Pointdexter: A Swooning Over Stan-fiction

Chapter Thirty-Four: Swan Lake

Alice trooped through the forest around Gravity Falls, taking a trail she had traveled many times before to see the Luminiferous Cranes. While the birds had left their nests by the waterfall, Alice liked the silence that swelled in the area. 

She shifted her bag on her shoulder, her pristine ice skates bumping against her back as she pushed past snow-covered branches. The crisp air flowed into her lungs and escaped her in soft breaths of steam, a smile crossing her face as the small waterfall came into view.

Despite the slightly moving water, a thick layer of ice had formed over the water, strong enough for Alice to skate on. She dropped her bag into the snow, stretching her arms in front of her and pressing a foot against the top of the ice. When she didn't hear the tell-tale snaps or cracking of ice, she braced her weight against it.

It stayed in place.

Alice smiled, tossing her hair over her back and leaning down to her bag, pulling her skates from the bag. It took a moment, leaning against the nearest tree and slipping her boot off, exchanging it for the skate.

It had been a little bit since she last skated, not having had the time since her divorce, but she'd always loved it. She slipped on the other skate, her hand braced against the tree as her center of gravity shifted.

She exhaled, a cloud of steam cascading in front of her eyes, as she slipped her phone and headphones from her pocket. She liked the silence, but she preferred to skate to music, her playlist of ballet symphonies was the perfect musings. 

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake began to flow into her ears, and Alice pushed off the shore, gliding forward in confident strides. Her body moved with the music, each spin and leap perfectly timed to the swelling of the strings. The fluidity and precision of her movements were trained from years of practice, her hands ebbing and flowing with the graceful yet power-filled orchestra in her ears.

As the music reached its climax, Alice launched into a final, soaring leap, her body arching through the air before landing effortlessly on the ice. She let out a slight grunt, feeling her knees ache under her, but pressing forward as the music changed in her headphones.

She turned on the ice, allowing her skates to guide her path as she nodded her head to the music, planning a route in her mind when she paused. Ford stepped out of the trees, a small smile on his face as his eyes glimmered on the bright snowy day.

"Hey," She breathed, yanking her headphones from her ears and letting them fall over her chest. "What are you doing out here?"

Ford chuckled, his head bowing toward the ground as she skated in small circles on the ice.

"I could ask you the same thing," He replied, slowly approaching the edge of the frozen pond. "I just wanted some fresh air. I wasn't expecting to find you out here... Skating."

Alice shifted her feet, skidding to a stop and angling her feet so she didn't slide.

"Well..." She laughed, brushing her hair from her face, flushed from her circle around the pond. "You found me."

"That I did," He chuckled, kneeling at the edge of the ice and stretching out a hand. "The real question is... What am I going to do with you now."

Alice laughed, shifting her phone and headphones back into her pocket, pushing forward, and taking his hand.

"Admire my Tchaikovsky routines?" She guessed, pulling herself toward him on the ice. "Dance of the Little Swans is next, and it's one of my favorites."

"I believe I might," He chuckled, his fingers twined around hers, a smile on his face. "You know, I never knew you were such an avid skater, Dove."

"I was a competitive figure skater in high school and college," Alice told him, a small flush crossing her cheeks as she confessed. "I stopped competing after I got married, but figured I could pick up skating again with all of my new free time."