A/N This is a one-shot inspired by something we have at my gym. I thought it slotted in quite well after the vaulting scene in The Only Thing We Have To Fear... I haven't written in Sasha and Kim because I felt it was more just between Payson and Emily and the others were really just on the edge of the scene.
Hope you like it!
Payson discarded her sweatpants and hoodie, leaving them in an uncharacteristically messy pile at the side of the vault runway. Looking down the room towards the vault she could feel the fear building again, the same strange, debilitating feeling that had made her lie to everyone for the past two weeks.
Shaking her head to try and clear her thoughts she looked at Emily, standing next to the vault table.
"I'm supposed to keep it simple," Payson said, the words out of her mouth before she realised that saying them actually meant she had to go through with the vault.
Emily nodded, "Just do a basic simple handspring".
Payson methodically rolled and flexed each ankle before taking a deep breath and failing to start running. The invisible wall was back.
"I'm waiting," Emily called, hands on hips, not quite tapping her foot, as she waited for her friend to start moving.
The blonde gymnast shook her head, "I can't believe I'm so afraid. I got this vault when I was eight".
"You can do it Payson," Emily encouraged, she knew that it would only take one move, one trick, one vault, for Payson's fear to begin to recede, but taking the first step would be terrifying.
"Trust," Emily said confidently, conveying as much as she could in one word – you can do this, your body is no longer broken, I believe in you, we'll help each other through this fear, don't think, just do it, you can do this.
Payson forced herself to nod, "Trust," she echoed Emily, the same way the brunette had done when they were stood in opposite places.
One more deep breath, one more roll of her left ankle, one more roll of her right ankle, and suddenly she was running. Not fast, not like she would if she was aiming for a Yurchenko, but she was running towards the vault all the same.
Suddenly Payson found herself stood, upright, arms in the air, on the soft matting beyond the vault table. The shock was evident on her face as she turned to look at Emily. The few seconds it had taken her hands to touch the vault and the body to flip through the air were a blur to her.
Emily raised her arms in celebration and grinned and laughed, moving to hug her friend.
The two gymnasts embraced, laughing and grinning as they realised what they had both achieved. It was about more than the moves themselves, it was about overcoming fear and knowing that trust could conquer that feeling.
Payson let out a very girlish squeak of happiness before hugging Emily again with a little jump.
Emily pulled out of the hug, her grin turning slightly mischievous, "You know what we should do now?"
The blonde raised an eyebrow, "If you suggest me doing even a simple giant on bars I wont be giving you a lift home tonight!"
"Not even close," Emily promised. She turned away from Payson and pointed below the large clock on the gym wall.
"The notice board?" Payson asked, "I have no idea what you're trying to say Em".
Emily shook her head, "Next to that. The bell!"
Payson was none the wiser, "The bell? What bell?" Her eyes followed Emily's finger and she could indeed see a bell on the wall. The type you would usually find on a ship, a bronze coloured bell with rope and a clapper hanging from the centre. Payson had never noticed it before, and said as much to Emily.
The taller gymnast shook her head good naturedly, "Sometimes Pay, you really are focussed beyond belief. I can't believe you've never heard anyone ring it".
Payson shrugged but smiled, "Maybe I'll be a whole new person now! Anyway, what's this bell for?"
Emily explained, "Mostly the younger or lower stage gymnasts use it. Whenever you get a new trick you ring it. Say if one of the level fives got a cartwheel on beam she could ring the bell and everyone would clap her. Have you honestly never heard it?!"
"Maybe the clapping," Payson admitted, "I think I joined in once or twice but I never really knew what it was. I usually go to the annex when the after-school groups come in. Anyway, why are you telling me about this?"
"We should ring it!" Emily grinned.
Payson looked at her friend, "We are not level fives Em".
Emily rolled her eyes and grabbed Payson's wrist, "Doesn't matter. We've both done something new today and that's what the bell is for, recognition that you've achieved something new. Come on!"
She dragged a protesting Payson across the floor and stopped next to the bell, "Go on, ring it!"
"There's no one here to clap anyway," Payson muttered.
"Well you can always do it tomorrow in front of the whole gym," Emily teased, "Now go on, it feels kinda good".
The blonde sighed and grasped the rope in her hand, "I'm only doing this to make you shut up".
Emily laughed, "Whatever".
The bell clanged loudly as Payson flicked her wrist with the rope and they both jumped slightly.
As the sound faded Emily clapped enthusiastically and whooped a little, grinning at Payson, "See?!"
Payson let a smile creep over her face, "Yeah, I guess I see. It is a good feeling. Your turn now".
Emily took hold of the bells rope and gave it a firm ring. The sound echoed around the empty gym and was soon followed by Payson clapping and giving her friend a cheer.
When the ringing stopped, Payson, the least demonstrative of the Rock girls, wrapped an arm around Emily's waist, "Thank you. For making me get over my fear, and helping me trust again. And I'm so proud of you Em".
Emily laughed, "And making you ring the bell for the first time! But don't thank me, stuff like that, it's what friends and teammates are for. I'd never have made the landing without you, so thanks".
The taller gymnast slung her arm over Payson's shoulders as they walked towards the changing rooms, both still grinning and going over their vaults in their minds.