Title: Dreams of Ice
Author: Marianya
Part: Chapter One
Rate: PG
Date develop: 18 February 2002
Date revised: 12 March 2002
Chapter One - The Fine Line
Summer 1998...
Michelle walked into the International Skating Center of Connecticut, through much coaxing from her long time Illinois coach and mentor her parents have finally consented in her moving out of the house to further her skating career.
Even though she enjoyed success with her previous coach for the past three years she knew that the time has come when the pupil would outgrow the coach. Throughout that time she rose through the ranks of the figure skating world, winning the 1997 United States Junior Nationals and placing third in the World Junior Championships. Her weakness was... technical merit. By the end of her junior career she had received more perfect scores than most of the other competitors of her time, all for artistic merit.
She could have attempted to place for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, but she felt that she was still lacking. Though her ability was clear and to everyone else she was ready (she placed second behind Michelle Kwan at the US Nationals, one ahead of Tara Lipinski), she did not feel that it was her time quite yet to go into the Olympics. Instead she prepared herself for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City where she would hit her twentieth birthday.
Michelle spent about ten minutes stretching before lacing up her skates. Her fingers grazed the jade pendent that hung around her neck as she remembered the young boy that gave it to her as a gift. I wonder where he is now. She thought of him often and regretted not keeping in touch with him.
Taking a deep breath she skated onto the ice and did some forward and reverse stroking and glides soon switching to practicing her footwork and edges with increasing difficulty. After a long while she started working on her forward and reverse crossovers and ending her warm-up with spirals.
Breathing heavily she headed to the edge of the rink and hit the play button on the cassette stereo. Gliding towards center ice and she took position until the music started. Soft music soared through the rafters as the solo skater just allowed herself to let go and relished the musical notes soothing her every edge and extension.
Another skater had originally wanted to take the extra free time to skate, but found himself beaten to the empty rink. However instead of retreating from the arena he had found himself drawn to the music that was coming from the rink itself. Wishing to investigate the source of the music, the young man walked slowly to the arena and saw a becoming sight.
There was a young girl, no more than probably a year younger than himself. Her hair was a sensual mix of dark brown and jet black, her face was round and childlike yet pretty in many ways. He watched her skate for the remainder of the program and made a mental note of her superb artistic ability, while her technical skills though really good, is still something that she could improve upon.
As the final notes died in the not so empty skating arena, the young girl skated over to the stereo and met with a surprise. "I like the way you skate through the ice, but you need help with the jumps and spins..."
The girl looked up to the owner of the Russian-accented skater that was sitting in the rafters, her heart was beating in her ears, how long has he been there? she wondered. "I -- I didn't realize that you were there... you frightened me."
For the first time the visitor looked down into her eyes and noticed the dark browns her eyes withheld. She was very pretty and she did not go around showing that off, modest, charming and sweet, the kind of near perfect personality that one barely sees anywhere.
"Normally I am the only one that skates at this time. I have not seen anyone skate this early other than me. Only senior level skaters are found here and I have not seen you anywhere before." Alexei was a little upset in knowing that his practice time was cut short, and he wanted to impress his new coach.
"I saw the rink open and no one had signed it out, so I just assumed that it was free for the taking." Michelle replied. There was something about Alexei that produced a warning sign in her head. Whether it was his way of speaking or perhaps the arrogance.
"Only senior level skate in this rink. You don't know who I am?" Alexei walked down to her level, his eyes looking down into her own.
Michelle took a quick breath; here was the fifth place men's skater in the 1998 Olympics staring down at her. He went to the Olympics that she could have gone to but had pulled out from... "Of course I do, Alexei. However I too am in senior level competition. I fought through the US Nationals to get my silver medal there."
"Then how come you were not at Japan?" Alexei looked at the girl again, she was familiar but he didn't know where, but then again, "You pulled out of Olympics, that was stupid thing to do."
