Act Two

XI

"Misha!" Kira exclaims, bolting towards the taller female as she enters the building. Mischa chuckles and has to bare her ground while the younger girl basically tackles her. The other students join Kira and surround the eldest, chatting her ear off. Coach Yakov is glad to see his student back and recovered from her incident weeks ago. Now she is all set to start skating again but not without precautions. She has to take it easy while she retrains her body to become accustomed to the long hours again. "All right, lets finish getting ready and give Mischa-Umbertovna some space." Yakov chuckles, standing up to wait for the others.

The six make it to the ice, beginning basic elements after their warm up. "What have I missed out on?" Mischa asks her coach while the others spread out to do their own thing. "Mainly refinement. I've only brought in a few new things which I can show you today if you're feeling comfortable enough. Otherwise, I think we should rebuild your strength for the next two weeks so you are back to where you were before." The coach responds, looking down at the girl. "Okay. Either sounds good. It's a little weird being in skates again, maybe we should focus on gradually getting back into the groove." Yakov agrees with Mischa's decision and they work on edges and footwork to start with.

The coach observes his student while she pushes off one blade and glides on the other, swinging the left skate through and pointing in front. Mischa bobs and uses the force of the action to swivel from her inside to outside edges. "Bend your knees a little more, feel the edges become deeper with each glide." Yakov instructs, following Mischa as she switches to the other foot. She does the same on the other side before given the next practice. "Now, let's get back into Mohawks." Yakov suggests, earning a nod in agreement from the skater. Mischa pushes off her blade once again, arms held out and straight. Her right skate moving forward to meet her left but angling outward. "Perfect, Mischa-Umbertovna. Now snap your hips."

Snap.

The bacon snapped and sizzled in the skillet atop the stovetop, filling the home with the delicious scent. " (1) *Доброе утро, Yasha. I'm making breakfast, would you like eggs?" Yakov smiled at his mother as he entered the medium-sized kitchen. "Morning, mama. I would love some." He nodded then brewed a pot of coffee for them. "Is papa up?" The older woman looked up from the skillet to nod. " (2) *Да, he is out in the garage working on that car again." Yakov caught the roll of her eyes then quietly chuckles. "Is something broken?" He asked, pouring coffee grounds into the filter. " (3) *Нет, нет, you know how he is. Always fiddling around like they're toys. I'm beginning to think he likes that damn car more than me." The blonde man snickered then shook his head. "He likes his automobiles, mama." His mother laughed softly, sliding the spatula under the edges of the cooking egg to set it on a plate. "Two eggs?" "Sure, thank you." Yakov pulled out three mugs to pour coffee once done.

"Good morning everyone." The man's father greeted, entering the home from the back door. "Hello, (4) *милый. I have the food almost ready so please do not sneak off again." "Don't worry, I'm here to stay. Let me wash my hands." Ivan showed himself to the sink and did as he said. Yakov fixed their coffee and set them on the table along with sugar and creamer. Eventually, the small family of three sat at the beige wooden table to dig in. "Excellent, mama. Thank you. I miss having your food." Yakov grinned toward his mother and took a drink from his mug. "You are welcome, my boy. I never get to cook like this often now because we are always going out to eat at diners and such. I had to quickly wipe all the dust off the oven." She chuckled, glancing to her husband. "Mama, I've been meaning to tell you something. It's the reason I traveled here to see you in person." The youngest of the trio set down his mug to meet his mother's gaze.

"Yasha... if you are going to tell me either of the following; you have gotten someone pregnant, you're moving farther away, got in major trouble with the government, or all of the above, I am not going to be very pleased with you." His mother sighed, waiting for the most terrible news. "No, nothing like that, mama. It's about my skating. I... I may be retiring this season." He answered with a gentle tone, not sure how she would respond. Yakov's mother paused, the words slowly sunk in. His father waited for the first thing she was going to say, wondering if she would accept it or be upset for days. "I'm surprised that you would so soon." Was all she could say at the moment, her eyes were down on her plate while she cut her eggs with the side of her fork. "I figured you would continue for a few more years." Yakov watched his mother, already feeling so bad that she was disappointed. His parents were only able to accompany his competitions less than ten times while in the Senior Division. "Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to go back to school or move home?"