Backdated to December 12, 2025
Sounds of the Seasons -- Holiday '25 Prompt

He didn't mind being out on patrol this time of year. His uniform covered him more than enough to be comfortable against the bite of winter even without whatever magical protection the attire came with. Whatever kept him from overheating in summer kept him absolutely comfortable in the dead of winter. Didn’t need to know how it worked to know it did. So being up on the rooftops, or down on the sidewalks, or through the alleys... Seraphinite didn’t feel any hesitation or resentment about where he was. He was... comfortable.

Was that a bad thing? He’d heard Spectrolite and Rigel both make similar comments recently, and both had questioned if things were too comfortable, given... everything. The hellish serpent from outer space being the key example of everything and why things shouldn’t be so super comfortable.

He let the thoughts trail through his mind, watching his feet as he leaped down from one building onto the ground, snow crunching and doing little to muffle the impact. The area was an older part of the city, more brick and stone in the buildings than newer constructs typically were. An old church sat along this road, long shuttered up and chained against trespassers with appropriate signs posted about. He knew it, somewhat, at least enough as a spot to come and think, to sit and appreciate the silence of the hallowed grounds. There was a graveyard there. Old. But not entirely forgotten. He often found small flags or flowers. Nothing extensive, but enough to show the bodies below were still people to someone within the city. Not remains to be forgotten beyond a gravemarker that people could barely read anymore.

As he neared the iron gates with the thick chains looped around them, he paused. Music reached him. Soft. Gentle. Barely more than a hum. His brows furrowed. It almost sounded like O Silent Night—his frown deepened. Deja vu? No, this had happened before here. At this same church. Someone was singing here, last winter. He couldn’t recall much about the situation beyond it being some woman, and their conversation being pleasant enough. Though aware he was under the guise of Seraphinite, unrecognizable if it was her again, he still was about to jump the gate again to go see if she was sitting back in the graveyard—

The music seemed to spark up a few points, the volume ticked up just a tad, but enough for the choir-like melody and vocals to echo through his bones. No lyrics, but it pulled at him, some old song he’d maybe heard as a child.

Movement beside him on the sidewalk made him start, turning enough to see... a senshi? She was familiar enough. He’d seen her on that hill speaking to Jet, along with another Super from the White Moon. White, orange, blue. Wings. She stood at the base of the stairs leading up to the old church, and Seraphinite’s hands went to his sides, summoning his blades. He couldn’t... sense her. Magic? Some ambush or—

She was smiling. It wasn’t cruel. It wasn’t mocking. It wasn’t triumphant. It was... happiness. Her grin was wide, broad, to the point he wondered if her muscles were straining and it kinda hurt if she kept it up too long. The corners of her eyes were crinkled, eyes nearly half moons in how high her cheeks were raised. Just... pure, happiness. Delight. Brilliant warmth. Seraphinite could only stare, befuddled and bewildered. There was no energy signature, and when he looked down at the snow on the sidewalk... only his steps existed. Slowly, the wary tension in his muscles eased, his swords vanishing back into the aether as he just... stared on. At this senshi, inhuman, grinning at him like she was looking upon someone she cared for. Or... no, that was a light way of putting it, wasn’t it? The warmth she emanated, the way she grinned, how happy she looked.

Seraphinite couldn’t for the life of him understand why he was seeing her so illuminated.

Her hand moved, and his eyes snapped to her palm as it was raised. Up. Open. To him. The implication she expected him to take it, and she was so happy because of this notion.

He couldn’t understand.

“What do you want?”

His voice shattered the silence, louder than the crescendo of the choir, louder than the city asleep around them. Just like that, the music ceased, and he glanced off towards the graveyard it sounded like it came from, but when he looked back... she was gone. No footprints. No energy signatures. No signs of a single other person had been out on that sidewalk since the snow had fallen, except him.

Whatever warmth and sunlight she embodied in her joy, it did not exist on this world with him.



WC: 803