That did it, Michelle never allowed herself to be called stupid and it doesn't matter whom the wise guy was that would have made such a comment. "How would you know if it was a stupid thing to do? You don't know where I came from, and you don't know what it was that caused me to pull from the Olympics in the first place. And then you come to the rink that you didn't sign up for, and expect other people to just pull aside so that you could use the rink?" Tears threatened her eyes; never in her life did she ever speak in that tone of voice to anyone let alone a fellow skater. Not wanting to let Alexei see her tears she looked away and quickly tried to clean up the rest of her belongings.
Rushing for the door, Alexei pulled her elbow, he didn't mean to hurt her, he just snapped... "Don't g--"
"Let go of me, what else do you want from me?" Michelle said quietly as she ripped her arm from Alexei's grasp. She didn't want to stick around to see what would happen next.
"Michelle, Alexei, what is going on here?" a thick Russian accent spoke calmly to the quarreling duo.
Alexei spoke first, "I'm sorry but I wanted to warm-up before I skate for you, but she was at the rink first."
Michelle looked down, she shouldn't have been quarreling, and it would seem that Alexei is Tatiana Tarasova's student. She remembered her coach mentioning something about that earlier, but Michelle's mind wasn't exactly with who is teaching whom in the world of figure skating.
"Alexei go ahead and skate now, I will meet you in thirty minutes." Tatiana also said something in Russian before Alexei left and focusing her attention towards Michelle, "I'm sorry about him, he came from Alexei Mushin who is training Evgeni Plushenko..."
"...And teaching two up and coming Russians skaters is just too much to bare?" Michelle guessed she has heard things like this happen before. Two very talented skaters, training under the same coach, of course there might be accusations of favoritism unless the two skaters are close friends like John Nicks two skaters: Naomi Nari Nam and Sasha Cohen. Michelle has heard of the duo jumping beans and she knew her years are numbered considerably, hers and Michelle Kwan's.
"Thinking about John's two young girls? You needn't worry about them, you and Michelle Kwan have conquered and perfected something that would take years for almost anyone else to accomplish." At Michelle's confused look, "Artistry. Figure skating isn't measured by just the number of jumps you could complete, or how centered your spins are. The only reason that Michelle Kwan edges you out in competitions is in difficulty. You have the ability and the talent, do you have the strength?"
Michelle took some time to think about it, ever since she moved to Connecticut at the beginning of the year, her difficulty has improved a lot and it showed at the US Nationals. The decision to back out of the Olympics was Michelle's alone, she didn't feel ready, didn't feel that the silver medal was something that was earned.
"Michelle, I have something to ask of you. Alexei's temper is from his previous coach and it affects the rest of his artistry. To transform him on and off the ice is hard for just myself, however...?" Tatiana looked to her pupil, she knew that Michelle would not say 'no' but she also knew that Michelle was obedient in that way, "Michelle this decision has to be something that you are willing to help you with and not because I ask you to do so..."
Michelle looked in the direction of where Alexei had previously departed; she remembered the feeling that his retreating blue eyes had caused within her. The last time she saw eyes as blue as his was from a memory so long ago, the one boy that gave her the jade necklace as a remembrance gift. She often wondered where he was now, what he was doing; she was upset that she couldn't remember his name anymore.
Perhaps helping her coach with this troublesome teenager could be the one thing she needed to keep her mind away from the past and headed for the future. "Alright I'll help out in turning him from the troublesome teenager to a charming gentleman. Talk about a Dateline story exclusive, let alone the tabloids."
Tatiana smiled; she knew she could count on Michelle helping out. "Why don't you watch Alexei skate the rest of his session? Then we will work on you."
Nodding, Michelle wondered silently if the decisions she had made thus far would affect her for the good or the bad of her life.
Two hours later...
Michelle watched as Alexei went through his programs with more strength and athleticism than she thought was humanly possible. If she didn't know otherwise she would have thought that he might have been taking steroids or endurance enhancers...
