Carvings in the Ice

Ignoring the pounding of her heart and the sick swooping of her stomach, she bent her head, then lifted it at the first strain of sound. She took a step and began to skate, her arms entwining about her head. The music moved her, got inside her and filled her up with strength, confidence, a touch of whimsy. She smiled. She was going to be in complete control.
She twirled as she gathered speed, flying across the ice in preparation for her first jump, a triple axel. She vaulted off of her left foot, spinning so fast she could barely breathe, and landed perfectly. The crowd erupted with admiration, applauding and roaring as she then went into her triple-double combination. Annabelle wanted to laugh. If only Jonathan could see her now.
She dropped into her sit spin, closing her eyes as the world whirled around her. The thoughts and worries of earlier swirled and shook, fading into the background. Now all that was here was here and the music. Nothing else.
And together, they were incredible.

Patrick was mesmerized as he watched Annabelle glide across the ice. He'd never seen her skate like this before. He'd been to a couple of competitions, yes, but while she'd been beautiful, this was a whole new kind of power. She was strong, flying into jumps and leaping into spins. There she was, executing an incredible layback (that much he knew from figure skating), to the applause of everyone around, even Canadians. Then suddenly the music changed, and she became fiercer, harder, her strides across the ice magnificent. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her, and he could hear the guy next to him inhale sharply as she leaped and split, and stepped gloriously. Then she was off again, gathering speed, leaping into one, two-
"OH, goodness!" the guy skater exclaimed, leaping to his feet and clapping loudly. The crowd swelled and roared, watching Annabelle soar joyfully into her spiral sequence. Patrick grinned and felt his chest puff with pride; he could see the smile on her face from here. She was looking up, taking in all of the cheers, the applause, the waving flags. Everyone loved her. She trailed into her final spin, sitting, then standing slowly with her leg straight up in the air. As she let go into her final pose, she let herself grin completely, and Patrick laughed, reminded of the bubbly young girl he'd met her as. He stood alongside the guy skater, clapping and whistling and strangely ready to cry as he saw her bow and absorb the affection of everyone around her. "You look like a proud father just now," the skater remarked, looking at him and grinning. "I guess you really are a good friend."
"Yeah," he replied, looking down on the smiling, waving, beautiful figure on the ice before him. "Yeah. I am."

Annabelle could feel the blood still rushing, her mind still whirling as she took everything in. The world around her was a blaze of energy and colors, lights flashing, voices straining in the cacophony of the arena. She smiled so hard it hurt, felt tears coming to her eyes as she realized what she'd done- she was perfect, she was incredible, she could take it all out from under Yu-Na's skates if the judges were so convinced. Everything was thrown at her at once, and she felt so filled up she thought she would burst. It was all so...surreal.
She skated off to Rick's embrace, found Tanya, hugged her, and joined them both in the "kiss-and-cry" room to await her scores. She knew Mao had stumbled, big time. Yu-Na was beautiful, but Anna knew she had better artistry... she knew she had done her absolute best... she only hope it would be enough...
"The scores for Annabelle Landon..."
Her coach and choreographer gripped her hands. Her ears were full of air rushing in and out, she couldn't hear a thing but she knew it was good, her coaches deflated a bit when they saw the technicals but then they were yelling, hugging her, she saw that she hadn't beat Yu-Na in the least but there she was, she had beaten Mao- she was in second place. Silver. After everything.
She stood up and waved, her smile now mechanical, the cheers only slight echoes in the darkness of her ears. She knew she should be happy. She WAS happy. But strangely, everything that had magically left her before she began her wondrous dance had came flying back to smack all of the joy out of her body. She made her way out as quickly as she could, ignoring the reporters and everyone trying to tell her "Congratulations", and then when she'd walked past everyone and found herself completely alone, just her and the tiles on the walls... then, she let herself cry.