The Princess Of Ice

⋆˙⟡slipping away⋆˙⟡

   After three weeks, Y/n was cleared to get back onto the ice and she was beyond eager. The icy cold air welcomed Y/n in a sort of warming way as Y/n made her way to the locker room to get changed and ready to practice her routine again. She stretched before she put on her skates and zipped up her sweater. When Y/n got onto the ice, she did a few laps to warm up, then she started reciting the routine. Being on the ice again was so comforting and Y/n had realized that this is where she belonged, she always had the passion for figure skating and nothing could replace the feeling that it gave her. 

  Y/n started to get braver on the ice and did a single axel perfectly, without any harm. Satisfied, she smiled to herself and attempted a spinning needle. Y/n held onto her blade and brought her leg far over her head and spun very quickly without getting dizzy at all. She let go of her leg and did an arabesque, keeping the same pace as before. Y/n loved the cold wind blowing in her face. This was her norm and she didn't want it to be taken away from her again.

  Y/n's layback spins looked so effortless on the ice, only a professional could make it look that easy as Y/n skated backwards and executed powerful jumps followed by calculated landings. Y/n did almost a backbend on the ice and felt her fingertips gently brush against the ice. Her head was only millimeters away from the ground as she glided on the ice. Y/n rocked her hips forward and brought her body up and did a y spin. After that she made her way to the wall and lifted her leg, almost touching the glass for the entire pass. If someone were to stand there, Y/n's blades would definitely cut them. 

   She slowly moved away from the wall and attempted the most rigorous jump in her routine: seven consecutive axels in the air. It required a combination of great strength and speed to pull off. The most axels that Y/n had did in the air was five axels and seven was quite the jump. She warmed up by doing triple axels first and landing safely. Her leaps made her look like a fairy flying and it was truly majestic to see. 

  Then she made her way to quad axels. As Y/n was in the air, she could feel her breath stopping, it was never easy to do four full rotations and land them so it was still nerve-wreaking when Y/n attempted quads. Y/n surprisingly landed the axel, but it wasn't as clean as she would've liked. This pushed Y/n to reattempt the axel until she was satisfied, not knowing that things weren't going to work in her favor that night.

   Y/n continued to leap in the air and attempt cleaner landings, but they just got sloppier and sloppier. For her last attempt, Y/n had lost her footing and fell on the ice. She hit her head on the ice and curled up in the ball, trying not to think of the pain. Y/n punched the ground and looked at her reflection in the ice. Beads of sweat dripped down her face and her body was aching. She was so exhausted, but she wasn't satisfied yet and got back up. 

   Y/n restarted her entire routine again, picking up the speed with sharper poses and leaps. She did a quintuple axel this time and wiped out on the ice. Frustrated, she let out a yell and did a lap around the rink before attempting again and again, falling painfully each time. Y/n knew her body would be covered in bruises after practice, but she didn't care. The ambition ate her up like a hungry predator and she got a sort of runner's high. Her body was being tortured but Y/n hardly acknowledged the pain. 

  The sun was setting and it was getting later and later, but Y/n had no intention of leaving yet. One more time, Y/n told herself as she prepared for another quintuple axel. It was again unsuccessful and Y/n was at her limit, barely even feeling her hands and face. She got up and darted to the locker room throwing her skates off and stuffing everything into her bag. Y/n cracked her knuckles and walked home angrily. 

  When she arrived, she said not a single word to her parents and headed straight to her room and threw her bag violently onto the ground. Tears started forming in Y/n's eyes and whatever was in her reach, was thrown across her room. She let out a frustrated scream and pressed her face into the pillow on her bed, punching the mattress. 

  Y/n felt like she was truly going insane. She was stuck, there was no improvement in her performance and she was exactly where she was before she had gotten injured. There was so much room for growth, but Y/n saw nothing...no results, no growth, no improvement. Y/n had felt like her skating career was slipping away, she would be replaced at the Olympics if she didn't get her act together and would fail Japan. Maybe Doctor Yukimura was right, her career was over and she had finally burned out. All the physical therapy was worthless, her training until her body was unable to move meant nothing anymore. Y/n had absolutely nothing and nothing could be done to change that. 

  Ayane was starting to get nervous. There was no way that she couldn't have heard things being thrown around in her daughter's room. She wanted to help her, but had no clue how to and did the first thing that came to mind, she called Toyoko, who picked up quickly. 

  "Hello?" Toyoko said. "Toyo, it's Y/n, she came back home and went straight to her room and is throwing things around," Ayane explained, with her voice breaking. There was a silence on the phone for a few moments. "Aya...she's not gonna listen to me no matter what I say, I'm probably the last person she wants to speak to," Toyoko gave her honest opinion on the situation. "You're right...I know who to call," Ayane hung up the phone.