Rose lay in her bed, glaring at the snowflakes drifting by her window. She had never been especially fond of cold weather, but now she could honestly say that she hated it.
~*~
When she heard the old man’s scream, Pomona had instinctively henshined up. The blast of cold weather was a rude awakening. The cold snap had been abrupt, and she hadn’t spared the cool weather much thought until now. Fringe tinkling as she shivered, she crossed her arms tightly over her chest as she ran towards the sound of the scream. She prayed that fighting would warm her.
~*~
The youma had looked like a partially melted snowman. It actually aided its own defeat by throwing snowballs made from its own snow at her. Unfortunately, being whacked by snowballs had done nothing to help her warm up. She had ended up with several bruises from the fight – her heels didn’t have the best traction, she discovered – and the sniffles. The old man hadn’t even thanked her, just wandered off muttering about “youngins.”
So no, Rose no longer liked the cold. She had every intention of staying in bed. As irresponsible as it was, she wanted to simply hibernate until Spring, when the temperature returned to something more reasonable. Besides, how much would she really be missed? She could dust youmas, but she wasn’t much good against Negas. She was sorta the leader of Motley Crew – she refused to outright claim the position of Leader – but Sinon could take over. After all, Sinon could take over; she had pants, the lucky b*****d.
Rose had just snuggled back under her blankets and was drifting back to sleep when the door to her room creaked upon. It was silly – she was in her own home – but instincts caused her to tense in preparation for attack. Attacked she was, though not by a youma, but her two younger brothers. They bounced insistently on her bed until she groaned and growled, “ I’m gonna get you!”
Quintus took off with a shriek of laughter, but Victor lingered behind.
“ C’mon sis, come play with us!” When Rose made no motion to get out of bed, he added, “ You promised.”
That was true. Between school and her Senshi duties, Rose had little time left to spend with her family. She spent as much time with them as she could, but it still saddened her that she didn’t have the time she used to have. When she missed Quintus’s play, she had promised him and Victor that she would play the White Witch for an epic Narnia snow battle.
With a nod and wave of her hand, Rose sent her brother away and dragged herself out of bed. She had promised, and she would keep her promise, but damn it, why did her brothers have to pick a snow battle as her penance? She tugged on several layers of clothes for both warmth and padding – she was still bruised – before heading outside.
As soon as she stepped outside the back door, she was whacked in the face with a snowball. Blinking, she brushed the offending snow off her face and glanced around. Quintus was giggling behind a tree, Victor preparing a snowball next to him; they would pay.
A couple hours later, the three siblings tramped back into the house, the two boys panting and grinning widely, a more subdued smile lighting Rose’s face. Teresa looked up from what she was cooking and asked with a grin, “ Who won?”
“ Us, of course! We pummeled her!” Bragged Victor.
“ ‘sides, the good guys always win.” Added Quintus sagely, removing the cat ear headband he had put on to indicate his role as Aslan.
Rose ruffled her brothers’ hair, ignoring their protests as she covertly brushed the snow from them. As childish as the game had been, and as nasty and cold as the weather was, she had still had fun romping through the snow with her brothers. She regretted neglecting them as she had and promised to budget her time better. After all, the White Witch had to have her revenge.
