The freezing breeze brutally brushed past my spotted cheeks as I walked across the cold, isolated back street. The sky was a pitch black, yet the glowing lights that shone from every building had created different shades of brightness across the sky.

  It was Christmas Eve, everyone would have celebrated for this memorable day, well, everyone but me. The ice skating practice had delayed a bit tonight, but it is worthwhile, there's a competition coming up in two month and one just couldn't miss the opportunity to practice.

  My breath steamed around me as I softly hummed along with the song echoing faintly in the background, I tried walking with light cheerful skips, but the piercing pain on my leg immediately made me regret it.

  The pain had started not long ago and only seemed to worsen each day. I must have twisted my leg during the practice.

  "I'm home." I yelled. My mom poked her head out of the kitchen.

  "What's wrong with your leg?" She said, eyeing at my leg cautiously when I slightly hobbled in steps.

  "Nothing, it's the usual pain." I replied, carefully avoiding her stern gaze.

  She frowned, "Make sure you take good care of it before the competition." With that, she closed the kitchen door with a thud. 

  I signed softly, no "hello", no "Welcome back", just simple statements; I have grown used to that. Goosebumps rose along my skin when a sudden gust of wintry wind blew in from the widely opened windows; the night seemed colder than usual.

   "3 turn and jump!" Coach's voice boomed across the ice skating rink as I entered, immediately taking in the scene of a person performing a perfect turn. My back straightened dramatically when the pair of eyes caught me staring .

  I hope this will go on well, I thought.

  The pain had worsened this morning and I find myself having the difficulty even to walk. I tightened my ice skates and step towards the rink. I lifted my head, briefly meeting his inscrutable gaze.

  Aaron and I are partners. Not that I want to gloat, but we are also the best ice skaters in our team. Despite the fact of partnering with him for five years now, we barely speak to each other when we were alone, maybe because he seldom expresses himself and I never intended to be the one to start a conversation.

   "Leah, Aaron, time to do some more practice if you want to get the pair-skating champion this year again." Coach announced, skating gracefully towards us.

  Coach is a former Olympic ice-skating representative, both an excellent athlete and a great trainer. I nodded and slowly skated towards the center of the rink.

  The music began, as usual, Aaron gently took me by the hand and we skated the way we always are, the extensions of each other. We swept through the ice in unison, performing different strong moves. I gripped his hand and he fling me through the air, dreadfulness immediately filled within me when I started landing, as expected, pain shot my leg so hard that I pursed my lips tight from screaming.

  As if noticing something wrong, Aaron slowed down his pace to match mine and we continued our dance in rhythm. A death spiral was performed next ,the pain on my leg eased a bit as I held his hand, circling him on a deep edge with my body almost parallel to the ice, that's what I used to love about ice-skating; free and exciting. I then extended a free leg backward and held my knee above my hip side by side ,completing a camel spin .

  Sweats beaded on my forehead by the time I was about to finish my last mid-air spin. My unusually sore leg suddenly missed ground and slipped ,gasping, I braced myself for the fall when strong-arms swiftly caught me halfway to the ice and brought me back to balance, Aaron slowly lifted me up for the overhead rotational ,in which I followed suit and stretched my arms elegantly and professionally.

  As performers, we've gotten used to playing the act till its very end, nothing is complete if not. The performance finally ended. My heart started drumming loudly against my ear when realization struck me.

He knows, I thought.

  My eyes widened in fear as I searched his face to find the slightest hint of anger or frustration, the fact that I hurt my leg would cause a huge problem for a pair-skating with a competition coming up so soon. Yet I only caught the small glint of worrisome in his eyes.

  "I have been suspecting it for a while now, but Leah, have you hurt your leg?" The smooth voice asked, my stomach twisted with fear.

  "I...don't worry, it'll heal before the competition, I won't ruin this, after all the hard works that we've made."My voice croaked slightly as I fluttered my eyes from his to the ice below, trying not to squirm under his unmoving gaze, there was an awkward pause. 

  "Show me your injury." He said, already guiding me back to the entrance before I could refuse.

"What happen? Stopping your practice would be inappropriate." Coach said, eyebrows furrowing in disapproval.

   "Leah's hurt her leg. "Aaron murmured as he gently pushed past her and settled me down on a chair, in silence, he knelt and took off my skating shoes, slowly revealing my swollen ankle.

He frowned upon the sight and my stomach twisted in fear. Without warning, he pressed the swell and I yelped in surprise, quickly withdrawing my feet from his grasp.

  "You could have warned me about that." I chided. He ignored me and continued staring at my wound in deep concentration.

  "This is not any simple bruise, you have overused your tendon." he murmured, finally looking up at me, his face grim. My blood ran cold, I thought I was mishearing something.

  "What did you say?" I whispered, my voice came out shakier than I wanted. "How could this be possible?" Coach gasped, her hands clenched tight as she stood in a hearing distance.

