The Search For Shattered Pieces *Complete*

Chapter Forty-Four: Suriving Nationals

Chapter Forty-Four: Surviving Nationals

Lyra:

   "The Atlanta Skate Club?" I ask my Coach hesitantly.

   "It's better if you belong to a skate club and since I coach at the Atlanta Skate Club and you're my student, voila. Problem solved.

   "Okay." I swallow as nerves assail me.

   "Nervous?"

   "No," I lie.

   "It's okay, Lyra.  It's all right to be nervous."

   "No I need—"

   "—To feel," Coach Rancic says with a smile on her pretty face.  "Whatever you're feeling feel it.  And then focus all that feeling into your skating."

   "Even the nerves?" I say with a brittle laugh.

   "Well try not to get tooo nervous.  It's just another skate Lyra.  Remember it's just another skate."

    But she was wrong.  This wasn't just another skate, it was THE skate.  If I placed then I would go to worlds and then the Olympics.

   "I can see your mind working too hard, Lyra.  You're overthinking things.  You need to relax."

   Relax? Relax? How did I relax?

   "Pigeon!"

   I turn and see Trent, Tal, Zach and Xav standing there.  "What are you guys doing here?"

   "You think we'd miss this?"

   "No, that's not what I meant, I mean what are you doing down here? How did you get past security."

   Zach holds up a tag.  "With these."

   "How did you get those?"

   "Now, now, I need to have some secrets, Dove." Zach smiles and rolls his eyes when I glare at him.  "Money can buy anything, Dove.  Even security clearance at Nationals it seems."

   "I'm...I'm glad to see you." And I realized that I was.  I was so glad to see them.  I hug them all.

   "I'm up against the best, guys."

   "You have no one to beat but yourself, Lyra," Xav says gruffly.  "No one holds a candle to you.  We know it and you need to know it inside."

   I straighten my shoulders, and nod.  "Okay, okay I can do this."

   "Of course you can." Trent places a kiss on my lips quick and says, "You're our shooting star, no go and get them!"

*****

Trenton:

One, two, three, four rotations and down, perfect.  The applause is thunderous and the commentators are going crazy.  Lyra is killing her short program.  The music is perfect, the choreography is perfect, but the most perfect thing about the entire thing is her, our girl, our Lyra.  She glides across the ice as if it's an extension of her, and she emotes so beautifully.  There is so much emotion when she skates, so much depth of feeling, it's beautiful.  The crowd goes crazy again and I realize she landed another quad. The program comes to an end and the crowd is on it's feet.  Hell I'm on my feet and cheering as loudly if not louder than them all.

   "Did you see that, did you fucking see that?" Tal yells.

   "Yes I saw it you idiot," I yell back.