The audience drew a sharp breath, Ami had not taken a run-up in preparation for the jump. No, that wasn’t a jump, she had merely drifted over the ice.

    As she rejoined the ice surface, she spread out her arms, her left leg lifted, her whole body bent forwards as she became parallel to the ground. The crepe wings drifted behind her, rising and falling as she came to a slow stop back towards the middle, her arms and leg connected above her head, she spun, tracing a character of eight on the smooth ice.
   As though she owned the ice, she leisurely stood straight, lazily stretching her back, she dipped her shoulder to one side and swiveled around twice, allowing her arm to lead the way.  Then, quickening her pace she flew around the rink, preparing herself for a double-axle loop. She imagined herself as sparrow, a graceful albatross flying free, defying all the laws of physics and escaping from the constraints of gravity. She took off.  Again, she sailed through the air.

    The judges rubbed their eyes. This type of performance was most definitely not expected from a starter. This was only on first competition... As this competitor raced around the walls of the rink, her grace, with the illusion of the crepe from her dress, showed a glimpse of angel wings. She glided on the ice, like a bird in the sky. They could imagine tiny pieces of white down feather cascading from behind, falling on the ice.
    Her jumps so far had been perfect, showing excellent ground cover, skill and control of each movement. Her routine fitted for the music faultlessly, no, the music suited the routine. It was as though the music and the dance were composed hand in hand, as though Beethoven had composed this piece with this dance in mind. She was dancing on ice like ballet, this girl was not merely skating.
    They looked down on her performance chart… what?? A triple-triple? Watanebe had tried it a few times, and never succeeded. The Japanese women's jumps weren’t strong enough for high jumps that accommodated such complexity. Watanebe had made a fool out of herself doing that in the Pan-Pacific Competition, the girl had landed on her backside, twisting herself flat to the ground. Her coach had been reprimanded for causing such embarrassment. This starter was going to try it? For a trial run?

    Once again she quickened her pace, she felt exhilarated, the muscles on her stomach were firm, the cool breeze rushed over her forehead. Everything was under control. She was ready for the big one. Her feet left the ground as she catapulted into the air, touching the ice again for a split second, she was in the air again. First half completed, now came the difficult part, the landing.
    As she was about to land after the sequences of twists and turns, she panicked for a moment, she was going too fast to complete it with perfection. She took a deep breath, pulled her muscles tautly. Her left foot touched the ice, too fast, her right foot crashed on roughly. Her arms held outwards for balance, she remembered what she had to do, pulling herself towards the left side, she regained her poise.

    It was amazing. This competitor was still up and off the ice. The landing perhaps a little rough, but it was not due to height, or speed. Well, at least the lack of speed. It was something that the judges had never seen before. A rough landing due to too much speed in a triple-triple. And the fact that she had never competed… with polish and experience, this girl could take on the world.

   Ami’s face lit up immediately. She had managed to stay off the ice. Now, a simple 360 degree spin to end the routine. The happiness that she felt was visible in the way she had conducted herself during her spin. It seemed to yell excitement out. Again, the result impeccable. She gently slowed to a stop in the middle of the rink once again, right in time with the music. She smiled and waved up to her friends in the audience who were cheering at the top of their lungs, then she turned rejoined Asuka and her coach on the sides at the waiting area.
    Asuka smiled at her, overjoyed with her performance. Handing her a large bouquet of white lilies, he hugged her. "Well done! You did great!"
    “Did you see the judges’ faces?” Ami looked at Asuka, her smile brightly on her face. She was bursting with happiness, the magic of having so many people applaud and approve of what she had achieved. The sensation was magical, it was not like anything she had never known in her whole lifetime. The people were admiring her work in something that she loved. She had felt confident on the ice, she had melded into its touch. “Its your turn in…” she looked at the clock, “half an hour.”
    Asuka grinned confidently. “Unless they have someone like you in my trials, I should be getting in fine!”
    “You think I’ll get in?”
    “Hey, if you don’t, I’ll be yelling bias! By the way, if you and I both get in, we won’t even need to do the trials for the doubles.”
    “Great!”
    “Wear your jacket otherwise you will catch a cold. I’m sure your mother will not be pleased.” Ami smiled at Sensei Narai, her dear coach who enjoyed fussing over her students.
    She was in a dream. Her mind drifted to where her mother might be at the moment. Mum was probably in the emergency ward right now. She couldn’t blame her mother to be in the hospital one bit though. Saving people was her mother's passion, just as it was hers. She thought proudly, her mother was probably saving someone's life right now. Her work there was important. She was sure that her mother would be supporting her mentally, whatever she was doing.
    Little did this little girl know that her mother was hidden behind the curtains, away from Ami’s sight. “Ami!”
    Ami gasped and turned at the sound of her mother’s voice. Although she had skates on, the difficulty of running to her mother’s arms was not a task too difficult to be achieved. “I didn’t think that you would make it!”
    “Of course I would make it, it's your big day!”

    Arms and bodies crushed on top of her as her friends reached the waiting area. “You made it! You made it!”
    She turned and pulled herself away from the wild human crush of bodies. Her marks were up on the screen. She looked at Asuka and Sensei Narai for their verdict on the score. Their wild cries of joy was all that was needed to confirm the results.
    Ami Mizuno was in!

Next

Back to the library for a rest