Blood, Sweat, and Your Tears

A backdrop of snow tipped aspens, a frozen lake, and a slender dancer glides on blades of silver; the scene is set. The figure, a young woman of nineteen, is oblivious to reality. Her mind is quiet, never blank, but at peace. Her past is full of regrets, but her present is accepted. Little does she know that her future is set upon a path that will forever alter another's, a stranger she has never met, but will come to know as intimately as her own heartbeat.
A continent away, a figure stands alone on a stage of ice, his thoughts unable to be silenced by the hundreds of cheers surrounding him, thousands more applauding from all corners of the world. A smile is present, but far from true. Within him, he feels nothing; his victory is an illusion. His heart as lifeless as the medallion of gold that is hung around his neck. Little does he know that, thousands of miles away, his salvation also dances in silence.