Fairy (manxman)

1: Willow

A/N: Welcome to my new story! This book is very special to me, the ending turned softer than it normally is in my books and I love it. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do!

My arms lifted above me as my body made the next turn around the ice, my hair softly blowing around me. I let the music empower me as I set myself up for a triple axel, landing it on a breath. My legs took me around the outside of the rink, my arms extending as I performed a series of twirls and twists. I took off again, giving a little jump over the ice before doing another triple axel. I felt alive as I sped up around another turn, my blonde hair flying up as my arms extended backwards and I stared up at the ceiling, my face overcome with emotion. My arms lifted to my chest before grabbing onto my leg and lifting it up behind me, skating on one leg as my arm flew out. I allowed my fingers to gently caress the ice beneath me, my body gearing up for another jump. I could feel myself get into position before twirling around again, landing in a soft way. As the music was softly ending I stopped in the middle, breathing heavily as I stared at the empty seats all around me.

Loud clapping was snapping me out of my trance, making me look over at my coach. He was nodding before starting to write something down onto the small notepad he always kept in his back pocket. With another deep breath I skated over to him and rested my arms onto the short wall as I looked up into his dark eyes.

Ned had been my coach since I was little, and had been with me through everything. My first falls, the first time I landed a jump, when I won a competition for the first time. He'd been like a second father to me, even though no one could replace my real father. Unfortunately my father was busy a lot in the summer and wasn't able to come to a lot of competitions. Being a farmer was hard work for him but he loved it. Actually my whole family loved it; I was the only one that moved away from Nebraska.

Ned had stepped in and made sure I was ready for everything, even traveling around the world with me as I entered the competition world. My father had known Ned since he was younger, and wouldn't trust me to travel with anyone else. Even though I was only twenty one, Ned had been with me for seventeen years. I swear he knew my facial expressions better than anyone, and also knew my limits. He also could tell when I wasn't giving a performance my all. I never wanted to disappoint him.

"That was better than last time," he said as he looked up at me with a smile. He was starting to get gray sprinkled throughout his black hair, his big bushy eyebrows now looking like black and white caterpillars. "You still liking the new music?"

I nodded as he handed me a water bottle. "Yeah, I love it. The one before just didn't fit with this routine."

"Your facial expressions have been wonderful; you're so into this performance. Just had a few little technical flaws we need to go over."

The next hour he went with me over what I needed to tweak a little, helping me to perfectly nail this routine. He also gave me a flat look when he asked why I turned one of my quad jumps into a triple axle. He knew I could do the jump; I just got in my head too much sometimes.

"Willow, you've done quad jumps for years now. I don't want you getting into your head this weekend in New York about it."

I nodded while finally stepping off the ice and breathing heavily. "I know, I know. And I know it'll be really great with the music."

"And hey, we're not halfway across the world this time. You could go home for a visit after this weekend."

My eyebrows shot up into my blonde hair, as Ned simply gave me a hard look. "I can't go home when the season is almost over Ned. This weekend is a big one, and Nationals is only a few weeks away. I have to make sure I'm ready."