Prompt 4:
Christmas Cookies
“Maybe it wasn’t him,” Makoto said with a forced cheerfulness to her voice as she removed the final tray of cookies from the oven. She busied herself with transferring them to a cooling rack to avoid eye contact with the others, who all sat around her kitchen table discussing what Rei had told them. This wasn’t exactly what she had planned when she asked the girls to come over to make cookies.
“I know what I saw,” Rei remained absolute. She eyed the plate of cookies in front of them all but didn’t take one. “I know what he said.”
Minako took two. She bit off one shaped like a tree, and looked thoughtfully. “Oh, Rei, you probably scared him. Of course he’d apologize.”
“Really? A stranger apologizing to a crazed miko? That’s not the usual response when I lose my temper around the shrine.”
“How could it even be him?” Makoto mused, wiping crumbs off her fingers on a dishrag as she turned around to face the rest. Leaning back on the counter, she tossed her curling bangs from her face. “You burned him alive, remember?”
“I remember.” The raven-haired girl moaned.
“Stranger things have happened,” Minako admitted thoughtfully, finishing off the tree-shaped cookie in one last bite. She lifted her mug of cocoa to wash it down as the room fell into silence.
Makoto’s eyes fell on the fourth girl in the room. Their blue-haired friend sat quietly in her chair, her fingers wrapped around a mug of tea, with her shoulders hunched uncomfortably. Her eyes stared down into the liquid, clearly lost in thought. Makoto crossed her arms over her chest. “Ami, you’re awfully quiet. What do you think about all of this?”
Ami’s head shot up in surprise, and she swallowed the cookie in her mouth in a large gulp as all eyes flew to her. Her cheeks flushed and she shrugged. “I think that Rei did the right thing. If they’ve returned, maybe they just don’t remember. And perhaps it’s better for everyone if they don’t.”
“They?” Rei questioned, her face contorting in confusion. “What do you mean they? I’ve only seen Jadeite. Do you think they’ve all returned?”
Ami nodded, her blue hair bouncing as she did so. “Well, I’ve seen one of them, too. Zoisite was in the library the other day. I think he recognized me, but didn’t know who I was.”
“What?” Minako jumped up, folding her knees under her as she leaned over the table towards Ami eagerly. “What did you do? Did you talk to him?”
“Barely. He helped me put a book away, and asked me if we met before. Of course I denied it. I ran away as quickly as possible.” Ami broke off another part of a cookie and shoved it into her mouth to avoid having to speak anymore.
The silence filled the room again. The four girls avoided each other’s eyes in an awkward moment. The return of the Shitennou was a scary event that none of them ever imagined to become reality, but here they were facing it. If two of them were back, it would only be a matter of time for the other two to surface. What it meant for them was not the most pressing matter, and all of them knew this. The most important issue was how this would affect their Prince and Princess.
“So,” Makoto sighed, grabbing a bowl of frosting from the counter and placing it forcefully down on the table. “What are we going to do about this?”
Rei turned away, closing her eyes. She wanted to forget about it. Minako’s mouth pursed in thought, but she had no answers. Ami was the first to take a cookie and scoop a bit of frosting on it. As she spread the white frosting over the crescent shaped cookie, she sighed heavily.
“Whatever we do, we mustn’t tell Usagi. Not just yet. I don’t want to worry her if nothing comes of it.”
