The air was crisp as Elise adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. This was it. Today was the first step on her road to making it back to competition. Looking back over her shoulder, she offered her mom a wave before making her way into the ice rink.

As nervous as she was about starting training again, she knew her mother thought she was moving too fast. The wave seemed to reassure her that everything was fine, because Elise heard the car pull away after she took a few steps.

Even though she had just walked this exact same path the night before, there was something more intimidating about this morning. She squared her shoulders and forced the feeling out of her mind as she moved forward. Today was going to go well, she was sure of it. The building itself was peaceful with only the hum of the lights accompanying her footsteps.

She could tell that Aaron hadn't arrived even before she had made it through the door into the main rink area since there was no sound of skates on the ice. Instead she heard a lighter scratching that didn't sound like any kind of skate she had heard before. It almost sounded like a needle on a record player before the music had started.

When she made it all the way to the boards, Elise was surprised to see Gerald on the ice wearing his own skates. That was something she hadn't seen since she had moved back. But the contraption he was bent over was even stranger. It looked like a little pole that stuck down into the ice, with an arm with a smaller spike that he was using to trace a circle on the ice. His movements were so certain, like this was a motion he had practiced many times over the years. While she watched, he straightened, lifting up the arm before sliding to the post in the middle.

"What are you doing, Gerald?" Elise asked curiously, interrupting the quiet of the early morning rink.

"Put your skates on and I'll show you," Gerald answered, picking up the whole contraption to glide over the ice far enough away that the two circles would just brush against each other.

With his attention back on his task, Elise moved to one of the benches near the boards to sit. She watched Gerald work for a moment longer before going through the motions of putting her skates on her feet.

Most days when she put on her skates, she didn't think too much about what she was doing, just focusing on making sure they were tight enough and in the condition they would work properly. But today, knowing that it was time to start her real recovery gave the motions new meaning. It was like she was feeling the leather of the boots, the stiff inner support, and the fabric of the laces for the first time.

The day before her brace had been adjusted for more range of motion in her knee, making it easier to get the skate on her foot properly. Since the pads were back on the floor that morning, she slipped the guards off her skates before taking the few steps to the the gate before she heard the door behind her.

Peeking over her shoulder, she offered the tired looking Aaron a grin. "Morning, sleepy," she chirped, happy to have him as a distraction from her nervousness even if she was still upset from the night before. "Are we starting a trend of you getting here later than me?"

Aaron rolled his eyes, walking to the boards and shooing her onto the ice.

"You start your work, Princess. I was here late last night and then had to study. I deserved sleeping in half an hour and enjoying this extra large coffee," Aaron said, rolling his eyes. He shooed her onto the ice before leaning against the boards, ready to watch. "Get your butt out there, Elise. You're in for an old school time. Who knows, maybe I'll join you in a bit."

Her brow furrowed at the mention of 'old school'. Had Gerald talked to him about what she was going to be doing? Instead of asking, she stepped onto the ice and moved carefully over to where Gerald had now moved his contraption off to the side of the ice.

Gerald offered her a smile when she pulled to a stop just outside the circles he had traced. "Welcome to what will become both your best friend and your worst enemy, Elise," he said, sounding a bit ominous. "Your knee isn't ready for anything too intense yet, even with that brace. So we are going to do exercise that will work on your control and edges while strengthening your muscles."

"You still haven't said what I'm going to be doing, Gerald," Elise pointed out with a laugh. He had answered the question of why, but not what it was that she was going to be doing. Though she was going to guess it was an exercise she had never done before.

"You are going to be doing some Patch," he answered before gesturing to the spot the circles had been traced. "This is your patch of ice, where you will learn to do some figures."

That answer was something she hadn't been expecting. No one learned figures anymore. They hadn't been used in competition for years, and there were like a hundred of them that people used to have to memorize. They had broken people and their dreams in the past.

"I see that face, Elise. It won't be that bad. And the exercises will help you," Gerald said with a laugh. "I won't teach you all of them, just a few while we get you back into fighting shape. Would it help if we get Aaron to do some with you?"

"Yes," she agreed immediately, looking back over to Aaron with a pleading look. "What do you say, Aaron? Would you join me?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Figures: (also called School Figures or Compulsory Figures) haven't been used in competition internationally since 1990, but were a major portion of a competitor's score during earlier parts of the sport's history. They were based on a circle and became more complicated from that point.