Facing Phantoms, Pursuing Flowers

A Performance to Improve on

Men's Short program 9:55pm.

'Yuzu!! That short program was... ... amazinger than ever before.....
Beautiful, it was as if Chopin himself were skating to that piece of music. Ballad number 1 could not be performed better. When you entered the ice, you changed from Yuzuru Hanyu to Frederick Chopin. Chopin on ice. It was as if you were Chopin, and that you composed that piece of music...if Chopin were alive, he would be proud of you.' Praised Melody after Yuzuru left the kiss and cry.

'Ah, thank you...but the step sequence levels...'

'Oh give yourself a break! Admit it, it was an absolutely brilliant skate! World record!!!' Said Sota in awe.

Meanwhile, Javi was getting ready to get on the ice. Melody could see his nerves surfacing and went to Javi.
'Javi! Hello? Earth to Javi? Javier Fernandez!'

'Huh, what? Oh hey Dy'

'Listen....... as a performer to another performer, don't go out there and think about what you have to do, think about how much time you have to do it, and use every second of that time, don't waste it by thinking how you are gonna beat someone or what score you would get, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform in your home crowd, if you don't cherish it then it would be a complete waste.'

'But it doesn't matter what I do now....I won't be able to beat that score Yuzu just put up' sighed Javi.

'Scores don't matter, they are just scores after all. It's your performance that leaves a lasting impact to the audience. Scores are just numbers and numbers are really not that interesting, no where near as interesting as your skating and performance. So go out and show the world, you are Javier Fernandez, no one else can be like you.'

'Thanks Dy, you're always cheering us up'

'Well that's what friends do' she smiled and Javi took off and resurfaced on the ice as the Barcelona crowd quiten to see him, the World Champion perform. It's what they have been waiting for after all, better cherish the moment.

Moments later....

As Team Orser were walking back together to the hotel, Javi sighed. Alot.
Melody, being the bright, concern kid caught up to him and asked 'Why are you so disappointed? I saw you perform your hearts out in that rink.'

'Because it could have been better. And I'm not too disappointed, I'm just dissatisfied. I feel like I disappointed my fans big time'

'You have never been any more wrong. If you think you would disappoint your fans just because you performed badly, than you don't deserve our support. You know why some fans are here to see you, because that's all they want to see, you . Just seeing you skate is enough to make them happy, so just go out there and make them happy, by just skating in the free skate on Saturday. You could never disappoint your fans because they can't expect to have you perform pecfectly, you're only human afterall. If they are fans who expect you to perform perfectly, then they don' deserve to be your fans.'

'Wow.....that was.....' replied a shocked Javi.

'Too harsh? Sorry' She winced.

'No..no. It was um....truthful? Anyways, thank you Dy, thank you so much, I had never thought of the fans that way.'

'So you feel better now?'

'Very much so.'

'Gonna perform your best on Sat?'

'Definitely'

'Good'

And they carried on chatting and walking, whilst Yuzuru, Sota and Brian were walking slightly behind them, observing them.

Their conversation went something like this.....

'I wonder how Dy can always be in such a good mood?' Said Yuzuru randomly.

'That's true. She never gets in a foul mood often. Not that I've known her for a long time, but still' noted Sota.

Brian added 'Oh yeah, I made a good choice to move her training schedule with you guys. She has this positivity surrounding her and she seems to be able to give way better pep talks and encouragement than me!'

Yuzuru nodded in agreement and continued 'She's so honest and bright, honestly, she can be pouty sometimes but you hardly see her in a foul mood. She has this sunshine personality and cheeriness that is just so adorable. She brings a lot to the team, not just support but also motivation, happiness, and joy. She seems to bring out the best in us. No matter what the situation is, she seems to always put a positive spin on it, changing things around. So optimistic. She can change your mood with a few words. She's like this positive shining bright person, you just can't not like. She's so lovely , and her smile is gorgeous. And the best part is, you always see her smile. Even if its a forced one. I've never seen her angry a lot.... Oh wait, except this once when she was praticing her flip in training and she just couldn't get it down clean, so she got up after a hard fall from the Flip, we all thought she was going to smile and try it again like she normally does, but she stomped her skates on the ice and yelled 'Why can't I get this flipping Flip down!" in the middle of a training session. Everyone stopped and stared at her while she just cursed under her breath and skate away. It was quite shocking. Everybody was surprised by her sudden angry outburst. She's usually a joy to be with. I don't think anyone would dislike her because there is nothing to dislike about.'

And in that one little second, they all tried imagining her with an angry frown plastered on her face and ended up bursting out laughing in the middle of the night, while crossing the road, under the shining moonlight.