It happened when I was eight years old. Mama had just gotten out of the hospital and Papa was out of the country on a business trip. Without him there to keep a close eye on the two of us, Mama bought tickets to go see the Blue Pegasus Figure Skating team. They were known as Japan's best and traveled all over the world giving performances. They were also known to have some of the youngest and most talented performers in the entire world.
Mama and I took our seats in the cold stadium, waiting for the show to start. I wasn't exactly sure why Mama wanted to see this show, but I really didn't mind since we almost never got to spend time together. A few years ago Mama had gotten really sick. Papa told me it was called cancer. Back then I didn't know enough to realize how serious it was, I just knew that it made Mama weak and she had to spend a lot of time in the hospital.
"Lucy-chan" Mama's voice woke me from my thoughts. "Wait here while I go buy us some hot chocolate." She said, smiling kindly at me.
"With lots of marshmallows?" I asked, excited. She laughed and stroked my hair affectionately.
"Of course, hot chocolate isn't complete without marshmallows!" With that Mama left to buy us some hot chocolate.
I turned my attention to the ice. Nothing was really going on other than a few men skating around, picking things off of the ice. Nothing too impressive I decided and sat back in my seat, kicking my feet back and forth out of boredom. It was then I heard the roar of the roar of an engine and a huge truck looking machine drove onto the ice.
'Why are they doing that?' I thought frantically. 'It's going to break the ice!' I stood up in a panic, and looked around. No one else seemed alarmed like I was and a man behind me chuckled.
"It's okay little girl. That's an ice resurfacer. It cleans and smoothes the ice so skaters won't trip and fall." A bald, heavy… man told me. At least I think it was a man. It was wearing a long purple dress and wearing tons of jewelry, but it definitely sounded like a man. I nodded my head and watched as the machine drove across the ice, leaving behind a smooth and glossy patch of ice behind it. It almost seemed to sparkle.
I turned back to the man. "It's so pretty! How does it do that?" I asked excitedly.
He laughed and winked at me. "Magic." He whispered. I looked at him curiously, that was definitely not the answer I was expecting. He smiled and looked back out onto the ice. Suddenly a boy in his early teens with spiky orange hair ran out to the man in a panic.
"Master Bob!" He all but shouted. "There's big trouble! Karen was-"
"Alright Loke, it's going to okay. We don't want to frighten our guests now do we?" The man who I assumed was Master Bob asked calmly. The boy looked around in embarrassment but the look of panic never left his eyes. Master Bob stood up and let the boy lead him out his seat. He stepped into the isle way and looked back at me. "I hope you enjoy the show and enjoy the magic." He said with a wink, oblivious to the hysterical boy who was almost pulling his arm off.
After this scene Mama came back with two steaming hot chocolates and a program. She handed me my cup and I let the sweet warmness fill me up. I buried my face into the scarf I was wearing and waiting, content in the warmth.
"Look at this Lucy-chan" Mama said handing me the program. I flipped through the pages, uninterested and she went on talking about things she had heard about the performance. When I got to a page that listed the performers' statistics she gave a low whistle. "Wow Lucy-chan, some of these kids are the same ages as you." She murmured. Mama had this far off look in her eyes, like she was remembering something. I was about to ask her about it but I heard Master Bob's voice come out over the loud speaker.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to our show! Our performers have been working day and night for weeks in order to prefect what they are going to show you this evening!" His voice was full of pride and about a dozen skaters made their way onto the ice. "I hope," he continued, "After witnessing our show you will be able to see the magic and be able to harness it for yourselves!" The loud voice concluded.
I looked over at my mother to see if she thought this was as crazy as I did, but as I did I saw her eyes filled with tears, like she was witnessing something she never thought she would be able to. Her eyes sparkled and stared in awe, like this was the single greatest thing to ever happen to her. The feeling was infectious so I turned back to the rink to see what so wonderful.
Three young boys took the ice and they danced- no flew, around the rink, doing complicated turns and jumps that caused me to hold my breath every time they left the ice. I decided it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I couldn't stop watching. These boys were amazing; I didn't even know boys could be this amazing! I watched in awe as the smallest boy started laughing and reached his arms out into the audience, inviting us to join him. I felt myself reach out, wanting to take his hand and dance with him. After a few seconds he dropped his arms and shrugged, as if to say 'oh well' and went back to dancing with the other two boys, continuing their amazing routine.
The show continued as other performers came out. Finally, an extremely beautiful women with her green hair tucked into a bun took the ice. She looked older than the other performers, but her beauty made it hard to tell. She was wearing a shimmering blue leotard with a skirt that went down to her mid thigh and strips of white fabric coming off her shoulders. She was stunning, like a princess. "Karen…" I heard my mother whisper in awe. I noticed the boy with the orange hair who had dragged Master Bob away standing on the edge of the rink looking extremely worried. I wondered why, but those thoughts immediately disappeared when Karen began her performance. I was wrong, she wasn't a princess. She was a queen.
Master Bob was right. I saw the magic, and I felt it too. It danced along with this woman, it followed every turn, wrapped itself around the skater with ever spin, and then finally settled over the audience. I felt the magic seep into my skin, and wrap itself around my young heart.
We left the stadium that day and a few days later I was enrolled in ballet and figure skating classes. Turned out I was pretty talent at figure skating, but I'm sure it was because of the magic I now possessed. I could tell Mama was happy and I thought maybe this was the reason she took me to that show.
After two years I was invited to join Fairy Tail, a skating center that had an impressive figure skating team that competed all throughout Japan and had even traveled to the Olympics! They also had other notable teams such as their hockey team and speed skating teams, but those didn't interest me. I remember racing around the house, letter in hand to show Mama and Papa, I knew they would be proud. When I finally found them in heard yelling and knew they were arguing again. I looked at the letter in my hands and ripped it up. With all the financial and health troubles my parents were having, they didn't need another. And with that I threw the ripped up letter into the trash can and went back to my lessons.