However Michelle knew better and she continued to analyze Alexei's strengths and weakness and narrowly the whole field to two things: one) he could jump and spin; two) the programs were bland, no emotion whatsoever.
Inwardly she sighed, in agreeing in Tatiana's mission, she would also help the young man in his choreography to the point that it would become second nature. Walking over to where Alexei was standing, listening intently to Tatiana's instructions, she stayed by the sidelines waiting for them to finish.
Alexei knew that this Asian girl was a student of Tatiana's, and inwardly he thought that she was pretty, but after his minor disagreement he didn't think that she would give him a second glance. So he was surprised when she came up to him to talk... "Hello Alexei." Michelle smiled sweetly, and looked down.
At that instant Alexei's heart hammered, she was prettier when she smiled. It was like her face just glowed when she smiled, and the way she looked with her eyes looking down, it was almost enough for him to ask her to go to a movie and dinner right there.
"Alexei, you aren't showing much emotion when you skate. When we skate, we should try to tell the audience what we are feeling." Her voice was soft, like a song almost.
"Oh? And you would like to show me? Miss...?"
Stumbling to find her voice, "Oh - yes, well I'm Michelle Ho." She looked into his eyes and noticed his sky blue eyes - she nearly fell into those eyes - within her a memory clicked. Someone that she knew from so long along had the same color eyes... subconsciously she grasped her jade pendent and remembered that young friend she lost so long ago.
"You are from the states? Your accent is not American."
Smiling slightly she replied, "I was born in Chicago, but both of my parents immigrated here from Vietnam. So I have a slight accent left from my heritage."
Alexei nodded his head in acknowledgement he didn't want to let her know that she was getting to him, that she was intoxicating him with her smile. Total control in every situation! Mushin's voice pounded through his head, it was because of his situation with Mushin and Plushenko that he soon found himself smoking and drinking.
Tatiana Tarasova smiled at the her two young skaters, "Michelle has been with me only since the beginning of the year, we worked on her techniques and she made it to the podium in this year's US Nationals."
"Now I remember, you won silver after Kwan, right? That was still stupid not to go Olympics." Alexei could not understand why would Michelle grab the silver in the Nationals and not continue to the Olympics.
Michelle stood her ground, stupid or not, he doesn't know why I never went.
Tatiana felt it was time for her to intervene, so much for first impressions, I have to talk to Alexei about being so blunt. "Michelle why don't you show Alexei your long program so he could see the artistry and presentation."
Michelle nodded dutifully, good anything to keep me from talking to him. She willed to drive Alexei from her mind, but unfortunately that was a moot cause. Her heart fluttered at the mere mention of his name, and those muscles... talk about working out. She found herself to be thinking, she couldn't help it Alexei just had the eyes, the hair and the body all in one wonderful package.
Michelle shook her head and concentrated on proving her point on artistry. Taking center ice she knelt down on one knee and with her head bent, waited for the music to start.
Meanwhile Alexei was sitting back bored, what's the point of this? Showing me artistry, why would the judges look at artistry, I'm not a performer I'm a skater.
Tatiana looked at Alexei and scolded him, "You pay attention to Michelle, you could learn from her like she could learn from you. If you don't watch what you say and treat her with respect you will never go further than that fifth place finish at the Olympics."
Those words stung, his fifth place finish at the Olympics had hurt him, even though he skated flawlessly technical wise, his presentation marks on the other hand dipped significantly. Hesitantly he allowed his eyes to watch Michelle skate, he noticed how her extensions were strong and expressive. He could see why she was giving Michelle Kwan a run for her need of perfection in the presentation marks. However her technique coming into and out of the jumps were woefully lacking, maybe Tatiana is right, I could help her with the jumps.
Michelle's laidback spin was centered and exquisite as her arms formed patterns that just seemed so impossible to repeat. When Michelle came to a stop Alexei couldn't help but applaud, the whole skate was entrancing as if she was telling a story. A lovers' feud perhaps...
