she thought that a being with such control over the elements could probably unknowing cause dangerous situations. However, she decided to make the most of such an opportunity.

“Here I’ll help you up,” she said with one hand behind her back. He looked up and her and smiled through wet eyes. As he reached for her hand, she generated a snowball using her powers and flung it into his chest.

“Catch me if you can!” she cried, scaling back up to the rooftops. The wind picked up again and she knew he would appear again in a moment. She kept her visor on using it to scan for him. A small sound above made her look up, only to see snow dumping from the sky just above her head. Her scanner caught Jack’s form and she generated some snowballs and launched them in his direction, laughing brightly.

They spent the next several hours playing back and forth on the rooftops of London until Ami noticed the time in the corner of her visor. She let Jack Frost dump some snow onto her on the roof of Katarina’s building before calling to him to stop.

“I have to go back to where I’m staying and get some rest,” she said. “But I’ll be around for the next week or so. You should come visit sometime during the cold season in Japan.”

“Certainly! I go wherever the cold reaches,” he said. Jack Frost laughed a jolly laugh, thanked her for playing with him and flew off into the night sky with a swift breeze. Sailor Mercury made her way to the ground and transformed back into Ami Mizuno.


That night when she drew back the blinds to see if the weather had passed, there was a beautiful ice drawing of Mercury her home planet in a past life filling the window pane one the outside. She smiled and thanked her new friend.

Rei turned over in her bed for the fifth time that night, before giving up on sleep and staring at the wooden beams of the shrine. Something was wrong, she just knew it... She sat up silently and looked around the room. Scattered across her bedroom floor in various sleeping bags and futons were her friends, having no trouble finding enough peace to drift off after their late night midterm study session. Usagi was even snoring like a passing truck, two of of her limbs haphazardly tangled with an equally asleep Minako next to her. She’d complain of being deaf in one ear tomorrow.


A little farther away was Makoto, taking up almost as much space as Usagi was, but she at least had the excuse of being taller. Ami had curled up next to her, with Luna and Artemis under the table. Rei eventually gave up trying to find anything off, and laid back down again. It was probably just the caffeine she drank earlier playing with her senses. After taking a few meditative breaths, she slowly slipped into darkness.


A cold wind across the back of her neck jolted her awake again, and she gasped and sat up. She heard crows calling frantically, and the room had dropped in temperature despite all the windows being closed. Something unwelcome had entered sacred grounds. Rei’s eyes jumped back to where Usagi was sleeping, only to see a pile of empty sheets. Maybe she went to raid the fridge or go to the bathroom. Or not. Rei decided to look for her anyway. Grabbing her transformation tool from the desk, she stepped over the other motionless girls and entered the hallway. None of them stirred, and she wondered if they were being affected by this specter as well. Minako would have woken up if Usagi left voluntarily, because she definitely couldn’t have slipped away without tripping on something. Rei placed a paper seal on her bedroom door just in case. The hallways were chilled, and when she peeked in on the Sacred Fire, it was weaker than normal, as if retracting from the cold.


Phobos and Deimos met her at the front door, silently gliding down from their perches on the shrine gate. One landed on her shoulder and the other flew ahead, calling for her to follow. Rei hesitated, then slipped on a pair of shoes and stepped out. The cold wind buffeted her as soon as she was in the open, and she gasped as it seemed to cut right through her clothes. She hated it when the weather got this way… The wind blew again, sounding like a laugh as it kicked up snow. Deimos cawed to catch her attention, circling around a tall, lanky figure cloaked in white standing at the far end of the grounds. A familiar blonde girl was over his shoulder, still oblivious to the world. Rei glared at the winter ghost, and she could have sworn it smiled back before it started to walk away.


So he wanted a challenge? Fine! She’d make him rue the day he stepped into her shrine. In a flash of red and a burst of swirling flames, Sailor Mars stalked towards the intruder. This only seemed to amuse the ghost, and as she got closer, the snow seemed to fall heavier and heavier. It pushed against her like a living barrier, bogging her down and blinding her with white flakes. By the time she had gotten sick of stumbling around blindly and burnt the offending snow away, Usagi and her kidnapper were gone.


Mars growled, but she was determined to catch him, whether he was toying with her or not. This was her home, and as long as the Sacred Fire burned, his power would be weaker than hers. She closed her eyes and concentrated, stretching her senses out over the grounds until she found her Princess again, and started off into the woods after them.


“Get back here, you troublemaker!” Mars yelled as she ran full tilt through the woods. After nearly an hour of this ridiculous game, she was still no closer to catching them. And she was starting to get worried about Usagi’s health… Even she was starting to go numb out here, and she was the senshi of fire. Another windy laugh filled the night, picking up her dark hair and tangling it behind her. As soon as she spotted him again, Mars struck.


“Burning Mandala!” Rings of fire licked at the snow around him, caging him in a circle of heat. But before he could snuff out her efforts with cold air, she summoned her cleansing tag. “Akuryo Taisan!” She knew the spirit wasn’t quite evil, just dangerously annoying at best, but she was running out of options. The tags stuck to multiple trees, making a powerful barrier that trapped him in place. Keeping eye contact with him, she stepped inside the trap.




“I think you’ve had enough fun for one night, now let her go.” Mars could see him clearer now that he was only a few feet away. If she hadn’t witnessed his power, she’d have mistaken him for a white haired teenaged bum, similar to Yuuichirou when he first showed up on her steps. But strong spirits took familiar shapes sometimes, and she did not want to underestimate him.


His white glowing eyes watched her intently, as if judging whether she was a worthy opponent or not, and then he set Usagi down in the snow and took a step back. Good, Mars didn’t want to risk a fight with her so close. She let her tags fall, and the spirit nodded before turning into sleet. The wind quickly picked it up and spun around her before taking to the skies. She could have sworn she had felt a cold touch of a hand at her cheek before he was gone, but all she could do about it was grumble and make her way over to her friend, half sunk into the fresh snow.




The cries of a crow broke the silence, and Mars let her guardians lead her back to the shrine, Usagi balanced carefully on her back as she held her steady. Usagi stirred and mumbled her name in question along the way, but Mars just told her to go back to sleep. The faster they got back inside the better.


The next morning came too soon for her tastes, and as the others woke up, Rei refused to leave her bed, savoring the lack of snow and ice beneath the sheets. For once, she had no intention of getting up before lunch.


“C’mon Rei, it’s 9 already! Don’t you want breakfast?” She answered Makoto with a groan, not bothering to even look.


“It’s okay if I eat all of your pancakes then, right?” Minako said, hoping for a response, and then frowning when nothing happened. Usually that got her attention…


“Rei, are you alright?” Ami asked. Before Rei could even begin to try to explain herself, Usagi answered instead.


“I’m sure Rei’s fine. You guys go eat, I’ll catch up with you.” Rei could just imagine the looks of surprise around the room after hearing that, but they left without further discussion. After a few minutes of comfortable silence in which she almost drifted off again, Usagi spoke again.


“Thanks…” Rei snapped awake again, but she didn’t face her.


“Hm…?”


“For carrying me back last night! Don’t pretend it didn’t happen.” Rei blushed, but rolled her eyes. Did she not expect to be saved? She would never forgive herself if Usagi was lost forever.


“Just ...don’t get abducted by a ghost boy again and we’ll call it even.”