On top of the world

Monsieur France

Yuzuru isn't only the King of Ice. He's also the King of the Comeback.

Katya and I were streaming the Skate Canada Grand Prix all weekend even though we should have been studying for AP Bio (we have a quiz on Wednesday). We watched and lamented while Yuzuru struggled in the short program. The next day, we watched and celebrated when he jumped from 6th to 2nd place with his Seimei freeskate. He truly fought for his standing in the competition; I could see it with every move he executed. The performance wasn't perfect, but it was inspiring. 

Sometimes, when I watch him skate in practice and or perform on the screen and give perfect performances such as his Parisienne Walkways short program at the 2014 Olympics, I forget he has asthma. But after training, sometimes he'd come up to me and rest his chin on my shoulder for a minute to catch his breath. And seeing his labored breath after performing the free program again put things into perspective for me: Yuzuru is idolized and adored by so many (including Katya and me), but the journey doesn't come easy for anyone no matter how much talent one may have. 

When I was first introduced to Yuzuru, I put him on a pedestal because of how much more talented and well-balanced a skater he seemed to be compared to many others. But after getting to know him more, he's even more than that. He's a real human being with flaws of his own, but his hero's journey makes him all the more admirable. No matter what obstacles he has had to face, he just kept powering through and overcoming them. 

I may have had much less misfortune fall upon me, but his story is one I can learn from. 

"Dear Lord, thank you for all your blessings. Thank you for the wonderful fall weather and fall leaves, and thank you for making my fall on the ice less serious. Please help me bounce back from this injury soon so I can compete at Sectionals and have a chance to compete at Nationals again. Now, it's time for me to sleep. Please let me have a good night's sleep so I can have a productive day tomorrow. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." 

*************

After Brian and Yuzuru returned from Lethbridge, I could finally get on the ice again. My gait on the ground had more or less returned to normal, so I could skate normally too. I stuck to skating and spins like Brian told me to for this week because I really want to recover on time, and God says listen to your teachers!

When I stepped onto the ice for the first time in a week, I felt like I was born again. I started slowly but picked up speed and confidence in a matter of minutes.

As the week crawled by, I ran through my programs while marking the jumps so I could keep up my stamina. I could practice the flying sit spin, but I couldn't practice the flying camel spin because I'd have to land on the weak ankle. And I also made sure to mark any leaps or jumps in the footwork sequences or transitions. 

"How are you feeling today, Lyuba?" Brian asked me after our private lesson.

"Grounded," I replied with a pout. 

"Don't worry. Just keep doing your physical therapy exercises and be patient. Trust the process; it'll all be worth it when your ankle restores its health."

"It might even becomes stronger, no?" I inquired. "I read something about healing injured muscles makes them stronger, like a 'pressure builds diamonds' sort of theory."

"That's a lot to bet on nature," Brian said with a chuckle, but he looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's possible that may occur, if we weren't on such a time constraint. But I'm certain that if you follow my directions, your ankle will be able to hold up for Sectionals, okay?"

"Alright."

"So that means you're willing to only do single jumps for the first half of next week and start relearning double jumps in the latter half."

"Wha--"

"Good! Glad we're on the same page." Brian grinned cheekily and patted my knee. I turned around and scowled.

**************

Kévin Aymoz may not be as outgoing as Javier, but he certainly has a similar European air, the same kind that made me drool over Javier several years ago.

"Lyuba! This is my new ice dance partner, Kévin! He's from France," Katya said, waggling her eyebrows. She knew how infatuated I was with French culture, and maybe French boys? I didn't know yet, but perhaps I might take a special liking towards this particular French boy.

"Enchanté, pleasure to meet you," Kévin greeted me as we did the customary European kisses. 

An audible gasp escaped from Yuzuru, and Javi laughed in response. "They just met! Why kiss?"

"That's European culture for ya!" Javi replied. He couldn't help but laugh again at Yuzuru's reaction. 

"Weird," Yuzuru muttered.

Katya was already looking like a natural at ice dance. The relatively new pair did not try any lifts today, but they demonstrated some simple step sequences around the rink. 

After the session ended, someone came up behind me and meekly tapped my shoulder. I whirled around, sort of expecting it to be Nam (because he's the only guy who would try to get my attention that way; I can always hear Javi and/or Katya behind me and Yuzuru would always pull something funny with me), to give the person a goofy face, but it was Kévin. My goofy face instantly became red.

"Desolé," he apologized, looking slightly abashed, but more amused. "I was wondering, you maybe want to go to a café with me? Get to know each other better?"

"Ohhhh," I replied while slowly turning around to give Katya a did you put him up to this? look. She pretended not to notice. "You, me, and Katya?" I asked as I turned back around with a raised brow.

"Just you and me, if you don't mind. Katya told me a lot about you while we were trying out, and I know a lot about her now. But I want to hear what you have to say about yourself. She got me curious about you."

"Oh, wow." I was sort of taken aback. No guy had ever been this interested in me, ever. "So, like a date?"

"Sure."

I inhaled sharply. "We don't have to call it that if you don't want to!" Kévin yelped, fearing he had overstepped.

"No, it's okay! This will be my first date ever." I half-smiled at the ground.

"Then I'll make sure it's a very nice first date. Here is my number--" He handed me a yellow sticky note-- "and I'll send you details. Ciao!" He winked and waved. 

As soon as he was out of sight, I screamed.

LRESGIFVBS;GUIORHLGSBO;NIEOGISRLBFVLIBSVFD

OK Y'ALL THE FIGURE SKATING WORLD HAS BEEN SHAKEN UP SINCE LAST TIME I WROTE.

SASHA AND ALIONA BOTH NOW TRAIN WITH EVGENI PLUSHENKO, YUZURU'S IDOL (TFFFFF) plus there are feuds between the two girls as well as Eteri and Plushenko that I will not get into here; instead you should follow yuzuuzu on instagram or visit The Skating Lesson on YouTube for all the tea.

COMPETITIONS: SKATE AMERICA HAS HAPPENED, AND THE RUSSIAN CUP HAS BEEN HAPPENING. 

SEVERAL GRAND PRIX EVENTS, INCLUDING THE GRAND PRIX FINAL, HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.

AND YUZURU IS STILL IN NINJA MODE, MOSTLY FORCED TO BE BECAUSE HIS ASTHMA MAKES HIM ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO COVID-19 :(

BUT WE ARE HOPING TO SEE HIS SHORT PROGRAM SOON; IT WAS CHOREGRAPHED BY JEFFREY BUTTLE, WHO HELPED CREATE AND MODIFY PARISIENNE WALKWAYS *HEART EYES HEART EYES HEART EYESSS!!!!!!*

SO STAY TUNED IN THE REAL FIGURE SKATING WORLD AND IN THIS FANTASY SKATING WORLD CUZ MO DRAMA ABOUT TO HIT BOTH STAGES ;P

PEACE