Tatiana smiled as Michelle skated towards them, "That was great, you still need to center the camel spin and work on the triple lutz and flip. Your triple loop and toe loops are fine. As the choreography I think we made a good decision to just do this between you and me."
"Okay since today is Saturday we are done, I will see both of you on Monday, please rest up and Alexei," Alexei looked up at his new coach, "no smoking or drinking this weekend okay?"
Alexei nodded still thinking about how to go about the former. Looking at Michelle he knew that he needed help with his choreography and since Michelle seemed to be proficient in it... "If you are not busy this weekend... would you like to go to see a movie sometime and then come back here to help me with...?" Alexei's eyes focused on the floor, so very much like a shy young boy he was.
Michelle smiled shyly as she noticed her coach come walking through the doors, "Alright... just a movie and then to work. How about tomorrow?"
Alexei nodded as the two of them gathered their belongings and headed towards the parking lot. Alexei looked around and did not see the object of his current mission. "Do you know where...?" Alexei stammered he waved a letter with a postal stamp in the air.
Michelle smiled, "Yeah it's around that corner." Michelle pointed the closest intersection. She couldn't help but noticed that the letter was being mailed to Evgeni Plushenko. Well that was what she thought because it was only for a moment.
Alexei smiled and Michelle almost melted, I better watch myself here, I do not want to be treading on thin ice. Better yet she didn't want to give the journalists anything to write about, she was still young and didn't need that kind of media attention.
As the two skaters walked towards the mailbox, little did either of them knew that this unstable friendship would be the start of a strong and close friendship that they would lean upon for years to come.
The next day...
"No, no, no, you need to tell a story even if the music doesn't ask you to do that. The most of a story that you tell the audience the more the audience will believe in what you are skating. The more that the judges will look at your artistry and not knock you points when you miss a jump." Michelle chided, it was the following Sunday afternoon, and they went to see a movie earlier that day and had an interesting lunch.
Michelle learned that Alexei's excuse for the letter was that he promised a friend that he would send a letter to him every other week that he is in America. A friend he says? Or is that his excuse? Michelle speculated a lot of things in regards to Alexei's personal life but then she didn't want to pry into other people's affairs... just making sure it won't hurt her in the long run.
Focusing on the ice Michelle watched as Alexei skimmed the ice, his arms waving through the motions, stretching out as if to beckon someone, but something was missing. "Alexei use your eyes, you can't convince the audience when you are not using your eyes. Imagine what you are seeing picture it in your mind and then focus it in your surroundings."
Michelle continued to watch as Alexei tried to do this, after the end of the long program he skated towards Michelle, "I'm tired, I want to go home."
Michelle nodded, "That's fine we aren't even suppose to be here." Turning off the music Michelle waited for Alexei to pack up and get ready to leave.
Walking outside Alexei pulled out a cigarette and lit it up, "You won't tell Madam Tatiana would you?"
Michelle shook her head and instantly started to cough, "But if *cough* I'm too ill to *cough, cough* skate tomorrow, *cough* you have to explain *cough, cough* it to *cough, cough* our coach."
Alexei turned to her worried, instantly putting out the cigarette he leaned down and wrapped Michelle in his arms. Michelle, meanwhile, was still coughing a lot, unable to control them. "I'm sorry, I did not know that you get - oh how do you say - allergic from cigarettes."
Michelle took in a couple of deep breaths, "That is okay," she said after clearing her through, "it's not the cigarettes as much as the smoke that bothers me the most. They are bad for your lungs."
"I know, but it help to relax me. But I will stop if it stop make you sick." Alexei said he was genuinely worried about Michelle. "Maybe I should stop the drinking too, no?"
Michelle smiled, "Yeah maybe you should."
Alexei could see that Michelle was still pretty weak, so he decided to lift her up and carry her to her apartment on the rest of the walk home. "When I take you home, I will make some soup for you. Then you will be better for tomorrow. Just don't tell Tatiana, okay?"
Michelle nodded, "Okay."