  "For goodness sake, how...how could this happen!" Coach shrieked, voice shaking in anger. "Why would you be so sure of that?" I stammered.

  "My father is a doctor and he taught me how to look out for injuries." He murmured, staring at my swollen ankle as if he too, was trying to change the fact. "Take her to the hospital for a double check." Coach signed, rubbing her forehead as she tried to regain her calmness. Aaron nodded his head and we went to see the doctor.

The statement was confirmed that night, doctor said that it was Achilles tendon rupture and it would take me at least 8 months to fully recover for me to ice skate, and there was no hope in attending the competition.

  That night, I buried myself in the blanket, dazed. Shuffling sounds were heard from the hallway, slowly, I crept down from bed and leaned my ear against the door.

  "I can't believe that this could happen, that girl is too foolish to know how to take care of herself .With this international competition, she would have been qualified enough to join as the representative of British's ice-skating team."Mom's hushed voice rang from the hallway.

  "Well, Miss Lam, I am sorry to say that that wouldn't be possible now. Even after recovery, her injury might have affected her performance later on." Coach replied with remorse.

  Drawing in a sharp breath, I slumped to the floor. Dullness filled my chest, with shaky hands, I hug my leg towards my chest. I quickly muffled my mouth when I started sobbing uncontrollably, tears silently glided down my cheeks, splashing on the icy cold ground. Darkness pulled a heavy blanket over my eyes as I cried myself to sleep.

  I was sitting on my bed, leaning my forehead against the window, I stared out in space. I was not sure how many days past, maybe two, maybe five, I didn't care. There was a knock, I ignored it as usual.

  The bed dipped beside me, "What do you want?" My voice came out softer then I wanted, it didn't sound like me, too dead, it has lost original confidence.

  "Practice's over." A soft voice spoke, my eyes widened at the familiar voice. Coach has rearranged a new partner for Aaron in preparation for the competition. I hadn't seen him the day after he brought me to the hospital. There was a pause, there were so many thing that I would like to tell him, yet nothing came out, only apologies.

   "I'm sorry, for being your worst partner," I croaked, swallowing the bitter lump that's forming on my throat.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble," Tears stung my eyes .

  "I'm sorry,"

  "Leah,"

  Being cut off, I stopped, "You are the best partner that I've ever had." He murmured softly, I felt my shoulder stiffened.

  "5 years, since the day we became partners. We understand each other well, too well." He finished.

  I dig my nails in my palm, absent-mindedly, I slumped back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"An athlete with injury is nothing more than a war horse with a wounded leg." I murmured.

  "Leah, look at me." He said.

  I didn't, knowing that I would break down in front of him once I look at those warm eyes. He gave out an exasperated sign, without any warning, I yelped when I was lifted off the bed by a pair of strong arms. Aaron settled me down on my wheelchair and silently, he pushed me out of the house.

  "Where are we going?" I asked, knowing that attempting to escape wouldn't do me any good. "You'll see." He said, eyes staring straight ahead. In a few minutes, we were in front of the ice rink.

  "What do you see?" Aaron asked. I remain silent.

  "What do you see?" He pressed.

"People ice skating." I croaked, blinking away tears that stung my eyes like poison.

  "How do they look?" He then questioned.

  "They look normal." I said.

  "No, their facial expressions." He quizzed. I frowned, settling my gaze on a girl. "They look...happy." I noted.

   "Yes." He kneeled down before me and said.

"Skating is not all about winning."

.....................................................................................
  I glanced longingly at the ice rink, eight months, I thought, the longest period of time for me to not feel the ice gliding below me and my whole body is aching for it.

   "Get ready for your practice." Coach urged, glaring at me with slanted eyes. I grinned, ironically, I found myself missing her for the past 8 months.

  "Yes coach." I saluted, within seconds, I was skating with my whole will.

  During the past eight months, I kept questioning myself about my purpose on skating.

   The years of training for champion had blurred the whole meaning of ice-skating. I used to love it, I used to feel free, but then there are expectations and the burden weights, I became tired, restless of skating. Aaron reminded me of the girl that I used to be, the girl with great passion for skating. I was foolish for attempting to meet other's expectance. I might not be able to perform as well as before but nothing matters, as long as I could skate.

  "Leah!" I turned, a smile stretched my face as I quickly glided towards Aaron.

  He has entered the British skating team, someone attending the competition saw his strength and recommended him to enter the team. He had harsher training with the professional coaches, I could see it from his stressed out look. Though he had often visit me ,I still find myself missing him.

  "How's practice?" His face brightened up when I approached him.

  "Good. Don't worry, I'll catch up and be your partner once more. "I teased.

"Very soon?" He questioned, slyly arching a straight brow.

"Very soon." I reassured.

Please vote and comment if you do like this story^,^